[farfromnice]

let's face it building a ZeroZone it's pretty hard ... so roleplaying it to give the right feeling to yours players is a pain

I have mostly new players to Shadowrun and for my older one, it is their first game on the 5th.

I want to show to the new players that a ZeroZone isn't something to take lightly and I want to know you play your ZeroZone. I'm not a GM with maps and props so this will be propably difficult for me and being prepared is always a good thing

so ?

[adzling]

Use an example.

The team is casing the run and some rando gets bumped by a passing pedestrian/ car/ whatever and ZAPP set's off the defenses.

You should play this out for all it's worth, he somehow manages to survive the first drone/ laser/ whatever attack but in doing so staggers further into the Zero-zone.

The MCT system is continuously warning him via verbal command and AR overlays that he must stop moving and / or exit the area immediately otherwise countermeasures will continue.

The poor sap doesn't speak the local language and ends up a babbling to the sky in tagalog (or whatever) meanwhile the MCT security systems continue to kill him bit by bit all the while "warning" him that he must leave immediately or suffer further consequences per corporate order blah blah.

Eventually all that's left is a puddle of flesh and bones which the security systems seem to have a problem recognizing as dead/ not a threat and continue to broadcast warnings at and shock/ laser/ crush/whatever.

That should get the point across quite successfully.

[Magnaric]

Oh boy, my players just finished a 2-part run on an MCT Zero Zone, so I'll give my input.

When a megacorp protects a site, it's prudent to cover all areas (meat, matrix, magic). Black sites and Zero Zones especially have a reputation to uphold on top of that though. As such, they aren't used everywhere, because they tend to be much more expensive than regular security. However, that expense comes from having access to whatever they need to make sure that site is absolutely secure against all threats.

The way I designed mine was to have multiple stages of security, getting harder and more deadly the further in you got. First levelight be more preventative than anything, but still formidable. Electrified mono wire fence, cameras all over, flying drone and watcher spirit patrols, etc. Keeps anyone other than dedicated specialists out.

Past that though, the fun is over and things get lethal very fast. If it's outdoors,  have the grounds be carefully sculpted to create subtle firing ranges for hidden turrets. Those bushes that look like they'd be great to hide behind? There monofilament wire strung between the bottoms. That area of long grass that blocks line of sight?  It's actually fake, polymer-coated grass with a hidden chemical sprayer inside. And if it's more of an industrial or urban setting, same rules apply, just different terrain. Maybe the eaves trough on that rusty building actually hides an acid Resoirvoir, just waiting to be dumped on unsuspecting runners. Or that sewer grate to the side actually houses a flame emitter if anyone gets too close.

Those are all passive defence though. Active ones would be the final layer, things like hardened combat drones, well-equipped guard patrols with teams of Hel hounds trained by Parashield, a mage or two on standby, ready to Astrally project or summon forth elemental spirits as needbe. For serious threats, there could be an HTR team on hot standby, just waiting to respond to anyone stupid enough to attempt an incursion.

And the Matrix,  oh now we're talking. There would likely be at least one dedicated spider running things, possibly another as backup or on a shift rotation. The main node would be a nexus of hardware, high rating  and deadly IC loaded and ready to be deployed.

Basically, with a Zero-Zone, I wanted the atmosphere to be "the gloves are off, the stakes are high, and you WILL NOT survive without a plan". MCT has a reputation to uphold since they coined the term, and if that means using extreme force to prevent Runners from making it inside,  or making it out again, then so be it.

Now, for game playability and fun, that duesnt mean it should be impossible. It's not your job to make sure the players fail, but this is the real deal so you shouldn't help them too much either. But usually when faced leith something like this, they have 2 options.

The first is slow and sneaky. Take time to not be noticed, plan the run, get soeialized gear for it, hire help to provide assistance, whatever they have to do. If the enemy duesnt discover them until they're on their way out, then they can't use all that expensive hardware. This method will take a lot of planning and preperation, but it's often worth it.

The second option for the team is fast and loud. This only works I'd the site is far enough away from reinforcements that the team will have a window to overwhelm the defences. If it's in the windermere,  it might work. Middle of a city, not fragging likely. But anyway, the idea is to load up so much firepower, mojo, and offensive matrix sodtware/hardware that they can very quickly annihilate anything that stands in their way. Again, this method only wirks some of the time, and if it backfires the team could very well get very, very dead, but it's an option.

Anyhoo, that's my 2¥ worth.

[Reaver]

This gets tricky fast, depending on the brain power your group puts into their games.

