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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ Your favorite metatype to play

Posted by: moosegod Dec 5 2003, 12:39 AM

Yeah, so, uh.

Posted by: Chodav Dec 5 2003, 12:41 AM

Humans, because I prefer to play ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, and most metahumans aren't ordinary. (I voted low power in the other poll, if you hadn't guessed.)

Posted by: Kurukami Dec 5 2003, 12:45 AM

I've played a number of dwarves and humans in the past, and have dabbled with orks. Never played a troll, as yet. And I have played elves only rarely.

My current character is a nonmagical human who got SURGE'd in the year of the comet.

Posted by: 6thDragon Dec 5 2003, 12:46 AM

One of my characters was a formed Ghost combat decker, so naturally he is an elf. however as soon as I get into another campaign I really want to try a couple of the new metavarients. The giant (troll), oni (orc), gnome (dwarf), and miniator (troll) all look really interesting. However since I usually end up as the GM i'll probably have to settle for making cool NPCs.

Posted by: moosegod Dec 5 2003, 12:46 AM

I love playing trolls with bonus point: Int and Exceptional attribute: Int. It's a lot of fun to come up plans as complex and well thought out as the human players, who are used to the "big dumb trog" sterotype.

And they're unbreakable.

Posted by: Kagetenshi Dec 5 2003, 01:08 AM

Human fan, meself. Karma pool up the wazoo.

~J

Posted by: thunderchild Dec 5 2003, 01:17 AM

Orks - They have a noble quality lacking in elves, dwarves and humans.

Posted by: moosegod Dec 5 2003, 01:20 AM

I always kind of played them as (sterotypical) 80's blacks- sticking up for each other all the time, crammed in the poorest sections of the cities, etc.

Posted by: Lockjaw Dec 5 2003, 01:20 AM

i played a troll, elf, and ork, in that order.

i like trolls, cause theyre big ass monsters, played an elf because it seemed different from a troll, and played an ork mostly because the g-dogg chracter from the wizkids game influenced me.

Posted by: Kurukami Dec 5 2003, 01:21 AM

QUOTE (moosegod)

I've got a bit of a tangent. Why on earth does anyone ever bother to buy the Exceptional Attribute edge? It ups the Racial Modified limit and the Attribute maximums, but since virtually no-one that I know buys their PC's Intelligence up past the Racial Modified lim it seems like a pretty worthless Edge to me.

Bonus attribute point, though, can actually be useful -- it gives you a way to, at character creation, break past the Racial Modified Limit (and play a astonishingly intelligent ork or troll).

</tangent>

And, um, on-topic, oni are pretty cool too. Hmmm... albino oni physads with magic resistance... go ahead and try to nail me with that stunball...

Posted by: Sahandrian Dec 5 2003, 01:33 AM

I voted ork, but my ork characters only outnumber my elves by 1. I play humans, too, but for some reason, I just don't like trolls and dwarves.

Posted by: Grey Dec 5 2003, 01:47 AM

I voted for Orc, cause I've been playing them a lot lately, though I've played every race, including lots of the metavariants. I'd say that in the long run I've played Orc the most, followed by human, then elf, then troll, then dwarf.

I think I like Orc the best because I love the idea of the Orc Underground and making characters that have a Robin Hood mentality.

Posted by: gknoy Dec 5 2003, 01:51 AM

QUOTE (Kagetenshi)

Human fan, meself. Karma pool up the wazoo.

~J

Only when you earn enough karma to actually /earn/ KP... (I never have

) Granted, I'm a big fan for the long term karma pool result, too - that's easily half the reason I play humans. Well, maybe a third. One reason is I can empathize with a human -- I'm not a big beefy guy, so I have a hard time thinking like a troll; and while elves are cool, I just ... I dunno ... *shrugs*. Statistically, I'd be a human, probably, anyways.

And then there's the fact that no matter what system I use, if I'm a human, I can get more skills, and usually the same or maybe only slightly less stats. Since I like skill-heavy physads, (hehe), that makes meta-choices less appealing. *sigh* Again, not logical, just personal habit.

