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Jackalope
Howdy all,

I just was lucky enough to score nearly every book for 3rd edition and my small group (just me and 2 other guys) will be starting a 3rd edition campaign. We've played D&D on and off now for 15 years and I've always been the DM, so I really want a different experience and Shadowrun seemed like a great choice.

Do you guys have any tips or advice for a first time GM and his 2 players?

Thanks in advance.
McCummhail
1) Go to a spa for deep cleansing as I hear that D&D does things to you.

2) Get the players together and make characters together while watching some cyberpunk or near-future scifi films.

3) Be flexible. SR is a whole new beast.
SincereAgape
Three players. That is fantastic. Just roll with it.

If you have the third edition book "First Run"

I suggest starting with that module.
Fezig
1 - Since you only have two players, encourage them to have a lot of range in their abilities. The more different types of runs you can do, the more fun and lasting the campaign will be. That being said, feel free to use NPC contact characters to fill in the gaps. Let them meet a hacker who can assist them over the matrix on runs, or a mage who may be able to loan them a spirit. Ofc....this is shadowrun, so there is a fee for all of it. That fee can be a favor (run made for no additional pay), or just raw cred.

2 - I was also a DM prior to being a SR GM, and one major difference is that your planning pays off MUCH more in SR. In SR you need to plan the entire compound, all the security, etc. Also remember though, your planning can easily be shot all to hell when you players get ahold of your run. Know your security protocol and have logical security contingencies. You set up a maze, they have to run through it by any means they can find.

3 - Stick n Shock is nasty. Not all guards should have it, so give them gel rounds early on or you will get a TPK if they slip up. Just want to say sorry to that group of runners...it didn't seem quite so deadly when I read it the first time...
Jackalope
Thanks for the quick responses!

I do have first run and figured that would be a good place to start. So I will definatly work from there.

I am lucky that these guys aren't really "power gamers" they aren't min/maxers more often they just like to come up with a concept and really roll with it.

Since neither of them know a thing about SR I am telling them to re-watch Blade Runner and work from there.

I will also be starting them with a third character that I'll be playing along side them as a NPC just to help them in touch spots and flesh out the team a bit more with a permanent member (well as permanent as characters get in SR).

I would like one of them to branch out as either a Rigger/Decker. Do you guys know which would be more fun to play for a first time player?

Fezig
I personally feel that there is a ton of rules baggage that goes into being a good/effective rigger, and thus they can really overwhelm a new player. You may also find having a true hacker opens more windows into different types of runs. Also, for a two player team, running a mage/face and hacker/gunner combo actually works quite well as a way to broaden them out while still maintaining effectiveness.

All that being said though, ask your players which one grabs them more and that is the one to go with.
deek
QUOTE (Jackalope @ Sep 18 2009, 02:39 PM) *
I would like one of them to branch out as either a Rigger/Decker. Do you guys know which would be more fun to play for a first time player?

I would think a Rigger would be more fun to play and be more entertaining for the other player at the table. Unless both of them are deckers, you may have to really work on planning special time in the spotlight for both players.

Don't forget to have them watch Johnny Mnemonic. IMO, nothing screams Shadowrun more than that movie!
Jackalope
Johnny Mnemonic would have been great if not for Keanu...

I'll have no problem tailoring events/jobs for them. Since D&D assumes you have a full party of 5 people I've had to modify everything for them for years so they don't get crushed by the pre-made dungeons.

Anything I should strictly stay away from?
Tricen
My suggestion is to put them up against "low-time" opposition to start with. Gangers, small courier runs, things they can handle without having to face trained guards. Low-timers will run should they get shot, not necessarily true with corp men. The more resources the opponents have, the worse it is for the PCs. Street thugs with some hand guns? No big deal. Mafia with SMGs and wired-reflexes? That's a problem.

Finally, don't throw many opponents at them. Shadowrun isn't like D&D in that you have a fight that lasts a couple of hours and everything is even. Either one side will have the advantage in a hurry or the other. Fights tend to tilt quick. Ideally, you want the PCs to get the advantage if they are smart and loose it if they are morons.
Jackalope
QUOTE (Tricen @ Sep 18 2009, 07:37 PM) *
My suggestion is to put them up against "low-time" opposition to start with. Gangers, small courier runs, things they can handle without having to face trained guards. Low-timers will run should they get shot, not necessarily true with corp men. The more resources the opponents have, the worse it is for the PCs. Street thugs with some hand guns? No big deal. Mafia with SMGs and wired-reflexes? That's a problem.

