Recruiting - The Tanheuser Directive (SR4), Some secrets are best forgotten... Options

[Scope_47]

Recruiting for a play by post game:

The Tanheuser Directive
You've been a runner for a long time - at least a long time considering the business... so it's no surprise that you're the one to get the call when Mr. Johnson wants a package intercepted from a high security AAA air-strip. It's also not a surprise that your Johnson isn't the only one with a stake in where that package ends up. But the further down the rabbit hole you go, the more surprising the truth of the matter becomes.

The game takes place in 2072 and begins in Seattle. Characters are experienced runners who may have done some globe-trotting on one or more occassions.

Books allowed: BBB, Arsenal, Augmentation, Street Magic*, Unwired
* - Anything from Street magic needs my approval first as I am not completely familiar with that one.

A note on my GMing style: I assume intelligence on the part of runners unless told otherwise - so if you have an encrypt program, I assume you strong encrypt your commlink while you sleep nightly. If you have cyberware, I assume it is slaved to your commlink or otherwise wireless turned off. Etc, etc. Take care of book-keeping rolls on your own -> I trust my players to take care of their own drain/program updates/spirit tasks (though I RP the spirits themselves)/etc. If you have a question or aren't clear on something - ask me by PM or Yahoo Instant Messenger, or on the OOC thread. Also, make knowledge rolls if you are in doubt as to what your character would do - sometimes (s)he will know something her/his player doesn't.

Character Crunch:

450 BP

30 Karma

Nuyen is 7000 per BP instead of 5000 - still capped at 50BP

Availability cap is still 12, but may be raised on a per-item basis by expending 1 karma per four availability points above 12 to a maximum of 20 availability. Example: Heidi wants an avail 16 sniper rifle, an avail 20 cyber-toy, and an avail 18 armor. Her karma expenditure is 5 karma (1 for rifle, 2 for cyber, 2 for armor). Even if spending karma on increasing allowed availability, you still have to actually pay the nuyen cost with starting nuyen as above.

Contacts are purchased with contact points. 1BP = 3 CP (contact points). A Contact costs a number of CP = Loyalty * Connections

House Rules

If you write a backstory, I will award a subjective sum of karma based on how much I like it - and how much I can work it into the game's plot.

New flaw: Deprogramed (15 BP flaw) - You woke up a number of years ago with no recollection of your previous life. Nothing but a fake sin claiming you to be an assistant manager at a fictitous box company, and a set of dogtags too worn to read. Occassionally you have flashbacks of your past, but they only offer more questions - never answers. Mechanically, if you take this flaw the GM secretly writes your character's history from prior to her 'waking up.' Consequences of this flaw are strictly found out in play.

If you choose to play a hacker or technomancer, you have two options when hacking things (this assumes that we aren't in combat initiative, in which case you act in init order along with everyone else): you can resolve hacking a node with me on an Instant Messenger proggie, or you can make a single roll and let me narrate to you what you find on the node. This is to keep the hacking from bogging down the game, since theoretically in the time it takes Mr. Johnson to give the info on the run, a hacker can have done a bunch of datasearches, rifled through everyone's commlink at the meet, and played a few games of Lord of the Rings Online version bazillion. If no one plays a hacker, I'll provide an NPC bunker-hacker to handle that part of the run.

Established NPCs that may be taken as contacts (Connection rating in parenthesis)

Jack-Point (6): not an NPC per se, requires that your commlink have a firewall 6 and be running Encrypt 6. Anything less and Fastjack won't risk letting you in the group. Also requires at least a loyalty rating 4. If you break his rules, Fastjack will kick you from the group.

Phildick (5)- Human Male. A philosophical sort fond of quoting 20th century science fiction. Phildick is a demolitionist and safe-cracker by trade.

Maj. Crunch (6)- Human Male. Street Sam, military tactician. Rumored to be barely human and barely sane, Maj. Crunch has been in the business for longer than anyone has a right to. He currently owns a string of night-clubs and is running an organized crime syndicate with connections to the mafia.

Sierra Cope (4): Human Female. Retired assassin/sniper/covert-ops specialist. Currently runs an armorer and electronics shop in Puyallup City. Known Mafia connections. Rumored to have been involved in something that went down heavy in Hong Kong in 71.

Jimmy No-Knock (3): Dwarf Male. Auto mechanic and used car dealer. Operates a semi-legit junkyard on the outskirts of town.

Happy Pappy (5): Unknown Male. Drug Magnate, if its a chemical or narcotic he can get it for you. Never meets in person, only through associates.

Ivarth (4)- Troll Male. Muscle, lots of it. Does artistic modifications on gear and vehicles. Rumoured to go way back with Sierra Cope and would be the only one who could get her out of retirement if anyone could.

The Bloody Cobbler (4): Trans-humanist of unknown gender and metatype. Ripper-doc and Street-doc. The Bloody Cobbler's rep is impeccable with paying customers. But those who go under the knife and can't pay are often ghoul chowl. Can get cyber that no-one else can - sometimes even mil-spec gear... just don't ask about where it came from.

Opinicus (6) Unaffiliated Fixer - enigmatic and works entirely online.

Betty (3): unaffiliated Fixer. Betty isn't so much a fixer herself as she is a switch-board operator. She can get you in touch with other fixers.

Vinny Laretti (5): Mafia Fixer. A classical mobster, Vinny runs most of Pullayup City and has his fingers in a lot of pies. Rumor has it that he is tiring of his position and may be gathering forces to move up in the chain of command.

Boris Romanov (5): Vory Fixer. Boris primarily deals in running guns from Russia to Tir Tangier via Seattle.

Hoshi Takamura (5): Yakuza Fixer. Takamura is a Bunraku parlor magnate.

Captain McGruder (5): Lone Star Fixer - head of the Organized Crime division and not above hiring runners to make sure he gets his collar.

Colonel Mayborne (5): Knight Errant Fixer - the Colonel is no longer 'officially' a part of Knight Errant, but the former Firewatch Colonel still looks after corporate interests in the shadows. He and McGruder are currently embroiled in a shadow-war as Seattle's law-enforcement contract is coming up for renewal in the next few months.

NON-CANON NOTABLE NPCs

Toymaker: Matrix rumor has it that there is a new hacker in toyland, and (s)he isn't a team player. Nobody even knows what Toymaker's icon looks like - much less the hacker himself (or herself). Rumor has it that Toymaker has gone toe to toe with some of the greats, and may have known Captain Chaos. Could even be a new (or old!) AI on the playfield.

Captain Hernandez, LSCSI - An honest cop. Beware, this guy is like a bulldog, and just smart enough to know the tricks to protect himself. When Lone Star is hunting for runners, this is the guy they call in.



Whew, that was a lot of typing. If you are interested or have any questions, just reply to this post. The game is intended to go multiple runs (some for different Johnsons) with an overarching plot that may change due to PC actions/backstories.

- Scope_47