So it's been about half a year since last I cam to DS, and I must say, I've missed you guys. There's something terribly depressing about not getting to hop onto the boards and read up on the latest debates about character optimization and general kickassery. Ergo, I must say that it's great to be back.

On a more serious note, come midway through January, I'm going to be GMing a 4e game based in LA. The players are the sort to have the most fun with a very Pink-Mohawk game, complete with Action Hero explosions and chase scenes. Ergo, I'm turning to the experts here at Dumpshock to ask for help.

I'm looking for hints on the following:

1) Plot ideas
2) Important factor of the LA Shadows that will enhance the experience for my players
3) Anything else you guys and gals think I should know about running a game in LA.

So, DSers, what do you have for me?

Yeah, LA is where Pink Mohawk went to die
Stuff to know about LA. EVERYTHING is recorded, EVERYTHING. The trick is to delay the signal of what is happening to, let's say, 1 minute. This way you might get imediate attention of the vicinities but any backup might take a little while to appear.

Also, the moment one of the characters get a milspec armor with chem seal, he will not be afraid of getting in the water anymore.
Of course, you might say that any armor whose character took physical damage got the seal pierced, but that's a whole different game.

I've had fun with the real hard core guys that used to live within El Infernio. Certainly going to be some gangs from there still. Then there's the possibilities of what kinds of magical baddies might have cmoe out of the caves below.

Also, I might be biased, but the best thing about L.A. is that it's so close to San Diego. In SR, that means there's a lot of military bases around, including across the border, and possibilities for runs.

Welcome back.

Read up on Persona 2.0, P2.0, as it abounds in LA. Horizon Group HQ is there as well.

So hack the cameras, don't go for a swim, blow up Aztech war parties, and do it all Live on Pito!

Got it. Any suggestions for plot? Any great dragons lurking in the shadows of LA? Any bug spirits looking to turn it in to New Chicago?

I recall a Dragon musician or something that was mentioned in Big D's Will.

Belay that. The Dragon, Perianwyr, is living in Denver these days (but nothing holds you from him traveling to L.A).

Read up on the Shedim. They're a major problem in LA.

Has anyone mentioned the rampant smuggler activity in the area yet?

I heartily recommend you pick up the Corporate Enclaves book - its got a whole section on LA, and the state of the city.

Our home game is set in LA, starting out now in the San Fernando Valley. Corporate Enclaves is very useful.

My PC is a Free Spirit, which should be fun once we get into serious background count. My backup PC ( I built two and decided) is a Norse Mage, Thor-as-Dragonslayer as mentor, with the Spirit Bane (Shedim) Quality. If I ever get to play him, he should be kept busy.

Heres a little adventure seed that would run well in LA:

Star Crossed Lovers:

An enigmatic Matrix-seclusive musician known only as "the Entity" has taken the LA club scene by storm with his mix of techno-house-industrial music. So when the runners receive personalized invitations to his next show at an exclusive underground club its bound to pique their interest. At the club, they watch as the Entity's show streams live from the Matrix into a packed club and the crowd goes wild. At some point they become aware of an encrypted channel embedded in the music feed, which the Entity uses to communicate a job offer to them. His muse, a Hollywood sim-starlet by the name of Angelic has gone missing and he wants them to find her. But unbeknownst to the runners, the Entity is actually a young metasapient AI who's code contains sophisticated emotive software under development by Horizon. You can bet whoever kidnapped his love interest isn't interested in using the software to make music...

Wow, thats an excellent idea Method. Very nice.

+1 Karma

and another +2 from me.

any other books with plot seeds for LA aside from Corporate Enclaves?

Well . . Smugglers . . Seaside . . Wide open Spaces . .
Hover-Pirates! Pirate-Submarines! Thunderbird Smugglers!
All the Horrors living under the waves!
And biig cannons!
And torpedoes! And missles!
Maybe Jet-Skis with mounted SMG's!
It doesn't get more Pink Mohawk than that i think ^^

Now thats not a bad idea for a fully fledged pregen run.


I demand you pitch the idea officially

Dunno if this has been done in any of the published stuff or not, but it occurred to me just now as I was trying to work on other things...

The team is approached by their fixer, who has a Johnson who needs some help with an extraction.

The target is a junior vice president with Horizon. It is a hostile extraction - he doesn’t know it’s going to happen, he will work against it happening. He must not be harmed in any way, shape or form. For PR reasons, the entire job must be handled with nonlethal methods. No one at Horizon, or otherwise associated with the extraction, must be harmed, or it will ruin this individual’s utility to the company that the Johnson represents.

The pay is 10,000 per runner, paid at the end of the extraction, plus an initial payout of 2500 total for the team - to include expended ammunition, bribes and the like, paid at when they accept the job. Any costs over 2500 will be the responsibility of the team.

If the team takes the job, they will get a picture of the man they’re to extract, and a name - Paul Harriman.

In truth, Paul Harriman is a stunt man and simsense actor who has been inserted into Horizon’s org chart with this very intention in mind. He is wired with an internal simsense unit that will record everything that happens to him while he is being extracted, and the team will wind up being famous, or at least infamous, for their work on the project. The pay is minimal, and the danger is high, as the security forces will not have been clued into this little operation - it’s very black, with only a few people knowing what’s really going on.

Possible complications include the players finding out that Paul isn’t who he says he is. They might notice that he’s wearing a full suit form fitting body armor under his armored business clothes. They might twig to some unusual reactions from him during the extraction attempt. He might be injured in the extraction, which is not according to plan at all.