Combat on runs Options

[Raiden]

how much Combat do you see in your runs and or full games? how much combat is too much combat in your opinion? just want to see everyone's thoughts,

[kzt]

We tried to minimize gunfights. We much preferred shootings.

Though we usually used tasers or stunbolt/ball They are crazy effective.

[Emperor Tippy]

Depends entirely on the run. Ideally no combat, all violence should be sudden assassinations with no notice and be completed before the opposition has a chance to act at all.

That being said, it is somewhat rare that one manages to avoid all combat on a run. As for how much is too much, the amount that results in your death. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[FuelDrop]

If you run out of ammunition for all your guns then you're probably getting a bit too much combat on that run... unless survival horror is the whole point!

[Raiden]

survival horror,, I love the sound of that >:3. hmm. zombies bwhaha, my group will hate me forever XD

[FuelDrop]

survival horror,, I love the sound of that >:3. hmm. zombies bwhaha, my group will hate me forever XD

My GM tried that on us at one point... he forgot that last mission he'd let me loot an Ares alpha with several hundred round drums of ammo!

[CanRay]

If you run out of ammunition for all your guns then you're probably getting a bit too much combat on that run... unless survival horror is the whole point!

Heavy Weapons Troll: "Svetlana is belt-fed. I did not run out of bullets."

[Raiden]

played a troll one time, dual wield LMG belt fed (think rambo ammo) bwhahaha. poor gangers

[FriendoftheDork]

Since I'm playing low street level right now, combat is fairly common, as in at least one per session so far. The combats have been varying in scale though, some only melees/brawls, and some shootouts. Due to the fact that the "runners" are not Shadowrunners but rather fairly ordinary people, they don't usually get the drop on their opposition but rather have to react to unforeseen events.

I think as their competence as players and characters increases, they will have the opportunity to plan out their missions more, gather more intel, and thus limit actual combat alot.


For a full-fledged Shadowrunner group I usually had 1 session planning, 1 session legwork and then 1 session with more legwork and execution at the end, which might involve a firefight.

[ShadowPavement]

Sr combats are deadly. My personal feeling is that a combat should only happen when all other options have failed. When I started thinking about them this way we dropped to just a little less than 1 combat a session, which mad things much more manageable and really kept things tense since the PCs knew the cost for messing up and often tried to avoid it.

[Abstruse]

My games tend to run like an episode of a TV drama (think Leverage or Burn Notice) or hardboiled detective novel (I'm a big Spenser fan myself). Mostly it's talking, sneaking, finding clues, setting up cons, legwork, etc. But there's usually a spot or two where things go to hell and there's no option but to shoot it out. Or blow something up. Sometimes it's planned, but usually it's not.

[Shemhazai]

In my old gaming group, combat always happened every session without exception. We had a few combat-oriented characters, and not having combat would have been boring for them. Even if we did everything right, we were constantly getting ambushed by various interested parties.

[Stahlseele]

Well, we usually try to not let it come that far.
Yes, even me, even when playing the "can only do combat" maxed out Troll-Monster.
And i STILL get to say:"i told you so, give me a big gun" pretty much every single time.
Usually because one of the others fucked up somehow/somewhere too ^^

[CanRay]

That is why Heavy Weapons Troll took Computer Science while in Military School.

[FuelDrop]

That is why Heavy Weapons Troll took Computer Science while in Military School.

Does he also have a degree in Russian Literature?

[CanRay]

Does he also have a degree in Russian Literature?

No, he worked for a living, so only College Courses.

Computer Sciences, and Civil Engineering focusing on Industrial work.

[Raiden]

aww, I was hoping for a Heavy weapons guy character lol.

[CanRay]

aww, I was hoping for a Heavy weapons guy character lol.

Heavy Weapons Troll Decker.

Really surprised the group when he slung Svetlana (An LMG) over his shoulder like an assault rifle and pulled out his cyberdeck to cut through IC like a industrial laser through butter.

[tete]

there is usually a combat every 12-18 hours of game play (about every 3rd game for us). 2/3s of these are usually planed (assassination or what have you), 1/3 are generally bad because someone is going to die and it could be a PC.

[TheOOB]

Combat I think averages once a session in my group, but if it lasts more than a full round the characters likely did something horribly wrong(like let them shoot back). Surprise, initiative, and IP win fights.

[sk8bcn]

I think that, in a scenario of 3 game sessions, 2 of the 3 must have an action scene. An action scene doesn't have to be a real fight tough. The action scene in the 2nd game session must be less intense than the 3rd one.

Ofc, the PC can usually avoid those by beeing smart or creative.


This is, of course, just a general rule of thumb. Sometimes it's way more, sometimes way less, and usually, it depends on the PC plans and their success or failure.

[StealthSigma]

We seem to get into combat every session because of the ludicrous number of negative qualities we have that generate encounters or stuff. Honestly, I'm surprised if we're ever dealing with stuff that isn't related to our NQs. All of our combat thus far has been, I'm quite certain, related to these NQs.

With 3 characters we have....

Enemy (1 Incidence, 4 Connection)
Enemy Group (1 Incidence, 4 Connection)
Enemy Group (2 Incidence, 2 Connection)
Lost Loved One
Vendetta
Wanted
Wanted

So our first and current mission has ran two sessions, I think, and we've had combat for two sessions (a bunch of bounty hunters after the wanted guys, the 2 incidence 2 connection group (non-combat), and I think the 1 Incidence/4 Connection enemy group making an appearance) and we haven't even got near the objective to do legwork and planning yet.

I'll be honest, it'll probably bite my character in the ass one time but he does try to provide first aid (nonmaterial first aid) for injured foes. He's already been shot at once by the teammates of the foe he was trying to help. I don't think he's going to keep doing that for long.

[Dolanar]

My group tries to avoid combat, but when we do have combat we try to end it in one round or less, either by taking out the leader & the faces asking for surrender, or just downing all of the biggest targets quickly & quietly, & scaring the others.

We have 1 Sniper Specialist who always tries to stay about 800 yards out (if there's room) & a sneak specialist who can slip up behind opponent & punch them with shock fists to unconscious quickly & 2 mages who can put people down quickly so we tend to drop 4 targets in one round quickly, quietly & makes anyone still standing worried about the 3 people who have not made an action.

[pbangarth]

With 3 characters we have....

Enemy (1 Incidence, 4 Connection)
Enemy Group (1 Incidence, 4 Connection)
Enemy Group (2 Incidence, 2 Connection)
Lost Loved One
Vendetta
Wanted
Wanted

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif) Holy shit! The GM must love you guys.

[CanRay]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif) Holy shit! The GM must love you guys.

They don't have Amnesia to go with all that. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)