Trying to understand the world purely by thinking about it is as clumsy a process as trying to drink the Pacific Ocean out of a one-pint beer mug. – Alan Watts

About the Game
The Basics: Shadowrun Anarchy, set in Chicago 2080. Takes a lot of inspiration from Chicago Chaos, but goes in a different direction. Both CC and the SR:A core rules are acceptable for character creation. I’ll be posting at least 2-3 times a week. I’m a bit new here, and have only been playing SR for a few months- please let me know if I’m missing something or need to change anything here.

Mechanics Information: Story > Rules. There’s a lot of things in the book that don’t have particularly clear rulings (Such as Clairvoyance), or that have deliberately GM-fiat rulings (Grenades). We’ll go with whatever makes the most sense and is the best story. If there’s controversy about the ruling, I lean towards whatever ruling helps the players more.

As for Narrations order in combat- I think we can keep it looser. Rather than having the set order, we will alternate between “player turn” and “GM turn,” simply to speed things up.

On dying- the “Don’t Count Me Out Yet” option is in effect (p. 44), but not the others. Only changes are that it uses up all PP and you can use it with only 1 PP.
Wired/Improved Reflexes- you can separate when you do each of your “Attack Actions” (So you could do the first before player A goes, and the second one after). In the spirit of keeping the game moving, all actions must be during the “Player Turn.”

The “GM turn” will be one post- if you are spending a plot point to interrupt part of it, simply indicate which part you are interrupting. I will avoid adjusting other things after the interruption, unless it wouldn’t make sense to keep it. If you throw a Molotov cocktail at a car, the mooks probably aren’t going to get into it and start driving.

Roleplaying Information: “Yes, and-“ is king. The "Building Street Cred" chapter of the SR:A book honestly has a lot of good information on this sort of thing.

Morality-wise, it’s a bit easier to keep a group working together if they tend towards the “hooder” side of the spectrum rather than the “backstabbing mercenary” side. Support your fellow players.

It’s OK if you’ve read or played through Chicago Chaos since I plan on diverging from your regularly scheduled broadcast, but of course keep OOC and IC knowledge separate. Most meta is fine (“Hey, maybe that weird telepath is a dragon!”), but some is dangerous (“You know, I think that SPOILER might be working with the bugs, based on a gut feeling that my character would totally have.”)

Character Creation: Standard Street Runner, no additional starting karma. If you want an ability that fits within the ruleset and balance of the game, but is not developed in these books, simply mark it on your sheet. If it’s balanced, we’ll keep it. Honestly, SR:A is pretty easy to reskin and meddle with, so definitely feel free to play around with things, especially custom Shadow Amps.

Indicate any preference you have for tone (Mohawk to Mirrorshades, Grimdark to Noblebright, Cinematic to Realistic, Apples to Apples, etc). Personally- I’m a bit worn down by Edgy McEdgelord characters in my regular 5E campaign, and prefer something a bit lighter, or more hopeful.

Initial Contract Brief
NooseNet ⚙ Janus ⚙ Chicago Winter ⚙ Simon Andrews

Context: When the CZ first went up, those inside were locked out of the Matrix. However, a few people started to build jury-rigged radio and Matrix transceivers, to stay in contact with each other and warn others in the Zone about any particularly dangerous areas, via the Noose LTG. When the walls came down, this network stayed, merging with other pirate networks and eventually becoming the NooseNet Grid.