[Oxybe]

hey, new GM here.

i've played & GMed in a few systems so i would like to think i don't have too much to lean on how to not be a jerk, but a new system does have it's fair share of challenges.

so a few basic questions:
1- any user created cheat sheets/GM screens out there you find useful? i'll be running the game mainly from my laptop so having a cheat sheet i can quickly look up with charts and info would be nice

2- rewards in general, but in particular handing out cash seems to have been skimmed about. how much is too much for an early game job? how much is too little? 2k/head? 5k/head?

3-  i'm planning on keeping things simple. no astral or matrix stuff to start with. any good intro adventures you can point me towards?

4- any particular character building shenanigans and pitfalls i should watch for? particular uses of some skills or stacking of effects for ludicrous number of d6s thrown or ridiculously effective combinations/uses of gear.

5- on the flipside anything character building recommendations i should give to the players?

6- general tips on running the game would also be helpful.

still reading up and hopefully running soon!

[cr4kp0t]

1. - Personally i tend not to use the cheat sheets but rather have the books on hand with post its at relevant pages that come up often, either that or bookmarked PDF's on my laptop. The catalyst GM screen from runners toolkit is pretty good and covers off most of basics and common stuff.

2.- Cash/rewards is always a funny one and whoever you talk to you'll always get a slightly different answer. personally i try to give players about 1k -1.5K per karma point to be earned in the adventure. so an average run will probably generate about 3-5K a head. with some more in depth runs netting potentially much more. Rewards i try to reserve for good RP or at least intelligent game play etc...

3.- avoiding matrix and magic is near impossible unless you run  a low level ganger campaign. and unless your group has a hacker and a mage/ magic user they won't get too far in the shadows anyway.

However, a simple B&E job could be done without either i suppose at an entry level as suggested. assassination also tends to be mostly mundane. equally sabotage can be done mechanically rather than electronically (although the later is usually safer and easier)

just a few ideas but for a lot of things you will be limited by not having at least some matrix and or magic involved.

4. / 5. - In general as GM you have final say as to what is OK for characters to do, however from my experience you try to avoid having a group of glass cannons (someone who is awesome in aspect but desperately weak elsewhere) in general the standard character generation in SR4A are good enough. A Lot will depend on what type of campaign your going to be running.

6. - The biggest thing i would suggest to avoid confrontation later is to have a session with your players and discuss what they want from the game. there's no point planning a super stealthy pro mission if all they want to do is go round gunning down gangers. equally id they want o play a sleuth campaign where being a pro makes all the difference being in a low level kill this do this campaign will drive them mad.

So again talk to the group and decide between you what sort of campaign you all wan t before you plan too much otherwise it will just cause more problems in the long run.

Gm advise don't get too attached to your NPC's; PC's have a habit or finding ingenious ways or eliminating/ totally avoiding an NPC before you've got everything out of them and just saying oh he lived/appeared for XXX ridiculous reason will make their efforts feel cheap and will in the long run just make them stop thinking of cool things and ways round problems. which is half of the fun IMO

In short i treat being a GM as to provided  a stage for the characters to be challenged, not defeated, and a good GM works for the party not against them, and their primary job is to make sure everyone is still having fun. it is still after all a game.

Other than that happy running!

[ravensmuse]

My first, and best, piece of advice is to read the book, cover to cover, writing notes as you go along. It sounds a little silly, and maybe it is, but I find that writing down stuff helps me to remember them. Take careful notes on things you're sure you're going to miss - one of the biggest ones for me were the tackling rules (I have a player who plays a wrestler) and the pools for memory and lifting (tucked into the very back of the skills section).

Your First Session

Sit down with your players and figure out what kind of game everyone wants to play. Do this before you do anything more; if you get a feel for what people want to do, you'll have a better idea what to give them.

Since this is you and your player's first time around the bend, stick to the corebook. There's debate on how good the book's pregens are; honestly, use 'em or don't, it doesn't really matter. 4e is easy enough to make a character for anyway.

Next, you're going to need something to run. The first two "seasons" of Missions are up on the website for free - Season 1 uses Third Edition rules (but starts with one of my favorite runs I've read) but Season 2 (link) uses 4e and doesn't require too much prep.

Do prep though. This means reading the mission over twice, writing down who people are, what they want, and what complications exist for the players to manage. This lessens the amount of time you hem and haw trying to figure out what to do when your players go off the rails (and they will).

As you're running, assign one person to check rules for you as you play, and don't be afraid to pause as you do. Having another player looking for you lessens both your stress and your work load; if you guys come across a rule you don't agree on, or you all completely reject the rule in the book, make a note of it, and come back to it later.

Post game, talk to your players about how things went, where things could be improved, and what they thought. Then allow them to adjust characters as wanted with no cost (as long as they stick to the 400 BP limit) and figure out where to go next.

(These are ones I've learned as I've run a full time campaign for a year; I didn't exactly follow my own suggestions here at the time)

Cheat Sheets and Help

I can't on hand recommend any particular cheat sheets; the ones I use come from an ex-player of ours, and I'm not sure where he got them. Aaron's site (link) has some good stuff to use, and there's nothing like learning the rules by making cheat sheets yourself.

Other random advice -

* Don't be afraid to use the mook rules in the first of the GM chapters. It will save your bacon more than a few times.

* Use device ratings unless the device is critically important; this simplifies things immensely.

* Wes Street's Random Mook Generator and Random Vehicle Crash Encounter Tables (link) have led to interesting times for my group. I have an updated version of Wes' table I made, but haven't thrown up online yet.

* Buy a copy of Sprawl Sites (the 1e / 2e book). I don't own the new one that just came out, so I can't recommend it to you.

* General GM Advice, and one I picked up from another forum - if a player declares that they want to do something, write it down then and there on a sticky note and stick it somewhere everyone will see it. It may sound impossible, or silly, or just completely counter to the game you're trying to run, but award the player karma when they achieve it. This invests your players in your game, and helps them feel like they can have an effect on the game.

(My group ended up with a ball pit in their safehouse thanks to this rule.)

I think that's all I can think of off the top of my head (and the only links that look useful in my bookmarks).

Good luck!

[Oxybe]

 i'll try to get my hands on that screen. i got the only SR stuff in the FLGS, a single used copy of the 4th ed book, so i'm pretty sure they don't have the screen but i might find one on amazon or something. i'm planning on keeping the book at the table for easy lookup by anyone during the actual session. i try to keep as much as i can on my end when it comes to resources so there is less "pass the book around" being done.
 
about 3-5/head? thanks. i don't want to shortchange the gear-dependant guys while the mages simply stock up on the better spells.

i was initially planning on doing a one-shot, probably a B&E followed by a chase and maybe one big gunfight/showdown and then having the group decide if they want to continue with the same characters, roll up new ones or simply play another system but i'll definitely look up those modules. we're "between games" at the moment as our GM has spawned his first offspring.

i might just be being cautious, but i have a history with point buy systems being ridiculously easy to garner stupidly high bonuses. i'm still learning SR's maths but as long as it doesn't seem like they're throwing all their eggs in one basket, i'm going to guess i should be fine then. trust me if there's one thing i've learned is that there nothing that survives contact with the PCs and anything can be lit on fire.

thanks for all the advice!

[Ratboy]

i'll try to get my hands on that screen. i got the only SR stuff in the FLGS, a single used copy of the 4th ed book, so i'm pretty sure they don't have the screen but i might find one on amazon or something.

The Runners Toolkit has the screen and is a good deal--perhaps your FLGS can order it?  If you can get it before your first session, it has some handy help for creating characters, as well as "cheat sheet" cards of various mechanics in the game (e.g., the procedure for ranged combat, the procedure for summoning, etc.) and other goodies.