GM discussion of Denver missions, Is this the place? Options

[Sleepyman]

I'm GMing for the Denver missions, but I'm finding that I need to do quite a bit of prep work regarding NPC stats and equipment, combat strategy, magic preparedness and matrix defenses. I suppose some GMs just wing all that stuff, but I lack the required experience and my players are too good for me to pull that off.

Anyway, is there a place where GMs discuss these missions free from the prying eyes of players? I'd like to know what details other GMs have made to these sessions.

Tomorrow I'm running the third session and I'm fully prepped. We're doing one every three weeks, slowly catching up to the release schedule.
Sleepyman

[the_dunner]

Responding out of order:

[Sleepyman]

These runs are wonderfully written and full of inspiration. I love 'em!

Regarding matrix defense, one of my players hacked the motorcycle that Kyra was riding and later an Ares Citymaster that the ZDF was using. I was completely winging it there since I hadn't thought out what sort of defenses would protecting the vehicle's and/or driver's nodes. The team is green, but rating 2 seemed low in both cases. Also, a rating alone doesn't seem to tell me what can and cannot be done by hacking the vehicle.

In session 2, the Black Cats seemed to be short on equipment, and I wanted to know how they would prepare if they knew a strike was coming on their hide out. I copied their descriptions into Word and then worked out what they would do. The file I ended up with is below, though I ended up writing additional changes on the print out before we played. Some of my changes are colored.

Not included is a 2nd shadowrun team I created, as suggested under the "Pushing the Envelope" section.

The Black Cats
Note: The bond between the Cats transcends that of ordinary runners, they are in the Lakota term mashké. Within Sioux tribes, the Elders say you are lucky to have one mashké in your lifetime. To acknowledge another woman as a mashké is to
commit to that individual for the rest of your life. Mashké commitments are just between the two people involved. These terms allow two people to share confidential information, and no one will pry into their personal matters. A mashké will not reveal information about the other person, especially if it endangers the other.

Kyra Blackfoot (Face and Recon)
B A R S C I L W ESS INIT IP Edge
3 5 5(8) 2 3 3 4 3 4.7 9(11) 1(2) 4
S / P
10 / 10

Spur – 5+5 = 10 dice, Damage 4P
Hammerli – 5+2+2 = 9 dice, Damage 4P
Aim and Shoot = 10 dice
Chameleon Suit Armor: 8/6,
Rating 3 chemical, fire, electrical defense
Tumbling: 5+6 = 11 dice
Armor: 8/6
Full defense: gymnastics tumble
Against melee: 8+6+4 = 18 dice
Against ranged: 8+6 = 14 dice
Spend an edge to get a third IP

ACTIVE SKILLS
Blades:3 (Cyberblades 5), Dodge: 4, Electronics Skill Group: 2, Disguise: 2, Etiquette: 3, Gymnastics: 4 (Tumbling 6), Infiltration: 3, Perception: 2, Pistols: 2, Shadowing: 3, Pilot Ground Craft (Bike): 1 (+2)

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS
Corporate Politics: 3, Finances: 2, Fine Cuisine: 3,
Modern Literature: 2, Safe Houses: 2, Security
Systems: 3,

CYBERWARE
Wired Reflexes 1, Cybereyes (Rating 3, w/Flare Compensation,Low- Light, Smartlink, Thermographic, and Vision Magnification) Reaction Enhancers (2), Retractable Spur
Younger than Lena, Kyra is the leader of the Black Cats. She’s impulsive and nigh reckless sometimes but her thoughts are always on her sisters. A traditionalist who believes in the older values of the tribe, Kyra still counts coup. The black feather she leaves behind on each run, is her way of honor counting. Kyra stands about 1.8m and weighs 68 kgs. Her dark hair is usually pulled tightly into a bun or French braided to keep out of her face.

Lena Walks-With-Ghosts
(Shaman)
B A R S C I L W M ESS INIT IP Edge
5 2 3 3 4 4 3 5 5 6 7 1 2
S / P
10 / 11

Power Focus +1

Normally she will have a watcher spirit looking for approaching auras. That watcher will telepathically warn her when any vehicle carrying more than one human or metahuman arrives, and then it’s service will end.

A second watcher is in the hall at the end of the second floor. It will warn her when the other shadowrun team leaves their room.

If the meet with Kyra went badly, Lena will be astrally active on top of the building along with her two spirits, one bound and one unbound: 4 services each. She and the spirits will astrally attack any character’s spirit that appears. She will first warn her team of the character’s approach.
Assensing: 5+2, Banishing: 5+2, Binding: 5+3
Confusion: 5+3+1, Heal: 5+3+1
Improved Invisibility: 5+3+1, Manabolt: 5+3+1
Summoning: 5+5, Resist Drain: 4+5


Guardian Spirit (Lion): Force 4
Whether a stalking angel of death or a mighty loa, a guardian spirit is a fearless and capable warrior and defender.
B A R S C I L W ESS M Init IP
F+1 F+2 F+3 F+2 F F F F F F (Fx2)+1 2
Astral INIT/IP: F x 2, 3
Movement: 15/40, EDGE: F
Skills: Assensing, Astral Combat, Blades, Clubs,
Counterspelling, Dodge, Exotic Ranged Weapon, Perception, Unarmed Combat
Powers: Astral Form, Concealment, Fear, Guard, Magical Guard, Materialization, Movement, Sapience

ACTIVE SKILLS
Assensing: 2; Banishing: 2; Binding: 3; Dodge: 2;
Infiltration: 3; Palming: 2; Perception: 2; Sorcery Skill Group: 3; Summoning: 5; Survival (Urban): 1

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS
Tribal Rock: 2; Local Charity Shelters: 4; Local Area
Knowledge: 4; Magical Theory: 4; Public
Transportation Routes: 3; Safe Houses: 2; Spirits: 5

SPELLS
Confusion, Heal, Improved Invisibility, Manabolt

Growing up on stories of the Great Ghost Dance and always sensing the world-changing forces that were built up when the tribe joined together to pray
for rain and wish their warriors to come home safely, Lena knew she was different. Despite her abilities, she has always been a faithful companion to her sisters—occasionally acting as their conscience. Lena is heavy boned and darker skinned than her sisters. Short cut hair that verges on boyish, she lives by a strong code and sees the world in black and white.

Jennifer Sundancer(Weapons Specialist)
B A R S C I L W ESS INIT IP Edge
3 4 3 3 4 3 4 4 6 7 1 4
S / P
10 / 10

Chameleon Suit Armor: 8/6,
Rating 3 chemical, fire, electrical defense

Explosive Trap: (pg 315) Directional: -1 DV per meter, 9 kg of rating 3+2 = 15P damage, increased by salsa effect to 40P, ½ because floor collapses, net is 20P, -2 AP to resist damage, + falling damage

Laser trip (Int + Perc(3, 2 with thermo) to notice) to detonate and also a manual option,
Detonator is in her hand, simple (delayed) action to detonate, reduced damage (16 P total) if she has to use the manual switch
ACTIVE SKILLS
Archery: 2, Armorer: 5, Close Combat Skill Group: 3, Demolitions: 3, Dodge: 2, Firearms Skill Group: 4, Heavy Weapons: 2, Negotiation: 2, Throwing Weapons: 2

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS
Blade Design: 3, Chemistry: 2, Engineering: 4,
Firearm Design: 4, Gun Trivia: 2
The daughter who should have been a son,
Jennifer spent most of her adolescence splitting her
time between her sisters and her father, whenever
he wasn’t away on deployment. He taught her
everything he knew because it was the only thing he could teach her. Jennifer is the one who trained
Tala for the most part, though she feels guilty that
her “little sister” has undergone so many surgeries.
The entire team paid for the modifications to help
them survive, but Jennifer worries at what price Tala paid spiritually. Combat is an art form for her and she is a master painter. Standing at 2m she is an imposing figure even when she’s not loaded down for bear. Reserved amongst strangers, she often says more in one or two well-chosen words than most people do all day.