Finally, don't throw many opponents at them. Shadowrun isn't like D&D in that you have a fight that lasts a couple of hours and everything is even. Either one side will have the advantage in a hurry or the other. Fights tend to tilt quick. Ideally, you want the PCs to get the advantage if they are smart and loose it if they are morons.



Alright, that makes a lot of sense. And it lets them feel a sense of build up and accomplishment as they work up the food chain from local gang-bangers to the corporate big wigs. I can see that working out real well.

In an average session how many "fights" would you normally see. I know for D&D if was usually around 3-4 depending on the setting. But that seems it would be a bit much for Shadowrun. Also it seems escape is more an option in Shadowrun that D&D where you don't leave until everything is dead and looted.
Tricen
This is the BIG change from D&D: You expect maybe one fight and a few blowouts. In D&D, the goal is to reach the objective by means of strength. In ShadowRun, the goal is to complete the objective as quickly and QUIETLY as possible. If you get into lots of big fire fights, people will hear about you. You'll make enemies, and most importantly, your cover is blown. A runners most prized possession is that NO ONE KNOWS HE EXISTS!

Instead of "You're in a room full of rust monsters. Roll initiative." you should plan shadowrun like it is one big D&D trap. "You come upon a locked door. You have no idea what's in the next room." Newbs will bust the door down and probably die to the defenses. Experienced players will find a matrix access point to view the cameras in the room/astral project to check the room/scan the room with sonar/etc. and find a way to bypass defenses.

Shadowrun is deadly. If your group likes to destroy all in their path (a la D&D) then put a lot of single guards in their way. It's not gonna be much of a fight. If you put more, it's likly that the tides will turn against them in a hurry
PatB
QUOTE (Tricen @ Sep 18 2009, 02:37 PM) *
My suggestion is to put them up against "low-time" opposition to start with. Gangers, small courier runs, things they can handle without having to face trained guards. Low-timers will run should they get shot, not necessarily true with corp men. The more resources the opponents have, the worse it is for the PCs. Street thugs with some hand guns? No big deal. Mafia with SMGs and wired-reflexes? That's a problem.

Finally, don't throw many opponents at them. Shadowrun isn't like D&D in that you have a fight that lasts a couple of hours and everything is even. Either one side will have the advantage in a hurry or the other. Fights tend to tilt quick. Ideally, you want the PCs to get the advantage if they are smart and loose it if they are morons.


Just to emphasize on this point,
- In D&D, you get experience for killing things
- In SR, you get karma for completing objectives (amongst other things), but nothing for killing things.

What I'm trying to say is that your runners could complete the same job by killing every one or by finding ways to bypass the meat opposition.
Jackalope
So more or less fighting is when something goes wrong or there is no alternative. Which is a very welcome change. I think they'll really enjoy once I can wrap their head's around the idea that they don't need to kill everything in order to get the job done. Once they are thinking in that frame of mind it should be a real hoot.

So what race/"class" combination do you all enjoy playing? It seems the system is very flexible as to allow you to play hybrids of all the core classes fairly easily.

X-Kalibur
The opportunity for combat is rampant in SR. The trick is knowing how to avoid it as much as possible. But when the shit hits the fan, pull out the biggest guns and make sure your side is the only one left standing.
Tricen
I'm a huge fan of face/Magician, myself. Gives you a social expert and a Swiss army knife in one.
Screaming Eagle
Awards are very different as mentioned.
No more EXP for monster kills - You botch the mission but kill every on on site? One karma for survival. Probably one more for opposition.
You complete the mission, rob the place blind to boot and are unseen save by one guard you knock out with a particulaly zippy on liner? the first 2 + 1 for the bonus robbery + 1 for the mission completion + 1 for making everyone stop playing from laughter.
I tend to further award "Doing the right thing" - have "secondary objectives" written in that in fact have nothing to do with the mission - an orcish child is captive in the medical testing lab, obviously an unhappy subject, AWARD them a Karma if they throw the mission to save the kid but award them 1 more if the manage to take a screaming child though their Run and succeed without doing anything to endanger the child futher.
OR
My fav:
Have secondary objectives that are in fact VILE - but not presented as such, the team need to do reaserch and find these things out (what do you mean that address is an orphnage? How much are we getting payed to set in on fire on the way out? No, not enough.) and in this case make them choose between the Money and the Karma
I find this to be a better way the the "Cash for Karma" systems as they are making the choise each and every run.