"Zero-Zones" are MCT's biggest strength and weakness. Strength because they have a reputation for leaving zero survivors. Weakness because they are never, EVER applied right

A 0zone is never going to be somewhere that someone could "accidentally" fall into. And nor are they lethal beyond their borders.

A 0zone is never going to be around a MCT shopping mall, or public office building in the middle of downtown... BUT it would be (possibly) around there private research building in a suburb.


The First line of defense is almost ALWAYS A... Sign. A simple, plain sign. Hung in both AR and meat-space that usually has big red letters that says: PRIVATE PROPERTY, NO TRESSPANSING. LEATHAL ENFORCEMENT BEYOND THIS WALL. <First rule of ET: All borders must be clearly marked and delineated.> And is usually hung from a 20foot high concrete wall.
  Why Concrete? and why 20 feet?
Simple. The wall is the second barrier to entry, and also exit. It also stops MCTs "security measures" from leaving their property and causing a diplomatic incident. <No one cares that the US carries out ballistic missile tests on US soil. BUT, they get mighty pissed when those ballistic missile start falling on neighbours' soil Same thing for objects travelling at high speeds... like lead from Corp property...>

From there, the third challenge is the terrain on the other side of the fence. Landscaped with hedges, reflecting pools, and patio furniture; Or just an open field of grass, this is the next problem for the Runners. Every bush is a hiding spot for a Sensor, turret, monowire, or drone. Every patch of open space a spot for a land mine... Expect over lapping sensors covering everything from movement, to pressure, to heat. Once one of those sensors is triggered, one can expect hidden turrets to provide overlapping fields of fire leaving no angle nor alcove uncovered. Drones will be used to provide both areal fire and target tracking. If employed, biological countermeasures will be deployed. (Critters, Paracritters, meta-human guards). Lastly the facility itself will be alerted and placed on lockdown.

Once the distance from the wall to the building has been covered, the fourth challenge is now entrance TO the building. Expected a Hardened structure (for at least the first 3 floors. to resist damage from outside defenses), covered in sensors for pressure and harmonics (certain noises.. like glass cutting, or concrete fracturing). The outside of the building is usually also lighted, to cut down on hidden spots a person can hide. All windows and doors will be polarized and reinforced. Rooftops, garage entrance ways, and doors will have sensor webs and countermeasures.

Finally, inside the building will be the last challenge. Expect funnelled hallways to choke/checkpoints, Security Doors and gates along said pathways and into the various departments and wings. Patrols by both drones, biologics (critters, paracritters) and guards will be overlapping and randomized.

For magical security, you can count on wards to be placed in an overlapping fashion to increase the chances of detections. Such as a ward covering the outside of the building, then wards at every choke point. (security stations, elevators, doors, gates) Essentially anyplace there is a physical barrier, there is an astral one as well. Paracritters and spirits will be on patrol in overlapped routes for maximum coverage.

The building will also contain a "Rapid Response" security team in addition to anything that is normally assigned to a standard facility, as well as possibly elite units if the assets warrant it.




Defeating a Zero Zone is something that takes extreme planning, detailed tasking, and a metric crap-tonne of luck.   

[adzling]

I think reavers take is an excellent one.

However iirc the description of the mct zero zone in neo Tokyo from corporate havens reads more like mine.

So ymmv.

Personally I really like both

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Both are essentially correct - the lethality will not fall outside the Zero-Zone, but there are so many ways to be lethal these days, and some of them can be extremely short range.

In regards to the mystic and matrix aspects, however:

A Zero-Zone in the Matrix will have dedicated links to highly-restricted areas of the corporate core.  Those links will open for restricted periods at specified times - though those 'specified times' may be highly irregular, linked to an algorithm that only two pieces of code use, i.e. that of the receiving end and that of the Zero-Zone.  The time it stays open will be measured in seconds, if not less - all traffic requests flow through at that time, before getting delayed once more.  A hacker trying to go in will have to figure out how to 'prop open' the link so that it doesn't shut down - a run in and of itself.

A Zero-Zone in the Astral will use two techniques for defense - astrally active methods (such as vines and whatnot) as an outer defense, and highly manufactured everything as a defense against magic on the inside.  (Tough to turn a wall to goo if it gets a dice pool of at least 15.)  They might go the other way as well, and actively work to create a background count aspected towards their own mages.

Either way, getting in winds up being a nut you can't crack overnight, and getting out is one you'd better crack, or else you'll be food for the rose bushes ...