GM School: Course 1, How to design the opposition, and why? Options

[toturi]

Since elite troops are often rated Superior to runners. And runners have a usual skill rating of 6 in their area of expertise. Superior is +2, therefore 6+2=8, a skill rating of 8 is World Class. If world class isn't Olympic(ok, given the screwy Olympics in 2060s, maybe not), I don't know what is.

[FrostyNSO]

Being elite doesn't have to have anything to do with being a one-man wrecking crew.

Sure, you will be good at what you do, that goes without saying. But that alone doesn't make one elite.

It could mean many different things.
A security team that regularly trains at a location they are assigned to protect could be considered elite due to the fact that they know the layout like the back of their hand, know the ins and outs of the security plan, or even being accustomed to the environment (like if it was an arctic research station).

Hell, in the 6th world, you can take a well-trained individual (primary skills of 5 : professional per SR3), slap a few inexpensive implants in him (boosted 1, smartlink, etc..) and he becomes a formidable fighter. Take a couple of those guys, train them as a unit protecting their own back yard, and you have a great security team.

[Sandoval Smith]

This is unbelieveable how? For the facilities hypothetical personnel, "Ares takes training and equipping their high end security elements seriously. Members of the 'Ares Family security division' who prove their capabilities are pushed to undertake this path."

All they have to be is good, not world class, and if you have someone who already has a proclivity, training alone will easily get them to good.

In this case, even if it's just one of several like Ares facilities, they still take it seriously enough that they have the guards who are good at shooting guns and wearing armor, or icing intruding deckers, or whatever.

[FrostyNSO]

Even today, elite troops aren't that way because they are supermen. More often they are elite because they train together, think outside the box, have sound tactics, and most importantly, have the proper mindset and mental endurance to continue the fight when others would give up, while still keeping a cool head.

If you translated a delta-force soldier into SR stats, he wouldn't have very many skills in the 8's. More likely, if he did, they would be in his area of expertise. He would, however, have a ton of relevant knowledge skills, and a quite high small unit tactics skill. :)

[toturi]

Take a look at Canon elite troops. I'll take the Leopard Guards of Aztechnology (p128 Corp Download) as an example. Superior and Professional. Even if I take Superior to be only +1, that's a lot of experts. And you have not taken into consideration the troops that are rated Superhuman.

That is today. The PCs do not know about today. They know about 2064. IRL is OOC, in game logic is IC. And IC disbelief is what I talking about.

[Sabosect]

Toturi- You find it unbelievable that 15,000 elite people can exist and work for corps? Having it below that I find unbelievable.

Simple case: Today there is, I would say, 40,000 elite soldiers, 6,000 elite computer experts, 5,000 elite scientists, and a few elites in other areas currently employed. My numbers are way off, and I suspect way too low to even be close, but they show how easily such people can exist. If only 15,000 of that 51,000 is in corp control, that means the majority is still outside, possibly in military or on their own. The number is low enough that they are rare enough to be legends, while high enough to actually make canon material feasible.

mfb- Considering the way it is written and the number of corporations that would have magical security and the numbers required, I would say magicians alone have to be 0.5% of the total human population. Cyberwear being very common means you can expect at least double that in sams alone, plus double the sams in riggers and deckers. So, I would say 3.5% of the human population are runners or equal to. But keep in mind that number is scattered across the entire planet and even in certain portions above it. The numbers are still far, far lower than enough to even count as anything but a minority.

[Kagetenshi]

[toturi]

What I meant was, following the rules of SR, elite soldiers have Expert to World Class skills. I can see each AAA as having at most about 2 battalions of these guys. I think that a AAA have important areas than 2 battalions can cover.

I am simply using "elite troops" as used in the books. If elite can be used to describe people with Equal stats, then yes, there are considerably more.

[mfb]

i'm almost positive that it states, somewhere in SR, that the Awakened make up 0.01% of the population.

1 person out of every 100 being some kind of elite asskicker is way, way insane; that'd mean that 20-50 people out of every hundred are non-elite asskickers. now, if you want to say that 1 person out of every 100 is an asskicker of some variety--mostly non-elite--i can get with that. 1 guy out of 100 is a ganger, or a Lone Star beat cop, or a bouncer at some strip club, or whatever.

i have to disagree, toturi. in SR, the entire planet is a low-intensity conflict zone; i don't think two battallions per megacorp is enough.

