Take a look at the sheet I sent you. Is the Pole Arm he has ok? I'll be scaling down the rating of the Foci, I just wanted to make sure the weapon's design was cool with you.

The pole arm looks good.

I've been thinking a bit and since my character's an ex KE spec ops type I was planning on taking a balanced loadout leaning more towards medium-short range (pistol, SMG, shotgun) with some close combat ability as well (probably some retractable spurs & brawling skill).

So my character'll be street samurai-ish, but wont have the smartlinks or the cybereyes...

Oh, one other thing...shouldn't someone be a vehicle rigger so we've got transport? Or at least someone should take some form of vehicle that can transport us all (an Ares Riotmaster for example ), or even a T-bird if there's one that could fit us all in.

Aren't T bird costs in the several million range?

Any cap on edges and flaws?

Same as the ones issued by the Companion. Max 5 edges and 5 flaws, no more than a 6 point difference between them. Certain flaws will not be worth points because they are, well, not flaws. Use your discretion.

Something else I should mention: if you want custom gear/spells/powers etc, I am allowing it for this game. Just don't go overboard, because I'll be reviewing every single thing that isn't in the books with a critical eye. Things that add flavor to the character will be worth brownie points. The 20D damage assault rifle with a concealability of 9 will not be.

Oh, I forgot to ask about SURGE. What is your take?

What is the deadline ?

Surge is random. If you want your character to be surged, I'll roll it for you. It costs no build points to be a changeling, and though I'll make sure the benefits and drawbacks balance out, you cannot handpick them yourself.

The deadline is this Sunday morning.

The character I'm submitting will be a driver...

cool i'm going with the B&E specialist, there's just too much stuff that needs to be done to leave handling all that to drain brain, he can back me up with his passkey but i'll go ahead and cover the entry specialist slot

Do we have enough mages? I'm only counting one, and I have a shark shamanist I can use instead of the sam if we're short magically.

Also, if we want to raise spell ratings above 6, do we have to roll to learn it, or just pay the karma and assume we made it?

Play a character that you want to play. There's no guarantee that anyone will be accepted, and I'll adjust the game accordingly if there are holes in the team's capabilities.

You'll have to talk to me if you want a spell with a force above 6. I won't make you roll for it, but I'll have to approve of it first.

Grenade rules:

So successes are used to reduce scatter then remaining ones to stage up damage? Can people dodge and soak grenades just like regular ranged attacks?

Also, do laser make noise in terms of suppresion? What's the TN to hear a laser bolt?

EDIT: Lasers deal elemental damage, right?

Y'know it turns out mild insomnia does have one advantage. Last night I couldn't sleep so I dug out the SR rulebook and started (trying) to learn the Decker rules.

As a result I'll be playing an Elf combat decker, some cyberware (reaction enhancers, cyberlimb, datajacks), and he'll also be good with pistols & possibly shotguns, though his main use will be in the Matrix.

I was wondering if someone could explain the points build system, since I've heard of it but I'm not sure what it is (I should really buy the SR companion).

it's impossible to explain the build point system in enough depth here for you to use it without infringing on Fanpro's intellectual copyrights and whatnot. i recommend getting the companion, it's a great book, the edges and flaws section is an awesome thing to have too!

Well, I get paid on Friday so I'll pick it up then.

I guess this means my character wont be up 'till then stats-wise, but I'll start on his background in a while, is that ok?

man, this background thing is daunting, i've written some, a life history, but my character is bred to run, so it's not like he has developed much non-work interests or anything worth noting in a background..oh well it's a labor of love

I'm going to be creating a sam, but my first question is, do we have a long rifle (sniper)? If we don't i'm going to cover that, if we do i'll cover the meat sheild sam.

Nightcrawler - the background is really what I'm looking for right now, so you can send just that to me and if accepted, you can work on the stats when you guys are comparing notes on your respective characters. Though it'll be good if you can give me a general gist of your character's skills and whatnot.

FXcalibur - Extra successes after determining scatter will be used to stage up damage, but I'll be handling it like a melee attack. In other words, successes beyond deadly will stage up the power instead of canceling out the target's successes.

The power of a grenade is automatically reduced by the movement rate of anyone who sees it coming, plus other good stuff like the barrier rating of any cover between it and you. That's your movement rate on the initiative pass that it explodes on, not your maximum movement rate. If the power is reduced to 0 before armor, then you can consider the attack "dodged."

Another house rule that might be relevant: the TN penalty for ranged attacks is +1 if your target is walking, +3 if your target is running.

The base target number to hear a laser weapon is 3. Not quite as loud as an unsilenced gunshot, but not quite as soft as a silenced one either. Yes, lasers deal elemental damage.

What about flash grenades then? How do you handle indirect fire? (arcing a grenade over cover or rebounding them against a wall).

