10 in Ten, Seattle Olympic Bribapalooza Edition

So we have looked at the basics of the Brackhaven Machine (in Seattle Olympics 2076-The Bribapalooza Tour), and how construction and contracting firms get hired (hint: bribes, lots of bribes). So let us look at a few of these jobs you can have your players' Crew do:

1.  Mr. Johnson needs some muscle. He represents a firm up for a construction bid. Sadly, the competition has deeper pockets and a bigger bribery budget. So Mr. Johnson wants the Crew to disrupt, extort, and blackmail his opponents. And quickly, as the winning bid will be announced is just a couple of days. The Crew is going to have to hit hard and hit fast to pull this off.

   

   Just another day getting ready for the Olympics

2. Mr. Johnson needs some muscle. He represents a firm up for a construction bid. Fortunately, the firm he represents has deep pockets and greased all the right wheels. They are expecting to win this bid easily. However, some of the competing firms seem disgruntled. Looking to protect his firm and their bid, Mr. Johnson wants the Crew to disrupt, extort, and blackmail his opponents. And quickly, as the winning bid will be announced is just a couple of days. The Crew is going to have to hit hard and hit fast to pull this off.

   

   A typical business negotiation during the 2076 Olympics

3. Mr. Johnson needs some muscle. He represents a firm up for a construction bid. Fortunately, the firm he represents has deep pockets and greased all the right wheels. They are expecting to win this bid easily. However, some of the competing firms seem disgruntled. Looking to protect his firm and their bid, Mr. Johnson wants the Crew to protect his firm from disruption, extortion, and blackmail. And they will have to hit the ground running, as the winning bid will be announced is just a couple of days. The Crew is going to have to maintain excellent surveillance and anticipate trouble, as other shadow teams will be hitting hard and hitting fast to destroy the firms chances.

   

   Can you really resist adding a crazed Christopher Walken to your game?

4. And better yet, an astute Crew can play all sides against the other, ala Yojimbo/A Fist Full of Dollars/Last Man Standing (take your pick of movie sources, Mr. Black likes them all.) (Or go read the original, Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest.) 
5. With all the rampant bribery these Brackhaven Olympics have mustered, there is another side to it. As construction gets closer to kick-off, necessary infrastructure will be taking a hit. All that heavy machinery driving around, and all those citizens having to take detours. And a fix will be needed. And the Brackhaven administration surely won't want to pay for new roads when they can just have their kickback-paying construction firms do it, for free. After all, Brackhaven is not likely to get a third term, and him and his cronies need to feather their pockets now. And those firms may need some reminding about who is really in charge. So Mr. Johnson is paying Runners to put some fear into these builders. Whether it is classic strong arm extortion (you know, pictures of family members with cross hairs on them), or causing problems on work sites (to show how much more it will cost not to build roads/water lines/rail lines), it is all to the good, if you can call it that.
6. The above goes the other way sometimes. Once confronted with $300 million-nuyen bill for road upgrades that weren't included in the initial contract, some companies will push back. They don't need to strong arm Brackhaven himself, they can strike against members of Seattle's Olympic Planning Committee, and or members of the Seattle Direct Bank (SDB, a Brackhaven Investments hidden subsidiary that is handing out the official loans for Olympic construction) board. All that is needed is enough of a knife twist to get the OPC to put up funds, or better yet a SDB loan to cover the new expenses (which of course, can be renegotiated latter, or even forgiven).
7. "...(the builder) completed the job only to learn that the last tranche of money owed to him had gone to a number of other firms that he suspects were linked to certain officials overseeing the project. After complaining to his contacts at the (OPC), he was told to sit tight and not go to the police—the state would find lucrative work for him..." - Another version of the above is have Mr. Johnson hire the Runners to get some of that money back-either by hitting up the officials, or by hitting up their firms, hitting up the SOC, or better yet just straight hitting all three. This is a little tougher than number 6, as no one wants to give back their graft. But letting people within the Brackhaven SOC (Seattle Olympic Committee) steal the money the Brackhaven SOC promised you after you bribed the Brackhaven SOC to get the job that paid all the money in the first place (confused yet?) is bound to make someone angry enough to want retribution-or just their money.
   And sometimes you have to let everybody on the Bribapalooza carousel know they can't just push you around. Someone is going to pay this time. The GM can make this a straight Run, or the first act in a war.

   

   No one would go through all this for just $13 million!"

   Or this can go Payback*-style:"I can't pay you $300 million!" "We just want our $13 million." "No one would go through all this trouble for just for $13 million!"
8. There are of course many smaller companies that need help. Mr. Johnson represents one of these firms that has been shut out of the process. They don't have enough to bribe their way into a big contract. But maybe the Crew can harass a mid-tier contractor into hiring the small firm; sort of the opposite of 1-3. "Hire us or we will disrupt your operations to the point you can't get stuff done." This can easily turn into a mini-campaign as the Crew now has to protect them against retaliation, use their "influence" to expand operations and gain new contracts. Really, this would be like starting a new crime outfit. The crew starts by using threats and backs them up with violence and blackmail. They then work their (and the firm's) way up until they have gone legitimate. Of course, the end of the mini-campaign can be an old, deadly enemy coming back for revenge-a disgruntled opponent, an enemy runner team back with new members and upgrades, or the Ciarniello family showing to put everyone in their place.
9. Mr. Johnson has a job for a Crew that has the "proper touch". He represents a smaller firm that is being harassed out of bids. The opposition has strong ties to Humanis, and the firm hires lots of metahumans, and is tired of scut work and deadly jobs. They want a bigger place at the table, and need some muscle to get them there. Can the Crew put some racist in there place?
10. Mr. Johnson has a job for a top runner team. Jamie Rodriguez, reporter for KSAF, needs protection. She is investigating the Brackhaven SOC and all the bribery going on. Can the Crew keep her alive long enough to expose the truth? And does the Crew want to keep her alive long enough to expose their involvement in all this? Can they do the job and steer her away from their activities (which may be ongoing)? Or are they prepared to show Jamie the dirty nasty heart of the Seattle Olympics, by way of their own experiences? Somebody is going to be number one with a bullet-will it be the hottest news expose of the year, or a bullet in the head? Only the Crew's conscious and abilities will tell...

 *Mr. Black hasn't checked out the Straight Up cut yet.

Notes:

• Article on The New Yorker concerning Sochi Olympics and epic bribery levels
• this piece from Bloomberg.

Seattle Olympics 2076 - The Bribapalooza Tour

Mr. Black has more ideas for runs with an Olympic background. (We will get back to the genocidal Hell on Earth part soon...) But before we get into the fun stuff, let us explore the meat of the matter. Mr. Black is extrapolating that Kenneth Brackhaven and his administration are using the Olympics as a platform for massive bribery and corruption. He and his administration are also using the Olympics as a cover for all that bribery; the massive construction needed and the urgency of the deals (the deadline is pretty strict after all) allow Brackhaven to get away with almost any deal.  How does all of this work?

Brackhaven, as Seattle Governor, has staffed the Seattle Olympic Committee (SOC) with his cronies and yes men. They in turn (under Brackhaven's direction) have filled the Olympic Planning Committee (the OPC, charged with getting all the infrastructure and construction done) with more cronies and yes men.  Construction firms submit bids to the OPC; the OPC is under no obligation to accept the lowest bid- sometimes the "better" bid is the winning bid. This can be due to a bid allegedly being finished faster, being constructed with less distress to the neighborhood (traffic congestion is a big issue with homeowners), the bid being completed by a more reputable firm, said firm already having all the trucks and equipment in place, etc. The real truth is most likely that the Fix is in; simply the bigger bribe wins.

This is 1920's Chicago/Huey Long/Tammany Hall levels of corruption. The bidding firms either pay off Brackhaven directly (through "bagmen" of course), who funnels down money and directives, or they pay off OPC members, who funnel it up and the advise Brackhaven on who is playing ball the best. These firms are not immune to this either. While not even B-level corps, most construction firms are contracting firms; they hire other, smaller construction firms to do the jobs. These smaller firms are naturally paying off the contracting corp-how else can the contractors pay for the bribes they pay Brackhaven's machine? Of course, these firms must be hiring union labor (these unions kick back dues monies to Brackhaven's administration of course), except for the truly dangerous jobs-that's what metahumans are for after all.

"And what has been the Governor's reaction to these problems? He wants to fire Seattle's hard working police! Clean up starts at home, and Kenneth Brackhaven's the man for the job!" - an excerpt from one of Kenneth Brackhaven's Gubernatorial campaign speeches (from Runner Havens) 

Let us not think that this is all just construction scams. The "police" are in on this as well. How do you think Knight Errant got the policing job in Seattle? Remember that Brackhaven ran for Governor in 2070 as a supporter of Lone Star. He clashed with his opposition candidates on this support consistently. Then why the change? What, you actually think Lone Star was too racist for Kenneth Brackhaven?!? No. Lone Star wouldn't play ball. Even Clayton Wilson was uncomfortable with the amount of corruption Brackhaven was hinting at. So a hidden slush fund slid Brackhaven's way with KE on the cover. Why would Knight Errant and squeaky-clean Ares sully themselves this way? Money. Lots and lots of money. Knight Errant understood they would get the job, and still be in place during the Olympics. The Olympics contract will double the officers on the beat. That's something like 200,000 extra jobs. And their taking over Seattle would shake Lone Star's grip on law enforcement world-wide. Lots of contracts eventually went KE's way after 2072. Enough to make one wonder what KE and Ares may have to do with the Mayan Cutter cases and the Tempo crisis. But that is a theory for another day. All we need to understand right now is that Ares greased Brackhaven's wheels hard to put themselves in the catbird seat. The day-to-day officers won't be on the take, but they know who is buttering their bread. 

So Seattle passes new taxes to pay for the Olympics (this was done under the previous administration!). Brackhaven uses these taxes, along with Corporate sponsorship deals to fund the construction. The firms bidding to win construction work bribe either Brackhaven, the SOC or the OPC. They in turn take bribes from those hoping to get contracted work. And the unions (electrical, HVAC, carpentry, etc.) get all the labor contracts, and then kick money up. And keeping a cover on all of this is a modern efficient police force, which is also kicking money up. So the bribery train goes round and round. And Brackhaven's administration is getting a taste at every level. And all paid for by citizens and rival corps. That is how a political machine works.

Assuming the Crew is not just muscle for the Machine, how do they get in on this? The most likely answer is that one of the competing firms hires them. They will be hired to disrupt rivals (to show the OPC that the rival is not a competent firm), extort rivals (with the threat of disruption and all that that entails), blackmail rivals (with dirt that the Crew digs up), or to protect the firm from being disrupted, extorted or blackmailed. variations upon these themes are the basis for our next 10 in Ten. Stay tuned, same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel.

Seattle Olympics 2076, Hell on Earth, Part 3 - Running in the Shade of Brackhaven

So how do you get your players involved in all of this? Let us break Brackhaven's Campaign of Evil into easier to digest bits. Thing One, the 2057 election cycle. Thing Two, Brackhaven's buying up of the Barrens. Thing Three, the 2070 election. And Thing Four, Olympic shenanigans. And lastly, Thing Five, the aftermath and repercussions of the Temporary Housing Facilities (THF's).

So first up, you could run through the elections, either Kennie's run for UCAS President, or his run for Governor. The first was covered in Super Tuesday, and is still an excellent book for covering unethical elections. The second was talked about in Runner Havens and Emergence. If you or your players never played through Super Tuesday, then grab it up, scrub the names clean, and serve it up for the Party. Perhaps in your campaign, Brackhaven's hidden past (and racist present) never came out. And 2070 is the time to discover it. Or the 2074 election. Choose the one that fits best for your players and your campaign. In any of these scenarios, a political contact may call up a character for a favor. Or perhaps MoM (or ORC, or Sons of Sauron if the players are a bit more hard-core) get in touch. Give those characters who have more than a street doc and an armorer contact some love. Remember that if the Crew exposes Brackhaven, they will be in his Book of Grudges. This could lead to Runs to Nowhere (runs where the Crew is not supposed to succeed, but either provide a distraction, or just plain get frakked), opposing teams showing up at Meets/Runs/Swaps (especially Swaps), or approaches from really shady Fixers/Mr. Johnsons. And of course, if your Crew is full of racists, perhaps they get hired by Brackhaven to Run the opposition.

Gittes: A memorial service was held at the Mar Vista Inn today for Jasper Lamar Crabb. He passed away two weeks ago. 
Mrs. Mulwray: Why is that unusual?
Gittes: He passed away two weeks ago and one week ago he bought the land. That's unusual.

So on to Thing Two. Brackhaven starts forming dummy corporations and begins to buy up the Barrens. This is all a bit more subtle, but there is plenty of room for player interaction, especially if the Crew is more of the Hooding bent. This all starts small. Perhaps a finance contact mentions that someone is creating a full hosts of shell companies. For a more concrete lead, have that contact turn up dead, with the proverbial Dead Letter drop for the character. Okay, a Dead Disc drop. But the characters end up with the tropey "I'm dead and find out who killed me" disc and an incentive to go do it. Or go a little closer. One of the characters (who lives in the Barrens) is approached by his landlord, who informs the character that next months rent is to be paid to Universal Properties LLC. And the rent (and his lifestyle) is going up 10%. Or the gang that watches the neighborhood and informs the character about strangers asking for him (you know, the one the character has as a contact? He does have one as a contact, right?) tells him that they are leaving, as they can't afford to pay both the next gang up and Universal Properties LLC. Maybe the character can do them a favor and check this new company out? Have some paranoid players? What is Mr. Black saying, of course you have paranoid players. So the above landlord comes in and tells the above character that no more rent is needed, as the landlord just came into money and is leaving. Whether the power and water stays on is of course up to you. (Mr. Black says turn that stuff off, and have the characters Lifestyle drop to Street level or lower. Maybe his neighbors start OD-ing at a frightful rate (they're blowing all that extra money on drugs) or getting robbed at a frightful rate (the above gang realizes that they all have extra money to steal.) Perhaps, they will start checking around to find out what is going on.

