IPB

Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

 
Reply to this topicStart new topic
> Creating Runs?, I would like to make my own scenarios
Rayston
post Nov 17 2014, 11:19 PM
Post #1


Target
*

Group: Members
Posts: 32
Joined: 26-February 02
Member No.: 2,107



I am "okay" at the actual running of the game. But I am hopeless at creating runs/scenarios. Any resources you could point me at to make me better at it?
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Koekepan
post Nov 18 2014, 04:02 AM
Post #2


Neophyte Runner
*****

Group: Members
Posts: 2,040
Joined: 19-May 12
From: Seattle area
Member No.: 52,483



No.

Errr, but I'm willing to help.

I suggest looking at established, published adventures and campaigns to get a feel for what the GM needs to know - because that's what you're doing, instructing the GM. It doesn't matter that you're the GM.

You will notice that in each game system, the source material tends to look different. In classic DnD, it was mazes and monsters with some flavour text. In White Wolf it was complex social diagrams, key events, and pages of flavour text. In Shadowrun it's highlighted issues, stats for mooks and bosses, machines and monsters, and an outline of the environment.

So, if you're creating a run for Shadowrun, you're going to want to at least touch the major points. What is the run? Wetwork? Datasteal? Hooding? Smuggling? That gives you an entry. Then you need the players. Who stole what from whom? Who is angry? And everyone is lying (or almost everyone) so what lies are they telling? What motivates the run? Who stands to gain what from paying some very expensive mercenaries stupid money to do this one, tiny thing? Is pride involved? Ego? Religion? Ideology? Vengeance? Plain old personal hatred? Filthy piles of filthy cash?

If you're running short on ideas, play madlibs with a concept:

(Scumbag) gets (Johnson) to hire (Runners) to do (action) to (target) because (motivation). (Scumbag) misrepresents the situation as (plausible excuse) to (save face/misdirect enemies/other reason) which will get (Runners) in trouble because of (vital detail).

By all means ask more questions. I'll try to lend a hand.

Another good tip: always distract the players with something which looks vitally important but is really just meaningless drek. It keeps them guessing until you do the Big Reveal and they have to avoid tripping on their jaws while desperately trying to return fire.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Blade
post Nov 18 2014, 12:21 PM
Post #3


Runner
******

Group: Members
Posts: 3,009
Joined: 25-September 06
From: Paris, France
Member No.: 9,466



The basic scenario will be a job: someone need a team to do something. The main book shoud list all the most common jobs Shadowrunners are expected to do.

Something very important for new GM is to never forget to take into account the three worlds: physical, magic and matrix. If you overlook the magic defenses, a mage will be able to waltz through the run. If you forget the matrix, the decker/hacker won't be able to do anything.

That's the basics. Don't hesitate to ask questions if you want more details or have more specific questions.

Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Kyrel
post Nov 18 2014, 05:58 PM
Post #4


Moving Target
**

Group: Members
Posts: 271
Joined: 1-September 09
From: Denmark
Member No.: 17,583



I'm affraid that I can't point you to any specific ressources that will help make you better at creating runs, but like the previous posters, I can try and help you out by telling you how I normally go about things.

1) Inspiration. Inspiration for a run can come from anywhere really. Besides the books themselves, I tend to find inspiration in all sorts of places, be it scenes in a movie, books, daily events, or stuff you hear about in various forms of media like the news. A lot of stuff from the gossip and "cultural" pages can serve as inspiration for all kinds of things. One site I came across, which can provide a source of inspiration, is http://www.crazydaysandnights.net/. A google search for floorplans can help you out with plenty of types of floorplans to serve as inspiration for a drawing, or as actual material for the players.

