Tom has Charisma 6, Ettiquette 6, Negotiations 6, Leadership 4, Interrogation(Verbal) 4(6), Good Looking & Knows it, and Friendly Face...

The only possible problem is that he's fairly young (25), it just depends on if you're willing to follow him. Also I've not bought my share of a team lifestyle yet if we're getting one.

I'll have my char sheet in by tomorrow evening (afternoon US time), pretty mad weekend and the less said about it the better

I decided I'm going to take a SIN though, but I don't think she has the background skills to justify owning the business. Ideally I think the owner is going to need skills in accounting, management and leadership, not to mention the worlds supply of contacts.

Au contrare mon frare.
Modern SR business can easily rely on a pocket secretary to run the business aspect. Besides in EVERY detective movie I've seen, the pi is on the verge of bankrupcy, seems to me if anything if the owner has accounting, they should have the ineptitude flaw for it, just my .02.

Fair point I guess

Just noticed, there doesn't seem to be a location for this campaign, so I figure we're in Seattle right?

Somewhere there, yes. It all depends on where you guys want to place the office.

Oh yes, Tom has an Economics knowledge skill of 4, which I took to mean accounting. I took the skill to be able to look over books and spot discrepancies but I suppose it would be useful for helping run our business too.

If it's OK with Nikoli I'm going to make-up my character again (without the corrupt .sr3 file) and maybe include my share of an office lifestyle for us.

The question is: What do we want lifestyle-wise? Throwing together something from the SSG:
Area: Middle (Nice Business district, Squatter to live in a run-down area)
Comforts: Low (Electricity, Water, and a Soycaf machine)
Entertainment: Low (Matrix access, Stereo, Phone&Fax, Trideo in the lounge)
Furnishings Low (Chairs, Desk, Coat/Hat stand, Sofa)
Security: High (Good locks, security cameras, contract with security firm)
Space: High (Separate offices, waiting room, basement for lab gear)

That comes to just under a middle lifestyle at 4350 /month. Technically with High securyty we should get Ares Sentinel perimiter drones (the ones with armor 12 that run round on tracks) but I think they can stay out of sight to keep the whole thing noir.

Like I said, if you want a custom lifestyle for the office, just make it up, however don't pick the edge/flaws, just tell me how many points you are getting, I'll choose them and we'll rp the discovery out.

Well, looks like Tom is the clear choice. By team lifestyle, do you mean the office, or that we live together?

I figure that lifestyle is on the north side of renton somewhere... Close enough to Bellvue, Council Island, and Downtown to pick-up some custom from rich rich dames and the like.

Been a rough week, so I hope I haven't been left in the dust here.

Making my character up right now, had a question about play style. Seems with a lot of people, a PI agency might have more than one case at a time. Are you going to be presenting cases to us, then we split up the team as we need to? Could be we could take on more than one case at a time if so...

It'll be one case at a time. I dislike splitting a team up more than I have to. And no, DH, you're more than welcome to throw you're hat in the ring. just send the file to the previously mentioned email addy and I'll go over it with you. once I receive the last of these characters, that'll close the casting.
And, Unless DH can beat you out for ownership Lilt, you get to name the agency. Btw guys, some character background would be nice, try to explain why your character chose the thankless life of a private eye, why didn't they turn to running, etc. Does your character drink, smoke, chip btl's to escape the drudgery, chase the skirt down the hall...

Also, I'm not seeing a lot of discussion concerning skills etc.
I'd like to stress a few things, 1, you get to set the prices, if the client doesn't like it, they can walk or you can lower. 2, You are an existing 'team', you all know each other, work together, etc. 3, I wasn't planning this to be CSI:SR, it's The two jakes, 8mm, Bladerunner, etc. You generally will not be dealing with hot crime scenes, but, if everyone wants to make those type of characters, that's cool and I'll work those skills in.

