Northern Gateway: smuggling, hunting, and other endeavours- UCAS:Alg/Man Council:Québec Options

[Foxx]

Whats the worry about the F items? Its Shadowrun, illegal is what we do best.

[Karoline]

Whats the worry about the F items? Its Shadowrun, illegal is what we do best.

Especially among a group of smugglers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Edit: Going to do a bit of work on my character before I go to bed. Should have something made up by tomorrow mid-day as I'll have the house to myself for a few hours while my parents go grocery shopping.

Edit2: I won't be covering matrix at all likely, but just how common is it going to be? Paracritters sure aren't going to have anything hackable. I'd imagine it could be some use in dealing with the border guard or if we break into a facility for any reason, but otherwise it seems likely a dedicated hacker wouldn't have much to do.

[pbangarth]

I'm already getting characters emailed to me! Awesome! Fell free to post here or PM, whichever is more comfortable for you. Eventually, a team should know each other's strengths.

Rest assured there is no hurry. Feel free to work on your character ideas. I leave tomorrow for a little Christmas vacation, and will connect to the internet as the opportunities present themselves. I will be home and well connected on the 30th of December. Then there's New Year's Eve. Don't feel I have abandoned you if I don't post for a day or two.

Climate change issues aside, winter conditions in that part of the world can come late, or come early. Everybody who lives in that neck of the woods has a wide range of clothes available by the time autumn rolls around. I grew up hundreds of kilometers to the south of the game location, and I have a photo of me when I was 5 standing in over a meter of snow. It was May 15th. I also have photos of green Christmases. It is parallel in latitude to Seattle, but don't expect west coast temperance to apply in the middle of the continent. When it gets cold, you will freeze your nuts off. Even if you don't have any to begin with. And two meters of snow accumulation over the course of the winter is not rare.

Hmm... no snowmobiles. I will have to figure something out. Or if any of you have an idea, please feel free to contribute.

Some paranormal animals have hardened armor. Some out of the way places have free spirits. Some smugglers run into border patrols in armored vehicles. AP has its uses. There is also the PJSS Elephant Rifle. With a little armor skill or chargen BP spent, I bet that could even become SA, no?

Someone who only hacks may have a lot of down time.

In the first day or so of game time there should be no problem with F rated items. As I figure out what run you will be going on, that may change. You will know when to be discreet, won't you?

Vehicle mounts for weapons? A good story might help with that one. Let's not go overboard with guided missiles and things, though, OK?

[Trigger]

Hmm... no snowmobiles. I will have to figure something out. Or if any of you have an idea, please feel free to contribute.

Actually, the equivalent of a snowmobile in SR is in Arsenal on Pg. 108, the Evo-Falcon. It was made as a replacement for sled dogs, is used in the northern wilderness', and is basically an off road bike on one giant track. Also, it has a standard multi-fuel engine, so it is perfect for those places that don't get a lot of gas trucks coming their way.

Personally, the character I am working on is going to be riding around in a Thundercloud Morgan with added Extreme Environment Adaptation for the snow. And just because it comes with a external weapon mount doesn't mean that it has to have a weapon mounted there.

[Trigger]

I sent in my character sheet and 20 questions a couple of minutes ago, but I wanted to post it up here too so that anyone else could check it out also if they want.

Elyas Mingan aka Old Wolf:

[ Spoiler ]

Name: Elyas Mingan aka Old Wolf
Metatype: Human

Attributes: -200 BP
Special Attributes: -40 BP
B 4 C 2 Edge 3
A 3 I 5 Init/IP 8/1
R 3 L 3 Ess 6
S 3 W 5 Mag 4

Qualities: +10 BP
Magician (Druidic Tradition, Wild Druid)
Mentor Spirit (Wolf, +2 Combat Spells, +2 Beast Spirits)
Restricted Gear

Sensitive System
Moderate Addiction (Snuff)
Nano Intolerance
Mild Foci Addiction

Skills: -132 BP
Spellcasting (Combat) 3
Counterspelling 4
Summoning (Beast) 2
Clubs (Staves) 2
Blades (Knives) 1
Athletics Group 1
Enchanting (Artificing) 2
Survival (Forest) 2
Tracking (Forest) 1
Navigation (Forest) 1
Etiquette (Magical) 1
Animal Handling (Canines) 1
Pilot Ground (Wheeled) 1
Perception 1
Assenssing 2

Knowledge Skills: 24 Free
Zoology 3
Botany 3
Geology 3
Paracritters 3
Canadian Wilderness 2
Smuggling Routes 2
Wilderness Refuges 2

Languages:
English N
French 3
Algonquian 3

Spells: -15 BP
Manabolt
Stunbolt
Detect Life
Heal
Wolf Form

Foci Bonding: -4 BP

Gear: 153,130 Nuyen Spent, -31 BP
Force 4 Power Focus (Staff)
Combat Trained Wolf
Thundercloud Morgan
-Extreme Environment Adaptation (Snow)
2 Survival Knives
Cougar Fineblade (Long)
Armor Jacket (Tribal Style)
-Insulation Rating 6
Novatech Airware w/ Novatech Navi OS
FTL Matrixware Net Wizard Program Bundle
-Analyze 3, Browse 3, Command 1, Edit 2, Purge 3
Pocket Hacker Bundle
-Agent( Pilot 3, Browse 3, Exploit 3, Stealth 3)
Satellite Link
AR Gloves
Fake SIN Rating 4
Fake Talismonger License Rating 4
Goggles Rating 6
-Image Link
-Vision Enhancement 3
-Vision Magnification
-Low-Light
-Flare Compensation
Earbuds Rating 3
-Audio Enhancement 3
-Select Sound Filter 3
Survival Kit
10 Light sticks
Low Light Flashlight
Rating 6 Medkit
Assaying Kit
Force 4 Magical Lodge
4 Rating 4 Stim Patches

Lifestyle:
Comforts - 2
Entertainment - 2
Necessities - 1
Neighborhood - 1
Security - 3
+1 Homegrown Farming
+1 No Neighbors
+1 Well Made
+1 Workplace
+2 Rural Home
-1 Household Gremlins
-1 Green Plan
+250 Nuyen/Month for Wolf

4050 nuyen/month, 1 month Paid

Contacts: -12 BP
Aurora- Talismonger Connection 3, Loyalty 2
The Frog- Fixer Connection 3, Loyalty 1
Whiskey Jack- Bar Owner Connection 2, Loyalty 1


Character Quiz : 20 Questions
1. Where does your character come from, what is his lineage, who were his parents, and what did he inherit from them?
Elyas is from a tribal group of Mahicans, living in one the barrens in the Quebec sprawl. His father, David Mingan, was involved with smuggling and drug running into and out of the sprawl, while his mother, Sascha, was a French prostitute in the barrens. Elyas has his father's tan skin and straight black hair, and his mother's sharp nose and blue eyes. Elyas was born in 2035, and his mother took care of him unwillingly until she and his father died in 2045 during a police raid of their home. Elyas was taken in by Child Protective Services and placed in an orphanage in Quebec. He stayed at the orphanage until he was released when he turned 18.

2. Assuming they can speak, what would each of your character's parents say about him?
Elyas' father would probably be proud of him for making it on his own, for getting out of Quebec, and getting back to the land. His mother never really cared for him, she didn't even want to have him in the first place, except that Elyas' father wanted her to keep the child. She hated him until the day she died and probably still does.

3. Pick a few events from recent Shadowrun history and ask where the character was at the time, what does he remember about the event, and what was he doing at the time?
Elyas was only really effected by a few of the major events that occured during his lifetime. The first was in 2053, the same year he got out of the orphanage, when a massive United Oil rig spilled tons of oil into the Boston Harbor. He didn't actually care about it at first, until a girl he met got him involved in a Eco-Activist group in Quebec. This led him to meeting up with Alan Ryman, a Druidic magician that told Elyas that he had magical potential. Then four years later, in 2057, Dunkelzhan was assasinated in the UCAS. Not a citizen of the UCAS, Elyas wasn't as sad about the Great Dragon's death as others were, but when Dunkelzhan's will was revealed, Elyas became much more interested in the Big D. He never got anywhere besides talking about rumors of the dragon's hoard with others in the shadow community, but they were some fun conversations.

4. How did your character get into shadowrunning, and why did he take that path?
Elyas joined the shadows because he didn't see any other path for himself in life. He was part of a Eco-Activist group that was quickly becoming a Radical Eco group, tying itself up with the shadows more and more every year. Elyas learned to use his magic and became a more important person for the group, an integral part of many of their runs. But, one day, he just couldn't take the drama of the group anymore and he cut his ties with them, instead joining up with some professional runners that he had met during his time with the group.

5. What is your character's living space like, and what has he added or changed to make it his own?
Elyas lives on a small farm in the Ottawa River Valley, in a house that he is paying the mortgage off on. It is completely off the grid, running on solar and wind power, collecting rain water for the house. He has his own garden outside the house, and a converted barn turned into his magical lodge. It is lacking in a number of comforts of civilization, but he likes the place nonetheless.

6. What does your character believe in, what are his convictions (if any), and why does he hold them?
Elyas still believes in the sanctity of nature, despite leaving the Eco group he was part of. He won't participate in a run that will do undue damage to the environment, but he doesn't have a vendetta against Corporations that have hurt the environment. Elyas simply believes that each man must do his part, but it isn't his job to make them do so.

7. What do you dislike most about your character's personality?
Elyas is usually unduly crass with those that he is not close with, often making him come across as uncouth and arrogant. Elyas is not too used to dealing with people, because outside of dealing with other runners on runs, the only contact he usually has with other living beings is with his companion wolf, Algernon. He also smokes a ridiculous amount of Snuff cigarettes, stocking up on cartons of them whenever he is in town.

