Warning

Warning : someone might get killed or hurt during this adventure. Fortunately for the weak-stomached, I couldn't find a really good way to work sex into this - sorry :(

THE PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW

a BPN for SLA Industries by Peter Bogdasarian

Intro

This BPN is designed as an introductory adventure for a party of

operatives fresh out of Meny. It is intended to introduce them to the

nature of the corporation they will soon be working for, and the attitudes

of those who confront it. It will introduce them to the media's worst

side, and what happens to those who get in the media's way. The players

will also shape their attitudes towards Downtown civilians by their

actions in this adventure.

Falkirk and Devon form an L-shape, with Falkirk running along the vertical

axis and Devon along the horizontal one.

Chronologically, this adventure is set about a week before "The Thirteenth

Kill" and Melissa October's rapid rise through the ranks of the 13th

Victim hirearchy.

(I) Getting the Job

The players pick up the BPN in the Crib. This requires an hour wait on

the Blue BPN line while other operative squads get pizzas delivered and

exchange gossip. The gossip portion is up to you.

The job is detailed to them at the Department of Street Maintenence's

office (3 blocks away) by a bored looking receptionist. Falkirk and Devon

have become the stalking ground of a serial killer, and Shiver squads

patrolling the area have failed to calm the local civilians. SLA Command

has decided to dispatch a squad of operatives to the area to present an

image of SLA force and responsibility. The operatives are to project the

image of SLA power to the masses and assist the Third Eye unit operating in

the vicinity in any way required. The operatives are to enter along

Falkirk, travel its length until they reach Devon and then move along Devon

to its end.

Along with the BPN orders, the players are given the Operative's Orders of

the Day. These are SLA's current information update for its operatives,

detailing important events for the operative community. The players

recieve the SCL 10 version.

The Operatives may want to obtain information on the Serial Killer,

however they will discover that the case is currently the subject of

another BPN, and is above their SCL. Third Eye has covered the case in

slight detail - the killer has killed five women (Theresa Young, Josie

Katz, Sally Centaur, Laurie Metz and Tess Baumgartner). Each women was

stunned with a TASER, bound with duct tape, and then mutilated with a sharp

object, most likely a knife or cleaver, and then allowed to bleed to death.

The victims were found in the dumpster behind Burger Lords.

Handout (a) - Blue BPN

Blue BPN + Contact Department of Street Maintenence + No training package

required. + Operatives needed for force projection exercise on Falkirk +

Devon streets. Squads only. + 50c / operative.

Handout (b) - Operative's Orders of the Day (SCL 10)

(i) Third Eye has filed a number of complaints about Operatives failing to

cooperate with its camera teams. It is essential that Operatives cooperate

with Third Eye to insure the proper control of Downtown. Henceforth, all

operatives are instructed to comply with Third Eye requests for assistance

unless written permission is received from Station Analysis.

(ii) Shiver resources are stretched to the limits, so Operatives are

instructed not to call upon the Shivers unless absolutely necessary.

Operatives should remember that the Shivers are an asset to assist in Crowd

Control and Area Suppression, not front-line combat against Dark Night and

Thresher threat units.

(iii) Operatives are encouraged to watch out for civilians in possession of

weaponry from the Devil's Ministry Armaments soft company. Any civilians

in possession of DMA weaponry should be brought to Cloak Division for

questioning.

(II) "And even children were pressed into the service..."

As the players enter Falkirk street, they will become aware that the

locals are reacting very badly to the prescence of the serial killer. Most

of the stores are boarded up, with their metal mesh gates pulled down over

the entrances. There is one person on the street, a twelve-year old boy

with a CAF hunting rifle slung over his back, walking a determined patrol

up and down the street.

(i) Donald Young

Donald is a young boy in a white T-shirt, stained with mud, denim shorts

and black sneakers. His face is pitted with acne, but his teeth are

perfect, and are obviously well cared for. He carries a CAF Wild Boar

hunting rifle with two handload explosive shells and a CAF Spinner short

sword. He does have a permit for the rifle.

Donald's sister, Theresa, was the Serial Killer's first victim, and her

death has pushed Donald over the edge. Donald is obsessed with killing the

man who killed his sister, and will describe at long length to the

operatives precisely what he wants to do to her.

+5 Reaction +3 Dodge +8 Hit Points

+3 to hit CAF Wildboar Hunting Rifle (Pen 0 - Dmg 6 - Ad 2)

+2 to hit CAF Spinner Shortsword (Pen 1 - Dmg 3 - Ad 0)

The operatives have several choices with Donald :

(a) Disarm him. Donald will protest, displaying his permit and claiming

that he has a legal right to his weaponry. If the operatives do take it

away, then he will just sit down and start crying.

(b) Shoot him. The bad choice. Have a neighbor run up in part III and

inform the militia of this, then start the bloodbath. Third Eye reports

this to SLA command, and the players all get demoted to SCL 11, stripped of

their weapons and imprisoned in one of Declan's fine jails.

(III) Media Emergency

"This is Thirteenth Victim Team One, we are located on Devon and Somerset,

requesting assistance. Armed civilians are in the vicinity and are

impeding our progress."

The players recieve a call for assistance from a 13th Victim camera crew

located on Devon and Mornington.

The 13th Victim van is surrounded by a loose crowd (i.e. spread out) of

civilians. Each civilian wears a green armband or headband, and carries a

CAF assault rifle. Two civilians are arguing heatedly with the 13th Victim

film crew, threatening their lives if they do not divulge the identity of

the serial killer they have come for.

