The Twilight Chamber: A Shadowrun Story (Inactive)

Game Master JDPhipps

"Hey chummer; long time no see, eh?" The video pops up on your commlink without warning or provocation, playing before you even realize what's going on. You recognize the face in the video--Derek Wilson, he used to be a rigger for your team back in the day--but you haven't spoken in years. The elf doesn't look too worse for wear, but he still has the same sunken eyes of someone who slots too many BTLs. "Look, I know it's been a while... and the lot of us didn't all part ways amicably. I don't know if you've spoken with any of the others--I know I haven't, anyway--but I hope you all don't hate my guts enough to shut this off before you hear me out." Derek was one of the reasons your old team drifted apart, with his BTL addiction causing problems for everyone and forcing people to take sides, but his life choices weren't the only thing that made you split up. When he mentions you hanging up, you think about it for a moment. Derek was a good rigger, but he was an ass and a chiphead, why should you care what he has to say? "Anyway, I'm not hear to rub salt in old wounds, but I'm sending you all this message because I've got a lead on a good job--better than good, really--and despite our difference, you all are the only ones I trust. You know, we might've hated each other's guts sometimes, but we worked well together. We were a team, you know?" Derek pauses for a second, scratching at the datajack built into the side of his head; he'd had the thing installed by a second-rate street doc, and evidently it still hadn't stopped itching. "I haven't run with a team in a long time. Haven't needed to, really... but this is different. It's too big for one person. I need a team for this," he says, pausing for a second before he sighs. "I need you; the team." A few seconds later, a couple of documents pop up alongside the video. They're security details for a museum; either the Johnson gave this to Derek or he did some surveillance himself, but it's surprisingly thorough. You can't tell everything from what he sent you, but from what you can see it looks like Derek's right... it is a good job. Still, the thought of 'getting the gang back together' makes your stomach turn a little bit.

That's what they always say.

-----

Hello one and all, and welcome to my Shadowrun 4E recruitment thread! As you can see, the premise of the game is pretty simple; the group will have be runners that once all worked on a team together several years ago, until they eventually split up and went their separate ways... that is, until a former teammate pops up with an offer of a lifetime. He says it'll be one last job, but... well, we all know how that goes. To account for the little bit of backstory already presented, your characters will be getting a little bit of a boost above normal character creation rules. These are:

Oooh, very interested.

I have a few ideas.

Here's my big ol' dot, I'll be working up a character we've already talked about.

Shadowrun eh? Always down for that.

Dotting.

Dot. Gonna submit either an adept hacker, or a mage.

Let's dot in for now.

Interested

Dotting for heavy, heavy interest.

Thinking of either a sammy, or a mage.

Question : For certain character types *cough*rigger*cough*, outfitting multiple very expensive equipment layouts *cough*cars/planes/tanks*cough* takes significantly more Nuyen than other classes. Any chance the BP limits on cash could be fine tuned by general type? Or broken down by classification? IE: Cyber/Bioware vs Vehicles/Equipment vs Magical Items?

Hmm... I'd prefer not to actually change the BP limit inherently, however I will say that I'm fine with people re-flavoring some positive qualities like Born Rich in order to gain the mechanical benefits in a way that fits with what they want to do. Also, for this game Born Rich will increase the maximum to 75 BP as opposed to 60. Would something like that potentially work for you? I've also slightly adjusted the math on qualities (I had it in the document originally, it must have not saved at some point) to accommodate for such things.

If that doesn't work, I'll think on specifically re-structuring limits for gear based on character archetype.

Dotting. Thinking explosives/technician type.

Right now I'm playing around with an orc street sammie. Will need to do some work on him.

That would probably work, yes. Riggers have always been the biggest money hog around, and they tend to be hit or miss depending on the game. I love playing a rigger, but playing one requires even more money than a street sam with a Delta sweet tooth. :) Primarily because unlike the sammie, his equipment is expected to be inherently disposable.

Are you ok with characters being built using Chummer 4?

Unless I have to buy something to look at your character sheet, you can build your character however you want. I'm not super familiar with Chummer, will I need to download it to view the sheet? If I do--and it's free-that's not really a problem, I just want to know. Also, please have a little status bar at the top of your alias for basic things I might need to know, even if I do have to do so. Stuff like the physical/stun damage track, dice pool for Perception, etc.

