Looks like I'm GMing Shadowrun... (Shadowrun 4e)

[Kaun]

The Shaman wants to start with a basic a cybernetic arm. Its for roleplaying purposes - no real in game effect, at least not for awhile. I notice that limb replacements cost 1 Essence. The book says that when your Essence lowers down a point (or fraction thereof), you lose a Magic Point and the limit of your total Magic Points possible is also reduced by one. Okay, sure, that is simple and makes perfect sense.

But she's starting with the cybernetic arm, not obtaining it later on. So when she's making her character, and buys her magic points, is it assumed that she's already lost the Essence, or will the Essence penalty be placed afterwards?

In short, if she gets 3 Magic Points and a cybernetic arm when she builds her character, will she actually start the game with 3 or 2 Magic Points? :smallconfused:

Personally, I think that while the Essence penalty is in place, and it lowers her Magic limit, it shouldn't cost her the Magic Point(s) she just bought. Who's to say she didn't already lose the magic points in her backstory, and gain them back over time before the game starts, or something? But I'd just like to make sure I'm not bending the rules or anything...


I think she drops 1 off her current and maximum by the rules. I doubt the chr had the cyberware before she had the magical aptitude and in shadowrun the two really don't mix. The only reason's mages take cyberware in shadowrun is if there dumb, have had to many body parts blown of them to survive with out it or for RP reasons. If she is doing it for RP reasons she is just going to have to accept that she is gimping her self for the sake of having a different and interesting chr, which is in no way a bad thing but you cant have your cake and eat it to.

[wadledo]

I'd rule that the max magic she can get drops down by one, seeing as how the players are new, and that the next increase in her magic attribute is treated as if it were one higher.

[Lycan 01]

The backstory is that her character was in a car accident when he was younger, and he lost his arm. He also has a little metal plating around his eye, but I dunno how much that'd cost her in Essence. I'd hate her to lose another magic point because a little piece of metal costs her character .10 Essence or something... :smallfrown:

For a clear as day idea of what she wants, just look at a picture of Jet from Cowboy Bebop. That's exactly how she'll look, cybernetics wise.


I'll ask her if he gained his powers before or after the accident, as well as when he learned his powers. If he's had them since birth, then it'd make sense for him to lose a magic point. If he only started developing the powers over the last few years, it'd make sense for him not to lose the magic point, since he wouldn't have had much to lose at the time, anyway, since he was quickly learning everything...

[kjones]

Alrighty, so its like a souped up version of BlueTooth. Thanks. :smallbiggrin:


But what about my question about Auras? :smallconfused:

From p. 182: "...everything in physical space is reflected on the astral, albeit without detail." So I'd interpret that to mean that a fence shows up as a fence in astral space, so you can't see through it (but of course you can walk through it).


Oh, here's another one.

The Shaman wants to start with a basic a cybernetic arm. Its for roleplaying purposes - no real in game effect, at least not for awhile. I notice that limb replacements cost 1 Essence. The book says that when your Essence lowers down a point (or fraction thereof), you lose a Magic Point and the limit of your total Magic Points possible is also reduced by one. Okay, sure, that is simple and makes perfect sense.

But she's starting with the cybernetic arm, not obtaining it later on. So when she's making her character, and buys her magic points, is it assumed that she's already lost the Essence, or will the Essence penalty be placed afterwards?

In short, if she gets 3 Magic Points and a cybernetic arm when she builds her character, will she actually start the game with 3 or 2 Magic Points? :smallconfused:

Personally, I think that while the Essence penalty is in place, and it lowers her Magic limit, it shouldn't cost her the Magic Point(s) she just bought. Who's to say she didn't already lose the magic points in her backstory, and gain them back over time before the game starts, or something? But I'd just like to make sure I'm not bending the rules or anything...

Don't try to make sense of Essence, since it doesn't make sense. (Why would lacing your bones with titanium take away more essence than lacing them with aluminum?) It's a game balancing factor, first and foremost. So it should take off from her Magic score, even if she got the arm before she realized her talent.

However, you should also note that a spellcaster wants to have their Magic score pumped as high as possible, since lots of things key off of it. I'd go with 5, but 6 would not be out of the question.

[KitsuneKionchi]

Protip: you need more d6s. Average 16 per player.

Don't allow spirit binding from street magic. Really stupid mechanic (add the spirit's physical stats to your own; you don't control your character, you control the spirit controlling your character. How is that a flaw?)

[Kaun]

From p. 182: "...everything in physical space is reflected on the astral, albeit without detail." So I'd interpret that to mean that a fence shows up as a fence in astral space, so you can't see through it (but of course you can walk through it).

Don't forget tho that you can't walk through the Astral fence unless your Astral Projecting. Trying to walk through that wall while you are just using Astral Perception could be embarrassing and painfull.

[Lycan 01]

Hm... I'll talk to her about it tommorrow when we make her character, and I'll see what we can work out.


So, since Astral Vision and checking the Matrix Nodes can't let you actually see where people are, there's no real way for them to "scope out" and area and find out where all the guards are or anything, without visiual confirmation? Alrighty then... Guess that'll make their job a bit harder. :smallwink:

[Kaun]

Hm... I'll talk to her about it tommorrow when we make her character, and I'll see what we can work out.


So, since Astral Vision and checking the Matrix Nodes can't let you actually see where people are, there's no real way for them to "scope out" and area and find out where all the guards are or anything, without visiual confirmation? Alrighty then... Guess that'll make their job a bit harder. :smallwink:

Astral Projection can allow you to do that or hacking into there network and using there internal security camera system. Or if they don't have security cameras everywhere you can hack there security system and keep an eye on there electronic door security, that will at least let you know when and possibly who is entering what areas when.

Also if you have cash to spend you can get you hands on some spy drones to get cameras into places where there arn't any.

Hell if its night time work sitting in an adjacent building with a set of binoculars can pick up any movement through your standard tinted office glass, so in an open plan office building you can get a decent view as long as the lights are on.

There lift services will all so be monitored with camera and speaker/receiver by third party emergency/security/maintenance company so if you can hack into that you can tell when people are moving up or down levels via it.


i can keep going if you like?

[kjones]

Hm... I'll talk to her about it tommorrow when we make her character, and I'll see what we can work out.


So, since Astral Vision and checking the Matrix Nodes can't let you actually see where people are, there's no real way for them to "scope out" and area and find out where all the guards are or anything, without visiual confirmation? Alrighty then... Guess that'll make their job a bit harder. :smallwink:

Astral Projection is what you want for this, as already mentioned. While projecting, you're invisible - if you fly through someone's aura, they can feel it, maybe - gives you that "walking over your grave" feeling, if you're trained to recognize it you will. As for hacking, most guards will probably have some sort of cyberware. Hypothetically, you could suss out all those nodes and map them to people. In practice that would be tricky.

