Divided Assets Review

I know it’s been awhile folks! I’ve been busy writing Holostreets! Blood For Money and Blood on the Pavement. I am looking for people to review these in any capacity so if you are interested please reach out to me! Otherwise, lets get into Divided Assets!

Divided Assets is a Shadowrun adventure for 2nd Edition. The plot revolves around kidnapping and the ramifications of extractions on the family of those being extracted. It’s an interesting take on the idea of looking outward into Shadowrunning (or Edgerunning for that matter). A lot of times players run these crazy scenarios where death and violence explode into the lives of people who can’t even imagine what they are about to see and experience. This would leave a lasting sting that is never really talked about!

This adventure does heavily rely on roleplaying to make the most of its plot. The weight of this story is actually pretty incredible and it requires a lot of investment from the players. So this adventure in specific will require your players to play people instead of roles. It is possible to ignore all of this of course, but it definitely weakens the narrative.

The adventure also takes place in Denver, which is kind of interesting as it requires the players to travel into Denver and having to pick up gear on site. This is one of the first adventures that I know of that uses the Denver box set.

So beyond the heavy roleplay requirement, what else can the players expect? Ratings out of 5!

Magic | 3 | There are magical threats to overcome and some aspects that require magic to defend against, though you could run this without any magical characters.

Matrix | 3 | Every aspect of this adventure can be made easier with a skilled decker but its never actually required.

Combat | 4 | Combat can be avoided for the most part but when it does happen it will be pretty brutal.

Rigging | 2 | Having a good wheel man can make a difference on how you approach some of this adventure, but nothing is directly mentioned.

Face | 5 | This role will have a super unique experience in this one. They also can make almost every scene just a bit easier by smoothing over any accidents.

One very interesting thing about this adventure book is their introduction of “Layered Matrix Systems”. This was an alternative system for 2nd Edition Matrix systems. It was an attempt to cut down on the complexity of crafting 2nd edition matrix systems from individual nodes to making them just a series of gates into deeper systems. This is pretty close to what the 3rd edition eventually came up with but the style and the approach definitely would have saved time when you needed to make something on the fly.

As this adventure is pretty unique in its approach to the run, I think I would change just a few things in order to make it feel a bit smoother. There are some aspects of this run I think are absolutely brilliant, but I think it slows down too much here and there. So let’s get to the nitty gritty in the SPOILERS SECTION!

Spoilers Ahead

General Plot

What makes this adventure truly special is that it really digs in deep with the concept of what happens to a family when an extraction is performed. The story is really about several chained together events all surrounding the Gaffney Family. It seems Shawn’s dad Colin had been an extraction target in the past and boy did it not go well. The players are given a full view (via captured video) of the extraction on the news. With Shawn hanging upside down from a rope dangling from a corp building. After everything was all said and done Shawn is now with his mom and his dad has been “relocated” to the new corp. This has led Shawn to be pretty heavily emotionally scarred.

It’s not long before Shawn’s mom Ann, is next to be extracted (Though it’s done via extortion this time instead of just taking her?), this is when the player characters are called. After some intervention by a series of Johnsons, they are sent to the city of shadows which has been prepared for them with a safe house. They also have a terrible gang they are staying with to watch their backs (in between their non-lucid moments of drug induced haze). They also have a fixer to get them what they need while in Denver. This is kind of wild in that the players are able to get whatever they need in order to get this done, though it’s capped at 15k worth of stuff. The fixer can kind of just get what they need. I think it’s an interesting approach to show this is a “sponsored” run and so it will be unusual from others they may have done.

From there it’s all about getting Shawn in order to force Ann to come to the new corporation under the threat of never seeing her kid again. The grab is pretty dark in itself because the options available to the players revolve around snatching him from his school, his therapists or from their palace of a home in a super secured compound. So either way, your players are gonna be snatching a kid with some hella deep emotional scars and triggers that they are going to be triggering immediately.

