Think Neuromancer, All Tomorrow's Parties, or Pattern Recognition

I've been thinking about how to run SR this way, and I think it starts with the characters. They have to be less powerful than your typical runner. In my opinion, Shadowrun took the Gibson-style cyberpunk and pushed it further. I want to take it a step back.

So, either I create the characters myself, and distribute to the players, or I decrease the allowed BP, or both. I was thinking 300 BP, or maybe 250 BP. Do those of you who have experience with both Gibson and Shadowrun think 250 is too low?

Also, I think the characters need to work on their own for most of the time. Small, individual challenges. A man with a gun should be a threat. A street sam should be a large threat. This GMing strategy requires a lot of control, and good players as well. I was considering limiting the time any individual player gets at any given time to about 10 or 15 minutes. What do you think? The characters will, of course, sporadically work together, but it will be a highly individual game.

Lastly, there has to be cutting-edge technology. Is there a problem with giving players limited access to rating 7 programs or devices? Perhaps ones that deteriorate over time?

well, in Neuromancer, the characters were just about the best in the business. in order to find someone good enough to assist Case, they had to dig up a dead guy, and Molly went head-to-head with a vatjob and won.

for Idoru-style characters, i'd probably simply put limits on combat skills and/or instruct players to make characters who aren't professional badasses. the hardest thing, seriously, will be to convince the players to not act like professional badasses. everybody wants to play Neo, whether they admit to it or not (even to themselves). playing a character who can fail, who can look uncool, is really hard.

The thing is, in Neuromancer, the characters were very good at what they did, but they had severe limiting factors. Not the least of which is a lack of income. All of them started off as druggies, joygirls, or some other down-and-out nothing.

They may at one time have been the best, but at the beginning of the book, they were street-walking scum, trying to make it in the biz.

I'd recommend 300 points, a 250 point character would be below average in most stats, and have very few skills/money.

Our groups' 250 point street characters were really sad.

You'd only be able to spend 125 points in stats, which would give a human, 6 rating 3 stats and 2 rating 1 stats, or a similar combination. A 300 point character would only be deficient in 1 stat, and to get an average 3's across the board human, it'd take 320 points with out doing some house-ruling

This I also realize. Personally, I've never been too much into the magic in SR either. Computers and cyberware are where it's at. I've just been struggling on where to get the grit. Characters in general have waaaay too many resources to have any challenge.

The more I think about it, the more I think a limit on gear is the way to go. Place a lower limit on availability, as well as a lower limit on how many BP you can spend on gear. Depend on contacts to get you things like fake IDs and licenses and such.

And thanks for the math on the BP totals, Lago. Average is what I'm going for, and therefore I'll probably go with 300 BP.

And I'm with the others. Gibsons characters were good. It's just typically you didn't get the viewpoint of combat expert, and cyberware just wasn't as potent in his world.

So you might want to consider just ripping magic right out of the system if you want a campaign like that, and more than just reducing the availibility of gear I would limit what gear exists. For example wired 1 is all there is.

Also you might want to consider getting a lot of milage out of flaws. I suggest drug habits and being in love with girlfriends who occasionally cut themselves, or addictions to getting out and partying. Keeping your runners poor will keep an aspect of grit in the campaign, be sure to throw them a little extra Karma if they RP their flaws well instead of circumventing them, at least in the form of RP bonuses. (Oooooh I just figured out how to use RAW to justify cash for Karma!)

Regardless if you want to keep things gritty don't play the world as stupid. Many GMs handle lonestar and other security services based off of Dukes of Hazard re-runs. And they forget people other than the runners can hack, and that tech is everywhere. Hound the runners. Have retinal scanners occasionally flag them. Throw RFID in where they don't expect it. Have their data trails occasionally be hacked. Have shenanigans happen at their homes if they buy them and have the cops get suspicious. Forcing them elsewhere.

Also keep in mind that the "I'm teh hardcore!" characters, the ones who wield five guns at one time, and a sword with thier genitals, are rarely the most interesting.

I think a better example you might look at is in count zero where the main hacker guy is a kid with, like what? a few hours under his belt?

by starting players out small and having them work thier way up the food chain makes for more interesting characters, and ones they can appriciate more (as they had to put a lot of work into them.) this also makes for more emotional characters, these aren't the grizzled veterens who go "he got captured? oh well!" but if they have that time to make friends they might actually try and spring him/her.

my friend ran a D&D game for four years, he started us off as nubbs, but at the end we were like gods, and we still had that awesome group dynamic. It got better as time went on, as we were way more afraid of our characters dying now that we had put so much effort into them.

so my suggestion: limit them, make sure they aren't all chaotic evil mercenaries without souls, and make them have some sort of meaningful connection to each other. and always kep in mind: the basis for any story is conflict.

One thing I've done in characters is to have decent skills but give them mediocre stats to reflect that they were really good, then something bad happened to them (drug addiction, serious injury, brain fried, tortured, dumped on a deserted island, etc) and how they are a pale shadow of themselves.

There's not a huge difference from hands that are a little unsteady from long term drug abuse and someone who's just not that athletic. Describe them as guant, wan, anemic, jaundiced, twitchy, or any of a dozen other adjectives. Give them a low Reputation that says "used to be great, now washed up."

I think that you can run a Gibsonesque game with 400 points just fine. It's more about tone of the game than anything else.
If you force the players to wear armorjacks and have the fastest and the bestest gearz EVAR with smartlinked machineguns spitting 1200 rpm APFS ammo and full chem protection for the 14 types of nerve gas you throw at them, Gibson is right out the window. If your average mook you toss at them has a heavy pistol or a SMG and still scares your players than you have Gibson down pat.

I'm in a 400 point Gibson-style game right now and I'm having a complete blast...
Mark(psycho)Phipps( HAHAHA! )

You don't even have to cut all the magic out. Hideo is obviously an adept.

A lot of the weird voodoo in Gibson is essentially just voodoo. Gibson pretty clearly has adepts, magicians, and technomancers. The thing that distinguishes it from Shadowrun is that in Gibson's work noone actually knows that these things exist. Even the people who have these magical and technomantic abilities think that they are the only ones.

It sort of strains the believability more than a little bit, but whatever.

So really here's the things you need to make things feel like a Gibson novel:

• Have things open up in a really shitty place for the PCs. I mean really shitty.
• Have everyone around them treat them really shitty.
• Allow the players to start with any cyberware or computer equipment they want, but restrict external gadgetry to almost nothing. If someone wants a machine gun, they have to implant i in their arm.

-Frank

Hi,

A Gibson-esque SR campaign is great..
..I'm all for realistic worlds, where people matter - not the gadgets.

I mean, look at the Sprawl set - lots of high technology, but it's not the focus of the books [except, where it literally is the focus [such as Mona Lisa Overdrive].

The books are tales of people, how they relate to each other and the technologically speeded up world around them - and not driven by degrees of power, how much technology they have stuffed in their bodies, the calibre of their guns or the processing power of their decks.


As they say in CoC - high point characters taste just the same to Great Cthulhu as low point characters !!


Just my thruppence..

The Great Cthulhu (or should we just call ol' Chthulhu "Harlequin" for the purposes of this convo?) comment should be taken rather seriously, in this case. What makes the Gibson novels nice and suspenseful can also (unfortunately) be a bit of a liability when running a game. Quite simply, the characters in his books rarely seem to have any options and are basically being railroaded by powers greater than themselves at ALL times. That's great for creating a mood and all that, but at the table it can be easy to make people feel on rails or like they've lost before they've even begun. There's a difference between tossing your players a gutwrenching curveball and just basically yanking their chain every 5 minutes, after all.

Also, as an aside, I absolutely despise the Bobby Newmark character. I liked Neuromancer better than the rest of the Sprawl books by several orders of magnitude. I liked Virtual Light though. Haven't read the rest of the bridge stuff though.

Nevermind the points. I typically run Gibson-style games, and I do it by talking to the players and getting them to understand a very simple principle:

Shadowrunners are complete losers.

A shadowrunner has a skillset that most corporations, governments, or other groups would find extremely useful. Maybe he's a top-notch magicker, or a shooter, or wiz hacker. Regardless of the skillset, if they're good enough (and most characters are, even at chargen), some bigtime group is willing to take them on. But a shadowrunner explicitly does not join those groups.

Why? A top-of-the-line professional, with appropriate training, would make better (and more stable) pay, benefits, and most importantly, support from a larger parent entity. Even if you don't like the work, necessarily, normal people would take the safe job. You would. I do.

Let's examine the life of a shadowrunner. Ultimately, you live hand-to-mouth, because no one really makes the big scores all the time. You're constantly on the run from a whole host of authorities, most of which have infinitely more support, so you can never win. Most importantly, you have no one backing you. For example, Julius Deane was about as close as Case had to a friend in Night City, but he rolled over and had killed Linda in a heartbeat. No one is watching your back.

There is absolutely no reason that a normal person wouldn't apply their skills for a corp, government, or well-paying group, unless they were inherently fucked up. You teens and folks living in your parents' basement can protest all you want, but the rest of us have rent, and already work for people we hate, whose very purposes fill us with loathing. A shadowrunner simply can't work for them, either because they're too insane, or their reputations as fuck-ups or whatever prohibit that possibility.

There's the final possibility that your runner comes from the deep, dark ghetto. If this is the case, your runner doesn't have a whole host of restricted skills and gear - the bulk of BP is spent on Attributes and contacts, with cheap gear and meager skills. But they have the drive to make serious money. And then, why aren't they just selling BTLs or metahumans? Do they have a strong conviction regarding humanity? They won't make it as shadowrunners, either.

Shadowrunners are amoral, insane, and incompetent, or some combination thereof. Otherwise, that slick mage in your group would be running the show in some R&D or M-Sec department.

[edit]: If your character received his training and equipment (say, beyond ganger level) from some major orgnization, but has been betrayed and is now running the shadows, there are three possibilities:

1.) Your character is dead, and is joining the team as an discorporate (ha!) funcloud, or

2.) Your character will be dead within five minutes of the first game, because serious people don't allow that shit, or

3.) No one cares about your character, meaning he got away with a Smartlink and Datajack. See: ganger.

To make SR4 into a Gibson story (and mostly I'm looking at my experience with CP2020) I would:
1) Increase the lethality of firearms, or more specifically, the variability of the lethality of firearms. I would do something about staging damage to make it more wild, or make damage a roll instead of a static number. This adds to the risk of the game, since you can't just calculate how many die you need to soak or somesuch (of course, I'm coming more from SR3 where you do move combat pool around in calculated ways to soak damage).

2) Increase the drain of magic and decrease its effectiveness, but don't eliminate it. If you want to play CP2020, go play CP2020. Shadowrun has magic and it can be done in a gritty fashion. I don't know if I'd just increase drain codes, or make drain always physical, but one of those. In regards to effectiveness, depending on how the change in drain works, I would effectively halve the effectiveness of many spells. Mundanes must be able to defend themselves against magic. Magic should be a fun and specialized oddity, not a dominant character type.

3) All characters must have at least 4 points in flaws. Debilitating flaws are better. Make sure they have plenty of chances to accumulate new flaws during game play.

4) Characters must start out in really, really bad circumstances. Take the character's background and poop on it. What is left is what you use in the game.

Ultimately though, I feel like in the SR1-4 continuum, SR4 is the farthest from the Gibsonesque feel. Dig up SR1 and see if that better fits the niche.

I've never been a big fan of the cap on Flaws points, personally. It's easy to scrape up that many and still be a perfectly playable, rounded, character. My initial concept for most characters -- just a three or four word summary that I start from -- is often good for 4-5 Flaw points on it's own (SR3), nevermind more recent history of a better fleshed out background or whatever.

While I don't believe all Shadowrunners are losers, I do firmly believe all Shadowrunners (all RPG characters, regardless of game and genre, in fact) have something wrong with them. Choosing to live the life of your average player character isn't something that normal, sane, rational, people do without a very, very, good reason (and that "very very good reason" is generally a character flaw in and of itself, circumstances running rampant over the rest of someone's life). Flaws should be a big part of every character, because to an extent they tell you why the hell that knucklehead's got a job like this in the first place.

Guys with guns are no biggie ... tough life, no real job skills or education, but they learned how to fight, so, now, they Shadowrun.

Gets harder with Deckers and MUCH harder with magicians ... they're still rare enough that most employers will put up with a whole lot of flake before it becomes an issue and if the mage is actually well-adjusted? Yikes!

"Well, Bob, you've made a guy with both spellcasting groups at 4, Magic of 5, and no real hangups ... why is he a Shadowrunner instead of having a nice cushy corporate job bringing in six figures a year?"

"Because the group needed a mage."

"No, Bob, I don't think that you get what I'm asking, here."

"We needed a mage, right? So I made one. What's the problem?"

"Here, let's talk."

Personally, I figure that this is a reason that there's so many Shamans on the Shadowrun side and so many Magicians on the Corporate side. Ed might be a little spastic and have poor social skills, but, he's good with numbers and the higher-ups slipped him a well-paid girlfriend, so, he's working away. Runs-with-Fire, however, says that the "Great Spirit" told him that photography takes part of his soul, so we can't film his magic, and he writes about "Opening your mind to the Lost Mysteries" and how to dance ... we won't even talk about the animal pelts. Rat shamans. What're you gonna do?!

In terms of my "guys with guns" quote: It's more that I want the characters to fear death. I want the world to be threatening. You may be able to handle getting mugged in the alley, but it might hurt a little if the guy knows what he's doing, or even just gets lucky.

I completely agree. It's difficult to get into that mindset, and it's difficult to convey that feel. So, I'm looking for ways to do that with the current SR rules. I'm also looking for non-rules-based ways to do so.

In another thread, there was the suggestion that the group should get together before character creation and discuss what they expect out of the game. Whether they want high-action intensity, over-the-top cinematics, or a realistic and gritty style of play, or some mixture thereof.

What I plan to do with my next SR group is to just have a party for the first session. A cyberpunk party. Talk about cyberpunk in general. Watch Johnny Mnemonic. Discuss our respective views of the game, etc. I think this could be a good way to show my view of what the game should be. I'll also probably come up with generic character creation guidelines in terms of Qualities, BP, and availability.

What I want is a mix of distopian cyberpunk, film noir, and heist/gangster flicks. So, a mix of anything Gibson, The Maltese Falcon, The Stranger, Confidence, Matchstick Men, Snatch. And also a little Sin City. Potentially with some anime-esque cinematics a la Hellsing, Ergo Proxy, or Kill Bill (I know, not anime, but highly influenced by it).

I don't know if this view fits with the rest of the people I'd like to play with, or even whether anybody has a similar view out there.

So... what do the dumpshockers generally want out of their SR games? What's your style?

I'd say I'd love to game with Kage or WR (or both at the same time) although I tend to like my characters to survive longer than WR seems to.

To be more specific, I like my game to be 'realistic'. Rules need to make sense based on reality, not be cinematic. I like being able to think and puzzle. At the same time, it needs lots of 80's. Big hair, leopard prints, women with shoulder pads and so on. I don't like magic, and feel it's over done. I'd like to see mages get nuked more often, preferably with sound effects. Overall I'm more into exploration and role-playing over combat (so I don't mind a game where combat is tremendously deadly, as long as it's generally avoidable). I don't think I could stand playing a Gibson book (his writing style is too confused for me, I'd get lost), but Neal Stephenson would work, as extreme as it is, and if we managed to capture the themes of Bruce Sterling I'd just wet myself. Honestly, I like the feel of Cowboy Bebop/Firefly over Gibson (where it's a clearly desperate situation, but things aren't so damn entangled everywhere, and there's a little more feeling of freedom).

I don't know why, but whenever I read Gibson I get a feeling of claustrophobia followed by a sense of railroading. Goofy, I know. Maybe I need to go back and read another one of his stories and see if I can put my points of contention into more concise wording.

Heck, firearms combat is already pretty dang deadly.

BUT!

If you want to go gritty, try Wakshaani 320, aka Cyber Noir.

320 point characters (160 BP max for attributes)

Max skill level: One at (5) or two at (4), skill groups cap at (3).

Max availability: 8

Max Rating: (4)

Max Resources: 40

Characters should toss 6-8 dice in their primary before gear, with an unspoken "Don't be a dick" rule ... yeah, you *can* make someone with 20 dice in a social skill or use Magic to get Boosted Reflexes 3, but that'd make you a dick, so don't. Stay at 1-2 Initiative passes and 10 or less dice on skills (12 or less on combat).

Give it a try ... you'd be rather surprised by how cool this sort of characetr can wind up.

Oh, why is this dangerous, you ask? Well, you'll see lots of 3 Bod/3 Rea characters, and quite a few 2 Bod types, which maeans armored vests and armored clothes, which even light weapons can punch through, let alone an Ares Predator. Handguns go from scary to Scary, real fast.

actually, i prefer availability 9 rather than 8, personally (it allows fake IDs above rating 2, for example, while not allowing most anything else to be superior). certainly availability 10 is too high, however.

well, whatever you do, avoid availability 10+ =P

at 10, you get stuff like chameleon suits, sniper rifles, and a few other things that just *really* don't belong in a gritty game imo.

9 is enough to allow 2 levels of stuff with 4* rating availability, or 3 levels if it's 3*rating, but is below the point where 5*rating kicks in (which is what some of the more crazy stuff that probably needs limiting if you're looking for 'gritty' is at)

For the record, let's see what you lose in the move from 9 to 8.

Area Jammer (3)
Fake Liscense (3)
Fake Sin (3)
Maglock Passkey (3)
Sequencer (3)

Voice Modulator: Secondary Pattern (3)
Vision Enhancement (3)
Audio Enhancement (3)
Select Sound Filter (3)
Cyberlimb: Body (3)
Cyberlimb: Agility (3)
Cyberlimb: Strength (3)
Hydraulic Jacks*

Toxin Extractor (3)
Tracheal Filter (3)
Damage Compensator (3)

Magical Biofiber (3)

* Note that Hydraulic Jacks are the one, and only, Availability 9 item in the book. The rest are rating * 3.

The loss of the fake SIN is the biggest hit, focing runners to rely on Mr Johnson for ID if they ever have to do corporate, rather than street, work, with teh sequencer and passkey being next.

It also keeps starting players from having top-end Cybereyes/ears or spiking their cyberlimbs to maximum strength/agilty/whatever at chargen. Fine for humans, not bad for elves/dwarves/orks, but it can make for unhappy Trolls.

Overall, it gives you a level above the average street thug or criminal, with plenty of room to grow. You wind up as shadowrunners who hope to become Shadowrunners and, maybe some day, SHADOWRUNNERS. Low lifestyle is the norm, where you live "The Firefly Life", getting by but staying hungry, with an occasional windfall to help you out (But might have a steep price).

Allowing 40 BP for resources is a bit odd, but, very few peopel ever wind up going that way ... not too much to buy, really, since most of what they REALLY want has too high of an availability and, to be honest, you need the points elsewhere. Most wind up taking 2 BP in resources, and very few over 10. The option's THERE, if you wanted to, say, play rich corpkid who wants to "Slum it" for a while, with Skillwires and a ton of chips and bioware, and needed for some RIgger concepts, but, overall, you don't need much.

Interestingly enough, it really helps the non-gunbunnies the most. With everyone getting 1-2 passes, turns come by quicker, so the non-boosted get to do more. Heck, characters with no passes but a combat intention actually *work* at this level.

Kinda cool.

"You want me to do what with my Players?"



What I've started doing is pre-gening my Player's Characters after talking with them a while in purely fluff terms about what type of character they want to play. Most of the time they hit the ground running with the character that I make with a few minor tweaks here and there and both of us are happy, they are because they don't have to worry about whether or not I'll veto the character and I am because their characters tend to mesh better with the campaign feel that I'm going for.

I've definitely considered pregenerating characters, though not exactly in that manner. It sounds like a good idea, though a lot of work for me (making a well-rounded SR character takes some time for me, as I haven't made terribly many... though I'm working on a character generator in my spare time).

I think I'll go with a nearly-strict availability cap at 8, but with some leeway into availability 9. Most of the cyberware probably won't be available, but the licenses and SINs probably will be.

Also, I like the fact that non-gunbunnies are helped out by Cyber Noir. I want there to be less gunrunning (though still some shootouts, obviously).

Lastly, I watched Johnny Mnemonic (for the first time... yes, I know, it's a sin) last night, and I can totally see where nezumi gets the preference for 80's style.

Well, as an example, here's the team leader of a 320 group, Napoleon, a face.



Napoleon Jones

Race: Human (0 BP)

Attributes: (170 BP)
Bod: 2
Agi: 3
Rea: 3
Str: 2
Cha: 5
Int: 3
Log: 3
Wil: 3
Edge: 3
Essence: 5.9

Initiative: 6
Passes: 1

Active Skills: (120 BP)

Electronics Group: 1
Influence Group: 3
Stealth Group: 3

Industrial Mechanic: 1
Intimidation: 3
Perception: 3
Pilot Ground (Car): 1 (3)
Pistols: 3
Unarmed Combat: 1

Knowledge Skills:

Business: 3
Finance: 3
Philadelphia: 3
Fine Cuisine: 2
Philadelphia Shadowrunners: 2
Baseball: 2

Languages:

English: N
Japanese: 3


Qualities: (5 BP)
First impression

Contacts: (19 BP)
Fixer: 3/4
Arms Dealer: 2/2
Bartender: 2/2
Mr Johnson: 2/2

Resources: (6 BP)

30,000 Y

Lifestyle:

Low (2 mopnths prepaid)

Gear and such:
Novatech Airware Commlink with Iris Orb O/S (Response 3, Sgnal 3, Firewall 3, System 3)
Sim Module
Basic Programs: Analyze (3), Browse (3), Command (3), Edit (3), Encrypt (3), Scan (3) Virtual Wallpaper

Datajack

Fichetti Security 600 with 90 rounds fo standard ammo, 2 extra clips, and a conceaaled holster
Armored Clothing

Micro-Tranceiver (4)
White Noise Generator (4)
Certified Credstick
Autopicker (3)
Keycard Copier (3)

Fake SIN (2)
Fake Gun Liscense (2)

Glasses with Image Link
Earbuds
Goggles with Flare Compensation and Lowlight Vision

Mercury Comet (Car)
Lingusoft: German (2)
Lingusoft: Chinese (2)



Background
(Short form)
Napoleon is a bit on the small side, but quite charming and, more importantly, driven. He's been poor his whole life but found early on that while he wasn't much of a fighter, he was a dang fine talker. He's managed to turn this into a serious advantage, making himself an entry-level mover and shaker. He now leads his own Shadowrunning team, putting his planning skills and charm into making sure things run smooth, and even helps his guys invest wisely for the future. He's been betrayed in the past by his own family (His dad bailed when Leon was a kid, his mom became a junkie, etc) and he clings a bit harder to his new family unit than he really should.

Napoleon's strengths are, obviously, his good looks and charm which, coupled with his overall human-ness, opens a whole lot of doors, as well as allowing him to unload loot and procure new gear, and his ability to blend in almost anywhere ... he grew up a gutterpunk, after all, can practice Japanese tea ceremony with the Yakuza in the morning and talk about Union deals with the mob in the evening. With no magic and no cyberware of note, he can gain entry into places that other runners can't, prepping an area for later, getting past security to follow someone, or, overall, taking whatever role the team needs, thanks to his disguise skills and acting ability.

While Napoleon's obviously spent most of his twenty one years getting ready for the Shadows, building an array of business savy and knowledge of who's who, he does have a terrible addiction to, of all things, baseball. It's a fond childhood memory and he still loves the game, even today. Maybe it's the tactical deciscions, maybe the timeless nature, or maybe it's the one place that he and his mom could go to bond, but, he just absolutely loves him some baseball and relaxes there at least twice a month during the season.

Hmmm, not bad

Only thing I'd mention is that for a character with likes "tactical decisions" and using his "planning skills", he's not actually got any skills that reflect that.

Also, for someone who schmoozes for a living, where are his etiquette skills - to know how to interact with various groups ??


I'd insist on Mr Jones having Strategy/Tactics/Chess/etc for him to be able to make those plans during a game..
..Else there's a precedent for "I like plants, therefore I have the equivalent of Botany skill. Even though my character doesn't have the skill" or the ever-popular " My character can use the skill of Psychology, because I have the skill in real life" type situation.


I'm not trying to be annoyingly picky, but those stand out as two glaring mismatches between the character and the background.


Just my thruppence..

Influence Group (3) includes Con, Negotiation, Etiquette, and Leadership.

Etiquette's for his assorted blending (Skill of 3 is professional grade ... he's not the best, but he can macth anywhere) while Leadership has both motivational stuff and, more importantly, the Strategy and Tactics subskills included in them.

He should probably work on getting some knowledge skills more in line, like Chess or famous military history, but, he's currently more of a street hustler who *wants* to be big than someone who already *is* big.

Leadership's a skill that's really handy.

[edit]hmmm... and now i realise that i had answered about 10 minutes too late because i didn't update between replying and posting that reply... pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! (if someone wants to delete this post, that would be fine =P [/edit]

Princess

Race: Human (0 BP)

Attributes: (170 BP)

Bod: 3
Agi: 5 (6)
Rea: 3 (4)
Str: 3 (4)
Cha: 2
Int: 3
Log: 2
Wil: 3
Edge: 3

Essence: 3.0
Initiative: 8 (9)
Passes: 2

Active Skills (130 BP)

Athletic Group: 2
Close Combat Group: 3
Electronics Group: 1
Stealth Group: 1

Automotive Mechanics: 1
Etiquette (Street) : 2 (4)
Intimidation: 3
Negotiation: 1
Perception: 3
Pilot Ground (Bike): 1 (3)
Pistols: 2
Artisan: 1

Knowledge Skills

Motorcycles: 2
Philadelphia's Zero Zone: 3
Rock!: 2
Street Gangs: 2
Urban Brawl: 3
Yakuza: 1

Languages

English: N
Japanese: 1
Spanish: 1

Qualities (0 BP)

Guts
High Pain Tolerence (2)

Moderate Addiction to Zen
Scorched

Contacts (12 BP)

Fixer: 2 Influence/2 Loyalty
Street Doc: 2 Influence/2 Loyalty
Yakuza Lieutenant: 2 Influence/2 Loyalty

Resources (8 BP)

40,000 Y

Lifestyle

Low (Two months prepaid)

Gear and Such

Muscle replacement (1)
Wired reflexes (1)

Sony Emperor Commlink with Renraku Ichi O/S (Response 2, Signal 2, Firewall 2, System 2)
Basic Programs: Analyze (2), Browse (2), Command (2), Edit (2), Encrypt (2), Scan (2)
Sim Module
Mapsoft: Philadelphia (4)
Trodes
Virtual Surround Music
Virtual Person
250Y worth of assorted musical chips

Forearm Snap Blades
Knife
Fichetti Security 600 with 60 standard ammo, spare clip, and concealable holster
Armored Vest (6/4)

Fake Sin (2)
Fake Gun Liscense (2)
Fake Driver's Liscense (2)

Automotive Mechanics Kit

Glasses with Image Link
Earbuds
Goggles with Flare Compensation and Lowlight
Micro-Tranceiver (4)

Chisel
Wireclippers
Flashlight

Harley-Davidson Scorpion

Low Lifestyle (2 months)

Background
(Short version)
Princess (Oh how she hates that streetname) was born to a fairly normal middle class home in a middle class neighborhood to middle class parents. She took piano lessons, went to gymnastics lessons, played soccer for the corporate kids team, and so forth ... up until her father was laid off in a downsizing. Their debt was called in, their house taken away, and within a month they were out on the streets of Philadelphia, just in time for New Years Eve. When a potential job opened up, her father took it, despite it being somewhat crooked (Bookkeeping for a small Yakuza-affiliated gang), and teh family moved into the Zero.

Life in the Zero is borderline Hell, with no law to be found and the only governing body being the assorted warlords who run the place. Fortunately, her family had protection from the Yakuza, due to her father's new position, so there was a dirt-poor semblance of a normal life for her. She made a few friends, tried to get by on educational software since there was no school to be found, gritted her teeth, and kept trying to be a good kid.

Then her mother was killed.

Caught in the wrong part of the Zero while trying to buy a Christmas present, she was caught by a rival gang, which ended as these things so often do. Princess was devastated and her father shatered, with him pouring himself into his work and a bottle and Princess trying to find something to cling on to, eventually locking into her father's gang and revenge. By the time she was sixteen, Princess had grown up the hard way, developing a hard edge to keep the world out, a drug habit, and a rep as a real fighter. Her father had fallen into a spiral into destruction, a spiral that she actually was following in her own way, and she'd probably have wound up just another dead ganger had she not made a move and saved a visiting Yakuza soldier from an ambush. He rewarded her with a job as first a guide and lookout, then a bodyguard, then later still an enforcer, impressed by the nail-tough blond. He started having her join him on missions outside the Zero, giving her the first look she'd had of the outside world in five years, bonding the two well.

Over the next couple of months, she served as his bodyguard, concubine, and all around girl friday, delivering packages, beatings, and warnings equally, earning herself a solid position ... or so she thought. Turns out that her "Angel" had repaid her early on, but, on a lark, kept her aroundalmost like a pet, figuring that someone utterly loyal and disposable could come in handy, which she did. He eventually sacrficed her to an ambush meant for him, one that she barely escaped. When she staggered into his home, eyes full of rage, he tried to talk her down, then pulled a gun on her, at which point she killed him. She took what she could, then ran, vanishing back into the Zero... the Yakuza didn't see the need to deal with her, since they'd already planned on killing her boss and she'd saved them a second attempt.

For the past couple of years, she managed to use her stolen goods to buy herself an upgrade, albeit a shoddy one, and has started hiring herself out as an independent contractor again. She currently works for Napoleon as his bodyguard and razorgirl, quietly praying that he won't be like so many others and kick her to the curb when he's done with her. She's built up a tough wall around her to keep the world out, but, she's actually desperate for someone to love while at the same time thinking of herself as completely unworthy, a self-destructive spiral where, whenever she risks being happy, she finds some way to scuttle it. Princess, who still *hates* her street name (Given to her as a child by the native Zeroes who snickered at her pretty clothes, hair, and mannerisms), but hangs on to it as a reminder of her childhood (Tho she'd never admit it.)

Princess lives a simple life of booze, cigarettes, and playing pool in the bar or plinking away on a guitar in her slummy apartment. She's a diehard Urban Brawl fan, giving Napoleon hell over his liking a 'Pansy game' like baseball, and is something of a motorhead, with a particular love for motorcycles and the freedom culture that it represents. Some nights, she just goes on a long drive, hoping that she can just outrun her life, but always comes back in the end.

Princess' muscle replacements are fine and barely noticeable, but her wires were a low grade to begin with and have never worked quite right. In particular, she can't turn them completely off, leaving her on edge and cranky from a constant mild headache from the increased blood pressure. She pops painkillers on a regular basis, and has developed a nightly shot of Zen to help her slow down enough to sleep. She'd love to make enough to upgrade to a real set, with an actual off switch that works, a rare razorgirl addicted to going slower, not faster.

The more I look at it, the more I like Cyber Noir. The characters are decent at what they do, but by no means the absolute best. There's a lot of room for growth.

Definitely going with this setup.

I definitely plan on putting some dangerous people on the PCs' trails. Probably not from the get-go, but soon thereafter.

I'm really hoping that the players will get into it, and create some great backstories, with some decent negative qualities. I think a lot of the mood of the game also comes from the mindset of the players.

Lord Prometheus

Race: Human (0 BP)

Attributes: (190 BP)

Bod: 2
Agi: 3
Rea: 3
Str: 2
Cha: 3
Int: 3
Log: 4
Wil: 4
Edge: 3
Magic: 3

Essence: 6.0
Initiative: 6
Passes: 1

Active Skills (100 BP)

Conjuring group: 3
Electronics Group: 1
Sorcery Group: 3
Stealth Group: 1

Assensing: 2
Astral Combat: 2
Etiquette: 1

Knowledge Skills:

Chemistry: 3
Free Spirits of Philadelphia: 3
Fire Elementals: 3
Magical Theory: 3
Advanced Mathematics: 2
Matrix Chat Rooms: 2
Totally Hot Chicks: 2

Languages:
English: N
Latin: 3

Qualities: (0 BP)

Magician
Mentor Spirit (Fire-Bringer)

Sensitive System
SINner

Spells: (18 BP)

Manabolt
Heal
Physical Mask
Ignite
Mana Barrier
Magic Fingers

Contacts: (8 BP)

Free Spirit: 2 influence/2 loyalty
Talismonger: 2 influence/2 loyalty

Resources: (4 BP)

15,000Y and 1 Bonding Karma

Lifestyle:

Squatter (1 month)

Gear and such:

Novatech Airware Commlink with Iris Orb O/S (Response: 3, Signal: 3, Firewall: 3, System: 3)
Basic Programs: Analyze (3), Broswe (3), Command (3), Edit (3), Encrypt (3), Scan (3)
Sim Module
AR Gloves
Trodes
Virtual Surround Music
Wall Space
Virtual Girlfriend

Armored Clothing

Fake SIN (2)
Fake Driver's Liscense (1)

Micro-Tranceiver (4)
Contacts with Image Link
Earbuds
Goggles with Flare Compensation and Lowlight Vision
3 Glowsticks

Magical Lodge Materials (4)

Counterspelling Focus (Combat) (1) ... Bound

Squatter Lifestyle (1 month)

Background

(Short form)

Lord Prometheus, MASTER of flames, is, in reality, sixteen year old Corey Stewart, a pimply-faced, voice-cracking nerd of a magician who fancies himself the king of all matrix chatrooms and future Archemage of Philadelphia. Corey has a fairly normal middle class lifestyle, living at home in his Cave of Transcendence (his room) and holding a part-time job as a clerk at Kwikee Burger, where he just moved up from janitor to fry-flipper. He's a sophmore in high school, where standardized testing missed his magical talent when he was younger due to Crash 2.0 wonkiness. Indeed, he's only recently come into his magical skills, having blundered into them a year ago during a chance encounter with a free spirit. Napoleon stumbled into him during a training excercise and hired him on the spot ... sure, Lord Prometheus is a geek and a magical newbie, but, he's still a magician, painfully rare in the shadows, and one young enough to be easily molded. He was terribly easy to rope into something as cool as Shadowrunning, with a few neat toys and promises of adventure a golden lure.

Corey himself is a fairly typical, if geeky, teen, dreaming of getting a car, a girl, and beating up the school bully with one lucky punch, not neccesarily in that order. He's a chatterbox online, hopping into dozens of conversations, but isn't elite by any stretch, often biting off more than he can chew. His last Commlink got fried after he torked off an actual hacker who trace-and-burned his machine, but Napoleon got him a better one, which he's now starting to use. Napoleon even tossed in the latest Virtual Girlfriend from MCT, which has gone over quite well.

Corey tends to rely almost exclusively on fire elementals for spiritual backup, wears fire-themed clothes when possible, colors his hair red ... you could say that it's a theme. His contacts are cosmeticly enhanced to glow red, which is so much more wiz than his usual brown eyes that he rarely takes them out. His fake driver's liscense is tied to his real SIN, not his fake, and lists him as 18 years old.

Corey tends to be a bit loud and obnoxious, driven by his hormones more than he should. He lives at home with his mom and rebels against all those rules, but, well, his parents are his parents, so he doesn't go much beyond bemoaning the unfairness of life or slamming his door. His personality is basicly a brash teenager, a bright kid that's deeply geekenated, with a sort of recklessness that only the immortality of youth can bring. He's got a crush on Princess, and has recently found out that getting a buzz and passing out is quite cool.

Wakshaani, I had a kid in one of my games who took the concept of a fire mage even further than your guy. He would only wear only red, yellow or orange. Had his hair dyed red, yellow and orange in stripes. Would only use equipment with the colors red, yellow and orange. And the really kicker was his name. Blaze. It was all too much really. Theme characters are sometimes a little corny.

Sometimes, true, but sometimes they're fun. For Prometheus, it's really just a phase that he'll grow out of. He just hasn't found his Big Cause yet.

While I'm here, tho, at the halfway point, might as well roll out the Decker ... pardon ... Hacker for this team.

Phoenix Crescendo Rises on Golden Wings

Race: Elf (30 BP)

Attributes: (170 BP)

Bod: 3
Agi: 4
Rea: 3
Str: 2
Cha: 4
Int: 3
Log: 5
Wil: 3
Edge: 2

Essence: 5.7
Initiative: 6
Passes: 1

Active Skills: (110 BP)

Cracking Group: 3
Electronics Group: 3
Stealth Group: 1

Blades: 2
Con: 2
Etiquette: 2
Forgery: 2
Pistols: 2

Knowledge Skills:

Elven Culture: 3
Matrix Chat Rooms: 3
Tir Tangaire: 3
Spellcasting: 2
Ritual Spellcasting: 2
Banishing: 2
Binding: 2
Summoning: 2
Assensing: 2

Languages:

English: N
Sperethiel: 3

Qualities: (+10 BP)

Mild Allergy to Pollution

Contacts: (12 BP)

Blogger (All Things Elven): 2 influence/2 loyalty
Elven Importer/Exporter 2 influence/2 loyalty
Corporate Wageslave: 2 influence/2 loyalty

Resources: (8 BP)

40,000 Y

Lifestyle:
Middle Lifestyle (1 month)

Gear and Such:

Transys Avalon Commlink with Novatech Navi O/S (Response 4, Signal 4, Firewall 3, System 4)
Sim Module
Basic Programs: Analyze (4), Browse (4), Command (4), Edit (4), Encrypt (4), and Scan (4)
Hacking Programs: Armor (3), Attack (3), Decrypt (3), Defense (3), Exploit (3), Sniffer (3), Spoof (3), Stealth (3)
Other Program: Agent (2)
Virtual Surround Music
Wall Space
Virtual Person
Virtual Weather
Mapsoft: Philadelphia (4)
Mapsoft: Tir Tangaire (4)
Mapsoft: Tir na nOg (4)

Datajack
Touchlink

Sword
Fichetti Security 600 with 90 standard ammo, 2 spare clips, and a concealed holster
Lined coat

Micro-Tranceiver (4)
Glasses with Image Link
Earbuds
Certified Credstick
Fake SIN (2)

Hardware Kit
Software Shop

Middle Lifestyle: 1 month prepaid

Background
(Short version)

"Phoenix Crescendo on Golden Wings, Reaching Towards the Sun and... from Dark Angel's album Flaming Wings? Oh for ... Just call me Phoenix Crescendo. *mutter* Philistine."

