Comic

Re: How many Dragon's teeth adorn YOUR shield?
 
Never stat your dragons.
 
If you stat them, someone will come up with a way of beating them.
 
And do you really want dragons that can be beaten?
 
Oh.. Er.. You said you did. Sort of. I guess.
 
Uhm. Just take Dr. Destroyer, add a tail and scales, and you're pretty much done?

Show me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy.
 
Show me a superhero, and I'll draw you a comic.

A sucking chest wound is how the Universe tells you it's time to fall into that vat of oddly-glowing chemicals and gain super powers.

Possibly she's building the next president?
 
If so, please more Int and Skills, and less Psych Lim's and Berserks.

Show me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy.
 
Show me a superhero, and I'll draw you a comic.

Wow. Cloak and Dagger have really changed.

It occurred to me rather belatedly that the gorgon was ripe for a patriotic superhero because you can't have Medusa without U S A !
 
And aren't the rest of you mad that you did not think of it first ?

I really don't do much superhero art anymore.  Been really working in the fantasy genre more..  
 
My long time patron Death Tribble gave me the challenge of doing Medusa as a super heroine.  Seemed like fun and it was.  I gave her a jaunty pose and smile.  He asked for a long, slinky outfit, but I felt that was kinda in the vein of a villain, so I gave her a skirt, semi-grecian, instead.  Hope he doesn’t mind.  What do y’all think?

Next are a couple of images from Green Ronin’s Cosmic Handbook.  Got to trout out my Kirby homage and my love of sword and planet motifs.  I went with some super vibrant colors on these both, trying for “alien and cosmic” after looking at a lot of what Kirby did back in the day.
 

Wouldn't they call it a surfaceable?
 
And while it looks like the warrior _could_ mount that thing, unless his greaves lock into something on the underside, I don't see how he would stay on it at speed.
 
 

And now to shift gears slightly, I'm going to do a batch of Watchers of the Dragon characters, since that one is polling really well too.  
 
First on the block is Seeker, who Steve Long turned into the ultimate martial artist.  He's... somewhat... more expensive than in the Champions books.  This is seeker who's been around a long time and spent a lot of experience.
 
As far as I know this is the last printing of the character, who was disappeared for the new editions.
 
SEEKER   Val Char Cost  25  STR   15  29  DEX   38  25  CON  15  13  INT     3  14  EGO   4  20  PRE   10  10  OCV  35  10  DCV  35   5   OMCV 6   5   DMCV 6  18  PD    16  15  ED    13   7   SPD  50  10 REC  6  50  END  6  15  BOD  5  40  STN 10   20m RUN   8   8m SWIM 2 20m LEAP  8 Characteristics Cost: 291   Cost Power  10    Luck 2d6   1     Life Support  (Immunity: Venom from Coral Snake)   1     Life Support  (Immunity: Venom from Jellyfish)   5     Pain Resistance: Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25% (15 Active Points); Requires A Roll (Characteristic roll; Must be made each Phase/use; -1), Only vs Stun of attacks (-1/2), Must Be Aware of Attack (-1/4)   5     Strong Will: Mental Defense (8 points total) (Base MD)  12    Sense Ch'i: Detect Ch'i use 18-/15- (Unusual Group), Range, Sense   9     Keen Senses: +3 PER with all Sense Groups   3     Hing Kung: Flight 12m (12 Active Points); Only to leave no tracks (-2), Gliding (-1)  14    Dontonjutsu: Tunneling 2m through 3 PD material, Fill In (18 Active Points); Minimum distance 2m (-1/4)     8     Champions Communicator: High Range Radio Perception (Radio Group) (12 Active Points); OIF (-1/2)   2     Champions Communicator: Absolute Time Sense (3 Active Points); OIF (-1/2)   2     Champions Communicator: Wireless Internet Access (3 Active Points); OIF (-1/2)     3     Stances: Multipower, 3-point reserve  1f     1)  Cat Stance: Lightning Reflexes (+3 DEX to act first with All Actions) (3 Active Points)  1f     2)  Crane Stance: +1 with Block (2 Active Points); Requires A Roll (Skill roll; Must be made each Phase/use; -1)  1f     3)  Horse Stance: Knockback Resistance -3m (3 Active Points)            Martial Arts Weapons  15    Katana: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 2d6 (3d6+1 w/STR), Range Based On STR (+1/4) (37 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Knockback (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4)  27    Bladed Sai: (Total: 45 Active Cost, 27 Real Cost) Hand-To-Hand Attack +3d6 (15 Active Points); OAF (-1), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 11) plus Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6 (1 1/2d6 w/STR), Range Based On STR (+1/4), Armor Piercing (+1/4), Penetrating (+1/2) (30 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Knockback (-1/4), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 16)   9    Triple Irons: (Total: 23 Active Cost, 9 Real Cost) Hand-To-Hand Attack +3d6 (15 Active Points); OAF (-1), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 6) plus Stretching 2m (2 Active Points); Only to use weapon (-1), OAF (-1), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 1) plus +2 OCV block and disarm (6 Active Points); OAF (-1), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 2)   7    Shuriken: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1/2d6 (1d6+1 w/STR), Range Based On STR (+1/4), Autofire (3 shots; +1/4) (17 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Knockback (-1/4), 9 Recoverable Charges (+1/4) Powers Cost: 136   Cost Martial Arts Maneuver   4     Atemi Strike:  1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +1 DCV, 3 1/2d6 NND   4     Block:  1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort   4     Choke Hold:  1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +0 DCV, Grab One Limb; 3 1/2d6 NND   4     Disarm:  1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +1 DCV, Disarm; 50 STR to Disarm   4     Dodge:  1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort   4     Escape:  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, 55 STR vs. Grabs   3     Joint Lock:  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab One Limb, 50 STR to hold on   5     Joint Break:  1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -2 DCV, Grab One Limb; HKA 4d6 , Disable   5     Kick:  1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +1 DCV, 12d6 Strike   4     Punch:  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 10d6 Strike   3     Throw:  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +1 DCV, 8d6 +v/10, Target Falls  12    +3 HTH Damage Class(es)   4     Weapon Element:  Blades, Clubs, Karate Weapons, Three-Section Staff Martial Arts Cost: 60   Cost Skill   3     Acrobatics 15-   4     AK: Australian Outback 13-   3     Breakfall 15-   3     Climbing 15-  20    +2 with All Attacks  16    +2 with HTH Combat   8     Defense Maneuver I-III    3     Language:  Japanese (completely fluent)   2     Language:  Mandarin Chinese (basic conversation; literate)   2     Language:  Nhoda ninja clan codes and symbolism (fluent conversation)   3     Navigation 12-   3     Scholar   1     1)  KS: Analyze Style (2 Active Points) 11-   1     2)  KS: Jujutsu (2 Active Points) 11-   1     3)  KS: Karate (2 Active Points) 11-   1     4)  KS: Kung Fu (2 Active Points) 11-   1     5)  KS: Ninjutsu (2 Active Points) 11-   3     6)  KS: Philosophy (4 Active Points) 13-   3     7)  KS: Rhythm & Blues music (4 Active Points) 13-   5     Shadowing 13-   3     Sleight Of Hand 15-   3     Stealth 15-   4     Survival (Desert) 13-   3     Tactics 12-   5     Tracking 13-   1     TF:  Champions Vehicles   6     WF:  Common Martial Arts Melee Weapons, Common Melee Weapons, Off Hand, Three-Section Staff Skills Cost: 111   Cost Perk   3     Well-Connected   1     1)  Favor (2 Active Points)   1     2)  Favor (1 Active Points)   1     3)  Favor (1 Active Points)   1     4)  Favor (1 Active Points)   1     5)  Favor (1 Active Points)   2     6)  Favor (3 Active Points)   2     7)  Favor (3 Active Points)   1     8)  Favor (2 Active Points)   1     9)  Favor (1 Active Points)   1     10)  Favor (1 Active Points)   1     11)  Favor (1 Active Points) Perks Cost: 13   Cost Talent  16    Combat Sense 13-   3     Lightsleep Talents Cost: 19   Total Character Cost: 630   Pts. Complication  10   Dependent NPC:  Current romantic interest Infrequently (Normal)  20   Enraged:  Innocents abused (Common), go 11-, recover 11-  25   Hunted:  VIPER Frequently (Mo Pow; NCI; Harshly Punish)  15   Hunted:  Red Band of the Nohoda ninja clan Infrequently (Mo Pow; Harshly Punish)  10   Psychological Complication:  Irreverent Wisecracker (Common; Moderate)  15   Negative Reputation:  Never breaks his word, honorable, Very Frequently   5    Hunted:  Green Dragon Infrequently (Less Pow; Harshly Punish)  20   Psychological Complication:  Puts innocents before himself (Very Common; Strong)  15   Psychological Complication:  Code of Honor, punishes dishonorable foes (Common; Strong)  10   Psychological Complication:  Seeks absolute truth, even to own danger (Common; Moderate)  10   Rivalry:  Professional (outshine other martial artists; Rival is As Powerful; Rival is a Player Character; Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival; Rival Aware of Rivalry) Complication Points: 155   SeekerWoD.hdc

See how qualified I am to be President. 
 
I've never been the lesser evil in my life.

Possibly she's building the next president?
 
If so, please more Int and Skills, and less Psych Lim's and Berserks.

Possibly she's building the next president?
 
If so, please more Int and Skills, and less Psych Lim's and Berserks.