The key here is to start things small. Give the players a taste of something wrong. An appetizer of Evil. The main course is still to come. Let the Crew invite themselves to the upcoming banquet. You want them to do the inviting. Then when the dinner turns full-Red Wedding, they have only themselves to blame.

"But my players have no social conscious!" you say. "They would never go hooding!" Well, then make them. You heard Mr. Black, force them to get involved. Someone took the Dependent Negative Quality right? Or Day Job? Put those Qualities to work for you and not the Crew. So Night Striker has an aunt/sister/etc. he helps out. Now is the time for old Aunt May-san to move to the Barrens so she can have the above problems. Or their Day Job moves. The bar they are a bouncer at moves to take advantage of the great real estate deals. And now they are on the front line. Does someone have Wanted/Enemy? Then turn up the heat every where but the Barrens. Give them one place to hide out, other than the Ice Caves of Snohomish.

Or just hire them. This could be a "find my sister/brother who has disappeared in the Barrens", or a more social-oriented hire. Perhaps the Plastics Gardens needs help. And what Crew couldn't use a healing hide out? Or maybe their ganger contact needs some help. With the streets starting to run red, who couldn't use a little Runner muscle? Better yet, if the Crew helped MoM/ORC/Sons of Sauron etc. out on one of the elections, that organization is calling again. Too many meta-humans are being dispossessed. And they want eyes on the ground to find out what is happening. And search for the many missing people. Or maybe the Crew has a contact in the banking/construction/real estate businesses who wants to know what is going on, or why they didn't get a government contract. Or a reporter checking into all the above. Better yet, a reporter that needs bodyguards while investigating the Barrens. This way a combat-oriented Crew can get in on the action, and a sneaky-sneaky Crew will have real headaches trying to keep the reporter alive.

Just remember that this is a low key stage of Kennie's Evil Plan. This part is perfect for investigative, Matrix and Face types. There will be lots of record checking and following up and questioning of people. It is not for every Crew. But even if the players don't want to get involved, you can start to lay in the groundwork for the next part of the Plan. So start now, and prepare your players for Armageddon.

Next time we look at Things 4 and 5, Olympic Shenanigans and the THF's.

New Additions to the Essential Trideography, The J.J. Gittes Edition

Mr. Black has added 2 titles to the Essential Trideography. While he was reflecting on the 2076 Olympics, both Chinatown and The Two Jakes kept springing to mind, as both films are about corruption and land grabs. So be a great GM, watch 2 good movies and steal the crap out of both of them. As usual, these new additions are in RED. Titles are listed alphabetically however. And spoilers abound, as usual. If one can spoil 20+ year-old movies, that is.

Seattle Olympics 2076, Hell on Earth, Part 2, Timeline of Evil

 "You see, Mr. Gittes, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and right place, they’re capable of anything.” - Noah Cross, Chinatown.

Why Kenneth Brackhaven? He seems like a nice chap. He didn't actually run the Humanis Policub after all. Mr. Black chooses Kennie because he is in power, and because he fits. Let us remember, that as powerful racists come, he is to the purple born. Sort of. His "father", like a true scion of Noah Cross, eliminated his 12-year old son who goblinized as an Ork and replaced him with Kenneth. That's right, good old Charles whacked his flesh and blood and replaced him with an orphaned street urchin, to get the pure-bred child he wanted. When you start from that kind of evil, you have no place to go but up.

