Looks like to get my group to try SR, I'm going to have to run it. That's cool, I just don't have a whole lot of experience, so I'm turning to the Dumpshock experts for advice. What pitfalls should a new GM watch out for when running a Shadowrun campaign?

I'm going to run foodfight, then the rest of first run, so I think I have enough material to get my players introduced and see if they like the setting/system. I just don't want my inexperience to sour them on Shadowrun.

Rereading the rules I've got a few specific questions I'm trying to figure out.

SINs? Who has them, and why? More specifically, its implied in the Big Ds prez campaign that he had to get special dispensation from Congress to get a SIN and the accompanying full citizenship so he could run; and that the Awakened Races (Elves, Orcs, Dwarfs, and Trolls) don't get SINs without the same congressional approval (and Dunkelzahn's case is the only approval), they are just probationary citizens. Does this mean that there should be NO professional Orcs/Trolls/Elves/Dwarfs, because they can't get IDs, Licenses, Education, or any official status? This doesn't sound right to me but I can't seem to clear it up.

Looks like the cyber versions of Thermovision and Lowlight are the same price, but Thermo has the fewest vision penalties across the board, why doesn't everyone take thermovision cyberware instead of Lowlight?

More questions as I think of them, thanks!

SINS - think social security numbers. If you've got one, well, okay: you're a legal citizen, and the system can track you. That's a minus. On the plus side, you can vote (how much do Shadowrunner's care?), you can legally register a firearm, and the police aren't supposed to beat up on you quite as much. It's a toss-up, really. Most GMs assume the players haven't got SINs, and use fake ID's all the time -- that's the easy way to do it. Metahumans can get SINs just fine, it's always been my understanding that Dunkie's laws made it possible for OTHER intelligent metacreatures (Like Dunkie himself, or Sasquatches, or...unicorns? Or whatever) capable of being legal citizens. Elves, dwarves, etc, have pretty much always been capable of it.

Thermo/Lowlight -- just get both. You can use both at once, you pick the better of the two modifiers whenever using both at once, and you're a happy monkey. Generally I think people lean towards Low-light for purely OOC reasons; realistically, you can see detail better with Low-light (than with reading heat signatures), you can read with Low-light, for instance, see facial features, hand motions, whatever. There's no hard and fast rules for it that I'm aware of, but which just sounds easier for a human brain to adapt to -- needing less light to see, or seeing everything in heat colors?

The SIN (System Identification Number) is the unique ID a country (or, for that matter, a corporation) assigns to each of its (official) citizens. I always compare it to the primary key in a database table named "citizen", which is linked to various other tables. But if one does not work with databases that is possibly not of much help. There is a special kind of SIN known as a Criminal SIN, which is automatically assigned to imprisoned criminals. This one is really a no-good, because everyone checking your SIN will treat you accordingly.

If you have no SIN you do not exist for the system. No social security at all, nearly no civil rights, many areas of a city are a no go for the SINless. Every SIN check a potential danger, and they do happen quite regularly to you, if you do not look right. But of course there is also a bright side. It is much harder for the system, especially for law enforcement, to track someone who is not a SINner. This is why nearly all Shadowrunners are SINless. They try to be ghosts in the systems, living in the shadows, responsible only to themselves and not to Big Brother. It gives them freedom, which is possibly only an illusion.

Thermographic vision doesn't beat out Low-Light in all fields, and with the Eyelight mod in Man & Machine Low-Light is better than non-natural themal vision at everything, and equals the natural thermo mod for full darkness. Plus, like Critias said, there is a RL distinction that isn't really acknowledged in the core book that you can do some thing using Low-Light (night-vision enhancers) such as reading text or looking through glass (glass is opaque in the IR part of the spectrum) that you can't do with IR sensor (which is what thermographic vision is) even though FLIR cameras can relay some pretty impressive physical details and you can see residual heat impressions, but both have their pluses and minuses. Likewise, some things are reflective low-light that aren't in IR, and some things are IR reflective but aren't in the visual spectrum (There's a whole discussion about the security applications of this little tidbit in State of the Art: 2063).

Dunk was a special exception because he was a non-metahuman sentient. Metas can have SINs, but there are a disproportionate number of them who do not, usually because they were born and raised in the Barrens or equivalent.

Also, he was neither born in the US nor resident when the constitution was adopted, making it difficult for him to run for president.

I think his place of birth was no problem. President Schwarzenegger was born in Austria...

In addition, you need a SIN for anything you would sign a contract for today: renting or buying anything large, getting your utilities hooked up, opening a bank account, and so on.

Of course you can use fake IDs to do all this stuff or get someone with a real SIN (or just another fake ID) to 'front' many things for you..

Dunki could simply tell that he is born in the USA. Who would dare to call a great dragon a liar?

I am not talking about the real world. I am pretty sure that in some older sourcebook there was a list of UCAS and US presidents up to 205x. And his name was in it.

Think he's described as a senator, not president.

Is he? I am not able to find it at the moment.

Paranormal Animals Of North America, iirc

A few laws for being US pres, they have to be born in the US, and they can only serve two terms. If memory serves me, neither of those apply in the UCAS. Could be wrong though.

The story with Big D was the government was wanting to get their hooks into the dragons hoard and income. Dunkie played the IRS, getting a legal SIN out of the deal. When what was left of the USA and Canada merged to form the UCAS, they adopted a clause similar to the one Crusher Bob cited about being a citizen at the time of the formation.

It just so happened Dunkelzahn now qualified for the presidency.

(And due to the rich having the best tax advisers and strategies, the IRS got piddly squat.)

