Okay, so... I'm running the On the Run module for my players; a simple, relatively straightforward run after the convoluted mess of the last one. I also decided to introduce them to Blimey Estates at the same time, and for kicks I decided that Kerwin Loomis had moved up in the world from the Coda to taking over an ostensibly Irish pub after its owner passed, also in Blimey.

(My players had a legitimate 'holy shit' moment when they realized that not only had they seen the man who had their disk while doing something relating to their House Sitting Run, they had very possibly been within a room's breadth of the very disk itself.)

Another thing about my game is that my players have managed to get ahead of the module's schedule by about a day; rather than putting word out to their contacts, the hackers pooled resources and made a holy shit Data Search check, with which they found video of Nabo's joking about the email at Underworld 92. Then, instead of waiting to crash the concert, they crashed it while it was being set up, and not only stole Nabo's commlink (from out of his very hand, no less,) they also sold him two crates of rats (one marked 'for Metahuman consumption' just for laughs,) and a Demon Rat, and got him to "replace" the commlink that one of them had "stolen" at the same time Nabo's was lifted.

They then proceeded to track Zipper down at the Cathode Glow that very night. They're ahead of the game so far, so it seems fair to me that, between Loomis having moved to a higher-security area and the players being ahead of the game, they should be ahead of Ari Tarkasian's first play on the disk twice over; he can't just send in armed goons to take the disk from Kerwin, because the local police would object (violently,) and they are simply ahead of him at this stage of the game.

Normally, that would be no problem - instead of catching him in a junkyard or shooting it out with a gang and taking it off his person at gunpoint, they could just pull a Second Story job on his home/pub and take it from him whilst he sleeps. But the thing is, I think they're going to do the one thing that the module never expected them to do: try to extend a legitimate offer to buy it. They know that Loomis didn't steal the disk at all, that he inherited it, and he's not a big enough jackass that they'd steal his inheritance on general principles; and Mister Johnson rather explicitly told them that he didn't mind outright buying it if he could get a straight shot at it, without any bidding war shenanigans.

Loomis is greedy, but he's not stupid; he'll take the first good offer that comes his way and be glad to see the last of it, and if (as I suspect,) Darius St. George is in fact representing Perianwyr in this matter, that offer is likely to be big enough to make Kerwin Loomis' eyes pop despite it being a hedged bet by Darius St. George's or Perianwyr's standards. (I reckon probably 150-250K.)

But that would kind of cut the Run short - the players connect Loomis with Mr. Johnson just after the first trip to the Cathode Glow, Mr. Johnson arranges payment and takes possession of the disk, the players never get their hands on it, never get tempted to try and figure out what's on it. I reckon some legitimate stalling may be in order - as the module suggests, have Mr. Johnson be slow to respond to/receive their calls, etcetera. Then, I figure, someone else might take it (or try to take it) from Loomis, while the players are waiting for Mr. J to get back to him with an offer (assuming they don't take some precautions like convincing him to find somewhere else to be for the next week or so, or extending their hospitality in their little fortress in the Barrens...)

That would seem cheap, but... Well, when the Run started, my players were quite interested in poking questions, asking for details about the site it was "stolen" from, asking to investigate the area, asking details about the other (fictious) objects supposedly stolen along with it. I'm thinking they might actually enjoy a chance to track it down under those circumstances... Or a Pink Mohawk Gang might just drive up to O'Loomis' pub, shoot the place up and take it from Loomis at gunpoint, then smash through the gates and hightail it into Redmond.

Either way, I think the other team - or whomever does the taking, if I decide to go with it - should have the same problems they do, to give them time to get their hands on it. It's probably too early to bring JetBlack's band of vampires into play, though...




Still, I'm interested in what anyone else's thoughts are. I'd like them to see the full scope of this adventure in play, not just short circuit it and collect their paycheck with only about half of the adventure gone through (though if they take all the possible precautions and are lucky enough to do so, and not curious enough to investigate what's on it, there's not much I can do about that.) At the same time, I need to modify the run to meet the evolving circumstances, such as the fact that my players are dramatically ahead of the curve.

Has anyone else debugged this Run in such a manner and have any advice? Or even if you haven't, but you have some input?

Also, somewhere in On the Run suggests that it's the start of a series of connected Runs. Did that ever pan out and spawn sequels and follow-ups, or did it become an aborted arc?

The easy answer is just to throw a red herring at your players to take them off track slightly. A little distraction goes a long way. Actually, I take that back, the really easy answer is just let them do their jobs the way they want to. It sounds like there are plenty of people likely to be pretty mad at some of their flamboyant actions. That can either cost them down the road, or maybe Naboo's people decide to hassle them long enough for the other factions to make their moves.

There are so many places this module can easily go off of the rails. In fact, if you're playing a more or less traditional and professional group, it is likely that the players will miss several sections. That's why I saved it for our bizarre group of scumbags. They were willing to not only turn on Johnson, but send him a message that it wouldn't be worth the cost to seek reprisals.

That's just it... Flamboyant as it was, they actually made a completely clean getaway from Nabo and his guys by making it out as if they were victimized just as he was. It's not like his commlink is important enough for him to risk a confrontation over, especially when he's quite convinced that Ari Tarkasian ordered the rats as payback for Nabo insisting on managing the going-away concert himself.

Have loomis sell them a copy.

Like I said: he's greedy, not stupid. Mister Johnson was quite clear that he wanted the original, with no copies getting out. They're going to be pretty damn clear on that point to him, I expect... And he's not brave enough to risk wrath down the street...



Well, when they meet with him, he'll agree to their terms of not entertaining other offers until he hears what their Johnson has to offer. But since Darius St. George is going to be busy for a bit, he's not going to reply immediately. If they don't take precautions in that time, someone else is going to steal the disk off Loomis. Then they get to really earn their paycheck by tracking it down. Even if they do, though... Well, Loomis will get curious and tell them he wants to hear what's got everyone so a-tizzy, and suggest they try to decode it. That might hopefully push them into wanting to decode the disk.



[e]Also, I think that, just for kicks, a few months (game-time) down the line, Nabo is going to release a song extolling the virtues of the invisible Orc biker-ninja who rides in silence and slices in shadows. My players should get a hoot out of that, especially the actual invisible biker-ninja (who was, in fact, a Japanese human.)

I'd say make the offer straight away and have the delay be until the actual exchange. Loomis has no real incentive to agree to ignoring other offers without an actual offer on the table. He also gets to stew with the promise of a big payout. He may not be stupid, but people can get stupid given enough time. He starts to overthink things - He's being offered alot for the disk. Wonder what's on it? Wonder what someone else would pay for it? Etc.