Shadowrun Missions Online FAQ:

What Is Shadowrun Missions Online?

Shadowrun Missions Online (SRMO) is a free to play online service that connects Shadowrun GM’s to players. We currently offer 5th and 6th Edition games. We use Discord for voice chat and text, Roll20 for table play and dice rolling, and this website for scheduling games. Our events are currently free and plan on staying that way for the foreseeable future. We offer ONLY Shadowrun Missions Living Campaign events, and therefore follow the Missions Guide/FAQ that are written for the various editions. 

All of our games are ran in a convention style, meaning we try to complete the mission in a given time frame and will push things along or modify the missions as written to allot for the time frame and how the team is progressing. If you have ever been to a large gaming convention and played any sort of organized play event (be it D&D, Starfinder, Pathfinder, etc) you already have experience with this style of gaming. We allot 5 hours for our games instead of the normal 4 that a Shadowrun Missions event would normally occur in during a convention. This is because of the additional headache of getting technology to cooperate with us, as well as Real Life distractions that occur. 

Running these games in a convention style and following the Shadowrun Missions Living Campaign rules also allows you to take your character you play here and play it at a convention or vice versa! You can get all sorts of playtime out of one character this way! Also our SRMO GM’s have free reign as to what events they want to run and that means that you have rotating list of events that your character can play; both new and old events, as well as some special events that are offered rarely, 

Who are our GM’s? 

Our GM’s are official Catalyst Demo Team (CDT) Agents and have agreed to follow strict guidelines for behavior and various other categories before being approved and accepted into the CDT. Only then can they become a GM for SRMO. Our GM’s schedule games at their leisure and availability, there is no “scheduled” time for our GM’s to run or post events. As the events are submitted for approval, they will get posted to the website and discord server for people to sign up for. Usually our events fill up fast, so being quick on the draw is important!

How Do I Play? 

Great question!

First, you need to have an account on the SRMO website, you also need an account on Roll20, and Discord. Once you have those you can join our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/g9xYmsa. After that you can check out our Events Announcements channel for the latest event postings, or the Games page on this website. 

Second, you need to have a character. We occasionally do what we call Build a Runner Workshops, or First Taste events. These are directed at new players, or players trying a new character concept. It allows for you to learn the rules of the system, and fix any issues you may discover with your character build. You will earn nuyen (in game currency) and Karma (experience points) to advance your characters by playing in these games. We also have various help channels for the various editions we support, you can ask and receive advice and pointers from our experienced community and GM’s to help direct your character to better suit your needs and its role.

Third, you need to sign up for a game! This is as simple as checking out the Games page on this site and signing up for an event that matches your availability and the edition you wish to play. Keep in mind that all times on that page are set for GMT -5 (Eastern Standard, New York) so some time zone conversion may be needed to confirm your able to play. We also list our events on our Discord server via the built in “Events” feature. This allows you to check the times of the game based on the time zone you have set in your account settings, or your internet location settings. It also includes the name of the event, as well as a brief description of the event, and a direct link to the website page allowing you to sign up for the game.

Finally, join the GM text channel for the GM of your game and introduce yourself! Be sure to have all of your character info available and posted as a PDF (or other approved form) in the GM’s channel for them to view. There are rules for creating your character, but they are all on the honor system. We don’t have an official “character review” board to give feedback or make sure characters are Missions legal. 

Character Creation Rules:

There are specific rules for creating a Missions Legal Character, and those rules can be found in the respective editions FAQ/Guide. See the SRM Resources drop down at the top of the website and then select which edition you are playing to get all sorts of good information and character building programs/advice. They are numerous, but really are there for you and the GM to better have a consistent experience across tables, be it online or at a convention.

Anything else I should know about?

We have a few basic rules for players to follow in Missions:

Wheaton’s Law: Don’t Be A Dick.

This means players and Gamemasters alike should remember that everyone at the table is there to have fun. Characters might be utter bastards, but players should be courteous and considerate of other players and not do anything that would ruin the fun of others at the table. This means accepting that payments are divided evenly amongst the characters. This means not playing out flaws, character quirks, or whatever else you think is “in character” if it will ruin the fun of other players or make them uncomfortable. And it means no non-consensual PvP (player versus player) actions such as mind controlling, attacking, or stealing from other players. One person’s fun is never more important than anyone else’s.

Don’t Break the Game.

Open-table play brings diverse groups to the game with varying levels of experience with Shadowrun and knowledge of its mechanics. While it can be fun to manipulate the rules to create optimized builds, this can sometimes create an imbalance in the scenario and negatively impact the fun of your fellow players. We encourage you to create the character you want; bear in mind, however, that GMs are empowered to adjust Missions to provide an appropriate challenge (often written into the Mission itself) and tactics available to player characters are potentially available to their opponents.

In Player We Trust.

From time to time Gamemasters may do a character audit and look over your sheet, but at the end of the day they are rarely going to sit and do all the math and inspect every item, every skill, every contact, and every Debriefing Log. At the end of the day, we trust the player to be honest in their record keeping and their math. Please be honest and don’t abuse our trust. It’s just a game, and if you need to cheat to “win” a roleplaying game, it’s a little sad.

In Gamemaster We Trust.

Missions are written to be as broad as possible and to encompass as much as possible while still telling a good, fun story. However, we never know what the players are going to bring to the table, and any Gamemaster who has sat behind the screen knows players rarely follow the roadmaps laid out for them. Missions Gamemasters need to think fast on their feet, often have to improvise, and need to adjust the power level and scale of the adventure to fit the characters and players. And that’s okay! We trust the Gamemaster. Feel free to adapt as needed, so long as the core adventure and events remain intact. Add what you need, remove what you need. Just try to keep the adventure rewards within the established guidelines for the Mission, and don’t go giving out attack helicopters or let them have Lofwyr as a contact. Keep things sane for the next gamemaster who deals with these players!