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Rastus
Dangerous Game


The year is 2073, and Africa's people thrist for Merode Ngobobo's blood after he has gone a step too far by not only unleashing enough Ringu to blanket a large agricultural town, but has been discovered to possess much more Ringu and insists on using it on anyone who does not agree to his demands. Unfortunately, Merode decided to do the smart thing and vanish shortly after claiming resonsibility. All known hiding places, including his personal fortress atop mount Nyiragongo according to moles within his army, have turned up dead ends, people suspect he could be anywhere in Africa.

Wishing to know how he managed to produce such a ridiculously complex nerve gas in the alleged volumes he has, as well as where all his caches are located, the powers-that-be have placed a 50,000,000¥ bounty on his head for his live capture, with half offered for a corpse. Obviously, this has caused a huge rush of mercenaries and other such private soldiers to come into Africa wanting to take the prize. Africa, however, is a very big place with lots of ground to cover, and Merode could be hiding within any given meter of land.

The players will be one small group of mercenaries amoungst the vast ocean that flooded into the continent since the bounty went public. While your characters should certainly have their own reasons for pursuing the bounty and working in Africa, one thing that everyone can agree on is that taking Merode would net the company a huge bankroll and a boost in publicity that would easily put them on the easy path to the top.

Info on Africa and it's various nations can be found in the following pages of the Sixth World Almanic:
Asamando, pg. 102
Azanian Confederation, pg. 104
Egypt, pg. 106
Kenya, pg. 108
Kingdoms of Nigeria, pg. 110


Not listed as far as I can tell:
Algeria
Angolia
Asante Nation
Anyl
Baatonum
Baule Empire
Congo Tribal Lands
Ethiomalian Territories
Gold & Ivory Coast Tribal Lands
Kingdom of Benim
Liberia
Madagasgar
Mauritania
Mali-Faso
Morocco
Sheba
Tunisia
Nation of -oh thank god there are no more!


Those other places are not accounted for in 4th Edition as far as I can tell. My guess is that not only did they run out of space in 6WA, but they felt that The Heart Of Darkness within the Congo was completely indescribable by human means. So why do I list every nation in the whole country? Because that's the entire area you get to play around in, all 30,221,532 kilometers squared. The geography is all a lovely mix of dry savannah, scorching desert, humid jungles, high mountains peaks, and densely packed urban landscapes. Adding to that, every enviroment has it's own critters and assorted armed groups who may or may not like the PC's very much.

Expect the game to be half action-packed combat, and half heavy roleplay-oriented. The other thing I want to advertise is freedom; once you are finished with the opening bit, you are pretty much free to accomplish the main goal however you wish. Or you could say fuck that shitbother that nonsense and pursue your own goals for a while. There are no 'wrong' ways to go about doing things, I'm not the type to get all huffy when you don't do something discrete so long as you do it successfully and intelligently(of course, that's probably why I'm running a Merc campaign).

Chargen Boundaries
Looking to start with 5-6 players. Recruitment will still be open after that, but anybody else who joins will be stuck in the Reservist spot until someone drops out. Seeing as this is a pbp, reservists oughta expect to be able to join every month at the latest.

Characters are to be generated at the standard 400bp limit, and get bonus BP for the sole purpose of purchasing contacts equal to their Charisma x 2. There isn't much more to chargen then that. It should be stated though that while I'm not going to force it, characters should be able to hold their own in a firefight even if they are not focused on combat, otherwise they'd be a unnecessary liability in a group of otherwise professional(hah!) soldiers-for-hire. Key phrase here being 'hold their own'. I don't demand everyone dominates with 24 dice for Automatics, that can be left to actual combat focused characters. smile.gif

I suppose I should do as most other GM's and outright say no to all the silly things in Runner's Companion like AI's, Drakes, Changlings, Infected, Sapient Critters, and Free Spirits, but I'd allow those anyway so long as they make for good characters as opposed to shameless constructs made soley to get high dicepools or other weird benefits(I'm looking at all of you people who get SURGE qualites for attribute bonuses and little else).

Aside from that, I expect people who join to be somewhat dedicated. I can handle people vanishing for a few days at a time as that's what pbp games are for, but if you're going to disapear until the end of time I'd highly appreciate some warning beforehand.

