My team will be meeting a new fixer next session.
I want to have him give them a trial run, possibly part of the big time. See, another team is swindling a AA out of about 50 mil, and he wants our team to do a non-essential bit part to help the con go smoothly.

The bit part is to basically to steal or fake an office for a Big Store scam, and to do so faster and more effectively than the other teams this fixer has also pulling the run (3 new teams total, only one will get their work used and get paid. Sabotaging the other teams will get you blacklisted). 3 day deadline, no upfront payment, 200 grand payout if they pull it off.

Any suggestions on what kind of challenges I can throw their way to spice things up?

I'd tell that Fixer to get dunked. No up-front and a mission that starts you off competing against other teams and you're not allowed to sabotage them?

So basically, he wants you to put out your money to earn a job, with two teams getting shafted?


If they go for it, though... Have one of the other teams offer them nuyen to throw the job, or offer to hire them to help set up their own scam store. If the three teams find each other and decide that 200,000 is still a lot, even split between three different teams, they can just sweep this up, nobody needs to get hurt, and many hands make for light work.

This could be a great opportunity for your Runners to make new contacts in the form of the other teams, if they decide to call them together for a pow-wow, declare that the Fixer's plan to make them compete is officially bullshit, and decide to split the work and the money.

It makes sense that the fixer wouldn't offer money upfront, if he's offering something worthwhile to earn his cut. Otherwise, the team could just run the scam themselves and take the money. Does the fixer have a reputation that they know they can trust him? Is there a goal (an objective beyond set up a fake store front) to this con or is it explicitly just a trial run? If the fixer was providing a location, a valuable lead, or something else to help the team succeed, I could see accepting no money up front. If they trust the guy.

I doubt they're going to waste the money to rent a store front space, so they'll probably just grab an abandoned one. So maybe the landlord shows up.

Or they set up in a neighborhood where the local gang expects protection money from all shop keepers and their payments due.

The place they pick has some sort of terrible infestation that's threatening to blow the job.

They incidentally con someone else's mark out of valuable pay data (when they just intended to steal his commlink) and now a completely different group of runners is trying to hit them to get it back.

Ok. Backstory, but nothing set in stone yet.

The Big Store this team is being hired to set up is for another team to use in their con on an A-level corporation. This con is itself just part of a Kansas City Shuffle being perpetrated on a AA-level corporation (The main team is using a bunch of satellite teams to establish a fake modus operandi to lull the target into thinking he knows what they're doing while they steal his money using a different con).

The fixer is a VERY well connected contact (connection 9) who is helping co-ordinate the various teams that are in play. He's been contacted by 3 no-rep runner teams, and he's decided to give them this challenge to see if any of them are worth his time. Easiest change is to simply make it a "you set up the store, you get paid" deal to remove the competition and hook the three teams up to co-ordinate their efforts, either netting the teams extra resources for a single Big Shop or giving them extra options for 3 Big shops for various satellite scams.

Our team right now is in a new city with no contacts, so having a highly connected fixer would be very useful for them. I'm planning to set it up so that if they pull it off they've gone up in the world and are part of a bigger league.

ok, some thoughts now that we have background, if you have a good face & a good team, expect them to try to delve into the deeper info, determine how much the johnson will divulge.

-Don't willingly mention the other teams, that is need to know information & unless the team asks more question, they don't need to know.

-If they get to that information, if they ask for contact info, Have the Johnson say if the other teams approve, their "leader" (read: face) will contact your face. This opens up the possibility that one team has no interest in talking.

-If you allow them to get info about the main team, expect them to offer more help. This is not only a good option to earn some help in their new city, but it shows the Johnson they are serious about their jobs. (by helping the main team by lending a team member if needed shows that the job comes first)

1) Job for pay. Probably not 200 grand.

2) Limited info -- he shouldn't tell the runners it's a trial run, but should let them know that if they do well there's more work in the future. Standard line.

3) To make it spicy, one of a few things could happen:

One of the runner teams running another part of the scam figures out it's a competition gets it in their heads to sabotage the PCs.

Another, completely different player in town gets a tiny bit of misinformation, and sets up a run/raid/mob-hit against the PC's, thinking it's a legit business moving in on their territory.

One of the other teams completely blows it, and the PCs are hired (for more money of course) on the spot to go clean up the mess and keep the main scam alive.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. So much nothing, in fact, that the PCs get paranoid that they've missed something and start digging up red herrings.

Bonus, he tells them its a trial run, just to check their skills/professionalism, but its actually part of the 'important' run.

So it's like America's Next Top Model, but for criminals?

Realistically, he cares about more than just the end results. He wants to know HOW they did it. A team that does it with finesse is worth more than one who just runs and guns, even if the latter team is a little faster. Plus he wants to know that they will mesh with his style, and know how to follow orders. I imagine he'd add an additional stipulation on there - carry this steel suitcase around with you or somesuch, which is stock full of recording (but not transmitting) devices so he can review everything after. Plus he'd have some eyes in the sky watching the action. This also makes sure that they don't cheat somehow.

I would tend to say that they should get paid even if they aren't first, but the payment is a token payment only. Something like $5k per runner sort of thing. Ultimately, this is a win for the fixer too. Having a fake store is still handy, even if he doesn't use it for this job. I'm sure he could flip it for a profit (or at least cover costs), and it keeps him from making enemies.