[Ragmon]

Hey guys.

The short of my situation is, I set up a "run" without knowing where to go with it.

The long of it.
- One of the characters hosted a party in Penumbra, the main star was one of her contacts/adopted sister (international J-pop start).
- Once she was on stage, after a few songs, 5 guys in masks appeared on stage in a puff of smoke. Knocked out the contact, then gave a short talk about something (30 secs or so), while the other 4 fended off security in a non-lethal manner. Then they disappeared in a puff of smoke, with the contact.

The group is:
- The character who is the contacts friend is a face, is new to the shadows and does it mostly for fun.
- The other is a ex-Renraku ninja, hunting some guy, the trails lead to Seattle, now he is collecting Nuyen to pay the and info broker for the next lean (Mystic Adept - stealth, combat and some magic).
- The third character is the sample rigger from the core book (no real life motivation).

This is almost how I described it to the players, vague as possible. The reason was we talked away 90% of the session and at that point I just wanted to set up for the next session. Now I need help bringing this "run" to life, I have no idea on how to make this "run" sensible.

What I want is for the group to go save the contact.

Idea fragments (I have the power to retcon thing, I just don't want to do major retconing):
- Its a hostage situation and the contacts managers wants to pay to get back the contact. The manager is in on all of it, so he can make some money. Then the group needs to be ahead of the Knight Errant, if they wanna save the girl by them self, but I fear they might want to leave it to the KE. I goofed here, cause the hostage taking should have been made in silence and not public. Tho I like the idea of making a show out of the hostage taking.

- Maybe some group of otaku fanboys payed some shadowruners good money to get her alive. Again the problem is the why would they make a show of it.

- Do you guys thing I should just retcon it and take the girl hostage after her show?

Or do you guys have some interesting ideas how to handle my goof?

[CitizenJoe]

Let me relate the story of my J-Pop Idol character. 

Renraku has a media exec that is making a name for himself. It is embarrassing that I can't remember his name right now, but it sounded Russian.  I think he was mentioned in Corporate Shadowfiles.  Anyway, there's this canonical exec.  Among many othere things, Renraku has an entertainment subsidiary.   They make and publish  corporate stars, particularly J-POP.   One of these cookie cutter starlets was particularly lucrative.   The exec took a fancy to her but he couldn't spoil the reputation of a lucrative asset, so he did the next best thing, he rented out a bunraku doll that looked like and was programmed to act like the J-Pop idol. Meanwhile, a Renraku company man is keeping tabs on things to make sure there is no blackmail stuff going on and no splash damage to Renraku.  It's a nice like "have your cake and eat it too" situation for the exec.

Then Horizon whacked the real idol before her West Coast tour.  The exec and the company man are keeping the body on ice while using the Bunraku doll as a stand in for the tour.  When ratings drop, they'll orchestrate some sort of tragic deal, last album sort of thing to milk the last bit of nuyen from the property before moving on to the next idol.

There's more to the character than that, with several identities and plots going on, but that should be enough of a spin to explain the mysterious encounter.

Edit: Dimitri Misato is the exec's name.  Works for Adams-Westlake Mediaworks.

[Ragmon]

Let me relate the story of my J-Pop Idol character. ...

Here is what I came up with, using your story as jumping board.

So a Renraku exac made a deal with the J-pop idol is secret, to work for Renraku after she hits 18. The deal is she would write songs and later even perform (after some minor facial plastic surgery, all them idols look alike). Along the deal the exac threatened the idol, they would kill her adopted brother (the player), manager and anyone she hold dear. So she reluctantly agreed.
All this is due to the binding nature with the manager, they would use a Bunraku doll to substitute her until her contract is up with the manager. While the idol emerges as another super idol in the hands of the Renraku exac.

At the the idols 18th b-day party/concert a group of 4 shadowrunners + 1 otaku (not the hacker kind), *poof* in and make a scene declaring "You scum, calling your self fans of [idol name], *spits*.  We the loyal fans of [idols name] will not be tricked by lowly imitations such as this one. THE IDOL YOU WORSHIP IS A FAKE!" (or something like that). Then *poof* they disappear. (The use the stage, and the trap doors to get in and out (old school tricks)).
- The thing that nobody know is that the otakus somehow found out about the deal between the Renraku exac and the Idol. The problem is they are missing some details, like the switch has not happened yet.

On their way out the Idol's (Russian) bodyguards (probably ex-special forces (cause all Russians are ex-special forces. )), lead by the managers sister, intercept the kidnappers but they get away (this might enforce the idea that these are shadowrunners, a possible lead).

While the players and the Knight Errant are dealing with the after math the kidnappers get to their hideout and wait till the Idol wakes up. They will try to get a confession out of her on camera.

The Renraku exac isn't happy that his asset has just been stolen. He pulls some strings (or maybe has the authority) to call in a Renraku search-and-rescue team.

At this phase the story will depend on what the players want to do. If the do their own search and rescue, then its a normal run, where they will run into the Renraku team, all to the joy of one of my players. The idol might tell the player (adopted brother) about what she had done, and then move on to the next part where the group tries to find the exac, break the contract and so forth.

If they opt to leave all of it to the Knight Errant, then all of this happens in the background, the Renraku team saves the idol, using the opportunity to make the switch. Then the Bunraku doll will blame most of her "off beat" actions on the traumatic ordeal. Maybe at some point the manager will talk to the player, "does something seems off" or "you go talk to her", or something, giving the players a lead.

Thanks for the story CitizenJoe, it gave me this (IMO, great) story idea.

[CitizenJoe]

The scenario is very complicated and it is likely that the players will never catch on.  That is fine, just keep everything straight in your head and keep notes.

Now, to add some urgency... The Idol has a big performance in a week (or suitable time frame) at the Kingdome.  This is a Renraku property as well.  I would suggest leading the team toward the real kidnappers.  Set up a really nasty fight, possibly through the Barrens, involving the Yakuza and a bunch of stuff they just don't want to deal with.  Make it seem like a really tough rescue mission.  Then, just as they are about to commit, have the manager call them to say that the security team rescued her.  This is of course where they dropped in the doll.  Security should be tight around the doll until the show, but she still needs to do the media blitz to promote the show.  This is where you drop hints that things aren't quite right.  Then pop the news that as a gimmick, new sim warez are being released for the show, so that you can experience it as if you were on stage, live, as the idol herself.  If any of the team is tech savvy, this should pique their interest.  Raw feed video is one thing, but processing a full sim takes a lot of processing power and polish to make it entertainment grade.  Renraku is pulling another bait and switch, prerecording and processing the event and then playing the event back through the doll and the subscribers at the same time.  Since both the subscribers and the doll have the same feed, the live concert will play out the same unless reality changes dramatically from the recording.

Also, this is the important thing, don't use the word "Renraku".  Use a subsidiary.  Adams-Westlake Mediaworks or better yet AWM and RealiSIM.  Renraku is mud in Seattle for now so they don't want any bad rep from the name.

[CitizenJoe]

Throw a bone to the ninja, while you use subsidiary names, let him know that they are Renraku subsidiaries quietly.  AWM, RealiSIM, the Kingdome...

[TheWayfinder]

As a professional writer in my real work, let me address writer's block.

Writer's block comes down to boredom. That's all there is to it.  The key to getting past it is to force yourself to write.  Even if it's horrible what you're writing (which you will know), at the least what you're telling your brain to do is to focus on the material.  Then, instead of indulging it into playing video games (I curse the day Fallout 4 comes out, because it'll be HELL for me to fight writer's block) or doing whatever, you get it to tackle the problem.  Then, you'll find solutions, you'll make the story better, your writing becomes better, and then you forget you even had writer's block. 

When I sit down to write a novel or short story, I lock myself in my cabin in Alaska for six weeks.  I have no contact with the outside world, and my only source of entertainment is plinking with my brand new M1A, and it's FREAKING COLD out here!  So, I work.  And I work.  And then, I fly out to Fairbanks and I go back with my copy.  I know a lot of you don't have a winter cabin in the Yukon, but you have to turn off the distractions.  Force your brain to work.  And it will.  Trust me.  It will.