What's on the downloaded files?

[ajardoor]

My latest session of my GURPS campaign ended with the party killing a stash house robber and his crew for the bounty. While storming his hideout, the PCs found their computer and downloaded their files.

This is where you guys come in.

Anyone got any suggestions for what kind of juicy secrets the party will find on that downloaded data? I'm thinking secret bank accounts, extortion files, map of an abandoned amusement park, the names of all the major factions and their recent operations, etc...

Keep in mind that studying the files will take time, and at least some of it is encrypted.

[Irish Wolf]

Eleven secret herbs and spices.

Oh, no, not the Colonel's Recipe, in fact the combination would doubtless prove to be rather unpleasant to taste - but it does make for a highly effective mind-control drug...

[ericthered]

Be sure to have a section on secret affairs, complete with compromising photos of prominent individuals. Include notes on which are deep and real and which are out of context photos of opportunity.

[The Colonel]

Hooks for the next six adventures and a massive collection of p*.

[Anders]

The Death Star plans.

Photos of a politician in a compromising situation with a thirteen-year old.

The location of a gigantic stash of cocaine.

[Apollonian]

Some really unpleasant malware that the guy didn't know he had. Now the PCs have to uncrack that before they get to the juicy stuff. (In other words, if you need to buy a little time to figure out what's in the data, voila)

Actual legit espionage data ala the Snowden leak. Depending on age it might be extremely valuable/dangerous, or just a historical curiosity.

Dossiers on the PCs. Who made them? What does it reveal about the observer's capabilities?

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Anders

Photos of a politician in a compromising situation with a thirteen-year old.

Dead girl or live boy?

* (Assuming it's not a secret magic game) Notes on what sound like spells and magical rituals. These have nothing to do with reality; they're just notes for the owner's RPG. But properly handled, you can get the players to start thinking you're introducing a surprise twist that the game has magic, so they'll be ready to believe.

* A spreadsheet containing daily prices for the past thirty years for gold, uranium, and raw flax fiber

* A list of donations to a jumble of politicians of your choice. If the PCs bother to correlate the list with the public records, they'll find none of these contributions listed.

* A project management document with schedules, a PERT chart, and estimated costs for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.

[Black Leviathan]

The realistic answer is contact info for fences, drop locations or protocols. Maybe floor plans for the next few buildings they were going to hit or door lock tumbler diagrams and emails from a contact who could provide the PCs files for other locks for a price.

But it could be any hook you want to drop. Blackmail information, details about covert criminal operations in the city. An email chain with clues about the Big Bad Evil of your game. And Old man with a map spam emailing adventurers willing to take on the adventure.

[khorboth]

What about information on a rival? Incomplete and unreliable information on another group's hideout, network, etc. along with half-baked plans on how to take them down.

Maybe suspicions about which cops are on others' payrolls?

[ak_aramis]

Backup of the local high school's security footage... plenty of compromizing positions, mostly staff with staff and student with student...

the keylist for the local police bodycams and dashcams, and the remote access keys for the off-site backup.

A prisoner manifest that lines up with about half the local missing persons list.

The entire genetic squence for a yeast which will produce addictive substances.