Geek on the Borderlands

I’ve been running quite a few games lately and the one common theme between them all is outlandish actions.  We’ll be in the middle of a combat or negotiation and one of my players will invariably ask “can I blow up the car with a shot?” or “can I convince this villain that my spellbook is really just a book of Orcish mating rituals?”  They’re actions and suggestions so off the wall and awesome that I have to stop and sputter a bit.  And after thinking a bit I smile, say yes, and sometimes call for a roll.  Because some actions are just so awesome that they have to work.

These outlandish actions have only enhanced my games, but it’s taken me a long time and a lot of mistakes to get to the point where I can say yes.  When I was younger and less experienced I’d often just blurt out “No!”  The actions didn’t fit into the rules, or they seemed stupid, or I couldn’t think of how to make them work.  These days I’ve loosened up a lot and my games are far better for the change in attitude.

These moments now fall into my “rule of cool” philosophy (I know I’m cribbing this name from somewhere – probably an Evil Hat game – forgive me if I don’t cite the original source).  In essence this rule boils down to: if the action is outlandish and increases the fun at the table it’s going to work.  In some cases I might call for a roll, but if I do I always make sure that the rule is something that the PC is good at, because they should probably succeed at such a task.

For a lot of new GMs this sort of thing can really throw you for a loop.  It seems really cool (or really stupid) but you don’t know how to fit into the rules you’re using.  My personal suggestion is to just let it work outright or let it work with a common roll.  Now, this only applies if the action is going to make things more fun for everyone.  If the action really only serves to make one character better then it’s probably fine to say no, or yes, but…  To really qualify for the Rule of Cool your action has to really make things better for everyone at the table or at least make everyone at the table go “awesome!” or break up into laughter.

That’s the Rule of Cool in a nutshell.  It’s made my games a lot more fun and helped my players feel more empowered.  Hopefully it can do the same for yours.

I’ve been playing and thinking about superhero games quite often as of late and it got me to thinking about how different systems ensure that everyone at the table has something fun and unique to do in and out of play.  It’s not something most of us think about very often when rolling dice around the table, but I feel that solid niche protection between characters is nearly essential to ensuring that everyone at the table has a good time.

To my mind games break down into three broad categories of niche protection.  You have strict niche protection, also known as class based RPGs.  Then you have semi-rigid niche protection, common in a lot of White Wolf games (via the Clan/Auspice/Tradition style breakdown). Finally you have no niche protection, which is common in most point-based games and a lot of superhero games.

Now there’s a lot of wiggle room within these broad categories, but for the purpose of this little thought exercise I’m going to stick to generalities within the three categories and how they relate to game master and player enjoyment.  Over the next few days I’m going to examine each type of game and talk a bit about the common problems and benefits of each game style and how to use them to the fullest.

Strict Niche Protection (I.E. Class Systems)

It’s no surprise that class-based game systems offer the greatest degree of niche protection (to a certain extent).  In games like Dungeons & Dragons (of which I am a big fan) you have a narrowly defined area of expertise at which you excel and then a broad area of minimal competence or outright restriction.  To take a very obvious example fighters aren’t going to be tossing around fireballs and wizards aren’t going to be hewing through monsters with huge weapons (exceptions, of course, exist).  In a lot of respects this is actually a good thing: if you’re the only wizard in the party you pretty much know that you’re the boss when it comes to arcane magic.  They party is going to look to you when such problems occur and you’re always going to have something that you’re the best at doing.

The downsides are also just as obvious – sometimes there are going to be things that your character should be able to do that the rules don’t support.  If my fighter happened to be a member of the thieves guild chances are he should know how to pick locks – but some games won’t let you do this (though many others do allow for this sort of customization).  The cost of having a defined area of expertise is that exceptions and corner cases tend to very difficult or outright impossible to model sensibly.

There’s also the problem of class duplication – in class based games two members of the same class sometimes end up looking very similar.  Some systems are better at dealing with this than others but at the end of the day there is at least some degree of sameness between characters of the same class.  Ironically this actually leads to the very problem that class based systems are meant to prevent – characters that don’t have their own shtick.

Maximizing the Strengths

If you’re using a class-based system you obviously want to play to its strengths as much as possible.  You can do this by choosing a system with a broad spectrum of classes or niches to give your players a great deal of choice while still retaining a solid set of niches for your players to fill.  For me this system is D&D 4e, but it could be any other class based game with good deal of selection.  You want your players to point toward a class and say “that is my character exactly!” if at all possible, or at least offer enough selection that a class can be molded to fit with little work.

Beyond selecting an appropriate system you also want to make sure that everyone selects a class that compliments but does not overlap with an existing class (save for the generalist, which I’ll cover just a bit later).  This is best accomplished by setting aside a full session for character creation or using some other method to ensure that everyone knows what everyone else is playing.  This way you can avoid the “party full of thieves” problem that can crop up when you create characters in a vacuum.