8. Which of the Big Ten does your character hold in the highest regard, and which does he like the least, and why?
Mostly due to their humanist work and environmently friendly projects, Elyas is quite a fan of the Evo Corporation. That might also be because Evo the near to best snowmobile bike on the planet, a near essential in this part of the world.
On the opposite end of the spectrum has got to be Aztechnology for him. Between all of the rumors he has heard about them in the shadows and the front they present to the rest of the world, Elyas doesn't trust them in the slightest.

9. What is the story with your character and his contacts?
Firstly there is Aurora, who is probably the most beautiful woman that Elyas has ever met, and a great magician to boot. She is a professional Talismonger living on the outskirts of Quebec. She makes fetishes, foci, and talismans for a living, and Elyas is her go to man in the field for collecting Telesma for her. A gorgeous red-haired woman in her late twenties, Aurora is the ideal woman in Elyas' eyes and he would do almost anything to make her see him as something more than a business aquaintance.
Next is The Frog, a hefty green skinned, slightly slimy, French Troll, who works as a Fixer in Quebec. Elyas met The Frog after leaving his eco group and jumping into the shadows, and The Frog has so far been a honest and stand up fixer, although Elyas always wishes that The Frog would get him so more work.
Lastly is Whiskey Jack, one of Elyas' only metahuman friends in his neck of the woods. Whiskey Jack is a former shadowrunner who retired to open a bar on the road between Quebec and the Algonkian-Manitou Council, providing a nice stop over point for travels, a good meeting place that is out of the way, and an establishment that makes a damn fine steak. Whiskey Jack is also a seven foot tall Minotaur with a combat axe and a shotgun behind the bar, so it also draws in quite a crowd just for him. His bar is named after himself, Whiskey Jack's Bar & Grill.

10. It's Sunday morning, and your character has no commitments until tomorrow afternoon. What does he do for the day?
Elyas would probably do what he does every other day that he has no commitments, wake up around 10 AM, water his garden, make some breakfast for himself and Algernon, meditate by the small self-built pond behind his farm, and then go out for the day, trying to hunt down some Telesma for Aurora, and hunt down some food for himself. At the end of the day he would bring back whatever he could catch (magic killed elk means you don't have to pick out any buckshot) and cook it up for dinner before heading out to his magical lodge and working on making some of his own fetishes and talismans to sell.

11. How did your character learn his skills, and how did he develop them to those levels?
Elyas learned the ins and outs of magic, sorcery, assenssing, and summoning from his former mentor, Alan Ryman, a druid who lived in Quebec. He taught Elyas to sling spells, and how to counter them, as well as the basics to summoning spirits, but Elyas had no patience for learning the intricate details of ritual work or spirit binding. And Banishing? Elyas laughed when he was offered the chance to learn how to do that. "Why banish them why I can so easily disrupt them with a spell or another spirit?"
Alan also taught Elyas how to use a staff, the traditional weapon of the druids. Elyas took the staff naturally and he was quickly able to surpass some veterans with his staff skills, although he was not nearly as good with any other kind of club weapon.
When Elyas was a boy in the orphanage he found his first weapon, an old hunting knife in a cracked leather sheath. Elyas thought it was the coolest thing ever, and he quickly learned how to wield it without hurting himself. His skills with a knife came in handy during the more rebellious parts of his teenage years, and although he has focused more on using a staff now than a knife, he hasn't forgotten the basics of knife fighting.
Elyas' athletic skills come from some time in the various mandatory athletic programs he was a part of during high school. While he was never very proficient at them, they have saved his hoop more than once on a run, so he is quite glad to have taken those classes then.
Elyas studied a lot about nature (Zoology, Botany, Geology, Paracritters) while he was a part of his eco group and he found it all quite interesting, delving more into it than many of the others in his group, learning more of the academic side than only the propanganda that the group leaders fed to everybody. He then decided to take it a step further and actually learn to survive and be part of the wilds, teaching himself how to survive off the land, how to track creatures in the forest, and how to navigate by the sun, the moon, and the stars. His time spent travelling in the wilds taught him a lot about the Canadian Wilderness, as well as led him to accidentally discovering a number of Smuggling Routes through the forests, and Wilderness Refuges in areas off of the beaten path.
Elyas met Aurora many years after joining the shadows, contracting her to make his staff into a potent power focus for him. Interested in how she enchanted objects, Elyas begged her to teach him the basics of the art of Enchanting. She agreed, hoping to make him into a someone who could collect Telesma for her, and thus began their working relationship.
A couple of years ago, when Elyas moved into the farm where he is living now, he was out hunting Telesma when he came across the corpse of a femal wolf. Stopping to see if she had any useable pieces left on her, Elyas instead found that a living pup of hers nearby. Taking the pup in, Elyas trained the wolf as his companion, learning how to train the animal better as it grew.

12. Is there a moral limit that your character enforces on the jobs he takes, and in what shadow work would he refuse to engage?
Elyas refuses to be a part of any run that will cause undue harm to the environment.

13. What drew your character to their particular paradigm, how does it effect the way he views the world and his magic, how does it translate into choice of mentor spirit, and how does it affect the appearance of the spirits he conjures?
Elyas became a druid and follows the Druidic Tradition because that was the tradition that he was taught in, he can't think of any other way to follow besides the one he is on. Being a Druid did however bring him closer to being eco sensitive, and viewing the world as one large living thing; this was particularly enhanced the first time that he journeyed onto the astral plane and he saw the constant glow of the Earth below him. Elyas views his magic as coming up through him from the Earth, channeling the power of the planet through himself. The spirits that Elyas summons all appear either part of the Earth somehow or as living beings, animal spirits of the Earth.
Elyas never thought about a Mentor Spirit until he encountered the wolf pup, Algernon, in the forest. As Algernon grew up, Elyas' connection the Spirit of Wolf grew, with Algernon becoming in some ways like Elyas, and Elyas becoming in some ways like Algernon.

14. How did your character come to have the enhancements he has, how were they paid for, and what motivated the choices he made?
Elyas has no 'ware in his body and he doesn't plan on getting any. Tested when he was placed in the orphanage, Elyas learned young that his body would not easily accept enhancement. This made him a less attractive child for adoption, which is why he was at the orphanage until he turned 18 and was kicked out. Because of this, Elyas never got any implants, because he never wanted to be like the people who would not accept him into their lives.

15. What does you character think of ordinary life, mainstream culture, and those who abide by it?
Elyas never had a chance to lead a normal life, or to afford anything that could be called either mainstream or cultured. This made him cynical to ordinary life, almost ensuring that he would never be part of that type of lifestyle, even though he always wished that he could have been. Elyas is secretly jealous of those who lead normal lifes, living so easily in their arcologies, and shopping in designer stores, but he knows deep down that they would never accept him into their flock.

16. If your character had a lingering nightmare or a deep-rooted fear, what would it be, and why does he find it so terrifying?
Due to all the years that Elyas spent in the orphanage, he is very afraid that people will never love him and that he will always be alone. This is in part why he rarely socializes with people, for fear that they will abandon him and won't accept him like so many others have done so before.

17. What is your character's 'sacred object' or 'close one', and how did they come to be so important to him?
Elyas is particularly attached to his Power Focus staff, it is his most valuable and prized possession and he doesn't go anywhere without it. He doesn't realize it, but he has slowly become more and more attached it, using it more often than not, and is starting to develop an addiction to the power that it provides.
Outside of his staff, Elyas is very close with Algernon, his wolf companion. Algernon helped him develop his connection to the Spirit of Wolf, and he is also the only living thing that accepts Elyas for who he is without any judgements.

18. What did you character want to become when he was a child, and what are his goals?
Elyas wanted to be like his father when he was young, until the cops burst into their house and killed his parents in a hail of gunfire. Then the only thing that Elyas knew was that he didn't want to be his parents and that he didn't want to be a cop. He never thought about what he wanted to do with his life while he was in the orphanage, in fact he actively tried not to do so. It wasn't until he joined his eco group that he started to think about the future. His current goal in life to pay off his farm, harvest lots of Telesma for Aurora so she notices him, and to survive in a eco-friendly way.

19. What does you character look like, and what inspired his choices?
Elyas is 6' 2" and weighs around 165 lbs, with a thin, lean muscled frame. His hair extends to the small of his back, and is straigh black, though he is starting to get grey at his temples and some streaks of grey throughout. He has dark tan skin, piercing blue eyes, and a sharp hawked nose, which almost dominates his face when he is clean shaven, which he often is not. His hands are weathered and his voice is rough from years of chain smoking. He has a single golden hoop earring in his left ear, a sun tattoo on the back of his right hand, and a moon tattoo on the back of his left hand. His clothing reflects his heritage, mainly tribal leathers and blue jeans with work boots. Most of his stuff his recycled materials and earth friendly fibers, or leather from animals he has killed himself.

20. How did your character come to be known by his street name?
Elyas has had many street names throughout his career in the shadows, but his most recent one is Old Wolf, in reference to both his old age (in comparison to the average runner) and his companion wolf. Those that respect him usually just refer to him as Wolf, but there are some who refer to him instead as Old Man.

[Dr.Rockso]

Climate change issues aside, winter conditions in that part of the world can come late, or come early. Everybody who lives in that neck of the woods has a wide range of clothes available by the time autumn rolls around. I grew up hundreds of kilometers to the south of the game location, and I have a photo of me when I was 5 standing in over a meter of snow. It was May 15th. I also have photos of green Christmases. It is parallel in latitude to Seattle, but don't expect west coast temperance to apply in the middle of the continent. When it gets cold, you will freeze your nuts off. Even if you don't have any to begin with. And two meters of snow accumulation over the course of the winter is not rare.

That's about spot on for the climate here at least. I'm a bit east of where the game starts. The climate is fickle and weird, as you say. We're especially screwed if another ice storm rolls around though (IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif)

[Karoline]

One small note that kinda jumped at me for Old Wolf is the snuff addiction. I'm not sure that snuff qualifies for addictions as it specifies that it has to be something particularly harmful and that things like tobacco and alcohol didn't count (as I recall).

[horvagab]

I'm having an idea for a char: an orc who's a seattle or some other metropolis else native, grew up in the barrens, and was awarded a scholarships for college, either Urban Brawl or footbal,, dunno if Brawl is played at college or not. He met his wife there, and after a game accident, he cost the team the game, on purpose actually, since he bet against his own team. This was the nest egg they use, to establish their new life in the wilderness. The wife is a shaman, whose the local healer, but she's not working too much since they their kids, about 4 or 5 of them. Primary job probably tracker or guide, and he needs some extra cash for the family upkeep. Will an off-road bike be viable in the terrain? I want him to retain some of his old ganger image, with some rural trappings (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Dr.Rockso]

I think an off-road bike would be great for that kind of terrain up until winter. Then you might want to switch to a snow mobile (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[ravensoracle]

Personally, the character I am working on is going to be riding around in a Thundercloud Morgan with added Extreme Environment Adaptation for the snow. And just because it comes with a external weapon mount doesn't mean that it has to have a weapon mounted there.

You and I are thinking along the same lines. I had the same combo picked out. It won't work as well in the thicker brush but a snowmobile won't be able to get much further.

[ravensoracle]

Here is my character sheet. Give it a quick once over and tell me if anything stands out that needs to be changed


JD's Character Sheet

[ Spoiler ]

Ranch hand/ Outdoorsman
Race: Orc

BREAKDOWN (400 Points)
Core Attributes: 200
Edge: 20
Race: 20
Active Skills: 150
Knowledge Skills:0
Qualities: -30
Contacts: 5
Resources: 30


=Attributes= -200BP
Body: 5
Agility: 5(7)
Reaction: 4(5)
Strength: 4
Charisma: 3
Intuition: 5
Logic: 3
Willpower: 4


Edge: 3 -20BP
Essence: 5
Physical Damage Track:11
Stun Damage Track:10
Overflow:5



=Qualities= -30BP
Latent Awakening

SINer
Sensitive System
Sensitive Nueral Structure
Prejudice 5BP (Land Developers)



=Active Skills=
Animal Husbandry Group 3
Athletics Groups 1
Outdoors Group 4
Close Combat 1
Automatics 4
Longarms 1
Pilot Groundcraft 2(Wheeled)
Perception 3
Infiltration (Wilderness) 4

=Knowledge Skills= {24 Free Points}
English: N
French 2
(another prevelant language) 2
North American Critters 3
Local Area Geography 4
Smuggling Routes 4
Edible Flora 3
Animal Biology 2
Hunting Tactics 4

=Bioware=
Synaptic Booster 1
Synthcardium 1
Muscle Toner 2


=Contacts=
Fixer 2/3

=Lifestyle and Gear=

[ Spoiler ]

=LifeStyle=
6000Y +300Y For Dogs +1200Y Spending Cash

Comfort 2
Entertainment 2
Neccesities 3
Neighborhood 2
Security3

Rural Home +2
Outbuildings +2
Animal Lover Three +5
No Neighbors +1

Green Plan -1
Ambushers Delight -3
Lax Security -2

=ID's And Licenses=
Fake SIN R4 (Louis Moore)
3x Fake Licenses R4
Firearms, Passport, Hunting License

=Comm & Electronics=
Novatech Airwave W/ Iris Orb
Matrix Plus Program Suite
Encrypt R3
Armor R10
Skinlink

Goggles R6
...Flare Compensation
...Image Link
...Thermographic

Earbuds R3
Spatial Recognizer


=Armor=
Chameleon Suit
...Insulation 6
...Thermal Damping 3

Armor Jacket
...Insulation 6

=Weapons=
Hardliner gloves
Survival Knife
Extendable Baton

Colt M22A3
...Imaging Scope (Stock)
----Smartlink
----Flare Compensation
----Thermographic
----Image link
----Vision Magnification
...Gas Vent 2 (Stock)
...Underbarrel Weapon (Stock)
...Chameleon Coating (Mod)
...Extreme Environment Mod 1 (Mod)
...Improved Range Finder (Mod)
...Smartgun (Mod)
...Skinlink (Mod)
W/Sling
W/Airburst Link

80 Rds Stick & Shock
300Rds Reg Ammo
7X Spare Clips

12 Thermal Smoke Grenades
12 Gas Grenade (NarcoJet)
4X Spare Clips

=Vehicles=
Thundercloud Morgan
...Extreme Environment Mod

Gaz Pickup
...Extreme Environment Mod

=Animals=
3x Dogs (Husky, Sheperd Mix)
Against Instict Training
(Pack Training/Hunter/Trackers)= 2000Y X 3= 6000Y

=Survival Equipment=
Polar Survival Kit
Polar Tent
Snowshoes
Camouflage Netting (Forest)
Camouflage Netting (Polar)
Sleeping Bag
20X Rations
Smart Pack
Combat Load Vest
Flashlight
2X Smart Ammo Pouch
2X Smart Ration Pouch

=Medical=
Medkit R6
Biomonitor

Kerenshara's Long Questionaire

[ Spoiler ]

Personal Information
What is your:
Birth Name?Kristof Veid

Nickname(s) and / or Street Name(s)? JD (Jack Daniels)

Gender? Male

Ethnicity? White

Nationality? UCAS born and bred, lady

Sexual orientation? Sex? Hell yes and with a fine lookin woman

Physical size and body type? Well, just look an see. Most folks think I'm built like a linebacker. I am a little round in the middle, but that don't mean I'm soft. I'm a good ol'country boy. I was raised on a workin' ranch and that's just what I do: Work!

What do you look like? You sittin' here lookin at me and you ask that. Well the most obvious answer I can give you is I look like, well I look like a country boy. Some say I'm built like a linebacker maybe a little thin for an orc though. I'm not the prettiest thing to look at. My hair tends to be a little unkempt. I tend to keep a 5 o'clock shadow. And I'm normally in jeans and boots. I mean come on. That's what most people think of me when they see me.

What do you dress like? I prefer my jeans and a t-shirt. Give me a sturdy set of work boots along with all that and I'm happy. But I can clean myself up well enough when needed. I may not be cuttin edge fashion, but I can pass as somethin' respectable.

What is your best physical feature? Haha, Well I'm built awful sturdy. I've got the agility of a predator.

What is your least favorite physical feature? I'd have to say my hair. Never could keep it straight.

Where were you born (City, State, Hospital)? Don't really know. My dad found me when I was a toddler. He was out huntin' near the Sioux border in Kansas. And I stumbled up next to his deer stand. Imagine that. A toddlin' kid, naked as a jaybird covered in dried blood, sits down next to the tree he's perched up in and starts cryin' for mama. Man I had to be a sight, I'm sure. O

What is your date of birth? Rough guess is I'm about 29. Accordin' to my SIN I was born Sept 15th, but that's the day my dad found me so the social worker just put it down since she didn't know the truth.

Do you have a SIN? Do you use it? Yep, I gotta SIN. Keep it all legit too. Even got my bounty hunters license and all the accompanying weapons permits.

Where do you live now and why do you live there? I have a cabin. It's about 45 minutes outside the nearest city. It's a big open country, not a neighbor around for 10 miles. Back in the woods, all secluded like. Right nice place to call home. Plus it gives me room for a few outbuildings for whatever critters I happen to be lookin after.

Likes and dislikes
How do you feel about:

Humans? They're just folks. Dad and mom were both human. They did a good enough job raisin' me.

Orks? They tend to be a little rougher around the edges. More workin' class. Though they also have their thugs and assholes.

Dwarves?They've got the same problem as trolls only the other way 'round. They have to adjust themselves to fit into someone elses world.

Elves? I've met some alright ones, but I always seem to find the high and mighty dickheads of the bunch.

Trolls? They're not all the big dumb brutes everyone thinks them to be.

Changelings? Man that can get to be a wierd lookin bunch, huh?

Technomancers? It was inevitable, it was only time till we started becomin' more like the machines we keep shoving in our bodies.

the Awakened and / or Magic in general? You have to be careful with it.

Science? Man can do incredible things with his mind. The ability to copy himself, I mean that just proves we've come a long way doesn't it.

Abortion? Never been close enough to home to deal with.

Technology generally? Amazing tools, with the right gear you can move mountains.

The Matrix? It just amazes me how now you can really escape into your imagination. Of course, it gets really wierd when you can escape into someone elses. I like playing those combat simulations. Really keeps me on my toes. Course, I don't like giving away too many of my secrets so alot of times I am handicapping myself.

Gays / Lesbians / Bisexuals / the Transgendered? I don't care who you or anyone else wants to fuck. Ain't saying I want to see it though either. All that's personal business. I keep mine and everyone else keeps theirs.

Infidelity? Never had a real long-term girl so I can't say for myself. Mom and dad seemed to get along real well without it.

Sex (casual or otherwise)? There's lotsa ways sex can be fun, casual or otherwise. (wink)

Lying? A man lives and dies by his words.

Cheating? If your gonna cheat, then you better be ready for the day you get caught. I ain't sayin' I don't do it. But you just gotta be careful the guy your cheatin ain't the one carrying that bullet with your name on it.

Stealing? It's part of the job, i guess. But I try to make it a rule that I don't steal nothin' so valuable that the retribution isn't so big I can't handle it.

