Yes, yes, I know. He needs help with Sprawl Wilds? Really? Isn't this the guy with the players with Life Modules characters that keep dying?
Yes, that's me. We're doing better, but I want to be better equipped to run the farm battle that we'll be doing this coming weekend. I've read over the Mission Pack's Manhunt section a couple of times and still have some questions I still can't come up with answers for. So I come to the place where folks seem to know what they are doing (here) and ask for your help!
What worked -
a) the players had a great time RPing the convoy (the troll player character kept trying to make the moves on Arona, and getting nowhere), helping out at the farm, and the investigation of the two "crime scenes". The mage helped out the wounded, the troll helped fix the wind turbine, and the aspect mage (who has a sniping background) helped build some defensive points.
b) I felt like the investigation of the ganger camp went well, with the party using character abilities and skills, including knowledge skills, along with RP to figure out what all went down. I was able to present the camp in a way that the players felt engaged.
My difficulties -
1) the map given of the farm doesn't really seem to be for the farm described. At a minimum the description says the farm has entrances at the north and south ends, and the map shows one to the south only. I've noticed that the graphics throughout the module seem to have little / no bearing on the content, so I'm wondering if the map is not accurate at all. Is there an alternative that anyone can suggest? And are there any scale suggestions?
2) the attack on the farm has me a bit confused, and not only because of the strange map. How do the animals get through / over / under the fence and perimeter barriers? If there were metahumans I'd probably be able to figure it out, but how do dogs get over a barbed wire topped chain link fence? If I just hand wave it, then what is the point of saying that the fence is there in the first place? I don't want to get overly caught up in the details, but I don't to have to say that the animals were not hindered by the fence. It either irritate the player (since it makes no sense) or convince them that the animals are spirits (which is not the point at all). On top of the fence, it appears that there are other barriers as well, but this isn't clear.
3) This one isn't super important, but so I can become a better Shadowrun GM: any recommendations on how I should have presented the abandoned squatters camp? I really struggled to paint the scene and wish I could have done a better job of it. The layout of the ganger camp was easy, and figuring out the various missing details for that location wasn't too hard. I just had no idea with the squatters camp.
Sorry about being a pest, but I really value the feedback I've gotten here.