Posted by: gknoy Dec 5 2003, 01:53 AM

QUOTE (Kurukami)

And, um, on-topic, oni are pretty cool too. Hmmm... albino oni physads with magic resistance... go ahead and try to nail me with that stunball...

So ... where can I find more about Oni? =D I'd not heard of them in SR before. =)

Posted by: moosegod Dec 5 2003, 01:53 AM

SRComp.

Also being used by the new emporer as real kick-butt gaurds at his palace.

Posted by: Shadow Dec 5 2003, 01:55 AM

Night Elves Rock!

Posted by: moosegod Dec 5 2003, 01:58 AM

I hate elves! Gah. We never have elves in my fantasy games. Why, cause I, the GM, can't play them, so I place them out of the character's reach (mostly). Otherwise, they'd want to talk to the great elvish whoawhatist for whatever those pansies want.

And in my SR games most Elves wind up acting like everyone else or being hyper-racists from one of the Tirs.

Posted by: Kagetenshi Dec 5 2003, 02:01 AM

QUOTE (Kurukami)

No idea why for intelligence, but for a human (or anyone else without Quickness or Strength mods) it allows you to cram in that fourth point of Muscle Toners or Muscle Augmentation.

~J

Posted by: Connor Dec 5 2003, 02:33 AM

I voted elves, but I really haven't had any preference. None of my main characters share a metatype...although when I make up those quick and dirty type characters I tend to go for an elf...

Posted by: Doctor Funkenstein Dec 5 2003, 02:36 AM

While I normally play Humans, I tend to have the most fun playing Dwarves (especially a Dwarven Face I have -- Orks may have the Underground, but Dwarves of all creeds band together like some kind of fraternal order) and Orks (for the same reason, though focused more on the Underground). They just ooze style in my opinion. I voted for Dwarves, though, just because I like the little guys.

Posted by: Nevermind Dec 5 2003, 02:52 AM

1 Ork
1 Oger
4 Humans
as PC.
No elves, never ever.

Voted Ork, as it´s fun to have bad habits.

Posted by: Tziluthi Dec 5 2003, 03:12 AM

Ork or dwarf, because priority-system wise, it comes free with every non-awakened character. But seriously, I perfer humans and orks. Trolls and dwarfs are somewhere in the middle-ground. Elves are, well, boring and arrogant.

Posted by: Casazil Dec 5 2003, 03:35 AM

I like elves but only because i like to play magic characters and the 2 cha. bonus helps with conjuring other wise my preferance would be human. dwarf and ork are ok but not prefered and trolls rock when you get to be a metavariant you get less bonus but then again there are less negitives.

Posted by: Tanka Dec 5 2003, 03:40 AM

Troll, because I'm mainly a Sammie guy, and they make mean mofos.

Posted by: Dogsoup Dec 5 2003, 03:50 AM

I voted human 'cause they make up most of my chars, but when I choose a metatype, it's almost always orc.

Posted by: Shockwave_IIc Dec 5 2003, 04:45 AM

I voted ork. Because i play them the most often.

Also people have a tendentcy of putting orks into the "thug" catagory and with just a little edge here or there they can become SO much more.

Currently my characters are
Ork male, retired Covert ops.
Ork Female, Spy who wants to be pretty.
Elf Female, Otaku

And the one im writing up at the minute, Human who surged into a Ork/ Drake look a like Physad.

Posted by: Dr Komuso Dec 5 2003, 10:36 AM

I like orks too, mainly for the aforementioned noble, brotherhood air about them.

I also like trolls, for mainly the same reason, but I only got one of those.

Humans are easy as hell to design into anything, but get old.

Dwarves are awesome and, played right, really unfair. That +2 Willpower has so many applications for a creative runner A lot of what makes dwarves cool in D&D/Tolkien is kinda demphasized in SR though.... dwarven crafted weapons don't mean a lot when there's no dwarven society.

