NEWS

Missions Season 4 - Seattle

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A.A. Salati

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« on: <09-14-10/0033:58> »
Here's your opportunity to ask for it.

What do you want to see in Season 4, Seattle?

What don't you want to see again this Season?


And why?

Chrona

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« Reply #1 on: <09-14-10/1308:54> »
Optional rules for home versions? I.e. suggested changes if the group has HMHVV/Drake/AI/etc characters. I play in Canterbury, England and alot of the people I know like more exotic characters as a challenge. My first Shadowrunner was a Ghoul.
« Last Edit: <09-14-10/1310:57> by Chrona »

Bull

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« Reply #2 on: <09-14-10/1450:01> »
Chrona:  If you're strictly playing a home game (and don't plan to take the character to any cons, open plays, or other Missions events), there's no need to follow any of the Mission specific rules.  Feel free to play whatever :)

Bull

Spanner

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« Reply #3 on: <09-14-10/1509:20> »
Here's your opportunity to ask for it.

What do you want to see in Season 4, Seattle?

What don't you want to see again this Season?


And why?


Are you a writer for Missions? What exactly can you do to make these things come to pass, or prevent them from happening?

FastJack

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« Reply #4 on: <09-14-10/1539:46> »
Here's your opportunity to ask for it.

What do you want to see in Season 4, Seattle?

What don't you want to see again this Season?


And why?


Are you a writer for Missions? What exactly can you do to make these things come to pass, or prevent them from happening?
He's simply giving a voice to the people on the forums. Since Bull's already responded to some, I'd say the idea has merit.

A.A. Salati

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« Reply #5 on: <09-14-10/1712:52> »
Yes, I am. :)

Wasabi

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« Reply #6 on: <09-14-10/1827:52> »
I'd like to see more pinkhaired gangers and chaos. I'd like to see Lone Star FRT teams and Docwagon panzers. I'd like to see Shadowrunners afraid they'll get whacked by locals regardless of TR.

I'd like the variety shown in the current batch of CMP's.

I'd like enemies that scale in quality and not just quantity.

I'd like matrix nodes written up with a handout of the initial description for the hacker(s) and simplewalk through for GM's who dont do a lot of hacking in case they get a PC that doesn't do a lot of hacking.
Missions Characters:
[SR4] Jax - Merc Technomancer
[SR5] Reece - Journalist TM

Frankie the Fomori

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« Reply #7 on: <09-14-10/1957:39> »
This may not be a viable thought but i would love to see some of the former great runners from the 50's used as fixers or Johnson’s....mostly the Raven, and Argent! Argent would make a bad ass fixer.

Would also like to see some of the surrounding Salish towns incorporated, mostly along the west coast of the sound.

FastJack

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« Reply #8 on: <09-14-10/1959:01> »
Argent can't be a Fixer. Problems would fix themselves to avoid Argent. ;)

A.A. Salati

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« Reply #9 on: <09-14-10/2018:05> »
I'd like to see more pinkhaired gangers and chaos. I'd like to see Lone Star FRT teams and Docwagon panzers. I'd like to see Shadowrunners afraid they'll get whacked by locals regardless of TR.

I'd like the variety shown in the current batch of CMP's.

I'd like enemies that scale in quality and not just quantity.

I'd like matrix nodes written up with a handout of the initial description for the hacker(s) and simplewalk through for GM's who dont do a lot of hacking in case they get a PC that doesn't do a lot of hacking.

Good suggestions.  Keep them coming.

Spanner

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« Reply #10 on: <09-14-10/2149:01> »
He's simply giving a voice to the people on the forums. Since Bull's already responded to some, I'd say the idea has merit.

Um, no, he's a writer for Missions and therefore has the ability to actually implement some of the suggestions that we give him. That's what I was trying to establish. There's plenty of threads about problems that need fixing. He's looking for adventure-specific stuff.

Regarding the Missions as written:

It's VERY frustrating for players at a table to feel like they've had their options removed from them simply by the whim of the writer. Some examples, Jacknifed starts you out in the Johnson's limo and sends you into a wifi-inhibited tunnel. Something Completely Different starts you in a closet. Elevator Ride to Hell starts you out in a hotel room with no clothes. All of these may be great for stretching your writing chops, but from a player's perspective, they're not that fun. They leave a bad taste. People build their characters to do, and be good at certain things.

Give the GM some options and ideas for "other" endings, and how they can handle them. Many GM's try to stick to the adventure as written, and won't deviate from the script even if it makes sense. If these GM's are told, "Here are the most likely endings, but just in case, here are some possible twists with their accompanying results" it gives them more flexibility when running the mod.

When you give a description of an area, especially one that the players will be infiltrating or somehow interacting with, you need to break out the data the GM needs into very clearly-identified sections. Don't bury pertinent details in running text (i.e., descriptions or background information). This issue only slows the GM down. I would suggest all scenes get a three-part breakdown that consists of Mundane, Magical, and Matrix defenses/opposition with bullet items for the pertinent information. And please don't bury the statistics for that information in the back of the mod or refer them to a sourcebook. Place all the needed info there at the GM's fingers in the pertinent section. Leave the back for major NPCs, contacts, and legwork.

