Falling Down Options

[mister__joshua]

The Familiar Story:
I have a game I want to run. It's an idea I've been playing with for a while and really wanted to run with my group, but we're already playing 2 games and haven't got enough time for them so adding a third seems like a no-go at this point.

The Idea:
I want to run a game that is very player driven. As a GM I intend to give a PC a problem, and have them deal with it however they want. It'll be reactionary. I also want to run a game that is based around normal people. The wage-slaves, the everyday person. Characters will be low powered and probably possess very little in the way of typical shadowrunning skill. Finally, the players won't necessarily be together in a group, and may not even know each other or have their stories cross. This, in short, is going to be an individual story about the character and his fall, a series of events that lead to the player losing some, most, or all of their live before. I always like to play simple characters that are underskilled because it's exciting, and it makes it more satisfying when you eventually 'make it'. The final point I suppose is that obviousl some pcs will have skills that cross over into the shadows, but these should be few and far between. If you character is a magic 6 wagemage then there's really no challenge or point to it. It's probably going to be 300BPs, but this is just to gauge whether there's any interest at all first.

The Disclaimer:
I thought it was worth putting this on here. I'm not an experienced GM, and have never run a PBP game before. Also, I've noticed that a lot of games on here start up with good intentions but soon fade and die out. If there is interest in this game, I will do my very best to keep it going. I aren't in a position where I can definitely post every day but I will post when I am able. As a final point to the disclaimer, and a big one, I aren't sure if this is going to work. It's an idea I thought would be cool but it's not something I've tried before and it could end up being boring / lame / generally bad. If it does and people aren't enjoying it then tell me and I'll just close it down.
As a final part to this disclaimer, I'll confess that I haven't got any big story planned that I'm going to drag the characters into. I have a few small ideas. Most of the story will be drawn from the character's lives after they've been submitted. The more perfect the character's life, the more there is to destroy.

That's about it for now. I can't accept too many players, but I don't see it being a game that'll appeal to everyone anyway so we'll see how it goes (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)


Characters

Kyra Benson, Dancer

[ Spoiler ]

Profile
Name: Kyra Benson
Alias: None
Archetype: Dancer
Metatype: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 18
Nationality: UCAS
Matrix Icon:
Reality Filter: N/A
Lifestyle: High / Middle
Karma Earned:
Karma Spent:
Build: 600 KG
Game: Falling Down

Character Sketch: <<Kyra>>

Sheet

[ Spoiler ]

Attributes

[ Spoiler ]

Body: 3 ( 3 )
Agility: 4 ( 4 )
Reaction: 3 ( 3 )
Strength: 4 ( 4 )
Charisma: 5 ( 5 )
Intuition: 3 ( 3 )
Logic: 3 ( 3 )
Willpower: 3 ( 3 )
Edge: 4
Magic/Res: 1 ( 1 )
Essence: 6
Initiative: 6 ( 6 )
Astral Initiative: 6 ( 6 )
Matrix Initiative: 6
Initiative Passes: 1
Phys CM: 10
Stun CM: 10

Qualities

[ Spoiler ]

Latent Adept
Privileged family name
Natural Athlete
First Impression

SINer [No points]
Day Job [No points, student of RBS]
Media Junkie [Mild, spend 2hrs / day online]
Compulsion [Mild, to dance]

Skills

[ Spoiler ]

Active Skills
Riding 1 Horse [LA: Reaction T: 4 ]
Gymnastics 3 Ballet [LA: Agility T: 7 +1 quality]
Running 1 [LA: Strength T: 5 +1 quality]
Swimming 1 [LA: Strength T: 5 ]
Unarmed 2 [LA: Agility T: 6 ]
Computer 2 [LA: Logic T: 5 ]
Data search 1 [LA: Logic T: 4 ]
Etiquette 2 Corporate [LA: Charisma T: 7 +2 first impression]
Negotiation 1 [LA: Charisma T: 6 +2 first impression]
Escape artist 1 [LA: Agility T: 5 ]
Perception 3 Visual [LA: Intuition T: 6 ]
Instruction 1 Ballet [LA: Logic T: 4 ]
Artisan 1 [LA: Intuition T: 4 ]
Pilot ground vehicle 1 Wheeled [LA: Reaction T: 4 ]

