Shadowrun

Shadowrun Missions Living Campaign => Living Campaign Discussion => Topic started by: Bull on <10-01-13/0012:08>

Title: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Bull on <10-01-13/0012:08>: [quote name='Bull' date='Oct 1 2013, 12:03 AM' post='1263502']
http://www.shadowruntabletop.com/2013/09/a...-ready-to-rock/ (http://www.shadowruntabletop.com/2013/09/a...-ready-to-rock/)

The new season of Shadowrun Missions begins with Chasin’ the Wind (Battleshop (http://www.battlecorps.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3245), DriveThru (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/119803/Shadowrun-Missions-Chasin-the-Wind-%285A-01%29)), which brings exciting Missions action to the chaotic feral city of Chicago! If you’re brave enough to venture into the wilds of the Containment Zone, here’s what you’ll encounter:

Deadly Cold Wind

It’s been nearly twenty years since disaster struck the city of Chicago, transforming it into an urban hellscape, and some people now believe it’s suffered enough. The Governor of Illinois has initiated and ambitious plan called Project: Takeback to reclaim the feral urban jungle. What’s more, he’s put money into the effort, and that’s the language every corporation on Earth understands. Suddenly, the race is on as the megacorps scramble to claim pieces of the Windy City. They’ll be butting up against the dangers of the Containment Zone and each other, so they’re going to need all sorts of deniable assets. The shadows of Chicago are coming back to life.

In Chasin’ The Wind, what starts as a simple run into the Containment Zone gets more complicated by the minute, and before the night is over shadowrunners might encounter rogue assassins, a feral runaway, and a mysterious massacre in the heart of one of the worst urban areas in the world. But if they survive, there’s more than just pay waiting for them at the end. There’s pizza—Chicago-style.

Chasin’ The Wind is the first adventure for Season 5 of Shadowrun Missions, Catalyst Game Labs’ living campaign for Shadowrun. It is designed for use with Shadowrun, Fifth Edition.
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(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y156/bulldrek/E-CAT27M0501_Chasin-the-Wind_zps6ecce839.jpg) (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/bulldrek/media/E-CAT27M0501_Chasin-the-Wind_zps6ecce839.jpg.html)
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Bull on <10-01-13/0014:16>: AAlso, just a heads up... We're running a contest from now until October 31, 2013. Anyone who posts a review of 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind to DriveThru will be entered to win a chance to appear as an NPC in an upcoming Missions adventure! We'll use your name (Or a character name) and either a photo of yoruself or description of your character to use as the basis of one of several NPCs who will make an appearance in Mission!

Bull
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: The Masked Ferret on <10-01-13/0638:10>: Bull, are you ready for reviews on this yet? You never responded to my private message about feedback that is prerelease, and I am sad that the outcome that happened at 2 out of 3 tables that I have played or judged is not an official option.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Marzhin on <10-01-13/0645:00>: Since I'm currently about to begin regular Shadowrun sessions with a new group of players, the Missions format is perfect to fit into our busy lives. So the beginning of this new season is like manna from heaven :)
Plus I've always wanted to take my players to Chicago (Bug City being one of my favourite SR books).

Edit: just to be 100% sure - the Mission begins in January 2075, right?
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Slithery D on <10-07-13/1959:07>: Quote from: Marzhin on <10-01-13/0645:00>
o be 100% sure - the Mission begins in January 2075, right?
It's in an alternate world where a lab cut off in the Chicago CZ for years was able to fund and install 5.2 essence points of delta grade bioware into a technomancer (why? don't ask this product, it won't tell you) while everyone around them struggled to find food and shelter, so I wouldn't worry too much about the timeline.

This is a really terrible product. I liked Shattered State, though.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Marzhin on <10-08-13/0257:06>: Quote from: Slithery D on <10-07-13/1959:07>
It's in an alternate world where a lab cut off in the Chicago CZ for years was able to fund and install 5.2 essence points of delta grade bioware into a technomancer (why? don't ask this product, it won't tell you) while everyone around them struggled to find food and shelter, so I wouldn't worry too much about the timeline.

Well technically the CZ was only cut off for 3 years (2055-2058). So while it is indeed a bit strange, it's not impossible. Stranger things have happened in Shadowrun :)
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Michael Chandra on <10-08-13/0449:52>: The CZ is more like New Orleans, really: It simply never recovered from the damage done, but the original cause of the damage isn't there anymore.

Marzhin: It's definitely winter and probably 2075, I forget when the new matrix was introduced. And now we get into timetravel: your Missions Calender is not tied to real time. So even if someone does all of Sprawl Wilds and Firing Line and pops into Mission 2 after 40 weeks, the second Mission probably is only 1 month later in-universe.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Marzhin on <10-08-13/0612:23>: Quote from: Michael Chandra on <10-08-13/0449:52>
Marzhin: It's definitely winter and probably 2075, I forget when the new matrix was introduced. And now we get into timetravel: your Missions Calender is not tied to real time. So even if someone does all of Sprawl Wilds and Firing Line and pops into Mission 2 after 40 weeks, the second Mission probably is only 1 month later in-universe.

The Missions specifically states "It's January" but doesn't say January of which year :) It seems logical to think it's 2075, but I just want to avoid the situation where I'm telling my players "The year is 2075..." only to discover in the next Mission it's actually meant to be 2076 ^^
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Timothy M. Patrick on <10-08-13/0900:46>: And it’s not like any one does any unscrupulous medical experiments on the poor and impoverished in the real world, so of course nothing like that could happen in a fictitious world that is even more controlled by money.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Slithery D on <10-08-13/0904:14>: It's millions of nuyen of delta grade bioware into a technomancer research subject. The point of the technomancer research is to clone and network them, so destroying her resonance abilities makes no sense. Nor does giving her that particular suite of "kill all the things" enhancements.

And how does an independent lab in the CZ whose megacorp owner doesn't know it exists anymore (otherwise how could Saeder Krupp move it and try to steal it) pay for this research, let alone wasting millions on counterproductive bioware?

This adventure is a grab bag of ideas that someone mistakenly thought were cool that in no way cohere into any logical whole that makes sense within the world of Shadowrun.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Marzhin on <10-08-13/1001:15>: These are good points, although this being only the first Mission of the season, we might get answers in future episodes.
This is Shadowrun after all, I wouldn't be surprised if what we've been told so far is a red herring.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: bigity on <10-11-13/1117:42>: It was pointed out in another forum that all the enemies in this mission are specifically mentioned to have turned off all wireless on their gear/cyber.

That's a bad sign right? I'd really like to hear the though process on that one.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Michael Chandra on <10-11-13/1349:07>: Part of them is operating in a Noise where they can't access their wireless bonuses anyway. Might as well wire up then.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: bigity on <10-11-13/1428:49>: Doesn't that seem slightly odd for the first SR5 module going out though? That they sidestep a HUGE part of the new core rules?
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Michael Chandra on <10-11-13/1626:17>: Not really, since they wouldn't profit from wireless to begin with. That's just common sense, really.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: bigity on <10-11-13/1708:42>: So, in effect, the wifi on gear rules are pointless? I mean, that's kinda the hot topic.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Michael Chandra on <10-12-13/0550:56>: No they're not. Outside the CZ they work fine, and in Noise 2 or less they work fine as well. But in Noise 3+ the wireless bonuses are gone.

Normally this doesn't matter, since you normally don't encounter Noise much. But in Season 5 the CZ with an average noise of 2 and excesses from time to time means wireless bonuses don't always work.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: martinchaen on <10-12-13/1214:29>: It's worth pointing out that with a Datajack most of your wireless gear would get Device Rating 2 (or higher, in the case of alphaware and high-end electronics) + Noise Reduction 1, making them viable in a Noise Rating 3 and lower environment. It would take Noise Rating 4+ to disable them, as the Noise Rating has to exceed the Device Rating.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Kincaid on <10-17-13/1343:19>: Just posted a review over at DriveThru. Yes, the plot doesn't make a ton of sense at some points, but for open play, I'm not all that worried about a cohesive narrative--that's something I pay much closer attention to in home campaigns. The wireless thing (and enemies having wireless off), I took as a reminder of the Noise mechanic. Your fancy new smartlink won't save you in the CZ, chummer!

The biggest problem with the run was the optional sniper. Partly from a "hey, Jane's head just exploded! Don't you love playing Shadowrun?" point of view, but really from a, "We have absolutely no way of returning fire" point of view. At 750m, he is literally beyond the reach of everyone who doesn't also have a sniper rifle (starting PCs will absolutely lose a sniper duel with Quaid) or happens to be carrying a MMG through the forest. Magic options are limited because of his MR, which is more than a little odd since MR precludes the possibility of having a Magic rating.

By way of example, Quaid's opening shot (when he still has his Agility boost) rolls 19 dice to attack. The text says he ignores range penalties, but that's not how his power works(!) Improved Sense works just like the device (in this case, vision mag), which reduces the range penalty one category and requires a Take Aim action to use. Even facing moderate wind (-3) and moderate rain/snow (-3; they bump to -6) penalties, he's rolling 13 dice. Let's say he's shooting at someone with a Body 4 who's wearing an armored jacket. I'll be a gracious GM and allow her to roll her 7 dice of Intuition+Initiative. With no Edge involved by either party (Edging Quaid's roll borders on sadistic), she's taking a minimum of 10 boxes of damage 60+% of the time. For an encounter that doesn't forward the plot and doesn't come with some sort of warning to the GM, that's not good encounter design.

