0706

Writing: Ron Rummell Shadowrun Developer: Jason M. Hardy

Art: David Dotson Layout & Design: Matt Heerdt
Missions Logo: Jeff Laubenstein, Matt Heerdt Proofing: R.L. King
Shadowrun Missions Developer: Ray Rigel Art Director: Brent Evans
© 2017 The Topps Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Shadowrun and Matrix are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of The Topps Company, Inc.,
in the United States and/or other countries. Catalyst Game Labs and the Catalyst Game Labs logo are trademarks of InMediaRes Productions, LLC.
DARKNESS AND LOSS
I rested through the last age—nestled in the sweet embrace of
the Earth. When the call rang out and so many others awoke,
a whisper spoke to me softly.
“Remain,” it beckoned, and so I did. I slept on, secure in
knowing that my time was coming.Scratching. Scratching.
Scratching.
My slumber was deep but something disturbed it. I
stirred. Quiet. Calm. Eyes closed. Sleep.
Scratching.
I stir. Cold bands clamp across my body. Awakening me
before my time, I see them. It is too late. I am caught. I am
damned.
Goober whistled a tune as he stepped from his shower
stall. Grabbing both ends of the cheap mass-produced
towel, he soaked up most of the dampness. Goober
then wiped a spot in the mirror and stared at himself.
He knew he wasn’t the most handsome man, or the
most charismatic—all those years just scraping an ex-
istence and praying the bugs didn’t return certainly ha-
ven’t helped. Loneliness was a bitch. With a strained
smile, he picked at his teeth a bit, sprayed on some
Night Train cologne, and combed his hair to the side.
After getting dressed in his nicest and least greasy
mechanic’s jumpsuit, Goober hopped in his Gopher
truck. A short drive was all that separated him from that
little oasis in all the drek of the world, and the girls he
had come to like quite a bit—the Golden Palace. Maybe
DARKNESS AND LOSS
COVER
that place was past its prime, but who was he to judge? DARKNESS
Visits there were the one thing he’d come to look for- AND LOSS
ward to. It occurred to him that some, if not all, of the
girls might have grown to enjoy his company too. De-
spite that, he had no illusions of who these people were INTRODUCTION
or what they really wanted.
The truck’s electric engine whined up to the gate,
which stood open. The gate should have been closed. MISSION
Through the gap and into the courtyard he drove. No- SYNOPSIS
body was on the street and nobody was eating at the
diner. There wasn’t even anyone cooking at the diner.
Goober opened his door and stepped outside, leaving
SCENE 1
the truck idling. A wind blew through the compound,
sweeping some garbage across the street. The garbage SCENE 2
and the truck were the only noises audible. He took a
few steps and looked to each building. The doors all
hung wide open and not one person could be seen or SCENE 3
heard. It was then that he saw blood splattered on the
sidewalk. Something terrible had happened here.
Suddenly, every hair on Goober’s body stood on SCENE 4
end. He looked around and could not see anyone else,
but he felt them nearby. A shiver ran down his spine
and he leapt back in the Gopher, locking the door. The SCENE 5
truck spun around with the quickness and ease only a
rigger could pull off and it pushed for speed. Goober
was barely a block away when he started making calls. SCENE 6
He knew the Star didn’t care about criminal and gutter
life and a few comm calls later he was proven right. If his
SCENE 7
friends were going to live, he would need to reach into
the shadows to pull in some hired guns.
SCENE 8
PICKING UP
THE PIECES
LEGWORK
CAST OF
SHADOWS
PLAYER
HANDOUTS
DEBRIEFING
LOG
2
Introduction
SRM 07-06 Windy City Chaos is a Shadowrun Missions
living campaign adventure. Full information on the
Shadowrun Missions living campaign is available at
facebook.com/SRMissions/ 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.
Preparing the
Adventure
SRM 07-06 Windy City Chaos is intended for use with
Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, and all character and rules infor-
mation refers to the fifth edition of the Shadowrun rules.
Adventure Structure
SRM 07-06 Windy City Chaos consists of several scenes.
These 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 fol-
lowing subsections, providing gamemasters with all the
information necessary to run it.
Scan This provides a quick synopsis of the scene’s
action, allowing you to get a feel for the encounter at
a glance.
Tell It to Them Straight is written to be read aloud to
the players, describing what their characters experience
upon entering the scene. You should feel free to mod-
ify the narrative as much as desired to suit the group
and the situation, since the characters may arrive at the
scene by different means or under different circum-
stances than the text assumes.
Behind the Scenes covers the bulk of the scene, de-
scribing what’s happening, what the non-player charac-
ters are doing, how they will react to the player char-
acters’ actions, and so forth. It also covers the setting
of the encounter, going over environmental conditions
and other properties of the location as well as providing
any descriptions of important items.
Pushing the Envelope looks at ways to make the
encounter more challenging for experienced or power-
ful characters and other ways you can add some “extra
spice” to the scene. This subsection should usually only
be used for home games, or games where time is not a
factor. At most convention and Open Play events, gam-
emasters should omit this information. It adds to the
INTRODUCTION
scene, but does not contain important information.
Debugging offers solutions to potential problems
COVER
that may crop up during the encounter. While it’s impos-
sible to foresee everything that a group of player char- DARKNESS
acters might do, this section tries to anticipate common AND LOSS
problems and other suggestions for dealing with them.
INTRODUCTION
Running the Adventure
Gamemastering is more of an art than a science, and
MISSION
every gamemaster does things a bit differently. Use
SYNOPSIS
your own style when it comes to preparing and run-
ning 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
SCENE 1
to run in a standard four-hour convention time slot.
Please keep this in mind when running the adven- SCENE 2
ture. 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’ Debriefing Logs. (Make sure SCENE 3
that you have enough copies of the Debriefing Log for
this adventure to give one copy to each player after
SCENE 4
running the adventure.) This section offers some guide-
lines you may find useful in preparing to run SRM 07-06
Windy City Chaos (or any Shadowrun Missions adventure).
SCENE 5
Step 1: Read the Adventure
Carefully read the adventure from beginning to end. Get SCENE 6
a feel for the overall plot and what happens in each scene.
That way, if something different happens, you won’t be
SCENE 7
caught off guard and you can adapt things smoothly.
Step 2: Take Notes SCENE 8
Take notes for yourself while reading through the ad-
venture that you can refer to later. Possible things to
PICKING UP
note include: major plot points (so you can see them
THE PIECES
all at a glance), the names of various non-player char-
acters, possible problems you notice, situations where
you think a character can shine and other things you’ll LEGWORK
want to keep in mind while running the adventure.
Step 3: Know the Characters CAST OF
SHADOWS
Prior to the start of the adventure, examine the PCs’
record sheets and Debriefing Logs for your reference
and have basic information about their important abil- PLAYER
ities handy so you can refer to it during play. Also go
HANDOUTS
over the characters and keep their previous events list-
ed on the Debriefing Logs in mind when determining
non-player character actions in various scenes if such a DEBRIEFING
dynamic has been included. LOG
Step 4: Don’t Panic!
Gamemastering involves juggling a lot of different
things. Sometimes you drop the ball and forget some-
3
thing or you just make a mistake. It happens, don’t
worry about it. Nobody is perfect all 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.
Step 5: Challenge the Players
Gamemasters should challenge the players, but should
not generally overwhelm them. This is not to say that
games cannot be deadly. If the characters die through
their own actions and repercussions of those actions,
then so be it. But the idea is to challenge the players and
their characters, not to overwhelm them. If the enemies
and challenges are too light for the characters present,
then increase them. On the other hand, if the characters
are badly outmatched by the enemies, then tone them
down. Make things difficult but not impossible.
General
Adventure Rules
Shadowrun Missions adventures use the rules present-
ed in Shadowrun, Fifth Edition (SR5). Standard rules such
as success tests, glitches, critical successes, and other
common mechanics are described in SR5 and are not
repeated in this adventure.
Please keep in mind when preparing for the adven-
ture, that the PCs will not necessarily be comprised of 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 flexibility and use your best
judgment in how you lead them back to the plot.
Non-Player Characters
Non-player characters (NPCs) are essential to any ad-
venture. They are the allies, antagonists, and back-
ground characters in the adventure that interact with
the player characters. NPCs in this adventure have al-
ready 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.
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.
The NPCs in this adventure should generally stand
up to the average player character but may need some
adjustment to suit a 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
INTRODUCTION
the power level of an NPC, refer to Helps and Hindranc- COVER
es (p. 378, SR5). Take the player characters’ abilities into
consideration when assessing the NPCs in this adven-
ture and modify them accordingly. DARKNESS
AND LOSS
Mission Difficulty
Gamemasters are encouraged to use their own judg- INTRODUCTION
ment, and to adjust the difficulty of the encounter to
take into account the abilities of the players. If the
players have no magical support, replace magical de- MISSION
fenses with mundane ones. If the players are weak on SYNOPSIS
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 fight. Missions should be SCENE 1
difficult and something of a challenge, but should not
be insurmountable.
SCENE 2
A simple method for adjusting difficulty is to simply
increase the dice pools and Professional Ratings of the
enemies. A simple +1 or +2 to all combat and defense
tests gives enemies a minor boost in power, while a +3
SCENE 3
or 4 will make them truly formidable. Adding to their
Professional Rating will give them a larger group Edge SCENE 4
pool to draw from, and gamemasters are encourage to
use this Edge when logical.
Often a combat scene will tell you if it’s supposed SCENE 5
to be challenging or is simply there to serve as filler
or a minor obstacle that the players should steamroll
through. When possible, use this as a guide to know SCENE 6
when to tweak the enemies and encounters. If it doesn’t
say, assume the scene should present a challenge to the
SCENE 7
power levels of the players.
A Note on Loot and Looting SCENE 8
Gamemasters should be careful what they allow play-
ers access to, because they can and will try to steal
PICKING UP
everything not nailed down (and even then, they often
THE PIECES
have pry bars and claw hammers to deal with those
nails). Shadowrun Missions operate under the assump-
tion that two players who have run the same missions LEGWORK
will have roughly the same amount of resources avail-
able to them (give or take some negotiation and a little
bit of minor loot fenced), so when players are able to CAST OF
steal and fence a lot of gear or are able to get their SHADOWS
hands on high-priced vehicles, cyberdecks, or foci, it
can unbalance the game and make it unfair to players
who didn’t have the opportunity to get those items. PLAYER
Gamemasters should avoid letting the players get into HANDOUTS
a position to do high value looting whenever possible.
DEBRIEFING
Chicago, The CZ, Noise, LOG
and Background Counts
While for many the Chicago and the Bug City Contain-
ment Zone are synonymous, the CZ comprises less
than one-third of the total landmass of the city of Chi-
4
cago proper, not counting suburban areas and farm-
lands connected to the city. But the CZ is still big, and
it is the rotted, gutted, feral heart of the Windy City. It
starts at 115th Street to the south and runs nearly thirty
kilometers north to Belmont Avenue, and reaches from
the Lake Michigan an average of fifteen kilometers to
Harlem Avenue on the west. A mass of torn-down
buildings and hastily erected barricades were added
to and reinforced over the three-year period that the
Containment Zone was in effect, and even now nearly
twenty years later this barrier stands as an imposing di-
vide between the Zone and the outside world. Anyone
can supposedly freely travel between the zone and
Chicago proper, but Lone Star watches those coming
out and the gangs and warlords watch those going in
very closely. Over the last two years, the Astral Preser-
vation Society in partnership with The Ash Union and
various megacorp thaumaturgical divisions have made
headway in cleaning up the background count within
the CZ and the surrounding area. Thanks to their work,
unless otherwise noted in the scene, assume a back-
ground count of 1 anytime characters are within the
Containment Zone. The count will fluctuate wildly at
times, so players should expect to encounter every-
thing from high background counts and mana voids to
various aspected backgrounds and mana warps. (See
p. 30, Street Grimoire, for full rules). Areas of Chica-
go outside the CZ may also suffer background count
bleed from the Zone.
With the megacorps construction efforts moving
forward in the CZ and surrounding areas, Matrix con-
nectivity has improved somewhat. Noise levels will vary
from area to area, but unless otherwise specified in the
scene, assume a default Noise level of 1 anytime the
characters are within the Containment Zone
Paperwork
After running a Shadowrun Missions adventure, there
are several important pieces of paperwork that need
to be filled out.
The first is to make certain to distribute a copy of the
adventure’s Debriefing Log to each player. As the gam-
emaster, please make certain to fill this out and sign off
on it for each character. In the interests of time, you may
have each player fill out the sections, with appropriate
values that you give them. Please consider the PCs ac-
tions in the scenario when providing Reputation modifi-
ers, per those rules (p. 372, SR5).
The second is to make sure that all players have up-
dated their character’s Mission Calendar. PCs are al-
lowed to go on one run per week. The calendar is used
to track the character’s monthly lifestyle expenses, ad-
ventures, and their downtime exploits.
MISSION SYNOPSIS
Mission Synopsis COVER
The team receives a call from Goober asking them to DARKNESS
find out why the residents of a small enclave disap- AND LOSS
peared and to bring them back alive if possible. The
community is known as the Golden Palace, which is
also the name of the brothel inside. He says everyone INTRODUCTION
inside the area seems to have vanished with no expla-
nation. Goober wants to try to save everyone if pos-
MISSION
sible, so he urges immediate action. He doesn’t want
SYNOPSIS
to negotiate right away but promises to make the run
worthwhile if the team does their best.
Arriving at the neighborhood, the runners see the SCENE 1
main gate is open and there are no people around.
Searching the community verifies nobody remains and
they did not leave voluntarily. As they search, the team SCENE 2
finds evidence ghouls kidnapped them in a Long’s Pig
Farm delivery truck. The truck is leaking oil from battle
damage, which creates a trail the team could follow if SCENE 3
they have the ability or gear to do so.
A gang called the Scorchers stops the team as they
prepare to leave. Their leader, “Juice,” questions what SCENE 4
they were doing at the community since the Scorchers
protect it. A charismatic face can get Juice to disclose
that other groups of people have disappeared in the SCENE 5
area too, and the Scorchers want to stop the problem
as well. If the group has a charismatic Face, they can
SCENE 6
convince the Scorchers to assist them in recovering the
missing people. Juice challenges one of the runners to
a “one-punch” challenge to see how tough they are be- SCENE 7
fore sending any of his men to help them. If a runner
accepts the one-punch challenge, the runner and Juice
trade punches until one person is knocked out. SCENE 8
If the team goes directly to Long’s Pig Farms, they
find a few ghoul guards outside. The guards, whom
Needles leads, hail the team to find out why they are at PICKING UP
the farm. The Long’s Pig Farms delivery drivers missed THE PIECES
their regular comm call earlier that night, but the guards
thought it was a technical problem. Needles doesn’t
have any of his people available to help the runners, LEGWORK
but he can offer them a transponder code to locate the
truck. If the team uses proper street etiquette, Needles
CAST OF
also offers a reward for finding and rescuing his drivers.
SHADOWS
Following the oil trail or the transponder code, the
team eventually makes its way to an abandoned school.
The missing delivery truck and a few ghoul guards are
PLAYER
outside next to a side door. In the school’s rear, the old HANDOUTS
recess yard was converted to a pasture with some fe-
ral ghouls roaming inside the fence. The front and side
doors have cameras watching the area outside the door. DEBRIEFING
The windows are boarded up and there is no light, so LOG
the team must compensate somehow once they enter.
A few of the community residents are in the old cafete-
ria with the ghouls; one is dead and serving as the main
course of a cannibalistic dinner party. The tech ghouls
5
are in the former principal’s office, splitting their time
between monitoring the cameras and the Long’s Pig
Farms captives in the room.
An opening was carved into the library’s floor at a
sharp angle. The hole leads into a tunnel curving down-
ward in a spiral manner. Inside the tunnel, the team en-
counters increasing Noise ratings. The tunnel continues
downward, but there are two offshoot passages. The
team sees something cross the main tunnel in front of
them and enter a passage on the left, where scraping
noises can be heard. If they investigate the noises, they
find hybrid ant worker spirits carving the left tunnel out
further. The right tunnel continues two hundred fifty
meters until it intersects with an old subway tunnel. The
runners find evidence the tunnel used to be a squatter
camp, but it has been uninhabited for a long time. There
is nothing else to find in this direction, so the runners
head back toward the main tunnel down.
The main tunnel leads into a large, dimly lit chamber.
The area is aspected toward insect spirits, and the Noise
rating is high because it’s so far underground. Inside the
room is a vampiric insect shaman performing a ritual
on a Western dragon chained to the stone floor. Sol-
dier and caretaker insect spirits guard the shaman and
the room. In the room’s far corner are one hundred six-
ty-three people encased in egg-like cocoons, including
the people missing from the community. Runners with
Arcane knowledge are aware that some people could
be saved, including the missing residents.
Once the insect shaman and spirits are defeated, the
team must decide what to do with the dragon. It speaks
a little to the team and then lapses into a comalike state.
The runners have some options on who to hand it over
to for treatment, or they may choose to kill it.
The residents inside the cocoons can be freed and
saved if the runners choose. The others must be as-
sensed individually to determine if they are tainted.
Runners may use contacts for help with assensing and
performing rituals to clean the others who can be saved
(and put down any who can’t). Alternatively, the team
may ignore the victims and leave them there—gaining
Notoriety in the process.
The team contacts Goober to get paid, and he asks to
meet at his bait and tackle shop near the waterfront once
they make sure the residents are under professional care
or delivered home. Goober talks to the team; if they suc-
cessfully saved the residents, he offers them a discount
on custom work for one job in addition to nuyen.
Provided the team rescued the ghoul drivers, Nee-
dles pays the team his bonus (if it was offered).
After the mission ends, runners who delivered the
dragon to the Ash Union for treatment and healing re-
ceive a package. The package contains a gold bar with
no explanation.
SCENE 1: STOOD UP
Scene 1: COVER
Stood Up DARKNESS
AND LOSS
Scan This
Goober contacts the runners to offer them work. The INTRODUCTION
job is to investigate a small community’s disappear-
ance. He wants them to go find the people, and prom-
ises he’ll make good on payment afterwards. Goober MISSION
just found out the residents are missing and is in the SYNOPSIS
process of pulling together the money to pay the team.
SCENE 1
Tell it to Them Straight
You sit back and relax, ready to watch a new rockumen- SCENE 2
tary premiering on the trid tonight at 9 p.m. Targeted
ads have been hitting your commlink for the last two
weeks, so somebody sank a lot of nuyen into publici- SCENE 3
ty. An ultra-rapid guitar solo, breaking into a hard rock
anthem, assaults the air as the title Johnny Banger—I Do
What I Want! slashes across the feed. SCENE 4
Your commlink briefly silences the trid and alerts you
to an incoming call. The ID on the feed is unknown, but
that’s not unusual in your line of work. Always on the
SCENE 5
lookout for a payday, you answer and find yourself in a
conference call with several others. Leading the call is SCENE 6
a grizzled dwarf in a greasy trucker’s cap. He has obvi-
ous goggle-style cybereyes, and his left arm is clearly a
cyberarm. SCENE 7
“Good afternoon, chummers. Name’s Goober. I’m
looking to hire. My omae says to talk with you. If you
check around, you’re gonna find I have a good reputa- SCENE 8
tion, and I keep my promises.
Good people, friends of mine, have gone missing
from a tiny little neighborhood community. Ever heard PICKING UP
of the Golden Palace off 94—in Northside? It’s a little THE PIECES
oasis in a world of crap. I called a friend who lives there
and made plans to visit. After the call, I got in my truck
LEGWORK
and headed over. When I arrived about half an hour
ago, the whole place was empty. I mean everyone—ev-
eryone—was gone. It creeped me right out. I was by my CAST OF
lonesome, so I bolted and started making calls. This is SHADOWS
what led me to you. I want you to find out what hap-
pened to the people who lived there and bring them
back alive if it’s possible. Preferably, you can bring them PLAYER
back unhurt. HANDOUTS
Time’s an issue, so I’d like you to start right away. I
can guarantee you’ll be well compensated for your trou-
bles. Once the work is done, we can talk specifics at my DEBRIEFING
bait and tackle shop on the waterfront. I know we can LOG
work something out that you will be happy with, so long
as you take care of this problem. You in?”
6
When the runners push
to negotiate immediately:
“Look, I have a lot of prime inventory on hand
now. You take care of business, and we can
work out a deal. In the meantime, I’ll work to
clear some of it out and free up more cred in
case any of you just want nuyen. If you have to
have your number now, it’s going to be a low-
ball offer because that’s all I have on hand. I’m
asking you to do something decent. If you need
a number before you do that, tell me and I’ll
give you one.”
Assuming the runners agree
to take the mission:
“Don’t waste any time. We don’t have any
idea what’s happened to these folks. That
means bring your hardware. After we get off
the comms, I’m going to get in touch with Dr.
Tate in case there are injuries or worse. Here’s
the neighborhood info, my comm code, and the
doctor’s comm code. One last thing—I’m hiring
you to help these people, not pick their homes
clean. Please keep that in mind.”
Behind the Scenes
Goober made arrangements to visit the girls at the
Golden Palace brothel. When he arrived at the neigh-
borhood, he first noticed there were no people on
the street and nobody eating at the restaurant kiosk.
It was then he noticed nobody was cooking there, ei-
ther. The door to the brothel was open, and so was the
door to the convenience store. Goober stepped out
of his truck, and that’s when he noticed there were no
sounds of people. He had a terrible sense of dread and
decided it was time to get out of Dodge and call in
hired guns. As the pilot program drove the truck away,
he started placing calls.
He talked with Quantum and had her see what she
could find in the Matrix. She was able to put together
a resident listing along with their last active Matrix ac-
tivity, which Goober forwards to the team (see Player
Handout A). Quantum found no user traffic that would
normally be present with smart appliances, commlinks,
vehicles, cyberware, tools, gear, or anything that would
normally have a wireless connection. There were no
signs of any active users after 8:04 PM—even though
most of those items still appear to be online. All the res-
idents’ Matrix traffic stopped about an hour before the
call was placed to the team.
SCENE 1: STOOD UP
Goober talked to his contacts in Lone Star, but none COVER
of them had the juice to get the Star to care about the
SINless living there. That got a rise out of Goober, and
he decided someone had to care—even if was just him. DARKNESS
A few calls later, and he had the runners’ comm codes. AND LOSS
He’d figure out how to pay them later, but he has every
intention of paying.
INTRODUCTION
Goober is forthcoming with information and honest
with his answers. He is careful to avoid compromis-
ing his contacts’ and friends’ names (except Quantum, MISSION
whom he mentions when he gives the team the infor- SYNOPSIS
mation she acquired). If questions start to tangent away
from saving the missing people, he gets frustrated and
works to steer the team back on track. SCENE 1
The job is to investigate the small community’s dis-
appearance; it’s as if the residents just vanished in the
SCENE 2
middle of their day.
The team is responsible for finding out what hap-
pened to the residents, and, if possible, bringing them SCENE 3
back alive. Stress that time is important because evi-
dence could be lost or looted. If the runners leave im-
mediately, they could be at the community in about SCENE 4
thirty minutes.
If pressed further, Goober tells them they should
SCENE 5
be able to find pictures and more info at the residents’
homes.
SCENE 6
Pushing the Envelope
SCENE 7
There is no need to push the envelope in this scene.
Debugging SCENE 8
The team may not want to take the run without up-
front negotiations. Goober already made it clear he PICKING UP
prefers they just get moving, so he starts getting agi- THE PIECES
tated. If the team insists on an upfront negotiation, he
agrees but sets the base pay lower. As he’s already told
them, he has a lot of money tied up in inventory at the LEGWORK
moment and he needs the time to shake free the extra
cred. He offers a flat fee of 8,000 nuyen per runner for
CAST OF
uncovering what happened to the residents, and sav-
SHADOWS
ing them if possible. Players may attempt to negotiate
by rolling Negotiation + Charisma [Social] versus Goo-
ber’s 12 dice [Social Limit 5]. They can get a maximum PLAYER
of 5 net hits, each hit increasing the amount by 100 HANDOUTS
nuyen. That’s the maximum he can guarantee to pay. If
they force the negotiation up front, he won’t renegoti-
ate later—so the team is stuck with the deal. DEBRIEFING
If the team still isn’t happy or refuses the run, Goo- LOG
ber lets them walk and gets another team to do the job.
He doesn’t have any more cash or patience to waste on
them.
7
Scene 2:
Ghost Town
Scan This
The team arrives at the community and investigates
the missing people. Clues point to ghouls from Long’s
Pig Farm having grabbed the residents. This section is
mostly roleplaying and an opportunity for players to
highlight investigative skills, including hacking. If the
players figure out the clues too quickly, use the Push-
ing The Envelope section. If the players struggle or
take too long, have them encounter the man who hid
from the ghouls (in the Debugging section) so they can
be pointed in the right direction for the next scene.
Tell it to Them Straight
You have no trouble arriving at the location Goober
provided; ahead you see a few buildings with makeshift
walls placed between them to create a more or less
secure compound. The walls appear to be sheet metal
spot-welded to a chainlink fence. There is a main, vehi-
cle-sized entry gate, which hangs wide open. An obvi-
ous security camera is mounted to the side of a build-
ing nearby and overlooks the main gate. You see a few
cameras positioned around and inside the compound.
There are no sounds other than the howl of Chicago’s
ever-present wind and the rustle of garbage blowing
on the street. It’s incredibly unsettling that there are no
metahuman-produced sounds in the area.
Through the main gate, you see a few places of in-
terest inside. There is a three-story yellow-brick building
with red trim, a two-story building with a ground-level
convenience store, and another two-story building with
a tiny outdoor restaurant on the first floor. In the court-
yard between the buildings is a small, mostly dead gar-
den with an aging pagoda covered in peeling red paint.
The street circles the garden area in a loop designed for
vehicles to pull in and out of the community.
There are several windows facing both out of the
community and inward to the courtyard. It would be an
excellent place to stage an ambush.
Behind the Scenes
Openings into the community are walled off with some
shoddy metal barriers (sheet metal spot-welded over a
chainlink fence), except a large vehicle gate, which is
open. Inside the gate are a few buildings of interest
and a communal common area.
The common area is a run-down, dingy old pagoda
with algae-covered water where a koi pond once was.
There is a restaurant kiosk built into the building’s side.
SCENE 2: GHOST TOWN
The kiosk has an open dining counter and diner-style COVER
seats bolted to the concrete under a worn but main-
tained old red canvas awning marked Noodle House. A
three-story, yellow-brick building with red trim and a DARKNESS
Golden Palace sign over the door is the central building AND LOSS
in the compound. The last building is a small two-story
convenience store marked Tam’s Convenience with a few
apartments over it. INTRODUCTION
MISSION
COMMUNITY BUSINESSES SYNOPSIS
As business at the Golden Palace grew, so did its
customers’ needs. Tam’s Convenience Store opened eight SCENE 1
years ago to sell various contraceptives, snacks, and
supplements, as well as to cater to visitors’ minor vices. A SCENE 2
grime layer predates the store, giving it a dingy, brown-grey
appearance sharply contrasted by the brightly-colored snack
food bags and neon slushies that churn away in an automated SCENE 3
machine. Tam’s has a lingering odor present, combining the
scents of a locker room, a public restroom, and a hot dog cart
SCENE 4
into one glorious crime against noses everywhere.
Noodle House opened five years ago, focusing on
serving fresh hot food for paying guests. It’s a small, open SCENE 5
air, cook-to-order establishment. Customers sit at barstools
around a counter and watch as the food is prepared in front
of them. The food is hot, fresh, and surprisingly—good.
SCENE 6
The little eatery earned a reputation among locals and has
enough loyal customers to stay in business. SCENE 7
SCENE 8
The neighborhood shows signs of age but is mostly
clean and in good repair. Signage and AR displays are PICKING UP
written in a mix of Vietnamese and Cityspeak. Lights are THE PIECES
on, doors are open, everything seems normal except
the lack of people. Judging from the size and layout,
LEGWORK
there should be fewer than twenty people living here.
Play up how eerie the lack of people feels in an area that
was obviously occupied very recently. CAST OF
About an hour and a half before the players arrived SHADOWS
on the scene, the peaceful little community had an un-
expected surprise. The box truck from Long’s Pig Farm
arrived to make a pork delivery to the restaurant kiosk. PLAYER
This time, though, the truck was not filled with pork. HANDOUTS
When the truck door opened, eight ghouls jumped out
of the back and began to grab the locals. The ghouls
started the raid by grabbing Frank and Sam from the DEBRIEFING
Noodle House. Gas was piped into the buildings to LOG
knock most people out without a fight. Once the ghouls
managed to search and grab everyone in the small
neighborhood, they loaded them into the box truck and
drove away.
8
Casing the Joint 1 The neighborhood food kiosk
restaurant smells delicious.
COVER

When the runners search the area for clues, have them
make a Perception Test (Perception + Intuition [Men-
2 Manure in the street? If it was DARKNESS
tal]). Runners may use specializations in Visual or Ol- from a metahuman and the AND LOSS
factory as appropriate. Assensing runners may roll an area was more rundown, you
Assensing + Intuition [Mental] Test to search the area. might expect it. This looks like it
Although Psychometry normally allows for reading INTRODUCTION
probably fell off a vehicle.
one object at a time, for simplification purposes it will be
3 You smell fresh motor oil. The
treated as a single test for this scene. A runner trained
source is a small puddle that MISSION
in Psychometry rolls an Assensing + Intuition + Initiate
appears to have leaked out while SYNOPSIS
Grade [Astral] Test to read various objects throughout
the vehicle was parked.
the compound for information.
4 You pick up more oil with the same
SCENE 1
chemical signature nearby. There
Visual Perception Test is a much smaller puddle down
Hits Results the street. Following your nose in SCENE 2
0 Some things cannot be unseen. this direction, you spot another
The images left open on an aging tiny oil spot further along. Given
desktop console involve some time, you could follow this trail. SCENE 3
acts you previously did not know 5 The buildings have a strange
were possible. They are disturbing, chemical scent. It’s subtle, and
distracting, and keep popping into you’re pretty sure it’s inert now, SCENE 4
your head despite wanting to scrub but you’re sure a gas was pumped
them out with steel wool. into each building.
SCENE 5
1 The neighborhood looks like it
was mostly composed of a single
ethnic group.
Assensing Test
SCENE 6
Hits Results

2 The apartments are in disarray; 0 You cannot determine anything
it obviously looks as if the past the standard Chicago SCENE 7
inhabitants did not go willingly. background.
3 Blood stains are found on the 1 You don’t see any auras that seem
out of place, and there doesn’t SCENE 8
concrete outside the small
restaurant kiosk. The blood stains seem to be anyone hiding or
look as if the victim was dragged invisible in your current line of
PICKING UP
toward the curb. sight.
THE PIECES
4 Two metal canisters are visible 2 Lust is present and pervasive in
this area. The emotion emanates
in the muck near the pagoda.
They look like they were recently
from the Golden Palace brothel. LEGWORK
discarded. 3 There is a strong sense of recent
fear in the area.
5 You find a fresh oil spot in the CAST OF
street. A little further along you 4 You have the feeling at least one SHADOWS
see another, smaller spot like paracritter was in the area.
maybe whatever was leaking oil 5 The auras are hard to read, both
drove in that direction. blurring and fleeting, but you PLAYER
believe you sensed the taint of HANDOUTS
HMHVV infected here.
Olfactory Perception Test
Hits Results DEBRIEFING
0 Someone burnt a bag of popcorn. Psychometry Test LOG
They must have been making it Hits Results
during whatever occurred. Now Glitch Chaotic flashes and random
you can’t get the overpowering bursts of strong emotions
smell out of your nose. overwhelm you. You cannot