Knowledge Skills
English N
Spanish 4
French 3 Ballet Terms
Biology 1 [LA: Logic T: 4 ]
Phisio 1 [LA: Logic T: 4 ]
Stories of the Ballet 2 [LA: Logic T: 5 ]
Ballet Companies 3 [LA: Intuition T: 6 ]
Repertoire 4 [LA: Intuition T: 7 ]
Great Dancers of the '70s 3 [LA: Intuition T: 6 ]

Key Skills
Primary Attack: 6D Unarmed

Ranged Defense: 3D +3D FD [Reaction (+Gym FD)]
Melee Defense: 5D +3D FD [Reaction+Skill/Dodge (+Gym FD)]

Primary Non Combat: 10D Ballet
Secondary Non Combat:
Perception: 6D +2D Visual

Adept Powers

[ Spoiler ]

None so far…

Gear

[ Spoiler ]

Ætherlink Perspective + Iris Orb [R3/Si3/F4/Sy3]
+ FTL Matrixware Net Wizard Analyze [3] Browse [3] Command [1] Edit [2] Purge [3], Firewall [4]
+ Sim Module + Trodes

Eurocar Westwind 2000 [80% cost of 3000]

High Lifestyle [Apartment in Richmond] 30,000/mnth
[Comforts, entertainment, necessities, neighbourhood, security - high + quiet neighbourhood & concerned neighbours]
Middle Lifestyle [School Dorm] 4,400/mnth
[Necessities - low, comforts, entertainment, neighbourhood - middle, security - high + quiet neighbourhood & living by committee]

Contacts

[ Spoiler ]

Fellow Dance Students [L:2 C:2 G:3]
Matthew Webb [Childhood sweetheart, works with Dad] [L:4 C:2 G:0]
Lucas King [Dance partner & lover] [L:5 C:1 G:0]
Dame Natalia Minsk [Favourite dance teacher] [L:2 C:3 G:0]

Background

[ Spoiler ]

20 Questions

[ Spoiler ]