So Mr. Black has laid out a scenario for evil in Seattle, disguised by the 2076 Olympics. This time we go more in depth. Once again, let's start simply. Here is a rough timeline for these events:

• 2040's - Brackhaven creates, funds and runs several Citizen's Committees for Security (CCFS), thinly veiled political action groups fronting for the Humanis Policlub.
• 2057 - Kenneth Brackhaven loses his bid for the UCAS Presidential suite. His new plan starts to simmer...
• 2058-2069 - The Road to Purgatory Phase. Brackhaven starts politicizing his money, supporting candidates throughout the Seattle Metroplex government and within Seattle's districts. His support, both covert and overt, of various Policlubs (and through them, terrorist organizations) grows.
• 2064 - Dr. Klaus Uwe Heiden, famed geneticist, winner of Moms of Metahumans' Humane Scientist of the Year award, enters the leadership of Alamos 20,000. Yes, that Alamos 20,000. According to Grima at ShadowSEA, his experiments "Make Josef Mengele look like Albert Schweitzer."
• 2065 - Karl Brackhaven, Kenneth's uncle and head of the Seattle branch of the Humanis Policlub, passes away. Kenneth quietly puts in a proxy leader, one clean enough to keep Kenneth's name out of things. Ties to Alamos 20,000 and the Human Nation terrorist organizations are hidden even deeper.
• 2069 - The Olympic Organizing Committee confirms Seattle for the 2076 Summer Olympic Games.
• 2069 onward - Brackhaven Investments, through many, many shell companies, begins buying official titles throughout Seattle, but focusing on the Redmond Barrens.
• 2069 onward - Totally unrelated, the CCFS's, Humanis, Ministry of Mankind and other policlubs and religious groups trumpet "Jobs for Seattle" campaigns, tying the Olympics with construction and hospitality jobs. Support for the Olympic movement grows.
• 2069 - Crowning the Prince of Darkness Phase. Kenneth Brackhaven joins the Republican party, leaving the Archconservative party. 
• 2070-He defeats UCAS Ellen Danquist in the Republican Primaries for the Seattle Gubernatorial Republican ticket.
• 2070 - Kenneth Brackhaven wins election for Seattle Governor, during a heated election full of dirty tricks and shadowruns.
• 2070 - 
• 2071 - Governor Brackhaven replaces the Director of the Seattle Olympic Organizing Committee (SOOC) with William Roper. Firms throughout Seattle scramble to get on (or stay on) a new "Approved Vendors" list.
• 2071 - The SOOC Director releases amended list of approved firms and construction sites for the Olympics. Additionally, many properties in Redmond are purchased by the Metroplex.
• 2071 - Unemployment drops 2% in Seattle. While many policlubs champion this metric, KSAF and others notice the discrepancies between employment numbers for humans (a huge drop) and those for metahumans and immigrants.
• 2071 - Various shell companies start construction of  "Temporary Citizen Housing" (TCH's) in Snohomish and outer Everett. Additionally, the Metagenics Research Consortium opens a research facility in Snohomish.
• 2071 - Governor Brackhaven announces Redmond Reclamation Project", highlighting upgrades to property and infrastructure, and many jobs the Project will bring to the Metroplex.
• 2072 - Roger Soaring Owl resigns as CEO of Knight Errant.
• 2072 - Governor Brackhaven replaces Lone Star's policing contract and brings in Knight Errant. Bounties on Redmond Ghouls peg out at 500 nuyen.
• 2072 onward - Knight Errant "escorts" Barrens residents to Snohomish TCH's.
• 2072 - Various grass-roots groups protest the TCH's and the transportation of citizens. The Brackhaven administration counters with ads of happy citizens excited about better housing and jobs involving the Olympics.
• 2073 - February 7th - Seattle's annual Night of Rage rally turns violent as unprecedented numbers turn out to protest. 12 people, including a Knight Errant officer are killed, and hundreds hurt as bricks, bottle and tear gas fly.
• 2073 - The Razing of Redmond. 17 People are injured when a building collapses on an Olympic construction site. The SOOC condemns the loss of life, but notes that the original residents had been moved out of the building 34 days before. None of the dead have SINs, and 14 are metahumans. Protests of the "Redmond Reclamation Project" begin in earnest, with picketers at construction sites and outside SOOC headquarters and Seattle city hall. Push back by Humanis and others. KSAF and other news media make note of "Shock Squads" using high-end weaponry against gang members of the Crimson Crush in the Redmond Barrens.
• 2073 - Salish-Shidhe protests incidents with armed teams along northern Seattle border.
• 2074 - Night of Rage II Phase. MoM denounces TCH's "as nothing more than concentration camps..."
• 2074 - February 7th - This year's Night of Rage Remembrance Rally is even more brutal. Knight Errant turns out in force, but 46 are killed when a magician releases several spirits upon the crowd. Both KE and protesters blame the other, but no arrests are made. MoM cautions for peace, but asks why is is no progress on the "Spirit Slaughterer". ORC also asks for calm, but the SOS denounces both KE and the Brackhaven administration. "Spirit Slaughterer" graffiti starts appearing around Seattle.
• 2074 - Construction accidents on Olympics sites grow to Qatar World Cup levels. KSAF and MoM note that immigrant and metahuman workers make up over 70% of all killed, and 65% of wounded, and 85% of all hospitalized. Both call for review of Olympic labor. The Governor responds by implying that both groups lack the education for the jobs they hold, and that is the reason for higher injury/death rates. Various policlubs flood media, accusing KSAF and MoM as unpatriotic and anti-labor.
• 2075 - February 5th - Governor Brackhaven declares martial law for the next 4 days and mobilizes the Metroplex Guard on the night of the 6th. However, the Barrens is left open, and only a coalition of the Crimson Crush, the 162's, and the Rusted Stilettos(!), along with Barrens residents stops the Plastic Gardens from burning down.
• 2075 - The Sons of Sauron torch an Olympic construction site in Redmond Barrens. The Governor, Knight Errant Chief of Station and various civil and political organizations denounce the act as terrorism. Attacks, verbal and physical, on metahumans mount. Governor Brackhaven openly discusses mobilizing the Metroplex Guard to protect construction sites. "The activities of these thugs cannot be tolerated. They seek to besmirch all Seattleites. But we will not bow down. We will not give in to their insidious threats. Rise up Seattle, and show the world what
• 2075 - November 1st - The Desolation Angels engage in strike upon the Frank T. Black TCH. Rumors abound that the TCH has been taken over by insect spirits. 4 days later a Red Cross investigation lodges a protest, as over 40% of the original inhabitants are gone...
• 2075- Now...

