Now here is the problem i have, the four people in my group (me, my bro and some of his friends) play SR4, its all fine and we have fun with missions, but when it comes to the end with the gm giving us karma, normally everyone will get the same amount besides me. I do not get the "Good RP" part that everyone else seems to get.

Now i dont want to get left behind and i have tried RP better but to no avail.

So my Shadowrunner wants to be remebered, he dosent want to be forgotten as soon as i die, i want to be famous for my martial arts (my GM only owns the core rule book so i cant use anything from any other book) at first when ever we had some free time, it be camping or on a plane, i would ask questions and found out how something works, cause my shadowrunner beliefs, knowledge is power, the more he knows the better he will be. now me asking questions and recording what i see, my GM said was just a quirk and he didnt give RP karma for, he says i my guy has to have needs and wants.( Example is the cowboy in our group, When we were in town he went and got himself a toy girl, or whenever he shoots, cause he gets 18 dice with his revolvers, he always adds a little flair, like how he spins his guns after he shoots. GM said his wants was the toygirls)

So i ask you and advice on how i can better RP my character so dont get left behind by the party.

If you need any more info, which you might, please ask me and ill try to help as best i can

Any chance your GM hates you?

it might be a possibility, i have thought about that, but im not sure it is the case

This is probably thoroughly unhelpful in terms of getting your GM to award you as much karma as everybody else, but it seems to me that you ARE role-playing your character. Quirks are what make us who we are. Simply by stating that your character believes that knowledge is power, you're demonstrating that this character actually has a system of thought that creates a framework for future actions to fit into. That's one of your wants right there--knowledge. And it's not even the only want of your character's that you mentioned in your post; you want to become famous for your martial arts. Seriously, your post wasn't very lengthy, and it still managed to fit in more RP depth than I've seen at some gaming tables.

Whenever I start playing a new character, I always worry that I'm being too munchy, or too boring, and that I don't have a good feel for the character. The back story I come up with at the beginning ALWAYS feels contrived. But after I've played him for a while, I start thinking about the character more and more often outside the game. If you're having daydreams about your character, I'd say you're on a right track (there's possibly other right tracks, too; I'm just saying how it works for me). The more YOU know about the character, the more you'll just naturally play it, and it will show.

Another thing I'd keep in mind is: your character isn't always on a run. Martial arts and thirst for knowledge are two pretty time-consuming interests to have, but that aspect tends to get overlooked because they both have tangible impacts on your running ability. Does your character have any more casual pursuits that have nothing whatsoever to do with a run? Non-run-related hobbies aren't necessarily the mark of a better role-player, but they are more obvious, in terms of getting the GMs attention so he gives you that extra karma point.

Also, you should ask your GM to look into getting Arsenal. I know it's a lot of money, but it's worth it, especially if you can find a used copy or find some other way of cutting costs. Get creative. It will benefit all of you, so maybe you can work out some sort of cost-sharing plan. I've been playing since SR1, and have been bitching about most SR books that have come out since I was in high school (the last 4 years of SR2), but the SR4 books have been done well, and I highly recommend them. Arsenal in particular will be helpful for your martial artist character.

Anyway, lots of luck.

Just a plan but treat your runner as a monk of some type make a list of rules/morals and try to up hold them. No sex before marriage or even no sex at all and things like diet restrictions try to spend some nuyen on stuff that just fleshes out who you are such as only eating fresh food when possible. Just ideas but with stuff similar to this the GM cant say or nor RPing well. When you resting waiting say your mediating practicing moves and such for flare have strong views on killing always pray before or after the act and if you forget act upset and not honoring your foes. As for more help a bit of back ground and or stats could help.

A good background helps roleplaying as you can tell what you would do and why.

Thanks for the help, as for non-runner hobbies, he cooks, i could RP that more, as i dont

thanks alot, that actually got me thinking, i can make a list of morals, the only problem i see it with being a monk, is that they give up worldly possesions, so any armor i have or a commlink might go against the whole monk thing,

oh also i know my GM will probably pop his head in here, for what he says, please take that into consideration, because i might be thinking i am doing more that i actually am.

Well it does depend on the order your part of but as long as your not to silly with things some modern monastery allow for traveling members to just give a percentage of there wealth to the monastery monthly or yearly. If you do something like this don't be to greedy or to selfless as being greedy detracts form the point but giving away too much can be game busting around 10% normally works (maybe your GM would/could give you some kind of bonus for donating to the needy). But I assume your a unarmed adept type so gear is lees important than karma. Also you could just follow a strict code not being part of a monastery as such but are determined to help people with your strengths running against the corrupted oppressive corps with Robin Hood type ideals what you get form killing those gangers running rackets round your area could be given back to the one they stole from may keeping just a bit to get by with for food gear cloths and some where to stay you could call your self a squatter or live on the streets hiding you true power form the general public. If you’ve read Watchmen a bit like Rorschach (he was an oppressed street bum/slummer turned batman like crime fighter). But its all up to you what ever make you got that’s my runner.

1) Watch some martial arts movies and read everything you can from the poster here by the name of Wounded Ronin. These will give you the background you need to better fill out your martial arts character, especially in a Shadowrun context (albeit, more of an SR2/3 context than SR4). Hopefully they'll also give you ideas for better descriptions for your moves. If you can paint the scene for your GM, it may make him feel you're playing more. Also, feel free to say you subscribe to a particular style, like gym-kata or ninjitsu, even if you don't have the rules to support it.

2) Develop your character's cause for pursuing martial arts. What are his goals? Is he training to win the secret karate world-championship tournament held in Taiwan? To avenge the death of his adopted Asian-mentor-father, who was killed by the mysterious red ninja and his ninja goons? To stop getting picked on at school? How does the character's take on martial arts add or subtract from shadowrunning? His art really should be distinct in this regard.

3) Develop your character beyond just martial arts. Does he have a love interest? A black friend he can rely on for help? Does he paint or collect expensive cars? The more little details you add, the more he'll stand out as a person and not as a two-dimensional character. If you were to sit down with him over a round of beers, what would you talk about? Who would he vote for in this election? This sense of the character is important to develop. I've found it helps to find a few concise quotes to help me get in character.

Some people view good RP not as saying what your character does when there is no importance. For instance saying you start shooting your pistols in a fancy way in the air, but when you interact with other NPC's/PC's does this come into play? Would your character start causing a scene? Is the game setting pink mohawk or in the shadows kind of game. Get a feel for your character and play him even during the nitty gritty of a run. Do you try doing other interactions that have the feel of your character. Try making him interesting instead of a stereotype, because some GM's will give karma based on RP that is entertaining. Asking tons of questions, because "knowledge is power" it might not be that you are asking interesting questions. If you are setting up camp and asking things that the GM should assume that a person in that setting should already know then no you don't get karma for good RP. It might just end up bugging the GM and drawing away from the story that he or she is trying to weave. If you make things interesting or ask questions that might add to the story telling then maybe the RP karma, but asking about how hot the campfire is, and what type of logs are being used, and can you see more stars here then in the city I don't think would fall under knowledge is power. Honestly if you thought knowledge is power then it might actually cause the curiosity killed (or at least maimed) the cat syndrome. If there is something in the middle of a room that is an oddly shaped wonky piece of metal would your character go closer to inspect it or maybe even pick it up to examine it in further detail?

In the end some GM's look at how you deal with people according to your character, and making his/her job easier through good RP might be the reason your GM might not be giving you bonus karma.

Why would he do a thing like that?

But seriously, to get RP Karma, you have to actually RP. Your character doesn't have "quirks" that have showed themself in game. He has one quirk. Singular. You're simply repeating that quirk as a lab rat pressing on that bar, expecting a pellet to come out.

I have my laptop in those sessions for a reason. You realize that, during play, you average 47 words per session in reference to your character? And most of those are just describing what you do in combat. You haven't even told me what he looks like!

Here's what your character has done so far:

Meditated/practiced kung fu in Central Park.
Asked the pilot how the plane worked, and wrote it down.
Told the mysterious robed man (who turned out to be Mr. Pickleberry) to empty his guns if carried any.
Introduced yourself to the Johnson (I think. I can't recall this one for sure, but you may have told him your name.)
Talked to a drug dealer.
Rufied a guard.
Questioned said guard, briefly.
Copied the runes on the gunslinger's guns.
Asked the Technomancer if he knew why the giant Drone was chasing you.
Said "you can stay with me" when the Technomancer needed a place to stay.

And that was over the course of 21 hours of play time. 21 real world hours.

And shocking as it may sound, this is your liveliest character yet! The other two or three faceless character sheets didn't do nearly as much.

Now, if you want to roleplay the silent type, that's fine. But then you have to step up and describe actions. Hell, make him perform actions.

So, 47 words in a ten hour session does not equate to "good roleplaying" as dictated in the Karma Awards section as I see it, and I'm yet to hold a conversation with the other members of the group in which they disagreed with this assessment.

Yup I totally called it

Some people are just innately bad at RP. Or simply lack experience. If you award bonus karma for XP and have such a player in your group... well, it's not really fair, hence not really fun for that player, especially if he actually thinks he is not doing wrong.
If he tries, no matter how bad he is at it, give him some points. It's more productive that way and he might improve over time. Or at least he does not feel like an outsider for being bad at roleplaying. Most importantly, give him some advice.

If on the other hand he is just trying to get some easy karma without effort, break his pinkies, or something

Now this is why i rarely award karma for roleplaying, if you have to wave carrots in front of the players just to grasp the fundamental concept of roleplaying.. they've missed the point and you can just go pink mohawk all the way.

They've all been playing P&P RPGs longer than me, so I wouldn't say experience is the factor.

As for giving him advice, we've discussed it over IM for roughly three hours. I'm out of advice. I can think of nothing else to tell him. What's sad is when I read the opening post and realize that out of those three hours, he remembers 1 sentence, AND he misconstrues what I said. That burns.

As for his effort, and how hard he's trying...uh...that one's not an easy call. Out of the sessions, he's always pestering me for ways of improving his character RP-wise. Though he didn't do that until it started costing him Karma, so it may just be for that. Back when we did D&D and SWSE and I didn't do much in the way of RP experience, he didn't really care.

But when he gets into a session...he doesn't do anything. See the 47 word thing in my previous post. We've all had the same amount of experience with RP, yet he's constantly lagging behind. Actually, he's done more than me. He just focuses on the tactics of combat...sort of. That makes it sound like he'd be a good tactician, and I don't want to give that impression. Though he does attract a lot of fire, and I guess every bullet that hits him is one less that can hit his teammates.



Well, I've already shoved him through a window. Does that count?

Point for effort, definitely.

You might want to consider to award him karma for catching bullets that would otherwise harm other people.
I know similar situations (and players), so I can understand how you feel, partially, but remember that the game is about fun, which he might be losing right now. If you award others for good RP, maybe award him for stuff he is good at, or at least he does kind of well. Like catching bullets.

QFT. It's a game, not a college drama course. If someone is putting due effort into the game, they should probably get their rewards, rather than being judged against some objective standard of good RP that exists in one persons head and may or may not be explained as well as they think.

I award karma for RP, but I award group karma, not individual. If there was good RP at the table, then everyone was having fun, mission accomplished, karma for all. If I don't give that award then it means no one was putting effort into RP, so no one can be mad that anyone else cost them an RP karma. Yes, that means some people sit quietly, I don't see that as a problem.

Of course, I generally do all group karma, plus 1 point (sometimes more) awarded strictly by player vote, for "best moment", which can be due to RP, an amazing roll, an amazing plan (IC or OOC), a joke, an amazing assemblage of snack-foods which will be talked about for years, or pretty much anything anyone did to make the session memorable and fun for all.

Obviously every GM has their own scheme for dolling out the good stuff, so YMMV.

Ok. Now we've sort of got two things here a player who wants to RP more and a GM that ( I think) wants him to RP more as well. Actually more than that it sounds like he just doesn't go much period.


To the player. For one thing try to get a life outside of the runs. Don't blow a lot of game time at it or you'll be resented. But spend some time doing things not related to shadowrunning.

In game you might have a problem of having a one dimensional character. If all you can do is fight, well, it's always harder to have a really interesting character. Also you'll tend to be redundant. Pretty much ever character in SR can fight.

You might want to talk to your GM about scrapping your current character for one that has more proactive skills, a rigger, hacker, or even a mage. Maybe a guy with a lotta contacts or a face. Something to get you out in front.


To the GM. Throw the guy a bone. I've taken a whole lotta people other GMs thought were hopeless and seen them really evolve as players. I suppose the simplest trick for this is to give them someone to care about. A lot of the people who are the worst at RP are quick to latch onto a Female NPC that's scared and for some reason attaches themselves to them. They can develop a lot.


A problem you might have is if your group is large and/or has a "leader" who tends to run the whole show. But that's something else.

How to Be A Better Roleplayer in One Simple Step

1. Affect an accent when speaking in character.

Seriously. It doesn't even have to be a good accent. Heck, it doesn't even really have to be an accent, just a way of speaking. Maybe your character uses long words (or short ones) exclusively. Something that differentiates your character's speech from yours.

Sure, it won't do much at first, but it will convey a lot of benefits. It will immediately tell others when you're speaking, as opposed to your character. It will also start shaping other PC's interactions with your character, which in turn will shape yours. Most importantly, it will help differentiate your character's persona from your own.

Incidentally, this technique is called "finding your character's voice." I learned about it from Erik Wujcik, who I suspect is actually a role-playing deity made flesh. It's a great way to develop your character.

"hallowski, I am, how you say, russian guyowitch"

thankyou all for your advice, ill think about it all and try it next session. Also anyone else, i would still like to have more advice, it is always useful

We tried the Face thing once. That was his first character, actually. But he refused to talk to anybody, so he gave up on it. Of course, if he'd like to scrap this one, he's welcome to. At this point, his characters (as well as his brother's) are just guest stars in the show, their to help the guys who have actually kept their characters from the beginning, so having it happen again wouldn't really bother me.

As to wanting him to roleplay more, I don't really mind either way. But he's not getting bonus points for being lazy.

How he can seem so very concerned about RP out of game and then do nothing at all in-game astounds me. If I saw any of the effort he puts in out of game within the 10 hour session limit, I'd award some Karma.

Of course, if all he's after is Karma, as I suspect he is, there are other ways to get it, so maybe he should focus on that.

Abolish Karma-Awards for Roleplaying. It was always a bad idea in every RPG that exists. Nobody really knows how to play your character besides you.

As a side note I don't always announce to the group RP rewards if I think it could cause animosity. I can just give it to people on the sly.

So what is our fellow here doing for the duration of a ten hour session. Is he off playing Xbox or is he just sitting there the whole time.

Also in this case if he remade a char I would be inclined to let him keep most of the accumulated Karma.

Now it sounds like the character may have problem in that it sounds like the team is pretty well established. Meaning someone else can either do it better than he can or it doesn't need to be done.


Hmmmmmmmm. I guess try asking your GM what he thinks the party might need, and specifically what sort of things you might be able to do with that character.

Also how many players are in this group?

Here is the simplest way to RP. Play yourself but in the SR setting. You won't break character and at least it might help you out a bit.

Don't look for "the cool" angle. A lot of RP is just what a character would just do naturally (not the oh but if it's not cool...) it is cool when all the little things you do stay in character. It helps everyone else stay in character, and it help with the feel of the game. Best RPing I ever had was when everyone stayed in character and it creates a better flow to the game. It was not just that people were doing cool stuff it's that during the whole session nobody broke character. Not once. It was about six hours of pure bliss.


On a side note. RPing is, in a way, acting. Some people just suck at acting. If it does not come natural to the man then maybe try something else (such as playing a character that is very much himself.)

There are 4 people in my SR group, a cowboy who rolls around 20 dice with his revolvers, a combat specialist who uses all types of guns and a combat mage

I tried that, but then he was questioning why he got less Karma. He was quite persistent.


The latter. Occasionally making off-topic comments, but mostly just spectating.


Eh. I'll let the group vote on how they want to handle that.

Edit: Though the OP just called me fat over MSN, so I get to vote twice against him for being a douche.


Well, he's a melee combatant, so I'd say the second one.



Hacker, rigger, or Face are absent, though they did "befriend" a Technomancer, so the Hacker bit is iffy.


He already answered it, but 4. Him, his brother, and two friends (who also happen to be brothers). A support mage, a sniper, a revolver specialist, and the OP's "monk" character.

Incidentally, if I award Karma for good role-playing, I give it for the entire group, rather than individually. I think it encourages everybody to share the stage and encourage one another to play well.

Hmm rigger and face are highly optional depending on GM. (I've learned to never, ever, make a face like character until I really know a GM, and that goes for any system.) A hacker would be good as its a "needed" skillset. But you can't outhack a good TM.

If the GM is friendly toward the idea of a drone rigger scouting that could be a good idea. And they're usually useful in combat. Bringing a helicopter to the party is also useful. Though again make sure the GM thinks it'll work in his campaign, especially in 4th ed where it's harder to hide. Actually for nt a lot extra you could add some hacking to a rigger that could be good.

In any case the key is to be proactive and good for stuff outside of combat. They "cowboy" might only be good at combat, but that works fine if they're also sort of the team leader.

If you're only good at combat AND you don't lead than you may end up a wall flower. I've been in other campaigns (not as the GM) where someone thought their pure combat char was so awsome until they actually started playing at which point they'd occasionally lose consciousness.

been talking to my GM, since we have a technomancer, was between a face and a rigger, and i was thinking of a face, but i dont want to be useless in combat so if you have some idea's, all i know is that i dont want to suck at combat, thinking of being sorta face/stealthy guy, maybe with a pistol or something.
If you have any idea's please let me know, cause right now i am sorta useless, cause as soon as battle begins i normally have to run up and at that time the guy is already dead
Also i like the adept so what im thinking is get a magic of 5 use 3 for adept powers and 2 for bioware and cyberware, have a good cha and agi, reaction would need to be high also if im going for the stealth same with perception

Yeah melee in SR is, rightly, kind of a niche thing. It's place is in big battle with spirits and things, when you can sneak up on someone or get snuck up on, or when you're in settings where you couldn't smuggle in weapons. Not so hot for general combat.


Luckily it's pretty easy to make a multi use character, depending on how specialized you make the character. You might want to talk to your GM about that by the way. You could make a social adept that puts 30 dice on the table when you talk to someone. But it might not work as well as you'd like.

You also might want to find out if your GM has a problem with cyberware in social situations.

But either way it'd be reasonably easy to make a char with solid face skills, combat skills, and reasonable sneaky skills. The key things are to make sure your character will work in the world you GM has you playing in.

And then make sure you use the character. If you run a face make sure you're talking to people! Get out in front of the group. DO some legwork if you campaign has that. If it doesn't maybe its an element you could add in and that the GM would appreciate.

yeah that is the major problem, as you might as seen i only said 49 in a 10-hour session, barely 5 words an hour

Oooh! I have an idea on how you could do multiple things! Stop trying to get a dice pool of 19 or higher. It's beyond overkill in every encounter I've put you in thus far, unless you count the House Darius soldier, which was meant to be evil as hell. Matching his dice pool is something you should see as "optional."

I mean, look at Feyd (Casey's character). He has a dice pool of 19 in revolvers. He's a one trick pony, and he downs everything in two hits. The secret that he may never learn is that those seven net hits don't get him a whole lot. If his dice pool were 5 less, he would still be killing all of these foes in 2 hits, and he would have had the build points to diversify a bit.

Just a thought.

If you tried to make a face and failed why are you making a face again? Go rigger for lords sakes.

I also agree that you don't need 19 dice at something and even 15 is a lot to throw at a problem. 5 hits is basically legendary.... let me run this by you again 5 is basically legendary. You don't need more then that.

Anyways a rigger lets you do multiple things. For instance you can knock down peoples dodge pools with some crappy drones w/ heavy pistols, or fit them with a grenade launcher and lob them at a target. If you are playing 4th ed rules then they are even more beefy (with the cammo and what not.) Get electronics warfare as it's a useful skill that probably not a lot of ppl have. Um.... lets see.... If you play an adept with a high logic with cerebral enhancers and oh... say skill wires r4 then you can be decent at a few things and really good at using your drones. Change the load out of your drones so they are almost impossible to hack (like say... burst transmissions, and IR sensors that force the drone to reboot?)

Riggers can be in the background and if it is his style the more the merrier. You can have some BP's to spread around in other different skills if you want to in the end.

Well, the fundamental problem isn't so much with the face, but the fact our friend here isn't so proactive. If he thinks he'd enjoy being proactive as a face I'd guess he should go with that. The key is actually being proactive.

But I wouldn't thumb my nose at a rigger char either.

However it looks like the GM isn't the sort that winds up requiring massive dice pools to be effective (of course the proof is in the playing of course but it's possible that he keeps the guards perception skill low and social/charisma of most people down so their dice pool rarely clear 8.

This means a character could multitask fairly passibly into infiltration and being a face (which work pretty well together!).

Maybe an adept with some enhancements(but not insane ones!) for being a face, infiltrating, and top it off with a pile of combat sense and a great gymnastics(dodging specialized) skill so this char can survive being if they get caught for long enough for others to arrive. There should still be some room for some solid pistoling in there.

Or maybe go the cyber route. But ask you GM if cyberware will make you worse as a face, there are some optional rules in augmentation on that I believe. Cyber does make it easer to do multiple things well since it's "cheaper" BP wise than Adept powers. Also makes it harder for the support mage to boost you!

Also the adept path lets you do some different things, like astrally percieving/assensing, using your nose like a bloodhound etc.

Both of you have to work it out. The guy look like he is putting in effort. Anyone who cares enough to go on a game forum and ask for RP advice deserves some RP karma. Given the information available here, I think he does not appear to be lazy but he does seem to have Incompetency: Roleplaying.

QFT

The OP is inactive but attentive. While he says few things apparently, he is observing the game. Individual karma is a bad thing. Assume you have multiple active players; they have to give up the spotlight for something AND the reward? A single karma is often 20% more than the others get.



- You can only do the tasks your char is able to handle. Considering your current team, all runs will look like combat missions (If all you have is a hammer...). Try building a combat support character that is actually called on. Social skills (mostly lack thereof) are often handwaived. Try to handle break&entry (tech skills, climbing/swimming, carry tools instead of weapons, have a big backpack for loot). Consider posting your build for comments.

- As the GM, involve the player. Especially if he/she is already listening. Ask about things, enforce interaction with the game world, ask for descriptions. Inactivity of participating players is a fault of both sides.

Seems to me that all concerned could do with sitting down and actually thinking about why their characters are actually running the shadows. Why is a monk doing jobs where he kills for money? There is a 20 questions somewhere, which can give food for thought.

As far as making a new character, rather than focusing on how to get X dice for Y task, try building them organically. If you have a solid background your character will develop quirks and mannerisms on their own.

If you want to get on better with your group try being entertaining in the game. Not off-topic jokes, which are distracting, but no one will hate you for in game comedy. Just don't let it get out of hand.

Actually, the OP started playing roughly the same time i got you started in DnD. Also got a lot of his freinds into it too. I am, how you say, the dealer of this drug. but yea, hes never really played any type of RP, and besides me and the palidan (different game, just what we call him) the other doesnt have RP exp. I have some, but most of the games i ever played were hack n slash, so i know how to RP, but havent been able to actually use it yet. I RP better when i type it though, which is odd.

In Soviet Russia, Shadows run you!
Now give me RP karma or I'll twist every sentence anyone says into a cheap Yakov Smirnoff gag.

By the way one thing I"m not sure if I stressed enough. The party is doing fine, essentially without you. They've already got two combat oriented characters to get through that. And whether you become a face a rigger or what the party has done fine in this world without social, drone backup, or a ride.

Now it is possible that they've suffered for not having these skills (i.e. if they had a negotiator they'd have gotten paid a lot more and a couple scenes got blown for lack of fast talk), and there's a chance they've gotten stranded without a ride or something.

But I'm guessing as your GM writes adventures the skills they don't have are hand waved or scenes related to them aren't written in. (However if they've continually been hiring NPCs to do something that's an excellent sign you should pick up that skill. Actually displacing the technomancer might not be a bad move but it sounds like that NPC is established).

Now it's possible your GM will start writing in social events the party has to go to or long range missions. I actually tend to do this actually. It makes sense. You're being hired by a fixer/Johnson and part of their job is knowing the right team for the job. So if they lack a rigger or face they'd get passed up for those jobs. If they get one than more jobs open up and the pay, and/or job frequency goes up accordingly.

But it's also really likely they won't.

That means you have to push it. Push it real good. Meaning you make situations for you character to be useful. A GM usually appreciates that Shadorun is a full world. So when a face starts asking contacts about something there's a solid chance something will turn up if you do something. Try to make contacts throught our runs and write them down in a notebook for later reference. Go and talk your way past a guard when the rest of the team would just storm the place.

Don't hog the spotlight. But if you wait for the GM to "give" you a task I think you'll be waiting a loooong time.

How about your close combat expert dies in the next fight and your teams technomancer is interested in working closer with your group and then is played by you?

Yeah, we do that all the time. It makes for a story that flows real well. One time we were hunting down these cyber-mutants for some corp who let them escape. There was an NPC (crappy) decker girl who's family got slaughtered and then she accidentally got in the middle of the fight between us and one of these things. The Mutant used her as a club to swat down a roto-drone which then promptly fell on her. on a whim the GM decided to roll to see how bad she died. SOMEHOW she managed to get enough successes to be barely alive. about an hour earlier one of our team had gotten turned into a werewolf and went crazy so I had to shoot his face off (into traffic). So that player decided to play the super-resilient girl as his next character. Since we felt really bad for her and got her to a hospital before finishing our run. Luckily she was able to track our team down before we left for Boston (blowing up the better part of a city block and a small army of hobos makes for the Star on your hoop >_<).

Anyway yeah, if you want to play the technomancer and the GM allows it, i think it works best to play characters like that.

In other news:
You may want to also consider what kind of things your character DOESN'T like. For instance, lots of people don't like whitefish, or Orks, or people who wear Blue dress shirts with Khaki pants, or The color yellow if in any relation to clothing. but yeah, talking more is definitely a good thing. Even if for no other reason than to let people know you're having a good time. My girlfriend is actually the same way. She talks about how she can't wait to play Shadowrun but then just kind of sits there and doesn't say anything. And I always feel bad becuase I think she's bored or that she's hates her character or is having a bad time. So, for your sake and the sake oif your group, just talk more. I know it's tough sometimes, I'm the same way time and again. But at least until you get your character down, just say whatever. DO things. If asked what you're doing until the meet, make something up. Go the a bar and hang out with friends, or to the shadowmall to look at nova-hot new tech. It doesn't matter (well more like it depends on the character) until you know your character. And trust me, even when I write detailed histories and take weeks to make my character, I still can't roleplay him/her worth half a crap for the first few sessions. So, don't get disheartened. Keep trying and you'll get it. Playing in character is a skill just like any other that must be learned. Some people are naturally better at it than other people, just like some people are naturally better at singing than other people. But anyone can learn to sing, they just have to do it alot, same with roleplaying. So, get to it. Most of all, it's more fun when you really can get into your character. I tell stories about my characters like they're things that happened to me. Most of all have fun.

Though, I would also point out to the GM that "quiet" is technically a quality that a PC could have. I know plenty of folk who don't talk much.

Also, when I GM, I don't give out RP karma. Mainly becuase if my girlfriend ever found out I didn't give her any karma for roleplaying well she'd kick my ass

And lastly, I very rarely tell people karma out loud. But this works better for my group as half of them are anal about no one seeing their character sheets. One of them rarely shows them to the GM... =\ (Probably becuase he only has a third of the character written down and the rest is in flux >_<)

ok... /me stfu now.

its possible, but alot of that matrix stuff confuses me. i was actually talking to the mage in the group and he said that i shouldnt try to make a face cause i wasnt good at it, so i just might have to or think of something else

its possible, but alot of that matrix stuff confuses me. i was actually talking to the mage in the group and he said that i shouldnt try to make a face cause i wasnt good at it, so i just might have to or think of something else

thinking about it, i might just use my monk cause, we have had about 5 sessions and i have had 4 characters between those sessions, so ill just use my karma to become more face-like cause i dont want my group to think that i have a character for each, now i will have a backup character if he dies. Thankyou all for your help with the RP aspect of this and i hope that it helps me some

I thought that last karma point for roleplaying is usually done on a per vote basis for the entire group. Each player votes for one person they thought was either particularly badass, or utterly instrumental to the group's survival. This makes for a very positive atmosphere all around, and I've found the vote is usually unanimous. It also makes the players that didn't win that point try harder next time. And if the whole group contributed to an amazing session I give everyone the point and conduct the vote for an additional point.