Black Rain in the Shadows of Seattle, 2060 (Inactive)

Game Master Tilnar

Danny is a Physical Adept, so presumably not intended to be squishy...

Physical adepts are great but have some challenges; they really do wind up playing like a monk in D&D/PF:

* Unless you are a gun adept, you must close with the enemy, which presumably means running cover to cover until you get around behind their cover to get into melee with a guy who has a gun
* You have Body + armor to absorb damage, but likely don't have cyberwear improving your soak
* You can take powers that let you reduce pain/stun dice penalties, but they're expensive (Danny doesn't have Pain Resistance, so taking damage or stun hurts his effectiveness)
* You can take reflex-boosting powers that improve your Reaction & initiative dice, but they're expensive (I see Danny has Sixth Sense, which only affects surprise, but doesn't have Improved Reflexes, which gives you bonus Reaction + initiative dice)

This means your combat cycle, unless you have range (like distance strike, bow adept or gun adept), is run cover to cover, skirmish an enemy with melee, take that enemy down with killing hands, repeat. If you get shot, you are in real trouble.

Samurai usually come in two flavors.
1. Heavy armored troll samurai who tanks everything with Body + armor + Dermal Plating.
2. Super-fast striker who shoots enemies before they can act, usually with a high-damage burst weapon like an assault rifle.

I'm working on a samurai just to see what I can come up with, but I can make... well, anything, really. :)

Unless Tilnar is running an unconventional game, a hardcore samurai may be important. Being able to suck up bullets and survive combat is a necessity if you are going to ever get into a fight. Just fighting a small group of gangers when your whole team is softies is gonna get you all killed.

Shadowrun comes out of an era of game design when it really wants you to cover various roles for your team, and there's a bit of an expectation that most teams will have a samurai, a spellcaster, and a decker, and everything else is negotiable unless you have a specific mission profile need (e.g. you are doing drone intercept so you must have a rigger).

And Jay is none of those things.

Danny is a Physical Adept, so presumably not intended to be squishy...

IF it helps, I've always thought of Danny as a darn good damage sponge. :-)

Yep, one of the other SR campaigns that I play off and on has a character who is a non-cybered private eye, basically a noir detective. Whoever's running has to do some hoop-jumping to make adventures that fit the character thematically and don't involve using typical enemies that would just explode his head.

A lot of it comes down to how Tilnar runs the game. If you are expected to geek some 'weeners to get physical access to a trunk line that lets you hack a server, you probably need a samurai and a decker to do that. The more your characters move away from the specific roles that most shadowruns expect, the more you have to make custom 'runs that the characters can accomplish. (Or, if you're the kind of GM who does the 'here is the world, it's up to you to figure it out', you just throw the players in the deep end and let them flail around because they don't have the tools to solve the problems).

Ok, I have a small folder of candidates.

• Veronica T. Hartley, alias NOP, whom you've previously seen. Human decker, mechanical hobbyist. Friendly, upbeat, intelligent. Not a great fighter, mostly brings computer skills to the team.
• Genevieve Arc, alias Winter. Human budget samurai. Terse, perceptive, tactical. Former corporate bodyguard. Can take a few hits and has facility with submachine guns.
• Marina Garcia, alias Cyan. Human dolphin shaman. Some spellcasting, a small amount of face ability (high Etiquette), has a subspecialty in underwater work. (In over 30 years of playing SR I have seen underwater combat come up exactly once, so this is probably not a big thing.) Ebullient, mellow, naughty.

I don't have a strong preference one way or the other. I am not sure whether Tilnar means to run a game with the "you better bring some guns and a hacker" style or a "I read your character sheets and assumed that the fixer picked you for jobs that match your skills" style, so I can't recommend one over another. Cyan (the shaman) probably has the most skill points in things that are unlikely to come up (diving, underwater combat). Winter (the budget samurai) is the best for having someone who can suck up some damage, while of course NOP is in case the party wants their own decker.

Open to questions/opinions.

Total radio silence? Over a weekend? In this economy?

Sorry, recovering from a nasty cold-thing. It's fun having wee folk bring home stuff from the germ factory.

I'll say that you generally can't Shadowrun without a mage or shaman. Because, well, it's an Awakened world and you kind of need someone who can deal with that. Otherwise, your careers are likely to be very short due to magical security, spirits, threats and other magi.

I'll also say that having some sort of muscle is also very useful and highly recommended -- because, while I have always maintained that the perfect Shadowrun is one where you don't need to fire a single shot and that you're in and out without anyone ever knowing -- well, sometimes it doesn't work out that way. Sometimes there are guards out of position. Sometimes you trip manual alarms, or stand-alone security systems that can't be hacked remotely. And that's just inside, and doesn't deal with potential Critters, gangers, and all the other fun dangers of the 'sprawl.... And, of course, the ol' double-crossing Johnson.

That said, when it comes to a samurai-type, it can be anything from a massive Troll that wants to crush stuff to a wee little elven razorgirl -- all can be very effective with the right gear, enhancement and tactics (though, generally, the Troll will be harder to actually kill).

What I will say about decking is that (in 1e, 2e and 3e), it's a little slow to run compared to meatbag work -- there's a whole trope about "Oh, he's jacking in, let's all go for pizza" for just that reason -- and so it's often easier to have an NPC Decker that's "part of the gang" (like Figment) to avoid slowing things down, because I can do all the rolls offline, basically.

Coolio. So, if anyone on the existing team has any thoughts about which character they prefer—the reserved, no-nonsense street samurai, or the free-wheeling, happy-go-lucky dolphin shaman—please speak, or type, up!

Hope you feel better soon Tilnar!

As a new player, I'd be more interested in seeing how magic works. The glimpses we got with 0nyx were intriguing. Jay would probably prefer someone talkative too.

Tilnar, if it doesn't make things too difficult, I'd hope you write Razor and 0nyx out in a way that they could potentially return. I like Treppa and CH and would enjoy playing with them again if RL changes for either.

I particularly like the idea of the dolphin shaman, but both would work.

Here we gooooo

Note that shamans and hermetic mages, while they use the same rules for spellcasting, walk thematically different paths and deal with different kinds of spirits. This means there should be plenty of room for 0nyx if she's able to return.

Well, I wouldn't kill them off, just have them go do something else.

Do y'all have a replacement player in mind, or do you want me to see if I can recruit someone?

Well, I wouldn't kill them off, just have them go do something else.

Okay. Yeah, you wouldn't. Maybe, I'm just having separation anxiety.

Do y'all have a replacement player in mind, or do you want me to see if I can recruit someone?

This is my first flutter in Shadowrun. I don't know anyone familiar with the game system outside this game.

Do y'all have a replacement player in mind, or do you want me to see if I can recruit someone?

If you know a potential bullet-bag (assuming you're going with the shaman), then by all means.

I am in PF games with a few board regulars so I'll ask a few folks if they are also SR3 players.

The team seemed most enthusiastic about the dolphin shaman, so that's what I went with.

I may have found a player for a street samurai, if the team is interested in continuing. (Been quiet here.)

Sounds good, if they're keen.

I should note that we used slightly irregular build rules - per this post. -- and then there was an update to Etiquette, as well.

Argh. Now I have to check to see if the character I built using the priority system is still legal in point-buy.

Just doing a weekly check-in, because things are eerily silent here.

I'm rebuilding my dolphin shaman using point-buy and helping the other player to make a samurai, because it's been a hot minute (or decade, or two) since they've played SR3.

Lurking. Helps make the silence more eerie.

I was waiting for characters to review. ;) But I'm still here somewhere. I'm just hard to see with the City Spirit concealing me.

I had forgotten how much I hate point buy. 120 points, right? (Note that that would make my character worse than just using the priority system.)

EDOT: Just spotted the 130 point note. Updating.

Ok, here is the updated, point-buy version of the dolphin shaman.

In communication with the other prospective player about redoing the samurai.

Checking back in to see how samurai negotiations are coming.

