Organlegger suggestions

Railstar · 06-05-2017, 02:23 PM

Hello there, you might remember my thread on a cover for a monster-hunting group. This is for the same campaign.

Our Onyx Path necromancer specialises in magical bio-tech, and plans to be an organlegger (Mundane Magic perk – Evisceration to Surgery), dealing in organs or transplants on the black market. The setting is one where magic is not known to the general public, but sci-fi elements are relatively accepted, which means magic can more easily fly under the radar as something else.

So what kind of facilities would this kind of operation need? The necromancer is both Callous & Code of Honour: Professional = thoroughly ruthless in acquiring organs (using Suspended Animation to keep a stockpile of “donors” on hand, or for those familiar with Shadowrun, Tamanous-like organ farms), yet takes good care of clients. For the necromancer, payment is more often in the form of materials or test subjects than cash.

The black clinic has Yakuza sponsors, although the level of trust is limited. They can probably acquire the necessary hospital equipment, and her magic use might reduce some of the necessary supplies.

However, I feel like I’m missing something important.

For instance, I assume just moving hospital equipment into a warehouse is not going to cut it, even if they keep the place clean?

In which case, what kind of location could be used as a cover and adequately repurposed and maintained as a black clinic without attracting unwanted attention?

I’m assuming a certain level of isolation would be wise, just to make it easier to move the bodies or donors in undisturbed.

Essentially it’s a case of what kind of supplies, materials or facilities would be appropriate, because it seems like something the characters involved would know far better than I do.

Any suggestions you can give would be most helpful.

Thanks in advance!

fredtheobviouspseudonym · 06-05-2017, 02:48 PM

1.) A veterinarian's facility. They are, of course, scrutinized & regulated but it should be possible to find, among the tens of thousands of vets in the country, a vet who is in deep kimchi financially and has a morality deficiency . . . and works days when you work nights. (Efficient use of facilities, you know.)

2.) Along those lines, perhaps a vet's or medical teaching establishment with similar issues.

Both of these will already have much of the equipment you'd need and would have to meet standards of cleanliness & hygiene. And strange sounds and removals of, well, offal would be of no great moment.

You would, of course, have to be certain that the vet's assistants remain silent -- perhaps his people could be your people.

starslayer · 06-05-2017, 03:27 PM

A mechanical separation facility geared towards animal feed or inedible oil production would be a good place.

Freezer facilities on site, lots of meat of questionable origin, loud noises, horrible smells, but an otherwise quite clean and sterile working environment (as well as easy disposal of unwanted 'supply')

dcarson · 06-05-2017, 04:33 PM

Just moving equipment into a warehouse wouldn't do but either framing up a few rooms with plastic sheeting walls or converting the office space in the warehouse would work at least as well as a field hospital. So -1 at worst to skill.

Railstar · 06-05-2017, 06:38 PM

All good answers. Many thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fredtheobviouspseudonym

1.) A veterinarian's facility. They are, of course, scrutinized & regulated but it should be possible to find, among the tens of thousands of vets in the country, a vet who is in deep kimchi financially and has a morality deficiency . . . and works days when you work nights. (Efficient use of facilities, you know.)

2.) Along those lines, perhaps a vet's or medical teaching establishment with similar issues.

Both of these will already have much of the equipment you'd need and would have to meet standards of cleanliness & hygiene. And strange sounds and removals of, well, offal would be of no great moment.

You would, of course, have to be certain that the vet's assistants remain silent -- perhaps his people could be your people.

Following on from that idea, anywhere that relies on volunteer work could probably be given a lot of leverage by simply providing the volunteers (Yakuza goons operating the front). Using the Brainwashing skill on the vet could be a solution, maybe the side-effects of the brainwashing could be what caused him to fall in such deep kimchi to begin with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by starslayer

A mechanical separation facility geared towards animal feed or inedible oil production would be a good place.

Freezer facilities on site, lots of meat of questionable origin, loud noises, horrible smells, but an otherwise quite clean and sterile working environment (as well as easy disposal of unwanted 'supply')

This one I really like. One possible difficulty could be the health inspections, although I suppose this could be delayed indefinitely if the facility is under the process of being modified (“we’re not ready yet… we’re not ready yet”). Yakuza using the building could be given cover as workmen or construction crew and so on. The car park and perhaps an adjacent warehouse could also help to create a compound, with the outer walls keeping the neighbours further away from what’s going on.

