[Endgame]

So here is my initial story idea for the game I am prepping for in 2 weeks:

I want to run a real estate scam where higher ranking members of Seattle's Humanis Policlub are paying off law enforcement (Lonestar more than like) to slow reaction times to Meta-Human neighborhoods. This would drive property prices down allowing the Humanis Policlubbers to swoop in via a shell company and snap up the properties on the cheap, allowing them to push out the "unsavories". The runners would be hired on by  Knight Errant to steal some financial records that link the Policlubbers with Lonestar. Knight Errant just wants to put the hurting on it's competitor.


I am new to Shadowrun (have not played since second ed) and would love feedback/ideas about this.

[James McMurray]

Sounds good. A few questions:

1) Is your group hacker-heavy? It sounds likea lot of computer work will be involved.

2) Where are the action points? I see a lot of room for legwork, infiltration, and computer shenanigans but the run could easily go down with 0 gunfire, which might leave street sams or physads feeling left out. Then again, the fur could really hit the fan if the cops that are getting paid off find out about it.

3) Are you trying to stay close to the canon setting? If so, swap the police companies' sides, as Knight Errant got Seattle's contract as of the Seattle Sourcebook. If you're not (and I rarely do ) then all's good.

[CanRay]

A good skeleton.  But paying off Lone Star for something like that is not likely to happen.  While Lone Star does have it's Humanis leanings, security is their primary business, and that would hurt their bottom line.  It would have to be a major pay-off.

Blackmail to the right people, however, would work just fine.  A few people in the coding pool will have the metahuman neighborhoods moved lower down on the priority list, giving the same result for lesser price.  Maybe not even blackmail, but fellow members.  Throw some captured hacker code around, and it even looks like someone penetrated the system and they can blame it on "Terrorist Shadowrunners".

Another option is impeding police response.  Get a bunch of runners (Not Shadowrunners, the old version of the term) who loiter around waiting for "The Call".  Humanis Kids, in other words.  They hear about an emergency call over a police scanner, and hit every PANICBUTTON™ they can.  Police response stalls as officers have to go investigate.  Focus on the beacons between the responding officers and the house.  They're underage, so they can just go, "Just havin' fun, officer" if caught, and are picked up by a "really slotted off" Dad who, when far enough away from hearing ears, "At's my boy!"

Still something you can do with Shadowrunners, with Legwork.  Investigating links, running down the people doing the deeds, interrogating them, collecting evidence that looks damning in the media, and so on...

3) Are you trying to stay close to the canon setting? If so, swap the police companies' sides, as Knight Errant got Seattle's contract as of the Seattle Sourcebook. If you're not (and I rarely do ) then all's good.

Depends on the date he's running the campaign.  Mine are still in 2070, for example.

[James McMurray]

A good skeleton.  But paying off Lone Star for something like that is not likely to happen.  While Lone Star does have it's Humanis leanings, security is their primary business, and that would hurt their bottom line.  It would have to be a major pay-off.

I disagree. Security is Lone Star's Business. Surviving the streets, feeding the family, buying the dope, etc. is the average patrol officer's business. We have corruption at all ranks today. If anything it would be worse in the world of Shadowrun, not better.

Not to mention we're talking about crappy neighborhoods to begin with. Those provide less revenue to the city, and so get less funding for security. You'd basically see three types of cops on those beats:

• the knight in shining armor do-gooders who want to clean up the streets, the royal
• the corrupt ne'er do well who uses his position of authority and proximity to lowlifes to make a fast buck
• the major screwup who get sent there because the higher ups don't want him near any high profile customers

[CanRay]

And the new kid who doesn't have the pull to get to a better location.

[James McMurray]

True, but that new kid will quickly find the pull or slide into another category. In any case though, the bribes in the OP are far from being out of the question.

[Exodus]

If your players are Meta-Heavy you could reward them with a contact inside of Mothers of Metahumans instead of hiring them directly out of an official security company. Alternatively, if they're more black-hat than white you could have the connection come straight from a Meta-rights terrorist group.

And to address

1) Is your group hacker-heavy? It sounds likea lot of computer work will be involved.

2) Where are the action points? I see a lot of room for legwork, infiltration, and computer shenanigans but the run could easily go down with 0 gunfire, which might leave street sams or physads feeling left out. Then again, the fur could really hit the fan if the cops that are getting paid off find out about it.

You could have the final datasteal go down on the compound or in the corporate enclave occupied by a wealthy humanis member. If your group is looking for more combat, listen to the enthusiasm in the voice of the Street Sam when/if he talks to gauge this, then the datasteal may not be enough. They'll need to get the person being blackmailed to turn state's evidence and to do that they'll need to rescue a family member from a Humanis Safehouse. That gives you a combat angle.

