Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => Gear => Topic started by: Prodigy on <11-20-16/1115:18>
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I have a unique character that my players have as a Prime contact named "The Broker". He is essentially a neutral fixer for all corporations (with his own schemes and hidden loyalties to a few corps). Think Spinrad, but freelance and less flashy.
He lives in Manhattan overlooking Central Park. He brokers deals with ALL of the Megas. With that being said, sometimes he is on the bad side of one (or more) of them for a short time. He has an OBVIOUS need for security.
What vehicles (and mods) should he have if he was in a vehicle convoy? He has access to whatever tech he needs.
I was thinking a Rolls Royce or the BMW limo with two GMC Escalades. His security detail is typically an ex-USAC spec ops shooter, a troll bodyguard, a combat medic, a phys ad elven bodyguard, a decker, a rigger, a shaman, and a combat mage.
Any ideas on either a modification on vehicles or personnel?
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All the bleeding edge gear, Red Samurai bodyguards, a handful of mages, conjurers, adepts, deckers, riggers, snipers. Several identical decoys, vehicles with biofiber armor and Faraday cages. Helicopters and military jets. Etc.
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You can fit A LOT of good gear into a limo...
But people who travel in convoys usually rely on the same vehicle, first to confuse attackers as to what vehicle the target is in, and second for emergency evac. Which is made simpler if all your vehicles are geared the same way as you don't have to hunt for the 'right' one.
That said, have fun outfitting them! A look through Rigger 5 will give you some neat toys and mods you can cram into your choosen rides for both survivability and defensive operations.
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Yeah I own Rigger 5. I like the options. I am looking for specific vehicle builds, just out of curiosity.
I am not really looking for tactics, I own a security company IRL. I am looking for good or interesting builds.
Red samurai are Renraku specific, so not really an option. He already uses the PCs as his personal "Asset Recovery Team". He calls them his "ARTists". I am going to have him use them in a bodyguard detail as the decoy team.
Somebody gimme some good feedback. I own all the books, so if you just reference pages I am good.
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I've got a tricked out Luxus I could post - about 700k total cost. It features a missile defense system with 3 heavy lasers plus a bunch of other defensive mods. Is that the sort of thing you're looking for?
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One of my characters has six Fomori bodyguards who are all equipped with deltagrade Wired Reflexes 3, and two cyberlegs that are equipped with hydraulic jacks. They wear heavy mil-spec armor and carry a collection of weapons that would make Jayne blush.
She keeps attacks to a minimum by always releasing no fewer than six false itineraries, the real one only exists in her head and is shared via Dragonspeech on a strictly need-to-know basis. Her vehicles are still tricked out though, but I'll just start with her personal phaeton.
Vehicle Rolls-Royce Phaeton
Category Cars
Source R552
Body 16
Armor 12
Seats 8
Pilot 3
Sensor 4
Device Rating 0
Acceleration 2
Speed 5
Handling 5/3
Vehicle Worth 374000
MODS
Amenities (Luxury)
Anti-Theft System Rating 2
Armor (Concealed) Rating 3
Chameleon Coating
Electromagnetic Shielding
Rigger Interface
Vehicle Tag Eraser
Signature Masking Rating 6
GridLink Override
GEAR
Sensor Array Rating 4
Her idea is staying safe by preventing would-be attackers from finding her in the first place, and being able to disappear if they do.
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Take the advice of the President of the US - never use a limo except as missile bait. Like Reaver says, use a bunch of the same thing, mix it up, play the shell game. (Basic VIP convoy tactics.)
For which vehicle to use, you want something with good body and good speed, which you can subtly armor if it doesn't come with it already. Hitting up R5, a good starting point would be the BMW TeufelKatze SUV on page 71.
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Take one of the big heavily armoured security vehicles that serve as a mobile command post put one in front and behind of your limo, multipy to 3 convoy's, spread them throiughout the city via different routes. Walk through the sewers with your bodyguards.
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All best armored convoys should have 3 or more personal missile launchers plus a trunk full of spare missiles.
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Thank you all for your comments. I agree with Wyrm and Reavers tactical selections. I used two Escalades, the BMW limo, and a Saab Gladius. Three missile defense systems. The principal moves between cars every trip.
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... which means, really, an almost automatic chance to get it right, because if you have one spotter who watches the target get into one of those four vehicles, it's either going to be a unique vehicles (BMW or Saab) or a one-in-two shell game with the Escalades. For the cash spent on the Limo and the Saab, they could get at least three, possibly four, more Escalades, all nicely armored and plush. And then every single block the vehicles are switching around - making it a literal shell game.
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Wyrm I would love you to try and play one of my games if you think it is that easy...
