With Virtual Seattle no longer part of the RPGA network - FanPro has supported the formation of Shadowrun Missions. Characters created for (and approved) for Shadowrun Missions games will be useable at any Shadowrun Missions events at any Convention or other gathering.

Bitrunner - who was the lead for Virtual Seattle - will be heading up this new project, and he will be along shortly to confirm/deny/correct anything I have already said.

Once he has what rules and guidelines he needs for these forums in place - it will open to the general populace. Until then, members may post to already existing threads, but will be unable to create new threads.

Here is a question I know is going to come up, even though I have no cares either way. What will the stance be on online play of scenarios? There are some RPGA online conventions which are fairly successful, but some of the campaigns forbid them, etc. I'm just curious about it

Oh, and I'd ask chargen questions, but I'll wait to see the guidelines first.

My goal is to have at least one online opportunity per quarter. I know that there are many people out there that just don't have anyone near them to play SR, or can't get to a convention. Heck, even one of the freelancers is in Singapore, and there just aren't a lot of gamers there, period!

This is a daunting task however, my main concern is getting the campaign rolling. Once that has been accomplished, then we will try the online gaming. My "advisors" tell me that it takes roughly twice as long, so expect to set aside 8 hours or so for an online session...

Also, there will be other online "components" of the game as well. Foreshadowing of upcoming events, and clues to current events, will occasionally appear in the new screamsheets that will appear on the official SR website. Also, i'm hoping that some other stuff can be done online, such as say, decking??

In the past, I have, off and on, been associated with ArcanisOnline, a Living Arcanis online convention that happens about once a quarter. It's completely fan run, and they tend to do each module as two four hour blocks. If you want to keep the online in official hands, that's fine, as well, but their model might provide some food for thought.

I only played one module of Virtual Seattle, for a lot of reasons (lost interest in SR for a while, it was too hard for our team by a long shot, etc). I'm really onboard with the idea of SR: Missions and want to play as much as I can (mostly homegames, I'm sure, considering the way life works).

One thing that comes to mind is that a rating system for modules would be nice. Much as DnD games put a level limit on their modules (and a sliding challenge scale), some sort of warning about how hard a module is going to be would be nice If VS had this, I'm not aware of it since, after all, I only played one game.

How will tracking me done? Log sheets? Log sheets + certs? A central tracking system?

Sorry if I'm asking dumb questions, but I kind of want to see this campaign succeed.

All good questions...

ArcanisOnline - the Arcanis people do good work...i'll check into it...

Rating System

Player Characters will be "rated" by the amount of total good karma they have earned. There will be four basic categories: Green, Streetwise, Veteran, and Elite. The overall average category of the table will determine the difficulty level of the scenario for that table. If you have 4 Green players and 1 Veteran player, the average is still Green, and therefore some things might be a little easier for the Veteran. For those that have been cursed, like myself, into playing Star Wars Galaxies, it will be like grouping with others in that game - your opponents difficulty level will change depending on the your groups abilities.

Tracking

After completing each scenario, a character will receive a Mission Log sheet. This datasheet will summarize the mission and any critical events that took place, along with any special rewards for the character including special gear, contacts, karma, nuyen, etc. This sheet will help keep a permanent record of the character's progress and subsumes the need for certs, etc. If the character wants to do something special, such as create a magic focus, all rolls are performed and witnessed in front of the current GM.

Sounds great!

Are you done with the character generation rules yet, or will we be seeing those closer to Christmas?

Actually, both methods will be used...

Normally, such activities such as initiation would be witnessed by the GM after the gaming slot.

At larger cons, or during special events, we may arrange for an "interactive", where there will be stations set up for doing such things as one-on-one shadowruns, especially for stuff like decking, and other special activities, such as initiation, designing/building a weapon/focus/vehicle/ally spirit, astral quests, and other special stuff that might take longer than a quick dice roll.

for those that can't make it to a large convention or special event where these activities will take place, the player will have to make arrangements to do the activities through a FanPro Commando or me (online, if possible). If it absolutely has to be done through snail mail, then the player will have to accept the dice rolls made by me, since obviously they cannot perform them via computer or some other neutral agent.

Will VS stuff, like cash limits/mod and Tyger Teams specifically, have analogs in SRM?

No, we won't need to do that because we'll be handling that from the writing side of things right from the start...if you find a toy that is worth 300,000 nuyen, congratulations! just don't expect to get paid a lot...it will all balance out in the end - if a run doesn't pay well, then you can probably expect that loot will be more substantial to offset that low pay. if the pay is high, then the Johnson probably expects you to not touch anything on the mission, thus cutting down the "looting" factor...

I'm not really fond of the 'Tyger Team' concept, as it encourages clique-based gaming. I'd much rather encourage people to mix their tables, include new players when possible, and spread the wealth...

