Streets of Sorrow, Street level campaign Options

[HobbeGoblin]

Based in Seattle, 2064. The campaign starts with all the players as members of a gang. This is a game for roleplayers but, there will also be combat...life's tough on the streets, neh?

Standard character creation and BP's acceptable (125 points)

no technical, or non-street knowledges above 3
no magical skills above 3
resources are limited to 90,000 unless you can convince me in your discription.

You must also let me know if you are going to be:

Hardcore Member: culturally and criminally enmeshed in gang...the 10%'ers
Associate Member: made a personal commitment to gang and to achieve
recognition as a Hardcore Member.
Fringe Member: Still able to function outside of gang, no real commitment
to gang. Drift in and out.

Special note: Hardcore Members must have a good explaination in their
discription or take the criminal record flaw.

As stated before this will be a roleplaying game with some combat, i'd like to focus on the harsh street life, character development and just to have fun.

Gear is limited to Availability of 5

Due to recent questions/concerns/suggestions, combat will be more of a theme than i had previously thought. I will reward roleplay and driving the storyline though.

[Digital Heroin]

Hmmm... need to think about this one.

[Cydlexia]

[FONT=Courier] Yo! yo! Whats up... Send me some Info on this.. Sounds cool... Any one who reads should join up... And I need the books sent over dude. To make a guy

Later
OoXWraithXoO

[Kiedo]

I'd definately be interested in playing, one question, are the players the upper echelon of the gang or just regular old members?

And what about gear, what's the highest availability?

[HobbeGoblin]

Gear is all at Availability 5 ( unless you have a good story how you got it)

The choice for being upper echelon is up to you.

Hardcore members are infact leaders
Associate Members are working to be Hardcore and leaders
Fringe members just dift inand out

[HobbeGoblin]

Hardcore members have a greater voice in the story. ie.... the hardcore members decide by a vote to go to war or not. The Gangleader at this point is an NPC. Hardcore members decide by vote which Associate members become Hardcore during the campaign. Hardcore members can speak on behalf of the gang and, are in charge of the day to day running of the gang. This great power within the gang comes with a price in character creation ( see first post) or by performing up the level Hardcore members expect during game play to be promoted.

[WinterRat1]

5 questions at this time:

1. Are there any limits on physical adepts?

2. Do we have to pay to be part of the gang (50K as per SRComp) or do we begin play assuming we're in if we choose, at one of the levels mentioned above with the appropriate requirements/restrictions per level?

3. Also, are there any limits on edges and flaws?

4. When and how would you want characters submitted, and what would you want included in the submission?

5. Are there any skill and/or attribute restrictions other than the ones listed? Because with 125 BP, it's very easy to have nearly all your attributes at 5 or 6 as a human, and have a ton of skill points, and 90K

Ex.
Attributes: 30 X 2 = 60 BP
Skills: 50 X 1 = 50 BP
Resources: 90K = 15 BP
Human: 0 BP
Mundane: 0 BP
Total: 125 BP

Not trying to undermine you or anything, just checking if that's ok with you, because that was my initial thought for a potential character.

[HobbeGoblin]

To answer your questions.

1. limits on psyads: I dont at this time have the new SOTA source book...It's on my to get list so, if you use/take powers i'm not familiar with i'll need an explaination on them.

2. Do you need to pay the 50k?: No, I'd prefer money be spent on contacts and a fast street bike. You are automatically in the gang at the level you put yourself in.....that being said if you or any other characters amass enough to pay 50k that is more NPC's in the gang.

3.Edges and flaws: 10 points.....I know that Criminal record (Which makes you a Hardcore member) is 6 points worth of flaws.This may seem like an easy 6 points and a way into leadership, but it will be used as a flaw.....cops have you on file remember.Also, the flaw opens up an area for other contacts( prison/jail) Mafioso's, Yakuza, Triads, other gangs all have people there as guests of the state.

Any education edges are double the cost.

