Plotlines

by Robert A. Hayden

A Look at the Dark Side

David J. Altman

The ‘runners are approached by a very desperate man. He wants them to find a person, or more specifically, an identity —- his own, in fact. He has a lot of cred quite a bit of jewelry and magical artifacts. He has no identification or memory. He remembers running away from some people trying to kill him at the waterfront a few days ago over some kind of deal. Other than that he remembers nothing.

When the ‘runners go searching they find out that their mystery man is wanted but a lot of people, who all know him by different names and identities. So who is he ? Is he Baron von Clausewitz the terrorist, Francesco Vitesse the hitman, Jonthon Poldon the philanthropist, or Tomaas DeVega the spy ? Or maybe he is all of these people . . . and more than anyone thinks.

A New High

David J. Altman

There is a new high in the Sprawl. And guess what — its actually a chemical. The stuff is called Edge, looks like ruby dust, put it in the stimhaler and shoot. This stuff is like LSD on LSD. Edge makes BTLs and other drugs look like babyfood. After a hit of this stuff you’re Arnie Awesome in a bad mood. So what’s the prob ? No one knows who is making the stuff. The Yaks, Rings, Tongs, and Families are seriously pissed. Edge is cutting into their profits, and they can’t seem to find the source to stop it. Everybody they send out comes back ritually mutilated. So what do they do???? They hire the characters to find who and what is behind Edge. Or Else.

A Rage in the City

David J. Altman

Its all over the Net. Worst slaughter in two decades. 31 people killed. Club Shox destroyed by the mayhem and the resultant fire.

World Newzcorp Association 12/06/54 - 02:11:42
The building is utterly devastated . . .furniture broken . . . blood, glass, and 
bodies everywhere . . . eyewitnesses are suffering a mass trauma caused amnesia 
. . . nobody can remember what happened . . . police have no clues, but suspect 
gang warfare . . . gangs deny responsibility.

The ‘runners had a few close friends die at the club. No one seems to know what happened. But the ‘runners want to know who is responsible. People in the know tell them to drop it . . . but they can’t. As they dig deep into the shadows they uncover the beginnings of the truth — a truth so horrible that it can’t be made public. What happens when two titanic supernatural entities clash over turf, using minions mundane and abominable to secretly battle over a power both crave with supernormal passion ? What can the ‘runners do to stop this horror from continuing?

Aerial Perspective

Paolo Marcucci

The team has a meeting with J at the base of the Space Needle. They are hired for a quick & dirty job: go up to the Needle and carry off a Renraku researcher. There is no time, this is the first time he leaves the arcology in years, maybe there will not be a second chance. When they are up, Renraku finds out the plan and sends a strike team. First of all, elevators are disconnected, then some Stallions begin to fly around the Neddle. Meanwhile, the strike team is arriving through stairs.

Will our heroes survive this? Will they manage to escape? And will they escape with the hostage?

Ascension of Power

Steve Mancini

You have been invited to dinner… at the Murdered Mime. You know what that is dontcha chummer… Yak territory. Your Mr Johnson is an impeccably dressed young Japanese male, sitting alone at a table. Speaking in Cityspeak as if it was his native tongue he will explain that he needs some wetwork done. He will provide the players with a complete dossier on the target- another Japanese male. In fact, he will explain the target is his own brother and yes, they are connected in some way, shape or form to the Yakuza.

He will offer the players a simple reason- his brother has elected to deal with the Chinese Tongs, and if discovered by his oyabun, it will bring great shame to his family. He wants his brother killed, and he wants the Tong to take the fall for it.

The brother is well protected, having various bodyguards, both magical and cybered. After the players wax the brother (hopefully), word on the street will place the blame on them. Yes the Yak want the foolish Gaijin who took down the son of the Oyabun.

Within hours, the runners will be found by a squatter. Or at least that is what he looks like. It is your Mr Johnson. Those of a magical nature will easily recognize that he is a follower of Rat. Ready for the next job? He has been discovered- his father thought that he killed his brother out of greed and a thirst for power. Now he is on the run and he needs the runners to collect the evidence tying his brother to the Tong. He has no money- he had to flee from his home. If the runners do it however, they will be saving their own necks and he will owe them a favor. Not a bad debt to have- from the future Oyabun of Seattle?

Ashmen

Marcel Emami

Runners: “You mean we should get a fragging ashcan?”

Johnson: “Yes, the R&D wanted to hide their results because they knew that there would be a raid that night, but they could only move the data out of the building the next morning with the other stuff. So the team that picked up the can the next morning (after the raid), collected a wrong one - a real ashcan. The lost one was detected the next day when they had everything in their new building and controlled what they got.”

Runners: “So why don’t they just get the real one? Why hire a team of runners for this ?”

Johnson: “Because they left the building and sold it to another corporation. …Yes that corporation that started the raid. That’s why they moved it out. So far the new corporation hasn’t installed all their own security. You go in, pick up the ash can and get out, should be a cake walk”

The ashcan was disposed by the new corporation that now owns the Baxter-Building as a consequence of cleaning and bomb-disposal. The Baxter-Building has now a bizarre mixture of very tight security and very lax security. It should be easy to get in, go to the forth floor (former R&D floor) , do not find the “ashcan”, find evidence that a small enterprise called “Get it Out” collected it. Just after they got this information the runners should be noticed and the strike team should arrive (hit the runners hard and heavy but kill not all of them). After the runners got out of the building they should go to “Get it Out” where they are told that Miles Grayson has sold the ashcan “it was brand new”. He sold it to Lincoln Dillon a local fixer who recognized that the “ashcan” has bigger value than just an ashcan. He let out word on the street that he has real interesting stuff. If the runners follow this clue they find an interrogation team of a third corporation that just killed Dillon but has his confession stored. (A very very nasty GM can put this confession stored into headware memory of one of the corporation team. But this is not recommended.) Naturally the interrogation team doesn’t want to give the data voluntarily.

The buyer of the “ashcan” is a former company man who wants some little retirement money. So he wants to sell the “ashcan” to the corporation for a reasonable fee.

The optimal solution (IMHO) for the runners is get the data from Talltree (the former company man) for the same prize he bought it. Tell his Mister Johnson that he intended to buy something that belongs to his own corporation for too high prize (so he can keep his face) and give the data to their Mister Johnson.

Behind the Mask

Chris Innanen

SIMSENSE PERSONALITIES AREN’T ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM…

Glamorous sim-starlet doesn’t show up for Corp A’s commercial recording, but does appear in Corp B’s vid ads the next day. They claim it/she is only an ersatzoid, a computer simulation, granted by permission of the starlet. Corp A agents went to her residence, but there is no sign of her.

Johnson: “I want her found! We have millions invested in this ad campaign!”

Bloody Dagger

Daniel Waisley “NightFox”

Johnson: “Its not Johnson, its Smith. Mr Smith. I want you to find a stolen artifact, precisely an old sacrificial dagger.”

The run doesn’t sound bad, all you have to do is get the dagger from Koeme Enterprises. Of course, Mr Kromby, the CEO of Keome is well known to be a large philanthropist, so why would he want a bloody dagger? The dagger is on the 32nd floor, the only floor which is not connected to the rest of the building, though it is connected to the 31st floor which is. The connection can only be made by physically doing it. The elevator goes all the way to the top, but only with a pressed in hardware command - it isn’t in the computer. There is another elevator from the 31st to 32nd so that staff with the right stuff can go up.

Kromby is not in at the time, but two girls strapped to the beds in the guest bed room are, along with the dagger on the night stand between them. The girls seem to be connected to the dagger somehow, they are coherent and can’t be taken to far away form the dagger safely.

Mr Smith if contacted seems to know what to do, though you though he was a normal. If you bring the girls and the dagger to him, he’ll see what can be done. Of course, when the runners get there, they do see Smith, but he doesn’t stay in their vision for long, vision that is soon clouded by neuro-stun gas. When they wake up in the sewer prisons all they have are nice white robes, the perfect things for sacrifices. Now all they have to do is escape and save the girls before they all die. Isn’t life fun chummer.

Book Trade

Paolo Marcucci

Johnson: “Well, gentlemen, looks like we have a little problem here. Our rare and absurdly precious paper library has been stolen. And we have received some letters (on paper, yes) asking for a big ransom. Of course money is not a problem for us, but we want to know who is so interested in old books. Ah, just another thing: chip versions of the books were seen sold at a small street market. There are things, in those books, that we don’t want to be known. The books are VERY old, maybe thousands of years…”

Budweiser gets Even

George Campbell

Having been considered inferior to many imported brews for over 5 decades Budweiser decides to get revenge. They send Mr. Johnson out to the local dives to find a group partaking of Budweiser and make them an offer they can’t refuse - make a run on Guinness Inc. and get their secret brew.

However there is a glitch - the location of Guinness Inc.’s home base is unknown and rumored to be heavily guarded by both Sam’s and Shamen who follow the Wheat totem. These Shamen guard the secrets with a religious fervor and act heavily against any who oppose them. They have practical impunity when it comes to the local law due to their Christmas gifts to the local police chief (consisting of a dozen cases of their finest brew of the year).

Catch The Courier

Phillip Steele

The Johnson arranged a hasty meeting, you’ve to be at the airport in 20 minutes for the 7:32 sub-orbital from Japan.

Johnson: “There’s a bonded courier on the plane with some very important data. We’ve had word that another corp has sent a team to ‘collect’ the information itself. You’re job is to make sure the courier gets back to me safely.”

Problem 1 the streets are really packed (it’s rush hour). Problem 2 the other group is already there and the plane is 3 minutes early and their mage has convinced the courier to come with them before the runners arrive.

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Factory

Robert Watkins

The group (preferably a notoriously munchkinous group) gets a group through a small time fixer. They have to break into Grandma Grundy’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Factory, a small manufacturer of chocolate chip cookies located in Renton. It’s a large factory, and security is moderately tight. Their mission: To acquire Grandma Grundy’s Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

Once penetrating the outer grounds, the runners may find out that the factory is actually the site of a large Mafia arms dump, with security to match. A light, stealthy group may be permitted to enter the cookie factory (the Mafia don’t want to blow their cover). A munchkinous group will be deemed a threat and taken care of.

Chuck and Die

Chris Innanen

A FEAST FIT FOR NO ONE, LEAST OF ALL ROYALTY…

Royalty is coming to town. Not anyone really important, just the prince of a small country somewhere overseas and his consort. But someone’s about to make a ‘run on their lives. Poison to be exact, one that’s encapsulated so that it doesn’t show up on any detectors, is immune to heat up to 240c, and is quite deadly and untreatable. They barf, then they keel over dead. You’ve got a choice, chummers: do the dirty deed or damn it.

Johnson #1: “We want them out of commission. Just get this into their food…”

Johnson #2: “If they die while visiting us, it’ll be real bad for sales. Stop it.”

Cold as Ice

Chris Innanen

YOU CAN NEVER PREDICT THE WEATHER, EVEN IN AN ARCOLOGY…

The environmental systems in the Arcology owned by Corp A have gone haywire, making the temperature and weather conditions in large sections of its bulk wane too hot, too cold, foggy, rainy, snowy, and so on. Needless to say, the residents are drowning the Corp’s PR department with complaints.

Johnson: “Maintenance is useless bunch of dolts! It's COLD in here..."

