Shadowrun dungeon crawls. Options

[Anymage]

One thing that really drives me up a wall about Shadowrun, especially lately, is the utter dearth of entry-level products. The novice GM is expected to grok metaplot, balance, pay rate, setting, etc. all on his own. Very tricky, and very unpleasant.

I want to get some friends started in Shadowrun soon. However, I am far from the must-own-every-book type (I want to run things with the BBB and only the BBB). I'm absolutely horrible at winging the whole fragging world, though, and want to make them shadowrunners, not fantasy heroes or random citizens of the sixth world.

Out of the published Shadowrun newbie products, only the Quick Start Guide has anything close; First Run has one interesting scene, one piece of metaplot wanking drek, and one overly open-ended and non-shadowrunny plot. The adventures on the main site are even worse, being simple advertisements that have none of the information a novice would need to get into the game at all.

So what I'm looking for are dungeon crawls. Plain, simple, unashamed-of-it dungeon crawls. Primarily site-based runs complete with maps, stats, and basic troubleshooting that have little or nothing to do with metaplot and Shadowrun's constant self-referencing. Slow and basic introductions into the world of shadowrun and what it is to be a shadowrunner, so I can focus on just knowing the site well enough to improvise and not have to completely change tracks when the group wants to go raise hell in the barrens. And with a shallow enough learning curve so that I can have the basics under my belt before throwing shedim-possessed, orichalcum-laced great dragon cyberzombies at them.

So are there any good, basic entry-level products/adventures out there, and if so, where can I find them?

[shadd4d]

Try and get them as a rescue party to some research installation that's working on the cutting edge of genetic research. The medium? Those big mantis things... Something mantis. Something a la Aliens works wonders. Still creep out my buddies from that one.

Don

PS. Play around with the metaphors, so what happens in the movie happens later in the game.

[mfb]

your best bet, really, is to convert the old SR1 and 2 runs.

[Anymage]

[shadd4d]

Used bins. Lots of them here still have copies of Harlequin and Harlequin's Back (on the list for next month).

Failing that, check out the novels 1-19 and just come up with something. Can't really think of a prepared dungeon crawl at the moment.

Don

[Lilt]

You could try and convert some stuff from other systems. Spycraft might have some stuff for about the right setting that could be converted.

You could even run a direct D&D adventure-> SR adventure conversion by transforming all the orcs with crosbows in the cave to smugglers with ARs and SMG.

[mfb]

kazaa lite. not that i condone the downloading and distribution of out-of-print gaming materials.

[TinkerGnome]

There's always E-bay. Lots of old modules go for <$8.

[lspahn72]

[Austere Emancipa...]

I love the idea:
"The room is 30' by 20' and 10' high, dug into the same dull grey stone as all the rest in the cave. There are two exits: the one you're standing in and one directly opposite, a 8' x 4' arch where a security door sits. In the back left corner there is a pile of bones and shell casings covered in spider webs. There is a steady "drop drop" sound of some waste materials leaking through the stone from the factory above into the corridor behind you. There are no light sources except a green "Exit" light above the security door. In front of the door there are 3 Ork Cyberzombies with MMGs on gyromounts and their Great Dragon pet. What do you do?"

[Lilt]

Breathe a sigh of relief that you sent the drone in first?

[Backgammon]

Order a Shadowrun Mission.

[broho_pcp]

shrug of the bullets with your ultra-munched armor/body stats, go up to the dragon and tear its heart out with your dicoted teeth.

[Kakkaraun]

Yes. Because Wizkids will surely reprint Silver Angel and DNA-DOA and Missing Blood and...

Oh wait. No, they won't. It isn't a great thing to DL current products, but when something's ancient, and not likely to be reprinted, and you don't want to buy it on eBay (because there, the original company isn't getting anything anyway), I don't see a problem.

[BitBasher]

DNA/DOA was the shiznit!

Genetic experiments? Check!

Spooky atmosphere? Check!

