[Shadowrun] Zero Zone: The Last Run

[Preacherwolf]

Game Name Zero Zone: The Last Run

Game System Shadowrun

Theme Overcoming Impossible Odds, Facing the Inevitable, One Last Job

Flavour Cyberpunk Oceans Eleven, Sci-Fi Tomb Of Horrors

Plot Summary Name Zero Zone: The Last Run Elevator pitch An MCT Zero Zone is to Shadowrun, what the Tomb of Horrors is to D&D. Its...its gonna be rough. Description Mitsuhama Computer Technologies is considered very aggressive with regards to intruders. This is an understatement. Their defence concept is known as Zero Zone. There is no penetration and no survival. MCT does not take prisoners, shooting first and asking questions never. The magic defence is top class and each important asset is defended with riggers. If somebody is not supposed to be in that facility, in that specific area of the facility, at that specific time, security will use lethal force with no questions asked and no exceptions. The Hottoite Facility is no different. Located on the remote Japanese island of Aogashima, the Hottoite Facility represents just how much MCT are willing to live up to the reputation of Zero Zone. The Facility houses some of MCT's finest minds and bleeding edge research and development alongside a veritable army of support and security personnel. From magical research to advanced scientific breakthroughs to black budget experiments, MCT have spared no expense pouring nuyen into the facility. In its twenty year history only three attempts have been made to breach its security, all three have meet with a 100% Fatality rate and the closest anyone got was stepping on to the island's dock before being shot. For Gould Tishkoff, though, the facility represents his last hurrah. His final act before hanging it all up and leaving this all behind. He's assembled a team at his Seattle mansion of the best shadowrunners in the business, the best runners money can buy, to pull of his job. All surviving members of this team will get ten million nuyen, all deceased members will have ten million nuyen given or donated to who ever they specify plus whatever they make during the job, they keep. Its not a bad payday for a suicide mission. There's no time limit, there's no nosy Johnson demanding results and no rules. From the matrix, to the astral, to the physical MCT have guarded this island well. They will kill them should they find them, but they're the best there is and should they pull this off, their names will be etched into history. Game details and expectations I'm looking for between 4 - 6 players, with a posting rate of about once a week, though probably a bit quicker than that during combat if we can manage it. We live in weird and wonderful times so I can't reasonable ask for or give more than that. This isn't going to be a fast game, the job is huge and isn't something that can be knocked over with a quick scout and a planning session in the back of the Street Sam's van. Let me say this from the outset that this is an inherently unfair set up and death is a very real and likely outcome. To give an example of how spiteful the design is, allow me to share a basic counter measure found in Zero Zones: "A corridor has a pair of turrets covering a tunnel with obvious cover, but once the runners hide in the cover, the cover retracts into the ground. The cover is also booby trapped with explosives that explode as it retracts". That said despite how serious and deadly the stakes are, I tend to try for more lighthearted games filled with humour. I believe games like this are to be a respite from grimdark reality and while we can have drama, horror and pathos at the end of the day the point is we play these games to have fun and blow off steam. This is also going to be a heavily player driven game, I'll set the stage, the challenge and the enemies but you have free reign and absolute agency to plan this as you wish. Do you do a series of small runs to soften up the target? Throw sense to the wind, saddle up and launch a frontal assault? Hell go completely nuts and try and hijack a thor shot to just remove the facility? Its on you. This is not only about how good your character is but how creative you can be in, use every dirty trick, ignoble tactic and shady deal to get this job done. But this also means that if you choose to specialise in something, I would hope/expect you know that role. Are you the decker? Make sure you know the Matrix rules. Are you the mage? Know how your spells work. There is a lot of rules, splatbooks and extra erratas for 5E and I'll be upfront and say I don't not know all or even half of what's out there. I don't expect you to know every rule either, just those that apply to you. Finally, a note about the system itself. I love Shadowrun. I'll defend it as a great game until the day I die. I love the world, I love running it, I love playing it and in my opinion the rules and rulebooks have never seen a sober or cohesive editor in their entire existence. There is ambiguous wording, dodgy math, questionable design choices and just a lot of rules in general. I'm not saying if you're new to the system you're not welcome (please come join us for this horror show. Dying is fun!). What I'm saying is that I reserve the right to throw rules in the bin, especially those that are dragging the game down or ruining the fun. THE GAME WILL START 1ST OF SEPTEMBER TO ACCOUNT FOR OUTPLAY Game master Preacherwolf - That's Me - I've been playing tabletop games for at least ten years at this stage and have been an eternal DM for about eight. I've run various campaigns D&D and Pathfinder, along side Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader. Shadowrun, Genius: The Transgression, Paranoia and a host of other small one shots. Over the past couple of years I've run or attempted to run a smattering of play-by-post games in addition to my IRL games. Basically I have no self-control when it comes to running games and I don't apologise for it Characters All characters will be prime runners using Sum To Ten, you can initiate and submerse at character creation as many times as you'd like/can afford to and maximum skill rating is 8 not the usual 6. Maximum item availability is 20. All 5th Edition rule books are viable but there are a few exceptions. No AI, metasapients, awakened animals or drakes. Infected characters are allowed (but please beware that this may be a severe handicap in Japan). The idea is that your characters are well established and experienced runners, even more so that a regular prime runner, at the peak of their careers. Application - With A Picture Please Name: Handle/Street Name: Metatype: Role: Personality: Background: Why are you taking this job?: Deadline 22nd of August, Australian Time

[Preacherwolf]

Reserved

[Elanir]

I cannot attest to Preacherwolf’s skill as a GM, but as a player they are amazing. Their posts are exciting, to the point and full of wit, so I can only imagine how good this game is going to be! Shadowrun is not my cup of tea, but for those that is, Preacherwolf and their game are most highly recommended. Apply and you won’t regret it!

Good luck, Preacherwolf! I just know that this game will be epic.

[JaredSyn]

How familiar do we need to be with the actual dice in the system? It's been a long time since I last played Shadowrun, as I sit here I see a third edition book on my bookshelf.

[Imveros]

DARN YOU!

I'd love to finally get to play in a Shadowrun game, but my free time will be next to nonexistent until Outplay is over at the end of August :'(



All that said, my PMs are always open to users with questions about Shadowrun. We also have a lot of great resources over on the shadow community page for newbies or those with a little rust on them!

Good luck everyone! Remember chummers, watch your back, shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never, ever, cut a deal with a dragon.

[Jon]

Deuce Real Name: Juliet Hardwick Handle/Street Name: Deuce Archetype (if applicable): Face Physical Description: Like she just walked out of the c-suite. Nothing so predictable as a ‘chief of’, more like the ludicrously paid lawyer that was going to dig their sweet behind out of whatever trouble they’d landed themselves in. Her stature and slimness talk of a near-pathological self-control and her self-confidence makes her noticed in any room. She has an imposing presence, standing as tall as the six footers found at the top of the corporate ladder and she doesn’t shy from anyone’s eyes. Personality: You want her on your side. As friend or valued employer, she’s wit and charm, she’ll make you feel loved and respected – its nearly genuine. But Juliet’s true client is always Juliet. While charm is her first point of call, there is plenty more in her armoury – notice the iron? that’s what’s going to get you. Ultimately she’ll not leave any trick in the bag to win her way. As I said, you want her on your side. Background: Promising London Lawyer Juliet was born in London to an ambitious middling family. Expensive schooling gave her the right training and helpful contacts - contacts that led to employment in the family office of Beaumont family. The Beaumonts could trace their wealth back to land granted by William the Conqueror; it was wealth that had been husbanded and invested over centuries. So, when the Corporations took the role of nations, the Beaumonts slipped happily into the shadows, holding stakes buried behind corporate vehicles, tax havens and downright lies. Their deals were big – and having a hand in them made you wealthy. Never Enough The problem is, there is always more wealthy. Juliet had a taste and she wanted more. She became a weak link – the kind that the Carnetti Family were adept at finding and turning. Starting small – some information here, taking a position there, the Carnettis profited from the insider Juliet. But again, the problem is there is always more wealthy – the Carnettis were happy to up the ante and milk their asset - first a quick hack, then leaving the doors wider open - of course she’d be caught in the end … they always were. New York! Juliet was no fool. She’d taken a lover in the Carnettis – high up. His loyalty to her was such that when the moment came, she was gone. Beaumont's security just found an empty apartment, noodles boiling dry on the hob. Juliet was whisked across the world. Another City, another community of finance types. She had to lay-low. Disappear. But all that beautiful stuff … the life … she could not leave it behind. She’d take the risk. She’d freelance. Cutting her hair, dying it black, shedding her trademarked dresses, Juliet became Deuce – a woman of two faces. The back-end of nowhere But the heat followed. Deuce had built a nice business – a reputation with runners for opening the metaphorical doors, for cracking the job before the tyres hit the road. But it’s a small world. A home in London meant home in New York and so finding herself standing in the elevator avoiding the eyes of the Beaumont General Counsel was the end of that life too. She barely made it out of the building and had to burn her local contacts just to get out of the city. Where to? Nowhere, that’s where. The kind of nowhere the Beaumonts would not be seen dead. But for god’s sake make it a nowhere where there is some business to be had. Indianapolis? Why not … it’d be a start. And it was a good start. Deuce established her reputation in the game - and she was in demand. But perhaps too much demand. She smelled it first - that cologne - the Johnson was a damned Beaumont ... once again she was gone, with a grab bag and barely her life. Why are you taking this job?: Its the end of the line. The Beaumont's had tracked her down again - she had to disappear, properly this time. And that would be expensive - 10 million nuyen? That would about do it. Note: If selected I will review Deuce's build. As stand she's built for a starter campaign - as a tip-top prime runner she'll need beefing up a bit.