EDIT: Toss in another -2 to account for the cover from the trees and Jane is still taking 10 boxes 54.36% of the time.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Marzhin on <10-17-13/1606:39>: Quote from: Kincaid on <10-17-13/1343:19>
The biggest problem with the run was the optional sniper.

I've been thinking about that and I have an idea how to play that scene a little differently. I'll tell you how it turns out :)
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Michael Chandra on <10-28-13/0735:23>: I got a question for this one, regarding, ahem, 'alternative ways of getting paid'.

[spoiler]The mission supports the option to betray Simon Andrews and sell the data (and ownership info) to another corp. What corp would this be, if any? Just Shiawase, or any others? Shiawase has no Missions contact, so you would have to get in touch through Networking. Also, is payment simply a matching of the offer or a re-negotiation?[/spoiler]
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: KarlR on <10-28-13/2209:04>: When is the next Missions coming out?

We should be finishing this one soon.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Dr. Meatgrinder on <10-29-13/0448:13>: Quote from: Michael Chandra on <10-28-13/0735:23>
I got a question for this one, regarding, ahem, 'alternative ways of getting paid'.

I'd run it as another Negotiation test with the same guidelines for payment (same base offer and same increment for net hits).

[spoiler]I'd imagine the runners could sell this to almost any megacorp. S-K just happened to be the one that found out first about the existence of the facility. I'd give the runners a generic Mr. Johnson contact (give him/her a name and Connection rating based on the networking) for the megacorp in question instead of Simon. I suppose the runners could try to sell it to Juan Xihuitl (they might expect Aztechnology to be interesting in this kind of weirdness or even surprised they're not the mastermind of it); if successful, I might give them a second point of Loyalty with Xihuitl while they betray Simon.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Marzhin on <11-01-13/2029:50>: So I had the opportunity to GM this Mission with my new group of players.

I felt it was a pretty good introductory scenario to SR5, as it contains a bit of everything: combat, matrix, magic, legwork, and creepiness. It took us two evenings (something like 5 hours in total) to go through it, but that's mostly because we spent a lot of time checking the rules. Several of my players were familiar with SR (mostly SR3 and 4) and they felt SR5 was an improvement over previous versions. The limit system was especially praised, as was the overall brutality of fights.

Below are some comments on how the Mission was played.

[spoiler]It was a home game so I took the liberty to make a couple of modifications to the scenario, mostly to manage the flow and rhythm since it was cut in two separate sessions: for instance I only put the two mundane guards in the airport scene, and used the mage later (during the second session), as a crazy homeless dwarf squatting the Janus building.

I was hoping to use the sniper scene as well, but I decided to keep it for a future adventure. My plan was for the runners to actually run into a Lone Star operation in Garfield Park, as the cops were basically trying to end Quaid's killing spree. It would have been more a question of sneaking/negotiating past the Star to reach the hidden module than actually engaging Quaid himself. But I felt adding this encounter would have been too much for this particular adventure and ultimately bad for the flow, so I didn't use it in the end.

By the end of the story, my players had a lot of questions and they sure hope to get some answers in future Missions. They also didn't discover that it was actually Shiawase that owned the Janus labs. All they found in the host was the fact Janus was a subsidiary of "Hephaestus Technologies". They do suspect S-K was never the legitimate owner of the labs, but to them that's the usual foul play between corps.

One interesting theory they had, after finding the footage of Sam's evasion, was that it was actually the gestalt of clones that had staged her escape and blocked the cranial bomb's signal.

One player was not too keen on letting Nick Ryder get Samantha. His first reaction was "if the girl is on run, no way I'm giving her to a damn cop." Which struck me as a reaction a lot of shadowrunners would probably have. He changed his mind, although reluctantly, when he realized Sam had been taken from her parents as a child and that Ryder was probably her best bet to be reunited with her family.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Michael Chandra on <11-03-13/0725:19>: I (well, my backup GM) noticed a few contradictions in rewards:

Scene 1: 4000 said, behind the scenes is 4000 + 500 per nh (max 4).
Scene 3: 3000 said, behind the scenes is 4000 + 500 per nh (max 4).
Scene 5: 4000 said, behind the scenes is 3000 + 500 per nh (max 4).
Picking Up The Pieces: 4/3/3, same net-hit descriptions.
GM Reward: 13.000.