[Sandoval Smith]

Okay, allowing that in a moment of enthusiasm Sabosect overstated the competency of these guards, and that they are merely well trained and equipped, rather than being elite, is there any believability issue with having guys like these staffing Ares' production facilities?

[mfb]

the believability issue is having that many badasses guarding a single facility. the basic guards should be good, but not great, and heavily supported with automated security features such as drones and cameras. elementals, spirits, and wards should play a large factor in the magical side.

in time of dire need, the facility--and every other Ares facility in the city--should have a PANICBUTTON that summons the Ares Firewatch: Seattle team. that allows you to have serious asskickers for the opposition, without the headache of figuring out where they found fifty such asskickers per facility. not only is it easier to believe, it's more economical; serious asskickers, as Blackwater and other consulting firms can tell you (but won't!), pull down serious dough, and they often have serious life insurance plans.

[toturi]

A fast response team of elite troops is believable IC.

By the books anyway, there is only one battalion of Jaguar Guards.

[TeOdio]

As far as security goes, I wrote up a list of attributes a location's security could have and then defined exactly what those attributes are. It took some time, but now, instead of having to build a sites security from scratch (and feeling obligated to make the runners go there hehe), I just let the runner's decide whether or not it is worth their time on hitting a place. I can easily assign an attribute rating for each of the various security types (magical, personnel, matrix, physical, etc) depending on what I feel the place would logically have. Since everything is already written up, viola, I have a security plan in about 2 minutes. Also, I usually don't go into detailed maps about a site. Just a couple bits of text about what is there. If the players come up with a good plan on getting intel about the site, then I just have them avoid the nasty stuff and get from A to B much quicker. Like I said, pre writing a bunch of Security plans was a real chore, but, now I can focus more on the story/run ideas than on where the Laser trip wires should go.
:nuyen: :nuyen: :nuyen:

[tisoz]

Back on topic...

Consider an computer and electronics type warehouse. One that in the present day would be a distributor for Radio shack or Best Buy type outlets. A lot of relatively expensive, easily portable, merchandise.

The building is concrete block construction, with a metal roof, say 100 by 200 meters and 10 meters high. It is in an industrial warehousing subdivision across from the docks and port, with a fully paved lot completely fenced with chain link and razor wire, sitting between two clones to either side and a couple of railroad tracks on the other side of the back fence.

Inside the building are about a dozen rows of pallet shelving with a metal cage down the center isle holding the real expensive stuff. (Just drool over those 2 or 3 Fairlight Excaliburs they keep stocked.:)) The cage is in direct view of the warehouse supervisors desk. Over each row of stock are several tinted bubbles that could house camaras, in fact not all do, had to cut costs and didn't want to pay to have to have them all monitored.

There is a small cafeteria area in one of the front corners as well as bathroom facilities. Dock doors run along the front wall, with a people size door in the middle. Inside this door is a "pen" where drivers can exchange paperwork, there is a maglocked door that is 'buzzed' from the adjacent supervisors area. A magically acyive driver could perceive an elemental watching over the cage down the center row, they should have probably set it out of LOS.

A dozen to a dozen and a half employees work in three shifts around the clock, M-F, unloading the incoming trucks and putting together the outbound shipments. Security has heard how deckers like to forge shipping papers and have their loot delivered, since they have highly desired loot, this avenue is highly secure.

A track runs around the perimeter of the building near the ceiling with cubic meter or so boxlike affairs in the corners. A similar track cuts through the exterior corners of the building and runs around the outside near the top of the building. A smart runner would surmise there are some drones there.

There are two emergency exits on the back wall near the corners. There are no exterior door handles on these doors or keypads. One of the three guard dogs is stationed beside the 3 steps leading to each of these doors.

