[cantrip]

And I would think that every nation that has juggernauts inside their borders would make a concerted effort to put tracking devices on them

Putting a tracking device on one (or more) could make for a good run for teams not quite "up to the task" of taking one down. Not sure anyone is ever up to the task...

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Yeah, no kidding.

"Here's the Barrett 121 we'll be loaning you for the operation."
"And one of these will take down a juggernaut??"
"Oh, heavens, no.  A Barrett 121 is necessary to get one of these" -- holds up a 121 shell encasing a tracking device -- "into the thing.  A Barrett 121 taking down a juggernaut??" *laughter*

[Michael Chandra]

Note to self, give Juggernaut Regeneration and either 16 or 18 Hardened, and a quality that gives them extra Overflow boxes. Right now they seem too easy to take down. Maybe give a power that negates the effect of Bull's Eye Double Tap, so you can't actually kill one with just a 121.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Err, I'm pretty sure you can't kill one with a 121.  Hell, I'm pretty sure you can't kill one with an AVM, falling building, or fragment-forging-cascading-chain-spell-detonation sequence.

... look, has anyone out there ever actually killed one of these things?  Or are these like the Tarrasque?

[PiXeL01]

Given their fluff they should really have Regeneration at the very least. They are being described as getting seriously pissed off if you unload with rotary autocannons  and their stats do not really reflect that.
So regeneration and maybe mystic armor so a mage can't just whack it from astral space too easily.

[Michael Chandra]

Agreed PiXeL01, otherwise I can just Bull's Eye it with a 121 on a tripod with gas vent 3 from a km away. Fire at a -7+Willpower, score 6 hits average vs none and then Edge the next shots, -22 AP means no Hardened Armor even if it gets nearly-doubled so only 17 dice vs 14+nethits damage. First hit does 14 damage, next hit does 6+, the guy goes unconscious after the second hit and you just keep firing until it's dead.

Maybe 12 Hardened Armor BUT add "Negative AP/3, Positive AP doubled" as special ability. That would cut even Bull's Eye into only -8 AP.

Sidenote: Give me your suggestions, people, so that ZeConster will hate you in 3 weeks time!

[ZeConster]

Do not give Michael any suggestions - even with Apex Predator and Initiation Grade 5, I'd have 15 dice to the beast's 14, which only gives me a ~60% chance of it not trying to murder me on sight.

[Zwischenzug]

Here's one for you, Michael; Drop-Juggernaut infected with HMHVV, complete with Regeneration. Best of ALL THE WORLDS!

[MijRai]

Why not a cyberzombie juggernaut instead?  All that natural armor, coated in yet more armor!

[firebug]

Hardened Armor 12 is a bit low compared to how much spirits have in 5th edition.  And with AP it doesn't even get the new "+half rating in hits" since it eliminates it all...  Honestly I think the problem is Bull's Eye.  ...It's broken, that's all I can say.  Waaaay too many things are able to be overcome with starting gear using that attack, and at only a -4.

If I wanted it to actually be harder to kill...  Hmm...  I'd consider a houserule to make it so the free hits from Hardened Armor always apply at full regardless of AP, maybe?  Though that could/would just make spirits hella busted.

[Michael Chandra]

Mrm... I think I mainly want to cancel out Bull's Eye, without completely nerfing indirect spells. I forget, did it have protection against direct spells? I guess its Body and Willpower help greatly there. So 16 (18?) Hardened Armor, Regeneration and something against Bull's Eye...

[firebug]

Time to dredge this up again, on topic.

For bounty hunting, intelligence gathering seems pretty important.  But I'm not sure how to handle it.

What should my players begin knowing?  What methods would allow them to find the target without me making it too easy (and making them wonder why KE didn't just send their own guys and thus not have to give a bounty)?  What kind of legwork will their contacts be able to provide?

This is something I often have difficulty with.  I'm never sure how to pace the players finding information about their objectives because I have no idea how difficult it should be or how many steps there should be.

[Michael Chandra]

Police resources are limited, especially when it comes to deckers, and the law and extraterritoriality is also in the way. Shadowrunners can hack into protected systems and score information, then combine that. They can also talk to people who wouldn't talk to the cops, pick up on hearsay that the cops would never hear about.

[firebug]

Hmm...  That all works.  If the target is an escaped mafia member, though, I'm not sure where they'd get the info then.  Unless they have a contact who'd just already more or less know (which I'd like to avoid if I can).

Would this one have to be more of a "go to the area where he was missing and ask around"?  I could probably GM that...  Maybe.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Canvassing, sure.  Search his place for suggestions; talk to his friends for favorite vacation spots.  The cabin in the woods is a classic.  Also, in SR, if you have a drek-hot decker, get his SIN (or his fake SIN) from whomever and do a dive into the records.  Look for buying patterns, that sort of thing.

The decker really is the best SR-modern detective.