Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Gamemasters' Lounge => Topic started by: Sliver on <05-18-11/2113:30>
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I need to have a run in about two days, and I'm trying to really step it up. An increase in dynamic NPC's, interesting missions, and a better story. And here is where I'm stuck, how exactly should I prepare for it?
Before, I'd simply let the thoughts in my head brew over the week, and then kind of ad-lib something. But I'd like to have something prepared, something concrete and fantastic. My players always find a way to destroy whatever I have planned, but I wonder if there's a way to plan something that's flexible and just make a general sense of what I'd like to reveal about the story and what I'd like to happen.
So for you more experienced GM's (I've been doing it for about a year now), how do you prepare and how do you handle players ruining your plans?
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I need to have a run in about two days, and I'm trying to really step it up. An increase in dynamic NPC's, interesting missions, and a better story. And here is where I'm stuck, how exactly should I prepare for it?
Before, I'd simply let the thoughts in my head brew over the week, and then kind of ad-lib something. But I'd like to have something prepared, something concrete and fantastic. My players always find a way to destroy whatever I have planned, but I wonder if there's a way to plan something that's flexible and just make a general sense of what I'd like to reveal about the story and what I'd like to happen.
So for you more experienced GM's (I've been doing it for about a year now), how do you prepare and how do you handle players ruining your plans?
Every group is different (some want more combat, more social roleplaying, more hacking, more details etc). Here's what works for me and my group:
A) Understand What the PC's need to accomplish, but give them a lot of leeway as to How it has to happen.
B) Keep attention focused on the players. I've had some sessions where all the PC's did was argue about a mission plan. I was bored sometimes as GM, but they had an absolute blast with plans, possibilities, hitting contacts for information and legwork.
C) Make stuff up. If the PC's want to try something crazy (up to and including HALO insertions into a corp facility), you should be encouraged to do things equally crazy (make them dodge a hovering surveillance drone with some random threshold to avoid a crash)
D) Have a pre-prepared list of NPC's names and descriptions (I call it the Random Roladex). It adds a lot of credibility to your game and story if the PC's ask: Who's else is in the bar? and you look at your list and say: The guy with dreadlocks in the corner? The bartender whispers 'That's Mad Freddie. Houngan with ties to the Ghoul community in the Carribean." Whether it's related to your current mission or not, this can lead to a fun session and/or contacts that the PC's think are interesting.
As for players ruining plans? I let them.
If they get too far off-mission, they:
- Don't get paid
- Lose reputation
- Make potential enemies
- etc etc
Shadowrun can be a self-enforcing system that weeds out idiocy after a few failed runs. Once a PC or two is kicked to a Street lifestyle, they start being a lot nicer to Johnsons offering them work, and bit more professional about getting the job done.
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As for my group, we like a mixture of combat and non-combat. I like to have at least one combat sequence each game, sometimes two. The rest is all non-combat social situations, hacking, searching, preparing, and the like.
My problem is when I simply come up with what they are to accomplish, I end up making half the run up and it ends up being not so great. I like to have some sequences planned out, some scenes that I can execute and drag the story along.
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As for my group, we like a mixture of combat and non-combat. I like to have at least one combat sequence each game, sometimes two. The rest is all non-combat social situations, hacking, searching, preparing, and the like.
My problem is when I simply come up with what they are to accomplish, I end up making half the run up and it ends up being not so great. I like to have some sequences planned out, some scenes that I can execute and drag the story along.
no problem with that scenario. Just have a very loose definition of the steps required to get to each scene.
If you want to include:
A) Combat
B) Social Encounter
C) Combat
D) Escape
You can use any method you want to get between points ab,c and d, which can be whatever the PC's come up with (Crazy hacking, contacts legwork, failed combat, lucky knowledge skill) and this actually works really well.
It's a good balance between player-driven storyline and prepared, dramatic scenes.
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You know, that's a good idea. I've made a sheet that I can simply fill out and have ready for a run.
Objective: Overall goal of the run, including opening sequence where it is given
Various Ideas: Here I write down important information about the run (backstory, secrets revealed, etc)
Scenes: Four or five scenes like you suggested, mark vague and important points in the story and how the run will progress. I will only limit players to these points, and only if it makes sense and is beneficial to the run.
Opposition: List of the things standing in their way. Enemy NPC's, walls, security systems, etc.
