I was advised to poke my head in here on speculation that I might be useful to y'all. While this version of Shu is 3e, if needed I can pretty quickly convert -- okay, rebuild -- her in 5e. For what it's worth, I'm a long-time SR mook. ;)
Search Posts
... and this is why I need to check out the recruitment board every now and then. I’ll be watching. ;)
It is, though 3rd's purported 'complexity' is only such if you use all the books and their options - not unlike 4e or 5e. Name : Suki Liane. Street name 'Shugyōsha'.
Background / Reason for Running:
See the story Pananagutan for snapshots of Shu' both before coming to Seattle, and well down the line; see End of the Line for some fiction written as a potential baseline/unification thing for a '61 3e game that recently got started here on the boards. Simply put, Shugyōsha - generally known as 'Shu' - would have rather been a bodyguard and company man for her entire life. Unfortunately, things got ... complicated when she got involved with a rising executive. Love, quite public dating, sex, promises of marriage ... and a pregnancy, because Suki was, to be blunt, young and foolish. She had the child, but her daughter (Riian - the last name above is an error, was meant to be Liane) was distinctly, visibly, clearly an elf. Suki, you see, is a very, very human-looking elf. Barely a week after Riian's birth, a four-man hit team came after mother and daughter. The resulting gunfight - for the person for which Suki had been the bodyguard had been Hitomi Shiawase, granddaughter of the CEO and member of the Shiawase family - concluded witht he death of all the gunmen, but Suki's mother and sister were killed as well. The violence brought corporate security, but unfortunately when one of them recognized one of the hit squad as being a member of the corporate high-threat response team, the two drew - and Suki was forced to kill them as well to protect herself and her child. Snatching up what little she could, she called the young girl and apologized to her, explained what had happened, and fled the compound in a running gun-battle before she could shake her pursuers and vanish into the Tokyo underground. Ever since, though she's been on the run from Shiawase - or rather, from her highly-offended ex, who thought she was a proper human, but he's become an executive - she has considered herself a warrior on pilgramage, and sought to find a master worth serving. She has, in fact, discovered that she has a talent for more than just bodyguarding, but for ... agent work. And so she stays in the job, keeping a few steps ahead of her ex, trying to figure out a way to shake him forever.
Rules Request: remove the 'either/or, not both' aspect of Biocompatability; I'd really, really like to take both. :P
The Japanese woman rises, leaving her ice-water-with-lemon (which is all she had, albeit with one refill) and steps calmly over to the coat rack. She takes care pulling the long Mortimer coat on, then pauses to regard the excessively tardy, excessively forgetful, and excessively offensive female elf. "I have considerable experience. I have never once signed a magically binding contract, and I have never once been even offered one that insults my professional integrity and discretion by binding me in the simple, understood agreement to not discuss a meet, because I am a professional. And I am quite pleased to see you don't know who I actually am." She glances back at the pen, at 'Listener', then at the others. "If you sign, understand that you will die; the piece of paper in front of you, should it bear accurate information, is a magical cortex bomb, prepared to go off when they" - and here she waves at the elf and the troll - "want it to. If you do sign, you are a fool, and the world is better off without you in the shadows." She nods courteously to the wannabe-Johnson, and walks out - no matter what.
Dumped my original post re: Shu's name, and the fact that 'End of the Line' is not in effect, and all, because I finally read the GM post. Therefore: Wait. Full birth name?? And she's having us sign what can only be a magically binding contract with a specific pen? Not meaning to offend, but ... that's going to cause an immediate and lethal reaction on Shugyosha's part, because as far as she knows, and thus as far as she can assume, the only people who have her birth name are the people who are out to kill her. I don't know if anyone else has any hunteds, but ... (Edit: And apparently kind of on Listener's, too.) I kind of understand you want to have a whip hand and all, but is this really how far and where you want to go, how you want to start the game out, mdt? Because if it is, in the interests of the game, it'd probably be best if I bow out, otherwise there's going to be at least a dead elf and probably a dead troll, your run will be shot, and everyone will be pissed off.
I'd be stunned if there aren't - because magic exists. Because industry mages can - sorry, DO - make six-figure salaries not only consulting on trid programs and simfilms, but actually casting physical illusions. While they often make heavy use of tropes ('The Odd Coven'), they also use historical information ('Tyee!'). While assensing may be the least tool in a mage's arsenal, it's also the easist to portray, because most mages do it pretty much the same way. In any case. Re: 'End of the Line': Listener is included by implication; he would have been 'picked up' as per the directions in the story, and been there providing spell defense and been a check against Cowboy being a plant or traitor at the exchange at the end of the previous run. So since you don't want to have been involved, your vote would be a 'no'. Therefore, except for those who have already arranged to know each other - Cowboy, HepCat, and Wraith on the one, Redline and Listener on the other - we're all strangers, and the fiction has nothing to do with the game.
Not that they don't expect it to be done - once, at the beginning of the meet. Start to assense at any time after the first few seconds he (or you) arrive, and usually it's a dealbreaker. (And as I've always seen it played, the fact that you're assensing is more-or-less clear to anyone who has even the slightest idea of what to look for.) It's also Shu's policy that you get to do that to her once - once.
Is that a 'yes' for Listener, then?
By the by, neither Hepcat, Cowboy, nor Wraith have on their sheets what their two free L1 contacts are. (Listener doesn't get contacts; he's been hung out to dry. ;) )
I'd like a clear vote - from everyone, actually - on whether or not the 'End of the Line' fiction is 'canon' for us. Note that it has to be a unanimous 'yes'. If so, then it can be assumed that HepCat and Listener were 'invited' to the meet that followed, and I would presume that Cowboy pushed his way in by 'coming along' with HepCat and Wraith. (In which case Listener would have gotten different - private - instructions from Shu.) I'd like to know, because it changes how Shugyōsha reacts, specifically in this instance to Cowboy. It also would suggest that the call came in to one of us with a Fixer for a contact - Cloudy or Shugyōsha. If not, then we're all strangers to each other, and Shugyōsha reacts - to both Cowboy and Cloudy - in a completely different way.
Always show up at least twenty minutes before the meet. It isn't runner etiquette; it's operational paranoia. It's so you can scope out the surroundings, figure out your escape route in the case it's a trap, determine who's a plant and who's not, figure out which of the bystanders might get themselves involved (also called 'do something stupid'). It's what keeps you alive in a world where there really are people out to get you - people who want you dead in the worst way. Tonight, Shugyōsha had showed up a half-hour early, spending the time watching the place, strolling around to check out the service entrances, stopping in at the places nearby. It was relatively easy for her to do, between the upscale armored clothing she wore and the fact that she actually lived in the Quarter. Alleys, back doors, the park behind the place, stairs and balconies - they were all pathways, and knowing how you could get through a place meant an increased chance of surviving the meet. There are two ways she likes to go - be the first one to the meet, or the last one to the meet. She moves up to the bar's entrance ten minutes beforehand, stepping into the place to become the first one in. Why would he buy the place out for the night, and be late to his own meet? she wonders to herself for a moment. Of course - influence and money. The Japanese reserve keeps her face still, even as she nods courteously to Bartholomew. "Ice water, please, with lemon," she replies, accepting the easily-made pseudo-drink - it could, after all, be anything from gin to vodka - and starting to make a slow circuit of the room. Ostensibly she's looking with interest at the pictures and the knick-knacks; those serve as a cover for her checking out the other ways into and out of the room. When she finally does settle down, it's in the back corner tables, almost hidden by the bar from the front door, but with her back to the wall and where she can see the other entrances to the room. The Mortimer 'Ulysses' coat goes on the hanger, though, which leaves her with 'only' four weapons, now somewhat more easily located ...