Minimizing Weaknesses

As mentioned earlier, class based systems do have their weaknesses, but with a little work you can overcome nearly all of them pretty easily.  The biggest weakness is that of class and ability duplication.  In a perfect world everyone would choose a different class but we all know that the world isn’t perfect (even our game worlds).  When you do get duplicates you can either try to differentiate them with crunch or with fluff.

Differentiating duplicate classes with crunch is usually the more difficult proposition.  Yet it can be accomplished, especially if the system you’re using has rules for multiclassing (or something similar).   After all, a Fighter/Cleric and a Fighter/Wizard are going to feel pretty different from each other.  Obviously you’re not going to be able to use this all the time, but it can help quite a bit.

If multiclassing isn’t attractive or unavailable, start looking at hyper-specialization.  If you have duplicate classes chances are that the basic are covered, so go right ahead and encourage the players to really specialize in one very narrow spectrum of the class.  If you have two fighters encourage one to go sword and board and the other to go with a big two handed weapon.  That way the two characters still feel a bit different, even if they aren’t all that different mechanically.

The other option is using background, characterization, and other “fluff” to make the characters distinct.  If both your fighters want to play guys in plate armor, a heavy shield, and a longsword you’re obviously going to have to do something to avoid the “we’re twins!” problem.  Perhaps one fighter is a noble knight all hung up on chivalry and honor while the other is a mercenary who works for the highest bidder.  Now you have a situation where two contrasting personalities share largely the same abilities, which can lead to a fun sort of “friendly rivalry” as each character attempts to show the other the error of his ways.

The other problem that is likely to arise is that of the “special snowflake” character.  Some players just have a very specific idea in mind for their character and sometimes the classes don’t cater very well to that idea.  If this happens you don’t really have a whole lot of solutions.  Either the player needs to adjust his character so that it fits within a certain class or you have to find a mechanical representation that works.

About the only other option is to take an existing class and “reskin” it enough so that it works for the character concept.  This obviously works better in some systems than in others.  Mostly this is a thematic change, where you take the raw mechanics and graft on new “special effects” to the existing class.  You can also take a class and make minor tweaks if you know the system well enough, such as changing a fire caster to a cold caster by changing a few damage types.  It’s not always recommended and it’s definitely a more advanced option, but it can work.

Attack of the Clones

So what happens when you have an entire party of adventurers all filled with one character class?  Obviously this isn’t going to happen very often but when it does simple reskinning and different personality types aren’t really going to give you enough differentiation between the characters.  This is the time where you have to start looking at your campaign itself and where you might have to bring in a few optional rules to make things interesting.

The first step is going to be working heavily with hyper-specialization.  Hopefully you have a robust enough system that each class has at least a few different options within the system itself.  If you have an entire team of priests perhaps each one of them worships a different god with a different set of divine abilities.  If you have that group of thieves perhaps each one of them specializations in a certain area of crime.  Break out all the extras for that class that you can and encourage the players to use as many optional extras as practically possible.

Then figure out why this group is together and form a story around their similarities.  The easiest example is that of a thieves guild, but anything will work.  The key here is to focus the game entirely around problems that can be solved by the class features of everyone present and then overwhelm them with so many problems that no one character can possibly solve them all.  Going back to the thieves, perhaps they have to break into a house covered in traps, with dozens of locked doors, and very alert guards.  Some of them are going to have to sneak in, some are going to have to disable the traps, and some are going to be unlocking doors.  Instead of giving everyone something different to do give them so many of the same thing to do that they all have to work together.

The Generalist

When discussing class based games there is one final exception that needs specific mention: the generalist.  This is the character who’s shtick is actually being the “jack of all trades, master of none.”  This is a class based upon being the second best at everything and they’re generally thrown in as a “fifth wheel” character.  How do you cater to a character that is by definition a lesser copy of everyone else?

The answer lies in how you design your games and encounters.  If you have a generalist try to set up situations where one character class isn’t quite enough to get the job done.  Perhaps the door is both locked and trapped and they have to get through it quickly.  Normally the thief could do both jobs but when time is of the essence the bard can step in and help out, effectively doubling their manpower for a short time.  Generalists also shine when the skills of an absent party member are needed, as they can step into that role for a short time and perform admirably.  Sometimes you can manufacture this yourself by splitting the party but at other times this will arise naturally – which is all the better if you have a generalist character in your party.

But playing second fiddle the entire time isn’t very satisfying, so you’ll want to come up with situations that require a broad area of skill to accomplish.  This is far easier said than done and I’ve never really mastered the art of doing this beyond a few specific circumstances.  The one saving grace is that even generalist style characters generally have one narrow area of expertise not covered by everyone else in the party, so you can sometimes play to this when you want to shine the spotlight on a generalist character.

Final Thoughts

The most important thing to remember when using a class based system is that communication is the key.  Players have to communicate with one another when creating their characters and the GM and players have to communicate with one another to ensure that everyone is getting equal spotlight time.  After all, classes are only unique if they’re the only ones at the table at any given time.

