Doing that Cold-War Mod to Shadowrun 3e., 1986. Chernobyl. Challenger. Awakening.. |
Doing that Cold-War Mod to Shadowrun 3e., 1986. Chernobyl. Challenger. Awakening.. |
Mar 30 2006, 02:47 AM
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#1
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
A busy year, eh? MI-6 must be running around ragged.
So here's our idea. My friend and I are going to mod the Awakening to the year 1986. The Awakening, in fact, happens on January 1st, leading rise to one of the most interesting years around. We're going to do the MI-6 thing. Here's the rub. Since we're starting the Awakening, Awakened characters should probably cost more since the rest of us don't have cyberware to even the odds. Since we're starting around the Awakening, we were thinking of Shamans being the only magical path readily available, with Hermetic Mages being available as members of a "kept the faith all these years" sect. Our problem is... We need help. We're going to run through the Companion (doing SR3 rules) to cherry-pick edges and flaws and stuff. But we mainly need advice on rebalancing Awakened characters against Mundanes. |
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Mar 30 2006, 03:05 AM
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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 |
Rebalancing? Seriously? My advice: Don't.
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Mar 30 2006, 03:22 AM
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#3
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
Uhhhh, woulden't that give Awakened characters an incredible edge in power over the rest of us?
We also need to refigure the starting wealth. Remember, 1986 was the days wherein super-villians would hold cities hostage for a million dollars.... Well, ten million, anyway. :) |
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Mar 30 2006, 04:12 AM
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#4
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
My advice is to keep most cyberware and all combat drugs. Remember the Free World's two great Steves, Steve Austin and Steve Rogers.
Retool some of the flavor so all of the 'ware is top secret and anyone who has it is either owned by a goverment or paragovernmental orginization or is being hunted by every government and paragovernmental orginization in the world. Make drug addiction less damaging in the short run but still long term devestating and. With the supply of designer combat drugs limited to the same orginizations as the cyberware these drug users will be trapped with no way out. Be very careful with what you allow from the sourcebooks. I would recomend sticking to the core rules for the most part. Exotic 'ware and advanced magic would be rare. And cyberlimbs should clearly be labeled unleaded only. |
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Mar 30 2006, 04:45 AM
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#5
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
I dunno. That would seem too much like the Sixth World. Okay, so it IS the Sixth World, but nobody knows it yet, and none of the Megacorps are Mega. In fact, some of them have yet to be Incoporated. let alone Megacorporated.
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Mar 30 2006, 05:08 AM
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#6
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
That's why reflavoring it is important. Won't be our tried and true Sixth World cyberware.
This will be the proto-prototypes that that stuff why be based on. It will be messy and unpleasent and about as rare as magic is if not rarer. And don't even think about grades. The only grade this stuff comes in is "you must be insane ." Of course, with the mention of supervillians one must consider the possibility to superscience 80s superscience. And even Jaws was a cyborg. If you can tolerate camp you can firmly pull the scenario back into the 80s by having the Six Million Dollar Man and Michael Knight make guest appearances and have a cyborg villian scream "Cobra!" as he charges to his death. Of course, no datajacks is a given. |
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Mar 30 2006, 05:53 AM
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#7
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
Hyz... That's not really the stuff an operator of MI-6 would be given. That's the kind of stuff that's only seen in dark-science chop-shop laboratories down in the basements of the basements of the basements that's never really used by a government actor.
Really, can you see James Bond sporting a gas-powered cyberarm? I can't. Or hopped up on combat drugs? Nope. On another note, I'm trying to pin down what was the service rifle in use by Britain's armed forces in the year 1986. I'm not sure where to look. Remember, this game may be the Sixth World, but it's not the Sixth World that Shadowrun knows. In this Sixth World, the space shuttle Challenger was taken down when a dragon's emergence by freak chance intersected the shuttle's airspace and clipped her. We still don't know what caused Chernobyl (probably because it hasen't happened yet,), but we may have a lot of fun finding out... :) |
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Mar 30 2006, 06:14 AM
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#8
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,028 Joined: 9-November 02 From: The Republic of Vermont Member No.: 3,581 |
If you're actually running early in the Awakening, you've got the perfect excuse to gimp the mages. The knowledge and techniques that we've got at our fingertips in standard SR are the end result of fifty years of magic, and won't have been developed yet. The mana level may still be low, only barely above whatever threshold it passes at the boundary between Worlds.
This means that you're perfectly justified in trimming the spell list any way you like, and ditto for the metamagics - maybe even disallowing initiation entirely. Spell formulae will be hard to find and expensive at best, and the people who have them may not be willing to share. Initial Spell Point allowances should probably be sharply reduced (maybe even eliminated), and the cost for extra ones greatly increased. Spell research will be difficult, and hermetic libraries with half-decent ratings (necessary to design spells with half-decent ratings) will be rare, valuable, and highly-sought-after artifacts in and of themselves. Ditto for foci and other magical gear. And a low mana level may mean difficulty sourcing power for spells, resulting in increased Drain. Geas-like restrictions might be involved in getting it to work at all. Adept powers may be limited in selection, reduced in effectiveness, and/or increased in cost (and Drain, for those that have it). Spirits may be weak, limited in Force or restricted in what powers they can use. Nature spirits might require elemental-like rituals to summon, and elementals... well, good luck finding a decent conjuring library. Astral projection could be fatiguingly difficult or dangerous. And, of course, unless you mess with the whens and hows of UGE, the only elves and dwarves will be young children, and there won't be any orks or trolls at all. Oh, yeah, '86 was the last pass of Halley's Comet, too. |
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Mar 30 2006, 06:28 AM
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#9
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Gas powered cyberarms I see on villianous henchmen more than the heroes themselves.
The heroes could afford things that are a little less obvious, like kevlar plates implanted under the skin. I imagine a sexy nurse telling a nervous male agent " Don't worry, its no different from a women getting a breast implants excpt there are bulletproof". Some simpler 'ware from SR3 can fit in the setting with a little tweeking. Would MI6 give it to field agents? Probably if it would give them an edge over the Commies and certainly if the soviets have their own cyberagents. As for combat drugs, I'm reminded of the Third Season of 24 where Jack Bauer is shooting up heroin in his office because he got addicted during an undercover assignment. It isn't the same as combat drugs but agents do what they have to do. Again, it depends very much on the flavor of your games. But spy fiction is rife with crazy prototype gadgets and orginizations with silly names populated by gimick villians. Personally, I would go through the the cyberware sections or SR3 and M&M and make a list of every piece of 'ware that I would allow the PCs to have based on the flavor I want then then I would rewrite the flavor pieces for each item to better fit the setting. Then I would take out SR3 and MitS and do the same for magic. The important thing is that you have to control the setting to get the flavor you want. It isn't just about balance. If you want a magic heavy game then there is no need to nerf magic in favor of mundanes. If you want magic to be weak then you enforce limits on magic and then find an IC reason why. If you want mundanes to have an edge that lets them stand up to magicians then you first determine what that edge should be statistically then you create an IC reason for that edge. Now, the flavor examples I gave are what I would use if I was running such a game. You don't have to use them. You use the flavor you want. But, the game is already balanced the way it is. You can use the cyberware mechanics without using cyberware, you just have to find a new fluff justification for the statistical penalities and the benefits formerly associeted with cyberware and you can use any excuse for these statistical changes that you want. You could change "essence" to "machismo" and say that tiny green martions namd kazoo come down in their spaceships and strike the character with a xylophone in such a way that it grants statistical bonuses but makes the character less suave and manly, thus providing social penalities and making health spells more difficult to cast on the character and that would be okay because it is your game world. In short, don't fix what ain't broken just find a way to justify it that doesn't destroy the flavor of your game. Edit: Or just make everyone Adepts without exception. |
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Mar 30 2006, 06:51 AM
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#10
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
So far the plan to tweak mages is mostly increasing the karma costs associated with everything. JC, your ideas sound good, but I am wholely unversed in SR3 magic - I always wanted to be a decker who moonlighted as a sammie. I'll point your post to the DM involved (I'm a co-conspirator) who knows the Magic rules.
Hyz, this isen't a Mutants and Commies and Masterminds and Capitalists game. (I think I just merged two different games there, but whatev.) It's a James Bond game merged with the early days of the awakening. And I mean the very early days - the Awakening was January 1. :) As for UGE and all - the only elves and orks are babies born on or after January 1, 1986. Goblinization hasen't started yet, and SURGE? You can forget it. :) Actually, boning up on my Chernobyl, it occurs to me that the site is in 2070, unless this has been covered in SoE or something, still radioactive, only the tiniest fraction of a percent less 'hot' than it was on April 26, 1986.. I'd imagine that the inside of the #4 reactor building has a background count of 10 - pure mana warp - and the surrounding countryside all has a 5. I'd imagine the places directly around the building would have at least a 7 or 8... So, it occurs to me... That would be the perfect place to find dangerous and unhealthy things for a toxic shaman. You could kill a whole lot of people by 'harvesting' the radioactive nastiness still in there. |
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Mar 30 2006, 07:28 AM
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#11
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
You shouldn't do Chernobyl without a look at this site
http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html As for the mutants and commies thing, well that is where we differ but it is just a matter of preferance. My practical advice is that the same basic statistical mechanisms of cyberware (the loss of a special attribute for an increase in a standard attribute) can be used with whatever fluff justification you want. You can even use the cyberware rules to determine essence loss to bonus ratios. It doens't have to be cyberware, it doesn't have to be anything. I'd use prototype cyber and supersoldier serums only because that is my preferance. You can come up with a completely different fluff justification for the game mechanism. |
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Mar 30 2006, 11:13 AM
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#12
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,598 Joined: 15-March 03 From: Hong Kong Member No.: 4,253 |
For the British service rifle the SA-80 was in the process of replacing the SLR (a copy of the FN-FAL). Here's a version of that story.
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Mar 30 2006, 05:35 PM
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
A little aside... There was a game titled SteamPunk that was out for a brief time. Imagine, steam powered cyberlimbs. (need that "fireman" contact) Of course in one segment (my favourite) of Harlequin's Back I believe that Cyberlimbs were fueled by Phlogiston. |
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Mar 30 2006, 06:28 PM
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#14
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
Crusher - awesome link. Ta.
I'm trying to use firearms from Raygun's site as much as possible. Fortunately, he has the FN-FAL listed. :) For those interested, or who want to pick nits, here's what I have so far. This is what you'll get if you petition your service to replace lost/damaged/destroyed/sold/traded/thrown-at-an-enemy firearms. You can of course carry other things, but that's your dime/pence/ruble on the line, not theirs. This is basically a list of "service-issue" carry weapons, based upon what your job in any potential operation is: CIA: Pistols: Beretta 92FS (Your choice of chambering), Ruger Super Redhawk (.44 magnum only) Submachine guns: MP5 series (Your choice), Uzi series (Your choice) Assault Rifles: M16A2, M4A1 Long Rifle: Steyer Armory M21 Tactical MI-6 Pistols: H&K P92, SIG 220 (9mm Para only) Yes, that's right. Bond dosen't carry his Agency's service pistol. In the old days it was, but when the bodyguard of Her Royal Highness Princess Anne's PPK jammed during his attempt to use it during a kidnap attempt, the gun was withdrawn and verboten as a carry arm for all actors of the British government. Naturally, MI-6 turns a blind eye to this rule, allowing their Agents to use whatever the hell they damn well are most effective with. Submachine guns: MP5/10, MP5/40 Assault Rifles: Long Rifles: I wanted to issue the USP series to MI-6, but... Maybe in another decade. :) |
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Mar 30 2006, 07:27 PM
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#15
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
I've used the SR mechanics in the 16th century, with some major retooling. Some primary things I did:
1) Drop the combat pool (or reduce), unless you expect lots of group fights. In one on one fights, you can expect most people get a single action and get to dodge a single attack, so the question simply becomes 'offensive or defensive?' This may be less of a problem with you, since firearms are so common, and so the melee tests will be greatly reduced (one on one fist fights with 1 pass per round is terrible when combat pool is included.) 2) Mages start out with 0 spells. Adepts start out with 0 power points invested. All magic/power points start out at 0 or 1. Mages already have the incredible ability to astrally project even then, adepts have the ability to outpace anything alive. There's no reason to let them START being super. Everything must be discovered. The old initiation rules no longer count, characters must discover, on their own, how to tap into and increase their magic. Basically, every initiation requires research and/or questing. Magic spells require intensive study to learn, even at low levels (a level 1 boosted reflexes is just as game breaking, remember). Also consider not telling the PCs whether they have magical abilities or not, simply have them manifest during game play. This way they won't know what's available, what's worth researching, etc. Feel free to retool major parts of magic 'just because'. You don't want them to know how magic works and plan around that, everything should be new, different, and at least mildly frightening. 3) Magic is fluid. A person may gain, lose or change abilities. A non-magical person may learn to be magical. A magical person may become less magical simply through lack of use. This means that no matter where you are in the game, any player has the potential to catch up with another. That said, even though magical ability is dynamic, don't assume that it's the same path for everyone. Some people may be born magical, some may need to be made that way. 4) I recommend caution in giving away karma. In my game I had one player and several NPCs who were pacing her. I didn't bother with karma, but advanced her abilities based solely on use (sort of like the original CoC mechanic). However, the nature of diminishing returns, which SR relies so heavily on, may make your mage more likely to acquire the best of both worlds with relatively little work, while your non-magical specialist has no choice but to continue blowing karma on relatively small gains. Two solutions leap to mind, firstly that non-magical people can become magical (or acquire other powers through other means equivalent to magic), or that the cost of investing in both fields is prohibitive - buying up to 3 or 4 in a skill no longer requires 10 karma, but 40. You may want to consider figuring out SOMETHING to mirror cyber. Mutations, cool gadgets like James Bond, drugs, biological enhancements... Also consider applying more limitations to magic, such as longer casting times or even geas for each initiating level. You may also want to consider the possibility that government agencies learned about magic first, and how to counter it (or at least detect it). The MK Ultra program was successful in that it allowed mundanes to see the astral/caused people with latent ability to awaken. Immediately they studied how to counter this terrible power. They learned where and how to build buildings (say, underground) to avoid astral spying, what sort of weapons work to block magic, etc. Not everything works. The government is very, very paranoid about magic users and will catch them first, then ask questions later, after the dissection. |
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Mar 30 2006, 07:34 PM
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#16
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Man In The Machine Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,264 Joined: 26-February 02 From: I-495 S Member No.: 1,105 |
Great site there... spooky as all hell though. |
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Mar 30 2006, 07:36 PM
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#17
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
Well, most of your things, I'm not sure I can use.
We're definately going to have gadgets, in spades. I can't wait to hear what my Q-Branch Watch does. I imagine it has a button that makes any automobile in a 20-meter radius start if it's not on, and stop if it is, or something similarly silly and useful in like, precisely two situations. :) Drugs, bio-enhancements, mutations? I dunno. They don't really fit the theme of either the 6th world or James Bond. I guess on the super-villians, but not for us to use. As for magic, remember we're still literally days after the Awakening. They're going to have no concept that their secure rooms in the hearts of buildings can be penetrated by a simple Astral Projection. It could be interesting.... As for randomly divvying out the magic? I dunno, that's not my province. I'll direct the DM here, and tell him to start reading the thread. And beat him about the head and shoulders until he registers and starts posting. |
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Mar 30 2006, 07:41 PM
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#18
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,174 Joined: 13-May 04 From: UCAS Member No.: 6,327 |
Hehe, reminds me of a particular project that involves remote viewing and such. |
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Mar 30 2006, 08:20 PM
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 152 Joined: 29-March 06 From: UCAS Member No.: 8,420 |
For flavor, I'm guessing some of the old spooks in '86 were still packing 1911's and .38 Revolvers. For the CIA Sniper Rifle, I'd think you'd also see some M-14s floating around, that was MILSPEC then, I think. Also on the parahunts, I don't think it would be a stretch to see some anti-material rifles deployed, some of the big .50BMG bastards. Sounds like a killer idea man. Happy Hunting. |
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Mar 30 2006, 10:00 PM
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#20
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
I was thinking about that as well. Mana level isn't a binary state phenomon. It is quite analog and had been rising steadily or semisteadily for decades leading up to the Awakening. The Awakening itself is simply th ethreshold point at which Great Dragons can rise from their slumber. There are plenty of canon examples of magic being used pre-awakening, examples of spirits being active pre-awakening and an example of an elf nosfaratu pre-awakening. So remote viewing can be considred an example of limited pre-awakening magic use, possibly astral projection. The CIA has been studying this since 1972 and the KGB has been at it even longer. I'm sure MI-6 has been in it at some point too. From these early studies come methods of defending against magic and astral survailance should have been found. I'd also expect the psionic tradition to be most prevelant amongst the intelligence services for this reason. They already have psionic magicians working for them. |
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Mar 30 2006, 10:06 PM
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
Somewhat related,
It would be interesting to set things a little further back into the "duck & cover" era of the 50s - early 60s. Just think with McCarthyisim & the Red Scare running rampant & the Klan in pre-civil rights days, Buddy Holly, Elvis, and the Beaver. Think about being awakened or goblinised. I may have to work this up. |
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Mar 30 2006, 10:07 PM
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
If memory serves, magic rises and falls in an analog, not discrete pattern. The magic level has just now hit the threshold that people unintentionally begin to manifest magical abilities. That doesn't imply that magic didn't exist before that threshold was hit, or that the hundreds of magical societies and thousands of dedicated magic users (such as shamans) didn't actually manage to get some low-level magic effects through intensive practice and drugs. Especially in regards to astral vision which HAS been 'documented' in our current time. Dream quests and the like are a regular part of many religious groups, and the government genuinely did sink an awful lot of money into seeing if they could make psychics. Who says they didn't succeed? After all, you only need a magic rating of 1 (lower than that if you allow fractions) and no skills to project :P There's nothing in canon that says people could not astrally project, engage in psychic activity, etc. before the awakening. It is widely held now that people DO do those sorts of things right now. Who says they're wrong?
It is a tough call, since it restricts the player's control over his own character, but it WOULD allow for the surprise of the awakening you're aiming for. Something else to consider, making your initiative dice a statistic you can actually improve through karma expenditure. Perhaps 10/20/30 to increase to the different levels. That will let your non-mages keep up with the magic users without the use of drugs or mutations. |
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Mar 30 2006, 10:12 PM
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#23
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 142 Joined: 29-November 02 Member No.: 3,660 |
Ditto that on the CIA . Also you would be useing M16A1's still for a lot of units .and the m4 isn't even a pipe dream yet .Closest would be Colt xm177 seris and Comandos . |
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Mar 30 2006, 10:48 PM
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 152 Joined: 29-March 06 From: UCAS Member No.: 8,420 |
CAR-15 is a pretty respectable hand-off for the M-4. I know they were floating around. Also, what about the Browning High-Power in the UK arsenal? www.world.guns.ru (it's in English) would be a great resource for you to use. In fact, it's a great resource period. |
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Mar 31 2006, 12:01 AM
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#25
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,889 Joined: 3-August 03 From: A CPI rank 1 country Member No.: 5,222 |
I'm always up for some nit-picking.
As people have mentioned, M16A1s would still be plentiful: the M16A2 and the M855/SS109 ammunition it fires is still brand spanking new in 1986, having coming out of the last experimental testing for the US Army in late 1985, and have not been delivered in large enough numbers yet to arm but a fraction of the US military. Ruleswise this makes little difference, of course, except for the M16A1 having a safe-semi-full trigger group instead of the M16A2's safe-semi-3. I doubt you'll want to delve into twist rates and the static stability of bullets in flight. XM177s (a.k.a. CAR-15s) did exist in some numbers in 1986, but were not nearly as widespread as M4s are currently. The US military still made good use of MP5s, or even M3A1s, for close quarters combat at the time. The M4 was a pipe dream in 1986, since its development began in late 1984, but that's all it was, with only a few experimental prototypes in existence. The Beretta 92 series is only available in 9x19mm. The M9 service pistol is also brand new in 1986 and only a fraction of US military handguns are M9s (92FSs) in 1986. As others have mentioned, M1911s and other miscellaneous handguns would be very common, possibly more common than 92s. I don't think 96s existed yet in 1986, so no .40 S&W Berettas. .44 Magnum revolvers should be very uncommon in these circles, various .357s are much more likely. The Brits should definitely have the Browning HP in there. AFAIK, Heckler & Koch have never made a gun called "P92", so I assume you meant the P9/P9S. No doubt someone in British military intelligence could be found using either at that time. The P220s are a good call. The MP5/10 and MP5/40 did not exist in 1986, but other MP5 series SMGs (A2-5s mostly) would be very common throughout Central/Western Europe and the world. The Brits might also be using Sterling SMGs. The Remington Model 700 in .308 Winchester, and various offshoots like the USMC M40, would be quite common among US sharpshooters. The British could be using Enfield L42A1s/Enforcers, AI L96s, Parker Hale M82s, or any of a wide selection of other European sniper rifles. The Barrett M82 existed, but AFAIK was not yet standard equipment for any military or LEO, and so would be extremely unlikely to be found in the hands of these guys. |
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