Game in build stages, NOt recruiting currently Options

[fistandantilus4....]

Ancient's based game, out of either the Tir or Seattle, although they're rather interchangeable anyway.

Year is 2070. None of that "democracy" nonsense. There was a coup attempt, it was foiled. Also none of this 60% taxation of the populace. That's idiotic. Star Chamber and Council of Princes are more in line with the House ofCommons and House of Nobles, except that they are more equal in power rather than the House of Commons having all of it, or the Council of Princes having all of it. Some balance is necessary to maintain the balance.

Players will b within the gang, but this isn't a low level gang campaign

Looking at using Frank's build rules with a few modifications. 400 BP, + 100 karma. I had considered using 500 BP, but looking at trying ti with some karma first. Characters can be shadowruner material, banished nobles, ex-ghosts, gangers from the streets who rose the hard way, and so on.

Max initiate grade of 2

Street cred will start at 5

Using a variant of Frank's rule for Wired Reflexes. The cost will remain as listed in the book. However, the essence cost will be 1/rating


Invited Players so far are : Plan B, Callidus, Critias, Fortune, Doc Funk

http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...wtopic=9901&hl=
Frank's build rules, except for :
Aptitude and such do exist. You can buy up skills over 6-7 once the game starts

Avail is 16

http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=16111
House Rules I generally use

This post has been edited by fistandantilus3.0: Nov 5 2007, 08:24 PM

[Fortune]

I'm adeptable. :)

[Critias]

Lemme dig up my pdfs and take a look. I might have a hankering to toss together a spellcaster of some sort (for once).

[fistandantilus4....]

Still toying with the build values. I usually go with 500 BP. I got requests for 400 and karma instead. So I'm looking to see at what folks can do with that and Frank's build rules.

Relevant books are of course Elven Fire, Underworld SB, New Seattle, Runner Havens.

Now, I'm not big fan of the Tir as a democracy, so this game will be taking place in 2070, there was a political coup attempt, and it was put down. let me know if you need any assistance with book references and rules.

[Critias]

I've got a concept in mind, but need to bounce it off you in terms of what your Ancients are. I was actually killing time yesterday thinking up a new character (for the "regular" timeline, though) but he'd be pretty workable for this alternate where the coup fails, just as easily.

He'd be a Rinelle terrorist type who, as everything falls apart around his ears, manages to make it out of the country to Seattle. He knows if he goes back to the Tir he's hosed, but is still enough of a Tir-thinking fella that he doesn't want to just mingle with the everyday schmucks in Seattle, so throws in his lot (perhaps thanks to an old contact or two, as well) with the Ancients.

I've seen so many people run the Ancients so many ways, I can't keep track of what's "official" any more when it comes to their membership. Some just treat them like any other go-gang, some treat them like every single member is Ghost-quality and planted in Seattle by the Tir, some treat them as Tir outcasts who band together in their new city, some treat them as a training ground for would-be Peace Force supersoldiers, some treat then like an official Tir militia in Seattle, some like a policlub with official Tir gov't ties (that just happen to ride motorcycles everywhere), and on and on and on.

[Fortune]

[fistandantilus4....]

Crit, I know exactly what you mean. I've been taking the time to discuss my understanding of the Ancients with others so far, because I think the game will work loads better if we're all on the same page from the get go.

Ancients summarization:
'The Ancients ' is an all elf go-gang based out of Seattle's Tarislar area. They control most of the district directly or indirectly, enforcing their own rule, similar to other syndicates such as the yakuza. They are regarded as folk heroes by many of the more romantic elves in the district, meaning that recruiting is always up, especially since the decimation of the Princes of Blood a few years back.

On the outer levels, the Ancients are mostly dissafected youths, seduced by the allure of being criminals and easy money. They play Robin Hood in Tarislar, terrorize trolls when they find them, having a special hatred for the Spikes gang, and go out of their way to firebomb Humanis buildings. They party hard and long in to the night, and generally pretty close knit and supporting of each other, in comparison to other sprawl gangs.

