Ok, one of our PCs got arrested so she cut a deal with the Star to do a run against KE in exchange for her freedom. Also, she gets a free Cranial Bomb augmentation out of the deal! sweet, huh?
One problem. I hadn't expected any of this and had absolutely nothing prepared.
So the run is kidnapping a detective in charge of an investigation which will lead back to a corrupt Lone Star executive. (may change).
Suggestions?
EDIT: yes, they are screwed.
Full Version: Off the rails
Road Trip to the Knight Errant Home Office to dig up some old files from the beginnings of KE, files that are not on the matrix, but still held in a state of the art facility. This sort of road trip pulls your players away from their home turf, causing them to possibly need to improvise in a new city for a little while. also giving the opponent home field advantage.
My first suggestion? Lose the cranial bomb. It's just a dick move forcing one on a player and it never goes over well outside of game, in my experience. Plus, what good reason would LS have for planting a bomb inside someone's skull? It doesn't make sense fluff-wise. Rather than a cranial bomb, have LS start leaning on some of her less-than-legal contacts and make it clear if she's doesn't cooperate, they will be arrested and her name will be linked in conjunction with that. Ruining a runner's shadow rep is just as lethal, especially when those who were close to those contacts come for revenge.
Second suggestion: Making a detective disappear while they're investigating you is usually a pretty big admission of guilt, so unless the players can frame someone else really well, it's actually a pretty stupid idea. I'd try some other way of making them shut up like bribery, blackmail, strongarming, extraction, or just straight up having the players offer a better deal from LS. I mean, who's heard of an honest cop in 2075?
Second suggestion: Making a detective disappear while they're investigating you is usually a pretty big admission of guilt, so unless the players can frame someone else really well, it's actually a pretty stupid idea. I'd try some other way of making them shut up like bribery, blackmail, strongarming, extraction, or just straight up having the players offer a better deal from LS. I mean, who's heard of an honest cop in 2075?
LS doesn't want to go to war with Ares. Remind me how many votes does LS have on the corporate court?
Everyone is disposable at that scale. I don't care if you are the chairman, if the alternative to having your extracurricular activities exposed is possibly starting a war with most powerful military and one of the most powerful magical organization on earth you'll suddenly find yourself under the bus. Someone is going to go clean house to stop this.
So I think that any support on the LS side is not going to be very deep, and they are likely to show her what being a deniable agent is all about. In this case, it's all about her brains on the ceiling.
Everyone is disposable at that scale. I don't care if you are the chairman, if the alternative to having your extracurricular activities exposed is possibly starting a war with most powerful military and one of the most powerful magical organization on earth you'll suddenly find yourself under the bus. Someone is going to go clean house to stop this.
So I think that any support on the LS side is not going to be very deep, and they are likely to show her what being a deniable agent is all about. In this case, it's all about her brains on the ceiling.
Oh, and police detectives don't have mansions. You're talking more like KE manager for Seattle Metroplex. So yeah, you've just become really high on the list of KE issues corporate wide. Good luck when the Firewatch ritual mages start looking for the guy, hope you have him in a F20 ward a LONG way from Seattle.
theres an episode of burn notice where Micheal wants to get rid of the cop who's following him, so he "helps" her bring down a criminal she's been after for awhile. Here it is.
Situation was resolved. thanks for the advice.
Considering that the reason for starting this thread is no more, let us repurpose it into something more general. How do you deal with players who manage to completely demolish your campaign?
A bar of soap in a sock works well and leaves few marks.
oh you mean how do you salvage the campaign/divert disaster....
depends on the players actions and to what level has the campaign been compromised....
Could you give an example to base against?
oh you mean how do you salvage the campaign/divert disaster....
depends on the players actions and to what level has the campaign been compromised....
Could you give an example to base against?
Example: Henderson scale of plot derailment
0.5 Hendersons. The players successfully mind probe someone they shouldn't have been able to, and you give them information of the overplot that they weren't supposed to have before thinking. They use this information to go and sequence break.
0.5 Hendersons. The players successfully mind probe someone they shouldn't have been able to, and you give them information of the overplot that they weren't supposed to have before thinking. They use this information to go and sequence break.
Alright, first we look at the language.
You say they should not have been able to mind probe the person in the first place.
Why?
If it was their Johnson, who was setting them up, congrats they have bypassed one problem at the cost of another. Mind probing, especially as this is always noticeable (as per the description) means there is going to be hard feelings and if word gets around about the MP, it may not reflect well even if the original outcome was happy for all. People like their secrets and get nervous around people who can tap into those secrets.