Tilnar, with the imminent revitalization of the game do you want to pick up where we left off, or just stop and reboot?

The other player says they're working on something, but I haven't heard back in a couple days. They've been reliable in other games, though.

Was there any feedback re: the dolphin shaman, or "looks fine let's go"?

Samurai prospect is trying to figure out if the amount of crunch in the system is more than they want to deal with in a game right now and should get back soon. If they decide to no-go, I'll go back to polling some other players. :)

Ok, sounds good. I'll have time to reverse-crunch the shaman this weekend.

Ok, first recruit that I reached out to has chosen to demur, as the complexity of the SR3 system is more than they want to navigate at this time. I'll keep looking for possible recruits!

The dolphin shaman should have points breakdowns in each section, to make it easy to follow the math. I used a spreadsheet for tracking starting cash, but still need to roll the 3d6 pocket money.

Ok, so the point purchases seem correct, though I will offer two concerns - which you can take with whatever number of grains of salt as you'd like.

One, this character seems very specialized for aquatic missions, which will likely tend to be the minority of runs (though I suppose there are probably a few facilities with wide enough water pipes that you could use that as a way in).

Two, and it relates back to one (somewhat), is that this character isn't really built for subtle, blend-in with a crowd sort of runs (the armour, for instance, has a conceal of "--", which means "it's not) -- not a dealbreaker, but it does limit the sorts of runs you'd be likely to get asked to do (or be in a position to execute).

I also note that you don't seem to have a regulator for the SCUBA tank - I assume you have it (primarily) for the water carbine, then -- though I do note that the artificial gill is only good down to 7 meters.

Yep, this character is strongly tied to a theme, and really drives in that direction, which informs all of the character design decisions. (That is also why the character has Knowledge skill ranks in pornography: Not because I intend to play an over-the-top nympho, but because dolphins are notoriously horny creatures, so this simply informs background that isn't really relevant to the Shadowrunning life.)

I realize that aquatic missions are extremely rare (in 20 years of running SR3, I have run one underwater combat). This character certainly needs a few runs' worth of karma to round out her skill set for some useful additional areas.

Fortunately, the spare cash on the sheet is already divided by 10 (per the SR3 resource rules: unspent money is divided by 10 and then turned into available cash), so I can go back and add on some additional outfits to provide different kinds of armor for different situations. I've added a secure long coat for usual street runs, and a Vashon Island Sleeping Tiger outfit for high society clothing.

You are correct that the oxygen tank is for the water carbine, in case it needs to be used underwater. Note that the water carbine is a weapon alternative; the Clout spell is her hard-hitter, but due to Drain sometimes it's more effective to use a firearm.

The artificial gill is for shallow swimming, like reef diving and surfing. For greater depths, she uses the Oxygenate spell. The target penalty on all actions for having a Sustained spell is fierce, though, so she has the artificial gill so that she doesn't have to use that spell unless there is no other option. This way she can swim in shallows without needing to worry about sustaining the spell.

You could look into a Spell Lock -- er, Sustained Spell Focus (thanks SRIII), to handle the oxygenate without needing to worry about concentration. (Or, gain some karma and initiate and Quicken it).

Also, you could (thematically) replace Clout with a Hydroblast that does the same thing - except it's firehose-ing rather than being telekinetic - using the rules for elemental manipulations... if you wanted. I suppose it's mostly just flavour, but making a jet of water could have other uses. Like dealing with fires.

You could look into a Spell Lock -- er, Sustained Spell Focus (thanks SRIII), to handle the oxygenate without needing to worry about concentration. (Or, gain some karma and initiate and Quicken it).

Also, you could (thematically) replace Clout with a Hydroblast that does the same thing - except it's firehose-ing rather than being telekinetic - using the rules for elemental manipulations... if you wanted. I suppose it's mostly just flavour, but making a jet of water could have other uses. Like dealing with fires.

Sustaining Foci are great, and they are also (1) expensive and (2) a great way to say "Hey! Ground your Mana Ball astrally right here!". So, Cyan probably won't use a Sustaining Focus until she initiates and learns Masking. (Also, a +Initiatve focus is probably first on the list.)

