Looking to play...or GM... Options

[Marwynn]

Marwynn: I don't want my yacht to be submersible, that may just be me tho. The cost is stupid high and the benefit is not. Sure we can hide beneath the seas when everything goes south, but i'd rather handle the foe and flee at maximum speed then sink and run off.

But, if others like the 100k sinking ship idea, you included the luxury cost in the cost of your classique, GM said we can take that out and get 10K back. I would also recommend we also pick up signiture masking at at least 4. Which means we need to dump a few mods. I'm not sure that smoke projector is worth squat. It only is a 30 meter radius after a full round and if its windy it goes away in no time. Stick a smoke projector on a zodiac and i am with you. On our big old base ship, I don't think so. I kind of think the same for the search light. It looks weird to have that on a yacht. You could use the cover of late night deep sea fishing...but it seems something we could easily get rid of. Also, I believe VoG told us that we only need one smuggling compartment upgrade and its assumed to be a few seperate hiding places.

Ahh my bad, yes 10k out and perhaps a whole slew of extra space (RP-wise for the tall amongst us).

We can dump the Smoke Projector, the second Smuggling Compartment, and Searchlight though. Signature Masking I didn't put in because of this part "moderate reshaping of the vehicle's exterior in order to scatter signals". It might be harder to pass ourselves of as some sort of private charter or contractor or whatever our excuse is if the yacht doesn't look quite right.

I did have a story for this, the ship itself being a rich man's private sub-yacht. Purchased from Harland and Wolff as one of their more elite models. It's not so much unique as it is rare, something for the slightly higher-up executives to show off. Ours would have been taken when the owner was abducted or "extracted" in a previous run. Some of the team may even have been present for that run. The ship was declared lost, but it's been reregistered as another vessel.

Our updates would've been done later. Stripping away the luxury stuff, packing in all that gear... Even Chameleon coating can be explained away as coming standard, to look cool and trendy.

Do we need a Rigger Cocoon?

By my calculations, without the Smoke Projector, second Compartment, and Searchlight, and no Luxury amenities the Submersible Classique III (or the Classique III Elite?) is 399875 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) .

[Penta]

Just a quick thing to make the history geeks among us smile as you all consider your maritime options.

No VOG here...Just something my mind tripped over.

H&W is a real company. For SR purposes, unless someone can point to canon that says different, I'm guessing it remains independent.

Without looking it up, tell me one ship they built IRL.

[Marwynn]

Well even without knowing what it is I can guess. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Penta]

Damn, you nailed it in one.(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[CollateralDynamo]

So basically, there is no way we could be the LEAST successful H&W venture. Excellent.

[Marwynn]

Well we can sink while in drydock... Ironic that they'd build ships now that are meant to sink.

Also, one weapon turret of some kind would probably be necessary. But before we get there, what is our excuse? I mean what are we passing ourselves off as first and foremost? That lets us design within some parameters. Are we a private yacht? Some corp executive's ride? Charter and hired guards? Explorers?

That dictates what we might be able to get away with if they board us for an inspection.

[CollateralDynamo]

Okay, almost all of our characters so far are ex-military. So we should try to use that to our advantage. We should also start getting a vote together on exactly which ship it is we are going to be running with. I note that most other PCs have backed out on our boat discussions, so I hope they'll come back and give us a vote. I see our basic options as:
Submersible Yacht
Secure Yacht
Submersible Cutter
Speed Cutter

My first vote is for the secure yacht, my second for the speed cutter.

With the speed cutter we would need fake permits all over the place. But our cover story could fall into place easily enough. We could pose as a mercenary team hired by a government (much like present day's Blackwater or other private company). Surely these type of companies exist out in the Carib as piracy is all over the place and private companies as well as governments will be looking to protect their interests. So with that all we need is documents that can handle inspection and the ability to con our way past patrols. That said, every time we run into a patrol boat we will probably be pulled over and have to go through the whole rigmarole, which is why it is my second choice and not my first.

For my first vote with the Secure yacht, i see this sort of style as being super common. I admit, with Signature masking our cover would be a little blown. So I can replace that with a concealed weapon mount, since people really seem to want it. If we get permits on it everything might be ok. Our cover then becomes either a) we are on our way to pick up are rich guy, we are his security detail and crew. or b) we already have our rich guy (I am a pretty damn convincing liar) and you are my security and crew. Thus knight remains in captain duty of the crew, and I play the role of silly rich guy and keep others busy. The gun is "just in case of any nasty pirate business".

Of course, for this to work we will again need plenty of permits. And I'll need a new fake SIN to play the role of "Rich Guy X", but at least they won't be sniffing around any merc camps whose name we might be using. They'll just see us, get confused, and hopefully tell us to move along when our documents check out.

[MusicMan]

I've been on the side of a secure yacht the entire time.

[MusicMan]

We can turn signature masking on and off as we need it.

Also, you might want to check... I remember that Chameleon Coating was not compatible with a few things, I know it's not compatible with smart armour; I don't remember if concealed armor was included in that.

I think we should just make our cover that we are freelancers who contract with corporate parties and rich kids' birthdays...

[CollateralDynamo]

Haha, rich kids b-days!? I like it.

And you can turn the electrical component of sig masking on and off, but there is an outward modification of your vessel to make your ship less detectable in general which would always be active. We could try to say that its just post modern art (the kids love us), but it would be a GM call if we could get away with it.

Chameleon coating works with concealed armor, it does not work with smart armor, sun link, or...something else.

[Penta]

Chsmeleon coating, if I'm reading the desc on Arsenal pg 134 right, isn't compatible with smart armor, but that says nothin about concealed armor.

Please note though that it only coats the hull. Not, say, anything sticking out of the hull.

[Penta]

Haha, rich kids b-days!? I like it.

And you can turn the electrical component of sig masking on and off, but there is an outward modification of your vessel to make your ship less detectable in general which would always be active. We could try to say that its just post modern art (the kids love us), but it would be a GM call if we could get away with it.

Chameleon coating works with concealed armor, it does not work with smart armor, sun link, or...something else.

I'm going to rule that the masking of sig masking, insofar as it involves changes to the exterior of a ship, mostly involves things like changing angles to reduce radar return. Mostly, you can pass it off as cosmetic changes. It is the Carib after all.

The "something else" you think of is reflective hull.

[Marwynn]

I looked back at CD's Secure Yacht and added a few things.

Armed Secure Yacht

CODE

            Slots    Nuyen    
Classique III            24    225000    
Additional Fuel Tank            1    1000    
Concealed Armour (20)            2    20000    
Chameleon Coating            1    24000    
Drone Rack (Small Landing)            3    5000    
ECM (6)            1    6000    
Fuzzy Logic            1    2500    
Improved Economy            1    4375    
Improved Sensor Array            1    1000    
Interior Cameras            0    2400    For the Rigger
Lock-on Countermeasures            1    5000    
Personal Armour (10)            1    5000    
Pilot 3            0    3000    
Rigger Adaptation            1    2500    
Satellite Communication            1    500    
Smuggling Compartment(Sh)            1    6000    Airtight, Wifi
Winch (Std)            1    600    
Weapon Mount            7    10500    Concealed, Turret, Remote

Total: 324375 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)

Now that Weapon Mount is tricky. It can only hold an LMG but it is fully concealed and has a 360 by 90 field of fire.

The alternative is to squeeze in Signature Masking instead, which is 6 slots instead of 7 but is 1500 more for rating 6. I do believe that may come in handier than a rotating LMG.

Masked Secure Yacht

CODE

            Slots    Nuyen
Classique III            23    225000
Additional Fuel Tank            1    1000
Concealed Armour (20)            2    20000
Chameleon Coating            1    24000
Drone Rack (Small Landing)            3    5000
ECM (6)            1    6000
Fuzzy Logic            1    2500
Improved Economy            1    4375
Improved Sensor Array            1    1000
Interior Cameras            0    2400
Lock-on Countermeasures            1    5000
Personal Armour (10)            1    5000
Pilot 3            0    3000
Rigger Adaptation            1    2500
Satellite Communication            1    500
Smuggling Compartment(Sh)            1    6000
Winch (Std)            1    600
Signature Masking (6)            6    12000

Total: 325875 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)


Note: The Drone Rack is able to catch any small or medium drones for immediate retrieval. We have ECM 6 and Signature Masking which are Forbidden (or Weapon Mount).

