I'm hoping to try something new with this game: semi-freeform character creation. In a nutshell, I'm going to let you create your character's stats based upon the needs of your character rathern than forcing you to following a crippling set of hard rules.

That this does not mean that you have free reign to get crazy with the rules. I'm trusting you to create a good character; not a god amongst metahumanity. I would also like to see as many weaknesses as strengths, too, keeping in mind that a weakness doesn't have to be a crippling one and a strength have to be a phenomenal one. I'll leave it up to you to figure out exactly what I mean by that. But, basically, if your character is good at something, your stats should reflect that. If not, your stats should reflect that, too.

Does this mean that I'm going to leave you completely without guidance? Ha! Not a chance, Buckwheat.

Below you'll find a handful of guidelines to not only keep you on track but to also help insure that everyone else will be in roughly the same ballpark as your character. Keep in mind that these are all very rough guidelines, however, and you have permission to sway from them (in any direction) if you need to in order to insure your character has all the talents he or she deserves to have.

The most important rule here is this: Have fun and create the character you want to play. If you're not happy with your character, I won't be happy with it either.

It should be noted that I tend to be very proactive during this phase of the game, so expect numerous suggestions or requests as we work together to build your character. Most of the time these suggestions will be a beneficial change, but sometimes I may ask you to tone something down or explain why you made certain choices. Don't take any of it as an insult; I'm simply trying to do my job while making sure everything about the same "power level" for lack of a better phrase. Also, don't be afraid to argue with me if you think I'm being a complete tool. I'll totally respect that, especially if you argue a good case. But by the same token, respect my final decision after all is said and done. Or else. <insert ominous music here>

There. With all of that out of the way, let's get to work on building these perfect beasts...



Race

Most of you have already chosen which metahuman or metahuman variant race you want to play. Guess what? That's all you have to do. Once you choose your race, move on to the next step. There are no costs to worry about whatsoever.

Note, however, that only your physical attribute modifiers and secondary traits (vision types, gear adjustments, movement speeds, reach, etc.) are the only characteristics you will retain. Mental attribute modifiers will be ignored whether they're positive or negative (quit whining; you'll see why when you hit the "Attributes" section of this post). And, yes, humans will still be getting a rather nice surprise, too.

What about prejudice? I've never been partial to the hardcore dystopian vibe the Sixth World has, so I tend to tone racism down quite a bit. In most situations and in most places, it will hardly ever crop up. But if you go somewhere that's notoriously racist — such as Japan, the Middle East, the Deep South, or a troll bar with a "NO HOOMANS OR ELFS ALOUD!" sign stabbed to the front door — you might want to watch your back.

Oh, please be sure to indicate your ethnicity and culture in addition to your race. For purposes of this game, consider ethnicity to represent what we mean today when we say race, and consider culture to represent the culture or part of the world you were raised in. Example: A Hindi (ethnicity) Human (race) who was born and raised in England (culture). If you're of mixed heritage, just list the two most prominent ones with an emphasis on the one you most consider yourself to be. "Mutt" is perfectly acceptable, too.



Magic

For those of you who have decided to play a magician, I'm going to need to know a minimum of four characteristics that describe your style of magic.

1. Type: This is basically asking you if you're a full magician, an aspected magician, or an adept (or magician adept). If aspected, be sure to include what your aspect is.

2. Tradition: Hermetic, Shamanic, Wujen, Path Magician, Psychic, blah blah blah.

3. Specialization: Elemental Water, Dragonslayer Totem, The Silent Way, and so on and so forth. If you're a Generalist, list that instead. Note that with as many magicians as we have in this game, specialization is a good thing.

4. School or Paradigm: Black Magic, Norse Magic, Wicca, Unified Magical Theory, and so on and so forth.

If you're not sure what I mean by any of these characteristics, ask! Just about every tradition has a specialization and school or paradigm available, even amongst hermetic mages. The more information you put into describing your magical flavor, the better. Don't be afraid to try new things or create interesting variants of existing characteristics. I'm always willing to help with that, too.

The last thing I want to see is something as dull and uninspired as "dog shaman" or "hermetic mage." I mean, come on... you can do better than that! If you can't, I'm going to have to hurt you. In the bad kinda way, not the good kinda way. YOU GOT THAT?! <shakes his fist in the air>

How about initiation, ally spirits, and all that hullabaloo? I'll get to that in the "Other Resources" section below.



Attributes

All right, now we're getting to some of the more important stuff. How on earth are you supposed to assign your attributes when we're not using any points? The easiest way, and the way I highly recommend, is to first describe your character relative to the quintessential "average everyday man," doing so from a human vs. human perspective. From there, you should be able to assign your base attributes using the following guideline. I'm going to use Strength in all of my examples simply because that's the easiest one to describe.

• 0: You're a complete cripple, wholly unable to move at all.
• 1: If you've ever watched The Simpsons, you'd be on the same level as Mr. Burns.
• 2: You are your average housewife or wageslave; you hardly if ever work out, but you're not a complete wimp either.
• 3: You're your average everyday man; you work out maybe half an hour every month.
• 4: You're pretty fit. Maybe you were a jock in high school, or maybe you're fresh out of bootcamp. Whatever the case, you are in good shape, but you're nothing special.
• 5: You can get away wearing a muscle shirt without looking like a dweeb. Maybe you work in a job where you regularly have to lift and carry moderately heavy loads, or maybe you spend an hour or two a week pumping iron in the garage.
• 6: You work out on a regular basis and strive to keep in shape, or you have a job where you're constantly lifting heavy loads (such as a dockworker). Your about as ripped as your average person is going to be without turning to steroids or being genetically altered or something.

I bet you thought that was it, huh? Well guess again, buddy! In this game, you have the opportunity to go beyond the normal Racial Modified Limits as long as its appropriate for your character. Keep in mind that the following three stats are intended to reflect the rare outlier; people who are off the normal charts.

• 7: You're probably a professional bodybuilder, and maybe you've even been to a few weightlifting competitions. You didn't come in last, that's for sure, but you didn't win the Mr. Universe title either.
• 8: You're about a ripped as you can be for someone of your race. Schwarzenegger in his hayday was probably around an 8.
• 9: You're just freaky strong. Seriously. You've been known to strap a bus to your testicles and pull it to impress the ladies. You didn't impress any of them, but you still managed to pull it off anyway.

Yes, I do know that by the standard rules, Attribute Maximums vary for the various metahuman races. Ignore that. Consider the 1-6 (and 7-9) range as the standard range for all metahumans in this game both mentally and physically.

One, MAYBE two of your base attributes should break the 6 barrier, and you should have at least one or two in the 3 or lower range if you really want to be practical about it. But if you're playing a character who would reasonably have pretty high attributes, run it by me and we'll see how it looks.

Now, once you have all six of your attributes assigned, modify your Physical Attributes by your normal racial modifiers (+1 Body and +2 Strength for dwarves, +1 Quickness for elves, +3 Body and +2 Strength for orks, +5 Body -1 Quickness and +4 Strength for trolls, etc.) while ignoring the Mental Attribute modifiers. If playing a metavariant, use those modifiers instead. When you're done — well, you're done! Yay!



Skills

Second verse, same as the first. Describe your character's expertise and training, then build your skill list based off of that. You can find a good table that describes the various ratings and what they reflect on pages 98-99 of SR3, but because those descriptions kinda suck, I'm going to list my own below.

• 0: You don't have a clue what you're doing.
• 1: Neophyte: You've learned a few of the basics and, if you're in a controlled environment, you could probably pull off some of the easier tasks in your field without goofing up.
• 2: Apprentice: You've got a little experience under your belt and enough to earn a living doing it, though only under the supervision of someone more qualified.
• 3: Journeyman: You are proficient in your field, capable of performing most tasks with a reasonable degree of success. You can earn a living on your own.
• 4: Expert: You've obtained quite a bit of experience in your time, and you can perform most of the simpler tasks without even thinking about them, and you've even picked up quite a bit about the history of your trade.
• 5: Professional: When someone needs something done in your field, chances are they'll hunt you down if they've worked with you in the past. You're good at what you do. Very good.
• 6: Master: You've mastered all of the basics in your field and you've even developed a few techniques of your own design. Your name comes up in professional circles, and you're probably one of the best at what you do in the area.
• 7: Grand Master: Not only have you mastered your trade, but you've used it to do some truly amazing things above and beyond others in your field.
• 8: Best of the Best: You are, without a doubt, one of the most highly skilled people your trade has ever seen. If you were a physicist, your name would be up there with the likes of Einstein, Newton, and Hawkins.

As you may have noticed, I only listed skill ratings up to 8. That's because that's about the highest I'm going to be accepting as far as base skill ratings go. Implants such as Enhanced Articulation or Mnemonic Enhancers, or magical abilities such as Improved Ability or Cognition can increase these ratings, but they only provide extra dice rather than improved skill. It's a superficial difference, but a difference nonetheless.

Note that you may take as many specializations as you like, but your specializations cannot exceed the 8 barrier anymore than your base skill can. But also keep in mind that this "limitation" only exists during character creation. Once the game is up and going and the karma starts rolling in, you'll have the opportunity to improve your character however you see fit, even if it means breaking any of the limitations given here.

Also, feel free to ask me or the other players (via this thread) their opinion on what some of your skill or attribute ratings should be if you're not sure where you should place them. All I ask is that you sincerely try to reflect your character's abilities rather than let that natural tendency to be the best you can be take hold of you. Trust me, I know how hard it is to resist that temptation, but part of the reason I chose you guys was because I was certain you could pull it off.



Contacts

This is probably the one part of character creation where I'm going to give you a more solid set of rules to use. Take your Charisma score, multiply your base Etiquette score by two, and add them together. Your total represents the number of levels of contacts you have to work with. Level 1 contacts cost one point, Level 2 contacts cost two points, and level 3 contacts cost five points.

If you wish to belong to a "gang" (including magical groups, a gypsy clans, or Amerind tribes), that costs three points and everyone in that "gang" is considered a Friend of a Friend (see the Shadowrun Companion for more details on FOFs).

In addition to these contacts, you will receive two completely free contacts of my creation. I will post there stats in the near future, but for now all you need to know is that one is named Anthony Roccamorra, a troll who's effectively your boss and liason with the DIMR, and Edna Kravitz, a dwarven chick serving as your quartermaster. You may increase these two contacts from Level 1 to a higher level by paying the difference with your aforementioned points.

While these rules sound pretty hardcore, they're merely a guideline for you just like everything else here. If you don't have enough points to get all the important contacts you would likely have gained during your career, add a few more. If you can't think of enough contacts, don't worry about it too much. Just be reasonable.

I will expect a complete write-up for each contact you select, however, so don't you even think about just throwing up some lame archetype and expect that to pass. At least give me a name and one paragraph that describes the contact's abilities and experience, and another one describing your relationship with them. Be sure to list their base of operations, too, while keeping in mind that you guys are going to be going global quite a bit.



Equipment

Select only those items you would legimately own yourself. Just as a reminder, here's a quote from my original post in the recruitment thread:

As a quick reference, here's everyone's character concept as of this writing. If major changes are made during the course of the character creation process, I'll probably edit this post to reflect those changes.

PROF. ANDREW "ANDY" JONES
Treasure Hunter (Fomori Hermetic Mage)

Quick Background: As the only son of a neurosurgeon and an English professor at Harvard, Andy had it all as a child -- Irish blood, loving parents, and the best education money could buy -- despite a crippling bone disease caused by his body’s inability to process calcium properly. Unable to play with his friends, Andy instead took up reading and discovered that he had a love for history. At the age of 16, as a total surprise to both him and his parents, Andy spontaneously goblinized into a fomori. Luckily, he had already earned a scholarship to Harvard (thanks in part to his mother's influence as a retired professor there), so there wasn't much they could do to snide him from attending. Along with his goblinization, he also awakened as a mage. As the years rolled by, and thanks to a newfound health via the gift (as he liked to see it) of his transformation into a troll, Andy eventually graduated with a doctorate's degree in history, archeology, thaumaturgy, and spent many of his days out exploring the great unknown. In between adventures, he returns to Boston to teach a few courses on the side. In recent years he has trained himself lightly in combat, because you never know what dangers you face when on a dig, but mostly he focuses on his magic to aid him.

Reason for Recruitment: Normally, Andy's experience and education would have been enough to have the DIMR seek him out to join their little club, but it was a paper he wrote on a strange something or other he discovered in the African jungle that really got their attention. Especially when it was revealed to be a petrified invae cocoon proving that was at least six thousand years old, thus lending evidence of a time of magic in our distant past.

Professional Flaw (Infirm 3): As a child, Andy suffered from a rare bone disease that stunted his physical maturity. His goblinization, when he hit his late teens, helped cure the disease, but to this day he's still not quite as physically adept as other orks. This flaw also includes the Exceptional Attribute and Bonus Attribute Point edges for Intelligence, reflecting how he turned to study and playing on the Matrix while all of his childhood peers were outside playing suburban brawl.

Random Flaw (Ophidiophobia, Mild): Andy has an irrational but mild fear of snakes. They're just icky, dangit!

CORINA "JINX" IULIAN
Former Stunt Driver (Elf Rigger)

Quick Background: Corina had a good thing going until The Cat showed up. She was looking to be adding a few more zeroes onto an already lucrative contract, had a great car, and best of all, Dorin hadn't shown up on her door step in trouble again for over a month. But that was all going to change.

She liked cats, and when a black one tried to cross her path, she tried to avoid it. Normally it would have been an easy task, no problem. But for some reason, her car just couldn't handle the sudden change of direction and went out of control. When she woke up, she was in the hospital, The Cat curled up next to her in bed, having defied all the attempts of the nurses to have it removed.

Getting out of the hospital, nothing went right. Anything electronic she touched simply ceased functioning. Things went out of her way to trip her. Dorin showed up owing more money than ever before. If only he wasn't her brother... She was getting quite a reputation as a jinx.

