Originally shared by Craig D
Last week I ran the second of my Monthly OneShots at the fantastic Sugar & Dice gaming cafe here in Liverpool. System of the month: The Sprawl. Unlike the first month where I had run a well polished adventure for the Firefly RPG this was my first time…
http://lunarshadowrpg.wordpress.com/2018/09/30/monthly-oneshot-reflections-the-sprawl/
Yeah, running a one shot is hard, especially in a new system with new players.
When I ran a one-shot of The Sprawl for a group here a few months back I did exactly what you did: I showed up with established Corps. I used the four megacorps from the Android: Netrunner setting and made a custom Corp sheet that briefly explained them in a few bullet points. I still did Links though, advancing the Corp clocks as the players described past missions.
For Legwork, don’t sweat it. Sometimes the PCs do a lot of legwork, other times they go in practically blind. There is no “correct” amount of legwork the PCs have to do. While I do try to keep them brief, especially if we’re playing with a time limit, I run as many legwork scenes as the players want. Once they’ve formed a plan, I ask “So, are we moving onto the Action Phase then?” and then either switch over to the mission or keep doing legwork based on the answer I get.
For the Action Clock, I basically advance it every time I make a hard move. From the book:
“When a character misses and the MC has a chance to make a mission move that represents the increasing awareness and alertness of the target (moves like raise the alarm, seal the complex, or call for backup), she will advance the clock. If the Action Clock reaches 0000, the mission has failed and the players have to bug out.”
When a player rolls a miss during the Action Phase, if I would make a hard move, I also advance the action clock. I’m a fan of the characters and am rooting for them, sure, but they’re going up against competent competition, and I have to play that honestly, even if it means someone gets killed.
Not advancing the action clock but waiting for the players to decide when the mission is a bust seems like a bad idea to me. The characters are competent operatives and would know when shit is too hot to continue the mission, and that’s what the action clock hitting 1200 represents. The players also get to describe what happens to their characters; escape, death, or capture.