The high-profile assasin., Just watched Dinner Rush. |
The high-profile assasin., Just watched Dinner Rush. |
Nov 20 2005, 05:09 AM
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#1
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 560 Joined: 21-December 04 Member No.: 6,893 |
After watching Dinner Rush, I had a crazy idea for an archetype: the high-profile assasin.
As opposed to a normal assasin, who sneaks about with long-range weapons or poison, the high-profile assasin would blend right into snazzy social gatherings, a la' James Bond. As opposed to daring escapes and long-range kills with drones, he would sneak up behind the person as soon as he's out of general view, put a bullet in the base of his skull, and leave before anyone gets a good look at him. He would have little, if any, cyber, and would focus on easily concealed silent weapons that would allow for discreet point-blank kills. (Think a .22 semiautomatic pistol; the bullets would likely fragment to the point where his weapon could not be identified. A quickly decomposing narcoject round would also work well.) Passing knowledge of a high-end job, such as an investment banker, would be useful; if necessary, he could pass for an average guy who kept a small weapon with him, useful only for self-defense in emergencies. A bit of cosmetic or age-reducing bioware might also be common; they'd be par for the people he needs to blend in with, and because a killer of this type generally has high fees and requires many years to build contacts, would give him a longer working life. Anyone else think this guy might be fun to play? I would give him the "blandness" and "friendly face" edges, the "day job" flaw, and plenty of skill points in pistols and equette. He'd be somewhat like a face, except in that he is designed to hide in plain sight. He'd look like your average guy, the type you see at the office every day but still cant' remember the name of, right until he pulls the pistol out of his blazer and kills you. |
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Nov 20 2005, 05:56 AM
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#2
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 403 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Kill Em All Member No.: 2,018 |
I have an assassin character like that.
Nick Nihil, the man with no past who steals your future. |
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Nov 20 2005, 06:03 AM
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#3
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 803 Joined: 16-March 02 From: The Great White North Member No.: 2,386 |
Fabulous idea :love: and an interesting dimension to the standard Face character. Happy hunting!
This post has been edited by Morgannah: Nov 20 2005, 06:44 AM |
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Nov 20 2005, 06:18 AM
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#4
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 403 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Kill Em All Member No.: 2,018 |
Excellent movie. Best opening scene in a while, though Constantine had a better ending.
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Nov 20 2005, 06:32 AM
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#5
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 565 Joined: 7-January 04 Member No.: 5,965 |
nifty idea. very high risk. dont make any mistakes.
Theres two ways to do it- either an adept, or with bioware. for cyberware, a datajack is a must. their common enough to not get a second glance. and you can get a lot of knowsofts and linguasofts. being able to speak the native language of your target will be a big plus. so will being able to hold an inteligent conversation with anyone about anything. clean metabolism would be a nice bit of bioware to have. |
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Nov 20 2005, 09:59 AM
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#6
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Shadowrun Setting Nerd Group: Banned Posts: 3,632 Joined: 28-June 05 From: Pissing on pedestrians from my electronic ivory tower. Member No.: 7,473 |
That describes pretty much every clandestine service officer since the OSS, except that they were bankers playing spy, not the other way around. |
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Nov 20 2005, 11:58 PM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 470 Joined: 2-January 05 From: Quebec Member No.: 6,924 |
Nothing wrong with a bit of cyber, especially the common legal ones that nobody thinks twice about.
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Nov 21 2005, 03:15 AM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 124 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,812 |
I've been designing a similar character for a while now, and I thought I'd share a cunning plan. SOTA2063 tells us that to detect cyberware we roll (scanner rating) dice vs a target of 3, 6, 8 or 10, depending on the cyberware grade. However, the table of success tells us that 1 success tells you the vague location of the 'ware (head, leg, etc), 2 successes tells you the general/rough number of devices and so on.