4. When and how should characters be submitted? A short discription is fine on this post but, please message me for character stats and brief history/ discription.
A short discription may draw extra people to play or help someone come up with a character so, i highly encourage anyone to post one.

I want to kick this off by April 5th so, i'd like to have characters submitted by March 31st.

The beauty of this campaign is that new characters can come in later.A gang is always recruiting. The fringe members do have the option of drifting into and out of the campaign but, Associate members will stay in the campaign to gain position within the gang, and Hardcore members should be the most proactive,and devoted to playing as that is the nature of being a Hardcore member.

5. Skill/Attribute restrictions: No other restrictions other than mentioned in above posts. Lets keep it on target though how would a 15 to 20 year old, most likely high school drop out know economic theories.

I am using the Shadowrun Companion rules for this so, see the rules on creating a ganger for some clarity.

Hope this answeres your questions and looking forward to seeing your character and playing.

[WinterRat1]

OK thanks for answering. The main reason I ask on physads is because even a starting physad can have killing hands, really jacked up skills, the equivalent of wired reflexes and numerous other cyber right off the draw and be an extrememly powerful character (especially compared to the money available to other characters and the skill limitations on magical skills).

It seemed like you were shooting for a low-power game emphasizing the role-playing and backdrop of the story rather than power, which was apparent through the use of your various creation restrictions on pretty much every other type of character. So I was wondering if there would be similar restrictions on physads since according to the guidelines thus far they can still run pretty wild, especially considering the low power level of the other characters. Thanks for your response!

[HobbeGoblin]

I do understand the power of psyad's. They are extremely lethal, that is an edge and a flaw....when word reaches that you can kill with a punch, you'll face more than just one opponent at a time. This will not be automatic.....the street wont figure out what a psyad is until after a number of deaths at your hands, could you go a long ways before they figure it out? Yes, but that requires a great effort on the psyads player. There is also the Star to worry about. I am not trying to disuade you from playing a psyad ( or anyone else) Just remember a psyad is like walking around with a 44 Magnum... one, two, maybe six shots in public and then its all over the street you're a bada$$ who isnt afraid to use what you got.

[Digital Heroin]

I'm thinking Psyad too... mainly because I've had some sick Psyads in the past, sans Killing Hands even. I'm almost tempted to ressurect Blitzkreig, but his death is final in my eyes.

[Musashi Forever]

I am definitely interested. I'll shoot a character over to you in a couple days. I'm thinking minotaur muscle with limited cyber, maybe a street shaman, but magicians are quite limited...I dunno. Talk to you soon.

[Kiedo]

Dang I'll have to change my character around I was going for an adept but since there are already two... maybe path of the magician adept. Yeah I'll send in a character for this some time tommorow.

[WinterRat1]

Kiedo, go ahead and take the adept; at this point I was just asking questions for clarification, i still haven't decided if/what I'd be playing, so if you know what you want, go ahead and submit it. Thanks for the consideration though, it's appreciated! :)

[Kiedo]

Thats alright I always play an adept, so maybe I'll try something new, plus the magic aspect wouldn't work well with my concept.

[Kiedo]

by the way, does the gang have a name?

[HobbeGoblin]

Route 7 serpents...AKA 7serpents

Symbol is a 7 with a serpent around it. The serpent may be any serpentine creature to include: Cobras, Rattlesnakes,any type of viper and oriental dragons.

The tattoo that is placed on the hand ( mandatory) has the gang symbol tattooed between the thumb and index finger ( the fleshy part of the hand) Three diamonds are arranged in a pyramid around the symbol. One above the symbol and the other two on either side of the symbol. This has signifigant meaning as it literally means " My crazy life". It's a symbolic mark of your dedication.

You Hardcore members who have done time most likely have some other tat's including: clock faces: shows you did time; Brick or stone walls: same as clock faces; two clown faces, one laughing and one crying: play now pay later.