The Collector 1

Chris Innanen

CORPS DONATE MONEY TO THE ARTS, AND SOME PEOPLE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT…

An art collector specializing in street artists scammed a Corp out of a large sum of money, promising to deliver a number of statues and paintings to the Corp museum. When the Corp traced down a few of the artists, none had been paid, though the collector picked up the pieces.

Johnson: “No one pulls a fast one on us. I don’t care about the pics, I want HIM.”

The Collector 2

Chris Innanen

ALL THE BETTER TO SEE YOUR PAINTING WITH, MY DEAR…

An art collector pushes the advancement of cyber-eyes to get an edge on art counterfeiters, but his new eyes see too much. Someone’s snuffed him out, taking only one of the valuable works that were in his office. (The secrets of the new eyes died with him, so don’t get too greedy, chummers.)

Johnson: “Drugrunners. We’re sure of it. Something to do with the paints.”

Compass to Atlantis

Chris Innanen

MAGIC WILL TAKE YOU WHERE NO MERMAN HAS GONE BEFORE…

Lodged near the bottom of the deepest region of the sea, resting on a ledge in a trench hundreds of miles long, buried under mile after mile of oppressive water, waits Atlantis. For centuries it has lay dormant, untouched by treasure hunters, researchers, and government funded deep sea exploration teams. It has existed for so long, the motions of the Earth’s crust has carried it to its doom, a crushing death between the subsiding plates of rock. Time is running out for it, and the old magics, reawakened by the impending disaster, have begun to call out for aid. The old knowledge must be preserved, and the dead city knows it no longer can protect its charge of information with obscurity.

An unimportant ancient artifact long forgotten in the vaults of the corp museum came to life, glowing and pulsing with an inner light. The curators and experts examined it determining its origin, the mythical oceanic city-state Atlantis, and its purpose, to lead a party there.

Johnson: “We’ll give you a guide to get you down there. No sub goes that deep.”

Corpus Juris

Chris Innanen

WHEN YOU’RE IN CORP TERRITORY, THE CORP MAKES THE RULES…

You were just walking past the Arcology shops, mindin’ your own business, when two corp cops jump out and slap the cuffs on ya. Well, you weren’t looking for trouble, just a new set of threads, so you don’t take’em apart on the spot but wait to see what’s what. The OotD takes one look at’cha and turns all frowns an’ apologies, givin’ ya 30¥ “for damages” and turns ya lose with a slap on the back. What the frag was all that about? It isn’t till a little later that yer tailor notices the bug…

Word on the Street: “The Corp’s puttin’ the tag on all the runners they can. They’re MAD.”

Cult of Immortality

David J. Altman

The ‘runners are approached by a couple of very professional looking heavies. The heavies want the ‘runners to attend dinner at a local Mafia don’s house. Over dinner, the don reveals his problem. It seems his daughter has gotten involved, heavily involved, in a fanatical religious cult called “The Cult of Immortality”. The cult leader, an extremely charismatic man has taken a personal interest in the don’s daughter. The daughter is now a guest at the cult leaders residence. The residence itself is a huge fortress like mansion filled with kids who are followers of the cult. The cult promises power and immortality to “The Chosen”. Apparently the don has tried to infiltrate the cult with his own men, but each time they have shown up dead within a few days. Now the don is desperate. He wants the ‘runners to infiltrate the cult, extract his daughter, and kill the cult leader (the don feels that if the cult leader were to remain alive his daughter would be at risk).

Problem is, once they infiltrate, they find out that the cult leader and the Chosen are vampires, the girl is being kept as a ritual sacrifice under heavy guard, and the ritual is happening tomorrow at midnight.

Cybernation

Chris Innanen

DREAMING UP A CITY OF CHROME TO CALL HOME, LIKE IT OR NOT…

People are disappearing at night as they sleep, you could be next! You’d be drugged into a deep coma, hauled off to a secret city buried beneath the mountains, and be turned into slave-cyborgs for a power mad dictator more than half crazed by his own lack of humanity and burned-out brain. Unless you can fight your way out before all the operations begin (though one of the first things they implant is an alpha-wave inducer that’ll put you to sleep under computer control) you may spend the rest of your misbegotten life in the realm of the CyberKing.

Word on the Street: “Annek wasn’t in her room, but I found this canceled ebony credstick.”

Defrost Before Use

J.D. Falk

In the late 1990’s, a group of scientists decided to try their hand at cryogenics. In a freak accident involving a cup of coffee, some numbskull’s hip, and an uninsulated switch, they – plus a few technicians and the delegation from the military who were touring the facility – were accidentally frozen.

Now, about sixty years later, another freak accident defrosts them, and they have no choice but to attempt to adjust themselves to immense changes in the world around them.

This is not truly a plot, only a good beginning to a campaign. It is best for a group of players not overly familiar with this genre of game, but could conceivably be used with any group. Each player should have one character, and there should be at least one Scientist (specializing in knowledge skills, also some B/R, corp or government etiquette, etc.), one Technician (B/R skills, and probably some limited combat ability wouldn’t hurt), and one Military officer (with combat skills, military and possibly government etiquette, and probably some knowledge skills). At the GM’s discretion, one or more of the characters could begin to goblinize, or develop some magical ability.

Possibilities after this include meeting an N.P.C. to tell them what’s what in the sprawl, or (even more like a B-movie plot), that NPC could be an A.I. who uses them to do meat jobs. This NPC will keep them from being immediately eaten alive in the shadowy underworld we ‘runners call fun, but won’t give them EVERYTHING. One possibility for a motive would be a fixer who is trading them info about this time for info about their old lives, which is then sold to an unknown historian.

Delicate by Design

Chris Innanen

OLDEST PROFESSION MEETS NEWEST TECHNOLOGY…

They’re the most attractive “women” you’ve ever seen. They’re built so lifelike, a gynecologist couldn’t tell’em from Eve herself. And they’ve got a price tag most CEOs would balk at. But there’s just one problem…

Word on the Street: “They’re REAL, I tell you! Flesh an’ blood! The Corp’s brainwashed’em!”