The GM, in an effort to ramp out just what a hypocritical POS the target of this week's run was, and inadvertently aided by some very unflattering character art, managed to make this session rather transphobic. We took him to task over this and he promised not to do it again.

Ripper K: So, do we know if Oracle is alive or not?
Shell: Hang on, I'll check *bringbring*
Oraclet: Yeah, what?
Shell: He's alive.
Ripper K: He told us to not disturb him.
Oraclet: It's OK, I'm not bunker coding anymore, just coding.

GM: News of the Day! Prop 23 got vetoed as unconstitutional.
Ocelot: How did that happen?
Ripper K: Racist arseholes.
Poe: Insert Arbitrary Bitching

Kenneth Brackhaven, Governor of Seattle, vetoed the recent Proposition 23, which had given Seattle's goblinoid population a political voice. Given Brackhaven is the only known case of 'remission" from goblinization, and was raised as a complete arsehole anyway, this surprises nobody. Nor does the fact that the Goblinoid's protest rally is happening the same day that the Humanis Policlub are having their own counterrally. Or that the planned routes meet at Town Hall.

Kenneth Brackhaven ran for UCAS President under the Archconservative Party, and narrowly lost out to Dunklezhan.

Ocelot: He couldn't stand up to the Big D.
Ripper K: *splutters*
Poe: He actually said that without smiling.

Naturally, we have an incentive to see this veto gets overturned - have the party are goblinoid.

Shell: And what are you, Ripper?
Oraclet: Living novelty dildo.

This is one of the occasions we can approach the client first - we call our friend in the Ork Underground. He does indeed have a job for us. Off to the Howling Griffin, a goblinoid rock club.

Astronauta Peligroso: What's goblin rock?
Oraclet: Glam rock for orkls.
Astronauta Peligroso: I see. So now someone needs to explain glam rock to me and I'll be fine.
Ocelot: Jem and the Holograms as played by fantasy stereotypes.

Bouncer: I know the drill, you were never here.
Ripper K: I don't even know where we are. *turns to Poe. Spittakes* Who are you?
Shell: I was just looking for the bar.
Ocelot: I bet at least once a month a random group of people get mistaken for shadowrunners. That's how new teams start.
 
Our contact wants to ensure that the goblinoids win the brewing war of public opinion. Congressman James Grey is a staunch ally of the governor. We have to make him appear in the upcoming Humanis rally, on live Tri-D, to publicly associate him with racist extremists, and then humiliate him to destroy his political career and associations.

Shell: Voted Most Punchable Face of 2069

Snatching him while he's visiting his mistress seems best. The Congressman's wife will be delighted if we can prove he's an adulterer, too.

All: We get paid twice! *do the happy dance*

Ocelot: 50 nuyen says the mistress is metahuman.
Oraclet: No bet
Client: Typical for 'family values' types, right?

Oracle's plan is to film the congressman canoodling with his mistress, then kidnap the mistress, and send the congressman a message threatening to 'expose you, you hypocritical piece of shit' if he doesn't attend the Humanis rally. Meanwhile we put the mistress up somewhere nice, and hand her over to the better journalists afterwards. The chatshow circuit will dine out on this for weeks. And we get to frame some racists with kidnapping. Ripper suggests one from the FBI Most Wanted list - a kidnapper with known Humanis associations. A Physical Mask spell, and we can insure he 'accidentally' wanders past some security cameras at the apartment block. First, we need to find the apartment where they'll be meeting - fortunately, our infiltration drone Shitkicker has been getting some up-grades.

Shitkicker: +++SQUEE!+++I HAVE GECKO TIPS!+++AND JUMP JETS!+++

His driver certainly noticed us following him, but since we were only doing so long enough to be sure Shitkicker was attached to his undercarriage, he decided it must have been nothing. The congressman's mistress is indeed metahuman. The surprise is who's on top.

Poe: He's screwing an elf.
Shell: He's getting screwed BY an elf.

Much of the next few minutes is occupied by the party arguing about gender identity and political correctness. But she's still getting kidnapped.

Astronauta Peligroso: So we have a body.
GM: Excuse me? She IS still alive.
Astronauta Peligroso: I can fix that.

Shell: Excuse me for asking, but what do you identify as?
Luisa: *through the gag* MMMHHGNNMGHN!
Shell: You heard them - they're MMMHHGNGHNN! *tranq patches them, and starts singing a lullaby* Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep little MMMMHHGNNGHMM!

Shell: Hey Congressman, we have your MMHHGNNNMM.

Oraclet: He can always claim he was co-erced into appearing at the rally - and he'll be telling the truth. It's a shyster's wet dream.
GM: Right up until you show the footage anyway.
Oraclet: Yup.