A special tattoo for the gang is bones tattooed on your fingers ( the skeletal finger bones inked in place) starting with the trigger finger. The signifigence....."You've made your bones" for the gang.....ie you have killed for the gang.This tattoo requires special thought on your thought....if in jail for it previous the amount of time and your age need to match, or there is the dark secret flaw.

[HobbeGoblin]

The area you'll be playing in is along ........route 7 in Puyallup and in parts of Loveland. You share a border with the Forever Tacoma gang. Of your main gigs your gang runs protection for smugglers ( somtimes you are the smugglers) along route 7. You sideline in hijacking cargo, stealing and stripping cars, BTL and street substances,you also pick up protection money for the Yak's ( of which the gang gets a cut) . And muscle work if it comes along.

Enjoy the crazy life chummers

[Sandoval Smith]

Well, I've been kicking around shapeshifter ideas lately, so I thought I'd try this one out.

History:

[ Spoiler ]

Most people just call him Survivor. He's been with the 7serpents almost as long as there has been a 7serpents. He's an edgy, mean mother-fragger, but you see a lot of that in any gang. It's certainly not enough to earn you a spot in the cadre, no matter how long you hang around. What earned Survivor that kind of respect was the fact that he was tough. He doesn't look like much, especially not compared to to the immense, chrome augmented trolls that other gangs like to use for enforcers, but he's gone toe to toe with those trolls, and walked away, leaving them shredded lumps of meat lying in the street.

In the middle of an all out gang war, a van ran him down, then crashed because his body was caught up in the wheels. He pulled his carcass out from underneath, hauled himself upright (using only his arms, because it looked like both his feet were turned around the wrong way) and then yanked the driver out through the windshield and beat him to a pulp. That actually slowed him down for a while, but it was only a short amount of time until he was prowling 7serpent territory again.

He also has a presence about him that makes others uneasy. He's got a glare that is hard to stand up against, a way of looking at you like he's seriously considering chewing your face off your skull. Fighting beside him can be almost as bad as fighting against him. He growls, he yips, he barks, and if he's going for the kill, don't even think of trying to pull him off. You're going to get bitten. Or worse.

Survivor is one of the only members of the cadre that has never spent time in prison. He seems to have an almost six sense about the 'Star, managing to slip, or fight his way out any time the 'Star has him pinned. They seem to hold a special terror for him, and it is well known amongst the gang that he will fight to the death, no matter what the other consequences, to avoid being taken in by, "The Catchers."

The secret being kept from most of the gang is that Survivor isn't even human at all. He's a wolf 'shifter. He was born somewhere out in the rockies, growing up in NAN territory. From early on, he was fascinated by humans, and by how easy they made his life. Raiding garbage for food, curling up in drainage pipes, or crawlspaces for shelter. His side of the mountains were the domain of very old, very powerful nature spirits, and they disaproved of any within their domain giving up the wild to scavange off of humans. Survivor simply didn't care, turning his back on them, enjoying the easy life. It wasn't until an armed party was on his tail, and he fled back into the mountains that he realized the magnitude of his mistake. Every spirit of the forest was his enemy, hounding him mercilessly until he fled their domain. He ran west for a very long way, bereft of pack, and fearing that hunters, both human and spirit might be close behind him.

Following lines of human habitation, he eventually found his way to the metroplex. He met another wolf 'shifter, living on the fringes of the 'plex, and the old wolf, as eager as the young one to be a member of a pack again, no matter how small. The old wolf taught him many thing about being a wolf, and being a man. One of the things that he didn't teach Survivor about was human laws, and the fate that awaits dangerous animals that do deadly things. The DIPS were after the old wolf, and one day they found him. Survivor was close enough to watch them take down his mentor, incinerating the old wolf on the spot. It branded him with the fear that the 'Star would be coming to do the same to him.

It was not long after that when he fell in with the 7serpents. He was just extra muscle then, but his contributions in those early days, plus his simple refusal to die no matter what he was hit with, earned him the name Survivor. It even got him a halfway decent doss to crash at, a shack, in the middle of a junkyard, the door hidden under a camaflauge net. It kept the rain off and the devil rats out, which was all he really wanted.

The 7serpents are his pack, and he treats them as such. Members have his loyalty, but he doesn't hesitate to put those further down the ladder in their place if they start making noise. Threats to the pack are treated much more brutally.
Stats:Shapeshifter Adept

[ Spoiler ]

Body: 3(4)
Quickness: 4
Strength: 5(6)
Charisma: 2(3)
Intelligence: 3
Willpower: 3
Essence: 8
Reaction: 3(5)
Intiative: 1(2)

Combat Pool: 5

Wolf:
Body: 1(3)
Quickness: 3(4)
Strength: 4(5)

Combat Pool: 5

Edges:
Perceptive
Astral Chameleon
Bonus Attribute: STR
Sense of Direction
(Regeneration)
(Duel Natured)

Flaws:
Illiterate
Phobia (Common/mild): Lonestar
Vindictive
Gremlins 2
Spirit Bane: Forest Spirits
Combat Monster
(Cyberware Rejection)
(Severe Allergy: Silver)

Powers:
Improved Reflexes 1*
Counterstrike 2*
Great Leap 2
Penetrating Strike 1
Low-light vision
Spatial Recognizer
Improved Scent
Improved Taste
Motion Sense
Traceless Walk
Empathic Reading 2

Skills:
Unarmed: 5
Shotguns: 4
Edged: 3
Athletics: 4
Stealth: 4
Intmidation/Physical: 2/4
Bike: 3

Scrounging: 2
Gang Turf: 3
Lone Star Tactics: 3
Paranormal Animals: 1
English: 3

Gear:
Hardliner Gloves
Forearm Snap Blades
Survival Knife
Remington 990
-Sling
-5xRegular
-3xFlechette
Ordinary Clothing
Secure Long coat
Camoflauge Netting (10m2)
Grapple Gun
-Grapple Line (100m)
Metal Restraints

[Kiedo]

Okay heres my concept, he's got some cyber but I forgot to include how he aquired it so I'll revise that.

[ Spoiler ]

The streets of Houston are cold and merciless. Growing up in South Houston (which is much like the Barrens of Seattle) Mitch never really had a childhood. From gang raids and corrupt lonestar cops, to fringe cults, he could never really make time to go play. As a result of this Mitch was forced to grow up early, even being a troll didn’t seem to help. During one of the more violent raids from the Los Padres Mitch’s parents(who were also trolls) gave their lives to protect him. Suddenly orphaned and cast out into a world that didn’t want him the now 13, Mitch joined up with a gang. He didn’t join because he needed protection, or because he needed money, he joined because he was lonely and Nemesis was the sworn enemy of the Los Padres. He brought hell to those that had taken his family from him and had enjoyed it. It seemed at least to Mitch that he was born to kill. Becoming extremely violent towards any none Nemesis member the gang began to fear him, and when a shift in leadership occurred instead of killing just those that were trying to shift the power balance, he went on his first “spree” killing almost all twenty of the gangs core members. With the blood of those he had come to call his family on his hands, he quickly fleed Houston, not for fear of his life but because he was again lonely. On a stolen motorcycle he roared across North America, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake, he had honed his art and wanted nothing more than to continue to produce master pieces. When he stopped off at the grand canyon for a pit stop, he was confronted by a pair of lonestar cops about the stolen bike he rode. He made short work of them and headed out to Seattle, where his travels had suggested his talents would be most appreciated.

Arriving in the sprawl on December 7, 2054 he was immediately approached by a yakuza recruiter, it seemed that he had a fan. The yakuza sent him up in their personnel deconstruction project and Mitch had enjoyed that much. His colleagues had felt uncomfortable around him and rightfully so, Mitch was probably the most dangerous troll employed by the Yakuza, he often liked to think. It was on an assignment where he needed to “deconstruct” the CEO of a small corporation known as Globaltech, that he earned his first nickname. Sneaking in to a building unnoticed was no small feet for a nine and a half foot tall troll, but getting in and out in under ten minutes without so much as sounding an alarm was impossible, the few friends that he had began to call him Ghost, because there was no way he could have done that unless he was one. During one of the many Yakuza purges Mitch was ”fired” from his job, but due to his efficiency his superiors wanted to keep him around, so they pulled some strings and got him in with the 7 serpents. Taking to the gangs mindset quickly, Ghost applied his “technical expertise” to many of the various things the gang did. The leader of the gang liked him, he was ruthless, cunning and brutally efficient. The gang had put him in charge of collecting protection money and money that any one else “owed” the gang. He served his first jail time in March of 2059. His group, which consisted of about five strong gangers hand picked from the ranks, was assigned to collect stolen drug money from some Mafia thug who thought they could just waltz right in and knock off a protected dealer. His mission was to collect the drugs, and kill anyone who even looked like they were involved. He didn’t get busted for killing the mafia thugs, apparently the star thought he did them some kind of favor, but he did get arrested for transport twenty kilos of pure heroin. With the help of some of his yakuza buddies, he managed only to spend about a year in prision, which was enough for him. Since he was a troll, he spent most of his time in solitary, so he wouldn’t kill any of the other prisoners. When he got out the gang had a huge party and made him a lieutenant. With his new position in the gang, and his tenure firm in hand, he swung right back into his routine of being the deadliest troll this side of the barrens(or so he thinks).

[Cydlexia]

I have a concept in the works for yah. He's a Natty Dread, Shaman totem of the snake.. Kick it around And I will send you the specs...

[Cydlexia]

D'at is only if ya be' beliv'in Jah môn, d'en de right of the real revolutionary will come t'rough.... Natty Dread ride's again, remember d'at! For de :nuyen: I can tell ya what ya need.......

[HobbeGoblin]

Kiedo...i like it. Just send me the character stats.

Sandoval....would you consider playing a rat shifter? while survivor in the history you provided exhibits some wolf qualities it seems there are some heavy arguments that he is a mean-a$$ rat shifter. Cydll has my companion book ( i've never really looked at shifters) so, i'm not sure if there is a rat shifter. I do like the concept but the history seemed more like rat to me ( mostly the fleeing to an urban area, scrounging an existence there and the doss is basically a cellar)...hope i dont offend.


By the way Kiedo...you have no idea how big an influence the Yak's have on this gang. If you dont still have the bike you can always catch a ride with the Rastafarian in his van. If you dont mind the second-hand " smoke"

[HobbeGoblin]

The gangs offical "colors" are racing leathers ( the jacket anyways) with the symbol on the back, right shoulder/arm and on the left breast above the heart.The colors of the leathers is up to each one individually and often matches the colors/designs on your bike. If you wear a helmet ( which is not made fun of) it is usually airbrushed with designs. Members are often fond of sewing patches on their leathers from parts manufacturers, motorcycle companies..etc.

Bikes are steet bikes...crotch rockets, traditionally. You bigger folks may buy choppers to support your weight (trolls). As no street bike comes with the load to move you.

Cars are acceptable, most are tuners, all are fast......all are fast. Car drivers are afforded alittle less respect as most status other than gang rank is based upon your bike riding skill. This should not stop anyone from having a fast car they prefer to drive in the gang.

[Sandoval Smith]

There are no rat shifters in the Companion. IIRC, Fox is the smallest 'shifter type there is, followed by eagle. Survivor was inspired by anecdotal experiences I've heard from relatives, who lived in areas that still had wolf populations that had become acclimatized to scavenging off of people. I think wolf would be more appropriate than rat because of the strong pack bond he would feel to the gang. It also gives hims reason to be ruthless and vicious against threats to 'the pack' without creating the threat that his behavior will make him too dangerous for other gang members to be around.

*edit*
I forgot to mention that currently Survivor has no bike (5k starting resources rather suck). He used to have one, but a couple weeks ago, it abruptly blew up. While he was riding it. He's very unhappy about that.