I have a player who must be absoloutely crazy., James Bond is not a terrorist! >_< Options

[ShadowDragon8685]

Okay, so I have a player in an SR4 campaign I'm trying to run. I think he must be insane.

After I ask him to please not make another gun-bunny, which I have one application for already, he decides to make a Face.

His next question? "Can I be British?"

Me: "Ummm.... Iiiii don't see any reason why not...."
Him: :grinbig:
Me: "So, why is a suave and debonair James Bond running the Shadows of the Seattle Sprawl?"
Him: "Because he used to be a rebel back in England - you know, anti-corp? Only he got run out. He switched the X and Y coordinates on a bomb drop and bombed a school instead of a corporate bunker...... His fellow rebels asked him to retire, immideately."
"Oh, and he has a Police Record."

So here I have a James Bond imiation, with what would be if the SR4 rulebook had them, the "Dark Secret", "Police Record", "Hunted" and "Distinctive Style" flaws. I cannot however seem to find these negative qualities mirrored in the SR4 rulebook.

Yes, I have told him what an overwhelmingly bad idea they are, but he insists, so.... Hey, at least he's got a nice roleplaying idea going. The trouble is, I'm not sure how many BP to give him for all of thse flaws, especially given that they synergize in ways that are, shall we say, disgustingly efficient.

So, let's recap.
Dark Secret: Bombed a schoolful of innocent children. Known as a terrorist when his real identity is figured out.

Police Record: He's a notorious criminal with facts on file. For example, the fact that he likes to wear bisuness suits and live a fairly high-class life. He's known as a "James Bond wannabe."

Hunted: MI-5 is looking for this sucker. If Lone Star Security Services gets ahold of biometric data on him, the data will be uploaded, it will filter through the criminal-registry services, and will run a huge red flag up MI-5's Union Jack pole. About eight of MI-5's Agents will be on the next Semiballistic from Heathrow to Sea-Tac.

Distinctive Style: He stands out in a crowd, he's the tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed British guy, always in impeccable atire, speaking with a noticable accent.

So, these flaws definately synergize in ways that are absoloutely disgusting. I'm trying to decide what build point value they're worth.

Here's what I'm thinking:

Dark Secret: 10 BP
Police Record: 10 BP
Hunted: 15 BP
Distinctive Style: 4 BP
Synergy multipler?: 1.25?
49 Build Points worth of flaws? That seems excessive, but it's a pretty sure bet that the heavy end of the hammer is going to come down on him for a background like this, even in an easy run like the On the Run adventure.

[Valentinew]

I'd played with a character like that a long time back.

I don't know about the BP values, but you could add some requirements of your own. For example, the guy I played with NEVER carried anything bigger than a light pistol. I don't think he ever used any ammo other than standard either.

Hey, if he wants to play James Bond, let him, no MAKE him play James Bond.

[SL James]

[hyzmarca]

There are two ways to look at such a strong hunted flaw. It can be seen a free points because there is no way for a GM to make good use of it without completely derailing the campaign or it can be seen as defacto permission for the GM to fiat the character to death much like the borrowed time and cranial bomb flaws.

My recomendation: "A thor shot falls on your home while you are sleeping inside. There are no survivors."

But it can also be good if you are willing to make MI-5 integral to the campaign first as an antagonist and later as an exclusive employer (the kind that you don't want to be terminated by).

[ShadowDragon8685]

Well Hyz, it's not gonna be the "Free points" one. I can garuntee that. :)


If he gets stupid enough to draw MI-5's attention, they're going to come looking to collect their pounds of flesh, with interest. They want him alive though, because a wanted terrorist like him is definately going to be someone they want to publicly prosecute and lock up for life. And since the player has decided to be an elf, life imprisonment is going to be a Very Long Time. :)

[ShadowDragon8685]

Okay, it's official. My player is an idiot. When I asked him what kind of pistol he wanted, and indicated that I was willing to convert real-life guns to SR4 rules, he decided he wanted, and I quote,

Him: Hmm
Him: Give me whichever gun.
Him: Fires the highest caliber rounds
Him: brute force approach ^_^


So I said, almost incredulously, "You want the Desert Eagle, chambered in .50 AE?" And he said yes.

So I need stats for the DEagle in .50 AE. Here's what I've got so far:

Desert Eagle .50 AE (HPist)
Damage: 8P
AP: -1
Mode: SA
RC: -
Ammo: 7 ©
Avail: 8R
Cost: 800 :nuyen:

Uses Taser ranges.


Does that sound fair enough to you? I was also thinking of making the ammo only available in regular, and bumping it's availability up because the round is so estoeric.

[Herald of Verjig...]

Tell him you are ok with all that background, but he needs to toss in some amnesia. Then, just make him an incompetant escapee of a mental hospital.