Melissa immediately orders the Operatives to disperse the crowd and assist

them on their errand, threatening to report them and pointing out that

several members of the crowd bear illicit weaponry. The leaders of the

crowd point out (with rightous indignation) that 13th Victim is sheltering

the serial killer from their justice, simply so they may make a TV episode

out of the event. The operatives will have to settle this, one way or the

other.

(i) What the Players know about Thirteenth Victim...

Nothing much. It is a new show slated for a Thursday night timeslot

focusing on Serial Killers. Third Eye appears to be pushing the series

very hard.

(ii) The Thirteenth Victim Film Crew

Consists of three people - Melissa October (reporter), Mr. Friendly

(assistant + bodyguard) and Lawrence Evans (cameraman). Melissa October is

an attractive human female with a voice that is pure pleasure to listen to,

and a harsh interview style that gets results. She has a large LAD

account, and is 13th Victim's premiere reporter.

Mr. Friendly is a large human with a faint grin permanently on his

features. His posture is always stiff, and he wears large, loose black

coveralls - necessary for his dermal armor (PV 9) and biogenetic

enhancements (Mr. Friendly is a plainclothes Dark Finder variant,

manufactured as a bodyguard). He has a pair of FEN 603s tucked inside his

coveralls, along with spare clips and Hotline rounds. Mr. Friendly's

primary objective is to protect Melissa October.

Mr. Friendly

+13 Reaction +7 Dodge +9 Protection Value +30 Hit Points

+12 FEN 603 (rof 3 included) (Pen 6 Dmg 7 Ad 3 or Hotline bullet)

(iii) Jacob Baumgartner

Jacob is a twenty year old male carrying a DN 80 submachinegun on a

shoulder sling and wearing a CAF flak jacket, canvas pants and black

sneakers. He has not shaved or showered since his mother (Tess

Baumgartner) was killed, which has not helped his mood. He is the leader

of the militia, and they look to him for leadership. Jacob can be

persuaded to listen to reason, but the operatives will have to do some fast

talking to get him to listen. He has dispatched two of his men around the

back of the building in which he believes the killer is, so there is no

danger of the killer escaping during this scene.

Jacob Baumgartner

+6 Reaction +3 Dodge +3 Protection Value +12 Hit Points

+6 10mm Smg (rof 5 included) (Pen 4 Dmg 5 Ad 2)

(iv) Ernest Metz

Ernest is a forty year old human male, about six foot one-inch in height

and weighing two hundred forty pounds or so. He wears thick mechanic

coveralls and steel toed boots. His weapon of choice is a 10-10 BullyBoy

shotgun, obtained on the black market. Ernest is not very bright, but once

he gets going, there is very little that will stop him (apart from a

bullet). Should one of the players get Ernest mad, then everything will

end in violence.

Ernest Metz

+4 Reaction +2 Dodge +16 Hit Points

+5 10-10 Bullyboy (Pen 4 Dmg 9 Ad 7)

+3 Sledgehammer (Pen 0 Dmg 6 Ad 0)

(v) The Militia (about 15 in all)

Militia Man

+5 Reaction +3 Dodge +10 Hit Points

+4 CAF Assault Rifle (rof 3 inc. - new + improved) (Pen 3 Dmg 3 Ad 1)

(a) Lean on Thirteenth Victim. - The dumbest thing the players can do.

Melissa October will divulge the identity of the serial killer, rather

than be shot (Nikki Becker in Room 311 of the Carpenter building), and will

then get on the horn to the higher ups. The players will not be paid for

the BPN, will recieve no SCL increase, and will have made a powerful enemy

within the Third Eye structure.

(b) Persuasion - A good plan, make it difficult, but let it work if the

players are willing to work at it.

increase or money for this BPN. During the fight, have one of the players

make a detect roll. If he succeeds, he watches a Militia man point his

CAF assault rifle at Melissa October and pull the trigger. Mr. Friendly

steps in the way and takes the rounds to the chest. He then dispatches the

militia man and pulls the bullets out of his coveralls. There is no blood.

Should the player ask him about it, Mr. Friendly will shrug and say that

he has a bullet proof vest.

(IV) Serial Killer Seizure.

How difficult this next stage is depends upon the approach the players

take. If the players allow 13th Victim to take the lead, Mr. Friendly puts

a hotline round into Nikki Becker within a heartbeat of storming his

apartment, Nikki falls out of his ceiling perch and the Operatives get to

drag him out to the van. If the players get in his way, and want to do the

job themselves, Melissa informs them not to kill Nikki - regardless of

anything else (If they kill Nikki, they forfeit about a 1000c in fines and

their jobs).

(i) Nikki Becker (wired on UV)

+8 Reaction +4 Dodge +13 Hit Points (50% less damage)

+5 MAC Knife (Pen 1 Damage 6 Ad 1)

(V) Sniper

If the players let Donald Young keep his rifle then there is one more part

to this sordid little play. As the players drag Nikki out of the Carpenter

building, there is a gunshot and then an explosion from the building across

the street. Donald's first bullet takes Nikki in the head, smashing his

skull open and destroying his brain (no LAD for this guy). His second

handload bullet explodes in his gun, shattering it, ripping off his right

hand and tearing his jaw away from his face.

Melissa gets extremely pissed by this and informs the players to go up

there and kill that son-of-a-bitch. By the time the players get there,

they discover a crying Donald missing his lower jaw, clutching the stump of

his hand in his lap. A shattered rifle lies next to him.

It is up to the players what they do...

Peter Bogdasarian

"Cassandra thrashing, still alive,

driven droves, they climb and dive,

decompression splattered walls,

ramjet panic, addict stalls."

- "Ratblast", Numb