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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Marc A Renouf <jormung@*****.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Players' Plans...
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 12:58:20 -0400 (EDT)
On Mon, 26 Aug 1996, Damion Milliken wrote:

> BTW, this brings up a point that's hampered me for some time. My players
> are pretty good planners, and come up with sneaky and stylish plans quite
> regularly... [SNIP]
>
> What can others recommend to do to fix this, besides ignoring PC stuffups
> that I would otherwise allow the bad guys to exploit? I like the way
> players plan and come up with original and creative ideas for solving
> problems that they encounter in SR, and don't wish to discourage them from
> acting this way.

I would approach this in a few ways. First, if the slip-up were
minor, I might just let it slide. If it's a little bit bigger, give the
bad guys some chance to notice the slip-up, rather than having them do it
automatically. If the slip-up is major, shaft them for all you're
worth! :)
One thing that you may want to keep in mind is that as the GM,
you sometimes need to remind the players of things that their characters
may be aware of even if the players aren't. I would assume that not too
many of us are career criminals, but the PC's often are. Cut the players
some slack when they are making plans, and advise them of these
oversights where a character may have applicable knowledge.

Marc
Message no. 2
From: dbuehrer@****.org (David Buehrer)
Subject: Re: Players' Plans...
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 11:20:40 -0600 (MDT)
Marc A Renouf wrote:
|
|On Mon, 26 Aug 1996, Damion Milliken wrote:
|
|> BTW, this brings up a point that's hampered me for some time. My players
|> are pretty good planners, and come up with sneaky and stylish plans quite
|> regularly... [SNIP]
|>
|> What can others recommend to do to fix this, besides ignoring PC stuffups
|> that I would otherwise allow the bad guys to exploit? I like the way
|> players plan and come up with original and creative ideas for solving
|> problems that they encounter in SR, and don't wish to discourage them from
|> acting this way.
|
| I would approach this in a few ways. First, if the slip-up were
|minor, I might just let it slide. If it's a little bit bigger, give the
|bad guys some chance to notice the slip-up, rather than having them do it
|automatically. If the slip-up is major, shaft them for all you're
|worth! :)

Also, don't play the bad guys perfectly. Let them make mistakes too
(like announcing their presence, leaving a gap in the ambush, lighting
a cigarette while on night guard duty, waiting until the last second to
chamber a round, firing prematurely, getting caught in their own
crossfire, bursting through the wrong door, searching in the wrong
direction, etc.) Example, characters set off an alarm while breaking
into a research complex (while inside the building). They rush out of
the building, run to the north and dive in the bushes. They see the
corp's gunships fly up to the complex, hover for a tense 60 seconds,
and head off to the west, search lights probing the ground. The
runners take the opportunity to beat feet. The runners know that they
came close to buying the farm and will, hopefully, not make that
mistake again. If they do, then make an adventure out of capturing them
and their escape from a corp prison.

-David

/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\ dbuehrer@****.org /^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\
"His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like
underpants in a dryer without Cling Free."
~~~~~~http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm~~~~~~~

Further Reading

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