shadowrun legal run needed

[pseudodragon]

this is me asking for a run in shadowrun with little or no laws broken, beause my two characters are cops. i am the GM. please help me.

[The Glyphstone]

Howbout an 'anti-run'? Have the PCs doing the legwork/investigation for a corps to track down a group of runners who broke in and stole their stuff?

[KineticDiplomat]

Define "Cops". The KE and the Star will be in a somewhat different boat than say, Saeder Krupp Special Investigations.

[beyond reality]

Dealing with terrorists could be a good option. Breaking into a compound or training facility to gather information on the group or a possible attack they're planning.

A cult would be another possibility with a bit more magic and less tech involved.

They might be empowered by some higher legal authority to ignore the normal rules for obtaining evidence and engage in some "proactive" evidence gathering in an organization before probably cause has been established. That would work very similar to the standard 'run (I'm vague on what's legal as far as police investigations in shadowrun however)

[Glimbur]

Search and rescue in territory controlled by mindless critters? Salvage operations in abandoned buildings/sections of town? Recon on a gang or syndicate or whatever?

Tracking down a team of shadowrunners is also pretty amusing.

[Telasi]

Undercover operations? Have them be investigating a smuggling ring or some kind of cartel. That should let you do some more types of missions, since they can probably get away with relatively minor crimes to maintain their cover, and each run they get sent on is evidence for taking down the group later.

[comicshorse]

Do the P.C.s work for their corporation (KE or Lone Star I presume) as undercover and special projects ( Corporate Shadowrunners effectively). Or do they Shadowrunn for themselves to make extra money ?

[Seerow]

Your players do realize that what they are asking is quite literally the opposite of Shadowrun, right?


Anyway, as others said we need more information. What sort of skillsets do these two cops have? Who do they work for? Where do you and your group draw the line of legal at? Pretty much anything constituting a run is going to have some illegal elements in it, that's the nature of the game.

[comicshorse]

Your players do realize that what they are asking is quite literally the opposite of Shadowrun, right?


Anyway, as others said we need more information. What sort of skillsets do these two cops have? Who do they work for? Where do you and your group draw the line of legal at? Pretty much anything constituting a run is going to have some illegal elements in it, that's the nature of the game.

Not necassarilly. Shadowrun is a set of rules and a background. Nothing in there says you have to be a Shadowrunner.
One of the best Shadowrun games I was in the P.C.s worked for a small corporation that specialized in rescue and salvage in dangerous situations ('International Rescue are here to save you'). The best Cyberpunk game I was in we played a pair of Cops in Nightcity's Major Crimes Unit.

[Seb Wiers]

A fair number of the modules basically ARE cop jobs, ones that the cops aren't doing because the laws / economics / powers of the 6th world don't allow it. The fact that runners do them illegally wouldn't stop police with legal authority from doing them (semi) legally. Extra-territoriality would probably be really hard for dedicated "defender of the people" type cops to put up with, so I bet they'd be pulling their own "shadowruns" now and then, just to see what was up behind the corporate curtain.
For the ones that are straight up theft- "recovery of stolen / illegal property" always works. Just because the module says that McGuffin X was developed by Corp Y and Corp Z wants to steal it, doesn't mean you have to play it that way.

[LibraryOgre]

I think a police procedural/mystery type game could be quite fun in SR. Assuming they're detective grade, set Brisco and Green on the trail of some nasty shadowrunners who ran off with something dangerous.

Heck, I had a group accidentally set off a dirty bomb during a smash and grab (long story). That's the kind of thing that will get lots of cops from lots of agencies involved, especially in Denver. Put your team there, trying to reconstruct the crime from local cameras, evidence, etc.

[TheCountAlucard]

Sorry if I missed it, but, umm, what edition are you guys playing?

[Trekkin]

If you want to maintain as much of the structure of a run as possible while making it legal, make them agents provocateur or spies. A mirrorshades campaign involving a pair of cops suddenly given diplomatic responsibilities moonlighting as espionage agents (diplomatic immunity) might be exactly what they'd enjoy.

[pseudodragon]

Sorry if I missed it, but, umm, what edition are you guys playing?

i didn't say the edition. it is 2nd edition

they work for lonestar.

i was thinking like a bodyguarding thing, which would be legal, but thanks for the ideas!!!

[LibraryOgre]

i didn't say the edition. it is 2nd edition

they work for lonestar.

i was thinking like a bodyguarding thing, which would be legal, but thanks for the ideas!!!

Body guarding is good, but kind of reactive... rather than taking initiative, they're stuck standing around a lot, and can't really leave their charge alone. Unless you want them bodyguarding someone during something entirely off-mission (i.e. plane makes a controlled crash in the middle of Aztlan with an anti-Azzie witness as their charge and sole other survivor), they're going to have less of an active role and more of an "occasionally shoot something" role.

[The Glyphstone]

Bodyguarding someone who doesn't want a bodyguard, maybe? A famous celebrity, for instance, who insists on public appearances and shows despite the death threats made against him. Have their active role be pro-active, trying to cope with a completely uncooperative principal while arranging security to fend off threats. When it inevitably fails, then they get to be re-active and shoot things in the face.

[Autolykos]

Ehm, most Johnsons try to make the run look legal, or at least morally justifiable (which doesn't mean it actually is, though). That way the runners demand less compensation for their "conscience" (i.e. not asking questions).
Labeling the target as some kind of criminal or associated with criminal activities works well (just call those hippies that are causing you trouble "Eco-terrorists", say the squatters you want thrown out of that part of town belong to a gang, etc). Telling them to get something back that was stolen (hey, it might be true) is also a regular tactic. Could also be used for persons, the line between "extraction" and "arrest" is rather blurry anyway.