First thing to remember: There is no such thing as overkill.
Also: Close air support covereth a multitude of sins.

On a less deranged note*:


In SR4A, there's a solution to that. Simply hook a cheap fire alarm (you know, those things that are supposed to alarm if your house is burning) onto said Aerosol sawdust grenades. If it's a cheap enough variant, it will probably be set off by just about any smoke/mist, not just actual smoke from a fire (seriously, I had one crappy model go off on boiling water. Kinda unnerving.).
Mist form instantly gets cancelled by getting in contact with an allergen!
Banshees and possible other things that only have vulnerabilities instead of allergies or allergies that are not easily exploited are a lot harder to catch, though.

My group once killed an uppitiy vampire. Thing was advancing on us in mist form, figuring we couldn't harm it. The troll slammed his walking cane into the mist, knocked it right unconscious (it didn't have any armor, duh) and solid and the street sam went in for the kill with a wooden sword. It was quite anticlimatic.

I'm not entirely happy with that "Ooooh, Vampire! Main, kill, burn, maim, kill, burn!"-attitude against GMNPCs, but also can't figure how to talk you out of it, so I might as well offer advice

*Oh, I just always wanted to use that line ever since I read it!

Modular Man: Why did your troll have a genuine wooden walking cane?

Also, I'm assuming a Trollish walking cane is more akin to anybody else's quarterstaff.

A bandolier of M34 grenades with hidden remote detonators. Wooley Pete action FTW. Or stuff them in his car, 0 to Burning White Hot goodness in less than a second. It should burn hot enough to turn him into crispy fried vampire pretty much instantly. I completely get the Vampire hate, I share it, all Vampires must die especially when they are a special little snowflake.

If you have surprise and time to set up the ambush, nothing is safe...probably not even from a hold-out

Totally down. I'm more wondering why any sensible runner would not flat out murder vampires and ghouls on site. They want to eat you, for pete's sake.

Because he's a special snowflake under the protection of our employer? Much good may that do him with my next character, btw...

Oh, he was the group's face, overall kind of a snob and somewhat entangled with either Yakuza or Triads (I always forget). He worked quite hard to overcome the classic "brute troll" cliché.
That said, he almost outdid both the gun bunny and the weapon specialist on that run, by punching that vampire and firing a rocket into one of the towers of said vampire's mansion. After that, he returned to being quite reserved and polite.

On topic: You could also, well, borrow Paddy's bus. CanRay really created something with that

A thermite grenade would be far more effective, to be honest. This is a situation where a focused effect would do far more good than burning down the whole damn neighborhood with a bandoleer of explosives that have a 34 meter blast radius each and an average throwable range of four meters too close to not be hit.

I would do my old trick of swapping his airbag for a claymore mine. Swoop and Squat him with a second car driving behind him. Front driver walks up with a suppressed machine pistol to offer covering fire if necessary while the rear vehicle driver rushes up with a thermite "medical kit" to "assist with any injuries". Screech, boom, brap (if necessary), plop, fizz, whump, and the world is one largish carbon pile closer to being undead free.

You can do this easily if you're the group armorer. Hand out bandoliers to everybody. Just make sure you retain the detonation codes, have hidden backdoors in their detonators, etcetera. Then when he's out of blast range of anybody you care about, boom!

Well, I am the only regular group member who can do anything other than fight and hide, but unfortunately most of the group include "able to maintain weapons" as part of fighting so we don't really have a group armourer

It's not just a GMPC... it's a sparkling vampire GMPC! Even if it's just plot pixie dust, it qualifies.

Obliterating it with extreme prejudice doesn't count as derailing a plot, it counts as saving it.

Almost all of the PCs from my campaigns would have qualms about murdering sentient beings, even if their nature is potentially harmful to others. Any but the really disturbed, borderline psychopathic, characters retained that spark of conscience. Still, all of that depends on the group's and the narrator's style. We like it our way.

While I like thermite it might not have the desired effect unless he is given a top hat doctored for the occasion. As to throwing a grenade 4 meters, that is also know as the reason I would give a short little explanation to boots on the grenade range: "You will pull pin, look down range, extend your forward arm, cock back, and throw. If you should drop the grenade after pulling the pin, or somehow hit the wall and have it bounce back, I will kick the grenade into the sump pit and throw your ass on top. So think about that throw." If you throw a grenade 4 meters you have some weak sauce, and if you are throwing grenades in the open with no cover, well then you are a special kind of...well we know how that ends.

