If you wanna change this to a standard campaign that’s easily done. Arasaka and Militech could just have easily fought over a contract to police a city. For a twist you can even make the baddie Lazerous Corp.

This is a tale of two cities at war, with as much Wizard of OZ imagery I could squeeze in. Why? Because I can.

In This Corner…

The bad guys? Who else but big government. The city state of Applecrest has had a shake up in the ruling class. The power hungry Arch-bishop Cassidyne has managed to wrestle control of the city. As the master of bad he has brought blackmail, intimidation, and corruption to new levels. The majority of new administration consists of Cassidyne family. Cousins, nephews, brothers, and sisters, the family controls the city. A dangerous lot, they are always causing trouble or misusing government funds.

Anyway, once in power, the Bishops eyes turned to the neighboring city state of Monica (imagine Toronto and Mississauga, or New York and Queens). He couldn’t stand looking out his window and seeing something that wasn’t his. So he had a thought, he would take it over. But the people of Applecrest believed the Arch-Bishop to be a good man, for this reason he didn’t want to roll the tanks down main street Monica. How could he take it over and still be the hero? Easy, fund a revolution against his neighbor and when it all goes to shit, then roll the tanks in. Instead of resistance, Monica would through a parade. Careful not to lead a trail back to himself the Emperor, oops, I mean the Arch-Bishop, would begin blitzkrieg attacks against the underground gun running community in his own city. He could use these weapons to fund his little revolution and he could effectively deal with the crime problem at home without worrying about those pesky human rights.

And in that corner…

The Monician Security Directorate have their hands full. They strongly suspect that Applecrest is moving against them but cannot counter without proof. Monica is a small state, part of a larger Trade Collective. To move against Applecrest would require military help from the members of that Collective. To this end the MSD have been infiltrating Applecrest in order to gain evidence.

Dorothy Gilbert AKA "Ten" (as in "she’s a…") is leader of Cell 13. Her team is shadowing Justice Arbiter Ryan Cassidyne in order to discover what he knows. She is also keeping in contact with her lover Lucien Farse, code named "Toto", who is a mole in the Applecrest Infocomp archeology known as The Emerald City.

The shit hits the fan when Dorothy makes a call to check in with Toto. The call is picked up by State Security and is immediately acted upon.

(Applecrest is under what is known as The New Openness. The Bishop’s plan for a new age of enlightenment. This involves security camera’s everywhere, random monitoring of phone calls, the basic elimination of privacy. While in Applecrest there is a 1 in 10 chance of being seen doing a crime, or having your conversation monitored if your using hot words. Hot Words include words like "kill", "government", "gun(s)", "steal" etc. There are also cameras and microphones on street corners and small programmed floating dirigibles. All of this is handled by a huge AI called Divine. This does not extend to the Combat Zone or what I call the Wilds in my game.)

Cell 13 was ambushed and cut down. Dorothy was the only one to escape. That’s right, you guessed it. Dorothy has one more contact within Applecrest, one of the PC’s.

What ‘cho want…

In my game I had Dorothy be a PC’s sister, it worked out well cause the PC’s father also was suffering from amnesia and Dorothy became a long lost sibling. It helps if Dorothy is someone the PC contact actually cares about. Try and make it personal.

Anyway, the PC’s should be close to broke especially if they are involved with the black market. Arch-Bishop Cassidyne’s blitzkrieg raids are drying up the crime business. The attacks are the biggest mystery on the street, nobody knows who is doing it so everybody is suspecting everybody else. Fixers are shooting first and asking questions later as they blame the others for their lost profits.

Solo’s are getting short on work because nobody can afford to hire them and the only jobs are red shirt jobs defending against this Phantom Menace that nobody understands. In my game all solo’s belong to a clan of some type. Being in a clan offers prestige, jobs, and training. Each clan specializes in a type of combat (like kung-fu, assassination, blades, guns, etc.) . They have rules of conduct when it comes to confronting members of the same school, and there exists rivalries between these schools. So the solo’s in my group were looking to get enough prestige to be accepted into the clan known as "The Devil’s Hand". Basically this adventure works for solo’s if they are given a reason to increase their rep.

Anyhow, the techie is searching for a man called the Tinman who is said to know the secrets of Alpha Tech and has a school to teach just that. I do dabble in the paranormal in my game, the tech received a clue from a Tarot reader that said "Your strength flows from your mind anything else is merely distraction". Don’t like the paranormal? Well let the tech hear a story from the street with a similar theme.

What is Alpha Tech? What I did was just go through the books and decide. Stuff like the cyberarm arc-thrower, electro-thermal gun enhancement, flying powered armor, skin weave, the shadow cyberdeck, any type of rail or laser gun. It’s personal preference. Also its a good opportunity to include super sci-fi equipment in your game if you feel the need.

A Chance of a Lifetime…

So the adventure begins at the Nomad Market. Acid rain falls from dead a skies on our heroes. It’s been raining non stop all week. The nomads have rolled into the Wilds bringing fresh food! That’s right no kibble, tonight we eat fresh leafy vegetables! They offer the groceries at a very reasonable price and everybody from the Wilds are there because they are sick of eating pre-packaged nutritional supplements that taste slightly like chicken.

It’s here that Dorothy will make her first appearance. She will stumble through the crowds bleeding holding a long green crystal in her hand. She will be dressed in black covert ops gear and people will scramble to get out of her way. When she meets the PC she will collapse unconscious in his/her arms.

