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Message no. 1
From: Drew Curtis <dcurtis@***.NET>
Subject: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 12:57:27 -0400
What is everyone's opinion on the best SR adventure printed by FASA? I'm
partial to One Stage Before by Nigel Findley. It had a good variety of
situations to put players in, and was very challenging (had two deaths
while running it).

Drew Curtis, President, Digital Crescent, Incorporated
http://www.dcr.net (502) 226 3376 Internet and Software Design services.
Offering dial-up Access from Frankfort to Louisville and all points between.
Message no. 2
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 19:49:19 +0200
Drew Curtis said on 12:57/7 Sep 98,...

> What is everyone's opinion on the best SR adventure printed by FASA? I'm
> partial to One Stage Before by Nigel Findley. It had a good variety of
> situations to put players in, and was very challenging (had two deaths
> while running it).

Elven Fire, because it has a good story (although you need to start
setting the scene a few adventures in advance, really), something of
everything (negotiations, firefights, detectivework, etc.) and the best
hand-outs I've seen in a FASA adventure.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
It may look to the untrained eye I'm sitting on my arse all day.
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

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Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 3
From: Duncan McNeill-Burton <dmcneill@************.EDU>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 13:37:27 -0400
Gurth didst sayeth:

>Drew Curtis said on 12:57/7 Sep 98,...

>
>> What is everyone's opinion on the best SR adventure printed by FASA? I'm
>> partial to One Stage Before by Nigel Findley. It had a good variety of
>> situations to put players in, and was very challenging (had two deaths
>> while running it).
>
>Elven Fire, because it has a good story (although you need to start
>setting the scene a few adventures in advance, really), something of
>everything (negotiations, firefights, detectivework, etc.) and the best
>hand-outs I've seen in a FASA adventure.


Wow...I don't think I've ever agreed with Gurth before...but Elven Fire is
definitely one of the best. It's well written, has interesting NPCs, and
allows the characters to get involved for their own reasons. It also allows
the players to effect their game world without giving them the sense that
the world is starting to revolve around them.

Later-

Duncan McNeill-Burton
-Tech Priest in Training
-Violent Felon for Hire
-Pipe-wielding Sociopath for Fun
http://attila.stevens-tech.edu/~dmcneill
"Your eyes shiver and you grit your teeth,
You've sold you soul now cold blood's how you get relief."
-Ice-T, The Syndicate
Message no. 4
From: Razor Girl <sprawlg@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 12:09:59 PDT
>What is everyone's opinion on the best SR adventure printed by >FASA?
I'm partial to One Stage Before by Nigel Findley. It had a >good
variety of situations to put players in, and was very >challenging (had
two deathswhile running it).

Queen Euphoria hands dow the most frightening and incredible adventure I
have ever played. Those bugs were insane. Our gm's desciption of the
Half Breed baby and the partial queen transformation were phenomenal.
Plus it was the first time we got to play with a mini gun. As the team's
shaman, i was seriously wound plus 2 damage spots for most of the final
battle from spell casting and dispelling. I lost a magic point from
using a level 6 stim patch, i was so desperate.

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Message no. 5
From: Shaun Gilroy <shaung@**********.NET>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 20:53:38 -0400
>>> What is everyone's opinion on the best SR adventure printed by FASA? I'm
>>> partial to One Stage Before by Nigel Findley. It had a good variety of
>>> situations to put players in, and was very challenging (had two deaths
>>> while running it).

I'd have to thow my d6s in with "Eye of the Eagle" in the front of NAN vol
2. All in all there aren't enough things that take place in the NAN
anyway, but this is a swell little adventure that involves toxic shamans,
g-men, a bioweapon, combat on an old rusty tanker, and *best of all* the
NAN backdrop.