So, my character concept is a secretary assasin. I've come up with cyberware that will be in the locations I care about, in order to mask other more interesting cyber. So, I have an alpha-grade biomonitor, for example, which allows me to have a delta-grade (yes we use that SOTA edge, yes I know it's gone for SR3, it's a house rule) smartlink and nanite facilitator, because the biomonitor is in the chest (with the nanite facilitator) and the subdermal readout is on the hand/wrist (with the smartlink pad). Thus, if a scanner picks up my (completely legal and licensed) biomonitor and gets a single success on a 10, or even two successes, then I can say "well yes, I do have cyberware, it's on my license - of course it shows up as my hand, look, I'll show you my subdermal display for the biomonitor. This will also go for my (completely legal) headware to mask the (less legal) cyberware such as smartlink processor and so on. This means I can't have plastic bone lacing or dermal sheathing, but it's a largely bioware heavy character anyway. Also, she's an adept so maskings on the cards to hide the other giveaway for my 'ware - aura. |
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Nov 21 2005, 04:37 AM
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#9
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,073 Joined: 23-August 04 Member No.: 6,587 |
Identifying cyber wear buy aura is at least as difficult as with a cyber wear scanner. A claim of bad surgery will cover the extra essence loss (get a record on your ID that you tried to sue your surgeon but it failed).
Edward |
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Nov 21 2005, 06:51 AM
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#10
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Target Group: Members Posts: 41 Joined: 13-February 03 From: Ottawa, ON, canada Member No.: 4,088 |
PC's tend to get frustrated with assasin characters though when they dont get to utilize their primary function: sneeking and killing.
The GM will find it boring making wetwork after wetwork campaigns geared toward theses characters. It's happened in one of my groups before. The assasin looks to the decker, mage and street sammy characters who are having a blast infiltrating the corp or ganger hideout. also, they're not much of a TEAM player, you know? more the social reject who works better alone. although, the social grace assasin does some cool. I picture a female pulling it off nicely. I dunno, i think im just a sucker for the jack of all trades. concentration makes me leery of an enjoyable adventure. Those jacked skills just stare you in the face when youre not using them every waking moment of the game. e.g. a Mage or Shaman wanting to f*ck around witht his/her sorcery ALL the time. Even when it's not necessary. No disrespect intended. |
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Nov 29 2005, 05:50 AM
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#11
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 560 Joined: 21-December 04 Member No.: 6,893 |
Sorry for not posting in a while.
I personally think that a lightly cybered and/or bio-modified PhysAd (4E rules seem to along with this better) would likely be the way to go. PhysAds are unbeatable when it comes to small arms and few people would look twice at an average-looking stockbroker type with a bit of commonly found cyber and bio to make his life a little easier. (A datajack, some cybereyes, clean metabolism.) Of course, a Smartlink would also be nice. I, personally, feel that a player should be allowed to operate a Smartlink through a datajack as opposed to a subdermal pad; a fiber-optic cable is used to transmit data to and from the pads in the hand anyway, and it's a pain to have to modify your weapons with a fiber-optic jack and a bypass for the normal smartlink interface. It might be a shade less essence-costly, but the necessary cyber for connecting it to the datajack would make up for it, and it's obviously much less convinient. Masking would likely be a necessity with all the magical security out there, too. On the issue of the person's role, he'd still be quite useful as a weapons-adept. He'd not be quite as scary as Hariet the Uber-Fast Gunslinger or as effective as Norman Negotiator, but he could do something that neither of them can: Look harmless. (And being able to fool opponents into thinking he's a "dumb stockbroker" is a nice advantage, too.) On the other hand, he might be spreading himself a bit thin. I'd think that this would be a character that On the issue |
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Nov 29 2005, 06:07 AM
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#12
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Freelance Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 7,324 Joined: 30-September 04 From: Texas Member No.: 6,714 |
That's the real problem with playing an assassin-style character, though. It's not that they're useless -- it's that when they're being an assassin the group is sort of left out, and when they're being a part of the group and working like a shadowrunner, they're not being a super-spy James-Bond style "assassin" any more.
