I am putting together a Run for the upcoming holidays for some players who have been apart for a long time, and they want to do something really big for a change. Like kidnap a Mega Corp CEO big (not necessarily that specifically, just something in that power range). Which got me thinking, as just a rough estimate question, what is the security like at whatever the Ares version of the White House is (which, given the way Shadowrun works, we are talking about a place more secure than the actual White House) This is way outside the power level we normally play, so I am in unfamiliar territory. What I would like is to get a survey of what you think the security is like at that level, and what the runners should look like (fourth edition rules, another first for me). Obviously bending the heck out of the rules is going to be necessary for character creation, but after the game starts, I want to stick as closely to the rules as is possible. Any thoughts on either question (building the sec. and building the Characters) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
AFE

Well, I would first off imagine that Damien definitely would have a personal team of Knight Errant Firewatch available for the specific purpose of bodyguard detail. He would also probably spend the most time in Detroit, which is essentially Ares-owned and operated, so any violations of the civil code would be easily transferred to the appropriate section chief of the local Knight Errant division.

There are a few different ways you could play Mr. Knight's home life. He could try to live a relatively ordinary life, in which case while security is going to be moderately formidable the hardest part is going to be finding out where he lives. He could always live inside a heavily fortified corporate compound, in which case it's going to be like any run on a zero-zone (it wouldn't be as inconvenient for Knight as you'd think, as the Sixth World has made many of the things that used to require us to leave our abodes unnecessary).

Alternately, he could live deep in Aztlan as a whatever-the-hell-Atzcapotzalco-is, or he could live at Lake Louise or Prince Edward Island as Dunkelzahn's live-in lover.

Everything else depends on your decision about how, generally speaking, Knight lives.

~J

I rather imagine he spends a good portion of his time in transit.

Considering how many enemies he has, I rather doubt he'd depend on security through obscurity. It might look like a nice, quiet house out in the country, but I'm guessing there are enough sensors to count the number of hairs on a chipmunk's back and trespassers are shot on sight.

Well, since the whole city would be under his control you have to imagine that he'd have practically unlimited resources coming down on the PCs at all times.

If I were you, I'd read Black Hawk Down to get an idea of the kind of setting. Everyone in the city seems to be coming out to take potshots at the team as they get lost in Detroit's winding dead ends. (Remember the Kentucky Fried Movie's running Detroit joke?) It should be statistically impossible for the team to ever kill *all* the security. They should just be dealing with an endless stream of infantry and their only chance of escape is to keep ther FPT (frags per turn) at an appropriate level versus the RPT (reinforcements per turn) so that they can do their thing and start evacing.

Furthermore, since you have NPC bodies to spare in this situation, just for flavor, you should have a few people laying down suppression fire at the team at all time with some kind of machine gun. Maybe have the first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan playing in the background as you describe the constant rain of suppressive fire for extra flavor. I didn't see the Black Hawk Down Movie but if it's suitable maybe you should use that instead.

I see it as being like Mogidishu but instead of having malnourished POS AK toting militiamen there's actually armored trained marksmen with grenade launchers, antivehicular weapons, sniper rifles, and machine guns.

The *only* chance the team has to survive should rest with some superbly armored getaway vehicle which can shield them from all the gunfire and can take a lot of hits from antivehicular weapons. Maybe it could be some kind of super specialized insertion and evac prototype from another corporation for special forces teams which was rejected for mass production due to high cost.

Wow. That's a tall order.

For one thing, you can pretty much ignore availability rules for the opposition. You can also consider the cost of a lot of things to be negligable.

Firepower is probably only going to be limited by: 1. public image and 2. the expected threat. You can assume that the opponents have all the resources they want.

You have to give a lot more attention to information networks too. Armies of deckers sifting through scads of information. The opponents likely own news networks and spy agencies.

Then there's magic. Dude, this can be nearly limitless. You might want to start by imagining a specific scenario where such a run is even feasable. Good luck.

And this would be a run where "Thinking outside the box" is gonna be a requirement not an option.

First of all, Knight is going to have multiple residences all over the UCAS, at least 2-3 in Detroit alone and at least 1-2 in almost every major city in the UCAS other countries he might have a few but not many. Good rule of thumb is that if a city has a strong Ares infulence or has a Sec Contract with Knight Errant, Knight as at least 1 hidey hole in the area. Also 90% of these residences are going to be unknown to Joe Shadowrunner and Jane Public expect massive digging and hacking here. He might have ONE publicly known residence and count on him only being there if neccessary and for a very short time, expect security around these places to be uber tight and insanely paranoid.

Knight is former military so he's no slouch in defending himself, half the trouble is getting to him the rest is HOLDING on to him for longer than a few hours before he finds some way out. He'll have at least 2-3 bodyguards on him at all times when hes outside his 'comfort zone' expect these guys to be NASTY fraggers. Expect him to have tracking devices on his person (most likely implanted).

Best way to snatch Knight is to think outside the box, get him outside his 'comfort zone', only attack his personal residence only if neccessary or attack it to get his sec detail to move him to another (possibly less secure or less familiar to him) location.

Belle's right on. In transit might be the easiest, or a meeting where he can't bring his full security detail to bear. Imagine a mid-air hijacking of an armored, armed suborbital with three dozen security guards and you have the right idea for it at its absolute easiest level, I'd imagine.

I just realized that he's probably almost always surrounded by an entourage, and their security.

I agree with Belle Anderson, hit him in transit. in his own 'home' he's pretty much bomb proof, litterally.

and oddly disagree with wounded ronin in his Black Hawk down idea. I don't htink the whole population would turn out like that. most people are going to run for their own skins and let the mulitmillionare save his own skin. in BHD the war lord was the source of food for his followers day to day and they HATED the outsiders. That hatred and immediate suvival need is missing in Detroit.

The big source is going to be what the heck do his homes (and you know he's got more than one) look like. try HGTV or Bravo's Million Dollar Listings for ideas what a really expensive home can be like. We've done osme runs for major players and the oppulance and style of the houses are really going to be what makes the world swing. Ever seen Bill Gates' house?

The grounds should also be scultped and different. In RL the Rockefeller estate in Westchester county north of NYC has it's own golf course and rolling hills covered with trees. (you can get tours. It's impressive) Several houses on the estate for family members who want to get away from the main house and a view from the main veranda that look over miles of forrest all the way to the Hudson river.

By comparrison the Dupont Estate in Delaware are beingingers. the grounds are not as impressive but the house is a massive thing that rolls over at least 2 hills as it grew over time.

so as RL examples DupPont has a massive house that would make an episode of Scooby Doo proud. the rocjkefellers have multiple smaller houses spread over a huge estate.

Then think of say, beach houses, A ski house in Aspen, maybe something in europe? A Chateuax in the Loire valley, an English Mannor House, an old castle on the rhine, maybe a villa over looking the aegean in Italy?

bottom line, the hosue of a major CEO is going to have SOTA defenses. if it's a AAA corp if the GM can imagine it, it exists and no it's not in the market. His personal bodyguards should be prime runners. lastly, remember extraterritotiality? Nothings of limits. no vice can't be there, no pain would be banned. Fall into his hands and you could end up seduced by the sumptuousness or experience pain that is beyond compare.