The Vault of the Graveyard?

By David “Lightfinger” West

Stuck? Read the Paper

Let me start out this column by saying this is NOT Digger. This is David West, a.k.a. Lightfinger. Who am I, you ask, and what did I do with Digger? Well, for one, I am Digger’s gamemaster on Friday and Saturday nights. Also, I am a good friend and aide-de-camp. The Diggster has been rather harried by that dreaded thing known as a life this week, so as he planned, I stepped in to help.

The topic this week relates to another part of the Graveyard, the Plot of the Week. Many gamemasters out there have ran into a point in their campaigns where ideas just are not flowing. You know these times, when you have to develop a plot for the next adventure, but nothing comes to mind.

Digger developed the Plot of the Week for such tight spots, but with players and gamemasters reading these articles, sometimes using the plots there are just not practical. Now what? Read the newspaper.

Before you go get the rope to lynch me, hear me out on this. The newspaper can be an excellent source of ideas for runs. Two tricks are involved, however, in doing this. One, choosing the right story and two, changing the story to fit the Shadowrun Universe.

You might think the first is easy, but it really is not. Many, when I bring this up, assume all you need to do is look at a headline and you can go. Doing this leaves out potential twists and angles which make the run less cardboard and more fun. Also, it does not mean to look only at the front page of each section. More interesting, and able to adapt, stories can be found in the middle of the paper. These stories have an added advantage—chances are your players have not heard of them. That is an advantage, as your players will have a harder time deciphering the plot.

For example: most people can see through making a run based on a high up executive getting caught with a woman not his wife in a hotel room. I just described Bill Clinton vs. Paula Jones. Now, if your plot is a third party trying to disrupt a merger between two pharmaceutical corporations, not many would realize you got the idea from seeing an article about American Home Products and SmithKline Beacham trying to merge and running into problems.

In the preceding example, you also see another piece of the puzzle: seeing things in the paper as Shadowrun. In many cases, it is easy to do. Corporations are always in the news getting in trouble for one thing or another. Such is a major part of Shadowrun. How about seeing a story on a riot at a soccer game? This one takes a little more thinking and knowledge about Shadowrun’s timeline. Knowing Urban Brawl is the big sport is one thing, but realizing the fans watch the action via trid only is another. So, taking our riot story, how could a riot take place at an Urban Brawl game? Well, the trids going out at a crucial moment would do so easily. Now, enter the gamemaster—are the runners hired to take out the trid broadcast, or are they hired after the fact, to find out who did it?

Using techniques like this are not hard, just takes a little thinking. Here is the challenge, though—try this technique a couple of times, jotting down notes. Then, take a story which is comedic, silly, or fluff and try the same techniques and make it a Shadowrun. Instead of a normal paper, go to the Weekly World News instead. Sometimes, silly stories can develop into memorable Shadowruns.

So, get out there and read the newspaper when you are stuck for ideas. Your players will thank you in the end.