Oh yeah, and don't bother paying for lifestyles. I doubt you'll be getting much use out of them, and there are more effective money sinks besides. wink.gif
Rastus
Gameplay Features:
One of the most unique features that I plan for this game is the fact that the players are not mere guns-for-hire working the city streets to scratch a (comfortable)living, but are actual soldiers who have command over other soldiers. After all, it's rather daunting to take on large armies with just 5-6 people and their casual aquantances.

And so, because the players characters(the original five or six, anyway) are all co-founders of their own PMC it only makes sense they get to have their own redshirts to push around. The redshirts you can hire come in squads of 8 and range from three grades: Green, Regular, and Veteran. Each is progressively more competant and more expensive to pay for. When hiring new redshirts, you have to pay the first month up front(consider this an abstract of equipping and re-training them).

Cost per redshirt type(in squads of 8 & individuals):
Green: 30,000/month(3750 per person)
Regular: 45,000/month(5625 per person)
Veteran: 60,000/month(7500 per person)

These 'redshirts' can either be used to fight offscreen battles to aid the players indirectly, or they can be used to help out in individual fights alongside the PC's, but they will likely be subject to dice fudging in the latter circumstances to preserve my sanity. The players will get one squad of 8 Greens for free when starting.

There are also specialists that do things typical redshirts cannot, such as fighter pilots, artillery officers, etc. But they are outside the redshirt system and have their own costs that will be adressed when they become availible.

Factions:
What's the point of being a mercenary willing to work for anyone without a few factions to play against eachother?

There are four major 'factions' in the whole of Africa the players can cooperate and work with in order to help chase town their primary target. These are not so much individual groups and governments as a whole entity in the continent(the logic being that if you do good with the government in one area, the reputation will make governments in other areas more trusting).

The reputation works more or less like advertised in Runners Companion, working on a scale that goes from -6 to +6. Obviously the more positive the rating the more the faction likes the players. Getting a faction to favor the group comes with special priviledges and perks unique to that faction.


Government Forces: Getting on the good side of Government Forces results in the players getting authority within civilized areas, allowing them to move about freely while fully armed to the teeth and driving tanks through city streets(players will otherwise be watched intently, if not pestered to keep their firearms unloaded or leave them inside vehicles). It may also give them access to restricted areas.

Criminal Element: When you become favorable to those whose career involves stealing and dealing, you tend to get a discount. Good rep with these guys results in players being able to buy black market(Forbidden) items at reduced cost.

Rebel Groups: When you're well into the Information Age, knowledge is power; which is why the various rebel groups meticulously maintain a wealth of spy networks across the whole of africa to give them every edge possible against their 'oppressors'. This can be used to dig up dirt on individuals, possibly even the primary target.

Corporate Interests: Unlike the other three, the only real thing the corporations have to themselves is money and SOTA gear. Lots of money and SOTA gear in fact, and they're likely to give any hired troubleshooters much more money for jobs if they happen to like them more.


The Simple Houserules:

1. Free Regular Ammo: Regular ammo requires no test or money to aquire, just assume that base camp always has a steady supply(unless it doesn't for whatever reason). This doesn't mean you can carry infinite regular ammo on your person though. wink.gif Note that things like flamethrower fuel, assault cannon shells, laser batteries, etc. do not count as 'regular' ammo, even if they are pretty much standard for it's particular weapon.

2. Scatter: Use pre-Aniversery scatter ranges.

3. Tasers, shock hands, Stick'n'Shock rounds and other such less-lethal shock weapons do not do any actual damage, instead only causing the secondary effects of shock attacks(p.164 SR4A). Lightning Bolt spells and other explicitly deadly shock attacks still do actual damage, however.

4. This just in, some gear fixes including ones from the new War! suppliment. Anything in War! that is not mentioned is cleared and okay for use.
[ Spoiler ]


-----
Well, my pitch is done, so now all I gotta ask is if it all sounds good? If so, then fall in!