2) Once you have the idea for the run, start building the stuff that surrounds it. Players need to steal a vase from a museum? Fine. Where's it located? What does the place look like? What's the security like at various times of the day and week? Are there CCTV in the place? What happens if or when a particular alarm trips? How long does it take for a response team of some sort to show up, from the time an alarm goes off? What's the quality of the various types of security? How large is the vase the players are stealing? Will they need specialized equipment to get to it? Can they bypass the alarms? How? Is the matrix stuff running on wifi or wires? Which systems are connected? Is the place relying on drones and automated systems mainly? Or are they betting on (meta)humans and/or organics (dogs etc.)? What are the NPC's driving/sailing/flying? What does the calendar for an abduction target look like?
Consider things from the player's perspective. What information do they need to be able to plan the run? That information is the minimum of stuff that you need to prepare, along with location descriptions and stats for things they will (potentially) have to roll dice against.

3) Once the required information is in place, you can then start adding additional stuff, that will help bring the setting and run alive, like who are the various individuals the players can/will face? What do they look like? What are their relationships with each other? Can any of them be bribed? Will there be fallout if someone is killed by the runners? Why are the runners being asked to undertake this run? Who is behind it? Who's behind their employer? What are the NPC's carrying? What might a hacker be able to find on the NPC's comlinks?
Most of this stuff isn't really necessary and can be made up on the fly as needed. But thinking through some of this stuff is helpful I find, because it makes the setting and NPCs come alive.


Hope you can use this for something.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Bearclaw
post Nov 19 2014, 12:08 AM
Post #5


Shooting Target
****

Group: Members
Posts: 1,632
Joined: 26-February 02
From: Portland Oregon, USA
Member No.: 1,304



Here's the notes for the last adventure I wrote, set kind of in the middle of the last Seattle Missions campaign. It was a one off, one session mission, because our decker was out that week:

1. Party gets message from Daisy. Her and Jessi are in Arcata CA, hiding from a team of Shadowrunners. The message is an auto-send.

"Hey chummers. I'm in a fix. Jessi and I are at the Hampton Inn in Arcata, CFS. Where 299 and 101 come together. There's all kinds of shit going down right now. For some reason the Tir has attacked the town, and there's firefights all around town. The action scared off my ride home. While trying to hook up something else, I spotted a tail. Not sure why they're after me, and I'm not going to find out. I'm dropping this in my room and getting out. So you'll need to track us down when you get here.
Please, come get us. This is a straight up rescue mission and I've got an emergency fund of 75K set up for this kind of thing. It's in an escrow account held by Pusan Undernet. THe number is 12345678 and the password is password. Take it all, hire whoever you need to hire, spend what you need to spend and keep the rest. Keep this link if you find it, too."

2. Between Seattle and Denny Creek, they get jumped by a heavy Aztechnology hit team. This has nothing to do with the current situation, just retribution for past actions.

3. However they come in to the area, they'll be treated as a hostile aircraft by the local militia guys on the ground and if they don't get out of the air quickly, a couple of jets will get scrambled to shoot them down.

4. The room is already trashed. The comm link and Daisy are gone. There is a watcher spirit which will run off and tell the bad guys when the party enters the room. If they are there for over 2 minutes, ButtMunch the Mage will show up astrally to check them out. He will avoid contact, and break off from any fight. If pressed, he'll attack with two of his bound elementals and take off. He'll do his best not to lead a tail back to his party. If the party doesn't notice, he'll tail them from a distance, and hope they lead him to daisy.

5. Distant gunfire is a constant background noise. Occasional close bursts of autofire are also heard, as well as the occasional blast from a grenade. There are always at least 2 choppers in the air, sometimes more. There are ground patrols everywhere. Every block there is a 1 in 6 chance of encountering combatants from the CFS military (1), arcata malitia types (2-4), or Tir military (5-6). Distance will be 3D6 x 10M. If there is an engagement with either military, air support is two turns away.

6. Astrally tracking Daisy shouldn't be hard for a members of her group. She is hiding in a barn at the end of Pepperwood Lane, about 1500 meters away.

7. If the bad guys track the party, they'll jump them as soon as they meet up with Daisy and Jessi. Jessi is the one they want. Everyone else can surrender, run, or die.
With a little persuasion, they opposition can give up who hired them (Simon) and where they were supposed to meet up (the Tacoma docks).

