Shadowrun Adventures
I am about to start running my very first Shadowrun game. I have a basic knowledge of the system and world, but one of my players is a guy who loves everything Shadowrun and has been playing the system for over a decade. A Shadowrun Nazi, if you will.
I am looking for adventure ideas or recommendations. I know what kind of adventure I want to run, I just don't know the world well enough to do it.
I want to run an espionage-type thriller on par with Robert Ludlum, only set in Shadowrun. I hate the idea of doing jobs, and want to incorporate high tension, armies of bad guys, and smart dangerous foes.
Secrets, betrayal, being hunted by police and corps.
For those of you who have read Ludlum, I would love to run a Shadowrun campaign based on the malterese Circle.
Anyone?
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Ok, I haven't read Ludlum, nor have I even played Shadowrun, though I've always wanted to since I heard about it.
I can only suggest something I did (do) when I'm trying to get ideas or inspiration, particularly when I'm looking at a new system.
Go to the movies, man. Just head down to a local rental store and look around in the action section for a little while. Then look at the drama. Then the sci-fi. If you've got the time, watch a whole bunch and steal from them. That's the best advice I can give you. I watched a whole bunch of movies when I was about to do my first World of Darkness game, and it helped immeasurably, at least to get me in the right mood to get things going. That's all I can say. Good luck!
Well, like Tzuriel, I'm not familiar with Shadowrun (other than the basic premise) or Ludlum, but I will contribute the first thing that jumped into my mind.
Have one, multiple, or all of the PCs framed for something big. Maybe they know something about the incident, or maybe they're completely innocent.
Start the first session with "You're looking down the barrel of a gun. Do something NOW or you will die," with the gun probably provided by the cops. Have an innocent "in the wrong place at the wrong time" NPC get in the way and callously gunned down by the cops to illustrate that the danger is real. Then they're on the run from the law from the beginning, and you could possibly throw in some moral conflicts in there ("I'm being framed for this crime, and in order to escape the unjust law, I'll have to actually commit a different crime"). Now they have to consort with actual criminals in order to survive, which sets up perfectly for backstabbing. Maybe there's an ultimate goal of proving the PCs' innocence, a la The Fugitive, or maybe they just have to survive on the streets and evade the law.
As far as I know, which is, admittidly, not far at all, a lot of Shadowrun's structure is based on these "jobs" that you don't like. I'm not sure what it is about jobs that makes you hate them, but you can still include them without making them feel like pointless adventures. Maybe the PC's have to deal with crime lords and the like in order to get money or information. Some of these jobs could set up future contacts/relationships, people you can call in for favors, others could be one-time gigs, and still others can lead to betrayal and further involvment in a larger picture. I can envision jobs as being realy cool if they're treated like how Firefly treats them, rather than being a bad excuse to shoehorn the PCs into an adventure.
But those are just my thoughts. Hope they help!
Ooh! Firefly! Now THAT'S good idea! One of my probs with these guys is that they know the system and world so much better than I do. So for the first couple of sessions I'm gonna be feeling my way around.
Firefly is a great idea though. I love a lot of their adventures and they translate fairly easily to Shadowrun.
BTW I've always wanted to start a game with a gun in someone's face and then roleplay through backflashes to get them to that point.
Think Fight Club or Momento.
Actually doing it though is extremely difficult. I haven't even tried.
Thanks guys! This does help.
Glad I could help.
I'm a player of shadowrun and I've just finished my first campaign as a GM (games master). The campaign was about anti-terrosim. Kinda odd that a king would hire a group of criminals to save a country? Look up different countries, terrorties, corpations ect in the Shadowrun time and adpat them to your purpose. Also, like Lorthyne and Tzuriel have said; watch moives and steal stuff. I stole a few things from Oblivion (not a film, i know), Ultravoliet and I stole the idea of the Troll kingdom from a mate of mine who is writing a story about it. Make sure to include your characters addicitons, phobias, manias ect. It personifies thier characters more.
Ideas are everywhere, just gotta know where to look.
PS: adapt your run to your teams expertise. If there is a magic character, shove in magic. Tech-based character, add hacking or something similar. Comabt based character, add in lots of combat and so on. hope you have a good run!