General Questions, (for Shadowrun Missions) Options

[Dvixen]

With Virtual Seattle no longer part of the RPGA network - FanPro has supported the formation of Shadowrun Missions. Characters created for (and approved) for Shadowrun Missions games will be useable at any Shadowrun Missions events at any Convention or other gathering.

Bitrunner - who was the lead for Virtual Seattle - will be heading up this new project, and he will be along shortly to confirm/deny/correct anything I have already said.

Once he has what rules and guidelines he needs for these forums in place - it will open to the general populace. Until then, members may post to already existing threads, but will be unable to create new threads.

[TinkerGnome]

Here is a question I know is going to come up, even though I have no cares either way. What will the stance be on online play of scenarios? There are some RPGA online conventions which are fairly successful, but some of the campaigns forbid them, etc. I'm just curious about it ;)

Oh, and I'd ask chargen questions, but I'll wait to see the guidelines first.

[bitrunner]

My goal is to have at least one online opportunity per quarter. I know that there are many people out there that just don't have anyone near them to play SR, or can't get to a convention. Heck, even one of the freelancers is in Singapore, and there just aren't a lot of gamers there, period!

This is a daunting task however, my main concern is getting the campaign rolling. Once that has been accomplished, then we will try the online gaming. My "advisors" tell me that it takes roughly twice as long, so expect to set aside 8 hours or so for an online session...

Also, there will be other online "components" of the game as well. Foreshadowing of upcoming events, and clues to current events, will occasionally appear in the new screamsheets that will appear on the official SR website. Also, i'm hoping that some other stuff can be done online, such as say, decking?? ;)

[TinkerGnome]

In the past, I have, off and on, been associated with ArcanisOnline, a Living Arcanis online convention that happens about once a quarter. It's completely fan run, and they tend to do each module as two four hour blocks. If you want to keep the online in official hands, that's fine, as well, but their model might provide some food for thought.

I only played one module of Virtual Seattle, for a lot of reasons (lost interest in SR for a while, it was too hard for our team by a long shot, etc). I'm really onboard with the idea of SR: Missions and want to play as much as I can (mostly homegames, I'm sure, considering the way life works).

One thing that comes to mind is that a rating system for modules would be nice. Much as DnD games put a level limit on their modules (and a sliding challenge scale), some sort of warning about how hard a module is going to be would be nice ;) If VS had this, I'm not aware of it since, after all, I only played one game.

How will tracking me done? Log sheets? Log sheets + certs? A central tracking system?

Sorry if I'm asking dumb questions, but I kind of want to see this campaign succeed.

[bitrunner]

All good questions...

ArcanisOnline - the Arcanis people do good work...i'll check into it...

Rating System

Player Characters will be "rated" by the amount of total good karma they have earned. There will be four basic categories: Green, Streetwise, Veteran, and Elite. The overall average category of the table will determine the difficulty level of the scenario for that table. If you have 4 Green players and 1 Veteran player, the average is still Green, and therefore some things might be a little easier for the Veteran. For those that have been cursed, like myself, into playing Star Wars Galaxies, it will be like grouping with others in that game - your opponents difficulty level will change depending on the your groups abilities.

Tracking

After completing each scenario, a character will receive a Mission Log sheet. This datasheet will summarize the mission and any critical events that took place, along with any special rewards for the character including special gear, contacts, karma, nuyen, etc. This sheet will help keep a permanent record of the character's progress and subsumes the need for certs, etc. If the character wants to do something special, such as create a magic focus, all rolls are performed and witnessed in front of the current GM.

[TinkerGnome]

Sounds great!

Are you done with the character generation rules yet, or will we be seeing those closer to Christmas?

[DigitalMage]

[bitrunner]

Actually, both methods will be used...

Normally, such activities such as initiation would be witnessed by the GM after the gaming slot.

At larger cons, or during special events, we may arrange for an "interactive", where there will be stations set up for doing such things as one-on-one shadowruns, especially for stuff like decking, and other special activities, such as initiation, designing/building a weapon/focus/vehicle/ally spirit, astral quests, and other special stuff that might take longer than a quick dice roll.

for those that can't make it to a large convention or special event where these activities will take place, the player will have to make arrangements to do the activities through a FanPro Commando or me (online, if possible). If it absolutely has to be done through snail mail, then the player will have to accept the dice rolls made by me, since obviously they cannot perform them via computer or some other neutral agent.

[paladin]

Will VS stuff, like cash limits/mod and Tyger Teams specifically, have analogs in SRM?

[bitrunner]

No, we won't need to do that because we'll be handling that from the writing side of things right from the start...if you find a toy that is worth 300,000 nuyen, congratulations! just don't expect to get paid a lot...it will all balance out in the end - if a run doesn't pay well, then you can probably expect that loot will be more substantial to offset that low pay. if the pay is high, then the Johnson probably expects you to not touch anything on the mission, thus cutting down the "looting" factor...

[Deacon]

I'm not really fond of the 'Tyger Team' concept, as it encourages clique-based gaming. I'd much rather encourage people to mix their tables, include new players when possible, and spread the wealth...

[DigitalMage]

[bitrunner]

Tyger Teams -
This requires a few short points to explain:
1. Under VS, there was only one fixer - Claudia Tyger...
2. Originally, there was a limit placed on how much money/loot a character could have obtained from each scenario (100,000 nuyen). this, of course, prevented the character from receiving some items, especially riggers, from being able to keep tricked out vehicles. other items such as facilities were also restricted items that individual characters could not have.
3. In order to allow the characters to access this stuff, the Tyger Team concept was formed - it allowed players that had characters that ran together often to form a team and pool their resources. As long as over half a table was made up of members from the same team, they could use anything the team had obtained (which of course included all the big ticket items mentioned above). Also, loot that exceeded the limit could be taken in the name of the team.

Although there were only about a dozen (registered) teams, and they really didn't get abused, i agree that it tended to be counter to what we want to achieve - the social aspect of gaming...

[TimberWolf]

This is the general question place, so I ask a general question.


The Mission Logs: will judges be required to print these themselves, or will they be sent to the convention coords for printing and inclusion with handouts in the judge packet?

TimberWolf
A new name for a new campaign

[bitrunner]

Basically, adventures will be downloadable by Commandos and event organizers from various locations. A ZIP file will contain the main adventure and a copy of the log sheet, both are PDF files. It is up to the event organizer (which may actually be the judge!) to ensure that the materials are distributed appropriately.

So, if you are a judge, and you don't get the log sheets, ask - if they still don't provide them, let me know...an "interactive shadowrun" will be scheduled soon afterwards... 8)

[TimberWolf]

So, we need a Commando to run the Missions.. ::Sigh:: I guess I'll have to sign up.. Ugh...

[Fortune]

I didn't think it was necessary for one to actually be a Commando to run these adventures.

[DigitalMage]

No, from what I understand anyone can run these. But if a Commando runs one they get credited just as if they had run a demo. Also we might get things ahead of schedule but that is really up to Bitrunner.

[Joe_SmilingMoon]

When (approximately) will the first mod become available? We've got a con in February, see...

[TimberWolf]

It sounded like you had to have a Commando present on-site (Not necessarily running) to do this. Ah well, I may still do it.

[DigitalMage]

[bitrunner]

Sorry for the confusion...

A Commando is *NOT* required to run these events. If at all possible, I would like to see at least one Commando (that knows SR - most are only Battletech right now, but that will change!) at a con that will act as a "coordinator, final judge, arbitrator", etc, but I know that there are few SR Commandos out there at this time...

The only thing that *IS* required is for the person actually judging the event to know the SR rules, be a good GM, and have fun!

As for scenarios, the first scenario, Mission Briefing, will be out by January 1st. We hope to have others out soon afterwards, but that one, at least, will be ready...you will be able to download it on/after the 1st of January...

[DR.PaiN]

I've recently run a few VS mods for my home crew. How is the difficulty of Missions going to stack up with VS? VS had the hardest mods of any RPGA living campaign. I particularly love the run in the Amazonian jungle that culminates with the Azzie death squad. 8 Guys with Wire 3, Assault Rifles 8, and APDS. As well as a pair of Shaman. How any team can possibly not become a victim of a TPK is beyond my imagination. I also love the bodyguard run with the 9th lvl initiate and the Dragon. Good times. :please:

[bitrunner]

Well, we are going to try to follow the FanPro approach, which is a back to the streets, old fashioned shadowrun, rather than having tea with lofwyr type stuff...

the scenarios will be able to be scaled for the party level, as before. and, as usual, there is the "stupidity reward" - if the party does something stupid, they should expect to get spanked...hard...

[TinkerGnome]