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From:	rothgefa@*******.com (Robert Fanning)
Subject:	Creating a good challenge for the PCs (Peter Mellett)
Date:	Thu, 23 Feb 2006 11:56:03 +1000

Message no. 1 >I'm having trouble in my SR4 game creating enough of a challenge for the
>characters. Ideally I need them to be only just surviving 'boss' style
>encounters however they seem to be able to totally annihilate anything I
>send their way. Are there any general tips for challenging them more
>without killing everyone 10 minutes into a session?
>
>Cheers,
>Pete

I haven't gone over to SR4 yet, but in general I follow these rules.

Combat = Hose up!

Hose up = Armed Response!

Armed response = body bags!

Characters in my games don't get to walk down the street with even an
assault rifle in plain view, even in the rough parts of town (even the
gangers don't like it). Plenty of gutter trash would just love to take it
off them and play with their new toys.

Players who are not discrete (even just in table talk) are asking to be
treated as a "loose end" to tie up - the whole point of being hired is that
the corporations (and governments) want plausible deniability (or want to do
the job on the cheap, in which case "Dead men draw no back pay").

<@^@> put "Robert" (without quotes) in the subject line to bypass my junk
mail filter and do not use the keywords "bank, business, credit, debt,
insurance, loan, money".

http://www.livejournal.com/users/rothgefa

From:	swiftone@********.org (Brett Sanger)
Subject:	Creating a good challenge for the PCs (Peter Mellett)
Date:	Thu, 2 Mar 2006 13:31:20 -0500

Message no. 2 On Thu, Feb 23, 2006 at 11:56:03AM +1000, Robert Fanning wrote:
> Characters in my games don't get to walk down the street with even an
> assault rifle in plain view, even in the rough parts of town (even the
> gangers don't like it). Plenty of gutter trash would just love to take it
> off them and play with their new toys.

Yup. The trick with this plan is to remember that most opponents won't
be able to match the PCs in a fair fight, so they try not to get in one.
The PCs can walk through the Barrens dripping with gear, and maybe
some stupid ganger will talk smack to them. If anyone tries
anything...Bang, Bang, a much of gangers are dead, players feel smug.

But then they get sniped at. They dare not leave any vehicles
unguarded. Molotov cocktails from above. Drugs in their food. Animal
feces thrown at them by small children. If they escalate, suddenly
their contacts start giving them the cold shoulder, jobs dry up. If
they still don't take the hint, then either massive numbers will come
for them, or somone that CAN take them 1 on 1.

My PCs are confident that they can take most opponents that aren't
also carrying a few hundred grand of cyber and fine weaponry. They also
know better than to abuse this power too far, and I've thrown enough
situationally challenging things at them to keep them cautious.

One ploy I'm famous for is plain old german shepards, trained to
immobilize the gun arm. Even if you drop two of them as they race
towards you, the Friends in Melee let them get a hold, and then you had
serious penalties to try anything as they held you down. That made life
pretty easy for Joe Average security guard that was coming up behind the
dogs. Introduce a few breeds that are dual natured or have Magic Sense,
and it's doubly effective. No need for fancy powers.

My list of equalizers:

1) Dogs (it's become a trademark)
2) Radios
3) PC Ignorance (requiring non-combat skills to learn info, or just to
have to deal with situations as they arise)
4) Social networks

I've recently introduced a small company sublicensing ghoul security
guards for the dual-natured benefit. Naturally it's not
well-publicized, but it's an experiment that has cause my players some
headaches.
--
SwiftOne / Brett Sanger
swiftone@********.org

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