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Message no. 1
From: Jan-bart van Beek <flake@***.NL>
Subject: Technical gamemastering
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 15:34:35 +0200
I am one of those blessed GM's who can get all the players he wants.
(I guess I'm just a popular kinda guy <grin>)
Anyway we play biweekly, and most of the time not every one shows up.
But as we have recently began to play more regulary, it actually happens
more and more often that every one shows up.
Perfect you may think, but that's six people. And they all want a bit of
focus on their characters. This is just managable.
But then the fighting begins, as soon as combat begins, game play slows
down to an almost unbearable level.

Who of you guys has some experience on GMing big groups. I would like
some hints on how to improve game speed. How do quickly calculate target
numbers, and other things.


--------------------------------------------------------------
| Beware of what you ask for you may recieve it |
--------------------------------------------------------------

**** The Cornflake Killer Strikes again ****
Message no. 2
From: Steve Menard <menars@***.UMONTREAL.CA>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 09:00:48 -0500
I have a team of four players. Although this is not a very large group, I have found
several little ways to
improve game speeds :

- Tell the players all they need to know. I mean, most of the time, specially
during combat, players have
all the info they need to compute their own target numbers. Range, terrain, move, etc...
are all very well defined
modifier requireing no judgment call from the GM.

- Design a way to have access to the NPC's rapidly. If you have loads of NPC
record sheets, you might
easily get lost in them. I designed different sheets for my minor NPC's so that only the
pertinent info is there(
I always hated the official NPC sheets!).

- And last, being a programmer, I built a small program to keep track of
initiatives, modifiers du to
health, etc. It is a small PC program I could try to send to you if you like, although
you'd need a computer
beside you during the game. (mine is portable).

Other than that, insist on players knowing what they do and how to do it within the
framework of the shadowrun
mechanics. Good player knowledge is the single best way I know to speed up things.

Steve
menars@***.umontreal.ca
Message no. 3
From: ATREIDE - Aymeric RICHARD <arichard@****.IRESTE.FR>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 16:22:32 +0100
Jan-bart van Beek writes :

> I am one of those blessed GM's who can get all the players he wants.
> (I guess I'm just a popular kinda guy <grin>)
> Anyway we play biweekly, and most of the time not every one shows up.
> But as we have recently began to play more regulary, it actually happens
> more and more often that every one shows up.
> Perfect you may think, but that's six people. And they all want a bit of
> focus on their characters. This is just managable.
> But then the fighting begins, as soon as combat begins, game play slows
> down to an almost unbearable level.
>
> Who of you guys has some experience on GMing big groups. I would like
> some hints on how to improve game speed. How do quickly calculate target
> numbers, and other things.
>

I have the same problem as you guy, plus the fact my group anihilate everything
they encounter... :-(
I put though guys in front of them, but then my players nearly died. Difficult
to have balanced NPCs
The conclusion is from now I do not define NPCs precisely, and do not roll dices.
I try to get closer to what Tom Dowd wants SR to be : a storrytelling RPG.


|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| "Enjoy your life, it's so short when you have a Dragon in front of you..." |
| |
| Aymeric RICHARD - Atreide on IRC E-Mail : arichard@****.ireste.fr |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Message no. 4
From: Jani Fikouras <feanor@**********.UNI-BREMEN.DE>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 17:16:50 +0200
> I am one of those blessed GM's who can get all the players he wants.
> (I guess I'm just a popular kinda guy <grin>)
> Anyway we play biweekly, and most of the time not every one shows up.
> But as we have recently began to play more regulary, it actually happens
> more and more often that every one shows up.
> Perfect you may think, but that's six people. And they all want a bit of
> focus on their characters. This is just managable.
> But then the fighting begins, as soon as combat begins, game play slows
> down to an almost unbearable level.

I have GMed up to 7 people at once and I have only one thing to say
NEVER AGAIN !!!!!

:)

--
"Believe in Angels." -- The Crow

GCS d H s+: !g p1 !au a- w+ v-(?) C++++ UA++S++L+>++++ L+>+++ E--- N++ W(+)(---)
M-- !V(--) -po+(---) Y+ t++ 5++ R+++ tv b++ e+ u++(-) h*(+) f+ r- n!(-) y?
Message no. 5
From: Keith Johnson <jrsnyder@********.WISC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 19:09:14 -0600
Some guy with a long name writes:

>Who of you guys has some experience on GMing big groups. I would like
>some hints on how to improve game speed. How do quickly calculate target
>numbers, and other things.
>

Just because things slow down to a crawl doesn't mean that it
isn't interesting...

