[JustADude]

Okay, so I've been thinking... no, wait, come back! It wasn't THAT kind of thinking!

Anyway, I was thinking about a few ways to tweak the standard Shadowrun situation to create a whole new type of one-off (or campaign) within the universe, and I thought I'd drop them in here for everyone to look at and comment on.





Personal Business
Every Runner starts off as a very tiny minnow in a very big pond. The lucky ones survive long enough to feed off the scum at the bottom of the pond and grow bigger. Eventually they become professionals, ignoring or eating the minnows that were once their rivals, but now they've got the attention of even bigger fish, in a cycle that ends either with them dead, a burnt-out wreck living on the streets or, for a lucky few, retiring to live out the rest of their years in relative peace and security, troubled mostly only by their nightmares.

Your group is one of those few that managed to win the game; they've retired and moved on. Maybe they kept in contact, maybe they didn't, that's up to you. What matters, though, is that they've bonded under fire and will answer the call if any of the others need help, even now.

Only, and here's the catch, it's not one of your PCs that gets in trouble. It's someone one or more of the group cares about. Maybe one of their children, or the child of a now-dead-of-old-age Ork that was part of your team that the group takes care of for old time's sake, or maybe an old favorite contact (or a member of their family) calls begging for help. What's important about the setup is that it's personal and the guy behind it doesn't know he screwed with the wrong people.

Now ancient monsters stir from their slumber and flex their claws, sniffing at the air and hungry for blood. The mundanes dig up old, nearly-forgotten caches of emergency gear, a little out of date now but still highly lethal, the Mages open up their long-shut books of combat magics and gathers up their Foci, and the Adepts ready themselves mentally to once more walk the razor's edge and push themselves to the limit and beyond. They will find the people responsible for whatever happened, and then those people will pay dearly.

SYSTEM:
Think Taken crossed with RED; the excitement of the game is in the mystery and the chase, not the combat.

The PCs are the kind of Runners that were on the radar of men like Lofwyr and Damien Knight at their peak... not just S-K and Ares, but the men themselves... who are getting back in the saddle because someone has done something they just can't abide, and they're going to make their displeasure felt. Be sure to keep the emphasis on that, and perhaps on a time-crunch. How whatever's going wrong will get worse if they don't fix it soon enough.

Let them get a feel for how high on the food chain the characters are; don't throw them softballs, but keep the challenges realistic to what they would be facing as they start the hunt... aka "not enough". Where their path of vengeance leads is up to you, but at least at first they'll be going through the low-end ganger trash like the proverbial hot knife through butter.

Give the players a free Permanent Lifestyle (exactly what kind is up to you and the group) to represent their retirement, a generous amount of extra BP to spread around, and make sure they take plenty of contacts. Then, once that's done, give them a career's-worth of Karma on top of everything (many hundreds, at least), and a huge wad of Nuyen, combined with a very lenient policy on Availability, and let them go to town.





Blue Shift
Life sucks when you're a cop; you spend all day dealing with the worst shitbirds the Sixth World has to offer, with all sorts of regulations tying your hands when you could solve soooo many of the worthless, petty little problems you see by knocking some heads together. What's worse, the ones that aren't trying to shiv you in the face are looking down their noses at you because you're just some peon... but you've got bills to pay, maybe even a family to support.

The job is crap, but hey, it could be worse... at least you've got a SIN, health insurance, and if you do get murdered by some junkie tripping balls, at least you've got a nice life insurance policy... well, unless they find a way to weasel out of it.

Then it all changes; you get a promotion to a High Threat Response team or a Special Investigations Unit, or you get scouted for one by a recruiter from a AAA Megacorp looking for hot talent. Goodbye shit-hole, hello hell-hole. Yeah, the money's better and you get way better 'ware, and you've got some buddies to watch your back, but now your average call-out isn't some drunken trash yelling at each other so loud they wake the neighbors, it's telling some seriously hardcore dudes "No". At least you still have that life insurance, right?

SYSTEM:
Basically, you're playing the other side, simple as that. Throw them into situations where they have to stop runners, or have them be a task-force sent to take down an organized crime family. Have old street contacts call them and ask for favors, and give them crap from supervisors and Corporate Sheep who think the team are beneath them.

Start with a basic 400 BP, and give them all Day-Job (40 hours), Sinner, and Records on File as "Freebies" (aka, they get no bonus BP for them and they don't count against the cap). Don't let them spend any of their BP on Nuyen, though. Sit down with the group and figure out what kind of gear would be appropriate to "issue" the players, and what kind of "corporate housing" they'd be set up in, then let them have the gear and the first month of rent.

