So I plan on running the game soon as I finish the book, I am working on a campaign as well. My players and my self have not played eclipse phase so I am reaching out to learn tips. This is my 3rd time running a game. I pretty much bought this book on a whim. Started to listen to some rppr Ap of the game and reading the book. I love it pretty much went out and bought the other expansions right away. It seems easy enough to get on a general level. But I still have some questions not even done with the book yet.
Muse stats I don't quite get on the char sheet
What should I avoid
What are ways to indicate to players to flight instead of fighting
punishing players to who decide to not snag the stack of mr/ms blah or retrieving their stack before mr/ms blah decides to snag their stack
what are issues you faced and how did you solve them.
Thank you for your time
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Running game soon looking for tips
Sat, 2012-06-02 21:04
#1
sneakygambit
Running game soon looking for tips
Sun, 2012-06-03 00:52
#2
Decivre
Re: Running game soon looking for tips
The muse is an assistant AI that every character gets for free. They are detailed on page 244, and basic muses are statted out on pages 331-332. A basic muse is statted as follows:
[list][*]Intuition 20
[*]All other aptitudes at 10
[*]Academics: Psychology 60
[*]Hardware: Electronics 30
[*]Infosec 30
[*]Interface 40
[*]Professional: Accounting 60
[*]Programming 20
[*]Research 30
[*]Perception 30
[*]3 Knowledge Skills of player's choice at 40
[*]One Language Skill of player's choice at 80[/list]
Try to plan in broad strokes, and do not plan a story that's too linear. A roleplaying session does not work like a book, and there's always a possibility that your players will do something you didn't think of. Don't stress it, just roll with the punches. You might want to create extra scenes for your game that may or may not get used... use them if plans change and you can't do what you originally intended.
Lastly, try to enjoy it. RPGs are games first and foremost, so the objective is always fun for the whole group. Even the GM is a player, so don't do it if you can't have fun with it. I got pushed into becoming the GM for my playgroup, but I made the best of it. You should too.
Oh yeah, take breaks but not too many. Too much off-time and you guys will get distracted and never finish. Too little off-time and the game becomes a chore. It's a balancing act, but one you'll get used to.
It's hard to. A gamer's instinct that comes from many action games is to always assume that every encounter can be beaten (I blame D&D for this most of all). That's a hard instinct to break. Luckily, Eclipse Phase is more forgiving than most other games thanks to cortical stacks and backups. If you're characters die, so be it... they can be restored. Eventually they'll learn that not every encounter should be a standing battle, but there's really nothing you can do to teach them that yourself. It'll have to be something they learn the hard way.
The corpses of my playgroup's first Shadowrun characters lay in testament to that.
Morality isn't something you should shove down your players throats. They'll want to portray their characters in their own way. Some characters will be bleeding hearts that care enough to collect every stack they find. Some will be hardened war veterans that simply see them as urns for lost souls. And if they fail to save a character that you wanted them to, then so be it... as I said before, you must be prepared for your players to do things that you don't expect, and you have to learn to roll with the punches.
The only time you might want to worry about your players is if they begin acting in detriment to the story or other characters. Your playgroup is portraying a team working for a conspiracy that is trying to protect the human race; if they are acting in strict defiance of this concept, or are trying to just screw with the game as a whole, then they are trying to ruin the fun for everyone. If that's the case, you might want to warn them, or even kick them out.
Some concepts in the setting are hard to fathom for players. I have plenty of players who still have a hard time with the idea that uplifts and AGI are just as intelligent as humans. Many players don't really understand how Lovecraftian horror is suppose to feel, and don't really understand why some things might be "unknowable". The hardest thing you'll ever face when entering a new setting is pre-conceived notions... because some people simply can't get past them.
You just have to take it in stride.
—
Transhumans will one day be the Luddites of the posthuman age.
[url=http://bit.ly/2p3wk7c]Help me get my gaming fix, if you want.[/url]
Sun, 2012-06-03 10:31
#3
Arenamontanus
Re: Running game soon looking for tips
The setting is fairly complex, so beginning players need a quick rundown of how the world looks so they can choose characters. It is sometimes helpful if the adventure starts out in a limited, "safe" environment and then zooms out.
In my beginner campaign I had the players encounter steadily more extreme aspects of the setting: at first they were resleeved from old backups, got an explanation of what the Fall was, got a mission, got killed nearly directly (!), were restored, got a chance to enhance their bodies, got to interact with the normal world on Mars, then they began to make their own plots, and are now well on the way to encounter both the hyperelite, the scum and the extropians.
Fight vs. flight: any character equipped with the common sense trait should be told when they ought to flee, including the explicit note that "this is your trait talking". It still rarely works.
Horror is hard to do.
—
Sun, 2012-06-03 13:18
#4
Geonis
Re: Running game soon looking for tips
As for the flight versus fight, be up front about it. Tell the players there isn't always an even fight. Remind them that their character think this would be a bad idea, give them hints till they get use to the system. The idea checks (Int*3 or Cog*3) work well here, or just straight up let them know through the narrative.
I try not to blindside a player with something their character would reasonably be aware of.