This will be immediately followed by the whine of a landing AV as special ops troops jump out. One will yell out "There she is, 4 o’clock my position. Rock ‘n Roll!!" and start shooting into the crowd at her. The leader of this special Ops team is KillFace, a solo who is written up all over the screamsheets. He will not leave the AV and when the extraction fails he will take off in it. Make sure the PC’s get a good look at KillFace, he’s a large imposing figure dressed in the black clothes and trench coat, total cyberpunk chic with a armored zipper facemask that has a yellow smiley happyface on it. He is accompanied with a Media (body type 2) who records his every move. Pixel is Killface’s personal public relations officer / weasel. Myron’ s motivations is that he just doesn’t want to die. Comic book readers will recognize my plagiarism of Clownface from the Darkhorse publishing book called Body Bags. I also used his picture for my screamsheet. KillFace is needed at the end of the adventure so don’t let him die.

Because the nomads don’t like cops or being shot at by the man, they will open fire and help repel the attackers. Have some gunplay, kill some cops, shoot some PC’s, but let the party escape with Dorothy. Dorothy is critically wounded and hardly conscious, she needs a doctor and needs one now!

Have the Fixer set her up with a doc, if they positively cannot get one then I guess one of the nomads will know somebody. Got a better idea? Well, use it!

Dorothy will eventually recover from her unconscious state, she’ll start about the dream she had and how all the PC’s were in it, but will quickly shake that off. She will explain everything she knows about the situation to her saviors.

Dorothy will explain that the crystal is a Data Crystal. A data storage device that can only be written on once and can only be read by a Crystal Reader. Both Data Crystals and Readers are Alpha Tech. This type of technology is used by sovereign families and corps who have gained the favor of the Alphas.

Dorothy was able to retrieve this Data Crystal from the drop point that she had arranged with Toto. Unfortunately without a Data Reader the crystal is useless. Toto did have a meet set up with the underground Tech Guru known as Tinman but communication was cut before he could relay the information. Tinman is rumored to have constructed a working Data Reader. Dorothy is positive that the crystal contains detailed information on Applecrest/Terrorist movements, including the whereabouts of a 18 wheeler truck full of hot guns (can you say motivation?). During the days of surveillance of Ryan Cassidyne, Dorothy learned that a new shipment of guns were to leave the city within the next couple of days.

What needs to be done is somebody has got to sneak into the Infocomp archeology find Toto and get the information on the Tinman meet. Prepared for this eventuality Dorothy has faked passcards and picture ID that may have a photo inserted (originally for Cell 13). She carries enough for the party. The fixer will need to come up with a Faceman to cover uniforms and other disguise equipment, Any Faceman worth his shit will have uniforms of the major corps of Applecrest. Remember to jack up the price for getting the stuff so quickly. If they can’t pay, make the PC’s at least explain the pay off, the Faceman will then jack up the price some more and have the party owe ‘em. That IOU list keeps getting longer and longer…(The Faceman, like everybody else in the crime world, knows that guns are hard to get a hold of. If PC’s can convince others that they really have a line on a truck of guns people are gonna want a piece of the action).

So anybody who has seen any movie will know that maintenance workers are the way to go. No one notices them, they get to carry a tool box, and if they have a half-assed reason they can go anywhere. "Oh yeah, the type 4 relay shunt is running warm we have to re-calibrate the Jeffries feed, should take us about 20 minutes. Backoff! I’m just doing my job." Of coarse PC’s may opt to dress up as corps as well. Allow PC’ s to be creative.

By the time they move out to the Emerald City the vid boards will be covered with the image of Killface commanding the troops going after Monican terrorists at the Nomad market. "Tower appoints new judge: Killface" "Killface cleans up the garbage" "Killface goes to the Market" "There’s a new sheriff in town: Killface" will be some of the headlines.

The Emerald City Run…

The Emerald City is a large imposing dome structure within the business sector of Applecrest. The exterior of the dome is tinted green glass, thus earning it the name. There are four ways to enter the archeology, the parking garage, roof AV access, multiple street level entrances, the sewers and the service entrance. Corps often use the roof access and street level where maintenance always use the service entrance and have access to the sewers. Service entrances require workers to swipe their pass cards in order to open service doors. Service doors close on their own unless kept ajar. Service comings and goings may be monitored in this manner.

Important: Things are not business as usual at the Emerald City. Applecrest agents have detected a outgoing signal from the archeology to a Monican agent. Someone in the archo is a spy!! Applecrest Special Officers have taken control of the building and are conducting a room to room search. Unfortunately this is disrupting the daily business of the Infocomp employees. That means they are losing money. Every time an officer detains a Infocomp employee 100 Euro just jumped out the window, or so they think. So despite the cops everywhere and all the questioning, employees are trying to conduct business as usual. As you may have guessed both parties don’t like each other a lot right now.

So to keep the site clean no one is allowed in or out. No Exceptions!! Roll all FastTalk and Persuasion rolls behind the screen. Be easy on the excuses, make sure they are credible and important. If PC’s decided to be corps allow the "Listen little man, I’ve must get these documents to the CFO or WhisperCorp will not only get the deal but maneuver us out of 12% market share. 178 people will lose there jobs, and I promise I will see to it that your fired. Get me"? speech to work.

If PC’ s really fuck up have the officer record their ID badge number, give them a hard time, then send them on their way. I found it to be much more effective if you blow their cover once they have reached the top of the archeology.

