Houston GM

The shadowrunners were an ork/troll group. Against stereotype, they specialized in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection. Dent: ork, rat shaman No-Step: ork, snake shaman, healer Byte Force: ork, decker, chemist Eye Spy: ork, rigger, drones, paramedic Audacity Jane: ork, combat, stealth, security systems Happy Jack / Jonathan Bridges: troll, combat, disguise, negotiator Charlie (NPC): a fixer acting on behalf of an unknown employer Humanis Policlub: a group of human supremacists Association Para Noblis This was the same adventure previously described by Drhoz (here). Meeting with the fixer: Charlie: "Have you ever heard of the Association Para-Noblis?" Jonathan Bridges: "They're an elf-poser gang with corporate backing." Charlie: "The APN has been murdering elves who don't believe in their 'Elven ideal' of skipping through the meadows while playing a fragging lute. My client wants them eliminated." Jonathan Bridges: "They actually like lute music?" The client wanted the six core members of APN killed, the tips of their (fake, surgically altered) ears cut off, and an envelope left behind in the leader's lap. No-Step: "I'm not happy about doing wetwork, even against the APN." Audacity Jane: "Don't worry. I'll do the wetwork." Byte Force: "Let's keep the deaths to a minimum. Dead bodies leave behind living relatives ... and those tend to carry a grudge." Audacity Jane: "Which may explain who is funding this job." Happy Jack: "So we pin this on someone else. That way any retaliation is aimed at them, not us." No-Step: "Humanis Policlub must hate the APN. They'll make the perfect scapegoat." Eye Spy: "I'm not too fond of Humanis either." The envelope contained a page from a book that the team had stolen on a previous mission. But since the author of the book was a prominent elven power player, Humanis Policlub didn't like him either. Eye Spy: "I just had a horrible thought. What if we actually are working for Humanis?" Happy Jack: "Then they're paying us to frame them for the crime they're actually responsible for." Planning the strategy. Audacity Jane: "Let's hit them during their weekly meetings." Dent: "There will be over a hundred of them there at that time." Audacity Jane: "But almost all of them will be in the same room. We can sneak in through the empty second floor, kill the electricity, then fill the meeting room with smoke and gas grenades." Byte Force: "Normal humans, in a dark, smoke-filled room. They'll be sitting ... well ... sleeping ducks." Happy Jack: "The client may believe that eliminating the leaders will eliminate the gang, but I have my doubts." Audacity Jane: "Are we going for 'scorched earth'?" Happy Jack: "I was thinking more along the lines of 'thoroughly plundered'." The main assault went pretty much as planned. The team broke in through the empty second floor, snuck downstairs, and quietly dispatched a few APN members who weren't in the meeting. Then they killed the power, kicked open the door to the meeting hall, and filled the room with NeuroStun gas and smoke. The hearth spririts added their Confusion power to the normal confusion caused by the assault. Only a few people were still standing after the first blitz. They were quickly dropped by the follow-up. GM: I would suspect that you guys read the module in advance ... except this is a fairly normal plan for you. No-Step (ooc): Rock, paper, scissors kind of mismatch? GM: Only two of them could see through the darkness and smoke. Only two of them could safely breath the gas. Nobody could do both. During the raid, the runners found a little girl hiding under a couch. No-Step disguised himself as a human, then went to talk to her. Happy Jack was careful to stay out of the girl's line-of-sight. No-Step: (crouching down to peer under the couch) "Are you okay, dear?" little girl: "Who are you?" No-Step: "I'm a Lone Star officer." little girl: "You don't look like a cop." No-Step: "That's because we're the SWAT team." little girl: "Are you hurting the people who live here?" Happy Jack: (speaking from outside the girl's line of sight) "No. There's a barghest loose in the building, and we're trying to catch it." (pause) "The barghest is too big to fit under the couch, so you should hide there until it's safe to come out." little girl: "I'm scared." Happy Jack: "Just a minute. I have something that can help you." Jack left for a minute, came back, and rolled a small spray to the little girl under the couch. Happy Jack: "That's a bottle of barghest repellant. If the barghest comes in here, spray that and it will run away." No-Step: (whispering to Jack as they left the room) "You didn't give that little girl a can of mace, did you?" Happy Jack: (whispering back) "Don't be ridiculous. I found a thing of mint breath spray in one of the posers' pockets. I gave that to her." The little girl wanted the team to save The Red Woman, who turned out to be one of the six gang leaders. Dent used Mind Probe on her, as well as on the other gang leaders. Dent: "Nasty. I feel like I've been swimming in filth." Eye Spy: "Don't you normally enjoy that?" Dent: "They've been killing elves for the last couple years. Apparently Red is just beginning to question the morality of killing elves in order to 'save' them." Eye Spy: "She's such a sweetheart. Doesn't that mentality give you a warm fuzzy feeling?" Audacity Jane: "What kind of psychopath kills people in order to save them?" Everyone turned and looked at Audacity Jane. Audacity Jane: "What? I kill people in order to get paid. I don't try to convince myself that it's for their benefit." No-Step: "I don't want the little girl to find a bunch of dead bodies. Particularly not the body of the Red Woman." Audacity Jane: "No problem. I have practice making dead bodies disappear." In addition, the Mind Probe gave Dent the account number and passcodes to the corporate funds that had been funneled to the APN. Byte Force also drained the gang members' personal credsticks. Dent: "Too bad the money launderer is going to keep most of the money." Byte Force: "On the bright side, the APN isn't going to keep any of their money." And then there was the little matter of plunder. No-Step: "If it's not nailed down, it's ours." Happy Jack: "And if I can pry it loose, it's not nailed down." Audacity Jane: "I found the APN's plans for attacking a bunch of high-tech elvish groups." Happy Jack: "That's valuable. I can sell those plans to the intended targets." Byte Force: "I doubt the plans are still viable, now that we've stolen all of the APN's weapons." Audacity Jane: "That just means the APN's enemies will have an easier time when they launch a preemptive strike." The APN leader's body was left on the stage of the meeting room, propped up against the wall. The words "ELF-LOVING PERVERT" were spray-painted above his head. His fake ear-tips were removed. The envelope was left in his lap, as ordered. Prior to the mission, Byte Force found a video of a Humanis Policlub demagogue ranting about elf posers. The video was burned onto a chip, which was left on top of the envelope. When the rank and file members awoke, the other five core members were missing. If anyone wanted to find them they would have to pump the stomachs of a pack of ghouls. Not only was the APN missing many of its major assets, many other assets had been severely vandalized. With any luck, the corporate backer would write the APN off as a loss, rather than expend the funds to rebuild them. In addition to the nuyen drained from the APN's account & credsticks, the plunder included dozens of SMGs, cases of grenades, some rocket launchers, several nice motorcycles and a lot of high-end audio-visual equipment. Dent: "The weapons and grenades will sell really well on the black market, but we're going to get stiffed when we fence the AV equipment." Happy Jack: "Fence it? We're not selling it. We just got a free home-entertainment system."

The shadowrunners were an ork/troll group. Against stereotype, they specialized in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection. Dent: ork, rat shaman No-Step: ork, snake shaman, healer Byte Force: ork, decker, chemist Eye Spy: ork, rigger, drones, paramedic Audacity Jane: ork, combat, stealth, security systems Happy Jack / Jonathan Bridges: troll, combat, disguise, negotiator Mr. Johnson (NPC): the name used by/for anonymous employers A Walk in the Park This was the same adventure previously described by Drhoz (here). Mr. Johnson wanted to hire the team for an "easy" extraction. Mr. Johnson: "The target is a middle manager. She lives in a medium-security corporate subdivision. It should be a walk in the park. Literally. Every evening she takes a walk in the park, and that's where you'll meet her. Just make certain that she doesn't have a tail and bring her out of there." Jonathan Bridges: "If it was that simple, she would be able to extract herself." Mr. Johnson: "The target has even provided the extraction plan for you." Jonathan Bridges: "Yes. I've added a surcharge for that." Mr. Johnson: (frowning) "A surcharge?" Jonathan Bridges: "If my team is going to be constrained by an amateurish plan, there is an extra charge." Mr. Johnson: (raising his eyebrows) "Amateurish?" Jonathan Bridges: "There's a code phrase. It includes the words 'Easter Bunny.' That's not the work of a seasoned professional." The team came up with a two-part plan. The heavily wooded park was at the edge of the subdivision. Dent and Jane would sneak past security. Jack and No-Step would pose as city sanitation workers cleaning out the sewer along the target's path back to her condo. Dent would approach her invisibly, give the code phrase, and instruct her to walk to the van. When she reached the van, the pair would get her in the van (using a diversion if needed). Then they would calmly drive out of the suburb. Eye Spy: (scouting with her drones) "I think this is a trap. I see a group of people in heavy armor in the park not far from the target. There's another group of people under some trees on the other side of her. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that they're wearing heavy armor too." No-Step: "As much as I appreciate the warning, it might have been nice to know that this was a trap before we entered the subdivision." Dent: "Get over it. We just sneak out before they know we're here." Byte Force: "I hate to be the killjoy, but they may already know you're there. They could just be waiting for you to finish walking into the ambush before pulling the trigger." The sneaky people believed that they could sneak back out again. The people who had bluffed their way in were in a somewhat bigger predicament. No-Step: "I think we're going to have to abandon the van. As long as they know we're in here, they can just blockade the exits to the subdivision and keep us from leaving." Happy Jack: "Then we just need to convince them that we've already left." The escape plan: Jane and Dent hid noisemakers in the woods about 30 to 50 meters from the security troops. Some of the radio-controlled, timed noisemakers sounded like assault rifles firing three-round bursts. The others sounded like heavy machine guns firing full auto. In the dark, they even produced realistic muzzle flash. When the shooting started, Byte Force would disrupt all the security cameras in the neighborhood. Dent would use Control Thoughts on someone driving a large vehicle. He would command the person to drive like a bat-out-of-hell out of the neighborhood and race toward downtown Seattle. As the randomly chosen driver raced toward the subdivision exit, Byte Force would open the security gates and jam them open. In the chaos, the team van's photoelectric paint scheme would be switched from the Seattle Sanitation Department paint scheme to the Aztechnology Security paint scheme. (The extraction target worked for an Aztechnology subsidiary.) After any mobile security units pursued the decoy driver out of the neighborhood, the disguised van would chase after them, like they were part of the security force. Eye Spy: "My van is built for sneakiness, not speed. It's not going to keep up with a car chase." Happy Jack: "Yes. We will be unable to catch up with the people who are trying to capture us. I think I can live with that." There was one final critical detail. Happy Jack: "Eye Spy, make sure your drones get a full video recording of the trap being sprung." Eye Spy: "Okay. Why?" Happy Jack: "I'd like to show Mr. Johnson that the mission was FUBAR before we arrived." Audacity Jane: (listening to the security guards fire thousands of rounds of ammo at the noisemakers) "I like to call this tactic, 'Much Ado About Nothing'..." There were still some surprises provided by the security forces ... and some surprises provided by the team. Eye Spy: "Incoming. A light attack chopper with a chin-mounted autocannon." Audacity Jane: "Can it be flown blind?" Eye Spy: "It has some sensors for night flying." Audacity Jane: "No. No. No. Can it be flown BLIND?" Eye Spy: "Oh!" (firing a flash grenade from a drone and air-bursting it in front of the helicopter) "Not really. There's no autopilot on that model." During the escape, the team had almost completely forgotten about the target of the extraction. Eye Spy: "They just loaded our extraction target into the back of a patrol car." (pause) "It looks like they're taking her somewhere outside of the neighborhood." Happy Jack: "How big is her escort?" Eye Spy: "Just a few guards in the car with her." Happy Jack: "Eye Spy, give me an intercept course. No-Step, do you think you can stop that car?" No-Step: "My city spirit has a power called 'Accident.' It's pretty good for stopping cars." Happy Jack: "Good. Our target is no longer sitting in the middle of a trap. Let's go extract her." Minutes later... No-Step: "What's worse than having a city spirit crash your armored patrol car?" (pause) "Having the same city spirit materialize inside the car and kick the drek out of you." Happy Jack hopped out of the van and jumped onto the roof of the patrol car. Happy Jack: "Hello chummers. Guess which side of the vehicle you forgot to put firing ports into?" Happy Jack knelt on the roof of the car, leaned over the edge of the car, shoved the barrel of his mini-grenade launcher into one of the side firing ports, and fired a NeuroStun gas grenade into the car. Happy Jack: "Firing ports work in both directions."

The shadowrunners were an ork/troll group. Against stereotype, they specialized in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection. Dent: ork, rat shaman No-Step: ork, snake shaman, healer Byte Force: ork, decker, chemist Eye Spy: ork, rigger, drones, paramedic Audacity Jane: ork, combat, stealth, security systems Happy Jack: troll, combat, disguise, negotiator Euphoria (NPC): an A-list simsense star Robert Carrone (NPC): Euphoria's manager; hired the team to find/retrieve Euphoria Craft (NPC): an insane magick user; Euphoria's captor simsense: a virtual reality entertainment where the viewer experiences the sensations the actor/actress experiences Euphoria, part 5 - Buggered This was the same module previously described by Drhoz (here). Robert Carrone demanded an update on the team's search for, so a summary was provided (carefully edited to sound believable): Euphoria was abducted by a man named Craft. Craft was Vincent Burroughs' business partner, and the source of Amber Gel. Craft was an awakened magick user, but followed a tradition that the team had never encountered before. Craft could summon spirits of a type the team had never encountered before. Craft had killed Vincent Burroughs, using a summoned spirit to do the deed. Euphoria was probably being held at Craft's production facility; the team had the address. The facility was guarded by spirits and paranormal awakened creatures; the type, numbers and capabilities were unknown. Craft was insane and obsessed with Euphoria. Surprisingly, Robert Carrone was satisfied with the report. Even more surprising, he considered that the team had fulfilled the agreement to "locate Euphoria". Best of all, he was prepared to offer an even larger sum of money to break into the facility and retrieve her. MegaMedia also loaned the team mil-spec heavy weapons and armor for the mission. Byte Force: "I guess they expect us to charge in there, guns-blazing." Dent: "They don't know us very well." Audacity Jane: "I'm glad it's available. I want heavy firepower in reserve when, not 'if', we lose the element of surprise." Eye Spy: "This really has you worried. Don't you think you can drop the guards before they spot you?" Audacity Jane: "They're a bunch of ants. Ants. Hive mind. I'm expecting to lose surprise when I drop them." Happy Jack: "Check all the loaner gear for booby-traps. Shaped charges inside the armor, tasers in the electronics ... I don't want to be surprised when MegaMedia tries to kill us." Dent: "When?" Happy Jack: "Ellery arranged the meeting between Carrone and me, as they demanded, then they killed him anyway. I'm expecting them to do the same to us, regardless of whether we succeed or fail." Thanks to Craft's spirits, sneaking in was more complicated than usual. Audacity Jane: "I don't like spirits as guards. It's hard to sneak past a guard that you can't even see." Dent: "We can summon city spirits to conceal you while you sneak in. If you are spotted, they can also defend you." Audacity Jane: "If we're spotted, have them attack the bug spirits instead." No-Step: "You don't want them protecting you?" Audacity Jane: "I would rather have them drawing attention away from me." Dent: "We can also send in swarms of Watcher spirits." No-Step: "No. Watchers aren't very bright. They can only follow extremely simple instructions." Dent: "Simple instructions like, 'On my command, go into that building and kill bug spirits.'" No-Step stared at Dent. Dent (ooc): I program computers for a living. I'm accustomed to giving simple instructions to really stupid machines. No-Step: "Our spirits are going to be outnumbered. They won't last long." Dent: "They can kill all they want. We'll summon more." What does a decker do when there's no network? Byte Force: "Craft has no computer network in his lair. There's not much for me to do." Happy Jack: "We need you to keep an eye on MegaMedia. They're going to betray us." Byte Force: "You want to know when the inevitable betrayal happens." Happy Jack: "I want you to make sure it fails. No pressure." The infiltration worked better than expected. The city spirits prevented the bug spirits from detecting Audacity Jane and Happy Jack. Audacity Jane: (peering through her spy scope into the next room) "I think we found our target. There's dozens of pods in here. Euphoria's probably in the big one in the corner, but there's no way to be sure." Happy Jack: "Let me guess ... lots of bugs?" Audacity Jane: "Lots ... but I see one thing that's not connected to the bugs' hive mind." Happy Jack: "What's that?" Audacity Jane pulled out her silenced narcojet pistol, eased the door open a couple inches, and fired several darts in rapid succession. Audacity Jane: "Craft." With Craft down, the spirits and drones were able create a diversion ... by launching a full frontal assault. Down in the basement Audacity Jane's targeted bursts dropped the possessed/mutated ant-human hybrids one after another. Happy Jack's insecticide-coated naginata carved through hybrids and materialized ant-spirits with equal ease. Which meant it was time for the other shoe to drop.... Byte Force: "A full company of Knight Errant troopers just rolled up. They're supposed to go in and complete the mission if we fail." Eye Spy: "What will they do if we succeed?" Byte Force: "I am desperately trying to find the answer to that question." A couple minutes later, Byte Force had his answer.... Byte Force: "The good news is, killing us is not part of their primary or secondary mission parameters." (pause) "The bad news is, their contract contains an optional clause to kill us if Robert Carrone requests it." Eye Spy: "He's going to exercise the option." Byte Force: "That's the really bad news. That option costs MegaMedia less than paying us." It was time to call the Knight Errant captain on a private line and make a deal. Happy Jack: (cutting in on the captain's private line) "Good evening, Captain. I would like to offer you some assistance with your contract with MegaMedia." Knight Errant captain: "Who are you, and how did you get on this line?" Happy Jack: "I'm part of the team that's rescuing Euphoria." Knight Errant captain: "I'll pretend I know what you're talking about. What do you want? And why would I need your help?" Happy Jack: "At this point you can fulfill all of your mission parameters and get paid with absolutely no effort and no casualties. All you have to do is convince Robert Carrone to pay us and let us leave unharmed." Knight Errant captain: "And if he isn't easily convinced?" Happy Jack: "You have lost strategic and tactical surprise. We haven't. I'm sure you can guess what kind of unpleasant surprises we have put in place just in case we're betrayed." Knight Errant captain: "Like what?" Happy Jack: "You seem unclear on the concept of a 'surprise'. Surprises are the things you don't get told about." Knight Errant captain: "..." Happy Jack: "So ... would you prefer to work with us and collect an easy paycheck, or work against us and lose most of your profit?" And then it was time for final details. While the team generally preferred non-lethal solutions, for some opponents they made exceptions.... Happy Jack: (looking at the darts sticking out of Craft's chest) "Three narcojet rounds. That's a lethal dose, right?" Audacity Jane: "I certainly intended it to be." Happy Jack: "We should probably check to be sure he's dead." Audacity Jane reached down, slashed Craft's throat nearly to the spine, then looked at the result clinically. Audacity Jane: "I'm not seeing any arterial spray." Happy Jack: "Me either. Definitely dead."

