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So we have announced our next campaign. We are playing in Shadowrun 5e, a system most of us are only vaguely familiar with (one has no clue). We debated over a title, but everyone seems to believe I am the one who should ultimately decide. I’m staring at the books without any clue as to what kind of story to tell and thinking to myself, “What did I get into?!”
Character backgrounds are a life-saver! With only two of my players’ backgrounds submitted, I have been able to at least formulate a title for the campaign. (No, you’ll hear it when everyone else does.) I have talked through another’s background, and am patiently waiting for the fourth player to get on board. He doesn’t have long though, we play another session soon to test out our changes from the first time. I’ve read through so much of the books that information has begun to swim about in my head. I do have a better grasp at some of the bad guy stats, and how they work. Fingers crossed it comes out in the game. The exciting part of this session (0.2?) is that the players will be using the characters they will bring into the stream. Sure, there may be some further minor adjustments, but for the most part, they’re done. It will not be long now. In a few weeks, 6 at most, and we’ll be jumping into a whole new adventure, in a new era. Here’s to post apocalyptic vibes in a postmodern sixth world of Seattle! Alright, you’ve read this far, so I’ll throw you the bone. You read it here first, the title of the next campaign is: Dark Allies: Shadows of Honor
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You arrive at the table and sit down to play with an eclectic group of people. Sure, some definitely do not align with your style, and maybe you’d never approach them in the hall, but now you have to work together. There may be differing opinions, style of play, even friend groups, but remember they are here to enjoy this game as much as you…common ground already.
Hot topics are some of the main things I try to keep away from the table (especially of the political variety). We don’t sit down to discuss what is going on in the world around us, we are here to escape it for a while. Remembering this alone, will negate a lot of unease and tension between others. We are playing make believe without running around in the yard with the neighbors. (Pausing for nostalgia.) I do this every time I run a game at a convention. These simple one-shots could have anyone sitting down at my table. It can be challenging to run a game not knowing what may cause someone else to feel uncomfortable. As a GM, it is up to me to read the body language of these strangers without any kind of base comparison, then adjust on the fly to accommodate for the release of tension. When I am able to do this, everyone wins!! Playing with strangers is just as rewarding. You can do the same thing as a player as well. Read your party members and aid in directing the party through the tense parts of encounters. Be the protector, the jokester, the care-free one, or even the careless one that the rest have to now rescue. All of these types of characters can redirect the one feeling uncomfortable to worry about something else entirely. I love my home game with close friends and family, but playing with strangers has allowed me to learn more about myself. I think this is fantastic! I’ve met some really great people simply by opening myself up to strangers. I skipped an entire month of GM Corners. My fans must be missing me!
*Looks into the void and hears crickets.* I was busy, okay! A trip to Ohio for a visit, trip to Kentucky, two cons, trip home, family in town for a week, day job stuff…they’re only excuses, but I think they're good ones. The stream took a few weeks off too. Life sometimes happens, besides, it was game related. Taking time off of gaming can be refreshing, this was not. I was still gaming at the cons and loving every minute of it. Tried out a homebrew one-shot for the first time and discovered I needed to tweak some things. The biggest of which is the gathering of information. I wanted the players to ask around and persuade people to share their knowledge of the creatures they were about to face. Instead, I just casually had a player roll a check and gave them most of it. Granted, we were on a time crunch and that’s a great way to shorten the game. Most people who sit down at my table during a convention usually are looking to experience snippets of the game. I have a little interaction with NPCs, some exploration to find the bad guys, a simple-ish battle, then a conclusion. Sometimes I have to cut things short because I have an end time that I need to meet. Less often, the players go through things so quickly a secondary battle and/or location must be added. Being familiar with the system makes adjusting things on-the-fly much easier. If you sat with me at a table, let me know. Leave a comment under this little blog. Also, feel free to send me questions of things that you’d like to hear me rant about…I mean talk about. I have covered quite a bit so far, but I’ll gladly revisit a topic or perhaps you’ll give me an idea about something new. |
AuthorJodie 
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October 2025
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