[firebug]

Say you're driving the I-90 from Seattle to the greater UCAS.  What kind of dangers are you likely to encounter along the way?

I know Shadowrun isn't really a "random encounter" kind of game, but with go-gangs and awakened critters and free spirits, my understanding is that it's supposed to be dangerous.  After all, "dystopian" for Shadowrun means more than just crappy work hours.  Also, I feel the need to make a 30 hour drive feel eventful, or at least not just handwaved, so the players have more of a concept of how much time has passed.  So does anyone have some suggestions on what kind of things would happen traveling by land for so long?

[ZeConster]

• Random go-gang attack
• Cops with quota to meet
• Smugglers mistake you for the competition
• Dragon flies by after having a date that didn't end well
• Really determined Jehovah's Witnesses
• Amish magicians attack
• Price war between two gas stations escalates

[SlowDeck]

• Attacked by awakened elephant that escaped from the zoo.
• Assaulted by awakened chimpanzee go-gang.
• Sasquatch parade that takes offense to you driving towards them.
• Bored pixie.
• Newly-awakened AI that is playing with traffic lights as it tries to figure out the world.
• Mistaken for target of an extraction run.
• Turf war between two gangs composed entirely of clowns.

[emsquared]

That's a couple of international borders, could be a couple of border checks.

It's not really that long of a drive, why do you feel like you need to dramatize something as mundane as a road trip if that's all it is?

[firebug]

That's a couple of international borders, could be a couple of border checks.

It's not really that long of a drive, why do you feel like you need to dramatize something as mundane as a road trip if that's all it is?

It's mostly the time.  I dunno, 30 hours seems like a long time.  That's a trip that'd take at least two days.  Without anything happening, it feels like it would seem too short.  I'm okay with "downtime" happening "offscreen" so to speak, but it doesn't feel like downtime to me.  Hard to explain I guess...  An example would be like, in D&D, if you were going to have to ride a carriage for like a week to get somewhere, but it was just handwaved like "nothing happens".  I guess some people don't mind, but it feels like a missed opportunity to me and makes the world feel more empty than it should be.  That last bit being a big thing to me.

[JBRocky]

For the most part it would be rather boring just border crossings into Salish and Sioux territory.  Can have fun when they are in the Cascade Ork area, say spokane if it goes out that far, and can't let them go unhasseled into the Sioux Nation.  Can probably set something up when they stop to get gas, bathroom break or maybe the car breaks down.  If its in Salish territory no major deal, but if it is in Sioux territory it WILL be a big problem.  Say have them run over some random animal which just happens to be protected in the Sioux Nation because its some tribes Totem animal or something and at that point everything goes down hill.

[RulezLawyerZ]

Two words: Juggernaut.

Okay, technically that's just one word, but look the critter up. It's big enough to be two, just on it's own. Looks like an anklyosaurus cosplaying an armadillo, eats literally anything, range of "wherever it wants to go", and is tough and foul-tempered. There's generally a bounty on them, which is infrequently collected. Doesn't even have to be on stage to be an effective plot device: "Um, guys, our motel has cancelled our reservation. It's... gone."

Keep in mind that it should be a plot device, though, rather than a random encounter. The runners should be lucky to survive a direct confrontation.

Also keep in mind that most of what they'll be traveling through is wooded, mountainous terrain, until they hit the prairie midway through Wyoming. That means that there's generally one road through, unless they want to do a lot of backtracking, or trail blaze their way through the wilderness.

[emsquared]

You don't have to force something (especially something that will... well, feel forced) to happen to prevent the world from feeling empty. Narrate the drive, and the news that comes on as it pertains to the story line, and how they piss in pop bottles. It's important (if your time at the table is limited) to know when to fill the world and when to let something that doesn't need much attention slide.

IMO, the borders would be enough because realistically those would probably be the only likely things to happen.

[Poindexter]

have em get fleeced at borders and checkpoints over and over again.

