Dumpshock Forums > Oriental Opportunities - Recruitment/Interest Gathering

Edana

Feb 21 2011, 09:48 PM

RECRUITMENT SEMI-OPEN: Reserves Only

Rather than wait for another game that interests me personally to start up (and maybe even get started

), I figured I'd put in my hat for running something here. This thread is basically to lay out what I'm looking for, and see if there's enough interest in it to get a game going. If you're interested, please post a basic character idea and I'll add you to the list. Nothing fancy, 1-2 sentences is fine, but do include your main role focus (sam, rigger, face, etc.) so I can keep track of how the group is balanced and other people can potentially avoid too much overlap.

Setting will be Hong Kong, and I'm expecting this to lean pretty far towards 'mirror-shades' as opposed to the 'pink mohawk' style.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions on things to read as far as using HK as a setting, please let me know. I've recently re-read the Runner Haven's and 6WA writeups, but I'm always looking for more places to get ideas.

If I've missed anything, please let me know and I'll fix it ASAP. I'm generally at a computer most of the day, so turnaround for me is usually pretty quick, but does depend on how much work I have to do at that moment. I don't tend to post much on weekends though, so anything posted then may not get answered right away. (US Central time zone for reference.)

Posting Requirements
I'm going to steal a page from the Post or Die thread here and put this at no more than 7 days elapsed from your second to last IC post. If you fail to meet this your character may be put to death in whatever fashion suits me. (I will be a little lenient in that if you go past this but manage to post before I get around to killing you off, you'll be back safely on the clock.) If you know you're going to be gone for an extended period, and give sufficient warning, I can write you out in a less fatal way so you could potentially rejoin later.

The same applies to me as GM, if I haven't posted anyone else can feel free to take over and continue on. I've run multi-year pbp games in that other system without a problem though, so I'm really not expecting this to be an issue, as I know (mostly) what I'm getting into

.

Character Generation
Karma-gen, 650 karma. SR4A karma costs. Races are 1*BP in Karma. (Full explanation in This post.)

Do NOT pay for knowledge skills out of this. DO buy language skills though. Knowledge skills will be worked out with me based on background submitted and 20 questions answers. I do have a cap in mind for these, so don't think a 10 page background is going to give you ridiculous numbers. I'd prefer everything stay at a reasonable length. If you need a copy of the standard 20 q's, let me know and I can post or PM them.

Bonus contacts equal to 50% of what you spent on contacts. (If you spent 25 points buying contacts this means you will have 13 bonus points.) Contacts bought with bonus points must be 3/2 or lower.

Standard races only. No Surge. (ie. Human, Elf, Troll, Ork, Dwarf only)

Negative Qualities should actually be negative, otherwise I reserve the right to veto them.

Nothing allowed from PDF-only releases (mostly because I don't buy them, and thus don't have access). Most other books are fine. If you're not sure, run it by me and I'll let you know for sure. (SR4A, Street Magic, Augmentation, Arsenal, Unwired are guaranteed safe to use. Most of Runner's Companion too, minus the things I've already listed.)

House Rules

Watcher spirits don't suck at watching/searching: Treat watchers as Force = Summoner's Magic when using Perception, Assensing and the Search power. (If you can think of anything else that needs to be added to this, go ahead and suggest it. This essentially means watchers roll 2*Magic for those cases.)
No emotitoys or emotion software.
20 Dice Pool cap.
SIN checks aren't opposed tests. SINs are checked with a System + Verification Software (SIN rating) test. This may be an extended test with an interval determined by the scanner in use. (System + Verification Software simplifies to 2*Scanner Rating for basic scanners.) End result is R6 SINs are hard to crack, R1's are still basically throwaway.

If the players all want to add something else to the house rules, feel free to suggest. I generally try to avoid having very many.

Other Notes
The primary languages in Hong Kong are English and Cantonese. Expect most of your 'business' interactions to be in Cantonese.

Hong Kong is a very social network centric place, so having plenty of contacts would be strongly advised.

The characters should all have some ties amongst themselves. Liking each other isn't strictly necessary, but I won't tolerate excessive arguing or pvp. If everyone wants to work on a group background, that would be awesome.

6 active players as a hard limit, anyone past that will be on the reserve list. (Given PoD's history, there's likely to be a fair amount of turnover, so it's probably not too terrible to be on the wait list

.)

Assuming enough interest, ideally I'd like to start the IC thread by March 7th, but earlier than that is possible if everything comes together faster.

PC List

Thanee: Ting-Ting - Female Human - Adept (Martial Arts)
phlapjack77: Dante - Male Human - Street Sam with some drone support
Seth: Dr. Yang - Male Ork - Mystic Adept/Medic
Kim: Hope - Male Human - Adept (Martial Arts)
sabs: Fractal - Male Human - Hacker/Face
Mickle5125: Max - Male Dwarf - Wuxing Mage

Reserve List

marcgarc
Belvidere

Thanee

Feb 21 2011, 10:15 PM

moved...

phlapjack77

Feb 22 2011, 02:00 AM

Final answer

Dante

[ Spoiler ]

Mickle5125

Feb 22 2011, 05:25 AM

by "standard races only," are you denying all of the options from Runner's Companion? IE: Are pixies, metavariants, free spirits, etc out along side the SURGE?

Thanee

Feb 22 2011, 06:20 AM

Yeah, I would understand that as meaning Human, Elf, Dwarf, Ork, Troll only.

Bye
Thanee

Seth

Feb 22 2011, 06:58 AM

Here is the official format:

[ Spoiler ]

Here is a compact format:

[ Spoiler ]

Race Ork
Attributes: Body 4, Agility 2, Reaction 2/3, Strength 3, Charisma 2, Intuition 2, Logic 3/4, Willpower 4, Edge 2, Magic 6/5 (Mage 2pts, Adept 3pts)
Skills: Perception(visual) 1, Summoning 1, Spellcasting (manip) 5, Influence-group 1, Unarmed (martial arts) 5, Stealth-group 1, first aid (trauma) 4, medicine 3, Counterspell 3 (combat), Arcana 1, Gymnastics (tumbling) 2
Knowledge skills: Suchaun area 3, Hong kong area 2, Hong Kong Triads (Red Pole) 1, Biology (Genetics) 2, Chemistry 2, Medicine (General Research) 3, Geography(chinese) 2, Doc Wagon Procedures 5, Emergency Medicine 3, Daoism 3, Martial Arts Traditions 2, Martial Arts Schools 2, Cooking 1
Martial arts: Tiger claw style: Damaging disarm, Reduce friends modifier by 1, Melee block +1
Martial art manuevers: Sweep, Disarm, Finishing move, Focus Will, Watchfull guard, Herding
Positive Qualities: Martial arts(3), Mentor spirit(phoenix), Restricted gear (power focus), Mystic adept
Negative Qualities : SINner, Pacifist,Enemy (4/1), Day job (tending to my patients) 10hrs, Spirit Bane (Toxic spirits), Dependent (son) easy
Foci - binding: Power 4, Sustaining(healing) 3, Sustaining(healing) 3, Sustaining (manip) 3
Spells: Increase reflexes (me), Increase charisma, Increase reactions, Heal, Resist Pain, Deflection, Shapechange (me), Levitate, Lightning aura (me), Fashion, Magic Fingers
Adept power with ritual geas (must have done 1 hour tai chi practice): Attribute boost(agility), Improved first aid 2, Counterstrike, Empathic healing, critical strike 3,Combat sense 3
Cyber/Bioware: Cerebral booster (1), Used Reaction enhancer (1), Reakt
Commlink: Novatech airware with Iris Orb, Browse 3, Command 3, analyse 3, linguasoft(english) 1
Armour: Form fitting half body suit with auto injector, non conductivity 3, Urban explorer jump suit with shock cuffs, non conductivity 3
Medical equipment: Medikit 6 with 2 spare supplies and a portable biomonitor. 2 doses of kamikaze
Electronics: Shades with image link and magnification, contacts with flare compensation, thermographic and visual enhancement 3, ear buds with audio enhancement 3 and spatial recogniser
Sins and Ids: My real SIN, and a fake SIN rating 4 in the name of Michael Chang
Weapons: None
Spare karma: 1
Lifestyle: low

Here is a spreadsheet version with double entry karma and cash management

Enemy

[ Spoiler ]

20 Questions

[ Spoiler ]

phlapjack77

Feb 22 2011, 07:40 AM

QUOTE (Seth @ Feb 22 2011, 02:58 PM)

I would very much like to join in. I would like to play a mage or a mystic adept. I wouldn't mind holding off on the final choice until I see what the others are doing: I would like to complement them, not compete with them.