I find that if you trust the players to do their own target numbers,
and everyone knows the rules, then you can speed things up a lot.

If 4 of your 6 players are honest, they'll keep thrack of the other 2.

We all figure our own target numbers.

hope that helps.

Keith
Message no. 6
From: Scott Taylor Spencer <sts100z@********.CC.ODU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 20:11:10 -0500
On Wed, 29 Mar 1995, Jan-bart van Beek wrote:

> I am one of those blessed GM's who can get all the players he wants. >
(I guess I'm just a popular kinda guy <grin>) > Anyway we play biweekly,
and most of the time not every one shows up. > But as we have recently
began to play more regulary, it actually happens > more and more often
that every one shows up. > Perfect you may think, but that's six people.
And they all want a bit of > focus on their characters. This is just
managable. > But then the fighting begins, as soon as combat begins, game
play slows > down to an almost unbearable level. > > Who of you guys has
some experience on GMing big groups. I would like > some hints on how to
improve game speed. How do quickly calculate target > numbers, and other
things. > > >
-------------------------------------------------------------- > | Beware
of what you ask for you may recieve it | >
-------------------------------------------------------------- > > ****
The Cornflake Killer Strikes again ****
>

Dear Cornflake,

Combat is going to slow your game down no matter what. However,
here are a couple of ideas that might help.
1)Create several typed copies of house rules that you commonly play with
and give them to your players. This keeps the bickering (if any) down to
a minimum.
2)Make your players compute their own damage codes so they can just spit
them out when you need them. THis is assuming that you players are trust
worth.
3)To make finding target numbers easier, Guestimate. Make it realistic
not accurate (bad choice of words)
4)remember the rules are a guideline have fun.

I hope this helped.

He-who-hates-rules-munchkins
Message no. 7
From: NIGHTFOX <DJWA@******.UCC.NAU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 18:42:26 -0700
>that every one shows up. > Perfect you may think, but that's six people.
>And they all want a bit of > focus on their characters. This is just
>managable. > But then the fighting begins, as soon as combat begins, game
>play slows > down to an almost unbearable level. > > Who of you guys has
>some experience on GMing big groups. I would like > some hints on how to
>improve game speed. How do quickly calculate target > numbers, and other
>things. > > >
>
>Dear Cornflake,
>
> Combat is going to slow your game down no matter what. However,
>here are a couple of ideas that might help.
>1)Create several typed copies of house rules that you commonly play with
>and give them to your players. This keeps the bickering (if any) down to
>a minimum.
>2)Make your players compute their own damage codes so they can just spit
>them out when you need them. THis is assuming that you players are trust
>worth.
>3)To make finding target numbers easier, Guestimate. Make it realistic
>not accurate (bad choice of words)
>4)remember the rules are a guideline have fun.

I agree with the guessing - don't spend too much time on the TN's. Heck -
sometimes I'll just say - Roll em - then I look at what they rolled and say
what happened.

Also - do make to many main NPC's - only about a max of 4.

The rest should be generic - just keep important stuff in your head and remember
that most people will have stats of 3-4.

Use threat dice. - I do and they work.


Nightfox
Message no. 8
From: NIGHTFOX <DJWA@******.UCC.NAU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 18:48:10 -0700
>Just because things slow down to a crawl doesn't mean that it
>isn't interesting...

especially if you liven it up a bit with some cinema

- Ok you did a deadly wound with 5 extra successes - he falls over dead

- Hmm - There a sickening "Ka-Splat" as the bullet blows his brains agains the
wall

2 - number two is more descriptive. And basically accurate

>I find that if you trust the players to do their own target numbers,
>and everyone knows the rules, then you can speed things up a lot.

Works sometimes - but most of the players don't remember half the TN - heck I
never remember half the TN. If you need to - get a basic idea and wing it.

