[ve4grm]

Hi all,

I've GMed for a while, but just got into Shadowrun a short time ago. After running some Shadowrun Missions (converted to 5th Edition), I've decided to start writing my own runs.

Here's the problem. For various reasons, including confidence issues and depression, I haven't written my own stuff (for any system) in about 6 or 7 years.

Add to that that I'm new to the world, and to cyberpunk in general, and I'd appreciate a bit of a hand getting started,

.

So I used the "random run generator" in the SR5 core book to get a basis. Here's what it gave me:

Meeting in the Barrens (or other urban hellhole), a Mr. Johnson from a minor corp hires the team to destroy a magical object. Twist: a third party is also interested in the object.

So, the things I need to figure out:

- What minor corp?
- What is the magical object? More importantly, why do they want it destroyed, rather than stolen?
- Where is the magical object currently?
- Who is the third party involved?

The biggest question, in my mind, is what the macguffin is, and why it needs to be destroyed. If I can figure that out, I can probably lay out the corp and third party fairly easily.

Wild ideas accepted! We run a bit more Pink Trenchcoat in our game.

[Namikaze]

Well, to the runners they don't need to know the corp or the motivation for Mr. Johnson.  However, they'll probably inquire (because players are nosy little pests).  Here are some suggestions:

Who Wants to Destroy the Artifact?
Atlantean Foundation: they have an interest in magical artifacts, and they definitely qualify in the AA corp size.
Cross Applied Technologies: they lost their AA status, and might be interested in getting some good old fashioned revenge.
Federated Boeing: a AA based out of Seattle, they might be interested in preventing the artifact from getting into the hands of someone else.
Monobe International: a AA Japanacorp with a very diversified pool of interests, there's a number of reasons why someone might want to destroy an artifact there.

What is the Artifact?
Focus: a focus that has an enchantment on it, even if minor, might be destroyed for a number of reasons
Orichalcum: an item made of orichalcum would generally be stolen more often than not, but there are reasons for destroying it as well
Personal item: an item that has a material link to someone important might be destroyed for a lot of reasons too

Why Destroy the Artifact?
Asset denial: one of those "if I can't have it, no one can" type of situations
Insurance claim: perhaps this is old fashioned insurance fraud
Intimidation: perhaps the organization wants to destroy the artifact to show that they have a lot of reach and could potentially destroy more valuable items too
Protection: perhaps the organization that has taken the artifact doesn't know what it is, and this is the ideal time to finally destroy the item (by plunging it into Mt. Doom, naturally)
Revenge: perhaps the artifact is important to a rival, and the artifact's destruction would cause the rival to slip up in some way

Where is the Artifact?
In the possession of a thrill kill gang
Buried under a building, in a tunnel or sewer, etc.
On top of the largest building or object in the area
In the possession of a child who has decided that the item is special

Who is the Third Party?
This is heavily dependent upon the reason you decide to have the artifact destroyed.  Basically, take the opposite of the reason you want it destroyed and run with it.  This could be a gang, a rival corp, a magical society, some urban anthropologists, Knight Errant, etc.

[ve4grm]

Damn, Namikaze! That's some good stuff.

I like the idea that it's been stolen by a thrill kill gang, who is using said artifact to cause havoc. Could mean that the corp wants it destroyed so that it can't be traced back to them (return it to the corp, and it could be astrally traced, leave it alone, and it can be examined once the authorities find it).

I actually had an idea for the object. What about a magical artifact whose aura severely disrupts electrical signals, creating areas of extreme noise? A gang could have a lot of fun with this, as it could allow them to cause all sorts of havoc without worrying about alarms, 911 calls, etc. Does that sound plausible?

[Namikaze]

The beauty of a magical artifact is that it can do pretty much anything you want.  Magic is the GM's ultimate caveat. alongside technology that is too advanced for explanation (practically magic anyway).  I like the idea that it can disrupt electrical signals in the nearby area - that means it's powerful but not so powerful that you'd have a lot of people gunning for it.

[HarshRhettoric]

When I write a run (any run), I consider the following first:

1.  What is happening?  This sounds like a no-brainer but, expanded, you need to be able to answer the following questions because they will inform your entire run/campaign.
-What does the hiring entity know?  What are they willing to tell?
-What does the offending entity know?  What resources are they willing to expend to keep things the way they are?

2.  Endgame.
-What will happen if the players fail/do nothing?
-What will the villain's reaction to the presence of the player characters be?

3.  Incentive vs Threat

[ve4grm]

Alright, so:

What does the hiring entity know?

- I'm trying to decide whether the artifact was stolen from the hiring corp, or whether they gave it to the gang with the intent of either framing a rival, or having the gang cause problems for the rival. If they supplied them with the artifact, then either the plan backfired and they lost control, or the plan succeeded and they're trying to clean up loose ends. Thoughts?

.

What are they willing to tell?

- The gang in question has obtained an artifact, which needs to be destroyed. No other info is really necessary to tell the runners. If they need more incentive, some examples of the destruction they have caused may be warranted, whether or not that destruction was intended. If the gang was supplied with the artifact, then assassination of the gang contact/leader will also be a goal, or at least a bonus payday.

.

What does the offending entity know?

- Depends on the setup. If provided with the artifact, they may not suspect any attack is coming. Otherwise, they may be guarding their new toy carefully.

.

What resources are they willing to expend to keep things the way they are?

- Most probably aren't willing to die for it, but a thrill kill gang is slightly psychotic at the best of times, so some probably are. As a gang, they don't necessarily have a lot of resources beyond manpower and ammo.

.

What will happen if the players fail/do nothing?

- The attacks will be traced back to the hiring corp, resulting in trouble either with Knight Errant or the rival corps. As a minor corp, they don't have extraterritoriality, so they aren't immune to this.

.

What will the villain's reaction to the PCs be?

- Depends on setup again.

.

Incentive vs Threat

- Incentive: payday, primarily
- Threat: murderous go-gangers

[Namikaze]

I just thought of an interesting motivation.  A corp lost the artifact to a small shadowrunning team, who promptly lost the artifact when one of their team was killed by the gang.  The rest of the team is going to try to get the artifact back, as a small measure of revenge.  The corp is sending in the players to destroy it because they've already listed it as stolen and moved on, but they don't want the artifact to be out and about.

This basic skeleton could be used for a non-magical item as well, perhaps a prototype of some sort.

[ve4grm]

Not bad, Namikaze. I like it, but it feels like the corp would still want the artifact returned in that case. Prototype tech could be remade, but a magical artifact seems more rare.

I do like it, though. If I don't use it here, I'll probably use it at some point.

Side note: your mention of it being stolen by shadowrunners is something I like. Maybe forget the gang. Maybe it was stolen by a runner group, and it set to be delivered to their client (the third party).

Need to think more on this.

[Namikaze]

Alternatively, the third party could be a rival team hired by the same Mr. Johnson.  He only intends on paying one of your teams though.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Actually, you have a ready-made Ms. Johnson for just this sort of activity: The Great Feathered Serpent Arleesh.  If you have (or have access to) the adventure Bottled Demon (yes, it's for 1e, meddle with it), jump in with that.

Essentially, though, you have a Great Dragon wanting an object destroyed (her objects-du-destruction tend to be severely tainted ones), an adult dragon wanting to use it, and the runners caught in the middle.  In your case, however, you might care to have the Third Party be someone else - I like the Atlantean Foundation for this sort of thing, but you can present anyone who you feel is too uppity for their own good.  Arleesh is using the runners 'cause that's what she does in order to keep a low profile.

You might also have the group the team is aquiring the object from be sensitive/powerful.  Maybe they're hired to steal from Ares - a peculiar focus which allows a standard mage to conjure insect spirits as though they were an insect shaman, and the focus might be one of the reasons why Ares has been able to do what they've been doing in regards to the insect spirits.  It's only recently moved into Seattle and which Arleesh has only been able to sense because of that move, and since Seattle might actually only be a stop-over point, she has to move fast - hence the runners.  Ares is going to be hot on their heels, and the other group - maybe the AF, maybe the Draco Foundation (inadvertently trying to recover the thing for Arleesh as well), maybe some dark/toxic/insect mages going after More Power - is chomping at the bit after the thing too.

Make the Johnson they first meet in person (in the Barrens) a local fixer - their fixer says, 'X guy wants to meet', passes you along, that sort of thing.  They have to do the run within the next 36 hours, because that's when it'll get moved out of the Ares High Security Warehouse and onto a ship bound for Somewhere Else.  Ares has an invested interest in it, so there are mages on staff, keeping an eye on it - and even a mage not on location, keeping tabs on the astral via spirits (or otherwise).  Make it virtually impossible to get out of the warehouse district without the alarm going up - maybe a mage (with his bodyguards) arrives to check on the thing just as the 'runners have gotten the goods and are racing out of there, and he, familiar with the cargo, senses its powerful aura through their vehicle.

Running three-way battle into the barrens, with any Ares/KE goons that have gotten knocked off getting readily replaced by cars that have 'caught up' to the pursuit ...   And then, when the players get into the Barrens, blow away the last of the KE cars, and evade the AF/DF/psycho-mages, they can meet with their fixer and <insert gorgeous female SoAm Native American description here>.  And when the AF/DF/psycho-mages show up, she can step in (if things are going south) to make sure the people who have done her task don't get blown away.

[ve4grm]

Ouroboros - great stuff, but probably not for my group. Being a little light on magical support, throwing lots of mages and spirits at them sounds like a bad idea.

That said, I'll look into Arleesh. You make a good point that the dragons could want artifacts destroyed for many more reasons than corps tend to.

[Michael Chandra]

Mages might be a problem, but if you got two-handed gun-bunnies with APDS, Spirits aren't much of an issue as far as taking them down is concerned. Just keep in mind they're real dangerous, due to high defense pools and very dangerous Elemental Attacks. A group of F4 isn't a real problem, 1 F6 per 2 players is already highly dangerous without a Summoner on the PCs' side.