Back to the main page

Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Paolo Marcucci <marcucci@***.TS.ASTRO.IT>
Subject: New GM (but old player)
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 1994 08:53:26 MET
I've played sr for a while, and now I would like to cross the border.
I'm trying to set up a run as GM, and i would like to hear suggestions
about the creation on adventures, their "natural" flow and how to
manage deviation from the main theme.

I would like to write an original adv, not to use the FASA modules.

Thanks, Paolo
--
________________________________________________________________________
Paolo Marcucci Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste
marcucci@***.ts.astro.it Via G.B. Tiepolo, 11 - 34134 Trieste, Italy
________________________________________________________________________
(1.0.1) GCS/GMU d-- -p+ c++ l- u+ e* m+ s n-- h* f+? g- w+/++ t+ r+ x+
Message no. 2
From: Timothy Dann <C598706@*******.BITNET>
Subject: Re: New GM (but old player)
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 1994 11:09:15 CST
For the new GM: a good start is to look through what FASA put out, and then ri
p them apart. Find the weaknesses and places for expansion. In all of the adv
entures there are places where a good shadowrunning team, acting like TRUE shad
owrunners, could have accomplished the same objective much easier than what FAS
A says should be the way. Use this type of stuff to design an adventure from s
cratch (if you want to), based on the adventure ideas that should now be floati
ng about in you're head.
As for adventure ideas, there aren't that many types, really. Basic (heh, is
anything in SR?) wet-work, grab-and-run, insertions/extractions, data-steals,
maybe a few variations of these. Now pick two or three, make them the core of
your adventure. Figure out all the players in the story, and the background th
at got the important parties there. Now have a Mr. Johnson hire the players to
do ONE of the things that you chose in your core idea, i.e. hire them for a da
ta-steal, knowing full well that they will get dragged into an extraction and s
ubsequent assassination. This si the core of Shadowrunning...getting a job, th
en doing legwork to find out the problems, then encountering something totally
different.
And most importantly, have lots of very different, very alive NPC's...they ar
e what the players remember, and the link that you have with shaping the advent
ure. When the players find some way to turn your adventure upside down, find a
way to use NPCs to sorta bend them back on course, but make it LOOK planned.

Otherwise, it's just a lot of impromptu planning and re-planning. Have fun!

Tim Dann aka Midnight Sting
Message no. 3
From: jacob hawkins <HAWKINSJ@********.WA.COM>
Subject: Re: New GM (but old player)
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 1994 13:59:33 LCL
Yah. Big agreeances on your points. Especially the NPC's. Use the
same NPC's over and over again. Get the players used to them being
there just like real people. Especially villains! What with
cyberware, bodyware and magic, you can make your favorite (their
least favorite) villain come back again and again. Also if a
character dies, bring 'em back as an NPC ghost, ghoul, vampire or
undead. Vampires make rad runners ya know!

-----
/-----
-----/NAKEBAIT


"Has he got any obvious weapons?"
Basilisk holds up his trollish meaty fists...
"OBVIOUS WEAPONS?"
Message no. 4
From: Grand Poobah <mcormick@*****.COLOSTATE.EDU>
Subject: Re: New GM (but old player)
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 1994 16:47:49 -0700
In my campaign, I have been successful using a sort of skeleton
format for my adventures. This is simply forming a very basic idea of
what you want done in your adventure. Once you have done this, make up
the major NPCs, buildings, etc. from there, the actual writing of the
adventure is over. When you play the adventure, you have a basic outline
for what SHOULD happen, but since it never works that way, you can be very
flexible since nothing is actually written in stone. This method is very
flexible. It allows you to respond to the players actions but leaves you
open to bring them back on line when they stray from the adventure plot.
One thing to be careful of, however, is that your NPC's are not omnicient
and they do not know the plans of the characters even though you do. If
you are using this GMing style, it helps to have generic bad guys made up
for minor NPCs as they are not really written into the skeleton plot. As
far as role-playing is concerned, BE the NPCs. Play the people that the
characters run into, all the while keeping in mind what these NPCs really
know. I have found this method to work really well with my players.
especially since they always come up with to solutions that I didn't plan
for in the first place.


The Grand Poobah!
Students for War & Oppression
@@@@ @ @ @@@@ Counter productive, highly destructive!
@ @ @@ @ @ @ ---
@@@@ @ @@ @ @ @ Celebrating the occurences of War &
@ @ @@ @ @ @ Oppression since the dawn of time
@@@@ @@@@ @@@@ -- Even the planets were born in turmoil... --

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about New GM (but old player), you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!