Back in Business (Beta Run) [Shadowrun 4E]

Game Master CloakedInSmoke

Yeah, my questions about active or passive were just because I can spot either of those automatically, but if its in hidden mode(I run my real one that way when it isn't being used) it isn't able to be picked up by anything. You basically have any broadcasting turned off.

And just to be clear, I wasn't trying to actually hack any of the 'links or see what they were running or the like, it was purely fluff and personality building action. I see him being the sort who is always being really OCD about looking for updates and known exploits for any of his stuff. There would probably be little notes popping in at random points like <That link can dupe messages if put under a load- unofficial patch> or <Close off Port #(whatever) when not running miracle shooter, its an easy in>. Things he thinks would be helpful for them without considering that its probably weird. Once there is some downtime and we are more of a real group he'll probably actually try and update your commlinks to at least make their firewalls more impressive.

Sounds good to me. Backstory for Adam as a burned spy means his fancy warez were blanked from his 'link. Still has decent skill, but no programs to play around with.

I don't mind if you improvise fluff :) As long as you aren't affecting rolled Tests or anything, I don't mind. :)

The troll waves away Frank's story--he obviously isn't interested in an explanation of what happened between the gangs and speaks to Adam.

Glad you didn't waste my time denying it. the troll says, though his growling tone doesn't betray much gratitude.

I'm Detective Tosh Athack of the Special Crimes Task Force he glares a bit and says, that means I deal with gangers and shadowrunners. Guess I got both in one day. Lucky me.

He stands a bit straighter and says Now if it were up to me, I'd drop all you runners down a hole and forget about ya, but lucky you, it's not my call. My boss, Assistant D.A. Dana Oaks, needs a job done only people like you can do. She's already hired Frank and Kaykes here, but she's just informed me that she thinks it'll take a team, thanks to this mess you all stumbled through.

A beep chirps from Athack's commlink, and he says Call from the boss, she wants me to forward it to you.

If the others will accept the call, they get it to their PANs straight from her; otherwise, Frank would know how to discreetly include the others in the call without giving access to their PANs to the boss.

The video feed shows you a pale woman with striking green, almond shaped eyes in a crisp blouse and slacks. Her auburn hair is in a tight bun, and she is obviously quite busy.

I’m not fond of working outside the law. She tells you with no preamble. But in this world, the law is, quite frankly, a mess. Criminals have a million ways to avoid the long arm of the law, as I’m sure you’re well aware of. However, I have a job to do, and one way or another I plan to get it done. That’s where you come in.

Seattle law doesn’t quite extend below the streets of Seattle. The government doesn’t recognize the Underground as a part of the city, and as such won’t contract Knight Errant to police it. The criminal scum who prey on my city know this, and seek refuge in that pit. As she speaks, her voice raises slightly in pitch, and it’s clear this isn’t the first time she’s had this discussion, and it’s a sore spot with her.

I’ve been tracking someone who’s holed up down there somewhere. I need him brought somewhere so that I can have him legally arrested. Your job is going to be to find this man, and deliver him to Detective Athack here. He’ll claim to have caught the guy inside his jurisdiction, and he will go to jail for a long, long time. You’ll keep silent about the matter, and get paid. How’s that sound? She takes a breath but doesn't wait long for your assent.

The man is called Jack Turner. He's been smuggling very unstable and dangerous BTLs into the city, and with him we'll finally be able to strike the death blow to the drug ring he's supplying. I want you all to capture him alive and bring him to the Lordstrung entrance to the OU--Athack will leave his number with you to arrange a pickup--and you'll get paid, 3000¥ each. I've got nothing for you if he's dead.

What do you all do? If pay is an issue, then one of you can make an Opposed Negotiation+Charisma Test to see if you can persuade her to open her wallet a little wider.

Of course Adam's gonna try for more cash!!!

9d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 5, 2, 2, 6, 5, 1, 4) + (1, 5) = 41 Negotiation 5 hits!

"Yeah, we're available. Just caught a little flak to start the day, so maybe it's gonna cost a bit more than 3k."