As a final point I would like to state that not all game systems work for all players.  If you’ve tried a class based game and found it too rigid or unappealing, there are many other systems out there to try.  Perhaps class based games aren’t for you and all you need to do is go looking for a system that does work for you.  There’s no reason to keep using the same system if it doesn’t work for you.

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

I always find my best inspirations for blog posts after I have played the worst RPG scenes.

This is a problem that plagues online roleplayoing, but I think it also ventures heavily into tabletop gaming across all genres of games – how do you make your game work for your group as a whole?

Lets go backwards on this a bit and look at the most basic question: why should you run for every player you have?  I swear it seems such a simple, stupid question but time and time again groups form where the ST/DM/GM gathers a big group of players and then proceeds to lead only for his or her best friends leaving the other players feeling useless.  The why is tied inextricably in the basic goal of roleplaying: fun.  Very few players find it fun to ride along on the coattails of others, and usually they are the sort of players who gain more fun by spectating rather than playing anyways.  Most players find it fun to affect the game and in return be rewarded for their actions.  Even in a game where there is a strict rank whether this is military or nobility – no one like to have thier options in a RPG limited solely to what someone else tells them to do.  We play RPGs to make choices and see how those choices affect the outcome.  No matter whether this is how does your combat strategy stack up against the DM’s baddies to how does your social manipulation scheme affect the plots of the ST’s villains.  So if you plot adventures that only appeal to a portion of your players – or worse can only be solved by a portion of your players the neglected players will start to resent the game and get very bored very quickly.

That is not to say that personal storylines or highlighting a character is a bad thing – as long as it is something that is shared equally among the playerbase.  The storyline that deals with a paladin fulfilling an oath to his order one session, afterward the fighter making a drunken bet and dragging his party into a monster-hunt; and then a gang of old enemies catching up with the rogue the next is cool.  The game where each and every problem is only solvable by some obscure spell your wizard possess while the rest of your party is getting mutilated and and doing zero damage is fundamentally broken.  Honestly – if you are running a tabletop game and you decide that you enjoy running for only a portion of your players and therefore favor them suck it up and either A. split the group or B. find ways to enjoy and/or run for your other players.

And if you’re running an online chat game, and you favor your friends exclusively you should probably admit that you’re not cut out to be a good GM and step down.  Period, end of story.

So now that the problem is defined, how do you kep your game running smoothly?  First – live by this rule: interested players make a more interesting game for all involved.  It takes some work, but in my opinion finding out what trips your players triggers is well worth the effort because once they are interested they will be giving both feedback and energy – and oftentimes story ideas through their play.

2. Give them what they want.  Some DMs I know specifically put something in every adventure for every character, some are more loose about it and just give open ended situations that are well suited for a variety of players – however you care to do it, make sure there are plenty of opportunities for everybody to think up solutions and act upon them.  This leads directly into …

3. Think before saying ‘No.’  Sometimes we trust our friends but don’t trust the new guy – so we’ll buy the wildly creative plan our best bud throws out but immediately shoot down the solution presented by the new player.  You know what?  If you trusted them enough to let them in your group give them a chance.  If everything goes to hell, kindly stop the session and either teach them the game or don’t invite them next time – on the flip side if they are wildly creative and make it work everyone might just be sold on the story and be thrilled with it.  I find too many GMs say ‘no’ too often and yet when you say yes not only do players feel like they are empowered in the game but they have more fun and are encouraged to be more creative.

4. If you have a railroader, stop them – even if (or especially if) it is you.  Some people feel that everything needs to go their way.  Some players like to order everyone else around and some GMs will force players into their tightly preplanned storyline.  But control isn’t fun.  No one likes playing out orders – people go to work to do what they are told.  They roleplay to have fun and explore the boundaries of their creativity.   So if you have a player who likes controlling everyone else, tell them to stop – trust me, even if the others aren’t complaining they will thank you.  And if it is you as a GM controlling them too strictly, start coming up with open-ended problems for them to solve.  This has the added benefit of taking stress off your shoulders.

5. If you are running a story based game, find out about all the PCs backgrounds and bring them into play.  If you are running a strategy or combat based game, find out each of the player’s tactical strengths/weaknesses and bring them into play.  Challenging each person individually or bringing up secrets of character’s pasts is a good way to get that player involved and tied to the other players in the game.

6. Personal SL are great.  Personal SLs that affect your entire group but can only be solved by one PC suck.  No one wants to stack dice and twiddle thier thumbs while waiting for one PC to finish defeating the big bad that only he or she can defeat.  Either run personal SLs on the side or make them so every player can get involved.

If all else fails, admit your strengths and weaknesses as a GM and run for only your close friends and let someone else run for everyone.  Because the game is fun, but sitting around watching someone else have fun isn’t.

Tonight I had the final and epic battle of a short 3 adventure campaign I ran for my regular group and a long lost gaming buddy who returned to us for a limited 3 month run.  I’m happy to say that things went smoothly, everyone had a lot of fun, and the good guys won out in the end.  Yet when I think back over tonight I’ve come to realize that the most memorable battle for me wasn’t the final encounter with the nasty evil menace, it was one of the previous encounters.  The reason it sticks out in my mind, at least to me, has to do with the fight environment.