Reason for Recruitment: DIMR approached her, attempting to claim The Cat. She was more than willing to get rid of it, once they explained to her just what it was. However, The Cat was less than willing. Even when captured, it always managed to free itself, and make it's way back to her, to continue to plague her existance. Giving up on that, they offered her a job so that in addition to acquiring a good rigger, they could keep an eye on The Cat.

Background Flaw (Clumsy, Gremlins, Bad Reputation): The Cat just seems to enjoy making her life miserable.

Random Flaw (Pirate Family): Family can be good...but it seems that her brother, Dorin is always managing to get himself into trouble. And you can't turn down family when they ask for help.

DAVID LLOYD
Former MIT Grad Student in Vehicle Research and Topics in Drones, Robots, and AI (Human Programmer/Rigger)

Quick Background: Born to upper-middle-class parents in Somerville, MA, David was sent to a boarding school run by Renraku in Japan, but returned to MIT&T for college. He spent his time in college drinking far too much espresso and coding in the Diesel Cafe until closing time. After graduating he went to work in the drone research lab and got a nice house in Cambridge with a coworker in the lab to whom he is now engaged.

Reason for Recruitment: David knows his stuff. He is, while not world-class, an unquestionable authority on artificial intelligence of any form, from dumb frames to robots to Semiautonomous Knowbots. In the ever-continuing quest to make magic accessible for mundanes, David builds and rebuilds, programs and reprograms the simulations and software tools that magical researchers use to try to unlock the connection between magic and existing science. With the help of a colleague, he even devised a program to model the flow of mana corruption around a radioactive source that, while deeply flawed, is accepted to be better than any similar effort thus far.

Background Flaw (Day Job analogue): David has become, while not an integral component, an important figure in the day-to-day magical research of the DIMR. He is continually bombarded by requests for this or that piece of software or simulation, this or that feature, or some timesaving program to make the use of computers even more transparent for the technophobes amongst the researchers (while not numerous, they are certainly vocal). While not an obligation per se, David feels a personal responsibility to fulfill these requests and will often choose them over sleep or similar needs.

Random Flaw (Compulsion): David is a compulsive coder. You give him some free time and something to write on, he'll start scribbling out some code. Don't give him something to write on, and he'll start looking for something. Keep him from writing anything, and he'll start calculating powers of two in his head without the math SPU.

JACQUE "SINJIN" SAINT JOHN
Deep Sea Explorer, Oceanographer, Archeologist, Anthropologist, Atlantis Expert (Menehune Hermetic Mage)

Quick Background: Sinjin is a Menehune Dwarf born and raised in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He grew up in the state ran orphanages in the early 30s. He applied himself and worked hard and won a scholarship to the University of Hawaii. It was there that the listless young Dwarf outcast found his true calling. He would find Atlantis. After reading a book about the mythical city Sinjin felt a deep spiritual awakening. This coincided with the awakening of his magical powers.

Reason for Recruitment: For years Sinjin has searched the depths of the ocean looking for Atlantis. He has used every mean magical and technological to find the ancient city. He has published a number of papers on drowned cities and ancient civilizations in general. Last year while on a dive in the med, he made his greatest discovery. An ancient temple guarded by a great serpent. The battle was as surprising as it was fierce, but when it was over, Sinjin was still standing. After exploring the temple he found an ancient document that was perfectly preserved. The language on the document has thus far defied translation, nor has the materiel it is written on been carbon dated or even identified. Sinjin is confident that the document is from the Lost City.

Background Flaw (Pacifism): Sinjin is an academic, an adventure for sure, as well as a powerful hermatic mage, but still an academic. Violence just doesn’t cross his mind as a way to solve a problem. Though he can defend himself and others if the need be.

Random Flaw (Curiosity): Buttons, levers, switches, knobs, toggles, dials, these things BEG to be turned, pulled, pushed, thrown and otherwise moved.

PRESTON CHASE
"Freelance Internal/External Security Consultant and Personal Expeditor" (Human Mercenary)

Quick Background: Preston was born and raised outside of Worcester, MA. His mother died during child birth. His father was a retired UCAS Marine commander. Preston was raised on warstories. He attended a good prep school on a military scholarship and as graduation neared was urged by a friend of the family to forego standard military life and sign up with Ares. This friend of the family happened to be an instructor for the famed FireWatch units and old Marine buddy of Preston's father. Strangely enough, his father approved ("This man's Corps ain't the same nowadays." and "If yer gonna put your ass on the line for some REMFers might as well be fer some REMFers that'll pay to have it replaced fer ya.")

Taking the advice, Preston went to Boston College where he majored in Psychology with a minor in History. All on Ares' dime. After graduation he "enlisted" with Ares' paramilitary per the rules of his scholarship for a 6 year "tour". Three quarters of the way through his Officer's Canditate School training the Chicago Incident occured. He was offered a one time deal: advanced training and a cancelation of the tour length if he agreed to serve for as long as the CZ was inplace. Preston accepted. He was later attached to (but not actually a member of) a FireWatch unit charged with various seek and destroy missions against the Bugs and the occasional human warlord within the CZ.

