Dancer will pitch in to defend the community, play white knight if she sees humanis thugs picking on someone, and has the back of any other member of the team. She doesn't really go
for humanis thugs to beat on, though. She is fairly mercenary, but still loyal to her teammates, and conscious of getting/keeping a good rep as a runner.
I'm going to brainstorm a bit on how she could have met the others, but here is her sheet for now:
Name: Dancer (Katherine "Kate" Danner)
Gender: Female
Race: Ork
BREAKDOWN (500 Points)
Core Attributes: 200
Special Attributes: 85
Race: 10
Active Skills: 144
Qualities: 0
Contacts: 11
Resources: 50
=Attributes=
Body: 5
Agility: 5(7)
Reaction: 5(7)
Strength: 3 (5)
Charisma: 4
Intuition: 3
Logic: 3
Willpower: 5
Magic: 4 (6, reduced by Cyber/Bioware)
Edge: 3
Essence: 4.00
Initiative: 10
Initiative Passes: 3
Physical Damage Track: 11
Stun Track: 11
Current Karma: 0
Total Karma: 0
Street Cred: 0
Noteriety: 0
Public Awareness: 0
=Qualities=
Adept
Allergy: Silver, Moderate
First Impression
Guts
Martial Arts:
>Kenpo: 5 (+1 on melee block)
>Kung Fu: 5 (+1 on melee block)
>Muay Thai: 5 (+1 DV on unarmed attacks)
>Tai Kwon Do: 5 (+1 DV on unarmed attacks)
Nano-Intolerance
Scorched
Sensitive System
=Active Skills=
Gymnastics/Dance: 4/+2
Influence Skill Group: 4
Intimidation/Physical: 2/+2
Perception: 3
Pistols/Semi-Automatic: 4/+2
Stealth Skill Group: 1
Unarmed Combat/Martial Arts: 6/+2
Martial Arts Maneuvers:
>Disarm
>Finishing Move
>Herding
>Kick Attack
>Riposte
=Knowledge Skills=
Languages>
English: N
Orzet: 4
Other Knowledge Skills>
Exotic Dancing: 3
Goblin Rock: 2
Magical Background: 3
Martial Arts Unlimited Fighting Circuit: 3
Ork Underground: 3
=Bioware=
Biosculpting: Minor Modifications (2,000 Nuyen)
Cosmetic Bioware: Glo-tatts
Muscle Augmentation: 2
Muscle Toner: 2
Reflex Recorders:
>Gymnastics
>Unarmed Combat
Synaptic Booster: 2
=Adept Abilities=
Combat Sense: 2
Counterstrike: 1
Critical Strike: 4
Improved Ability -
>Unarmed Combat: 2
Killing Hands
=Contacts=
Fixer (Connection: 4/Loyalty: 2)
Dancer (Connection: 2/Loyalty: 3)
=Lifestyle=
High (1 Month)
Starting Money: 4d6 x 500 Nuyen
=Equipment=
ID/Credsticks:
Fake ID (Rating: 4), Fake Gun Registration (Rating: 4), Fake Concealed Carry Permit (Rating: 4), Fake Bioware License (Rating: 4) x 2; 4 certified credsticks.
DocWagon Contract:
Basic (1 Year).
Weapons:
>Colt Government 2066 with internal smartlink, skinlink modification, concealable holster, 140 normal rounds of ammo, and 9 spare clips.
Armor/Clothing:
Armor Jacket, FFBA half suit with Nonconductive: 4; PPP forearm guards, shin guards, vitals protector, and arm/leg casings (the discreet protection version); Urban Explorer Jumpsuit, 1,250 Nuyen worth of assorted clothing.
Commlink/Software/Simsense:
Novatech Airware Commlink with ISIS Orb OS, sim module, skinlink, trodes, and subvocal mic; browse program (Rating: 3), Linguasoft (Chinese, Rating: 3), Virtual Surround Music, Virtual Pet (white rabbit).
Other:
Glasses with skinlink modification and - image link, smartlink, Vision Magnification, and flare compensation; duffel bag (100 Nuyen), Medkit (Rating: 6) with 2 refills, Operations Cleanup toolkit.
=Background=
(Bull's 50+ Questions) -
1. What is your character's Sex?
Female.
2. What is your character's physical size?
Petite but curvy build.
3. What is the color of the character's hair, eyes, and skin?
Her hair is pale blonde in a tousled pixie cut. She has startling bright green eyes and golden tan skin. She usually wears understated makeup - pink lipstick, a bit of eyeliner, no base. She has glo-tatts of intricate, flowery Or'zet runes.
4. What is the character's general appearance (i.e., How does she dress, etc.)?
Kate dresses to blend in on the streets - either a mix of denim and synthleather in the rougher parts of town, or typical skirt/blouse combinations elsewhere. She has one or two more formal outfits for meets or upscale places. In nightclubs, she goes to the other extreme and wears daring outfits, although she still doesn't stand out that much, since a lot of other people do that, too. She moves with the unconsious grace of a dancer, though, so she draws a lot of glances despite her efforts to be part of the crowd. Although attractive by human standards, none of her cosmetic mods alter her looks to make her look less orkish (tusk reduction, etc.).
5. Where was the character born (City, State, Hospital Name)?
Kate was born in the Seattle Ork Underground, with the assistance of a midwife.
6. What is the character's date of birth?
September 15th, 2052.
7. What was the character's family life like?
Kate's dad had a typically big ork family, and the orks in the underground tended to consider themselves part of a bigger extended family. She got along with her siblings well enough, but she was a bit of a loner, and always wanted to go off and explore the sewer tunnels, resulting in many a scolding.
8. Has the charcter begun her own family?
No. Kate has nightmares about becoming like one of the typical tired-looking ork women of the Barrens, with a squalling brood of little brats running all over the place. She is too busy getting her head together to even think about a serious relationship at this point. And she hasn't really had a good long-term relationship, so she wonders if she's capable of that level of commitment.
9. Where or how was the charcter educated?
Kate was home-schooled by her mom, a former school teacher who wanted her kids to make something of themselves. Her mom was one of the few people who took her dreams of becoming a dancer seriously. But the open area where she practiced was also the place where the tougher orks would gather to spar, honing their unarmed combat skills. Kate was enthralled by what she saw, and pleaded with them to teach her. A few of them acceded to her wishes, indulgently at first. Then, when they saw she had some genuine aptitude, they started training her in earnest. One of them also insisted that she learn to shoot a gun. She continued to practice her dancing, but unknowingly, her focus had changed, to the point that when she awakened, she began to manifest abilities of the warrior's way, rather than the artist's way.
10. Has the character ever done anything else for a living?
Her experiences aboveground were disillusioning. SINless, an ork, and facing additional prejudice for being awakened, she found most doors closed to her. She could always find work dancing, but unfortunately it was not exactly the kind of "dancing" that she had in mind for a career. She could also find work as a gunsel or bodyguard in shady deals. The dancing was a dead end, she knew, even though cosmetic biomods and some striking glo-tatts made her popular. The muscle work, on the other hand, evolved into higher-end stuff, especially when she got some bioware enhancements to complement her mundane and magical abilities.
11. What are the character's political and religious beliefs?
Kate is pretty cynical (but apathetic) politically. She suspects humans of a sometimes subtle (sometimes not) bias against orks, and doesn't think activism is going to change anything. It is still needed - orks and humans rub shoulders too much for them to be able to ignore each other - but other people can bang their heads against that particular brick wall.
Religiously, she is agnostic. She thinks there is an afterlife, but if she had to guess, she would say it is a bunch of powerful spirits pushing their own agendas and playing games - just like things are here. She distrusts religions, because they seem to see the afterlife as a place where all of this life's problems and injustices will be magically set right, and she doubts it will be that simple.
12. Describe the character's moral code. Include how mercenary she is, whether or not she'll kill innocents, etc.
Kate is mercenary-minded and cheerfully amoral. She finds most laws to be biased, unfair, and stupid. She only pays enough attention to them to evade them. The unwritten rules are far more meaningful to her. She is pretty much out for number one, although she is loyal to friends, mindful of keeping a good rep as a runner, and an occasional soft touch for someone in trouble. Although she has little problem with criminal activities, she flinches from wetwork, and prefers non-lethal means whenever possible. When it is unavoidable, though, she acts with utter ruthlessness, her drive to survive trumping any considerations of fairness or honor.
She has a healthy libido, but feels awkward approaching people, usually letting them come to her. She also avoids any potential long-term romantic relationships. She fears BTLs because of a bad experience that she had with a Kong chip, and is too much of a control freak to indulge in any other kinds of brainbenders. She considers it a personal choice, though, and could care less if other people choose to indulge. She loathes smokers, though, because they are always polluting OTHER people's air (more specifically, her's) with those noxious fumes.
13. What are the character's goals?
Kate is still dealing with her original dreams (of being a dancer) being stomped down into the occasional forlorn hope. Her real goal now is to make a career out of shadowrunning while steering clear of the nastier jobs.
14. Why does the character run the shadows? (Why does she run the shadows still, rather than getting a "real" job?)
Kate doesn't have too many non-illegal options for making a living. The only alternatives that she can see are out-and-out wetwork, and stripping, which is lucrative but a dead end, and she would much rather not do either of those things.
15. What kind of personality does your character have? This should not necessarily be obviously stated in the background, as it is more important for actually playing the character, but it may colour or add mood to the history.
Kate is a bit bitter, and still trying to get a sense of control back in her life, but it doesn't show that much to others - superficially, she seems laid-back and unflappable, someone that it is very difficult to shock or embarass. When you have punched someone's face in, or worked a troll biker bachelor party, most other situations don't seem like such a big deal.
16. What special qualities does the character possess? This does not refer to skills, but rather to other things, such as how she gets along with people, whether she plans ahead, etc.
Her nonchalant attitude actually tends to induce people into opening up to her - she gives the impression of being someone who won't be shocked or judgemental by most admissions. She is not a good planner, but is good at reading people and reacting on instinct. Although she has a sharp tongue at times, she can be soothing and comforting at other times.
17. Are there certain things that the character can't or won't do? Why?
Kate finds it difficult to get emotionally close to people, or to admit it when she is. It is not just romantic relationships - she tends to keep a bit of emotional distance from friends, contacts, and fellow runners, too, at least until she gets to know them very well. Right now, her mom is the only one she lets past her emotional armor.
18. What things, people, or ideas does the character hate?
Kate hates bigots of all stripes, even orkish ones like the Sons of Sauron. She hates idealogues who think their precious causes are worth blowing things up for. She tones out most rhetoric, believing actions speak louder than words. She hates people who glorify violence, who use it at the first opportunity rather than as a last resort.
19. What things people, or ideas does the character love?
Kate likes hitting the hot night spots, especially the adrenaline rush that she gets from dancing. She likes hooking up with people, but doesn't usually get that attached to them. She likes her virtual pet, but finds it more therapeutic than anything else - she wouldn't hesitate to replace it with another cuter virtual critter. She has a soft spot for people down on their luck, especially for people who are poor but still have a sense of community (like the Ork Underground does - minus the bully boys).
20. What is the character's name? Give both full birth name, as well as nicknames, street names, etc.
Her "real" name is Katherine Danner, Kate to people she knows - her fake ID lists her as Katrina Doyle, and her street name is Dancer.
21. Determine what your character used to do, before becoming a shadowrunner (very important).
Kate worked at some of the seedier night clubs, the ones that didn't check for SINs and paid certified cred, as well as whatever odd jobs that needed a gun or a discreet bodyguard. When she began moving up to better jobs, she felt relief that things had begun to improve a bit.
22. Decide why your character left her old job, if she had one (also important).
Her previous jobs were forced upon her by desperate circumstances, and she is glad to be away from them.
23. Come up with a reason for why the character became a shadowrunner. (This very often will tie in with #22. This is not the same as #14, but rather why she started running the shadows originally. What led her to it?)
Shadowrunning may be dirty and dangerous work, but it's still the best option that she sees out there. It evolved from the legally shady activities she supplemented her income with, and she has moved more and more towards doing shadow work as her primary source of income.
24. How did your character come to know her contacts? Contacts are an important part of Shadowrun, decide how and why you know them.
Renald Biggs (Fixer) is a slightly overweight ork who has a mullet and muttonchop sideburns, usually dressed in white CAS-style suits. He tries to sound urbane and educated, although he has the occasional mispronounciation of a self-taught man when he uses some of the bigger words. He likes classical music and fine art, and tries to defy the typical stereotype of an ork. He has ties to the Black Rain, the Cascade Orks, and perhaps the mafia. He helped Dancer get get started as a runner, and has been a good source of gear and jobs for her. He is usually accompanied by Mum, a towering Jamaician troll who gets his name from his taciturn silence.
Frou-Frou (Dancer) is the street name of a female Troll of mostly Hispanic descent who works as a go-go dancer and bouncer at Maxine’s in the Ork Underground. She met Frou-Frou when she worked at Maxine's for awhile. The troll was protective of the petite new girl, until she realized that Dancer could actually take care of herself pretty well. The two friends kept in touch after Dancer went on to a shadowrunning career. They share both dancing and fist-fighting in common, and always have plenty of tales to swap. Frou-Frou occasionally passes on some useful information to Dancer, and Dancer occasionally helps out when Frou-Frou lets her know that the MOM needs a bit of extra security or muscle.
25. Does the character have a SIN? Does the character actually use it? Or is the character one of the SINless masses? This may be affected by the character's previous employment.
Kate has never had a SIN, but she does have fake ID and other paperwork now.
26. Is the character a full-time shadowrunner? Or does the character lead a Batman-like double existence?
Kate is a full-time runner.
27. Which person(s) or group(s) do you love the most?
She typically has a lot of people she hangs out with, but develops a few close friends. She is also still close to her mom.
28. Which person(s) or group(s) do you hate the most?
She hates terrorists and extremist policlubs the most of all. She loathes gangs almost as much, as she considers them pathetic bullies at best. Bigotry vexes her, but she considers it so common, that she is surprised when she meets someone who ISN'T at least a bit racist.
29. Which person(s) or group(s) do you respect the most?
She respects the real, cold, hard pros - she knows she isn't one of them yet, but hopes to reach that upper echelon someday. She isn't sure about that, though. She would rather stay lower down on the food chain, if reaching the top will involve turning herself into something remorseless and inhuman. That assumes she will have a choice, though.
30. Which person(s) or group(s) do you fear the most?
She fears all of the wack jobs out there - policlubs, cults, and the like. You can't tell WHAT they're going to do. She is wary of groups like Aztechnology and the Triads, who take biz personally and are big on vengeance, but at least they usually have a logical reason when they go after someone.
31. What is your favourite colour?
Pink, although outside of nightclubs, she will only wear it as an accent to more subdued clothing.
32. What is your favourite food and/or drink?
Kate likes meat, real meat, as opposed to that damn soy and krill that's everywhere. Of course, for her, most of the "real" meat she has eaten has either been Ork Underground cuisine (There's all kinds of critters in Uncle Ed's fritters...) or vat-grown stuff. She also has an inhuman tolerance for hot spices, and relishes doing things like putting Habenero sauce on ice cream. She likes beer better than wine, which tastes too fruity to her, although she likes lagers better than that dark beer the dwarven microbreweries turn out.
33. What place would you most like to visit?
There are still a few night clubs that she still hasn't been to, yet.
34. Which person(s) or group(s) are you most loyal to?
Herself, mostly. She is fiercely loyal to friends even if she downplays it most of the time. She also will help people down on their luck or in trouble sometimes. She feels more solidarity with squatters and shopkeepers than with criminals, still, only one of the reasons that she is unlikely to ever join one of the major syndicates. She feels a certain solidarity with other orks, but finds ork "culture" tiresome sometimes - it's like you have to dress and talk a certain way to be considered properly "orkish", and that has gotten old quickly for her.
35. What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the most enjoyment? (Warning: Answering Sex for this question can and will result in penalties to your character!)
Kate loves dancing. Despite being a bit shy at times, she still prefers being with people to hanging out by herself.
36. What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the least enjoyment?
She likes fighting, but doesn't like killing (at least, she tells herself that), and she doesn't like when she has to use her charms as part of a job, even if actual sex isn't involved.
37. What annoys you the most?
People who are so wrapped up in their ideals and preconceptions that they don't really listen to other people, who seem to only peripherally function in the real world.
38. What (if any) is your favourite form of art?
Dancing is one of her main joys in life. She may not be able to do it as a career, but she still enjoys watching it on the trid or hitting the night clubs herself. She doesn't quite consider tattoos an art form, but thinks that they should involve some aesthetic consideration beforehand. She disdains people who just get drunk and get a tattoo. And gang tattoos are almost as bad, turning an expression of individuality into an expression of conformity.
39. What is your greatest goal?
Her greatest goal, to become a dancing star, has been shot down. Her goals now are more practical - become an established runner, stay away from the more unsavory jobs as much as possible, and eventually get a big score and retire. She is all too aware that the odds are against her accomplishing the last one.
40. What do you think is your characters best quality?
Her mental resilience and survivor's instincts.
41. What do you think is your characters worst quality?
Her bitterness over her lost dreams, and inability to have a serious relationship with anyone.
42. What is the most important thing you have ever done?
She was involved as a bodyguard in the meet that led to a few months of relative peace between several underworld factions.
43. Which religion (if any) do you follow?
None, unless muddled agnosticism can be considered a "religion".
44. What is your most treasured possession (and why)?
She has a keychain with a holo of a long-faded modern dance star on it (Deja Theriss, one of the few orkish women to make it in the dance scene). She has had it since she was a kid and wanted to be a dancer herself.
45. What are your three most common dreams?
> Flying, or sometimes dancing, over a cityscape, among neon-colored clouds, feeling transcendent for a moment. She always feels a stab of disappointment when she has to wake up from it.
> In a nightclub or at a party, where everyone is naked, including her, but she isn't embarassed or disturbed, just unusually mellow. She walks through the other people as if they aren't there. Most times the dream will continue and segue into other confusing, disjointed dreams.
> A nightmare of brutally killing someone with her bare hands, sometimes turning into an even worse nightmare where they rise up as a blood-dripping, grinning zombie to exact vengeance on her.
46. What is the Character's current relationship with her family?
Long-distance, as most of them are still in Seattle. Jake, Sheila, and her mom are the only ones that she remains that close to, and her mom is probably the only one she would really open up to.
47. If the character's family is still alive, what do they do, and where do they live?
Most of her family is still in the Ork Underground. She keeps in touch with the occasional tridmail, but they are literally living in different worlds now. An older brother, Jake, is with the Black Rain now. They at least have more to talk about, although neither of them talks biz with the other. A younger sister, Sheila, is working as a secretary and backup gun to a semi-alcoholic dwarven investigator, and seems to be having fun despite the hair-raising misadventures she tells Kate about.
48. Where did the character learn her Skills?
Her dancing and fighting skills were picked up in the ork underground, and improved a bit on the mean streets of Seattle. Her studies were serious, if eclectic, but nothing she could ever put on a resume.
49. Does the character have a good luck charm? What is it, and why?
No. She sometimes refers to her gun as her "good luck charm", but only to herself, and ironically.
50. What type of music does the character like?
Goblin rock, although she doesn't mind any other kind of dance club music. Renald has exposed her to classical music, but she is only so-so about it - you can't dance to most of it.
51. List any past serious relationships that your character has had, and give a brief overview of the relationship.
None, really. She has had a few people get creepy and obsessive about her, which has only made her more leery of getting seriously involved with anyone.
52. Where does your character live? Why does she live there?
Kate's current place is a small but well-appointed condoplex tucked away just outside of the downtown Seattle area, a quiet area that she tries to keep her business away from, although it is near one of the entrances to the Ork Underground.
53. Remember, your Gamemaster like detail, so if you can think of any other little details, quirks, or whatever that you think might please the almight GM, then add them in as well. Oh, and your GM won't use any of these details against you at a later date. trust me...
Dancer is a close combat type, but can still shoot, and has some face abilities.
) :
