Lieutenant Timber was doing quite a good job as a cop until he got caught in an massive explosion while busting a BTL dealer. Lone Star paid for the full body replacement to show it cared about its men. After that, Timber specialized in the dirtiest corners that were too risky for other cops. He slowly became the face of Lone Star in those areas, polishing the rough edges to make sure crime did not leak into downtown.

Sometimes it involved kicking some ass, but most criminals are smart enough to understand where the line is, so a bit of talking was often enough. Sadly, after the tempo crisis, any kind of relation between the police and the underworld became untolerable and labelled as corruption, so Lone Star had to fire Timber upon losing the Seattle contract and there was no way KE would take him back. He turned to less picky patrons.

1) We are shaped by out heritage. Facial features, skin tone, hight, build, metatype, even aptitudes are influenced by the genes passed from parent to child. Attitude, too, is taught by parents, informed by their own lives and their cultural hertiage. Where does your character come from, what is her lineage, who were her parents, and what did she inherit from them?

Dad always worked for Lone Star. He died in the line of duty when I was 16. As Mom had always stayed at home to raise me, somebody had to bring cash home, so I enlisted too.

2) Parents can be proud of their children or regret ever bringing them into the world. Some are loving, and some are indifferent. All of them are only metahuman and have their own opinions of their children. Assuming they could speak, what would each of your character's parents say about her?

Dad would probably have mixed feelings. He had always been an idealist about his job. All that got him was a bullet in the chest. I learnt my lesson: a cop's first job is that nobody gets shot, including himself. Dad would have approved me joined the force, but probably not my methods. And don't even think about the shadows.

Mom would probably be crying all day along after the accident. Maybe it's better she did not live to see it. She had died of a cancer 2 years before.

3) Many people remember certain historical events for the rest of their lives. For those alive in the first decade of the 21st century, it could be the assassination of John F. Kennedy, or the Tiananmen Square protests, or the fall of the Berlin Wall, or the attack of 11 September 2001. People remember where they were, and what they were doing when they first heard of these events. Shadowrun history has significant events as well, such as the assassination of President Dunkelzahn, the Crash 2.0, and the emergence of technomancers and artifical intelligences. Pick a few events from recent Shadowrun history and ask where the character was at the time, what does he remember about about event, and what was he doing at the time?

I had just enlisted when Dunkie bit it. We were busting a guy beating his wife. Called by a neighbour. I learnt about the bombing back at the station. Well, it's not like it was the first assassinated President.

Luckily, I was not on duty on the day of the Crash. I did not have to face the surge of wild alarms myself, but we spent several weeks in deep drek while everybody was taking advantage of the down security systems. I even caught a mum stealing HI-FI equipment with her toddler as she would usually go shopping for food.

4) Very few people choose to become shadowrunners. More likely, they are thrown into the life by a chaotic and uncaring world. Even if she made a conscious decision to enter the shadows, her decision is influenced by the world around her. How did your character get into shadowrunning, and why did she take that path?

When KE took over, I was part of the layoffs. The Star wanted to show a straighter face, so they got rid of the shaddy cops first, and KE would of course never hire me back. Still I had to eat, so to keep doing what I know I turned towards less picky patrons.

5) People have control over their own living arrangements. From the child young enough to use crayons and tape all the way up to the elderly shut-in who plasters her walls with family photos and cat pictures, everyone makes their living spaces more personally pleasing. What is your character's living space like, and what has he added or changed to make it his own?

It's a mess. Dirty clothes and dishes are living their own life, the bed is never done, and many a lost bullet must have rolled under the furniture. Since I don't have much use for a shower, I replaced it with an additional fridge for the beers.

6) Everyone has beliefs, and many beliefs strong enough to be convictions. Some are religious, some are political, some are socical, and some are just about why people are here. What does your character believe in, what are her convictions (if any), and why does she hold them?

