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Message no. 1
From: Sascha Pabst <Sascha.Pabst@****.INFORMATIK.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE>
Subject: Bug City Question
Date: Sat, 5 Aug 1995 16:52:03 +0200
Hi!

Finally (!) I got my hands on Bug City and right after the first few pages
already a qustion pops up:
The name/date/time-tag has another number in it (pp. 11-13). What is that?
LTG access number? Or what?

Sascha
Message no. 2
From: Jason Ustica <usticaj@****.COM>
Subject: Re: Bug City Question
Date: Sat, 5 Aug 1995 13:13:07 -0700
On Sat, 5 Aug 1995, Sascha Pabst wrote:

> Hi!
>
> Finally (!) I got my hands on Bug City and right after the first few pages
> already a qustion pops up:
> The name/date/time-tag has another number in it (pp. 11-13). What is that?
> LTG access number? Or what?

The only thing I can think it is is a byproduct of how f@**** up the
matrix is in Chicago. Since that's early in the book, that must've been
right after it came back online, no doubt full of problems. Other than
that, I dunno. Any other suggestions?

----------------------------------------------------------
Jason Ustica | usticaj@****.com | Lancaster, CA
----------------------------------------------------------
*Sorry, no geek code, no stupid quotes, no lame web sites*
Message no. 3
From: Sascha Pabst <Sascha.Pabst@****.INFORMATIK.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE>
Subject: Re: Bug City Question
Date: Sun, 6 Aug 1995 00:43:18 +0200
> On Sat, 5 Aug 1995, Sascha Pabst wrote:
> > The name/date/time-tag has another number in it (pp. 11-13). What is that?
> > LTG access number? Or what?

Jason Ustica wrote:
> The only thing I can think it is is a byproduct of how f@**** up the
> matrix is in Chicago. Since that's early in the book, that must've been
> right after it came back online, no doubt full of problems. Other than
> that, I dunno. Any other suggestions?
No, it's BEFORE the Matrix breakdown...

Sascha
Message no. 4
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Bug City Question
Date: Sun, 6 Aug 1995 10:04:00 +0200
>Finally (!) I got my hands on Bug City and right after the first few pages
>already a qustion pops up:
>The name/date/time-tag has another number in it (pp. 11-13). What is that?
>LTG access number? Or what?

You mean as in "--John Doe (16427) (time/date)"? I think it's a user ID or
something. maybe one of the writers has a CompuServe account :)


Gurth@******.nl - Gurth@***.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Wicked mental dope
GC3.0: GAT/! dpu s:- !a>? C+(++) U P L E? W(++) N K- w+ O V? PS+ PE Y PGP-
t(+) 5 X R+++>$ tv+(++) b+@ DI? D+ G++ e h! !r(--) y? Unofficial Shadowrun
Guru :)
Message no. 5
From: Ryan W. Bolduan emeottrw@***.umn.edu
Subject: Bug City Question
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 10:43:26 -0600 (CST)
First of all, with all the "bouncing messages" around here, I figured I
should try to post again and make sure it's working. I have, however;
decided to ask a question as well.

Does anybody here have any good tables/resources for running a Bug City
campaign? Everybody in my group is being transported there as soon as my
game hits the day before the blast (they're in March right now), and I am
trying to prepare for a free-flowing bug city campaign. In other words, I
want to set it up so even I don't neccisary know what will happen every
day. It all depends on the players themselves. Any suggestions?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryan Bolduan emeottrw@***.mrs.umn.edu
http://cda.mrs.umn.edu/~emeottrw

A person concerned with such important matters as I, need not, and should
not, attend to spelling.
--Napolean
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message no. 6
From: Scott Wheelock iscottw@*****.nb.ca
Subject: Bug City Question
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 13:03:32 -0400
"And now, a Channel 6 editorial reply to Ryan W. Bolduan."
] Does anybody here have any good tables/resources for running a Bug City
] campaign? Everybody in my group is being transported there as soon as my
] game hits the day before the blast (they're in March right now), and I am
] trying to prepare for a free-flowing bug city campaign. In other words, I
] want to set it up so even I don't neccisary know what will happen every
] day. It all depends on the players themselves. Any suggestions?

Maybe work out a whole bunch of plotlines in advance, or at least
the starting points, and then when it seems like the characters are
stumbling nicely towards one of your adventure ideas, work it out
in more detail.
Frankly, I've always hated the idea of Random Encounters. They
drive me absolutely...well, buggy. If you do do a random encounter
thing, make sure to make very little of it combat oriented...Bug
City is a bad, bad place, and trouncing the characters every four
steps will make you pretty unpopular.

Scott
Message no. 7
From: Ryan W. Bolduan emeottrw@***.umn.edu
Subject: Bug City Question
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 11:12:37 -0600 (CST)
> "And now, a Channel 6 editorial reply to Ryan W. Bolduan."
> ] Does anybody here have any good tables/resources for running a Bug City
> ] campaign? Everybody in my group is being transported there as soon as my
> ] game hits the day before the blast (they're in March right now), and I am
> ] trying to prepare for a free-flowing bug city campaign. In other words, I
> ] want to set it up so even I don't neccisary know what will happen every
> ] day. It all depends on the players themselves. Any suggestions?
>
> Maybe work out a whole bunch of plotlines in advance, or at least
> the starting points, and then when it seems like the characters are
> stumbling nicely towards one of your adventure ideas, work it out
> in more detail.
> Frankly, I've always hated the idea of Random Encounters. They
> drive me absolutely...well, buggy. If you do do a random encounter
> thing, make sure to make very little of it combat oriented...Bug
> City is a bad, bad place, and trouncing the characters every four
> steps will make you pretty unpopular.
>