[firebug]

I suppose the borders and rest stops being described would be enough.  I admit I'm handwaving them getting their guns and weapons through; the characters are based on 4th edition ones that had smuggling compartments in their vehicles designed specifically to fool MAD scanners.  I'm saying "let's say we've purchased them and when the rules for them finally come out we'll use those".

[cantrip]

Roadtrip! 

Depending how much time you want to take in gameplay, here are a few ideas (I do tend to get off track in my games, but the journey is the fun part a lot of times):

*Depending how they are traveling (ground, air etc.) many para-critters can come into play - Nest of Thunderbirds can be fun

*Rogue spirit/elementals -- or possibly a wacked out hermit shaman that feels it's "their road"

*Broken down vehicle along side of the road - imagine the paranoia you could create, nice elderly couple having trouble in the middle of nowhere....maybe they really are just what the seem; doesn't always have to be a combat scene! Might be an eccentric corp VP who appreciates your help and remembers you a few runs from now. Feels they owe you a solid and pulls your hoop out of the fire.

*More light-hearted -- hippy meta-human commune

*Run across an insect spirit nest/hive

*Vehicle breakdown - aka lost in the wilderness scenario - keep in mind, a good number of runners are hardened veterans...in an urban setting. Set them out in the wilds over-night and play it up. They'll be in a fetal-position by morning! 

*Mysterious deserted town -- could be a sub-plot of some sort

*Mistaken identity - one smuggler group thinks your runners is part of another smuggler group

*Sidejob - they have a side job dropping off a package for one of their contacts; end up in a run and gun through some unusual place - narrow canyons, old scrapyard, abandoned mines etc.

*Corporate test site -- testing beta <fill in the blank corporate badness> (ideas: drones, genetically modified creatures, biologicals etc.)

*Rural combat biking tournament looking for a team of players - top prize a custom bike!

*Variant of corporate test site - ground zero nuclear test - this would be a play up the stress, ending with the nuke not going off due to nuclear weapon instabilities (which is why the corp is testing)

*Astral rifts or astral mana storm - I know, it's not the outback, but you could go with a freakish one off storm in a localized area

Ultimately, you might check with your players to see if they want some side-run excitement or just a "time passes" we get there. I sometimes  try to do to much to make it fun for them and ultimately they just want to get the current run they are working on and get paid! LOL!

[stoner68]

These are not really dangers, just things I would point out.

As they head out of Seattle make sure they see all the green.  For someone from the sprawl, that would be an alien event.  The forests and mountains have had three generations since the Treaty of Denver to regrow (assuming you are set in 2075).  There will be heartstoppingly tragic clear cuts and remains of mudslides with new growth trying its best to deal with the acid rain put on the jet stream in Japan and Seattle.

In Cascade Crow territory have them miss the annual lash up and smuggler’s bazaar by about a week.  Everything under the sun for sale at a huge techno swap meet at the new low, low price of double book (but availability is no longer a concern).  Where they have to keep their credstik in hand and only slot certified cred unless they want their ID stolen and sold three times between here and Vladivostock along with whatever WAS in their bank account.

In Souix territory show them the 21st century version of the Argonath with the sculpture of Sitting Bull that is even bigger than Mount Rushmore.  The wide open prairie should completely freak someone who has never been out of the sprawl along with a small herd of ten thousand buffalo complete with high tech trailguards and cowhands  doing their best to make sure all of the buffalo can reproduce to keep the herd growing.

[stoner68]

The one thing I forgot that seems to be on every road trip along the Interstates is road construction.  Players are linked into the grid and travelling along at speed then start slowing down for no apparent reason.  They lose grid and have to switch to manual just in time to stomp on the brakes for a traffic jam in the middle of nowhere.  Ahhh the pleasures of home out on the road.

[cantrip]

The one thing I forgot that seems to be on every road trip along the Interstates is road construction.  Players are linked into the grid and travelling along at speed then start slowing down for no apparent reason.  They lose grid and have to switch to manual just in time to stomp on the brakes for a traffic jam in the middle of nowhere.  Ahhh the pleasures of home out on the road.

You made me shed a tear over the many, many, many trips I've taken across the midwest....that was a tear of frustration btw!