OOC: Down in the Puyallups, Making the rent, shadow style Options

[Redjack]

Here we go. Please wait to join the OOC thread until your character has been denoted "complete" in the Recruiting thread. For those of you complete:

Posting Format:

[ Spoiler ]

Posting Format:
- - "Speech color=blue, optionally enclosed in quotes"
- - <Coms/Matrix color=purple>
- - <System Messages color=black>
- - Thoughts color=darkkhaki and in italics
- - Memories, flashbacks, dreams color=darkgrey and in italics

- - "Speech color=cyan, optionally enclosed in quotes"
- - <Coms/Matrix color=violet>
- - <Coms: System Messages color=black>
- - Thoughts color=darkkhaki and in italics
- - Memories, flashbacks, dreams color=lightgrey and in italics
Feel free to use PMs as needed as well for clarifications or covert details.

NPC's
Do not assume the actions/reactions of anyone listed as contact. You can take reasonable artistic liberties with non-contact NPCs, but please PM me first if you engage in extended dialog. In the case of assumptions of time passed in travel, NPC reactions, etc I may ask for an edit. In the end, I will try not to impact your creativity where your post doesn't impact my world view. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Dice Rolling
Please use http://invisiblecastle.com/rolldice.py. For character name, please use Puyallup:$character_name. Example: Puyallup:Kilroy
The only rolls I will reserve are perception and assensing rolls. By knowing if the character glitchs or the degree of success, then strategic information may be given away. All others will be made by the players.

Karma
I've not yet decided on Karma awards. I am leaning towards Karma on a chapter by chapter basis rather than by mission (as in tabletop) or by timeframe. More on that as the game gets rolling.

Time away from the board
I would like to set an expectation of two posts per week. Real Life happens though. If a player will be AFK for more than a few days, just post in the OOC and give us a heads up. PM me instructions and I can remote your character in order that the game can continue with your presubmitted actions. (We all know that sometimes you can take a week or two of vacation and still make most of a combat scene)

First Actions
Provide a basic description of the appearance of your character. You can provide more details as time goes on.
Also, provide a spoiler: Roll for starting money, denote your equipment carried.

If more things come up I will denote inline in the OOC and update this post.

[Storm]

Upon first seeing Whisper she's nicely dressed in a black, knee-length skirt and an attractive shirt; business apparel. Her auburn hair is pulled back in a low ponytail and her makeup is kept simple. It appears as though she has a thing for thin silver bands because such is the style of her choker and the ring on every finger. On each temple is a little circular jewel. Last but not least on her left wrist she wears a celtic bracelet.

When first meeting her she's rather reserved and mellow. She's obviously goal-orientated and pretty quiet on average. This isn't to say she isn't friendly for she gets along decently with others, but she certaintly doesn't give off the impression she's out to make a new best friend.

Redjack

[ Spoiler ]

Roll for starting Money
9+7=16 * 50 nuyen= 800 nuyen

AR Gloves (rings)
Nanopaste Trodes (jewels on temple)
Earbud
Subvocal Mike (necklace)
Actioneer Business Clothes
Fake SIN
Power Foci (Bracelet)

[Thanee]

Aeryn

Aeryn is an attractive elven woman in her late twenties. She is a little below average height with a slender and willowy figure. Her waist-length raven-black hair is worn open, with a few shorter strands framing her fine-featured face. Her eyes are emerald green, but most of the time they are behind orange-colored sunglasses. Aeryn usually wears black biking leathers, which tightly fit her figure, with a short leather jacket on top.

@Redjack:

[ Spoiler ]

Starting Nuyen 450¥

Typical Equipment:
Armored Leathers
Concealable Holster
Fichetti Security 600 (loaded with Stick-n-Shock)
Spare Clip (with Regular Ammo)
Novatech Airware Commlink (with SIN and Software)
Sim Module
AR Gloves
Glasses
Radio Signal Scanner
Autopicker
Biomonitor
Shiawase Kanmushi
MCT Fly-Spy
Suzuki Mirage (with Helmet and Hardware Kit)

[Trigger]

Here is two drawings of Tigger to give you the look of him:

Tigger Body

Tigger Face

[Draug]

Buzz

Buzz isn't that big – for an ork. A native of the Ork Underground, he can almost always be found with a bunch of handyman's stuff like flashlights, duct tape, a wrench, and tools attached to his utility belt or stuffed into pockets. Aboveground, he usually sports worn regular jeans and an equally worn leather jacket, switching to a bulky urban camouflage suit when on the job, or just at home. He also always carries an Ares Predator IV and a combat knife.

Rather uncomfortable in the sun, Buzz usually sports a cap and shades even on rainy days, walking with his head hidden between his shoulders. He carries himself with an almost natural, fluid stoop, as if perpetually hunching his way through a corridor that is too small for him, which brings his face level with most humans'.

Facially, Buzz looks just like so many other orcs. His tusks end more or less midway between his lips and cheek bones, around the same horizontal line where his big nose comes to a halt. His eyes, mildly and cheaply cybered, feature unnaturally keen, yellow irises. He tries to shave now and then, but doesn't grow much hair on his face anyway. The same goes for his head, which is covered by a mop of unruly, greasy black stuff.