Bad guys
3 tir ghosts
1 Tir ghost Lt/hacker
1 Combat mage
1 Occult Investigator

CFS Military, Tir Soldiers
Initiative - 9 1 ip
AK 97 - 10 - 6p
combat knife - 8 - 3p
Dodge - 3 (7)
Armor 8/8 Body 5 Reaction 4

Malitia
Init - 8 1ip
Remington 900 - 9 - 7p
Combat knife - 7 - 3p
Dodge 2 ( 5)
Armor 6/6

Actual story:
Jessi is an unexpressed Drake.
Simon works for Lofwyr in Seattle, this is known.
Daisy works for Hestaby in Seattle. This is not known. I stole her from the last adventure in the 3rd edition First Run.
"Aunt Daisy" has been taking care of/watching out for Jessi since her parents had a terrible accident, grooming her for Hestaby's service. Simon very recently put the clues together about Jessi. Lofwyr is behind the Tir's recent forray into Northern Cal, as cover for the ex Tir Ghost strike team Simon sent down to retrieve Jessi.
Jessi and the party are completely unaware of the real story.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Cain
post Nov 19 2014, 04:06 AM
Post #6


Grand Master of Run-Fu
*********

Group: Dumpshocked
Posts: 6,840
Joined: 26-February 02
From: Tir Tairngire
Member No.: 178



There are a couple of steps to the traditional shadowrun. None of them are strictly required, but it's good to know the tropes before you break them.

1. The Meet. This is very traditional, they're called by a fixer to meet Mr/Ms Johnson. Johnson will give them a small teaser about the run and the payment if they choose to accept. Very seldom to players ever refuse a run at this point, but make sure you work out the expected payment with them. They should know if the pay is low, high, or about average for the run being described. They're welcome to negotiate for a higher payment at this point, although being intimidating or rude will work against them. There's not much challenge for the GM in this phase, as long as the runners behave themselves. Professional Johnsons will put on a display of wealth-- buying everyone food and drinks is common, as is scheduling the meet at an expensive bar/restaurant.

Variations on a theme: the Johnson doesn't need to be a professional. It could be a friend or contact of the runners, or it could be someone who's looking for runners for a personal reason. In these cases, they won't offer much money, but may call in favors or offer other things.

After they accept, the Johnson will give them more information and details. If the run is substantially different than described, the runners can re-negotiate, but that seldom happens. It's in the Johnsons's best interest to be reasonably honest at this point. They seldom give the real reason for the run, though. The Johnson usually leaves at this point, which starts the second phase:

2. Legwork. Smart runners will investigate everything they can before they make a plan. They'll get in touch with contacts, hook up with friends-of-a-friend, and do Matrix searches. Really smart runners will also investigate their Johnson, so they know what kind of bees nest they're kicking over. The challenge for the GM in this part is twofold: first, you need to control how much information the players get. Too little, and they're going in blind. Too much, and they can drown in intel. You also need to be able to sense when it's time to move on. It's far too easy for players to get so distracted by this part, the scene never moves on.

Variations on a theme: Contacts are people too, with their own motivations. They never screw over the runner, but they might have their own goals and agendas. It's common for them to ask the runner to do a side mission, if they're involved in the mission at all. They might give biased or false information, although that's kind of playing dirty. (It's fair game if they critically botch, though.)

3. Planning. This can be the biggest part of the run. It frequently bleeds into Legwork, and it's not uncommon for players to switch back and forth as they come up with ideas. Players can come up with the most insane, Rube Goldberg plans that get incredibly intricate and sometimes involve side runs. The challenge again is keeping the players on task-- while it's fun to watch them make their plans, sooner or later you need to get things going. Otherwise, you'll get things like: "Okay, we've got a doughnut van, a toaster, two hamsters, and a snowplow. What were we doing again?"