Airbag with claymore works nicely, but with Vampires, they must BURN!!! If you can't get the sweet, sweet, kiss of the sun to grace them with a fiery and exceedingly painful ending, well then fire is your only option. Fire is cleansing, fire is good, fire is everything someone trying to kill Vampires wants or needs.

Well, I figured that having the steering column and dash there would help direct the backblast into the legs to limit the target's mobility, the 700 1/8th-inch steel BBs designed to slaughter everything in front of them at 50 meters hitting at a range of 18-24 inches would get the major organs and most of the upper skeleton nice and squishy, and the car doors and windows containing the blast momentarily would ring it's bell really damn good if not straight up gelling the brain.

Driver of the first car rolls up with the machine pistol and gives it the good news with a full magazine if all that still doesn't slow the bloodsucker down. Driver behind reaches into the blown driver's side window, plops the thermite charge (it is the size of a good roadside assistance kit, mind you) in the lap-equivalent of the slowly healing bag of Jell-o inside, pops the fuze, and calmly folds the upper torso area in top of the charge. It ignites, cooking everything top and bottom, the internal plastics of the vehicle ignite and burn like normal with lots of black smoke so you can't see what's happening inside, and your deed is done. It actually goes better if any fuel or batteries ignite as any first responders are likely to just let it burn rather than waste a bunch of time trying to put out somethign that is obviously intent on devouring itself.

Pack some wood splinters in the air bag claymore and you got a guaranteed kill, otherwise he has a small chance of misting things up.

Powerdive a C-130 packed with burning thermite onto him. I supposed adding sawdust would help.







-k

If this NPC is important to your GMs plans, don't be surprised if killing it would mean that other NPCs will try to kill you in return. Also be aware that it would be perfectly reasonable for a vampire working cooperatively with PCs to have taken extraordinary measures to protect itself from a double cross. Could the NPC actually be something much more powerful, say, a dragon, Masquerading as a vampire? Would blowing away a vampire while pretending to be an ally bring you fame or possibly notoriety?

Why would a runner kill a vampire/ghoul on sight if doing so would jeopardize them, their team, or a lot of money?

On Principle.
Because it's an appropriate Reaction IN CHARACTER as soon as you learn of that fact.

In my opinion, if you're playing a vampire hunter, certainly. Otherwise it depends.

Everyone knows that Vampires are evil.
They hypnotize you into becoming food.
So you KILL THEM DEADER before they can do that.

With Ghouls it's more like:"Burn everything down, or they spread. You punched him, you will have to die, i am sorry, we can't take the risk."

It will vary from table to table, but unfortunately you will find many folk get nervous having their characters around Infected.

It goes back to basics, if you shoot someone they take damage and may be mad, but the can get over it.

Shoot someone's toys and it's ON. Now take this logic a step further, the Infected can mess with the player's essence or even infect THEM, the ultimate messing with so to speak.

Some players don't see Infection as a hindrance so they tend to not sweat the potential risks and sometimes actively embrace it.

Many however like their toys, and by extension themselves in the form of their characters, all shiny and intact. Anything that can threaten this status quo will receive a cold reception from most.

Your runners have a problem with murdering people to make a living?

Don't pick fights you don't have to pick is one of the first steps to survival.

So, if those ghouls aren't looking to make you or anybody you care about (or who owes you money) into supper, don't pick a fight with them.

This is both redundant and repetitive.

I disagree, never lend a friend or person you care about money, as it usually leads to problems down the road.

If you just want to give your buddy money that's fine, but loans lead to nothing but grief.

Of course you don't lend money to people you care about, but once I lend a guy money, I care bout him, at least until I get my money back.

Point taken

Also, ghouls are carrion feeders. By the time they get to eat someone, both invoices and affection will most likely remain unanswered...

there's a difference between liking carrion, and only eating carrion. if you're around and there's a pack of feral ghouls that are hungry and there isn't already food available, then as far as they're concerned, you're just dinner waiting to happen.

And there is a strong possibility that they would consider, "expediting things a bit"...

Wait, if Ghouls need to eat metahuman flesh, and vampires are metahuman...can ghouls eat vampires? And just have them regenerate the eaten flesh? Then the ghouls just need to bring the vampire something to drain essence from every once in a while.

Man, that'd be a crappy life for a vamp to be ghoul chow.

i feel like wendigos would make more sense. i mean, they kinda prefer to set up cannibal cults so that they can eat their own cultists, do they not? ghouls sound like the perfect strategy for that.

Wait wait wait, i have it. The perfect method to make sure the slag gets offed.

Expose his identity and nature to the public.







-k

That'll work, but your street rep will take a nose-dive. Enjoy being Hung Out to Dry, you sell-out. Go cry to momma corp some more, maybe they'll turn your ass into a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Eh, if you were caught dispensing the information you deserve what you get.

Ideally you make it look like his worst enemy did it. Hopefully this will drive him to aggression and hasten his demise.




-k

If it was a regular runner being outed one could probably expect that reaction, but most would not see outing an Infected as selling out, sort of like outing a bug spirit or a shedim.

Silly perhaps, but there is still that mental divide on things like this.

So, let me get this straight: Because you, as a player, hate a certain race, you will resort to extreme metagaming measures to kill an allied NPC? Leaving aside the methods for now (plenty have been mentioned, and honestly, it isn't really hard), have you thought about the repercussions for your gaming group? If your DM is the "an eye for an eye" type, your future characters will be targeted with extreme prejudice. Or he could just throw you out of the group, which he is well within his rights to do, as you're about to pull a jerk move.

If your GM is so easily offended as to take this kind of extreme action, you're better off for not being in his group anymore.

To be completely frank, the diary so far is pointing to the GM being, "one of those GMs" so he's really screwed either way.

Metagaming to PK someone is pretty much the biggest breach of trust there is.

Not even a little. It's actually SOP for a game, unless you're in a poor team who simply wings it through every adventure. We're talking about a game wherein the art of the double-cross is an actual game mechanic. The appropriate action is to adjust the characters rep, not to get butthurt and take it out on the player. The GM's job is to write a story that the characters can then manipulate via metagaming, much like reading a Choose Your Own adventure book with a plethora of extra "pages". Revenge mentality over a tabletop game suggests a level of emotional sensitivity that rivals that of hardcore feminists.

Apparently, you and I have very different ideals on what a game entails.

+1

You're not only here who is... surprised.

Also, what's up with the jab against feminism? Sexist, much?

Not when the GM introduces a Marty Stu GMPC who happens to be a special snowflake on top of it. If your NPC is going on missions with the players under common circumstances it is over the line to begin with at which point you as a player are well within your right to sabotage the game as the social contract has been broken by the guy in charge. Personally I would talk to the GM and if he insisted on playing out whatever little Vampire Power Trip fantasy he has in the game, I would simply walk and find a different game, but metagaming is a perfectly legitimate response in this situation, I mean would you trust having Hannibal Lector being on your team knowing he wants to eat your liver with fava beans, and a fine chianti?

Well it would depend on the circumstances really.

Hanni is not a rabid animal eating the first thing that crosses his path.

Yes he is a psychopath, he processes things a bit different than the average joe and he does have some impulse control issues.
But he has in his own way, granted a pretty twisted way, a logic/code that he follows. Learn to use this to your mutual advantage.

If your goal and his coincides for the run he probably can be a delight to work with.
He is well read and well spoken, brilliant, meticulous for detail and ruthless enough to get the job done afterall, and would see the mission through to the end.
Which is more than I can say for some of the loons and amateurs I have been saddled with on a run from time to time.

Just like working with heavy machinery or electricity, you do have to follow some safety protocols:

Be Polite: Stow the attitude and do your best to be very polite with him and others around him as he tends to eat the rude first, even those who were not rude to him directly.

Be Firm: He is an alpha predator, you do not want to appear to be sheep as it can trigger certain responses.
Do not be afraid to stand up for yourself and maintain your position, but do not get up so much into his face that he considers you rude (see above) or an overwhelming threat.

Be honest and upfront: Playing silly buggers by planning a doublecross / setup or otherwise trying to outthink him will generally land you in hot water (for the stew).
Failing to mention key details because you don't trust him can compromise the mission and by default compromises you since that makes it look like your goals do not coincide and therefore you become fair game.
This can be tricky as your Johnson might not have given you all of the details, but if you can show you are disclosing everything you know, the better off you will be.
Maybe Hanni will pay the Johnson a visit later for this oversight.

Be Aware: Know where he is at all times. Don't stare at him, that's rude, but keep him in the corner of your eye or have the decker doing overwatch mark his position for you.
While he may or may not be planning anything nefarious, don't present an easy target (ala sheep) as instincts can be hard to fight.
Think Kids and cookie jars... same rule applies.

