[Maded]

Gotta love your players. Let them throw you for a loop every time.

I'm in the middle of running a tabletop with the players being newbie runners in LA trying to make a name for themselves. As the game is progressing, several have expressed that they really were not incredibly into their characters. The disappointment that follows from a GM is normal in hearing that, I think, but then while just sitting around the table they all bring something up...

Playing a DocWagon HTR team. Now there, they got some excitement going in the conversation and started me thinking about it. While I wasn't really ready to abandon the LA game, they expressed an enthusiasm for the topic of HRT that they haven't really expressed for the current game, and started throwing out ideas on character builds. I'm the type of GM, like many of you I'm sure, who isn't really happy with a game if the players aren't happy. So now I'm considering starting up the HRT thing, since they seem so enthusiastic about it and kind of infected me.

The trouble being, I have to scrap a lot of what I've already built, and build up something new now! I think we'll play a few more sessions to wind down the current game (which barely even has begun), and while doing so prep the HRT game.

So I'm pressing my brain for some thoughts on running a corp-based, HRT type game and wondering if anyone out there has run this sort of game before, and if they have any advice on how to get things started with that type of setting.

A few of my concerns:

• Types of PCs necessary for the function of an HRT team besides the obvious (Medics)
• Starting level of the PCs
• Starting gear for the PCs
• Command structure for the group
• Where to look for more info on DocWagon and how it works from the inside (beyond the core with DocWagon contracts and Augmentation

Hints, tips, tricks, advice, anyone?

Thanks in advance

[JustADude]

Well, first off, it's HTR (High Threat Response), not HRT. Small detail, but important.

Think of them as USAF Pararescue (also known as Para-Jumpers, or PJs)... which are the closest thing I can think of in the real world to what a HTR does... and those guys are seriously badass.

To properly simulate a crew of PJs you'll need everyone to be a good medic (DP 8+ before Medkit), as well as have skills such as Diving and Parachuting (which also covers static-line drops from helicopters), and you'll need at least one Rigger to drive and control the support Drones. Other than that... think of an assault team, rather than infiltrators.  Their objective is to get in fast, suppress hostiles ling enough to stabilize the target(s) for transport, and GTFO.

Since their positions are "legit" and DocWagon will shield them from repercussions (as long as they don't get "excessive"), that means they don't have to sneak and skulk and beat around the bush. They also don't have to pay for their own ammo. In traditional Shadowrun terms, you're looking very definitely on the Pink Mohawk end of the spectrum, only with flashbangs and gel rounds instead of HE and APDS.

As far as actual starting points and gear, I'd recommend Grand Karmagen (aka 1000-Karma Karmagen), since these guys are going to be by no means "starting out" types, and require them to soft-cap all their physical Attributes. The players should be required to buy their own Cyberware, Foci, and any "personal" gear (private car, off-duty body armor, etc)... but give them an assortment of "standard issue" gear for free, which is only available for use while "on the job".

For the actual load-out, I'd recommend customizing that based on Metatype (a Troll or Ork, obviously, can wear more than a Human), but I'd recommend it look something like this as the basic "human" loadout:

Light Milspec Armor w/ Helmet
-Armor
---Chemical Seal
---Gel Packs
---Nonconductivity (6)
---Responsive Interface Gear
---Shock Frills
---Strength Upgrade 1
-Helmet
---Flare Compensation
---Internal Commlink (6/6/6/6)
-----Suite of Rating 6 utilities + ECCM + Agent/IC for hacking countermeasures)
---Mark 74 Smartlink
---Responsive Interface Gear
---Vision Enhancement (3)
---Vision Magnification


Yamaha Sakura Fubuki - Personal Defense Sidearm
(Stick'n'Shock Ammo)
-Personalized Grip
-Smartgun, External


Ares Alpha - Main Weapon
(Stick'n'Shock Ammo)
(Chemical Round Ammo)
(Flashbang Grenades)
(Gas Grenades - Breathtaker)
-Airburst Link
-Foregrip
-Gas-Vent 3
-Grenade Launcher (Stock)
-Personalized Grip
-Sling
-Smartgun, Internal (Stock)

I admit I may have aimed a little too high-end there, but DocWagon has never seemed to be the kind that skimps, seeing how the DocWagon CRT Helicopter has both an internal turret and two racks for Large aerial support drones.

DocWagon "standard" vehicles are listed in Arsenal (p114-115 & 116) and Unfriendly Skys (p 10 & 11). From what I understand, the Osprey (with some after-market armor and electronics upgrades) or the CRT Helicopter would be what the HTR teams would probably use. I'd recommend a smaller group get the Helicopter, since they'd need the drone support, while a bigger group would use the Osprey.

[Maded]

Well, first off, it's HTR (High Threat Response), not HRT. Small detail, but important.

Thanks, got that part corrected

I was thinking about the gear, and probably limiting it to "personal items" from their starting Karma, yup. Thanks for the tips on the 'assigned' gear, I like that list so far but thinking about building on it quite a bit.

Another thing that's running around in my head is where exactly to base it. I was almost considering east coast UCAS or somewhere in the CAS. Trying to think of something different than the usual Seattle, but there isn't much definite info on cities that I'm looking into for SR4. May have to delve deeper into the past for that...

Here's one of my thoughts on the personnel that would be involved. As corporate employees and citizens, these guys would likely be SINners, I was thinking. I wouldn't imagine DocWagon just hiring up SINless street scum or former Shadowrunners as employees. One of the guys mentioned something like that, and I'm thinking probably not.

[JustADude]

Here's one of my thoughts on the personnel that would be involved. As corporate employees and citizens, these guys would likely be SINners, I was thinking. I wouldn't imagine DocWagon just hiring up SINless street scum or former Shadowrunners as employees. One of the guys mentioned something like that, and I'm thinking probably not.

The thing about DocWagon is that it's big enough to be Extraterritorial, which means they can issue their own SINs. That means that they can just hire a SINless and issue them a bright, shiny new identity. That means they'd love former Shadowrunners for HTR. They hire them and they come in already (mostly) trained, and with most of their cyberware upgrades already implanted, which means less overhead before you can stick them in the field.

Whatever their background, though, I'd suggest giving them SINner and Day Job (40 Hours) as "free" Negative Qualities, to represent their status as legitimately employed members of DocWagon. And by "free" I mean they get no points for it, and it doesn't count against their Negative Quality limit.

[Maded]

Hrm, I could have sworn I saw a writeup on Doc Wagon in 4e materials somewhere and I am just not finding it now.

[lurkeroutthere]

I think Just a dude kind of badly overestimates the competence of your average HTR team. at the risk of showing my own biases. Paratrooper Rescue are basically special forces medics. HTR is more analagous to a SWAT team. That's not to say that some SWAT teams aren't very very good, and often made up of ex-military or ex-special forces types, but on the average their not on that level.

Honestly i'd just use the standard 400 point build for characters, require everyone to have first aid at a minimum of 3 (and someone on the team should have it a fair bit higher then that). But I'd also have a gear/vehicle list made out ahead of time so they'd know what they don't have to provide. I do tend to agree that when it comes to gear Docwagon probably sees a long term savings in keeping their people safe, which in turn keeps their clients safe and some of those clients are paying a lot for the services Docwagon provides. Light milspec shouldn't be out of the question.

[wylie]

there is a writeup for paranormal medic in contacts.
I believe it was Runners Companion 3rd ED, that had the groundwork for a Docwagon game
Everyone should have first adi training.
otherwise, the team should be like any runner team. You got the rigger who drive the vehicle and handle drones, mercs and street sams to lay down heavy fire, and mages do what mages do best, magic. hackers can help keep the tacnets up, and keep commlinks protected.

[Maded]

I have a logo for the game. It's one of the first things I tend to come up with. Still tossing around ideas on where it will take place, and looking for more source material for DocWagon.

