Episode Summary[]
Before this run, the runners are hired by an unknown party to steal the ugliest Buddha Statue they have ever seen. They load it on a semi-truck flatbed and drive on the country roads near Mt. Fuji. However, they draw the ire of trucks full of Ninjas, who are angry that their statue was stolen. A battle and hilarity ensues.
They ditch the ninjas and lay low in Kawaguchiko station at the terminus of the Fujikyuko line. They park the statue in an Asama shinto shrine there, and they have no clue as to how they can safely ditch the heat and the ninjas to deliver the statue for payment. Fortuitously, Shiro Watanabe from Episode 2 was there on pilgrimage to Mt. Fuji, and offered to help the runners with his resources. In exchange, the runners are to pick up a briefcase from a nearby village.
The runners buy some supplies from the annoying Miko at the shrine, and they head to Kamakuishiki village, once home to a cult and now a ghost town. They do not find a briefcase, but instead find a village of belligerent ork children. The parents of the children were kidnapped by a mercenary company lead by an albino. The runners go north in search of the mercenary camp to rescue the villagers.
They encounter in the Aokigahara Forest some shedim. After a short battle, the shedim surrender, and say that they have a "truce" with the local villagers. They lead the runners to the mercenary camp and vow to help rid the place of the mercenaries and their leader, the albino.
At the mercenary camp, the technomancer takes control of the mobile command center and intercepts the communications. He finds out that the villagers were taken to a mine to the north.
The runners go to the mine and rescue the villagers. They find the mayor, Ringo Hamasaki, who was gravely ill. The mayor reveals that the mercenary company was being led by a wendigo named Jurobei Ishimoto, and that the wendigo infected him with HMHVV. Doctor Makka Ninja throws all of his effort into creating an alchemical concoction, and miraculously cures the mayor of the infection.
The villagers were at the mine to harvest an ore called Ulmenite, a rare and valuable magical ore that glows when magical activity is nearby. The runners return some of the ore to the earth, but also give a portion to the villagers, who are forever grateful to the runners for saving them.
Reward[]
- 8 Karma (2 for the intro, 2 for Survival, 2 for Good Feelings, 1 for Challenge, and 1 for Objectives)
- 19000 nuyen (including 3000 for intro, 16,000 for payment)
- -500 to -1500 nuyen for various costs during the run.
- Shiro Watanabe as a Connections 3/Loyalty 1 contact.
- Ringo Hamasaki as a Connections 1/Loyalty 3 contact.
- A permanent "Safehouse" Middle lifestyle in the Kamikuishiki village.
People Met[]
- Shiro Watanabe - The wakagashira from Episode 2.
Places Visited[]
- Aokigahara Forest - At the southern foot of Mt. Fuji. Also known as the Sea of Trees and "Suicide Woods", as it is a popular place for Japanese people to commit suicide.
- Kamikuishiki Village - The ork village saved by the runners.
Memorable Moments[]
Quotes[]
- "Let's grab a camera and film in the woods. We can call it the Aokigahara Witch Project."
- "The place is probably closed at around Easter." "Wait, isn't Easter about NOT finding a dead body?"
GM Postmortem[]
This one ran a little long. I planned on 4 separate setpieces, and budgeted about an hour per setpiece. I probably should restrict it to 3 setpieces and budget an extra hour for bullshitting.
The episode practically wrote itself. I wanted to have an intro where you guys fight a bunch of ninjas on a semi-truck flatbed (mimicking the cover of one of the old TMNT sourcebooks). I also wanted to do something centered around Mt Fuji. In researching the forest around Mt. Fuji, the folklore provided a lot of great hooks, from the old cult near the village to the "suicide wood". Researching the area in modern day Japan was fun when remixing it with Shadowrun's Japan. The ugly Buddha statue amused me, as it was the ugliest Google image that I could find for it.
I was not expecting Steve to be able to cure the infection. There were a few options (ranging from allowing the mayor to commit suicide to beseeching the Shedim for help in purging the infection). But I don't like to say "No, that's an impossible task". So I set a threshold of 6 (which is nearly impossible) and allowed Steve the chance to make that roll. It was a splendid end to the problem, and not likely one he is going to repeat any time soon.