OOC/IC : 2064, Building the Team (Closed Game) Options

[Backgammon]

(contniuing Sandoval's story)

<<...Roger that>>. Dogma closed the comm connection to Jack in his headphone. He put on his quintessential shades and picked up a dummy briefcase. Dogma wasn't big on props and disguises, that was Jack's field. The briefcase was such a half-assed attempted at a "plausible disguise" or whatever Jack called it that it was almost funny. But of course, that doesn't mean Dogam wasn't being serious. His suit, though falling in the elf's range of fashionable garments, was designed not to attract attention. And since Dogma was only making a quick, one-time walk by, further diguises were not necessary.

And so, as planned, Dogma walked across the plaza in front of the hotel. He inconspicuously chose a path that provided him clear sight of the mysterious elf smoking with Gabriel. Needing only a second of visual contact, Dogma took a series of zoomed in pictures of the stranger's face, and then broke of and chose another path that made sure Gabriel would not see him, just for precautions.

Dogma finished his apparent path and entered the hotel lobby, and promptly exited via another door.

Dogma sent a mental message to his companions: <<I got my clicks. I'll be analysing them, call you when I have something. Oh yeah, I spotted some gun totting suits when I passed by. Unknown players. Could be bodyguards, could be a hit team. Keep and eye out for them, guys.>>

Now on to serious matters. Dogma began making calls and faxing the pictures to his data anlysis contacts.

Hopefully those suits weren't going to be a problem...

[Lindt]

(cont. Backgammon)
In a renovated walkup now serving as a hotel, 8 blocks from the plaza, Tev snaps back into his body, and dismisses the hearth sprit that was there to protect him. "Thank you, friend of mine, you are free to go as you wish." He reaches for a nearby handheld radio "Our friend has friends in the astral, a few watchers, look like they are there to play alarm. And a moderate air elemental, which wont be more then I can handle if it comes to it. They both seem pretty calm, though the elf keeps spiking into panic. didn't see any cyber, but I didn't get close enough to look. Any thing else need checking up before I checkout?"
While waiting for a delayed reply, Tev folds up the only splash of color in the room A brightly woven blanket, bearing figures and shapes that don't make much rhyme or reason to someone not familiar with the brilliance of the astral space near the Rockies.
He opens the shade, letting the sun stream in and spilling across the floor.
The radio chatters softly"I got my clicks. I'll be analysing them, call you when I have something. Oh yeah, I spotted some gun totting suits when I passed by. Unknown players. Could be bodyguards, could be a hit team. Keep and eye out for them, guys." Tev picks the radio up "Ill be right on it" He draws the shade halfway, and unfolds the blanket. Tev softly mumbles, pulling a small amount of mana tougther to create a diminutive watcher sprit. "Please, if someone comes to this room, please tell me quickly. Thank you little one." Tevos waits for the watcher to figure out what this means, then slips back into the astral space and floats off to find this group of unidentified men.

[Gremish]

(Cont From Lidnt)

The coffee shop bristled with business as customers flew in and out of the shop located near the lobby of the Burnsley Hotel. But with every Human or meta that entered the shop a man stuck out sitting comfortably on a wide couch built so that up to 4 people could use it yet he sat alone even though the shop was overcrowded with people wanting to sit. Something about him, not only the fact that he had a slightly green skin with eyes like fire burning into any that drew his attention toward them, it was the way he sat more then his appearance that drove people to stay away, something military with the feeling of "i can gut you and hang you out to dry before you blink."

Gremish pulled a calloused hand though his thick black hair streaked with orange highlights, these civilians walking around like hampsters on the wheel of life always going but never getting anywhere annoyed him. He knew better then to bring true attention to himself by preaching to them about how wrong their lives already were but the urge was still there, drek who cared about it anymore anyhow? There would always be the scum that ate the corps food off the floor nothing for him to do about it but move on with life and get his job done. One day maybe he would show what these corps and country really were but today all he needed to think about was a fat paycheck from a nice simple recon of some half ass infil guy. Go in find out what ya can wait for the contact and snag em... seemed easy enough to a pro like Grem but god if there wasn't always a twist and the simplest things always ended up the hardest. His part at this point was easy sit here and drink half watered coffee unless he was needed for combat or some other magical need. All the sneaking around and spying was the others problem not his.

"I got my clicks. I'll be analysing them, call you when I have something. Oh yeah, I spotted some gun totting suits when I passed by. Unknown players. Could be bodyguards, could be a hit team. Keep and eye out for them, guys." Broke in over his comm unit.
"Oh boy i hope they start this party i could use a new suit." Gremish wispered under his breath slamming down the last bit of coffee and taking a look over his shoulder out the window to where the hotels lobby and the teams objective sat with his buddy chatting away oblivious to the world.
"Ma'am" Grem says to the passing waitress "I'll take capachino this time extra foam please" Winking to the lady as she scurrys away.

[Lindt]

2 quick ones. Gremish, you cant buy force 10 foci at car. gen. Limited to 6 just like everything else. Also, Inc Refx is awsome, but unles your scared of constent dispelling, its not worth the all-ready stupid high drain to use at F5. There are some spells that work fine at F1, and thats one of them.

Second, its a pet peeve of mine, but make sure to disable your .sig for any IC posts.

[HMHVV Hunter]

OOC:

Yeah, I know Rebo's lacking in physical skills. I guess I could do without conjuring, maybe...

[Gremish]

ok thx for the update lindt i didnt know about the force 6 thing =P my bad and i really wasnt thinking about the imp reflex thing till after i did it thanks for catching that. =) ill nab some more spells with the extra SP. The reason i took the focus for it is so i dont ahve to sustain it constantly....

[Fortune]

Since we already seem to have two Sorcerers, in my opinion Conjuring is in short supply with the team.

[Lindt]

Gremish. R9 medkit. No. R6 max, and you would be better off with a Savior Adv nanotech kit if you wanna spend the money.
And I think your Spell point math is off, as even with the bonded foci, your still only using 48, and you said you bought 3 more with cash. Might I recommend a few low force utility spells to spend those last 5 on?

[Sphynx]

Gremmy, give me a feel for the character. He still seems like a purely misc. spell caster. I understand the felt neccessity for all players to have Inc Reflexes and Imp Invis (which you should also consider at Force 1), as well as the Heal, so in thinking Theme, I see Hot Potatoe, Physical Barrier, and Chaotic world with 2 combat spells. Explain to me why you chose those, so I get a feel for him a bit.

[Lindt]

Not just 2 combat spells, 2 very mana based combat spells. Infact they are the same spell, just one has a touch range and one dosent.

[Gremish]

Read Cobra Totem. It says very nicly either stays out of combat or when he gets into combat goes for a FAST kill. I built this character based on that. Im a fast kill the drain for me makes no diff as long as the bad guys down. As for the other spells a "Goblin" sort of char has a "odd" spell arsenal, i went with that all those spells are not really common. As for Imp invis at force 5 thats because the Force number, and correct me if im wrong, is the target number for others to see THROUGH the invis once it is cast, with that in mind it would be a BAD idea to have a force one because that means thier target to see through it is one 1. With Heal the Force helps in healing i believe ill have to look this one up as im not as familiar with heals force benefit but i know there is one =P ill just have to find it. Those are the REASONS i took the spells and did what i did, as for not having a theme i think frankly that i do have a theme and i like it. with a few ore utility spells , which i realize i havent spend all my SP yet im still deciding on which spells ide like and i might buy a few more SP with the cash i got back from the foci's i messed up. The medkit thing is that i bought the best one you could get off the street. im not going fansy with my starting gear cause frankly with the background i put out i dont feel it is nessecary and i dont see how my char would get a hold of things like nano gear yet.