Knight Errant handles the security. They have a guard house situated between the truck entrance and the gate for the fenced in employee parking. Employees need to pass through the guard house coming and going by going through a hallway with a turnstyle in center. there are arches housing scanners in the hallway as well as a half glassed wall bordering the guards room. The guard house has windows (yes one-way tinted) around its entire perimeter. There is a central core that is not visible which contains a bathroom and room for a decker or security rigger. There are three guards assigned around the clock, 7 days a week. One will make circuits around the building with a security animal. The other two guards monitor cameras, employees, entering and leaving, and allowing trucks to enter and leave. The guard house is elevated about a meter above ground level, so that a person sitting in the office would be at eye level with a semi truck driver in his rig.

There are camara bubbles along the exterior of the ware house at the upper corners and spaced down each side. There is an unbubbled camara pointed toward the employee parking area, and another toward where the trucks await entry. There is a bubble for a camara on the end of the guard house facing toward the warehouse.

The guards are armed with submachine guns and wear biomonitors. [edit] I'd find the KE templates and use them, or randomly assign attributes and relevant skills in the 4-6 range. Throw in some headware radios, smartlinks and maybe a little reaction/initiative enhancement here and there. [/edit] The guard checking the truck traffic has a mirror on a stick to check under and over the truck and trailer and will have the driver open the rear doors for inspection. He will put a seal on the truck and most truck companies require these type loads to be locked, so they will likely put a padlock on at this time.

A panic button connects to the rest of Knight Errant forces. The warehouse is not extraterritorial, so Lone Star could become involved, and would like to show up KE. There is parking along the street, but there is a definite lack of cars using it.

[Crimson Jack]

[Nikoli]

A few things about guards:
The non-elite, barely worth calling professional, had a weekend of training and were given a gun type:
1> Are a psychologocal deterent to amateur and would-be thieves, both inside the company and out.

2> Are professional witnesses, their main goal is to get a description of at least one perp and get the hell under cover and hit the Panicbutton.

3> Only in extreme cases should they stick their neck out to enter into a firefight, unless their or someone else's life is in direct jepardy.

I used to work in a building housed the nerve center for the ATM's on the eastern coast for a major bank. we had, at most 6 guards at all times, one at each entrance. Only three were ever armed that I saw. Funny thing is, there wasn't a guard assigned to watch the security system.

Mega-corps can get away with military style guards at the high risk facilities because the items or research stored/manufactured/developed there could conceivably pose a risk to the population at large should they fall into criminal hands. They will not garrison a battalion for each and every warehouse. Likely one HTR team per district, perhaps two if there are multiple campuses that warrant the protection. The guards on site are to make the insurance companies happy, kinda like why 24-hour restaurants must have locks on the doors.

I see most security teams on normal sites relying more on drones for the heavy deterent on site and the panicbutton to summon the big boys when the drek hits the fan. It is infinitely easier on the accountants for the drones to be in service as they don't need to take days off, never go on strike and rarely take it upon themselves to rob the company and they litterly log everything they do. 1 or 2 riggers per shift can cover a lot of ground for a small complex. Human guards have medical needs, biological needs, take vacation and are open to bribery (so are the security riggers, but that's why all commands are logged).

just my thoughts on the matter.

[Critias]

[algcs]

[Nikoli]

Not entirely, just an odd assortment of people that likely took up GMing for love of the game and in the hopes that someone else would as well intheir circle of friends. There are so many varied backgrounds on this board that you can find someone that knows something about almost any topic and possibly even have a qualified and backed up with facts opinion on the matter (if you're extremely lucky). besides, i know I always learn something new in these kinds of threads, because the more ways you look at something, the better the end result will be.

edit ::ROFL algcs

[Sabosect]

I guess I should clear something up:

When I said "best of the best," I was assuming that the average Ares guard is likely to have a flashlight, maybe a pistol, and have the job of walking around looking touch but running towards the panic button like a little girl running from the boogeyman the moment anything actually happened. That automatically makes anyone they have with stats equal to the group as being damned good. The best of what Ares has doesn't necessarily mean the best in the world, though they may have a few of those.

I really need to work on actually stating these things instead of making an ass out of you and me.

The only reason I have Ares as having that much security is what they have to protect. They're protecting their weapons plant. Anyone with enough balls to attack that place probably can more than handle your average set of guards with an HRT team for backup. Considering the amount of thefts that happens in your typical SR game and the high desireability factor of what Ares produces, Ares will probably need more security than your average military base before the insurance company feels comfortable.

