On the thin Denver air, so often laced with heavy metals, the acid tang of refineries, assembly lines and all the dregs of industry, another scent had overlain itself. Cotton candy, crepes and toffees mingled with the industrial air, making it sweet and cancerous all at once. A wide lot, vacant yesterday and long ago bulldozed empty of anything but tarmac and the memory of jobs, was now filled with tents, trucks and temptations for children of all ages. The Carnival had come to Denver, nestling itself in the city's empty spaces as it had once settled itself in farmers' fields, unheeding Time. A few beefy trolls manhandled the poles of the last tent with ease and a dwarf with grease paint forcing a permanent smile on his face jammed fliers under the wipers of the cars crawling past in the slow rush hour traffic.

"Come to the carnival," they said. "An experience you'll never forget."

Setting: Denver, June 2070.
chargen rules:
roughly 425 BP & 30 Karma (may change later. Keep an eye out.)
natural charisma*2 free contact points
no spirits, infected, AI. Metavarients, changelings, and shapeshifters on a case by case basis.
Other than that, regular chargen rules.

I'm looking mostly for character concepts. I want characters, not stereotypes, people. I don't want the troll tank with massive stats but no personality. That sucks and will result in your character being gibbed in the first 3 posts of the game. Seriously. Having said that, I don't want stupidly rediculous ideas, either. So no, you can't bring out Little Timmy, the demon possessed kindergartener on a permanent sugar high. He too shall be smited in the first 3 posts.

I'm thinking... 6 people. Recruitment is CLOSED.

Current Cast (6/6):
Redcap. Concept: Ex soldier/heavy weapons.
Dumori. Concept: B&E dwarf
Intro. Concept: PI
Digital Heroin. Concept: Magic-hunter elf
Dr. Funkenstein. Concept: Street Illusionist
DTFarstar. Concept: ???


GM contact info:
AIM: forceflow5125
e-mail: foreceflow02@yahoo.com (No, that isn't at typo)
MSN: foreceflow02@yahoo.com (once again, not a typo)

I would love to play Spider a B&E based dwarf vat-job.

Wondering what sort of feel you're going for with the game? Based on the carnival idea I could think of a couple different ways you could go: theatrical and over-the-top, dark and grotesque, kind of dark and straight noir... It would help to sort of guide character development along.

Just from sort of thinking along those lines, I have in my head a sort of classic noir/pulp P.I. I suppose it's a stereotype too, but it's a fairly archaic one, and rather full of personality, I think. I see him fairly hard-bitten, working the fringes of society, doing not-quite-legal work - helping out people who are mixed up tangentially in criminal activity, and are at the bottom of the social ladder - people who can't go through the traditional L.E. or corp routes for help.

Role-wise, he'd be muscle and a secondary face, with a good web of (low-level) underworld contacts - doesn't know anyone too important, but he'll usually know a guy who knows a guy.

Bastian Beauregard

Bastian lives in the CAS sector of Denver. A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Bastian served eight years in the CAS army before mustering out and moving to Denver. He's never been able to afford much in the way of bio or cyber, but boy does he love his guns: the bigger it is and the more bullets it spits, the better. Him being a dwarf makes handling some of his favorite firepower pieces a little difficult, but he manages. He's generally jovial and loves cracking jokes and listens to lots of old late-20th Century country-western music (and a touch of Elvis when he feels like it).

Ok, I so want in on this... got character making on my mind, and I'm going to focus on 'net life to help me survive the next two weeks from hades (a very long sailing period awaits me)... but I need to get a concept in my head first...

...sadly, my gene-inheriting twins are two characters, and while fun, likely wouldn't fit...


...and I promise not to make a character entirely centered around weilding a gauss rifle, honest...

I'm in the same boat. I'd like to hear more about what you're aiming for. I can't tell if the characters are intended to be a part of the carnival coming to town, if it's just foreshadowing for what the game will revolve around, or even what sort of characters you're looking for beyond slightly more experienced ones. Any details would be appreciated.