Don't hesitate to off them if they are being blatantly dumb. This was one of my early mistakes.
To your players - Don't be blatantly dumb, you don't have HP or BAB anymore, armor doesn't stop attacks from hurting but it might stop you from dying and any ganger can get lucky on your bad day and KILL YOUR BUTT DEAD
Tricen
QUOTE (Screaming Eagle @ Sep 18 2009, 04:43 PM) *
...any ganger can get lucky on your bad day and KILL YOUR BUTT DEAD


Here here! ^_^
Jackalope
Very interesting ideas all around. I like the reward system of karma far more than XP, as it seems to give more value to Role Playing rather than hack and slashing your way to victory. I can see why you need to have the mission much more flesh out than your average D&D dungeon crawl.

How often to PC's die in a game? In D&D it's not all that frequent unless you botch one of the life-or-death saving throws. Is there insta-kill situations in Shadowrun that PC's just have no chance to survive?
Paul
There is no right or wrong Shadowrun. Do what you, and your group finds fun, and exciting. 3rd Edition had lots of support-both fan based (Web sites, character generators, and character sheets) and officially supported stuff. (Well, there was before fourth edition anyways!)

There's a lot of flexibility in the game if you don't get bogged down in the rules. Personally we have a rule at the table, any rule discussion, debate or question is limited to 45 seconds or less. Then I rule on it, right or wrong and we debate it after the game is over.
Tricen
QUOTE (Jackalope @ Sep 18 2009, 04:19 PM) *
How often to PC's die in a game? In D&D it's not all that frequent unless you botch one of the life-or-death saving throws. Is there insta-kill situations in Shadowrun that PC's just have no chance to survive?



Depends on your group's personal tastes. In MY group death is pretty rare. I know in most other games death is mildly frequent. It is a powerful tool for a GM to use to "adjust" a player's more psychotic tendencies.
Screaming Eagle
Death rate is personal - I've lowered mine of late as I've been running campaign styled games rather then one off missions (the difference between a crime action T.V Series and an Action movie) but have played with GM who had never offed anyone, and one who averaged about 1/3 of the party killed per mission - near or total PK about one in 6 and fairly frequent casualties.

By default it is ALOT more leathal than D&D. Seriously. Some random ganger with a taser and a good roll can WRECK your gunslinger adept regardless. You will NOT get much tougher as you gain Karma either. Better at dodging sure, but if you get shot, you are still just a guy with organs, not a frankly comidic 15th lvl fighter ignoring the first 30 sword blows he take on any given day. The bigger opposition is not about the character able to take this extra damage - it is about their increased ability to aviod the confontation or to get the jump on the opposition effectivally.

I haven't killed a PC in Shadowrun in some time. I have a good player base that make good choises and have prepared emergency plans for "we're boned!" once I've got them past the initial shake down - hospitalised them for months yes, dead no. Edge works wonders for the PC attached to theri character.
Paul
In my own games death and massive wounding is pretty common place, but rarely permanent.
nezumi
As a first time GM, I would recommend you start out only with straight-up, mundane combat rules. Combat, magic, decking and rigging each have their own rulesets, and if you're trying to memorize all four simultaneously, you may have a tough time. Tackling them one at a time helps. Run some one-shots with normal, physical combat 'til you get your head wrapped around it, if it seems at all complicated. Then wrap in magic, then rigging or decking (rigging and decking are the most complex to handle, and the easiest to skip). Be aware that the decker may be sort of 'on his own' for his part, which may get to be boring. Some GMs skip decking altogether and hand it off to an NPC because of that, so unless someone has a specific interest in it, don't be afraid to do the same (or make both players deckers).

The scripted adventures are generally good to excellent, and help take a lot of the pressure off. First Run is definitely not the best of them, but it's not bad either.

The template characters in the middle of the book are pretty miserable. Use them for NPCs or one-shots, but for a full campaign, they're pretty bad.

ANd of course, don't be afraid to stick to the main book. I've run a campaign for a few years now just on the main book.
Wounded Ronin
QUOTE (Jackalope @ Sep 18 2009, 02:10 PM) *
Howdy all,

I just was lucky enough to score nearly every book for 3rd edition and my small group (just me and 2 other guys) will be starting a 3rd edition campaign. We've played D&D on and off now for 15 years and I've always been the DM, so I really want a different experience and Shadowrun seemed like a great choice.

Do you guys have any tips or advice for a first time GM and his 2 players?

Thanks in advance.


I'd advise as a GM to be organized. Have all your maps and note sheets ready in advance. SR3 can have a lot of book keeping and being organized makes everything faster and more smooth and more correct. In fact, you might consider not having deckers or riggers the first time round just to let you have less rules to deal with. You can always introduce them in a few games...chargen in SR3 isn't that hard if you don't want to make it complicated.

Did you ever play the old Rainbow Six games, when it was all about planning because it was very easy to be shot and killed and you couldn't just engage large groups of enemies hoping to shoot them all faster than they could shoot you?

SR3 is kind of like that because in general it's easy to be killed especially with the way they revised initiative from 2nd edition. Rather than making large battles where you expect the PCs to defeat large groups of enemies in open battle let them plan and set things up so that they try and shoot all the bad guys according to a plan where they try to incapacitate everyone immediately. Just like the old Rainbow Six games. In my personal experience a lot of times when my friends would get into SR for the first time the GM would accidentally TPK the player characters by overestimating the number of bad guys the players could fight successfully.
Jackalope
QUOTE (nezumi @ Sep 19 2009, 12:32 AM) *
As a first time GM, I would recommend you start out only with straight-up, mundane combat rules. Combat, magic, decking and rigging each have their own rulesets, and if you're trying to memorize all four simultaneously, you may have a tough time. Tackling them one at a time helps. Run some one-shots with normal, physical combat 'til you get your head wrapped around it, if it seems at all complicated. Then wrap in magic, then rigging or decking (rigging and decking are the most complex to handle, and the easiest to skip). Be aware that the decker may be sort of 'on his own' for his part, which may get to be boring. Some GMs skip decking altogether and hand it off to an NPC because of that, so unless someone has a specific interest in it, don't be afraid to do the same (or make both players deckers).

The scripted adventures are generally good to excellent, and help take a lot of the pressure off. First Run is definitely not the best of them, but it's not bad either.

The template characters in the middle of the book are pretty miserable. Use them for NPCs or one-shots, but for a full campaign, they're pretty bad.

ANd of course, don't be afraid to stick to the main book. I've run a campaign for a few years now just on the main book.



That's really sound advice, Perhaps I'll just go with physical and magic if either of them plays an awakened character. I could certainly run my NPC as a decker and though him explain what it is they do, see if it sparks interest in one or both of them.


Now you said First Run isn't so hot, is there one you would recommend or should I just cook up something simple to show them what it's all about?
Jackalope
QUOTE (Wounded Ronin @ Sep 19 2009, 12:45 AM) *
I'd advise as a GM to be organized. Have all your maps and note sheets ready in advance. SR3 can have a lot of book keeping and being organized makes everything faster and more smooth and more correct. In fact, you might consider not having deckers or riggers the first time round just to let you have less rules to deal with. You can always introduce them in a few games...chargen in SR3 isn't that hard if you don't want to make it complicated.

Did you ever play the old Rainbow Six games, when it was all about planning because it was very easy to be shot and killed and you couldn't just engage large groups of enemies hoping to shoot them all faster than they could shoot you?

SR3 is kind of like that because in general it's easy to be killed especially with the way they revised initiative from 2nd edition. Rather than making large battles where you expect the PCs to defeat large groups of enemies in open battle let them plan and set things up so that they try and shoot all the bad guys according to a plan where they try to incapacitate everyone immediately. Just like the old Rainbow Six games. In my personal experience a lot of times when my friends would get into SR for the first time the GM would accidentally TPK the player characters by overestimating the number of bad guys the players could fight successfully.


I believe I did play the first of the Rainbow Six games, so I get the drift of what you and the others are saying, it's a good comparison and something that the other guys will get. It seems like all the classes in Shadowrun are played like you would play a Rogue in D&D: Use wits, stealth and tricks to not fight, but if you do get into a fight make it fast and brutal and get the hell out of there. Seems like it will be a blase and nice change of pace from the usual dungeon crawl.

Marshwiggle
The most important part of char creation for newbies of course is having an idea what sort of character you are trying to make.

After that though, the basic idea is usually to make a party that has some sort of way to avoid combat - there are a million ways, but these are a good start:

stealth - some combination of invisibility, sneaking, and disguise
sufficient information gathering (especially if it lets you get where you are going semi-legally, by knowing passwords and security procedures)
mind altering magic
carrying an array of technology that would make batman's head spin - especially technology which can disable sensors and locks

But, especially for newbies who may get into combat all of a sudden by not understanding the situation, it really helps to have a decent bod score and armor, or decent initiative, decent dodge score, and decent enemy detection ability all at the same time. It doesn't hurt to have both. Also, it doesn't hurt to have a few levels of unarmed or something like that, so that a street urchin with a knife can't take you out.
n0tthellama
Reading through all the responses makes it hard to add to any advice that I can give you. There are few things I highly suggest though. To preface this post, I have been a long time player of Shadowrun. It started back in 2nd Edition and I am still in love with 3rd Edition (Though I hear yummy things about 4th...). I am currently running a campaign with a team of four VERY fresh and VERY new players to the world of Shadowrun. We are all part of a group that played DnD for a while and I suggested we branch out, thus, here we are, in the 6th world and they have no clue how to absorb the world...so here are a few things that have worked for me to get them accustomed to a runners lifestyle.
  • Firstly,watching a few movies to get them into the 6th world mindset is a great idea and your selection goes way beyond Johnny Nmemonic and Bladerunner. Other suggestions are Ghost in the Shell (Stand Alone Complex and both movies), for the entire Face/Magician route try watching Burn Notice, and this one throws people for a loop but lots of Dr. Who (It is unadulterated Science Fiction that spurs the imagination).
  • Secondly, if they haven't already, make sure everyone reads "And so it came to pass...". The most crippling flaw any player in Shadowrun can have is not understanding what happened to the world. Before they even conceive of a character concept have them read it. It will open their minds to some very awesome character concepts (Which as a GM leads to many many hooks to sink your grubby little story line hands into)
  • Thirdly, Do not rush through the 20 questions process! When I was much younger my playing group and I would not pay it much attention and focus more on game mechanic concepts as the core of our characters. It lead to stagnation and eventual boredom. When you spend the time to really flesh out a living breathing character it creates a very fun environment. (As a side note, if you are using the Runners Companion for character generation, encourage them to take flaws...not willy nilly flaws but FLAWS. I made at least ten points of flaws mandatory.)
  • Fourthly, I though about limiting my players to simple things like, "No, don't make a decker or rigger..." but in the end really let them decide after reading up on things. Now I have one decker and one rigger in the group and I love it because they have the time of their lives when the oppotunity to shine presents itself. As a means to an end I have purposefully not used about 90% of the rules when it comes to those players...which leads me to my last point...
  • Lastly, make it fun. There are a lot of people that create elaborate maps and have beads or painted figurines. There are people who like to follow every which rule that is printed. I say bollox to that rot! Not using strict Matrix or Riggin' rules has been a god send for my players and myself as a GM. I don't bother with steps in an orange system or calculating position and speed for car chases. Rather I let them tell the story through their actions. The better they roleplay a situation, the easier it is for them (quite literally, I lower taget numbers). Nothing was funnier than having the Decker figure out where the older data in a wild west themed host was (It was kept in the funeral home and she had to "shop" for a casket to access the data...good times). Heck, in their last session they spent half the run getting everyone on board due to the riggers alcohol problem. Challenges aren't always an objective, the journey itself is challenge enough.

I do not know what style of game you are looking to run. I am running a TV show themed (I guess you could call it a serial drama?) one with this new set of players. Each run has a theme song that has clues to help them figure out the story. I also force them to make some pretty harsh moral choices based on their characters personal hooks. They love it and I love running it. Anyways, best of luck to your new endeavor!
tisoz
QUOTE (Fezig @ Sep 18 2009, 02:32 PM) *
3 - Stick n Shock is nasty. Not all guards should have it, so give them gel rounds early on or you will get a TPK if they slip up. Just want to say sorry to that group of runners...it didn't seem quite so deadly when I read it the first time...

There's Stick n Shock in 3rd? I thought that was introduced in 4th.
Stahlseele
It was.
There seems to be a mixup here.
tisoz
Cannon Companion or a Sota?
Link
Not that I recall.
Screaming Eagle
I'm pretty sure it wasn't avaliable at all... otherwise I would have upgraded from my tazer as the lack of range was a pain in the arse rather often and my GM had all the books (and many of them memorised it seemed).

If you have a Magician Character - there are a pile of threads going over "must have" spells various builds and the like, a quick search will find you piles of advise there (a Line of Sight combat spell, heal and a "stealth spell of some sort", the rest is gravy in my opinion). Never underestimate the usefulness of Astral scouting but you as the GM NEED to be aware of its limitiations (no reading notes, only emotional impressions, living things glow, inanimate are dull patches, outlines on real world objects but only Auras, no colours, and the Earth IS an astral form: no flying the the earths core to look at the pretty colours). I am a huge fan of the magic system but there are... holes and inconsistancies. Can you assence though a thin pane of glass? if not why can you assesnce though clothes? If you can how much glass can you assence though? what if its not a transparent material? etc etc. Have answers to such questions ready, amny of the answers will be personal calls you make on the fly, there will be a test. Of note I have Auras "shine" though about a couple or centermetres of material they are next to or touching (clothes, moderate armor, someone leaning on the glass) but not any futher in general.
Have the mage buy optical binoculars or similar. Line of Sight on spells means it. I myself also have a mirrors LOS work, cause its funny and allows some of the more powerful telescopes but I do apply an increasingly heafty penalty to the casting (-3 for each degree of speration -3 for optical aid and another -3 for the mirror in a fairly good (read 1000-2000nY) backyard style astronomical telescope -6 dice total) Granted at this kind of magnification now you can make anyone who isn't obsured by the curvatuire of the earth sad if you have enough dice and the skill to actually use such a scope well.
nezumi
QUOTE (Jackalope @ Sep 18 2009, 08:57 PM) *
Now you said First Run isn't so hot, is there one you would recommend or should I just cook up something simple to show them what it's all about?



I'm sure you can ask around for what peoples' favorite runs were. I cut my teeth on Dreamchipper, which I'd give a 4/5, and was really good for starting characters. The one thing with it is it's 2nd edition, but fortunately, the change from 2nd to 3rd is almost trivial (the exception being Matrix, which you can just sidestep with that run).
Jackalope
Good advice about the mage theory. I'm meeting with the fellows tomorrow for a fun willed day of geekery (the married one has the day off) so I am sure we'll get going on something, even if it is just making the characters, explaining the world and perhaps cutting their teeth on a little something. I've got no idea what they have in mind, but I'd be shocked if one of them didn't play something awakened.

On the note of adventures (or missions) besides First Run and Dreamchipper any other goodies I should make certain I have?

Tachi
Food Fight maybe, for some newbie players who don't understand how badly the shit can hit the fan pretty much anywhere in SR... There is a SR4 version at the Quick Start area of the SR Official Site, I wouldn't know where to get the old SR3 version, sorry.
Wounded Ronin
QUOTE (Jackalope @ Sep 18 2009, 09:00 PM) *
I believe I did play the first of the Rainbow Six games, so I get the drift of what you and the others are saying, it's a good comparison and something that the other guys will get. It seems like all the classes in Shadowrun are played like you would play a Rogue in D&D: Use wits, stealth and tricks to not fight, but if you do get into a fight make it fast and brutal and get the hell out of there. Seems like it will be a blase and nice change of pace from the usual dungeon crawl.


I think you have got the idea. smile.gif There's a reason I played SR and not any other RPG system for many years.
Stahlseele
Sometimes, i wish back for the good old Dungeon Crawl Style runs.
Find out when, where and what, then go in, shoot people in the face.
Take whatever you can find that strikes your fancy.
Then i decided to try the Face Character from A-Team . .
Damn did it get complicated after that x.x . .
Wounded Ronin
QUOTE (tisoz @ Sep 19 2009, 08:56 AM) *
Cannon Companion or a Sota?


Nope.
Degausser
My best advice for those new to shadowrun as GMs or players, there are three things you should do.

1)Read. Read a lot. Unlike DnD, which has a lot of generically fleshed-out worlds, Shadowrun has a very, very complex and interconnected world. For example, if you play Forgotten realms, the Campaign book may tell you where to go and who the king of keep A is, and you may find out that a Beholder once tried to take over Waterdeep. That's all well and good for some fluff. However, in Shadowrun, every person is interconnected in ways that you don't imagine, and there are a ton of things that he is responsable for that you wouldn't think about.

In short, Shadowrun has no simple answers. In Forgotten realms, you ask "Who runs Luskan" and the answer is "Five bickering mages in towers." In Shadowrun, you ask "Who runs Seattle" and the answer is "Kennith Brackhaven, almost became president back in '56, suspected member of Humanis Pollyclub, also runs an investment firm, his daughter turned stag on him and lives with orks. He was the one that passed the law requiring technomancers to register. He also . . ."

Unfortunatly, there is no "comprehensive dictionary of shadowrun" so I would suggest reading a lot of the 'fluff' books and asking any questions you have on the boards. It is scary how much knowledge some of these guys have.

2)Take all that with a grain of salt. Okay, now that you know the knowledge, don't let it ruin you. Go crazy, bend some of it, change some of it, if you see a possibility for a great run, do it. Like someone earlier said, be flexable.

3)Shadowrun is about what you want it to be about. If your party wants to be upstanding do-gooders, then have them be hired by some benevolent Johnson. Maybe TerraFirst! wants you to break into the evil Renraku's office and steal incriminating evidence, or get evidence, or stop their toxic dumping. If your group wants to be evil bastards, have them do a lot of wetwork. You, as the GM, get to control the feel of the campaign.
nezumi
Oh yes, Degausser is right (although I'd put it at the 'intermediate SR GMing level', not beginner).

Shadowrun is in levels, whatever it is.

On the surface, Corporation Nu is run by Ben Hanneker. It produces socks. That's what's on the papers.
Next level down, you find that Hanneker actually 'owns' less than 2% of the company, and most of the stocks are held, through Hanneker and shell companies, by Tanner Electronics.
Next level, you find that Hanneker sold his holdings to Tanner because they had blackmail material on him and his daughter.
Next level, you find that Tanner is a holding, through a bunch of shells, of S-K. While Nu makes socks, it also imports a lot of materials under that banner, including specialty materials. Hanneker's daughter has Krieger strain HMHVV, but it's being kept in remission by drugs sold to Hanneker from Tanner.
Next level you find that Nu has been smuggling in illegal, magical plant fibers along with its exotic sock materials, on behalf of Tanner/S-K, which might be used for a potent mind-altering substance. Also, Hanneker's daughter was likely intentionally infected by a corporate agent, and the rumors of her ghoul boyfriend are patently untrue, but fabricated by a hired actor and an excellent camera team.

And so on. (Although, there's no obligation to run Shadowrun quite like that, but it gives it more of the dark, mysterious twist.)

And yes, Food Fight is teh win.
Jackalope
I think the level of reading, research and involvement by my players will depend on how much they enjoy the first few sessions. I have confidence they will like the game enough to want to know more about the world and thus flesh out their characters more fully. I talked with them briefly about some basic concepts for their characters and they are both interesting and while not fully fleshed out show promise.

I hope to have all the characters from them and me done by next week and have them step foot in to the game world.it out of Seattle for the time being because that seems a good a place to start as anywhere else.
Pendaric
SR3 is five rules system hung together with a common background. And the background is bleeding edge nova hot sota. Or very good actually. So learn the bits you need really well.

Pick a story you guys and girls find fun, SR can cover it, tends to favour the classic specialists in a team, like DnD. But in a small team you can have generalist in a couple of areas to broaden the plots you can explore.
Basically plan what you want to run in length first and build accordinly.

Less lord of the rings and more towards the sopranos/wire with pointy ears.
You can save the world or fight to the death over food stamps for the next meal, the choice is yours.

Guns kill people. Even if wielded by monkeys and they have lots of ammo which is rarely required to get the job done. It will be a surprise if a competant combatant has not killed most of the enemy and still have ammo in the clip.

Situation modifiers are the key here, so play realistically, cover, high ground, lighting, distance, any and all advantages must be factored or you can end up dead fast. For a ref this means your PCs can be toast if you dont factor these things or opporsition is too easy. Plus the security traps run more mission impossible or a heist film.

The episodal run plot model allows for a lot of variation with plug in NPCs or as building blocks of a campaign story arc.

Contacts are vital to motivate plot hooks and personal interest.




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