How modern are your modern games?

[uraniumdragon]

I've been running a Fringe campaign for a few years using d20 Modern characters from an older Dark Matter campaign. (Got rid of Hoffman Institute and replaced it with FBI-Fringe division.) My main complaint is the lack of an updated equipment list for d20 Modern. Since it was orphaned some 13 years ago (pre-D&D3.0), the list really shows it's age. But since the characters work for a government agency, wealth has no "value" in the game. Just whip out the USA Visa card and it's paid for.

 

[delericho]

My usual problem in running 'proper' ultra-modern information-age games (including the latest edition of Shadowrun) is the information overload - everything is hackable, everything is googleable,

Almost everything is hackable, almost everything is googleable. There's a huge amount of wiggle-room in that 'almost'.

Bear in mind also that "information overload" is exactly the problem with just using Google (or similar) to try to solve every problem. It's not that you can't find the information you need on whatever the topic at hand is; the issue is whether you can pick out the relevant stuff behind all the dross about the Kardashians.

This makes investigation games much more difficult than in other ages. Fun for players, difficult for GMs.

Of course, everything the PCs can do, so can the NPCs. And at least some of them have far greater resources.

 

[Janx]

Almost everything is hackable, almost everything is googleable. There's a huge amount of wiggle-room in that 'almost'.

Bear in mind also that "information overload" is exactly the problem with just using Google (or similar) to try to solve every problem. It's not that you can't find the information you need on whatever the topic at hand is; the issue is whether you can pick out the relevant stuff behind all the dross about the Kardashians.



Of course, everything the PCs can do, so can the NPCs. And at least some of them have far greater resources.

available time always matters on any solution, technical or not. But who here can't work google to find the address of a place and then use Google Maps to get an overhead look at the place so you know the general layout before you storm in? A little harder is getting the floor plans from the city, IF they put that info on line, but surely it isn't that hard to ignore Kardashians in the search results amidst "floorplans". In fact, Google and Bing take great pride in NOT showing Kardashians when you search for floorplans.

Obviously, some solutions will take some time. But it's pretty easy to take your iPhone and enable Find My iPhone, and then tape it or stash it in the suspect's car where he probably won't see it if he's not tipped off to look for it, while leaving the ringer off, so you can track the car for a few hours. Granted, that's an expensive tracker, but a real one costs more, and this you probably already own.

 

[delericho]

available time always matters on any solution, technical or not. But who here can't work google to find the address of a place and then use Google Maps to get an overhead look at the place so you know the general layout before you storm in? A little harder is getting the floor plans from the city, IF they put that info on line, but surely it isn't that hard to ignore Kardashians in the search results amidst "floorplans". In fact, Google and Bing take great pride in NOT showing Kardashians when you search for floorplans.

Obviously, some solutions will take some time. But it's pretty easy to take your iPhone and enable Find My iPhone, and then tape it or stash it in the suspect's car where he probably won't see it if he's not tipped off to look for it, while leaving the ringer off, so you can track the car for a few hours. Granted, that's an expensive tracker, but a real one costs more, and this you probably already own.

Both of those are just somewhat more efficient solutions to things people have been able to do forever - specifically casing the joint and tailing someone. Hell, even in D&D it's quite likely that the players will get that information with a couple of easy divinations.

The GM really shouldn't be reliant on the PCs not having access to that information, or he's going to be in trouble, almost regardless of system and setting.

 

[Bedrockgames]

My advice for gms using modern settings: embrace it, dont fight it. Certain things will be easier for PCs because we live in an information age, so reward players who make appropriate use of that, dont worry about them finding clues too soon (the fun of an investigative adventure is cracking the puzzle, not being denied your victory because the Gm feels it is too soon). As a GM its important to go in knowing what resources the pcs can draw on. And since we all live in the modern world, its pretty easy to predict what those will be. i make a point of not running my modern games the way I run medieval fantasy. My modern games are driven by characters, npcs and power groups. There is often a premise (such as the pcs are counter terrorism agents trying to stop a mad bomber or the pcs are mobsters trying to break into triad territory) but there are always these moving parts that keep things going. The PCs take out the triad number two guy, so that means i have to decide how the triad leadership reacts. In many ways, modern settings are the most liberating for th GM if you accept them for what they are.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Both of those are just somewhat more efficient solutions to things people have been able to do forever - specifically casing the joint and tailing someone. Hell, even in D&D it's quite likely that the players will get that information with a couple of easy divinations.

The GM really shouldn't be reliant on the PCs not having access to that information, or he's going to be in trouble, almost regardless of system and setting.

Also worrying this misses the point, the pcs were probably having a blast coming up with a way to get this info. As a Gm if you worry less about the things you had planned for them, and stop to appreciate the fun the pcs bring to the table when thye take these detours and short cuts, it really makes the game more enjoyable. My best moments in modern games have been when the pcs figured out a short path to victory or ended up dealing with blowback from such an attempt (one pc for example botched a surveilance break in leaving clues and ended up getting hounded by a small time sheriff in a maine town).

 

[Janx]

Both of those are just somewhat more efficient solutions to things people have been able to do forever - specifically casing the joint and tailing someone. Hell, even in D&D it's quite likely that the players will get that information with a couple of easy divinations.

The GM really shouldn't be reliant on the PCs not having access to that information, or he's going to be in trouble, almost regardless of system and setting.

Yup, that was my point in an earlier post. The tech gives PCs information about as freely as divination spells do. And GMs fret about that stuff giving away the solution.

I say embrace it. The players think they're being smart, so let them have their fun.

I don't think the GM has to deliberately obfuscate stuff in order to thwart such tricks. I think some stuff is naturally findable online, and some stuff isn't. Some stuff requires a little creativity to track down, some doesn't.

For instance:
Just about everyone is on facebook. Or at least anybody younger than 40.
Not everybody uses their real name, but most do
Not everybody posts their activities and wherabouts, but many do

So, if you're investigating me, and you can figure out my FB identity, you can then identify my friends, and occasionally my activities. That at least means you can track down my friends and enquire about me, if you can't get to me directly.

That is potentially more information than you had before, with less work (don't need to watch my movements with a surveilance team).