Heck - have them roll, roll up six's 12's and 18's, and order them all
while you figure out the TN

Nightfox
Message no. 9
From: Damion Milliken <adm82@***.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 23:57:45 +1000
Jan-bart van Beek writes:

> I am one of those blessed GM's who can get all the players he wants.
> (I guess I'm just a popular kinda guy <grin>)

Lucky fellow you are. But I guess some of us just aren't as charasmatic as
the rest :-)

> Who of you guys has some experience on GMing big groups. I would like
> some hints on how to improve game speed. How do quickly calculate target
> numbers, and other things.

Well, it depends on how much your players know about the game. Mine couldn't
care less about half the rules, so I do all the TN calculating for them. I
know the mods off by heart, and even if I miss one or miscalculate, then
they wouldn't pick it up. One thing I've noticed though, once you assign a
hefty modifier, such as minimal light, then they usually make sure you get
the plusses for their eyes correct, since they don't want a +4 (even my
players pick up on this big a modifier when I put it in) when they can get a
+2 or +0. I tend to abstract it a bit, and not really worry about the NPCs
stats. I merely have a ballpark figure in my head, like a 5 or 3, and roll
that many dice for them. This saves looking up skills, stats and Dice
Pools/Threat Ratings for bad guys all the time. And it isn't as if the
players know you have no real idea of the bad guys stats (GMs screens are
great). This allows for extra quick modification of the bad guys stats too,
if the runners are whooping them or being beaten badly. As for damage
tracks, I have a whole page full of them and just use one after the other,
saves turning pages to get to seperate tracks.

I can see the definite advantage of having the players calculate their own
TNs, providing you can trust them of course (one of my players is a
dedicated dice roll fudger, you'd be amazed at the number of times in a row
he can roll 3 sixes on 5 dice :-), but we all know he does it and it has
become more or less an accepted (and oft joked about) fact of the game. I
compensate with the bad guys, that way he doesn't get all grumpy when we
make him roll his dice out in the open where we can all see them, and he
gets his ego bubble burst when he finds out he is only as good as the other
PCs, not a God like he thinks). The TN modifier tables on cards which were
suggested sounded like a great idea to me, I might even do it. The best way
to speed things up is to fudge it and wing it. Make it more abstracted, and
less detailed and technical. If you have to determine damage on an NPC, pick
a probable wound according to the number of success the PC rolled, grab and
handful of dice roll them, and glance at them (this makes the players think
you're doing a damage resistance test), then pull the actual wound "out of
your arse" so to speak. They won't know, and it's heaps faster.

--
Damion Milliken Nominee for the title of _Shadowrun Guru_ adm82@***.edu.au

(GEEK CODE 2.1) GE -d+@ H s++:-- !g p0 !au a19 w+ v(?) C++ US++>+++ P+ L !3
E? N K- W M@ !V po@ Y+ t+ 5 !j R+(++) G(+)('''') !tv(--@)
b++ D B? e+$ u@ h* f+ !r n----(--)@ !y+
Message no. 10
From: Damion Milliken <adm82@***.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 00:05:59 +1000
Steve Menard writes:

> - And last, being a programmer, I built a small program to keep track of
> initiatives, modifiers du to health, etc. It is a small PC program I could
> try to send to you if you like, although you'd need a computer beside you
> during the game. (mine is portable).

Have you seens Paolo's GM's Assistant project (on his WWW page)? This sounds
like something he'd be interested in.

And me too, could you either send me a copy, or perhaps put it on Paolo's
home page? That way anyone could download it.

--
Damion Milliken Nominee for the title of _Shadowrun Guru_ adm82@***.edu.au

(GEEK CODE 2.1) GE -d+@ H s++:-- !g p0 !au a19 w+ v(?) C++ US++>+++ P+ L !3
E? N K- W M@ !V po@ Y+ t+ 5 !j R+(++) G(+)('''') !tv(--@)
b++ D B? e+$ u@ h* f+ !r n----(--)@ !y+
Message no. 11
From: Marc A Renouf <jormung@*****.UMICH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 13:27:08 -0500
On Wed, 29 Mar 1995, Jan-bart van Beek wrote:

> Perfect you may think, but that's six people. And they all want a bit of
> focus on their characters. This is just managable.

Just wait until you have ten or so. It's...difficult to say the
least.

> But then the fighting begins, as soon as combat begins, game play slows
> down to an almost unbearable level.
> Who of you guys has some experience on GMing big groups.