If you can do those things for me, we're all kosher as far as I'm concerned.

Chummer 4 and 5 are free to download, although I can't find the link at the moment (Google probably has it). It prints out a character sheet (although we may have to tweak the profile a bit to override things where your house rules differ).

Question

Are Programs 'One and Done'? IE: I don't need to buy more than one copy of a program to have it in multiple devices (copy/pasta code)?

Dotting. Is conjuration drain changed in the same way as spell drain?

@mdt: Yeah, programs are one and done. As long as you have a device that contains that program (e.g. your commlink or a drone) you can transfer it to another device. You only need to buy it again if you want a higher Rating or if you lose all devices that had the code.

@avr: Conjuring a spirit follows the same changes as spell-casting, where applicable. Drain works similarly, and I'll update the document with this information as well; Drain from a spirit is equal to the hits on the opposed roll at the time of the summoning, +1 for each point that the spirit's Force is higher than your Magic, and the maximum Force of a spirit is 1.5x your Magic attribute. Spells or any effects a spirit uses based on their Force is subject to the same change as if you were casting the spell.

Hmm. I don't know Shadowrun 4e, but one of these days I've gotta try playing an adept in the tabletop game, so I'll look into building something.

A note on the concepts I've been seeing and you've all been talking about; it seems good for the most part, and let me know if you have any more particular questions. I want to give a heads up that the the 16th through the 20th I'm going to be helping out a friend of mine by playing the lead in a student-made film, and so my posting schedule will likely be dramatically reduced; I may not get feedback to you on more specific things for a day or two over that time period if not longer, but I'll do my best to pop in and answer questions.

Also, I forgot to mention this. If anyone wants/needs Shadowrun 4E books, I have just about the entire run of them as PDFs. Just shoot me a PM with an email address and I will shoot you a .zip file with them in it.

Actually, I have one question, just to make sure.
"All other restrictions are lifted" includes the normal max 35 points spent/gained from qualities?
The idea of being able to take Aptitude, Exceptional attribute AND wizard is a pretty interesting thing.

Gonna go with my adept hacker. will have it up soonish

Here is a rough draft of my Character. I'll PM you the backstory/details on his and his two contacts along with his MO and reason for running. Let me know if you see anything out of place-

Oooh Shadowrun. That's a fun thing! Dotted.

It is indeed a fun thing, and Shadowrun returns didn't scratch an itch so much as increase the appetite for it haha.

@BoggBear: No, check the house rule sheet. You do however get 40/40 to play with as opposed to 35/35. I don't recall off the top of my head if you could have them all at once with that, but I don't think so? If I recall that would total to either 45 or 50, but I don't remember the exact cost of them all off the top of my head. As for Shadowrun Returns, I'm about halfway through Hong Kong at the moment and that along with the SR game I'm in here still isn't enough.

@Thelizardwizard: I would appreciate having a listed BP/price next to the things you've purchased for my easy perusal, along with an attached Gear: X BP so I can calculate stuff to double check your math. If you build a character with Chummer, just shoot me the sheet on that as well as putting it up here as that kind of thing appears to be tracked automatically which is nice. The character does look solid enough mechanically, but if you wouldn't mind just pointing me to the location of Tacsofts and Hacker Gum in the books? I'm not familiar with those two items. Also, how do you have two different kinds of tires on your bike? Or is the intention to have both and swap them out when needed? My only other comment is on the Laser Sight on your pistol... why not get a smartlink on your contacts/get googles or glasses and get a smartgun system?

@Attribute fun - You'd want that surged thingy and some genesculpting to go with that I think :P

Question: Do you allow initiation on character creation?

I'm thinking of swinging together something fun using either the melee and/or that shotgun buff as they are both quite enjoyable things. Might involve some adeptery or maybe just a few pounds of ware, maybe both...

As far as I'm aware there's not a straight conversion rate for BP to Karma, and there's no rules for Initiating using BP. I know Runner's Companion has rules to build at creation with Karma, but those are sort of a sliding scale, so I'm not sure. That's really my only reason for a (very tentative) no and if you know of a common house rule or official statement on how to handle it I will allow people to Initiate once during character creation.

Ahh, usually go by that karma gen method myself so I haven't encountered *that* problem myself :P

I think the going rate for a BP to Karma conversion is 1:2, which is what qualities and nuyen use and so use.

I know the Karma gen method gives you 750 to start, but that's close enough. Sure, the BP cost to Initiate is double the normal Karma cost, and you can do it once at character creation.

Oh, I have an idea for a gnome social adept/mental mage.

The Karma build gives you metatype for free. Though, on the other hand, the BP way gives some free stuff too...

Anyhow! I'm off to tinker a bit : )

The bare bones of the concept I'm working with right now is of an Ork Sam, specialising in Heavy Weapons, with some dip in Face and B&E (the physical part).

I've been looking for a chance to play someone with the Borrowed Time disadvantage, and I think that's the best opportunity I've had it. I imagine the guy is going into the last stages of immuno-system breakdown, partly due to genetics, partly due to chrome, and partly due to experimental augmentation. (A test subject for one of the first live-by-wire prototypes)

I also thing that he'll be someone eager to reunite with his old team, the job offering both a chance at a reunion and the chance to cross more things off his bucket list. I'm fiddling with some backstory details at the moment, and I'll get it up soon.

I've got the Chummer page up and running, GM, how do you want me to send that to you? Disclaimer: It's not something I consider final, and if he's too combat focused, I can change him around.

You can shoot me an email at jondphippin@gmail.com if that's easiest for you.

Will do, I doubled checked some myself and I appear to have gone over a bit. Nothing to much, will just start with a few less skills with ranks in them. or a few fewer ranks in some. And yes, the plan is to have both sets of tires, and swap as I see they may be needed. Honestly, hacker gum is more flavor, I believe it is from attitude, Tacsoft is from Unwired. Honestly this was a character I made way back, but didn't get much chance to play as, so even I have forgotten some of the stuff I used, but haven't changed entirely too much due to not wanting to take something I think is trivial out, then be like. "well crap, that was actually important"

Also, another question, I don't remember exactly how it is ruled in the books, but since my right arm has a strength and agility higher than my base, anything that would -only- require that arm uses those right? (say, shooting a pistol, or holding something, doing a curl) I know that was how my old GM ruled it, it worked well, since most things require more than one arm to do anyway. The Original concept had him losing an arm, but the GM at the time suggested upping the attributes in it because "it would be useful" XD

the BP to Nuyen was 42 BP.

Your question on the arm is actually answered in the book; any task you do averages the Attributes for the limbs involved to determine your dice pool, so anything that uses only that arm automatically uses those stats, yes. Anything else still takes that limbs increased Strength into account, it's just that since the other applicable limbs are functioning at a different capacity you can't do as much so firing a rifle for instance will have a lower dice pool.

Doomed Hero here.

What do you think of a "guy in the van" character? Remember in Aliens how all the marines were set up with headcams, and the Lieutenant was inside their armored vehicle looking at all their display screens, and the blueprint with the motion tracker?

I want to play that guy. (only, you know, competent at it)

My idea is to play a rigger/decker who spends the majority of runs interacting with the mission through Drones, watching things through other player's body cams or hacked security cameras, running communications and doing interference for the outside (diverting emergency response, or posing as an emergency operation), and things like that.

He'd also be the getaway driver, and in a pinch a sniper.

What are your thoughts on the concept?

I would like to submit an Ork Shaman character I made for a game that fizzled almost as soon as it started. I will look into adapting him to your house rules and then get him posted.

@Doomed Hero: I don't have any problem with that concept, but every time I see it in Shadowrun I will admit I laugh a little. I love that with the right setup you can be a mile or so away in what's essentially a mobile nuclear bunker while you have a drone wandering around doing everything in meat-space. I will let you know that there will be missions where I might require you to be on-site, but these would be extremely high-security facilities where they might not even have a possible external Matrix connection and jam signals from the outside coming in. I never plan to negate anyone's character--also, there has to be a way for people inside to utilize computers and drones so you can too--it's just that obviously the remote option may not always be possible. I just want to let you know that going in so that if forced to be on-site your character won't be a sitting duck waiting to be shot by corporate security.

@Mister Lurch: Awesome, sounds great! I've had a few people express interest in Awakened characters, so I'm excited to see the kind of variety we get in the submissions. Everyone who I've talked to who pitched one had very different ideas, which is always nice.