Killing? Killin's the easy part. It's living with yourself afterward is what you got to worry about. I ain't afraid to bust a few necks when I need to but I ain't no monster that kills busloads of babies.

Personal Responsibility? I do the best to keep my shit together and so should you.

The Law, generally? The law is for keeping the masses from anarchy. It gets more flexible the less people you involve.

Capital punishment? I have no problem puttin' a bullet in somebody for hurtin' me and mine. Course, I know one day I'm gonna meet the man carrying that bullet with my name on it.

The relationship between Church and State? Both the same. Full of hypocritical over-opinionated assholes. I just want my politicians listening to me over their preacher.

Guns? I've a right to my guns and you can have them over my dead rotting corpse. And I'll give you fair warning I plan on taking the asshole that tries with me.

Organized religion? To say it nicely, Nothing but a bunch of hypocrits.

Personal faith? I know there's something out there. I know I have faith in myself to choose my own path.

The Mega-Corporations? Countries in their own right.


What is your favorite:
Color? Sky blue

Type of food? A nice raw steak, well seasoned, and just barely kissed by the fire.

Type of drink? Just water for me.

Desert? (Yes, this is separate from food.) Fresh berries.

Material to wear? Cotton, I just like the way it breathes. It's comfortable.

Type of music? Country and Southern Rock

Type of Trideo / Sim? I'll watch a good fight.

Art form? Music

Sexual position (and why)? Why don't I show you darlin'

Mode of transportation? My truck. Every country boy will tell you a truck isn't just a ride. It's a much needed tool.

Decorating style? (i.e.: spartan, Scandanavian, Japanese, Colonial, etc.)
I'm not one for decorating but I like the old rustic lodges they've built in the NAN

Do you:
Drink alcohol? Only rarely, I've got to be careful with my size. Not many people can carry me out of a bar.

Use tobacco? Never really had the urge. I like the smell of pipe smoke though. Dad had a pipe.

Indulge in recreational drugs (including BTLs)? Why pervert your body like that.

Have any addictions? Adreneline, would be the closest thing.

Engage in recreational sex? I thought all sex was recreational. I mean why do it if you ain't having fun.

Have any kinks or sexual fetishes? I'd rather hear about yours, darlin'.

Have any phobias? Never did like flying.

Collect anything? I like weapons. Got a collection at the house.

Have a pet peeve? Assholes, though I guess I can be one sometimes.

Enjoy reading? I don't mind sittin down with a good book every now and then.

What other things do you like and dislike?
What things do you hate (and why)? Things? Why'd you hate things. I mean they ain't there to hate you back.

What people do you hate (and why)? I guess my biggest problem is with those big city assholes. Comin' out to here to where I live. Not knowin' a damn thing about survivin' or taking care of the land. Always thinkin' they can blow whatever they want away.

What ideas do you hate (and why)? I hate bigotry. People just thinkin' they're better'n everyone else. It just pisses me off when someone sees me and assumes "dumb ol' hick." Why does everyone have to be pigeon-holed.

What things do you love (and why)? I love the country. Wide open spaces, just beautiful untouched backcountry. I can really stretch my legs and enjoy myself out there.

What people do you love (and why)? I love my parents but their departed. I take care of my friends. Don't have many but their the closest to family I've got anymore.

What ideas do you love (and why)? I love the idea of freedom. Being able to do what you want without having someone constantly looking over your shoulder.


Which Mega-corporation do you like / respect most and why? Not really sure, I mean I worked for my fair share. But I really don't have a favorite. It's not the big corporations I deal with anyways. It's the little pissants afraid to get their hands dirty. The come a dime-a-dozen and are about the same no matter what corp.

Which Mega-corporation do you dislike / fear most and why? I've been hearing some funny rumors about the Azzies. Just wierd shit that makes my skin crawl. I'm to polite to repeat it in front of a lady.

Family & Friends
Who are / were your parents? Jack and Vannessa Veid. Best pair of parents a man could want. I wasn't their blood but that didn't mean I wasn't their kid.

What was your family life like growing up? They raised me out in the sticks of western kansas. Life was as close to a normal midwestern farmkid as I could get considerin'. For the most part I was raised just like any other kid.

What is your current relationship with your family (and why)? Don't have a current relationship. I do miss'm though. They were killed by a drunk driver about 3 yrs ago.

Do / did you have
Any siblings? None that I know of.

A spouse(s)?Don't think I'm the type to settle down anytime soon.

Any offspring? If I do, I don't know about'em. Boy is their momma in for a surprise.

Have you had any serious relationships? Nothing I'd call serious.

Who is / was your best friend? Johnny Walker, and yes I know. And yes he does drink it too. We grew up as neighbors. Been close as brothers all our lives.

Where do each of the above live now? Johnny lives in Seattle. Not quite sure where his place is now. He changes it up every now and then you see. Mainly he comes out to the cabin to get away from the city. He's still a country boy at heart too.

Do you have any special loyalties to:
A company or companies? Nah

Family? If I call you friend, then you're family. I mean that.

A criminal organization (including a gang)? No, never liked the rules involved.

A religious order or orders? Never was a religious person.

A person or persons? Johnny my dearest friend.

A nation or nations? I'm a UCAS citizen but that' about all there is.

An idea or ideal? I'd like to consider myself a good man.

Background
Do you have any physical quirks? Sometimes people get unsettled by the way I move. They say it too fluid. Looks like I'm a cat 'bout ready to pounce. Hah! That's a good one ain't it?

Do you have any personal quirks? Darlin' you have no idea.

How would you describe your own personality? I like to think I'm a good natured guy. I try to be a gentlemen. And I can get in a serious mood when the job calls for it.

What do you think is your best quality? I'm quick and I know my way around animals and the country.

What do you think is your worst quality? Never did get along well with all those gadgets.

Where or how were you educated? I was educated in the UCAS public school system but I was really educated on the ranch. Thats where I learned to hunt and survive.

Where did you learn your active skills? I learned huntin' and survival growin up. My dad was awakened as well, so we'd hunt some of the more dangerous game. Whenever a paranormal critter started wreaking havoc, well we'd get called in to deal with it. Sometimnes we'd be forced to kill it but mostly we just knocked it out and let the game wardens find someplace safe to release it.

Where have you acquired your knowledge? I just learned by liven. Nothin's as good a teacher as experience. I like to watch how things interact. See what makes'm tick.

What special qualities do you possess? I'm quick and agile. I've gotta a good knack with animals.

Where did you get all your resources? Most of my money has come from either workin' the shadows or bringin' in bounties.

Do you have any enemies? None too serious.

Do you have anything to do with magic? I have dealt with my fair share of paranormal critters.

Why did you leave your old life? I really haven't left my old life just changed where I hang my hat.

What event or events specifically led you to the shadows? Guess it came when I got called in too lead this group of guys across the border. They liked how I worked so I was given a name to start in the business.

Have you ever done anything else for a living? I grew up on a ranch, so I can handle myself with animals. I worked some as a bouncer. As a kid I would go huntin' some prety nasty paranormal animals whenever they got outta hand.

Why do you choose to continue to "run the shadows"?
Simple answer, because it's actually kinda fun. It pays the bills and lets me utilize my talents. Maybe someday, darlin', I'll hit that one big score and be able to settle down on some land somewhere.

Why not just get a "real" life? Oh, you mean some menial existence as some wage-slave? That just ain't for me. I mean yeah, I can make a little more than some little pencil pusher with skills, but having to answer to some middle-management asshole every day and putting in that 60 plus hour work week just doesn't do it for me.

How do you view your role as a Shadowrunner? My job is dealing with the critters we run across. I've spent most of my life hunting down paranormal critters. I've spent the better part of a decade running the shadows and hunting down bounties. Paranormal threats may be harder to deal with but the money is so much better.

Are you a full-time runner? Or do you lead a Batman-like double existence? Well I do some bounty hunting as my legit cover and sometimes the pay there is pretty good. I don't exactly advertise my illegal dealings. I mean I have to keep my SIN clean if I am going to cross the borders.


What is the most important thing you have ever done? Killed a blood mage once. Damn bastard was goin to use a bus load of kids to fuel his magic. Nasty bunch of business that was.

How old were you when you lost your virginity, to whom and how? Oh I was about 16 or so. Pretty young thing was out riding one day and got lost out on my dad's place. I found her one night when I was out running around. We got to talking and one thing led to another.

Personal Beliefs
What are your personal (non-religious) beliefs?Not sure what you mean by that darlin'. Guess you can say I believe everyone is responsible for themselves. I don't believe in destiny or any of that.

Do you have a Moral code? I like to think I am an honorable person. I work hard and play hard. I keep my word.

How mercenary are you (Will you kill innocents, etc.)?I ain't no monster. I'm not afraid to put a bullet in someone by I'm not one to go on no killing spree.

Are their certain things you can't or won't do (and why)? I will not kill a kid.

Which religion (if any) do you follow? I'm just not a religious type of person.

Personal Motivations
What are your goals and which is most important to you?I'd like to get a place like my dad had. Big open country. Corps put him outta business and we lost the ranch. Just like to have a life like that again. I'd also like to learn a little more about magic while I'm at it too.

Which person(s) or group(s) do you love the most? Gotta say my friends there.

Which person(s) or group(s) do you hate the most?
Those poli-clubbers aren't exactly my best aquaintances.

Which person(s) or group(s) do you respect the most? I have a deep respect for those that can take care of themselves.

Which person(s) or group(s) do you fear the most?
Not to fond of blood mages. They can call up some mighty powerful magic.

What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the most enjoyment? Huntin' can be some great fun. And it puts food in my belly.

What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the least enjoyment? I'll play some of those combat sims. You know the ones I'm talkin' about. The ones where you take the part of some commando and go on all those missions. Keeps my mind sharp but it can limit ya in some ways.

What annoys you the most? What annoys me is those big city jackasses that think livin' out in the country means you're nothin' but an ignorant hick.

Do you have a good luck charm? What is it, and why? Got me a bullet from the first time I got shot. Damn did that hurt like a dickins. Just keep it around to remind me how fragile life can be.

What is your most treasured possession (and why)? Don't really have anything I treasure as a thing. I do treasure my freedom.

What place would you most like to visit? I'd like to spend some time traveling around some of the more remote parts of the NAN and UCAS. Just to get out by myself.

What would your ideal personal space be like? Big open pristine country. I want someplace I can stretch my legs, Really let myself go, you know.

How curious are you, and how far would you go to satisfy your curiosity?

How important to you is:
Money? Money ain't the end all be all. I just know you gotta have some to survive.

Friendship?Friends are extremely important.

Loyalty? I'm loyal to those I call friends and family. I'm not one to turn on my friends.

Personal honor? I ain't one to follow no bushido code or anything. I like to think I'm honorable enough.

Face? Not caring to much what one thinks of me. I know what kind of person I am.

Beauty? Ha, now that's a fine joke. Asking me about beauty.

Personal glory? Glory is for those who go lookin' for a fight.

Fame? What would I do bein' famous

Companionship?Friends are an important part of life.

Having a family? Not really a family man.

Safety and security? You gotta keep yourself outta trouble

Adventure and / or Excitement? I ain't one to go peaceful. I want to go out yellin' "What a ride!"

Knowledge? Longer you live the wiser you get. I wouldn't mind livin' a long time. Be that wise old grandpa, ya know.

Intelligence (in yourself and / or others)? I know I ain't the smartest person in the world. I know there are some that use their smarts a lot better than I ever could.

Physical prowess (in yourself and / or others)? You gotta be able to take care o'yourself. I'm a big fella, got my self in pretty good shape. COnsider myself a pretty good hunter too.

Martial prowess (in yourself and / or others)? I'd rather be the hunter than the hunted.

Competence and skill (in yourself and / or others)? No point in livin' if you don't know how to live right.

Edit: Added Melee weapons, dropped Stim Patches

[Trigger]

One small note that kinda jumped at me for Old Wolf is the snuff addiction. I'm not sure that snuff qualifies for addictions as it specifies that it has to be something particularly harmful and that things like tobacco and alcohol didn't count (as I recall).

Well, Snuff isn't just Tobacco, it is a combination of Nicotine (from Tobacco), THC (from Marijuana), and Salicin (from Willow Bark, aka the active ingredient in Aspirin). It is in the drug section of Arsenal, and it isn't the only drug that doesn't have an effect when it wears off. The others are Betel (hey +1 Perception and 5BP for free, no side effects, can never get worse than Mild, wow thanks), Bliss (outside of the -1 Reaction while using it, there is no side effect when it wears off), and Psyche (yay +1 Logic, +1 Intuition and no side effects). Snuff isn't as bad as Betel or Psyche as it tells the GM that if the players uses the drug enough then the GM is free to apply modifiers to Fatigue tests (which I completely expect).

[pbangarth]

Got the updated Old Wolf and Ranch Hand.

[Trigger]

Oh yeah, for everyone else, I changed Old Wolf around a bit, got rid of the pet wolf and redistributed some stuff. Here is the revised Old Wolf:

[ Spoiler ]

Name: Elyas Mingan aka Old Wolf
Metatype: Human

Attributes: -200 BP
Special Attributes: -40 BP
B 4 C 2 Edge 3
A 3 I 5 Init/IP 8/1
R 3 L 3 Ess 6
S 3 W 5 Mag 4

Qualities: +10 BP
Magician (Druidic Tradition, Wild Druid)
Mentor Spirit (Wolf, +2 Combat Spells, +2 Beast Spirits)
Restricted Gear

Sensitive System
Moderate Addiction (Snuff)
Nano Intolerance
Mild Foci Addiction

Skills: -130 BP
Spellcasting (Combat) 3
Counterspelling 4
Summoning (Beast) 2
Clubs (Staves) 2
Blades 1
Unarmed Combat 1
Athletics Group 1
Enchanting (Artificing) 2
Survival (Forest) 2
Tracking (Forest) 1
Navigation (Forest) 1
Etiquette 1
Pilot Ground (Wheeled) 1
Perception 1
Assenssing 1
Astral Combat 2

Knowledge Skills: 24 Free
Zoology 3
Botany 3
Geology 3
Paracritters 3
Canadian Wilderness 2
Smuggling Routes 2
Wilderness Refuges 2

Languages:
English N
French 3
Algonquian 3

Spells: -15 BP
Manabolt
Stunbolt
Detect Life
Heal
Wolf Form

Foci Bonding: -6 BP

Gear: 152,880 Nuyen Spent, -31 BP
Force 4 Power Focus (Chain Necklace)
Force 2 Weapon Focus (Staff)
Thundercloud Morgan
-Extreme Environment Adaptation (Snow)
2 Survival Knives
Cougar Fineblade (Long)
Armor Jacket (Tribal Style)
-Insulation Rating 6
Novatech Airware w/ Novatech Navi OS
FTL Matrixware Net Wizard Program Bundle
-Analyze 3, Browse 3, Command 1, Edit 2, Purge 3
Pocket Hacker Bundle
-Agent( Pilot 3, Browse 3, Exploit 3, Stealth 3)
Satellite Link
AR Gloves
Fake SIN Rating 4
Fake Talismonger License Rating 4
Goggles Rating 6
-Image Link
-Vision Enhancement 3
-Vision Magnification
-Low-Light
-Flare Compensation
Earbuds Rating 3
-Audio Enhancement 3
-Select Sound Filter 3
Survival Kit
10 Light sticks
Low Light Flashlight
Rating 6 Medkit
Assaying Kit
Force 4 Magical Lodge
4 Rating 4 Stim Patches

Lifestyle:
Comforts - 2
Entertainment - 2
Necessities - 1
Neighborhood - 1
Security - 3
+1 Homegrown Farming
+1 No Neighbors
+1 Well Made
+1 Workplace
+2 Rural Home
-1 Household Gremlins
-1 Green Plan

3800 nuyen/month, 1 month Paid

Contacts: -12 BP
Aurora- Talismonger Connection 3, Loyalty 2
The Frog- Fixer Connection 3, Loyalty 1
Whiskey Jack- Bar Owner Connection 2, Loyalty 1


Character Quiz : 20 Questions
1. Where does your character come from, what is his lineage, who were his parents, and what did he inherit from them?
Elyas is from a tribal group of Mahicans, living in one the barrens in the Quebec sprawl. His father, David Mingan, was involved with smuggling and drug running into and out of the sprawl, while his mother, Sascha, was a French prostitute in the barrens. Elyas has his father's tan skin and straight black hair, and his mother's sharp nose and blue eyes. Elyas was born in 2035, and his mother took care of him unwillingly until she and his father died in 2045 during a police raid of their home. Elyas was taken in by Child Protective Services and placed in an orphanage in Quebec. He stayed at the orphanage until he was released when he turned 18.

2. Assuming they can speak, what would each of your character's parents say about him?
Elyas' father would probably be proud of him for making it on his own, for getting out of Quebec, and getting back to the land. His mother never really cared for him, she didn't even want to have him in the first place, except that Elyas' father wanted her to keep the child. She hated him until the day she died and probably still does.

3. Pick a few events from recent Shadowrun history and ask where the character was at the time, what does he remember about the event, and what was he doing at the time?
Elyas was only really effected by a few of the major events that occured during his lifetime. The first was in 2053, the same year he got out of the orphanage, when a massive United Oil rig spilled tons of oil into the Boston Harbor. He didn't actually care about it at first, until a girl he met got him involved in a Eco-Activist group in Quebec. This led him to meeting up with Alan Ryman, a Druidic magician that told Elyas that he had magical potential. Then four years later, in 2057, Dunkelzhan was assasinated in the UCAS. Not a citizen of the UCAS, Elyas wasn't as sad about the Great Dragon's death as others were, but when Dunkelzhan's will was revealed, Elyas became much more interested in the Big D. He never got anywhere besides talking about rumors of the dragon's hoard with others in the shadow community, but they were some fun conversations.

4. How did your character get into shadowrunning, and why did he take that path?
Elyas joined the shadows because he didn't see any other path for himself in life. He was part of a Eco-Activist group that was quickly becoming a Radical Eco group, tying itself up with the shadows more and more every year. Elyas learned to use his magic and became a more important person for the group, an integral part of many of their runs. But, one day, he just couldn't take the drama of the group anymore and he cut his ties with them, instead joining up with some professional runners that he had met during his time with the group.

5. What is your character's living space like, and what has he added or changed to make it his own?
Elyas lives on a small farm in the Ottawa River Valley, in a house that he is paying the mortgage off on. It is completely off the grid, running on solar and wind power, collecting rain water for the house. He has his own garden outside the house, and a converted barn turned into his magical lodge. It is lacking in a number of comforts of civilization, but he likes the place nonetheless.

6. What does your character believe in, what are his convictions (if any), and why does he hold them?
Elyas still believes in the sanctity of nature, despite leaving the Eco group he was part of. He won't participate in a run that will do undue damage to the environment, but he doesn't have a vendetta against Corporations that have hurt the environment. Elyas simply believes that each man must do his part, but it isn't his job to make them do so.

7. What do you dislike most about your character's personality?
Elyas is usually unduly crass with those that he is not close with, often making him come across as uncouth and arrogant. Elyas is not too used to dealing with people, so he often has trouble connecting with others. He also smokes a ridiculous amount of Snuff cigarettes, stocking up on cartons of them whenever he is in town.