Little beliefs can survive 20 years beating the streets. I don't think there is such a thing as good and bad. There are only circumstances. I once went on to arrest a mafia hitman. The guy had something like 50 kills on his counter. He was specialized in making examples, so you could be sure his work looked like a freaking horror trid. When I entered his home, he begged for me not to handcuff him in front of his son. All this cold-blooded killer could think about was a way to tell him that everything was all right and he would be back soon.

7) Everyone has aspects of their personality that grate on someone. Even the best of friends annoy one another from time to time. The flaws in a person’s character are as important as the qualities. What do you dislike most about your character’s personality?

[OOC] He is too much detached, as if nothing really mattered. Probably some kind of a post-traumatic syndrom, coupled with the heavy Essence loss.

8 ) The Sixth World is considered by many to be spinning out of control. If anyone could exert control over it, it would be the “Big Ten” triple-A megacorps. These transnationals exert a lot of influence on everyday life in the 2070s. Which of the Big Ten does your character hold in the highest (or least low) regard, which does he like the least, and why?

Of course I hold Ares a bit of grudge for getting me fired, but apart from that a corp is a corp.

9) People make acquaintances and friends; we’re hardwired for it. Humans are social animals. This is especially true in the shadows, where often it is not the power you have, but the power you can borrow, and not who you, are but who you know. There’s a story behind each and every one of these relationships. What is the story with your character and her contacts?

After the surgery, the Star tried to enlist me with their SWAT team. After all, I had the body for it. But I couldn't make it. Had I wanted to play Rambo, I would have joined the army, not the cops. We quickly managed to settle an agreement: after 2 days I told the squad leader to fuck off and he made it clear to his superiors that he never wanted to see my steely ass again. Back to the streets, where I belong.

As the Star still wanted to cash in a bit on my ware, they specialized me in the no-go zones, places where extra survivability is not luxury. I slowly became the Star face in the barrens. I was here to make sure the dirty business stayed in the dirty places.

Let's make it clear: the Star never had the power to bend all the gangs, neither has KE. And it is not part of the deal anyway. As long as we keep the shiny corners clean and their SINners safe, politicians are happy, and as long as they are happy we get our money. So my job involved less busting and more talking to make sure everybody understands where the line is. This is how I met most of my underworld contacts.

Even for this job my body helped a great deal. Gangers are like wild animals. They can smell fear, and it makes them nervous. Just knowing that I would be able to run away if things got sour have always made negotiations easier with them.

[OOC]Here are the contacts:

A former LS buddy who got hired by KE.
A Seattle LS chief obssessed about getting the contract back.

A French chef whose restaurant serves as neutral ground between the mafia and the yakuzas. The guy is a gold mine concerning underworld politics and rumors, and his restaurant might be the safest place in Seattle: who in their right mind would like a bounty from both the mob and the yaks?

A fixer.

A gang leader and a go-gang leader. Probably know much more than that, but only kept the names of those reliable enough. No chipheads, no junkies, no fanatics,...

Nightingale, an upper class escort. I met her as a chiphead who started selling her body to pay for the BTL. She helped me bust her dealer and I helped her come clean. Now her only addiction is to money, and she makes a lot of it. I am probably the only one who knows about her past. She is granted access to the most exclusive places, has crunchy news about many public figures and would probably agree to serve as a honey pot for me. She is probably also the one I would come to if I had money problems, but that is much less likely to succeed...

10) It’s Sunday morning, and your character has no commitments until tomorrow afternoon. What does she do for the day?

Start with sleeping off, I guess. Then probably grab a beer and watch some trids. Maybe go cruising on the seaside or just have a random walk in the sprawl if the weather is nice. Nothing very exciting. Being a cop does not leave much space for a hobby, and it's a bit late to start now. I have nothing against attending an Urban Brawl game form time to time.

11) Your character has a specific skill set, a list of Active and Knowledge skills that define what she knows and her areas of expertise. How did she come to learn those skills, and how did she develop them to those levels?

The Star basic training includes law notions, security procedures, interrogation, hand guns and stun batons. Most of the rest I had to learn on the job, although if you ask me any cop should know it too.

12) Everyone has their limits. People can be dark, but most people’s instinct is to draw the line at certain actions and thoughts, and they keep to their own moral convictions. Is there a moral limit that your character enforces on the jobs she takes, and in what shadow work would she refuse to engage?

I don 't run on Lone Star turf. First, I don't want to shoot a friend by mistake, second it would be too risky for me, third I don't want to burn the bridges.

I try to use less than lethal force against security goons: I know what it is to be shot at for 2000Y a month.

Apart from that, I am not such a bad guy. I could definitely shoot a mafia guy in the face for money, but never abduct his children for example.

13) If you have an Awakened or technomancer character, consider your character’s tradition and streams. Even within the major established magical traditions and the recently emerged technomantic streams, there is room for personalization. Ask yourself what drew her to that particular paradigm, how does it effect the way she views the world and her magic, how does it translate into choice of mentor spirit or paragon, and how does it affect the appearance of the spirits or sprites you conjure or compile?

You mean like those guys who dance naked under the full moon?

14) While acceptance and bias vary from place to place, augmentations— be they bio-, cyber-, gene-, or nanoware—are increasingly common and available in the Sixth World. However, personal technological enhancement is rarely cheap, and many implants that runners possess are restricted. How did your character come to have the enhancements she has, how were they paid for, and what motivated the choices she made (if she did make the choices)?

On 2069, October 14th, I went on to bust a small BTL dealer. The guy was small fry, but I was chasing his supplier who as trying to flood downtown with his drek. When I arrived, the guy was not at home, so I forced the door to try to find evidence. What I didn't know was that he was a paranoid nutcase. His door was stuffed with enough C12 to shake the whole sprawl. The rescue team found me splattered all around the corridor.

The standard LS procedure for such a case would have been to grant me a medal and let me rot on my hospital bed, but I got lucky. More than 50 Lone Star officers had died in the line of duty over the preivous month. This was too much, even for Seattle, and the men were getting angry to be used as cannon fodder. The idea of a strike was in the air. Can you imagine? Lone Star and strike in the same sentence? So the big guys decided they could use some spin and here I was. They paid for the whole chassis, made a nice story of my recovery for their internal magazine and they were back as Lone Star, the corp that cares. That is also the reason why they did not ask for the ware back when they had to let me go: too much waves in prevision.

I didn't really have a choice but I must say the docs made quite a good job. Nothing to complain about.

15) Life as a shadowrunner is by definition outside the bounds of “normal” life. Shadowrunners do not truly fit into the lives of ordinary people, whether they live in slums or mansions. What does your character think of ordinary life, mainstream culture, and those who abide by it?

Ignorance is bliss. Whether it works out fine for them or not, their life is simple. But I woldn't exchange mine for them. I like my freedom too much. That's already what I liked the most when I was beating the streets.

16) Everyone has nightmares. Sometimes, we forget the dream completely on waking. Sometimes, the nightmare haunts us or even recurs. If your character had a lingering nightmare or a deep-rooted fear, what would it be, and why does he find it so terrifying?

I don't want to talk about it. [OOC] he still has flashbacks about the explosion.

17) People tend to attach sentimental value to items in their possession or people they are close to. They make an effort to keep these close by and safe. What is your character’s “sacred object” or “close one,” and how did they come to be so important to him?

That would be the sprawl itself. I like the madness, the noise, the neverending ballet of all those tiny humans filling their part without understanding it, be it that of a hero or a villain. It is just so full of all the aspects of human nature.

I also would not like it if anything happened to Nightingale. We have grown a lot together, she is a bit like my daughter now.

18) One of metahumanity’s greatest assets is its ability to look toward the future and imagine a better life. Even small children have dreams about what they want to be when they grow up. What did your character want to become when he was a child, and what are his goals now?

Become a cop like Daddy of course.

Still now, I would be happy to join the Force again, but that is not happening while KE has the contract, and I cannot take them down by myself. So I suppose I should just be happy to seize the day and try not to be too much of a bastard.

19) A person’s appearance can say volumes about him. From fashion sense, to the colors he prefers, to the way he walks and speaks. Sometimes, his personality determines his appearance, and, sometimes, the appearance he chooses to present the world effects his personality. What does your character look like, and what inspired his choices?

I usually try to completely hide my body. This includes long pants, high collar shirt and gloves, even in summer. It's not like I could get hot anyway. I only take them off if I want to scare somebody. Never wear bright colors: that makes you too much of an easy target.

20) Everyone has a name, but a runner’s street name is a representation of his connection to the shadows. Sometimes runners choose their own moniker, but more often it is given to them as a nickname or earned through some (mis)adventure. How did your character come to be known by his street name?

It's Nightingale who gave me this name when we met: Hickory, the tin man looking for his heart. I reminded her of an old flat she saw as a kid. I didn't know about it at the time. This was shortly after the accident, and at that time I was still not sure to be alive. I am feeling better now, but the name stayed.

ATTRIBUTES
Body - 1 (7)
Agility - 1 (7)
Reaction - 5
Strength - 1 (6)
Charisma - 5
Intuition - 5
Logic - 2
Willpower - 5

Edge - 6 (current 6)
Init - 10 (1 Init Pass)
Essence - 1.00
Karma 0 (unspent 0)

CONDITION MONITOR
Stun - 11 (current 0)
Physical - 17 (current 0)

ARMOR
Street outfit: 13/11
Run outfit: 22/20, non-conductivity 6, chemical protection 6

NUYEN
500

LIFESTYLES
Low, 2 month
Squatter safehouse, 4 months

SKILLS
Active
Knowledge

CONTACTS

QUALITIES

WEAPONS
Melee
Ranged
Grenades

IMPLANTS

COMMLINK

MERCURY COMET

GEAR

Furio "Fury" Balducci is an American-Italian elf that stands almost 6'5" tall.
He shows typically mediterranean face features, tanned skin and a lean and toned body.
His short black hair is styled in spikes and his deep blue eyes often light up when he's angry.
A tattoo of a bright red and orange flame covers the right side of his face, going down to his shoulder.

Most of the time he wears elegant but sturdy boots, tight-fitting jeans and a black synthleather jacket over a white shirt. He is never without his shades, putting them up on his hair when it's not appropriate to wear them. He likes the bling and normally wears an earring and a thin silver chain around the neck. Due to his allergy he can't wear gold which he often bemoans.

His guns keep him company whereever he goes and he doesn't let other people touch them. The best way to make Furio earn his nickname is to "disrespect" his pistols.

1) We are shaped by our heritage. Facial features, skin tone, height, build, metatype, even aptitudes are influenced by the genes passed from parent to child. Attitude, too, is taught by parents, informed by their own lives and their cultural heritage. Where does your character come from, what is her lineage, who were her parents, and what did she inherit from them?

Furio “Fury” Balducci is an elf of American-Italian heritage. He is the son of Antonio and Maria Balducci. He has typically mediterranean face features, tanned skin and is, at almost 6’5”, quite tall for an Italian.
He inherited his fathers temper and his mother’s deep blue eyes.

2)Parents can be proud of their children or regret ever bringing them into the world. Some are loving, and some are indifferent. All of them are only metahuman and have their own opinions of their children. Assuming they could speak, what would each of your character’s parents say about her?

His father, Antonio, would be proud that Furio has become a strong young man that can protect himself and stands up for himself.

His mother, Maria, would be sad because she hoped that Furio would not get tangled up in the web of ciminality and make something out of himself.

3)Many people remember certain historical events for the rest of their lives. For those alive in the first decade of the 21st century, it could be the assassination of John F. Kennedy, or the Tiananmen Square protests, or the fall of the Berlin Wall, or the attacks of 11 September 2001. People remember where they were, and what they were doing when they first heard of these events. Shadowrun history has significant events as well, such as the assassination of President Dunkelzahn, the Crash 2.0, and the emergence of technomancers and artificial intelligences. Pick a few events from recent Shadowrun history and ask where the character was at the time, what does he remember about the event, and what was he doing at the time?

Furio doesn’t really care about big events or politics. Everything that happens outside of his small world doesn’t concern him in his opinion. He's also too young to have consciously witnessed most of the big stuff.

4)Very few people choose to become shadowrunners. More likely, they are thrown into the life by a chaotic and uncaring
world. Even if she made a conscious decision to enter the shadows, her decision is influenced by the world around her.
How did your character get into shadowrunning, and why did she take that path?

Furio was leading a life of crime since his teenage years due to his best friend Silvio, who belonged to the Finnigan family.
As an outsider, Furio couldn’t officially join the family but he often did small jobs for them, first as an enforcer and later as a hitman. When his experience and abilities grew he looked for more lucrative work and turned to the shadows. He still sometimes works for the Finnigans when they have a job for him, even though his contact with them has diminished since his best fried Silvio was killed during a power struggle with the Gianellis. Furio doesn’t know to this day who exactly killed Silvio.

5)People have control over their own living arrangements. From the child young enough to use crayons and tape all the way up to the elderly shut-in who plasters her walls with family photos and cat pictures, everyone makes their living spaces more personally pleasing. What is your character’s living space like, and what has he added or changed to make it his own?

Furio lives in an old apartment in Redmond. He doesn’t have too many personal affects so his room looks pretty neutral. He actually keeps it pretty clean. Important to him is to get a lot of light in because he hates living in the twilight, so the first thing he did after moving in was replacing the old stained windows with newer bigger ones.

6)Everyone has beliefs, and many have beliefs strong enough to be convictions. Some are religious, some are political, some are social, and some are just about why people are here. What does your character believe in, what are her convictions (if any), and why does she hold them?

Furio believes that you have to take what you want in this world and that you cannot appear weak because then others will walk all over you.

7)Everyone has aspects of their personality that grate on someone. Even the best of friends annoy one another from time to time. The flaws in a person’s character are as important as the qualities. What do you dislike most about your character’s personality?

Furio has a bad temper. He often gets in bad situations because he overreacts and starts shoving a gun in someones face. He has problems letting it go when someone insults him.

8)The Sixth World is considered by many to be spinning out of control. If anyone could exert control over it, it would be the “Big Ten” triple-A megacorps. These transnationals exert a lot of influence on everyday life in the 2070s. Which of the Big Ten does your character hold in the highest (or least low) regard, which does he like the least, and why?

He likes Ares because he thinks they make the best weapons. All his pistols are Ares models.
He doesn’t really hate a single one of the others, he is pretty indifferent to them.

9)People make acquaintances and friends; we’re hardwired for it. Humans are social animals. This is especially true in the shadows, where often it is not the power you have, but the power you can borrow, and not who you, are but who you know. There’s a Story behind each and every one of these relationships. What isthe story with your character and her contacts?

Furio got to know Mouse while doing a hit for the Finnigan family. He needed ammunition and his usual supply had run dry so he asked around for a new reliable source. Since then he has done business with Mouse a few times, mostly buying ammunition or getting referred to a job.

10)It’s Sunday morning, and your character has no commitments until tomorrow afternoon. What does she do for the day?

He would spend some time on the shooting range, watch a bit of Trid, preferably cool movies with lot’s of gun action, and round it off with drinking a beer with some buddies at a run-down bar, probably starting a fight in the process.

11)Your character has a specific skill set, a list of Active and Knowledge skills that define what she knows and her areas of expertise. How did she come to learn those skills, and how did she develop them to those levels?

Furio learnt to use his fists, clubs and especially pistols from the time he could stand because he and his best friend Silvio were always on the streets, getting in fights. He discovered that he had a natural talent for pistols which later turned out to be a form of magic. Since he knew that was his edge he spent hours every day on the shooting range perfecting his abilities with pistols.
Since he was doing all sorts of crimes all his life he is pretty good at pickpocketing, following people and disguising himself.
He’s also pretty fit and good at sports.

12)Everyone has their limits. People can be dark, but most people’s instinct is to draw the line at certain actions and thoughts, and they keep to their own moral convictions. Is there a moral limit that your character enforces on the jobs she takes, and in what shadow work would she refuse to engage?

Furio doesn’t have a lot of morals. He’s seen a lot in his life, and is used to violence and death. He sets his limits at hurting kids though.

13)If you have an Awakened or technomancer character, consider your character’s tradition and streams. Even within the major established magical traditions and the recently emerged technomantic streams, there is room for personalization. Ask yourself what drew her to that particular paradigm, how does it effect the way she views the world and her magic, how does it translate into choice of mentor spirit or paragon, and how does it affect the appearance of the spirits or sprites you conjure or compile?

Furio does not hve a tradition. Some people would say he follows the Adept Way of the Warrior but he himself just views his magic as a cool thing that helps him survive and get jobs done, nothing spiritual.

14)While acceptance and bias vary from place to place, augmentations— be they bio-, cyber-, gene-, or nanoware—are increasingly common and available in the Sixth World. However, personal technological enhancement is rarely cheap, and many implants that runners possess are restricted. How did your character come to have the enhancements she has, how were they paid for, and what motivated the choices she made (if she did make the choices)?

He doesn’t have implants because even he knows that that would negatively impact his magic.

15)Life as a shadowrunner is by definition outside the bounds of “normal” life. Shadowrunners do not truly fit into the lives of ordinary people, whether they live in slums or mansions. What does your character think of ordinary life, mainstream culture, and those who abide by it?

He pities people who lead a normal life, thinking that they are sheeps who are at the mercy of the people who know what life is really about. Sometimes he feels like having a normal life with a steady girlfriend and a job could be nice but he quickly dismisses these imaginations when he catches himself thinking that way.

16)Everyone has nightmares. Sometimes, we forget the dream completely on waking. Sometimes, the nightmare haunts us or even recurs. If your character had a lingering nightmare or a deep-rooted fear, what would it be, and why does he find it so terrifying?

Sometimes in his sleep he unconciously realizes that he’s just a small-time criminal and runner and that, for all his bragging and self-image as a bad-ass, he’s really unimportant in the grand scheme of things. He realizes that he has no close friends or family and is basically alone in this huge world. That leads to nightmares of him wandering around in a deserted megaplex, looking for other humans but finding only silence and shadows.

But such thoughts are rare, most of the time he is convinced that he is awesome.

17)People tend to attach sentimental value to items in their possession or people they are close to. They make an effort to
keep these close by and safe. What is your character’s “sacred object” or “close one,” and how did they come to be so important to him?

His sacred objects are his pistols. He has two pairs of weapons, two Ares Predator IVs and two Ares Viper Sliverguns. He has had them modified to his personal specifications and all have his trademark sign, engraved flames along the barrel.

18)One of metahumanity’s greatest assets is its ability to look toward the future and imagine a better life. Even small children have dreams about what they want to be when they grow up. What did your character want to become when he was a child, and what are his goals now?

When he was a child he wanted to be a bad-ass gun-toting gangster like the people he saw in Silvio's family, and that’s exactly what he has become in his mind. Now he just wants other people to realize that too and give him the respect he thinks he deserves.

19)A person’s appearance can say volumes about him. From fashion sense, to the colors he prefers, to the way he walks and speaks. Sometimes, his personality determines his appearance, and, sometimes, the appearance he chooses to present the world effects his personality. What does your character look like, and what inspired his choices?

Furio want’s to convey the image of a tough and dangerous guy. He keeps his short black hair in spikes and has bright red and orange flame tattoo on the right side of his face. He dresses pretty fashionably and always walks with big determined steps and a swagger.

20)Everyone has a name, but a runner’s street name is a representation of his connection to the shadows. Sometimes runners choose their own moniker, but more often it is given to them as a nickname or earned through some (mis)adventure. How did your character come to be known by his street name?

The nickname “Fury” was a no-brainer for Furio because it was close to his real name and fit his his hot temper very well. He has had the name since he was a teenager.

Name: Furio “Fury” Balducci
Metatype : Elf

Attributes:


Qualities:


Skills:


Adept Powers:


Contacts:


Gear: