Advice for a first time GM. Options

[zombieneighbours]

So...

Our groups GM is a real artist, one of the grand masters of roleplaying game narration, but he has a history of burning out faster than Case left to his own devices in chiba city. It is my job as the alternate DM to ever have something ready to run at the drop of a hat, should our next session unexpectedly be the end of the campaign.

I recently picked up my own copy of both neuromancer and mona lisa overdrive(couldn't get count zero at the time, i will be trying again soon.) and frankly it has put me in the mood for a game with guns and cybernetics.

So I have started preparing a Shadowrun game of the group. To my knowledge only one of the group has played Shadowrun before. However, I have never before run shadowrun, and it has been a while since i have run any cyberpunk at all. As such, i was hoping i might get some feed back on my campaign ideas and some general advice from some veterans.


Campaign Outline: The Locke and Key chronicle.

Act 1:
The campaign opens with small group of shadow runners who brought together by a fixer called Shadow, he initially sets them up with a couple of basic runs. One on a custom cyber optics manifacturer, and the second on a data courier. However, things are a little of as the characters are not introduced to the Mr. Johnson in either case.

The reason for this soon becomes clear, when it comes to light that both runs where merely leg work for a more serious run. Shadow himself is the Mr. Johnson, and he has been using the two missions to forge the PCs into a team. He has gathered them to perform a run on a french super-computer, called the Emporer Napoleon, which has specifically been designed by the french government, in partnership with Saeder-Krupp for number crunching on cutting edge metaphysics. The aim is to crack a magically active alchemical cypher on a ritual, that has come into Shadows possession.

Behind the scenes, Shadow is a Cell head for an intelligence network run by the NSA. Shadow's Cell is one of three which operates within the Sigil Initiative, the agencies wing tasked with collecting intelligences on arcane and Meta-realm based threats.

The ritual was passed to Shadow by his apprentice and former lover Liberty Jones, a chaos mage in deep cover with a french group of arcanoterrorists and arms dealer called L'Etrangers. She scanned a copy and sent it to shadow and then set about keeping an eye on the grimoire as L'Etranger tried to find a buyer.

However, in the wake of the run on the Emporer Napoleon, Shadow gets a email from Liberty, telling him that her cover is blown. He hires the characters to extract her from a safe house in paris. However they arive to late, finding that Liberty has already fled and L'Etrangers members swarming the safe house and french police after them and Shadow, seemingly with inside infomation about the raid on the Emporer Napoleon. All the evidence points towards the operation having been sold out, with only Liberty herself having been in possession of the details needed to endanger the opperation.

The First act concludes as the PCs flee mainland europe, following Liberty's trail into the east anglian mushfens, where they must deal with a number of toxic shamen togather the infomation needed to track Liberty to a small safe house in the remains of orford ness. They confront liberty in the remains of the old research base, a Special forces unit closing in as she tries to win their trust, explaining that one other person was aware of the Cells activities, the Sigil initiatives head.


Act 2: Returning state side the PCs are confronted with the challange of finding out why the head of the Sigil Initiative sold out one of his own networks. Their ownly clue, the ritual they decoded in paris. The reminants of shadows cell gather, along with the PCs, to discover why the government has tried to wipe them out.

The group forms a plan to extract successful arcane researcher, who specialises in meta plane analysis from Ares. The expert reports that the ritual will open a path to an as yet unexpored region further out even than the have, and summon something that is very likely to be unpleasant.

That is about as far as i have loosely detailed, but the idea is that the PCs go on to take down the sigil initiative, which has been corrupted by its head, into the service of a powerful, mythos type monsterosity.

Thoughts, advice and so on.

[Denicalis]

Running against a full government and a full fledged corp? Are we playing a rather high powered campaign? I think to keep the gritty realism going you're going to have to either uber-power your team or ridiculously nerf the opposition. Unless you're looking for a Matrix-esque campaign, then I'm not the guy to talk to anyway.

[zombieneighbours]

They at no time take on the full fledged power of any corp or government.

Marcus Lethe, the head of the sigil initiative is unable to call the full force of the government down on the characters, because he is up to his eyeballs in dark magic and cant risk being found out.

[The Jake]

I actually read that wall of text. Principally, I like the plot FWIW.

Several issues exist however:
1) Are you prepared to stat out every NPC - Shadow, Liberty, toxic shamans, hired goons, police, just about everyone the PCs would be willing to encounter on that run?
If you are willing but haven't, start now. It will take awhile.

2) Have you written up the key locations that the PCs will be involved in?
At the very least the key spots they will be drawn to during the adventure.
E.g. Meeting the Johnson, The Pickup in Paris, etc.

3) It is a very complex/ high powered adventure. If your PCs are not at that level, they will find themselves in over the heads and may not have as much fun.
I get the impression you guys are pretty switched on however so this shouldn't be an issue.

4) How savvy are you with all the rules?
Just curious here.

5) Being you are an occasional GM, anything you are likely to run you should aim to have fit in one session. Avoid long-drawn out campaigns.
I'd also tone down the international intelligence conspiracy thing so it doesn't involve so many intelligence agencies and megacorps. You could do with one agency infilitrating one terrorist cell and the same plot works fine.

6) Following point 5, you also want to avoid long-haul/game spanning campaigns because this will could permanently affect the usual GM's world in ways he hadn't anticipated and may not prefer.
This stuff pisses off GMs and is a bit of an issue with a 'shared world setting' (for want of a better label) in an RPG.

Overall, I think this could be very easily structured to work. But being an occasional GM you should have this all written up, statted up, mapped out as much possible. That way when you run, you are fully prepared and your PCs are blown away by our prepared you seem (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

- J.

[zombieneighbours]

I actually read that wall of text. Principally, I like the plot FWIW.

Sorry about it being so dense. It was fairly late when i wrote it. Glad you like the over all story. As you will see, a lot of the answers to your questions are, 'i'm working on it'. I only really started working on the campaign on monday.

Several issues exist however:
1) Are you prepared to stat out every NPC - Shadow, Liberty, toxic shamans, hired goons, police, just about everyone the PCs would be willing to encounter on that run?
If you are willing but haven't, start now. It will take awhile.

I am more than happy to, it Shadow and Liberty Jones are todays task.

2) Have you written up the key locations that the PCs will be involved in?
At the very least the key spots they will be drawn to during the adventure.
E.g. Meeting the Johnson, The Pickup in Paris, etc.

I have maps for the first two runs, and have started to detail the first run locations security arrangements.

I am breaking up the infomation on each location into a page on its security provisions and a page on leg work.

The security provision page will be the exact details of what the characters will be up against on site.

The leg work page will detail the various forms of preperation i can think of the run, such as locating and bribing a man on the inside or getting a passkey, so that i can leave as little of what they might do to prepare for the run to chance as possible..

3) It is a very complex/ high powered adventure. If your PCs are not at that level, they will find themselves in over the heads and may not have as much fun.
I get the impression you guys are pretty switched on however so this shouldn't be an issue.

Well, the PCs will probably be starting with 450 BP.

And things really arn't going to get to dangerous until the end of the first act. I also believe i have some fairly good, internally consistant reasons mapped out why the really big players can't come in guns blazing.

4) How savvy are you with all the rules?
Just curious here.

In honesty I am fairly savy with the Skills and combat rules but i am still learning magic and hacking, but i think i have atleast three weeks.

5) Being you are an occasional GM, anything you are likely to run you should aim to have fit in one session. Avoid long-drawn out campaigns.
I'd also tone down the international intelligence conspiracy thing so it doesn't involve so many intelligence agencies and megacorps. You could do with one agency infilitrating one terrorist cell and the same plot works fine.

A Mid-level campaign is actually fine in this case as the other DM will need time to recover.

6) Following point 5, you also want to avoid long-haul/game spanning campaigns because this will could permanently affect the usual GM's world in ways he hadn't anticipated and may not prefer.
This stuff pisses off GMs and is a bit of an issue with a 'shared world setting' (for want of a better label) in an RPG.

The usual GM doesn't run Shadowrun, we are currently playing Vampire: the requiem. So i could have a limited nukelier exchange between the UCAS and CAS and no one at the table would bat an eyelid (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

We also don't have a shared world system. Unless specifically stated otherwise, every game we play of anything is a unique timeline and version of the world. It kind of has to be that way as two of my players, one of whom the groups other GM like to 'have an effect on the world.' They really like to be responcible for doing world shattering things. Normally this is anathima to me, as i have always enjoyed street level games. For once i have a story that will let them do the big awesome stuff, so i thought i might as well run with it.

