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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ What do you do during "down" time?
Posted by: Crossfire Jul 20 2006, 03:27 PM
Hi everyone! I would like to know what do you do (or what your players do) when there's a "down" time like a decking run or roleplay scene involving only one character. I know of a lot of people who like to read books or draw but do you have any suggestions to stay in the game or be creative? I know that you can always either listen to what's happening or discuss in-character with other players but I'm trying to see what are the other possibilities here... stuff I haven't thought of yet...
Thanks a lot. Peace!
Crossfire
Posted by: Jrayjoker Jul 20 2006, 03:28 PM
My characters all masturbate, a lot.
Posted by: James McMurray Jul 20 2006, 03:33 PM
Do you role play it?
Posted by: Sahandrian Jul 20 2006, 03:36 PM
I'd laugh at him, but that's exactly what the rigger did last time the decker was doing his stuff.
And he did it on the decker.
Posted by: Cray74 Jul 20 2006, 03:37 PM
| QUOTE (James McMurray) |
| Do you role play it? |
LARP it, even.
My current decker/hacker/whatever spends a lot of time programming. Creating smart agents is his "thing."
My muscle character has a part-time job in a gunshop. The PC formerly spent a lot of time with endless girlfriends, but that got a bit goofy after a while - wish fulfillment, not roleplaying.
Posted by: Lagomorph Jul 20 2006, 03:39 PM
My rigger character did smuggling runs, built drones and maintenenced vehicles mostly.
I never had much down time with any of my other characters.
Posted by: Crossfire Jul 20 2006, 03:44 PM
Thanks for those "self-pleasuring" examples lol but I was referring more about the players themselves. Let say if a decker is taking 20 minutes to hack a site, what are the other players doing during that time?
Peace!
Crossfire
Posted by: Platinum Jul 20 2006, 03:47 PM
| QUOTE (Crossfire) |
| Hi everyone! I would like to know what do you do (or what your players do) when there's a "down" time like a decking run or roleplay scene involving only one character. I know of a lot of people who like to read books or draw but do you have any suggestions to stay in the game or be creative? I know that you can always either listen to what's happening or discuss in-character with other players but I'm trying to see what are the other possibilities here... stuff I haven't thought of yet... Thanks a lot. Peace! Crossfire |
Downtime or lulls should not happen any more than a team that is separated in combat. I might spend a minute describing a room, but everything happens at the same time.
I have ranted massively in the past about how "Pizza time" should not exist. (Any more than having someone in a team wander off and do their own thing)
Any RP that would last more than 2 minutes should be handled before or after the main session.
http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=13425&hl=pizza+time
http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=13324&hl=pizza+time
When we have people that are just not interested in the game, they usually draw, flip through source material putting together a shopping list or eat. Leaving the room is not an option.
Posted by: James McMurray Jul 20 2006, 03:56 PM
| QUOTE |
| Downtime or lulls should not happen any more than a team that is separated in combat. I might spend a minute describing a room, but everything happens at the same time. |
Do you mean that a group should never find it self in combat without the whole group being there, that combat should never be split between two groups, or something else? If it's one of the first two them "huh?" Splitting a group is one of many tool in the GM's kit that can be pulled out every now and then to increase suspence (what's happening to Joe?), shake things up (crap, we gotta get back together!), get players to think about things from a different angle (Facey McFacealot's not here, who does the talking?), etc.
| QUOTE |
| (Any more than having someone in a team wander off and do their own thing) |
Definitely another "huh" on this one. PCs should not be auonomous blobs working only for the collective good. They can be, but they shouldn't be forced into it. It's quite possible to run two things simultaneously.
Posted by: Dog Jul 20 2006, 04:07 PM
I think Crossfire is referring to last night's difficulties. Sucks to try to GM for a decker when there are two other conversations in the room. Sucks also for the players who's characters are waiting for the decker to do something.
Now, as a GM, I can try to give them some other stuff to deal with, but that presents two problems: 1. It slows down even further the progress of the decker, as I have to jump back and forth between two activities. 2. It tends to send the non-decking (or rigging, or pit-fighting, or crocheting) characters off doing something else, seperating the team even further.
Having said that, in retrospect it would've been cool to help me with the decking stuff. Look up rules, offer suggestions to the player. Hitcher jacks are wonderful for justifying such things.
As for characters... that's tricky. In Crossfire's case, he was playing a mage who could've easily decided to do some astral wandering. (Thanks for not making me deal with that as well.) Anything that doesn't distract is going to be pretty passive and boring for you guys. One more reason that I make decking runs rare and try to get them over as quickly as possible....
Posted by: Butterblume Jul 20 2006, 04:13 PM
| QUOTE (Crossfire) |
| Let say if a decker is taking 20 minutes to hack a site, what are the other players doing during that time? |
I don't see why it would take that long, at least since SR3 is around.
