Casting Shadows

This week’s seed is for Shadowrun, and it focuses on the healthy paranoia of runners.

The seed

PCs lacking in the paranoid perception department will find themselves fighting for their lives in a devastated building brought down by a very slick crew.

Planting the seed

This seed is appropriate for an established campaign and cast of characters. Planting the seed is as simple as having the crew get hired for a routine data extraction from a corporate branch office. In addition, for a few sessions prior to the one slated for this seed, you will need to carefully plant background information and rumours which point to growing local dissatisfaction with that corporation, then suggestions of potential violence being planned, then hints that someone is looking for the right team to carry out an infiltration of the branch office. These rumours may lead the crew to connect their hire for the data extraction with this movement, and they should not be dissuaded from forming that opinion.

The Details

The activists have of course hired a completely different crew for their planned destruction of the branch office. That crew is a hard-bitten and very security conscious unit which scopes out the competition and potential competition as a matter of course. Just as a matter of routine they will cross paths with the PC runners to see if they are up to anything. Characters should have a slim chance to notice this and any future checks. The group will check multiple times if the PCs are up to something worthy of attention when first spotted – Just to be safe.

The corporate branch office is on alert too, and as a matter of policy will have security teams out and about town posing in their intimidating shades and generally being a visible reminder of corporate might. These PR brute squads will also cross paths with the PCs and should stand out to even the thickest runner in the group…  “Are they on to us already?!”

If the runners begin to feel paranoid… good! What do they do about it?

If spotted or followed, the activists’ team will attempt avoid any and all confrontations as they are consummate professionals. No ego-driven street fights for them until AFTER they do the job and get paid. With a mouthpiece at the very top of his game, if evasion is not an option, the group will fall back on manipulation and deceit to convince the PCs that they are just curious about a transport route near where the runners hang. They will commit fully to selling the idea that they are just scoping out a job and the PCs are wound too tight.

What is going on

By dumb (otherwise known as bad) luck, the activists’ team of hired muscle and the PCs will attempt to infiltrate the office  around the same time. Each should have appropriate chances to spot or notice the other as the caper goes forward, however, the other team is there to demolish the building and have no qualms about leaving the corpses of local runners in the ruins to take the fall. If they spot the PCs, they will do their best to stay under the radar, and blow the building before the runners can exit.

Things can go in numerous directions from here from trying to complete the run they were hired for despite the demolition of the building, getting revenge on the hired muscle, getting slapped with the blame for the destruction, getting burned by the Johnson that called for the extraction, or a smattering of all of them.

Enjoy!