OK let me clarify here: My POV of Shadowrun seems to be grittier and nastier than most it seems.

My POV of Underworld Leader Types is that they have undergone a severe from of Darwinism. Enemies you kill, those that offend you you kill, insults you kill over, due in main part due to the environment they are operating in. Rule 1 is never let an enemy have the sun set on them, enemies/offenders you never leave alive to come back at you.

I based pretty much all of this POV is one what IRL underworld types react to enemies/offenders etc. Today the 100% they just kill, yes sometimes mass killings, but the main word is kill.

DPK, you prattle on about controlling the workers, well first thing you do is remove anything/item/clothing that is theirs or they choose.

That means you take away their hair style, hair color and so on. If someone is going to "carve" her into a slave, the muscle augmentations, and cyber eyes are taken out too, the eyes can be regrown from her DNA to replace the cybereyes, maybe even tinkered with to make the eyes not hers.

Everything she has now is not of her choosing but her employers. That is a big part of CONTROL.

Once all the implantation/removal has been done, then you can work on her mental state.

As a GM my first part would apply to her backstory, if she got cross ways with a Underworld Boss she is dead, not like you see in films or fiction to day.
Second part as part of the Control, any Warez installed before abduction are removed and gone.

I would suggest that you research alot more before coming up with a backstory like that IMG.

But that is up to each GM. Luck to you.

WMS

If I ever play in a game where you GM, I'll be sure to be fresh faced, bright eyed, and bushy tailed, then, and never have pissed off anyone. Also, if I ever get into a bad situation, I'll be sure to kill everyone, and leave no witnesses, as anyone who has seen my face will get me killed.



No, I "prattled" on about what *I* would do, if *I* ran a Bunraku Parlor. The parlors described in the fluff arent at ALL like what *I* would do, so what I would do is completely irrelevant. Not that any of you actually seemed to do more than skim what I wrote anyway, and then respond to a word, or phrase for maximum attack effect.



To be clear, if the GM wanted me to play someone that could be described as a slave, I'm more than capable of doing it. I could, and would, have NO issue with rping a hairless slave girl, trained to instant obedience. Take a straw poll of your local GM's club, and see how many of them want that character in their games. I bet the number hovers around 0.

Further, some people, you most especially, ignored multiple posts where I stated she got some of her work done AFTER she escaped. What on earth does it matter if a Bunraku Parlor would, or wouldnt, implant her with cybereyes, if she got them herself after escaping? Muscle aug was eventually removed for cost reasons, but the same thing applies. Not that anyone apparently read any of that anyway.



No, everything she had WHILE she was in the Bunraku Parlor, she had at the choosing of her employers, and that is a great part of control.

Everything she has now is a mixture of things she had in the parlor, and thinks she's picked up since she left. That is a big DIFFERENCE.



Her mental state = me rping her, which I'll take care of.



I don't care what would happen if you were GM, since you aren't. Further, it isn't some weird Shadowrun offshoot which is grim and gritty and everyone makes a new character every time there is a witness to a crime, either, at least AFAIK. Maybe it is, in which case, I'll be rolling up another new character soon, since Sweetheart can't fight worth a spit nickel.

Further, the 'ware is what it is. I can justify anything and everything she has as being gotten after she got out, if I like, and not a single person can stop me, aside from the GM. But why would he? My cyberware, and bioware sucks. The only things I have that aren't story related are Tailored Pheromones, and Enhanced Pheromone Receptors, and Muscle Toner. Maybe a Cybereye, but you know what? I could save 9500 on the cyber eye and get contacts and glasses. So lets call this what it is.



If I was in YOUR game, hopefully before I went to make a backstory like this, you'd TELL ME ALL ABOUT YOUR GAME, so I didn't waste my time. Luckily, my GM did tell me, and its basically stock Shadowrun. Further, we had a character building session, before I ever posted this thread, where the other players worked on how we were all involved in this thing, with GM approval.

Throwing your own personal preferences at me, and expecting me to make a character to the standards for YOUR game, when the character isn't FOR your game, seems really bizarre.



Thanks, I appreciate it.

Glad I could help! I'll check my old character notes and if I find anything else useful, I'll let you know.

Sure, although a person can operate physically on few calories, in the context of North America if someone wants to be a top of the line athlete they'll combine rigorous physicality with lots of calories and nutrition.

