Shadowrun Game

[Wyrd]

I've been considering running a game in Shadowrun. Chat suggests that there is a good deal of interest in one, so I'm creating a thread to see how many people are interested. What I would like to see in this thread is a post from anyone interested, along with how often you would be likely to post, and a rough character concept if you already have one. If enough people are interested, I may start two groups. I generally find that groups of 4-6 seem to work the best. It is possible that if we have multiple groups, some characters may shuffle back and forth between groups depending on which of their specialties best fit the runs a group is about to go on.

Details:

This will almost certainly be 4th edition, as that seemed the preferred edition in chat, though I will allow voting in this thread for your preferred edition between 3rd and 4th.

Regardless of which edition is used, the setting will be as follows: The year is 2060. This means that Halley's comet has not come yet, there is no SURGE, and technomancers are nothing more than myth as far as the PC's are concerned. I've never had a chance to play around with the Year of the Comet, and that thing seems like a lot of fun. The game will start in Denver, Colorado--Seattle is just too overdone--though the game is open to moving as the story moves.

The first chapter will not have an overarching plot, instead focusing on getting to know the characters, getting them to know each other, and doing some low level runs to build up some cred, both in terms of cash and reputation. I warn you that this is my first time GM'ing a PBP game, though I have done several live TT games and one live-action(which will never be spoken of again). I also have some health issues that generally cause me to be online a lot, but sometimes when they flare up I won't be able to concentrate enough to post. Hopefully this won't slow things down much, but I felt that a warning was called for.

Rules changes:

400 point characters.

NO PVP! This is not a game about stabbing the other players in the back. Some intercharacter pranks and tension is fine, as long as the players are keeping it all in good fun and things don't get out of control. If you receive a warning on this issue and don't listen, you may be booted from the game. Hopefully this will not become an issue.

Mortality: I am not out to kill you, but your characters are going to be doing some dangerous stuff. Acts of monumental stupidity may bring about character death, or if you roll exceptionally well, a defining moment of awesome.

SURGE: Special--this has not happened yet, but will happen during the course of the game. I want every character to give me a rating of -5 to +5 for how interested you are in having your character undergo SURGE. Every character will receive a roll at certain points to see if they go through it, and I will be very disappointed if nobody does The roll will also receive a modifier based on how much unspent Karma the character has. Should a character undergo SURGE, they may spend some karma to make the results more favorable--I will discuss this directly with any character so affected.

Karma can be spent to modify circumstances to a limited degree, basically having reality/fate arrange things a little in your favor to pay back what you have done in less direct ways than improved stats.

Players may be awarded negative karma for particularly heinous, stupid, or annoying actions. I will keep track of this myself. Just be aware that your actions may come back to bite you.

Metavariants are available with approval.

Technomancers are not available.

Deltaware is not available to PC's at all at this point. Beta ware is only available with a good backstory to back it up.

Initiation requires an initiation fic for each grade gotten after the game starts(this only applies to mages and adepts).

Spirits are handled more like in 3rd than in 4th, but there are some differences from both. I'm going to make a separate post detailing this for anyone who wishes to make a mage character.

I have most of the 4th edition books(I managed to buy the set of everything published to that point from someone who was giving up the system). Anything coming from a book other than the core book needs approval, though you are likely to get it.

Given the number of times I've had to repeat this, I'm editing this into the initial thread to make it very clear: NO COMMLINKS! THEY DO NOT EXIST! Not yet, at least. Anyone making a decker will be building their deck based on the commlink rules, with only a few modifications, for simplicity's sake, but the wireless revolution that followed the second Crash has not happened yet. This also means that a lot of wireless gear, like smartlink contacts, are also unavailable. Alternate methods are available, but the whole feel of the system is different with wireless everywhere, and the way the world changes in this decade is one of the core themes I'm working with.

[WhiteRain]

Count meh in!

I'm still getting familiar with 4th ed so could you clarify SURGE for me? I'm mostly familiar with Shadowrn 3rd ed (setting wise) and 4th ed rules (which is a confusing mix I know). Might be interested though

As it stands I can post about a million times a day if need be since I'm one of the jobless wastrels I keep reading about in the papers, and I'm sitting on either an elf or orc weaponmaster type. Good with all things, builds and maintains their own guns. The sort of person who feels there's not only just enough kill for every situation, but there's also just the 'right' sort of kill for any situation.