We also give the journalist Holly Brighton the heads up that she'll want some cameras at the rally. And that we have a 'special guest' for her show. And show her some of the footage. She's willing to pay extra for the exclusive with the Mistress, and best quality copies of the film.

Oraclet: We don't have the congressman.
Ripper K: But we know where he'll be.

Oraclet: Do this right and we can get paid three times.

Shell: Just tell me we can go beat up some Humanis after all this.
Poe: Sure - it IS Saturday.

The Congressman is trying to be inconspicuous at the Humanis rally - wearing a hoodie, etc. No doubt he has lots of incognito security hovering about too, for all the good it will do him.

Oraclet: That's fine - I have a spotlight on one of the drones.

Ripper K: I'll just be sitting on the edge of the roof, eating popcorn-flavoured NERPS.

We wait with glee and anticipation, as the Humanis march off towards Town Hall. Then we turn on the spotlight. Humanis reacts predictably, roaring their approval of the congressman's presence. Then we set off the Augmented Reality displays, and a six-story tall full-colour movie of the congressman appears on the building over-looking the road. Suitably pixellated so it can appear on all the news channels.

Humanis protesters: KILL THE ELF-F*CKER!!!! ELF-F*CKER! ELF-F*CKER! ELF-F*CKER! ELF-F*CKER! ELF-F*CKER!
Poe: That's a chant you can get behind.

The resulting riot is glorious. And the Ork protesters are entirely uninvolved. We drop Luisa off to Holly.

Oraclet: By the way, your boyfriend was an ass.
Luisa: *shrug* It was mostly for the money.
Oraclet: He's also probably dead. He was surrounded by hundreds of Humanis Policlub members when we played the footage.
Ripper K: I'm sure he had bodyguards.
Oraclet: Speaking as a security expert, he was still dogmeat.

True, we had to use Oracle's other drones to stop any of the Orks joining in the violence, but we sell the designs to Knight Errant afterwards (via Boots) to obscure our presence. They can always pretend it was a prototype.

Knight Errant Rep: Wait - you've made the prefect extraction drone... out of our parent company's back stock??
Shell: Now if you'll excuse me, my city needs me *holds up hands*
Vulture Drone: KCAW! *extraction drone swoops down and snatches him up into the sky*

We also just finished a four-hour session in an hour. The GM hurriedly preps a bodyguard job in New York for us, to protect an artist-mage. Apparently he and his cronies want to summon a major free spirit. As an art project.

Poe: OK, it's a spirit of Art, but..
GM: They want to summon it at the Guggenheim.
Poe: *headdesk*
GM: The Spirit is called Mister Dada
Shell: Why do I feel this job is going to get weird?
Ocelot: My arsehole is puckering so hard right now.
GM: The reason they want Shadowrunners instead of corporate security is because they want to fake the ritual going wrong, for dramatic purposes.
Ocelot: You remember that puckering I mentioned earlier?
Oraclet: I want to know exactly how this ritual is going to 'go wrong'. I want safewords. If I hear 'banana' it's weapons free.

And all this in Manhattan, a hyper-surveillance hub for the elite.

Ocelot: What we could POSSIBLY be adding as security??
Shell: We're not security, we're ambiance.

Ripper and Oracle drop by Mortimer of London's Seattle outlet to pick up a really nice suit for the job.

Poe: Damn - If I knew Shapechange I could have gone as a woman.

Oracle: Trousers, 800 nuyen. Shirt, 550 nuyen. Suit jacket, 1500 nuyen. Looking stunning - priceless.

Ripper struts up the red carpet into the event. And gets 12 successes on 14 dice. Oracle does nearly as well - and he's wearing a mask! So does Astronauta.



GM: You're going to get movie offers! Legitimate movie offers!
Shell: And nobody notices Shell *sadface*

In fact, Ocelot is the only one who actually looks and acts like security. But then, that's what the clients want. They're delighted at the media frenzy. Half an hour later the party gets gatecrashed by giant walking statues of various 20th century celebrities. This might cause alarm - but we know it's part of the show, so simply do our best to ensure nobody gets trampled. Our clients animated them from the Pre-Crash Pop Collection, and they proceeed to dance in the middle of the rotunda.

Shell: Dance off!
Oraclet: It's just a jump to the left.

Of course, the other part of the contract was that we destroy these things. Which we do. While dancing. Shell slices one in half, Oracle shoots up another, Astronauta uses wrestling moves, and Ripper executes an enthralling pas de deux, intending to lift a statue gracefully over his head.. and piledrive it into the floor. It doesn't quite work out that way - instead, one of the statues is so Enthralled it leaps from an upper level of the rotunda towards Ripper's arms, and only avoids squashing some attendants because Poe caught it with a Levitate spell. At this point the mages drop their spells, and attempt to 'make their escape'. But when they reach the doors they're still glued shut. And he rumbling build-up that signalled the dancing statues is back.