NPC's: A list of combat NPC's and all of their stats (Attributes, Skills, Weapons, Armor, and Spells).
I figure this is a good way to form a great and complete run. Any feedback?
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You know, that's a good idea. I've made a sheet that I can simply fill out and have ready for a run.
Objective: Overall goal of the run, including opening sequence where it is given
Various Ideas: Here I write down important information about the run (backstory, secrets revealed, etc)
Scenes: Four or five scenes like you suggested, mark vague and important points in the story and how the run will progress. I will only limit players to these points, and only if it makes sense and is beneficial to the run.
Opposition: List of the things standing in their way. Enemy NPC's, walls, security systems, etc.
NPC's: A list of combat NPC's and all of their stats (Attributes, Skills, Weapons, Armor, and Spells).
I figure this is a good way to form a great and complete run. Any feedback?
I think you have it all sorted :)
Only concern is on the Scenes section. If the PC's go completely off-track (especially if deliberate) I don't offer more than a few solid hints (NPC phonecalls, legwork research, Knowledge tests etc) to bring them back to mission.
You're right on in only limiting players to those scenes if it makes sense :)
Determinedly dragging PC's from scene-to-scene regardless of their actions, well, kinda' smacks of railroading (which in my experience annoys a group more than an unprepared session).
To that end I recommend keeping a few random scenes handy (completely non-mission-related) for when the PC's are waaaaaay off the mission mark, so you can still have a great RP session, but the PC's don't complete the mission (which has it's own consequences according to your GM style and campaign).
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With very little time, I highly recommend the 5-scene adventure, a modified version of the 5-room dungeon (http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=156).
Here's the template (http://shadowrun.colugo.org/adventures/template/template_five_room.htm) I use when I need a run fast, though I tend to mix-and-match the scene types to its not always "legwork->roleplay->puzzle->combat->payday." The template has some vague ideas as well, which I use to get the juices flowing if I can't think of what to put in that scene. Modifying the number and type of scenes can make sure that every player gets a chance to shine and do what they want. Making sure the scenes are linked by automatic events instead of clues that can be missed on a bad roll will help keep it running foreward, though you can never predict that rascally players.
When I've got more time I tend to go with something node based (http://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/misc/node-design/node-design.html). It's more work and it means you're making up a few things that are almost guaranteed not to be used, but I prefer it because it's not a straightforward set of preplanned events. Even when those runs are fun they end up sometimes feeling more like storytelling than roleplaying. Here's an adventure I ran (http://shadowrun.colugo.org/adventures/mistaken_identity/) that worked out pretty well and used a node approach.
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I've found the three clue rule (http://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/misc/three-clue-rule.html) useful for making sure a run stays on track. When you've made sure there were enough clues and they weren't impossible to find, it's more likely the players will stay on target. And if they don't, it's usually because they had something they'd rather do so you're probably better off just winging it and running with their idea(s) that session anyway.
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D) Have a pre-prepared list of NPC's names and descriptions (I call it the Random Roladex). It adds a lot of credibility to your game and story if the PC's ask: Who's else is in the bar? and you look at your list and say: The guy with dreadlocks in the corner? The bartender whispers 'That's Mad Freddie. Houngan with ties to the Ghoul community in the Carribean." Whether it's related to your current mission or not, this can lead to a fun session and/or contacts that the PC's think are interesting.
If, like me, you're not too great at making up a bunch of people or places, you can use my generators.
NPCs (no stats, just names, nationalities, and personalities) (http://www.colugo.org/jmcmurra/generators/index.php?pageId=1&pageType=1)
Lifestyles, useful for making up places on the spot (http://www.colugo.org/jmcmurra/generators/index.php?pageId=4&pageType=1)
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Well, I've seem to hit a snag in my planning. This is the run I have so far:
Their employer, the CEO of a corp, gives them the task of making nice with the local Italian Mafia as they have information on a rival company Which is really the same company that hired them). They meet up with a contact, and then he tells them that they need the mob to think that they owe them something. They need to cause a problem unknowingly, and then fix it for the mob.
I think it's a great premise, but I don't really see how I can plan nodes or even steps at all. There are so many ways to do this: plant a bomb, get the Yakuza or Lone Star on their asses, frame someone within and then expose them. There's probably plenty of ways I can't even perceive. Any advice here?
