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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun Missions _ Society-relations-building games

Posted by: Lilt Aug 30 2007, 06:57 PM

As part of an effort to bring two (possibly more) gaming societies in Edinburgh (Scotland) together, it has been proposed that we try and get some cross-society games going. One suggestion was to run regular (weekly, if possible) Shadowrun Missions games in both of the societies, hopefully adding regular cross-society events at conventions and similar. I'd just like to check that my understanding of Shadowrun Missions is OK.

I'm assuming that what we are doing counts as 'home gaming' rather than an event, and I was just thinking that the documentation on this topic was somewhat sparse. It strikes me that, although the Missions stuff is generally designed for convention play, it should work fairly well for weekly play also.

I have to admit that I've never played in a Missions game, and don't know of many people who have done so. I am, however, and experienced Shadowrun GM, having run several 3rd edition games and a few 4th edition games (including some at the UK's Gaming Nationals, which were co-hosted by my society and a few others, including one of the societies we're hoping to boost relations with through this exercise).

Does anyone have any advice for someone in my situation? Has anyone tried doing this before? Can someone tell me exactly what paperwork will need to be done for home play? Is it basically the same, except that I don't need to email the coordinator to request the scenarios?

Posted by: DireRadiant Aug 30 2007, 07:22 PM

You can download the scenarios and run them how you like.

Only if you want the players to use there Missions characters and rewards in other Missions events run by other GMs is it important to fill out the paperwork.

In your case, if you run a mission at one group, then give the players the paperwork, then they can go play in another mission with the other group, and with a different GM even, and have the same character and a consistent set of rewards and advancement.

The main thing the players end with is a sheet detailing the outcome and rewards for each mission, possibly some contacts, and calendar to track time for between Mission things like recovery time.

A missions player will end up with
- Character Sheet
- Calendar
- One Mission result sheet per mission they have been on
- Contacts sheets(One of the fun things with missions, little blurb sheet describing your contact. I think some players just like to collect these.)

Obviously it's really cool to gice feedback, and the Dunner will likely ask for Missions results and feedback on the missions play to be sent in so we can improve the Missions experience.

On the other hand, you can always just take the Missions and use them as a basis for building a campaign or starter, or one shots for your own needs.

Either way your feedback is always nice to hear.

Posted by: Lilt Aug 30 2007, 08:00 PM

Thanks for your quick response. Right now, I think the idea is to start with running everything by the book with full paperwork. That way, we can always stop running things by the book if we find the framework too rigid for how the players and GMs want to do things.

Talking about the 'framework', I'm a bit confused about this bit on the Missions site:

QUOTE

You will also want to track your character's adventure history and down time activity on a http://www.shadowrun4.com/missions/calendar.pdf. Characters are allowed to make one 'run per week in game time. Tracking adventures and down time activities becomes critical for keeping tracking of when monthly lifestyle expenses are due.

I'm noting that they're allowed to do 1 run per week in game time. How closely does in-game time mesh with out-of-game time? Are all runs on specific weeks? If we have a weekly scenario and a special event (a crossover, for example) happen on the same out-of-game week, what would happen?

Also, are there any sample filled-in SRM calendars that we could take a look at?

Posted by: the_dunner Aug 30 2007, 08:42 PM

QUOTE (Lilt)

I'm noting that they're allowed to do 1 run per week in game time. How closely does in-game time mesh with out-of-game time?

The 1 adventure per game time week is simply so that the characters can more easily track lifestyle costs. Per the SR4 core rules, characters need to pay a monthly lifestyle cost. By using the calendar and the tracking system, this way, they'll know how often that payment must be made.

QUOTE

Are all runs on specific weeks?

Nope. It's even quite possible for players to play scenarios out of order, or to miss scenarios. The calendar is really just a simple reference for folks to know which adventures they've played and when the lifestyle costs are due. So, it's entirely possible that if one player missed a week, he might play an event on his week 3, while that same event counted as week 4 for everyone else at the table.

QUOTE

If we have a weekly scenario and a special event (a crossover, for example) happen on the same out-of-game week, what would happen?

Each of those events would happen on separate weeks, and each would contribute towards the next benchmark for paying a lifestyle cost. Note that if you have a "special event" that isn't a sanctioned part of the SRM campaign, then the PCs would lose their portability for other SRM events. (PM or E-mail me, however. If you've got a sufficiently large player base, I might be able to help you out with a sanctioned "special event.")

QUOTE

Also, are there any sample filled-in SRM calendars that we could take a look at?

Unfortunately, I don't have anything like that on hand. It's really just a matter of starting the Calendar in January, week 1, and then writing in an adventure in each slot. As calendar months aren't exactly 4 weeks, every quarter has one extra "free" week, that the PCs pick up, which won't count towards accumulating lifestyle costs.

Make sense? Need further clarification? I'm here to help.

Posted by: DireRadiant Aug 30 2007, 08:54 PM

The calendar is really there to help you track what the character does in the "minimum one week downtime" between missions, which is there to account for downtime and lifestyle costs.

Posted by: Deacon Sep 1 2007, 09:50 PM

And for runners with time-intensive needs (enchanters, programmers, etc.). I know that some of those rules may not be in the current ruleset, but the calendar was originally implemented under the third edition rules, and that's when you had all the non-sammie character types who all had time requirements for their little side ventures.