Tyger Teams -
This requires a few short points to explain:
1. Under VS, there was only one fixer - Claudia Tyger...
2. Originally, there was a limit placed on how much money/loot a character could have obtained from each scenario (100,000 nuyen). this, of course, prevented the character from receiving some items, especially riggers, from being able to keep tricked out vehicles. other items such as facilities were also restricted items that individual characters could not have.
3. In order to allow the characters to access this stuff, the Tyger Team concept was formed - it allowed players that had characters that ran together often to form a team and pool their resources. As long as over half a table was made up of members from the same team, they could use anything the team had obtained (which of course included all the big ticket items mentioned above). Also, loot that exceeded the limit could be taken in the name of the team.

Although there were only about a dozen (registered) teams, and they really didn't get abused, i agree that it tended to be counter to what we want to achieve - the social aspect of gaming...

This is the general question place, so I ask a general question.


The Mission Logs: will judges be required to print these themselves, or will they be sent to the convention coords for printing and inclusion with handouts in the judge packet?

TimberWolf
A new name for a new campaign

Basically, adventures will be downloadable by Commandos and event organizers from various locations. A ZIP file will contain the main adventure and a copy of the log sheet, both are PDF files. It is up to the event organizer (which may actually be the judge!) to ensure that the materials are distributed appropriately.

So, if you are a judge, and you don't get the log sheets, ask - if they still don't provide them, let me know...an "interactive shadowrun" will be scheduled soon afterwards...

So, we need a Commando to run the Missions.. ::Sigh:: I guess I'll have to sign up.. Ugh...

I didn't think it was necessary for one to actually be a Commando to run these adventures.

No, from what I understand anyone can run these. But if a Commando runs one they get credited just as if they had run a demo. Also we might get things ahead of schedule but that is really up to Bitrunner.

When (approximately) will the first mod become available? We've got a con in February, see...

It sounded like you had to have a Commando present on-site (Not necessarily running) to do this. Ah well, I may still do it.

Sorry for the confusion...

A Commando is *NOT* required to run these events. If at all possible, I would like to see at least one Commando (that knows SR - most are only Battletech right now, but that will change!) at a con that will act as a "coordinator, final judge, arbitrator", etc, but I know that there are few SR Commandos out there at this time...

The only thing that *IS* required is for the person actually judging the event to know the SR rules, be a good GM, and have fun!

As for scenarios, the first scenario, Mission Briefing, will be out by January 1st. We hope to have others out soon afterwards, but that one, at least, will be ready...you will be able to download it on/after the 1st of January...

I've recently run a few VS mods for my home crew. How is the difficulty of Missions going to stack up with VS? VS had the hardest mods of any RPGA living campaign. I particularly love the run in the Amazonian jungle that culminates with the Azzie death squad. 8 Guys with Wire 3, Assault Rifles 8, and APDS. As well as a pair of Shaman. How any team can possibly not become a victim of a TPK is beyond my imagination. I also love the bodyguard run with the 9th lvl initiate and the Dragon. Good times.

Well, we are going to try to follow the FanPro approach, which is a back to the streets, old fashioned shadowrun, rather than having tea with lofwyr type stuff...

the scenarios will be able to be scaled for the party level, as before. and, as usual, there is the "stupidity reward" - if the party does something stupid, they should expect to get spanked...hard...

I've played a considerable amount of LA, and there isn't a mod that just houses the PCs with anything approaching the Azzie Death Squad. Thats the Death Squad at Tier 1. At higher Karma lvls the shamans are intiates and there are more of them. I believe at the highest Tier in that mod, there are 4 4th lvl initiates, and they come packing great form nature spirits. In addition to the 8 razor boys.

Play up an APL on Serpentine Path. I saw a full table of level seven and eight players play through at APL 8. The first fight, five of the six were dead, and the last one severely wounded. And that was just the normal encounter. There's a beast in Grains of Sand which could hand out a similar amount of death, given a few rounds. Not to mention those poor bastards who had a pack of hunting dogs at GenCon 2002 for Assault.

By the same token, I know of at least a five places in LA where they put in instant death items. Generally, attacking town guards will end with you dead. Breaking certain laws will get you dead. Ignoring any warning the module repeats more than twice will get you dead. They just tend not to put in numbers for the NPCs that do it. At least with the death squad you have a (slim) shot

[edit] Of course, I've also seen two LA modules finished in less than an hour (one in twenty minutes) because the PCs were apparently smarter than the writers. Saw that in LG, too, come to think of it...[/edit]

[edit2]Sorry, that third sentance should end "by the end of the first round". Otherwise it's just not impressive.[/edit]

Hello,

I played VS and I am very much looking forward to SRM (unfortunate acronym, though-haha). Anyway, can you give us any idea when we can expect to see the character creation guidelines ready?

thanks again

OK, so I am an idiot, I just saw another forum category devoted to character creation. Sorry about that.

We made it through the jungle Run. We had five people, none very experienced, one a complete newbie (and playing the Face straight out of the book)
We survived the last encounter by the skin of our teeth.
Two of our number were unconscious and I was the least wounded with Severe +1 phys and Severe +3 stun. Of course, I was so covered in icky blood and jungle goop that I had to cast a Force 3 Makeover spell afterward... and failed the drain test.
But that's what a Cat Shaman does! Meow, baby.

