Full Version: Emo Samurai's dedicated character page.
If you are transplanting the rule, as it is in SR3, into SR4, then it is active, not bonded. They currently don't have rules for focus addiction in SR4.
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| I played a little of Awakened Worlds; it says Focus Addiction happens when you use more than twice your magic in foci. Does this mean have them activated or simply bonded? This is important to my character. |
I'm fairly certain that the rules both in SR3 and SR4 state that you cannot have more than your Magic Rating in foci.
In SR3, the only limits to bonding foci were acquiring them and spending the Karma, but you could only have a number equal to your Intelligence active at once.
But the foci addiction rules weren't about the number of foci, but the total Force of foci active at once. In other words, a mage with a Magic of 6 who has a Force: 5 manabolt focus and a Force: 4 healing focus active would risk focus addiction if he also activated his Force: 5 power focus (which would take the total points to 14, over twice the Magic Attribute).
Focus addiction would be less likely in SR4, though. According to SR4 rules, only one focus can add its dice to any one dice pool, so there is less reason to keep a lot of foci active at once. The only way you could really potentially get in trouble would be if you had a lot of sustaining foci.
Currently, SR4 has no foci addiction rules - Emo is apparently using the SR3 rules as a house rule for his SR4 campaign.
But the foci addiction rules weren't about the number of foci, but the total Force of foci active at once. In other words, a mage with a Magic of 6 who has a Force: 5 manabolt focus and a Force: 4 healing focus active would risk focus addiction if he also activated his Force: 5 power focus (which would take the total points to 14, over twice the Magic Attribute).
Focus addiction would be less likely in SR4, though. According to SR4 rules, only one focus can add its dice to any one dice pool, so there is less reason to keep a lot of foci active at once. The only way you could really potentially get in trouble would be if you had a lot of sustaining foci.
Currently, SR4 has no foci addiction rules - Emo is apparently using the SR3 rules as a house rule for his SR4 campaign.
It won't be a problem before Street Magic comes out. Vranton can't come anywhere near being addicted to foci without being paid a lot more than the other players, which I won't do.
Dude, I just had an insane-idea-gasm. Remember Zero Wing? The first line is AD 2023 War was beginning. I want to incorporate All Your Base into my game somehow.
Edit: I just saw the video again. War was beginning AD 2101, not AD 2023. I'll just make a random cult of CATS, and they'll pool money for cryogenics so that they may live until the day they see CATS destroy the Earth Federated Space Navy of Zigs.
Dude, I just had an insane-idea-gasm. Remember Zero Wing? The first line is AD 2023 War was beginning. I want to incorporate All Your Base into my game somehow.
Edit: I just saw the video again. War was beginning AD 2101, not AD 2023. I'll just make a random cult of CATS, and they'll pool money for cryogenics so that they may live until the day they see CATS destroy the Earth Federated Space Navy of Zigs.
I was wondering, should I or shouldn't I kill off the mantis shaman after he confesses everything to his beloved mantid? I'll make it so that he freed her when he fled Bug City so that she could escape more easily rather than simply falling unconscious and losing control. Maybe Ares will just knock him out and clap him in irons after Invae in a Mall is over. A future run will be where they raid the Ares facility and free the shaman for her.
They should do it.
And then she should eat his head. Out of love.
And then she should eat his head. Out of love.
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| Dude, I just had an insane-idea-gasm. Remember Zero Wing? The first line is AD 2023 War was beginning. I want to incorporate All Your Base into my game somehow. Edit: I just saw the video again. War was beginning AD 2101, not AD 2023. I'll just make a random cult of CATS, and they'll pool money for cryogenics so that they may live until the day they see CATS destroy the Earth Federated Space Navy of Zigs. |
Considering space exploration is run by the Corps (who constantly sabotage competing corp projects), I don't think we'll be seeing any 'Earth Federated Space Navy' until they start cooperating. (highly unlikely in a capitolistic system, though you already have corps somehow cooperating openly in a Barrens project, so we already know you don't run the corps like they're cannon. Merchandisers are the reason why corps don't sell direct, it's too much work maintaining sales staff at the consumer level.)
Hey they all cooperated on a joint ventureto use WMDs on ONE MAN because he was using his economic muscle against ONE CORP
Emo's ideas are tame in comparison
Emo's ideas are tame in comparison
So that makes HOW many canon smack-downs by Kremlin?
And Kremlin, thanks for the fire support. A very belated thanks.
And Kremlin, thanks for the fire support. A very belated thanks.
No problemo
just keep a seat open for me in ya games if i am ever over in the states
just keep a seat open for me in ya games if i am ever over in the states
You better have a character concept that's suitably crazy. No unironic ninjas or posers obessessed with honor. 
I have to think up a new character idea; a lot of my character ideas involve people leaving their megacorporate jobs and running off with awesome shit.
I have to think up a new character idea; a lot of my character ideas involve people leaving their megacorporate jobs and running off with awesome shit.
Speaking of how miserable my character is, how do your characters do, happiness-wise? I think my dude's problem is that he cares too much.
I have played lots of happy runners, but most runners would probably tend towards angst. They are all people with exceptional skills, yet instead of comfortable corporate positions, they are risking their lives in an extremely dangerous and treacherous profession.
You could probably break most of them down to three major reasons for this:
One, they have the skills, but not the credentials or familiarity with corporate culture. Maybe they were born into a professional crime family such as the mafia, or grew up on the mean streets. These people would not be that unhappy as a rule, since shadowrunning is "normal" to them.
Two, they are corporate burnouts, victims of betrayal, or people who have otherwise become embittered against the corporations that they used to work for. These people would tend to be less happy. They have had their world view and security beliefs torn upside down, and they have been tossed into a far more savage and unforgiving environment than the insular corporate one they are used to. Even the ones who deal with it and move on will still have that darkness in their past.
And finally three, you have the people who do it because of their idealism, which most closely describes your character.. They range from neoanarchist philosophers to deranged extremists. They can have an inner core of contentment, because they are doing what they feel is right, but they still have to deal with a distopian world where their efforts often don't show much in the way of tangible results. They also have to deal with trying to do the right thing when they often have to settle for the lesser of two evils.
Remember, though, happiness doesn't always mean well-adjusted. A happy runner could be too callous or cynical to be affected by the nastiness that runners encounter. Or he could be a psychopath who likes blowing stuff up. Or she could be a sanctimonious eco-terrorist who is absolutely certain that she is right.
You could probably break most of them down to three major reasons for this:
One, they have the skills, but not the credentials or familiarity with corporate culture. Maybe they were born into a professional crime family such as the mafia, or grew up on the mean streets. These people would not be that unhappy as a rule, since shadowrunning is "normal" to them.
Two, they are corporate burnouts, victims of betrayal, or people who have otherwise become embittered against the corporations that they used to work for. These people would tend to be less happy. They have had their world view and security beliefs torn upside down, and they have been tossed into a far more savage and unforgiving environment than the insular corporate one they are used to. Even the ones who deal with it and move on will still have that darkness in their past.
And finally three, you have the people who do it because of their idealism, which most closely describes your character.. They range from neoanarchist philosophers to deranged extremists. They can have an inner core of contentment, because they are doing what they feel is right, but they still have to deal with a distopian world where their efforts often don't show much in the way of tangible results. They also have to deal with trying to do the right thing when they often have to settle for the lesser of two evils.
Remember, though, happiness doesn't always mean well-adjusted. A happy runner could be too callous or cynical to be affected by the nastiness that runners encounter. Or he could be a psychopath who likes blowing stuff up. Or she could be a sanctimonious eco-terrorist who is absolutely certain that she is right.
I don't know why my dude would even shadowrun; if he's running a good business helping people with their problems, why would he steal things?
No idea. Maybe because he's a character in a game about stealing things? 
Yeah, but if he's living all right and he's an idealist, why would he steal?
I've run one (now dead) adrenalin junky character, he basically didn't care much about the money, he was in it for the thrills. Of course he died earlier in his career than the average character because he routinely took extra risks. He died in a car wreck/gun fight during a high value courier run of all things, trying to out run and hold off another team of runners until his reinforcements could catch up, they were the decoy team, he volunteered to be the carrier using speed and misdirection to keep the package safe.
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| Yeah, but if he's living all right and he's an idealist, why would he steal? |
Shadowruns don't always equate to stealing. Sometimes they are extractions, sometimes they are sabotage, etc. Plus shadowrunners, as skilled people who work under the table, get hired for all kinds of other jobs. Bodyguarding, beating up a corp kid who date raped someone's daughter and laughed his way out of court, finding a missing item - it goes on and on.
Most shadowrunners will turn down certain jobs. Sometimes they have to take a job that they don't like, but at least can tolerate, to make ends meet. Successful runners, or runners with other means of income (such as your character), can be more picky about the jobs they will or won't do.
I could easily see your character doing things like working with a team of runners to extract one of his "clients" who wants to change which corporation he works for, or steal the prototype of an extremely nasty weapon that another client, feeling guilty, told him about. With corporate types spilling their guts to him on a regular basis, there are bound to be times that they want to change things - and if he has contact with a runner team, he has the means to do that.
I could also see him "hooding" (shadowrunning for social justice, such as taking down a BTL gang or getting video evidence that a company is dumping toxic waste in the Barrens), or taking various jobs because they either appeal to his sense of justice, or pique his curiosity.
As someone who has regular contacts with street and corporate types alike, and who already works under the table, he is actually a natural for shadowrunning.
By the way, if the rest of the team is doing a more "traditional" run and you can't quite see him being motivated to go along, maybe (if he doesn't have any real moral problems with the run) he will offer his services in a reciprocal fashion. "Okay, I will help you steal this thing from this lab, if you guys help me investigate why all of these ork kids are being abducted from this neighborhood."
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| I don't know why my dude would even shadowrun; if he's running a good business helping people with their problems, why would he steal things? |
I seem to recall having made a comment some pages back that your character didn't appear to really be Shadowrunner material, and had asked you why would he run the shadows....
Though a formadable character in his own right, perhapse you've developed him to the point where the Shadows no longer matter?
Yeah, you're right; and if the people GMing the games I play in follow my lead, then they'll probably find ways for my character to be involved.
I thought up of a way for my character to make his clients tell the truth about themselves and get their heads out of their asses. If it's in a private place, he'll Phantasm a one-inch sheet of ice out of a cooler and break it over his head, leaving illusory but utterly convincing blood in its place. Short of shooting himself in the face, there is nothing more that he could do to make their problems seem utterly trivial.
I also have a new line for him to pull out if someone is shitting him: "Don't lie to me. You know it won't work."
I also have a new line for him to pull out if someone is shitting him: "Don't lie to me. You know it won't work."
Yeah, because getting hit in the head is the quick route to enlightenment. 
He's not actually hitting himself over the head; notice how I said "Phantasmed." And seeing such horror taken so glibly will pull their heads out of their asses pretty quickly. It'll also teach them to be calm in strange situations.
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| He's not actually hitting himself over the head; notice how I said "Phantasmed." And seeing such horror taken so glibly will pull their heads out of their asses pretty quickly. It'll also teach them to be calm in strange situations. |
I have to disagree. I think it's ridiculous. Maybe it'll work on some frat boys.
The point is to make them feel horrified and trivialized as far as their superficial anxieties are concerned. That would work on mostly everybody.
And he'd only do this if the person were starting to do things like blaming everybody for their problems or focusing on superficial things while ignoring any suggestions he makes.
And he'd only do this if the person were starting to do things like blaming everybody for their problems or focusing on superficial things while ignoring any suggestions he makes.
Smashing yourself in the head, or getting smashed in the head, is a surefire way to ensure that the guy across from you is forever insane, but very little else.
If seeing a person smash themselves over the head with a block of ice is enough to drive someone over the edge, then he/she's already beyond the superficial stage; this is only used to break the wall of bullshit, not to strike behind it.
It'll be an ultra-violent version of a person dunking his head in cold water!
It'll be an ultra-violent version of a person dunking his head in cold water!
I meant that it would convince you that the guy who just smashed himself in the head is crazy. I cannot imagine a single situation where I would see someone shatter something over their head and splatter blood everywhere where my response would be "he makes a good point."
The point of the exercise is to convey frustration; the reason for smashing the phantom ice block is to make him think "I'm being dumb and wasting both his and my time," not "Intriguing statement, Mr. Langston. May I have a cup of tea?"
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| The point of the exercise is to convey frustration; the reason for smashing the phantom ice block is to make him think "I'm being dumb and wasting both his and my time," not "Intriguing statement, Mr. Langston. May I have a cup of tea?" |
Frankly, I don't think you're going to convince anyone that this is a good idea. To be perfectly blunt, it's perfectly retarded.
Well, obviously I won't convince you that it's an incredibly stuoid way to try and counsel someone, so I'll just close with a challenge: can you to find a single instance of a successful use of the "brutalize myself to help counsel him" maneuver?
The point of doing that is to get a visceral response, a momentary gasp that makes them stop crying over stupid shit and tell the truth.
To cite an example where this has actually worked in my life: I was at a friend's wedding dinner and there was a lady sitting at my table crying over something. She continued to cry and whisper angry/sad things to a man I presumed was her husband until the unexpected happened: I choked on a chicken bone. Predictably, this worked, even though it came out of the blue. Ironically, the whole dinner was more pleasant after my brush with death because any greivances just seemed... trivial. So this "smash block of ice over your head" technique works, or at least I assume it would work long enough to break the wall of bullshit.