When the CZ went down and his "tour" was up, Preston did a stint on the indy circuit and bounced around from global hot spot to global hot spot with a variety of mercenary units. DIMR found out about him form the same friend of the family that suggested he join up with Ares. wink.gif

Reason for Recruitment: Every corp needs men with special talents. Preston came highly recomended. Despite alleged differences in opion between the higher ups of Ares and DIMR, the latter realized that there is a need for highly trained individuals with certain hard to find skill sets.

Background Flaw (Dossier on File): There was ork named Max Steele in Preston's unit durning the CZ. He was charged with and latter imprisoned for aiding several warlords during the incident. He has since escaped custody and strongly desires a chance to discuss Preston's testimony with him....Muw-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Random Flaw (Compulsion): Preston's time in the CZ has left him with a compulsion to..um, well, kill insects of any sort should the opportunity present itself. [GM Note: We gotta work on a better random flaw, dude. ]

REMBRANDT QUADESH
Dragon Hunter (Ork Negamage)

Quick Background: Born to a poor family in the Trollkönigreich Schwarzwald, Rembrandt and his twin sister grew up strong and proud in a community of sustenance farmers. One harsh and punishing summer when nothing green came from the hard, dry soil, he and his sister Anath sought an audience with the landlord to beg for an extension on their family's rent. The great, fat slob of a man laughed at them and instead of granting their wish threatened to triple the rent of all the farmers to punish their lazy ways. Bravely, Anath spat upon his piggish face, only to have the man roar and erupt into a dragon, swallowing her in a single bite. The following second a great blast of fire engulfed Rembrandt, who, much to the surprise of everyone present, including himself, sucked the flames inside his body and soul like a powerful tornado. In that moment of hesitation, he grabbed the gun of a nearby bodyguard and shot the scaly monster in its eye. As it fell dead, he escaped in the ensuing chaos.

Reason for Recruitment: Rembrandt arrived in Denver to aid the fight against Ghostwalker. It was during a pitched battle with one of the attacking Wyverns that he was struck by the beast’s poisonous barb. While he defeated it, he knew death was not far for him, though he was surprised by how beautiful she was. When next he awoke, the sterile walls of a bleeding edge hospital surrounded him. It was there that a representative of the Draco Foundation informed him of his situation, and of his contractual agreement.

It seems this particular Wyvern had manifested a powerful paratoxin, which now coursed through his veins. Without continuous injections of anti-venom, he would die. Worse, the Wyvern he had almost killed was the only source of this serum. The Foundation agreed to keep the creature alive in return for ten years of service, which was effectively the rest of his life by averages. Rembrandt often wanders down the dark stairs, through the thick steel doors, along the long narrow corridors, and to the room over looking the Wyvern’s prison where he watches the steady rise and fall of the creature’s chest. He watches and wonders what god or gods planned this twist of fate.

Background Flaw (Serum Requirement): The use of the serum has induced a vulnerability to Wyvern venom as well.

Random Flaw (Aviophobia): Flying in planes is by far the worst form of transport to Rembrandt; the horrible shaking and swaying, the roaring engines, and the flimsy wings make it all the more like traveling in the belly of a devil beast. A flask of alcohol is always in his hand for such trips in the flying sardine cans. Well to be honest, a flask of alcohol is always near to him.

<reserved space>

Okay, before you begin you guys might want to hash out a "pecking order" for the group. Who's going to be specializing in what, what role you each will serve on the team (leader, face, recon, etc.) and all that stuff.

I would prefer all characters (when I ask for them) to be sent to me via email in plain text format. You should be able to just cut-and-paste it straight into the mail. Do try and make it presentable and easy to read, please; aesthetics may garner you a bonus Karma Pool point or two. And, for the love of god, if any of you send me an NSRCG web page... well, you don't wanna do that. Trust me.

I am out of breath reading through all that

I had to print it out, reading that much from paper is easier on the eyes.

Oh quit your bitching.

Dude, its 13 pages printed out.

Then be happy I decided to go freeform. You wouldn't wanna see my guidelines if it were a more structured form of character creation, buddy!

Oh, and for those who need to talk to me personally but don't know how to get in touch with me beyond here, you can pester me at any of the following locales:

AIM: Necrotic Monkey
Yahoo!: feed_my_funkenstein (I'm usually invisible, but almost always online even when I'm afk; just say hi and see how it fares)

If you don't have either of those services, just lemme know which one you do and I'll set up an account or something. You damn lazy bastard.

It wasn't all that long.