4. The run itself. There's an old saying: "No plan survives contact with the enemy." The truly amusing part is that no matter how intricate the plan, it usually falls apart at the first sign of trouble, and they start shooting. The trick here is that you need to respond to the players, fairly. If they come up with an off the wall plan that you didn't expect, it's not fair to suddenly develop counter. Your challenge is to provide a reasonable and justified response to their actions. A few monkeywrenches are acceptable, of course, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Remember, the second they think they're blown, they'll usually resort to shooting, so it doesn't take much.

5. The fallout. Runs aren't done in a vacuum. There's always an aftermath, although it might now be obvious. Sometimes, this happens right away, other times it waits for later in the campaign. Most of the time, the runners just go back to the Johnson and report success/turn in the MacGuffin, and collect their pay.

The most common variation on this theme is the Johnson betraying the team somehow, with a nasty set-up at this point. It's common enough, but I say you should use it sparingly, if at all. Other variations include discovering that their MacGuffin is toxic, dangerous, or that they just did the equivalent of burning an orphanage full of puppies who are also orphans. They might need to make restitution, or they might be mad at the Johnson for not telling them everything. Either way, it's not over until everything is dealt with.

There's not many challenges to the GM, unless the players want to go on another run to deal with the fallout. That's a personal choice as to how you should deal with that.

6. Wrapup. This is where you assign karma, and help players advance. Quite a bit of advancement in Shadowrun needs to be handled with the GM, especially getting more cyber. Making rolls to get gear also requires your input. In SR5, almost everything requires a GM to handle it, there's not much in the way of automatic advancement, especially where Instruction is involved. Time management is also a big issue in SR5, because advancement takes time-- downtime, but time nonetheless. You'll need to handle it carefully.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Neraph
post Nov 19 2014, 03:33 PM
Post #7


Great Dragon
*********

Group: Members
Posts: 5,542
Joined: 30-September 08
From: D/FW Megaplex
Member No.: 16,387



Adventure Design
THUGS!
Grunt Survival Guide
Archetypes
Retired runners
The Collected Paracritters Project

Do these help?

EDIT: Personally I use The Three O's when developing 'runs, and it moves a lot more fluidly than sitting down and scripting out a whole mess. You need 1) the Objective, the actual mission itself (including optional mission parameters), 2) the Opposition, what matrix/astral/physical resistance your team will be meeting, including drones, locks, wards, and threat-response teams, and 3) any Obstructions, which would be certain alarms that would actually trigger the HTR team, or incomplete data from their source, or any number of other things.

Once you get The Three O's set up, you can fill in blanks. Running it this way also allows you to freeform faster and easier, in my experience at least.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Bertramn
post Nov 20 2014, 08:41 AM
Post #8


Moving Target
**

Group: Members
Posts: 264
Joined: 28-October 14
From: HH
Member No.: 190,938



My tip is to be completely shameless in ripping off stuff from good sources.

For example:
Two years ago I re-watched Batman Beyond, and keep a small file on my pc with plot-hooks I lifted from that show.

Another way to work out a scenario is to think of a specific roleplaying situation, that might consist of a moral dilemma, which you want to put the characters in,
and to build the run around that concept.
Moral dilemmas tend to not work with a band of murder hobos though.

Also it helps to encourage the players to come up with runs themselves.
If they have an idea on how to make money fast, that can become a run too.
Getting specific high-grade gear might require a run.
Those do not have to be incredibly complicated, but they can be satisfying for the players,
because they are their own baby.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
ShadowPavement
post Nov 20 2014, 03:22 PM
Post #9


Moving Target
**

Group: Members
Posts: 211
Joined: 11-April 03
From: Maine
Member No.: 4,431



QUOTE (Neraph @ Nov 19 2014, 04:33 PM) *
EDIT: Personally I use The Three O's when developing 'runs, and it moves a lot more fluidly than sitting down and scripting out a whole mess. You need 1) the Objective, the actual mission itself (including optional mission parameters), 2) the Opposition, what matrix/astral/physical resistance your team will be meeting, including drones, locks, wards, and threat-response teams, and 3) any Obstructions, which would be certain alarms that would actually trigger the HTR team, or incomplete data from their source, or any number of other things.

