Shadowrun_4E_Free_Taiwan.pdf

Writing

Nick Van

Maps

Patrick Sullivan

Shadowrun Missions Logo

Brent Evans, Matt Heerdt

Layout & Design

Matt Heerdt

Art Director

Brent Evans

Shadowrun Missions Coordinator

Steven “Bull” Ratkovich

Shadowrun Line Developer

Jason M. Hardy

Art

and Matrix are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of

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countries. Catalyst Game Labs and the Catalyst Game Labs logo

are trademarks of InMediaRes Productions, LLC.

David Kegg, Jim Nelson, Rob Ruffolo,

Andreas “AAS” Schroth, Steve Wood

Development

Peter M. Andrews, Jr.,

Steven “Bull” Ratkovich

SMH 2012-01

FREE TAIWAN

INTRODUCTION

SMH 2012-01: Free Taiwan is a Shadowrun Missions campaign

adventure. Full information on the Shadowrun Missions campaign is

available at www.shadowrun4.com/missions and includes a guide to

creating Missions characters and a regularly updated FAQ. All maps, player

handouts, and other playing aids are found at the end of this document.

RUNNING THE ADVENTURE

Gamemastering is more of an art than a science, and every

gamemaster does things a bit di erently. Use your own style when it

comes to preparing and running the adventure and do whatever you

feel is best to provide the best Shadowrun game you can for your

players. Shadowrun Missions adventures are designed to run in a

standard four-hour convention time slot.

Please keep this in mind when running the adventure. You

should leave at least 15–20 minutes at the end of the time slot

to complete any necessary paperwork and pass out the players’

Debrie ng Logs. (Make sure that you have enough copies of the

Debrie ng Log for this adventure to give one copy to each player

a er running the adventure.) is section o ers some guidelines you

may nd useful in preparing to run SMH 2012-01: Free Taiwan (or

any Shadowrun Missions adventure).

SMH 2012-01: Free Taiwan is a

adventure. Full information on the Shadowrun Missions

available at www.shadowrun4.com/missions

creating Missions characters and a regularly updated FAQ. All maps, player

handouts, and other playing aids are found at the end of this document.

PREPARING THE ADVENTURE

SMH 2012-01: Free Taiwan is intended for use with Shadowrun,

Twentieth Anniversary Edition , and all character and rules information

refers to the fourth edition of the Shadowrun rules.

PREPARING THE ADVENTURE

SMH 2012-01: Free Taiwan is intended for use with

Adventure Structure

SMH 2012-01: Free Taiwan consists of several scenes. ese

scenes form the basis of the adventure, which should be completed

in approximately four hours. If you are running short on time, you

should streamline each and be a little more generous with clues, target

numbers, and other requirements to aid in guiding the players through

the adventure.

Each scene outlines the most likely sequence of events, as well as

how to handle unexpected twists and turns that inevitably crop up.

Each one contains the following subsections, providing gamemasters

with all the information necessary to run it.

Step 1: Read The Adventure

Carefully read the adventure from beginning to end. Get a feel for

the overall plot and what happens in each scene. at way, if something

di erent happens, you won’t be caught o guard and you can adapt

things smoothly.

Step 2: Take Notes

Take notes for yourself while reading through the adventure that

you can refer to later on. Possible things to note include: major plot

points (so you can see them all at a glance), the names of various non-

player characters, possible problems you notice, situations where you

think a particular character can shine and other things you’ll want to

keep in mind while running the adventure.

Scan is provides a quick synopsis of the scene’s action, allowing

you to get a feel for the encounter at a glance.

Tell It to em Straight is written to be read aloud to the players,

describing what their characters experience upon entering the

scene. You should feel free to modify the narrative as much

as desired to suit the group and the situation, since the char-

acters may arrive at the scene by di erent means or under

di erent circumstances than the text assumes.

Step 3: Know The Characters

Prior to the start of the adventure, examine the PCs’ record sheets

and Debrie ng Logs for your reference and have basic information

about their important abilities handy so you can refer to it during play.

Also go over the characters and keep their previous events listed on

the Debrie ng Logs in mind when determining non-player character

actions in various scenes if such a dynamic has been included.

