Hi all,
I've considered DMing a police campaign, in the style of Bad Boys I&II. For those of you who don't know the movies, it's essentially a lighthearted, pink-mohawk series featuring over-the-top action with classic shootouts, car-chases, etc. Also, the movies are directed by Michael Bay, and he's known for his... explosive action.

That said, there's the crunch part to handle. Police in the 2070s is privatized, AFAIK, and the PCs would therefore be employees of a private polize company, e.g. Knight Errant or LoneStar, probably with a set salary. Also, they would have legal access to certain restricted&forbidden gear. On the other hand, they can be held accountable for their actions.

Anyway, here are the rules I've thought of so far:
1. Every character gets the SINner and Day Job qualities. I don't know whether I should give them bonus points for this.
2. Certain standard issue gear comes with the job. Thus far, the list includes: a patrol car, a uniform, and a pistol (Ruger Thunderbolt). Certain specialised gear may be available for certain missions, e.g. SWAT armor when the group is selected for SWAT.
3. Want any extra gear? Buy it using your resources and normal availability rules. Anything goes as long as it fits the theme, so no clear distinction between R and F. Wired Reflexes 2? Sure, go for it. White phosphorous grenades? You better have a damn good reason, son.


Anything else I should think of?

Give them a 1-page sheet of the important regulations they need to obey/circumvent; stuff like Miranda rights, jurisdiction/extraterritoriality and all that. Keep it simple enough to fit on one sheet of paper, but it's not a police game if there aren't any rules.
(Note: this doesn't mean they play it "wrong" if they have a problem with those rules; just that they know when they're breaking them, and can try to cover up accordingly.)

If you're going to give a quality to everyone, don't charge/give points for it. Points are there to maintain balance between the PCs, so if everyone gets the same thing, it's not needed. If you want the PCs more high-powered, just give them more points.

A list of standard gear you'll always get access to. And a list of typical stuff you can requisition (with a good Etiquette check) for specific missions. Requisitioning is paid for by the Corp(s), but you have to provide reasons why it's needed.

Important NPCs:
Quartermaster: the guy responsible for dispensing gear, ammo and so forth.
Mission Supervisor: the guy who gives you objectives, who you check in with if you need a decision you can't make yourself, or if you need backup.
The Internal Affairs guy: nobody likes him poking his nose into things. He's sniffing around to see if you're not scamming Momma Corp.
Trainer/Mentor/Veteran: an experienced operative that the PCs can ask for advice.
The Big Boss: when your Supervisor is unreasonable, the BB can overrule him. But your supervisor hates it when you go over his head. On the other hand, sometimes the BB calls off a mission because he's getting political pressure...

I would recommend making the team a kind of special task force of trouble-shooters rather than standard beat cops or even detectives. An awful lot of roleplay settings take that option and for good reason. Rank and file characters are generally uninteresting and very similar to each other – it's logistically and financially unfeasible to have every unit of a police/security force a well-rounded mix of professionals and there are nowhere near enough Awakened personnel to go around. And if the team are all practically identical in stats, training and resources the players will be much less invested in their characters and the story. Also, rank and file don't get to encounter any of the really interesting stuff. If it's anything much weirder than a break-in or gang violence then the investigating officers get ordered to hold their positions until the real heros turn up to lay down the law.

I do generally like the notion of theming a campaign this way and turning the setting on its head, but be careful not to lose too much. I would recommend incorporating a fair deal of corruption above the characters to keep things interesting. Things like not being given the full story by the CO, being sent on covert quasi-legal (or downright illegal) missions, working for a corrupt official serving his own purposes, that kind of thing. If you have them work in a megacorp security team you will probably find it a lot easier to come up with interesting plot twists and dilemmas for the players.

I would add that as GM, you "continue" the mission after the fact. In other words ok, the team caught the perp, then what? Well, if they did it "by the book" then the trial goes good for the prosecution, and the guy gets locked up, but if they "bend" the rules, well, maybe the District attorney finds out, or the defense attorney (even worse!) and the case gets thrown out, and the criminal is back on the streets. Both instances get a big press write up and its "front page" on everyones comms.

Do bear in mind that SR police aren't like IRL police. SR police barely make enough to live off of, so they need to find 'alternate income streams' in order to make ends meet. SR police respect the boundaries of certain gangs, either because the gangs are too tough, or because the gangs are 'friendly'. SR police are basically just another gang, except they operate under weird rules.

Wounded Ronin also wrote up a 'police' campaign setting, I believe under the label of Texas Rangers, that you may with to check out.

