Shadowrun Adventures

[Zanten]

Hello, first post here.

I'm about to start running a Shadowrun game in our gaming group. Up until now, nobody in the group has even opened a Shadowrun 4E book, including myself. I'm in the process of learning the basic mechanics and world structure, but what I'm really in need of is an adventure to run. As this is my first time out, I'd rather use a pre-written adventure, and was curious what you guys would consider to be among the best Shadowrun adventures.

I'm looking for a somewhat shorter adventure (one that could be completed in 5-10 sessions, about 6 hours per session), and have no objection to high levels of intrigue or complex run design/requirements.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

[Fuchs]

Most shadowrun adventures are much shorter in my experience - maybe 2 6-hour session, depending on how the run is approached.

Best SR4 adventure I played was Ghost Cartels, but that's a campaign book, and has more outlines than full adventures.

There's a string of downloadable "Missions", some are free, which can be reached on the SR site.

[Username17]

SR4 lends itself naturally to GTA style game play. The city, even the world, is a giant sand box to do crime in. And the game is better when a lot of jobs are character driven. After all, the PCs can get up one morning and say "Fuck this! I'm going to... Atlanta!" and then go to Atlanta.

When it comes down to it, Shadowrun is a game about having lots of options in a pulp venue as freelance spies-for-hire in a future/modern world full of weird shit. Do yourself a favor and watch every single episode of Burn Notice on Hulu or Ninja Video or something. You might also want to watch X-Files or Fringe.

But anyway, when you get started, you probably want to send the players on what we call a "milk run" - that is to say a fairly easy task that showcases the different talents of the player characters. The idea is that there are a series of obstacles that can be overcome relatively easily in a number of ways, and thus that the players can experiment and push the boundaries of the box a little.

So for example, you are going to send them to go get a thing from a warehouse. But their contact giving them this job does not know which warehouse the thing is in. They just know that [Person] is shipping it to a warehouse belonging to [Corporation]. The PCs need to track it down, which is going to involve either Data Search or Etiquette tests as they either try to find it in the Matrix or face to face. You'll probably want to st the target threshold to about 3 or so. Then they need to scout the place out. They might want to do astral flybys or remote drone observation. Make the security fairly simple: a warded room in the building, a couple of guard dogs, a pacing security guard, some locked doors, and a couple of triggers for an alarm (including of course, tripping the ward, which would would get the off-site magician to trigger an alarm from wherever he is). And of course, some cameras.

The players would be able to shoot the dogs and the guard, and then blast heir way in, grab the item, and run out. Or they could sneak past the guards and pick the locks, or whatever. The point is that it's just some dogs and a dude with a pistol on site, so players should be able to get past them one way or the other.

-Username17

[mean_liar]

I'd echo Frank's sentiment. You want to start slow in order to familiarize everyone, including yourself, with the mechanics.

There can be a lot of fiddly moving parts to Shadowrun, notably Magic, the Matrix, and Rigging. Wading right into anything complex involving those is going to bog the game down unnecessarily.

[Fuchs]

I would also make sure that everyone is on the same page with regards to the world. Since Shadowrun is - at least superficially - based on our world to some degree, people may have different assumptions about how open weapons are carried, how the cops react to what, how money works etc.

[Lokathor]

Would it be sensible to begin everyone without using the Matrix or Magic rules at all to keep things simple? Or would that just hurt their eventual adoption of a key aspect of the game?

Would it be good to just use The Ends of The Matrix alternate rules and tell them to completely ignore the matrix chapter in the book? And also Frank, I've got a slightly lengthy (10-15) list of questions about your Matrix rules. Should I just post them in the thread, or would you want me to PM them to you?

[Quantumboost]

Would it be sensible to begin everyone without using the Matrix or Magic rules at all to keep things simple? Or would that just hurt their eventual adoption of a key aspect of the game?

If a player wants to play a Magician, they're going to have to learn the Magic system eventually. It's best that they - and the other players - gain familiarity with that system from the start, otherwise it's going to be even more limiting once everyone else is past the "figuring out how this stuff works" stage for their own character.

Would it be good to just use The Ends of The Matrix alternate rules and tell them to completely ignore the matrix chapter in the book?

This is universally a good idea. Universally.

[Zanten]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've looked over Ghost Cartels a bit, and it seems like a good starting point in terms of plot hooks and setting.

I'll be advising my players to read, or at least be aware of, the Core Rulebook, Street Magic, Augmentation, and The Ends of the Matrix, while skipping the Wireless World section in the Core Rules. Are there any other essential texts that I should draw information from?

In reference to Frank's post, I've run 3.0/3.5 DnD, and am familiar with the level of detail that must be put into an event/encounter/dungeon beforehand, in the blueprint and preparation phase. Does Shadowrun benefit from a higher degree of preparedness in this area? Should basic behaviors, such as exactly what happens when an alarm goes off, go into my planning of the warehouse run (which sounds like a solid opening run)?

[mean_liar]

Security protocols are going to be pretty fundamental to your session planning. SR revolves around shit hitting and not-hitting the fan, and knowing beforehand what the security responses will be is as essential as the building layout.

It can be a little tricky in that there's a lot of options to invoke and trying to develop a budget for what's reasonable, underpowered or outright stupid takes some finesse that's probably going to be driven by your player's savviness as much as your own familiarity with the system. Without anything like a CR system you're really on your own here.

[endersdouble]

I would also make sure that everyone is on the same page with regards to the world. Since Shadowrun is - at least superficially - based on our world to some degree, people may have different assumptions about how open weapons are carried, how the cops react to what, how money works etc.

While we're on this topic, I do want people's opinion on shadowrun social norms: what are they? Are shadowrunners, well, bad people?

D&D has an Iron Age mentality. I enter goblin building, I stab goblin in the face, I take his stuff and walk away. I go home and kiss my wife, all's good in the world.

If I were to use this as a solution to my real world problems today, I'd be either mentally deranged or just a horrible person; "Glock" is not considered an acceptable alternative to cash or plastic at the Safeway down the street.

How about Shadowrun? If I am contracted to remove the MacGuffin from a warehouse in the Bellevue Sprawl, and a wage mage is babysitting the place...can I walk in the door, shoot him in the face, and walk out, and still reasonably think of my character as a stand-up responsible guy outside of his day job?

[souran]

I would also make sure that everyone is on the same page with regards to the world. Since Shadowrun is - at least superficially - based on our world to some degree, people may have different assumptions about how open weapons are carried, how the cops react to what, how money works etc.

While we're on this topic, I do want people's opinion on shadowrun social norms: what are they? Are shadowrunners, well, bad people?

D&D has an Iron Age mentality. I enter goblin building, I stab goblin in the face, I take his stuff and walk away. I go home and kiss my wife, all's good in the world.

If I were to use this as a solution to my real world problems today, I'd be either mentally deranged or just a horrible person; "Glock" is not considered an acceptable alternative to cash or plastic at the Safeway down the street.

How about Shadowrun? If I am contracted to remove the MacGuffin from a warehouse in the Bellevue Sprawl, and a wage mage is babysitting the place...can I walk in the door, shoot him in the face, and walk out, and still reasonably think of my character as a stand-up responsible guy outside of his day job?

Remember where Fuchs said that everybody needs to be on the same page? This is the sort of thing that they need to be on the same page about.

Shadowrun can WORK played just like dnd with corporate towers instead of underground lairs.

However, the amount of violence that is allowed depends on the DM and how much the rent a cops feature as a part of his game.

If your game master wants everything really mission impossible then bean bag rounds and rubber bullets better be standard operating procedure because getting rid of bodies is going to be hard.

If he wants to play resoviore dogs or a game that feels like episodes of serenity then you can probably shoot that mage.

But, its really a measure of what your game masters game is like.

[CatharzGodfoot]

While we're on this topic, I do want people's opinion on shadowrun social norms: what are they? Are shadowrunners, well, bad people?

Shadowrunners are criminals. That means that they're usually bad people to some extent, but the extent can very widely. Souran is right: it can be very difficult if one person wants to play batman and someone else wants to play a thug.

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While I'm on this topic, I think that Ghost Ship could make for an interesting run. You've got a team of semi-legal salvagers (clearly shadowrunners), a corrupt Mr. J, a fuckton of cash to be had, and some supernatural horror. This being the Shadowrun world it'll probably be more like the Renraku Arcology if it was run by a blood mage, and there's a greater threat from corporations and other runners who get wind of it.

[Fuchs]

Shadowrunners morals can vary wildly. My current campaign has the team working for the mob in Miami, which means killings happen often and no one really cares about how innocent bystanders re - no witnesses is often more important.

Other campaigns, like one in L.A. where public image is key, are more violence-conscious.