mAg1k Run
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Author: Ben Hayter
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/shadesofabrighterdawn/CyberWolf.html
System: Shadowrun
Type: Campaign
Category: Science Fiction
Requirements: Beginning Characters, 3rd Edition System - Designed for 1-3 Players - All PCs should know each other

What players know- Before game starts

The yakuza / mob / seoulpa war has been going on for the last year, with every side claiming that the other was responsible for the mysterious assassinations that occurred at the start.

The mob boss, "Jimmy" Leonie is a fairly prominant figure in the underworld- head of the Bagio family's BTL production in the southern metroplex. Lately, Jimmy has been making aggressive moves against the yakuza; particularly the Tenchi family's couriers. Bets are being made as to how long before Shinji (the Tenchi family head) will get permission from oyaban Shotozumi to retaliate.

Juliet Rulide is a major player in the magical field, holding a position at the seattle "IMCT" (Institute of Magic and CyberTechnology) council board. Known for being slightly eccentric and friendly, she also is a prominant figure against metaracism. Finally, she is known for being the only metahuman (being an Elf) on the IMCT board- the other 11 seats are filled by Humans.

The Institute of Magic and CyberTechnology is a up-and-coming major player in it's field- an independant university that is now powerful enough to rival some of the smaller corporations. It enjoys close links with MIT&M, Harvard, and Oxford universities, and it controls a small number of public assets, such as the Seattle Public Library (owned by the government, it is run by IMCT), and has close connections with DocWagon, and Knight Errant.

IMCT has a deal going with Knight Errant, they protect the grounds and council, and IMCT gives scholarships to prominant KE members.

There have been a recent spattering of break-ins in Redmond over the past three weeks, resulting in thousands of Nuyen in jewelery going missing. Lone Star (in desperation; very rich clientelle are thinking of leaving) are offering a large cash bonus (16,000¥) for the capture of whoever is raiding the houses.

What players know- After game starts

The team gets contacted by Ms. Johnson (whom they instantly recognise as Juliet Rulide), who wishes them to aquire a "small" number of specialised artifacts for a small ritual she wishes to do. "Ms. Johnson" appears to be very new to the biz, as she not only leaves her video feed active while making the call, she also lets slip about her identity if it is commented on / asked about. She is willing to offer 1,000¥ per item gathered.

She wishes for them to get:

A basilisk scale

A quill from the desk of Mog Ottoman (Chairman of the Council of IMCT)

The live voice recording of Kirilia (major pop-idol)

A fingerprint set from a Lone Star official

The Seattle Public Library's only copy of the Encyclopaedia Magica CD

5 foci candles (red, white, black, green, blue; all force 1 expendable foci)

An air elemental from Renraku's corporate laboratory

A strand of hair from the mane of a pegasus

The delivery must be made at 7:13pm in 3 days time. The PCs must arrive exactly on time, no earlier, no later (she will explain that the spirits she has guarding her house in Redmond are fussy about times).

Afterwards, one of the other PCs shall be contacted (either directly or through a fixer) by a Mr. Johnson, regarding a small task he wishes the party to do. Jimmy Leonie has been putting his foot in too deep- one of the couriers that the mob's enforcers has killed was transporting a birthday cake for Johnson's boss. Johnson is extremely professional, with no video feed and voice professionally (and expensively) masked.

He will offer 4,000¥ for the head of the enforcer who killed the courier, plus 1,000¥ for the right index finger of everyone defending him/her. He will also offer a bonus of 7,000¥ for the cake to be delivered intact to the cake store on 53rd and main (in Redmond) before 5pm today. Heads and fingers are to be delivered within another hour to Dr. Howanga, at the hospital around the block.

The enforcer has been identified as a Mitch "Don" Leonie, and is the eldest nephew of Jimmy Leonie. He will notify the PCs that "Don" is at the Bagio family's weapons store in the Barrens. Mr. Johnson will apologise but offer no compensation for any bad relations between the PCs and the mob after this. If the PCs ask, Mr. Johnson will agree to "negate" any legal difficulties the PCs have. If not asked, he will offer this at no extra cost.

What players don't know

"Juliet" is actually Dougie Farseer, one of the other mages presiding on the Council- he has used a Physcial Mask spell to alter his features and voice- Ms. Rulide is actually more stable and less "fluffy" than "she" appeared. Dougie's motives are to convince the characters to be at the mansion at 7:13pm in three days time- there they will be arrested for "burglary and kidnapping" by Lone Star. Lone Star, of course, care less about he veracity of the charges and more about a quick arrest.

Dougie is also arranging for some Humanis Policlub members to kidnap Juliet and trash her mansion. As the member in charge of the deal between IMCT and Knight Errant, he has cancelled her guard for that night and replaced the roster with Humanis Policlub members. From then on in, all they have to deal with is the (supposedly) flighty servants.

His motives are that without her on the board, he'll be in prime position to start his plans rolling for his takeover of IMCT. In addition, by handing over a prominent Metarights activist to Humanis Policlub, he hopes to build a strong relationship with the racist group. Through this he may be able to use them to do his "dirty work" for a minimal price.

Mr. Johnson is Shinji Tenchi, who is using the run as a trial for the PCs. If the PCs are tough enough to handle a few enforcers, and delicate enough to deliver a cake intact, then they can be hired for the real job.

The real job is to carbomb Jimmy Leonie's car- the fact that the targeted enforcer is Jimmy's nephew is the crucial part. Anyone loyal to Jimmy won't kill his (beloved) nephew.

If the PCs reject Mr. Johnson's offer, they'll have a harder time later on, so be sure to put the pressure on them (ie. offer higher pay, etc) to accept.

Once they've accepted both jobs, it's a matter of timing:

"Don" is working at his moonlighting job as a cashier for a weapons store owned by the Bagio family. He will be talking with his mate (Jason, another Enforcer) when the PCs arrive. Don will not recognise the PCs if they enter (unless there's bad blood between PCs & Mob already), instead asking them the usual things ("Can I help you?" "Are you looking for something in particular?").

If the PCs open fire straight up from the street, 2 other enforcers down the road will run to get vengeance. They will be coming straight from doing a drug deal (selling the now-illegal "Wince" second-hand), and will have a good portion of the product on them if searched.

Sniping from rooftops will be hard, as there are no good vantage-points nearby (there is an apartment building across the road, which is occupied).

In any case, no Lone Star presence will be forthcoming, as Mr. Johnson will arrange for this beforehand. (Unless the PCs try entering the apartments with a rifle in hand).

The only trouble the PCs should have is that the "Brown Razors" Combat gang will notice the firefight going on and will step in. There are 8 of them, and they will not give any parley, taking a life for a life.

When the characters have removed the "required items", they'll need to get to the cake shop in Redmond. This is harder than it looks, as the Lone Star patrols are on alert from a recent spate of break-ins. This is best run as a stealth mission, with the characters evading heavy patrols every ten minutes (another reason for Lone Star not arriving earlier). Patrols are also equipped with FN-HAL assault rifles (8M SA/BF/FA), and security armour (Ballistic 7 / Impact 5). Each patrol is accompanied by a CityMaster, and consists of 6 patrolmen and an officer (who stays within the Citymaster).

Smart players may attempt to gain the officer's fingerprints. Be inventive as to how this needs to happen, and reward them if they are clever enough.

Finally, they will get to the cake shop on 53rd and Main. As they arrive, a female African-American Elf will barge past into the store. As the players enter, she will leap over the counter and run into the kitchen. Minaga Rumanji (the store owner) will protest loudly at the intrusion, and follow her in.

Whatever the players do, they will hear the Elf chanting a spell, followed by Minaga running & screaming out of the kitchen. He will be followed by a city spirit that has taken the form of a giant cake-man (anyone seen "Ghostbusters"?). The spirit has been sent to kill the party, as the details of their previous run has been made known to Jimmy.