For the character in question I'm imagining a chicken in a cage in an industrial farm, so caloric output would be pretty low.

Note If in one of my games and you work/become an Underworld Leader Type that one of things I would expect to see.


On this I disagree, the back fluff is an important part.

Note that part of the Control is while working at the Parlor not afterwards ie while sh was working there.

Despite what you may believe, my players do not die every adventure, only if the keep doing "Stupid" things repeatedly. It has been a few years since any of my players characters have died unless it was by their consent ie new character, fit the role the character was/is etc. Again to Repeat what I have stated above such killing behaviors I only tolerate from Underworld Leader Types, Shadowrunners not in the same world as Underworld Leader Types, yes sometime employed by them but not in the world of such leaders

Bizarre is asking in a open gaming forum for assistance/ideas on a character as you have said is already created, and then wondering why you get such a wide range of information.

WMS

Oh come on. Most of the yahoos running such establishments aren't mental giants. They're pathetic shmooes who can't manage to do any better than act the petty terror mongers they are. If they had the equipment to actually think with they'd understand the reality of their own situations and run for the hills before they got ventilated, probably by their own, for drawing too much attention by being randomly sadistic and or murderous. That kind of idiocy, even in Shadowrun, will sooner or later call down the wrath of the authorities in a given area or at least cause them to behave in such a manner that the public perceives it that way. That IS what happens today too, not kill 100%.

Kill 100% means that you're drawing attention not only to you but to other bad dogs in your hood and THEY don't want the heat that your stupidity is going to call down on them, so THEY eliminate the threat to themselves. In 2070 it's also probably half media event too, more unwanted attention, so the idiot who murders his wares too often or brutalizes them too astringently is often going to be "disappeared" before the media finds out about it. Hey, grim and gritty is scene by scene coverage of such a situation with the media hack doing a tell all because some customer didn't keep HIS big mouth shut and word got out. Hey yo, joygirls and their customers talk afterwards, sometimes instead of, and this nonsense WILL get found out, usually pretty quickly, if someone is actually stupid enough to try it.




Isshia

I can't wrap my head around a mafia don putting that much 'ware in a whore.

I'd expect Bunraku girls to have a data jack or simrig and maybe some cosmetic surgery to make them look like whoever they were supposed to be.

Having a Bunraku girl that can take a beating and heal quickly would be nice but it'd be more cost affective to just have more girls and lay one up till her bruises heal or pimp her out to people who are in to pre-beat up girls or whatever. On top of this, if the Don really needed her healed for some reason I'm sure he could get one of his mage buddies (of which a Don probably has several) to drop by and patch her up.

The skillwire is pretty cheap and could be worth it to the Don. Data Filter for sensitive clients I can see. Silky Skin isn't to expensive and might be worth the investment. Clean metabolism I suppose makes some sense but I doubt the Don would see it as worth the cash.

Level 3 pheromones!?! Seriously?!? 45k is a lot of dough and I can't see a Don shelling that out when he could outfit 10 more girls for that price.

Inoculations... alright. Sleep Regulator? 10k to have one girl work a bit more or spend that 10k on another nice whore?

Seems to me like you took every bit of 'ware you thought would be good for the sex trade and didn't look at it from the Don's perspective. The question shouldn't be what would be good 'ware to have if I'm building a super sex slave but rather what would the Don spend his money on. What would make him the most money and would he make more money putting this cash into one girl or several? On top of that if he's going to be blowing that much cash on a super whore is he really going to let her get beat up anyway? If someone killed her that's a lot of money down the drain.

But anyway, you said the character was finished, so I guess I joined the thread late. My 2 cents worth anyhow.

45K for tailored pheromones is well invested if you can charge more for the girl's services. Your Don might go for all the cheap ware and girls, but he'll miss out on the high-class and high-paying customers. Without tailored pheromones, you won't be able to compete with those parlors who have it, and won't be able to sell your parlor's champagne as overpriced as the competition, won't have as influential customers as others, etc. It all adds up.

Also, do not forget that an organisation such as the mob can probably get those wares much cheaper than an individual runner, and so the 45K pheromones won't actually cost the mob 45K.

