Shadow’s Eleven

With our Renegade Horizon games getting postponed, I have another space to fill in with some Shadowrun information.

As I’ve previously stated, I’m going with pre-generated characters for this campaign. For most of the players in the group, this game will be both their first exposure to the Spirit of the Century rules as well as the Shadowrun universe. Typically that means the game starts off a bit slower as everyone tries to grasp the rules and setting in order to figure out how their characters would act. In order to help them out in both regards, I’m going to do something different with the first session’s run. Part of the enjoyment of a good caper movie is how we as the audience aren’t aware of the protagonists’ plans and get to see them unfold piece by piece. Even if the event goes of entirely to plan, we are kept in suspense and continuously surprised because we see the obstacles that get thrown in the heroes’ way and watch as they are able to overcome them.

Since most Shadowrun adventures can break down to a caper of some sort the same parallels can be drawn. So after talking to the players about the first introductory mission of the mini-campaign, I’m going to pull a few tricks out to give them the same type of experience. They’ll be thrown right into the job with no time spent with the players sitting around planning every detail.

The problem to a set up like this is obvious – how are the players supposed to role-play competent shadowrunners sneaking into a secure facility if they don’t know where they are or what they’re doing?

I think I’ve found a solution.

The first technique I’m going to use to achieve the desired feel is something that the old published adventures for West End Games’ version of Star Wars used – the opening dialog. Basically their adventures came with a short dialog between hypothetical rebels (or imperials) about to embark on the current adventure and gave the characters some background information about where they were going and what they were going to do.

Since I’m using pre-generated characters for this campaign I don’t have to write something for hypothetical runners, I can create something in-character for everyone for a few “major” scenes. This allows me to set up each scene while indirectly feeding the players additional information. For example while two characters discuss why they’re entering some sewers the dialog can reveal a bit about each of them (perhaps one thinks the sewers are beneath him and another teammate should have been chosen in his spot) as well as talk about the Shadowrun setting (maybe one character mentions having to deal with Lone Star showing up if the other character doesn’t keep it down). At the same time I’ll be able to give the players a little help getting in to character before each scene I do write an intro for.

In addition I’ve come up with a way to slowly share the characters’ plan to the players as the mission progresses in a way which should give them the same experience as watching the hypothetical caper movie. At the beginning of the adventure I’ll give each character a handful of sealed envelopes with only a few numbers on the outside to tell them apart. Each envelope will contain an interesting twist or clever trick that the character will need to accomplish as part of “the plan.” Allow me to give an example:

Gamemaster: You quickly hustle down through the quiet corridor, pausing at each door just long enough to make sure you’re no one’s going to wander out and bump into you. Bullet, open envelope B2.

B-2 Contents: Check your watch. Motion everyone down the hall around the corner quickly. Find a way to get out of the hall way to the side (closet, cross hall, etc) and get out of sight. Wait for it. Make it look like an accident.

Bullet: Bullet points down the hall to the corner and whispers “Hurry, you’ve only got a few more moments” before ducking into an intersecting hall.

Everyone else collectively rushes to the end of the hall.

Gamemaster: After a few moments Bullet hears the low hum of a drone engine seconds before a small security drone rolls down the hall. The small sensor receiver on top spins slowly as it monitors the hallway.

At this point Bullet is free to deal with the security drone however he sees fit – all part of the plan. While he himself knew why he was ordering the group to push on quickly, they get to react without knowledge of what’s going on. Unfortunately most of the really good examples of this technique I intend to use and since some of my players read this blarg I don’t want to post them. However imagine the technique used in an instance where, say, the group is rushing down a hall and runs right into (literally) a heavily armed security guard. The “oh crap” factor kicks in as they realize they’ve just been spotted and start trying to figure out how to deal with him quickly. But what if a few moments before one of the characters opened an envelope that read “He’s on your payroll. The password is ‘runtime'”? While the other players get excited, the envelope opener gets to quickly make up and throw out a clever line using the password, and the security guard can acknowledge the party and give them aid.

This technique is very railroadish in nature; I’m not suggesting that it should be done at every opportunity. But in certain circumstances – as in my game where it will serve as a tutorial and introduction to the game – and with the players’ agreement it should serve as a fun little way to run a mission. The players jump right into the excitement and get to see some of the challenges of a shadowrun as well as some of the ways to get around them without having to spend time on exposition and planning -what more could I ask for?