Recruiting for a play by post game:

The Tanheuser Directive
You've been a runner for a long time - at least a long time considering the business... so it's no surprise that you're the one to get the call when Mr. Johnson wants a package intercepted from a high security AAA air-strip. It's also not a surprise that your Johnson isn't the only one with a stake in where that package ends up. But the further down the rabbit hole you go, the more surprising the truth of the matter becomes.

The game takes place in 2072 and begins in Seattle. Characters are experienced runners who may have done some globe-trotting on one or more occassions.

Books allowed: BBB, Arsenal, Augmentation, Street Magic*, Unwired
* - Anything from Street magic needs my approval first as I am not completely familiar with that one.

A note on my GMing style: I assume intelligence on the part of runners unless told otherwise - so if you have an encrypt program, I assume you strong encrypt your commlink while you sleep nightly. If you have cyberware, I assume it is slaved to your commlink or otherwise wireless turned off. Etc, etc. Take care of book-keeping rolls on your own -> I trust my players to take care of their own drain/program updates/spirit tasks (though I RP the spirits themselves)/etc. If you have a question or aren't clear on something - ask me by PM or Yahoo Instant Messenger, or on the OOC thread. Also, make knowledge rolls if you are in doubt as to what your character would do - sometimes (s)he will know something her/his player doesn't.

Character Crunch:

450 BP

30 Karma

Nuyen is 7000 per BP instead of 5000 - still capped at 50BP

Availability cap is still 12, but may be raised on a per-item basis by expending 1 karma per four availability points above 12 to a maximum of 20 availability. Example: Heidi wants an avail 16 sniper rifle, an avail 20 cyber-toy, and an avail 18 armor. Her karma expenditure is 5 karma (1 for rifle, 2 for cyber, 2 for armor). Even if spending karma on increasing allowed availability, you still have to actually pay the nuyen cost with starting nuyen as above.

Contacts are purchased with contact points. 1BP = 3 CP (contact points). A Contact costs a number of CP = Loyalty * Connections

House Rules

If you write a backstory, I will award a subjective sum of karma based on how much I like it - and how much I can work it into the game's plot.

New flaw: Deprogramed (15 BP flaw) - You woke up a number of years ago with no recollection of your previous life. Nothing but a fake sin claiming you to be an assistant manager at a fictitous box company, and a set of dogtags too worn to read. Occassionally you have flashbacks of your past, but they only offer more questions - never answers. Mechanically, if you take this flaw the GM secretly writes your character's history from prior to her 'waking up.' Consequences of this flaw are strictly found out in play.

If you choose to play a hacker or technomancer, you have two options when hacking things (this assumes that we aren't in combat initiative, in which case you act in init order along with everyone else): you can resolve hacking a node with me on an Instant Messenger proggie, or you can make a single roll and let me narrate to you what you find on the node. This is to keep the hacking from bogging down the game, since theoretically in the time it takes Mr. Johnson to give the info on the run, a hacker can have done a bunch of datasearches, rifled through everyone's commlink at the meet, and played a few games of Lord of the Rings Online version bazillion. If no one plays a hacker, I'll provide an NPC bunker-hacker to handle that part of the run.

Established NPCs that may be taken as contacts (Connection rating in parenthesis)

Jack-Point (6): not an NPC per se, requires that your commlink have a firewall 6 and be running Encrypt 6. Anything less and Fastjack won't risk letting you in the group. Also requires at least a loyalty rating 4. If you break his rules, Fastjack will kick you from the group.

Phildick (5)- Human Male. A philosophical sort fond of quoting 20th century science fiction. Phildick is a demolitionist and safe-cracker by trade.

Maj. Crunch (6)- Human Male. Street Sam, military tactician. Rumored to be barely human and barely sane, Maj. Crunch has been in the business for longer than anyone has a right to. He currently owns a string of night-clubs and is running an organized crime syndicate with connections to the mafia.

Sierra Cope (4): Human Female. Retired assassin/sniper/covert-ops specialist. Currently runs an armorer and electronics shop in Puyallup City. Known Mafia connections. Rumored to have been involved in something that went down heavy in Hong Kong in 71.

Jimmy No-Knock (3): Dwarf Male. Auto mechanic and used car dealer. Operates a semi-legit junkyard on the outskirts of town.

Happy Pappy (5): Unknown Male. Drug Magnate, if its a chemical or narcotic he can get it for you. Never meets in person, only through associates.

Ivarth (4)- Troll Male. Muscle, lots of it. Does artistic modifications on gear and vehicles. Rumoured to go way back with Sierra Cope and would be the only one who could get her out of retirement if anyone could.

The Bloody Cobbler (4): Trans-humanist of unknown gender and metatype. Ripper-doc and Street-doc. The Bloody Cobbler's rep is impeccable with paying customers. But those who go under the knife and can't pay are often ghoul chowl. Can get cyber that no-one else can - sometimes even mil-spec gear... just don't ask about where it came from.

Opinicus (6) Unaffiliated Fixer - enigmatic and works entirely online.

Betty (3): unaffiliated Fixer. Betty isn't so much a fixer herself as she is a switch-board operator. She can get you in touch with other fixers.

Vinny Laretti (5): Mafia Fixer. A classical mobster, Vinny runs most of Pullayup City and has his fingers in a lot of pies. Rumor has it that he is tiring of his position and may be gathering forces to move up in the chain of command.

Boris Romanov (5): Vory Fixer. Boris primarily deals in running guns from Russia to Tir Tangier via Seattle.

Hoshi Takamura (5): Yakuza Fixer. Takamura is a Bunraku parlor magnate.

Captain McGruder (5): Lone Star Fixer - head of the Organized Crime division and not above hiring runners to make sure he gets his collar.

Colonel Mayborne (5): Knight Errant Fixer - the Colonel is no longer 'officially' a part of Knight Errant, but the former Firewatch Colonel still looks after corporate interests in the shadows. He and McGruder are currently embroiled in a shadow-war as Seattle's law-enforcement contract is coming up for renewal in the next few months.

NON-CANON NOTABLE NPCs

Toymaker: Matrix rumor has it that there is a new hacker in toyland, and (s)he isn't a team player. Nobody even knows what Toymaker's icon looks like - much less the hacker himself (or herself). Rumor has it that Toymaker has gone toe to toe with some of the greats, and may have known Captain Chaos. Could even be a new (or old!) AI on the playfield.

Captain Hernandez, LSCSI - An honest cop. Beware, this guy is like a bulldog, and just smart enough to know the tricks to protect himself. When Lone Star is hunting for runners, this is the guy they call in.



Whew, that was a lot of typing. If you are interested or have any questions, just reply to this post. The game is intended to go multiple runs (some for different Johnsons) with an overarching plot that may change due to PC actions/backstories.

- Scope_47

This sounds very interesting. I will write up a mage of some sort for this quickly.

I am definately interested.

Would you consider allowing a full body cyborg in your game? How about an AI?

If not, I have a dozen character ideas I could pull out.

I have a melee/astral combat mage, a speed/driving adept, a gene twisted soldier, a "posthuman" (so much 'ware he considers himself another species), a TM con man, a former street kid who is an "awareness, tactics, and paranoia" expert, a melee TM (might be too few karma to set up right)... the list goes on and on. When I find out what other people want, I can start narrowing down ideas.

I'm intrested. I'll most likely play a 'trix master but unsure of details as of yet. Knowing your timezone and when your free to run the matrix would help as I might not be free at the same time if that's the case I'll play
gun bunny or a spy type. (These rules ring a bell )

@Divine Virus
I'm pretty flexible with unorthodox character concepts and custom qualities so long as there is a good story behind them. I can see an AI or Cyborg being allowed - though there may be RP consequences for an AI should his true nature be discovered. We'd need to hammer out the mechanics together though, and my allowing either would be contingent on a good backstory (something I'm sure you'll have no problems with ). It'd be best to hammer out that sort of thing over a chat-room session so that we can get it taken care of quickly enough that you'll have plenty of time to write up the character sheet without feeling rushed.

@Everyone

My off-board contact info is:

E-mail: jacqualine47@yahoo.com (I check Dumpshock more often than e-mail though)
AIM: jackendavoxgsf
Yahoo Instant Messenger: jacqualine47
ICQ: 442919107


- Scope_47

East Coast timezone, I'm usually free weekends and before 9am/after 4pm weekdays. I also have a habit of staying up until the wee hours of the morning - so pretty flexible that way.

As for the rules, I often lurk in the Dumpshock shadows, and if I see a good idea I am not too proud to incorporate it into my own machinations. In other words, I saw it and liked it better than my original 500bp + FrankTrollMan's Contact rules plan.


@Everyone
Ok, including a friend of mine who will be joining a little late (planned non-standard plot entry), that makes four runners.
One or two more and I'll close recruiting and start up an OOC thread for chargen stuffs (I don't like bumping a closed recruitment thread with chargen posts since it can get people excited over nothing if they haven't seen the thread before)

Do any of you have a preference between a five-man and a six-man team?

- Scope

My top priority is Miralda, as described below (I realize that I shouldn't play a full body cyborg or AI if I need to IM to hack).

