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So, why play Missions?

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Kontact

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« on: <09-07-10/0805:59> »
The concept of the Missions games as an official living story seems pretty cool, but I'm not completely sold on the idea of the canned quest.

So, if you could, tell me why, in your opinion, Missions games are worth seeking out, as an aide, as an experience or for however it tickles your fancy.
 :)

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« Reply #1 on: <09-07-10/0826:30> »
If you're playing a public game, as opposed to a private game, Missions are easy to run in a 4-6 hour time slot. The adventure is over by the end of the night. You don't need the same people who showed up last week. You can adjust the difficulty of the mission easily by using the table rating. You can accommodate new players easily.

The_Gun_Nut

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« Reply #2 on: <09-07-10/0927:56> »
They work great for pick-up games and for con play.  The GM still has to adjust them to suit the players, but that is (relatively) easily handled.
There is no overkill.

Only "Open fire" and "I need to reload."

Casazil

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« Reply #3 on: <09-07-10/1743:44> »
They do serve their purpose fast easy adventures that anyone can play and use as a learning tool to which a person can then move up to advanced games with more flexability
"If at first you don't succeed blame someone else"
Joel "Casazil" Rogers
Catalyst Demo Team Shadowrun Special Agent #251
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/CasazilsShadowrun/

DarkLloyd

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« Reply #4 on: <09-08-10/0402:55> »
They are also a good way to meet new players at a convention. I've met at least a dozen of my SR freinds that way.
Also since they semi-linked "one shots" and done in 4 hours, they are an awesome avenue to test out character concepts.

But the main reason, yes some are flawed badly, (but so are alot of homegames) on average it's a damn fun time! And once you play them you now have another "Gamer story" to compare with all the other people that have play that mission! Compare notes and hilarity ensues.  ;D
Runing the shadows since '90
If you can't Dazzle them with STYLE, Riddle them with BULLETS.
"Sometimes we do the right thing.  Sometimes we shoot people in the face for money."-CanRay
"Sometimes those are the same thing."-Mirikon

Missions Characters:
ChromeMonger - Sam
Blanco Diablo - Adept

Texas_Tarantula

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« Reply #5 on: <09-08-10/1022:23> »
The best thing I find about missions is how loose they tend to be. I don't know about the rest of you, but whenever I create my campaigns I craft things down the smallest little detail, which takes time and occasionally ruins the sense of spontaneity for my players (who always do something I haven't planned for anyways, curse their eyes!). Missions, on the other hand, are well-laid out but not TOO well laid out, giving me a little more freedom to play with and a little more chaos for the players to kick up.

The Masked Ferret

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« Reply #6 on: <09-08-10/1700:02> »
Plus, they tend to give us GMs enough room to hang ourselves with to make it interesting. I know that I enjoy the episodic nature of the missions, and if you do it right, there is so much fun to be had. A GM can never come up with half the crazy stuff that the players do. I remember one of the missions, CMP 2010-08, that the antics of the players as they were going through the mod made me laugh so hard I cried. Multiple times. Sometimes, you will get that at a home game. I have seen it many times with the missions at conventions.
SpeechThoughtMatrix/E-mail/TextingAstralSub-vocal

DarkLloyd

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« Reply #7 on: <09-08-10/1918:12> »
You're welcome Ferret.
But it was mostly Wasabi's fault for makin that damn Goat-Boy!!!!  ;D Funniest character I've seen in missions since I first met Swamp Gator, those years ago.
Runing the shadows since '90
If you can't Dazzle them with STYLE, Riddle them with BULLETS.
"Sometimes we do the right thing.  Sometimes we shoot people in the face for money."-CanRay
"Sometimes those are the same thing."-Mirikon

Missions Characters:
ChromeMonger - Sam
Blanco Diablo - Adept

Casazil

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« Reply #8 on: <09-08-10/1937:59> »
You're welcome Ferret.
But it was mostly Wasabi's fault for makin that damn Goat-Boy!!!!  ;D Funniest character I've seen in missions since I first met Swamp Gator, those years ago.

