Advice Please? Options

[Dimitri 'lea...]

Greetings Dumpshock forums. I am a new GM that wants to run a shadowrun campaign. All of my players are new to shadowrun but experienced role-playing gamers. I am looking for ideas for a campaign that will offer rewarding storytelling experiences but nothing too deeply involved with the history and setting of the game, as I don't want to overwhelm them. Again, this is a group that has been playing RPGs for years but is 100% new to shadowrun. Any suggestions?

[Red-ROM]

Welcome to Dumpshock man

Are you looking for story ideas or a good module to run? for the latter I'd suggest "On the run". For the former, Just take the shortest, most straight foreward plot you can think of. there's a few short plot ideas floating around in the books. I did one about the "runaway daughter" that turns out to be an escaped meat puppet. It raised a few moral problems for the group, but other than that, not bad. your first run will mostly be a "how does this work?" situation, so its not a real big deal story wise (imo). good luck to ya!

[TheGothfather]

What kind of game do the players want?

[Trillinon]

Honestly, the basic nature of the game is all you really need to get a campaign started. Pick your city, come up with a few runs (Data Steal, Extraction, etc.), and just run a few missions. Ideas for a more complex campaign will come once you and the players have gotten used to what it's like to do a run.

I've always had the best luck building story buy having interesting contacts and Johnson's who all work with the Players, but have conflicting goals, putting the players in the middle.

You may also want to consider running something like Ghost Cartels, Dawn of the Artifacts (the PDF was released yesterday), or the Shadowrun Missions adventures.

By the way, what games do you normally play?

[Dimitri 'lea...]

Thank you everyone.
@Trillinon: As I am new to this, I am thinking of starting in a semi-wild enviroment, such as an area outside the bay area in the california free state, and then moving to canada, and then europe. I have some ideas for contacts and conflicting objectives, and I think I can integrate them into almost any module or campaign. To answer your question, me and my group have played D & D (3.5) for a few years, and Star Wars RPG (3rd ed) for a little less than that. This, however, is my first time as full time GM. Previously, I just filled in (for both SWRPG and D&D) and the creative license is almost a little intimidating (IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif)

@ TheGothfather: That's an interesting question..... Two of my players prefer RP > Action, two think Action ≥ RP, and one of my players likes to go postal on his enemies. Only three of my players are interested in the cyberpunk aspect, one likes magic, and one would blow all of his money on an Assault Canon. I have a decent backstory/personal history group, but one of my Roleplayers likes to write backstories the length of novellas, which gets some of the others mad when i design missions around backstory. All in all, it's something like a zoo. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[TheGothfather]

That's an interesting question..... Two of my players prefer RP > Action, two think Action ≥ RP, and one of my players likes to go postal on his enemies. Only three of my players are interested in the cyberpunk aspect, one likes magic, and one would blow all of his money on an Assault Canon. I have a decent backstory/personal history group, but one of my Roleplayers likes to write backstories the length of novellas, which gets some of the others mad when i design missions around backstory. All in all, it's something like a zoo. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Cool. Everybody likes different stuff. How are you going to get everyone on the same page?

[Dimitri 'lea...]

@TheGothfather: I dont know yet, but i bet it'll involve helicopters, a fixer, and a security hack and a "few" pounds of C4 (or 2070 equivalent). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Thanks to everyone that chipped in, and please let me know if you have any more advice or suggestions (IMG:style_emoticons/default/notworthy.gif)

[TheGothfather]

@TheGothfather: I dont know yet, but i bet it'll involve helicopters, a fixer, and a security hack and a "few" pounds of C4 (or 2070 equivalent). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Thanks to everyone that chipped in, and please let me know if you have any more advice or suggestions (IMG:style_emoticons/default/notworthy.gif)

I don't mean plot-wise. I'll be a little more blunt.

Make them do the work for you. Sit down, before you make characters, before you've written a run. Hell, before you even decide what city you're playing in. Bust out the notepad, and ask them, point blank, what's going on in the game. Where are you at, what's going on, and who's involved. Let them do the heavy lifting on the campaign creation end. Then they'll create characters that give a rat's ass about what's going on in the game, because the players care, because they came up with it. Then all you have to do is put those cool things that they came up with in jeopardy, and you've got potentially years of gameplay.

[Dimitri 'lea...]

Thanks, I'll try that. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[Neraph]

Have them read Buzzkill, in the very front of SR4 rulebook, as well as all the fluff at the start of the chapters. Those help very much with setting the scene for Shadowrun.

[deek]

What I did in my last campaign was give the players 3 or 4 basic backgrounds that I was willing to run. I then told them to pick one and then made sure their characters fit the background they agreed to. I think what I started with was: a basic street level game, an ex-military globetrotting mercenary campaign, a tight-knit corporate espionage squad and a post-apocalyptic setting (like Fallout).

No one wanted to do the cliche ex-military campaign (I couldn't blame them). While the Fallout feel was liked, they didn't want to stray too far from a normal Shadowrun backdrop. They were torn between the final two and the corporate espionage won out, basically because I gave them a free high lifestyle, gave them a budget of nuyen for each mission, free skills and generally speaking, they liked the idea of stealth missions that already had corporate backing.

While sometimes getting the players to do all the heavy lifting is good, the GM has to like what's going on and be able to produce some outline content for where the campaign is going. Therefore, I'd rather find a handful of campaigns that I would like to run and then give the players the option to choose one. Seeing you can basically create RP and Action in about any campaign, players are pretty easily amused...but no one's gonna have fun if the GM gets burnt out or has trouble writing up missions for the chosen setting!

