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FanGirl
Saturday, April 8
Hello, chummers. I understand that your very own Emo Samurai has kept you all entertained with his madcap campaign plans, and you’ve probably been wondering how these plans are actually going to play out when inflicted on an actual group. Well, that’s where I come in. You see, I know Emo Samurai in real life, and he has convinced me and three other people into joining his campaign. I join of my own free will, though I’m not completely aware of what I’m getting into.

Anyway, Emo let it slip to me that he posts his ideas on these forums, so I decided to join Dumpshock and give you all the benefit of my perspective as a player in his campaign. I plan to do this by keeping a sort of open diary on this thread, chronicling my experiences and thoughts about the campaign. I’m not going to read Emo’s Dedicated Threads, and I urge you all not to give me any spoilers about their contents: it’s very important that I know as little as possible about what’s in store for me. In order to accurately present the effects of Emo’s campaign on my as-yet uncorrupted psyche, my only sources of information about his plans should be what he chooses to show or tell me.

To give you an idea of where I’m coming from, I feel that I should start by telling you about myself and how I came to know Emo. I’m a 19 year old girl, currently in my freshman year at a small liberal arts college. I’m very booksmart—you’ve probably noticed that I write like I’ve swallowed a dictionary—and I have an abiding love of sci-fi and fantasy. I mention that last bit of information because it was through the college’s Sci-Fi Club that I met Emo, and it was during one of the club’s gatherings that he approached me about joining the campaign. I declined his request initially because I was then in the process of joining another SR campaign, but when that fell through due to scheduling conflicts, I was free to join Emo’s group.

Emo seemed delighted by the prospect of my joining, and last Saturday he gave me a copy of SR4E in pdf form. (UPDATE--April 13, 2006: I hadn't realized that pdfs were copyrighted in the same way that physical books are, so I didn't realize that I was participating in illegal file sharing until today. I therefore purchased the book online just now to escape the wrath of the Big GM In The Sky. Remember, kids: stealing is wrong.) I studied it on and off over this past week, and finally wrote up my character sheet on Friday. Since Emo had steered me towards exploring the wonders of the Matrix, I read up on technomancers and fell in love with the concept. I took the technomancer from SR4E’s Sample Characters section and tweaked around with her to fit with Emo’s house rules. These house rules include 450 BPs, no limits on stat maxing or Qualities, and Complex Forms equal to one’s Resonance (you have to pay 3 BP for them, though). Thus, Fangirl was born: an eccentric young woman whose phenomenal Resonance power is only matched by her boundless optimism and sense of playfulness. I gave Fangirl’s sheet to Emo for approval yesterday, and he was so impressed with me (none of the other group members had even looked at the sourcebook, let alone drawn up their sheets) that he gave me 20 more BPs out of generosity.

Today, he brought me to meet with the other players, two guys I already knew and one I didn’t. Like me, all three guys are new to the shadows. At the meeting, Emo explained choice details about Sixth World life, and asked us what we wanted out of the campaign. We answered that we would follow the “mercenaries with a heart of gold” model, and wanted a campaign with a mix of seriousness and silliness. So far, I’m the only one with any concrete idea of what she wants her character to be like; the others have vague ideas at best. Luckily, they have two more weeks to figure it out, which is when Emo plans to have our first gaming session.

I'll post further entries as events warrant. Any questions, chummers?
emo samurai
You... you didn't like him? Why? WHYYYYYYYYY?????
FanGirl
What? Who are you talking about? What did I say?
emo samurai
Oh... I saw
QUOTE
Today, he brought me to meet with the other players, two guys I already knew and one I didn’t. Like me, all three guys are new to the shadows.


And I missed the "." between "didn't" and "Like." Rather inconvenient of me. Sorry.
hyzmarca
QUOTE (emo samurai @ Apr 8 2006, 06:42 PM)
You... you didn't like him? Why? WHYYYYYYYYY?????

Emo, be mindful of period placement before jumping to conclusions. Like is the first word in a new sentence. FanGirl was stating that she knew two and did not know one followed by the statement that she and the other three are all new to Shadowrun.

[Edit- Rats, foiled again]

Fangirl, emo samurai is known for some ideas that some dumpshockers consider to be too wacky or too far out there. Some are actually good. The biggest complaint I've seen is that his ideas tend to be just on the other side of epic and overpowered.
Personally, I don't see a problem with that. I've had some ideas that were much farther out there than emo's that have gone unnoticed or even recieved praise (with the exception of my powerpuff girls cyberzombie team even that didn't recieve unduely harsh criticism).
emo samurai
I think epic and overpowered can work in Shadowrun, though. They make blood mages, people you can conceivably turn in for a million dollars, 8th level initiates+. And anyone can die with a critical glitch while his enemy rolls all 5's and 6's. This works for runners, and it works for enemies.

Epic and overpowered isn't THAT overpowered in Shadowrun. Unless you're a dragon. Or an 8th level blood mage...
hyzmarca
Well, you can always throw something more powerful at the characters up to the point where Ristul is one of the PCs (although some others may disagree with that assertion). However, it seems that the SR4 system is more suited toward lower level campaigns can gets rather silly when one has enormous dice pools. Of course, 470 BP characters aren't overpowered.
FanGirl
Actually, I can use my calculator to generate a string of random numbers between one and six. The string can be as long as I want it to be, so it will take me just as much effort to roll twenty d6s as it would to roll two. cool.gif
warrior_allanon
Fangirl, my hats off to you, though we all like some of emo's ideas, not everyone likes all of them. with that in mind and the fact that your playing a technomancer i show the path to enlightenment by way of ducks top ten list be very careful how you use it
Lindt
See my take is Emo, ya make GREAT comic relief. For most DSers, your SO far over the normal line, its really quite entertaining. But un like many ofthe really over the top peole, your not abrasive, and even likeable at times.
Much like the cyberzombie powerpuff girls. But much more, emo, and prone to flipping out and killing everyone.

Actually now that I think about that Ill take it back, its CZ PPGs.... no good can come of that what so ever.
ronin3338
Wow. Everybody's being all nice, and welcoming... I feel bad.

I feel bad 'cause my first thought was, "Emo met a girl?!"

nyahnyah.gif

Seriously, I can't wait to hear the reports from the trenches.
hyzmarca
QUOTE (FanGirl)
Actually, I can use my calculator to generate a string of random numbers between one and six. The string can be as long as I want it to be, so it will take me just as much effort to roll twenty d6s as it would to roll two. cool.gif

It isn't the number of dice. It is the probability of success. There comes a point where only GM fiat prevents a magician from powerbolting the sun into oblivion.
Luckily, that point is far far above 450 BP
emo samurai
QUOTE (Ronin3338)
I feel bad 'cause my first thought was, "Emo met a girl?!"

Dude, you have a handle with a random number at the end. Your opinion about anything officially does not matter at all. nyahnyah.gif

And who else was weird but abrasive? I've already seen the "Lesbian Elf Ninja saves Stuffer Shack" and "OMG FLAME CREEPWOOD TO THE GROUND" threads. Anyone else? Boskop seems okay, if a little illogical and wont to spam my threads with totems of animals that might eat insect spirits.
FanGirl
I thought that you might like to see my character sheet. I should mention that I get 470 BP, no extra penalty for maxing skills or attributes, 4*Cha extra BP just for contacts, and Complex Forms with ratings equal to my Resonance for only 3 BP each. I also had the opportunity to add 2 Essence points worth of cyberware without penalty, but chose not to take it.


[ Spoiler ]
--REVISED EDITION

EDIT:
QUOTE (ronin3338)
Wow.  Everybody's being all nice, and welcoming... I feel bad.

I have four theories as to why so many people are being nice and welcoming:

Theory 1: They are naturally nice and welcoming.
Theory 2: They are super-nerdy and have little experience with the opposite sex, so once they realized that a girl was in their midst, they went "OMG CHIXXOR!" and are now being nice and welcoming to me in hopes of getting a pic. (It's not gonna happen, boys. nyahnyah.gif)
Theory 3: They feel bad for me because I'm in Emo's campaign, and are being nice and welcoming out of pity.
Theory 4: Some combination of Theories 1, 2, and 3 is true.

QUOTE
I feel bad 'cause my first thought was, "Emo met a girl?!"

That actually gives some credence to Theory 2.

QUOTE
Seriously, I can't wait to hear the reports from the trenches.

I can't wait to be in the trenches. I think I can tolerate this over-the-top stuff pretty well, but I'll say one thing: the second that that Emo has the villain start to lower us into a pool of sharks with laser beams attached to their heads, I'm quitting the group..
Ophis
Nah, they're just lulling you into a false sense of security plus SL James doesn't seem to be here yet. I'm sure he can muster some nasty.
As a note you aren't the only girl on DS, and some of us DSers have long standing relationships with girls, some claim to be married, but they are quite old so can't be trusted.
Welcome have fun, read about the cool grit Emo ignores, smack him, on our behalfm when he goes into berzerk Leet(I will not use the f'ing numbers) speech anime frothing.

Are you sure you can't guve us a picture?

[ Spoiler ]
emo samurai
1 0|\||_ nuyen.gif 133R53R|< 1337 VV|-|3|\| 17'5 VV4RR4|\|73|).
FanGirl
Okay, here's a picture of what I might look like if I were a South Park Character.

If I had a nose it would be cute.

I've resolved not to put an actual photograph of myself online because of all the creepy bad people who might find it and use it for their own twisted purposes. If you really want to know what I look like, you could ask Emo to describe me.

About Emo's l33t-sp33k--When I first said I would join the campaign, he informed me that "it will roxxor." He actually said the word "roxxor." rotfl.gif

Oh, and I assumed that there are other females here. I just figured that the males form a sizable majority, that's all.
emo samurai
That's "r0xx0rz."
FanGirl
Oh, because "r0xx0rz" is so much less nerdy than "roxxor." nyahnyah.gif
emo samurai
No, it just r0xx0rz more.
caramel frappuccino
QUOTE (FanGirl)
Theory 2: They are super-nerdy and have little experience with the opposite sex, so once they realized that a girl was in their midst, they went "OMG CHIXXOR!" and are now being nice and welcoming to me in hopes of getting a pic. (It's not gonna happen, boys. nyahnyah.gif)

The fact that female gamers do not exist and the fact that you go out of your way to tell people that you're a girl lead me to the conclusion that you are, in actuality, a 42 year old man named Ernest who plays Playboy: The Mansion and has a beer gut the size of Oklahoma.
emo samurai
No, she's a girl. The internet has darkened your soul, robbing you of your ability to trust.
FanGirl
QUOTE (caramel frappuccino @ Apr 8 2006, 10:58 PM)
QUOTE (FanGirl)
Theory 2: They are super-nerdy and have little experience with the opposite sex, so once they realized that a girl was in their midst, they went "OMG CHIXXOR!" and are now being nice and welcoming to me in hopes of getting a pic. (It's not gonna happen, boys. nyahnyah.gif)

The fact that female gamers do not exist and the fact that you go out of your way to tell people that you're a girl lead me to the conclusion that you are, in actuality, a 42 year old man named Ernest who plays Playboy: The Mansion and has a beer gut the size of Oklahoma.

rotfl.gif

I repeat the claim that I'm a girl because I'm making fun of guys who hold the attitude that "female gamers do not exist" and their often-repeated insistence that anyone on a game-related website or MMOG who claims to be female is lying. Also, I remind you that I know Emo IRL, and he can attest to the fact that I'm a girl.

EDIT: And as you can see, Emo already attested to it--without being prompted by me, mind you--because he has a higher Initiative score than me.
emo samurai
It's the spell quickened into my aura.
caramel frappuccino
Emo attesting to anything is a testament to the veracity of the opposite, therefore I must be right.
Shadowmeet
QUOTE (FanGirl @ Apr 8 2006, 10:09 PM)
QUOTE (caramel frappuccino @ Apr 8 2006, 10:58 PM)
QUOTE (FanGirl)
Theory 2: They are super-nerdy and have little experience with the opposite sex, so once they realized that a girl was in their midst, they went "OMG CHIXXOR!" and are now being nice and welcoming to me in hopes of getting a pic. (It's not gonna happen, boys. nyahnyah.gif)

The fact that female gamers do not exist and the fact that you go out of your way to tell people that you're a girl lead me to the conclusion that you are, in actuality, a 42 year old man named Ernest who plays Playboy: The Mansion and has a beer gut the size of Oklahoma.

rotfl.gif

I repeat the claim that I'm a girl because I'm making fun of guys who hold the attitude that "female gamers do not exist" and their often-repeated insistence that anyone on a game-related website or MMOG who claims to be female is lying. Also, I remind you that I know Emo IRL, and he can attest to the fact that I'm a girl.

EDIT: And as you can see, Emo already attested to it--without being prompted by me, mind you--because he has a higher Initiative score than me.

Of course, you could be just a persona designed by Emo to fool us all.

In reality, my gaming group consisted of 7 males(including me) and 4 females(All of whom were wives and/or girlfriends of some of the males).
Hopefully, when I return back to them, there will the same.
emo samurai
OOOOOOhhhhhhhh.... I'm really devious, it seems.
Shadowmeet
Devious is as devious does. lol
fistandantilus4.0
QUOTE (emo samurai)
1 0|\||_ nuyen.gif 133R53R|< 1337 VV|-|3|\| 17'5 VV4RR4|\|73|).

Can someone translate that for me? I usually only think I don't know what emo's saying , but now I really have no clue.
Dranem
QUOTE (FanGirl @ Apr 8 2006, 09:51 PM)
I thought that you might like to see my character sheet.  I should mention that I get 470 BP, no extra penalty for maxing skills or attributes, 4*Cha extra BP just for contacts, and Complex Forms with ratings equal to my Resonance for only 3 BP each.  I also had the opportunity to add 2 Essence points worth of cyberware without penalty, but chose not to take it. 
-clip-
I can't wait to be in the trenches.  I think I can tolerate this over-the-top stuff pretty well, but I'll say one thing: the second that that Emo has the villain start to lower us into a pool of sharks with laser beams attached to their heads, I'm quitting the group..

I think it's a combination of 1 and 2.
I for one have been married for 10 years to a gamer, so I've grown past the 'OMG it's a girl' stage when it comes to gaming sessions.

And secondly, I do really feel sorry for you, you may want to read some of his other comments in other threads to get an idea of what his gaming style is going to be like.
Then again Emo and I have a this slight friction in where I think he's way out to lunch and his games qualify for the space academy, and he thinks I'm being to harsh and don't have enough immagination. (I could use harsher words, but I think he may anyway)

For example I would never allow 2 Essence worth of Ware without penalty... the Essence cost in the game is there for a reason.

For the record I've managed to build quite competent 500 BP characters without tossing half of the chargen rules out the window.

Welcome to Dumpshock smile.gif

[edit]
As a note, seeing as I skimmed through your sheet... In SR the term for Matrix savvy is Netspeak, not l33t. wink.gif
fistandantilus4.0
Someone should really start a poll to find out the truth.

emo: you think the lesbian elf thing was bad? Try doing a search for "MasterShake" some time. THAT was scary.

Oh, and for the record, married, 25, wife posts on here as Plan B. Not the only female in our games either. It's not unheard of . Heck, there was a whole thread about whether or not girls are more bloodthirsty or... oh never mind. It was a long scary thread.
emo samurai
QUOTE (fistandilius3.0)
QUOTE (emo samurai)

1 0|\||_ nuyen.gif 133R53R|< 1337 VV|-|3|\| 17'5 VV4RR4|\|73|).


Can someone translate that for me? I usually only think I don't know what emo's saying , but now I really have no clue.

"I only berserk 1337 when it's warranted." My god, you have no refinement whatsoever.

And I read the first page. He seems to think he's Shadowrun Jesus or something. And when did Ancient start working for Fanpro?
hyzmarca
I have no doubt that you fall toward the female end of the gender spectrum (after exaustive research I have rejected the theory of human sexual dimorphism and reached the conclusion that there is only a single gender which varies along a semifluid spectrum). The question that everyone wants to know the answer to but all are afraid to ask is "where do you want your dikoted AVS ally spirit to fall on the gender spectrum". biggrin.gif


Your technomancer is going to get slaughtered in the first firefight if you aren't careful. Light pistols suck less than they once did but they still suck. I'd recomend for a new player to specialize in heavy pistols and get an Ares Viper Slivergun instead. The AVS is the single most abusable weapon in the game (hence the joke that you probably aren't getting). It always has been and always will be. Smartlink contacts/glasses/goggles and a gas vent would also be be good considering her low skill.

I'm not to familiar with minmaxing technomancers but you might consider reducing some of the services on some of Francine's sprites and increasing your willpower. She can reregister them in game for no cost other than fading and you'll have to do so eventually or compile new ones. Either way she'll take fading and willpower fill help with that.
emo samurai
Just so you know, you'll have time to register sprites in the middle of the first game. I saw your character sheet, and you'd spent, like, 40 BP on them. Don't do it. Don't even spend one. Plus, just so you know, don't worry about equipment at all. It'll be provided to you soon enough. I won't help you with lifestyle, SIN's, or vehicles, but anything you can buy at a store will be readily available.
FanGirl
QUOTE (Dranem)
And secondly, I do really feel sorry for you, you may want to read some of his other comments in other threads to get an idea of what his gaming style is going to be like.

I appreciate your sense of sympathy, but please don't. You can give me some general advice about running, if that would make you feel better.smile.gif
QUOTE
[edit]
As a note, seeing as I skimmed through your sheet... In SR the term for Matrix savvy is Netspeak, not l33t. wink.gif

"Common examples of lingos are Cityspeak (the street jive of the gangs and other 'street-educated' people), legalese (the language of lawyers and therefore of the business and political worlds), 'l33t-speak (the code-talk of hackers), wiz (the jargon of the magically active), trog (the slang of the Seattle Ork Underground), military jargon (those who have a formal military training speak a language all their own), techie (the lingo of research scientists and people who never leave the lab), orbital (the banter developed by off-Earth colonies) and so on."
--Shadowrun Fourth Edition, p. 129, emphasis mine.

. . . .

You know what? I think I just might turn out okay. biggrin.gif

EDIT: Okay, I'll take out the sprites. I just think sprites are cool, that's all. I plan to name mine after various cartoon characters. Like the fault sprite would be named "Bugs Bunny." Get it? Get it?!
fistandantilus4.0
QUOTE (emo samurai @ Apr 8 2006, 11:54 PM)
QUOTE (fistandilius3.0)
QUOTE (emo samurai)

1 0|\||_ nuyen.gif 133R53R|< 1337 VV|-|3|\| 17'5 VV4RR4|\|73|).


Can someone translate that for me? I usually only think I don't know what emo's saying , but now I really have no clue.

"I only berserk 1337 when it's warranted." My god, you have no refinement whatsoever.

No , apparently not.

And I believe AH's first .. well.. I guess saying 'published' would be misleading, since they killed the book. But I think it was the late and lamented Shadows of Latin America. AH?

And you really should read the rest of the thread. It's kind of like cauterizing a wound. It's really painful, and will leave a mark, but you're better for it in the end.

Hyz: I agree. I've got a technomancer, and I've been smart enough to stay the fuck out of every fire fight I have a choice in. I specialized in shotgun. So far, every time I've actually been in a firefight, I went down. And I'm playing a f-in' dwarf!

And yeah, compile the sprites later. Just get a pain editor. It's worth the resonance loss IMO. Because then you'd might as well get the freaking control rig and actually be of some use in a gun fight besides hacking smart gun links.

QUOTE (Fangirl)
You know what? I think I just might turn out okay. 


You've got the book and know how to reference it . That's definitely a better smart than (more than) a few of my players had. Their book-fu is weak.
emo samurai
The control rig only gives, like, +1 in all tests with rigging. Under my rules, that resonance loss will take away 1 force from EVERY complex form she has.

And I can't help but visualize MasterShake as some thin, pasty, bald, bespectacled boy in a Vampire larper's cloak walking around and dissing everyone's lack of intelligence and subservience to the great Canon in the sky.
fistandantilus4.0
ouch, that's pretty harsh. Why do it that way, since taking away resonance limits drops her resonance, there-by limiting her may CF's? What you're doing is basically making it so that she wastes karma every time she raises a form.

QUOTE (emo)
subservience to the great Canon in the sky.


talk to tutori about that. smile.gif
emo samurai
No, what I mean is that her complex forms are AlWAYS set at her resonance, and she only has to buy them once for 3 BP or 5 Karma. It's not that she gets less in this game, she just has more to lose.
fistandantilus4.0
oh, well hell, in that case, she should do it anyways. Get a little cyber, she's saving a butt load of karma instead of having to improve the rating one step at a time.
emo samurai
What rating? Does Resonance help with rigging?
James McMurray
You can't add a gas vent to a slivergun (or any other heavy or light pistol).
fistandantilus4.0
QUOTE (emo samurai)
What rating? Does Resonance help with rigging?

not directly, but you can always script a machine sprite in to a drone. Resonance helps with that. Also, a higher resonace helps with CF's for hacking other drones.
Dranem
QUOTE (emo samurai)
What rating? Does Resonance help with rigging?

Resonance helps with Threading, which is great immitating programs for the Complex forms you may lack. It's also good for resisting Fading from compiling Sprites.
And a Machine Sprite in a Drone is better than any pilot you can have smile.gif
emo samurai
Yeah; keep your Resonance.
fistandantilus4.0
you get a power for every 3 ratings points for sprites, like you do with spirits. One od the powers they get is an auto soft. SO if you've got a good enough rating, you can have them have their relevant vehicle skill, plus gunery. Maybe a 'clearsight' , that sort of thing. Plus you can go over a 6 rating. wink.gif
FanGirl
I revised my character sheet to fit with most of your recommendations, but I did not add a VCR for a few reasons. First, Fanny can just make a sprite control vehicles if she needs to (as Damen and fistand pointed out), second, the very idea of unnecessary surgery makes her squeamish, and third--and perhaps most importantly--Fanny views her Resonance as a divine gift, and she would never willingly give up even a fraction of it unless doing so would serve the greater good. I'm sorry, but I believe that breathing soul into one's character is more important than minmaxing the hell out of him.
SL James
QUOTE (FanGirl @ Apr 8 2006, 05:25 PM)
Hello, chummers.  I understand that your very own Emo Samurai has kept you all entertained with his madcap campaign plans, and you’ve probably been wondering how these plans are actually going to play out when inflicted on an actual group.

Yes... "Entertained." That's exactly what word comes to mind.
FanGirl
Hello, James. You may be interested in knowing that I've been warned about you.
fistandantilus4.0
QUOTE (FanGirl)
I'm sorry, but I believe that breathing soul into one's character is more important than minmaxing the hell out of him.

*pat on back**gives "way ta' be"*

Now how exactly did you end up in emo's game then? wink.gif
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