Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Gamemasters' Lounge => Topic started by: Omega Girl on <04-16-13/1956:58>
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Hi everyone,
My regular gaming circle suffers from something we call "The Shadowrun Curse." Over the past ten years, no Shadowrun game, regardless of players or GM, has lasted longer than three sessions. Sometimes it's because the team gets wiped early on, other times they're too choked by paranoia and planning to actually start the mission, other times the players just don't feel like they know the world well enough to really get behind their characters and feel like they have any impact or stake in the setting.
I'm GMing this time around, and we're hoping to beat that curse. I've been running various systems for fifteen years, just never Shadowrun. We've sat down and hashed out the problems every has had in the past, and as a group we're putting together a campaign that we hope will last. Everyone agrees on at least one aspect they want...
Start Small: All the players want a smaller scope to start out, a single neighborhood or district at a time. They want to feel like their actions have consequences (ideally for the positive) in-game, and see people directly benefiting from their actions. In practice, this means a lot of their runs will be for (and against) street gangs, small start-up companies, and community organizations. Once they feel a little more established and familiar with their characters and the setting, then they'll move up to bigger targets.
Can anyone offer some sage advice or ideas for small-scope runs, or running for Shadowrun in general?
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I would suggest a ganger campaign. They can start out small in just one neighbourhood and expand as they grow. Plus starting out in a small enviroment will make it feel like they make a difference, at least in their neighbourhood.
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Less BP to start, less powerful enemies, (Obviously) and remember that most gangers don't have the greatest connections. 12? Not a chance. 8? Doubtful. Be realistic, and expect many of them to go with guns that look cool, are easy to get, and have cheap ammo - the guns that usually suck.
Also, rule out all explosives until session five or seven, period.
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I would start with a couple small runs against small companies. A data heist, stealing a prototype, maybe an extraction, and have them seem unrelated on the surface, but down the road they tie together. Have a common person behind the runs and up to something really bad in the long run. Then at the end have them the chance to make things right and save the day. It can be on a small scale of a part of the city it effects.
As far as GMing you want to make it tough without killing everyone. Don't be afraid to fudge the rolls to let them just squeak by. If someone is going to die remind them that they can burn edge to survive. My group has had 3 or 4 instances where one of the runners has had to do this. These are the runs that the players will be talking about later and will help the game survive.
The other thing is have the players invest time into the background of their characters. Then weave this background into the story. Start small and build it up so as they grow so does their story.
Hope this helps.
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Get them engaged with their neighbors, the geriatrics and gangers alike. Don't forget to have their contacts asking for favors, little runs that won't pay much, or at all, but will allow them to remain connected to the world outside of the shadows.
Lonely little old ladies that remember clubbing in 1999 and have difficulty paying for rent and their prescriptions every month and need help taking the trash out on a regular basis.
Their bartender contact needs help getting one of his barflies to pay his tab this month. A bouncer friend needs help getting a go-gang from terrorizing the patrons of his club.
Non-go gangs make for good local contacts.
Working on scream sheets can add to the emersion into the world, think up a few teaser news events (like are on the beginning of the nightly news). You can even work in skewed accounts of the players runs to help connect the players to the non-shadow portion of the 6th World.
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I recently took up Shadowrun, and I became the GM not because I knew the game but due to the fact I'm the only GM in the group who doesn't give up after two sessions. This world is a bit tougher to plan with then most fantasy worlds in my opinion simply because in D&D you can always explain things with "a wizard did it". Shadowrun is based on the real world though, so it's a bit tougher.
I won't make campaign suggestions, but I will give you some things that help smooth our my campaigns.
First, I know that sometimes the PC's over plan certain scenarios even when you intended it to simpler. Don't start with infiltration missions, unless the infiltration portion itself is very brief (one guy hops the fence to open the gate for the rest of the crew, or they must quietly take our the guard post before an alarm is sounded). If the PC's begin to plan something out like a complicated Mission Impossible set up, tell them they have a time limit to figure it out before they have to start winging it (I'm patient, so I give them a 30 minute time limit for big moments). Since they have to talk about their plans out loud, you can hear what they are going to do and adjust your plans accordingly. If they are making a big deal over nothing, then feel free to let them know they are doing so and to stop wasting time.
Second, enemies should not be allowed anything that can go full auto and things that deal stun damage for a while (unless the group is specifically tailored to ignore that). If they are afraid they will die too soon, don't make the campaigns that deadly off the bat. After a few sessions against wussy cookie-cutter enemies, they will be begging for a challenge.
Third, small steps towards what you can do in this world. First master the basics of combat (mainly how the turn phase works, initiative passes, and how melee and ranged attacks are used and defended against). Once you can run simple combat with minimal distraction, incorporate cyber combat or magic to deal with. I worked in this order, and thankfully the group was willing to work with me on catching up to speed on rules. If your group has any consideration they will too.
