With the PCs in the campaign I’m running making a whole helluva lot of noise last mission, they decided that they’d lie low for a while. The Mr. Johnsons that aren’t actively trying to kill them won’t give them the time of day, so I’ve decided I’m going to introduce them to the criminal syndicates that occupy the seedy underbelly of our setting and have them run some missions involving the Vory and Yakuza.
We play on roll20 with a near identical setup to what Adam Koebel uses in his Roll20 Presents game, so I’ve got into the habit of making logos for all the faction clocks and I thought I’d share the two I’ve made for the Yaks and Vory. Feel free to use them in your own games if you’d like (I’ve got pngs without the black background if you want, just let me know).
Has anyone here attempted to run missions for/against non-corporate factions? I’d be interested in hearing mission ideas and experiences if you have any to share. So far I’ve begun compiling a little list of missions for each of the gangs, which happen to be at war with one another in our setting, so most of them, so far, involve one group hiring the team to do something to the other, but I’m on the lookout for more ideas, tips or suggestions.
Feels like a great, organic, way to flesh out more of your game world. Great direction!
I don’t have too much to offer in the way of actual missions, but I’d look for ways to differentiate how crime syndicates operate, and how they respond to threats, from the way corporations do. Don’t go after the PCs the same way.
In another cyberpunk game, I had some A-list operators who pissed off a cartel. The cartel didn’t have the endless resources of a corporation, and going straight at the PCs would have been costly. Instead, they started to surveil them. They went after their more vulnerable contacts, and they informed on them (for profit of course) to their corporate enemies.
Assiduous Wake Thanks AW. Great advice on mixing up the approach.
One thing I had considered was that I wouldn’t be moving in this direction with the same sort of secrecy I had been doing with the Corps so far. For one thing, the Yaks and the Vory will make no effort to hide their identities. A big part of their appeal for me is the flavor/branding of each faction and being able to describe the flare in which they operate and carry themselves out without having to go “You have no idea who this non-descript Eastern European/Asian person is”.
The team getting work from either of these groups will be a point of focus as both factions are fairly insular and are resorting to hiring outside their ranks as a necessity due to the nature of the work and the fact that there’s a street war going on between them.
As far as opening missions go, I’m thinking our way into this world will involve the Vory robbing a visiting Japanese Executive who had travelled to our Sprawl to present an ancient katana as a gift to the CEO of MegaCorp that had just “acquired” said Japanese Executive’s company. The Exec’s assistant was murdered, and the sword was taken from his hotel room. The Japanese Exec’s company was a defense firm that was bought out by the big privatized military MegaCorp in our setting, so admitting that he was robbed would be hugely embarrassing and involving the cops regarding the assistant’s death would further complicate things. Instead, the Exec turns to an old “friend” for help, who just so happens to be the Kumicho of the dominate Yakuza family in the area. Since a bunch of Yakuza running around attempting to find a sword in Vory neighborhoods isn’t the quickest or most efficient way to do it, they decide to tap our disgraced team of PCs for the job.
In my old Buenos Aires game the PC’s first mission was for a terrorist/freedom fighter group. I flavored the credit gain as more of the reputation side than actual hard cash. Plus gaining favors etc.