If you don agree with what ive done then frankly im sry =P if you dont feel i will help the group or that what i have developed thus far is not good enough im sry ill bow out if you like. Im all for constructive critisim so keep it coming but know mosta the time i have a good reason for it =)

*EDIT* oh also i went with chaotic world and hot potatoe cause they were good gremlin type illusion spells which again comes from my totem =) im looking for more of them as i type this cause i wanted to get a little more into illusion. Also for the high drain thats another reason i took the Pain Tolerence Edges =P

This post has been edited by Gremish: Jan 1 2005, 02:01 AM

[Fortune]

[Gremish]

[Fortune]

As I said in my earlier post, one of the basic rules of chargen in Shadowrun is Rating 6/Availability 8 maximum. It is in the core book, and is always applicable unless otherwise stated. It is covered in Sphynx's second post in the other thread where he states 'Basic rules apply'.

As to the Heal issue, it seems pretty clear to me that Sphynx's comment was limited to Improved Invisibility (see the comma after the brackets).

[Fortune]

[IC continued]

Gypsy licks his lips before once again raising the flute and launching into another haunting melody. He keeps watch with both normal and Astral sight as he plays, his eyes constantly roaming over the trafiic, both pedestrian and vehiclular that passes by his vantage point located half a block from the hotel where the meeting is taking place.

A small receiver in the elf's ear keeps him abreast of the rest of the team's activities as he sits cross-legged in front of a vacant and boarded up electronics store, his ragged green long coat wrapped tightly around his slender frame. The current job didn't yet require much from the elven sorcerer, so he was free to while away the time playing for the occasional person who would stop to listen. He was merely on-hand to assist in the event of anything unforeseen happening. Of course, the unforeseen always seems to occur in this sort of work.

[Sandoval Smith]

Okay, I took Sphynx's hints, and ditched the car. I used most of the extra nuyen to upgrade cyberware, so Jack's now up to a whopping .59 essence. These SHOULD be his final stat changes.

[ Spoiler ]

Jack No'one
Human
Bod: 6( 8 ).............-12
Qui: 3................-6
Str: 4................-8
Cha: 6................-12
Int: 6.................-12
Wis: 3.................-6
Ess: .59
Mag: 0
Rea: 5
Ini: 1 (2)

Combat Pool: 6
Armor - Ballistic: 6 Impact: 3

Edges:
Friendly Face...................-1
Blandness.......................-2
Astral Chameleon................-2
Photographic Memory.............-3
Phobia: Un/Sev.(bug spirits).....4
Hung Out to Dry..................4

Cyber:
V Mod Tonal Shift...............0.00
V Mod Second Pattern [1]........0.00
Internal Voice Mask [2]..........0.10
Datajack........................0.20
Datajack........................0.20
Memory (200 Mps).(alpha)........0.50
Knowsoft Link...................0.10
Chipjack, Multi-slot 3..........0.30
Expert Chipjack Dvr [2].........0.20
Skillwires [5] MP 75............1.00
Eyes, Cyber (alpha).............0.16
+ Eyes, Opticam (alpha).........0.40
+ Eyes, Image Link(alpha).......0.16
+ Eyes, Thermographic (alpha)...0.16
Ears Cyber Repl.................0.30
+ Ear Recorder..................0.30
+ Ear Hearing Amp...............0.20
+ Sound Filter [2]..............0.20
Smartlink II(alpha).............0.40
Transducer......................0.10
Boosted Reflexes 1(alpha).......0.40
Router..........................0.10
Dermal Sheath 1-Ruthenium........0.70
4xScanner.......................0.20

Bioware:
Enhanced Articulation...........0.60

Skills:
Disguise/Cosmetic [5/7].......................6
Negotiation/Fast talk [5/7]...................6
Interrogation/Verbal [4/6]....................5
Forgery [6]...................................6
Artisan/Drawing [3/5].........................4
Unarmed Combat-SR3/Fists [3/5]................4
Athletics 5...................................5
Stealth 4.....................................5

