This question is meant to be read by game masters or players who played the first scenario since it contains a spoiler info about an event in the scenario.



I would like to know how people react to the drone demonstration event in the first scenario. I'll run this scenario next week and I'm trying to organize my set up of events. However, this one looks like the most challenging, especially for new players, since there is a difference between reacting against a demo drone attack and reacting against gangers doing obvious illegal actions. If you could tell me how you/your group react to this, I could see what can I expect for this event.

hehe....

most groups (at least 75%) have attacked the drones....

remember though that you have the flexibility to control which encounters happen - you don't have to run them all and in fact won't be able to do so in the time allotted...if you feel that your table isn't doing well, then maybe you shouldn't hit them with the drones...on the other hand, the encounter is there specifically to teach the characters/players a lesson about jumping to conclusions and/or attacking everything they see...

Thanks a lot. I think I will use this event because it's a good way to see how the players react to events. I will put it early into the scenario to be sure to teach the players a good lesson about keeping your calm for the remaining events, like the late fixer.

The group I played it with (earlier this weeked actually) was a fairly experienced group, both role playing and with Shadowrun. However, the mage did cast a spell on the drones to throw them off their flight path. They were being pretty cautious about things and didn't want to start blowing things up unless they had to, so I thought it was a good way to handle it. They were even unlucky enough to have had the Lonestar mage be in the area, however they were pretty good about talking their way out of it.

I mean, what are you going to do when someone says, "Hey, there were these three drones swooping down here armed with huge guns, I just freaked out officer! I mean, anyone could have made that mistake!" The spell was pretty high force, but I didn't really press the issue too much, since they seemed to have things in hand well enough.

The drones created the tension and paranoia I was looking for and made the group think about whether or not they should break out the artillery and open fire.

The only thing I had trouble with was the drone with the bomb is a bit obvious, so you might try to be more subtle about it. As soon as they realized there was a malfunctioning drone in the area they pegged it for a bomb. Perhaps have some of the drones come around and mention them a lot before you get to the busted one.

Ah well, all in all it's a good little scenario. It was lots of fun. I just wish I had had time to do the FBI guy, since one of the characters (the face/undercover guy) was decked out with a very fake FBI badge and such. Only enough to fool passer's by. Would have been fun to have him confronted by the FBI agent.

Great info Connor! Me too I feared that the bomb was too obvious to find. I don't know if I will give them the info about the malfunctionning drone at the start. I know that my players will be experienced enough to know that when you give additionnal informations in a game, it's important.

I really like the idea of sharing our experiences since we all run the same games. It's interresting to learn how other groups did.

well remember again that it is an intro game...the bomb is SUPPOSED to be obvious...with more experienced groups, you're certainly free to add in other drones, as mentioned...

I've run Mission Briefing a week ago with an experienced group of players.

They reacted to the drone demonstration fairly well: got into well covered position, observed the drones, waited, observed, realized they weren't a thread, resumed previousl mission.
I think I shouldn't have mentioned the Security Convention without being asked by players about what happened at the Convention Center that day. That way it wouldn't have been that obvious. Well, at least Snoop totally fooled them.

As for the drone bomb: I gave them all the clues ... well distributed over the hours of playing. They just turned the drone on it's back to let the liquid out. A nice explosion followed, which they survived in more or less good shape.
Talking to the players after ending the scenario they all told me that they (the players) knew or at least suspected the drone to be a bomb, but didn't think the PC would know it. So they didn't react to it.

Great roleplaying.

Well I had my chance to plat this at FX con way back in January me and 2 others here is a quick break down of what we did.

We got the job headed to the park looked around. After a few we noticed the camera network the tech guy hacked the system and loop feed the cameras. I was the magic support and the muscle pissed off the free spirit of the park. I talked to and got info from the shaman in the bushes as did the tech guy. We had an encounter with the gang police came in no one war arrested we went about out biz. The tech guy wanted to fix the broken drone after some work he got it open found the bomb and disarmed it. The late guy to the meeting showed up got as far as turning the knob after several heated words he left minor throw down between his muscle and ours. All the same race our mucle male his female our guy got to cop a few feels then things quited down. Then the drones came in if I remember right we took one out the rest messed us up but the meeting was never interrupted. we were how ever caught on camera by the dog. Did the addy in 2 1/2 to 3 hours of the 4 hours time limit.

