normaly i'd do an introduction post first, but seeing on how I have absolutely no idea what i'm doing or where everything is I thought it might be best to ask my question and just get it over with. Kind of like ripping a band-aid off a really hairy arm...I'm sure you'll appreciate that analogy...eh heh.

Okay so, I'm not what you'd call knowledged in shadowrun in any way shape or form, I've read one book in the Shadowrun series 'Never trust an elf' which I learned just this morning got bad reviews and is apparently hated by SR fans so perhaps I shouldn't admit that I enjoyed it. Mostly for kham, I have this 'thing' for orc/ork species. Which brings me to my question/ request, and I hope I'm posdting this in the proper place.

I just wnated to play an 'ork' something like 'Kham' in the book I read, but rather then just swipe the character like some brainless...oh I forgot what you call those people who really stink at chat rp, well anyway I don't want to be one of those sorts. It's just for an rpg chat site, nothing fancy, and I've been looking for information on Shadowrun orks but have come up with very little. I wanted my ork to have a cybernetic feature much like Kham did but I have no idea where to begin looking for info on that. normally I would use a book for help but I've misplaced the one I read, and all i can find is titled 'find your own truth' which I picked up at a book sale and It doesn't sound all that interesting. (It doesn't have any orks in it...)


So...anyway, I was hoping maybe someone could direct me to some good reference sites for both orks and cybernetic implants. As well as something for creating good SR style names, would all be extremely helpful. Again I hope I'm posting this in the proper place and apologize if I have not.

Welcome to Dumpshock.

as for names, there are usually two variants, Street names (a nickname, either wanted or not) and born names, the latter is nothing special, and not usually what we use in RPing. The best way to come up with a street name is to make up some annoying habit/embarrassing event, then make fun of it. EG, Killer, the guy who managed to kill someone accidentally with a stun baton.

It sounds like you don't have the book and don't need to get it for what you're doing, neh?

Basically, an ork is, well, what you expect an ork to be, physically. Around human size, rippling muscles, odd colored skin, tusks (sometimes), etc. Google some shadowrun characters that are orks and see what sort of pictures you get, or look through the art posted on the website (http://www.fanpro.com/cms/fp/index.php)

When 'the big change' came, some people just magically turned into orks. Usually it happens at birth or at puberty, although it can happen at other times. Shadowrun genetics are a little weird, so an ork couple can give birth to an elf or a human or a troll, but 19 times out of 20, it's an ork. The reverse is also true, humans can have ork children. There's no such thing as a 'half-ork'. You're either ork or you're not. Twins and triplets are more common among orks. Generally, they reach physical maturity much earlier, but also die much earlier (around 40). They've shown themselves to be, on average, less attractive and intelligent than most other races, but stronger and more robust. They can also see heat.

As a result, they're the victim of a lot of racism. Fewer jobs are open to them. They live in the nastier neighborhoods. Ork gangs are very common, and the ork community is very strong (think of the black community back in the 50's or 60's for a general idea. Rebellious, a shared sense of racial identity, but ultimately wronged by society. And of course, there are plenty of orks who don't fit this stereotype.)

I hope I didn't come off as racist in that little blurb... I'm trying to summarize, so I don't want to let myself become the apologist.

As for cyberware... Cyberware is just cybernetic implants that do different things. There's one that lets you see information about your gun in your eye (kinda like you're in a computer game, but IRL. You always see how many shots are left and the little targeting reticule.) Cyberlimbs are reasonably common and feature a lot of neat add-ons. People plug directly into the matrix or into vehicles.

Is there anything in particular you're interested in in regards to cyberware?

On the cyberware question, cyberware can do a lot. It can make you stronger, faster, tougher, and most importantly of all, it can allow you to interact with other machines directly with your mind. Here are some examples of dealing with the wireless world from Shadowrun:

Actually, there are Orks in Find Your Own Truth. The main character's sister is an Ork infected with a disease called Human/Metahuman Vampiric Virus and he is attempting to find a cure for her. I can't fathom why he'd want to, Wendigos (vampiric Orks) have it made as vampires go. They have the great magicial power, charisma, virtual immortality, and extreme physical abilities. The only tiny draw back is that they have to hack off a chunk of someone's flesh and eat it while he or she is still alive once a month. It is the third part of a trillogy, however, so you may be lost without reading the first two.

Ancient History has a codex of the newly revived Ork language Or'zet on his website, it might be useful. http://ancientfiles.dumpshock.com/


For SR style names, a normal name will suffice as well as some sort of nickname to use on the streets simply for the purpose of confidentiality.

For cyberware, there is a wide variety, muscle replacement to enchance strength and speed, dermal armor, armored skin replacement that can turn invisible, datajacks for direct neural interface with anything electronic, limb replacements (which are overpriced crap according to the rules as writen), eye replacements (which are so common you canhave your eyes scooped out and replaced in most malls), retactable bldes that pop out of your forearms, implanted firearms, and ect.

First let me start off by saying i've been officialy wowed AND blown away...

I'll note that FrankTrollman's information only applies for Shadowrun 4, which is not in any meaningful way set in the same world as previous editions of Shadowrun (which the novels you're referring to were).

As for book recommendations, I've got a number that I need to read myself, but Technobabel is worth a read. Don't expect fine literature, but it's fun.

~J

Yes, there are cybereyes, and limbs. cyber eyes can have a variety of things put in them, from lowlight and thermo imagin systems, microscopic vision, magnification systems, i can't think of everything off of the top of my head.

Libs are generally considered "gimp", generally because of rules limitiations.

On the books thing, if you haven't already, I recommend the Runelord series, by David Farland. It's a sort of "historical fantasy" setting, meaning, that everyone for the most part, is human, and then theres the monsters. So no orcs, really, that i remember. But still an EXCELLENT read, IMO

One important question about your chat site - is it free form or is it using Shadowrun rules? If the latter is the case, which version of the rules will you be using?

I'm amazed that noone's mentioned buying the rulebook yet. Here's a link to the page for the core rulebook for the most recent version of SR.

Most of the information you want will be in there. If I remember correctly, there will be another book called Augmentation detailing additional cyberware for SR4.

Picture how the matrix reacts to your online persona in sr3.

Now picture that reaction, where your persona is in real time where you are, and overlaid to correspond to the location and overlaid on your own vision through the cyber eyes or a pair of smartglasses/contacts.

yeah i can be pretty mean just to put a smile on my face.

Cybereyes and legs can both hold a lot of stuff. Eyes can hold eye lasers (shoot laser beams from your eyes!) recorders, low-light or IR vision, flare compensators, etc. Also popular is ultrasound vision, which isn't actually installed in the eyes, but is linked to the visual systems. There are different descriptions on how it looks to the user, but basically it shows forms of things, defeating invisibility, full darkness, etc. (but it can't see through walls or behind solid objects. Cyber eyes can appear fully natural (oftentimes with a minor change so you can tell they're cyber and high quality, for instance a tiny gold ring around the iris with the maker's name on it), or clearly cybernetic (like silver orbs).

Cyberlegs, according to the rules, aren't really great because they cost way too much money and essence for what they give (essence is a measure of one's spirit. The more cyberware, the less 'human' you are. In game, this really only acts as a cap against how much cyber you can get and makes it more difficult for magic to affect you. If you're not using the rules, you can twist this however you like. Lower essence means you're a little more crazy, twitchy, robotic, cold, or no change at all.) Many people have changed the stats in their own games to more accurately reflect how they see cyberlimbs as working.

Cyberlegs don't have a huge amount of tweaks that can be added (of course, you can make up your own). They can be modified to be stronger, to let you jump higher, to run faster, to install skates in them or guns or cyberholsters like what Robocop has.

The biggest thing cyberlegs are generally used for is storage. You can store stuff in your cyberlimbs. So people put in computer or vehicle controlling decks, communications gear, toaster ovens, whatever they think is useful for their character.