I'm finding myself veering constantly back towards the idea of a mage character, even as I try to come up with a good street sam character.

Maybe we could all be from the same magical group / tradition

Seth

Feb 22 2011, 08:27 AM

All the same tradition: what a crazy idea. That would mean that we could do ritual magic together, and share notes, and be generally helpful to each other. Crazy idea.

I would quite like the Wuxing tradition. Just call me a Daoist!

phlapjack77

Feb 22 2011, 08:32 AM

QUOTE (Seth @ Feb 22 2011, 04:27 PM)

All the same tradition: what a crazy idea. That would mean that we could do ritual magic together, and share notes, and be generally helpful to each other. Crazy idea.

I would quite like the Wuxing tradition. Just call me a Daoist!

This sounds like it could be a cool idea - a Wuxing-tradition group. Thanee? Mickle5125? And most importantly, Edana?

Seth

Feb 22 2011, 09:53 AM

What rules do we use for paying karma for races? 0*bp, 1*bp or 2*bp?

I believe the consensus view is that 1*bp is the most RAW, but I have no opinion on this (mostly I use bps to generate characters)

Thanee

Feb 22 2011, 10:31 AM

Here's a repost of AH's corrections to the RC KarmaGen for SR4A:

QUOTE

p.41 Karma Character Generation Table
The Karma Cost for Metatype (shapeshifter type, etc.) should be “As BP*.”
The Karma Cost for improving an attribute by 1 should be “New rating x 5.”

p.42 Step 1: Choose Your Metatype or Other Character Race Option
The first paragraph should read:
“First you must choose metatype or other alternative character concept (i.e. shapeshifter, AI, sasquatch, etc.); there Karma cost for metatype or race is equal to the BP cost for that metatype or option (i.e. if a race costs 10 BP, in Karmagen it costs 10 Karma); the BP cost should be noted as it is important for Step 3. The Metatype Attribute Table (see p. 70 and p.73, SR4) or the relevant table in the section describing the new character races in this book provide your character’s starting and maximum attribute ratings.”

p.42 Step 5: Convert Your Karma to Nuyen
The second line should read:
“A maximum of 100 Karma may be converted to nuyen in this fashion, or 120 if the character has the Born Rich quality (p.96).”

p.43 Focus Bonding Table
The Karma Cost for weapon foci should be “3 x Force.”

p.43-44 Character Creation Example

Marissa wants to make a new character for the latest Shadowrun campaign, something a little different—a sasquatch street druid called Sacnoth. Her gamemaster tells Marissa that they’re using the Karma-based character generation system, and she has 750 Karma with which to create Sacnoth.

First off, the cost of playing a sasquatch is 40 Karma, reducing Marissa’s total down to 690. Marissa purchases the Magician (Druidic tradition) and Mentor Spirit (Oak) positive qualities for 40 Karma, reducing her total to 650. To buy some more points, Marissa takes the SIN (5 BP version, citizen of the UK) and Incantation Geas negative qualities, bringing her Karma total back up to 680. As a sasquatch, Sacnoth begins with the Uneducated negative quality for no Karma.

Now it’s time for buying attributes. The basic cost for a sasquatch character is 40 BP; this allows Marissa to spend up to 455 Karma (one-half of her starting Karma plus twice the BP cost) on Sacnoth’s attributes. Intuition is of prime importance to druids, so Marissa decides that’s the attribute she wants to max out. Finally, she spends another chunk of points to increase her Body to 8—after all, what’s a sasquatch that can’t take a few hits? The total cost of her attribute increases is 280 Karma, bringing her total down to 400.

CODE

Attribute    Value    Karma Cost
Body           8          75
Agility        3          25
Reaction       2          10
Strength       5           0
Charisma       3          25
Intuition      6          75
Logic          3          25
Willpower      4          45
TOTAL                    280

As a sasquatch, Marissa’s character starts out with Magic and Edge attributes of 1 and an Essence of 6 ( for now). Sacnoth’s Initiative is derived from adding Reaction and Intuition together, resulting in 8. Marissa increases both Magic and Edge to 3 by spending 25 Karma each, bringing her total Karma down to 350 .

