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Homebrew Mission Plan A: Stealth

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iduno

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« on: <07-05-16/1115:52> »
I came up with this run in an attempt to be (slightly) different than the Crossfire + 1 change that most missions are built around. I tried to balance it so most of the time, the players can almost get through without an alarm, then have to fight their way out, with the possibility that things somehow don't go badly or go very badly (3 levels of "success", plus the possibility of an abort). Let me know how you think I did with that.
I also included enough cards from the base set that you should be able to play without High Caliber Ops, except for one challenge that is terrible anyway. It will probably take more time than an average run, so be aware of that. If I understand the rules correctly, you won't be gaining crossfire level through the stealth portion, because you're defeating all of the obstacles before the end of the round.
Thoughts?

Plan A: Stealth  Difficulty Moderate?
Mr. Johnson is willing to pay well for a quiet job. Get in, grab the goods, and get out. There's also a bonus for
getting out with nobody knowing. You'd rather High-threat response didn't show up anyway, with your allergy
to high-speed lead. We'll call that plan A…

Mission Setup:
Mr. Johnson wants the job done right, and is willing to pay half up-front to make sure.  (+1 starting nuyen each)
The run will consist of a series of security obstacles which must be defeated before the end of the round to
prevent an alarm. Each round, draw more cards from the security deck based on the Plan A table. In the case of
an alarm, go to Plan B(ullets).

Prepare the Security Deck by shuffling together the following cards from the Normal Obstacle deck:
1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 23, 33, 34, and 35 from the base set
1, 5, 10, 16, 20, 21, 26, and 31 from High Caliber Ops

Prepare the High-Security Deck by shuffling together the following cards from the Hard Obstacle deck:
41, 48, 49, 51, 57, 59, 62, and 68 from the base set
33, 38, 43, and 46 from High Caliber Ops

Mission Goal:
Defeat all of the security obstacles as you make your way through the facility. If any security obstacles are
undefeated at the end of a round, they deal damage, and play proceeds to Plan B(ullets) as the players fight
through security to escape for up to 7 more rounds (8 total).

Plan A:
Round 1      2   3   4   5   6   7   8      *Deal the first obstacle from the High Security deck
Cards  2      2   2   3*   3   3*   3   4*      in rounds 4, 6, and 8.
Characters heal 1 hp after every even round,  and may buy from the black market after every odd round.
Start each round with the first player, no matter who defeated the last obstacle.

After round 4, the players have what they came to steal, and can start making their way out. At any time from
now on, the players may ditch the goods to skip to fight through one (more) round of Plan B(ullets) as
described below, but will receive 2 karma if nobody is staggered or critical at the end of this escape, 1 otherwise.

Plan B(ullets):
Mistakes were made, someone set off the alarm, but blame can wait until you've gotten out alive. Clear the
remaining security obstacles, set aside the Security Decks, and deal out a number of cards as shown below.
Begin with cards from the Hard Obstacle deck equal to the number of Plan B(ullet) round (1 for the first, 2 for the
second…), then deal out obstacles from the Normal Obstacle deck. Obstacles now attack as normal. Continue
until the total number of rounds (Plan A + Plan B(ullets)) is equal to 8. Use the Round Counter to keep track.
At the end of each round, shuffle any undefeated obstacles back into the appropriate deck as you fight through.

Round   1   2   3   4   5   6   7      Characters may buy from the black market after each round,
Cards   4   5   6   7   8   9   10      and heal 2 hp after rounds 3, 5, and 7 (if needed)

Round Counter (8 rounds normally, 10 rounds with Long Run challenge):
1    2   3   4   5   6   7   8   (9)   (10)

Karma Awards
Successful Abort: 1 Karma
Failed Early Escape: 1 Karma (ditched goods, 1 or more players staggered or critical)
Successful Early Escape: 2 Karma (ditched goods)
Get through all 8 rounds (escape with the goods): 4 karma
Get through all 8 rounds with no alarms: 6 karma

The following challenges will only add karma if they get through all 8 rounds without going critical:

The Long Run:
add 2 rounds to the track. Rounds 9 and 10 in Plan A are identical to round 8, and rounds
past 7 in Plan B(ullets) are identical to round 7. +1 karma for getting through all 8 rounds,
or +2 karma for getting through without an alarm.

