Starting a Game, Online even. Options

[WeaverMount]

I was just tipped off that you were starting up a game. The time slot works perfectly for me. Either of the two setting sounds great. I would vote for the lower BP characters in either though. On mars I think that we would have massive skill redundancy. While that might be realistic, I think it might hurt game-play. That said I'd really love to play a rigger if archetype is still available

[Whipstitch]

I'm fine with the idea of some skill redundancy happening on Mars. Technical skills could very well be at a premium and the extra dice from teamwork tests can go a long way towards making life easier for everyone. There's also the very real possibility that the group may need to accomplish two relatively difficult tasks within a short amount of time and could benefit from technical jobs being handled concurrently. Every other skill category is often beneficial on a per individual basis anyway, like survival tests and general combat ability, so redundancy isn't much of an issue there.

[Cthulhudreams]

Frank has previously expressed the opinion on this forum and others that it is vital for shadowrunners to operate as an independent unit as well as a team.

as such I'm making sure I can handle most situations atleast a bit :P

[Whipstitch]

Yep. Stuff like patching up an enviroment suit to prevent anymore heat/oxygen loss isn't exactly something I want a 2 logic character to attempt to learn "on the job". I mean, yeah, we're going to be in pressurized facilities and all that jazz, but I still don't really want to be caught with my pants down just because I mistakenly figured Bob the Phd. Janitor would still be alive to handle everything. I've also noticed that the more you depend on one rigger to drive you home the more likely he is to be decapitated by bug spirits.

[Cthulhudreams]

Question that just occured to me. Gear is provided by the corp, but with cyberware/bioware that is a 'private' purchase, is that limited to availibility 12 like normal?

[Whipstitch]

I would think so, but my inner power gamer wouldn't complain about the opportunity to start with a Pain Editor and Cerebral 3 either. My inner roleplayer would though; consider me torn.

[Cthulhudreams]

Yeah, I figured it would, but I'd figure I check.

A tangentially related question. Skillwires, or more specifically the activesofts to go with them. Are the activesofts corp provided or do I pay for them myself?

Actually are commlinks, programs, skillsofts and *guns* speciality equipment or not? I just re-read that post and think I got it upside down :(

I've just been re-reading my old paranoia books and I'm thinking a Evo Internal Investigations Security Team 'Morale Officer' (note the sarcastic air quotes)

The Company is happy. The Company is crazy. The Company will help you become happy. This will drive you crazy. Being an Employee on Mars Base is fun. The Company says so, and Evo is your friend. Many traitors threaten Mars Base. Many happy employees live in Mars Base. Most happy employees are crazy. Which are more dangerous—traitors or happy citizens?

Remember, Stay Alert! Trust No-one! Keep your rifle handy!

Evo accepts no liability for injury or accident arising from high powered firearms being discharged in pressurised areas. Trust Evo. Evo is your friend.

[kzt]

Umm, Frank didn't complain (yet) when I kind of busted the 12 limit. But it was gear, not implants.

[Whipstitch]

Raising the cap would hardly bother me, although I'd prefer not to go higher than 16-18 or lift it entirely. If it's lifted entirely my conscience and I would have to fight to the death over whether or not I really have the temerity to write up a sheet that starts with bound Force 6 Power and Spellcasting Foci. And of course, being the good li'l paranoid shadowrun player that I am, I would then proceed to have nightmares about the monstrosities Frank would sheet up for a group with those kind of toys. :dead:

[Catharz Godfoot]

I'm interested to see how skillwires pan out in Frank's game. In effect, they're almost twice as costly as in a normal game. They're still cheaper (using 7kY per BP, one skill rank costs 14 times what a rating costs for your activesoft, as opposed to the normal 20x ratio), but they still have the same failings. When you factor in the lack of Technical activesofts (probably the most useful type) and the cheap specialization they're even less attractive.

[Cthulhudreams]

I'm running out of essence, but I may have made some pretty dodgy assumptions about equipment, so I might just get that clarifed.

[FrankTrollman]

Clever. Only the cyber parts got an availability listing at all, so I hadn't even noticed that some of the gear went above Availability. Yeah, a Rating 10 Jammer is a bit off the availability listing for you guys. :)

Standard limits of 12 apply to things you are taking in your body or personal items.

-Frank

[Cthulhudreams]

What is covered by evo provided gear, and what is specalist?

Examples I'm particularly intrested in are skillsofts, and high end commlinks and programs for hackers.

[Whipstitch]

I'd think you'd pay for them with bps just like anything else since it's specialist equipment, just like my mage will be paying for binding and lodge materials. Remember, gear bps are simply a measure of the things you've acquired in life. Chargen is a game balance conceit and for the most part the bp system doesn't care whether your items come from the back of a truck or are are part of an employee benefits package. I'd assume that the stuff Evo will be providing for us will be primarily things that we could reasonably be assumed not to own, such as gyrojet weapons that perform fine in a vacuum or nitrogen rich enviroment or light excavation and space survival gear not even listed in the book. I'll admit to being a bit curious as to what sort of items we'll reasonably be able to purchase or commission from the station itself, but then, again, where's the fun in knowing all the details?

[kzt]

[Cthulhudreams]

[FrankTrollman]

There are Rating 4ish commlinks available for use, but they won't be "yours." If you want a place to staff you elven lesbian pornography and mutant commie traitor missives, you'll want a commlink of some sort of your own. They are Fairlight Gilgamesh, and run copies of Orb system mobile and also have a Firewall and System of 4. All of them are connected to the base AI at all times.

Armored uniforms are also available. The ballistic weave jumpers are 4/3. The chemical-resistant coveralls are 6/6 and have Chemseal, Flame Resistance, and Non-Conductivity 6, and radiation protected 4. The hard vac containment suits are 12/12 and are full chem seal, total insulation, fire resistance and radiation protected 10, and non-conductive 6.

Gyroget weaponry is available. As are the chem dispensers, digging machines, fire extinguishers, medkits, high-yield plastic explosives, clip boards and mops.

-Frank

[Narse]

Couldn't we store our elven porn on our headware memory(i.e. Datajack, yes its description also includes memory for "downloading and saving files"). Also, could personally purchased programs be stored in such memory and then be run on a company comlink?

EDIT: Forgot to ask: does standard availability mean only Standard and Alpha 'ware? Specifically, I was thinking along the lines of Delta-Datajack, and maybe Delta-Retnal Mods or Cybereyes.

[FrankTrollman]

[Scope_47]

I think that the thing to remember is that equipment that is yours should be bought with BP. Might seem a little obvious, but look at it this way... your character didn't just fall off the hay cart - if you are being trusted as one of fifty people in a multi-billion Nuyen Mars-based facility, you've been around the block a few times. That means that you've collected a bunch of random crap over the years unless something happened that you lost it all. So even if the company is providing good commlinks, even the poorest son of a slitch working there is going to have at least a Metalink if for no other reason than that when he goes home to earth he needs to be able to walk around in high security zones without being arrested for 'hiding in public.' And if you are a hacker... you should have a pretty nasty rig of your own since you had to learn those skills somewhere.

Oh, and never underestimate the power of laziness/mischeif. Example: I can certainly see a janitor having gotten a hold of a maglock sequencer just so that if he forgets a code he doesn't have to trundle up two flights of stairs and through half the facility to get to the security office and request the code again. You'd be surprised at the sorts of shortcuts people take on the job (a good friend of mine was a purchasing director at an RBC Bearings manufacturing plant... oh the stories I heard LOL).

(And for the record, I'm in like the fifth revision of my own equipment list LOL.)

Oh yeah... intros...

Hi, I'm Scope_47... I'm playing a Safety and Security Administrator - a human resources position. +grins+

- Scope

[Whipstitch]

Sounds like we're 100% on board with the Mars station then? Seems like we had 4 opinions and are now looking at like 7 players. Could be an interesting dynamic with the amount of company men we have too...

[Narse]

One more question: are the gyrojet weapons covered by the normal firearms skills or by Exotic Ranged Weapon? The BBB would seem to indicate ERW. (see the entry for ERW where it lists gyrojet weaponry)

[FrankTrollman]

The Exotic Ranged Weapon Skill is contradictory. There are a number of ways to handle it:

• The ERW skill limits your number of dice when using unusual weapons, but you still use the most appropriate skill (longarms for a pain inducer, pistols for a gyrojet pistol, heavy weapons for a speargun).
• The ERW skill is itself limited in that you can't raise it higher than your Firearms group, but it is used for any crazy weapons you get.
• The ERW skill doesn't exist, just use whatever skill is most appropriate for whatever weapon you use.
• The ERW skill is used for any weapon which calls for usual firing techniques. And we just agree to not abuse this by doing something stupid like strapping all weapons to your back (even though gunnery already works that way).

I don't have strong opinions actually. But the write-up on page 112 is incompatible with the equipment lists or the combat rules.

-Frank

[kzt]

Of course, regular guns should work just fine on mars. You might have slightly increased recoil, but nothing insane. You really only need to use gyrojets in zero G. Reading accounts of the people who played with gyrojets in SOG they worked pretty much like regular guns, but they were impressed. Though never saw any combat evals as the team that had one got overrun in Cambodia IIRC.

[Narse]