Runner's Companion.pdf - Free

Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9Runner’s CompanionA Thought On EnemiesWhen creating enemies, remember that theplayer character isn’t necessarily a nice person.It’s entirely possible that, through all of thishatred, the enemy is actually the one operatingon the side of truth and justice. An enemy mighteasily be an honest cop, a government agent, ora corporate hacker. Some enemies might even beaffiliated with charitable organizations, such asthe Sylvestrine order. It’s even possible that thePC created the enemy when they fled from a situationthat intended for their own good.Enemies shouldn’t be two-dimensional villains.They should be fully fleshed out NPCs whohave a justifiable reason to have an agenda thatruns completely counter to their PC foe. Not everyenemy is going to focus entirely on violence.When creating an enemy, also try to considerwhat sort of actions they will take against thecharacter. While a ganger might always attemptviolence, a fixer might attempt to coordinateother teams to underbid the character when negotiatingfor jobs. These motivations and stylesare what make an enemy become a living part ofan ongoing campaign.While considering these actions, also rememberto keep in mind that the enemy’s Connectionrating dictates the scope of their resources. Asquatter will be unlikely to be able to send an AresFirewatch team after the character. Conversely, agreat dragon probably won’t spam the character’scommlink with pharmaceutical messages.Optional Rule: FactionsWhen a gamemaster begins a new campaign, they may decide that a number of organizations are integral tothe campaign. These organizations will generally be in conflict. In this situation, the characters will be pawns inthe game of chess that they play. The groups involved could be criminal organizations, competing corporations,policlubs, tribes, or government entities. Generally, a gamemaster will choose to present three to nine differentfactions. Faction scores with each faction can be ranked from –6 to +6. By default, all characters will begin playwith 0 Faction rating with each organization.Most factions will not be in direct competition in every scenario. In some cases, two factions might evenbe working together. Characters who have a strong allegiance with one faction might choose to betray a hiringfaction in an effort to maintain or build their reputation with another faction. Faction can become a valuablepolitical tool in game play, especially if player characters have different—or even conflicting—allegiances.When the gamemaster has chosen to use factions, a character may begin play with an established affiliationwith one or more of these groups. A positive affiliation with a faction may be purchased at character creation ata cost of 1 BP per point of positive Faction. Alternatively, a character may recover build points at a value of 1 BPper point of negative Faction. (These recovered BPs count against the Negative quality cap.)In game play, characters will gain bonus dice or suffer dice pool penalties for each point of Faction they havefor social interactions dealing with NPCs belonging to those groups. For example, when attempting to negotiatewith a Mr. Johnson affiliated with the Casquilho Mafia, characters who have two points of positive Faction willhave an extra two dice for any negotiation attempt. Characters can also gain or lose standing through gameplay, depending upon the actions they choose to take in support or opposition of any of the factions present inthe campaign. When calculating character awards at the end of a scenario, also make sure to modify the Factionscores of the characters, based on actions taken during the adventure.advanced contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133