If it was instead a NPC along the way, well that when you have to decide how much did they really know in the overall scheme. If Vinnie the local tough is working for the Big Bad and has all his metaplot informed to him, BB is an idiot and deserves to be cut down by his own act of Darwinism. Again people who know you use mind probe will act differently around you and certainly try to keep their distance or at least carry protections/charms.
Layers upon layers is the first line of defense against giving away the whole ball of wax. No one person except the Boss and his Voice should have all the details, he chops it up and portions it out to his minion, often via sub bosses and similar, but even these only have pieces of the puzzle.
Geasa/Blood oaths are a bitch and not the cutie initiations stuff. If you are messing with Triad, don't expect to Mind probe some of the higher ups without them self destructing first thanks to binding mystic oaths to ensure loyalty.
It is a hard one as magic/hacking/rigger changes the landscape of an adventure quickly and often in unexpected ways. They can access tons of information the average Joe on the street just can not do easily.
You say they should not have been able to mind probe the person in the first place.
Why?
If it was their Johnson, who was setting them up, congrats they have bypassed one problem at the cost of another. Mind probing, especially as this is always noticeable (as per the description) means there is going to be hard feelings and if word gets around about the MP, it may not reflect well even if the original outcome was happy for all. People like their secrets and get nervous around people who can tap into those secrets.
If it was instead a NPC along the way, well that when you have to decide how much did they really know in the overall scheme. If Vinnie the local tough is working for the Big Bad and has all his metaplot informed to him, BB is an idiot and deserves to be cut down by his own act of Darwinism. Again people who know you use mind probe will act differently around you and certainly try to keep their distance or at least carry protections/charms.
Layers upon layers is the first line of defense against giving away the whole ball of wax. No one person except the Boss and his Voice should have all the details, he chops it up and portions it out to his minion, often via sub bosses and similar, but even these only have pieces of the puzzle.
Geasa/Blood oaths are a bitch and not the cutie initiations stuff. If you are messing with Triad, don't expect to Mind probe some of the higher ups without them self destructing first thanks to binding mystic oaths to ensure loyalty.
It is a hard one as magic/hacking/rigger changes the landscape of an adventure quickly and often in unexpected ways. They can access tons of information the average Joe on the street just can not do easily.
QUOTE (Sendaz @ Sep 16 2013, 07:02 AM) 
Alright, first we look at the language.
You say they should not have been able to mind probe the person in the first place.
Why?
If it was their Johnson, who was setting them up, congrats they have bypassed one problem at the cost of another. Mind probing, especially as this is always noticeable (as per the description) means there is going to be hard feelings and if word gets around about the MP, it may not reflect well even if the original outcome was happy for all. People like their secrets and get nervous around people who can tap into those secrets.
If it was instead a NPC along the way, well that when you have to decide how much did they really know in the overall scheme. If Vinnie the local tough is working for the Big Bad and has all his metaplot informed to him, BB is an idiot and deserves to be cut down by his own act of Darwinism. Again people who know you use mind probe will act differently around you and certainly try to keep their distance or at least carry protections/charms.
Layers upon layers is the first line of defense against giving away the whole ball of wax. No one person except the Boss and his Voice should have all the details, he chops it up and portions it out to his minion, often via sub bosses and similar, but even these only have pieces of the puzzle.
Geasa/Blood oaths are a bitch and not the cutie initiations stuff. If you are messing with Triad, don't expect to Mind probe some of the higher ups without them self destructing first thanks to binding mystic oaths to ensure loyalty.
It is a hard one as magic/hacking/rigger changes the landscape of an adventure quickly and often in unexpected ways. They can access tons of information the average Joe on the street just can not do easily.
You say they should not have been able to mind probe the person in the first place.
Why?
If it was their Johnson, who was setting them up, congrats they have bypassed one problem at the cost of another. Mind probing, especially as this is always noticeable (as per the description) means there is going to be hard feelings and if word gets around about the MP, it may not reflect well even if the original outcome was happy for all. People like their secrets and get nervous around people who can tap into those secrets.
If it was instead a NPC along the way, well that when you have to decide how much did they really know in the overall scheme. If Vinnie the local tough is working for the Big Bad and has all his metaplot informed to him, BB is an idiot and deserves to be cut down by his own act of Darwinism. Again people who know you use mind probe will act differently around you and certainly try to keep their distance or at least carry protections/charms.
