[Grunchblau]

Hi, I'm new to the tabletop version of Shadowrun and recently started a group in my home town (all of us are new to it).
We have an Ork Samurai, Human Mystic Adept, and an Elf Adept.... I was just wondering what the best type of runs/challenges would be to throw at these guys? I tried running a pre-made adventure but the Mystic Adept kept trying to kill every npc he came across (and with his rolls he mostly succeeded) I'm at a bit of a loss here as to what to do, I feel it might be less fun for everyone else and I don't want them to give up after the first few runs (last night was our first actual gaming session).... any help/suggestions?

[Yorick]

talk to him, and explain the setting better. if he insists on playing a murdering psychopath, then there should be in-game consequences.

[Denver Doc]

How old are all the players?  How old are you?  I could have said how mature are you, but no one says I'm totally immature. Gaming can be for almost any age of player, but the game is going to be quite different.  Your ancient runners, like myself, often want different experiences then high school runners or college runners. 

Just basing this off your description I would suggest highly physical jobs in low tech areas.  I certainly can't say for sure but it doesn't look like you have a hacker or technomancer so that can limit your more complex jobs.  Doesn't have to, but it certainly makes them harder to pull off. 

Suggested runs with that team

Combating a ganger problem in the neighborhood.  A local charity has had enough and needs a small group of runners to discourage a small gang from harassing the kids at the local school.  PCs can negotiate or go to war with the gang, lots of options in between. 

Transporting "packages" around town.  A local organized crime syndicate or corp needs the runners to move packages place to place without getting jacked.  Opportunity to meet new and interesting people, gangers, rival syndicates, rival corps, cops, etc.  Can have additional complexity, maybe the PCs are transporting something they are morally opposed to and one day by misfortune figure out what that is.

Running a protection racket.  The local bar tender doesn't want to pay and he has some friends that the local criminal organization doesn't want to cheese off.  However if deniable assets do the damage then they can make their argument without getting entangled. 

Running protection on a small time operation.  The runners are hired security.  A small local criminal group made some enemies recently and need a little extra muscle to make sure their cash cow operation doesn't get disrupted.  Its only after they take the job that they realize maybe they don't want these guys protected?  Maybe organ leggers, a slavery ring, forced prostitution... something even less savory.

A fixer needs runners to extract a small time local figure (could be a drug lab chemist, a lower level wage slave, a rivals kid, etc.) and return the target safely to point B.  The target is not willing to go and has some protection.

Hopefully that is a few good starting points.

Talk to your player, mention that fighting everybody is eventually going to lead to him either getting killed or not getting any jobs.  Rep is everything in this biz.

 

[Grunchblau]

Thanks for all the suggestions! These are excellent ideas.
I especially like the 'taking care of a local gang problem' idea... I think they'd go for that no problem.
Please, keep the ideas flowing, this is great!

I'm 19, the ork is 19, the mystic adept is 22, the adept is 21 (all in college, been friends since high school/ middle school)

[Trel]

Am looking at a similar group build with an up and coming group with no hacker etc.

One of the things I am intending is to give the group the opportunity to make a Hacker contact.  I do stress the word opportunity - I am def not going to give him/her the group for free and not only will they have to work hard to make the hacker into a contact but also they will have to work hard to keep the contact solid - these maestros are often quite demanding/sensitive type of people and so easily upset and the party could easy annoy them to the extent that they wont help at all.

Also - just because they have a hacker type contact he/she will not necessarily give them a free-pass through all doors/systems as GM you need to judge just what you think they should have in order to further the fun and the atmosphere etc.

It could also make life more difficult for the group in some respects.   What if the hacker is generally a clumsy oaf in the "meat world" and yet one day insists upon coming on an infiltration run (rather than hacking from outside) .... how will the group manage to keep him alive and from alerting all guards in a 300 yard radius when the hacker falls screaming when climbing the rope to get on the roof of the building   


Good luck and have fun!

Trel

[FastJack]

Discuss it with the players. Find out what they want to do with the game. Sounds like the Mystic Adept wants to hack'n'slash his way to glory. If that's the case, think of a more mercenary bend to the game and pick up War! to give you some setting, adventure and gear ideas.

[Malex]

Para-hunters. Clearing out Bugs or Feral Ghouls. Up the suspense and fear of the unknown things that go bump in the night. As a GM you can then throw in funny twists to the story, like Ghoul Activists, which can put the PCs into a situation where they can't just resort to their weapons and toys.

[Grunchblau]

I really like that idea, Malex... might just incorporate that in the next run.

[Teknodragon]

Regarding excessive hack-n-slash on undeserving NPCs, consider the wisdom of Ron White:
"I didn't know how many of them it'd take to kick my hoop, but I knew how many they were gonna use."

[Canticle]

Thanks for all the suggestions! These are excellent ideas.
I especially like the 'taking care of a local gang problem' idea... I think they'd go for that no problem.
Please, keep the ideas flowing, this is great!

I'm 19, the ork is 19, the mystic adept is 22, the adept is 21 (all in college, been friends since high school/ middle school)

One of my university friends plays an elf street sammy who liked to kill people who he perceives as slighting him.
Let him kill an NPC. Then have the police or the NPCs friends show up and fill the PC full of bullets. If he does it again, he gets the same treatment. This is what happens when you haphazardly kill people in the shadows: other people with guns get upset.
If that seems to harsh, your PCs contacts could refuse to help him because it is too hot to deal with him. As he is hung out to dry, he may ask 'What did I do?'

[Grunchblau]

Okay, last night was our game night, and I talked to the group. They were extremely excited at the prospect of killing, enforcing, and bounty hunter type runs. As this is the case, what would the best type of opponents be to present them with?

[Frankie the Fomori]

A quick word, if you are running in Seattle one of the greatest things up here is how close we are to wilderness. It is in Salish lands though, so a bounty mission would have them dealing with the boarder guards (and mil spec gear) then after they play through getting there permits and or bribing the guards they will have to deal with the awakened wilderness. Get clever with the type of critters they run into. I like to hit my group with critters that are within there strong areas first, then combo critters that use powers that the group is not strong against.

 Example: one possible mission my group may take could take them up snoqualmie pass looking for possible artifacts left over from the forth age. First they have to get through the boarder security, then deal with the cascade tribe in an attempt to move about there area. I intend both these to be peaceful with heavy reprocusions if they resault to violence.

 Being a group of runners with 15-150 karma amd 7-15 years in SR I can afford to have these guidelines for them to play by. Once they get into the area they will have several options on how to sweep the area and find what they are looking for. Each sector will be mapped out with different set of encounters. Some easier then others. One set will have multiple spirits bound to a specific site. If the PC's blunder through there they will be set upon. While in the conflict they will grab the attention of the local pack of shadow-hounds who will hit them physically near the end of there fight with the spirits. They are a magic heavy group so I should challenge them with out overwhelming them.

Cheers Frankie

Note: did this on my iPhone later I will go back and make sure spelling us correct

[Malex]

As Bounty Hunting goes, who are they going to be working for? If they work for one of Lone Star's Bailbondsmen, they'll need some well polished papers. If they're working as enforcers for one of the organized crime outfits they're not going to need papers, but they'll be expected to show loyalty and will be up against every other team that wants to be top dog within the syndicate. There's a whole range of other employers of course, but for each one of them there will be differing aspects of how things work and what the PCs need to do.