I agree, random encounters are not my cup of tea either. If you want to
think of these as "random" that's okay, but I was thinking more along the
lines of no specific "shadowruns." I will have a couple of possible major
developments, but I was thinking more along the lines of table with random
people you meet, possible hooks into bigger adventures I can then write
out. I would drive it myself, but for Chicago I really want to get away
from that. I want the group to run the system, telling me what they want
to do, given small specifics that I introduce. After they have ideas of
where they want to go, I can flech them out.
Message no. 8
From: Marc Renouf renouf@********.com
Subject: Bug City Question
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 13:58:31 -0500 (EST)
On Fri, 26 Feb 1999, Ryan W. Bolduan wrote:

> > Frankly, I've always hated the idea of Random Encounters.
>
> I agree, random encounters are not my cup of tea either.

I tend to disagree, simply because random encounters can provide
an unexpected starting point or hook for a whole new direction of the
campaign. Further, getting a random encounter and somehow tying it into
an existing plot can add a lot of depth to a campaign. Alternately,
having an encounter that is *not* tied to the plot keeps the players from
thinking that every little thing is of monumental significance. If they
meet random NPC's who have no vital information, can't help them, aren't
enemies, and aren't actively trying to kill them, they'll soon stop
reading so much meaning into encounters with other important NPC's, and
will ultimately go on fewer wild goose chases.
That said, however, Ryan is absolutely correct in that you
shouldn't have a random encounter every block. Keep them more uncommon
(especially in a place like Bug City, where most of the denizens are lying
low to try to avoid attracting the attention of the bugs, and thus
unlikely to be anywhere where they might be "encountered"). You can
easily overdo it with random encounters, and sometimes you just need to
let the campaign run its course without them.

Marc
Message no. 9
From: Protokol13 Protokol13@********.com
Subject: Bug City Question
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 23:36:45 -0500
Scott Wheelock wrote:

>

>>>

> Maybe work out a whole bunch of plotlines in advance, or at least
> the starting points, and then when it seems like the characters are
> stumbling nicely towards one of your adventure ideas, work it out
> in more detail.
> Frankly, I've always hated the idea of Random Encounters. They
> drive me absolutely...well, buggy. If you do do a random encounter
> thing, make sure to make very little of it combat oriented...Bug
> City is a bad, bad place, and trouncing the characters every four
> steps will make you pretty unpopular.

>>>

I use a system for adding some random encounters in my adventurers. I try not
to make them to sidewinding, but I do offer hooks for future adventures, and
some possible foreshadowings...

I make most random encounters with a stack of index cards, and I write several
ideas down on each and everyone I can. The ideas could be funny, or
bothersome... Just something to add a little zest to an otherwise boring walk
down a Seattle street. We all know that walking down a big city street is not
boring at all, and you can walk into many people along the way. I do agree on
saying "no" to too many combat oriented random encounters. If this were a
different setting, random encounters wouldn't be all that bad to fight in. But
in 2060, things are a little different. Gunfights equal attention... And that
could lead to more trouble than anything to a runner's career.

<OVer>

-=PrOtoKol13=-
ICQ: 17589925
Message no. 10
From: David Hinkley dhinkley@***.org
Subject: Bug City Question
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 03:27:43 -0800
Date sent: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 13:58:31 -0500 (EST)
From: Marc Renouf <renouf@********.com>
To: shadowrn@*********.org
Subject: Re: Bug City Question
Send reply to: shadowrn@*********.org

>
>
> On Fri, 26 Feb 1999, Ryan W. Bolduan wrote:
>
> > > Frankly, I've always hated the idea of Random Encounters.
> >
> > I agree, random encounters are not my cup of tea either.
>
> I tend to disagree, simply because random encounters can provide
> an unexpected starting point or hook for a whole new direction of the
> campaign. Further, getting a random encounter and somehow tying it into
> an existing plot can add a lot of depth to a campaign. Alternately,
> having an encounter that is *not* tied to the plot keeps the players from
> thinking that every little thing is of monumental significance. If they
> meet random NPC's who have no vital information, can't help them, aren't
> enemies, and aren't actively trying to kill them, they'll soon stop
> reading so much meaning into encounters with other important NPC's, and
> will ultimately go on fewer wild goose chases.

To really mess with their minds, the next time you have a group doing a
stealth type run, they are doing it well, have them walk in to someone else's
blast and grab. Say while they are waiting for the bus, eating, getting that
important piece of equipment or possiblly best of all on their way home from
a meeting with the Johnson.





David Hinkley
dhinkley@***.org

===================================================Those who are too intelligent to engage
in politics
are punished by being governed by those who are not
--Plato
Message no. 11
From: Tania Evans Tania-Ann.Evans@****.uni-regensburg.de
Subject: Bug City Question
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1999 10:01:49 +0100
Fri, 26th Feb, Ryan W. Bolduan asked:
>Does anybody here have any good tables/resources for running a Bug City
>campaign? Everybody in my group is being transported there as soon as my
>game hits the day before the blast (they're in March right now), and I am
>trying to prepare for a free-flowing bug city campaign. In other words, I
>want to set it up so even I don't neccisary know what will happen every
>day. It all depends on the players themselves. Any suggestions?

There is some material on Chicago/Bug City - year 2058 however, I
think - in TARGET: UCAS, which has a history of Chicago- since- the
blast in it.

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