[Nautilust]

I believe this is the correct spot to post this thread.

So i'm relatively new to being a Game Master, I've been running games for 7 years now but most of my games have been flops. That was mostly due to my immaturity and indecisiveness as well as in part to my very bad luck with group cohesiveness. In the past 3 years I've taken a turn to running some successful games finally; mainly Pathfinder and Call of Cthulhu. I have recently come into the spot of GMing 20th Anniversary 4th ed. Shadowrun and would like some guidance.

Are there any general tips to running Shadowrun that you fellow GM's could give me?

How do you decide what to run, e.g. setting, what runs you play, what house rules to make?

How do you develop your runs and overall plot?

Which is better Karma Build or Build Points and what are appropriate amounts for different levels of play?

Are there specific builds that you just say no to and why?

I would appreciate your input, hopefully this is a good learning opportunity.

[Michael Chandra]

I can't give any tips on settings, because I basically went 'Start with the Missions Seattle Season Ork Underground storyline, add own OCs, add PCs, stir, develop, go crazy, end up finishing after 52 sessions at Ares Firewatch levels'. You can grab a setting with plenty of source material if you need inspiration, or grab a place with little info if you want freedom (especially if your players are the kind to go 'but X is supposed to be Y!'

I think you'll want to go for Build Points, normal level, to decrease complexity and balance risks.

Houserules, there's a massive topic. XD

For the run-development: I take a basic idea and add some legwork description, rest is improv. I'd start with a quick campaign of say 5 sessions, where session 2 and 4 are filler, 1 starts normal but in 3 and 5 plotthreads from 1 return. Maybe the classic 'Do run, Run into complications, Deal with a framejob' storline.

Pornomancer should be banned, and ban Orgasm spell while you're at it if any player decides to come with it. >_>

Tell your players you'll want to vet the characters, to make sure they work nicely, and consider getting some feedback here.

Cut out anything you're not properly familiar with, and make clear to the players that this is to not bog the game down with too many rules. Don't take any Deckers, because they're a high Complexity factor AND slow down the game. Just let the team hire/escort one instead, when needed.

Don't allow Possession mages, because they're OP in SR4 and really hard to balance in SR5.

Stick mostly to the Core book, don't dive fully into the additional extended core stuff.

[Nautilust]

I think you'll want to go for Build Points, normal level, to decrease complexity and balance risks.

I was thinking such but I was considering doing Karma because it might make creating some of the more obscure character's easier.

Pornomancer should be banned, and ban Orgasm spell while you're at it if any player decides to come with it. >_>

Ha, my first ever Shadowrun character was a pornomancer. It was so much fun, but that was a while ago.

Tell your players you'll want to vet the characters, to make sure they work nicely, and consider getting some feedback here.

I've already planned on doing this, I want to make sure that all characters are at bout the same level of efficiency.

Cut out anything you're not properly familiar with, and make clear to the players that this is to not bog the game down with too many rules. Don't take any Deckers, because they're a high Complexity factor AND slow down the game. Just let the team hire/escort one instead, when needed.

There's the rub. I'm familiar with everything, I've read every book at least twice. I'm trying to include enough including more bizarre options for it to be fun and creative. Without it catching up to my inexperience with my new role. I don't have problems with deckers, this will be a play by post so i'm considering creating separate thread for matrix stuff. Plus I think there will be a bit more patience.

Don't allow Possession mages, because they're OP in SR4 and really hard to balance in SR5.

Haha, my third character. They are definitely OP.

Stick mostly to the Core book, don't dive fully into the additional extended core stuff.

But the other books are where the cool stuff really takes off.


As far as everything else that is all sound advice.

I noticed I didn't mention I already have plenty of experience with the system. Just not the role of GM.

[Michael Chandra]

PbP indeed makes Decker easier to handle, especially with a separate thread. Anyway, if you already know most of the rules, then yes go ahead and have fun. =P Just keep in mind that improv is your best friend. I still occasionally get questions whether I improvved certain parts or not. (The answer is yes. I improv >90%. =P Just got the enemy, the plot and the monetary rewards ready in advance. Even stats I often don't bother with anymore since I can improv those as well.)

[neomerlin]

The advice I give everybody who runs Shadowrun is that while it's perfectly legit to run a game that goes from job to job, with just enough downtime to buy gear and spend karma, in my experience, the best games are the ones that put as much focus on the characters and their lives between runs as on the business of shadowrunning. Their personal problems, their goals, their histories, their relationships with NPCs and each other are all fuel for interesting stories and conflict and even runs about more than nuyen.

Other things more specific to your questions:

Seattle is the easiest setting. It has the most support, it has everything a Shadowrun game could need. But any published setting will lighten your GM load. The world of Shadowrun already exists and while expanding on it can be a delight, so can just taking it as is and spending more time on planning the game itself.

I think all campaigns should have a plot with an end. Something bad is happening, the PCs get involved, become invested, work to overcome it, have a climactic showdown that resolves the bad for better or worse. That said, Shadowrun can also work with much smaller narratives focused on the characters. I'd recommend beginning with some random unrelated jobs for the players, spend some time on what the characters do when they're not working, throw in some personal dramas, and see if they engage with that. You might get plenty of story out of that and they might even plan their own runs. Or maybe that's not what the group wants. Then you know to introduce a bigger campaign plot for them.

I don't say no to any builds or character ideas. Nor do I think it's particularly important for PCs to make up a balanced team covering every role. Shadowrun, more than a lot of games, puts the players in the drivers seat of the action by default. The enemy forces react to them. That means a team can decide how best to use their collective skill set and work around their weaknesses.