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Desperate need of help

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Anela

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« on: <02-05-13/2146:27> »
My husband and I are long time players however over the past couple month we have brought in some first timers to play.  We took the first few missions once every two weeks to get them used to the game and role playing in its self, however I am now ready to start building my arc and actually story line however I am stumped and hitting a serious case of writers block.  I need to create a game that will keep the game fun for our 2 old players as well as understandable and fun for the new comers.  they have caught on quick but are still struggling a bit.

I have created some wonderful tools for everyone right down to a full north American map the size of a table with cheat notes on it, that I am helping will help them.  However this doesn't help me with the writers block and story creation.

Any ideas floating around out there that you are willing to share would be wonderful, I have our first real kickoff game on Saturday and my forehead is starting to hurt from beating it against my desk.

Thank you in advance

Reiper

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« Reply #1 on: <02-05-13/2211:53> »
One of my favorite campaigns I ran (and my players stuck with the most) was one where I really made 'em mad.

Basically the Mr. Johnson backstabbed them, got away with almost killing them, and with the goods that they stole from a corp. They spent the next few months collecting money and info on him to take him out, and that arc ended up pretty fun for everyone (they had a hard time getting to him, so they absolutely destroyed his life, kidnapped and held his daughter for ransom do get their initial pay back from them, and got the daughters hooked on drugs before release, killed his brother, cut his wife's fingers off, and a few other things before they finally got to go after him.

It was fun, it wasn't very planned out ahead of time because I didn't expect them to do things like go after the wife and daughter, so they kept me on my toes too. And all the while I was able to run various other missions not related to the primary arc just to keep them with incomming funds.
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Anela

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« Reply #2 on: <02-05-13/2249:07> »
Thank you for that idea it does sound like a lot fun and knowing my guys they will be all over making a mess of things :D

Mirikon

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« Reply #3 on: <02-06-13/0530:55> »
My advice? If you don't have an overarching plot in mind, don't start off trying to force things into an arc. Plan a run. Keep your notes organized. NPCs, places, all of that. When the run's done, plan another. Maybe there's a connection. Maybe there's not. Maybe decisions they made in that run will come back to haunt them. Seemingly unrelated runs where you start seeing some of the same NPCs again and again will start making the players believe there is a plot, even if there isn't one, and they'll have fun searching for it while you get past your block.

When you get an idea for the plot, look back on your notes, and see how you can draw everything together. Perhaps that file they took in the datasteal was more important than they thought? Perhaps that guy they forcefully extracted from the corp was actually a spy, working for another corp/government? If you don't have an idea, the best thing to do is let a plot grow organically. You may be surprised where things take you.
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Wakshaani

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« Reply #4 on: <02-06-13/0813:58> »
Here's a loose outline of what I just put my guys through:

Horizon has an up and coming group called TeenThrob, a boyband of five fresh-faced teenagers that have a throng of screaming fans. One member's contract is due to run out soon, and an Ares exec has decided to invite him over for some contract negotiations. The team's fixer lets them know that four other teams are competing for the job, reminding them that they're not the only 'runners in the area and setting up potential future conflicts. They get the job, which is a forced extraction that has to be done clean... the target can't be wounded. At all.

The target will be at a simsense studio (doing a favor for a relative), which is the best chance to make the move. Security will be light, aside from his dedicated bodyguard. The big problem is that the whole thing will happen in the middle of teh day, with cameras everywhere, and when the team arrives, they discover that there's a throng of screaming tweens surrounding the place, who are watching like MAD for any sign of their TeenThrob.

All the team has to do is get in, overcome one bodyguard, and make a run for it, but KE PanicButton(tm) stations are in close range and, boy oh boy, will the fans go NUTS if they see their boy being drug out of the place.


TheHug

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« Reply #5 on: <02-06-13/1244:40> »
Seconding Mirikon's post.

I am a relatively inexperienced GM, and most of my players hadn't done any RPG's before.

I ran a series of one-offs that hinted at a bigger picture, but nothing concrete:
Mysterious sprites on a matrix node, tangentially related to the run at hand but with its own agenda. A shadowy cult-like group attempting to steal the same item as the runners, etc.

New players, it seems, will also create a lot of their own zany fun, pushing at the system, seeing what their characters can do, etc. I'm learning just to provide a playground and let them at it without worrying too much.

Anela

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« Reply #6 on: <02-07-13/0152:02> »
Mir, I really think you are right reading over things, however I do like the ideas brought up for game ideas to start things off and see where the guys and gals go. I really truly appreciate everyone's input and will post in the next day or so with an outline idea and see if you have any input on how the story line for the first real game.

On a side not as a newer gm, and a very new poster I find everyone here so very pleasant.  Thank you for that

Walks Through Walls

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« Reply #7 on: <02-08-13/1758:15> »
I agree with the don't try to force things to a point. When I started my monthly game a little over a year ago I had some runs planned out and a couple of arcs I had run before that I was going to use. After a couple of runs the team latched onto a side plot that I at the time wasn't going to develop, but as they kept going back towards it I made it the central theme and have let some of the arcs more or less go while they play out the one they showed interest in. However, this doesn't mean, at least in my campaign, that events aren't going forward in the other arcs just that the players aren't involved in it.

It was one of the arcs I had started that they have now latched completely onto and when the run doesn't move this story in some way they almost seem to wonder what did they miss or like the mission wasn't as big of a deal. So I think an overall arc is good, but start with some missions and then tailor the arc to what the players and their characters latch onto would be my advice.
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Anela

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« Reply #8 on: <02-10-13/2201:44> »
So here is my update :D

We ran our first actually rule set mission last night and the mission was a success the players loved it.  I took a bit from everyone and turned it into my own twist.

I had the team start off by meeting with a Johnson who was particularly wary to hire them due to some rumors in the shadows about the teams ability to go over board on missions. However he needed their particular set of skills for a job and had no choice. It was a quick and easy extraction job for Mttit, get in get the girl get out, the only real problem is that the girl happened to be a pop diva (Why a university would be so interested with a pop diva and a need an extraction team to set up a meet was up to them to figure out)

They did an amazing job and managed to use pretty much every skill they had from disguise to demolitions and didn't cause any big scene. Also it really set up the idea for the next mission easy peasy. SO thank you all very much for your help.  I was able to see holes in what I wrote so I could do better the next game, I was very happy with the turn out though.  You all have been wonderful.

Again thank you