[samael21walter]

First off, this is my first time ever GMing a game. In fact, this is only the second time I've ever played a tabletop RPG in my life (I played a few Shadowrun runs during November and December of last year). The rulebook is in the mail along with a GM screen and dice, so all I really need is the paper and pencils (and character sheets), and I'm all set.

What I really want to know is, is this idea a little too ambitious for a first GM campaign? So, I decided to pick Baltimore as a start point. The runners who are participating start off running from a group of gang members, who are chasing them after a botched run. After a short chase sequence (to set up how they get to Baltimore), they either make it to Baltimore safely or barely alive, depending on skill checks. From this point onward, the game is a completely open world. I plan to use a section of a real map of Baltimore as the setting, and populating it with my own buildings. The main goal of the campaign is to get out of Baltimore and (if the players choose) track down the gang that landed them there in the first place.

Okay, sounds ambitious enough with the real life map right? Here's where it gets tricky. I don't know much about Shadowrun lore at all (the last GM just ran a few gang runs and that's it). In my campaign there will be 3 main gangs that dominate Baltimore's streets. Each gang will have their own questlines, their own trust meter, their own leaders and personalities. It's up to the players which one they work for (or betray eventually). Think Grand Theft Auto 2 (Respect is Everything!). So I'm thinking of writing an overall storyline that pieces together inbetween the 3 gangs (and working for only one just gets you one piece of the puzzle). So, if need be, there will be betrayals, or, recruiting NPC deckers to crack into secure databases (which will cost a hefty amount of Nuyen).

Trust will be earned with favors or successful runs. The more the players gain a gang's trust, the higher paying, riskier jobs they will receive. I'm thinking of anywhere from 20-50 runs per gang. That's 60-150 runs total that can be done (but highly unlikely in one playthrough). Trust can be lost by attacking gang members, failing tasks and runs, and if the gang in question finds out you were working for a rival gang. In order to keep a balance, the players will either have to remain stealthy or pull off consecutive small jobs so that the attention doesn't turn from rival gangs to the actual runners doing their dirty work. If a gang suspects that the runners are allying with a rival instead of freelancing, they will set out to shut them down by any means necessary.

On top of the gang missions I will probably make a few side quest situations that the player characters can get into with various NPCs around the map. Of course, the players could just strike out on their own, abandon their jobs as runners and start their own street gang, running drugs and taking territory. As I said, this is going to be an open world campaign, anything goes. The storyline is there if they want to follow it, and the way the players interact with the world will shape how they reach the outcome (or if they die trying).

So to recap, 3 gangs, a trust system that determines which runs can be taken, 60-150 runs for the entire campaign, side quests, a real section of the Baltimore map with multiple locations and NPCs. So, does this sound too ambitious for a first-time GM? Hell, even a first time reading through the rulebook? I think I might be getting in over my head here, but I just want to know if this sounds like a feasible idea here.

[Namikaze]

First off, welcome to the world of Shadowrun, and the world of GMing.  I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that I am honored that you've chosen Shadowrun as your setting for your first foray into the world of the GM.

About your scenario, I think it sounds awesome.  If you feel like you can keep track of all of that info, then great.  This works for you and against you, but there is hardly any lore about Baltimore in the books.  You get to have free reign with things.  Personally, I like the idea of this kind of campaign and I do something similar with the factions and such in Seattle and Denver (the two cities I run the most).  Baltimore is really close to the infamous runner haven called DeeCee, so some of the info out there about DeeCee might be helpful to you.  Someone else here can probably give you a lot more info on that area than I can.

I would strongly recommend some 4th edition books for background - Corporate Intrigue will give you a good idea of the megacorps and their interests, which are easily the most public figures in a shadowrunner's career.  There are other players in the world too though, such as the Draco Foundation, the Atlantean Foundation, the Black Lodge, etc.

The way I see it, most games revolve around three spheres of influence: corporations, politics/governments, and criminal organizations.  Since you've decided to embroil your characters in the deadly waters of criminal organizations, it would also behoove you to pick up the 4th edition book Vice.  It outlines the basics of criminal organizations and activities, big and small.

[JackVII]

Considering how closely connected DC and Baltimore are now, I would be shocked if sourcebooks covering DC don't include some stuff about Baltimore (Inner Harbor, etc.).

Real world maps actually work great. If you hop over to Google Maps, you can actually pull down real satellite maps and mark them up. You can then share the hyperlink with your group so they can check it out from their computers (if doing Play by Post/Email) or with a laptop you may be using as a prop.

[samael21walter]

The reason why I chose Baltimore was because there didn't seem to be too much lore, so I wouldn't have to worry about reading up on tons and tons of reference materials just to get a general direction of how it should go. Megacorps will definitely show up, but I will try to make them mostly background, as I really don't know too much yet, and I want to start off at the bottom, low level street crimes,  that way when I'm more familiar with corps and settings, we can move from this Baltimore campaign into one mote deeply rooted in lore (with corp jobs instead of low level crime operations). I mainly want to go this route because Shadowrun plays into the open world style well, and it would be easier to weave a nonlinear narrative than a heavily scripted one where runs would have to lead into specific runs (I know how far things can deviate from a set plan, and I doubt I could steer it back on course in my first outing as GM). Thanks for the replies so far!

[HarshRhettoric]

You mentioned running from gang members; running how?  Like gang members are trying to find them?  Or are they actively on foot in the sprawl trying to evade a bunch of gang members?  Some stuff to consider:  even a non-combat shadowrunner at character creation, can kill several gang members.  Don't be shy with the numbers.

I have run this game on and off for over 20 years; started playing in first with a fairly new group of players that had little outside influence.  I was terrible at it.  Here are some things I wish someone had told me when I started:

1.  It's everyone's shared fantasy.  The players are in this to wind themselves into your story.  It can get really uncomfortable if you don't maintain positive control.  Game-mastering will build your confidence and quick-thinking, but it takes time.  Be patient.

2.  Your job is to cheat so that everyone has a good time.  The GM has ultimate power, make sure you use it so that everyone has a good time.  If the players are on their last legs and they're starting to get snippy with each other and you had a badass boss fight, maybe the boss should get spooked.

3.  Keep in mind what your characters and npcs know.

4.  Times, dates, seasons, weather, people and entities are all very important, but the most important thing for full immersion is names.  You will need names for everything and everyone.  Collect them.  Play with them.  Google translate and baby name websites are your friends.  You will need a list of names you can just pull from nowhere when the Face sources a bartender.  Have lists of businesses ready to go, for when your player asks what's next door/upstairs, etc.

5.  Write out everything you can.  Lying is harder than telling the truth because you have to make things up.  If you write out everything you can beforehand, when you run games, you will avoid unnecessary fatigue on your brain, saving your cognitive energy for when your players go off the rails, or you have to bail them out.  This includes taking notes during a game, which brings me to...

6.  Players and characters can help you write the game.  It's okay to demand that your players take notes and punish them when they can't cough up basic info their characters should know.  If a player has a side mission she wants to do, let her convince the group.  Encourage your players to write some of the narrative for themselves.  This gives you lots of plot hooks to create runs on the fly if you've had a busy week.

7.  Don't get attached.  On the battlefield, any visible target is a potential casualty.  Player character groups are FEROCIOUS and are capable of dealing damage hugely disproportionate to their numbers.  If you present a villain who actually sets visible foot on the battlefield, your players will kill him without fail.  Smart villains run until cornered.

[Belker]

There's actually a bit of canon information about Baltimore, but not a huge amount.

First place to look is the 1st edition product, Neo-Anarchist's Guide to North America. This is a great book overall, but most relevant here is the section on the Federal District of Columbia (FDC), which borders on Baltimore. This section also has some information on parts of the Baltimore metro. It's available in PDF from DriveThru/RPGNow, and probably from the CGL Battleshop; you can also find print copies at places like Noble Knight.

Weirdly, there's some references to Baltimore in Cyberpirates! from 2nd edition. The main takeaway here is that Johns Hopkins lost it's charter and was chased out of the US due to experiments doctors at the hospital conducted during the VITAS plague. (It's a bit nonsensical, but there it is.)

A couple of other tidbits I remember but can't source: Ares has a major HQ in Baltimore, and the Ancients (the famous elven go-gang) have a chapter here as well.

I live in the Baltimore metro area and would be happy answer questions about the geography etc. Maps sometimes don't tell you the whole story.