When I ran it we had a peak 10-hour game session that just flew by. Was a
blast.
Message no. 6
From: Jane Foster <immortal_elf@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 19:18:56 PDT
>What is everyone's opinion on the best SR adventure printed by FASA?
I like harleqiuin's back. It has a good plot, it's involved, it gets
the players a chance to see the big fight with the enemy, but best of
all, it's necessary for a character to be a _good_ person. Amoral (or
evil) killing machines don't stand a chance (heroes in an RPG... what's
the world coming to?) =-)

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Message no. 7
From: "Steven A. Tinner" <bluewizard@*****.COM>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 22:34:54 -0400
>>What is everyone's opinion on the best SR adventure printed by FASA?

For newbies, Dreamchipper and Mercurial are excellent.
As far as the best adventure ... that's a little tougher.

I think I'm still gonna stick with those two.
They are clearly written, concise and to the point.
They are easy to GM and to run in.
They have plenty of replay value, so money wise, they're a good purchase
too.

Steven A. Tinner
bluewizard@*****.com
http://listen.to/Tinner
"Save the whales! Trade them for valuable prizes."
Message no. 8
From: David Blank <XRacer8654@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 01:03:25 EDT
Harlequin
Message no. 9
From: Andrew Costello <a.j.k.costello@******.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 09:33:38 +0100
Personally, it has to be the bug adventures Missing Blood (Uni. Broth.) and
Queen Euphoria. For me Its that bit of the adventure when just the plot
starts to become clear things just start to slide s**t out of control. Gotta
say that I'm really looking forwards to playing in Double Exposure which
despite having owned I don't know the plot,

P.S. That is unless your counting Harlequin, which having played and run is
simply one of the golden gaming moments of my youth <grin> games just aren't
that good anymore. (que "stand by me").

-Andi (He of the irritating Bioware question)-
Message no. 10
From: Steve Eley <sfeley@***.NET>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 08:53:21 -0400
For me so far it's _Double Exposure_, with _Divided Assets_ coming in
second. _Double Exposure_ is, in my opinion, just an incredibly
well-designed adventure. From the Johnson's collection of blackmail
information, to quiet infiltration, to the full-out assault on the
[SPOILER-CENSORED] -- each encounter flows into the other smoothly, and
it's all flexible enough for the PC's to do things in their own pace and
order. It took us three gaming sessions to run, IIRC, and we had a blast
each time.

_Divided Assets_ is also a big favorite of mine and my group, because it's
open-ended and the major conflict isn't combat-oriented. You can't
"succeed" at it without effective role-playing, and at no point in the
adventure are the characters railroaded to the next encounter. There's no
clearly defined ending, either; they're left to define their own. (Having
said all that, I must also state that I haven't run _Imago_ yet, but am
looking forward to it very much. That looks like a fun one.)

My group's the sort that *hates* linear adventures, because they always
come up with something different -- and usually smarter -- than the
module's plotline. I can't ever read the "Tell It To Them Straight"
sections; the few times I've tried they were mocked, and every
second-person statement was responded to with "The hell I would!"


Have Fun,
- Steve Eley
sfeley@***.net
Message no. 11
From: Martin Steffens <chimerae@***.IE>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 15:08:19 +0000
I don't fancy running pre-made stuff, since I always forget who is
who and where the heck they are if I don't write it myself. Therefore
I really like those new style adventures like in Blood in the
Boardroom and Mob War.
It's more work for the GM, but I don't mind (I improvise 75% anyway
:)

Of the old-style I like Queen Euphoria the best, but only if it is an
introduction to the bugs and they don't know about them yet. I both
ran and GM-ed that one and on both occasions it was a killer.

