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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: David Buehrer <dbuehrer@******.CARL.ORG>
Subject: Re: Playing the Game
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 07:25:46 -0700
Ralph and Ivy Ryan wrote:
/
/ Hey everybody,
/ Instead of cheating your players why not try something new? Try playing by
/ the actual rules in the SRII rule book? Just a thought here...

/ SRII is a game that rewards a good GM, and poor ones have to change the
/ rules.
/
/ YMMV

Are you sure you're not Topcat in disguise? :)

<friendly>

Okay, responding to the first statement. Shadowrun is a great game,
but it isn't perfect. If I and/or my players come up with a way to
alter/re-write the rules to enhance our play of the game then thats a
good thing. Ditto for any other group. Stating that anyone that
uses house rules is cheating their players is false and insulting.

Responding to the second statement. I'll mostly agree with what you
wrote. SRII is a very rewarding game for good GMs. Poor GMs don't
*have* to change the rules, but they often do, no matter what game
they're running. However, good GMs can change the rules for the
better (of course they can also change the rules for the worse :)

I respect your wishes to run your game using the rules as is, without
alteration. I would love to debate whether or not house rules should
be used for any game. Heck, debating Shadowrun is what ShadowRN is
for :). However, I expect you to respect myself and the others on
this list who choose to modify the game in an attempt to improve the
game.

-David
--
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep."
--
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm
Message no. 2
From: Peter David Boddy <pdboddy@****.CARLETON.CA>
Subject: Re: Playing the Game
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 09:37:09 EST
Ralph and Ivy Ryan wrote:

> Hey everybody,
> Instead of cheating your players why not try something new? Try playing by
> the actual rules in the SRII rule book? Just a thought here...
> SRII is a game that rewards a good GM, and poor ones have to change the
> rules.

I do run the game mostly intact, meaning, no rules changes. But I have
found that a few house rules, a couple suggested by players, has made the
game more enjoyable, and smoother to run. GM's who changed the rules
aren't necessarily bad GM's. Shadowrun is a game that rewards both the
GM's and players alike. And, truth be told, it isn't the system, it's how
the system is run. You could have the best rpg in the world, and still
have a crappy game if it's run that way.

Some changes we've (the players and I) have made to the system. 1) Different
armour rules, we are working on a specific hit location table damage. 2)
We've always thought that it would be silly for a 2050 gun to fire cased
rounds, so all guns automatically fire caseless rounds (now, should there
be more rounds per gun, or should the concealability rating be increased?).

Pete

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Further Reading

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Thwap!