ok, so at the end of game one they got paid a total of 400,000 nuyen (split across 4 players) from two parties. first the jhonson, working for evo, to get the target back to him. despite that a mack truck loaded with volatile chemicals slammed into her transport sedan at top speed. and second from the target, who didnt want to go back to evo, and didnt want them chasing her.

now, evo knows that it wasnt her, it was her body double, some crack adict they nano-pasted to look like her. so, since they dont know where she is anymore, they gotta help them get weapon back.

also weapon x is searching for the scientist. is it revenge for changing him into what he is? is it soemthing else?

thats all i really have thus far, i keep flip=flopping between two ideas.

1) they have to help evo get weapon x back for free, unless they want the full brunt of lonestar on their backs. they'll be given co-ordinates and a time. he will be there at the time specified. take him down, but dont kill him.

or...

2) weapon x is hunting for the scientist. their in love, though our runners dont know that. they gotta get him to her, again without evo hunting him anymore.
but first they gotta learn to deal with his psychosis. he's a schizophrenic with DID. that means that he hears music in his head, and the music he hears, which changes from time to time, triggers different alternate personalities. one is the personality that evo capitalized on to create the perfect obedient killer. the other is a velvet hammer. he's proper, soft. isnt meant for combat but he has a mouth and a brain. he has a very 50's mom mentality, the kinda shit you'd see in the brady bunch or the leave it to beaver.


the table is, once again:

troll street sam
elf technomancer/face (charisma 9 for gods sake!)
elf B&E
human mage
human hacker/rigger

i'm getting another combat player, since this group needs a little more firepower, but he wont be there for this game.

PS:

i could combine the two but i dont see how they could figure out he's not all bad, get him to trust them, AND figure out how to fake his death mid combat ALL WITHOUT EVO CATCHING ON AND BROADCASTING THEIR FACES TO LONESTAR? unless i'm missing soemthing.

i could just give them 72 hours to plan for what their doing regarding the johnson's ultimatum. in that window, knowing them, they'll cover the trolls that they've been covering since game one, they were hired to kill them after all and didnt. i could introduce them to weapon x then and then they could figure out what they want to do. thats about the best thing i can come up with. i really dont want to kill my PC's, but they missed one vital piece of info regarding handing over the faked target in the first game, her genetic signature.

anything i'm missing, or just opinions, creative critisizm, will be HIGHLY appreciated.

thanks in advance,
Danny

One option, if they're missing some piece of info, is to have a contact feed them the idea. A little leading suggestions or questions can make a step in the right direction.

Also keep in mind, it's not all that bad to let them feel the heat. Basically, some times, they just have to learn. Sometimes, even when they try, they fail. Doesn't mean the game is over, it just changes script. Check out the old adventure Bottled Demon.

Also ,Evo doesn't have to give info to the cops. They've got their own assets. You could always have the corp capture them and use them as forced labor (yay kink bombs). Just some thoughts. Shadowrun isn't always nice after all. Whatever doesn't kill you... gets you karma/experience.

I understand not wanting to kill the players out the gate. And a good GM doesn't really try to "kill" his players anyhow, he tries to challenge them, just how I see it. Course, in SR, challenging means risking life, limb, and death, so don't be afraid of killing them. If they really want to live they can burn edge, that's always an option.

On to story time.

Evo will not sit idly by on this one. If they don't automatically see the runners as enemies they at least now that they are criminals that follow no code, don't care about their rep, etc. This means they can't trust them. Not to mention the high payout with nothing in return. I'd be mad if I was Evo.

If the runners don't know that Evo is on to their little trick then Evo can easily set up another meeting, saying they want to hire them again since they did such a good job. The meet is a trap. You could go lethal force, or capture them alive. Personally, I'd use non-lethals and capture them. After the last one falls unconscious they can take them and install kink bombs in their brains. Evo might think the runners know where the target is (not sure if this is the weapon or scientist, proper names might help ), as it would makes logical sense they might know since they obviously helped the target. Interrogation and threats to blow their heads up if they don't do everything they're told to do could follow. It could be very interesting to see how they get themselves out of that, and they should be able to with the amount they got paid last run.

If I was EVO, I'd capture one or two of the players. Plant bugs ( GPS, output audio/video recorder ) in their cyberware, then either release them or make it so they escape. Track the players then when / if they meet up with weapon x they can send out their own team to capture him. If it takes long enough, EVO might even find out about the scientist, giving them some leverage.

First thing you should probably remember is that the runners weren't hired by Evo. They were hired by someone representing Evo in order to accomplish a goal which Evo could not be tied to. A Johnson. This is their first time working for this Evo Johnson and he paid them very well. Exceptionally well. Meanwhile, what they delivered was some bootleg horseshit. With what you've stated, for all he knows, your team just walked down the road, picked someone off the street, slapped paste on them and took him for a 200,000 nuyen ride. Maybe the team could claim that they were suckered in by the fake and the hand-off was all in good faith, but they'd then still owe Mr. J a lady. (as an aside here, he should have done some sort of biometric verification or at least put an Evo payroll tracker on the unfamiliar crew,) By all rights, this guy should be pissed and have expectations yet from your crew.

My suggestion: Mr. J, since this was his first time dealing with your no-rep team, put a company man on them. He knows all the details on how the scenario went down, and is just stringing the players along. The credsticks he handed them were hacked and the money he gave them isn't real. (honestly, 400k on the first run? you're taking Monty Haul to the extreme. ) Meanwhile, he's seen the runners interacting with the targets, and he is waiting for the Dr and the subject to reconnect so that he can send in a strike team to grab them up legally without the red tape of assaulting a gang on UCAS territory, (since they both would be considered Evo property, getting them away from civvies [heavily armed ones] would be their only concern. When it's just the two of them, that's hardly even 15 minutes of paperwork should there be any deaths.) Basically, as a GM, you need to let them know that they can't just pull one over on a megacorp. Mr. J is the SR equivalent of a CIA black-ops coordinator. It's his job to hire and handle deniable assets for an organization whose power is on par with the US government. You don't just rip off such a man and expect there to be no consequences, and you surely don't ever assume that you've got the leg up on him from an info standpoint.

So, find a way to string the players along. Get them to reunite the two, and then, as they drive off towards the sunset, have the VTOL Thunderbirds zoom in and show the players what corporate might is all about. Maybe Mr. J walks out of the shadows and lets the team know the score. Meanwhile, the team still got paid by the Dr, so they can't reasonably complain about getting played by a dude who runs game like Mr. J. Also, let them know that they picked up a point of Notoriety for trying to rip off their employer.