To cite an example where this has actually worked in my life: I was at a friend's wedding dinner and there was a lady sitting at my table crying over something. She continued to cry and whisper angry/sad things to a man I presumed was her husband until the unexpected happened: I choked on a chicken bone. Predictably, this worked, even though it came out of the blue. Ironically, the whole dinner was more pleasant after my brush with death because any greivances just seemed... trivial. So this "smash block of ice over your head" technique works, or at least I assume it would work long enough to break the wall of bullshit.
Choking on a chicken bone is vastly different from bloodying yourself with violence. Sure, it'll probably snap them out their whining, but it will leave you with practically no chance of continuing a therapeutic relationship.
What'll happen is he'll wordlessly smash himself with a block of ice, and then, as calmly as possible, he'll say "Continue."
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| What'll happen is he'll wordlessly smash himself with a block of ice, and then, as calmly as possible, he'll say "Continue." |
The people around him will deem him, correctly, a fucking lunatic, and/or fucking idiot, and seek to avoid him in future.
| QUOTE (Geekkake) | ||
The people around him will deem him, correctly, a fucking lunatic, and/or fucking idiot, and seek to avoid him in future. |
Yep
I will MAKE it work, goddammit.
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| I will MAKE it work, goddammit. |
That may be, in the games where you GM. Hell, you can even call rolls for it.
Over here, in the sane world...
Well, shit, since no one else will say it, you're a fucking idiot. And it's not endearing.
You have a very boring and limited view of the sane world.
And to rephrase the eternal question, why do you respond to posts you have to go out of your way to read only to be a dick about it?
And to rephrase the eternal question, why do you respond to posts you have to go out of your way to read only to be a dick about it?
| QUOTE (emo samurai) |
| You have a very boring and limited view of the sane world. And to rephrase the eternal question, why do you respond to posts you have to go out of your way to read only to be a dick about it? |
It's sort of like rubbernecking at an accident, really. Watching something you find absolutely fucking repulsive.
But you're right. I'll just mark this thread as "read" from now on.
You are such a tightass. Did this thread kill your dog or something? Jesus christ.
emo, Geekkake's posts are based on the fact that ignorance annoys people, insistent ignorance pisses them off, and ignorance compounded with megalomaniacal ravings about what will be MADE TO WORK just drives the nail into the coffin.
It was an interesting idea that would never work in a world trying to get some semblance of reality, deal with it and move on.
It was an interesting idea that would never work in a world trying to get some semblance of reality, deal with it and move on.
I know. It's just that, it makes sense if I'm emotional about this, since it's my character. For him to do the same is... frightening. And if you knew me, the megalomania wouldn't bother you at all. Hell, if you have any way of cross-referencing the way I normally behave, the megalomania shouldn't bother you, period.
Megalomania is at best cute (when done by chihuahuas) and at worst disturbing (when done by national / religious leaders). You're not at either end of that spectrum.
Yeah, people get emotional about their characters. Other people get emotional about ignorance. To you, your character is something great you dreamed up that gives you pleasure daydreaming about. To others it's something moronic that was dreamed up by an imbecile. that's the way opinions work.
On the flip side of that coin, to you your emotional attachment to the idea of "shock therapy" makes sense and your megalomaniacal outbursts are nothing to be bothered about. To others insistent ignorance (I really need to grab a thesaurus entry for that word) coupled with an ending point of an argument that sounds like a whiny child screaming defiance is a sign of the intellectual and social downfall of society.
It makes as much sense or more for someone to get emotional about the downfall of the intellect as there is for someone to get emotional about a fictional character's eccentric style of therapy.
Yeah, people get emotional about their characters. Other people get emotional about ignorance. To you, your character is something great you dreamed up that gives you pleasure daydreaming about. To others it's something moronic that was dreamed up by an imbecile. that's the way opinions work.
On the flip side of that coin, to you your emotional attachment to the idea of "shock therapy" makes sense and your megalomaniacal outbursts are nothing to be bothered about. To others insistent ignorance (I really need to grab a thesaurus entry for that word) coupled with an ending point of an argument that sounds like a whiny child screaming defiance is a sign of the intellectual and social downfall of society.
It makes as much sense or more for someone to get emotional about the downfall of the intellect as there is for someone to get emotional about a fictional character's eccentric style of therapy.
No, it doesn't. The downfall of the intellect is a huge problem; a fictional character's eccentric style of therapy is, depending on who is involved, variously very emotionally charged in an understandable way or not. And what the other person's reaction would be isn't an intellectual question; it's a matter of individual interpretation. Not everyone will react the same way, and your conception of the mentality of a whiny dumbass complaining about her friend's hair or his buddy's girlfriend is very different from mine simply because we aren't those people. Or I hope we aren't. If so, then I have a slab of ice to break. Over your head.