It's a great idea for, y'know, a movie. Or a short story. Or even a solo game. But it's kind of hard to be a super-cool "lone wolf in a business suit" contract killer and be hanging out with some ugly dude in camo pants and a green mohawk, a skinny chick with mage robes on, and that twitchy guy with all the wires in his head, all at the same time. |
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Nov 29 2005, 06:16 AM
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#13
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Moving Target Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 870 Joined: 6-January 04 From: Idaho Member No.: 5,960 |
Read a book called "Knights of the Black Earth". It has the exact character your thinking of except he (she?) is a cross dresser and a drug addict. I must say it goes marvelous together. He (she?) is a master of disguise and intergalactic ettiquette and master of many languages.
The story can also help alleviate the problem of integrating an assassin into a runner group. |
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Nov 29 2005, 06:36 AM
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#14
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,379 Joined: 16-April 02 From: the LI shadows Member No.: 2,607 |
If I may add my :nuyen: 00.02;
The High-Profile Assassin archetype is a good idea. Don't just base it on popular characters like James Bond, but also the hitman from Sin City & Sly Stalone's character from The Specialist & Assassins, even Jean Reno's Leon from The Professional. These gutys would have the minimal amount of cyber & bioware (a specially designed skull-flush datajack, maybe hidden in the mastoid sinus behind the ear) that would assist on his/her chosen career. Stylish multi-optic sunglasses can take the place of cybereyes, and having almost to no (detectable) enhancements can actually be a 'selling point' ("I know this guy, he's as lethal as an Awakened king cobra...and he's total meat. No chrome or bio. Got into the Ares building last week, tagged this mid-level sarariman he'd been hired to nail, then walked out, stone cold. Tac-Sec never saw him, not even on the monitors, even breezed past the security mages. Heh.") I remember an episode of Earth:Final Conflict where an assassin is hired to kill someone with a DNA-targeted poison (the poison was designed to kill only the person with that specific DNA sequence; anyone else hit would not be affected) Solstice is also right. I haven't read the book he mentions, but a high-level in a good disguise skill would be essential. Take a look at Yellow Dancer/Lancer from the Robotech series. Oh, also, take a look at The Tournament. |
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Nov 30 2005, 05:04 AM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 560 Joined: 21-December 04 Member No.: 6,893 |
Actually, I thought that the major selling point of the character is not his style, his finesse, or his amazing lack of cyber/bio. It's something else entirely.
It's his blandness. Your average Giuseppe Stockbroker would have an ordinary-looking datajack, and some non-obvious cybereyes, maybe with some magnification to see faraway stock tickers when he's on the actual floor. He'd walk through the scanners, and they'd notice that he's got a datajack and a pair of cybereyes. Neither of them need a liscense; both of them are common amongst almost everyone. As opposed to charming everyone he meets (James Bond, or really any other stereotypical movie spy), he simply just smiles and walks through the door. Nobody looks twice; it's just another sarariman with a mild hangover and 2.75 kids. Of course, everyone is quick to point out that this character is going to stick out like a sore thumb. You've got a point; when wearing his standard suit, tie, and slacks; he'd likely be mugged by every coke junkie between here and Tijuana if he ever walked into a proper runner bar. Of course, this guy would be a proper runner. In addition to his neglected day-job (which would be used to launder the money), he'd likely have been killing for a good while already; how else would he have gained the necessary physad skills? And, as I can tell you, it's not hard to hide a pair of jeans and a T-shirt under a 3-piece. |
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Dec 1 2005, 06:37 AM
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#16
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 560 Joined: 21-December 04 Member No.: 6,893 |
Here's my example of this character.