Behind the Scenes covers the bulk of the scene, describing what’s

happening, what the non-player characters are doing, how

they will react to the player characters’ actions and so forth.

It also covers the setting of the encounter, going over environ-

mental conditions and other properties of the location as well

as providing any descriptions of important items.

Step 4: Don’t Panic!

Gamemastering involves juggling a lot of different things.

Sometimes you drop the ball and forget something or you just make a

mistake. It happens, don’t worry about it. Nobody is perfect all of the

time and everybody makes mistakes. Just pick up from there and move

on. Your players will understand and forget about it once you get back

into the action.

Pushing the Envelope looks at ways to make the encounter more

challenging for experienced or powerful characters and other

ways you can add some “extra spice” to the scene. is subsec-

tion should usually only be used for home games, or games

where time is not a factor. At most convention and Open Play

events, gamemasters should omit this information. It adds to

the scene, but does not contain important information.

GENERAL ADVENTURE RULES

Shadowrun Missions adventures use the rules presented in

Shadowrun, Twentieth Anniversary Edition ( SR4A ). Standard rules such

as success tests, the Rules of One and Six, and other common mechanics

are described in SR4A and are not repeated in this adventure.

Debugging o ers solutions to potential problems that may crop

up during the encounter. While it’s impossible to foresee

everything that a group of player characters might do, this

section tries to anticipate common problems and other sug-

gestions for dealing with them.

INTRODUCTION

Please keep in mind when preparing for the adventure, that the

PCs will not necessarily comprise a balanced party. It’s entirely possible

that the party will be made up entirely of technomancers or back-to-

nature shamans. If the characters run into a brick wall because of such

complications, show exibility and use your best judgment in how you

lead them back to the plot.

with mundane ones. If the players are weak on combat, reduce the

number of enemies by one or two. Conversely, if they’re steam-rolling

the opposition, add one or two enemies to the ght. Missions should

be a challenge to the party, but should never be insurmountable for a

team playing it smart.

A Note on Commlinks

By 2070, commlinks have become a universal appliance. Because

just about every NPC is going to have one, they won’t always be

statted out in the adventure text. For NPCs who do not have a statted

commlink, assume it has all necessary ratings at 3.

Non-Player Characters

Non-player characters (NPCs) are essential to any adventure. ey

are the allies, antagonists, and background characters in the adventure

that interact with the player characters. NPCs in this adventure have

already been created and can be found throughout the adventure.

Minor NPCs are found in the individual scene that they appear

in, and generally have a brief write up, noting only their important

skills and the gear they are carrying. Note that their dice pools are pre-

calculated to save the gamemaster time.

Major NPCs can be found in the Cast of Shadows at the end of

the adventure, and have more detailed write ups, and include most of

the skills and the gear they have access to.

e NPCs in this adventure should generally stand up to the

average player character but may need some adjustment to suit a

particular group of characters, especially a more experienced and

powerful group. The scenes and NPC descriptions offer tips on

adjusting the NPCs to suit the abilities of the characters in your

group. To adjust the power level of an NPC, refer to the Prime Runner

Creation and Advancement Table (p. 285, SR4A ). Take the player

characters’ abilities into consideration when assessing the NPCs in

this adventure and modify them accordingly.

ese commlinks

will not contain any valuable paydata.

Paperwork

A er running a Shadowrun Missions adventure, there are several

important pieces of paperwork that need to be lled out.

e rst is to make certain to distribute a copy of the adventure’s

Debrie ng Log to each player. As the GM, please make certain to ll

this out and sign o on it for each character. In the interests of time,

you may have each player ll out the sections, with appropriate values

that you give them. Please consider the PCs actions in the scenario

when providing Reputation modi ers, per those rules (p. 265, SR4A ).

e second is to make sure that all players have updated their

character’s calendar. PCs are allowed to go on one run per week. e

calendar is used to track the character’s monthly lifestyle expenses,

adventures, and their downtime exploits.

Finally, once an adventure is completed gamemasters should head

over to the o cial Shadowrun forums at forums.shadowrun4.com

and look in the Shadowrun Missions section. ere will be a section to

post the outcome of the Missions adventure. Future adventures will be

a ected by these results. Without GM feedback, the PCs’ exploits will

be unable to a ect the campaign.

