Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Gamemasters' Lounge => Topic started by: Ganggreenkhan on <11-15-15/0149:33>
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My players are a group of mostly awakened. One of them is a dragon groupie and has contacts in Urubia's organization. Urubia pays really well and the jobs are easy. They are doing their first job for her next session. They are buying a child for Urubia, they don't know this yet as the child has been referred to only as "the package".
I'm looking for suggestions about what could be some good consequences for doing this. I mean seriously who, aside from another dragon's employees, is gonna wanna mess with them. I was thinking maybe Humanis could come after them. Course what does Humanis care if a dragon is buying awakened children. I'm really drawing a blank on this any ideas are welcome.
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Humanis. Who knows what that scaley monster might do to that poor HUMAN child?
Black Lodge. They've got some kind of anti-dragon thing going on.
Ordo Maximus. Because what else does a cabal of posh vampires do in their spare time?
The Parents/Family. Simple enough, eh?
Urubia's Foes. Doesn't have to be a dragon, just a group with conflicting interests.
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I wouldn't penalize player for solely working for dragon, apart from notoriety point . Dragons has great ambitions and players quickly will be involved in scheme on grand scale , probably too hard to manage without living on the edge. And if they will know too much...
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I wouldn't have many consequences after a first run, at least none other than those they would face no matter whom they did the run for (if they allow themselves to be recorded or they leave evidence on the scene, they will face the usual things all runners face). They aren't sufficiently known to merit large attention. I would wait until to do a couple of runs for the same dragon before other people who watch said dragon will start to pay attention to them. This is something that you have to build up, not drop in from run 1.
After a couple of runs maybe have them followed (perception tests to notice while they are driving around), as enemies also have to gather intel before they can move. Build up the paranoia slowly, it's much more fun that way (insert evil GM laughter here ;D ) and it gives you time to work out the details.
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The reason people say "never deal with a dragon" is that in general dragons just don't care that much about metahumans. Or at least don't empathize with nor care about their lifespan. Metahumans to dragons are like chickens to a farmer; useful, sometimes amusing,some you might like more than others--but they are all transitory and you don't plan retirement homes for them ...
So what sort of crazy fragger works for them willingly? That is the rep they'll get in a bit.
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They don't need any specific consequences - they are already working for an amoral being with its own agenda which cares little for the fate of its pawns (of course, you could say that about a lot of the non-dragon Johnsons).
But people won't be afraid to mess with them just because they are working for a dragon. Security guards will still shoot, Knight Errant will still chase them, gangers will still harass them, and rivals will still be rivals. If they go along with the kidnapping, and word gets out that they abducted a kid to sell to a dragon, then it will affect their rep - they will get a rep as one of the less altruistic/more amoral teams, which will help or hinder them depending on who they are dealing with in the future.
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Ultimately the consequences of working for a dragon are you are working for a dragon.
You mention Urubia pays really well and the jobs are easy.
Now take a step back and replace the word Urubia with Johnson.
If a regular Johnson was paying really well for jobs that were easy, what would your team think after the initial joy at a fat credstick wore off?
And like Glyph mentioned, their being one of the dragon lackeys doesn't extend them that much protection, especially since they are just getting around to doing their first job for the wyrm and thus haven't even proven their value yet. So right now they are just another possible asset/decoy.
It's the same old song and dance, just with a bit bigger claws wrapped around the violin. ;)
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The other problem with dragons is that you losr. Always. Every time.
Dragons don't play a short game. Their plans take decades to unfold, and in such long plans, you are a bit player to be used up and thrown away.
The best quote I csn give you:
"Lofwyr has discarded more amazing ideas before breakfast, then you will have in your life time."
The shoe WILL drop. The question is when.
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Why would a Dragon pay a premium to Shadowrunners to do Milk Runs? They've got lackies on salary for that, and one of them is always looking for a leg up. If it is that simple, the Dragon's goons can handle it. The likely answer is that its just not that simple. The child has some connection to someone powerful and the Runners take a hit? Literally? The Child's parents are someone powerful that the Dragon wants to blackmail and use the runners as a cut out/fall guy? The whole thing is a shiny distraction for whatever the Dragon's goons are actually up to?
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Dragons are at the pinnacle of life in the Sixth World. Though they are vulnerable to weapons, they are on the top of the heap and they know it. They see everything else as inferior, because we are, materially speaking. Even if they may have some kind feelings toward meta-humans, this doesn't change their perspective of meta-humans.
So this gives you a reference for how to play a dragon. Why the phrase "Never deal with a Dragon" came into common parlance is because dragons will screw you over when it becomes convenient for them to do so. Not that they do it out of malice, though some may have that inclination, they do it because you're only important to them until you're not. Why should they honor an agreement with you, a pebble compared to the mountain? You're not a real life form to them. You're just a piece of excrement that can talk.
A common consequence for dealing with a dragon is that the dragon merely doesn't fulfill his end of the bargain. He figures you should leave and be gracious you're not sitting in his belly. Other consequences are that you end up being eaten, or he takes your girlfriend and she like him more than you because he's got more money, or he makes you watch The Lawrence Welk Show until you go mad. Why would he do the last thing? Because it amuses him.
