[Endgame]

Hey folks,

I'm a new GM (in general not just to Shadowrun, never run a game before) who is returning to Shadorun for the first time since early 2nd ed. I have perused most of the 4th ed base book and *love* the updates and changes. That being said, I have agreed to run a game for a bunch of hardcore SR loving players who are some of the most devious and savvy folks I have ever had the fortune to meet. I have been told up front that expectations for this initial game (a one-shot, possibly continuing on into a campaign) are high and to be honest...I am kind of freaking out.

So, with no further gilding the lily, you guys have any tips for the new guy on the block?

[FastJack]

First off, don't write your own adventure to start with. Grab a pre-made book (one of the missions or something) to run so you're not questioning if you built something wrong or not. Second, respond to the players not to set expectations TOO high. Even hardened SR GMs can mess up. Find out what exactly they are looking for in the game (lots of atmosphere, more combat vs. RP, etc.) so you can better hit those expectations. Finally, just try to have fun.

[James McMurray]

Don't be afraid to house rule things, but don't spring them on the players. Let them know well in advance or wait until between sessions when you decide to nerf or buff something. And let them retcon their characters appropriately to make up for the change.

[James McMurray]

Ruleswise, some things to watch out for:

• Decide if you want to use the rule that makes direct combat spells have higher drain if you use the net hits.
• Figure out what to do about Stick-n-Shock ammo.
• Make the characters as a group so you can hear what they're planning. Also, take the sheets with you after the first session so you can see how those plans turned out.

[Endgame]

Ruleswise, some things to watch out for:

• Decide if you want to use the rule that makes direct combat spells have higher drain if you use the net hits.
• Figure out what to do about Stick-n-Shock ammo.
• Make the characters as a group so you can hear what they're planning. Also, take the sheets with you after the first session so you can see how those plans turned out.

I am at work, so no book on me. What is the deal with 1 and 2?

[LonePaladin]

Regarding #1: There's an optional rule (SR4A, p. 204) where Direct Combat spells (like Stunbolt) increase the Drain Value if you add any net hits to the damage. This gets a little complicated, in that using it as written may actually encourage overcasting (specifically, casting a higher Force version without applying net hits). There have been several discussions on these forums about it, but the gist is that most people either ignore the option altogether, or tweak it so that it comes out to ((Force + hits) / 2) + modifier, making the Drain a little more manageable.

Regarding #2: Electrical damage has this nasty little side-effect (SR4A, pp. 163-4). Specifically, the target has to roll a Body + Willpower (3) test; if they fail, they flop to the ground and twitch for 2 + net hits Combat Turns; even if they make it, they take a –2 penalty to all actions for the same duration. Even a moderately successful shot means that the guy's either out of the fight altogether, or has this hindrance for the whole fight. (It's kinda rare for combats to last more than about 4-5 Combat Turns, really.)

One thing that some GMs do is assume that if an attack's damage is reduced to zero, then the secondary effects don't happen either — problem is, this isn't explicitly stated in the rules. You kinda have to read into it, but it's there: see Damage Resistance Tests (SR4A, p. 162) and the line in Electricity Damage that specifies "a successful Electricity damage attack". Basically, it sounds like an attack reduced to 0 would count as "unsuccessful", but it's possible to regard an attack that isn't completely dodged as "successful". Make of it what you will.

SnS ammo also can give a weapon a higher base damage than is normal for the weapon itself (a lot of burst-fire and full-auto weapons have a base damage of 4 or 5), and when you add net hits, SnS shots can get pretty high. Because of this, some GMs rule that SnS shots don't add net hits to the Damage Value.

There's also the point that SnS bullets change the armor used; instead of getting Body + Ballistic armor, they get Body + half Impact + nonconductivity — and if their armor's metallic, it counts as zero. Granted, nonconductivity is a relatively cheap armor mod, but if someone overlooks it, they can be hosed pretty quick with one pop from a taser.

(My own group is already seeing this stuff. Several people have SnS ammo, or tasers, and one guy has a Lightning Bolt spell, so any firefight's going to have people getting the twitchies.)

[Dead Monky]

If you do decide to make your first game yourself, keep it simple.  Make it a simple snatch n grab, courier job, or B&E.  If need be, I'd just remind the players of your inexperience (as Jack said) and explain that a fixer isn't going to risk an important, high paying job on a bunch of untested, wet behind the ears, newbs.

