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Megu
Brainstorming question, guys. So, I'm running a campaign set in 2072 Saigon. Tonight they infiltrated a Vietnamese military base and switched out a magical jar from Laos' Plain of Jars for an enchanted facsimile to throw off government research, before escaping in an APC.

Anyways, so they've been working for the Triad, and one PC is a compulsive gambler...I had the beginnings of an idea for next time and I was hoping you'd help me expand upon it.

Basically, I want the run to center around the Shadowrun equivalent of the Russian roulette parlor from The Deer Hunter. But what would the PCs actually do? I'm hoping to have more intrigue this run because I've gotten the impression this group is subtle enough for it (always something you've got to watch with a new SR group).

What are you guys' thoughts?
Paul
Why change the tried and true game? Russian Roulette-a large caliber weapon, one round in the cylinder. Give it a spin, and see if you're the lucky winner.

I've done Russian Roulette in my games on a number of occasions and what I do is have the player call a number between one and six, then role a die. If I hit that number they take one in the brain pan. If I don't the move onto round two. If you want to make it sudden death after six turns add a bullet, and make them call two numbers. Do the same for the NPC's. We had one group of players make it to three bullets once. Sudden death is a motherfragger.

Add in Magic in the Sixth world and I suppose even this could be survivable, or as wildly fantastic as you'd care to make it. You could even do it with random effects and the like.
bustedkarma
The rule we used was 1d6-1 per turn, with the gun firing on a 1.
Obvioulsy, if your spinning the chamber, after each shot, you can lose the "-1".

Check out the flick "13" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_(film)
That could be a seed for a pretty good run.
Organized crime, Russian Roulette, and an interesting cast of characters.

Draco18s
QUOTE (bustedkarma @ Oct 3 2011, 11:56 AM) *
The rule we used was 1d6-1 per turn, with the gun firing on a 1.
Obvioulsy, if your spinning the chamber, after each shot, you can lose the "-1".

Check out the flick "13" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_(film)
That could be a seed for a pretty good run.
Organized crime, Russian Roulette, and an interesting cast of characters.


Actually, I like the rules used in the movie better than simply rolling a d6 and the nth person gets shot.
Megu
QUOTE (Paul @ Oct 3 2011, 05:15 AM) *
Why change the tried and true game? Russian Roulette-a large caliber weapon, one round in the cylinder. Give it a spin, and see if you're the lucky winner..


Oh absolutely, it's not much of an homage if the game changes dramatically.

I guess I was just wondering A. what the players would actually be doing; I could probably get the gambler to play, but I don't want the other players to not have shit to do, and B. how things change with magic and Matrix effects in play. How does the Triad prevent people from using Accident or Guard spirit powers, say, or skinlinks to hack into the gun and see where the projectile is?

In any case, thanks guys. Like what you've got here, looking into the movie.
bustedkarma
QUOTE (Megu @ Oct 3 2011, 03:59 PM) *
...how things change with magic and Matrix effects in play. How does the Triad prevent people from using Accident or Guard spirit powers, say, or skinlinks to hack into the gun and see where the projectile is?


Check out the "Vintage" rule from Gun Havens, that'll pull the plug on any sort of tech stuff. As far magic goes, I think the sky is limit on how best to control it. Awakened "umpire", warded room, etc, etc.

Good luck man, let me know how it goes. We did a RR set up during an interogation, as a way of making the guy talk.
It ended poorly.


Megu
Maybe, but I'm also worried about use of commlink programs to track how much the barrel has spun or something. Is that a risk do you think?
ggodo
I'd say see what they try to cheat with and decide on the fly whether to allow it as possible, smash it as not, or have them get caught. I guarantee they'll think of things you didn't.
Brainpiercing7.62mm
QUOTE (Megu @ Oct 3 2011, 10:46 PM) *
Maybe, but I'm also worried about use of commlink programs to track how much the barrel has spun or something. Is that a risk do you think?


Uh, mimic the scene from the movie? Give them a situation where with 99% certainty they'll get caught (or gradually stage up the difficulty until they are), then interrogate them summat (none of which they'll remember, anyway, so do it off-screen), and have them wake up chest deep in muck, more or less naked, stripped of gear and possibly even cyber, their worthless carcasses having been sold to a ghoul ring that likes to play with their food smile.gif.

Bring it out of the blue as something that could be happening after they have "failed" their regular mission smile.gif.

Just make sure to reimburse them in some way by the end of run, or leave them REALLY unsuspecting that this might have been a planned event, or else you might face a lot of player anger. And also make sure to give them an edge refresh prior to the event, so that they can aid their luck a bit.
Paul
QUOTE (Megu @ Oct 3 2011, 03:46 PM) *
Maybe, but I'm also worried about use of commlink programs to track how much the barrel has spun or something. Is that a risk do you think?


Cross that bridge when you come to it. If they use tech to cheat, well every good casino has stuff set up to spot cheats right?
Neowulf
Good way to weed out bad players. Start the run with a match of russian roulette and immediately remove any players who don't make sure the gun they're using is a revolver instead of something with a clip.
Paul
Hah. Someday in my memoirs I'll be able to discuss a story that addresses that very issue Neowulf.
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