Already in on the mission, Frank makes sure the call is forwarded and then stays quiet. He does keep an eye on the others trying to get a better feel for them while they negotiate.

Faed keeps an eye on the Knight Errant personnel while listening to the conversation

Oaks Opposed Negotation Test: 6d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 1, 1, 4, 3) = 17 (1 hit; 4 net hits to Adam)

After a few minutes of back and forth, Adam manages to talk her up to ¥4000 per person, as well as healing for injuries sustained during the fight. Oaks will pay for DocWagon to administer Medicine to aid your natural healing and for one Heal spell to be cast by their mages.

Adam, Kat, and Rick, do you want the job?

Rick nods and smiles to Adam.
"And that is why we keep you around!! Good going Adam" Rick mutters.

Heck yeah! I need money!

"I can't necessarily speak for the rest of the team, but I'm in. "

Kat accepts the forwarded call, but as she still still seems somewhat woozy she remains uncharacteristically quiet.

"I'm in."

Rick gives a 'thumb's up' gesture.
<This is a good deal, I think! We get one job and 3 paydays. I think I will like that>

<Okay, Athack, you got us. Any further intel on this chump you need bagged?>

With agreements seeming to be had, Frank can add a little anyway to the conversation, though obviously Athack may be able to really give some information.

<We were just getting ready to start our investigations down here so our info is pretty sparse, but we need to be expecting Turner to be strapped. BTLs aren't the only thing he traffics in.>

<I'm thinking a little misdirection and chicanery are in order. We find JT, and spill that Ares, via KE & Lone Star are gunning for him. Perhaps there's a ganger green-light out on him. We show up all polite like, care of Gambieanelli, Domo-kun, or whichever big boss you'd like, and extend a gracious offer of asylum and extraction, for a bit of information and 10% of his profits on the BTL trade. Optimally, he walks out with us as his rescue party.>

Adam ticks off items as he thinks of them.

<We need a credible threat, some KE paperwork, and a phone call from one of his big-ticket buyers to really sell this. A couple of KIA hitters wouldn't hurt, either. Any chance we can use one of those Reality Hackers feebs?>

I forgot to mention that Adam also convinced her to include Frank and Faed in the payraise. They also will be paid ¥4000 each and get medical expenses as well.

Oaks nods curtly, and signs off, while Athack replies to Adam. Don't have any intel other than that he's down there. We can't exactly waltz down there and ask around, it's out of our jurisdiction. That's why Oaks is hiring you. We've done all we can just by tracking him down there. Now it's up to you. He obviously doesn't want any more conversation, because he motions for the Knight Errant officers to come with him as he lumbers back to the escalator.

Chelsy, who has been texting furiously on her commlink during the whole exchange, has grown red in the face, her expression knotted in anguish and anger. She takes a deep breath, and turns to the group.

I've--I've finally found a lead. Chelsy sputters in her Irish brogue. My parents were killed in an accident at Novatech years and years ago--or what I was told was an accident. I've been putting out lines for ages, digging for clues, and finally someone bit. They've got some paydata for me. If some bastard paid for my mum and dad to die, then I've got to go after him. I've been texting and convinced Mac that Faed and Frank should be hired in my place, if you want the job. she says as she turns to them. Adam, Kat, and Rick can all fill you in. she lowers her voice and adds, Some kinda coincidence, but it's another job to do with Turner.

She stands up and waves a quick farewell. I've got to catch a flight to Denver, if I'm going to meet my source. Lemme know how it turns out with Craig and Turner. Best of luck, she says as she ascends the escalator.

At this point, a few more DocWagon medics come down the escalator, passing Chelsy as she goes up, and it becomes apparent from the crossed bone & wand and bear patches on their uniforms that these are medmages. They come down and begin casting Heal spells.

I can't remember where you all are at with damage, so forgive me if you are already at full health. The damage healed is Physical only; magic can't heal Stun damage. Adam heals 4 boxes, Rick 4 boxes, Kat 3 boxes, Frank 6 boxes, and Faed 3 boxes.

