@ Reaper:
I will try to answer your questions to the best of my abilities:
[Please be aware that the statements concerning the world of SR are made from my PoV, one not necessarily shared by other SR players.]
1. "Canon".
Don't worry about that, PC actions won't be limited because things are supposed to happen in a certain way.
2. "Independence"
I do not consider the PC's to be flunkies of either megacorps or fixers.
In the case of Megacorps this is due to the "this time with you, next time against you" nature of SR. Runners are hired for one specific job, not put on retainer. Though someone might work several times for a specific corps on preference or for other reasons, there is still the chance that someone else might offer better incentives. (Anything else is selling out to the corps.
)
[IMO corps-campaigns don't work that well, due to the danger of them becoming a series of "point and fire" missions.]
The fixer is just a middleman, doing his work for a cut. He has no hold over the PCs to make them take a certain job. (Unless you still owe him that "one favour".) He gets the job proposals from the corps, and, like an agent, checks his database of available "talent" for appropriate people.
Why or how do successful Shadowrunners survive? Because they are needed! There are enough newbies/wannabees on the streets, but you need the competent ones to do jobs for you, so there's no point in killing them. And if you hire the good ones, well, they are no longer deniable. Even if they somehow managed to harm you beyond concilation, are they worth the continued waste of company resources?
3. "Heroic"
I agree that SR is less heroic than other RPG's and somewhat more mercenary in nature, ie. you don't save villages, countries or the whole world. But there is still a heroic bent possible (if only on a smaller scale), because sometimes you manage to save one or even a few persons. Perhaps you are able to expose that nefarious scheme which could have caused grievious harm to an entire neighbourhood or even a district. By doing so you are crucial to a change for the better, but you don't get to be a hero. The media won't be talking about this and in fact it would be better if noone knew what you did, except for a select few. (And you'd better hope someone pays you for it.
)
You can accomplish something, but it will always be"small stuff", ie. you won't change the world. But then, perhaps it doesn't want to be changed.
4. "Interesting to play?"
I've always tried to avoid making my campaigns a series of runs, ie. one job following the next time without downtime. In fact, I consider the time spent while not on a run to be far more interesting and with much more potential for a good story.
I hope I've managed to answer your questions about the peculiarities of SR at least a little bit.
Folkert
[EDIT: One thing to remember might be that SR thrives on the cyberpunk-ish feeling "rebel against the system". ]
I will try to answer your questions to the best of my abilities:
[Please be aware that the statements concerning the world of SR are made from my PoV, one not necessarily shared by other SR players.]
1. "Canon".
Don't worry about that, PC actions won't be limited because things are supposed to happen in a certain way.
2. "Independence"
I do not consider the PC's to be flunkies of either megacorps or fixers.
In the case of Megacorps this is due to the "this time with you, next time against you" nature of SR. Runners are hired for one specific job, not put on retainer. Though someone might work several times for a specific corps on preference or for other reasons, there is still the chance that someone else might offer better incentives. (Anything else is selling out to the corps.
)[IMO corps-campaigns don't work that well, due to the danger of them becoming a series of "point and fire" missions.]
The fixer is just a middleman, doing his work for a cut. He has no hold over the PCs to make them take a certain job. (Unless you still owe him that "one favour".) He gets the job proposals from the corps, and, like an agent, checks his database of available "talent" for appropriate people.
Why or how do successful Shadowrunners survive? Because they are needed! There are enough newbies/wannabees on the streets, but you need the competent ones to do jobs for you, so there's no point in killing them. And if you hire the good ones, well, they are no longer deniable. Even if they somehow managed to harm you beyond concilation, are they worth the continued waste of company resources?
3. "Heroic"
I agree that SR is less heroic than other RPG's and somewhat more mercenary in nature, ie. you don't save villages, countries or the whole world. But there is still a heroic bent possible (if only on a smaller scale), because sometimes you manage to save one or even a few persons. Perhaps you are able to expose that nefarious scheme which could have caused grievious harm to an entire neighbourhood or even a district. By doing so you are crucial to a change for the better, but you don't get to be a hero. The media won't be talking about this and in fact it would be better if noone knew what you did, except for a select few. (And you'd better hope someone pays you for it.
)You can accomplish something, but it will always be"small stuff", ie. you won't change the world. But then, perhaps it doesn't want to be changed.
4. "Interesting to play?"
I've always tried to avoid making my campaigns a series of runs, ie. one job following the next time without downtime. In fact, I consider the time spent while not on a run to be far more interesting and with much more potential for a good story.
I hope I've managed to answer your questions about the peculiarities of SR at least a little bit.
Folkert
[EDIT: One thing to remember might be that SR thrives on the cyberpunk-ish feeling "rebel against the system". ]
Last edited:
