As the title and description suggest, I'm trying to put together the absolute best version of the classic Food Fight scenario to introduce my players who are all experienced gamers but also all new to Shadowrun. I know I'm going to be using the map and legend provided with the 3E and 4E versions, and that I'm going to go with the assassination plot (the woman who is targeted is going to be the daughter of their primary fixer), but thinking I'll play it up to look more like a robbery that went wrong with her getting geeked. Who are the best NPCs (both from the attack team and the random bystanders), in your opinion, for giving players the best introduction to the whole of Shadowrun, both the goofy stuff and the darker stuff?

For example, I kind of like the idea of including Static for the whole "brain fried, talking to inanimate objects" kind of character to give a feel for how some chipheads end up. I think I prefer Fornis over Wiley as the opposing team's shaman just so they're not ALL humans, but maybe give him Wiley's personality. The Scatman's are in all versions, so I'll definitely include them, but probably have them stealing catfood (per 5E) instead of buying it (as in all other editions). I'm thinking of including Mr. Nick and Johnny so there's more than one person who actually works there when it all happens.

Wanda and Vern are basically interchangeable, both being complete dullards. Mrs. Needles and her son Louis fit the same basic role of Dustoo Gorston (comic relief). You kinda get the idea. How best would you pick the NPCs within for the first run any of these players have ever done?

For reference, I'm debating between 5E and 4E rules (I hate what they did to technomancers, so it put me off on the matrix for 5E, but I do kind of want to give it an honest chance), but setting the run to start in late 2057, and run them through Mob War and eventually the whole Deus saga interspersed between more common runs, like getting screwed over by a Humanis Johnson, robbing the 2058 equivalent of an IHOP/Waffle House, and so on.

So no one wants to chime in? It's a classic unintentional run for new players!

I'll chime in.

I'd do two things:

First, for Food Fight, I'd probably expand the location and blend as many elements of the different ones as I could. It's an easy, rectilinear map (mostly), so that's not a heavy lift. Adding more flavour and confusion to the whole thing isn't bad.

I don't know that a typical runner would care about an assassination plot without being paid by one side or another, but sure thing - why not.

I'll agree with you on Fornis. Whether the Scatmans are stealing or buying cat food I leave up to you, based on how incompetent/useless you think that surveillance is. Bear in mind that even a rather weak automated tracking system should highlight them like a spotlight as being suspicious - something that could run on the embedded tech inside a camera, let alone a monitoring base. In essence this fact should be a clue to the party what kind of world you run.

I'd keep Wanda and Vern, and Needles family and Dustoo all in it. Don't describe in too much detail until players ask for it, and then wax lyrical about Wanda's delivery until they get sick of it, or decide to kidnap her for massive loot, or whatever.

5E is very, very broken in important ways. I'd steer well clear of it.

I like the 4A Version of Food Fight the most
and consider the 5th Ed as the worst .

I used the 4A Version a couple of times as the start of a new campaign . The Elfish woman on the Run from the Mob seeking refuge became the first Group connection ( a Fixer like her late Husband) and she grew with the Group.
Lots of Roleplaying espeially with the little toddler


with a Groupdance
Medicineman

Well, aside from the 5E attempt at going to a fast food knock off of McDonald's, they're all pretty similar. The 5E remake of the Stuffer Shack is the exact same map as 3E and 4E, though even there they managed to jack it up by having the key not follow the map proper.



Which is why I'm thinking to make it look more like a robbery. Have some members act like they're robbing people while some others are looking for the girl to "abduct her in their getaway" before killing her, or killing her to make it look like she was resisting them. I still think the crew will then get their first real fixer in the form of her parent (I'm thinking her mother, who is part of either the mafia, yakuza, or triads as a family member but not member member, and thus able to offer jobs to outside individuals), who will reach out to them in thanks for saving her daughter.



Since this is likely going to be starting with Mob War, I'll be using the 2050 setting book for actual decks, and having the food fight be late 2057 so they can have the assassination occur shortly after their first real fun. Due to the time period, the security is not quite as everywhere as it is a decade later under the wireless world.



Well, Wanda is from 1E and 3E (there was no 2E version that I can find), while Vern (and his dwarf girlfriend Veronica) were from 4E and 5E. Basically, she's got only one thing going for her (being super pretty) and not much else, being really daft. Vern is just bored, and gets blown away (or stunned at least) when the attack happens, causing the shotgun under the counter to fall with him, allowing for Veronica to toss it to a player if they need it.

I might just go with Wanda and Veronica (elf and dwarf) as a couple, though not sure what reactions I'll have, i.e. if Wanda gets knocked back, or what.



Yeah, I'm definitely including Dustoo. Rather than the 5E version who is sneaking tastes of the ice cream, I'll go with the 4E version where his response to the attack is to try and hide in the ice cream freezers.





Yeah, I already announced to my crew that I'll be running with SR4A rules, because crud like limits, marks, and some of the other BS that came with 5E will seriously just complicate and confuse the system for newer players. Especially because like with D&D 4E, SR5's attempts to simplify the system ended up breaking some of the core basics.



Well, my crew is also going to be a decent size, so I'm probably going to have to include more than just the four gangers for them. Right now I have six for sure players and potentially three others. So I'm thinking of including some more gangers, or maybe just go with the original Chiller Thrillers crew, which was like 6 or 7 gangers. Either way, I'd make the shaman a dwarf instead of a human, just so there's SOME diversity inside. There's no orks or trolls in any of the versions of the run as NPCs, despite orks being the second most common metatype after humans.

As of right now though, I only have a basic idea of the characters of two of my players, as everyone is still learning the rules and setting and has yet to decide even what role they want to play. I know for a fact one is planning an elven decker, and the other I know of is going to go with some kind of mystcal face (though not clear yet if mage, adept, or mystic adept), so likely will also be an elf. I am hoping for a very meta heavy crew though so that I can have one of their runs involve a Humanis Johnson who is trying to use them to create anti-meta propaganda.