So this is a landing/discussion page for a potential campaign set in the Sixth World, circa 2060 -- which would be 3rd Edition Shadowrun (back when the tech still fit nicely into Gibson-esque Cyberpunk, plus, you know, *magic*).
For those not familiar, Shadowrun is basically Gibson-style cyberpunk in a world where magic came back more or less when the Mayan calendar rolled over. It's not d20, or level based - and can be deadly very quickly if you're not careful (and there are parts of the world when a person is viewed as a collection of valuable resellable spare parts)
It's an old system, so I get that people may not know it/have it - but I'd rather have a bunch of good players learning the system than a bunch of bad players or minmaxmunchkins who know the system very well.
That is to say, a PF campaign or something similar where you get thrown into the fire, I'd be slowly ramping up challenges and starting with training wheels, more or less.
So, to clarify, for the "ramping up challenges" and what not -- the idea here is for a real campaign, as opposed to only a series of runs (where, for those familiar with the usual module structure, we assume that you spent all your money from last time before the call comes about a new job) -- which isn't to say that you won't have access to/take random jobs - but that there'll be more than that.
So, I'm wanting a group of characters who've never run the shadows - yet. They could come from any walk of life - gangbanger, ork underground, standard wageslave -- whatever... but, due to various events (including the one I'm about to talk about, below), you're now at a place where you're ready to dip your toe into Shadowrunning (to get back at The Man, because you're skeptical of your Corporate Masters, because you need the nuyen -- the why is up to you).
Everyone in the party will have an event in their past where they had at contact with an actual runner who helped someone they knew/cared about (a do-gooder "Equalizer" [tv-show] sort of fellow) -- the details will need to fit into your story (a few ideas: saved a parent from a wrongful accusation, restored money that had been defrauded, stopped a bad group who were running a protection racket, had an issue with an insurance corp suddenly "fixed", etc. -- we can work together on it). I'll provide more details about the runner when we're ready to go and are working up characters and backstories.
We'll be using the build rules from the Shadowrun Companion - though think very, very hard about playing a metahuman variant -- I won't say no, but you won't ever be able to blend in and it'll likely limit your options when the time comes to infiltrate a place.
Also, for folks who don't have the books, I'm more than happy to help walk people through the character-build process - and to help y'all learn the system.
* I realize that younger players might not understand the "Equalizer" reference. A more recent one might be Michael Weston from the early seasons of Burn Notice.
** For those who don't get that one either, it's a highly-skilled individual who lives in the underground and helps regular folk who need help - usually against something much bigger and more powerful than they are.
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I've always wanted to try Shadowrun and am tickled to find a game for beginners. Sign me up!
I am interested, but I will deeefinitely need to (re) familiarise myself with the rules...
Sounds good, Limeylongears. I, myself, have been refreshing myself on them as well -- especially in places where the rules from other versions are getting in my way. ;)
As I said, though, planning to "ease into" things a bit, so don't worry if you're still feeling a little shaky when we start.
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Treppa sent me an invite, so I'll bite.
I've played in the world of Shadowrun before (though it's been years) but only touched the official game system in the old SNES games and don't really remember much of the mechanics. So I'll likely be learning and re-learning as I go.
Is there a place online where I can look into the rules and such and get preliminary reading done?
I'm not sure to what extent there are open resources at this point (and, to be fair, they've likely been pushed up toward 6th edition).
That said, I imagine that we can find a way to help you out.
I'm thinking a group of 4-5 players would probably be the ideal - so assuming the three of you are in, unless you've got an excellent player in your pocket we can add, I was thinking I might post a recruitment thread for 2 more. (If you do, though, that'd be great.)
I will say, though, since you're here first, I thought it only appropriate to let you pick the sorts of characters you'd like to make before opening things up -- so, think on it for a while.
I will say that if anyone's looking at a decker, I'm leaning a lot toward the (less fun, I admit) streamlined/simple rules - to prevent having everyone else need to wait 2 weeks while you're getting into the system to deactivate the cameras (ahh, PbP speed..) - though I suppose working out the matrix run via a more responsive channel could also be done.
