That was one helluva scene guys. Very believable and engaging. Well done, both of you. Chrysalis .... man I am glad you aren't turning that on me Hodder.

Hi Peter,

Which one? The second post was originally going to be way more adult themed, but it was in contravention with the terms of dumpshock, so this one was used instead.

Ditto

Well, the whole lead up and climax worked for me. That's alright about details. A little imagination can fill in the blanks.

*Walks in with a bag full of peanuts*

Thanks Pete. That was all Laurie.

Aww thanks. I needed to blow off some steam. It was fun to write too.

You guys should read the un-edited version.

It was quite steamy...

So was my fill-in imagination.

Double-triple-quadruple cross. Woohoo!

Wow! Incredible! Your thread just became mandatory reading for my n00b group! as they are starting out street level, I think it will give them a feel for what you can do once you are a prime runner.

Great characters and vivid descriptions make this an enjoyable read.

Hey guys.

Thanks for the encouragement. This story has been fun to roleplay and to write since the get go. I wish it was possible for you guys to read some of Chrysalis's writing that is not allowed to be posted on Dumpshock, for valid reasons. [Then again. Imagination is a wonderful thing.]

Laurie and I finished roleplaying this scene out earlier in the evening and I have to say Vera really shines as a deep, psychological character who constantly keeps you guessing on her actions and thought process.

-Cheers,
Agape.

Update coming soon. IRC is so much faster for conflict situations than posting.

If you have to censor yourself a bit because of DSF, you could always "blogg" the story instead.
I dunno, just saying.

New update up. SincereAgape and I agonized over it for too long. Enjoy.

I wonder what happens next?

Throwing AR money on the table. Nice touch.

I liked the looking in the teacup and seeing two spiders fighting over a dead fly.

Yes, I liked that too, but I have come to expect that level of allegory from you guys. Forgive me for being jaded by your talent.

what further allegory did we add?


I know about the eyes of Galloway, but I can't think of much else...

In general, not just this thread.

:Thumbs up to Pete:

I betcha this wasn't what he had in mind when he thought of being fucked to within an inch of his life by the likes of Vera.

Vera is doing some mad pushing of Ari's buttons. I wonder when will he snap? Or collapse?

In the words of Robin Williams: Divorce, from the Latin to rip off a man's genitals through his wallet.

More chocolate? Of course! I followed this story closely, and both enjoyed the story itself and gained insight into Vera, who plays with a character of mine elsewhere.

At the same time, I am jealous of the time SincereAgape has been spending with Chrysalis. My poor Professor is aching to know what horror is about to happen in Washington. Come back to me Chrysalis. I need you.

Yeah. Been a lucky dude. Chrysalis is a top notch roleplayer and an even cooler person.

Actually thinking of running a follow up story, with room for 1-3 more PC's joining Vera. Street level, roleplaying based, with conceptual characters, amongst other things.

*GM commentary to follow*

What was your inspiration for Vera?

Vera was created back in 2008 for another Play-by-Post game. The game itself never really took off, except for a little while, but as SincereAgape was going to start DOTA I thought I would bring in the character. Vera was primarily inspired by a character called Emily from Desolation Jones, she had the arachinid effect. In short she was such a vamp hormonally men would try to run away from he. It’s kind of what started me off.

However, instead I made a very good social person. I am not a big fan of magic, so I wanted to see how far I could push the enhancement aspect.

How has Vera developed during the course of NTAE?

Vera is pretty much how I describe her above at the starts of NTAE. As she progresses, she realises there are people who cannot be swayed by sexuality and perhaps who can be, but are not themselves dangerous. She makes them dangerous. At the end there are indications that Vera has conscience if not a sense of morals.

When did you notice you had a following?

Peter had placed up a thread on Welcome to the Shadows called Peanut Gallery: Never Trust an Elf 2072. Several other people posted and to be honest, I hadn’t even seen the thread before something or someone directed my eye to it. That was when I noticed there was a following for the game. It’s a small following, but nice to have fans.

What inspired you to write an interview?

