So, on thursday we are starting our 1st Shadowrun campaign ever. I have been working to learn the rules and get the feel of the setting and I want to run my 1st adventure idea by you all for critique.

A woman is missing, she is an up and coming starlet who has been spiraling out of control. The Johnson comes to the runners to find her and bring her back- or, if need be, make her death look tragic so an unreleased feature will sell better.

The woman is a sim starlet known for steamy sex scenes and a love for other girls- especially heavily cybered women. Johnson believes that perhaps a tryst has gone bad and she is in trouble.

In reality, she has hooked up a First Nations lieutenant who has been treating her kinda rough.

currently she is in the lower deck of a large yaught (spelled wrong) servicing powerful mobsters, while a large amount of Tempo is exchanging hands.

the party will discover where she is, sneak onto the boat and extract her- after the smoke clears, a few gangers, and a few mobsters will be dead- and the party will have 1000 doses of tempo.

As they leave the boat- DEA agents arrive- a chase scene straight out of Miami Vice insues.

This is going to be the introduction to tempo adventure for the party, I plan to use it and the Brainscan as inspiration for future adventures.

How hard should I make her to find?

How much should The johnson offer them?

What kind of cool scenes should I use?

if you're giving them that much tempo, you're going to have short lived characters (if they get addicted to it) or that there should be payment enough (if they sell it).

i'd be careful with the chase scene.. it's been my experience that vehicle combat is slow (irl) and can be very deadly-more so that usual combat (to the characters).

just remember above all else to have fun!

i wish you and your group the best of luck!

Personally, I'd suggest finding a way to drop them a casual hint about who she's been hanging with (maybe an "OMG, you'll never believe who I just saw" post on Pito or a forum or some such, accompanied by a picture of her with a ganger whom they can then try to identify, Data Search to find it), then let them snatch and interrogate said ganger, or hack a commlink for the info.

Should be a relatively straight forward run, give them 3-6 grand each (depending on their Negotiation rolls), movie studio Johnsons have deep pockets. But, don't forget, killing mob mooks comes with consequences, if they don't cover their tracks, so, have the Johnson ready to give a bonus if they insist. They may need it if they have to run. If they don't know about the mob's likely response before it arrives, things could get ugly, like TPK ugly. Shadowrun ambushes are deadly. Have one of their contacts give them a heads-up when the contract on them comes out.

Yachts have tight quarters, just keep that in mind, it makes for interesting firefights, especially since many of the walls inside (any non-bulkhead) are kinda fragile and easy to shoot through.

Lastly, like exSaint said, Tempo BAD.

As a first run keep it rather simple btu put the pieces there for them to follow - legwork pays off for anyone with a descent contact related to the Famous, the mob or drug investigation.
Finding her without the right contacts will still be possible: cameras are everywhere and if she is an up and commer anyone with an ear to the tabloids shouldn't have much trouble.

I'd take it as an opertunity to start train the characters to ask questions, and the right questions, of their contacts. They find out about the drugs but do they ask any question aboyut the drug and its effects? is it ususally "safe" on the street (not cut with cynide etc etc)? Are the police planning the sting TONIGHT? When tonight? oh hell.

For a snatch and grab with the Mob invloved(The Johnson probably knows it the mob but there is NO way he's telling) I'd offer something in the range of 1500 a head, subject to about a 30% increase with negotiation hits, don't forget to make the J resonable good at negotiating, he's in showbiz. BUT sine he does know there is the mob he'll offer a bonus for being descreet and getting her back alive,- few fatalities, no news coverage (the paperatzi have enough ammo already).
If you make the bonus BIG make it hard to get her out without "complications" - I'd make it a good bonus - 5-7 grand or so.

The 1000 doses of tempo is a huge bonus - sold for cash that a good chunk of change for a new group. This I would make the "extra objective" if you will - how to make off with the actress and half a tone of the Mobs atomic future smack without there being a media Blitz? I wish them luck with that.

Right, so i cut down the amount of tempo i give them. maybe 100 doses? perhaps it's just a first sampling to set up word of mouth. CHase scenes suck eh? how do i handle the vehicle rigger then??

Remember that the street value of Tempo is listed at 50-150 per dose, so calculate that into the finances you do and do not want them to have access too.

As for the run, I say that tracking the chick down is a good way for them to become familiar with legwork. Have them run their contacts and knowledges, grease a pocket or two, give them one or two quick roleplay scenes at various colorful meeting places, and then let them be lead to the right place. After that, security is just about guaranteed to be all physical. There should be maglocks, lightly monitored cameras, maybe a dog, and mostly goons with heavy pistols IMO.

Also, remember that the players may try to steal the boat. Pay close attention to what you make available.

Some random thoughts:

-- What you have described is a very nicely thought out linear adventure. Be prepared for your players to find non-linear solutions to these obstacles. There isn't anything wrong with that. Its just what players do. You envision A --> B --> C and they come at it from angle M.

-- Using a starlet as the objective is a great idea. You can use this to impress upon your players the value of good leg work and (more importantly) accurate information. As you've indicated you can really emphasize the difference between the public persona ("She's into razorgirls") and the private ("She's being turned out by a indian pimp for drugs").

-- Be careful with the mob and new PCs. Your runners could get in deep trouble faster than they know enough to realize.

-- On tempo: I could see a situation where your PCs end up with more drugs then they can get rid of. If you want to teach them a lesson in greed, put a bunch of tempo in front of them and see what they do. They might want to think twice about trying to sell a gigantic shipment of stuff they just stole from the mob. People tend to notice that kind of thing.

-- The Johnson doesn't necessarily need to know that the girl is involved with the mob. But regardless of that, I would offer the runners more than a paltry 1500. They could make more than that just selling the story to a tabloid media outlet. If its worth it to the studio to keep things under raps they should be paying 5,000¥ a head at least.

Yeah, can't say I have a problem with giving them a pile of drugs and a reason to fear the mob. I plan on using the mob as a future employer- this is sort of a set up for them to impress the big wigs.
As for the big pile of drugs? Well, selling it can be quite an adventure. I have no problem with them going the evil drug dealer route. Heck, I like the idea.

I've Been dming for many years, just not shadowrun- so I am hopefully going to be able to keep everything running smooth.

as a friend of mine is fond of saying, Shadowrun runs happen in three acts:

I. The runners get the run, do their leg work, and formulate a crazy plan*
II. Something goes horribly horribly wrong. (as often does with crazy plans)
III. Somehow, the runners pull it off anyway (usually).

I've honestly gotten to the point that if I'm not improvising to try and keep up with my players I feel like I did something wrong in setting the run up for them because they're obviously just taking the bait...

*a plan so far away from Occam's Razor it has a three year beard...

The degree of legwork necessary should be based totally on your players' enjoyment of it. Some players love thinking and plotting and research (i.e. 'roleplaying'). Some need the tension of the chase. Of course, if your research includes tying dudes to chairs and beating them with bats until they talk, it could be win-win.

Drugs only have value if you can sell them. If you don't have someone to stand out on the street corner and sell them you are not going to get full value. If you are trying to sell them in bulk you have a spectrum of issues. Like how do you contact buyers, and how likely is the guy you stole it from going to hear since he's certainly better connected than you. Then the whole transfer/ripoff issue. Or that you are selling to a PD narc team, as they too have better contacts than the PCs. Assuming you find someone to sell to, they will probably know you have a hot load and are not going to pay top dollar. (This assumes they they have real stuff and they didn't steal crap).