SCENE 2: GHOST TOWN 9

 escape the onslaught of emotions
and fight against panic as you are
trapped in your own mind. After 5
minutes of hell on Earth trapped
inside your own mind, you emerge
disoriented (–2 dice pool modifier
for 10 minutes).
0 Chaotic flashes and random
bursts of strong emotions
overwhelm you. A sense of fear
and concern washes over you as
you see cats, half of a dozen of
them, dropping to their sides, one
by one, in mid-stride. You panic
and clutch your chest. You cannot
breathe. Your eyelids are heavy.
1 A video of a box truck rolling up to
the gate fills your mind, as though
it’s through a DNI. You feel a flash
of recognition from the user, and
the gate opens. As the truck rolls
by you note that it seems to have
taken some bullet damage.
2 You hear the gate open and
a truck rolls into the walled
community. A sense of curiosity
washes over you as you step to
the window and track it over the
snack chips. There is a sense of
disappointment as the truck drives
by on its way to the Noodle House.
A man walks out of the noodle
shop and talks to the driver. You
catch a glimpse of blood on the
back of the driver’s uniform. You
feel uneasy and look down, seeing
your hand gripping a wooden bat.
3 You see a man looking over a list
written on electronic paper and
then up to an arriving box truck.
You feel a sense of pride when
looking at him, mixed with a sense
of joy and contentment. The man
and driver speak briefly. You see
flash of fear and recognition
from the man and look to the
stranger—seeing a bloody bullet
hole in the back of the driver’s
jumpsuit. The vision flashes to
the side of the truck and you
recognize bullet holes along its
side. The driver opens the roll-up
door. Ghouls pour out and quickly
overwhelm him. You panic and
rush to his aid only to be met by
SCENE 2: GHOST TOWN
charging ghouls. COVER
4 Sam finishes reviewing the
grocery list and, looking up at the
incoming delivery truck, sets his DARKNESS
electronic paper on the counter.
AND LOSS
The box-truck is labeled Long’s
Pig Farms, with two pasty-faced INTRODUCTION
ghoul drivers wearing grey-pink
Long’s Pig Farms jumpsuits in the
cab. Sam walks to the sidewalk MISSION
in front of the counter and waves SYNOPSIS
to the driver as he dismounts.
“Where’s Jimmy?” he inquires.
“Got in a bit of trouble.” The SCENE 1
new driver smiles as he replies,
walking back to the truck’s roll-up
SCENE 2
door. Bullet holes can be seen
riddling the van’s side, and as the
driver rolls up the rear door, you SCENE 3
notice bloody red bullet holes in
the rear of his jumpsuit. A squad
of ghouls pours from the rear of SCENE 4
the truck, quickly overwhelming
Sam. You feel horror and worry
as you catch a glimpse from the SCENE 5
ground of the fight in the Noodle
House. A few more ghouls
struggle briefly with Frank behind
SCENE 6
the counter. Yet more carry metal
tanks toward the buildings. Once SCENE 7
the tanks are in place, they insert
black rubber hoses into the
buildings and turn the knobs on SCENE 8
the tanks. A few minutes later, the
ghouls enter the buildings and
start to retrieve the unconscious PICKING UP
people from within. An intense THE PIECES
feeling of fear overwhelms you.
Everything goes dark.
LEGWORK
Searching inside the compound
CAST OF
reveals the following:
SHADOWS
An old pagoda sits in the community’s center. Any
runner searching inside it makes a Perception + Intu-
ition [Mental] (4) Test (tactile specialization applies). PLAYER
Success means they find a secret compartment with HANDOUTS
the community’s host inside. Outside the pagoda,
two metal five-liter canisters lay partially submerged
in the muck that was once a small pond. Old, round DEBRIEFING
shutoff valves are affixed between the canisters with LOG
a one-meter length of black rubber hose attached to
each canister. If the runners analyze the chemicals re-
maining in the canister using a Toxins Knowledge +
Logic [Mental] (4) Test, or by using a similar skill or de-
10
vice, they recognize the chemical as Neuro-Stun VIII.
Adjust the threshold down by 1 if the runner uses a
toolkit to analyze the chemical, or as appropriate for
other tools and tricks the runner may think of.
A brief look inside the Golden Palace makes it clear
this is a brothel. The interior is plush red velvet and worn
in spots. There are a few glasses on the floor which ap-
pear to have been dropped. There is a stairwell lead-
ing up to private rooms on the second and third floors.
Doors are open throughout the building and the place
appears to have been hastily searched. If the runners ac-
tively look for loot, they find a pillowcase-sized bag of
goods that can be sold later for 500 nuyen (total value,
not per runner). The runners can find personal effects
and images of the ladies missing from the Golden Pal-
ace. Huong (dwarf), Candy, Glitter, Lil’ Tina (troll), Blush,
Tien, and Trang (the ork madam) have rooms here. There
is nothing else of interest in here.
Tam’s Convenience Store is the kind of place that
sells loose cigarettes, cheap synthahol, birth control,
bagged snacks, “meat” sticks, and breath mints. Run-
ners can loot a bag of goods from the store that could
be sold later for 500 nuyen (total value, not per runner).
There is a set of narrow stairs leading to the second
floor, and a wooden baseball bat on the floor near the
door (treat as a club).
Above Tam’s there are four tiny apartments. Each
apartment’s door is open and each apartment displays
signs of being hastily searched. The apartments have a
total value of 500 nuyen loot split among them.
• Apartment 1: There is a manure-crusted boot
print on the door. This apartment belonged to
Doug, the owner of the store and landlord. His
apartment contains an extensive collection of
trid chips. The apartment has a burned a bag of
popcorn in the microwave, causing the whole
room to stink.
• Apartment 2: There are six cats here. The cats
are attracted to the runner who least likes cats,
unless there is a shaman with a mentor spirit.
The cats hiss at a Rat or Dog shaman, act friendly
to a Cat shaman, etc. A runner who succeeds in
a Medicine (Veterinary) + Logic [Mental] (3) Test
recognizes the cats were drugged (Neuro-Stun
VIII), and some are still behaving as if in a stupor.
This is Hoa’s residence. Numerous porcelain cat
figurines, pictures, and even a virtual cat pet can
be found here.
• Apartment 3: This is the Thatch household, and
it was obviously housing a family with children.
The common area is well used but well main-
tained. The parents’ sleeping area is also well-
kept and orderly. Several plastic wrestling, cage
fighting, and action figures can be found on the
little boy’s bed, including Matt Wrath (elf cage
SCENE 2: GHOST TOWN
fighter) and The Grudge (dwarf wrestler). The COVER
little girl’s play area is decorated with Suki Sun-
flower posters, glitter paints, and brightly col-
ored homemade jewelry. DARKNESS
• Apartment 4: The final apartment is a workshop AND LOSS
with a small kitchenette and bed. This is Nguy-
en’s dwelling. The remainder of the space is filled
with a small workbench and various electronic INTRODUCTION
gadgets. The gadgets can be scrounged for elec-
tronic parts using a Hardware + Logic [Mental]
MISSION
(8, 10 minutes) Test, with each hit giving the
SYNOPSIS
runner 0.25 of a parts pack. Pictures of Nguy-
en show he is a balding elf with a pockmarked
face, thin moustache, and long hair on the back SCENE 1
of his head he keeps tied into a ponytail. A Per-
ception + Intuition [Mental] (3) Test in the apart-
ment uncovers notes identifying Nguyen as the SCENE 2
sysadmin for the community host. Any decker
who reviews the notes gains +2 dice against the
community host. SCENE 3
The Noodle House awning extends about two me-
ters, shielding the old circular seats at the counter from SCENE 4
most of Chicago’s weather. The stove is on and the cin-
dered remnants of a meal continue to smolder. There
SCENE 5
are signs of a struggle behind the counter. There is a
grocery list written on electronic paper—it consists of
a list of pork products (ham, bacon, tenderloin, etc.). SCENE 6
The note has a time stamp showing the last access at
19:54. Blood splatters inside the kitchen and drag marks
leading out the door toward the curb indicate who won SCENE 7
the struggle. There is a small refrigerated storeroom
connecting to the kitchen and stairs leads upward to
an apartment. Searching the storeroom reveals vari- SCENE 8
ous restaurant food items, including pork products with
Long’s Pig Farms labels, but they seem to all be from
previous weekly shipments. The apartment is the home PICKING UP
of the couple who own the restaurant. There is no handy THE PIECES
loot at the restaurant, but there are some cooking sup-
plies and uncooked food in the cooler. The couple, Sam LEGWORK
and Frank, owned, operated, and lived at Noodle House.
Spirits with the Search power might be sent to find
the missing persons using the images found in the CAST OF
apartments. The search requires the spirit to make a SHADOWS
Magic + Intuition [Mental] (21, 10 minutes) Extended
Test at –5 dice. The spirit loses the dice due to the Rat-
ing 5 Ward on the abandoned school (Search, p. 401, PLAYER
SR5), although you don’t need to tell the player why. The HANDOUTS
threshold is 21, due to 5 base + 16 kilometers to the
abandoned school.
Runners looking in the Matrix can make a Matrix Per- DEBRIEFING
ception Test (Computer + Intuition [Data Processing]). LOG
Two hits let potential hackers spot the neighborhood
host. Read them the following: “You spot the local host.
Before your eyes is a beautiful garden with a freshly
painted red pagoda in the center. A flower garden with
11
a koi pond and stepping-stone pathways surround the
pagoda. There are two grey stone warrior statues posed
in the garden. A butterfly gracefully flits around, stop-
ping on the occasional flower.”
The host controls the street cameras as well as the
domestic functions in the area’s apartment buildings.
Once a hacker has control of the host, they can get vid-
eo evidence of what occurred. Perceptive characters
may notice the Long’s Pig Farms truck took weapons fire
and only the ghouls in the front of the truck are wearing
uniforms (Perception + Intuition [Mental] (3) Test).
HOST: NEIGHBORHOOD HOST
Rating Attack Sleaze Data Proc. Firewall
4 5 4 7 6
Installed IC: Killer (x2), Patrol, Scramble
Slaved Devices: Restaurant kiosk inventory and
transactions, security cameras, wireless functions of
resident apartments for the neighborhood.
Spiders: No spiders monitor this host. He was taken with
the rest of the community.
Sculpting: A beautiful garden with a freshly painted red
pagoda in the center. A flower garden with a koi pond
and stepping-stone pathways surround the pagoda.
The Killer IC are warrior statues in the garden. The
Patrol IC appears as a butterfly gracefully flitting
around the garden. The Scramble IC manifests as
a caretaker with a broom and attempts to shoo the
invaders out.
Security Procedures: Patrol is always active, scanning
hackers every 1D6 Combat Turns using Matrix
Perception. If a hacker is detected, the host loads Killer
on the next Combat Turn. A second Killer program is
loaded on the following Combat Turn. If the hacker is
still present, the system loads Scramble on the third
Combat Turn.
Paydata: The hacker can clean out 150 nuyen of restaurant
transactions which have not transferred to a bank
account yet. Photographs, video, and data from the
Golden Palace can be sold on NooseNet for a total of
200 nuyen.
When the runners prepare to leave the area, an
ork gang named the Scorchers arrives and confronts
them. The Golden Palace neighborhood pays protec-
tion money to the gang. The gang assumes the runners
did something to the residents (their best source of in-
come), especially if they see them hauling any loot out
of the buildings. This is an opportunity for a Face char-
acter to talk the team out of the situation if the team
doesn’t want a fight.
SCENE 2: GHOST TOWN
If a runner has Shadowrunner Knowledge, Chica- COVER
go Knowledge, or Street Gang Knowledge, have them
make a Knowledge Skill + Intuition [Mental] Test. If they
have 2 or more hits, they heard of the leader’s reputa- DARKNESS
tion, giving them some insight before the encounter. AND LOSS
The team’s best chance to avoid a fight is to speak softly
to the nice psychotic ogre while playing up to his ego.
If they treat him with respect and offer a small bribe INTRODUCTION
(drugs are preferred), the team gets +2 bonus dice to
any social tests versus Juice, the leader. The team los-
MISSION
es two dice on social challenges if the gang witnesses
SYNOPSIS
them stealing from the community. Runners with skills
in First Aid, Medicine, or Street Drug Knowledge may
make a test (appropriate skill + Logic [Mental]). With
one or more hits, they are aware the gang leader is on
SCENE 1
multiple substances. Three or more hits lets the runners
know which substances Juice is on (currently novacoke SCENE 2
and psyche). A character’s olfactory booster rating may
be added to this challenge as it can help detect and an-
SCENE 3
alyze the compounds.
Juice the gang leader is an ogre who is under the ef-
fects of multiple drugs on a regular basis (and is current-
SCENE 4
ly using). He ran the shadows for a while but got a bad
rep for his violent actions, so now no reputable Johnson
will go near him. He is arrogant and aggressive, does
SCENE 5
not back down, and accepts any personal challenge.
Juice demands to know what the runners are doing
at the Golden Palace and where the people are. He de- SCENE 6
mands any loot be turned over to his boys immediate-
ly, and any looters pay a 200 nuyen tax for screwing
up in Scorcher (Horde) territory. He bluntly accuses the SCENE 7
team of having something to do with the people disap-
pearing. If questioned about the disappearances, Juice
SCENE 8
reveals that people have been disappearing from the
various small communities in the area. Juice makes it
clear that he and his boys want a piece of the scumbags
PICKING UP
causing problems in Scorchers turf.
If the runners ask the Scorchers for help, Juice says THE PIECES
that he’ll think about it if the team can prove they are
tough enough to handle the Scorchers. Juice challenges LEGWORK
any runner with 5 or more points of Notoriety, or who
has been the most aggressive, to a one-punch contest
to prove their worth. Terms of the duel are: no fancy CAST OF
combat moves, no magical buffs unless they do it them- SHADOWS
selves, and no hardened armor—just take turns punch-
ing until one person falls. Both Scorcher mages astrally
perceive before and during the fight. If the team has no PLAYER
healer, Juice magnanimously says one of his boys will HANDOUTS
try to make sure the runner doesn’t die.
If the players win the challenge fairly, Juice agrees to
help them out when they find the residents. He is willing DEBRIEFING
to send some of the gang’s vehicles to bring the resi- LOG
dents home if the team can find them. Juice is also will-
ing to have a couple his boys on call in case they need
some overwatch, light legwork, or to secure a site the
team clears. Juice points out that these guys are not run-
12
ners and he doesn’t expect them to hang around long COVER
in a fight—but nobody will mess with the team’s rides
if the Scorchers are watching over them. Any gangers
'JUICE'
accompanying the team are not suicidal and ignore or OGRE GANG BOSS DARKNESS
refuse orders contrary to their survival. When the team AND LOSS
arrives at the abandoned schoolhouse, the gangers take B A R S W L I C ESS EDG
their dose of guts because they anticipate trouble. 8 5 (7) 4 (6) 7 (9) 7 1 (3) 5 (7) 2 (4) .0075 2
If the runners cheat, the gang calls them on it, and INTRODUCTION
the team receives no help. If the team’s actions are se- Initiative: 9(13) + 3D6
vere or if they open fire on the Scorchers, the gang fights Condition Monitor (P/S): 14/13 MISSION
to expel the team from their territory to the best of their Limits: Physical 9(11), Mental 5(7), Social 4(6) SYNOPSIS
ability. If the runners prompt a fight with the Scorchers, Armor: 14
Juice declares Full Defense and uses his Steamers aug- Active Skills: Automatics 6 (Assault Rifles +2), First Aid 3,
mentation (kamikaze) for his first action. Beginning the Heavy Weapons 6, Influence skill group 4, Perception SCENE 1
following Combat Turn, he gains +2 Body, +2 Agility, +3 1 (Visual +2), Unarmed Combat 6 (Cyber Implant
Strength, +2 Willpower, +2 Physical Limit, +2D6 initia- Weapons +2)
tive, and High Pain Tolerance 3 (added bonuses are due Knowledge Skills: Or’zet 4, Street Gangs 6, Street Drugs 6 SCENE 2
to his narco geneware). Qualities: Addiction (Mild, psyche), Addiction (Mild,
The remainder of the gang stays at the community kamikaze), Drug Tolerant, Lack of Focus, Low Light
to ensure it is not looted while the residents are gone. Vision, Ogre Stomach, Quick Healer, Superhuman SCENE 3
A legwork chart is available for more information on Psychosis
the Scorchers. Augmentations: Autoinjector (reusable, 1 dose Novacoke),
bone lacing (aluminum), junkyard jaw, muscle SCENE 4
replacement 2, narco, nephritic screen 6, orthoskin
(used) 4, small LED “Scorchers” tattoo (used),
ORK ASPECTED MAGES smartlink, steamers (alphaware) w/ kamikaze, synch
SCENE 5
Gear: MCT Blue Defender commlink, fake SIN (Rating 2,
(2, PROFESSIONAL RATING 2) Jeff Boyardee), chain mail (nonconductivity 2), low- SCENE 6
B A R S W L I C ESS M light flashlight, standard credstick, medkit (Rating 3),
guts x 2, kamikaze x 3, novacoke x 3, psyche x 3
7 4 3 4 5 5(6) 3(4) 2 6 6 Weapons: SCENE 7
Krupp Arms Kriegfaust [Assault Rifle, Acc 11, DV 11P,
Initiative: 9 + 2D6 AP –2, SA/BF, RC 4, 25(d), w/ EX-explosive rounds
Condition Monitor: 12 (x50), gas-vent system 3, Krupp Arms Kriegfaust SCENE 8
Limits: Physical 6, Mental 6(7), Social 5 imaging scope, personalized grip, smartgun system,
Armor: 12 external] (Dice Pool 19)
Skills: Arcana 3, Assensing 4, Or’zet 4, Perception 3, Underbarrel grenade launcher [Grenade Launcher, Acc PICKING UP
Sorcery skill group 5, Unarmed Combat 5 7, DV 18P(f), –1/m, AP +5, SS, 6(c) w/ fragmentation THE PIECES
Qualities: Addiction (Mild, psyche), Focused Concentration 3, minigrenades (x6), personalized grip, smartgun
Hermetic Aspected Magician (Sorcery), system, external (Dice Pool 17)
Low Light Vision Junkyard Jaw [Unarmed Combat, Acc 11, Reach —, DV
LEGWORK
Gear: Armor jacket, psyche x 3, reagents (30 drams), Xiao 14P, AP –6] (Dice Pool 18, 19 after his enemy’s first
Technologies XT-2G commlink (DR 2), guts x 2 attack due to Synch)
Spells: Armor, Death Touch, Decrease Logic, Heal, CAST OF
Unarmed Combat [Unarmed Combat, Acc 11, Reach —, SHADOWS
Increase Reflexes, Lightning Bolt DV13P, AP —] (Dice Pool 16, 17 after his enemy’s
Weapons: first attack due to Synch)
Knucks [Unarmed, Acc 6, Reach —, DV 5P, AP –]
PLAYER
*Stats reflect use of psyche and sustained Force 3
HANDOUTS
Improved Reflexes spell.
DEBRIEFING
LOG