[Poindexter]

No one has mentioned this yet, but if ya wanna get a good impression of the general feel and mood of Baltimore, might i suggest watching THE WIRE?
Not only is the city of Baltimore damn near another character on the show, but if you're like me and don't have extensive knowledge of how crime families, drug runners, etc actually work,  this show will teach you ALL KINDS of things in terms of power structure, goals, police avoidance techniques and the like. it was written by a cop, a school teacher, and a reporter, all from baltimore.
Truly, an invaluable resource to my storytelling, it has been.

One top of that, it's some of the best writing, directing, and acting ive ever seen in my life.

[MortimerBane]

First of all, welcome to Shadowrun!

You campaign might seem overly ambitious at first, but that's just because it's a Shadowrun campaign... they are all big!  In the grand scope of the meta of Shadowrun, a gang campaign is the simplest, and easiest campaign to run actually, so that is the #1 choice for a first campaign.  As for Baltimore, your right in every point.  Not a lot of meta to worry about running over.

[Crimsondude]

This sounds ambitious, but doable. It's actually how the Shadowrun Missions living campaign works.

See http://www.shadowruntabletop.com/missions/ (Bonus points: All of the games for Seasons 1-3 are free).

As for Baltimore, there's not a lot of information and it's probably going to remain that way for a while. I only wrote about 1/2 a page on it in Conspiracy Theories between the section on BWI and section on Baltimore itself. However, it was and remains the most information that's ever been written about the city.

• Ares Arms is headquartered in Baltimore. This is important as it's one of if not the largest of Ares's subsidiary corporations (Ares Arms is itself a AA-rated megacorp). Ares Arms Security has the city's policing contract, including BWI. However, Knight Errant does operate in Baltimore, and that could be used to your Players' advantage. Ares Arms does not like its weapons being used against the locals (SINners, that is).
• Mercury Express, another Ares subsidiary, is also pretty big as its specializes in global shipping since as a part of Ares its transports are extraterritorial. Mercury Express actually has a side deal with the mafia to smuggle contraband into, out of, or through BWI.
• The Mafia is the biggest syndicate in the city. The Mueller Family, the "active" Family in DeeCee, also controls Baltimore. The local boss is Salvatore DeVito.
• Speaking of BWI: Mercury operates an extraterritorial satellite terminal and hangars. Other shipping corporations with such facilities include Lufthansa (Saeder-Krupp), Mærsk Sealand (Mærsk), and Swift Wind (Wuxing).
• PEPCO is gone. Shiawase Energy operates in its place (Shiawase Energy is headquartered in Washington in its massive Kansai Village enclave near Capitol Hill), and is a pretty popular company in the Mid-Atlantic because it doesn't exhibit the daily gross incompetence PEPCO does now (and has been working a charm offensive on the area for decades). Desert Storm Security provides security for them and other Shiawase projects (Shiawase doesn't want people to associate the guys with guns with them directly).
• Legg Mason collapsed because of the Crash of '29. Whatever was left was split between Bank of America and the Frankfurt Bank Association UCAS.
• T. Rowe Price was owned by Ares at one time, but was snatched out from under Ares by Evo. Evo renamed it ATRP and kept the logos and such. It's still based in Baltimore.
• Belker is right. Johns Hopkins University lost its charter due to some really shady shit it did. It salvaged what it could and reformed as a the Johns Hopkins Institute of Health. In terms of its size, early on JHIH took over HHMI. All of the major biotech/bioscience corps are active around Bethesda, and some of that conflict spills over into Baltimore because that's JHIH's home base.

I had some additional info that didn't make it in CT about the DeeCee underworld that would apply to Baltimore.

• The Ancients: Premiere go-gang in the region thanks to the post-coup influx of some serious Tír hardasses. They share a mutual enemy with the Mafia in the Yakuza, and so they share smuggling action.
• Yakuza: The Yamaguchi-rengo are controlled from Washington. Overall, the Yakuza focuses on smuggling, non-violent crime (depending on your view of human trafficking), and industrial espionage. The Mafia may control trucking and air cargo, but the Yakuza control virtually all train cargo that passes through mid-Atlantic, which benefits them tremendously since most of those are durable and other manufactured goods. Counterfeiting and other forms of piracy are common business methods. With Kansai Village complete, the Yakuza have been working hard to make inroads into that location, as a side effect tends to target clusters of Shiawase operations and personnel.