[Karasin Black]

Time to start sharing.

I've played roleplaying games for a long time, almost 25 years and gamemastered almost as long.

I started gamemastering my first Shadowrun campaign when the 4th edition came out. I soon realized that I wanted to try and direct game more to be played in a certain way and the characters to do certain way without actually forcing my players to do things.

When the players jumped off from a moving bullet train with parachutes after a run, some of the players suggester that they should get an achievement for doing stuff like that. You can see the result of that thought below.

Karma rewards are quite small because my campaign is now running at 124 sessions so the player characters are powerful enough. Also some achievements are pretty campaign specific.

Feel free to rip parts or all of the ideas and content to your own game or just drop a comment.


Ingame Achievements

AAA Runner
Complete a complex Run against one of the AAA Corporations - Gain 5 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

BASE Jumper
Complete all BASE jumps while on a Run - Gain 4 Karma - No spellcasting allowed
Buildings:
Antennas:
Spans:Blair, Slav, Mr.Hyde, Coil
Earth:

Big Score
Plan and execute a heist of more than 500,000 nuyen street value. - Gain 3 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Bug Hunter
Kill an Invae Queen or shaman capable of summoning one - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Bring It!
Suffer total of 100 points of physical damage. Yep, unsoaked damage hurts. - Gain 1 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Corporate Runner
Complete a complex Run against one of an AA corporation - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Dead Man
The character should be dead, but isn't - Gain 1 Karma
Completed by: Mr.Hyde, Slav

Deal with a dragon
Make a profitable deal with a Great Dragon - Gain 3 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Dazed and Confused
Collect 100 points of stun damage. What a rush! - Gain 1 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Diplomat
Prevent an already excalating, large conflict without violence - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Double Runner
Plan and execute a two-parter Run in one session - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Dragon's nest
Break in to a dragon's lair - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Earth Bane
Decrease the Aspect of an area by one - Gain 1 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Environmentalist
Increase the Aspect of an area by one - Gain 1 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Family guy
Gain public approval from the Elders of the Saltair family - Gain 1 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Gentle Art of Making Enemies
Piss off a major power player on a personal level. Hope it was worth it. - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Hideout
Stay off the grid for one month - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Infernal Favor
Gain access to the lowest level of Dante's Inferno - Gain 1 Karma
Completed by: Mr.Hyde

Insane Stunt Bonus
Complete an action that has threshold of 10 or more - you crazy fuck! - Gain 1 Karma
Completed by: Slav

King maker
Make a decisive impact on any big govermental or corporal election - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Law Abiding citizen
Go a whole gaming session without breaking any law - Gain 1 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

...Makes You Weaker
Suffer a permanent injury that requires extensive cybernetic, magical or surgical care to fix - Gain 1 karma
Completed by: Coil, Mr.Hyde

Mr. Famous
Gain 3 Public Awareness - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Mr. Fuck up
Gain 3 Fuck Up point - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Mr. Incredible
Gain 6 Street Cred in any faction - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Mr. Notorius
Gain 6 Notoriety in any faction - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Nailin' Mr. Johnson
Fuck Johnson during a Run - Gain 1 Karma
Completed by: Slav

Pacifier
Incapacitate 20 enemies with nonlethal methods. - Gain 1 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Saint
Permanently remove a major magical threat - Gain 1 Karma
Completed by: Braylen, Darius, Hyde, Slav

Servant of the Enemy
Give Horror an access to the Gaia Sphere - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Shadow Runner
Complete a complex Run against one of an A corporation - Gain 1 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Shadowsea Member
Gain 'Member'-status in ShadowSEA network - Gain 1 Karma
Completed by: Blair, Mr.Hyde

Shape of Things to Come
Play a significant role in an event that shapes the Sixth World - Gain 1 Karma
Competed by: Blair, Coil, Slav, Void

Silent Assasin
Complete a wet work assignement without anyone noticing - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Silent Runner
Complete a Run without alerting anyone - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Street racer
Win a street race in Seattle - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Survivor
Survive a simultaneous hunt of at least 5 different factions - Gain 2 Karma
Completed by: Braylen, Darius

Swift Runner
Plan and execute a Run in one session - Gain 1 Karma
Completed by: Blair, Darius, Mr.Hyde, Primus

Tir Insider
Break in to Tir Prince's castle - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Can't Touch This
Complete a dangerous run - where getting shot at - without getting hit - Gain 1 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Ultimate Fighter
Win a free fighting tournament in Seattle - Gain 2 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

