Concept: A leading matrix-researcher has recently committed suicide during his research project, but some suspect foul play. Time for a team to do some matrix hunting, as well as, meat body digging to get to the bottom of this.

Rules:

123 BP, BECKs-425 Karma or Priority system.
By the book, rating 6, availability 8
Cultured Bioware or high-grade cyberware is ok, if the availability is less than or equal to 8.

After the build, add on 100 Karma and 50k . Add'l cash/karma can be bought at the rate of 1 karma = 5k.

Restrictions: No Gremlins/Amnesia. Useless flaws don't get points.

I'd like to have all the concepts thrown into the arena by Thursday, June 24th. Completed characters to be done over the weekend from the chosen players, and we can get this show on the road before the end of the month.

I have an otaku character I can modify. I'll get him in by wednesday.

I'm thinking about throwing in an elven B/E type guy.Face type skills on the side.Should have you something by the end of the weekend or midweek.Let me know if the character would fit into the game.

I'd like to play a shaman, but I'm not sure what race. Do you use 9 attributes for shapeshifters, or just 6 attributes and the physical ones get moified when you shift?

I'm probably going to offer up a mage of some sort. Most likely a full hermetic or a shaman with a conjuration fixation, since I'd like to see how one of those works out.

Questions answered in no particular order.

Beast--You have to buy both sets of attributes separately as per the SRC.

Misfit--in re:Cheezypoof you are exactly correct. Gold star for you.

Cheezypoof--b/e skills and some face is almost never not useful.

All--feel free to post snapshots of a characer bio that explain you more than the set of skills you possess. You can either put them here or PM me. Also if you want to make a group that has worked together previously that's fine, just let me know.

Thanks Misfit toy.

I'd love a chance to play Gritz the ork decker again.

To be formal, Gritz's name is Gritz N. Bitz, at least on the 'trix, anyhow. Everyone gets the feeling that they've heard Gritz's story before: boy born to extemely traditional family in the CAS, boy goblinizes, boy locked in basement, boy (prodigy?) constructs crude wireless link and hops on the 'trix using an old consol, boy learns that on the matrix, nobody knows you're an ork, boy joins CAS armed services to escape basement prison, boy is placed into SpecOps training as combat decker, boy is left for dead by team after a disarming encounter with mono-wire (concurrently, boy develops severe fear of abandonment by his team), boy sees Urban Brawl game whilst recovering, boy becomes infatuated (in love, perhaps, even?) with Seattle Urban Brawl cheerleader, boy figures that he can only ever win her through acquisition of wealth and power, boy understands that quasi-legal matrix running can be a source of wealth and power, boy finds that the glamorous life of a decker is not exactly what he thought it was, boy perceveres. Boy is still worried that he's an ork and she's an elf.

Gritz can serve easily as the tactical end of a snooping group, replete with matrix skills, electronics skills, and the ability to look like a big, mean, ork, even though he really isn't one.

Hey McQuillan-

Couple of characters I can think of off the top of my head. I have Mr. Creepy, Callisto (sword lady from your table top game when we were fighting fused bug-animals) or Em (from your other table top when we did food fight and 1st run). Do you have a preference?

PS

If Fenris gets in with Jack I will do Sully (freaks party of 3, freaks, party of 3) since they work well together.

'ello McQuillan - Have a couple of possibilities as well, if you're interested in any: Fleet - Hobgoblin rigger, Jack - human decker, Knock - Wakyambi full mage, Marcus - Melee/sniper adept, [b]William[b] - James bond-type face. Anything sound useful?

The character I'm putting forth is an elven Baccus shaman named Jax. He was born on the streets and made his way in a mixed race ghetto, barely keeping ahead of the gangers. When he was in his early teens he joined a band and they started playing their way through the club scene. He got pretty good, but his band just wasn't making ends meet and some of the members borrowed too much cash from the wrong people.

When he was around 16, Jax was one of the few survivors of the retaliation when they couldn't pay back the markers and decided that showing his face on the club scene wouldn't be such a good idea for a while. Instead, he's made a living running the shadows, using his magical skills and the wits he was had gained from life on the streets.

Alrighty, I am going to throw my hat in as the team Taxi driver. I haven't got a solid concept as of yet, but I am confident he will come together.

I'm thinking of some kind of detective character, good at information gathering and some combat skills. Possibly magical, undecided about that so far.

Ok, he came together. He is an older guy, in his 40's. He was a military transport pilot who lost his legs in a crash. After he got out (they wouldn't let him fly anymore) he became very bored. So he used his saving to purchase a couple of vehicles and hangar space at the semi-abandoned Tacoma airport. His plan was to refit an old helicopter and use it as a Air-taxi, one capable of defending it's passengers.

However after a few months of operation it became clear to him that the biz wasn't doing so well. Corps wanted to use their own pilots and equipment. So he changed focus and pretty much did the same thing with a car. Offering armored services. However, that too soon fell through. So he decided to start Shadowrunning on the side to pay the bills, until his Air or Ground Taxi service picks up, which it probably won't.

Oops, forgot to ask, do you allow weapons from Raygun's web?

I'd like to play a human Cat Shaman, from the NYC.
Interested? Can have his Character posted by this evening, already generated, upon your approval.

HolyChampion--I won't be making selections until Thursday.

Shadow--Case by case basis for anything outside the books, post a link with the specific gun you were thinking and I will look into it. Generally, I think Raygun does good, balanced work.

Out of curiosity, how would you classify musical skills? Active or knowledge? A case can be made either way, of course, but for this game?

I'm going to invest some time and energy in a background and the pre additonal karma and cash character in the next day or two since I have a little bit of free time and I've never found myself unhappy about having characters laying around even if they don't get used the first time I submit them

[edit] Oh, and do we need to use SI for cash after char gen? Not that I'm that far along, but I thought I'd ask [/edit]

Here is the specific weapon I was thinking of,

Five-seveN

And here is the other,

P-90

And in case neither of those are acceptable,

H&K UMP

and the,

Glock 22

McQ: Is the limit on Availability still in effect with the 100 Karma/50,000 nuyen portion of character creation? And how do you feel about SURGE, in particular if used as an expansion of Edges & Flaws rather than the whole comet thing?

TKG--To play an instrument would be the social skill, Perform. Knowledge about musical terminology and famous concertos etc. would be the knowledge skill.

Misfit--The availability limit is on purchases during initial creation. During the later Karma/Cash process, pitch a list at me if you're selected Thursday and we can chat. Things with a high availablity will depend on history, contacts and skills.

Surge is done 2 ways:
1) you pay the 5 BP and you simply have access to it as an expanded set of edges and flaws which must balance--this matches the NSRCG program.
2) You tell me that you want to surge, and a freak factor of 1-Ess. I will then tell you how many pts of edges and flaws you have. This method is the random d6+2/ add'l success as YOTC. (Example Essence 5, can range from 1d6 upto 1d6+10 depending on how severe you wanted)

Shadow--after a cursory glance, I'd say no to the p-90 but yes on the other 3...

How well would a B&E type fit in this game? I've been toying about with a pacifist theif character, an adept with improved physical skills in athletics and stealth, giased so that she can't hurt anyone physically.

JaronK

All right, here's the concept I have in mind. I was considering a few SURGE traits, but I'll probably stick to the first method since that gives me a bit more control to insure he winds up how I have him in my head. What can I say, I hate random character generation methods.

In any case, here we go with the concept...

GIBRALTAR
Albrecht d'Archangelo, Former Paranormal Hunter of the Roman Catholic Church (Sorcerer)

Like the monumental rock his street name was inspired by, Gibraltar is a huge and powerfully-built troll on an epic scale. But unlike most of his brethren, he is a man whose mind is every bit as imposing as his body is. A sophisticated and well-educated intellectual in command of an august array of magicks, Gibraltar's one weakness in the Hermetic crafts can be found in his inability (or perhaps unwillingness?) to negotiate with spirits.

Originally born in Venice to a Saeder-Krupp wageslave married to an immigrant from the Trollkönigreich Schwarzwald (the Troll Kingdom of the Black Forest), Gibraltar was placed into a church-run orphanage after the death of his parents at six years of age. By the time puberty was upon him, Albrecht's innate magical abilities began to manifest and, coupled with his dedication to joining the clergy, it wasn't long before he was recruited into the Roman Catholic Church.

Few people know what happened between that time and the days he started to appear on the streets of the Emerald City, but nearly twenty years had passed in the interim. Some say his faith had been shaken by the horrors he had witnessed while serving the Church or the corruption he found therein, while others suspect that he may be a sleeper agent of the Templars or some other ominous organization within the Church. But whatever the truth is, the one thing known for certain is that Gibralatar now offers his services to anyone willing to pay for them... especially if those services require the tracking down of the HMHVV-infected or other blasphemies of the metahuman condition. Regardless of his position within the Church, Gibraltar remains a spiritually-impossing troll with strong convictions -- but when it comes down to the wire, the consequences of the laws of man always come second to the fire and brimstone punishments demanded by God's laws.

Nice Misfit.

More questions for you McQ.

Custome vehicles? I can't buy a helicopter with an AV under 8, but I think I can make one. I also was toying with a custome van. For his ground transport service.

For custom gear--if you have the appropriate skills to craft it, there is a 1 yr period of growth. However, this year has to also include any training to increase skills etc from Karma growth. (You don't have to pay for the instructor, consider a teaching skill 6 included for free.)

Shadow--the AV 8 only applies for the initial buying during character creation. Any purchases made with the extra karma and cash don't have an availability cap, but I will ask you to explain it in your history and have the necessary contacts and skills.

edit: These are general guidelines, I'm pretty easy-going just start a dialogue with me in PM and we can work something out.

Here is the concept I've been toying with.
Matthew Hinkley:a.k.a:Wren
A Newport chainsmoking/birdwatching elf

His mother and father own a small electronics shop in downtown Seattle.He spent the better part of his childhood in the shop,and learned a great deal of the inner workings and building of electronic devices from his father.Upon the urgings of both his parents he applied himself and went to school.He graduated with honors,and was planning on going to college,but opted for the military due to the high price of a college education.

The military recognized the elf's ability in training to fit in with varying groups,along with a knack to infiltrate and exfiltrate without notice.His superiors thought he would be a good fit in a small Ranger squad that had a vacancy.

The group specialized in undercover and special ops.He was dubbed Wren by the group because of the Elf's attention to the song and chatter of birds.It was something the elf rarely heard in Downtown Seattle and was intrigued by.He spent 8 years with the military before leaving with his wife(Nicole)whom he met in the service and their 4 year old daughter(Tabitha).

Their daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of leukodystrophy.A very expensive disease that his military insurance,under a clause,would not cover.He took to running the Seattle shadows to pay the vast medical expenses they were faced with.They have come in contact with a Doctor specializing in the blood disease who claims,through a medical procedure,the condition can be cured.Wren is currently saving to pay for the operation.

Although his wife is not happy with his choice to run the shadows she realizes there are few options Matthew has to secure the money they need for the procedure.She deals with it as best she can knowing it may be the only way to save their daughter's life.

Trixie

She was there to see it all go down. The lights went out in the Arcology Mall and when things came back on all hell broke loose. Machine gun fire was all around and there were insane robots running around capturing and killing people. She watched her two best friends get torn in half like they were made of paper. Then there was running and hiding and hunger and a Dark Resonance that she feared more than anything ever.

A year later she woke up in the hospital. Her head hurt and she didn't really remember much, but from what she saw around her at the hospital, she was thankful for it. The doctors ran a few tests on her and released her a while later. She spent a few days in the orphanage before Henry showed up. He explained that it was him that found her inside the Arc. He took her into his home and gave her a place to live, but things didn't last long. Turns out that Henry's wife didn't take well to having a cute 16 year old elf smiling at her husband all the time.

She moved out and took to the streets to make her own way. It had been a while since she'd been online, she was a little scared of it, but it was time to overcome those fears...

Jason Biggs aka Jester

Jester is the quintessential pilot; cocky, confident, and sure of himself. Thiryt years of flying for the Air Force has taught him how to move a bird in the sky, and put it wherever he wants. Unfortunately, do to a freak accident in Hawaii that involved lightning and man eating piranha, he lost his leg. He now has a shiny chromed leg as it’s replacement.

His life has left him with a good sense of humor and irony. He lives each moment to the absolute maximum. A life time of military etiquette has forged him into a great team player and rigger.

Any openings in this game still, for a slightly brainded player looking to get rid of the rust...

DH--I'm accepting concepts until Thursday when I post my decisions.

Everyone--In case I wasn't clear at the beginning of this, I presume there will be almost equal time spent in and out of the matrix on this run. Deckers should be able to survive a firefight even if they aren't gunning people down and non-deckers should be willing/able to jack in with trodes or a datajack to interact with people and be an extra set of eyes. This second requirement is the major reason behind my banning gremlins on this run...

This doesn't mean that every non-decker needs a drek hot deck, the proper gear will be there when you need it. All in all, I'm liking the variety of runners being offered forth and look forward to the team that is born out of the process.

When you mention jacking in, does every character need to be able to deck, or can some of us ride as hitchers? Not that it matters, either way since we've got plenty of karma to buy computer skills, but still

I may want to switch around a few skills if my character(Wren) is accepted due to the lack of a computer skill. I'll drop Leadership:5 to:2 and pick up Computer:3.

I've got a phys-ad body guard that I tried in another game (which fell apart) that I'd like to play. He's a hand to hand specialist (Katana), and a decent sneaky guy but not especially munchy. Mostly, he never gets surprised because of his highly increased senses. Here's his background. I'll spend the other cash/karma if I'm accepted, to include adding a computer skill.

Frank Farmer:
Born Darius Miles in Renton, Seattle, UCAS. Went to school all the way through high school and had a pretty normal life. He wasn't allowed to complete in regular organized sports after 8th grade, when his magic talent was discovered. Luckily for him, he'd already started Kendo, and his teacher, Master Ichibuns was also a physical adept. As his only competitive outlet, Darius pored his energy into Kendo, and eventually to evening Kenjutsu classes.
In school, he was an excellent student, excelling in English and Electronics classes especially. His skills and grades brought him to the attention of a Fuchi recruiter, who was always on the lookout for local (caucasion) talent.
They paid his way through 18 months at ITT Tech in exchange for a 3 year contract as an executive protection specialist. This went well, mostly, and after 2 years of service they offered a new deal. A big fat raise, another 6 months of training and a 5 year contract as a corporate trouble shooter(company man). Although he had learned many disturbing things while guarding the elite people and most secure installations of Fuchi, he didn't really see any other options, so he accepted. He did his training, and started his new career in March, 2059, while Fuchi was already dying.
While not personally involved, he is sure that the Villiers/Lanier faction of Fuchi was responsible for the crash of flight 118 into Redmond. While he's not an especially moral guy, this is too much to swallow. When his division of Fuchi is bought up by Novatech he views that as proof and uses the confusion and mass firings to disappear into the shadows.
He contacted Roadrash, a smuggler friend, who got him to New Orleans without a passport, and introduced him to Susanne. Susanne got him work, which ended up with him spending the last 3 months on a long term contract with Mobius Gentronics. That contract ended, and at a loose end, Rover headed back to Seattle.
While he's not technically wanted, Novatech claims he owes them 150,000 nuyen for walking out on his contract. So, while he is a legal citizen of the UCAS as Darius Miles, he choses to be a SINless citizen of the UCAS named Francis "Frank" Farmer. And while he works for the corps when they offer enough pay, he's not owned by them or anyone else.

TKG--The ability to deck isn't required, just the ability to go online and talk. If you don't have a computer skill that's fine, the purpose of my post was just to make sure that everyone was on the same page with my expectations. I didn't want to be halfway into the run and have part of the team think I had blindsided them.

Cheezypoof--Not a problem.