The shadowrunners were an ork/troll group. Against stereotype, they specialized in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection. Dent: ork, rat shaman No-Step: ork, snake shaman, healer Byte Force: ork, decker, chemist Eye Spy: ork, rigger, drones, paramedic Audacity Jane: ork, combat, stealth, security systems Happy Jack: troll, combat, disguise, negotiator Euphoria (NPC): an A-list simsense star Robert Carrone (NPC): Euphoria's manager simsense: a virtual reality entertainment where the viewer experiences the sensations the actor/actress experiences Euphoria, part 4 - The disappearing-reappearing-disappearing simsense star This was the same module previously described by Drhoz (here). Robert Carrone, Euphoria's manager, needed the team's help finding Euphoria ... who had been abducted from her apartment again. This time far more violently than the team's abduction. A search of the apartment turned up some clues. Euphoria's security guards had been killed by something that ripped, clawed and tore them apart. The attackers had gained access to the penthouse either by air or by scaling the exterior of the building. The paydirt was a partial simsense recording of the attack. Most of the attackers couldn't be clearly seen. They were definitely not humans/metahumans of any sort, however. The two abductors who could be clearly seen were two smelly and unkempt humans. The talkative one said he'd been sent by Burroughs. Two days earlier, Robert Carrone of MegaMedia had a falling out with Vincent Burroughs of Strice Foods. Coincidence? Watcher spirits were unable to find Euphoria. Dent's ritual magick didn't work either (which strongly suggested she was already dead). Therefore, Burroughs was the most promising lead. Audacity Jane: "I can grab Burroughs while he's heading home from work." Happy Jack: "I don't want to wait that long. I'll disguise myself as that troll detective we met before. I'm going to take Burroughs into custody as an accomplice to a multiple homicide." Audacity Jane: "You won't be able to maintain that ruse for long." Happy Jack: "I just need to make it last until we're out of the building." Happy Jack (disguised as a Lone Star detective), No-Step and Audacity Jane (disguised as uniformed Lone Star officers ... it makes sense; automatic good cop/bad cop) went to see Vincent Burroughs. Secretary: "As much as we'd like to assist Lone Star, I'm afraid Mr. Burroughs is too busy to see you today. Perhaps you would like to call back later and make an appointment?" Audacity Jane: "Perhaps you would like to buzz us into his office before I arrest you for obstructing a homicide investigation?" The three gained entered into Burroughs' office, interrupting Mr. Burroughs. Happy Jack: "Watch this simsense clip. It's a few seconds long. Afterwards, you're going to answer my questions about it." Vincent Burroughs watched the clip -- Euphoria's abductor monologuing ... and implicating Burroughs as his boss. Vincent Burroughs: (pale, shaken and blustering) "I'm not answering any questions. I want my lawyer." Happy Jack: "Your lawyer can meet us at the precinct." A man-sized ant suddenly materialized and attacked Burroughs. The three team members destroyed it, but not before it killed Burroughs. No-Step: "That was some kind of spirit ... somewhat similar to an elemental or nature spirit." Audacity Jane: "You've never mentioned bug spirits before." No-Step: "Until ... oh ... 20 seconds ago I didn't know they existed." The shell-shocked secretary became much more helpful. The man on the simsense was named Craft. He was Burroughs' partner. He manufactured the Amber Gel. She had the address of the production facility ... and the address listed for Craft's pay to be sent to. Happy Jack: (to the security guards who just arrived) "The crime scene investigators are on their way. Keep this door closed and everybody out until they arrive. If anyone enters that room, I am going to charge everyone involved with tampering with evidence." Security Guard: "But ... isn't it their job" (gesturing at the uniformed No-Step and Audacity Jane) "to secure the crime scene?" Happy Jack: (yelling at the security guard) "DO I LOOK LIKE A 'BY THE BOOK' KIND OF DETECTIVE TO YOU?" Craft's home address was a magic shop. The front door was guarded by Craft's human accomplice who we had previously seen in the simsense recording. No-Step: "He's not human. Well ... he is, but there's a man-sized ant spirit superimposed over him in the astral." Dent: "Yeah." (pause) "Maybe he's possessed by the ant spirit." Happy Jack: "So what happens if you send a couple city spirits to kill the bug and leave the person alive?" Dent: (snickering) "He'll be dispossessed." Eye Spy: "Will he be back to normal?" No-Step: "Um ... we'll tell you in a couple minutes." If spirits could squish, then the ant spirit would have been thoroughly squashed. The person appeared catatonic though. Dent: (doing a Mind Probe) "The lights are on, but noooobody's home." No-Step: "That makes two of you." Eye Spy: "Maybe he started out brain-dead." No-Step: "Dent certainly did." The possessee may have started out human, but he was not entirely human any longer. He had compound eyes, and patches of his skin had turned into chitin. Dent: "So the possession turns them into those paracritters that you were talking about." No-Step: "That's like a combination of The Pod People and The Fly." Eye Spy: "I just want everybody to know that I am officially creeped out now." The magic shop looked like it hadn't been open for a while. The living quarters downstairs, however.... Byte Force: "This is even worse than the rathole apartment we were supposed to hold Euphoria in. What is that smell?" Audacity Jane: "Dried blood. Lots of it." Happy Jack: "I like how you know that without even having to pause and think about it." The dried blood was in the bedroom. Hundreds of posters and pictures of Euphoria covered the walls. Many had spatters of dried blood on them. Most of the dried blood was on the bed and the floor. Dent: "So she's already dead?" Audacity Jane: "This blood isn't hers. It's dry. If she'd lost all this blood, a lot of it would still be wet." (pause) "I think this blood belongs to more than one victim. That kind of mattress can soak up a lot of blood." Byte Force: "And how do you know that?" Audacity Jane: "Professional necessity. It's a dead giveaway when the dead guy's blood start's leaking into the apartment below." Craft's closet also held replicas of every costume Euphoria had ever worn in her simsense roles. There was also a rack of women's wigs. Many of the outfits and wigs had blood stains on them. No-Step: "Craft must be a serial killer. I suspect he brings women here, probably prostitutes, dresses them up like Euphoria, then kills them on the bed." Eye Spy: "Okay, that's even creepier than getting possessed by bug spirits and turning into a bug-creature." Happy Jack: "I noticed something that's going to creep you out even more." Eye Spy: "Please don't tell me." Dent: "What's even creepier than that?" Happy Jack: "There's only one bed in here. There's no sofa, no futon, no easy-chair, no mat on the floor. Just the bloodstained bed." (long pause) "Guess where Craft sleeps." Eye Spy: (plugging her ears) "Lalalalalalala."

That's about right for Necessary Evil. Your quote reminded me of the Necessary Evil one-shot that I was in. Particularly the hostage scene near the end. I suspect most kidnappings/hostage scenes in supervillain campaigns end up being quite funny.

Heck, if we'd considered how useful libido could be in easily resolving missions, we might not have played all orks and trolls. (And if the tool you have is Inkubus, every problem looks like it can be nailed.) In addition, you use that boat about the same way we used the Ork Underground. It's a great hideout that totally screws up most enemies. The shadowrunners were an ork/troll group. Against stereotype, they specialized in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection. Dent: ork, rat shaman No-Step: ork, snake shaman, healer Byte Force: ork, decker, chemist Eye Spy: ork, rigger, drones, paramedic Audacity Jane: ork, combat, stealth, security systems Happy Jack / Jonathan Bridges: troll, combat, disguise, negotiator Euphoria / Amanda Lockhart (NPC): an A-list simsense star Mr. Johnson (NPC): the generic name used for/by people who hire shadowrunners Ellery Whitecastle (NPC): the fixer that set the team up with Ludivenko's Mr. Johnson simsense: a virtual reality entertainment where the viewer experiences the sensations the actor/actress experiences Euphoria, part 3 - Busted This was the same module previously described by Drhoz (here). The team had discovered that there was something strange about Amber Gel, but they weren't sure what. It was time to use their collective talents to dig up some dirt. The Dirt: Amber Gel was Strice Foods' hottest new product. It was about to make the leap from the test market (Seattle) to the global market. The manager in charge of Amber Gel, Vincent Burroughs, was completely incompetent. The only thing saving his career was that he was the sole point of contact between Strice and the unknown manufacturer. For some reason, Vincent Burroughs was having difficulty meeting the increased demand for production. Ludivenko was concerned about the success of Amber Gel. In response, they were about to release their own knock-off product. Amber Gel contained no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, no artificial sweeteners and no artificial preservatives. It was by far the most 'natural' product ever sold in a Stuffer Shack. It also contained a natural preservative that was vaguely related to those found in honey. Byte Force: "Add in No-Step's vision, and I'm going to guess that Amber Gel may be made by ants." Eye Spy: "They're probably genetically modified ants." Happy Jack: "I wouldn't rule out paracritters. There are likely some undiscovered species of awakened ant. This could be connected to one of them" Dent: "I guess it's time to stock up on bug spray." Byte Force: "I'll try to find something that's nonflammable. We may want to use it a building that we want intact." Eye Spy: "If a building is full of awakened or genetically modified ants, I vote for burning it to the ground." No-Step: "I understand your enthusiasm, but if we're inside of the building, I'd prefer to have an inflammable option available." Audacity Jane, Byte Force, Dent and Happy Jack: (almost in unison) "Nonflammable." Eye Spy: "Aren't they the same thing?" Happy Jack: "And this is why I buy all of the munitions for you two." After two days of investigation, the team was interrupted by a business-related call... Ellery Whitecastle: (on the phone with Jonathan Bridges) "We've got a bit of a problem. MegaMedia somehow discovered that your team was behind Euphoria's disappearance." Jonathan Bridges: "They 'somehow discovered' this information? You knew my team was involved. Our client knew we were involved. That's a very short list of potential leaks." Ellery Whitecastle: "Um ... well ... On the bright side, so far, they're peaceful. They want you to meet with Robert Carrone, her manager, at the Pacific Towers lobby at eleven this morning." Jonathan Bridges: "You make it sound so enticing ... and safe." Ellery Whitecastle: "It's possible that they will excuse our involvement if you give them any information you have on our former employer." Jonathan Bridges: "Our client paid for our silence. I think you'll have to send MegaMedia my regrets." Ellery Whitecastle: (sounding stressed) "Could you at least have your team meet with Carrone? At least see what he has to say?" Jonathan Bridges: "Why? Did he threaten to kill you if I don't meet him?" Ellery Whitecastle: "Yes!" Jonathan Bridges: "And why would this make me want to meet him?" Jonathan Bridges called Robert Carrone to make certain that the meeting would be reasonably peaceful. (If anyone attempted to kill Jonathan, the rest of the team would ensure that Robert Carrone died quickly after.) Despite this, Robert Carrone still felt the need to be threatening during the meeting. Robert Carrone: "You people aren't popular with MegaMedia right now. You caused a very profitable deal to fall through. Your corporate employer for the extraction has already settled their debt with us." Jonathan Bridges: (shrugging) "We warned them that they had operational security leaks." Robert Carrone: "And Mr. Whitecastle will do the same shortly." (glancing at his watch) "Pardon me. The late Mr. Whitecastle has just settled his debt with us." Jonathan Bridges: (sounding bored) "If you're just leading up to the part where you try to kill me, I can save us some time and tell my team to level this building." Robert Carrone: "WHAT ?!?" Jonathan Bridges: "I said my team would do their utmost to ensure you died shortly after any attempt on me. We're willing to cause massive collateral damage to accomplish that." Robert Carrone: (uncertainly) "It's not possible to set up a demolition that quickly." Jonathan Bridges: "There's an automated delivery van packed full of homemade C-4 at the loading dock. We buy it from the Cascade Orks by the truckload. All we had to do was load 20 crates and program the destination into the van's autopilot." (pauses, then continues in a more cheerful tone) "so, do we both play nice, or do we all go boom?" GM (ooc): Holy @#$%. If I didn't know you were bluffing, I would believe you. Audacity Jane (ooc): I packed Jack's briefcase with 5 kilos of C-4. We may not level the building, but I can wreck whatever room it's in. In addition, I also have the building entrance covered with a sniper rifle, so I can kill Carrone if he flees the explosion. To top that off, Dent took a ritual blood sample from Euphoria, so he can target her anywhere in the world. The only thing Jack is bluffing about is how we kill them. Robert Carrone wanted to play nice. He needed the team's help finding Euphoria ... who had been abducted from her apartment again. This time far more violently. Carrone was willing to pay the team well to find her. That blood sample Dent took from Euphoria seemed like the ideal tool for finding her....

Additional Scenario: Arrest records / super-criminal database If you are arrested, the police officer processing you has the obligation to list any known superpowers on your arrest record. (The officer also has the option to list any suspected power in a different section.) If you are arrested and have superpowers, the information on the arrest record is uploaded to the national database. Your fingerprints will be in the system, etc. This scenario has the ability to be generally accepted by the public, and by many law-abiding superpowered people, because it only applies to people getting arrested. It's also the source of tensions, because individuals can abuse it. One police officer may start arresting local super-powered individuals for moving violations and other nuisance charges just so he can put them in the national system. Another police officer may decide not to mention on an arrest record that the kid he caught shoplifting could phase his hand through the display case (even though that's a violation of the rules).