If the characters manage to evade the spirit, the Elf will be vacating the premises through the kitchen door. She will be disinterested in combat, and will simply run to the car waiting for her at the end of the alley.

The cake spirit has a strong weakness for sugar, and will avoid the sprinkling on the floor (spilled by Minaga's fleeing). If the players capitalise on this, then they can avoid a lot of problems. Otherwise, it is a Force 5 City Spirit.

Once the party has vanquished the spirit, Minaga will thank them personally, stating that "the family will owe you much gratitude". This isn't too far from the truth, as Minaga is oyaban Shotozumi's great-uncle. Once Minaga has arranged the necessary details, the credsticks on the charger will beep, notifying him that the payment has come through. It is then up to the PCs to get to the hospital.

The hospital delivery is fairly straightforward, with no complications. Give the PCs a well-deserved rest.

Now that the side issues are taken care of, the PCs should go about getting the items required for "Juliet".

The basilisk scale can be found at any paranimal pet store, scales are sold to talismongers for 5¥ apiece.

The quill can be a bit harder, first requiring an appointment and then actually getting Mog out of the room. A B&E run could be arranged, but they'll be stopped by Lone Star patrols every five minutes. Use every means to deter them from this, up to and including an Osprey noticing them while returning from a high-speed chase.

The voice recording is easy- there's a concert on at 6:00pm that night (the second night- I'm assuming the PCs get at least 1 night's rest). Tickets cost 15¥, recording rights cost a further 400¥ per tape.

The fingerprints could be harder, but a martix run on Lone Star Records can be arranged, costing about 500¥/minute (it'll take 6 minutes, minus 1min per success on an Intelligence roll: TN 8. Botches result in both brainburn and response team).

The Encyclopaedia Magica can be borrowed from the library for 2¥. Otherwise, theft will (again) result in Lone Star presence (2 officers at the door).

The candles can be bought from any talismonger, at 1,500¥ each (7,500¥ total). "Hot" candles can be arranged with an Etiquette roll (TN 6), with a reduction of 100¥ per success.

The pegasi hair can be gained from the ParaZoological gardens, where there is a pegasi in the petting zoo. No-one will harass the characters for wanting a "reminder".

The air elemental will be more difficult, so will require a run designed all on it's own. Corrupt officials could be bribed, for roughly 3,000¥ in total.

While on the run, one of the PC's mobile phones will ring, with a message from Mr. Johnson. He will request a meeting at the "Tempura Palace" at 8:00pm tonight. He will also state that he has a "High-risk, high-pay" job for them. If they decline, once again feel free to put the pressure on them.

Once the PCs decide to head to the dinner meeting, they will find that the restaraunt is a semi-formal establishment- they will need to have spend at least 200¥ on appearance to enter (or have a "Middle" Lifestyle), but to enter the "First Class" section it will need to be 300¥ (High Lifestyle). Bloodstains will not let you enter. Failing that, the PCs may bribe the bouncers at the door (a minimum of 500¥ each; there's 2 of them), or fight their way in. There are another 6 guards inside, and after 5 minutes, a minimum of 15 Lone Star cops will arrive on the scene, plus about 30 Yakuza mobsters; both deciding to work together for the common good (aka- eliminating the PCs). If the players look like they're getting too out of hand, let them know that they can see katanas on the walls and people walking around (waiters, waitresses, etc) have tattoos.

If (and only if) the PCs actually gain peaceful entry into the restaraunt, they will be led (the waitress has the name of the PC contacted) to booth number 7. Inside the sliding door, they will see a traditional Japanese dining setup, complete with seating cushions and geishas. There are 3 Japanese men seated at the table, and there is 1 seat left- that is intended for the character who was contacted by "Mr. Johnson". The rest of the party are then led to another table, and are left to their own devices. Unfortunately, no-one will be able to hear the conversation in the next booth due to miscellaneous noise (other people talking, the sarariman in booth no. 14 using the geishas for purposes other than scenery). Now's a time to relax and enjoy the free cuisine (the waitress will inform them that Mr. Johnson is paying for their meal)...