I've run combats with up to twelve PC's at once. Sheer chaos.
And what's more, people seemed to like it. The combat itself took two
entire sessions, though. But part of that is because the PC's plan
was...shall we say, less than sound.

> I would like some hints on how to improve game speed. How to quickly
> calculate target numbers, and other things.

Probably the best advice is to become *very* well versed in the
modifiers. They are *extremely* important and can make the difference
between a fast-paced-yet-realistic game and an utterly unrealistic
hose-fest. Start with the base target number and just quickly add on the
other modifiers out loud. With practice you will get pretty quick at
this. When you get to the final target number, have the player just
roll and get it over with. Count successes and go from there.
Also, you will probably have players that waffle and stall. This
is incredibly annoying. The players is spending *way* too much time
thinking, more than the character would have. Start having such players
lose actions due to "combat hesitation." This is harsh, but you would be
surprised at the effect it will have on combat speed.
Use Threat Ratings. Giving NPC's separate pools becomes an
exercise in extensive bookkeeping. Keep it simple and quick.

With this type of stuff in mind, your combats can go quite
quickly. Several weeks ago, I ran a combat in a high-rise apartment
building that lasted just over three minutes (game-time). It took about
two hours and there were four PC's involved. I've seen the same real
time go into combats that lasted only fifteen second game-time in other
games I've played in, so I think I'm ahead of the race, here.

Marc
Message no. 12
From: Vincent Pellerin <Vincent.Pellerin@***.GMC.ULAVAL.CA>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 21:14:59 -0500
Marc answer with..
>On Wed, 29 Mar 1995, Jan-bart van Beek wrote:
>
>> Perfect you may think, but that's six people. And they all want a bit of
>> focus on their characters. This is just managable.
>
> Just wait until you have ten or so. It's...difficult to say the
>least.
>
>> But then the fighting begins, as soon as combat begins, game play slows
>> down to an almost unbearable level.
>> Who of you guys has some experience on GMing big groups.
>
> I've run combats with up to twelve PC's at once. Sheer chaos.
>And what's more, people seemed to like it. The combat itself took two
>entire sessions, though. But part of that is because the PC's plan
>was...shall we say, less than sound.

Just to had my 2 nueyn on this one, the biggest group of Shadowrun i played
with was with 11 peoples, 9 players and 2 GAMEMASTERS!! Yes and it
worked, it cut time not only on combat but on two other things. Yes, you
guessed it Decking and astral projectiion time ! During the information
gathering the GMs are on different table (and yes everybody had to explain
clearly what information they got out of this private meeting instead of
being witnessed by non present players), the decker got is time alone in the
matrix, the mage in the astral and the rest can protect their sources.
During the combat the seconde GM calculate the TN, help synchronise the
actions and keep tab on the initiative. (And he played a major npc the rest
of the time.) This worked for about 3 month (after that the group never
regain so much people), of courxe it was a little bit more work for the GM
but not much.

Another big way to save time is to have the players ready to take their
actions when it is their turn. Dice ready and actions clearly specified, "I
am doing this, to that guy, with this, my skill is X, i got Y dices from
that, for a total of Z, what is my TN?". When somebody dont know what to do
he can delay is actions, or he can get the BANG treatment* and loose is action.

* The bang treatment was conceived during a nasty fight, a player dind know
what to do, an other began to scream real fast:

"what do you do ?"
"go on, what do you do ?"
"TAKE A DECISION NOW !!"
"WHAT DO YOU DO ???"
"BANG, YOU ARE DEAD!!!"

Of course nobody died but we had a lot of fun around this one and
use it on ocasions to remind ourselfes that : in combat the decisions must
be make fast, your wired reflexes 3 dont amount to much if you dont have the
brains to use them.

Oh, one last thing, as some of the others have already stated,
getting your head in the rule book every 3 actions is not good for play.
Everybody should have a section on wich he is responsable. Of course players
tend to "forget" the rules that are not benificiary to them, a good way to
"help" them apply the bad TN to themselfes without you having to watch them
is to be cool with the honest ones. Relax the TN for the ones that always
said "no, i need a 8, not a 4, you forgot my light wound, the difficult
ground, etc.." Give them some slack, they'll appreciate it and will be more
honest about it (well it worked with in our group). I'm not bringing
anything new but sometimes some perspective help.

