Okay, here's the general idea for a game:
The PCs are all corporate employees who've just been transferred to the Mars colony. Combat light, little traditional running, corporate missions.
Is anyone interested?
Full Version: Mars Alpha recruitment
What edition?
"Combat light". Does that mean we are all armed with lasers?
I'm good with either 4th or 5th edition, depending on what the players end up wanting.
Combat light means that combat will not be the primary focus of the game.
Combat light means that combat will not be the primary focus of the game.
Sorry, I haven't been very eloquent so far.
The concept I'm going for here is that the PCs are a group of newly transferred corporate types who've all come to mars on the same ship. They all get grabbed by the head of operations almost the moment they step off the transport and get sent off to repair the communications array on an outpost which hasn't reported in since a large sandstorm. After that, the team will return to the alpha complex and get involved in the standard jockeying for position you'd expect in a corporate environment.
A couple of points about the campaign:
Everyone will have a corporate SIN. This won't be a negative quality, it's a requirement for working on mars.
This campaign is going to have large sections that are player-driven, as the PCs will have the option of playing dirty to improve their chances of promotion by taking down the competition.
Most non-implanted gear will not need to be bought during chargen, as the corporation will provide things like clothes (Evo HEL Suits will be standard), weapons and ammunition (sidearms for security personnel, with heavier weapons based on the officer's proficiencies and the mission in question), Drones and vehicles (again on a mission by mission basis), Commlinks and Decks, that sort of thing will all be provided by the mother corporation.
Given the mana vacuum on mars I'm expecting a tech-heavy group rather than magic heavy. Some areas will have more or less mana on tap than average, but fair warning that being a mage will be a handicap.
PS: Yes, I have just gotten my hands on a copy of Doom 3 BFG edition. No, you'll not be fighting off a demonic invasion... well, unless you really want to.
The concept I'm going for here is that the PCs are a group of newly transferred corporate types who've all come to mars on the same ship. They all get grabbed by the head of operations almost the moment they step off the transport and get sent off to repair the communications array on an outpost which hasn't reported in since a large sandstorm. After that, the team will return to the alpha complex and get involved in the standard jockeying for position you'd expect in a corporate environment.
A couple of points about the campaign:
Everyone will have a corporate SIN. This won't be a negative quality, it's a requirement for working on mars.
This campaign is going to have large sections that are player-driven, as the PCs will have the option of playing dirty to improve their chances of promotion by taking down the competition.
Most non-implanted gear will not need to be bought during chargen, as the corporation will provide things like clothes (Evo HEL Suits will be standard), weapons and ammunition (sidearms for security personnel, with heavier weapons based on the officer's proficiencies and the mission in question), Drones and vehicles (again on a mission by mission basis), Commlinks and Decks, that sort of thing will all be provided by the mother corporation.
Given the mana vacuum on mars I'm expecting a tech-heavy group rather than magic heavy. Some areas will have more or less mana on tap than average, but fair warning that being a mage will be a handicap.
PS: Yes, I have just gotten my hands on a copy of Doom 3 BFG edition. No, you'll not be fighting off a demonic invasion... well, unless you really want to.
SR4/5 aren't normally my poison of choice, but I've played at conventions. Since it's combat light, do you think a knowledge-light player would fit in?
QUOTE (nezumi @ Jun 29 2014, 11:18 AM) 
SR4/5 aren't normally my poison of choice, but I've played at conventions. Since it's combat light, do you think a knowledge-light player would fit in?
Probably. I'm primarily planning to focus on the role playing stuff, with the rules hopefully being fairly incidental.
On the other hand, a knowledge-light character might be hard to fit in, what with mars being a science outpost and all. I suppose a security officer won't really need that much knowledge...
BTW, it's going to be assumed that if you've got high ranks in an academic or professional knowledge skill then you've got a degree associated with it.
Hmmm... I think I'm going to go with 4th edition for this one, since most of the splat books I own are for 4th.
I've got a lot of knowledge about Mars! I wrote for Eclipse Phase. And reading the wiki, the Shadowrun material on Mars is pretty skimpy. Is there a book I need to pick up?
Well, we're likely to be using the rules from Hazard Pay if we go 4th or Run and Gun if we go 5th. However, neither of those are exactly vital. Nice to have if you already own a copy, but don't go and buy them just for this game.
How about the first archaeologist on Mars? I always wanted to be that... like, in real life.
QUOTE (pbangarth @ Jul 4 2014, 12:30 AM)
How about the first archaeologist on Mars? I always wanted to be that... like, in real life.
Sounds fine to me. You can come along to investigate those rumors of dragon bones being dug up, Dr Jones. Just leave the whip by the door.
Do you have room for a fairly longtime lurker to join your trip to the great red dustball in the sky? I've played various RPG's for years, but my group broke up before we could get our teeth into Shadowrun properly. I've been getting my SR fix by dropping onto dumpshock a few times a day and following the tales on here instead 
I had a battlefield medic written up that should only take a modicum of tweaking to suit the change in environment. Personnel are valuable after all - I mean the pricetag on bringing Dr Jones' replacement to mars would be horrific
I had a battlefield medic written up that should only take a modicum of tweaking to suit the change in environment. Personnel are valuable after all - I mean the pricetag on bringing Dr Jones' replacement to mars would be horrific
QUOTE (Marcus Tarrow @ Jul 4 2014, 07:25 AM)
Do you have room for a fairly longtime lurker to join your trip to the great red dustball in the sky? I've played various RPG's for years, but my group broke up before we could get our teeth into Shadowrun properly. I've been getting my SR fix by dropping onto dumpshock a few times a day and following the tales on here instead
I had a battlefield medic written up that should only take a modicum of tweaking to suit the change in environment. Personnel are valuable after all - I mean the pricetag on bringing Dr Jones' replacement to mars would be horrific
I had a battlefield medic written up that should only take a modicum of tweaking to suit the change in environment. Personnel are valuable after all - I mean the pricetag on bringing Dr Jones' replacement to mars would be horrific
Of course you're welcome to join. Are you coming in as a doctor, or a security consultant with medical training?
