[Lysanderz]

So I want to know, how do you write your rp's out for your players? Is it something amazing that takes days of writing and rewriting and planning? Do you keep a folder full of runs for different types of group? Do you play off the cuff?

[Lethe]

i havent gm'ed a pbp yet, but important note:
you have more time to think stuff through - counts for gm and players.
- players have enough time to come up with the most impossible ways to solve problems (gm cant plan for every bit of that)
- gm has enough time to improvise/react on the players actions

thats why you only should have a rough concept:
- some keyplayer npcs
- some maps they will definitely need, because the story leads to it

everything else can be easily improvised....
that all leads to more freestyle playing, while too tightly written adventures force the players in a specific direction

[Lysanderz]

I myself have a giant "Fold-o-Runs" for any game conceivable. Most of them are loose and flexible with pre-written traps, twists, etc. I don't believe in modifying the story for the group (Beyond a reasonable doubt. Ex: A player kicks open every door as his signature, so I get annoyed and one of those doors has a grenade wired to it, I consider that terrible gm'ing.)

I select my NPC's, locations, and general story flow but I've also had characters walk away from Johnson meets and say "Yeah, fuck you... I ain't touching an Ares Warehouse." and then decide to hit up a local thug with a BTL den for some quick cash. One of the better games I've ever played.

[raggedhalo]

I plan a few runs in advance (like, just a sentence or two of the basic idea) and always make sure to have two written up: the one they're about to be offered/are in the middle of, and the next one they'll be offered.  At my table, the idea is that they're offered a job each and every IC week, which they can turn down if they want.

In terms of what I write up, I tend to use an Emergence/Ghost Cartels-style approach of Setup, Event 1, Event 2, maybe Event 3, and Climax.  That's normally just 1 or 2 pages.  If I need specific stats then that will take up more space.  I like to have a framework/structure for both me and my players to improvise around.

[Lextius]

I focus more on the story over the run- Bladerunner wasn't interesting because Decker found the replicants at the end.  The Maltese Falcon isn't really about the Falcon.  The Villa Straylight Run is only interesting because of the stories of each of its participants.

When I write I start with an image of the world that I want to focus on- do I want to talk about the consequences of wealth disparity in the Shadowrun world?  Do I want to tell a story that builds on conspiracy theories?  Do I want to focus on ecological themes?  Surveillance Society themes?

Once I have that, then it's on to the players- I work with my players to create character that will mesh well with the story I'm telling.  If my game is going to focus on transhumanism then I'm going to suggest the person playing the cyber-ninja consider a good backstory as to how he ended up 95% chrome. 

I usually start with the ending of my story, then try to figure out how to use the runs/actions of the party to get there.  If I want the shadowrunners to eventually turn into ecoterrorists, then I've got to make sure that at some point they form connections with ecoterrorist groups, and then I've got to have them go on runs which promote the theme that the corporations are destroying the world while simultaneously playing to their individual characteristics so they care.

I've found, though, that players tend to have a "go right at the problem" attitude, so if I have a bad guy that I want to be a "setting villain" opposing the characters (directly or indirectly), I need to hide him or her for most of the campaign.  Otherwise the players will get it into their head that once they know who is causing them problems they will need to mount a frontal assault.

[Mystic]

Normally, with crayon....oh wait sorry.

No, when it comes to mission specs, I come up with a basic mission outline/backstor, stat the opposition, how they would react to most threats, the location, and then let the players come up with their own insane idea on how to get it done.

As for the actual RP of a scene, improv. The actual story tends to develop on their own as players have this nasty habit of doing what they want to do, often counter to what I have planned.

 

[All4BigGuns]

I generally "off-the-cuff" everything. Planning everything out in minutia detail leads to the temptation to railroad the players so that they follow that pre-set path. That said, the general outline and opposition stats can help and don't do anything negative, but I try to focus on the fun (when running and playing) and too much detail bogs things down and makes them tedious.

[Murrdox]

I usually think of the Runs that I design in terms of "Scenes".  There's a Beginning "Scene" and usually an Ending Climax "Scene", with a mix in between.  Sometimes the players may not even run into certain scenes I've written.  Sometimes this is intentional.  The Runners might end up doing either Scene B or Scene C, depending on a choice they made in Scene A.

Sometimes my players come up with ideas that I haven't thought of, and I have to improvise a Scene on the fly, or they'll skip over a Scene entirely.

For example, legwork on their target might indicate some valuable information to be had at Dante's Inferno.  I'll write up a scene for Dante's, and devise a couple different ways the players could get the information they're looking for.  However, my players could (and often do) simply disregard the lead they got pointing them to Dante's, and go off in search of that information elsewhere instead.

Sometimes in my head I come up with a great idea for a Scene completely separate from the Campaign.  I'll go over the campaign and sort of think about how I could work this Scene into the plot.  I'm actually in the middle of one of those now.  I've got my campaign mostly written, but came up with an idea for a great Scene to use.  I'm working it in as sort of a "Secondary Objective" for the Runners to complete while they're on their Run.  I haven't quite determined where in the campaign I'm going to stick the plot hook for this "Secondary Objective" yet though.  My Runners tend to do their runs on the straight and narrow... do the job, get back to Mr. Johnson, get paid.  I have to come up with a good way to distract them.