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DocMorbius
So im running a street level Campaign, just starting up and I was hoping to get some advise on what limits would be good to set on the PC's for creation.

Im thinking 250 to 300 BP, we are avoiding hacking (because unless everyone is doing it it makes big gaps where one player is doing stuff whilst the rest twiddle there thumbs) and we are going magic light (no particular reason its just turned out that way).

Idea's?
tagz
Best to cap the gear availability a little lower to keep the theme of the game. Try 10 or 9. 8 even if you want.

Matrix hacking can be done in real time with the group, but it takes a little more ingenuity on the part of the hacker, and a willingness to not prepare when you might know you can.

Avoid high connection contacts.

Are they "runners" or are they from some other part of the shadows, like a gang?

Back stories should be appropriate of course.
Karoline
Lets see, this exact thread came up a little while ago.

Some of the advice I gave was:
Lower availability (6-8 range should be good)
Lower maximum resources (10 BP spent on equipment is reasonable)
Lower max skills, something like shifting it down by 1 so that you can only have 1 skill at 5, or two at 4, and everything else has to be at 3 or lower.
Limit magic stat (3 should be fine).
Possibly limit other stats (only 1 soft maxed and everything else has to be lower, though this is a bit questionable, as exceptional attributes tends to be one of the things that sets the common person apart from the main characters)
DocMorbius
Thanks Guy's this is all useful!

tagz -> they are Ganger's to start, not runners.

anything else I should take into account for the game its self do you think?

So far Im going with

300BP build
no more than 15BP of money's
only one skill at 5 or two at 4, rest is 3 or less
Availability on gear at 6
Summerstorm
I too would say that magic/resonance should be limited down. Maybe max 3 or MAYBE 4, as well as maybe Edge. All other attributes can be as high as they want.
Dumori
I don't know about 6 alivibilty. A hell of alot is priced with the 12 availibilty cap in mind and often very arbitrarly. I mean you've all read axed the max nuyen so the more pricey gear will be a big chunk of change. I'd stick with twelve as the max and occastionaly say no to the things that slip the net.

A 300bp build is very limited any how max 150 on atributes can be tight. You'll have a hard time hitting 3 in all let alone twinking them.
DocMorbius
QUOTE (Dumori @ Sep 18 2010, 01:58 PM) *
A 300bp build is very limited any how max 150 on atributes can be tight. You'll have a hard time hitting 3 in all let alone twinking them.


I allowed up to 180BP in attributes, and we are deliberatly avoiding min maxing.

first game went fairly well smile.gif
Karoline
QUOTE (DocMorbius @ Sep 20 2010, 08:45 AM) *
I allowed up to 180BP in attributes, and we are deliberatly avoiding min maxing.

first game went fairly well smile.gif

Always good to hear.

Don't know of any advice for in session stuff. I suppose to remember that a large number of people can be nearly as strong as a few high powered ones, which is something you need to be careful about when balancing encounters for a 'gang war' type ordeal.
cndblank
The funny thing is that in a street campaign being young and fit is the main advantage most street runners would have over the other runners.

Not experience and not gear or ware.

Maybe you should leave the Stats limit at 200.
DocMorbius
yeh the main issue is keeping the bloody idiots alive smile.gif

The three of them are low on social skills and seem to enjoy violence wayyyyyy too much in there every day life.

They've only just started and have set up shop in a abandoned warehouse, it was abandoned when they were paid to go mess with the gang that lived there, body count = gang boss, 2 henchmen and 3 innocent* kids...a little later they blew up another gang house and sent the entire thing tumbling into the sea nyahnyah.gif


sigh... oh well, im sure there next characters will be a little more reasonable! biggrin.gif

*as innocent as can be given its shadowrun and they are gang kids
DocMorbius
Oh and for those that are interested...

http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/new...g/the-beginning

Enjoy!
vladthebad
We had a street level campaign going for a little while, and it didn't much matter what the PCs started out with, but what was keeping them on the street. For our game it was the available runs and the low pay offs that made it "street level". You could have a totally decked out samurai with awesome ware, but if he has choose between bullets and food, then he is going to feel that low lifestyle.

That being said I think it does help to curtail some of their gear if its out of place. I think that some runners, having fallen from grace, might have a few special pieces of equipment that help them stand out, but they should be things that the runner has kept with them from their more affluent days. The loss of that piece of equipment will be jarring when they realize how much it costs to replace. To counter balance that, I would allow them some leeway in using skills to make the best with what they have got. A weapon specialist will value those build and repair skills if it means they can customize their weapon on a budget. DIY is a very punk aesthetic.
Paul
I've run a lot of these. There's plenty of good recommendations already out there, so forgive me if i repeat them:

  • Think small. Pick a small neighborhood, and map it out. Know who's there, and what's there. Google Earth and Google maps can help you with this.
  • Cap points. Cap skills, and maybe even attributes. Cap availability, and outright refuse to let them have the good stuff. At this level a handgun is a bad ass weapon. A shotgun is a deal breaker. AR's are the stuff of fear and loathing, and video games.
  • Keep them hungry. Pay days should be small-stuff versus coin, I always say. Make their survival an issue. The hood has all sorts of problems: Need clean water? How do you get it? Mom's getting her cable cut off? Boost it dawg! Need a snatch car? Move on that bad boy right? Keep karma and cash awards small.
  • Keep track of the details. Bullets cost money. Cops have an easier time catching small time hoods doing big time stuff if they aren't smart. Nickel and dime them to keep them small. One step forward, two steps back.


That should get you started homes.
SleepIncarnate
QUOTE (Paul @ Sep 25 2010, 09:15 PM) *
I've run a lot of these. There's plenty of good recommendations already out there, so forgive me if i repeat them:

  • Think small. Pick a small neighborhood, and map it out. Know who's there, and what's there. Google Earth and Google maps can help you with this.
  • Cap points. Cap skills, and maybe even attributes. Cap availability, and outright refuse to let them have the good stuff. At this level a handgun is a bad ass weapon. A shotgun is a deal breaker. AR's are the stuff of fear and loathing, and video games.
  • Keep them hungry. Pay days should be small-stuff versus coin, I always say. Make their survival an issue. The hood has all sorts of problems: Need clean water? How do you get it? Mom's getting her cable cut off? Boost it dawg! Need a snatch car? Move on that bad boy right? Keep karma and cash awards small.
  • Keep track of the details. Bullets cost money. Cops have an easier time catching small time hoods doing big time stuff if they aren't smart. Nickel and dime them to keep them small. One step forward, two steps back.


That should get you started homes.


Basically run it like the starting area for the old SNES Shadowrun game, with enemies not really having armor or good weapons, and dropping 20 nuyen at best..... and the PC's not being much better off. Or come up with ways to keep the PC's from looting their enemies if they start to try and turn this into D&D in the future by looting everything (like some players will) to sell the stuff and make money. Maybe those guns are modded in such a way that no fence will buy them, except for one who will WAY undercut the players. Or the Star (or KE, or Vory, or Ancients, etc etc etc) show up forcing the PC's to run from the scene of the crime. Stuff like that.
Paul
You can pull some of that, but I'd just stick with having their opposition generally having either equivalent or marginally better equipment-or the fear of law enforcement arriving on scene to cull the finances. Also recall that fences rarely pay top dollar for anything, so even if they do manage to snag something worth selling they're only likely to make 10-20% of it's value-unless it's pretty damned cool, or unique.

To add to your tool box as a GM if you kill Rooco, maybe his cousin Vinnie comes looking for payback. Or maybe now the Wang Chin's think you're the new player in town, so they want to show how bad they are by taking you down. Or maybe the guy working Robbery homicide has had someone drop your name in his ear, and now he's asking Mom's some questions about you.

The truth is you can only artificially inhibit their growth for so long, but as long as the Players are willing to ride with it-well it can be fun!
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (cndblank @ Sep 20 2010, 06:19 AM) *
The funny thing is that in a street campaign being young and fit is the main advantage most street runners would have over the other runners.

Not experience and not gear or ware.

Maybe you should leave the Stats limit at 200.


That is what we did in ours... 350bp Game, with a Limit of 200 for Attributes... did not really leave a lot of other points for things... I do not have skills above 2, for instance... and minimal gear at that as well (10bp Spent, tha majority to cover the cost of his bitchin' ride)...
Paul
So what did you end up doing?
Whipstitch
If I had noticed this thread sooner I would have strongly advised against lowering the 200 bp attribute cap much if you're also reducing the gear that's available. Doing both leaves humans in particular with really, really low attributes and a dearth of juicy things to spend their bps on. Such a situation tends to encourage spending on Edge (or Magic), which many people find to be kind of counterproductive in a "street" game.
sabs
Adepts start to look really good in that kind of game.
Unless you limit magic to 3
Whipstitch
Which still leaves you with the humans being pansies in an environment where swinging a densiplast pipe really hard is suddenly a pretty relevant skill. Of course, some people view this as a bonus. biggrin.gif
SecGuard
QUOTE (Whipstitch @ Oct 1 2010, 06:39 PM) *
Which still leaves you with the humans being pansies in an environment where swinging a densiplast pipe really hard is suddenly a pretty relevant skill. Of course, some people view this as a bonus. biggrin.gif



Ah the joys of smacking people over the head talker.gif
SleepIncarnate
Don't forget your street level face......

"Wanna come inside for some soy-kaf?"
naga-nuyen
I posted this guy on another post, I know he is higher than the BP limit you are looking at, but the gear list could give you an idea of what limited price and availability really can end up looking like.

400 BP build, no magician, adept but latent awakening okay. No sinner negative quality. Surge is okay. Any amount of BP can be put towards the 50 cap on resources but only price range of 300$ & 4R and less is available (and no carry over from generation to play allowed). Extended lifestyle in effect, only 7 points can be spent on the 5 categories. Only contacts of connection 2 or less can be taken. Restrict qualities like restricted gear, Born rich, and black-market pipeline and anything that has that vibe too it. I used 1 BP, you are really limited to what you can find with the dollar amount and availability brought so low. Still have not found a game to run him in, but I still think he would be fun to play.


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