[TechnoGolem]

I know it probably comes arcoss as me being a bit of a jerk to my group for making things so simple but I know that two of the players struggled with the very simple rules of D&D 4th. It took playing once a week for nearly two months straight before they had a decent handle on the most basic rules of combat, such as what modifer they are supposed to add to the attack roll (even though they were listed on said attack) or what dice had X sides. I have no idea how easily the third player will pick it up.

They are eager to play games but unwilling to take the time to learn how to play. It's very fustrating as a GM but I live in a small town and have a very limited amount of people that are even willing to give P&P RPGs a chance.

Oh holy crap. Are you sure Shadowrun should be the next step for them? I mean, if the relatively feeble complexity of 4e D&D was a bit overwhelming to them, why on earth would your next step be to throw them into a system as complex as Shadowrun? And make no mistake, this is a MUCH, MUCH, more complex system with a much more complex world.

Yes, it is a good idea that you are making their characters to give them a taste of the system, but this does not sound like the kind of group that will ever grow to enjoy the complexity of the Matrix rules or even the relatively simple rules for modding and accessorizing a firearm?

D20 modern, while overall being a shitty system - IMO, would be really easy for them to pick up and it's too hard to do good, basic, campaign for them set in modern times. The mechanics are simple, familiar, and you can get up and gaming with minimum time invested in system mastery.

Also, Star Wars SAGA edition is pretty good system (much better than D20 modern) with a setting everyone can get a handle on. Character creation also pretty easy, especially if you start at level 1.

Both these systems are d20 based so at least some of the basic mechanics your players learned during 4e will carry over.

Funny you should mention that. At first I was actually thinking about running Star Wars Saga, using a more Shadowrun-esqe campaign, since it would be easier for most of the group to adapt. In the end I decided against it because I've been buying Shadowrun books here and there for years and have never gotten to play or run the actual game.

[Medicineman]

@TechnoGolem
Why don't You create 6 simple Chars (maybe a Gang or some Private Detective Chars, maybe an Adept as a magical Char) or chose 6 simple Chars from the Core Book.
Then You let Your Players decide which One they want to play and then You use a simple Scenario like Food Fight.
This will explain them how to fight
I always use Foodfight for an introductionary Scenario/Run
And I use the Elfin Woman with her Baby as a Hook for continuing Adventures.
 

with a simple Dance
Medicineman

[Reaver]

@TechnoGolem
Why don't You create 6 simple Chars (maybe a Gang or some Private Detective Chars, maybe an Adept as a magical Char) or chose 6 simple Chars from the Core Book.
Then You let Your Players decide which One they want to play and then You use a simple Scenario like Food Fight.
This will explain them how to fight
I always use Foodfight for an introductionary Scenario/Run
And I use the Elfin Woman with her Baby as a Hook for continuing Adventures.
 

with a simple Dance
Medicineman

yea, I kinda gotta agree with MM on this one... if you want babysteps for the guys and they are too lazy to read the rules (even for character creation), then start with the pregen characters from the book (print them off, pass a stack to each player, let him choose one..) then go right into foodfight. It will given tehm all a simple grasp of the combat system and hopefully wet their appitites for more... (and thus, you know, actually read the rulebook)...

From there, plan out some SIMPLE little runs that involve a little more of the game each time. example:

run 1: food fight (combat)
run 2: meet Mr. Johnson (etiquette, combat)
run 3: The widget (etiquette, steath, combat)
run 4: Poof!! (etiquette, stealth, combat, magic combat)
run 5: under the bed: (etiquette, combat, magic combat, spirits)
run 6: it's a digital word: (etiquette, combat, magic combat, spirits, matrix)
and so and so on....


plan each micro run to take up about 45min to 1 hour (cause with explainations, this could turn into 2-3 hours each) and make them SIMPLE! the idea is to teach, not overwhelm them.... and for a sense of story, link them all together... keep the same Johnson... etc.... by breaking down the various aspects of the game, you keep new players from being overwhelmed and helps to build excitment for the game ("you mean, I can cast spells, instead/as well as shoot guns???, there a whole digital world out there that I can fight in?? KEWL BEANS!!!"

[Teknodragon]

This is more work on your part, but I also highly suggest typing up and printing out 'cheat sheets' of common dice pools-- what to roll to shoot, defend, soak; what to roll for social; what to roll to hack.

Perhaps, for a 'newbie' mission, the PCs are there as a distraction for a team of 'real' shadowrunners. A good twist would be if the PCs find some paydata or the like that the other team could not have found, establishing a bit of cred with their Johnson.

[GiraffeShaman]

You have the right idea with dipping your and your players feet in slowly, but you are perhaps taking it too far. Some of the suggestions involving  pregen characters here are good ones. I strongly suggest getting PCs involved with magic and cyberware very quickly, as these are good hooks to make them lifelong Shadowrun players. If it's still too complex for you, then strongly limit what spells and cyber are available to a list you are familiar with, but get them using these tools right off, as they are central parts of the game.

The hacking rules can be intimidating and some GMS prefer to just make all hacking npc only. That's an option you can use until you are ready to tackle it. A typical run that I've done a thousand times as a player and GM both is the players infiltrate some building, the npc hacker steals some data, the party escapes. You can make this simple scenario into a thousand different runs with some thought. You can automatically decide if the npc fails the hacking, succeeds, succeeds with complications (Sets off alarm, is killed or knocked out by IC, etc), or you can settle it with one simple roll or a few rolls, whatever is in your comfort zone. This removes hacking from the equation, yet lets the party get right into much of the Shadowrun universe.

Same deal with vehicle combat. It doesn't have to happen until you are ready for it. I love this aspect of Shadowrun though and strongly suggest incorporating it, especially if you like car chases as much as I do.

Break into the warehouse is another run type I've ran a million times, because it's easy to picture and set up. Throw in whatever guards, roving patrols, alarms and motion detectors, cameras, fences and tripwires, paranormal animals, and whatever else security you can dream up.

Keep doing some simple runs like killing gangers, killing ghouls, knocking over the local BTL dealer, and slowly begin incorporating more complex runs on corporate sites. As you throw in the more complex corporate runs, in between you can keep running these little type runs, as a sort of lubrication to keep the game moving and exciting.