Hey everyone,

So I'm beginning to puzzle out my first "intro" run for a new episodic shadowrun game. It's set in Seattle 2053 and using the Shadowrun 2nd edition rules.

Quick breakdown: the producers of an American Idol equivalent need a team to break into a local recording studio and destroy the master recordings made by the star contestant (and favored to win) of the latest season. They also need all evidence of contracts between the star and the studio/label destroyed.

Complication: the studio is co-owned by the son of a local mafia family, who fashions himself a talent scout. The star's manager/producer gave the son part of the business to get out from under some heavy gambling debts.

I'm looking for a third leg, either something that further complicates the run itself, or something that takes the run in a different direction once the runners get in the thick of it.

I like the potential for the mafia to become either a contact or an enemy post run.

I'm also looking at this adventure to be a lead in to Mercurial, and later Queen Euphoria.

Help!

Tom

Perhaps Mercurial herself "stops by" to visit the studio in the middle of the run? Maybe she already knows the studio manager?




-k

Thought about that. Thought it might be more effective for her to do a duet with the star performer, either at a local club before the runners are hired, or on that weeks episode of American idol (highest ratings ever, most downloaded track).

Tom

The Mafia is using that business to launder money with maybe?
Or the Starlet is the Girlfriend of a mid tier Mafia made man?

Suddenly dragons!

Out of Nowhere

The studio is actually rigged with hundreds of hidden cameras, and the producers hired the team to get them into a secret docu_drama cum reality show. "RUNNING THE SHADOWS"

The team end up on some dodgy trid shows and need to get kosher again.

Yeah...not quite the tenor I'm hoping to set.

My current thinking is that a member of the mafioso's son's entourage, a childhood friend and confidant, has a thing for Korean massage parlors. His latest hobby involves getting a bit rough with the girls. Understandably, the local Seoulpa ring is unhappy with this.

So while the runners are under strict instructions for subtlety, her comes the Seoulpa to shoot up the place and ruin their day.

Oh, and maybe the studio node has a few video tokens this thug has takn with his cyber eyes.

Too SVU?

Tom

Snrk, I like this idea.

I was going to hop in with "Suprise! Incest!" but it didn't really make sense in context.

WARNING:
TVTROPES LINK DETECTED!
WARNING:
TVTROPES WILL EAT YOUR LIFE!

One of the recordings to be destroyed happens to be a priceless duet with Jet Black... and he comes looking for it.

Wait! Who is Jet Black?

Tom

Isn't he one of those Vampire Rockers?

Yeah, he's from On the Run.

That'd be pretty interesting to to tie it in to JetBlack if you have done On the Run, or if you haven't, then it acts as a way to start it.

Haven't ever read On the Run, but maybe I should. Sounds like something that would fit right in with my vision for this game.

In the meantime, anyone have a suggestion for the 2050's equivilant of American Idol? Is there already one in canon? What are the big media corps (besides Horizon) that would make a good candidate for the employer?

Tom

Shadowbeat lists the major networks.
ABS - American Broadcasting System
CBC - Confederate Broadcasting Company
NABS - Native American Broadcasting System
NBS - North American Broadcasting System
NN - NewsNet

Then there are independents and cable channels.


some from the program listings:
SEX - Surging EXtasy Channel
GON - God's Own Network
NOS - Nostalgiavid
REN - Renraku Broadcasting
ROK - Rocker Stars

There are more, but I stopped when I saw ROK.

Yeah, Shadowbeat is funny. It so wants to be useful for this, but it just keeps coming up lame.

Right now I've settled between ABS (now part I'd Saeder-Krupp) or NBS (owned by Ares). I still kinda like Horizon for all this though and may just skip canon altogether.

It's good to know that the guys at FASA didn't foresee reality tv or iTunes coming back in 93.

And the current working name for the new American Idol is "Idol X" (why be subtle?).

Tom

So on further reflection, I'm still going with the Seoulpa Ring angle.

The mafioso son is running a ring of Korean massage parlors that are, naturally, fronts for prostitution. The Local Seoulpa want in on that action. Best-friend/hanger on likes to soften his women up with his fists, but uses the threat that the Seoulpa are WORSE to keep his favorites in line. Could the Seoulpa be worse? Maybe. I'm inclinded to make the head of the local ring a real hard ass, and another potential enemy for the runners.

Here are some extra details I'm thinking of peppering in the mix:

The studio has some lost demo tracks that sound a lot like missing rocker, Jet Black. No one knows what they have in them. And the engineer that recorded them disappeared shortly after trying to sell the demos on the black market.

The mafioso is searching for his ex-wife/former (favorite) mistress. She got out of the life and joined the Universal Brotherhood. The trail goes cold after that.

Some good suggestions here guys! Appreciate it.

Tom

Hopefully not too late. Wasn't/Isn't Aztech a major PR firm? I know they have TV channels for their blood sports, I'm guessing they'd have some for news.

Sure. But what networks are best suited for schlocky reality programming?
Tom