The medics ask you if anyone would like to go to the nearest DocWagon medical facility to heal any remaining damage. If you decline, they hand you each a card and tell you to present it at a DocWagon facility for treatment if you change your mind. A medic also removes the biomonitor wristbands from Rick and Faed, and it now dawns on you it was probably less for your health and more of a way of making sure they could track you if your bills weren't paid.

(Keep in mind you'll spend at least a day at DocWagon, probably more, while healing naturally, even with Medicine to help.)

EDIT: Sorry, now I see what you were asking Athack, Adam. Changed it a bit to give you Tosh's response, and to account for Essence penalties.

"Hate to see ya go, but best of luck, Chel. Hit us up if you need a little work when ya get back in town."

To the DocWagon medic: "Thanks, omae. I've got some cyber, mostly headware, in case that matter. Appreciate the help."

I was only down 2 so I'm all good now. No problem with giving a breather if anyone needs it though, having more time is always a good thing for a decker anyway.

Frank nods to Athack as he leaves, doing his best to give a grimace that gives the appearance he had been being properly interrogated.

At Chel's words he raises a brow a bit, surprised at apparently another job under way involving Turner and not one to believe in coincidence he is quickly trying to run through his head what the endgame someone could have for sending two teams after the same thug. Still, she is clearly closer to those who are now his teammates so he gives a the simple offer. "If you need the seller scoped out before you get there or his data run through the wringer..." He trails off at that, leaving his point obvious and lifts his hat for a moment in salute as she moves off.

Turning back to the others he switches back to subvocal communication, taking precautions even as the other groups seemed to have backed off further.

<I take it this Mac fellow is just a fixer of some sort, but what does he want with Turner? If we are sharing work, we'd better share information especially if our target seems like he's wanted by two different people. That sounds like it could be a good plan though, if he's gone to ground in the OU then our friend is likely already a bit spooked. Adding a little more pressure and showing up at the right time we might be able to do this without too much trouble.>

<Things down here are a bit hotter than expected, I suggest we fall back and get fully patched up. That will give us time to put our ears to the ground and see what we can find out. Anyone who knows some criminal elements should question and see what we can learn about Turners enemies so we can make a threat look legitimate. I'll get scouting the matrix to see what I can learn. Lets see what we can find out about this gang war too so we know what we are walking into with this and come better prepared. Sound good?>

Does all stun damage need to be repaired before physical damage can be dealt with? I am using Hero Lab to track damage and such and it would not let me heal any physical damage until all my stun damage was gone - Rick was at 10/10 physical and 8/10 stun

<Yeah I'm good with a little downtime. It'll give me a chance to run down a few leads, and take a look at that firmware issue. Plus my suit's all bloody and shot up. Maybe crash down here? No sense splitting too far, in case Turner rabbits.>

<Re: Mac, yeah he's a fixer, set us on the trail of this research chick who went missing. Turner's our lead on her. Supposed to meet a bit ago, don't have many details but it had something to do with a magic rock thinger. Cat knows better than me on that score.>

Faed stumbles over
I may need a proper doctor. I'm still pretty messed up. I can drive myself if you guys want to keep an eye on things here.
I'm currently at less then half health taking a -2 to everything. I will be useless without heals

"MageDoc didn't fix you up? We might need to see a good street doc to get you back on your feet. "

Rick, normally you would have to heal Stun before Physical if healing through rest but I believe the Heal spell bypasses that requirement.

Just to recap healing through rest, you must first heal all Stun Damage, then Physical. To heal Stun damage, you must rest (no vigorous activity) the entire duration and make a Body+Willpower (1 hour) Extended Test. Each hit heals 1 box of Stun damage. Physical Damage requires rest for the whole duration as well, but the test is a Body x 2 (1 day) Extended Test with each hit healing 1 box of Physical damage.

If you take DocWagon up on their offer, they can make a Medicine+Logic Test, with each hit giving you a +1 to your dice pool for this set of injuries for healing through rest.