AHHHH !!!!! :o :o :o

The Draenei have invaded Shadowrun  ;D
"If at first you don't succeed blame someone else"
Joel "Casazil" Rogers
Catalyst Demo Team Shadowrun Special Agent #251
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/CasazilsShadowrun/

The Masked Ferret

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« Reply #9 on: <09-08-10/2228:23> »
You're welcome Ferret.
But it was mostly Wasabi's fault for makin that damn Goat-Boy!!!!  ;D Funniest character I've seen in missions since I first met Swamp Gator, those years ago.
Then there was also the intrepid camera guy and his running commentary. Though the whole Super Sonic Goat thing was hilarious. Though, he was almost goat pate. Gotta love the vehicle collision damage table.
SpeechThoughtMatrix/E-mail/TextingAstralSub-vocal

Kontact

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« Reply #10 on: <09-08-10/2306:25> »
Awesome responses!  Thanks.  :)

For you guys who GM missions pick-up games, do you run the same mission multiple times with different people in that kind of "it gets better every time I do it" way?
For players, if you run the same mission multiple times with different characters, do you get considerable replay value from going off on completely different paths towards your goal?

Casazil

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« Reply #11 on: <09-09-10/0103:59> »
I have run all the Missions SEVERAL times at least the ones they release over various Con's and game days at my firebase.

I once ran 37 games in a calaender year between con's and game days.

Do you get better at running them sure reading and rereading them over an over you know more of what to do with out referance an that helps the players stay in character.

It is not against the rules to run a Mission more than once but it is hoped that people only play them once or I do believe is the idea.
"If at first you don't succeed blame someone else"
Joel "Casazil" Rogers
Catalyst Demo Team Shadowrun Special Agent #251
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/CasazilsShadowrun/

Bull

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« Reply #12 on: <09-09-10/0142:02> »
It's generally encouraged that players only play through them once...  And you can only take a character through any given adventure one time.  But, there's not really anything stopping you from doing so (nor is there any real way to track this, shy of you being someone we recognize and remember at conventions or something).  Really, you're only robbing yourself of the fun, I think...

But, that said...  It happens.  Heck, I played through 03-00 three times with Rush, my Missions Street Sammy, and 03-01 twice. :)  The first time for each was at Origins 2008, the remaining times were in a home Missions campaign, so it wasn't really that big a deal.  I just didn't get anything for doing the missions again (No money, karma, etc), and since I knew the plot, I mostly stood back and let the other players make the decisions (Not hard to do, Rush isn't exactly a social butterfly).  SO I didn't ruin the game.  We just tagged along as we were trying to get a campaign going with some local friends, and they wanted to catch up on the early Missions we'd played already.

Anyway, to answer the original question...  Why play Missions?

If you attend conventions or have a local game store that is being used as a Firebase by a member of the Demo Team, it's a way to play an ongoing SHaodwrun Campaign at these venues.  Usually convention games are One Shots, and characters are provided, or you can bring your own character, but they don't really "count".  Missions gives you a way to create a character and take him from event to event, with different GMs and different players, while playing in the same campaign.

If you don't do the Con scene, you can still use Missions at home.  In which case, they're simply short and cheap ready to run adventures, either on their own, as part of a larger Missions Campaign, or even just doing what I often do with official published adventures and cannibalizing them and redoing them into your own unique adventure.  In this case, they serve much the same function as any of the old FASA published adventures, or even the newer adventures like the Artifact series.

Bull

Faradon

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« Reply #13 on: <09-09-10/1221:12> »
I think missions are a great way to help new GMs.  When I first started with SR4 I hadn't really played since SR1/2... the Denver missions were a great way to get me into the mindset of how the 2070 world works, learn some fluff, and have some written material to refer to and learn from.  After running about 6 of the missions (not in any particular order other than the grab and its follow-on) I decided to diverge from Denver and bring the PCs into other areas of the sixth world.  Also they were a bit bitter with denver :) lol...

I also am very thankful for the missions because it is letting one of my players start to GM (with the New York Missions.)  I've been GMing so long that I almost forgot how much fun it is to be a player!

I can't give enough praise to the writers of the missions for having such a great resource to draw off of!  Perhaps I can pay them back by writing a mission or two :)

Casazil

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« Reply #14 on: <09-09-10/1716:11> »
Perhaps I can pay them back by writing a mission or two :)

Points up at the Crotchety Old Ork Decker ask him  ;D
"If at first you don't succeed blame someone else"
Joel "Casazil" Rogers
Catalyst Demo Team Shadowrun Special Agent #251
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/CasazilsShadowrun/