That gives us three, and I was hoping for a medic. How's your guy's Psychiatry? We'll probably end up dealing with a few headcases before the game's over...
Some quick notes:
Firstly, PCs aren't going to have much cash per say, with monthly salaries of a few grand apiece. What you'll be buying gear from is your department's budget, which is basically a pool of cash that you can use to order in stuff you need.
Now the catch is going to be that you'll probably all be assigned to a single team with a group budget, out of which will come your living expenses (Minimum high lifestyle costs per person, since living on mars isn't exactly cheap) and your pay (Set salary unfortunately, but it still comes out of your monthly budget).
On the bright side, there are several ways you can stretch or increase your budget:
1) Professional knowledge: Accounting + logic will let you increase your budget by 2% per net hit, with a check that can be made once per month.
2) High loyalty earned with someone higher up the corporate food chain can increase your budget. You can't start with your boss as a high loyalty contact.
3) Crafting skills (Armorer, Hardware, Various Engineering Skills, Cybertechnology) mean you can fab the parts on your nanoforge and assemble equipment yourself, cutting costs by up to 50% (You can cut corners to reduce both difficulty and costs for an item by up to 4 points of threshold and extra 20% discount [total 70%] but each point and 5% gives the device a rating of gremlins. For Cyber/Bioware [which will be harder to forge] you can instead choose to make the 'ware count as second hand, even though it's new, dropping the cost and crafting threshold but increasing essence costs). Also ignore canon, the nanoforges work just fine.
4) Forgery skills and hacking skills can artificially increase your logged output, increasing your apparent value to the company and thus netting you a bigger budget.
5) Sweet-talking someone higher up the food chain also works, similar to using contacts but as a 1 time increase rather than the regular boost of the contact.
Additionally, only security officers will be allowed to carry weapons (barring some event that makes distribution of weapons necessary), and even they're going to be limited to gel rounds most of the time. Hull breaches are bad. That said, you'll have plenty of access to blunt objects like wrenches, pipes, ect. and can undoubtedly improvise a firearm should you really wish to. The point of having a base on mars is that you can screen everyone who comes in VERY thoroughly, so in theory heavy security isn't needed...
Finally, I value player input into where the campaign is going to go. It's your story after all, so if there's any goals your characters want to achieve then either post it or message me and I'll do what I can to make it possible.
Firstly, PCs aren't going to have much cash per say, with monthly salaries of a few grand apiece. What you'll be buying gear from is your department's budget, which is basically a pool of cash that you can use to order in stuff you need.
Now the catch is going to be that you'll probably all be assigned to a single team with a group budget, out of which will come your living expenses (Minimum high lifestyle costs per person, since living on mars isn't exactly cheap) and your pay (Set salary unfortunately, but it still comes out of your monthly budget).
On the bright side, there are several ways you can stretch or increase your budget:
1) Professional knowledge: Accounting + logic will let you increase your budget by 2% per net hit, with a check that can be made once per month.
2) High loyalty earned with someone higher up the corporate food chain can increase your budget. You can't start with your boss as a high loyalty contact.
3) Crafting skills (Armorer, Hardware, Various Engineering Skills, Cybertechnology) mean you can fab the parts on your nanoforge and assemble equipment yourself, cutting costs by up to 50% (You can cut corners to reduce both difficulty and costs for an item by up to 4 points of threshold and extra 20% discount [total 70%] but each point and 5% gives the device a rating of gremlins. For Cyber/Bioware [which will be harder to forge] you can instead choose to make the 'ware count as second hand, even though it's new, dropping the cost and crafting threshold but increasing essence costs). Also ignore canon, the nanoforges work just fine.
4) Forgery skills and hacking skills can artificially increase your logged output, increasing your apparent value to the company and thus netting you a bigger budget.
5) Sweet-talking someone higher up the food chain also works, similar to using contacts but as a 1 time increase rather than the regular boost of the contact.
Additionally, only security officers will be allowed to carry weapons (barring some event that makes distribution of weapons necessary), and even they're going to be limited to gel rounds most of the time. Hull breaches are bad. That said, you'll have plenty of access to blunt objects like wrenches, pipes, ect. and can undoubtedly improvise a firearm should you really wish to. The point of having a base on mars is that you can screen everyone who comes in VERY thoroughly, so in theory heavy security isn't needed...
Finally, I value player input into where the campaign is going to go. It's your story after all, so if there's any goals your characters want to achieve then either post it or message me and I'll do what I can to make it possible.
I'm still interested in jumping in. Since it's low-combat, I'd probably go techie. I'll avoid your newfangled SR4 matrix and focus on hardware.
So far we've got:
nezumi, Technical expert.
Marcus Tarrow, Ex-military doctor or possibly Security specialist, subcatagory field medic.
pbangarth, Archaeologist.
Is this correct?
I'd like to add a 4th person but if you guys are happy with a 3 man team then I can already see where to go with this group.
Quick vote: Shadowrun 4A or Shadowrun 5? (note: if 5th will be house-ruling Logic+Intuition x 3 Knowledge skills. Knowledge skills are going to be important for this game, so short-changing you guys with them seems kinda petty.)
Also, if 4A then what is everyone's preferred Chargen system, BP Karma or Priority? In both cases it's a numbers game with whichever system gets the most votes is the one we're going with. If someone puts a compelling argument out for their choice and you feel like changing your vote, all I ask is that you make sure you're clear when you post your new vote.
nezumi, Technical expert.
Marcus Tarrow, Ex-military doctor or possibly Security specialist, subcatagory field medic.
pbangarth, Archaeologist.
Is this correct?
I'd like to add a 4th person but if you guys are happy with a 3 man team then I can already see where to go with this group.
Quick vote: Shadowrun 4A or Shadowrun 5? (note: if 5th will be house-ruling Logic+Intuition x 3 Knowledge skills. Knowledge skills are going to be important for this game, so short-changing you guys with them seems kinda petty.)
Also, if 4A then what is everyone's preferred Chargen system, BP Karma or Priority? In both cases it's a numbers game with whichever system gets the most votes is the one we're going with. If someone puts a compelling argument out for their choice and you feel like changing your vote, all I ask is that you make sure you're clear when you post your new vote.
I don't know 5 at all, so I would need serious help in chargen to make my PC. So, I would like 4A, and karmagen in that. I like the idea of being able to make someone with a lot of different lower level skills.
Funny you should make the allusion to Indiana Jones. I have played one archaeologist several times, in Virtual Seattle and here in DS, who has a back story that explains his presence in the shadows (basically looking for the one-armed man). His birth name is Nathaniel Jones, and he is the great grandson of Indiana. I keep playing him because I have yet to resolve in play the issue that put him where he is. The campaign keeps dying!
I would like the idea of doing him again... in this alternate universe he runs away to Mars to get away from the underworld figure who hunts him.
The sticky part is, he has always been an adept. I will have to figure out if I can bend the story to fit a non-magical PC, or whether I should start from scratch. The latter might be a good idea, as currently "Professor" is the semi-fixer/johnston in the game I run here on DS. ALternate universes for the same character at the same time? Hmmm... split personality, anyone?
Funny you should make the allusion to Indiana Jones. I have played one archaeologist several times, in Virtual Seattle and here in DS, who has a back story that explains his presence in the shadows (basically looking for the one-armed man). His birth name is Nathaniel Jones, and he is the great grandson of Indiana. I keep playing him because I have yet to resolve in play the issue that put him where he is. The campaign keeps dying!
I would like the idea of doing him again... in this alternate universe he runs away to Mars to get away from the underworld figure who hunts him.
The sticky part is, he has always been an adept. I will have to figure out if I can bend the story to fit a non-magical PC, or whether I should start from scratch. The latter might be a good idea, as currently "Professor" is the semi-fixer/johnston in the game I run here on DS. ALternate universes for the same character at the same time? Hmmm... split personality, anyone?
QUOTE (pbangarth @ Jul 4 2014, 09:08 PM)
I don't know 5 at all, so I would need serious help in chargen to make my PC. So, I would like 4A, and karmagen in that. I like the idea of being able to make someone with a lot of different lower level skills.
Funny you should make the allusion to Indiana Jones. I have played one archaeologist several times, in Virtual Seattle and here in DS, who has a back story that explains his presence in the shadows (basically looking for the one-armed man). His birth name is Nathaniel Jones, and he is the great grandson of Indiana. I keep playing him because I have yet to resolve in play the issue that put him where he is. The campaign keeps dying!
I would like the idea of doing him again... in this alternate universe he runs away to Mars to get away from the underworld figure who hunts him.
The sticky part is, he has always been an adept. I will have to figure out if I can bend the story to fit a non-magical PC, or whether I should start from scratch. The latter might be a good idea, as currently "Professor" is the semi-fixer/johnston in the game I run here on DS. ALternate universes for the same character at the same time? Hmmm... split personality, anyone?
Funny you should make the allusion to Indiana Jones. I have played one archaeologist several times, in Virtual Seattle and here in DS, who has a back story that explains his presence in the shadows (basically looking for the one-armed man). His birth name is Nathaniel Jones, and he is the great grandson of Indiana. I keep playing him because I have yet to resolve in play the issue that put him where he is. The campaign keeps dying!
I would like the idea of doing him again... in this alternate universe he runs away to Mars to get away from the underworld figure who hunts him.
The sticky part is, he has always been an adept. I will have to figure out if I can bend the story to fit a non-magical PC, or whether I should start from scratch. The latter might be a good idea, as currently "Professor" is the semi-fixer/johnston in the game I run here on DS. ALternate universes for the same character at the same time? Hmmm... split personality, anyone?
As for the Adept thing, I can help you a bit. I was meaning to bring this up before, but forgot:
Custom metamagic: Inner strength.
Ignore 1 point of mana vacuum per two initiations you possess (minimum 1).
This is just off the cuff, and can be negotiated.
So how are you thinking of having Dr Jones end up working for Evo? I think it'd actually be great to have one guy with some street smarts who's so good at what he does that the corps are willing to overlook it dropped into the most corporately sanitized environment imaginable. Awesomeness!
QUOTE (FuelDrop @ Jul 4 2014, 11:20 AM)
Of course you're welcome to join. Are you coming in as a doctor, or a security consultant with medical training?
That gives us three, and I was hoping for a medic. How's your guy's Psychiatry? We'll probably end up dealing with a few headcases before the game's over...
That gives us three, and I was hoping for a medic. How's your guy's Psychiatry? We'll probably end up dealing with a few headcases before the game's over...