I don’t know much about mechanical separation facilities though, but it sounds like an excellent cover. Anything more you can tell me would be wonderful, but you’ve given me a great direction to do my research.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcarson

Just moving equipment into a warehouse wouldn't do but either framing up a few rooms with plastic sheeting walls or converting the office space in the warehouse would work at least as well as a field hospital. So -1 at worst to skill.

This could probably be a last resort, or maybe the very early stages when nothing better is available. I’m curious about the features that distinguish between a poor-facilities field hospital and a functional clinic.

starslayer · 06-06-2017, 10:01 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFJxPSQSDO4

These come in sizes up to 'just throw 4 or 5 cows in at once'

They render the creature into a fine slurry, and then press it through a filter, the filter captures most of the bone.

Then the resulting slurry can be passed through a centrifuge to further discriminate the various components for higher quality meat-slurry, or just pressed into biscuits and air dried for animal feed.

wellspring · 06-07-2017, 09:25 AM

You ought to watch some Breaking Bad to get inspiration here. Everyone is fixating on the physical facilities, and those are very important, but I'll try to open up the scope a little.

You've got a two sided supply chain. You need to get donors in the door (I'm assuming they need to be live and healthy?) Then you need to get transplant patients, who exchange money for transplants. You need the physical location, equipment, and consumables.

Each of those has to be secured, because a security failure at any point might lead and investigation to crack open the whole operation. Donors might reveal things via a missing persons case. Or a car transporting a victim to be placed into suspension gets pulled over for a broken tail light. A transplant patient gets a case of conscience, or perhaps gets in a car accident and the surgeon in the ER notices the donor organ. A tax or embezzling investigation turns up an unexplained payment. A health inspector at the meat processing facility opens a door he shouldn't have.

So while you want each point in the operation to be as secure as possible, you also know that Finagle gets his due. So you want things as compartmentalized as possible. The kidnapper doesn't know where his victims will go. The drivers don't know what they're carrying (or if they do, they don't know anyone at either endpoint). The necromancer doesn't know where the bodies come from or who the patients are. Money is handled by someone else, who finds the patients and does the deal. The records are fixed by yet another group. If you're a patient, you only know the fixer: you're anesthetized in an office and wake up there, not knowing who performed the operation or where you were for your surgery. If anyone is arrested, there's not a lot they can reveal, and their link in the chain can be replaced without shutting the whole thing down.

Even in a total failed-state cyberpunk dystopia where megacorps openly flout the law and people are disposable, this particular operation is dangerous enough that you'll see similar compartmentalization to avoid corporate espionage and negative PR.

As for locations, why not a port or rail distribution center? Those are usually sprawling facilities with an incredible variety of stuff coming in and out. Some of the cargo is climate-controlled; imagine a "clinic in a shipping container" that's lost among hundreds of identical containers that are constantly cycling through. High ambient noise, available power, and it's easy to conceal movement. Easy to smuggle evidence out of something compromising comes up, easy to relocate the operation entirely if an investigation starts getting close. Patients can go "on vacation" on a cruise or something, and then instead get easily transported to the black clinic without them or anyone else knowing where it is.

Railstar · 06-08-2017, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starslayer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFJxPSQSDO4

These come in sizes up to 'just throw 4 or 5 cows in at once'

They render the creature into a fine slurry, and then press it through a filter, the filter captures most of the bone.

Then the resulting slurry can be passed through a centrifuge to further discriminate the various components for higher quality meat-slurry, or just pressed into biscuits and air dried for animal feed.

Thanks, that’s a lot easier than I thought it would be. I think I’ll add a bit more from general meat processing just to make the front-business seem less empty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wellspring

You ought to watch some Breaking Bad to get inspiration here. Everyone is fixating on the physical facilities, and those are very important, but I'll try to open up the scope a little.

You've got a two sided supply chain. You need to get donors in the door (I'm assuming they need to be live and healthy?) Then you need to get transplant patients, who exchange money for transplants. You need the physical location, equipment, and consumables.