Finally, once your players get back to the safe house, they will have to deal with being attacked on every front by major players. These include Knight Errant, Lone Star and Pueblo Security Enterprises. So things get REAL pretty quickly. Each of these organizations get their own fair shake at getting the runners back but BOY does KE go the extra mile. To make matters even worse for the players, Audrey W of the All Seeing Eye put them on blast on the news with whatever security footage that could be found.

Now that we have the basic synopsis, let’s get into some more detailed aspects of the run.

How to Handle Shawn

This is what really makes this adventure shine. Shawn is pretty messed up from the first extraction but really wants to get back to his dad. If you want this to make this story have its punch, you NEED to get your characters involved with Shawn AND have them figure out his talent for mathematical music. Getting them to understand that both of his parents are shit heels and that he needs to find something else to be made whole. It’s a perfect backstory for a new Shadowrunner or for a musical savant to make his way in the shadows.

Absolutely make sure you have scenes to get Shawn attached to the characters and vice versa. When they first grab him and bring him to the safe house, he’s amped because he thinks he is going to see his father again. I think this phase should last a bit longer than the book suggests, especially if the players play along to keep him quiet and compliant. I also think he should be interested in any kind of higher tech gear which the players may have to make this story work.

Dealing with security forces kicking your players teeth in

Once Knight Errant is engaged this becomes terribly scary for your players. They are ready and willing to throw a lot at recovering the boy (because Audrey ensures that they look like the ones that screwed up). This includes a bounty on his safe return of 50k, ritual magic to find the boy, ritual magic to track the runners should they have left blood behind due to wounds and just an all out patrol to find stragglers who may be out in the open enough for them to track down.

If your players are new to Shadowrun the concept of being ritually tracked by magic may be new to them (In 3rd edition specifically i don’t even know if it’s mentioned outside of the core book in the other editions either). This can be pretty devastating and feel very unfun if they aren’t aware this is possible or don’t have a mage to stop it. This ultimately is of course up to the GM to decide on, but having the players have to shoot their way out and try to lay low in a city unfamiliar with them, outgunned and outmanned is kind of a strange call to me. You obviously want to add some suspense while they are laying low with the kid but they have a full week to hold onto him.

I’d suggest making this more of an issue with holding onto the kid. He has ways of alerting his position (doc wagon watch, cell phones, etc). Making him more and more unstable and hitting the players in the feelings as he spirals also feels more authenticate to the adventure. Finally remember that Aubrey W is going to lambast them on the news. This is a really cool and unique aspect to this run. I think that should hold a big weight. Make sure they get reached out too by their contacts from Aubreys contacts and have her do everything she can to meet up with them even if it’s virtual.

Have you ever seen the Good Son?

If you think this adventure doesn’t have a sharp enough twist, i’d consider adding something about Shawn being pretty messed up from the first extraction. As per the book he’s withdrawn, scared and feeling like his life isn’t fixable. This is terrible and will feel pretty bad for the players, but it could have just as easily had him swing the other direction. Give him a psychotic break. Make it subtle at first, but then really start amping it up. If they think he isn’t a threat and don’t keep a great eye on him or if he wins them over in some way. You can have him pour chemicals in their drinking water. Steal loose weapons or drugs from the gangers and try to spike their food or set up traps for the PCs to fall into. If given enough time to prepare he can straight up Home Alone your players while trying to make a break for it. It all depends on how crazy you want to get!

Final Thoughts

This is a great adventure but requires buy in from your players. If you think your PCs aren’t up for an emotional story, this may be one you want to skip (or turn into a nightmare factory with the “Good Son”-esque setup). If you want to see the heart of your players and give them a chance to break the abuse cycle of a kid in a bad situation. This is a pretty cool way to do it.

If you want to get your hands on this adventure, you can find it in the following places (Prices may change! This is as of 8/13/24):

Amazon - Physical Copy - $10

DriveThruRPG PDF (No POD! Sorry) - $5!

Noble Knight - Physical Copy - $12!

