Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Gamemasters' Lounge => Topic started by: df_0 on <08-09-15/1213:20>
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I'm working on a campaign where all the players are going to share an apartment in Seattle. I have a table of Seattle suburbs and neighborhoods that are associated with a cost. The cheaper it is, the lower of security rating it has and more than likely a worse area (mostly taken from New Seattle). The players can select a neighborhood (and cost) that has to be under their average lifestyle. eg: for 2k they can live in Auburn (neighborhood Bolse) of security D, or for 750 nuyen they can live in Puyallup (Loveland) with security E.
If they take any of the lifestyle modifiers, such as obscure, that may give a +1 on the roll; or dangerous area which may give a -1 on the roll, etc. I haven't yet created the finalized table of 1-3 = nothing happens, 4-6 = something, but just trying to generate some ideas first. Some of these may just be for flavor, some may end up in creating quick (or long) missions for the runners.
I'm working on a random event table that I'm going to roll weekly (in game) on and see what is happening in the area.
Here are some ideas I have so far:
- Local gang asks for help
- Gang war close
- Robbery
- Floor party
- Domestic abuse from neighbor
- Local kids getting into mischief
- Other 'runner in building brings "work" back home
- Landlord poking nose into their business
Do you guys have any suggestions or other resources to consult?
Thanks!
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I'd add more stuff specific to SR: a technocritter messing with people's devices, a spirit doing some strange stuff, a dragon flying overhead and dropping half a metahuman's bloodied body...
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I have a long table of my own of random events that I made, and each time it happens I cross it off for a year of game-time, unless I deem it rather common occurance given their situation.
- The next door neighbors are hosting a Simsense party, all linked together.
- Same thing, only it's with BTL.
- A local street shaman makes a bad summoning attempt, and things go wrong.
- A squatter goes up to a PC(s) asking for some cred, and is quite honest about what he wants it for (booze, drugs, BTL, trip out of the city, etc.) (I use this as a potential way to gain a new contact.)
- A guy jumps into the apartment, very nervous, and whispers everyone to be quiet, as they hear numerous footsteps thunder past the door.
- A hitman attacks one of the PCs, mistaking him for his real target.
- Blackout! Power has gone off in the PCs area of town!
- A pack of feral hellhounds cause a major disturbance in the area.
- A drug dealer tries to sell what he's got to one of the PCs (another potential new contact).
- A young dragon lands on the roof of a PC's place, to scratch itself, and leaves some scales behind. (possibly sick dragon)
- A young shaman/mage falls madly in love with one of the PCs, and begins stalking him/her.
- One of the PC's fixers has a really big favor to ask (i.e. "Please dispose of this body where nobody can find it," or "Hold onto this bag, and don't look into it, and I'll be back to pick it up in a couple of days.")
- One of the PC's fixers (preferably not a good one) has sold the PC a replica gun, that doesn't fire, for a sweet deal. The word "Replica" has been scratched off.
- A few gangers attack the PCs, preferably when they are separated.
- After going to a local Stuffer Shack for some goodies, one of the PCs finds something else is in the bag (a datachip; a fetish; a comlink; I used The Hope Diamond for this, but he got it at a pawn shop).
- One of the PCs gets a notification that he's just won a major prize in a sweepstakes. (Can be real or a scam.)
- A drunken troll mistakes one of the PCs for a buddy, and takes him on a whirlwind tour of every local tavern, saloon, pub, and strip club in the area in a night of drunken revelry.
- A PC gets a legitimate job offer from a corporation (minor or mega), to be a full-time employee.
- A PC's vehicle has been broken into.
- A PC gets an offer to be interviewed by a reporter for a local news service.
- Earthquake! Not a major one, but enough to break some windows, set off car alarms, and make people very nervous!
- A PC gets a tip on a local sports match, on a team or a contestant that's favored to lose the match....deliberately.
- A PC gets another tip that a back-yard neighborhood fight match is about to go down.
- A Street Doc is spreading out ads, both online and on the streets, for his services.
- A squatter is walking around with a sandwich-board saying THE END IS NIGH!
- It rains for a whole month, causing flooding of the city's storm drainage system and flooding in the streets!
- PC(s) find a naked, drunken troll passed out in his apartment's bathtub.
- The PC's apartment manager is found dead, with an icepick in the back of his neck.
- A prostitute is found murdered in a very grisly fashion in the neighborhood.
- A fixer has a tip for the PCs that a local bookie establishment is going to be unguarded for several minutes. Might be some good cred/paydata in it?
- NERPS!
Just a few I have. I have more.
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A few more events on my very lengthy table:
- A PC is asked to be a ringer in a sporting event (Combat Biker, Urban Brawl, whatever).
- A DocWagon HRT helicopter goes down near the PCs.
- Someone hands out a flyer (with an AR ad) highlighting a local band playing in a local venue.
- A Suborbital flight crashes past the local international airport, killing hundreds and causing pandemonium!
- A tourist is lost and asks for directions.
- Gang-Fight on the MAX (or Monorail, or whatever train system your town has).
- While the PCs are infiltrating someplace, they run into another group of shadowrunners, who have the exact same mission and the exact same plan!
- A Physical Adept with good hand-to-hand combat abilities has flipped his lid, and is very angry, kicking everyone's asses he can reach.
- The MAX (or Monorail, or transit system) is down for 1d3 hours, and won't be usable until it's fixed.
- The PCs, for some reason, has pissed off every gang in town! The local radio station is calling play-by-play on where the PCs might be and who they're encountering (granted, this is a major adventure premise, but it can be very random).
- The local police just up and arrest the PCs, or just a few. Rounding up the usual suspects.
- GridGuide goes down for 1d6 hours.
- Metahuman gang goes on a rampage, hanging any human from any tree limb or lamp post they can find (or, vice-versa, depending on your tastes).
- Talismonger shop offers a Clearance Sale! Everything must go!
- Gun shop offers a Clearance Sale! Everything must go!
- Tech shop (for Hackers) offers a Clearance Sale! Everything must go!
- The doorbell rings at the PC's residence, and they see a baby in a carrier on the doorstep, with a note, saying that the baby is "yours."