Hmm, since I was making a Phys Ad, getting a Datajack could be pesky. Is there someway to jack in without taking a magic rating hit? I could initiate her or something if that would work, but lacking Magic In the Shadows it's hard to know how to go about it.

Anyway, here's the basic concept:

Casper is a short, albino girl with an amazing penchant for getting into places she's not supposed to. She's somewhat based on Amanda from Highlander: The Raven, though younger. She's an adept with amazing stealth and athletic skills, but hates to actually hurt anyone (took the Total Pacifist flaw). She uses charm when her physical abilties aren't enough, but otherwise is most comfortable when waltzing through security systems.

JaronK, there are always trode networks. No essence loss required... you're just not quite as fast in the Matrix.

Allright, now that I have a computer again, I'll throw my charecter into the mix. An aspected combat mage. WIth the 100 karma, are we allowed to being as an initiate?

Details to come.

Assuming you are using the current errata, I have a biowear question.

Alright, that leaves me to decide between a revision of Johnny Jett, or a new character... was thinking Psyad, but then that'd mean trodes, and trodes are scary...

I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with 'trode networks. How does that work... or more to the point, how much does it cost?

You round down your magic rating, not the amount lost from it.

Ok the call has come down and I will be playing Callisto. She's a wet-work wonder for the most part. Strong B&E skill base and low cyber. Has a ton of background skills for the shadow and corp communities. Doesn't much care for guns, too loud and showy. No problem with others using them, just not her thing. Will try to get her upgraded and shot out in the near future. Should have time tomorrow in the late afternoon.

Mikey--Yes with the karma you can initiate, grow skills, whatever. Pretend your character has gone on 20-30 different runs and accumulated after expenses 100 karma and 50K if you want more Karma or Cash, make the trade at 1 karma = 5k. Also the way Cheezypoof did the calculation for magic loss is correct.

JaronK--The advantages and disadvantages of trodes are listed on p. 17-18 of Matrix3. Trodejacks cost 500 , always available and are legal.

This is the 36 hour warning. I'm going to make decisions based on who is submitted by around Noon PDT on Thursday. I don't need full characters by that point, just solid concepts with a little bit of history fleshed out.

Do you want my character emailed to you, or is the background here OK?

Bearclaw--post concepts and bkgds here or you can PM them to me. I will make my choices from there and give out my e-mail address for the actual characters Thursday.

here is a rough draft of Jester's history...

Biggs, Jason R. Aka Jester Age: 50

Jason was born in a little town in southern Oregon, called Cave Junction. It wasn’t the best place for a kid to grow up, but it was home. He was born shortly after the begining of the 6th world. He grew up in a world of fear and hatred and terror. He wanted very much to do to things, help people, and fly. So at 18 he joined the ranks of the newly formed UCAS Air Force. Coming from a small town he really didn’t know anything about the Airforce. He thought he could join as a Airman and then learn to fly. That wasn’t to be. He did end up serving as a crew member on a C-5B Galaxy. He loved it. The garbage hauler was slow, noisy and vulnerable but there was something about it that resonated with him. He started going to night school and working hard for his Bachelors degree. In the summer of 2036 he graduted from the Air Force academy and went on to be a juinor pilot in the Cargo Delivery group. For 20 years he flew bird for the Airforce. He moved up in the ranks slowly, having niether patronage or an exceptional way with people.

About the time the Renraku Arcology was shuttung down, Jason was flying old fashined Globe Masters over the south pacific. His plane hit a bad storm and was ijured beyond repair. He kept it in the air as long as he could, long enough for his crew to abandon the ship. The plane crashed into the water and was presumed loss. One week later, haggard, broken and dying of thirst Jason washed up on the shores of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His right leg was destroyed beyond the abilty of modern medicine to repair. And when they tried magic, it failed as well.

He got two things out of the crash. A brand new shiny metalic cyber leg, and discharge papers. Since then Jason has been saving up his money and seeking backers for his venture. That being his combat air/ground taxi service. Unfortunetly the service hasn’t done as well as the old man would have liked. He has started Shadowrunning to pay the rent on the Tacoma Airport hangar and pay for fuel.