Lastly, science fiction and fantasy movies are the best source of inspiration. Anything that incorporate robotic people, monsters, memorable villains or futuristic ANYTHING can help come up with the next NPC, the next plot device, etc. Hell, my best campaign to date came from building Captain Silver from Disney's "Treasure Planet". Just change him from treasure-obsessed to Novacoke drug lord and BAM! Oversea speedboat coast guard crasing shoot-em-up.
Sorry, I rambled a lot there. If you'd like to coordinate other questions/advice/chat feel free to message me. I'm always on the look out to help another GM/DM.
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The great thing about a low power game it's easier to keep things less lethal. You can do things like have enemies that give up when injured at all, or even if just a lethal enough looking weapon is pointed at them. You can also have more npcs that fight with their fists, unless the PCs pull guns. This type of thing happens less with full runners, since the stakes are so high.
Some books that are good for adventure/shadowrun inspirations are the 1st edition Sprawl Sites and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th edition Seattle guides. They're also great for describing futiure Seattle and making it a living, breathing entity, and it can easily be adapted if you're using another home city. There's different great things in all 3 Seattle guides, so I found it quite helpful to have them all. They're pretty much all applicable or adaptable to any edition of SR as well.
Have at least a few small shadowruns ready at any time and don't get too hung up on plotting the huge complex heist. Keep things moving and always have one of these little runs at the ready if you feel things are stalling. The Genesis SR video game can kind of give you a feel for small shadowruns if you can get ahold of a copy or an emulator.
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I would like to contradict just one thing that was said: Do Not Start With Lower BP Builds.
Shadowrun is lethal. Even a Prime Runner can be taken down buy a lucky shot or two. Decreasing the resources available to your players does not decrease the chances they'll die - it increases them. Use a standard build, just start with scaled back opposition until you have a better feel for it.
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^ Seconded.
Lowering BP's below 400 is not a good idea. You'll just get skeleton characters with a few prime skills and no other abilities that make 'em flavorful. Also, to get just average wageslave attributes (3's) a player already needs to spend 160BPs out of the maximum 200BP's (Half BP) available.
If you want a gang-style or other non-professional approach, lower max Availability and maybe max nuyen. Not BPs.
More to OP: We once started a game in the Ork Underground, where the players were the top-dogs of a local gang, a subgroup of the Skraasha. Gangs there are a bit different from what you could find elsewhere though, because there's no actual law enforcement. Each gang was responsible for the safety of their neighborhood and was pretty much the law there.
Plenty of things to do, from making sure the utilities work to keeping other gangs out to busting local criminals and finding ways to make some money in the form of small low-level runs, escorting smugglers (or doing it yourself)...
Most of the money we made was actually spent equipping the small-fries of the gang with better armor, comms and weapons, upgrading our 'base' etc.
It was fun and you could really get a sense of accomplishment when you saw your bunch of lowlife gangers, previously wearing torn t-shirts and jeans and wielding baseball bats, proudly patrolling the street wearing matching armored vests with your gang colors and equipped with decent sidearms.
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If you want a gang-style or other non-professional approach, lower max Availability and maybe max nuyen. Not BPs.
Also unnecessary. Nothing needs to be changed to do a "ganger campaign". In order to do such a campaign, just suggest that the Knowledge Skills selected be those related to that sort of thing--it's all that's really needed.
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I'd like to agree with one of the things Shaidar said. Scream sheets to help with the emersion are a great idea. With my game we use a website for between game stuff and I post news events and things that happen between sessions also. This has given the players a hint of what is about to come or at times just interesting things that are happening. This drew the players and their characters into the world some.
Then a few months ago (we play once a month) I started doing a sheet for each player that I give them before the session. It is a bit of information of things that happen to the character or around the character for the month in between sessions. This got everyone even more involved in the game. The players wince as I hand them the sheet, but at the same time they look forward to getting them from what I have been told. One thing I know is it enhances the emersion in the game.
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Thanks for the thoughts and replies, everyone. I don't think anyone wants to play an exclusively ganger game, and I'm not really keen to run one, but a lot of the less-lethal combat suggestions are helpful and things to keep in mind.
As far as books go, we're just working off the core book for character creation, though we also have Street Magic, Arsenal, and the 4e Seattle guide that I'll probably open up for advancement. Any other suggestions?
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Augmentation is also a good idea. Unwired is not a good book but it is a good idea to start with it, as it changes a lot of how the matrix in general and technomancers in particular work in ways that can be a nuisance to add later. There are various other books that have a few interesting character options and a whole lot of derp and bad fluff, but if you are trying to keep it simple I would recommend Street Magic, Arsenal, Unwired, and Augmentation.
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Introducing memorable NPC's is a good way to get players involved. Characters that actually have faces and names and interact with the party on a daily basis.
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Introducing memorable NPC's is a good way to get players involved. Characters that actually have faces and names and interact with the party on a daily basis.