The Delicate Sound of Thunder

Steve Mancini

The team is hired by a Lion shaman who also happens to be the grandson of the legendary Indian military leader, Thunder Tyee. The grandson has adopted the name Searching for Great Thunder for the purpose of the run. He is convinced that there are records of the assassination of his grandfather and he wants these records. They are hidden, he believes, in the old, non-matrix connected computers of a former government installation located somewhere in the NAN (you chose locale). Only problem is this installation has become the fortress of a renegade group of Indian marauders who prey on travelers of the local highways. The grandson wants the documents at any cost- he has no care for these highway robbers.

Espionage

David J. Altman

The characters are urgently called by their most trusted Fixer. He tells them that some very unusual Mr. Johnsons want to arrange a meet. The Fixer looks jumpy and nervous as he gives them the meet location and time.

Upon arrival the characters can tell that this shadowrun is “Big Time”. The Mr. Johnsons are very sharp. Their actions scream special operations. Nor are the characters wrong in their assessment. The Mr. Johnsons represent CIA-Rand Information Systems. They want to hire the characters to “tag and bag” (locate and kidnap) two troubleshooters from CIA-Rand’s largest competitor - KGB InteliSource.

A short while later the characters are approached by two other, rather dangerous looking gentlemen. They also want to hire the characters. These two gentlemen are from KGB InteliSource, they want the characters to find and bring back two renegade agents who have “defected” with some very important information. Bad part is both corps want the same guys. What are they going to do?!?!?

Give Away

Chris Innanen

FREE IN EVERY BOX…

There was a little screw up in the packaging department. How the data got into their computers no one knows. But in just a few of the hundreds of thousands of boxes of kiddie cereal that the factory put out that day, the usual plastic secret decoder ring that unscrambles the messages flashed during the cereal’s cartoon was replaced by a plastic secret decoder ring that unscrambles half the Corp’s top secret files. They want them back.

Johnson: “Here are the addresses of the brats that bought the boxes. I hate kids.”

Grassroots Rebellion

George Campbell

Sick and tired of being trod upon by the large megacorps people of all races and backgrounds are coming together just outside of Seattle to put an end to them - one at a time if need be and at any cost. They want to hire your team to train them in the skills the need to have a chance at survival. Of course the megacorps would rather see them all dead and you with them, so the campsite begins to look like another Desert War only in the forest. Then you find out the core of the movement is actually in the pay of Ares and are but a front to cut down some of the competitors and at the same time to weed out undesirables from the masses.

High Steel

Chris Innanen

HIGHJINX AT THE OLD CONSTRUCTION SITE…

Corp B played dirty, stealing a juicy contract to build the new Pokatok stadium from Corp A. Corp A did a little digging of their own, and now wants proof to their accusation that B is using sub-standard building materials making the stadium a death trap.

Johnson: “Sure we get the contract if they lose, but this is for public safety.”

I Want My Son Back!

Dwayne Baker

Mr Johnson, a vice president of public relations for Knight Errant, (or LoneStar if the players need a legal out); contacts the runners to locate and retrieve his son. Mr Johnson explains that his son had decided to go to SSECCa Technical Academy and after some discussion Mr. Johnson had agreed to the school. His son was doing extremely well there and had an ideal GPA despite his wide ranged involvement in athletics, vehicular technologies and computers during his first semester. During his second semester he started not being at his dorm, withdrawn from society despite his continued school involvement. Things got worse over the next to years when he graduated I didn’t even find out until a month later. Recently I was running some things on the computer ran a trace on my son’s SIN and got a message that no such SIN exists.

Johnson: “I WANT MY SON BACK!! I don’t care what you do or who you kill. Just bring him back!”

GM Notes: Mr. Johnson’s son is still working through the SSECCa Technical Academy & Mr. Finaish. Remember that Mr. Finaish Can call on 25 - 40 students to repel the runners. These students are mostly half trained partially cybered individuals.

Recommended Materials:

SPRAWL: SSECCa Technical Academy
CHARACTER: Mr. Finaish
CHARACTER: Dr. Elenbright
CHARACTER: Coach Cackrin
CHARACTER: Dr. Lientze
CHARACTER: Dr. Reaves
CHARACTER: Dr. Eizenreich

Is it Live or is it Memorex?

Thomas Frost

Anonymous, androgynous smarmy media geek: “OK, this is all non-disclosure, of course, and I think we’re all adults here, hmm? First off, yes, FeelGood is being bought out by Idee-8. Yes, that includes the entire simsense division. YES, that includes the fabulous Donna d’Aubry, performer extrordinaire, star of the triple-iridium “Tunnel Vision” – what do you mean, you’ve never sensed it? Do you all live in a hole or something? WELL – the idea is, we want to let out that she’s jumping ship for Idee-8 BEFORE the buyout – corporate extraction, cloak-and-dagger, all that fun stuff – AND we want you to be the extraction team, AND we want to – are you ready? – TAPE THE WHOLE THING IN SIMSENSE. We’ll let Joe and Jane White Bread actually live the life of a Shadowrunner! Isn’t it absolutely AIR? Couldn’t you DIE?”

This particular Mr. (Ms.?) Johnson wants the team to fake a corporate extraction while wearing simsense gear. Their company wants recordings of the team’s meetings with a pseudo-Mr. Johnson and with their contacts, and during the run itself. The characters are assured that their faces will be replaced with other (more photogenic) ones, so that no one will recognize them from the simsense.

The reality:

The rumors of a buyout are false, planted. Idee-8 has been working Donna d’Aubry, and FeelGood would rather eliminate the problem rather than have their top star defect. But as long as their moving her out, why not make a production out of it and record her last performance?

