The Metagame

I’m running this monthly Shadowrun 4th Edition (ish) game for a group of friends. Since we all have busy schedules with work and family, we take one Saturday (usually the second of the month) and spend basically all day gaming. I cook something delicious, folks bring snacks, and there is usually a little beer or Irish whiskey to round out the mood. I’ve got a dozen playlists or so, themed to chases, or San Francisco’s nightlife (which is where the campaign is set).

Since we only game once a month, I’ve been trying to keep people engaged through the use of a private online forum. I will post after-game synopses of what the players did, so they can refer back to them and refresh their memories a month later. This has been super helpful, I think. I’ll also post in-world news articles, Shadowland discussions, and commercials every week or so, in the hope that the bits of flavor and engagement translate into a better gaming experience.

This is especially true of things that the players do with larger consequences. For example, a couple of sessions ago, they killed several military intelligence officers and broke some of their allies out of a transport. I had to determine how well the surveillance present on the streets could see them, and then posted a morning show segment about the police response to this. All of the players seemed to respond well. It’s really fun getting these things together, too.