There was an ork character that I did for a run thread I didn't make the cut for, and it was a low-powered game (BeCKS with 300 Karma, skill cap of 4, etc.), but I liked his background, so I will post him up here. He can be an NPC if you ever need a "not ready for prime time" runner. Without further ado, here's Gutripper:
Gutripper (Gus Mooney), Male Ork
Here is the breakdown:
Ork: 20
Edges: 10
Flaws: -25
Resources: 65 (25,000 Nuyen)
Attributes: 136
Skills: 94
TOTAL: 300
Attributes -
Body: 6
Quickness: 5
Strength: 6
Charisma: 3
Intelligence: 4
Willpower: 5
Essence: 5.0
Magic: 0
Reaction: 4
Initiative: 4 + 2d6
Combat Pool: 7
Total Karma: 0
Good Karma: 0
Karma Pool: 1
Active Skills -
Athletics: 4
Biotech/First Aid: 1/3
Brawling: 4
Close Combat
Ground Fighting
Etiquette: 3
Negotiation: 3
Pistols: 4
Shotguns: 4
Stealth: 4
Throwing Weapons: 1
Knowledge Skills -
(Languages)
English/Trog: 4/5 R/W: 2
Japanese: 3 R/W: 1
(Other)
Bodyguarding: 3
Bouncing: 3
Gang Identification: 3
Seattle Black Market: 2
Seattle Night Life: 3
Seattle Ork Underground: 3
Seattle Redmond Barrens: 3
Underworld Politics: 2
Urban Brawl Trivia: 3
Cyberware -
Boosted Reflexes: 1
Smartlink
Edges -
Bravery
Friendly Face
Flaws -
Computer Illiterate
Oblivious
Contacts -
Bartender (Level 1)
Fixer (Level 1)
Lifestyles: 1 Low(1 Month prepaid).
Credstick Balance: 3d6 x 100 Nuyen.
Gear -
Weapons: Ares Predator II Heavy Pistol, Concealable Quick-Draw Holster, and 150
Rounds of Regular Ammo.
Defiance T-250 Shotgun with Internal Smartlink, Shock Pad, 50 Rounds of Regular (Slug) and 50 Rounds of Gel Ammo.
Armor/Clothing: Secure Jacket, FFBA (full suit), Ordinary Clothing(x 5),
Synthleather Clothing(x 2).
Other Gear: Military-surplus Duffel Bag (of 100 Nuyen cost), Medkit,
Telecom(5 Mp).
Bull's 50+ Questions -
1. What is your character's Sex?
Male.
2. What is your character's physical size?
Tall and gangling, starting to bulk up with muscle, but a bit of a pot belly at the same time.
3. What is the color of the character's hair, eyes, and skin?
Brown hair in a fuzzy buzz cut, hazel eyes, slightly tanned skin.
4. What is the character's general appearance (i.e., How does he dress, etc.)?
Gus dresses in casual street clothing, although he looks more like a thug or ganger than a pedestrian - torn denim, synthleather, combat boots and sometimes camo clothing, and a few "punk" accessories. He has a tattoo of a phoenix on his back, a snake coiling on his left shoulder, and a metallic skull on the back of his right hand. He looks laid back, though, with an easy-going smile and a slightly vacant look.
5. Where was the character born (City, State, Hospital Name)?
Gus was born in the Ork Underground.
6. What is the character's date of birth?
January 16th, 2047.
7. What was the character's family life like?
Gus was born and bred into crime and poverty, and as such, it all seems perfectly normal and natural to him. You pay off the cops, the Yaks, or whichever other big group is leaning on you. You use certified cred, a fake ID, or connections when you need something. You pay careful attention to gang turf and other people's street rep and need to save face - the possibility of sudden violence erupting hangs over every encounter. And that's just how it is.
8. Has the character begun his own family?
Gus has no desire to start a family.
9. Where or how was the character educated?
Gus learned most of his lessons on the streets, although his mom home-schooled him a bit. He can read (sorta) and do simple math, but his grasp of such things as history or literature is appalling.
10. Has the character ever done anything else for a living?
Gus has been a small-time criminal since he has been a kid. The only change has been his slow progress up the ladder of crime.
11. What are the character's political and religious beliefs?
Gus is apathetic about politics, although he will join in with metahuman rights demonstrations, or at least cheer them from his barstool. His religious beliefs waver between agnosticism and a muddled deism.
12. Describe the characters Moral Code. Include how mercenary he is, whether or not he'll kill innocents, etc.
Gus is cheerfully amoral. He is a nice, friendly guy who doesn't go out of his way to hurt people, and he is usually loyal to his friends, but he has no trouble committing most crimes, even wetwork. Of course, there are a few lines he won't cross (murdering kids, etc.), but there are not many.