As far as skills go, Greg Vimes specializes in computers and electronics. He also has pistols, ettiquette, cyber-implant combat, chemistry, demolitions, Japanese, forensics, data brokerage, and some computer-related knowledge skills. He can make combat drugs for you guys if you want. Mainly though he's a decker.

Greg Vimes is a private investigator because he enjoys it, pure and simple. He displays little emotion, spends a lot of time on the matrix, and seems to have little life outside of his job and the matrix. He is a human with a shaven head to keep his 2 datajacks unobscured, and he generally wears a trench coat, armored vest, and fedora. He is very intelligent, gets slightly agitated when he hasn't been in the matrix in a long time, and loves learning secrets.

Gil Stokes is a drek hot forensics investigator, if the physical evidence is there, he'll find it. Biology, magic, forensic medicine, biotech, security procedures.

He studiously avoids combat, although he can hold his own in a firefight. You are just as likely to see him in a suit or in a pair of coveralls. He is a detective and an investigator, he leaves the heavy lifting to others better qualified. Discretion and finesse.

Nikoli: I sent you a revised char. Changed the name and moved some Knowledge Skill points around.

Jack Marshall's been around the detective business for ages. You want a timeframe reference? He was a beat cop during the Night of Rage. They don't come much more aged than that. Problem is, Jack didn't like the way the 'Star was headed. He couldn't stand being a rent a cop in a land of no morals. That's ok, the Star didn't much like him either. So, they've parted ways, and that's fine by Jack.

He's the type that can fade into the background, get a nice feel for a place. You need someone who's been around long enough that he knows people and can handle himself in just about any situation 'long as he's got his Magnum and a smile? Then you need Jack.

Much of this would have been in the NSRCG 20 questions i was sending Nikoli, but I just realised that the 20 questions are actually a separate .rtf file from the .sr3 file and I don't know if it actually went.

Tom is a fair-haired, blue eyed, young PI with a somewhat mixed background. His father was a high-ranking Saeder-Krupp wageslave, his mother a waitress working in an up-town bar. They never were married, although they did keep in-touch. Although he spent much of his youth in top-class schooling, paid-for by his father, he lived with his mother where he was exposed to the harsher aspects of city-life. Experiencing life outside the corporate world jaded young tom from the polished corp lifestyle, while Tom's mother taught him to abhore rascism and that everyone was equal. The only time he really spent with his father, he seemed to be constantly on-display to the higher ranking corpers as his father attempted to secure another promotion. In what he now realises was a twisted game of one-upmanship by his father, tom had a Cerebral booster, a mnemonic enhancer, and other implants installed by the age of 12. Upon completion of his university course, his father pulled some strings to try to arrange for a job for tom within the corp. Tom said no. Tom and his father have barely talked, save birthdays and similar festive occations, since then.

Skills-wise: Tom knows how to handle himself reasonably well in a fight, but he's not the biggest guy around and he prefers to rely on his people skills and talk his way out of conflicts. He has also found that his people skills come in handy for interviewing people involved in cases. He can find his way around most electronic devices / computers, and can move around unseen if the situation demands it. He has an excellent education, giving him a large number and range of knowledge skills, and he can speak many languages (5 or so) fluently. Another remnant of his father's pampering is a skillwires system which he uses for abilities that do not come naturally to him. Chips he has for it include Athletics, Computer B/R, Electronics B/R, and some others (don't have sheet with me, can't remember).

His vices include the female of the species, the other female of the species, and the other... In-fact most females of the species could be considered his vices. He does not drink heavily (at-least not regularly), or indulge in illegal pursuits (no BTLs or Drugs). As a point of style, over the past few years he has adopted a fedora as part of his personal look, and a dark brown raincoat is his choice for outdoor wear if it's not too hot. He's not been in the business for as-long as people like Jack, but he's learning the business fast and his skills can often turn-up new leads when good old-fashioned systems falter.

As far as the leadership goes: He'd be happy to lead, although if Jack wants to lead too then I don't see why we couldn't have a partnership.

Looks good guys.
All you need now is the name of the business.
Be funny if you like, remember, cheesy has an annoying way of selling in the normal world.

How much are we all chipping into the team lifestyle? I ask, as I (only?) have 2k left to chip in

I can turn in my 3 months of Low for 3K otherwise I'm outta cash.

Name? How about the Pi-symbol(you know, the pi you use to calculate things related to circles?) Agency?

Oh ok, I'll just buy more clothes then

Well, slight problem using pi for the name... The name of the agency will be the thread name...

Game Idea? That's the name of the agency?

No
the name of the agency will be the name of the IC and OOC threads

LOL. We could have
IC: 3.1415926535897932384626433832795
and
OOC: 3.1415926535897932384626433832795

That is wrong on so many levels, but would make a hilarious LTG for teh agency.

I was thinking we could put something together from the names but I have no idea how we'd make it funny. We do have Jack and Gil at-least, but Tom wants something with his name in it .

Lilt, does that office have any good or bad traits? If so I need to know teh points in each, you cuold seriously lower the price that way...

Hehe, just kidding guys. We need a badass name for the agency. How about the Fenris Detective Agency, named after the mythical viking wolf that can kill gods?

That'd give Fenris the board member the wrong impression I think.

I'd like to know what people want/can afford first. With 5 people that's 870 each for a month. I think we can start with 1 month then see how the game goes. I don't see any need for the edges/flaws unless the GM is really desperate for us to take some

Not desparate, just want you guys to know the option is open.

Jack's going to require just clothes, a car, a gun and his own drekhole of an apartment (only one month paid, going for desperation), so whatever's left I'll asume he sunk into the office at some point.

Yeah, I can spare 870 for the office.

I vote Dicks for Hire... should draw in the female clientele...

Jack's got 4 Charisma, Negotiations 4, Intimidation (Physical) 3(5), Interrogation 4, Street Etiquitte 4, Corp 3... I'm toying with giving him Good Reputation, though he'll have an enemy or two on the LS force.

Question for our GM, in going with the air of desperation, would it be possible to purchase a flawed car for a discount? I wanted to purchase a Ford Americar with a signature jumped up to 3, which would represent it's muffler being corroded, and it backfiring from time to time... would be a few years old, have parts held on with duct tape, and be sorely in need of a paint job... way I figure, for a sedan the cost of a signature improvement is 8000 , so maybe a discount of the same? Could be some social implications to driving it too.

What about using last names?

Something like Smith, Magnum and Associates? You know, like a law firm? Or simply The Firm? Private investigaters are on retainers afterall.

Scratch the downgrading, just bought it used...

Jack's done sans background. Turned out rather nicely in fact. I'm tossing 450 into the office fund, which'd leave him with a big fat 50 to his name, five after creation....

LOL. Increasing signature to 3 actually makes the vehicle harder to spot (It's like the vehicle's concealability acting as the base target number).

There are rules for "Edges and Flaws" for vehicles, although technically I think they're supposed to be applied to designed vehicles, We might see if nikoli will allow us to apply them to basic vehicles. I would like to buy a used americar (with the -0.6 price multiplier) resulting in it costing 40% of the original price (8k), but giving it some previous wear and tear.

[edit] um. that was 870 each for the office... [/edit]

[edit=2] Also, you get the 3d6*100 after character creation [/edit]

I vote "The Drek Investigation Company". "When you need a Dick in your Drek and don't want the Star, Call us! We investigate all sorts of Drek so you can keep your hands clean."

[edit] Misspelled Drek [/edit]

Natalya Sarnowski is quite new to the business, having just come out of law school in the past 18 months. Although she excelled, she was rather dejected by the obsession with semantics and nit picking that went on, rather than the observation of the big picture, ie whether something was right or wrong. So, rather than seeking a position as a lawyer, she sought a more hands on approach, and despite her magical talent was so coldly received during an interview with Lone Star that when offered a post she turned it down. Instead, she felt she could do more good as a Private Investigator, with a more hands on and personal approach to righting the worlds wrongs than she could as part of a faceless and self serving monolithic entity like Lone Star.