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Have their Mr. Johnson suggest how to go about doing it, as part of his dossier/mission briefing. Don't just say "get on the mob's good side by making them owe you," offer them three suggestions about how to do so, or four, or five, or whatever. Then quickly prepare all the scenarios, use whatever one they choose, offer them the option of going "above and beyond" by tackling a second, and hold onto all your notes for the others (to use for another job, some other time).
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So you're saying that the best way to do it is to give them a few options on how to go about the run, rather than just letting them follow their own instincts? Wouldn't it be better for the group to come up with their own solutions?
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So you're saying that the best way to do it is to give them a few options on how to go about the run, rather than just letting them follow their own instincts? Wouldn't it be better for the group to come up with their own solutions?
Yeah, but it's also good for the group to have a GM that's not sitting in the corner, crying, and pulling out handfuls of his own hair.
You've got to find your happy medium between "totally open sandbox" and "choo, choo, all aboard the railroad!" For most people, that's having several options and trusting in the player-GM social contract to see to it the PCs play along and pick one. Others are perfectly happy trying to think up every possible PC action (and invariably failing), others are perfectly happy just saying "Fuck it, wing this mother" and cheerfully ad-libbing it for the bulk of a game.
Find out what works for you, and for your group. Given the session you proposed and the specific question you asked, it seems to me like the easiest out (especially for a new GM running a new campaign) is the "offer several options" thing.
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Another way you can go is to have one generic break in, one generic firefight, and one generic RP scenario figured out in advance. Then, no matter which route the PCs decide to take there's a good chance that the only winging it you do is when you figure out which preplanned bit to use and why their plan comes up against that type of opposition.
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Okay, so this is the run that I've formed. Keep in mind, the Objectives list is written to be as open as possible. I am expecting them to find a way around the oppositions I put in place as well. So, any feedback? Not specific enough, doomed to fail, etc.
Overview:
The CEO of Atlus Industries, Adam Norton, calls in the players to ask them to make nice with the Italian Mafia, as they know something about Synergist Technologies that we have not been able to find out. It is said that Tony Russo, one of the Don’s main men has recently discovered something important. You will use Lone Star by getting them on the Mafia’s case and then stopping Lone Star’s attack. Good luck.
Various Ideas:
Continue to have the dream sequences and hallucinations based on my plans for the overall story. Reveal the scratching, and have one word through one players head, “
Objectives:
1) Observe the Mafia stronghold (address given) for a way to stop Lone Star when they show up to attack the compound.
2) Find a way to frame the mafia and get Lone Star on their trail
3) Launch the counter-measure against Lone Star
4) Tell the Mafia and explain to them why you put a stop to Lone Star’s attack.
5) Find a way to locate Tony Russo and retrieve the information without ruining your new friendship.
Opposition:
- Stock Mobster listed below, use as needed.
- Stock Lone Star listed below, use as needed.
- Mafia Compound map below
- All enemy perception tests are 5
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My only question at this moment is "What in the blazes is a mafia stronghold?" They've got warehouses and restaurants with back rooms and back room deals in restaurants. I've never thought of a place as a "Mafia Stronghold" Besides, adding some innocent civilians trying to enjoy their soytalian soypasta adds a lovely layer of chaos to a simple job.
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Looks workable, but I've got a few suggestions/things to point out.
1) They shouldn't be hired by the CEO. That's what Mr. Johnsons are for. Sometimes a private citizen will hire a team directly, but corp execs know better.
2) The meet really sets the scene for the whole run. Figure out the details of it. Meeting with a band of professional killers is risky business, so the Johnson should have precautions in place. But if he's got too many the players may think it's a trap and walk away from the job. An online or completely astral meet is great for extreme security, while the wifi dead zone in a back room of a titty bar is the norm (at least for low tier runners in our campaigns).
3) Perception checks of 5 are pretty high. Unless everyone in the group is extremely good at infiltration they'll never be able to sneak around. A typical pedestrian has a check of 1, while a security guard will average closer to 3.
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My only question at this moment is "What in the blazes is a mafia stronghold?" They've got warehouses and restaurants with back rooms and back room deals in restaurants. I've never thought of a place as a "Mafia Stronghold" Besides, adding some innocent civilians trying to enjoy their soytalian soypasta adds a lovely layer of chaos to a simple job.
