All right i was thinking of having a campaign where the characters are like teenagers just getting into shadowrunning from who knows where(older brother i don't know). they are playing entry level characters. it sounds cool but i don't know how i could do the runs. what would they do and more the fact who would hire a bunch of 15 and 16 year olds to do anything decent? how limiting should i be on the build points and money part of it. i wanted to maybe limit them to nothing over an 8 availability or maybe 10 but what is your take on it. also would you as players like to run something like this?

-- the schmitz

Organized crime would hire 15 and 16 year olds. They would end up doing the exact same stuff as real runners just on a much smaller scale. Gangs would also be a good place to start them off in. Have them fight for turf and make their way up in some gang before they retire to professional shadowrunning.

Many Orc or Troll shadowrunners in a normal game may only be teenagers.

...the concept sounds interesting.

I would say cap BPs at 300 and qualities at +/-20 BP.

Resources max out at 10BP

Availability cap: 8

Reduce maximum skill cap by -2.

Maximum of 30 BP in any one Attribute (including Magic or Resonance). Total Base Attributes cap = 150BP

No contacts above rating 3 connection.

Maximum lifestyle: Low.

I don't know if the avail and lifestyle caps would be good. You wouldn't be able to play some corp kid who goes slummin with his gangsta friends. the 10bp for resources would cover restrictions on avail and lifestyle. Maybe a restriction on cyber and bio though. Those i would limit to a low availability.

10 BP one one fifth the normal maximum. Thats going a bit to far, 15 or 20 would be better.
At 400BP you can spend up to 1/8th on cash. Why should 300BP drop it to 1/30th?

As I said before Orcs and Trolls may already be teenagers in your standard game.
Orcs and Trolls reach Puberty as early as 8 or 9 years old (trolls tending to be the later) and reach physical maturity at 11-15 years old.
Thats 2-3 years faster then humans.

Now aside from making it a 300BP game what does making them a teenagers mean?
How does it make the game any different then your typical street level game.

They still have there parents looking over there shoulder?
They have to balance being a shadowrunner while still attending high school? sounds like a cliché anime.

I guess you might have to ban the SINner quality. As a teenager with SIN card might get picked up by lone star and not taken to jail but to school, child services or back home to foster care/ real parents and or relatives.

Redmond Barrens, 90210 ftw!

"Every time a kill somebody I get a little tattoo of his face on my chest, sort of like a badge of honor. Its really annoying because I usually have go go to Jake's tattoo parlor four or five times a day "
- A 12 year old barrens ganger.

To be honest, i don't think i'd limit the starting BP unless you were indeed going for a low-powered game. Just because someone is 16, doesn't mean they can't be skilled, smart, or physically adept. Hell, i've known plenty of teenagers in high school who played sports, were on the swim team, took martial arts, or just biked/were active alot. And they were probably much more physically adept than most adults i knew at the time. I know i was much more healthy/active as a kid than i am now, closing on 30.


Now, granted, every 16 year old won't be maxed out in several skills, so perhaps i could see a realistic cap there(1 at 5, rest at 3 or less, or 2 at 4, rest at 3 or less, groups limited to 3.) That way you could have that odd fellow who trained in fighting from when he was young, reaching black belt at 16(and it happens, ive known several) or that genius computer whiz lady whose been tinkering with the stuff from as soon as she could walk, and knows her way around anything electronic.

Perhaps Aptitude could stick a skill at 6 to start(of course allowing a 7 later on.)

As for limitations, i'd point that in the direction of what kind of campaign. If they are more street/lower-middle class kids, limit it more around 8. If they are rich kids being groomed for the corporate world, then leave as is. For middle class, hover it around 10.


Cyberware would be well touchy, as the stuff you could grow out of would be pretty much...well, highly suggested you dont touch until you're done growing. I think eyes and the like could work, since the skull is about done growing, as other headware, and possibly even wired reflexes. Bone lacing, however, could hurt like hell. Im not sure about hand razors. At 16 they are unlikely to grow TOO much more, but still.

Bioware, however, i'd say would be doable, depending on the campaign type, if they have enough cash.

To be honest, in a type of world that is Shadowrun, i'd think 16 about means ''Man of the House'' in some cases.

LOL! Come on we all know there's a Warthog's Academy of Magic in SR Canon. J/K

Only Parry Hotter is an Elven Mystic Adept.

Beware Moldywart the blood mage.

Personafixes, anyone?

Have your kiddies become Kouriers (à la Snow Crash) as a hook.

what are Kouriers iron_IC i am not fermiluar with too much of the lore.

--the schmitz

if i got into this game, my char'd look like Luke Perry. he's probably still playing teenagers in 2070!

...my limit on BPs is based on how HeroSystem dealt with teenage supers. They were built on a lower point maxim (75 + 100 in disads as opposed to 100 pts + 150 in disads for an adult). I found this worked rather well, for such characters had a bit of a way to go before they could become full fledged heroes.

As to resources 100K in gear is a lot for a character in her mid teens even if she is a neophyte runner. 50K (ok maybe 75K) can still buy quite a bit. KK (starting age 19) originally allocated only 9 bps in resources and that pretty much got her everything she needed including Twin Smartlinked Warhawks, a decent commlink/OS, and a force 2 weapon focus Katana.

I just don't see many teens running around sporting the latest & greatest in chrome, driving around in the baddest set of wheels, or playing with near security grade drones.

So yes, IMO, a teenage campaign would be more "street level".