OOC: Beginner's Luck, ... it's not always good ... Options

[Dashifen]

Hello gaming type people,

Dashifen here. I noticed that there was a post by Mana Child in the Shadowrun forum showing a desire to learn shadowrun. Well, to that end, I'm going to try and put together a game for ONLY people who haven't played that much and want to learn more. I already personally invited two people that mentioned they were new to the game in other threads, but I'm interested in seeing how many people there are on the boards who are looking to learn the ropes. If there are only a few people that want to learn how to play and I want a few experienced types, then I'll open up character submission to all-comers. Know, however, that if you're of a more-experienced type of player, I'd appreciate it if you let the learners run the show a little bit more -- that way they learn!

Once I get an idea of how many people are interested, I'll start putting together groups. If there's a lot of interest, I might break a large group into smaller ones and run different games.

Don't worry about characters, yet. Once I get one or more groups together and we talk about what you're interested in learning, then I'll start looking for characters.

As for my style of running a game, I generally come up with an idea that I think would be interesting to run, and then a few ways that I would complete it so that I have an idea of what you guys might do. Then, I fly by the seat of my pants doing the best that I can! If you want to read a different game that I'm running on the boards, check out the Mafia Affair. There are links to the IC and OOC threads in my signature.

If you're interested, post below.

[Grey]

:| Ummm... I'm new. And want to learn. Yeah. Umm... I've never played before, but this "shadowrun" thing sounds neat! :newbie:

[Dashifen]

Nice. :silly: Seriously, though, if there are no newbies out there that get back to me in a day or so I'll probably just run the game with veterans :D

[kevyn668]

I'm not a newb but I've never had the chance to try a decker or rigger and always wanted to learn but was too shy to play one around veteranos... :(

**keeps eye on thread**

[Ditaki]

I haven't played much...scratch that, not at all...rules just make sense to me. :rotate:

I think if we play, I'll be grabbing a mage this time around.

[Dashifen]

[Dashifen]

[kevyn668]

@ D: I'll take your post to mean that I'm at least in the running (no pun intended).

We're using just the SR3 core, correct? I don't have R3 but do have Matrix--not that I was able to make heads or tails of it. I think I bought it just so I could read the section on otaku...

[Dashifen]

Sure -- if you want to run a decker I think I can manage that. I started the conept for Mana Child, and I haven't heard back on that yet, so I'm kinda just seeing what interest is out there. But, if you want to start working on a decker, go for it.

[Shadow]

Ok so I don't think I could pass for a newbie, but I hav never played a rigger before. All I have is the SR3 core rules so I would just use those, so if you were willing to learn with me, it would be like having a newbie.... :grinbig:

[Dashifen]

Hrm.... that's tempting, shadow. I like that idea. One of my RL players wanted a rigger this year and I just didn't have the time to learn the rules, what with having a decker for the first time as well. I think we could work with that. Just going to have to re-read that section of the book and make heads-and-tails of it.

[Grey]

Trying to play a Rigger without R3 or R3R is next to impossible. Yes, you have the core rules, but there is so much more you can do with a vehicle that isn't in SR3. I don't even think SR3 has stuff for adding armor to a vehicle, does it?

[Dashifen]

honestly not sure. shadow?

[Bearclaw]

Well, if you need guys, I really need a game.
I'll play whatever wierd monstrousity you need me to play. Even (gulp) an Elf :eek:

[Shadow]

That is somewhat true. It depends on the kind of rigger you are planning on playing. If you are going to be a drone rigger then yes, you can't do it very effectively. If you are going to be the kind of rigger Grendel plays, again probably not. But i was thinking more old school than that. The wheelman, getaway driver, the guy who can drive like nobodies business! That you can do. That was what I had in mid when I mentioned rigger.

Honestly the battletac stuff and driving a tank a round don't strike me as a whole lot of fun. Give me a fast and furious sports car and I am good to go.

[Mana Child]

Hey!,

As soon as i put together a character (although i may need a little help choosing sensible skills knowledge skill etc to make an effective character) i'll be ready to go.

YAY! :) :D :rotate: :spin: :twirl: :)

[Mana Child]

Oh, i own the SR3 rulebook (12th printing) and i was going to buy the sprawl survival guide but i thought that maybe i should learn everything thats in the core rulebook first.

[Mana Child]

hmm i was thinking of playing a mage but maybe i'm better off playing a "Click Bang" character.
if ya all know what i mean.

I dont know i feel i may be a burden and may complicate things but if your willing to bear with me i'd like to play a mage.

[Dashifen]

Okay, so as it stands now, I think we've got this going on:

Shadow: "Old-School" Vehicle Rigger
Mana Child: Mage
Kevyn668: Decker
Ditaki: Mage?

Mana Child: if you're interested in magic more so that other forms of characters in the game, at least right now, then the book to look into is probably Magic in the Shadows. If nothing else, it has the rules for initiation, which is how you advance your magic, as well as skads fo new spells which are fun to look through. Or, since Ditaki mentioned that a mage character would work for her/him as well, you could play a fighter type. I usually suggest that for the "first-time-around" players, only because there's less rules. And everyone needs to learn combat eventuall.

You also mentioned that you grabbed NSRCG -- good! It's a great tool. :notworthy: mcmackie :notworthy: If you want to remove all the books that you don't have, go into the options screen (in the buttons at the top). On the first screen, you can select books you don't have that are in the column on the left and hit the button labeled ">>" to move them into the column on the right. Just make sure that you click "Save Book List" before you leave the options screen.

I suggest that you leave the following books available to you: Shadowrun Third Edition Rulebook, Magic in the Shadows, Cannon Companion, and Man & Machine. The Cannon Companion provides more options for gear, Man & Machine is cyberware/bioware which is important if you're going to go the gunbunny route.

I have all of those books so post any questions on gear, spells, etc. here and one of us should be able to answer you!

To those who have played before, I'm probably going to work with Mana Child for a while to get his character up and running. Feel free to chime in with comments, suggestions, etc. but this game may not move as quickly towards an IC thread as the others. Plus, I'm still waiting on one more person to get back in touch with me.

If you all want to, you can start sending me character sheets. I want the FINALIZED .sr3 sheets from NSRCG. Try to download the most recent version before you start working so that you know you've got the most recent bug fixes.

[kevyn668]

NSRCG...hmmmm.

Is it easy to install? I know I'll have to find that Zip-thingy somewhere...

FYI: The decker I had in mind was going to be a variation (as in "human" and no cyberarm) of the combat decker from SR3. Is that still cool?

[Dashifen]

Sure -- make what ever you want. I have experience makeing and GMing for Deckers (and Otaku) so I can probably help you out with other stuff. If you need NSRCG then go to the NSRCG Page.

[kevyn668]

So if I just download from the site will it "just do its thing"? Or wil I have to do stuff?

(can ya see why I never played a decker?? :) )

[Dashifen]

It'll do it's thing. There's an installer in the zip archive from the site. If you need help with the program, let me know. Like I said to Mana Child, the first thing to do, go to the Options page and remove books you don't have but leave the four I mentioned above, and you're going to want the Matrix sourcebook on there as well. If you have questions about things, post away! We're probably going to do a lot of stuff with what skills are important, programs, etc. Post in the other forums, as well, to get information as much as you like, as well. Hopefully this is a good learning experience for all.

As Mana Child found out in a thread in the Shadowrun forum, I'm not looking for a real involved backstory right now. I'll probably worry about that later if we keep running with these characters after this run. For now, though, it's a learning experience and we'll just worry about that.

[Leowulf]

Need players? I'm very familiar with the rules for magic, since mages are my favorite types. Help is free in the OOC if I join the game.

I suppose that technically I still count as a newbie, since well, Shadow's last run, 'Exile's Hope' was only the second one that I ever completed. All of the others I played in never got much further than the meet. I also played in one face-to-face game one time using second edition rules. That would be the first one I played.

I played a decker for the first time ever in Shadow's game.

Character types that I've never played: Rigger
Character types that never finished a game: Adept, Street Samurai

I'll play whatever. I don't care. I have some of each made up or in the works.

Mana Child: Here's some advice for making a character. There are two approaches that I use that seem to work well, though you need not feel bound by either one.

1) I do whatever I want and trim things down until I'm within the points limit.

or

2) I decide on a concept or theme first and effectively have a working draft of the bio in my head before I even start picking skills an attributes. From there, I work things out according to the theme and narrow the points down until I'm in the limit. Of course, sometimes, I start at the bottom and just add in points until I feel happy.

The fact is that there is no right or wrong way to make a character, provided that you follow the GM's rules and you are happy playing the character that you've made.

[kevyn668]

standard creation rules? 123 BPs/ Priority? Or will all this be made clear when I get the NSRCG? If so, sorry.

@Mana Child: Don't sweat asking questions. If you want to play a mage, play a mage. I'm going to ask at least as many questions about making a decker and decking as you will about making a mage and magic. :)