Also, the Smuggling Compartment is doubly shielded: they're airtight so they won't get wet or get sniffed, they're also wifi shielded meaning radar scanners and the like can't peek through them.

[MusicMan]

The "Masked Secure Yacht" looks good to me.

[CollateralDynamo]

Masked Secure gets my vote as well.

With the extra money we can buy up a few hand held rocket launchers and hide them in a compartment. Also we have plenty of cash to trick out our zodiacs and maybe even pick up some drones for the rigger on the company tab.

[MusicMan]

1. Do we have a rigger?
2. Who is going to drive the boats of doom?

[CollateralDynamo]

Ears said he was rolling a rigger/hacker for us, haven't seen him in awhile. As for driving a zodiac, NOT IT!

[MusicMan]

I'll roll-up a rigger to replace my character with... just in case.

[budoka05]

So, right now I have seen these people mention both their desire to play and a character concept:

Knight Saber: CO: Ex-marine, street sam

CollateralDynamo: XO: Ex-spy, Phys Ad Face and Close-quarters expert

Marwynn: Infiltration Mage, sneaky and supportive

Milk Ducks: Support Mage with a focus on summoning

Whizbang: Hacker/Rigger

Budoka05: Adept Boarding Expert with the softer, cookier side

BaronKen: Doctor & Cook

Ears: Troll Build-a-buddy, can repair anything...sounds like he might be good in a fight too...

MusicMan: Weapon Specialist Street Sam

Of the list, who's still with us?

[Penta]

Okay...It looks like we have a consensus forming? around the "Masked Secure Yacht".

This is good.
---
Who's characters I have:

Approved and posted
Milk ducks - Albatross - Ork Adrenaline Junky
MusicMan - George - Human ex-Greek Marine
CollateralDynamo - Zalermo - Human face
Budoka05 - Kojiro - Elven Adept

Still in creation

Knight Saber - The Captain.
Marwynn - Mage
BaronKen - Medic/Cook

Neither hair nor hide (In other words, they've said they're in but I've seen nothing)

Whizbang
Ears

So I'd say we're at 7. We can handle a max of 10.

If you still want in, and you aren't on this list, please talk to me soon! Sooner the better!

If you're in the 'neither hair nor hide' category, please...Get SOMETHING to my PM box soon!

If you're Still In Creation, well, chances are things are moving along.

If you're approved but want to modify or withdraw a character - Talk to me. Nothing is final til play starts, then everything gets locked in.

[Knight Saber]

Vis a vis a Rigger Cocoon, a Skinlink would be much, much more useful... It's a big ship, the Rigger could just go hide in the smuggling compartment if he's going to be away from his body, or anywhere else. The cocoon is more for, say, cars, where a passed-out driver is an obvious invitation to put a bullet in his head.

Weapon-wise, a concealed below-the-waterline torpedo launcher might be the way to go... very difficult to see, great for surprise attacks in tense situations and not something we could use to shoot out with everyone who looks at us cross-eyed. Other combat duties could be handled with man-portable heavy weapons, on pintel mounts that double as fishing rod holders.

The secure yacht is a good notion. Perhaps rather than having it as a shiny, modern boat, it can have a dirty, run down exterior and be part of a "Shadowrunner Fantasy Tour" for rich young people... Shadowrunning is very big in the media, after all... TV shows and games glamorize it.

It'd be like a baseball fantasy camp, taking people on a "tour" that includes a simulated run, letting them fire off guns with blanks as they "steal" data from a beachhouse (And maybe "save" some women in the house to take them back to the boat). Thus, any time we were spotted doing real 'run activity, it could be written off as another tour.

[MusicMan]

I really like the Shadowrun Fantasy Tour idea... It also makes sense as to why teh crew would be a bunch of ex-military types.

[CollateralDynamo]

Shadowrun fantasy tour!?!? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif) After reading corporate enclaves I really LOVE that concept.

[Marwynn]

The Masked Secure Yacht can squeeze in a Skinlink for an extra 5000 and eat up the last mod slot. Unless Penta allows for over-modding we're outta slots.

I like that idea. A Reality Trid show...

[MusicMan]

Instead of a rigger cocoon or somesuch, why not have a workstation so our rigger and/or armorer can have a space to do stuff?