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And in the scenario it is paying you the term cursed coin is not even hyperbole. Shadow communities will shun you for dealing with a Dragon. Johnson dicks you because they figure they can convince you to part with your prize and your enemies wants the fame of killing a lackey of a dragon
And to speak nothing of the jobs you are thrown. One mistake and the world take not a light step like it does but a giant leap to the end.
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As an addendum to what TheWayfinder is saying, they're different from corps in that while the corps don't care about you either, you can at least do some harm to their plans if they try to cheat you. Less so with a dragon.
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Why would a Dragon pay a premium to Shadowrunners to do Milk Runs? They've got lackies on salary for that, and one of them is always looking for a leg up. If it is that simple, the Dragon's goons can handle it.
In such an instance, it's probably that the Dragon knows, somehow, that those particular people are going to be pivotal in some future event, and he's starting to groom and train them to be ready for that event. This goes into what someone else mentioned about "the long game" that the Dragons (especially Greats) engage in.
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Why would a Dragon pay a premium to Shadowrunners to do Milk Runs?
For the same reasons any other Johnson might pay a premium for a Milk Run. Maybe they need some separation between themselves and the job, separation that they wouldn't get by sending in one of their lackeys. Maybe they're doing a favor for another person, and want to be middlemen instead of active participants. Maybe it isn't a Milk Run at all, but a suspected trap that they don't want their own people walking into (a trap that might not even spring if their people aren't in the picture). Maybe they are trying to limit moves of their rivals. Maybe this is all an audition, to see if the crew can handle themselves well.
In fact, it is probably more than one of those reasons, but I'd always be leaning towards it being not just a Milk Run, and being an audition for bigger things.
As for the consequences of working for a dragon? From a rep standpoint, there's a difference between doing a run for a dragon, and cutting a deal with a dragon. Even if Mr. J has scales, a one time gig isn't going to ding your rep unless you A) go blabbing about it, or B) screw it up. Making a habit of working for a dragon? Yeah, you're going to get notoriety for that, but not because people think you're a crazy fragger. You get the notoriety for the same reason you'd get it if you became linked to a Mafia family, or looking like a Renraku company man, or running some 'consultant' work for the CIA. Through those associations, you have access to people and jobs higher up the ladder, but you also become a target of their rivals and some of their baggage becomes yours. You become a player in the Great Game, the dance of power and influence between the major players, and likely the first pawns to be sacrificed if need be. And that brings attention, which reflects on those around you.
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One of the biggest negatives is not specific to working for a dragon, but will almost certainly come up more in that circumstance, and that is "the other team". Being paid big money for an easy job is usually foreshadowing of this.
It may not be obvious at first, the other team swoops in after the runners make their getaway, with other objectives. This usually comes to light when the news starts reporting things the runners didn't do, as part of their runs. Or maybe the target squashes the publicity, but gets a mad on for the unknown runners who did the extra job, and someone gets paid to hunt them down... and finds the PCs first.
Eventually, the other team may have cross purposes. The runners pull a hostile extraction, and are instructed to secure the "package" at a safehouse, signal completion, and then get out. Then the other team goes in and does a messy-as-possible hit on the target/package. And the WTF-bomb goes off.
Eventually, the other team is going to get tasked with cleaning up the runners themselves, and/or vice versa. Don't be surprised if there's a third party there to make sure there are no winners, which may be an entirely new (and rather green) crew, whose own clock is now ticking.
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A common consequence for dealing with a dragon is that the dragon merely doesn't fulfill his end of the bargain.
Or, they fulfill their end of the bargain to the letter. Kind of like making a wish... ;)
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I'd give the chummers exactly what they ask for. I mean that, literally, EXACTLY what they ask for. Except, twisted, of course. Like somebody's great and powerful reward winds up binding them to the Dragon because why hand out one bennie when you can get two in return?
I'd treat the Dragons like some folks write about the sidhe; like the Merry Gentry books by Laurell K. Hamilton, for example, or Mab from Jim Butcher's Dresden Files.
That's why you never deal with a Dragon.
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No one pays extra for milk runs. You get paid extra for extra risk. Why don't runners work for a dragon? B/C then your enemies are the dragons enemies, and means other dragons. This many multi-order consequences, that need to be considered. On the short list is expendable and deniability. Dragons aren't going to take more risks then are necessary, and means sometimes an operative learns to much and needs to be "retired".
When you consider the word johnson and dragon there are couple serious differences. Getting into a brawl with a johnson is for sure a bad idea, it'll cost rep, opportunities and time, but odds are good that the team will walk away. Getting into a brawl with a dragon has no such guarantee, which means you may not really have a choice to turn down a run put up by a dragon.
Next the shadow community, takes don't deal with dragons seriously, your team gets a rep for breaking that rule, and they will quickly find such things have real consequences socially. Beginning with contacts drying up, as being associated with the PC b/cs too dangerous. Next they will certainly draw fire if the relationship continues and something happens that inspire fear among the local populace. Such events don't have to even be true that can simply be out of control rumors.
