GM Primer

= Run Proposal =
 * Run Submission Format
 * Job Board Details
 * Title:
 * Content Flags:
 * Scheduled Time and Day in UTC:
 * Objective Type:
 * Parameter Tags:
 * Recruitment Type:
 * Player Facing Plan:
 * Parties and Places Involved:
 * Threat Approximation:
 * Reward Offer:
 * Spoiler Details
 * Bonus Reward Offers:
 * GM facing plan for game:
 * Stat Block Listings:
 * Run Submission Format Explainer
 * Job Board Details (These details should be posted in the job board when you announce the job)
 * Title: Most any title can go here, excessively lewd or gross titles may be changed
 * Content Flags: Please take a serious look at your run and decide if any of the content touches on subjects that should not be raised without prior warning. Players should be able to know if your run will be too uncomfortable for them to enjoy by checking this. You do not need to flag for violence or adventure-horror like zombies.
 * Scheduled Time and Day in UTC: Make sure you are available for at least four hours after this time (longer if you think this game is longer than 4 hours). If you do not have a time available at the time of submission, please enter Pre-Approval here. If it's a text run, include the maximum length you are willing to run it for. For both options, include how many sessions you plan to take AND how many you are willing to take (text games count 1 week of activity as a session, although you are not obligated to refresh the team's Edge every week).
 * Objective Type: This should be a clear archetype (the defaults are Wetwork, Theft, Sabotage, and Extraction)
 * Parameter Tags: No Witnesses, No Casualties, Travel, Long Game, etc. Any conditions layered on top of the basic objective or that significantly complicate the objective should be here. You do not need to tag for Astral / Physical / Matrix security forces, bodyguards, or traps.
 * Recruitment Type: Specify if this game is Opportunity, Pre-Assigned, or a mix of the two.
 * Player Facing Plan: A short summary of Mr. Johnson's pitch, for players to use to assess what their characters might be able to contribute.
 * Parties and Places Involved: All parties and locations that are involved in the mission. If this mission is against a particular party, that should be noted here.
 * Threat Approximation: An estimate of the quality and quantity of opposition to be worked around, at minimum. It does not need to specify opposition types (though you can do so if you would like to)
 * Reward Offer: The starting nuyen and karma offer for the run. If part of the reward is planned to be a contact, that should be mentioned here.
 * Spoiler Details: This section is specifically for the Head GM to review the balance, setting integrity, and viability of the game plan
 * Bonus Reward Offers: Any bonus reward amounts and the conditions necessary to receive them. Alternate rewards should also be listed here.
 * GM facing plan for game: This should cover your intended introduction, the exact parameters of the objectives, and what you expect the runners to do, at minimum. Your plans for how the security / opposition will work go in this.
 * Stat Block Listings: The minimum standard here is that opposition counts and dice pools for the run in general should be determinable by reading these listings. It is recommended that you use a shorthand to save space, but not mandatory.
 * Run Submission Example
 * Job Board Details
 * Title: Shadowrun
 * Scheduled Time and Day in UTC: Monday, 01:00 UTC (If you do not have a scheduled time at the time of submission, enter Pre-Approval here)
 * Objective Type: Extraction
 * Parameter Tags: No Witnesses
 * Recruitment Type: Opportunity
 * Player Facing Plan: "I need a team of runners to sneak into the Bellevue Hilton and bring me Vlad without raising an alarm.
 * Parties and Places Involved: Vladimir Tokarev, the Vory | Lone Star Security | Hilton in Bellevue | The Rat's Nest, Redmond
 * Threat Approximation: 24-40 R5 Security Guards, a few Security Contractors at 20 dice
 * Reward Offer: 36000 nuyen and 10 karma per runner
 * Spoiler Details
 * Bonus Reward Offers: 4000 nuyen per runner if the team can delay the extraction's discovery for twenty four hours
 * GM facing plan for game: From the meet in a Touristville pub, the team's simplest routes for legwork are to attempt to hack into key Vory communications or to schmooze Hilton staff. A technical approach will encounter reinforced security devices and structures, while a confidence approach will need to overcome a few biometric and personal verification steps. An assault is not recommended, as the Hilton is in a very high rating zone and is usually home to the security teams of multiple dignitaries at a time. Vlad is a sensible sort; if his security fails him completely, he is more likely to try to find out what kind of situation he will be entering than to try to fight his way out.
 * Stat Block Listings: 8x R5 Guards per floor, 4 R6 Contractors with 3 F6 Bound spirits. Building Security Rating 5 (maglocks & full spectrum cameras, biometrics on suite security), Structure 8, Armor 14.