The shadowrunners were an ork/troll group. Against stereotype, they specialized in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection. Dent: ork, rat shaman No-Step: ork, snake shaman, healer Byte Force: ork, decker, chemist Eye Spy: ork, rigger, drones, paramedic Audacity Jane: ork, combat, stealth, security systems Happy Jack: troll, combat, disguise, negotiator Euphoria / Amanda Lockhart (NPC): an A-list simsense star simsense: a virtual reality entertainment where the viewer experiences the sensations the actor/actress experiences Euphoria, part 2 - Catch and release program This was the same module previously described by Drhoz (here). Euphoria regained consciousness in one of the team's temporary safehouses in the ork underground. As the "people person" of the team, it was Happy Jack's job to explain the situation to the captive. Happy Jack: "Ms. Lockhart, we have been hired to ensure that you miss your public appearances for the next few days. After that, you'll be returned to your normal life. It may be easiest if you consider this to be a relaxing, though somewhat boring vacation." Euphoria: (looking around the apartment with wide eyes) "Is this the ork underground?" Happy Jack: "Yes." Euphoria: "Oh." (long pause) "I thought it would be bigger." Having accomplished the abduction, Happy Jack went to the apartment (the probable trap) to collect the first half of the team's pay. Eye Spy accompanied him in order to provide overwatch with her drones. To avoid being caught in a trap, Happy Jack disguised himself as a gang member and hid two floors above the apartment. Eye Spy: (over the comm to Jack) "The courier arrived. You won't believe what he looks like." Happy Jack: "He looks completely out of place." Eye Spy: "That's an understatement. He looks like a refugee from an 80s' spy movie. He's wearing an oversized hat, an oversized raincoat and oversized sunglasses." (choking back laughter) "Best of all, the hat and coat are BEIGE." Happy Jack decided to monitor the situation through the wireless microcams Byte Force had planted. Happy Jack: (over the comm to Eye Spy) "This has gotten even sillier. He's at the door of the apartment stage whispering lines to nursery rhymes like they're some kind of passcode." Eye Spy: "So, are you going to go say 'Hi' to Mr. Secrent Agent Man?" Happy Jack: "Nope." Eye Spy: (suddenly serious) "He has our money." Happy Jack: "And I'm dressed like a gang member. I'm going to mug him for our money. That way it will look like we're not connected to him." The oversized hat blocked the courier's peripheral vision, allowing Happy Jack to blindside him. Happy Jack left with the team's pay, the courier's personal credstick, the courier's cellphone, and the courier's corporate ID. As Happy Jack and Eye Spy drove away.... Happy Jack: (looking at the courier's ID) "As we thought, he's from Ludivenko ..." (pause) "... and he's the mailboy? What kind of idiot sends the mailboy on a black op?" Happy Jack used the courier's cellphone to call the number the Ludivenko street samurai had provided the team. Ludivenko street sam: "Hello." Happy Jack: "Hello. We met the other night. You have serious flaws with your operational security." Ludivenko street sam: "What went wrong?" Happy Jack: "Your courier showed up in the most conspicuous outfit possible. He got mugged by a huge troll. The troll got our money, the courier's credstick and the courier's ID." Ludivenko street sam: "Did the troll get away?" Happy Jack: "With our money? No. I chased him down." (pause) "I've made certain that the troll won't be talking to anyone about this ... ever. But your courier seems to be a serious operational liability. You might want to plug that leak." Ludivenko street sam: "You didn't harm the courier, did you?" Happy Jack: "No. The mugger probably did some damage." (pause) "Your employee is your problem ... unless you want to pay us to get rid of him." Audacity Jane was Euphoria's primary guard. The two of them didn't exactly hit it off. Euphoria: "I'm glad that I'm missing those public appearances. I really didn't want to face all those fans. It's so depressing, seeing all those pathetic fans idolizing me because they don't have lives of their own." (pause) "But I guess you wouldn't know what that's like." Audacity Jane: "True. My fans have lives." Euphoria: (in disbelief) "You have fans?" Audacity Jane: "Sure. Mostly they're fixers or managers at megacorporations. Unlike your fans, mine don't pay me to make public appearances, get naked or do sex scenes. Instead, they pay me to abduct people, steal things and make problems disappear. I have a lot fewer fans than you, but on an individual basis, they pay a lot more for my services." Euphoria also became curious about the farraday cage that the team had built into the walls, ceiling and floor. Euphoria: "Why is there metal covering the walls?" Dent: "That's to keep the devil rats out of the apartment." Euphoria: "There are rats in here?!?" Dent: "No. There are rats out there," (waving vaguely toward the walls) "and the metal makes sure they stay out there." No-Step: (quietly to the others) "That was mean." Byte Force: "No. That was brilliant." No-Step: "Brilliant?" Byte Force: "Not only did he dissuade her from messing with the farraday cage, he's also given her incentive to stay inside the apartment." As the hours passed, Euphoria began to express her displeasure with the lack of luxury. Euphoria: "I have nothing to wear." Audacity Jane: "There are several bags of clothes over there. They're your size." Euphoria: (looking through the bags) "I can't wear these. They're cheap." Audacity Jane: "You have several choices. Option one, you can keep wearing your current outfit for the next few days. Option two, you can wear the clothes in the bags. Option three, you can prance around the apartment naked. I know which option the testosterone factories in the next room would prefer, but the decision is up to you." Euphoria: "Fine!" Euphoria began taking some clothes out of the bag. Euphoria: (staring pointedly at Jane) "Can I get some privacy?" Audacity Jane: "No." Euphoria: "What?" Audacity Jane: "You're a captive. Captives don't get privacy. But again, you have some options. You can change in front of me. You can change in front of one of your other guards. Or you can skip changing your clothes for the next few days." Audacity Jane couldn't watch Euphoria 24/7, so Happy Jack and Eye Spy were the two alternate guards. Audacity Jane: (to Eye Spy) "Why is Euphoria insisting that she wants anyone except you to guard her?" Eye Spy: (staring at the floor) "Well, I'm not intimidating like you or Jack, so I thought she would make trouble while I was guarding her." Audacity Jane: "And...?" Eye Spy: "So I took one of my drones in the room with me." Audacity Jane: "And...?" Eye Spy: "And I set the fire control mode to 'Track Target'." Euphoria also had issues with the food. Specifically, her favorite food (Amber Gel) wasn't available. Eye Spy: "She's a celebrity who actually likes the product she's promoting? That seems unlikely." Happy Jack: "Especially considering it's a food product sold at Stuffer Shack." Eye Spy: "Maybe it's successful because they're putting addictive chemicals in it? Happy Jack: "We may need to go buy some then." Byte Force: "And run some chemical tests on it." Happy Jack: "That too. More importantly, we need some around in case our captive starts exhibiting withdrawal symptoms." The Amber Gel turned out to be even more suspicious. When No-Step astrally assenced it, he got a momentary impression that it was swarming with ants. Byte Force: "I expect megacorps to plant bugs in their electronics and software, but this takes it to a whole new dimension." The team had a high degree of professional paranoia. High enough that some "surprises" became planned-for events. No-Step: "Excuse me. Could I have everyone's attention? It's urgent." A few seconds passed as everyone woke up, tuned in and/or shut up. No-Step: "Someone is trying to use ritual magick on Euphoria, probably to locate her." Eye Spy: "Do we need to move to another safehouse?" No-Step: "That may be premature." Dent: "It should take some time for them to overcome the protection of our wards. That gives us time." Eye Spy: "Time to pack?" Dent: (grinning evilly) "Time for us to backtrack the casting and dish out the astral equivalent of a back-alley beatdown." Less than a day later, Euphoria missed her final public appearance for Strice Foods. The team dropped her off at Megamedia's law offices (which were a safe location for a simsense star, and unlikely to be staked out by anyone looking for her abductors). As promised, the remainder of the team's money was delivered by the Ludivenko street samurai, and not by a member of their mailroom staff. The mission was successfully completed, but there were still unanswered questions about Amber Gel....

Pair a Quicksilver homage with a Hulk homage ..... Fast and Furious Pair a druidic / plant control hero with a durable brick ..... Laurel and Hardy Pair a holy man with a stone-like brick ..... Abbot and Castello Pair a juggler throwing assorted high-tech grenades with a martial artist wielding a manrikigusari ..... Ball and Chain (bonus points if they're married)

The shadowrunners were an ork/troll group. Against stereotype, they specialized in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection. Dent: ork, rat shaman No-Step: ork, snake shaman, healer Byte Force: ork, decker, chemist Eye Spy: ork, rigger, drones, paramedic Audacity Jane: ork, combat, stealth, security systems Happy Jack: troll, combat, disguise, negotiator Mr. Johnson (NPC): generic name used by/for secretive employers who hire shadowrunners Euphoria / Amanda Lockhart (NPC): an A-list simsense star simsense: a virtual reality entertainment where the viewer experiences the sensations the actor/actress experiences Euphoria, part 1 - So you want to abduct a simsense star This was the same module previously described by Drhoz (here). An ork/troll team does not have the benefit of Inkubus' libido to distract a simsense star. Fortunately, they found other options. Mr. Johnson requested a meeting at night, at a little used part of the docks. Happy Jack went to the meeting wearing coveralls, a hard hat and a safety vest. He was met by a too-slick Mr. Johnson, a corporate bodyguard/driver in a cheap kevlar-lined suit, and a leather-clad street samurai. Mr. Johnson: (to Happy Jack) "You're not what I was expecting." Happy Jack: "You're hiring us, in part, for our ability to blend in. Of the four of us, I'm absolutely certain that I'm the only one who looks like I belong here." Euphoria had been hired to make several appearances to promote Amber Gel for Strice Foods. Mr. Johnson wanted the team to ensure that she missed all of her scheduled appearances. Mr. Johnson: "As part of the deal, no harm comes to the lady. Treat her like royalty. You get half your pay after you abduct her. You get the other half after she misses her final appearance." Happy Jack: "Just to be clear, you are going to deliver the first half of the money before her first scheduled appearance." Mr. Johnson: "I suppose that could be arranged." Happy Jack: "If we don't receive the first half of the money by then, we will arrange for Euphoria to arrive at her first public appearance on time." Mr. Johnson wanted the team to hold Euphoria at an apartment that he was providing. Mr. Johnson: "As I said before, treat her like royalty. Here is a keycard to an apartment in the Barrens. Your first half of the pay will be delivered to you at the apartment." Happy Jack: "What kind of intrusion countermeasures are there on the apartment?" Mr. Johnson: "Um ... I'm not sure...." Happy Jack: (raising an eyebrow) "What rating are the magickal wards on the apartment?" Mr. Johnson: "I ... uh ... I don't believe there are any." Happy Jack: "What kind of countermeasures are there to block implanted tracking devices?" Mr. Johnson: "What? I'm not sure what you're talking about." Happy Jack: "We'll be holding Euphoria at a location of our choosing. A secure location." Mr. Johnson: "Okay. But your pay will be delivered to the apartment." The team had been instructed to treat Euphoria "like royalty," but they weren't certain what Mr. Johnson expected. So they visited the apartment in the Barrens to see what level of luxury Mr. Johnson had been planning to provide. Audacity Jane: "The security on this complex is pathetic. Aside from the card key at the apartment door, the only other security was the sleeping guard in the lobby ... and I'm not sure what's going to kill him first: heart failure or old age." Dent opened the door to the apartment, then abruptly stopped. Dent: "Brace yourself. I know you make fun of my housekeeping, but this place is bad by my standards." No-Step: "I didn't think that was possible. Particularly because you don't have housekeeping standards." No-Step entered the apartment. No-Step: "I guess I was wrong. Compared to this, even you have standards." Dent: (looking through the kitchen) "They supplied us with food. All of it seems to be produced by Ludivenko Foods, one of Strice Foods' competitors. Do you think our employers were incompetent enough to leave a clue to their identity, or do you think this is a clever bit of misdirection?" Eye Spy: (looking through the closet) "They also provided some women's clothing." (looking at the tags) "And it's for an average-sized woman. Who in the hell thinks a simsense star is 'average-sized'?" No-Step: "I think we can rule out clever misdirection." Byte Force began hiding a couple wireless microcams at the apartment. Dent: "Are you planning to record the mating habits of cockroaches?" Byte Force: "No. I want to see who backtracks our employers to this trap." The team had about 30 hours before Euphoria's first public appearance. As usual, the decker proved an invaluable information-gathering resource. Byte Force: "Euphoria has a personal bodyguard who lives with her full-time. It looks like they recently picked up a second personal bodyguard who also stays on the premises. For the next few days she also has temporary security. Rotating shifts of Knight Errant guards, four guards per shift." (pausing dramatically) "But there's good news. The first shift of Knight Errant guards doesn't start until this evening." Happy Jack: "So we try to get her before the shift starts. Is there anybody on staff that No-Step and I can impersonate?" Byte Force: "The building has a rather small staff. They probably know each other well." Audacity Jane: "We have to assume her personal guard is professional. He should know the building staff too." Happy Jack: "Are her personal bodyguards hired through Knight Errant?" Byte Force: "They appear to be independent." Happy Jack: "So they probably don't know the Knight Errant guards. We capture the first shift of guards before they get to the apartment, then impersonate them." Audacity Jane: "I like it. Guards don't expect to be targeted when they're not working." Things went according to plan until the team entered the apartment. The second personal bodyguard, who turned out to be a hermetic mage, noticed that there was a lot of magick for four supposedly "mundane" bodyguards. Fortunately, Audacity Jane borrowed a rule from the Han Solo guide to tactics ... she shot first. Removing Euphoria from the premises was even simpler. We put her in a padded box and sent her out with a "courier" (Eye Spy). Happy Jack: (calling the building's concierge) "We have a box in the foyer of Ms. Euphoria's penthouse. A courier will be coming to pick it up shortly." Concierge: "Where is Mr. Adams? Usually he calls this kind of request in." Happy Jack: (rolling his eyes) "He's busy pacifying her royal highness. I hope he gets hazard pay for dealing with her." Concierge: "He does. We don't." After that, the team just killed time until the next shift arrived. They were dropped in the penthouse foyer, largely through the use of neurostun gas grenades which were hidden in the houseplants. No-Step: "I'm never going to trust a ficus after this." With every potential witness drugged and unconscious, the team was back at the safehouse before anyone realized Euphoria was missing. Of course, then the team needed to treat Euphoria "like royalty" for three days. Some jobs are harder than others....

Well, I have to be careful. Since your GM seems to be using many of the same runs we did, I could always inadvertently end up giving spoilers. Speaking of that, is your GM on the forum? If so, I have an plot seed for a quick mission that your group will probably have fun with.

Having played the same modules, I think our team was more successful at running some of those modules off the rails. Drhoz previously described your version of DNA/DOA (linked here), which we also ran ... or started to. The module derailed as follows ... The shadowrunners were an ork/troll group. Against stereotype, they specialized in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection. Dent: ork, rat shaman No-Step: ork, snake shaman, healer Byte Force: ork, decker, chemist Eye Spy: ork, rigger, drones, paramedic Audacity Jane: ork, combat, stealth, security systems Happy Jack: troll, combat, disguise, negotiator Mr. Johnson: generic name used by/for secretive employers who hire shadowrunners Alamos 20,000: a murderous, anti-metahuman organization The team met at No-Step's safehouse one morning in response to a frantic text. Happy Jack: (arriving with the rest) "What's up No-Step?" No-Step: (obviously stressed) "Nothing." (he holds up a note for them to read) No-Step's note: "I'm being blackmailed! Alamos 20K has my mother! They're making me carry a bug/tracker!" The bug/tracker was quickly resolved ... since standard operating procedure was to turn every safehouse into a farraday cage. According to No-Step's blackmailers, the team was going to be offered a job that evening. After completing the job, No-Step was supposed to turn the data over to the hostage-takers, rather than Mr. Johnson. To make matters worse, the captors apparently intended to use the data to create an anti-metahuman bioweapon. Dent: (to No-Step) "What's the big deal. You know what your mother looks like, right?" No-Step: "What kind of stupid question is that?" Eye Spy: (muttering to herself) "Sheesh. Not all of us do." Dent: "I didn't mean that literally. You've assenced her. Seen her aura." No-Step: "Yes...." Dent: "Piece of cake. I'll show you how to find her." Dent, a rules-lawyer at heart, gave a step-by-step primer on how to track her using watcher spirits and overcome every conceivable obstacle ... while the GM planted his head on the table. By early afternoon the team had rescued No-Step's mother and taken a dozen Alamos 20,000 members captive. Dent (ooc): Why did you abduct No-Step's mother? This would have been more challenging if you'd done it to one of the unawakened. GM: He was the only one I was sure would care about his immediate family. Byte Force: "Everybody keeps telling me that I have to have a family somewhere. Given the state of modern reproductive science and cloning technology, I just think those people are old-fashioned luddites." Happy Jack: "My parents threw me out of the apartment when I was 14. I wouldn't have minded so much, except we lived on the third floor." Audacity Jane: "My older brother and I fought when we were kids. He didn't survive." The hostage-takers were correct about one thing. That evening the team was offered a job. Mr. Johnson's assistant drove Happy Jack (disguised as his alter-ego, Jonathan Bridges) to the meeting. Mr. Johnson: "Anything I tell you has to be kept absolutely secret by you and your team. If any word of this datasteal gets loose, I will know who is to blame." Jonathan Bridges: "Your name is Mr. Walker, isn't it?" Mr. Walker/Mr. Johnson: (looking stunned) "..." Jonathan Bridges: "You're about to offer us a job to steal genetic research from one of the big eight megacorps?" Mr. Walker: "What? How...?" Jonathan Bridges: "I'm afraid word of this run has already gotten loose, and I'm absolutely certain my team wasn't to blame." Mr. Walker: "..." Jonathan Bridges: "Besides you, who else knew the details of this run?" Mr. Walker turns and looks at his assistant, who bolts from the room. Jonathan Bridges: (over his comlink) "The pigeon is flying. It's my chauffeur for the evening." Mr. Walker raced after the assistant, followed by Jonathan Bridges / Happy Jack. The assistant managed to escape in the elevator ahead of them. Jonathan Bridges: "For 50,000 nuyen my team will scoop him up as soon as he hits the street." Mr. Walker: (sputtering) "That ... that ... that's an outrageous price!" Jonathan Bridges: (shrugging) "Secrets are expensive. And right now, you don't know how many of yours he compromised." Mr. Walker: "..." Jonathan Bridges: "If you have a second team sitting outside the building, feel free to call them for a competing quote. Otherwise, your window of opportunity is going to last as long as an express elevator ride." After the assistant was captured, Mr. Walker still tried to hire the team for the shadowrun. He refused, however, to pay the asking price of 1 million nuyen, half up front. The team figured it was a fair price, since word had already leaked that Aztechnology was the target ... and that our team was being approached for the run. Presumably Mr. Walker hired another team of suck... I mean shadowrunners ... to complete the job. No-Step: "What are we going to do to the thugs who were holding my mother?" Eye Spy: "Sell them to the ghouls. Everybody needs to eat." Audacity Jane: "Sell them to the organ-leggers. They pay better." Eye Spy: "And they sell the scraps to the ghouls." Happy Jack: "Some of them may have family members who are willing to pay to have them returned alive." Byte Force: "That's risky. Lone Star may try to set a trap for you." Happy Jack: "They'll be setting a trap for the kidnappers. I'll be offering my services to the families as a professional ransom negotiator." Byte Force: "They pay you to negotiate a ransom with us? Twisted." No-Step: "I hate to interrupt your greed, but I'm not agreeing to let those monsters walk away scott free." Dent: "No problem. I'll rip a bunch of incriminating evidence from their minds. Turn it over to Lone Star anonymously, and they'll never go free." No-Step: "what if Lone Star ignores it?" Byte Force: "I can also send a copy to their Alamos 20K buddies. They'll kill them just to keep them from talking to Lone Star."

Provided that you're willing to accept the limitation of using one power at a time (or scaling back variable powers to use them simultaneously), it's a lot cheaper to buy the powers as a multipower, rather than individually. The only exception is when one power has a vastly larger total cost than any other power in the framework (at which point it may be cheaper to take that costly power out of the framework). It's a very good way to add a lot of flexibility to a character for a reasonable point cost. There are a lot of concepts that can fit into a multipower. 10 pt. Movement Multipower (10 pts) (var) +5" Running (2 pts) (var) +5" Superleap (1 pt) (fix) Clinging (1 pt) (var) +5" Swimming (1 pt) (var) 10" Swinging, OAF (-1) (1 pt) (var) 10" Gliding, OIF (-1/2) (1 pt) (all points are based on FREd, because that's the last version I memorized) I've used multipowers to represent the spells a mage can cast, the weapons in a powered armor weapons suite, various types of attacks (with different advantages) made by a brick, a utility belt, etc. About the only limitation that I put on my players is that there has to be some kind of theme that ties the powers together. And to give an example of efficiency, that 17 pt. group above would cost 42 pts. outside of the multipower.

If any munchkin tries to buy his entire body as an OIF, I will warn him that it is risky, and then I will let him do it. The first time he gets knocked out in combat, I will have the opponents spend the turn separating his head from his body, either to capture his head or steal his body. Evil Matermind: (to his minions) "If you see him trying to escape, don't stop him. Just pull out your phone and video it. I want to post a YouTube clip of him trying to escape by rolling himself down the hall using his tongue and his eyebrows."

We're the good guys: Give some of the agents disguises. Disguise some of them as a news crew. That way they can record the powers used by the heroes and study them later. They can interview the heroes. If the heroes break the law during the encounter, or if they say or do something stupid, the video can get leaked onto YouTube. Immediately after the fight, the police can show up to take the captured agents to jail. Several minutes after they drive off, the real police can arrive on the scene. The look on the heroes faces when they realized they turned the captured agents over to disguised agents should be priceless. It's even better if the agents disguised as reporters are still there with their cameras rolling.... Run away, run away, bravely run away: As soon as the heroes arrive, the two dozen agents take off running in two dozen different directions. The heroes are faster, and they'll catch some of them, but most will get away. And chasing agents (especially after most of them leave the immediate area) takes a bunch of time. This works great if the agents were just a diversion for the group committing the actual crime. If the agents need to get the stolen macguffin away from the scene, they can always disguise one of them as an injured bystander (with a real injury). Nobody searches the injured victims for contraband. Once the agent is at the hospital, he can slip the macguffin to an accomplice. Breaking things: This is an example of a wonderful diversion. The heroes hear about an attack. When they arrive, they see a bunch of agents shooting at a building. Smoke is pouring out of the windows of the building. There are screams coming from inside the building. There are a couple burning cars in the parking lot. Once the heroes get things sorted out, they'll find that the screams were coming from recordings played over speakers. The smoke in the building was generated by smoke machines. The guns were actually fakes that used special effects to make noise. The burning cars were cheap wrecks. The cars belong to the building owner ... who conveniently decides that he's not interested in pressing charges for trespassing or vandalism.

Make the agents immune to their own grenades. Example #1: The agents all carry smoke grenades (AoE darkness) and wear IR goggles. Example #2: The agents all carry flash grenades (AoE flash) and flare compensating gogles (flash defense). Example #3: The agents all carry gas grenades (AoE NND) and wear gas masks. That way, a group of agents can blanket the battlefield with AoEs, but suffer no ill effects themselves. Have a couple well-hidden sniper agents. They can sit at long range using find weakness and slowly pick off the heroes. Give the agents some martial arts. I gave one set martial throw, martial dodge and martial block. Because the agents outnumbered the heroes, an individual agent could afford to waste an action making a hero waste an attack. Coordinate attacks. Some of the agents will have to take defensive moves, but the rest can all coordinate on a single hero. That can easily overwhelm someone's defenses. Choose your targets carefully. Pick the hero that appears to be the most effective against agents, and drop him first. Repeat. Misdirection is a great strategy. The obvious agents are out front taking hostages and shooting at the heroes. The other group of agents is quietly accomplishing the real goal ... several miles away. Really dirty evil nasty tricks: Give your agents inobvious armor, acting skill and feign death. When hit, pretend to expire messily. This really messes with heroes who have codes vs. killing. Even nastier: Have the evil mastermind capture some normals, give them collar bombs, give them fake weapons with dead-man switches in the grip, and put them in costumes like your regular agents. If they're knocked out or disarmed, BOOM.

The principle works. You just have to accomplish it differently. Drop a gas cloud onto a battlefield (3d6 EB, continuous, AoE, NND). All the agents will spend their next action getting out of it. They'll try to avoid going back in until it's gone. Even more powerful villains will avoid spending more than an extra phase or two inside of it. Unless you use this power in an environment where enemies can't get away, it will function like an area denial power, not a slow-acting damage power. Darkness is also a great area denial power. If you can't perceive through it, you have to move in order to be effective. As Markdoc said, costing an enemy a phase or two is very powerful. A high-power presence attack can be extremely effective in that regard. Even hitting a melee opponent with enough knockback may force them to waste their next phase running back to you. I gave one character missile deflection at range. He could neutralize the attacks of multiple ranged enemies simultaneously. Any power which penalizes your enemies' OCV and/or DCV is extremely powerful (another potential benefit of a powerful presence attack). As in the real world, information (and the denial of information) is the ultimate form of battlefield control. For this reason, images are just as effective as fantasy illusions. If you can figure out what someone wants, fears or hates, you can use the appropriate image to manipulate their behavior.

The shadowrunners are an ork/troll group. Completely against stereotype, they specialize in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection. Dent: ork, rat shaman No-Step: ork, snake shaman, healer Byte Force: ork, decker, chemist Eye Spy: ork, rigger, drones, paramedic Audacity Jane: ork, combat, stealth, security systems Happy Jack: troll, combat, disguise, negotiator Humanis Policlub: a human-supremacist political group; some of the radical members have ties to Alamos 20,000 Alamos 20,000: a murderous anti-metahuman organization Sons of Sauron: a ork-rights political group, which is often as violent as Humanis Policlub Happy Jack returns from negotiating with a Mr. Johnson. Happy Jack: "I have some bad news, and some good news." Eye Spy: "I hate this game." No Step: "I'll bite. What's the bad news." Happy Jack: "The pay sucks for this job. Mr. Johnson's opening offer was 5,000 nuyen total. I was only able to talk him up to 8,000 nuyen." Dent: "I assume the good news is this is some kind of 'karma' job where we feel good about ourselves afterwards?" Happy Jack: "Mr. Johnson wants us to blow up a Humanis Policlub chapterhouse. The more destruction, the better." Eye Spy: "Happy Jack wins. I feel good about this job already." The team tries to figure out how to wreck the chapterhouse without damaging adjacent buildings. Audacity Jane: "I'll put cutting charges on the interior structural supports. The interior of the building will collapse, and the rest will be unstable. They'll actually have to pay money to tear down the unstable sections before repairing it." Byte Force: "I can also build the mother of all stink bombs. If all the furnishings smell horrible, it means they can't be reused or resold. They'll have to be written off at a loss." Audacity Jane: "Hah. The demolition and reconstruction crews will charge hazard pay if it smells bad enough." Happy Jack: "Maybe we can rupture a sewage line so the basement fills with black water." Byte Force: "That makes my stink bomb redundant." Happy Jack: "Not really. If your stink bomb smells bad enough, they won't notice the sewage until it's had a few days to fill the basement." Dent: "There's something poetic about filling the *******'s building with ****." The team researches the target. Byte Force: "I have some bad news." Eye Spy: "I hate this even more than good news/bad news." Byte Force: "The building is so heavily insured that it will be nearly impossible to do enough damage to hurt Humanis." No Step: "Something stinks about this job. I talked to my contact in Sons of Sauron. He says this chapter of Humanis keeps its hands clean. It's the main fundraiser. It does a lot of the politics and press releases. They even run a few charities. He's sure they channel money to the more radical and violent chapters, but they've never been caught doing it. Why does Mr. Johnson want this one blown up, instead of one of the violent chapters?" Audacity Jane: "Happy Jack, you royally screwed up. I'm starting to feel uneasy about blowing up a Humanis chapterhouse. This is supposed to be a 'feel good' job." More investigation ... more bad news. Byte Force: "I'm officially declaring this job a set-up. That chapterhouse is filled with wireless cameras. I'm betting we're supposed to get caught while we're trying to blow the place up." Happy Jack: "Yeah. I'm thinking we were hired by Humanis to blow the place up. It costs them nothing, then they use us as poster children for their next fundraising drive." No Step: "Should we refuse the job and return the advance?" Happy Jack: "No. If we do, Mr. Johnson will just hire some dumber orks and trolls to do the job anyway." Dent: "Instead, we get to be the dumber orks and trolls who do the job." Audacity Jane: "Even if I get in and out undetected, everyone's going to assume that metahumans blew the place up." Happy Jack: "We just need to fabricate evidence that humans blew up the chapterhouse." Dent: "Who is going to believe that?" Happy Jack: "This is a chapterhouse of moderates, relatively speaking. There's a big downside to being a moderate. The radicals on your side hate you even more than they hate the guys on the other side." No Step: "So we're supposed to show up looking like humans ... who just happen to be wearing their Alamos 20,000 name badges?" Happy Jack: "We find a couple Alamos 20,000 members who have criminal records, but aren't locked up, and they become our new best friends." Eye Spy: (spit-takes) "I'm sorry. My brain can't process 'Alamos 20,000' and 'new best friends' in the same sentence." Humanis will certainly hide any evidence of human involvement, so the team sets up a dashboard camera to "catch them in the act," so the video can be leaked later. No Step: "How are we going to conveniently arrange to have the camera get a good look at our faces? Dashboard cameras don't conveniently zoom in on faces." Happy Jack: "Right before you two break into the chapterhouse, the two of you will assault an indigent troll right in front of our camera." No Step: "So you'll be disguised as an indigent troll. But why wouldn't a troll just go all King Kong on a couple humans?" Happy Jack: "Audacity Jane will point a shotgun at me, while you take a bunch of whacks with a club." No Step: "Why do I have to be the one beating up on you? I'll already be straining just to hold up two illusions." Happy Jack: "If you hit me repeatedly with a club, I'll have some bruises. If Audacity Jane hits me with a club, I'll have massive internal bleeding." Eye Spy: "What happens if our scapegoats have alibis?" Happy Jack: "I took care of that." Eye Spy: "You kidnapped them?" Happy Jack: "No. I called one of them and pretended to be part of Alamos 20,000 in Boston. I told them that we'd stolen data from the Sons of Sauron, and the group in Boston had just shipped a truckload of weapons to the Sons of Sauron in Seattle. While you're blowing up the Humanis chapter, our scapegoats will be waiting to rob a fictitious load of guns." Happy Jack: (in a nasally voice) "I swear I didn't blow up a building detective! I was innocently sitting in a dark alley waiting to steal some guns!" Dent: "We ought to set off an EMP grenade next to their servers while we're in there." Byte Force: (wincing) "That's sacrilege. Data is meant to be stolen, not destroyed." No Step: "He's right. You two go in invisibly, so Byte Force can steal all the information off their servers." Byte Force: "Thank you." No Step: "And then set off an EMP grenade next to the servers, so they can't figure out what you took." As they're leaving (still covered by the Physical Mask spell), No Step spray paints SUNZ UV SAWRON RULZS on the wall of the chapterhouse. Audacity Jane: (as they walk away) "What were you doing?" No Step: "Making it look like we were trying to frame the Sons of Sauron for this." Audacity Jane: "Nobody is going to believe that the Sons of Sauron misspelled their own name." No Step: "Nobody?" Audacity Jane: "Okay. Fine. Nobody except a stupid and ignorant racist is going to believe they'd misspell their own name." No Step: "And who are we impersonating right now...?" After the building is blown up and the video is posted online and leaked to the media.... Byte Force: "The only useful Humanis data I got was a list of donors." Happy Jack: "Some of those donors may work for metahuman-friendly corps like Saeder Krupp. I bet Humanis membership is a violation of corporate policy." No Step: "Get them fired?" Happy Jack: "Blackmail them." Dent: "It's about time you figured out how to get some money out of this mess." Happy Jack: "We completed the job. I still expect to get paid by Mr. Johnson too." Dent: "He's a Humanis member who tried to set us up. He doesn't want to pay us." Happy Jack: "Of course not, but he'll show up to the meeting, if only to get the chance to kill me." Mr. Johnson arrives at the club with an entourage of bodyguards. His group also contains a fearsome number of mercenaries, street samurai and mages, who remain stationed a distance from the club. As Mr. Johnson waits at a secluded table... Bartender: (carrying a tray with a glass of champagne and a cell phone) "Mr. Johnson? A patron purchased this for you. I believe he was unable to wait for your arrival." Mr. Johnson: (picking up the phone) "I was expecting to see you here." Happy Jack: "I'm reasonably certain that I'd be killed before I got within two blocks of the club." Mr. Johnson: "..." Happy Jack: "But I've called in order to make arrangements for the remainder of our pay." Mr. Johnson: "I'm not pleased with the way the job turned out." Happy Jack: "The building was redecorated, just as you requested. Based on the tone of your voice, I would say that we exceeded your expectations." Mr. Johnson: "..." Happy Jack: "Obviously, some of your expectations were not met. If you wanted us to take the fall, you should have requested the service up front. We would have increased the price accordingly." Mr. Johnson: "There's no reason for me to pay you." Happy Jack: "Professional courtesy." Mr. Johnson: (snorts) Happy Jack: "As professionals, we keep silent about the activities of our paying clients. The key word is 'paying' clients. We do not extend the same courtesy to clients who stiff us. I'm sure a lot of people would feel quite betrayed by your activities." Mr. Johnson: (snarling) "Fine." Happy Jack: "In addition, the price has doubled. That's the surcharge for trying to kill us." Mr. Johnson: "Fine." Happy Jack: "And as a final matter, you need to be aware of the life insurance for me and my coworkers." Mr. Johnson: "Life insurance?" Happy Jack: "If any of us die, your comrades will receive a video. I'm sure you would find it awkward to explain." Mr. Johnson: "You're a shadowrunner. What happens if one of your other enemies kills you?" Happy Jack: "The video gets delivered, as promised. You might want to use that champagne to wish us all a very long life."

Is this someone's strategy for getting good quotes? Post horrible puns until I come up with some quotes to break the chain? More excerpts from the Shadowrun game. As previously stated, the runners are an ork/troll group. Completely against stereotype, they specialize in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection. Dent: ork, rat shaman No-Step: ork, snake shaman, healer Byte Force: ork, decker, chemist Eye Spy: ork, rigger, drones, paramedic Audacity Jane: ork, combat, stealth, security systems Happy Jack (aliases include Jonathan Bridges): troll, combat, disguise, negotiator Mr. Johnson: generic name used by/for secretive employers who hire shadowrunners When Happy Jack meets with clients, he usually goes as one of his alternate identities: the distinguished Jonathan Bridges. Mr. Johnson: "Thank you for meeting with me mister ..." Jonathan Bridges: "It's my pleasure to be here, Mr. Johnson. I'm Mr. Bridges." Mr. Johnson: "Mr. Bridges ... as in ..." Jonathan Bridges: "If you're about to make some comment regarding bridges and trolls, I've heard it before." The shadowrunners discuss how they're spending their latest windfall... Audacity Jane: "I can't believe you just spent 10,000 nuyen on a suit. What a waste of money." Happy Jack: "It's a high fashion suit with an armor lining. It's what the top executives wear." Audacity Jane: "So what? It's not like you're going to sneak into a building dressed like a troll CEO on our runs. You're still going in dressed as a janitor or a maintenance man like usual." A few weeks later, while Jonathan Bridges (aka Happy Jack) was negotiating with a different Mr. Johnson... Mr. Johnson: "And I'm prepared to pay each member of your team 6,000 nuyen." Jonathan Bridges: "6,000 nuyen? My suit costs more than that." Mr. Johnson: "..." Unsurprisingly, the pay got negotiated above 10,000 nuyen apiece. Discussing equipment on hand... Eye Spy: "Do you have any anti-vehicular grenades?" Happy Jack: "Sure." (tosses a grenade to Eye Spy) Eye Spy: "This is a paint grenade." Happy Jack: "It's hard to drive or shoot when your windshield is covered with paint." This led to the following conversation a few weeks later... Byte Force: "What chemicals can I cook up for you today?" Happy Jack: "Paint for grenades. I'd like something that works a bit better than what we already have." Byte Force: "What are you looking to change?" Happy Jack: "Could you mess with the viscosity and surface tension? I'd like it to stick better to vehicle windshields. And if they run windshield wipers, I'd like that to just smear the paint around without clearing it off." Byte Force: "Okay. That might be possible..." Happy Jack: "And could you include something that has a bit of an exothermic reaction? It doesn't need to be too strong. Just push the temperature of the paint over body temperature so it blocks infrared and thermographic vision." Byte Force: "Heh. That still won't help you much if the vehicle has radar." Happy Jack: "I was just getting to that. Could you mix in tiny particles of metal in order to scatter radar beams?" Byte Force: "****! Do you want the paint to yodel too, so it blocks sonar?" (long pause) Happy Jack: "That's a good idea ... but that might be a bit too much to expect from paint." Needing no explanation... Audacity Jane: "Of course dragons are at the top of the food chain. I can't eat that much."

Drhoz's Shadowrun stories have reminded me of an old Shadowrun campaign. The runners are an ork/troll group. Completely against stereotype, they specialize in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection. Dent: ork, rat shaman No-Step: ork, snake shaman, healer Byte Force: ork, decker, chemist Eye Spy: ork, rigger, drones, paramedic Audacity Jane: ork, combat, stealth, security systems Happy Jack: troll, combat, disguise, negotiator The runners all live in the Ork Underground. GM: You could live in different neighborhoods. Happy Jack: We live in a neighborhood where 80% of our enemies stick out like a sore thumb, and we look like everybody else. I have no idea how many of the GM's adventure ideas we screwed up by living in that neighborhood. But in this episode, the GM decided to run with the Ork Underground idea. Alamos 20,000 somehow managed to steal some cyberhounds and reprogram them. True to form, they released them at an entrance to the Ork Underground and sent them in to slaughter anyone they found. Coincidentally, the cyberhounds entered the Ork Underground near the PCs location. The dogs didn't last long. Dent: "Hey, real meat is on the menu tonight!" Audacity Jane: (to Happy Jack) "Why did you insist on subduing the last one?" Happy Jack: "So Byte Force can reprogram it and have a guard dog." Byte Force: "I can't afford to feed a dog. They eat meat." Happy Jack: "Meat? What are you talking about? Dogs eat kibble, just like people do." After stripping the cyberware out of the dead cyberhounds... Happy Jack: "Let's make friends with our neighbors. I'm going to pay one of the restaurants to chop it up and cook it for us. Then we can we have a neighborhood party." The neighbors turn out in droves for free meat. Enterprising restaurants and store owners start selling nutrisoy side orders to go along with meat. It turns into an impromptu street festival. ..And then the corporate security team walks into the Underground and up to the festival... Security Captain: "We've tracked our stolen property to this area. We want it returned." Byte Force: "Have some barbecue." Security Captain: "We're not interested in food. We're interested in our missing property." Byte Force: "Then have some barbecue." Happy Jack: (interrupting) "Captain, would your property happen to be four dogs?" Security Captain: "You have seen our property." Happy Jack: "So your property ran in and killed three of our neighbors?" Large crowd of orks and trolls: "..." Security Captain: "Um..." (pause) "Our property was stolen. We had no control over that. What happened to the dogs after that?" Happy Jack: (grins) "They ran into me." While the Security Captain was distracted, No-Step walked up behind him and yanked some hair out of his head. Security Captain: "Hey!" (aiming weapons at No-Step) Audacity Jane: "Captain, if any of you touch that skinny shaman, every man, woman and child here will kill you." (long pause, as everyone freezes) Audacity Jane: "Of course ... if you attack the troll, we're just going to sit back and laugh." Security Guard #1: (to Happy Jack) "The orks don't seem to like you much, troll." Eye Spy: "We like the troll just fine. We won't miss you lot, though." Security Guard #2: "He's not even armed, and we have..." ...SHHKKKKKKKKKKT... (Happy Jack had pulled a blade out of his jacket and yanked open the telescoping handle, turning it into a polearm.) Audacity Jane: "You have SMGs. He's bulletproof. His polearm has Dikote, so it's going to cut through your armor like butter." Security Captain: (trying to regain control of the situation) "We're not here for a fight. We're just here to retrieve our property." Happy Jack: "Have some barbecue. Take it back to your corporation. Run some DNA tests on it. That's as much of your property as you can salvage." (pause as the security team realizes what happened to the cyberhounds) Security Captain: "What about the cyberware? You didn't eat that. We'd like it back." Happy Jack: "Go talk to your corporate medics and wage mages. If they can find a way to bring our neighbors back from the dead, we'll see about getting your cyberware back." Security Captain: "The people who stole the dogs are responsible for the deaths." Happy Jack: "If we learn anything about the thieves, we'll be happy to pass the information on to you. But your negligence contributed to the situation." (the security team turns to leave) Happy Jack: "Captain, your corporation managed to generate a fair amount of ill-will through today's events. Let your bosses know that we would consider it a gesture of goodwill if they set aside an appropriate amount of money for the bereaved families." Security Captain: "I'll mention it, but I can't guarantee anything." No-Step: (holding up the strands of the captain's hair) "Persuade them, Captain." After the security team leaves... Dent: "How did they track the dogs to this spot? Tracer chips in the dogs' cyberware?" Happy Jack: "And that's why we always throw stuff into farraday cages."

I remember this part of the adventure. We actually figured out how to fulfill the letter of our agreement not to touch anything in the office, but still get our hands on the credstick... I don't recall the exactly how the discussion went, but it went something like this (after we were safely away): "Morlock told us that we can't touch the stuff in the office. He didn't say anything about what we do to stuff outside the building. We wait until the chief editor takes the credstick out of the building, then we grab it from him. I can figure out a few possible scenarios. We just need to be able to cover those possibilities, and we're good." "We know credsticks aren't for normal, legitimate business. They'd just run those through their normal accounts. It's either secret or dirty. If it's dirty, they don't want to be caught with it. If it's secret, they don't want to be asked about it. If this was a megacorp, nobody would think twice. They always keep millions in dirty or secret nuyen around. But this is a little publisher. Maybe the company is fronting for somebody. Maybe the editor is. Maybe the company or the editor is into something illegal and is hiding the money here. For the most part, it doesn't matter." "If this is the chief editor's illegal stash, then he needs to move it before the company starts investigating thoroughly, and he'll have to do it himself to avoid arousing suspicion. Even if it's the company's money, he may claim that we stole it, then pocket it himself. That still means he has to move it himself." "If the chief editor is just a loyal front man for something secretive or dirty, then he still has to move it. That safe just isn't secure, and he knows it. Even if there's another safe in the building, he can't use that either. It was in the chief editor's safe, because that ensures that he's the only one who can access it. If they put it anywhere else in that building, some other employee will be able to access it too. We made it clean enough that they have to wonder whether we had someone inside. If so, moving it to another spot in the same building could hand it to the inside man. They've got to move it to somewhere secure outside the building." "Given what that program did inside of their system, they're going to get investigated. Big time. So they have to move it subtly. Maybe the chief editor moves it himself. Maybe he gets a bodyguard to accompany him. Maybe he uses a high-end bonded courier. If he gets much beyond that, he's going to attract attention. It's going to stay small. No armored vehicles. No squads of company men. No helicopters. It will be something that won't stand out too much in this environment." "And we can make sure that they're under scrutiny. Once they've had time to discover the problem, we'll anonymously tip off a couple young and hungry reporters. They can hang around, asking questions, taking pictures, being nosy. With reporters around, they can't bring in big guns." "After that, we just watch to see who comes in and compare the visitors to employees and clients. If a new face shows up before the chief editor leaves the building, that's the courier or bodyguard." "So we need a plan to hit a moving vehicle. We're taking the vehicle and one or two occupants. We use disguises because we may be recorded by the reporters. We'll need enough diversion to cover our escape. That's the mission. Let's get some eyes on the publisher and come up with a real plan." The conversation was done in front of the GM, and there was some metagaming that went into what was said. Either the GM could take the mini-adventure we had just handed him and run with it, or he could come up with some transparent, genre-breaking way to keep the money out of our hands.