13. What are the character's goals? Does he have any?
Gus wants to be a successful criminal and retire to luxury, or at least comfort. Right now, he is comparing himself to his buds who have not done as well, and his previous squatter existence. So he is reveling in the experiences of being one of the big boys with cyber and big guns and body armor, living in an apartment that is all his own, with a comfy cot, actual running water during the rationed times, and other unimaginable amenities.
14. Why does the character run the shadows? (Why does he run the shadows still, rather than getting a "real" job?)
What else would he do? He couldn't get legitimate work even if he wanted to.
15. What kind of personality does your character have? This should not necessarily be obviously stated in the background, as it is more important for actually playing the character, but it may color or add mood to the history.
Gus is a mellow, happy person, so much so that it is easy to forget that he is capable of casually inflicting violence on others.
16. What special qualities does the character possess? This does not refer to skills, but rather to other things, such as how he gets along with people, whether he plans ahead, etc.
Gus is friendly and cheerful, fun to be around.
17. Are there certain things the character can't or won't do? Why?
Gus is deathly afraid of BTLs ever since a friend of his died horribly due to a defective Kong Chip. He used to have a pierced nose, ears, and tongue, but after a peeved mage cast Hot Potato on him (pain, pain, pain), he got them removed and doesn't have any piercings any more.
18. What things, people, or ideas does the character hate?
Not much riles Gus, but he doesn't like these morons who get drunk, then get tattooed. Man, a tattoo is an artistic statement! It should reflect your personality, and go with the tattoos you already have. You don't just get wasted, and wake up with some random tattoo!
19. What things, people, or ideas does the character love?
Gus loves good beer, friendly women, and junk food. His vices are extremely prosaic ones. ^_^
20. What is the character's name? Give both full birth name, as well as nicknames, street names, etc.
His full name is Gus Mooney, and his shadowrunning handle is Gutripper - named after one of his favorite mixed drinks.
21. Determine what your character used to do, before becoming a shadowrunner (very important).
Gus was a hustling street kid, then a two-bit ganger, then an ambitious thug who did occasional bouncing or bodyguarding jobs. He is finally breaking into a higher echelon than simple grunt work.
22. Decide why your character left his or her old job, if he had one (also important).
Gus is ambitious, and wants to keep moving up the criminal hierarchy.
23. Come up with a reason for why the character became a shadowrunner. (This very often will tie in with #22. This is not the same as #14, but rather why he started running the shadows originally. What led him to it?)
His dependability and level head caught the eye of Martin, a fixer, who saw that the kid had potential.
24. How did your character come to know his or her contacts? Contacts are an important part of Shadowrun, decide how and why you know them.
>Knuckle Jack, Bartender (Level 1): A massively built troll who runs a sports bar, The Arena, catering mostly to trolls and orks - Jack isn't prejudiced, it's just that seeing the big crowd of orks and trolls often frightens other races out of the bar. The ones who stay, though, find that they are not unwelcome. Jack likes to talk about sports, intermixing it with the local hot rumors and gossip. Gus likes to hang out at Jack's bar. It was here that he first had the drink that he would make into his street name.
>Martin James, Fixer (Level 1): A short, chain-smoking little man with a rich Irish brogue, who talks a mile a minute and is always accompanied by three deceptively lazy-looking bodyguards. He is a survivor first and foremost, so don't expect him to shield you if nasty people are looking for you. He is also a tight-fisted businessman. He is pretty reliable, though, with a decent bankroll, a full inventory (but not much of the hard-to-get stuff), and he can get you relatively steady work. Some people call him Martin, or even Martie, but for Gus, it's still "Mr. James", often followed by "sir".
25. Does the character have a SIN? Does the character actually use it? Or is the character one of the SINless masses? This may be affected by the characters previous employment.
Gus has never had a SIN.
26. Is the character a full-time shadowrunner? Or does the character lead a Batman-like double existence?
Gus is a full-time shadowrunner.
27. Which person(s) or group(s) do you love the most?
Gus loves thrash bands, although he can hardly tell the good ones from the bad ones. He just likes all that energy.
28. Which person(s) or group(s) do you hate the most?
Gus doesn't really hate anybody, but he doesn't have a professional's detachment yet. When someone messes with him, he takes it personally. He doesn't understand how two people hired for two different sides can try to kill each other, then be knocking back beers together the next week.
29. Which person(s) or group(s) do you respect the most?
Gus respects the criminals who have "made it" or are considered to be the very best at their profession.
30. Which person(s) or group(s) do you fear the most?
Gus doesn't even like normal bugs, due to a frightening experience seeing roaches crawling all over a room as a kid. So to him, insect spirits are REALLY bad news.
31. What is your favorite color?
Black.
32. What is your favorite food and/or drink?
He likes junk food, and often makes trips to the local Stuffer Shack to get some more goodies. He likes mixed drinks, and tap beer.
33. What place would you most like to visit?
He would love to go to Dante's one day, and have the bouncer actually let him in the door. He doesn't have enough "rep" for that yet, though.
34. Which person(s) or group(s) are you most loyal to?
Sadly, himself, although he is protective of Mr. Gruff, his overweight pet calico cat.
35. What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the most enjoyment? (Warning: Answering Sex for this question can and will result in penalties to your character!)
Gus likes sitting at the Arena, where he can nosh on pretzels and peanuts, watch urban brawl on the big-screen trid, and shoot the breeze with everyone else.
36. What pastime (that you participate in regularly) gives you the least enjoyment?
Gus has to work out a lot, and even worse, try to curb his junk food binges, to keep on the road to getting buff and tough. He doesn't like it one bit, but he realizes that if you make a living being violent, you'd better be in shape.
37. What annoys you the most?
When he has to deal with a public dataterm, a vending machine, or any other infernal computerized device. He could swear the damn things are out to get him, messing up anything he tries to do. He fears his telecom. He has had it for several months, and can still only use the basic features.
38. What (if any) is your favorite form of art?
Gus does not appreciate art, just low-brow entertainment. However, he does consider tattoos to be a fine art form.
39. What is your greatest goal?
To retire to his own island. More short term - to get a big-screen trid.
40. What do you think is your characters best quality?
His cheerful good nature.
41. What do you think is your characters worst quality?
His intellectual and moral laziness.
42. What is the most important thing you have ever done?
He took part in a city-wide march for ork rights. He barely even had an idea what the march was about, though - he just got caught up in it.
43. Which religion (if any) do you follow?
None. He considered becoming a Rastafarian, until he learned that you still had to BUY the weed - they didn't GIVE it to you. "So what's the point, then?" he said petulantly.
44. What is your most treasured possession (and why)?
He loves Mr. Gruff, his cat, who is a sweet-natured animal even if he's picked up his owner's lazy attitude.
45. What are your three most common dreams?
> He and a popular sim star, who has now become twins, frolicking in a swimming pool that is, for some reason, filled with beer. "Mmmm... beer" he will mutter in his sleep.
> Nightmare, he has a sudden attack of the munchies, goes to Stuffer Shack, and all they have is energy bars and health food. A sales clerk with a droning voice keeps trying to get him to buy some the icky stuff.
> He's at the Arena bar, and he's naked. So is the waitress, along with a lot of other people he'd really rather NOT see naked. For some reason, though, neither his nudity nor everyone else's bothers him - he just feels mellow.
46. What is the Characters current relationship with his family?
Never even knew his father. Still on speaking terms with the rest of his family, although most of them lead very separate lives and only occasionally visit each other.
47. If the characters family is still alive, what do they do, and where do they live?
His mom and siblings are still in Seattle and all doing okay, except for his younger brother who is always trying to bum beers and spare change off of him, and his oldest sister who is a shaman and a political activist, and might become the first member of his family to actually have some meaningful accomplishments in her life.
48. Where did the character learn his Skills?
Informal training and the school of hard knocks, picking much of his knowledge skills simply from constant exposure.
49. Does the character have a good luck charm? What is it, and why?
He has a "lucky coin", although he mainly kept it because it was negligible in cash value. He wouldn't really care if he lost it.
50. What type of music does the character like?
He likes thrash metal the most, although he will also listen to pop, country, or whatever is on the radio.
51. List any past serious relationships that your character has had, and give a brief overview of the relationship.
None. There are a few women he has actually dated more than once, but that is as close as he has ever come to a serious relationship.
52. Where does your character live? Why does he live there?
His main apartment is by the Redmond Barrens, which he still considers "his" neighborhood. He is just getting used to the move up from squatter lifestyle, and probably is too comfy to move for awhile, or at least until he gets some fake ID and a lot more money.
53. Remember, your Gamemaster like detail, so if you can think of any other little details, quirks, or whatever that you think might please the almight GM, then add them in as well. Oh, and your GM won't use any of these details against you at a later date. trust me...
Gus is a nice break from my characters in the other three games, who are all cunning spellcasters. Gus is basically muscle, and not a leader or a thinker. He will still be fun to roleplay, though, and he has a good mix of skills.