| From: | Paul Jonathan Adam <Paul@********.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Game balance |
| Date: | Mon, 31 Jul 1995 17:01:07 GMT |
> of how much I like the Shadowrun rules and genre, I can't seem to
> maintain game balance. It is a recurring problem that seems tied to
> higher tech games like Shadowrun. The players almost always adopt
> a "Most Toys Wins" strategy and I find myself worrying about what
> stuff they have more than about plot or story - I forget the good
> stuff and worry about who has the Panther.
One solution is to use "snap runs" - the team are socialising, comparing
notes, whatever, to get them together in a public place. Then drop the
situation on them. They have the equipment they're carrying: handguns
and personal armour. It's a useful lesson for PCs who have got used to
relying on firepower instead of intelligence.
Another is to play your bad guys properly. If the PCs run around with
assault cannon, they're going to find themselves in an ambush set by
wired guards in military armour with gyromounted heavy machine guns,
calling in artillery support. Corporations can always outgun a player
team, and the bigger the guns the more the collateral damage: hence the
more economic sense in taking that team out.
In the same vein, consider two targets. One is in heavy armour and carrying
a Panther assault cannon with a missile launcher across his back. The other
is wearing street clothes (probably an armour jacket) and holds a submachine
gun. Who do you shoot at first? Sensible target priorities should begin
to dissuade public display of ordnance.
Then there's the "the run requires you to follow someone discreetly down
the street..." CLUMP CLUMP (heavy armour) <jingle jingle> (belted ammo)
<BLAMBLAMBLAM> (SWAT team responding to panicked citizens terrified by
massively-armed shadowrunners)
If all else fails, have a Johnson walk away from a meeting in disgust when he
sees who turned up. "I wanted a covert-operation team, not a heavy-weapons
battalion!"
--
When you have shot and killed a man, you have defined your attitude towards
him. You have offered a definite answer to a definite problem. For better
or for worse, you have acted decisively.
In fact, the next move is up to him.
Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk
