It would start with the runners finding that their bank accounts have been looted completely. Their decker will track the money through different companies, including several different "companies" (read: AAA gang accounts) all the way back to the penthouse of a high-rent apartment building. They'll find that the tenants are all former otaku and around the age of 12-15, and they have been expecting the runners to find them the whole time. They were part of a more pragmatic tribe of otaku before the crash, and after the crash, they worked tirelessly to seize control of multiple small companies, including a biotech company that has a contract with multiple megacorps and the UCAS military to modify Awakened creatures for military use. One of the otaku will tongue-in-cheek remark that he was planning on using his company's latest prototype genetic monstrosity against the runners, since most of runs usually end with a sort of "last boss" character and the familiarity would perhaps be comforting to the runners. The whole purpose of stealing their money and running them through a gauntlet was to test their battle skill, detective work, and outright love of money. The reward doesn't matter for a one-shot, but if I were to use it in a larger campaign, I'd probably reward them with lots of money, crazy-good contacts, and free luxury apartments.

Not so much my cup of tea, but if you think your group will have fun with it then more power to you.

Why wouldn't they then just point guns at the 12-15 year old kids, and demand their money back plus interest (and a bunch of 12-15 computer genius slaves)?

because the kids would escape and go to lone star...shoot the kids

They're on the penthouse. Helicoptor to the top of the penthouse, blow a hole in the roof and drop into their bedroom with cover smoke. Shoot them in the face with a stick n' shock mind probe them to your hearts content.

Then torture them to test their resistance to pain and whatnot. At least that's what I'd do. Then shoot their families.

Most players hate being dragged around by their nose-rings.

Its a staple of shadowrun... but usually you find out its a dragon or some important corporation thats using you for some purpose, so you suck it up. With a bunch of kids, your players will be tempted to incapacitate or murder most of them, while mercilessly torturing a few until they either return their money or steal new money and give it to them. Then they murder those kids.

The difference is there isn't a megacorp backing the kids (as iwth some Johnson) nor do they have a legion of fanatical servants (like a Dragon). They're not super powerful, they're just kids - and chances are good that no one outside that tribe gives two shits about what happens to them.

Its pretty much the same as if some cocky decker started f-ing with other shadowrunner's accounts. He's going to die. Little fish, big pond.

By "no cheese at the end" do you mean satisfactory plot resolution? I'm thinking now that that wouldn't be a good way to end a one-shot campaign and may be a better way to end one gaming session in a longer campaign. And would they be mollified if they were paid several times the money that was stolen? And all the rare biotech/cyberware/magical stuff that the otaku could get for them? If they were led around by the nose, it wouldn't be for the whole multi-session campaign. It would happen pretty much that one time, and hopefully end well.

But why would they pay them money? I don't get what the Technomancers would get out of luring them to their inner sanctum only to pay them lots of money. What's their goal.

Have the kids be scions of Deus, and have them trying to nurture the fractured AI back to "health."

That way, they ARE supported by something really powerful and scary.

I'm trying to think of their motive for testing the runners. They're rich already, so they have no real reason to steal chump change from a bunch of professional killers. At this point, they're just an excuse to have a bunch of cutesy kids totally throw off a team of hardened killers with a combination of childish mannerisms and cold, hard cash.

HEEHEE!!! SOUNDS AWESOME!!! But why would they need runners to be so close to them? Why not just hire people anonymously? Unless these runners were awesome... in which case I'd have to introduce them after maybe 7-8 campaigns so that the runners can develop a reputation.

I would run it a bit differently. I would have the kids actually part of a corp think tank or experiment and they are trying to get the runners attention into rescuing them. They do this by stealing their money.

The kids are very smart, and have money but are bascialy corp assests with no free will. This is why they want to break out. They can't make it to obvious or the corp will figure out that they are drawing attention to themselves. This would also allow you to give hints if the runners get stuck since the kids want to get rescued.

This will give the runners the challenge of hunting down the kids to either a) rescue them and get their money back, plus a possible reward, or b) rescue them and then torture them for fun/profit.

Either way the runners feel like they have a "choice" in the matter, they lost their money, but now they can decide if they want to rescue the kids, or just take it out on the corp. Regardless they still have to go through the corp to get to the kids. If things turn ugly the kids can also call for help from the corp and claim they didn't know anything about the runners.

Another angle you could take on it, is that the kids really are brats, and they are bored with their day jobs at the corps. They try to liven things up by doing outrageous stunts, and one of them decides that he's going to be the "big man" and mess with shadowrunners. His team mates could then find out and try to stop him. This would allowifor massive confusion for the runners as their bank accounts get raided, then restored then raided again.. or their real sin gets published, or sent to lone star, etc, etc.

It's good to have a number of key shakers and movers in runs each with opposing goals, as it lends to some mystery.

Ah Kleaner, very nice. I'll have to try that plotline out.

That sounds like a very well adapted Ghost in the Shell plotline.

Theres no reason the kids need to actaully be present in the room. Have them address the Runners over a trid screen or holo-projector. Otherwise they will most likey be killed....

That's actually what I was thinking... maybe have it trail through a Yakuza hideout or two.

GM: "...and your bank account's been emptied"

Any of the players in any SR game I've played: "what bank account?"

Bah, there are all the offshore bank accounts, etc listed in the credstick option. I keep all my stuff there because someone can just steal a credstick.

From the book:

Th e problem with most bank accounts, however, is that
they require a SIN and they keep transaction records, meaning
that all of your purchases create a datatrail. Naturally, however,
enterprising capitalists and criminal institutions have risen to
the challenge. Numerous “off shore” banks provide secure accounts
to legitimate users, but unlike standard banks they keep
their customer information private, do no share transaction
data, and do not report to government authorities. Likewise,
many criminal syndicates have their own black credit institutions
online, providing accounts to anyone who pays the exorbitant
fees, no questions asked, and even off ering lines of credit
(just beware the legbreakers if you’re overdue).

Certified credstick integrated into a cyberhand.

I think a Mob run bank is going to be safer than my safe house.

until the mob wants something from you.

it's always a bad idea to let the people who consider you expendable have yet another hold on you.

Yeah, but if they screw people over then they'll lose business. They already have a profitable business that charges giant rates to store money there. No sense in screwing people over and losing a good thing.

OT, I hate it when DM's have their NPC's react as if they're in a vacuum.

isn't "screwing people over" basically the mob's mission statement?

Admittedly, if you've got a very good relationship with them (usually requiring that to be literal) you might get a good deal - but if you're a 'runner, you're automatically an outsider, under suspicion every time something goes wrong, an unwelcome 'variable' in any kind of internal or external power struggle, etc. Much too easy to end up in the railroaded plot of the week for high risk and crap pay.

If DM's stuck to the game and didn't railroad NPC's into doing something dumb they'd be fairly honest in their banking transactions. Because shadowrunners pay well and because they don't file their complaints through the FIC.

True, but if you tick off the mob, they'll use every hold over you they have to get at you. If they are holding your money, you can bet they'll make your life hell.

The Mob is just another Megacorp, only for the sinless. Deal with them like you would deal with any other Corp. As little as possible.

But not all shadow-banks are mob/organized crime controlled. The book states that several off-shore banks operate, and I guess you would need to submit your PAN number or something of the sort to gain one, and it would be controlled by your AR, like in the intro to the story buzzkill, with the bribe to the bartender.

So... credsticks are sticks that contain money that everyone just trusts, even though this is a world of hackers and cheats? What's to keep people from just putting infinite money in their credsticks?

The fact that it wouldn't exist, and if there wasn't actually money transfered from some real source it couldn't exist. But I understand what your getting at, a hacker could essentially have an unlimited credstick.

Hmmmmm, stealling black funds from corps and orgs and putting it all into hard credstick, sounds profitable for runners with a very good hacker, with a high hardware skill and a fully decked out shop.