Category: Gaming

My brother used to run Shadowrun games at conventions, back in the days of the 2nd and 3rd Edition rulebooks.  He could look at a party of power-gaming assault types, flowery role players, and quiet support characters, and give them all an important part of the story.

The assault type had to shoot down the doors to get everyone in.  The mage could usually help.  The rigger had his drone on the scene to record everything for verification purposes.  The face sweet talked the client for more money, then sweet talked the opponent into letting the party through with a minimal of damage taken before the inevitable firefight would start.  The insane Raven shaman could show off for the camera hooked up to the drone.

So now I’m looking at gaming again.  My wife and I both used to be avid gamers, and we want to play some more.  Yet so much of what I see is “lack of balance.”  This is true if your game is one-dimensional.  Shoot everything.  Talk a lot.  Pure stealth.

So, honestly, just look at the character sheets.  Look at the players.  Adding a spur of the moment detail to your game to include everyone rather than blaming the rules will not only make the session more fun, but make it more memorable.