Mission Difficulty

GMs are encouraged to use their own judgment, and to adjust

the di culty of the encounter to take into account the abilities of the

players. If the players have no magical support, replace magical defenses

MISSION SYNOPSIS

Simon Andrews is going to have some fun, create anarchy, get

the goods, serve his master, and put paid to a rival, Lin Yao Chang.

Through his various contacts, and the full resources of a mega

corporate intelligence services, Simon has determined a shipment of

various collectibles gathered by Lin Yao Chang is being shipped home

on the Free Taiwan , a Wuxing built rigger controlled container ship.

Simon Andrews hired a team to retrieve the goodies, and prepared

for his follow up operation to muddy up the waters even further.

ings have gone even better then he planned, and the team is ahead

of schedule, the the undetected, and the cover story is even more

e ective then usual. e team has le the Free Taiwan in the hands

some Tir surfer pirate gang,

Phase 2 of Simon’s plans involve the runners. Simon Andrews has

previously arranged for a meet with the runners, representing himself

as Lin Yao Chang, and will send a member of his successful team to

act as Lin Yao Chang during the meet. During the meet the runners

are given instructions to rescue the ship from the pirates and check on

the cargo.

e runners will need to get to the Free Taiwan , get aboard,

deal with the pirates, check the cargo, then return to Seattle for their

payment.

e Tasmanian Devils.

MISSION SYNOPSIS

FREE TAIWAN

SCENE 1: RESERVATIONS

SCAN THIS

e runners are sent on a job interview with a Mr. Johnson

claiming to be Lin Yao Chang. In reality it is his rival, the changeling

Simon Andrews playing an April’s Fools prank.

BEHIND THE SCENES

e message actually comes from Simon Andrews, but it will pass

any normal authentication a runner will have—unless they contact Lin

Yao Chang directly and ask him about it. e limo ride will pick the

runners all together or separately at whatever location they designate.

ey will need to let the limo know where to pick them up. e key

phrase “Pack an overnight bag” is a common indicator the runners

should come to the meet prepared to immediately start their work

a er the meet.

SCAN THIS

e runners are sent on a job interview with a Mr. Johnson

claiming to be Lin Yao Chang. In reality it is his rival, the changeling

Simon Andrews playing an April’s Fools prank.

TELL IT TO THEM STRAIGHT

Free time isn’t free. It costs. Even if all you are doing is lying

around dreaming of your next job, the total nuyen of your net assets

is slowly going down. However you spend your free time, visiting

your mother, practicing shooting people in the face, or whining about

Johnsons on your favorite shadowboard, you’re interrupted with a

noti cation alert for a job.

Authenticated against your various shadow contacts you have a 9

PM dinner reservation at the Seattle Yacht Club, a pre paid limousine

ride, and a terse note to “Pack an overnight bag”.

TELL IT TO THEM STRAIGHT

Free time isn’t free. It costs. Even if all you are doing is lying

DEBUGGING

If the runners do contact Lin Yao Chang, he will simply ask

what instructions he has given them, then tell them to follow them,

explaining that he only wants to reveal more at the meet.

SCENE 2: SURF AND TURF

SCAN THIS

e runners get a ne limo ride to the Yacht Club. ey feast on

ne real and magical food, while enjoying the excellent view of Seattle

Night Lights. en they hear the pitch from none other than the Lin

Yao Chang, supposedly.

BEHIND THE SCENES

e Lin Yao Chang the runners are meeting here is really Sweets

McGordon, the face for the team that Simon Andrews hired. is

team has already stolen a collection of magical artifacts and le

the ship in the hands of e Tasmanian Devils. Sweets McGordon

is familiar with Lin Yao Chang, and has been given excellent

background information. He will greet any runner that has worked

with Lin Yao Chang before with an acknowledgement of their

previous contact.

When it comes the time to make a deal, Sweets asks the runners

if they are willing to rescue a ship from pirates and check on some

cargo. e timing is critical, it must be done tonight, before the ship

is o cially recovered and there is no control over how the cargo is

handled. He o ers the runners one of two deals:

Deal one: each runner 2,000¥ in advance, another 5,000¥ on

completion, plus a possible objective bonus of 5,000¥. Runners may

negotiate with Lin Yao/Sweets to increase the advance pay by 500¥ per

net negotiating hit, with a maximum of 6 hits.