Posted by: James McMurray Jul 20 2006, 04:18 PM
In character 20 minutes is waaaay too long.
Out of character it can be too long, too short, or just right depending on the size of the system being hacked, the familiarity of the GM and hacker with the rules, and the number of unexpected situations that occur (such as cybercombat on a botched roll that should have been easy).
In our games if 20 minutes are going to go by, the GM does his best to find something for the other characters to do. In that vein we generally avoid any situation that could involve lots of solitary time for one character (primarily astral scouting and decking).
Decking is easily avoided by having an NPC do the decking. You can make all the rolls ahead of time and just give the results to the players at the appropriate time. ?Unfortunately, this has sometimes had the effect of numbing the players to the matrix because none of them ever saw it. It was "something that NPC does." SR4 helped this a lot with it's easier access and always around matrix.
Astral scouting is usually cut to a minimum by wards and/or astral security in the form of spirits or other astrally active entities. The mage gets a little scouting done and then goes back to the group to share the info.
Posted by: Dog Jul 20 2006, 04:24 PM
The 20 min was OOC time.
As I said, the problem with giving the other character's something to do is that it drags out the situation of having them seperated. I'd much rather have them involved --even if only periphrially-- with the decking as it happens. Any suggestions?
Posted by: Platinum Jul 20 2006, 04:27 PM
My post was not the best written post.
| QUOTE |
Do you mean that a group should never find it self in combat without the whole group being there, that combat should never be split between two groups, or something else? If it's one of the first two them "huh?" Splitting a group is one of many tool in the GM's kit that can be pulled out every now and then to increase suspence (what's happening to Joe?), shake things up (crap, we gotta get back together!), get players to think about things from a different angle (Facey McFacealot's not here, who does the talking?), etc. |
What I meant is that the group should be run so that you allow them to go their separate ways, but you flip through everyone each turn as there are events that could affect the others.
| QUOTE |
| Definitely another "huh" on this one. PCs should not be auonomous blobs working only for the collective good. They can be, but they shouldn't be forced into it. It's quite possible to run two things simultaneously. |
What I was trying to explain here is that they can to autonomous, but I explain that I really try and discourage Joe Samurai from trying to isolate him/herself from the rest of the group. There are times when this does happen and is relevant, but if Joe wants to get some action from a hooker, while the team is doing surveillance, the player will get a look and shake of the head. I usually design my games in such a way to minimize isolation, like a decker doing a recon run. We can usually whip through something like that quickly, but I usually have people accompany them through hitcher jacks so that everyone is "together" or has a sense of what is going on.
Posted by: James McMurray Jul 20 2006, 04:29 PM
1) Avoid decking. This is fairly straightforward, but unless it's a very nonstandard campaign or you have an NPC decker it can start feeling very fake after a while.
2) Let the players run the system. You can up matrix security levels and set it up so that cybercombat is very likely. Then give the other players some IC, Agents, or Security deckers to play in the ensuing battle.
3) Find a way to string their actions alongside the decker's. In the example given, some security gaurds could arrive from another location (or called in from their homes nearby) and a combat ensues. Stick the decker in his initiative slot and work them all at the same time. This can get incredibly confusing though, especially in editions prior to SR4 where decking and standard combat was a drastically different rule set.
The above ideas also work to avoid the same issue happening when mages astrally scout out an area. Of course, if you find yourself running decking, astral scouting, and standard combat at the same time things can get really bad, especially in SR3 and below.
Posted by: Platinum Jul 20 2006, 04:33 PM
| QUOTE (James McMurray) |
| In character 20 minutes is waaaay too long. Out of character it can be too long, too short, or just right depending on the size of the system being hacked, the familiarity of the GM and hacker with the rules, and the number of unexpected situations that occur (such as cybercombat on a botched roll that should have been easy). In our games if 20 minutes are going to go by, the GM does his best to find something for the other characters to do. In that vein we generally avoid any situation that could involve lots of solitary time for one character (primarily astral scouting and decking). Decking is easily avoided by having an NPC do the decking. You can make all the rolls ahead of time and just give the results to the players at the appropriate time. ?Unfortunately, this has sometimes had the effect of numbing the players to the matrix because none of them ever saw it. It was "something that NPC does." SR4 helped this a lot with it's easier access and always around matrix. Astral scouting is usually cut to a minimum by wards and/or astral security in the form of spirits or other astrally active entities. The mage gets a little scouting done and then goes back to the group to share the info. |
Most astral recons take under 1 minute. Player gets a map, body counts, and some quick descriptions.
Most of the time, I make the decker jack in from a point on site. (Especially subsystems) The decker is usually a security expert that cracks maglocks etc, so they are always with the team, then they jack in somewhere unnoticeable and start opening locks. If the decker runs into IC things get tense for the team, as guards wander around.