- The doorbell rings at the PC's residence, and they see a Street Samurai all decked out for urban combat, saying, "Come with me if you want to live."
- Winter Storm! Blizzard conditions, and 2d6 feet of snow falls overnight! (Winter months)
- The doorbell rings at the PC's residence, and he (preferably a he, alone) opens the door to find a hooker there. She comes in ready to do her thing. If the PC doesn't want the service, he owes her 200Y anyway, and if he doesn't pay...the Pimp will be by presently.
- Heat Wave! For 1d6 days, the temperature is over 100 degrees F. (Summer months)
- Fire breaks out in the PC's apartment complex. May not be the PC's place, but the fire is there, and it's spreading!
- A truck filled with beer overturns near the PCs, spreading beer everywhere!
- A major music star is having a concert near the downtown area, making parking impossible and the local transit systems crowded.
- Someone is filming pornographic BTLs in the PC's apartment complex.
- A neighbor has been thrown out of his place by his wife/girlfriend, and asks to stay at the PC's place (possible contact).
- Someone is filming snuff BTLs in the PC's apartment complex (gunplay may be involved).
- A sniper is on a roof, maybe the PC's roof (if it's an apartment building), and is shooting randomly at any target of opportunity.
- A PC inadvertantly did a nice thing for a Made Man or some other organized crime guy, and that guy wants to reward him, lavishly; no weapons, gear or anything useful, but something like the PC showing up at home and having a hot tub there, or a fountain, or a crateload of really nice champagne.
- The local prison/jail had a major breakout, and lots of convicts are now at large and on the streets!
- The local insane asylum had a major breakout, and lots of insane patients are now at large and on the streets!
- The Juggernaut exhibit at the local zoo lost one of its Juggernauts, and now it's on the streets!
- A group of runners in a vehicle are being pursued in a high-speed chase through the city.
- The local police have set up a checkpoint ahead, and they're searching vehicles.
- A PC has lost his comlink, either it was yanked by a pickpocket or he forgot it somewhere.
- A ghost is haunting the PC's apartment complex.
- A gang of ghouls are rampaging through the neighborhood.
- Thunderstorm! (Spring thru Fall).
- A guy parachutes down next to the PCs, armed to the teeth. He's not their enemy, but isn't a friend either.
- People in the apartment next door are playing Dungeons and Dragons, 21st Edition!
- Humanis Policlub activists are protesting downtown, making parking and driving through downtown next to impossible.
- A Shaman wants to use the PC's apartment to summon a spirit.
- Would you like to buy some NERPS?
- A squatter needs medical attention, and asks for help.
- Riot in downtown! Traffic downtown is impossible!
- A ship sinks in the local harbor, causing a major sea traffic issue.
- A PC gets a free voucher for a massage.
- A new Simsense show is the latest sensation, making billions of nuyen, and is the talk of the pop culture for months.
- A local politician is assassinated. As a result, the PCs, or one of them, is a suspect.
- A dragon asks the PCs if they could keep an egg for her. It hatches in 1d6 days, if kept warm, except on a roll of a 1, in which case the baby inside is dead. Mother will be back in another 1d6 days to pick up her baby.
More stuff on the way.
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A bunch more in my little portfolio of wild events:
- The PCs place is infested with bugs (ants, roaches, whatever).
- Someone has bought out the PCs apartment complex, and is gradually turning it into the best little brothel in town!
- A talent agent offers one of the PCs to be a Simsense Action Star.
- Someone is cooking crystal meth in the apartment next door!
- A vampire is killing people in the PC's neighborhood.
- A satellite crashes in the city.
- A dragon falls in love with one of the PCs, and begins stalking him/her.
- The PCs spot a drone that's been following them for several minutes.
- A PC disappears! He's gone for 1d6+1 days, with no sign of where he went or what happened to him! When he appears, he is naked, very hungry and thirsty, and has horrific nightmares of strange beings abducting and "probing" him. (Do this if your player is a good sport.)
- The PC's car has been vandalized with spray paint.
- The In-Laws show up! (Only if a PC is married.)
- One of the PC's relatives has died, and has left a sizable inheritance for the PC. But, in order to get it, there are conditions attached. (I would do a scavenger-hunt style adventure or, perhaps, determine who it was that killed him, something like that.)
- The people in the apartment next door are using an Ouija Board.
- PC gets a stock tip, that the price of a corp's stock is going to go up in the next couple of days.
- The lights go out in the apartment complex, but the power is still on.
- A fake SIN a PC has bought belongs to a real person, and that person is a Mage, and he is not happy with the PC using his legitimate name.
- A hit-squad of very good, probably prime runners, bust into the PCs place, looking for someone or something, but are mistaken.
- Tsunami! (Do this if the PCs are next to anywhere there's an ocean.)
- PC wakes up one morning to find a dead person in bed with them.
- PC wakes up one morning and his cybernetics do not work!
- PC wakes up one morning and finds a beautiful but strange woman/man in bed with them.
- PC wakes up one morning to find a Sasquatch using his shower.
- PC wakes up one morning to find a giant walking, talking cucumber is using his shower. (Do this if the PC has been using drugs or lots of alcohol.)
- Mount Hood (or Rainier or Shasta or whatever) erupts again!!!
- A woman jumps to her death and lands next to the PCs. Why?
- The last Mr. Johnson is enamored with one of the PCs, and sends other people to start stalking him/her.
- A sinkhole causes the building the PCs are in, or their apartment complex, to sink. Massive damage to the structure.
- PC(s) have caught the Flu!
- The PC(s) have been Evicted. They have 24 hours to vacate the premises with all their stuff.
- A piece of paydata may indicate the location of a lost relic!
- A PC wakes up to find a bomb has been strapped around his neck. If he tampers with it, it may go off.
- Someone has managed to hack into the Decker PC's cyberdeck! How and when and why?
- One of the PCs comes down with cancer. Determine what kind and what can be done about it.
- As the PCs are driving through town, they accidentally hit someone else's car.
- A bank of one of the PCs has gone under, and all assets it had in deposits were confiscated, pending bankruptcy proceedings. The PC has no money in some of his credsticks.
- One of the PCs fixers wants the PC to try out a new piece of gear (weapon, armor, program), and evaluate it.
- The doorbell rings, and the PCs open the door to find a man with six knives in his back, collapsing on the floor, with a large package in his hands. His dying breath is, "You know...falcon." Inside the bundle is a small statuette approximately one-foot tall of a bird painted in black.
- Lofwyr accidentally calls the PCs, but then asks them if they're available for work.
- A Hellhound is loose in the apartment complex.
- One of the PCs has food-poisoning. Not fatal, but will definitely make him sick.
- Nudists have a parade down the street near where the PCs live.
- Have you had your NERPS today?
More to come.
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This is pretty wiz! Thanks for the great ideas!
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Also the old 1st Edition book, Sprawl Sites, has random encounters (along with write up of various locations, contacts, etc.). From the book-blurb:
Sprawl Sites is a sourcebook for Shadowrun, and includes hundreds of encounters of every type, from blood-crazed gangs and mystic magicians to mild-mannered Orks and back-stabbing Corporate Cops. Plus, you'll find Location Archetypes covering typical Sprawl Locations from all sides of town, eight new Player Archetypes, and dozens of Non-Player Contacts. Round that out with additional essays and rules concerning sprawl law and credsticks, and you've got a whole new adventure on your hands. Your Shadowrun campaign will never be the same.
The random encounters are written in the following format:
Physical Description of the people.
Quotes they will likely use in the encounter.
Notes on how to play the encounter out.
What NPC stats to use (makes it easy to use similar archetypes already written up in SR5).
Info the NPC(s) knows/What kind of contact the NPC(s) would make.
They could easily be integrated into your random events, df_0, even just as an entry of *Roll on Sprawl Sites Encounter Table. Not sure if it's available in pdf.
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To piggyback on what Fizzygoo said, which I agree with, my random encounters aren't really so random. It's not that I just roll the dice during a session and that's what suddenly happens. At least a day before my session, I will roll on the encounters a few times to see what comes up, and if I like it I go with it, because some of my own encounters that I've listed requires more work to implement that it may, at first, seem.
Take, for instance, the Heat Wave. I had this happen in my own Shadowrun Portland campaign, and for four days the temperature shot up past 80 degrees F to 100 degrees F, having it peak out at 108 (I came by that arbitrarily). What this did was make it harder for characters to be running around in armor, both heavy and light, both PCs and NPCs, which means that I have to be ready with the Fatigue Damage rules on Page 172 of the Shadowrun 5th Edition Core Rulebook. My players were running around in their armor, of course, being careful to have an air conditioned building or car nearby they can duck into to recover their Fatigue, which I deemed Harsh in the beginning of the Heat Wave, to Extreme in the height of it, during the afternoons. It may seem a bit hard of me to do that, but I figured the PCs were living in the Portland metropolitan area, and in general our climate out here is rather mild for the most part; we don't often get too many very hot days, and so the PCs were acclimatized to this. If they were running around in southern California all the time, I might make the height of the Heat Wave a Harsh Environmental Severity rather than an Extreme, and only going to Extreme when it climbed past 110 degrees F.
So you have to be ready for whatever the random encounter you choose, beforehand, has for you. Even rain has an effect. Over time, wearing wet, soggy clothing and armor can make you ill, make you feel miserable, and might make some surfaces slippery. Be ready for that.
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More goodies in my grab-bag of wild events:
- A child, no older than 10, wants to be a shadowrunner and follows the PCs around as much as he can.
- The doorbell rings, and the PC(s) opens the door to find a package has been wrongly delivered to his address. The package is crudely written, has improper postage, and has a greasy spot on one corner of the box. Inside is a bomb, enough to completely shatter the apartment and the adjacent ones.
- Total Eclipse of the Sun/Moon: Magical characters find that their magic is improved or unimproved during the eclipse, which will only be for a few minutes. GM's choice of what happens.
- A Megalodon has been killing swimmers and destroying small boats up to the size of tug boats and yachts just off the coast.
- The next door neighbor has turned his apartment into a greenhouse for deepweed (or whatever that grows).
- Gunfight breaks out in the apartment complex.
- An advertising blimp is hovering near the apartment complex and staying longer than it should, blaring out its ads loudly, making it hard for the PC to sleep.
- A coyote is found sleeping in the PC's car.
- Fog! For 1d6 hours, the fog is very thick, so that you can't see your hand outstretched in front of you. (Colder climes).
- The doorbell rings, and it's a neighbor who wants you to hold his cyberdeck for a little while. Then, police or corp police storm the building, going into that decker's place.
- Devil Rats invade the neighborhood in startling numbers!
- A new talismonger shop opens up, and is offering a Grand Opening Sale! 25% off all items in the store! (from the book prices).
- A new gun shop/armory opens up, and is offering a Grand Opening Sale! 25% off all items in the store! (from the book prices).
- A new tech shop opens up, and is offering a Grand Opening Sale! 25% off all items in the store! (from the book prices).
- A new fixer, looking to enter into the biz, takes one of the PCs out for lunch and offers him a small job.
- A rigger's mechanic would like the PC to test drive/fly a vehicle he put together.
- A Nausea-Gas grenade goes off in the apartment complex.
- Windy! The winds pick up all day, gusting in excess of 50mph!
- A squatter approaches a PC, and tells him he's going to die today.
- A piece of paydata has a key-code for a locker in a local coffin motel. Inside is a special prize (I put in a minigun in there.)
- PCs have caught a nasty cold.
- One of the PCs has won an all-expense paid one week vacation to Neo-Tokyo!
- A new Ork metal-rave club has opened up nearby, offering the strongest drinks imaginable. If the neighborhood didn't have too many orks or trolls before, over time that population rises.
- While a magician is going astral, a spirit sees him and asks him for help finding his body.
- For some reason, the PC(s) apartment, or near it, has become a powerful ley-line nexus!
- A gargoyle makes a home on the roof of the PC's place.
- A water-main bursts on the street nearby, causing the neighborhood to be low on water until repaired.
- A PC wakes up in the bathtub, full of ice, with a note taped to his head, with his comlink nearby, that reads, "Call an ambulance." One of his kidneys was expertly, surgically, removed.
- Same thing as above, only if the PC had a cybernetic device, it was removed in a similar way.
- A local Voudoun magician has made a voodoo doll of one of the PCs.
- A PC's comlink alerts him to a call while he's at home. It's a contact, and the contact tells him to leave his home immediately! "They're coming for you!"
- Zombie/Ghoul fights. There is a shady proprietor that is hosting backyard fight matches between metahumans and zombies and/or ghouls.
- A spoiled, rich young girl wants to get it on with one of the PCs, and will not accept no for an answer.
- A strange Agent manifests in the Decker PC's cyberdeck, and he can't get rid of it unless the PC goes on a raid to hack some data out of a corporate system nearby.
- A bowling alley is hosting an amateur tournament. Top prize is 5,000Y and a trophy. Second prize is 1,000Y and a second place trophy. Third place is a new bowling ball and a year's worth of car wax.
- The doorbell rings, and the PCs open it up to find a little girl holding a big gun at the head of the PC. Yes, it's loaded.
- The PC(s) place has been burglarized, but the only thing taken was the rug. It tied the room together.
- Someone spikes a PC's drink with a stronger version of Long Haul, keeping him awake for 8 days!
- A block party starts up, and a major music/simsense star just shows up, unannounced, and has no bodyguards.
- Has NERPS improved your love life?
More to come.
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A few more odds and ends, from yours truly;
- A new nightclub opens up featuring a dedicated 2050s theme. Happy hours are all night long for the next whole month!
- A hot new action simsense is sweeping the nation, and it features a character that looks and dresses and acts just like one of the PCs!
- While the PC(s) are at a Stuffer Shack getting some grub or whatever, some dude holds up the place with a shotgun.
- The next door neighbor is a pesky foreigner with a thick accent who always comes over to borrow something, sometimes soykaf or saccharine, or sometimes a tool or a Simsense show, or something. He never returns the favors, and never gives back what they give him.
- A Ship Has Come In! If the PCs are in a city with a seaport, a large naval ship belonging to the nation docks and lets loose hundreds of sailors on liberty!
- A flash mob begins dancing at the area the PCs are at.
- You think the Knockout Game is dead? Think again. While walking along the street, day or night, someone just up and hits one of the PCs really hard.
- A strange technomancer really wants to be the PC's friend. She gets really angry and dismayed when they refuse.
- One of the PCs gets a vision of the Virgin Mary, telling him of a terrible event that is about to unfold. And it does. There is no way to stop it.
- If one or more of the PCs is a shaman with a totem spirit guide, that guide disappears for a week.
- If one or more of the PCs is a shaman with a totem spirit guide, that guide becomes very talkative and won't shut the heck up for a week.
- A Talismonger sells the PCs a bad fetish that doesn't work, at a cut rate price!
- The weapon a Fixer sells to a PC has a strange magical hue. If the PC puts drops of blood on the weapon, it never misses for 1 hour. However, it requires more blood each subsequent time.
- A megacorp liquidates one of its facilities (office building, research area, whatever) and lays hundreds of employees off.
- A bartender, eager for the PC's business, names a drink after one of the PCs.
- A local restaurant offers a challenge: Eat a 100oz steak in one hour, cooked to order, including the fixings, and you get to eat there for free for life.
- A Street Doc offers cutting edge cyberware and bioware, for a cut-rate price. It's not entirely a scam, but it is a front for a cybernetics firm to test their wares.
- Fuel prices jump up 30%, and lasts all month.
- War has broken out in the PC's location. As troops are mobilized, recruiting starts up, and drafts occur. One of the PCs receives a draft notice.
- A Sasquatch has started a garden near where the PCs live, growing all kinds of vegetables and plants.
- A local restaurant, trying to gin up business, is attempting to break the record for the world's largest soy-crust pizza. The thing spans forty feet in diameter.
- One of the female PCs discovers she's pregnant. How that happened is up to the GM.
- A rainbow appears in the sky, without rain, for three whole days and nights. It doesn't leave until the end of the third night, at midnight.
- A local police detective wants to hire the PCs, but he doesn't have a lot of money.
- People in the apartment next door to the PCs are playing Russian Roulette for cash.
- During a gunfight, a mysterious stranger helps the PCs, just once, killing an adversary that was on the verge of throwing a hand-grenade.
- The Hacker/Decker PC is bombarded with surveys about various sundry products, and can't jack into the Matrix without getting spammed by them. He has to purge the adware out of his deck if he wants them gone.
- A bridge in the city collapses from structural fatigue, diverting traffic and making getting around city's main roads and highways an ordeal during rush hours.
- A local sushi-ya's chef accuses a PC of making off with one of his fine blades, and is not happy about it.
- A cult of insect shamans have started their insane business near the PC's place.
- After experiencing dumpshock, the Decker PC develops a psychological fear of entering the Matrix for a day. How bad is up to you.
- A rigger has somehow taken over one of the PC's drones.
- Lightning strikes the PCs place, blowing out all electronics that's connected to wall-outlets and jackpoints. If a PC is jacked into the Matrix at this time, he experiences dumpshock and takes some physical damage.
- A squatter wants to hang out with the PCs, hoping to straighten out his life, and perhaps become a shadowrunner.
- A poker game is being played next door, and is ran by a local organized crime capo.
- A local butcher needs help against a bunch of thugs wanting protection money from him, and if the PC helps out successfully, the butcher gives him an entire side of beef for free.
- One of the PCs is being audited, through one of the fake SINs he has, by the local government revenue service.
- One of the PCs gets a credstick worth 10,000Y, delivered to him with a note saying that if he wants that money, he has to do a little job first. Contact information is on the note.
- NERPS! NERPS! NERPS! NERPS! It's what's for dinner!
That's all for now. More to come.
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Last batch for awhile. I keep coming up with lots of new ideas.
- One of the PCs gets a notification that he's been selected for Jury Duty.
- A local band sets up shop in the PCs apartment complex and makes a terrific racket every night.
- Talismonger sells a PC the wrong materials (for lodge, hermetic circle, etc.).
- An investigative reporter would like to cover the PCs as they do their next run, and they want a couple of them to wear cameras.
- The doorbell rings, and a courier delivers, of all things, a telegram to the PCs. Who the heck uses telegrams anymore?
- One of the PCs contacts is found brutally murdered.
- Typhoon/Hurricane! A major storm is about to hit the city where the PCs live. The eye of the storm will pass over the city in two days. Roll 1d4 to determine what Category of storm it is. Remember to give the storm a charming name (i.e. Hurricane Thomas; Tropical Storm Fran).
- A local pro-sports team has made it to the championship/playoffs, and the city is eagerly awaiting to see if they win, and if they do, it's pandemonium!
- Daylight Savings Time (Remember, Spring forward, and Fall back).
- Halloween! October 31st is a time for all the monsters to come out and go trick or treating. Sometimes, literally.
- A young woman nearby is raped.
- A new casino opens up and is hosting a poker tournament, 500Y buy in, with a top prize of 500,000Y.
- While at a laundromat, one of the PCs clothes has been taken, either intentionally or accidentally.
- The people in the apartment next door to the PCs is hosting a cocktail party.
- One of the PC's vehicles has a flat tire.
- A disgruntled housewife wants to hire one of the PCs to kill her husband, and if he doesn't, she'll turn him into the cops for being a known runner, and if anything happens to her, the evidence of the PC's runner activities and her demise will go straight to the police.
- A slap-patch a PC uses is laced with a very nasty toxin. (GM's choice).
- A lawyer shows up at the PCs residence, to give the PC a belated bequeathment of an item from Dunkelzahn's will.
- Mr. Johnson accidentally overpays the PCs for a successful run.
- Fire at an Arcology (GM's choice), and it rages for days!
- Someone gives the PCs a tip of a seedy, underground bar that doubles as a Runner Haven.
- One of the PCs contacts is getting married, and invites the PC to be a best man or maid of honor.
- A PC's DocWagon alarm accidentally goes off though nothing is physically wrong with the PC, and a DocWagon HRT is immediately called out. (Preferably to a PC with a Gold or higher DocWagon contract, and this, unfortunately, counts as one of the PC's free resuscitations).
- For the next month, DocWagon is offering half-off all its contracts.
- Road Construction/Repair. This causes slowing on the street(s) where the work is being done.
- One of the PC's vehicles is improperly parked, and gets a parking ticket (100Y).
- A PC suddenly is named the new owner of a nightclub.
- Ammo shortage! Certain kinds of ammo (explosive, APDS, gel, etc.) becomes scarce, and the prices for them quadruple over the next few weeks.
- Forest Fire! Nearby, a forest is ablaze, sending a haze right into the city.
- Christmas-Time! All the stores are doing holiday specials, and holiday decorations are going up everywhere. Tis the Season for Giving!
- While driving around town, a PC who's driving has been speeding, and a cop is flashing his lights to pull him over.
- The doorbell rings, and it's a pair of old ladies and they want to talk to the PC about the Jehovah's Witness.
- A PC's comlink dies on him, and is broken beyond repair.
- Got NERPS?
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This is great! Thanks for the extensive list(s)
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You're welcome!
I highly encourage anyone who uses these to tailor them to fit your campaign and players. After all, if you're running a game set in Denver or other town that doesn't have a sea port, having a ship sink in a harbor or the sailors unleashed on liberty shouldn't be an issue at all.
Also, you got to know your players, and what kind of game you're running. I'm running and playing as a player a rather seedy, film noir kind of game set in the Portland/Vancouver area, so having a UFO abduct a PC and probe him isn't quite in the flavor of the game. Nor is having a bunch of ghouls go on a rampage; while it might have some of the flavor of what we're going for, it changes the game into a session of "survival horror," and that's not what we generally want. However, I am considering giving one of my PCs a trip to Neo-Tokyo, only to get away from the rain and grunge of PDX area for a change. Plus, I want to introduce more Japanese stuff in my setting.
By the way, if you apply this to a roll-chart, and you roll up something to do with NERPS!, you have to spam it somehow in the game session. In my setting, NERPS! is the most viral ad meme of all time.
I'll have another batch of stuff in my ample random encounter list next week. This weekend's my first time in a long time running a PC of my own, and I'm excited.
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Thanks for all of these, TheWayFinder -- I held onto Sprawl Sites during my 20+ year hiatus from SR because I liked it so much, but in my game I've worked through my favorites from it. I still find inspiration at times, but it has been getting thin. So this huge new list of new ideas is very welcome!
FWIW, I didn’t use Sprawl Sites as random encounters per se but more as sources of mini-episodes, or part of an episode. Rather than randomly coming across a truck containing an infuriated griffon, instead during a contract to escort a simsense starlet they came across a captured griffon in a truck, which is freaking out and causing problems. The starlet won’t abandon the situation because if word came out that she did nothing it would be terrible for her reputation, so she demands that something be done…. And things like that.
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Okay, I'm back, and I've got more random events. These are more Portland/Vancouver-centric, but they could be modified to fit your campaign.
- A masked vigilante who calls himself or herself Headspace is going after bad guys all over the city, and is becoming quite popular.
- The Cara'Sir (Portland) Rose Festival Parade is on again (first weekend in June) is on. Come watch the parade, and go to the Waterfront for the fair and Dragon Boat Races!
- When a PC activates DocWagon for help, Crashcart tries to intercept and take charge of his care, resulting in a gunfight between DocWagon and Crashcart!
- Trouble at the Border. As the PCs approach the border checkpoint between Tir Tairngire and SSC, they notice the Tir side is conducting thorough inspections of every vehicle that attempts to enter or leave.
- Snow in the Passes: This winter may have been cold and wet but it has been snowy near Mount Hood. Both major highways are blocked with snow for 1d6 hours, until snowplows can get in there.
- The PCs Fixer calls, and reveals that a crate of Ares Macrotechnology weapons or gear has "accidentally" dropped into the Columbia River. The fixer gives a general whereabouts, but it's up to the PCs to be able to get it. Beware, the river has a strong undercurrent, and the sturgeon are enormous, able to swallow a dwarf whole. If they recover the crate, the Fixer will pay them well.
- Gunfight at the Lloyd Center Mall.