Doc: is Rich Text Format ok? I typically make a decent amount of use of bolding and tabbing for layout reasons.

~J

Sure, but I may mock you and your Macintosh ways because of it. Oh who am I kidding? I'd do that anyway.

It wasn't super long, but it is chocked full on information.

On to Sinjin. He is going to be a hermetic mage, his specialty will be water related. He will probably have one or two spells with combat applications. However if we are on, near or close to water he will be of infinite usefulness.

Hush, you

Any guidelines on edges and flaws? Also, since there's no direct benefit from it in freeform chargen, can we take incompetencies in skills we don't have?

~J

I knew there was going to be something I forgot. I just knew it.


Edges & Flaws

Basically, choose whichever edges and flaws best reflect your character. It's that simple. You can ignore all of the ones that grant a bonus Attribute point or increase your Racial Modified Limit since neither of those are really going to do anything for you with these house rules, though the ones that lower your maximum ratings (like Infirm) are still in play.

If you need some kind of guidance, try not to go over five edges and/or five flaws, and try to keep them within five points of each other. Again, that's just a guideline. And, also again, I want to emphasis that you should only pick those edges and flaws that are genuinely appropriate to your character. Edges like Ambidexterity and Pain Resistance should be exceedingly rare, for instance, but if it fits the character (as opposed to how you desperately would love to see the character) -- go for it.

Oh, and sure, feel free to cook up alternative edges and flaws or variations thereof. I'm totally hip. Same goes for skills, martial arts, etc. If it's reasonable, chances are I'll let it in.

Cool, Ill have to think up some really crazy edges.
Like -

Aptitude: Sea Shell identification
The character with this edge is so adept at identifying sea shells, he can tell you what part of the world below they are from.

Now that's just frivilous. But if you want it, I'm cool with it.

That does remind me of another houserule, however. I allow everyone to take a maximum of ONE Aptitude edge. The trick is, only one person in the group can have an Aptitude in any single skill. That means even if you have three magicians, only one of you can have an Aptitude in Sorcery. The Aptitude also doesn't have to be in your friend of expertise -- it's an natural aptitude, afterall, but not necessary an aptitude for what you like to do.

So if you want one, speak up and claim yours. If more than one of you want the same one, fight it out.

I didn't think it was that long.

A few things: Preston's current background doesn't reflect that he has a prison record. What I meant in the Quick BG was that the Ork went to prison--it was supposed to be "Hunted" or "Extra Enemy." Since enemies rarely come into play in DS games I can offer two solutions that might be to your liking:

1) A variation on Prison Record. I think I saw it here somewhere, "(Corp) Military Record." It similar--there's a big file with Preston's name on it somewhere at Ares but he doesn't have to check in with anyone.

2) I can alter his background (and toy with some skills) to reflect Preston was the one that allegedly aided the warlord (I haven't deciced yet ). I don't like the idea of him sitting in jail for the past 4 years or so but your the boss. Tell me what you want. I'd perfer that he did some globe trotting while trying to aviod the Ares/UCAS authorities but was eventually captured. DIMR arranged for his release on the condition that he work for them...bla, bla, bla...indentured servitude...bla, bla, bla...You get the idea.

Either way Doc, I'll set up for whatever you perfer.

On the topic of Edges and Flaws: Can I take "Apptitude: Linguistics," or something similar? I was thinking that inorder to be of a little more use to the team, Preston would be a wiz with languages and since we don't actually have BPs I could finally have a character that is well traveled and speaks more than 2 languages proficiently.

Oh, and I'll come up with a better "quirk" flaw.

One more thing, was there a deadline in those 13 pages?

Edit: after reading this, I'm leaning towards option 2 since it sounds kinda cool and option 1 sounds pretty lame out loud. (it sounded like such a good idea in my head...)

Group Questions:

1) Have we worked together before?
2) If "yes," for how long? Do we know eachother well?
3) If "no," have we at least met before? (Company mixer or some such?)
4) Do any of us have mutual histories? Do we want to?
5) I don't want to be the boss. Who does? Who's Qualified? Does that matter?

Post #1:

1) Sorry, I musta misread that part. But the lesser variant I think you're looking for is called Dossier On File. It's a -4 point flaw found in State of the Art:2064 which is basically what you described; your record on file.

2) No, it's fine. It was my mistake. But if you wanna redo parts of your background, go for it.

3) No, no deadline.

4) Did I miss anything?

Post #2:

1) Yes.

2) At least a few missions in the past, and up to a year or two for some of you. I'll let you each decide how long you've been a member of the team.

3-5) That's for you guys to decide, obviously.

Fine. Tomorrow night.

And you know, sure, I'll allow Aptitude: Linguistics. I like that. I'd probably consider it for a few other grouped skills, too, like Build/Repair and things like that. Run it by me if you're interested.