Tala Blackfoot(Razor Girl/Street Sam)
B A R S C I L W ESS INIT IP
4 5(7) 4(6) 5(7) 2 3 2 3 0.8 7(9) 1(3)
Edge S / P
4 10 / 10

If the meet with Kyra went badly, she will open fire without warning, surprise if possible. She’s partly hidden by a box (Infiltration, 2 hits, perception(2) to spot her) and improved invisible (Threshold 3, resisted by intuition + counterspelling, + SR in my opinion). She gets +6 on surprise test (special initiative test) if character is unaware of the ambush coming up.
Spell defense(4) provided by one of the guardian spirits

Spend an edge to go first, narrow, full burst
Light Machine Gun on Tripod
7+5+(3 tracer)+(4 edge)
6 recoil mod for tripod, x2 for heavy weapon is -6
-1 firing from cover
Net = 12 dice, +9 DV = 15 DV+ net hits

Sword: 7+4 = 11 dice, 7P
Pistol: 7+5 = 12 dice, 5P
Chameleon Suit Armor: 8/6,
Rating 3 chemical, fire, electrical defense

ACTIVE SKILLS
Athletics Skill Group: 3, Automatics: 5, Blades: 4,
Dodge: 3, Heavy Weapons: 3, Infiltration: 2,
Negotiation: 2, Pilot Ground Craft (Bike): 1 (+2),
Pistols: 4, Unarmed Combat: 5

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS
Firearm Design: 3, Safe Houses: 4, Tribal
Customs:3

CYBERWARE
Wired Reflexes (Alpha) (2), Dermal Plating (Alpha)(2), Muscle Replacement (Alpha) (2), Cybereyes (Rating 3, w/Flare Compensation,Low-Light Vision,
Protective Covers, Smartlink, and Thermographic Vision)
Tala is Kyra’s cousin. She got swept up into this life through the bonds she had with her cousin and friends. No one ever asked why she made the changes to her body or what the four women were doing because it would be inappropriate. Tala occasionally wonders if she made the right choice devoting her life to combat and death. Now she just hopes that the four of them live long enough to retire. She can’t undo the past and won’t abandon her sisters. The youngest and smallest of the Black Cats, Tala stands at 1.5m. Wired to the gills, she is twitchy and hyper-vigilant. Her hair is cut short to match Lena and is as impulsive as her sister is honorable.

[DAMBoy69]

You can always become a Commando and talk about the missions on the CommandHQ forums.

Derek
Command 205

[Sleepyman]

[the_dunner]

[BishopMcQ]

There are several Missions GMs and Writers on these forums, if you want to keep the conversation private, most people are welcome to PMs.

If you would like to drop me a line, feel free.

[Sleepyman]

Thanks guys!

I'm running #3 today and will start prepping #4 this week. As I sense possible issues, I'll post them here as a new thread if that's ok.

For #3 my prep work went into:

1. Detailing the electronic/matrix defenses of the two extraction points and the most-excellent vehicle in the final scene. (I gave Deimos the skill Electronic Warfare 4 since that fits his background description.)

2. Working out the magical preparation and combat strategy for the first round for The Trinity in their two scenes.

3. Planning the first-round actions for the GodZ and for the Lone Star forces. I also sped some of them up with combat drugs.

4. Finding and printing a good map of a middle school.

For some GMs and/or groups, I'm this would be overpreparing. I know from experience, however, that the combat becomes a cakewalk for these guys if I'm not ready to go. It also speeds up the session a lot, and we do try to finish in 4 hours. It's a labor of love, of course. :)
Sleepyman