However, if they still feel going out in a blaze of glory (Or a soft whimper), let them. If they have fun, you are doing well.
Don't think as punishment, but consequences. If they leave someone alive, ego-wise, what would the person do to the people that just destroyed their property?
They might not do a thing (Just another morph, cost of business), they might sell information of the group to an interested party, or even go a more direct route (Undermining their rep scores, legal charges, etc.).
As for leaving one behind, what would they do with the ego, who got it. Maybe they will meet themselves at some point.
The character should be aware of these risks, even if the player is not.
Running a session with avid high-fantasy players, the hardest was getting use to the setting. I used the muse as a guide quite a bit when they didn't know what to do in that context.
Sun, 2012-06-03 14:44
#5
Tyrnis
Re: Running game soon looking for tips
A few things that spring to mind:
One of the key things that I recommend is sitting down with your players and discussing the type of story that you're interested in running and that they're interested in playing. You can do just about anything in Eclipse Phase, and Firewall and existential threats are only a fraction of it (even if they do tend to get the most focus in the books.)
Along with this, especially if you're not playing Firewall characters, do a combined character creation session -- sticking a bunch of random characters in the same place and expecting them to work together can be highly problematic in any game, and I'd say moreso than most in EP. Have them build characters that know each other and have good reasons to be working together. This also helps to make sure that you get characters who have a good range of capabilities.
If you and they are all new to EP, introduce things gradually. Pick a particular place that you like -- I tend toward Valles-New Shanghai or Noctis-Qianjiao, Mars, personally -- and start the game there. If you're doing a Gatecrashing game, design a small town near the gate that serves as a base of operations, perhaps. Pick a few key elements of the setting that you want to introduce, and gradually expand on that as the game goes on so neither you nor your players are overwhelmed.
Be aware and make your players aware that combat is very deadly. I'd recommend starting with a smaller scale combat first, maybe even a VR or AR game that simulates combat (particularly for Firewall, a danger room session could be quite appropriate.)
Sun, 2012-06-03 16:08
#6
Xagroth
Re: Running game soon looking for tips
I'd suggest to try small games before going into a full fledged campaign. If you are sure your players have not seen it, the basic adventures published here by Posthuman Studios are great examples of situations the players will find, and I suggest you to run a "presentation" of the game using the Quickstart Rules adventure (just remember that the rules are not current, so you might need to change things a bit in the character sheets). That way, both the players and you will see some first-hand workings of the system before chosing a role for the characters.
Now on the actual game, I suggest devoting an entire session to character creation. Even if Firewall is used as the glue for the group, they all need some sort of background, one that will not conflict too much with the group's cohesion. Also, first timers will find the process lengthly and in need of some imagination (those 300 points in knowledges, professions, and interests can go for a looooooong way), not to mention that I usually found a tripping stone in the "60's mark" (attribute + skill <= 60 implies 1 Creation Point per skill point, without paying for the attribute points, and after that it's 2 per point...), not to mention the "stupid AGI" syndrome, in which a player thinks an AGI is a moron like Wheatly from Portal 2 because of the "real world naïveté".
Personally, I think Valles-New Shanghai (see Sunward) is one of the best places to base a group, specially if you flesh it like I did with several groups hidden (with more or less success, or even intention) and some contacts.
The easier way to make a game, but one that requires you to be good at improvisation and rememoring, is to just give the players a rough draft of objectives and let them do whatever they want, being just reactionary to their actions. I plan, in fact, to do so for a 90 minutes introductory session in an upcoming event: the players are private eyes, and they need to solve a case. I will have some characters, some complications, and some locations, but essentially they will drive the game!
Mon, 2012-06-04 19:43
#7
DivineWrath
Re: Running game soon looking for tips
This is the kind of advice I tend to give new players/GMs. This is a copy & paste (with a few modifications) of what I've posted elsewhere.
Playable Characters - All players need characters that can be played -- they need to be functional and they need to be willing to get involved in the plot. A functional character is a character that has a reasonable ability to do whatever it is they need to do in a game (context does matter). For instance, a game where a lot of combat is involved, all characters should be at least competent (a rating of 40 or better) in combat skills. Likewise, the created characters should be willing to get involved in the plots that you, the GM, offer them. A bad character might be named Joe deskjob, and would likely find excuses as to why to not get involved such as "Its too dangerous." or "Its not my job". A good character would say "Thats not right. I should do something about that." or "Sounds fun.".
Functional Groups - A group of PCs should be made so that they get along. A group of characters who are more likely to stab each other than to work together isn't going to stay a group for very long. Also, I would like to point out that characters that are part of a group do well to specialize. A group of specialist (who hopefully haven't crippled themselves by specializing) enjoy greater success than a group of generalists. If 2 characters specialize in 2 different fields, but are willing to help each other, they enjoy the benefits as though they were specialists in both fields. Its rare for any group of specialists to be better off alone.
Tue, 2012-06-05 04:54
#8
Smokeskin
Re: Running game soon looking for tips
Lots of good advice here!
Keep the pace. Don't let the players spend endless amounts of time scouting, planning, searching the mesh, networking. Abstract it, use something like Leverage's flashback system, and have plans for getting the game back on track - if they get stuck, wander too far off track or it gets boring, maybe the antagonists carry out the next step in their plan or ambush the PCs.
Abstract. You don't deal with the PCs going to the bathroom. Don't deal with other boring stuff either. If doing something won't be relevant to the story, fun or challenging, just resolve it with a roll.
NPCs are people. Very few people are cool, efficient and rational like Jack Bauer. Most act based on principles, feelings and instinct. Have an idea of how they'll react to for example:
Innocent approach
Suspected/accused
Found out
Tempted
Threatened
Violence
Treated well
Criticized
Example reactions: Panic, defensive, lashing out, suspicious, withdrawal, shifting focus, violent, submissive, aggressive, cool, deadpan, constructive, manipulative, lying, denial, self-deceiving, weasel, bartering, three steps ahead.
This will make your NPCs believable.
Freeze, flight, fight. That's how people respond to pressure and danger, in that order and preference, unless trained to do otherwise.
Use NPCs to inject emotional content. There is very little emotional feedback between players and their PCs, but you can achieve an effect through the empathy channel. Don't just have them blow up the infected hab, have them make the decision and carry it out with a a parent present who faces the loss (including stack and backup) of children.
Go with the players' ideas. There's a balance to be struck so the game remains challenging, but generally it is much more fun to let them go with it and deal with whatever problems that arise (and by that I don't mean "kill them for doing something stupid").
What is the most interesting thing that could happen right now? The question you should ask yourself a lot.
Wed, 2012-06-20 07:30
#9
nezumi.hebereke
Re: Running game soon looking for tips
Be aware the system is designed with ROLE-PLAYING in mind. You can run it with hard-core number-crunchers, but be aware they will break the system in short-order. Be very careful about making sure all of your players are on the same page regarding play-style. Also, as GM, feel free to play fast-and-loose with the rules.
You say "you are supposed to run away from this bad guy. If you do not run away from him, you do not get any pizza."
I'm not aware of any other method that works reliably (same with the other way around, getting them to fight instead of flee).
Don't 'punish' players for believable IC actions. If they understand the world/the risks of their actions, play out those risks. (For new players, I give a lot more slack.)
Munchkins, as above. (I don't have any problems with munchkins; I'm a bit of a number-cruncher myself. But mixing breaks the game.)
Working with two other GMs, I have a list of resources I use for convention games. If they're any use to you, you're welcome to use them. Some links won't work because the other GM is still fine-tuning them and hasn't shared. Unfortunately I'm at work and can't test them. If you find any permit editing or any errors please tell me.
- Introduction to EP blurb https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w1eWISEepQ6AIcFXmykfXBUfoVcgmmmub3kA...
- Expanded sample character sheets (explaining all those traits and equipment if you're using the sample characters) for Synthmorphs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15Zxsk5D9-cRQKI7Ex4d2FezEzOuCbbuqp3D8...
and Biomorphs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x5H1IabC2qihRG7abo6gcjjllrcM1Lg0a5hH...
- Expanded mission notes for running Continuity
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gCUERBSHXbQnOu2AgigTuTMcYjNGYSSuyZ3v...
- EP Mechanics in brief:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=19SvClIBwgOet5A21OOjShvl4LDgKuU98eAb0Tyw...
Wed, 2012-06-20 10:20
#10
Mykaen
Re: Running game soon looking for tips
I started a campaign not all that long ago too, but I had the benefit of running a few scenarios at conventions under my belt.
I am one of the other GMs Nezumi mentioned. I wrote up the following two documents to help at the convention table.
EP Quick Rules
10 things you should know about Eclipse Phase
Since this is a campaign, I'd say throw the background from the quick rules at them. They are located here:
http://www.eclipsephase.com/qsr
If you should want to give them a trial run somewhere other than the quickstart module, I strongly suggest the module Continuity. It is a good sandbox. You can find it on drivethrurpg.com. Nezumi's notes will help with it.
Now onto the questions.
This is a hard one. You are trying to force characters into a decision. That *never* goes well.
If you want to persuade them, subtly start increasing the damage or the penalties. If they still don't get it after a few rounds you can give them idea checks (Cogx3) to realize how badly the odds are. If it still isn't working, kill one or two of them off (legitimately). If it still doesn't work, fade to black and have the characters wake up at a body bank.
Well, this is like retrieving a corpse. If someone died in a bad spot, their family will likely appreciate the remains. Your family would appreciate knowing what happens to you. You would appreciate knowing what happened to you.
Simplest way to show it... Start off a session with *lack* for all the characters. Let them know they have no clue what happened, but it is a month later and they wake up in new bodies. Give them clues as to where their bodies are. Remember to make sure they do trauma tests when they find them. Nothing hurts worse than seeing your own mangled corpse.
Well, the biggest one I have right now is that a player really decided to amp his character up for combat. He has 4 arms thus 4 railgun pistols, or two sniper rifles and enough wetware err implants to make it all work. It makes practically all combat encounters moot.
The other problem I am engaged in has nothing to do with EP. This is my first sci-fi and my first horror campaign. Making sci-fi and horror themed scenarios is not my forte. I am finding reading everything I can very helpful.