Oh, and no I don't yet have 'War!' so I'm not allowing anything from that book until I can get a look at all the crunch. Got high hopes for this book though, judging from all the people screaming "WORST SHADOWRUN PRODUCT EVAR!!!11" nyahnyah.gif. When I get it I'll produce a list of whats allowed and what isn't.
Abschalten
Dude, you know I'll play. I'll whip up something and submit it soon. What's the deadline?
Rastus
Deadline? There isn't really one. After I get about six people gameplay begins. Anyone else who wants in after that is on reserve, just like I stated.
pragma
Very, very interested. Going to see if I have any reserve characters I can brush off and get into play.

If not, this may be the only good opportunity to get the cocky, fighter pilot rigger I've brainstormed into play. Though an artillery/demo specialist speaks to me as well.
Aria
I'd be interested too! Will see what I can come up with shortly...! Will you be accepting stuff from the War! sourcebook (provided restricted gear qualities taken...)?!?

A
Thanee
I would like to express interest as well.

Character Sheet

Bye
Thanee
Isinghar
I am interested as well. I like playing ex-soldier / special forces types. Will start working on a character
Zyerne
The chance to recreate one of my favourite SR2 characters? I'm in. This'll be the easiest DS character I've ever done.

Rastus
QUOTE (Aria @ Dec 19 2010, 06:40 AM) *
I'd be interested too! Will see what I can come up with shortly...! Will you be accepting stuff from the War! sourcebook (provided restricted gear qualities taken...)?!?

A

Sure, but I don't have the book. If someone were to send me the coles notes version of all the gear(or the book itself, it's Christmas!), I can immediately get to work on determining what's in and what's veto'd.
Zyerne
Are you allowing in-debt? I've got 254k spend on 'ware smile.gif
Rastus
QUOTE (Zyerne @ Dec 19 2010, 02:54 PM) *
Are you allowing in-debt? I've got 254k spend on 'ware smile.gif

Good god, are you making a cyborg? Well, I guess I'll allow it for now seeing as I'm curious as to what monstrosity you're intending to make. I can always say no later. wink.gif
Zyerne
Heh, when I made this char in SR2 there was enough cash left over for a Westwind and then some smile.gif
Rastus
Actually, I just looked at the quality and gave it some thought, and no, I'm not going to allow In Debt for THIS particular game. Too easy to resolve it considering the money you could make just looting bodies for milspec weapons.
Zyerne
No problem, I'll adjust.
Doc Chase
Hm. I think by the time I thought up a concept and made a character for this one, it'd be full.

We'll see.
Rastus
QUOTE (Doc Chase @ Dec 19 2010, 02:16 PM) *
Hm. I think by the time I thought up a concept and made a character for this one, it'd be full.

We'll see.

Lemmie guess, you were thinking of playing:

An american former Delta Force operator?

Or!

A swedish former artillery officer and part time biker?

Or!

A chinese-british ex-MI6 assassin?

nyahnyah.gif
Abschalten
The character I'm going to make isn't going to be as combat-centric as some others, but he'll be a pretty helpful guy to have around. I'm thinking something along the lines of an adept translator/diplomat sort of guy. Who isn't a slouch with an automatic weapon. smile.gif
Doc Chase
QUOTE (Rastus @ Dec 19 2010, 07:22 PM) *
Lemmie guess, you were thinking of playing:

An american former Delta Force operator?

Or!

A swedish former artillery officer and part time biker?

Or!

A chinese-british ex-MI6 assassin?

nyahnyah.gif


>.>

Maybe.
Zadaine
I want to try a Wakyambi scout/infiltrator just to see if he gets treated any differently...

He could probably run demolitions as well (we'll see) biggrin.gif

Edit: Just a question, does Availability of equipment go up since this is more of a military-type op?
Rastus
QUOTE (Zadaine @ Dec 19 2010, 09:57 PM) *
I want to try a Wakyambi scout/infiltrator just to see if he gets treated any differently...

He could probably run demolitions as well (we'll see) biggrin.gif

Edit: Just a question, does Availability of equipment go up since this is more of a military-type op?

Uh no, availability stays the same. Don't worry, you'll soon be swimming in hard to get things.

Anyways, good news people! I managed to snag War! and looked through the gear section. To see what's in, what's out, and what's been changed in order to stay, just look to the spoiler in the second post of this thread. Shocking results abound.
yoippari
I'm interested. Don't have war so won't be playing with any of the new shinies. I've been trying to put together a voodoo mage who keeps a couple of mildly cybered pets around for possession. Still reading up on possession though.
Thanee
Just out of curiosity, what does that Recharge spell do?