There are a number of factions and inner politics within the Ancients however. Many of the upper echelons are former Tir citizens, banished from the Land of Promise for some crime, real or perceived, against the Council of Princes. Most of these made their way to Seattle and Tarislar, having no other place to go, or moeny to get the there. As such, the Ancients is filled with agitators, disidents, and ambitious people, forming a number of different factions.

One of the more popular factions is led, quietly, by the Ancient's chief Leiutenant, Gren Lucifer. This faction supports the Rinelles, hates the Council of Princes, and generally agitates and the Tir government. However, they don't necessarily disagree with the caste system, despite what their rhetoric says. For many, it's simply a grudge agains the people that cast them out, trying to bring them down the people that cast them out. That doesn't mean thy wouldn't want to come in afterwards and take their place.

The second most powerful faction is led by the Ancient's leader Sting. Obstensibly, she took over the Ancients from her lover Wasp years ago, and cut ties with the Tir. In truth, these ties are still very much alive and well. Many Ancients do dirty work, including smuggling, espionage, and murder for powers within the Tir, and are wel compensated for their efforts. These ties however , are kept very quiet, as the Tir can be very unpopular with a number of Tarislar residents.

These are the primary factions, but by no means the only ones. The Ancients has members from all levels of Tir society, including a number of banished nobles, Peace Force soldiers, and even a few Ghosts according to rumors. There is a core paramilitary group in the upper tiers of the Ancients, some with their loyalties owed to Lucifer, some to Sting. They form the back bone of the Ancient's strength, able to apply military training and skill to the Ancient's operations, as well as procure military grade hardware when needed. This is the core of the dual factions as well. The Ancients depend on the advanced equipment Sting's contacts can bring in, while more of the banished are loyal to Green Lucifer.

There is also rumored to be one or more initiatory groups within the Ancients, although none of significant size. With so many strong personalities, it's no suprise that the gang is broken into numerous cliques. Toss in the occassional spy for a Tir noble, Lone Star agent, rising star from within, and who knows what else, and you've got a gang with politics to rival the nation it hearkens from.

[fistandantilus4....]

Well.. so much for a short synopsis....

[fistandantilus4....]

Needless to say this isn't the end all be all. If anyone has thoughts they'd like to add to it, questions, or even their own views, by all means, post away.

Now, as to subject matter of the game; I consider my games pretty much rated R. I doubt that's going to be a problem for anyone though. PvP isn't encouraged, but it's not discouraged either There are politics in the game, feel free to play them out. Some one may well get shot in the back If this is an issue for anyone , please let me know now.

Becuase of this, also, we will not be posting character sheets or backgrounds. Those will all come to me. You can feel free to make your own alliances with other PCs as well. Sort of a Tarislar Surivor I suppose. :D
I do tend to give out larger amounts of karma. A lot of that is based off of proactive playing, regular posting, and good RPing. You will get to use this karma, up grade cyber ware , initiate, and so on. This is not one of those games where your character wil be the same all the way through.

I will make you work to stay alive at times though. I hate beginning characters because I hate the idea of kid gloves. There are no glovces, there is no spoon, and no you aren't Neo anyway.

:)

[Fortune]

So, do we get some post chargen money to go along with the 100 Karma? :D

[fistandantilus4....]

Nah, using the Frank-Sys 2.1, you get 7K per BP. I think that's plenty. You'll get some walking around money, but that's it besides what you earn in game.

[Fortune]

That is, very literally, disarming news.

[fistandantilus4....]

You should have plenty of BP to get gear and guns and such.

[Fortune]

You would think so, wouldn't you? :P :D

[fistandantilus4....]

I just said I did ... think ... that is ....