1) What's your heritage?
My Mum, Rosa Martinez, very much the matriarch of our family, is an exec of Ætherlink ( Saeder-Krupp) and my Dad, Geoffrey Benson is a systems specialist. I grew up in Seattle, went to the best schools and attended the Velocity dance school. When I was ten it was decided that I had a sufficient gift that it warranted some extra effort and after a round of auditions, an no doubt some string pulling on my Mother’s part, I entered White Lodge and the Royal Ballet School in the UK. It was a long way from home but I have thrived here and don’t really miss home.
2) What would your parents say about you?
I think they’re proud of me, of course with Mum it’s always difficult to tell and Dad is so quiet it’s downright impossible.
3) What historical events does your character remember?
I guess you want me to talk about the crash right? That’s probably the most significant event of the last few years and I was worried about the computer with my exam results on it going down. Hell, I was only eight or so, what did I know about the world?
4) How did you get into shadowrunning, and why?
5) What is your living space like?
Spartan chic they are calling it this season…I prefer elegant…bare walls with an AR interface and floor to ceiling chiffon curtains that move slightly in the breeze from the air conditioning. It’s something that’s easy enough to recreate wherever I go and I’m not one for clutter. I guess travelling backwards and forwards to England over the last few years has meant that I’ve moved with what I can carry on the plane, and given the amount of space that pointe shoes take up there’s not much scope for anything else.
6) What are your beliefs / convictions (if any) and why do you hold them?
Work hard, practice and then work harder – it’s the only way to get on in the field I am competing in, and make no mistake it is a competition as well as a beautiful art.
7) what do you think is your most annoying / worst trait?
It’s my best and worst trait I guess, my focus and dedication to dance above all else. I live and breathe it!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif) What megacorp do you like the most? the Least? Why?
I guess loyalty would have me say Saeder-Krupp, I know they’ve made things happen for me that otherwise wouldn’t have. To be honest I don’t really think about the corps too much, they are just a fact of life. I’ve heard bad things about Aztechnology…?
9) How did you come to know your contacts?
10) What do you do on a day off?
Day off? No, I’m only joking, even I take some time to relax or I’d burn out. I like going to the Opera House or another theatre from time to time – my allowance is generous. I guess I do what most teenagers do, meet my friends, go dancing, browse the ‘trix…
11) How did you come to learn your skills at your present proficiency?
School and hard hard work!
12) Are there any moral limits on what jobs you take or things you'll do?
13) How do you view magic / technomantic abilities?
Nothing against it in theory I guess, although I know my parents have a distinct aversion to either. I know that a large proportion of the best dancers in the world are gifted with magic as well as natural talent which I guess makes me a bit jealous, how can I compete with that?
14) How do you view augmentation / implantation?
The thought of doing it to myself makes me shudder – I rely on knowing how my body will react and whilst I’m sure I’d acclimatise, the thought of having a foreign piece of tech doing my dancing? No thanks, not for me…
15) What do you think of ordinary life and those who live it?
16) What would be a bad nightmare for you? Any deep-rooted fears? Why is it so frightening to you?
Losing my ability to dance – I can only thank the advances in medicine that mean most injuries can be dealt with these days, the thought of losing that…it’s what I am!
17) What is your 'sacred object' or 'close one', and how did they become so important to you?
I know it sounds highly sentimental but I still have my first pair of ballet shoes… I carry them around with me for luck.
18) What did you want to become as a child, and what are your goals now?
To dance, there is nothing else!
19) What does your character look like, and what inspired her choices?
Physically I’m small with slight build, sway back legs and pretty feet. I’ve been called beautiful but I don’t think I am. When I’m not dancing I dress in whatever is most comfortable. I’ve got some sense of fashion (how could I not surrounded by so many girls?) but I’m hardly its slave. I prefer casual (if expensive).
20) How did you get your street name?
21)What’s your daily routine like?
Wake up, browse the 'trix, morning class, lunch, academic studies, more class into the evening unless there’s a performance, some more browsing, sleep, repeat!
22)Do you like your job / life at the moment?
I love it! How could I ask for more? I’m going to be a soloist in the end of year show and that bodes well for the auditions to come…hopefully I can find a good company to take me!
23)List of family members and close friends
Rosa Martinez, Mum
Geoffrey Benson, Dad
Matthew Webb, we grew up together, now he does something with computers with Dad
Lucas King, my partner for the end of year show and my first lover
Girls and boys at school, in particular Sarah, my room mate
Dame Minsk, a former professional dancer and now my mentor

Dumlat McAndrews, Corporate Technician

[ Spoiler ]

Profile
Name: Dumlat McAndrews
Alias: None
Archtype: Corporate Technician
Metatype: Dwarf
Sex: Male
Age: 26
Nationality: UCAS, Evo Corporation
Lifestyle: Middle
Matrix Icon: Standard Evo Icon
Build: 600 Karma
Game: Falling Down
Karma Earned:
Karma Spent:

Sheet

[ Spoiler ]

Attributes

[ Spoiler ]

Body: 5
Agility: 3
Reaction: 3
Strength: 5
Charisma: 3
Intuition: 3
Logic: 5
Willpower: 5

Edge: 3

Qualities

[ Spoiler ]

Positive
College Education
Perceptive(1)

Negative
Lost Loved One (Brother: Talmud McAndrews)
Pacifist (minor)
Records on File (Evo Employee File)
Day Job (40hrs/week) *free*
SINner (standard) *free*

Skills

[ Spoiler ]

