[stoner68]

I am going to go with a street level campaign and I want to start with a series of scenarios where the players are only on the periphery of runs.  The players are D&Ders and I would be surprised if more than one of them had read any spy novels.  The goal is to introduce spy tradecraft such as dead drops, paying someone to provide misdirection, safe houses, caches, clean weapons, muscle for backup, preliminary steps for an extraction....stuff you pay the fixer to do but go behind the scenes and have the players start out by taking care of little jobs and then build into real runs.

I am throwing this out there to try to build up my inventory of tradecraft ideas.  Feel free to brainstorm any service you would pay a fixer to provide.

[Lethal Joke]

I could only think of one potential one.
Finding an appropriate buyer for rare implements (for occasions when a fixer double as a fence, basically.)

[martinchaen]

I would pay a fixer to arrange for:

 - delivery of items I'll need for a run
 - detailing of the old VTOL ("Mind the paint!")
 - a crew to recon a building I'm casing so my face isn't all over the security footage
 - a safe house to be prepared, including sweeping it for bugs (physical and electronic) and stocked with ammo, food, water, and other sundries
 - transport from airport to safe house
 - drop off of a blackmail document to the marks house (again, so my face isn't all over the news)

I probably wouldn't want someone else to dispose of evidence for me. It really all boils down to "what would disposable assets hire other disposable assets for?"...

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Put simply, your fixer should Not Get Involved.  He doesn't do things; his trade is knowing people who do things.  He doesn't clean up your crime scene; he charges you 10% to put you in contact with Mr. Wolf (out of Pulp Fiction) who will help you clean up your crime scene.  He doesn't buy your gizmo; he takes 15% of your profit for acting as an intermediary to sell the gizmo to someone he just happens to know buys that sort of thing.  So on and so forth.

That said, beat all your players up, then have them read two Tom Clancy books: Cardinal of the Kremlin (the spy novel of his), and Without Remorse (perfect for black ops guys).  In fact, if you haven't read them yourself, go do so at once.  You'll be up to speed in no time flat.

[Reaver]

I see what you are trying to do....


you are placing your players as the "feet" and "labor" of the set-ups of runs so they have an understanding of what goes on, how it gets done, and so forth, before they "grow up" to be runners themselves.


With that in mind:

Item procurement (weapons, ammo, equipment... Moving it from one place to the next with out the police getting in the way. Or buying the weapons for the runner team due in... or what have you)
Safe house Prep/demo
transportation
Recon
Set-ups (placing items at random locations for retrieval later... like a gun in the lobby bathroom garbage can)
Foot work (setting up meetings for the runners between themselves and big wigs in the local shadows)

that's all I can think of.

[Namikaze]

I like this approach to introducing players to the game.  Let us know how it works out.

[Michael Chandra]

There's this idea of Sanctuaries, which basically are safehouses that are prepped with things such as communication equipment, fake IDs and guns. You definitely want those set up by someone not affiliated to you, so a group hiring random somewhat-vetted crooks for it would fit nicely.

[Cowdragon]

I really like this approach to getting players involved in a campaign as well. Great introduction for both GM's and PC's. Will be using some of this myself! Thanks for the ideas folks!

[Reaver]

Stoner,

I take it your group is like, brand new to SR?

[stoner68]

The group is very experienced roleplayers but mostly locked into Pathfinder.  There are 3 main motivations for setting things up this way.  First, both they and I are more comfortable with a bigger spectrum of advancement.  Starting as novices and building up to solid professionals is more along the lines of what we want.

Second, they are D&Ders.  The self contained party with abilities that establish solutions is the mindset.  With this introduction maybe we can step outside our box and add some additional interplay and negotiation rather than just "how much does a job like this pay?"  If I can get them to start planning and negotiating with additional services in mind, I will feel like we have done something new.

Third, I think the grit of the setting and the criminal element works better if you play up some of these details.  I have written in the past how much I liked The Long Run and Hardwired is another one of my favorites.  The planning and legwork that went into the runs in these books is something I would love to bring out at our table rather than exploring a dungeon.

So, I am trying to build up some extra ideas which I am sure will make my own better.

Oroborous and his reference to the Cardinal in the Kremlin reminded me of the crazy lengths a corp dissident who wanted to get information out would have to go through.  I have just been thinking about the extraction itself, but first contact could have some drama as well.  Give the face another moment to shine.

[Reaver]

Vetran players from a totally different system can be a hassle in the change to the SR mindset, that is for sure. .

I like your approach. I hope good things come of it.