Well Rembrandt's join date is pretty set from his story, becoming an employee of the DIMR somewhere soon after January 28th 2061.

However, unless the character [meaning any one of your characters] has a reason to know the truth, the justification for his "partnership" is a simple business arrangement, services for money.

His skills as a negamage make him a useful bodyguard and a good Toxic or Blood hunter, but his mannerisms and such don't lend themselves to general leadership.

David Lloyd will probably have a few points (3 at most) in Gunnery and then a crapload more points in "Crazy MIT Prototypes That No One Will Ever Use" specialization, but he'll at least have a jumping-off point for future combat applicability. Personal combat, though, he'll be useless in. Just don't meet him on the Matrix…

So are things like Aptitude: Sorcery or Aptitude: Computers going to be allowed?

*Angst angst angst*

~J

A-yup. If people diversify enough, I might even have my arm twisted to where you could apply them to entire subsets of skills (Vehicle, Technical, Magical, Ranged Combat, Melee Combat, Social, Physical, Knowledge, Linguistic, etc.). You guys are supposed to be the best of the best in your respective fields, afterall.

Sinjin could certainly be a leader, the Kahuna has ben leading projects in the field for ten years. From deep see exploration of the Marianas Trench to escavations of ancient ruins in the Persian Gulf.

He is a hermetic who is equally adept at Conjuring and Sorcery, though he has an afinity for water stuff.

Lloyd could not be the leader, not at the beginning of the game. Not unless you want to program some cool stuff while sitting at home in comfort.

~J

A couple of you have mentioned that you're having some trouble gauging the proper "level" you should be aiming for while designing your character. To help, I'm going to try and put a sample character together sometime tomorrow after I get some sleep and, hopefully, that'll help give you an idea of what I'm looking to see you guys aim for. Cool? Cool.

*Thumbs up*

~J

If we get the group aptitudes, Vehicles would be the one for me.

OLIVER SINCLAIR
Former Secret Service Agent (Dwarf Bodyguard)

As a refresher, here is Oliver's original concept...

Some quick answers to questions that've come up in order to help everyone:

Adept Magicians & Initiation: While in my live games I generally just have adept magicians initiate like any other magician, here we're going to use the wording used in Magic in the Shadows. Ignore the FAQ. Basically, each grade of initiation gives an adept magician +1 Magic (and the resulting +1 Power Point) PLUS the option to choose from an ADDITIONAL Power Point OR a Metamagic Technique. In other words, you get either one metamagic and one power point per grade, or two power points. Your choice. Other limitations apply as per standard initiation rules.

Background Skills: As per the optional rules in SR3, you are automatically assumed to have the Background Skill for any skill (Active or otherwise) equal to that skill -3. So if you have Pistols 6, you are also assumed to have Pistols Background 3. Feel free to upgrade any if you think its appropriate, and to do so you simply have to list it on your sheet with the new rating. Otherwise the assumption of this rule is in place.

Martial Arts Maneuvers: I don't like the idea that you *have* to learn a martial art in order to learn to use a maneuver with a melee skill. It's simply retarded. If you have a few maneuvers that you want to learn with a melee skill, follow the same general guidelines and let common sense be your guide as to which maneuvers are available with that base melee skill. If you're interested in a martial art who's sole benefit is that it allows you to learn maneuvers with certain melee skills, recommend a replacement benefit.

I'll be editing this post with future additions as they crop up (as well as later in the thread; this post will just be the "warehouse" for all of them), so keep an eye on it.

He works for DIMR like us? And his ride is almost 20 years old? I may have to ask for a payrate increase...

The design is apparently 20 years old (that's the model name), I guess, but it's a relatively new car, you bastard. And yes, he "works for the DIMR like you" in that he's an example.

Got it.

It helps seeing that. By comparison what I was working was slightly underpowered...we'll just go fix that.

Time for a character update!

How is everyone coming along, and how far along are all of you? Have you hashed out a pecking order yet or worked on any kind of strategies you may have developed (I already know the answer to this based upon this thread -- consider this question more of a "nudge" for you to maybe work on that some)?

When you get the time, I wouldn't mind seeing character descriptions posted. That's what the third post in this thread is "reserved" for, just so you know. I'll compile all the descriptions and shove 'em up there so that you guys will have an easy frame of reference.

Oh, also, are you guys going to be okay with sharing your character stats with everyone else? I figure in an online environment, it'll help everyone to know exactly what everyone else is capable of and I know you're all mature enough to keep OOC information OOC so that's not really a concern to me. But these are your characters, so if you want to keep them private for whatever reason you have, I'll respect that.

