OOC: Crimson Assets, Always looking for new Assets Options

[Blitz]

Ok...I've decided to begin a run.

We're going to go slightly old school at this point. You'll all start as individual runners brought together as a group by a common fixer with the plan that, if you can work as a team, you'll become regular assets. Plan on a long game with no end date. Not a campaign so much as a shadowrun career. ;)

Since the main failing of the online campaigns in here is the regular availability, or lack there of, of players causes many games to end before their time. To combat this, my game will be steady while the players may not be. Some runs might require adding on an additional asset to address a specific problem, and that asset might prove valuable and become a regular. Other runs might not utilize all members fully and someone might wish to move in a new direction or take a little time off.

In game terms, this means that if we lose players, I can easily replace them temporarily or permanantly by incoming players. This ALSO means that people are ALWAYS welcome to submit a character. you may not get invited to be the initial group, or you may miss the entry time, but there will be opportunities down the line to become involved.

The other difference in my game will be that rolls will NOT be made by the players. 90% of the game mechanics will be handled cinematically with the remaining 10% being done by me. I feel that while most players are very honest with such things, that the possibility that there are few who aren't taint everyone's trust in those numbers. (hence why I ask all my GM's to make my rolls for me) The second reason for this is that once a game hits combat, the time it takes for people to post their rolls, discuss with the gm, make karma rolls and receive a result could be solved in one simple post. This slows the progress of the game and is usually the point when games begin to lose players.

The game will include everything from indepth negotiations, interogations, combat, problem solving, driving, decking, magic, etc. My goal is for every player to feel like the pivotal member at one point or another.

As far as char. gen goes, I would love to see detailed backgrounds. Let me stress that again...detailed backgrounds. This game will stretch over a long period of time so backstories may come into play if they are offered. In my experience, players who's own stories become interwoven with plotlines tend to have more fun and that's what Im here for.

Char Gen Rules:
Standard Priority or 125 build points. (I hate BECKS so please dont use it)
No shapeshifters, ghouls or otaku without a VERY GOOD reason and only approved through me.
No more than 6 points spent in a skill or attribute
Max rating 6
Max availability 8
Any cyberware or bioware purchased must be explained in your history. Normal people do not have pain editors or bone lacing, however you may purchase any degree of either as long as it's explained. (ie Alpha, Beta, Delta, Cultured)
Spell points canNOT be purchased
NO foci can be purchased
NO cybermancy
Unlimited Edges and Flaws though they have certain rules.
• ALL must be explained in your history, and if I feel you are abusing the system, your character wont be accepted. PERIOD (you are welcome to run things past me if you like)
• There cannot be a loss or gain of more than 2 points.

And above all, while most runners have a touch of anti-social angst, please design your characters so they will fit well within the group. If you make a character that no one wants to be around or generates a lack of trust or responsibility, then that character wouldn't last long as a member. Additionally, the first group of runners will be chosen based on their ability to make a cohesive group. If you character is racist against elves and a good half of the group is comprised of elves, you probably wont make the first cut. Point made.

If there are questions, please ask. I do hope this will be enjoyable for all.

Character sheets should be emailed to myself at bluegurl337@yahoo.com

[Large Mike]

Hey, remember Case? I used him at SoCal. Want him?

[Shadow]

I sent you a Mage named Trace. This will be the 6th time I have tried to join a run with him, heres hoping six times the charm.

[Grey]

This sounds great, I'll have something for you soon. :)

[Spookymonster]

When you say 'no foci', is that just at char gen, or are you planning on a foci-free campaign? Just curious.

[Blitz]

Large Mike: Are we talking about your face character? ...it would have to be a starting character for this run.

Spooky: No...just at creation. There will be opportunities to obtain them in the game. I just want everyone on a more or less even playing ground to begin with.

[Shockwave_IIc]

[EDITED]

Scratch that.

[Large Mike]

Yes, the face. And yes, I have a starting level version of him. (Since I GM, rather than play, he's only at 19 karma anyways, but whatever.)

[Rattler]

Is there a deadline on character submissions?

[Cursedsoul]

Hiya Blitz! Remember me?

Well I have this character I want to try out. I made him for a run a few months back, but it died before even getting started...

The background is currently at 15 pages (14 pages of info, not finished yet). I no longer have the character sheet, and seeing as it was made with BECKS2.0, wouldn't work anyways.

I'll see what I can do with the Point System. He's supposed to be an established runner (co-owns a medical clinic that's been operating for 1.5 years) but I can tone down the background without trouble I'd imagine.