Bear in mind I haven't run many shadowrun characters so I don't know how easy it is to make things happen yet.

[Wyrd]

Spirits are people too.

Amongst other details, this means that free spirits can be bought as contacts by anyone who can perceive astral space.

Details about specific traditions need to be discussed with me regarding any mage or adept characters created.

Essentially, Hermetic mages process magic through the right side of their brain, seeing it as mathematical and logical in nature, and Shamanic mages process magic through the left side of their brains, seeing it in artistic and symobolic terms. Mystic adepts are always Shamanic in nature.

Without the proper form of initiation, Hermetic mages can only summon elemental spirits and Shamanic mages can only summon nature spirits. Domains are in effect as in 3rd edition, meaning that in order to summon a type of spirit you have to be in a place that the spirit would have some affinity to. Air spirits can be summoned anywhere there is air, though at an increased difficulty if the air is not free flowing. The Shamanic equivalent, spirits of the sky, can only be summoned outside.

Spirits cannot leave their domain unless bound to their summoner or summoned with the right initiate power. This means that a spirit of the sky will not enter a building unless it is via destroying some of the walls. A spirit of fire or water won't go far from the body of fire/water they are called to; the bigger the body, the further away they are willing to go, so an inferno or one of the Great Lakes allows a lot more range than a campfire or small pond.

You will get a reputation for how you treat spirits. If this reputation is bad, you will start receiving negative modifiers on summoning and binding rolls. If it is positive, you will receive bonuses.

Negotiating with a summoned spirit and offering it benefits in exchange for its services can buy you extra services on the binding check.

That is what occurs to me for now. If you have questions, please ask.

[SalmonMax]

I wuv me some Shadowrun.

Thinking perhaps a physadept...infiltration and assassination specialist.

Or maybe just a magic bullet sprayer. Hee.

I know Atomicweasel loves Shadowrun too.

[Atomicweasel]

It's true. I love me some shadowrun. Dibs on the console cowgirl (or possibly cowboy)/disinformation specialist.

Edit: I can post at least once per day, generally speaking.

[Wyrd]

I may award bonus karma for IC chat planning what is going to happen, since that bogs things down far less than doing it in a thread, but only if I am present in chat to witness it.

edit:

Also, a little fudging might be permitted with approval, such as spending slightly over 200 points on attributes. Don't go crazy, but if you want something that doesn't quite fit, don't be afraid to ask. Just don't ask for completely ridiculous stuff either, or I might assign you some negative karma--mostly joking at this point, though there are a few people I've played with who might manage to earn some even this early.

Also, no LL, you can't play a cat. At least, not until SURGE...

[Mary Masters]

I am interested. I will play either a Mage or a Physad. I gotta pick... hard choice really.

[Caninicus]

Interested. I can put out a couple of good posts a week, sometimes once a day. Will be able to post more once the fall semester starts.

I favor magical characters, will refine the concept later. Is using material from Street Magic okay?

[Forge]

I'm gonna officially throw in my interest. Too good to pass up, we are more or less done moving (almost) and our house might sell any day (I'm still in shock) so I should have more time.

I am thinking some kind of Troll (or variant) Mage/Shaman...but I'm still thinking.

[Eingar]

Color me interested.

Elven Black Magician or possibly a Human Houngan: demons or Loa. Still deciding on that.

[SalmonMax]

Crikey. Everyone wants to be a mage or adept!

Okay then, I'll make a street sammy. With cyber! So there! ()

[Eingar]

That'll show us!

*shakes his fist at himself*

[Jeremy]

You know I stated my interest.

To hell with bucking the trend- Bullseye Adept (Thrower of Doom)!

Edit: To be clear, I'd be plenty active.

[LydaLynn]

Originally Posted By: Wyrd

Also, no LL, you can't play a cat. At least, not until SURGE...

I wouldn't want to for Shadowrun. Though I do want to play.