I'm currently revising him. (He's SR4-based.) Backstory: Franz used to be a rather ordinary stockbroker. A human of germanic descent, he was not terribly bright, not terribly tough, and not overly good at his job. By a mixture of long hours and dumb luck, he managed to keep himself in the black day-trading; he did'nt live marvellously, but he managed to stay under the radar. In late 2063, Franz had a datajack installed. He got a good deal on it for a simple reason: It was a high end datajack, but a factory reject because it would stop working when bandwith in some areas went past certain levels. Of course, Franz is a stockbroker; the big reason he got a datajack in the first place is because he was getting sick of lugging a set of 'trodes to work, and because his feet would start to tingle after a few hours. On the day of the Crash of '64, Franz was logged on to the Seattle Stock Exchange. He hoped that as people sold stock so as to buy shares in Novatech, he might be able to snag a few good trades on stock which would bounce up to normal value in a few days. Of course, he was more than a little surprised when Deus' full compilation occurred. However, before Franz's brain could be rendered into scrambled eggs by Deus' effects, his datajack literally melted. Franz suffered massive dumpshock; he spent two years in a coma, to wake up in late '66 with no money to his name, a lump of melted silicon in his head, and one hell of a headache. On the way home, Franz took a path through a bad part of town; the last time he had seen it, it had been a thriving thouroughfare. (Having a well-loaded Ares Dragon crash into the middle of the street can do this kind of thing.) Accosted by a young Ork wielding a crude knife, the youth demanded that Franz hand over his money...or else. Under normal conditions, Franz would have likely just handed over his money. However, Franz had been changed by the massive dumpshock in ways he could not imagine. In the time it took for the Ork's pupils to dilate from surprise, Franz had drawn his unused old Streetline Special, a cheap pistol he had found buried under a snowbank a few years back and, just for the fun of it, had an armorer restore, and sent a bullet directly between the mugger's eyes. Over time, Franz realized that he had been changed by the Crash. He could kill. He liked killing. It was as easy as breathing; he drops the facade of the vapid, grinning sarariman, and kills his target. In addition, Franz found he had somehow unlocked some previously unknown abilities. His synapses flew like lightning; he started working out, and became one of the speediest financial analysts in town. He had also started down the path of the Adept; the gun in his hand became almost as an extention of his arm. (The fact that he would often leave work to spend hours at a cheap firing range did'nt hurt, either.) His current career began the day that Franz visited one of his favorite restaurants. Perhaps one of the few things that remained from before the war, Tim's Tofu was a popular stop for those who liked their Soy to taste like Soy, and not something else. Business was hardly brisk, but Tim's location in an alley near the Exchange made it popular amongst brokers who were just getting their start. As would be expected, Tim eventually gained attention from organized crime. Tim's original owner, a shadowrunner who used the place for money laundering and as a convinient place to get his favorite kind of stir-fried bean curd, had agreements with both the Mafia and the Yakuza to stay away from the place; he had ended career with positive relations with both. (His job largely consisted of chasing off “bad influences” of the children of the Oyabuns and Dons.) Of course, two young Triad members decided that they felt like starting their own operation; they felt that Tim's was a good starting place. As the two Tongs, one an elf, one a human, made un-subtle gestures at their guns and snarled at the owner, Franz found himself delayed from getting his Tofu. Seeing as how these guys were obviously not going to be missed, Franz drew his Magnum, and killed the second before the first had an opprotunity