Well its went smooth with us.. I'm playing a Anti-Rigger/Decker/Fast talker guy that i tested with my gaming group.

He's a fun guy... and he likes to have fun with stuff.. think cat shaman but not. We had an ex-military bonehead muscel guy... thats it.. we ran it with 2 people!

The first thing we did.. is i went to the Walk-a-thon.. smoking a cigarette.. and appered interested.. and talked to the reporter..and then i approached the building via the east.. i spoted all the cameras on my self.. and with my knowledge of electronics and stuff.. i relayed the specs of the cameras to the Bunny. He noticed his.. and we pretty much knew them all. The female reporter i started so mack on and hit on.. then i walked over and hopped over the ledges and sat in a bench and scooped out some stuff... i noticed the dog looking up some skirts.. and the floating trash... and assumed they were drones.. i also noticed the worker drones, bah nothing up with them.

I ran to my car as my buddy watched the front door for a bit.. i logged on my little rigger network via my deck.. and just scoped the area out for pings and all i got was teh worker drones.. so i had nothing to worry about the dog for now... so i carried my deck with me.. and just hung out on the east side just packing my Browning Max Power!

The Next problem was Rolando.. my buddy had some problems with him at first.. but he didn't pull a gun or anything.. and i apporached up to him and spoke some italian.. and made it appear i was working for the mob myself.. and told him that Papa John had it under cover.. and that he is not need here *scored me a contact*.

Then the dog approached me, so i picked it up and start pettin git and playing iwth it.. and kept it... hehe this if funny stuff later on.

Then halloweeners, my good ole Gang ID... picked that up.. and started tourching crap.. then one drove up to the guy reporter.. so i made sure to put a gel round in his throte and knock h im off his bike.. i quick drawed... shot.. and re holster my gun and approached to tackle the reporter down. Made look like i'm the good guy infront of the Lone Star. Lone Star took out the other guy.

I went to check out the drones on my RCDeck.. .well... i jarbled their station all up and made it where all their TNs were +6.. bastards... haha! they retreated... my buddy was gunna blast it with a shotgun if they attempted to do anything.

THen the worker drone.. i disable it and shut it off

The Nosey Fed came up..and harrased my Buddy then i flashed him a fake ID badge real quick and started to bullshit left and right.. and i was ex-army.. from the CAS that fought down in the Aztec Lands... and i was just talking general bullshit.. and the people started to leave one by one... and he missed it.... pretty much.. .and he was trying to catch us leaving with him.. my buddy snuck off.. and collected payroll.. as i bullshited for about 20 minutes.. then i got a phone call from MJ.. so i passed it on as a "hot date" and i left.. "the whole time the dog was chewing on the bottom of my open hawiaiian shirt and i shot off.. and i tied the dog up to my car.. went in to get paid.. left.. and got pulled over by soem suits.. asking for something that belongs to them so i handed them a few bags of chips i stole from the vender... and they said not that.. so i told them that i was a repair man for the worker drone! adn then the other guy just reached thru the roof of my car *its targa top, you know T-Top removable*.. and took the dog.. and i was like.. nnnnoooo no spunky.. i wanna keep him.. my hot date wants a puppy.. and i was gunna give it to her.. how much you want it back for?

The drones were NOOOOOO PROBLEM!!! I just causes interference!

BUt i eneded up getting the Female Reporter, Rolando, and the base contact you normally get.. hehe... 3 of them.. and 7 karma. for our awesome skills.. the gunny bunny was a n00b.. but he was alirght he was smart.. hehe.. and not trigger happy like most n00bs are!


Sorry if i runied any of this for anybody... sorry.. but yeah.. i figured Spoiler.. would just keep people that haven't played out of this thread and wanted to share you my experience.. but yeah.. peace

Hey rich, i've sent you email twice over past month about "ordering" SRM1 for a con here in WNY.

Havn't recieved any replies, just wanna know if it got lost in the shuffle, need to resend, etc. Cause its in 3 days now, and this seems only way to get ahold of ya ;>.

darusgrey @ aol.com

The first and second scenario is available on the Shadowrun website at http://www.shadowrunrpg.com/missions/index.shtml

Ah I don't know if you have to schedule an event if you want to report it... We would need a quick answer for that since I'll be running the 2 first scenarios this weekend.

sorry about that...yes, i've been on the road since the second week of May...the project was supposed to only take two weeks, and that went out the window quickly...i got a couple days rotation back home to do laundry (and got to squeeze in a con during the memorial day weekend) and then back to Virginia Beach...now i'm getting ready to leave and go home once more - so that i can turn around and drive to Jacksonville FL for another con...

i'll be back to my normal schedule and office on monday...

as for the scenarios...the first 5 scenarios (ie the SRM00- series of demos) will be available online at the FanPro website always...regular adventures after that will be only available through Commandos or myself.

As for requesting and reporting, this allows me to track and report back to FanPro our numbers - particularly of new Shadowrun players that we suck into the game, as well as repeat customers and overall numbers of the campaign. obviously, the more repeat players we have, and the more new players each year we get, will show a steady and growing campaign. this in turn will ensure continued success and support of the campaign from FanPro. As for the mission results reported by each table, those are to help in the actual plotline development and feedback to the writers. both are equally important. the important thing to do is make sure you get a response from me that i've received your request or report. if you send me something and i don't answer you within a week, please post something on the board and/or assume that for some reason, i did not receive your email.

also, i've noticed a problem with Hotmail accounts in that i cannot send out file attachments - they get bounced back. not sure what the limit is, but the first adventure is over 500Mp...maybe the people just had full boxes...

later!

Hotmail accounts are limited to 1Mb of memory, if I remember correctly (which is why I don't use them). Gmail... oh, where are you, gmail?

Anyway, I'd like to publicly say that SRM00-02 rocks

Thanks rich for the response.

man, you guys are going to give me a complex....i'm the author for #3, and now i'm having to follow in some tough boots...especially since my adventure covers one of the most dreaded things for most players, especially power gamers...


LEGWORK!

Heheh great Rich, my newest players just learned the importance of legwork, so this mission will be good for them!

man i love legwork.. like i think i am the only person that goes thru the trouble of naming contacts.. and making up a breif explanation about who and what they are and how i know them. I hate those people that are like dectectives but have like the yakuzaa boss and athe mofia don and then like Lone Star cop.. and then bartender.. and like a bunch of random contracts.. so far.. mine are

Jeff Snaker He was the old bassist of my characters high school band, he got some links.. owns his own little night club.. the "Snag"

and Draf Gears a dwarf mechanic.. good for getting those "hard to get parts" and then

the news reporter, "Rolando" and one of the fixers.

thats all i really care about.. and i do a great job of paying them off too.. i used one from the first run the News reporter.. and the way i got her is because my character flirted and mac=ed on her.. and to get info i told her i would take her out to that place she likes to eat at... hehe.. 200 creds gone there man.. she got expensive taste! =p


Yo Bitrunner... if you got drones.. or RC vechicals.. put the stats in for the Decks and Riggers using them.. heh.. we came across that problem in both my runs when i attempted to do some electronic warfare.. and their wasn't anything in the modules for me to work agianst it. Thats the only thing really missing
But leg working it fun man.. i love it.

both of the drones used in the first two adventures were working autonomously and not under rigger control, therefore there was nothing you could have used to conduct EW on them. They are preprogrammed and only received updated commands upon returning to their charging stations...

Hi all, I played the first 2 modules this weekend with a very balanced team : a decker, an elementalist, a physical adept and an explosive specialist. And we had a blast! Here are some comments about what happened. I'll put the comments about the runs in spoilers tags since I didn't knew that this thread would become the non-official "talk about your missions" thread.

SRM-01


SRM-02


So finally, this was a great weekend. Congratulations to those who are behind Shadowrun Missions, because this is the kind of thing I really needed to show everyone how Shadowrun is great. I even got a call yesterday by one of the beggining player that he liked this game so much that we should run a regular game. Hearing this was so good... So now I'm preparing to run these 2 scenarios to 4 other players really soon, I made a small website for my players and I 'm also thinking about writing a scenario.