I did strongly consider a Water Elemental Manipulation spell for combat, but eventually settled on Clout as you are getting blunt-nosed by a bottlenose dolphin. A water combat spell is high on the list to learn (along with Trid Invisibility, Magic Fingers, Barrier, Stabilize...)

Tilnar wrote:

You could look into a Spell Lock -- er, Sustained Spell Focus (thanks SRIII), to handle the oxygenate without needing to worry about concentration. (Or, gain some karma and initiate and Quicken it).

Also, you could (thematically) replace Clout with a Hydroblast that does the same thing - except it's firehose-ing rather than being telekinetic - using the rules for elemental manipulations... if you wanted. I suppose it's mostly just flavour, but making a jet of water could have other uses. Like dealing with fires.

Sustaining Foci are great, and they are also (1) expensive and (2) a great way to say "Hey! Ground your Mana Ball astrally right here!". So, Cyan probably won't use a Sustaining Focus until she initiates and learns Masking. (Also, a +Initiatve focus is probably first on the list.)

Sustaining foci don't have the old spell-lock "boom" problem. I guess that's why they changed the name? ;)

I did strongly consider a Water Elemental Manipulation spell for combat, but eventually settled on Clout as you are getting blunt-nosed by a bottlenose dolphin. A water combat spell is high on the list to learn (along with Trid Invisibility, Magic Fingers, Barrier, Stabilize...)

Ahh, magi. Never enough Karma. At least the rules let you trade cash for karma now.

Well, astral objects (such as sustaining foci) can be targeted by mana spells, which presumably includes Manaball. (See p. 176 of SR3, final paragraph under the subheading "Astral Objects".) It resists using its Force for the Damage Resistance test, and if it takes Deadly damage, it is destroyed, but the bigger problem is that the Manaball also hits you in such a case, because it's an area spell.

Except that you're not astral, and in SR3, spells are restricted to the plane in which they're cast. So the manaball won't affect you (unless you're doing Astral Perception and in a dual state, in which case they don't need to target your focus).

The (loss of) the ability to ground combat spells through a focus is a change that happened between SR 2 and 3.

That said, sure, your focus *could* be destroyed by someone in Astral Space.

The second possible recruit that I approached says they should be able to read and consider over the weekend. They're new to SR so it's... a lot to digest.

Hi, I'm one of Jesse's possible recruits. Shadowrun seems less crazy than Gamma World. :) Let's see if I came up with the things that you need to start a character:

Handle/Street Name: Zathena
Name: Serenity Maxwell Henderson, "Max" to her close friends
Gender: Female
Race: Elf
Legal Status: Legal citizen, has a SIN
Archetype: ? -- Is this an official thing? I can't find a list of these.
Skills: Projectile weapons, Stealth, Edged weapons
Special Abilities: Perceptive, Photographic memory?
Description: With her helmet off, the book-jacket picture of "S. Maxwell Henderson" is called to mind. A smiling elf with a white-blonde messy bob, wearing a biker jacket and standing beside a motorcycle. Middle class rebel. When on a run
Thumbnail: Citizen with a flexible-hours dayjob starts running for the experience, has since become a regular, but has to conceal her "secret identity" from her other "real" life.
Personality/Philosophy: Zathena writes urban adventure novels, and started running to get the authentic "feel" of the whole thing, but since then has become a true believer in helping the SIN-less masses and improving their lot. Her publisher knows about her running on a very general level, and would be willing to bail her out of a small legal problem, because it is just for the experience to make her novels more gritty and real, but if they knew she was an insider on something big, they would be less enthused about defending her, especially if she spouted anti-corporate philosophy in public.

Let me know if I am on the right track here. Working on the point-buy thing, but don't have it done yet.

Off to a good start. The concept is fun, a writer-turned-'runner who still has a day job writing but moonlights in the shadows. There's even an edge for that in the SR Companion.