Whetted your appetite? In Parts 3 and more, we will discuss how your crew fits into all of this.

10 in Ten - The Olympics Bluebacks Edition

Hershe - "Oh, yeah? A million greenbacks? I got 10 million of them in the next room."

Snake - "Un-uh. Bluebacks."

Hershe - "Oh, come on, Snake."

Snake - "Bluebacks. I swear to God..." - Snake Plissken negotiating with Hershe Las Palmas, Escape from LA

So several members of the ShadowGrid forums have been talking about the upcoming 2076 Seattle Summer Olympics, especially Geekman047. With that in mind, Mr. Black presents the following 10 in Ten - The Olympics Bluebacks Edition. This 10 in Ten is a little looser than normal, more of a primer of ideas as opposed to 10 concrete ideas. Mr. Black will be blogging more about the evil of these Olympics, but thought you GM's could all use something more "generic". And all of these ideas can be used along side the Horror of the 2076 Olympics. So use, abuse, and enjoy. And make sure you get paid in Bluebacks, not that Seattle Olympic Committee Greenback script.

1. Drug testing is always a part of the Olympics. Whether Mr. Johnson wants you to plant a tainted sample (to disqualify another athlete), plant a pure but counterfeit sample (to protect his athlete from being exposed for a drug cheat), or just corrupt/rig the drug testing equipment itself (hack your way in and then do either or both!), you are sure to be handling piss and/or blood this summer. Just be careful who pees in the bottle; for some runners taking drugs is more than a lifestyle-it is a job require. Part of said drug testing is the actual taking of drugs. Whether the Crew gets drugs for his client, or to plant drugs on/in his client's competition is up to you and Mr. Johnson. Actual performance enhancers (like Bliss, Cram, Jazz, Kamikaze, steroids, etc.,) and dubious performance enhancers (like weed, coffee, etc,) are all on the menu. Heck, just spiking an athlete's cola with extra caffeine could be enough get them disqualified. Can the crew smuggle in some Mega-Jolt Super-Caff soda, disguised in Omega Fizz cans? Or alter all the soda dispensers to switch to Mega-Jolt as needed? The last will require work on the dispensers and keeping 24-hour watch on them; a good job for a hacker heavy Crew.
2. Your Crew may be doing so many drug runs that they threaten to quit. "That's 20 runs on the testing facility in 3 days! We need a break!" Which will impact their Street Cred of course. And maybe more. Mr. Johnson, desperate for one more medalist, decides that blackmail/extortion is the way to go. He doesn't care about repercussions, as he will be out of North America in a day or so. And if the Crew decides to hunt him down in whatever piss-hole Eastern European Bloc country/African hell-hole/Middle Eastern waste-war-land he is hiding in, then you just got two Runs for the price of one. And the extra one involves international travel and a whole new hyper-corrupt landscape.
3. Depending on what year it is in your game will dictate the amount of construction that is taking place. The OOC usually nominates the winning city 8 years ahead of time to allow time for planning and financing all that construction. So you can have your Crew do runs involving construction plots from about 2069 onward. Putting pressure on bidding firms to drop out of said bidding (classic extortion/blackmail here, nothing fancy), conducting runs on their construction sites to make them look disreputable (destroying work so it can't be done on time), altering construction materials to make them weaker (Concrete is key here. What do the runners care about how many people die when the building collapses?**), falsifying work documents to show the firm's racial make-up isn't up to snuff to qualify for government work (not enough metahumans for UCAS regulations, or too many metahumans for Kennie's Big Plans), organizing demonstrations outside of current projects to make firms look bad, there is lots of work for Crews. And all these different types of jobs allow work based on the Crew's skills, a big bonus for GM's.
4. Mr. Johnson has a problem. His client never thought he would get the bid for constructing the Paul Schell Badminton Facility*. The client's bid was waaay under the others, and now he is running out of money to continue. So Mr. Johnson wants a simple arson, one that will pass an arson investigation. His client hopes to collect the insurance money and then bow out. You know, if the Runners don't blackmail him first...