My posting is . . . odd - some days I can post tons - other days I won't be able to get on - but I should be able to be fairly regular and make multiple posts a week.

I do want to play a mage, my concept is . . . interesting. I'll have to talk to you about it to see if you're up for it.

[Quantum Fire]

I've longed to play a SR game, count me interested if there are any spots available

[Wyrd]

Well, I'm sure you guys know what to do here. Pm me with character sheets and I will tell you if they are acceptable or what needs to be changed. Response is high enough that I expect two groups unless people decide to drop out.

I won't be in chat for most of tomorrow, but most other days you can catch me there if you have questions. Might be ready to start sometime next week.

[Vortican]

I am so very interested!! I post about 3 times a week to about once a day. I will be playing something interesting, Im not exactly sure what it will be yet. But I play fun characters, so all good. Probably a mystic adept of some sort.

[The Hospitaler]

Originally Posted By: Tommy (OOC/GM)

I am interested. I will play either a Mage or a Physad. I gotta pick... hard choice really.

Okay, Wyrd, my character will be landing in your inbox soon. Just gotta get gear.

Physad Pilot/Driver with some combat capability. Decent non-frontline design.

[The Hospitaler]

Tabitha "The Ace of Hearts" McGrath

Tabitha is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, UCAS. Born to a well-to-do family, she was not without in life. But what she was is easily bored. In class her teachers didn't like her because she was too distracted with the nature outside her classroom windows, among friends she was always the one to instigate the trouble. She was considered a tomboy by her mother and father, and while admonished for her misdeeds they understood she was simply a free spirit and was prone to such outbursts.

Once she turned 18, she struck out on her own using the trust fund she was given on her 18th birthday. She decided to toss most of it to charity and her love of things fast. She learned how to fly, race cars, even speedboats were fair game to her. This was due to her embedded magical talent, literally allowing her to anticipate changing conditions and adapt quickly.

Her teachers in such things saw she had an unusual knack, and drew the attention of a group of smugglers making the run into the tribal lands north of the UCAS. To her, this was another adventure. After making s few successful runs, they trusted her on making a run to Seattle to drop off a friend who had some hot data from an ARES facility. They knew Tabitha was good for the trip, but was afraid that ARES were about to sic Lone Star on her.

They did.

Over the skies of western Minnesota a dire fight for survival took place. Tabitha put everything she had into her flying and screamed to the one close place she knew she could shake her tails. Denver. She was on fumes as she reached the Denver metroplex. When she reached there, Lone Star based in Denver intercepted her in the air. In the ensuing firefight the package was killed, and Tabitha had to crash her stricken thunderbird in the rockies nearby.

To the world, the criminal ace Tabitha McGrath was dead.

Tabitha was made of sterner stuff.

Limping and nearly dead, she struggled to make it to a Pueblo controlled sector of Denver. She knew of a Smuggler friend who would be able to help her rest for the night, and a fixer who knew of a street doc that could help fix her broken arm.

Her wings clipped, she knew trying to contact her team directly was a bad idea, so through her smuggler friend she directed a message regarding what happened. What she got back was no surprise, clear as crystal, but still a disappointment.

Don't come back. If you do, you're a dead bitch.

Homeless, considered dead, and a bounty on her head if she returned to the Twin Cities area... Couldn't want it any other way.

Click to reveal..

I'm sorry for posting Tabitha's background here, but it was just too good not to share with the rest of the team here.

[Wyrd]

Well, I was going to ask everyone to start a character thread once things had moved that far, so you could have waited until then, but reposting this later isn't that difficult either.

Just as a note: please don't make a character thread until I've ok'ed your character.

[The Hospitaler]

Couldn't help it. Sorry. I can repost it later but I wanted to share.

[Wyrd]

Since I've had to discuss this with three players already, let me make this clear: You cannot take a flaw for bonus points unless that flaw actually affects you.

The primary way this keeps coming up is that mage and adept characters cannot take flaws related to rejecting cyberware and bioware unless you plan on taking them for your character. If you buy a datajack and some other minor cyber, thus giving you a loss of essence to go with the flaw, I will likely allow it, but otherwise, don't try it, please.