Biotech Group 4
Cybertechnology
First Aid
Medicine
Electronics Group 3
Computer
Data Search
Hardware
Software
Chemistry 3
Etiquette (Evo Corporate) 3(5)
Negotiation 1
Perception 3
Aeronautics Mechanic 2
Automotive Mechanic 2
Pilot Aircraft 1
Pilot Anthroform 1
Pilot Ground Craft 1
Pistols 1
Exotic Ranged Weapon (Dart Pistol) 2

Knowledge Skills

[ Spoiler ]

English N
Japanese 3
Russian 2
Or'zet 2
Area Knowledge Seattle (Redmond) 2(4)
Biology 3(4)
Chemistry 3(4)
Engineering 3(4)
Seattle Street Gangs (Redmond) 2(4)
Goblin Rock 1
Ork Rap 1

Contacts

[ Spoiler ]

Louie Toftson (Ork Salvage yard owner) 1/1
Razon (Human Redmond Gang Member and friend of Talmud before he disappeared) 1/2

Cyberware

[ Spoiler ]

Cybereyes 4 *alphaware*
Eye Recording Unit
Image Link
Microscopic Vision
Vision Enhancement 2
Attention Coprocessor 2 *alphaware*
Math SPU *alphaware*

Gear

[ Spoiler ]

Lifestyle: Middle (2 months)

Leather Jacket 2/2 *not normally worn
Mortimer of London: Berwick Suit Jacket (ensemble) 5/3 *Not normally worn
Clothing 0/0 *Day clothes

Custom Commlink
Firewall 5
System 4
Response 4
Signal 3
Pro-user suite
Analyze 4 *running*
Browse 4
Command 2
Edit 4
Agent 3 *running*

Earbuds 3
AR Gloves
Sim Module (cold)
Trodes

At Home
Tool Kit (Aeronautical)
Tool Kit (Automotive)
Mapsoft 3 (Seattle Megaplex)
Mapsoft 4 (Redmond)
Datasoft 3 (Drone Repair)
Medkit 2

Bust-A-Move (minidrone)
BusyBuddy (small drone)
MCT Fly-Spy (minidrone)
Improved Take-off and Landing 2 *std*
Camera 5
Facial Recognition Software 2
Maneuver 2 *std*
Clearsight 2

700 Nuyen

Background

[ Spoiler ]

Description
Dumlat is a Dwarf decedent from Scottish and UCAS parents. He wears his hair in a typical corporate conservative cut and a neatly trimmed mustache. His typical dress is a button down shirt, with Evo logo, slacks, and comfortable dress shoes. At work he usually dons a Lab coat over this. For upscale corporate functions he splurged on a Mortimer of London suit and for the occasional times he gets the urge for night life he has a Leather Coat with t-shirt, jeans, and combat boots.

Dumlat had cybereyes(alphaware) installed to correct his poor vision and for the convenience. He also had an Attention Coprocessor(2 alpha) and Math SPU(alpha) installed to help with work.

Dumlat saw enough violence in Redmond. The cycle of violence of the barrens is something he swore to break when he left. Those who do violence should be brought to justice by the Law, not retaliated against for vengeance.

Background
Dumlat and his "older" twin brother Talmud were born to Dwarf parents on the edge of Redmond. The two grew up with very different outlooks on life. Dumlat likes school and academics, while Talmud was drawn the the streets. Nearly inseparable the two bounced back and forth between school and running with small gangs depending on which brother had the upper hand.

When the two were in their late teens the Evo Corp ran a recruitment drive in Redmond, Dumlat saw this as his opportunity to go to college and escape the barrens. In secret he went to the recruitment and was offered college and a technician position in the Seattle office. When Talmud found out he was furious that Dumlat would abandon his family for Nuyen. The two had a heated argument until Talmud stormed off into the streets. It was the last time the two would talk. 3 months after Dumlat started college Talmud disappeared, a case was opened as he has a SIN but KE would not do more than a cursory investigation for a missing person in the barrens.