= Running a Game =

Basics

 * 1) A GM should prepare for the game by checking over each player's character sheet for information relevant to the game, like overdue debt or other qualities that will affect the run.
 * 2) The session should begin with an introduction if any players have not seen runners on the team before.
 * 3) These are the basic 'phases' of the run
 * 4) The Meet: This is when all runners make sure they have a way to be present at the meet and for the job, as well as when the runners grill Mr. Johnson for details and pay while he makes sure they don't learn anything they shouldn't know.
 * 5) Legwork: The runners should find a good place to do their planning and reconnaissance; this stage requires a mix of sandboxing and reminders to stay on track. Keep track of how much time the runners have and what they want to use it on. Know what information can be searched, found by casing a location or shaking down relevant NPCs so you can keep the game flowing.
 * 6) The Job: This is the most mission-dependent segment of the game, which the GM presumably has a clear plan for. Remember that the job does not change based on the composition of the team; it's sink-or-swim out there. That said, if a team seems like they might have a bit of a rough time of it, the GM is in control of the tactical and strategic minds on the opposition, and it's alright to let some incompetence relieve the pressure.
 * 7) The Hand-Off: This is the part the runners care most about. Occasionally they'll have hot merchandise to unload, and they'll always be looking to get paid. Remember that Mr. Johnson is not loyal to the runners; his priority is the mission objective, then money. He'll have a plan for if the runners do anything fishy, and sometimes he'll be initiating the fishiness. Remember that a perfect betrayal really sucks, so make sure it's a challenge, not a wipe-out.
 * Detail Notes
 * Edge: This resource goes both ways. The Professional Rating of your goon squads indicates how much Edge the team has access to as a group, don't be afraid to dip into it. However, you should not be giving individual mooks or NPCs that aren't major or designated threats their own Edge, it gets weird. As a general rule, keep to having one Edge pool for an entire run, and follow the same rules the players do on using it (definitely do NOT decide to Second Chance a roll after you see the players roll high against it).

=Run Rewards= Every run has a reward value in XP attached to it, calculated by adding the total karma to the nuyen reward divided by 3000, rounded up (eg.: a 18,000 nuyen and 7 karma run would be worth 7+18k/3k = 7+6 = 13 XP). All run rewards are calculated using the RAW method, found on page of the SR5 CRB or on this link: Shadowrun Rewards Calculator by Emerald Productions. All runs must be approved by the Head GM or a member of Admin.

We do NOT use the following options:
 * Good feels/Cold-hearted bastard.

To allow more options, we allow GMs to choose appropriate rewards for the players: allowing them to give any combination of gear, contacts, nuyen and karma up to the value of the run. The GM is also allowed to give at most 5 XP as bonuses for optional objectives; this gets added to the max value of the run, but should always be for optional/conditional objectives that can be skipped or failed - no just giving players rewards for the sake of it.

In the case where a non-cash/karma reward (a piece of gear or a new contact) exceeds the max value of a run (eg.: a run worth 15 karma giving a contact worth 30), the GM is allowed to make a series of runs where each run pays for the value of the contact or gear piece bit by bit. Series of runs are made with the same team, and lock the character to that series for its duration.

See below for how to calculate the rewards of any given run.

Cash/Karma Rewards
The simplest conversion. Every point of XP is worth either 3000 nuyen or 1 karma.

Gear Rewards
GM Selected Gear rewards are separated into three categories: Specific Item rewards, Item Category rewards and Any Item rewards. All of these allow a player to skip the availability roll, and sometimes the arrival time, of the item entirely. When calculating, always round up after all multipliers have been applied.

Specific Items are chosen by the GM at the run approval time; it is also possible to apply this to items looted during the run. These can be of niche use (60 bullets of silvered ammo, just in case you fight a vampire) or broad use (an Ares Alpha, just in case you need something not alive).

Item Category is a choice of an item that falls in one of the many gear categories (electronics, firearms, melee weapons, drones, cars, etc), limited by a specified availability, set by the GM at approval time.

Any Items is a choice of any item in the game, also limited by a specified availability, set by the GM at approval time.

To calculate the value of the gear, use these:
 * Specific Items
 * Broad Usage: Nuyen cost/3000 * 2/3 * Availability/9
 * Niche Usage: Nuyen cost/3000 * 1/3 * Availability/9
 * Item Category: Nuyen cost/3000 * Availability/9
 * Any Items: Nuyen cost / 3000 * Availability/6

''* Reminder: Foci value only counts their nuyen value. The karma to bind the focus must still be paid by the runner.''

Player Requested Gear Rewards

 * 1) Gear Payout (Instant): run should be worth the entire XP value of the desired gear.
 * 2) Gear Payout (Installment Plan): Installment Plan Series are games that store XP toward a specific objective that will be awarded on successful completion of the series. These games take a penalty to their XP value (25%, rounded down) in order to store this XP. Stored XP accumulated in the Series overall until it can be added to the last game as a 'free' bonus reward. Individual games in the Series can, but do not need to commit all of their XP to the stored XP, instead offering token rewards including contact effects.