Given the GM Reward, I think Picking Up The Pieces is correct here (4+2nh=5, 3+2nh=4, 3+2nh=4, 5+4+4=13), so in scene 3 and 5 the 4k numbers should read 3k.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Chance on <01-07-14/1953:42>: Our group just finished this up and really enjoyed it. We're looking forward to SA-02. I don't suppose there's any word on when it's coming out? And is there going to be a results page like for Season 4?
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Marzhin on <01-10-14/1809:28>: Quote from: Chance on <01-07-14/1953:42>
Our group just finished this up and really enjoyed it. We're looking forward to SA-02. I don't suppose there's any word on when it's coming out? And is there going to be a results page like for Season 4?

Same questions here. My group really enjoyed playing the first mission and was looking forward to playing the next one.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Ghoulfodder on <01-11-14/1916:25>: And same question here, although we're about to start Mish 1 rather than just finished it.

We may as well abandon the idea of playing missions entirely if the release schedule isn't going to seriously pick up soon. Which would be a real shame given the effort my players have put into making their characters. There is no way I'm going to be able to write my own adventures.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Michael Chandra on <01-12-14/0712:59>: Have you already finished Sprawl Wilds and Firing Line? Those make for excellent filler Missions.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Marzhin on <01-19-14/0742:41>: I'm thinking of getting my players through Splintered State while we wait for 5A-02. I only need to figure out a good way of taking them from Chicago to Seattle and connecting with the beginning of the adventure. I think a good old smuggling trip might do the trick.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Michael Chandra on <01-19-14/1725:54>: If you take a look at the Free Sample of Sprawl Wilds on DriveThruStuff, you can check the last page of it for examples of how to arrange for them to be in Seattle.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Marzhin on <01-19-14/1815:23>: Quote from: Michael Chandra on <01-19-14/1725:54>
If you take a look at the Free Sample of Sprawl Wilds on DriveThruStuff, you can check the last page of it for examples of how to arrange for them to be in Seattle.

Nice, thanks for the tip :) I might probably acquire Sprawl Wilds and Firing Line at some point, if I spot them at my FLGS.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Spook on <03-03-14/1216:16>: Quote from: bigity on <10-11-13/1708:42>
So, in effect, the wifi on gear rules are pointless? I mean, that's kinda the hot topic.

Hmm, maybe they are just as paranoid as your average shadowrunner.

If your cyberware is not wired, or use skinwire, you are either not paranoid enough or you are just a rookie that never had your equipment hacked yet. ;D
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: PittsburghRPGA on <03-03-14/1716:29>: Quote from: Marzhin on <01-19-14/1815:23>
Nice, thanks for the tip :) I might probably acquire Sprawl Wilds and Firing Line at some point, if I spot them at my FLGS.

I thought Spawl Wilds and Firing Line were pdf only products? Did that change? Because I'd be happy to have a shiny printed version like the Dawn of the Artifacts series or the Horizon mods.

Eric
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Timothy M. Patrick on <03-03-14/1744:16>: Quote from: PittsburghRPGA on <03-03-14/1716:29>
Quote from: Marzhin on <01-19-14/1815:23>
Nice, thanks for the tip :) I might probably acquire Sprawl Wilds and Firing Line at some point, if I spot them at my FLGS.

I thought Spawl Wilds and Firing Line were pdf only products? Did that change? Because I'd be happy to have a shiny printed version like the Dawn of the Artifacts series or the Horizon mods.

Eric

I know they where in print at the conventions Amazon has sprawl wilds
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: tasti man LH on <03-03-14/1949:17>: Quote from: PittsburghRPGA on <03-03-14/1716:29>
Quote from: Marzhin on <01-19-14/1815:23>
Nice, thanks for the tip :) I might probably acquire Sprawl Wilds and Firing Line at some point, if I spot them at my FLGS.

I thought Spawl Wilds and Firing Line were pdf only products? Did that change? Because I'd be happy to have a shiny printed version like the Dawn of the Artifacts series or the Horizon mods.

Eric

Sprawl Wilds I know for a fact has a printed release. Firing Line I have no idea.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Marzhin on <03-04-14/0456:45>: Quote from: tasti man LH on <03-03-14/1949:17>
Sprawl Wilds I know for a fact has a printed release. Firing Line I have no idea.

I managed to get Sprawl WIlds in print form, but couldn't find Firing Line, so it's possible only SW was released as an actual book.
Title: Re: SRM 5A-01: Chasin' The Wind now available!
Post by: Belker on <03-04-14/0934:49>: Firing Line is definitely available in print format; my FLGS (Games & Stuff in Glen Burnie, MD) has had copies. Have you tried web stores like Noble Knight?