The simsense gear is either real or fake (GM’s discretion). The meetings, the planning, and the run will be staged. The opposition will be token, right up to the time they’re about to get away with it. After all, we can’t have anyone knowing this was staged, can we?

It’s up to the characters to find out this is bogus. Maybe they’ll find out the buyout rumor is planted; maybe they’ll find that Idee-8 has been working Ms. d’Aubry. Maybe they’ll be able to survive this run. Maybe not.

Couldn’t you just DIE?

Jupiter’s Day

Paolo Marcucci

Astronomy still exist in 2050. But it is carried mainly by machines, leaving human astronomers just to evaluate data and build great theories. An evil decker has infiltrated the astronomy matrix and had twisted incoming data to show that Jupiter in on crash route with Earth. After a period of pure panic, astronomers detach the observation computers and see the difference in raw and processed data. Two months later, the network is cleaned and its work is restarted. The same thing happen with Mars, and, two months later, with Venus. After three times, the astronomers don’t care much about the data showing that the Zurich Orbital is on crash route with south Seattle and disconnect the matrix for big time maintenance. But the ground tracking stations loose any contact with the Orbital…

Johnson: “Sure, the ticket is prepaid, and don’t worry about gravity loss…”

NOTE: in a revolving space station, bullets follow strange paths and can be REALLY dangerous is they don’t hit some target. Gelled rounds would therefor be commonplace

Kentucky Fried Chicken

Daniel Waisley “NightFox”

The run is simple, all you have to do it get the willing target from this corporation and bring him to us. Dead people are not a bother.

William Mitchell is a Paranormal biologist who specializes in the medically and artificially altering Paranormal animals. He really doesn’t like what he does, even though he is very good at it. He wants out of his corp, but he doesn’t have a chance to get free unless someone helps him.

All you have to do is get him from his third floor room in the building and off the corp grounds. Of course it doesn’t help that the place is surrounded by meta-chickens commonly known as cockatrice.

The big problem for the runners is when Mitchell’s science team mate wants to come with him.

All in all its not that bad of a run, and should not prove to be too hard.

The Lazarus Agenda

Steve Mancini

In this world, you do get a second chance. There is the power of Resurrection and it is contained in a set of six books. These books are being held by a group of Snake shamans that have spread them across Seattle and the NAN. The runners are being hired to steal these books for a clan of Bear Shamans who wish to copy them.

The elves have done some things right. They have recognized that a person has six primary aspects to their being- Love, Hate, Physical, Spiritual, Past, and Future. By collecting these six aspects, it is possible to resurrect a person, giving them one more chance. The ritual cannot be learned, it is far too complex and taxing. It must be cast from the books, by a ritual team composed of the same totem or tradition (in the case of hermetic should a group ever get their hands on the books and translate them). Each of the aspects is consumed by the ritual and bestows upon the person 1 point of their life back. They come back a whole person- none of their “worldly” intrusions come with them. The are whole, with most of their skills, and none of their cyberware. If magical, that too may return. (For greater detail, contact me and I will email you).

Let Your Deckers Do The Walking

J.D. Falk

With a nod to Micah Levy and The Powerhouse for the discussion which spawned this idea….

THIS PLOT IDEA IS WRITTEN FOR HIGH-LEVEL DECKERS, BUT COULD BE ADAPTED.

A message is sent to the “spokesperson” of the PC group, asking them to meet virtually at a relatively public site in The Matrix, perhaps a specific theater environment in The Rosebase (see previous SPRAWL submission). Searches can show that this message, although taking a circuitous route, originated from a mid-sized mobile telecommunications corporation called Robins Communication Systems, Limited.

At the meet, the representative from RCSL has the persona of a gray, boring businessman, which (in a place like The Rosebase) really makes him stand out. He tells the group that the UCAS Federal Telecommunications Commission is coming down hard on them, thanks to a larger rival, UCAS Bell. It seems that UCAS Bell has some information in their possession which could put RCSL permanently out of business, and RCSL wants to know what this information is so that they can reorganize the company in such a way that only a small number of assets are closed down by the UCAS FTC.

This information is very well hidden, but it is known that it was attached to a message sent privately from the chairman of UCAS Bell to the chairman of the UCAS FTC. One of these important people, both of whom have unlisted private numbers, has the file.

In exchange for this service, RCSL is willing to give you free unlimited telecommunications anywhere in the world, real life or virtual, and a Matrix construct of their very own (this is like having ones’ own Internet site at no cost, only better!)

To spice up the adventure (and leave room for non-Decker characters), the GM should add in the need to break into various places to get passcodes and other information.

Lone Star Purging

Steve Mancini

The runners are contacted via a fixer who claims that a head honcho at Lone Star is looking for them. He has a job that requires their expertise.

Apparently a Lone Star elite response team has gone astray. They have begun to do some dirty work on the side and he wants it stopped. In order to preserve the good name of Lone Star, he wants the geeked in the line of duty. No survivors.

Unfortunately for the runners, and the commissioner, the elite team has wired the Commissioner’s office and new he was meeting with some team. So while they may no know it is the runners that are after them, they are well prepared.

Lost: Money

E.C. Trager

The PCs are approached by Crown Imperial Technologies. One of their many vice-presidents is missing, and he didn’t leave a forwarding address. According to the Johnson, former v.p. Tom McFarlen skipped town with quite a bit of CIT’s money, embezzled over a period of over six months. CIT isn’t sure how much money is missing, but they’re offering a reward of a half-million nuyen to the person/group that brings McFarlen back…alive. The only lead? Sketchy reports that he’s hiding somewhere in Quebec…yes, Quebec.

Background:

It turns out McFarlen has taken a small bit of CIT’s assets…that is, if you consider fourteen (14) million nuyen a small bit. Crown Imperial does know how much is missing, but won’t reveal it for obvious reasons.