Canon vampire with a full load of working cyberware that has never been contradicted by any rules book? Check!

Parties tombstones ready? Check!

[RangerJoe]

A GM in my group was thinking about doing an open-ended dungeon-crawl-esque campaign. The idea was that some kind of very large corporate asset buried deep in the heart of (insert inhospitable area) had recently, and precipitously, been abandoned. Around the entrance to the mountain/cave/dome/etc. a small shadow town had sprung up (a la gold-rush boom towns). The town is a self-organized, anarchic entity. Enter the players. They can run the caves for pay data and gear, ambush folks who run the caves, serve folks who run the caves in the town, etc. etc. This kind of run setting, though untraditional, is a great way to explore the facets of the SR system, as well as pick up some non-char-gen goodies before heading back to the mean streets of Seattle.

[Kagetenshi]

[RangerJoe]

Based on the principle that "a good dungeon crawl is one you can walk away from," I don't know if RA:S is a good crawl.... :-)

[Kagetenshi]

RA:S is an excellent dungeon crawl.*

~J

[ Spoiler ]

*For the GM

[kevyn668]

[RedmondLarry]

For 1st and 2nd edition runs, you can find several NEW books for sale for HALF PRICE on StiggyBaby.com. (Divided Assets, Celtic Double Cross, Dark Angel, Elven Fire, Imago, Total Eclipse, Queen Euphoria, and Dream Chipper). Some $4.

Here's the FASA Shadowrun list on StiggyBaby.
Just to be fair, here is the FanPro Shadowrun list. (Support our publisher and your local game store!)

Tips on using a 1st edition adventure:
Ignore Damage Codes like 5M3 listed in the adventure, and instead use what's printed for the same gear in 3rd edition. Treat a skill like "Firearms" as the appropriate shooting skill for any type of firearm on the character, the same for "Armed Combat". Treat a spell like "Heal Severe Wound" as just "Heal". Treat any Etiquette skill (Street, Corporate, etc.) as simply Etiquette.

Replace all Decking to gather information (done as a dungeon-crawl in 1st edition) with a simple roll of <Computer + MPCP> vs. TN of your choice. Make it easy or hard for them to get information from the Matrix as needed for the purposes of your adventure.

[MrSandman666]

[ Spoiler ]

For the players, too, I might add. The thing is to scare them to hell and back without killing them. Of course, if Deus really wanted to kill you, no ubermunchkin could ever survive the archologie. The fun is in seeing the dangers and wondering why on earth you are surviving it!
It's a little hard to do, especially for someone who's new to the system. The canon forces (bandeds, drones, etc.) are a bit overpowered but that can be adjusted and bypassed by clever playing of both the GM and the Players. However, I wouldn't say straightout that it's good for beginners.

I did play the first few adventures of Brainscan and Harlekin (not Harlekin's Back, mind you) with a group of absolute greenhorns and it went just smoooooth. 8) Of course, both of those campaigns become pretty though once you're about three runs into the book but if you run the two campaigns paralell (which works quite well up to a certain point from which you have to decide which one to pursue further) you should have a fairly good idea of shadowrun to lead it from there, I think. You could drop both campaigns and do something completely new or drop one campaing and finish the other or you could put one campaign on hold while finishing the other and then return to finish the first one.
Both campaigns are fairly well written and really help a new GM to get some experience. However, I strongly recomend to not run any campaign of the two on its own since the learning curve will get pretty steep then.
I bet you could also use two different campaigns but I've already succesfully tried those two.

Another good source for inspiration is Blackjack's Homepage.

[Jason Farlander]

As an alternative to the spyware/adware-ridden Kazaa, you might want to try WinMX.

[Herald of Verjig...]

[Req]

Now is when I post something about Artificer. 8)

On a serious note, we've been gearing up for the Arc for some time. There's just enough clues lying around (and information the PCs have that they don't yet know is related) that it'll really get 'em going when they're inside for a meet and the doors come down... :)