The Premise

Maybe you were a beat cop who got caught behind enemy lines in Chicago when the events of Bug City unfolded. Maybe you were a mortician who discovered the corpse you were about to open up was possessed by a shedim. Maybe you were a big game hunter on safari in Africa when you stumbled upon a hereunto unknown species of jungle gryphon. Or perhaps it was something else entirely.

Regardless of the circumstance, you were approached for recruitment by the Dunkelzahn Institute of Magical Research soon after that fateful encounter with the paranormal. Or, more correctly, for how you handled that encounter. The psychological evaluation you took which determined you were one of those rare few who could be trusted to do the right thing regardless of morality or legality certainly didn't hurt either.

As far as the books are concerned, you are an occult investigator and paranormal consultant working for the DIMR. The truth, however, is that you are part of a team of troubleshooters that the institute calls upon in order to attend to matters that are often of a rather questionable legal status. The acquisition of protected flora or fauna specimens, recovery of magical treasures belonging to "private collectors," the investigation of paranormal reports and the oversight and protection of important archaelogical digs are all examples of the types of things you may be called upon to do. Occasionally you have even been sent to work with an attaché from the institute's parent company, the Draco Foundation, to attend to some of the more unusual bequests in Dunkelzahn's will.

In exchange for your services, the DIMR pays you a lush six-figure salary and grants access to their world-famous resources. Fat wallets, a copious amount of free time, state of the art toys, challenging and diverse experiences, and your every need catered too — it's the dream job of any thrillseeking professional. The only drawback is that you can't tell anyone what you really do for a living...



Character Submissions

At this stage, I do not want to see any character sheets. None whatsoever. Not a single attribute score or skill rating. If you throw any stats my way, you will be cruely mocked and taunted for not reading this paragraph. If you do it again, we shall be forced to taunt you a second time. Do it once more and I'm pulling out the elderberries, bitch.

That said, what I do want to see are character concepts. "What the frag is a character concept," you ask? A character concept is a brief outline of your character's premise, history, and the experience that lead to his or her recruitment by the DIMR. What a character concept is not is a detailed account of the character's life since birth or any other superfluous aspects of his life beyond the requested information.

Here are the key points I'm looking for in submissions:

• Character's Name
• Character's Profession (Race and Archetype)
  
• Background Summary: A brief synopsis of who and what the character is.
• Reason for Recruitment: Why did the DIMR recruit him?
• Background Quality: Any quality of your choosing that relates to the character's professional or social life.
• Random Quality: A single quality chosen at random that has nothing to do with the character's professional or social life, but is instead just a curious quirk they have.

Feel free to be original and spontaneous when selecting the aforementioned qualities. The following is an example of what I'm hoping to see.

Oliver Sinclair
Former Secret Service Agent (Dwarf Bodyguard)

Background Summary: Born and raised in the slums of the DeeCee sprawl, Oliver Sinclair dreamt of following in his grandfather's shoes and becoming a fabled Secret Service agent. His grim determination to change his lot in life allowed him to resist the temptation of joining the thrill gangs of his neighborhood and to otherwise avoid any temptations that would have surely doomed his chances of obtaining his dream. All of his hard work eventually paid off and, by 2049, Oliver had earned a master's degree in Criminal Justice at Radford University thanks to a track-and-field scholarship. Soon thereafter, the young dwarf was amongst the first metahumans accepted into the UCAS Secret Service.

In the years that followed, Oliver proved himself several times over. It was thus no surprise that when Dunkelzahn declared his intentions to run for president, he was one of the first agents assigned to the high-profile candidate. When the President-Elect was later assassinated in 2057, Oliver was the only bodyguard on duty that night to have survived the blast. His failure to protect the First Wyrm really his the dwarf hard, and when he was finally released from the hospital six months later, he submitted his resignation to his superiors.

Reason for Recruitment: Beyond his first-hand experiences with all kinds of weird drek he experienced while safeguarding Dunkelzahn, Oliver survived the blast that claimed the First Wyrm's life and created the DeeCee Rift. His training and professionalism were also key points for his recruitment.

Background Quality (Compulsion): Even to this day, Oliver is devestated by the fact that he was unable to do anything to save Dunkelzahn from his assassination. He has sworn on the frosted breath of his forefathers that he will not allow another person under his care to come to harm, and he is more than willing to risk both life and limb to see that personal oath carried out.

Random Flaw (Mild Coulrophobia): On Oliver's sixth birthday, his parents hired a clown for the celebration. Unfortunately, that was also the day the clown spontaneously goblinzed into a troll, traumatizing little Oliver and his friends. Ever since then, he gets the creeps whenever he sees a clown.

In a nutshell, have fun with the setting and don't be afraid to explore all of your options. Recruitment will occur from all walks of life from around the world, so don't feel compelled to limit your options to the UCAS or even North America. It is very unlikely that former shadowrunners will have been recruited, however, so try to focus more on concepts revolving around SINners rather than SINless.



Things to Keep in Mind...

Just so you're not left completely out in the cold as far as what to expect, here are a few tidbits to help guide you in crafting your concept. If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate in the least to ask them here so that everyone can benefit from the answer!

Concepts: It is highly encouraged that you submit more than one character concept for the game. Why? It's simple, really: It gives me, as the gamemaster, more control in creating a group of characters who will be compatible and capable of working together as a team. Players often have different ideas of what works and what doesn't, and this is just one small safeguard to help solve that potential problem. If you simply can't think of more than one concept, that's perfectly fine, too. But I would really like for everyone to at least try.

First Come, First Serve: There's not even a longshot of a chance that this will be the case. Submissions will be open until I state otherwise. So while there is no rush to get your concepts posted, don't dally too long in doing so!

Dateline & Base of Operations: The game will begin early in 2070 and will be based in the Boston Sprawl in the UCAS, though many of your missions will often take you all over the globe. Likewise, you have probably been working for the DIMR for at least two years, so you will not only be intimately familiar with the organization but also with one another. We'll discuss this in more detail in the near future, however.

The Setting: Consider canon material (at least as far as the more mysterious storylines and metaplots go) regarding the Sixth World to be little more than conspiracy theories or Matrix rumors, even aspects that are known to be rock-solid facts in most games. Obviously, things that are well-known — such as Lowfyr being the CEO of Saeder-Krupp or Chicago's invasion by insect spirits — are excluded from this, while more esoteric "facts" such as the existance of immortal elves or the truth behind Aztechnology are not. Likewise, events such as the riots that occured during the initial days of goblinization or the witch hunts detailed in Emergence were isolated incidents rather than global phenomena. If there is, however, a specific event that you want to revolve your character around, do not hesitate to do so! If the concept is great and the character is accepted, bam, that conspiracy theory just became fact... even if only to your character.

Recruitment: You and your fellow troubleshooters will be recruited from all walks of life and from all over the Sixth World. Don't feel obligated to be from the UCAS or even North America. Feel free to incorporate any metahuman or metahuman variant race into your concept (even if there are no official rules for them in SR4 yet); racism is much more tame in this setting than the canonical one. Just keep in mind that you were all legitimate — or at least semi-legimate — professionals before your recruitment into the organizations. Shadowrunners and street thugs aren't exactly the caliber of people the DIMR was looking for.

Salary: Your character will receive the equivalence of a High Lifestyle in the Boston area in addition to 5,000Â¥ per month. This lifestyle includes a gold Nightingale medical contract and one or two vehicles of choice (up to a luxury sports car or motorboat). Don't worry about the exact details, however, as that will be covered in later steps of the character creation process once characters and players are accepted. Just know that you're very well off and have very little to worry about regarding your personal life.

Family: As regular joes, there's no need to avoid having a spouse, children, or a social life in general. Sure, you can't tell any of them what you really do for a living and sometimes things can be dangerous, but when you're off the clock you're free to live life to the fullest. You're not constantly being hounded by the police, megacorporations aren't out trying to squash you, and mob bosses aren't out looking for revenge. Not usually at any rate.

Resources: Cutting-edge technology and magic are readily available through the DIMR and their relationship with MIT&T and other similar institutes. Any supplies relating to these two fields will be available at significant discounts, and your characters will have ready access to the equivalence of a beta clinic. Expendable supplies such as ritual and conjuring materials, target ammunition, and Matrix access will be free of charge in most cases. The same goes for mission-specific equipment including fake SINs and passports, standard vehicles, airline tickets, communications and spy gear, and (usually) a hefty expense account via certified credsticks or local currency on top of that. If getting the equipment across borders is risky, you will instead be supplied with a name or two and some additional cash in order to get the gear after you arrive. In other words; don't sweat the details in this regard either.



Final Comments

All right, I think I covered all the basics. I would like to see all character concepts posted here (not in PMs, not in IMs, and not in email). I will only be accepting four players and thus four characters for this game, though if I see one or two other concepts that really jump out at me, I might consider stretching that to six. But six will be the absolute maximum.

I'm also looking for players who are not only open-minded and creative, but who can also post on a very regular basis (meaining you can read and post multiple times a day, including weekends). If you don't expect to be able to live up to that, please don't submit any character concepts. Nothing slows down and breaks a game faster than having to find replacement players.

Oh, one final note! If you are accepted into the game, you need to have a good sense of humor and you must be able to take friendly abuse and insults not only from me, but from the other players. Likewise, you must be able to dish it out as good as you get it. I hate playing with people with whom I have to be all skittish and reserved around, so I'm going to try and avoid that in this game. You got that, jerkwad? Good.

That said, show me what you got!

So, can I play a vampire?

I'll put up my first pitch tonight.

Oh my sweet Buddha, this looks amazing. I will have a character concept or four coming to you ASAP.

Lemme get this straight. Not only do you want good and decent character concepts, but you want us to submit multiples?!?!?

Damn man. My brain hurts!

I'm a slave driver, what can I say? And upon request, here's a compilation of all the guidelines.


CHARACTER CREATION GUIDELINES

[ RACE ]

You're free to play any standard or variant metahuman race you like in this game and all of your available options "cost" exactly the same; absolutely nothing. If you detailed a specific race in your original submission, that choice is final. You can, however, pick an appropriate metahuman variant if you haven't already. If you haven't specified a race at all, now is the time to do so.

Metahuman variants will need to be custom designed as they don't exist in SR4 yet. If there's one you're interested in, please contact me either here or via an instant messenger (Neurotic Cupcake on AIM or Necrotic_Penguin on Yahoo!) and we'll discuss it and hash out something we both can agree on. Ghouls and Shapeshifters are not a valid option, but I will allow one (1) player to create a Drake if anyone is interested in playing one. They'll be a bit weaker than the versions found in SR3 but still a bit more potent than normal metahumans. If you'd like to give one a shot, discuss it with the other players then get in touch with me and we'll see what we can do.

Finally, Human characters have an additional trait as detailed below.

Versatility: Players with a Human character may select one Physical or Mental Attribute (as well as Edge, Magic or Resonance) with which their maximum rating is increased by one point. Players may also treat a single Active Skill of choice in the same manner. This is in addition to their current Edge modifier and is compatible with the Aptitude, Enhanced Attribute, and Lucky qualities.

Example: Donovan Fairchild is a Human Black Magician with Versatility (Magic and Spellcasting). Both scores have their initial limitations improved to 1/7(10). If he instead chose to apply his attribute modifier to Edge instead of Magic, and if had the Lucky quality, his Edge limitation would be 2/9(13).



[ QUALITIES ]

You may select a single Positive Quality of equal or lesser value for every Negative Quality you take, with a maximum of three Negative Qualities available. Likewise, you must take the qualities you specified in your original submission. If either were the equivalence of a Positive Quality, you must select a Negative one of equal or greater cost to accompany it. If it is absolutely vital to your concept to have more than three qualities of each type, talk with me about it and we'll see what we can do.

If your original quality or qualities do not conform to any currently available in the game, please contact me so we can figure out how much it's worth and whether or not any specific rules need to be applied towards it.

If you're having trouble thinking of appropriate qualities, don't hesitate to ask me or the other players for suggestions or help.

Special Exception: If you are a magician with the Mentor Spirit quality, combine the two into a single quality. In other words, if you choose to have a Mentor Spirit it simply increases your base magical quality by 5 points for determining what kind of a Negative Quality you need to take, rather than counting as a second quality.

The following qualities are not available as currently written: Cyberpsychosis, Incompetent, SINner, SINner: Criminal.



[ ATTRIBUTES ]

EDIT: Apparently this wasn't as straight forward as I intended (and I miscalculated myself!).

Everyone has 30 points with which to add to their minimum attribute scores. Maxing out an attribute costs 2 points instead of 1 for the final point.



[ SKILLS ]

This is where we being to truly diverge from the normal rules and as such it's also the part where you'll need to work with me the most in order to get it just right. Do note that these restrictions only apply during character creation.

SR4 pp. 108-109 has a list of what each skill rating represents and examples of how those scores relate to individual skills. This is the table you'll need to use and reference for determining all of your skill ratings. Have at it, but keep in mind that you still need the Aptitude attribute or Versatility in order to hit a natural score of 7. There are a few limitations and restrictions, however.

Active Skills: You may have no more than one skill per unmodified attribute point in that skill's linked attribute. For example, if you have a base Agility score of 3, you may have a maximum of three Agility-linked skills. Only one of these skills per linked attribute may exceed the linked attribute's rating. This means that using the same example, you could only have one Agility-linked skill at a score of 4 or higher.

Knowledge/Language Skills: You may have a total of unmodified (Logic + Intuition) Knowledge Skills, and one additional Language Skill for every two points of Logic. Knowledge Skills are not limited by their linked attribute for purposes of determining their rating, but Language Skills are.