I second this idea, but if you want these rivals to make it to later, make sure that they do something that will aggrivate the group, but don't give them an opportunity to kill them. Nothings more a pain in the ass in my opinion then building a good rival and then having him get one shotted due to a lucky edge roll.
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Introducing memorable NPC's is a good way to get players involved. Characters that actually have faces and names and interact with the party on a daily basis.
I second this idea, but if you want these rivals to make it to later, make sure that they do something that will aggrivate the group, but don't give them an opportunity to kill them. Nothings more a pain in the ass in my opinion then building a good rival and then having him get one shotted due to a lucky edge roll.
Which is why you make those characters Prime Runners - if you can't conceal their "death" to be able to say that they didn't actually die, Hand of God let's you have them survive anyways.
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Memorable NPCs don't even necessarily have to be powerful.
My group remembers Dr. Hack-n-stitch who is their street doc contact because of his name and personality. They recently have started to learn a bit more about his motivations and why he is a street doc, but they started talking about him because of his personality.
Another one that I have used before that people remember that hasn't come up in my current campaign yet is "The Ice Cream man". A small arms and ammo dealer who operates out of an ice cream truck. Of course when the group was meeting with a troll street sam who heard the bells and burst to his feet yelling "Oh goody its the ice cream man" as he dashed out of the apartment in the middle of their meet that made him as memorable as the dealer himself. The players never even talked to the street sam again, but still talk about the ice cream man.
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Juan's Taco Cart franchise, LLC. Is my favorite NPC group. Guns and ammo anywhere in the city, camouflaged as a Taco Cart. And not all Juan's are Latino. I have a few that are Greek, and even one Korean.
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Memorable NPCs don't even necessarily have to be powerful.
A game I was in had a Soup Nazi.
Yup.
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OMFG you too? Theres a cyberdoc contact who was only a name at the time, Yaseem Arifat. With so little to go on, I gave him the soup nazi mannerisims for his behavior. Fail your negotiations? "NO LIMBS FOR YOU!"
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I took a Google Map of the actual neighborhood I live in and drew over it with the homes and businesses that exist in the SR universe version of the neighborhood -- including a warehouse, an auto shop, a bar, some low-income projects, etc. -- and am having a fixer & a fence, two brothers, decide to move into the area by buying the warehouse as the place they operate their business from and an apartment behind it to live in with their families.
The PCs are hired first to clear out the local gang so that its "their neighborhood", and then can go on any number of unrelated runs (where their fixer doesn't screw them over, since they need to keep working with him), mixed in with various missions to defend the neighborhood gangs trying to move in, do courier runs, deal with more sensitive territory issues relating to underworld elements, get hired by people in the neighborhood who have their own problems (they work for corps, they have families, they are members of humanis, they are sympathizers of the ork underground, etc), and so on. I think giving the runners a "home base" they feel the need to defend is powerful, and gives more weight to the need to keep notoriety low.
Well, that's my idea at least.
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Yes, often time the more memorable characters are 'mundane'. We had a Western game we played one time, where we met "Rambling Jim". He strolled up on us at camp in the middle of the desert, tattered clothes and a stutter. Gave us a sob story so we took pity on him. Fed him and whatnot. Just to be safe we tied him up for the night while we bedded down. Ol' Jim managed to slip out of the rope and my character woke up to hear hooves galloping off. Everything but what my character had on him had been stolen. We still curse the name Rambling Jim to this day. (I know its not SR, but perfect example of how a ordinary npc can be a very effective tool, and quite remember-able too.)
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Using the Players Contacts for your memorable NPCs can really get the players invested, you can illicit their aid in adding flesh to the Loyality/Connection ratings. You can start by building them as PC are built, really focus on their Knowledge Skills; most of the Contacts Nuyen should go toward the non-tactical equipment they would need to do their job and support their lifestyle.
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Power watch Burn Notice. Love or hate the show, it's pacing is excellent for Shadowrun, it has great examples of contact interactions, and the tit for tat between runners and their peeps. The PCs contact lists should get the ball rolling for a grip of stories before dice ever hit the table. I always use the CHAx2 free contact points to help myself with this.
Don't feel bad about a character going down, and be generous and liberal with new character introductions. My very first Shadowrun experience was as my group's default GM. Somebody begged us to play Shadowrun, put the Renraku Arcology Shutdown book in my hand, and said "Just run this one, I'm sure it'll be fine." It wasn't fine. I decimated the party twice without even trying. But they all went out in super slo mo. That is to say, it was always in character, and it always made a difference to the group's success (or, in this case, the survival of 1-2 characters and successful achievement of mission goals).10 years later, when I catch up with that old group, it still comes up. In the following years I've gotten better at the balancing act of challenging without always killing my PCs, but people still die. Just make it appropriately dramatic, and your players will go along with you.
Make sure, going in, that everyone knows life is cheap in the Sixth World.