My name is J, but I also answer to Insomniac. This blog will soon be the home of all my Shadowrun stuff that I have scattered around the Net. Primarily a place to grab run notes, I plan on reviewing sourcebooks, posting fan fiction and perhaps even commenting on the game itself.
If you’re not familiar with Shadowrun (in the P&P RPG style, rather than the video games), it is a near-future, dystopian, cybernetic future game where fantasy elements have been re-introduced to the world causing an interesting blend of magic and machine. The storyline is in-depth and there are so many things going on at once that Game Masters should have no shortage of material. However, if you find yourself short on material, hopefully some of the future posts on this blog will help with that. 🙂
While I will occasionally pipe up like this, the bulk of my posts will likely be “in-character” as my grumpy, sleep-deprived sysop alter-ego, Insomniac. He runs a board in the Seattle Matrix where shadowrunners can look for work. He’s a no nonsense kind of guy, but he does welcome some discussion. So if you’d like to comment on run notes, feel free to do so in character and become part of the dialogue.
Well, I think that’s it for now. Hopefully, you’ll check back from time to time.
J.
>>Oi! Who’s grumpy? Anyways, I figured I’d step up and introduce myself. The handle’s Insomniac and I run my own little corner of ShadowSea. If you need work, I’m your guy…assuming legality ain’t a scruple you tend to have. If you think the shadows might be the place for you, then loiter for a bit and see what’s around. Who knows…maybe you’ll be the next best thing round here. Or maybe you’ll end up as the next red stain on the asphalt. Either way, these should be interestin’ times, omae. Perhaps I’ll see ya round.
>> Insomniac
“The shadows never sleep, so why should I?”
I’m a GM that doesn’t like to rest on his laurels. I’m constantly looking at ways to improve my games and be a stronger GM. One of the ways I’ve done that is taking a few tips from How to Be a Great GM. A great many of Guy’s videos look at things from a vastly D&D/Fantasy-centric point of view, but regardless of game genre, the lessons there are solid. Most of what I’ve taken from his channel has helped me to create better and more believable NPCs, rather than two-dimensional baddies who exist to absorb spells/bullets.
One of the many things Guy does, beyond putting his GMing lessons on screen, is that he also puts them in print. I picked up his “Complete Guide to Creating Epic Campaigns” and it has helped me to compartmentalize and develop each part of a campaign, and not leaving major plot points to chance. Giving my Nemesis and Villains motivations to do what they do, rather than be bad for badness sake. Most recently though, out of pure curiousity, I picked up his diceless RPG, Bounty Hunter.
The Game
The premise is pretty simple. You and your crew are a team of bounty hunters, out to pull off jobs of daring-do to bring people in dead or alive for credits. It has the feel of some Boba Fett/Din Djarin style action, with some Firefly frontier feel with technology I compare to The Expanse. As a sci-fi junkie, this hits pretty well with me. A little less pew pew and instead it is advanced sidearm, railgun-style accelerated slug, chasing your mark through citadel-type worlds or frontier fringe worlds that border on lawlessness. Don’t want to be a gunslinging bounty hunter? First of all, why not? Secondly, there are plenty of other roles you can fill. A down-on-his-luck medic? Maybe she’s an on-the-run hacker… take your pick. The system is classless and instead, your character is created by a culmination of their life experiences, from the alien species you were born as, to their education, to their life before bounty hunting.
If you are a GM that is looking for an in-depth setting and a universe draped in unique worlds for you to explore, this may not be the system for you. At a mere 43 pages, this book provides you the tools to run the game, but there is no real setting to speak of. A list of alien species are available, as well as some predesigned equipment for GMs to use, but there are no worlds laid out for use in advance. The impetus to populate the universe with worlds, bounties and organizations falls to the GM. So, if you are looking for a complete setting, this is not the game. However, if you’re looking for the skeleton to run a Mandolorian style campaign without that luck-driven element that dice provide, then this may fit the bill quite well.
Mechanics
Yes, you read that right. Playing an RPG without dice. What is the world coming to? It was the curiousity that pushed me to check out the book in the first place. How does a diceless system work? Well, this one uses an action economy. Every character has a pool of Action Points (AP) and whenever you do something, it spends AP. Hacking a terminal? Spend AP. Shooting the mark that’s running away? Drop some AP on them. Perform a Crazy Ivan and unload the torpedo bays? You bet that takes AP. However, stress and damage also consume your AP. Get knocked over a railing to take fall damage, get shot or wandering the surface of Hoth… all of these consume your precious AP. Learning when to spend your AP and leaving yourself enough to do what needs doing is the main focus here. Luck has been removed and replaced with an economy that is all too thin.
So, what happens when you run out of AP? You fall unconscious and if you get hit again, you’re one dead Bounty Hunter. So, how do you replenish AP? Rest, medicine and other restorative actions are the ticket. Medicine can give you a little bit of AP back, but a long rest can get you more. Can you afford to get a full night’s rest without the mark getting too far away? That’s up to you and weighing those choices will be the thing that allow you to take down the mark, have them slip away, or leave you adrift in the blackness of space.
The Book
With only 43 pages, the book is a relatively quick read, compared to most sourcebooks you’ll find. Unfortunately, there isn’t a print-on-demand option for the book, but the PDF is full colour, dotted with art, tips for both players and GMs and is well marked as to what you’ll find within. The layout is straightforward, explaining the mechanics in chapters noted by scenario (battle, healing, skills, etc) with the character building section at the back, so if you’ve read the book, the concepts behind character creation now make sense. Overall, the book is solid and easy to use.
Characters
As a mentioned earlier, characters are done in a step-by-step process, where you go through your character’s life and build up their amassed skills based on how they’ve lived. It feels like a hybrid of 7th Sea’s backgrounds and the Life Module character creation in Shadowrun. But it means that unless your characters lived the same life all the way along, they are going to have a unique mix of skills and abilities from other characters. Personally, I like the storied approach to character building, as it curbs the notion of maxxing out specific skills “because I wanna be the best sniper” and makes for well-rounded back stories that can be explored through play.
Final Thoughts
On paper, I really like the system. I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet, but I hope to get to take it for a spin one day to see how it feels to not have a story take a hard left due to an extremely poor die roll. The action economy of the game feels interesting and I definitely want to see how it works in a full game of Bounty Hunter. I know the lack of dice will put some people off (“You can have my click-clack rocks when you pull them from my cold, dead hands…”), but I’m curious how the strategic players would see their strategies play out without luck having a hand in them.
If this intrigues you, definitely check out GreatGamemaster.com for Guy’s other books, or watch some of his YouTube stuff… he has plenty of material out there at this point. Also, if sci-fi isn’t your thing, he will be crowdfunding Mage Hunter, the fantasy version of these rules later this year, so that’s a thing that’s on the way as well.
Look at me me all babbling… still, there are bounties out there, Hunter. Go and get them!
I’ve expanded my repertoire of games in the last couple years, getting a broader sense of the games out there and finding a system that mirrors my preferred style of play. Truth being what it is, I’m not sure I’ve found that perfect fit yet. As an improv-driven GM, I do find that narrative play is more my speed overall. Roll with the punches the players toss at me and try to tell a fun story.
All that being said, the reigning champion remains unchanged. Shadowrun, in any form or Edition, is still my all-time favourite RPG. I have been telling stories in the Shadowrun universe for over 20 years and still love the world and telling stories in that space. It is still the heaviest system I run and you know what? I’m OK with that. The world that is far-fetched and yet so relatable in our modern day lives, in a world where the capitalistic hellscape that our lives are in the midst of becoming (IMHO) has gone unchecked. Being heroes the only way one can… existing outside the system. The greyscale morality, the magic system I don’t hate and in later editions, the increased accessibility of the Matrix…
There are so many ways to solve any given problem in the world of Shadowrun and I love that. The number of times, I have planned a combat encounter only to have the players come up with some scheme to defuse, distract or outright deny enemies and slip through the net always impresses me. A well-coordinated team can come with some serious Ocean’s 11, Jason Bourne level schemes and I am here for it.
So, that shocks nobody, I’m sure, but what can I say? I know what I like.
I’ve played quite a few indie solo systems over the course of COVID. I played games like The Magus and The Adventurer that were fun journaling games and led to some interesting tales when I was looking for something to write. The one game that sticks out in my mind the most is a civilization/city building game called Ex Novo.
While the solo games are a departure from the usual format of being a team activity, Ex Novo can be played solo or multiplayer and doesn’t focus on the usual “hero doing heroic things” style play of RPGs, but instead, the group collaborates on the history of a city from its founding. Everything from how the city expands to meet its needs, the religions that form and which institutions hold the power over generations. Sometimes, the city meets its end, due to war, natural disaster or a catastrophe of their own design.
It’s a different take on the RPG genre and I appreciate providing something a little different. I wouldn’t mind trying Ex Novo again with more players, as I used it solo last time to develop the history of a lost and forgotten city in 7th Sea once. Not only did it yield some interesting results, but it provided context for the various ruins the Heroes came across. Yes, there is an old pyramid here, but with a successful Scholarship roll, you can find out that they were worshippers of Ix and used the abolished practice of human sacrifice. It was nice having those details hammered out in advance, as well as having fun developing that history.
So, while I play many games that some might deem obscure, that one is the one most outside the standard box, I feel. By all means, check it out. 🙂
This may feel like going over old ground, as I mentioned this particular encounter before, but I have to go with the finale of the last campaign I completed again. It flew in the face of everything I was expecting for the conclusion of the campaign, which is probably what made it so memorable.
A whole city was being magically mind controlled by the local branch president of Wuxing in Las Vegas and it was as a direct result of the runners’ actions. I expected them to realize what they had done and opt to put an end to the plot to control the city, but the team was evenly split. Mr. Johnson had been good to them this whole time, in terms of paying above standard, never double-crossing them and setting them up with some powerful players. Two characters, with a strong moral compass wanted nothing to do with this scheme, while the other two treasured the loyalty Mr. Johnson had showed and wanted to stick by the ‘devil you know’. After a lengthy debate on their course of action, the one runner agreed that Mr. Johnson should go, while Mr. Johnson’s other defender was still on the fence. Since this campaign was online, I received a PM from the player who switched sides and told me he aimed to double cross his teammates, as his character “couldn’t believe their disloyalty”.
I expected the double-cross to happen when Mr. Johnson was in physical danger, but instead the team had only just breached the building when the double-cross went down and the bullets started flying. It was chaos and at the end of it, two runners were down and despite their numbers being cut in half, they proceeded with the job (employing stealth so they didn’t get themselves killed). There was a big flashy showdown, Mr. Johnson being thrown from the penthouse and the spell being ended by destroying the building they had created.
It was flashy. It was over-the-top. It was unexpected. As the team that survived limped away and cut ties with each other, it was a somewhat somber ending to a great campaign. It was awesome. Being one of the very few campaigns that have actually run to completion, it makes me hope to see other campaigns reach a natural end for that same feeling of a story well-told.
Horror is a tricky one to get right. As a person who doesn’t enjoy jump scares and the like in my media (give me psychological horror and lingering dread…), it is not a genre I typically find myself drawn to. That being said, I’ve tried my hand at it several times over the years, with All Flesh Must Be Eaten, CthulhuTech and Ten Candles as systems I’ve tried my hands at. Even Shadowrun has provided some dark and terrifying scenarios over the years. Despite all of that, getting that sense of lingering dread at the table is damned near impossible. The reason for this…
My players.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my players and I wouldn’t have an ongoing game without them. However, my players know me pretty well at this point and suspending disbelief is not a thing that they do well. More often than not, I’ll have at least one player who introduces some kind of comic element to their character, to break up the tension, or what have you. But, that is all it takes to break immersion and turn a supposed horror game into something comical rather than the immersive experience that horror fans might want from their TTRPG.
That being said, my scariest session was probably a game of Ten Candles I ran up at the family cottage with a small group of players. It was dark, the setting was properly moody and the players were able to stay in character for the entire session. It helped set the tone and with only a couple of breaks in character, it help keep the feeling of encroaching darkness very real.
Some day, I will have the opportunity to play in a horror game where the theme keeps everyone riveted and wanting to discover what lurks around that next darkened corner. I’d love to learn from someone who can keep people trapped in that place of despair and fading hope. I think it would push my emotive storytelling into a new level.
This is a tough one. So many of the games I play on the regular are in the midst of reinventions of themselves. Shadowrun Sixth Edition is still putting out the core supplements. 7th Sea’s Second Edition is still putting out regional supplements to flesh out the world in new ways. So, we’re on the outskirts… looking for new flavours for games that I’ve had chance encounters with, or games I haven’t run near as much.
The oldest game in my repertoire is All Flesh Must Be Eaten. Perhaps a new version of the rules for this zombie classic is in order. It’s hard to say… it is a little bit niche. It’s one I struggle to get to the table, due to the zombie apocalypse being a hard sell for many of my regular players. A fresh take, with a leaner system could be a good thing to make this bleak survival trope take on new life, so to speak.
I really need to try to the latest take on Deadlands… I haven’t tried the Savage Worlds system (shocking, I realize), but I played the original Deadlands and had a great time exploring the Weird West. I’ve heard mixed reviews about the setting being converted over to a universal type system, that it lost some of the old flavour of the game. That would be tragic if true, but I reserve judgement until I try it for myself. Though if I find it to be true, I’d like seeing something like the system for Malifaux or something be adopted to Deadlands… I think that could be a fun marriage of setting and mechanics.
I’d also like trying something new and exciting in the spy genre. I’m a sucker for a good heist and some espionage, but the last game I tried in that area was Spycraft and I found it to be a bit wanting. If anyone knows of a system that lends itself to spies and international espionage… somewhere between Bond/Bourne and Blades in the Dark, where there is plenty of room for over-the-top spy gadgets and overly convoluted plots with some dark and gritty real world consequences, let me know.
Anyways, there are a few ideas out there that’d make for great new games in my book. Do with it as you will.
There is definitely something to be said for a well-designed character sheet. Having all the information you need at a glance when you’re playing is super-handy and a godsend when playing a game. It is a very fine line to tread. To add more information, reduces readability and making a stylistic character sheet often leaves gaps in the information that you, as a player, will refer to time and time again.
Out of the sheets I use the most regularly, I think I have to give the title of favourite character sheet to 7th Sea. It’s not perfect, but it holds a ton of relevant detail on it, but it is also clean and easy to follow. The most relevant details for regular play is right down the middle of the sheet (Traits –> Skills –> Health). Your character data is on the left and insight on your character’s abilities on the right. Simple and clean. There’s plenty of white space to record the details of your advantages and since the sheet is one page, there isn’t the constant flipping back and forth to find what you’re looking for. Extra details, like dueling maneuvers or sorcery can be written on the back in a method that makes sense to the player.
Blades in the Dark has solid character sheets as well, in much the same vane as 7th Sea, but I prefer the style of the 7th Sea sheet overall. Ultimately, it boils down to personal preference, I suppose. In all the years I’ve been GMing, I’ve watched players scramble to find a relevant stat for Shadowrun, or require extra pages to contain all the details of their character. It almost never happens in 7th Sea because the sheet is easy to follow.
A good sheet makes it easy for players to not get lost in the minutiae… and 7th Sea is a good example of that.
This one is relatively straightforward for me, despite having a pile of unplayed systems on my computer, in the form of PDFs I snagged out of pure curiousity. Each of those pdf indie system grabs were all discovered during game bundles and the like. But there’s one that comes to my mind out of the anticipation and the cost of it.