There are parlors and parlors, and there are dons and dons. Some might be all "rational", and kill everyone that's a nuissance, and have no weaknesses, and no ego. Others may revel in their power, and do irrational or less effective means to take revenge, or just play out their fantasies.

Just take a look at modern management. Lots of different personalities, but not many that would be completely rational in the sense of never doing stuff that's not as safe as it could be.

Good, solid background and character.

Likewise, 10k for a sleep regulator makes sense for a girl you've already spent 50k+ on - since it gets an additional 25% of service out of her. Do that for four girls, and at 40K you've just saved yourself the cost of another 50K+ girl.

The required calorie intake for female who is 55 kg (~121 lbs), 168 cm tall (~5'6"), and is 22 years old is around 1355 kcal/day. That is just to maintain body temperature in a temperate environment. Depending on physical activity levels, the actual calorie requirement will start around 1625 kcal/day (for sedentary office style work). Around 2500 kcal/day for very heavy physical activity.

Well, if I ever became an underworld leader, that'd be good to know.



Except you are disagreeing with a problem that doesnt exist and didnt happen.

Somehow you disagree that the Parlor would implant her with stuff they didnt implant her with, and ignore the backstory that does exist.

The back fluff states the Parlor put in the cyberware and bioware that is appropriate to the parlor, and then when she escaped, she paid to have OTHER stuff put in, with her OWN money. I dont see why this is so complicated.



Regardless of what controls were there, then, they arent now.



I don't know what to believe, you've told me very little outside you think the character is stupid, and that apparently the fluff is all wrong for one of your games.



I asked for help, not to be belittled, told I wasn't playing right, or that I was a munchkin powergamer.

I'm not sure who this is directed at...

The mafia didnt put it all in, not that anyone reads anything I type anyway.



Apparently if you want to make money, its about volume, too. If clients are paying 10,000 an hour, it pays to squeeze every extra hour you can. If she's giving 20 dollar blowjobs, get another whore.



Bring mages by all the time, instead of having a biodoc buddy that owes him do it permanently?



Without being too grahic, clean metabolism opens up whole new avenues with no muss, or fuss.



Not that these need to be installed by the mafia, as I have said in, I dunno, 20 posts or more.



10k isnt all you pay on that other whore. You have to inoculate her. You have to filter her. Jack her, wire her. Thats over 10k already. Then, if you only have 1 client for the 1 hour period, one whore isnt making you money. There is most definitely a break off point where this is a bad idea. I am betting it isnt at the sleep regulator. But to be frank, I am not exactly getting any great mechanical benefits out of it, so...if I ditched it right now, I sure wouldnt lose sleep. Its like a free extra activesoft!



I actually paid attention to many suggestions in this thread. I asked for help and opinions, got lots, made the character.



I appreciate the help anyway. Thanks.

This is like the throwaway comment that just wont die. Can we not just pretend I said 1600 calories? Honestly?

Omg positive feedback!

Thank you for posting, I appreciate this too.

Based on all the negative feedback, I actually altered the story somewhat. No longer a Mafia Don, Don's are too important for the likes of Sweetheart, now its just a Capo.

I also have to say, based on your character design, that you are a player after my own heart.

Thanks =)

I agree.

But I do not see Bunraku Parlors catering to a regular run of the mill type, that can be much cheaper and with less programing on the streets. I see clients that go to such places spending alot more, than one would in an ordinary street shop. I figure around 1,000 nuyen per hour of services provided, some client desires up to 10,000 nuyen an hour. So a Parlor owner can recoup his/her investments, and reap nice continuing profits. But he must attract the clients that pay very well. Kinda like the Modern Day Casinos catering to well know "Whales".

1600 calories sounds very correct.

WMS

Can you give me a straight answer on why Sweetheart can't buy ware for herself?

RAW page 63

Since she is being "Controlled" any nuyen earned as a parlor person she does not get any of.

Expand on how she got the gear/nuyen before she was a parlor person, and how any gear/nuyen was obtained afterward?

WMS

Of course, you have to figure out an energy budget for all that bioware as well...

As for you history, I'd consider changing the background to something much more likely to actually inspire enough hate to get that kind of revenge going. A a judge, an investigative reporter, a nun who ran her outreach program too well, a reform politician (or just one who fell out of power). After all how many people would pay 1000Y an hour to beat Dick Cheney with a riding crop?