@Redjack

[ Spoiler ]

Money roll multiplied by 20 equals 300 :nuyen:

Typical Topside Gear
- armor jacket
- tag eraser
- flashlight
- gas mask
- GPS
- biomonitor
- roll of duct tape
- shades
- survival knife
- Ares Predator IV: concealable holster, 3 spare clips, 60 rounds
- flashbang grenade
- smoke grenade
- CS gas grenade
- MetaLink: Vector Xim

Downside gear would take way to much space here, me thinks...

[Trigger]

@Redjack

[ Spoiler ]

Forgot all the carried stuff...

Starting nuyen: 19 x 50: 950 :nuyen: divided onto three credsticks of 300 :nuyen: each and the other 50 :nuyen: in scrip.

Tigger has on him at most times:
UE Jumpsuit
Commlink
AR Gloves (look sort of climbing-esque)
Nanopaste trodes (done as another black stripe over the temples)

Ruger Warhawk and speed loaders in messenger bag
Along with:
Respirator
Survival Kit
Medkit
Flashlight

Rollerblades and Helmet are usually strapped to the bag as well

Contacts and Earbuds always in.

So basically everything he owns is usually on him.

[gobogen]

Rex

Rex is a tall and muscular troll. He is an imposing fellow who knows how to use his size to impress. His skin is a pale brown and he usually puts gel to arrange his short black hair into some fashionable design. His horns are thick, short and slightly spiralled on the side of his head and his tusks are short, always clean, and relatively unobtrusive.

His posture shows pride and awareness, but no arrogance, just like his personality. He dresses well and you will see him at meets in a very nice business suit, while he has cheaper shirts and ties that he wears daily and during runs.

@ Redjack

[ Spoiler ]

Starting cred (3d6=14): 700 :nuyen:

Equipment carried (in a belt pouch except the armor):
- Armor Jacket
- Commlink
- Plastic Restraints
- GPS
- Gas Mask
- Respirator

I will indicate when he brings other equipment than this.

[HeySparky]

Grayson

Grayson appears average in most every way, moderately attractive, moderately built, moderately charming and, taken all together, ultimately invisible. He is a student of (meta)human behavior and uses his observations to more completely baffle others. He carries himself with a confidence and awareness.

But you won't meet him until after you've met Goro Nakamura, Grayson's agent. Goro, or Gary, is an impeccably dressed professional and meets with potential employers on Grayson's behalf.

@Redjack

[ Spoiler ]

Starting Cred (Grayson): :nuyen:750, on 2 certified credsticks
Starting Cred (Gary): :nuyen:800, on 2 certified credsticks

Armor Clothes (Street)
Lined Coat (Street)
Contacts
Glasses (Street)
Commlink
- Agent
- Armor
- Browse
- Command
- Encrypt
- IC Blackout
- Scan
- Spoof

Hammerli
--- Concealable holster
--- Clip, gel rounds
--- Clip, gel rounds

Extendable baton
Jammer, Area
White Noise Generator
Biomonitor

Ducati Monster (Suzuki Mirage)
- Medkit
- Fly-Spy Minidrone

[Redjack]

The Mall, aka The Crime Mall:
Lone Star has been trying to put this place out of business since it opened after the first Crash, but so far they’ve had no luck. It’s no wonder—this three-story abandoned mall on the outskirts of Puyallup is the best place in town to find just about anything illegal you might be looking for. Weapons, armor, drugs, pirated software, electronics, cyberware, magical gear—if you can think of it and it’s not legal, odds are that somebody here is selling it. It’s simply too useful to too many people to allow the Star to shut it down. In the past couple of years some of the core “merchants” there have chipped in to upgrade the place’s defenses (including an AR network designed to confuse the hell out of anybody who doesn’t belong there) and they charge the small fry a nominal fee to participate. There’s high turnover among the smaller merchants as they get picked up by the Star or knifes in a dispute over pricing, but the big ones have been there for years and are well-versed in
staying out of trouble. [ Runner's Havens 116-117]

There are known entrances to the Ork Underground that ensures the escape of the Mall's tenants during the raids. The Mall is not open every night, but rather only a number of nights per month to reduce Lone Star's ability to effectively impede operations.

Mall Office
Located on the second floor of the Mall, this is the name given to a former restaraunt now serving as a the onsite bar. Smokey Joe is the propriator. A former runner of some repute, he now claims the bar and has several times been challenged. Joe is ruthless is maintaining his position as owner of the Mall Office.

The decor of the office is pretty unique. There is a long bar that runs along the far wall and out to the middle of the floor making it kind of a "T" shape. There are twenty-eight stools along the bar. Seven along each of the four lengths. Along both walls, left and right, in the room are a number of booths with curtains. You know from experience that each of the twelve booths have white noise generators as well as sound dampeners. Using the booths brings a minimum drink charge every fifteen minutes. There are six tables with four chairs out on the floor area and finally, there are 3 larger rooms in the back for rent.

[Draug]

Nice.

You want us to do everything the others aren't aware of in spoilers too?

[Redjack]

Use spoilers to obscure information from other players. Use PMs to be sure it is kept secret of ask questions.

