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ShadowPavement
Hey all. Kind of new guy here looking for a little advice.

I’m not new to shadowrun (ran SR2 and SR3 games for several years in the past) but I stopped running SR just before 4th edition came out. I’m getting ready to run my first SR4 game this weekend with 3 players new to the game as well and I’ve done everything I can think of that I would normally do for a game by getting my GM tables and info already and notes on how basic combat, magic, and hacking work and so forth.

Does anyone have any suggestions about anything I should keep in mind going into the first session that they with they would have?
DireRadiant
Not really. If you GM already it's not any different then any other game. Just make sure to talk with your players about what you and they expect out of this first session.
noonesshowmonkey
The biggest change for me as a GM between SR3 and SR4 was the instant availability of hacking. With wifi networking hacking can happen literally at any time. Expect your hackers to want to be smashing into the OpFor's commlinks or drones, to want to hack someone's commlink that they are tailing, to be running data searches constantly.

The best method I had of dealing with this was to give Device Ratings at or around the Professional Level of the enemies.

Having to improv with hacking is no different than having to improv anything else that your players care to do, so don't sweat it too much. It took a few sessions for my players and I to find a comfortable midway point between useless, waste your time hacks and hacks that would require their own session to complete (and therefor were often times abandoned).
Malachi
When improv'ing anything to do with Hacking I always use the "magic number" method. Basically, pick one single "magic number" (the suggestion of using the NPC's professional rating above is a good one) and use that number for all of the Node's attributes as well as the rating of all Programs or IC running on the Node. Compare that to having to improv an SR3 Security Sheaf on the fly? Piece of cake.
Spoonfunk
The biggest thing to remember in SR4 is that they really play up the fact that its the ultra-information age. Hacking and Matrix use is common place. I suggest at least reading throught the matrix rules at least twice just to get a basic handle on them and work out and issue's there may be with the rules (i.e houserules etc.) because it is litterally impossible now to ignore the matrix or brush off the matrix activity onto a random NPC. Not that it cant be done it just removes one of the strongest elements of the world.

Using the "magic number" technique can get you by for a while if that is the style of GM that you are. I use a mix of the Magic number and worked out templates that I can piece together for more important matrix systems.

SR4 focus's on streamline mechanics that leave room for GM interpretation instead of extreme define lists of mechanics as was seen in SR2 and SR3. After a couple of games if you have issues or feel like tweaking some things I suggest you take a look at the tweaking the rules side bar in the BB as well as the core supplements if you have them.

Be sure to remind your players to take false ID's as they are the rule of the day. The first thing that I noticed is how important the false ID has become.

I always suggest getting the GM screen as it really does help out with the all the little modifiers and such. It also comes with On the Run which is a pretty decent entry module (I actually have never run it though so get a second opinion)

ShadowPavement
Thanks for the advice guys. I really apreciate it.

I think I have an OK handle on the matrix rules. I've been going over the book and I have some of the resources folks have posted up here on the forums on the basics of hacking. I really like all the AR stuff and it will really help add flavor and keep hackers moving with everyone. All the AR is really the way that I think this kind of thing should be done. I never really used decking at all in the past because the rules were just so obtuse and never integrated very well for me.

This version of the rules will be new to everyone involved so it will be kind of nice to all learn it together. At least my wife is playing and she has a good grasp of the game world.
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