Once you get The Three O's set up, you can fill in blanks. Running it this way also allows you to freeform faster and easier, in my experience at least.



This structure works really well for episodic games, which is the way I ram my last campaign. I kept the objectives straight forward and would set the three O's as above. Then I would ask my players "what are you going to do? From there it was just answering questions depending on what the dice rolled for leg work and having the bad guys react according to their skill tests. Worked like a charm and usually required only 2 pages of notes plus an extra for bad guys.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Neraph
post Nov 20 2014, 05:51 PM
Post #10


Great Dragon
*********

Group: Members
Posts: 5,542
Joined: 30-September 08
From: D/FW Megaplex
Member No.: 16,387



QUOTE (ShadowPavement @ Nov 20 2014, 09:22 AM) *
This structure works really well for episodic games, which is the way I ram my last campaign. I kept the objectives straight forward and would set the three O's as above. Then I would ask my players "what are you going to do? From there it was just answering questions depending on what the dice rolled for leg work and having the bad guys react according to their skill tests. Worked like a charm and usually required only 2 pages of notes plus an extra for bad guys.

I have a selection of grunts made out on notecards that I can pull from a card box. I also have a folder on my PC/laptop of a lot of different grunts arranged by PR. After that all you need is scratch paper for Initiative and Damage.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Beta
post Nov 21 2014, 09:20 PM
Post #11


Shooting Target
****

Group: Dumpshocked
Posts: 1,908
Joined: 21-July 14
From: Northern UCAS (with regular trips to Quebec)
Member No.: 190,206



Distinctive NPC that you can re-use help make episode more memorable. It isn't just a hitman after you, it is a hitman who styles himself as a hunter of the most dangerous game, other dangerous metahumans. The mercenary you have to negotiate with who likes to juggle hand-grenades. Mr. Johnson is covered in obscene tatoos. The security mage is so fat he can barely walk. The Spider your hacker is facing keeps sending messages that are quotes from 20th century action movies. Etc. Not all at once, or even every adventure, but someone distinctive and odd fairly often really helps.

To a lesser extent, recurring NPC can have catch-phrases to help everyone remember who they are.

All of that makes the individual sessions more memorable, IMO.

Early on bring opposition into things in waves, so you can hold off if things are going tough on players. Also give the opposition good chances to hit, but not too high DV--being hit often makes it feel like a tough fight, but there is less risk that one bad roll will geek a player character. I.E. until you know they can handle it, equip the opposition with machine-pistols, not assault rifles.

Be very careful with enemy spirits. In general, along the lines of the advice on guns, start enemy mages with magic a bit lower than the PC, and only summoning, say, force four spirits.

Do get a player to track initiative numbers, if possible. You have enough to think of without fussing over that.

Vary the challenges the players are facing. If one run has guards in a well protected control room with firing slots, that they have to somehow take out, then the next one shouldn't have another hard point to assault. Some runs shouldn't require combat (although it is always an option), sometimes the priority should be taking someone out quickly and quietly, once in a while a full out mass brawl is exciting, etc.

Basically, the rules are pretty good at creating reasonable opposition easily, what is key is putting in the variety.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Neraph
post Nov 21 2014, 09:38 PM
Post #12


Great Dragon
*********

Group: Members
Posts: 5,542
Joined: 30-September 08
From: D/FW Megaplex
Member No.: 16,387



I had a security guard collapse on the ground crying about his girlfriend when the sheep hit the rotary blade. That stuck out in my players' heads, even though I tossed it in without thinking.

Not everyone is a mindless zombie who's there to give the players XP. They're (meta)human, so make them act like it.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Wounded Ronin
post Nov 21 2014, 11:41 PM
Post #13


Great Dragon
*********

Group: Members
Posts: 6,640
Joined: 6-June 04
Member No.: 6,383



QUOTE (Rayston @ Nov 17 2014, 06:19 PM) *
I am "okay" at the actual running of the game. But I am hopeless at creating runs/scenarios. Any resources you could point me at to make me better at it?