Skill Groups: Skill groups count as two skills for purposes of determining how many you may have. If a group consists of skills with more than one linked attribute, use the most appropriate attribute in your opinion for determining your limit. You may also split skill groups up as you see fit, though each skill you split from the group counts as an individual skill.

What's more, you are allowed to create up to two unique skill groups as long as it's directly related to your concept. Each such group should consist of three or four unique skills appropriate to the concept.

Example: Rebecca is creating a former KSAF reporter and is interested in making an Investigation skill group. She decides this group consists of Data Search, Infiltration, Perception and Shadowing and labels it as such on her character sheet. She then decides her group counts as an Intuition skill for purposes of determining how many skills she may have.

Specializations: You may have a total number of specializations equal to your unmodified Logic attribute x 1.5 (round up). This limit only applies to Active Skills; specializations are highly encouraged with Knowledge and Language Skills if appropriate. Skill Groups may not have a specialization, but you can split a single skill from a group to specialize in.



[ MAGIC ]

If you are playing a non-magician, you can skip this section.

Initiation: Dedicated magicians may start the game with an initiation grade as high as Grade 5, while secondary magicians may begin as high as Grade 3. Each grade grants two abilities, each with two options as seen below.

1. One metamagic technique OR a +1 to your maximum Magic rating.
2. One metamagic technique OR a +1 to your Magic rating.

You can mix these abilities up however you want for each grade you decide to take. For example, you could gain two metamagic techniques on your first grade, a metamagic technique and +1 to your base Magic rating on your second grade, and then +1 to your base and maximum Magic ratings for your third grade. The choice is yours, just make sure you tell me what you chose to do somewhere on your submission.

Also remember that your maximum initiatory grade is equal to your current Magic attribute. So if you only have a Magic of 2, you'll need to raise it before you can initiate to grade 3.

Ordeals: For each grade of initiation you underwent, you had the option to take an ordeal. Since Karma isn't an issue during character creation, each initiation ordeal instead grants you your choice of either two additional spells (see below) or 0.5 points worth of adept powers. The spells or adept powers you select must be related in some way to the ordeal you undertook, however. If you take this option, be sure to list which ordeal you took and what benefit you gained by doing so. If the ordeal required some sort of price, such as the lowering of an attribute rating, you must pay that price normally.

Magical Groups: You are free to join a magical group of your choosing or even of your own creation. Both the DIMR and MIT&T should have one or two groups that your character would have little problem getting into, though you can just as easily join some other group as you see fit. Just make sure it's either well-referenced or detailed on your character sheet as per the rules in Street Magic.

If you do decide to create your own magical group, and it's one sponsored by the DIMR or MIT&T, please post it here so that everyone who might be interested in joining it can participate in its creation and/or join themselves.

Note that groups with an Exclusive Membership restriction would probably be frowned upon as they limit your ability to infiltrate other groups. It's not a requirement, of course, but it is something you might want to keep in mind as you look around or create your own group.

Spells: You may begin the game with a number of spells equal to twice your unmodified (Spellcasting + Magic) ratings. If you chose to take an ordeal as part of your initiations (see above), you receive two additional spells per ordeal. Additional spells cost 30,000Â¥ from your personal savings account (see Equipment below).

Adept Powers: Follow the normal rules for determining how many adept powers you have and their maximum ratings. If you chose to take an ordeal as part of your initiations (see above), you gain an addition 0.5 Power Points to spend per ordeal.

Ally Spirits: If you are capable of conjuring an ally spirit, you may begin the game with one... at a cost. You must purchase the Ally Conjuration metamagic and sacrifice one additional metamagic technique in order to do so (two metamagic techniques total). See the Equipment section below for more limitations. You will also need to have the Binding and Arcana active skills in addition to everything else.

The maximum Force of the ally spirit is limited by your unmodified Magic attribute. You will then receive the equivalence of four times your unmodified Binding + Arcana skills in virtual Karma with which you may purchase any additional forms, attributes, skills, spells, or powers for your ally spirit. If any of the forms you give your ally spirit are unusual (such as a motorcycle or katana), your ally spirit will take up both of your signature items instead of just one. See Equipment below for more information.

For example, if you a Magic of 4, Binding 5, and Arcana 5, you could begin with game with up to a Force 4 ally spirit that has 40 Karma worth of additional abilities.

Formulas: It is assumed you own all the associated formulae for any spells, ally spirits, and foci you begin the game with. These can be in any format you like, but are typically digital.

Tweaking the Rules: The following optional rules found in Street Magic (p. 31) will be used in this game: Arcana, Adepts and Geasa, Magic Loss, and Ritual Magic.



[ IMPLANTS ]

Dedicated Magicians: Dedicated magicians may begin with the game with only Alpha or Standard grade implants as appropriate. More than one or two points of implants will be frowned upon, but this is not an actual restriction.

Secondary Magicians: Secondary magicians may begin with up to two Beta grade implants whose total value do not exceed 400,000 nuyen each (which includes any accessories or upgrades the implant may have). Any other implants must be of Alpha or Standard grade as appropriate.

Non-Magicians: Non-magicians may begin with up to four Delta grade implants whose total value do not exceed 1,000,000 nuyen each and up to four Beta grade implants up to 600,000 nuyen each. These values include any accessories or upgrades the implant may have. All other implants are limited to Alpha or Standard grade as appropriate.

If you are having trouble rationalizing how or why your character might have such valuable or high-grade implants, assume they were special rewards and/or compensations granted to you by the DIMR for exemplary service in the past.

Brand Names: Recently, I've found myself thoroughly enjoying the act of giving my implants a unique brand name. It's an easy way to add a lot of color and style to a character, and it's something I'd like to see everyone do for this game as well. This isn't to say that you have to cook up a name for every little accessory, but I would like to see one for any major implants you have. Some examples follow.

• Ares OpenThrottle II (Move-By-Wire 2) [Delta; 1.50c]
• Evo Mind Lynx (Datajack) [Delta; 0.05c]
• Genetique Chrome-a-Zomes (Adapsin Enhanced Protein) [Genetech; 0.20b]
• Spinrad Industries Clearview v.306 (Image Link) [Beta; 0.07c]

Please note that you do not have to list any financial costs on your character sheet, only the grade and total Essence cost for the implant and its accessories. Regarding notation, append a lowercase "b" to the end of the Essence cost of bioware/genetech implants and a lowercase "c" to end of the Essence cost of cyberware/nanocybernetic implants. See above for examples of how I'd like to see them noted. Additionally, round all Essence costs up to the nearest two decimal places (a modified implant costing 0.125 Essence would instead cost 0.13 Essence).

Tweaking the Rules: The following options rules found in Augmentation (pp. 22-23) will be used in this game: Second-Hand Implants, Limiting Nanoware, Limiting Nanocybernetics, Symbionts for Everyone (one only), and Injecting Enhanced Proteins. Note that the optional rule for Cosmetic Surgery found here is not an option.



[ CONTACTS ]

The DIMR will often have you traveling abroad and, as such, will often supply you with a name or two of local contacts who will assist you in your missions. These contacts typically assist you by putting you in touch with "friends of a friend" type contacts with whom you can choose to foster a closer relationship with as time goes on or forget about them as soon as the job is complete. In other words, like most important aspects of your job, the DIMR will be taking care of all the little details for you.

However, there will be times in which having your own network of contacts will be invaluable.

Personal Contacts: Everyone may begin the game with up to five free contacts of choice ("up to" not "must have"). These contacts should include immediate family, spouses, children, or partners with which you've had a very close and intimate relationship with over the years. They should be in the Loyalty 4-6 range, though their Connections rating will probably be low if not non-existant altogether. If you have an ally spirit and/or magical group, they count as one of these contacts (give them a Loyalty of 4-6 and Connection rating equal to their Force or Resources as appropriate).

Professional Contacts: Beyond that, you will have also likely fostered more professional relationships over the years. These contacts will be purchased using a point-based system. You have two pools of points; your Loyalty Pool is equal to your unmodified (Charisma + Etiquette) x 3 and your Connections Pool is equal to your unmodified (Charisma + Negotiations) x 3. For example, if you have a Charisma of 4, an Etiquette of 3, and a Negotiations of 4 you will have a Loyalty Pool of 21 and a Connection Pool of 24 with which to purchase these contacts. Any unspent points are lost. You can buy additional points on a 1:5,000Â¥ ratio from your personal savings account (see Equipment below for details).

Who's the Boss?: Additionally, everyone receives a free contact named Antonio Roccamora at Connections 5 and Loyalty 5. I'll be writing more up on him eventually, but for the most part he's your main boss at the DIMR and middleman to the council. He's a half-black and half-Samoan troll, rumor has it he was a drek-hot decker back in the day, and he is pretty much the "real life" representation of every police chief you've ever seen in an action movie as far as his modern personality goes.

Reputation: The rules for Street Cred, Infamy, and Publicity all revolve around SINless criminals and thus will not be used in this game. I considered creating my own house rules for non-Shadowrunner use, but it was too much work for too little gain. Thus I'm simply not going to use them at all, even for any shadowrunners you may come across.



[ EQUIPMENT ]

Free Shit: As previously mentioned, your monthly salary with the DIMR includes a free High Lifestyle. This lifestyle includes up to two luxury vehicles of choice (up to a sports car or motorboat), a gold Nightingale (DocWagon) contract, plus an expense account for entertainment, food, clothing, and things of that nature. In addition, you also receive 5,000Â¥ per month to do with as you see fit and also have a personal savings account valued at 250,000Â¥.

Most of your standard work gear will be supplied to you on an as-needed basis and will almost always be top-of-the-line. This includes such things as communications, fake SINs and licenses, standard firearms and armor, transportation, surveillance gear, medical gear, and consumables (such as ammunition and binding materials). Basically if it's not vital to your character, don't worry about listing it on your sheet. You'll be well taken care of.

Signature Items: Each character begins play with two (2) signature items of choice. These can be nearly anything you desire as long as it's appropriate to your character's theme. A stacked focus, a custom spell, a sniper rifle, a biodrone, or even something as expensive as a thunderbird are all within your grasp. If the item has a rating limit, your maximum limit for that item is equal to your unmodified attribute rating that most closely matches it (foci, for instance, are limited by your Magic rating).

Ally Spirits: If you begin the game with an ally spirit, your spirit counts as one of your signature items. If they can assume one or more inanimate objects such as a motorcycle or sword, the spirit counts as both of your signature items.

Commlinks: Everyone also begins the game with a tricked-out commlink (Firewall 6/Response 6/Signal 6/System 6). This commlink comes with every Common Use program, one Agent and one IC, and up to three Hacking programs of choice all at a rating of 6 for free. If you are a professional Hacker or Technomancer you receive all of the Hacking programs at the same rating as well. Be sure to give the commlink and its operating system a brand name of your choosing and describe it however you wish.

PANs: I really hate how the Matrix rules work in SR4. For all intents and purposes, ignore the various loopholes that exist in the rules regarding them. Your commlink is -the- central hub for your PAN and anyone who wants to affect your equipment via hacking will have to punch past your commlink first. To combat them, all you have to do is turn the wireless connectivity off. No worries, no hassles, no fuss. Also, assume all electronic gear comes with a Skinlink by default.

Additional Gear: If there's any other special equipment or gear you'd be interested in, you need to spend the nuyen in your personal savings account to buy it. Ignore Availabilities if you have the appropriate contact for the item (they should have Connection 3 for Restricted or Beta-grade gear and Connection 5 for Forbidden or Delta-grade gear). If you don't, you are limited to an Availability of 12 and it cannot be Restricted or Forbidden. If the item requires Karma to bind with it, you must "spend" the equivalence of 10,000Â¥ per Karma on top of the normal cost.

Licenses: If any of your items or implants require a license, assume you have one associated with your legal SIN. If you'd like to have any personal fake SINs that are separate from the DIMR, you'll need to purchase them as well as any fake licenses for it.

careful Trigger. Apparently, Doc doesn't like abbreviations. IIRC

*elbows everyone aside*

I'm in. Give me a moment and I'll have the character concepts up for perusal.

Mind if I join up? I have a new char I wanna introduce to dumpshock?

Everyone's welcome to submit a few concepts, though I can't guarantee anyone's approval. As I said in my first post, I'm aiming for a team consisting of four characters but I might expand that up to six if there's some really phenomenal submissions.

I should reiterate that shadowrunner-type characters probably won't be accepted. This game sort of dictates brand new concepts and character ideas due to the alternate nature of it. But if you think your idea works, don't hold back on submitting him or her.

But you stole my character concept and used it as one of your examples in the opening post, and now I stuck.

Jarred Butler
Former Big Game Hunter/Marksman, Bug Hunter (Elven Sharpshooter)

Background Summary:
Born in the middle of Chicago, circa 2022, Jarred was the only child of a prosperous fixer and his dedicated wife, a pair of true southerners displaced when his activities came to light and the local law took grievance with him. Though his father was heavily involved in the shadow community, his mother, a naïve, tenderhearted Southern Belle, had nothing to do with the shadows, and kept him out of trouble in his early childhood. He went to school, got a good education, or at least as good as tax dollars provided, and was well fed. He was active in sports, and over time, grew to a fine young man. By the age of 23, he was managing a local gun store, giving shooting lessons on the side, and helping pay for the extensive medical bills his father was racking up, as his activities had finally caught up to him. His father spent the last few years of his life in a hospice, run by the Universal Brotherhood, which helped take care of much of the expense; Jarred was grateful, and spent a good deal of his time volunteering at the organization.
After his fathers death, and his mothers soon thereafter, he remained in the city, refining his talents with weapons of all sorts. He had expressed some magical traits, mostly only improving that which he was already quite talented at, though he did invest in some cyberspurs, each of which he had enchanted and bonded. When the Universal Brotherhood was revealed to be a bug hive, they proved quite useful. He spent the next year and a half of his life roaming the city, loaded down with guns from the shop he had once managed, slaughtering every bug he could find. Eventually, he gave it up as hopeless; slipping through the walls, he left the country behind, determined to start over elsewhere.
He made it to Africa, where he spent over a decade learning about the paranormal, how to hunt the bigger, more dangerous critters, and how to survive in the wild. He made a career out of it, though it was relatively meager, until he found something better.

Reason for Recruitment: His talents lie in the outdoors, and in his skill with firearms, a skill that, besides considerable natural talent and a great deal of training, is enhanced by his magical traits. He is a staunchly pragmatic man, with a hint of a hero-complex, and he knows how to deal with a variety of paranormal entities. When word got out of his work inside Chicago, he was a perfect candidate for the kinds of missions the DIMR.

Background Quality (Need for Action): Jarred was molded in his time in Chicago, working on his own, for himself, as a vigilante, taking out the bug spirits that had infested his home. He despises the fact that he once gave up his time and money to further the organization that destroyed his home, and is sickened at the thought of his father having been in their care. To this day, if he sees someone in need, he rushes in, determined to make sure that there is a selfless, caring force in the world, that will take care of others for the simple sake of caring, even if that force has to be him. This has led him to search out action, no matter where he goes, and always support the little guy, along with the fact that he is deeply suspicious of large groups, no matter their cause.


Random Flaw (Brash Nature): Jarred is a good man, intensely moral in his own way, but he has no problem whatsoever with taking life. Be it a spirit, a metahuman, a paranormal critter, a horse…he’ll shoot it dead in an instant, if he thinks it needs doing. He doesn’t wait around, he just fires. If it’s sentient, he’ll wait to see if it deserves it, or if he thinks it’s a danger to him or his allies. It it’s not, he’ll gun it down to get it out of his way. Years of hunting dangerous creatures have given him a hair trigger, and he’s not ashamed of it; after all, it’s kept him alive.

So, you asked for it ...

Character's Name

Irisa Carter Rosselini


Character's Profession (Race and Archetype)
Elven Ancient Languages Professor/Scholar - Al-Azhar Universite in Cairo



Background Summary: A brief synopsis of who and what the character is.




Reason for Recruitment: Why did the DIMR recruit him?

Besides the obvious reasons listed above, Irisa's yearn for knowledge and vast knowledge of esoteric arcana makes her a valuable asset to a foundation built around the accumulation and preservation of magical lore and artifacts.
Plus, she gave them a dragon's lair. You gotta give a girl props for that.


Background Quality: Any quality of your choosing that relates to the character's professional or social life.

Irisa, due to her scholarly nature, is a very pragmatic individual. She oftentimes appears withdrawn and solitary when in fact she's simply deep in thought. She's the type of person that prefers her books to people and woe be unto anyone who would treat her books without the utmost care.


Random Quality: A single quality chosen at random that has nothing to do with the character's professional or social life, but is instead just a curious quirk they have

Per above, she is deathly afraid of thorns and by association, roses. She's been in therapy for the last 8 years but it doesn't seem to be helping.

I have to pitch at this one...
Character's Name

William "Critical Bill" Barnes

Character's Profession (Race and Archetype)

Troll Ex Mercenary/Tank



Background Summary: A brief synopsis of who and what the character is.

This will grow.
Mercenary operative working for I.M.S. a small mercenary compant based in Lisbon. His unit was sent on a contract protecting an archaeological dig somewhere in the Ukraine. The archaeologists dug up something best left undisturbed (Bill can't quite remember) the Mercs tried to take it out but it almost killed them all, but in a moment of desperation Bill being the last soldier standing managed to throw a satchel charge into the creatures mouth and then shot it with a stinger missile... The records show this Bill just shrugs, he survived and was found covered in gore with a spent launch tube.


Reason for Recruitment: Why did the DIMR recruit him?

He face that which man was not meant to know, and shot it in the face, he's tough as nails physically and psychologically and has made a career at winning situations by a combination of luck and nerve.


Background Quality: Any quality of your choosing that relates to the character's professional or social life.

Lucky - Bill's amazing luck combined with his nerve gets him through life.

Random Quality: A single quality chosen at random that has nothing to do with the character's professional or social life, but is instead just a curious quirk they have

Bill loves animals, he's always feeding local strays and helping wounded animals. He's still a carnivore but pays through the nose for organically/humanely raised meat.

I'm really digging most of the submissions so far! I was planning on keeping this thread up for at least a week, however, so don't be shy in submitting any other ideas you may have (or even adding on to or editing ones you already have).

I'll be getting one in a little later tonight. But I am throwing my hat in the ring!

Very, very, tempted. *Looks at potential company* Extremly tempted. What the heck. I'm in! Concept to follow, *blinks* Mandy!

<this space for rent>

(Can't resist anything to do with Big D)


EDIT: BAH... saw recruitment closing tomorrow afternoon (time of post edit, 11:51 CST September 12) I was hoping for more time. Curse you quicker-on-the-draw-than-I-types!

Have fun!

Character's Name:

Kyle "Lantern" Jordan

Character's Profession/ Archetype:

Field Operative for DIMR/ Doctorate Student at MIT&T

Background Summary: A Brief Synopsis of His Life:



Reason for Recruitment:

Kyle is the DIMR's personally trained agent and the Institute's surrogate child in some aspects. He has been with them for over 13 years now and the DIMR is his family, his life.

Background Quality:

Loyalty. Kyle is fiercely loyal to the DIMR and its employees. They are his family, his parents, his brothers and sisters.

Random Quality:

Despite his loyalty, Kyle is still an independent and rebellious teenager. He often sneaks out at night and slums it in the more urban sectors of Boston, and despite his corporate life he is in love with the street look. He has bright green hair and tattoos up and down his arms and chest.

(more to come later I believe, as well as other concepts.)

Edited Doc!

Someone has grossly overestimated my ability to keep track of things. If I tried to run more than one at a time it would be the epitome of the term "cluster fuck."

It does look like we'll have a group larger than four so far, though.

Ooh....this one is back again. Will probably have to update this character to SR4 if it gets accepted, but I'm game.

Name: Corina 'Jinx' Iulian
Former Stunt Driver (elf rigger)

Background: Corina had a good thing going until The Cat showed up. She was looking to be adding a few more zeroes onto an already lucrative contract, had a great car, and best of all, Dorin hadn't shown up on her door step in trouble again for over a month. But that was all going to change.

She liked cats, and when a black one tried to cross her path, she tried to avoid it. Normally it would have been an easy task, no problem. But for some reason, her car just couldn't handle the sudden change of direction and went out of control. When she woke up, she was in the hospital, The Cat curled up next to her in bed, having defied all the attempts of the nurses to have it removed.

Getting out of the hospital, nothing went right. Anything electronic she touched simply ceased functioning. Things went out of her way to trip her. Dorin showed up owing more money than ever before. If only he wasn't her brother... She was getting quite a reputation as a jinx.

Recruitment: DIMR approached her, attempting to claim The Cat. She was more than willing to get rid of it, once they explained to her just what it was. However, The Cat was less than willing. Even when captured, it always managed to free itself, and make it's way back to her, to continue to plague her existance. Giving up on that, they offered her a job so that in addition to acquiring a good rigger, they could keep an eye on The Cat.

Background Flaw: (Clumsy, Gremlins, Bad Reputation) The Cat just seems to enjoy making her life miserable.

Random Flaw: (Pirate Family) Family can be good...but it seems that her brother, Dorin is always managing to get himself into trouble. And you can't turn down family when they ask for help.

Alright, second concept coming up:

Character Name:

Tenzin "Dharma" Dorje

Character's Profession/Archetype:

Traveling Buddhist Monk, Vigilante, Ork Mystic Adept

Background Summary:
Born in the battleground between CalFree and Japan called San Francisco, Tenzin was the son of a Tibetan Priest who cared for the injured in the slums of the city. His father taught him of traditional Buddhism and of his homeland in Tibet, how to care for the sick, to show compassion for all people, and the discipline of the martial art style The White Crane. When a monk of the Lotus Throne Sect came through SF and stopped into his father's shrine to rest, trouble followed on his heels. Agents of the Chinese States attacked the shrine during the night, killing Tenzin's father in the ensuing chaos, as well as sending the Lotus Throne monk on the run with Tenzin in tow. They traveled south to the greater LA area and found passage on a ship headed to Hong Kong, where they stayed for a short time before meeting with another monk outside the Maya Cloud. With the aid of one of the Five Seals, Tenzin crossed the Cloud with two monks and made it to the homeland his father always spoke of: Tibet. There he trained with the monks who adopted him into their monastery, training him in the ways of the Lotus Throne and the history of Tibet and the Cloud. When next his master passed back out of the Cloud and to the world beyond, Tenzin went with him. On the far side they went their separate ways, the way of the Lotus Throne not feeling right for Tenzin. His destiny was back in the states, where he knew he must take up the life of a traveling monk to spread the teachings he had learned. But word that he had been to the other side of the Cloud and come back quickly spread and he was soon just as hunted as any Lotus Throne monk. He had to hide himself in the shadows, becoming another faceless mercenary in the world while he spreads his teachings and helps others with their gifts.

Reason for Recruitment:
Tenzin is one of the very few people to have passed to the other side of the Maya Cloud and returned, and not a monk of the Lotus Throne. The knowledge he has on Tibet current state of affairs as well as his contacts in the Lotus Throne Sect make him the top monk outside of Tibet on anything in Tibet. This makes him highly valuable to the DIMR, as well as for his magical abilities.

Background Quality:
Tenzin is very quiet and studious, a calm and collected monk who very rarely shows any sign of emotion besides a jovial tusk filled smile.

Random Quality:
Despite his calm demeanor, on rare occasions, Tenzin will fly into a rage. These outbursts are provoked by sights of harm against innocents, especially Buddhists and Tibetans, as well as the desecration of any sort of Buddhist shrine.



Yep, that is my second concept. I will probably come up with one or more tomorrow....

My concepts

Character Name:
Martin Konohena

Character's Profession/Archetype:
Hawai'ian Dwarf Mystic Adept Combat Buffer

Background Summary:
Born and raised on the Big Island, Martin Awakened at fifteen. His parents directed him to the path of Pele, the Goddess of Creation and Destruction. He accepted the priestly duties with some reluctance, although he often wished for a more exciting life During the Great Orichalcum Race he got excitement in spades as numerous theives and adventures tried to get into the temple. After the rush died he found himself addicted to the faster pace of life in combat, so he moved to Seattle and became a private investiagator.

Reason for Recruitment:
DIMR recruited Martin because he is adept at a little researched magical tradition and he also can provide opperatives with equal parts mundane and magical defense. Mostly they wanted to understand the Kingdom of Hawai'i's new magiopolitical structure

Background Quality:
Martin takes his Hawai'ian heritage very seriously, he always starts his day with a traditional prayer and a enourmous cup of Kona coffee. In fact he carries a portable coffee maker on any missions that will be longer than one day.

Random Quality:
Martin is loud, he wears brightly colored clothes, has a loud voice, and generally acts like there is a party in every room. He is a man of polarized opinions and views.

Character Name:
Adrian Procter

Character's Profession/Archetype:
Human Mage/Spelldefender
"I see dead people"

Background Summary:
The youngest person to ever Awaken, Adrian started talking to Ancestor spirits at the age of eight. To this day at the age of twenty, he is still one of the best spirit mediums and speakers to the dead. He has been using his natural gift to provide spell defense for a top rated DIMR bounty hunter team for the last three years.

Reason for Recruitment:
DIMR recognized his raw talent when they first approved his team "The Hunters". Last month they finally recruited Adrian as a full time spell defense expert for their strategic troubleshooting teams.

Background Quality:
Adrian talks to dead people. It is really quite simple, for some reason the dead like him. There are always two or three Ancestor spirits chatting with him. This gives him access to some really odd knowledge, in fact his college professors made him take tests in astral proof rooms to prevent his "friends" from helping him

Random Quality:
Adrian is mildly allergic to toxic magic. It makes his skin itch, and he sometimes breaks out in hives. He still cannot understand why this is so. Most common anti-allergens are useless against this condition.

Character Name:
Robert "Galahad" Jones

Character's Profession/Archetype:
Human Personafixed Paranormal Hunter

Background Summary:
Robert was born to a normal mundane family. This of course is why he got his P-fix. From an early age he was fascinated with the old stories of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. At the age of sixteen Robert got enough money to get himself a P-chip and live life as Galahad, the greatest of Arthurs knights.

Reason for Recruitment:
Despite his obvious mental issues, Robert has an impressive record. He has taken
out a number of blood shamans, toxic shamans and at least one flesh form insect spirit. The key is his P-fix, living life as a Knight of the Round Table makes him utterly and completely fearless, without it he would more than likely be just another terrified wage slave. DIMR noticed his record and obvious willingness to take on paranormal threats and hired the idiot.

Background Quality:
Robert lives and breathes the age of chivalry. He is always polite, respectful and has impeccable manners. This also means he has trouble engaging any target not clearly defined as evil.

Random Quality:
For some reason the P-chip script includes an insistence on wearing plate armour. Which looks utterly ridiculous hanging off Robert's slight frame. It also includes the occasional "Grail Quest". Every few months, Robert insists on trying to search for the Holy Grail.

Sounds fun, i would love to give it a go. Ill post back later tonight, or on friday.

Character's Name: Vincente Figuroa


Character's Profession: Human Michaeline Knight of the Order of Solomon Mystic Adept

Background Summary: Vincente heard the call of the Lord Jesus Christ from an early age. He entered seminary school at the age of 7 and was a page in Vatican City by the age of 13. Upon his Awakening at age 14 Vincente heard the voice of the Archangel Michael. He joined the Order of St. Sylvester soon after his Awakening and travelled for many years healing the sick and providing spiritual guidance to Catholics all over the world, but the Sylvestrines pacifistic ways often upset him. He always felt anger and rage when looking upon the atrocities the Megacorps and Governments perpetrated on their own. It was soon after this that Vincente left the order of St. Sylvester and moved back to Vatican City. There he published several papers on how Catholicism should be reintroduced to the larger world. He was approached not long after publishing these papers by The Order of the Temple and became a Templar. Vincente underwent Michaeline training and discovered his powers as an Adept in addition to the spells he was already aware of. At the fulmination of his training he summoned the personal servant of the Archangel Michael and was given a vision of the atrocities being performed by the Megacorporation Aztechnology. A week later he was on the ground in Aztlan setting up resistance cells and holding masses that had been outlawed in that country since 2041.


Reason for Recruitment: The DIMR approached Vincente in connection to a mysterious being known as Thayla that followers of his congregation in Aztlan had brought to his attention. One of Vincente's Sargeants, a talented decker had broken into Aztechnology's system and stole information pertaining to a ritual in which this name had been mentioned. Vincente was in the process of creating a resistance cell to disrupt the activities around Crater Lake when events conspired to end the ritual on their own. Vincente agreed to work with the DIMR with his superiors permission and now acts as both an operative and Chaplain for the DIMR.


Background Quality: Vincente is a devout Catholic and knows every passage of the Bible, Gnostic Gospels, Old Testament, and Quran by heart.

Random Quality: Vincente has a ally Spirit that he believes to be a servant of the archangel Michael and often speaks to him aloud in Latin.

Character Name:

Clinton "Guiwja" Edenshaw

Characters archetype/Profession:

Mage Initiate/ Prof. of Sociology specializing in N.A. Aborignal cultures

Background Summery:

Clition is a native of Hiada desent. The Edenshaw clan is well know on Queen Charlotte Islands (or Hiada Gwaii as Clinton is quick to point out) for pushing for Hiada soveniegnty
Growing up in the shadow of his father and grandfather , Clinton learned Hiada oral traditons and historys. He did his masters on a colaberation using the knowldge of oral history and sientific data . Using this knowldge and a bit of luck was able to find a villige sit under 126 meters of water. When doing sounding over the area the wax filled end of the sounding line produce a small stone knife. This small tool was carbon dated over 10000 years old. With this piece of history Clinton was able to publish his findings. The Hiada Councel had proof of inhabitation.


Reasons for recruitment:

Kowledge of native cultures/historys/mytho's makes him invaluble when dealing with nativedigs and native artifacts.

Background Quality:

Clinton loves his work and will jump at any chance to explore the past
Relies heavly on the use of Guidence/Ancestral spirits to help him in his reserch

Character Flaw:

Clinton is a bit of a political agitator. He has passed money and info to the Hiada repartation soitity. the H.R.S is known agressivly persueing Hiada artifacts and Hiada Ancetral remains. With the pull out of Mitsuhama Computer Technologies from the Tsimshiam Nation, Hiada sovernty is in the air again.

Wow.

The response to this game has been completely overwhelming. As a result, I think I'm going to end the recruitment process sooner than I expected just so I don't have to turn away anymore players. Since I did say I was going to give everyone a while to submit something, however, I'm not closing it until tomorrow afternoon at which point I'll sit down and try to figure out who and what the group will consist of.

I do want to thank everyone for the interest you've shown. I didn't think it'd be this popular.

Everybody loves Dunkie. The new show on A-Channel Seriuosly Funk Dunk is still prolly the most popular figure in SR.

I'll be owrking all day tomorrow and probably some OT as well, so the one submission is all I'll have to work with.

Character's Name
John Preston / aka Mr. Lucky

Character's Profession (Race and Archetype)
Race: Human
Work Pre-DIMR: Student & Delivery Driver for Smiley’s Pizza
Work Post-DIMR: Scouting & Infiltration

Background Summary: A brief synopsis of who and what the character is.
John, known as Mr. Lucky to his friends is a student at Seattle Junior College working on his associate’s degree in general studies. He plans to transfer a local culinary school when he gets done. John has been working as a pizza delivery guy to work his way through school. Smiley’s is one of the few places that has resurrected the “30 minutes or its free guarantee.� He enjoys this and has honed his driving skills to be as good as some on the professional circuit. He is better than most when it comes to urban driving. Bob, his manager, has made him the employee of the month for the last eight months running because of the volume of work that he is able to complete. When business is slow, he also cooks a mean pizza pie. He also enjoys cooking in general when Bob gives him a chance. John has only one vice and that is the occasional dip into his favorite alcohol, vodka on the rocks. Moreover, he can usually slip a good wine into almost anything.

Given the natural dangers of delivery pizza in Seattle, both the Star on the roads as well as the residents at the delivery, John has learned to defend himself in unusual ways: He has a witty attitude, can speak a little bit of Orzet and Sperethiel as well. Just in case that doesn’t work he carries a Yamaha Pulsar, is trained in Tae Kwon Do, and although he is not crazy enough to carry one, he learned to shoot a shotgun on his grandfather’s ranch on an Anglo-reservation in the NAN.

John is incredibly lucky. He has been able to escape more accidents than should be allowed by law and definitely more than are allowed by statistics. This combined with the fact that magic just doesn’t seem to work around him have lead him to believe that his life is blessed for some purpose that he has yet to find.

Reason for Recruitment: Why did the DIMR recruit him?
On one run to the Barrens he was caught in a fight between a Rat Shaman and a Dog Shaman. He managed to deliver his pizza and walk away unscathed. The local gangs gave him free access to the area after that. Some assumed he was a super-mage, others, some sort of corp experiment, still others, something else. A local talent scout for DIMR decided that anyone that devoted to the job would be worth having.

Background Quality: Any quality of your choosing that relates to the character's professional or social life.
Everything always seems to fall the "right" way for John, no matter what happens.

Random Quality: A single quality chosen at random that has nothing to do with the character's professional or social life, but is instead just a curious quirk they have.
He carries around an old half-dollar coin from the US, which he flips continuously.

Thought I'd through in a second concept. This guy was an NPC in an old campaign.


Character's Name

Wight

Character's Profession (Race and Archetype)

Street Samurai/Mr Fix It/Mostly Burnt Out Blood Mage Human

Background Summary: A brief synopsis of who and what the character is.

Wight doesn't like to speak of his history. He seeks some form of redemption for his past and that's all he says. He has worked for the Foundation since it was founded and before that he worked for Dunkelzahn himself. Wight was a member of the Blood mage gestalt, and was burnt out along with the rest of his sect of it when a group of rebels attacked the Teocalli they were working in and managed to disrupt the ritual. Most died (including the rebels). Wight survived and was snatched by runners from his hospital bed and delivered to the Big D. Wight had seen something as the the ritual broke down and vowed to fight it. Dunkelzahn told him they were "The Enemy" or the Horoi. To regain an edge Wight was fitted out with a load of cyber and became an agent of the Wyrm acting as Johnson and Runner in getting the jobs done. His long service have given him great skill and he still has a sliver of magic left which he tries not to use.

Reason for Recruitment: Why did the DIMR recruit him?

He had been an agent of Dunk himself. he asked to join the DIMR. He has more knowledge of Bloodmagic than most.

Background Quality: Any quality of your choosing that relates to the character's professional or social life.

Cursed - Magic even other peoples never seems to work quite right around Wight.

Random Quality: A single quality chosen at random that has nothing to do with the character's professional or social life, but is instead just a curious quirk they have.

Due to terrible nightmares Wight refuses to share a room with anyone.

All right, it's officially "after noon" in my time zone so I'm closing up shop on the recruitment process. I'm going to go over all the submissions and put a group together now, and should have something posted in the next hour or two barring no interuptions.

All right, after much internal debating, lots of hemming and hawing, bouts of "maybe a larger group wouldn't be so bad" wussing out considerations and similar thought processes, the following players won the Big D's Blue Ribbon.

• Alex playing John Preston aka Mr. Lucky
• Fistandantilus 3.0 playing Gabriel Vaughn the Police Detective
• Fortune playing Heather Hutchence-Geldof the Thrill-Seeker
• Nerfherder playing Vincente Figuroa the Knight Templar
• Ophis playing "Critical Bill" Barnes the Mercenary
• DTFarstar playing Dr. Thomas L. Wilson the Jewish M.D. (filling the spot of Plan B playing Irisa Rosselini the Egyptologist)

Before I continue, I wanted to thank everyone again for all the fantastic submissions. I had a really, really hard time narrowing things down, but I did say I was maxing the group at six players (largely due to bad experiences with large groups in the past). Having to say "no" is such a drag. I hope you all understand.

That said, I'm going to begin typing up my guidelines for character creation after this post. Due to the nature of this game, and particularly it's non-shadowrunner limitations, there's going to be quite a few differences from the normal character creation process. Promise you'll like them, though. Here's a small taste in the meanwhile.

Humans, Non-Humans, and Freaks... Oh My!

I'm a very hands-on sort of Game Master, particularly during the character creation phase, so expect lots of communication to be done. It won't be a simple matter of throwing some stats down and being done with it; we're going to work together to craft a perfect character for you that we're both extremely happy with.

As an important note, I want to stress that this game is intended for everyone to have a blast and to fully enjoy everything the Sixth World has to offer. If you have any differences with any of the other players or myself, I ask that you set them aside while playing here. We're all here to have fun, after all, and there's not much fun to be had when you're being all persnickity with the other players or GM. If you don't think you can do that, now is the perfect time to bow out so we can find a replacement, though I think we're all pretty compatible as is. Also note that this isn't a competition. There is no "winning" or "losing," though threats will certainly be real and I have no problems with killing characters if the dice roll that way. Keep your wits about you, enjoy the storytelling on both sides of the fence, and just do what you can to make the most of the game and the experience as you can. That's all I ask.

Okay, well, that's all I have to say for the moment. Thank you all, again, for the great submissions and I'm truly sorry there wasn't more room. I wish you all tons of luck in finding a game in the very near future!

2 questions: how are we rolling dice, and general posting guidelines?

I was going to get into some of this in my next post, but I can answer them now.

Dice: The short answer is "trust." When it comes time to roll the dice, we're going to all share the GM responsibility to a degree. It'll be up to you to find and apply all the applicable modifiers, and you can roll the dice however you see fit (real dice, virtual dice, Invisible Castle dice... whatever you're comfortable with). All you need to do is list the modifiers and the end result.

There are some minor consequences for this freedom, however. If there are important and obvious modifiers you didn't include, I will subtract one "hit" from your total for every -2 dice pool modifier (rounded up) and will add one "hit" for every +4 modifier (rounded down). Thus it'll be in your best interest to include every appropriate modifier. Note that this equally applies to inappropriate modifiers as well. For modifiers you may not know about, I'll be adding/subtracting hits on a standard one "hit" per three dice, rounded to your benefit.

But in general, yes, I trust everyone to apply the right modifiers and roll the dice without cheating. As I mentioned before, this game is about having fun and bad rolls are arguably even more fun than good ones! So the only person you'll be cheating is yourself.

Posting Guidelines: I will go into more detail on this when the IC and OOC threads eventually come up. In a nutshell, no colors will be used, signatures should be turned off the IC thread, and everyone will be expected to post their moves in normal writing conventions (using quotation marks, italics, and whatnot) as appropriate. Bolding of character names will probably be the norm as well, if only to make sure everyone notices when their character is being addressed/included in a post.

Good enough of an answer for now?

Yeah, works for me. Just so you know up front, I'll likely forget my sig a few times.

For listing dice rolls, I'll probably list my rolls out. That way you can just subtract dice for mised mods, if that works for you. For Invisible Castle people or folks who like dice rollers online, one I had a big problem figuring out and was shown the proper way to do it . For rolling say 5 dice, syntax is 5d6.vs(5). so again, xd6.vs(5)

I'll probably go back and forth between each depending on how convenient dice are , assuming that's ok. Either way I'll list out all my rolls.

Oh yeha, I'll probably forget to bold names from time to time as well, so feel free to yell at me. Ill conform, I'm just slow.

The guidelines for the dice rolling above is more of an encouragement to make sure everyone's paying attention and applying the appropriate modifiers rather than a system for just handling "missed" modifiers. There's a difference between those and ones the players/characters simply don't know about, in which case the benefits are actually in your corner by default.

And yeah, I have no problem slapping you guys around if you occasionally forget things like that. Just don't be shy in doing the same to me if I forget!

I may request a little help time and again as far as modifiers go as I'm still extremely new to 4e and new to 3e for that matter. And while, in general, I am a non-conformist, I like to pick and choose my battles.

Bleh, that came across entirely wrong.

I don't mind people making honest mistakes or exclusions due to not knowing all the possible modifiers. It's more of an encouragement to try and look stuff up a little when you're doing something important to make sure it's within reason, to discourage players who may habitually or intentionally ignore negative modifiers, and things like that. It's not intended to penalize honest mistakes or genuine ignorance of the rules (and everyone is encouraged to help everyone else when it comes to this!).

Sorry for making it appear otherwise. It wasn't intendedthat way.

I must admit I wasn't expecting Critical Bill to make the cut. Here goes for a super tough troll thug with maxed edge and lucky.

I wanted to say that there are some truely great character ideas on here, and I dont envy Doc having to make the cuts. Some great ideas out there folks.

Wasn't taken that way, I'm just a big fan of pointing out my own ineptitude

Damn......*sulks away till another game as cool as this one pops up*