What: A city based shadowrun which might involve wetwork.
When: December 20, 2061
Where: Based in Seattle, mostly Tacoma
Why: Because someone has made someone very angry
W-how: Slightly seasoned runners looking for some cred, with no problems working for the Mafia against the Yakuza.

Okay, so I'm being vague. You expect that from me by now. You can bring a character forward from Vein of Truth if you wish, or you can generate a new one. Players who were part of Vein but are making new characters get an additional 50,000 to spend as they wish on their new character during the "seasoning" phase of character creation (yes, you can buy karma with it).

Anyway, what are the character generation rules? Glad you asked. They're a lot like the rules for Vein (well, they're the exact same, really).

• Character generation is priority or points (123)
• Characters must take Fredrick (a fixer) as a contact. He can be one of your free ones, or you can buy him with cash. Doesn't matter to me.
• Character types? Deckers are vastly more useful than they were in Vein. Riggers less so. I'm not restricting the number of Awakened this time out and will allow up to two full mages.
• I have a feeling I'm going to be fairly strict on edges and flaws. One edge or flaw is fine. Three is pushing it. More is probably bad. Also, flaws which aren't flaws don't give you points. Allergy: lemons is not a point-worthy flaw.
• Most advanced rules are in effect. Optional rules are generally not. If you have specific questions, ask.
• Cultured bioware is not allowed at this point
• Books allowed: SR3, SR3Comp, R3R, M&M, CC, Matrix, MitS, SSG, SOTA:2063 (mostly), T:W, T:AL
• In general, web material is not allowed. I am flexible with Raygun's firearms (the guns, not the rest of the rules) and spells that can be made using the spell research rules.
• Write a background for the character and, for the love of God, run it through a spellcheck and read it aloud to make sure it makes sense.

Okay, got all of that? Not too bad, right? Now I'm going to do what I did for Vein and season those starting characters a bit.

• Complete character generation as normal.
• Add 500,000 (+ 50,000 for Vein players)
• You can buy karma for 5,000 a point. Bought karma goes to your karma pool at the normal rate (ie, every 10th point for humans, ever 20th for elves).
• Street index applies to anything bought after character generation
• Allow 6 months of downtime for stuff that takes time (vehicle customization, etc).
• Availability cap is raised to 20. There is no rating cap.
• Weapon modifications are allowed. Completely custom weapons are not.
• Spell modifications are allowed. Completely custom spells are not. (ie, changing something to touch range, changing something to area effect, etc).
• Vehicle modifications are allowed. Completely custom vehicles are generally not. If there is an instance where there isn't a vehicle available (ie, for an anthro drone) then a custom vehicle will be considered. All custom vehicles should be commercially viable.
• SURGE if you want to, but keep the time frame in mind.
• Contacts can be purchased after character gen at the same rate they were purchased during charactergen. 5k for level 1, 10k for level 2
• Magical characters can join metamagic groups and initiate at the standard costs. Stick the group name and maybe a little info in your background but don't worry about it too much. The group itself likely won't come into play during the game.

On the topic of character sheets:

• Formats: sr3, .doc, .xls, .txt, .html, .xml, .rtf
• If you are using NSRCG, I'd like the .sr3 file in addition to whatever output files you want to send.
• Be sure to include your background.
• Send me the character via email: tinkergnome@comcast.net
• Be sure to include your board name in the message
• Deadline for completed character sheets: 4 pm, EST, Friday, July 9

Returning characters from Vein:

• You have approximately 1 month of downtime
• Karma costs 5,000 a point.
• There's more human opposition this time out, and less spirit opposition. There is a really big spirit involved, though.

I intend to keep a fast posting rate with this game much like Vein. I will require the following:

• Posting should be 4 to 5 times a week, with a heavy focus on the week days. Weekend posts will come from me where possible, but I'm not going to come down on you for not posting on a Saturday if I didn't put up the last post till Friday night, etc.
• If you're not going to be able to post for more than a day or so at a time, I want you to PM me. I know there are situations where you simply don't have anything to post, and I'll be understanding of a day or so lag in those cases. Do check in, even if you're out of the action at that instant.
• The group will need to decide on a leader OOCly. The leader will be responsible for taking the lead in player-based segments and providing a plan if no one else comes up with one. I've got a tendency to grab whatever plan is on the table when I'm ready to post and to set it into motion.

Any questions, feel free to ask me. This game will attempt to run in a fashion much like that of Vein of Truth. My PM box tends to fill up fast, so feel free to IM or email me instead.

