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> Advice, Just picked up "Harlequinn's Back"
Weredigo
post Feb 21 2005, 08:17 AM
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Late one night I got tired of Players rolling up Characters that were extremely low powered, unimaginative, and restricted on thier abilities. So I decided to Give them some really High Power Characters. So I created the Djinn, each has at least 20 in different Physical, Mental, and Special attributes. The can cast Alter Self, RiftWalk, and Lesser Mindprob, except for the Mage, She can cast Major Mindprobe. FYI Riftwalk allows those who can cast it travel through Rifts without getting lost, I didn't give them the ability to just step through astral planes. And no they can't cast wishes but if anyone speaks thier true name the one named is stunned for one round and must fullfill any request the speaker desires, such a request as "obey me" would really be bad for said character. There is one Mage, one Thief, and One Fighter, plus an NPC Dwarven Decker. They have other certain flaws and are all good and balanced.

I just picked up "Harlequinn's Back" and "Grimtooths Dungeon of Doom" and planning on running them through the two soon.

I'm wondering, Which one should be first, and any advice from those who have run either of the adventures???
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DocMortand
post Feb 21 2005, 08:24 AM
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Well, I don't know Harlequin's Back other than the fact that I would never come within a mile of his pointy-eared machinations.

I *do* know the Dungeon tho - it might be interesting to run them through it IF you can figure out how to transfer it into SR parlance. That might be tricky and would require several different modes of thinking as well as several suspensions of disbelief...altho now that I think about it I might see it as a Dragon's cavern lair. But still, it's a bit much unless it is a one shot campaign.

From other threads, Harley's Back gives MASSIVE amounts of Karma so the runners may be a one shot there as well.

[aside]
Altho Djinns stretch my imagination...I'd never allow it myself, but I tend to root myself in the timeline so I don't need to create things even further out of fantasy.
[/aside]
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Weredigo
post Feb 21 2005, 09:07 AM
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Well typically on my board just about everything from myth and fantasy has a base of reality to it. Djinn were a race that were lightyears ahead of the technology we have today and resided in many different astral planes. Unfortunately that was around the "Earthdawn" timeline. When Magic left the earth, the Djinn went more or less Extinct, except for those few trapped in bottles. And thier home Planes became Shattered and scattered to the four corners of existence.
Although I do allow Anything from Fantasy or SciFi fiction on the board, I'll Allways give it Very Real Qualities, Flaws, and Edges.
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Sandoval Smith
post Feb 21 2005, 11:34 AM
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Run them through Grimtooth, because PCs like that will eat "Harlequin's Back" for breakfast.
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DrJest
post Feb 21 2005, 12:30 PM
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Harlequin's Back is basically a series of short adventures that together comprise an astral quest. Because it throws the runners out of their normal experiences, it requires a fairly flexible mindset (and plenty of good roleplaying) to get through it.

Incidentally, whilst you will earn a respectable amount of karma from it if you follow the award guidlines in the book - in theory up to 61 karma for the complete campaign - the key word there is earn. You will. Every fraggin' point of it :S And it's quite easy to blow some of the rewards if you take a typically "shoot first and ask questions later" attitude. If that still seems like a lot of karma, well, don't forget it's really a mini-campaign rather than a single adventure; five distinct adventures plus short linking scenes (a couple of which are pretty combat heavy). Of course, you could always reduce the award if you think it's too high. The Roleplaying Police won't come to your house and nick you for not slavishly following the printed word :D
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Weredigo
post Feb 21 2005, 03:48 PM
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nah, I think it's fair. Usually I hand out Karma rewards for all the different reason's found in the Core Rule Book, Paralyzing everyone with laughter, right place right time, stupid ideas that work, and at end of session (not necessarily end of run) I roll percentiles and give them whatever comes up.
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Fortune
post Feb 21 2005, 04:38 PM
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QUOTE
... and at end of session (not necessarily end of run) I roll percentiles and give them whatever comes up.


Uh huh!
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Brazila
post Feb 21 2005, 07:19 PM
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I like big karma but damn man. It sounds more like a SR similar custom game that you play. Nothing wrong with that but can't really recomend adventures when we don't know the real game your playing.
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Sandoval Smith
post Feb 22 2005, 01:07 AM
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Wait a second, they all have at least 20, in _each_ attribute? Just forget about Harlequinn's back, except in a couple spots, PCs of that level will just tear through the module, and I'm not even sure how much challenge most of Grimtooth will offer.
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Weredigo
post Feb 22 2005, 02:20 AM
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no, not in EACH attribute, one has 20 in Strength, Willpower, and Reaction, Another has it in Body Intellegence and Magic, the third has Quickness Willpower and Essence. Harl's got prolly 20 in all Atts and the average adult dragon has Att's between 20 and 99
QUOTE
I like big karma but damn man.
It's all good, everything's balanced by what you can purchase with Karma,

Att point, 100
Skill point, 10
Spell, 20
1xtra Success on a Test, 10
Lower TN by 1, 10
Ressurection, 100, or 1 point of Willpower lost permanently and inability to puchase more willpower points.
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Narmio
post Feb 22 2005, 02:55 AM
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QUOTE (Weredigo)
So I created the Djinn... <snip some crazy talk>

Tell me, Weredigo, have you also replaced the dice in your games with d20s and written up a list of "Feats" your player's characters can get?

Or perhaps you're using d47-and-a-thirds, GM while tapdancing, and give an additional percentile dice karma for the winner of the Most Interesting Pants At Session award?

You ask us to suggest what you do in some published adventures, but you don't appear to be sticking to any of the other rules. How are we supposed to predict anything at all? [1]



[1] Nevertheless, my money's on the tapdancing.
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Weredigo
post Feb 22 2005, 03:07 AM
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QUOTE
You ask us to suggest what you do in some published adventures, but you don't appear to be sticking to any of the other rules. How are we supposed to predict anything at all?


:ic:
If you have run either of these adventures any advice is welcome.
If you have not, still any suggestions are welcomes.
I don't recall asking for predictions, I can do my own thank you.

:ooc:
if you would prefer not to criticize my gaming in a constructive manner, feel free to take a jump off the highest closest skyscraper, the worlds smallest fiddle will be playing a sonnet just for you.
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hahnsoo
post Feb 22 2005, 03:12 AM
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QUOTE (Weredigo)
:ooc:
if you would prefer not to criticize my gaming in a constructive manner, feel free to take a jump off the highest closest skyscraper, the worlds smallest fiddle will be playing a sonnet just for you.

Here's some constructive criticism: I think the descriptions of your games seem not to be congruent with the general style and substance of the game of Shadowrun. It seems to be more of an overpowered amalgamation of different games. While not inherently wrong, it sounds more like Rifts than the Sixth World that most of us are familiar with. I went through a phase in middle school where me and my friends played DnD in a similar fashion (had a character that owned the Duchy of Karameikos and the Wizard was as powerful as the Elminster), and it can be fun for a while, so I'm not going to knock it (any more than necessary). But you can't expect to talk about the same game as the rest of us when you are playing something completely different.
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Cynic project
post Feb 22 2005, 03:19 AM
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Were, you do not seem to be playing with the same rules as we do. I have had high end character who got attributes in the mid teens when they were using magic and spirits. But I have never felt the need to have 20's as base numbers.

So, if you are playing "shadowrun" then are not play on the same scale as most if not all the other players here.
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Sandoval Smith
post Feb 22 2005, 06:43 AM
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QUOTE (hahnsoo)
it sounds more like Rifts than the Sixth World that most of us are familiar with.

Woo-hoo! Break out the Glitterboys!

Okay, Weredigo, telling us about the Djinns was a good thing. It gave us something of a baseline to start with. However, since it seems that your board is some sort of amalgamated homebrew, that still isn't enough. 'Harlequin's Back' is not some uber-munch monte haul. The Djinn's will pretty much walk over every combat and physical threat in the book, and a good deal of everything else as well. You're going to have to retool pretty much everything, and since we don't know what you're playing, there's really very little help we can offer on it.
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Weredigo
post Feb 22 2005, 08:10 AM
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Well keeping a very important thing in mind. My Board is Shadowrun Based, everything else is just extra flavor and coloring, but I use Shadowrun Numbers. Granted my Board is a bit more Flexible then other Games but I still follow the same rules. Or I at least try to.

So to prevent my PC's from walking all over HB I should toughen up the opposition, and maybe start pestering them with other Shadowrun teams, for instance a Revenge Squad, or two, or three, or four etceteray ad nauseum sent by Aztechnology for thier part in DNA/DOA.

Another bit of Good News, it's gonna be a few weeks or so befor I hafta run HB. I've got the something real simple planned for them, just to get the attentions of some NPC's, Harl included, and then it's the Dungeon of Doom to see if I can get them to just the right stage of paranoia.
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Fortune
post Feb 22 2005, 10:43 AM
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What's the rationale behind handing out butt-loads of Karma, and then having to totally retool the entire pricing system to accomodate and balance it? Why not just use the normal Karma rules in the first place?
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Endgame50
post Feb 24 2005, 06:45 AM
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I think were is trying to say he likes the basic d6 engine SR uses. And perhaps the assortment of powers / gear available. In all other respects, I'm unsure which game is being played. :)
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Weredigo
post Feb 24 2005, 08:00 AM
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QUOTE
I think were is trying to say he likes the basic d6 engine SR uses. And perhaps the assortment of powers / gear available.


Exactly, and to clarify what other "Flavor Information" I've added so that the maximum ammount of fun for both players, GM, and Peanut Gallery can be had.
And reason's Why.

RiFtS: Ah, so yer telling me (from SR1's timeline description) that 5/7ths of the worlds population is GONE) Okay, lots of elbowroom, so I guess nobody minds if I draw about half a dozen lines on the earth and reccomend players not get too close to them, unless I want to take them to a Dungeon Delving adventure, or maybe something from DnD

World of Darkness: Okay so they're saying Vampirism and the Undead are an infection, and that Were critters have no sentience, that's a bit boring, that also means that if my Players want to play Were Critters or Vampires I have to say no, well that's gonna spoil a lot of fun for everybody. So I guess nobody will mind if I rule that the Masquerade has fallen. Hey cool, I even have a fictional reference for it, Movie Queen of the Damned.

Murphy's World: Well shoot, my players are Stuck, they can't figure a way out of this situation, they've had 3 hours on it, so to get the game moving the opposition needs to make a mistake.

DnD: Dammit, not enough wierd critters, and the dragon's just don't look as kick ass as the fiction aludes them to be.
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Fortune
post Feb 24 2005, 09:25 AM
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QUOTE
Ah, so yer telling me (from SR1's timeline description) that 5/7ths of the worlds population is GONE)


I don't know where you get this. Sure VITAS killed a lot of people, but 60 years of breeding has replaced any such losses. If anything, canon states that there are more people than today, even with VITAS, not less, and definitely not decreased by the figure you claim.

Maybe it's like this in your game, but claiming that this is Shadowrun canon is just wrong.
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Weredigo
post Feb 24 2005, 09:41 AM
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yup, goof on my part, was probably overestimating the numbers. But (houserule) I dissagree with the world repopulating itself so fast, and prefer to have a Fifty/Fifty balance between Technologically Civilized World and Revert Back to Wilderness.
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Jrayjoker
post Feb 24 2005, 02:54 PM
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Out of curiosity, what skill levels are your characters allowed? Do they roll a number of dice similar to their attributes? Are they still limited to starting skills of 6 and availability of 8?
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TheBovrilMonkey
post Feb 24 2005, 05:20 PM
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So, your players are currently playing characters that are a brand new, extremely powerful race of your creation, you've reworked the karma system (including resurrections - wow) and have thrown out a fair chunk of shadowrun background while also adding in elements from rifts, d&d and world of darkness?

Aside from the dice mechanics and the names of the corporations, how much have you kept from Shadowrun?
Sounds to me like there's very little left.

Out of interest, were your players also tired of 'rolling up Characters that were extremely low powered, unimaginative, and restricted on their abilities', or were they quite happy to keep going at a power level more in tune with what most of us here seem to be used to?
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Garland
post Feb 24 2005, 05:48 PM
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QUOTE (Fortune)
QUOTE
Ah, so yer telling me (from SR1's timeline description) that 5/7ths of the worlds population is GONE)


I don't know where you get this. Sure VITAS killed a lot of people, but 60 years of breeding has replaced any such losses. If anything, canon states that there are more people than today, even with VITAS, not less, and definitely not decreased by the figure you claim.

Maybe it's like this in your game, but claiming that this is Shadowrun canon is just wrong.

My group and I were just talking about this at the SR session last night. I think the statistic is something like 1 in 4 die from the various waves of VITAS.
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hahnsoo
post Feb 24 2005, 07:07 PM
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QUOTE (Garland)
My group and I were just talking about this at the SR session last night. I think the statistic is something like 1 in 4 die from the various waves of VITAS.

According to the BBB, 1 in 4 die in the first wave throughout the world in the first wave in 2010, and 1 in 10 die in another wave in 2022. No mention if there are any other outbreaks (I'm pretty sure there were).
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