Contacts, cash, and an adequate knowledge of French has gotten McFarlen a cushy residency outside Quebec City. He really is a nice guy; the question is, will the PCs care less when they find out what Tom’s got in savings?!

Two other groups of runners are already in Quebec frantically searching for Tom. The players’ cleverness and decision making time will determine who gets there first…

Lost Treasure

David J. Altman

Estate. Mz. Hampton, a renowned socialite has asked the players to come immediately. Upon arrival to the mansion and its grounds, the players are instantly rushed into the drawing room, were a distraught Mz. Hampton is waiting for them. It seems that her nephew, a magically active teenager who is a spoiled brat, insulted a mage in a restaurant. The other mage called for a magical duel, and (Jeremy Hampton) the nephew accepted. The duel taxed young Jeremy to his limits and he snapped. Apparently, he was last seen driving away toward the big bad sprawl. Mz. Hampton wants the players to locate and bring back Jeremy.

But as soon as they get on the case they notice strange things, the kid moves from place to [place like greased lightning, eats a lot (his own body weight), and there is a terrorist organization after him.

So what’s the real deal? Mz. Hampton is an only child, she has no nephews . . . what she does have is a baby dragon. During one of her tours working with the Paranatural Wildlife Fund in Amazonia, she an egg. It belonged to a dragon she was told, but to a non-sentient variety. She imported it back home. Later, when the dragonlet started doing math and turning into a young boy she realized she had a Great Dragon on her hands. She decided to adopt it/him, and did so in secrecy. Now fifteen years later someone found out her secret, and tried to kidnap the dragon for themselves – after all, what better weapon. But the kidnapping was botched and the dragon got away. Now he is frightened, confused, and angry. The terrorists are after him. How will the players deal with situation? Its up to them.

Meals on Wheels

David J. Altman

A new medi-corp is in town, its called Medimax, and its challenging the big boys. No matter where the emergency is Medimax is there giving aid —- AT LOW LOW PRICES. Of course, they can’t save everyone, but hey they are doing a great job. But rival corps and a screwball female reporter are suspicious. What’s up with Medimax ? How can they afford to give those “LOW LOW PRICES”. An investigation will prove that some of the people that Medimax carts off for dead are still alive (but barely, they are under the influence of a poison that slows metabolism). Further investigation will reveal Medimax is owned by OrganFinder LTD. So is that it ? Is Medimax just trying to bodyjackal some organs ? Not by a long shot, discover the ‘runners as they find people’s parts being secretly shipped via an exclusive catering service (Par Elegance Catering) to Wendigo dinner parties all over the city. What do they do now ?

Making Up for Lost Time

Neal Porter

The characters are ask to attend a meet with their most reliable fixer (read one who hasn’t double crossed them… Much). Upon attendance they are offered a job for three days, paying a huge 50K¥ each for their time. BUT, the catch is that at the end of the contract they are to be mind-wiped for those days. When/If the characters agree the ‘Johnson’ places a metal globe on the table, asking all of them to watch it closely as they require a significant event to wipe back to. The globe then opens and the characters are blinded by a bright light, and everything goes black.

As the light slowly returns the players find themselves strapped into couches with strange helmets on their heads, in a white room. And Yes it is three days later.

What happens now is up to the GM, you could just leave it at this and have the players wondering what has happened. Or the PCs could suddenly find someone, or something hunting them (My favorite was insect spirits), and have no idea why.

In any event its up to the PCs to find out just exactly what they did in that ‘lost’ time.

No Name Avenue

Chris Innanen

IT ISN’T ON ANY MAPS, NO ONE’S BEEN THERE FOR YEARS…

Two rival Corp’s arcologies are built next to each other and are interconnected by bridges and tunnels. A boundary dispute leads to an investigation that discovers a strip of land, once a street but now totally enclosed by the arcologies, that neither Corp owns. The only access to that area is through the utility tunnels under each arc, but the security teams sent in haven’t returned and the interference from the machinery on all sides makes it impossible to maintain contact.

Johnson: “I wants someone to go down and find out what the frag is going on!”

No Strings Perceived

Chris Innanen

MONOWIRE ‘SI’ US…

Remember monowire, that nasty thread with the mean bite? Well, it’s gotten a little meaner if the Corp pre-ads can be believed: TRANSPARENT monowire. That’s right, while you’re jauntily walking down the corridor looking out for goons, guns, and good old opaque monowire, you’ll never see what cut your head off. Now, if you can just get to the little old professor that invented the stuff and convince him to “forget” the whole thing before the Corp gets its greedy hands on the recipe, you might just live out a long life… Baring job-related accidents, of course.

Word on the Street: “Oh, him? Yeah, he works for that dinky lab on 3rd and Mulburry…”

Playing the Other Side

Dwayne Baker

After the acquisition of new toys from a fixer (read as: illegal goods) the shadowrunners are caught by a heavily armed squad of Lonestar security. Lonestar having been tipped of the transaction by the fixer came ready to deal with most all circumstances. The team is eventually captured after a shortly lived battle and taken to jail or a secured hospital whichever is applicable. During preparations for the court proceedings the shadowrunners are called to the prosecuting attorney’s office. Under heavy supervision and without the use of their attorney (forced to stay outside) the runners are given a chance at redemption.

The deal is simple: The runners can plead not guilty and face a judge which has been bought by the prosecuting attorney or plead guilty and be sent to jail. The trick is that if they plead guilty the prosecuting attorney will arrange for their escape and after the run the clearing of the courts records of any and all wrong doings (no one said anything about clearing photoscans, fingerprints, descriptions, and lists of enhancements). The prosecuting attorney will arrange for the runners to be new cops to the Bellevue district. The object is to identify, locate and eliminate a band of bad cops associated with the Yakuza without being recognized and killed by the Yakuza, Mafia, or Police. Of course during this they must report and try to stop all crime, make arrests, and in general act like a respectable cop. It would be terrible to be taken in for being a dirty cop while your still a wanted man.