SCENE 2: GHOST TOWN 13


ORK GANGERS
(6, PROFESSIONAL RATING 1)
B A R S W L I C ESS
7 4 3 6 3 1 3 2
Initiative: 6 + 1D6
Condition Monitor: 12
Limits: Physical 8, Mental 3, Social 5
Armor: 9
Skills: Blades 4, Clubs 3, Etiquette 3 (Street +2),
Intimidation 4, Or’zet 4, Pistols 4, Unarmed Combat 3
Qualities: Addiction (Mild, Jazz), Low Light Vision,
Toughness
Gear: Armor vest, jazz x 2, Meta Link commlink (DR 1), Guts x 2
Weapons:
Browning Ultra-Power [Heavy Pistol, Acc 6, DV 9P,
AP –2, SA, 10(c) w/ explosive rounds (x10), laser
sight]
Sword [Blade, Acc 6, Reach 1, DV 9P, AP –2]
Pushing the Envelope
There is no need to push the envelope in this scene.
Debugging
When running this mission under time constraints, such
as a convention, don’t let the runners get too bogged
down in this scene. To speed this scene and allow the
team to complete the mission fully, the gamemaster
should reward creative ideas when the runners search
for information.
If the runners fail to find any clues or to hack the Host
for information to track the missing persons, have the
team find one older man who hid from the ghouls. The
man speaks Vietnamese (N) and English 1 (Cityspeak
+2). Once the team convinces him they are not with the
ghouls that grabbed the other locals (Etiquette + Charis-
ma, 2 or more hits), he is happy to try to explain what
happened.
The encounter with the Scorchers has the potential
to be very deadly. Make sure the team knows what they
are getting into before jumping into a fight. If a team gets
too injured here, they might have a hard time complet-
ing the mission. If the team decides to fight the Scorch-
ers instead of talking, don’t pull punches—but give them
the option to flee if they are getting beaten too badly.
Juice is arrogant enough to laugh at them while they run
and might even tell them to run away and come back
when they are a bigger challenge. If they turn and shoot,
he uses his grenade launcher and has his gang go after
them without mercy though.
SCENE 3: LONG'S PIG FARMS (OPTIONAL)
If the team is inexperienced and you believe they COVER
need additional help to complete the mission, the gam-
emaster may let the Scorchers provide more bodies or
sell them combat drugs. DARKNESS
AND LOSS
Scene 3:
6
Long’s Pig Farms INTRODUCTION
(Optional) MISSION
SYNOPSIS
Scan This SCENE 1
Earlier tonight, a gang of ghoul maggots in league with
a vampire insect shaman hijacked a Long’s delivery
truck. The maggots were aware of the weekly pork de- SCENE 2
livery to the Noodle House, and used the stolen truck
and uniforms to compromise the compound and kid-
nap the residents. SCENE 3
The Long’s Pig Farm ghouls are aware their truck left
its regular route but do not know the specifics of what
SCENE 4
happened. They do their best to avoid a fight, attempt-
ing to talk with the runner team if possible. If the runners
start a fight, the ghouls do their best to drive them away.
Assuming the runners tell the Long’s ghouls about
SCENE 5
the truck and missing people, Needles explains that,
sadly, he doesn’t have any people available to help SCENE 6
them. He can provide them with a tracking signal for
the truck. Needles offer the team 2,000 nuyen each if
they can rescue the missing ghouls. SCENE 7
Tell it to Them Straight SCENE 8
The asphalt cuts through the gently rolling grassy fields
that were once golf courses for millionaires. Now those
PICKING UP
fields are enclosed with chain fences and razor wire
THE PIECES
that keep the valuable sounder of hogs inside. Passing
between the fences on either side of the road, you spot
an occasional disheveled ghoul tending to the animals. LEGWORK
Each time you notice one, they seem to lock eyes on
you and slowly track your movement as you pass.
Ahead, a large wooden sign with the words Long’s CAST OF
Pig Farms spray-painted on it marks the entrance to a SHADOWS
country club parking lot. Beyond the ample gravel lot is
an antiquated country club with boards patching many
of the windows. Beside the entry stairs on either side, in PLAYER
what were once probably planters for some imported HANDOUTS
shrub, are now stacks of sandbags. Beyond the sand-
bags stand two ghouls wearing the grey-pink jumpsuits
bearing the Long’s Pig Farms logo. A camera mounted DEBRIEFING
over the doorway faces the entry to the lot. LOG
As you approach, one of the ghouls to the right of
the stairs drops his cigarette from his sharply point-
ed teeth and steps on it. Looking at the team through
steely looking cybereyes, he exhales a puff of smoke
14
and offers a wary wave while keeping his other hand
on his firearm. “Hey there, chummers. That’s far enough.
NEEDLES COVER

What can we do for you tonight?” B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M

DARKNESS
8 5 5 6 6 4 5 4 5 4.6 1
AND LOSS
Behind the Scenes
Initiative: 10 + 1D6
Needles, the leader of the team guarding the farm, is Movement: x2/x4/+2
wary of the runner team. Fortunately for them, he’s
INTRODUCTION
Condition Monitor (P/S): 12 /11
trying to make good on a promise to live peacefully Limits: Physical 9, Mental 7, Social 7
alongside other metahumans. Ghouls trying to avoid Armor: 10 MISSION
conflict, just like him, run Long’s Pig Farms. The ghouls Skills: Assensing 4, Etiquette 4, Firearms skill group 7, SYNOPSIS
here eat a special breed of genetically modified pigs, Leadership 5, Negotiation 3, Perception 5, Running 3,
supplemented with some occasional medical remains Sneaking 6, Unarmed Combat 7, Thrown Weapons 5
when necessary, to satisfy their special dietary require- Powers: Armor (+1), Dual Natured, Enhanced Senses: SCENE 1
ments. The farm has been coexisting in relative peace Hearing, Enhanced Senses: Smell, Sapience
with the CZ for a long while. Weaknesses: Allergy, Mild: Sunlight, Dietary Requirement:
Earlier tonight, the delivery truck missed a scheduled Metahuman Flesh, Reduced Senses: Blind SCENE 2
call-in. This has Needles a little concerned, but for now Augmentations: Cybereyes 3 (eye protectors, flare
he’s writing the issue off as a technical problem. Nee- compensation, image link, low-light vision, smartlink,
dles is guarded, but he doesn’t have any reason to lie or SCENE 3
thermographic vision, vision enhancement 2)
be hostile to the team unless they threaten violence or Gear: Armored Long’s Pig Farms jumpsuit, Hermes Icon
get caught in a lie. commlink (w/receiver), pack of cigarettes SCENE 4
He listens if the team explains the evidence they Weapons:
found. The runner speaking should make an Etiquette Claws [Unarmed, Acc 8, Reach —, DV 7P, AP –1]
(Street) + Charisma [Social] Test. After they finish their Ingram Smartgun X [Automatics, Acc 6, DV 8P, AP –, SCENE 5
story, provided the runner got at least 1 hit, Needles let BF/FA, RC 2(3), 32(c), w/ folding stock, gas-vent
them know that his truck missed its regular call but he system 2, regular ammo (x96), silencer/suppressor,
had written that off to technical issues. If the runner had smartgun system, internal, spare clips (x2)] SCENE 6
2 hits, Needles lets the team know the truck has a track- Flash Bang Grenades (2) [Thrown Weapons, Acc 9, DV
ing device and he is willing to provide the frequency if 10S, 10m Radius, AP –4]
they try to find his missing drivers. There were two of SCENE 7
his guys in the truck and he wants them returned un-
harmed if the team can do it. If the runner team had 4 or LONG'S PIG FARMS GHOULS SCENE 8
more hits, Needles offers a flat 2,000 nuyen per runner
to them for the safe return of his men in addition to the (3 OUTSIDE, 3 INSIDE)
tracking frequency. B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M PICKING UP
Once the team obtains the frequency, the runners THE PIECES
7 3 5 6 5 2 4 2 3 4.8 1
may make a Matrix Perception Test (Computer + Intu-
ition [Data Processing] (2)) to locate the signal. Once
the runners have a lock on the signal, their commlinks Initiative: 9 + 1D6
Movement: x2/x4/+2
LEGWORK
can lead them to the abandoned school in Scene 4:
Abandoned School. Condition Monitor (P/S): 12/11
Limits: Physical 8, Mental 5, Social 5 CAST OF
Armor: 10 SHADOWS
Skills: Assensing 4, Firearms skill group 4, Perception 5,
Running 3, Sneaking 6, Unarmed Combat 6
Powers: Armor (+1), Dual Natured, Enhanced Senses: PLAYER
Hearing, Enhanced Senses: Smell, Sapience HANDOUTS
Weaknesses: Allergy, Mild: Sunlight, Dietary Requirement:
Metahuman Flesh, Reduced Senses: Blind
Augmentations: Cybereyes 1 w/flare compensation, image DEBRIEFING
link, smartlink LOG
Gear: Armored Long’s Pig Farms jumpsuit
Weapons:
Claws [Unarmed, Acc 8, Reach —, DV 7P, AP –1]
Ingram Smartgun X [Automatics, Acc 6, DV 8P, AP —,
BF/FA, RC 2(3), 32(c), w/folding stock, gas-vent
system 2, regular ammo (x96), silencer/suppressor,
smartgun system, internal, spare clips (x2)]
SCENE 3: LONG'S PIG FARMS (OPTIONAL) 15
Pushing the Envelope
There is no need to push the envelope here.
Debugging
The biggest problem here would be the team going in
guns blazing. If the team gets into a firefight, have the
ghouls at the guard stations take cover and attempt to
talk to them. Have Needles yell (from behind cover)
for a truce and try to open a dialogue. If that doesn’t
work, have him yell to the other ghouls that it must be
a hate group. Once bullets start firing, the three ghouls
inside will start shooting from between slats covering
the building’s windows. The ghouls use suppression
fire to keep the team at bay while staying under cover
as much as possible. Their goal is to buy time to try to
talk or bring in reinforcements.
Have the team get a call from one of the runners’
contacts in Chicago. The contact asks the team to stand
down and open negotiations. If asked, the contact will
let the team know that they owe Needles a favor, and
when the team started shooting he placed a call for
help. Since the contact knows both parties involved,
they want this resolved peacefully if it’s possible. The
contact lets the team know that if they don’t stand
down, it could end up bad for them.
The shooting draws feral ghouls away from their
pig-herding duties and into the fight if the team contin-
ues to fight after receiving the call from their contact.
The gamemaster should also remove a point of Loyalty
from any contact rejected during this exchange.
LONG'S PIG FARMS
FERAL GHOULS
(12 TOTAL)
B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M On the side of the building, you can see a roll-up de-
7 3 5 6 5 2 4 1 3 5 1
Initiative: 9 + 1D6
Movement: x2/x4/+2
Condition Monitor (P/S): 12/11
Limits: Physical 8, Mental 5, Social 4
Armor: 1
Skills: Assensing 4, Perception 5, Running 3, Sneaking 6,
Unarmed Combat 6
Powers: Armor (+1), Dual Natured, Enhanced Senses:
Hearing, Enhanced Senses: Smell, Sapience
Weaknesses: Allergy, Mild: Sunlight, Dietary Requirement:
Metahuman Flesh, Reduced Senses: Blind
Weapons:
Claws [Unarmed, Acc 8, Reach —, DV 7P, AP –1]
SCENE 4: ABANDONED SCHOOL
Scene 4: COVER
Abandoned DARKNESS
AND LOSS
School
INTRODUCTION
Scan This
Both the trail of oil drippings and the truck’s tracking
MISSION
frequency lead to an abandoned school. When the SYNOPSIS
team arrives at the abandoned school, they find the
Long’s Pig Farms truck parked outside. The old public
high school building is only four kilometers from the SCENE 1
borders of Long’s Pig Farms. The team needs to get
past a few ghoul guards and search the interior for
signs of the missing people. They discover the tunnel SCENE 2
leading downward, or they are told of its presence by
the mother and child the ghouls hold captive. Also in-
side the school are the Long’s Pig Farms ghoul drivers, SCENE 3
who are held captive.
SCENE 4
Tell it to Them Straight
Your clues have led you past two golf courses that are
SCENE 5
now grazing areas for hogs. Roughly four kilometers
removed from the fields, you arrive at an old public
school fortified with sheet-metal window coverings SCENE 6
and a few exterior cameras. It’s a large single-story
building with a chainlink fence connected to the rear
section of the building. The building is filthy with grime SCENE 7
and age, with long brown grass shoots breaking out of
the fractured cement around it.
The school has a main entrance with double doors in SCENE 8
the front of the building. The doors that once welcomed
school children now look like the welcome mat in a hor-
ror trid. Ugly welds attach rusted metal where the glass PICKING UP
once was, and bloody crimson spray paint warns “Keep THE PIECES
Out” across the doors. Unidentifiable brown handprint
stains mark the door handles and the area near them.
LEGWORK
livery dock with a concrete set of stairs beside it. The
shot-up Long’s Pig Farms box delivery truck is on that CAST OF
side of the building, parked near the roll-up door. A SHADOWS
puddle of fluid has accumulated under the truck’s en-
gine compartment. Sitting on the stairs are two pasty
ghouls in grey-pink Long’s Pig Farms jumpsuits smoking PLAYER
cigarettes, AK rifles placed nearby at arm’s reach. HANDOUTS
A pack of feral ghouls roams freely inside the for-
mer recess yard fence, making absolutely no attempt
at stealth. The creatures growl and snap at one anoth- DEBRIEFING
er when not pacing along the fence line. A small ram- LOG
shackle barn-like building in the fenced area appears to
serve as their den.
16
 COVER

DARKNESS
AND LOSS

INTRODUCTION

MISSION
SYNOPSIS

SCENE 1

SCENE 2

SCENE 3

SCENE 4

SCENE 5

Behind the Scenes GETTING AROUND SCENE 6

The background count in the area increases to 2, since
countless metahumans have met a grisly end in the
ghoul warrens. A permanent Force 5 Ward protects the
building (see sidebar).
Unless the runners have visual augmentations or a
light source, remember to impose a –3 dice pool modifier
for visual Perception outside of the building due to poor
lighting (no street lights, and it’s dark outside). Inside the
building there is no light source since ghouls are blind
and the windows are all boarded up, so a –6 dice pool
modifier is used on visual Perception tests without some
sort of light source or augmentation to compensate.
As a reminder, if Scorchers accompany the team—
they take their guts drugs now.
The vampire shaman from Scene 6: Chains that
Bind convinced the ghouls at this site to work for him
as maggots (bug spirit servants). With the corporations’
return, the ghouls felt their days were numbered and
joined willingly. Those that would not serve were pos-
sessed (the team meets them in the tunnel in Scene 5:
The Tunnel).
The ghouls were aware of the weekly Long’s Pig
Farms delivery to the Golden Palace community. They
were able to ambush the truck and use it to gain access
to the community. The ghoul drivers are held in the se-
curity room for interrogation for now. Once the warren
learns as much as they can about Long’s Pig Farms, the
captives will be delivered to their master, the vampire.
MANA BARRIERS (P. 316, SR5)
SCENE 7
If you’ve got a mana barrier in your way, you’ve got a
couple options other than “give up.” You can try breaking
through violently, or you can try passing through subtly. If SCENE 8
you want to break through a mana barrier, you need to deal
with its Armor and Structure Ratings, just as you would with
any other barrier. A mana barrier has Armor and Structure PICKING UP
ratings equal to its Force. Break it quickly, because they THE PIECES
regain their full Structure at the end of every Combat Turn.
The creator of a mana barrier is instantly aware of any LEGWORK
attack on the barrier.
Awakened characters have discovered other methods
CAST OF
of forcing their way through an astral barrier besides the
SHADOWS
use of brute force. You can press through a barrier with a
Magic + Charisma [Astral] opposed by the barrier’s Force
x 2. If you get any net hits, you pass through the barrier PLAYER
and emerge on the other side. You can bring a number of HANDOUTS
friends, spirits, active foci, sustained spells, or other astral
forms with you, one for each net hit you score. If the barrier
scores more hits, you fail to break through. DEBRIEFING
LOG
The new batch of captives (the Golden Palace com-
munity) was already delivered to their leader, who gra-
ciously allowed the warrens to eat a few. Inside the old

SCENE 4: ABANDONED SCHOOL 17

cafeteria, a group of eight ghouls sit the tables now
and start their twisted version of a fancy dinner party
to celebrate.
Outside, the fenced-in playground yard now contains
this warren’s feral ghouls. They sleep in a ramshackle barn
and roam freely around the yard. The ferals secure the
rear of the building and do not leave on their own. The
may, however, be released or moved into defensive po-
sitions by other more-sentient ghouls from their warren if
the runners are not stealthy or quick.
There is a box-style delivery truck parked next to a
loading dock on the side of the building. The truck took
major damage and the motor seized from running low on
oil, rendering it immobile. Two ghouls smoke cigarettes
nearby on the stairs leading to the kitchen entrance. The
main, side, and rear building doors are all locked with a
Rating 3 internal lock. The ghouls outside the door have
a key fitting both doors, as well as the key to the truck.
The former principal’s office was converted into a
security room. Two tech ghouls monitor the cameras,
which are part of their PANs. The ghouls have Rating 5
commlinks with Rating 5 Attack dongles. Their perso-
nas appear as ninjas in the Matrix due to their commlink
selections. If they detect an attack on the cameras, the
techs enter hot-sim and attempt to fight off the intruders,
while sending a warning over the school’s old PA system
to the rest of the warren. The captive ghoul drivers can be
found zip-tied, gagged, and chained to a metal desk in
the corner of the room. The drivers each sustained a gun-
shot wound and are weak but alive. If the runners wish to
heal the ghouls, keep in mind their bloody wounds carry
HMHVV (in the event of a glitch). Whether or not they are
healed, the drivers only want to flee this place and return
to the safety of Long’s Pig Farms.
The front doors lead into a hallway that circles an old
library and the security room. Former classrooms were
converted to residences and make up most of the rooms
along the outside walls. The side door and roll-up door
lead into a kitchen area converted into a slaughterhouse.
Next to the kitchen is a cafeteria serving as the ghouls’
communal area. There is a hallway and set of doors lead-
ing to the fenced-in yard, and a trail of dirt and filth lead
from the yard to the kitchen. Inside the yard are twelve
ferals, either roaming or settled into the makeshift barn.
The kitchen is a mix of aging tile and stainless steel.
This place is less than sanitary. There is dried blood ev-
erywhere and a trail of filth and gore on the floor from
where the ferals come in to eat. Six partially eaten corps-
es hang from the ceiling, some still occasionally drip-
ping chunks of coagulated blood. Sobbing, snarling, and
chewing noises can be heard through a swinging door
leading to the cafeteria.
The cafeteria communal area is another filthy mess. A
rotting gore and entrails smell fills the air, overpowering
the musty stink prevalent in this place. Entering through
the kitchen door provides runners cover from the old
SCENE 4: ABANDONED SCHOOL
cafeteria serving station. To enter this way undetected, COVER
the team needs to make a Sneaking + Agility [Physical]
(2) Test. Opening the doors from the hallway undetect-
ed requires the team make a Sneaking + Agility [Physi- DARKNESS
cal] (4) Test to enter the hallway undetected. Inside the AND LOSS
room is a central, cleared out area; all but a few tables
and chairs pushed to the sides of the room. There are
eight ghouls eating a corpse (Jimmy) around a dining ta- INTRODUCTION
ble. There is a vinyl red checkered tablecloth underneath
him. The ghouls gnaw on pieces carved from the lad on
MISSION
plates like they were at a barbecue, smacking their lips
SYNOPSIS
in delight. Chained spread-eagled to other tables in the
room (with similar vinyl tablecloths and place settings at
those tables) are a young human girl (Le) and her mother SCENE 1
(Kim). Both the young girl and her mother scream and
sob hysterically. Neither are able to tear their eyes away
from the horror or escape their chains. The room’s stench SCENE 2
and the dissected child are cause for a Composure Test
(Willpower + Charisma). If the runners do not get at least
2 hits, they suffer Nausea in the form of vomiting and SCENE 3
panic and are unable to act for 3 Combat Turns. Any run-
ner who fails the Composure Test also has any negative
wound modifiers doubled for ten minutes. (see Nausea, SCENE 4
p. 409, SR5)
If rescued, the mother can be calmed down with a
SCENE 5
Leadership + Charisma [Social] (4) Test. Once calmed
enough to talk, she tells them her husband and the others
were led down through a hole in the library’s floor. She is SCENE 6
scared and begs the team to save her husband. She tells
the players the ghouls talked to someone who told them
they could have her and the children for “their reward.” SCENE 7
She did not see who it was that gave the order because
of the darkness in the building.
Classrooms through the rest of the old school were SCENE 8
converted into housing for the ghoul residents. Each room
is dirty from their work and their meals. The ghouls living in
the classrooms are not here; they are at the dinner party or PICKING UP
on guard duty. The old gymnasium remains pretty much THE PIECES
intact. Its showers and lockers look unoccupied and un-
used, but they still function. There is nothing of real interest
LEGWORK
in any of the old classrooms or gymnasium.
The schoolyard can be accessed easily enough from
the inside or if the runners bypass the feral ghouls and CAST OF
Rating 3 lock from the outside. SHADOWS
The library is at the center of the school. One of its
doors hangs from the hinge. Inside the room are rows
of shelving containing racks of optical chips (some of PLAYER
which require 2050s tech to read), and honest-to-good- HANDOUTS
ness dead tree books (in poor condition). Behind sev-
eral racks in the library, the team finds a rough three-
meter-wide hole dug through the library floor and into DEBRIEFING
the ground. The opening leads down a tunnel shaft eas- LOG
ily large enough for two trolls. The tunnel slopes at a
roughly forty-five-degree angle and twists downward
into more darkness. A few dirty metal picks, hammers,
and shovels lean against the nearby walls.
18
GUARD GHOULS Perception 5, Running 3, Sneaking 6, Unarmed Combat 6
Powers: Armor (+1), Dual Natured, Enhanced Senses:
(2 TOTAL) Hearing, Enhanced Senses: Smell, Sapience
Weaknesses: Allergy, Mild: Sunlight, Dietary Requirement:
B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M Metahuman Flesh, Reduced Senses: Blind
7 3 5 6 5 2 4 1 3 4.8 1 Augmentations: Cybereyes 1 (flare compensation, smartlink), COVER
datajack
Initiative: 9 + 1D6 Gear: Long’s Pig Farms jumpsuit, Novatech NetNinja w/
Attack dongle 5, sim module, modified for hot sim
DARKNESS
Movement: x2/x4/+2 AND LOSS
Condition Monitor (P/S): 12/11 Weapons:
Limits: Physical 8, Mental 5, Social 4 Claws [Unarmed, Acc 8, Reach —, DV 7P, AP –1]
Armor: 10 Ceska Black Scorpion [Automatics, Acc 5(7), DV 6P, AP —, INTRODUCTION
Skills: Assensing 4, Automatics 5, Pilot Ground Craft 3, SA/BF, RC — (1), 35(c), w/ regular ammo (x50), spare clip,
Perception 5, Running 3, Sneaking 6, Unarmed Combat 6 external smartlink]
Powers: Armor (+1), Dual Natured, Enhanced Senses: MISSION
Hearing, Enhanced Senses: Smell, Sapience SYNOPSIS
Weaknesses: Allergy, Mild: Sunlight, Dietary Requirement: FERAL GHOULS
Metahuman Flesh, Reduced Senses: Blind
Augmentations: Cybereyes 1 (w/ flare compensation,
(12 TOTAL) SCENE 1
thermographic) B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M
Gear: Long’s Pig Farms jumpsuit, pack of cigarettes
Weapons:
7 3 5 6 5 2 4 1 3 5 1 SCENE 2
Claws [Unarmed, Acc 8, Reach —, DV 7P, AP –1]
Initiative: 9 + 1D6
AK-97 [Automatics, Acc 5, DV 10P, AP –2, SA/BF/FA, RC
Movement: x2/x4/+2 SCENE 3
—, 38(c), w/ regular ammo (x76), spare clip]
Condition Monitor (P/S): 12/11
Limits: Physical 8, Mental 5, Social 4
SCENE 4
DINNER PARTY GHOULS Armor: 1
Skills: Assensing 4, Perception 5, Running 3, Sneaking 6,
(8 TOTAL) Unarmed Combat 6
SCENE 5
Powers: Armor (+1), Dual Natured, Enhanced Senses:
B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M Hearing, Enhanced Senses: Smell, Sapience
7 3 5 6 5 2 4 1 5 3 1 Weaknesses: Allergy, Mild: Sunlight, Dietary Requirement: SCENE 6
Metahuman Flesh, Reduced Senses: Blind
Initiative: 9 + 1D6 Weapons:
Movement: x2/x4/+2 Claws [Unarmed, Acc 8, Reach —, DV 7P, AP –1] SCENE 7
Condition Monitor (P/S): 12/11
Limits: Physical 8, Mental 5, Social 4
Armor: 7 LONG'S PIG FARMS SCENE 8
Skills: Assensing 4, Etiquette 1, Perception 5, Running 3,
Sneaking 6, Unarmed Combat 6 GHOUL DRIVERS
Powers: Armor (+1), Dual Natured, Enhanced Senses: PICKING UP
Hearing, Enhanced Senses: Smell, Sapience (2 TOTAL) THE PIECES
Weaknesses: Allergy, Mild: Sunlight, Dietary Requirement: B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M
Metahuman Flesh, Reduced Senses: Blind
7 3 5 6 5 2 4 2 4 4.8 1 LEGWORK
Gear: Armored vest, plastic BBQ bib
Weapons:
Initiative: 9 + 1D6
Claws [Unarmed, Acc 8, Reach —, DV 7P, AP –1] CAST OF
Movement: x2/x4/+2
Condition Monitor (P/S): 12/11 (Currently each driver is SHADOWS
TECH GHOULS suffering 7 boxes of physical and 4 boxes of stun damage)
Limits: Physical 8, Mental 5, Social 5
PLAYER
(2 TOTAL) Armor: 1
HANDOUTS
Skills: Assensing 4, Firearms skill group 2, Perception 5, Pilot
B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M Ground Craft 3, Running 3, Sneaking 6, Unarmed Combat 6
7 3 5 6 5 4 4 1 4.7 3 1 Powers: Armor (+1), Dual Natured, Enhanced Senses: DEBRIEFING
Hearing, Enhanced Senses: Smell, Sapience LOG
Initiative: 9 + 1D6 Weaknesses: Allergy, Mild: Sunlight, Dietary Requirement:
Movement: x2/x4/+2 Metahuman Flesh, Reduced Senses: Blind
Condition Monitor (P/S): 12/11 Augmentations: Cybereyes 1 (w/flare compensation, image
Limits: Physical 8, Mental 6, Social 4 link, smartlink)
Armor: 10 Weapons:
Skills: Assensing 4, Automatics 5, Pilot Ground Craft 3, Claws [Unarmed, Acc 8, Reach —, DV 7P, AP –1]

SCENE 4: ABANDONED SCHOOL 19

Pushing the Envelope in two directions and continues its spiral down. Some-
thing, or perhaps a group of somethings, emerges qui-
COVER

For more experienced runners, or runners who need a
bigger challenge, feel free to include additional ghouls
scattered throughout the farm. Keep timing of the mis-
sion in mind, as the runners have far greater challenges
ahead.
Debugging
If the team is afraid to engage the ghouls or if they kill
the mother and child through an area-effect weapon/
spell and cannot find the tunnel downward on their
own, they need to be pointed in the right direction.
Have the runners make a Perception + Intuition [Men-
tal] Test. The runner with the best roll hears scraping
noises coming from the direction of the library. The
noise increases as they get closer to the tunnel and
eventually lead them downward.
If the team is wary of the tunnels and calls Goober,
he tells them there is still a chance the community resi-
dents are alive and the team is their only hope. He asks
the team to see this through and tells them he’ll do his
best to reward them for their efforts.
Should the team call other contacts instead, have
those contacts remind the team that the bug threat
was supposedly dealt with. Without credible, verifiable
proof of bug infestation, Chicago contacts don’t want to
spend the resources necessary to come and investigate.
Even if there were proof, pulling together the resources
needed would take time—something the community
residents likely don’t have.
etly from the opening to the right and moves across
the main tunnel into the passage on the left. After a DARKNESS
moment of silence, metallic scraping noises can be AND LOSS
heard from the left tunnel.
INTRODUCTION
Behind the Scenes
The Noise rating in the stone tunnels increases to 4 at MISSION
this depth due to lack of signal. SYNOPSIS
If the runners investigate the left tunnel, they find
the source of the noise. The team may recognize the
creatures as formerly being ghouls—however, their SCENE 1
physical appearance has adopted more insect-like
features. Play up the large mandibles, insect eyes, and
spiky growths on their limbs. The drones seem to be SCENE 2
busy working in relative silence, acting in unison with-
out speaking. The spirits use picks, shovels, and other
normal construction tools.
SCENE 3
The right tunnel continues two hundred fifty meters
until it intersects with an old subway tunnel. The runners
SCENE 4
find evidence the tunnel used to be a squatter camp, but
it has been uninhabited for a long time. There are signs
of a struggle. There are no bodies or anything of value SCENE 5
here. This area is meant to give players an idea there
may be more bug spirits nearby in tunnels, subways, and
SCENE 6
sewers—a reason not to linger. There is nothing else to
find this direction, so steer them back toward the main
tunnel downward.
SCENE 7

Scene 5: HYBRID FORM GHOUL SCENE 8

The Tunnel ANT WORKER SPIRITS PICKING UP

(6, FORCE 4) THE PIECES
(Optional) B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M
7(11) 3(7) 5(9) 7(11) 5 2 4 1 4 2 4 LEGWORK
Scan This
This scene is optional, so feel free to skip it if you need Initiative: 13 + 2D6
Condition Monitor (P/S): 14/11
CAST OF
the additional time to complete the mission. SHADOWS
Limits: Physical 9(14), Mental 5, Social 3
The team descends through the roughly hewn, twist-
Armor: 8H
ing tunnel. The tunnel branches in two directions. The
Skills: Assensing 4, Construction 4, Perception 4, Unarmed PLAYER
tunnel on the right continues downward while the tun-
Combat 4 HANDOUTS
nel on the left stretches outward. Six hybrids are found
Powers: Animal Control (Ants), Enhanced Senses (Smell,
here, each of which is possessed by an ant worker spirit.
Thermographic Vision), Hive Mind, Immunity to Normal
The spirits are busy carving out a new tunnel.
Weapons (through Inhabitation), Inhabitation (Living DEBRIEFING
Vessels), Movement, Sapience, Search, Technical Skill LOG
Tell it to Them Straight (Construction)
Weaknesses: Allergy (Insecticides, Severe), Evanescence
The team descends through the roughly hewn, twisting
Gear: Mining tools (picks, shovels, etc.)
tunnel. There is no light here other than what you are
Weapons:
using. At the edge of your vision, the tunnel branches
Claws [Unarmed, Acc 8, Reach —, DV 7P, AP –1]

SCENE 5: THE TUNNEL (OPTIONAL) 20

Pushing the Envelope
There should not be a need to push the envelope in
this scene.
Debugging
Skip this scene altogether if the runners took too long
in the earlier portions of the mission. Don’t let the team
get bogged down here if it risks not finishing the mis-
sion in your allotted time.
If the team has trouble dealing with the worker spir-
its, they can run away back through the tunnel from
which they came. If the team falls back out of view, the
worker spirits resume their construction project. If this
occurs, the team can regroup and use area effect weap-
ons, flee, or proceed down the right tunnel. If they lin-
ger and do none of the above, two soldier spirits from
Scene 6: Chains that Bind may be dispatched to deal
with the threat to the colony.
Scene 6:
Chains That Bind
Scan This
The team reaches a large chamber at the end of the
spiraling downward tunnel. The chamber is very dark
and shadowed, with strange glowing magical runes on
the floor and in various places around the chamber.
Inside the chamber is a vampire insect (ant) shaman.
There are two ant-ork hybrid soldier spirits inside the
chamber guarding the shaman, with two guarding the
entrance and the other two hidden in the chamber.
The missing neighborhood residents are in the cham-
ber, but they are encased in egg-like wraps to prepare
them as future vessels for insect spirits. An ant caretak-
er spirit tends the “eggs.” Most importantly, the cham-
ber contains a large adult western dragon secured to
the stone floor with rune-encrusted chains. The vam-
pire shaman pauses his ritual and turns to confront the
team. After the team destroys the mage, they are con-
fronted with a moral dilemma. The dragon is wounded,
and the shaman tortured it. It asks to be destroyed if
the team cannot arrange for it to be mended. The run-
ners can opt to use a contact for assistance, or they
may decide to destroy the dragon; the choice is entire-
ly up to them.
Tell it to Them Straight
The tunnel continues angling and spiraling downward
until ahead you see it opens into an enormous, dark,
and shadowy chamber. The cavernous room is easily
SCENE 6: CHAINS THAT BIND
over one hundred meters in diameter. It’s difficult to
be sure of the exact size because of the poor lighting
COVER
and the pulsating green emanations coming from the
luminescent magical circle painted in the center of the DARKNESS
room. Glowing paint in a mortar and pestle, along with AND LOSS
other magical supplies, rest on some discarded pallets
along the wall. The air in this room is stale, but there is
a palpable uncomfortable energy that even the most
INTRODUCTION
mundane can feel.
As the green glow flickers in and out, more details MISSION
from the room come into view. First and foremost, SYNOPSIS
in view is a tall, lean man in dark red longcoat per-
forming an alien ritual in the circle. Beyond the man,
attached to the rounded far wall, you see hundreds SCENE 1
of sickly, whitish metahuman-sized egg-like bundles
bathed in the green glow. An enormous ethereal
ant-being is quietly tending to the bundles in the rear SCENE 2
of the room.
A flare of green energy bursts from the room five
meters to the right of the man, revealing something SCENE 3
that causes a sickening feeling in the pit of your stom-
ach. The light illuminates the form of a full-sized, adult SCENE 4
western dragon shackled to the stone floor. Eight
enormous chains tie the stone floor to rune-encrust-
ed metal bands on the dragon’s muzzle, claws, and SCENE 5
body. Sickly green strands of energy emanate from
the spines along the dragon’s back and slowly weave
through the air into the magical circle causing the great SCENE 6
beast to shudder with pain.
The man turns towards the tunnel opening and
SCENE 7
smiles, two pronounced canine teeth gleaming in the
flickering light. “And what do we have here—more
drones? No—soldiers. Yes, you will make fine soldiers
SCENE 8
when her majesty arrives.”
As he speaks, two very large, strangely disturbing,
ork-insect beings step into view. One appears on either PICKING UP
side of the tunnel opening. The ork-things have red, THE PIECES
spiky, shell-like growths over their bodies. Multi-facet-
ed eyes face you with antennae moving and mandibles
clicking. The creatures raise combat shotguns in their LEGWORK
arms menacingly.
CAST OF
After the team destroys the vampire
SHADOWS
and spirits, the dragon will speak in
whispered, suffering breaths.
PLAYER
“Thank you. I am Aethelinda ... these crea- HANDOUTS
tures … the bugs ... found me in … my slumber.
I ... am ... broken. How to mend ... this … dam-
DEBRIEFING
age ... is beyond my power. I suffer.” The dragon LOG
gasps for air and chokes on a cough. The dragon
sighs loudly and closes its eyes, slipping into
unconsciousness.
21
 COVER

DARKNESS
AND LOSS

INTRODUCTION

MISSION
SYNOPSIS

SCENE 1

SCENE 2

SCENE 3

SCENE 4

SCENE 5

SCENE 6

Behind the Scenes SCENE 7

The area is aspected toward insect spirits, raising the ANT SPIRITS AND
background count to 3, as the whole chamber is an in-
sect shaman’s Lodge. Noise is increased to 6 due to
THE HIVE MIND SCENE 8
lack of signal deep below the earth. (PP. 95, 195, STREET GRIMOIRE)
The spirits move to engage the team and defend PICKING UP
their territory, their shaman, and their potential future All physical damage done by Ant spirits is also considered THE PIECES
queen. The shaman engages using magic until the run- Acid damage (see Acid Damage, p. 170, SR5). Ant spirits are
ners move into close combat. The soldier spirits will use highly dependent on their hive mentality and on its controlling
the Intercept action (see sidebar) to prevent runners force in particular. If a single Ant spirit is ever isolated from all LEGWORK
from getting close to the vampire. others of its hive (e.g., through physical distance or due to a
An Arcana + Logic [Mental] (2) Test lets runners mana barrier), or if the shaman or Queen of the hive is killed,
CAST OF
know the egglike sacs are something called Living Ves- the ant(s) suffer a –2 penalty on all tests.
SHADOWS
sel Preparation, a necessary step prior to their eventual The constant buzz of insect spirits in an insect shaman’s
insect spirit possession. If the runners score 4 or more mind can be distracting, especially if the hive is agitated.
hits, they are aware a metahuman would need to stay When this occurs, the shaman must succeed in a Magic + PLAYER
in the wraps for four days to be marked for possession, Willpower [Mental] (2) Test to suppress the background HANDOUTS
and removing an individual before they are marked hum and concentrate on something, such as fighting or
would stop this from occurring. spellcasting.
The remaining neighborhood residents are bound in DEBRIEFING
the egglike wraps and stuck onto the wall with one hun- LOG
dred and fifty other unlucky souls. The residents have
not been in the wraps long enough to be marked for
possession, but the others are in varying stages of the
ritual. The caretaker spirit tends them.

