Shadowrun Missions Living Campaign > Living Campaign Discussion
Missions Season 4 - Seattle
FastJack:
--- Quote from: Bull on ---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
--- End quote ---
Bah... I always cheated on those anyway. ;)
Spanner:
--- Quote from: Bull on ---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
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I'm sorry, I see now that I wasn't that clear when writing about this point. What I meant was that the details that the GM needs to run a scene should be broken out into three discrete sections. Here's an example:
Mundane:
3 guards, 2 human male, one female (stats below), 2 perform a full circuit every 5 minutes, 1 located in the security center
Shoji panels which provide some cover but not the full blind fire penalty since you can see shadows through them
2 doberman drones w/FN-FAL assault rifles (stats below) which can be controlled by the spider on call (see matrix section below)
Magic:
2 force 2 watchers patrolling the grounds. one complete circuit every 3 minutes; summoned by the security mage
1 force 4 air elemental on standby; summoned by the security mage
area 23 warded with a force 4 polarized ward
1 security mage, female dwarf (stats below)
Matrix:
location node (stats, access points, etc.)
security node (same)
security spider (stats below)
This way when the runners ask, "What are the magic defenses like? I scope them out astrally." The GM has a quick answer and doesn't have to go digging around in the descriptive text for an answer.
A.A. Salati:
Adventure formatting is often discussed. It has always been a directive to provide the Mundane, Arcane, Matrix aspects, details, and options in a scene, and your suggestion to clearly lay them out in their own sections is a good one (and one at which we need to do our best, agreed).
KarmaInferno:
--- Quote from: DireRadiant on ---I dunno Bull, you sure about this leave it up to the GM business?
--- End quote ---
Well, we could go the micromanagement way that other living campaigns have gone.
Which inevitably results in a 200 page campaign FAQ/rulesbook.
What do you think?
-karma
Shinobi Killfist:
--- Quote from: Bull on ---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.
Bull
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I'd also add that since you are taking your character form convention to convention unless the gear is basically just handed back to you at the end of the adventure nothing should be taken off screen. Heck I hate all off screen things anyways. Wait what I just walked into an ambush, got knocked out, dropped in a room and am wearing a hospital gown? If you lose your 40 karma investment power focus in game, so be it, but losing it per GM fiat off screen is just bad design. I might just pick up my character and leave the convention table. There are games out there where I might actually have fun, I'd be a model train enthusiast if I wanted to be on rails. Somehow I suspect the goal of convention games is not to piss off the players so they don't want to play.
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