In response to Frank, Chelsy says Thanks, chummer. I think I'll be okay. One of my most loyal friends tracked this guy down, I trust them to have done their homework. Good luck!

You can see a hotel down the road, so you may stay there if you want to crash down in the OU while healing. Also note that some of you can do legwork while any who needs it rests, if that's what you decide.

I do my better legwork while in VR, so I can keep an eye on Faed while she heals up either at the hotel or at a doc so we aren't totally splitting up while doing some investigation.

Roger that. Adam's packing a cold-sim rig and some decent Hacking skills, just no real software. Not sure if I'd be of help with a proper hacker though.

strike everything i said from the record. i did the math wrong. ive only got 1 damage on me. i now support striking while the iron is hot.

Well unless I can get another healing spell, I still have 6 boxes of physical and 9 boxes stun.

Unfortunately you can only receive magical healing once for each set of wounds, so one spell is all you could get.

Darn..well that puts Rick out for the time being...

I'm at 7+1 stun and 3 physical right now (the extra stun hits after this scene), so Kat's only needs a few hours of rest to heal the Stun. On the other hand, I can put the extra time to good use by prepping more backup like the tiger.

That being said, this is Maeyan we're talking about. If she behaved rationally or consistently, she wouldn't be Kat.
Which reminds me - Frank and Faed, you may have heard of me. I've got a 3 Notoriety, so there's some amount of bad rep out on the street.

"Feh." Kat tosses her hair back over her shoulder (trying to hide a slight wince as she whips her head around) and counters "Lets go find a nice restaurant, have dinner, you can bleed all over their floor... We'll have a few drinks and try this again in an hour or two when things are quieter."

"Da! A good meal would make some of this pain go away, but I might need a nights rest to regain my stamina. But if we must go on, so be it! Wont be the first time, nor the last I ran the shadows bloodied!"

Frank glances around at the others, trying to take a quick assessment of what is bluster vs how ready they really are to press forward. "Fair enough. Lets take a few to at least settle down. It may do well to take time to get to know each other a bit if we may be covering each other's back in a firefight. Though hopefully you'll forgive me if I am a little quiet over dinner."

Frank will be starting to do some snooping over the matrix while we are chatting and heading to whatever our destination is going to be. I'm going to pull up whatever I can about Turner, paying special attention to his recent activities, his enemies and anything I can come up with about that girl/magic rock that is the secondary mission.

Once we get to dinner(assuming things go smooth up til that) Frank will settle in with everyone and then excuse himself to go hot sim for the data search for better browsing or in case he needs to actually break into anything to follow any leads. Also, I have some knowledge about places people use for hideouts(thank you paranoia!) so I'm going to make a knowledge roll on where turning may be holed up in the OU and a bunch of data search rolls below since he'll be doing that in the background, feel free to give me any information as you think I'd find it DM

Rolls

Frank, the way this scenario handles Data Searches--and I think it makes sense-- is as an Extended Test, which means a -1 cumulative modifier for each roll, so essentially for any Data Search you can make a number of rolls equal to your dice pool, rolling one fewer die each time, so I'll just knock off the last die, then the last 2, then the last 3, etc., from each of your data searches. This puts you at a total of 16 hits, if I count right, for your AR searches. You stopped at 3d6 for AR, so I'll finish out your HS session to 3d6 as well (after that you're risking glitches/critical glitches for maybe 1-2 more hits). If you want, you can roll 2d6 and 1d6 later.

Needing a place to rest and conduct Matrix searches down here, you all head to the Broken Tusk Hotel down the street. No frills, just a queen bed (or two twins, per your preference), a bathroom, and a small table and chairs, all reasonably clean. It costs 135¥ per room. You suspect that the bump in price from standard motel rates is for its Matrix connection, which is reliable and surprisingly fast, which the clerk is all to eager to roll out as its main selling point. You won't find a better connection anywhere in the OU!

You aren't able to find anything online about the girl or the stone--not surprising, since you guys are being paid to investigate it, and if a simple Matrix search would have sufficed, it would certainly have been done by the fixers themselves. Nothing you can find online about Turner gives you anything more than you already knew from Knight Errant and the police's info.

As for hideouts, your knowledge tells you all sorts of possibilities of the types of places a smuggler might hide, but without commensurate knowledge of the Ork Underground, you have very little to work with. The OU residents are very tight lipped on the Matrix--and you suspect, in the meat world--about the layout of OU's many tunnels, which bloggers note they keep secret from Topsiders as a matter of pride. Many bloggers claim if you grease enough palms, you can get someone to guide you off the beaten track, but also warn you not to share the info, or you might get a visit from the Skraacha. You are fairly certain that his hideout would have to be somewhere well away from wandering tourists and have some sort of access to the 'Topside,' since it is unlikely he is smuggling through the public entrances.

(Sorry. The threshold for finding Turner's hideout through a Data Search is very high.)

Make sure to post your healing extended tests, anyone who is trying to heal Stun damage.

No problem at all DM. I wasn't sure if you were going to look at them as individual tests for different aspects or as an extended test, so I figured I would just throw out a bunch of rolls at you and let you use them as you will. Good to know for the future though so I know how risky I want to get towards glitches.

Frank sucks his teeth at the clerk's assertion in very <i>We will see about that</i> kind of way but he doesn't actually say anything. Once settled into the room he sits for a few moments to let himself really focus on his search before coming back to with a slight shake of his head.

"Alright, so unfortunately they seem to do a pretty good job keeping much info from floating around too publicly. Either that girl and rock are pretty unknown or they are being scrubbed from the 'trix by a professional. Spots our quarry may have gone to ground are pretty hush hush too, but that seems more of the old fashioned 'talk and you will need new knees' style."

"We're probably going to need a guide and we may want to see if we can get in good with the Skraacha so we aren't making enemies treading on their turf without word. Dropping those other gangers may help since I don't think any of us were firing in the orks direction, right? Since this is their territory, either the Skraacha are probably protecting Turner or they are keeping an eye on him. Who knows, maybe we'll have their blessing to take care of an intruder for them."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I figured. Insular, paranoid, and well armed; these Underground types seem familiar somehow." Adam gives a short sardonic laugh before continuing.

"Rick and Cat are gonna need to sleep off the whooping those g-d Reality Hackers dropped on our heads. 'Luckily', I only got shot. The DogWagon folks really know their stuff...there's hardly a scar, even."

"So, out of the box time: we know Turner has a base of operations down here, and we need him for at least 2 of our paydays. How do we get him out of his hidey hole and into our loving arms? Can wr maybe just make a call, set up a meet, and convince him to come along? Its a little far fetched, but with the right doc's, a good story, and maybe some of Cat's finger wiggling, it just might work. "

It's certainly worth a try. We can go in guns blazing anytime, but we only get to be clever once.

"Good. Because guns blazing worked less than well last time."

"Ya...I agree wholeheartedly!!" Rick laughs, then grimaces as his wounds remind him that this is not a laughing matter.

Kat winces at the laughter and rubs her aching head.

"Let me play devil's advocate here. Who are you going to call who can put us in touch with someone like him? What if he smells a rat and bolts? If we don't know where he's operating out of, we can't track him, or prepare any surprises. And the surprises are the fun part!"

"Well, face-to-face is where I excel. If we can find someone who buys/sells from Turner, there's our introduction. After all, we like guns, everyone likes chips, and between the two of us they will hardly have a chance to blink."

Alright, you can keep RPing in the meantime and finalizing plans, but it's time to make some rolls. :) If you want to ask contacts for info, roll a Charisma+Etiquette+Loyalty Test to see how much info they will give you for free (I'll roll secretly to determine what they know). You can also try Data Searches or good old-fashioned legwork out in the streets. Remember, all Social Tests with OU residents suffer a -2 penalty if you are human or elf (which I believe is everybody).