Physically, she has quite a striking appearance combining the tall slender build of an Elf with the pale complexion and white hair of an albino. Her hair is long and straight coming about half way down her back, and she has a number of tattoos, including angel wings on her back, a feathered serpent around her left upper arm, a celtic knot pattern around her right arm and a tribal sun over her navel. She also has several rings in each ear (some of which are fetishes) and a bar through her right eyebrow. Although her unusual appearence has caused her problems in the past and indeed continues to do so, particularly since she lives and works in Renton, it has also worked in her favour with those who aren't so prejudiced as everyone seems to know who she is.

She specialises in magical tracking and surveilance through reading auras and astral signitures, as well as using her sorcery to sneak around and extract information. That's not to say she's not familiar with old fashioned bugs and listening devices, as she's starting to get to grips with those too. Also, being a qualified lawyer she does what she can to keep the business operating within the bounds of the law, or at least ensures any illegally obtained or inadmissable information is eventually backed up by more concrete and legal evidence.

That's what it's all about, investigating cases the cops can't be bothered with, and making sure justice is done. It's not about gun fights and martial arts, crushing the bad guys into the dirt, it's about gathering the evidence discreetly and ultimately giving the victims their day in court.

How about something simple like Magnum Investigators?

That reminds me of a Calvin and Hobes cartoon...
"I keep two magnums in the desk, one that keeps me loaded, the other I keep loaded..."

And, if you're wanting a used car, and you have a lifestyle above squatter, you got it, consider it part of the lifestyle.

Digital Heroin: The office is 870 each per month, are you paying 450, 870, or 1320?

What about some abbreviatable names?
Drek Investigation Associates: Getting Results And Magic (Abbreviates to D.I.A.G.R.A.M.)

Drek Investigators: Confidential, Kickass, and Subtle. (D.I.C.K.S.)

Not sure I'd go that far, but at 60% cost I'll take the Tsarina I have down as used rather than new and re-add a lawyer contact I was going to take if that's ok?

Edit: and since Lilt has just dropped me in it, I'll drop one set of Tres Chic clothes for a months office rent.

I'm going to nix the D.I.C.K.S. name, on the grounds that I don't want to be booted of teh board for inappropriate thread title. don't know if it would happen, but I don't want to risk it.

Panzer, I haven't heard from you in a bit, I'm looking forward to seeing what you've come up with since my last message to you.
Today is the last day to submit, if you can't get your charcter done tonight, then at least pm me with the basic concept, if I like it I'll grant an extension.
I need a finalization on the company name by 10 pm EST (-5 GMT)

OK: AFAIK our choices are:
*Animal*/*Mythical Creature*/*Paracritter*/*Symbol* Investigations (IE: Oracle Owl Investigations). Useful as it also gives us a symbol.
X and Y Incorporated/and assocoates (IE: Magnum and Bradley Incorporated). Symbol is a fedora.
Some sort of acronym (IE: D.I.C.K.S. if we were allowed it).

I quite like Oracle Owl Investigations myself.

Nightowl Investigators, the symbol can be an Owl with a full moon backdrop.

Hmm. Maybe. I was going for the Oracle Owl as it's a critter that actually exists in the Shadowrun world. While it would be nice to actually have one as an office pet, I doubt we could afford it.

It's alright, but it is a bit of a mouth full, whereas Nightowl just rolls of the tongue...

Perhaps just Oracle Investigations then? We can still have the Oracle Owl as a symbol. I dunno about emphasising the Night aspect of owls as I don't see us doing that much work during the night. OK: Oracle implies that we can see the future, which we can't, but that's just advertising

Actually, it's even chances of working at night or the day, all depends on what your client at the time wants to you to investigate.