hi all, i've probably meet some of you. i've been playing since third ed, but when 5th ed came out i couldn't find a gm to run it. so i took up the flag an said i'd do it.

so now i've got a group that plays every other week on mondays and are learning together, and we are having a lot of freaking fun.....


but!....

we are currently playing through Splintered States -- what adventure book should i take them on next, that gets them more immersed into the world? or a suggestion of where i should try to pull from. im still so new, that i'm not sure what to do next lol

one of my players keeps trying to use knowledge:shadowrunning as a sort of catch-all. so what im wondering is what do you feel this knowledge should and shouldn't cover, and how might i explain it to him. for instance he wanted to roll it to both a/recognize another shadowrunner and b/recognize a specific piece of a security system. i don't feel like the same skill should be able to do both? but im willing to be wrong.

Also, the matrix. It confuses the heck out of me, esp IC.... i don't suppose someone could break it down for me in like dumn mans terms?

On Shadowrunning as a knowledge skill - I typically assume most shadowrunners already have common knowledge of the nuts and bolts of their profession - how to use a fake ID and otherwise stay off the grid, whether a Johnson's offer is unusually high or low for the job, etc. Someone who takes it as an actual knowledge skill should know things above and beyond the basics - things like who the "famous" runners are, places where shadowrunners hang out after hours, how different corporations and other power players feel about shadowrunners in general, and so on.

I would let it work to potentially spot the difference between a real runner and a wannabe, or recognize a runner who has a reputation. It is not a "detect shadowrunner" spell, though. And while it would include some general knowledge about things like safe houses or typical security tactics, I personally would not let it do something as specific as "Oh, that's a spec-212 milimeter wave scanner". That would fall more under "security systems" or "corporate security" (which are both also generous catch-all knowledge skills).

Generally speaking, the broader a knowledge skill is, the harder it is to get specifics. Sometimes you can even ban overly-broad knowledge skills, but since this is already in game, it might be a little late.

But in this case-- Knowledge: Shadowrunning might be good for new players, so you can give them an idea of what typical shadowrunners might do in a particular situation. But getting specific details? If you think it's possible at all, you should up the Threshold significantly. So, knowing that a particular piece of security equipment is common might be a moderate roll, but identifying a specific item would be difficult or worse. If they complain, tell them that Knowledge: Security Systems would have made it an Easy test.

Same with identifying a shadowrunner. Street legends would be easy, but knowing a particular person is a shadowrunner? They don't issue t-shirts, and there's no secret handshake. Getting more specific knowledge, like runs they've done and who they're affiliated with-- you know, the useful stuff-- would be difficult if not Extreme.

Rulewise, the more "generic" the Knowledge skill is, the higher the treshold will be to get information.

For example, with "Shadowrunning", knowing a local Shadowrunner will require 4 hits, with "Shadow personalities" it will take 2, and it will take only 1 with "Local Shadowrunners".

It can also impact the level of detail. When someone uses a "Security Device" skill to check a security device, he'll get all the details ("It's a Renraku Xeye-320, they are good value cameras, but they all suffer from a security problem that makes it easy to disable them without triggering an alarm". With the same number of hits, someone with "Security" will get less details "It's an off-the-shelf camera, not a bad one but probably not very secure". And someone with "Shadowrunning" will only get something like "It's a basic camera"

hey all.... thanks for the responses.... what about the other two questions!? lol

and here is question 4...

if someone has distinctive style, and i have two players with this, one with a scar and one who wears really distinctive clothing.... can that person 'cover it up' say with makeup or changing clothing. in game terms can they put on a Disgise? if so, how would that work?

I always go back to the classic "a disadvantage that isn't just isn't".

If they are taking distinctive style and then immediately go out to cover it up/hide it, its not a distinctive style now is it? They are just milking points.

A person with a scar I would allow to cover up with makeup for short periods under special circumstances, say they were trying to slip past a guard at a checkpoint he needed desperately to get through who had his photo, but otherwise the rest of the time he should be wearing it openly.

Same with clothes, if you are known for your flair for always wearing green (bought the NQ for this in chargen), but then in actual play you end up never wearing green the GM is well within his right to pull the NQ and assign another of an equivalent karma cost.

One GM I knew treated it like a minor form of a geas or Loss of Confidence. If you took Distinctive Style (wears all green), you could always wear some other ensemble, but it irked you not wearing your trademark green and thus a -1 to -2 penalty to all actions while not wearing green.

Maybe a bit hard, but it made you consider your choices more carefully.

I'd say no. It's a negative quality; if they were able to just cover it up it'd be free karma. If they have distinctive clothing, they *chose* to wear that outfit; like an Ancient's leather jacket, for example.

Think "Poor Impulse Control" Tattooed on someone's forehead for guidance.

If, in their wisdom they decide that being able to be easily spotted out of a crowd is something they may not want to have happen as a career criminal, they can always buy the negative quality off with karma earned from running. If these are brand new players, I would explain what they're getting themselves into, and if they want I'd offer them a chance to replace the negative quality with something else (or just get rid of 5 karma or stuff they bought in chargen). Of course, if you're running a pink-mohawk free-for-all, maybe being distinctive would have it's advantages!

-DrZ

Well, yes and no. Distinctive Style is a negative quality, you shouldn't be able to cover it up easily.

Still, what happens if someone tried to hide it? First of all, there's a roleplay aspect to consider. If they're ignoring big aspects of their character on a regular basis, they should be docked Karma for it.

Of course, sometimes there are legitimate reasons to hide your identity, and Shadowrunners often encounter them. For example, you might need to disguise yourself as an employee of a particular corp. In those cases, they may be roleplaying right, so there's no karma penalty. However, the mechanical penalty still applies: they still take a hit when someone tries to get info on them. That includes when they try and verify their cover identity.

User Hayek created some very useful rules summaries for 5th ed. Maybe these can help you understand how to matrix, or at least the dice rolls involved.
http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...+summary++magic