Black Facility  (cannot be combined with Zero Zone):
Deal out the first Security Obstacle from the High Security deck for all rounds
starting with round 3. +2 karma

Zero Zone (cannot be combined with Black Facility):
As Black Facility, but all Plan A rounds begin with one High Security obstacle.
In addition, ditching the goods is no longer an option, and the players may not abort. +3 Karma

Karma Scaling
Each runner gains the following Karma award or penalty based on how much Karma they have.

0-30 Karma = full Karma award
31-50 Karma = - 1 Karma penalty
51-70 Karma = - 2 Karma penalty
Each additional +20 = additional -1 karma penalty


graven2002

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« Reply #1 on: <07-05-16/1524:57> »
Nice contribution!  I'll have to try this next time we play, but first I had a couple of questions:

1.)  I don't see any scaling mechanisms; is this designed for 4 runners only?  If not, what scaling would apply?

2.)  It is implied that obstacles don't deal damage at the end of each player's turn during Plan A (simulating sneaking up on targets), is this true?
3.)  If so, are obstacle abilities disabled as well?  (You could decide that some aren't, but most are.)
4.)  If obstacle abilities and damage do apply as normal during Plan A, maybe the Crossfire deck should be unused to show the situation is still under control?

5.)  It is also implied that a Scene lasts 2 rounds (due to healing and buying), is this true for resetting upgrades that are "once per scene"?

6.)  Is Round 7 of Plan B designed to be unbeatable?

Some great ideas in here, I look forward to testing it!


iduno

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« Reply #2 on: <07-06-16/1138:40> »
1) I haven't really used the scaling enough to get an idea how it should work, so I didn't put it into this. As you see below, I'm not great at balancing the stuff I have used.
2) Yeah, that was an old idea, but I thought I got rid of it. Obstacles should still deal damage, and powers work as normal.
4) That would create the right atmosphere. Thank you, I'll put that in.
5) I used rounds with the idea that you were clearing obstacles fast enough that scenes wouldn't matter. I tested it with base characters, so powers that are once per scene didn't come up. I'd reset those after every even scene.
6) I didn't really expect anyone to need more than a few Plan B(ullet) rounds, but I included them because they're possible. That's actually why I included the "ditch the goods" option, which I have now moved and named Plan C. I'll halve the number of hard obstacles. I also tried to make it more explicit that the total rounds continues, but the Plan B rounds starts over.

Edited Version:
Plan A: Stealth  Difficulty Moderate?
Mr. Johnson is willing to pay well for a quiet job. Get in, grab the goods, and get out. There's also a bonus for getting out with nobody knowing. You'd rather High-threat response didn't show up anyway, with your allergy to high-speed lead. We'll call that plan A…

Mission Setup:
Mr. Johnson wants the job done right, and is willing to pay half up-front to make sure.  (+1 starting nuyen each)
The run will consist of a series of security obstacles which must be defeated before the end of the round to prevent an alarm. Each round, draw more cards from the security deck based on the Plan A table. In the case of an alarm, go to Plan B(ullets).

Prepare the Security Deck by shuffling together the following cards from the Normal Obstacle deck:
1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 23, 33, 34, and 35 from the base set
1, 5, 10, 16, 20, 21, 26, and 31 from High Caliber Ops

Prepare the High-Security Deck by shuffling together the following cards from the Hard Obstacle deck:
41, 48, 49, 51, 57, 59, 62, and 68 from the base set
33, 38, 43, and 46 from High Caliber Ops

Mission Goal:
Defeat all of the security obstacles as you make your way through the facility. If any security obstacles are undefeated at the end of a round, play proceeds to Plan B(ullets) as the players fight through security to escape for up to 7 more rounds (8 total). The players may also go to Plan C for an early escape after 4 rounds.

