 Dependants, general |
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 Mar 1 2004, 06:36 AM
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#1
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Target  Group: Members Posts: 8 Joined: 1-March 04 From: Houston, TX Member No.: 6,110  |
On their last mission one of my runners ended up rescueing a kid (from Bug City) who I decided would become a dependant for him. I was thinking of making her up as a character (with about 80 character points). Anyway, I was looking for some advice on what kinds of things to do with this new wrinkle in our role playing. Make his character get the dependant a fake SIN? charge him for the child's clothes/food/school? have her get bored and bug him to teach her about running the shadows? Troublesome first dates, etc, etc? Anything you guys can think of will help, I am just looking for some ideas.
Oh, and do ya'll think 80 points is too much to use for a 14-16 year old kid? Thanks!! |
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Mar 1 2004, 10:06 AM
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#2
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Target Group: Members Posts: 17 Joined: 28-March 03 Member No.: 4,351 |
Oh Jheez... well there's always dating and sex and the normal 16 year old stuff. You could keep her in reserve as a potential PC, also Watching your parent-type-person as a runner is not a bad way to become one yourself, and that could spur later campaigns (has happened in our group with a foundling dependant who became the caretaker's player's new PC in the next campaign, all connecting back to where the parent-type and the kid-type are now being played by two different people and can interact in game).
I think the most important thing for a kid-type dependant NPC is to give her a PERSONALITY. Decide what she's like, how she dresses, what kind of music she likes, what kind of food she enjoys- those things like you would do for a PC, then allow her character to grow organically from those things. If you plan to have her in the shadows she'll need a stat sheet, but that may not be immediately necessary. Decide the kind of person she is and how your PC reacts to that, and then see what you want for her in the way of stats. Lily |
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Mar 1 2004, 10:10 AM
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#3
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,458 Joined: 22-March 03 From: I am a figment of my own imagination. Member No.: 4,302 |
It's always fun when your foundling dependant has family activly searching for them.
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Mar 1 2004, 02:20 PM
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#4
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Technomancer Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,638 Joined: 2-October 02 From: Champaign, IL Member No.: 3,374 |
I agree with Digital Heroin -- plus there's the obvious and cliche usage of dependents as leverage on the one protecting. The concept of it is cliche, but if you're creative you could play around with it and have some fun
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Mar 1 2004, 02:29 PM
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#5
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
Not to mention the inevitable parent-child conflicts.
It's not like the standard runner's life is pre-disposed to giving a formative teen a structured environment. Of course, they could hit the same clubs together. Or the kid is the polar opposite of the adoptive runner -- studious and quiet while the runner is loud and boisterous, etc. 80 build points -- sounds about right. Between hobbies, possible physical activity and running for your life from the bugs it should all balance out. Is Joe Runner going to settle into the burbs in order to give the kid a "normal" life? Shadowrunning meets the Osbournes. Does the runner have a SIN? Then the kid probably will need one too. Was the kid SINless before? Does she have family or some reason why she might not want to use her existing SIN? (fingerprint changes might be in order) For some reason, I keep seeing Der Governator's character from "Last Action Hero" on this thread -- particularly the home scenes when his daughter is field-stripping an assault rifle instead of looking for a prom dress. -Siege Edit: Is she magically active? Latent? Race? Same as adoptive runner or different? Racial conflicts? Did she grow up in the burbs, never having seen Orks or Trolls? Different socio-economic factors? |
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Mar 3 2004, 06:18 AM
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#6
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Target Group: Members Posts: 8 Joined: 1-March 04 From: Houston, TX Member No.: 6,110 |
Thanks guys, that was helpful. I think I will make him put her through school and have to deal with getting a SIN, uniforms, parent/teacher conferences "but Big Brother (that's what she's gonna call him), she HATES me..."
Should be oodles of fun! :D |
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Mar 3 2004, 07:02 AM
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#7
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Canon Companion Group: Members Posts: 8,021 Joined: 2-March 03 From: The Morgue, Singapore LTG Member No.: 4,187 |
Hey, her first run can be to alter her grades on the school mainframe!
