PLOTLINE: The Ru-Shin/Withmore Corp War
BASIC CONCEPT: Corporate Insurgence into Withmore leads to all out corporate warfare.
PLOT: �A fledgeling corp, Ru-Shin Macrological Incorporated, has begun to make a presence in Withmore City. �Specializing in sevaral key industries including (though not limited to) personal/vehicular light and heavy weapon systems, light and heavy machinery, Grid technology, pharmacology, and advanced cybernetics, it aims to oust the powers that be– namely older, more stable corps such as Shinohara Heavy Industries, Zeta-Matsura Industries, Virii-Soma Pharmaceuticals, and Saedor Krupp-- in a bid to establish a heavier, almost monopolistic presence in the Dome. �Ru-shin will stop at nothing to meet its ends, and frequently employs sabotage, espionage, and corporate terrorism to fulfill its needs. Thus so, the fledgeling conglomerate has begun to employ some of the seedier individuals in Withmore's underworld scene to get the job done, seeing as it must in all appearances be a legitimate, law-abiding corporation in the eyes of the public-- if not the law. �To protect its own assets, Ru-shin has also begun to employ fully-trained corpsec agents and guards to monitor its facilities. Both Saedor-Krupp and Zeta-Matsura Industries, as well as several other powerplayers in the Withmore economy, have taken full notice of Ru-Shin's highly invasive strategies, and have set about throwing a monkey wrench in its workings, so to speak, both by enlisting their own runners and agents, and by siccing the Withmore Judiciary Force-- their personal guard dog-- on the youngling corp. Further complicating matters, some of Withmore's lesser corporations-- having -also- taken note of the potential economic shift in power-- have sided against the powerplayers in hopes of acquiring greater status in the corporate hierarchy. Whoever becomes the victor in this corp war will definately be the top dog in Withmore's ever-expanding global markeplace.
PC INVOLVEMENT: �There is a projected need for at least 3 to 10 PC's to fill the PC infrastructure for this plotline. �Said PC's will fill positions ranging from runner to corpsec agent, for either Ru-Shin, one of the powerplayers, or one of the lesser corps, depending upon the skills and history of the PC. �PC involvement will range from protecting corporate executives to raiding a rival company for design schematics to courier work if the need arises.
PLOT NECESSITIES: �Ru-shin requires an accessible base of operations as well as several NPC liaisons to the playerbase. Active keyplayers (ZMI, SK, SHI, etc.) will also require accessible bases of operation and NPC liaisons to the playerbase. All rival corporate facilities will need to be accessible to active PC participants and provided with the necessary targets for each mission the corporate liaisons (Ru-shin, powerplayers, or otherwise) give to active participants. �Weapons, armour, medpaks, and any items needed for each successive mission must be provided to active participants (within means, of course)-- either through the corps themselves or through fixers. �WJF player involvement is a high necessity, seeing as the powerplayers will have mobilized this force as a legal deterrent against Ru-shin. This plotline requires HEAVY media involvement; daily or at least weekly newscasts concerning IC plot development and anti-Ru-Shin propaganda should be posted to the NLM boards, SIC advertisements, and television. �Advertisements for employment in Ru-shin's more legal divisions should also be posted over SIC and television. (This will, hopefully, give Ru-Shin a proper introduction to the playerbase.)
CONCERNS: �Player apathy, lack of PC involvement in the plotline, too small a playerbase to fill the plot's PC infrastructure, and player misuse of the plotline to simply acquire expensive/inaccessible items may lead to difficulties in maintaining the plotline. �The plotline may be too longterm for most players, leading to attrition in the PC infrastructure. �Complete player deviation from the plotline may also lead to problems.
Lack of maintenance on the part of the Admin may leave large timegaps between plotline- related events, leading back to PC attrition. �The plotline will require constant involvement and tight scheduling on the part of the GM; IRL concerns may lead to scheduling conflicts. �Primary setup for the plotline may take time due to both the fact that the physical/location-based aspects of the plotline are not fully in place (i.e, coded), and the fact that Ru-shin has not ICly made a presence for itself among the PC community. �Possible conflicts may arise due to general distaste for the megacorps; thus, players may actively shun involvement simply because their histories dictate such an action.
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES: �Ru-Shin may well become the newest megacorp in a long list of Sindome businesses, selling its wares to the general populace much like Saedor-Krupp and the other corps. �Certain megacorps may go the way of the chopping block if Ru-shin succeeds in its venture to establish a corporate holding in Withmore. �PC's and NPC's alike may die many times, possibly even perma, as the plotline progresses. (A given, of course, but nonetheless a possible outcome.) �PC's may find themselves in better positions than before the plotline, and Sindome may obtain a more active playerbase due to the number of jobs created by the Ru-Shin/Withmore Corporate War. �The establishment of rival runner and security teams may well galvanize the playerbase and lead to greater conflict, and thus, RP. �Corporations that have been around for quite some time will gain faces, attitudes, and greater depth as their NPC liaisons are introduced into the populace. �A better fixer/fence network will have been established due to the necessities of the corporate runner teams, allowing for greater variety. �Ru-shin, of course, could fall under the weight of the powerplayers, its forces left to rot in the streets, its facilities guttered ruins.
