2 players and me as the GM.
Each of them rolled up characters, primarily using the CharGen program.
Eachof them came up with similar characters with skills in Melee, Weapons, Hacking.
One's an Elf female, other is a Human male.
Human has better contacts.

So I started them off in a Bar.
Neither one of them had fully finished their character's backgrounds. Heck one of 'em didn't even have a name yet. I worked on the fly and made 'em make stuff up about their characters as we went (otherwise they probably won't), described a small bar on the edge of Downtown and Redmond. Had the elf chick at the Bar and the Human in a booth waiting to meet up with his Beat Cop contact. Some Halloweeners in the bar chilling at a table. Some dwarves in a corner, chatting. Ork bartender chick.

So another human walks in, and the Halloweeners notice him. I've decided he recently got kicked out of the gang (hadn't decided why yet) so the gangers stand up and beginto get confrontrational. The new guy (I arbitrarily named him Scrapyard) is pretty freaked out to see 'em and tries to leave the bar, but the gangers block his way and toss him over to the bar proper to rough him up. They just happen to start picking on him right next to the Elf chick,and even slam the poor bloke against her, knocking over her drink.

She stands up, obviously not pleased, and the gangers smack-talk her, trying to intimidate her.

So she whips out her stun baton and proceeds to incapacitate one.

Human male stands up and taps another Halloweener on the shoulder with his Katana, "I'd leave if I were you."

Meanwhile Scrapyard tries to kick that guy in the jimmy, but no luck.

Ganger number 2 steps around Ganger 3 and tries to stick Human (Jace) with a switchblade. No joy.

Ganger numbe 3 pulls out a chain and trys to hit Jace with it. No joy.

2nd Initiative pass, and Elf chick (Nikita *sigh*) zaps Ganger number two, who also goes down.

Jace holds his action for Ganger 3 to react.

Next round, Nikita zaps Ganger 3, who goes down. Holds his action and Scrapyard tries to run away, except that Nikita clotheslines him, wants to ask what's up. Scrapyard freaks out, starts babbling, and eventually t hey let him go.

So I spent the next bit getting the two to introduce themselves. I have to REMIND them that they need to tell each other their names. Then I ask 'em all sorts of questsions to get them to describe themselves. (all this while they haul the gangers out back and toss 'em in a dumpster)

Eventually the Beat Cop (loyalty 1) shows up and is a bit put off by the fact that Jace is not alone. Uses Commlink to wire some info and then leaves. (I'm tempted to make him hard to get ahold of now, since Jace didn't warn him ahead of time)

Jace calls the number, sets up a meet in another bar. Both of 'em hop in a cab and go over there and sit down in any old spot. I've had 'em give their descriptions to their contact, but they're sitting in the wide freaking open, so he doesn't approach 'em. Eventually I have the bartender come over and move 'em to a more discreet location, at which point he finally contacts 'em.


At this point I'm totally shooting from the hip. I decide it's a "package" retrieval, and that he'll pay each of 'em 500 nuyen, half up front. They're n00bs to the Seattle scene and it's a small job. They try to re-negotiate, but he's already figured out they're new to the Seattle scene, so he's hardline. They agree, he gives 'em details and leave.

So they move to a different table (dunno why) and each proceeds to try to find the place on the matrix, etc.

I've decided it's a pet shop and that the package is a pet being held hostage. They have 2 days to get it before pet is terminated. (I'm thinking the pet store is behind on bills or something and are holding the pet hostage for either blackmail or cash).

Dunno where I'mma go with it though. Just shooting from the hip.

Any thoughts or ideas, comments? First run for both of these guys, so I wanna make it simple, but fun.

Umm.. where to go from here is always a good question.. but here's an idea that could be fun:

The pet belongs to the owner of the realty/leasing company that owns the mall/shop property the pet store leases. The shop's near broke and are holding the pet for ransome so that they don't get shut down for breach of contract (non-payment). All they want is an extension on the lease cause they have some cool para-critters on order and clients already lined up for sale.
The property company has plans for the location, some high-fashion chain clothing shop has bid for the space - seeing as the lease is near end. The leasing company can up the rent with the new client, so they want the pet-shop out... pronto! The J also doesn't want the lose his pet.

To make matters worse, the pet's not being kept in the shop's location... the store owners have stashed the animal some other place (which the runners will have to find, could be a warehouse, one of their suppliers, or even their own home - up to you). The store owners don't want to kill the pet, but think that the death threat's the only way the leasing company can be persuaded.