[Tagz]

Hey folks,

I'm a new GM (in general not just to Shadowrun, never run a game before) who is returning to Shadorun for the first time since early 2nd ed. I have perused most of the 4th ed base book and *love* the updates and changes. That being said, I have agreed to run a game for a bunch of hardcore SR loving players who are some of the most devious and savvy folks I have ever had the fortune to meet. I have been told up front that expectations for this initial game (a one-shot, possibly continuing on into a campaign) are high and to be honest...I am kind of freaking out.

So, with no further gilding the lily, you guys have any tips for the new guy on the block?

If I was totally new to the system and had a bunch of friends that were hardcore players who were expecting a lot, I think I'd tell them that one of them should step up and GM otherwise expect to spend a fair portion looking up rules.

I'm not saying you shouldn't GM.  I've LOVED GMing, you can too.  But the first few sessions will be slow, I can almost promise.  I spent about 4 months reading the books to familiarize myself with the rules and building my own adventure, starting with something very similar to "Food Fight" (my own twisted take on it).  Almost the entire 5 hour session was one combat spent looking up different parts of SR4, didn't even allow the supplements yet.

My advice is to set the expectation to be: "I'm learning, lets have fun and see what happens."

Other things that can help:
1) Have players read up and get a grasp of the common game mechanics their character will be using.  Many players are really good about this, going over the rules and learning how to be good at their role.  Some other players figure the GM can tell them what to roll and they'll pick it up after a while.  I've played with both and I don't mind the latter, but it slows things down and can create problems sometimes when the rules don't allow them to do things they thought they could do (especially true of Matrix and Magic).

2) If things hang up on a rule decision, make a choice then find out the correct way after.  Keep things moving and not bogged down.  Best way to do it I've found is to make a quick call and ask a player to look it up while you continue the game.  Then once you have it you can do it the right way from then on.

3) Don't over prepare if you make your own adventure.  Things can easily go off on a tangent or different direction then expected.  I've found it works well to make well flushed out NPCs and consider how they would react to the player's actions, instead of trying to come up with an adventure "script" or whatnot.

4) Don't be afraid to houserule.  I use a bunch of optional and houserules, myself.  But like McMurray said, don't surprise them with houserules, keep them in the loop and a part of the decision making process.

5) Rule #1 is have fun.  That's both the players and yourself.

6) Ask for character sheets a few days before the first session.  Go other them, see how they made their characters.  Couple reasons, first is if anyone is new to the system as well then error checking is a good thing.  If the player knows the system well then it can help you to see what they consider important for their character to have.  And also it allows you time to look up the rules on anything you might have not thought would come up, but will.  The "Oh, crap - He's got Kinesics, what are those?" or "What does Gyrostabalization do and why is it on this AK-97?", etc.

[James McMurray]

Another: don't be afraid to limit the game to just the core book at first. You can trickle other books in and let people do minor retconning to account for it. That way you've only got one rule source to keep track of.

[Ultra Violence]

I know how your feeling Endgame.

I started GMing SR4A three weeks ago. I GM almost exclusively for our game group every Wednesday and Sunday night from about 5pm till midnight.
All players are experienced role-players (Mostly Earthdawn, Cthulhu and SLA Industries.) who's expectations were very high indeed. And its lot of pressure when you have 3 or 4 days to read and digest the MRB whilst keeping on top of the day to day.

The game mechanics for everything seemed really good. My only concern was running the Matrix.

During the first session my concerns were realized. Combat went smoothly, Magic, the same. When we got into running the Matrix it just slowed down with the player of the group matrix support (A technomancer) of the opinion that I had miss-understood the way the Matrix worked. It in no way spoilt our enjoyment of the story but the session was not without frustration.

During the days between sessions I read, and re-read the chapters on the areas I was unsure about and had some awesome help and advice from this forum. One of the best bits of advice being to sit and run through the areas of difficulty with the players. Get their feedback on how they interpreted the workings of the Matrix and the game sytem that supported it.

This Sunday (Session 3) was awesome fun with all aspects of the game running smoothly. 

[LonePaladin]

Ultra, I made something that might help you and your technomancer. The link in my sig goes to a set of cards I made that cover all the Matrix actions and software; the action cards have the mechanics for any tests involved, and every card has a description. You'll need to download a program to view/print them, but it'll also let you edit them how you like.

(If you get it, one word of warning: The program defaults to printing on A4 paper -- be sure to change that when printing, or you'll get funny results if you're using 8.5x11" paper.)

[Endgame]

So far one of my huge remaining concerns is Magic. I don't know if I have some sort of mental block or something but if it is magic related (spirits, wards, etc...whatever) it confuses the SHITE out of me. Any tips?

It also does not help that, frankly, I am a terrible rules guy. Not that I don;t care about them, but I can never seem to memorize them. Combine this with my most fanatical player being a super-computer for rules (seriously, he glances at a page and he can recite rules from it) and I am stressing th game this coming weekend HARD. Bleh.

