Recruitment: Behind the Crown, 3rd Edition Shadowrun , 2060 Options

[Koekepan]

Welp, it happened. I had too much 'shine, lost a bet, and here we are: I'm running a shadowrun PbP game.

This thread is to collect players and gauge interest.

Need to know:

Character generation limited by what's in the main book, and the companion, with limited excursions to the Grimoire as appropriate. Whichever chargen method suits you best is fine by me; I expect most will use point buy.

No initiates. Want to initiate? Do it in-game.

Party to contain a maximum of one full mage, and one adept. This isn't magicrun, and I intend to keep limits on how magically-dominated (as opposed to magic-fascinated) the milieu is. I don't care what magical tradition, within common sense (no, you're not a praying mantis adept, get over it).

'ware of any sort will be bog standard level. Want deltaware? Find it in-game.

Play whatever race you want (except as detailed below), but in-milieu racism is a thing that I will enforce, so be prepared. This goes double for uncommon variants, so your Night One/Giant/Satyr party might not do well.

Forbidden races: no ghouls, no 'shifters, no immortal elves, and of course no changelings, because of course not. Similarly, I don't do otaku/technomancers.

To add some flavour, I will allow one special thing for the nonmagical, and one for the magical:

Nonmagical: I allow for cyberzombies. Essence 0 does not mean death, it means that you're a vestigial meatbag piloting a robobody. This has all the implications you might imagine, and then some. It's ... probably not a thing that you want to be, but if that's your bag? Go for it.

Magical: Magicians can, without expending karma, create a single-use item, usable by anyone with some essence left (sorry, cyber-zombies) for any spell for which they have the formula whether or not they've spent the karma to inscribe it on their own souls. This means that, in theory, a team's medic could have a healing spell on hand despite being about as magical as a burrito fart. It also means that a magician could in principle cast a spell for which they haven't spent karma. The catch is that creating such a thing:

* costs 100 NY * force * force in ingredients
* takes drain as if the caster had cast it
* takes force * hours to create
* must be done in a lodge
* nonmagical characters must be instructed in its use
* magicians can use them, but only after analysis unless they're of the same tradition as the original creator
* they are visible on the astral
* generally this only applies to sorcery
* summoning and banishing is on a per-spirit basis, hence generally not worth it

Game concept:

You will start as a corporate employee. Not one of the majors. This has the various social implications that you should imagine, so if your plan was to create an unemployable kleptomaniac with constant anal leakage, you might have to do some very fast talking to explain why. (Or save yourself the time and effort and come up with someone who looks plausible in sarariman suit for long enough to get hired.)

This will not be pure Redneck Run, but don't be surprised if the natural world, and primary industries intrude in various ways.

The employment in question will be in a satellite office that will need a few staff, from some clerical (good for the decker and gumshoe types), some technical (ditto riggers), and some office security (good for the more mercenary and magical types).

Preview of coming attractions:

The opening/get-to-know-you run will be how you leave the corporate world and get all shadowy. Whether you decide to go Pink Mohawk until the majors hunt you down like dogs, or Mirrorshade it for the long game afterwards, is up to you.

Style:

Big, loud noises get big, loud responses. Going loud in downtown Seattle is a good way to get wasted, and fast. What happens under the eye of cameras should be assumed to be seen, and analysed, automatically. The saving grace is that just because it got captured on camera doesn't mean that anybody gave a damn, and most of the world suffers from a tragic camera deficit. This means that knowing the security profile of an area is vital. The panopticon does not exist, and definitely not in depressed or rural areas.

Recommendations for group makeup:

One full magician. As above, shamanic/hermetic doesn't matter much, but employability is a concern so while a shaman of Mouse might be fine, a shaman of Rat would be questionable.

(At least) One decker. You may have heard that there are a lot of computers around. Deckers can help.

(At least) One rigger. Everything from building installations to drones to forklifts are easier to handle this way, if you have the rig.

(At least) One intel operative. This could easily be a pretty face being one half receptionist, one half HR representative in a branch office, with a knack for dealing with people and digging up their secrets. Being able to jimmy cabinet locks without leaving evidence is just a bonus.

(At least) One muscle. Sure, riggers can provide awesome tools, but sometimes the right tool for the job is a maladjusted vandal with a short temper and size 15 boots just right for kicking a door in.

[pbangarth]

I'm interested!

Here are the constraints on me:

1) I haven't played 3rd edition since 4th came out. I have the BBB and Companion in PDF format on my computer, and I -hope- I still have hard copy of these and other books somewhere. So I would be rusty at the beginning.

2) I currently play two PbP PCs, a 'tank' who drives well, and an adept face. From the very beginning I have avoided playing a decker, in no small part because after thirteen years as a programmer I have had enough. I wanna be other things in my fantasies. So that leaves magic most likely, either magician or adept. Which is fine, as these are the roles I am most comfortable with (especially adepts).

I've always maintained that 'magic run' is more an artifact of GMs not playing the world as it should be for the Awakened. This has gotten me into trouble with people who think, "Who are you to tell me I don't know how to run a Shadowrun game?" I am glad to see in your intro, Koekepan, that you won't let it happen.

Given the above, if it's OK with you I would like to start building a magician. Hey, being a corporate mage (until the drek hits the fan) could be fun.

[Koekepan]

I'm interested!

Here are the constraints on me:

1) I haven't played 3rd edition since 4th came out. I have the BBB and Companion in PDF format on my computer, and I -hope- I still have hard copy of these and other books somewhere. So I would be rusty at the beginning.

If I hear enough screamings about 3rd Edition, I guess we could investigate 4th. I'm familiar with it, and I have the books, but I just happen to dig 3rd Ed. So, consider that option open.

2) I currently play two PbP PCs, a 'tank' who drives well, and an adept face. From the very beginning I have avoided playing a decker, in no small part because after thirteen years as a programmer I have had enough. I wanna be other things in my fantasies. So that leaves magic most likely, either magician or adept. Which is fine, as these are the roles I am most comfortable with (especially adepts).

Sure. First come first serve, I reckon, and I'm sure you could do the job. Why not throw together a concept and we'll see where we land?

I've always maintained that 'magic run' is more an artifact of GMs not playing the world as it should be for the Awakened. This has gotten me into trouble with people who think, "Who are you to tell me I don't know how to run a Shadowrun game?" I am glad to see in your intro, Koekepan, that you won't let it happen.

Given the above, if it's OK with you I would like to start building a magician. Hey, being a corporate mage (until the drek hits the fan) could be fun.

Magicrun doesn't have to happen if you consider the rarity and the uses of magicians. I don't want to show too much of my hand, but here are some short takes:


Magicians are mostly employed in either academia, high end corporate gigs or the magical support field (talismongering and so on). This is a comfortable, well-supported, relatively low-risk environment, so most people with strong employment options will pick one of the above. An additional cadre are in various nation-level forms of employment such as forensics, military security and so on, but the same thing applies: it's a plum job, so they have little reason to go off on their own, and they're rare enough that the forces that employ them won't be throwing them willy-nilly at every silly mission that crops up.

By adding the bit where magicians can actually create one-time uses for other people to use, it makes even more sense to put a corporate mage in a magical lab where they crank out single-use items for others to use in various exotic means, and keep them far the hell away from anything too risky. They're too big and valuable an investment. If a wagemage can crank out 4 Force 2 shots in a working day, for NY1600, that enables a factory to crank out 40 items worth NY50000 each every day, that wagemage is going to get a fat paypacket, all the footrubs the corporate brothel can dish out, and no incentive to go anywhere or do anything except climb the corporate wagemage ladder until they're cranking out 1 Force 6 shot a day, for NY3600, that enables a factory to crank out 600 items worth NY500000 each daily.

So magicians on the street? Are slumming, crazy, or insanely specialised. And they're a tiny minority, of which you happen to be one.

[pbangarth]

Hey, it's like a marriage. If the GM is happy, you are happy.

[Koekepan]

Hey, it's like a marriage. If the GM is happy, you are happy.

I await your cyclops raccoon shaman with bated breath.

[pbangarth]

Any hints about the corp we work for? I'm trying to figure out spells, and maybe if I knew what my position is in the company, I could work them out more easily. I could go for the generic mix that is common, but if my guy is a counter-espionage, interrogation dude, that colours the spells I would choose.

I assume the Companion suggestion of no more than 60 BP for Attributes applies?

Is it allowed to start with a bonded focus?

EDIT: Wow. Already I'm talking about "my" spells. No problem suspending disbelief, here. Nope.

[Koekepan]

Any hints about the corp we work for? I'm trying to figure out spells, and maybe if I knew what my position is in the company, I could work them out more easily. I could go for the generic mix that is common, but if my guy is a counter-espionage, interrogation dude, that colours the spells I would choose.

Your role would be in R&D support, cranking out single-use healing spell and growth promoting items for the use of technicians. However, because of my remarks above, that shouldn't be taken as a mandate that you take healing spells. The corporation would supply any formulae that you require for cranking out items. What would make more sense is some thought given to supporting skills such as arcana, alchemy, that sort of thing. Within those limits you can have a pretty wide range of capabilities.

The corp itself is in the business of producing biological substitutes for petrochemicals for the bulk manufacturing field, but your role in R&D has more to do with supporting bioreactors for research engineers than anything near the front lines of factory work. As I said, it's a satellite office.

I assume the Companion suggestion of no more than 60 BP for Attributes applies?

Yes, but more as a suggestion than a hard law. Violating it would make me look hard at the sheet, figuring out if you're a rabid min-maxer, or true to a concept.

Is it allowed to start with a bonded focus?

I'll allow it provisionally, with a caveat that you probably don't want something so valuable that you would be a target just for having it. But isn't that true for all runners?

EDIT: Wow. Already I'm talking about "my" spells. No problem suspending disbelief, here. Nope.

[pbangarth]

So, I'm trying to wrap my head around how a magician, who is basically a lab tech, will escape the corporate world fully equipped with Fireball and Increase Reflexes spells. I am, at heart, that min-max guy who wants his PC to be the fastest in the room. But I don't see it for this magician ... unless, what? ... he is a Karl Kombat Mage afficionado and pretends/prepares?

Hmmm. I don't buy it. And I wonder how the corp will react to Mini-Karl the lab tech accessing their library to study combat spells.

But, if I don't buy it, the first combat round will be his last.

Hmmmm.

I cogitate further.

Buuuut ... what if his studies preceded his current employment, which he took under heavy parental/societal pressure?

And now he chafes at the boredom and predictability and banality and soul-destroying corporate indoctrination, and the utter, unbearable weight of the prospect of decades of cranking out meaningless little trinkets for fools with half his intelligence and a tenth of his Will to Power!

What then?

[Koekepan]

He doesn't have to start out as a walking, talking artillery piece, but even so:

There are lots of good reasons for a biotech lab to have some capability to lay various forms of smack down. Nasty critter getting loose in the equipment room? How about a little stunbolting? Euthanasia time, how about manabolting? Quick sterilisation of a used tank, how about a fireball, or for that matter how about some of the acid-related spells?

