Tashiro, please continue to tell stories about your games. These all sound like great times and I'd love to hear more

Thank you.
In Paris, the group encountered a master thief / hacker, who was taking street children and turning them into thieves serving under him. He was providing them food and shelter, but would punish them if they failed to provide him with anything good on their rounds (isolation in a room without food), and reward them if they did well.

One of the PCs confronted him, while two of the others snuck towards the location - he had information they wanted. The PC confronting him didn't realize he had a cranial commlink, so while they faced off, the hacker silently contacted his team, who began to sneak towards the location.

Well, combat started happening. The hacker calmly walked to his car to drive off, with his 'best' thieves, and the PC called a spirit to hold the car in place. One of the PCs (a gunbunny L.A. media 'runner') spotted two street samurais approaching, so called the Adept to go in and help out. The Adept did - though the gunbunny missed the sniper in position. The Adept cleaned the clock of one of the sammies, then took a bullet to the noggin. The gunbunny wiped out the sniper, then called their DocWagon-esque group for an emergency pickup. (The Adept wound up permanently blowing an edge to survive...)

They cleaned up the bad guys, and the 'DocWagon' showed up. Capturing the hacker, they brought him along with them for interrogation later. The 'DocWagon' took them to a medical facility, connected to a megacorp they have good relations with. There, they handed the hacker off for interrogation, while the group waited for their friend to recover. The gunbunny started a relationship with one of the ERT medics who had picked them up, while the technomancer more or less laid low, and the guy who got the PC put in harm's way mostly did her own thing.

This is mostly about the Adept, though. He had amnesia in his background, so while in Paris, he had met with an ex-military contact of his who had provided him with information on a prior run -- they had uncovered a crystal in Africa, in a weird 'shallow' of Astral space which had manifested in the physical world. The place got shelled to hell, and the crystal exploded. A fragment was imbedded in the Adept's head - which is what awakened his magical abilities - he was a mundane before that event. The Adept and his merc team had been preparing to collect this as part of something involving a run on Aztechnology (and every time I mention a run there, the PCs tend to panic... )

Well, after the meeting, the informant's home went 'boom', so the PCs were wondering what to do - so I had used the hacker scenario to provide a distraction, while I laid down a few more threads. When the Adept woke up from the brain-shot, he found he had another 'voice' in his head (He took 'Mentor Spirit' as an Advantage at this point, as well as Spirit Ally). This mentor informed him that he had a 'path' to walk, and that he needed to find a balance between his magical side and the technological world around him (the imbalance manifested as the Gremlins disadvantage).

(So, to represent this, I used a tarot deck. He had to become the 'archetype' of each of the tarot cards in turn, performing a deed related to each card. Once he'd finished his 'path', he'd be sent off to train in a magical order, which would result in the 'end game' for the whole campaign.)

While he was convalescing, the technomancer and gunbunny are approached by a strange looking woman. Attractive, bright green eyes, and gossamer wings. She introduced herself as 'Rumour Mills', and had a docket for them concerning information related to the Aztechnology run, and some of the Adept's background. They were absolutely befuddled about her, and didn't know what to think - until she asked them to get in touch with Pixie Stix - a pixie Adept they knew in North America - that's when they sort-of figured out she was a faerie Fixer contact.

The Adept woke up, and decided he needed to go on an astral quest. To do this, he headed out of the medical facility, and walked out into the countryside. He found a faerie ring deep in the woods, and meditated there. This allowed him to go into the 'hollow' there, and meet with the Horned Lord and his court. Behind the Horned Lord was a shadowy figure with a mask, who indicated that he would be confronting the Adept later on. The Horned Lord himself and the Adept had a conversation - alluding to things from the Adept's past, and the future. They performed a series of tests on the Adept, allowing him to progress on his path - and the Adept was informed he would, if he succeeded, have a confrontation with the Painted Man.

He came out of his meditation, and rejoined the group. They put their information together, and realized that they had a lot to do in the near future. At this time, it was discovered a shadowrun team had been hired to break into the medical facility to gather information they had, so they decided instead to 'break out', 'stealing' the information (plus a few required things) that the facility had (with the manager's permission), while making it look like a daring nighttime escape (so that the gunbunny would get good ratings on her 'reality show' that she's near-constantly broadcasting to her LA fans). The group performed their daring escape, even going so far as to steal the vehicle the shadowrun team was coming in with, and headed to their next destination point - Iceland.

(Where they would meet kobolds, an ice giant, the remnants of a toxic shamanistic cult, find an orichalcum mine, and make semi-friendly contact with an old, free Blood Spirit they had made dealings with in the past, and make good connections with a Norse-themed magical order that hunts ancient creatures in the far north...)

---

That help for storytelling?

That sounds really cool! I'd love to try it out.

Look up Fox Magic on RPGNow. I've half-way finished a spy genre game using the same engine, but I'm having a bit of trouble with it, because I'm not used to writing about the spy genre. I'd really love to hand it off to someone else to go over and complete, so it can get out the door. That's the problem with a 2-person RPG company, where only one's a writer and game designer.

Oh! Oh! Just remembered something I REALLY want!

Rules for jump attacks!

~Umi

Uh what?

There aren't any rules for things like a kung fu master making a flying kick, or a troll dropping off a roof boot-first onto an unsuspecting guard, or a ninja dropping from the ceiling to impale someone with his katana. Which, frankly, is a shame!

I've discussed possible houserules with others here on Dumpshock, but an official way to handle jumping and attacking in the same motion would be very spiffy.

~Umi

And we need rules for Close-Combat with vehicles.
A Troll could very well use a Motorcycle as a Club.
Or he could hold his Halberd out of the window of a driving car.

Kun fu master doing a flying kick: Character charging +2
Troll dropping off a roof boot-first: Superior position +2 (possible with no defense)
Ninja dropping from ceiling to impale someone with his katana: Superior position +2 (possible with no defense)

It doesn't have to be more difficult to work.

Indeed... Pretty much how we have handled it over the years.

I think I would give the two "drop from above" a special +1DV as well, for the added impetus of gravity. But otherwise, I agree, it doesn't HAVE to be more complex, in order to work.

Those are fine houserules for handling things, but they're still just houserules. I would enjoy having official rules, be they complex or simple or (preferably) somewhere in between. Having a solid, undeniable ruling to point to saves a lot of frustration and confusion and whatnot.

That said, I personally feel that a mere modifier of superior position or charging doesn't really fit. Not only does it not convey the extra force that a leap attack possesses, it also fails to factor in the character's skill in jumping, as well as potential Falling Damage.

In my mind, jumping on someone from a height should substantially modify the damage you inflict, be that via bonus DV on the melee attack or merely via separate inflicted "Falling Damage" on the target, akin to the martial arts Throw Maneuver. Jumping on someone should also require a Gynmastics + Agility check, to guage the attacking character's ability to make the leap connect. A untrained troll punker jumping from a rooftop should be far more likely to misjudge or otherwise botch his jump compared to a trained jumper. They shouldn't both receive the same flat dice pool bonus on their attacks, as they have wildly differing skills in jumping. The better jumper should reach their target more often, to greater effect. That's kind of the point of character skills.

~Umi

What about the Troll Ninja dropping from the ceiling to impale?

ninja'd

Hell, I built a character completely around avoiding combat. Stealth and silence spells, trid phantasm, plus summoning spirits to provide cover and protection, as well as innate stealth skills, some hacking ability to get past detectors, etc. The entire idea was to get in, fulfill the objectives, and then get out without anyone notice the character's passage.

Some people might find that boring, but I get a thrill at the challenge of trying to cover every contingency, then pulling off a 'flawless' run. This is the character which created the motto in my signature. He/She is very good at what he/she does.

Everyone knows that only bear shifters get a bonus on drop attacks - doubled if they are an HMHVV carrier (edited). Also I want awakened versions of these.

Only Australian Bear Shifters, you mean.

In our games, we've handled the "drop from above" as "both attacker and target suffer the unmodified falling damage of the attacker, resisted as usual" in addition to normal charging rules.

I've heard that idea tossed around before, although I kinda feel like the person being landed on should suffer more Falling Damage than the person landing on them. Since, ya know, the victim acts as a crumple zone. Maybe something like the attacker takes half the damage the victim does? I dunno.

~Umi

I would actually suggest a DP bonus to their Damage resistance test either equal to or half of the defender's Body, as its their body breaking your fall so it kinda makes sense.

Ooh, I kinda like that idea. Landing on a troll is going to cushion you much more than landing on a pixie.

~Umi

& their Body score would show as much, I think adding it makes a bit more sense & gives the person falling on someone the added benefit of extra dice to resist the falling with which could negate the damage.