Well, the grandfather clause is a little more open than that given the fact that Nadja Daviar isn't a natural born UCAS citizen, nor was a resident of either country when they merged.

You're forgetting sub-clause 943.5, addendum XVII -- Nipples, Dark Brown.

And I'm sure that Ryan Mercury would love to know that you lot are talking about the color of his lady's nipples.

I doubt he will care, since he won't be born for about 15 years.

I've never played that Metahumans couldn't have SINs. Even if your elf or ork can't have a UCAS SIN they could still have one issued by the corporation they work for, Cascade Ork Tribe (which would probably sell them for a small fee, or offer it with parking validation) or Tir Tairngire (which wouldn't, but they like elves).

Also, check out criminal SINs.

As for thermographic, it works great. Until you need to read a street sign or that "emergency exit this way" sign or whatever. Low light's got its uses. Depending upon how you run it, Thermo wouldn't be much good for telling one person from another at any kind of distance either. All of which matters little when you're stomping corporate goons or whatever. Besides, picking out the "best" gear is part of the fun of SR - why shouldn't your players get to enjoy that?

Dark brown nipples, mmmm?

*licks lips.* Dark brown, always fine.... (Where did you come upon this information, Tisoz?)

Thanks for the responses guys, I just want to make sure I'm not overlooking something.

More questions I've been mulling over:

Are modifiers, like vision modifiers, strictly additive?

Example. Johnny the Human gunbunny is firing his smartlinked Ares Predator at a target in short range. It complete darkness, (and for simplicity those are all the factors I'll bring into play) thats base TN 4, minus 2 for the smartlink, plus 8 for complete darkness = 10. So does that then mean that Johnny can spend 8 simple take aim actions and have the TN back down to 2? Or are some modifiers resolved in a specific order?

What Cyberware can you turn on and Off? Bone lacing obviously not, and the text states clearly that Cyber Thermo, ect., can with a free action. The existence of the reflex trigger is pretty clear evidence that wired can't, but how about the VCR?Or the Balance Augmenter? And what is the determining factor?

On the SIN question, any clear reason so many people don't have one? Is everyone born in UCAS territory entitled to one, but only get into the system if they are born in a UCAS hospital?. Obviously Shadowrunners don't want one, so If you were born into upstanding circumstances but fell into the shadows, are you trying to get yours erased, or just hope to wear a ski mask all the time. And why don't paranoid runners simply wear ski masks all the time, on runs? (doesn't fit the Trogs horns maybe?)

For a characters overflow, is it based on natural or augmented body? The way I'm reading it, it does seem to be based on the augmented body attribute, but that feels a bit off somehow.

How do runners get their cred off that one registered credstick the johnson gave them and onto several smaller, more manageable ones they can spread around?

If you have a spell library in data form, what form is it in? Do you have to pay for the library with (rating squared x 1000 ) then buy (rating squared x 100 megapulses) worth of some memory medium (Optical Memory Chips maybe a .5 per mp?) or does it come on some form for the original price? If the the Decker is trying to rip a spell formula off the Matrix for his Mage buddy, whats the multiplier on spell formulae? If you place a magical thesis in data form on a knowsoft, is it the chip, then, that is astrally linked to the originating mage? What if the data is transferred to a different medium, or in an act of incomprehensible stupidity, uploaded to the matrix and made opensource?

and Yes, I have to be prepared for these and like questions from my circle of bitter, pedantic friends, who can't just suspend disbelief and enjoy a game!

Thanks Critas, but I do have to wonder if you aren't running the matrix over my shoulder. You have been the first to respond to both parts of this post even though its midnight where I am. Get some sleep man! =)

Aside, that does remind me to note I am using SR 3 rules. What do you mean Cyber Bod mods only add to the damage resistance test? I know they specifically don't apply for the rolls to avoid being maimed by deadly wounds, where else don't these mods apply?

Cybernetic mods to the Body score (i.e. bone lacing, dermal plating/sheath) don't apply to Body tests to resist toxins or disease, to Body-based skills (like Athletics, Parachuting, etc.), and I would presume test to resist fatigue. They only count for the tests to soak damage.

EDIT: A bioware mod to body (from the superthyroid gland) would count towards all those things. It's considered a change to the character's "natural" attribute score.

Well, there's always Harlequin's Back...

Hehehe.

Make sure you familiarize yourself with as many of the sourcebooks as you can. It's the richness of the sixth world that makes SR really good.

For starters, I recommend New Seattle. There are also a bunch of not-yet-fleshed-out adventure scenarios in there.
Maybe not Harlequin's ("Screw it, you're dead.") Back, but the first Harlequin campaign, despite its production flaws, would make good intro runs.

BTW It would be interesting to create a thesis in the form of a knowsoft (or for that matter, a skillsoft) wouldn't it?

About SINs. I don't think they ever really nailed down the specifics of how SINs work, although there are a few decent overviews published. Don't get too tangled up in the legal stuff. Or make up your own rules.

Now for the real mindtwisters, questions about Astral interaction?

So you think the Implanted impact armor would count as well?

Um... Dermal sheathing is on the inside of the skin, now? Does that include the kind with built in scanners and ruthenium?

Second, a needle getting stopped or deformed by bone lacing might be inside the body, but arguing that this has no effect is kind of like arguing that a dart from a tranquilizer gun that hit your cheek and broke on a molar or got stuck in the jawbone would have the same effect as if it hit an inch or two lower, right next to the various blood vessels in the neck - because it entered the body already.

Still, by the time it's interacting with the dart, it's too late.