That said - if nobody wants to do that (which I totally get), the other choices would be to have the decker be an NPC who's a part of your nascent group, or to roll without one (somebody would really want to have a Decker as a contact then, who they could hire to help out -- though a contact would be less likely to want to go get shot at with you if there's an air-gapped system to get into -- then again, there are always freelancers, as long as someone knows a fixer and's got the nuyen to pay). Anyhow, again, no immediate decision needed, just something to think on.
I'm thinking of going full mage. I never do that in PF, so this seems like a good chance.
In retrospect, given the healthy paranoia of Shadowrunners, the question should have been do you know *who* your chunmers are.
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Oh excellent!
From what you said above about deckers, Tilnar, does that mean that if one of the PCs was the team decker, they would not physically come on shadowruns with the team?
That sounds... odd and possibly less than fun. Unless they were in comms touch the entire time and could at least talk/direct.
Depends.
Decks and software are expensive - so often Deckers lack the hardware to be very useful during an infiltration - so often, yes, like in movies, the Decker support is at a public dataport a few blocks away, and ready to flee of they get traced back.
That said, some Deckers take a bit of combat cyber and specialize being the "infiltration and air-gapped system" kind.
Ugh, that's another ugly phone post.
Apologies, folks, I'm not usually terrible like that.
So, yeah, what I was saying is that, like in a lot of movies where you see them comlinked to a dude in a van or on a phone tower or whatnot - a lot of deckers prefer not to "go in" places -- after all, they might get shot. (While it's true that Black IC can kill, it's relatively rare, so Deckers, as a whole, aren't usually at risk of actual death while doing their jobs -- though if they're in sensitive places and it gets traced back to them, well...)
That said, high-security facilities often protect themselves from intrusion by not being on the corporate network (sometimes not at all, sometimes only for brief periods to allow an update/connection) -- depends on what you're going after. (Something not being on the network cuts both ways, though - so they don't like to do that -- often "secret" corp sites are actually hidden behind innocent-looking facades [on the net as in real life] -- or behind a half-dozen other systems, basically to be connected but be a pain in rear to find and/or access -- or both)
In both cases (air-gapped, or super-layered/hidden system) - going physically to that place and plugging directly in makes access possible (or at least, way, way easier) -- and, in fact, a lot of places with high levels of physical security and air-gapped research systems feel they don't necessarily need to spend too much on protecting their data. (Security systems, on the other hand, are probably still on point).
Deckers who specialize in physical penetration of sites tend to be at least passable in combat/sneaking and are usually at least somewhat wired - so that they stand a chance going in.
Also, having refreshed in my mind what was supposed to happen in 2061 from "Year of the Comet" -- I'm thinking we'll be operating under an alternative timeline.
The space-race, sure, that's ok, but the rest of it... I'd rather run the campaign ideas I've already been forming.
If you don't know what that is and what I'm talking about, then: no worries! You don't ever need to! ;)
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I'm still liking mage. I hope we're going to have some tough-guy types, because from the looks of it, Shadowrun philosophy is "The first thing we do, let's kill all the mages."
Happy to play a street samurai, unless Orthos (or another player) wants to.
Don't know what sort of aesthetic we're going for, but I always tend to picture them as extras in 80s post-apocalypse b-movies, i.e. mullet/bandana/denim cutoffs/Ingram MAC10s.
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Yeah, the pics in the books look very urban Mad Max.
Having more than one samurai isn't a bad thing.
So, Limeylongears - should I assume based on the aesthetic that you're looking at a good old down and dirty in your face type, more than the subtle razorboi or razorgirl? Something more on the orky/trolly edge of the spectrum?
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Hi, everyone, Treppa sent me an invitation, so here I am. This sounds like huge fun. Like I told Treppa, 'you had me at Gibson-esque.'
But there's always a downside. I forsee a few very difficult weeks at work, followed by nearly two weeks without reliable internet. If we can work around that to everyone's satisfaction, I'm definitely in.
I've never played shadow-run, but in my experience your first game in a new system is always the best because not knowing mechanics just makes it edgier.
I hope we can sort out the RL logistics.
I think we can manage that.
I was anticipating a prolonged chargen session 0 sort of thing, worst case, you can give one of us ideas about the sort of character you'd like and we can make it happen -and/or bumping some of that to email or something in the interim.
So that you're ready to go when you're back to stable access - and likely we'll just be in the preamble/to posts. ;)
Absolute worst case, the dude who's assembling the group brings you in late because you were out of contact.
So, assuming the four of you are all in - then I'd say we should start looking at building characters.
At the moment, Treppa was looking at a full mage and Limeylongears a samurai - but that shouldn't stop anyone from making what they want. As a skill-based game, what people play (wired samurai, adept, shaman, wizard, aspected magician, etc) is somewhat less important than making sure bases are covered.
For instance, it's good to make sure beyond the normal combat (and stealth), that you've got someone who can open security doors, someone who can work explosives, someone who is well-connected, a face (negotiator/fast talker), etc.
Also, a backup mage (full or aspected) is handy - just in case. ;)
I'm planning to use the point-based system in the Companion, with 125 build points (which mostly coincides with the archetypes -- speaking of which, someone could grab one and reskin it if they want).
As I said, I'm here to help folks build their characters - might be something we can do as a group workshop here, in fact.
I don't have a specific idea down yet - I'm still reading over the rules and it's been a busy week - but I do have an idea that I want to run a skill-junkie type character, possibly with a tinkerer/techhead aspect.
I think everyone loves the person who can make with the electronics rolls, and are generally a big fan of people with build/repair skills -- so that's totally doable Orthos.
There's a huge wide range of potential flavours here - and it's a matter of what you'd like to do.
For instance, throwing some money and essence into Tailored Pheromones (to help with the talkies), a Multi-slot Chipjack and skillwires (to let you do something you couldn't otherwise do - Linguasofts are popular for this reason) maybe an Encephallon (ie. - cranial computer) or a Cerebral Booster (the bioware version of the same). Basically, a rush toward the "jack of all trades" person who can slot in a chip for whatever.
Or, if you're leaning more into the techie, then you could load down on some Build/Repair skills, be the person everyone wants to fix/improve their stuff -- as well as the person who knows how to take apart the complicated thing they've been hired to steal... (such a person could either love their own chrome and head toward state-of-the-art -- or have older stuff that they've scrounged up in more scavenger style).
Could even go with a drone-based rigger (though I find myself surprised at the suggestion) - basically someone who's all about their toys.
So, as I said, we'll be using the point-based rules from the Shadowrun Companion rather than the rules in the main book -- the end characters end up looking very similar, but the point-based system provides more flexibilty than the priority system -- your number of attribute points doesn't have to be a multiple of 3, for instance) -- and allows for taking edges and flaws (without needing to make them a zero-sum).
I'm going to be (a little) nice and say we'll build on 130 points. No character can have more than 6 points of edge or flaws.
We will be playing with Man and Machine (so Bioware exists, you can get it with your starting cash) and Magic in the Shadows (which at low-level basically just allows different traditions and more totems). I'll also throw open the doors for the Cannon Companion (the tinkering with firearms rules suddenly seem potentially relevant). [I can dust off my Rigger 3, also, if it's needed...]
I don't expect that you'll all have all of the books, that's fine, we can work it out - as I said, I'm expecting to be doing a lot of hand-holding through the design process (and might even make suggestions as you go -- for instance, let me start by saying: "make sure you buy spare clips and ammo", "think about concealability", "having stuff that's street legal can be helpful in certain posh neighbourhoods", "for the love of the street, get a smartlink system, even if it's not cyber", and "expendable spell fetishes can be your friends")
A few reminders:
- Per the rules, you can't start with something with a rating higher than 6, or an availability higher than 8 (so no lasers).
- Alpha-grade cyberware is available at character generation (twice the price, but only 0.8 the essence) - but no higher grades.
- Cultured Bioware (4 times the cost, but only 75% the bio-index) is also available, but it bumps the availability of what you're getting by 2 -- so it might put something you wanted over 8.
- You need to have at least some fractional essence left once all is said and done - otherwise, you're already dead and we'll need to make you a new character before we ever started.
- You need to buy your initial lifestyle with starting nuyen.
- Somewhere in your history, you or someone you loved were helped out of a jam (one of those they felt powerless, and got help from someone that made the problem go away -- a corp, a gang, what-have-you)
----
So, all that being said, I'm ready to start help walking people through the process whenever they're ready.
- Somewhere in your history, you or someone you loved were helped out of a jam (one of those they felt powerless, and got help from someone that made the problem go away -- a corp, a gang, what-have-you)
That should have been against a corp, gang, or what-have-you. It'll be the same someone who helped each of you(r loved ones).
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I'm going to be (a little) nice and say we'll build on 130 points.
Cool, thanks!
- You need to buy your initial lifestyle with starting nuyen.
Question: I bought one month - is it advisable to hold back a few month's cost, or is it pretty safe that we'll be able to earn enough to maintain?
Question: I bought one month - is it advisable to hold back a few month's cost, or is it pretty safe that we'll be able to earn enough to maintain?
Yes. Unless, of course, your runs turn south and the Johnson screws you... or you get very injured and need downtime to heal, or one of you is recovering from (life-saving or new-enhacement) surgery, or, or...
Are there Shadowrunner insurance policies? ;)
DocWagon!
I think we can manage that.
I was anticipating a prolonged chargen session 0 sort of thing, worst case, you can give one of us ideas about the sort of character you'd like and we can make it happen -and/or bumping some of that to email or something in the interim.
So that you're ready to go when you're back to stable access - and likely we'll just be in the preamble/to posts. ;)
Absolute worst case, the dude who's assembling the group brings you in late because you were out of contact.
Excellent. This thread is a gigantic candystore of slang, comprehensible and otherwise.
Gotta get back to work.
In my exploration, I came across this chargen utility, which while a little clunky and ugly also seems like just the sort of thing that could vastly help in character creation.
I tried it - and it let me make a useable samurai in a handful of minutes -- and it also blocked cultured bioware at chargen - there must be a rule I missed somewhere saying that.
Anyhow, it could be something fun to play with if nothing else.
Another idea, totally lifted from a different thread - to help people conceptualize their characters (mechanics can always be worked out) - would be to fill in a template like this (for the purposes of an example, I'll fill in one of my earlier characters):
Handle/Street Name: Paladin
Name: Alexandre Deslauriers
Gender: Male
Race: Elf
Legal Status: Citizen of the Republic of Quebec, believed deceased.
Archetype: Street Samurai (Razorboi)
Skills: Paladin's stealthy, very fast and good in a fight - preferring pistols, SMGs, his bow and sword.
Special Abilities: Paladin's got Wired Reflexes III, cybereyes, and some other helpful bioware to boost speed and strength.
Description: Paladin's a lean, handsome elf with no obvious enhancement.
Thumbnail: Born magically active, Paladin lost his link to his totem following a severe beating (when his father tried to "beat the magic out of him") and the implantation of nervewires during the surgeries after the beating (when his father sobered up and felt remorse... or at least worry about what his corp bosses might say). When he recovered, he drained his father's accounts, faked his death and fled Quebec, coming to Seattle in order to get as far away as he could (without crossing an ocean) - using the money to upgrade the wires, getting better, stronger, faster so he could help others.
Personality/Philosophy: He's a "Robin Hood" of the Shadows - preferring to take jobs that help the little guy or smaller corps - and lives by a code - he prefers to use non-lethal means (unless he's desperate or the other guys deserve it), and he won't take jobs that involve kidnapping (voluntary extraction is fine though) or wetwork. He things the best run is one where nobody knows you were even there.
Side note:
In playing with the chargen utility, I found that I can override the restriction on Cultured Bioware -- so if you're using it, do that - and we'll stick with my initial build rules. :)
And here I just built a giant spreadsheet. :/
Starting on the Chargen, and it's really helpful. I was super lost on skill selection and languages for my spreadsheet, and the chargen's got everything listed. What I had built in to my spreadsheet transferred over correctly.
Clunky, yeah, but not hard to figure out and VERY helpful.
It doesn't have to be as detailed as what I posted, either, folks - that was just working from an existing character. A couple of quick examples:
Handle/Street Name: Auric
Name: Simon Waterfell
Gender: Male
Race: Human (part-Native)
Legal Status: SINless (born in the streets, baby).
Archetype: Hermetic Mage
Skills: Sorcery, Conjuring, Sneaking, Fast Talk.
Special Abilities: Dude can do magic.
Description: Auric's got the dark complexion of his native ancestry, but green eyes. He's a bit unkempt and pretty fidgetty.
Thumbnail: Simon was born in the Redmond Barrens - his mother was a part of the grey-economy, running a semi-legal talisman shop. A bit of a scrawny kid, he joined a street gang for fun and protection, though he was drek at it until the day he started throwing around mana... One of mom's customers taught him to control his powers, and while he's still (nominally) with the gang, now he thinks he's ready for the big time.
Personality/Philosophy: He's a smart-alec and brash - and constantly at risk of writing cheques his abilities can't quite cash -- but looking to do whatever he can to build his rep -- as it means that he can make sure his mom, and his chummers in the gang, are looked after.
Handle/Street Name: Ravage
Name: Helena Stevenson
Gender: Female
Race: Ork (mixed ancestry)
Legal Status: Legal citizen with a SIN
Archetype: Adept
Skills: Maximum destruction in short time - SMG, Assault Rifle, Gunnery, Demolitions.
Special Abilities: Can boost strength and punch through walls, and moves fast thanks to her magic.
Description: Helena keeps her hair short, almost shaved - a habit she learned during her time in Corp Security -- though she dyes it violet now.
Thumbnail: Helena hated growing up on the streets, being poor, struggling - and wanted the life she saw on the Trid... until, one day, she started moving faster than everyone around her. Realizing what she was and what she could do, she knocked on the front door at Knight Errant, looking for a job -- which, once they realized what she was, she got - setting up her SIN and making her childhood dreams come true. Though those dreams turned to nightmares after being sent to the Chicago containment zone, and her feelings towards her corporate bosses changed when she realized that they sent her in knowing what was there, and worse, they were willing to nuke her. She got out of the city and back to Seattle with a group of runners who were cleaning things up behind the scenes -- and decided that she'd found a new path to walk.
Personality/Philosophy: Helena and subtle don't belong in the same sentence. She's blunt, direct, and rushes headlong at problems, preferring to blow them up so they don't come back. She's also fiercely loyal - but demands the same in return - hence, her defection after Chicago.
Starting on the Chargen, and it's really helpful. I was super lost on skill selection and languages for my spreadsheet, and the chargen's got everything listed. What I had built in to my spreadsheet transferred over correctly.
Clunky, yeah, but not hard to figure out and VERY helpful.
I agree with both pats of that assessment: VERY helpful and VERY clunky.
I was originally going to say that I thought it was missing some useful gear -- but then I noted that said gear has an availability above 8 and isn't available to folks at Chargen.
Handle/Street Name: Glassman
Name: Danny Glass
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Legal Status: Squatter
Archetype: Street Samurai
Skills: Up close and uncomfortable - knife, baton, pistol, fists, feet.
Special Abilities: Someone you want to see coming when you're in trouble... so long as you're on the same side
Description: Danny has a shaved head, possibly due to the early onset of male pattern baldness, possibly because he likes the look. He is olive skinned, lean, and plainly dressed, in a mixture of black denim, military surplus gear, and synth leather (he would never wear the real thing)
Thumbnail: He eschews drugs, alcohol, bioware and cyberware, and does not seem overly interested in sex, preferring to read, study his beloved martial arts, and talk. A lot.