Each of those has to be secured, because a security failure at any point might lead and investigation to crack open the whole operation. Donors might reveal things via a missing persons case. Or a car transporting a victim to be placed into suspension gets pulled over for a broken tail light. A transplant patient gets a case of conscience, or perhaps gets in a car accident and the surgeon in the ER notices the donor organ. A tax or embezzling investigation turns up an unexplained payment. A health inspector at the meat processing facility opens a door he shouldn't have.

So while you want each point in the operation to be as secure as possible, you also know that Finagle gets his due. So you want things as compartmentalized as possible. The kidnapper doesn't know where his victims will go. The drivers don't know what they're carrying (or if they do, they don't know anyone at either endpoint). The necromancer doesn't know where the bodies come from or who the patients are. Money is handled by someone else, who finds the patients and does the deal. The records are fixed by yet another group. If you're a patient, you only know the fixer: you're anesthetized in an office and wake up there, not knowing who performed the operation or where you were for your surgery. If anyone is arrested, there's not a lot they can reveal, and their link in the chain can be replaced without shutting the whole thing down.

Even in a total failed-state cyberpunk dystopia where megacorps openly flout the law and people are disposable, this particular operation is dangerous enough that you'll see similar compartmentalization to avoid corporate espionage and negative PR.

As for locations, why not a port or rail distribution center? Those are usually sprawling facilities with an incredible variety of stuff coming in and out. Some of the cargo is climate-controlled; imagine a "clinic in a shipping container" that's lost among hundreds of identical containers that are constantly cycling through. High ambient noise, available power, and it's easy to conceal movement. Easy to smuggle evidence out of something compromising comes up, easy to relocate the operation entirely if an investigation starts getting close. Patients can go "on vacation" on a cruise or something, and then instead get easily transported to the black clinic without them or anyone else knowing where it is.

Good ideas! I really love the compartmentalisation aspect. I think the necromancer will probably know more, just because they are more than a cog in the machine, but the spirit of compartmentalisation will definitely be there – and even if the necromancer knows more about the rest of the chain the rest of the chain will not necessarily know about her. She’d probably be an unsettling rumour to the rest of the gumi.

A port could be interesting, I’m leaning more towards the meat-factory just for thematic reasons, but going with the idea of a port or distribution centre, a ship could work as well; meaning they just move the ship if they feel they’re getting too much attention. I love the “cruise-vacation” cover as well.

One possible obstacle is I could see clients being very hesitant to trust a Tamanous-like organisation with sedating them and taking them to an unknown location for the operation, but I imagine anybody using a black clinic is probably not in a position to refuse the terms.

06-05-2017, 02:23 PM	#1
Railstar Join Date: Jul 2012	Organlegger suggestions Hello there, you might remember my thread on a cover for a monster-hunting group. This is for the same campaign. Our Onyx Path necromancer specialises in magical bio-tech, and plans to be an organlegger (Mundane Magic perk – Evisceration to Surgery), dealing in organs or transplants on the black market. The setting is one where magic is not known to the general public, but sci-fi elements are relatively accepted, which means magic can more easily fly under the radar as something else. So what kind of facilities would this kind of operation need? The necromancer is both Callous & Code of Honour: Professional = thoroughly ruthless in acquiring organs (using Suspended Animation to keep a stockpile of “donors” on hand, or for those familiar with Shadowrun, Tamanous-like organ farms), yet takes good care of clients. For the necromancer, payment is more often in the form of materials or test subjects than cash. The black clinic has Yakuza sponsors, although the level of trust is limited. They can probably acquire the necessary hospital equipment, and her magic use might reduce some of the necessary supplies. However, I feel like I’m missing something important. For instance, I assume just moving hospital equipment into a warehouse is not going to cut it, even if they keep the place clean? In which case, what kind of location could be used as a cover and adequately repurposed and maintained as a black clinic without attracting unwanted attention? I’m assuming a certain level of isolation would be wise, just to make it easier to move the bodies or donors in undisturbed. Essentially it’s a case of what kind of supplies, materials or facilities would be appropriate, because it seems like something the characters involved would know far better than I do. Any suggestions you can give would be most helpful. Thanks in advance!

06-05-2017, 02:48 PM	#2
fredtheobviouspseudonym Join Date: May 2007	Possibilities 1.) A veterinarian's facility. They are, of course, scrutinized & regulated but it should be possible to find, among the tens of thousands of vets in the country, a vet who is in deep kimchi financially and has a morality deficiency . . . and works days when you work nights. (Efficient use of facilities, you know.) 2.) Along those lines, perhaps a vet's or medical teaching establishment with similar issues. Both of these will already have much of the equipment you'd need and would have to meet standards of cleanliness & hygiene. And strange sounds and removals of, well, offal would be of no great moment. You would, of course, have to be certain that the vet's assistants remain silent -- perhaps his people could be your people.

06-05-2017, 03:27 PM	#3
starslayer Join Date: Dec 2006	Re: Organlegger suggestions A mechanical separation facility geared towards animal feed or inedible oil production would be a good place. Freezer facilities on site, lots of meat of questionable origin, loud noises, horrible smells, but an otherwise quite clean and sterile working environment (as well as easy disposal of unwanted 'supply')

06-05-2017, 04:33 PM	#4
dcarson Join Date: Mar 2008	Re: Organlegger suggestions Just moving equipment into a warehouse wouldn't do but either framing up a few rooms with plastic sheeting walls or converting the office space in the warehouse would work at least as well as a field hospital. So -1 at worst to skill.

06-06-2017, 10:01 PM	#6
starslayer Join Date: Dec 2006	Re: Organlegger suggestions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFJxPSQSDO4 These come in sizes up to 'just throw 4 or 5 cows in at once' They render the creature into a fine slurry, and then press it through a filter, the filter captures most of the bone. Then the resulting slurry can be passed through a centrifuge to further discriminate the various components for higher quality meat-slurry, or just pressed into biscuits and air dried for animal feed.

06-07-2017, 09:25 AM	#7
wellspring Join Date: Apr 2011	Re: Organlegger suggestions You ought to watch some Breaking Bad to get inspiration here. Everyone is fixating on the physical facilities, and those are very important, but I'll try to open up the scope a little. You've got a two sided supply chain. You need to get donors in the door (I'm assuming they need to be live and healthy?) Then you need to get transplant patients, who exchange money for transplants. You need the physical location, equipment, and consumables. Each of those has to be secured, because a security failure at any point might lead and investigation to crack open the whole operation. Donors might reveal things via a missing persons case. Or a car transporting a victim to be placed into suspension gets pulled over for a broken tail light. A transplant patient gets a case of conscience, or perhaps gets in a car accident and the surgeon in the ER notices the donor organ. A tax or embezzling investigation turns up an unexplained payment. A health inspector at the meat processing facility opens a door he shouldn't have. So while you want each point in the operation to be as secure as possible, you also know that Finagle gets his due. So you want things as compartmentalized as possible. The kidnapper doesn't know where his victims will go. The drivers don't know what they're carrying (or if they do, they don't know anyone at either endpoint). The necromancer doesn't know where the bodies come from or who the patients are. Money is handled by someone else, who finds the patients and does the deal. The records are fixed by yet another group. If you're a patient, you only know the fixer: you're anesthetized in an office and wake up there, not knowing who performed the operation or where you were for your surgery. If anyone is arrested, there's not a lot they can reveal, and their link in the chain can be replaced without shutting the whole thing down. Even in a total failed-state cyberpunk dystopia where megacorps openly flout the law and people are disposable, this particular operation is dangerous enough that you'll see similar compartmentalization to avoid corporate espionage and negative PR. As for locations, why not a port or rail distribution center? Those are usually sprawling facilities with an incredible variety of stuff coming in and out. Some of the cargo is climate-controlled; imagine a "clinic in a shipping container" that's lost among hundreds of identical containers that are constantly cycling through. High ambient noise, available power, and it's easy to conceal movement. Easy to smuggle evidence out of something compromising comes up, easy to relocate the operation entirely if an investigation starts getting close. Patients can go "on vacation" on a cruise or something, and then instead get easily transported to the black clinic without them or anyone else knowing where it is.