Hello,

I have a "general question" for the new Shadowrun Missions campaign concerning the two year story arcs. Basically, when the two year arc is over, will we have to roll up new characters, or will we be able to use our "current" characters for the next story arc?

thanks

bitrunner, in the introduction, it states:

"The first scenario will be called Mission Briefing and will be able to run in 2 hours (in case you need a couple of hours to teach new players how to play SR) or up to 4 hours (for those that already know how to play)."

I am a bit confused about this, did you mean 4 hours for newbies and 2 hours for those that know how to play?

You can run it in any timeframe from 2-4 hours, depending on how much actual play time you need.

For a newbie table, the standard four-hour convention game slot might be half taken up by character generation, leaving two hours to play.

In an experienced table, you can spend the whole four hour time slot playing.

Well, i'm glad to see we're starting to get some activity on here!

Goro asks:

I have a good question about online play.

Let's say someone I know plays Shadowrun but does not have a computer. Can we both play online using my computer in the same session playing seperate characters?

You're right! That is a good question!...

To be honest, i don't think that would be possible...i don't think you can run two separate logins for messenger programs from the same computer, unless you're using XP and flip-flopping between accounts - that would be a pain. i'm not sure about OpenRPG, but i doubt that allows it either.

it's something we'll have to check into and think about...

Trillian [and I suspect other third party IM systems for other platforms] allow multiple logins using different accounts to the same service without a problem.

I can confirm what he said about trillian..*hugs his trillain pro*

Well, I hope this isn't out of place but here it goes...

Since you guys are planning on doing an online gaming option for SR:Missions, has any thought been given to doing a Decker Campaign/Story Arc exclusively through the internet? This would give folks who want to play deckers a fix without the "bogging down" of regular play. It could be done in a way that the Decker Campaign and the regular version were linked, datasteals in one lead to runs in the other, decker contacts in one game might be PCs in the other track and how well they run the Matrix the night before might determine whether or not they have a relavent piece of info for you, heck you might allow a combat decker to participate in both within certain guidelines. I don't know, just something to chew on I suppose...

This could be a great opportunity for FanPro to develope software specifically for roleplaying over the internet. There are already people working on the idea and are dabbling around in making visual aid programs. Someone just needs to take these ideas and mold them into a final product that could quite possibly change the future of role playing.

A market where your books are finally useful online! Who is going to step up to the challenge?

Before someone else beats me to it...Adam Jury is actually the one that does the website, not Bull...

As for the decker stuff...well, I don't want to say too much, but for those that were involved with VS beforehand, you might remember me mentioning a little about this...

basically, my initial goal will be for there to be some online way to have deckers go to a website and do something (planning on some kind of Flash prog att) that will give them a "password". that way, they don't know what the result of the hack was - they take that password and go to the convention or game day, and when they play the event, they tell the GM that they want to try to hack into the matrix to do some legwork on the target, and give them the password. the gm would then have a sheet with the various passwords for that month, and what they result out to...

BUT, and a big but...that takes money, unless someone out there wants to volunteer their time and energy to working with me on this...i had a programmer working on it here where i work, but he's been laid off, and he never got anywhere past the planning stage, as i was having to teach him the terms and basics of the game so that the look and feel would be there...

A similar idea might be that a "Shadowlands node" could be hosted online and people with Shadowlands as a contact get a passcode to get on, etc. It'd take a bit of effort, but it could provide campaign hints and clues, as well as other Shadowlands type adventure hooks and hints. Maybe even passcodes for corp sites and their security proceedures, etc.

[edit]The upside is that the code would be as simple as a private message board or a board with required registration and approval via the passcode.[/edit]

Hey Deacon, Thhhhhhhptttt!





I'd volunteer to help you bitrunner but I'm no programmer.

Bear in mind that, historically, computer game aids for RPGs have not sold particularly well. There are some success stories - for example, Heavy Metal Pro for Classic BattleTech - but also many failures: Most of the D&D-related utilities, the Vampire: the Masquerade set of applications, etc.

I'd assume the best way to get FanPro to seriously consider publishing electronic components for Shadowrun is to approach them with a proposal. I doubt Rob has the time or the resources to query a bunch of independant software houses to see if they'll do some contract work for him.

to my understanding though, Microsoft holds all the licensing options for any Shadowrun related software...i don't know if that means just games, or if it includes gaming aids as well...could be wrong...

certainly, if we don't charge money for it, like something web based, then i don't think it is an issue...the character generator is a prime example...

my company could certainly do the work, but the key ingredient here is money - how much would FanPro be willing to back for such a project? what would be the return on investment?? personally - i don't think we'll see much of anything unless we do it ourselves...

Here is an off-the-wall idea.

Bundle the software CD with the main book, or simply advertise it throughout the books to direct players to a server for download.