_________________________________________________________________________
| _______ "You are yong only once....... |
| \ \ / ......... but you can be immature all yourlife !"|
| \ ___/ / -heard somewhere, i don'tremember |
| \ / |
| \_/ Vincent.Pellerin@***.gmc.ulaval.ca |
|________________________________________________________________________|
Message no. 13
From: An Unofficial Shadowrun Guru Named Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 12:11:36 +0200
>Lucky fellow you are. But I guess some of us just aren't as charasmatic as
>the rest :-)

I know what he looks like... he isn't either :) (I know what I look like, so
keep the comments to yourself :)

>One thing I've noticed though, once you assign a
>hefty modifier, such as minimal light, then they usually make sure you get
>the plusses for their eyes correct

Natural PC behaviour :) AFAIK, the GM nearly always knows the rules a lot
better than the players, and they just go along for the ride unless it goes
against their plans :)

>and not really worry about the NPCs
>stats. I merely have a ballpark figure in my head, like a 5 or 3, and roll
>that many dice for them. This saves looking up skills, stats and Dice
>Pools/Threat Ratings for bad guys all the time. And it isn't as if the
>players know you have no real idea of the bad guys stats (GMs screens are
>great).

Also very handy is a table with the odds of rolling a success with X dice
against target number Y :) "I want that guard to hit that sam. How many dice
does he need to roll?"

>he finds out he is only as good as the other
>PCs, not a God like he thinks).

The GM is the only god in the game :) *duck*


Gurth@******.nl - Gurth@***.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
I'm not like them. But I can pretend.
Geek Code v2.1: GS/AT/! -d+ H s:- !g p?(3) !au a>? w+(+++) v*(---) C+(++) U
P? !L !3 E? N++ K- W+ -po+(po) Y+ t(+) 5 !j R+(++)>+++$ tv+(++) b+@ D+(++)
B? e+ u+@ h! f--(?) !r(--)(*) n---->!n y? Unofficial Shadowrun Guru :)
Message no. 14
From: FireFly <mskarina@*****.MSCC.HUJI.AC.IL>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 1995 12:04:41 +0300
On Thu, 30 Mar 1995, Vincent Pellerin wrote:

>
> Just to had my 2 nueyn on this one, the biggest group of Shadowrun i played
> with was with 11 peoples, 9 players and 2 GAMEMASTERS!! Yes and it
> worked, it cut time not only on combat but on two other things. Yes, you
> guessed it Decking and astral projectiion time ! During the information
> gathering the GMs are on different table (and yes everybody had to explain
> clearly what information they got out of this private meeting instead of
> being witnessed by non present players), the decker got is time alone in the
> matrix, the mage in the astral and the rest can protect their sources.
> During the combat the seconde GM calculate the TN, help synchronise the
> actions and keep tab on the initiative. (And he played a major npc the rest
> of the time.)


Hey, and why not? I think two GM's are a GREAT idea!
It works in the movies - a director and an assistant director. Just one!?
Heck NO!!! They use 2-3 at least in the _minor_ low budget productions,
like here in Israel (don't have anything _but_ those here, and can hardly
afford those too *grimace*).
Not to mention all that host of assistants and assistant assistants and
assistant assistant assistants and... ("Somebody STOP me!")
As a matter of fact, no organisation, big or small, can function without
an assistant Co... So why should SR be any different?
Of course, there's no need for two in the small-cast RPGs (nor in the
PBEM), but (as in any organisation) when the group gets too big, delegating
GM responsibility can be rather usefull (IMO).

> of courxe it was a little bit more work for the GM
> but not much.
>

How come? I don't really know much about buisiness and stuff, but from what
I've read, large organisations are actually _easier_ for the Co. to run,
because of the del. of resp. involved. Isn't it?


FireFly
Message no. 15
From: Adam Getchell <acgetche@****.UCDAVIS.EDU>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 1995 10:26:09 -0700
On Wed, 29 Mar 1995, Jani Fikouras wrote:

> I have GMed up to 7 people at once and I have only one thing to say
> NEVER AGAIN !!!!!

I regularly ran 15-20 people in an AD&D campaign that lasted
several years. Sure it was a little slower, but if you stay on your toes
and learn to cognitively multitask it's manageable. Still one of the most
fun AD&D games I've ever had...

========================================================================
Adam Getchell "Invincibility is in oneself,
acgetche@****.engr.ucdavis.edu vulnerability in the opponent."
http://instruction.ucdavis.edu/html/getchell.html
Message no. 16
From: Vincent Pellerin <Vincent.Pellerin@***.GMC.ULAVAL.CA>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 1995 21:46:46 -0400
>On Thu, 30 Mar 1995, Vincent Pellerin wrote:
>
>>(my own text snipped)

FireFly said
>
>(first part "CUT" :-) )
>
>> of courxe it was a little bit more work for the GM
>> but not much.
>>
>
>How come? I don't really know much about buisiness and stuff, but from what
>I've read, large organisations are actually _easier_ for the Co. to run,
>because of the del. of resp. involved. Isn't it?

When we did this run (this wasnt a commercial one) the two GM had to
be together sometime before the game, the "director" explained is idea to
yhe "assistant", showed him what was the run, go to the detail BEFORE the
players are there. When you are alone as a GM, you don't have to put a
resume of the run in somebody's face, argument about certain points, explain
some other. In a commercial run this could turn ugly as the GM might
argument between themself on the content. You have much less control over a
run if somebody else already know what is supposed to happen. But if the
two GM have the good connection between themself it coud be great, the
assistant would automaticly accept any decision of the director, provide
options. But the assistant would be deprived of much of the GM joy, and the
director could not always "FUDGE" the module so everybody have fun.



_________________________________________________________________________
| _____ "You are yong only once....... |
| \ \ / ......... but you can be immature all yourlife !" |
| \ __/ / -heard somewhere, i don'tremember |
| \ / |
| \_/ Vincent.Pellerin@***.gmc.ulaval.ca |
|________________________________________________________________________|
Message no. 17
From: Paul Finch <pfinch@****.EDU>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Tue, 4 Apr 1995 00:42:00 -0600
On Wed, 29 Mar 1995, Jani Fikouras wrote:

> I have GMed up to 7 people at once and I have only one thing to say
> NEVER AGAIN !!!!!

Try 9+ players!. I do it every Sunday night, and man is it fun. I just
throw the challanges out and let them have fun trying to figure it out.
Can be tiresome at times, but then i just put my foot down and get on
with the gaming.

Edge

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They are infinitely patient, prefering to minimize risks to themelves and
suffer a thousand defeats if they gain the final victory. Still, they are
diabolically clever, and devious in the extream. If they fail militarily,
they infiltrate and corrupt. Now they are on the march once more, and the
more they are set back, the more determined, devious and dangerous they
become. Curr ahee
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott Peterson (Paul Finch) Edge | US Army Ret. 1/506th Inf (Mtr. Lt.)
EMT-Paramedic/BSN Wanna-be and Will-Be! Self Empowered Gun Nut
Message no. 18
From: Paul Finch <pfinch@****.EDU>
Subject: Re: Technical gamemastering
Date: Tue, 4 Apr 1995 00:40:31 -0600
On Wed, 29 Mar 1995, ATREIDE - Aymeric RICHARD wrote:

> Jan-bart van Beek writes :
>
> I have the same problem as you guy, plus the fact my group anihilate everything
> they encounter... :-(
> I put though guys in front of them, but then my players nearly died. Difficult
> to have balanced NPCs
> The conclusion is from now I do not define NPCs precisely, and do not roll dices.
> I try to get closer to what Tom Dowd wants SR to be : a storrytelling RPG.

I have had a problem in the past with a heavly level game and a bunch of
crazy players with loads of toys and betagrade cyber stuff. My fault so
i had to deal with it. What i found out , after much time spent watching
each and every bad guy get geeked quickly was to make up situational or
plot line challenges, not combat. Believe me I got great at it very
quickly. Just ask Lou. :)

Laters Edge

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They are infinitely patient, prefering to minimize risks to themelves and
suffer a thousand defeats if they gain the final victory. Still, they are
diabolically clever, and devious in the extream. If they fail militarily,
they infiltrate and corrupt. Now they are on the march once more, and the
more they are set back, the more determined, devious and dangerous they
become. Curr ahee
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott Peterson (Paul Finch) Edge | US Army Ret. 1/506th Inf (Mtr. Lt.)
EMT-Paramedic/BSN Wanna-be and Will-Be! Self Empowered Gun Nut

Further Reading

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Thwap!