Dumlat nearly dropped out of college to help look for his brother, but his father convinced him to stay. He almost lost his scholarship with late nights looking for his brother, yet he did manage to complete college with a degree in BioTech with decent enough grades to complete the contract for his hiring. He began working at Evo the day after his graduation at the age of 23.

Dumlat did well at Evo, but his superiors noticed his absent mindedness at times and had him take counseling. The therapist helped Dumlat put some feelings about his brother in to perspective and suggested that he take up a hobby. Dumlat choose drone repair as it has similarities with his current skill set, but was different enough to not feel like working at home. He just now is beginning that he may have picked it for another reason as well. His first two drones he repaired were a BusyBuddy to clean his floors and a Bust-a-Move for laughs. His last drone was an MCT Fly-Spy. As he was repairing it he realized that he could use the drone to continue the search for his brother with proper programing and upgrades.

*EDIT* I just realized that my cybereye addons, microscopic vision and vision enhancement are not alphaware. i used chummer and added them to my cybereyes as alphaware but it keeps putting them in as standard ware. is this because they are taking up capacity instead of essence?

should i upgrade them to alphaware. i'll have to shuffle around some skills to get the extra nuyen but it shouldn't be to hard.

[Aria]

I'm Very interested! ...I've always wanted to try a normal person in the SR universe. May I suggest that if you go for 300BPs you still allow attributes to be the normal 200BP cap? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[mister__joshua]

If that's what people want. I think PCs should have average stats for their metatype, and 300BPs doesn't even allow you to put 2 points into each stat, so I have no problem with that. Maybe if I allow the full 200 into stats I should include special attributes in that too.

[Aria]

That would help to limit magic and edge certainly, which otherwise might break a low power game...

Where you thinking of setting the game in Seattle?

[mister__joshua]

Yes, to start with, though if you wanted a character to be somewhere else I have no problem with that. As long as they're a normal-ish person in a normal scenario then that's fine.

[BlackHat]

Always interested. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I've also found that I end up with a lot of character ideas that would make interesting "people" in the SR universe but not necessarily very good shadowrunners (particularly when it makes more sense that they would spend their days doing something besides shadowrunning). It would be neat to get a chance to put one of those ideas to the test, doing day-to-day things, which get spiced up by the GM.

I haven't had a lot of luck with games where the characters are operating one-on-one with the GM, but I could see where it could be a advantage in some cases, and a disadvantage in others. Basically, if the GM is active and can respond a lot, a game like that could move at whatever pace those two people are comfortable with (as opposed to needing to make sure all 5+ players have time to post). On the flip side, in a typical PBP game, I've found scenes where the players are interacting amongst themselves require less GM attention, and help fill posting gaps where he or she is busy or not ready to push the story forward yet.

[mister__joshua]

Fair enough, that's a good point. We'll have to see how it goes. I should be able to post most weekdays at least. Maybe if things start going slowly then longer posts covering longer periods of time (if the story allows) will help. Sort of like 'this is what I want to achieve today'. Maybe it'll work out that the characters do know each other, work for same corp etc. It depends what people come up with. I'm looking for descriptions and lifestyles before stat lines.

[sabs]

Something to mention, having tried to make 'regular' people. Most of the 'regular' people skills, just don't exist. The skill system that's in Shadowrun is really 'shadow' slanted. It's hard to make an accountant, for example. You end up taking vast hordes of knowledge skills, because besides Computer 2, etiquette 1 with a specialty, there just aren't that many actual skills you would legitimately have.

[BlackHat]

Fair enough, that's a good point. We'll have to see how it goes. I should be able to post most weekdays at least. Maybe if things start going slowly then longer posts covering longer periods of time (if the story allows) will help. Sort of like 'this is what I want to achieve today'.

Yep, depending on the style you're going for, and the player's comfort level, they might post longer periods (assuming success on most minor tasks) and fill in the details themselves. Sometimes the tendency is to stop and give the GM an opportunity to react (since the player has no idea what, if anything, the GM has planned) every couple of steps, or after every spoken comment, which results in much slower back and forth posts, but if it becomes an issue, I'm sure the players will get into sync with your pace pretty easily. I only mentioned it as something to keep an eye out for. If you're able to post every couple of days, I doubt it will become a problem.

I'm looking for descriptions and lifestyles before stat lines.

Are you looking for these now? Or just checking interest in this thread before asking for that sort of stuff somewhere else?

[mister__joshua]

I don't mind really. I'm happy to run it with just 1 or 2 people so there's already enough interest to give it a go. I suppose if you get something up early then it'll give me longer to plan how I'm going to mess with you (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Post things here if you're ready. I probably won't bother with a separate thread unless it becomes really messy.

@sabs: I know what you're saying and it's a fair point but I don't see it as too much of a problem. The way I look at it the further removed from the shadows your normal life and the fewer transferable skills you have, the more fun you'll have trying to overcome those challenges. I'd love to see a character with computer 2, etiquette 1 and a load of knowledge skills as that will make challenging the character that much easier.

[BlackHat]

This, in short, is going to be an individual story about the character and his fall, a series of events that lead to the player losing some, most, or all of their live before.

One more question, are the details of the character's "fall" something you'd want us to give input on (or come up with as part of the character description) or is it something you're planning to surprise us with based on what we come up with? Either way sounds fun.

[sabs]

Oh, I'm not saying it's not fun. I'm saying that it's hard to SPEND 300bp on a wage-slave, without buying increasingly weird and esoteric knowledge skills

[mister__joshua]

I was going to do that bit. That will hopefully be a big part of what I intend to do in the game. For the character descriptions I'm just looking for regular people with normal jobs so that I can torture them in some way. I'm thinking that everyone will have the SINner and Day Job qualities by default so avoid those.

[mister__joshua]

Oh, I'm not saying it's not fun. I'm saying that it's hard to SPEND 300bp on a wage-slave, without buying increasingly weird and esoteric knowledge skills

Haha. I know what you mean. Well, if you're building a character based on normal life I guess you could fill out his points with lots of high loyalty low connection 'friends'. It's always good to have actual friends when the poo hits the fan.

[Tanegar]

Oh, I'm not saying it's not fun. I'm saying that it's hard to SPEND 300bp on a wage-slave, without buying increasingly weird and esoteric knowledge skills

I'm not sure that's true. Looking through the skill list on page 120 of SR4A, I see over thirty different Active skills that just about anyone could plausibly have:
Gymnastics (it's the skill used for dance)
Automatics (lots of gun enthusiasts out there)
Longarms
Pistols
Unarmed Combat (plenty of people study a martial art in their spare time)
Diving
Parachuting
Pilot Aircraft (anyone with a civil pilot's license)
Pilot Groundcraft
Climbing
Running
Swimming
Con
Etiquette
Instruction
Intimidation
Leadership
Negotiation
Artisan (multiple skills possible there: Drawing, Painting, Sculpting, Cooking, Musicianship...)
Navigation
Perception
Tracking (hunters and the like)
Aeronautics Mechanic
Automotive Mechanic
Chemistry
Computer
Data Search
First Aid
Industrial Mechanic
Hardware
Nautical Mechanic
Software

...and that's without even getting into Magical or Resonance skills. Moreover, there's no reason to feel constrained by the "official" skill list. If there's something you think your character should be able to do, talk to the GM about adding a custom skill.

[Aria]

I'm tempted by a hacker adept or by a nascent TM (I still don't fully understand the rules but I'm becoming more and more interested in the matrix stuff (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ) ...it strikes me that the biggest barrier between normal people and the shadows is the need for violence (or maybe that's just a personal thing?!?) and matrix violence isn't real...is it? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ork.gif) I'm not saying the pacifist quality is absolutely neccessary but something to consider!

Another option might be a budding dancer with a future on the stage (again probably an adept...love adepts!).

