Closed thread for Redjack, Dirtz, and Cap_Lock.

Basic 400BP characters. Please send me your character sheets and histories.

*Steals the following from RJ's thread*


Posting Format:

- - "Speech color=cyan, optionally enclosed in quotes"
- - <Coms (spoken)Speech color=yellow>
- - <Coms (subvocal) color=violet>
- - <Coms (Text) color=black>
- - Thoughts color=darkkhaki and in italics
- - Memories, flashbacks, dreams color=lightgrey and in italics
Feel free to use PMs as needed as well for clarifications or covert details.

NPC's
Do not assume the actions/reactions of anyone listed as contact. You can take reasonable artistic liberties with non-contact NPCs, but please PM me first if you engage in extended dialog. In the case of assumptions of time passed in travel, NPC reactions, etc I may ask for an edit.

Dice Rolling
Please use http://invisiblecastle.com/rolldice.py. For character name, please use Puyallup:$character_name. Example: Puyallup:Kilroy
The only rolls I will reserve are perception and assensing rolls. By knowing if the character glitchs or the degree of success, then strategic information may be given away. All others will be made by the players.

Time away from the board
I would like to set an expectation of two posts per week. Real Life happens though. If a player will be AFK for more than a few days, just post in the OOC and give us a heads up. PM me instructions and I can remote your character in order that the game can continue with your presubmitted actions. (We all know that sometimes you can take a week or two of vacation and still make most of a combat scene)

First Actions
Provide a basic description of the appearance of your character. You can provide more details as time goes on.
Also, provide a spoiler: Roll for starting money, denote your equipment carried.

Character sheet and history for Spitz sent for your approval.

Standing nearly eight and a half feet tall, Spitz is a typically sized troll. His normal clothing is black work boots, faded blue jeans and dark, non-descriptive t-shirts under his dark, well-used armor jacket. His sedan is a large, dark blue, troll-modified '66 Capris Classic.

He carries his Predator in an under-arm holster and the extra clips under the other arm. He keeps his Fly-Spy and com in his pants pocket and usually wears his nano-trodes all the time. He tends to grin a lot (which can be disheartening to those who don't know him) and is generally a pretty happy go lucky giant.

Spitz

The streets are a hard place to grow up, doubly so for a troll. Everybody wants to either fight you or have you fight for them. Spitz was no different in that regard. He was born and raised in the Redmond Barrens in the Avondale neighborhood.

One thing Spitz is good at is fighting. He's done it enough of his life. But being a troll that can fight is not necessarily the thing that will get you out of the Barrens. Spitz learned early on that he had another talent. He fell in with a raven shaman in his early teens and learned to cast a few spells, summon a few spirits.

That was enough to get him out of the Barrens. Worked for a couple of low-rate security companies assisting in putting up wards. Paid the bills, let him take a night course in theomatrigy.... Wasn't really good money though, but it was a damn site better than where he was from.

Eventually he graduated into a security gig. He's pretty freaking lethal with his fists and big enough to detour most without raising them. Working these jobs got him a nice place, a SIN... he even set some money back. Then it all went to hell. Got jumped by a pair of Humanis goons. Killed them. The father of one of the goons is a councilman in Everette. Spitz knew how a trial would go; He split the district.

Spitz went underground for a while. Figuratively and literally. Disappeared into the Ork Underground and hooked up with a team of runners. He's worked with them for the past two years until about a month ago. During that time, he got hooked up with some high-end, custom bioware. He was slow and needed to speed up to be of value to the team and his own system is not tolerant to cyber-ware.

The last run went bad. Thyme, the team's hacker/rigger got flat-lined dealing with IC inside a corp facility. Spitz was carrying his body when the fire elemental engulfed Mustang, the team's Sam. Spitz nearly killed the elemental, but had to abandon Mustang as the Sam's ammo started lighting up and cooking off...

He got out with Thyme, but the ork was just meat by then. The run blown, Mustang's body left behind, the corp knew the score. They traced him back to the team's fixer, Yessim. He was dead before the sun came up.

Spitz has been lying low, but now is the time to start looking for the rent money. The only contact Spitz has left is Shroom, his talismonger.

Looks good. Waiting on my other players.

Crank

The lights are low and the curtain is still drawn shut, the night air chill illuminates my breath. Just on the other side hundreds of voices could be heard eagerly awaiting for the show to start. A familiar hum greets me as I plug in to my amp. I give the volume knob a crank all the way up for the opening song. From behind, Charlie begins to stomp out a beat on the drums, the crowd reacts with cheers. They begin to clap along and stomp their feet. I'm center stage and right on cue, as I hit the first notes on my fender, the curtains retract and the crowd goes wild....

Yeah, we were only the warm-up band, but for the next 30 minutes we were standin' on top of the world!

Oi, that was me. Quite some time ago I was a professional musician. We had our 15 minutes of glory then fell into some dire straights. "One hit wonder" is what you'd call us now. Our second album never made the charts and we were in way over our heads. I lost my best friend and lead singer to an addiction, living in the past he was. That left me holdin' a big ol' bag of debt, more than I could handle. It was time for me to disappear, luckily for me I knew a few friends from the shadows.

Hidin' wasn't enough, I needed to earn my keep and find a new vocation. Showbiz was done with me, so I needed to learn how to live on the street...or in the shadows. The runners who gave me a place to crash needed an extra set of hands, so I ran with them for a while. They kept it simple, gave me a gun and taught me the finer arts of B/E. Funny how similar song writing is to hacking code and writing programs, they both have rhythms and chords you play. Anyways, I took to learning the ropes quite well and Letterbomb (our hacker) took me in as an apprentice, she said I was a natural talent.

Eventually I built up some cred and got out of town, moved to Seattle where the big show was. I kept in touch with Letterbomb on a regular basis, luckily for me that saved my life a second time. I got caught up in the crash of '64, it put me in a coma for two weeks. I was in a psyche ward after that until Letterbomb tracked me down and wrangled up some help. Doctors there kept talking about monkeys or apes or something, I was still having trouble with being disoriented and all so I'm not sure.

After I got out things were different. My friend slowly worked me back into the new matrix, there were lots of new toys and tricks to learn. I never told anybody but her that sometimes I would see ghosts or spirits when I went online. She seemed a little spooked about it herself and told me to keep a low profile and keep that little tid-bit encrypted. I laid low practicing my trade, doing the low risk jobs to pay the rent. The years passed.

But like I said, things are different now...and I'm beginning to understand why. Living in squalor just ain't enough anymore, its time to get back into the game...

Crank stands 6'4'' tall and always wears a brown leather duster and fedora. At first glance it would seem the heavily armored coat will topple over his slim human frame as you would guess he only weighs around 160lbs. His commlink is sewn into the duster and upon closer inspection you can almost see the Predator packed away underneath in a concealble holster. His jeans and clothes are heavily worn, small holes sprout up in some places. Although a pair of Oakley's shields his eyes from your gaze, his confident smile tells you he knows something you don't ...

People.

That's what running is all about. Sure, being able to break into a building helps, but you can always get someone else to do that for you. In fact, it's probably better off you get someone else to do that for you. What's missing? The guy with the real power. The guy who can talk fast enough and look good enough to convince someone to give up the things that need to be gotten.

Ya, sure I might be the guy sitting at the bar, smoking a cigarette, and checking out your girlfriend, but before you know it I'm out the door with your bank account number...or whatever I want to get...and your girlfriend. The best part is you don't start to realize what happened until after your girlfriend breaks up with you and you start calling your bank wondering why you've got fifteen cents in your savings account.

I know what you're thinking: “you're just a spoiled corporate brat�. Go ahead, think that. One thing I've learned is that the corporate environment is the perfect place to learn how to wheel and deal. It's a dog eat dog world, just like the streets. You have to know how to use people and how to break them down, if necessary. Tell me, how is that any different from the streets? You have to know how to use people. Ya, maybe I feel a little bad about it, but am I going to lose sleep at night? No. Not as long as I'm spending the night in a suite of a five star hotel with some girl I managed to pick up in a bar. If all goes well, everyone goes home. Some just go home a little richer than the rest.

How did I get into running? That's an easy question to answer. My Dad threw me out and cut me off from my trust expecting me to crawl back asking for forgiveness. Too bad for him. Hell with that! Since getting a decent job...something that doesn't turn me into a salary man...is hard to find; well, I just figure I'd get a job doing what I do best....

Run my mouth.

Tyler stands at a narrow shouldered five feet and eleven inches tall with light brown hair which is combed back in a slick manner. His hazel brown eyes are usually hidden behind a pair of polarized Oakley sunglasses which he often wears until it is absolutely impossible to see. He also has a narrow goatee, which when combined with his shades and his clothes makes him look like someone you might not want to mess with (the tricks on them).

Tyler also dresses as nicely as possible, pending that his attire won't make him stick out like a sore thumb. Tylers biggest advantage is that he doesn't really look like a shadowrunner; he looks like a spoiled rich kid. Though that assumption wouldn't be too far from the truth

He runs under the name Nick Rayzer.

Thanks, guys. Still need some character sheets, though.

I'm working on getting mine legal. So much math... lol

Character sent, let me know if it needs to be tweaked any.

I have everyone's chari sheets and whatnot. I'll get the starting scene going for Cap and Dirtz here soon and continue on with the show.

Hmmm.... cap_lock must be under the weather today...

Ya, I was feelin really run down, but I'm nice and charged up now.

*looks around the room*
Anyone seen the GM? Did she head out to the bathroom?

I confess.. I was distracted by pretty boys..

JK!

*goes off to post*

I think she found her comfy pillow again, perhaps?

By the way Storm, Gray was at GenCon with me and played in a few games with us and RJ. Are we looking for a forth? I'll pass the word along...

Looks like we might also have a troll street sam joining.

Excellent! More meat sheilds....er...crap, they're all bigger than me....I mean more charming associates to share the cred with! Yes...! That's what I meant.

I hope they don't run as fast as me! *runs away*

lol

Gray

I've always had a problem with technology, chummers. Even as a kid, all kinds of gizmos would occasionally just go haywire in my presence. You don't know how many alarm clocks, and school 'puters and such, my folks had to buy, because they always broke. Then I started seeing spirits. The local hermetic organization noted my potential, beginning to help me unlock my talents. I left my studies at the University of Pittsburgh's Veterinary school to study Magic. But all that mumbo jumbo didn't really sink in. I'm not really cut out for books and scrolls. One day, Lion spoke to me and showed me a different path. One not so cluttered by machines.

I drifted for a while in NAN, picking up new nuggets of truth, and attuning myself to the spirit realm. I discovered that I had a particular knack (with the strength of Lion) to banish malevolent spirits, and with my well rounded knowledge of paranormal critters, my gifts are often sought out among the shadows. And Spells. They took me a while to learn, but the intuitive nature of the Shamamnic Tradition came to me much more quickly than the arcane formulae of the Hermetic Tradition.

I ended up in the Redmond Barrens a few years ago. Running with a bad crowd of misfit shamans and street mages. They started messing with Toxic spirits. Me? I hate toxic spirits, unless you're talking moonshine or something, so I didn't hang around when they did their summonings. One day the whole lot of them got wiped during one of their rituals gone south. Then those toxic fraggers came after me!

I don't go back to The Rat's Nest or Glow City much anymore. I got me a little place in a Touristville, still in the Barrens, but at least there's not anarchy in the streets. It's not much, but it's a place to take off my boots, watch some trid, and my cat seems to like it.

Why do they call me Gray? Just look at my hair, chummer. How did it get that way? You don't really want to know.


Gray is 6'2", 30-something, human, lanky, and roguishly handsome with shoulder length prematurely gray-white hair, and a thin, black beard and steel blue eyes. He wears beaded native ornaments hanging from a chord on the right side of his face. He wears a leather shirt reminiscent of Davy Crockett, black slighty worn jeans and high leather biker boots. His worn, armored long coat bears the stylized image of a lion head on the back. He is fairly new to Seattle, but is streetwise, and knows his surroundings well. His magical contact is an Ork Talismonger named Dances With Weasels. His only other real friend in town is his on again, off again girlfriend, news reporter Katie Bauer, to whom he cannot even tell his real name. Gray loves animals, and is the owner of a 25 pound orange tomcat named Willis.

To most, Gray is a man of few words. He is a keen listener, and is very empathetic. Gray is driven more by passions, than logic, and will often have trouble backing down from a fight. He is highly protective of those he cares about, even more so than Lion demands. When he does open his mouth to speak, Gray is insightful and charming, with a side order of smart alec thrown in for good measure.

Character sent, Storm. Hopefully it's ok. I was thinking of changing Katie's rating to a 5/3 and lowering Dances With Weasels to a 2/3. Katie's supposed to be Gray's on again/ off again girlfriend, even though he hasn't told her his real name so I thought a 5 loyalty might more appropriate. If you think a 4 is ok, they can stay the way they are. Let me know if I gotta change anything else.

I take it we're working together as a group for the first time? Or can we assume we ran into each other at some point in our careers?

The face is new. The rest of you can be previous acquaintences or whatever you so desire.

That said given Spitz' history above, I'm open to conversation about Spitz knowing other members of the team. Let me know...

Spitz and Gray could be acquainted. Depending on the background of the Raven Shaman, (s)he could have been in the gang of magically actives that Gray used to hang with. (S)he could have left the gang, before the unfortunate summoning catastrophe, or been part of it. If Spitz kept in contact with him/her, he and Gray could have met. Our Talismongers could have rival businesses right across the street from each other?

Gray has only been in Seattle about 3 or 4 years, though. He's from back east.

Spitz is a shaman but not a raven shaman, he only studied under a raven shaman. At this time he has not revealed what his totem is or if he even has one. He's several years out of the barrens.

Talismonger angle could work. Has Gray done any running downtown? He could have been a second surviving member of Spitz' last running team...

Unfortunately, I see the transition of becoming a technomancer as something akin to UGE. It takes a while to relearn your abilities and just scares the hell out of you. Paranoid of what they might do to me if they found out how different I am, I would probably become a recluse. I may have made a few runs when I was desperate for cash but mostly I do remote stuff. Data searches, decryptions, data thefts, hacking and occasionally riding shotgun when I didn't need to have the meatbody onsite.

You may have dealt with me before if you have Rusty as a contact, otherwise I'm just viewed as a small time hacker rumored to be an otaku. I would use the otaku excuse to cover my innate abilities if I didn't disguise it properly. A datajack could be faked or simply use my disquise skill to leave a small scare to mark where it once was.

I might have heard about Spitz, fixers getting gak'd stand out in neon on the datahavens?

Gray could have been backup magic muscle for Spitz's old team. Especially if there were spirits or paranormal critters involved in any runs, as that's kind of Gray's specialty. Shroom and Dances With Weasels could have put Spitz in contact with Gray.

@Dirtz
TO be an Otuka you need a datajack....

I would imagine that talk about any fixer getting wacked would make it to a shadow board somewhere..

@Gray
Back up magic muscle it is...
You are a full blown mage? Penchant for spirits I see...
Spitz is actually a mystic adept. Brawler with a few spells to sling and works with weaker spirits. Carries a gun and has a few drones.. Kinda dabbles in everything.

@RedJack
Gray is a full Lion Shaman (with a penchant for Banishings, +2 totem dice). He began study as a mage, but only learned a little theory, and background knowledge, before he dropped out. He doesn't like to Bind Spirits, but he's good at Summoning them. He has Gremlins, so he doesn't have too many expensive gizmos, except his cheapo comm and his bike, and does not carry a gun. He also studied Parazoology and Biology at the University of Pittsburgh in his former life, so he might have also been called in to fight some critters.

@Dirtz
As we discussed in PM, Crank hooked up Gray's pirate trid feed of the 2070 equivalent of Fox Sports Pittsburgh, so he can watch the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins...

@ All hoi chummer the name is Hustle and im the other troll help storm was talking about a couple of posts ago, im hoping to jump on this weekend and starting to make somd dough re me.

any questions i will be glad to answer them just send me a PM. Storm i will get with you this weekend and sort out any details. peace out chummers.

@Dirtz or Redjack

Can you explain to me the syntax of the PAN signature in your posts so I can get mine right? I get some of it I think, but what does the name at the end mean? Is that the name of my fake SIN? Here is what I think mine would be:

Gray[PAN(active); LTG] Nathan Reynolds

First "Street name" Name; [connection(details)] Loaded SIN

Example:
Fredrick "Spitz" Smith [PAN(0,Passive); LTG] Brad Roberts
Fredrick Smith is his real name.
Spitz is his street name
He com is communicating via PAN (Personal Area Network) and the LTG (Local Telecommunication Grid). The signal strength of his PAN is dialed down to level 0 (3 meters).
The fake SIN that is loaded is that of Brad Roberts.

Other communication protocols might include skinlink or datajack if the character uses direct connections to their com. If LTG is active, your node can still be detected even if your PAN range is dialed down. If you dial your PAN down you face issues communicating with the team, your drones or vehicles and you must take a free action to adjust the range (adjusting the mode is a separate free action).

Ok after some fllip flopping on the name I wanted to used for his fake vs. real ID I think that Gray's normal running around mode would be:

Nathan "Gray" Reynolds [PAN(0, passive); LTG] Gary Stryker

Real Name: Nathan Reynolds although he is currently SINless
Fake SIN: Gary Stryker

No need to be broadcasting my PAN out all over, so passive it is. I really just need access to the LTG, unless we're on the job, right?

Without being active to the LTG, you cannot receive incoming calls.

Chris, check out pg 211 for descriptions of the three types of modes you can have your PAN set to. It also mentions in some high security locations having your PAN set to stealth or hidden mode is illegal. Not sure where that would be in Seattle except around Fort Lewis (military base)?

By the way what color did you use RJ?

grey.

@Dirtz
According to page 212 average commlinks are set to level 3 (400m), I get that part. My crappy Meta Link only goes up to rating 2 (100 m). I think I get Active, Passive, and Hidden modes. Active is two way networking. Passive is one way, unless you pre-authorize access of incoming nodes, and Hidden seems almost like a stealth mode.

My Software System rating is whopping 1 (Vector Xim and I got no Hacking skills) so I can subscribe to 2 (System Rating x2) nodes at a time. I assume one node can be, and probably should be the LTG, right?

I really need to upgrade my comm, it stinks on ice, but Gremlins will fry it right off my head if I do anything fancy with it anyway. Hence Modelo El Cheapo.

@Redjack RE: Our characters' connection
Do you think Gray was on Spitz's previous team's last run? I was thinking probablly not, but I can see scenarios where it would have been possible.

Make whatever posts you need to. I'm going to be fastforwarding to meeting the J soon. XD

starting nuyen for the game sorry it took so long for Hustle to get here. lets rock and roll.

http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1262865

Starting money for Dirtz: 750

http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1264485

Ok. I know Spitz (Redjack) and Hustle (Saytr) are trolls. I think Gray (Gray), Nick(cap_lock) and Crank(Dirtz) are humans.

Crank's 6' 4" and 160# threw me for a loop. Is he also in an elven disguise?

Starting Money for Gray: 350

Starting Money Roll

Sorry chief, my bad. The weight was wrong, more like 190lbs. He's definitely human.

Sorry for the delayed post, chummers. No school today so I should have more than enough time to get stuff done.

I need each of you to please list specifically what weapons and equipment you are carrying.

@Spitz

Crank

Besides illegal levels of charm?

@Storm

Gray:

@Hustle (Satyr is currently unable to post)

Ouch. Hey, I made a mistake. I didn't check the concealability of Crank's vest and he's wearing a longcoat. Weapon is not that noticeable.. Sorry, guys.