[Mitsubachi]

I can also testify to Preacherwolf's greatness - this time with direct experience of their prowess as a GM. Preacherwolf has a compelling mixture of wit, attention to detail, and engaging writing style (with brilliant NPC creations!). I am quite sure this game will be awesome for the lucky players that are selected.

[Preacherwolf]

Originally Posted by JaredSyn

How familiar do we need to be with the actual dice in the system? It's been a long time since I last played Shadowrun, as I sit here I see a third edition book on my bookshelf.

Not very, do you want to roll more d6's than god? Because that's mostly what 5E is. Build your dice pool of D6's and roll. Calculating the dice pool can be a bit of a pain but its relatively simple 90% of the time. And like Invermos said here there are alot of great resources for players

Originally Posted by Jon

Hi Preacherwolf - do you think Deuce (my Naptown character from CMR’s game) would fit in this game? I’m still relatively new to the game and I was just getting the hang of how to play her.

As a Face she was nicely RP heavy rather needing to know some of the finer mechanics of other architypes - so I think I’d be able to keep up and keep learning.

Be brutal!

Honestly a face never goes wrong in a shadowrun game. While this is going to, presumably at least, be a very deadly affair that doesn't mean that face skills aren't needed or go unused.

[Hiruma Kohaku]

Definitely interested! Will think of some character concepts the next couple of days and post an app.

[Jon]

Throwing my hat (or Deuce's leather gloves in the ring). Opened up character above - I'll probably fettle a bit before closing date - but the basics of Deuce are there.

[JaredSyn]

Follow up question what does Sum to Ten Mean?

[Imveros]

Originally Posted by JaredSyn

Follow up question what does Sum to Ten Mean?

It's a new character generation method outlined in Run Faster

TLDR, instead of getting priorities ABCDE you get to spend 10 points A costs 4 B cost 3 C costs 2, D costs 1, and E costs 0

[Marshmallow]

Ugggghhh god I wanna apply but idk If I'll have time while judging Outplay...

[Imveros]

I know it's greedy of me to ask, and I apologize if I'm overstepping, but would you be willing to delay game start until September?

Not only would you get an application from me and likely Marshmallow, but there's also another GM, two more judges, and ten players, all with a love of Shadowrun and all with the same crumby summer availability :/

[Skryptik]

I'll drop a placeholder here. Will have a character submission working over the weekend.

I've never played in an actual Shadowrun game but I have lurked around reading through several and it falls well into the realm of a genre I am interested in. Plus I've lurked around for months now without actually trying to get involved with anything and that needs to change.

Couple things I love about your game pitch:

Let me say this from the outset that this is an inherently unfair set up and death is a very real and likely outcome.

Perfect. I'm not much of a D&D player but my favorite game was Tomb of Horrors. My character died brutally and gloriously and it was a fantastic experience. I've also had my fair share of psyker mishaps in Warhammer games. If the stakes aren't high and survivabilty low it's just not as much fun for me. I might be insane.

What I'm saying is that I reserve the right to throw rules in the bin, especially those that are dragging the game down or ruining the fun.

Rules are necesary but get in the way sometimes. It was often a failure of mine to recognize that when I ran games. If you draw that line well, I'm a happy player.