SCENE 6: CHAINS THAT BIND 22

 The shaman is working to prepare the dragon for an
insect great spirit queen possession. The dragon Aethe-
linda has been held captive, tortured and drained in the
process, leaving her too weak to fight or resist. Heavy
chains hold her head down, like the ones on the rest
of her body. The bindings prevent her from using her
breath weapon, casting spells, and summoning spirits.
Once the vampire is destroyed or the metal bands are
removed, she will regain those powers, as either cause
the band to lose their enchantment. Once combat is
over, the team needs to decide her fate (next scene).
Few have the resources to handle this problem. The
dragon’s wounds cannot be healed with magic (the
vampire saw to that); she requires professional medical
care or she will die.
The team may decide to break the chains so the
dragon can assist them. There are eight chains (Structure
8, Armor 12) binding the dragon, locked with Rating 6
mechanical locks. If the team frees two chains holding
down the dragon’s head, she uses her breath attack on
the shaman. If the team destroys or opens four chains,
the dragon can slash with her claws and bite in addition
to using her breath weapon. If six chains are destroyed,
the dragon attempts to free herself from the remaining
two chains or fight the spirits (whichever makes the
most sense). At the end of the combat, the dragon col-
lapses from exhaustion and wounds—having spent all
her remaining energy.
HYBRID ANT SOLDIER
(2, FORCE 6)
B A R S W L I C EDG ESS
6(12) 3(9) 2(8) 6(12) 6 6 6 6 3 6
Initiative: 14+3D6
Condition Monitor: 14/11
Limits: Physical 5(15), Mental 8, Social 8
Armor: 12H
Skills: Assensing 6, Astral Combat 6, Counterspelling 6,
Exotic Ranged Weapon 6, Gymnastics 6, Longarms 6,
Perception 6, Unarmed Combat 6
Powers: Animal Control (Ants), Combat Skill (Longarms),
Fear, Hive Mind, Immunity to Normal Weapons (through
Inhabitation), Inhabitation (Living Vessels), Magical
Guard, Sapience
Weaknesses: Allergy (Insecticides, Light), Evanescence
Weapons:
Enfield AS-7 [Longarms, Acc 4(5), DV 14P, AP –2, SA/BF,
10(c), w/ laser sight, explosive rounds (x10)]
Bite [Unarmed, Acc 12, Reach —, DV 9P(acid*), AP –1]
COVER
INTERCEPT
(-5 INITIATIVE SCORE, P. 168, SR5) DARKNESS
AND LOSS
A character may take an Interrupt Action to intercept an
opponent who attempts to move past him (within 1 + Reach
meter(s)) or break out of melee combat (see Interception, INTRODUCTION
below). The Intercept Action allows a character to make a
melee attack out of turn. If the character does not have enough
MISSION
Initiative Score left that Action Phase he cannot intercept. SYNOPSIS
INTERCEPTION SCENE 1
(P. 194, SR5)
If movement takes a character within one meter (+1 meter SCENE 2
per point of Reach) of an opponent, and the character attempts
to pass by without attacking that opponent, that opponent
SCENE 3
can use an Interrupt Action and voluntarily decrease their
Initiative Score by 5 to make a melee attack. This rule also
applies to characters who are attempting to move out of melee SCENE 4
combat. If the opponent has a melee weapon ready, he uses
his normal melee weapon skill rating; otherwise, he uses the
SCENE 5
Unarmed Combat skill. If the character is wielding a firearm,
they may choose to use the weapon as a club and attack
with the Club skill. This attack follows all the normal rules for SCENE 6
Melee Combat (see p. 184, SR5). If, after their Resistance Test,
the character attempting to pass takes damage equal to their
SCENE 7
Body, he is intercepted and cannot continue his movement.
Prone combatants cannot intercept. With a little room to move,
agile characters can avoid the Interception attempts of their SCENE 8
opponents without engaging in combat. Using a Complex
M Action with their movement, they can make an Agility +
6 Gymnastics (1) [Physical] Test. Each hit above the threshold PICKING UP
allows the character to move past one opponent. THE PIECES
LEGWORK
CAST OF
SHADOWS
PLAYER
HANDOUTS
DEBRIEFING
LOG

*All physical damage done by Ant spirits is also considered

Acid damage (see Acid Damage, p. 170, SR5). Please note
that the Soldiers take advantage of the Intercept interrupt
action to stop any opponent that attempts to move past them
SCENE 6: CHAINS THAT
into the main chamber. BIND 23
 REFLECTION
ANT CARETAKER TRUE (P. 151, STREET GRIMOIRE)
FORM SPIRITS Reflection is an advanced understanding of shielding
metamagic, allowing the magician to turn a defensive ability
(1, FORCE 5) into an offensive action. If an astrally perceiving magician sees COVER
that he or those he’s protecting with spell defense are the target
B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M
of a spell (and note that astral perception is a necessity, not just
5 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 5
the knowledge that a spell is being cast), he can access three
DARKNESS
AND LOSS
additional Interrupt Actions that can protect the group instead
Initiative: 11 + 3D6
Condition Monitor: 11/11 of using spell defense dice (p. 294, SR5). With each Interrupt
Limits: Physical 7, Mental 7, Social 7 Action, the magician uses up 1 die from the spell defense dice INTRODUCTION
Armor: 10H pool. If no more defensive dice remain, then the Interrupt Action
Skills: Assensing 5, Astral Combat 5, Leadership 5, Perception 5, cannot be taken. The three actions possible are: Reflect Spell,
Spellcasting 5, Unarmed Combat 5
Deflect Spell, and Greater Reflection. Prerequisite: Shielding MISSION
Powers: Animal Control (ant), Astral Form, Binding, Guard, Hive SYNOPSIS
Mind, Immunity to Normal Weapons (through Materialization),
Innate Spell (Physical Barrier), Materialization, Sapience
Weaknesses: Allergy (Insecticides, Severe), Evanescence REFLECT SPELL SCENE 1
Weapons:
Bite [Unarmed, Acc 7, Reach —, DV 8P(acid*), AP –1] INTERRUPT ACTION (–7 INITIATIVE SCORE)
With this action, the magician can use Counterspelling SCENE 2
*All physical damage done by Ant spirits is also considered Acid
damage (see Acid Damage, p. 170, SR5). + Magic [Astral] versus the caster’s Spellcasting Test. If the
reflecting magician scores more hits than the caster, the
spell is redirected at the caster at half the spell’s Force, and
SCENE 3
VAMPIRE INSECT SHAMAN the original target takes no damage. The reflecting magician
suffers Drain as if he had used a Reckless Spellcasting action SCENE 4
B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M
to cast it (increasing the customary Drain by 3). This reflected
6(9) 5(8) 5 4 6 3 6 6 5 6 7 spell only affects the caster, regardless of whether it was an
area-effect spell. Treat the net hits in reflecting as spellcasting SCENE 5
Initiative: 11 + 2D6
Condition Monitor (P/S): 13/11
hits, as if the magician had cast it. This would add to any net
Limits: Physical 7(8), Mental 6, Social 8 hits from the original Spellcasting Test. If the magician does SCENE 6
Armor: 9 (12 vs. Acid, Electrical, and Fire) not get more hits than the caster, then the spell hits as if the
Skills: Arcana 9, Assensing 5, Conjuring skill group 7, Artificing 9, magician didn’t attempt to defend against it. Prerequisite:
Influence skill group 3, Perception 5, Sneaking 3, Sorcery skill Reflection SCENE 7
group 7, Unarmed Combat 5
Qualities: Magician, Insect Shaman (ant, drain: Willpower +
Intuition)
Critter Powers: Dual Natured, Enhanced Senses: Hearing, DEFLECT SPELL SCENE 8
Enhanced Senses: Smell, Enhanced Senses: Thermographic
Vision, Essence Drain (12 dice pool (10 – Target’s Essence, 1 INTERRUPT ACTION
PICKING UP
minute)), Immunity to Aging, Immunity to Pathogens (12 dice (–5 INITIATIVE SCORE, –1 EDGE) THE PIECES
pool), Immunity to Toxins (12 dice pool), Infection (12 dice pool
vs. Body + Willpower), Mist Form, Regeneration (13 dice pool), For any indirect spell targeting those the magician
Sapience is protecting with spell defense, the magician makes a
Weaknesses: Allergy, Severe: Sunlight, Allergy, Severe: Wood, Counterspelling + Magic [Astral] Test against the opponent’s LEGWORK
Dietary Requirement: Metahuman Blood, Essence Loss, Spellcasting Test. Each net hit on the test adds one scatter die
Induced Dormancy: Lack of Air
to the attack, and the gamemaster determines scatter (p.181, CAST OF
Initiate Grade: 5
Metamagics: Channeling, Invocation, Quickening, Shielding, SR5). If the magician does not get more net hits than the caster, SHADOWS
Reflection then the spell hits as if the magician didn’t attempt to defend
Gear: Lined coat (w/nonconductivity 3, fire resistance 3, chemical against it. Prerequisite: Reflection
protection 3), reagents (50 drams) PLAYER
Spells: Agony, Bugs, Deflection, Flamethrower, Ignite, Improved HANDOUTS
Invisibility, Increase Body, Increase Agility, Mass Agony,
Swarm
GREATER REFLECTION
Rituals: Living Vessel Preparation, Summon Great Form INTERRUPT ACTION DEBRIEFING
Weapons: LOG
Bite [Unarmed, Reach –1, Acc 7, DV 5P, AP –1] (–10 INITIATIVE SCORE, –1 EDGE)
This works the same as Reflect Spell, but with the option of
*Increase Body is quickened with 3 hits and 3 Karma spent
*Increase Agility is quickened with 3 hits and 3 Karma spent either sending the spell’s full Force back at the caster or as the
*Deflection is quickened with 3 hits and 3 Karma spent (this grants same version (i.e., if the reflected spell was an Area spell, then the
+3 to defense tests against ranged physical attacks, p. 115, Street area of effect would be centered on the caster). If the magician
Grimoire) does not get more hits than the caster, then the spell hits as if
The shaman has six Karma available for quickening additional spells
and quickens successful SCENE
Agony, Bugs, Mass6:Agony,
CHAINS the magician didn’t attempt to defend against it. Regardless of
and Swarm THAT BIND
spells. The shaman will spend two Karma to quicken a successful success, the magician attempting this action must resist Drain 24
spell, and is willing to spend all six available Karma in the fight. as if he cast the spell himself. Prerequisite: Reflection
 COVER
AETHLINDA ANT CARETAKER TRUE
ADULT WESTERN DRAGON FORM SPIRITS DARKNESS
AND LOSS
B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M
(1, FORCE 5)
18(9) 7 8 40(15) 8(4) 8 8 8 6 10(2) 10(2)
B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M INTRODUCTION
Initiative: 16 + 2D6 5 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 5
Movement: x2/x4/+4 (x3/x7/+5 Flight)
MISSION
Condition Monitor (P/S): 17/12 (Currently has 12 Physical Initiative: 11 + 3D6
SYNOPSIS
and 9 Stun damage, for –7 dice to all rolls) Condition Monitor: 11/11
Limits: Physical 36(16), Mental 11(10), Social 12(8) Limits: Physical 7, Mental 7, Social 7
Armor: 26H (13H due to her currently weakened state) Armor: 10H
Skills: Assensing 5, Astral Combat 5, Leadership 5, Perception 5, SCENE 1
Skills: Assensing 14, Conjuring skill group 12, Exotic
Spellcasting 5, Unarmed Combat 5
Ranged Weapon (Breath) 12, Flight 12, Perception 12,
Powers: Animal Control (ant), Astral Form, Binding, Guard, Hive
Running 10, Sorcery skill group 14, Unarmed Combat 12 Mind, Immunity to Normal Weapons (through Materialization), SCENE 2
Powers: Dragonspeech, Dual Natured, Elemental Attack Innate Spell (Physical Barrier), Materialization, Sapience
(Fire), Enhanced Senses (Smell, Low-Light Vision, Weaknesses: Allergy (Insecticides, Severe), Evanescence
Thermographic Vision, Wide-Band Hearing), Hardened Weapons: SCENE 3
Armor (BOD), Hardened Mystic Armor (WIL), Sapience Bite [Unarmed, Acc 7, Reach —, DV 8P(acid*), AP –1]
Weaknesses: Stats above reflect weeks of torture at the
hands of the vampire shaman *All physical damage done by Ant spirits is also considered Acid SCENE 4
Weapons: damage (see Acid Damage, p. 170, SR5).
Natural Weapon (Bite/Claws: DV 17P, AP –4)
SCENE 5
Breath Weapon [Exotic Ranged Weapon (Breath), Acc 36,
DV 20, AP –10, fire, range 10m] HYBRID ANT SOLDIER
(2, FORCE 6) SCENE 6

Pushing the Envelope B

6(12)
A
3(9)
R
2(8)
S
6(12)
W
6
L
6
I
6
C
6
EDG
3
ESS
6
M
6 SCENE 7
If the team is very experienced, magic heavy, and
needs additional challenge, add more ant spirits into Initiative: 14+3D6
the mix. Add in one additional caretaker spirit and two Condition Monitor: 14/11 SCENE 8
more soldier spirits. The extra spirits are lurking in the Limits: Physical 5(15), Mental 8, Social 8
darkness out of the team’s initial view, but emerge Armor: 12H
once the combat begins. Skills: Assensing 6, Astral Combat 6, Counterspelling 6, PICKING UP
Exotic Ranged Weapon 6, Gymnastics 6, Longarms 6, THE PIECES

Debugging Perception 6, Unarmed Combat 6

Powers: Animal Control (Ants), Combat Skill (Longarms),
LEGWORK
If the team is getting schooled, the shaman becomes Fear, Hive Mind, Immunity to Normal Weapons (through
overwhelmed from the buzz of the hive mind. If this Inhabitation), Inhabitation (Living Vessels), Magical
occurs, he grasps at his temples and hair and becomes Guard, Sapience CAST OF
incapable of contributing to the combat. He murmurs Weaknesses: Allergy (Insecticides, Light), Evanescence SHADOWS
about the buzz, the hive, or the colony. This should Weapons:
give the team a chance to destroy him, causing a two- Enfield AS-7 [Longarms, Acc 4(5), DV 14P, AP –2, SA/BF,
dice penalty to all tests from other hive members. 10(c), w/ laser sight, explosive rounds (x10)] PLAYER
The team has the option to flee the chamber. The Bite [Unarmed, Acc 12, Reach —, DV 9P(acid*), AP –1] HANDOUTS
shaman does not follow, opting to stay and protect the
future queen. The soldier spirits pursue until the team *All physical damage done by Ant spirits is also considered
flees the area around the abandoned school. If the team Acid damage (see Acid Damage, p. 170, SR5). DEBRIEFING
returns an hour or more later, the chamber has been LOG
cleared out.

