[X] My Assistant

[fistandantilus4....]

God, I hate GMs like you.

And I'm not a fan of posts like this. In one breath you slam someone for their opinion, and in the next, say how much better yours is and to stop whining. Everyone's got their own way to do the game. There is no "right way", just because it's canon. There's plenty of players that love and swear by canon, and plenty more that could care less.

Short version : stop crapping on posts.

[DuctShuiTengu]

Seattle 2072, P. 8: Seattle Demographics (sidebar)

The population demographics also do not include changelings, since the SURGE tended to cut across metatypes, but it’s a fair estimate that least 10% of Seattle’s population - or some 300,000 - are changelings of some variety. That number has been steadily rising, too, as changelings from the surrounding areas and elsewhere in the UCAS migrate to the Emerald City, which has had a reputation as a haven for freaks and weirdos, or at least did, up until recently. We’ll see how Brackhaven’s administration changes things (not for the better, I suspect).
-Mad Tom

That would suggest that there are in excess of 300,000 "changelings" in Seattle by 2070, and that the number is likely rising. Now, my question is: by "changeling" does that mean the expanded metavariants from Runner's Companion like Cyclops and Gnomes, or are we talking exclusively of those with some level of the SURGE quality and the attendant Metagenic Qualities?

I would assume that when the quoted passage refers to changelings, it actually means changelings (that is, the people who have the SURGE quality).

That said, I'd imagine that the same traits that make Seattle an (apparent) safe-haven for changelings also are likely to make it more popular as a destination for many of the other varieties of freaks such as metavariants, drakes, shapeshifters, etc. As the saying goes, "Where do you hide an odd fish?"

[Medicineman]

Keep in mind though, that not all changelings have to look like catgirls, Hindu gods, vampires who sparkle in sunlight or something out of a 90's X-Men issue.
There's a lot of cases where SURGE is rather inconspicious.
...

But(and that is where RAW is wrong):
every Changeling has the distinctive Style disadvantage for Free
That means he either has to stand out in one way or the other ,or that Rule is wrong !

One more thing
According to the Runners Compendium only 2% are Changelings (in the industrialised Countrys),how comes it's 10% in Seattle ?

with a distinctive Dance
Medicineman

[KCKitsune]

One more thing
According to the Runners Compendium only 2% are Changelings (in the industrialised Countrys),how comes it's 10% in Seattle ?

Changelings are all going to Seattle because they can fit in better with all the other "freaks"

=============

Now about my "crapping" on Dranem's post. Yes (before anyone else calls me a hypocrite) I did get a little heated with the NAN Fading thread. Mostly I did not accept the fact that the NAN would have survived AFTER the Great Ghost Dance ended. I now accept that while the GGD was going on the NAN had Uber-Shaman™ who had Uber-Magic™ to stop a nuke from removing them from the Universe. After the GGD... they were mostly dead (from canon I believe) due to drain.

SURGE, UGE, and Goblinization I accept without any question.

[The Jake]

Wow, if it's really getting that bad in the seedier parts of Seattle, I am going to have to petition my GM to put the Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes "Cantina" themes from Chalmun's Cantina in Episode IV onto the iPod mood music machine! Cripes!

Holy shit.... I thought my gaming table was the only troup that starts up that Mos Eisley Cantina theme when the PCs walk into a dodgy bar somewhere. Wow.

- J.

[Silverback]

No, at my table it's the same. Especially while playing Spacemaster.
And the description "Mos Eisley Bar" is all you need. Everyone gets a picture of the scene. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Saint Sithney]

Changelings are all going to Seattle because they can fit in better with all the other "freaks"

And that mirrors the same fear that anti-SURGE folk employ. You put up a sign that welcomes the disenfranchised, outcasts and pariahs and soon enough you start to drown in them. The landscape changes. But regardless of whether we're talking about changelings or the sorts of personalities drawn to roleplaying them, the answer isn't to force them back into their little ghettos, but to try and socialize them. What is a good roleplayer but a bad roleplayer's teacher? What is a bad man but a good man's job?

IOW, freak don't act right, top him for being an idiot, not for being a freak.

[Kerenshara]

Holy shit.... I thought my gaming table was the only troup that starts up that Mos Eisley Cantina theme when the PCs walk into a dodgy bar somewhere. Wow.

- J.

Also "popular" is the Blood Rave track from Blade for intense close combat, Klendathu Drop from Starship Troopers for the frontal assault, things like that. We're a ... warped bunch.

[Semerkhet]

Also "popular" is the Blood Rave track from Blade for intense close combat, Klendathu Drop from Starship Troopers for the frontal assault, things like that. We're a ... warped bunch.

I can't use any of those anymore without eliciting groans at the table. I've had to delve pretty deeply into movie and video game soundtracks to find appropriate music that does not distract with familiarity.

Since I'm totally off-topic, have there been any session background music threads lately?

[Kerenshara]

I can't use any of those anymore without eliciting groans at the table. I've had to delve pretty deeply into movie and video game soundtracks to find appropriate music that does not distract with familiarity.

Since I'm totally off-topic, have there been any session background music threads lately?

It's my OP and I have no problem with you being "off topic" since I was also the one who "diverged" trying to make a point about a ratio of "human" to "Um... whatever?" in the seedy dive where we meet Mr(s). Johnson.

And I NEVER said I don't get groans.

[toturi]

Seriously. If you don't want something in your game, then tell the players about it up-front. Simple. Easy. It seems a lot of GMs seem to think that they have the right to be a dick to any player who doesn't read their mind and come up with a character that exactly matches their idiosyncratic view of the Shadowrun universe.

The only caveat is that once the GM has stated what he wants, the player should either stop pushing or leave the game.