OOC: TANGO DOWN! (pre-game thread), Azerbaijan: SpecOps/Merc work... Options

[Panzergeist]

Spar-tee-ates. The spartiates were the upper class of ancient Sparta. But in Sparta, upper class didn't equate to a cushy lifestyle. HELL NO! All spartiates were required to join the military at the age of seven. That's right, seven. They learned to fight, march in formation, and run 40 km a day by the time their balls had dropped. They were such kickass warriors, that 300 of them held off a 100,00 man Persian army at Thermopylae, the Gates of Fire, for 3 days, killing thousands and so thoroughly bitch-slapping the rest that the Persians gave up a few days later. Then they conquered Athens and half of Greece. If he survived long enough, a Spartiate might graduate to a support role by the age of 70. How kickass is that?

Also, where are the parachuting rules? And does fast-roping from a chopper use the parachuting or athletics skills?

[CardboardArmor]

How about we brain out the team name IC so some of us can express our innate displeasure with the name.

Dun get me wrong, though, I love the Spartans. Thermopolyae, yo. But it seems a little too pretentious, ya?

Anyway, check out CC for drop rules. Fastroping and stuff falls under Athletics, I think.

[Digital Heroin]

*peers in, wondering what, if any, roles are still free*

[Beast of Revolut...]

I think a little boastfulness is expected of a merc outfit. Of course, we could always be the Roughnecks. Rico's Roughnecks!

[Limping Jacob]

I have no problem if we use the name Spartiates...as long as we never ever again discuss the descending testicles of seven-year-old boys.

[Beast of Revolut...]

I can promise you that, with the exception of the possibility that we may someday play a run involving the Catholic church.

[CardboardArmor]

This has to be a record. The game hasn't started yet and people are already balls-ing things up.

Ah, I hate myself. Stupid, stupid puns...

[Limping Jacob]

[Grey]

That should mix well with my Catholic sniper. :)

[toturi]

Hmmm... I would like to play too. Maybe the British Royal Marine Commando SBS or some obscure Asian unit. Remember there are no Canon Asian Spec Ops units yet!

Probably point man or scout, specialising in maritime work. Azerbaijan is close to the Caspian SEA!

[Digital Heroin]

For the record, I was thinking of playing a former Tir Ghost specialized in silent kill, projectile weapons, throwing knives, unarmed... and, as is my tendancy, he/she would be an adept...

[toturi]

Maybe the name could be Wild Card Inc

or Global Executive Resources and Management (GERM) for a more corporate feel

or simply Soldier of Fortune Inc :D

[Callidus]

Very interested in this, I'll try and get some background in tonight.... I'd be going for either magical support (seeing as the medic slots gone) or a gun bunny, although that's gone to *8-> so mage it is.... Got a nice human lover shaman kicking her heels so I'll get the background put together and over to you as soon as I can ronin *8->

Oh she'll be ex UK para's so the parachute bit shouldn't be a major biggie *8->

[CardboardArmor]

[TheOneRonin]

Wow...I didn't expect to get this much interest in this game. That's good, though.

So far, I have 11 charcter requests. Here's what I've gotten so far:

Sniper/Wps Expert, Catholic ala saving pvt ryan (Grey)
Sniper/Stealth, Ork (Shadow)
Combat Decker/Commo, asian female (Cardboard Armor)
EW + Commo, Russian Ork (Clockwork Lime)
Medic (Limping Jacob)
Sorcerer, Japanese Korobokuru (Panzergeist)
Combat Rigger, human UCAS (BGMFH)
Jap Imperial Marine + SF Adept (Beast of Revolutions)
Silent Killer Adept, Tir Ghost (Digital Heroin)
Royal Marine/Asian SpecOps (Toturi)
Magic Support (Callidus)

I'm no stranger to SR, having been GMing since the early 90's, but this will be my first PbP game, so I don't want to over burden myself. I think 11 players is too many, but I'm not sure. Any veteran dumpshock gamers out there that can tell me anything about the logistics of running an 11 person PbP game?

Also, none of the slots are really taken. I've only officially approved 1 character so far, and I'm okay with some overlap. I just want to make sure that we don't end up with two characters who have the exact same skillsets. However, I am willing to work with you guys to make sure your characters cover the bases.

For now, my limit is 8 characters. Since I've only approved 1, that means there are seven slots left. For those of you who end up missing out on this game, I promise you I will do another one soon after this one, and you will have priority for game slots.

I'm going to set the deadline for character submissions at Tuesday, April 6th. And even if it seems that someone has already claimed a slot that you want, submit your character anyway. If your background/history is more fitting than the other character's, you might get the slot.

And on a final note, you can never have too many SHOOTERS in an SF team. ;)

[toturi]

So do we send in the character background write up first, then we go do the stats or do we send both in at the same time?

If we send in both simultaneously, how many BPs do we use?

[TheOneRonin]

Here some things that may help you guys when putting together your character concepts.

The Team Leader can be from any background, and can have skills that duplicate another characters, as long as he has a good charisma, and high leadership/SMUT/social skills. But if you take on that role, you need to be ready to LEAD/COMMAND.

Looks like the Commo slot is the hot one right now. Some suggestions on how to divide it up. First, one person can focus on the actual radio/satellite communication and EW part. Secondly, someone can be a Cryptography expert. Third, someone can be the surveillance/counter surveillance/intelligence expert. There will be some skill overlap, but each of you would have your indepentant focus.

Also, this will not be entirely a field mission. There will be parts where you will need to interface with the local populace. Perhaps a character who's specialty is dealing with indigenous populations would be a good concept. Of course, he/she would be SF trained (maybe CIA or NSA as well) and well rounded. In fact, such a character might well be the most valuable in the whole group.

Active skills are going to be very important, but Knowledge skills will be your bread & butter. Most likely, I will give your characters extra BP for knowledge skills. Also, you will likely have more than the Int x 1.5 in language skills.

And to round out your characters, I'm thinking everyone will probably be in their early to middle 30's. Ork players, don't fret...I don't buy into the whole "orks only live until 50" crap. At worst, and ork with a good standard of living might have 90-95% the lifespan of a normal human. So no middle age penalties. For height and weight averages, download The Shadowrun Supplemental #13 and use the charts in there...they are much more realistic.

[CardboardArmor]

Shoulda been more specific with old Flattie's skill focus, ah well, regrets and all.

Where could we find SS #13, for reference?

[TheOneRonin]

[CardboardArmor]

Let's hear it for uniqueness. Woo.

I'll get the official add-on to the given write-in later today, I was just going to add in specifics on what she did within the Ghosts, specifically just junk on cyberwarfare and whatever other things she did for them. I might make a grab for Crypto/CounterIntel along the way.

[TheOneRonin]

Here's a little background on your team's history together.

February 6th, 2059: Tblisi, Georgia

In a bloody coup, national radical Giorgi Gachechiladze takes hold of the Georgian capital. Several MegaCorps (including Ares) as well as several national governments have a significant presecence in Tblisi because of their vast telecommunications infrastruture, and the fact there are no laws regulating any data/information flow. This has resulted in the creation of SEVERAL datahavens, used extensively by the Corps and Governments alike.

After the coup, Gachechiladze declared all data and hardware in the Georgian Telecom network to be property of the new Georgian Government. Of course, the corps and countries were scared shitless...they couldn't have this madman in control of their data. So several countries and 4 MegaCorps assembled a multinational task force who's aim was to topple Gachechiladze and restore the former Georgian regime.

This is the operation in which the characters met.

One of the Corp experts attached to your team was a Texan by the name of Deke Cantrell. Deke worked for Ares, and handled much of the coordination and planning of the missions you guys did. He was a really friendly and straightforward guy, and was well liked by the whole team. After the operation was over, Deke offered the whole team a job working for Ares. Of course, all of you declined, preferring to return to your respective branches of service.

Deke understood, but gave you his contact info if you should ever change your minds.

A couple of years later you got disillusioned with your current service and decided to contact Deke. As usual, he came through for you.

Deke worked up a contract where Ares basically "bought out" the rest of your term in your chosen service. They also reimbursed your government/corp for the cost of your implants, as well as providing you with the legal permits to possess said implants. The terms of the contract required you to go through a 4 week "Civilian Contractor" training course and committ to a 2 year retainer with Ares. After that two year period, you would be completely independant, but still have the option of picking up Ares contracts if you wanted. Ares would also provide discount housing in their Seattle Townhouse Tower.

It was at the beginning of your first contract that you met up with the rest of the people you worked with in Tblisi. Apparently Deke knew talent when he saw it, and it was his goal to get you guys together this whole time.

Your first contract was in Indonesia, second in Pakistan, and most recent in the Ukraine. Your 3rd contract finished up right around your 2 year mark with Ares, so you guys are now totally independant. Over the past two years, your contract work with Ares has earned the entire 8 person group about 2 million nuyen. That's easily covered your cushy standard of living, plus given you plenty of money left over for savings/investments and gear purchases.

The start of this game will be early February, 2064...right around the 5 year anniversary of the Tblisi coup. All of you are living in Seattle, and in the second month of R&R from the Ukraine operation.

[Callidus]

Nice lead in story Ronin.... one question, where'd you want the backgrounds and character outlines to go?

oh.... second question.... can we initiate at char gen and if so is from the starting spell points? or are we going to do it a different way?

[Shadow]

[Grey]

FYI to everyone. Because Shadow is putting up a Sniper as well, I've decided to change my character from Sniper and I'll be throwing my hat in as the Team lead. He has a CIA and Intel background. Primary focus will be social, second is small unit tactics, with a few combat skills to back him up. He'll also be a master linguist. I'm still sticking with the same general personality and background, I'm just reworking the skill set.

[Grey]

Is there an item of cyberware or bioware that could make slight changes to a persons facial features and skin tone? I've a great idea that my character has something along these things, plus a voice modulator that makes it very easy for him to blend into just about any culture around the world.