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kilometer
Im somewhat new to shadowrun (can count my games on one hand, a good mix of pink mohawk and mirror shades. sr4). im now going to play a street sam and need inspiration. i want to here from you guys. what are your favorite razorboys/girls and or gunbunnies? i'd love to here their war stories and their loadouts? cyber.gif
bannockburn
I like either a tanky or a lightning approach.
Meaning: A tough as nails grizzled killer who can just take punishment and keep on going ... or a fast razorboy who'll slice you up in a splitsecond, before you can even touch him wink.gif
I've played a lot of samurai archetypes and some things I almost always take are reflex upgrades, smartlink, cybereyes and implant weaponry.
The rest depends on the background and / or what I want the character to do.
Lionhearted
Personally I got a weak spot for fairytale gone wrong gillettes, heck any character that's both happy-go-lucky, somewhat naive or innocent but at the same time clinically insane psychos.
crazyconscript
Personnally I have never created a "straight" street samurai. They always have something else to help define them. Like the technophile who woudn't know how to use software if he had it, but could take apart any hardware you put in front of him in 5 seconds flat. Yep, he had Wired Reflexes and Smartguns and could happily murder the hell out of anyone who got in his way, but he was also able to do things people didn't expect of him (Hardware+Industrial Mechanic skills).
"Loadouts" of cyberware I have found to be one of the most uninteresting parts of creating a 'sammie. Wired-Reflexes: Check. Muscle Toner(Optional Muscle Aug if melee): Check. Smartgun system: Check.
Yes from there I tend to branch out into different branches (Bone Lacing or Dermal Plating? Do i even want a defensive aug?), but I have found it helps so much more actually building around a personality trait, like the technophile above or a follower of a code of honour.
Lionhearted
Well you can skip the muscle toner if you're going for cyberlimbs, which for all their drawbacks have some draw to them like being tough as nail with extra boxes and built-in armour, flexibility with modular limbs ("Hold on Im just putting on my running legs") and if your GM is lenient breaking all the normal limits with redlining.
Worth noting is that skillwires and cyberlimbs is a very good way to become the most passable sammy when your focus is elsewhere.
Stahlseele
i like the ultimate mundane climber.
a troll that climbs as fast as other characters can run.
kilometer
QUOTE (Stahlseele @ Mar 8 2013, 12:00 PM) *
i like the ultimate mundane climber.
a troll that climbs as fast as other characters can run.


i could imagine that with some magical camo on him, guard would look over the side and basically see the predator grinbig.gif
Lionhearted
Aren't the Yautja more about jumping? never seen one climb I think...
Build your own predator with a ruthenium polymer coated milspec armour fitted with hydraulic jacks.

Edit: Ruthenium is a real thing? I thought it was pure phlogiston...
Pepsi Jedi
QUOTE (Lionhearted @ Mar 8 2013, 02:05 PM) *
Aren't the Yautja more about jumping? never seen one climb I think...
Build your own predator with a ruthenium polymer coated milspec armour fitted with hydraulic jacks.

Edit: Ruthenium is a real thing? I thought it was pure phlogiston...


The Yautja didn't just kangaroo up into the trees in the jungle or ontop of buildings like superman. I imagine they climb quite well. There were just physical limitations of the movies in the 80s. (( if you want to see something funny. Google Predator's first monster or screen test. A weird foamy thing Van Dame was running around the jungle in. lol ))

But yeah they were darn near arboreal.
Pepsi Jedi
One of my favorite examples of Street Sams from the actual Shadowrun books, came from an off handed comment (( and image)) in Paranormal Animals of North America. A Street Sam duo called Calvin and Hobbes. Even funnier as noone seemed to 'get it'.
Lionhearted
QUOTE (Pepsi Jedi @ Mar 9 2013, 12:11 AM) *
The Yautja didn't just kangaroo up into the trees in the jungle or ontop of buildings like superman. I imagine they climb quite well. There were just physical limitations of the movies in the 80s. (( if you want to see something funny. Google Predator's first monster or screen test. A weird foamy thing Van Dame was running around the jungle in. lol ))

But yeah they were darn near arboreal.

Well there's been movies since then, you know AvP (which the first one wasn't half bad) and Predator 2010, Can't remember them climbing in those, they did a hell a lot of jumping though.
The xenopedia describes them as able climbers, however he could very well kangaroo his way up trees as they are capable of jumping up to three times their height vertically and with them being like 7,3" (220cm) they could very easily reach the lower branches of a high tree.
*grin*
FuelDrop
My last theoretical build used cyberarms with gyro-stablisers to let him fire his custom guns full auto, at a dead run, with no penalty. Never really got to play him though frown.gif but that was because he had a falling out with the group and walked away.
Lantzer
I had a dwarf teen who decided, after an accident, to become a teeny-bopper catgirl through full cyber replacement. Mind the 4-foot-tall mall rat with the kitty ears- she's nearly indestructible and can go up walls at a sprint.

As for another, I didn't want to choose between speed and toughness. So I made the Roach. Not the top of the line in speed or toughness, but a nasty combination of both. Pity he was a neoanarchist paranoid. Pity he died to a critically glitched dodge in a 12 man crossfire.

The thing about making tanks is, they eventually get gunned down, because they take risks that others would not so that the team can get the flock out of there.
binarywraith
My favorite to date was Murphy my Boston Mafia enforcer gone freelance street sam in Seattle after one of his bosses sold him out as a scapegoat for a snitch.

He was a cybered-up troll, but with fairly good mental stats, so disturbingly articulate and very, very world-weary. His motto was 'That which can go wrong, will, at the worst possible moment.' It was rarely proven wrong.

Cyberwise, he was pretty simple. Bone lacing, muscle aug, cybereyes, wired reflexes, headware comms, and smargun system, which was added to in play by a cyberarm and a few other sundries thanks to getting blown up on a run.

Combat-wise he actually did most of his work barehanded, because when a troll with bone lacing and muscle aug punches you, you stay the hell down. Carried a sawn-off pistol gripped Roomsweeper for moments when subtlety were done, and a beat up old AK-97 for those times when the shit has really hit the fan.
Pepsi Jedi
Why would a troll being articulate, be disturbing?

Am I the odd one out, that my trolls aren't all low IQ types? None of my trolls have been inarticulate thugs of low intelligence. I'm sure they exist, but not usually as professional shadowrunners.
FuelDrop
QUOTE (Pepsi Jedi @ Mar 9 2013, 04:19 PM) *
Why would a troll being articulate, be disturbing?

Am I the odd one out, that my trolls aren't all low IQ types? None of my trolls have been inarticulate thugs of low intelligence. I'm sure they exist, but not usually as professional shadowrunners.

Our troll is logic and intuition three, so about metahuman average. far smarter than the troll stereotype, anyway! his only real problem is a charisma of 1, which stops him from really expressing his intellect in any meaningful way frown.gif
Oh well, he can take a LAW to the face and shrug it off. If the player thinks it's a fair trade, who are we to argue?
Lionhearted
QUOTE (Pepsi Jedi @ Mar 9 2013, 09:19 AM) *
Why would a troll being articulate, be disturbing?

Am I the odd one out, that my trolls aren't all low IQ types? None of my trolls have been inarticulate thugs of low intelligence. I'm sure they exist, but not usually as professional shadowrunners.

The thing about trolls is not that they don't just have their genetics working against them, but generally because of prejudice and social class they're forced into a vicious circle, where because of their parents lot in life, they're unable to attain a decent education and consequently their children will be stuck in the same position.
As such a well educated troll will be rare not by their nature, but by their circumstances.

Note: Despite that many organisations claim that their IQ tests are culture neutral, level of education is hugely important in determining IQ. Which has led to efforts in devicing methods that can determine a persons raw intelligence rather then their IQ. As I can understand it, using IQ as a quantifiable measurement of intelligence is more and more frowned upon in academic circles.
Umidori
Which is funny, because you'd think an Intelligence Quotient would be great for measuring intelligence.

~Umi
Lionhearted
Personally I think it's kind of ludicrous trying to put a single number on something that expresses itself in so many different ways.

Umidori
Oh, I agree, somewhat. But people like to quantify things, or at least attempt to. *shrug*

Just take it with a grain of salt. It reflects broad tendencies more than exact amounts. Two people with very similar IQs are both roughly as "intelligent", but how it manifests can vary wildly. But at the same time, someone with a significantly higher IQ than someone else is almost always going to have an easier time learning things and thinking critically, barring other secondary factors like access to education, preferred method of learning, et cetera.

The important thing to remember is that the IQ system is just a tool, like any other. So long as you keep in mind that is imprecise, and that you should limit your expectations of it, it can be of some moderate use.

~Umi
Pepsi Jedi
Well I understand about the first trolls facing enormous prejudice and being ostracized and regulated to the fringes of society, and their children being born and brought up that way and what not, and that more than one SR book hinting that it's very likely socio-economic factors that lead to their shorter life spans vs pure biological. That's been a long time back though. My trolls aren't all "Durrr hand me dhat gun, I gotz ta kill dem corp sec guys cuz I haz ta pick my nose later" Types. If they're shadowrunners, they're professionals. Sure some might come from the bad part of town or something, but I play them more like guys out of Southie or something. They can still be smart and articulate, even if they choose to be crass, or have accents or the like.

The Troll Stereotype of being 'big' holds. "Big means dumb" Doesn't. At least for myself and the groups I play in.
Lionhearted
Not being dropped behind the wagon doesn't necessitate a big vocabulary, bet a fair few trolls are quite streetwise even if they have no clue what articulate means.
Pepsi Jedi
QUOTE (Lionhearted @ Mar 9 2013, 01:47 PM) *
Not being dropped behind the wagon doesn't necessitate a big vocabulary, bet a fair few trolls are quite streetwise even if they have no clue what articulate means.


True, but being poor doesn't mean you have a small vocabulary either.
binarywraith
QUOTE (Pepsi Jedi @ Mar 9 2013, 02:04 PM) *
True, but being poor doesn't mean you have a small vocabulary either.


Being poor in a society where public education relies on being part of a megacorp, and several of the megas are rabidly racist against orks and trolls, on the other hand...
Lionhearted
What education? the majority of trogs are SINless, the only education they get is the one taught by the street.
binarywraith
QUOTE (Lionhearted @ Mar 10 2013, 06:31 AM) *
What education? the majority of trogs are SINless, the only education they get is the one taught by the street.


'xactly.
Pepsi Jedi
I think people are using words a touch careless. "Majority" of them are Sinless? or "many" of them are Sinless? And public education doesn't mean you HAVE To be a corp citizen.

There's some stereotypes and generalizations that are being hyperbolically exaggerated, and then taken as fact, here.
Lionhearted
No, but public education mean you have to be a citizen, SINless are not.
Of course there's exceptions and it's reasonable to assume that runners would be some of those exceptions, but there's reason stereotypes exist to begin with.
Personally I feel that anti-stereo types (as in the good drow or the smart orc) tends to get as overplayed as the stereotypes themselves, sometimes it's more interesting to be who they expect you to be.
Pepsi Jedi
QUOTE (Lionhearted @ Mar 10 2013, 04:52 PM) *
No, but public education mean you have to be a citizen, SINless are not.
Of course there's exceptions and it's reasonable to assume that runners would be some of those exceptions, but there's reason stereotypes exist to begin with.
Personally I feel that anti-stereo types (as in the good drow or the smart orc) tends to get as overplayed as the stereotypes themselves, sometimes it's more interesting to be who they expect you to be.


But that's taking the assumption that it's the 'Majority" of trolls or Orcs are sinless. Instead of "many". And yes it is playing to the sterotype. The "Sexy Elf" or the"Gruff Dwarf" or the "Stupid meat shield troll" etc.

The thing is, these are generalisations that people are taking as 'fact'. It's not a 'rule' that trolls are big and stupid. So not being a stupid troll ins't against the rule.

I'm right there with you on hating the 'special snowflake'. I played -alot- of white wolf. The 'peaceful Fenrir' or the "warmongering Coggie', or the 'Sedate brujah' or the 'militant Venture' etc got on my nerves so bad. Thing is, with those things, you were taking mystical expression into account.

In Shadowrun, it's not like that. A troll can be a Decker or Rigger, or Spell slinger, a elf can be a Street Sam or a Decker. An dwarf cam be a combat wombat. Yes trolls are going to be big and get racial bonous for being trolls, but that doesn't lock um in.

I was actually known in our groups for playing ... the pissy militant Fenrir, or the peaceful coggie, or the Ventrue Businessman, or the Punk Brujah. smile.gif I get what you're saying. I just don't think that the 'roles' are as defined in shadowrun, to the point that it's shocking if a troll is articulate.
Glyph
QUOTE (crazyconscript @ Mar 8 2013, 10:47 AM) *
Personnally I have never created a "straight" street samurai. They always have something else to help define them.

The good thing about street samurai is that, while you can dedicate all of your points to being a killing machine, the bare bones of a street samurai build is fairly cheap - stuff to boost your IPs and combat dice pools; high stats for Body, Agility, and Reaction; a good ranged skill and a good close combat skill. Unlike mages or technomancers, it is fairly easy to do a street samurai/something else character.
Stahlseele
*points at skillwires*
never let anybody shoehorn you into any old drawer again.
Lionhearted
*looks at price of activesofts*
Pass...
Glyph
I would only look at activesofts for characters with move-by-wire, and even then, I would get them after char-gen. Yes, 10,000 nuyen.gif a point is still a savings over BP, but the opportunity cost is too high because starting resources are so limited; for the cost of a rating: 4 skill, you could get quite a bit of 'ware.
TeOdio
One of my favorite inspirations for a Street Sammy was Mad Dog from Hard Boiled. Muy chingon. He had a code which separates him from the rest of the mooks as well. Plus, he's played by the same actor that played #4 in The Five Deadly Venoms.
KarmaInferno
Samurai?




-k
Pepsi Jedi
QUOTE (KarmaInferno @ Mar 10 2013, 10:32 PM) *


Death. mad.gif
tasti man LH
...well then. I am surprised to find anyone here who still acknowledges the existence of Power Rangers. Good times. XD
Umidori
The existence of what now? American Super Sentai?

Utterly absurd. Never happened. It's too stupid a concept. Laughable, really.

~Umi
Pepsi Jedi
QUOTE (Umidori @ Mar 11 2013, 06:39 AM) *
The existence of what now? American Super Sentai?

Utterly absurd. Never happened. It's too stupid a concept. Laughable, really.

~Umi


*Looks to Umidori* And you guys call ME a Nerd!?
Stahlseele
QUOTE (Pepsi Jedi @ Mar 11 2013, 06:35 PM) *
*Looks to Umidori* And you guys call ME a Nerd!?

we do.
he just proved to be a bigger nerd.


As for Skillsoft being horribly expensive:
No idea wether or not this was fixed by now.
Just take a 4/4 Group Contact Warez Network.
Get your comlink maxed to Search Operations.
Enjoy 10% List-Price after Game has started.
Umidori
I'm a nerd simply for knowing about the Japanese show they ripped off to make Power Rangers? nyahnyah.gif

I personally think Super Sentai is nearly as stupid, but being that it is Japanese, I'm willing to file it away into the mental folder labeled "JAPAN IS FUGGIN' WEIRD" and leave it at that. But that it made the jump to America? That someone actually thought it was a good idea to convert the original into the ripoff? And that it actually WORKED to some degree? That's the part that makes me want to slam my head against a concrete wall for days.

~Umi
tasti man LH
^Oh, you ain't alone on knowing what Super Sentai is.

Still, keep in mind the show is meant to be watched by kids. And that the standards of childrens' entertainment in Japan is very different in comparison to the Western world.

As for the mere existence of Power Rangers, all I can say is: a.) 90's cheese and b.) brightly colored spandex superheroes that pilot giant freakin' robots. How cool is that shit?!
Pepsi Jedi
QUOTE (tasti man LH @ Mar 11 2013, 08:53 PM) *
^Oh, you ain't alone on knowing what Super Sentai is.

Still, keep in mind the show is meant to be watched by kids. And that the standards of childrens' entertainment in Japan is very different in comparison to the Western world.

As for the mere existence of Power Rangers, all I can say is: a.) 90's cheese and b.) brightly colored spandex superheroes that pilot giant freakin' robots. How cool is that shit?!


Didn't one of them turn into a child molester or something?
tasti man LH
....absolutely not.

That guy was a one-off guest star from Power Rangers and that's it. He was never a part of the main cast.
Pepsi Jedi
It was something....

Ok one of them ended up being a triple murderer. I knew it was something bad.

https://www.google.com/search?q=power+range...920&bih=915

tasti man LH
"...onetime CHILD actor..."

Yeah, nope. This guy never played a recurring character in Power Rangers and was just a kid when he was in PR.

Hmm, now I kinda want to make an SR character based around a Power Ranger...
Pepsi Jedi
QUOTE (tasti man LH @ Mar 11 2013, 09:17 PM) *
"...onetime CHILD actor..."

Yeah, nope. This guy never played a recurring character in Power Rangers and was just a kid when he was in PR.

Hmm, now I kinda want to make an SR character based around a Power Ranger...


That means nothing, All of the power rangers were kids when they were playing Power Rangers. lol (( Well teens to early 20s.)) He was the "Red Ranger" Or something wasn't he?

*Shrugs* Still remains. Power ranger turned into a triple murderer. The comment was mostly meant in jest anyway, but yeah. Triple murder is somethin'.
tasti man LH
If you're talking about the actual actors, no. They were actually a lot older than being early 20's.

And nope, that guy was never an actual Power Ranger on the show.

(as a PR fan, I should know this.....unless if you want me to post up the cast list of every single actor/actress that played a Power Ranger rotfl.gif )
Umidori
And somehow I'M the nerd in this situation. That cheeses me off a bit. sarcastic.gif

~Umi
tasti man LH
Son, if 6 years of attending San Diego Comic Con has ever taught me anything, it's that there's no such thing as being too nerdy or too geeky.

And considering this is the board where people start getting into debates/argument over polyhedral dice probability (theoretical and practical) to the point they start publishing spread sheets just to prove how imbalanced a game mechanic is...
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