At the moment things are not looking that good at work. I have no idea if I will be still working in the next four days or not. It has been one of my main motivations on writing. Something to blow out steam. As you may or may not know, Libya does not have much in terms of social activities and I have really gone from a socialite to a hermit. It has been very frustrating to be honest.

What was your favourite scene in NTAE?

I would have to say the one where I wrote about Vera’s alterego, Jennifer and about her date with Galloway. It really had a more romantic twist to it. The R rated version, which maybe can be seen in the uncut version will come later.

I think that the second one I wrote which so much shorter. It kind of dropped out a lot of information and changed the ambiance. But on the other hand, it did make it too much of a porno and I think that would have weighted it and relegated it from a Shadowrun story to a wank story.

What do you think made NTAE unique?

I think what made NTAE unique was that SincereAgape gave me a lot of freedom with many of the scenes. There was a lot of trust from him to me in writing and occasionally rewriting scenes so that they were consistent and evocative. Some of the scenes are based on chat transcripts which have molded. Others we would meet online and would simply to each “posted!”

NTAE was quite combat and mechanics light, do you have any recommendations to other GMs and players.

One of my recommendations is really, really think hard about rolls and mechanics. If it makes sense to keep it, keep it, if it does not, remove it. Most of the combat was between NPCs which meant that it was painless. When you have 4 people across the globe reacting in 3 second intervals in-game, it just doesn’t work, even on IRC a simple combat with multiple NPCs can take hours. On Play-by-Posts that can take weeks easily. So think hard about what rules to insert into effect.

Are there future plans for NTAE?

SincereAgape wants to run another game, but this time with 1-3 other players. My own plan is to write it up as a story and submit it to DDH.

What were some of the undercurrents in NTAE?
I think one of the undercurrents or subtexts, is ”what is a Shadowrunner’s conscience and when does it take hold?”, there was also quite a lot with Galloway who transmitted a lot of information through his eyes, which really made him central to the plot. He was really a mark, temptation, and ultimately the saviour of Vera.

Anything funny in NTAE?
Three NPCs: ”a Soak with Sponge and Bubbles”. Only at the last minute did we realise they were all descriptors for bath products.

GM Commentary.

What was the motivation behind running the story?

Chrysalis had run a solo arc for a character of mine while I was playing her "Behind the Shadows" campaign during the spring and summer. It was a neat side-story that had some nice roleplaying elements to it. In the middle of the summer I decided to give online game mastering a try. There were a few players that I had in mind for the game before hand, and Chrysalis was one of them. Knowing that she was in Libya for the coming months, thus not having any source of gaming for awhile, I decided to return the favor to her and run a solo module for Vera.

How did previous Shadowrun mythos influence the story for NTAE 2072?

1. The name of the story is based off an old Shadowrun novel called "Never Trust an Elf" by Robert N. Charrette. It is one of my favorite books of the Shadowrun paperback novel line and I think the title was fitting for the events which unfolded in the story.

2. The story drew from the events which unfolded in the Shadowrun 4th Edition Introductory Adventure "On the Run" by Robyn King-Nitchke. Despite the adventure being heavily criticized by Shadowrun fans, I really enjoyed the it, especially the individual scenes and some of the characters. Delphia, the BTL junkie in Never Trust an Elf was taken from the book and placed in Vancouver on behalf of the story. As was Ari Tarkasian and the plot to obtain the optical disc. In some ways, the plot behind Never Trust an Elf 2072 is a aftermath of "On the Run."

3. Harrison Dane, one of Vera's contacts, is based off a character from Mel Odom's "Run Hard Die Fast" novel.


Who is Thomas Galloway?

Thomas Galloway is a symbol of redemption in the Shadowrun universe. The entire premise behind the man is that he was once a ruthless business man who smothered the dreams of others for his own personal gain. He was your typical cut-throat, corporate, Gordon Gecko type figure. Eventually he realized what he was doing. When he met with Vera, he was in the process of the inward change from corporate player to a benevolent being. Thus it is ironic that the moral change in the character was eventually taken away because of corporate greed.