Mage: Banana! Banana!

And on this cliffhanger, as the Guggenheim's entire collection comes to life, is where we leave it for the evening...

It's not personal immunity to a punch, IMO, it's personal immunity to an Explosion. And unless that special affect is a million little punches in every direction I'd have no problem with either Personal Immunity or Hole in the Middle as they're the same value (IIRC, if PI is +1/2 then forget I said anything) and the SFX of the Immunity could be "Hole in the Middle."

 
But I'd probably require something. 

"Took him two years to get into that shape."
 
Cosplay. The key to health and fitness.

Look! Up in the Sky!
 


 
He's very excited about this. Took him two years to get into that shape.

I see your cutest captain america and raise Little girls R better at designing superheroes than you
 

 
 
 

I think he"d be better as Captain Marvel.

No, those who put "Wombat" in their name can expect to visit Australia.  

Agreed on all points.
 
It wasn't so much the why.. as the how.
 
The Holmesian villain mastermind was essentially ineptly trying to identify an archer among all the world's archers in a pre-Internet world by narrowing him down through the most commonplace piece of his shtick.. with a silly faked accent, deerstalker cap, oversized magnifying glass, non-functioning violin with a Walkman inside, and clay pipe, accompanied by hired thugs he called Watson. All of them. And whenever he ran into a dead end in his investigation (the GM later explained), he'd commit a crime to attempt to obtain new arrows. I never saw the write-up, but it was very Keystone Cops and hilarious.
 
EDIT: In retrospect, I realize I'm seeing this as sillier than it seemed at the time, given our modern age of Internet, DNA testing, trace evidence testing, CSI television shows, and the like. Magnifying glass and arrow shaft seems quaint now.

Good point.  I can fix that.  I'll give him Power: Gadgeteering and Inventor (Only to Make Trick Playing Cards, -1/2), which are only 5 CP as to explain his trick cards.

I believe the consensus view is that Australia is a Madland more than a wasteland.

The shadowrunners were an ork/troll group. Against stereotype, they specialized in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection.
 
Cast of characters: 
Dent: ork, rat shaman
No-Step / Gomi No ShuShu: 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
Universal Brotherhood ("UB"): a charitable fringe religious organization; secretly controlled by insect sprits
SIN: System ID Number; a combination of a social security number, driver's license, passport and debit card number
 
Universal Brotherhood - Getting Out of Dodge
 
Eye Spy: "These raids are just going to get harder and harder until the UB mops the floor with us."
Audacity Jane: "If they're smart, they'll reinforce the Seattle chapterhouses with additional guards from outside the area."
Happy Jack: "I certainly hope they do."
Eye Spy: "Do you have a death wish?"
Happy Jack: "No. I plan to start hitting chapterhouses in other cities."
 
Eye Spy: "How are we going to get our gear to other cities? Border guards and airport security tend to be really picky about those things."
Happy Jack: "We're going to get another vehicle. One more suited for hopping around the country."
Eye Spy: "YES!! We can finally get a helicopter."
Happy Jack: "I found something that's better. A blimp."
Eye Spy: "A blimp? It will take us forever to get anyplace."
Happy Jack: "These aren't your grandparents' Goodyear blimps. Cruising speed around 180 kmph. Top speed double that. They're harder to spot with radar or IR than anything short of a stealth glider. They're used by executives to get around cities and between cities, so everyone will assume we're rich and important. They also have enough range to get across the continent without refueling."
Audacity Jane: "They may be hard to spot with electronics, but they're really easy to spot with a Mark I eyeball."
Happy Jack: "I know. That's why I want to put LED panels on it. When we're cruising around cities at night, we can disguise ourselves as an advert-blimp. Nobody pays attention to those, and nobody expects one to spit out an infiltration team."
Audacity Jane: "You've got to be kidding. Your way to hide a blimp is to cover it in brightly lit advertisements?"
 
Eye Spy: "So where are we going to hit the UB next?"
No-Step: "California Free State would be a logical next stop. It's close. The UB was founded there, so they have a large presence."
Happy Jack: "That's the main reason I want to hit them somewhere else. I'm guessing they can follow the same trail of logic."
Dent: "So you're going to come up with an illogical way of choosing targets?"
 
Since the team was supporting their attacks on the UB chapterhouses by smuggling, the actual targets were chosen by which countries had inflated/deflated prices for certain goods.
 
Byte Force: "Where are we going first?"
Happy Jack: "Confederate American States."
No-Step: "Should I even bother asking what is overpriced there?"
Happy Jack: "Anything electronic. There's a huge tariff in order to 'protect' the nearly nonexistent domestic electronics industry. It artificially inflates the prices."
No-Step: "And what goods are available at cheap prices?"
Happy Jack: "Guns and ammo."
No-Step: "Are the Confederates deliberately trying to live up to the stereotypes?"
 
The team was understandably paranoid about the UB catching up with them when they sold living flesh form insect spirits to the biotech megacorps:
Each of the megacorps had employees that were UB members.
Some of those members were human form insect spirits capable of masking their true nature.
The human form insect spirits would act in the best interest of the hive/queen.
Even the non-possessed UB members might be persuaded to act in the UB's interest, instead of their corp's interest.
 
No-Step: "Wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that the UB will attack us when we attempt to hand over the live flesh form?"
Happy Jack: "It's highly likely. That's why we're not going to be there."
No-Step: "So who is going to the meet in our place?"
Happy Jack: "Nobody. We'll talk to the buyer on the phone, they'll deposit the money in a numbered account, and we'll get the flesh form there some other way."
Byte Force: "We can always send the flesh form by robocab."
Eye Spy: "We could steal a car and program the autopilot."
Dent: "I could mind control a courier into delivering it."
Audacity Jane: "Candygram."
 
Byte Force had been busy inventing new toys to use against the UB....
 
Byte Force: "This is pretty straightforward. I found a heat-resistant insecticide to coat flechettes with. If I'm right, you might be able to kill true form insect spirits with them."
Audacity Jane: "And if you're wrong?"
Byte Force: (shrugging) "Then it's like shooting an elephant with a BB gun. It's not going to hurt the elephant, but it might make it mad."
Audacity Jane: "And the only way to know whether you're right or wrong is for me to risk my life testing it...."
No-Step: "That's the joy of the scientific method."
 
Byte Force: "I figured out a way to make the UB's building unusable ... and it's not covered by their insurance."
Audacity Jane: "A nuclear warhead?"
Byte Force: "Stink bombs. I made some gas and paint grenades filled with putrescine, cadaverine, skatole and butryc acid."
No-Step: "So it smells like dead bodies and ... what else?"
Byte Force: "It smells like rotting meat, feces and vomit."
Dent: "That should cut the attendance at their meetings."
Eye Spy: (turning slightly green) "Crap. I think I'm going to get sick just thinking about it."
Happy Jack: "Well ... stop thinking about it."
Eye Spy: "..."
Happy Jack: "And just to set the ground rules for Byte Force's super-stinker ... if anyone ever uses that on a building that I'm in, or one that I need to go into, I will kill them myself."
 
Audacity Jane: "Is that stink bomb really going to be effective? Some insects really like those smells."
Byte Force: "But normal people don't. That's who I want to drive away from the building."
Dent: "If any of the UB members don't seem completely grossed out by the smell, you'll know they're insect possessed."
 
The team performed reconnaissance on the the target UB building in the normal manner. They abducted one of the UB members who also worked there as a janitor.
 
Dent: (after performing Mind Probe) "This seems wrong. The inner sanctum is on the top floor, not the basement or ground floor like normal."
No-Step: "Some insects prefer to live above ground or higher up."
Happy Jack: "Bees, wasps..."
Eye Spy: "I suppose butterflies would be a bit too much to hope for."
 
After killing the queen and capturing a live flesh form insect spirit, it was time to sell it.
 
Gomi No ShuShu: "My hunters captured a live specimen in Oklahoma City. Where would you like them to deliver it?"
Shiawase procurement specialist: "I thought you were going to deliver one in Seattle."
Gomi No ShuShu: "That's the challenge with live specimens. You have to acquire them where you can find them." (pause) "Shiawase has some large facilities in Oklahoma City. Your local people can handle the pick-up."
Shiawase procurement specialist: "They're not experts in handling paranormal animals."
Gomi No ShuShu: "The specimen will be heavily sedated, securely bound and muzzled. They will only need sufficient skills to pick up and carry dead weight."
Shiawase procurement specialist: "..."
 
The Shiawase procurement specialist seemed slightly surprised that Gomi No ShuShu requested that the payment be wired to a numbered account, rather than given in the usual certified credsticks.
 
Gomi No ShuShu: "Oh ... one more thing." (pause) "You may want to bring additional security personnel to the
Shiawase procurement specialist: "Why?"
Gomi No ShuShu: "I believe a number of Shiawase employees are involved with the former owner of the specimen. Therefore, I'm a bit concerned that there may be a security leak on your end."
Shiawase procurement specialist: (sounding slightly angry) "Which Shiawase employees?"
Gomi No ShuShu: (cheerfully) "I would be happy to discuss the sale of that information ... right after we complete the delivery of the specimen and the wire transfer of funds."
 
After the call was complete....
 
Dent: "I guess we'll be able to tell if he's connected to the UB if he refuses to pay us."
Happy Jack: "If he's working for the UB, then he's definitely going to pay us."
Audacity Jane: "Why? They're not dumb enough to pay to get their bug back."
Happy Jack: "It's the oldest trick in the book for tracking down who is behind a crime. Follow the money. He'll pay us just to see who collects the money."
Audacity Jane: "So we will get paid. We just won't be able to get our money back without getting killed."
Happy Jack: "Sure we can. We'll just have to launder it first."
 
In order to transport the flesh form insect spirit to the Shiawase procurement specialist (without having to go themselves), they loaded it into a robocab and sent it on its way.
 
Dent: "I thought robocabs required a SIN to use."
Byte Force: "We paid with a certified credstick, then used a SIN to activate the cab."
Dent: "Whose SIN did you use?"
Byte Force: "I borrowed a dummy SIN from the morgue."
Audacity Jane: "If you needed a dummy's SIN, you could have just borrowed Dent's."
 
Eye Spy: "I don't understand. Doesn't the system check to make sure the person's not dead?"
Audacity Jane: "Or audit afterward to make sure nobody is using the dead person's SIN?"
Byte Force: "A dummy SIN is used to process a Jon Doe through the morgue. First they have to activate the SIN in order to process the John Doe through the morgue. After they've finished activating his SIN and processing him through the morgue, they then process his death certificate and deactivate the SIN."
No-Step: "Your tax dollars at work."
Audacity Jane: "That would be more disturbing if we actually paid taxes."
Byte Force: "The system only performs a cursory SIN check if you're doing a legal purchase. As long as you have the money, the SIN check is a rubber stamp."
Happy Jack: "If Shiawase or the UB tries to backtrack where the cab came from, the cab records will lead back to this spot..."
Audacity Jane: "... chosen for the lack of security cameras ..."
Happy Jack: "... and the money trail will lead back to a dead SINless guy. I'm absolutely positive he won't rat us out."
 
No-Step called the procurement specialist one more time....
 
No- Step: "The specimen is en route. Let your people know that it will be arriving in a robocab."
Shiawase procurement specialist: "You squeezed into a robocab with a dangerous paranormal animal?"

No- Step: "Of course not. The specimen is in the robocab. I'm not getting within miles of the delivery site."
Shiawase procurement specialist: "..."

No- Step: "I told you that Shiawase might have a security leak. I'm not risking my life on the belief that you plugged it. I can complete the rest of our business from this end of the phone."

The shadowrunners were an ork/troll group. Against stereotype, they specialized in stealth, subtlety, bluff, illusion, deception and misdirection.
 
Cast of characters: 
Dent: ork, rat shaman
No-Step / Gomi No ShuShu: 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
Universal Brotherhood ("UB"): a charitable fringe religious organization; secretly controlled by insect sprits
 
Universal Brotherhood - The Saga Continues
 
For their next attack, the team chose the Universal Brotherhood chapterhouse in Auburn, which was controlled by termite spirits.
 
Audacity Jane: "When we attack the Auburn chapterhouse, let's break into one of the top floors."
Eye Spy: "Why? Isn't the hive in the basement?"
Audacity Jane: "We can take the elevator straight to the basement ... and nobody will expect us to break into the third or fourth floor when everything important is in the basement."
No-Step: "There's a difference between 'nobody will expect it' and 'it's a good idea'."
 
Byte Force: "I don't want to use cell phone jammers for this attack. If UB security is smart, they'll be listening for those by now and use them to trigger alarms."
Audacity Jane: "That's going to put us on a really tight timetable. Lone Star has a much better response rate in Auburn than Redmond."
Byte Force: "Don't worry about that. I have another way to slow them down."
Eye Spy: "Any time one of you says 'don't worry about that,' you make the rest of us worry more."
Byte Force: "Lone Star is going to get bombarded with several 'officer down' and 'officer needs assistance' calls at the same time you enter the chapterhouse. I think those will take priority over any calls from the UB."
 
Audacity Jane: "I can override the elevator controls, so nobody can use it but us. But that won't stop the UB guards from coming down the stairs behind us."
Happy Jack: "That's easy. We can use a paint grenade to slow down the reinforcements."
Audacity Jane: "How is a paint grenade going to do that?"
Byte Force: "I've taken the paint out of several of them and replaced it with lubricant."
Dent: "Won't that make them get downstairs even faster?"
 
As the team battled the flesh form and true form termite spirits in the basement...
 
Dent: "This building can't be worth very much ... it's infested with termites."
 
After killing the queen, Jack put a few flesh forms into body bags and dragged them into the elevator. No-Step, on the other hand, hid a few noisemakers around the basement.
 
Dent: "Is that your idea of helping?"
No-Step: "If we fire these off after we take the elevator back to the third floor, the remaining guards will be too busy storming the basement to look for us there."
 
After the raid, the Universal Brotherhood was forced to perform more spin control. The team, on the other hand was perfectly willing to provide anonymous tips to investigative reporters.
 