He's more or less going to be an engineer and a medic. He had Instruction/Speed reading, a photographic memory, and engineering.

Needless to say the ability to reverse engineer and/or make do with whatever's at hand is a concept I think would be fun to try out.

When you say no more than 6 skill points in an attribute or skill do you mean I can have ONE 6 in an attribute and ONE 6 in the skill section?

I'll send the background straight away and have the physical character in a day or so. Definitely by this comming monday at the latest.

[last_of_the_grea...]

OKay, dude, without getting intoi number crunching, here's a character I made before's background. Lemme know if I should make him up (I never did make stats for him).

Mike is a normal, everyday, run of the mill roleplaying geek archetype. He likes to play games like D&D. He's 44.5 kilograms soaking wet and wears coke bottle glasses. Everyone picks on him in school! He regularly gets wedgied in the changing room while getting ready for Phys Ed. class. And he prays for his life to improve!

He's making his regular plea for the gods to take pity on him and make him better than he is, all the while thinking about the pistol his dad keeps locked in his closet. He could end everything by shooting all his antagonists! That'd show them! While he's praying and fantasizing, a major mana surge hits the erea. His latant magical abilities manifest! His reaction time is enhanced and he's suddenly a natural with pistols! Of course, he doesn't know this yet.

He shows up late for school the next day...first time ever. The morning announcements are being read over the P.A. system when he enters the classroom, reaches into his bag and pulls out his dad's ares predator, all wrapped in foil and in a vacuum sealed lunchbag. He unwraps it while standing in front of the class, getting pelted by insults and thrown objects...then he points it at one of the students. BANG! Right through the chest. BANG...another bastard falls before his expert marksmanship! BANG! BANG! BANG! He emptys the clip...15 shots, 15 dead, each with a single bullet. Then he falls out of his killing trance and sees what he's done! And runs! Nobody stops him.

He doesn't run home...he's snapped and is not being rational. He goes the bank and emptys his account of all the money he'd been saving from his convenience store job to buy that collector's item RPG handbook, buys a ticket on a bus and rides...

He arrives in Seattle. He's got almost no money, the clothes on his back, his gun and no bullets! After a couple of cold, hungry days in the street, he starts holding up convenience stores (gawd how he hated his job!) for food, money and anything he could find usefull.

He robbed a few that the local mafia ran their protection racket on. The store owner actually got the nerve to tell the collection thugs that he'd been robbed and he'd been paying all this insurance and what were they going to do about it? The amused thugs decided to track the guy down out of sheer amusement at the store owner's nerve...as long as it didn't take too long, of course.

Well, Mike was rather unlucky. He got caught by the mafia and was shot when he pointed his empty gun at them. They dragged his bleeding, crying carcass to an alley and questioned him. With nothing to lose, he grabbed one of the thugs' guns and blew them away, robbed them and loped off with a bleeding leg.

He stole a first aid kit and let the expert diagnosos system tell him what to do to treat his leg. It wasn't so bad...the bullet had gone right through and missed the bone and any major arteries. He had a reasonable amount of cash, 2 browning ultra powers, 18 rounds and a leg injury that would heal.

The local triads happenned to note the incedent. He'd left quite an impressive psychic impression on the scene, easily readable and tracable. The triads got to him before the cops did. After capturing, questioning and testing him, they made him an offer. He'd have money, cool clothes and a cool car, women and popularity within the little "club." All he'd have to do is use his abilities. A ritual was performed to "bring out his (already there) mystical abilities." Young, naieve and wanting acceptance, he chose to believe that the triad had brought out his magic. They wiped his SIN from the system and taught him to be a dangerous man.

7 years passed and he performed well. He was quite the 23 year old killer. However, he was never cracked up to be a cold blooded killer. The trauma he'd endured had made him capable for a while, but it wasn't enough to stop the nightmares. They became unbearable. He took all his gear and money and paid for a street mage to alter his mystic signature and for a street doc to perform cosmetic surgury. And dissappeared in plain sight. He started to work freelance, but his guns were now loaded with gel rounds when he didn't use his taser. He built up enough of a solid reputation that a fixer took him into his stable and a fence was willing to regularly work with him. But he always remembered the triad, knowing they wouldn't forget him!

[Blitz]

Mikey...

Ok...dude...no. But DID it made me laugh! My two favorite parts, where..

[Large Mike]

Mountain Dew is perfectly rational. At least, in the states it is.

Ahh, Mountain Dew. One of the few positive things about the USA.

[Raiko]

Sounds great, I'll send in a Shaman, I'll get their stats sorted tonight, background might take a day or two longer.

[Dashifen]

Hi Blitz! I'm interested. I'll have something for you by the end of the day! I haven't played in a while -- just GMing so I'm looking for a long term game. Not sure what I'm thinking of putting together yet. Probably going to work on a full-magician. My only other characters have all been snipers or weapons specialists. Playing around with mojo should be interesting. Plus, I've always wanted a Voodoo character -- maybe Obatala or Legba.

What year are we in? Helps me figure out the age of the character.

[Blitz]

I believe the year is 2062...but I'll have to get my year of the comet book back soon to tell you the exact month. We will eventually work into that year, but Id like a little build up first.

[Dashifen]

Okay -- worked up Pili, a Voodoo Hougan with a Patron Loa of Obatala. Gonna post his background for others to read. I want to work on creating a nice Char Sheet for him, but I emailed you a Zip file, Blitz, containing a finalized .sr3 file and the background file that is also pasted below.

[ Spoiler ]

BACKGROUND:

Phillip Lacroix was born to human parents in the late 2030's in New Orleans. The family is ethnic creole and as a result of family tradition, Phillip -- or Pili (pee-lee) as he is called -- learned French and English growing up. He has an older half-brother named Alexander. Alexander is the son of an African man and Pili's mother. When intrested in his roots Alexander begain to research African languages. He found out that Pili is "Second Born" in Swahili and dubbed his little brother that early. The name stuck.

His early life was relatively easy. He joined a local youth organization and it is there that he began to learn about computers and first aid. The organization was similar to the late 20th's Boy Scouts. He was chummy with people at school but something of a follower. He was ready to get to know people but didn't really understand how to lead the groups of which he was a part -- including the youth organization. In it, he was a patrol leader for a while -- in charge of about seven boys. It was one of these young boys that first introduced Pili to Voodoo.

Growing up in New Orleans, you couldn't help but learn something about Voodoo. The native traditions of the Carribbean and the old French south had meshed with Christianity so long ago that few understood the origins of the practice, but none could deny that legends of the voodoo doll and zombies were rife in the region. Plus, since the awakening and the "arrival" of Loa spirits and the magical powers of the Hougan, the tradition began to be understood as a viable and real mystical system. Pili learned about Voodoo from Lawrence. Larry's family were Voodoo hougans for generations and he described each of the Loa to Pili. Coupling his social nature as wel as his ability to easily make friends, Pili felt drawn to Legba and Obatala.

It was during his teens when Pili goblinized from Human to Ork. Goblinization was becoming more infrequent but everyone recognized the signs. Pili was kicked out of the youth organization and lost most of his friends except for Larry. Larry and his family didn't really mind Pili's new appearance and felt that his value as a person was still the same as it was prior.

Things were okay for a while. His parents adjusted but his brother didn't want to associate with the Ork in their midst. School became more difficult as the others harassed him for this apperance, and Pili began to find it more difficult to communicate with others who were focused on what they thought he was instead of what he truly was. He was happy though -- or at least content -- to stay where he was.

That is until Larry's family was killed. As far as anyone knew, it was a random act of violence. Pili knew otherwise. Larry had told him that his family had a rival in the underworld politics of New Orleans post-awakening Voodoo politics. Pili assumed that the rivals had finally decided that Larry's family had become too powerful and destroyed them. Pili was inscensed. For the first time, he performed a ritual to summon a Loa spirit of Obatala -- defender of the weak. The spirit of the Loa possessed him and through his own newly awoken magical abilities and the power of the Loa incarnate, Pili was able to claim vengence on the rival family.

His vengence was not "complete" as others would have felt it, as the rivals were left alive. Obatala is not a fan of death and prefers a non-lethal solution to problems. As a result, the rivals knew of a rising power in Pili that could threaten their power base. They tracked Pili down and gave him an ultimatum: leave or your family dies. Pili left.

He wandered for a while, performing small rituals to the Loa in order to help him on his way. Using their powers when necessary and learning spells from other shamans that he met as he moved from New Orleans north into the UCAS and then eventually west to Seattle. In Seattle, he lives in a small 1 bedroom economy apartment. He has some connections to the Ork Underground, but prefers to live above ground. He often works as security for small businesses -- setting up astral wards or providing spirits to help when necessary. And, his friend Hugh is often ready to help out with a little muscle if necessary.

APPEARANCE

Pili is an Ork about 5' 11" (1.8m) tall. He's wiry and thin for an Ork at only 130lbs (58kg). His skin has an olive cast to it. The striking part about his are his amber/yellow eyes. His eyes were originally brown but seem to lighten to their current golden color when he goblinized.

As with most patrons of Obatala, he wears almost exclusively white clothing. The exception to this is his long coat,which is a more fashionable black. His normal clothing usually consists of a pair of white or kahki pants with a white shirt. His armored clothing is similarly colored -- just will a little added benefit for when the drek hits the fan.

As a result of all of this white clothing, and due to his generally ordered mind and logical way of dealing with things, he has developed a mild form of Misophobia -- a fear and dislike of dirt and germs. It's not dibilitating, but Pili is constantly focused on remaining clean and keeping his white clothing as white as possible.

SKILLS, ATTRIBUTES, AND RESOUCES

He's not good at saving money. But he's not the best at making it either. Most of what he earns goes into his rent, which he tries to stay ahead of by pre-paying in quarters or thirds of a year. His skills with a pistol were mostly honed in conjunction with some training from Hugh, who orginally gave Pili his gun. The magical training that Pili has received is mostly in the form of other shamans with who Pili has associated. Further, the learning that he acquired from Larry as a young man has proven invaluable.

He has increased his abilities with a computer, focusing on searching for information. He often sells this abilities to others if they needs someone to act as private investigator. He also recalls most of his First Aid training that he received as a boy in the youth organization.

He has always been a polite person so the ettiquette of the modern world was not hard for him to assimilate. Further, he's always been an intelligent person -- a fact that he has used to his advantage from time to time. Especially since others are usually expecting the dumb-fragging-tusker personality from Pili, he can sometimes put people off balance by understanding complex concepts faster than people would usually expect him to.

PERSONALITY

Pili does not like to kill. He sees it as the removal of the potential for his opponents to produce something valuable -- even if only by luck. Instead, he focuses on confusing his enemies or just fast talking his way through a situation. When forced to, he is not afraid to resort to his gun, but he usually relies on Gel rounds rather than lethal bullets.

He prefers to work in situations where he feels that his actions benefit the underdogs. Working for small business, schools, families, etc. make him feel as if he is helping to defend those who are less able to defend themselves.

He's quick with a joke and generally fun to be around. His interests in cooking -- especially with foreign and obscure seasonings help to pass some of his spare time. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to focus on these interests to the extent that he would like.

His goal is to eventually open a small restaurant. However, recognizing the shorter life span that he faces as a result of his race, he's beginning to feel the press of time and is sometimes willing to take more risks now than he was in order to try and make more money.

RUNNING THE SHADOWS

Pili runs the shadows because he feels that it is the best application for his skills. He can work around the system and work to help those that are hurt by it. Further, as an Ork, his life outside the shadows would always be frought with the common dumb-fragging-tusker stereotype. But, in the shadows, his skills are valued and often surpass the stereotypes.

NOTE: Editted background for Edges/Flaws and some character information about Obatala requirements.

This post has been edited by Dashifen: Jan 22 2004, 11:23 PM

[Buddha72]

Hey Blitz, color me there. I will dig through my old characters and see who I want to play. I am leaning towards an adept of some sort. I will shoot you an email today or tomorrow with the details.

[Shadow]

Blitz has assured me I am in, I am playing Trace, a hermatic mage with a focus on combat and intrigue.

[Blitz]

So far, I have two confirmed.

Shadow playing Trace
Buddha playing Jane/John Doe

I have others I still need time to review before accepting. Work is hell today, so it might have to wait till I get home.

[Dashifen]

Blitz: Editted background to include some information on his Misophobia as well as his edges. See post above. Didn't resend it to you in an email because it's basically the same.

-- Dash --

[Buddha72]

Hey Blitz baby!!

I was thinking about Song Shan (Mr. Creepy) that befriended your character in the last game we were in. The one where I was teaching you the rules of the modern jungle.

That work for you?

[Maxxi]

I was thinking about playing a Decker, but not just any Decker. This guy is a human decker who thinks he's as good as a fighter outside the Matrix as he is inside. Sure that'll wear off fast... :cyber:

[Blitz]

Buddha...you are SO lucky I luv ya. but yes....Mr. Creepy is okie dokie.

[Buddha72]

(kneels in abject humility)

I will thank the 1,000 deities for your kindness. I stand ready as your humble servant.