A failed ID check or pass card will get their ID number recorded. Once in a while a guard will stop a PC and ask ‘em where there going, afterward they will speak into the 2-way radio as they watch the PC’s walk away. Play up the fact that there are camera’s everywhere within the brightly lit halls. People are walking everywhere busily doing their jobs. Every once in a while they come across a corp really telling one of the officers off. If PC’s make a stink about being stopped employees who overhear will shout encouragement, but the guards may be tougher on them.

Note: Infocomp employees may be valuable allies. Asking one to make a diversion or to distract an officer so they can do their jobs is an easy task.

Toto’s apartment: PC’s arrive at the apartment too late! All they find is a pretty young woman sitting on the bed crying. She is Toto’s girlfriend. Doh! Her name is Cerise Grand and she has been dating Toto for a year. Of course she only knows him as Lucien Farse, or Farsie as she likes to call him. Anyway she is waiting for her lover to come back. She was supposed to meet him for snuggles but he wasn’t here. Netrunners will immediately notice a terminal connected to the main frame which is not locked up!! Oh Yeah, access to the Infocomp mainframe! The runner can enter using an employee ID. He/she will have Toto’s access to the system which is level 3 clearance. Useful stuff is access to personnel files (including Toto’s whereabouts, building schematics, and of coarse Infocomp’s project files. Applecrest netwatch are also in the mainframe looking for spies. Gee, why is this guy looking through everything… It should be mentioned that there will also be 73 other employees working in the mainframe at the same time. If the ‘runner is not careful someone will get suspicious. Finding files will take some time but each one he finds will have a value around 1000 Euro, up to 10 files.

The runner can also learn that the mole has been taken to Human Resources, top floor if the archeology. No runner? Well I guess the girlfriend will know. A search of the room does not reveal any info about the meet with Tinman. He keeps his pictures of Dorothy on the mantle. Cerise thinks its Lucien’s sister.

Behind the Curtain…

Searching the mainframe personnel records or questioning Toto’s girlfriend will determine that Toto has been taken to Human Resources. Now when I played I tried to create a certain amount of anxiousness about that area. Every time someone mentioned it the thunder and the lightening would crash outside, people would be dragged into elevators by guards saying "Your going to Human Resources"! and the poor sod he was dragging would scream until the elevator door slammed shut. If the netrunner makes a difficult programming roll he can fool the computer that he has a higher clearance and gain access to camera’s, elevators, and doors. This could be useful but will take approx. 20min. People who go to Human Resources either return all fucked up or not at all. The best option would be to leave the runner there while the rest of the party moves to the top floor of the archeology.

Again there should be a couple of security stops at least one in the hallway and one at the elevator. On the way up they will overhear people saying "Oh my god, what’s he doing here?" "Christ, that Killface is bigger than he looks in the vids! "Did you see the size of Killface’s knives? They’re as big as my arm!" Oh Yeah, Killface is in the house! And two guess as to where he’s hanging out.

The top of the archeology is Human resources. There is elevator and stairwell access. The stairs are locked and the are two guards on the elevator. Guards will instantly deny access. Time now to test the PC’s plan. Hey if it’s good let it work. There is a waiting room with a bunch of people handcuffed to chairs waiting for their turn. At the far end is a room blocked by a curtain. Behind the curtain is the sounds of machinery, screaming, gurgling, and electricity. PC’s will overhear the guards converse to each other: "Man how many people does it take to interrogate one guy? There’s like 20 cops in there." "Yeah, and HIM too." "Oh yeah can’t forget HIM". Under no circumstances will PC’s be allowed access to the room behind the curtain. The guards are Killface fans though, and may let them go by if they think they will get to see Killface in action.

PC’s who attempt to kill the guards break into the room, take out the cops and Killface then rescue Toto then fight their way out the archeology should be horribly, horribly, killed. Play the NPC’s smart, have some fun with it. Try out some new guns, but kill the PC’s dead. Hey, its the Cyberpunk way!

Guards will detain any one trying to go into Human Resources. They will even say "I wouldn’t go into there if I were you…" One of the techies did manage to go into the room when I ran this. Everybody in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at him. Without saying a word, Killface walked over to the PC and stabbed him in the face dead. Dead men tell no tales and all that.

No, the best way to get behind the curtain is to wait for Killface and his posse to finish. This is a good time for PC’s to see Killface again with his little media guy who follows him around. After about 25 minutes Killface will leave to get into the elevator with his posse, before he enters he will stop, look at the PC’s, and then leave.

Now there is only two guards stopping the PC’s. Its okay to kill them and PC’s may be eager now to get some blood on their hands.

Behind the curtain is a ghastly sight. Toto has a neural interface jammed into his brain. The interface is hooked into a cybermodem which is in turn hooked up to a holo projector. The projector is shaped like a crystal ball. There is a heart machine pumping blood through his body and his arm is raw from all the drugs injections. He is bruised about the face and his groans are also mixed with gurgles. Lucien is barley holding on.

The cybermodem is running a specialized Creator program to assist with the interrogation. Killface and his crew were attempting to make Toto think of the information to make it appear on the holo projector.

Each attempt takes 10 min. Toto will die in an hour and guards will also show up within the hour as well to find out why the other two haven’t reported in. If Toto does die no worries. PC’s will just have to figure a way to find out where Killface went. Other special officers may know this or PC’s might try using the guards radio’s.