I think the idea of limiting magic is a good one and makes me feel less cheesy wanting to play an adept (sometimes need to be restrained for my own good) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Tanegar]

I'm not so sure that limiting BP will get you what you want: viable low-powered character. I think it's more likely to get you either brutally min-maxed or outright crippled characters. Consider this instead:

• 400BP
• Attributes limited to racial average; i.e., an ork's starting Body can be no higher than 7
• Skills limited to one at 5, the rest at 3; or two at 4, the rest at 3
• Dice pools capped at (Attribute + Skill) x 2

I think this is more likely to produce characters who are well-rounded and generally capable without being powerhouses.

[sabs]

5 is supposed to be "one of the best in the world. Olympic Athletes, etc"
I think 1 at 4, rest at 2, or 2 at 3, rest at 2 is much more appropriate for wage slaves.
Also, consider the Karma buy system. It rewards buying lots of low levels of skills.

[BlackHat]

I like both ideas of putting a few caps (or even suggested caps), otherwise I agree that you'll probably see a lot of characters trying to be as good as they can be given whatever constraints you impose - which isn't really in the spirit of the game. Of course, you could also just tell those players "No thanks" since you'll probably find you're going to have more players willing to join than you're prepared to handle.

As for what those limits should be, I'm less sure. 5 seems high (like someone said, its someone at almost the top of their field), but I could see a lot of concepts where that would be just fine for a normal person. If someone wanted to play a corporate cybertechnician, it might be just fine that they have a 5 or even a 6 in cybersurgery. A professor with a 5 in "Instruction" is going to be similarly not game breaking, and models a character concept well that isn't suited to the shadows. See how often either of those characters get to use their skills from their previous life. A character with 5 or 6 in spellcasting, though, is probably quite a bit more capable in the shadows, and so there should probably be a lower limit for that sort of thing. Same goes for hacking, combat skills, etc. It would be hard to decide where to draw the line, though. The best thing might be to just ask people to reign themselves in, and if someone doesn't, to reserve the right to ask them to get weaker.

Edit: And yeah, either of those concepts with 5-6 in the skill would be remarkable individuals, which would make it even more interesting when they fall from grace. In the case of the corporate cybertechnician, maybe he gets his career ruined when some shadowrunners sabotage his prototype implants, or he gets extracted by some rival corp. A world-class cybertechnician would make a much more realistic target than some guy who's a little better than the black-clinic street-doc on the corner. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Of course, if the GM's intention is that the PCs are playing ordinary (as in, unremarkable) people beforehand, it would make sense to put a hard limit and just say "no world heavyweight boxers, and no world-famous musicians, but you're welcome to be a bouncer at a club or a drummer in a band who is still trying to get noticed."

[Tanegar]

Rating 2 is described as "Novice," an apprentice or trainee. Rating 3 is an "entry-level professional" or an associate's degree, 4 is a "mid-career professional" or a bachelor's, and 5 is an "expert" with a Master's degree. Depending on where your character is in his career, 5 can be entirely appropriate.

[mister__joshua]

@Aria: To be honest I hate to be limiting in character creation but I was hoping to avoid Awakened characters completely as that for me straight away makes you NOT normal, it gives you an edge that directly translates to being a shadowrunner. You said you'd like to make a hacker but Hacker isn't really a normal person job. If you wanted to play a matrix user (and like you I'm not too hot on the rules. I bet you understand them better than me even thought I've read unwired twice!) then I'd suggest something like IT Tech support, software developer, matrix game designer, something along those lines. You may eventually end up as a hacker as that's the shadow role you're most suited to, but it's not who you are. Make sense? Alternatively the dancer character sounds interesting.

@Everyone: The limiting stats and skills thing is a good idea but I was hoping it wouldn't be necessary. I think BlackHat pretty much nailed it with 'ask players to be self limiting, and reserve the right to reject'. The ideas you mentioned for professor or cyber technician are both just the sort of thing I was thinking of. Everyone suggesting limits seems to already have a pretty good idea of where the limits should be so I have no problem asking people to self-impose their own. It's not about squeezing all the power you can it, and to me if your concept makes for an absolutely crippled character in the regular sense, then in this game it'll just be all that more entertaining.