Elves.... I have a real love hate relationship with elves. See.... elves, by no real fault of their own, have become the biggest cliche in existence. They're always, in EVERYTHING, the magic using, pointy eared, snobs, and that just gets annoying. I can't describe how happy I was when Shadows of North America went into the Tir's huge economic problems. But, I don't hate elves... in fact, an elf played against type can be one of the most interesting types of chracter. I'm just tired of people who play the typical snobby daisy chewer being rewarded for, essentially, being an ass.

Metavarients.... some are awesome ideas (Night Ones, Minotaurs, Cyclops, Oni), some are not (Dryads, the African elves... Wakawhatever, Goblins). Sidenote, actually, we made our own Goblin metavarient... basically a smaller, agile cousin to the orc. Very fun Some people are SURGEing into them.

With drakes kicking around we also took it upon ourselves to let T'skrang in. There's only one, and he faces MASSIVE social discrimination (You can only get by on the freaky lizard look in a handful of places ), but he's fun as hell. Obsidiman showed up, briefly, as background during a rather weird run, but no PC's.

Posted by: Prospero Dec 5 2003, 11:40 AM

That's a tough question. As a metatype, I like dwarves the best. Dunno why. I like all the different races, but dwarves are... just cool. On the other hand, all my favorite characters have been elves. But I hate elves as a group for the aformentioned stereotype issues that invade games far to often and make me absolutely raving bloody crazy. And I've never, ever played a metavariant, though I've thought about a couple and played a fair few as NPCs. In terms of being a race, drakes are my vote for the absolute coolest, maybe, but I would never, ever, ever let someone play one in my game, and that kinda made me not vote for them.

Posted by: Cochise Dec 5 2003, 11:57 AM

On topic ... I do not have any preference, so I cannot vote on a specific race.
I played almost everything apart from Dryads, Oni and Wakiyambi in any form (decker, magician, rigger, sammie, etc.)

off topic:

QUOTE (Kurukami)

Think of it this way:
Have two times exceptional attribute and three times extra attribute point and you can legally start with 3 attributes at a starting value of 7 on a human character

Posted by: Pavlov Dec 5 2003, 01:06 PM

I voted Ork. When SR1 came out, I went through my Elf phase but, it being SR1 and all, that was quickly purged from my system. Nowadays I pretty much just play Orks and Humans. Trolls can be fun, but they're just too damn big to be very effective at things like sneaking, which is pretty important in a lot of my games.

Posted by: Tanka Dec 5 2003, 01:22 PM

They aren't too big to be good at sneaking. I made a 10' Troll with Stealth 6 that didn't even think about Ruthenyiums. He managed to sneak past the guards every time.

Yes, he was Mundane, too.

Maybe I'm just a good roller, but you don't have to say something is bad at sneaking just because it's big. That would also mean that Dwarves are better at sneaking because they're short. No way, chummer.

Edit: Sorry, Stealth 7 (8). Skill of 6, Reflex Recorder (We were playing with the rules that you could get regular Cultured Bioware, but not culture your bioware), and Enhanced Articulation.

Posted by: Pavlov Dec 5 2003, 01:59 PM

QUOTE

Sure, Trolls can get a decent Stealth, even with their hit to Quickness, but when I GM and players want to do a little sneaking, I generally ask them what they're hiding behind/using for cover. I don't care if you're a Gnome with a Stealth of 10, if you're walking down an empty, brighty-lit hallway without Ruthenyiums, the secguard is going to see you. ("But I'm walkin' reeeeealll slow-like....") That's where the size comes in, I use the cover modifiers from Cannon Companion and Trolls lose out since finding something that covers 75% of their body can be tough. Still playable mind you, just tough to Hide (not Sneak--should've been more clear there).

Posted by: Namer18 Dec 5 2003, 02:23 PM

Menehune with PMP hair. Why, because you can.

Posted by: bwdemon Dec 5 2003, 02:31 PM

Humans... only race besides elves that isn't slow of mind and/or foot. Elves have never been all that interesting to me, probably due to the fanboys and lack of any race-based negatives to balance the positives. Some of it is probably due to my hate for the IE, too...

Posted by: CoalHeart Dec 5 2003, 02:33 PM

Elf's boring. All bonus no flaws.
Dwarf, Kind of fun if you play a 'bad' dwarf. Someone with a napoleon complex and hates people that are taller. If you don't play that way it gets rather boring at least in my opinon. Dwarfs should be cranky in my opinion.
Humans They run the gambit from boring if you're too normal to really fun if you put them on the edge.
Trolls (Personal fav) Big, tough, slightly slow(physically and mentally). Extremely open to roleplaying. Trying to break sterotypes(ballerina, medics, Crime boss ect.), or fufill them with a 13 foot tall walking metahuman flesh tank of ultimate doom ™ To the Gentle giant that just doesn't realize he got shot when he was helping grandma across the street.
Ork (Personal fav) Also very open to roleplaying. Can push the noble edge trying to get away from the 'thug' mentality that is forced on them. Or go with it and be the best. To being overexxagerated humans (human looking edge) and look like a ultrabuff body builder. To down right cruel. To just being a cabby hard on his luck. Very easily adapting to many situations.

Posted by: Dogsoup Dec 5 2003, 04:12 PM

I must say that I find Minotaurs really, really cool. Not only do you get kick-ass fashion accessories like smooth symmetrical horns and a slight furcoat, but they're also "toned-down"; Not as heavily penaltied but still packing enough BOD and STR to be decent trolls. Played one once, great fun it was.

Posted by: nezumi Dec 5 2003, 05:19 PM

I think my biggest complaint about SR is the total want of a halfling/hobbit race. I mean if you're going to put in elves and dwarves, why not go all the way? The character type in general is one of my favorites; a rather quiet, boring person who finds himself struggling against giant eyeballs in a world full of evil. I'd probably play them even if they had more flaws than advantages. I also enjoy shapeshifters, although by the 2nd edition rules, not third. The idea of playing something with such an alien mindset trying to figure out the world is rather fun, especially when you aren't allowed to use your powers or you'll get blown into kibble (to date, my shapeshifters have only changed in public twice, once in a stand alone just for fun combat game, and once because I was getting pasted. No armor didn't help much, really.)

Posted by: moosegod Dec 5 2003, 05:21 PM

I think the reasoning is that they weren't a Namegiver race. And since ED and SR are tied together, that's why we wouldn't get one.

Anyways, they're too Tolkien-esque for me to have in anything but a Tolkien-esque world.

Posted by: nezumi Dec 5 2003, 06:49 PM

I would agree they're very tolkienesque, but I think we already sort of threw away the absolute grit and not at all tolkien feel of the genre as soon as we invited in the dandelion eaters.

Posted by: moosegod Dec 5 2003, 06:53 PM

True, true. However, with the carry over of the Fourth World, I think it was somewhat inevitable.

Anyways, what'd you vote for? Non-canon metatype (LotFR)

Posted by: Doctor Funkenstein Dec 5 2003, 06:57 PM

QUOTE (nezumi @ Dec 5 2003, 11:19 AM)

They do, they're just called Gnomes and/or Dwarves. Want them to be shorter than average, have hairy feet, and live in the middle of Bumfuck, CAS? Knock yourself out. Want to make them uncomfortable in a big city? A mild Allergy/Phobia (Major Urban Centers) does the trick.

Posted by: Shinobi Killfist Dec 5 2003, 07:08 PM

Have to go with humans. They aren't the most cost effective guys out there, but hey I like them. I dislike elves but will play them if I'm min/maxing a bit and am shooting for a face/some one who can conjure.

I like orcs but I hate the int/chr hit especially since I like spellcasters. Still that's what I'm playing now.

Dwarves eh nothing for or against them, trolls can be fun but there a bit to dumb without a heavy cost for me to have long term fun usually.

Posted by: Fortune Dec 5 2003, 11:12 PM

QUOTE (Cochise)

Think of it this way:
Have two times exceptional attribute and three times extra attribute point and you can legally start with 3 attributes at a starting value of 7 on a human character

You could think of it that way, except for the fact that, by canon, you can only take the Bonus Attribute Point Edge for one Attribute, and even then, only once. Exceptional Attribute however, can be taken once for each Attribute, excluding Reaction, Magic and Essence of course.