If you're comfortable running two different scenarios, basically a necessity in shadowrun with hacking/meat/astral, then drop the hint that the people with the financial records are frequently communicating with the people at the safehouse. The team will need to grab the data within 5 minutes of rescuing the hostage or the hostage will be killed or the data deleted if the other way around.

[Endgame]

Wow, you guys rock! 

Okay so revised plot arch as follows:

The Setup
• A member of ORC hires the runners to look at the delayed reaction times of the police in poor Metahuman neighborhoods. He suspects Humanis influence but wants to let the Runners shoulder the risk in finding out. (Note: What would be a good pay out for this job?)
• The Johnson gives them a name of a former Knight Errant beat cop (an Orc) who got railroaded out fo his job when he started looking around. He used to work a couple of the harder hit ghettos. He tells them about the Humanis kids who have been hitting PANICBUTTON's in those neighborhoods.
• The Runners do some surveillance and bust the kids in the act. Facing actual hardened runners the kids will fold under interrogation and say that a member of the Troll Killer's has been giving them a weekly stipened to hit the buttons and waste the cops time.
• The Runners track down the Troll Killer that pays the kids (possible action point one, the face off with the gang). (Note: I want the players to find physical proof of contact with a low end member of Humanis here, threfore establishing a pattern with the Humanis kids from before; what kind of storage options are open that are accessible if the subject is alive and/or dead?)

The Run
• The Low End member of Humanis works for one of the local Corps as an accountant and lives in low security corporate housing. (Note: Is this appropriate genre-wise?)
• Runners bust into his home to rifle through his files, here they will find call logs (Note: Some other kind of proof?)  between this guy and a secure line. I want this to be a hacking opportunity.
• Once successfully decrypted/hacked, the Runners discover the money trail leading from the high ranking member of the policlub to the low end functionary and from the functionary to the kids, and the cops. I may throw in blackmail material as well, just to see if the players go moral and give it back to the cop or keep it for themselves.
• They run down the Humanis guy at his high security compound or his office (action point 3). Here they find proof of his ownership of a dummy company that had been in the news as purchasing the real estate that th Metahumans had been pushed out of.

The Aftermath
• The players meet with the Johnson again, get paid, tie up any loose ends, and try to cover tracks/law low.


Thoughts?

[CanRay]

OK, let's go through your questions:

Pay?  Hard to say, depends on your group.  I'd say a small stipend to cover "Expenses" to begin with, and possibly a promise of support from the community and ORC.  Not exactly a small thing, having a neighborhood you can hide out in when the heat is on, and a PoliClub (Read:  Lawyers and PR Flacks!) to support you when you have media/police problems.  Actual pay will likely be low, we're talking about a "Hooding" job here.

Storage Media?  Datachips are always good.  But recoverable data from the guy's DataBoxers (Or other memory built into his clothing) which he only "Erased" the files from, not actually destroyed/corrupted the files.  Easy enough Computer check to get back.  Remember, most people don't understand computer security.  Shadowrunners do.  Yes, even the Shaman that can barely order his Organically-Grown BC Deepweed with his fake SIN and Medicinal Use License.

Appropriate Humanis Accountant?  Certainly.  Bigotry, like stupidity, knows no boundaries.  Low Security Corporate Housing will still be fairly decent.  We're not talking some guy in the lobby watching the security door.  Probably a low-level Spider watching a few apartment buildings that butt up to each other.

Edit:  Some other kind of proof?  Call logs are good.  Remember my comment above about computer security, but this guy's probably a bit more savvy than some punk on the street, and might have a corporate provided "Safety Suite" that will make recovery more difficult.  As he's an accountant (Or the Humanis Leader is doing his job right), following the money is likely going to be a bit more difficult, as he knows quite a bit more than your 'Runners will about how to move cash around (Unless you're running with me, and I'm running The Accountant From Hell.), your contacts might help here with this.  Fixers know Money Launderers, who will find this part simhard at worst, so every group will have at least one contact they can use a "Friend of a Friend for a Favor" deal.

Thoughts?  I might steal this.   

[Exodus]

OK, let's go through your questions:

Pay?  Hard to say, depends on your group.  I'd say a small stipend to cover "Expenses" to begin with, and possibly a promise of support from the community and ORC.  Not exactly a small thing, having a neighborhood you can hide out in when the heat is on...

...Thoughts?  I might steal this.   

I'm stealing it too of the OP doesn't mind much.
My PCs know the real worth of contacts, a neighborhood you could hide out in after a run even if it's just crashing in some ORC supporters' basement is worth more than you realize. Especially when you learn that the neighbors won't rat when some Suit starts flashing his credentials around.

[Endgame]

By all means...take take. I probably subconsciously yanked it from somewhere my own self and just *think* it's a semi-original idea. I really hope your players have fun.

The people on these boards have been a tremendous help to a newb like me.