Everybody at Story Games Seattle should play Shock sooner or later. It's one of our core "lingua franca" games. There are a few things we do differently from the book:

• Each player (secretly) chooses an Issue first, then we all brainstorm a Shock to fit those Issues.*
  
  
• We reorder some of the steps of character creation, such as putting story goal first since it's the big decision that guides everything else about your character.
  
  
• We play exactly three scenes per protagonist and spend credits accordingly. It's easier to have all the stories synchronized and ending at the same time.
  
  
• Three players is optimum.

* The first point is the big one. "Issues first" is how earlier versions of Shock worked, but v1.2 reversed the order. Now the rules say to pick a Shock first and decide what Issues fit. We stick with the old method, because we find picking Issues first pushes us to come up with much more creative and unique Shocks. It also makes Issues the driving force of the game: you pick an Issue you are interested in, then decide on fiction that addresses it.

When I play, I always like to have one of each player's links point directly or indirectly to another PC. Makes it feel more like one story with an ensemble cast. Joshua Newman approves.

And our custom Shock character sheet. The details are the same, but the layout emphasizes the Antagonist / Protagonist relationship.