Characther changing... Options

[LynGrey]

Hey guys, I'm a big lurker around here. But i've noticed a trend in my Characters i have built lately.

I normally started to build gun bunnies of some type witih just enough social skill not to get ripped of by my fixer or arms dealer.

Recently tho, or for the past year, my two main characters have been really socialable type. With my latest being a mage, Inc(ubus) with the mentor spirity Subductress(or) And with the +2 con rolls and first impressions/blandness i took advantage of the opportunity at hand and made him the fast talking/infiltrator wiz. I gave him some hacking programs and a bit of skill, to get threw those nasty locks and security measures that arne't as mundane as that Guy that the Booth. Before that i Made my rigger/decker in 3, and he was a get away driver/counter-rigger who had sauve skills to him and was a good guy at talking his way in and out of things. I've notice my friends lean on this trend too, all the characters i seen played are becoming more and more social, and the rookies are the gun totin gun bunnies i use to play. Is this the norm?



Edit: i didn't even notice that little error, thanks guys, sorry about the confusion

[Butterblume]

[Backgammon]

Yeah I'm assuming you meant to say "more and more social".

Yes, I play the same way too. My characters are becoming more and more social, while my earlyier chaarcters were complete gun totting bunnies.

I'm not sure if that has to do with experience roleplaying, or just general maturity as I get older.

[dcpirahna]

[LynGrey]

Well its not so much Maturity, because i've seen alot of older men, 35+ atleast jump in a game and claim to be real experience from back in the 1st ed days, which is what i started in, well the bridge from 1st ed to 2nd ed. I usally just want to walk up and smack them for their characters they build. "I wanna be a troll mage with a Panter Cannon and a Steel Lynx with an LMG, and 12/9 armor with 10+ body" sigh or something of they such... My worst was when an 50 year old man say to play once, and he was like i have female character and i was like cool a guy who's playing a female he's older he shouldn't do the typical guy playing chick trany thing. he was probably the WORST, power SLu7 is not even a word i can use to describe his character.

Either way, Role playing maturity has little too, because i've been role playing since i was around 8 years old and didn't get into SR till around 12-13 or so. And i don't do this trend in my other games i play in.

I guess i'm curious if its because of the system/fluff/world of the game that makes it more fun to be social, or is it just like me evolving as a player.

[emo samurai]

This is one of the few games in which who you know matters, so I think it's the nature of the game.

[Dranem]

Emo hit it on the nail...
Those who tend to play wacko gun-bunny (I'm going to walk downtown with my AK strapped to my back) tend to be:
a) into cyberpunk/D&D games were walking around with obvious weapons doesn't get you arrested.
b) New gamers who haven't spent much time in the SR universe.

I try to stress to my players that the future isn't completely anarchic, that there are laws to follow, so you have to learn to be discreet.
Who you know can get you a lot of information so you don't run into situations blind and end up fighting your way in and out.

It's called Shadowrun because most cases involve you being a shadow: in and out with little to no notice you were even there. The next place you hit might be in a triple A rated security sector and you don't want to be fighting the corp and the Star to get your arse out.

Note: See Emo and I can agree on somethings ;)

[Piecemeal]

*shudder* i never EVER walked around with obvious trade tools in open view in Cyperpunk. fastest way to make yerself zeroed is to be percieved as the biggest threat.

walk softly and carry a concealable flask of whoopass.

as to the bend towards the social graces... once you reach the point where you no longer see subbing a, perhaps, tertiary combat skill for a social skill or two as a 'sacrifice', yer all good and on the right track for further player development. it's not a trend. it's evolution.

[Shrike30]

CP2020 was an interesting balance of projecting threat and concealing power. If you were walking down the block with nothing but a leather jacket and a pair of mirrorshades to show for yourself, you were *more* likely to get in a dustup than you were if you had a Minami-10 slung on your hip, because a bunch of punkass gangers who didn't know any better might assume you were easy meat... and if you think SR4 is lethal, CP could be a lot worse.

On the other hand, walking down that street in a full suit of MetalGear with a Ronin slung over your shoulder and a bandolier of grenades basically screamed "Solo, hit me with the sniper rifle first." Not the best way to be useful if your crew gets ambushed.

There's parts of the SR world where it's the exact same way. However, most of your "typical" shadowrunners don't want to spend a lot of time there when they're working... there's no money in the Barrens.

[LynGrey]

Yeah i think i've fired around 3-4 gel rounds in the past year of SR missions and runs with my firends. i think the total amount of shots fired in the group have been aorund 10 or so. With the exlusion of my heavy muntions guy i play every now and then... Nothign like dropping a HMG and chucking a few grenades and getting t hru the high secruity door with 10 kilos of compond explosives =)

Altho we tend to find ways to get rid of people in the most normal way. We broadsided the Marks Limo with our Bulldog off the top layer of I-5 =) oops =)

[UndeadPoet]

[mdynna]

I recently had a very interesting break in the "new players are gun bunnies" trend. I had a new player who was a pure SR "virgin" but was an old-school D&D player, so I was expecting the "typical" weapon toting kind of "adventurer" that most D&D "ports" make. However, the character he made was a Social Adept who specialized in running away. I was shocked. His whole character concept was to literally outrun the opposition. When he was done I strongly recommended that he take some sort of gun skill. He took Pistols at 2, bought a Colt Manhunter LP, and said, "He'll use it only as a last resort..."

It was quite refreshing.

[hyzmarca]

Just wait into all the sourcebooks come out. The run-away build will be much more viable as a Ghoul, Night-One, Satyr-legged, follower of Horse.

[stevebugge]

[Akimbo]

Our new players always tend to play cybered up hack and slash style characters, while my character has the same inner struggles and emotional handicaps thus leading to a lot more role playing and less of the roll playing. The cybered newbie freaks still steal the show, though. Man, I hate being an experienced role player.

[UndeadPoet]

[Dissonance]

Well, new players _should_ steal the show at first. They're new. Giving them that extra bit of spotlight time when they're just starting out is more likely to keep them hooked. And with time, they might create more well-rounded characters. It's just that new people go for those kinds of characters because they've got a good soak pool and can better survive a Grand Fuckup. Better so than, say, the Body Two Face with armored clothing.

And UP makes a pretty good point about the 'abusing' bit. You don't have to be The Ender Of Worlds or anything, but you're certainly allowed to be competent in combat areas _and_ have a darn good background.

Or maybe you can't, and doing so would invoke the coming of the Horrors. And then it'll all be your fault. Damn you for trying to create a character who is good at combat with an interesting background!

[Piecemeal]