Layers upon layers is the first line of defense against giving away the whole ball of wax. No one person except the Boss and his Voice should have all the details, he chops it up and portions it out to his minion, often via sub bosses and similar, but even these only have pieces of the puzzle.
Geasa/Blood oaths are a bitch and not the cutie initiations stuff. If you are messing with Triad, don't expect to Mind probe some of the higher ups without them self destructing first thanks to binding mystic oaths to ensure loyalty.
It is a hard one as magic/hacking/rigger changes the landscape of an adventure quickly and often in unexpected ways. They can access tons of information the average Joe on the street just can not do easily.
I may need to ask my old GM (The one who told me about the incident in the first place) for more details...
You want to know what I do when this happens? Casually toss the plot away for later and then focus on what they want to do. If they manage to solve the entire plot in 15 minutes because they thought of something I didn't, kudos to them. Honestly, it's part of being a GM. Occasionally I'll just say "No, you can't do that, it's important for the plot" and they just roll with it because the times I do are so rare it means I have something really cool planned. Usually, then, they play nice and let me get to the action I wanted because it's usually way cooler than anything they could dream up.
Or, unless, you are talking about the time I taunted the harpy in the first night of my BESM game (took a break from SR over the summer), which caused her to attack the BBEG, getting a critical success, which I followed with a critically failed dodge roll, and then a roll of 6 on the bonus damage die, resulting in the BBEG getting killed on the first night of the campaign.
Yeah, for that one I told the players to fuck off and go get snacks at the store because I needed to spend the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how to salvage the campaign.
Edit: Should probably mention what I did. Since BESM is a game for playing stereotypes, I decided he was a load-bearing villain and collapsed the cave on top of them. So....I guess the take away from this is if your players derail the plot, drop a building on them?
Or, unless, you are talking about the time I taunted the harpy in the first night of my BESM game (took a break from SR over the summer), which caused her to attack the BBEG, getting a critical success, which I followed with a critically failed dodge roll, and then a roll of 6 on the bonus damage die, resulting in the BBEG getting killed on the first night of the campaign.
Yeah, for that one I told the players to fuck off and go get snacks at the store because I needed to spend the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how to salvage the campaign.
Edit: Should probably mention what I did. Since BESM is a game for playing stereotypes, I decided he was a load-bearing villain and collapsed the cave on top of them. So....I guess the take away from this is if your players derail the plot, drop a building on them?
One of the better SR5 magic nerfs is that you resist detection spells with two attributes now. Smart NPCs are going to be much harder to get full probes on now. And I always figure a mind probe, like getting shot, is something most people instinctively spend Edge on to resist.
But I don't necessarily agree that there should be consequences for mind probing someone. You did cast Alter Memory right after, right? And of course you were wearing a Mask spell to look like a psychedelic cartoon character and asked a lot of weird "in character" questions so that that when the Alter Memory wears off they'll be too embarassed/confused to report it to security weeks/months later.
"Sure, buddy, that glowing pink...thing from the NERPs cartoon asked you about your opinions on bestiality laws before mind probing you for the status of that research project. And you're only remembering this now? These men in the white jackets will take care of you now."
But I don't necessarily agree that there should be consequences for mind probing someone. You did cast Alter Memory right after, right? And of course you were wearing a Mask spell to look like a psychedelic cartoon character and asked a lot of weird "in character" questions so that that when the Alter Memory wears off they'll be too embarassed/confused to report it to security weeks/months later.
"Sure, buddy, that glowing pink...thing from the NERPs cartoon asked you about your opinions on bestiality laws before mind probing you for the status of that research project. And you're only remembering this now? These men in the white jackets will take care of you now."
Plot... what is this "plot" you speak of?
First of all, I try to run a sandbox type campaign. So there is a storyline that will progress, whether the PCs are involved or not, they should be, but it is not necessary. Secondly, my runs are built with the premise that the faster the run gets done, the more time the PCs will have for NERPs. So while certain methods of short circuiting the run are difficult to pull off, they are never entirely off the table, so faster finish, more NERPs.
First of all, I try to run a sandbox type campaign. So there is a storyline that will progress, whether the PCs are involved or not, they should be, but it is not necessary. Secondly, my runs are built with the premise that the faster the run gets done, the more time the PCs will have for NERPs. So while certain methods of short circuiting the run are difficult to pull off, they are never entirely off the table, so faster finish, more NERPs.
We used to work hard to figure out way to avoid the huge gunfight the GM planned. Having the security guards helping to load the stolen mainframe on our truck was pretty much the ideal ending.
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