Well, my current rough background goes something like this (it's still in note form at the moment)...

My character, who's only known as Void nowadays was once a Knight Errant spec ops type, a sort of rent-a-cop version of a Shadowrunner.

He worked for them for a few years (he was recruited under somewhat dodgy circumstances at 17 after he hacked into their system), then after a botched run he bailed and ended up as a shadowrunner.

His main skills'll be in his decking ability, though out of the matrix he'll use machine pistols and some form of blade that I've not decided on yet (either a machete style cougar fineblade or a monosword I think), he'll also have a few bits of cyberware from his corp days...reaction enhancers, a cyberarm, & possibly bone lacing in addition to his decking-related stuff (datajacks).

That's all I've got so far though.

i'll send you my chars bio soon. as a sneak peak: it's going to be a scandi snake shaman. focussed on support magic and counterspelling
btw, whats the starting date of the campaign(ingame)?

I'm going to cover the long gun (sniper) spot Paul. Just dropping you the line to let you know.

FX: For flash and superflash grenades, successes after scatter has been reduced to 0 can be used to counter the targets' successes on their resistance test, but cannot be used to stage up the damage. The effects fade exactly as written in the book. Who happens to be looking at the grenade when it explodes will be determined by a random roll, which can be affected by certain situational modifiers.

Throwing/firing a grenade over cover or bouncing it off a wall inflicts a flat +2 TN penalty. Doing both will net you a +4 TN penalty. If you arc it over cover, where it will land on the other side will be affected by how tall the particular piece of cover is and your relative position to it.

Aeon: The starting date is December 23rd, 2063.

I submitted Kolas--Ex-Draco Foundation Negotiator. IN the shadows he serves as a face and driver. Strong social skills, he can keep himself alive in a fight even if he doesn't do the killing.

No, not a pacifist...just heavy pistols aren't that great for killing, when compared to rifles, heavy weapons and the like...

Kickshot, can you email me back the sheet I sent you? My laptop died big time and I don't have a backup.

Just submitted Belmont, the whip weilding, shotgun-blasting, magical/para-specialist. Before you even think to ask, no, he has no boomerang or holy water. The similarities end with the name.... and the whip.....

Similiar name to what? Or am I missing something here...?

The only Belmont I know of was the school I went to a few years back, though it's closed now...

Castlevannia video game I believe. There were a hole bunch of them. Belmont was the hero, and in each game he was trying to kill dracula, and on the way he slaughtered all types of creepy crawlies like werewolves.

Prezactly.

Ecclesiastes: Sent.

Blaze: sent.

Sorry for the lack of word on my part. I've been working shift work, back to backs and eves, and sleeping off shift. I'm on an off set now, though. I'm planning on submitting a British combat mage, formerly a reformed Catholic priest, still a bit of a holy man.... well, except for the fact he fries people for money...

Just out of curiosity, has anyone else ever actually played a Decker before? I'm a bit daunted by all the rules, since I've read them through but I can't seem to grasp them in my head, so I have to keep checking everything, and I still don't understand half of it.

I was just asking 'cause if so, would they prefer to be the decker and I'll go for a street sam I came up with a while back?

If not I'll stay as the Decker, I just dunno how good a job I'll do...

Edit:

Also, would it be ok if I played Night Ones elf?

Edit #2:

Ok, sod it. I really don't know the Matrix rules so I'm going for a razorguy/street samurai.

Sorry about my change of heart but I'm more comfortable with cybered up death machines than anything...

Go for it.

Char sent. Hope you like it
As said before: snake shaman, mainly a backup/cover mage

At those who play mages/shamans, you guys got a magic group? Or shall we put our resources together and found our own one? I don't mind about self-initiation, but hey karma is karma
oh btw, it looks like i got a big part of my money left... suggestions on what we need for the group? I would buy drones, but since Kickshot lacks the rigger book it wont be that interesting

Yes, my character, if she gets in, does belong to a magical group. I hate to say it, but the group would not play nice with shamans, heck, it wouldn't play nice with anyone but female hermetics for that matter.

Belmont is part of a magical group that is dominated by Idol shamans. Having something of an academic bent, I imagine hermetics would be accepted as well.

Ok, ignore most of my previous post.

I've realised we'll have an abundance of muscle already, and hell, it's not like my character can't deck and be a cybered death machine, so I'll be playing a Decker.

I'll just need help with creating his cyberdeck though, so if anyone uses MSN Messenger & can help me just stick @hotmail.com onto my username.

Thanks.

So far, I've received characters from the following folks:

Drain Brain
FXcalibur
Shalimar
Ecclesiastes
McQuillan
Aeon
RangerJoe
Jim Knoll

Everyone else: you have 3 days.

And is there any comment to be had on those characters you have received?

Only that it's going to be a bitch to have to choose between them.