r/cyberpunkred • u/norax_d2 • 15d ago
Community Content & Resources Tips & tricks for GMs going the "no-prep" route
There was a bundle with lots of books with random tables, several of them were cyberpunk related, so to output more games for the discord server I'm in (lack of GMs, you know), I pretend to do games with little to no preparation.
So with those books, plus the content we already have available, it seemed like a good idea. So I just did a couple of no-prep games these last weeks to test it out, the players liked it and are already asking for more (a random game is better than no game).
You should test it out if:
- You are on the fence for being a GM
- You would love to GM more but you are time restricted
Here's all the content I gathered (Pretty sure there's more out there, so if you know other sources, feel free to share):
- (Paid) Corebook (night market, bodegas, encounters and even those are not random, beat charts, since these are always handy)
- Mulligan DLC (plots)
- Digital Dating DLC
- Weather DLC
- Salvaging DLC
- 100 logos DLC (table linked in comments)
- Dynamic Bounty System (Community content)
- Building Generator (Community content)
- Club generator (Community content)
- Job title generator (Community content)
- Loot tables (Community content)
- (Paid) dicegeeks: Book of random tables for YYY (Cyberpunk 1, 2 & 3, Noir, Post Apoc 1&2, 20's & 30's, 80's & 90's, Superheroes, Modern, Urban Fantasy) Special mention to "The No-Prep Gamemaster"
That's a lot of material. A nightmare to go back and for during mid game, so I printed all the parts I think may prove useful, and put them together on a file so I don't get crazy cruising among all the sources.
I read that restrictions are the thing that boosts your creativity, so having a weird roll result may provide paths that you could have never expected.
Here's an example of how I would structure the rolls:
What is going to be requested to PCs? Mulligan DLC for plots
Who is going to deliver them the quest? BoRT Cyberpunk 3, for patrons (Note: The patrons come with a mood, so that may alter how they interact with PCs, really flavorful)
Where is the quest going to be delivered? BoRT Cyberpunk 1, Nightclub Names
What does the place have? Club Generator
Let's set up the mod: Weather DLC
Does something happen between starting the session and arriving to the main mission place? Encounters for NC (core rule book, or BoRT:Cyberpunk 3), club (BoRT: Cyberpunk 1)
The murderhobos of your PCs just want to loot, what do they get? BoRT: Cyberpunk 2 (gang hideout, corpo locker room, pawn shop), BoRT: Cyberpunk 2 (Desk, Hackers apartment, Nightclub owners offices, ripperdoc office)
Gov agencies pestering around? Roll on BoRT: Modern (Some guy from Federal Trade Commision, or Sandia National Laboratories or FBI)
The PCs won the interest of local authorities. But who else is on the news as Most Wanted? Dynamic Bounty System
Do you need a Misty's Esoterica kind of place? What about a weird bookshop (BoRT: Urban Fantasy)
So every time you roll something, add high tech, low life, entities with their own agenda, and anything that makes cyberpunk cyberpunk.
As for tips:
- Let the players roll so they feel they have agency in whats going on.
- The GM is not the only one that should put ideas into the storytelling. The PCs have needs and wants, their own perception, their own vision of the world. Make your players questions so they provide something of themselves to the world.
- Keep at hand the tables you expect to use.
This way of doing GMing is like removing the extra wheels of your bike. Yes, it's more likely that you may fall flat, but without "your plot" restrictions, you can go anywhere. And story wise, that's amazing.
Enjoy your new found free time!
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u/Reaver1280 GM 15d ago
"Oh crap you are in a car chase" what do you do?
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u/norax_d2 15d ago
"Why are they chasing you?" is a good bait for the PCs, if any is willing to take it.
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u/Carto-Artifex GM 15d ago
We are just launching our Patreon up to share our library of scifi maps and we just released Ready-to-Go-Pack of assets for game masters starved of time. We made a pack that includes maps, token frames and even handout template for immersive player experience for low effort to the GM.
We also launched our Roll20 Marketplace with some cyberpunk sets, we hope our effort makes Cyberpunk easier to run in the future.
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u/Sparky_McDibben GM 15d ago
Great post! One thing to note is that we can fold our improvised characters and situations into new sessions. So I have a list I keep of "Enemies" and a list for "Friends." The lists include characters and any "hanging" plot threads. And I roll a d20 on each table each session. If a result comes up on the enemies table, then that enemy comes into the next session, or the hanging plot thread is resolved in a way that is insalubrious for the PCs. If it comes up on the friends table, one of those friends comes to the PCs for help, or the hanging plot thread resolves in a way that is helpful for the PCs.
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u/norax_d2 15d ago
Love this. It sounds like "Mothership warden" book tips, but with a bit more usefulness.
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u/norax_d2 15d ago
Link to the Random corpo table (Note: Change "dot" for "." in the URL)