MAKING SUCCESS TESTS During the course of Imago, the players will make a number of Success Tests using a skill and a given target number. These Success Tests are indicated by the name of the appropriate skill and the target number. For example, a Stealth (4) Test refers to a Stealth Success Test with a Target Number of 4. Imago often suggests a Skill Test to replace or augment specific roleplaying encounters. Gamemasters may ignore these dice rolls if not needed, making that judgment based on the player characters and the circumstances. When used, these tests usually require the player character involved to test his or her skill against a non-player character using the same skill. This is an opposed test (p. 68, SRII). In an opposed test, two characters use the same skill, or an opposing skill, against one another, with only one of them able to actually succeed in the effort. Usually, the character generating the greater number of successes achieves his goal. Negotiation is a typical situation for this type of test. Opposed tests are indicated by the name of the appropriate skill and the rating of the opponent's skill to be used as a larger number. For example, in a Negotiation (Willpower) Test, the initiating character rolls a number of dice equal to his Negotiation Skill against a target number equal to his opponent's Willpower Rating. The opponent makes the same test using a number of dice equal to his Negotiation Skill and a target number equal to the player character's Willpower Rating. The character that generates the most successes wins the opposed test and adjusts the outcome in his or her favor. The difference in successes generated, or the net successes, determines the final result of the action. SUCCESS TABLES At times, the gamemaster will use success tables to determine now much information the players receive from their inquiries and investigations. Each success table lists different information for different numbers of die roll successes. Rolling a high number of successes always reveals the information for the lower numbers of successes as well. For example, a character rolling 3 successes would learn the information for 3 successes as well as the information for both 1 and 2 successes.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK The gamemaster should read through this entire book before beginning the adventure, and should also carefully examine all maps, plans, and diagrams. Where appropriate, letters and numbers on a map link an area to its description in the text. This book tries to coverall the events likely to occur during this adventure. The Plot Synopsis below summarizes in detail both the story background and the course the adventure was designed to follow. Within this synopsis, the first mention of names of people important to the adventure appears in boldface type. The adventure begins with the sections entitled So It Begins and Welcome to Bonny Scotland. These sections bring the runners from outside the U.K, into the adventure setting, followed by 18 short sections describing each of the encounters the players will face, or are likely to face, in the course of roleplaying Imago. Most of the encounters begin with a section entitled Tell It To Them Straight. This describes the team's location and what is happening to them as though the player characters were actually there. Any special instructions to the gamemaster are printed in boldface type. Some encounters may occur at different stages of the adventure, or more than
once. Depending on the actions of the player characters, the gamemaster may need to adapt the description in Tell it To Them Straight to better fit the current situation. Tell It To Them Straight is followed by a new section called Hooks. This section gives the gamemaster an emotional background to fill out the facts of an encounter, providing hints and tips about imagery to use in the scene, emotions to convey, sounds, sensations, textures, and so on. Gamemasters can use Hooks to bring color to the encounters. The information provided varies in form and content from scene to scene, ranging from general themes to specific emotions. Next comes the information entitled Behind the Scenes.The real story exists here, and only the gamemaster knows what is really going on at any given moment in an adventure. Straightforward encounters presenting no important plot complications (for example, hiring a vehicle or street samurai and so on), may skip this section. If the players or gamemaster need a map to play this encounter, it appears in this section. Minor non-player character stats needed to roleplay the encounter also appear here. Finally, each encounter includes hints for running the encounter entitled Debugging. This section suggests ways to get the story back on track if things go too far wrong. For example, most gamemasters will not want the player characters to get too discouraged or killed off too easily. The gamemaster can, of course, ignore these hints and let the chips fall where they may. In Imago, debugging is especially important for keeping the adventure on crack. Legwork contains the information the player characters can obtain through their contacts or through the public data nets. As noted, this adventure assumes the player characters have no contacts within the U.K. The main adventure sections detail the information the characters can obtain through the new contacts they develop. Stats for important non-player characters appear in Cast of Shadows. Minor non-player character stats appear in the appropriate encounter within the adventure. Picking Up the Pieces sums up the results of the adventure, depending on the characters' actions, and provides tips on awarding Karma. Player Handouts contains general information and maps for the players, as well as different newsnet iterns, depending on the outcome of the adventure. Anarchy In the U.K. provides information on Shadowrun's Britain for gamemasters working without the London Sourcebook, including the all-important import restrictions, and British slang and Scots dialect for atmosphere. The final Maps section is for the gamemaster. PREPARING THE ADVENTURE It is impossible to create a published adventure that provides the appropriate opposition level for every diverse group of player characters. Some groups are inherently more powerful than others. The gamemaster must adjust the game statistics and capabilities of the opposition to provide an appropriate level of difficulty for the group. If the adventure does not suit the player characters' strengths and weaknesses, the gamemaster may use it as an outline to develop an ad venture of his own. Or, if it works well except for a tweak needed here and there, the gamemaster can change any part of the plot and events to make the adventure a better one for his group of players.