Plus, I'm just being silly. SR is my silly-space. Don't you see? *Rips rivers of blood down cheeks in emo-anguish*
Plus, I'm just being silly. SR is my silly-space. Don't you see? *Rips rivers of blood down cheeks in emo-anguish*
| QUOTE (emo samurai @ May 3 2006, 02:14 AM) |
| Plus, I'm just being silly. SR is my silly-space. Don't you see? *Rips rivers of blood down cheeks in emo-anguish* |
Silly is when someone makes a corny joke and people fail to laugh.
You are just being morbid and disgusting.. must go along with that anime-craze you have. Note that I have mentioned more than once that the world is not an anime show - I seem to remember saying, some pages back, that I doubt anyone would GM such a far-fetched from any reality character you're cooking up.
I feel for the players you submit this inrealistic drabble to.
yeah, it's as inrealistic(sp) as a modern setting with Elves, and Elf Bikie gangs. That is the most batshit crazy idea I have ever heard
After all what ever happened to Elves being all back to nature, or CG
or hell what ever happpened to their allergy to iron products.
Or about a game where you play professonal criminal teams that ADVERTIZE THEIR SKILLS TO THE LAW ABIDING PUBLIC!!! Ehere it is COMMON for normal folks to hire sociopaths to find their precious daughter for them.
Or about a Game Where you can play a 8-10 ft tall, dense, super strong creature that can barely carry a modern army kit on a full march
Or a Game where Arnold Schwartzenneger CAN'T hold a US army ranger back for more than 5 minutes without DYING FROM THE STRAIN
Or a game where Canada willingy asked the US for membership.
Or a Game where Companies openly wave their power in pople's faces, andDON'T LOSE SALES
[sarcasm]Yeah Emo is soooooo much more batshit crazy than that[/sarcasm]
After all what ever happened to Elves being all back to nature, or CG
or hell what ever happpened to their allergy to iron products.
Or about a game where you play professonal criminal teams that ADVERTIZE THEIR SKILLS TO THE LAW ABIDING PUBLIC!!! Ehere it is COMMON for normal folks to hire sociopaths to find their precious daughter for them.
Or about a Game Where you can play a 8-10 ft tall, dense, super strong creature that can barely carry a modern army kit on a full march
Or a Game where Arnold Schwartzenneger CAN'T hold a US army ranger back for more than 5 minutes without DYING FROM THE STRAIN
Or a game where Canada willingy asked the US for membership.
Or a Game where Companies openly wave their power in pople's faces, andDON'T LOSE SALES
[sarcasm]Yeah Emo is soooooo much more batshit crazy than that[/sarcasm]
Batshit crazy is one thing, but getting too attached to a character is another thing altogether. We've all seen how it goes with players who do that - it's even worse when it's a pet NPC. Shadowrun isn't a novel - it's a game, where you interact with other players, and other characters. If things work out the way that the GM determines ahead of time, with logic and the illusion of realism be damned, then the GM isn't running a game anymore. He's reading the players a story.
Storytelling isn't always bad - every game has flavor text. But when it's "Look at what this character is doing! Isn't he neat?", then you need to maybe take a bit of a step back from the character. Or use him in a fanfic:
The elf picked himself up dizzily from the ground. His experimental teleporting spell didn't work as he had planned. Now where was he?
Suddenly, a muscular youth, wearing a tiger-striped bandana, charged at him. "Ranma, prepare to die!"
The youth skidded to a stop. "Wait... you're not Ranma!"
The elf smiled. "You know, I think I can solve your, and everybody else's, problems. First, I'll hook up you and Ukyou. Then, I'll get Mousse and Shampoo together. Then, I'll get Ranma and Akane to stop fighting and admit their love to each other. Then Cologne-chan... will be mine!"
Storytelling isn't always bad - every game has flavor text. But when it's "Look at what this character is doing! Isn't he neat?", then you need to maybe take a bit of a step back from the character. Or use him in a fanfic:
The elf picked himself up dizzily from the ground. His experimental teleporting spell didn't work as he had planned. Now where was he?
Suddenly, a muscular youth, wearing a tiger-striped bandana, charged at him. "Ranma, prepare to die!"
The youth skidded to a stop. "Wait... you're not Ranma!"
The elf smiled. "You know, I think I can solve your, and everybody else's, problems. First, I'll hook up you and Ukyou. Then, I'll get Mousse and Shampoo together. Then, I'll get Ranma and Akane to stop fighting and admit their love to each other. Then Cologne-chan... will be mine!"
Yeah well I am reserving judgement until I see enoug sessions of the Lab Rat Diaries to know how it all works in game
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