(4) New Orleans by Night (Shadowrun) (Inactive)

Game Master mdt

Hey folks! I'm enjoying the roleplay quite a bit, since it's pretty reasonable to have certain abrasiveness when such a strange request is put in front of the party. My immediate, not-that-experienced with Shadowrun magic reaction was DEVIL CONTRACT!, and I assume Roy's would be pretty similar.

In essence, he's going with the flow for the moment, but will probably follow either HepCat or Wraith, since if left to his own devices he'll most likely build himself a cabin in the woods/swamps and become a crazy old man.

Honestly, I've been playing since first edition, with dozens of different GMs, and I've never, ever, ever had a GM that had a Johnson demand a viable ritual link as a precursor for taking a job - or even just listening to the offer. Taking a ritual sample (or signing a magical contract, whatever) is something that corporations, the Triads, and shadow spirits make you do. If the Johnson can get ritual material from the runners without them willingly giving it, that's fair play; the runners should be doing the same to the Johnson. But the Johnson doesn't ask, and neither do the Runners, because you walk into the meet with the express understanding that the runners are willing to a) shoot people in the face for money, and b) keep their yaps shut. Going to people who do illegal things for money and asking them to do illegal things for money is itself illegal (conspiracy to commit); no runner would survive more than a few days babbling about the jobs and job-offers they've received (which is why psychotropic Black IC is so nasty in the shadows).

If that's an automatic presumed part of 'big-money runs', then I apologize for wasting your time.

And no, Me'mori, 'End of Line' is not valid; just a story.

I've been playing and running SR since the 1980's when it first came out.

Some of the original modules (and books if I remember correctly, could have been fan fic though on the stories) included giving a drop of blood to the Johnson, then getting it back at the end of the contract. This was generally a 'we'll hire you for a specific long term contract, and give you equipment, you get your blood back on completion/return of equipment' type gigs.

Again, it's not required to take the job. If you don't like being given an option that you don't like but can walk away from, I can't help that and maybe you shouldn't play in my games. That's not be being snarky, I'm just saying that if you can't accept that sometimes you get offers you don't like, but you're not being forced to accept, I don't know how I can GM for you, as you'll never be satisfied.

Reply in private.

Game is on hold for a day or so, I'm not in the right head space to post right now. Seriously not in the right head space. Sorry folks.

Thanks for letting me bumble along, guys. Withdrawing.

Wyrm sorry to see you go but I think you are being A little over the top and a bit inflexible. The GM never said we had to take the contract, fine if you want your PC to walk away from the deal that's good roleplaying. However, to try to dictate how the game is run is in poor taste. When I've played shadow run before high paying jobs required some sort of assurance. I think the devil contract take/idea fits very well in the New Orleans vibe.

I'm absolutely not trying to dictate how the game is run. No, the GM never said we had to take the contract; he told us we could walk. Suki's taking a walk. Everyone else is good with the Johnson putting a knife to their throats, so y'all are playing the game. That's fine.

I can explain in private my thoughts on the matter, but my thoughts on the matter are souring mdt on the game, and I'd rather not spoil everyone else's fun because the GM doesn't want to run the game any more.

It is not your thoughts, so much as the headache I am being given in private comments. I won't air my feelings on the private comments, them being private. I will state that I considered a couple of them highly insulting on a personal level.

It is also not the first time you have... with extreme advocacy... advocated for how you think the game should be run. The last time involved some wording choices that I found extremely annoying and mildly insulting as well.

That is why I stated, in private, after our discussion, that it might be best if you did find another game. I will remove you from this one. If you wish to keep things private, that is fine, but please do so. I hope you find the shadowrun game you want run somewhere. Alternately, I encourage you to run your own game, as it will then be run the way you want. Good wishes to you in your future gaming.

Well that escalated quickly. ^_^

As a player, my rule-of-thumb is that for the first adventure/module/run/investment banking, the GM gets a carte blanch and I just go with whatever is put down, and withhold any and all judgment until later. Some GMs start out wonky but then you realize "Oh! That's brilliant!" and some start out great and continue to be great and some start crap and then are always crap. =)

But the point it that usually the first adventure is meticulously planned out and the GM wants it to go a certain way. Who knows, maybe we're supposed to get betrayed, and that's a major theme in Shadowrun, and then wacky hijinks ensue and then someone says "I TOLD you not to sign that contract!" and we all go "Duuude! You're so right! What the frag do we do now?!?" and then more wacky hijinks ensue and ultimately we claw out of the hole and move on and boy wasn't that great!

I guess the bottom line is that there are both meta and non-meta reasons for going with it. I love me some Shadowrun and I'm honestly bummed that someone has rained on your Vulcan-cannon infused parade. Go watch "Equilibrium", drink something with coconut rum, and let's Once more unto the Breech go! =)

Well, this escalated fast.

I too, am of the opinion that asking for blood is *way* out of line. I remember some of the original modules that asked for blood and they since walked back on that *hard* because it makes absolutely no sense. I'd make some comments about the writers, but at least one has gone on to be a guy whose work I really like. ;)

If you're willing to give your DNA to someone completely unknown, you wouldn't be a shadowrunner. You'd work for a corporation. And, keep in mind, that Mr. Johnson's are unknowns. So you *could* be giving your blood to a corp...*any* corp. (This is the main reason the designers started to realize, after many players pointed out to them, that giving up blood was *really* bad.) It's true that Johnson's will want insurance. And 'runners will want to find out the Johnson's motives. This is pretty much what the game is all about and what lines both sides will push. But in the end, you hire runners because they're deniable assets that keep their mouth shut. Your assurance is that they don't know who you are. As a runner you take a job not knowing who its for. You've already taken on all the risk. Taking on more would be nuts! (Though there are plenty of circumstances where even *that* might be worth it.)

With that said, I don't mind NPCs asking for it. That just marks them, to me, as completely unprofessional and unfamiliar with dealing with criminals. Maybe someone used to working through legal means? There are plenty of reasons.

My only real concern is how magic is being handled. Magic items don't really exist in shadowrun, so I'm guessing that this is a foci of some sort? Maybe with a sustained spell? Given Listener's successes on assensing it, he should have more information than "it's powerful". With magic being thrown around so much, I'd like it to be a bit more...precise? If that's not possible, that's fine. I don't mind pulling out of the game if our preferences clash. I'd prefer you get to run the game you want to run. :)

I really hate 'pulling back the curtain' on stuff like this as I feel it removes some of the mystery of the game.

Listner, the reason it was so 'bright it hurt your eyes' was that there'a spell on it designed to $#*#$& up people who assense the pen. You didn't get enough successes to get a valid assense because of the spell. Ergo, it's so bright it hurts your eyes.

If you insist, I'll tell you exactly what the pen is, but it will be OOC and remove a good bit of mystery from the game.

Oh no, that's fine. I dislike things like that in my shadowrun game, but that's just a personal thing. Though it certainly validates the character even more in this case given the situation. Now it's not even clear that *all* it does in enforce the contract in front of them.

On a rules basis, I'm against that sort of thing only because shadowrun has very clear established rules for magic. A spell that does that doesn't really exist. Masking can do it, but given that that's *one* initiate power out of a dozen, the odds of running into one of the very few people in the world that can do that is...low. Not impossible, but low. And I tend to lean against NPCs throwing around high level magic just to make them look powerful or cool. Auras are very obvious, and an establishing "thing" in the setting is that magic is obvious to every awakened. You can erase your signature, but that takes time and effort. But you can't erase the spell or hide the spell. Meaning you also can't cover it with something else. If you roll around with sustained spells, *everyone* knows it. Not to say this doesn't happen. In fact, it's expected. (And since grounding isn't a thing in 3rd edition onward, it's even *more* expected.)

Not to say that this isn't a valid GMing thing or can't make a fun game! It's just not my cup of tea. Again, this is just a personal pet peeve of mine, but everyone has their own style. The benefit of pbp is that you have much more choice over the games you run and play in!

But yeah, on that note, I'd never ask (or want) the GM to say exactly what's going on out-of-character. But I do appreciate when they give me all the information I should have in-character. In this case, it probably would have been beneficial to explain exactly what was going on. (My character, after all, *is* actually an expert on magic.) But that's really a tough thing to find the right balance out of the gate. I certainly don't hold it against GMs, especially GMs that don't know me or how much setting knowledge we share, and definitely expected at least something like that to happen here.

*sigh*

It isn't to make it look cool, it's to keep some of the mystery in the game. I really hate the idea that a game as interesting as Shadowrun has to have every single thing in it fully explained right down to the last jot and tittle. As to 'no spell to do that', Illusion spells interfere with your senses. That's sort of the point of them. As to spells that interfere with your senses, look up Hot Potato. Rather than making all metal in the area seem hot, this spell just makes an astral signature seem too bright to see, with a +target number equal to the force of the spell.

*sigh*

I'm really begining to wish I hadn't started a recruitment for this game.

Whoa whoa whoa. Let's not talk crazy now. =)

Okay, yeah, you've got two or three players that are stepping out. Well, you took an extra large Accepted group, so that means there are FIVE excited and motivated people here, right now, who are NOT finding problems and would really, really like to play some Shadowrun! =)

PbP always has attrition for whatever reason. This isn't any different. In fact, it's less awkward since we don't have to put anybody "on a bus" and we're not waiting a week for their post just to see them drop anyway (which has happened to me).

Five people are sipping drinks, patiently awaiting their exciting chance to add their combat pool in and throw an obscene amount of d6ers, so giddy up!

And leave the past behind.

Spells can be designed. The rules for such were in "Magic in the Shadows", I believe. The results of the spells will be as designed. It's odd, but not uncommon for something like that to be attached to a "work" pen.

I expect a Johnson to have a bunch of Red Herrings to mislead the runners. Heck, likely more than three-quarters of the time, it's your own paranoia that is making you do more work than you need, but hey... Operational Security is paramount.

(there may be one or two errors in the formula. It's been a while since I've done this)

I spoilered this so if you do not care, then don't read it...but I felt I wanted to come out and show support for the GM...that's all.

We can argue all day about whether that's an appropriate spell. Suffice to say I'm adamantly in the "no" category (for both mechanical and setting reasons). I'd explain why, but it really doesn't matter. I'm right for games that I enjoy and you're right for games that you enjoy. I was hoping the twain would meet somewhere, but it's very apparent that's not going to happen. It's disappointing, but not unexpected.

I'm also a big believer in trusting in GMs during a game. But that trust needs to be earned. Not that mdt hasn't, just that there's a reason to feel a game out at the start. I'd rather know now that mdt's style and mine don't mesh sooner rather than later. I feel like I've been reasonable here and have gone out of my way out-of-character to be polite and present my views rationally. (I also believe my character has done that, though slightly less politely...with good reason, I might add. But that's really neither here nor there.) But if anyone has any complaints, feel free to tell me directly, either here or in PM. Talking around issues never helped anyone.

Not upset with you Aptinuviel. If you want to hang around and see how things go you're welcome to. I just have a low drama threshold this week, issues going on in RL have me on edge. Nothing personal.

Had a long day at work, I hope you don't mind if I skip out on today's IC post. I *uh* might need a moment to process this.

(My quick 2 cents - magical contracts may leave the characters [and/or players] a bit miffed, but they usually turn into quite amusing stories - especially the 'find the loophole part'. *Might* not even be needed, but we'll see ^^)

Also, I'm trying to recall that NPC (portrait) from the game hmm. Hmm hmm hmm ...

I've had a very bad couple of days, including 1 hour of sleep last night, a 14 hour travel resulting in 3 hours of sleep Sunday night, and some personal issues with my sick father.

On top of that, I had some issues with this game. That is why I said I was not in the right headspace for this game, and why I said I needed a day or two before I continued.

When I say 'you do not have to take the job' I am not saying 'you can play or leave'. Playing or leaving is up to you as a player.

When I run a game, I try to have an interesting story, and I try to have some mystery. Those in my other games have likely encountered this before. Part of being a player is to give the GM some benefit of the doubt that he's not pulling a 'rocks fall you all die'. The other half is give the players room to make the choices they feel their character must make.

If we end up with part of the group wanting to take the job, and part not, I'll resolve it when that happens.

If people want to quit the game because they don't like my style, I'm fine with that. I completely understand it and have no hard feelings.

What I am not fond of is people ranting and raving, cursing, and generally telling me that I don't know the world and I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I especially don't like that when I'm dealing with lack of sleep and a father with major health issues.

Now, for those (like Listner) who don't want to sign, how adamant are you about that. Is it a 'I will never sign' or is it 'I need to be reassured by someone else'.

To set this a bit more, which I didn't think I needed to do, please remember that this job offer came from your contacts, people you trusted your life with before. So this is not a random call from Russia wanting you to check your deck for malware and please click this link to do so.

Also, for those who want to take the job (like Wraithe), how adamant are you about that? Is it a 'I will take this job!' or is it a 'I can be talked out of it if enough other people walk'.

I'd prefer the group figure out something to either take or not take it as a group, or to figure out a way around (such as the offered 'Your friend is willing, they can stay and here what is said and give you a yes or no indication'). Also, note the GM could have masked the pen entirely and Listner would have been none the wiser with a mask spell. I don't like to do that though, I don't want to railroad. I prefer to point you at a highway system and see how you get from A to B to C.

Fair enough.

I'm sorry about your dad. If it helps, I'm a deep well of health-related knowledge (I'm an amateur bodybuilder and used to be a personal trainer) so if you have -any- questions you want to talk about, feel free.

Also, I agree with everything and you're a saint for giving Listner a chance. Many lesser men would've already come down with the banhammer. It sounds like he has no interest in returning, but that's to be seen.

Moving on, Wraith (just OOC, why do keep spelling it with an E? =) doesn't have any personal motivation to 100% take this, but she's not been put off by any. The contract just says not to talk about it outside, which is fair.
She'll listen to the offer. If the offer is to kill a dragon and she's offered $2 to do it, the answer is no. If she's supposed to break in to some secure place and steal something valuable and is offered $10-20K to do it, she's gonna be onboard with that. (Minimum number of other runners for her is 2. A team of three is needed for a little B&E. Mind you, there's always the option of outsourcing [i.e. hiring NPCs] all things considered, but let's blow up that bridge when we come to it. =)

@Wraith(e) - Too many conversations via IM with British people. Theatre, Wraithe, etc.

To verify before posting to prevent any unnecessary back-and-forth: Attempting to sign a name that is not the Runner's actual/given name will result in the pen not working, correct?

No, you can sign your name, your street name, or any name you go by. What you can't do is sign a fake name or sign without actual intention to follow the NDA.

Your real name is already on it.

Now, for those (like Listner) who don't want to sign, how adamant are you about that. Is it a 'I will never sign' or is it 'I need to be reassured by someone else'.

Wraith is correct, at least insofar as I'm not interested in continuing. I'm unclear where his hostility comes from, but I can't say it's unexpected.

I think it might be helpful to explain why, so I'll attempt to do so. To begin, I want to make it clear that "my way" of playing Shadowrun isn't the "correct way", it's just mine. And my opinions on the setting are my own. It's not that your style is wrong, it's just not what I'd have fun playing.

The first thing is the "mystery" that you're attempting to add. I completely disagree. I'm a fan of Shadowrun primarily *because* the magic rules are clearly defined. But, like in the real world, this leaves a lot of ways to misinterpret what you see or how things happen. In my opinion, your method actually removes the mystery from the game. Doing things within the rules means that there is something to figure out. Doing things because it's "mysterious" (i.e. breaking the rules to make something incapable of being figured out) means that there is no mystery. All I can do is wait till the GM feels like it's time to reveal what happened. It's like performing an illusion with actual magic. If there's no trick, there's no mystery. Sure, this is more difficult than making things up as you go along, but it's *certainly* not a mystery.

As to the illusion spell, the Shadowrun magic structure is very firm against being able to hide or alter auras. Without masking it's impossible. There's a reason for this and it is well established. No, you cannot make an illusion spell that covers up an aura. Masking does that. This leads to a world where it is trivial to learn if another person is awakened if you are also. It leads to a world where sustained spells are obvious. Where all magic is obvious to anyone that can do it. That's the world as it is built. A lot of the world works on this premise. Changing that, a very basic building block of the world, changes the setting.

As to taking blood samples for a run. I do find this ridiculous and always have. I'd sugar coat it, but that's really the bottom line. I feel that people who think this is alright just don't think through the consequences. (This was actually literally true of several first edition writers.) You may know that the GM won't screw your characters over unless it's a good story. But your characters don't know that. Giving blood samples *cannot* be standard practice. Again, this is a matter of world building. Changing this alters the setting and makes the game completely different. If your character were willing to give DNA *at any price* before knowing who they're working for, then they simply wouldn't survive as a shadowrunner. Again, I have no issue with NPCs asking. NPCs don't have to be rational, knowledgeable, or reasonable. But unless a characters is incredibly naive they should never be willing to do this. Just having DNA alone on someone's file is bad, but having a material link? Not going to happen.

Putting aside the issue of a magic item in a game where that's not really appropriate, I'll discuss the magic contract. I feel like I went out of my way *in-character* to work with the story. Ashley gave the Johnson several chances to walk back on what he considered a ridiculous request. (That is, presenting the group with a magical contract without even mentioning that it was magical.) I did this because I *do* feel its important to work with GMs and try to conform to their game, within limits. But the NPCs reaction was to double down...several times. Now, I can't imagine a world in which I'll play a character that's willing to sign a contract given by someone that was willing to lie about its nature (admittedly by omission rather than a direct lie). Also, when confronted about it, she then *claims* that she can't make us break it and *all* it does is enforce the contract. And yet there's some "spell" on the object to prevent even *that* from being confirmed. I deliberately made my character desperate *for this very reason*. My first reaction was to just walk out. My second reaction was to do the same. I kept trying to work with it up to the point that it was clear that there would be absolutely no compromise. I feel like I did my part. Now, to be fair, I don't think you are under any obligation as a GM to work with me. And I mean this sincerely. I don't blame you, or think you're a bad GM for not doing so. It's your style, and I'm confident that people will have fun playing in this game. It's just not for me.

I know I'm going to have fun! Although the drama level will probably decrease.;)

No, you can sign your name, your street name, or any name you go by. What you can't do is sign a fake name or sign without actual intention to follow the NDA.

Your real name is already on it.

Ohhhh.... I was under the impression that the Runner was to put their real name there! I was VERY confused!

Actually, what I have is completely within the published material for Shadowrun, I just can't explain it fully without completely ruining the plot, Aptnuvel, if you want, I'll send you a PM with the reasons if you like, but you'll then not be able to participate in the game. :( I'd also need you to not tell anyone else.

@Wraith, my understanding is that as soon as we get the call, we got 24 hours to be ready. 15,000, in dollars at that, is nowhere near enough to cover an on-call rapid response team, having to sit by the comm.

Unless that's me being confused with the currency situation again, and that's actually 15k nuyen per year. Which is still, pretty much on the low-scale, I think.

Ummmmm. In no particular order:

1) My take on it was that the 15K is just a retainer, and then we're also paid per job. (Indeed, nothing says that we -have- to even take the job, just that we have to report 24 hours.)

And, when you think about it, unless you're on a cruise that you spent 3-10K to be on, where in the world would you be that you couldn't be back home in a full day?

2) Also, we're technically unemployed right now.

3) As mentioned IC, no one is gonna put someone on retainer and then not use them. Well, probably no one. But companies that have lawyers on retainer also pay those lawyers $200/an hour for the Omni-present drek that gets thrown their way (both IG and IRL =) and they are happy to have them. Same thing here, I'm guessing.

4) *heh* As the Faceman, feel free to mention this IC and make some Charisma based rolls and get even more money. ;-) I ain't said yes yet, and if she follows this up with a "and here's your first job, which pays 20K each on completion" would that do aught to sweeten thy pot? =)

P.S. Is there an exchange rate in dollars/nuyen? I thought it was all the same? You sayin' it ain't?

1) Heh. A retainer it is, indeed. I'm pretty sure we have to take the jobs, however, but at any time we can give our 2 weeks notice and leave. We could be out in the forest, though, tracking the legendary Albino Hydra Firebreathing 'Gator?

2) True about the unemployment. *obligatory old man rant about not getting enough pension.*

3) Agree on the job. But as I said, it could be twice, three or seventeen times we get called, and if it's two, then we're being paid a low amount of money. 15k Dollars is about 5k Nuyen.

4) I've got ideas about that, worry not, my dear Wraith.

Uhm, as I said earlier in the discussions. We are in the CAS, and we will use Dollars in game. However, assume the dollars are equal in buying power to Nuyen. So, $15,000 = 15,000 nuyen. A $15,000 retainer is basically offering you a free sports motorcycle every year. Or Free Dermal Plating level 2, or 3 free cybereyes per year, or 3 free garage's (fully outfitted with tools to work on cars), or a free Heavy Security Armor outfit... It's not sneezing money...

Now, on a completely unrelated note, since it was stated here, and it's catagorically not true. Shadowrun has plenty of magic that is NOT defined within the system, and that is NOT explained, and that the PCs do NOT have access to.

The Great Ghost Dance is one example right from the core books.

The ritual Dunklezahn used to kill himself, recreate himself as a free spirit, open a hole in the astral plane, and call forth his son Ghostwalker back from another dimension.

The ritual Ghostwalker used to leave his body behind and send his astral form into another dimension for over 20,000 years.

The ritual to summon up a portal to the realm of insects in Chicago.

These are just a few examples of magic in the core rules that is not explained, not possible, and not in the realm of players to investigate, duplicate, or even understand. Magic is not well understood, and it is only just being explored. Weird things are just coming to be known of, much less understood, plotted out, and given stats.

It's sorta late over here, but I felt like I should add *something* so I went for it. It is *something* ^^

Also - it feels *so much better* now that you grouped that pen with those events mdt ... .P

Just to extend that point into the realm of meta; Remember, when you're playing Shadowrun, it's been, canonically, referred to as the sequel of Earthdawn. That is, there's a cycle wherein magic wanes and waxes in the Earth. EarthDawn was the pre-civilization cycle, then magic waned and our reality happened, then it came back again, and that's Shadowrun.

Since it's part of the same universe, you could, acceptably, have other-worldly Horrors walking around (kinda already do), have armor implanted into your skin (already do), have elves that grow thorns in their skin, or build an invulnerable wall out of True Wood...just for starters.

And that just continues to play on the theme that magic is just now being "rediscovered" and needs to be researched into, like electricity: It's always been there, we're just now figuring out how to use it.

Uh, what were we talking about? =-P

Whoops. Sorry about the interlude back to Accounting Simulator 2061. No arguments on magic from me, though, both in and out of character. There's also magical research, so that's another thing we can't really know.

The Great Ghost Dance is one example right from the core books.

As was the ritual that Samuel "Twist" Verner was going to use that banished? Destroyed? Spider.

The ritual Dunklezahn used to kill himself, recreate himself as a free spirit, open a hole in the astral plane, and call forth his son Ghostwalker back from another dimension.

I really wondered about that. How/where was this detailed?

The ritual Ghostwalker used to leave his body behind and send his astral form into another dimension for over 20,000 years.

I suspect this was referenced in Earthdawn or somesuch?

The ritual to summon up a portal to the realm of insects in Chicago.

I was also wondering about that. I know the Cermak blast was an interesting confluence of things, though only a ward got mentioned in the book "Bug City", with a callback showing in the game "Shadowrun Returns". (Still gotta finish Dragonfall and HK).

@Dunklezahn - It was handled in a fiction book (dont' remember the name) that was approved to be written to fill in some back story. Dunklezahn ended up being a free spirit. He needed to power a massive crystal with magic in order to replace the Singer, who was finally killed trying to stop the shadows from making it over early. Dunky ended up a free spirit that merged with a cyberzombie to create a negative essence warrior who was immune to the shadows. They used the crystal he powered with his life essence to destroy the shadows and keep them from coming over early, before the world was ready for them.

@Ghostwalker - The various books have him admitting to being Dunky's offspring. He was gone 'since the last age', and had to get his body back upon return, so he somehow survived from the last age to this age outside of his body and in another dimension.

@Chicago - Again, officially blessed fiction had it a ritual that opened a portal to the insect plane, and they set off a tactical nuke to blow it closed again.

The house has an alarm system with a hardwire to the local security company and a cellular network backup system.

Sorry, I haven't actually played that much Shadowrun, so this may come off as a n00b question, but: That sounds like we might know who the security company was. If so, what are the odds of our decker Selachii breaking into -them- and hijacking/shutting down the alarm trigger? It might even be as easy as busting into their pay data records and marking that address as "payment overdue--inactive" or some such, to put a fluff on it.

That's just what popped into my head as a way of use t3h netz against them before we actually have to break inside. ^_^

Also, this is just a by-the-by for mdt: You mentioned being ready for a null-magic campaign anyway, may we assume that that contingency plan will be in effect now that we don't have a mage? Like, to us even weak spirits, the kind a mage would laugh at, would be a formidable obstacle. Jus' sayin'. =0

Security offices, and yes you do have the security company, Knight Errant, are going to be high security, especially in that area. The hardwire runs to a KE secured compound, and from there, on more hardwire to the local corporate office. Corporate office for KE would be a very hard to crack system.

And not really, you have two physical adepts, one with killing hands. Both have decent willpower's. Even the decker has a high enough willpower to actually make a spirit notice.

You will notice you're not going up against an actual spellcaster however.

Everyone ready to go? Any prep work you're doing?

Selachii will have to go get his deck, and make a minimal effort to change his clothes, so what he is wearing now will not be what he wears into the building. Jeans, T-shirt, boots and gloves, with something to put on his head, and he's good. He'll bring his deck, of course.

(Makes a note to look into a Rapid Transit jumpsuit if this goes well)

Selachii (hey, just OoC, why isn't that name in your alias?) mentioned wanting some time beforehand to do decker-y things? Do you still want to do that, or is that not a thing now since the house is off the grid?

I've got a number of aliases made, from prior games, so I just reuse the names, since those games have ended or gone inactive. I don't want to end up with pages of aliases, and in this case, the name is a bit irrelevant- though I do need to format the line under my name.

I did want to get on to see what could be found about the house (aside from it being off the grid), since I (the player) have a few suspicions, but all we have is an address and a floorplan along with some basic information. We don't know who owns/rents the place, all we know is they have money.

To all my games :

You may have noticed I've been iffy responding since Thursday the 4th. My wife is having surgery (again) Wednesday. Her mother was supposed to fly in to help, but she had an emergency Thursday and ended up having a minor surgery Friday. So I've been canceling work trips, and generally doing all the stuff she was supposed to be here doing. I'll continue to be iffy this week. Sorry. Will hopefully be more consistent week after next.

That's rough, MDT. You have all of the sympathy. We'll just take it as it goes.

Wednesday : Surgery for wife, doctor says she had no knee left, she has one now, all computer designed and doctor ground out. Surgery went well. Wife dopey. Doctors found compression fracture in back while prepping for surgery. Will deal with later.

Thursday : Wake up sick as a dog (As usual, every time I go to the hospital with my wife, I get sick...). Get wife and take her home from hospital.

Friday : Don't remember Friday...

Saturday : Wake up at 8AM, pack, take wife to bank for errand, get her settled in at home, drive 9.5 hours, still sick, to deal with sick father.

Sunday : Get yelled at by uncle, for not wanting to visit dad and get him sick, get up, go visit dad. Spend two hours going shopping to buy dad new clothes he needs. Go back to hotel, collapse on bed.

Monday : Wake up at 6AM to start work day early so I can take off early for dad's doctor's appointment. Realize it's a holiday and I don't have to work. Post on threads, go back to bed...

Monday Evening/Tuesday : Get games running again...

Tough luck. : /

But on the bright side, glad to hear that the surgery went well. And now that you are married to a real cyborg I assume the Shadowrun inspiration will flow! :P