*wanders off*

[Fortune]

Trust me, I'm 'armless. ;)

[Critias]

*gets to work* I'm going to stick with my zany plan to try and make a spellcaster of some sort. I apologize in advance if I'm absolutely shitty at it. I've made -- since '91 -- three spellcasters in Shadowrun, ever, and two of them were been Aspected Sorcerors (the third I played for one half of one adventure, and not a single combat).

I'm going to try and go whole-hog and make a full mojo-slinging, spirit-summoning, type of guy for this (just to see how it all falls together in SR4). To not completely leave my comfort zone I'm going to work on him based on a cool combat mage image (I've always been fond of Estios and the other of Laverty's Paladins) and just see what happens.

So if he sucks, rest secure in the knowledge he'll suck at mundane combat and spellcasting, in equal measure!

[fistandantilus4....]

:D No problem, and we're around if you have any questions. You can get me on MSN chat or yahoo, or we can set a time to meet up on Shadowland. Fortune's very good at builds and knows the SR4 system pretty well (although he will try and weasel for every single BP he can get :D). I've got ay books you need for reference.

And thankfully I've got the Secrets of Power trilogy and Never Trust and Elf so I know the guys you're talking about.

[Fortune]

[Callidus]

Shoulda posted this earlier but heyho *8-> Current idea is a full mage coming up through the ranks a relatively (thinking 3-6 months ago) transfered to the Ancients from a feeder (reading training/recruitment) gang the Young Ones (or better name if this is cheesy *8->). Thinking of a mentor spirit too but might have to chat to Fistandantilus about it though.... *8->

[edit]Oh will probably be pretty sneaky (I hope) Illusiony and skill based *crosses fingers and gets a calculator *8->[/edit]

This post has been edited by Callidus: Nov 4 2007, 10:37 PM

[Critias]

My concept is being refined, by which I mean "a character is taking shape, and he is mad, mad, mad." Or, uhh, words to that effect.

I just remembered I've got Street Magic (whew!) and I'm looking through it some. I'm personally hoping we stick with the 400 bp + 100 karma route, 'cause I'd like to (once I figure out how they work in SR4) have a focus or two, and last I checked you need karma for those.

But, uhh, the limits on money may put a crimp in such plans.

[Critias]

Yeah, yeah, double post, sue me. ;)

How exactly does Adept's improved physical attributes work in your game? In your house rules you mention (sort of) a price break, but I can't tell if it's a price break on just the "above racial maximum" point or what. Is the base price still 1 power point for 1 point of attribute?

Also, is there a power point discount on their improved reflexes to balance/keep up with the cut on Wired Reflexes? Likewise, any change in Synaptic Accelerators, etc? I'm not necessarily asking to request any of the above, or because I'm such an expert I think they need it or whatever, just asking for clarification's sake.

[Fortune]

[Fortune]

[Critias]

Got'cha. I'd just noticed the BP-for-bonding thing myself, so the dream may yet live on. Now I just need, well, the money.

So just how important are initiative boosts in SR4? I know I can barely bring myself to try and play an SR3 character without the Wired-2 (or equivalent) level of speed boosts. I'm also completely clueless as to the viability of (for instance) a sustaining focus with an Increase Reflexes tossed into it. I've genuinely never looked into this sort of thing before, so I don't know how big a problem it would be in terms of wards or focus addiction or who-knows-what-else.

Would that be enough to likely "get me by," as a combat mage? Or is it necessary to go for the more permanent (but sapping more and more mojo) methods of a synaptic accelerator, maybe alpha Wired 1, the adept power, or something like that?

My plan (such as it is) would be to have a sustaining focus I can swap out as the situation dictates ("loading" it with either the reaction boost, catfall, armor, whatever), and a weapon focus for a little extra asskickery.

I'm looking right now at about a 4/2 magic/power points split (which may go 3/2 if I take an essence hit). At a super rough glance -- yes, no, maybe? I know we're not all supposed to see one another's character sheets, but I'm just wondering as to the viability of the whole thing before I start to really sit down and work out numbers.