Payoff and Tie Off

Once runners return with evidence that the Pratt partners are building a pirate ship, even proof that arms are being sent out to it, should be enough to convince the courts that Pratt is up to no good, and prove Ruth is the saboteur. Josephine will get her license back, and will pay the PCs off with orichalcum from the packet. If the news is public enough and the PCs get any publicity out of it (even if only on the shadow nets), a representative of the seven orbital banks will also contact the runners, and present each with a platinum (unlimited) credstik which will set up a fee-free account for each PC involved. The Orbital Banks will recognize the pirates as a threat to their safety and stability. The weapons could have been used to blackmail them and give one man control of the world's finances. The effects would be dreadful. Changes in the way shipments will be made, including random searches of cargo spacebound by an interbank security force to prevent weapons from being put in orbit will be made. Karma could be bountiful.

If the PCs are less than successful, they can look forward to no further payments and someone else will get the publicity and credit for stopping weapons from getting into space—or there could be the first space piracy acts against shuttles and their cargoes, and all space ships will need to be armed. Pratt could go down in history as the first space pirate.

Some GMs will complain of the lack of maps. You can draw yourselves some if you wish. The Sprawl Sites book will have adequate offices and warehouses for this adventure. Most of the encounters are made to be role-played through, not dice & paper stuff. Thinking and planning, being wise and clever, is the essence of good game-mastering.

GMs of younger players might have some rebellion if there isn't enough combat. Combat encounters can be introduced in several places, notably the warehouse and the lunar orbital (though combat in space is going to be unarmed or hand weapons that can't cut through the thin skin of a spacecraft!) and the GSM AE. You know your players and what they like. Customize the adventure for their desires as needed. Innovate. Help your players build the story of the discovery and quashing of the first attempt at space piracy.

And don't be too surprised if the players decide to confront the pirate crew and demand to be allowed to join them! What next? After raiding a few shuttles, let an interstellar vessel enter the solar system and have the pirate save the world. Or go down in flames trying…

More Shadowrun ™ in Space

Shadowrun ™ in Space: Introduction
Shadowrun ™ in Space: One Lone Hero (fiction)
Shadowrun ™ in Space: GM Notes and Set Up
Shadowrun ™ in Space: Tying the PCs into the Adventure
Shadowrun ™ in Space: PCs in Space
Shadowrun ™ in Space: PCs on the Ground
Shadowrun ™ in Space: PCs in Lunar Orbit
Shadowrun ™ in Space: Payoff