[Redjack]

@Buzz, Tigger (RE: Mall Monsters)

[ Spoiler ]

This gang of the Ork Underground runs the tunnels underneath the Crime Mall. They are fiercely protective of the tunnels and extract "rent" (ok, protection money) from anyone who lives too close to the mall. They are high tech, maintain wireless coverage in the tunnels in the area immediately underneath the Mall and have several shamans in their ranks. In the event of Lone Star raids, they insure that vendors who have paid insurance policies (ok, protection money) get away.

[Trigger]

@ Redlack:

[ Spoiler ]

Did you want me to go back and include them in my post or do you want me to simply know about the Mall Monsters, as I am a resident of the Underground and a frequent visitor of the mall?

[Redjack]

Had some real good questions about the Crime Mall in a PM. I want to share part of them as all of you either know this much or will find out real quickly:

[Trigger]

Redjack: I like using [ color=blue ] for speech instead of cyan when using it inside of a spoiler, it makes the speech much easier to read against the lighter background. I did it in my last post, so you can check it out and see what you think.

[Redjack]

[HeySparky]

I actually find myself not liking the spoiler tags at all. We're halfway through the first page of the game and It's all spoilers. I like reading the posts of other players. It's definitely part of the fun for me, enjoying how others characterize their PCs. I feel like I'm cheating if I read them, but sometimes I can't help myself.

I admit it.

Hello, my name is Sparky. I'm addicted to reading spoiler tags. It spoils the mystery some, I guess, but I think I'd much prefer if our pre-meetup and solo text was handled in the open. I mean, we have colors and italics for stuff that others aren't supposed to know, right?

Edit: And when we do finally meet up, how are we even to know? And when the PCs meet up do the posts come out into the open? Would that only happen if all of us were together?

(I haven't read all the spoilers, just a few, and some of those just to see what others were doing with colored text and the like.)

[Storm]

Heh, I kind of agree with Sparky on that a bit. Everyone posting in spoilers kinda kills the fun at first and i'm tempted to read the others but overall it does seem rather useful. Soon enough we'll meet up and get more aquainted with each other's characters. There really isn't a need to have everyone's intros to be posted openly because it clogs up the page and makes it rather difficult to find the replies specifically directed at one person.

Anyway.. That's just my opinion. :-P

[HeySparky]

I have to disagree. Though before I belabor the point - I'm not trying to make an ass of myself or be difficult and totally understand that it's just my opinion and the thread should be handled, ultimately, as Redjack sees fit.

HOWEVER... :)

I really like checking the boards and seeing bumps to a thread I'm in. And I go to check all excited to see what the gm or the other players have added and... spoilered. Suck.

I'm not really sure that it'll go away though, because we're going to have at least two groups in this game, right? Because of the number of players that responded?

Anyway. My :nuyen: 2. Again.

[Draug]

Actually, I think the spoilers are kind of handy. I mean, no-one's going to stop you from reading them, but they help against clutter. This is going to be especially handy when looking for relevant posts when we are two different groups doing different things.

[Redjack]

The Lifters: (aka The Shop Lifters) Street Gang Puyallup

Rank 1: Puyallup Street Knowledge, Puyallup Gang knowledge, Puyallup Gang Turf

[ Spoiler ]

Their turf is near the Crime Mall and a white plastic shopping bag tied around their arm or leg is a display of their gang colors.

Rank 2: Puyallup Street Knowledge, Puyallup Gang knowledge, Puyallup Gang Turf

[ Spoiler ]

Besides the normal gang rackets, this gang watches over the vehicles of Mall shoppers (Bikes: 25 :nuyen:; Other: 50 :nuyen:)

Rank 3: Puyallup Street Knowledge, Puyallup Gang knowledge, Puyallup Gang Turf

[ Spoiler ]

There is a little friction between the Lifters and Mall Monsters, but it never erupts on Mall nights. That would be bad for business. The last time it did, several big hitters at the Mall made an example of both gangs.

Rank 4: Puyallup Street Knowledge, Puyallup Gang knowledge

[ Spoiler ]

Word is this gang works with the blessing of the mafia and that the mafia recruits from its ranks.

On occation I will make posts like this. Read all posts up to your characters applicable skill rank. If you peek at the others, refrain from using player knowledge.

[Trigger]

@ Redjack:

[ Spoiler ]

I have Ranks in Seattle Underground knowledge...does this apply towards to the above info on the Lifters?

[Redjack]

@Trigger

[ Spoiler ]

No, the underground knowledge skill does not carry over to this gang. I will allow a default from intuition as a knowledge test. With intuition at a 4, defaulting gives you 3 dice. 1 or more successes will yeild the first rank of information.

[Thanee]

So, what about the spoilers? Should we continue to use them? Can we look at them to satisfy our curiosity (just not use the content as character knowledge)? ;)

Maybe we should reserve spoilers for actual spoilers (as in... when something would make it hard for the player to not somehow have in mind when making character decisions; as opposed to pretty much unrelated stuff, that doesn't really influence the others, as (likely) the currently spoilered text)?

Bye
Thanee

[Thanee]