So, I’ve been running this mission where the crew is in an low-income Arcology and one of the local functionaries has hired them to clear out a particularly violent gang pushing some bad drugs. The gang controls a cluster of apartments on a floor in one of the four towers, as well as that tower’s loading dock. The PCs and the fixers gang have drone visual coverage in the tower, a comm jammer, silenced weapons, and access to the electrical room of the floor the gang is holed up in. They’ve got the info that the gang is most vulnerable when they’re reacting to something they don’t have context for, or from assault from behind their perimeter and least vulnerable to a direct firefight.
The PCs (a killer, a hunter, a fixer (with a small gang of loyal ex military), and a tech) currently have a FOB in the form of an apartment one floor above the gang’s stronghold. As a complication from a hit the street, an AI Real Estate Manager required the group to switch the authorization certificate in one of the apartments with spoofed ones that will say she’s the owner of the apartment. However, I’ve already stipulated they’ll get more cred the more apts they do.
Right now, the PCs are set on giving the gang a firefight. That’s fine and we will totally do a firefight.
But I realized tonight that if they created a diversion that drew the majority of the gang down to the loading dock area, then hit the apartments hard while they’re minimally defended, switching the auth codes as they did, they could then set up an ambush for when the gang returned, and do the whole thing nice and clean.
I’d love to to get them thinking on a path like this, doesn’t need to be this plan exactly, or similar but don’t want to spoon-feed/railroad them. There’s an NPC in the room (the head of the Fixer’s gang), that could say something, but I’m worried that depending on what I have him say, it might be leading them too much. Thoughts?
I’d probably drop the info that there was a pretty big firefight with a rival gang trying to snatch a “shipment” in the loading dock area, about a week ago.
Mechanically, the assess questions are where you would suggest things like this. (Or just offering suggestions in your own OOC MC voice as they plan.)
Since it sounds like they have a perfectly serviceable plan, I’d be wary of making suggestions that result in significant changes to that plan. Part of what The Sprawl does is try to streamline the planning process so the players can start the action with a sufficiently good plan that they adapt on the fly with [gear], [intel] and playbook moves.
So the bigger question to me seems to be: Why do you want to get them thinking in this way? What way? Is there a particular style of action you want to see (subtle over explosive?)? Is it the same thing as they want? Have you discussed this?
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Might want to keep this idea to add a complication. Say the players play it smart and move faster than you expected. Nothing would throw a wrench in their works like some fixer gang members pulling into the loading dock. Possibly catching the players in a cross fire situation.
This is all super helpful. I guess by ‘thinking that way’ I half mean ‘more creatively’ and half mean ‘putting the answers they’ve gotten from the Assess to good use’. I like the idea of holding it back as a complication. But at the end of the day, it is a killer w/ mil-spec, a hunter, a tech, and a fixer with small a paramilitary unit. They’re not exactly un-fit for a frontal assault.
I would prepare for this action phase by watching The Raid 😀
Dredd (the new judge dredd movie) sounds like it might fit well for this style urban close quarters combat inspiration.
I almost suggested that as well as The Raid. Dredd is one of my favourite movies.
Have you planned any mission clock related events? Some complications to throw in at different points?
I have, but they’ve rolled quite well so far. No clock is past 1500 right now. and it sounds ike i gotta check out dredd