[LonePaladin]

So far one of my huge remaining concerns is Magic. I don't know if I have some sort of mental block or something but if it is magic related (spirits, wards, etc...whatever) it confuses the SHITE out of me. Any tips?

Start with the basics; don't worry about things like wards, background counts, etc. until you get the hang of the essential parts. I'll try to sum it up, and give a few examples.

Basically, casting a spell or summoning a spirit calls for a test on the mage's part: Spellcasting/Summoning + Magic. This is always an Opposed Test: if it's a spell, the target resists with Body (for Physical spells) or Willpower (for Mana spells), plus any dice they got from someone using Counterspelling on them; objects can only be affected by Physical spells, and resist based how 'processed' they are (Object Resistance Table, SR4A p. 183). Spells that hit willing targets, or just gather info, typically aren't resisted at all. Spirits resist summoning with their Force (nothing's added to that).

Area spells normally have a radius of (Force) meters (meaning they're (Force x 2) meters wide). If the caster wants to adjust this, each die they drop from this first test adds or subtracts 1 from the radius.

Steve casts a Stunbolt at a guard; he rolls Spellcasting + Magic vs. the guard's Willpower (no Counterspell dice). Steve rolls 4 (Spellcasting) + 5 (Magic) = 9 dice; the guard gets 3 (Willpower). Steve gets 4 hits vs. the guard's 1: 3 net hits.
Barry casts Physical Barrier to give himself some cover; he rolls Spellcasting + Magic, unopposed. He has the same dice as Steve, but wants to make it a little smaller -- no sense protecting the ceiling. He withholds 2 dice from the test, rolling 7; he gets 4 hits.
Carol wants to summon a Force 4 fire spirit; she rolls Summoning 5 + Magic 4 vs. the spirit's Force. She gets 4 hits vs. the spirit's 1; 3 net hits.
For spells, the net hits determine the effect: for Combat spells, the damage is (Force + net hits); for info-gathering or non-resisted spells, the description usually tells you what the hits create. When summoning spirits, each net hit = one service owed.

Steve's Stunbolt got 3 net hits. He cast it at Force 5, so that's 5 + 3 = 8 Stun damage.
Barry's Physical Barrier uses the hits as its Armor and Structure Ratings. 4 hits = 4 Armor, 4 Structure. Since he withheld 2 dice, the barrier has a radius of 3 meters.
Carol successfully summons her spirit; it owes her 3 services.
Once the results are known, it's time to resist Drain. For spells, the drain is (Force / 2), rounding down, typically with a modifier. Drain cannot go below 1. (If you stick with the "cast spells at your Magic rating", you can pre-calculate Drain.) With spirits, you double the number of hits (NOT net hits) the spirit got -- that's the Drain, minimum 2.

Steve's Stunbolt has Drain of (F/2)-1, or 1. Barry's Physical Barrier has Drain of (F/2)+3, or 5. Carol's summoning Drain is 2, twice the spirit's hits.
That's pretty much it. There are a few more specific things:

• Direct Combat spells (Manabolt, Stunball, etc.) don't get a secondary soak test. These can do a lot of damage, which is why there's an optional rule that adding net hits to the damage increases the Drain.
• Indirect Combat spells (Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Acid Stream) are rolled as Spellcasting + Magic vs. Reaction, just like when using a firearm. Things like cover apply, and if the spell's targeted indirectly (say, with a mirror), they travel along the sight-path -- so if you use a mirror, you hit the mirror. Net hits automatically increase damage with no potential penalty; the target soaks with Body + half Impact armor.
• Detection spells typically have a range of (Force x Magic) meters; "extended" versions multiply this range by 10, but have +2 Drain. Only roll the casting test once; it applies to all targets in range, and is used to see if new things that enter are 'noticed'.
• Trying to heal someone who's cybered? Figure out how much Essence they lost (round down); this is a penalty to your casting test. So those street sams with 0.15 Essence make you lose 5 dice when casting Heal.
• Remember, Mana Illusion spells affect minds only; Physical Illusion spells can work on cameras and other electronics.

That help any?

[Ultra Violence]

Great help there LP. The cards are gonna help too, I'm sure.

[LonePaladin]

Thanks. I make stuff like that all the time, index-card printouts with a gun's stats on it and boxes to check off shots, little spreadsheets for number-crunching things like spirits, that sort of thing. I'm also working on a character creator, but it's on a third-party program and I haven't yet figured out how distribution's gonna be done. (That, and it's still in early development; it doesn't handle skills or gear yet.)