I´m planning to send my runners to Chicago and I feel I want to do this properly.
What should I bear in mind when planning for a willing extraction in the CZ?

All help is appreciated, and thank you in advance.

Take plenty of food, water, guns, ammo, bug spray, and a mage or two to handle any bugs. I never bought the Ares line "Chicago is safe again!"

Also, check out Bug City, it's 3rd ed but still a great source of data to start with.

I didn't realize it was that old. Eeep!

And it's still one of my favorite SR sourcebooks of all time.

Hmmm ... I was pretty sure that I remembered reading something about the wall itself actually being brought down.

I could always be wrong. If you find the reference, let me know. I'll check around and see what I can find.

Target: UCAS, IIRC.

Nope. Looks like you are correct, at least according to Shadows of North America. Hmmmm ....

Edit: Don't have Target:UCAS available at the moment, but SoNA is a later book, and it does indeed list the Wall as still standing.

I do believe that although the state of emergency and quarantine are no longer in affect, the actual Chicago containment walls are still up.

Everything from Michigan Avenue to Cicero has been cleared (Stretch of 15 miles from East to West) but, west of Cicero Avenue still has a mild bug influence. Note that these bugs that still exist do so because they are too tough to be exterminated. Ares keeps a weak division of troops to aid in securing the dangerous areas but, the force is only enough to hold any ground that needs to be held until reinforcements could show up.


The downtown city is littered with skyscrapers and corporate security forces(Ares, Fuchi, Renraku have strongholds here). The high rises bear home to corporate whipping boys and rich residents who pretend the outside world isn't in shambles. Beyond the downtown area is nothing but poor race and ethnic gangs who have daily turf battles. The Mafia (Costa Nostra) is the only real organized crime gang with any pull in the big city.

As for the bugs, not many hive queens exist in Chicago any longer. They've been destroyed or chased off. The few that have hidden and elected to stay do not have the power alone to make any sort of effective pushes back into the city. Most of the bug heads do not get along with each other and so uniting to create a force to be reckoned with is highly unlikely. Open bounty on the creatures is also a big problem for bug spirits who will get the occasional group of cowboys who bust into their small territories to rock and roll.

Red Menace, can you cite where you're getting this info from? Some of those details I don't remember.

My sources are...bum bum bummm!!

Tom Dowd's 1995-Bug City, Stephen Kenson's Underworld Sourcebook, and Sixth World Wiki, Chicago (http://wiki.dumpshock.com/index.php/Chicago)


As far as for the streets and 15 mile stretch...I live in Chicago and anyone who lives in Chicago knows that from Lake Michigan to Des Plaines River is from Michigan Avenue to Cicero Avenue.

EXCERPT FROM 6TH WORLD WIKI
On August 22, 2055, insect spirits spread in the city. On August 23, the UCAS Federal Government declares a quarantine area between >>>Lake Michigan and Des Plaines River<<<. Officially, the Chicago Containment Zone is established against an outbreak of a new strain of VITAS. In late december 2055, Shadowland spread to the public information about the presence of insect spirits in Chicago.

Wasn't Chicago still being run out of Milwaukee in 2e?

That hardly comprises a presence.

...I thought the city administration moved out to Des Plaines near O'Hare.

...though having grown up in the Brew City (the name I used in my SR writeup) I am flattered if that (Milwaukee becoming the refuge for Chicago's admin) was the case. Usually we were just that podunk town to the north where all sailors from GLNTC spent their weekend leave because they could get drunk a lot cheaper there. The old Chicago Northwestern Railway actually ran "Great Lakes Specials" providing nonstop service from the naval facility to Milwaukee in the Pre-Amtrak days.

The only other thing we seemed useful for was a place for jetliners to divert to when thunderstorms hit Chicago.

I meant the Mafia, which is the real power in Chicago.

I don't know what SR calls them, but in Chicago they are "The Outfit".

The description in the dumpshock wiki is making me a little confused, could somebody please break down who operates out of what neighborhood, and where said hood approximately is?

And how would you describe a bug spirit? Sort of like a tyranid wearing a human like a suit? They Came From The Deepest Metaplanes? It is dark here, you are likely to be eaten by a Grue?

Want some canon answers? I got your answers right here, pal.

What do bug spirits look/act like? Street Magic pages 149-154
What's the deal with the Cermak Blast Zone? SM pages 119 and 122
What the hell is FAB III? SM page 127

Bear in mind a couple of changes since Bug City hit the streets.

When Ares released FAB III to kill the bug spirits, a lot (if not all) of the ghouls in town got whacked by it too.

There are a lot of bodies that lived in Chicago, that Shedim might be taking a look at.

The whole town probably has a background count magically and radiologically. (Yes, I know that technically the radiation was contained, but if you were going to visit the town, would you believe that, or prepare for the worst?)

Your mage buddies would probably do good to know Cure Disease and occasionally zap each other with it, to kill any FAB III infections they pick up.

Oops, I forgot one canon reference.

Shadows of North America, pages 174-175

All I can do is suggest that you consider the possibility of having them meet a mountie, a cop, a lip-reading deaf wolf and a ghost mountie who are all riding around in a Green 1971 Buick Rivera.

????

...the Canadian cop drama TV series, Due South. Aired in 1994 - still had a working telly back then.

[/Derail]

The general outline of the run is:

The runners owe Mr. Johnson a large favor, so he´s sending them to Chicago to track down and fake the death of an Ares employed associate of J. When the runners arrive via... A plot T-bird, they find out that their target is MIA during an expedition in a supposedly dead hive.

Thus we have wacky antics for the whole family in the CZ.


Criticism? Suggestions?
The general mood is kind of like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. meets Alien, and Seriously Bad Stuff should only occur if the runners go and poke stuff with a sharp stick.

Ok, maybe no a T-Bird, but something flashy will do.

And Seriously Bad Stuff refers to stuff that is even worse than usual.

Depending on how real you want to be, your players and therefore characters need to be aware of resupply and logistical support difficulties.

They will be operating on an extended basis and have no real means of support or resupply, which presents its own set of issues:

1. Ammo - dropped in a CZ and a hell of a trek away from your local stuffer shack, best have a backup plan for ammo. (Suggestions: skip the exotic choices and use similar weapons or weapon types.)

2. Street docs - unlikely. Best have medical supplies and equipment on hand. And, ideally, someone who knows how to do more than slap a trauma patch on a bullet hole.

3. Commo - how do you plan to radio for an extraction or mission complete? Are the cell nets in place?

4. Logistical support - if you don't have any gear maintenance skills, best be prepared to improvise when something goes wrong.

5. Environmental threats - expecting any? Have the necessary gear to defeat it? Toxic waste? Radiation?

Just some random thoughts.

-Siege

1 & 4. I plan on briefing them on good things to bring.

2. At least they have some medical skill.

3. Extraction is at a set date. If they miss it, though luck.

5. Plenty of it.



Speaking of nothing, what is the etiquette regarding smiles? Do you put them before or after punctuation?

Smilies, like obscenities, can go anywhere you bloody well like.

As for the extraction point - ouch. Veteran players might consider investing in secondary extraction points with independent contractors. It's not like bad things ever happen to frag with timetables.

-Siege

I´m planning om giving them a fairly generous timetable. They shouldn´t have to pull any cinematic mad dashes to safety unless they faff about to much.

Siege hit on the supply problem with the ammo, but how about clean food and water? Purification kits could be helpful.

Make sure the mage(s) know about only casting spells when absolutely needed or risk waking up some bugs. Also active foci and spirits.

What about the poor fools living in the CZ? Do they have an established contact, or are they just going to ad-lib it? Are they likely to run into one of the warlords or his clans?

Are they going to bring some extra supplies for trade? "Say, that's a nice gun you got there, chum. Hand it over if you wanna live."

Is Chicago up to spec with wireless matrix or is the team hacker gonna have to go old school and jack in somewhere?