#03 : A story

Hi Eduardo (and readers)

To be honest I have been lazy, trying to compile the skeleton of rules to support our preliminary idea. We have discussed so much, and I have written so little. Today it won’t be the exception. Or maybe it will… sort of.

Before talking about rules, I want to tell you a particular anecdote. This story is an example of progression and pacing in a story (as a game session) and how the players can change it without acting through the characters or changing the rules. With any luck we, and our readers, can distill something valuable for our games. It’s from a traditional session of Shadowrun. Let’s talk about the game first. 

In short, Shadowrun is game about man, machine and magic in a dystopian retro-future (retro, for our 2016 standards). Is about a gang of free spirit mercenaries oppressed by mega-corporations and magical entities beyond their comprehension. Always a minute too late and always a Nuyen too short.

In my view, the best stories are not those perfect “runs” (missions). The great adventures, usually involve a master plan that goes south at some point: an unexpected turn in the middle of the mission, something that throws your plans out of the window and forces you to improvise. There are plenty of these examples in the Shadowrun franchise, like Shadowrun Returns (video game) or Crossfire (card game). 

With the previous paragraph in mind, let’s talk about this particular story, shall we? 

Our last session of Shadowrun, our third musketeer (a die hard Shadowrun fan) directed SR 5th edition. On this occasion we started with new characters, with no more than 4 hours to play. At the beginning of the story, our Friend and GM expect us to plan the run: get to the company we wanted to enter, try to figure out guard shifts, equipment, contacts, rumors, etc. 

Eduardo and I didn’t feel like wasting our time thinking of an amazing plan as players, so we decided the run should go south for unforeseeable reasons for our characters, as the GM wished and where he wished. Maybe we were betrayed by the Mr. Johnson (the one who gives the mission), maybe it was a bad Intel, a vendetta, an encounter with another team of Shadowruners, etc. It didn’t matter the reason. We wanted to play in a scenario where the characters were in a tough spot, as the setting has shown us it’s the way the best adventures always go.

Our GM was conflicted at the beginning. Probably, because he wanted that we us to try to outsmart the basic barrier (“make a plan: how can you enter an impossibly secured place?”) . He wanted to see us try. But really trying. Because when the players try to overcome an obstacle, the characters come to life, don’t they?

Were we being lazy? No. The point is we didn’t want to succeed in the traditional sense. We didn’t want a milk run (or easy mission), or truly outsmart the GM adventure. For us, the really interesting bit of the adventures was that our plan must fail and we must be in danger. Once in danger, we have many difficult choices to make: try to run for our lives or accomplish the mission at great cost. In the end, we wanted to be caught because it gives to the characters and players a sense of danger, excitement and adventure.

Shadowrun always punches you when you don't expect it. For us, the setting means that things are always more dangerous that what they seem. So, if disaster is inevitable for the characters, and desired by the players… why leave it to a chance of dice? Why prepare a break-in when, as a player, we expect to be caught somehow? And, equally important, why wait for it?

After a few minutes of discussion, we unanimous skipped a whole third of the adventure and jumped right into the action. And Let me tell you, it was the best adventure of Shadowrun I have ever played. The story and the characters were solid and we played the whole adventure in less than 4 hours. A truly flawless diamond.

Did we lose interest in the game because we controlled a situation as players? No! On the contrary: taking a decision, but not being in charge of the outcome, was like unleashing an event you have no control over. Like the genie in the bottle: is in our power to release it, but you cannot put it back. Not being in full control of the outcome was refreshing.

Now, Eduardo (and readers), keep this in mind: the fact that players control certain elements of the game beyond the characters and in par with GM is nothing new, by any stretch of imagination. So, what’s new about this?

Well, we never controlled the story; it wasn’t enforced by any mechanic in the game (we didn't pay any Fate points nor receive more XP). We didn’t gain anything inside the game for putting our characters in danger. We didn’t change the Game Mechanics (spellcasting and hacking are still a pain in the ass in this game!). The concrete effect was, we added speed to the game by reinforcing the core concept of the game. We just lived a great story by changing the classical structure and leaving the core mechanics untouched. 

Taking in consideration this post, I strongly recommend you to try this, neither for XP nor Metagame-Points, but just for fun. To enforce the feeling of the setting: always a minute too late, always a Nuyen too short. Outgunned, outsmarted, but free.

I would love to see this in our next concoction.