[JustADude]

I think Just a dude kind of badly overestimates the competence of your average HTR team. at the risk of showing my own biases. Paratrooper Rescue are basically special forces medics. HTR is more analagous to a SWAT team. That's not to say that some SWAT teams aren't very very good, and often made up of ex-military or ex-special forces types, but on the average their not on that level.

Honestly i'd just use the standard 400 point build for characters, require everyone to have first aid at a minimum of 3 (and someone on the team should have it a fair bit higher then that). But I'd also have a gear/vehicle list made out ahead of time so they'd know what they don't have to provide. I do tend to agree that when it comes to gear Docwagon probably sees a long term savings in keeping their people safe, which in turn keeps their clients safe and some of those clients are paying a lot for the services Docwagon provides. Light milspec shouldn't be out of the question.

Possibly, but then again maybe not. All I know about DogWagon HTR, for certain, is that these are the guys that are expected to pull 400bp characters' asses out of the fire in the middle of a firefight with anyone from Lonestar to Red Samurai to Firewatch, as long as they're on Non-Extraterritorial ground.

Of course, most of the reason I was saying to use the 1000-point Karmagen is so they can have a properly broad array of skills. Grand Karmagen gives them plenty to play with to buy lots of knowledge skills, parachuting for static-line drops, tracking for search-and-rescue, social skills for getting through neutral security faster, etc, etc.

Who knows; maybe the free gear and the ability to go full-blown Mohawk will make the difference but, unless you're babying them, they're going to be neck-deep in drek nearly every time they go out on a HTR call.

[Reaver]

An important thing to remember is that Doc Wagon is a Corp. and as a Corp, it ultimately answers to the Corporate Court. Meaning, it's expected to obey their edicts, such as extra-terratorality. Doc Wagon can only set foot on corp grounds AFTER it has gotten permission from the parent corp FOR EACH incident.

They are not a private army to wage combat, but a security force to extract a client... Get in, get the client, get out.

As mentioned by other people, most of their gear will be provided by DW, so they shouldn't be looking to buy much. As to what that gear is... Probably be along the lines of assault rifles (all the same type) a squad support weapon (LMG) and a combat Mage (with healing abilities and spirit support), a rigger for the drones and emergency vehicle. Maybe a hacker with more training on TAC-NET and comms then actual hacking (after all, they need to get invited on corp property, not hack their way in)

As for jobs.... Well their is a limitless supply of ideas there.. But most would only be very limited in scope and could get boring real fast (after all, how many 'come in hot, grab the client, shoot your way out' can you do?) also, the rewards for the players is a little flat... They collect a pay cheque after all, and probably not as much as you think. Maybe a little over 5k month (5-7k), basically enough to support a medium lifestyle... Alot of players are going to get itchy fingers after a little while... And it's going to be up to you to deal with that as you see fit... Just be careful of game balance.

[JustADude]

As for jobs.... Well their is a limitless supply of ideas there.. But most would only be very limited in scope and could get boring real fast (after all, how many 'come in hot, grab the client, shoot your way out' can you do?) also, the rewards for the players is a little flat... They collect a pay cheque after all, and probably not as much as you think. Maybe a little over 5k month (5-7k), basically enough to support a medium lifestyle... Alot of players are going to get itchy fingers after a little while... And it's going to be up to you to deal with that as you see fit... Just be careful of game balance.

Side-jobs (using personal equipment, not the high-end gear DW supplies) and "tips" from grateful clients for doing things like ditching a "hot" gun before they get to the hospital would be a great way to expand on that.

[Maded]

Side-jobs (using personal equipment, not the high-end gear DW supplies) and "tips" from grateful clients for doing things like ditching a "hot" gun before they get to the hospital would be a great way to expand on that.

These. These will be the really fun ones!

[Maded]

The Shadowrun Wiki has about everything I need to get started with the DocWagon corporate side of things, glad I found it

EDIT: Now I want some of those patches I found online, too...

[raggedhalo]

The old SR2 book Missions has stuff about playing an HTR team...