Folks,

In a bit of a quandary here. I'm prepping to run Ghost Cartels for my small game. I like the feel of the campaign and such. My players are heavily loyal to the Shotozumi-gumi Yakuza. My quandry that I'm seeking some advice for is below (hidden to prevent spoilage):

I can buy the fact that the Hanzo Shotozumi would want the group to investigate Tempo distribution, especially since it's impacting the Yakuza BTL sales in a negative way. I can even stretch that to not taking action against the party if a few Kenran-kai thugs are killed in the process by the party. What I have a major problem with, though, is that Ol' Shotozumi would not allow the Kenran-kai oyabun nor his own cousin to be killed in the attack at the Garden of Eden. I know that my party, if tasked with this, would walk away from the mission, taking a hit to their street cred in the process. I also envision them going to Shotozumi's wakagashira and spilling the beans to him. I thought about using "magicked" stand-ins for the two of them so that it doesn't halt the investigation, and would cement the moles he would have in the Komun'go even better.

That being said, I'm looking for other ways to do this so that my game doesn't get derailed. I think CG is a really good product so far, but I'm looking to integrate it a bit better with my Yakuza-loving runners.

Thanks!

Gunbunny

Who is to say that the PCs have to complete the job at the Garden of Eden?

Maybe they're being watched and by that point, they report it back to the Shotozumi a second team completes the job (Kaz and other goons loyal to him), framing the runners and kickstarting the mob war?

It doesn't matter who blows up the Garden of Eden, but to follow the canon events so long as that event DOES occur, it will pan itself out.

- J.

PS: My PCs are slightly aligned to the Vory and will probably be much more heavily aligned to them by the time I kick off Ghost Cartels. I can only imagine how I'd wrangle it if they were loyal to the Shotozumi. You have my sympathies.

The Yakuza isn't a unified group. It consists of many smaller groups, who are often battling each other for position and power. If they're aligned with the Shotozumi, simply make the target a member of a different faction, one that's currently on the outs with the Shotozumi. When they go to Hanzo to report it, he can tell them that he wants so-and-so dead. Better yet, he can tell them in advance about the hit, and tell them that he wants them to go through with it.

AH, I believe you have just described the Scorpion Clan in Legend of the Five Rings quite perfectly.

I am running Ghost Cartels with mafia-aligned runners working undercover. With regards to the problem you posted, you could change the people targetted to other syndicates (Vory, Triads, etc.), or have the runners make sure the job fails.