I don't know about resources per se, but I GMed SR3 for many years back in college and even high school if I think on it.

I think that there is no one size fits all resource because styles of gaming can be very divergent. For example some people are all about the idea of "the story" and care whether or not the player characters are well realized, and will fudge rolls and stuff to this end. Some people care a lot about tactical realism and have all kinds of house rules to try and approach a satisfying sense of reality and care less about "the story" and will be unwilling to fudge rolls. I remember how in the day I had one player who was all about the characters, basically, and how at times there could be a style conflict between him and me, where I wanted to challenge the players tactically.

I think you will be the best GM you can if you enjoy what you're doing. So decide what you enjoy running, work to improve your delivery, and hopefully your players will enjoy your style and come out for your games.

One thing I liked to do back in the day was occasionally rotate GMs. I guess we were all pretty dedicated to the game so this worked because people stepped up. It was really nice because it exposed us all to different styles of GMing and games and I came to appreciate different peoples' styles. Also it kept the games fresh and interesting because GMs got to recharge their creative batteries while enjoying settings and campaigns that they perhaps wouldn't have come up with themselves.

So, that's my advice. The real resource is within yourself and the passion you bring to the table can be much more magnetic and compelling than having any particular methodology handy. Collect dedicated players who are also willing to GM so that everyone can enjoy different types of games rather than feeling like one style is the end all be all for that group.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Wounded Ronin
post Nov 21 2014, 11:45 PM
Post #14


Great Dragon
*********

Group: Members
Posts: 6,640
Joined: 6-June 04
Member No.: 6,383



QUOTE (Bertramn @ Nov 20 2014, 03:41 AM) *
My tip is to be completely shameless in ripping off stuff from good sources.


Ah hah, this is good advice. I had so much fun with this back in the day.

I think that me and the other gamers would have been irritated if someone ripped off in all seriousness and tried to hide it, but inevitably the rip off would be kind of tongue in cheek and sort of lampooning the ripped-off material, or even some degree of sarcastic commentary on the ripped-off material. This was great fun and I think we had many a great laugh over these rip offs.

I guess that might not work so well for someone who is ultra serious about "the story" or whatever, but for someone who always tried to inject a little humor or absurdity into the game I felt it worked well.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Bearclaw
post Nov 22 2014, 05:30 AM
Post #15


Shooting Target
****

Group: Members
Posts: 1,632
Joined: 26-February 02
From: Portland Oregon, USA
Member No.: 1,304



Everyone rips off stories. Read Bottled Demon and then watch The Maltese Falcon some time.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Cain
post Nov 22 2014, 10:28 AM
Post #16


Grand Master of Run-Fu
*********

Group: Dumpshocked
Posts: 6,840
Joined: 26-February 02
From: Tir Tairngire
Member No.: 178



QUOTE (Betx @ Nov 21 2014, 01:20 PM) *
Distinctive NPC that you can re-use help make episode more memorable. It isn't just a hitman after you, it is a hitman who styles himself as a hunter of the most dangerous game, other dangerous metahumans. The mercenary you have to negotiate with who likes to juggle hand-grenades. Mr. Johnson is covered in obscene tatoos. The security mage is so fat he can barely walk. The Spider your hacker is facing keeps sending messages that are quotes from 20th century action movies. Etc. Not all at once, or even every adventure, but someone distinctive and odd fairly often really helps.

To a lesser extent, recurring NPC can have catch-phrases to help everyone remember who they are.

All of that makes the individual sessions more memorable, IMO.

While I agree with what you're saying, there's a trap there as well.

A common mistake for new GM's of any system is to spend so much time and energy developing their NPC's, they focus on them too much. At the low end, because they worked so hard making these characters, they feel that if they don't use them fully, that effort is wasted. So, sometimes the players are forced to sit through too many NPC scenes. When this problem gets bigger, the NPC's start to take focus away from the PC's. At the worst end, we have GMPC's and games where the players are just sitting back and watching the NPC's do their thing.

The way to avoid this problem is to think of all the NPC's as expendable. Even though you spent forever coming up with that Johnson's backstory, motivations, and character, you have to accept that he might die-- he might piss off the players, and be gunned down. That's not to say there won't be consequences, but you have to apply them fairly, and not hold a grudge that your favorite NPC was killed off.

The balance point can be tricky to find, but you can create flavorful characters without falling into this trap. Personally, I find that prepping too much is often not helpful-- you can never predict what way the PC's will go, so you can't know if a given NPC will even show up on a given run. It's better for me to come up with a few notes on the major characters, and then improvise the rest in response to player actions. It keeps me away from the GMPC trap, and makes the game more focused on the players.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Beta
post Nov 23 2014, 03:09 AM
Post #17


Shooting Target
****

Group: Dumpshocked
Posts: 1,908
Joined: 21-July 14
From: Northern UCAS (with regular trips to Quebec)
Member No.: 190,206



QUOTE (Cain @ Nov 22 2014, 10:28 AM) *
While I agree with what you're saying, there's a trap there as well.

A common mistake for new GM's of any system is to spend so much time and energy developing their NPC's, they focus on them too much. At the low end, because they worked so hard making these characters, they feel that if they don't use them fully, that effort is wasted. So, sometimes the players are forced to sit through too many NPC scenes. When this problem gets bigger, the NPC's start to take focus away from the PC's. At the worst end, we have GMPC's and games where the players are just sitting back and watching the NPC's do their thing.

The way to avoid this problem is to think of all the NPC's as expendable. Even though you spent forever coming up with that Johnson's backstory, motivations, and character, you have to accept that he might die-- he might piss off the players, and be gunned down. That's not to say there won't be consequences, but you have to apply them fairly, and not hold a grudge that your favorite NPC was killed off.

The balance point can be tricky to find, but you can create flavorful characters without falling into this trap. Personally, I find that prepping too much is often not helpful-- you can never predict what way the PC's will go, so you can't know if a given NPC will even show up on a given run. It's better for me to come up with a few notes on the major characters, and then improvise the rest in response to player actions. It keeps me away from the GMPC trap, and makes the game more focused on the players.


Absolutely. I'm not suggesting putting huge amounts of time into them. More along the lines of:
- any stats that are not 3 or 4
- a couple of skill groups,
- a few other relevent skills
- relevant gear
- _occasionally_ a distinctive trait.

A decker will be unhappy when a Spider shows up. But if a spider shows up and and starts broadcasting "Hasta la vista!" and the player recognizes that it is _that_ spider that gave focused more on fragging his deck that stopping the steal, four runs ago--suddenly it just got more personal and the odds are high you suddenly see the intensity in the room go up. Etc. Distinctive allows you to make things more personal, IMO.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Blade
post Nov 24 2014, 10:17 AM
Post #18


Runner
******

Group: Members
Posts: 3,009
Joined: 25-September 06
From: Paris, France
Member No.: 9,466



And don't forget
QUOTE ("Raymond Chandler")
When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Neraph
post Nov 24 2014, 05:33 PM
Post #19


Great Dragon
*********

Group: Members
Posts: 5,542
Joined: 30-September 08
From: D/FW Megaplex
Member No.: 16,387



QUOTE (Cain @ Nov 22 2014, 04:28 AM) *
Even though you spent forever coming up with that Johnson's backstory, motivations, and character, you have to accept that he might die-- he might piss off the players, and be gunned down. That's not to say there won't be consequences, but you have to apply them fairly, and not hold a grudge that your favorite NPC was killed off.

That's why I don't. The Johnsons are rarely re-used. They are faceless, emotionless job-dispensers. Typically, actually, a lot of my Johnson meetups are done via VR and the player's Fixers are who take more of a spotlight.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Cain
post Nov 24 2014, 07:21 PM
Post #20


Grand Master of Run-Fu
*********

Group: Dumpshocked
Posts: 6,840
Joined: 26-February 02
From: Tir Tairngire
Member No.: 178



QUOTE (Neraph @ Nov 24 2014, 09:33 AM) *
That's why I don't. The Johnsons are rarely re-used. They are faceless, emotionless job-dispensers. Typically, actually, a lot of my Johnson meetups are done via VR and the player's Fixers are who take more of a spotlight.