[Lindt]

Taser ranges, for a .50AE? Wasent that puppy originally designed to be a target gun?
Not very Bond like to carry that penile replacement insted of a ppk (which was a rather small caliber IIRC).

[SL James]

Actually, wouldn't "whichever gun... Fires the highest caliber rounds" allow you to say, "Sure. Carry around this 30mm tripod-mounted chain gun I found in the Compendium of Modern Firearms" as a means of fulfilling his desire?

After all, he didn't say pistol, did he?

[Arethusa]

Uh, Taser ranges? How, exactly, does that make any sense?

The Desert Eagle, for all its impracticality, is a superb target pistol. It should have SMG ranges, if not slightly increased.

Your player is a moron, of course. Those flaws don't synergize for free points. In any marginally realistic game, he'll be fertilizer within two sessions. Then he can try making a character that doesn't fucking suck.

[hyzmarca]

Istead of a 50.AE pistol give him a .50 BMG pistol.

Maadi-Griffin .50 BMG "Jesus Cannon"
8P
-7AP
Single Shot
Ammo 1 (m)
Bolt action
Concealability +4

Use assualt rifle ranges

[emo samurai]

Dude, don't let it derail the plot; let it BE the plot!

-Emo's Guide to Zen GMing.

[Fresno Bob]

Yeah, thats a great idea. I'm sure all the other players will have fun following his crazy ass around while MI5 tries to ice him.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Arethusa, that's why I'm giving him free points. He's getting all enthused about the free points, and forgetting the fact that MI-5 is in fact going to ice him the third day after they catch his trail.

I'm going to let him learn from his mistakes, and tell him "When I tell you it's a very bad idea, next time try listening, hey?

BTW, what should the "Distinctive Style" flaw be worth in SR4? Maybe +3 to the dice pool of everyone trying to find you by investigation?

[Lindt]

Instent death? Sub-orbital bovine bombardment? Pack of drop bears? Dikoted AVS ally spirit to the back of the skull?

[Nikoli]

No, make it the exact oposite of the bland quality, same points given, +1 on the tests instead of -1.

[Edward]

Well SR4 has a max of 35 build points for flaws, just give him that much.

And police record is available in SR$, its called SINer (criminal) and its worth 10PB.

The problem with the character is that when the rest of the party learns what a liability he is they will want to disassociate with him, if not claim the bounty. You cant use it as the plot unless the rest of the party has a good reason not to drop him like a hot potato.

Edward

[Wounded Ronin]

Once I made a James Bond character. I used the custom firearms creation rules to make a custom sport rifle with a tiny magazine which I called my "walther PPK", because James Bond's dinky 7.5mm Walther PPK seems to automatically one-shot everyone.

EDIT: I'm really bummed that in contemporary James Bond film they made him stop using the Walther PPK. What gives? It's hard to believe that a man who has been on so many missions with a particular sidearm would be eager to change it.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Even Bond has to update every now and then. The Walther P99 is nice, and that's what I wanted to give my player, but he wanted a Big Fucking Gun.

[Fresno Bob]

[Ophis]

Couple of notes, as this guy has left the UK it will prolly be MI6 in charge of hunting him, they handle overseas stuff, though not sure as the background would imply some cross over of Jurisdiction. Secondly this thor shot talk is silly, The British goverment would note have him killed. He would die of a previously undiagnosed heart condition. Thats how British spies work.

[hyzmarca]

[Glyph]

I would give him the 35 points for those flaws (making a ludicrously gimped character concept shouldn't get you a break from the rules in an open build system - you make the choices, you live with them).

For his Desert Eagle, I would just say it is similar to the Ruger Super Warhawk and use the same stats for it. Why bother doing custom stats for a weapon used by a player with a lifespan of several sessions, if he's lucky?

Let his flaws take their natural course, without cutting him any unearned breaks, and hopefully he will learn to do better with his next character.


As far as James Bond, he's like comic book characters. He ages at a slow rate, and his backstory gets ret-conned as needed to fit him in to modern times - his signature pistol apparently being one of those tweaks. It wouldn't be the first time Bond changed guns. They made him switch to the PPK after his Beretta jammed in From Russia With Love.

[Voran]

Sota64 had the nice intelligence services flaw of "Dossier", which in a way is covered by Police Record I suppose, but at least to me seems more appropriately severe. Something that catalogs your history, preferences, habits, friends, etc. Its kinda why going off the reservation or skipping on the crown, or whatever the hell the term is for ditching MI-5 is bad.

[ShadowDragon8685]

I'm giving him the extras to make sure he feels like I'm paying attention to him. And I'm going to drive home that I am paying attention to him. When MI-6 comes barking down his door.