[ShadowsOfEurope] Shadows of Europe, must-reads? Options

[Brambles]

Hi there,

I'm new to this forum (tough I have been reading it since I got into Shadowrun some months ago). So this is also a big hello to everyone :D

First of all, I love Shadows of Europe so far! It has a very European feel to it, and that's exactly what I wanted, eventough I still only read the first chapter. The only trouble I have with it, is that it points to so many people and events that I don't understand half of the shadowtalk. But I like the flavor about it.

So my question:
I have to prepare a second run (ever) for my group, in one week... do you have any advice on wich section to read first, and to make a run with for noobies?

Thanks in advance!
Brambles

[Grinder]

I would ask your players which european country they would prefer. Each one has it's own flair and offers unique possibilites. Runs in United Netherland vary from runs in France, i'm sure. ;)

Oh, and be welcome :)

[Kanada Ten]

Don't feel bad about what you understand or not. I've been playing Shadowrun for over 13 years and I don't get half of the references yet.

That said, the all the nations besides Germany (AGS), England and Tir na nOg are newly covered by the book (to those of us State side anyway) and seem mostly self contained. France is a perfect example of this, where even their economy is rather self-contained. That chapter lays out all those in power there, the major crime groups, and even layout some nice runs between the Nobles and the Government.

That said, the first few runs should be aimed at helping the players get a feel for their characters and your style of GMing.

Maybe a small time mercenary outfit in Poland came across a rare artifact. They took some pictures and e'mailed them to the University of Prague for an estimate. The exchange was intercepted and the Atlantean Foundation (who's dig originally found the artifact before being forced to abandon it or be smashed by the Polish army) hires the runners to retrieve it. Because the group is a mercenary outfit, you can have them guarding the prize with whatever you like to give the PCs chances to use their skills and abilities.

The Timeline Explorer might help you connect the dots with unknown references. If you don't know about the Atlantean Foundation, simply enter it as a query there and get:

[Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_*]

If you've just read the first chapter, I'd focus on a corp or OC run. Cross-reference with the respective country, and use the index liberally.

Also, many events mentioned in SoE are already in the Timeline Explorer, which might help you connect the dots more easily.

[Kanada Ten]

What's an OC run? Organized Crime?

This post has been edited by Kanada Ten: Feb 3 2005, 02:06 AM

[Sepherim]

Yup, I'd do that too. Stick to a classic "get in-get thing-get out" kind of run, but taking the chance to describe a bit the city they're going to have as home-base, and the corp they're attacking (maybe a good ocasion for a bit of background on it).

Still, as has been said before, it's importante to allow your players to help you choose the country, at least if they know something about Europe's shadows or have some kind of personal interests.

[Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_*]

Yeah. Organized Crime.

[Brambles]

Thanks for all the cool advice and the timeline link, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need it very often.

I asked one of my players about where he'd like to run, and he told me he wanted to play all over Europe... So since I'm from Belgium, I'm prolly going to do something there (in the United Netherlands that is). That's what my players know, and if I add some Shadowrun flavor to it I'm pretty sure they'll like it.

As for the run itself, I'm going to take your advice and keep it simple. I thought of a hostage held in a secured villa of some sort. It's kinda cheap, but I rather not complicate plots because my group has a short attention span, and we're not familiar with all the rules yet.

One of my players also wanted to play a former MET2000 mercenary, so I thought it would be cool if I let them be chased by his former employers. This could make it more challenging for them too, since they have to avoid the MET's. I assume that if they try to fight, my group would be insta killed, and that would be the end of my Shadowrun sessions :P

[Sepherim]

This plot devise is indeed interesting, but don't let the player get all the central stage because of that link with his background, especially if you're planning on keeping MET as an important group in the campaign.