Miralda is old. His first name has mostly been forgotten. He is one of the first elves born in the sixth age, and has spent most of his life traveling the metaplanes. Some would describe his entire life as a pilgrimage for understanding of the universe. He has traveled far and wide over the years. Seen planes that few have every seen before, and even fewer survived. He has stubbled across spirits too old for names, and dens of things to foul to see. During his travels he has encountered almost every manner of spirit known to metahumanity. All he discovered about mana, spirits, and the metaplanes he logged and made open, public knowledge, so all the mages of the world could benefit. And this worked for the first few decades, but then his funding started to dry up. At first there was enough public funding to go around, but then only private interests, with specific tasks, and specific goals, and specific audiences. People who didn't believe in freedom of information, of sharing data to gather further knowledge, of the abstract questions of the universe. They wanted power. So Miralda started to work to fund his expeditions, but the only work he could find was in the shadows. The shadows had a use for him. To stay alive, Miralda had become a master at swords (a weapon almost universally effective, regardless of plane), and a skilled survivor. Constant uncertainty and needing to think on his feet made his strong with tactics as well. Superior skill and superior strategy makes him useful to anyone needed an astral scout, or some more firepower against spirits and dual natured entities. By doing some of this "dirty-work," Miralda could make money for his true purpose- probing the mysteries of the metaplanes, and reality itself.

nope no perfeance here other than small means less waiting. I'm in GMT an insomnica with 2 much free time hence the post at 3am. Spy or 'trixster for me may be both I have a custom item for a TM nothing too odd or unblaencing just something that fits and is practical.

interested if you're still open... I can build just about anything that the team needs.

Miralda sounds like he should be an interesting character, though he may start with a tad more public awareness than would otherwise be the norm (unless he has taken serious steps to hide his identity of course).

As for the 'IM to hack' part, you can always opt to do the one-roll route if you want - I just prefer to handle hacking in the way I stated in the original post because I have found that if I give the hacking character the sort of experience (s)he deserves, it can bog down the game for a long while since with hacking a lot happens in mere seconds - so it has to be resolved before the game can continue for anyone in the meat. Since I don't want to bog down a PbP game any more than necessary, and also don't want to cut an archetype's cool factor off at the knees, I felt that this was the best way to reconcile things.

@Mickle5125
Sure thing, you make five.

@Everyone
So, for the moment our roster looks something like:
Divine Virus: Spell-Sword
Dumori: Trix-Master, Gun-Bunny, or Spy-type - undecided.
Trigger: Mage of some variety
Cthulu: Possession Mage (late entry into game)
Mickle5125: Undecided


A bit magic heavy, but that's not a bad thing at all Like I said, I plan to tailor the plot to what you want to play.

Do you guys think we can handle a sixth player or would you prefer to go with five?


- Scope_47

We are a bit spell heavy, and Miralda was going to be a possession mage as well. I will contact you shortly in IM.
EDIT: AIM to be percise

I shall play a 'trix'ster. As matrix isnt covered. I'll see how it all flows later when I'm at my pc. I'll to for a TM/face elf and infiltration if I can put it together. Your flaw intregs me I'd love that little eliment out of my hands. Maybe add the bad experance with black IC as well to have a reson for this lapse.

If I make Miralda, he will have high charisma and some social skills. Not a full face, but he could be a good back-up.

Scope_47, I've tried to contact you with AIM, but am not getting a response. I think this might be a problem with my connection, but am not sure.

I got your IMs and replied... but you apparently didn't get them. I also tried restarting AIM to make sure that wasn't a problem. I don't know what's up with that. BTW, there isn't any problem with having two possession mages on the same team - it could actually be rather interesting RP-wise. Cthulu may or may not change his mind besides. As a general rule, I encourage people to play what they want to play rather than what they feel the group needs.

@Dumori
Lovely I was hoping at least one person would like that flaw. Just PM me a char-sheet/backstory whenever you have them.

- Scope_47

If you'd liek a technomancer, I have a character that I could submit. But since Divine Virus is thinking of playing a 'trix jockey, I can wait for the next one

Well need some one good at social and TMs eat a load of BPs a TM spy who can smoth talk is what I'm after. So we need a pure face from some one or for one of us to fill that role. We need a face and or street Sam to round us all off nicly.

Edit: I'll take some drones for fire suport. TM of hacker that's all I got to mull over TM will be more fun to RP.

Alright, I have a preliminary concept ready...

Brigid Rhis, a Celtic Black Mage of the Dark Goddess. Originally from the Scotsprawl, Brigid is a powerful battlefield mage, a wielder of her chosen goddess' power. A follower of Brighid, the Celtic goddess of the sacred flame, Brigid is very much like her Mentor. Her fiery personality and appearance, combined with her perchance for explosive and healing magic, makes her a valuable ally in many situations.

Brigid was born to unknown parents and left a SINless orphan in front of a Catholic orphanage of St. Brigid of Kildare in the Scotsprawl, where she lived and was raised until she was fifteen. Upon Awakening during puberty she was brought under the wing of the Catholic Church, where she originally learned much of her magic. But when she began to delve deeper into the darker sides of her Mentor, St. Brigid, she was forcefully asked to stop. When she refused, she was sent away from her only home to make her own way in the Sprawl. She quickly learned to use what she had learned to make a living on the streets and was a quick adaptee to life in the shadows.

She matured into a fine runner and mage on her own, but her growth was watched closely by the Church she had used to belong to. Seeing in her a seed for a misuse of God's power and a threat against the Church (she had been indoctrinated into some of the secret's of Christian Theurgy) they decided to remove what threat she posed before she became anymore powerful. But luck was on her side and thanks to the friends she had gained in the Scotsprawl shadows, she was able to avoid the church and flee across the Great Divide of the Atlantic and as far away as she could afford, Seattle. Her friends provided her with a small contact in the Emerald City and she made her way from there, stopping over again like she had done before in the Scotsprawl.

Brigid has been in Seattle for nearly a year now with no sign of the Church or its agents, though her guard is still nto completely down. In the last year she has made a fine name for herself in Seattle, pulling in bigger and higher paying runs each month. Whether it is simply her luck, or the power of her Goddess behind her, Brigid has become a Mage to be reckoned with in Seattle.

If you still have room I can rework my 400BP Ork combat Adept to fill a slot. He's basically got killing hands, critical strike 3, penetrating strike 3, and improved reflexes 2. He has a criminal SIN and operates under a false identity with a fake bounty hunters license tied to it. I've never played this way and I'm learning SR and think this would be a great way for me to get used to things and have a good time. Am I in? My Yahoo IM username is "neokast".

@Dashifen
Dumori is playing a technomancer, and I'd prefer for the sake of my sanity to keep only one matrix-archetype in the group. If you want to play something else, you are first in line for the last spot.

@Raxle
You are second in line for the last spot - so its yours if Dashifen backs out. However, I feel obligated to point out that this may be a steep learning curve for someone new to Shadowrun since I'm using alternate character gen rules and will be throwing some pretty complex runs at you guys. If you think you're up for it though, I don't have a problem with it.

- Scope_47

I've given up on AIM, and I am starting to feel sick so I am not at my most inventive.

Here is a random idea. Big problem with playing an AI is having no real body.
Big problem with playing a full body cyborg is that the CCU costs so much.

Why not have an AI that owns one of those fake bodies, and is maskerading as a cyborg?
That way I would have to spend the 160k nY for the body, but not need to worry about the CCU and the difficulties invovled with that. Or are we getting too radical here?

(everything I talk about mechanics wise will be filled in by backstory later. When I am not feeling sick).

so, do we need combat or face more? I can put together someone for either situation...

Just to add to our magic sexyness (perhaps we have a magic group of our own?), does anyone have problems with me throwing an adept out?

here is back story. No name yet I suck at names thus I shall call him Dumori just so I can replace later.

After awakening in a cheap coffein motel with a SIN for a Mark Flint, witch Dumori knew wasn't his real name, and a silver cred stick. He has been on the trail of his real identerty. His dream when he finaley gets to sleep a plaged with visons of his past. One so common that he can play it back to him self on a mental comand. He's stood in a node the alarm ringing though his head unable to move or to escape the matrix as he feels his head explode then it blank. The others are blury image of bars, faces and nodes never making sense to him always fading from his mind when he wakes.

Dumori's redicovery of his talent was just as hard as the frist time, or so he assumes not even sure if there was a frist time, after staggering out of the coffin the credstick in his pocket he began to see vage images floting in the air a costent buzz driving him mad. At frist he thought it was all part of the mental suffering his brain but after he reilesed he could control his comlink from a across the room a vage flash back hit him somthin about techno mabcers back in early 71. From then hes hidden in the shadows hacking to survive and mastering his strange gift.

Id say face as our drones can add gunny but not talky. Up to you though.

Brigid can double with some face skills, as Black Magic is based around Charisma anyways.

Hmmm, this could work - your 'body' would be your home node of course. I'll hammer out some rules with a balanced BP cost for you, then run it by the group. Assuming everyone thinks they are up to snuff balance-wise, we'll run with it.