8. Which of the Big Ten does your character hold in the highest regard, and which does he like the least, and why?
Mostly due to their humanist work and environmently friendly projects, Elyas is quite a fan of the Evo Corporation. That might also be because Evo the near to best snowmobile bike on the planet, a near essential in this part of the world.
On the opposite end of the spectrum has got to be Aztechnology for him. Between all of the rumors he has heard about them in the shadows and the front they present to the rest of the world, Elyas doesn't trust them in the slightest.

9. What is the story with your character and his contacts?
Firstly there is Aurora, who is probably the most beautiful woman that Elyas has ever met, and a great magician to boot. She is a professional Talismonger living on the outskirts of Quebec. She makes fetishes, foci, and talismans for a living, and Elyas is her go to man in the field for collecting Telesma for her. A gorgeous red-haired woman in her late twenties, Aurora is the ideal woman in Elyas' eyes and he would do almost anything to make her see him as something more than a business aquaintance.
Next is The Frog, a hefty green skinned, slightly slimy, French Troll, who works as a Fixer in Quebec. Elyas met The Frog after leaving his eco group and jumping into the shadows, and The Frog has so far been a honest and stand up fixer, although Elyas always wishes that The Frog would get him so more work.
Lastly is Whiskey Jack, one of Elyas' only metahuman friends in his neck of the woods. Whiskey Jack is a former shadowrunner who retired to open a bar on the road between Quebec and the Algonkian-Manitou Council, providing a nice stop over point for travels, a good meeting place that is out of the way, and an establishment that makes a damn fine steak. Whiskey Jack is also a seven foot tall Minotaur with a combat axe and a shotgun behind the bar, so it also draws in quite a crowd just for him. His bar is named after himself, Whiskey Jack's Bar & Grill.

10. It's Sunday morning, and your character has no commitments until tomorrow afternoon. What does he do for the day?
Elyas would probably do what he does every other day that he has no commitments, wake up around 10 AM, water his garden, make some breakfast for himself, meditate by the small self-built pond behind his farm, and then go out for the day, trying to hunt down some Telesma for Aurora, and hunt down some food for himself. At the end of the day he would bring back whatever he could catch (magic killed elk means you don't have to pick out any buckshot) and cook it up for dinner before heading out to his magical lodge and working on making some of his own fetishes and talismans to sell.

11. How did your character learn his skills, and how did he develop them to those levels?
Elyas learned the ins and outs of magic, sorcery, assenssing, and summoning from his former mentor, Alan Ryman, a druid who lived in Quebec. He taught Elyas to sling spells, and how to counter them, as well as the basics to summoning spirits, but Elyas had no patience for learning the intricate details of ritual work or spirit binding. And Banishing? Elyas laughed when he was offered the chance to learn how to do that. "Why banish them why I can so easily disrupt them with a spell or another spirit?"
Alan also taught Elyas how to use a staff, the traditional weapon of the druids. Elyas took the staff naturally and he was quickly able to surpass some veterans with his staff skills, although he was not nearly as good with any other kind of club weapon.
When Elyas was a boy in the orphanage he found his first weapon, an old hunting knife in a cracked leather sheath. Elyas thought it was the coolest thing ever, and he quickly learned how to wield it without hurting himself. His skills with a knife came in handy during the more rebellious parts of his teenage years, and although he has focused more on using a staff now than a knife, he hasn't forgotten the basics of knife fighting.
Elyas' athletic skills come from some time in the various mandatory athletic programs he was a part of during high school. While he was never very proficient at them, they have saved his hoop more than once on a run, so he is quite glad to have taken those classes then.
Elyas studied a lot about nature (Zoology, Botany, Geology, Paracritters) while he was a part of his eco group and he found it all quite interesting, delving more into it than many of the others in his group, learning more of the academic side than only the propanganda that the group leaders fed to everybody. He then decided to take it a step further and actually learn to survive and be part of the wilds, teaching himself how to survive off the land, how to track creatures in the forest, and how to navigate by the sun, the moon, and the stars. His time spent travelling in the wilds taught him a lot about the Canadian Wilderness, as well as led him to accidentally discovering a number of Smuggling Routes through the forests, and Wilderness Refuges in areas off of the beaten path.
Elyas met Aurora many years after joining the shadows, contracting her to make his staff into a weapon focus for him. Interested in how she enchanted objects, Elyas begged her to teach him the basics of the art of Enchanting. She agreed, hoping to make him into a someone who could collect Telesma for her, and thus began their working relationship.


12. Is there a moral limit that your character enforces on the jobs he takes, and in what shadow work would he refuse to engage?
Elyas refuses to be a part of any run that will cause undue harm to the environment.

13. What drew your character to their particular paradigm, how does it effect the way he views the world and his magic, how does it translate into choice of mentor spirit, and how does it affect the appearance of the spirits he conjures?
Elyas became a druid and follows the Druidic Tradition because that was the tradition that he was taught in, he can't think of any other way to follow besides the one he is on. Being a Druid did however bring him closer to being eco sensitive, and viewing the world as one large living thing; this was particularly enhanced the first time that he journeyed onto the astral plane and he saw the constant glow of the Earth below him. Elyas views his magic as coming up through him from the Earth, channeling the power of the planet through himself. The spirits that Elyas summons all appear either part of the Earth somehow or as living beings, animal spirits of the Earth. During his training Elyas started having dreams about wolves, about running with them, about being one of them. This is when the Spirit of Wolf first contacted him, and soon afterwards Elyas spontaneously learned how turn himself into a wolf, confirming his attachment to Wolf.

14. How did your character come to have the enhancements he has, how were they paid for, and what motivated the choices he made?
Elyas has no 'ware in his body and he doesn't plan on getting any. Tested when he was placed in the orphanage, Elyas learned young that his body would not easily accept enhancement. This made him a less attractive child for adoption, which is why he was at the orphanage until he turned 18 and was kicked out. Because of this, Elyas never got any implants, because he never wanted to be like the people who would not accept him into their lives.

15. What does you character think of ordinary life, mainstream culture, and those who abide by it?
Elyas never had a chance to lead a normal life, or to afford anything that could be called either mainstream or cultured. This made him cynical to ordinary life, almost ensuring that he would never be part of that type of lifestyle, even though he always wished that he could have been. Elyas is secretly jealous of those who lead normal lifes, living so easily in their arcologies, and shopping in designer stores, but he knows deep down that they would never accept him into their flock.

16. If your character had a lingering nightmare or a deep-rooted fear, what would it be, and why does he find it so terrifying?
Due to all the years that Elyas spent in the orphanage, he is very afraid that people will never love him and that he will always be alone. This is in part why he rarely socializes with people, for fear that they will abandon him and won't accept him like so many others have done so before.

17. What is your character's 'sacred object' or 'close one', and how did they come to be so important to him?
Elyas is particularly attached to his Power Focus chain necklace, a loose chain necklace with a orichalcum veined wolf head pendant at the end that he fits him even in wolf form, it is his most valuable and prized possession and he doesn't go anywhere without it. He doesn't realize it, but he has slowly become more and more attached it, using it more often than not, and is starting to develop an addiction to the power that it provides.
Elyas is also quite attached the Weapon Focus staff that Aurora made for him. Hand carved from the branch of an oak tree that grew an area of the wilderness untouched by machinery or civilization. It has a stylized tribal wolf head carved into the top, and grips made from wild drake skin leather.

18. What did you character want to become when he was a child, and what are his goals?
Elyas wanted to be like his father when he was young, until the cops burst into their house and killed his parents in a hail of gunfire. Then the only thing that Elyas knew was that he didn't want to be his parents and that he didn't want to be a cop. He never thought about what he wanted to do with his life while he was in the orphanage, in fact he actively tried not to do so. It wasn't until he joined his eco group that he started to think about the future. His current goal in life to pay off his farm, harvest lots of Telesma for Aurora so she notices him, and to survive in a eco-friendly way.

19. What does you character look like, and what inspired his choices?
Elyas is 6' 2" and weighs around 165 lbs, with a thin, lean muscled frame. His hair extends to the small of his back, and is straigh black, though he is starting to get grey at his temples and some streaks of grey throughout. He has dark tan skin, piercing blue eyes, and a sharp hawked nose, which almost dominates his face when he is clean shaven, which he often is not. His hands are weathered and his voice is rough from years of chain smoking. He has a single golden hoop earring in his left ear, a sun tattoo on the back of his right hand, and a moon tattoo on the back of his left hand. His clothing reflects his heritage, mainly tribal leathers and blue jeans with work boots. Most of his stuff his recycled materials and earth friendly fibers, or leather from animals he has killed himself.

20. How did your character come to be known by his street name?
Elyas has had many street names throughout his career in the shadows, but his most recent one is Old Wolf, in reference to both his old age (in comparison to the average runner) and his connection to the Spirit of Wolf. Those that respect him usually just refer to him as Wolf, but there are some who refer to him instead as Old Man.

[Karoline]

Ah, I didn't realize it was in the book as a drug. For some reason the drugs section isn't one that I know particularly well. Raven's character looks a heck of a lot like the character I'm working on actually (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) Oh well, I'll just have to see where I can make some changes to stand out besides personality.

Oh, and meant to ask earlier, how would you handle having something like a cabin in the wilderness? Generally not connected to 'basic necessities' and so on. Not entirely sure about the concept, but figured I'd ask as I'm flipping back and forth between what kind of personality I want.

[pbangarth]

Ah, I didn't realize it was in the book as a drug. For some reason the drugs section isn't one that I know particularly well. Raven's character looks a heck of a lot like the character I'm working on actually (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) Oh well, I'll just have to see where I can make some changes to stand out besides personality.

Oh, and meant to ask earlier, how would you handle having something like a cabin in the wilderness? Generally not connected to 'basic necessities' and so on. Not entirely sure about the concept, but figured I'd ask as I'm flipping back and forth between what kind of personality I want.

A local may very well have a hunting cabin in the woods. Or, if wealthier, then something on the lake.

[Karoline]

A local may very well have a hunting cabin in the woods. Or, if wealthier, then something on the lake.

Alright, and what about in-debt? Do you believe it needs to be bought off with karma when the nuyen is repaid?

[ravensoracle]

Oh, and meant to ask earlier, how would you handle having something like a cabin in the wilderness? Generally not connected to 'basic necessities' and so on. Not entirely sure about the concept, but figured I'd ask as I'm flipping back and forth between what kind of personality I want.

Rural Home, Green Plan, No Neighbors should cover it pretty well.

Alright, and what about in-debt? Do you believe it needs to be bought off with karma when the nuyen is repaid?

You are getting money and BP out of it. Why should you get away with only paying for half of the flaw?

EDIT: I always ran it that if you paid of the money you'd get another Flaw of equal value until you paid off the Karma.

[ravensoracle]

OK, so I was bored and had to get away from the kids for a bit. While I was taking a few minutes to work on my character I decided to play around with the map a little. I wanted to see exactly where the SR map overlayed the map in Google. So this is what I came up with. If you guys want to place any places of interest on here PM me with your e-mail and I will add you as collaberators. Anyways, enjoy.

Google map

[Karoline]

You are getting money and BP out of it. Why should you get away with only paying for half of the flaw?

EDIT: I always ran it that if you paid of the money you'd get another Flaw of equal value until you paid off the Karma.

Yeah, but if you have to pay back the karma when you pay back the nuyen then you gain nothing and lose nuyen, thus making the quality utterly useless as you don't gain any benefit from it, which is the point of a negative quality, that you gain some BP in exchange for a penalty of some kind. In this case you would be gaining BP in exchange for losing nuyen. If you have to pay back karma then you gain no net BP (since you lose it when you pay back the karma essentially) and still have the disadvantage of having to pay back the nuyen.

So the options are you don't pay karma, in which case you gain BP in exchange for a nuyen debt, or you do pay karma and you gain nothing in exchange for a nuyen debt. This is why I always ask, because one interpretation (Which seems depressingly common on the boards) makes the quality useless. I do admit the other way can make it somewhat of an overly attractive option, because once you've suffered that nuyen loss there is no lasting penalty.

[ravensoracle]

With any other flaw you have to work in game to get rid of the flaw, many state so in their description. Many of them qould require some effort and possibly nuyen in game to remove. My point is you are gaining more than just BP, which is unique, from a flaw. Yes you have the debt and paying that off is part of the flaw. But you got more money for character gen, all you're doing is getting extra nuyen in character gen from whatever you are going to make. But it is also a flaw. You got BP from it as well. If you only pay nuyen to get rid of the flaw then you are getting the BP gained from it for free.

[Karoline]

With any other flaw you have to work in game to get rid of the flaw, many state so in their description. Many of them qould require some effort and possibly nuyen in game to remove. My point is you are gaining more than just BP, which is unique, from a flaw. Yes you have the debt and paying that off is part of the flaw. But you got more money for character gen, all you're doing is getting extra nuyen in character gen from whatever you are going to make. But it is also a flaw. You got BP from it as well. If you only pay nuyen to get rid of the flaw then you are getting the BP gained from it for free.

Except that you have to pay back more nuyen than you were given in the first place. Pretend instead that the flaw was this:

For every 5BP you gain from the flaw, you start with 2,500 nuyen of debt which accumulates 30% interest every month.

If that was the flaw, would you say the person has to pay karma to be able to pay off their debt? If not, then you shouldn't expect the regular In-Debt quality to be paid back, because it is exactly the same net effect.

The biggest thing is that this quality never mentions having to pay karma to pay off the debt, while every single other quality that can be bought off by various in-game methods always say that you must pay karma or the method doesn't work (Check out stuff like blind and the gene treatment cures for allergies.)

Edit: I'll throw up something on the main board, though I'm sure it has been asked before.

Edit2: My poll/thread on the topic if anyone wants to weigh in. Gives PB some opinions to look over if he'd like and see what the DS community in general thinks.

[pbangarth]

Having troubles with network connection at the hotel. Will connect and comment at length when I can.

[Foxx]

Okay, here is Valerie 'Vixen' Vashnevskaya. Former CAS Ranger officer turned shadowrunning bounty hunter. In the twenty questions format

[ Spoiler ]

1. Where does your character come from, what is his lineage, who were her parents, and what did she inherit from them?
Valerie comes from the great state of Alabama, born in the city of Mobile. Her mother having move there after divorcing her father several months previously. Valerie mother, Laura, originally live in Russia before marrying her father, Vladamir, and moving to the CAS to work for a EVO affiliate. Laura was a passionate biologist and Vladamir was a skillful EVO exec, pulling their talents together they made great strides in success for their corporate employers. The reason their relationship ended when Vladamir began to delve into more dangerous projects regarding human augmentation. Things that you hear about in the shadows involving Delta clinics.

When Laura found that Vladamir was using her research in atrocious experiments; the worst being that her marriage to him was a sham. She was the top of the list applicant for him to choose a suitable mate to produce children with a high pedigree. Learning all this, Laura left. She escape EVO and ex-husband by giving her services over to CAS government entity. Vladamir was not about to play hardball against a country military forces to get his wife back. Really, her part in this equation was over when she gave birth to Valerie. Setting his sights on his daughter, Vladamir would sit back and wait for her to grow and blossom, showing that she truly was daddy's little girl.

Valerie did not disappoint. She showed an aptitude for science like her mother and a certain level of strength and aggressiveness. She was a girl others could look too as inspiration when times got tough. Valerie had a never quit attitude and she was very patient to see things through. Traits that disturbed her mother as they reminded her too much of Valerie's father.

2. Assuming they can speak, what would each of your character's parents say about her?
Laura: Valerie is a go getter and dosen't know when to quit. She always had a fondness for the fanciful creatures like unicorns that always fascinated her. I would enjoy watching her eyes light up when I would tell her the children stories about them and other such magical creatures. Now that they truly exist, Valerie wants to learn all about them. To see them and try to interact with them; despite the dangers that may present to her. Like I say before, she never lets obstacles stop her. She reminds me a little of her father in that regard. Once she sets her mind on something she will go after it. I try to pace her pursuits and warn her that not all things can be, or should be, obtained through whatever means necessary. I try to instill in her respect for things and for others. I think it comes out when Valerie has a moment to pause and think about what she is doing. Other times... well, I have had to help her pick up the pieces a time or two after things did not work out the way she wanted them too.

Vladamir: I have watch my daughter grow into a lovely, strong will young woman. She has surprised me by deviating from my pre-determine project path. That was only because her mother took her away from me. No doubt if I had a few months with her I could affect necessary changes and put my personal project back on the proper path. So far she has soon great skill in her occupations. Her collage level exams were exemplary. She still needs a lot of work before she is where I need her to be. She has a great deal of her mother softness in her. I had help her stint in the military would have erased that completely, but its still there, lurking beneath the surface of her jaded, cynicism. My efforts to driver it out of her completely have yet to meet with much success. Though now she is free from the military and her mother influence I will expect better success. She cannot hide from me forever...

3. Pick a few events from the recent Shadowrun history and ask where the character was at the time, what does she remember about the event, and what was she doing at the time?

2061, age 18, a newly minted Second Lieutenant in the CAS military, she is one of many military units sent to Denver after the great Dragon, Ghostwalker, removes Aztlan from the area with extreme prejudice. Valerie actually thought she was going to see the great the North American continent break apart in open warfare. Thankfully that did not come about with the New Treaty of Denver. Once moment in her life she actually got to see a real live Great Dragon, Ghostwalker. She got to see plenty more of the great dragon as her unit was chosen by the brass to be part of the new Zone Defense Force - responsible for the defense of Denver sector. There she got her feet wet dealing with smugglers and shadowrunners stupid enough to tangle with the military. She made sure to make them regret making that mistake.

2064, age 21, First Lieutenant Vashnevskaya, has her hands full dealing with the Crash of '64. With the Matrix going down the tubes she is left to doing things the old fashion way. She gathers her platoon together and begins securing valuable resources in order to add the stricken people of Denver. She has a hell of a time as the criminal element takes advantage of the situation. Her trails began when securing a hospital when a gang, The Chiller Thrillers, shows up and begins to ruthlessly cut down medical staff and patients. Valerie draws the line and holds it enacting various quick thinking strategies and brutal tactics to drive the gangers from the hospital campus. The hospital suffers a five percent loss in functionality, but they are better off with Valerie forces guarding and aiding them where they can.

The so called end of the world continues and Valerie unit is called up to to clear out a housing project being taken over by a dug group of gangs. They seized a shipment of military grade weapons and the Brass wants them back before the gangers make off with them into the shadows. Valerie infantry platoon makes the case to the gangers and after a week of bloody fighting resolves their differences. Valerie receives a citation for her valiant act in defending the citizenry of Denver and the scorn of several broken gangs would very much like to see the LT dead. A month later, Valerie unit is rotated back to Fort Bragg.

