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Nebular
First, a bit of a vent/background as to where my group is coming from and the "joys" I've been dealing with. I've been taking my group through SRM Season 2. It has been a good introduction to the game system for them, but from a GM standpoint, they're a headache. They're poorly written, poorly designed (really, why is half of the relevant information for a situation is in one section and the other half in a completely different section?), missing information, and are inconsistent in their quality (both in terms of writing quality and mission quality). The players are also starting to scratch their heads wondering how most of the stuff even makes sense. Not the "there's something else going on here but we don't see the whole picture yet" sense, but the "that seems kind of dumb" sense. To top it off, the gunslingers in the team are bored out of their skulls. There are very few fights or situations we've run into so far that require a gun (except for the helicopter chase from Mission 3 which was a hoot). I guess a large part of the problem is that these missions were written for quick convention play. But I suppose you get what you pay for. smile.gif

I'm tempted to pick up Season 3 since, on the surface, they look to be more professional. I'm hoping they're better written, have a better flow, and have interesting situations for all members of the team, not just the hacker or face (who are the same guy on this team). To be honest though, I have no desire to plop down any money on something that is the same "quality" as Season 2. Has anyone played and/or read the Season 3 missions? In your opinion, are they well written, well designed, and fun to play? Better than Season 2?
DWC
The good ones are much better. The bad ones are only a little bit worse, and Manhattan is very, very, very combat light. Being a mirror shades kind of guy, I liked the subdued setting of NYC, but a lot of folks may balk at the restrictions and the Panopticon. However, as a whole, the production quality is way up from Season 2. You'd never have known it from playing at A major con where they ran the play test drafts, but I picked up the whole season after I'd played them and was happier with my purchases than I was with things like WAR or Corporate Guide.

Take the plunge, and if you're feeling really saucy, join the Catalyst Demo Team, hook. Up with your local con, and run some of the CMP modules,which I enjoyed even more than the regular Missions.
suoq
If you buy them and you're just running them to run them (a home game, not Missions) there are some things you should modify.

1) Affiliations. Let characters share information if they choose, tell what the reward is up front and change the reward to be something reasonable and useful.

2) Rewrite the obvious WTF moments using the specifics of your group to turn them into things that make sense. Make the johnson's daughter a technomancer or something. Even that makes more sense than what's in the mod. (You'll know what I mean when you see it).

3) Beef up some encounters and feel free to add firefights turning each mission into an 8 hour run.

The missions aren't bad. It's the 4 hour time limit, the need to be generic as possible, and the rails that, combined, cause frustration. Toss the 4 hour time limit and edit with your players in mind and yiou can make them great.
Chance359
I'd increase the pay for most of the missions, to something that makes a little more sense (I'm looking at you Burning Bridges, Firestorm). I'd keep the affiliations but instead of the "whats in the box" prize package, I'd add the ability to get one item at a discount based on how many times you've work for them. Some of the affiliation rewards are very powerful (some of the NYPD inc. ) and may need to be toned down a bit.

Also use table rating, i think its a great mechanic for team ability and ballsiness.
Bull
One thing to note...

Season 2 (ANd Season 0/1 for 3rd ed) were done as fan-projects. Missions was originally conceived by Rich "Bitrunner" Osterhaut and approved by Rob Boyle when the RPGA decided to drop the old Virtual Seattle campaign (and pretty much all non-WotC/D&D RPGA events). Bitrunner had been coordinating Virtual Seattle and wanted to see something in that vein continue.

These seasons were written, designed, and produced for free by fans. They got no compensation for the product.

John Dunn took over with Season 2, and as he wrapped up that, he was interested in stepping Missions up a notch. Missions became an official Shadowrun product, and the authors and artists started getting paid to produce Missions. Well... "Paid". Compared to regular freelance work, Missions pay is unfortunately extremely low, still is (Though sales are up a bit, and I'm pushing at upper management to improve this). So Season 3 got a bit more editing and some help from Catalyst as far as production went.

Unfortunatly, Season 3 is a little uneven in terms of scale. Some Missions are really easy, even at Table Rating 6. Some are deadly at lower table ratings. And the pay is all over as well (One of the Missions has you doing a very high profile terrorist act, and is one of the worst paying adventures ever, even at higher table rating). Part of this was because the Mission line Developer shifter several times. John kicked off Season 3, but was also filling in part-time as a Co-Line Developer for the main Shadowrun line, and handling his Day Job as a Super Mad Scientist (not really, but he's got a really good, but really involved full time job). When he and his wife were expecting a baby, he stepped out completely, and STephen McQUillon and Aaron Pavao tag teamed it for a bit as Missions Developer. But day jobs and other responsibilities led them to stepping down after just a few Missions.

I applied for the gig last year, and picked it up in March and have been rolling with it ever since. I tried to smooth out Season 3 a bit (I had some hand in developing 03-09 through 03-12), but when I came in the adventures had mostly been written and were all but done.

I played in a bunch of the Season 3 stuff and had a lot of fun. Manhattan had a very distinct feel to it, and overall was a good time. I applied to be the new Missions Developer because I enjoyed Season 3 so much.

I recommend it. I think you'll enjoy it quite a bit.

Bull
Nebular
Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll take a look at these in the next few days then, see if they're something a little more suited to my group's taste, and how much I'll have to tweak to balance it out for them and the pay, etc. I'd love to pick up Season 4 since it seems pretty intereesting, but the time between their releases is a little too slow for how frequently my group plays. Will certainly be grabbing them once they're all out though. smile.gif
hermit
I bought a few of them (1 through 7), and reading them ... the current Missions season is a great step forward in quality. Some of the Season 3 adventures are okay and fun, but others ... are bizarre, and not in the good way.

I doubt the scariest thing about the Max Gruber-esque plan of Mr Johnson in "burning Bridges" is the part that Aztechnology might be involved. But the plan really has a certain Die Hard feel - 'to cover up our bank robbery, we pretend we're actually Osama bin Laden and blow up a skyscraper. Because that'll confuse the cops and make them come after us with less vehemence than a bank robbers.' Uh, right. And yes, the pay for what the runners are to do (7K for facing down a small army and becoming internationally wanted terrorists?!) is laughable.

Also, the kid from Block War indeed is in need of a bit of fixing, though I think she'd work better as a kid with a gift for hacking and high-level social softs better than as a technomunchkin. YMMV.

The Affiliate Rewards are a fun idea, if a bit oddly balanced at times. But I like that feature, especially the "what's in the box' feel. Makes the whole affair seem just that much more imbalanced.
Mesh
QUOTE (hermit @ Jun 25 2011, 01:31 PM) *
I doubt the scariest thing about the Max Gruber-esque plan of Mr Johnson in "burning Bridges" is the part that Aztechnology might be involved. But the plan really has a certain Die Hard feel - 'to cover up our bank robbery, we pretend we're actually Osama bin Laden and blow up a skyscraper.


Season 3 is fun for a home game where the GM has time to take things off the rails and let them go where she and the players want. GMs looking for source material who aren't afraid to make changes will really appreciate Season 3.

For example...
[ Spoiler ]


smile.gif

Mesh
hermit
Yes, that's a way to handle it, but most of my players would just refuse that job - or take it and sell the Johnson out to the cops immediatly.

Think I'll run Knight at the Opera, Ready, Set, Gogh, Mnkeywrench, and Block War (with the girl being some Matrix wunderkind) with my regulars. Maybe also a modified Burning Bridges and In'n'out. You're right, these sound like fun for a regular group. I'll not run them clearly by mission rules though, but embedded in a spot-hopping campaign.

Also, forgot: Ares Talos. Heh. Kudos to whoever wrote in this reference. From one Night Lords fan to - presumably - another. biggrin.gif
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