[TheGothfather]

While sometimes getting the players to do all the heavy lifting is good, the GM has to like what's going on and be able to produce some outline content for where the campaign is going. Therefore, I'd rather find a handful of campaigns that I would like to run and then give the players the option to choose one. Seeing you can basically create RP and Action in about any campaign, players are pretty easily amused...but no one's gonna have fun if the GM gets burnt out or has trouble writing up missions for the chosen setting!

The GM is a player, too, so I'm not suggesting that he doesn't have any input. He should be as involved as everyone else.

[JTNLANGE]

What about the Quick Start rules? Gives you a feel for the enviroment without delving to deep into the backstory and lets you know how combat works. I find it a very good jump off to get them into a campaign. Works well with people who have RP without playing SR. They can kinda act out and see what happens.

Trevor

[DireRadiant]

Welcome to Dumpshock.
FREE Quickstart Rules
25 FREE ready to play Missions

Using the missions allows you to concentrate on game play, learning mechanics, learn a little fluff and style, all without worrying about thinking it all up yourself.

[Dimitri 'lea...]

Well, the Dreck hit hit the fan. Two of my players (ages 16 and 14) have a little sister (age eight) that tags along with them to D&D. When we heard we were doing something new, she wanted to play. When we said that she couldn't, she complained to her overprotective dad. When her dad asked why she couldn't play, I lent him a copy of SR4 to read. After reading it, he decided that NONE of his kids could play. Now, I either have to lie to him, go incognito, or just drop them. I would choose the 3rd option, but that only leaves me with 3 people, and one of them is a 14-year old idiot that couldn't roleplay to save his life. any advice?

[imperialus]

Well that sucks...

Not too much you can do about an overprotective parent who doesn't want their kids doing something. At least he didn't destroy it like what happened to my 1st ed Deities and Demigods complete with Cuthulu when a friends mom found it.

You might want to consider just talking to him about it, try and figure out what his problem with it is and then try to figure out a way to address it. If it's the violence. I'd talk with your players first and see if they're up for a black trenchcoat 'hist' style game with a minimum of violence then let him sit in on it. It's worth a shot at least. IME parents tend to respond fairly well to a kid coming up to them in a mature manner and saying "I understand the concerns you have about this but I'd really like it if Tommy and Billy could play. These are the changes I've made to tone things down a bit, maybe you'd like to take a look at them?"

[Stahlseele]

and one of them is a 14-year old idiot that couldn't roleplay to save his life

He any good with the rules? if so, not all is lost.

[tete]

Well, the Dreck hit hit the fan. Two of my players (ages 16 and 14) have a little sister (age eight) that tags along with them to D&D. When we heard we were doing something new, she wanted to play. When we said that she couldn't, she complained to her overprotective dad. When her dad asked why she couldn't play, I lent him a copy of SR4 to read. After reading it, he decided that NONE of his kids could play. Now, I either have to lie to him, go incognito, or just drop them. I would choose the 3rd option, but that only leaves me with 3 people, and one of them is a 14-year old idiot that couldn't roleplay to save his life. any advice?

I would talk to the father and find out what exactly he didn't like about his 16 year old playing. Then see if you cant work around it. You don't have to play shadowrunners for example you could play the cops.

[imperialus]

I would talk to the father and find out what exactly he didn't like about his 16 year old playing. Then see if you cant work around it. You don't have to play shadowrunners for example you could play the cops.

Or even Doc-Wagon

[Ravor]

Personally as a parent I say no matter what you have to respect his wishes if you are unable to change his mind.

[JTNLANGE]

Can I ask why you didn't want the 8yr old sis play? My 8 yr old daughter sees her daddy and older brother play and she wants to learn. I had no issue with it. She does need a little hand holding but the more she plays the better she gets.

Trevor

[Ravor]

Probably for much of the same reasons that most people frown at letting an eight year old watch R and X Rated movies.

[JTNLANGE]

I understand that. I am a firm believer that as long as children are supervised or taught correctly they should be allowed to explore their world. This does not mean I would let my 8 yr old watch an R or X or NC-17 movie, but RPG'ing I think can really help to open up the mind. Unlesss there is copius amounts of violence for no reason or explicit talk that happens all the time. Well then my daughter needs to leave the room. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Trevor

[Warlordtheft]

I saw my first R rated film at about age 10 (It was Das Boot). As for Shadowrun, I would note that if he was planning a PG-13 campaign or mini-run, an 8 year-old may be a bit young. Something about how the game goes into detail regarding sex, prostitution, drugs, slavery, criminal mindset, yeah- I can se why the father didn't even want his 14 and 16 year old to play (not that I agree with it).

[Orcus Blackweath...]

Can I ask why you didn't want the 8yr old sis play? My 8 yr old daughter sees her daddy and older brother play and she wants to learn. I had no issue with it. She does need a little hand holding but the more she plays the better she gets.

Trevor

Hmmmm Bubba the Love troll anyone? How does the average 8 yr old handle Tamanous Organleggers, pervasive drug use, crime, prejudice, and etc..

If you are specifically tailoring your game to children, you can all be the good guys all the time, pick a fairly safe social topic to address, and basically minimize the dark side of 2070. If you did that, the game would be entirely compatible with any group that would respect the dynamics of the campaign. I personally don't want to play in that sort of game any more than occasionally.