What purpose does combat serve for your character, Conceptually speaking. Options

[Draco18s]

I have one character who's answer to everything is "let's blow it up and see what happens".

-Josh

We had a player like that. Decided to be setting booby traps in the (evacuated) building so that when Lone Star showed up they'd walk into it and give "us" more escape time.

He got caught.

Our one mage at the time "helped" him out by pretending to be abducted by him, got saved from him by Lone Star, but not before she cast Alter Memories on him, re-writing his day ("He woke up, said to himself, 'You know, I don't like that fireworks factory. I'm going to blow it up,' and he did so, by himself." Yes, the place we were sabotaging research at was a fireworks factory).

That character gets to make a Willpower + Intuition roll in about another 4 in game months to remember what really happened. The player was dropped as the group was too large (he had fun at least).

[Draco18s]

I go... My character goes into combat to keep Them from geeking the mage. Though They'll probably want to geek the gunbunnies first (but at least then I don't have to deal with their stupidity).

Sniper + Shotgun = lots of dead mooks.

I don't remember if it was him or the other gunbunny, but one of them one-hit KO'd a character the GM was intending as a reoccurring NPC. We totally left her bleeding out on the floor.

[Stahlseele]

i am forever forbidden from playing demolitions experts and people who can build traps for fun ._.

[ElFenrir]

i am forever forbidden from playing demolitions experts and people who can build traps for fun ._.

It's kind of funny, I know plenty of GMs that would rather allow Super Heavy Weapons Expert than the Demo/Trap expert. Hell, they'd rather have several Heavy Weapons experts than even one demo/trap expert. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Draco18s]

Ahhh...our last game had a demo expert / face. We blew up a whole building once.

Wait. Twice.

Twice, yeah. The first time was ingenious and magically potent (and we were paid to blow up the whole building, 2 stories):

Earth spirit, make a tube from the basement to a gas pipe (turned out to be a gas main).

Air spirit, funnel the gas into the basement and don't let it escape.

Fire spirit. "Have fun."

The second time though we set explosives on their gas line in the basement (the face con'ed his way in to do this), as well as opened the gas line to let it leak into the basement. Edge roll (fail), the heater detects the cooler temperature of the gas and turns on, WHOOM setting everything on fire as the face is on his way up the stairs. He runs. Everyone in the building runs (team's in the van). He runs up the second story stairs and jumps out a window. Nearly burning to death he climbs / gets dragged into the van. Last action before passing out: set off the explosives.

That building went up, came down, fell over onto a neighboring building.

And that's when we learned it was 10 stories tall, not two.

[Stahlseele]

this boards need a jealous smiley <.< . .

[Draco18s]

There was our third run in with high explosives--another game, another character--but seeing as he suffered Personality Death (we erased his memories of the whole day in order to get away from Lone Star) I don't consider it a successful application of Fireworks Factory Products.

Edit.

Now I have an intense desire to play a Mindfuck Mage where runs end up being one thing, but are really another, and do so on the level that the GM runs them the way I make the other characters think what actually happened.

That would be awesome.

Pre-run, me to GM:
"Alter memories, that troll we fought was really a dragon." (remember, alter memories is past tense)
GM runs the session, uses Troll stats, but visually it's a dragon.
PCs: OH FUCK

The way I'd do it is have everything be a wacked out:

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense. We fought a dragon, ran away (it survived), and the reason it was after us was because we started a bar fight over a bottle of 1970s booze? And after that it came back and fired a minigun on us from the air, so we ran away again. It caught up to us driving a Lone Star van and wanted back a fruitcake we'd stolen?"

"To be fair, we did have a fruitcake with us."

"Yeah, but where'd it come from?"

[Muspellsheimr]

Knowing is half the battle.

Violence is the other half.

[Draco18s]

Knowing is half the battle.

Violence is the other half.

Don't forget the element of surprise.

*YANK*
SURPRISE!

[Stahlseele]

There was our third run in with high explosives--another game, another character--but seeing as he suffered Personality Death (we erased his memories of the whole day in order to get away from Lone Star) I don't consider it a successful application of Fireworks Factory Products.

Edit.

Now I have an intense desire to play a Mindfuck Mage where runs end up being one thing, but are really another, and do so on the level that the GM runs them the way I make the other characters think what actually happened.

That would be awesome.

Pre-run, me to GM:
"Alter memories, that troll we fought was really a dragon." (remember, alter memories is past tense)
GM runs the session, uses Troll stats, but visually it's a dragon.
PCs: OH FUCK

The way I'd do it is have everything be a wacked out:

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense. We fought a dragon, ran away (it survived), and the reason it was after us was because we started a bar fight over a bottle of 1970s booze? And after that it came back and fired a minigun on us from the air, so we ran away again. It caught up to us driving a Lone Star van and wanted back a fruitcake we'd stolen?"

"To be fair, we did have a fruitcake with us."

"Yeah, but where'd it come from?"

this reeks of the awesome ._.
sadly, even if i DO get to play . . my group is nothing like that <.< . .
most of the time it's all sneaky gritty blah ._.

[psychophipps]

i am forever forbidden from playing demolitions experts and people who can build traps for fun ._.

Yes, there is definitely something "Oh so wrong, but oh so right" about a character with Knowledge skills like "Improvised Munitions - 5", "Insurgency Tactics - 5", and the skills "Intimidate(Torture) - 4(+2)" and "Demolitions(Booby Traps) - 4(+2)" all at once.

Gawd, it's fun to play Rickson again...

[Draco18s]

this reeks of the awesome ._.
sadly, even if i DO get to play . . my group is nothing like that <.< . .
most of the time it's all sneaky gritty blah ._.

*Grin*
I hope I get a chance to play it sometime, but that'll have to be after my current character either dies or retires. Not sure I'd be willing to try it on a GM I don't know very well. I'd prefer if it was Jim (because Jim knows how to roll with things like that, he'd make it both fun for me, fun for everyone else, and find a good way for it to backfire, as well as fill in other things that the character would alter without my having to guess or know about them in advance.

[Stahlseele]

Yes, there is definitely something "Oh so wrong, but oh so right" about a character with Knowledge skills like "Improvised Munitions - 5", "Insurgency Tactics - 5", and the skills "Intimidate(Torture) - 4(+2)" and "Demolitions(Booby Traps) - 4(+2)" all at once.

Gawd, it's fun to play Rickson again...

ah fuggit, just for the hell of it, i am so trying to get an explosives specialist by my GM again <.< . .
and i want 2 Remote Control Detonators that give Bonuses to my Intimidation rolls!
*holds up left hand*"I have wired this building to explode!"
*holds up right hand*"I have wired this building to explode . . AND YOUR WIFE!"

Yeah, sadly, my GM's aint good at quick thinking on their feet when i throw them a curveball like that ^^
usually, there's empty stares, pained groans and indignant sputtering after most of my sentences ^^

[psychophipps]

ah fuggit, just for the hell of it, i am so trying to get an explosives specialist by my GM again <.< . .
and i want 2 Remote Control Detonators that give Bonuses to my Intimidation rolls!
*holds up left hand*"I have wired this building to explode!"
*holds up right hand*"I have wired this building to explode . . AND YOUR WIFE!"

Yeah, sadly, my GM's aint good at quick thinking on their feet when i throw them a curveball like that ^^
usually, there's empty stares, pained groans and indignant sputtering after most of my sentences ^^

Heh...reminds me of the time we were running an Old Skool canned adventure (we ended up running through the whole series 1st ED forward) where we had to extract an unwilling, and quite obnoxious, primary. We got passed the guards the quick 'n dirty way and walked in the room to tell him the good...well for us...news. He opened his mouth to spout some snotty blurb from the book and the dwarf Bounty Hunter simply leveled her pistol and put two gel rounds right into his head. We scooped his bitchass up and headed out to drop him off. No muss, no fuss.

The GM was absolutely stunned...

[JFixer]

I have an Orc Druid who relies on his stunbolt before anything else, and can easily take out six guards in a single round. Cromm Cruach relies on violence to get the job done first and foremost, and prefers it to social confrontation. Easier to just stun everyone in the building and Powerbolt the drones into spare parts than try to sneak in full sec armor with a ballistic shield, even if he is riding a seguey or cruising along on his rollerblades.

Sluagh, my infiltration specialist and Sigma, my Mindbender, are both in the camp of 'If it devolves into combat, the drek has already fragged the fan'. There is literally no reason we should not be able to charm, sneak, or subtly remove a single obstacle, one at a time, until nothing stands in our way.

My technomancer was highly reactive, and responded to violence with violence, and to social and mental pressure with social and mental bursting.

[Dwight]

WHOA! I hadn't been following this thread anymore, I didn't realize people were still contributing. Great stuff folks, keep it coming. Speaking of explosives I'll throw another subset of questions on the pile to help keep it going:

What kind of grenades do you see used at the table? How often? For what tactical purpose or technique?

[Draco18s]

Neurostun for those you don't have time or desire to kill.

Frag for the unarmed (and you want them dead) or the armored (wanted unconscious)

High explosive for spirits, armored (and dead), and other paracitters.

Always use in small rooms for Chunky Salsa.

[Stahlseele]

Slipspray Grenades!
Hilarity Ensues!
Hijinks Happen!
Bad Puns and Groans abound ^^
Also: Stun-Gas-Grenades that don't go BOOM but HISSSSS . .
after that, usual Stun Grenades and Flash-Bangs . .
Only when i want chunky salsa, or we want to kill someone really dead, we use under-barrel grenade launchers with micro grenades or the SR3 improved offensive AP Grenades with 16S flechette Damage Code . .

[GreyBrother]

No Grenades.

Really, the last time we saw a grenade being used on our table was SR3 Time from an NPC and my character had enough time to throw it back.

But that should change once i finish my "Demoman!" Build.
Why he fights other people? Art Form.

[AllTheNothing]

WHOA! I hadn't been following this thread anymore, I didn't realize people were still contributing. Great stuff folks, keep it coming. Speaking of explosives I'll throw another subset of questions on the pile to help keep it going:

What kind of grenades do you see used at the table? How often? For what tactical purpose or technique?

Freeze Foam Splah Granades, for covering the retreat and hindering the opposition (wondefull against flying drones if used right in combination with an AirBrust Link).
Other interesting toys are the EMP Granaeds, or the Spash Granades loaded with Wireless Inhibiting Paint.
Interesting effects can be obtained also with Incendiary and White Phosphorous Granades (incendiary ones could be replaced with molotovs) as they strart fires so damage strart stacking, they are also very good to frag invisible opponents (but they are horrible for anything involving a subtle approach, or containment of collateral damage).

[Larme]

In reponse to the OP, my super awesome character uses combat to replace the social skills she doesn't have because I twinked out her combat. Nice chat = hitting. Angry argument = shooting. Had a bad day = torturing your family while you watch.

...

Not really though (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif) I just thought it would be funny to have a character for whom hitting people replaced friendly conversation. Would lead to some interesting situations...

"Hey how's it going!"

:kick to the stomach:

"Oof, what was that for?"

"It means she likes you."

[Draco18s]

I don't think any character could be able to torturer as well as Stray did.

Hammer + Tent Stake + Butane torch.

Mage committed suicide (cyanide tooth capsule, or a cranial bomb, I forget which) before Stray got farther than fingering the hammer.

[Stahlseele]

Oh, i am quite capable of doing pretty gruesome things as torture . . i read up on that stuff as a hobby after all *snickers*
it got so far that the following took place in a game once:
Me to GM:"Ok, i know he will talk, he know he will talk, you know he will talk . . let's say he talks and gives me any info he thinks might be usefull and i promise not to tell you what i am going to do to him to get him to talk . . "
*shrugs* bad karma for me, pretty white face of the GM and something i could have drawn out for several hours solved in a matter of seconds ^^

[Chrysalis]

Killing is both a means to an end, and somethign some people can never get enough of. My character's natural state is that of survival. Combat just happens to involve the more obvious part of survival.

-Chrysalis

[Fleinhoy]

On this one I think Cain described my character to a T: a proffessional, pure and simple; voilence is one of the tools at his disposal (and since his past proffession was as an infiltrator and assassin it's a pretty important tool) but by no means the only one.

Dependent on the situation he'll either use it as plan B, when talking or stealth fails, orsimply as the most logical solution to the problem when he can see that his not inconsidderable gift of the gobb just in't going to cut it.

All that said: he's normally the one in the team most eager to take the subtle apporach to problems, initiating any potential violence from an advntageous and unexpected direction.