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Oracle_Hunter
2010-08-17, 04:28 PM
Recently I ran a SR3 one-shot which ended poorly (it's never a good sign when one PC is at 9 boxes and your Troll PA is sporting a Serious wound) largely due to inappropriate PC reactions.
Mr. Johnson sent the PCs to recover a crate of experimental optichips that apparently were stolen by Halloweeners from the Johnson's pet 'runners (now deceased). The Johnson was uncertain whether the Halloweeners were really behind the gig because (1) they were able to off his pet veteran 'runners so easily and (2) because he had just finished stealing the box from Renraku and the word on the street is that its new owners were trying to sell it back to them. What really happened is nice and complicated and irrelevant to the Charlie Foxtrot that ensued.

Having gotten nothing useful from their contacts (bad rolls), the PCs decided to mosey on down to Halloweener Turf and see if they could get the skinny on what went down. Well, being Halloweeners, a small group of them tried to jump the Big Bad Runners who were strolling through their turf without permission - despite there being a Troll with a LMG backing up the Runners.

Well, the PCs scragged the 'weeners, no problem, but then they stayed to loot the corpses, right in the middle of their Turf. Since the PCs weren't being subtle (no less than 4 LMG bursts!) I had a larger mob of Halloweeners approach the scene of the battle to see what's up. The PC scout saw them coming and, rather than booking it, they decided to stand and fight. Well, instead of 4 scrags with Predators, now they were facing down 2 dwarves with axes, an orc with a shotgun, and 5 more hummies with Predators - all in Armor Jackets.

Things started off poorly when the Troll with the LMG decided to step out of cover to get a good shot. He hosed a punk, but then got tied up with the two dwarves who cut her good. Then the orc spotted the PC scout on a nearby roof (who blew his Stealth check) and shot him to pieces with the aid of the mooks with Predators.
I called the session there, and afterwards I asked the PCs what happened. Well, they were all D&D players are heart and even the two veteran 'runners said the "forgot" how lethal SR was.

Now, I'm also running a D&D4 game and there I'm taking pains to introduce the n00bs and novices to the combat system methodically. I started with a simple combat with lots of minions to let them get the hang of the base mechanics; then they faced another low-level Encounter with more interactive terrain; then they faced a strong Encounter with a bunch of controllers and a few Brutes to teach them the importance of group tactics. Now that they're comfortable with the basics of combat, they're going to face a dynamic terrain Encounter which should encourage them to "think outside the box."

This got me to thinking - could I do the same for SR? SR is a deeply flavorful setting with a very different approach to game design than the other major systems. Any ideas how I could structure a single Run to "teach" the players the internal logic of the system?

Greenish
2010-08-17, 04:31 PM
Everyone already lost. :smallfrown:

Oracle_Hunter
2010-08-17, 04:31 PM
Everyone already lost. :smallfrown:
Huh?

Well, that was a one-shot. I'm thinking about doing another one in the future and I'd rather not screw it up this time :smallwink: