[Coldbringer]

So in a previous session the players captured an NPC who had been working with the team but was in on their fixers plan to use them as pawns/expendables in a scheme he was plotting.  There was quite a lot of arguments on what to do with their prisoner, eventually the consensus was to kill their captive (a former CAS Marine sniper).  Then there was the argument of what to do with the body. One player wanting to sell the corpse off for parts and the rest of the team thinks just  get rid of the body but doing that to anyone is cold and to someone who had worked with them in the past was just evil. Business is business but this ghoulishness was beyond acceptable for the rest of the team.  The lone wolf player went off and did what he wanted to  when the rest of the team was not around, oddly enough this player also plays him self as a defender of the weak and what not.

So last session during a meet in a bar frequented by CAS expats the pregnant wife of the sniper was putting out fliers looking for info on her missing husband.  The general reaction was I am evil.  It seemed like it actually bothered by having to face consequences of action that don't involve automatic weapons.

[Chaemera]

While every group has it's own personal limits, Shadowrun is a dark game of consequences. People should expect to be faced with the consequences of their cold and calculated "business" decisions, it's part of the game.

Next time, maybe the "defender of the weak" will reconsider butchering and selling a former compatriot instead of flipping him with diplomacy or other means. Don't get me wrong, sometimes, business is business and you kill your (former) friends. But, man up and deal with the consequences.

However, it sounds like you and your players should consider sitting down and discussing just what your respective limits are on the dark and emotional issues. Everyone has their limits and the game is supposed to be fun. Sometimes, those emotional consequences that feel "mean" are fun, because they give their actions meaning. Other times, it's a step too far.

I know a lot of that is repetition, but for something that could be hitting nerves, it deserves to be repeated.

EDIT
I'm going to have to remember / steal that consequence for my own players sometime. . . They do appreciate feeling the repercussions of their actions.

[Coldbringer]

There were some intense IC discussions as the session hit less frantic moments. A couple of players just were bothered.  It left me second guessing my self.  I am looking forward to the post game character journals that start to filter in the days after the game.

[Chaemera]

I wish I could get my players to write character journals. Ah well, we all have fun.

[Walks Through Walls]

I ran in a fantasy hero game and we keep a party log that rotated each session and you got a experience bonus for writing the journal for the week. You could try something like that to get players into the idea of doing journals

[Coldbringer]

I do give karma bonuses for that sort of feedback. Usually 2 points or so.

[voydangel]

Too mean my butt. That's awesome. Kudos to you for the pregnant wife and flyers. I may just use that one day. Shadowrun is supposed to be dark, gritty, and just plain dirty. Consequences included.

[Nomad Zophiel]

I would say its absolutely mean, bordering on psychotic, to kill a captive in cold blood and sell him for spare parts. To make the characters face the fact that their action was inhuman and basically psychotic isn't a bad thing. If your players are disturbed by the fact that life besides their own has value, maybe they'll be less likely to take another life in the future. If anything, the pregnant wife is the least of their worries. What happens when some other CAS Marine decides to help her find her husband? Once a Marine, always a Marine. Any ex-Marines in a street clinic that gets parts from that body bank? They might notice similarities between their parts and the missing guy. Worse yet, how many ex-Marines are there in Knight Errant's Seattle PD?

As a side note, this is how mob wars start. Hiro caps Vinnie in a "business" dispute over turf. Vinnie's underboss is pissed at losing a good collections guy so he sends a mob hit man to whack Hiro. Hiro's the nephew of a friend of the oyabun who talks him into sending a hit squad after the late Vinnie's friends to settle the score. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Doc Chaos]

Too mean my butt. That's awesome. Kudos to you for the pregnant wife and flyers. I may just use that one day. Shadowrun is supposed to be dark, gritty, and just plain dirty. Consequences included.

+1

[Chaotic Insane]

"Seems a downright shame...
Seems an awful waste...
Such a nice, plump frame
Wot's 'is name has...
Had...
Has!
Nor it can't be traced...
Bus'ness needs a lift,
Debts to be erased...
Think of it as thrift,
As a gift,
If you get my drift!

Seems an awful waste...
I mean, with the price of meat
What it is,
When you get it,
If you get it..."

Yeaaaah There aren't too many people in my party right now that would object to... "recycling." Code... would probably be the reason the random captive is dead in the first place. Considering he has to be babysat around people that need to not be dead, especially if he's just sitting around and any higher than usual. Nathan would be the one divvying up the parts and suggesting reputable buyers. Usda probably just wouldn't want to watch and would grouse about the guy being dead in the first place unless he screwed us over, and I can see Piati thinking of it (as well as possibly having a hand in random captive's death, especially if the guy crossed us in the slightest way). Dust I have no clue. Codac is an AI wtf does it care what us meatbags do? Not too familiar with Codac yet.

As for the guy's wife. Hell. Code would probably suggest just getting rid of her, too; purely on the basis that she'd annoy him. And he was bored because the rest of the party was too busy guilt tripping to, "come have fun." I can see it at least unnerving everyone else, the worst of which probably being Usda and Nathan.

[Usda Beph]

Usda would be against shooting a captive. Now seting him up so someone else (much more evil than the jerk) kills him is fine. He's also probably send s healthy amount of Nuyen anonously to the wife.

Piati would shoot video of the bloody horrific execution and send it back to those the corpse worked for with a notice saying "Frack us and you're next." As for the wife...How sexy was she? >:-D


Duality is a bitch ain't it?

[Welshman]

Points for good GMing. That's what makes a game interesting.

If the players are saying you are mean, that's a compliment, bask in it.

[Usda Beph]

Points for good GMing. That's what makes a game interesting.

If the players are saying you are mean, that's a compliment, bask in it.

I don't know about going that far Welsh, BUT I do like how the GM handled this one!

"Seems a downright shame...
Seems an awful waste...
Such a nice, plump frame
Wot's 'is name has...
Had...
Has!
Nor it can't be traced...
Bus'ness needs a lift,
Debts to be erased...
Think of it as thrift,
As a gift,
If you get my drift!

Seems an awful waste...
I mean, with the price of meat
What it is,
When you get it,
If you get it..."

Sweeney Todd... Hav a Lil Priest?

[Chaotic Insane]

But of course! It had to be said.

And I give props to the DM too. If the players are saying you're mean but they're not leaving, it's fine. Now if they take you aside and say it made them as a player uncomfortable, well, then cut it back or ask them to find another DM.

[Codac]

I have to agree that you handled this wonderfully as a GM. It really drives in what Shadowrun is.