to hit the floor. He then ordered Combo # 5, with a double order of kimchi. Tim (a rather skinny dwarf) was grateful; although he had some rather heavily armed and armored Troll buddies who could keep away goons like these, they were expensive and tended to make a mess of things. Although Tim had little in the way of monetary resources, he introduced Franz to a few mafiosi and yakuza he knew. He then began service as a hired killer; he mostly took care of those who defected from the Yaks or Mafia in a highly obvious and public manner. Although a mildly crazy killer, Franz can, when he wants to, appear to be a normal stockbroker. He makes cheezy passes at women, talks about the stock market, and wears fashions that are almost exactly six months out of date. However, when he drops the facade and draws his weapon, you can see the mad monster residing within. Franz's specialty is isolating his opponents in restaurants and social gatherings, and killing them with a silenced hold-out at point-blank range, and leaving before the body is descovered. He capitalizes on his blandess; at first glance, he looks just like the thousand other corp workers who pass by every day, and few remember his presence, let alone report it. His datajack is completely fried; however, it appears as normal on most scanners. (I did'nt include any essence loss; I figured that, since the datajack was totally fried and quite useless, it would'nt really matter if he had it anyway.) Franz Schmidt Human PhysAd “High-profile assassin” Qualities: Blandness (10BP) Adept (5BP) High Pain Tolerance 2 (10BP) Ambidextrous (5BP) Astral Chameleon (5BP) Hindrances: SINner, normal legal (-5BP) Scorched (-5BP) Allergy (mild, pollen) (-10BP) 15BP Abilities: Body 4 Agility 5 Reaction 5 Strength 3 Charisma 3 Intuition 3 Logic 3 Will 3 Initiative 8 Magic 5 250BP Skills: Etiquette 2 (Corporate +2) Negotiation 2 Perception 3 Computer 2 (Stocktrading +2) Dodge 4 Armorer 2(Firearms +2) Swimming 1 Running 1 Weapon skills: Pistols 6 (Semi-automatics +2)(+3 from Improved Ability) Automatics 4 Thrown weapons 2 (Grenades +2) Blades 1(knives +2) (Total: 132BP) Knowledge Skills: Economics 3 (Stockmarket +2) Buisness 3 Modern History 2 The Matrix Crash 2 Megacorps 3 Languages: English (N) Spanish 4 Gear: 15,000 nuyen. (20BP) Physad abilities: Improved Reflexes 2 Improved Ability: Pistols 3 Improved Sense: Low-Light Improved Sense: Vision Magnification Gear: (not yet finsihed). This guy is, essentially, a gunbunny with an emphasis on pistols and who can make himself appear to be a mildly successful stockbroker. |
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Dec 2 2005, 03:06 AM
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#17
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 560 Joined: 21-December 04 Member No.: 6,893 |
I'm a little fuzzy on SR4 guns.
Can anyone reccomend a good pistol for this guy? I need something small, farily reliable, and that packs a punch. I was looking at the Manhunter 4; it's even got a built-in smartlink. On a seperate note, are cyberware smartlinks really no better than the type that work with glasses? There's something to be said for having things built into you, but the essence loss really is'nt worth it. Also, it is possible to get a fiber optic link from a gun to the smartgoggles? I don't understand half the stuff about wireless hacking, but I figure I may as well use the same approach as I use for PC peripherals; wireless is bad, wires are good. (As an added bonus, I don't have to worry quite as much about RF jammers.) |
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Dec 2 2005, 03:14 AM
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#18
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 626 Joined: 1-March 04 Member No.: 6,112 |
There is no SR4 benefit in having a smartlink implanted over smartgoggles, no.
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Dec 2 2005, 03:18 AM
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#19
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 565 Joined: 7-January 04 Member No.: 5,965 |
there is one simple benefit of goggles vs implant. availibility.