I backed the Kickstarter of an interesting sounding setting, in the form of the game Monsterpunk. It was a post-apocalyptic game, where some undisclosed world-ending event gave rise to monsters of myth and legend and humans were very suddenly not at the top of the food chain. Sentient life gives off a life force that has been branded Orgone and monsters thrive on the stuff. So humans are hunted and consumed, or for the forward-thinking monsters, farmed to be fed off of again and again.
In order to survive in the wastelands of what used to be human society, humans took an unforeseen shortcut. They made a deal with a monster… maybe they were alone, maybe the monster was about to be defeated, but the human offered them a proposal. The monster could merge their life force with the human. The human gains the monster’s powers and the monster gets a steady flow of Orgone for the rest of their lives. The pact is unbreakable and the two now coexist as a single entity. Some become fusions of the two, while others can split apart and fight as a pair. The pact makes the human immortal and powerful, but it takes a toll on their psyche and over time, they devolve to become a monster themselves.
Sounds pretty neat, right? Well, my players didn’t really think so. The character creation system can be a bit finicky and the system requires a lot of the GM (aside from broad strokes, there isn’t a lot of lore about the state of the world). After sitting down to make characters one night and doing a sample combat, I got the usual “I’d rather play Shadowrun” line and the game never got off the ground. So yeah, I’d like to get Monsterpunk to a table at some point.
Make some hybrid monster mayhem! Just need to find some like minded players.
While I feel I’ve gone over this ground before with some of the other RPGaDay posts, I’ll lay it out here again because there’s not a lot of variety in my responses in this category.
For simplest game, I’d have to give it to Blades in the Dark or Ten Candles. Ten Candles is the simplest and most entertaining one-shot systems I’ve ever played. The Forged in the Dark system is simple and elegant and lends itself well to short campaigns, with a focus on get-to-the-point action and constructive use of downtime between heists.
Anyone who knows the games I play knows that for the most complex system, I have to award that one to Shadowrun. While the last couple of Editions have taken steps to simplify things, especially when it pertains to the Matrix, it is still far-and-away more complicated than any other system I run. Don’t get me wrong, I love the game a lot. Between character creation taking hours to complete and an extensive set of rules covering all sorts of dynamic scenarios (I’m looking at you explosive rules), there is a significant barrier to entry. Sixth Edition has done a lot to trim the fat of 5th Edition (going from over 60 skills to 20, as an example), but the new Edge system, for veterans of the game, is a barrier to entry. As time has passed, I’ve learned to appreciate the action economy of the new Edge system. It is a different vibe than previous Editions, for sure, but I appreciate the strengths of both 5th and 6th at this point.
No surprises here, I’m sure. But I feel that as the GM, my role is to make the system as invisible as possible for new players, so people can simply sit back and enjoy. It’s how I’ve consistently had a Shadowrun game for over 20 years… well, that and a cool-as-hell setting… 😉
I suppose this one kind of boils down to personal preference. For me, the coolest books I have are probably the 7th Sea books. They’re great hardcover books, with fantastic art and I like the added touch that when the books are placed on the shelf, there is an image on the spine of the books that form a complete image when you have the full set (still working on mine).
As for a favourite product, I have to go back to the game that I wish I owned… Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok. I love the rune stone mechanic and how arranging the runes unlocks different potential as you play. It’s such a thematic and cool alternative to rolling dice.
I don’t have any extra cool dice of my own or anything of the sort, but out of the not-directly-related-to-the-game stuff I have, I think my favourite products that I actually own would be the Shadowrun and 7th Sea Tarot Decks. They are filled with cool and thematic art and while they aren’t used for the game in all cases, there are ways to employ them in the game (in 7th Sea they can be used as alternatives to dice and altering the fates during a scene. In Shadowrun, the Tarot tradition in 5th Ed can use the deck to summon spirits), so they aren’t totally superfluous.
So, there are some great extras out there and I only have a couple of them, but they certainly make for some cool show and tell pieces.
The Data Haven 