Friday 22 October 2021

Creating a run - How to create an adventure for pen'n'paper

So.
Everything is ready. Either online with a shared screen and webcam or on a table setting - a game master found his group of five to six weirdos that are up for leaving the real world and getting into the boys equivalent of the pony farm: A dark future run....

Stay sober.

But how to create the run?
Back in the days when I was one of these boys, I wrote first a short story. A few lines can be enough. The starting point is either an existing run to follow up or a new hire.

The contracts are usually done somewhere in the Sprawl or online in what would be today the dark web. 

Let's put down that the group exists. It is a street magician working with spells rather than a totem. He'll constantly mumble in what turns out to be Latin and he's specialized in war magic. Fire balls, distractions and illusions will be his part.
A rigger called driver is another character. He's got body upgrades to link directly into a car and his ride is a wide body V8 armored sedan giving space for all 5 plus a load of max 300kg in the boot, that will blend into all parts of the corporate world as a security guard vehicle. 
The degger called hacker is quite good in his job and can when linked into his computer highjack even advanced security systems. This being said, for some he needs more time and be really close connected by wire.
Two street samurais turn the runner squad into a car load. They both are no humans, but trolls, and it will get cousy in the backseat for the third passenger. On the other hand side they both have interlinks to their weapons, tactical computers, combat drones and a skill set to use their equipment that would impress the Punisher.
They are united by Rambo's attitude.

Their usual spot to hang out is the bar, they own, next to the church. They run the five streets around the church and have a reputation to take on jobs against everybody considered a major asshole keeping what they catch. 

A cousin of the church servant living in a sprawl further south got killed in a gang war as a bystander and the police did not manage to get the head staying save and protected by corruption on a yacht. The church servant stated noone in the local police force nore any other gang would point at anyone up for the top dogs gang, but he might be connecte to affiliates all around the globe.

They have the young mans full attention.

This is known: The yacht is a luxurious super yacht with a heli port staying offshore in international waters receiving supply by air and a smaller vessel from always the same port and yacht supply agency. He is protected by mercenaries that stay partially on board, have a second yacht within 800 meters and two small speed boats. How many nobody knows, but they are also the body guards on land using 3 SUV armored cars when meeting the local gangs in a pack of 8.
They have about a dozent different gangs running in the sprawl and occupy a major part of the sea side districts, but not the international freight harbour, filled with upper class clients and the party elite including rich kid tourists. 
The local police is just shit scared off both gangs and enforcing mercenaries operating on military level using assault weapons and light body armor, while the gangs are most toxic magicians and low profile street samurais using blade weapons and small fire arms such as 9mill pistols. So, they take the cash drops.

The boss himself is a psychopathic toxic Schamane and his totem is a shark.

There is no head money, just prayers for his killers, but he has physical items in the lower millions, most likely gold and platin coins on the yacht, plus an approx. turn over of 3 million per month on hard psychoactive drugs distributed in his districted that are apparently cooked on a container ship anywhere further offshore. The electronic coins end customers pay with are stored in a safe harbour country in a bank that does not ask any questions - ever.

Have fun.... creating blue prints, creating non-player characters to kill - to get support from, estimating the odds and what can and will go wrong, beside the cash weight of the run.