Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Gamemasters' Lounge => Topic started by: PauloAM on <01-24-14/1047:58>
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Hi everyone,
How do you guys remember so many fucking rules for so many different things? I mean, it must slow the game many times, having to sip through the book...
I particularly write an excel file with one tab for each of my players and try to cram as many rules for their gear as possible (also with ammunition trackers).
It's a LOT of work just to start the first session. But I think it works.
Do you guys do something else? Something easier?
Share ideas!
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Relax :)
If you play SR long enough you'll get used to the Rules .It comes with practise and experience.
Shadowrun is quite a complex Gameworld and a bit more difficult than most of the Fantasy Worlds, but the Rules themselves (the Core Rules) are quite easy to learn.
Did You try to create Cheat sheets ?
They're quite helpfull until you know the rules a bit better
with a Cheat Dance
Medicineman
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Thanks for the reply!
But what's a Cheat Sheet?
English is not my native language so I'm not familiar with the expression '-'
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(English ain't my native Langauge either :) )
A cheat sheet is a little Card with all the Formulas on it ( like the one some people make and hide to cheat at an examn).that means its little gaming Help just like the GM's Screen
go use the Search function and look for Cheat sheet. I've seen here (or at Dumpschock) links to some great Cheat Sheets
HokaHey
Medicineman
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=D thanks man, I'll take a look.
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Matrix Cheat Sheet (http://1-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/tg/image/1376/79/1376795789327.pdf)
Initiative Tracker (http://www.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/1nhzyz/sr5_i_made_an_automated_initiative_tracker_and_id/)
Useful GM resources (http://www.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/1pfagz/sr5_gm_resources/)
Also there's a subforum in the GM forum here that is called GM Toolbox. There are many useful resources and assistance tools in there.
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While the rules are complex my tables use a couple of guidelines.
●2 minute rule: if someone thinks my call on a rule is wrong (it can be ) they have 2 minutes to find the correct way of dealing with it. If they can't find it in that time, we write it down, go with my interpretation and look it up after the game. Make adjustments to the consequences as needed.
● group voice wins. If I make a call, and the entire group feels it should be handled differently, we go with group concensus. .. for good or ill... (has backfired on the group a few times, so not used much. But helpful if my reading varies from the groups, which can happen)
● Ultimate responsiblity rests on the GM. (Usually me). If I make a call, for right or wrong, it's up to me yo apply that call across the board... to PC and NPC alike. If I find out later I applied a rule wrong, it is up to me to tell the group apply the corrected rule, and 'make amends' to any outcomes affected for the misused ruling.
In short, keep the game moving forward, look up rulings later. Mind you, I have been playing SR since 1e, so I have a fair uunderstanding of the rules to start with....
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When it comes to the Matrix, I fake it. Fortunately my Deckers tend not to know the Matrix either. The rest I fortunately know decently.
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Those were some damn useful links! Thanks everyone.
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Very nice resources
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When it comes to the Matrix, I fake it. Fortunately my Deckers tend not to know the Matrix either. The rest I fortunately know decently.
HA!
I do the exact same thing. Actually, I fake A LOT. It keeps the flow going and the players engaged.
It is always nice seeing a GM more experienced with the system than I admitting to doing so :-)
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Not that experienced with running Shadowrun. ^_^ A few years ago, I played 14 SR4 sessions spread over two different campaigns (one was Fallout, by the way), and gm'd nearly that many in the past year. So far I ran 6 SR5 Missions where one I could play instead of GM, GM'd 2 of Dragon's Song and played one online, and ran two more runs (used missions) for an online crew. Oh, and I got an SR4, SR5 online and SR5M offline planned to GM for the next two weeks. ^_^'
So yeah, I'm at roughly 15 played and 25 GM'd Shadowrun Sessions, with near-30 of them SR4.
As for other systems, in the past ten years I've been in at least 30 short campaigns (6~7 sessions each) with a total of near-20 different gamesystems including different editions (4+ D&D editions, 2 Shadowruns, 2 L5Rs, 2 Mages and one other WoD iirc), of which I GM'd a handful. My best short campaigns I ran using a tuned-down version of Amber:Diceless, keeping solely an adjusted Shapeshifting power and the four stats, cutting out all other powers and the world-travelling. Made it easier to improvise.
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Not that experienced with running Shadowrun. ^_^
Which is why he'll frequently ask me what the rules on something are mid-game. -,-
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I have a couple things that have worked in the past with my group when we were first learning 4th edition.
1) Read the book a bunch. I try to crack it open and just read a section or two at least once a week. It's very hard to remember it all in one shot, so these little refreshers work really well and I pick up something new every time, even from sections I've read multiple times. Just don't try to read it all in one sitting, that's hard for anyone without really good memory skills to do.
2) If a rules question comes up in the middle of play, make a decision that makes sense and then have a player who's less engaged look it up for next time. Works well, keeps combat flowing while the Hacker/Face/etc not doing much can feel engaged. Also helps players learn rules too.
3) You can add rules as you go. You don't have to start out using everything, not every rule is crucial to use from the get go. I let my players know that I'm not using everything and will be staggering in things, like Matrix Grids, Noise, Background Count, some environmental modifiers like weather and wind, etc. When the group feels like they have a handle on things add something in that you weren't using before.
4) House rules should either make the game easier, or enhance play enough to justify the complication.
5) I make sure each player has read the rules section relevant to their character at the very least. Street Sams should read the Combat rules, Faces should read up on Social Skills, Mages on magic, and so on. They don't need to read everything, but they should at least go through the sections of the book that they'll use on a regular basis. Cuts down on a lot of looking things up. Seems like common sense but you might be surprised at just how many players don't do this. Check to see if they have and ask them to if they haven't.
6) Sometimes it's ok to break the rules as the GM for plot purposes. Just don't turn it into a habit, the players want to play in a world where they can reasonably expect cause and effect to work the way it should.
7) Planning ahead is great, but don't get too detail oriented in planning. Players tend to go in different directions then what you might expect. You plans should be flushed out enough to have a good story, but loose enough that if the players do something completely unexpected you don't dump 5 pages of work in the trash. I tend to focus on making NPCs and their goals, locations, and a very loose idea of objectives and possible complications. The good thing about this is even if the players do something and this info isn't used, NPCs and locations are still useful and can be used again in a different run or situation. Modular locations are great too: for instance if you come up with a small stretch of sewers, that can be used in the Orc Underground, as a way into a secure Megacorp site, as a emergency safehouse that a contact knows about, or a paracritter cave with just a few minor changes in each case.
Anyhow, those worked well for us. Maybe it can for you too.
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I have a couple things that have worked in the past with my group when we were first learning 4th edition.
7) Planning ahead is great, but don't get too detail oriented in planning. Players tend to go in different directions then what you might expect. You plans should be flushed out enough to have a good story, but loose enough that if the players do something completely unexpected you don't dump 5 pages of work in the trash. I tend to focus on making NPCs and their goals, locations, and a very loose idea of objectives and possible complications. The good thing about this is even if the players do something and this info isn't used, NPCs and locations are still useful and can be used again in a different run or situation. Modular locations are great too: for instance if you come up with a small stretch of sewers, that can be used in the Orc Underground, as a way into a secure Megacorp site, as a emergency safehouse that a contact knows about, or a paracritter cave with just a few minor changes in each case.
Anyhow, those worked well for us. Maybe it can for you too.
Yeah, that's bit me in the but quite a few times. I make some great plans for the team infiltrating a corp building just to have them end up hijacking the deliver vehicle en route. Or set up an ambush for them at point A just to have them never even consider point A and go Point D F and I that I didn't plan for.
That's what I love about SR though, both the players and GMs have to keep on their toes, and there are so many different routes you can go from brute force, to hacking, to everything in between. One campaign I was playing, we went 7 sessions with 2 dead NPCs total, before we had to destroy a lab and kill everyone inside (but we ensured no one else in the building was harmed).