Keep in mind that military equipment is much more common in SR, as shown by your typical runner team. Any place important enough to protect from the serious runners probably needs a huge and very expensive set of defenses just to be viable.

[algcs]

[tisoz]

For an Ares weapons plant, I would probably use average stats (3s) and add 1D3. I would equip them with excellent Ares weapons (any mod I feel like) and security armor.

[ Spoiler ]

Consider an computer and electronics type warehouse. One that in the present day would be a distributor for Radio shack or Best Buy type outlets. A lot of relatively expensive, easily portable, merchandise.

The building is concrete block construction, with a metal roof, say 100 by 200 meters and 10 meters high. It is in an industrial warehousing subdivision across from the docks and port, with a fully paved lot completely fenced with chain link and razor wire, sitting between two clones to either side and a couple of railroad tracks on the other side of the back fence.

Inside the building are about a dozen rows of pallet shelving with a metal cage down the center isle holding the real expensive stuff. (Just drool over those 2 or 3 Fairlight Excaliburs they keep stocked.) The cage is in direct view of the warehouse supervisors desk. Over each row of stock are several tinted bubbles that could house camaras, in fact not all do, had to cut costs and didn't want to pay to have to have them all monitored.

There is a small cafeteria area in one of the front corners as well as bathroom facilities. Dock doors run along the front wall, with a people size door in the middle. Inside this door is a "pen" where drivers can exchange paperwork, there is a maglocked door that is 'buzzed' from the adjacent supervisors area. A magically acyive driver could perceive an elemental watching over the cage down the center row, they should have probably set it out of LOS.

A dozen to a dozen and a half employees work in three shifts around the clock, M-F, unloading the incoming trucks and putting together the outbound shipments. Security has heard how deckers like to forge shipping papers and have their loot delivered, since they have highly desired loot, this avenue is highly secure.

A track runs around the perimeter of the building near the ceiling with cubic meter or so boxlike affairs in the corners. A similar track cuts through the exterior corners of the building and runs around the outside near the top of the building. A smart runner would surmise there are some drones there.

There are two emergency exits on the back wall near the corners. There are no exterior door handles on these doors or keypads. One of the three guard dogs is stationed beside the 3 steps leading to each of these doors.

Knight Errant handles the security. They have a guard house situated between the truck entrance and the gate for the fenced in employee parking. Employees need to pass through the guard house coming and going by going through a hallway with a turnstyle in center. there are arches housing scanners in the hallway as well as a half glassed wall bordering the guards room. The guard house has windows (yes one-way tinted) around its entire perimeter. There is a central core that is not visible which contains a bathroom and room for a decker or security rigger. There are three guards assigned around the clock, 7 days a week. One will make circuits around the building with a security animal. The other two guards monitor cameras, employees, entering and leaving, and allowing trucks to enter and leave. The guard house is elevated about a meter above ground level, so that a person sitting in the office would be at eye level with a semi truck driver in his rig.

There are camara bubbles along the exterior of the ware house at the upper corners and spaced down each side. There is an unbubbled camara pointed toward the employee parking area, and another toward where the trucks await entry. There is a bubble for a camara on the end of the guard house facing toward the warehouse.

The guards are armed with submachine guns and wear biomonitors. [edit] I'd find the KE templates and use them, or randomly assign attributes and relevant skills in the 4-6 range. Throw in some headware radios, smartlinks and maybe a little reaction/initiative enhancement here and there. [/edit] The guard checking the truck traffic has a mirror on a stick to check under and over the truck and trailer and will have the driver open the rear doors for inspection. He will put a seal on the truck and most truck companies require these type loads to be locked, so they will likely put a padlock on at this time.

A panic button connects to the rest of Knight Errant forces. The warehouse is not extraterritorial, so Lone Star could become involved, and would like to show up KE. There is parking along the street, but there is a definite lack of cars using it.

Anyone interested in playing the above scenario, PM me. I tried running it in the Welcome to the Shadows forum, but everyone bailed.

[BitBasher]

[algcs]

[BitBasher]