Remember, also, that as members of Knight Errant, or a similar group, the team has every legal right to run around in body armor and carry guns openly. Their licenses aren't fake, and they generally have nothing to hide from other cops regarding their actions. They can also call for backup if they have to, and it'll probably show up in time to save their butts.

The targets are generally trying to run away, though, so be prepared for a lot of Chase Combat, improvised booby-traps, and all the other stuff players like to throw at the NPCs.





Project Delta, or "Clone on the Range"
None of you remember anything before you woke up in that room, naked and dripping and stuck in a tube, shivering with cold. The power was out, and the place is in ruins; looked like there had been a huge fire until the suppression system put it out. Gunfire was coming from all over, and there were dead bodies lying on the floor. Several men in armor and carrying guns threw lab coats over all of you, telling you that they were here to rescue you and get you to safety, then rushed you out of the building while shooting at other people behind them.

All of you were still so dizzy and sick and disoriented from your awakening that you had no chance to even react before you were on the roof, where you were hustled onto a helicopter that took off in a hurry. However, before it could get far, rockets and gunfire erupted from another nearby roof and you crashed, hard. Now the group is all alone, battered and bruised, lost in some strange city with people after you, willing to kill you. There's a duffle-bag with some clothes that kinda fit and ammo for the (now dead) men's guns in the wreck, and all you know about each other is a vague sense that you belong together, and what's on your ID bracelets, a set of in-sequence serial numbers in the format of D-XXXXX-"NAME", and a few other bits of information.

SYSTEM:
So, yeah, the group are all clones, or at least clone-like entities. They get busted out of somewhere, either by runners or by corp-sec getting them back from runners. They don't know; all they know is the ones that said they were there to help are dead and the other side wants to kill them.

The catch, here, is that "Project Delta" is an attempt to tweak Type O subjects "in utero", cloning an entire being from scratch that grows without any essence reduction and the Bioware already a part of their genetic sequence... why? Maybe trying to get them to Awaken and have Ubermages? I dunno, that's your job as GM to decide... and this group is the first successful test group to reach maturity without dying or turning into vegetables. Knowledge and skills were programmed into the brain in a method similar to how Reflex Recorders are created (or the chair from The Dollhouse, if you want to go that route), but with no personal history to back it up.

The rules on this one should be obvious, but here they are: 400 BP, no spending any on nuyen. Everyone gets a gun, some ammo, and a set of clothes (what you want to do if they try to strip the bodies or the plane before running is up to you). They also get a metric crapton of Bioware that doesn't cost them any Nuyen (Essence is up to you), and the qualities Amnesia (Past) (because there is none to remember, but you don't need to tell THEM that), Sensitive System, and Wanted (don't tell them who by, though) as Freebies.

If you go with "no essence cost", it's up to you if you want to allow Awakening.

Now just drive them away from the crash and get them tied in with whatever you want them to deal with between "meta-plot" events.


OTHER
Those first 3 are the fully fleshed ideas I had, but here's some more basic concepts:

• All the players pick the same non-standard character type, like Shapeshifters, Naga, Pixies, Centaurs, AIs, or Free Spirits. The important part is that they're all weird in the same way, making them even weirder together.
• A campaign where they either start out Infected or you railroad them into getting Infected on their very first mission. Lots of darkness and inhumanity and, since it's Shadowrun not World of Emos, I'm sure the players will be as ruthlessly pragmatic as ever in dealing with it.
• A campaign where a group of plain, non-Shadowy friends just so happen to end up getting their asses dumped in the fire and have to survive, and maybe end up liking it enough to do it again... intentionally this time.

[Lethe]

Some really nice suggestions. Can imagine to have loads of fun in those settings. Especially with the change of perspective, to be on the side of the "big guys" for once and/or finally ;-)

An interesting turn of events for first theme, would be to let them make their mighty characters and start to hunt the villains down. Then tell them to make some new standard chars and let them play the hunted ones, while getting chased by their superchars which are now NPCs, hrhrhr...

[ArkangelWinter]

The other metasapients concept would be hilarious, not just for social interaction. Housing, gear mods, all kinds if unforeseen expenses. Of course, the novelty would mean high pay in Los Angeles.

[Crash_00]

Well off the top of my head, ones that I've played in/been a part of/planned out but never actually managed to run:

Doc Wagon
Can be done with any of the major medical service providers, but Doc Wagon is generally the biggest. Basically the team consists of an armed Doc Wagon HRT (High Risk Team) and goes to pick up contract holders  when the need arises.