What about the "improvised throwing Weapon (MEtaHuman Body)" rules?

I'm really wanting to build that Troll Ninja idea I had now...just not sure how much Intimidate I'd need for the intimidation factor of seeing a Troll suddenly pop up behind your buddy to "Kali-Ma" him from behind.

I'm leaning toward building an SR version of Burrito Bison myself. Lucha!

~Umi

Oh look, a browser game, I'll just take a look, no harm ther...

(3 hours later)

thanks alot

Ask yourself, honestly, would you really rather have spent those three hours any other way?

~Umi

When you're done, there's a sequel.

these last episodes of leverage aren't going to watch themselves!


you're a cruel, cruel man/woman/meat popsicle.

Aww, fuzz. Now I want to make Korben Dallas in Chummer. To add to my evergrowing collection of other random pop culture reference characters.

...I think I have a problem, you guys.

~Umi

Dragon. And male.

I too have this problem, and have now started on a Korben Dallas build. I recently finished making the Librarian from Snow Crash. Not to be an enabler or anything

The sequel has endlees mode.

Back to wishlists momentarily.
I wish the new edition had more complex magic rituals. Parageology has geomancy already, and we know there are loyalty rituals in the Triads. It'd be cool if those were part of the rules, as well as other traditional rituals like, say, love enchantment and such. Things more complex and peculiar than what just spells can do.

I would like to see this -- and let me add to this some.
More metamagics, more advanced metamagics, and more metamagics connected to 'types' -- Adept metamagics, Hermetic metamagics, Shamanic metamagics. There are Adept abilities now which are unique to the type of Way you walk, so why not make metamagics which are connected to the different paths? You can also do this with submersion techniques (I forget what they're called right now), for Technomancers as well, to help the different types of 'mancers stand out.

But definitely, rituals. Conspiracy Theories had some interesting rituals, and I'd love to see this fleshed out more.

So, stuff that I want to see in SR5 (that has yet to be mentioned):

a.) More stat blocks for metahuman enemies

OR

b.) More books dedicated to stats for metahuman enemies.

I was very surprised at how little there was in terms of stats for enemies. Sure, there's the Running Wild book that provides a crap-ton of stats for critters and paracritters, but not much on metahuman enemies. And, well, I'd rather not go digging in the adventure books, plot sourcebooks, just to find what the stats are to a Mafia hitman.

This is especially the case for stuff like the Vice book, Corporate Guide, or the Magical Societies download. It's telling me all of this cool fluff material on these various organizations and corporations....but giving me practically no crunch material on using them in a game.

Because I really want to know stuff like: what are the stats of a typical member from the Gate of Ishtar? What seperates them from a member from the Bear Doctor Society. What's the difference (stat-wise) between a Renraku Johnson and a Horizon Johnson? What are the stats of a typical Mafia made man versus a Yakuza Kumi-in.

There's only so much you can do with trying to adapt the stats they give in the SR4a. And yes, I know the GM is making up all NPCs all the time...but some clear distinctions for these various organizations is much appreciated, please!

Runners Companion and Contacts have a lot of such thing.

Not quite enough, I say.

Magical Societies, as I said, was a huge sticking point for me in that they list all of these cool and interesting magical groups.....and yet don't really give me much crunch wise on using them.

Guys like the Magical Investors Group sounds interesting in of itself. I mean, magical bankers/investors?! Hell of a difference between that and your typical Wiccan coven.

In the Vice book, in each of the sections devoted to the larger criminal syndicates, they devote an entire part of each section to describing one specific syndicate and all of its' members (ex. the Naheka-Rengo in the Yakuza section). Yet no stats. These guys sound cool, and yet they don't give me anything crunch wise on actually using them.

I will say some of the more recent releases that are a step in the right direction are stuff like Montreal 2074. That actually LISTS stats for NPCs/enemies that can be found in Montreal. They list stats for a typical Corporate Prospector, Neo-Anarchist Activist, Gendarmerie Detective, all of which are unique SPECIFICALLY to Montreal. Not to mention it's far more flavorful and distinct to Montreal versus the stats for Lone Star Beat Cop, the Radical, or Wage Slave.

More of that please in 5e, please.

The same as the difference betwen one Renraku Johnson and another Renraku Johnson.

Mr. Johnson is just one of the many NPC's that should be tailored to suit the needs, so no book can dictate Mr. Johnsons stats in any case.

Would be nice with more pre-prepared goons although, and have the stat block present all the information.
Tis kind of a pain to have to flip several different parts of the book to get the actual stats.
Stats I would want:
Weapons with damage and dice pool, The armor value, effects of additional items, notes on qualities and ware and what have you.
Drain pool for magi, DV and basic stats for every spell.
Hacker stats are decent enough...

You know, pick up and play. You can still customise them if you want.

^ Pretty much what I'm getting at.

All I want is more distinction besides just a Vanilla "Ganger" or the Vanilla "Wageslave".

Setting specific NPCs/enemies (again, more like Montreal 2074) alone will make me a very happy GM.

Hell, Unwired was also a good indication by providing stats for different kinds of Spiders. More stuff like that.

(and no, I'm not trying to weasel out of making my own NPCs. Of course not. Just that I want more pre-made NPCs that are specific to the setting, or specific to a certain organization. Having a guideline is always a plus )

A lack of crunch has been a comment a couple of times for Magical Societies, even though I originally pitched and envisioned it as a 'mostly-fluff' book... I figured if you wanted the magic spells and things, you should go to Street Magic, if you wanted the Societies you should go to the Societies book.

One of the things that bugged me about second ed was having to dive through dozens of books to find everything that might apply to your character.

*But* even though I personally didn't like that, if there is appetite for it, maybe I'll add some crunch to the pitch if I decide to try for a re-write in 5th Ed.

(I was pretty proud of the Magical Investors, I thought it was a different take on what magic groups had been up until that point. Same with the Phoenix Society)

CC

^To an extent, the "diving through dozens of books" is still kind of an issue in 4e.

Imagine my surprise/annoyance when I found the stats for a Knight Errant Officer in the s4 Missions. And while they weren't radically different from the stats of the vanilla Lone Star Police Squad Member found in SR4a, they were still different.

Still though, if everything is categorized in the right books for the right stats, it should only be that you have to dive through one book and not randomly find the stats of a particular goon in another book.

But yes, a 5e version of Magical Societies that's more crunch heavy with stat blocks would definitely be a must-buy on my list.

1) More cost to magic. Honestly, magic should be a strategic resource for key decisions, not the first-best-and-always option for anything and everything.

2) Maybe not more lethality on average, but definitely a wider range of lethality. It shouldn't be possible to immunize a base metahuman character to long burst of APDS to the face/AV missiles/air delivered bombs the way you can now. Ok, if Troll McTrollensttein, the power armor wearing cyber troll, can walk through light pistol fire confidently, thats one thing...but being able to shrug off a Great Dragon ATGM or long burst of APDS machinegun fire is entirely another.

Trolls built to soak damage, have been able to shrug off APDS long-burst LMG fire since at least second edition. I should know, I played one. I wish it'd been a face-to-face game, because I'm sure the look on teh other players' faces when exactly that - a long burst from a Stoner-Areas GPLMG loaded with APDS did nothing more than push my Troll back one step (and deal 1 box of stun damage), prompting him to look up, and clearly say to the gunner in his second-floor window: "You and me need to exchange words. I'll be right up." ^_^

That said, I understand where you're coming from. I wish there was somewhere mroe between "you and me need to exchange words", and "I need to roll up a new character".

*nods*
because chunky salsa is so silly, we usually don't play with that rule . .
which led to my Troll taking all of 2 boxes of Damage (2x light Damage) from 3 grenades inside a staircase . .
basically:
Troll steps trough door.
BA BA BOOM
Troll steps out of Smoke-Cloud
"ouch, my ears are ringing"

Kind of hard to complain about the rules damaging the Tough Troll when you do not use the rules that would actually damage the Tough Troll (and outright kill others). The point of Chunky Salsa is to demonstrate just how deadly an explosice device (let alone 3 of them) is in a confined space. Most soft-tissue things do actually die in those circumstances, and those that do not are generally so messed up it is a non-issue anyways.

Problem with chunky salsa is that they turn explosives into a "roll a new character button" even when used by friendlies.
Realism maybe, but not very fun.

If you get caught in a confined space with a grenade, you could always... I dunno... burn a point of Edge to live through it?

Oh, wait. No. Sorry, this is Dumpshock. The typical repsonse 'round these parts would be, "If I burn a point of Edge, it'll screw with my karma balance! My optimization! Noooooo!". *slits character's wrists*



~Umi

KHAAAAAAAANNNNNN!!