Phoenix is a Tir expat, formerly a coder with his own small busines in Tir Tangaire, creating artistic programs and sculpting beautiful icons for a reasonable fee, who had the unfortunate luck to be distantly related to a duke and, well ... long story short, he skipped the country before heads could roll. Originally from Philadelphia (Tho loathe to admit it), he came back and started trying to rebuild his life; unfortunately, Philly is somewhat less ... receptive ... of his talents. he turned to a bit of freelance Hacking to make ends meet, where he was hired by Napoleon to serve overwatch. He found himself charmed by the shorter fellow, finally finding someone with culture and an appreciation for his talent. He's signed on for now, having found someone to bond with somewhat, as well as someone that might be able to help him pay his rent.

Pheonix is a True Artiste ™, repulsed by uncouth natures and barbaric behavior, constantly frustrated by a world that isn't well-read enough in Erhan the Scribe's writings or that understands the deep underpinings behind Dark Angel's music. He sees his own computer coding in the same light, as elegant masterpieces unappreciated by the boorish room around him, which makes him depressed, which makes him be a bit snippy and snobish, which makes the situation worse, in a constant loop. He's every art school student stereotype rolled into one, with sighs, eyerolls, and flamboyant behavior.

Phoenix is also a Mage-o-phile, having been cursed with a body as devoid of magic as Styrofoam but a spirit that calls out for it. He's surprisingly well-versed in magical theory because of this, and all of his matrix icons are "Magical" in design. He's taken Lord Prometheus under his wing, in a way, passing on the 'Proper' way to do magic, despite the frustration that this brings and he wonders how a universe could *possibly* have gifted that ... that ... that CHILD with magic while passing up someone so obviously gifted as himself. Princess is convinced that he's got a mancrush on Prometheus, but Phoenix won't dignify that with a response.

Phoenix isn't the mightiest of arm, but, he's more physically active than the average hacker, with ample social skills when he chooses to use them, a decent aim with (ugh!) a pistol, and is skilled in swordplay, tho "Something of a dabbler" more than a true fighter. He and Princess sometimes spar and she routinely kicks his tush, which drives him to frustration. Mind you, just breathing seems to frustrate Phoenix, so, he gets over it well enough. Phoenix is terribly homesick but knows that he can't return to the Tir for several years, just in case, but equally wouldn't set foot in Tir na nOg and their technology-scoffing society on a dare. So, for now, he's in Philladelphia, settling in for a decade or so.

Phoenix is average in height and build for an Elf, with naturally white hair worn Bishi, ice-blue eyes, and a sterling silver datajack for style.

Tater Tot

Race: Human (0 BP)

Attributes: (160 BP)

Bod: 2
Agi: 3
Rea: 4
Str: 2
Cha: 3
Int: 3
Log: 4
Wil: 3

Edge: 2
Essence: 4.3
Initiative: 6
Passes: 1

Active Skills: (132 BP)

Cracking Group: 1
Electronics Group: 1
Influence Group: 1
Mechanics Group: 3

Artisan (Painting): 1 (3)
Cybertechnology (Cyberlimbs): 1 (3)
Demolitions: 2
Gunnery: 1
Locksmith: 2
Navigation: 2
Pilot Aircraft: 2
Pilot: Anthromorphic: 2
Pilot Ground: 2
Pistols: 1
Unarmed Combat: 1

Knowledge Skills:

Car Models and Trivia: 3
NERPS!: 3
Philadelphia: 3
The Club Scene: 2
Chinese Triads: 2
Drones Models and Trivia: 2
Romance Novels: 2

Languages:

English: N
Chinese: 2
Japanese: 2

Qualities: (+20 BP)

Codeslinger (Command)

Incompetent (Swimming)
SINner
Bad Luck

Contacts: (8 BP)

Fixer: 2 influence/2 loyalty
Talismonger: 2 influence/2 loyalty

Resources: (40 BP)

100,000 Y

Lifestyle:
Low (1 month prepaid)

Gear and Such:

Control Rig
Datajack
Touchlink

Obvious Cyberarm (Bod 3, Agi 5, Str 5, Armor 1) with Datajack

Erika Elite Commlink with Iris Orb O/S (Response 3, Signal 4, Firewall 3, System 3)
Sim Module
Basic Programs: Anaylyze (3), Browse (3), Command (3), Encrypt (3), Edit (3), Scan (3)
Hacking Programs: ECCM (3), Sniffer (3)
Virtual Surround Music
Wallspace
Mapsoft: Philadelphia (4)
Mapsoft: Pennsylvania (4)
Mapsoft: UCAS (4)

Fichetti Security 600 with 90 standard ammo, 2 spare clips, and concealed holster
Urban Explorer Jumpsuit with Chemical protection (3), Fire Resistance (3), and NonConductivity (3)

Micro-Tranceiver (4)
Glasses with Image Link
Earbuds
Goggles with Low Light Vision and Flare Compensation
Goggles with Thermographic Vision and Flare Compensation
Respirator (1)

80 RFID tags
10 Stealth Tags
Tag Eraser

Auto Mechanics Shop
Auto Mechanics Kit
Aircraft Mechanics Kit
Industrial Mechanics Kit
Hardware Kit
Cybertechnology Kit

1 Micro-Camera
2 Micro-Microphones
Micro Radio Signal Scanner (4)
Handheld Radio Signal Scanner (4)
Handheld Cyberware Scanner (4)
Handheld Motion Sensor

Maglock Sequencer (2)
Wirecutters
Miniwelder
10 Disposable Restraints

Bulldog Step-Van (Rigged)
+ 4 cameras, each with Lowlight Vision, Flare Compensation, and Vision Magnification
+ Directional Microphone
+ Motion Sensor
+ Programs: Clearsight (3) and Maneuver (2)

Shiawase Kanmushi Microdrone
+ Camera with Lowlight Vision, Flare Compensation, and Vision Magnification
+ Programs: Clearsight (3) and Maneuver (2)

Renraku Stormcloud Medium Drone
+ Camera with Lowlight Vision, Flare Compensation, and Vision Magnification
+ Laser Rangefinder
+ Atmospheric Sensor (3)
+ Radio Signal Scanner (4)
+ Program: Electronic Warfare (3)

MCT Flyspy Minidrone
+ Camera with Lowlight Vision, Flare Compensation, and Vision Magnification
+ Laser Microphone (4)
+ Program: Clearsight (3)

Low Lifestyle (1 month prepaid)

Background

Shui Clark was called "Little Tater Tot" by her dad pretty much from the day she was born. She grew up as 'Tater' in school, and still uses the nickname today so much that most people just assume that it's her brith name. A bit odd, sure, but she's pretty sure that she's the only Tater Tot in Philly, so takes a bit of pride in it.

Name aside, Tater Tot had a fairly normal upbringing, her father a successful mechanic and her mom a second daughter of a small market owner, in a time when being bi-racial was no big deal. When she was eight, however, the family was in a wicked car crash which claimed her mother's life and Tot's right arm. She was pretty horrified by the metal *thing* that they gave her to replace it, but, in time, got used to it, eventually finding out how it made her special in the truest sense of the word. After several years of upgrades and tinkering, she's almost forgotten what it was like to have two real arms.

...

Almost.

...

Tot's father passed away last year, but she was ruled old enough to stay out of foster care and run her own life. The insurance money from his death has nearly run out, and it turns out that she inherited more than his estate and mechanical skills ... she also got his luck.

Story is that, when he was a wee lad, "Tater Pop" went and horked off the wrong magician, which laid some kind of funky curse on him. Ever since that day, his luck'd gone sour. Worse, there'd be long streaks were things went right, just to make it all fail worse when it mattered. he tried everything to get the curse lifted but no magician could ever help. After he died, Tot started having similar problems... maybe it's fate, maybe the link is still active, or maybe it's all in her head. Regardless, the fact is that just when things start to look good, they turn around and bite her square in the keister. She has *gobs* of good luck charms, but only pulls them out when it looks like she's going to really need the help.

Most days, Tater herself is something of a free spirit ... her father raised her as a tomboy, the son he never had, but also as his little princess, doting on her heavily when she got old enough. She wasn't spoiled rotten, but, she certainly had more than she probably should have and less rules and restrictions. She turned her cyberlimb into something cool and her bubbly charm is downright infectious. She's a diehard clubber and trend-follower, but also a deep romantic and prankster... in short, she's all over the map. She's taken up painting the past few years, especially automobile detailing and grafitti.

Napoleon found her after the team took a few hits from a street gang, turning their current ride into so much scrap metal. Despite being more of a mechanic than a rigger, she volunteered herself into the mix, willing to try anything once. Besides, her father's insurance is about tapped out and she has billls to pay. The Lucky Lucky Lucky Garage is pretty deserted these days, what with her being the lone employee and all. The family curse strikes again.

Tater Tot sees Napoleon as cool and smart, trusting him lots. He, in turn, likes to use her as his "Inside Girl", since Princess is so horrible at this sort of thing. Tater's easy to dress up as normal and has a great selection of wigs and clothes, making for a handy partner. She has a small crush on him and he's noticed, but, it doesn't work both ways.

Tot has the *major* hots for Phoenix Crescendo, having just all sorts of Bishi fantasies that she doodles out when he's not paying attention. She's smitten completely, sometimes just plopping her chin in her hand to stare at him, sighing. He, meanwhile, has no clue why this sappy girl is eyeballing him and wishes that she'd learn some manners. She's too shy to make a move (Or too romantic), but continues to moon terribly. She's heard about his financial problems and is quietly cleaning out a spare room in her place above the garage, to invite him to move in "As a friend". He has no idea what web he'll be falling into.

Tot and Lord Prometheus are nearly the same age, and actually only a bit younger than the far older-seeming Princess, and either get along great in a nerdy fashion or have horrible spats as teenaged hormones rage. He kind of wants to help her with this curse of hers, but has no idea where to start. She won't let him go deal with the Triad magicians to find out more information, but that's just making him more curious.

Despite her general boycrazy nature and clubbing habits, Tot's actually had very little experience in those fields, the arm freaking out a few guys (And attracting a few that, ew, not happening) ... besides, she goes out dancing to go out dancing and have fun, maybe flirt a little, then go home tired and happy, not drunk or in somebody else's bed. She's sort of the kid mascot for the team, now, and they tend to treat her as such, even tho she's old enough to drive.

Tot tends to humanize her toys, giving them names and personalities. Charlie Chan the Bulldog Van (You named your van Charlie?! Yeah, well, your girlfriend lives in your Commlink. ... Touche'.), Skitters the Kanmushi Drone, Airhead the Stormcloud, and "CreepyStalkerCam" for her Flyspy. Each has a fairly specific mission, with Charlie Chan being the main team vehicle and observation.command post, Skitters for scouting inside buildings, Airhead for snagging Commcodes and keeping on eye on things from above, and "CreepyStalkerCam" for following people in the outdoors, often landing on a roof or windowsill to listen through the glass via Lasermic.

Unlike most riggers, Tater Tot loves to get in the middle of it, wearing disguises, hacking maglocks in person, even clonking people with her cyber arm. (Hah! You got fisted, punk! Ack! Princess,.what's wrong? Tot, don't ... don't use that phrase, okay? What, punk? No, no, the other one. Fisted? Yeah, that one. But he got fisted! ... .... ... What?!) ... She's an action junkie of sorts and goes crazy if stuck in one place too long. Having her just sit in the van makes her go batty. Since she can keep Charlie and Airhead linked up while she goes inside and does her thing, she can still run the show if need be. She think sthat this is the coolest game, like, ever, but is probably in denial as well ... her home's getting run down, her parents are both dead, her business is dying, and she's blown her inheritance ... Depending on how the next year or two go, she could do well, burn out and crash, or go completely sideways.

Tater Tot wears her hair in a short bob but it's usually hidden by a wig or dyed into some color not found in nature. She tries to keep up with current fashion as best she can, be it goth one week, neon neveau the next, or librarian the next. She's small, only 153 CM tall, with "boring" brown eyes and a chromed cyberarm that shows many a personal moification. Despite being pretty cool about her arm, she secretly hates the thing and is reluctant to get more cybernetic implants. It's been part of her for longer than her real arm was, if only just, so she can't really imagine getting it replaced with something natural-ish, but she has the occasional bad day where she wants nothing more than to yank it off and toss it across the room. After an hour or two of self-loathing, she winds up fetching it back, re-attaching it, and then quietly tinkering it back up to fully functional again.

It's kinda funny... I'm currently living just outside of Philly.

Great area for a punk setting. If memory serves, a few years back it was rated as having the highest suicide rate and one of the highest murder rates in the country. Compares favorably to Baltimore, which not long ago had the highest murder rate and the highest STD rate of the country. Although truthfully, I think I'd rather trade our STDs for your suicides.