- Owner of a coffee shop called The Magic Corner wants the magician PC to patronize his place, and offers him/her coupons for free coffee.
- One of the PC's vehicles has been towed away.
- The Tir Tairngire Fair is coming up in Malak'Thas (present day Salem, Oregon). Last week of August, first week of September.
- Word is spreading of a new Rite of Progression to be held next month. If you're an elf, ork, or dwarf, now's your chance to be a member of the Tir nobility.
- A Talismonger would like a magician PC to examine a strange grimoire he came across.
- Lockdown! For some reason, the entire Tir has gone into martial law, locking down all borders, and detaining anyone who's out on the streets past 8PM (2000 hrs). Foreigners, humans, trolls, or those who are SINless are automatically rounded up and booked. This lasts 1d6 days.
- One of the PCs fixers wants the PCs to escort him in a smuggling deal.
- Rumor has it that a group of Vory V Zakone has completely disappeared in the Camas-Washougal Reservation.
- One of the PCs gets a free voucher for a bath, body rub and towel at the Bonneville Hot Springs Spas and Resorts. The owner is a Western Dragon named Pete.
- Gambling on the Vancouver Waterfront. The Red Lotus Triad hosts an illegal gambling venture in one of the warehouses along the Vancouver waterfront.
- One of the PCs vehicles has been spray painted with the numbers 428 in bright gold paint.
- While in the Tir, the PCs are approached by the local Peace Force, and detained.
- The center of the Cara'Sir Paladins (formerly known as the Portland Trailblazers) is killed during the basketball game.
- The East Wind picks up and a drunken dragon crashes into the PCs residence.
- Maria Mercurial is playing at a concert at McMenamin's, and asks one of the PCs to visit her in her bus.
- The doorbell rings,and the PCs open the door to find a dead clown, holding a Faberge' Egg.
- Chaos Engine is on the rampage! Anyone who's jacking into the Matrix is fair game for an attack! As soon as the PC jacks in, there is a 20% chance he'll be attacked, and it goes up 10% every hour he's jacked in.
- A hundred Ancients come rolling up into the PCs area of town on their bikes, and stay for 1d3 days.
- All the billboards in town advertise "Got NERPS?"
More later.
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More Shadows of PDX goodness (maybe I'll post my campaign setting here, if you want to evaluate or try it out?):
-The Annual Bike and Bridgewalk in Cara'Sir (Portland) is underway (Summer). During the day, getting around anywhere Downtown Portland is slow and ponderous, as most of the major bridges have been closed off for bike and pedestrian traffic.
- The Sounds of the Forest Band is playing at a local nightclub in the PDX area. This is a band made up entirely of Sasquatches.
- A PC, for some reason, becomes the proud owner of an old airplane.
- Gang shooting in Vancouver closes off three intersections all night long as evidence is collected.
- A small gang of Cascade Crow is looking for any "Anglo" to harass. (Vancouver areas)
- Harlequin is found passed out drunk and naked in the PCs bathroom.
- Sperethiel Week! To further encourage the use of the elven language Sperethiel in Tir Tairngire, all news and radio transmissions from the Tir are made in Sperethiel, and local establishments are encouraged only to patronize customers who use the language. This lasts 7 days.
- Spirit Mountain Casino, now an Elven Casino, is offering a special lottery to be a Prince for a Day. Entry costs 100Y, and if you win, you will be treated like a High Prince of the Tir for a day!
- A strange meteor lands in Crater Lake, forcing the government to completely close off the area. All traffic in and out of the area is closed off, and detoured.
- A Megalodon has beached itself along the coast, and is still alive.
- Christian Missionaries from Camas-Washougal Reservation host a week long vigil at Pioneer Square in Cara'Sir.
- The doorbell rings, and it's a troll who wants to run with the PCs.
- One of the PCs vehicles has been completely stripped down to the frame!
- Orc riots in North Portland! No getting in and around Lugh Surehand Blvd (formerly MLK Jr. Blvd) for the next 1d6 days.
- Bridgelift. One of the bridges that opens or lifts for rivergoing traffic is scheduled to open up sometime in the morning or evening. Traffic will be stalled until the lift is over.
- One of the members of the Star Chamber has been involved in a prostitution ring.
- The Multnomah Whiskey Library is hosting its annual Whiskey tasting contest. Winner gets a rare Johnny Walker 100 year old Whiskey, worth 10,000Y!
- A shaman's spirit follows one of the PCs and plagues him with Accident.
- Tight Curfew! The Cara'Sir Peace Force is conducting a curfew starting at 1900hrs (7:00PM) til 0600 (6:00AM) for a whole week. Anyone who's on the streets (and have no authorization to be so) past 1900 will be stopped and asked to return to their homes, and those caught a second time will be arrested.
- Prohibition of Deepweed is Passed. All production, sale, and possession of this illegal narcotic in the Tir Tairngire is prohibited.
- A restaurant that the PCs favor is closed down for a health inspection, due to Cara'Sir's prohibition of meat.
- Fetish Scarcity! Talismongers sell their fetishes at a marked up price due to decreased supply.
- Fetish Abundance! Talismongers sell their fetishes at a lower price due to a glut of supply.
- Fisherman catches a 320lbs. Lofwyr Salmon!
- NERPS! Now in Color!
More to come!
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More random goodness, courtesy of your's truly! Not as many PDX elements in this one; I've been trying to pare that down as I expand the setting to other locales in the region.
- Outbreak! A new strain of VITAS has come to the area! The city issues a mandatory quarantine of affected areas, making getting into and out of those areas problematic if you're trying to avoid police/military personnel.
- A squatter gives a PC a tip (in exchange for some cred). This could be a security password, or a underworld meet going down, or whatever that the squatter managed to overhear.
- After a successful run, a wageslave finds one of the PCs, and wants him to kill his boss.
- Lofwyr returns to Tir Tairngire! His presence sparks nationwide (and worldwide) concerns over what kind of scheme he's planning for the Land of Promise!
- Harvest Moon! Magic is enhanced all night long while the moon can be seen.
- The doorbell rings, and the PCs open to find a drone, operated by an Otaku, and that Otaku needs their help!