Do NOT scrimp on supplies: He is a man of refined tastes. If you make him and another runner do a stakeout on some corp exec with nothing but stale soykaf and day old doughnuts, he is going to improvise.
Go ahead and spring for the real steak, wine and caviar.
Your buddy on the stakeout with him will thank you for it.

Be Clear: If you tell him 'Eat Me' or 'Bite Me', even in jest or in a moment of irritation, well you did ask for it......
Just like working with an autistic, they can take things quite literally so choose your words carefully so there is no confusion.
Likewise do not hand him half ass/incomplete orders and then complain when he interprets them differently than what you meant but didn't specifically say.
Think wishes from a genie, be careful what you ask for.

Do not Assume:This is a hard one.
On one hand he is perfectly capable of gutting the lot of you and making Christmas decorations and Hors d'oeuvres out of your entrails.
But on the other hand, not every action he makes is necessarily an attack directed at you.
Yes he has the potential to do exactly that, but so do you. So long as your goals coincide and you are of use to each other, you should be safe for the duration of the run.
If you jump the gun at some action he does because you mistook it for an attack, it could well escalate up to one quickly enough as he defends himself.

Do NOT be tastier than the opposition: Maintaining a small supplement to your diet of rat poison or something similarly noxious leaves you with a bitter taste that can help discourage nibbling between meals.
Things may still go south and he tries to eat you, but he will not enjoy it or even be able to keep it down.
Can be a bit of a pyrrhic victory, but every bit helps when he is trying to decide who to munch on.
Maybe spray the opposition with a honey glaze or shoot them with gravy filled capsules.

Rewards: Studies show psychopaths perform/learn better when success is rewarded rather than punishing failures.
Don't be afraid to say Thank You when he has done his part. It's the polite thing to do and shows you value his participation.
Threats of punishments/reprisals if he crosses the team will not carry the same weight, he is used to taking lumps along the way, its the end prize he savour and responds to.
Make sure whatever he is being paid/rewarded with is more than adequate, you don't want him coming back charging you an arm and a leg (literally) afterwards.
Treating him as an outsider or a tool along the way will only cause him to reciprocate, which means you are fair game in his mind.

Have an Exit Strategy: Once the job is done, whatever truce you and Hanni may have had should now be considered over. Watch your back.
This does not mean you try shooting him then and there.
Don't have him tagged during the run or plan to follow him afterwards.
The job is over and it is time to go your separate ways, hopefully with no hard feelings between you or reason for either party to pursue the other.
Try to part ways in a public place or otherwise occupied area, neither side wants to make a scene and in a worse case scenario bystanders can be used as meatshields/cover.
When you do depart, leave the area quickly and cleanly. Follow same protocols as you would shaking a tail.
Do not return to any safehouse/caches/storage facilities you may have used during the run, even if he wasn't with you at those places, any of them could well be compromised.

Ideally if you have followed the guidelines above he should not have a bone to pick with you or want one of your bones to pick with, so with luck the two of you should never meet again.

Does this mean if you do all of the above you are 100% safe?
No, but who said life was ever 100% safe.
But you should have a better than even chance of walking out of there intact.

Really if you think about it, with only some minor tweaking you could apply the above to working with vamps/other alpha predator types ....

I am quite impressed!
I'm keeping this list for future use.

Interesting perspective, but I see this situation as being like the mongrel dog scene in the Green Mile. They might be good now this minute, but some day they're going to act like the low-down, mangy mutt they really are. Assets that require so much prep, coddling, and general maintenance and watching as the example above is a really a pig wearing lipstick, Versace, and pearls. It might be pretty, but it's still damn pig.

I say smile and nod until you see your moment, then... *draws finger across my throat*

So I should behave a certain way so I don't become dinner? How about I terminate the lunatic, and never have to worry about that particular problem. Excellent list by the way assuming you want to play nice with a cannibalistic psychopath. Not having any compunction to endanger myself in such a manner, I would snuff him first. In a situation such as this, I would simply walk away from it, and when the GM decides to railroad the character, I would be out the door and on to a new group, unless the whole group hates the situation in which case I would do exactly what he plans to do, burn the vampire.

Or maybe, instead of derailing the campaign with in-party violence and getting into a tit-for-tat with the GM or writing up a doctoral dissertation about how everyone in the game needs to act exactly right to keep the GMPC happy, you should talk to your GM like an adult, explain that you're not comfortable with a GMPC, and see what happens.