A successful interrogation reveals a mysterious clue. The crystal ball show’s the city of Applecrest from some point high in the sky. The view moves down into the city, speeding past buildings, to the Royal Botanical gardens. A giant monkey with wings walks through it as if he were looking for something, It looks down at his ruby red shoes than to its watch. The time on the watch is 10:15pm approx. 1 ½ hours from now. After this vision Toto will begin to breathe faster, gurgle louder, then die.

Hide and go Seek…

On the way out a disturbing message will come out of the guards radio’s or the netrunner will come across a new directive being sent to special officers within the Emerald City as he monitors the net. Well lets see: Did anybody fail an ID check? Did anybody get caught doing something suspicious? Does Cerise suspect that the PC’s are anything else besides maintenance workers or corps? Did they do something bad in front of a camera or a microphone? Have PC’s left any clues at all? Look, if the party took every precaution and actually appear to have made it to HR without leaving any clues, then maybe you should let them out no problem. But if your like me you like to turn up the heat! In my game that same techie that got killed by Killface, killed Cerise to keep her quiet by slitting her throat (talk about Zen). So the special officers found her body and activated the alert issuing pictures to the L.E.D screen on their radios that were picked up off the rooms camera. Its up to you to decide how high to turn up the heat, it would be nice if the PC’s actually got out of the building. When I played I over did the combat, to do it again I would aim for a maximum wound level of light (maybe half the serious boxes too). A fight right in front of the exit door is pretty dramatic. Now would be a good time for the netrunner to gain control of doors and elevators. Assistance from the employees of Infocomp would also be invaluable now. Once they are out of the building go easy on PC’s. The next part is kinda hard too.

Of Blood and Poppies…

So now the Special Officers have the information they have been looking for. They are unsure however who is going to show up for the meet. They definitely do no want to lose the Tinman and if they could get his contact that would be a bonus. They have diverted traffic and cut power to the area surrounding the Royal Gardens. Because of this traffic will be grid locked around the gardens. As a result PC’s will have to leave their cars and go on foot is they want to be there on time. You may also want to point out to PC’s that a downed power grid would render The New Openness ineffective. Despite the news on the vid boards and the screamsheets Killface has been costing the Tower a lot of money on his campaign. With troops split between the Emerald City, finding Monican spies, and chasing leads, Killface’s team is a bit spread thin. If anyone is placing close attention to the media they can….

By the way the media at this time is reporting on how well Infocomp and the Applecrest government are working together. Images show Killface (in human resources) standing over restrained Monican terrorists (employees from the Emerald City witch hunt) shaking hands with an Infocomp employee (actually a special officer in a suit). "Killface brings business and government together against a common foe"!

Anyway, Killface only has 2 snipers in the bushes with orders to take out the Tinman first, then anybody who shows up for the meet second. But Tinman must die. Anybody who’s watched any Vietnam movie knows what’s gonna happen. The sniper will take out Tinman’s kneecap and wait for PC’s to come out and help him then shoot that PC in the head. He will then return and take out the other knee on Tinman, then an arm, a hand, the foot, etc.

This is gonna be a tough play, if you think this will kill off the party you may choose to make it just one sniper. Heh heh…

Okay so when PC’s get to the Gardens they will come across the field of Poppies with a huge glass gazebo at the center. Inside the structure there are two granite statues of winged monkeys looking up towards the night sky. Sitting on the bench between the statues is a little man dressed in blue suit, a hat, and ruby red shoes. He wears large black rimmed glasses and looks like a 35 year old geek.

When PC’s approach him he will take his first bullet through the shoulder. This is where players will curse themselves for not spending more on Awareness. The names of our snipers are Deadlock and Robbie Black. They are taking shots from outside the gazebo.

Snipers are lightly armored so that they may move better and are hooked up with infra-red telescopic imaging. Still to easy? Will then you can also hook ‘em up with a ghost suit. How about that. Once the return fire becomes serious, the snipers will not waste any time, they will put a bullet through the Tinman’s head and chest with one more just to be sure. They aren’t being paid to trade shot with a bunch of psycho Edgerunners.

Poor Tinman, he’s pretty dead right? Wrong even with his head missing and chest blown open his body is still writhing about the ground. Anybody can tell now that the Tinman is a full conversion borg. Actually this isn’t Tinman at all. The Tinman is an AI that was created before the collapse and survived to this era. It has intimate knowledge of Alpha Tech because it was there during the 3^rd age if mankind. Tinman does have a bunch of Gemini borgs that he controls with a specialized modem rather than with an organic brain and spinal chord. You guessed it, the specialized modem is Alpha Tech as well. This won’t be the first time Tinman has lost one of his borgs, as a matter of fact he now uses it as an opportunity. Only a select few are allowed to train under the Tinman to learn the secrets of Alpha tech. Those potential candidates must prove themselves. The AI doesn’t like those techies who rely to much on their tools and readouts, he likes techies with heart.

The borg is having a cascade power failure which threatens to fuse out all the electronics within the system making the borg nothing more than hunk of scrap metal. This is going to take place 2 minutes after the techie gets there. The trick is that the borg will be transmitting false signals to the techies tech scanner, if the techie uses the scanner each roll will automatically fail. If the techie just uses his tools without any diagnostic equipment he may succeed. All I did was keep asking the techie after each attempt: "What equipment do use"? then rolled some dice. For really dense PC’s you can roll dice and just not look at them if he’s destined to fail. Each attempt takes 10 seconds.