GM’s note: the Seoulpa ring “the Phantom Lakers” are the money backing this op. They figure the Yakuza will blame the Mafia and start a gang war. During the War the Phantom Lakers will cut themselves a bigger slice of the pie; most from the Yakuza, but part from the Mafia.

Prodigal Son

Steve Mancini

A Renraku executive hires the team to extract his runaway son from a cult organization called Arcane Inc. This cult/company promises that all people are inherently magical and that through proper training and discipline, it is possible to be magical. The school is basically a sucker trap for rich folks who wish they were magical.

The company does however, have magic. Its four leaders are in fact hermetic mages, one of which cloaks himself in a shamanic tradition so as to through folks off. Through fancy illusions, and a few mind control spells, these four have swindled a great deal of money from several thousand people. The leader is an initiate who quickens spells to their ‘followers’ and leads them to believe it is their own magic manifesting. In addition to these mages, the company has hired several bodyguards to protect the compound which is located in the woods of the Fort Lewis district (basically put the compound somewhere away from the real world).

Last question- is the son truly magical? You decide….

Project GoldBird

Nathan Yourchuck

The characters are contacted by a Mr. Johnson, preferably one with connections in the chemical industry or something. He offers them the usual amount of money for them to go in and steal a prototype

Johnson: “It’s a prototype device created by the GoldBird team. We don’t know what it looks like or how big it is.”

Teams that conduct investigative work beforehand will discover that the company financing Project GoldBird (I used Biogene) does not usually conduct research into this field. The goal of project GoldBird is to somehow refine impure substances and separate them into their raw elements. However, the company that owns Project GoldBird usually does research in genetic manipulation and such. Characters will not be able to learn much more than the above information concerning project GoldBird.

When the team finally breaks into the bowels of the Project GoldBird facility they will find a locked vault, supposedly containing the GoldBird prototype. Inside is a caged goose - hooked up to an electronic watering/feeding system, and that’s all. This goose is the GoldBird prototype (and it lays gold eggs). Characters touching the goose will find that they cannot let go, and it is possible for the whole team to be stuck together in a big line (just like the old fairy tale - GMs should be sure to have fun with this).

Red Christmas

Daniel Waisley “NightFox”

On December 24 2011 Magic came back to the world, and the next day, during the first hours of Christmas, Santa returned. No old chris-cringle didn’t come back to give presents to all the little boys and girls, rather he came to take them away, at least the Gnomes. He stole them from their homes and hospitals where they had been born short hours before and spirited them away to the North Pole. Why does know one remember? magic perhaps, or something else.

Mr Johnson meets with you, he looks like a normal dwarf, but thinner and less bulky. He tells you that he is not a dwarf but a gnome, a hitherto unknown metatype. What he wants is simple, he wants you to travel to the north pole and free his brethren from Santa Claus who has been keeping them in virtual slavery working on insert whatever plot device you want. He was able to escape with the help of his Totem - Penguin (the large flabby nosed variety).

What happens is up to you. the gnomes name is Opus.

Rumpilstilskin

Steve Mancini

Team will be hired by eccentric anthropologist who goblinized into a Troll. He believe government has proof of elves existing prior to the Awakening and that they were captured and held in ‘concentration’ camps on pacific islands. He is looking for Hard copies of government documents since they never made it through the Computer Crash.

The troll will provide them with longitude/latitude to the island. The team will find a base, long abandoned and quite obsolete. For the violent folks in your party you can have the island populated with various para- normals, some of which may be new and yet undiscovered. Among the ruins there is no proof of such a camp. This was a nuclear test sight! (Players may now figure out that they have been in a toxic zone).

At a later date, have the troll contact them again. He has found further proof. This proof will refer to Project Rumpstilskin. The ‘subject’ will always be referred to as Rumpilstilskin. When the government went to hell, the CIA sanctioned the official termination of all members of the project. If the team searches the computer logs, etc. (some medium) they will discover that one of the ‘terminations’ will not make sense… (maybe they shall discover a forgery, or misquoted death rate.)… the assassin still lives, his subject was a gorgeous woman (at that time) and he could not do it. She then ran away and hid in the mountains (choose a group).

She was a minor administrator. All she knows is that the subject of project ‘Rumpilstilskin’ was transported along with a ton of equipment (cryogenic, but she doesn’t know it) to another location, a backup lab that was only known about by top security officials. She also heard a superior talk about the transport planes being slagged on route home by CIA missiles.

If the team is smart, they can deduce that the ‘black box’ of the vehicle will contain the flight plans, and exact destination of the plane. This will require the team to hit the oceans, search out the vehicle, and ‘dive’ for the piece of equipment. Good chance to introduce ‘aquatic combat’ and such fun things. (Line of Sight minimal, guns useless, etc…)

The flight box will refer to a small island in the pacific, very close to the island where they tested radiation and biological weaponry. It is classified as ‘hazardous’.

Once the team hits the lab, they shall encounter Heavy primitive security that is lethal. Also on the island will be the ‘children’ of the lab workers left here. They will have developed into a ‘worshipper’ cult. Some/most will have awakened magically- no cyber.. all magic. The strongest group shall be a group of quasi-druids- Wyrm Totem.

The sleeper is a young dragon; caught asleep and frozen in cryogenic stasis chamber. It is magically active, though lacking in skill. The ‘clan’ will not allow the players into the ‘shrine’ resulting in the team turning back never to discover the dragon or killing/subduing the entire tribe.