AC:Biology(KNO) [4]
AC:Psychology(KNO) [4]
IN:Fashion(KNO) [4]
Disguise(KNO) [6]
SW:Metahumanity(KNO) [4]
Denver(KNO)/Zone Crossings [4/6]
Denver(KNO)/Politics [2/4]
English(LAN) [6]
English(LAN) (RW) [3]
Sioux(LAN) [3]
Sioux(LAN) (RW) [1]

Gear: 1,000,000..........................30
Form Fitting Full Body Suit
Chemical Seal Rating [6]
Secure Long Coat
Secure Jacket
Secure Ultra Vest
3 x Ordinary Clothing
3 x Fine Clothing
2 x Tres Chic Clothing
2 x Medkit Rating 6
Medkit Supplies
2 x Trauma Patch
4 x Tranq Patch [6]
4 x Antidote Patch [6]
2 x Stimulant Patch [6]
Disguise Kit (2000 nuyen)
SkillSoft Jukebox 108MP 4 prts
LinguaSoft Gen. [4]-> Chinese
LinguaSoft Gen. [4]-> Japanese
LinguaSoft Gen. [4]-> Salish
LinguaSoft Gen. [4]-> Sprethiel
LinguaSoft spec. [5]-> Spanish / Aztlaner
ActiveSoft Spec. [5]-> Performance / Acting
ActiveSoft Spec. [5]-> Intimidation / Mental
ActiveSoft Gen. [5]-> Computer
ActiveSoft Gen. [5]-> Computer B/R
ActiveSoft Spec. [5]-> Car / Americar
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> Electronics
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> Electronics B/R
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> Biotech
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> Pistols
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> SMG
ActiveSoft Gen. [4]-> Etiquette
Knowsoft Gen. [5]-> Denver Street Maps
Knowsoft Gen. [5]-> Ute Culture
Knowsoft Gen. [5]-> Sioux Culture
Knowsoft Gen. [5]-> Pueblo Culture
Knowsoft Gen. [4]-> Police Procedure
Knowsoft Gen. [4]-> Megacorporate Procedures
Knowsoft Gen. [4]-> Megacorporate Security
Knowsoft Gen. [4]-> Security Design
Knowsoft Gen. [4]-> Security Systems
Knowsoft Gen. [3]-> Security Devices
Knowsoft Gen. [3]-> Aztlan Culture
Knowsoft Gen. [3]-> Aztlan Geography
Knowsoft Gen. [3]-> Pop Culture
Knowsoft Gen. [3]-> Bushido Philosophy
Knowsoft Gen. [2]-> Small Talk
Knowsoft Gen. [2]-> Metahuman Politics
3xOptical Memory Chip 50MP
3xOptical Memory Chip 100MP
False ID Credstick Rating [6]
-Pueblo
False ID Credstick Rating [6]
-Aztlan (Denver deportee)
False ID Credstick Rating [4]
-CAS
False ID Credstick Rating [4]
-Sioux
False ID Credstick Rating [3]
-Ute
Pocket Flashlight
Binoculars, Low-light
Wrist phone - flip screen
Earplug Cell Phone
Pocket secretary
The Me Box (a hollowed out cyberdeck case that he keeps all his chips in)

Shock Glove
Colt Cobra TZ-110
-Sling
-Concealable Holster
-2xExEx
-3xGel
-3xRegular
Predator III
-Quickdraw Concealed holster
-3x regular
-1xcapsule
-15xDMSO (1 dose)
-15xGamma-Scopolamine (1 dose)

[continuing IC]
Jack grimaced at the confirmation of astral security. He covered by thumping on his chest, and coughing, looking like something had gone down the wrong pipe. Spirits, indeed most magic made him a little nervous. There was no way for him to know what was going on astrally, and his astral signature was the single weak point in his disguises that he could do nothing to hide. If anything took a close look at him and realized that he had a very unusual load of cyberware for a salariman, things could get very hot, very fast.

He tried to up the gain on his cyber ears, the receivers whining as they hit their maximum. He was still only able to pick up the occasional word, but it was all getting fed through his headwear encryption then sent back to base, where another team would be working to make sense out of it.