5. Just as the 2016 Rio Olympics resulted in a toxic waste site/sailing venue, and the Sydney Olympics before them, the hurried state of construction is sure to do the same in Seattle. And where you find toxic sites, you find toxic spirits, and toxic shamans. And now Mr. Johnson needs you to clear the Harry White Soccer Grounds* of such a shaman. The Grounds are huge, with 3 full-sized pitches being built. The crew is on a clock, as the Seattle Olympic Committee is sending an inspection team to the site to check on the progress. And this all needs to be kept quiet, big explosions and running street fights are out. Publicity of such an event would cost millions...
6. Or maybe the city just gives in. And the Crew gets hired as one of many off-the-book teams to keep an eye out for pissed of toxic spirits. Too bad they got hired to sit on a boat in Lake Washington and patrol the sailboat races. Mr. Black knows he hates facing angry water spirits while sitting in the water. Or worse, they could be watching the rowing events (those little boats splinter quickly, hard to save those folks, and there goes the bonus money!) or kayaking events (pissed off toxic spirits AND white water rafting? Sounds like fun, right?)
7. While the UCAS national team is guaranteed a spot in the Soccer competition, spots on the team have to be earned. Or bought. Mr. Johnson needs the Crew to thin down the competition for his client. This may take several runs, injuring some athletes, buying out others, and smearing the rest (drug use is a good way to go.) The Crew has to be careful, as key players are still needed so that the team doesn't suck. The client is looking for a medal, not just participation. Mr. Johnson is looking at bench players here. But mistakes happen, and they may lead to bitter repercussions...
8. The previous run idea could be applied to any of the lesser team sports (field hockey, volley ball, etc.) However Basketball is big time. While the UCAS team is not what it once was (with the UCAS losing much of it's territory and all) it is still a favorite for a medal. And lots of star power in this sport.So trying to manipulate the roster is going to be "Win Big/Lose Big". Either the players succeed and get a huge payout, or they screw it up and get found out nationally. You can bet the teams of the players they messed over will want revenge, not to mention the very rich players themselves, and possibly the Players Union. Hell, if they hurt the wrong players the Mafia will come after them for screwing up the betting odds...
9. Becoming an officer of the Seattle Olympic Committee is quite the resume-maker. One is sure to get amazing job offers from any of the Big Ten; some will want the ex-officer just for publicity reasons. So getting appointed is quite the hurdle. Thus Mr. Johnson needs to make his client sparkle so that a contender looks dirty. The Crew will need to find some dirt or just plain make some up. If you are running Kennie's Big Plans, just being anti-Humanis may be enough. Unless he needs a "token" on the Committee, that is.
10. Anytime world-class sporting events are held in Western countries, someone is sure to seek asylum. And the Olympics are no exception. Generally the athletes just walk out into the street and ask for it. However this extraction is semi-Hostile; the target wants out but their country is against it, and is providing extra security for it's athletes and staff. Compounding the extraction is Knight Errant's on-site security; they are the security providers for the Seattle Olympics (why do you think the Brackhaven administration choose them? Kennie gets two jobs for the price of one...) And current Olympic security is no joke. The threat of terrorism is higher than ever, making the Olympic Village extremely well-guarded. And the stadiums are no joke either. They are sure to have intrusive searches and sensors at the entrances. Can the crew grab the athlete and get him/her to a UCAS government building all while dodging foreign security teams and Knight Errant? Need to step this up a peg? Make the country Lagos and the athlete a Ghoul to increase the moral dilemmas for your players and Crew.