As for the professor- he will never find his evidence, though a sleeping dragon, young and not too knowledgeable about the world around him is a decent consolation prize…

Santa’s Not-So-Little Helpers

Chris Innanen

WHEN THE MAGIC RETURNED, SO DID A FEW OTHER “MAKE BELIEVE” THINGS…

He’s been holed up in the Arctic since his return, sending out his elves to scout out the territory. He hasn’t liked what he’s seen, but he’s ready for action now.

Cyber-Claws is coming to town…

Word on the Street: “This guy in red chrome came up and shoved this gift down my pants!”

CyberCaws: “HO HO HO! Have you been a GOOD LITTLE BOY? NO?!?? THEN TAKE THIS!!!”

The Seduction

Steve Mancini

The team is going to be hired by a mid-level security executive from some corporation (when I ran it I used MCT). Apparently there is a leak in one of the companies think tanks and he has been put in charge of the investigation. Well two weeks later and he still has no clues. With the corporate hatchetman knocking at his door, he has decided to turn to some outside help.

A corporate think tank which has been nicknamed “The Prophets” has been very successful at predicting the rise and fall of several big corporation stocks for some time now. This group of six financial wizards work collectively in matrix examining corporate reports, stock market figures, etc. Well recently, someone has begun to parallel the corp’s marketing strategy that is based on this think tanks predictions. There is an obvious leak in the group. The runners are to find the leak and report back to the mid-level security exec. He wants the credit for the find and he will pay the runners handsomely to keep their mouths shut.

So basically what we have is 6 people, at least one of which is giving prized information away. As the team trails the 6, one very devious financial wizard has invested a large sum of his money in a fake id. He has also purchased several tech toys that allow him to come and go from his apartment unnoticed. (Be creative- I had him have a second exit leading to a sewer designed. He snuck out to his other car which was hidden in a garage a block away.)

So now that we have our sneak, where does he go? He likes to slum around in a sleazy part of down. He is also a habitual frequenter of a strip joint. Once the team tracks him there they will catch him in the act- of being essence drained! He has been addicted to the pleasure or E-drain and the vampire using him knows it. In fact, she has been running this game over on several corps so far. She finds an exec, seduces him, gets him addicted and “bleeds him dry” of information… and essence. Along the way, she has “made” a few friends, including an ork merc who she infected to wendigo- he is also a shark shaman and acts as her bodyguard. Now you know, but if she knows you know, then there is trouble over the horizon- trouble that will visit each player when they are alone… and most vulnerable. She will go after those she thinks the weakest first- the mundanes. Once she has them “converted” its just a big snowball toward each team member. You have your Johnson’s answer- but is the trouble following it worth the price?

The Sentinel Project

Steve Mancini

Mission:

Ares has a new security system they are calling Sentinel. Your Mr. Johnson works for the competition, and wants this project stopped dead in it tracks. The Sentinel project is Ares first crack at integrating an AI with rigger technology.

The Team will be hired to sabotage the system on the day it is to be demonstrated before the Pres. of Ares R&D. The team will be hired to infiltrate base, and ‘reprogram’ the Android with a program provided by the Johnson. He will hint that the Sentinel may become disoriented by the reprogram and wander off to find a new home. wink The reprogramming could take the combined effort of a rigger and a decker if you have the players and wish to make them useful.

After breaking into an Ares R&D lab (a feat in and of itself) the runners will discover the ‘system’ is a rigger’s sentience trapped in the system, then reproduced, then erased of its human memory.

Behind the Scenes:

The Mr. Johnson works for Ares. He is not in the division that developed the Sentinel project but has a personal stake in its failure. If it succeeds, a promotion ear-marked for him will go to someone else.

The program the players are carrying is designed to confuse the Sentinel alright- but not is navigation- instead it is going to mess with the vehicles targeting system- designating the President of R&D and his entourage as hostile enemies.

Death, destruction, and corporate mayhem are sure to follow.

Spree

Chris Innanen

EVERYONE IS BUYING, BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW WHY…

Sure it’s been advertised like crazy in the vids, plastered all over the billboards and wall screens, and pictured in every magazine from Vogue to Sports Illustrated’s Cyper Issue… But WHY would anyone actually want to BUY it? Funny thing is, they ARE. Millions of them. And the rival Corps want to know how it’s being done.

Johnson: “Even my wife brought one home last night! And we don’t HAVE a yak…”

Thou Shalt Not…

Steve Mancini

The team will be contacted by a well admired priest. The nice guy of the neighborhood who is respected and loved by all. He is the kind of guy who would provide them shelter if their cause was just.

He has been asked by his superiors to locate some street people who can help them discretely with a problem.

A local priest, who is also a Dog Shaman, has been growing more unstable with this dichotomy (Priest/Shaman). While he is sworn to uphold the bible, the calling of Dog is growing stronger- he has developed his magical talents without permission. Unfortunately, this growing anxiety has pushed him over the edge- he has abandoned his congregation. A quick survey of the situation has discovered that he has begun a path of twisted magic- toxic magic. In his personal diary the priests have found that he has set a “path” for himself in which he must violate each of the 10 commandments. Only after this, will he find his true self.

The church wants him returned, ALIVE, to their graces BEFORE he commits the final act and turns toxic forever.

What I Would Like…

Christopher Ryan

The PCs are contacted via one of their fixer contacts who asks them to assist in obtaining a few items needed for presents (perhaps for Christmas or Birthdays). Naturally these items should be quite exotic and difficult to get. Some suggestions for items are:

• Tribal artifact (weapon/carving/whatever)
• Painting from renown artist (who maybe publicly shy and reluctant to deal with PCs)
• Autograph from famous, reclusive urban brawler (who has lots of hirelings to deal with troublesome fans)

This plot can be used to give the PCs the run-around or to lead to further sub-plots. A good run-around would be to have A want something B has, who in turn wants something C wants, etc.