Now Marissa buys Sacnoth’s skills. Starting off with her maximums, Marissa decides Sacnoth will have two rating 5 skills—Assensing and Astral Combat, critical for a dual-natured sasquatch—one rating 3 skill group, Sorcery, and Enchanting 3. The Conjuring group skills Banishing, Binding, and Summoning she buys individually at rating 4 and takes specialties in each of them. That takes care of Sacnoth’s magical skills, so now Marissa rounds her character out with some basics: First Aid 2, Perception 3, Survival 2, Tracking 2, and Unarmed Combat 2 (Subdual +2).

For knowledge and language skills, Marissa starts out with the Perth-Athabaskans Sign Language as Sacnoth’s Native language, and makes the sasquatch fluent in French Sign Language (Jive+2) at rating 4. To reflect the sasquatch’s background (and mindful of his lack of formal education), Marissa takes Botany 3, Druidic Lore 4, Magic Background 3, Medical Theory 3, Astronomy 3, and Sapient Critters 3.

CODE

Skill                          Karma Cost
Assensing 5                        32
Astral Combat 5                    32
Astronomy 3                         7
Banishing 4 (Plant Spirits +2)     24
Binding 4 (Plant Spirits +2)       24
Botany 3                            7
Druidic Lore 4                     11
Enchanting 3                       14
First Aid 2                         8
French Sign Language 4 (Jive +2)   13
Magic Background 3                  7
Medical Theory 3                    7
Perception 3                       14
Perkins-Athabaskan N                0
Sapient Critters 3                  7
Sorcery Group 3                    35
Summoning 4 (Plant Spirits +2)     24
Survival 2                          8
Tracking 2                          8
Unarmed Combat 2 (Subdual +2)       8
TOTAL                             290

After spending the 290 Karma points on skills, Sacnoth has 60 Karma remaining.

Cashing 5 Karma in for nuyen, Marissa uses the 12,500 nuyen to purchase a basic commlink (Meta Link running Vector Xim with a sim module, Virtual Surround Music, a sasquatch-sized monocle with image link, sasquatch-sized headphones, and sasquatch-sized AR Gloves), a handful of linguasofts (English 2, French 2), a shoulder pouch of food and tools (equivalent to two survival kits), and four months of a Low Lifestyle (a sasquatch’s lifestyle costs 30% more than normal). This brings her down to 55 Karma remaining.

Marissa can select up to 6 spells for Sacnoth at 5 Karma each. She chooses Camouflage, Clean Water, Armor, Heal, Stun Bolt, and Nutrition. After this, Marissa just has 25 Karma left.

For contacts, Marissa chooses as Sasquatch Bartender (Connections 2, Loyalty 4) and a Neo-Celt WizKid Gang Member (Connections 1, Loyalty 2). This comes to a total of 22 Karma.

With 3 Karma left, Marissa goes back and converts 1 of them to nuyen to buy a rating 5 magical lodge (a collection of heavy stones carved with ogham letters), and spends the last two points to specialize her Botany skill for Gathering, giving her Botany 3 (Gathering +2).

With all her Karma points spent, Marissa finishes the character by calculating his starting Condition Monitors, answering the Character Quiz, and rolling for his starting nuyen.

I would assume it works like that.

Bye
Thanee

Kim

Feb 22 2011, 01:18 PM

The game I’m in seems to have stopped and this one looks promising.

I was thinking about a ninja if it’s compatible with the other characters, but I really like the Wuxing tradition idea too.

marcgarc

Feb 22 2011, 02:02 PM

Very interested in this one, as other games I've got into seem to have disappeared from Earth!!

phlapjack77

Feb 22 2011, 02:18 PM

QUOTE (Kim @ Feb 22 2011, 09:18 PM)

The game I’m in seems to have stopped and this one looks promising.

I was thinking about a ninja if it’s compatible with the other characters, but I really like the Wuxing tradition idea too.

A physad ninja following the Wuxing tradition could work

Seth

Feb 22 2011, 02:42 PM

I posted a first draft of Dr Yang above

Thanee

Feb 22 2011, 03:02 PM

Seth, if your Magic is split 1/4 (Mage/Adept), as it looks like, you cannot cast spells higher than F2 (see FAQ).

Also, the Increase Reactions spell does not stack with the Attribute Boost (Reaction) power, unfortunately.