The more interesting battle took place in a temple that was built deep underneath a lake.  It was filled with air, but the bottom level had the corners open out into the lake and channels of water that flowed around the room.  Every round one of the channels would fill with water and try to wash away whoever was foolish enough to stand in them.  It featured enemies who could swim and who understood the terrain.

This area forced the players and characters to think about where they moved and opened up some interesting tactical considerations and roleplaying moments.  The poor swordmage got pushed into a channel of flowing water by the tail slap of a lizard man, but she managed to escape thanks to the quick thinking of her friends.  That was interesting.  It was dynamic.  It was memorable!

The final battle, in contrast, took place in the village where the nasty monster from beyond the stars crawled out of the well.  Sure, it had a lot of interesting things in the environment to use, but none of the players were forced to interact with them, or even encouraged.  The fight was tougher, sure, but it was less interesting because the environment was so darn passive.

These days I think that an environment that changes the field of battle and provides interesting ways to use it is far preferrable to stagnant and passive environments.  Especially in a game so tactically crunchy as 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons.  I’ve stopped thinking about the battlefield as a passive place and started treating it more like a monster or active participant in a fight.  The terrain should move, or provide new options in a fight, or even just provide some really interesting set dressing.

Sure, this concept isn’t new to roleplaying and I’m sure that a lot of you out there have done this for years.  I’ve done it myself once in a while, but this is the first time since I started running games where it’s in the front of my mind.  And let me tell you right now, that’s a really good thing!  It’s made my fights more interesting and memorable and really forced me to think about how the players might actually move about a space.  It makes things seem more real.

So, the next time you’re planning that epic battle for your group, sit down and really thinkg about where it’s going to take place.  See what you can do to make the battle more interesting by spicing up the environment.  You might be surprised what a difference it makes!

As this is my first post, I decided to go for something that might tell the reader who the heck I am and what my insights on roleplaying are.  I can tell you to start that my tastes run both very similar and very differently from Save, Runequester and Javier.  Part in parcel that’s because I’m one of the rare, the proud, the gamer chicks.

Now let me also lay it down that I don’t play CtD because of any inherent love for lovely elfin chicks or fluffy bunnies.  I have been a longtime ST and I don’t like running stories with ranbows and prancing ponies.  I do run storylines pulled from the old fashioned myths with burning people at the stake and having gang members shoot PCs down.   So why would I be so devoted to Changeling the Dreaming, a game stereotypically know for all of those things?  Why stick with a system burdened with outdated, clunky combat rules?

It all has to do with the basic theme and mood of the game.  I, for one, agree with Save that for the most part I like embodying the hero in my games.  That is because to me, the game is not just a fun pastime spent getting treasure and killing things; but it is a change to tell a story with friends.  If I wanted to kill things and get XP and treasure (which I will grant can be hella fun) I would play a video game.  If I want to share a story, I will play a RPG.

So what compels me about telling stories with Changeling?

1. The ability to play with both past and present.  I’m a sucker for the ‘past lives’ thing in an RPG.  I love having PCs discover their past, deal with thier past lives, have that shape them or being something they act against.  The clash of who you were, who you are and who you would like to become is a dramatic question I find compelling.  It invites a second layer of characterization for the player to contemplate – and great story opportunities of discovery.

2. The ability to ‘awaken’ to magic.  At base I am a positive person and I like my games to be in general positive.  Dungeons and Dragons is at heart (no matter how you play it) positive: I start out a normal person (or dwarf or what have you) and through experience and work adventuring I become someone who is powerful  perhaps heroic, perhaps rich, or whatever else the player decides.  Changeling is, too.  There is nothing inherently angst-ridden about waking to a world of magic.  It can be confusing and startling.  It could be horribly painful, traumatic and/or destructive to the psyche – but it doesn’t have to be.  I like having the choice to play a character who is, at heart positive.  Having a group that doesn’t feel the need to sit around angsting about the horrible trauma thier PCs have been through.  This is what set me off about large parts of the new world of darkness.  For me, the ability to play a normal person who grows to become something different and more interesting without having to die, be maimed, enslaved, tortured ect ect is a strong appeal in a game.

3. Human vs. supernatural halves.  I like the pull of ‘one side vs the other’ contained in one psyche.  I like having players facing decisions and saying “well the fae half of me wants to do this, but the human half would rather not” or comparing fae morals to human morals.  It creates tough choices in a game, and tough choices are fun because they prompt action and conflict, which lets the players create a story to be resolved.

4. The ability to bring in anything you can imagine. The dreaming is a wonderful place.  shaped and influenced by the dreams of humanity, if you’re feeling like a dark and resonant game your PCs could travel through a reflection of their city where the ghosts of people killed by domestic violence walk around showing their bloody wounds.  Or if your group craves something light and shamelessly fun, you could have the action heroes of the lastest summer blockbuster manifest and wreak havoc.  The best thing is both are not only supported, but encouraged by the setting.

