One Night in Petropavlovsk

Currently a Work in Progress!
This is an adventure designed for the Genesys narrative dice system. Players can create characters with a bonus 50 XP and 10,000 money. Combat is not a focus but is possible. Player characters are expected to know each other and have no qualms against conducting illegal corporate espionage.

This adventure takes place in the Siberian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. It is a heist-themed adventure, with the players infiltrating a skyscraper in order to recover information on a bioweapon. Despite the adventure being focused on stealth, it can be played in a variety of ways, such as combat-focused. GMs should be sure to allow the party to "fail forward" - allow them to succeed with complications, even if the dice aren't going their way.

This adventure primarily provides a framework for a GM to conduct their own adventure. GMs are encouraged to add their own NPCs, twists, and opportunities to the adventure aside from what is presented in this article.

Outline

1. The players meet with "Aquila" in Vladivostok and receive the job. They then fly to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to begin the adventure proper.
2. The party conducts reconnaissance of the Tessier Finance Tower and finds a way in.
3. They infiltrate the top floor of the tower and get the access codes to and floor plans of the biolab. If they're detected, they need to escape Aegis Security.
4. The party returns to Vladivostok to give the bioweapon to "Aquila". If they have been detected at any point, they need to fight off or escape an ambush by Aegis Security.

Background

There are two main players in this adventure: the Montreux-Verrill World Biotech (MVWB), and Aegis Security. MVWB is a biotech corporation based in the European Union. If you wish to create an NPC from this corporation, consider making them French or Swiss. Aegis Security is a multinational security agency based in the East African Federation. If you wish to create an NPC from this corporation, consider making them American or from an African country.

The plot begins several weeks before the adventure, when a whistleblower came forward, alleging that MVWB had been developing a bioweapon to sell to private or sanctioned interests, against European or international law. The European Union is preparing a case against the corporation, but wants hard evidence that the bioweapon exists. To that end, the party has been hired by an agent to steal information on the bioweapon from an MVWB office in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a "free city" in the Siberian Independent Republic. What the bioweapon is or does specifically isn't important - it acts as a MacGuffin.

Preparation

Read out the following to your players:

You exit your taxi into the harsh snowbanks of Vladivostok. A blizzard has descended upon the capital of Siberia, and you can just make out the neon lights of the skyscrapers above you through the snow and grey skies.

You trudge your way through the snow, entering an odd diner. It looks like something right out of a history book: an antiquated 1950s diner from middle America, complete with a checkered floor, red leather seats, and wavy lights on the ceiling. Eating a hot dog by the window booth is a man in a trench coat and hat - your contact. As you sit next to him, he greets you with a curt nod.

The man is the party's contact, "Aquila". He is an Italian agent of the European Union here to offer the party their adventure. If you feel up to it, you can try giving him a slight Italian accent, but practice beforehand - it might just sound goofy! "Aquila" is serious and to the point, telling the party everything in the second half of the Background section of this article. He also outlines what the party needs to do:

• The bioweapon is located in a secure facility (a biolab) just outside of Petropavlovsk and is too heavily guarded to steal.
• Instead, the party will be stealing information on the bioweapon from MVWB's head office in the region.
• The head office is located in Petropavlovsk itself, on the top fourteen floors of the Tessier Finance Tower, which is itself forty-three floors tall.
• In the penthouse office is the regional manager's office. Located on a computer there is the information the party is after.

"Aquila" suggests that the party find a non-violent way into the tower to avoid any incidents with the guards - heavily armed mercenaries employed by Aegis Security. He can offer different suggestions based on the party's composition. If they feature stealthy characters, he suggests either climbing up the elevator shaft and avoiding the security lasers, or parachuting from an aircraft, landing on the roof, and cutting through the glass of the office.

If the party contains more social-focused characters, he suggests finding a disaffected employee (the GM creates this character, but they're a Siberian office worker at the tower), or seducing, intimidating, or blackmailing the regional manager (the GM also creates this character, but they're French and should have a number of exploitable vices) and getting him/her to get the party into the tower.

GMs should be aware of their group's boundaries. Seduction and other sexual themes are common boundaries that people do not like to cross. Always ask your players for their specific limits before you decide to introduce them to your game.

If the party insists on a violent approach, he can put them in touch with a smuggler with connections in Russia. This smuggler is Bogdan Toarkyev, a boisterous, over-the-top Russian with an eyepatch. He loves going on at length about the capabilities of his products, which are almost always highly illegal weapons. When playing this character, raise your voice and act jovial while speaking, and put on a Russian accent if you feel confident doing one.

He can provide the party with explosives to breach into the tower, and a HackBox to use the elevator. It takes three rounds to hack in, assuming it doesn't take fire in the process. Once the party has the codes, they can escape how they see fit. They can call in a helicopter to pick them up, glide off the building in a parachute or wingsuit, or head back to the ground floor to escape in an armoured car.

With any plan, "Aquila" provides the party with a simple USB drive that can be stuck into the executive terminal and will automatically download the information needed to complete the job. It takes five minutes from being plugged in to download, but can be delayed with threats or despairs.

Reconnaissance

When the party has decided on the approach, allow them some time to discuss it, and then begin to conduct reconnaissance. Make entry points obvious, and give the players many options - if they're detected, enemies can use these points too! In addition, don't dwell on planning too much. Instead, during the heist, allow players to spend Story Points to retroactively plan something. For example, when coming across invisible lasers, a character may spend a Story Point to switch on the fire suppression system and fill the room with water vapour, revealing the lasers.

The main points of interest in the tower are the security room, lobby, garage, and penthouse office. Aegis Security guards patrol each of these locations, and have automated security measures (cameras, electronic locks, laser tripwires, etc.). A security room is located in the basement of the tower which controls all of these automated measures. The lobby is the main entrance to the tower, featuring the front doors and reception. There is also a rear maintenance and delivery entrance that can be used with an appropriate cover story.

The garage is located below the tower, and features several kinds of vehicle. Most of them are worker cars, but there are several executive vehicles that are armoured. In addition. Aegis Security vehicles which feature remote turrets mounted on top are located in a secure section of the garage. The elevator and stairwell are the only ways up from the lobby to the penthouse office. The elevator can be locked down or unlocked from the security office, but the stairs remain unlocked at all times.

The executive office is heavily guarded by Aegis Security personnel, security cameras, digital locks, and laser tripwires. However, a competent hacker can use any terminal in the tower to hack into the entire security system. Terminals with more privileges, like administrator or executive terminals, should reduce the difficulty of hacks. Once inside, they can temporarily disable one security system at a time in one room, or track the positions of Aegis Security personnel via their transponders.