This thread is a “Looking for Interest” post for an SR4 mission taking place outside the standard game setting cities. I have been working on a Charlotte-Raleigh Metroplex in the CAS state of North Carolina for my table top game setting and I would like to try my hand at running a pbp using the same setting. Ideally four or five players would round out this story best but I would be willing to try with a minimum of three if the group can cover the basics. I am looking to start the story by December 1st or earlier if possible. If this first mission goes well and the players are still interested I would be willing to continue for further missions.

Requirements*: Please be able to post in several times per week. I'd like to avoid going more than 24 hours without something happening. Please be familiar with SR4 rules. You do NOT have to be an expert as this is not going to be a nit gritty rules lawyer story.

Character Generation:

Standard 400 BP, 12 max availability. Character development should strongly revolve around background and not rely so much on building the ultimate powerhouse of his/her genre. The mission will be fairly low key with entry level difficulty tasks designed for newer runners. It's all about the story so it's important that the characters make sense. The players are encouraged to talk to each other during character development if they wish to have their characters know each other at the start of the run, but that is NOT necessary. Please either post below or PM me with character concepts if you are interested.

SR4 Source Book
Unwired
Street Magic
Augmentation
Arsenal
Runners Companion

A side about the Charlotte-Raleigh Metroplex:

In the CAS state of North Carolina of 2072, there are four major metropolitan areas within what is officially called the Charlotte-Raleigh Metroplex, or more often just referred to as “The Plex” by your average citizen. The areas are built on, around, above and below the cities of Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Greensboro and Fayetteville. Each of these major areas has its own spark of life surrounded by its own unique urban sprawl. There is still plenty of space between the outskirts of each sprawl where the land is rustic giving a whole new meaning to the word rural.

We will be focusing on the city of Charlotte and the surrounding sprawls consisting of Gastonia, Mt. Holly, Huntersville, Kannapolis, Concord and Monroe. Lone Star has the main law enforcing contracts in the entire metroplex with smaller security agencies providing corporate and private level security only. While there are no physical walls (well few) that prevent the unsavory elements from entering the heart of Charlotte, the Star does a very good job at profiling those crossing into the commercial zone from the sprawl. There are automated checkpoints on all the major roads into the heart of the city. Whoever said the CAS lagged behind the UCAS in technology has never been here.

On the record the politicians have done a very convincing job getting on the citizens side having some of the highest acceptance rates in history. With the recent rise in popularity of the Technocrat party, the Charlotte-Raleigh Metroplex has seen some amazing advances. Unlike Seattle, Denver and New York, at first glance people actually appear to be happy living here. That really isn't all that far from the truth either.

Off the record, every politician has their own private agenda. While Technocrats have done marvels at bringing the CAS up to date in the technology department, they have also managed to separate the 'classes' in such a way there are easily defined economic demographics but the people don't feel offended (or as much as they should). For the most part even the poor believe the politicians are doing their best to help.

Surprisingly the southern culture that so predominately rejected anything non-Christian fifty years earlier has softened its stance on the matter by 2072. This is not to say that everyone welcomes mages with open arms, but it means that most people accept that it exists. The average person knows squat about the workings of magic other than tricks they see on the streets from time to time or the bits and pieces they see on the news. The only people who violently oppose the use of magic are the Christian churches. Law enforcement doesn't just allow people to walk down the street hurling bolts of lightning, but at the same time they do allow people to willing come forward and have "practitioner of the arts' added to their SIN for most minor abilities.

[OOC: Think of the spirit of the concept of mutant registration in the Marvel Universe. While there are probably people out there that want to use the information in a bad way, the system is devised to protect EVERYONE including other mages. If people know what magic users can do (including the police) there is less to fear from them. This means most mages admit they can do certain spells but few would admit to being able to influence others.]

As the story begins, it is early in 2072. The upcoming Presidential Election is the most heated news item on the trid. Ramsay McMalkin the Technocrat Party challenger and Aaron Franklin the incumbent of the New Nationalist Party are both doing their best to keep things clean for the public eye while they secretly use every trick up their sleeves to gain an advantage over their opponent. Rumors and an occasional evening news story hints to the government using 'Shadow Runners” to take care of business that they can't legally do on their own. But its all for the betterment of the people, right?

The runners can come from any of the areas around Charlotte they wish. While nearly all lifestyles can be found in any region its fair to assume the further from the heart of the city, the poorer and less technologically adept things get. The exception is Mt. Holly which is essentially a series of walled communities for the very wealthy.

House Rules: Here are a few of the House Rules I use in my Table Top game. I am going to implement them into the pbp where they fit.

Extended Tests - You can only perform a task so well before second guessing yourself begins to hinder your attempts. With this in mind you can only make a number of attempts on an extended test equal to the number of dice in the 'Base Dice pool” (Skill + Attribute).

Fake License - Within reason a license can cover several restricted items that are grouped together for a common purpose. Be smart when using this.

Contacts - You start with Charisma * 2 free BP to use only towards contacts. No contact can begin play with a combined rating higher than 9.

Movement – Movement per combat turn is exaggeratedly high in the SR4 mechanics. A more realistic version of this is limited movement based directly to Agility score. Normal walking is equal to a number of meters per combat round (3 seconds) equal to the characters Agility. Running doubles this movement. Dwarves get a natural -1/-2 modifier to walking/running movement while trolls get a +1/+2.

Hacked Software - Maintaining hacked software is a tedious task when you have nothing else going on, but a hacker / runner is often busy doing other chores too. Keep this in mind if you take a bucket load of hacked programs to start off with and they begin to degrade. The hacker can only work on a number of software / hardware projects at a given time equal to his logic score while they are considered active. During downtime increase the number of projects to Logic*2.


GM Email: frgm1363@gmail.com

Google Map: Charlotte - Raleigh Metroplex 2072

EDIT (10/28/13):
Current Interested Parties:

Mach_Ten..........Face

phlapjack77..........Technomancer

Lobo0705..........Street Sam

Twitch_..........Mage/healer

I'd definitely be interested in this! I'm currently managing multiple posts per day in another game on this board, if you want references. I'll do a little thinking and start pulling a character together, if that's not too presumptuous?

eta: Oops, I should mention what I'm hoping to play, I guess. Spellcaster; I'm still trying to decide on an exact build, but probably with secondary abilities as either a face or medic.

I'm interested as well. Totally on board with the idea of not more than 24 hours going on between postings. I am usually able to post multiple times per day, every day.

SR4 is the format I am LEAST familiar with, although I have all the supplements you mentioned. If you are okay with it, I'll play the samurai of the group, as that requires the least amount of rule reading

Will have something up soon.

That sounds wonderful. You will find that on the surface the people in this area are "accepting" of magic more then some places but that doesn't mean mages commonly hurl bolts of lightning in the street. Many minor magic oriented NPCs are registered (it's listed on their SIN) and for the most part they go about their business unmolested unless they cause trouble. I'll write a little blurb about how magic is viewed but if anything it will be socially easier

Every group needs a Sam

Don't worry about the mechanics and playing rules. I tend to be more of a story teller than a rules lawyer. I am sure you will find a happy medium here

Any room for a few more? I'd like to join, I've got a technomancer concept that started in another game but never got to be fully played. It's a blatant rip from the online Tron cartoon thing, but I think it could be pretty fun...

AND...speaking of technomancers, if you're ok with my character, would you be willing to talk about your lord and savior the flying spaghetti monster? entertain some technomancer specific house rules? If not, no big deal

http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=36511

So i know i said i had too much going on .. But my addiction has gotten the better of me!

So, im thinking of a face/hacker type

But having never read the books and no idea how to hack, this should be mildly interesting,

The SAM may well end up over my shoulder giving me hints and pointers .

Or if you prefer, i can Adept it up and go melee mental

Technomancer should be fine. I'll read up on them since I don't ever play them. PM me with what you were thinking rules wise. Not saying yes but if the rules are broken I'll look at making a mod.

Hacker or face would work. Play something you will have fun with

I've made a truly awful face with zero skill at hacking ... so far I should have stayed with being GM

He's a Gambling addict in debt to the mafia (or Yakuza or Vory or __INSERT BAD GUYS HERE__)

so far he's managed to get by on luck and the mis-fortune of others, cause it sure as hell wasn't skill that has kept him alive so far !!

Ok - here we go:

Tyler "Lobo" Savage

Description




Background



Character
Uploaded to Dropbox

Artemis Fowler - is on the cusp of something big ..

"Huge I tells ya! .. look I know you don't believe me! .. I wouldn't believe me if was you sat there, but it is gods honest .. seventy / thirty, an' I'm cuttin' me own throat here!"

The pleading tone in his voice is pitched to perfection to sow the seed of doubt in his mark,
convince them it's a con so they don't see the double cross and buy in anyway,
at the end of the day, what's the risk to them?

The guy with the money, let's call him Johnson, sits back in the huge comfy chair opposite and breathes in a huge gasp of real cigar,
the smoke makes Artemis wince, eyes welling with tears but he dares not admit it .. not now, not when I'm so close

"You've got all the bases covered as usual Artemis! This pleases me, but Sixty / Forty for the house or we collect on ... our little promise, no?"

His heart leaps in his chest, adrenaline races through his systems and his stomach dives into a dark bitter pit of fear
all at the same time, his face shows nothing but gratitude and sycophance to his benefactor
"of course Sir, I understand, now ..ummm, when, exactly... can I expect the uh, funds? .. you see time is a little pressing with the ...big event being tonight!"
A raised eyebrow from Johnson halts him and with a wave an attendant arrives with a briefcase.

Two hours later and Artemis is once again in his element, surrounded by crooks and petty thieves, drinking real scotch at a thousand NuYen a shot and ice is extra.
The cards on the table in front of him, the pot stacked and only two opponents remain, everything is looking in his favour this time .. He dreams of paying off the debts and escaping this gods forsaken town.
Maybe take a visit to Seattle, I hear it's kickin' this time of year

The Flop is layed out, then the turn, He looks at the pair of kings in his hand ... This time ... he prays to whatever gods are listening .... The River.

Waking up, he looks around... eyes still blurry and blood shot .. the upside down face of Mr. Johnson swings wildly into view
"My dear Artemis .... we need to talk!"

Ork Street Sam with Combat paralysis... i like where this is going

THAT is exactly how I like my walls of flesh when the bullets start flying ... paralyzed and not runnign around trying to chop folks up and making it difficult for me to hide behind it !

The opening scene to Empire Records is going through my head reading this...

Act 2 is more "Misery" and Artemis is no Kathy Bates !

Yeah - should be interesting

Ok, here is where I need your help to tie in his backstory with the campaign.

The general idea is that Lobo was a professional bodyguard hired out by [insert corp that is appropriate to your setting] to various celebrities, government and corporate officials, etc.

The job was not just bodyguarding, but also escorting (not in a sexual sense, just the idea was that he is not supposed to stand in the background and look tough, but rather be able to converse with the client if necessary) - hence the multiple languages, diverse knowledge skills, Mnemonic Enhancer, etc, as well as a driver for the client - hence his limo.

Now, when he was hired to protect [insert prominent figure of your choice for your campaign], that person was attacked, and his/her son/daughter was also in harm's way. Stuck with the prospect of choosing to save either the client or their child, Lobo froze just long enough for both to die. The spouse/father of the client (and the child's mother/father or grandfather/grandmother - whichever fits your campaign better) took this personally, and proceeded to ruin Lobo's reputation in the bodyguard business.

The corp who hired him dropped him, and with his name being dragged through the mud, he is forced to move toward the shadows. Mentally, he is tormented by his failure, thinking if he could just have gone faster, he could have saved one or both. He has been experimenting with Cram to try and gain that speed boost, telling himself the potential benefits outweigh the risk.

He is forced to live on the streets, mostly in his car, maintaining the most rudimentary place where he can shower and make himself presentable for a new client.

Anyway - this is just the bare bones - if you could provide suggestions for the above that would be appropriate for your setting, would be appreciated.

I can tell you this as common knowledge most of the populace knows. Four of the AAA mega corps have facilities in the area including the North American HQ for Saeder Krupp in Charlotte. Evo, Novatech and Ares all have facilities in and around the Charlotte area. As for the specifics... let me think a bit on this. Feel free to make up a person... a VP of operations at an A rated corp or even a visiting R&D rep from out of the country for one of the AAA corps. If you don't have something solid locked down by tomorrow i'll give you a few specifics to work around.

HEY! I know you, well, i doubt you'd remember me lol, but ..
There was this party, and I was on a roll, and there was this girl, well, she was into me, needless to say!

Anyway, short story long, You had a bit of a misunderstanding about the definition of personal space and.. Well lol, we can laugh about it now of course .. Specially after you held me upside down over the balcony, I forgive you by the way,
Call it a favour you owe me for later chummer,

Oh yeah... you're getting kneecapped... just not by an NPC

Ah yes, I remember it well. The discussion was lively, and the bruises memorable, and perhaps worthy of repeating...

I added a link to the Google map project i am re-re-reworking because google maps sucks my ass... anyway... there are the basics. The link is in the second post.

Here's a first draft of my character. Everything's filled in except for contacts; I though it might be fun to share those between players, to explain how our characters know each other?

Description



History


Character

Twitch_ that looks good.

Everyone (except Mach_Ten since i have yours already) may I get your email addresses so i can add you to my dropbox folder for this game. You do not have to install the software you can just access the website. I will post game related images and documents there. Regarding characters... if you have chummer would you mind using it and saving an HTML copy of your character to upload to dropbox. If you refuse to use chummer can you create either a .txt or a .rtf of your character and post that on drop box when you get the invite please.

The biggest structured criminal faction is the Russian Mafia (Bratva) which is in charge of anything large scale. There are some smaller gang elements but the Russians very efficiently "took care" of the Japanese, Italian and Irish groups that tried to set up shop in Charlotte. They took the hint and instead each took power of one of the other city areas in the state. The Bratva is very careful not to let any of the young gangs get to greedy and try to lay claim to more than a block or two and even then they pay the Bratva to have that small turf.

But the Mafia tries to stay out of the spotlight to avoid screwing up connections with politicians who would be forced to do something if the criminal element of the city got out of control.

Before anyone finalizes their character for good, each runner gets a free Contact:

Burn-out [fixer/hacker] C2 / L1

you can use BP to increase the rating on this contact but only up to a maximum total of 9. Burn-out is a retired runner turned fixer. He is known to have his paws in many facets of the shadows.

Christ up a tree, I forgot a commlink. I'll rearrange some things and fix that. My email's in your inbox, LordArcana.

I think Egg probably knows a smuggler who got her out of Atlanta; anyone fancy sharing a contact?

I dont actually have a smuggler contact, but then i've never needed one till now
So if one of mine happens to have a sideline that i'm unaware of.. Well then, that's gravy!

I'm reviewing my sheet today and possibly adding more contacts, 4 on a face is not enough
I teckon.

Meet Artemis Fowler

Artful Dodger crossed with CMOT Dibbler with an added twist of Leo Getz

Wherever there's a sniff of a deal to be made or a big stakes poker game going down on the hush hush, Artemis is there.
No one really remembers telling him about it or seeing him getting past security,
And NOBODY ever gave him the money he is throwing around like he owns the place, but there he is .. Gambling away like a demon and occasionally winning,

the guys got a talent, and a lot of luck, until the big stakes come and then suddenly, the man you couldn't get away from, the man no one wanted to be seen talking to,

is wanted by EVERYONE and at the same time, nowhere to be seen!

With a string of bad debts left across the gaming scene. you'd imagine it'd be impossible for him to get in on any action, but actually there's always a second chance saloon,
and normally one debt gets paid off and another rears it's ugly head just around the corner,
he doesn't owe anyone big enough to warrant the kind of attention that gets nasty people involved, but he's owed someone regularly enough that his line of credit is shrinking fast,

He needs another revenue stream, just until the big game this weekend .. and THEN He's Outta here... Seattle is calling with it's bright lights and big money!

Updated my character background (see original post)

Updated the character and put it in the dropbox - ready to go

At first glance the only things that stand out are you have no OS for your commlink hence the 0 for System and Firewall, and you have no programs for it either. Without the OS you can't do anything as you need a system rating to even run a program. If you don't buy any programs i automatically assume all OS comes with common use programs at rating 1 since it implies it in the book.

I must say i was a little surprised at the interest in this game and how fast everyone responded. I know i was planning on starting at the beginning of December but if all characters are in and finalized i would love to start earlier. I am not putting a rush on anyone so i would just like to ask if anyone thinks they won't have things locked down by the end of this week or the beginning of next? If you need more time that is completely fine. Its important you are playing a character that you will enjoy so take the time you need :0

I just need to finalize my contacts and I'll be set, so I think I'll easily be ready by then!

Fixed

I moved straight from 3e to 5e, and so I'm trying to avoid even looking at the 4e Matrix rules to avoid confusing myself when I play 5e. Lobo will spend the vast majority of his time in the "real" world as opposed to the virtual one

That's fine.

I put up the official OOC thread for the game.


[OOC] - Shadows of the CAS

Feel free to switch over to that thread and give a quick intro for yourself... just the basics. I will work on the IC thread as we get more characters finished.

Crap - what's the dropbox link? My brain's too fried right now...

I am not sure how to link the site again without inviting you again. it said you already joined. I just open the website and sign in. The name of the folder is "Shadows of the CAS"

Ok got it working - uploaded Autowired to dropbox. I think he's mostly finished, pending some final polish + GM comments.

I just thought of something, I probably need to edit the html file to update the Resonance stuff to the house-ruled value, as there's no way to do it in Chummer (I think...)