[elrikthebastard]

Morning Everyone

My group and I are going to look at running a Shadowrun game in a few months, we still have to mangle Rifts a bit longer. I have not played Shadowrun in 15 years and I need some help. If everyone has a few minutes that would be appreciated.

The basic story is a bit tired but I think it will work. Evil Man wants to build a Religious Empire. He is offering Heaven on Earth and beyond. No aliens.

I need a location. I lack the books and will be slowly picking them up.

I plan to put one of his "business offices" in Seattle. I was thinking he rents half a floor in an existing building.
A "church" (online and physical). He offers online services as well as daily services (remotely). Has to be somewhat central.

Manufacturing compound: Can be remote. The business will receive regular shipments, assemble the wetware and then ship it out. This can be almost anywhere in North America.

Three remote locations for his "compounds" of Heaven. All should be in North America but I have considered a fourth in Europe.

My last question, any direction on keeping Merit's and Flaws under control? Some of my players are Munchkins squared.

Thank you in advance!

Elrik

[Kanly]

Qualities: just forbid everything they don't intend to play out, and don't forget about the ones you need to keep reminding them about (=play to their weaknesses once in a while).

Locations: I'm assuming you're planning on your players travelling all over these? In that case, be aware of security regulations, your players might not be able to carry a lot of their gear and nontheless will need extremely good false papers. Or coyotes.

If you put everything inside one border (so probably not Seattle) it's a bit easier but they might still need to take roadtrips to avoid too much screenings...

[elrikthebastard]

Thanks Kanly

I am chatting with one of my players right now about the Merits and Flaws. He laughed when I said I was considering removing them. =-)

There is a long story to this party. I have only been with them a month. They seem to play Shadowrun Lite, if you follow. Missions are bloody, right afterwords they got to a bar... no one from the corp/gang/company follows up. IE: Shadowrun Lite. So I want to force the game play and see what they do.

I am also all about travel. See the sites, avoid the ambush sort of thing. The cred is not endless so the party needs to figure out how to do this and still turn a buck. I had though about putting the entire thing into the UCAS, that still forces them to travel but at least they are moving in somewhat familiar territory.

The first time I played I burned through several characters before I figured it out. You can't bully someone with your superior sword and armor in Shadowrun. But you can negotiate, sneak and steal if you pay attention.

Thanks again!

E

[Namikaze]

If his business offices and church are in Seattle, he might try to avoid legal complications by having this "Heaven" (I assume this is a drug of some sort) manufactured in Salish-Shidhe territory and then shipped in.  Or perhaps he has a deal with some of the Laesa of Tir Tairnegire and they handle manufacturing.  Both require some border crossings, which are covered in the supplemental book Coyotes.  Additionally, he could be storing his materials in all kinds of places - the Redmond Barrens are a great spot, but don't overlook hiding in plain sight in Downtown.  Also, Council Island is essentially extraterritorial turf for the Salish-Shidhe right in the middle of Seattle proper.

[elrikthebastard]

Thanks Namikaze

Heaven is more a simsense addicts place to go. Evil man makes then addicts collects their money and then when they are ready they move to a compound. There they live in Heaven. Half the time they get simsense the other half they are working to feed the others, assembling hardware, cleaning, programming new "events" and the like.

Having said this, as I update myself I am confident my original idea will change.

If I may, why Salish-Shidhe territory? Fewer laws?

As I work this out I have to monitor my power level, I want a long arc so the players can start small and work their way up. Or go back to work =-)

Thank you!

[Namikaze]

The reason for the Salish-Shidhe territory is because it surrounds Seattle on three sides.  It's got an infamously porous border, and because it's a different country any of the powers-that-be in Seattle can't intrude on these operations.  The Salish can definitely create problems for this bad guy, but they can't go after his Seattle holdings because they're also in a different country.  By splitting his manufacturing and his distribution networks between two countries, he's made it hard for the authorities to cripple him all at once.  And with the borders being so pathetic, it's not like the separation of governments will be a negative to his moving the product from one place to the other.

For the shadowrunners, the border might not be a big deal but it gives you as a GM the chance to really test them out with some law enforcement from another country, and to learn how to exploit these weaknesses that the bad guy is exploiting.  And then, of course, you get to really lay it on thick with the comparisons between the runners and the bad guy, etc.  It doesn't sound like your group really cares about the effects of their actions, but I get the impression that you want to make the players' actions mean something to them so you could try using that angle if you want.

[elrikthebastard]

Your are correct Namikaze.

I have always suffered for bad decisions in my games. Only fair that everyone else does too!

That makes perfect sense then. I will split up the locations and make them work a bit more.

Having heard the past game stories from my new team all I can do is pop a Spock and ponder the void of stupidity.

I think I will use that. I talked to the guys and we are going to make all the PC's at one table, at one time. They are all going to be of similar age and location. I would prefer the team molded over years of childhood pranks and gaffs. In my mind they have done some minor things to get to where they are. I am going to stack the deck a bit in my favor but since this is the first time I have run the game in years I will take any advantage I can get.

Thanks guys, I look forward to whatever else comes up.

[Namikaze]

Sounds like a great idea.  If you're wanting to make the game a little less powerful, you could start them with the alternate Street Level campaign rules.  It makes every nuyen and every skill point count for more.  If a few street hoods came up together and decided to take out this guy peddling Heaven, it would be the big break they'd need to get into professional shadowrunning.  Great hook, I think.

[elrikthebastard]

I will certainly look at those alternative street level rules.

One of my players was annoyed that I dare remove the Merit/flaws. It would seem they removed the limits on those. It just gets crazier and crazier as I talk to them. I have never seem myself as the rule nazi in a party, but so far I am...

Thanks again!

[Michael Chandra]

Just ask for advice on them here, you can get some tips on whether or not you should forbid specific ones. Remember, the GM has the final say in characters.

[elrikthebastard]

Hi Michael,

That was my plan.

Thanks!

[Kanly]

It might be worth it to stand your ground here. Maybe if your players see what a really atmospheric, gritty campaign is like they'll think twice about the pinkness of their mohawks. Not that there is a problem with pink mohawking, but if I understood correctly the players are trying to take limitless negative qualities just for the karma? That's never a good sign

I think you can win them over if you explain to them that not munchkining their chars and playstyle will result in a much more enjoyable game and they will still have the same feeling of success, if not more so (since it's not like you'll be making them play Street Level just to execute them with a HTR squad or a dragon or something).

[elrikthebastard]

Thanks Kanly.

I was warned about joining this crew. Like over Christmas holidays people called me to tell me their horrible experiences. Could be taken as an omen.

Our Rifts characters are ridiculous, and Rifts is pretty ridiculous to begin with.

A buddy of mine spent the day making a character for SR4 and he manged to work a troll that was terrifying as a beginning character. Not scarey - Capital "T" terrifying. That is what I want to avoid. I don't mind tough, but when a SR fast response team poops themselves that is over the top.

I think I want to avoid the "Everyone is dangerous" mentality and that is what I am seeing right now. Paranoid players, filled with nothing but contempt for anything NPC. As I write I am dismantling what I am seeing, researching ways to deflect or sooth.

Thanks guys, your being a huge help.

[Namikaze]

There is a cap of 25 Karma that can be spent or gained from Qualities.  So if they want to take 30 points of negative qualities, they only get Karma for 25 points of them.

[elrikthebastard]

@Namikaze
I warned them right off I would be using the rules. So the better I read the rules the better I will be at managing these rules - just need time to read. 

I am a big fan of making it harder for the Munchkin and fairer for the rest.