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I realise it's too late now, but there are two ways of transporting a Principal - the obvious convoy that attracts attention but is imposing enough that potential threats back off, or the hidden in plain sight approach.
If it's more important that the Principal moves about undetected I'd suggest a Ford Americar, modded with Morphing Licence Plate, Spoof Chip, Chameleon Coating, Run Flat Tyres, Handling Enhancement 1, Speed Enhancement 1, Concealed Armour 3, and finally, the most important addition - a Rigger chauffeur with the Subtle Pilot and Vehicle Empathy Positive Qualities who knows the location of every parking garage on the route.
Using one of the most common vehicles on the road, giving it the ability to switch identities and colours, and a driver who knows how to avoid attention and where to pull off the changes means the Principal is far more likely to arrive in one piece and unmolested.
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About the different car issue: Just get a bunch of smart-wigs and have doubles get into each car to confuse any spotters that maybe there.
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Wyrm I would love you to try and play one of my games if you think it is that easy...
*laughs* I've been playing SR for over 25 years, BL23C (which is Shadowrun in Space) for 15, so I've seen pretty much every possible variation on an ambush or avoiding an ambush ... and I never take the first possible shot at a target of a hit; that's unprofessional, usually sloppy, and almost always stupidly high-risk. 'Been there, done that' so often that I sell the t-shirts, you know? But that's beside the point.
They're using four vehicles of three different types. Unless they do something like Jack Spade's suggested - and even then any competent group is going to use an assensing spotter using glass binox from at least 150m, coupled with two scouts (one on foot, one on bike) to a) tag and b) keep a Mk 1 eyeball on the target - you have a very basic 'X, Y, or one of two Z's' situation, no matter what. You aren't using four identical vehicles which can turn a corner and quickly swap the placements of different pairs; if it's confirmed that he's gotten into the limo, the limo gets whacked. Ditto with the Saab. Add in the fact that no matter how many MDS's you have, they only add dice that can fail, and so long as you have ... hmm. Call it three launchers. Have that, and your limo or Saab is gone like the Schwinn. If you have your spotters successfully place a tag on the vehicle, particularly with the Escalades, even better - the missiles are targeting the beacon, and they get sucked right in.
Of course, the best method is to box them in without letting them know they're boxed. They pull out into traffic, but it's your hacked vehicles that gather around them, and a nice fat dump truck or other heavy vehicle to do the dirty work. That one cuts in front in some manner, then dumps what basically amounts to land mines, and ... well, it may not be as precise as three ATGMs, but it'll definitely do the job.
Or, if you have a spotter and two scouts, then you already have a strike force in place. Spotter(s) take out the target's protective mage, and since the mage is on the ball ... zap. (Of course, a bullet works just as well.)
Like terrorism, thievery, and crime, when it comes to assassination, those out to do the evil deed always have the initiative, and it isn't something that the guards can take away from them. Make things difficult, yes, but unless they really are dedicated to chaos, patterns will emerge - and patterns are exploitable.
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What Sterling said, but added to that a good disguise (both magical and mundane) and a tunnel from your house to a house a bit further (not the exact neighbour, but one or two further). The house is owned by a corporation which is owned by a corporations which is... (you get the point) The principal takes the tunnel and it simply looks as if the person from that house is leaving or arriving. Have some bodyguards (officially employees of aforementioned corporation) live there (your disguise make you look like one of them). The person officially living there does a lot of work from home, but from time to time has to go into the office (so you can come and go at whatever hour).
Have a double (or someone disguised as yourself) leave in an obvious convoy from time to time (somewhere between 30 and 90 minutes before you have to leave for a meeting) and your enemies can try to spot whatever they want at your house. For that convoy there have been examples posted above as well.
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Wyrm, that is two condescending posts in a row. I don't appreciate any post that stats with an ellipse or a laugh. I'll take your 25 years of role playing experience and see if it matches against my actual real life bodyguarding experience any day.
Judging by your hypothetical scenario, there are many glaring holes. Read a book on concentric bodyguarding or active versus passive bodyguarding to know why.
If exploiting security was that easy IRL, there would be a lot more dead presidents and CEOs. The President really does ride in his limousine you know.
Not to burst your bubble but your GMs, like most, want you to have fun and have your plans work. Your plan would probably work in my game too, just because I don't want to deflate your ego. IRL most assassins fail at the highest level, usually due to one of many factors going wrong. Most of them don't get caught, because they don't risk themselves.
Even in the SR world, you are telling me your team is running around downtown Manhattan with missile launchers?
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FYI I did start this post to get everyone's ideas. I do like them all, including Wyrm. Keep them coming! I am looking for some more vehicle builds!
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@Wyrm
Mana barrier on the astral will block any Aura reading completely (which I assume is standard protocol). Even a bunch of preparation dropped strategically would allow creating un-observable corridors.