That reminds me of a couple things I pulled in MMOs. (In general, names have been changed ... because I can't remember them.) ------------------------- in Everquest (the original one) I was running my bard (Staccato) through West Freeport (one of the starting cities), when I heard the following... Newbie: "Everyone watch out! There's a druid killing noobs in the arena!!!" Dr00d: "free druid buffs in the arena" I checked the list of players in the zone, and the Dr00d was the second highest level player ... a 34th level druid. The highest level player was Staccato ... a 60th level bard. The list didn't mention that Staccato worshiped the Tribunal ... the gods of justice. What happens when a follower of the Tribunal discovers that a druid is making false promises in order to trick newbies into getting killed? What happens when the druid announces that he's located in a free-for-all PvP Arena? Staccato entered the Arena invisibly. The Dr00d didn't notice Staccato until Staccato charmed him. When you're charmed, your avatar responds to all the normal pet commands. Some of them are lots of fun in PvP. Dr00d: "Staccato is my master." Dr00d: "Staccato is my master." Dr00d: "Staccato is my master." Staccato: "You got that right." Charm only lasts for 30 seconds, and you have to wait for it to break before you can reapply it. I was a little worried that the Dr00d might escape when charm broke, so I quickly switched over to mezzing him ... because I could do that forever. Well, maybe not forever. After about 5 minutes, the Dr00d decided that he could disconnect from the internet, which would disconnect him from the game and log him out. Of course, his avatar stayed in the game for another 15 seconds. How long do you think it takes a 60th level bard to kill a 34th level druid? Less than 15 seconds. Staccato: using guildchat "There was a druid offering free buffs to newbies in the Freeport Arena, then killing them." Guildmember #1: "That's horrible." Guildmember #2: "I ought to go there and kill him." Staccato: "Too late. I beat you to it." Guildmembers: "lol" Two minutes later... Dr00d: in a private message "u killed me" Staccato: "Yep. If I catch you killing newbies again, I'll kill you again." Dr00d: "u made me lose xp." This was surprising. PvP kills aren't supposed to cause XP loss. Staccato: "Serves you right." Dr00d: "i reported u to the gms" Staccato: "For killing you in the Arena? Let me know when they laugh in your face." Dr00d: "im goin 2 report u 2 ur guild get u kicked out" Staccato: in guildchat "The druid is back. He wants to report me to my guild." GuildOfficer #1: "Give him my name. I want to tell him off." GuildOfficer #2: "Me too." GuildOfficer #3: "Definitely give him my name." Staccato: in a private message to the Dr00d "Several officers are online. Would you like a list of names?" ------------------------- In City of Heroes This took place in The Hollows, which is a low-level zone. The Hollows were very dangerous to travel through. There were obstructed lines of sight, so you could run into enemies before you spotted them. The enemies hung out in large groups, capable of quickly killing most newbies. And newbies didn't have advanced travel powers (Fly, Superspeed, Superleap, Teleport), which would help them cross the zone quickly and safely. Newbies could get access to low level travel powers (i.e. Hover, Recall Friend). Even though Hover was painfully slow (slower than walking, and who does that in an MMO) it was popular because it was the only safe way to get yourself across The Hollows. Recall Friend was also useful. It allowed you to teleport your teammates to a spot near you. If you could get to the entrance of the mission (without dying), you could safely bring your teammates to the mission. This saved time, since newbies would sometimes die multiple times when trying to get to missions. Good samaritans would also offer to use Recall Friend to help newbies leave The Hollows. You would invite them to your team, they would teleport you to a spot near them (and they'd be near the zone entrance), and you'd safely leave. On the day this occurred, I was playing my Warshade. Warshades were a prestige class, and they got one perk that set them apart at low levels ... Warshades got the Teleport power for free at level 1. I had also chosen the Recall Friend skill, since it's useful for helping teammates. ... I was using Teleport to leave The Hollows one day, and I noticed something strange. Near the entrance, there was someone standing on top of the guard tower, and there were several heroes inside the guard tower. The person on top of the guard tower wasn't too strange. Newbies could hover to get to the roof of the guard tower. But it wasn't possible for people to run, jump or fly through the windows of the guard tower. They weren't big enough. I watched for a few minutes until I figured out what was going on. The windows were big enough to teleport through. One person had used Hover to get to the roof of the guard tower. He then offered to team up with people and use Recall Friend to help them leave The Hollows. The inside of the guard tower was close enough to the roof for him to dump the newbies inside. Once they were there, he would disband from the team and they were stuck. I snuck back out into The Hollows, and pretended like I needed a ride out. He used Recall Friend to dump me into the guard tower -but- as soon as I landed in the guard tower, I used Recall Friend to teleport him right next to me. He disbanded, then realized he was stuck inside with everyone else. I then invited all of his victims to team up with me. I used Teleport to get out of the guard tower, then used Recall Friend to get everyone else out too. Except for the "hero" who had pulled the stunt. I left him there.

In other words, you want God Mode for a tabletop RPG. Divine Force Manipulation: possessed by God (omnipotent, creator of the universe) Mystic Generation: possessed by Sise-Neg (all-powerful, creator of the universe) Spatial Manipulation: possessed by Janemba (whose power over dimensions is capable of transforming the entire universe into his own image. What fun is the game when there's no challenge?

This ties into one of the blog posts, but I think it bears repeating: If you're role-playing your character well, your psychlims aren't something your GM uses to torment you. They're what makes your character fun to play. Example #1: At a recent convention, I played Tony Stark / Iron Man in a one-shot. One of his psychlims said: "Must make an Ego roll to avoid acting like an eccentric billionaire." My first thought was, "Why would I want to avoid acting like that?" Example #2: In another one-shot, I played an attractive teenaged vampire. One of the psychlims said: "Must make an Ego roll to avoid using his looks/charms to do things the easy way." I didn't need to make any Ego rolls. In the process of gathering information, I used those charms with several cheerleaders, the gay cheerleading coach, the 70 year old school librarian.... The same can be true of many disadvantages / limitations. If the GM uses your DNPC or your Hunted as a plot hook, why treat this as a punishment. Your character gets extra time at center-stage for this adventure. In the past, I've invited my DNPC to accompany the team in dangerous situations. It was good for some laughs. Heck, I should probably make a PC who is hunted by Bulldozer someday. It might not be worth much in points, but it would be great for comic relief.

This AD&D campaign was set in an area where Greek and Egyptian cultures overlapped. Usekhtep: paladin of Horus, the Egyptian god of righteous retribution; rode a giant hawk into battle Hesykhia: priestess of Harpocrates, the Greek god of silence Thestia: a rogue and a member of a Greek criminal organization; the team "scout" The Toymaker: a wild mage; played by the team munchkin Father Azerun: priest of Thoth, the Egyptian god of knowledge (the GM's NPC) While Usekhtep and Thestia were scouting, Hesykhia, Father Azerun and The Toymaker came face-to-face with a group of 30 Settite priests ... who were individually slightly weaker than the PCs, and collectively far stronger. Usekhtep flew back to the group to discover them confronting each other. Hesykhia and The Toymaker (ooc, to each other): "We are sooo going to die." Usekhtep: (landing his giant hawk on a low cliff overlooking the Settites) "Is there a problem?" Settite Priest: "You killed four members of our group. Surrender or we will kill you." Usekhtep: (leveling his lance at the leader) "We haven't killed any members of your group. But if the rest of you want to die, you're welcome to attack." Settite Priest: "You're bluffing." Hesykhia: "He doesn't bluff." Settite Priest: "But ... There are thirty of us against four of you. You don't stand a chance." Usekhtep: (patting his hawk's head) "There are five of us, and I'm certainly willing to test your theory." Settite Priest: (noticing that Thestia isn't present) "One of you isn't here. How do you know that she didn't kill our brethren?" Usekhtep: "If she was hunting you, more than four of you would be dead." The group went to consult with a young woman who had been cursed with super senses. Super-sensitive woman: "My ability is a burden, not a gift. I can see everyone around me dying. I can can see you growing older. I can see your cells dying, one by one. If you want, I can tell you the year, the month, the day, the hour, the minute and even the second when you will finally die of natural causes." Usekhtep: (shrugging) "If it's any consolation to you, that's a meaningless number. I don't expect to die of natural causes." The group tracked down a vicious, treacherous, murderous pirate captain. After a tough battle, the group won when they paralyzed the captain. Usekhtep followed up by performing a coup de grat. Father Azerun: "I can't believe you killed her while she was paralyzed!" Usekhtep: "Her crimes required her death. Did you want me to wake her up before I executed her?" The DM liked to create moral quandaries for the players. Unfortunately for him, Usekhtep's black-and-white view of morality was immune to shades of gray. Father Azerun: (explaining the moral quandary to the group) "I discovered that the boy we found will become a greater demonic power at some point in the future. But for now, his true nature is concealed, even from him. He is, for all purposes, an innocent child at this time." Usekhtep: "What is the problem? I can easily take care of that." Hesykhia: "You aren't going to kill the child?!?" Usekhtep: "Of course not. My giant hawk has the ability to fly us to the Happy Hunting Grounds, one of the heavenly planes. We will take the boy there." Father Azerun: "But contact with a heavenly plane could utterly destroy him." Usekhtep: "In which case we'll know that he's truly a creature of evil, merely masquerading as an innocent." Father Azerun: "What if he survives?" Usekhtep: "Then I'll leave him there. He can spend his remaining years of innocence living in paradise. And as soon as his evil nature comes forth, he'll be utterly destroyed."