Character Creation works as normal, but ammunition and consumable items as well as health care are paid for by company/client. Most likely a significant discount on company approved augments as well. On the downside, everyone will need some rudimentary skills in first aid and at least a couple characters should have a higher rating in First aid and medicine. They are armed paramedics after all.

Deep Cover
Whether they're a Anarchist sleeper cell, a corporate geek team, or undercover law enforcement, the job is the same: Blend in with the seedier part of the city and gather the resources to complete the jobs they're given. This can be taken as low key as a team similar to that in Dark Blue, or it be as high scale as a full blown presidential assassination style campaign.

Character creation runs similar to normal, but depending on the campaign, availability may be limited to insure that the characters don't appear out of place with their wiz wares or fifty grand worth of foci. Generally these games will be a little less demanding in combat skills and more demanding in legwork and contacts.

In the Army
Thats right buddy. You got lost on the way to college. Fortunately you get to play with all the toys your nation/corp gives you, but you only get to play with them in the approved manner...I know bummer. These games tend to run very task based. Point A to Point B. A good group can tackle tasks multiple ways, but legwork tends to take a back seat for anything past general scouting.

Character creation is similar to normal. Generally players will be assigned gear based on skill set rather than buying it with build points. This represents the general standard issue nature of a military unit. Of course as the game progresses, the squad will undoubtedly field modify their gear for better or worse.

Adrenaline Junkies
The players take the roll of a Desert Games squad or an Urban Brawl team. These games come out feeling almost more like a miniature skirmish game where you control one model rather than an actual RPG. Due to that, the main source of variety is the opposing teams makeup and the site of the event.

Character creation is similar to normal, but characters must meet all of the standard rules relevant to the game they will be participating in.

[JustADude]

@Lethe: That's just sick, twisted and wrong. I like it. Not something I'd do, but it'd be a great experience to get both sides of the coin like that.

@ArkangelWinter: Yeah, I can definitely see that. Also, people love to laugh at Pixies... right up until they're reminded that a Pixie Mage at his natural Charisma cap can have 8 Bound Spirits at once.

@Crash_00: Awesome stuff, there.

[Black]

Burn Notice

The characters are all part of the same covert ops organisation.  On their first run, something goes wrong, almost like it was a set-up and now the heroes are on the run from not just the target organisation, but their own organisation as well.

Players must deal with large shadow organisations trying to either hunt them down and kill them or capture them and find out who they 'really' work for.  Through in a rival organisation that wants to 'convert' the team to their side, and maybe a NPC from their parent org who doesn't know they were set-up and can maybe be swayed to help the team out.

Players make experienced characters with a convert ops theme, give them lots of toys to play with... but no nuyen to buy new toys.  Hunted / Enemy (perhaps multiple) with no bp bonus but no impact on the cap.  Lots of contacts, but no guarentee that the contact may no betray them.

New mechanism for the campaign:  Alerts.  Every time the team does something which would trigger an 'alert' by one of the campaign organisations, this add an Alert Point.  This is a running total, with the more alerts points triggering a bigger response from the enemy org.  The key here is to encourage the players to keep a low profile until they are able to strike back.

Division

The team work for a covert ops organisation, black ops, nasty stuff, but with the goal of protecting the greater good (or corp at least).  However, it aint a friendly work place.  All players have cranial bombs and the missions are often more grey then black and white.  They team is always spun a line (this terrorist is an informant and ally, so your mission is to extract him from the FBI holding cell...., to the classic 'kill the innocent reporter before they break the story which will hurt our corp".)

Team has excellent resources on call, though they are often on their own during the mission with minimal matrix overwatch (which is aimed at them as much as it support them).    However, the organisation is very, very controlling and punishes any transgrission or deviation intensly.  Also the team is housed in a corporate safehouse, which is more bunker then home.

As the misisons become more 'repulsive', the level of control increases.  Then the players are contacted by a mysterious helper, who promises to free them from the organisation if they help bring it down from inside.

The players must then try to 'fail' their mission while appearing to be trying their hardest and avoid being blamed.

[JustADude]

So, going back to the Project Delta / "Clone on the Range" idea, I'm trying to figure out what a good set of bioware would be, because "all of it" is just a bit of a huge and imprecise list. So, I'm thinking of calling it a roughly 6-Essence limit at delta-grade Essence costs, and filling the list with general-use goodies that won't be visibly obvious.