Bye
Thanee
Rastus
Recharges any electric device provided you can overcome it's object resistance. With creative use, it could likely provide free energy. There is NO way in hell the corps would let a spell like that exist. They'd kill everyone who came close to figuring it out, even their own mages.
Thanee
What should we do with the character sheets? Send you via PM?

Bye
Thanee
Rastus
QUOTE (Thanee @ Dec 20 2010, 04:20 AM) *
What should we do with the character sheets? Send you via PM?

Bye
Thanee

Nah, just post them here.
yoippari
So I'm guessing DocWagon isn't available here. What about magical lodges and transportation? Is there a home base somewhere that will be used at least semi frequently? And do we need to buy a vehicle to transport our green dudes or is it assumed to be in the first month investment? If so is said vehicle available for pc use? Lastly what languages are good to know? If I remember French, English, Dutch, and then the local languages like Swahili are all used. Oh ya, forgot about Arabic and it's variations.

BTW, Lagos is in Feral Cities and Nairobi in Corporate Enclaves. I don't have sixth world almanac and haven't actually read the Lagos entry so there might be some overlap but they are there.
Thanee
QUOTE (Rastus @ Dec 20 2010, 10:23 AM) *
Nah, just post them here.


Ok. smile.gif


Adept Sniper
[ Spoiler ]


Bye
Thanee
Rastus
QUOTE (yoippari @ Dec 20 2010, 04:39 AM) *
So I'm guessing DocWagon isn't available here. What about magical lodges and transportation? Is there a home base somewhere that will be used at least semi frequently? And do we need to buy a vehicle to transport our green dudes or is it assumed to be in the first month investment? If so is said vehicle available for pc use? Lastly what languages are good to know? If I remember French, English, Dutch, and then the local languages like Swahili are all used. Oh ya, forgot about Arabic and it's variations.

BTW, Lagos is in Feral Cities and Nairobi in Corporate Enclaves. I don't have sixth world almanac and haven't actually read the Lagos entry so there might be some overlap but they are there.

Heh, making sure to cover everything aren't ya?

1. No there is no DocWagon outside of major urban areas.
2. Magical lodges and transportation are things you have to get yourself.
3. I won't say nothing about a home base, but rest assured you'll have one in no time with opertunities to move it anywhere in the country.
4. Yes, you need transportation to move around your redshirts, but their first deployment is on me. wink.gif
5. Sure, it is YOUR vehicle after all.
6. There are an estimated TWO THOUSAND languages in use within the entire continent of Africa, most of them just tribal bushman dialects. They run the gammat from English, French, Arabic, Swahili, Afrikaans, Berber, Igbo, Hausa, Amharic, Yoruba, Kanuri, Songhay, Nubian, Luo, Dinka, Maasai, Mande, Dogon, Sandawe, Hadza, and of course Zulu and Xhosa.

Yeah... Take your pick which are more important. Or just look at some countries on wikipedia and look for the most common official languages.
Rastus
Thanee, just a quick look at that and I can see that you're paying for a lifestyle when I said it wasn't necessary. Admittedly, I should of had a default roll for everyone to use in place of lifestyle for starting nuyen... Uh, everyone consider that default to be Middle.

Moving on to put some food for thought out to everyone... Exactly what is the name of ya'll PMC?
yoippari
I always end up spending more than I need on a car just to have something more functional than a motorcycle. That and language choices can play all kinds of havoc- I mean fun.
Thanee
QUOTE (Rastus @ Dec 20 2010, 11:03 AM) *
Thanee, just a quick look at that and I can see that you're paying for a lifestyle when I said it wasn't necessary. Admittedly, I should of had a default roll for everyone to use in place of lifestyle for starting nuyen... Uh, everyone consider that default to be Middle.


Ah, right. Well, it's not that it costs much in terms of BP, and it gives some decent starting money at least. smile.gif

QUOTE
Moving on to put some food for thought out to everyone... Exactly what is the name of ya'll PMC?