Think different!

And of course, lots of reason for healing abilities.

[pbangarth]

Thanks for being more out of the box than I! That's very helpful.

[Koekepan]

Out of the box?

That's where I live, chummer!

Of course, you could also make a very good research magician, expert at dealing with spirits, simply cranking out the single-use items as a way of making the wage machine crank out nuyen for your lifestyle. And those can be great ways of affecting combat.

[pbangarth]

Yeah, I have been considering spirits as the way out of the conundrum.

I have to look more closely at the mechanism for generating items you describe. I didn't think my guy could use it to generate income for himself -while- employed by the corp.

Just so I am sure I understand SR3 mechanics, an Increase Reflexes +3 spell could be cast at Force 1 and still increase reflexes by 3D6 -- assuming the caster survives the Drain. Correct?

[Koekepan]

It's not really good for an independent income, because of the costs involved. For an individual, this is not a cheap nor easy way of making serious cash. Talismongers will of course do it, if they are magicians, or sponsor or hire magicians to do it on an on-demand basis, but it's usually just corps or the military who will spend the time and money to have a magician crank out a bunch of on-demand improved invisibility whatsits for their special forces, or something.

Or in your case, growth boosters for the biolab techs.

It's a living. A tiring, dull living. But the pay's good and the perks are cool.

Yes, Increase Reflexes +3 cast with Force 1 still works - but it's easier to dispel than one cast with Force 2. Or 6, for that matter.

[pbangarth]

Along the lines of the " I would have thought ..." thread I started in the Shadowrun subgroup, I would have thought with all the posters wingeing about Shadowrun going to pot after SR3, there would be people lined up to join this game. Where are they all?

Hey! I found my SR3 source material! Yay! It includes #763 of the limited edition BBB, complete with cartoons and signatures by Hooper and Nelson inside the front cover. It was a present from my ex-wife who stood in line for a long time to get one. Ah ... there are some fond memories.

[Koekepan]

Along the lines of the " I would have thought ..." thread I started in the Shadowrun subgroup, I would have thought with all the posters wingeing about Shadowrun going to pot after SR3, there would be people lined up to join this game. Where are they all?

Maybe they got scared at the idea that I might shut them out of the magicrun? I don't know. Maybe it's too old and crusty and they want SR4?

Hey! I found my SR3 source material! Yay! It includes #763 of the limited edition BBB, complete with cartoons and signatures by Hooper and Nelson inside the front cover. It was a present from my ex-wife who stood in line for a long time to get one. Ah ... there are some fond memories.

Sweet. Do you also have the old Grimoire? Any other goodies? A memorabilia egg from the Universal Brotherhood? A still-wrapped, unsigned packet from Chicago?

[pbangarth]

The only Grimoire I can lay my hands on right now is in Magic in the Shadows. I seem to be missing some materials, like my standard BBB for third edition (which, admittedly, was pretty beaten up). I thought I had a grimoire of some sort. I have various books ans supplements from 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th editions, plus the core book for 6th. Hey, I wanted to see what it was like.

[Koekepan]

No big deal. If there's something you need, I should be able to dig it up for you, but mostly there are things like additional spell lists, enchanting, ritual magic, druids and initiation.

I think it was officially a 2nd Ed book, but was more or less carried along for 3rd Ed.

[pbangarth]

EDIT #1: 6 June 2020 This is being radically redone. Wait for update.

EDIT #2: 6 June 2020 Done.

EDIT #3: 12 June 2020

EDIT #4: 19 Dec 2021 - after some game play - gear, money, karma earned and spent

So, here's preliminary character data, to be fleshed out, of course:

Connor Tupolev: Bright, young magician, stuck in a boring, repetitive job in a mid-level corporation. A mental, not so much physical, athlete, he revels in the challenges posed by philosophers old and new, and by the mysteries of the Astral world beyond our own. Everybody likes him, despite his sometimes acerbic tongue, but he likes few people, most of whom he feels are living way below their potential. "If ever there was an example of Nietzche's 'Superman'," thinks Connor, "it is I."

Background

[ Spoiler ]

Connor Tupolev

Life presented few challenges to Connor, right from the start. Born into a comfortable, middle-class family in Toronto, Ontario, he had all the food, educational toys, loving attention he needed. The fact that he was a Dwarf didn't even phase his parents, and spared him most of the prejudices faced by other transformed people.

Early school was a breeze. Hardly a test went by that wasn't an adventure. He figured out math problems from first principles, since he had never done the homework, memorization and grunt studying necessary to prepare regular kids for exams. English and French classes? Pffft! He figured out the nuances of "The Road Less Traveled" long before the teacher explained them. Phys Ed? well, that was another story. Something to be endured until he could once again exercise his mind.

Things got a little tougher in late high school, when he started reading deeper treatises from philosophers such as Kant and Aristotle. And, especially when Magic burst out of him during one encounter with a mouth-breathing bully. But the twin explorations, inwards to understand the meanings of things, and outwards to understand the ways of the Awakened, finally gave Connor things that were 'worth his time'. Usually, he explored these things late into the night, more and more eschewing the light of day.

Having finally decided to apply himself, nothing could get in his way. Which is just as well. Any more, Connor distrusted luck, that usually failed him, and went instead for planning and hard work. Scholarships came to the bright, young lad. He chose MIT&T for his studies, double majoring in Philosophy and Thaumaturgy. The young magician received a call in his first year, from deep in the eyes of a bird of prey that landed on his dorm windowsill. Owl spoke to him. The promise of a Guide into the deeper worlds of Magic enticed Connor. For the first time, he surrendered to a power he believed greater than that which he considered his birthright.

After receiving his undergraduate degree, he considered graduate school, but couldn't decide between going the route of Philosophy or of Magic. He found it odd that his professors couldn't see that there was an overlap. There was a better understanding of that synergy in some of the German schools, and his command of that language was passable, but political issues in that part of the world were daunting. And pressure from his parents, particularly his father, grew daily. Biozu was primed to burst onto the financial scene, his economist father predicted. Getting in on the ground level now would set Connor up to rise along with UMC, his mother advised.

The reality is, no amount of pressure could force a young man of such powerful will as Connor to do what he didn't want to do. But, Connor just wanted to read philosophy and poke at the mysteries beyond the veil of the Astral Plane. So he took a job, in a branch office in Seattle, where drudge work cranking out small biotech magic allowed his mind to wander through the intricacies of the writings of his new philo-buddy, Nietzche. The "Will to Power" was so misunderstood by the world, thought Connor.

Oh, and Biozu was happy to find someone glad to do the night shift, not just for the production work, but a magician on call in the middle of the night offered a great boost to security work. Biozu gladly supplied the materials and access to formulae for Connor to develop spells to enhance bio-tech work and fend off agents of corporate espionage.

But ... questions arise now in Connor's mind. "Is this all there is to life? Work your shift and punch the clock?" "Where and when can I show my true strengths and abilities?" "When can I become the leader I was born to be?" His parents, and Human Resources at Biozu advise him to be patient.

Connor is patient, but plans for contingencies, too.

20 Questions

[ Spoiler ]

Connor Tupolev - no street name yet


1. Where are you from?

Born in Toronto, Ontario in 2035. Moved to Seattle after graduation from MIT&T.

2. Do you have a Family?

Yes, back in Toronto. Parents solidly middle class. No siblings.

3. Ethnic Background?

Caucasian. First Dwarf in the family.

4+5. What do you look like/ dress like?

Tall and thin for a dwarf, almost could be a short human. Dark brown hair and eyes. A nice smile. Casual chic dress to work at Biozu. When 'slumming', he may wear armored clothing or long coat.

6. Any Physical quirks?

No. But he has a strong steady gaze when he is figuring you out.

7. Where did you learn your active skills?

Mostly at university, though Biozu has helped him learn a number of spells, both combat and health.

8. Where have you acquired your knowledge?

As #7. Languages in university to read philosophers in their own words. Same for the rest except for corporate culture from his employment and self-help info on the Matrix.

9. Where did you get all your resources?

Funds from parents and scholarships for school, income from Biozu since then. Connor can be very disciplined when he wants to save money.

10. Where do you live?

Seattle, in a mid-level condo. Nothing fancy but comfortable.

11. Who are your contacts?

Billy "Beards' Morgan: Tech -wiz buddy from university. Lots of school hijinks in their stories when they get together to drink. Billy helps Connor 'slum' with fake ID, etc.

Mary Margaret McMahon: Talismonger in Tacoma. There was a short flash of romantic interest, but mostly business now.

Henry Swift: of Swift Books in downtown Seattle. Lots of books bought and sold here by Connor. Henry has the lowdown on cultural events in the city.


12. Do you have any enemies?

Not that Connor knows of. Some bullies from way back, but that nonsense stopped when he Awakened.


13. You have anything to do with magic?

Owl Shaman. Works at Biozu branch plant in Seattle, cranking out magically enhanced bio-tech.

14. What do you like and dislike?

Like: Deep thoughts. Puzzles. Conversation.
Dislike: Dullards. Flippancy. Wasted talent.

15. Do you have a moral code?

Yes, but it is developing as he reads Nietzche more deeply. Murder? No. Lesser crimes? What is the big picture? Defend yourself in extremis? Damn right.

16. What are your goals?

Didn't have many for a long time. Strongly tending now towards self-development into a leader of meta-humanity into its best nature.

Yeah, I know.

17. What are your beliefs?

Humanity has a purpose, hidden to him as yet, but waiting to be discovered. Religion was an early, halting step towards understanding that. Need to go beyond, now, especially since Magic has returned, machines have melded with humans, and power structures have shifted as nations disintegrate.

18. Do you have personal quirks?

Curtness with those who 'don't get it'.

19. Why do you "run the shadows"?

Run as yet is an overstatement. Connor dips his toes into the dark and then scuttles back to his job.


20. How do you view your role as a Shadowrunner?

Imaginary, as yet.

Stats

[ Spoiler ]

Connor Tupolev 120 BP

Street Name: Blue

Race: Dwarf 5
Attributes: 44
Magic: 30
Skills: 26
Resources (400K): 20
Edges/Flaws -5

Attributes: 50 points plus 30 for Magic

B 3
Q 4
S 3
C 4
I 4
W 8 (12)
ESS 6
MAG 6 (Owl Shaman)
Reaction 4
Initiative 4 + 1D6

Combat Pool 8 (10)
Astral Combat Pool 8 (10)
Spell Pool 6 (7)

Edges/Flaws: -5

Sensitive System -2
Phobia Spiders (Unc/ Mild) -2
(includes arachnoid drones)
College Education 1
Bad Karma -5
Exceptional Attribute (WIL) 2
Bonus Attribute Point (WIL) 2

Active Skills: 26 points

Sorcery 5
--Spellcasting 6
Conjuring 5
-- Summoning 6
Aura Reading 3
Etiquette 3
Pistols 3
Biotech 1
Stealth 1
Negotiation 2
Leadership 1
Edged Weapons 1
Computer 1

Spell Points 25 (Magician) + 9 (225 K Nuyen) = 34

Security Duties


F5 Stunbolt 5
F1 Mindlink 1
F5 Fireball 5(3) exclusive limited (learn)
F3 Heal 3(1) exclusive limited (learn)
F4 Increase Attribute (WIL) 4(2) exclusive limited (learn)
bonding F4 Sustaining Focus (Increase Attribute (WIL)) 4
F2 Physical Barrier

Biotech Duties

F1 Sterilize 1
F3 Analyze Device 3(1) exclusive limited (learn)
F3 Prophylaxis 3(1) exclusive limited (learn)
F3 Antidote 3
F3 Cure Disease 3
F3 Magic Fingers 3
F1 Oxygenate 1

Other (eg. for 'slumming')

F1 Nutrition
F3 Fashion 3(1) exclusive limited (learn)
F3 Makeover 3(1) exclusive limited (learn)

Knowledge Skills: 20 points

-to Language Skills- 8
philosophy 3
magic background 3
arcana 2
alchemy 2
biology 1
corporate culture 1

Language Skills: 6 points + 8

English 6/3
French 2/2
German 2/2
Ancient Greek 2/1


Contacts: (see also 20 questions)

Level 1 Mary Margaret McMahon: Talismonger (see sample Contact p. 259)
Level 1 Henry Swift: Bookseller and cultural scuttlebutt collector.

Level 2 Billy 'Beards' Morgan:Tech-Wiz (sample character p. 77) - source for fake ID


Gear: 400K Nuyen -225 K nuyen for spell points = 175 K nuyen

F4 Sustaining Focus 60,000
Level 2 Contact 10,000

middle Lifestyle 5,000/mth X 3 15,000
-- now living in a hovel under a thrasher bar
shamanic lodge setup at home F6 3,000
-- not yet set up in new digs
extra shamanic lodge materials F6 3,000

Ares Predator 450
clips (15) regular ammo X 4 120

armor clothing (3/0) 500
secure long coat (4/2) 650

burner phone X 5

Allegiance Sigma cyberterminal 12,600
read/write 3 600
analyze 3 900
browse 3 300
sleaze 3 900
cloak 3 900

Fake SIN Credstick R3 9,000
Permit for Predator linked to legal SIN.

One-off spell items

formulae

f6 Heal 6,000
F6 Improved Invisibility 600
F6 Influence 3,000
F6 Detect Individual 300
F6 Powerbolt 6,000
F6 Armor 600
F6 Astral Armor 600

items (3,600 nuyen each)

astral armor X 1
armor X 1
powerbolt X 2 1
detect individual X 1
influence X 1
improved invisibility X 1
heal X 3 1

remaining current nuyen ??

Karma Earned:
19 Dec 2021 -- 10 karma

Karma spent:
3 karma -- specialization Spellcasting
3 karma -- specialization Summoning

Karma Remaining: 4 karma

[Koekepan]

Not bad so far.

A little puzzled why he'd have the bonded sustaining job on increased reflexes of all things - the spell list on the other hand makes lots of sense to me, and I have no problem with the MitS import spell.

Any particular thought behind the Owl shamanic approach? And obviously there's some work to be done on the TBD bits.

[pbangarth]

Well, to some degree I'm projecting onto Connor my own preference to be the first and most frequent to shoot in a gunfight. And Connor's physical stats are not too strong, so I can be safe in saying he doesn't want to be in a war of attrition. Most everything else he does does not need to be sustained while he does another task.

And, what the Hell, if biological meta-shit hits the fan, the faster one reacts the better.

I thought that Connor might go for sustaining a spell that increases a mental Attribute (another three points in Willpower and all his pools go up one), but stuck with vanilla.

Owl's limitation favours night. +2 dice to all spells and conjuring at night. When do runs mostly happen? So both offensively and defensively Connor is primed for prime time. And no environment restrictions, so the lodge can be set up anywhere. Now, Is Connor a 'night owl' because he just is, and therefore Owl took a liking to him, or is he a night owl because Owl took a liking to him long ago, and the totem effect slowly seeped into Connor? I'm not telling.

Working on TBD stuff.

[Koekepan]

OK, the one other part that struck me as a little weird was giving this guy humungous charisma, which makes sense in a min-maxy way but isn't really the way I read this character.

I'm fine with Owl as a totem, based on a night-owly kind of character.

[pbangarth]

I see your point about Charisma, and if it strongly worries you, I can adjust. I think it ties into his view of himself as one who will lead the rest of us into a bright future. He believes in himself completely, and has the intellectual chops to live up to that belief. Such people have an aura that attracts people to the cause.

Rereading the description of Charisma in the BBB, I can see much of it does fit Connor. That perusal does point out to me that I made a glaring error in the Skills department. He has -no- Perception! I will fix that for sure, possibly finding some points for it in Charisma.

EDIT: Oh. That's because there is no separate Perception Skill. Wrong edition. Oh.

[Koekepan]

I won't scream too hard about the charisma, but I'll expect you to play him as the budding cult leader, then.

[pbangarth]

That's like, "OK, little boy, but I expect you to eat ALL the candy."

[pbangarth]

Oh! Oh! And thanks for the corp background. Connor has a -work related- reason to know German! Yet another reason for him to have been hired.

[Koekepan]

No problem. I'll probably add a few more posts, especially as more people join with more questions.

[pbangarth]

Hmmm ... that link in the OOC post to your discussion of corp security is interesting, and has me thinking that I haven't thought of Connor enough as a security officer, rather than as a shadowrunner. I will take a look at his spell list and consider it in the light of the six Ds. I don't know, maybe a Barrier spell for exaample.

[Koekepan]

His security work may very well have been a marginal side gig, compared to his work for the research lab. He might have just spent a couple of days making prepared formulae for the security guys, rather than dedicating serious thought to it.

Unless of course it greatly appealed to him.

[pbangarth]

Fortunately, I said "preliminary", because I suspect that if Connor thinks of himself as a leader, he should have some people skills. Though, it will be fun to see him try to lead and fail. So, working on the stats still.

Also fortunately, there is time to refine the PC, as Connor is the only one so far. Unless, evil GM, you plan to start him off by himself.

[Koekepan]

I'm not evil. I'm just drawn this way.

And Connor as the sole survivor of the biopocalypse? Might make for an interesting game start until someone else decides that they need in on the action.

[pbangarth]

That actually sounds fun! I also rattled some chains over in my "I thought ..." thread in the Shadowrun subforum. All those people complaining about anything past 3E started migrating there, explaining why no one is on DS anymore.

[Koekepan]

That actually sounds fun! I also rattled some chains over in my "I thought ..." thread in the Shadowrun subforum. All those people complaining about anything past 3E started migrating there, explaining why no one is on DS anymore.

Maybe someone would like a 3rd Ed decker again. Quite a few said that 4th Ed is when the 'trix went off the rails.

[Koekepan]

Welp, I'm not closing any doors, but so far it feels like it's just you and your totem, Connor.

With that in mind, I'm going to suggest that you reshape things to make him a bit more jack-of-all-tradesish. At least, find some way to get him more effective with a computer in front of him, and select spells with a view to expanding his capabilities.

Just a thought; if and how you follow it up is up to you.

[pbangarth]

OK. I'll see what I can do. I have, in the past, played characters who were not originally suited for the shadows.

In particular there was Professor, an archaeologist adept who entered the shadows to find the criminal who both masterminded the destruction of his academic career and had him framed for murder. (As an aside, that criminal mastermind became The Blindman, lent to the RPGA as the archenemy of Claudia and the PCs of Virtual Seattle in the last season of that RPGA Shadowrun series of modules. I was part of the module writing team then.) The professor played in a couple of short-lived PbP campaigns here on DS. A lot of his adept powers were designed to be functional for a researcher and scientist.

Hmmm. A researcher adept? Hmmm. I think a number of his powers in later incarnations were from SR4E's Street Magic, enhancing mental abilities. Oh well. Just for fun I'll take a look at Magic in the Shadows. It'll keep me occupied.

I also played Stogie (and his border collie Jake), a shepherd (adept again) dispossessed of his flock and property by one of those nasty old corporations. He was in the shadows basically to give payback. They survived a rough outdoor mission to find the perpetrators of death and destruction in the mountains around ... Mount Rainier(?), which in the campaign was a ley-line-like source of great mana and protected by three magical 'sisters'.

Then there was Bongo Slade, a young drummer ( you guessed it ... adept) who was a footloose kid looking to find the Heartbeat of Gaea so he could drum it.

[Koekepan]

There are a few ways of tackling it that I could see. They would make him less min-maxy, of course, but that's not a showstopper. You'd just have to play smarter, rather than harder. Spirits might become his backup for combat, but there's a lot to be said for giving him a predator and a knife as well.

His major blind point would then be intel and infiltration, but I can see a few ways to address that as well.

[pbangarth]

Speaking of the RPGA and SR3, do you remember one of their modules I wrote for them... damn I can't remember the name. It had the PCs travel north from Seattle to Tsimshian to investigate some disappearances from a mining company there. The RPGA was facing a problem because there were many players whose PCs had over the years built a karma pool in the 40s or more. They were having trouble developing runs that were challenging for these monster PCs but not beyond less experienced ones. With that kind of Karma pool and spent Karma, players were able to just blast through most things, basically guaranteeing success whenever they wanted by re-rolling till they got it.

I gave the RPGA what they needed. Teams of brand new players were able to successfully complete the run (I GMed two of those), but at least two teams of 6 of those monster PCs who thought they could solve all things with firepower suffered TPKs. (I GMed one of those. Those puppies were NOT happy.) In my defense, it was made clear in the story that frontal assault would not work. The tough guys just didn't believe the warnings.

[pbangarth]

There are a few ways of tackling it that I could see. They would make him less min-maxy, of course, but that's not a showstopper. You'd just have to play smarter, rather than harder. Spirits might become his backup for combat, but there's a lot to be said for giving him a predator and a knife as well.

His major blind point would then be intel and infiltration, but I can see a few ways to address that as well.

Yeah, I see that path.

[pbangarth]

Alright, how about a major re-write. I'm thinking of a Shamanist, whose Totem is Sun (from MitS). This gives him three categories of spells, and more spell points. 180 degrees away from Owl, I know, but Owl is a no go for the Shamanist. I would pull back a bit on Mental Attributes to have more points in Physical Attributes and Skills, including Charisma based skills (Sun! Of course!)

So, Connor would have combat, detection and health spells, be able to negotiate and shoot. Working on Matrix functionality. Come on! Mr. Renaissance Man? A one man shadowrun?

And there would be a bit of difficulty for him after dark, and he would have trouble with a corp that might turn out to be not what it seems. Both of which give the GM some fun!

Before I spend a lot of time on this, does this seem worth exploring to you?

[Koekepan]

Alright, how about a major re-write. I'm thinking of a Shamanist, whose Totem is Sun (from MitS). This gives him three categories of spells, and more spell points. 180 degrees away from Owl, I know, but Owl is a no go for the Shamanist. I would pull back a bit on Mental Attributes to have more points in Physical Attributes and Skills, including Charisma based skills (Sun! Of course!)

So, Connor would have combat, detection and health spells, be able to negotiate and shoot. Working on Matrix functionality. Come on! Mr. Renaissance Man? A one man shadowrun?

And there would be a bit of difficulty for him after dark, and he would have trouble with a corp that might turn out to be not what it seems. Both of which give the GM some fun!

Before I spend a lot of time on this, does this seem worth exploring to you?

Maybe. If I may offer a hint, I'd suggest that one full magician would be worth having. A shamanist as an additional character, taking up the Adept slot in what I'd permit, would be an acceptable addition if someone else comes in, but you are likely to run into walls otherwise.

Not magicrun doesn't mean that magic isn't key to some aspects.

I would even have suggested something like a shaman of, say, Spider, with some points in computer-related skills just so that you can actually deal with other fields. Given the ability to create one-time items, you might even get away with some spells where you own the formulae, but don't have them at your metaphorical fingertips.

Kind of like smoke grenades you have to build yourself before the mission, ninja.

[pbangarth]

I cogitate further.

[Koekepan]

I hasten to add that if you can find one other participant, this greatly relieves the burden of flexibility, and gives rein to your wild imagination.

Find just one person who hasn't burned their 3rd Ed books in an ecstasy of grief - or twist my arm and we can do 4A instead.

[pbangarth]

Thanks for the offer of 4th Edition, but I think being a lone PC in any edition requires a lot of flexibility.

I revisited your notes about one-off items today, and I will avail myself of those to help. I have some spells in mind that you might think ... interesting. I'm trying to (in metagame) foresee problems a lone PC, probably on the run, will have to face.

The real difficulty for me right now is Matrix work. I really don't see Connor being any good at that (ie. hard to find points for the skills), but I am soldiering on. It's a challenge I accept readily!

Now, there is the option of a Contact who is a decker. That might work, especially if I can pay him/her with one or two one-off items.

Find another player? It's like pulling teeth!

[Koekepan]

Thanks for the offer of 4th Edition, but I think being a lone PC in any edition requires a lot of flexibility.

I meant if it will help you find a desperate confederate to face the biopocalypse with a knife between your teeth. Otherwise, the demons of the Third Dimension .... I mean, third edition will ride you mercilessly!

The real difficulty for me right now is Matrix work. I really don't see Connor being any good at that (ie. hard to find points for the skills), but I am soldiering on. It's a challenge I accept readily!

I don't know what angles you're considering, but one that might help you is on page 207; Cyberterminals. They can save you a bundle, and while they aren't fast and sexy, they're capable of getting grunt work done without risking your tender cortex to a black hammer attack, nor your essence to a jack. That will save you the initial build costs of getting a monstrously expensive deck, while still enabling you to at least crack the occasional security camera.

Ain't perfect. Ain't nuthin' perfect.

Just a thought.

[pbangarth]

Thanks. I'll look into it. I'm also exploring the idea of getting the "Tech-Wiz" sample character, pg. 259, as a level 2 contact. I figure I could build a back story of them being drinking buddies back in university, and a non-Awakened tech guy would surely be interested in getting paid in one of your spiffy 'one-shots'.

So, maybe Connor will do simple Matrix work himself, but farm out the trickier stuff to ... "Johnny Wirez".

[Koekepan]

Could certainly work.

Just remember to have yourself a lodge set up so that you can make these things, and afford to do them, because otherwise no can do.

[pbangarth]

Yup. Factoring that in.

[Koekepan]

Now that I think about it, a magician plus a rigger/decker blend would work pretty well as a duo.

Bribe someone with a lot of beer and tickets to a Leafs game?

[pbangarth]

I'll see what I can do. I haven't had much luck in recruitment lately, but ... I have a lead I will follow.

[pbangarth]

Radical remake to Connor coming shortly. Will update his character description above when done.

I like this version better. Stepping out of my comfort zone as I am giving up on my long-standing rule of thumb to be the fastest gun in the room. A magician, not particularly fast and all on his own? Just watch him!

[Koekepan]

"It does not matter who shoots first, omae. It's who shot last that counts. This is why Cavalier Deputy, and custom ammunition."

[pbangarth]

Yeah, but in my experience, the first shot is often the only shot.

[ntwi]

This post is a long time in coming. I had seen pbangrath's comment elsewhere about a SR3 PbP starting up. I still had to sort out how reliably I could post here across the mid and long term with the vagaries of the real life job, but it's looking promising at this point. Finally, it just takes some time to undo lurker mode after a few years. My IC posts will probably be a little rough as it's been a few years for a PbP, but I can finish up the Rigger/Electronics guy I had started building for my in person game (before shifting to a Troll Adept Face).

A couple of questions as I'm working to finish him up.
Books: You had stated "main book, and the companion, with limited excursions to the Grimoire as appropriate." If we are running 3rd which of the following are in play: Man and Machine, Rigger 3 Revised, Matrix, Canon Companion

Cyberware: Man and Machine or just the core book?
Bioware: Can I start with Cultured Bioware that is completely legal (and probably supported by the corp)? I.E. Sleep Regulator and Cerebral Booster? Is Man and Machine even allowed?
Vehicles and Rigging: I'm presuming Rigger 3 Revised is the guide book here.
Decking: Are you planning on running this straight out of the book or fewer more generic Computer(Decking) rolls? The Cyberdeck starts getting expensive fast if I need to build a solid one, and the "required" headware (Math SPU etc) will hurt too. Alternatively, our exit plan from the corp might have to include acquiring one. How much programming of my own programs vs buying them could be done before we start?
Contacts: I can't remember what book came from, (NSCRG doesn't tell me which one) but can we purchase additional contacts at chargen? 5k per lvl 1, 20k for a lvl 2? Do you want these fleshed out or left as (Lvl 1 Bartender or Lvl 2 Lone Star Dispatcher) so that you can fit them into your universe more easily?


Location: I saw a mention of Seattle in your first post, is that the planned location for the satellite office or where are we based?
Time: 2060? (My in person game just started in the early 2050's so some of the people can experience the classics for the first time. It's been a fun challenge to keep straight what the character knows and when he doesn't know to wear the brown trousers. (United Brotherhood? Sounds like a friendly group of people)

Sorry for the massive list of questions, but Carlos (Sparky) should be coming forth shortly, or at least a rough draft of him.

[Koekepan]

Welcome to the party, ntwi! It won't hurt after you get used to the needles.

I was trying to keep the book madness to a reasonably dull roar at first, but I don't intend to be hopelessly strict about it, so I'll tell you what: tell me which bits you want, and we can negotiate (as per your post here).

I'd be OK with sleep regulator and cerebral booster. Others on a per-case basis.

I'm fine with Rigger 3 in terms of rules and options, but I'd reserve the right of veto on particular items, or at least modifying costs, even if I allow particular items (which might push them outside your desirability range - ca va sans dire).

Decking: yeah, it's always expensive in third. My intention is to run by the rules as written, but find opportunities to condense rolls without modifying the system too horribly. Yes, decks are expensive (which is why I was proposing a cyberterminal for a potential solo campaign to pbangarth), but I can offer you a way out on the headware, if you'd rather shell out for 'trode net. If you think that you can rip off the corp on the way out, that's fine too (and not insane - but not a guarantee either; you'll have to keep your eyes open and hands grabby). I can be pretty forgiving about programming vs buying, depending on background and skills.

Contacts: yes, additional contacts are fine. I prefer to do the fleshing out of contacts.

As per my post above, you're in the Seattle enclave, but the actual office is in the southeast corner of the Enclave. A landmark that I gave was Tumwater, which you can look up on Wikipedia.

Time: 2060, as posted. Don't take the standard timeline as gospel, from this point out.

[pbangarth]

Awesome! I had contacted another person re: the rigger/decker, but haven't heard back. Glad to see someone on board, ntwi! This takes a load off my mind.

[pbangarth]

ntwi, wait'll you see Connor's pathetic attempt at decking. You will cringe! Lots of opportunity for in-game ribbing.

[Koekepan]

Yup, one magician and one techie makes for a much more viable party already. It isn't a campaign that will require you to take on the CAS army or wreck a city, so while there's nothing wrong with a carbine, you shouldn't feel underpowered just because you don't happen to have a Panther-equipped troll around. Just be prepared to think creatively about your problems.

Of course, if someone from TrogDestruct shows up, that's always still an option (provided it's corporate-friendly enough for the campaign).

[pbangarth]

Redone Connor Tupalev in post #18.

Be afraid! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[ntwi]

Yes, messaging the security decker and asking politely for root access is a method of decking... Not a recommended one but it is a method.

[pbangarth]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Koekepan]

pbangarth: A couple of things cropped up in my first pass. (I didn't do the math yet.)

Mostly pretty good, but you went bananas on Will. Given he starts out with boosted Will anyway, what's the logic behind the additional sustaining focus on the increase attribute?

Bear in mind that it's not guaranteed that the spell gets you 4 points up of Will; it gets you up to the spell's force in additional points, with a target number of the prior value (which in your case would be 8 ).

I'll allow the boosting of willpower (what the hell, everybody has some gimmick) but I don't think that spell and that focus make sense, especially given the mathematics involved.

However, if you're bound and determined to roll for it and keep it around, I might not stop you. Just roll my eyes a lot.

It also looks as if you left a contact out, or something? There's a blank Level 1 contact.

Finally, you might be able to pull back on the cyberterminal and so on, if ntwi will be taking on that side of things. You could then maybe work the security/infiltration angle a bit more, perhaps? Not demanding, just thinking out loud based on the recommended skill profile for the party.

[pbangarth]

Yeah, Connor's cyber skills are negligible, so if a real decker shows up, I'll be happy to rejig that part.

As for the WIL, yeah there is no guarantee on any roll, but I am sleazing in that before the campaign starts, and in any rest period in between runs, he can try and retry till he hits the sweet spot. At any point in the campaign, it would be somewhere in between 8 and 12.

WIL is useful for all pools he has, is necessary for Drain resistance, and resistance to a lot of what opposing Magic might try. And Willpower is Connor's schtick. Nietzche and all that.

And, come on! Have you -ever- seen a PC with a WIL of 12? I haven't. I know other aspects of this PC are a bit light. Since 1st edition I have never played WIL 12. I'd like to give it a shot.

Yeah, I forgot to think up the other Contact. I'll get on that.

[Koekepan]

Your impassioned plea has touched my tormented heart.

I'll let you roll for your WIL boost, and suck up the drain every time. If only because, while admittedly it usually wouldn't be a big deal, when it does fail on you, it might count. By my math, at force 4, that's a 3 target number and drain M. You'd need 4 successes to reduce the drain to nothing, which you'd probably usually get ... until you don't, and then you get a pre-emptive headache! And of course, retrying adds up the odds of a failure.

This might be amusing. OK, I'll allow it. And I'll let you and ntwi arm-wrestle for the ineluctable privilege of being the team decker. Whacking him with a cyberterminal first is cheating.

Edited to add: Wait, just noticed it's also exclusive, but you can't reduce the target number below 2, so while the odds are better, it's still risky. All you have to do is be lucky every time.

[pbangarth]

Your impassioned plea has touched my tormented heart.

I'll let you roll for your WIL boost, and suck up the drain every time. If only because, while admittedly it usually wouldn't be a big deal, when it does fail on you, it might count. By my math, at force 4, that's a 3 target number and drain M. You'd need 4 successes to reduce the drain to nothing, which you'd probably usually get ... until you don't, and then you get a pre-emptive headache! And of course, retrying adds up the odds of a failure.

This might be amusing. OK, I'll allow it. And I'll let you and ntwi arm-wrestle for the ineluctable privilege of being the team decker. Whacking him with a cyberterminal first is cheating.

Oh, yeah, I don't expect him to have WIL 12 all the time. Especially since the target for the spell is 8 to begin with! I'm not going to keep retrying in the middle of a run. But anything at 8 or over is good. Retrying till the sweet spot is attained is only for off/in-between times. So, in an off-time, he would cast the spell and dump all his spell pool into the casting, knowing he will have time to sleep it off. That would be 11 dice which might get him two successes, then use the karma pool for 9 dice more, maybe one more, two if lucky. If not, try again tomorrow. During a run, he will need spell pool to help Drain, so if something causes the spell to drop, he is not likely to get up there again till the next run. But, oh, until it drops!

And hey, if opponent X wants to dispel the sustained boost, that means she is not shooting at Connor. Connor won't be idle while that happens. It's like the dog the police officer sends ahead to grab the gunman's arm. A primary reason for the dog is to take the bullet for the cop.

Arm wrestle? Have you seen his strength? Oh. Wait. A rigger might be just as much a wimp. No, it's OK, it's all yours ntwi, if you want it.

As an aside, in college I had a buddy who was ... strong. There was a 'fun day' in one of the cafeterias, games of all sorts including an arm wrestling competition. Plywood over two hobby horses made the table. In his first match, my buddy put the other guy's arm down so hard, it broke the table. Yeah, my friend won the competition.

Edited to add: Wait, just noticed it's also exclusive, but you can't reduce the target number below 2, so while the odds are better, it's still risky. All you have to do is be lucky every time.

It's exclusive for karma/build points, not Drain, so the target is still 3. Remember, though, he can cast it at a lower Force (eg. 3) in the thick of things if he wants to reduce Drain. If he wants to. It's Willpower, not Wisdom.


Hmmm. Should we happen to end up in the shadows, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) , I'm going to have to think up a street name for Connor.

[Koekepan]

Hmmm. Should we happen to end up in the shadows, (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) , I'm going to have to think up a street name for Connor.

A Nietzsche fan like him? How could it be anything other than Friedrich?

It's funnier if you know the derivation of the name.

[pbangarth]

Yeah, if I had chosen the Pacifist Flaw (really?? A -flaw-?? Fucking game.) it would be perfect.

Aelfric is, unfortunately, "elf ruler".

"Dweorgric" would fit, but who the hell would be able to pronounce it? Well, maybe some of those Fenris freaks, maybe.

[Koekepan]

Conner "Superman" ... it seems to fit.

[ntwi]

Time to put the bones on here at least, still working through the nuyen and numbers on the details.

The basic concept: Carlos "Ein Mas" was far too smart for his own good, cruising through school without much effort. He rode a E-Sport scholarship to school but the higher level of attention quickly found the scholarship pulled as his cheats were not slick enough to pass the higher level of scrutiny. Bouncing back to tech school, he found himself distracted by many topics, becoming passable at them before loosing interest and chasing another shiny field. He found a love for street racing, datajack driving early on before diving into the world of rigging. Escaping into the Matrix and his heavily modded 3220 allow him to escape from the reality of rigging forklifts each day at the warehouse. He's slowly built up his collection of drones over time, upgrading the Condor heavily to record the street racing and avoiding the cops after the races.

The crunchy stuff

[ Spoiler ]

Using the Sum to 10 method, my preferred when creating mundane humans.

Resources: 1,000,000Y (4)
Skills: 50 (4)
Attributes: 24 (2)
Race: Human (0)
Magic: Mundane (0)

Attributes (Including Bio mods)
Bod: 4
Str: 3
Qck: 7
Int: 9
Cha: 2
Wil: 5
Reaction: 10
Combat Pool: 10
Control Pool: 12
Hacking Pool: 8

Edge/Flaw:

[ Spoiler ]

-2 Impulsive
+2 Bonus Attribute Point (Int)

Skills:

[ Spoiler ]

2 Unarmed
4 Pistol
6 Gunnery
3 Athletics
5 Stealth
6 Electronics
6 Electronics B/R
6 Computer
4 Computer B/R
5 Car
1 LTA Operation
2 Crawler

Skillsoft Chips: (4,800Y each, 28,800Y total)
Biotech 4
Car B/R 4
LTA B/R 4
Crawler B/R 4
Etiquette 4
Negotiation 4

Knowledge Skills:

[ Spoiler ]

4 Cybertechnology
4 Engineering
4 Application Design
4 Cyberterminal Code Design
3 Corporate Hosts
5 Street Racing
3 Seattle Junkyards
3 Data Havens
2 Gang Turf
2 Pirate Trid Broadcasters
3 Corporate Security
4 Security Systems
2 Police Procedures
2 Popular Culture

Language
6 English
3 English R/W
2 Japanese
1 Japanese R/W
1 German

Bioware:

[ Spoiler ]

(220,000Y and 3.1 Bio Index)
Enhanced Articulation
Super Thyroid Gland - (The tech geeks dietware, drink all the Mountain Dew and eat all the junk food you want)
Cerebral Booster 2
Sleep Regulator

Cyberware:

[ Spoiler ]

(191,000Y and 4.8 Essence lost)
Eyes - Microscopic Vision, Imagelink mods in my natural eyes
Vehicle Control Rig 2
Chipjack w/ Expert Chipjack Driver R3
Skillwires R4 (48Mp)
Math SPU R3

Vehicles:

[ Spoiler ]

(68,160Y)
49,160Y Honda-GM 3220 (Engine Customization, Turbocharging 2, Drive by Wire 1, Photovoltaic Paint, Morphing License Place, Transponder Library R6)
19,000Y Nissan-Holden Brumby

Drones:

[ Spoiler ]

(92,350Y)
25,000Y GM-N Doberman
48,650Y A.S. LSD-41 Condor Mini-Blimp (Upgraded to Sensor 4)
18,700Y 2x Shiawase Kanmushi

,
Personal Gear:

[ Spoiler ]

53,570Y
R3 Fake ID - CalFree
Armor - Secure Jacket, Secure Long Coat, Secure Vest, Ordinary Clothing, Fine Clothing
Pocket Secretary
Skillsoft Jukebox 48mp, 7 ports
Electronics, Computer and Vehicle Toolkits
Remote Control Deck R6
Signal Amplifier R6
Scanner R6
Dataline Tap R6
Dataline Scanner R6
Bug Scanner R6
Survival Kit
Medkit

Weapons:

[ Spoiler ]

9,900Y
Ares Viper Slivergun in Concealed Quickdraw Holster (60 rds Flechette)
Ingram Valiant LMG on Doberman Firmpoint (2,000 rds normal)
Enfield AS-7 w/ 50rd drum in Doberman Turret (100rds Slug)
1x Anti-Vehicle Rocket - Not normally loaded on anything

Contacts:

[ Spoiler ]

110,000Y for 19x Lvl 1, 1 Lvl 2
1. Lvl 2 - Neo-A Trid Pirate (Opti was the mental image I had. https://neo-anarchist.com/ Feel free to change as you desire)
2. Data Haven
3. Rigger
4. Go-Ganger
5. Bartender
6. Corp Scientist
7. Street Doc
8. Security Decker
9. Mafia Soldier
10. Ork Nation Organizer
11. Lone Star Dispatcher
12. Club Owner
13. Shark Lawyer
14. Gunsmith
15. ID Manufacturer
16. Talent Scout
17. Dock Worker
18. Taxi Driver
19. Technician
20. Troll Street Sam
Free1. Fixer
Free2. Electronics Shop

Matrix:

[ Spoiler ]

254,600Y
Novatech Hyperdeck-6
R6 Analyze
R6 Browse
R3 Commlink
R6 Deception
R6 Decrypt
R6 Read/Write
R6 Relocate
R6 Scanner
R6 Spoof
R6 Sleaze
R6 Attack M

20 Questions

[ Spoiler ]

BACKGROUND:
1) Where's your character from?
Carlos grew up in the University Place/Steilacoom area, a solid A zone, for his early life. His Dad was a low level manager in Renraku providing for the family before he left. After Dad left the picture, Carlos and his mother moved to the Federal Way (B zone) to save money. He grew up in the Seattle Metroplex, seeing both the good and bad sides of town.
2) Does your character have a family?
It turns out that good ol’ dad really didn’t want to have kids, and so he traded in for a newer model, leaving Carlos and his mom Delores with almost nothing. Delores worked a secretarial job for Renraku and managed to get a prized spot to move into the Arcology when it opened, while Carlos was away at UW. This turned out poorly for her when Dues took over and like so many others, she was never heard from again.
3) Does your character have an ethnic background?
Carlos is more tan than the average person in the Seattle Metroplex but does not claim any specific heritage (other than one drunk incident in school where he claimed to be the lovechild of an immoral elf. Needless to say it did not go over well with the hot elven girl at the party)
APPEARANCE
4) What does your character look like?
He’s about 5’7” (170cm) and 160lbs (73kg) with dark hair and brown eyes. He often has a lingering scent of grease or solder from working on his gear.
5) What does your character dress like?
While he has a couple nice suits in his closet and can dress stylish to go out, Carlos is found more often than not in a set of coveralls with multiple pocket tools handy for fixing and tweaking drone and equipment.
6) Does your character have physical quirks?
Carlos is always checking his pocket secretary for messages or data, even though it’s semi-permanently jacked into his head.
SKILLS, ATTRIBUTES, AND RESOUCES
7) Where did your character learn their Active Skills?
His years at UW provided much of his Electronics and Computer skills, while he picked up his driving skills on the street becoming fairly successful at street racing.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif) Where did your character learn their Knowledge Skills?
Carlos spent a year at UW before losing his E-Game scholarship. He spent the next three years at UW-Tacoma graduating with a degree in Micro-Electronics. He bounced between several degree paths during his time, including Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.
9) Where did your character get his goodies?
He’s built and rebuilt most of his drones, vehicles and electronics over the years, and programmed much of his software. Other software he’s traded and swapped for on the ShadowNet. His bioware (Cerebral Booster and Sleep Regulator) was discounted by the corp, while his cyberware generally came from favors that he has provided and used.
10) Where does your character live?
(Presuming this is the very southern end of the Sprawl and still UCAS) [Middle Lifestyle (lower security zone, larger space)] Carlos has an old car repair shop on the south side of 512 where he is on good terms with the local gang. This gives him the space for his drones and vehicles and allows him to get away from LoneStar easier when they try to raid the races.
11) Who are your character's contacts?
Carlos has made a point of trading favors with lots of people and helping them out with electronics. He is working hard on building up quite the rolodex of people that he knows and trades favors with.
12) Who are your character's enemies?
While he has pissed off more than a few people over the years, Carlos is unaware of anyone who truly views him as an enemy, although there have been some sore losers in the street racing scene.
13) How did your character learn magic?
Shamanic magic frustrates him as it follows no logical rules but changes with every totem and the whims of the totems. He finds it much easier to work with Hermetics as their effects are simpler to predict and plan for. He still calls it bullshit and cheating however he’s even more unsure about the bioslime created magical effects the corp is creating. With magicians there is always a cost that is being paid, in the back of his mind he worries who or what is paying for these effects.
PERSONALITY
14) What are your character's likes and dislikes?
Carlos has started to fear and hate the data panopticon of the corps. His Neo-A contact has strongly influenced the growth of his split with the corp world. He loves the adrenaline rush of street racing and enjoys leading the cops into go-gang barricades when they try and break up the illegal races.
15) What is your character's moral code?
He’s certainly being sucked into the mindset of the Neo-A movement, leaning heavily to personal freedoms and personal responsibility although he’s starting to disassociate damage to corps with hurting shareholders and workers. He certainly will try and avoid unnecessary deaths, although he’s never worried much about the lives of the cops he leads into go-gang barricades.
16) Does your character have goals?
More drones, faster cars and attractive women of purchasable affection.
17) Does your character have personal beliefs?
He is being sucked into the Neo-A mindset by his charismatic Neo-A contact although he is agnostic in his beliefs. The loss of his mother to Deus made him reassess his perspective on technology, which is why he programs or closely reviews the source code of all programs that he uses along with going over his electronics with a close eye.
18) Does your character have personality quirks?
He always checks out the electronics that anyone around him is using, and often having his electronics sniffing out the software versions that people around him are using.
RUNNING THE SHADOWS
19) Why does your character run the shadows?
Carlos enjoys fast cars, drones and computers, all of which have been a struggle to pay for as a wage slave. He’s made a little off street racing and more doing quasi-legal work on the side. He’s pretty sure that he’s done digital legwork for runners before, planting backdoors and access on systems for others, as well as causing “innocent” distractions for response teams. Rigging forklifts moving around barrels of biological slime just does not make for a prosperous life.
20) How does your character view his/her role as a shadowrunner?
Carlos is well aware of the power of corps, and how much they know and control. As a Rigger/Decker he is well aware of the digital thumbprint most people leave behind and just how revealing that information can be. After the Renraku Arcology went offline, taking his mother with it, his trust in the corps hit an all time low. He’s frustrated at the amount of control the corps have over his life even now, and dreams of somehow slipping through their fingers (while still maintain a high quality of life…. He may find himself quite disappointed in the future)

[Koekepan]

Using the Sum to 10 method, my preferred when creating mundane humans.

No problem

Attributes (Including Bio mods)
Bod: 4
Str: 3
Qck: 7
Int: 9
Cha: 2
Wil: 5
Reaction: 10
Combat Pool: 10
Control Pool: 12
Hacking Pool: 8

You know, some people might think that I'd balk at this, but then I think of a couple of guys I knew, who were definitely geniuses. One worked as a mechanic, another as a regular, run-of-the-mill programmer. Either could have been a college professor - they just didn't think that it was better than the job that they had. So sure, combination of crazy high augmented intelligence and impulsive flaw? I'm OK with this. It's also consistent with having a stock of skillsofts.

I didn't do the math on his current essence level. Given the half cost of the lesser option, I'm eyeballing it that he's still alive, but only barely. Is that your calculation as well?

Contacts:
1. Security Decker
2. Data Haven
3. Rigger
4. Go-Ganger
5. Bartender
6. Corp Scientist
7. Street Doc
8. Neo-A Trid Pirate
9. Mafia Soldier
10. Ork Nation Organizer
11. Lone Star Dispatcher
12. Club Owner
13. Shark Lawyer
14. Gunsmith
15. ID Manufacturer
16. Talent Scout
17. Dock Worker
18. Taxi Driver
19. Technician
20. Troll Street Sam
Free1. Fixer
Free2. Electronics Shop

I like it. Someone who doesn't skimp on contacts. When you have your final list (whether it's this list or different) I'll flesh them out for you.

One more question, would I be using Stealth to get away from an illegal street race when the cops crash it without drawing attention? There's not a "vehicle" specialization but it seemed reasonable, otherwise there is no reason for him to be that stealthy. Thoughts, opinions and "what are you smoking" are all welcome.

There are multiple ways of getting out of the net. Stealth is one option, and I'm fine with it as a tool in his kit. It'll be everything from knowing when to duck off a highway to slide under an overpass, changing the paint hue while slipping under trees in a leafy suburb, tagging along with a funeral procession, dodging behind a big rig - all that stuff counts as stealth when you're the size of a car.

Of course, mounting rockets on a Condor could also do something about it ... not that I'm suggesting anything.

[pbangarth]

Yes, I'm very glad for your long list of contacts, ntwi. In rejigging Connor to be on his own, I sacrificed in that essential area among others.

And from the lengthening list of background characters in the OOC thread, I can see Koekepan is -really- into that aspect of the game.

[Koekepan]

If you're running in gangland, and there isn't intrigue? Someone's doing something wrong.

Ditto, the business world.

It's all incestuous circles. And in that context, who would be surprised at vicious ratfight tactics? Nobody fights like family.

[Koekepan]

Once your character is sorted out, it's good form to do the 20 questions thing about your character's person and history.

[ntwi]

I'm still working through the questions to flesh out his personality, and transcribing from random notebooks onto the computer. With regards to his essence, 3rd edition had a separate Bio-Index with a maximum of your remaining essence + 3, along with initially a very clunky separate system for Magic loss. The errata I am familiar with changed the magic loss to simply 1/2 of the Bio-Index but left it alone for mundane characters (slower healing and lowered toxin/disease resistance based on the amount of bioware).

If that's not the case I'll need to rejigger him, as he'd be dead. (or chip loose 60k somewhere and try to get the VCR 2 to alphaware to save 0.6 essence)

[pbangarth]

Happy to do the 20 questions.

Here's one for you, Koekepan. I am suffering under the proactive interference of SR4. I can't find in the SR3 book whether shamans can have in active service more than one nature spirit at a time. Can they?

I know a shaman in an environment of multiple domains, a shaman could summon a spirit in one, assign it services, then refocus to another domain and summon another spirit. But could he summon two air spirits to work for him (one summoning after the other, of course) and be on call?

[Koekepan]

I'm still working through the questions to flesh out his personality, and transcribing from random notebooks onto the computer. With regards to his essence, 3rd edition had a separate Bio-Index with a maximum of your remaining essence + 3, along with initially a very clunky separate system for Magic loss. The errata I am familiar with changed the magic loss to simply 1/2 of the Bio-Index but left it alone for mundane characters (slower healing and lowered toxin/disease resistance based on the amount of bioware).

If that's not the case I'll need to rejigger him, as he'd be dead. (or chip loose 60k somewhere and try to get the VCR 2 to alphaware to save 0.6 essence)

You're right - I confused magic loss with the bio-index. It's OK, keep on trucking.

[Koekepan]

Happy to do the 20 questions.

Here's one for you, Koekepan. I am suffering under the proactive interference of SR4. I can't find in the SR3 book whether shamans can have in active service more than one nature spirit at a time. Can they?

I know a shaman in an environment of multiple domains, a shaman could summon a spirit in one, assign it services, then refocus to another domain and summon another spirit. But could he summon two air spirits to work for him (one summoning after the other, of course) and be on call?

I take the answer as an interpretation of the right-hand column, page 184, the fourth and fifth paragraphs.

You choose a domain relevant to where you are, and summon a spirit. So far, so groovy. If you leave that domain to summon a different spirit of a different domain, within the same location, the first spirit completes its already requested services and goes away. You can only summon one spirit in a given domain.

Thus: if you summoned one spirit, it goes poof when you summon the next. If you summon a spirit and change domains, it goes poof. Thus spake the RAW.

[pbangarth]

OK. Thanks.

[Koekepan]

Just dropping a note to say, once you have your characters fleshed out and equipped, I can get them blessed, and we can soft start. As you've doubtless seen, I've kicked off with an opening post on the environment.

[Koekepan]

OK, folks, tomorrow's the day we soft start.

a) if you aren't horribly opposed to the idea, can I see 20 questions posts about your characters?

b) are your characters, in your view, final? In particular, ntwi, are your contacts all level 1? If so, I'll flesh them out soon.

c) anyone else planning to join, to your knowledge? I'm frosty with just the two of you, but let me know if you hear different

If a is done, b is settled, I can bless your characters and we can leap in with a collective merry cry. Or one merry cry and two shrieks of despairing horror.

[pbangarth]

20 min. to 10 am here. Going for a 'distance picnic' with family. Back late afternoon. Will finish Connor this evening, including 20 questions. Will report when ready.

No new fish have taken my bait, so it looks like there's the two of us. Plus whatever hordes of drones/spirits we can muster.

Horror? We're in an experimental bio-tech facility? Nothing can go wrong here. Totally safe. No Horror here. Nope.

Wait a minute. Horror? Horrors? No. Just no.

[ntwi]

In my 20Q with Carlos' perspective on magic, I did mention how even those shamans whose magic follows bizarro rules still pay a cost for their magic while these bio vats don't seem to have a cost paid...

[Koekepan]

In my 20Q with Carlos' perspective on magic, I did mention how even those shamans whose magic follows bizarro rules still pay a cost for their magic while these bio vats don't seem to have a cost paid...

The magicians would vehemently disagree with you - as would the accountants - but it's a perfectly valid position for Carlos.

By the way, did you post your updates? Am I missing them, or are you still in process?

[ntwi]

Still working through some of them. I haven't posted anything yet.

[Koekepan]

Still working through some of them. I haven't posted anything yet.

Cool, I'm just tracking.

I'll be ready when you are, just post it up and you can watch the OOC topic for the fleshed-out versions of your contacts.

[pbangarth]

Connor edit done. See post #18.

[pbangarth]

The middle of the week means that both ends of the 4/10 shift are in the office.

Not quite sure what this means. Could you explain, please?

[Koekepan]

Not quite sure what this means. Could you explain, please?

I'll drop the explanation in the OOC thread soon. Question noted.

I bless the sheet, and I will drop more information on the contacts in the OOC room.

[pbangarth]

Thanks for the Contact descriptions. I love'em. I can see there will be a rich environment in which to role play. Assuming we survive the Resident Evil scenario you are setting up for the -entire- staff of Biozu. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Koekepan]

ntwi, Carlos is blessed. I'll fill in his contacts as time permits, but you're clear for soft start.

[Foxx]

It's been a long time since I last graced this board, but I am interested in playing. I'm still debating rather play a Covert Spec or a Street Sam/Merc. I've read through the story so far adjust my ideas to whats going on.

[Foxx]

So I decided to go with muscle of the wild west variety. Still have things to buy, but I think stats and backstory are mostly complete. Subject to review of course.

[ Spoiler ]

Name: Heather Daweson
Street Name: Hopalong
Sex: Female
Race: Human
Archytpe: Merc/Street Cowboy
Lifestyle: High (six months); Low (safehouse; 6 months)
Money: 1370¥

ATTRIBUTES (24)
PHYSICAL Rating
Body: 4(5)
Quickness: 5(8 )
Strength 4(7)

MENTAL
Charisma 3
Intelligence 5
Willpower 3

SPECIAL
Essence: 4.2
Biowear: 3.4
(Magic): 0
Reaction: 5(7) Init: 1d6(3d6)

Combat Pool: 7(8 )
Karma Pool: Good Karma:

SKILLS & LANUGAGES (40)
ACTIVE Rating
Assault Rifles (Colt M23) 4(6)
Athletics 5
Diving 4
Electronics(Electronic warfare) 5(7)
Etiqutte(Corperate) 4(6)
Parachuting(HALO) 4(6)
Pistols(Cavilier) 4(6)
Stealth 5
Unarmed Combat(subdue) 4(6)

KNOWLEDGE (25)
Code of the West 4
Megacorporate Security 4
Jungle wars 4
Security Procedures 4
SERE 4 (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape)
Small-Unit Tactics 5

LANGUAGE (7)
English 4
English R/W 2
Spanish 3
Spanish R/W 1

EDGE and FLAWS
Bravery 1
Common Sense 2
Dependent [Son: David, 8yrs old] -3

CYBERWARE Essence
Bone Lacing(Plastic) .5
Cyberears .3
[Dampener, Hearing Amplification, Select Sound filter L5]
Cybereyes .2
[Image Link, Low-light, Electronic Vision Magnifcation 1]
Flare Compensation .1
Datajack .2
Smartlink .5

BIOWARE
Muscle Augmentation L3 1.2
Muscle Toner L3 1.2
Synaptic Accelerator L2 1.0

WEAPONS
Cavalier Deputy
conceal: 4; Ammo: 7(cy); Mode: SA; Damage: 9M; Wgt.:2.25; Smartlink
addons: quick draw holster(concealable +2), speed loaders x6

Colt American L36
conceal: 6; ammo: 11©; mode: SA; Damage: 6L; wgt.: 1; Smartlink
addons: conealable holster (+2), silencer, magazines x6

Colt M-23
conceal: 1; ammo: 40©; mode:SA/BF/FA; damage: 8M; wgt.: 4.5; RC:5; smartlink
addons: foregrip, gas vent IV system, sling, magazines x6, sound suppressor

Shockglove
conceal: 9; reach: 0; Damage: (STR-1)M Stun + 7S Stun; wgt.: .5

Couger Fineblades
Short 6" - conceal: 8; reach -; Damage: (STR+1)S; wgt.: .5; Dikote
Long 12" - conceal: 5; reach: -; Damage: (STR+2)S; wgt.: .75; Dikote

Grenades
Offensive x12 - conceal: 6; Damage: 10S; Blast: -1/m; wgt.: .25
Defensive x12 - conceal: 6; Damage: 10S; Blast: -1/.5m; wgt.: .25
Concussion x24 - conceal: 6; Damage: 12M Stun; Blast: 1/m; wgt.: .25

ARMOR
Form-fitting Body armor x2
Full-body suit - conceal 12; B: 4; I: 1; wgt.: 1.25

Secure Long Coat - conceal 10; B:4; I:2; wgt.: 2

Armante:©
Short Jacket - conceal 13; B .75; I .25; wgt.: .1
Slacks - conceal 14; B .5; I: .25; wgt.: .5
Vest - conceal: 12; B: 3; I: 1; wgt.: 1
Starlight Line - conceal 14; B: 1; I: 0

Zoe - Futura Line©
Blazer - conceal: 13; B: 2; I: 1
Skirt - conceal: 13; B: 1; I: 1


OTHER GEAR
Doc-Wagon Contract: one platinum for Heather and David (50,000¥ ech)

Credstick ID: Heather Cassidy, R6, security consultant, permit to carry and conceal
Credstick ID: David Cassidy, R6
Credstick ID: Rachel Boyd, R3: permit to carry and conceal, low lifestyle
Credstick ID: Natalie Dez, R3: permit to carry and conceal
Credstick ID: Allie Ramone, R3: permit to carry and conceal

Earplug unit cellphone x3, pocket secretary, Micro-transciever R6, subvocal microphone, transciever R6, Restraints (Plasteel) x50, Stealth grapple line (100m), micro flare launcher, micro flares x10, Nav-Dat GPS, Respirator, Survival Kit x2, Medkit x2, Stimulant patch x5, Tran Patch x5, Trauma patch x5, Fine clothing, Ordinary clothing, Tres chic

Vidlink transmitter R6, Scanner R6, Data Codebreaker R6, Micro-camcorder x4, micro-recorder R6 x2, Signal locator(AOD) R6, tracking signal R2 x4, Bug scanner R6, data encryption system R6, Jammer R6, Voice mask R3, White noise Generator R3, Maglock passkey R3, Sequncer R3, wire clippers, LOW-altitude parachute, HALO parachute

Ammo: Light x500 regular, Light Gel x500, Heavy x500, Heavy Gel x500, Assault Rifle x1000, Assault Rifle Gel x500, Assault Rifle Ex Explosive x100

VEHICLE
Ford Americar
Handling: 4/8; Speed 105; Accel: 8; Body 3; Armor 0; Sig 2; Autonav 2; Sensor 1; Cargo 12; Load 110
Seating: 2 bucket (front), 1 bench (back)
Entry Points: 2 + 1 trunk

Harley-Davidson Scorpion
Handling: 4/5; Speed: 120; Accel: 6; Body: 2; Armor: 1; Sig: 2; Autonav: 2; Pilot: -; Sensor: 0; Cargo: 4; Load: 60
Seating: 2


CONTACTS
Free Level 1: Plainclothes cop

Free level 1: Street Doc

Level 1: Gang Leader

Level 1: Military contact UCSA

Level 1: Stripper

Level 1: Pilot

Level 1: Boat Captain

Level 2: Judge

Level 2: Fixer

Level 2: Mr. Johnson

Level 2: Technician

Level 2: Arms Dealer

BIO

[ Spoiler ]

Where is your Character from?
Heather is original from CAS, Texas. She was born in the strange little town of Pinebox, surrounded by a nature reserve, the last vast jungle in the North American continent.

Does your character have a family?
Heather parents are still alive and live in Pinebox, Texas. She has a brother but has little to do with him after being drummed out of the CAS military. He is still in, working on his career and proving that he is better than his insubordinate big sister. Her parents are disappointed in Heather's life choices but take pride that she stood up for herself and her son, David.

David is her eight-year-old son and the apple of her eye. He is her motivation to continue taking high-risk mercenary jobs and running the shadows to pay the bills.

Does your Character have an ethnic background?
Heather is plain jane white.

What does your character look like?
Heather is triple B: blonde, had blue eyes, and busty. She is 5'10", two-hundred pounds of trim augmented muscle. She has let her blonde hair grow out but will wear it in a ponytail for work. The iris of her cybereyes look like sapphire blue crystals, but a flick of a mental switch and the color switches to red (she had a particular fondness for a classic sci-fi movie with killer cybernetic machines).

What does your character dress like?
Heather prefers a western look; cowboy boots, dusters, long shirts, and vests. She will get gussied up as work requires. Depending on the job or employer, she has no problem wearing a high-cost business outfit or pulling back on the jungle fatigues to work operation in some third world hellhole. She keeps to a professional look. Everything clean and neat, to hide the fact that she has zero problems with getting dirty.

Does your Character have physical quirks?
Besides the hair and boobs, Heather walks with a hitch in her step. An unfortunate incident during her military career where she needed her hip put back together. The operation was a success, but now she had a limp. With the limp and her cowboy ways, some of her fellow soldiers took to calling her Hopalong.

Where did your Character Learn their Active Skills?
The majority of Heather's skill set comes from active participation in the CAS Military. She was Force Recon and quite good at her job. She has put more than a few 'runners in their place when crossing paths with her. After the military, she focuses on developing her skills for the corporate world. Hoping she can land a job with one of the Megacorps.

Where did the Character learn their Knowledge Skills?
The code of the West was a set of rules. Heather's father taught her how to treat people and expect from them the same. It is tough to follow in a world of corporate cloak and dagger, but finding herself outside the structure of the military is comforting to fall back on when dealing when it comes to dealing with others.

Learning about how Megacorp security works and their procedures was a step toward getting her hooked up with some corporate job. Her skills with small-unit tactics help with that pursuit by being able to work well with others. Though most of the time, she finds herself working with less than professional people, like Shadowrunners.

Where did your Character get her goodies?
Most of Heather's cyberware and Bioware come from either the military or afterward running jobs as a mercenary. One does not join Recon without having some physical advantage to keep up with the boys. Her most cherished hardware is the Cavalier Deputy pistol that her father gave her after getting dumped from the military. He figured giving her something would remind Heather that people still gave a damn about her.

Where does your Character live?
Heather put some of her savings and gains from mercenary work into financing a beautiful high lifestyle condo in Seattle. The one city where disappearing into the shadows is all too easy. Mostly so that her son David can spend a relatively calm and safe life outside of her job, it is not the place she would willingly bring work too unless under life-or-death circumstances. She bribes a few security guards to ensure her privacy, trying to give off that Corporate vibe that she is someone important. She uses a complimentary vehicle for mundane tasks. She keeps everything under her ordinary alias/SIN, Cassidy.

She keeps a safe house near the barrens, where she stores her more illegal gear. Its low rent but has a few security features to keep mundane threats out. It's rented out to her 'Boyd' identity in case someone finds it or raids it.