*All facilities described here are named after Seattle mayors, as found here.
**Causing guilt among your players (after the building they altered concrete collapses, killing hundreds of innocent women and children) is just pure bonus fun! You can decide what to do with the character with the Street Samurai Honor Code....

Seattle Olympics 2076 - Hell on Earth, Part 1

"You tell them I'm coming, and Hell's coming with me, you hear? Hell's coming with me!" - Wyatt Earp, Tombstone.

Looking for a grand theme to hang your campaign on? One that has the feel of those great and terrible revelations from the 1st/2nd Edition days (you know, Universal Brotherhood, Threats, Atzlan blood magic, etc.,) but is up to date, current (2070-ish) and unknown to your players (as long as they aren't reading this!)? Then sit down, grab some soycaf, and prepare to challenge your players. Because the Seattle Olympics are coming to town, and Hell is coming with them.

While Hell is not the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks about the Olympics (bad mascots, rampant bribery, and rampant Jingoism are, however.) But there is something darker at the heart of the 2076 Olympics. Darker than bankrupting Third World countries in the name of social progress and a world stage. Darker than unknowingly taking transgenic drugs falsely prescribed as "vitamin supplements" in the belief they will gain you two-tenths of a second. Darker than "amateur" athletes being genetically modified and abused since they were 3-year-olds.We are talking about human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!

But let's start slow. Facility construction is where this all starts. Depending on what year it is in your game will dictate the amount of construction that is taking place. The OOC usually nominates the winning city 15 years ahead of time to allow time for planning and financing all that construction. And depending on who is your Governor (currently and officially that Arch-Conservative, arch-racist, Kenneth Brackhaven, CEO and COB of Brackhaven Investments) will dictate how much corruption, civil unrest and how dystopian this period goes. In a city like Seattle, there is not a lot of desirable land just sitting around to build stadiums on. So where is all going? Puyallup? Maybe for indoor sports, but all that ash and lava fall won't do it for outdoor endeavors. That leaves us with parts of Tacoma and Renton, Snohomish and the Barrens. Yes, the Barrens. Where else is a cold-hearted slitch like Kennie Brackhaven going to steal enough land to build on, all while skimming millions off the top? And you know that bastinge is doing just that, all behind a tightly woven web of shell companies. Heck, he probably decided to run for Governor to help with all that land he bought on the DL, and no one is the wiser. And no one votes in the Barrens. Heck they ain't even citizens! This will make the displacement of all those undesirables so much easier politically, and make the Razing of Chavez Ravine look like a cake walk.

Is that KSAF down on the right?

Or not. Depending on the GM's needs, those SINless hordes may go quietly to "temporary internment camps", or they may rise up and fight. It will start with simple unrest, become demonstrations against construction sites, and then riots when the displacement teams come to usher the soon-to-be homeless out. It can then grow to full-blown insurrection. Which was probably Kennie's evil plan all along. Buy the land through proxies using his company's money. Work with Uncle Karl (Kennie's Uncle Karl Brackhaven is the head of the Seattle branch of Humanis. See where this is going?) to promote a "Jobs for Seattleites" political campaign to get the Humans on board. Sell said land to Seattle, guided by his political muscle and title. Throw the SINless (and non-human) off that land and into concentration camps. When said less-than-humans fight back, use it to show how inhuman, uncivilized and dangerous they are, allowing Kennie to throw even more into concentration camps, all against the backdrop of "Saving the Olympics" from the barbarians. And skim lots of money from building permits, construction bids, and every other kind of dirty financial trick he can. Cause someone has to live rich and fund Humanis.

The Seattle Metroplex Guard escort former Barrens inhabitants to "Temporary Housing Facilities"

Whether this is all Battle of Chavez Ravine levels, Rodney King riots level, or Warsaw vs the Nazis level of all-out genocidal racial war, is all up to the GM and how bad/dystopian he wants it to be. And this can be very, very dark. Kicked out of your home, forced into a concentration camp, but taking the only job you can find, 16 hours-a-day of hard, physical construction work in the "company store" building structures you will never be allowed to see, let alone allowed to enter, sorts of dark. This can be "build the death camps you are sentenced to" kind of dark. And only the Crew stands between Brackhaven and the Seattle Olympic Holocaust. Can the Crew expose Kennie's web of lies? Can they break the silence and drag Kennie, Brackhaven Investments, and good old Uncle Karl into the gutter, where they belong? And do it while dodging ghoul hunting packs, angry street riots, volatile gangs, Humanis goon squads, Seattle Metroplex Guard peacekeepers/riot breakers, and Kennie's shadowy hit squads? Good luck, chummer, good luck.