Adam places a few calls, mostly leaving voicemails and text messages:

Marco, Dwarf Fixer (Connection 1, Loyalty 1) 10d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 5, 2, 6, 6, 4, 6, 1, 4) = 39 4 hits

Esteban, Human Street Dealer (Connection 1, Loyalty 1) 10d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 6, 3, 1, 4, 5, 6, 4, 1) = 32 3 hits

Sally, Elf Net Reporter (Connection 1, Loyalty 1) 10d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 2, 5, 3, 3, 2, 5, 3, 2) = 32 3 hits

Ricardo, Orc Bartender (Connection 1, Loyalty 1) 10d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1, 6, 3, 5, 6) = 36 4 hits

Michael, Human Salesman (Connection 1, Loyalty 1) 10d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 5, 6, 4, 4, 1, 3, 6, 1) = 36 3 hits

Everyone gets a variation of the same basic message: <Hey, omae! Need some intel on a dealer/hardware supplier by the name of Jack Turner. I hear he works out of the Ork Underground, but could use a bit more narrowed-down info, or the name of someone local to ask. Any background you can get me would be great, as well; any beefs with the big-wig players, anyone want his limbs pulled off, that kinda thing. Thanks, you know how to reach me, chummer.>

"Okay folks, waiting to hear back from my people. I'll let you know what I learn."

Faed will send a message to her old partner at KE
9d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 5, 4, 4, 5, 3, 6, 2) = 37 4 hits

<Hey Monty! Long time no see. How've you been? I'm lookin for someone and I could use your help. Guy's named Jack Turner, he slings hardware in the Orc Underground. Anything that'll point me in the right direction will be repaid with drinks at the bar of your choice. Stay safe.>

Kat will also ping some contacts. First, her brother:

Selidur Kithalond, Shark Lawyer - (Connection 4, Loyalty 5) : 16d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 5, 5, 2, 6, 6, 6, 3, 4, 3, 3, 5, 2, 6, 6) = 69 -> 9 hits

In Sperethiel (not that it matters): <Hey Selly - I need anything you've got on a dealer in the Orc Underground named Jack Turner. I know you don't have a lot of business down there, but if you know anything or can find me a guide, I'll owe you one. After this job is done, I'll tell you all about it. We're up to three payouts for the same thing! And there was a really awesome fight! Don't worry, I'm fine. Also, anything you know about two runners who go by the names of "False Flag" Frank and Faed Kaykes would be useful. Catch you later!>

She'll also contact her usual fixer, although she doesn't really expect a response from him unless she offers cash.

Carl the Red, Fixer - (Connection 2, Loyalty 1): 10d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 1, 6, 4, 4, 5, 2, 6, 6) = 41 -> 5 hits.

<Carl, I need the word on Jack Turner, a BTL supplier in the Orc Underground. What can you get for me?>

Everyone else, responses from your contacts vary from "I don't know, sorry" to stuff you already know, but in the end none of them return any more information.

Apologies for forcing the scene, but I want to convey this, and I might not be able to post again until Sunday. If you want to alter the the assumptions I'm making, I don't object.

An hour or two after checking into the hotel, Kat (who somehow was the odd one out to get a room alone, again) knocks on the door to her prior partner's room. "I think I've got something. Lets go tell the others, so I don't have to repeat myself." She leads them down the hall to Frank and Faed's door, knocks for admittance, and proceeds them in.

"I've got a lead," she starts, after everyone who wants to has sat down. She turns to the wall behind her, pulls out a can of neon green spray paint, and proceeds to paint the words Pirate's Cove on the wall.

Underlining it with a line of the eye-searing paint, she turns back to everyone else. "So, who's heard of it?"

That's fine. We needed a prod anyway :)

Everyone, make Intuition (2) Tests, and then continue :)

4d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 3, 6) = 14 intuition

"I think I've heard the name before, but no more. Wasn't that the old hang-out for all those peer-to-peer warez hackers back in the day?"

3d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 4) = 10 intuition

While not a great fan of graffiti, Rick says nothing as Kat decides to spray paint the walls of the room...heck its not his room or name on the register...