Overall, I think this could be very easily structured to work. But being an occasional GM you should have this all written up, statted up, mapped out as much possible. That way when you run, you are fully prepared and your PCs are blown away by our prepared you seem (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

- J.

I intend to have it to a position where its all ready. Its just a matter of the other GM not burning out before i am ready.

[nezumi]

1) It is high-level. Most especially, taking the PCs out of their home environment adds a surprising degree of difficulty. The single biggest thing you can do to make it easier on them is make sure they have local contacts where-ever they are going. Also be aware that transportation is generally difficult in the SR universe unless they have a private jet. I don't know if you want to take steps to smooth this over, or let them suffer their lumps, but just be aware, again, it raises the difficulty a notch.

2) Be ready for the PCs to completely not follow your storyline. PCs do that, that's why they're PCs. It's good you're stating things out and have a plot-line, but don't think that's a replacement for being able to think on your toes. If the PCs go a different direction than you itnended, <s>kill them all</s> sorry... Roll with it.

3) Make sure you know your players' style. This seems like classic Shadowrun, which involves lots of planning only for things to go horribly awry and end in a shoot-out. That's fair, as long as that's what your players are expecting. If your players want something else, you'll need to alter things to meet that.

[zombieneighbours]

I am going to try and develop more stuff for paris, contacts development and favour trading to get the equipment for the run.

While this is my first time running SR, it ain't my first rodeo, as it were. I should be okay with handling the players. As far as i know they will enjoy the focus of the game...well with one acception....and to be honest he is not enjoying anything that anyone does at the moment.

[paws2sky]

This looks pretty cool, zombieneighbours.

My only suggestion is to make sure the players understand they aren't building street-level hustlers. Tell the straight up that they need to make characters willing and able to do globe trotting if necessary.

With some gentle nudging, they should be able to follow your plotline.

Play up Shadow's personal interest in the group. Maybe he gives them a bunch of freebies on top of the nuyen. "Just his way of saying thanks for a job well done."

When things go sour, it'll hit the players even harder. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

-paws

[Neraph]

Don't forget to check out the THUGS! post for some quick goons.

[Bob Lord of Evil]

I would say that it is very cool that you are willing to undertake the daunting (and often unsung) task of running a game (especially Shadowrun). It is not a simple game be it mechanics or the myriad of in-game social conventions. Over two decades I have spent a lot of time running various games and it is a lot of work!

I would be very worried about what appears to be significant scope of the adventure. It seems like you have done a lot of prep work and that is great. I function under the saying, no adventure survives contact with the players. Meaning, that the players are very likely to go off tangents that you will not even dreamed of. Best example, in a Star Trek game that I was playing in everything hinged on the simple fact that we were unable to scan a container that we were supposed to drop off. The player of the security chief was like a dog with bone though and cleverly figured out a way to scan the contents of the crate without violating any of prohibitions that been given us. Low and behold there was a Romulan spy inside. An adventure that was meant to take place over the course of three gaming sessions was derailed...in under two hours.

First time adventures for a GM...I think very simple straight forward runs would be a better idea. Incorporate in the various elements for each of the PC's that are present (Sammie, Decker, Rigger, Mage, etc..). Try to make sure that everyone is able to contribute something but find your footing as a GM and figure out what the players are interested in doing with their characters. As you and the players get more comfortable with the rules throw in more bells and whistles.

That is my 2 cents.

[Chibu]

I say go for it. As for the derialled by scanning in the last post, the Gm should have said "It didn't work, you don't figure it out". easy enough. And it's Star Trek, so you can make up fake tech to explain it, which is the premise of the universe in general...


Anyway, I say go for it. It sounds like a good story, and you seem to have prepared yourself. Shadowrun is actually not a complicated system to use. Always remember though, that you're the GM. You can make things happen and not happen. You can make the 'bad guys' have already planned for whatever the characters think up to do, as long as you heven't told them otherwise, they'll never know. Our current GM stopped writing up specific encounters a long time ago for exactly that reason.

Good luck to you.