Bye
Thanee

Edana

Feb 22 2011, 03:12 PM

I'll try to answer questions in order, good to see there's plenty of interest

. (Not going to comment on character concepts at the moment, other than to say everything looks good thus far.)

Standard races means nothing from RC, correct. Considering their overall rarity, it would be pretty hard to keep a low profile as one of the variants.
If all, or some, of you want to play same tradition magic users, that's fine with me. As long as you take the Arcana skill (since it's pretty much required to form a group) and pay the 5 karma, I'm willing to handwave the rolls necessary for group formation as long as it's written into backstory. Or you can leave this for in-play if you prefer.
Sorry I forgot to include the race cost in the opening, but Thanee's post covers that well. It'll be same cost as BP. I'll edit this into the original post.

One thing you may want to keep in mind with a magic-heavy group is that astral space and mana in a lot of the business areas is pretty messed up with all of the corps' feng-shui shenanigans. It won't cripple you or anything, but it could be pretty inconvenient in some places

.

sabs

Feb 22 2011, 03:17 PM

QUOTE (Thanee @ Feb 22 2011, 03:02 PM)

Seth, if your Magic is split 1/4 (Mage/Adept), as it looks like, you cannot cast spells higher than F2 (see FAQ).

Also, the Increase Reactions spell does not stack with the Attribute Boost (Reaction) power, unfortunately.

Bye
Thanee

The FAQ answer is before SR4A, which specifically says:

QUOTE

For every point of Magic invested in physical abilities, the character
gets one Power Point that she can use to purchase adept powers.
Every point of Magic invested in mana-based abilities grants the character
one point to use with Magic-based skills. For all other purposes,
including the determination of the maximum level for adept powers,
the character’s full Magic attribute is used.

So, while his casting skills would be 1+sorcery rank, he could cast F5 spells without overcasting.

Is there room for 1 more, I have this idea for a Skillwires/Hacker/Face.

Seth

Feb 22 2011, 03:27 PM

QUOTE

Also, the Increase Reactions spell does not stack with the Attribute Boost (Reaction) power, unfortunately.

Absolutely. I like reactions though, and if I cannot cast the spell (I am under observation, or just come though a ward or background count is crippling my sustaining foci...) I like the idea of being able to boost it.

By the way: do we have a hacker yet? If not I'm quite happy to drop Dr Yang, and do some of that low level bit bashing.

Edana

Feb 22 2011, 03:31 PM

marcgarc has expressed interest and Mickle5125 asked a question, but neither has posted basic concept, so there's still 2 slots open at the moment. (Well, now 1, since you listed basic concept

.)

Seth

Feb 22 2011, 03:38 PM

I've tweaked Dr Yang to have the arcana skill and paid 5 karma for the magical group

phlapjack77

Feb 22 2011, 03:40 PM

Hey Edana!

To clarify my concept slightly, I'm still going to try a sammy with slight rigging tendencies. Just not sure whether to go the magic route or the cyber route.

Edana

Feb 22 2011, 07:48 PM

QUOTE (Seth @ Feb 22 2011, 09:38 AM)

I've tweaked Dr Yang to have the arcana skill and paid 5 karma for the magical group

Sounds good, if the other magic-types want to do the same, you guys should work out the group membership requirements and strictures. On a quick glance, I see you don't have any languages listed, so you may want to consider those if you want anything more than the free native language. Also, don't forget that sustaining foci are limited to one category of spells.

QUOTE (phlapjack77 @ Feb 22 2011, 09:40 AM)

Hey Edana!

To clarify my concept slightly, I'm still going to try a sammy with slight rigging tendencies. Just not sure whether to go the magic route or the cyber route.

That's fine, I'll update the list

.

Mickle5125

Feb 22 2011, 08:23 PM

I'll see if I can put together a full-on wuxing mage. What's the due-date for the character?

Edana

Feb 22 2011, 09:01 PM

No hard due date at this point, but since that's a full 6 people, I'd like to see reasonably complete sheets by the 1st. That's about a week, and will give me a couple days to look everything over and still start by the 7th.

Thanee

Feb 22 2011, 09:04 PM

QUOTE (sabs @ Feb 22 2011, 04:17 PM)

The FAQ answer is before SR4A, which specifically says: ...

It says the same thing as the original SR4 book.

Here's the part I was refering to (FAQ states last updated 10 February 2011, so I thought it does apply to SR4A now):

QUOTE

Though mystic adepts must split their Magic between Magic-based skills and adept powers, it says that for all other purposes, including the limits of adept powers, the mystic adept uses his full Magic attribute. Does this mean that a mystic adept with Magic 6 who has allocated 2 points to Magic skills and 4 points to adept powers can cast Force 6 spells without flinching?

The Magic points allocated towards Magic-based skills counts for all aspects of those skills. This includes: Magic-linked skill tests (Summoning, Spellcasting, Enchanting, etc.), maximum spell Force, overcasting, etc.

For a mystic adept’s adept powers, only the points allocated towards adept powers apply. This includes powers that require Magic Tests like Attribute Boost, the maximum rating of leveled adept powers, etc.

For all other purposes—i.e., non-Magic-linked skills—the mystic adept’s full Magic attribute is used: pressing through astral barriers, initiation grade limit, Masking metamagic, being assensed, etc.

So for the example above, a mystic adept with Magic 6 with 2 points devoted to Magic skills and 4 points to adept powers, the maximum Force he can cast at is 4, and anything over Force 2 is Physical Drain. His adept powers are limited to rating 4 or lower.

It does kinda contradict the SR4A text with the part about "leveled adept powers", so it is a bit weird for sure.

If anything, it would probably be a good idea to clarify how it will work.

Bye
Thanee

Edana

Feb 22 2011, 09:18 PM

Yeah, the FAQ is kind of a mess in terms of actual usefulness. In this case the "... only the points allocated towards adept powers apply. This includes powers that require Magic Tests like Attribute Boost, the maximum rating of leveled adept powers, etc." bit is explicitly contradicted by the SR4A rules.

Having never played with a mystic adept, I'm not really sure whether a strict reading of SR4A is a good thing, or an unbalancing thing. I can see how allowing mystic adepts full access to spell force regardless of split might overshadow a full mage in some respects. But full mages also get built in access to astral space, and projection, which a mystic adept can never get. I'm definitely open to discussing which interpretation everyone would be more comfortable with.

Thanee

Feb 22 2011, 09:39 PM

I would say a strict reading of the SR4A text does include this part of the FAQ "The Magic points allocated towards Magic-based skills counts for all aspects of those skills. This includes: Magic-linked skill tests (Summoning, Spellcasting, Enchanting, etc.), maximum spell Force, overcasting, etc.", but not the rest (i.e. Adept Powers are limited to full Magic Rating, and you use the full Magic Rating for powers like Attribute Boost).

They are primarily Adepts, after all, that also have limited spellcasting/summoning abilities.

Bye
Thanee

marcgarc

Feb 22 2011, 10:29 PM

It seems the game has run out of free player slots. I've been working until late today, and I couldn't post before. I'm interested in remaining as reserve player, just in case any of the admitted decide not to take part in game.

Seth

Feb 22 2011, 10:45 PM

QUOTE

Having never played with a mystic adept, I'm not really sure whether a strict reading of SR4A is a good thing, or an unbalancing thing. I can see how allowing mystic adepts full access to spell force regardless of split might overshadow a full mage in some respects. But full mages also get built in access to astral space, and projection, which a mystic adept can never get. I'm definitely open to discussing which interpretation everyone would be more comfortable with.

I'll let the GM decide. When I read the description of mystic adept I thought that the only impact was on skills: e.g. summoning / spellcasting. I have read this in other dumpshock forum threads, and I thought the consensus was that in SR4a (with the benefit of more playtesting, and feedback) they had explicitly made it so that it only restricted skills, not the spellcasting / spirit force maximum, but I cannot find the threads.

If you let me know I will change Dr Yang accordingly:Dropping agility/reaction boost and enhanced perceptions. Slightly less interesting, but not significantly changed.

I suspect that now I will be hideously crippled by background count, so I wouldn't mind a clarification of what sort of counts we are likely to face.

Edana

Feb 22 2011, 11:24 PM

QUOTE ("Runner Havens")

What this means to you and I is that the routine spell slinging or spirit summoning we’d do anywhere else can be dangerously unpredictable just about anywhere in the Downtown Hong Kong district. A spell may suddenly be flooded with mana, increasing its effect but also becoming harder to properly channel. Or it may suddenly find its mana flow cut off, the effect vastly weaker than you expected. Conjuration is just as dangerous, as a spirit may turn out to be greater than you intended and threaten to break loose of your control. It’s widely believed that Hong Kong’s relatively high population of free spirits is due to summoned spirits who escaped control downtown.

That's more what I was referring to than actual background counts. Actual background count will likely be fairly low or non-existent in most places. I wouldn't expect to regularly see more than a rating of 2 (especially as metagame-wise I don't want to routinely screw over all the magic characters). There may be exceptions, but those should be obvious or something your character can determine through research most of the time.

As far as the handling of mystic adept casting, since you're the only one who's indicated interest in that direction thus far and you don't seem to be averse to the change, I think I'll limit force based on the portion of magic assigned to casting. If we find in playing that this is too weak, adding power is easier than taking it away once we've started.

Edana

Feb 22 2011, 11:32 PM

QUOTE (marcgarc @ Feb 22 2011, 04:29 PM)

It seems the game has run out of free player slots. I've been working until late today, and I couldn't post before. I'm interested in remaining as reserve player, just in case any of the admitted decide not to take part in game.

No problem, I'll add you to the reserve list, and if someone drops or dies you'll be first in.

Seth

Feb 23 2011, 12:06 AM

QUOTE (Edana @ Feb 23 2011, 12:24 PM)

That's more what I was referring to than actual background counts. Actual background count will likely be fairly low or non-existent in most places. I wouldn't expect to regularly see more than a rating of 2 (especially as metagame-wise I don't want to routinely screw over all the magic characters). There may be exceptions, but those should be obvious or something your character can determine through research most of the time.

As far as the handling of mystic adept casting, since you're the only one who's indicated interest in that direction thus far and you don't seem to be averse to the change, I think I'll limit force based on the portion of magic assigned to casting. If we find in playing that this is too weak, adding power is easier than taking it away once we've started.

Sounds a wild and exciting magical crazy place! I'm happy with the change, and I agree: its easier to add power than take it away.

Kim

Feb 23 2011, 02:55 AM

Any ideas on the magical group’s purpose, customs and strictures?

Thanee

Feb 23 2011, 02:12 PM

Character sheet is close to finished. Character name changed to Ting-Ting (Xiao Ling is the name on her SIN).

Just noticed, that we do buy languages just not other knowledge skills... that gave me something to spend my last 5 Karma on.

Bye
Thanee

Edana

Feb 23 2011, 05:15 PM

Looking good so far on the sheets.

I think I may have been unclear in my wording on the knowledge skill thing though, but you guys should be paying for any language skills beyond your native ones. They're at least not too expensive. I updated the first post in an effort to make this a bit clearer.

Also, after a bit of rule checking, I think I'm going to add the house rule for making fake SINs less terrible at passing ID checks. I can't imagine there'll be any complaints about that, since it's strictly better for the players

.

Thanee

Feb 23 2011, 06:59 PM

@Seth: I would probably list Martial Arts under Positive Qualities.

Also, if you are primarily a healer, maybe take a look at the Empathic Healing Adept power in Street Magic.
I think that one is pretty cool for an Essence 6 Mystic Adept Healer, as it essentially allows to use magical healing twice on a patient.

Bye
Thanee

Mickle5125

Feb 23 2011, 07:00 PM

For Edana:

What's the house rule for making fake SINs pass checks?

For everyone else:

Would you all prefer a conjurer mage, a spell slinger mage, an anti-mage, or a combination of all of the above? Just curious what the general opinion is on the magic skills.

Seth

Feb 23 2011, 07:14 PM

QUOTE (Thanee @ Feb 24 2011, 07:59 AM)

@Seth: I would probably list Martial Arts under Positive Qualities.

Also, if you are primarily a healer, maybe take a look at the Empathic Healing Adept power in Street Magic.
I think that one is pretty cool for an Essence 6 Mystic Adept Healer, as it essentially allows to use magical healing twice on a patient.

Bye
Thanee

Good idea for the empathic healer.

Are martial arts qualities in this campaign? (I think I am ok either way). I usually play that they are not, and in an oriental game...

Thanee

Feb 23 2011, 07:19 PM

Uhh... aren't they always a quality? I don't know it any other way.

Bye
Thanee

Mickle5125

Feb 23 2011, 07:22 PM

there's a houserule that says you can buy the maneuvers without the quality and another houserule that says they don't count towards the 35 limit

Thanee

Feb 23 2011, 07:23 PM

QUOTE (Mickle5125 @ Feb 23 2011, 08:00 PM)

Would you all prefer a conjurer mage, a spell slinger mage, an anti-mage, or a combination of all of the above? Just curious what the general opinion is on the magic skills.

Some Counterspelling would be greatly appreciated.

But overall it's up to you, really, though it is not much of a problem to have all three of those covered (Summoning and Counterspelling only requires a single skill each, really; Spellcasting a bit more, as you also need to pay for the spells).

Bye
Thanee

P.S. @Seth: Another thing that seems perfect for your character is the Focus Will martial arts maneuver (+2 to Drain tests in non-stressful situations is nice).

Edana

Feb 23 2011, 07:45 PM

QUOTE (Mickle5125 @ Feb 23 2011, 01:00 PM)

For Edana:

What's the house rule for making fake SINs pass checks?

I got distracted by work before I could edit this into the main post, but I'll get that fixed in the next couple minutes. Basically change it from an opposed SIN vs Checker test to a threshold Checker DP (SIN rating). Checker DP is System+Software, which will be 2*Rating in most cases. (You could run into a guard with a basic verification program running on his commlink though, so you might end up with system 3, software 1 = 4 dice for instance.) This is an extended test, so if you give them a reason to keep digging the ID will eventually fail.

This is generally considerably better for players, as it takes a R2 scanner to consistently get the success needed to bust a R1 fake, and even a R6 scanner isn't likely to catch a R6 fake on the first pass. (And if you're generally blending in, they likely won't even bother with further queries.)

QUOTE (Thanee @ Feb 23 2011, 01:19 PM)

Uhh... aren't they always a quality? I don't know it any other way.

As Mickle pointed out, there are house rules that essentially turn martial arts into a sort of skill instead of a strict quality. I think for this game though, I'll leave them counting against qualities, and enforce the maneuver limits during creation. There's always the possibility of training and learning them after creation for karma earned in play though. (I believe errata limits the total +DV you can gain from advantages, but I'll have to double-check that.)

Seth

Feb 23 2011, 08:15 PM

QUOTE (Edana @ Feb 24 2011, 08:45 AM)

I believe errata limits the total +DV you can gain from advantages, but I'll have to double-check that.

I think its 3 points max.

I've just checked and I will have to edit Dr Yang, as with martial arts being a quality, I cannot afford 2 points.

Thanee

Feb 23 2011, 08:56 PM

Yep, the limit on +DV is 3.

@Seth: If you drop one of the three maneuvers, you pretty much have the one level to cover the other two right there.

Though, admittedly, I'm not entirely sure what the "+2 gymnastics block" is supposed to be (also a maneuver, or a martial arts benefit).

Bye
Thanee

Mickle5125

Feb 23 2011, 10:01 PM

Wuxing's a manifestation tradition, right? not a possession?

Edana

Feb 23 2011, 10:07 PM

QUOTE (Mickle5125 @ Feb 23 2011, 04:01 PM)

Wuxing's a manifestation tradition, right? not a possession?

Correct. It's Willpower + Logic drain if you need that as well.

phlapjack77

Feb 24 2011, 08:13 AM

*whew* I guess I've never really made a "real" vehicle-heavy character. I think it's mostly done, except for the Contacts and Background.

If ya'll know something about good vehicle purchasing habits, I would appreciate any comments on my choices.

Seth

Feb 24 2011, 08:52 AM

Well thanks for the help and advice on Dr Yang. I think I took on board every suggestion. I have changed the first post I made, so that the character is easy to find.

I am quite excited to see how the character works, as it is the least damaging doing character I have ever had, but is pretty survivable I think, and can heal really well.

Thanee

Feb 24 2011, 09:31 AM

Looks good!

Is that Cerebral Booster R1 or R2? Because you list Logic as 3/5.

One problem, I think, is that you cannot use the Sustaining Foci for Increase Reaction / Logic, because (augmented) they are higher than their Force (3), and you need to cast those spells at Force Rating >= Attribute Rating. Maybe you should recheck, that this actually works as you intend it to.

And one more thing... I would try to scrap together the 3k¥ to upgrade that Fake SIN to Rating 4 (Rating 1 isn't much of a protection and will regularily fail, even with low-end scanners).

Bye
Thanee