In conclusion : SRM rocks!

glad to see everyone is having fun!

when you feel this strongly about the adventures, good or bad (but hopefully good!), please send an email to Rob Boyle at FanPro. Maybe if he's inundated with praising emails, he can allocate more resources to us

as for #2, the camera line-of-sight areas are kind of in there, but i guess they weren't described as well...the dot shows the camera, and the line shows the area of coverage...figure a 90dg area of view from that dot and facing....

also, remember that these are just the DEMO events...as such,
1) sometimes we'll put something in that doesn't quite fit, such as the rocket launchers, so that players can get some experience with them...
2) if you think these are good, wait until you start playing the story arc adventures, where what you learn in one can be used later on in another, and recurring NPCs, and all that stuff...

seems like you had a great game up there guy.

Man i would GM the games.. but man i love playing more than i like GMing

but yeah.. i can't wait till the 3rd one is ran!! Man.... sitting waiting.. sitting waiting.. and i can't wait till people start getting high karma characters mixed in with n00b runners!

I've started running Mission Briefing with my own player group, weaving the story neatly into the history of my games. They're not doing starting SRM characters though.

So, I was wondering bitrunner - will the storyarc missions also be available for 'private' GMing, or is it exclusive for gaming by SRM rules?

EDIT: I forgot to add how my team has been doing. They are only half-way through (we had to end the session, unfortunately) but so far they've been handling themselves well.
I started off with some minor descriptions of people and the park, introducing some spirit-induced accidents.
When Rolando showed up they used a combination of good arguments and Control Thoughts (on Becky and Betsy) to finally convince him he wasn't getting in and would only get in trouble by trying to force his way in. When Betsy and Becky took the runners' side he relented.
They figured out that a spirit was responsible for the little accidents, but decided to leave her alone and suffer the inconvenience rather than anger a free spirit.
They also started suspecting the maintenance drones and are keeping an eye on them, though they have yet to discover 'Hugh'.
Enter the Halloweeners, and they used a Control Actions to make one ram the other, and then Control Fire to handle the damage control. They Narcojected the ganger that went through the impact almost unscathed and let the park guards deal with them after that. Snoop managed to catch the controlling mage 'in action' here - using Gesture geas and Latin centering...
Next, we will see how they handle the drones...

SRM events can be run at home...

however, if the players are not using SRM characters, they cannot take these characters and use them at other SRM events. if your players don't plan on playing anywhere else, and you as the GM are just using the events to augment your home campaign, and no-one plans on journeying elsewhere, that is fine...as long as you report your results after every session so that i can track the size of the campaign and active players, that's all FanPro is really concerned about...

i think you all are missing out though on some opportunities and things...

I just want to say that the decking run in SRM-02 was made easy for two reasons. First, I didn't want to overcomplicate things for new players. And second, it was not written with Matrix in mind. While I have access to that book, I'm not at all familiar with it, and therefore any decking parts of Missions that I write won't account for Matrix.

GMs who know this may want to plan for it. My suggestion is to disallow use of Matrix.

I'd really hate to see Matrix disallowed. I'd much prefer there being a bonus for PC deckers who have and can use the book rather than it not being allowed or being required. The main thing that pops to mind is the paydata (which can hopefully be condensed into a few sentences for the campaign). Matrix searches are also a powerful item that would be nice for PC deckers to be able to use, though streamlining the mechanic to work as a contact would also be not-so-bad (the bonus being you get to use computer in place of etiquette).

There are other items which are attractive from a PC point of view but don't really need to be included in modules, including wireless links and frames/agents. These things fall under the umbrella of "if you want to use it, have the book handy", though, so I guess they're not a big deal.

The problem is, is that I can't use Matrix to plan the decking runs. Here's the point: Dark father mentions that the decking run in Demolition Run seemed too easy, because of an operation not mentioned in SR3, but in Matrix. I couldn't plan for someone using that operation, because I don't have the book.

Now, what happens if I plan for a really tough matrix run as part of a Mission Brief, and something out of Matrix turns it into a cakewalk, which it's not intended to be?

There are several things I theoretically could do:

1) Plan for it. Nope, can't do it. I don't own the book. I can borrow a friend's -- or, at least, I used to be able to. Not only that, but what happens if I plan on a player having Matrix, and the player doesn't?

1a) Have someone else do the Matrix-enabled decker runs for me. Hey, the reason I'm doing these Briefs is because no one else has stepped up and volunteered to do them. If you want to design these Matrix-enabled runs, why aren't you writing for SRM?

2) Have the GM convert the system on the fly. Not many GMs are that familiar with Matrix to do this, and in many cases the GM won't think he has the authority to do so.