[Bob Lord of Evil]

I am going to respectfully disagree with Chibu.

In my opinion (and that is all it is), the GM was perfectly justified in allowing the players innovation to succeed. I actually applaud him for it, instead of taking the easy route and saying, sorry that didn't work. He took the more difficult path and rewarded a player for thinking (pardon the pun) outside of the box. As a GM my tendency is to give deference to the player's ideas and let the story play out.

Chibu's second point about the players not knowing when the NPC response has shifted, in omipotent fashion. You would be amazed just how often people pick up on a bluff. The problem arises when that becomes your Modus Operandi and you find yourself consistently resorting to omnipotence to keep the game moving in the direction that you want. Players can begin to feel like you are stonewalling them. Now in SR you have a great deal wiggle room, simply because of the myriad of technology, spells, para-critters, and double dealing that is going on off stage. So a GM does have a lot of plausible deniability. It certainly wouldn't hurt to point out to the players that there is a lot going on behind the scenes that they are not aware of. In the Star Wars rpg they suggest that you do cut scenes (as per the movies) where you show that the stormtroopers are disembarking from the shuttle at landing platform 3. In my games such scenes are denoted when I say, "Fade to black" and then give them the cut scene.

There are times as a GM that I am more than happy to fudge a roll or make call to keep the game going. Don't let the rules or the adventure get in the way of the players having a good time/moving the plot forward.

The proviso is, that this is my >style< of GMing and not in any fashion meant to be the >right< way to run a game.

[zombieneighbours]

Well, the game fell to pieces on sunday, after having been moved to accomidate one of the players birthdays...i mean, how rude of him to be born when we should be getting our game on (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I was not yet ready to start to run Shadowrun as i still have a lot of work to do. However, before that became an issue, liz, the newist member of the group stepped up to the plate and offered to run an Exalted game she had been planning for the other group that she and i are members of as it is unlikely that she will ever be willing to run it for that group. I am pretty sure that the weekend group are over the moon to be getting the chance to play in her game, i know i am.

This gives me a lot more time to prepare for shadowrun, which is really good news.


It has to be said that i am usually at my best when i run games in a sand box style. Out of interest, how possible is it to do this with Shadowrun. I would have thought that the level of work required to prepare a run would preclude a game without a strict mission based structure. Atleast, if you wish to keep the traditional style of game, rather than a game that uses the system and setting but with a radically different style.

Do you have any advice on how to turn shadowrun into a looser, more player driven game, while maintaining the mission based story elements which seem tied up with what shadowrun is.

[Octopiii]

Sandbox style is pretty easy in Shadowrun - remember, the PCs are freelance criminals. All they need to do to turn the game into more of a sandbox is develop their own heists. Draw up some generic encounters and buildings, change the labels now and again, and let your PCs determine the plot. They decide to steal a T-Bird for fun and profit? Generic Corp Security Plan B. Decide to clean out a barrens building for their HQ? Get your generic gangsters out. Once you get used to it, you can change things up, or add wrinkles: Maybe they aren't the only criminal elements who found out about the loose security at the airport. Maybe the gang they are messing with has Mafia ties. Maybe someone in the underworld isn't happy about someone freelancing without cutting them in - how do the PCs deal with that? Do they offer a percentage to be let alone? Do they do some work for the underworld type to be let alone? Do they fight back? What if the underworld types are Tamanous - how are they going to square working with Ghouls, even if tangentially? What happens when a rumor on the street goes around that they provide live babies for Ghoul orgies?

Remember the first key of GMing is brevity. By this I mean don't spend hours statting out every NPC - they just need dice pools, and dice pools only for things they'll likely use - Composure checks, combat checks, damage resistance, perception - voila, you have an NPC. Lean heavy on the given fluff of the game until you get comfortable. Matrix systems can be abstracted to a few dice pools - your description of what is happening is what is important, not the piece of paper containing your generic details that your players will never see. Facilities can feature a mix of guards, drones, spiders, the occasional magic back up. You can make the same collection of dice pools into wildly different characters/locations with proper description, and most importantly, you won't burn yourself out trying to come up with unique encounters twice a session. If a NPC starts showing up more, you can give him more stats - these recurring types usually happen organically, so don't bother detailing them out until you realize they'll likely be a chronicle long presence.