Recruiting (SR3): Brave New World, Living and learning in Bug City Options

[thearistocrat]

He certainly shouldn't have any trouble with mag-locks or security cameras....

Too bad that his runner career will end like this within a run or two.

*You are running the shadows*
*A thug shoots you*

*You are Dead*

[BlackHat]

Not 100% sure, but Otaku might be from the Matrix book, which I think isn't on our allowed-book-list.

[crizh]

I wasn't going to mention that and hope it sneaked through.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

It is a pretty cool character, I could see us hooking up with this gutter rat kid who can 'magic' his way through the toughest security and gives as good as he gets with his Slivergun.

I can just see him drowning in a suit of mismatched armour...

[thearistocrat]

Not 100% sure, but Otaku might be from the Matrix book, which I think isn't on our allowed-book-list.

Well, I could see how the majority of Otaku PC information being in VR 2.0 would make it restricted, but on the other hand look at this character image w/ icon.

Young Jack w/ Living Persona

He's smug as hell, and he decided to represent himself in the matrix as a giant anime robot. He even has a small, cuter version of himself as a daemon. Appropriate music interests have been added to his character sheet and less IC design because he doesn't know what the fuck.

How can you not bend the rules for a brat technoshaman?

[BlackHat]

Lol, well, I have no problem with it, personally. I was just pointed out that it might not be strictly legal, so you'd need to ask. Also, Krayola mentioned not particularly liking the decking rules, so I suspect that books exclusion was somewhat intentional (He has a houserule about using fast decking rules - but I don't have MJLBB, so I'm not sure what that means).

Questions for Krayola regarding riggers:

1. A cranial RC deck comes with flux rating 0, by default. That's not a lot of range (particularly if any of the modifiers apply - like humid weather making it not work), so I'm looking at other options. It seems like you could get a limb loped off and put a signal booster in there (which functions for 50 hours before needing a recharge) or you could get an external signal booster (which doesn't have a duration listed, but I assume it needs power, too. Is power going to be a luxury? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) If it is, would an external control deck end up being a brick within a day or two? Could a signal booster be something we could start with as gear? Perhaps if it is attached to a non-cyber remote-control-deck which you've already mentioned riggers could keep?

I assume that things like fuel will be hard to come by - but I'm not sure if the power-grid basically gets turned off when they wall up the city, or if its still running for some bizarre reason.

[krayola red]

Power shouldn't be too hard to come by, especially if you manage to get a hold of your own generator. I wouldn't worry too much about finding a power source.

Matrix is not a usable supplement for this game, the main reason being that I haven't read it, so no otakus. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[krayola red]

Also, quick resolution decking: you make one roll against the Security Value of the system with a threshold depending on the Security Code. The more net successes you get, the more stuff you can accomplish.

Quick resolution vehicle combat: instead of calculating a maneuver score, drivers just make an opposed Vehicle Skill (Handling) test against each other whenever they want to execute a Flee, Pursue, Position, Ram, or Escape action.

[thearistocrat]

Would it be possible to play a decker with the quadriplegic flaw who aids the team by decking from his bedside? If he need new programs / equipment, he can get them over the matrix or from visiting contacts. Group communication can be accomplished via matrix communication.

[krayola red]

Ill advised, a quadriplegic decker would be less than useless in this game. The entire Chicago LTG was crashed by the UCAS military and the only public access network is a BBS set up by bunch of deckers operating out of the Noose with equipment they stole from Fuchi. You may run into Matrix security when dealing with some of the bigger organizations inside the CZ, but they'll all be isolated systems that you'll have to jack into on-site, which would be pretty hard to do as a quadriplegic decker.

[Toptomcat]

Okay, here's a second draft with a solid sideline of combat capability added. While melee, ranged, Initiative, and durability are all substantially greater than the human baseline, the only real standout Metis offers by the standards of Shadowrun combat characters is in the Combat Pool department. Particularly puzzling was the question of whether I'd given him enough melee capability, given the dizzying heights that can be reached by a specialist in this system: however, I ran a test combat with a bear that he won handily, and that seems to be a good enough benchmark for whether or not a character kicks ass to a minimum standard.
...I'm tempted to put that bear combat in his background somehow...

[ Spoiler ]

Metis
Human male
130 bp

130/130 bp
Attributes: 54
Skills: 36
Edges/Flaws: 10
Resources: 30

Strength: 6
Quickness: 8
Body: 6 (7)
Intelligence: 9
Willpower: 6
Charisma: 3

Reaction: 8
Essence: 0.552
Essence Index: 3.552
Bio Index: 3.5
Magic: 0
Initiative: 8 + 3d6
Combat Pool: 11
Task Pool: 1

Skills:
Tae Kwon Do 6 (Maneuvers Kick Attack, Multi-Strike, Whirling)
Light Guns 6
Stealth 5 (Alertness 7)
Electronics 6
Athletics 3
Etiquette 3

Knowledge:
Spycraft 6
Small Unit Tactics 6
Chemistry 6
Magic 6
Biology 5
Engineering 5
Physics 4
Parazoology 4
Vintage Guitars 3
English 6 (9)
R/W English 3 (6)
Russian 3 (6)
R/W Russian 1 (4)
Japanese 3 (6)
R/W Japanese 1 (4)

Edges/Flaws:
Bonus Attribute Point/Exceptional Attribute (Intelligence)
Perceptive
Photgraphic Memory

Resources:
1,000,000 nuyen

Alphaware Cyberear Replacement with Dampener, Hearing Amplification, High Frequency (0.24 Essence)
Standalone Alphaware Low Frequency, Recorder (0.4 Essence)
Non-Alphaware Level 5 Select Sound Filter (0.2 Essence)

Alphaware Retinal Mods: Flare Compensation, Image Link, Low-Light, Thermographic, Eye Light System, Microscopic Vision, Ultrasonic Vision (1.04 Essence)
Non-Alphaware Retinal Mods: Opticam, Electronic 3 Mag (0.6 Essence)

Alphaware Rating 6 Olfactory Booster (0.16 Essence)

Alphaware datajack (0.16 Essence)

Alphaware Internal GPS and Spatial Recognizer (0.24 Essence)

Obvious Cyberleg (1 Essence)
Accessories: Shock Foot, Chemical Analyzer and Gas Spectrometer with Rating 6 reference program, Orientation System, Rating 10 Radio Scanner with DNI, ECCM 6 and Rating 8 Broadcast Decryption, Rating 6 Micro-Transciever with DNI, Rating 3 ECCM and Rating 9 Broadcast Encryption, Rating 10 Laser Microphone with DNI, Rating 10 Cyberware Scanner with DNI, 3,000 Mp Optical Memory Chip with DNI, 10 pts Impact Armor, 10 pts Ballistic Armor

Alphaware Boosted Reflexes level 1 (0.4 Essence)

Alphaware router (total 0.16 Essence)
Alphaware ports for Recorder, Image Link, Opticam, Chemical Analyzer/Gas Spectrometer, Olfactory Booster, Datajack, Internal GPS, orientation System, Spatial Recognizer, other router

Alphaware router (total 0.128 Essence)
Alphaware ports for other router and five DNIs

Five alphaware DNIs for radio scanner, laser microphone, cyberware scanner, OMC, micro-transciever (0.4 Essence)

Alphaware Smartlink-2 (induction pad, Ltd. Simsense Rig, Smartlink-2 Processor components installed: image link serves as eye display) (0.32 Essence)

Cerebral Booster level 2 (0.8 Bio Index)

Mnemonic Enhancer level 3 (0.6 Bio Index)

Synaptic Accelerator level 1 (0.4 Bio Index)

Orthoskin level 2 (0.9 Bio Index [cyberlimb Essence discount])

Muscle Toner level 2 (0.8 Bio Index)

[BlackHat]

If it was a bear-shapeshifter-adept... now we're talking! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[crizh]

Never got around to contacts...

Carmine Falcone

Born in the same year as Frank and another of the first generation of UGE children this tall handsome Elf was born to another Italian-American Family in Chicago. While they belonged to different Families they were not competitors and so the two UGE kids saw a lot of each other growing up and formed a close bond. Leg-o-lamb, as Frank dubbed Carmine while they were still young enough to engage in a bit of light hearted racism, before the night of rage, retaliated by giving his little buddy the nickname Giblet.

Later when Frank's revenge over his sister's death was frustrated by his own Family it was Carmine he turned to and who proposed a course of action where Frank might get his revenge without endangering the rest of his own family and sparking a bloody war.

When the dust settled most of Frank's organization was behind bars and Carmine was able to move into the power vacuum this created. With his new found status he was able to shield Frank's family and sell Frank's accident.

Frank was as good as dead but all his enemies had gotten theirs and his blood were safe and well taken care of. That his good friend had gotten a significant leg up was merely a bonus from Frank's point of view.

Until now Carmine is the only living soul in Chicago that has any idea that his buddy Giblet didn't die in the car wreck that prevented him standing trial with the rest of his Family.

Carmine has risen far in the twenty years Frank has been absent from Chicago and lives by a strict honour code. He has seen first hand what can happen when respect is not a two way street, even the littlest fish in your organization can destroy it.

While he cannot openly associate with Frank now that he is back he is well aware that his current power would not be so great if Frank had not fallen upon his sword for honour. He is also fairly grateful for the timely warnings that allowed his organization to survive the night of the 22nd of August largely intact.

Lena Runningdeer

Lena is full blood Sioux working for Firewatch as an Intelligence Analyst. An Earth-mother type who married her job she likes to treat the operators that she provides intel to as a proxy family.

Most Firewatch personnel are a bit hard around the edges and unapproachable but Frank has learned over many decades that most human women have a bit of a Snow White complex and that stunties can either be offended by that or exploit it mercilessly. He has chosen to humour Lena when most of his colleagues are barely aware of her existence.

Over the years Frank has grown to view Lena a bit like a favourite Aunt, a crazy one but a cool one nonetheless. The intel that reaches his attention through Lena's over-protective lips has saved his hoop more than once, in the field and in the office.

She likes to look after her 'children' and is very skilled at exerting subtle pressure to help them out. Frank calls her The Accidental Fixer, if he can't get something through official channels often a quiet word with Lena will make bureaucratic types come over all helpful very suddenly.

[thearistocrat]

What's that? A German, Mobile Eingreiftruppe 2000 (MET2000) medic trapped in Chicago while performing an overseas mission? Sure hope he is the cool kind of German and not the jerky kind of German (the metahumanity hating kind).

Some back info, MET2000 is the premier German mercenary group; however, half their forces are on call at any time to defend German interests. The other half can be recruited for missions worldwide and are ready for rapid deployment to assist clients. All MET2000 troops are trained for combat in addition to their specialization, top-notch augmentation is a norm.

The Siegfriedbund is a right-wing debating society (Policlub) that's a part of the fascist BNP party (7.2% of electorate in 2052, coalitions with the right-wing). It advances right-wing positions that advocates food, health, education and work for humanity, but just work for metahumanity. While on its face it is a right-wing debate society, it often provides cover for Nationale Aktion (NA) who are pretty much terrorist Nazis. But our dear doctor doesn't think it needs to go that far.

Doc M. at Age 27

Street Name Doc M. AKA Herr Doktor
Real Name Hans Masterson
Archetype German MET2000 Medic

Vitals

Race Human
Height 5'11 Weight 185 lbs.
Eyes Blue Hair Blonde
Birthdate Aug 16, 2022 (32)
Birthplace Dusseldorf, Germany

Build Points

[ Spoiler ]

125 BP
Race = 0
Current Attributes = 31 x2
Skills=38
Money=25 (650000/633400)
Edges=9
Flaws=-9

Attributes

[ Spoiler ]

Body 7(9)
Quickness 8
Strength 4
Charisma 6
Intelligence 6
Willpower 4

Essence 1.86
Run Mult. 3
BioIndex 4.8
Reaction 9(11)
Init. Dice 1(3)
Combat Pool 9

Edges & Flaws +9/-9

Aptitude->Biotech 4
Diplomatic Immunity->MET2000 Issued 2
College Education 1
Resistance to Pathogens 1
Resistance to Toxins 1

Dossier on File -4
True Believer->Siegfriedbund -3 (German humanis policlub)
Vindictive -2

Skills

[ Spoiler ]

Active Skills
Biotech [6] (7)
Long Guns/Shotguns [5/7]
Demolitions/Improvised Explosives [4/6]
Stealth/Sneaking [3/5]
Interrogation/Drug Aided [5/7]
Intimidation/Mental [5/7]
Negotiation/Bargain [2/4]
Etiquette/Corporate [1/3]

Passive Skills
SW:Seigfriedbund(KNO) [5]
Security Companies(KNO)/MET2000 [3/5]
Security Procedures(KNO)/MET2000 [3/5]
AC:Medicine(KNO)/Traumatology [5/7]
AC:Biology(KNO) [4]
AC:Chemistry(KNO) [4]
AC:Philosophy(KNO)/Nihilism [2/4]

Language Skills
German(LAN) [5]
German(LAN) (RW) [2]
English(LAN) [4]
English(LAN) (RW) [2]

Cyberware / Bioware

[ Spoiler ]

Chrome
Boosted Reflexes [3](A) E:2.24 sr3.302|+2RCT, +2INI
Dermal Plating [2](A) E:0.80 sr3.302|+2BOD
Router(A) E:0.08 mm.22|Connect internal cyberware, 10 ports max
Commlink [3](Radio/Phone)(A) E:0.12 sr3.298|Monitor 6 radio or telephone frequencies
Router Port (Headware)(A) E:0.01 mm.22|
+ Subdermal Speakers(A) E:0.08 mm.19|Datajack connected communication cannot be overheard
+ Subvocal Microphone(A) E:0.08 sr3.298|Use headware/datajacked radio/telephone
1EY:Eye, Obvious Cyber Replacement(A) E:0.08 sr3.300|Holds .25 Essence of eye mods free of Essence cost
Router Port (Headware)(A) E:0.01 mm.22|
+ 1EY:Eye, Image Link(A) E:0.12 sr3.300|Display text and images in field of vision
+ 1EY:Eye, Datajack(A) E:0.20 mm.13|Conceal 10
+ 1EY:Eye, Thermographic(A) E:0.16 sr3.300|Thermographic vision
+ 1EY:Eye, Vis Mag Ele[3](A) E:0.08 sr3.300|Undetectable, see pages SR3-110 and SR3-280 for effects
Smartlink Processor(A) E:0.16 mm.31|
Induction Pad(A) E:0.08 mm.31|
Router Port (Non-Headware)(A) E:0.01 mm.22|
Lim. Simsense Rig (SmrtLnk)(A) E:0.08 mm.31|
+ Pers.Smartlink Safety(SmrtLnk)(A) E:0.00 mm.31|Safety on unless in contact with user
Bioware
Suprathyroid Gland BI:1.40 mm.069|+1RCT,+1STR,+1QCK,+1BOD
Digestive Expansion BI:1.00 mm.065|-20% lifestyle cost, can eat anything organic, ingested toxin power halved, -1 die taste
Perception Toxin Extractor[2] BI:0.80 mm.071|Max half BOD, -2 power to blood toxins
Pathogenic Def.[1] BI:0.20 mm.068|Max half BOD, -1 power to biological attacks
Platelet Factories BI:0.40 mm.068|-1 box for any higher than M wound, anticoagulents needed
Enhanced Articulation BI:0.60 mm.066|+1RCT, 1 addt'l die to Combat, Physical, Technical,& B/R skill
Muscle Toner[1] BI:0.40 mm.067|+1QCK

[crizh]

I know I'm kinda getting ahead of myself here but I had so much fun writing this I had to post it.

----

Carmine left his driver idling on 111th and walked unescorted up the gentle slope towards the back of the cemetary.

He didn't feel threatened, if anybody else knew the secret that brought him to Mount Olivet he would already be dead.

In the distance he could see a squat figure standing next to a quiet, rarely visited headstone. It appeared to be drinking from a six-pack it had rested on the top of the grave marker.

Carmine smiled, despite himself, had any other disrespected this grave like that they would have been fitted with a pair of concrete overshoes. He'd have done it himself too.

He didn't have to do much dirty work himself these days but he would make an exception for that.

Telegit thelemsa.

He spoke in the tongue of his true forefathers.

Siselle. Thelemsa-ha.

Came the gruff reply. Carmine was surprised, his accent had improved significantly in the last twenty years. He thought he caught a slight gaelic lilt in the annunciation.

You have taken a huge risk my friend. Why, after so long?

The squat figure did not turn but replied.

I did what I did to spare those close to me pain. Now I must sacrifice myself for them again.

The figure methodically crushed the empty beer can with his bare hand, massaging it until it was no larger than a golf ball and then casually tossed it over the wall of the cemetery which was a good 300 feet away by Carmine's estimation.

Your earlier message was cryptic but I have started to take measures. Is one of the other families moving against me?

Nothing so mundane my friend. Rest assured I am confident in your ability to survive the internal politics of the Cosa Nostra. No, something really bad is happening.

He paused to crack open another beer and Carmine held his own council, knowing that his friend would get to the point eventually.

Do you remember the day the Tower came down? We all thought the end of days were upon us.

Carmine nodded, those that had lived through the Night of Rage and the fall of the Sears Tower knew very well that the civilised world was just a thin veneer over total anarchy.

You'll have forgotten it ever happened by this time tomorrow. I don't know many details and things are still unfolding but I can see the writing on the wall.

The Dwarf paused for a long swig from his beer before continuing.

Here's what I know. Some time this afternoon a special forces team moved on a Paranormal target in the Shattergraves. I don't know what went wrong or what sort of threat but I know the operators involved were among the best in the world, whatever happened it wasn't their fault.

Anyway, the whole operation went tits up and whatever they were after was released into the Shattergraves and downtown Chicago. All that stuff you are hearing on the news? Smoke and mirrors. A great number of people are changing their underwear and not the sort of people that spook easily.

Worst case contingency plans are being broken out and put into motion.

My guess is that their first order of business will be containment. They'll probably place the city under quarantine and put up a big fence. You can expect the National Guard to be called up. And then the drek will really hit the rotating blades.


He finished his beer and the empty can followed the first over the wall.

I know, paranoid. You'd be surprised. I saw genuine fear today. On the faces of people I thought had all their emotions surgically removed. What really happened is above my pay-grade but I do know what's going to happen next.

By this time tomorrow everybody still in Chicago will be wishing they had moved to Sarajevo.

Another beer was opened.

What did Father O'Malley used to say? When God gives you lemons

Carmine laughed.

Make lemonade.

He finished.

Everything fragile you want to keep needs to be somewhere else by daybreak. You need to prepare and prepare properly.

There is going to be a war here. A smart man might make a decent profit from such an eventuality.

Can I give you some advice?

Carmine laughed again.

Can I stop you?

Probably not. It's good advice. Urban guerilla warfare is my specialty. I've been doing this a long time and I've seen rebels and warlords come and go. The successful ones are all the same. They play the long game, they plan ahead, they conserve their resources and let their rivals knock the stuffing out of each other and then pick up the pieces afterwords.

In most of Bosnia money is worthless. What has value are things like fuel, ammunition, skilled personnel, medical supplies and a defensible position.

I passed a filling station on the way up 111th. Right now I could take it with just my left thumb and my right arm tied behind my back. Day after tomorrow you are going to need two squads of marines and an APC to achieve the same thing and it's fifty fifty whether the place goes sky high. It's a bad plan to start a fire-fight in a fuel dump, so it's strictly first come first served there.

Skilled personnel, Mages, Doctors, Gunsmiths, Deckers and all their basic supplies will be at a big premium.

Tinned food and a good supply of clean water are good to have but not vital. The red-cross tends to airdrop plenty of that into disaster areas but you need to control a decent drop-zone or two, football fields or municipal parks.

You want to pick a good defensible position, three or four blocks that you can really hurt anybody trying to take it from you. Eventually they'll go pick on someone softer.

A Priest, all the Priests if you can. You know in England lots of old houses have 'Priest Holes' where they would hide a house Priest when Bloody Mary was busy stringing them all up? If your not still devout I'll bet most of your boys are.

Looters. Most folk will go for the high value stuff first. They'll either hang on to it, in which case you inherit it from them when they run out of luck, or they try to smuggle it out, in which case you can pick a fair few of them off cheaply after they have done all the hard work.

The Dwarf seemed to have run out of things to say and slowly drained his third beer and disposed of the can.

Carmine stood in stunned silence. Either his friend had completely flipped or tonight was going to be a busy night.

Finally the Dwarf spoke again.

When I was in England I was working with a group of disaffected Irish elves. That's where I got this Cork accent. They didn't agree with the Tir government, thought they were perverting the old ways.

Ever hear of Chal-han?

From the focus of my heart, I call the words
Of anger spoken and desire revealed
By my Challenge of word and deed
By my blood consecrate the name invoked
Thy shape and form decreed never was

On thy Physical form, I call the words of rendering
On thy Hates, I invoke Justice, thy anger unappeased
On thy Past in shadows, I shine the light revealed
On thy Loves and joys, I gift seperation
On thy Spirit, I speak abandonment
On thy Future, I bring fear and grief
On thee I invoke all

The winds shall erase thy name
The sands the traces of thy path
The sun the coolness of they shadow
And unto the waters I command they essence
Thy Shape and Form decreed never was

Fifteen years in the Federal Pen for putting this stone here isn't enough.

When this is all over you ought to have a positive cash reserve and I assure you you will find that a number of promotion opportunities will have opened up in the local management structure.

God has given me lemons here today and I am going to make the biggest pile of frakking lemonade this world has ever seen.

A chill spread slowly up Carmines back at his old friends words, it was the calm in the little man's voice that was most disconcerting.

Maybe little Gabrielle Carlotti would finally be able to rest in peace.

----

I just finished this and realized that my long term goal is to conduct a Harlequin-esque vendetta against certain high ranking Mafiosa within the CZ against the background of the bug apocalypse.

It'll be like Shadowrun meets Twilight 2000.

[thearistocrat]

Just some bugs passing through, don't mind us.

Can we recreate the scene from John Carpenter's "The Thing" to test each other for hidden insect spirits?

[BlackHat]

So, here it is the 4th, and I'm not quite done with the second idea. . I won't have a lot of time to work on it today, because of family stuff, but I'll see what I can do and post what I get done before I head to bed - although I have seen a few other rigger ideas posted since you asked for them, and I'm guessing this won't be as well-developed. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

My idea was an electronic warfare specialist drone-rigger, who worked as a security rigger for some place in Chicago before things went bad. He would be focused on remote-control, and capitan's chair mode - so, as far as I can tell, wired reflexes would be better than a VCR for him (since it would give him the initiative boost when in capitan's chair mode and a VCR would not. I'm guessing that it would be less likely than usual that he would either need to defend his network from intruders, or to encounter someone else's drone network (or that if he did, it would be military-grade, and neigh untouchable), but if it comes up, this guy would be pretty good at dealing with it. He would also have some area knowledges that might be useful, and one or two security drones he took with him on his way out.

[thearistocrat]

I skimmed "The Bug City" supplement yesterday. I'm pretty sure that we're all going to die in short order, hopefully to an insect spirit controlled teammate or NPC.

PS. "I try to fast talk the mantis spirit queen. I throw her some insect meat first though." Lemme roll those bones.

[krayola red]

Speaking of which, if you have the Bug City sourcebook and haven't read it, feel free to do so. There aren't any spoilers in there that will impact the game.

[thearistocrat]

Flesh form? But sire, I have a top hat, jacket and reading glasses.

I don't know if you have it, but the adventure "Double Exposure" is set right before the events in Chicago and details the connection between Insects, Project Hope, the Universal Brotherhood and Renraku.

[Glyph]

Well, I'll put up another character, just to have two. This one is a lot more limited than the ex-LS guy - she is pure combat sorceress. Presenting Valkrie:

Stats

[ Spoiler ]

Valkyrie (Valda Maximoff), Female Dwarven Sorceress (Shamanic/Fenrir Totem)

Here is the breakdown (BeCKS2):
Dwarf: 10
Resources: 81 (315,000)
Attributes: 154
Skills: 90
Magic (Sorcerer): 60
Spells: 50
Contacts: 0
Edges: 5
TOTAL: 450

Spellpoints
Base amount: 50
Bond the Foci: -9
Buy Spells: -41

Attributes -
Body: 5
Quickness: 4
Strength: 5
Charisma: 2
Intelligence: 6
Willpower: 7
Essence: 6
Magic: 6
Reaction: 5

Initiative: 5 + 1d6(+ 4d6)
Combat Pool: 8
Spell Pool: 6
Karma Pool: 1

Active Skills -
Athletics: 3
Edged Weapons/Katar: 3/5
Etiquette: 2
Short Arms: 4
Sorcery: 6
Stealth: 4
Throwing Weapons: 3

Knowledge Skills -
English: 5 R/W: 2
Russian: 5 R/W: 2
Chess: 3
Classical Music: 2
Corporate Security: 3
Magical Background: 6
Mercenary Groups: 3
Norse Mythology: 3

Spells -
Manaball: 6
Manabolt: 6
Translate (E): 3
Heal: 6
Increase Reflexes: 6
Improved Invisibility: 6
Levitate: 6
Ice Sheet: 3
Sterilize (E): 3

Edges -
Bravery

Flaws -
(None)

Contacts -
Armorer (Level 1)
Fixer (Level 1)

Lifestyles: N/A

Bonded Foci -
Manabolt Focus: Rating 6
Sustaining Foci -
(Rating 3): Increase Reflexes

Other Gear -
To be determined.

Background

[ Spoiler ]

1: What is your sex?

Female

2:What is your physical size?

Slender and slight of build, even for a female dwarf, but stronger than she looks.

3: What's your Hair, eyes, and skin color?

Pale blonde hair in an unruly pageboy haircut, piercing light gray eyes, and pale skin.

4: What's your general appearance?

Valkyrie has a "little girl lost" look - small and pale, with wide, blankly staring eyes. She also gives off bad vibes, though, like violence is seething just below a surface calm - and this impression is all the more disturbing coming from such an incongruously fragile-looking girl.

5: Where were you born?

In Vadlosk, a small mountain village in Russia, which isn't there any more.

6: What's your date of birth?

April 15th, 2041.

7: What was your family life like?

Valda was part of a large, extended family, with 3 brothers, 2 sisters, and lots of cousins. They weren't rich, but they didn't go hungry, either, and they were happy for the most part.

8: Have you began your own family?

No. That's not even on her radar yet.

9: How were you educated?

She was home-schooled by her parents before her world was turned upside-down. After that, she learned from her mentor, Deadfire, as well as his mercenary associates, absorbing the grim lessons on surviving and dealing death with a silent, focused intensity.

10: Ever done anything else for a living?

No. The possibility of a normal future was taken from her.

11: What are your political and religious beliefs?

Politically, Valkyrie ignores all "isms". She deals with people, not institutions. She is more worried about whether someone is trustworthy or a good person, than what "label" he or she is. She distrusts all bureaucracy, seeing it as a means for cowardly people to do horrible things without having to get their hands dirty. Any time there is a bureaucracy, it means that you have to bribe (or threaten) someone if you want something done.

Religiously, she follows her own very idiosyncratic version of the Norse mythos, mixed with a muddled deism and her own unconventional views (She tends to see the Norse myths in symbolic rather than literal terms. For instance, she sees Gleipnir, the rope that binds Fenris, as symbolizing the invisible ties of friendship and honor that sometimes hold her back).

12: What is your moral code?

Valkyrie is psychotic, ruled only by her friendships and her highly personal code of honor. She calls the laws and petty rules that others live by (and that she has contempt for) "Laeding", and calls more coercive attempts to get her to do something "Dromi", after the first two (failed) chains that they tried to bind the Fenris wolf with. She is similar to "toecutters" (criminals who will only take out hits on other criminals), in that she will not kill defenseless innocents who are only caught in the crossfire, such as nosy reporters, children of executives, etc. (unless they do something to annoy her - she has a nasty temper). Security guards, company men/women, and other 'runners are all fair game, though.

13: Does you have any goals?

Valkyrie wants to take her rightful place at the top of the food chain, and leave a bloody swath of destruction behind her. She is too cynical to believe that she can make much of a difference - she can help a few good people, and kill a lot of bad people, but it won't matter much in the end. She used to be more involved in extreme eco-activism, but got disgusted by the hypocrisy of some of her fellow activists. She left them even more cynical than before.

14: Why do you run the shadows?

Valkrie runs the shadows partly to avenge the deaths of her family and friends, but also because she has accepted that she is a natural predator. It is what she is.

15: What kind of personality do you have?

Valkyrie is an intense but quiet young woman, who speaks in a calm, perfectly modulated voice and shows very little emotion. Even when she is about to go berserk, the only warning is a slight facial tic. She is coldly ruthless and totally fearless in battle. She lives to pit herself against enemies. Money and the softer pleasures of the flesh have little hold on her.

16: What special qualities do you posses?

She can remain calm when faced with situations that would leave others hysterical, although her berserk rage always lurks just below the surface.

17: Are there certain things you can't or won't do?

She finds it impossible to open up to others emotionally, and has a very difficult time trusting anybody.

18: What do you hate?

She hates greedy or wantonly vicious people like the ones who killed her family.

19: What things, people, or ideas do you love?

She loves violence, vengeance, and seeing fearful respect on other people's faces.

20: What's your name?

Her street name is Valkyrie. Her seldom-used real name is Valda Maximoff,

21: What did you used to do?

She was a teenaged girl who would have probably either married and become a housewife or helped run her family's leather crafting business.

22: Why did you leave your job?

Her mountain village was wiped out by corporate raiders looking to mine the area.

23: Why did you become a shadowrunner?

She was originally driven by despair and vengeance. Only later, after some internal struggles, did she learn to accept what she was.

24: How did you meet your contacts?

Ironmonger (Armorer) is little more than an address and a name, but Deadfire recommended him to her. She met him briefly once. She likes that he works with blades as well as guns.

Travis (Fixer) is an unshaved man in a typical Japanese sarariman's suit, but he has a knack for lining up jobs and hooking people up. Her old fixer in Seattle recommended her to Travis.

25: Do you have a SIN?

No. Even before her life as a shadowrunner, the rural area that she was born in was, much like the Barrens, beneath the notice of the authorities assigning SINs.

26: Are you a full time shadowrunner?

Yes.

27: Which person, groups, do you love the most?

She likes rural groups like the Salish, because they remind her of her home town.

28: Who do you hate the most?

She hates people who butcher civilians and innocents, especially if it is out of nothing but mere greed.

29: Respect the most?

She respects people who are skilled and ruthless, but also have a personal code of honor. She respects little else.

30: Fear the most?

She laughs at things most people are terrified of. If she has a fear, it is that one day she will become just like the people she hates.

31: What is your favorite color?

Deep crimson, the color of blood. She also likes sepulcher black.

32: What is your favorite food and/or drink?

She likes steak, preferably rare and bloody. She likes smooth lagers (she has a great deal of contempt for most UCAS beer, although some of the micro-breweries are deemed "adequate" by her) and hard cider.

33: What place would you most like to visit?

California, just to kill a lot of JIS troops.

34: Which person or group are you most loyal to?

She is loyal to her ex-mentor Deadfire.

35: What pastime gives you the most enjoyment?

Violent combat.

36: What pastime gives you the least enjoyment.

Killing is fun, but doing your laundry afterwards... ugh.

37: What annoys you the most?

Noisy braggarts.

38: What is your favorite form of art?

She loves classical music, which she finds very relaxing. She can listen to music like Celtic, new age, or soft techno, but a lot of modern music is distasteful noise to her.

39: What is your greatest goal?

She may not leave any kind of lasting legacy, but she would like to take out one of the BIG bad guys, and at least be remembered as a sprawl legend.

40: What is your best quality?

Her fearless aggression.

41: What is your worst quality?

Her aloof coldness.

42: What is the most important thing you have ever done?

She has hunted down all of the people involved in the original massacre of her home town. They are all dead now.

43: What religion do you follow?

A blend of Norse mythology and her own highly personal beliefs.

44: What is your most treasured possession?

A small plush wolf that she calls "Harry"

45: What are your three most common dreams?

> A nightmare where she relives the original massacre. She wakes up screaming, but never remembers any details. This dream is more rare now, and usually happens when she first sleeps in a new place.

> She is in a first-person shooter game, gleefully blasting away. Those watching her smile in her sleep and snuggle her plush wolfie will go "Aaawww".

>She is sitting on a bed of leaves, deep in a forest, while a wolf who stays half-hidden in shadows talks to her. Sometimes she will remember nothing when she wakes up, but have a sense of peace. Other times, she will receive cryptic advice that will only make sense a few months or so later.

46: What is your current relationship with your family?

They are dead. Deadfire and his team are the only people she is really close to.

47: If your family is still alive, what do they do and where do they live?

Deadfire and his team are off in Aztlan currently.

48: Where did you learn your skills?

Deadfire taught her magic, and one of his teammates taught her how to shoot. The rest was learned on Seattle's mean streets.

49: You have a good luck charm?

Her foci are like good luck charms to her, and she has named them all from Norse mythology (the two she has now are named Skoll and Hati, after the two wolves who pursue the sun and the moon).

50: What type of music do you like?

She likes classical music, especially Russian composers.

51: List any past serious relationships and details.

None so far, and it would take someone brave to consider dating her.

52: Where do you live? Why do you live there?

She has decided to make a fresh start in Chicago, to get away from her memories of the eco-activist scene and her disillusionment with it.

53: Detail past Shadowrunning experience.

Her village was massacred by corporate mercenaries. The traumatized girl was taken in by Deadfire and his crew, mercenaries hired by another side to take out the first group. They originally planned on dropping her off somewhere, but when Deadfire sensed magical ability in her, he decided to train her. She also learned how to shoot there. She stayed with them for awhile, but eventually split from them to hunt down the remaining enemy mercenaries and their employers (the suits who had given the orders). She took other jobs to pay the bills in the meantime.

She had a brief interest in eco-activism before becoming disillusioned. Despite a few incidents of her rage taking over, she got a decent reputation as a brutally effective sorceress. She is starting over in Chicago, although she has some names of people who can help her, and a bit of her rep preceding her.

[thearistocrat]

Unofficial Team Composition Strawpull

(Glyph) Doc. Alexander Darton Smith, Ex-Lone Star, Human Hermetic Sorcerer
(crizh) Frank "Giblet" Cutler, Knight Errant, Dwarf Street Samurai
(thearistocrat) James "The Aristocrat" O'Riley, Pitfighting Champ, Troll Charisma Adept
(CHance359) Sam Jones, former gang member, Ork Legbreaker
(BlackHat) Jack "Everyman" Koverman, Human Data Courier/Skillbot

Quote this team list if you are down.

[BlackHat]

Unofficial Team Composition Strawpull

(Glyph) Doc. Alexander Darton Smith, Ex-Lone Star, Human Hermetic Sorcerer
(crizh) Frank "Giblet" Cutler, Knight Errant, Dwarf Street Samurai
(thearistocrat) James "The Aristocrat" O'Riley, Pitfighting Champ, Troll Charisma Adept
(CHance359) Sam Jones, former gang member, Ork Legbreaker
(BlackHat) Jack "Everyman" Koverman, Human Data Courier/Skillbot

Quote this team list if you are down.

I'm down.

I apologize for not getting my second entry in on time. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I was pretty busy this weekend and it just didn't come together.
Pleased to see there is a spot for Jack, though.

[krayola red]

It is now July 5th. I hope everybody had an excellent Independence Day. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) The deadline has passed and submissions are closed. You guys came up with some awesome characters, and I wish like hell I could accommodate everybody, but unfortunately that is not possible, so now comes the shittiest part of being a GM - picking the team. After much deliberation, and believe me when I say it was a tough call in several cases, the final roster is as follows:

Alexander Darton Smith, played by Glyph
Frank Cutler, played by crizh
Jack Koverman, played by BlackHat
Sam Jones, played by Chance359

A hearty thank you to everyone who submitted, you guys cobbled together some kick ass characters. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) The OOC thread for this game will be up later today.

[BlackHat]

Last-minute Updates to Jack. I fixed his multiple-gun skills, and noticed that some of the skills that I had B/R skills for do not actually have B/R Skills (I guess you just use regular demolitions for explosive making *shrug*). So, that freed up enough nuyen to pick up enhanced articulation, which should add a die to a lot of his skills, and a handful of other vehicle B/R skillsofts (and two knowsofts). Spent the remaining karma, on a a decent actual pistols skill, and a point in some other skills (which would hardly ever be used).



Jack "Everyman" Koverman, aka "Renaissance Jack" (or, rarely, "Meat-Puppet" or "The Manchurian Courier")

Here is the breakdown (BeCKS2):

[ Spoiler ]

Human: -25
Resources: 120
Attributes: 196
Skills:119
Magic: 0
Edges: 40
Contacts: 0
TOTAL: 450

Sheet

[ Spoiler ]

Metatype: Human (-25)

Attributes (196)

[ Spoiler ]

- Body 4
- Strength 4
- Quickness 6
- Intelligence 6
- Charisma 6
- Willpower 6

Essence 6 -> 0.221
Magic 0
Reaction 6

Combat Pool 9
Karma Pool 1+1 from Daredevil

Skills (119)

[ Spoiler ]

- Athletics 1
- Small Unit Tactics 1
- Computer 1
- Negotiation 6 (30)
- Etiquette 6 (30)
- Tai Chi 6 (36)
- - Focus Strength (2)
- - Focus Will (2)
- - Kip up (2)
- Light Guns 4 (14)

Knowledge {90}

[ Spoiler ]

- Data Brokerage 6 (21)
- Compression Techniques 6 (21)
- Encryption Techniques 6 (21)
- Cybertechnology (Headware) 5 (7) (21)
- Data Courier Procedures 3 (6)

Languages {-/-}

[ Spoiler ]

- English 6 (-/-)
- - English R/W 3 (-/-)

Edges (40)

[ Spoiler ]

- Daredevil (15)
- Blandness (10)
- Good Reputation (10) - I know its not likely to come up much.
- Friendly Face (5) - Again, aware that it will only help when getting in with new crowds

Contacts

[ Spoiler ]

- Dr. Nolan Ventris - Legitimate Doctor - Fitted Jack with his initial cyberware, and helped get him started in the business of trafficking data. Later, he installed upgrades as Jack started to make some money and wanted to reinvest it in his new profession.

- Andrew Watcher - Fixer - Acts like an agent or liason for Jack, finding clients and verifying them without Jack needing to know too much about them. Jack has always wondered just how good a job Watcher can do at this, if the client is worried about people knowing too much - but it makes him feel better on those jobs where the data lock needs to be on, and Jack hasn't gotten fucked over by a client too badly yet.

Resources 997,250/1,000,000 (120)

[ Spoiler ]

Permits (Possess and Transport)
- Data Lock, Encryption (1000)

Cyberware {Total: 683,700}

[ Spoiler ]

- Induction Datajack (3K) [0.3]
- - With Integrated ASIST Interface (1K)
- - {1} Data Lock (1K) [0.2]
- - - With Rating 10 Data Encryption System (10K)
- - - And Integrated Data Compactor, Rating 4 (19K) [0.125]
- - {1} Data Filter (5K) [0.3]
- - {1} Router, 5 Port (1 bodyware, 3 headware), (2.1K) [0.14]
- - - {1} Knowsoft Link (1K) [0.1]
- - - {1} Skillwires, Rating 6, 162 Mp (486K) [1.2]
- - - {1} Headware Memory, 1 Gp (1024Mp) (153.6K) [3.414]

Bioware {Total: 40,000}

[ Spoiler ]

- Enhanced Articulation [0.6] (40,000)

- Activesofts, Rating 3, Pluscode 2 (7500 * 16 = 120,000) {Size = 432 Mp}

[ Spoiler ]

- - Athletics
- - Stealth

- - Small Unit Tactics

- - Edged Weapons
- - Clubs
- - Pole Arms/Staffs
- - Whips
- - Unarmed Combat


- - Light Guns [Pistols, Submachine Guns]
- - Medium Guns [Rifles, Assault Rifles, Shotguns]
- - Heavy Weapons

- - Throwing Weapons
- - Projectile Weapons
- - Laser Weapons
- - Gunnery
- - Launch Weapons

- Activesofts, Rating 3 (2700*43 = 116,100) {Size = 1161}

[ Spoiler ]

- - Diving
- - Diving B/R
- - Parachuting
- - Parachutting B/R

- - Computer
- - Computer B/R
- - Electronics
- - Electronics B/R

- - Edges Weapons B/R
- - Clubs B/R
- - Pole Arms/Staffs B/R
- - Whips B/R


- - Light Guns [Pistols, Submachine Guns] B/R
- - Medium Guns [Rifles, Assault Rifles, Shotguns] B/R
- - Heavy Weapons B/R

- - Throwing Weapons B/R
- - Projectile Weapons B/R
- - Laser Weapons B/R
- - Gunnery B/R
- - Launch Weapons B/R

- - Biotech

- - Armorer B/R
- - Demolitions

- - Interrogation
- - Intimidation
- - Leadership

- - Bike
- - Bike B/R
- - Car
- - Car B/R
- - Fixed-wing Aircraft
- - Fixed-wing Aircraft B/R
- - Hovercraft
- - Hovercraft B/R
- - LTA Aircraft
- - LTA Aircraft B/R
- - Motorboat
- - Motorboat B/R
- - Rotor Aircraft
- - Rotor Aircraft B/R
- - Sailboat
- - Submarine
- - Vector Thrust Aircraft

- Knowsoft, Rating 3 (4050*11=44550) (Total Size = 297 Mp)

[ Spoiler ]

- - Economics
- - Engineering
- - Chemistry
- - Psychology
- - Sociology
- - Biology
- - Medicine
- - Megacorporate Policies
- - Magic
- - Sorcery Background
- - Conjuring Background

- Linguasoft, Rating 3 (1350*14 = 18,900) (Total Size = 378 Mp)

[ Spoiler ]

- - German
- - Spanish
- - Russian
- - French
- - Sperethiel
- - Or'zet
- - Hindi
- - Arabic
- - Korean
- - Japanese
- - Cantonese Chinese
- - Mandarin Chinese
- - Italian

Bull's 50+ Questions - (I didn't finish all of these, but got some good stuff in there - it is always worth doing)

[ Spoiler ]

1. What is your characters Sex?

Male.

2. What is your characters physical size?

Average. He actually works quite hard to maintain an entirely unremarkable appearance.

3. What is the color of the characters Hair, eyes, and skin?

Short dark hair, dark eyes. Caucasian skin, just a hint of mixed heritage.

4. What is the character's general appearance (i.e., How does he dress, etc.)?

Jack usually dresses up - suits from Armante', Vanshion Island, Zoe and other tres chic lines - due to dealing almost exclusively with corporate or wealthy clients. Even though he may be little more than an errand-boy, he is a firm believer in dressing for the job you want, not the job you have. Additionally, in the circles he travels in, such suits actaully help him blend in and avoid drawing attention.

6. What is the characters date of birth?

September 17th, 2038 (which should make him 27 years old)

7. What is the character's family life like?

Jack was born to SINless parents. They got by, and he never dug too deep to find out how, but his life wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. His parents were not bad, but always hoped for better for him. When his current job opportunity popped up, he took it, and never looked back. He claims that his disconnection to his family is because having people close to you is a danger to both of you - but he really just doesn't like being reminded of his lower-class roots and that his new suit-and-tie lifestyle is all a charade.

8. Has the character begun his own family?

No. He is a charismatic person, but he travels a lot, usually on business he cannot discuss (or doesn't know about himself), and is very focused on his career.

9. Where or how was the character educated?

Jack's education was very limited growing up. He had the good fortune of getting in with some people who thought he would make an inconspicious-looking courier, and has been moving up that ladder ever sense getting an on-the-job education in Shadow-work.

10. Has the character ever done anything else for a living?

His primary occupation is as an independant data courier, but has been known to assist in various other roles for his clients via skillsofts - often as a support role, because (unless the client is providing the 'softs) Jack's skills are often sub-par.

11. What are the characters political and religious beliefs?

Jack is not religious at all, and after loosing the majority of his essence in cyberwar surgery, he seems to have become even less spiritual. Politically, he prefers not to hold strong opinions one way or the other. His loyalty is to whoever is paying for his time.

12. Describe the character's Moral code. Include how mercenary he is, whether or not he'll kill innocents, etc.

Jack's moral delimmas usually involve remaining blissfully ignorant of whatever it is he is transporting, and absolving himself for any responsibility for how it might be used. He has thought about it quite a bit, but this profession doesn't allow for picky couriers. On a few occasions, when the job was particularly sensitive, or the client is particularly paranoid, Jack's datalock has been activated and a peak-controlled persona-soft has occasionally been used to give him a personality agreeable to whatever the client needs done.

13. Does the character have any goals?

His major goal is to make some serious money trafficing data, to pay for cyberware upgrades (alphaware, better skillsofts, etc). Of course, this will soon become a non-issue, to be replaced by goals like survival, and escape.

14. Why does the character run the shadows? (Why does he run the shadows still, rather than getting a "real" job?)

Jack considers his profession a "real" job, and would only consider himself a part of the shadows because of the often shadey clientelle he sometimes deals with.

15. What kind of personality does your character have? This should not necessarily be obviously stated in the background, as it is more important for actually playing the character, but it may colour or add mood to the history.

Jack tends to have a very cool, calculating personaltiy that borders on cold. He feels very detached from the world, and often from the people and organizations he deals with. He's a courier, and has a strict professional code of honor that prevents him from getting too concearned about his clients, or the repercussions of whatever operation he is enabling.

16. What special qualities does the character posess? This does not refer to skills, but rather at other things, such as How he gets along with people, does he plan ahead, etc.

Jack has a very agreeable personality. He is used to working for other, more powerful/rich/influential people, and putting himself entirely at their disposal.

17. Are their certain things the character can't or won't do? Why?

There are certain things Jack would prefer not to have to do - or at least not to have to know that he is doing them. He isn't a violent person, and would avoid wetwork where possible. Of course, when persona-fix'ed, what he will and will not do is no longer up to him - just one of the many reasons why he avoids a personality re-write whenever possible.

18. What things, people, or ideas does the character hate?


19. What things people, or ideas does the character love?


20. What is the character's name? Give both full birth name, as well as nicknames, street names, etc.

Jack "Everyman" Koverman, aka "Renaissance Jack". Occasionally nicknamed "Meat-Puppet" or "The Manchurian Courier", but rarely - his reputation is overall, very good.


21. Determine what your character used to do, before becoming a shadowrunner (very important).

Independant Data Courier - typically corporate (or wealthy, at least), and often involved in shadey deals (information "transfer" between corporations, dealing with organized crime syndicates, etc). That already straddles the line between Shadowrunner and legitimate wageslave.

22. Decide why your character left his or her old job, if he had one (also important).

The major event that caused his job-change was having the poor fortune to end a job in Chicago when the walls went up.

23. Come up with a reason for why the character became a shadowrunner. (This very often will tie in with #22. This is not the same as #14, but rather why he started running the shadows originally. What led him to it?)

Jack didn't have a lot of other options in life. He was born SINless, but had enough raw talent, charisma, and luck to fall in the with right influential people and get himself a gig as a professional deniable asset - and a walking data-safe. He got a corporate SIN, and a really decent commission. Going into the Shadows was a lot better than ending up a burnt-out ganger in the barrens.