Plan A:
The crossfire deck is not used during the stealth phase.
Round 1    2   3   4    5   6    7    8      *Deal the first obstacle from the High Security deck
Cards  2    2   2   3*  3   3*   3   4*      in rounds 4, 6, and 8. The scene ends after every even round.
Characters heal 1 hp after every even round, and may buy from the black market after every odd round.
Start each round with the first player, no matter who defeated the last obstacle.

Plan B(ullets):
Mistakes were made, someone set off the alarm, but blame can wait until you've gotten out alive. Clear the remaining security obstacles, set aside the Security Decks, and deal out a number of cards as shown below.
Begin with cards from the Hard Obstacle deck equal to half of  the number of Plan B(ullet) round, rounded up (1 for the first and second, 2 for the third and fourth…), then deal out obstacles from the Normal Obstacle deck. Continue until the total number of rounds (Plan A + Plan B(ullets)) is equal to 8. Use the Round Counter to keep track.
At the end of each round, shuffle any undefeated obstacles back into the appropriate deck as you fight through.

Plan B Round   1   2   3   4   5   6   7      Characters may buy from the black market after each round,
Cards                 4   5   6   7   8   9   10      and heal 2 hp after rounds 3, 5, and 7 (if needed). Scene ends at the end of rounds 3, 5, and 7.

Round Counter, total of Plans A and B(ullets) (8 rounds normally, 10 rounds with Long Run challenge):
1    2   3   4   5   6   7   8   (9)   (10)

Plan C: Run
After round 4, the players have what they came to steal, and can start making their way out. At any time from now on, the players may ditch the goods to skip the rest of the run and fight through one (more) round of Plan B(ullets) as described above, but will receive 2 karma if nobody is staggered or critical at the end of this escape, 1 otherwise.

Karma Awards
Successful Abort: 1 Karma
Failed Plan C: 1 Karma (ditched goods, 1 or more players staggered or critical)
Successful Plan C: 2 Karma (ditched goods)
Get through all 8 rounds (escape with the goods): 4 karma
Get through all 8 rounds with no alarms: 6 karma

The following challenges will only add karma if they get through all 8 rounds without going critical:

The Long Run:
add 2 rounds to the track. Rounds 9 and 10 in Plan A are identical to round 8, and rounds
past 7 in Plan B(ullets) are identical to round 7. +1 karma for getting through all 8 rounds,
or +2 karma for getting through without an alarm.

Black Facility (cannot be combined with Zero Zone):
Deal out the first Security Obstacle from the High Security deck for all rounds
starting with round 3. +2 karma

Zero Zone (cannot be combined with Black Facility):
As Black Facility, but all Plan A rounds begin with one High Security obstacle.
In addition, ditching the goods is no longer an option, and the players may not abort. +3 Karma

Karma Scaling
Each runner gains the following Karma award or penalty based on how much Karma they have.

0-30 Karma = full Karma award
31-50 Karma = - 1 Karma penalty
51-70 Karma = - 2 Karma penalty
Each additional +20 = additional -1 karma penalty

graven2002

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« Reply #3 on: <07-06-16/1429:29> »
Wow, very comprehensive response; all my questions were answered.  I'll print this and see if we can get a game together this weekend.  Thanks again!

iduno

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« Reply #4 on: <07-07-16/1109:05> »
Thank you for reading. I *know* what I intended it to say, so I have difficulty proof-reading it. And testing it alone is nice (and it is nice that Crossfire can work that way), but not the same as 4 actual players.

I'll probably throw this at my players this weekend as well, and might make more changes.

iduno

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« Reply #5 on: <07-11-16/1446:44> »
Based on our playthrough from the weekend it got too easy at the end. I'm considering making the last 2 or 3 rounds tougher.

Also, I might find some way of wording the rounds so it's all 4 players, but doesn't start over with the first player. Our 4th didn't have as much to do.

Other thoughts and experiences so I don't balance it based on one group?