5. At base, the game supports humans.  Call me crazy, but I really hate games that say ‘humans are crap, lets kick them around.’  Now, having human and non-human options is not the same: humans in DnD are not enslaved and oppressed by the other races, they are just as viable as anything other race to become adventurers.  But some games (I would argue that the infamous Wraethu and the new game Changeling:the Lost) at base put humanity is a very bad light.  I don’t want to play a game that tells me ‘there are big bad things that are better than/control normal humans.  So you have to serve them/get changed by them, be one of them to be something.  Yes, CtD focuses on characters that are humans who awaken to a fae soul, but I like the blend of human and fae – I ike the idea that fae need to interact with humans for glamour and for sanity.  And at base the dreaming is crafted from the dreams of humanity – humans shape the fae as much as fae shape thier dreamers.  I can get behind that.

So 4th edition D&D has been out for a while, there’s a steady stream of books out for it, its received quite a bit of acclaim and popularity, and the inevitable question has risen a few times: Why am I not playing it ?

So to address these in a manner that illuminates my playstyle and preferences, something that any gamer could do well thinking about occasionally, here are the reasons I have chosen not to play D&D 4, after giving it a few tests after it came out.

Unlike a lot of people I am not viewing this in comparison to 3.5 (which I hate like the plague) or AD&D or the classic D&D games. I evaluated it in comparison to other fantasy games on my bookshelf, some old (Runequest), some classics with recent editions (GURPS, Warhammer) and some bleeding edge (Burning Wheel, Heroquest, Reign)

1: Classes.

I realize picking on D&D for having character classes is a bit unfair, but it is the nature of the beast. I dont mind having a template that gives me direction when I create the character, but as the game goes on, I want to be free to develop my character in the direction I choose, rather than a pre-determined set of options.

2: Levels

This is the bigger pet peeve. As a player, I find level based advancement absolutely choking. I despise having to wait another 3 sessions to advance my character, as it prevents me from reacting organically to what happens in the game. Whats worse is that a level structure means there is only a finite amount of chances to make those changes. I can endure character classes if they are done in an open and entertaining fashion, but level based play is a killer for me these days

3: Character focus

I am lately finding myself wanting games that put the character to the forefront, their beliefs, their wants, their goals and desires. And to have mechanics that back that up. Burning Wheel, FATE and Heroquest are all good examples of this. D&D has traditionally never done this and the 4th edition is no exception.

There are two views of mechanics and roleplaying. One view is that the mechanics should stay away from the roleplaying, while the other is that the mechanics should support or encourage the roleplaying. D&D falls in the former school for sure. As does a few other games I enjoy, including my beloved Runequest, so its not inherently a killer in itself, but its a factor.

To me, it is completely uninteresting whether your character can swing a sword, hit 2 enemies in one blow and then leap 3 squares. What is interesting is that he has a burning passion for avenging his father, and that passion compels him in the game.

4: Simulation

Rules should simulate reality or setting to a certain extent. With 4th edition, D&D has really moved to the end of the Game axis of the game-simulation graph. This obviously resonates with a lot of people, but it makes the mechanics appear arbitrary and uninsteresting to me. Simulation does not have to entail realism. A superhero game is highly simulationist for example, as is Bunnies&Burrows.

5: Handling time

I was shocked to discover how long 4th edition combats take. I had chalked this up to our inexperience when testing it, but reports from friends and various actual play reports online confirmed that the game is indeed designed to have all combats last around a 1 to 1.5 hour time frame.

I only get to game face-to-face 2-3 times a month, due to work and family constraints, so I can’t in good conscience devote that much time to every single battle we have, unless its an epic conclusion. Rolemaster and GURPS both move faster than this, at an equivalent number of combatants, and with similar amounts of record keeping, and they are both renowned as “crunchy” systems.

6: Cost

I have a reasonable hobby budget, but I prefer spending that on miniatures. There are very few roleplaying games I invest a lot of money in. D&D has a basic start up cost exceeding 100 dollars, simply for the 3 core books to play. If I want a setting to play in, thats another 35 dollars, and this still only gives me a handful of character classes.

Throw in another 35 dollars when we get tired of what was in the players handbook (and an active group will cycle through the 8 or so character classes pretty quickly). This is more than I’ve spent on most of my wargaming armies, and I can’t justify spending that amount of money on a game that I will only play occasionally, at most.

WOTC has set an extremely high cost of entry for their game, which boggles my mind. For the same cost, I can obtain the core books for 3-4 other games, and have a far wider variety of material to play with.

So those 6 reasons comprise my main reasons for passing on this game. I bought 2 of the books, I tested it, I came to realize that it will not fill any lack in what I am looking for in a roleplaying game, and I passed the books on to a friend who will find far more benefit, value and enjoyment in them, than I ever will.

