Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Gamemasters' Lounge => Topic started by: Cobblersprite on <02-04-14/1438:58>
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Hello folks!
I've been doing tabletop roleplays for about 6 years now, so i'm not totally new to the concept of GM'ing. I am, however, totally new to Shadowrun, and just barely stumbled over it a few weeks back, and fell in love at first sight. <3
Now my question to you, experienced neon divers and street sams, what is important to remember/do when hosting a Shadowrun campaign?
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If you can give us some insight to what you've GM'd or played in the past then we could highlight some big differences between those games and Shadowrun. For instance, if you're used to D&D and other medieval, combat-heavy fantasy games then a good thing to know is that while fighting is a big part of Shadowrun (Street Samurai is an archetype after all) that ideally it's avoided, and much more lethal than in those games. People who aren't heavily focused on defense can only take two or three hits before they're in critical condition.
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While i have been playing a lot of D&D in the past, I've also done quite a share of World of Darkness (mostly Changeling: The Lost) and Legend of the Five Rings. Especially the last one is so deadly, a strong group tries to avoid combat all together. It's bonkers.
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I'm new to the game as well. I don't have any tips, yet (I'm still reading the core material for 5th ed.)
But... I have found some resourceful information from these following sites:
The Arcology (http://The Arcology http://arcologypodcast.com/page/3/) Podcast tips for character creation to Storytelling.
The Hiddengrid (http://The Hiddengrid http://www.hiddengrid.com/) have podcasts of Actual Play of the game. Justine is an excellent game master. Great characters lots of fun.
Neo-Anarchis (http://Neo-Anarchis thttp://neo-anarchist.podomatic.com/) gives us background material told from an "in game" perspective
Then there is Critiical Glitch (http://Critiical Glitch http://criticalglitch.com/) all things Shadowrun
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I've found that one of the most important things for a shadowrun GM is to be prepared. Characters have the ability to interact with pretty much any element present in the story. Is there a camera that you just mentioned to add some flavor? Your decker might want to hack it. A drunken patron making a fuss about a random topic? Your players might feel like they want to have a word with him, or start digging info about that topic. Pretty much everything is Checkov's gun, whether it was your intention or not.
That was the most difficult thing for me when I started with shadowrun because in other games is a lot easier to just wing it, improvise and get some cool results. But here the PC have so many tools and access to so many info that you need to at least sketch a couple of extra scenarios.
Also very useful to have maps or floorpans, even if they are only for you. It helps to keep things consistent and will save you some headaches.
If you have GM L5R then that's a good standard for how lethal SR can be, specially if you mess with the wrong people.
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A few things I try to GM by:
Its not you vs. them, its you with them. You can rocks fall/all die at any time, but the story ends and everybody goes home. You'r trying to have fun with your buddies. Make a basic fun story and help them be awesome in it.
Don't worry about rules in so much as being perfect, but be fair. As long as when you make a calls where you are not just trying to screw over people, people will respect your calls even if it kills their favorite PC. Don't let rules get in the way of the story. If you can't find a particular rule in the book in under one minute, make a call and move on.
Follow the rule of cool: if it looks awesome, then it shall be done.
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Thank you for the tips guys. I'll come well prepared! Plus, the rule of cool was pretty much my motto already, so i'm glad i can still cling to that! ^^