Deal two: alternatively, he o ers the runners a deal worth much

more in gear, o ering 2,000¥ upfront and 10,000¥ worth of gear

chosen from the Wuxing 2073 Arms Catalog, plus an additional

10,000¥ in gear if they complete the secondary objective. e Wuxing

Arms Catalog contains Wuxing brand versions of all weapons and

armor from SR4A, Arsenal, and any weapon or drone from Mil Tech

Spec . Runners may negotiate with Sweets. e rst three net hits

increase the up front o er by 1,000¥ each, and an additional 5 hits

may be applied to the objective bonus, adding an additional 1,000¥

for each hit.

If the runners do not accept, Sweets thanks them for hearing his

o er, and wishes them a good night.

TELL IT TO THEM STRAIGHT

A Nightsky limo from Blackstone Limo drives you on autopilot

to the Seattle Yacht Club, located on the waterway between Lake

Washington and Puget Sound. Overlooking the eet of personal

watercra at the club is an old structure that contains the Marine

Room, home of the nest Paci c Northwest seafood cuisine. Changing

rooms, lockers, and short term storage facilities are on the ground

oor, accessible prior to going to the second oor dining room and

the full length armored glass windows overlooking the ship berths.

Lin Yao Chang is already waiting for the runners, seated at a

table by the window. e table is agged in AR as for a private party.

Beyond the window are the lights of Seattle shining brightly at the last

of the day fades away. Lin Yao Chang presents the menu, indicating

they will discuss business a er the meal. Fare consists of fresh and

paranormal seafood. e meal is served by a mixture of server drones

and working university students. Lin Yao Chang does not participate

in any conversation during the meal, though he will politely, and

tersely, answer a direct question. A er the meal Lin Yao Chang brings

out and places some extra privacy measures, a White Noise Generator

and a Camera Neutralizer.

Time to make a deal.

ey are welcome to stay at the

SCENE 1: RESERVATIONS

GAMEMASTER NOTE

OBSERVER TRIAD THUG (PROFESSIONAL RATING 2)

The runners are being set up by Simon Andrews here, and they will not

be getting any of the backend payment, though Simon will give them 5,000¥

as compensation for their trouble. Be aware of this, as some players will be

unhappy about getting screwed out of some of their payment, especially in a

convention setting when you may not know the players very well and/or they

have paid to play the adventure.

Ess

Init

Arm

6/4

Dice Pools: Athletics Group 8, Automatics 7, Close Combat Group 7, Dodge 8, Pistols 7, Stealth

Group 8

Gear: Lined Coat, Fichetti Secuirty 600, HK 227-X, stun baton

Weapons: Fichetti Security 600 [Light Pistol, 4P DV, AP, RC, 30(c), Detachable Folding Stock

and Laser Sight], stun baton [Clubs, 6s(e) DV, AP - half, Reach 1, 10 charges]

Yacht Club Marine Room and avail themselves of its services for the

rest of the night.

If the runners do accept, Sweets thanks them, gives them the

advance in certi ed credsticks, and informs them of the details. e

Free Taiwan , a Red Wheel Type 68 Freighter ( Deadly Waves p. 27), in

service with Good Fortune Shipping Incorporated, an independent

shipping company was in transit from Seattle to Hong Kong when it

hijacked by pirates. Normally this is no concern, as there are insurance

and the normal recovery services for hostage situations already paid for.

However, aboard this vessel is a special shipment which cannot fall into

the hands of pirates or any o cial rescuers.

OBSERVER TRIAD MAGE (PROFESSIONAL RATING 3)

Ess

Init

Arm

6/4

Dice Pools: Assensing 8, Astral Combat 9, Conjuring Goup 8, Leadership 5, Pistols 5, Sorcery

Group 9, Stealth Group 5

Gear: Lined Coat, Fichetti Security 600, Magesight googles, Spellcasting Focus (Rating 2,

Combat Spells)

Spells: Detect Life, Light, Physical Barrier, Powerbolt, Silence, Stunball

Weapons: Fichetti Security 600 [Light Pistol, 4P DV, AP, RC, 30(c), Detachable Folding Stock

and Laser Sight], stun baton [Clubs, 6s(e) DV, AP - half, Reach 1, 10 charges]

e shipment is in cargo

container GGK9902314.

e freighter can be operated without any crew, but for practical

reasons there is a crew of two people aboard. ere are still some things

you need a person to deal with. While the vessel can still be tracked by

its transponder, there has been no further communication with the

vessel since the reports of a boarding, only received by the owners.