Thanks for having me. I hope my occasional lack of familiarity with things doesn't slow the game down at all. Everyone feel free to smack me upside the head and correct my ways if I do anything stupid
I was leaning towards the latter of the two, with the general idea for the character having being a medic first who received some combat training later on. Maybe he'd make more sense as an ex HRT medic rather than ex-mil? It'd shift his skillset towards non-combat skills and give good reason to keep what combat skills he does have fairly non-lethal. He'd probably feel bad if he had to actually kill someone but he can deal with that if / when it happens
I'm flexible on the character though. If what you've got in mind would work better with a doctor I might be able to work something out. Psychiatry is something I know little about so i doubt I could RP it convincingly. I could probably pull off chemistry or engineering without embarrassing myself too much but I can see how those'd be less storyworthy than picking apart the inner workings of someone who's gone a lil crazy in a very confined space.As for ruleset 4th is the one I've got some familiarity with. I'm ok with either chargen method. I only really know of 5th what I've seen here and (if speed is an issue) it'd take me a few days to get hold of the 5th edition book.
I'm SLIGHTLY more familiar with fifth because I've played it at cons, but I think I have the 4th edition book around somewhere, so either is fine. Both use the same mechanical system for basic skill checks, so I figure once we get started, I'll make up for any rules-knowledge deficit with good roleplaying.
We've got 2 votes out of 3 for 4th so far, so that's looking like it'll be our poison.
MT, make whatever you want to play and I'll work the game around it.
One thing I can imagine is that a HTR medic would have good practice with subduing unruly patients. Just a thought. I'm doubting that there's going to be much killing done in this game as, well, getting people to mars is VERY expensive and they tend to be top-tier personnel, so killing people is likely to be frowned upon. There are some metacreatures that have been brought over for testing and there may or may not be genetically modified abominations in one of the top secret labs, both of which might get loose if something went very wrong. In that case lethal force is reasonably acceptable, I suppose. I just recommend not bothering to pick up the heavy weapons skill as it's unlikely to ever come up.
MT, make whatever you want to play and I'll work the game around it.
One thing I can imagine is that a HTR medic would have good practice with subduing unruly patients. Just a thought. I'm doubting that there's going to be much killing done in this game as, well, getting people to mars is VERY expensive and they tend to be top-tier personnel, so killing people is likely to be frowned upon. There are some metacreatures that have been brought over for testing and there may or may not be genetically modified abominations in one of the top secret labs, both of which might get loose if something went very wrong. In that case lethal force is reasonably acceptable, I suppose. I just recommend not bothering to pick up the heavy weapons skill as it's unlikely to ever come up.
QUOTE (FuelDrop @ Jul 4 2014, 09:17 AM)
As for the Adept thing, I can help you a bit. I was meaning to bring this up before, but forgot:
Custom metamagic: Inner strength.
Ignore 1 point of mana vacuum per two initiations you possess (minimum 1).
This is just off the cuff, and can be negotiated.
So how are you thinking of having Dr Jones end up working for Evo? I think it'd actually be great to have one guy with some street smarts who's so good at what he does that the corps are willing to overlook it dropped into the most corporately sanitized environment imaginable. Awesomeness!
Custom metamagic: Inner strength.
Ignore 1 point of mana vacuum per two initiations you possess (minimum 1).
This is just off the cuff, and can be negotiated.
So how are you thinking of having Dr Jones end up working for Evo? I think it'd actually be great to have one guy with some street smarts who's so good at what he does that the corps are willing to overlook it dropped into the most corporately sanitized environment imaginable. Awesomeness!
So, what chargen method are you thinking of? Points allowed? Would Initiation at chargen be allowed?
That is a relatively esoteric metamagic, which would make sense for someone planning to go to Mars, but someone who ended up here on the run might not realistically have chosen it while expecting to live on Earth.
The Dr. Jones I have played spent a lot of time excavating in desert conditions, so that would be a clear 'in' for work on Mars. He was also a rising star in the field of Archaeology till he was framed with murder and theft. Got off because of a good lawyer, but shunned by the general academic community nonetheless. The adept powers the original character concept has were mostly directed towards making his research work better, and yet were transferrable to work in the shadows.
I don't know that the Inner Strength metamagic would have all that much effect on Mars. It may make more sense to forego being an adept and go for some technological enhancements instead.
Off the top of my head, I don't know what the mana level is on Mars. Can anyone help me on this point?
Thoughts?
Also, everyone gets an agent to be their Guide/Secretary/Personal Manager/Corporate Observer. It comes prepackaged with a bunch of useful programs like data search, encryption, data files on mars, personnel files on the people you'll be working with, a library related to the owner's field of expertise, and a helpful little subroutine that keeps corporate apprised of your activities. Because EVO cares about you! (Yes, you'll be able to have someone hack that last bit and doctor the information corporate receives. It's an obstacle to overcome, not a railroading device.)
QUOTE (pbangarth @ Jul 5 2014, 12:40 PM)
So, what chargen method are you thinking of? Points allowed? Would Initiation at chargen be allowed?
That is a relatively esoteric metamagic, which would make sense for someone planning to go to Mars, but someone who ended up here on the run might not realistically have chosen it while expecting to live on Earth.
The Dr. Jones I have played spent a lot of time excavating in desert conditions, so that would be a clear 'in' for work on Mars. He was also a rising star in the field of Archaeology till he was framed with murder and theft. Got off because of a good lawyer, but shunned by the general academic community nonetheless. The adept powers the original character concept has were mostly directed towards making his research work better, and yet were transferrable to work in the shadows.
I don't know that the Inner Strength metamagic would have all that much effect on Mars. It may make more sense to forego being an adept and go for some technological enhancements instead.