On Karmagen, I love the idea and agree that it would suit this game more than most, but I also have no experience with it and don't know where to set the limits for it. If anyone that uses it a lot can suggest an amount then I'd be happy to work with it (though initiated mages will face immediate orbital bombardment)

[Aria]

Ok, I will skip the ‘hacker’ part from any description… for the dancer I was thinking of someone who was a rising star rather than already famous – someone 18-19 who was on the verge of becoming a principal dancer out of school (and is beginning to feel the pressure! Black Swan esque perhaps? I don’t know, after all it sounds like you want to take responsibility for our fall from grace (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ). If you’re not keen on awakening at the start can I go for ‘latent adept’? – I’m sure I can work in a reason why she wasn’t picked up as active in the regular corp tests! I know you want 'ordinary' but everyone has at least one thing they're good at - or hopefully anyway (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Another option I’ve considered is more Cyber Generation, (which is a game I’ve always enjoyed even though it’s a bit Mohawk for what I think you have in mind…) and that is a pair of twins 12-14 who are latent TMs. With identical stats I'd be happy to play both of them (until you kill one of them off horribly or something equally sinister (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ork.gif) ) ...before any emergence they could be as ordinary as you wanted!

[mister__joshua]

Yeah, the downfall of the characters is kind of the main story. I'm starting to think I perhaps didn't make it very clear in the beginning so I'll have another go.

What I was hoping for was for the characters to be normal people, and the mission will be me throwing extraordinary problems at them to see how they react and cope. It's sort of like chronicling how someone ends up in the shadows, though if you play it clever I suppose you could get back on top and avoid the shadows completely. To take BlackHat's example. Say you're a cybertechnician and a group of shadowrunners steal your latest prototype causing you to lose your job. You immediately have several things you may want to do. You could try and track down the shadowrunners (probably not advised), try and hire a runner of your own, find out who they were working for etc. After that, do you want to get the prototype back? Do you want to just get revenge? Do you take the information to your ex-corp? You could even offer your services to the people who stole it. After all, you know how it works! All the while you've lost your source of income, so you'll need money to live, or go bin-dipping. The point is that all of these decisions are up to the player. It isn't a get run, plan run, go format. Does that clarify it for anyone?

I will at this point state again that I can't guarantee that this is going to work or be any good. It was just an idea I had and thought it would be fun. I'm new at this so don't set your expectations too high, but I can hopefully offer some entertaining challenges to overcome and a reasonably frequent post rate (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)


Unrelated, but I do like Cybergen. As a 10+ year Cyberpunk player it's what I know. My group, driven by me, only switched to shadowrun at 4th edition after the monumental disappointment of waiting 10 years for a new book and then it being complete ass. But, while a cool idea that is perhaps not as suited to the game as the other 2 concepts.

[BlackHat]

On Karmagen, I love the idea and agree that it would suit this game more than most, but I also have no experience with it and don't know where to set the limits for it. If anyone that uses it a lot can suggest an amount then I'd be happy to work with it (though initiated mages will face immediate orbital bombardment)

I'm not sure what a good "ordinary" karma level would be, but I will suggest that if you go with karmagen you look into the errata'd version that was slipped into the reprinting of runner's companion, but never made it into any official errata. If you're interested, I can dig up the link around here (one of the writters posted the differences), but it fixes a few karma costs that have been updated since RC first came out.

I'll try to get my idea posted up tonight. I've got a few ideas that will be cool (but potentially quite useless) and its just a matter of narrowing down which one I think would be the most fun to play.

[BlackHat]

I'm not sure what a good "ordinary" karma level would be, but I will suggest that if you go with karmagen you look into the errata'd version that was slipped into the reprinting of runner's companion, but never made it into any official errata. If you're interested, I can dig up the link around here (one of the writters posted the differences), but it fixes a few karma costs that have been updated since RC first came out.

Here you go