Other attempts to contact the vessel have been refused.

e primary objective is to rescue the ship and its cargo, eliminating

the pirates and returning the Free Taiwan safely to Seattle. e secondary

objective is to ensure that it’s special cargo is destroyed to keep it out of

pirate or Knight Errant hands. KE is the standard security contractor for

ships leaving Seattle. While the ship is currently under control of pirates,

Sweets says that only he has been informed of that fact so far. is gives

the runners a chance to intervene before KE realizes the ship is o course

and sends an anti-terrorist team to investigate.

e Free Taiwan is currently 200 kilometers northwest of Seattle,

just past the Jan de Fuca Straight heading northwest. It should be

heading southwest. This course change will eventually draw the

attention of a KE anti-terrorist team. The runners are given the

coordinates and the transponder codes for tracking the Free Taiwan .

Sweets gives the runners a Matrix drop box number where they

can leave a message when the job is complete. When the message is

received the Matrix address will reveal the location of where to meet

for the payo . He asks not to be contacted directly as he has a busy

public schedule.

When asked about how the runners can get to the Free Taiwan ,

Lin Yao Chang will merely tilt his head in a manner to indicate the

team should look out the window. Outside they will see a yacht club

full of personal water cra . “You’re shadowrunners” he says. “If you

don’t have a ship, steal one.”

DEBUGGING

If the runners attempt to contact the real Lin Yao Chang during the

meet, he will not be available directly. e runners can leave a message.

Simon Andrews and Sweets McGordon have chosen a time where they

know the Lin Yao Chang will be otherwise occupied. ey will not be

able to get a response from the real Lin Yao Chang until a er the run

deadline has passed. Lin Yao is preparing for the dinner at Deng’s.

The real Lin Yao Chang’s personality lends itself to easy

impersonation. Lin Yao Chang’s distinctive Mao suit and his lack of

personality and individualism will make it extremely di cult to tell

from anything said at the meet that this is not the real Lin Yao Chang.

Sweets McGordon also has been informed by Simon Andrews if any

of the runners have worked with Lin Yao Chang before, and he will

proactively acknowledge the prior involvement. If asked why he has no

magical aura, he will reply that it’s none of their business, but if they

must know it’s because he’s masking his aura.

If the real Lin Yao Chang was made aware of the meet, he sends

the observation team mentioned in Pushing the Envelope to watch

the meet, and the a ermath. He will not intervene. e observers will

not become involved; if they are spotted they will attempt to escape.

If caught and interrogated they do not know much except they were

hired to observe and report to Matrix drop box.

If the real Lin Yao Chang was previously made aware of the meet,

and the runners mention that to Sweets McGordon, thinking he is the

same Lin Yao Chang, Sweets will take that in stride. Nothing changes his

objective of getting the runners out to the Free Taiwan . It doesn’t really

matter if the real Lin Yao Chang nds out what happens now or later.

If the runners attempt to reach the real Lin Yao Chang, they

cannot reach him directly; both the real and fake Lin Yao Chang

have their direct lines o . e runners can leave a message for Lin Yao

Chang, which will notify Lin Yao Chang for the Payo scene.

If the runners determine that Sweets is not the real Lin Yao

Chang, and confront him; he will wink, and ask “Does it really

matter?” while still o ering the credsticks.

PUSHING THE ENVELOPE

The real Lin Yao Chang has been tipped off to someone

impersonating him, and has sent an observation to watch and report.

is team can be discovered by alert runners. Sweets McGordon, the

fake Lin Yao Chang may ask the team to run them o . If the runners

push, he will offer them an additional 1,000¥ to handle it. The

observation team consists of four Triad

ugs and one Triad Mage.

SCENE 2: SURF AND TURF

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