SCENE 6: CHAINS THAT BIND 25

Scene 7:
Conscious
Decision
Scan This
Having survived the insect shaman’s chamber, the
team’s work is far from done. They need to figure out
how to deal with the people in the egg-like wrappings,
what to do with the dragon, and they need to contact
Mr. Johnson to get paid.
Goober is mortified to hear the bugs are back. The
runners must make a decision on how to deal with the
dragon and the people. If the team makes no decisions,
or they leave it up to him, Goober asks Dr. Tate to heal
the dragon and Lothan to have the Ash Union deal with
the people. Goobers invites the team back to his bait
and tackle shop so they can choose a reward based on
their performance.
Tell it to Them Straight
What is worse? Is it the bugs being back, a couple hun-
dred body snatcher pods, or the comatose dragon in
your custody? At least you should be able to get paid.
Of course, you still need to deal with the Johnson and
hope he keeps his word and makes this worth it. Once
you place the call, Goober is quick to pick up.
Behind the Scenes
After taking in all the information, Goober is very
pleased if the team managed to defeat the shaman
and save the residents from possession. He’s also very
happy most of them are unharmed. If the team ran
away, he is disappointed, but he also understands how
dangerous an insect spirit hive can be. He tells them
the job was to find and bring back the residents, but he
thinks they should get some pay for their work.
Goober is horrified to hear the bugs returned. He al-
ways suspected they were still out there, but knowing
they are now active is truly disturbing for someone who
survived Bug City. He asks if the team ensured the com-
munity residents are “clean” and not possessed. If the
team doesn’t have the means to Assense the captives
for a mark of possession (Assensing + Intuition [Mental]
(2) Test), Goober suggests they contact Lothan for help.
He tells the team that Lothan’s Ash Union is a group
dedicated to eliminating magical threats to Chicago.
None of the community residents were captives long
enough to have received a mark of possession.
If informed about the dragon, he doesn’t really know
what to do with it. Since it needs professional medical at-
SCENE 7: CONSCIOUS DECISION
tention, he suggests they contact Dr. Tate to help it. Tate COVER
has more resources than any other street doc he knows.
Whatever they do, he says they should make the call
now. Goober’s voice trembles and he lets out an invol- DARKNESS
AND LOSS
untary shudder at the thought of an insect spirit dragon.
Assensing the dragon (Assensing + Intuition [Mental] (4)
Test) reveals the dragon has a mark of possession to pre-
pare it for inhabitation, but it is not currently possessed. INTRODUCTION
The higher difficulty is due to the emotional trauma it re-
cently endured, which clouds the reading.
MISSION
Goober asks that they make sure the residents are
SYNOPSIS
placed under professional care or taken home if they
are in the clear. Goober invites the team to meet him at
his bait-and-tackle shop to claim their rewards, prefera- SCENE 1
bly after they take care of the details.
If the runners decide to sell the dragon or shop for
offers, have Mr. Johnsons and fixers (other than the ones SCENE 2
listed below) tell them: 1) dragons have enemies; 2)
they won’t get involved with a potentially contaminated
dragon; and 3) the entire affair of figuring out what is SCENE 3
wrong and fixing it would be a giant money-sink. Mr.
Johnsons/fixers not mentioned below do not make any
offer and want nothing to do with dragons or bugs. That SCENE 4
leaves the team with only a few people willing to have
any involvement.
SCENE 5
The following contacts have different viewpoints
and offers for them. The runners must already possess
the contact, or Goober had to tell them about the con- SCENE 6
tact (e.g., Dr. Tate and Lothan) before they can speak
with them.
Dr. Tate reminds the team of the concerns other Mr. SCENE 7
Johnsons mentioned, but as a personal favor he is will-
ing to help. Tate is concerned that moving the dragon
may do further harm to the creature. He tells the team SCENE 8
he can call in a Horizon mobile clinic to work on the
dragon and Horizon mages to assense and treat the
captives—along with a security team to ensure the site PICKING UP
is secure. He thinks it’s best if nobody is moved right
THE PIECES
away to ensure the threat is contained. Should the team
only want Tate to provide care for the dragon, he agrees LEGWORK
to the deal but is concerned that taking the residents is
asking for trouble.
Lothan counsels the runners that the dragon’s body CAST OF
must be healed for its spirit to heal. He believes natu- SHADOWS
ral remedies may be best for the eventual recovery of
the dragon’s magic. Once it is strong enough, Lothan
believes the mark can be removed. Lothan is willing to PLAYER
lend help from the Ash Union to assense and deal with HANDOUTS
the dragon and/or captives (free, remove the mark, or
destroy as appropriate). He believes the group should
be assensed and, if not infected, removed from the DEBRIEFING
place immediately. If the team agrees to let Lothan pro- LOG
ceed, he calls on a group from the Ash Union to help
him and head right over.
Becky99 tells the team to kill everything in the
chamber because it’s the only way to be sure there is no
26
insect contamination. She asks where the team is and
organizes her gang to help destroy everything there. If
the team chooses this option, make it clear that some
of the Desolation Angels seem very impressed at what
they have done. Other Angels seem to stare through
their souls, possibly scrutinizing the team for signs they
have been contaminated. The gang is brutal, efficient,
and merciless in destroying everything in the chamber.
Perianwyr has heard of the dragon if the runners use
her name. To his knowledge, she was a protector of
man. He suggests that, once she’s well enough to travel
on her own, Aethlinda could use her hoard to regain her
power in the same manner he did. He’s not in the city
nor able to make the trip to Chicago. Perianwyr doesn’t
make any offers to assist the team. He does not have
any medical assets in Chicago and is not able to travel to
the city quickly enough to aid them himself.
Simon Andrews is intrigued by the idea of a new
dragon, but he stresses the complications of what the
team is asking for. As a favor, Simon could send in a
heavily armed Saeder-Krupp team to secure the area.
Mages in the security force assense the team and cap-
tives for insect infestation (killing any deemed too far
gone to be saved). Simon brings in a Saeder-Krupp
medical unit to evaluate the dragon and begin treat-
ment. It should be clear that once the corp forces arrive,
the team no longer has any say in what happens at the
site. If the team tries to interfere, they are asked to leave.
Should they fail to leave, they are detained. After about
two hours, the community residents are released to the
runners’ care, and the team is asked to leave the site.
Pushing the Envelope
There should be no need to push the envelope in this
scene.
Debugging
The main thing that can go wrong is the team delib-
erately doesn’t call Goober, in which case, they don’t
get paid. The team may also decide to kill everyone
(without talking to Becky99) or decide they are just
leaving. Let them, but remind that of the notoriety po-
tentially attached to killing or leaving innocents to a
horrible fate. If the community residents are dead or
abandoned, it will impact the payout in Scene 8: Goo-
ber’s Bait & Tackle.
SCENE 8: GOOBER'S BAIT & TACKLE
Scene 8: COVER
Goober’s DARKNESS
AND LOSS
Bait & Tackle
INTRODUCTION
Scan This
The runners meet with Goober, who offers them a MISSION
choice between nuyen and vehicles/drones (these are SYNOPSIS
kept in a warehouse next to the bait-and-tackle shop).
The vehicle quality offered is based on the runner’s
performance and negotiation ability. When the scene SCENE 1
ends, the runners should be pulling out of the ware-
house and riding off as the sun rises.
SCENE 2
Tell It to Them Straight
You arrive at Goober’s Bait & Tackle, a humble shop on SCENE 3
the waterfront. There are a few connected docks, and
the neighborhood is mostly warehouse space. It’s fairly
deserted when you arrive. A whistle draws your atten- SCENE 4
tion across the street. There you see Goober standing
beside a large sheet-metal warehouse. He waves for
SCENE 5
you to come over and in; then he steps inside. Making
your way into the building, you see a nice vehicle se-
lection inside, a few racks of various drones, and a fully SCENE 6
stocked mechanic’s workshop.
Goober looks at your team and says, “I told you I was
a man who keeps his promises. I’m happy to pay each of SCENE 7
you straight-up nuyen for the job you did, like we talk-
ed about. If you are interested in any of this merchan-
dise, feel free to do some shopping after we finalize a SCENE 8
number. Take a look at what I have on hand, and we can
come to an agreement.”
PICKING UP
THE PIECES
Behind the Scenes
Provided the team rescued the remaining residents,
LEGWORK
Goober offers the team 12,000 nuyen + 500 nuyen
per net hit on a Negotiation + Charisma [Social] Test
versus Goober’s 12 dice [Social Limit 5] to a maximum CAST OF
of 5 hits. As a bonus for a job well done, Goober offers SHADOWS
a twenty percent discount on custom work (parts and
labor) for one vehicle.
If the team did not confront the insect shaman (they PLAYER
ran away), and/or the residents were not rescued, or HANDOUTS
Becky99s gang (or the runners) killed them, Goober of-
fers 8,000 nuyen + 500 nuyen per net hit (to a maximum
of 5) on a Negotiation + Charisma [Social] Test versus DEBRIEFING
14 dice [Social Limit 5] (includes a bonus for Goober be- LOG
cause he is disappointed). Even though the team didn’t
succeed, he understands what a threat the bugs are.
Provided the ghoul drivers were freed or returned to
Needles or Long’s Pig Farms, the runners each receive
27
any funds Needles might have promised them.
If the team delivered the dragon to the Ash Union,
each runner receives a mysterious package shortly after
the mission. Inside the package is a small brick of gold
that can be sold for 5,000 nuyen (net).
Remember, if the team forced negotiations with
Goober in Scene 1: Stood Up, they receive that amount
if he believes they attempted to perform the mission.
Runners who negotiated early do not receive an offer
for a discount, or any renegotiation from Goober.
Should any runners wish to purchase vehicles or
drones, the runners will pay full price for them after re-
ceiving their pay through the team’s negotiations (no
haggling). Goober has access to vehicles up Availably
12 on-hand.
Pushing the Envelope
There is no need to push the envelope in this scene.
Debugging
The only thing that can go wrong here is if the players
decide to attack Goober. Make it very clear that attack-
ing Goober would be a death sentence in the shadow-
running community even if they succeed. Point out the
rail-mounted security guns through the warehouse.
He has numerous boltholes built into the warehouse
to duck into, being a cautious sort of person. From his
hidey hole, all the nice vehicles and gear the runners
were drooling over also become their worst nightmare.
Use your imagination and have no mercy.
ARES ARMS SENTRY
(12, RAIL-MOUNTED DRONES)
HAND
4
SPEED
1(G)
ACCEL
1
BODY
2(0)
ARM
6
PILOT
3
SENS
2
Upgrades: Heavy weapon mount, Ingram Valiant Targeting
Autosoft 3, Smartsoft 3, Clearsight 3
Weapons: Ingram Valiant [Heavy Weapons, Acc 5(6), DV
9P, AP –2, BF/FA, RC —, 250(belt), gas-vent system
2, regular ammunition (x250), laser sight, external
smartlink]
PICKING UP THE PIECES
Picking Up COVER
the Pieces DARKNESS
AND LOSS
Money INTRODUCTION
• Up to 1,500¥ total from loot stolen at the neigh-
borhood + 350¥ total paydata stolen from the
neighborhood host. They may also loot up to 2 MISSION
electronic parts from the apartments. This is the SYNOPSIS
total amount, not per runner.
• Team forced price negotiations in Scene 1:
SCENE 1
Stood Up: 8,000¥ + 100¥ per net hit on the Ne-
gotiation roll (maximum 5 hits)
• Team failed to rescue the community but tried
to do the job in earnest: 8,000¥ + 500¥ per net SCENE 2
hit on the Negotiation roll (maximum 5 hits)
• The team rescued the community: 12,000¥
SCENE 3
+500¥ per net hit (maximum 5) and a 20 per-
cent discount for parts and labor for work on
one vehicle or drone as a bonus. SCENE 4
• Each runner receives 2,000¥ if they saved the
Long’s Pig Farms drivers.
• A gold bar that can be sold for 5,000¥ is deliv- SCENE 5
ered to each runner if the dragon is entrusted to
the Ash Union for recovery.
SCENE 6
Karma
• 1 Karma – Rescuing the mother and daughter SCENE 7
from the ghoul cafeteria.
• 1 Karma – Rescuing the community from the in-
sect shaman and insect spirits.
SCENE 8
•
•
2 Karma – Surviving the Mission
3 Karma – Overall Mission challenge PICKING UP
THE PIECES
Gamemaster Reward LEGWORK
When running this adventure, you may choose to
count the Missions as played for your personal Shad-
owrun Missions character. You must choose to do this CAST OF
the first time you run this Mission only, and take the SHADOWS
optional results to match those the team you game-
mastered for earned. You may not choose to wait for a
better attempt to choose your rewards. You’re on the PLAYER
honor system here, so please don’t skew the adventure HANDOUTS
to help the players gain extra rewards just so that you
can get better results.
You will earn a flat amount of Karma and nuyen, re-
DEBRIEFING
gardless of how well (or poorly) the players do, listed be-
LOG
low. For other missions’ results and rewards that you track
on the Debriefing Log (Objectives completed, reputation
and contacts earned, etc.), take the average results of
28
the group you’re gamemastering for. So if four out of six tion or services. COVER
players earned a point of Notoriety, you will earn one as
well. If only two players out of five earn a +1 Loyalty with Goober (Connection 4)
a contact, you would not get that +1 Loyalty. DARKNESS
Karma Earned: 7 • +1 Loyalty with Goober for accepting the mis- AND LOSS
Nuyen Earned: 13,000¥ sion and not haggling over price in the initial
scene
• +1 Loyalty with Goober for rescuing the resi- INTRODUCTION
Reputation dents
During the adventure, runners may perform actions • –1 Loyalty with Goober for any runner who
walks away from the mission MISSION
that will add to their Street Cred, Notoriety, or Public
• –1 Loyalty with Goober for any runner who loots SYNOPSIS
Awareness (p. 372, SR5). Besides the scenario specific
gains listed below, gamemasters should consider the the neighborhood
characters’ actions throughout the game and award SCENE 1
additional points as appropriate. If a player earns Pub- Martin Tate (Connection 5)
lic Awareness or Notoriety, don’t be afraid to give them • +2 Loyalty with Martin Tate for turning the drag-
extra points. on and captives over to him for treatment SCENE 2
• +2 Street Cred if the players defeat the insect
shaman and rescue the community residents
• +1 Street Cred for rescuing the mother and Lothan (Connection 4) SCENE 3
daughter from the ghouls in the school • +1 Loyalty with Lothan if the dragon and/or cap-
• +1 Street Cred for a runner who punches out tives are turned over to the Ash Union.
Juice in the one-punch contest. SCENE 4
• +1 Notoriety for any runner who loots the neigh- Becky99 (Connection 4)
borhood
• +2 Loyalty with Becky99 if the dragon and cap- SCENE 5
• +1 Notoriety for shooting up Long’s Pig Farms.
• +2 Notoriety for any player who leaves the com- tives are all destroyed or given to her for de-
munity residents with the insect shaman struction.
SCENE 6
• +2 Notoriety for not making a decision regard-
ing the fate of the dragon and simply leaving it Simon Andrews (Connection 5)
in the lair. • +1 Loyalty with Simon Andrews if the drag- SCENE 7
• +2 Notoriety for leaving living victims trapped on and/or captives are turned over to Saed-
inside the cocoons er-Krupp.
• +2 Public Awareness if the team posts MeFeed SCENE 8
(or other online activity) footage revealing there
is bug activity in Chicago again or information Player’s Contact (from
about a new dragon. Debugging section of Scene 3: PICKING UP
THE PIECES
Long’s Pig Farms)
Contacts • –1 Loyalty if the runner ignores the call from
their contact and continues the fight at Long’s LEGWORK
Successfully completing objectives or performing the
Pig Farms
actions listed below will earn characters specific Mis-
sions contacts at a Loyalty of 1, and they should be CAST OF
given the Contact Sheet included with this Mission. If
they already have that contact, they gain a +1 Loyalty Legwork SHADOWS

to that contact (up to a maximum of 4).

Characters might interact with NPCs not specified by
the Mission, and may earn these NPCs as a contact at
Loyalty 1. They may also work with non-Mission specif-
ic contacts that they have already earned or that they
bought at character creation, and gain a +1 Loyalty to
these contacts, with a maximum Loyalty of 4. Gam-
emasters should not grant these lightly, and players
should have to work to earn these contacts by going
the extra mile to impress the NPC, offering up favors, or
paying them well above the standard rates for informa-
When a PC gets in touch with a contact, make an unop- PLAYER
posed Connection + Connection Test for the contact. HANDOUTS
The results of this test determine how many ranks of
information the contact knows about the question. If
the relevance of the subject is a specialty of the con- DEBRIEFING
tact, they get +3 to this test. The player then makes LOG
an unopposed Charisma + Etiquette + Loyalty Test, the
results of which determine how many ranks of infor-
mation the contact is willing to divulge for free, up to
the max ranks of information they know. If the con-

PICKING UP THE PIECES 29

tact knows more, they will require a payment of 500¥ She’s not as retired as she lets on. COVER
– (Loyalty x 100¥, minimum 100¥) per rank of informa- 4 6 She helped set up NooseNet,
tion they still know. Chicago’s version of JackPoint.
If the PCs have worked all their contacts and are still If it’s in the Matrix, Quantum can
DARKNESS
missing important information, they may request that find it.
AND LOSS
a contact ask around. If they do so, have the contact
make an extended (Connection + Connection (1 hour))
INTRODUCTION
Test. Additional information will be available at a cost of The Scorchers
1,000¥ – (Loyalty x 100¥, minimum 200¥).
A Matrix Search action (p. 241, SR5) may also be Contacts to Ask: Any Street or Criminal
MISSION
utilized to gather information from the following charts,
Contacts Matrix Search Information SYNOPSIS
using the appropriate thresholds and search times.
0 0 Never heard of them. Must run in
different circles.
Dr. Martin Tate 1 1 The Scorchers are a medium-
SCENE 1
Contacts to Ask: Chicago Runner, CZ Resident, Street sized gang that operates in the
Doc, Corporate area. They shake down travelers SCENE 2
and residents along 94.
Contacts Matrix Search Information 2 3 They are one of the bigger gangs
0 0 Is that the guy on all the that make up the Horde—a large, SCENE 3
infomercials? mostly ork collection of gangs in
1 1 Tate runs some street clinics the Zone.
SCENE 4
around the zone. 3 — The Horde and gangs in it are into
2 3 The person for runners to go to ritual combat and blood sports.
get patched up with very few They take their ork heritage SCENE 5
questions. seriously. A good working
3 — Tate has been acting as a Mr. knowledge of Or’zet is critical
Johnson for Truman Technologies when dealing with them. SCENE 6
since the CZ opened. 4 6 The Scorchers are known for their
4 6 He’s real smart, omae. He has connections with smugglers. They SCENE 7
been gaining the trust of the have some serious hard-core
people since the Zone opened and lieutenants, and their fingers are
keeping his contacts in the local into the drug and flesh trades SCENE 8
government greased at the same along 94.
time. 5 — The Horde and gangs in it are
serious contenders. They have PICKING UP
5 — Rumor has it that Tate has access
T-Birds, VTOLs, and a legion of ork THE PIECES
to the best ’ware in Chicago and
the know-how to install them. warriors at their command.
LEGWORK
Quantum Princess Goober
Contacts to Ask: Decker, Fixer, Mr. Johnson Contacts to Ask: Mechanic, Rigger, Armorer, Johnson, CAST OF
Fixer, Smuggler, Chicago Runner SHADOWS
Contacts Matrix Search Information
0 0 Is that the new kids’ trid that Contacts Matrix Search Information
comes with the collectible AR 0 0 That’s an outdated word for PLAYER
card line? peanut, right? HANDOUTS
1 1 She’s a well-known decker in the 1 1 He’s a dwarf armorer that has
CZ. Used to be a runner. operated in Chicago for a long time. DEBRIEFING
2 3 Quantum grew up in the CZ and is 2 3 He operates a bait and tackle LOG
well liked by almost all factions. store near the waterfront.
3 — She maintains a series of Matrix 3 — He’s a survivor of Bug City, so it
relays and has back doors into takes time to earn his trust—but
most systems in and around the CZ. it’s worth it.

PICKING UP THE PIECES 30

 4 6 Goober knows everyone who’s
anyone in the city. He’s the go-to
armorer and mechanic for runners
in the Windy City.
5 — Goober has wide access to hard-
to-get gear. If you are in need, he’s
the one to talk to.
Goober’s Bait & Tackle
Contacts to Ask: Mechanic, Rigger, Armorer, Johnson,
Fixer, Smuggler
Contacts Matrix Search Information
0 0 Doin’ some fishing, are ya?
1 1 Goober’s is open at odd hours,
seeming to cater to night-time
fishermen.
3 — Shadowrunners and the like
do a lot of business there. It’s a
good place to score new gear or
upgrade what you already have.
5 — There is a small warehouse under
the shop, and a few others nearby,
that Goober uses to traffic goods.
If you get any ideas about grabbing
some of them—the rail-mounted
security guns might change your
mind. If they don’t, Goober knows
pretty much every runner in the
city. Not a good guy to cross.
Long’s Pig Farm
Contacts to Ask: Parazoologist, Awakened Contacts,
Street Contacts
Contacts Matrix Search Information
0 0 Long pig? Is that a joke?
1 1 Everyone knows about the ghouls
who run the farm. Supposedly
they have a limited diet—they only
eat pig. Lot of speculation around
that. The rumors keep away
anyone who might be inclined to
try to steal their pigs though.
2 3 The farm is in some old golf
courses where 94 touches the
Chicago River. The ghouls might
call themselves vegetarian, but
have you ever been near one?
The way they seem to stare at you
through those milky dead eyes,
with drool dribbling out of their
PICKING UP THE PIECES
mouths, is enough to tell me to COVER
stay the hell away.
3 — When the CZ was walled up this
was the go-to place for fresh DARKNESS
pork. They smoke hams, bacon, AND LOSS
and chops—but most reputable
eateries buy the hog live and
INTRODUCTION
butcher it themselves.
4 6 The ghouls make both regular
and scheduled deliveries to MISSION
neighborhoods throughout the SYNOPSIS
sprawl. I have never heard of
them starting any problems.
SCENE 1
5 — The ghouls of Long’s Pig Farms
have a pretty good rep among the
shadow community. Word is that SCENE 2
they are on some kind of special
diet, but they clam up if you ask
about it. If you head over there, SCENE 3
mind your manners and don’t
wander around. You don’t want
to get caught by any of the ferals SCENE 4
they have out minding the pigs.
SCENE 5
The Golden Palace
Contacts to Ask: Street Contacts, Prostitute/Pimp, Bar- SCENE 6
tender, Taxi Driver, Trucker, Smuggler
Contacts Matrix Search Information SCENE 7
0 0 Golden Palace delivers! Today
special only—get two-foot-long
deep-fried egg rolls with troll-size SCENE 8
General Joe combo order! Drone
delivery—fast, fast, fast! Eat now!
PICKING UP
1 1 It’s a little community in Northside
THE PIECES
that has a few businesses. Pretty
common for the area.
2 3 The Golden Palace is the name LEGWORK
of the walled-off community and
its main business—a brothel. The
CAST OF
little community also has a noodle
SHADOWS
place and a tiny convenience
store.
3 — It’s nothing fancy, maybe a bit
PLAYER
rundown, but the girls are clean
HANDOUTS
and you aren’t likely to get robbed
or killed in your sleep.
4 6 The brothel has a variety of girls, DEBRIEFING
AR suites, and costuming to meet LOG
any fantasy you might have.
5 — The place is in Horde territory.
If it wasn’t paying protection, it
wouldn’t still be standing.
31
Cast of Shadows B
6(8)
A
3
R
4
S
5
W
7
L
5
I
5
C
4
EDG
5
ESS
1.2
COVER

DARKNESS
Goober Initiative: 9 + 1D6 AND LOSS
Condition Monitor (P/S): 13/12
Goober is a dwarf armorer operating out of the Zone
Limits: Physical 7(8), Mental 8, Social 6
along the waterfront. He has a bait & tackle shop
Armor: 14 INTRODUCTION
(“Goober’s B&T”) that he works out of, but has a small
Active Skills: Automatics 4, Electronics skill group 4,
warehouse underneath where he runs almost anything
Engineering skill group 7, Heavy Weapons 4, Locksmith 4,
in hardware (guns, vehicles, tech). He has a lot of con-
Longarms 5, Navigation 4, Negotiation 6 (Bargaining +2), MISSION
nections, but he doesn’t trust easily. He’s a survivor of
Pilot Aircraft 3, Pilot Ground Craft 5, Pilot Watercraft 4, SYNOPSIS
Bug City and was mentally scarred by that. He’s a firm
Pistols 5, Unarmed Combat 5
believer in the principle of supply and demand.
Knowledge Skills: Armor Repair 6, Chicago Area 8, Dwarven
He is a typical dwarf, short and rotund with a full red- SCENE 1
Erotica 3, Firearm Repair 8, Local Gangs 4, Local
brown beard and bushy eyebrows. He has several piec-
Shadowrunners 4, Safehouses 4, Vehicle Repair 8
es of obvious cyberware, including older goggle-style
Qualities: Gearhead
cybereyes, two datajacks, and a control-rig jack, plus SCENE 2
Augmentations: (all betaware) Bone lacing (aluminum),
his left arm is obviously cybered. He’s always wearing a
control rig 3, cyberarm (obvious, strength 5, cyberholster,
pair of coveralls with the arms torn off and the pockets
smuggling compartment, commlink DR 6 w/simlink & hot- SCENE 3
stuffed with gear, plus a bulging tool belt with anything
sim), cyberears 4 (audio enhancement 3, damper, select
he might need to do a spur-of-the-moment repair.
sound filter 6, sound link, spatial recognizer) cybereyes 4
(flare comp, image link, lowlight, smartlink, thermo, vision SCENE 4
Connection: 4
enhancement 3, vision mag)
Loyalty: Max Starting 4
Gear: Armor jacket, Transys Avalon commlink (DR 6), weapons
Quote: “Your options are good, fast, or cheap. You
and drone shop (access to a large array of weapons, armor, SCENE 5
drones, and vehicles)
can pick two.”
SCENE 6

SCENE 7

SCENE 8

PICKING UP
THE PIECES

LEGWORK

CAST OF
SHADOWS

PLAYER
HANDOUTS

DEBRIEFING
LOG

CAST OF SHADOWS 32
Goober is a dwarven armorer operating
out of the Zone along the waterfront. He
has a bait & tackle shop (“Goober’s B&T”)
that he works out of, but has a small ware-
house underneath where he runs almost
anything in hardware (guns, vehicles,
tech). He has a lot of connections, but
doesn’t trust easily. He’s a survivor of Bug
City and was mentally scarred by that. He’s
a firm believer in the principal of supply
and demand.
GOOBER
Dwarven Armorer
Male Dwarf
Connection Rating: 4
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Electronics Group, Engi-
neering Group, Piloting
Knowledge Skills: Armor Repair, Chicago
Area, Dwarven Porn, Firearm Repair, Local
Gangs, Local Shadowrunners, Safehouses,
Vehicle Repair
Uses: Weapons, Armor, Vehicles, Rumors,
Information
Goober is a dwarven armorer operating
out of the Zone along the waterfront. He
has a bait & tackle shop (“Goober’s B&T”)
that he works out of, but has a small ware-
house underneath where he runs almost
anything in hardware (guns, vehicles,
tech). He has a lot of connections, but
doesn’t trust easily. He’s a survivor of Bug
City and was mentally scarred by that. He’s
a firm believer in the principal of supply
and demand.
GOOBER
Dwarven Armorer
Male Dwarf
Connection Rating: 4
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Electronics Group, Engi-
neering Group, Piloting
Knowledge Skills: Armor Repair, Chicago
Area, Dwarven Porn, Firearm Repair, Local
Gangs, Local Shadowrunners, Safehouses,
Vehicle Repair
Uses: Weapons, Armor, Vehicles, Rumors,
Information
Goober is a dwarven armorer operating
out of the Zone along the waterfront. He
has a bait & tackle shop (“Goober’s B&T”)
that he works out of, but has a small ware-
house underneath where he runs almost
anything in hardware (guns, vehicles,
tech). He has a lot of connections, but
doesn’t trust easily. He’s a survivor of Bug
City and was mentally scarred by that. He’s
a firm believer in the principal of supply
and demand.
GOOBER
Dwarven Armorer
Male Dwarf
Connection Rating: 4
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Electronics Group, Engi-
neering Group, Piloting
Knowledge Skills: Armor Repair, Chicago
Area, Dwarven Porn, Firearm Repair, Local
Gangs, Local Shadowrunners, Safehouses,
Vehicle Repair
Uses: Weapons, Armor, Vehicles, Rumors,
Information
Dr. Martin Tate is working on behalf of
Horizon, heading up their resurrection of
the Truman Technologies name, utiliz-
ing the assets of that company that they
purchased following Crash 2.0. He has set
up several clinics around Chicago and the
Zone, utilizing his medical prowess to help
the residents in the area. He’s also acting
as a Mr. Johnson for Truman Tech, working
to claim former Truman assets in the city.
DR. MARTIN TATE
Horizon/Truman Tech Dr. Johnson
Male Human
Connection Rating: 5
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Biotech Group, Eti-
quette, Negotiation
Knowledge Skills: Biology, Chemistry,
Corporate Politics (Horizon), Cyberware
Design, Local Drug Dealers, Local Gangs,
Medical Advances, Opera, Organleggers,
Pyschology, Smugglers
Uses: Cyber and Bio, Information, Jobs
Dr. Martin Tate is working on behalf of
Horizon, heading up their resurrection of
the Truman Technologies name, utiliz-
ing the assets of that company that they
purchased following Crash 2.0. He has set
up several clinics around Chicago and the
Zone, utilizing his medical prowess to help
the residents in the area. He’s also acting
as a Mr. Johnson for Truman Tech, working
to claim former Truman assets in the city.
DR. MARTIN TATE
Horizon/Truman Tech Dr. Johnson
Male Human
Connection Rating: 5
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Biotech Group, Eti-
quette, Negotiation
Knowledge Skills: Biology, Chemistry,
Corporate Politics (Horizon), Cyberware
Design, Local Drug Dealers, Local Gangs,
Medical Advances, Opera, Organleggers,
Pyschology, Smugglers
Uses: Cyber and Bio, Information, Jobs
Dr. Martin Tate is working on behalf of
Horizon, heading up their resurrection of
the Truman Technologies name, utiliz-
ing the assets of that company that they
purchased following Crash 2.0. He has set
up several clinics around Chicago and the
Zone, utilizing his medical prowess to help
the residents in the area. He’s also acting
as a Mr. Johnson for Truman Tech, working
to claim former Truman assets in the city.
DR. MARTIN TATE
Horizon/Truman Tech Dr. Johnson
Male Human
Connection Rating: 5
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Biotech Group, Eti-
quette, Negotiation
Knowledge Skills: Biology, Chemistry,
Corporate Politics (Horizon), Cyberware
Design, Local Drug Dealers, Local Gangs,
Medical Advances, Opera, Organleggers,
Pyschology, Smugglers
Uses: Cyber and Bio, Information, Jobs
A Rat Shaman and a former shadowrun-
ner, Becky 99 survived in the chaos of the
Containment Zone by joining up with a
group of women who would eventually
become the Desolation Angels. When
the wall came down, she stayed with the
group, mostly working in the background
until last year when she stepped forward
and challenged the leaders of the different
factions of the gang. Believing that they
had lost focus and disgusted with the way
they treated anyone not a member of the
gang, especially men, she defeated each
faction’s leader and united the Desola-
tion’s under a new banner. She’s now
working to make the Zone a little bit bet-
ter, and in the process wants to stamp out
any and all remaining signs of the Insect
Spirits that once invaded her home.
BECKY 99
Rat Shaman, Gang Leader
Female Human
Connection Rating: 4
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Conjuring Group, Spell-
casting Group, Stealth Group
Knowledge Skills: Chicago Area, Insect
Spirits, Famous Shadowrunners, Local
Bars, Runner Hangouts, Magic Theory,
Music (Modern Punk), Street Gangs (Chi-
cago)
Uses: Street Info, Rumors, Jobs
A Rat Shaman and a former shadowrun-
ner, Becky 99 survived in the chaos of the
Containment Zone by joining up with a
group of women who would eventually
become the Desolation Angels. When
the wall came down, she stayed with the
group, mostly working in the background
until last year when she stepped forward
and challenged the leaders of the different
factions of the gang. Believing that they
had lost focus and disgusted with the way
they treated anyone not a member of the
gang, especially men, she defeated each
faction’s leader and united the Desola-
tion’s under a new banner. She’s now
working to make the Zone a little bit bet-
ter, and in the process wants to stamp out
any and all remaining signs of the Insect
Spirits that once invaded her home.
BECKY 99
Rat Shaman, Gang Leader
Female Human
Connection Rating: 4
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Conjuring Group, Spell-
casting Group, Stealth Group
Knowledge Skills: Chicago Area, Insect
Spirits, Famous Shadowrunners, Local
Bars, Runner Hangouts, Magic Theory,
Music (Modern Punk), Street Gangs (Chi-
cago)
Uses: Street Info, Rumors, Jobs
A Rat Shaman and a former shadowrun-
ner, Becky 99 survived in the chaos of the
Containment Zone by joining up with a
group of women who would eventually
become the Desolation Angels. When
the wall came down, she stayed with the
group, mostly working in the background
until last year when she stepped forward
and challenged the leaders of the different
factions of the gang. Believing that they
had lost focus and disgusted with the way
they treated anyone not a member of the
gang, especially men, she defeated each
faction’s leader and united the Desola-
tion’s under a new banner. She’s now
working to make the Zone a little bit bet-
ter, and in the process wants to stamp out
any and all remaining signs of the Insect
Spirits that once invaded her home.
BECKY 99
Rat Shaman, Gang Leader
Female Human
Connection Rating: 4
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Conjuring Group, Spell-
casting Group, Stealth Group
Knowledge Skills: Chicago Area, Insect
Spirits, Famous Shadowrunners, Local
Bars, Runner Hangouts, Magic Theory,
Music (Modern Punk), Street Gangs (Chi-
cago)
Uses: Street Info, Rumors, Jobs
Lothan the Wise ran the shadows of Seat-
tle for many years, his prime being during
the mid-’60s when he mentored and
teamed with street legend Kellan Colt. He
considers himself a mystical genius which
he backs up with towering confidence
and arrogance, and he considers himself
an expert in all areas of magic and magic
theory. His attitude may be a little unwar-
ranted, but you cannot deny he knows a
lot about magic. He moved to Chicago a
couple years ago and opened up a talis-
monger shop called “The Wisest Troll.”
LOTHAN THE WISE
Talismonger
Male Troll
Connection Rating: 4
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Conjuring Group, En-
chanting Group, Instruction, Spellcasting
Group
Knowledge Skills: Classic Art, Classic Mu-
sic, Elven Wines, History, Magical Theory,
Magical Artifacts, Spirit Theory, Vintage
Cars
Uses: Magical Gear, Magical Info
Lothan the Wise ran the shadows of Seat-
tle for many years, his prime being during
the mid-’60s when he mentored and
teamed with street legend Kellan Colt. He
considers himself a mystical genius which
he backs up with towering confidence
and arrogance, and he considers himself
an expert in all areas of magic and magic
theory. His attitude may be a little unwar-
ranted, but you cannot deny he knows a
lot about magic. He moved to Chicago a
couple years ago and opened up a talis-
monger shop called “The Wisest Troll.”
LOTHAN THE WISE
Talismonger
Male Troll
Connection Rating: 4
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Conjuring Group, En-
chanting Group, Instruction, Spellcasting
Group
Knowledge Skills: Classic Art, Classic Mu-
sic, Elven Wines, History, Magical Theory,
Magical Artifacts, Spirit Theory, Vintage
Cars
Uses: Magical Gear, Magical Info
Lothan the Wise ran the shadows of Seat-
tle for many years, his prime being during
the mid-’60s when he mentored and
teamed with street legend Kellan Colt. He
considers himself a mystical genius which
he backs up with towering confidence
and arrogance, and he considers himself
an expert in all areas of magic and magic
theory. His attitude may be a little unwar-
ranted, but you cannot deny he knows a
lot about magic. He moved to Chicago a
couple years ago and opened up a talis-
monger shop called “The Wisest Troll.”
LOTHAN THE WISE
Talismonger
Male Troll
Connection Rating: 4
Loyalty:
Key Active Skills: Conjuring Group, En-
chanting Group, Instruction, Spellcasting
Group
Knowledge Skills: Classic Art, Classic Mu-
sic, Elven Wines, History, Magical Theory,
Magical Artifacts, Spirit Theory, Vintage
Cars
Uses: Magical Gear, Magical Info
DEBRIEFING LOG

PLAYER DATE / /

CHARACTER LOCATION
PERSONAL INFO

SRM 07-06: WINDY CITY CHAOS Rescued the mother and daughter from the ghouls
Rescued the ghoul drivers for Long’s Pig Farms
The number of people going missing has been on the rise this
Looted the community
past year, but now an entire community has vanished! The
Killed the shaman
runners are hired to find out what is going on and put a stop to it
Killed the dragon
once and for all.
Killed the captives
Freed the captives
Turned the captives over to: ____________________________
Turned the dragon over to: ___________________________
SYNOPSIS MISSION RESULTS

Names Character Improvement Karma Cost

TEAM MEMBERS ADVANCEMENT

Previous Available Street Cred Goober (Connection Rating 4)

Earned Dr. Tate (Connection Rating 5)

Spent Notoriety Lothan (Connection Rating 4)

Remaining Available Becky99 (Connection Rating 4)

New Career Total Public Awareness Simon Andrews (Connection Rating 5)

Earned a 20 percent discount on parts & labor
KARMA REPUTATION
for one vehicle or drone from Goober
Obtained a bar of gold that may
Previous Available ¥ GM’s Name
be sold for 5,000¥
Earned ¥
Spent ¥ GM’s Signature
Remaining ¥

NUYEN VALIDATION CONTACTS/SPECIAL ITEMS GAINED OR LOST/NOTES

DEBRIEFING LOG . . . . .
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