I've had the luck of stumbling on a new copy of HB for a mere 20 bucks a few days ago... And, as I rather like the basic idea behind the adventure, I thought about having my group run it soon. However, it would need some adaptation, as my campaing is currently set in year 2060 (meaning that Oscuro is down... which isn't that much of a problem, since nothing stops me from replacing Darke/Oscuro with one of his former "henchmen").
In addition, one of my biggest gripes with the adventure(s) is the whole "the good shadowrunners save the day, followed by an happy ending" tone of the campaign. Seeing as one of the PCs is a revenge-driven triad hitman, that might not quite work with him... And I'm generally in favor of a Shshadowrunniverse far much "darker" that is portrayed in SR official adventures.
So, I'd just like to know if anyone encountered the same.. obstacles, and how they dealt with them. More generally, I'd like to know, if you've run HB, how did you do it.
Full Version: Running Harlequin's Back...
Even a revenge-starved triad hitmen don't want the world to end. He may not like the idea of being volunteered for this job against his will, but they were chosen by fate. To paraphrase Laughing Man from the start of the adventure, Fate is a fickle mistress and one hell of a bitch.
There is a bit of a heroic bent to Harlequin's Back, but you can take the basic ideas of the adventure and turn it into something else if that doesn't suit your group. A quest across the metaplanes could be required for many reasons, allowing the basic idea of the adventure.
One problem rears its head if you've read the Dragonheart Trilogy.
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
MAJOR HARLEQUIN'S BACK AND DRAGONHEART TRILOGY SPOILERS BELOW!!
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SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW
Harlequin thought that his solution was permanent. However, it only stalled the progression of Aztechnology for a very short time before they found a blood mage capable of withstanding the song. This causes Dunkelzahn to enact his final plan -- sacrificing his life to power the Dragonheart and becoming the free spirit Lithe so that he may level out the mana spikes caused by the Great Ghost Dance as well as other large scale magic uses. With Dunkelzahn already dead by the time 2060 rolls around, this causes a bit of a problem with the timeline.
However, if you keep the Dragonheart Trilogy out of your players' hands, or you don't mind deviating from the canon universe, Harlequin's plan could be a longer-lasting plan.
The Abstruse One
There is a bit of a heroic bent to Harlequin's Back, but you can take the basic ideas of the adventure and turn it into something else if that doesn't suit your group. A quest across the metaplanes could be required for many reasons, allowing the basic idea of the adventure.
One problem rears its head if you've read the Dragonheart Trilogy.
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
MAJOR HARLEQUIN'S BACK AND DRAGONHEART TRILOGY SPOILERS BELOW!!
W
h
a
t
h
a
p
p
e
n
e
d
t
o
t
h
e
s
p
o
i
l
e
r
t
a
g
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SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW
Harlequin thought that his solution was permanent. However, it only stalled the progression of Aztechnology for a very short time before they found a blood mage capable of withstanding the song. This causes Dunkelzahn to enact his final plan -- sacrificing his life to power the Dragonheart and becoming the free spirit Lithe so that he may level out the mana spikes caused by the Great Ghost Dance as well as other large scale magic uses. With Dunkelzahn already dead by the time 2060 rolls around, this causes a bit of a problem with the timeline.
However, if you keep the Dragonheart Trilogy out of your players' hands, or you don't mind deviating from the canon universe, Harlequin's plan could be a longer-lasting plan.
The Abstruse One
Abrojus, if you're reading this, stay the FRAG away from this thread and others like this 
So what if he's revenge driven. that might work well enough- "Hey chummer those evil freaking monsters want to eat your head! you gonna let 'em?"
Never mnid saving the world, he may not want to be lunch himself and a lot of the adventures he could probably get in on the violence early and avoid the rush.
Never mnid saving the world, he may not want to be lunch himself and a lot of the adventures he could probably get in on the violence early and avoid the rush.
I'm actually currently running HB for my team. I've had to make a modification to the ending sine one of my players has read the book.
Harlequin isn't Harlequin, he's actually one of the Enemy's servants (and since NONE of my team has ever met Harley, no one knows the difference), and THEY're trying to get the "one" thing that can stop them from completing their plan, and have to use the runners to do it since there are protections to stop THEM from trying it.
When THEY get ahold of the one thing (the Bridge, Part III), things happen just as they're written, and if the runners are bright enough, they could even stop "Harley" from destroying a certains someone.
Granted, my universe is nowhere NEAR cannon, but I had to punish... er, TEACH my players that you don't just jump into anything the GM hands them without any questions.
Harlequin isn't Harlequin, he's actually one of the Enemy's servants (and since NONE of my team has ever met Harley, no one knows the difference), and THEY're trying to get the "one" thing that can stop them from completing their plan, and have to use the runners to do it since there are protections to stop THEM from trying it.
When THEY get ahold of the one thing (the Bridge, Part III), things happen just as they're written, and if the runners are bright enough, they could even stop "Harley" from destroying a certains someone.
Granted, my universe is nowhere NEAR cannon, but I had to punish... er, TEACH my players that you don't just jump into anything the GM hands them without any questions.
Holy shit Vagen, that is such a GOOD IDEA!!! I'm sooooo doing that with my runners, who are (painfully) slowly getting in line to play HB as well. Man, that is gonna mess with them so damn much! Man, thanks for the superb idea!
| QUOTE (Vagen Karrde) |
| Harlequin isn't Harlequin, he's actually one of the Enemy's servants (and since NONE of my team has ever met Harley, no one knows the difference), and |
That may be one of the most evil things I've read here since the new boards opened. Congrats.
I've already strayed from cannon enough that this shouldn't be a problem... Especially since I particularly dislike the idea that Dunkelzahn nobly sacrificed himself to permanently solve that problem. Not exactly gritty, y'know...
As for my other... concerns, I already knew that motivating the character to go along on the campaign shouldn't be too hard; it's just that the whole thing reeks too much of heroism (and linearity...) for my tastes. That said, I prefer shadowrun as a cyberpunk game with some fantasy and horror elements than as a fantasy game in an urban setting.
As for my other... concerns, I already knew that motivating the character to go along on the campaign shouldn't be too hard; it's just that the whole thing reeks too much of heroism (and linearity...) for my tastes. That said, I prefer shadowrun as a cyberpunk game with some fantasy and horror elements than as a fantasy game in an urban setting.
bump
While most people revenge driven triad hitmen certainly wouldn't want the world to end some simply wouldn't care. REM, for example.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
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