| From: | korishinzo@*****.com (Ice Heart) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | An innocent Johnson...? |
| Date: | Fri, 19 Aug 2005 11:18:58 -0700 (PDT) |
> adventure that actually has the Johnson deliver?
Errr... most of them. Seriously. Getting fragged by one's Mr. J
should happen very very seldom. Else there would be a lot less
runners. And a whole lot less Mr. J's. Sure, Mr. J may keep a lot
of his cards hidden. He or she sure as hell tries to get the most
out of the runners for the least payoff. That's good business. But,
fragging an asset you may need again? Alienating them, and if words
gets out, all other such assets? That is very very bad biz.
Not that player paranoia about getting double crossed is not a fun GM
tool. I had a very enjoyable evening once where a run went off very
nearly perfectly. The combat and the very close call with the cops
afterwards were nowhere near as tense as the final meet with Mr. J
(actually, he went by Mr. Calvin this time around). They drove up to
his office, delivered the goods, and were ushered in for a sit-down.
Trembling in their seats, they negotiated for some hazard pay, to
cover incidentals their briefing had not included. They were so sure
they were going to get fragged. He bargained hard, ended up throwing
them an extra 7%, shook hands, and had them shown out. They made it
away free and clear. Job done. Paid. The players were still
looking over their character's shoulders many game sessions later,
waiting for the other shoe to drop.
But, evil GM amusement aside, Johnsons should frag over the PCs very
very rarely (at most). Leave out information for some reason?
Absolutely. But, usually not with the intent of causing the runners
to fail. Typically the Mr. J is either protecting his emplyoyer's
interests in some way, or holding onto bargaining chips to use later.
======Korishinzo
--Has never been cheated by a Mr. Johnson... in real life :p
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