Thoughts?
That is a relatively esoteric metamagic, which would make sense for someone planning to go to Mars, but someone who ended up here on the run might not realistically have chosen it while expecting to live on Earth.
The Dr. Jones I have played spent a lot of time excavating in desert conditions, so that would be a clear 'in' for work on Mars. He was also a rising star in the field of Archaeology till he was framed with murder and theft. Got off because of a good lawyer, but shunned by the general academic community nonetheless. The adept powers the original character concept has were mostly directed towards making his research work better, and yet were transferrable to work in the shadows.
I don't know that the Inner Strength metamagic would have all that much effect on Mars. It may make more sense to forego being an adept and go for some technological enhancements instead.
Thoughts?
So far it looks like Karma generation, with 1 vote for and 1 vote doesn't care. Yes, initiation will be allowed during Chargen.
The mana vacuum levels you're looking at are going to be:
Life Support/Arboretum/Hydroponics bay -1/-2, based on size.
Mars City (largest settlement) -3
Alpha/Beta/Delta labs -4 (this is where most of the game will take place)
Remote site (regular population 20-30 people) -6
Mars wasteland -8
(I believe space is -12, right?)
Now the trip over from earth is at least 1 month, and if you have magic then it's reasonable to assume that the corp isn't going to squander that talent so they'd provide a trainer with the relevant metamagic and your tradition on the way over. So it's not unreasonable for you to have picked up the metamagic specifically for this trip.
If you think that waving the adept angle is a better option for you then go for it. Adepts will definitely be at something of a disadvantage due to the mana void, but on the flip side actual magical talent will be invaluable should an artifact with magical power get dug up. Whichever you decide, some knowledge on magical artifacts makes sense for an archaeologist in the awakened world.
A couple of other minor points:
1: I'm assuming that unless either there's something you should get a perception check for or you specifically say you're looking around or the like that you're buying hits with perception. It should save some dicerolling, and I'll try and highlight any point where making active perception checks is a good idea.
2: I would like for a bit of co-operation with character building, so that everyone's dicepools for their primary skills are within the same ball park (within 4 dice of each other is really ideal. I'm trying to avoid having one guy with 12 dice in his specialty and then someone else with 54 dice. That way everyone's about equal in their specialty and I can build challenges around those numbers). You guys decide among yourselves what power level you want to play and I'll roll with that, but I'd prefer to have everyone on the same page.
3: Since mars is fairly undefined as a setting in shadowrun we get to do some worldbuilding. Naturally as GM most of that falls on me, but if anyone wants to make a suggestion go for it.
4: Unless otherwise specified all equipment is assumed to have been modified to work on mars, meaning all weapons have Extreme Environment modification 2, vehicles are all electric rather than internal combustion based and have life support systems, ect.
Is there a recommended chargen tool I should jump on, or do people usually do this by hand?
Regarding creating Mars, how much material are we already working with? I know a few corps have set up habitats; I seem to recall Ares and Yamatetsu, although apparently Evo as well, I presume with the primary purpose of research at this point. I seem to also recall something about dragons on Mars, or indications of such, which I imagine to be a major point of research. Has that developed at all?
How old is this outpost at the time of the game?
Also, what's the posting rate? My weekends tend to get filled up, but most weekdays I'm fine.
Regarding creating Mars, how much material are we already working with? I know a few corps have set up habitats; I seem to recall Ares and Yamatetsu, although apparently Evo as well, I presume with the primary purpose of research at this point. I seem to also recall something about dragons on Mars, or indications of such, which I imagine to be a major point of research. Has that developed at all?
How old is this outpost at the time of the game?
Also, what's the posting rate? My weekends tend to get filled up, but most weekdays I'm fine.
I tend to use herolab, but Chummer is fine if that's your poison and if you want to do things by hand then power to you. Anything 4th edition goes, and if you want to import something from another edition give me a yell and I'll try and make things work.
As far as I know EVO (formerly Yamatetsu) is the big powerhouse on mars, with the main infrastructure. To the best of my knowledge mars has never received much love in any of the source books so I'm basically going to run it as follows:
Central hub is Mars City. This is where the space elevator is, and holds most of the population. It provides food, power ect for the entire mars settlement, with satellite environments connected via monorail. From this hub are the main labs (Alpha, Beta, Delta). This is EVO's setup. As far as I know they're the only ones with significant holdings on mars, though it is possible that another power has covertly settled elsewhere...
Warning: the following is not standard Shadowrun Canon.
Above Mars City is an orbital habitat, which is central to a new project that EVO is commencing: Asteroid Smelting. While still in the proof of concept stage, EVO plans to tow Asteroids into their space station, mine their cores, and convert their shells into either orbital habitats or spaceships, though this is still in the theory stage.
This is ambitious, to say the least, but if successful then it will give EVO a massive material advantage in the space race, possibly even an overwhelming advantage.
The base is about 5 years old at the time of this game, which will be set around 2073.
Posting rate is a minimum of once per week, preferably more. I'm going to try and post on mondays, and will probably post more.
As far as I know EVO (formerly Yamatetsu) is the big powerhouse on mars, with the main infrastructure. To the best of my knowledge mars has never received much love in any of the source books so I'm basically going to run it as follows:
Central hub is Mars City. This is where the space elevator is, and holds most of the population. It provides food, power ect for the entire mars settlement, with satellite environments connected via monorail. From this hub are the main labs (Alpha, Beta, Delta). This is EVO's setup. As far as I know they're the only ones with significant holdings on mars, though it is possible that another power has covertly settled elsewhere...
Warning: the following is not standard Shadowrun Canon.
Above Mars City is an orbital habitat, which is central to a new project that EVO is commencing: Asteroid Smelting. While still in the proof of concept stage, EVO plans to tow Asteroids into their space station, mine their cores, and convert their shells into either orbital habitats or spaceships, though this is still in the theory stage.
This is ambitious, to say the least, but if successful then it will give EVO a massive material advantage in the space race, possibly even an overwhelming advantage.
The base is about 5 years old at the time of this game, which will be set around 2073.
Posting rate is a minimum of once per week, preferably more. I'm going to try and post on mondays, and will probably post more.
If it's a space elevator, should we assume it's located on Mount Olympus?
What's the population of the base? How self-sufficient is it? I assume it gets most of its raw materials locally, possibly with a super-cool futurey fusion generator, plus basic manufacturing facilities, but then equipment requiring more high-tech manufacturing, plus certain organics are imported from Earth. Additional resources (especially water) is trucked in via either suborbital or, more frequently, automated heavy trucks.
What's the population of the base? How self-sufficient is it? I assume it gets most of its raw materials locally, possibly with a super-cool futurey fusion generator, plus basic manufacturing facilities, but then equipment requiring more high-tech manufacturing, plus certain organics are imported from Earth. Additional resources (especially water) is trucked in via either suborbital or, more frequently, automated heavy trucks.
I was going to steal Doom 3's device that separates martian sand into oxygen and iron, giving air and building materials in one fell swoop. Wasn't certain on the population, but I was thinking about 10 thousand between all labs, remote sites and orbital facilities.
Water is brought down from the poles, with a small base there getting it ready and automated trucks actually hauling it (There's a monorail under construction, but it's still a work in progress. Who'd have thought crossing the surface of the planet with a single track would take so long?)
The base is pretty much self sufficient, though I hope you like algae as that's the basis of 99% of the food you'll be getting. Forget about real meat, they'd have to import that from earth and no-one is going to be able to swing that.
Power is provided by a fusion power plant, with sufficient wind turbine backup to run basic life support indefinitely and battery backups for each location with power for life support for about 4 days, give or take.
I was planning to give out a lot of this stuff in game, either through your guides or your new colleagues giving you an introduction to the place.
Water is brought down from the poles, with a small base there getting it ready and automated trucks actually hauling it (There's a monorail under construction, but it's still a work in progress. Who'd have thought crossing the surface of the planet with a single track would take so long?)
The base is pretty much self sufficient, though I hope you like algae as that's the basis of 99% of the food you'll be getting. Forget about real meat, they'd have to import that from earth and no-one is going to be able to swing that.
Power is provided by a fusion power plant, with sufficient wind turbine backup to run basic life support indefinitely and battery backups for each location with power for life support for about 4 days, give or take.
I was planning to give out a lot of this stuff in game, either through your guides or your new colleagues giving you an introduction to the place.
So, here's a question that bears strongly on how I might build Dr. Jones in your universe.
Say an adept has 6 points of Magic, and therefore 6 Power Points. He goes into an area that sucks Mana/Magic to the tune of 4. That leaves the adept with two Power Points. There are a stricter and a looser interpretation of how this affects what Powers are available.
The stricter says he loses 4 Points of his choice and they don't come back till he gets out of the negative environment. The looser one says he is cut to 2 Points max active at any one time, but can swap one out for another. Clearly the latter is less of an inconvenience than the former. I'm not lobbying particularly for either of these, but I would like to know how it will work on your Mars.
Say an adept has 6 points of Magic, and therefore 6 Power Points. He goes into an area that sucks Mana/Magic to the tune of 4. That leaves the adept with two Power Points. There are a stricter and a looser interpretation of how this affects what Powers are available.
The stricter says he loses 4 Points of his choice and they don't come back till he gets out of the negative environment. The looser one says he is cut to 2 Points max active at any one time, but can swap one out for another. Clearly the latter is less of an inconvenience than the former. I'm not lobbying particularly for either of these, but I would like to know how it will work on your Mars.
Sounds good, I'll go with the combat-trained medic then. I honestly didn't see him running around with anything more lethal than a shotgun of gels at any point so will plan accordingly. In terms of die pools I'll defer to the more experienced players. My preliminary workout has him rolling (with a good medkit) about 15 dice on first aid tests with 8-11 die in other pools, but there's of room for movement in those figures to bring him in line with the other characters either by spreading the skills out a bit more or focusing more tightly on specific areas.
Was mulling over one thing during the day - will there be any major effects on skills as a result of the reduced gravity on mars, or should we just look at it as something we can have a bit of fun RPing around? 0.38g is going to make for an interesting first trip to the gym that's for sure.
Was mulling over one thing during the day - will there be any major effects on skills as a result of the reduced gravity on mars, or should we just look at it as something we can have a bit of fun RPing around? 0.38g is going to make for an interesting first trip to the gym that's for sure.
QUOTE (pbangarth @ Jul 6 2014, 12:15 AM)
So, here's a question that bears strongly on how I might build Dr. Jones in your universe.
Say an adept has 6 points of Magic, and therefore 6 Power Points. He goes into an area that sucks Mana/Magic to the tune of 4. That leaves the adept with two Power Points. There are a stricter and a looser interpretation of how this affects what Powers are available.
The stricter says he loses 4 Points of his choice and they don't come back till he gets out of the negative environment. The looser one says he is cut to 2 Points max active at any one time, but can swap one out for another. Clearly the latter is less of an inconvenience than the former. I'm not lobbying particularly for either of these, but I would like to know how it will work on your Mars.
Say an adept has 6 points of Magic, and therefore 6 Power Points. He goes into an area that sucks Mana/Magic to the tune of 4. That leaves the adept with two Power Points. There are a stricter and a looser interpretation of how this affects what Powers are available.
The stricter says he loses 4 Points of his choice and they don't come back till he gets out of the negative environment. The looser one says he is cut to 2 Points max active at any one time, but can swap one out for another. Clearly the latter is less of an inconvenience than the former. I'm not lobbying particularly for either of these, but I would like to know how it will work on your Mars.
I'm going with the latter. You still know how to do your stuff, you've just got limited juice to power it.
QUOTE (Marcus Tarrow @ Jul 6 2014, 08:13 AM)
Was mulling over one thing during the day - will there be any major effects on skills as a result of the reduced gravity on mars, or should we just look at it as something we can have a bit of fun RPing around? 0.38g is going to make for an interesting first trip to the gym that's for sure.
Well, there'll be penalties to a few skills like Gymnastics for a few hours after touchdown... which shouldn't be an issue at all, as I doubt there'll be any call for jumping around during that time.
Obviously jump distances will be increased, as will throwing distances.
OK, just so I understand the new meta magic, Inner Strength, Initiation level of 3 drops Magic decrease by 1 or 2?
Round up to 2.
Honestly, if it weren't for the Mana Vacuum being a long-standing aspect of Shadowrun space I'd consider nixing it entirely.
Honestly, if it weren't for the Mana Vacuum being a long-standing aspect of Shadowrun space I'd consider nixing it entirely.
QUOTE (FuelDrop @ Jul 6 2014, 01:10 AM)
Round up to 2.
Honestly, if it weren't for the Mana Vacuum being a long-standing aspect of Shadowrun space I'd consider nixing it entirely.
Honestly, if it weren't for the Mana Vacuum being a long-standing aspect of Shadowrun space I'd consider nixing it entirely.
No problem. I figure any Awakened character willing to go to Mars would be considered an asset!
..... or crazy.
Do you have access to a copy of Street Magic? I'm wondering how you interpret the phrase "enhance an existing power beyond its normal range."
QUOTE (pbangarth @ Jul 6 2014, 01:22 PM)
No problem. I figure any Awakened character willing to go to Mars would be considered an asset!
..... or crazy.
Do you have access to a copy of Street Magic? I'm wondering how you interpret the phrase "enhance an existing power beyond its normal range."
..... or crazy.
Do you have access to a copy of Street Magic? I'm wondering how you interpret the phrase "enhance an existing power beyond its normal range."
Unfortunately, all my digital copies have mysteriously vanished and DrivethroughRPG is giving me trouble
I'll fix that the moment I can, but for now I'm going to need to ask you for context for "enhance an existing power beyond its normal range."
QUOTE (FuelDrop @ Jul 6 2014, 01:41 AM)
Unfortunately, all my digital copies have mysteriously vanished and DrivethroughRPG is giving me trouble
I'll fix that the moment I can, but for now I'm going to need to ask you for context for "enhance an existing power beyond its normal range."
I'll fix that the moment I can, but for now I'm going to need to ask you for context for "enhance an existing power beyond its normal range."
This will make it easy. I've changed my mind and don't think Infusion is the way to go. So ... never mind.
QUOTE (pbangarth @ Jul 6 2014, 01:56 PM)
This will make it easy. I've changed my mind and don't think Infusion is the way to go. So ... never mind.
Huh, you're right. That does simplify things immensely.
Still looking for players? I have to read the second page of this thread still, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity.
I have some SR5 knowledge and no SR4. I finally am moving up from SR3!
It looks like you have a medic, techie and a archeologist, so I guess you still need a straight security guard, so I can do that.
I have some SR5 knowledge and no SR4. I finally am moving up from SR3!
It looks like you have a medic, techie and a archeologist, so I guess you still need a straight security guard, so I can do that.
Got room for one more? *waves*
In case you do, I'm thinking about either (1) a Soviet hacker/face information pimp type, or maybe (2) a darkly twisted cyber/nano-tech researcher.
I would of course like to avoid overlapping too much with either nezumi or Marcus; which skills/areas are you two focusing on?
In case you do, I'm thinking about either (1) a Soviet hacker/face information pimp type, or maybe (2) a darkly twisted cyber/nano-tech researcher.
I would of course like to avoid overlapping too much with either nezumi or Marcus; which skills/areas are you two focusing on?
So, here goes the draft for Dr. Nathaniel Jones, Archaeologist to the Stars. (Well, planets anyway.)
I've built him with 750 karma points, and Initiation has been allowed, though I assume limits to starting Attributes remain. I'm also assuming a date in 2074 for the timeline of the story. I would adjust Jones' birth year accordingly if that is wrong.
Story
Stats {karma costs of sections in curly brackets}
I've built him with 750 karma points, and Initiation has been allowed, though I assume limits to starting Attributes remain. I'm also assuming a date in 2074 for the timeline of the story. I would adjust Jones' birth year accordingly if that is wrong.
Story
[ Spoiler ]
Stats {karma costs of sections in curly brackets}
[ Spoiler ]
Hey there Bastard, e-do! I think it shouldn't be too much of a problem to go up to 5 players, so welcome aboard!
pbangrath, I love the character. One thing I did notice was no Arcana skill, something I figured he might have basic training in so he can recognize any ancient spell formula he runs across during his expedition.
pbangrath, I love the character. One thing I did notice was no Arcana skill, something I figured he might have basic training in so he can recognize any ancient spell formula he runs across during his expedition.
Re: Roles we still need:
Well, we're short a dedicated people person, a hacker/decker (As I understand it nezumi isn't interested in grappling with the matrix), a rigger, a combat oriented type, or a mage (though being a mage on mars is playing with fire).
Note: if you do decide to go a combat focused character, I suspect you'll find yourself lending a hand to the others a lot more than actually fighting stuff, so a smattering of secondary skills will be useful (Don't take this to mean you won't get spotlight time as a combat character, it's just that combat is unlikely to be a regular occurrence). Also, subdual combat is a really good thing to have on this one.
It looks like we may be doing 4th edition with karmagen, but I'll happily help anyone who's new to that system do the nitty gritty stuff.
Well, we're short a dedicated people person, a hacker/decker (As I understand it nezumi isn't interested in grappling with the matrix), a rigger, a combat oriented type, or a mage (though being a mage on mars is playing with fire).
Note: if you do decide to go a combat focused character, I suspect you'll find yourself lending a hand to the others a lot more than actually fighting stuff, so a smattering of secondary skills will be useful (Don't take this to mean you won't get spotlight time as a combat character, it's just that combat is unlikely to be a regular occurrence). Also, subdual combat is a really good thing to have on this one.
It looks like we may be doing 4th edition with karmagen, but I'll happily help anyone who's new to that system do the nitty gritty stuff.
QUOTE (FuelDrop @ Jul 6 2014, 08:13 PM)
Hey there Bastard, e-do! I think it shouldn't be too much of a problem to go up to 5 players, so welcome aboard!
pbangrath, I love the character. One thing I did notice was no Arcana skill, something I figured he might have basic training in so he can recognize any ancient spell formula he runs across during his expedition.
pbangrath, I love the character. One thing I did notice was no Arcana skill, something I figured he might have basic training in so he can recognize any ancient spell formula he runs across during his expedition.
Makes sense. I'll fiddle with him and post when I'm done.
OK, I dropped a couple of languages and added Arcana at level1. Maybe various Analytical Mind capabilities will be useful in this skill.
Aw, c'mon! Let's have a sizeable percentage of the magic talent on Mars on our team! We could write our own paychecks!
Aw, c'mon! Let's have a sizeable percentage of the magic talent on Mars on our team! We could write our own paychecks!
I'm not a linguist, but isn't translating an obscure language pretty much a logical puzzle, and thus benefits from Analytical Mind?
Also, I'd suggest that speaking... what, 13 languages, might imply that our friend Dr Jones has kinda got pretty good at working out how people communicate. So yeah, if you run into a language you don't speak, you're probably going to get a check to try and get the general idea of what's being said anyway.
Also, I'd suggest that speaking... what, 13 languages, might imply that our friend Dr Jones has kinda got pretty good at working out how people communicate. So yeah, if you run into a language you don't speak, you're probably going to get a check to try and get the general idea of what's being said anyway.
I was thinking more of the Arcana skill, and figuring out patterns, shapes, etc in the formula. Nathaniel already has the Linguist Quality and the Linguistics Power to make picking up languages relatively easy.
If we meet native Martians, he should be conversing with them within a day.
If we meet native Martians, he should be conversing with them within a day.
QUOTE (FuelDrop @ Jul 6 2014, 08:23 PM)
Re: Roles we still need:
Well, we're short a dedicated people person, a hacker/decker (As I understand it nezumi isn't interested in grappling with the matrix), a rigger, a combat oriented type, or a mage (though being a mage on mars is playing with fire).
Note: if you do decide to go a combat focused character, I suspect you'll find yourself lending a hand to the others a lot more than actually fighting stuff, so a smattering of secondary skills will be useful (Don't take this to mean you won't get spotlight time as a combat character, it's just that combat is unlikely to be a regular occurrence). Also, subdual combat is a really good thing to have on this one.
It looks like we may be doing 4th edition with karmagen, but I'll happily help anyone who's new to that system do the nitty gritty stuff.
Well, we're short a dedicated people person, a hacker/decker (As I understand it nezumi isn't interested in grappling with the matrix), a rigger, a combat oriented type, or a mage (though being a mage on mars is playing with fire).
Note: if you do decide to go a combat focused character, I suspect you'll find yourself lending a hand to the others a lot more than actually fighting stuff, so a smattering of secondary skills will be useful (Don't take this to mean you won't get spotlight time as a combat character, it's just that combat is unlikely to be a regular occurrence). Also, subdual combat is a really good thing to have on this one.
It looks like we may be doing 4th edition with karmagen, but I'll happily help anyone who's new to that system do the nitty gritty stuff.
Got it!
nezumi--Is your tech expert geared more towards a greasy space-monkey piloty type, a lab-lurking drone-operating tech wiz type, or something else entirely?
QUOTE (pbangarth @ Jul 6 2014, 07:19 PM)
I was thinking more of the Arcana skill, and figuring out patterns, shapes, etc in the formula. Nathaniel already has the Linguist Quality and the Linguistics Power to make picking up languages relatively easy.
If we meet native Martians, he should be conversing with them within a day.
If we meet native Martians, he should be conversing with them within a day.
Just don't listen to them if they tell you to start the reactor.
QUOTE (e-do @ Jul 8 2014, 04:58 AM)
Got it!
nezumi--Is your tech expert geared more towards a greasy space-monkey piloty type, a lab-lurking drone-operating tech wiz type, or something else entirely?
nezumi--Is your tech expert geared more towards a greasy space-monkey piloty type, a lab-lurking drone-operating tech wiz type, or something else entirely?
Probably greasy in-the-field. Combination mechanic and pilot/driver.
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