80s training montages and asian mentors Options

[Wounded Ronin]

Many of you probably remember how back in your favorite 80s martial arts films the hero was only able to kick ass after he went through a two minute training montage with funky pseudo asian music blared in the background and an asian mentor. Examples of this would be Bloodsport, Kickboxer, and The Karate Kid.

I decided that in order to enhance SRs 80s-ness I should write a SR3 rule for training montages. My aim was to keep the rule fun but not too powerful, so give me your comments.

Training Montage:

If your character needs to become more powerful in many different ways within a shorter time frame you will need a training montage.

A training montage offers a reduced karma cost and time investment for a character who needs to perfect many different skills and attributes at once. It's only a "good deal" if you are improving many things at once.

A montage costs the following amount of karma: (karma cost of most expensive skill or attribute improvement) + (average karma cost of all other skill or attribute improvements)

A montage uses the same formula for time with "time" replacing the term "karma cost" in the above equation.

In order to be able to execute a training montage two conditions must be met:

1.) A character must have an appropriate level "Asian Mentor" contact. (See below.)

2.) The player of the character must pick and play appropriate training montage 80s music and, for at least two minutes, must physically act out his or her character training and improving with the music playing in the background. The montage does not take effect until the player has succeeded in making the other players present giggle.


Asian Mentor Contact

The Asian Mentor Contact costs the same as any other normal SR3 contact. However, you need an Asian Mentor to be able to perform a training montage. The usefulness of the montage depends on the level of your Asian Mentor contact. A level 1 Asian Mentor contact allows you make a training montage for the purpose of raising skills or attributes up to a limit of level 3. A level 2 Asian Mentor contact allows you to make a training montage for the purpose of raising skills or attributes up to a limit of level 6. A level 3 Asian Mentor contact allows you to raise skills or attributes as high as you want during a training montage but the drawback of the level 3 Asian Mentor is that if he gets abducted your character has no choice but to attempt a rescue and the GM is required to torture you with ninjas in the commission of your rescue. ("IZUMO!!!" - American Ninja 3.)

[FanGirl]

Great idea, except I would rule that the Mentor need not be Asian. After all, the training montages in the Rocky films are perhaps the most famous montages in film history, yet Rocky's trainer is white.

Speaking of Rocky, someone should compile a list of good montage songs, one of which is "Gonna Fly Now" from the film's soundtrack. The list should also include "Montage" from Team America: World Police, and this is why:

[Lagomorph]

[Supercilious]

That team America song is really not that funny.

[Dog]

Thank you for this brilliant idea. Threads like this one keep me on this forum.

[Domino]

:huh: you've got to be kidding me.

[Kalvan]

I would impose the following restrictions on training montages:

May not raise Mental Attributes, only Physical

May only raise Combat or Physical Skills. May not raise Social (Except Ettiquettes), Technical, or Vehicle skills.

The only Combat skills that may be raised are unarmed combat, melee weapons, improvised and/or aerodynamic throwing weapons, and Archery. Firearms, crossobws, energy weapons, any weapon employing the Gunnery skill are out!

Super Secret TechniquesTM require a Rating 3 Mentor, and multiply the Karma cost by 1.25 (round all fractions up) per technique earned (and require the expenditure of 1 Karma point for every use). These Super Secret Techniques may be learned as Physical Adept powers instead(though not metamagic), assuming you have power points to spend...

[Frag-o Delux]

So if I have a chinese dude sitting around I could learn 11 different skills from 0 to 6 for only 64 Karma? I mean the highest skill would be 32 karma (31.5 rounded up supposing you have a 6 in the attribute governing the skills you wish to raise) plus the average of the rest of the skills, which would be 320/10=32 so 32+32=64 karma for 11 skills. Unless I really fucked my math up some where thats pretty ridiculous.

[Domino]

Hey and with the optional side kick rules you could cut that in half.

Give me a break.

[Frag-o Delux]

But the side kick would have to be killed by the nemisis of the runner at the beginning of the campaign. In a very dramatic way. Like the runner is distracted by the pay data nd the security guard they thought was dead sits up an shoots sparky in the back with his ally spirit created dikoted slivergun. Making the runner want to train harder.

[Domino]

But only if he has sex with it.

[Frag-o Delux]

With his dead sidekick?

[Domino]

No the Dikoted AVS ally spirit. The Necrophilia would just be RP at that point for an extra karma point.

[Frag-o Delux]

Ok, so we are down to 32 karama for 11 skills from 0 to 6 if joe runner has sex with a dikoted ally spirit AVS after a guard dramatically kills sparky, then trains with some asian guy. And if he he also has sex with sparkys corps hell get a bonus karma point for RPing? Sounds like a plan, can I have more then one sidekick at character creation?

[Domino]

No, only one at a time. But you can get more Side Kicks through RP to use in future Montages.

Side Kicks cost 10 karma earned through RP only so you need to keep track of where your karma comes from. (known as the munchkin clause) You can only have one Side Kick at a time and they musy have a name that ends in 'y' Sparky, Dorky etc.

[Frag-o Delux]

But thats more paper work and makes the rules overly complicated. What we need is a more stream lined rule set that captures the essence of the rule, but a lot less restrictive.

SO I suggest at character creation, pick any movie, book, comic book etc character you want, make them how youd like them to be. I mean Wolverine never used gatlin gun, but you never know when your runner may need one, so tack on heavy weapons 6 for good measure. Then you just say you had Sparky, but he died, you raped his corps an now you are going to get revenge. We'll cut out the whole karma system, the skill training time and all those surperfluous rules slowing the game down.

[Domino]

Actually make it even easier and just say you have all skills at 6.

[Frag-o Delux]

Can I still rape Sparky?

[Domino]

I dont see why not, but thats just me.

[Frag-o Delux]

Good, because I dont want to see any roles that limit my corps rapeing abilities.

Oh, Domino remember this from the lounge?

Memo:
To: All boardmembers, Division Heads, CEO Domino

From: Chairman of the Board, VP Europe, Head of Physical Security, Black Ops and Desert Wars Campaign, President and CEO of Empire. Great Balls of Thunder, VNN and subsidiaries, Empire Heavy Industries, Flying Monkey MaPS, Too Many Trees Publishing House and OSI, Empire Orphanage and Penitentairy, Board Member of DPC Africa, Asia, and Antarctica, Manager Darth Phylos Lords Urban Brawl team, Board Member of Domino Dyne, Head of R&D of Yo-Yo Dyne Industries,

Subject: Our robotic pants now have extra sac room and more armor.

I would like to inform the share holders and potential investers that Yo-Yo Dyne has worked closely with Domino Dyne to develope new nanotech which increases the crotch strength of our polyester leisure pants. We also added a second pouch to keep the boys from sticking together in warmer climates, like Miami.

[Domino]

Technically a runners role is to rape corps. Or did you mean a rule about the raping, well consensual really sparky cant say no, of corpses?

Edit: curse complicated concepts such as punctuation.

[Domino]

[Frag-o Delux]

Damn you and your proper spelling, you should know better then that to correct me, Im going to have to... wait they made us leave that game. Ill have to figure out how to get even. Hey you work with dead or close to dead people dont you? I guess thats where you came up with the they cant say no rule, to ease your conscience.

[Domino]

What is this conscience of which you speak? :huh:

And maybe some day the EMU will be rolled out and you can be Fish boi once again.

[Frag-o Delux]