What Doesn't Kill You...
Duel a member of your specialty with no punches pulled, and lose. Someone's always better - Gain 1 karma
>>>Locked<<<

Wheel is Turning
Change a Path in the Wheel - Gain 3 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

Meta Achievements

Achiever
Come up with 3 GM approved achievement ideas - Gain 1 Karma
Completed by: Coil, Darius, Tempest, Void

Book Keeper
Keep tabs on your characters income and expences for 10 sessions - Gain 2 Karma
Completed by: Blair, Coil

Described
Write a character description and put it online - Gain 1 Karma
Completed by: Blair, Darius, Coil, Jared, Mr.Hyde, Primus, Slav, Void

Edge Runner
Be the beacon of genre statements through leading in Achievements -- Gain 1 Edge
Completed by: Slav

Genre Upkeeper
Cheer up GM with random fluff text - Gain 1 Karma
Completed by: Blair, Slav

Going Strong
Describe 3 meters that your character uses to measure his/her success as a runner - Gain 1 Karma
Completed by: Coil, Darius, Void, Slav, Primus, Braylen

Life is Good
Describe 3 meters that your character uses to measure his/her quality of life - Gain 1 Karma
>>>Locked<<<

[CanRay]

*Beep-Boop*  Achievement Unlocked.

Do PS3 owners get trophies?

[James McMurray]

So if they get shot at but don't get hit or rob a bank but they haven't unlocked the achievement yet are they just screwed?

Personally it seems way too video-gamey to me. SR4 has karma awards for achieving objectives and good roleplaying already. Most of those seem to fall under that or come with their own rewards (like a successful 500,000 nuyen heist or not getting killed on a run).

[WareWolf]

I like the Metagame achievements. I have been awarding extra karma to those who do the back ground work in my games for a while. I have a real life with real kids my time is precious too. My Co-GM gets some karma for helping me prepare the run. Our hostess gets karma for hosting the game. Every player gets one point of karma if they have their purchases and expenditures done before we play.

The burden of putting a run and a gaming group together is better if it is shared.

[Kot]

I'm shamelessly stealing the idea.

[Karasin Black]

So if they get shot at but don't get hit or rob a bank but they haven't unlocked the achievement yet are they just screwed?

I'm not sure what you mean, James. Achievement's are unlocked when you manage to do them and unlocking them means you get the karma reward out of it. Nothing more.

Personally it seems way too video-gamey to me. SR4 has karma awards for achieving objectives and good roleplaying already. Most of those seem to fall under that or come with their own rewards (like a successful 500,000 nuyen heist or not getting killed on a run).

The format of listing things is taken from video games for fun and laughs, but the basic idea is just more elaborate system of karma rewards. The point is to tell the players the objectives and role-playing awards beforehand. That way they can form a picture of the different aspects of the game and how the game master has visioned it to be played, things that are fun, cool or just with the genre. Or some small payback when thing go horribly wrong. It's also a way to tell things about to the game. Give glimpses of the things that are behind the scenes.

You could of course just tell players all this stuff verbally, but it's not that much fun. If it's an open list, players can review it as often as they want, rediscover things that they have forgotten and find new meanings to some achievements when the game goes on. And getting karma reward, even a small one is always a great motivator.

One of my personal favorites is  Servant of the Enemy. None of my players knows whats it about but with this achievement alone they understand that there are terrifying big fishes swimming in the shadow of the shadows and that there are thing in the game you shouldn't be messing up with.

But achievements are not for every campaign. So if you don't like them, don't use them. But just don't throw away the idea just because you don't like the name. That would be quite narrow minded.

[James McMurray]

Sorry, you presented it as a video game so I read it as a video game. In those some achievements /rewards / quest are usually locked until you do something to unlock them.

[Bradd]

Like WareWolf, I especially like the idea for metagame achievements. I'm terrible with bookkeeping and game management type tasks, so rewarding the players for helping out is a great idea. The only problem I have is that I don't like awarding individual karma/experience. Maybe an extra Edge refresh or something similar?

And by the way, I don't see anything wrong with video game allusions. If it works, it's a good idea, no matter where it came from.

[Karasin Black]

Sorry, you presented it as a video game so I read it as a video game. In those some achievements /rewards / quest are usually locked until you do something to unlock them.