Who are your Character's contacts?

Who are your Character's enemies?
Single moms generally get that way because of circumstance or a dead beat guy. Heather falls into the former and wishes her baby-daddy was dead. Ronald Stiles was an officer with ambition, and Heather was still naive enough that fraternizing was a dangerous and thrilling pass time. He started off caring about her at first, but their relationship tends to ebb and flow as they bounced from base to base and mission to mission. More than a few times in the first part of Heather's career, she pulled off a few daring stunts to achieve the results that her CO Stiles would take the credit.

To keep her happy, Stiles played on Heather's female desires. All the while keeping their relationship on the down-low. A few times, Stiles could not help when she overstepped boundaries and made more than a few idiots angry with her, or so he claimed to her later. After some reflection, she would conclude that he kept her being more successful by limiting the opportunities others were willing to open to her. She was too useful for his career to let others take away.

Heathers' usefulness came to an abrupt end when she told him that she was pregnant. If she were to give birth, it would soon become evident who the father was after DNA testing and cataloging. A few officers and NCO's he pissed off over the years would have a field day with his career if the truth came out. Heather had an idea that she hated, and she would leave the service. She had this fantasy that they would get married and turn a career buster into a blemish that people would look overdue to Stiles's stellar career.

Heather quickly found out that the cool, composed, and distant posture was not the face Stiles reserved for the troops. He did not love her. Stiles broke the news to her at their favorite spot by the lake in Pinebox. Then he tried to shoot her in the abdomen and hope to follow it up with a bullet to the head. Grossly underestimating just how capable and determined, plus motivated by hormonal anger, Heather abilities. He forgot he made her career out of dangerous missions in Recon, plus her augmentation. He tried to kill Heather, and she, in turn, broke his jaw, with his arm, after she ripped out of the socket.

She should have finished it there and let Stiles bleed out. Instead, she cauterized the wound best she could just in time for paramedics to arrive to stabilize and take her former lover to the hospital. Heather knew there would be hell to pay, but believed the military would see things her way and probably slap her back down to private for maiming an inspiring officer who would probably be going to jail for trying to kill her. In hindsight, she also believed the asshole loved her too. There was a month-long investigation, but it quickly devolved into Stiles being the victim of a jealous girl who thought their professional relationship had been more than just working together. Her Ex had pulled strings, brought in a few experts to frame the narrative. He even had a fiancee in the wings who doted on him while he recovered (later framing him to marry her). Good people stood up for Heather, but the story stuck, and after a quick court-martial, dishonorably discharged from the CAS.

Stiles made it clear that Heather was living on borrowed time as a further kick to the teeth. He would not forgive the injustice of her maiming him and would have his retribution. It was time to disappear before he made it permanent. She knew enough to go into the CAS underground and eventually migrated to Seattle after a few friends encouraged her to have no life if she continues to live in the South. There were contacts to make and jobs to be had fighting in foreign wars as a mercenary. She became a gun for her and a damn fine one. She would pause for a long while to take care of her kid. She took on Shadowrunning to pay the bills but wanted to use her connections to build a resume that some Corporate business would be interested in hiring. She brushed up on her people skills, refine her hobbies to something snobs would like.

How did your Character learn magic?
Heather views magic as a useful tool even as she has little understanding of the topic. That's for the guys who wiggle their fingers to bother with.

What are your characters' likes and dislikes?
Heather loves her son David dearly. There is nothing she would not give to ensure he has a regular and stable life. She fears that his father would still do him harm even after eight years.

She has a love-hate relationship with Shadowrunning. It pays the bills, but the people in it to win are unprofessional scumbags. There are a few diamonds in the rough that she is proud to know, but those are rare.

Corporate life is a means to a better experience for her and her son—a chance to be safe from Stiles' lingering shadow. She has no love for the heavy-handedness that some of the suits use to achieve their goals.

Heather likes all things western, from the ancient trideos to rodeo riding. Like how Street Samurai follow Bushido, Heather follows the Code of the West. Similar in so many ways, but fitting to her rough exterior and temperament.

She loves Texas, and the CAS; in that order.

What is your Character's moral code?
Heather believes in being fair to those deserving of it. Bad people who need shooting, get shot. The only person she will kill without hesitation is Ronald Stiles because of the threat he represents to her son and herself.

She is a professional soldier and will kill if she has too. Otherwise, she will use unhealthy levels of force to subdue targets or knock them out. She is not a believer in leaving behind a body trail to prove what a badass she is.

She will take on a job she believes in with established parameters. If those details change because the employer lied to her or new information changes everything, she will walk away. She is finding part of her code more complicated as she takes on more corporate work that wants results in their favor regardless of who has to get stepped on.

Does your character have goals?
Heather wants a good life for her boy, David. She has spent plenty of her funds to ensure he is safe and hidden away from his father. An experience working for big business will provide that life for her son. She hopes to snag a corporate level security job that will utilize her skills to their fullest.

Does your character have personal beliefs?
Heather beliefs are Baptist, but her church-going days have long behind her. She still believes and prays every so often, but she is not a church girl anymore. She's done too many things to think that regular church folk would approve.

Does your character have personality quirks?
Heather is hard-talking, low bullshit, high-speed kind of girl. She can affect a laid back demeanor, but she can quickly correct anyone if they think she is lazy or can't handle herself. Life in the military instills the value of getting the job done promptly and efficiently as possible. Anyone not up to that standard is dead weight.

Why does your character run the shadows?
If she had a choice, she would not. It is a means to pay the bills, get new gear, and find contacts to help her achieve a better job. Some of the corporate posts tend to dip into the shadows also, and she just sets her teeth and gets the mission done.

How does your character view her role as a shadowrunner?
Being a shadowrunner is a means to an end. At the same time, there are some respectable folks in the biz. If circumstances were different, Heather might find a life in the shadows as a soldier-for-hire keeping the newbs out of trouble and out of the wrong end of

Timeline -

[ Spoiler ]

2028 - Born
2046 - Join the CAS Military; Enlisted.
2052 - Gives birth to son David. Father is an asshole. Drummed out of the CAS military for striking an officer and insubordination. Fearing for her life and her son's life, she disppeared into the criminal underground.
2060 - Either working for Corp as Security/Consultant or Merc Runner bouncing between wars to warn a living.

Race - E
Magic - D
Attributes - C
Skills - B
Resources - A

[Koekepan]

Quick first mention: There's definitely room in the party, I'll check out what you offered, and lend my thoughts.

[Koekepan]

OK, a couple of comments.

These are fairly high level, and everything's up for negotiation, but as it stands I have a few gripes with V 0.9 of the character, so let's take it from the top.

First, I may be looking at this squiggle-eyed, but I don't see how you get those unaugmented stats on priority B for attribute. At 27 points for priority B, human, they should average 3.5, and they're not there. Am I missing something?

Second, anyone in force recon (or even just old-school field intelligence roles) would have a wide skillset way beyond the relatively narrow break-stuff-and-kill-people focus that she has. Not that breaking stuff and killing people isn't in the list, of course, but anyone whose job involves getting dropped in an anonymous shithole a million miles from nowhere and surrounded by psychopathic clowns will need a lot more. Survival. Vehicle skills. Communications tech skills. Emergency medical skills. I see you have stealth and athletics, but what about demolition or military engineering? How about riding, given the cowboy and rural background? Or at least hot skills on motorcycle and ATV courses. How about parachuting or related skills like light airframes? How about field cooking so that she can turn that baboon she shot into something that will keep her and her team on their feet until their backup arrives? As a real country girl, can she at least field dress a kill and have a hide worth saving? For that matter, at least basic animal management, or even foundational animal husbandry skills so that she can get along with natives and handle pack animals on a trail? How are her river rafting and lake sailing skills? I could go on, but I think that you take my point. Self-sufficiency in bad places requires a lot of flexibility, and I'd rather see a wide range of skills rather than a maxed-out few.

I'll go with corporate etiquette specialisation, given the background as given, but no mention is made of how or why she would have (or tolerate) mysterious cyberware without at least getting a cyberdoc to check it out.

I won't quibble too hard about the pineapple bush. We can handwave that in.

As a faith-holding baptist, how does she like magic, magicians and everything around that field?

What I would do in your position (this is not a mandate, and not necessarily to be considered as guidance, but should perhaps be considered):

I would keep a lot of the military background, the ugly history with Stiles and so on; that works. But I would take a closer look at what she'd actually have done, and learned in the military, and see where the character spreads a bit in concept. Is she capable of some decking? Maybe - special forces often need someone who at least has the chops to do a thing to some electronics. Not necessarily, of course; that probably was someone else's job. Alternatively, maybe she has more intel-related skills. Is she good at the sneak-and-peek work? Listening in, planting bugs, rapidly analysing and summarising tactically and strategically relevant data for the brass? Does she know how to break trails and confuse pursuit? Is she really, really good at booby traps, ambushes and assorted dirty tricks?

Hope this helps.

[Foxx]

Alrighty, I'll take your suggestions to heart and make changes. On the attributes I was using the template in the book (since its been years since I made a character) and found it was four points short. I checked it again and found it one point higher than 27. Unless I'm counting it wrong, all stats start with a 1 in them, correct?

[Koekepan]

Alrighty, I'll take your suggestions to heart and make changes. On the attributes I was using the template in the book (since its been years since I made a character) and found it was four points short. I checked it again and found it one point higher than 27. Unless I'm counting it wrong, all stats start with a 1 in them, correct?

Ah! That's the problem!

I'm afraid that you're wrong. Check the example on page 56, 3rd Ed book. You don't get to add 1 first. For 6 attributes, total 27, human, you don't get to add another 6 on top for an average of 5.5. Think about it, if you chose attributes A that way, everything would pretty much have to be a 6 ...

[Foxx]

OKay, thats where I messed up then. I'll get that straighten out rework my skills to be a little more diverse.

[Koekepan]

OK, I like this reworked version a lot better so far.

When you're confident that you have it tidied up and equipped to your satisfaction, throw a flag and I'll take a look at the release candidate version.

I'll also run some parallel activities for Heather before the team combines, so the timeline on this is flexible.

[Koekepan]

Foxx: Approved. I will post on your contacts (there will be some overlap with others, but obviously not full overlap) and then also start making IC posts directed at you.

[pbangarth]

Welcome aboard, Foxx! And thanks for giving us someone to run and hide behind when things get scary.

[pbangarth]

Yo!

Runners out there. YO!

Corporate scumbag maneuvers have stripped my PC, Connor, of an awesome running mate. Connor needs help!

Come on. The story telling is awesome, and the title promises deep intrigue and world-class payoffs.

Get off the couch, people. What else do you have to do?

Risk your lives and get rich. Live fast and die hard.

Otherwise ... what's the point?

(Cross posted to Runners looking for a Johnson and Cast of Shadows)

[Foxx]

I'm dealing with a naked orc. I"m doing my part, sadly. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)