A soft, feminine voice whispered over the team band. "Heads up, we've got a partial I.D.on our boy." He thought of her as Lilt, because of the pleasant contralto tone she spoke in. She was another one of those anonymous voices that called them in and told them what to do. With the amount of electronic alteration used to disguise the transmission, it could even be Big Boss giving the orders. He preferred to think that there was a rather more pleasing face belonging to that comforting tone. "He's in Azzie intelligence," she continued, "one of their wet work boys. If he's in Denver someone's supposed to die. No'one, get in closer, we need to hear what they're saying."

Jack tensed, but kept his attention firmly on his lunch, taking out a handkerchief and wiping his mouth. He then packed up his rubbish and took a look around. There was a nice, sunny bench, surronded by blooming planters closer to the two Aztlaners. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and shook one out as he approached, lighting it as he stretched out on the bench. He realized that both Gabriel and the elf had stopped talking and were staring at him. He kept his attention on his cigarette, taking a long drag, and looking up into the sky, enjoying the sunshine.

The two men started talking again, and the white noise generator was reduced to a background rustle, nearly every word going right into his headwear. Jack slit his eyes as he took another drag, and had to tense to keep from flinching. A set of suits were closing in on his position, with only a pretense of subtly.

"Give me a call out!" he said, his tranducer routing the tense words through his ear phone. The suits got closer, their hands all inobtrusively out of sight. His wrist phone rang, loud enough to be heard by almost everyone in the plaza. Gabriel and the elf gave a start and looked at him, and the suits stopped advancing, for a moment. He held his wrist out at arm's length, then quickly brought it in close to his chest as he looked at the screen. "Yeah, I'm own my way back to the office now. No, I just hit the stuffer shack for some soycaff and cigs. I'm right outside the monorail station. I'll be back in ten minutes." The entire statement was an obvious lie. The closest station was a fifteen minute walk away.

He stomped out the cigarette and stood, picking up his briefcase, and started to walk briskly. All of the suits seemed plasubily engaged with something else, none of them quite looking at him, just like he wasn't quite looking at them. Although he passed close to a couple, none of them made a move to stop him.

"We've got enough." Lilt transmitted. "Once he and Gabriel split, a unit disguised as Knight Errant FRFZ will move in to apprehend him. Close on his position and be prepared to lend assistance. Try and take him alive. Dead if you have to. If he's got any back up, geek 'em."

[Fortune]

Sandoval: A few comments ...

You can save some Essence (and nuyen) by eliminating the Smartlink Eye Display since he already has an Image Link which does that job and more.

Since he doesn't have internal communication devices, you might consider an external Transducer.

With 2 Datajacks, you definitely don't need an extra Router, as there are enough free ports (6 spare) on the Datajacks to cover his present needs.

I'd still drop those Skillwires by 1, and then use the Pluscode (?) or Customization chip options in M&M to compensate for the drop. I'd also raise the CED to 3. As an addendum, I assume you realize that the CED only affects 1 slot on the Multi-chipjack.

With Hearing Augmentation, he is going to be in a world of hurt without a Dampener.

You've probably thought of it, but if not you might consider the Synaptic Accelerator instead of the Boosted Reflexes.

The Knowsoft Link is superfluous when you already have Chipjack(s), as its only function is to enable a Datajack to be used as such.

[Gremish]

Yep found where it said Rat 6 max =0 never knew aboiut the rule before since it was only stated once in the whole book and the NSRCG didnt have it in there woops =P my bad now i know which i plan to inform my players tonight seeing as we are playing =)

Thx for the info guys glad to know i still got stuff to learn =D]

Grem

[Sandoval Smith]

It didn't even cross my mind to break down the smartlink. Thanks for the suggestion.

His original cyber load had a headware phone too, but I had to ditch that because of the ridiculous essence cost. I still held on to the transducer, because it cuts out one piece of external equipment highly useful when engaged in clandestine survelliance operations.

I forgot about the extra ports on the second datajack. I added that after the router, when I realized that there would be a good chance he'd need to be plugged into more than one thing at once.

I'm not familar with those, and flipping through M&M, I don't see anything about them. Are you sure that was Man & Machine? For the CED, I know it applies to just one jack. If he really needs to get something done, that's the slot he uses.

Forgot about the dampener. Oops.

The Synaptic Accelerator 1 is more than twice as expensive as alpha boosted reflexes 1, and since Jack isn't supposed to be the hard core combat man, I'm hoping that the one time reflex boost will be enough.

You also need it to access any knowsofts in headwear memory, which along with survelliance audio/video seems like a good use to put it too. Even if all the rest of his chips are eaten by hellhounds, he might still be able to keep the knowsoft 'Get the drek outta here!' in his head.

Thanks for the comments though. I didn't realize I'd overlooked some of those things.

[Fortune]

Silly me. I forgot that the Chip options are in Cannon Companion. I mean, where else would they be but the gun book? :D

As for the Transducer, it is only a small electronic thingie that would be attached 'in line' with the datacord you already have to use to link between your datajack and the your comm devices anyway. Just trying to maximize your nuyen and Essence expendature.

[Backgammon]

I also want to drop my car, freeing 20k, but I'm not sure what I could spend it on. Any suggestions? I could also remove Shadowland as a contact for 10k. I could get replacement eyes with low-light, eye-lights, thermal and maybe eye laser rangefinder or shotgun microphone.

[Fortune]

Or a Spatial Recognizer ... or up your Select Sound Filter rating.

[Backgammon]

New stats:

[ Spoiler ]

Dogma - Elf face
B 4
Q 6
S 3
C 7
I 5
W 5
R 5+1D6
Cmbt 8
E 1,46
K 1
Nuyen 1855

Skills
Athletics 3
Pistols 3
Unarmed 4
Stealth 5
Car 2
Computers(search) 2(4)
Elecronics 3
Electronics B/R 3
Etiquette 6
Interrogation 6
Negociation 6

Cyberware
Datajack (alpha)
2 slot chipjack (alpha)
Head mem[150 mp]
Telephone (alpha) [Encryption 3 ECCM 2]
- Commlink R3
- Transducer
Cyber ears
- Amplifier (alpha)
- Dampener
- Select sound R3
- Recorder
Cyber eyes
- Camera (alpha)
- Mag 2
- image link
- Low-light w/ eye lights
- Flare comp
Air Filtration R3
Blood Filtration R3
Mnemonic enhancer R1
Chemical Analyser and Gas Spectrometer w/ R4 (effective rating 6)
Internal GPS
Orientation System
Olfactory Booster R5

Knowledge
Magic BG 4
Denver 5
Denver politics 6
Police Procedure 4
Identities 5
English 4
Spanish(Aztlaner) 3

Contacts
Decker 2
Fixer 1
Info Broker 2
Fence 1
Denver police force 1
Illuminaty member 1
Nexus 2



Gear
Browning Ultra 6 10c SA 9M Laser sight


Lined Coat 4/2 [fire resist 3, non-conductive 3]
Shock glove (2M stun + 7S stun shock)
Survival knife
Jammer R6
Plasteel restraints x5
Electronics toolkit
Fake SIN R4
Fake SIN R4
Fake SIN R4
Dataline tap x3 R2
Laser microphone R3
Shotgun microphone R3
Signal Locator (AOD) R4
Tracking bugs (AOD) R3 x5
Bug Scanner R5
White Noise generator R5
Respirator
Tres Chic clothes x3 Fine clothes x5

Changes: removed car and Shadowland
Added: cyber ear replacement, +1 level to select sound filter, added a recorder
cyber eye replacement, low light, eye lights
Added encryption 3 and ECCM 2 to head phone.

[Lindt]

Before I jump back into the IC bit. Could I bum a transceiver off someone? I just noticed that I could, at tops, get a rating 1 with a sub vocal mike. At that point Id be better off yelling across the room.

[Fortune]

I don't have one either. I just assumed that we were issued them for this 'prequel', and don't necessarily have them now. :D