[X] My Assistant

[ravensoracle]

- Remember this is a game where you can "Shoot people in the face for money," or not. It's your choice.

[MikeKozar]

Makes those car chases much more interesting. Of course, there's probably added notoriety for having that Lonestar squad car ram through a market instead of following you...

[while they are driving around in the shopping mall with 2 police cars on their tail]
Elwood: Baby clothes...
Jake: This place has got everything.

- Make a list of everything that you can think of that might go wrong. Check it frequently.
- Play a character that is fun for you. Don't let the team talk you into suffering for them.
- Play a character that helps the team. Know your job, do it well, and often.
- Don't confuse role-playing with an open invitation to be a dick. Let everybody else have fun too.
- Sympathize with the GM. Help him out, suggest fair compromises when the rules are unclear.
- Metagaming can be used for good. Know what your GM's vision for the game is, and you can flow with it instead of against it. You'll be astounded at how much it helps.
- Don't split the party, but don't bunch up.
- Your Shadowrunner is part of a community of frighteningly talented and largely amoral mercenaries with little regard for the odds of surviving a job. Subcontracting, while not expressly forbidden, is considered 'unsporting'.
- It's still sometimes worth %15 to bring in a GMPC for the gaps in the party's skillset.
- If you can't put the grenade where it needs to be, give it to someone who can.
- Low-tech works.
- Vision Magnification is 100Y and can negate a -3 penalty. No excuses.
- Don't bring a knife to a gunfight.
- Don't bring a gun to a spirit fight.
- Your vehicle needs handling more then speed. Sad but true.
- Laser weapons cut your armor in half. While you're wearing it, generally.
- If you're taking Restricted Gear anyway, mod that sucker up to 20F.
- Common Sense may be the best 5 BP you spend.
- Be nice to NPCs. You know what you call a homeless dude yelling at his imaginary friends? Awakened.
- The number of retired runners in the service industry is directly related to the PC's tendency to stick up diners for a quick buck.
- The corp wageslave isn't scary by himself - but he tends to have thousands of other wageslaves on speed dial, some of which have Assault Cannons and Powered Armor. Let him have the taxi.

~Mike
Deadmetal: You, Sir, are a Dick GM.

[Saint Sithney]

-If you don't have the drugs or the magic, a serious concussion will erase anyone's short term memory in a pinch.
-On the flip side of that, Cyber eyes and ears have built in recorders. No one expects you to run backup of that info into a data lock, least of all that wiz fragger with his slick little spells.
-You can never have too many recon drones.
-Consider taking a 1/1 chump contact. Nothing keeps the heat off your ass like a fall guy.
-If your backup plan doesn't involve explosives, you just got yourself a backup backup plan.
-"Senseless shooting" can become "drug-related death" real easily.
-Always get building specs. City planning commission should have them publicly accessible.

[Whipstitch]

A non-lethality policy is great and all, but never forget that not everything actually takes stun damage.

[MusicMan]

Putting the fear of death in someone is not the same as killing them... just because you're not going to kill someone does not mean you can't let them think you will.

1 shot on target is better than 100 in the dirt.

Swords don't have to reload, but guns measure their range in meters/yards--not feet.

The right tool for the right job. Shotguns aren't hold-out pistols, hammers are not wrenches, and contacts are not allies.

[Neraph]

- Lightning bolts deal phyiscal as well as stun wich means big pentlys, but a stunball will take you at allot quicker.

- Don't min-max all this will bring you is a dead character

How so (where does it say Lightning Bolt deals physical and stun?)? And I strongly disagree with #2. If you min-maxed and died, you did it wrong.

EDIT:

Many. many of the last posts are ridiculous. For instance, a 1/1 contact is -not- going to take a fall for you knowingly; you should bring a gun to a spirit fight, if the gun has SnS ammo; and Common Sense is only a good quality if you yourself don't have it and your GM does (or: if your GM and you both don't have real world common sense, you're burning 5 BP).

To contribute though:

- Use a splash grenade with Slab and Laes in it. This is many times more effective (and expensive) than Narcoject, but Narcoject is potentially lethal if you end up overflowing. Slab is not.

- Pepper Punch is not regulated. Neither are gas grenades. Neither is the Super-Squirt. All are cheap.

- Physical Wall + road + car chase = crash test. Use it behind you as you pass a location.

- Infected + Sustenance = food. You won't need to feed on people, and you can hide your condition much easier this way.

- K-10 + Capsule Rounds + Sniper Rifle = Good distraction. Use on guards.

[crizh]

- K-10 + Capsule Rounds + Sniper Rifle = Good distraction. Use on guards.

I lol'd.

Were you talking about using Physical Barrier in a car chase?

I can't imagine it being any more effective than a pile of empty cardboard boxes. It's one of the most useless Manipulation spells in the book.

[ravensoracle]

- K-10 + Capsule Rounds + Sniper Rifle = Good distraction. Use on guards.