it doesnt matter if you want only the smartlink. but if you want ALL the bells and whistles, then the cybereyes are better. you cant fit pretty much all you need in rating 4 cybereys. you can fit teh same in contacts, but the availibility will be through the roof. |
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Dec 2 2005, 06:41 PM
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#20
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 586 Joined: 22-November 02 From: Gordonsville, Virginia, U.S.A. (or C.A.S.) Member No.: 3,630 |
Teulisch:
Am I to understand that there are Smartlinkable (if that's a word) contact lenses available? If so, in which sourcebook/supplement can I find them? My character is a Magician's Way Adept, and, if possible, I'd like for him to have the benefits of a Smartlink without having to worry about Essence loss. Thanks. :) --Foreigner |
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Dec 2 2005, 07:02 PM
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#21
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 470 Joined: 2-January 05 From: Quebec Member No.: 6,924 |
It's in the SR4 book pg. 324
You can even get a smartlink in a Monocle, or glasses. It even has goggles that a mage can use to cast magic while in cover from 10, 20, 30 meters away. For SR3, why not buy a pair of smartlink shades? |
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Dec 2 2005, 07:45 PM
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#22
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 586 Joined: 22-November 02 From: Gordonsville, Virginia, U.S.A. (or C.A.S.) Member No.: 3,630 |
Teulisch:
Well, there THAT went.... ;) My GM, Sahandrian, plays SR3--as do I-- and he says that he doesn't plan on switching to SR4--at least, not anytime soon. As you said, I think that I'll have to stick to Smartshades--unless, that is, the SR4 stuff can be adapted to SR3. Perhaps the next SOTA supplement will have it. :) Thanks. :) --Foreigner |
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Dec 2 2005, 08:12 PM
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#23
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 470 Joined: 2-January 05 From: Quebec Member No.: 6,924 |
Personally, I don't see a problem. The only difference for these things is that they are wireless, and that's not exactly game breaking if you use it in SR3 as well. After all, whatever you can use, so can the npc's. :D
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Dec 2 2005, 08:36 PM
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#24
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Target Group: Members Posts: 44 Joined: 2-October 05 Member No.: 7,799 |
The concept sounds very similar to one of my favorite characters. I basically decided that my goal was to create a 'leader'-type who was able to handle a wide variety of tasks and could fill in as many of the mundane positions as needed.
The backstory is that he was actually supposed to play the lead in a new reality-type vid series based on running. A relative nobody, the producers hired him because he was cheap and had the look they were going for. They spent tons of nuyen giving him a reputation, training him, and giving him the 'ware needed to survive. Just before the pilot episode the producers, production team, and nearly everyone else were killed in a variety of 'accidents'. Maybe a rival corp had heard about the new series and decided they didn't like the competition, or someone in the Shadows didn't like the idea of a reality show exposing their livelihood. The fixer who the producers hired had taken a liking to Prosper, so he managed to pull the guy out and make it look like he had died in one of the 'accidents'. Now Prosper works for the fixer, doing his best to stay afloat and keep up with his own reputation. Simon Prosper Race: Human Attributes: BOD: 4/5 QUI: 6/10 STR: 3/7 CHA: 5/5 INT: 6/8 WIL: 6/6 Essence: 0.81 Rea: 9 Bio Index: 3.8 Init +4D6 EI - BI: 0.01 CP: 12 Edges/Flaws: Friendly Face Good Reputation II Perceptive Severe Allergy (Capsaicin) Sensitive Neural Structure II Scorched Skills: Pistol 6 Computer 1 Electronics 1 Electronics B/R 1 Negotiation 5 Etiquette 5 Stealth 6 Athletics 3 Unarmed Combat (Brawling) 2(4) Thrown Weapons (Grenades) 1(3) Biotech 1 Resources: Cyberware: 3-Slot Multislot Chipjack (A) Internal GPS (A) Orientation System (A) Spatial Recognizer (A) SL II (A) Datajack (A) Ears (A) - Damping (A) - Amplifier (A) - HF Hearing (A) - LF Hearing (A) - R5 Filter (A) Eyes (A) - Image Link (A) - Flare Comp (A) - Cover - E-Mag III (A) - Thermo Vision (A) - Low-Light Vision (A) - Ultrasonic Vision (A) Rating 3 Muscle Replacement (A) Boosted Reflexes I (A) Chemical Analyzer & Gas Spectrometer (A) - Rating 6 Built-In Program Bioware: Enhanced Articulation Suprathyroid R2 Synaptic Accelerator R2 Cerebral Booster |
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Dec 2 2005, 10:59 PM
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#25
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 203 Joined: 18-November 05 Member No.: 7,978 |
That's a really cool idea, but that seems like an awful lot of ware to include for an actor in a movie.
They can imitate stuff well enough with CG and editing now. No need to drop mills down on somone. Really, that seems excessive. Particularly the boosted reflex +synaptic accelerator trick. |
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