Finally fear, working for dragons should eventually make you a scary SOB, who know's what that will result in. Runners need support to operate, when that support becomes hostile, the shadows will become a very lonely and dangerous place.
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You don't have to be willing, either.
If a Johnson says "Do it, or else...", you may be able to call their bluff, or find some way to get out of it without burning your edge. You may get a bad rep, or lose street cred, but you still own yourself, for all the soy that gets you.
If a Dragon says "You're in" on a job, however, you fragging well better find a way to make it happen, whether by your hand or not.
You can try going where you want when it's over, as long the job gets done, but you're still on that hook for as long as the dragon says you are. And imagine being in a safehouse, when that slotting dragon shows up to pay you off in person. They may not say it, but everyone is going to be thinking, "Holy drek, omae! Get the frag out of our safehouse! Now would be good, sooner would be better."
Luckily, you're the Dragon's friend, so they're probably not going to do a wet-vac eviction... until the dragon says you're fair game.
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This adventure requires at least one of the runners to have a "valued person" in the area. It could be their mum, a child of their own, a high rating contact, or whoever.
After kidnapping and delivering the child, the runners are contacted by a Mr Johnson, who wishes to engage them to use their confidence of the dragon Urubia to gain access to Urubia's lair, and find out what's happened to these missing children, and get one in particular back - the Johnson's daughter.
He then sets down a commlink on the table so they can listen to someone in obvious distress. He will then explain that if they fail then their "valued person" will be eaten alive by ghouls, while they get to listen. (for only a few seconds, then the commlink at the other end goes to wireless off and is dumped at another location - no tracing I'm afraid)
The Mr Johnson is a very angry, very powerful person, who has lost a son or daughter very close to them. It could be the leader of a large gang like the Ancients, or exec of one of the megacorps. He will take appropriate precautions to prevent the runners from taking action at the meet (eg. it's in public, dozens of his goons are close by, snipers perhaps)
The runners have several choices (perhaps more):
#/ Do the run for Mr Johnson. Betraying a dragon. Oh boy.
#/ Do the run against Mr Johnson, and retrieve their valued person, perhaps killing Mr Johnson.
#/ Take Urubia into their confidence, and explain their situation, so that Urubia can then conspire with the runners to carry out the run against Mr Johnson.
All three possibilities would need to be worked out in advance (both the dragon's defences and Mr Johnson's) and be completable by the group.
When working with a dragon, the dragon's enemies become your enemies.
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If one of the runners hasn't already taken the reputation hit, they'll draw straws to see who whacks the Johnson and the associated reputation hit. Rescuing anyone was thrown out the window as soon as the Johnson hit their family. The players need to make that absolutely clear to the GM, but the runners need to make that absolutely clear to anyone wanting their services.
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If the runners are willing to allow someone close to be eaten by ghouls, rather than doing the run, then this is probably the wrong hook for the table. Perhaps because it feels too much like player strong-arming?
If so, then it can be removed a place, so that instead of the runners having someone close kidnapped, then a valued contact has had a loved one kidnapped, the Johnson knowing that the valued contact would come to the runners for help, and do the run on the contact's behalf (for a huge favour and a suitable payday). Of course, the runners could refuse but would lose a contact.
Also bear in mind that the Johnson is backed by a powerful group. Whacking the leader of the Ancients would certainly have repercussions... I don't think I would penalise reputation from the runners if they killed this Johnson, as he doesn't really deserve the title, and the rest of the shadowrun community would probably chink glasses for removing him for his outrageous behaviour. But I think it's important to realise that the reason that the Johnson has done this is not because he's an asshole, but because he is a very desperate person, who has lost a child, and wants them back. Having him break down in tears in front of the runners could make them realise just how wounded he is, and maybe open the door to negotiations...
It's an important point that the child may never have been taken by Urubia in the first place, the Johnson is simply jumping to a conclusion. Imagine the child turning up the day after the runners have whacked the Johnson, none the wiser of the trouble they have caused.
If the runners need an "in" to carry out the run against the dragon, then the dragon may have taken a "voice" who, although they fully back their master in their schemes, is privately against the kidnapping of the children, and has reached out to the Johnson, and is willing to provide information to assist in the investigations. The runners may only initially find out that someone at the other end of a commlink has info for them, but nothing else.
I hope this gives a few ideas of how such a campaign could be handled. YMMV.
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According to the OP, the group doesn't know that the "package" is a kid. So there is already some strong-arming setting the situation up in the first place. The players might already be pissed at having this sprung on them, with a Johnson that they can't just tell to go to hell. So they might feel they were semi-coerced into a run, with the GM then turning around and punishing them for it right afterwards.
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Have your dragon, work through a johnson, this way the team doesn't know they are working for one. Not knowing its a kid is cool but what's special about this kid? who wants to keep the kid/prevent dragon from having said kid? Dragon runs are a chess game that runner lose Always. Also be careful cuz some groups won't touch that run regardless, human trafficking rates up there on bad karma