4. How did your Character get into Shadowrunning and why did she take the path?
Valerie career in the military came to an end when her father resurface and tried to have her snatched. He was very interested in course correcting his 'project'. He determine a life for Valerie as a EVO experiment as the next super soldier. While Valerie was partially following his dream, her father deemed her too soft and not violent enough. Valdemir suspect that she was not pushing her insticts towards carnage and violence hard enough. He began to manipulate his daughter next mission assignments, trying to push her, trying to break her sense of morality. Valemirs actions caused a few good men their lives in Valerie unit. While they were trained to handle anything the awaken world could throw at them Vladimir decided to throw only monsters in the form of Bio-weapons like cyber-zombies or worse.
In the end, Vladimir decided to simply take his daughter back and had a shadowrunner team go after her. The situation was simply enough, he left a trail of digital bread crumbs for Valerie to follow to find out who was attacking her. Taking a team of CAS Rangers, she found the location her father setup and was assaulted by the runner team. Needless to say, the runners were not ready for the type of ferocity that Valerie brought to the field. Valerie as the last woman standing after the fire fight was over. A recording by her father was triggered and she listen with a cold sickness gripping her belly as Vladimir spoke about his plans for her. One thing he made very clear; he was going to have her one way or another. That left Valerie with very few options for her to play. She could go back to her life and military career and hope to get lucky one day to bring down her father. That meant more death and more destruction and more monsters or she could just simply disappear and work for the day where she would put her father down.
Going a lone would mean less people would get hurt because of her. She torched the facility and walked away. At this time the CAS military has her listed as MIA.
She became a mercenary runner. Having learn enough about picking up running jobs she turn to freelance work. She got away from the CAS sector and moved north, working both in UCAS and Canada. It was long before she plied her skills with para-zoology and became a bounty hunter. She dropped her SIN and took on a new identity to lose herself in the northern wilderness.

5. What is your character living space like, and what has she added or changed to make it her own?
Valerie is renting to own a hunting lodge North of New Likeard Ontario, on the south shores of Round lake. She values her privacy adding higher functioning security measures. While she is getting use to the life of a civilian/shadowrunner, she has little time for pointless entertainment. She does rather like the digs though and hopes to purchase it as a permanent residence. The garage is located underneath the house itself and is where she works on her weapons. Valerie does tend to decorate the abode with military style deco and has a few pictures in her bedroom dedicated to her prior service. She keeps the house neat and clean, keep the drones turned off, as part of her routine when not out hunting bounties or annoying law enforcement.

6. What does your character believe in, what are her convictions (if any), and why does he hold them?
Despite being a trained soldier, Valerie is no killer. Its not something she goes out of her way to do if she can help it. She does prepare to go to war at all times due to looming shadow of her father should he find her again. When it comes to shadowrunning, Valerie prefers to keep the body count at zero. A clean sweep without the target ever knowing they were there is what Valerie likes. She likes to prepare for every contingency if she has the time too. She knows her place on a team is to be the muscle. She has the training and motivation to be a scary women in a fire fight. If you force her to kill you, she will kill you. Valerie does believe in God, but is not beholden to any one religion. Her understanding of things comes from the bible. She does prescribe to some doctrine put out by the Church concerning the awaken world. She likes her unicorns after all.

7. What do you dislike most about your character's personality?
Valerie has a tendency to be bossy. She likes to give orders and opinions and likes for others to follow them. She tends to get huffy if that dosen't happen.

8. Which of the Big Ten does your character hold in the highest regard, and which does she like the least and why?
She likes ARES because they tend to make the best equipment and their law enforcement branch is top notch. She wouldn't mind joining them one day if that would to become possible. As to the corp she hates the most, that would be EVO. Its the company that's grown and benefited because of her father. Yes, she understands that he's not the only corporate exec there, but she figures any corp that would have him has no inkling of good intentions for the rest of the world. It would not hurt Valerie feelings if EVO went down in flames, or if she had something to do with it going under and dragging her father with it. After she blows his brains out.

9. What is the story with character and his contacts?
Colonel Mustard is a shadowrunner Fixer that Valerie bedeviled many times in Denver. She is largely responsible for runner teams not wanting to take jobs from the good Colonel anymore. He moved north and began another lucrative business and suddenly found Valerie in need of his services. Needless to say, he always giving her crap about how the mighty have fallen. Yet, he knows Valerie abilities and potential as a shadowrunner. He knows she can bring in the cash if she's really any good at running the shadows.

10. It's Sunday morning, and your character has no commitments until tomorrow afternoon. What does she do for the day?
with nothing serious pending, she will go to church. After that she will tidy up the abode, work on any projects from the day before and look over whatever data she needs to look over to be ready for the next run/mission/bounty. The afternoon hours she spends working out and keeping up with the latest military journals after dusk.

11. How did your character learn her skills, and how did she develop them to those levels?
Valerie began early with scrapping as a young girl in the school yard. She perfer to fight withe bullies because they made the best challenges. Later she went to higher levels of education learning about her favorite interest in para-zoology and join the collage ROTC program. She would join the military as a commissioned officer and learn her trade as a infantry officer. She like to get dirty and assailed in hand to hand combat, weapons training, and wilderness training. She eventually did become a Ranger in the CAS and continue till she left the military to escape her father influence. She learn a lot more on the streets and wilderness of the great north putting her skills to the test as a bounty hunter.

12. Is there a moral limit that your character enforces on the jobs she takes, and in what shadow work would she refuse to engage?
Valerie honors a contract that she takes up; if it changes then she considers rather to keep it or to walk away. She is not into the business of abusing, killing, or debasing civilian targets. She will run against corps and do mercenary/soldier jobs. In keeping a low profile in the shadows Valerie would like to keep the killing to a minimum. She has no problem with killing para critters in any shape or form; though she is reluctant to take such jobs against unicorns. She will not engage wet work jobs or black-ops that end in the killing of non-military targets. She will not engage in jobs against the CAS or the Zone Defense Forces of Denver (in fact she will attempt to warn them). She will walk away from a contract if violates her standards. She will work with thugs and killers only once.

13. What drew your character to their particular paradigm, how does it effect the way he views the world and his magic, how does it translate into the choice of mentor spirit, and how does it affect the appereance of teh spirits he conjures?
Valerie really has no connection to magic.

14. How did your character come to have the enhancements he has, how were they paid for, and what motivated the choice he made?
Valerie receive her chrome from the CAS military. The wired reflexes she wanted because of the edge in speed over other soldiers and dealing with para critters. Likewise with the bioware. The only purpose her enhancement serves was to make her a better soldier on the battlefield. Now they serve her as a bounty hunter in the Canadian wilderness.

15. What does your character think of ordinary life, mainstream culture, and those who abide by it?
To each their own. When not working or running, Valerie prefers the quiet moments to collect her thoughts and get perspective on her life. If she really had the oppritunity, Valerie could see herself as a mother with a family living the dream. Mainstream culture does not really interest her. It has its high points, but people really spend too much time mindlessly keeping up with the latest pop tart and dude-whose-who-next nonsense. Its good fluff for distracting oneself, but that all it is. Its not that important.

16. If your character had a lingering nightmare, or a deep-rooted fear, what would it be, and why does she find it so terrifying?
Valerie lives her nightmare everyday. Fearing that her father is going to find her and send the bio-weapons after her again. She truly fears that he is going to catch her and do horrible things. Thats enough to make Valerie wake up in a cold sweat night, thinking she heard something outside.

17. What is your character's 'sacred object' or 'close one', and how did they come to be so important to her?
CAS ranger berate; a reminder of her former life. You can touch it, hold it, but wearing will result in an angry demand to put it down.

18. What did your character want to become when she was a child, and what are her goals?
Valerie wanted to become a biologist like her mother. In school she wanted to become a para zoologist to work with para critters, but wanted to see the world so joined the military. Valerie goals are to escape her father and try to put her life back together. The lull of shadowrunning though does call her to aggressive tendencies and the challenge of pulling off bigger runs.

19. What does your character look like, what inspired her choices?
Valerie delve completely into the shadowrunning experience. To suit her tag as 'Vixen' she grew her hair out to shoulder length with silver bangs. Her cybernetic eyes are tawny color to resemble that of a fox. She lean and curvy, with a define athletic muscle tone. The one tattoo she has is on her right deltoid and is the CAS Ranger insignia with captain bars on the bottom.
She is 5'10", 36"- 24"- 28"

20. How did your character come to be known by her street name?
Valerie was given the name by Col. Mustard when she applied to him for work.

[pbangarth]

OK, thank you for submissions so far. JD, Old Wolf and Vixen look like excellent characters for what I have in mind. Very canny selection of gear, such as software suites to reduce the need for a decker. I like to see so much being spent on Skills. Interesting to see one PC loves EVO Corporation, another hates it. Yummy! I think there will be a lot of fun with these characters. The work you have put into their backgrounds will make my job much easier, too.

I have gone through the character sheets and bios, and have a few technical or background notes for players to check. I have not gone through the gear item by item to see if spending is correct. Too much like accounting for me!

JD/Ranch Hand: Ravensoracle, your breakdown of BP actually does add to 400, but you have Qualities listed as -30 BP when they should be -25 BP. Having said that, it appears to me that you have allocated 150 BP to Skills but have only spent 142 BP. Another "relevant language" might be a NAN language. No one has Japanese or Spanish or Nahuatl. Just some ideas. Please pick an area to which your Local Geography Knowledge Skill applies. You have a R10 Armor program. I believe R6 is the max at chargen. Can you give a more specific location for your home? You didn't answer the question about JD's curiosity. I'm curious.

Old Wolf: Trigger, It appears as if you have allocated 420 BP for Old Wolf. Also, you allocated 130 BP for Skills, but only spent 126 BP. I'm curious, why is Alan Ryman not a contact?

Vixen: Foxx, I am assuming you allocated 45 BP to Gear? Your fake SIN and Licence at R6 are above the availability restriction of 12.