| From: | The Digital Mage <mn3rge@****.ac.uk> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Harle's Back (LONG) |
| Date: | Wed, 2 Oct 1996 15:32:09 +0100 (BST) |
> I'm just curious as to how many of us out there have already run the
> Harlequinn's Back Campaign? We did it awhile back and I was just wondering
> what some other runners thought of it.
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Is this enough?????
Well I was VERY disappointed with HB. I loved the original and had agreed
to GM the sequal with my players, but when I read it I wish I hadn't. My
main problems was the wild and wacky cross genres (okay I could have made
them darker but it would have needed some work) and teh 'in your face'
magic. The essence of H teh original was that teh powerful magic and
immortal elves was a backdrop until teh final climax. It built up to a
crescendo.
The way HB was written was also poor, teh 'Tell it to them straight'
sections made too many assumptions on what the players would do and told
them what to do. If the GM hadn't infomred them what they were supposed to
do then teh players wouldn't have known i.e. getting teh hood from teh
bird of prey in aftermath.
I modified this alot to make it work my run went something like this.
PCs are hired to kill an Aztech sec leader called Cameron Darke. Doing
some legwork they find out various info needed to take him out. Whilst
this is happening tehy start having dreams. One is a replay of them going
to meet with a gang leader the ork on the door had a big dog on a chain,
however in their dream the dog is not on any chain and does hideous damage
to teh handler.
Next dream was of a Pricuricu (teh bird with teh sonic attack) who flew
over teh sam and disabled all her cyberware leaving her near death.
Another dream was of a hawk circling over the Samurai's head it tries to
land on her arm but its claws sink through teh flesh and metal like a hot
knife through butter. Tehn teh talons meet with bone and teh bird is given
a secure perch.
Anyway they find out that Mr Cameron Darke will be
in charge of security for one of Aztech's scientists attending a
conference at U of W. They figure everyone will be protecting the
scientist and so it should be slightly easier to kill Darke. They
infiltrate teh Uni and set up in a students residence overlooking one of
teh main buildings where the scientists will be entering. The arrival
time
was 6:30 am for the corp scientist so teh PCs had set up teh previous
night. They fall asleep and enter HB
I played through teh bridge sections and Aftermath and teh final
Masquerade cutting out all teh rest. In Aftermath teh post apocalypse
setting provides a warning of what will happen if teh horrors arrive. The
players failed to protect teh enclave and it was taken over. Teh sam was
brought before the enemy leader (Darke's manifestation). When they entered
teh hut he was busily copying teh contents of an age old book practically
crumbling in his hands. As teh asm approaches he closes it and pushes it
toward another book in teh same condition. The books are Teh Masque of the
REd Death and Call of Cthulhu -this give sthe reason for teh setting in
Masquerade.
Anyway, things happen, and the group breaks free and attacks Darke he dies
and his hawk is killed and his bone flies out landing at their feet. Witha
little nudging my players were able to interpret their dreams and figure
out by themselves that they needed teh hood to restrain teh bird and the
bone to provide a perch.
They then went to Thayla's city and got teh cage (they didn't need to
build another) fixes teh perch and got out.
Then it all went per HB.
When tehy woke up after it all ended they find themsleves still on Uni
campus with their vid phone ringing. Its their fixer congratulating them
on a job well done, saying he doesn't know how they did it but that their
rep would be incredible afterwards. Apparently Darke had died of a heart
attack in his bed within the Aztech Pyramid during teh night......
Well that was my take on it and it ruled out using Darke in Threats when
that came out but there you go. A little too much Dreamscape maybe? Well
the shaman did look uncanily like Dennis Quaid :)
The Digital Mage : mn3rge@****.ac.uk
"Life is a choice, Death....an obligation."-Me
Shadowrun WWW site at http://www.bath.ac.uk/~mn3rge/Shadowrun