The person himself is inspired by one of my favorite actors, Matthew Marsden. Over the years I have watched a lot of his movies and have admired the charisma and mannerisms Marsden uses to portray a lot of his roles. Some of my favorite roles of his was playing Prince Paris for the Helen of Troy television movie, Schoolboy in John Rambo, and Maximillian Marsh in Dead or Alive.

Who is Kyle Hotshida?

He originally started off as a typical Japanese middle management business man with a hidden agenda. However, interacting with Vera started to flesh the character out, as he became Vera's allies in the story. Morally, he is still a business man at heart, thus the bottom line is the main issue with him. He turned out to be a professional Johnson and one of the few males in the story who was able to resist Vera's sexual advances. During the story, he takes a liking to Vera as a professional.

Why did the story take place in Vancouver?

Over the summer I visited British Columbia with some friends and absolutely fell in love with the city. It is gorgeous. The weather is perfect, the city is surrounded by mountains, there are beaches, hiking trails, bike trails, coves, forests, and a fantastic downtown area all within twenty minutes of each other. The night life is pleasant, and the people were really nice. Every location used in the story; Chinatown, Grandville Island, Gastown, etc are real locations in the city, and were hopefully brought to life to the reader.

Favorite scenes in NETA?

All of them! If I had to choose the top two it would have to be the introduction of Thomas Galloway and attack by the Ari Tarkasian's bodyguards in the Yacht's VIP cabins. Galloway shooting the necrophiliac elf and Vera squishing the head of the perverted elf were highlights for me. The story did not have much action or dice rolling, but when it did I believe it really added to the story instead of taking away from it.

How did you approach NETA?


With a realistic mindset. Most of my stories tend to have over the top characters, tons of action, beautiful people, and un-natural dialogue. I grew up reading comic books and watching 80s movies so those two source of fiction have greatly influenced my creative thinking.

The NPCs in this story had real personalities, having elements you could run into during every day life. The dialogue during the story was much more fluid then in most of my pieces of work (Thanks in part to the roleplaying which took place). The story took on a life of it's own. As a GM I was more reactive then proactive, which is usually a good sign for a solid session.


Why should I read NETA?

Because it has everything! A believable, sexy, and interesting main character. A decent plot. Nice character development. Romance, action, suspense, betrayal, money, sex, music, elves dying, fabulous settings, and pink mohawkism. In my opinion Never Trust an Elf 2072 is a different kind of Shadowrun story, from a lot of what fourth edition portrays. The story structure was a throwback to the Nigel D. Findley days, wonder what he would have been able to do with a character like Vera?

It's a street level story, which focuses on the social aspects of Shadowrun over the combat, matrix, or magic.

What's next?

Hopefully another story! I would love to RP a street level mission for the Vera again and possibly throw in a few other creative writers as well. The story will be another socially based adventure, and build off the relationships and characters who were developed in Never Trust an Elf 2072. I have already began to think about a general plot and a few scenes for the upcoming story. Depending on how our individual schedules look, another story maybe starting in Novemeber.

One that will use the matrix and incorporate more Shadowrun street and high society elements. I also plan to challenge Vera and her possible fellow runners with higher threat levels, and a deeper plot.

Thank you so much for having a border collie in the story!

You're welcome!

My favorite breed of dogs, Border Collie. Worked on a farm for a little bit during college, I loved spending time with the Collie's they had on sight.

My older border collie is at the vet, recuperating after an operation. Seems that earlier today he figured out how to open the cage. They found him wandering about, pulling the intravenous tube and bag around behind him.

In the NTE II story line, SincereAgape, you talk about Victoria Island. Do you mean Vancouver Island? There is a Victoria Island offshore of Lagos, and I wonder if that is creeping into this story from the other game.

Peter, you would be correct. I did mean Vancouver Island, and its lovely capital of Victoria. Between the capitol of British Columbia and the University of Victoria where a friend attended, managed to mix up the two names.

Heh. Could you tell I've played a bit of 40K in my past?

I like Icarus!

Thanks pb. He does his best to be totally professional when dealing with the Johnsons, but inside he's still a 20-something man-child.