I'm planning on going along a darker path with this one. At least for the first mission or two. The characters are a group of established and experienced shadowrunners, who have gained a pretty good reputation in Denver.

Personally, my idea of the best group for this game are a bunch of grim, sarcastic, and fairly professional individuals. Foxhole humor would make my day. Peppy McPeppep and her crew of clowns, preps, and sheeple would make me cry. Don't make the GM cry. He gets even in nasty, nasty ways.

Experienced, established, and professional. What are your opinions on the chargen numbers? do you think they're enough, or do you guys think they should be bumped one way or the other? Be ready to support your answer. Good reasoning makes me inclined to let a lot more slide than "please? It'll be freakin sweet!"

Well, I'm a fan of the new Karma system from the Runner's Companion. It tends to create more well-rounded and believable characters with a wide range of skills, whereas the BP system tends to create very limited and restricted characters. 425 BP and 30 Karma will create characters who are a little tougher than "street" level, but not by much. So if that's what you're after regarding professionalism, I imagine it's spot on.

Thanks for the more detailed description, by the way. I'll try and have a concept or two for you in the next day or so. I'm a big fan of macabre games, so this really appeals to me.

To be honest, I like karmagen, too, but it's so new, I don't know it quite as well as buildpoint system... BUT! if everyone can agree to go with karmagen, I might be willing to shift over to that. Only problem is, I'm not certain how much karma to start with... I just know 1000 is insanity and leads to godlike characters like ADRIAN.

If you'd like to consider it, I'd suggest maybe 750 Karma with normal character creation restrictions (meaning no initiation, submersion, bypassing the limits on skill ratings, etc.) and then a token amount on top of that to represent being a little more seasoned. 30-50 should be more than enough in that regard. Maybe with a set amount of nuyen on top of it that can be used to buy gear over the Availability 12 restriction. I dunno. Really depends on what you're aiming for power-wise, which is hard to judge from GM to GM.

Runner Companion? Ok... I missed a publication along the way, didn't I?

Seriously, my brain itches to find a venue to play the twins... the speed-obsessed Technomancer and his entirely too serious for her own good protector of an Adept sister... but grim I can do... I have Immortal, the Magic-Hunter Elf, who just happens to have Spirit Bane: Insect, because I'm a masochist and it fits his background...

more details on this magic hunter, please.

Yes, you apparently did miss a publication. It's fairly recent, however, so it's understandable.

Back to the magic hunter. Give me more info. I might need to adjust the campaign. Oh, is anyone planning on using any magic? How bout hacker-types? or are you all physical world only?

I'm strongly leaning towards a magician. I have about ten different ideas floating around in my head; just waiting for one or two of them to settle down to the bottom so I can bring them to life for ya.

Immortal is a tough-as-bloody nails former Tir Ghost... his family was slaughtered by near-do-well magic types while he was out on border patrol detail, and he became obsessed with tracking them down. The hunt left him scarred, battered, and ruined socially and professionally, so he left the country, and headed off to become a bounty-hunter of sorts, tracking down Toxics, and Insect hives and such....

He's magic-resistant, cybered to the gills, and ornary as all hell... fancies hand-rolled cigars, and big, big guns...

hmmm... well, this all certainly looks interesting... should certainly put an interesting spin on the campaign.

Looks like we have one more opening.

Does anyone have a problem with switching over to karmagen? probably 750 karma with normal karmagen rules, and another 50 or so after that with regular karma rules. Plus bonuses for excellent backstories.

Oh, if you finish up your character sheet or your backstory, please e-mail it to me. I can't get to dumpshock from work, but the e-mails can get through to me, so I'll be able to deal with them while there.

well, it has come to my attention a number of our players don't have RC, ergo... no karma gen this time around. Sorry mates.

I've got no access to RC, so working with karmagen might be a bit of a pain for me... if I'd known to look for it, I'd have been to a game shop today... it hasn't hit my local store yet...

Immortal and Baz are going to get along pretty wel, I think -- they both like big guns.

And sadly, I am among those who missed Runner's Companion. Sorry, guys.

On a quest to buy RC tonight... paper... 'cause $25 for a PDF is stupid-pricey...

...wait, damnit... it's not on paper yet? Still... Borders bound to try and find...

It's actually really simple. I could probably type up a summary of it if anyone wanted. The book itself is worth the price, though, as there's quite a bit of good (and bad) in it.
EDIT: Decided to type it up anyway.

KARMA SYSTEM

Standard characters begin with 750 Karma and use the following information to purchase their stats.

• Race: 0 Karma (see below)
• Attributes: Attributes start at your racial minimums. Each improvement costs (New Rating x 3) Karma up to your racial maximum. There is no inflated price for the last point.
• Qualities: Qualities cost twice as much Karma as they do BP. You're limited to 70 Karma worth of Positive and 70 Karma worth of Negative Qualities during character creation.
• Active Skills: Active Skills cost 4 Karma for the first point. Every point thereafter costs (New Rating x 2) Karma. There is no inflated price for the last point, but you still have the same limitations as you do in the BP system. In other words, you may choose to have only one skill at rating 6 OR two at rating 5. All other skills must be rating 4 or lower.
• Active Skill Groups: Groups cost 10 Karma for the first point and (New Rating x 5) for each point thereafter. You may only raise an active skill group to a rating of 4 during character creation.
• Knowledge/Language Skills: These skills cost 2 Karma for the first point and (New Rating) Karma for each point thereafter. No free Knowledge Skills based upon your Logic score, but you do get your native Language Skill for free.
• Skill Specializations: All specializations cost 2 Karma regardless of the base skill.
• Spells: Learning a spell costs 5 Karma. The same limitations in the BP system apply in the Karma system.
• Foci: Use the values on SR4 p. 191 "Focus Bonding" for Karma costs.
• Complex Forms: Complex Forms cost the same as Knowledge Skills; 2 Karma for the first point and (New Rating) for each additional point. BP system limitations apply.
• Nuyen: Each point of Karma gives you 2,500 nuyen. Max of 250,000 nuyen during character creation.
• Contacts: Add the Connection and Loyalty ratings together and multiply by 2. The result is the Karma cost for that contact.

All other limitations and restrictions from the BP system apply except where house ruled. Anything not addressed in the above rules should be resolved by doubling the BP cost.

Each Race costs 0 Karma in this system. This is the most controversial part about the Karma System, but the assumption is that the various metaraces end up paying for themselves via their Attribute costs. So a Human costs the same as a Troll as far as just their race is concerned, but it's assumed the Troll will pay more when he raises his Body to 12.

All right, here's one of the concepts I cooked up.

SMOKE
Archetype: Street Illusionist (Gypsy Magic, Adversary Mentor Spirit)

Smoke is a full-blooded gypsy who's made Denver his home after getting into some trouble with his kumpanyia (gypsy family). Living out of an old Winnebego, his early career in the Mile High City consisted mostly of grifting the gaje (non-gypsies) out of their hard-earned nuyen, either through the art of the con or simple slight of hand while performing his street magic for his make-shift audiences.

At least that's what his life consisted of before one fateful day when he was brutally introduced to the shadows during an extraction gone bad. Whisked into the action amidst sirens, gunshots, and heavily armed drones, the runners he had stumbled into quickly realized his potential and, once the run was over, they tried to convince the Rom to work with them. When he was told just how much cash was involved, Smoke just flashed his award-winning grin and asked where to sign.

More than a year later, Smoke has proven himself in the shadows time and again. He uses a blend of his mastery of illusions and manipulations as well as his more mundane gift for manipulating the gaje to turn situation after situation to his advantage. He's not the most physically intimidating cat on the team -- especially when he brandishes that pansy little Streetline Special of his -- but few can doubt that when the shit hits the fan, it's far a better thing to have him on your side rather than the alternative...

He seemed to fit the theme you were after, so it'll be my first submission. If you're not too crazy about it, just let me know and I'll offer up something else!

If you still need some more, I'll come along with a concept within the next day or so. I've got two that are warring in my head, and I'm glad you like gallows humor.... I have a hard time turning it off to be honest.

Chris

1) Karma system.
Looks like we have the details of karmagen posted. Does anyone have a problem with transferring over to karmagen? It does mean that those of you who sent me character sheets will have to redo them. Oh, and The maximum Karma a character can spend on their attributes at character generation is half their starting Karma (rounding up) plus twice the listed BP cost for their metatype or alternate racial concept. Characters cannot begin the game with more than one attribute at their natural maximum.

2) Smoke seems good. Hack away at the character sheet.

3) With the entrance of DTFarstar, we have our 6 players. If anyone else is interested, I'll add you to the waiting list for if anybody drops out.

No, karmagen seems like it'll give more diversity for the PI-type, and I'd already started on a karma-based character sheet since it seemed we might be heading that way. I've got the character backstory kicking around in my head, but it's still a little nebulous as of yet.

Karmagen is no problem for me. I'll work a concept and send you the sheet ASAP. Mind telling me what else we have so I don't come up with a redundant concept? I see Smoke, Bastian, and Immortal. Illusion mage, dwarven gun nut frankenstein, and ... some kind of mage hunter/bounty hunter I think. So, we are missing Matrix, but I'm not a fan of playing most of those kinds of characters, and it seems like Smoke is facey, but we don't have a dedicated face. Then again, you can always do without either of those and sometimes multiple specialists, especially mages and combat characters, are good to have if they cover different specialties. Anyway, let me know what is going on, I've got a lot of concepts rattling around in my brain.

Chris

So the character I'm envisioning is a tough ork street investigator. Combination of adept powers and 'ware. He's rather a generalist: rather good w/ a gun (though he'll be packing assorted pistols primarily, and not the rather larger firepower some of the others seem to be favoring) and knife, perceptive, can be the intimidating/negotiating part-time face to Smoke's con artist part-time face. Matrix-wise, he'll probably end up with a good Data Search dice pool, but that's about it. He'll also have a good brace of contacts of all sorts. So really, I'm just making him good at assorted means of information-gathering. (Thinking about giving him Astral Perception, too. Not as necessary now that there's a true mage, but still might be useful, and it suits).

Smoke is mostly focused around spells, though he's not a "combat mage" so much as a "utility mage." He will have a few combat spells, but it won't be his focus. Likewise he's definitely not going to be much of a Face, though he will have a high Con and decent Street Etiquette score. The Matrix definitely seems to be our weak spot as a group, but I don't blame you at all for not wanting to play one. Though if you do decide to give it a shot, a Drone Rigger might be a really great addition to the group without feeling too decker-ish. A more conjuration-oriented magician would be another nice addition.

On another note, since we have decided to go the Karma route, are we just going to build 750 Karma characters or do any of your house rules in the first post or elsewhere apply?

go with the 750 karma to start with (assuming that everyone agrees to go with karmagen. Red_cap hasn't been online yet to say yay or nay, and I'd need to check who else has commented on it to see if anyone else has missed voting.)

I'll be giving extra karma before we start, I just don't know how much yet. However, fun prizes come with good backstories!

Oh dear god my brain scares me... new concept just surfaced, more in line with a carnival theme: chainsaw juggling/throwing adept mime!

Looks like I'm the odd man out, seeing as how I already finished a character sheet using the BP system and am perfectly happy with it. Maybe I'm just being stubborn, but I don't like doing the same thing more than once.

No. Just...no. absolutely not. no no no no no. Oh, and if you misunderstood.... NO!!!

are you trying to break my mind? because I can and will retaliate, and, in this game, I AM GOD, so FEAR ME, MORTAL!

Looks like I'm going to be doing Lerris Valerius, Human Chaos Mage of the First Order. Specialist in manipulations, though not too shabby at anything else magical.

He's going to be fun.

I'll finish everything tomorrow afternoon. I head off to play a session of Dragonlance.

Chris

Well, comrades, you're responsible for convincing Red_Cap. And be reasonable about it. If he disagrees and doesn't change his mind... BP gen it will be. But if you make a strong case for going that way, perhaps he will change his mind.

On a side note, I do have his character sheet, and it is a pretty well rounded individual, so well rounded is possible in BP gen.

EDIT: Red_cap has decided that he's ok with everyone else using karmagen while he sticks with his current character sheet. ERGO, I'm deciding that you can go either way with it. Just be sure to let me know which one you choose.

425 BP

OR

750 Karma

right now, bonus karma for both is 30. That may change as I get character sheets and backstories.

But, but it's a mime... and he juggles!

I mean c'mon... I'm dying to use the Adept throwing powers...

no mime, no chainsaws. if you want to juggle, or throw knives, or something similar, that's dandy. no chainsaws. no mimes. bad digital heroin.

Who's a good little god? You are! Yesh you are! <pinches your cheek>

If'n the two of you are amenable, you can send me the character sheet, and I can paste it into my Open Office spreadsheet and karmagen-ize it, so Red_Cap would see how it would turn out, without doing it over.

. . . you've got a character generation spreadsheet? And I thought *I* was into this game. Heh.

In all seriousness though, if you really want to do that, go for it. As I've said to Mickle, relative power levels don't bother me one way or the other. I don't judge fun in an RPG by personal bodycount.

Yeah, me neither, but I do have a weakness for consistency and the like (and the sort of personality to make a spreadsheet for this sort of thing - nothing too complicated, but even so). So sure, send it too wingalexander at hotmail if'n you'd like.

How will free contact points work as 2*natural charisma give me 6 free karma where as in BP it gives me 42% for my contacts for free. Compired to the 21% in karma gen should shout we just get 4* natural charisma?

If he's still using that house rule, you'd end up with the same thing. He's awarding bonus points for Contacts, not bonus Build Points or bonus Karma. So if you have Charisma 5, you have 10 free points (regardless of system) to spend on your contacts. Thus you could have, say, one Loyalty 3/Connections 2 and one Loyalty 1/Connections 4 contact without having to pay any BP or Karma for them. Anything beyond that falls back to the rules and costs for whichever system you're using.

Unless I'm terribly, terribly wrong. But I doubt I am.

Dr. Funkenstein, you hit the nail on the head.

Thanks for the conversion, Intro. I appreciate it, made my life easier.

No problem. One piece of gear that you might go for with that last bit of karma is a dwarf-sized gyro stabilization good system. Good for toting around a gun taller than you are. I didn't think about it until I'd already sent it off to you.

Oi! It is not. Bazz is four feet tall. I'm in the Army and I've lugged around an M249 SAW. That's an LMG and it's about 40 inches long -- around 30 inches if you're lucky enough to get issued the short-barreled, compressible-stock version. So there.

But yes, I was looking at one of those eventually.

Hey, sorry, sorry. I didn't know he was so sensitive about his diminutive stature. I'll do my best not to point it out in the future.

Lol Spider is 70-100 CM but he makes up for it in other ways. I'm finishing off gear now so i'll be ready ASAP

Like I said yesterday, I'll finish everything off tonight. A lot of college science bullshit I had to do today, should be back to start finalizing in a couple of hours.

Chris

I just have to say that I'm really enjoying working on this character. Thanks for inspiring me with your game, Mickle. I should have something approaching a presentable character sheet tonight or tomorrow.

for those of you having trouble coming up with contacts, I am putting together a list of GM sponsored contacts, all of whom will be interesting, fun, and useful in the game. I'll put it up when I get home this evening... I'll even get the official OOC board up so that we can get out of the recruitment board.