Anonymous tip: The Universal Brotherhood blamed the first attack on a homeless, mentally disturbed troll. They're blaming the second attack on a hate group. However, the Universal Brotherhood's security guards at both chapterhouses were taken out by narcojet darts and neurostun gas. That seems rather sophisticated for a homeless troll, and it seems like a soft touch for a hate group.
 
Anonymous tip: Have you checked out the ammo that the Universal Brotherhood security guards use? Their machine pistols are loaded with armor piercing discarding sabot rounds. How does a non-profit charity group get the legal clearance to use those?
 
In order to get the megacorps in on the action, it was time to start selling flesh forms to the megacorps "procurement specialists."
 
Happy Jack: "No-Step, you get to adopt a new identity and sell the flesh forms to the corps."
No-Step: "Why am I getting this job?"
Happy Jack: "Most of the megacorps who deal in biotech are Japanese owned. Those guys are notoriously biased against metahumans. You can disguise yourself as an overweight human. I'm three meters tall. I can only disguise myself as another troll."
 
No-Step adopted the alternate identity of Gomi No ShuShu, human, American-born, of Japanese descent.
 
Gomi No ShuShu: (to a prospective client) "I understand you're generally in the market for biological samples. Would you be in the market for samples of a previously unknown paranormal animal?"
Yamametsu procurement specialist: "First, you would need to persuade me that you had discovered a paranormal species that we're not already in possession of."
Gomi No ShuShu: (showing the buyer a picture of the flesh form insect spirit) "This is what my associates killed. We believe that it's a paranormal species, rather than genetic engineered. However, I suspect you would be interested in it either way."
Yamametsu procurement specialist: "Does it have anything that would make it commercially valuable?"
Gomi No ShuShu: "Security applications. It was being used to guard the sensitive areas in a building."
Yamametsu procurement specialist: "What size sample did your people get?"
Gomi No ShuShu: "Two nearly-complete bodies. And they've been kept refrigerated."
Yamametsu procurement specialist: "Nearly complete?"
Gomi No ShuShu: "There's a few bullet holes in each."
 
Yamametsu procurement specialist: "I can't authorize a very large payment, since this could still turn out to be worthless."
Gomi No ShuShu: "My associates said they would accept a modest payment for these preliminary samples."
Yamametsu procurement specialist: "Preliminary samples...?"
Gomi No ShuShu: "They're confident that you'll want to purchase a live sample later, and they intend to charge a much higher price for that."
Yamametsu procurement specialist: "They have a live sample?"
Gomi No ShuShu: "They know where to get one."
 
Afterwards...
 
Happy Jack: "Good work No-Step. Now you just need to sell some to MCT, Renraku and Shiawase." (long pause) "And you also need to sell the mostly-human flesh forms to Saeder Krupp."
No-Step: "Nobody is going to think that the mostly-human ones are paranormal animals."
Happy Jack: "Of course not. That's why you're selling them as examples of a new form of bioware."
Dent: "That's risky. Ripping off Saeder Krupp is a good way to get on Lofwyr's bad side."
Happy Jack: "Lofwyr's been around at least since the 4th Age. I'm going to bet he knows exactly what a flesh form is. This is my way of sending him a message."
Dent: "If he ever sees it."
Happy Jack: "Lofwyr's the micromanager from hell. He'll find out about it."
 
Unsurprisingly, a couple weeks after Saeder Krupp bought the specimens (for 5,000 nuyen apiece), No-Step / Gomi No ShuShu received a voice mail from a Saeder Krupp fixer. Byte Force set up an untraceable call.
 
Han Brackhaus of Saeder Krupp: "I am willing to pay 10,000 nuyen to learn where you acquired the specimens you sold us."
Gomi No ShuShu: "Let me discuss your offer with my associate."
No-Step put Brackhaus on hold and had a quick discussion with Happy Jack.
Gomi No ShuShu: "My associate tells me that if all you want is the location of those three specimens, he will provide it for free ... and he will refund 10,000 nuyen of the 15,000 nuyen deposit you paid me."
Hans Brackhaus: "That's a ... surprising offer."
Gomi No ShuShu: "However, if you want to know every location where he personally  encountered 'specimens' like that, he will keep the deposit and require an additional 35,000 nuyen. If you want you want his list of suspected locations, it will cost 250,000."
Hans Brackhaus: "Why would I consider paying that much for suspected locations?"
Gomi No ShuShu: "Based on his sampling, he says that he's 95% confident that over 50% of them have specimens at that location."
Hans Brackhaus: "That's still a large amount of money for 'suspected' locations."
Gomi No ShuShu: "It's a large number of suspected locations."
Hans Brackhaus: (long pause) "How large?"
Gomi No ShuShu: "A three digit number."
Hans Brackhaus: "I ... I'll need to get back in touch."