Meanwhile, the lone PC will be informed (if they don't recognise Shinji- Etiquette (Yakuza), Yakuza Knowledge (Seattle), or anything to do with local Yak politics at TN: 4 will remind them) that they're dealing with Shinji Tenchi. Shinji is flanked by two of his most trusted Samurai, who will defend him to the death. Both Samurai are physical adepts. Shinji will not speak at first, allowing the first Samurai (Tojin) to speak on his behalf, welcoming the character to the meeting and inviting them to dine with them. Shinji is known for being a nonconformist, consistantly breaking tradition in everything but direct orders from the oyaban. This should tell the character that this is serious business. In addition (for added effect), the characters should be told that usually Shinji is seen with only one Samurai at a time, so both being here is a major thing.

Tojin will ask the PC to be quiet if they attempt to ask any questions or even talk while the meal is being eaten. Sake will be passed around, and then Shinji will begin talking himself, announcing the actual meeting's beginning.

Shinji will say (in Japanese if the PC has it, and feel free to paraphrase):

"I assume that you have worked out by now that I am the Mr. Johnson that contacted you. I have chosen you for the fact that you have shown great loyalty to the clan, and through the clan, the oyaban. Now the clan has a task for you to perform.

"The renegade mafiosi, Jimmy Leonie has been causing too much trouble for the oyaban, and shall be punished accordingly. It has been known for some time that he is only using the Yakuza's pain to further his own advancement. This must stop, for the Clans are not his playtoy to throw around. An example must be made, one that tells the other syndicates that oyaban Shotozumi is not a force to be trifled with. Jimmy Leonie must die, within his own home, with no trace leading anywhere but to us."

Here, the Clan leader will pause, taking the time to drink a small amount of sake unhurriedly. When he has finished, he will continue.

"Today, a message was formally delivered to the Bagio family mansion announcing Jimmy's death, taking credit for the oyaban. It will be your task to follow through on our promise. There has been talk of disloyalty amongst those we normally use for such tasks, and those I can trust are best kept closer to me. However, you are an independant, and have shown you have no love for the renegade.

We need you to carbomb Jimmy's favorite car- an antique 2000 'Chevy that has been re-rigged for cybercontrols. We will supply you with a full 3kg of C6, which must be placed on his vehicle and rigged to the ignition. No guards must be alerted either on the way in or out. If you can do this, we will pay you a total of 12,000¥ upon completion. If you complete this task before the end of tonight, when he will be taking his "baby" for a joyride, we will also exercise our legal influence and grant each of you the ability to avoid Lone Star persecution on one occasion. Such will the gratitude of the Clan be made known."

If the character accepts, then Shinji will formally pass the sake once again and then thank and dismiss the character. The waitress will then hand the PC a note which details the warehouse that the C6 is stored in. She will then lead the PC to the rest of the group. The PCs will then be politely asked to leave.

After the dinner meeting, encourage the PCs to perform the "hit". Try appealing to their greedy natures by accenting the Lone Star "Get out of jail free card" on offer. Make sure they're equipped for a stealth mission, though- Jimmy's guards aren't going to be a pushover.

If the PCs decide to follow through, so much the easier for them! In a way...

Anyway; following the instructions on the map, they will get to a warehouse in the Docks. Here they will find an open and abandoned warehouse which has been ransacked. The C6 has been hidden, making it harder for vagrants and thieves to find it. As most of the above would simply scan the wreckage for trinkets, the brown paper wrapping makes it blend in quite well. It's fairly difficult to notice- TN 8 for an Intelligence test to notice it; but don't tell them (say it's an open test). Be nice and let them do the test individually. Worst case scenario, if they don't see it, then describe the scene to them in greater detail (add more detail in ascending order of the test- the higher the scores, the more you describe). Whoever picks up on the "large, plain, wrapped-up package on the second shelf" in amongst the junk and wreckage will be allowed another test, TN 4 for the closer inspection. Inside is 3kg of C6.

Don't let them put anything slightly electrical near it, 'cause the total damage for all 3 kilos is a whopping 20DD (DD = Double Deadly, 2 successes brings the total to Deadly, 4 to Serious, etc. Double Deadly also means Instant Kill, 'cause you're dealing 2x the damage bar in damage). The blast radius is 4m, with every 4m after that reducing the Power of the blast by 2. After 20m, the Force becomes Deadly.

Getting into the mansion is also going to be difficult. Once again, this will have to be defined by you, but a few details are included here. First- the guards are Mob Enforcers, and they patrol every 10min in groups of 2. Each also has a Biomonitor worn on the upper arm. The PCs should be encouraged to do extensive background research, but wherever they look they'll find that the Enforcers are modeling their patrols after Knight Errant's SuperDeluxe package- Biomonitors, call-ins every 5 min, and card-swipes at the end of each patrol.

The entire subplot should have a "Mission: Impossible" feel to it, with a few hints:

The guards swipe their cards and type their PIN codes within full view of anyone watching from the south side.

The guards also are cycled every 20 min after they get back from patrol.

One of the guards has a slight cold, and is constantly repeating their ID number to the control-switchboard, so listening and repeating the ID shouldn't be too hard.

Once the PCs get inside the car, they'll find some jewelery- if they've been checking the newsgrids, they'll recognise a necklace or a tiara. If they're smart, they can take the evidence to Lone Star afterwards to cash in on the reward offered.

Anyway, the final bit is obviously going to be aimed at Jimmy getting into his car at 11:30pm, starting up and going "BOOM!". Congratulations to the PCs- they've earned themselves the ability to complete the next bit, as well as a tidy 12,000¥.

After a well-deserved night's sleep, the PCs should take the time to finish collecting the goods they need. After wasting the day away, they should mobilise to Ms. Rulide's manor. There are three alternate scenarios here- 1) They turn up early; 2) They turn up on time; 3) They turn up late

If they turn up early, then they will arrive just as the Humanis Policlub van is leaving the scene. The PCs will nearly collide (TN 4 Vehicle Control Test) with the van as it veers wildly from side to side of the road. There will be a small amount of smoke coming from the manor, and it will be pretty obvious to the PCs that the van is where to be when they see Ms. Rulide's face looking scared in the back window. This part should be a dramatic chase scene, with a large number of twists and turns, and a fast-paced race through the busy city streets and a standing market. Eventually the van will be either caught up with (in which case a violent shoot-out ensues; complete with the fact that the "terrorists" will be without AK-97s- head straight to the ending), or lost completely (in which case the PCs have to backtrack to the manor- either being on time or late).

If the PCs turn up late, then they skip all the fun and miss out on some brilliant chances to roleplay.

If the PCs were arrested, then they can only use their "get out of jail free" once they get to Lone Star HQ, where they are roughly turfed out on the street. At least they get to keep their weaponry. From here they should go to the next step. If the PCs arrived late on the scene before, then they should go to the next step as well.

From here, they can scope out the scene, finding out that a black van was seen driving dangerously from the manor just before the PCs turned up. Tracing the route they took will be rather hard (TN 14), but will be the easiest path to follow. Other options include using spells to find the details of the van, and then finding the registration on the Matrix. Either way, they should get to the terrorist's house just as the action's about to start.

Inside the 3-story house are 15 terrorists, each convinced that they're doing God's work on Earth by eliminating the scum that is this pointy-eared freak. And if they can make a little money on the side doing so, then that's just the just reward for a righteous day's work.

Yes, they all think like that.

Juliet is being held on the second floor, guarded by another 4 guards. These guards include the leader (Dougie), who will shout loudly for the men to attack. Any shouting will rouse Juliet, who will then use her Magics to cause more chaos. Dougie will be unable to accept defeat, and will keep calling for men to assist him. If the PCs don't kill him on the spot, Juliet will use the information she now has to have him removed from the Council board. And good riddance.

With Dougie out of the way (or without, depending on what happened), Juliet will thank the PCs enthusiastically, paying them for the "tasks" they had to do (once it's explained to her), and paying also for the item costs (so the characters make 1,000¥-12,000¥). She will have no idea what the items are for, but will keep hold of them anyway (except for the quill- that's going back to Mog). The PCs will have a greater standing with the Yakuza, and will have made some enemies with the Mafia. Finally, there is the possibility to earn a whopping 60,000¥ to be made, plus the Karma. Congratulations! They actually made it through!

Bouncers: (Troll Security Guards)

Clubs 7

Pistols 2

Ares Predator : 9M

Stun Baton : 6S Stun

Wearing Securetech jackets (Ballistic 5 / Impact 3)

Carrying 400¥ each

Brown Razors: (Human Combat Gangers)

Edged Weapons 4

Pistols 4

Ares Predator : 9M

COmbat Axe : 4S

Wearing armored jackets (Ballistic 5 / Impact 3)

Carrying 400¥ each

Dougie Farseer: (Human Corporate-type)

Etiquette 4 (IMCT 8)

Negotiation 6

Pistols 4

Ares Predator : 9M

Wearing Securetech Jacket (Ballistic 5 / Impact 3)

Carrying 2,500¥

"Jimmy" Leonie (Human Mafia Boss)

Vehicle Initiative : 8 + 3d6

Drive Car 6

Carrying 800¥

Juliet Rulide (Elf Mage)

Streetline Special : 4L SA

Carrying 400¥, plus spellbook.

Conjuring 4

Sorcery 5

Detect Life (Drain = L)

Light (Drain = +2M)

Manabolt (Drain = Dmg)

Mask (Drain = M)

Stabilise (Drain = +1M)

Treat (Drain = -1 Dmg)

Mob Enforcers: (Human Street Samurai)

Pistols 5

Submachinegun 6

Ares Predator : 9S(h)

Scorpion Machine Pistol : 6M SA/BF/FA

Wearing Securetech jackets (Ballistic 5 / Impact 3)

Carrying 600¥ each

Riot Cops: (Human Cops)

Clubs 4

Pistols 4

Ares Predator : 9M

Stun Baton : 6S Stun

Wearing Medium Security Armour (Ballistic 6 / Impact 5)

Also carrying small Riot Shields (Ballistic 1 / Impact 2)

Carrying 400¥ each

Shinji Tenchi: (Human Yakuza Boss)

Etiquette 7

Negotiation 6

Pistols 4

Edged Weapons 5

Ares Predator : 9M

Katana : 8M

Wearing Securetech Jacket (Ballistic 5 / Impact 3)

Carrying 1,500¥

Street Cops: (Human Cops)

Clubs 4

Pistols 4

Ares Predator : 9M

Stun Baton : 6S Stun

Wearing armored jackets (Ballistic 5 / Impact 3)

Carrying 400¥ each

Terrorists: (Humanis Policlub Members)

Edged Weapons 3

Pistols 3

Knife : 6L

Beretta Model 101T : 6L

AK-97 Assault Rifle : 8M SA/BF/FA

Carrying 300¥ each

Yakuza Mobsters: (Human Street Samurai)

Pistols 5

Submachinegun 6

Edged Weapons 5

Ares Predator : 9S(h)

Scorpion Machine Pistol : 6M SA/BF/FA

Katana : 7M

Wearing Securetech jackets (Ballistic 5 / Impact 3)

Carrying 600¥ each

Yakuza Samurai: (Human Physical Adepts)

Pistols 7

Edged Weapons 5

Unarmed Combat (Jeet Kun Do) 6

Ares Viper Slivergun : 9S(f) SA/BF

Katana : 7M

Wearing Securetech jackets (Ballistic 5 / Impact 3)

Mystic Armour (Impact +2)

Carrying 800¥ each

Astral Perception (2 points)

Combat Sense (1 point)

Killing Hands M (1 point)

Missile Parry (1 point)

Mystic Armour (1 point)