- One of the PCs vehicles is missing, and in two days is replaced, by a brand new version of that vehicle. No modifications, unfortunately.
- Humanis Policlub meeting in downtown Portland.
- One of the PCs has come down with the HMHVV virus. GM determines how bad it is.
- Sunnyside Pizzaria is now completely automated! All orders can be done online, delivering the best Pizza in the whole, wide world right to your door. No need to tip the drone!
- While the PCs are walking in the downtown area, someone approaches them and flashes them, exposing his naked body to startled eyes!
- A psychic reader has been murdered in the PC's area.
- One of the PCs fixers has a tip that a cache of weapons/gear is somewhere on Mt. Hood, and needs the PCs to recover it. Break out your climbing gear!
- All of the participants of a simsense party next door suddenly go silent. They've all died, and are still attached to the rig.
- As the PCs are driving, it must be their lucky day. Wherever they go, they never hit a red light. As soon as they approach a traffic intersection, the light turns green. This lasts 24 hours.
- Jumpin' Jim Jerome is going to attempt the world's highest freefall jump, from outer space! The world watches as he leaps from a space-station and re-enters the Earth's atmosphere! But, he disappears! He's gone off-course. Where he lands is anyone's guess!
- A squatter approaches the PCs, needing their help to teach a lesson to some gangers.
- As the PCs are driving, it must not be their lucky day. Wherever they go, they stop at every intersection. As soon as they approach one, the light begins to turn red. This lasts 24 hours.
- The local professional Urban Brawl team is holding try-outs!
- A PC wakes up to find himself far away from home! He doesn't know where he is, except that he's found himself with a group of people who've completely eschewed all modern technology, preferring a simpler life in the country!
- Runners are being murdered! One by one, over the course of a month, shadowrunners are being found dead in random places throughout the city!
- A local gang arrives at the PCs place, hoping to recruit him into their gang.
- One of the PCs fixers wants him to train his nephew in the art of shadowrunning.
- One of the PCs fixers has been arrested, and is currently in jail. He won't be out for at least 24 hours.
- Hail! Depending on the conditions, the hailstorm drops pellet to tennis-ball sized hail, which can cause damage to vehicles and people if not protected! This lasts about half-an-hour!
- Local Megacorporation is now hiring!
- Dogfighting ring starts up in the PCs neighborhood (excluding high security areas), and some of the participants have brought hellhounds.
- The doorbell rings, and the PCs find a professional porn star there, known for his/her peculiar assets. The star needs the PCs help to get out of the business.
- The Olympic Games are coming to town! Athletes from all around the world will come to participate, either in the Summer or Winter games!
- Stock Market Crash! One of the major stock markets suffers a major loss!
- NERPS! It's more than a job! It's an Adventure!
More to come.
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More random stuff for you to enjoy, with some Shadowrun PDX stuff in there.
- The PCs favorite nightclub/bar/tavern is sold to a new owner.
- All of the PCs comlinks get a message, "The company of your presence is desired," complete with an address. Their GPS's also give them directions on how to get there, and won't do anything else until the PCs meet with whoever sent the message.
- The PCs decker gets an old digital map of secret jackpoints from the 2050s. Some of them still work, and some have almost unfettered access to very powerful locales.
- The couple next door are getting very frisky, keeping the PCs up all night with their noise. They do this every night for 2d6 days!
- Duststorm/Sandstorm! A major duststorm/sandstorm approaches and swallows the city in a brown and dusty haze, making it difficult to see or breathe outside for 2d6 hours. (Best done in dry, arid locations).
- A local organized crime boss makes an offer to the PCs that they can't refuse.
- A ghost of an enemy that the PCs killed haunts them every night.
- Dragon Fight! A pair of dragons fight each other in a spectacular and brutal display of flame, magic, and talon, causing major havoc and destruction around them.
- One of the PC's fixers offers him to buy into a timeshare for a condo in Miami.
- Baby Boom! For some reason, there has been a rise in the number of births in the area, going upwards as high as 1,000%!
- A piece of paydata a decker/hacker PC acquires has a map and a security code that leads to the location of the actual Starry Night picture, by Vincent Van Gogh.
- The PC Decker gets a message from an African prince, who needs his help in getting a loan, and if the Decker agrees to pay 5,000Y, he will repay him ten-fold. (this is a scam)
- An A.I. takes over a PC Rigger's vehicle, and acts as a guide for him.
- The PCs place has been TPed.
- The Pope is visiting the city! This event will cause some traffic problems for an hour during the day. He will stay in town for two days.
- A PC's drink was laced with a powerful experimental aphrodisiac.
- One of the PCs gets a voucher for a free tanning session.
- A local pool hall is hosting a tournament. Winner gets 10,000Y. There is no second or third places.
- The Cara'Sir Octoberfest starts up (begins in last two weeks of September).
- If one of the PCs is a troll, roll 1d6. If it's an even number, his Strength goes up by 2 points. If it's an odd number, it is decreased by 2 points. This lasts for a week, but either way, the troll suffers major headaches.
- The doorbell rings, and it's a Tir Tairngire Paladin. He needs the PCs for a mission, and will only pay them 1,000Y (not each). If they are successful, he will be a contact for them.
- Someone, or something, has been killing people, notably gangers, shadowrunners, corporate warriors, made men, etc. Their bodies have been found suspended from high places, completely skinned, with their spines and skulls ripped out.
- The neighbor next door is smoking a pork shoulder in his smoker, making pulled pork, and the smell is wonderful. Will take him 10-12 hours to completely smoke it.
- Complete Magical Blackout! For 24 hours, no spells can be cast in the entire city! Astral Perception or Projection is impossible. All Adept and Technomancer abilities do not work. Why? Unknown.
- Election! The Star Chamber (or other government seats in your area) has people coming up for election or reelection! Candidates are on the campaign trail!
- Somehow, someone has set up a bonfire with 50 kilos of Deepweed in the area. The smoke is pungent, and makes everyone a little stoned under the effects of Deepweed so long as it burns (1d6+2 hours). Makes everyone very hungry as well.
- Traffic Light Problems. In the area, some intersections have traffic lights that are on the fritz, causing slowing at those intersections. The local police has posted traffic wardens to help manage the flow of traffic in some places.
- Minor Premonitions. A Magical character, preferably a mage, shaman, or adept, receives minor premonitions of minor events, such as accurate weather predictions of the next 24 hours, gambling results, or a crime about to take place, etc.
- Major Premonition. A Magical character, preferably a mage, shaman, or adept, receives a major premonition of a major event, such as a natural or man-made disaster, a death among the PCs, or something. If the PC wishes to avoid the event of a PC's death, spending or burning Karma can prevent it.
- For a better understanding of better intimate care, NERPS!
More to come!
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More Random Goodness! Yay! This pretty much wraps up my list. I have more, but they're much more tailored for my campaign, and while I think they could be made to fit into yours, it's a little complicated without the context. I'll get into that after the list.
- The PCs have action figures made of them, and are being sold in every store around.
- A pair of Barghests are loose in the PCs place.
- The PCs acquire a bit of paydata that includes a map of every leyline nexus in town!
- A malevolent spirit has taken possession of one of the PCs contacts, and is very powerful (at least as powerful as the PCs). If the spirit isn't driven from the host, the contact will die in one week.
- Gremlin Moment! Preferably, this happens to a Rigger PC. Everything is going to pot for the Rigger while he's in control of a vehicle or a set of drones, and he has to rely more on his own skills than on the software or the capabilities of his machines in order to get them all under control.
- Flash Flood! 2d6+2 inches of rain suddenly falls in the local area, causing major immediate flooding in the area. (Best done in drier locations.)
- One of the PCs wins an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii. (Even if their game is in Hawaii.)
- A gang of Trolls calling themselves the Toll-Keepers demand tolls to allow passage around their turf.
- After using a Street Doc, one of the PCs has contracted a minor illness.
- After using a Street Doc, one of the PCs has contracted a bloodborne pathogen! (Hepatitus A, B, or C).
- After a gunfight, one of the PCs develops a mild form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
- After a major gunfight, one of the PCs develops a major form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
- The neighbors next door are having an impromptu Jazz session, They play rather good music all night long.
- After a cop is murdered, the local police round up all the shadowrunners they can find in town.
- If a PC has Wired Reflexes, after he triggers it, it's on all the time for 12 hours, and it acts like it's one level higher (unless it's at max level). Afterward, the PC is rendered completely exhausted, and must sleep for a whole day to recover. The only way to shut it off is by going to a doctor who knows cybernetics.
- Somehow, one of a PCs fake SINs has been found out, and all the licenses on it are rendered null-and-void.
- A Tech Shop is offering a sale! Half-off selected products, programs, and other gear for the next whole week!
- If a PC has Killing Hands, after he activates it, it's on for 12 hours and he can't shut it off. Afterwards, he can't activate any of his Adept powers for a whole day!
- If a PC is a Wolf Shaman, the Wolf spirit demands that he retaliate against another Wolf Shaman, or else it won't grant the shaman any particular ability (GM's choice) until accomplished. This can mean that the PC must kill the other shaman.
- Solar Flare! All comlink communications are unreliable, and break up within a minute. All unprotected electronics may suffer from electrical damage (to include cybernetics). To avoid calamity, GridGuide goes down, and most systems are shut down. The event lasts 2d6 hours.
- Vampires are being ruthlessly killed throughout the city. Over the course of a month, more than two dozen vampires and their companions are found dead.
- The local farmer's market opens up nearby. Every weekend during the whole month, getting in and around where the market is located is slow, and parking is a mess. However, you have access to fresh fruit and vegetables at very cheap prices. (Spring through Fall)
- Someone has set a bomb underneath one of the PCs vehicles, that is armed when the vehicle reaches 50mph, and a voice tells the driver that if he reduces the speed underneath 50mph, the bomb will detonate!
- During a fight, the PCs are aided by a huge and happy troll, dressed entirely in green spandex, calling himself the Jolly Green Giant!
- One of the PCs develops a bad case of hiccups, and lasts all day. Nothing can cure it. (I usually apply penalties to hit with all weapons.)
- Luck is a Lady Tonight! For one of the PCs, everything is going his way. For 12 hours, all his rolls succeed, even if they obviously fail.
- A Comic Con starts up downtown. Parking can be difficult, but not impossible. Watch out for the Bronies! They can be murder!
- One of a female PC's male contacts approaches her, gets down on one knee, and proposes marriage with the most awesome diamond ring anyone's ever seen.
- The doorbell rings, and the PCs are visited by a few bail-bondsmen, looking for one of them. Seems that someone's skipped bail! (Could be a mistaken identity, but best if a PC actually did skip bail.)
- NERPS! Now with Low, Low, 6.9% financing!
During my campaign, I tailor other events to specifically fit my PCs. This is especially useful if they have things that facilitate that, like Dependents, special contacts, or certain events in the game that could help personalize the game for the players. Those events aren't on here because they specifically mention a certain character. But, as an example, I'll show a few.
One of my lady players was a female elven decker who was a high-end prostitute on the side.
- You get a call from Theodore, one of your best clients, who wants you to be an escort with him to the High Council Ball.
- Vicky Fox calls you, to tell you that she's been raped by her john, and that he didn't pay her.
- Gallathrax lands in your parking lot, in full dracoform, demanding to see you.
Another of my players is an Ork smuggler, who has been arrested more times than I can recall, and has done time in Tir Tairngire's jails.
- One of the boxes you're moving across the river tips over, and there are three Chinese girls in there.
- While on the Tir side of the Columbia, you run afoul of the Peace Force, who immediately recognize you and attempt to arrest you.
- While in jail, a large human named Ross wants to kick your ass.
Things like that can help make the game go a little more interesting.
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-KE/LS run areas has suspended services in UCAS areas with their contract in the new corporate holiday Sinners Day (Hello Purge!). During this time police will only protect vital infastructure (aka binge on the lockup as the btl/drug/weapons goes missing). All crimes will not be reported and docwagon will not enter the on premises of its too hot. Runners are free to operate in this time of opportunity at the risk of opportunistic thugs.
-a suicide bombing hits a local area.
-A wageslave goes postal in a slum.