3) Disallow Matrix completely. Seems the most logical choice.

I'm sorry that this stomps on the player who went and bought the decker book, but I have no choice. That's the problem with the way FASA went about developing the third edition rules -- the expansion books alter the game system (Stress rules for cyberware, Martial Arts, Optempo rules) from what the basic book presents. I have to rely solely on basic book rules because, quite often (according to the campaign concept) that's all some players and GMs will have.

It's less a matter of designing Matrix runs for to use Matrix and more a matter of designing them so that Matrix doesn't break them. There are already Matrix bits in the modules so far (paydata is a Matrix thing).

Most of the nasty host tricks from Matrix can't be used, of course, because that would require everyone to have the book. Adding in things like paydata, protections against Validate, etc, should be a relatively minor matter (when compared to the work throwing in a bouncing host behind a vanishing SAN would create).

I don't write because I'm more in tune with the mechanics and less so with the creative side of things. I'd be more than happy to assist you with checking out Matrix runs for compatability with Matrix, if you need someone to do that. I do think it's a bit annoying that every character type except for Deckers would get to use the special bits in their expanded books (Riggers get customized vehicles, Sams get all of the additional weapons from CC and the cyberware from M&M, Mages get all sorts of stuff from MitS).

I feel that some effort should be made to create the illusion that Matrix is being used, even if it is not being utilized in whole.

Well I think for SRM01 and SRM02, things were ok. THe two matrix systems weren't grade A security, so it's understandable that a competent decker wouldn't have any problem. Also, take in account that in this kind of campaign, deckers shouldn't be essential, because playing a decker in a convention in the limited time frame might be difficult. That's why I think that Missions decking runs should be simple enough to not hinder the non-decker players. The matrix in demolition run was a very important asset. So a decker is really helpful in this mission. He can't do the run all by himself, he can only gather the informations to make the run for the rest of the team easier. So as long as the matrix runs are something that helps missions run swiftly, I think there shouldn't have increased difficulty. And the player who took time to create a decker, with Matrix or not shouldn't be hindered.

My conclusion : keep things as is. If a player take the effort to build a complete decker, don't punish him by forbidding things. However, in future missions if the Matrix should be really more difficult, I think it would be a good idea to contact some interrested SRM game masters and try to work together to build a matrix that will be challenging with both SR3 and Matrix rules.

Oh, and I'm writting a SRM module. The matrix part in it should be as easy as in the first modules.

short and sweet:

if someone has the Matrix book and wishes to use it, they must have it with them. The GM at the table is the arbitrator as to how to interpret and/or modify the intent of the adventure as far as the basic core decking rules or use of the Matrix book rules are concerned...

as with everything else, no optional rules are used - so as long as you stick to that, you're fine.

if you're a decker, and you are using the Matrix book at the table, then you can use the book, and if anything, it will differentiate between those that are "true" deckers and those that have a datajack, cyberdeck, and computer skill. sure, that's all you really need to be a "decker", but if you can use the Matrix book to take advantage of an extra program, piece of gear, or expanded rule, then do so...

if you're playing a decker character, then i encourage you to purchase the Matrix book and use it as i've outlined above...after all, marketing is one of the side purposes of SRM, as we're all well aware...

Hehehe, that's exactly what my decker player did

funny thing about is every GM has his pet pev... mine is magic.. i think it is too munchie, uber, waht ever.. i don't like it.. and its slows down the game... well.. I don't play magic.. only physical adepts...

I don't find the matrix to hard to run, its really really fast unlike 2nd ed.. oh god that sucked... but yeah I have a decker/rigger.. and my style of decking is.. plan out what you want.. go in, get it, hop out! thats it.. thats how matrix should be.

I find it annoying when GMs go.. i will allow this.. but not this... i hate that.. usally because i'm at a con.. and i go i really want to make a decker.. and the GM screws over deckers.. but loves magic.. or gun bunnies.. or some gay drek like that.

The only rules i don't like is edges and flaws... do you really need to get extra attributes.. or skills or money.. to role play a flaw... or an edge? Use your pools to alter that.. not a wack gaming system.. but i look at edges and flaws as a character gen process.. and i like the proiorty system the way it is.

But yeah guys.. i loved the games.. hehe.