One thing I can suggest for reading is the Gotham Central series of comics. It certainly puts things in a point of view about having police that have to deal with powers above and beyond that of most men and women, yet still requires them to deal with the criminal aspects of that very thing.

Uh, how is this different from real police?

I have a friend on the force and he said he did not know a single cop who was on the force for more than 5 years and actually stayed clean. Its too easy to take money, look the other way, or get a happy time in your pants in exchange for not writing a ticket for that drunk co-ed you just pulled over.

Bah, I am not disagree, not trolling, just really wanted an excuse to share that

B.A.D. Boyz, KE's response to tempo! And they follow where ever their leads take take them. Could use Ghost Cartels and run it from a LEO perspective.

Just a thought!

If you read French you might be interested in the French "COPS" RPG, in which the players played the role of police officers from a new special division of the L.A.P.D in a "pre-cyberpunk" L.A. It's filled with good ideas for both fluff and rules.

Except all of the Runs in Ghost Cartels have the players working for the gangs, helping them do things like kill undercover cops and guard drug deals. It would take some creative rewriting methinks.

This is a fine idea that I might steal one day.

Personally, I'd plan for the PC's to be Lone-Star detectives, with various backgrounds (someone from SWAT, someone from the Magical division, someone from Matrix Forensics, etc.) all assigned to the same special-cases squad, and all working together on the various cases assigned. Since it's a 'special-cases' squad, high-end augmentations and gear might be semi-realistic, especially if you're going for pink-mowhawk. You could possibly dole-out character advancement through 'requisition points' to purchase new 'ware or fancy cars. Karma should still work as RAW.

I'd also sketch-out what sort of Lone-Star resources are available, and what sort of hoops they need to jump-through to get backup, whether it be a couple of squad-cars, or a full-on CityMaster with a tactical-squad. Design the various NPC's in the police-station, the dispatcher, a couple of beat-cops, "The Chief", etc. Know who's on the take, and who's not.


A more street-level campaign with beat-cops could also be fun, crappy gear, very limited 'ware, etc. Trying to work within the system to either do good, or for personal gain might make for some interesting player-character decisions.

Plot to me is the easy part to adjust, the stats and crunch that go with it are much harder and take more time to prepare. YMMV though.

PS:Your character sheet helps in that regard though when I want a fully fleshed out NPC.

Our campaign didn't got til the end but I played as an undercover spy for the Amazonian government disguised as an agro-engineer student.
I felt awesome whenever I had to meet my handler without the players knowing I worked for the law. Specially when I was able to get 250k from the amazonian government without the players knowing where the money came from as entry fee for a high-stakes poker game to get inside a casino and kill one of the players (it was totally Cassino Royale), too bad the campaign ended BEFORE we killed the target.

True for Seattle, but some cities like New York still run thier own police department, even though a lot of corps pay someone else for thier security. Either way friction between agencies is a good source of plot.

You could call them the Priority Team; sent in to deal with important, quickly developing situations. They get a bit more slack with regulations (always useful because PCs tend to be rules-trampling scum). They get a hacker and a mage to ensure than when they need them, they don't have to wait for interdepartmental assignments and red tape.

Of course, the rest of the precinct calls them the Pee Team, because they're sent in to clean up big messes...

The long standing character (the Cyberlogician) I was playing in our Hong Kong game was a Knight Errant Operative infiltrating the Shadows. He was a lot of fun to play. Obtained a LOT of Information, and created a LOT of Dossiers on the runners in the City. It is too bad that my Boss left me to rot in an MCT Prison (Captured and Prosecuted) rather than have me extracted. I had to have myself extracted (Good thing I had that contingency in place). I was not all that loyal after that.

And DC has about a million police departments. Assuming it runs like today, you'll have twenty or fifty private corps, then DC police, federal police, GPO police, Mint police, secret service, FBI police, transit police, USPS police. Maybe you get some MD or VA police along the borders too.

This is another good point - depending on the setting you choose for your police campaign, you'll want to know what departments have jurisdiction over what. I.e. if you cause enough mayhem, the Seattle Metroplex Guard might step-in, and you'll want to think-through the kind of things they'll do, and what the PC's would need to do to distract them. Same kinda thing with the FBI - can they make a Police Procedures roll to keep the 'Feds from nosing in their business? What about Internal Affairs rummaging through a dirty-cop's locker?

Wait wait wait... USPS Police? The POST OFFICE has POLICE?

...

Well, considering the amount of people "Going Postal", I can't really be surprised...

USPS Policeman: "FREEEEEEEZE SCUMBAG!"
Scumbag: "What did I do?"
USPS Policeman: "All packages must be properly wrapped. Brown paper and triple-twist twine are the preferred media. NOW GO HOME AND WRAP THIS PROPERLY!"

Another option, if you're wanting more over-the-top action like the movies, would be to make 'em officers in something besides Lone Star or Knight Errant. If you want more gunplay and less regulation, a little more high-octane type of cinematic game, and one where they don't necessarily have the biggest "gang" in Seattle to call in for back-up when they need it, you could go for Wolverine Security, or Eagle Security, or something.

The characters might feel a little more underdoggish that way, and could sneer at the KE and LS guys as "glory boys," bickering over jurisdiction stuff, that sort of thing, a little more.

No, that's the front desk clerk (who will turn you away for wrapping your package in duct tape now).

I've met a USPS policeman. They do get pretty serious. Smuggling, theft, stuff like that. I don't know if they handle fake stamps and money orders or if that's Secret Service.

Oh, and you have IRS enforcers. I don't think they're actually police, but many are armed, and up until the 90s, they had a reputation for being assholes. One guy pulled a lady out of a moving car so he could seize said car.

Basically repo-men with a badge and legal authority? scary...

Indeed... What will we come to next?

Wasn't "The Chrome Accountant" one of these, only became a Shadowrunner because it paid more and was a safer occupation?

Well, there's the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which includes both special agents and uniformed personnel. It's not well-known, but it investigates any crimes with connection to the postal system. I know of two movies with postal inspectors as main characters: The Inspectors and The Inspectors 2: A Shred of Evidence, both with Louis Gossett, Jr., and Jonathan Silverman. I liked the first one better, but both give interesting (dramatized, of course) perspectives on what the Postal Inspection Service does.

You should. Why break the rules if you do not have to?

I would give them access to the gear the first session/if needed. Should not be part of chargen. (Because I doubt it is their own gear afterall)

A police officer using white phosphorous is quite a big one, don't you think.
I guess their is no explaination keeping you from jail.

I agree that the points should be given if you're requiring them to take those qualities. Even though everyone has them, those qualities represent restrictions on the characters can do.

As for gear, that's up to you. Imagining how a corp might work, the corp may make its police officers buy (or work off) their own gear, even though it's "issued". In that case, the "issue" of equipment serves only to enforce the corp's idea of what officers should (and should not) be carrying on the job. If you're feeling benevolent, you may have it actually issued for free by the corp, but then it definitely belongs to the corp.

On the other hand, people working for an official agency or corp can get away with all kinds of things (carrying serious weapons) that would be illegal for normal PCs. Do you want to charge them points for that privilege too?

Some more reasons why I wouldn't give points for Sinner:
* It's a rather meaningless "disadvantage" for a police officer. It's not a Bad Thing, so it's not worth points.
* Everyone gets it, so basically you're saying "make 405BP characters, and maximum 30BP of NQs". It just reduces diversity among PCs a bit. Which I don't think is good.

I would say yes. Charge them for the drawbacks and the benefits; might roughly even out, points-wise, but yes, do that.

Yes. Qualities--positive and negative--are part of what separates any individual character from the baseline of his/her metatype. In the case of the Shadowrun game (and genre), the baseline seems to be a shiftless wanderer performing odd jobs to pay for his/her next meal and squat. People who have day jobs are "abnormal" in the genre, and that day job comes with enduring responsibilities above and beyond just paying for the next meal or squat. Likewise for SINners. On the other hand, as you point out, being allowed to carry certain devices legally normally requires a legal license for the device in question; you might require the cop to pay for the appropriate license. You might make them buy the Restricted Gear quality for gear that normally requires it, but if the PC can't take it home at night, I think he/she shouldn't have to pay for it because the corp owns it.

As Janessa points out, it might all be a wash point-wise, or the GM might rule that all the required stuff, positive and negative, doesn't count in any way point-wise; that is, reestablish the baseline to be a cop of the appropriate level.

You can't buy legal licences in SR.. there aren't any rules for that. There are only fake licences for sale. Strange but true.




This is better, IMHO. People should be able to use the full 35BP of potential NQs to differentiate their PCs from each other.

Mainly, because you are not playing a Legalized Character. If you are a Sinner with a reason to have the equipment, having a Legal License is likely part of the Sinner Quality. Likely costs the same as the Fake ones for those who are NOT Sinners.

Possibly "Accounts on Record" as well.

Indeed...