We used K-10 + DMSO + Gas Grenade when we had to take out a gang that was reaking havoc in the neighborhood. Just locked them in thier own warehaouse and let the carnage ensue. Fun times

[Lok1 :)]

If you Min-Maxed to obviously with some of the GMs I've had you'd be dead way before the guy who had to struggle to get his pool over 10. trust me
As for lightning bolt, it deals physical dammage that has the secondary effect of electric dammage. Check pages196-197 and 154 of SR4 if you don't beleive me. (can someone give me the page numbers for SR4A)
That said while were on the topic of electricty just a few things you can do with this brand of magic.
- Screw up equipment (pritty standerd)
- Activate plastic explosives. (Yes their resistant to heat, but not electricty)
- Make someone think they were struck by real lightning. Its the awakened world, and most likely seattle. Great way to get docwagon called. (Why you would want to I have no idea)

[CanadianWolverin...]

While I may be short on experience, there is one thing I think would be useful for others to know:

- While Stealth may be King, Perception is Queen.
- If you obey your King & Queen, you should be able to be the one doing the surprising rather than failing the surprise test. They can't even use Reaction against something they aren't aware of, let alone Dodge but remember neither can you if surprised.
- Considering the above, fear the GM's hidden sniper. As another has said, setup your sniper support first.
- Just because it is a sniper doesn't mean it needs to be lethal or even a live target. Aimed Shot (full bonus) plus Called Shot can do some pretty interesting things.

I would need some help understanding perception with regards all things Matrix and Astral, but I am pretty sure Stealth and Perception are pretty important as skills and concepts in those areas too.

[JaronK]

Were you talking about using Physical Barrier in a car chase?

I can't imagine it being any more effective than a pile of empty cardboard boxes. It's one of the most useless Manipulation spells in the book.

At least in SR3 it was awesome for that. Force 4 Physical Barrier with 4 successes is actually quite solid, enough to destroy a car very easily. Even better is Limited Physical Barrier: Computers which will completely strip the car of all electronics (including Autonav, Sensors, and most controls) without problems. Might even blow someone's head off if they've got the wrong thing in their head.

JaronK

[Ustio]

- An illusion of half a dozen or so slowly moving red dots on someone is a great way to negotiate.

- Capsule rounds loaded with barrier foam = instant bobble head (more fun with full auto).

- When rolling a hacker/tm/rigger remember that whilst Log doesn’t add to your rolls all those goodies that add to logic linked skills do.

- Never underestimate people's willingness to let you enter their home if your polite, well dressed and claim to be from the authorities™.

- Security will more often let you in if you seem to be delivering something big and heavy (like a fridge) rather than something small and light (like flowers) - please note the empty fridge box is also great for taking large things (like people) out.

- Home made explosives are easy and cheap, but are about as stable as your team mates.

- When in a pursuit dont try to hack their car hack a nearby car and use them to block the way.

- The general public know squat about network security - exploit (get it?) this when you need an access ID to blame

[MikeKozar]

At least in SR3 it was awesome for that. Force 4 Physical Barrier with 4 successes is actually quite solid, enough to destroy a car very easily. Even better is Limited Physical Barrier: Computers which will completely strip the car of all electronics (including Autonav, Sensors, and most controls) without problems. Might even blow someone's head off if they've got the wrong thing in their head.

JaronK

I have a friend who used to have a barrier against living things, permiable to inanimate objects. You know, so you couldn't walk through it, but bullets could pass through? Apparantly used it in a car chase once.

Many. many of the last posts are ridiculous. For instance, a 1/1 contact is -not- going to take a fall for you knowingly; you should bring a gun to a spirit fight, if the gun has SnS ammo; and Common Sense is only a good quality if you yourself don't have it and your GM does (or: if your GM and you both don't have real world common sense, you're burning 5 BP).

Kid, you're picking fights in a humor thread, and I'm a little annoyed at being called ridiculous. Maybe your runner rolls with a taser, but in my neighborhood you don't load goofball rounds in your assault rifle standard. Anyway, the proper weapon to bring to a spirit fight is a friend who rolled a mage. As for common sense, I'm going to skip the obvious potshot and just say it's very valuable when you can't read your DM's mind. Sometimes he thinks something is obvious when he writes a scenario and at 3AM you don't pick up on the subtle warnings. It has saved my dwarven bacon when I didn't understand the situation I was in; it's absence nearly necessitated a TPK. I stand by my "Common Sense may be the best 5 BP you spend" - if you don't need it, great, but if you ever do need it, it will probably save your character, which is well worth 5 BP.

[JaronK]

I have a friend who used to have a barrier against living things, permiable to inanimate objects. You know, so you couldn't walk through it, but bullets could pass through? Apparantly used it in a car chase once.

Our group was demented enough to use Limited Physical Barrier: Brain. And yes, that one's for car chases, though it also works in a lot of other situations. Also, Limited Physical Barrier: Testicles. Sounds silly and juvenile, until you realize that almost all of our party is female. Our party runs through the barrier just fine but our enemies get dropped out of the fight very quickly, and there's almost no way to actually destroy either of those barriers with mundane resources. Extremely handy.