The following are simply my thoughts on running a shadowrun game; they may or may not work for you. Always remember to play to your strengths as a game master and deviate or ignore my advice when it suits you. While these tips have worked for me in the past, they may not work for you or your group.

Shadowrun is Fantasy Cyberpunk
The one thing that sets Shadowrun apart from other cyberpunk games is that it incorporates a lot of fantasy into the world. Shadowrun is filled with shamans, mages, elves, dwarves, trolls, and even dragons. Don’t forget to include these fantastic elements in your game where appropriate – they will lend a lot of flavor and interest to your game.

Use the metahuman races, mages, and other fantastical creatures and threats when appropriate to the situation. This is the one thing that really makes Shadowrun unique from other cyberpunk games and it should be used when possible and appropriate. But remember that these fantastic things reside alongside technology, not separate from it.

Shadowrun is a Caper Game at Heart
A caper game is simply a game focused around a group of thieves or criminals who commit illegal acts, using cons or theft, for their own ends. Remembering this can give you a great many ideas for runs and help to focus a game around a particular type of caper. Generally a shadowrun team will develop a type of caper or run that they excel at performing, so if this happens it’s likely that they’ll be hired by Johnson’s who want them for this type of job.

Being a caper game at heart, its easy to find inspiration for runs. Simply think about what the Johnson and his corporation wants and then set up a few obstacles to obtaining that object or person. For example, if Ares wants the plans for a new laser pistol from their competitor, you have the caper: steal the plans. Now you just need to figure out who has it now, what protection that object has, and a few ways for the team to find out what these protections might be. Don’t worry about providing the team a way to get around them: most players are more than creative enough to figure this out and all you have to do is react.

Simply put, figure out what their employer wants, figure out who has the object of desire currently, and then place protection and obstacles to obtaining that object. Almost all runs boil down to either stealing something, kidnapping someone (for good or ill), or killing someone who knows too much (or not enough).

Technology is Ubiquitous
Being set in 2070, Shadowrun is filled with all sorts of technology, which you shouldn’t forget about for a moment. This doesn’t just mean high tech digital security and hacking. It also means that the store you walk into has an Augmented Reality display for everyone, that everyone and their dog has a commlink, and that very little is done on paper these days.

When the characters walk down the street be sure to describe what they see in Augmented Reality. Also remember that this Augmented Reality doesn’t have to conform to real world physics or ideals, either. Many businesses will use AR to really spruce up a plain building, creating objects that fly out at you, that flash, and that try to spam your Commlink.

Also remember that nearly everything is wireless now, even down to cyberlimbs and simple objects. Information is never more than a thought and an eye blink away, and you have to be very careful to make sure that someone else isn’t stealing your data. Corporations know this, too, and will often protect sensitive data behind shielded walls or even servers that can only be accessed manually (which makes a good goal for a team – get to the secured server undetected).

Combat is Brutish, Deadly, and Short
Smart shadowrunners know that running away is the smart thing to do. Shadowrun combat is often fairly deadly and most threats are entirely capable of taking down entire runner teams in just a few short rounds. Add to this that most healing isn’t nearly as instant as in most games and you have a recipe for dead runners.

By no means should you avoid adding in combat encounters, but generally the focus of a shadowrun game is not getting into a fight in the first place. It’s also important to remember that most opposition are just working for a paycheck, so when things go south they aren’t afraid to retreat and try again later (if at all).

Mostly I like to use combat to add some excitement to a run, not as a the main event. If the characters are clever enough to avoid combat, by no means force it on them. If they successfully sneak around roll with it and don’t just make up “random encounters” for them to fight.

Megacorps are Businesses: Threat Them as Such
Megacorps are businesses first and foremost, and as any business they are ultimately concerned only with the bottom line. They hire shadowrunners to do dirty work that they don’t want to be caught doing themselves. Be this sabotaging a competitors operations, stealing secret plans for a new product, or even forcefully “hiring” a rival worker, they do what it takes to make money.

This also means that they prefer to distance themselves from shadowrunners as much as possible: this is where the Johnson comes in. He’s a middle man between the runners and the corp, and most often they don’t know everything about the run. In fact, shadowrunners rarely have the whole story about why they’re doing something. Most good teams try to check this out ahead of time, but when they don’t bad things can happen.

Just remember that the folks hiring the runners are more concerned about making money than anything else. But they also want to do things quietly – runners who make a habit of doing things loudly and without much finesse often don’t get hired for anything other than brutal sabotage. If the runners keep doing things sloppy and carelessly then jobs just might dry up.

Avoid Over-Use of Screw Jobs
Shadowrun has a reputation as a game that encourages a “screw job,” where the runners are generally treated like dirt and betrayed by their employers at the first opportunity. This is neither fun for the players or all that realistic. Most Johnsons and Corporations want to groom a decent working relationship with runners and so try to avoid screwing them over all the time. Else the word gets around and pretty soon they can’t get any but the most desperate of shadowrunners to work for them.

So only use a screw job when it really is in the best interest of the corp to do so. And even then, try to set it up so that the runners will either die or have no way to trace back the screw job to its source. At the same time, make sure that the players have some way to figure this out ahead of time: if they do their homework.

Sources of Inspiration
Finally, there’s nothing like stealing ideas from other sources when running a game. The RPG.net forums actual play section has several very good actual play reports from good GMs. Lost Demiurge ran a brilliant game entitled the Sorrow of Elves that you can find here: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=319569. I helped to start a 101 Instant Scenarios thread that can be found here: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=321504.

Further inspiration can be found from various caper movies (Oceans 11+ and others) and the film Smoking Aces is a brilliant movie that shows just how badly a run can go. Finally, the new TNT show Leverage is more or less Shadowun – Magic: the Television Series. If you want to run a game about a bunch of hooders then this show is tailor made for inspiration, both for players and GMs.

I’ve talked about in the past why I think a realistic game system is superior to an inherently unrealistic one, ESPECIALLY in a fantasy or superhero game.

But that’s not what I am going to talk about now, even though its one of the strengths of GURPS.

Neither is it points based character creation, which I’m not actually a huge fan of.

Its the toolkit.

A lot of games these days are driven by their powers, races, options etc. D&D, as well as White Wolf’s various offerings relies hugely on this. Setting books don’t sell as well as rules books, and people like lots of rules to put in their games (looking at the games that sell well these days. overwhelmingly D&D and White Wolf, but also Shadowrun, GURPS and WFRP, they are all crunchy games with enough text and charts to make your eyes bleed if your not inclined towards that)

What drives me up the wall is that outside of GURPS and HERO, most companies never actually give you the keys to the toolbox. You can get book after book with countless pages worth of predefined powers, abilities, classes, races or whatnot, but you are never actually given the freedom to just use the toolset for yourself.

If D&D 3.5 was supposed to permit you to play any character, why can’t we have a system for constructing character classes? They published hundreds of the damn things, so obviously more classes were wanted.

Of course, if I can make it myself, I won’t want to pay you money to do it for me, but that frees up the developers to make books that actually matter, instead of just repackaging more “powerz” that I should have been able to do myself.

Runequest can be a pretty harsh and relentless game, if you approach it like you would a game like Dungeons&Dragons or other more high powered games. Injuries can easily dismember and kill, the rules don’t explicitly favour the player characters and magic, while commonplace, tends to be less flashy.

1: Get armour

This might sound like common sense, but it bears repeating. Good armour will do wonders to increase your characters survivability. Even if money is tight, or you are worried about encumbrance, invest in at least some armour. Even Cuirbouilli or soft leather can make the difference between an arm being disabled or dismembered. If you are going for piecemeal armour (again, usually to save cost or lower encumbrance) consider whether you want to protect the arms and legs (which will be hit more frequently in melee) or the torso and head (which will result in more dangerous wounds)

2: Study your weapon options

Runequest isn’t a game where longswords are automatically superior weapons. If your DEX and SIZ are mediocre or low, or you are playing a race with naturally low SIZ (Ducks f.x.) consider a spear. Spears can do impaling damage, and have a better strike rank, which will help even things out against larger opponents. Axes tend to do slightly more damage than swords and are far cheaper. Swords are usefull if you don’t want to use a shield, or you can afford them, due to their high hit points and decent damage.

3: Carry missile weapons

Missile weapons are harder to defend against, and can be used to soften up an enemy before engaging them in melee. In the ancient world, many melee troops would carry ranged missiles that would be hurled prior to a charge, whether the pilum of the Roman legions or various thrown axes and other implements used by various Germanic tribes. Consider having a few throwing axes, knives, javelins or similar. If that broo is 5 HP down and limping on a shattered leg, he’ll be a much easier proposition once its time to get the axe out.

4: Consider your spells

Everyone has magic. Make sure to utilize this. Some spells are used before or at the outbreak of a fight (bladesharp, various protection spells) while others have a purpose during a fight (speedart, demoralize, disruption). Against enemies with average or low POW, a well timed Demoralize or Befuddle spell can easily tip the scales by neutralizing an enemy combatant. At the same time, take enemy magic into account. If the troll suddenly casts True Maul on his warmaul, its propably time to pelt him with arrows. If you know you are fighting Yelm worshippers, be braced for when the Sunspear comes down.

5: Negotiate

If the fight isn’t going your way, or looks like it won’t, don’t be afraid to negotiate. Outside of chaos creatures, most people don’t want to die, and if they can get what they want, or at least an equitable outcome, you can likely avoid violence. Offers terms, be prepared to lose a bit of face, and make sure your in good enough standing with your clan that they will ransom you, if you are captured.

6: Run!

If all else is failing, bail. In any combat situation, there is a “critical mass” required to be able to force a victory. If your side has fallen below this critical mass, or seems like it will do so within the next few rounds, its time to cut your losses and flee. Various spells can assist in this manner, or you may have to do a drawn-out running battle to disengage.

7: Bluff, threaten, bluster

If the enemy thinks you have the strongest tribe in Prax on your side, and they will come baying for blood if you are touched, they may be less likely to interfere with your business. Clan and family feuds can start over very small things, and a fast talking character may be able to verbally transform a band of ragged stragglers to the champions of a fearsome army (in the minds of your opposition anyways)

If all else fails?

Sometimes nothing works out. The enemy is more skilled, lucky or capable, your escape route is cut off, its a blood feud with no quarter given or your fighting for your very lives.

In that case, grab your axe firmly, steel your gaze and prepare to die with your boots on. Orlanth will remember you

Let me preface this by saying that I’m very much a design geek.  I love getting into the nitty gritty aspects of designing any visual product and character sheets are no exception.  It’s my opinion that not very many people give nearly enough attention to the design of a default character sheet for a roleplaying game.  What follow are just some of my observations about the subject at hand.

There are very few roleplaying games where I use the default character sheet printed in the back of the book.  Generally I find that they’re either ugly, don’t fully capture the theme and focus of the game, or that they just don’t have nearly enough space for my large handwriting and need for detail.  Judging by the number of websites (mine included) that offer third party character sheets I am not alone in this opinion.

The first concern, general ugliness, doesn’t come up as often as you’d think.  Usually at least a small amount of attention is paid to the character sheet, but usually it’s not nearly as much as is deserved.  Most folks see the character sheet as a necessary part of playing (as they are) but never look beyond a utlitarian function.  If it has all the little boxes to record the important information that’s good enough for most folks.  Little thought seems to be given to how the sheet looks on the table or how it can evoke a feeling or theme found in the game.

What a lot of people forget is that in many ways a character sheet is the ambassador for your game.  It immediately shows a player how complex the game is, what the theme of the game is, and how crunchy or fluffy the game plays.  Take for example two popular games, Dungeons & Dragons and the World of Darkness.  One sheet (D&D) is filled with tons of little boxes to the point where you have to write tiny little numbers all over the page.  The sheet itself looks very complex and while the game isn’t really all that difficult or overly-crunchy, it does have a lot of numbers you have to remember.  In stark contrast the World of Darkness sheet just has little bubbles you fan fill in, much like those old standarized tests.  You immediately have a visual reference of how good your character is by seeing how many dots are filled in.  It’s also a bit less cramped, as there is less information you have to know to play the game.

Just by looking at either character sheet you can immediately glean how many things you’ll have to remember and how complex the game might be.  Character Sheets are a wonderful visual shorthand for the complexity and crunchiness of the game.  That’s why I always look at the character sheets of a game before anything else, since it gives me a great idea of the mechanics of the game.  Games that don’t have a character sheet in the book tend to suffer in my eyes for this reason; I like seeing the sheets first.

Beyond the simple expedited information dump they provide, character sheets can lend to the feel of the game.  Very few sheets in this day and age really fully supplement the visual identity of a game.  The one that immediately springs to mind is actually a third party sheet by Voidstate. His Unknown Armies sheet immediately shows you what a screwed up game Unknown Armies can be in a vivid and visual style that perfectly accentuates the game focus.  More companies should pay attention to his work, because that’s how it should be.  You can get all the information you need in the sheet while at the same time meshing your game feel with the in play character sheet.

It is my opinion that all game companies need to spend more time creating more expansive and well designed sheets for their games.  Don’t just hand the sheet off to anyone and bang it together in a few days.  Hand it to a competent designer and really let them go to work.  Until you do you’ll see your players go to third party designers to get the sheets they feel they want and need, not your offical site.  Give us sheets that are more than two pages, especially if those last two pages are filled with an advertisement.  I can understand doing stripped down sheets if you don’t have enough pages left in your print block, but don’t skimp on them if you have the space.  And even if you don’t have the space, offer an expanded sheet on your website.

The company that’s most guilty of boring and shortened sheets is defintely Wizards of the Coast.  Their recent Character Sheet product is especially guilty!  If you expect me to pay $10 for character sheets at least make them larger and more beautiful, not a rearranged black and white morass of blocks and tiny squares.  Why would I ever pay for those sheets when I can get some very beautiful sheets online for free?

In closing I want to give a shout out to the other folks who design sheets with beauty and skill.  I know that I’m going to miss some folks out there for sure, so if I do please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!

First up is the afformentioned Voidstate, who does excellent sheets for a variety of game systems. His excellent Spirit of the Century sheet is what spurred me on to revise my own sheet. Mad Irishmen Productions does some wonderful character sheets for all versions of Dungeons and Dragons and several other systems. Most are form fillable and do some of the math for you. RPGsheets.com has a plethora of sheets and it should link some of the finest sheets there.

Again, I know I missed some folks, but voidstate and the mad irishman have been on my mind lately as I work on my own sheets (Shadowrun 4th, Reign, and Spirit of the Century are currently in the pipeline).  Any omissions are out of ignorance, not malice or disapproval.