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From a comment on a MU*. How to create memorable Shadowrun games while totally low on sleep;
You go through the encyclopedia at random, and find some interesting historical or mythological entries or just words that sound cool. Write down the words and a brief summary for later.
Create some sort of big NPC whom the PCs have heard about before. S/he/they are deeply and personally interested in whatever the thing is. Why isn't important yet, what is important is that they're totally badass, possibly widely assumed to be dead, or both, such that the PCs can't simply find them and ask questions.
Then you have a team of obviously highly proficient quasi-military professionals show up in badly fitting civilian outfits and blast the bejeebers out of some other civilian for no apparent reason. When the PCs get into the inevitable firefight, they find the militaryish types have either a physical note or some sort of text thing with an obviously tampered T/D stamp, from the big powerful NPC, and which references the encyclopedia entry/encyclopedia entries.
Then you sit back and watch the players go nuts trying to figure out what's actually going on, and if they have any theories you really like, you go with those.
You go through the encyclopedia at random, and find some interesting historical or mythological entries or just words that sound cool. Write down the words and a brief summary for later.
Create some sort of big NPC whom the PCs have heard about before. S/he/they are deeply and personally interested in whatever the thing is. Why isn't important yet, what is important is that they're totally badass, possibly widely assumed to be dead, or both, such that the PCs can't simply find them and ask questions.
Then you have a team of obviously highly proficient quasi-military professionals show up in badly fitting civilian outfits and blast the bejeebers out of some other civilian for no apparent reason. When the PCs get into the inevitable firefight, they find the militaryish types have either a physical note or some sort of text thing with an obviously tampered T/D stamp, from the big powerful NPC, and which references the encyclopedia entry/encyclopedia entries.
Then you sit back and watch the players go nuts trying to figure out what's actually going on, and if they have any theories you really like, you go with those.