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Best Advice to a New GM

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vanishingpointe

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« on: <07-22-14/1522:02> »
Hoi chummers,
 I got really enthusiastic recently when my DnD group decided to take a break and I offered to slip in and run Shadowrun for a bit. With the exception of one player, all of them are complete newbies; they only have a basic understanding of SR's setting and rules.

I, on the other hand, have been playing Shadowrun on and off for years and have a healthy interest/knowledge of the setting. I cut my teeth in third edition (even played a 3rd ed. MUD for years), stayed tuned during fourth, and have been drooling over 5th for about a year now. I feel comfortable with the rules, and everyone understands that this is my first time running in this iteration of the system, so some slip-ups are expected. I'm hoping my story telling ability can shine brightly enough to blind them to rules blunders.

Anyone have some essential advice for a green GM ready to push some newbies into the meat grinder?

Csjarrat

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« Reply #1 on: <07-22-14/1723:03> »
If everyone is new, it might be worth using the pregen characters and a premade mission as a one-off to learn the rules with.
Once you guys have got the basics down and know roughly how the game works, then sit down and make characters for your main story.
I know some players aren't too keen on the idea of pregens but if it is just an explicit rules learning exercise then it takes a huge amount of work out of it for you as GM and also for the players.
Hope that helps
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voydangel

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« Reply #2 on: <07-22-14/1748:48> »
There are already a number of other threads about this that you might find useful.
A quick peek of the forums and off the top of my head:
Here, Here, Here, Here, and Here.

I'm sure there are more if you do a quick forums search.
« Last Edit: <07-22-14/1752:37> by voydangel »
My tips for new GM's
Unless it is coming from an official source, RAI = "Rules As Imagined."
SR1+SR2+SR3++SR4++SR5+++h+b+++B+D382UBIE-RN---DSF-W+m+(o++)gm+MP

Reiper

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« Reply #3 on: <07-22-14/2005:43> »
Few things I would suggest.

- Cheat sheets, they help a lot for GMs because as a GM you need to be figure out things pretty quickly.

- Combat: Instead of throwing 10 really easy targets at them, give them 3 - 4 moderate targets to start out with. I've made the mistake of a team getting swarmed by a ton of weak devil rates before, and combat just dragged out.

- Know the team's weaknesses and strengths and play to those: If your group is missing a mage, don't throw them into a magic heavy game. If they are missing a hacker, lay off on the security systems to begin with. Over time work their weaknesses into the game to show them the dangers of their weaknesses though.

--Playing to their strengths also gives the team members each a chance to shine.

- If you can't find the rule on the cheatsheet, and are unsure, make a judgement call and go with that. If you ended up getting the rule wrong down the line, then fix it. SR has a ton of rules, and if you have to go through all of the books constantly it slows things down.

- Be flexible: SR lets people take tons of different routes to the same goal if you let them. I've found that the funnest games I've GMed and my players liked are ones where I am flexible.

- Make the team paranoid: I'm starting to run side scenes through the campaign that make my guys jumpy. I took an idea from the boards with a pizza delivery droid going haywire, chasing a guy down the street and stunning him, then it turned on the runners. They dispatched it and got super paranoid. I also had them run across another team pulling an extraction job on someone completely unrelated.

- Legwork - This is especially true if some of your people like to RP. Role play out your legwork when they are talking to people. Do a little idle side chat. Basically try to keep everything fluid. If someone's contact is their girlfriend, have her ask about date night Friday. If their contact is a KE agent that always pulls them out of the fire, have him groan when the team calls him. Maybe even call in some favors.
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Walks Through Walls

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« Reply #4 on: <07-22-14/2016:33> »
As far as characters are concerned one thing I do in my game is after a couple of games the player can tweak the character. By this I mean if they forgot a skill or didn't realize how important it would be they can give up a couple of ratings elsewhere to allow them to get the skill. By the same token if they have a skill they thought they wanted, but haven't used and/or didn't understand how it worked and it doesn't fit the character as long as they haven't constantly been using it they can trade it in the same way.

I find this allows the player to make a character they will enjoy in the long run rather than starting a character getting a few missions in and going wow this isn't what I want. Another option could be if they completely don't like the character let them trade in their karma to a new character so they don't feel they have to keep playing the character or fall behind in karma. This can be more tricky if you have a player who is constantly wanting to switch characters.

As far as GMing advice. Over the years I have found it helpful to keep the following rules in mind.
1) Make sure the players are having fun (and you should too) this isn't to say everything should be easy, but they should enjoy the game.
2) It isn't you vs them you are the facilitator of the game that leads them through the world. Challenge them, but don't make it a competition.
3) Look for ways to engage the characters and players in the game. Give everyone their spotlight time.
4) Try to make something memorable in each game session. This could be an NPC, event, or twist to the run.
5) The PCs should be the center of the run not the NPCs

Hope all of this helps
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Leevizer

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« Reply #5 on: <07-23-14/0234:21> »
Just a short mention from me, but I think that equally important to learning the rules is to learn the world. It is annoying if some people have no idea what to do or what is acceptable or unacceptable in Shadowrun or a roleplaying game in general due to lack of knowledge.

For example, one of my player sliced and diced two Lone Star officers who pulled him over in the middle of the day in the middle of the street. Because he thought the streets of Seattle are mostly empty of people, like in SR returns.

MrDrProf

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« Reply #6 on: <07-23-14/2039:35> »
always, ALWAYS, be prepared for the pc's to screw up your plot and be ready to improvise.  Don't be afraid to move entire buildings if the pc's go the wrong way, or change how people act.

LionofPerth

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« Reply #7 on: <07-25-14/0615:14> »
Cheat sheets are great.

I'll add another vote of expect the unexpected. Give your players the space to do what they want, but be sneaky, ask what they expect. Don't be afraid to feed off them for ideas and directions. The trick is making them think it's all your work.

Explain the world you want to run, be precise and be absolutely honest. Tell them what they can expect when things go right and wrong. Don't be afraid to make a session two sessions either. Things take as long as they need to. Some of the time it's frustrating for you, never force when you have another option and there is always another option.

Have fun, you need to have fun as well.

Finally, talk to your players and ask questions. Sit down with them every few runs and make sure they're enjoying it, what they want to do and how they want to do it. Don't just nod and go 'the module says otherwise'.  Modules are there to be modified and tweaked. Do it, make it your own.

Finally, when everything else fails, curse the die and laugh it off. Behind that screen things go just the way they need to.
When in doubt, C4.

voydangel

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« Reply #8 on: <07-25-14/1417:14> »
I'll add yet another vote for "expect the unexpected". But would also like to note that if you plan correctly it will be almost impossible to screw up your plans.
Note I didn't say plan well, I said plan correctly.
Check my sig link for some extra tips on adventure planning. ;)
My tips for new GM's
Unless it is coming from an official source, RAI = "Rules As Imagined."
SR1+SR2+SR3++SR4++SR5+++h+b+++B+D382UBIE-RN---DSF-W+m+(o++)gm+MP