How about their houses? Nice mansions that just happen to have steel behind that wood paneling? Windows that are rated to be resistant to 40mm Cannon Fire? Those nice flower beds that prevent vehicles from ramming through them?
And some bars can easily be modified into strongholds and still appear to be quite respectable. Flip of a switch and a huge steel door and shutters with re-enforcing beams comes down and blocks off the entrances. Security Companies can only afford so much time before it no longer becomes profitable to have a standoff with non-confrontational types that just have some rather extensive "Security Shutters".
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I like the premise, but there are a few things here that could go pear shaped....
A) CEO's don't meet runners.Plausible deniability is required for any criminal dealings...
B) Runners rarely know who they're actually working for. If there's no strong reason to tell them, don't. Why would an employer just hand over such leverage to known criminals?
C) By 'Enemy perception of 5', is that 5 Skill or 5 Successes?
D) Why is the Johnson recommending any Lone Star involvement? Including Lone Star is a complicated issue for any runner:
- Initiating combat with them is a risky, long term problem (Lone star gun cams, surveillance drones etc)
- The Mob will be very suspicious of any co-incidental help such as 'Well, we were in the neighbourhood and wanted to rick arrest to help you out with Lone Star. No reason....'
Unless the Johnson has a specific reason to mess with Lone Star (for another personal agenda) this seems unnecessarily complicated for an initial run.
E) How about a simpler mission brief?
- 'Mob soldier Tony Russo has learned information regarding Synergistic Technologies. It's valuable, and I want it, discreetly and courteously. He must not be harmed...'
Then let the players have a few brain-storming options as to how to do this:
- Does Tony have any vices to exploit?
- Is the information stored on file requiring a local hack?
- Do you need to slip the guy a Mickey to get him to talk, and wipe his memory?
- Is the information for sale?
I find it much easier to tell a group What needs to be done (eg get information from X), and what limitations need to be addressed (eg X must be unharmed).
Then let the PC's work on the 'How'. Give them hints via legwork if you want:
- Contact A says X has a mistress on the side, calls her at least once a every day
- Hack B shows X has an offline data storage at home with voiceprint access
- Bartender C advises that X is always at Pub Z on Wednesday nights.
As GM, you've now advised the PC's that X is away on Wednesday night, data needs voiceprint access, and he uses his voice every day calling his mistress. Bingo, 3-step mission.
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The CEO meets them in person for a specific reason. Trust me, it makes sense in the story.
A perception of 5 is what the entire group would roll. We have a stealthy player.
Yes, good point. Including lone star makes it more complicated than it needs to be. But I still need the players to earn the mafia's trust. Any suggestions?
And ill give your method a try, its similar to what I used to do, just better. I can create a list of opposition and use them a necessary, editing them for the situation.
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The CEO meets them in person for a specific reason. Trust me, it makes sense in the story.
A perception of 5 is what the entire group would roll. We have a stealthy player.
Yes, good point. Including lone star makes it more complicated than it needs to be. But I still need the players to earn the mafia's trust. Any suggestions?
And ill give your method a try, its similar to what I used to do, just better. I can create a list of opposition and use them a necessary, editing them for the situation.
The only reason a CEO will risk the meet is he doesn't trust dropping it down on a handler, maybe comprimised (ie. Not working in company best interst or he thinks eyes are on him) or conflict of interest (ie. He wants to have that handler killed), or he only trusts his own majic touch to make this work and he really aboslutely cannot fail.
Mafia trust is a rather tricky thing. Go with popular concept of give them what they want. Like give them a police informer they are looking for, information on a rival is good also. You fill a need like that and you have their interest. For a relationship they want someone they can expect some reliability, non junkie and non crazy and non stupid and non genius are musts. They will also want something to hold over the new friend and have some control. So ideally they would like you to kill a police informant, keep the weapon with your prints on it, and keep you happy at helping them with modest gifts and encouragement with one guy in charge of keeping an eye on them, out of site of course. Long list of mafia infiltrations have made them kinda untrusting. Best infiltration points are young hotshot who is arrogant and ambitious and will jump at chance to embarrass a rival, take out a rival, look good to the boss, etc without overthinking it. Trick will be to fool his level headed buddy, uncle, or maybe wife or girl who has been keeping him alive to this point. Mafia is not a stupid factory but they will take a risk on a payday or grabbing laurels over their peers at least when they think they can get away with it.