Hi All;
First, some background:
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I tried once a few years ago to run a Shadowrun game. For various reasons, it imploded. Between a busy life and general gaming burnout, I haven't role-played in about a year and my old group seems to have dissolved. I have found a group of about 3-4 friends who seem interested in playing (one of whom will have to drive about 2 hours to get to my place to play). I am not exceptionally confident as a GM.
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I created it in a 2.5 day meeting I am at and I don't have access to my core rule book. Any details have been gotten off the interwebs. As my players and I are new to the rules, I am estimating that it will take several hours to go through this run. I would love it if you smarter and more experienced people could take a look at the VERY basic run I have designed and offer tweaks for rules that I may not have referenced correctly and ideas to make it flow better/more interesting. I'm not too fond of the extended tests trying to track down Celeste. If there is a better/more interesting way to do it, please suggest something. Here we go.
The players are contacted by their fixer(s) to meet a Mr. Johnson (Vincent Armand). Mr. Johnson's daughter (Celeste) has gone missing and he is hiring the runners to find them. He is going through the runners rather than the cops because she, most likely, disappeared in one of the Barrens and he (unbeknownst to the runners) is part of the Mafia.
He offers each runner <amount to be determined via the formula in the 5th edition handbook after the opposition has been fleshed out>. He also offers what information he has and gives the runners a picture of his daughter.
Legwork (are the number of hits needed generated by extended tests or "one shot" rolls (I could look it up, but I don't have my book with me)
Vincent Armand
Contacts Data-Search
0 0 Wasn't he an actor in the late 1900's, early 2000's?
1 3 Sounds familiar, I think he's in organized crime
2 6 He's part of the mafia
4+ 10+ He is a picciotto for the Finnegan Family. He works in the financial area.
Celeste Armand
0 0 She's a nova-hot dwarf porn starlet. Likes to work with trolls
1 3 I think she's a dilettante. Likes to party
2 5 She's the daughter of Vincent Armand. Like to relieve her boredom and take it out on daddy by playing in the barrens.
4+ 10+ She likes to hang out either at Loveland Quin's in the Puyallup Barrens or Banshee in Touristville
A glitch in Celeste's legwork will send the runners to Carbonado. A critical glitch will send them to Glow City.
If the runners go to Loveland Quinn's and show the picture, the regulars recognize her and note that she hasn't been in for a week or so.
At Banshee, the say she was there a couple of days ago and left with a crew of the "Crimson Crush" and the group went East.
A Negotiation (diplomacy- 5, 30 minutes) or Electronics (hacking- 5, 30 minutes) shows that the "Crush" was ambushed by a group of Yakuza about a mile away from Banshee, the Yakuza took Celeste, and headed South.
A Negotiation (diplomacy- 5, 30 minutes) or Electronics (hacking- 5, 30 minutes) shows that the Yakuza were ambushed by a group of ghouls. The survivors (including Celeste) and deceased were taken East.
A Negotiation (diplomacy- 5, 30 minutes), Perception (5, 30 minutes), or Electronics (hacking- 5, 30 minutes) shows the warehouse into which the ghouls went (Since ghouls astrally perceive, can they be sneaked-up on?).
Inside the warehouse, there is an area where the corpses are being stored/eaten and an area where the living (5 yaks and Celeste) are being kept to soon become din-din. During the ensuing chaos if there is a glitch on a firearm or magic attack, it will hit one of the Yakuza. If there is a critical glitch, it will hit Celeste.
I plan on the 4 runners (5 if they want me to run an NPC) to go up against 6 normal ghouls and a ghoul adept. Is this too much, too little, or juuuuuuuuust right?
On the way back, they will be accosted by a group of Yakuza looking for their members and trying to take back Celeste (she is part of a plan the Yakuza have to annoy/irritate/ the Mafia in general and maybe get some leverage on Vincent Armand). Depending on how beat up the runners are, the Yaks may fight them for Celeste or not. A social check could be used to get out (relatively) unscathed.
At the drop-off/final meet, things will go without incident (unless the runners start trouble). If Celeste is killed, Vincent will blame the Yakuza rather than the runners.
Thank you in advance for all your help!
Troy