@Dumori
Sounds pretty good - we can have fun with that.

- Scope_47

might change and a few details later (such as adding the dog tags but as my of is sleeping (its over heating a lot in this weather) I'll have to do that later. Also what your stance on buying echos?

going to bed.

I'll hack out a concept and put it on up here sometime tomorrow (with any luck)

I'll probably go with a face of some sort... perhaps throwing some infiltration skills in as well... now that I think about it... I might just have a concept that will work with this... let me thrash some numbers and a rough outline out and I'll get back to you all.

g'night

@Dumori
Page 238 of the BBB gives a list of echoes as well as the Karmic cost of submersion. You get a free echo of your choice for each grade of submersion you have undergone - including the first. I believe that unwired has some more echo options.


Submersion and Initiation are why you are getting 30 karma in addition to your BP.

While I wouldn't recommend it due to the steepness of the price, I will allow the optional rule in which echos and the magical alternative may be purchased independently with karma at 15 each, up to twice the PC's submersion/initiation grade

- Scope_47

unwired has the rule of buying echo for a cost much like the rule in street magic. Idk the cost off the top of my head I was just wondering if this will be alowed
or not as it is an optional rule.

Well, I've read the 4th Ed. book cover to cover once and other sections multiple times. Character creation isn't an issue. I just don't have a lot of playing experience because a friend of mine and I play together every couple of weeks for a few hours and have only done so 4 or 5 times. It's not very fun trying to master the game by yourself. This would be good for me. I own all the 4th ed books except Unwired as well.

Just let me know if I can play with you guys or not before I put in the effort to upgrade/revamp my character. I can also fill a specific role if you need to designate one. I understand the char creation rules.

I've thought about using cue cards with various scenarios on them to practice memorizing what dice to use for various tests and such, but playing online could be a lot more interesting. I want to GM eventually.

Thanks Scope! I'll work on background while you get that sorted out.

So, I realize I'm pretty far down the list and it's a low-percentage shot, but if people drop out I'd like to play.

In terms of character build: given that everyone else has matrix-space and astral-space pretty well-covered, a character firmly ensconced in meat-space would be a good contrast. Though the build could be interesting as an adept, as well. A totally physical one, though.

I think having someone else with the deprogrammed flaw would be interesting to play in the same game with Dumori's char, as they could have interesting interactions because of the shared origin. The other guy would have found out about Dumori when they were both looking for information about themselves, and both turned out to be middle managers at the same "box factory." He's avoided Dumori well enough since then, as Dumori makes him uneasy, reminds him of a past he don't want to remember - until they get thrown together working on the same team for this run. He hasn't worked to find out about himself since those first few confused days. It's best forgotten about, as he don't want to know how he gained the skill set he has, that of an assassin (So skills would be focused on sniper rifles, physical infiltration, demolitions, disguise, etc.) Since waking up a few years ago, he's been trying to use his less violent skills: intrusion, stealing physical objects, etc, which he enjoys just for the challenge. Violence still comes too naturally to him when he's not thinking about it, and he's got a reputation for being a capable killer that bothers him, at the same time that it sometimes helps bring him to the notice of those hiring for the sorts of jobs that let him feel the rush of beating security. He's okay with killing people if necessary, but he feels he's screwed up when it becomes necessary. It's the challenge that keeps him 'running.

Please put me next in line for the last spot.

Alright, I think that that pretty much finalizes our roster.

1: Divine Virus
2: Dumori
3: Chthulu
4: Trigger
5: Mickle5125
6: Dashifen or Raxle

@Raxle
Dashifen implied that he would back out if Dumori were playing the team technomancer - I'm just waiting on him to confirm that, so you have a good chance at taking the last spot. I try to do things on a strictly first-come first-serve basis to be fair.

@Everyone else who isn't listed above
I will keep you in mind in case there is a drop out or no-show, but I'm not comfortable with more than six players at this time.

I think its time to call Recruitment closed.

- Scope_47

Yup ... Raxle can have the spot.

I know your into the OOC thread now but can I just throw my hat in the ring too?

I'm playing in about half a dozen games on Dumpshock and I know they can have a terrible attrition rate.

Also your Avatar caught my attention on Wounded Ronin's cross-gender role-playing thread and I thought it might be nice to be in a game where the GM had a different perspective. See if I can tell the difference....

I don't have any character concepts ready, cross-gender or otherwise, but I will keep myself available if you need another player in a couple of weeks.

Alright Crizh, you are third in line should anyone drop out or flat out vanish.

- Scope

Ta, you're a star.