How can I get my Shadowrun party under control?

[DragonBaneDM]

We keep killing important NPCs...

This is the second time it's happened. The first was the Street Samurai taking out a corporate suit my Mage wanted to impress to spite him. It was Jean Claude Priault, who's really high up in Saeder Krupp, so there could be major ramifications with that.

My Mage vowed vengeance and left. After that I made an Adept, and tried him out tonight.

It happened again. The Weapons Specialist did it this time. Shot to the kneecap made this Shaman we wanted info from bleed out. Street Sam helped him, but the Shaman died in her arms.

The biggest problem I'd say is the Sam. She's a lot of fun to play with, but she's an archetypical DND Barbarian in the Shadowrun setting. Killing people is what she does, and her noteriety is through the roof due to the fact that she takes trophy heads, shrinks them and makes them a belt.

The Gun Bunny's a bit better. Up and coming drug lord, likes to kill stuff as much as the Sam does. Other members are a very conservative Rigger and a Spec Ops who seems indifferent towards this. My Adept was built as a moral pillar and I feel like our first run with him in the party shows failure in that aspect of his job. He's a big, dumb Buddhist Troll though...kind of hard to take him seriously.

I just want to complete a job without offing the person we need info from. How can my Adept in game and myself out of game help the GM get our party out from this shroud of violence?

[RandomLunatic]

Your answer is in the title.

If 'Runners go around greasing everybody, then A) nobody is going to want to deal with them, B) Lone Star is going to be all over their hoops, and/or C) Somebody is going to grease you back.

Like most Shadowrun problems, this one is self-correcting.

[JaronK]

First, is the rest of the party having fun with this behavior? If so, let them play the game they enjoy... but consider a new gaming group.

With that said, Shadowrun is a world with CSIs, some of whom are magical. The GM should be dropping serious heat on these people. PCs who act out like this usually do so because they lack real influence in the world. Show them that their actions have real consequences. Jobs dry up because no one will work with them, as nobody can give them a decent reference and they've made too many enemies. The campaign is no longer about shadowruns... it's about dodging the constant law enforcement presence as well as nastier and nastier shadowrunner teams sent to hunt them down by friends of those they attacked.

JaronK

[DragonBaneDM]

I see. Mmkay then, sounds cool.

And yeah, they're having fun. The fact that we failed a run cause we let a guy die kind of shocked them a bit today. I'll suggest the alternative idea for the campaign to my GM.

[Zen Master]

First, is the rest of the party having fun with this behavior? If so, let them play the game they enjoy... but consider a new gaming group.

With that said, Shadowrun is a world with CSIs, some of whom are magical. The GM should be dropping serious heat on these people. PCs who act out like this usually do so because they lack real influence in the world. Show them that their actions have real consequences. Jobs dry up because no one will work with them, as nobody can give them a decent reference and they've made too many enemies. The campaign is no longer about shadowruns... it's about dodging the constant law enforcement presence as well as nastier and nastier shadowrunner teams sent to hunt them down by friends of those they attacked.

JaronK

Very true.

As a GM, I often use news flashes. There's no better signal to send the players than having a news anchor present the findings from their latest crime scene - totalling rounds fired, auras read by mystical investigators, feeds from CCTV, and so on.

When the anchor describes (correctly) the suspects as 'a heavily armed group consisting of a dwarf, an ork and two humans,' that is sure to cause a level of panic.

Within a very short timeframe, I usually teach my players to dump all weapons once they are fired once - or even better, sell them to less professional criminals. They also quickly learn to protect their identities - either by wiping records from places they hit, or wearing masks, or some such. The 'wearing masks' thing can be fun too - when the news anchor starts going on about the limited number of such things sold, that there is only a single manufacturer, and that recent sales have been traced to a shop near the runners base.

In a world where almost all transactions are traceable, it's very hard to remain undiscovered for long. Basically, you need someone to protect your identity - either a corp., criminal organisation, or possibly a very well connected team member.

[FelixG]

If its the character, not the player...and you're a moral pillar...

You could always become an informant or turn them in for a little extra cash?

gets them off the street and gets you some bank

[JustIgnoreMe]

We keep killing important NPCs...

This is the second time it's happened. The first was the Street Samurai taking out a corporate suit my Mage wanted to impress to spite him. It was Jean Claude Priault, who's really high up in Saeder Krupp, so there could be major ramifications with that.

... I know Your Campaign May Vary, but... isn't he a senior justice in the Corporate Court? "Major ramifications" is an understatement. Your party are dead men walking. Sell the Street Sam out, and quickly, before Lofwyr has you all killed to set an example.

[Crow]

There's always a bigger fish. Saeder-Krupp and Lone Star have way more resources than the players will ever have, and are more than capable of tracking down your sloppy players.

The news flash idea is great, and also lays the groundwork for when Lone Star comes rolling up on their pads later on in armored vehicles.

Your players should never want to choose violence as their first option, especially because when you start dealing with the big boys, it means you get crushed.

[Tehnar]

If your adept knows what the street sam did, or better yet finds out what the sam did in game you could roleplay the fear aspect.

It could be especially meaningful when a dumb troll recognizes what the sam did, and decides to burrow into a really deep hole and hide.

[Diarmuid]

Has the GM expressed any problems with what's happening and asked you to help him get the others in line?

If not, I'd say let him deal with it. As others have said, if he's a good ShadowRun GM, this is a self correcting problem and you would do well to make sure you arent corrected along with the others.

[Ormagoden]

"Gas fills the room. I need a body resistance check."
<rolls>
"Ok, Ok, ok...hrmm, alright. Everyone starts coughing pretty badly, one of you manages to try and shoot the door just before you black out."

"Everyone has a dream of a cold metal table and bright white lights. The dream fades and the bright white lights are the lights of a taxi's head lamps passing over the alley your, waking, naked body is in. Your head hurts and as you reach up and touch it you realize its partially shaved. You feel stitches and you hear a very feint ticking sound. You think its coming from inside your head..."

"What do you do?"

[The Big Dice]

Shadowrun seems so much nicer than Cyberpunk.

Someone walking down the street wearing a belt loaded with human heads, especially if they had a reputation through the roof, would be in a spotlight hearing the words "This is the police! Get on the ground with your hands behind your head!" And if they didn't comply, then the air would be filled with high velocity lead.

And when it comes to killing Corporates types, there's a saying in Night City. If they put your head on money, you're famous. But if they put money on your head, get out of town.

[Iku Rex]

... before Lofwyr has you all killed ...

No, no. He'll call. And he'll offer them a deal...

[JustIgnoreMe]

No, no. He'll call. And he'll offer them a deal...

To which any sane Shadowrunner would reply "Thank you, but I'd rather die behind the chemical sheds."

Never deal with a Dragon!

[Asthix]

Have the GM read them this modified quote from Andrew Jackson: (text in brackets added by me)

Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for some time, and am convinced that you have used... {Edited for political-ness} [...your power for indiscriminate killing. You say that it's all in good fun, and] That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out and, by the Eternal[Gods!], (bringing his fist down on the table) I will rout you out.

[BRC]

Without being the GM, this is going to be very difficult.

As the GM, you can reign in such a party in many ways. The Best is to simply have relevant Consequences. They killed a Saeder Krupp exec, there is going to be a bounty on their heads. Lone Star is certainly going to take a serious interest in them, along with the friends and families of their victims.
The fact that they failed a Run because they killed a guy is exactly such a consequence. Hopefully it will get them to be abit more careful in the future when they realize that shooting things is not always the best option.

As a character, try to sway your party away from pointless violence. If you see the Weapons expert taking aim on somebody you need to talk to, put a big, magically strong troll hand on her shoulder and say "Ease up on that trigger. Remember [Name of Shaman]".
If I was the GM, I'd have them spend a couple adventures hounded by bounty hunters, Saeder Krupp hit teams, and Lone Star. Eventually, some Saeder Krupp superteam captures them, and they are made an offer. They do a job, an in exchange SC wipes their records clean. Essentially letting them learn their lesson, have their consequences, but letting you get back to more standard Shadowrunning (As opposed to constantly dodging Lone Star patrols and SK Hit teams) without making you give up your characters.

[DragonBaneDM]

... I know Your Campaign May Vary, but... isn't he a senior justice in the Corporate Court? "Major ramifications" is an understatement. Your party are dead men walking. Sell the Street Sam out, and quickly, before Lofwyr has you all killed to set an example.

Yeah I know... He's kind of understating it in an attempt to keep the storyline running... That and my Adept has no clue this happened.

I'm missing my jerk of a Mage already.

[comicshorse]

... I know Your Campaign May Vary, but... isn't he a senior justice in the Corporate Court? "Major ramifications" is an understatement. Your party are dead men walking. Sell the Street Sam out, and quickly, before Lofwyr has you all killed to set an example.

He killed someone on the Corporate Court. !
Run, don't walk, to the nearest exit and get the hell out of dodge. Amazonia is nice this time of year ( well its not but it at least offers a chance of survival)