Place, plot, etc., etc. don't matter too much to me since I believe writers should write about their interests. If you write about something that's interesting to you, you do a better job at it.

Most other suggestions that I would have are really more under the coordinator's control and have been discussed to death already on the DS boards and here.

Thanks for soliciting for feedback.

A.A. Salati

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« Reply #11 on: <09-15-10/0819:04> »
1. It's VERY frustrating for players at a table to feel like they've had their options removed from them simply by the whim of the writer. Some examples, Jacknifed starts you out in the Johnson's limo and sends you into a wifi-inhibited tunnel. Something Completely Different starts you in a closet. Elevator Ride to Hell starts you out in a hotel room with no clothes. All of these may be great for stretching your writing chops, but from a player's perspective, they're not that fun. They leave a bad taste. People build their characters to do, and be good at certain things.

2. Give the GM some options and ideas for "other" endings, and how they can handle them. Many GM's try to stick to the adventure as written, and won't deviate from the script even if it makes sense. If these GM's are told, "Here are the most likely endings, but just in case, here are some possible twists with their accompanying results" it gives them more flexibility when running the mod.

3. When you give a description of an area, especially one that the players will be infiltrating or somehow interacting with, you need to break out the data the GM needs into very clearly-identified sections. Don't bury pertinent details in running text (i.e., descriptions or background information). This issue only slows the GM down. I would suggest all scenes get a three-part breakdown that consists of Mundane, Magical, and Matrix defenses/opposition with bullet items for the pertinent information. And please don't bury the statistics for that information in the back of the mod or refer them to a sourcebook. Place all the needed info there at the GM's fingers in the pertinent section. Leave the back for major NPCs, contacts, and legwork.
These are actually three of my top issues as well.  1 - I understand why this was used so often, but despite time constraints, I'll avoid using in media res tricks.  2 - That's a top priority for me to include within time and space constraints.  3 - Yes, mentioning items in running text that you have to look up elsewhere is a pet peeve of mine, too.

More, please.

Bull

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« Reply #12 on: <09-15-10/1709:53> »
Mesh is also currently helping me out by providing proofing and editorial feedback on Missions.

Anyway...  To aderess a couple points:

1)  In Media Res.  Yeah, overused.  I don't mind it rarely...  Once every 12 Missions or so, as it's a storytelling technique.  And something like what happens in Mission 03-12 can be used to test the runners creativity and abilities.  But, it has to be used carefully, and rarely.  The important parts are that you cannot take away the players abilities too badly...  If you strip them of their gear, you have to give them the opportunity to quickly acquire at least the basics..>  A commlink and some hacking programs for the Hacker, a vehicle or drone for the rigger, and some guns for pretty much everyone. 

But the other big thing is that you can't remove their ability to negotiate.  That was a real flaw in the original 03-09 (the IMR stuff has been completely removed for the release, and a new intro with a meet put in it's place).  Not only telling the runners that they did "X", but that they did something crazy/stupid willingly, and that they have already agreed to X Nuyen just takes too much away from the runners.

I won't say that In Media Res will never be used again.  But if we do, it'll be done very carefully and very sparingly.  3+ times in 12 missions is a bit much though.

2)  One of my goals with Season 4 is to provide some additional, optional material with the adventures, to beef them up for home use.  I'd like to see a bit more done for options and alternate endings...  Usually adventures only have one or two possible outcomes though, shy of "Runners go off on some wierd tangent", in which case the GMs just gonna have to wing it most of the time, because it'd be impossible for us to try to write for every contingency.  I've found over the years that no matter how many variables I plan for, the players will ALWYAS find the one I didn't expect.

Plus, to be honest, it's a convention game.  There's a certain amount of rails that come with a game like that.  It's the only way to work a game so that it fits in a limited time block like taht.

3)  Agreed about including stats in each scene.  One thing I've been trying to hammer home is that GMs should have to look up very little, if anything.  Rules references and the like are fine, since GMs should either know the rule already, or the rule is likely too cumbersome to repeat.  But NPC, Critter, and Gear stats should all be included.  And I'd like to do a little more with details...  I'm a big fan of the Old School Matrix, so things like Matrix Topography, IC architecture, etc are all important to me.  So every important node should have some basic description of what the node looks like, at the very least.  Now, not every node needs descriptors.  That can often be left up to the GM...  But anything major, anything important, yes, that should have some detail.

Magic is a bit tougher, because the Astral is often just a reflection of the Mundane.  There are unusual things that can be there though, so these should obviously be mentioned.  But again, this one mostly falls under GM purview.

Bull

DireRadiant

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« Reply #13 on: <09-15-10/1740:23> »
I dunno Bull, you sure about this leave it up to the GM business?

Bull

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« Reply #14 on: <09-15-10/1751:21> »
At some point, you have to put some trust in both the players and the GM.  Otherwise, you may as well drop the GM altogether and just run a "Choose Your Own Adventure." :)

You know... Now that Shadowrun has a fiction imprint again...  Hrmm...

Bull