The borg still "dies" at the end but all the electronic components do not burn out. Success brings reward. The four chambered cybermodem will raise out of the chest of the borg on a pedestal. Any kind of diagnostic equipment will now display a map of Applecrest with a location marked on it. Techies will be impressed by this, the only way such a map could exist on the equipment is if it was included in the manufacturing process (yeah, make sure your techie does have a tech scanner of some sort). To sneak something in like this on that level, Tinman would have to be a very powerful heavy hitter (It would be like opening windows typing in a password then having a treasure map come up or something…).

This is a map to the Tinman’s lair, er, I mean hideout.

Temple of the Tinman…

The Tinman’s hideout is in the center of Applecrest downtown. Even with all the electronic surveillance of the city, Tinman has no problem remaining undetected. The building is a located in the center of a row of buildings on Jane St. It is gray art deco style building with long columns set into the wall and faces carved from granite lining the top of the 3 story building. This is clearly one of the older buildings in Applecrest. The only entrance to the building is a black door apparently made of some type of polished stone. Part of the door is actually tinted glass allowing those inside to see out. Over the door is another carved face of a bearded man.

Sensors (in the face over the door) are designed to detect the Alpha Tech cybermodem (the modem is also marked with a radioactive isotope that will also show up on their sensors). Without the modem no one will answer the door. Sensors can also determine who’s carrying the modem. Anybody at the front of the building will be subject to a security scan before they enter. No weapons are allowed in the temple (that includes cyber weapons).

The temple members will only allow other techies to enter. They will determine this by scanning for any type of tech tools. Only one tech may enter the temple and he must bring the modem with him. He may also want to bring the Data Crystal so that he may have it read.

Once inside the party tech will see a bunch of other robed figures, obviously other techies, moving about carrying equipment and talking in hushed tones. The temple is much like an old church but instead of images of divinity, there are symbols of electricity, factories, tools, wave signatures, all carved into stone and on stain glass. The tech will be led to a confessional type room with a kneeling pad and a gloves and goggles set up. The guide will take the crystal and the modem from him before he enters.

After putting on the apparatus the PC will find himself in a desert. The wind will be blowing hard and he will have to struggle to get over the dunes in the sea of sand. Before him will stand a being apparently made of mercury. His feet will hover inches above the ground and his body will be featureless.

"You have done well to bring me back my heart. You must be a tech of considerable skill. We could use someone like you within my order." When he’s asked to decipher the message on the crystal the scene will change. Both the PC and Tinman will be in a room with Justice Arbiter Ryan Cassidyne, Killface, and a woman.

Ryan will explain to the others in the room the Arch Bishops plan. He will even lament that his brother is so paranoid that he requires these meetings to be recorded. Killface will be in charge of the field activities and delivery of the guns to the drop point. Gelinda and her coven sisters (read: solo clan) will meet at the drop point to retrieve the guns and deliver them to Monican terrorists. Because this is low profile mission, only a few people will be allowed to be at the meet. Minimal security only.

The techie will also notice that Gelinda is playing with her familiar. What’s a familiar? Only the peak of bio-mechanical tech! Gelinda’s "pet" looks like a very large wasp. It’s trained to respond to her unspoken commands and body movement. These tools can relay visual and audio information and can be loaded with toxins for that special mission. Alpha Tech at it’s sweetest, (Too high tech for you world? Well then make it so she has some kick ass gun or tech or even a gold bracelet. I want the party to actively chose between showing up early for an easy heist or waiting for all the guests to show up for the big score).

The meet is at an old, mechanized, corn farm between Applecrest and Monica. The farm is deserted now and has large storage facilities to hide the trucks, a perfect site for the meet. A wall screen within the office will point out where the farm is located and a series of dates when pick ups can be made. All meets are done at 7:30pm. Afterward there is a question period which basically revolves around how much Killface likes to maim people.

After the meeting the PC will be provided with a disk containing the whole meeting. The techies will also say that he is welcome to return. They will keep the data crystal and the modem.

Depending on how badly you beat up you PC’s you may want to give ‘em time to heal up a bit before the meet at OZ. You will also like to make a dramatic entrance for Dorothy. She’s all healed up ( or a least down to light wounds) and ready go. She’s lost her team, she’d lost her lover, and she be damned if she’d gonna lose the city that she loves too. Let’s rock.

The Guns of Oz…

Well in my game the techie only gave the rest of the party sketchy details about the meet, excluding facts like Killface was going to be there as well as the Coven Sisters. They just thought they were going to pick up the guns. When they got there they drove into the middle of the farm, the solo got out of the van, and promptly took a sniper shot to the head and died ( I actually rolled a one on hit location). The rest of the adventure was a cluster fuck, but I allowed them to be successful all the same.

The O’daniel-Zatharus Farm (division of Kansas Corp.) lies out in the middle of Nomad country, I wouldn’t even bother with nomads, its a bit of overkill in my opinion. The road to the farm will have a barrier across it with a bio-hazard symbol, a half-assed attempt to discourage what infrequent visitors come this way. When they get to the farm the will pass under the O’daniel-Zatharus arch but most of the letters will have fallen away just leaving the word "OZ".

So here again we will reward smart PC’s.

Killface:

Killface is already here waiting for the Coven to show up. When did he get there? Exactly 2 hours before your PC’s show up, how about that! The truck, excuse me, trucks are located in the storage barn. That’s right, there is not just one truck full of guns, not two, but three, yes, three trucks full of illegal guns. Won’t your PC’s be happy? Unfortunately Killface is a paranoid man and is under strict orders to make sure that no one learns of this mission. To that end he has rigged all three trucks to explode with timers and C-6. He has a remote control detonator with him at all times as well.

When PC’s make themselves known, he will blow up one of the trucks to get their attention. If there is an obvious tough guy solo there Killface will offer to make him famous. That’s right mono-a-mono, man to man fight. Killface is vain, that’s why he has a media follow him around. He thinks a fight in front of a burning truck will look cool. Also before the fight he will drop the detonator and it will break upon hitting the ground. That’s important.

PC’s may just open fire on Killface. In which case they still hit the detonator, or knock it out of his hand, whatever. This will activate the dead man’s switch causing the timer to activate under the 2 remaining trucks. The party will hear and recognize the sound of a beeping timer counting down (Yeah, Killface cheaped out and got the cheaper noisier timer). PC’s surprise Killface and shoot him dead? Before he dies he detonates one truck, struggles with the detonator, then dies, activating the dead man switch. You get the idea. If PC’s take immediate action and get under the truck, ask for their MA, roll some dice, consult a chart, then tell them there 1min 20 seconds left on the timer. Otherwise trucks go boom.

Too easy? Well, I’m sure Killface can have some flunkies hanging about securing the perimeter. They all come running once they hear the explosion. These would be basic Applecrest special officers.

Coven Sisters:

If the Coven is there things will be more difficult. Killface thinks the leader of the coven is cute and is trying to pick her up in the barn. The rest of the sisters will attempt to secure the parameter with sniper rifles. They will not come in if they hear a fight. The will be more concerned in making sure the trucks do not leave OZ. So when the truck(s) move out they will take shots at tires in an attempt to disable. Besides the storage shed, there is a farm house, a power shed, and the corn fields all perfect places for snipers to set up.

Coven sisters arrive early at 7pm. When do PC’s decide to show up? They don’t say? Well I guess the arrive to find a packed house.

So let the party come up with a plan and if its good let them execute it. If they go in all gung-ho by the seat of their pants, play the NPC’s smart and find out who’s got the bigger balls. I think the NPC’s will but that’s just me.

After all this there is still a lot to be done. The Fixer is gonna have to set up a way to sell all these guns and pay off the IOU’s he stacked up. In my game the fixer set up an "undermarket" invited a few of his favorite gangs and business partners and gave the whole thing like and hour and a half time limit. Guns being so rare it sold out no problem. The pay off: Lots of money! Enough to bring PC’s out of the gutter and make ‘em real players. Enough to cover that gold and silver plated cyber leg with all the trimmings including surgery and therapy. Maybe even enough money to scare GM’s. PC’s should pay more in IOU’s and expenses than they receive but what they get should be a lot. (In my game PC’s know there is always a bigger gun. They like to buy modest weapons and stay away from the hand cannons. Netrunners and techies and Fixers especially like this because they don’t like to dodging rail guns because the GM is trying to keep up with the solo.)

Of course the mob and other syndicates were interested in where the fixer got "their" guns from. In my game the mob showed up at the undermarket thanked the fixer for setting it up for them and told him that they would send somebody around later to pick up a modest 30% cut of the gross profit. The PC’s were happy to comply.

There will be some bad news in the media. The Trade Collective determined that Applecrest had nothing to do with the terrorist actions in Monica. Because of this Monica stood alone. Unable to effectively deal with the turmoil in his city, Prince Damar was forced to step down and Monica accepted Applecrest rule. Almost immediately after the troops moved in the terrorist activity stopped. Boy, that Arch-Bishop Cassidyne is good! He’s been good for business too, taxes on imports to Applecrest were almost halved. The Trade Collective was pleased as well.

The Media ‘s got a killer story. Special Officers at the farm still have their wallets on them with their ID cards (they never expected anything to go wrong). It’s a simple matter to make a connection between the terrorists and the Applecrest government, especially with the disk from Tinman. He may have a tough time selling the story in Applecrest but Monican papers are buying.

If the solo kills Killface and doesn’t kill his little media flunkie, the story may be accurately represented in the media (your choice, but c’mon give the man a break…). This will bring up his rep, he can demand more money for jobs, increase his work load, get laid a lot more etc. The solo died when I ran this game otherwise he would have been accepted into the Devil’s Hand solo clan.

Oh yeah, the rain stops and the sun comes out.

Cast of Characters

in order of appearance

Jenny Gilbert a.k.a. "Ten"

"We both serve the city I love, we both serve Monica. Where I serve with my life you will serve with your death."

Solo:

Int:9 Ref:9 Tech:8 Cool:7 Attr:10 Luck:9 MA:8 Body:7 Emp:6/4

Run:24 Leap:6 Lift:70

Head:0 Torso:18 R.A.:18 L.A.:18 R.L.:12 L.L:12

Save:7 Btm:-2

Combat Sense:8 Aware:10 Handgun:5 Stealth:8 Education:8 Expert-Surveillance: 8 Kung-fu:10

Interrogate:4 Driving:8 Expert-Politics:7 Streetwise:7 Rifle:8 Security Electronics:6 Wardrobe & Style: 8

Cyber: Neuralware, chipware socket, ‘face plugs, speedware, right cyberarm w/ micro missile launcher, motion detector, nasal filters

Equipment: Colt AMT model 2000 (P 0 4d6+1 8 1 VR 50m), Armor Jacket, Armored pants, mono knife, basic spy stuff.