EDIT: One last thing... if you guys like, you can start compiling a list of "standard issue" gear Edna Kravitz will typically dish out for most of your missions. You know, things like Weapons and Ammunition, Personal Comm Units, Sustaining/Anchoring Foci, Charms, and stuff like that. If one of you can do me a favor and take up the reigns on this particular part, compile all the information, and send it to me in one post, I'd really appreciate that, too.

I don't have a problem posting stats as long as its cool with everyone else.

As far as pecking order, Prston's probably pretty far down the line unless there's actual combat. His linguistic skills aside, he's pretty much a gunbunny.

While we're talking about that, is anyone's character an arrogant ass or something? I only ask b/c if that's the case, I'd like to avoid a page or so of OOC discussion about "...its not me! Its my character!"

My vote for leader (if we are voting) goes to either Andy or Sinjin.

Doc, I can get numbers to you sometime early this week unless you really need them sooner.

I'm in no particular rush. I'd just like to know where everyone's at, that's all. I still have some plotting to do myself, truth be told... <flashes an ever-so-innocent grin>

And how about the rest of the stuff I asked about, punk?

I should have a draft of the character for review by the other players this evening, finalized version hopefully in a few days. Character description I may have up tonight, depending on inspiration.

Strategies. Well, I can't go too much into those without knowing more about the specific directions the characters are going in, I think…

Regarding gear, what sort of gear would you consider appropriate standard issue gear? For instance, what would Edna loan Sinclair for most missions?

~J

That's where I want your guys help. What kind of gear do you think you would typically want or need for most missions? Edna can potentially get her hands on anything you need within reason, including magical gear like Anchoring Foci for use with the mundanes amongst you.

Personal Comm Units are almost a guaranteed "duh" item. Everything else is pretty much up to all of you to decide on. I'll be working on the specialty equipment you'll need for specific missions as opposed to the stuff you all typically request.

Cyberdecks, Remote Control Decks, and foci like standard Power Foci are the types of things she wouldn't be supplying you. Vehicles, drones, and the like will be considered specialty gear for most missions, though you may have one or two of each that you typically like to request (especially the latter). For example, a Mini-Blimp tweaked out for recon work.

I would have personally thought that something like a cyberdeck would have been something supplied by the DIMR as opposed to owned individually by a character. I can deal either way, though

Utilities would likely be issued where appropriate, but that is coming from the same assumption as above, so take this with a grain of salt. Other than that:

Survival gear, medical/first aid equipment, bartering goods (assault rifles to trade with the rebels if we went to the Yucatan, for instance; I'm assuming the DIMR wouldn't go for the Azzies), expendables, mission-specific equipment, certified cred/false SINs/licenses (valid or not)/contacts as required…

More if and when I think of it.

~J

Well, they can certainly help you get one cheap and give you all the access you need to top of the line hosts and facilities if you want to build your own (hence why it's something you want to have as your own gear), as opposed to something you return after every mission (what we're talking about here).

But the latter stuff you listed is what I'm talking about, yes. Just your standard requests, so survival gear is probably not going to be included in that. Standard weapons and ammo, standard expendable fetishes, anchoring foci, sustaining foci, communications gear, and stuff like that is what I'm talking about. IDs, cash, and the like will be at the DIMRs descretion in most cases.

Aaaah. Stuff that we'd be specifically requesting, rather than stuff that they'd be giving out as a basic part of the mission?

And actually yes, I was originally assuming I'd be turning a DIMR deck back over to them at the end of every mission

~J

Pretty much, yeah. But okay, sure, if you're going to be returning it consider that a standard request item. Ditto for remote decks and anything else you wouldn't keep around yourself.

I was gonna PM this but given our open door policy I thought I'd just post it here for everybody. I was thinking about Preston's "quirk" flaw, let me know what you thinkg b/c its still a work in progress.

Flaw (Nightmares? Compulsion?): Preston was forced to kill a young (7-10 yr old) child that was posessed by a bug spirit ("...The lab techs at Ares told me it was a 'good merge' and I did the right thing, but...") and it fragged him up--think 28 Days Later. What do you think? Is it too selective? What would the penalties be?

Satwise: Gimme a few days. I'm still trimming the fat from this no BP system.

I'd say it's a combination of Dark Secret and Flashbacks. Just find a suitable trigger for the event (not common enough to leave you crippled on a regular basis, but common enough that it might conceivably come up some time), and I think you'll have a pretty decent flaw.

It's still not quite what I was hoping to see for Random Flaws, but that's all right.

And, yeah, I apologize for this freeform experiment. If I knew you guys were going to have this much trouble with it I probably would have worked something else out. I just thought I'd leave the doors wide open so that you wouldn't have to worry about any artificial limits and could thus build your character up the way they deserved to be. Oh well.

Yer killing me here.

Free form = too much rope.

Hence my apology. For the trigger, just go with "upon seeing a fleshform spirit in the, well, flesh" or something. That would work for me.