That's also the reason, why I havn't written up any background yet. I do have some ideas, but I guess it should fit into the direction everyone will be heading. smile.gif

Bye
Thanee
Zyerne
Is that armor suit a little overmodded?
Aria
I'm still working on the stats but here's a beginning to Requiem (former Firewatch cybered gunslinger)

Requiem

Character Sketch: Here

Character Background:
[ Spoiler ]


Character Sheet:
[ Spoiler ]


Comments welcome…hopefully I haven’t forgotten anything vital! I’ve still got some nuyen left for bullets…oh, and I haven’t checked if the pistols are legal yet so if anyone knows please shout!
Doc Chase
Thanee,

You sure you want no active combat skills beyond spellcasting? Sometimes you can get a powerbolt out of a .45 ACP and not have to worry about drain. nyahnyah.gif
Doc Chase
Dobleposteh
Zyerne
@Aria: Augmented reaction seems a little low for MBW2
Aria
QUOTE (Zyerne @ Dec 20 2010, 06:21 PM) *
@Aria: Augmented reaction seems a little low for MBW2


Thanks, will look at that!
Zyerne
Also a WIP, largely due to my comp crashing and me having to redo it

Duchess
[ Spoiler ]
Thanee
QUOTE (Zyerne @ Dec 20 2010, 12:42 PM) *
Is that armor suit a little overmodded?


I don't think so. The first two items are included in the base suit, and it has 6 (с) slots for modifications (it's an actual armor suit, those do not use the higher armor rating times 1.5 limit, but actual capacity). Each of the R6 ones it has use up 2 (с).

BTW, Wired 3 requires the Restricted Gear Quality.


QUOTE (Doc Chase @ Dec 20 2010, 05:12 PM) *
Thanee,

You sure you want no active combat skills beyond spellcasting? Sometimes you can get a powerbolt out of a .45 ACP and not have to worry about drain. nyahnyah.gif


In fact, I started out with Longarms 4 and Infiltration 4 (and some other stuff, like Ruthenium coated armor and chameleon coated Ares Desert Strike sniper rifle, a car, some Pilot Ground Craft, Athletics, Influence, as well as a Restricted Gear Power Focus 4 biggrin.gif), but in the end, I simply couldn't afford everything I wanted, so I figured, I can still learn that stuff later, and just got the necessities for now. smile.gif

If Active Skillsofts weren't so darn expensive these days, I might have settled with Skillwires, but I'm also fine with the "pure mage" that she is now.


@Aria: Get Form-Fitting Body Armor to wear in addition with the ones you got.

Bye
Thanee
Seth
If there is still space, I would like to try this. I have an idea for a human mage called Mole, who specialised in shape earth / shape stone with many knowledge skills in civil engineering.

Its late here in the UK, so I will check tomorrow, and can post you an initial character if we are going ahead

Thanks

Rastus
@Zyerne: Not only is your WR3 well above the 12F limit, but so is the Suprathyroid Gland, you need the Restricted Gear quality to have those and that costs 5BP per use. Also, you confused Muscle Augmentation(strength) for Muscle Toner(Agility), might want to swap those out. Oh yeah, you're also a whole 1.11 Essense below six and not 0.015 above it; You be dead son, might want to fix that too.

@Thanee: You can still be a sniper with laughable ease, yanno. Just drop your Edge down to 4 and spend 10bp on Agility and another 10bp to get Longarms(Sniper Rifles) 2(+2). Then just pick up a nice smartlinked sniper rifle, scope, bipod(new rules, check them out!) and ghillie camo for both yourself and the rifle. Give you a base pool of 9, which is actually plenty for a sniper considering your targets don't get to dodge if you do your job properly. Should also get some good visual perception, or at least get someone with good perception to be your spotter.

@Aria: I admit I haven't gotten too good a look at you sheet, but I got one piece of advice: Get gas vents for yer automatics, you'll be glad you did.

And another thing: Give me a breakdown of the BP spent in your charsheets, guys. Makes my job of checking that everything is in working order so much easier.
Isinghar
OK still working on background, gear and other misc., but wanted to post character an start getting some feedback. Idea is a Serbian soldier, who has been in numerous conflicts in the Balkans, and now looking to make some money in the Dark Continent. He is an infiltrator, decent with an automatic weapon, and hates ugly people.

