Sure, I usually start with only a rough outline of the person and see where the game gets me/him but I'll go through that and the 50 questions right away.
What is your characters Sex?
male
What is your characters physical size?
1.7 meters
What is the color of the characters Hair, eyes, and skin?
black hair, brown eyes, dark tan on a naturally light skin
What is the character's general appearance (i.e., How does he dress, etc.)?
He'll usually wear comfortable boots, jeans, shirt a light jacket and a wide hat (to cover his early baldness).
Where was the character born (City, State, Hospital Name)?
Seattle, UCAS, Seattle General
What is the characters date of birth?
23.5.2037
What was the character's family life like?
Mom (Claire) was an exec, doing a lot o overtime, trying to make up by taking the kids on extravagant journeys the few days she was there.
Dad (Mark) is an unsuccessful freelancing artist, who was home most of the time, playing a lot with Alan and his sister (Cybil).
Has the character begun his own family?
nope
Where or how was the character educated?
Went to corp schools and afterwards attended several universities in Seattle. He's studied (and dropped out or been thrown out of) biology, math, business, arts, shamanistic for varying amounts of time, all without gaining any degree.
Has the character ever done anything else for a living?
He's done all kinds of part time jobs for the past ten years. Dish washer, waiter, bouncer, tourist guide, intern at a news corp, any available job that allowed him to meet people.
Before joining MAC he has worked as private investigator.
What are the characters beliefs on church and state?
Personally he's a neo-pagan like his father but any church that encourages people to think for themselves, be nice to each other (including non-members and hopefully animals too) and does not advertise too loudly is OK in his book. What's in a label and a few details if in the end you walk the right path?
For him, the state is a corporation like many others and still something better. The one corporation that's supposed to help people keep living (and happily too). Of course he knows that the institutions and the people mannign it are not perfect but if there is a corporation that will go against profit lines to do the right thing, his bet is on the state.
Describe the characters Moral code. Include how mercenary he is, whether or not he'll kill innocents, etc.
He beliefs in the sanctity of life, health and free will for (meta)humans and to a lesser extent also animals.
As such he won't kill innocents and if it can be helped none of the guilty either.
He will try to solve problems with words rather than violence and tries to keep violence to a minimum if confronted with someone that can't be talked to.
What are the character have any goals?
To help people, to go to bed every night and be content with what he has done today.
Why does the character run the shadows? (Why does he run the shadows still, rather than getting a "real" job?)
As this job prolly counts as a "real" job: Why this job?
Working for the city means working for the sate which is (as he believe) helping people, so he is trying one more job where he can, in a roundabout way, do something good. And see to it that the animals are treated good (or at the very least killed painlessly).
What kind of personality does your character have? This should not necessarily be obviously stated in the background, as it is more important for actually playing the character, but it may color or add mood to the history.
He's the kind of person that has a problem settling down on anything. He'll drop up a new hobby every week and drop it just as fast, go to one bar every evening for a month, make new friends and suddenly stop going there. Hardly does he ever really make real friends or stick to one thing but once he does, he'll stick to them/it stubbornly.
What special qualities does the character possess? This does not refer to skills, but rather at other things, such as How he gets along with people, does he plan ahead, etc.
He's a very outgoing person who seldomly plans ahead more than a few days. He generally won't clean his flat more than is absolutely necessary but keeps his bike in pristine condition. He can tell apart sorts of coffee very well and does not drink any soykaf, drinking one or two cups a month in an expensive café instead.
Are their certain things the character can't or won't do? Why?
He has extreme problems forging long term relationships to women. Prolly because his mom never was home, his older sister went away as soon as she could and he had a terrible puberty.
What things, people, or ideas does the character hate?
He hates weapons, bigots, drug dealers, crooked politicians, policlubbers and the idea that might makes right.
What things people, or ideas does the character love?
He loves good coffee, Chopin and his fathers paintings of medivial castles.
What is the character's name? Give both full birth name, as well as nicknames, street names, etc.
Alan Reese
Determine what your character used to do, before becoming a shadowrunner (very important).
Already covered.
Decide why your character left his or her old job, if he had one. (also important).
Technically he's still a freelancing PI, just one without work.
Come up with a reason for why the character became a shadowrunner. (This very often will tie in with #22. This is not the same as #14, but rather why he started running the shadows originally. What led him to it?)
He ain't a shadowrunner.
How did your character come to know his or her contacts? Contacts are an important part of Shadowrun, decide how and why you know them.
Mark Timmons - Beat Cop. Works in his free time on cases that - in his opinion - get shelved too early or end wrong. Once followed on an assault report that was ignored because the victim was marked as calling the cops far too often. Alan had been hired by the victim to find the attacker and so Mark and Allan met when the goon had his friends jump 'the two suspicious fraggers tailing me'. They managed to beat him unconsious and scare his friends off but Mark had to run because his boss was waiting for just that kind of chance to demote him for breaking regulations. So Alan kept him out of it and they later worked together and became friends.
Maurice Timmons - Bar owner. Alan uses his joint as a bureau and in return for always getting a quiet corner table, visits patrons who forget to pay their tab and talks them into doing it.
Does the character have a SIN? Does the character actually use it? Or is the character one of the SINless_masses? This may be affected by the characters previous employment.
Alan is still using the SIN he's been born with and hasn't gotten any illegal ones.
Is the character a full-time shadowrunner? Or does the character lead a Batman-like double existence?
He ain't a shadowrunner.
Which person(s) or group(s) do you love the most?
He loves most his father.
Which person(s) or group(s) do you hate the most?
He persons he hates most are kidnappers.
Which person(s) or group(s) do you respect the most?
Judges, prosecuters and policemen. At least honest ones.
Which person(s) or group(s) do you fear the most?
Alan fears most what he could become himself if he dropped his ideals.
What is your favorite color?
None.
What is your favorite food and/or drink?
Apple pie.
What place would you most like to visit?
Tir na nOg
Which person(s) or group(s) are you most loyal to?
HE is most loyal to HIS family.
What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the most enjoyment? (WARNING: Answering Sex for this question can and will result in penalties to your character!)
Doing high speed on his bike (Which he does legally on a race track
).
What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the least enjoyment?
Playing online games. He always wonders afterwards how anybody could spend so much time with them but keeps coming back.
What annoys you the most?
Unkind behaviour without any thought that does not even benefit the one being unkind.
What (if any) is your favorite form of art?
Classical music.
What is your greatest goal?
To found a family.
What do you think is your characters best quality?
Loyalty.
What do you think is your characters worst quality?
Curiosity.
What is the most important thing you have ever done?
The most important thing, HE (the character, hey if you post 50 inane questions at least get them right more than half the time, kay?) ever did was deciding to stop picking up studies and dropping them all the time.
Which religion (if any) do you follow?
"You" Again. I'll just skip those.
What is your most treasured possession (and why)?
skip
What are your three most common dreams?
skip
What is the Characters current relationship with his family?
They meet on the big family holidays (christmas, the like) and generally just live their seperate lives.
If the characters family is still alive, what do they do, and where do they live?
Parents are retired and went to Baltimore, sister works as a doctor in Washington.
Where did the character learn his Skills?
Went to school.
Does the character have a good luck charm? What is it, and why?
Nope.
What type of music does the character like?
Instrumental classical music.
List any past serious relationships that your character has had, and give a brief overview of the relationship.
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Where does your character live? Why does he live there?
Seattle. He likes the city.
Remember, I, as most Gamemasters, like detail, so if you can think of any other little details, quirks, or whatever that you think might please the almighty GM, then add them in as well. Oh, and your GM won't use any of these details against you at a later date. Really...we never do...
One little detail: Most of the above answers are just random crap that I'll ignore or change once I actually have a feel for the character which never happens before I've played 'em. But hey, I guess nobody has actually ever read all of those questions so why do I think anybody will ever read the sentence above?
) and moved around knowledge skills.
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