@Doomed Hero: I don't have any problem with that concept, but every time I see it in Shadowrun I will admit I laugh a little. I love that with the right setup you can be a mile or so away in what's essentially a mobile nuclear bunker while you have a drone wandering around doing everything in meat-space. I will let you know that there will be missions where I might require you to be on-site, but these would be extremely high-security facilities where they might not even have a possible external Matrix connection and jam signals from the outside coming in. I never plan to negate anyone's character--also, there has to be a way for people inside to utilize computers and drones so you can too--it's just that obviously the remote option may not always be possible. I just want to let you know that going in so that if forced to be on-site your character won't be a sitting duck waiting to be shot by corporate security.

Sounds like we have similar thoughts on the subject. I wasn't planning on making the character useless without his Drones. You've given us enough BP that I think I can make an impressive but still well rounded character.

I'd love to have those PDFs you mentioned.

Is anyone doing a Decker type?

I'm doing an explosives/technician type, so knowing where to put skill points would be good.

Sounds good! As for the PDFs, would Paizo have a problem with me posting the link to the .zip file on Google Drive? If not, I'll just post it in the thread; if they do (or nobody knows, in which case I will err on the side of caution) just shoot me an email at jondphippin@gmail.com and I'll get them to you.

As for deckers, a couple of people have mentioned doing so in varying degrees.

Is anyone doing a Decker type?

I am.

Decker/Rigger with some gun and communication skills also.

Porcelain often goes by Dolly to her friends. The size of a child, she plays that up with a pinafore and petticoats. On top of that, her skin is white with a slight sheen like glazed china. The effect makes it easy to underestimate her. In her role as negotiator, she uses this in circular ways to end up winning.

Most simply believe that she is a hired negotiator, somebody who works for shadowrunners. While this is a job she does, she actually goes on missions with a few groups.

On a run, she is quiet and stealthy. She's not a killer, but she's good at tricking, confusing, and disabling enemies.

I've sent the files.

I might be wrong, but generally Paizo doesn't like direct links to, you know, pdfs. However, I think that linking a Dropbox link in a PM might go under their scrutiny.

Hmm. Starting work on my character backstory now.

EDIT: Question I had towards the GM - If I've got the Cyberarm Gyromount, which gives 3 RC, do they stack for heavy weapons? I'd assumed they do, but I wanted to double check. Additionally, nowhere does it say (or I skipped over it), how much it costs to make a MG into a minigun? There's rules for the minigun, but, heck.

And another one - if I had 2 cyber arms with Ag of 9, and a torso with Ag 8, would I use 9,8 or my base Ag for firing two-handed weapons? Again, book doesn't say.

I'll also probably tone down some of the stuff, since 300,000 nuyen is surprisingly easy to spend, considering how expensive top performance implants are.

@Philo Pharynx: I haven't taken an in-depth look at the character because I'm not currently on the computer that has all my PDFs, but nothing egregious sticks out as being wrong with the submission or anything. I'll give you a head's up if I see anything when I go over it later, though. Get me some backstory info and such on your character when you can as well.

@The Lion Cleric: There's a chart in Arsenal somewhere that mentions what forms of recoil compensation stack with each other, but I don't remember off hand if cyberarm gyromounts stack with each other. I'm going to say they do, though, because I fail to understand how they logically wouldn't. As for the cost on a minigun, I'll have to double check when I'm looking through my books later. I'll get back to you on it if it doesn't with a ruling on how much it'll cost you.

As for the arms and such, you would use a 9 as the action technically only involves your arms. You shouldn't need to have a cybertorso if you don't want one, though; the customized cyberlimbs let you have prosthetics with a higher rating than 3 without the cybertorso. Something like dodging would use your average agility over the entire body and so your base Agility would come into play there, but not while using weapons.

My computer with PDFs is also the one with Chummer, so I'll give a more in-depth look at the character later as well.

Dot

Here is my bare bones character.

It's been a while since I've played Shadowrun, and I've never used 4E. So any advice or comments would be gratefully received.

Created using Chummer.

Very very interested.

Will have more details in the AM.

Now I gotta dig up my Chummer 4 laptop...