Here's the list:

• Adrenal Regulator
• Bone Density Augmentation - 4
• Cerebral Booster - 3
• Digestive Expansion
• Enhanced Articulation
• Extended Volume - 3
• MPC Bridge
• Muscle Augmentation - 4
• Muscle Toner - 4
• Nephritic Screen - 4
• Orthoskin - 3
• Pain Editor
• Pathogenic Defense
• Platelet Factories
• Sleep Regulator
• Suprathyroid Gland
• Synaptic Booster - 3
• Synthacardium - 3
• Tailored Pheromones - 3
• Toxin Extractor - 6
• Any combination of 3 Genetic Optimizations, 3 Skill Group Reflex Recorders or 3 (2x) Single Skill Reflex Recorders.

[/spoiler]

Yes, there's a bit of "Joke-ware", as some people have called it, in there, but I put the package together based on what someone, in universe, would want to put into a generic super-soldier package, so a lot of the weirder or more specialized stuff, like echolocation, was just flat out of the question. I also didn't want to screw around with the Protein Exchange stuff, since a lot of that has side effects that change how you role-play the character.

[Serious Paul]

Some that we've run:

• National Geographic Photography team
• Policlub members
• Ecoterrorist Cell
• Street gang struggling to take over their own block
• Corporate Strike team
• Toxic Avengers-a team of twisted shamans on a revenge mission
• Couriers
• Motorcycle Gang
• Investigative Team-Insurance Adjuster's looking for fraud

There's other but maybe someone can use some of those ideas.

[CanRay]

Independently rich Hooders that find people wronged by corporations, ruin them, and then make lots of money by "Buying short".

Hitter, hacker, grifter, thief, mastermind. 

[JustADude]

• National Geographic Photography team

 

I was about to ask WTH, but then I remembered about the Awakened Jungle stuff. Those guys probably take Shadowruns against Saeder-Krupp to relax and unwind.

[CanRay]

• National Geographic Photography team

I was about to ask WTH, but then I remembered about the Awakened Jungle stuff. Those guys probably take Shadowruns against Saeder-Krupp to relax and unwind.

Especially if they work in South America.

"BOB!  THE TREE IS EATING ME!!!"  "Damnit, OK, everyone pull on the emergency rope for Bob.  Damn you got the worst luck with trees!"  "I know!  But I smell pine fresh!"

[JustADude]

Bit of a necro here, but I figure better bring this one back than start something from scratch, right? Anyway, here's another idea to tack onto the list, inspired by a fluff story out of SR4A. Probably better as a warm-up arc, sub-plot, or side-story than the main meat of the game:

Reality TV... Really!

The team gets contracted by Horizon to start in a show about Runners and how they work and live, complete with guarantees that their "real" names and faces will never be used... after all, altered voices and masked faces just add to the ratings, anyway. The Runs they do for the show are all set-ups, of course, since Horizon isn't going to wash their actual dirty laundry on-air...  but nobody's told the schmucks on the front lines that. The only benefit is that nobody's going to be calling in Lone-Star or KE... unless it's better ratings that way, of course. Runners get hooked up with some nice gear as part of their payment (all from brands Horizon wants to pimp, of course) and get bonuses for making "good TV"... aka, a Jerry Springering... aka, being flashy and stupid.

What happens to their reputation and Contacts when word gets out that everything they do is being filmed? What will unscrupulous producers do to try and get more ratings? Will the team sell out and become pop-stars competing with Kane for ridiculous stunts, or will they stay in the dark and play it safe?

[Crash_00]

If they get good enough ratings they might even get contracted to play the rival team in this season of the All My Shadows soap opera.

[ArkangelWinter]

Its an idea I rehashed from a DnD game, but it would fit in the reality tv idea:

Convicts
The characters are all prisoners in a maximum securitu prison. As part of a larger plot, an unknown party arranges a mass prison break, which is illegally televised on a pay-per-view, taking bets on which high-profile criminals will escape or even survive. Unknown to him, the prison's head of magical security is a toxic or insect shaman who uses this as an opportunity to try to wreak havoc/infest the prison. The characters have to escape a Bug-infested prison during the riot, facing guards, prisoners, twisted spirits, and other inmates. Even if they escape, they are all now Wanted Criminal Sinners with Records on File and their faces plastered on the Trid as stars. They can either go to work for their benefactor, arranging more shows/breaks, or try to survive alone with high-profile criminal records.

[CanRay]

"You all meet in a bar."  "Typical."  "And wake up in Maximum Security on an uncharted island in the middle of the Pacific."  "Whoa, wait..."  "Those draft really had a nasty kick to them."