User:Sarcarian
Characters
I play the street life, because there's no place I can go. |
I'm living' in that 21st century, doing something mean to it. |
GMing Style
Declining the Meet
I will do my best not to pick characters who are blatantly unsuited to the job and likely to decline (e.g. if your character lists themselves as a pacifist, don't expect to be picked for jobs involving wetwork). If you feel that your character honestly wouldn't participate in the job because of a conflict of interest/morality/not enough cash/whatever else after meeting with the Johnson, you are perfectly free to refuse to take the job - however, this may come with Consequences(TM) depending on the prospective employer, the exact nature of the job, how gracefully you declined the offer, whether or not they were planning on betraying you, etc.
Thwarting/Derailing the Run
A fun alternative to outright declining the job (because that means you don't get to enjoy the run!) is the time-tested option of betrayal - screwing over the Johnson is one of the most classic scenarios in the game, and is always encouraged if you think that you can get away with it without getting yourself or the rest of the team killed. If you're planning to take this route, please try your best to discuss it with the rest of the group first to make sure that everyone is okay with it - at the very least, send me a PM with your intent so I know what to expect and can react accordingly. With that said, please don't take it as license to derail the run without a good reason and ruin everyone else's fun; the game is a collaborative effort, not an excuse for your character to just go off and do whatever they want at the rest of our expense.
Setting
If you haven't caught on yet, the Sixth World is generally a pretty dark place - it's a very unfair world where bad things happen to good people for no real reason, the deck is constantly stacked against you, and most of the time your opponents aren't even playing by the same rules. Conversely, it's also a world of adventures and future-tech and literal magic, where sometimes the good guys manage pull off amazing feats of strength and cunning through which they gain enough of an edge win the day. Both of these depictions of the world are equally valid, and most of the time runs will tend to fall somewhere between the two. Verisimilitude (the appearance of being true or real) is important in storytelling - I try to have things be as internally consistent as I can, and I'll expect you to have your characters act in a way that makes sense within the context of the setting. This doesn't mean don't have fun with it, just try your best to keep in mind the sort of world that these people live in.
Consequences
Actions have consequences, and if one plays stupid games they should generally expect to win stupid prizes - that is to say that, while I'm always going to be on the side of the players and root for them to achieve their objectives, I'm also not going to hold your hands throughout the process and treat you with kid gloves. A real victory, especially in a setting like Shadowrun, should feel both deserved and earned, otherwise there's little point to it; thus, the chance of failure will always be present. However, just because the world is unfair doesn't mean that I am - if your characters fail, it should be because of their own poor decisions or just plain old bad luck. I don't really care for gotchya moments or unwinnable situations, and there will always be at least a glimmer of hope that victory can be snatched from the jaws of defeat.
Game Theme
In addition to the mission type (theft, extraction, wetwork, etc.), each run post will include a game theme - including a piece of music - to give the players an idea of what sort of general tone to expect. The theme could be specific to the job, or part of an ongoing series (these are not metaplots, but thematic elements or even NPC which may carry over from job to job). A few examples:
- Life on These Mean Streets: These are typically street-level jobs around the low or medium threat level. They depict the everyday trials of criminal life in the Sixth World, and can range anywhere from "just doing this to pay rent" sort of drek jobs, to feel-good "light a candle in the darkness" hooding jobs, but either way expect the pay to be a bit lower and karma a bit higher on these ones.
- What We Do in the Shadows: As a contrast to the above, these are typically also street-level jobs, but ones that specifically explore the shadow community and the various characters that populate it. They often explore the darker elements of the Sixth World, and will frequently include content warnings if I feel that it is "R-rated" enough. Expect slightly above average pay but less karma here.