[Kaun]

Basically when your trying to work out how much security will be in a building here is a little sum that will help in most situations.

Money spent on security = 10% of the Value of content that can be stolen + lost income due to theft.

There are exceptions to this rule:

Peoples personal residence's will either be much lower or much higher then this depending on the contents value and the individuals level of paranoia.

Airports and Military structures will generally have a much higher amount then the figure generated by above sum.

Places where legal companies are conducting illegal business will also spend much more on security. Mainly because nothing can be more damaging to a company then being caught doing something your not meant to.

[Crowbar]

So... Anybody got any funny or cool Shadowrun stories to share?

Why, yes. Yes I do. One of my players tried to score a non-lethal shot with an Ares Predator IV on some wimpy corp guy in one of our early sessions.

Me: "Yeah, you hit him. You pretty much blew off his leg. He dies."
Player: "Oh, crap! Can we rewind that?"
Me: "...You can't un-shoot him!"

[Zephraim]

Yeah, it's bothersome when mages lose their limbs (or worse, become blind), they have to either learn to live with it or cripple their magic skills (unless there is some essence-loss free regen treatment that I don't know about).

Not sure how balanced it would be, but a possible houserule could be that you don't lose magic/resonance until your essence goes beneath 5, and then again beneath 3 and 1. That way chrome still impairs your casting but not as badly, and you can afford a cyberlimb or some minor utility-ware without gimping yourself.

[Kaun]

I think its fine the way it is honestly, the last thing it needs is cybered up uber mages running around.

Shadowrun is all about calculating your risks and trying to stack the ods.

Loosing a limb can be just as bad for a street Sam. If your a fully Chromed Sam the idea of loosing a limb and having to have an artificial replacement can mean skating way to close to the old 0 essence.

[Swordguy]

The backstory is that her character was in a car accident when he was younger, and he lost his arm. He also has a little metal plating around his eye, but I dunno how much that'd cost her in Essence. I'd hate her to lose another magic point because a little piece of metal costs her character .10 Essence or something... :smallfrown:

For a clear as day idea of what she wants, just look at a picture of Jet from Cowboy Bebop. That's exactly how she'll look, cybernetics wise.


I'll ask her if he gained his powers before or after the accident, as well as when he learned his powers. If he's had them since birth, then it'd make sense for him to lose a magic point. If he only started developing the powers over the last few years, it'd make sense for him not to lose the magic point, since he wouldn't have had much to lose at the time, anyway, since he was quickly learning everything...

If I could chime in...

I think this is one of the best reasons to have a human GM, rather than an essentially binary computer. Is the cyberarm stronger than normal? Does it have any extra "stuff" built into it? If the mage just has a cybered arm that is completely normal for all mechanical purposes, but just wants a cyberarm for RPs sake, then give her the arm at no Essence cost. BUT...make crystal clear that if she adds anything to the arm (cyberweapons, increased strength, whatever), then it'll cost her the full Essence cost of the arm, with the attendant magic loss and all.

And if, for some reason, she ends up losing an arm due to Deadly damage or some other reason, make sure it's the OTHER arm. You're the GM - you can do that.

Now, of course, if she wants a mage with a cyberarm with a radio, datajack, microcomputer, rebreather, and Panther Assault Cannon built into it or something, then hit her with the Essence loss, obviously. And possibly a mortar round for rampant munchkinry. :smallamused:

[Kaun]

If I could chime in...

I think this is one of the best reasons to have a human GM, rather than an essentially binary computer. Is the cyberarm stronger than normal? Does it have any extra "stuff" built into it? If the mage just has a cybered arm that is completely normal for all mechanical purposes, but just wants a cyberarm for RPs sake, then give her the arm at no Essence cost. BUT...make crystal clear that if she adds anything to the arm (cyberweapons, increased strength, whatever), then it'll cost her the full Essence cost of the arm, with the attendant magic loss and all.

And if, for some reason, she ends up losing an arm due to Deadly damage or some other reason, make sure it's the OTHER arm. You're the GM - you can do that.

Now, of course, if she wants a mage with a cyberarm with a radio, datajack, microcomputer, rebreather, and Panther Assault Cannon built into it or something, then hit her with the Essence loss, obviously. And possibly a mortar round for rampant munchkinry. :smallamused:

Mainly because a good 15 -20% of her body is no longer human.

I mean sure if the GM wants to let it slide why the hell not but then why bother asking the question?

I mean its not really much different from a guy who wants to play a one eyed gunfighter but doesn't want to take the hit to his pistol skill rolls.
His eye sight is an important part of his vocation just like a mages body is to there spell casting.

[kjones]

I can see both sides here - if there's no mechanical difference and the character just wants a robot arm because it's cool, then you're well within your rights as a GM to say that it doesn't effect anything. However, as I understand magic in Shadowrun, there should be an essence loss, regardless of whether or not the arm gives you any "powers". Then again, Essence is really a game balancing concern...

It's your call as a GM. (But don't let the fact that she's your girlfriend influence you unduly... :smallbiggrin:)

[comicshorse]

Posted by Zephraim

Yeah, it's bothersome when mages lose their limbs (or worse, become blind), they have to either learn to live with it or cripple their magic skills (unless there is some essence-loss free regen treatment that I don't know about).

I believe if the Mage has the limb replaced by a biological arm cloned from their own DNA then there is NO essence cost. But this is expensivre

[Tehnar]

Another weekend, another shadowrun adventure. Ill keep the play report in spoilers, as it is a module so don't want to give any more stuff away.


The last time we left off, our runners were stuck in a bar, but having secured their objective, a optical data disk. The bad news was that one exit was covered by a hostile sniper, and the other one by a angry gangers and a troll bartender with a Ares Alpha. Luckily for us, the gangers decided that we were on their side and decided to charge the sniper.

Gaining a distraction in the form of cannon fodder charging a sniper nest we decide to get the hell out. Our hacker detects some wireless signals outside and gets to cracking. Peeking outside the window we see a bunch of gangers cut down by a rain of bullets, and a quick scouting trip by me, reveals the source to be a some sort of mini tank drone with two mounted miniguns (a Steel Lynx).

A few seconds later Mark is trying to blend in with the concrete floor behind the bar, Mallus is behind the door, while on the wireless a battle of hacker vs rigger is going on. Alex (the hacker) informs Mallus that she managed to crash the drone's OS just as the drone makes it to the front of the dive, guns trained on it. Mallus charges out of the dive, runs up to the drone, and punches it so hard the turret is driven into the drones body, destroying it.

The rest is mostly a mop up action, as while we were hiding in the bar, the sniper was killed by the gangers, while the drone finished them off. The only one left alive besides us is a dwarf, screaming, in some sort of neural shock. That was the rigger, and Alex got him good in the Matrix battle. We gather all the equipment from the corpses, manage to salvage the vindicator miniguns from the drone, and find the riggers heavily customized van nearby. Wiping the loot clean of any RFID tags, and Alex takes care of the comlinks we drive off to a quiet location in the barrens to interrogate the dwarf rigger.

The dwarf reveals he was hired help for a corp team from Shangri La, hired by Tarkasian, some big shot at the corp. We decide to drop off the dwarf at a hospital, seeing as he was just doing a job.

Time to see what was on the disk. Made by JetBlack, some sort of a rock star over 20 years ago. After a first tough layer of encryption, Alex manages to allow us to listen to some music. There is more encryption on the disk, one that is beyond her capabilities. Seems a never published recording was in our hands, and no wonder the music corp wants it. However Mark feels that there is something more there (paranoia attack), and we decided to see who can help decrypt this thing before we hand it over to Mr. J.

So begins our hunt, digging through the past. We find the recording studio where a janitors remembers the name of a tech that worked there. Finding the tech, who turned out to be a BTL dealer/junky, we pick up some BTL's from the Triads in exchange for information where one of the band members live. Making it over there, we find the place very spooky, and very empty except for lots of tech there. The band member, Marlie, speaks with us over a hologram, confirms that the disk was made by them, and that Jet took it with him and never had it published. After playing the music to her (and her listening in a trance), and some questions later we figure out she is hiding something from us. Mark bluffs her that she was their last chance at figuring this thing out,and that this disk wasn't worth getting shot by tanks, and that we will destroy it. 9 hits on the con+cha roll, she quickly agrees she will make some calls, and see if she can get us hooked up.

We barely make it back to the van when my commlink rings. The person on the other side is very interested in the data disk, offering us a substantial sum for it. Furthermore he says he will take care of our Mr. J, so our reputation will remain untarnished. We decided to end it here as not all of the team was present, so we will make that decision next time.


In the midst of all that, we were awarded some karma (and all the stuff we gathered from the battle, which is enough to outfit a small platoon). I was wondering how to use the karma. The options are really down to learning a new skill with the choice of:

- hardware (didn't realize that this is so important for B&E at character creation)
- electronics skill group (we got a bunch of rank 5 programs from the battle, and our hacker is on and off, so I thought it might be nice to have a backup when dealing with computer stuff, plus it includes hardware)
- longarms (currently Mark is using pistols, this will unlock him sniper rifles and shotguns, hopefully bringing more firepower to the team)
- throwing (for grenades and flashbangs)

Any other suggestions? Mark is mostly a face/stealth type.

[Lycan 01]

Alrighty, guys, we managed to work out an agreement.

My GF's character will have a cybernetic prosthetic arm, as well as metal plating around his cheek and eye socket due to bone loss. He'll also have a cybernetic eye, but its not wired in or even activated. In short, its a glorified glass eye.

We decided that he'll lose 1 Essence Point, and the 1 Magic Point associated with it. So now she'll have to buy an extra Magic Point to break even during character creation...

Now, I realize that a Cybernetic Arm and Eye combined are about 1.25 Essence cost. But I figured since the arm has no upgrades or anything that would result in more wiring and intrusive control technology, the metal plating is grafted onto an area that was missing bone and flesh anyway, and the cybernetic eye is just a placeholder and isn't wired in, the charcter shouldn't lose the full essence cost normally associated with such cyberware.

Now, I did inform her that:
-once she turns on the eye or upgrades the arm, she'll lose Essence and Magic
-she'll suffer penalties for being blind in one eye

She was okay with both of those things. I gotta admit, she's a pretty good roleplayer if she's willing to take penalties for the sake of character depth...


What are the penalties for being blind in one eye, btw? :smallconfused: I figured I'd just subtract 1 dice from certain rolls...



Another weekend, another shadowrun adventure. Ill keep the play report in spoilers, as it is a module so don't want to give any more stuff away.

-snip

In the midst of all that, we were awarded some karma (and all the stuff we gathered from the battle, which is enough to outfit a small platoon). I was wondering how to use the karma. The options are really down to learning a new skill with the choice of:

- hardware (didn't realize that this is so important for B&E at character creation)
- electronics skill group (we got a bunch of rank 5 programs from the battle, and our hacker is on and off, so I thought it might be nice to have a backup when dealing with computer stuff, plus it includes hardware)
- longarms (currently Mark is using pistols, this will unlock him sniper rifles and shotguns, hopefully bringing more firepower to the team)
- throwing (for grenades and flashbangs)

Any other suggestions? Mark is mostly a face/stealth type.


I'd say some hacking and/or hardware skills might be handy. Its always good to have a fall-back guy in case the main role-filler on the team can't show up or his character eats it. Maybe you should talk with the other characters and see who should get more hacking and who should get more firepower?

[TheCountAlucard]

Just got through with a fun session; we did a HALO drop into a Shiawase base to steal a handheld fusion device to power the space laser. Beforehand, I beefed up my chameleon suit with thermal damping and other goodies. I also got one for Darius.

Surprisingly, we couldn't find any rules for parachuting anywhere; no examples of how many successes one needs, nothing. All we could find was the Skills page that mentioned it once, and that wasn't very helpful. :smallannoyed:

Anyway, a side plot involved my character investigating into how the group's shadowruns keep turning into movies. We haven't found out much yet, but next week might be eventful...

So, we landed on their island; Darius immediately started hacking. He intercepted communications fairly quickly, and sent the security forces off chasing an imaginary emergency. We cut our way through a fence, drop a troll guard (Our nonlethal ammo was pretty helpful there), and made our way inside. The GM didn't even ask for any rolls for us for the rest of it, until we had the fusion MacGuffin in hand... at which point a couple of guards came into the building and noticed all the unconcious scientists. We managed to drop them fairly easily and get out with the device to show to Brutus, as well as six datachips worth of research data, which he was fairly happy about.

[Slade]

Don't worry Lycan, you can inform the character about how to over come thins problem.

#1: She needs to lose the cyber. Think of it as a crutch. Its just getting her by for now.

#2: Then she needs to rack up a LOT of nuyen. Probably why she is a shadowrunner, because mommy and daddy didn't have medical coverage for clonal replacements. And they just stuck her with cheap cyberware (which is normal for this sort of thing. OOPS! She's an Awakened! Too late!).

#4: Then, she needs to find a gene therapy center and...

#5: Create Clonal Replacements for the missing bits. An arm and eye are small time, this will not take long. Gene tech centers can do this. Also, the metal bits replacing her skull is probably be just transplanted rib material, held in place with some kind of medical "glue". She can spare a rib.

#6: Install all the missing bits. This is an out patient surgery. No big deal.

#7: Enjoy a month of rehab. However, while the rehab is going on, she can undergo revitalization gene therapy, which restores lost Essence, regardless of cause (Cyber, Vamps, missing limbs, etc...). This little slice of medical tech will cost *ahem* 175,000 nuyen and month of time (which can be used for the rehabilitation treatments too, killing two problems with one stone. The rehab is so she can learn to see and use her new arm, and develop the muscle memory needed to use it correctly.) However, when one month is over with, she will have, (1) two real arms, (2) two real eyes, (3) and an Essence score of 6 . Now, she can unlock her "true" potential (with enough Karma, anyway). By the time she is able to pull this off, she should have enough banked up.

Whew! Well, at least the character's next 5 years of game time has been planned out... makes it easy for RP.

So about 225,000 nuyen can probably take care of everything she needs to restore her essence to 6. Also, the revitalization therapy is not being done by doc wagon, so she (and the team) will have to do some serious ass kissing and palm greasing to get a high tech medical facility (read: owned by a mega corp) to do this. But that is another run!

By, the way, look into something called "Delta Clinics". If you can con your way into one of those, they can get it done. And then some.

[Slade]

Posted by Zephraim


I believe if the Mage has the limb replaced by a biological arm cloned from their own DNA then there is NO essence cost. But this is expensive

See above for the long winded answer. And yes it is expensive AND hard to come by.

[kjones]

Just got through with a fun session; we did a HALO drop into a Shiawase base to steal a handheld fusion device to power the space laser. Beforehand, I beefed up my chameleon suit with thermal damping and other goodies. I also got one for Darius.

Surprisingly, we couldn't find any rules for parachuting anywhere; no examples of how many successes one needs, nothing. All we could find was the Skills page that mentioned it once, and that wasn't very helpful. :smallannoyed:

Anyway, a side plot involved my character investigating into how the group's shadowruns keep turning into movies. We haven't found out much yet, but next week might be eventful...

So, we landed on their island; Darius immediately started hacking. He intercepted communications fairly quickly, and sent the security forces off chasing an imaginary emergency. We cut our way through a fence, drop a troll guard (Our nonlethal ammo was pretty helpful there), and made our way inside. The GM didn't even ask for any rolls for us for the rest of it, until we had the fusion MacGuffin in hand... at which point a couple of guards came into the building and noticed all the unconcious scientists. We managed to drop them fairly easily and get out with the device to show to Brutus, as well as six datachips worth of research data, which he was fairly happy about.

Your hijinks are going to be making you some serious enemies. Watch your back.

[comicshorse]

Posted by Slade

4: Then, she needs to find a gene therapy center and...

#5: Create Clonal Replacements for the missing bits. An arm and eye are small time, this will not take long. Gene tech centers can do this. Also, the metal bits replacing her skull is probably be just transplanted rib material, held in place with some kind of medical "glue". She can spare a rib.

#6: Install all the missing bits. This is an out patient surgery. No big deal.

#7: Enjoy a month of rehab. However, while the rehab is going on, she can undergo revitalization gene therapy, which restores lost Essence, regardless of cause (Cyber, Vamps, missing limbs, etc...). This little slice of medical tech will cost *ahem* 175,000 nuyen and month of time (which can be used for the rehabilitation treatments too, killing two problems with one stone. The rehab is so she can learn to see and use her new arm, and develop the muscle memory needed to use it correctly.) However, when one month is over with, she will have, (1) two real arms, (2) two real eyes, (3) and an Essence score of 6 . Now, she can unlock her "true" potential (with enough Karma, anyway). By the time she is able to pull this off, she should have enough banked up.

Whew! Well, at least the character's next 5 years of game time has been planned out... makes it easy for RP.

Where are the rules for this sort of Stuff in 4th Ed. I can't find them for the life of me

[Lycan 01]

@ Alucard: Lucky ya'll. :smalltongue: How much more do ya'll need to finish the laser? And are ya'll getting royalties or anything from the movies? :smallbiggrin:

@ Slade: Thanks! That's all VERY helpful. I'm sure she'll love all that for roleplaying potential...

@ comicshorse: I'm assuming its from a supplement book or something... :smallconfused:

[Tehnar]

Its from augmentation, from the genetics chapter.

[comicshorse]

Thanks:smallsmile:

[Slade]

Its from augmentation, from the genetics chapter.

Beat me to it.

Also, try not to lost in the genetics chapter, Shadowrun books tend to get real wordy on the tech side of things. Unwired is REALLY bad about that.

[TheCountAlucard]

How much more do ya'll need to finish the laser?Nothing, if we can infiltrate the satellite launch Ares is doing in a month.


And are ya'll getting royalties or anything from the movies?No; see, everybody thinks that the writers simply came up with these stories, except that the events in them seem oddly-familiar to our group... since it's just a tad too close for comfort, we need to find out who knows the details of our missions well enough to write a movie about it, and make sure that he doesn't intend on arranging some sort of "explosive finale."


Your hijinks are going to be making you some serious enemies.Yes, yes they are.


Watch your back.Started considering putting a pair of eyes there. :smalltongue:

...or at least some echolocation bioware.

[Slade]

BUMPing, just for prosperity sake.

[kjones]

BUMPing, just for prosperity sake.

Bumping for it's own sake is against forum rules, IIRC - and it's kind of unclassy in general.

So I'll bump by asking a legit question. In the game I ran recently, two of the characters had smartlinked guns, and used them to fire around corners - think blindfiring but without the blindness, since you can see through the smartlink. This is mentioned as something you can do with a smartgun in their description, but it seems kind of silly to me that there aren't any penalties listed for doing so. I imposed a -2 penalty due to the awkwardness of the stance (because, seriously, think about it) but I still feel like this maneuver is kind of ludicrous - I don't like the idea of all firefights reduced to people's hands sticking out from around cover. Is this legit?

[Swordguy]

Bumping for it's own sake is against forum rules, IIRC - and it's kind of unclassy in general.

So I'll bump by asking a legit question. In the game I ran recently, two of the characters had smartlinked guns, and used them to fire around corners - think blindfiring but without the blindness, since you can see through the smartlink. This is mentioned as something you can do with a smartgun in their description, but it seems kind of silly to me that there aren't any penalties listed for doing so. I imposed a -2 penalty due to the awkwardness of the stance (because, seriously, think about it) but I still feel like this maneuver is kind of ludicrous - I don't like the idea of all firefights reduced to people's hands sticking out from around cover. Is this legit?

Best way I've found to control that is to point out to players the massively reduced field of view you get when looking through a camera lens. Free action to stick the firearm around the corner, Simple Action to acquire a target, Simple Action to fire (with doubled recoil penalties due to the poor firing position), and a Simple Action to bring recover the weapon and bring it back onto a new target. You'll note that's more than you can do in a single Combat Pass, so a PC (or NPC) is stuck with his arm hanging out there for a turn - and anybody making a called shot at the arm is going to get an easier hit, since the PC can't really defend against the attack (so no using Reaction as a defense).

If that doesn't dissuade players, point out that the alternative is showers of grenades from enemies - and since you're "looking" through your camera lens and not around you (the image link replaces your normal field of vision), the negative perception modifiers to know when the grenades land next to you are going be be massive...and since they don't know the grenade is there, they won't get a Reaction defense against it either...

Most players, when faced with that logic, won't abuse the "firing around corners" thing too much.

[Tehnar]

I'm new to Shadowrun, but doesn't the game already take into account for that? Having good cover imposes a -2 penalty to attack dice pool, and gives you a +4 dice pool to defense. As a GM I would impose a further penalty to attack because of the weird way the character is holding a gun, depending on what type of fire arm it is, or just like Swordguy said impose double recoil penalties.

+4 dice pool to defense is nice, but most of the time won't keep you from getting hit. Then the GM could get nasty and make you make rolls to keep the use of your arm, drop the weapon, etc.

[Lost Demiurge]

Bumping for it's own sake is against forum rules, IIRC - and it's kind of unclassy in general.

So I'll bump by asking a legit question. In the game I ran recently, two of the characters had smartlinked guns, and used them to fire around corners - think blindfiring but without the blindness, since you can see through the smartlink. This is mentioned as something you can do with a smartgun in their description, but it seems kind of silly to me that there aren't any penalties listed for doing so. I imposed a -2 penalty due to the awkwardness of the stance (because, seriously, think about it) but I still feel like this maneuver is kind of ludicrous - I don't like the idea of all firefights reduced to people's hands sticking out from around cover. Is this legit?

Well, remember that modern slugs at close range can go through soft cover, or even hard cover depending on what materials the corner's made of.

Crouching behind cars might slow down a slug, but anything heavier than a light pistol has a chance of punching through part of the car and nailing the person behind it.

Mechanically, you're better off giving bonus defense dice to folks who are behind cover, like the rules say. They're still sticking their hands out, they're still standing in such a way that their assailants can figure out roughly where their body profile might be.

If it really annoys you, then remember that they're putting their hands at pretty severe risk. First time one of them takes severe physical damage from a high-calibre rifle or automatic weapon while doing this little dance, blow his/her hand off.

[kjones]

Best way I've found to control that is to point out to players the massively reduced field of view you get when looking through a camera lens. Free action to stick the firearm around the corner, Simple Action to acquire a target, Simple Action to fire (with doubled recoil penalties due to the poor firing position), and a Simple Action to bring recover the weapon and bring it back onto a new target. You'll note that's more than you can do in a single Combat Pass, so a PC (or NPC) is stuck with his arm hanging out there for a turn - and anybody making a called shot at the arm is going to get an easier hit, since the PC can't really defend against the attack (so no using Reaction as a defense).

If that doesn't dissuade players, point out that the alternative is showers of grenades from enemies - and since you're "looking" through your camera lens and not around you (the image link replaces your normal field of vision), the negative perception modifiers to know when the grenades land next to you are going be be massive...and since they don't know the grenade is there, they won't get a Reaction defense against it either...

Most players, when faced with that logic, won't abuse the "firing around corners" thing too much.

It's not normally a Simple action to acquire a target, is it? Is that just because you're looking through a camera?

I don't think the increased recoil penalties would have made a difference in this case - there's no recoil for firing a single shot with a semiautomatic, which was what happened in this case. (And my players tricked out their guns with twelve kinds of recoil compensation, so it wouldn't have mattered anyway.)

And I'm not sure how I can justify not giving them Reaction to defense - after all, they're looking at the person, so they should be able to see them shooting at them and react. However, it would make sense to not give them Reaction to defense if anyone else shoots at them...

Finally, while it's true that you couldn't stick your arm out, fire, and pull it back in one round, my players really, really like Wired Reflexes, so they were acting three times as often as the other guys.

Let me be specific as to what was happening - the group was wrapping up their meeting with Mr. Johnson in the back room of a club when a couple of Halloweeners busted in and started causing trouble. One of the gangers hacked into the club's node and filled it with gruesome horror AROs, (it was Halloween in-game) while the others started tossing around Molotovs. The crowd booked it through the fire door to the back, but the group was more or less trapped - so the street sam cracked the door and did the aforementioned pistol trick. It didn't work terribly well, since in addition to the -2 penalty I imposed, he was firing at a guy behind cover, at medium/long range, through smoke (from the molotovs), etc.

Grenades are a good idea, of course - one of them nearly hit with a Molotov, but the shaman summoned an earth elemental to extinguish it (which I thought was pretty clever). Soft cover is also a good idea - I decided that the door was heavy due to soundproofing but probably should have decided otherwise. (At one point they were basically pulling some Scooby-Doo bull**** with people leaning around the door.)

I guess I'm kind of sick of my players always pulling out combat badasses when it comes to Shadowrun. It's mostly my own fault, since I should stop providing them with challenges that can be resolved by shooting things... but you can do a lot by shooting things. And having extra IPs is... really good. And it's also kind of annoying because you've got the guys with them who act three times a round, and then everyone else, which means that they're twiddling their thumbs two-thirds of the time. I'm seriously considering banning Wired Reflexes / Synaptic Boosters / etc., or at least limiting them to +1 IP.

[Swordguy]

It's not normally a Simple action to acquire a target, is it? Is that just because you're looking through a camera?
...

it would make sense to not give them Reaction to defense if anyone else shoots at them...


Correct.

And that's what I meant. Anyone shooting at them from outside the camera's field of view would essentially be a "surprise attack".





Finally, while it's true that you couldn't stick your arm out, fire, and pull it back in one round, my players really, really like Wired Reflexes, so they were acting three times as often as the other guys.
...
And having extra IPs is... really good. And it's also kind of annoying because you've got the guys with them who act three times a round, and then everyone else, which means that they're twiddling their thumbs two-thirds of the time. I'm seriously considering banning Wired Reflexes / Synaptic Boosters / etc., or at least limiting them to +1 IP.

Ah yes...the old "initiative issue". Possibly the most difficult-to-deal-with problem in Shadowrun. In any high-lethality system, you run into "the quick and the dead" problem, where the ability to react faster and/or take extra actions is a game-breaker. There's really only two good ways around this, that work to varying degrees.

1) Ban Initiative Boosters wholesale, or to a limited degree. This gets iffy results. If you ban Wired 3, for example, nobody'll care much because so few people can afford to get it anyway. Ban then altogether and you can run into player revolts, as well as accidentally missing ways that non-Street Sam archetypes can gain bonus init. What happens when you've banned Wired 2 and up and the Mage gets enough successes on a Reflex enhancement spell that gives him the equivalent to Wired 3...and puts it in a spell lock? Not very fair, is it? Generally speaking, if you're going to ban Init Boosters, just ban it to where nobody can gain more than +1 extra Pass from Gear, Spells, or Abilities.

2) Don't ban stuff, but play enemies deadlier. This is my preferred method. First, remember that NPCs have Edge. Edge can be used to go first, or buy extra init passes. Use it. It's perfectly thematic - those NPCs need all the luck they can get once they realize what they're up against. Second, let your NPCs set up situations where initiative doesn't matter so much - ambushes and whatnot. Yeah, so they may get wiped out once the PCs get a chance to go...but the PCs have to survive that initial fusilade first, and not getting Reaction defense makes that unlikely. Third, once the runners have made themselves enough of a pain in the pocketbook to a given corp, the corp really ought to hire people to chase the PCs down and give them a stern talking to with blunt instruments. Those people wouldn't get hired to go after the PCs if they weren't at LEAST as heavily Wired, so now the PCs are facing people as badass as they are as opposed to beating up on Joe Blart, Renraku Archology Mall Cop, all the time.


Finally, remember that the runners are supposed to be badass. It's perfectly fine - and even thematic - for them to absolutely wipe the floor with basic rent-a-cops and go-gangers (assuming they didn't get ambushed by them - even a ganger with a Light Pistol can do a LOT of damage when you don't get an active defense). Also remember that those low-grade mooks tend to have things like radios, by which they can call for help from SWAT Teams and Red Samurai, all of whom are equally as badass as the runners, if not more so. If your players are abusing their power, sooner or later somebody will call in the big guns, and they'll learn exactly where they are on the power scale, Wired Reflexes or no.

(As a "technical" GMing note, it does suck for 1-2 guys to have 3 IPs, and 1-2 guys to have 1. It's not unreasonable to talk to PCs during character creation and tell them that you'd like everybody to be able to generate X number of IPs, no more, no less. I've found 2 IPs per Turn is the "best" number for gameplay. That way, even if somebody is only generating 1 IP, it's not so ridiculously bad for them to have to wait out a bit.)

[Slade]

Actually, firing around corners (a.k.a. the Smartlink trick) is dandy, until you factor in recoil.

Generally, when shooting around corners are done for 1: suppression fire, or 2: to have cover. However, one armed shooting leads to all kinds of recoil problems, (most firearms today are meant to be used with 2 hands, not 1, despite what anime and John Woo films might show) so I would slap serious recoil problems on the gun bunny that wants to pull that.

If the person is shooting around a corner and only fires one shot, fine. If he wants to BF or FA around a corner, double those recoil penalties!

And if they want to pull that often, start to flush them with grenades (though be careful with that, you don't want a few grenades and the "chunky salsa effect" to wipe out a team, now do you?).

And remember, Lone Star and Corp-sec goons can pull the smart link trick to. And they have no problems using grenades. Maybe stun, so they don't explode some important stuff, which still work.

[Slade]

2) Don't ban stuff, but play enemies deadlier. This is my preferred method. First, remember that NPCs have Edge.

Actually, only elites and Shadowrunners have edge. Doesn't make sense for the corp accountant with 0 combat skills to have edge.
And by elites I mean Corp Security on the order of Fire watch, Knight Errant, Lone Star SWAT and the like. The same goes for Corp Execs and what not. Think of Edge as a boss stat.

Also, I like Swordguy's idea of making bad guys smart.

[Slade]

It's not normally a Simple action to acquire a target, is it? Is that just because you're looking through a camera?

I guess I'm kind of sick of my players always pulling out combat badasses when it comes to Shadowrun.

No, this is normal. It sounds as if they are fighting gangers and what not. And do come up with challenges that require more than pointing a gun at it. Why not have Doc Wagon show up? They are on par with Shadowrunners. Or better yet get that file inside the mega-corp... the one guarded by Fire watch? Yea that one.

[kjones]

No, this is normal. It sounds as if they are fighting gangers and what not. And do come up with challenges that require more than pointing a gun at it. Why not have Doc Wagon show up? They are on par with Shadowrunners. Or better yet get that file inside the mega-corp... the one guarded by Fire watch? Yea that one.

I'm OK with them mopping the floor with gangers, rent-a-cops, etc. The guys they took down were a little above that, I think, and that's what I was frustrated with. I didn't want them to get killed - but I was hoping to at least rattle them a little. Instead, they escaped without a scratch.

Also, with regards to grenades - in theory, it's a great idea; in practice, throwing grenades can be pretty darn inaccurate. Hypothetically, it doesn't matter, since they're, you know, grenades, but if it falls on the other side of the wall you're crouching behind... well, there you go. So grenades are a good thing to use under these circumstances, but they're not the be-all and end-all solution.

I think part of the problem for me is that I'm having trouble getting away from the D&D combat mindset, since I've been playing D&D for a long time and Shadowrun for not a long time.

Swordguy: I appreciate the advice with the Initiative Pass issue. The situation that you describe parenthetically is basically the exact problem that I was facing. I don't really want to ban anything, and I'm all in favor of playing enemies deadlier, and there are things that the players could have been doing differently (the hacker could have gone into VR, the mage could have gone astral) but still, I'd rather have everyone on more of the same page. I'd be pretty comfortable saying, "Nobody can have more than 2 IP." and letting them figure out how to work that.

Still, the badassery of 'runners is not entirely in tune with how I feel the system should behave. I'm considering starting my next game with 350 BP characters (you can still spend up to 200 on attributes) and seeing how that works.

And don't get me wrong, we still had a lot of fun. The session ended with the group dragging an unconscious orc, their target, out of a tunnel, with the street sam laying down suppressive fire with his Stoner-Ares M202. (Suppressive fire is one of my favorite things ever, and I love systems that have rules for it. I just really like things that generate ludicrous amounts of dakka. Especially when you consider that this is generally not a good idea, so when you have a good reason to do it, it's extra fun.)

(Also, it's no longer the Renraku Arcology - the government finished reclaiming the arc in 2061, and it's now the Arcology Commercial and Housing Enclave. According to Runner Havens, it's "glorified public housing... Oh, how the mighty have fallen.")

[TheCountAlucard]

BUMPing, just for prosperity sake.Don't worry too much about bumping this thread; I try and update it shortly after our games, and the forum generally only considers it "thread necromancy" when you post on a thread that's been untouched for over a month. Even if that's the case, threads die and it's perfectly okay to start a new one up as long as there's still something to be contributed.

Also, the GM is suggesting that tonight's game might be our last session for now... it's been a fun game. :smallsmile:

[Lycan 01]

I'll be posting occassionally, too.

Still working on getting the group together and characters made and stuff. I've decided to let everyone have two characters. Between missions they can switch out characters, or even run them both at the same time if there aren't enough players or they're feeling gutsy. :smalltongue: It'll also let the team be more flexible - if a mission needs more magic, the magic characters can be used. If it needs more hacking and Matrix work, the techies can be used.

I think this is how the current char list looks:

GF:
-Cheetah-man Shaman
-Elf Adept (Stealthy, Katana expertise)

Best Friend:
-Catgirl Face
-Human Shaman/Tank (Based off Nappa from Dragon Ball Z Abridged)

Friend 1:
-Elf Hacker
-Troll Rigger (Carjacker who flies Jolly Roger from cars he steals)

Friend 2:
-Human Assassin
-Elf Hacker


So many interesting characters... This should prove to be a fun Shadowrun team, no matter what PCs get used in the session.



I'm also considering running a Shadowrun pbp game. I'm a bit busy with my current two games, but once Paranoia wraps up (or collapses) I'll probably start running a new pbp game, more than likely Shadowrun. I think if this is the case, it'll be a practice run of my "street thugs" idea, with 4 players preferably. If I do run a Shadowrun game, would anybody in here like a spot reserved for them? :smallconfused:


Edit: If anybody has any questions, comments, or concerns about my players' characters, feel free to let me know. I've got most of the info on all the characters - skills, ware, quirks, persona - and I don't mind providing details...

[NeSS Esqa]

Another way to modify the Init pass problem is to houserule that each extra init pass instead gives you an extra Simple Action per turn.

[TheCountAlucard]

If I do run a Shadowrun game, would anybody in here like a spot reserved for them?I mentioned this to Slade, and he said he was interested.

[TheCountAlucard]

So, first we handled the side-quest bit, dealing with the movies they keep making about our group. I visit the script writer in person, telling him how much I enjoy his work and whatnot. After some dancing around it, I ask him where he gets his brilliant ideas. He leads me to his cyberdeck (which, strangely enough, doesn't look like it should work. Imagine an unplugged laptop with its battery ripped out, and still working), all the while talking about the next movie, although his ideas seem to be extremely vague. Silverscreen concludes that the writer doesn't actually have all the details of our latest run, and sends an email to the rest of the group explaining the situation.

The shaman, Slade, Kronz, and Motoko all decide to pay him a late-night visit and take a closer look at the cyberdeck. The shaman investigates astrally, while Motoko watches over him and works on the Matrix security simultaneously, and Kronz and Slade actually infiltrate the place.

Well, when the shaman manages to look at the cyberdeck, he sees an astral trail on it. Following it leads him out of Seattle, where he converses with a Force 18 spirit who appears to have been behind the movies, using the cyberdeck as a focus. Their chat reveals no malice on the part of the spirit, and in fact they part on good terms.

Meanwhile, Slade and Kronz discover that the writer is asleep at the cyberdeck. Since they don't have anything to quietly pick the lock on the door with, Kronz opens the door the old-fashioned way (i.e., by wearing it around his neck). Since that understandably wakes up the writer, Slade knocks him back out with some delicious electricity. The look on the writer's face is, naturally, "incredulous." Apparently he wasn't aware we were real.

Before Kronz could eat the cyberdeck, the shaman pops in and advises against it, briefly explains everything, and then we head out, leaving behind a blank credstick to replace the door.

More on the rest of the session later.

[NPCMook]

I certainly would be interested... I still need to finish my rigger for the current game I'm going to be playing in on Fridays. I'm trying to resist the urge to make something goofy like the rest of the group has, we currently have a Fox Shapeshifter for a Face, a Human Voodoo Tradition Mage who fights with Zombies(Mage Rigger basically), A Human Gunbunny Adept with MPD, A Human Decker with the bane of Fire spirits... And so while I can technically play whatever I want, I'm slightly being shoe horned into playing the Rigger...

So basically I need a good get away vehicle, since I have a Mage who uses a highly illegal method of fighting, a Fox Shapeshifter, and a Gunbunny with MPD(who hasn't decided on what he Personalities will be:smalleek:)

[Swordguy]

I'm also considering running a Shadowrun pbp game. I'm a bit busy with my current two games, but once Paranoia wraps up (or collapses) I'll probably start running a new pbp game, more than likely Shadowrun. I think if this is the case, it'll be a practice run of my "street thugs" idea, with 4 players preferably. If I do run a Shadowrun game, would anybody in here like a spot reserved for them? :smallconfused:

*Raises hand*

I know I haven't been posting much recently, but that's more of a function of being sick of the usual forum topics around here and not wanting to get myself banned over it than not actually being here.

[TheCountAlucard]

Well, the session wrapped up the Brutal Industries story arc.

Introduction

See, Brutus' plan wasn't quite to launch a satellite with an orbital laser on it; rather, he wanted to sneak the laser and some surveillance equipment onto Ares' replacement satellite. That meant that we had to pack our stuff up and head down to Florida before its launch. Since everyone's fake SINs were good enough, we were able to fly first-class to our destinations, with the exception of Kronz and Darius, who traveled with our gear on the ground.

I'm Going to Disneyland!

With our fake identities and whatnot, it wasn't TOO hard to get jobs in Ares' Aeronautics; the "job interview" part was made hilarious, however, when the GM had us play various incompetent NPCs also applying for the jobs (I was a sarcastic "beaver shaman"). Kronz was a gate guard at the complex, Slade was one of the higher-ups in security, the shaman was on astral security, and Motoko one of the analysts for the aeronautics stuff itself.

Grand Theft Auto

Well, since I was in the bathroom when the job fairy was handing out stuff, there really weren't any useful positions for me when I got back. When we determined that our stuff would take three in-game weeks, I decided I might as well do something, so I infiltrated the criminal underworld. Ended up with a chop shop contact, although his usefulness is admittedly limited. I also bought a few "supplies" on the black market (but more on that later).

Boom, Headshot!

To ensure that Motoko could install the part, we had to resort to a lot of debauchery. Thanks to my underworld contacts, we got our hands on some contraband and smuggled it into the right lockers, until Motoko was able to have a moment alone with the satellite.

The mage in charge of our shaman always seemed a little suspicious. For one thing, she always had a spirit on call that looked like freakin' Kratos from God of War. She likewise seemed suspicious of us; it finally came to a head when she caught Motoko installing Brutus' component in the satellite. Motoko managed to bluff her way out of it, but the mage was still suspicious enough to send an e-mail requesting it be investigated... lucky for us we had already hacked the networks and were able to intercept it. Nonetheless, she pretty much had to die. The shaman makes himself, Kronz, and Slade invisible, and then Slade proceeds to burn an Edge to snipe the mage for an obscene amount of damage. Of course, then we have to deal with a scary-powerful spirit, which Kronz decided to take on, one-on-one, generally considered to be a Bad Idea.

However, between taking crazy amounts of damage and dealing piddly damage to Kronz (even when burning an Edge to do so), the spirit ends up deciding that the fight is a Bad Idea, and books it.

Wrapping Up

The satellite is launched without any more problems, and we slowly make our way back to Seattle ("Hey, Slade, just how fast can you run while carrying a TV?"). I get the script for a new shadowrun movie, and the session ends.

[Slade]

Yup interested in the street thugs game.

And I will be starting a new thread on my game. Of course, Alucard is free to update them as he sees fit. Do check it out, I will be firing it up shortly.

[Lycan 01]

Hm. 3 people interested already? Wow... :smallconfused:

<.<

>.>

Darn, this is really tempting. Part of me says I've already got two games in progress, as well as college to worry about, while another part of me says those games are slow and easy to keep track of, and even with homework and studying I've got too much free time...

Hm. If I could get 1 other person (and I have somebody in mind) recruited... I might could get this to work. Would you guys (Slade, NPCMook, Swordguy) be able to post reliable, probably one per day, except on weekends? (I gotta go home on weekends...)


If I decide to do this, I'll make a Sign-Up thread later/tommorrow for Q&As and character creation... :smallbiggrin:

[Crowbar]

Lycan! Sorry to jump on the bandwagon late, but I'd be interested in some pbp Shadowrun. I can probably be posting every day.

Although I'm probably not as cool as Swordguy...:smallfrown:

[Lycan 01]

Why should I let you join? :smallconfused:



I'm just kidding, dude. :smalltongue: I'll let you in, though that's the last spot open. That makes 4 players (5 if the guy I PMed accepts), which is the number I'm most comfortable with. Anybody else interested will have to be a reserve...

I think I'm gonna give it a shot. :smallbiggrin: I'll make the Sign-Up thread when I get the chance...


Edit: Ta-da! :smallbiggrin:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130508

[NPCMook]

Most likely, while I may post late in the day, I should be able. New job, still in training, and could possibly be working long hours... x.x

[Slade]

Hiyas gang, I need some input.

My Skype Shadowrun game is starting off tomorrow, and I want to post the results for all you guys.

But which forum to use? Is there a "read along at home" thread? The actual forums seem like to be an Active pbp, Recruiting, or off topic.

So which one to use? I'd hate to start one, get into it, then I have to move it. So... advice?

[kjones]

This is the right forum for "campaign journals", as Alucard is actively demonstrating.

[Slade]

And here it is:


http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7268393&posted=1#post7268393

The intro message is posted.

[Slade]

Spoiler tags for ease on the eyes.

Well, I was waiting for Alucard to post Monday's game, but since he hasn't and its almost time for the next one, I will go ahead and do it. So.....

So here are the runners. The bad ass shadowrunners, after pulling off the seriously dangerous run in Ares Space Launching Platform in Cape Canaveral CAS, are kicking back and taking it easy for a a few weeks.

Motoko, our Hacking Street Sam, get a buzz from her fixer/Johnson, wondering where she was all this time. "Vacation" she tells him. No matter, for fixer/Johnson has another job for her. It don't pay much, but the risk is low, and for someone of her talents, it should be wrapped up in a few days.. The client is even paying the Johnson's 10% cut, meaning she gets all of the 5k payment, for her and her team.

Intrigued, she goes and meets. Turns out its a cheating wife job, and the guy is willing to pay 5k a head for the runners to get "hard dirt" on the cheating wife. However, no payment will made until hard proof is turned in about her cheating or not cheating.

The team roster:
Motoko, veteran street sam & hacker (100+ karma)
"Silver screen" (alucard's PC, Face)
Kane (spirit spec Mage),
"Chimp" (A rookie Spider Monkey Ninja phys Ad),
"Mel Brown" (A rookie wheel man based on Capt. Mal Reynolds from Firefly)
"Kyra" (Rookie Street Sam & cat girl)
Darius (the Technomancer, who becoming scary.)

Mistakes:
1) They never did any research on the Client. Mr Johnson is a permanent contact for Motoko, so it is assumed at 2/2 he is not going to screw anyone over, with out good reason. The client was never looked into, until I nearly slapped Motoko and made her do it.

Always look into you Johnson (or in this case, the Client)

2) Not analyzing the house. The house (who was middle class) has a 15,000 dollar astral ward on it. The house's PAN was a level 6, meaning best that money could by. The client was living WELL above his means.

Know your surroundings.

Anyways, long story short and many, many, many hours of hilarious planning later, they get the dirt. She IS cheating.
BUT! While they are poking around, they get wind of the following skeletons in the following closets:
1) The client (not the the Johnson, but the guy doing the paying) is laundering money from work (he is a Senior Accountant at Fed-Boeing)...
2) Cheating wife is a technomancer...
3) Wife's boyfriend is a hacker. But, he is a veteran shadowrunner too!

So now they are all like: "What do we do?" Last we left off they decided to finish the run and get the hard dirt to the Client. Then.. me thinks they are going to sell the dirt on the client and it might make its way into the hands of Fed-Boeing.... but that is for Monday.

[BobVosh]

Why should I let you join? :smallconfused:



I'm just kidding, dude. :smalltongue: I'll let you in, though that's the last spot open. That makes 4 players (5 if the guy I PMed accepts), which is the number I'm most comfortable with. Anybody else interested will have to be a reserve...

I think I'm gonna give it a shot. :smallbiggrin: I'll make the Sign-Up thread when I get the chance...


Edit: Ta-da! :smallbiggrin:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130508

I stopped checking this thread. WHY?! I've been wanting into one of your CoC games, and now I see you have started, and filled, a SR game. :(

Dibs on backup I guess.

[Slade]

So, last time we checked in on our table top runners, they had gotten all 3 bits of info.

But now what to do with it? They couldn't figure out which end was up!

First, they turned over the dirt the client asked to them to get. They got paid, everyone is happy.... Now what about the rest of the info?

After much debating, they decided to meet with the boyfriend shadowrunner. Turns out he liberates Technomancers from illegal Corporate Experimentation and gets paid in expensive scientific stuff he steals along the way. So, they offered the Technomancer a matrix security job at Brutal Industries. How trailblazing for a company.

Then, they decided to blackmail the client who offered them the job in the first place. As they were about to take off, when a matrix news clip informs them that Markus Von Schoffel, the client, has been murdered at his house. When they poke around, he was hit with a 12.75 mm solid tungsten core AP round. The same type Slade uses in his Barrett Sniper Rifle......

So, the runners instead simply sell the dirt back to Federated-Boeing for a tidy sum. The info shows that Mr Von Schoffel had been funneling millions of Nuyen through the Yakuza over the course of 12 years with the company.

Needless to say, the Board was very unhappy with him. But, with Markus dead, it was his boss that was really screwed.... the executive VP of accounting, who was Von Schoffel's immediate boss for those 12 years, was found dead the next day at his residence, apparently he "committed suicide".

It looks as though the company offered Markus' boss a 9mm retirement package, given courtesy of one Mr. Colt Manhunter, to the temple. AA's take a very dim view of you when you cost them that much money. Gives new meaning to the term "Risk Management".

The next day, the team asked Slade if he capped Von Schoffel, but he didn't know who he was. Slade has been busy capping Troll Killer gang bangers. They have been killing off his Crimson Crush friends.... but that is for next week...

[Slade]

New thread to "officially" announce my table top game, since this thread has Sooooo many pages.

And here it is:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7373126&posted=1#post7373126