Posted by: Lagomorph Jul 20 2006, 04:35 PM
Oh I see what you mean, yeah the "decker takes over the game for 20 min" maneuver. Mostly the rest of us hang around the table and BS, usually drawing what would normally be a 20 minute decker episode out to 40 min because we keep distracting them from getting done.
Posted by: Platinum Jul 20 2006, 04:36 PM
| QUOTE (Dog) |
| The 20 min was OOC time. As I said, the problem with giving the other character's something to do is that it drags out the situation of having them seperated. I'd much rather have them involved --even if only periphrially-- with the decking as it happens. Any suggestions? |
Keep the team together. The mage will usually run astral when the decker is working, the sammies will be setting up defensive positions, traps, rolling a drone through the duct work/halls, watching the decker's output screen, monitoring communications, searching the office... there are many things for them to do. Keep them rolling initiative, even if they are delaying ... they feel involved.
Posted by: James McMurray Jul 20 2006, 04:48 PM
Keep them rolling init when nothing is happening? Why, other than to waste time?
Posted by: mfb Jul 20 2006, 05:26 PM
the advantage of playing online: downtime can be filled up by playing more games!
as for the other kind of downtime: my main char takes his family on vacations, trains, and takes classes at U-Dub, roughly in that order. my other main character splits her time between working long shifts in the Seattle General ER and killing people who she thinks deserves it. everyone needs a hobby!
Posted by: Platinum Jul 20 2006, 05:30 PM
| QUOTE (James McMurray) |
| Keep them rolling init when nothing is happening? Why, other than to waste time? |
It encourages them to do something to get involved. Also gives them a sense of timing.
Posted by: James McMurray Jul 20 2006, 05:33 PM
Cool. In my group rolling for init when nothing was happening would make them want to start delaying actions because that's what you usually do in combat when there's nobody to shoot. Differently play styles I suppose. It's all good. 
Posted by: Platinum Jul 20 2006, 05:37 PM
True enough.... I find player paranoia entertaining.
Posted by: Sahandrian Jul 21 2006, 01:22 AM
| QUOTE (Crossfire) |
| Thanks for those "self-pleasuring" examples lol but I was referring more about the players themselves. Let say if a decker is taking 20 minutes to hack a site, what are the other players doing during that time? Peace! Crossfire |
Well in that case, after the decker's player told him to quit, the rigger's player started humping the decker's player while screaming "Hot dickings!"
After some yelling and the rigger's player being thrown onto the floor, things calmed down for about 20 seconds before he did it again anyway.
These people terrify me.
Posted by: mfb Jul 21 2006, 01:24 AM
the decker didn't happen to be a http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=582764832&n=2, did he?
Posted by: Sahandrian Jul 21 2006, 01:37 AM
While that video did inspire the rigger to scream those particular words, no. Humping five-year-olds is more the street sam's thing.
I repeat, these people terrify me.
Posted by: James McMurray Jul 21 2006, 01:39 AM
I don't think I want to click on a video labelled 5-yr old asian boy that was posted in response to a post about hot dickings. Is there something the FBI needs to know that you're not telling us?
Posted by: BookWyrm Jul 21 2006, 01:55 AM
We used to use an old formula, back form the days when many of our players played AD$D....when the game had to stop for certain plot-points, some would use the time to hit the bathroom, get a quick smoke, make a quick snack-run, make calls, ect.
When you use the basement/play area of a gaming store, you can check out what's on display, order books, buy/rent spare dice, ect.
But you remember to clean up your messes, return books/dice/items borrowed during the game, & make it a pleasureable experience for all.
Posted by: Quix Jul 21 2006, 03:19 AM
Our group's favorite use of decker time was to plan what to do with the information he was getting. We'd start with a couple of rough ideas and then tell the decker we need to know things 1, 2 and 3. Then the rest of the PCs would step into the next room and plan different possibilities for things 1, 2, and 3. When the decker was done we'd sift through our possible plans and find one that (A) we thought would work and (B) we liked. Then we'd have at it.
Posted by: PoorHobo Jul 21 2006, 04:09 AM
Usually during downtime we'll converse amongst oursleves on how to get out of what ever dicked up situation we happen to be in. When there is a strait path or plan we'll try to come up with a plan B. Looking over your equipment list every chance you get, isn't a bad thing either. Usually having the right tool (improvised or other) can mean the difference.
Barring that we'll look through the books (we haven't memorized everything...yet) and maybe even work on another character, depending on the situation.
Posted by: eidolon Jul 21 2006, 05:21 AM
| QUOTE (mfb) |
| the decker didn't happen to be a http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=582764832&n=2, did he? |
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
"He'll be at your local record store from five to nine..."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Posted by: mfb Jul 21 2006, 05:30 AM
/me marks another notch in his keyboard
Posted by: eidolon Jul 22 2006, 04:29 PM
Mark several, I sent it to both of my old gaming groups.
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