Handgun: +14

Rifle: +8

Kung fu: +19

Nomads

"Tomatoes! Apples! Cucumbers! All Fresh! Radioactive Free!"

Nomads:

Int:4 Ref:7 Tech:8 Cool:6 Attr:4 Luck:4 MA:6 Body:6 Emp:8

Run:18 Leap: 4.5 Lift:60

Head:0 Torso:10 R.A.:10 L.A.:10 R.L.:10 L.L:10

Save:6 Btm:-2

Family:3-4, Aware:5, Handgun:3, Rifle:4, Basic Tech:7, Expert-farming:8, Gambling:6 Drive:8

Cyber: very little

Equipment: Leathers, shotguns, chewing tobacco

Rifle: +11

Applecrest Special Officers

"Gimme something to shoot".

Cops:

Int:4 Ref:7/5 Tech:8 Cool:6 Attr:5 Luck:3 MA:6 Body:7 Emp:4/2

Run:18 Leap:4.5 Lift:70

Head:20 Torso:20 R.A.:20 L.A.:20 R.L.:20 L.L:20

Save:7 Btm:-2

Authority:6 Aware:6 handgun:7 karate:6 Human Perception:5 Rifle:4 Drive:5 Intimidate:6

Equipment: Riot Armor, Shotguns (SHT -2 4D6 10 2 ST 50m), radios, batons (w/ tazer), handcuffs, Pistol (P 0 3D6 8 2 VR 50m), a real need to crack some skulls

Shotgun +9

Pistol +12

Karate +11

Killface

"Welcome to my world. Welcome to pain, grief and hurt."

Solo:

Int:4 Ref:10/13 Tech:3 Cool:7 Attr:4 Luck:9 MA:8 Body:10/14 Emp:7/2

Run:24 Leap:6 Lift:140

Head:25 Torso:18 R.A.:18 L.A.:18 R.L.:16 L.L:16

Save:14 Btm:-5

Rep:7

Combat Sence:7 Aware:7 Handgun:6 Melee:10 Stealth:9 Rifle:4

Equipment: 2 large zero-g crystalline grown knives (+1 N 3d6 NA VR armor at 1/3 for hard and 2/3 for soft) , Sternmeyer P-35 ( P 0 3d6 8 2 VR 50m) with API rounds (½ armor, ½ damage 1d6 explosive, 1d6/2 next round)

Melee (with knife) +23 dam 3d6+6 (Killface likes to sneak around and backstab or take a guy one on one in knife fight)

Sternmeyer +16

Stealth +14

Killface was a gutterpunk from New York City on the fast track to becoming a crime statistic. One day a mugging went bad and he was cooling his heals waiting for death row. Dynalar found his genetic make-up perfect to try out their new Endo-Frame so they cut a deal with the state and shipped the kid space side. Well the Endo-Frame experiment worked great. Killface became a heavy hitter with the solo community and he gets sponsorship money from Dynalar when he wears their logos and from Crystal Palace Developments Inc for using the knives. Not bad for a statistic.

Pixel

"We’re on in 5…4…3…Wait. Sir, Could you hold his spine higher? I want to get her head in the shot".

Media:

Int:8 Ref:4 Tech:8 Cool:4 Attr:6 Luck:10 MA:10 Body:4 Emp:7

Run:30 Leap:7.5 Lift:40

Head:0 Torso:0 R.A.:0 L.A.:0 R.L.:0 L.L:0

Save:4 Btm:-1

Credibility: 6 Aware:8 Hide (stealth without the movement):10 Judo: 1 Human Perception:10 Video Tech:8 Composition:9 Wardrobe & Style: 4 Squeal like a Pig: 10

Pixel is Killface’s flunky. He has been assigned to document Killface’s exploits for the Media. Pixel is constantly in fear for his life but can’t quit because he makes such good money. All he cares about is living to see a new day. Although Killface is always a good story Pixel doesn’t care where he gets his scoops from.

Infocomp Corporates

"Information is Power. Power is Money. Money is Control. Control is Freedom. We control information".

Corps:

Int:8 Ref:6 Tech:3 Cool:7 Attr:8 Luck:4 MA:5 Body:5 Emp:7

Run:15 Leap:3.75 Lift:50

Head:0 Torso:0 R.A.:0 L.A.:0 R.L.:0 L.L:0

Save:5 Btm:-2

Resources: 4-5 Stock Market:4 Aware:4 Human Perception: 4 CorpSpeak:8 Gamble:2 Library Search:6 System Knowledge:7 Accounting:5 Wardrobe & Style:5

Cyberware: Neuralware, ’face plugs, chipware socket, implants and bio-ware.

Deadlock

"Pop! You’re dead. Snap! Your gone. Just like ducks in a barrel".

Solo:

Int:4 Ref:9 Tech:8 Cool:7 Attr:4 Luck:9 MA:4 Body:7 Emp:5

Run:12 Leap:3 Lift:70

Head:14 Torso:16 R.A.:16 L.A.:16 R.L.:14 L.L:14

Save:7 Btm:-2

Combat Sense:4 Aware:8 Rifle:8 handgun:4 Thai Boxing:7 Stealth:10 Melee: 9

Cyberware: None

Equipment: Concealed: 11 knives, 3 polymer one shots, monowire garrote, and pepper spray. They also have infra-red low light goggles, Stealth armor (+1 to stealth rolls), 3 flash bang grenades, and of course the sniper rifle.

Melee: +18

Handgun: +12 (one shot’s -1 2d6 1 1 UR 20m)

Rifle: +19 (Sniper +2 6d6 40 2 VR 600m)

Stealth (with suit): +20

Thai Boxing: +16

See below for description.

Robbie Black

"Look into the eyes of a dying man. There lies the secret of life. It passes so quickly, one of these days I’ll catch it".

Solo:

Int:4 Ref:9 Tech:8 Cool:7 Attr:4 Luck:9 MA:4 Body:7 Emp:5

Run:12 Leap:3 Lift:70

Head:14 Torso:16 R.A.:16 L.A.:16 R.L.:14 L.L:14

Save:7 Btm:-2

Combat Sense:4 Aware:8 Rifle:8 handgun:4 Thai Boxing:7 Stealth:10 Melee: 9

Cyberware: None

Equipment: Concealed: 11 knives, 3 polymer one shots, monowire garrote, and pepper spray. They also have infra-red low light goggles, Stealth armor (+1 to stealth rolls), 3 flash bang grenades, and of course the sniper rifle.

Melee: +18

Handgun: +12 (one shot’s -1 2d6 1 1 UR 20m)

Rifle: +19 (Sniper +2 6d6 40 2 VR 600m)

Stealth (with suit): +20

Thai Boxing: +16

Weighing in at 140lbs at 5’3’’ are Deadlock and Robbie Black! These two rabble rousers may be short on size but are high on dirty tricks. These guys have learned one thing about fighting when your 5 feet tall, fight dirty. These "munchkins" try to cram as many weapons they can carry so they will always have something to fall back on. I hope your PC’s have a cup on and eyes in the back of their head ‘cause they’ll need em.

Killface’s Possie

"You the man Killface. Whatever you say boss".

Solo:

Int:4 Ref:8/9 Tech:5 Cool:7 Attr:5 Luck:4 MA:6 Body:8 Emp:6

Run:18 Leap:4.5 Lift:60

Head:10 Torso:14 R.A.:14 L.A.:14 R.L.:12 L.L:12

Save:8 Btm:-3

Combat Sense:3 Aware:6 Handgun:4 Melee:5 Grunt real loud:1

Cyberware: Adrenal Boost, subdermal drug injector (with black lace or your favorite combat drug), smartgun milkshake,

Equipment: 2 mono knives, smart pistol, black body armor with a smiley face’s on each shoulder, black face masks, radios, homicidal tendencies

Pistol: +16 (Mustang Arms +1 3d6 12 3 VR 50m)

Melee: +15

Gelinda (Coven Leader)

"I put a spell on you baby. Heart’s beating faster…knee’s weak…oh yeah, you got it bad. Hocus Pocus Bio-toxin 13".

Solo:

Int:7 Ref:9/12 Tech:8 Cool:7 Attr:9 Luck:9 MA:8 Body:7 Emp:7/4

Run:24 Leap:6 Lift:70

Head:0 Torso:18 R.A.:18 L.A.:18 R.L.:16 L.L:16

Save:7 Btm:-2

Rep:4

Combat Sense:8 Aware:7 Handgun:6 Tae Kwon Do:8 Rifle:5 Stealth:6 Electronic Security:4 Wardrobe & Style:7 Pharmaceuticals:6 Athletics:4 Expert-Witchcraft:8

Cyber: Neuralware, speedware, smartgun link, Left Cyberleg with thickened Myomar and spike foot, motion detector

Equipment: smart heavy Submachine gun, curved blades, tarot cards, 3 grenades, squirt gun filled with something nasty- your choice, tech kit, armor jacket and pants, her familiar.

SMG: +15 (SMG 0 4d6+1 60 30 ST 200m) API bullets

Tae Kwon Do: +17

Stealth: +15

The Wicked Bitch from the West, or so she likes to be called is the leader of the Coven team in Applecrest. The sisters use witchcraft and really big guns in order to execute their missions, one makes more of a difference than the other. Gelinda wont say where she came across her little piece of Alpha tech but her familiar does keep her safe. It acts like her little spy, making her privy to private conversations and what’s going on around corners.

Coven Sisters

"Of course we believe in Witchcraft! We didn’t wipe out your R&D facility on good looks alone"!

Solo:

Int:7 Ref:8/11 Tech:8 Cool:7 Attr:8 Luck:8 MA:8 Body:7 Emp:6/?

Run:24 Leap:6 Lift:60

Head:0 Torso:14 R.A.:14 L.A.:14 R.L.:0 L.L:0

Save:7 Btm:-2

Combat Sense:4 Aware:6 Handgun:4 Stealth:6 Tae Kwon Do:5 Rifle:3 Wardrobe & Style:7 Pharmaceuticals:3 Athletics:4 Expert-witchcraft:7

Cyber: Neuralware, speedware, smartgun link, Left Cyberleg with thickened Myomar and spike foot, motion detector

Equipment: smart heavy Submachine gun, curved blades, tarot cards, 3 grenades, tech kit, armor jacket and pants

SMG: +14 (SMG 0 4d6+1 60 30 ST 200m) API bullets

Tae Kwon Do: +12

Stealth: +14