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Mar 7 2004, 09:21 AM
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#8
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Target Group: Members Posts: 2 Joined: 7-March 04 From: Orlando, FL Member No.: 6,129 |
"Big Brother" :D ... heh heh, thats funny. So I guess she is going to be trying to get in the runners pants? As any anime fan knows, any time a young girl calls a guy "Big Brother", its because she wants to sex him up. Hahahaha, and wackiness ensues. So let me ask you, what exactly are you trying to do with this. Does the runner find this funny also, or are you just trying to humble him. It looks like this is becoming a hassle form the runner. I have always been of the philosophy that this is the GM's game, and if your not laughing then no one is. I have some players that I have to smack around sometimes. Ofcourse they complain a lot, but they are a bunch of babies. :P
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Mar 7 2004, 01:20 PM
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#9
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Chicago Survivor Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 5,079 Joined: 28-January 04 From: Canton, GA Member No.: 6,033 |
I dunno, get the wrong runner annoyed enough and he might blow her brains out if she's not useful. Remember, runners have had to learn to live with a lot of things on the conscious that they aren't proud of.
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Mar 7 2004, 01:21 PM
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#10
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
i'd go the other way--make her really handy to have around, a la Aliens.
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Mar 7 2004, 01:24 PM
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#11
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Chicago Survivor Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 5,079 Joined: 28-January 04 From: Canton, GA Member No.: 6,033 |
Um, newt was mostly useful as bait from what I remember, that and a motivational tool to get the Marines off there arses and fighting again.
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Mar 7 2004, 11:09 PM
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#12
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 903 Joined: 7-February 03 Member No.: 4,025 |
A fourteen to sixteen year-old? Some orcs and trolls are already running by that age.
I think lifestyle would play a big role in how this NPC is handled. At the lower end, a kid is going to be exposed to the shadows whether they want to be or not. At more costly lifestyles, a kid could be sheltered. I like the idea of a character who is the foil of the PC. Some kids at that age take on the parental role. (picture him or her, arms folded, foot tapping, just inside the front door. Shadowrunner comes in bleeding.... Kid: "It's FOUR in the morning. Where WERE you?") Ask your folks what was bugging them about you at that age. (I guess some of you readers are that age.) As for plot lines... right now, one of my players' character has two kids of his own, one of whom has just begun to exhibit magical abilities. He enrolled the kid in school, only to discover a week later that the school was extraterritorial corp-land and now he's lost custody of them.... And maybe I'm the first to say it , but a sociopathic person living on the fringes of society (as most shadowrunners seem to be) 'adopting' a teenage girl has a definite Woody Allen/American Beauty 'Ick!' factor to it, depending on the maturity level of your players..... |
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Mar 8 2004, 04:57 AM
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#13
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
I guess it depends on the character's motivations for adopting said character -- are they trying to reclaim a lost portion of their youth? Are they trying to honestly "do the right thing?" Are they pedophiles in need of a swift bullet to the back of the head?
It's entirely possible the characters see themselves in the child's position and choose to act when others did not, but the motivations need to be clear behind the character so the GM can appropriately monkey with the works. :grinbig: -Siege |
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Mar 8 2004, 07:23 AM
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#14
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 608 Joined: 9-July 02 From: California Member No.: 2,955 |
Go watch The Professional. That's got some good stuff with is a decided approximation of your current situation. Probably a worst-case, but still. :D
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Mar 8 2004, 01:44 PM
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#15
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Shooting Target Group: Validating Posts: 1,618 Joined: 29-January 03 From: Montevideo, Uruguay. Member No.: 3,992 |
Argh, Diesel beat me on that one! ;)
(By the way, Natalie Portman signed up for a sequel... While it goes against the first movie's spirit, I hope Mathilda grew up into a hitwoman :cyber: ) You could giver her a couple of intereseting flaws like a mysterious piece of cyberware. Or just make her a good-merge bug. :evil: Oh, never forget to include a classic staple like "the guy at the school sold me this woooonderrfulll chip..." |
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Mar 8 2004, 02:01 PM
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#16
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
Hah! I pity the poor dealer who hooks a shadowrunner's kid on BTLs...:grinbig: -Siege |
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Mar 8 2004, 04:15 PM
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#17
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 608 Joined: 9-July 02 From: California Member No.: 2,955 |
Exhibit A: The long running "torture" thread.
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Mar 8 2004, 04:38 PM
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#18
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 313 Joined: 5-March 04 From: UK Member No.: 6,125 |
(I just looked up 'Professional' on IMDb, I knew it as Leon...)
And if you want an idea of what can go wrong, watch La Femme Nikita. It is in French and most versions have terrible subtitling but that doesn't matter, it is good enough that you don't need a translation... (Hmm... I have an idea for a run...) |
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Mar 8 2004, 04:55 PM
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#19
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
How'd that line from "Ronin" go? "I was willing to kill that girl and I don't even know her. You, I don't particularly like." -Siege |
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Mar 11 2004, 10:22 AM
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#20
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Target Group: Members Posts: 8 Joined: 1-March 04 From: Houston, TX Member No.: 6,110 |
Wow. I didn't think anyone would really reply to this. Lots of good ideas. Hee hee. I was mostly gonna use her to lighten the mood of our gaming experience and handicap the guy cause I gave him too many creation points by mistake (its only been about 5 years since the last time I played). Anyway, she's meant to balance him out some. Ended up giving the whole team extra flaws. The other foolish, foolish player actually told me "I killed this highly placed mage working for Aztechnology" and bought the "extra enemy" flaw. But he didn't put it on his character sheet. So I gave him an extra enemy. Now he has three!!! All from Aztech. Foolish, foolish boy.
As for the girl, I already told him there wouuld be "no sex in the champaign room" with her. And he was to play her straight, like a real parent. But I liked that idea of her taking the role of parent with him! "I thought you were supposed to cook tonight! Do you realize how much homework I had?" I also am thinking of making her a sniper, she did live in Bug City after all, she' got to have some combat experience. |
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Mar 12 2004, 12:43 AM
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#21
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 608 Joined: 9-July 02 From: California Member No.: 2,955 |
Not neccessarily, on the combat experience thing. Some people prefer to run like fuck and hide like...sneaky things.
Violence doesn't have to be the answer! :D |
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Mar 12 2004, 03:41 AM
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#22
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,401 Joined: 23-February 04 From: Honolulu, HI Member No.: 6,099 |
Hmm. Natalie Portman...is...the Professional. That just sounds....naughty :evil: |
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Mar 15 2004, 10:37 AM
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#23
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Target Group: Members Posts: 1 Joined: 15-March 04 Member No.: 6,161 |
Man, you sure have a selective memory, you no talent ass clown. Why don't you get the gum out of your ears next time I'm talking to you and listen. You might actually learn something, instead of continuing to spiral down that void of insanity that you think is reality. First of all, the mage was my rival in school, not a big fish. Our fathers were the ones in a corporation. I never said Aztecnology, you did. I hadn't really decided yet because I wanted to read more about the corps, but the vindictive hand of God swooped in and made his decree, stroked his ego, and laughed a stupid laugh. All I was doing was listening to my GM's request and making a interesting back story to add depth to the game and my character. Ya, I'm the foolish one. Also, what have you been drinking, paint thinner? I wrote the extra enemy on my sheet a week before we played, and I had you look at it. I'll be smart next time and just not remind you, cause you damn sure won't remember. :D
We don't see why we should take a penalty. We had our characters ready with exactly 120 points. We looked at you like you had sprouted wings when you said 150. We told you that it was more than the book suggests. You gave us a look of superior knowledge, patted us on our heads, and said you thought the book was underpowered. But now its our fault that you are retarded and didn't reread the books before Game Mastering. I mean come on man, its embarrassing how many times I correct you on the rules. Your hurting me as a player :( . I can't have the illusion that you know more about the game than someone who just picked up the books about a month ago.
This is what I just love, he got punished for doing a good deed. I mean come on, 1 Karma point is hardly worth a permanent drain on his money and having to listen to you whine in your badly done 16 year old girl voice. I swear, *shudder*, I'll never feel clean again. Not to mention the punishment I got for my back story. I can't wait for the next unjustified smack down. I'm sure that Quicksilver Mongoose I saved is going to try to pull out my eyes and bite off my testicles while I sleep. Thats what I get for being nice. I guess we are just learning that we should shoot any and all NPCs that don't sell us stuff or give us money. No problem! 8) PS: On a side note, gojira316, Trey and I thought it was a really good game Saturday. PPS: I would like to mention to the members of the board that I really enjoyed this little game called Shadowrun, and I truly lament that I will not be able to play anymore. I think it goes without saying that the moment gojira316 reads this, my character and any made in the future are hosed, heh heh. Some people just don't have a sense of humor. :P |
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Mar 16 2004, 07:01 AM
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#24
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 608 Joined: 9-July 02 From: California Member No.: 2,955 |
There's always online games!
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Mar 16 2004, 07:11 AM
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#25
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
*cough*
er, sorry. was gonna say something about online games and where you can play them, but it got stuck in my throat! |
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