So you basically have a possible 3-run scenario:
1) Find the pet, retrieve the pet (hope one of them has a car), and delivery it to the J for their reward.

2) They find themselves face to face with the pet-shop owners - who actually are pretty nice people.. just broke. If the runners are smart cookies, they 'could' find a way to make both parties happy. Maybe cut a deal between the pet-shop and the leasing company, this para-critter deal could boost sales and even give them a whole new client base. (meaning the leasing company could up the rent). Otherwise, they can just leave the pet shop owners to their grief for being desperate and pathetic and finish the job.

3) The runners discover that the para-critter deal isn't fully legit.. the supplier of the animals are poachers, and have taken the animals without license/or are illegale to sell in Seattle. Dropping this info onto the J's hands will give him another angle to nab the pet-shop owners, not to mention will get both the pet-shop and the poachers shut down while not dirtying the hands of the runners. (add extra Karma for 'doing the right thing'.)

Option 2 might be a lot to ask for two noobie gamers, and could get messy if the runners pull their guns, but leaves an opening for a possible bright spart if one of them is pretty imaginative.

Option 3 puts their info gathering skills and insight to the test. To see if they have the kernel to dig deeper than just the relevant info.

I think you did very well for that first game.

In all those points where you think the players did something wrong, like meeting the cop without being alone, I would give them an in-game explanation though, such as: the beat cop hesitates when he sees you're not alone. He decides to sit down anyway, but quickly reprimands you with "You said you'd be alone. Next time, no surprises, or we won't be talking anymore"

Since their newbies, you have to school them on how the game universe is like. For example, you let the male go into a bar with a katana. But, for example, if taking it out is crossing a line, how's he supposed to know that? Or, if he goes to a bartender and asks for info, and you have the bartender, expecting a bribe, cough, but the PC doesnt get it, you're better off making it more explicit "he looks like he expects a bribe. 50 nuyen ought to do it."

Sounds about how my first run of SR4 went, and it seems like it went pretty well. Congrats

As for why they're retrieveing a pet? Here's another option.

The pet, a small white yippy dog named Fluffy, is owned by a mid-tier Mafioso who collects protection money from the small scale, mom n pop style dog groomers. mom n pop are fed up with paying money and decided to turn the tables by holding the dog for ransom at the sum of 2,000Y. Enough to move the business out of mafia territory and not have to pay protection.

The mafia decided the could pay runners and get the dog back at half the cost. They aren't interested in having the business move out, but they also don't want too thrashed, just roughed up a little for thinking they could pull one over on the mafia. Fluffy is very important to the mafioso, and he'd be very very dissapointed to hear that she was harmed in anyway.

First, cover your background. Who owns the pet and why haven't they gone to the police? Possible answers: The animal is illegal to own - an endangered species, paracritter, etc. Perhaps they did go to the police, found them unable to help, but this beat cop is sympathetic and mentions that he "knows a guy" (Jace).

Some ideas:
The owner of the animal is a talismonger who's had the creature smuggled into the city and plans to use it for telesma. Successfully completing the job could open them up as a contact.

The nature of the animal provides complications (is very large/heavy, ornery, extremeley loud, has a habit of escaping, is magical).

The pet store has some basic security (locks, a security camera, silent alarm) which the newbie runners must overcome.

Someone's tailing the runners while they do their legwork (Halloweeners looking to even the score).

Possibility of Lone Star response if the pet shop job isn't quiet.

Backgammon gives some really good advice. Always try to make it easy for Players, especially newbies, to understand just how you visualize the game world, and how it works.

*laugh*

"Jace Ventura - Pet Detective"

"Synopsis - Jace Ventura and his faithful elven gillete Nikita are thrown into corprate intrigue when they are contracted by Mr. Johnson to rescue a petnapped talking parot who posesses the proper voice recognition code that could unlock the "Rabbit's Foot" and destroy the world. As usual, Jace bungles the rescue attempt and hilarity ensues!"

*laugh*

Actually, for a first mission for noobs on the Seatle Streets.....you did great for an "on the fly" session. Many hooks and plot devices can stem from that first session.

Nice job.

Jace Ventura.....*facepalms*


Thanks for the ideas guys, I like several of them and will brew on it a bit. Prolly try to have some details locked down and posted by weekend. Any additional comments or ideas are appreciated!

OK, so here's the Run, as I plan it:

Johnson is contacted by Strip-mall Owner to re-capture a stolen animal that is a Dalmation with rabbit ears and rabbit type legs named Marely. Doesn't tell the Johnson why, but indicates that it's for a good cause.