Some people do heavily reuse Johnsons, and there's certainly nothing wrong with recurring NPC's. In the Missions modules, they have a rotating stock of Johnsons who show up to give you runs, which often tie into a bigger storyline. And if you want to spend forever developing and NPC, as long as you're having fun, it's fine.

But once game starts? If you focus too much on the NPC's, showing the history you developed, that means there's less focus on the players.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Iduno
post Nov 25 2014, 02:50 AM
Post #21


Moving Target
**

Group: Dumpshocked
Posts: 586
Joined: 27-January 07
From: United States
Member No.: 10,812



There was a journal here on dump shock where the gm started with an ending scene that would be interesting, and came up with a run that was likely to end with that situation. Between that and an interesting motivation for the Johnson (which the runners may never know), you can create a decent run. Maybe action movies for inspiration for the first and news stories/conspiracy theories for the second part get you some runs. As you build, move further afield for your inspirations.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Wounded Ronin
post Nov 25 2014, 05:02 AM
Post #22


Great Dragon
*********

Group: Members
Posts: 6,640
Joined: 6-June 04
Member No.: 6,383



QUOTE (Blade @ Nov 24 2014, 05:17 AM) *
And don't forget


"And suddenly, ninjas..."
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Hibiki54
post Dec 3 2014, 08:26 AM
Post #23


Target
*

Group: Members
Posts: 14
Joined: 24-September 14
Member No.: 190,640



Basic mission outline for a GM:

1) _______ is what I want my players to go after. What is ________?
2) I want them to get it from __________. Where is ________?
3) Someone will call my players to meet Mr Johnson who will offer them money. When they agree, tell them to go get ________ at _________. Maybe a little free information if they sweet talk.
4) The players go do legwork to learn more about ________ and the place it is located. Depending on what _______ is, more information can be gained depending if it is magical, tech, data, street level or corporate.
5) If one of the players is a decker, make sure to have something for him to do such as infiltrating a host.
6) If they players survey the site via decker, visual or astral, let them know that ______ is being guarded by ______. Which could be anything from gangers, corp security, rent-a-cops, drones, etc.
7) Decide if there would be an SRT/HRT response if the players go full pink-mohawk and kick in the door. Also decide if there will be an SRT/HRT response if they take too long or make the mistake of being easily traced.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif) Let the players plan the job and have fun when they execute their plan.
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post
Smilingfaces
post Dec 17 2014, 06:28 PM
Post #24


Target
*

Group: Members
Posts: 40
Joined: 15-December 14
Member No.: 191,480



Well other then the basics people have already said, best advise I can give you is, critique it to add some realism. Once you got the recipe add flavor and texture that's what makes the dish.
Here is what I am talking about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzgmnWt48JY great for deckers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvqojPY8Qo4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ_Um6XjMfQ industrial espionage.
http://www.amazon.com/Few-Kind-Words-Loade...y/dp/1556525710 True crime stuff
Last but not least https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFAh1C6ubAk cut your teeth on audio books, when you can describe stuff and its fluent no ah.. um.. and ands your game improves. Even if you got to pause for a second to grasp the image in your mind, it still will be fluent and your have players at the edge of the seat:) hope this helps
Go to the top of the page
 
+Quote Post

Reply to this topicStart new topic

 



RSS Lo-Fi Version Time is now: 28th March 2024 - 09:56 AM

Topps, Inc has sole ownership of the names, logo, artwork, marks, photographs, sounds, audio, video and/or any proprietary material used in connection with the game Shadowrun. Topps, Inc has granted permission to the Dumpshock Forums to use such names, logos, artwork, marks and/or any proprietary materials for promotional and informational purposes on its website but does not endorse, and is not affiliated with the Dumpshock Forums in any official capacity whatsoever.