Since you're using a spur or hand blade, you'll probably want to go first, so that you can close with your foe and melee them before they can shoot you. That means getting some Wired Reflexes is probably important, especially since you didn't take any dermal plating, dermal sheathing, or bone lacing, so you don't have bonus damage absorption cyber.

Why wired? How about the reaction enhancer? Is one just better than the other?
And I was thinking about bone lacing. I don't want anything obvious, or I won't be able to keep my regular job. Just have to total everything up and see if I can afford all the things.

It's a matter of degree.

Almost everyone has some cyberware, so setting off a detector isn't a big deal -- you literally need a datajack to do most work, and then you get all kinds of people with cosmetic stuff, and it's not uncommon to have some sort of protection, or skillwires. Some reporters (and actors) get fully sense-wired so they can record everything.

Of course, it also matters what you have -- and how invasive the search is - and what you can have for a cover story. I can say that it's not uncommon for folks who set up a cover ID to have 'legal' skillwires (or, at least, certificates saying so to explain their high-level wired reflexes).

Other people prefer things like Bioware that are more subtle and harder to detect (without running medical tests) - so that they're mostly natural.

Now, in terms of damage soak that isn't obvious, there's Orthoskin bioware
(though it does reduce your sense of touch), and, of course, bone lacing - neither plastic nor ceramic would set off metal detectors, if that's your concern. (Also, bioware muscles to be stronger and, especially, faster, are quite useful too, in terms of the combat pool)

So, wired reflexes is the king of +initiative/+reaction. Having extra initiative dice makes you more likely to hit the 10+ rating that gives you extra actions in a turn, and a better chance to go first.

Reaction enhancer is just a flat +reaction bonus, no extra dice to initiative. That means it doesn't generate as much of a bonus to your initiative total (you aren't rolling bonus dice), but it is much cheaper in terms of Essence cost. You can have both, if you can afford the price.

Note that both reaction enhancer and wired reflexes (and the reflex trigger that you typically get with wired reflexes) can have permits, since there's a "P" in the legality code, so for an 10% extra price in nuyen, you can have those legally. (See p. 274 of SR3.)

The Synaptic Accelerator (which you'll find in Man and Machine) would be the bioware way to move faster - but it only gets 2 levels and isn't quite as good Wired.

Also, for legality, most augmentations (like Wired Reflexes) get worse as you go up the scale in levels - like Wired I is no big deal and generally available -- whereas Wired III .... well, less so.

(Sort of like why most people, IRL, can get a licence for a pistol, but not so much an RPG.)

..and, of course, the other thing about legal cyberware and permits is that it means your chrome is all registered. So if you ever get Law Enforcement looking you up in the database, well, they'll know you've got Wired Reflexes or whatever. (As will border agents, etc.)

Okay, good to know. I started on a profile (https://paizo.com/people/Zathena), but I haven't incorporated suggestions from above yet.

Sorry it is going slow. There's a lot to work through. :)

Hey welcome aboard Zanbabe! Since I'm brand new to Shadowrun myself, I will not be giving you any advice, but wish you the best.

Whether you're trying to 'run legally or not, a lot of it relies on not getting caught. If you are already in the system, all of your legal permits are registered in there with your identity. If you aren't, once you are caught you are given a criminal SIN, and now you are in the system anyway. So what you really want is to make sure that you are never put into the system.

Doing things legally has the advantage that sometimes you can just breeze through low-level security (like a random Lone Star rent-a-cop pulling you over) because, well, you're a legit citizen with all of your papers in order, so you just want to go about your business. Ultimately though almost every 'run involves doing something illegal, and there will be someone who doesn't care about your papers who does not want you to do the thing you want to do, so you either have to get in and out without being spotted, or shoot them.

I took off one thing that didn't allow a permit, but yeah, I get that there is inherent risk with all of it. Can't play the game without being a runner. :)

Gonna try to go over the samurai this week, make sure all the numbers work, get ready to roll.

Ok. I imagine, at this point, any restart/launch will happen after the holidays - so lots of time to look things over.