Personality/Philosophy: Rather intense, and sometimes more than a little preachy, Danny severely disappointed his family by dropping out of college to study combat sports full time. However, he grew extremely uncomfortable with the exploitative nature of the industry, the attitudes of his fellow fighters, and the 'extra jobs' he was occasionally asked to do. The breaking point came when he was required to fight in a match against an obviously outclassed (and probably drugged) opponent who, he surmised, was being put in the ring to be taught an extremely painful lesson. Upon refusing the match, he was told he'd never work again, narrowly escaped a beating himself, and was obliged to quit and take a job as a bouncer in a an illegal punk bar, which suited him juust fine. His austere and rigid (if unconventional) moral code tends to get him, and anyone with him, into frequent difficulties
I'm assuming, Limey, that you're going to be an adept - as to avoid being severely outclassed by folks with chrome?
So, in looking over things in terms of the timing and what not -- SR3 is set in 2060 (just like I said in the thread), which means that we're currently in the middle of the Renraku Arcology shutdown -- which makes for a nice reason why a relatively normal middle-class person or wageslave might suddenly have some issues with their corporate overlords.
For people who think I just strung a bunch of words together that have no meaning, allow me to provide background.
Renraku (one of what used to be called the "Big 8" - the largest megacorporations in the world) had been building a giant pyramid of glass and steel in downtown Seattle - the Arcology. The intent of the Arcology was to, basically, be a single facility where people could work, shop, live -- it had shopping malls, residential space, parks, offices-- and fabrication plants, food production -- everything. Essentially, a giant self-sufficient and self-contained city within the Metroplex.
Construction started way back in 2040 - and given the scale of the project, it was really starting to look like a money pit - was even the source of a lot of jokes - until construction finally finished in '54.
On December 19, 2059 -- the Arcology went into full security lockdown... blast doors closed, hermetically sealed, cut off from the Matrix - you name it. As it was happening, there were some reports of gunfire and the like -- suggesting maybe it was a terrorist attack. And after a few hours, Renraku admitted that they didn't know what was going on. The population of the Arcology is about 95,000 -- and that doesn't count shoppers and workers who may have come in from the outside -- so estimates on the number of people inside are closer to 100,000 -- and only a handful, maybe three dozen -- got out -- and that was back on the 19th when the drek hit the fan.
Since then, there's been nothing -- a lot of posturing between Renraku and the government (to the point that the Governor informed them that the Metroplex Guard would shoot them out of the sky if they came anywhere near the Arcology)... and now, a few months later, it's basically become (to many people) just one more line in the nightly news "The Renraku Arcology is still in lockdown."
Of course, there are millions of rumours as to what happened -- terrorists (Native? Humanis? Orks demanding a homeland?), another insect hive (after Chicago), even aliens -- but nobody knows anything except ... nothing gets in, and nothing gets out.
So, you know, not hard to either work for Renraku (or a subsidiary) and be unimpressed, or know and love someone who's inside (like someone who was Christmas shopping, or on the train that got trapped when it went into lockdown, or just someone who lives there...) -- giving a body a whole lot of "Want the truth, want to save them, need to go to the shadows and cut through the drek".
Or, you know, it's just all window-dressing and you're fleeing Tir na N'Og. That works too.
Working slowly forward. Downloaded from Limey's link. Reading through the rules.
Same. I've done a ton of reading on basic system and the magic system and am groping towards character build. The basics of the build are really helped by the Chargen, but you still have to know what you're moving towards and have the books available as a reference.
Right now, I'm at the point where I'm trying to winnow down the massive spell list I want into what is needed. Also reading the New Seattle sourcebook for backstory ideas. Struggling ridiculously with backstory.
Making progress, though! And I'm excited about the game.
+1 on all of the above. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to have a character cobbled together and ready to go by Thanksgiving, the weekend at the latest =)
Sounds good, Orthos. As I said, here to answer questions or give quasi-useful advice.
Ugh. The Chargen requires you to finalize the character before being able to print it. I wanted to print for a preliminary build review. Blarg.
Can you save it before finalizing? Would prevent the problem.