Bonus Data

As always, here are the layered Matrix hosts converted to 3rd Edition

Shining Bright Matrix

Public Hosts LTG: NA/PUE 429-3329
RTG -> Public Host -> Administrator Host -> Restricted Host

Public Host
green-5/9/8/10/10/9

Step: Event
6: Probe-5
11: Trace-6
17: Scout-7
23: Probe-5
27: Scout-7
33: Passive Alert
38: Killer-7
43: Scout-5
47: Scout-9
52: Tar Pit-9
57: Tar Pit-9
63: Ripper-7
69: Active Alert
74: Ripper-7
78: Sparky-7
82: Shutdown

Administration Host
orange-8/13/13/14/13/15

Step: Event
5: Trace-8
10: Probe-10
14: Killer-6
19: Tar Pit-12
23: Passive Alert
28: Killer-8
33: Crippler-8
36: Probe-8
41: Ripper-8
46: Active Alert
49: Ripper-6
53: Ripper-8
56: Crippler-8
60: Blaster-10
64: Shutdown

Restricted Host
red-7/12/14/13/13/12

Security Deckers on staff to monitor Host

Step: Event
3: Trace-7
7: Killer-9
9: Probe-5
13: Passive Alert
17: Scout-7
19: Tar Pit-7
21: Killer-5
24: Active Alert
26: Blaster-9
29: Blaster-7
32: Ripper-9
34: Blaster-5
36: Blaster-7
38: Shutdown

Brandis Development Matrix

Primary Host's LTG: NA/SIO/877-29291
RTG -> Primary Host -> Restricted Host

Primary Host
orange-7/12/12/14/12/13

Step: Event
5: Tar Pit-7
10: Probe-9
13: Tar Pit-7
17: Trace-7
20: Passive Alert
25: Tar Pit-7
28: Killer-5
33: Ripper-9
36: Blaster-9
41: Active Alert
46: Blaster-9
51: Ripper-7
54: Blaster-9
58: Shutdown

Restricted Host
red-8/12/14/13/14/11

Knight Errant security deckers arrive in 2d6 combat turns on passive and active alerts. They have a Threat rating of 6!

Step: Event
4: Trace-8
8: Scout-6
12: Probe-6
15: Passive Alert
17: Killer-8
21: Blaster-8
25: Crippler-10
28: Construct-8
31: Tar Pit-6
33: Active Alert
36: Blaster-6
38: Ripper-8
41: Crippler-6
44: Shutdown

Fuchs-Auberlien Matrix

Outer Hosts LTGs:
NA/SIO 2928-1028 Publicly Listed
NA/SIO 2918-2918 Unlisted 

RTG -> Outer Host -> Secondary Host -> Core Host

Outer Host
orange-9/15/13/13/13/14

Step: Event
5: Killer-6
9: Trace-6
14: Trace-6
17: Passive Alert
20: Blaster-6
23: Sparky-8
27: Tar Pit-6
32: Active Alert
37: Ripper-6
40: Blaster-8
44: Blaster-8
49: Ripper-10
52: Sparky-6
55: Shutdown

Secondary Host

red-9/14/14/12/15/14

Step: Event
4: Trace-8
7: Probe-6
9: Trace-10
13: Passive Alert
16: Scout-8
20: Killer-8
24: Tar Pit-8
27: Trace-6
29: Active Alert
32: Blaster-8
35: Scout-8
38: Killer-10
41: Lethal Black IC-10
44: Crippler-8
47: Shutdown

Core Host

red-10/18/13/18/13/18

Step: Event
4: Killer-6
8: Crippler-6
11: Tar Pit-6
15: Passive Alert
19: Tar Pit-8
23: Scout-6
27: Trace-8
31: Scout-8
35: Sparky-10
39: Sparky-8
42: Blaster-6
46: Active Alert
49: Ripper-8
52: Lethal Black IC-8
56: Crippler-6
58: Lethal Black IC-10
61: Psychotropic Black IC-8
63: Shutdown

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