[Dave ST]

LOL I love it! Good call Wyrd, I hate when people pull that crap.

[Matt]

I think I had that exact problem every single time I tried to run a tabletop Shadowrun game.

[Wyrd]

A request: I don't mind you editing your existing profile in the pm thread when you make changes to your character sheet. Just, please, TELL ME WHEN YOU DO SO. I only caught an error that had been added to a character because I hadn't gotten around to copying it to my personal records until then, an error that I know wasn't there the first time I read through it and ok'ed it.

I am not accusing anyone of attempting to cheat. Just tell me if you make a change so I can check for mistakes.

[The Hospitaler]

I won't be on until Saturday, and I gotta vamoose in like one minute, so I just wanted you to know, Wyrd that I need to do one adjustment and reduce my Super Platinum Doc Wagon contract to Platinum and with the money get a ID or two to use.

I cannot believe I let that slip and I realized that sunday riding back home with Silv. Derp.

I need a mulligan on this.

[Wyrd]

Ok'ed characters:

SalmonMax CyberSamurai

Dozer/Kisada Parkour PA

Caninicus Shaman with Social focus

Sakurako/Tabitha 'Ace of Hearts' Pilot PA

WhiteRain Magnun Ork armorer

Jeremy Throwing expert PA

Received but not ok'ed yet

AtomicWeasel Decker

Worked on with but not received anything:

Mik

LydaLynn

Expressed interest:

Anatoly

Einherjar

Forge

I would like those whose characters have been approved to go ahead and establish threads for their characters. Anyone else still interested needs to contact me via pm or in this thread. There is room for more. This could wind up being more of an open world setting if the players want to go that way, or more guided by me; I'm open to either path.

I am about to start a simple run that is a test run for those new to Denver so the local Johnsons can get an idea of how useful you are. Some of the established Denver characters will be involved to some extent as well, though not all as part of the group.

edit: In case anyone is not familiar with the format for character threads, title them [sR character]***** with the character's name replacing the *'s.

[Forge]

I didn't quite finish mine today before work, but I should be able to finish tonight after work when I leave at 2am.

If not, first thing tomorrow, I have the day off.

[Vortican]

I also am about done with mine, just getting the fine tune points done and it shall be ready. I vote a 5 for the whole surge encouragement thing as I think it will be kool to happen. Anyhow, on to character making.

[LydaLynn]

Been a busy bit for me - I have out of town visitors for the next couple days and then work will be extreme Tue - and Wed is new product so . . . I might end up a little behind on this one - but I'll get it to you as soon as I can.

[Wyrd]

I wasn't thinking of it being 4th of July weekend when I originally said we'd be starting this week. I understand perfectly that this is a time when many of you will be spending too much time with your flesh and blood friends and family to have time to be on here.

[Krugar Rockbiter]

Boo

[Wyrd]

It is currently June 2061 in game.

[Joani]

Is there still a slot open in this game?

I'd be rebooting Osiris for this - Elven Technomancer - since TMs are not allowed I'd have to make some changes to turn her into a "mundane" Hacker.

[SalmonMax]

Atomicweasel is making a hacker already too...

[Atomicweasel]

Jes...still working out the details with Wyrd.

[Joani]

oh - I didn't know that. Although 2 Hackers could be an advantage but I don't want to take anyone's slot (or whatever).

I'll bow out if AW doesn't want any "competition".

[Atomicweasel]

Well, it's not for me to say what you can and can't play Joani.

But, you should know that my decker is also an elf. So, the concepts strike me as being pretty similar. That said, it's Wyrd's game, and you're a fine player. Do as you will, compa.

[Wyrd]

I'm really pretty flexible about allowing players into this game. Just try not to mysteriously disappear/stop posting without at least sending me something telling me why or that you won't be around.

I have enough players that likely runs will be split between two groups a fair portion of the time, so having a hacker for each is a good thing, and no matter how much the basic concepts may sound alike, it's the details that make the character.

[Jeremy]

As you may notice, I have made my return, sorry for the absence. I didn't plan for it any more than you did.

So is Jeremy still out of the Milk Run?