Shadowrun

Shadowrun Missions Living Campaign => Living Campaign Discussion => Topic started by: Kontact on <09-07-10/0805:59>

Title: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Kontact 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.
 :)
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: 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.
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: The_Gun_Nut 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.
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Casazil 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
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: DarkLloyd 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
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Texas_Tarantula 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.
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: The Masked Ferret 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.
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: DarkLloyd 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.
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Casazil 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
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: The Masked Ferret 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.
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Kontact 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?
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Casazil 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.
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Bull 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
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Faradon 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 :)
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Casazil 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
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Frankie the Fomori on <09-09-10/1929:45>
though I hate to kiss the behind, I support the missions because you get support on them.....have a question that is reasonable, you ask Bull and before long you get an answer or he adds that to the upcoming missions. Even when if i ask not the best of question (as naga-nuyen in dumpshock) i felt respected by his responses....You get loyalty for that 10 times over....cheers runners!
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Bull on <09-09-10/1935:26>
Give me some time.  I'm still getting the house in order for Season 4, but once I do, it's possible we'll be looking for more writers.
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: voydangel on <09-10-10/0023:51>
I'm sure this is addressed elsewhere, but I'll take the plunge anyway.

I would like to become one of the "official" GMs for running Shadowrun at Cons and for demos. Can someone point me in the right direction? =)
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: FastJack on <09-10-10/0027:45>
I'm sure this is addressed elsewhere, but I'll take the plunge anyway.

I would like to become one of the "official" GMs for running Shadowrun at Cons and for demos. Can someone point me in the right direction? =)
Catalyst Demo Teams Enlistment (http://catalystdemos.com/Enlist.asp)
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: voydangel on <09-10-10/1202:20>
Groovy, thanks. I thought I had seen that page somewhere before but couldn't remember how i got there.. lol
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Walks Through Walls on <09-10-10/1740:54>
The other nice thing about the missions adventures is that you can play a character with some experience at a con (or if you are lucky enough to have a firebase near you there also) and know that the player next to you had to work for the experience, gear and perks his character got not just handed to him by some Monty Hall GM. Also it is a somewhat controlled world to keep a more even keel for the game base.

That being said there is now a huge amount of Karma disparity between some players who have characters dating back several years to the Denver (or even first Seattle) series of missions and the characters that only have one or two missions under their belts. Not only does this give them a bit of an advantage and a tendency to sometimes (though not intentionally in my experience) take over a game, but makes it harder for a GM to run a fair, balanced game that challenges all the players and in which everyone has fun (the two main goals of every game I run).

I am not saying that these players shouldn't be allowed to continue to play these characters. If anything I would like to see grander adventures to challenge them more. I know the table rating system allows for this compensation to an extent, and is the purpose behind it, but I think it would be cool to at each convention have a major mission (maybe run 3 or more times through the convention) that is solely for the 50+ or 100+ karma characters.

By the same token it might be nice to have a game or two of pure starting characters (or under 20 karma) so they have a chance to shine and everyone is truely on even footing.

Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Casazil on <09-10-10/1748:49>
Well in the works right now is retirement for the karma heavy characters so depending on where Bull sets the bar you may soon see alot of new characters.

Mind you it's NOT full retirement there is talk or Prime Runner Missions 1 or 2 times a year for them.

This is the last of the known info Bull will need to step in and say more when he actually has or can say more.
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Bull on <09-10-10/2358:38>
It's not retirement.  It's Promotion. :)

Yeah, yeah, fine distinction there, I know.  <grin>

When you go to enter a new Season, if your karma total is above a certain amount (as yet unannounced), that character will be "promoted" to Prime Runner status.  They won;t be eligible for regular missions (SRM seasonal Missions or CMP Convention Missions), but the plan is to release several "Prime Missions" each year for those characters.  Plus, your new character gets a couple minor perks, as a reward for having played in previous seasons of Missions.

Bull
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Casazil on <09-11-10/1558:52>
Heh Heh....Sounds good bull now if you can figure out where to chop us off at the knees at ......err promote us  ;D we can see if we need to make new characters.