Posted by: Solidcobra Dec 5 2003, 11:16 PM

i like elfs for ONE reason:
I can put 1 point in charisma and still call her a "Well Shaped" and "Beautiful" woman

yay!

Posted by: Cochise Dec 5 2003, 11:48 PM

QUOTE (Fortune)

If you actually feel the need for discussing this further: Make a new thread

I'm sure this board can take another discussion on that topic.

I for one can most definitely say, that it's a valid interpretation of the canon rules that exceptional attribute can be taken more than once per character, as well as bonus attribute point.

No rule bending or misinterpretation there ...

Posted by: toturi Dec 5 2003, 11:57 PM

Elf. Period.

Santa's coming! God, I love elves!!!

Posted by: Kagetenshi Dec 6 2003, 12:03 AM

QUOTE (Solidcobra)

i like elfs for ONE reason:
I can put 1 point in charisma and still call her a "Well Shaped" and "Beautiful" woman

yay!

You can do that with a human, too. Just make her an airhead with an annoying personality. Someone you'd like to sleep with if you could remove her vocal cords before and after.

~J

Posted by: Solidcobra Dec 6 2003, 12:18 AM

Correction: I can still call her a wellshaped, beautiful woman with a nice personality

Posted by: Kurukami Dec 6 2003, 12:39 AM

QUOTE (Cochise @ Dec 5 2003, 11:57 AM)

off topic:

QUOTE (Kurukami)

Think of it this way:
Have two times exceptional attribute and three times extra attribute point and you can legally start with 3 attributes at a starting value of 7 on a human character

That would be impressive if not for the fact that they specifically say you can only buy each of them once a single attribute. Thus, you may take the Bonus Attribute Point Edge once for a character, and the Exceptional Attribute Edge once.

Besides which, even if it was legal, I can think of better things to spend 10 character points on than upping three attributes by one. Cyberware, bioware, full magery, much more useful Edges...

Posted by: Cochise Dec 6 2003, 12:44 AM

QUOTE (Kurukami)

See my answer to Fortune: If necessary, we can discuss this in a sepearte thread.

QUOTE

Besides which, even if it was legal, I can think of better things to spend 10 character points on than upping three attributes by one. Cyberware, bioware, full magery, much more useful Edges...

And that pretty much depends on style and character concept ...

Posted by: Doctor Funkenstein Dec 6 2003, 12:57 AM

Since I'm not as worried about starting a new thread as Cochise is...

Bonus Attribute Point can be bought up to six times (well five if you go by the recommended limit), once for each Attribute. However, it can only be used to increase a single Attribute beyond the Racial Modified Max. It's clearly stated in it's description. The last sentence of the last paragraph of the edge states as much. There is no room to debate it. It's quite clear.

Exceptional Attribute can also be purchased only once per Attribute, but you can do so for each Attribute. Doing so increases your Racial Modified Max. The very last sentence of the edge's description states as much. There is no room to debate it. It's quite clear.

Thus for example, with Bonus Attribute x3 (Charisma, Intelligence, and Willpower), and Exceptional Attribute x2 (Charisma and Intelligence), a Human character can start with Charisma 7, Intelligence 7, and Willpower 7 as long as they bought all three at 6 to begin with. Just like Cochise said. In fact, it's the only legal way to do it without playing an Otaku or something similar.

I do tend to agree that it's a waste unless it's vital for the character's concept. But it's certainly legal.

Posted by: Cochise Dec 6 2003, 12:59 AM

I'm not worried ... I just didn't want to take this one into a lengthy off-topic

Posted by: Kagetenshi Dec 6 2003, 01:00 AM

QUOTE (Doctor Funkenstein)

Bonus Attribute Point can be bought up to six times, once for each Attribute. However, it can only be used to increase a single Attribute beyond the Racial Modified Max. It's clearly stated in it's description. The last sentence of the last paragraph of the edge states as much. There is no room to debate it. It's quite clear.

While you're right that there's no room to debate it and it's quite clear, there was a (rightly) much-maligned ruling by (I believe) Boyle that said that it could only be purchased once, period.

~J