Did you read her history at all? Or is the tenor of your posts as is without even reading it?

She did jobs for a Johnson to make the city a better place. Oops, she was working for the Yakuza hitting the Mafia without her knowledge. Mafia catches her team, and executes the males, keeps her because A) she's a great talker, and talked them into it, and B) it amuses the capo to do it. She works in the parlor for 4 years, a couple of Mafia types are putting together a team, and needs a talker, one of their contacts suggests her, they look her up, check with the Capo, and he hands her over to them. They do a few runs together, it works out, they buy out her contract from the Capo. With the money they give her, she gets implants. For doing jobs. And with the money she had stashed from the jobs before she was caught.

The history is longer than that, but thats the coles notes version.

Page 63 doesnt say you are limited to one specific event forcing the entirety of your background to conform to it, otherwise Ex-Navy people could only have stuff the Navy gave them, or ex-Lonestar people could never have anything but a Lonestar package. Its patently silly.

Please say you did READ the history, at least?

You'll note one of her contacts IS a Media reporter, who she spilled the story of each of her 12 runs to, every single run targeting some Mafia operation, a drug lab, a weapons depot, an underground gambling parlor, a couple of Bunraku parlors.

If I had said I was a judge, 15 people would say that would just get me shot. There is no winning, anyway.

Doing so often creates a vacuum that will be filled by someone, eventually. The enemy you know is preferable to the one you don't, so it is generally far better to keep an enemy that you've already broken in alive if at all possible so that you can continue to play an elaborate game of the iterated prisoners dilemma with maximum profit and ping Xanatos gambits off of each other with high confidence of success. So long as both are reasonable well acquainted with each other, the I Know You Know I Know factor along with a reasonable sprinkling of Mutually assured Destruction, keeps everything in a check - a big money-making check. It is only the insignificant ones you destroy, because they are X-factors that can't be well predicted and who can destroy you much more easily than your most powerful rivals can. But even then crushing them unnecessarily is not the best option because it could result in driving another insignificant individual into an invincible rage and leading him to systematically dismantle your entire organization before personally killing you in a spectacular fashion because this time its personal.

Generally, it is best for business to avoid excessive violence and real crime organizations don't employ such high levels of violence, relying instead on unwritten codes of conduct to keep things working with a modicum of efficiency and only killing those enemies who break the codes. This is why, among other things, you rarely see news stories about gangsters systematically blowing up police stations in major western cities and acting openly once every law enforcement officer in the jurisdiction has been killed.



Given the ease with which one could simply use a RAS override to keep an individual paralyzed while the P-Fix is inactive and the fact that there are no rules as to how long one can safely use a P-fix, I'd say that this is all unnecessary. Removing wireless connectivity totally eliminates the decker/technomancer threat.




A bunraku puppet is more like a prize-winning competitive showhorse, beautiful to look at and a joy to ride. The industrial chicken farm style is more suited to Tanamous baby farms since it takes both high volume and extreme frugality to make growing people the natural way both cheaper and more profitable than organ cloning.







That really depends on the parolor's target clientèle and how much they charge. A lucky and savvy prostitute can, every once in a while, come across a client who is willing to pay several thousand dollars for an hour of pleasure. A very good prostitute with a very good client list can make several thousand dollars per hour reliably. The potential return on investment depend entirely on the Don's connections, but if he has good connections the 'ware will pay for itself with a couple of days work.


Is it too late to recommend permenant corset piercing?

Heh. You know, if one were going the cyberware route, a Wet Look Dermal Sheath combined with Severe Biosculpting could easily provide a permanent tight-lacing, far beyond what would normally be physically possible - get your waist down below 30 cm.

Wow, those piercings were either very new, or they were tugged REALLY tight just prior to the video.

Also, goodness gracious what a great idea.

I dunno, I think piercings of this sort are basically free, arent they? =)

Heh, the internet is great, isnt it?

Its too bad all the perverted kinky freaks arent in the same game.

Doing a search for Corset Piercings on Youtube now snagged me this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSQsiopQa68&NR=1

And wow, does that look like fun.

Yes. They're just fluff and provide no mechanical advantages. (Though you might be able to attach a concealable holster to them if they have sufficient strength and pull a Die Hard finale.) Fluff is usually free at chargen. (Augmentation's infamous fluff augmentation notwithstanding).

It is a bit elaborate for something that can only remain in for a couple of days, but I imagine that the problems with surface piercing healing and migration have been resolved by 2070.

HentaiZonga, this type of piercing isn't slimming, in spite of its name. It is called a corset piercing because the decorative lacing resembles the lacing of a corset.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corset_piercing

I'm well aware; I happen to be friends with Steve Hayworth, and pretty active in the Phoenix BDSM scene.

The thing is, a lot of people are looking for a way to *make* them slimming - some girls basically want a way to turn their *skin* into a full-on, boned, tightlacing corset. Which, of course, a Dermal Sheath will accomplish admirably. If only it were available in RL...

Unfortunately, corsets pull on much more than just skin for slimming effect, so I imagine this will be rough.

Seems like something doable in SR easily enough, but you dont need the slimming effect, just the visual, I'd imagine

Yeah; you'd basically need to implant some sort of dermal weave under the skin, and then implant the right kinds of boning in the right places. Without cybertech, it wouldn't be very fun.

If one were into pain, that part might be fun, but the infection, and rejection of metal, and possibly death thereafter might suck =)

Well, there's plenty of non-rejectable, metallic and non-metallic stuff that you can implant; titanium and certain high-density plastics come to mind.

I am sure someone is thinking up a plan to implement this as we speak.

Point taken on the clean metabolism 'ware.

*IF* the Capo shelled out for the pheromones because he's catering to a client base that requires that sort of investment then I can see the sleep regulator as worth it. Remember though that that's 10k nuyen to squeeze out five more hours of work per day affectively and really... sex is hard work. I'd say a synthacardium would allow her to work more affectively for more hours then a sleep regulator ever would, even a rating 1 synthacardium which is the same price as a regulator.

I still don't buy into all the healing bio, street doc that owes him or not bioware is expensive and assuming it's put in not just so the Capo can beat her then that makes some sense. If it's put in so the clients can beat her it makes sense to a degree but god forbid someone kill a girl that he dumped that much money into. Frankly if I was in the Capo's position and was shelling out that kinda cash making a high priced Banraku girl I wouldn't let anyone beat on her for fear of losing my investment.

I'm not knocking the character concept as a whole, I just don't see it as justification for a lot of the 'ware she has. Note that I do understand that not all of that came from the Capo, but still.

As far as feedback on her backstory.... I realize that your GM doesn't allow negative qualities but you may want to tweak how long she was in the parlor. Four years is long time to be strung out on p-fixes. As an example, look at the burnout quality for starters. On top of this the character has a low body and willpower... there is no justification in your backstory for her not still being strung out, even if she's out of the parlor she's a junkie.

Again... I'm not trying to knock your character concept so don't get defensive. I think the concept is workable but as written doesn't make a whole lot of sense. As it stands she comes off very Mary Sueish.

Sex *is* hard work. On the other hand, symbiotes, etc, ought to keep everything in working order.



All what healing bio? Symbiotes 2? There is no other healing...and the Capo isn't just doing it to make money, in fact, I'd say that was, at least at first, a very secondary concern.

Further, you know there are prostitutes, today, no less, let alone in 2070, who make their living being whipped, beaten, and tortured, right?

One of my close friends is one of them. Its really not so outlandish. Sometimes they do get killed, too. My friend has had 2 extended hospital stays, and she has security and cameras, so that they can get in and "save her" if stuff gets out of hand.

Also, it isn't cheap. She isn't working for 30 bucks an hour, lets leave it there.



Can you give a list of all the stuff you think is silly? Just a straight up list?



Her body stat is roughly where its been, hasnt changed much, during her time inside. She gets lots of exercise, and has muscles in some places that many people don't even know have muscles.

Her willpower, though, has taken a beating. I touched on this during the thread, but its a few pages back now, I think. When she started running, her willpower was probably 4, or so. Today, its 2. Thats a pretty big loss, and change, from the strong willed youngster she was before. Some of that might be BTL addiction, but most of it is old fashioned conditioning. 4 years is quite a while. Hope is hard to hold onto.

I'll be rping her as being very frightened of the Mafia Enforcer she works with, and not just frightened, but she'll do whatever he says, whenever he says it. She's going to have all sorts of issues. Even though she's a face, I wouldnt let her negotiate any deals with the Mafia for runs, either.

Mafia guy: "We'll pay you 3000."
Sweetheart: "Yes, Sir. Thank you Sir."
Team: *collective groan*

Just because I am not getting points back for low pain tolerance, or, BTL addiction, for example, doesn't mean I'm not going to hide during fire fights(I am, if guns start firing, I plan to hide, and run, not necessarily in that order) and it doesn't mean I'm not going to go out and try and score BTL, or even p-fixes. I might go out and get a few just for myself. I just don't get points for it, and thats roleplaying stuff, I'll handle the roleplaying stuff, I don't need any help with that angle. I've done the BDSM scene extensively, and I know with great certainty, what effects slavery, cages, beatings, and more have on the psyche.



As opposed to the Samurai super soldier with wired reflexes who can shoot the eye out of a target at 2 miles. He isnt mary sue-ish at all.

As to the character being a Mary Sue, she fails the first line of the definition in 2 of the 3 categories. "Such a character is particularly characterised by overly idealized and clichéd mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as wish-fulfillment fantasies for their authors."

I am fairly sure I can pull this off without overly idealized, or cliched mannerisms, she has a TON of noteworthy flaws, and thats to leave aside the question as to whether or not this is a wish-fulfillment fantasy of mine. I am pretty sure most Shadowrun characters are wish-fulfillment fantasies for their authors to some degree, ie, if it wasn't going to be interesting to step into the role to some degree, we wouldnt do it with our leisure time, and so I wonder at the rest.

We have, at base, a face, who faces well, but isnt a Pornomancer, throwing 35+ dice. She has some issues, self-confidence(has none) and morality(used to have, no one came to help her, now she's conflicted). If this is someone's perfect character, I dunno what to say. I didn't even buy an emotitoy, or cosmetic biosculpting, because both seem cheesy ways to boost dicepools artificially. Her background is the mafia/bunraku parlor, but the 'ware she has doesnt make her some kind of sexy joytoy. It isnt like platelets makes you sexy. Platelets lets someone beat you up more, harder, and longer, without you dying. Further, with sensitive skin, you get to feel it all, still. Trauma Damper isnt some sex kit, it doesnt make her sexier. It lets some of the damage be bruising, instead of deadly. More beatings, for longer, without dying. Symbiotes arent sexy, they just let her heal faster, so she can be beaten more often.

I think its this part that most people object to. Maybe it seems unrealistic to some people. I know a lot of people who would LOVE for their girls body to be able to take more, and heal faster. If I did take it out, though, what now? I either have 20 bp to spend(and nothing to spend it on) or I have to get different 'ware, or whatever. So instead of being a meat puppet that can be beaten, I'm PURELY a sex kitten, which you seemed to object to, previously, I cant be shot, on runs, cuz I really will die, guaranteed, and I have unspent bp I need to find a home for. If I spend it on even more face stuff, you guys will call me a twink, for having a 10 charisma, and 30 dice social skills. I dunno what to tell you.

I'm interested in what doesn't make sense for you. Is it just that she has cyber and bioware? Is there other stuff? Is it that the mob didnt kill her? That she was released? Whats the part that seems nonsensical?

Perhaps in a different vein, I ought to ask, "How would you write it so it would make sense"

I really don't see how this character is any less reasonable than the "I could make millions as a wagemage, but I'll run the shadows" mage characters. Or the "I got no weakness, and 250K in cyberware so I can make 5K a run" samurai. And especially not the "I could marry any rich woman/man I choose to, and live in luxury, but I'll run the shadows instead" face or face adept.

Do you check every other character too, for such "logic flaws"? I don't recall many "but this sniper should have PTSD issues" posts.

We've got a character here with a solid background, a reasonable explanation for the cyberware, and enough weaknesses to fill two character sheets. I frankly cannot understand how one can call it mary sue.

(Of course, I am biased - I run a campaign where the runners are in debt to the mob, and they do not negotiate much either when the mob comes with a job.)

Thanks again, and I agree. It isn't like any other characters make any more sense, imo.

On another note, did anyone notice a lot of the 'ware the parlor put in was second-hand?

The skillwires, the data filter, the hot sim module?

Good over intellectualizing the aspects of underworld violence. But again RL contradicts such. Look at the figures regarding underworld/gang violence, in the USA, South America, Russia, Mexico and so on. The underworld organizations do not use words they use extreme amounts of violence, again the word Kill is used almost 100% of the time.
The unwritten codes is a popular myth. Do not attack LEO facilties look at South America and Mexico then for examples of such occurring.
The rules do not give rules on eating or drinking either, but the Devs may have "Assumed" a certain level of intelligence in the gamers using their rules systems, as we have proven them wrong many times. Paralyzing persons for extended periods of time causes muscle atrophy, and other nice breakdown issues. As in other threads the wireless connectivity is part and parcel of SR4, turning it off just means the hacker/TM get real close to do their work, maybe as a client. ie they jack into the parlor worker.

WMS

OP: The reason that we're talking about calories a lot is that, being gamers, we're all top of the line athletes counting each calorie and rigorously balancing each meal in terms of perfect nutrition.

I am sure.

Too late.

LOL.

"I hate you, I think you are stupid, and a bad person. No offense."

Hehe

First of all, I never said that the super street sam wasn't a mary sue character. Second of all I'm not knocking your character concept, I think the concept is fine except for what I brought up.

What's Mary Sueish is to think that someone could walk away from the life experiences you're saying your character has been through and be remotely PLAYABLE. Four years is too long to be strung out on p-fixes and walk away as a playable runner. Now if you guys aren't doing a typical shadow run game that's fine. But seriously, how is the rest of the team going to feel when Marilyn Monroe shows up at the meet instead of their Face?

I think you're seriously up playing what a Mob boss would put into a sex slave and down playing the affects of being a burn out. That's Mary Sue mentality. You're not looking at the character from a realistic perspective but looking at it from the perspective you want.

So... adjust the bio and cyber (I have no issues with taking both) down to a reasonable level for what the Capo WOULD put in her as opposed to MIGHT put in her, tweak the amount of time she's been in the parlor to a level were she might walk away with a SHRED of sanity, or quit reading my posts if you don't want my advice.

Cool.



Whats Mary Sue-ish about that? I can see calling it unrealistic, in your opinion, but whats it got to do with Mary Sue-ism?



I'd think it was pretty obvious by this point she wasn't a sex slave. The fact that he likely rapes her, doesn't mean thats what she's there for. He's beating her up on a regular basis.



Alright, lets say we play it your way, can you suggest what to do with the 20 bp I save on the cyber and bio, and which cyber and bio I ought to remove?

And how long was she in the parlor? 6 weeks?

Mary Sue


You might wish to give more background as to how she coped/recovered/healed from the effects of being a Parlor Person. Something like Rote Zora, Sie and Mother Earth rendered treatments etc. Those groups have a strong feminist point of view and outlook, also they have strong magical backgrounds which can be used in the healing/recovery post rescue/escape phase of your character. But such work would more than likely give your character strong feminist point of views and contacts with one or more of those groups. Being deprogrammed by them would get your character alot of their views on feminism.

WMS

I actually know quite well what a Mary Sue is. If this character is so bad, for one thing, whats so ostentatious, or great about her? Exactly what is it that is so favored? I still don't get where its Mary Sue, at all. I have bad news for all the other characters I see around here if it is, though.

She didnt have any of those treatments, in fact, she's still with a member of the Mafia now. More like out on parole. So what, its killing everyone's suspension of disbelief due to the time she was a puppet now?

So rather than throwing pejoratives around, why dont we throw out suggestions, like, "I think 1 year is plenty."

He sums it up very well. No need to repeat or rephrase it.

WMS

Many people think the current level of bio/cyber is fine. Some don't. I don't know who to believe.

I didnt have platelets or a trauma damper until people on this thread suggested them. I wasn't going to do either of them.

*shrug* I don't really care about either, they dont make my heart flutter, or anything.

I think its possible 4 years is too long, but cutting that down is a simple matter of moving a couple of lines around in the history, it doesnt change my plan on how I am going to play the character at all. Which I think is why I dont see why everyone is so hell fired and crooked over the minor details in the history. If you think 4 years is too long, ok, make a simple suggestion, you dont have to throw insults around. Honestly.

I've long since failed to figure out where I could spend more bp, so if I do take out the damper/platelets/symbiotes, I need suggestions, thats 24 more bp to spend, and I have no idea on what.

First of all, on the Mary Sue thing, this is more the definition I'm using and I'm pulling it from what I guess is the same source you are.



The last bit of that applies to her traits (negative or positive) and abilities (the how much 'ware would a Capo really put in a meat puppet).

As for how much 'ware, considering the back story you wrote I'd say the 'ware would be the minimum amount to do her job.



So that's a hot sim module or data jack and a data filter. I would imagine most parlors would go for the module over a data jack if they're using surgery to alter the puppets. If they're using magic instead of surgery they'd go with the jack (since it's a lot cheaper). This later justification lets you keep the getting beat repeatedly and healed bit without the Capo loading her up with expensive bio-ware (by healing 'ware I was clumping all the anti-damage 'ware in with the symbiotes) .In addition magic is a fair justification for her not having 15 different stds without inoculation via either using a spell to keep the girls clean or assensing patrons.

The amount of time someone could spend as a meat puppet would depend quite a bit on how much of that time they're chipped. With real drugs, binges and daily use have a much more drastic affect on the human psyche then off and on use over a long period of time. Even if the long term user has used just as many drugs over the course of several years as the binge user has used over the course of a month, the binge user will be more likely to develop both a lasting addiction and permanent mental defects because the brain doesn't get a chance to hit a natural baseline and begins to make permanent adjustments to compensate. Once those adjustments are made the brain sees being 'high' as the new normal, an addiction is formed, and the brain chemistry is changed so that the user is depressed when they're not 'high'. In order to get 'high' again the user finds they have to take more of the drug because their brain is now naturally below it's old baseline and needs the old dosage just to hit 'normal'.

For BTL users I'd imagine the cycle is very similar but the higher dosage they'd seek would be more and more dangerous chips, ending with the one that fries you out completely or leaves you a vegetable.

Using the qualities in the main book as a base, if you want her to have PTSD but not be a full blown junkie, she wouldn't be chipped more then once a week. This would be equal to a mild addiction quality. You can throw a few exceptions into her back story, were the Capo made her work back to back shifts or a full week straight, but if she was chipped every day for four years she'd probably be in a grave and not running the shadows. As far as straight binge time, I'd imagine six weeks would be about the breaking point before serious addiction and brain chemistry change would set in. Not saying that she wouldn't be pretty retarded by this point, just that she wouldn't be completely retarded.

Twenty build points aye?

Considering she was a runner before she was a slave some weapon skills may be appropriate or at the very least some points in unarmed combat. Someone on the team may have taken the time to teach her something about defending herself.

Some skill ideas.

(Self defense idea)
Unarmed Combat
Pistols (Maybe even specialize in tasers)
Dodge
Clubs (maybe specialized in batons)

(Other ideas)
Electronics Skill Group or at least Computer and Hardware considering all her B & E skills and lock smithing skills, most locks in shadow run are electronic as you know and anyone who gives a shit about lock smithing should know how electronic locks work
Survival (Urban) may be appropriate depending (you didn't go much into depth about how she lived while she was a runner just mentioned that most of the work she did was in the Barrens)

You can raise her Edge and/or Strength.

You can look over the positive qualities again, will to live seems especially appropriate and home ground could work as well. High Pain tolerance might work too considering how much she's been beat up.

Finally your contacts could be looked at again. Your reporter contact could stand to have a bit more connection rating, at least a two possibly a three. Your fixer should have a bit more connection, even street level fixers tend to be a three. If he's just starting out I can see it being a two but otherwise three is the default for a street level fixer. You could flesh out some other people she might know, she probably met a whole slew of people that could serve as contacts while she 'worked' for the Capo.

Then there's these people...



Not sure how these guys are working into the game but if they're not free contacts your GM is using as a plot device for the group then they'd be appropriate contacts for the character.

*edit* And WMS beat me to the Mary Sue quote. Took me a bit to post this, went through the book for ideas on those extra twenty points while I was writing it up so I missed a bit of the thread*

*second edit* Also, I kinda didn't want to bring this up but 6 perception is pretty crazy. Remember perception is a skill, it's not an innate ability or talent, it's something you work at. FBI agents and other 'trained observers' probably sit at about a four. If you dig the ideas on were you could spend some other points you may want to consider toning her perception skill down a notch and investing some of those points into some of the stuff I mentioned.