I know I know nag nag nag ...............goes an sits in the corner and shuts up!
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Walks Through Walls on <09-11-10/2052:18>
cool it kind of sounds like what I was talking about. The "perks" will they be for the "promoted" characters or the players new character?
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Bull on <09-12-10/0007:32>
@Cas:  Honestly, I've been avoiding confirming a limit for two reasons.  The main one is that we're still debating a good cut off point...  The other is to avoid people trying to "game" the system and stop playing a character right before they go over the cut off, effectively going into Season 4 with the "max" starting karma.  This is a lesser concern though, really.  If people want to be cheesy and work around the system, well...  *shrug*  They're only hurting themselves, I think.  (I know at least one player who started new characters at Gen Con this year specifically to earn some karma for Season 4.  I'm tempted to force everyone to start over ;))

@Walks:  The Perks will be for the new character.  They're minor, so you won't have a significant advantage over a "newbie" characters, but it's a little bonus still.

Bull

Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Casazil on <09-12-10/1810:37>
Sadly Bull I get that.

I could care less about starting over myself but then again I'm pretty sure I have more karma earned that will be allowed for one.

Also I don't care cause I like makeing new characters and playing them.
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Walks Through Walls on <09-15-10/2201:45>
I understand the thought of starting everyone over Bull, but I made a missions character and because of other commitments (specifically to Catalyst and Shadowrun) I have only gotten to play the character twice in two years. So I have very minimal karma, but feel I am starting to get somewhere with the character. To have to start over would be slightly disheartening
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: KarmaInferno on <09-15-10/2225:08>
Well, last conversation I heard Bull informally discussing the karma cap, it was in the "over 100 karma, maybe even 200+" range, so I don't think a character that's been played only a couple times needs to worry about it.

Whatever they finalize the 'promotion' cap at, you'll have to play a LOT of Missions to hit it.



-karma
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Bull on <09-16-10/0133:04>
At this point, I'll say "Under 50 is safe".  I'm not going to wipe out everyone just for the sake of it :)  It will very likely be higher than 50, but dunno exactly where the cut off will be yet. 

Hopefully I'll have that done soon.

Bull
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Wasabi on <09-16-10/0825:39>
It might be 50? Yikes. Please at least let it be high enough for con-goers to do two years of SRM's and CMP's before forced retirement. Either that or have 50% of games be Prime Runner games for those incredibly powerful 51 karma force-retired characters. ;-)
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: DWC on <09-16-10/1127:31>
Given that playing 13 NYC missions and one Scramble gives you 70 to 90 karma, making the cap 50 karma is just an obtuse way of saying "characters do not carry over from season to season".
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Walks Through Walls on <09-16-10/1937:38>
Assuming you get to play all of the missions in a season
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: Bull on <12-28-10/2350:26>
Don't remember if I posted this over here or not before.  (Splitting my attention between Dumpshock, Here, and the Facebook page is a PITA :)).

Anyway, I just posted an update that talks about some of the upcoming stuff.  And the FAQ has been done for a while, it's just been stuck in approval and layout, thanks to the holidays and everyones busy schedules.  Should have it very soon though for you.

And the short answer is, the cut off is 150.  This pretty much cuts off most players who have played regularly since Denver.  If you played every Season 3, convention Mission, and all three of the Scrambles that have been run since Season 3 started, I think you could have earned somewhere in the neighborhood of around 150 karma (13 SRM 03's, 8 CMPs, both at 6 Karma max.  And Scrambles I think could be worth up to 10 each.  So that would be about 156.  Plus possibly SMH 2010, which was another 9.  So...  165 Karma possible?  Ish?)

You can also voluntarily promote your character, even if he's under the cap, if you want to make a new character.  You'll even get a couple perks.  :)

Bull
Title: Re: So, why play Missions?
Post by: thalandar on <01-23-11/1811:32>
One on the pluses for playing/running missions, IMOH, was seeing how karma was awarded.  I was being VERY skimpy with my karma awards until I saw how karma was handed out in a SRM.  Also, it never occured to me to increase contact loyalty (without paying karma for it) until I read a SRM.  It helps to see how others are doing to give you a feel for a fair game.