“Bishop” – Slavko Emil Radko

[ Spoiler ]
Zyerne
I forgot to put those restricted gears in when I re did it. I'll fix that. The toner/augmentation thing is a dumb mistake, I'll fix that too.

As to Essence.. Did you halve the bio costs?
[ Spoiler ]
Rastus
QUOTE (Zyerne @ Dec 20 2010, 08:46 PM) *
I forgot to put those restricted gears in when I re did it. I'll fix that. The toner/augmentation thing is a dumb mistake, I'll fix that too.

As to Essence.. Did you halve the bio costs?


Oh man, I did forget to halve the bio. I knew something was off. Sorry about that, my bad.
Rastus
QUOTE (Isinghar @ Dec 20 2010, 08:44 PM) *
OK still working on background, gear and other misc., but wanted to post character an start getting some feedback. Idea is a Serbian soldier, who has been in numerous conflicts in the Balkans, and now looking to make some money in the Dark Continent. He is an infiltrator, decent with an automatic weapon, and hates ugly people.

“Bishop” – Slavko Emil Radko

Wow, you just wholehearted stole what Abs was going to do with just a half-done charsheet. nyahnyah.gif And uh, no, I'm not going to accept that prejudice regardless of how funny it is. Need something serious and not so silly. Orks, trolls, elves, dwarves, africans, arabs, etc. are all decent prejudices. This is Africa, ain't no place for namby pamby things like merely hating ugly people. Everyone hates ugly people, that's why they're always desperately alone unless rich. nyahnyah.gif

Also, if I have one suggestion to no one in particular: Somebody take Heavy Weapons so you won't suck with a rocket launcher. You are all supposed to be ex-soldiers fighting small wars for fun and profit. What do you plan on doing when a tank shows up, throw shoes at it?
Isinghar
OK, I was hoping that hating "Ugly People" would get some grins. Most probably will change the prejudice to Muslims, after all he is Serbian and has been fighting Bosnians and Islamic factions left over from the EuroWars II.

I did not realize Abs was going to play a Face. I can change to a cyber-Troll Heavy Weapons Specialist without a problem. That was the other idea I was toying with, however did not go that route since I have a couple of cyber-Sams already in other games, and have never played a Face. I am truely completely ok with changing characters if someone already is playing the face. I just took a quick glance at the Spoiler sheets posted and did not see a face.
Zyerne
*Has Heavy Weapons*

Admittedly, it'll be specced for grenade launchers if I have the points, but it's still there.
Rastus
QUOTE (Isinghar @ Dec 20 2010, 09:29 PM) *
OK, I was hoping that hating "Ugly People" would get some grins. Most probably will change the prejudice to Muslims, after all he is Serbian and has been fighting Bosnians and Islamic factions left over from the EuroWars II.

I did not realize Abs was going to play a Face. I can change to a cyber-Troll Heavy Weapons Specialist without a problem. That was the other idea I was toying with, however did not go that route since I have a couple of cyber-Sams already in other games, and have never played a Face. I am truely completely ok with changing characters if someone already is playing the face. I just took a quick glance at the Spoiler sheets posted and did not see a face.

Talk with Abs and discuss with him who should be what.

Anyways, because I need to yap on and on even more, I got a question for everyone: Who here is familiar with military procedures? Who knows a little bit about how to do things in a battlefield? Who here even knows anything about mercenaries aside from the fact they fight for money and get to buy all the cool stuff real militaries won't let them? I ask because just looking at casual glances and helping some people who have yet to post a charsheet at all, some of you are having a tough time breaking into the whole Military/Mercenary mindset.

Now, even it doesn't always sound like it, I'm cool with it if you aren't all that learned about all things military, as it means your that much less creepy, but I was figuring it might help some of you if I shed light about some things. I thought about posting some army jargon and basic procedures to help ya'll roleplay a bit better, if anyone would like to see that, then say so and I'll start laying on what little I myself know.

Anything else I could yak on about to help you nice folks out?
Abschalten
I am wanting to play the Face. Admittedly I'm having a hard time building the character in a way that is satisfactory to me. If I can't get my shit together and get a decent Face character built, I'll defer to you, Isinghar, and I'll just build something else. I also have a character from another game I wouldn't mind slipping into this one with the proper edits to make them more relevant to the campaign.
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