Yes, but that doesn't stop you from doing the action needed to unlock it. And usually when you unlock an achievement you get... *tadaa*...  and unlocked achievement!

Take Call of Duty: Modern Warfare for example. You have achievement

Three-some
Kill at least 3 enemies with a single shot from a grenade launcher in Single Player or Special Ops - Gain 10 Gamer score (X360)

You get this achievement by killing three enemies and then it is unlocked. And you get some gamer score. We are somehow talking about this from totally different angles. But that happens  in forums.

The only problem I have is that I don't like awarding individual karma/experience. Maybe an extra Edge refresh or something similar?

Extra Edge refreshment works fine. Or you could award extra dice that can be used outside Edge (and without the extra benefit of edge using rules) if you want to give your players the feeling that they are getting more reward out of it. Or you could allow them to purchase a rare piece of hardware/software/cyber/stuff. Or give them free knowledge skill that's related to the stuff they've done for the game/character (if they get Book keeping 1 it'll not skrew up your game balance).

Stuff like that.

[The_Gun_Nut]

To me, all the crazy stuff that could be an "Achievement" already falls under the karma award "Cool Stuff PC Did To Impress The Hell Out Of Everyone."  Your players will likely pull stunts that you never thought of, and pigeon-holing the awards into specific actions/feats takes away the special surprise factor of pulling the crazy stunt in the first place.

By metagame achievements, I'm assuming you are talking about awards for the players, themselves, doing the research and background stuff so that you spend less time explaining everything to them, correct?  This, I agree with, as it works to immerse them better into the world.

[CanRay]

Perhaps a different kind of reward in game, something that they can brag about but doesn't really have much in-game benefit.

I suggest a dildo-hat with the dildo getting larger as you unlock more achievements.  Of course, I might read too much VG Cats. 

[LonePaladin]

CanRay, you're going to have to drop a link to the comic in question now.

I had my own achievement list, but had to drop it -- I was using a site that created the relevant images, with progress-bars and color-coding and such, but the page in question went *poof* a couple weeks ago, turning all my carefully-crafted images into broken links. I am disappoint.


You might want to add a caveat to Insane Stunt Bonus: it sounds like you don't intend on it being used on Extended Tests, but didn't specify.

Anyway, here's some of the achievements I'd made up, in case you want to steal some. I didn't come up with any specific rewards, so it's up to you what you do with 'em. Meta-game achievements are marked with an (M).

• Velcro Pineapple: Exploit the grenade-bounce rules
• Let's Do Business: Gain a contact through roleplaying
• This Stuff Don't Grow on Trees, Y'know: Empty five full ammo clips in a single combat
• You Can Pick Your Friends: Bypass 10 physical locking mechanisms (practice doesn't count)
• I Know Your Gun's IP Address: Hack an enemy's weapon or cyberware
• Wrecking Crew: Cause 1 million nuyen in property damage
• (M) Verbal Ellipsis: Render the GM speechless
• (M) I'd Like Some Pound Cake: Mimic a move or line from an Internet meme or movie without explaining the reference (The title references this, by the way)

[The Cat]

The only problem I have is that I don't like awarding individual karma/experience. Maybe an extra Edge refresh or something similar?

Extra Edge refreshment works fine. Or you could award extra dice that can be used outside Edge (and without the extra benefit of edge using rules) if you want to give your players the feeling that they are getting more reward out of it. Or you could allow them to purchase a rare piece of hardware/software/cyber/stuff. Or give them free knowledge skill that's related to the stuff they've done for the game/character (if they get Book keeping 1 it'll not skrew up your game balance).

Stuff like that.

The GM I'm currently playing with does something similar to these Acheivements individualized for long term role-playing goals for each character (one of the other players calls it the RP Bucket List).  Depending on the perceived difficulty of the long-term goal, the better the reward.  Usually it's a choice between a karma award (which is purposely set "a little low" for the acheivement) or a "NERPS Card" like the ones they did at a convention a few years back, with the exception that you can hold randomly selected card for as long as you like and use them whenever appropriate.  She has a rather interesting deck of homemade NERPS cards with loads of stuff on them (I believe she even has updated versions of the originals but I can't be sure since I never owned any of the originals and only saw pics of them).

[CanRay]

CanRay, you're going to have to drop a link to the comic in question now.

OK.

[LonePaladin]

Heh. Yeah, I remember that one now. No way I could've found it in the archives (at least, not quickly).