24. How did your character come to know his or her contacts? Contacts are an important part of Shadowrun, decide how and why you know them.

Explained in the contacts section.

25. Does the character have a SIN? Does the character actually use it? Or is the character one of the SINless masses? This may be affected by the character's previous employment.

Jack has a valid SIN. He has also used a number of forged SINs during his travels (often provided by the client when one was necesasry). His SIN is registered as a licensed data courier, with a permet to possess and transport heavily encrypted data.

26. Is the character a full-time shadowrunner? Or does the character lead a Batman-like double existence?

Full-time. Jack is almost always working, or working to find work. He likes living large, and that requires a steady stream of clients with a niche he can fill.

27. Which person(s) or group(s) do you love the most?



28. Which person(s) or group(s) do you hate the most?



29. Which person(s) or group(s) do you respect the most?

He respects people and organizations that show a high level of professionalism - even corporate types or organized crime syndicates rank higher than a cop who means well, but goes back on his word.

30. Which person(s) or group(s) do you fear the most?



31. What is your favourite colour?

Chrome or metallic silver.

32. What is your favourite food and/or drink?

He is not particularly picky, but enjoys the prestige of eating expensive food - even if he can't taste the difference. He enjoys the feeling of being wealthy.

33. What place would you most like to visit?

He has done a great deal of travelling. There isn't anywhere he would prefer to be more than anywhere else - unless some exotic location meant an opportunity to add to his already impressive library of knowsofts on somebody else's dime.

34. Which person(s) or group(s) are you most loyal to?

His loyalty is to himself, first, and his client, second. Everything else, including the law, comes third.

35. What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the most enjoyment? (Warning: Answering Sex for this question can and will result in penalties to your character!)



36. What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the least enjoyment?

Any job that requires the use of his data lock. He had the thing installed because it has become almost a prerequisite for the best-paying jobs - but every time he goes under, he worries that he won't wake up again. Personafixes are just as bad, but a lot of clients require them - so they KNOW they can trust you. One of these days, Jack is sure he'll end up in some Bunraku parlor working for spare change - but luckily, his good reputation, and Watcher's (one of his contacts), have seen that he hasn't gotten double-crossed yet.

37. What annoys you the most?


38. What (if any) is your favorite form of art?

His response would be that he is not particularly taken by the arts. Honestly, though, he enjoys acting (particularly simsense stars) - and is likes the idea of being someone else enough that he has made a living out of it.

39. What is your greatest goal?


40. What do you think is your characters best quality?

Adaptability. He and his "agent" often play up the fact that Jack comes loaded with a library of useful skills that he can bring to bear on your problem - but that if the client wants something specific, they can literally program him to be anyone they want. He is often loaded with skillsofts enabling him to better defend the data, and on the few occasions where personafix software was on the menu, programmed to be a completely loyal employee for the duration of the job - with every confidence that Jack would not and could not remember any of the events. Unlike a lot of other data-couriers, Jack prides himself on being customizable to any particular job.

He has managed to collect a rather remarkable library of personal skillsofts, which he puts to use when not the job (and which he offers to clients at reasonable rates). His collection

41. What do you think is your characters worst quality?

He tends to not take responsibility for anything. He tends to work for other people (even if he is freelance) and prefers to leave the majority of the decisions, moral choices, etc up to them. This makes him someone who is unlikely to take initiative - and even less likely to take responsibility. He prefers his place as a well-oiled, sometimes critical, cog in the machine.

He is also someone willing to sell his body (or at least the implants in them), and sometimes his mind (if the client thinks that a sim-soft or peak-controlled personafix will help him do the job) to anyone willing to meet his price. As he lost more and more essence, he became more convinced that he *is* his job, and has gone out of his way to keep himself anonymous, with few ties to other people.

42. What is the most important thing you have ever done?

Hard to say. He is not usually aware of the repercussions, actual or potential, of what the data he is carrying might be used for. There was at least one time, however, that he was needed for a job, specifically, because he has an unbelievable amount of space in his head - more than almost any other courier, and way more than is usually necessary. He had no idea what it was, but after being put through upload-compression program and his cyberware data-compactor, it still managed to use up almost all of his available memory. Whatever the ten gigapulses of information was about, it must have been important. He was paid handsomly, and had the distinct impression that there were a number of groups after him, but the client had provided him with a security team of shadowrunners who intercepted and dealt with all of the issues.

43. Which religion (if any) do you follow?

None. Even less spiritual, after having a great deal of his head replaced with chrome.

44. What is your most treasured possession (and why)?

His cyberware. Without it, he'd be out of a job, and back on the streets where he group up.

45. What are your three most common dreams?

Normal varied dreams. Instead, listing 3 interesting nightmares.

A bizzare nightmare where he is aware that his datalock has somehow been locked into the "on" position. Even though he remembers the whole dream, he spends the whole time running around, looking foolish, and messing things up in a desparate attempt to reset it. When he wakes up, he goes through some mental exercises to make sure his memory is there before trying to get back to sleep.

Another nightmare where people are hunting him down - presumably for whatever it is he is carrying in his head. This sort of thing is expected, in his job - so he often writes the dream off as nothing important.

A nightmare where he is meeting a client for delivery and download, and they discover that the data has somehow gone missing from his head. This is more of an embarrasment dream - and he spends the dream trying to appease the upset client and appologise for his screw-up.

46. What is the Characters current relationship with his family?

He doesn't really keep in touch with his family at all. He says that the more distant and disconnected he is, the safer they remain - but, in reality, he just doesn't like being reminded of his lower-class roots and that his new suit-and-tie lifestyle is all a charade.

47. If the characters family is still alive, what do they do, and where do they live?

Not sure. He assumes they are in the same city (Seattle) although he hasn't checked up on them in years.

48. Where did the character learn his Skills?

The majority of his skills were learned on the job, once he got himself crammed full of optical memory and started selling his space to the highest bidder. However, due to his reliance on skillsofts, he doesn't actually possess too many genuinely useful skills. He has a knack for social skills, however.

49. Does the character have a good luck charm? What is it, and why?

No. He has been described by others as lucky, but he has a hard time believing in such things.

50. What type of music does the character like?

While he's not overly passionate about music, he likes anything where he can listen, and pull apart the pattern or rythm. Heavily computerised music tends to be more mathimatically precise with its patterns, so he favors those sort of genres.

51. List any past serious relationships that your character has had, and give a brief overview of the relationship.

He has dated, usually no more than once, and no serious relationships.

52. Where does your character live? Why does he live there?

He usually lives out of (generally high-class) hotels, as he tries to stay constantly on the job, and travels a lot.

53. Remember, your Gamemaster likes detail, so if you can think of any other little details, quirks, or whatever that you think might please the almighty GM, then add them in as well. Oh, and your GM won't use any of these details against you at a later date. trust me...

[krayola red]

Dump all your activesofts, I'm going to give them to you for free in the post-chargen equipment package.