I had the great good fortune to play in an AD&D campaign that was fleshed out magnificently -- NPCs, plots and subplots, geography and geology, extra-planar intrigue, gods manipulating us like pawns and some of them getting their comeuppance, gut-busting humour, love affairs, PC personality growth -- the whole nine yards.

And I got to go home with the Dungeon Master.

Peter

You are the luckiest geek alive, you know this, right?

When beginning a game, do you take a look at the players contacts and start to develop their personalities (aka, prepare them ahead of time)? I think another thing our group was missing is what goes on in the down time. We just did the runs, and that was it, due to lack of time. Although we got more runs in, I do not think it is worth the sacrafice of potential character/NPC development.

I will check out Ghost Cartels. Is it pretty easy to take stuff from a plot book and turn it into a run/campaign? Is Emergence also a plot book?

Thanks again fellow dumpshockers. This has been a great help.

I take a look at some of the contacts (if the PC only has 2 or 3 I'll do them all) and start from there. As for down time, the best thing to do is PBEM (play by e-mail) between sessions. Since that usually doesn't involve much dice rolling.

Yes, I know. Though, now the GM and I go home to different people, in different cities a continent apart.

Peter

Yes, I find it easier to make a campaign out of a plot book because the "seeds" of run ideas are presented there for you. Ghost Cartels already has several Adventure Frameworks ready to be filled out along with several other adventure ideas. The events in Ghost Cartels are ripe full of places to plug in runs.

Yes, Emergence is also a plot book about the revelation of Technomancers to the public. Though it was not widely popular, I still think its a good book. It doesn't have as many Adventure Frameworks as Ghost Cartels does, nor does it have full stats for NPCs or maps of key locations, so it will require more work to turn the events in Emergence into runs in a campaign but it certainly doable.

ZOMG character development.

Sounds like a decent sub-plot to me!

You mean you've never run a game for a room full of hot chicks? You're missing out.
(The roleplaying society at my university hasn't actually had a male president in the last... four years now I think)

you suck!
you suck, you suck you suck!
yyoouu ssuucckk!!
._.

Where are you playing, Lesbos?

Perhaps 'were the luckiest geek alive' would have been a better phrasing then? =P


...you have no idea how much I hate you right now.

So, which Uni is this and how do I get there? >.>

Let's all take a road trip to the Doctor's college.

I could never really relate to the common complaint of many gamers as far as the opposite sex is concerned, as I've hardly ever run a game that didn't include at least two women.

only ever played SR with 2 girls however, hottest girl in my class was one of my buddies on CS.... total shock when i found out we were from the same town even more of a shock when I realized we knew each other and were friends, even better when she invited me to her swim parties. Nothing beats hanging out with an absolutely GORGEOUS chic in a bikini while talking gaming and knocking back vodka(s).

Next time you see a bikini female like that tell the DM you attempt to disbelieve. It's probably a gnarled old sorceress using some illusion spell.

Nope. Got even luckier.

Peter

Urge to kill... rising...


>.>

Making notes is the key. I write notes all the time while we play, and then type up a summary of the session as part of preparing for the next session. In addition to that, all NPCs and location data gets sorted in their own files. It makes improvising as well as handling a campaign easier.

I'm not sure if it has been said, but don't be afraid to steal NPCs (or bits of NPCs) from TV, movies, books, history, or even people you have met. You don't have to reveal your source if it isn't all that obvious, but I have found that having a decent mental picture of someone I am making up on the fly can be a real boon.

I am sure it has been said, but I have recently been in the same problem...
I am new to shadowrun though, but I try to get some runs connected, I have a shadowrun campaign cooking, all made by myself, prolly not good compared to some of the gods on this site:D I try not to let it ONLY be campaign runs, I let the Johnson get some time to check out the stuff you gotten for him or the like. give the runners a good little small job meanwhile he does so, and if the Johnson is smart he will maybe use the same team if it was a success, then the team will prolly have that little "trust" so they might take another job from him=)

hope that made sense and was at least a little useable:)

Metapunk:)

Steal and borrow from everyone. Any PC posted here, for example, can become (part of) an NPC in your campaign. Same for locations. If you vary, modify and mix and match them, no one will be the wiser even if they know the source.

(Also, if you're pressed for time, I wrote some tips for making the most of your prep time as a GM. Aimed at D&D, but pretty much universally applicable.)

In terms of "mental pictures" I've known a few GMs who use the logic that the roleplaying game is essentially a film, and they will proceed to "cast" every NPC, saying which actor is playing them. It doesn't actually define the NPC in and of itself, but it gives people a good touchstone for their appearance, voice, and mannerisms.

It can also be a lot of fun to write up a character and then think "Who would I get to play this guy?"
(Naturally you have an unlimited budget for make-up and special effects. Screw reality and its limitations).

I make the players write them up themselves. They spent the points on the contacts, they reap the benefits of the contacts' info/gear/whatever, so they get the burden of writing them up and handing them over.

When running in campaign mode, how far apart your runs? A few days, one week, 2-3 weeks? Or do you just roll a d6 for how many days before the next fixer calls?