The following template is used as an example to help GMs prepare for a run. While completing an outline is not necessary for all GMs or runs, we at TD are always happy to look one over and provide feedback.
Run Title:
Your Name:
Threat Level(s):
What level of difficulty and opposition you expect the players to encounter. It is possible to have more than one threat level depending on player choices, or events that are likely to happen on the run. Though player actions do not necessarily increase the Threat level in relation to the rewards available.
Expected Game Time + Hard Time Limit:
An estimate on how long you expect the run to take. It can be very hard to judge run length before having a team, but it is okay to have shorter games, or even to split the run into a Part 2 instead of forcing things when everyone is tired.
Background
The details leading up to this job being created, including any events that have set the current stage. This does not need to be a long or overly detailed section, but it should give an idea of what is going on behind the scenes and why a team of shadowrunners is being hired for this, as opposed to more traditional solutions to problems. This is often a complicated question, but there are many possible answers.
The Job
Specifically, what are the runners being hired to accomplish? List off the target goals, failure conditions, and other other factors that are going to influence player strategy such as requests for discretion, non-lethality, or other additional requests.
Major Scenes
What will the runners be interacting with on this run? This can include a number of things, such as:
The Meet
- Often the best place to start for an average run, this scene likely includes the location of the meet, who the Johnson is and what their attitude is like, and the general difficulty of the negotiation in terms of dice pools. Feel free to include the range of points that runners may be able to negotiate here, such as how much pay they can get up front, potential bonuses, or job parameters can be negotiated to be less restrictive.
Location
- The actual site of the job itself, whether it is a facility, building, or neighborhood. You may have a few key locations, but it is good to have an idea of the general layout, security measures available, plot hooks and threads available to interact with, and any unforeseen dangers.
Events
- These are things that can happen during the run either in direct response to player actions, after a certain amount of time has passed, scheduled tasks for opfor, etc. These are fairly dynamic things, and may not necessarily happen compared to designated set pieces.
Characters
- If an NPC is central to a scene or part of the the job, it is good to make a note of them and any important information about them.
Things
- Anything that’s a big enough part of your run to warrant its own description. Anything that makes up a discrete “scene” within the run.
Important NPCs and OpFor
A simple section of notes regarding NPCs that haven't been outlined above, and at least a general description of what the opposition to the runners will look like and how skilled/dangerous they are.
Consequences
Bad things that might happen if the runners fail the job or are otherwise careless during certain parts of it. It’s okay to not always know what those might be even if you know they’re possible. Thematic Department is always happy to help, whether it’s before, during, or after the run based on what does or doesn’t happen.
Rewards
The stuff the players get. Try. Gear rewards are often welcome, but shoot TD a modmail so we can give approve them. Preferably, this is done before the run when possible.
Aftermath
This includes responses to events on the run that affect the world we all play in. Whether you intend to follow up on them or not, these are things that other GMs on the Hub can also interact with. Let us know how the world has changed because of this run happening. Or if nothing really changes, tell us why! Not every run makes waves. This doesn't have to be long or even more than a single sentence if there isn't anything notable. But even on simple runs, there are small things that can be interesting to consider.
Notes
Anything else you’d like the Thematics Division to know about or things you’d like to elaborate on for your run that don’t fit anywhere else.