Johnson contacts Jace's Beat cop buddy with same information, asking for anyone on the low end of cost who might be available - cop gives him Jace's name. Cop's totally 3rd party here, not in on it at all, just a contact.


Anyhow, the reality is that the Strip-mall owner wants the pet-shop owners OUT. So he's having this custom creature stolen while it's supposed to be kenneled. When the owner of the pet returns and the pet is missing, things will go badly for the pet shop owners. (Pet owner is Finnegan Mafia).

Strip-mall owner's goal is to make the Rourkes (pet store owners) look bad and get tore up by Mafia, but then step in having hired a P.I. to find and obtain the dog - framing the Rourkes even more for foul play.

The intended result being that the Rourkes are "evicted", Strip Mall owner can take possession of all of the Pet Store assets and sell them, then move in a higher paying client....all the while getting on the good side of the local Finnegans.


Shadowrunners will probably case the PetStore while a Hacker contact does some online snooping. Since this is not a "secure" operation for the Rourkes, and since they aren't doing anything wrong, actually, there will be little to find. Marely wll not be listed in their inventory even at the kennel, however, as its owner is Mafia, they're taking extra precautions. Marely will be kept safely at the Rourke's home in Renton. (Pet Store is in Tacoma,just on the edge of Downtown).

Runners will have to go to the Rourke's apartment and break in (or at least try) without raising an alarm, hijack Marely, and get out. Rourkes house is low on security, just a simple maglog, some security cameras, and that's about it. Depending on what time they try to get the dog, there MAY be someone there. Michael and Sondra Rourke are empty-nesters, but their complex DOES have some security guards (low-end) who, if nothing else, will call in LoneStar if they smell something funny.


The Complication is that Marely is a bit skittish around strangers. Has a tendency to bolt, and has a really annoying yip-yip dog bark. Since the Runners want to present the animal safely, they can't risk Tranqing her, and will have to corralle her. Obviously, this leads to lots of interesting challenges. (Of note, there's no external fire-escape to this apartment, which is small but tidy. So they'll have to either go in throug a window, or use the front door.)

Depending on how it goes, I may have some Halloweeners come after them while they're staking the joint.

And neither of them has a car, so transportation should be fun.

I still haven't created any specific characters here, but I'll probably do so on the fly if they come up.

And here's how it went:


"Nikita" couldn't make it, so "Jace" had to go it alone witht he backup of his hacker brother (Contact: 6/1 - I just used the stats for the Blogger contact for now)

Jace started by trying to case the PetStore, going by in the evening to get a look around. Reece(the hacker brother) managed to get into the system enough to know there were some cameras he could control, and enough to know that if an alarm went off, LoneStar would be called, but that was about all the security they had. Jace waited around long enough for everyone to leave and came back around Midnight, passkeyed into the back, opened the door, stepped in, and triggered a motion sensor that turned on the lights in the whole building. It wasn't linked to the Matrix, just just turned the lights on. So Jace leaves (forgets to re-lock the door) and starts to head somewhat hastily down the alley, only to see someone approaching. So he hides quickly behind some boxes as the person sort of lopes down the alley, pausing to sniff all the way.

Yep, I threw a single ghoul at him.

So he figures out it's a ghoul and uses his subvocal to contact his brother and ask what a ghoul IS. His brother tells him not to let it touch him. So he tries to hide it out, and succeeds at first, but then the Ghoul starts to backgrack. So Jace throws a piece of meat across the nearby fence (he had the meat in case of some dogs he'd seen earlier). The Ghoul notices the beef, then follows the scent back to Jace.

So Jace panicks and whips out the Mossburg and in 2 bursts (first turn of initiative) pulpls the Ghoul.

Granted, now it's shots fired, so he runs down the alley and tries to get away from the block.

Granted, this is Tacoma so it's not like anyone's freaked out about shots fired - tho they WERE Shotgun bursts.....



Anyway, he gets home, lays low, and decides to try again later. He comes back in the morning, hoping that the lights won't be an issue then, but finds two guys with suits waiting out front.

He goes up to them and they ask what he wants, and he says he's looking for a lost dog, describes a random dog, and they say they haven't seen it and tell him to leave. So he leaves, goes around back, and starts to head in, except that his brother tells him there's a 3rd suit inside, just chilling out. (at this point I point out the fact that the lights never went off, and that Jace forgot to lock the door).

Anyway, after some considering whether or not he could take the suit in a fight before he called for help, he decides not to and heads home to lay low.

In the meantime, the brother finds the pet shop owner's home address, and they eventually make plans to go over there to snoop around. Reece finds some people for Jace to tell the doorman he's visiting, and goes up. Reece spoofs the cameras, and Jace picks the lock and starts snooping around. After a bit, he goes into the bedroom and spends the next HOUR trying to shut up the yap-yapping without hurting the dog.

Finally he throws a bedsheet over it, and holds it still till it shuts up. Wraps it up, takes it downstairs, security guard is suspicious, but not suspicious enough to detain him. Just takes a photo of him (after TELLING him he was gonna do it)

Jace contacts the Johnson who agrees to pick the dog up in about 4 hours. So Jace burns the rest of the day in the park at first losing the dog and chasing him, then playing with him once he figures out it's just a game to the dog.


That's pretty much it. I gave him opportunity to fight some Mafia and then to kill the security guard, he didn't take either one up. I'm gonna make him pay for not killing the security guard, I think.

I think after this, I'mma try out the Shadowrun Misssions until I get a better feel of the system.

Again with the killing of security guards. What the hell?

And 500 nuyen? I wouldn't roll out of bed for less than 1000.

Eh, it was a pet-napping, and these guys were on their FIRST run!


And hey, the security guards didn't get killed, which may be a bad thing in the end.

500 nuyen is pretty good for about 2 days' work. I don't make that much as an accountant.

But isn't as good if that is your take home for the week.
You need to average out the income over the downtime, to know if it was good pay.

It doesn't sound like that job requires all that much downtime. Petty crime like that you can do pretty much non-stop until it starts to pile up and the Star starts to give a hoot. It's very different from hitting a corp facility hence the pay is very different.

Well, and that's the thing. The work was available. The fixer didn't even KNOW Jace, he was just reccomended.


Like I said - a first job for someone new to Seattle, it seemed reasonable to me. *shrugs*

Would you prefer I make it 500 nuyen and a small 401K, as well as full medical?

Lol...the first ever all benefits inclusive shadowrun.

Fortune: the fun thing about petty crime is that there is always some petty crime that you can do. In our games if the characters don't like the runs or can't find any then they look for their own work. Depending on the experience of our runners we do anything from chips/software to jewelry to weapons stores.

Besides Jace could always pull a Trailer Park Boys and become a pet assassin or go Ace Ventura...lol.

500 seems fair to me...

I think you also need to look at the runner's current lifestyles. All the runner's in my group are low (2,000/mo) except for one high lifestyle (10,000/mo). So, as beginners, they are most concerned with hitting that mark as quickly as possible, then they know the rest of pure profit for them.

So, four 500 nuyen jobs, which could easily be done in a week or so, isn't too bad to maintain your lifestyle and get your teeth cut on the scene.

I think my runners have had 3 paying jobs thus far...a 1,500 job, a 2,500 job and a 2,000 job...not a ton of money, but each job lasted no more than a couple hours, but there was a decent amount of risk as well.

I am sure that 500 nuyen jobs are going to be passed on in the future, but to start...I see no problem with it.

Well, I've already decided to run 'em through On the Run next, and after that, SR Missions.

After I'm done with that, I should have a better grip on making up runs.

Considering that the only security on the place was a maglock, and the only threat onsite was incidental (the ghoul), I think 500¥ for an hour's work (including travel time) was fair. Too bad it took him two days. But if it was beneath him, he could have declined.

Speaking of that ghoul - how do they transmit HMHVV? Through bites?


I was a little worried that I underdid the ghoul - 2 Initiative Passes of Mossberg lovin, and he was a lump o' meat. Is that about right?

Well the stock ghoul template in the back of the SR4 book doesn't wear armor. Next time, maybe I'll actually equip him.




Question that arose tonight: how much does a resucitation COST? The SR4 book says it comes at a premium, but how much nuyen would a DocWagon Basic patron have to PAY for it?

Also, what's the going rate for a street doc?

It'd be nice if in the near future, they produce a sourcebook which gives the cost of some basic services like this. Would make things a bit easier, IMHO. Only need a one-page chart to give enough to gauge off of, IMHO.

oo burn

A real shadowrunner doesn't need anathesia, just a good bottle of double malt synth-scotch and a stick to bite into. Dig out that bullet with some rusty scissors, sew up that wound with some fishing line and a crooked needle and cauterize it with an iron. Boom! Gunshot wound is fixed for maybe 500 or less.