Being able to choose any weapon they liked for the end run did not
inspire my players with the expected confidence at all. On the
contrary, it only made them more afraid :>



Karina & Martin Steffens
chimerae@***.ie
Message no. 12
From: "Ojaste,James [NCR]" <James.Ojaste@**.GC.CA>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 12:42:35 -0400
Jane Foster wrote:
> >What is everyone's opinion on the best SR adventure printed by FASA?
> I like harleqiuin's back. It has a good plot, it's involved, it gets
> the players a chance to see the big fight with the enemy, but best of
> all, it's necessary for a character to be a _good_ person. Amoral (or
> evil) killing machines don't stand a chance (heroes in an RPG... what's
> the world coming to?) =-)
>
I don't think that anybody in our group liked HB. First off, it doesn't
require *goodness*, it requires a certain *implementation* of goodness.
4 of our 5.5 players (4 pure players plus 2 co-GMs) are characters
fighting for what they believe is good (killing vampires, hunting bugs,
bringing about the downfall of the cruel gods tormenting man, that sort
of thing ;-). The self-sacrifice parts were a breeze, RP wise, but
we're not the most tactful group.

Second, and what we disliked most, was how arbitrary and random
everything was. After a while, it gets to be "roll a die, even you
make the right choice, odd you die" or "Oh, you strayed off the path?
You're dead." Granted, some of the parts were better than others,
but overall...

James Ojaste
Message no. 13
From: Steve Eley <sfeley@***.NET>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 13:19:53 -0400
Martin Steffens wrote:
>
> Being able to choose any weapon they liked for the end run did not
> inspire my players with the expected confidence at all. On the
> contrary, it only made them more afraid :>

Heh.. I know *exactly* what you mean. Our favorite adventure from the
first _Harlequin_ set was the one where they had to steal the book from
the German castle... They opened the crates filled with assault rifles,
rocket launchers, armor, passkeys, white noise generators, and everything
else they'd never need -- and had a very serious discussion about calling
off the run right there and figuring out how to get home. >8->
(They'd've done it, too, if they hadn't concluded that anyone powerful
enough to *get* them there for this run could certainly find them wherever
they went...)

The "Big Guns in Bavaria" adventure is still infamous among my veteran
players. I should probably add _Harlequin_ to my short-list of preferred
FASA adventures; unlike _HB_, the players really enjoyed the mystery and
confusion in it.


Have Fun,
- Steve Eley
sfeley@***.net
Message no. 14
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 20:42:23 +0200
Steve Eley said on 8:53/8 Sep 98,...

> I can't ever read the "Tell It To Them Straight"
> sections; the few times I've tried they were mocked, and every
> second-person statement was responded to with "The hell I would!"

That's why you should stick to the basic theme of the TITTS (hmm... not a
brilliant abbreviation... ;) but improvise the details so they're relevant
to the characters. I find that usually the text assumes too much about the
way the PCs would do something, like Steve said, so giving the players the
general idea of what happens but making up the details works a lot better
IMHO.

Of course, I'm helped by the fact that I have to translate the things on
the fly anyway, so I can easily say them in my own words instead of the
book's.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
It may look to the untrained eye I'm sitting on my arse all day.
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

GC3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ U P L E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+
PE Y PGP- t(+) 5++ X++ R+++>$ tv+(++) b++@ DI? D+ G(++) e h! !r(---) y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 15
From: Wordman <wordman@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 20:39:54 -0400
>What is everyone's opinion on the best SR adventure printed by FASA?

Harlequin.

Although I had immense amounts of fun in Bottled Demon.

However, both of those pale in comparison to a Call of Cthulu run a GM I had
ran. I think it was from a gaming magazine. (It dealt with a kid named
Spivey, if that rings any bells with anyone). Just wonderful.

Wordman
Message no. 16
From: Jane Foster <immortal_elf@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Best FASA adventure?
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 20:09:19 PDT
>> I can't ever read the "Tell It To Them Straight"
>> sections; the few times I've tried they were mocked, and every
>> second-person statement was responded to with "The hell I would!"

>I find that usually the text assumes too much about the
>way the PCs would do something

I never use the script. Too corny.

>That's why you should stick to the basic theme of the TITTS (hmm...
>not a brilliant abbreviation... ;)

Not it's not <grin> =-)

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