JaronK

[ravensmuse]

Also, Limited Physical Barrier: Testicles. Sounds silly and juvenile, until you realize that almost all of our party is female. Our party runs through the barrier just fine but our enemies get dropped out of the fight very quickly, and there's almost no way to actually destroy either of those barriers with mundane resources. Extremely handy.

JaronK

You know, that's pretty clever.

[Dahrken]

I'm not sure this kind of spell could work the way you used them. If someone throwed some anatomical spare parts at you, then yes, they would have been stopped because those would be separate items.

But as long as they are part of a live metahuman I don't think they could be targeted specifically, the same way I would not allow the use of a "Wreck cybereyes" spells to blind you foes with minimal drain.

[Cardul]

Remember: if you can do, so can the Corps/GM..
If it ain't cool, it was probably a bad idea.
Just because it's cool, does not mean it is a good idea.
No matter how many times someone does it, Lone Star/Knight Errant never seems
to include aquatic units for when the submersible, amphibious get away car
drives off the pier into Puget Sound....

[Neraph]

I lol'd.

Were you talking about using Physical Barrier in a car chase?

I can't imagine it being any more effective than a pile of empty cardboard boxes. It's one of the most useless Manipulation spells in the book.

The game goes like this: Did you hit something? Crash Test!

It doesn't take into account the hardness of the object, just how fast the collision was.

[Neraph]

As for lightning bolt, it deals physical dammage that has the secondary effect of electric dammage. Check pages196-197 and 154 of SR4 if you don't beleive me. (can someone give me the page numbers for SR4A)

It uses the secondary effects of electrical damage, not all of the effects of electrical damage. The primary effect of electrical damage is stun damage, the secondary effects are the "tazer" effects.

[ravensmuse]

I'm not sure this kind of spell could work the way you used them. If someone throwed some anatomical spare parts at you, then yes, they would have been stopped because those would be separate items.

But as long as they are part of a live metahuman I don't think they could be targeted specifically, the same way I would not allow the use of a "Wreck cybereyes" spells to blind you foes with minimal drain.

I'll be honest here, I would definitely okay this if my players ran it by me.

I'm just saying.

[Lok1 :)]

Our group was demented enough to use Limited Physical Barrier: Brain. And yes, that one's for car chases, though it also works in a lot of other situations. Also, Limited Physical Barrier: Testicles. Sounds silly and juvenile, until you realize that almost all of our party is female. Our party runs through the barrier just fine but our enemies get dropped out of the fight very quickly, and there's almost no way to actually destroy either of those barriers with mundane resources. Extremely handy.

JaronK

Wow, nice. Thats all I can say.

[Pendaric]

Platlett factory and chemical gland means you never die of thrombosis.

[Wacky]

Thrombosis: (Greek θρόμβωσις) is the formation of a blood clot (thrombus) inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel is injured, the body uses platelets and fibrin to form a blood clot, because the first step in repairing it (hemostasis) is to prevent loss of blood. If that mechanism causes too much clotting, and the clot breaks free, an embolus is formed.

Wouldn't having platett factory be more likely to cause this problem rather than prevent it? In the original biotech handbook they had a fluff mention of a runner with this bit of bioware that got his nose punched in a barfight and it clotted too much preventing him from it (had to become a mouthbreather) until a bloodthinner could be applied.

But to add to the thread's ideal, I like to gauge the run to know the gear level that I should bring along with. If you're going to be doing something that doesn't break the law (too much) don't bring gear that is illegal.

Recently I was playing a gnome whose group was hired to kill a man. Turns out the guy is a pedophile and my character looks like a human child. Guess what everyone decided to have me do? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) Anyway once I'm in the room I taser the guy in the face so his limited armor can do nothing to resist and he drops to the floor. The second shot is enough to push him past his threshold and he's out.

Another player (playing a pixie who went invisible) casts turn to goo and we drop him over the balcony. He splatters while the pixie ends the spell and the pedophile is no more. But I had technology that was perfectly legal so no one stopped me from having it.

Oh, and how did I sneak the taser in past security? I ducttaped it underneath a cyberpet that another player bought from some bizarre reason. It covered the electroinics in the weapon and didn't look out of place with some kid.

I named the cybercat "Mr. Flufflykins".

Sign--

Wacky

[Traul]

Wouldn't having platett factory be more likely to cause this problem rather than prevent it? In the original biotech handbook they had a fluff mention of a runner with this bit of bioware that got his nose punched in a barfight and it clotted too much preventing him from it (had to become a mouthbreather) until a bloodthinner could be applied.

That's the point: have the chemical gland synthetize the bloodthinner. That's a bit too expensive for me.

[Neraph]

That's the point: have the chemical gland synthetize the bloodthinner. That's a bit too expensive for me.

Wouldn't that simply negate the Platelet factories? You spend money and lose essence for nothing. A couple of vampire hookers will get you the same effect, and at least you'll have a fun memory.