Shadowrunning 101

The Job
Since the players are presumably not experienced criminals, the planning phase for any given job is represented with a gaming mechanic based off of the Blades in the Dark RPG.

Determine the Objective
The GM will present the players with a job to do. In-game, the team's employer will ask them to do something and leave the method up to them. For example,

Objective: To steal proprietary blood magic research from the local Aztechnology branch company.

Choose an Approach
Players choose an overall approach to meet their objective. Each approach has a corresponding detail that the players need to investigate or decide on.

Engagement Roll
A single six-sided is rolled to determine how "lucky" the players are with their starting position.
 * 6: Good result. You’re in a controlled position when the action starts.
 * 4/5: Mixed result. You’re in a risky position when the action starts.
 * 1-3: Bad result. You’re in a desperate position when the action starts.

Flashbacks
Every player can declare once per scene that they've taken an action retroactively to prepare for the engagement. Players can spend Edge Points to perform additional flashbacks as well.

Example Engagement
"The party decides to sneak in (Approach), rather than do a smash-and-grab. They don't know where the research is (Detail), so they need to investigate before the scene starts. One character uses I Know a Guy to find an information broker. They promise to pass along a copy of the research in exchange for infiltration tips.""The information broker tells them that the research can be accessed by hacking the lead scientist's PC. The players come up with a plan to have the sneakiest person on their team unlock the back door and escort the others.""The engagement roll is a 3, which translates to a 'desperate' starting position (Engagement Roll). The GM interprets this as the sneaky character having been captured by a highly trained security officer. The scene opens with the rest of party waiting near the back door and noticing a team of rent-a-cops actively looking for them.""The sneaky character uses their flashback to declare that they have a distress signal set to activate if they're captured (Flashback). The team is notified of where in the building they're being detained."
 * Objective: To steal proprietary blood magic research from the local Aztechnology branch company.
 * Approach: Stealth
 * Detail: Point of Infiltration
 * Engagement Roll: 3 (bad)