Contact Rewards
Contact rewards are separated into two categories: Planned (when the GM is the one that decides they want to give out a contact as part of a run and the players have no input) and Requested (when the player requests a run to gain a new contact). To calculate the XP value of any given contact, you must add the sum of the Connection rating (eg.: C4 contact = 1+2+3+4 karma = 10 karma) to the sum of the Loyalty rating (eg.: L2 contact = 1+2 karma = 3 karma); this value is then modified to gain the final value.


 * Planned
 * C1 to C5: Contact value * 1/3
 * C6 to C12: Contact value * 2/3
 * Requested: Contact value

Example Run Reward
A GM decides to make a run where the plan on giving the players a C6/L2 contact that works in the Grey Brothers Auction House, they would also like to give every player a piece of Grey Mana 6 integrated Full Body Armor.

They design a run where the players must steal back a truck of Grey Mana that a certain megacorpo stole while in transit. The GM calculated the total run value using the following settings:


 * Highest Dicepool: 21
 * Outnumbered 2:1 in combat by NPCs with Professional Rating 4+
 * Runners encountered at least three different spirits (besides watchers) in a single combat
 * Character survived
 * All Objectives Complete

The total value is 21,000 nuyen and 7 karma. Converted to XP, it comes to 14 XP.

The C6/L2 is a planned C6+ contact, which makes them worth 16 XP. The Grey Mana Integrated FBA is worth 20,500 nuyen and is of Avail 20F; it is a broadly useful specific item, thus, it is worth 11 XP.

This run is barely enough to win the FBA, so the GM decides to separate it into three runs, each worth 14 XP.


 * During the first run, the runners are tasked with taking back the cargo and are given the FBA and 3 karma. Optionally, they may gain 3 extra karma if they do this run without killing anyone.
 * During the second run, the runners must deliver this cargo they stole to the other auction house in the Salish-Shidhe Council while being targeted by the previous corporation and are given 9,000 nuyen (3 XP) and 3 karma for their efforts and the other 8 XP is spent to pay a portion of the contact's cost. Optionally, they may gain an extra 3 karma if they do this while completely eluding their pursuers, despite their best efforts.
 * Finally, during the third run, the runners must protect an auction house from a raid and are given 9,000 nuyen (2 XP) and 3 karma for their troubles and the contact at C6/L2. Optionally, if there are no casualties on the side of the auction house, they may gain an additional 3 karma.

The final rewards were three runs that collectively awarded: 18,000 Nuyen, 9 karma (and extra 3-9 for optional objectives), a set of Grey Mana Integrated Rating 6 Full Body Armour worth 20,500 nuyen, a C6/L2 Contact worth 24 karma.

=GM Server Works Rewards= Mirror of Server Works.


 * Base Game Reward: 5 XP
 * Reward Increases
 * Advanced Scheduling: Pick One
 * Posted to Job Board at least 24 hours before picks are made: +1
 * Posted to Job Board at least 73 hours before picks are made: +2
 * Game is a Run Request scheduled for the participants: +2
 * Detailed Proposal includes location specific information and details/behaviors for all threats and key NPCs in the run: +2
 * Detailed Report: Pick One
 * AAR includes key events and scene transitions in summary: +1
 * AAR includes a conversational or prose accounting of the story of the entire run: +2
 * Opportunity: Pick One
 * Game offers 4 or more Opportunity Selection seats for players: +2
 * Game is a Run Request for a player who has not played in a Run Request this season: +2
 * Game is a Run Request and the GM has not run a Run Request this season: +2
 * Determining your final reward
 * Divisions
 * Writers: if you wrote the run proposal for this game, you receive 2 XP of the 5 Base Reward and any applicable Detailed Proposal XP.
 * Reporters: if you wrote the After Action Report for this game, you receive any applicable Detailed Report XP.
 * GMs: you receive all XP qualified for and not allotted to a different player for this game.
 * Multiplier: Once you have determined how much your XP reward for this game is, you multiply it by 1 + (0.8 * every additional session the game ran), then round up. You may only collect this XP once the game's After Action Report is posted!
 * Weekly Community Incentive: For participating in the running of games for the server, qualifying players receive an amount of bonus XP every Monday.
 * Value: The bonus is equal to the number of game sessions run in the Monday-Sunday period leading up to the current week that qualify for at least 2 Reward Increase XP.
 * Qualifying Session: sessions of games with 2 or more XP of Reward Increases associated with them, even if the game is not ending this week.
 * Qualifying Players: Players who ran qualifying sessions, or who claimed at least 2 Reward Increase XP that week, get the bonus XP! Only one bonus per player, regardless of how many sessions or rewards they claimed.
 * Detailed Report XP: This XP can only qualify a session or player if it is submitted in the same week as the session it is reporting on.