[NEW] I need an email from everyone this Wednesday, July 7th, (to tinkergnome@comcast.net) that includes the following:

• Character name:
• Character concept: (1-3 sentances)
• Contact level for Fredrick: (1-3)
• Your posting name: (ie, mine is TinkerGnome)
• Character status: (new/returning/new with returning player)

[NEW] A revised listing of what you can do with your downtime is available here. PCs from Vein can be recreated to use this ruling.

You knew about 30 days before it became common knowledge, actually. YotC's first confirmation of the stuff is 11-27-61. I'd wager a few corps knew about it about 5-10 days after you guys did.

If you really want to you can, but they won't be linked in any way.

Yep. It's a simple way of stating that you get some combination of karma and nuyen.

After chargen in the "seasoning" phase, yes. Subject to SI and normal availability requirements.

I'll be capping the game at a number of players I haven't decided on yet. Existing characters will be given some measure of preference, but if they're not as suitable for the run as a new character, I'm not going to guarantee they will win out.

When I was having fun playing him, it seemed I was causing problems. It wasn't much fun playing him halfway.

That depends about 100% on what the edge is. Some are yes, most are no. If you didn't get it through RP, it's 10 karma per point of edge. If you manage to work it into the RP the cost goes down to 5 karma per point of edge. The same applies for buying off flaws (ie, create a good reason for the flaw going away IC and you only pay 5 karma per point to get rid of it).

Like tisoz said. The raised avail, etc, is just for stuff bought with SI attached.

I'm honestly not looking forward to character selection in this one. There's a chance that I might simply spawn a second game related to Vein a little more closely (it's a counterterrorism effort surrounding a convention) if the number of quality submissions exceeds the 1 game cap (I'm thinking 8 players).

First post.

BtW, I didn't thought Belfast was going to ditch Fredrick as a fixer for sending you out with incompetants?

Yes.

On another note, I'm changing deadlines around a bit. I need an email from everyone this Wednesday, July 7th, (to tinkergnome@comcast.net) that includes the following:

• Character name:
• Character concept: (1-3 sentances)
• Contact level for Fredrick: (1-3)
• Your posting name: (ie, mine is TinkerGnome)
• Character status: (new/returning/new with returning player)

On Wednesday, I'm going to roll 1d6 + 1 die per level of your contact with Fredrick (so 2d6 or 3d6) and that'll be the order we get to pick between the two games. Right now, the games are:

In Heaven and Earth: An run to eliminate a seriously evil being in Tacoma. Wetwork probably required.

Public Exposure: A counterterrorism run based in Downtown Seattle. Wetwork not as likely.

When your number comes up, you can do one of three things. Decide which game you want to join, decide which player (that rolled lower than you did) you want to join with (you both join the game that player decides to join), or decide that you don't care which game you end up in. The deadline for this will coincide with the deadline for completed character sheets.

Hmm... sure, why not. A few dodging dice in exchange for a complex action shouldn't make a huge difference in the outcome of anything.

Comp skills aren't going to count for the "working for a living" thing because I don't want it to get too profitable. An average roll for an average character pulls in about 4k. A good roll for a good character can pull in 36k or more. An average roll using comp skills for an average character would pull in 6k. A good roll for a good character using comp skills would pull in 54k or more. I think it starts pushing the bounds of what I want

There are two downsides to me using this rule. First, you're not allowed to do anything productive with your downtime while you're using it. So no programming, enchanting, etc, for personal use while you're using it. Secondly, you're not allowed to sell the fruits of normal downtime creation efforts. This means that if you can talismonger, you cannot sell radicals or other products of your work directly. Instead, you have to use the "working for a living" rules to make cash with those skills.

Lifestyle is free for the initial downtime. It is not for the 1 additional month that Vein characters had.

Most edges are allowed. Keep in mind that knowing someone in high places might get you small perks from time to time (ie, the stuff described by the edge, such as an invitation to a party or a good word in the right ears) and open a few doors, but true help generally carrys an equally hefty pricetag.

I'd consider a megacorp VP, a vice mayor, one of the most elite of elite fixers, a family head in the mafia (or equivalent in other crime rings), or the like to be the limits of the edge. In other words, someone close to the head of power, but without a huge amount of their own. It's likely to be of less use than normal in a game like either of these.

Are those TNs to raise the level of the contact TO that level or FROM that level to the next level? (i.e. TN 6 to go from 0 to 1, TN 10 to go from 1 to 2; or TN 6 to go from 1 to 2, TN 10 to go from 2 to 3)

Also, does this take 1 month as well? And when we are working on relationships with our contacts, is that all we can do with that month of downtime? No money making or other activities?