Re: End of the Line:
Fiction is fiction. I'm fine with that piece since it just (sort of) establishes his presence ... That's pretty much what I was going for - presence, writing the other PCs as their backgrounds and discussions about them have brought them to my mind - Selachii as someone more concerned about the Matrix and the flow of information, secretive about 'his' stuff; Cloudy as quiet, watchful, but with a fast hand and a subtle sense of humor (at least when on a run - though sorry for not getting his Choctaw/Creole heritage right); Redline a little manic but focussed when she has explosions to make happen; Wraith something of a 'lost orphan' sort despite her implants who has incredible potential, but who hasn't had it trained/used properly up until now. It's fiction, not in-character posting for other people; it's my impressions of their characters. Considering we've been going at this for three weeks, I think the other players have their characters' voices kind of clear in their heads; the 'why do you run' is sure to have helped that, and IMO everyone gave some pretty darn good writing in regards to it. And while it does establish some amount of power dynamic, in part with Shugyōsha being the 'mastermind' sort who's assembling the plans and directing the others, if someone else wants to take that point by all means. I'm a 'everyone gets time in the spotlight at least once a game' sort of player and GM. Some of my characters in the past have been designed to do nothing but enable other players to really shine when they're in the spotlight; while I don't think Suki is (entirely) one such, I'm not one to whine and b@~!$ when someone does something I can't (or even something I can). At the same time, I at least like to think I hit everyone's high-point skills and whatnot. And, like I said, only if everyone's okay with it. If one of the five people I proposed as being part of 'that team' doesn't like it, than we all meet for the first time at the start of the run. I'm not going to shove a piece of writing I found fun to put together down someone else's throat. Love the reaction HepCat get from her!! I actually had the idea in the back of my head that Wraith has been trying to get Hepcat 'hired on', at least as a second-stringer, by Shu for a while - that several times when Manfred needed help, Wraith would pipe up that Hepcat was available, but Shu would still go with someone 'with more experience' or something. In the piece, she's accepting Hepcat because she's pressed for time and she doesn't have many options. And how does Cowboy figure in? Didn't have a clear read on how he would be 'related' to anyone, as it were, except perhaps for Listener - friend of a friend, or friend of the family, or something. If given an actual 'how are you going to involve Cowboy in this story' request, I'd say that when Redline gets home, she discovers Listener talking to Cowboy in her place - that Cowboy heard of the problems his old Army/Texas Ranger/whatever buddy / son of his buddy (or whatever) was in, and tracked him down to help him out. Of course he's going to come 'ride shotgun' with Listener to make sure he doesn't get hurt - and who knows, maybe he'd help out too. ... though meeting up post-run is something that (I thought) was not done for a couple of days, but it could have been a rush job. Depends on the run. Generally, though, you want to arrange for the exchange as quickly as possible, to give the opposition (i.e. the people you stole it from) the smallest window possible to intercept the package, not quite enough time for the Johnson to be able to set up the way Shu has everyone set up in the story, but just enough time for your team to do so. Once the MacGuffin is transferred to the Johnson, and presuming the J doesn't screw you over (which, really, I seriously hope our Js don't - because I am not the sort of runner who goes out of their way to try to screw -him- over) then the runners are no longer important, and can vanish back into the shadows. A good benchmark is 6 hours after the time of the run, +/- 3 hours. With SouPharm, I had a mental image that what 'the package' was was both a) moderately fragile and b) required refrigeration of some sort, so the longer it was out of its 'coolant system' thing, the more likely it was going to warm to the point of disintegration. :P :) So they wanted to get it out of their hands and into the Johnson's as soon as possible.
Well, only if everyone's okay with it. ;) But it begged to be written.
This kind of popped into my head as I was thinking about if/how we all knew each other; it's the 'end' of the run just previous to the first one of this game. End of the Line: There was silence when Shugyōsha, still wet from the Lake, finally walked into the rendezvous point, the back room at a gin joint called Like A Fish. They'd arranged its use through one of Selachii's acquantances, a decker whose name he'd so far refused to tell the group; no specifics, only that it was to be open for use by a certain individual at a certain time. Of course Selachii'd arrived first, having finished his intrusion via a flophouse two blocks over; after that, it was just a matter of letting the rest in through the back door after confirming their facial IDs and recognition gestures through the security cameras. "So," she said, placing a knapsack as soaked as she was onto the table at the center of the room. "I've clearly been out of the loop. Can anyone tell me what happened?" The silence extended for a moment, until Redline spoke up. "I think Manfred went into this one looking for a fight." "So he had to take Claudius with him?" "You know Claudius had a mad-on for Southern Pharmaceuticals, Shu," said the only man in the room. "He was rarin' to go on this one." "He was a mage, g%+!@&mit, trained at MIT&T, not some two-bit wiz-ganger!!" It wasn't often that Shugyōsha's temper flared. "He had more willpower and discipline that this!!" Wraith snorted. "Clearly not." Shugyōsha gave her a dirty look. "So what went down after we parted ways? All I caught was a six-second clip of a Wolverine Security helo putting four missiles into the air and blowing Manfred the hell out of the water." It was Redline who replied. "We got out pretty clean. Between Cloudy and Wraith keeping up suppressive fire on anything that moved, my grenades when we needed 'em, and Selachii opening and closing doors for us, I got the charges planted pretty much to the Johnson's spec - max chaos and destruction, minimum loss of life. Once we were out, I started triggering them, and security lost interest in us - gave us time to get to the 'Rover and get the hell out. I saw the Wolverine helo go overhead about three minutes later, but it didn't look like it was headed for SouPharm. What happened on your end?" "Once we split up after getting that," Shugyōsha said with a strong tone of disgust in her voice, gesturing at the soaked sack, "Claudius and I made noise on our way out the back, just as planned, to give you four time for the third floor charges. Manfred came roaring up, giving us cover fire as we ran down to the end of the pier; perfect timing on his part, letting us run right onto the boat without missing a step. He and Claudius raked the SouPharm boats as we left, doing some damage to them but not, you know, completely out of order. They were ... I think a hundred and fifty yards back when we turned the corner and I went over the side. I was fifteen feet down and forty feet to the side when SouPharm went by. The plan was --" "-- for Manfred and Claudius to duck into the Clairmont Marina, Claudius to call up the water elemental he bound last night," interrupted Selachii, "kill their forward momentum, still their wake, and turn them around so they appear to be puttering out of the place. From what I can piece together" - the decker was clearly plugged in and sifting through news reports - "they did that, but instead of keeping a low profile, they blew the SouPharm boat out of the water at point-blank range as it was going by, then went back for another pass on the back of the building. Wolverine was on their way by that point, and ..." "... blew them out of the water in time for the Eleven O'Clock News," finished the Japanese female with a sigh. "Lo, the fruits of an obsession." She rubbed her face with both hands, clearly thinking through what came next. "Selachii, you said you knew a mage, a runner. Would he --" "Not available," replied the decker. "On a job in Baton Rouge." "Well. As much as I don't like going to a meet without mage backup --" "I know a mage." All eyes turned to Redline. "Seriously?" "Yah. He's been, um ..." Redline almost seemed embarrassed. "Crashing on my couch. Just for a couple days ..." "Uh-huh," Cloudy said with the most absolutely straightest face imagineable. "He is!!" she shot back. "Anyhow, he's kinda ... um, laying low for a bit. So he might be willing to provide backup." "And my roommate's available," piped up Wraith. "What, Hepcat again??" asked Shugyōsha with exasperation. "C'mon, Wraith, he's --" "-- green, fresh, wet behind the ears as much as you are right now," replied the cybered-up street-rat hotly, "but he knows his machines and he's willing to work and he can handle a gun and we don't know where Manfred kept his cars and we need the cover." Shugyōsha closed her eyes and leaned forward against the table, pressing her palms flat against it for a long moment. "Fine," she said, straightening up. "Redline, go pick up your couch surfer, your Ares MP, and one of those anti-personnel cluster rockets you told me you have stashed, and go find us a nice quiet lonely place to set up - do it fast, and tell Selachii when you've found it. I want a vehicle-accessable area with no aerial access. Selachii, your Jackrabbit's nearby? Selachii!!" Pulled out of his news surfing by the snap in her voice, he looked up. "Huh?" "Is your Jackrabbit nearby?" "Yeah." "Good. Get down to the Red Floor, ask Red to use the porta-potty. It's the code of the week, she'll let you into her back area, it's got a rerouted land line. Take Wraith, drop her off at home; Wraith, call Hepcat on your way. If he's not home you get him on the line and have him meet you there. Selachii, once you get set up, you're our hub - comms through you, let us know where to go." The decker nodded, closing up shop. "You want eyes on the traffic cams around the area?" "Yeah, to let us know when and how the J's on his way. Cloudy, when you get the call from Selachii, you call up the J and tell him where." The black adept nodded. "How long?" "Minimum thirty minutes, maximum forty-five - hit it on the quarter-hour. Call me after, I'll pick you up on my way. Just you and me in the circle this time. Redline, you set yourself and your mage up in the shadows; I want spell defense up on Cloudy and I, and if he can hide you and him, so much the better. Wraith, long-gun with a different angle than Redline, no more than two-thirds of the way across the circle - I want you ready to play pin-the-tail on the Johnson's brain until everything's clear. Hepcat has a car with clearance and some armor on it?" Wraith nodded, her eyes a little wide at Shugyōsha's rapid-fire orders. "Good. He's inside the car, inside the circle. If he's got guns on the thing, I want them hid but warmed up and ready to rock." "All right." "What's the plan, then?" asked Cloudy. "That," said Shugyōsha, pointing at the backpack, "isn't drop-breakable, but it's not what I'd call durable. If it drops in the pot, we toss the damn thing at the slickest of the J's bodyguards, Johnson gets one in the brain-pan courtesy of Wraith, you and I go under Hepcat's car or truck or whatever he's got as Redline puts her anti-personnel shot onto the J's car - scythe city, probably take out the package to boot. Redline's couch-surfer does whatever he can to help out, then you and I roll back out and clean up the mess while Hepcat and Redline put down any heavy opposition. Any questions?" "Pretty straight up, Shu," replied Redline. "What're you gonna do between now and then?" "Me?" The Japanese round-ear elf lifted, then shook her hands, flicking water everywhere. "I'm gonna go get into some dry f#!#ing clothes."
Selachii:
Selachii still has 3 build points to spend. If I may suggest ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------
This would thus spend 2 out of your 3 points, while actually giving you another 5 KS points AND an additional language point to use on your 1- and 2-point Knowledge skills as well as your French. :D The last skill point you could use to bump your Pistols / Dart Gun up to a 3/5, maybe? I just realized something. Not only do we all look human, I'm the only meta in the group. Yeesh!!
Can always do a rolling start with the people we've got. "You get a call," and let us pose into arriving, waiting on the Johnson ... debating the New Orleans fasionableness of wearing a thousand-dollar shawl over a longcoat ... ;)
No sillier than "You know what they call a Big Mac in France? A Royale with cheese." :D
Argument in the 'this is what I mean to say, this is my point' sense, not argument in the 'you are wrong and this is why' sense. No passion meant. Sorry, y'all. I can clearly picture it - it's just a clearly silly image to me, that's all.
Now take either Sally Tsung in the first, or the cowboy in the second, and put a $750 crystal-studded gold shawl over their shoulders, or tying up their hair. Native American street punk is one thing; blending that with high-class stuff? It'll work for the 'wild and wacky/how weird can we go today' fashion show, but it won't make it onto the street. *shrugs* If you wanna go with that, you go right ahead. This is what made me realize that subtlety was the way to go.
And re: the shawl and the long coat - this sort of thing I can handle, sure. Headscarves, whatever; that's New Orleans street style, Creole/Jamaica/Nawlins voodoo funk that'd make George Clinton nod judiciously with approval. But even George would look at you like something was wrong with you if you started draping this shawl over the shoulders and back of this long coat, you know? :P :) Headscarf, sure, but ...
Not having a sniper-grade rifle starting out is generally not a problem; it isn't often you need a long gun, and you'll probably get enough cash to buy one by the time you do. Building the character in the NSRCG, finding a few things. A Few Things: First, make sure you have your 'Cyber Implant Firearms' as a custom skill using QKN instead of STR.
Second, the thermosense organ must, alas, go - it's got an Availability of 10, so it's out of our game-starting reach. Third, what level is your coat's thermal dampening at? Note that it isn't a 'cooling system' per se; it simply captures your body heat (for only about 2 hours) to help you better blend with the environment and make you harder to be spotted using Thermographic vision and drone sensors. It might work for you, but if you want concealment instead of 'cooling so I can wear it in Nawlins' heat', it'd be better to put it in the full suit of FFBA. (Remember also that if you keep the hood peeled back and the gloves off, FFBA functionally works as a half-suit.) Finally, thermal dampening DOUBLES the availability of a piece of armor, so you need to put it into something with an availability of 4 or less - which rules out either the FFBA or the Mortimer greatcoat, since both have 6s. Alternately, ask the GM for a +1 availability $1000 thing that just makes it easier to wear a heavy armored greatcoat in Nawlins heat!! :D Last, the car crash, which was something I didn't notice (because I haven't played with cyberlimbs in a dog's age): while your effective STR is somewhat boosted, your QKN is somewhat reduced - because baseline cyberlimb strength and quickness is set at 4. Obviously we don't muck around with the STR, but getting your cyberlimb's QKN up to your body will require ...
So to keep your overall 8 QKN, you need to spend 135,000 and 0.3 additional essence. (Your arm has a capacity of 10, and your ECU is at 7.5, so you're fine for now. :D ) Note that if you DO use the NSRCG, it does NOT rate a cyberlimb's strength correctly; it presumes the limb starts out with the same attributes as the character. Unfortunately, all your 'ware is Alpha grade - which means that if you keep with the alphagrade arm, the cost doubles, 'cause you need alphaware-grade gear in an alphaware-grade limb. With a L1 Mnemonic Enhancer (enough to get you the -1 Karma break) still there, I have your cash at 163,600 left for your gear. If you reduce the crazy-huge ammo expenditure, you can very likely still get everything you have. Otherwise, doesn't look too bad. One thing does stick out at me, though ... ... an 'Ancien' shawl is a high-class accoutrement for those Armanté 'Venetian' backless dresses, and uses the 'helmet' rules for armor-adding (i.e. adds to the total); wearing it either as a helmet OR with your FFBA and Mortimer of London greatcoat will get you the 'Zany Person of Bourbon Street' award for every month you wear it, and I swear to god I will shoot you unconscious if I see you wearing it either way. :P :) Spend that 750 on something more likely - a Victory-brand 'Industrious' hardhat or two, or 'Rapid Transit' helmet ...
Actually, I screwed up on both of these; thank you for this. For some reason I thought the Actioneer was a 'full set' sort of thing, where you can do jacket under overcoat, like with standard armor. And it's been so long since I carefully read the Forearm Guards that I totally flaked on the melee aspect. So again - thanks. Off to edit!!
Typically I go with Athletics/Gymnastics, but I figured that it would be better to start out with a decent general skill and then go specialize - especially with the Mnemonic Enhancer saving me karma - than do it at game start. Made this decision on a number of things, actually. And while she does get a couple TN bonuses (balance/gymnastics and climbing), it's the bonus die from Enhanced Articulation that definitely helps. While I do have a good idea of exactly how she carries the gear, I agree that it IS a lot; the blades are kind of a non-negotiable, but fortunately with a long coat and concealability-improving sheath for the one, and the jacket and sheath for the other, it keeps it subtle; roughly one in two people (3D, TN 6+) will manage to spot the katana under the long coat, which is the most visible thing I carry. Besides the grenades, though, the rest isn't all that much - the Savior Advanced Medkit is probably the biggest and bulkiest, with the survival kit as the next; the patches are in a cigarette-case sized thing, and the rest of the things are easily tucked into little pockets here and there. Easier on a run than otherwise, but that's why I have a very fashionable armored coat. ;)
I believe you can do it after game start. Re: Gremlins, you activate the detonator when you plant it, not when it's meant to go off. That could mean it blows late, like in the movie, but it could mean it gets what it THINKS is a detonation signal, and blows early. For the licenses etc., I guess for some reason I was thinking you had a maxed-out Hunted. Are you going to stay a SINner?
Re: Induction pads - as purchased, you currently have 3 induction pads - the one that comes with the SG2, and two more. Remove one of 'em. Strength: Skills are not 'capped', they just increase in karma cost. Since you can get the biomuscles later, use the monies elsewhere - unless you plan on going gonzo on the STR skills immediately. ... yeah, that's pretty scary clawiness. Note that that's only if you can engage with both hands; if you're still holding a weapon with one of them, you can only engage with one. Regarding the goggles, well - I'd leave those behind. Though you're not Ms. Wraith, the less you have to have visible or muck around with, the better. Adding E-mag 3, Thermo, Low-Light, and Ear Dampener, along with Nictatating Membranes (bioware flare comp that also helps vs. smoke) will all fit into the cost for 1 level of Muscle Aug, so you'd still have a +1 there... with almost 2k left over for added toys, not to mention the goggles and whatnot you can leave behind. And all the standard explosives (dynamite, etc.) are still used; C4 is still C4, and while it won't normally go off that way, well, if you burn it first .... ;) I personally wouldn't stick with Gremlins. Might want to be missing a finger or two. ;)
*smacks Lessah* Bad Shadowrunner!! No teasing the GM before he starts!! Other things I saw ... Cloudy:
Knowledge Skills: Same note on these as with Me'Mori - it's 1:1 right now, so cutting a couple low-end skills to boost others is not necessarily a bad move gamewise. Flavorwise, I agree with you. Languages: You don't get your native language for free. See also above regarding language levels (in my experience, a 3 is workable, 5 is standard). Don't forget you can spend your free knowledge skill points on languages as well, and that Cityspeak is a lingo/concentration of English - in NO, it just might be blended with French instead of Japanese. Edges:
Extra Contact and Friends in High Places - this is 4 points you would be better off either spending elsewhere or not taking in order to remove that Hunted (which is a MASSIVE Bringing Hell With Me sort of Hunted). If you're going to keep the Hunted, find a point somewhere and just boost your wealth by 5 points, purchasing one or two 'powerful' contacts as Level 2s, and getting a whole handful of extra L1 contacts. This would fit you much, much better. Wraith:
Skills: Unarmed Firsts? ;) Edges: 'Bonus Attribute Point'. While it has always been my belief that you cannot exceed your racial maximum (6) with a bonus attribute point (you would also need Exceptional Attribute), on a fresh reading I can see how that can work - you're simply going into the 7-8-9 territory. :P Gear: ... don't forget your gear!! :D
Redline:
Since this just came in, here's my $0.02 worth ... Edges/Flaws: IMO, Do Not take Gremlins as a demolitions girl. You will not know if your detonators are working properly until they fail to go off. You can get a -1 somewhere else ... safer for you. (Because you don't want it to just 'go off' all of a sudden while you're working on the stuff either, y'know?) While Impulsive will make for an interesting demolition expert ... I also expect hilarity to ensue. ;) Skills: Big set; nicely done. Might do a little tightening on the knowledge skill distribution, but overall, good point spreads. Cyberware: Smartlink II: if you're going to double up on the induction pads like I did, either just add one (preferable for you) or else dive into the entirety of the subsystems (which you don't need to do, unless you also ...) You might consider some vision and ear modifications - flare comp, low-light and/or thermo for the eyes, dampeners for the ears. (This'll help with your flashbangs.) Bioware: Looking at your skills ... do you really need your STR so high? I understand that that's what your hand razors do damage with, but between the dikote and the suprathyroid gland, you'd be at 6 STR, so 9M for the razors. (Yeesh.) Use the 40k to cybertweak your eyes and ears for the better use of demolitions. ;) Contacts: Nice assortment. :D
Listener:
Skills: I'd personally knock down Aura Reading by a point or two, and use those to supplement your physical combat skills. Very nice on the rest of it. Gear &C.: Personally, I would eliminate all your permits; they're costing you cash and with your Hunted and Hung Out To Dry, you're a wanted man anyhow - a permit is just a flag to be waved to your Hunted. Get a Secure Jacket, switch the expendible fetish in Healing to reusable, and galumph on. Otherwise, pretty good.
HepCat:
Magic - remember you don't have any. ;) And if you did, it'd be reduced. Skills: Nice assortment. I'd drop Biotech and add 1 to Small Unit Tactics, though. KS: Might take a point from a 4 and put it into that Military Theory. Nice group, otherwise. :) Cyberware: The DNI - is that for your VCD, as I presume it is? That's what I'd have, anyhow. I -believe- that you'd need a DNI for each extra piece of electronics, but MDT may rule that one is all you need for the lot. Interesting, that you put a radio in there. Eyes: are those cyber replacements, or are those all retinal mods? And is the Vision Mag-3 ocular (more clear) or digital (invisible)? Edges/Flaws: Remember, it's SPIKE resistance, not SPOKE resistance. Getting rubbed against a wheel will hurt you just as much as anyone else. ;) Cowboy: Attributes: I know you went with that high QKN and all, but a STR of 2 might hurt you in both the short and the long run. Could balance STR and BOD; up to you, though. Skills: Good skill set. Note that a R1 language does not give you any read/write in it, but you DO automatically get R/W at 1/2 (rounded down) the level of the language. With 7 language and 25 knowledge points, that should mean you have 3 more KS points to distribute. IMO, drop corporate finance, boost Desert Wars by 2, and give a point each to Choctaw and Mechanical Traps. Adept Abilities: You don't need (and shouldn't have) a specialization on your Improved Ability. Otherwise, great assortment. Makes for a very serious gunman. Gear: Having just eyeballed your gear, drop the Shotguns specialization and just go with the skill at 6. Double-check with the GM to see if your sawn-offs get used with Pistols or Shotguns; important, considering your Aptitude and Improved Ability are both shotgun-based. I would also consider switching the secure clothing for a secure jacket; higher B/I, for not much more. As a side note, remember that the Magazines are internal - stock-held or pump-action sort of things. You can get fast-loaders, though, and with Nimble Fingers it'll almost not matter. ;)
Technically, the lingos develop off the local language - in New Orleans, English, French, and to a lesser extent Spanish. Shu doesn't have French, but I decided that on purpose, again to maximize the build point usage; karmawise, it'll be one of my early purchases. (I should note that the NSRCG unfortunately does not account for Mnemonic Enhancer karma reductions, nor does it enable any sort of discount. Might have to tweak files directly. :/ ) ... seriously considering a last-second 5-point shift to a million nuyen for a Pain Editor ... ... naah. That can wait, if ever. :D
Not sure where you get that from, apti, but I've always played and seen it played that 5 - standard Int +2 - is baseline for common-conversation fluency in a language. But to forego an argument, I'll simply point out that languages are found on pp. 91 and 97 of the core rulebook. If you want to risk complex interactions (TN 6) on 3 dice ... Oh, and you don't get a R/W for a language in which you have only 1 point.
....aaand Shugyosha is done. Much, much prettier character sheets on Shugyōsha are in my Google Drive folder. Basic Information and Background:
Name : Suki Liane. Street name 'Shugyōsha'. Gender : Female Phenotype : Japanese elf. (As this is a starting character, unlikely it would reach the point where she Awakens, as is part of the character 'path'.) Archetype : Mastermind / Street samurai. Stat Spec : Human average; high intelligence, very high agility. Ambidextrous in regards to hand use, but not simultaneous weapon use. Personality : Cool, collected, and above all professional. She is a firm believer in the structure of battle being 'Intelligence before speed; speed before strength; strength before weakness,' and is set to ensure that she is capable of being the first and second. Skill Set : Very good pistols and blades; good stealth; some capability for motorcycles, unarmed combat, etc. Datajack and a little computer knowledge; magic potential. Abilities / Implants : Primarily low-key cyberware and bioware implants, designed for subtlety and precision. . . . Liane Suki grew up within the warm, caring family of Shiawase. Suki's native intelligence and agility were noted early on, and she was guided into the executive protection group. Her parents' lifelong committment to the zaibatsu helped to counteract their daughter's status as kawaruhito, as did the facts that their daughter's metatype showed only a mild expression, and that she was attractive in a classic Japanese style. Early on, her extraordinary agility was making itself known; Shiawase manipulated her parents into putting her into kendo, and from there her path was set.
Also see the story Pananagutan for a feel for her both before (Manila) and after (Seattle) current events.
Attributes and Conditions:
4 Body 3 + 1 12 Quickness 7 + 5 5 Strength 4 + 1 4 Charisma 4 - - 6 Intelligence 6 - - 5 Willpower 5 - - 1.98 Essence 6 -4.02
11 Reaction 9 + 2
Pools:
Condition Monitors:
L = -1 Ini, +1 TN
Edges and Flaws:
(4) Aptitude: Blades TN -1 for all tests with chosen skill. (2) Ambidexterity-2 When firing two weapons, TN +2 for the first, TN +1 for the second weapon. (2) Good Reputation Lev 2 TN -2 for social skill tests. (1) Good Looking and Knows It TN -2 for social interactions with the opposite gender, -1 with the own gender. (1) Human Looking Exactly that. Only for elves, dwarves and orks. (-1) Day Job 10hrs/week: Courier Character has a day job. Salary: 1,000 ¥ per month. (-3) Dependent(-3): Riian, child Character has a person that depends on him. GM's discretion about the flaw's value. (-2) Hunted Lev 1: Ex-lover/husband, Riian's father Character is hunted by a level 3 enemy. (-2) Allergy Uncom & Mild: Cherry Blossoms TN +1 when exposed to the substance. (-2) C:Philia: Uncom & Mild: Attractive/Athletic Ork Males TN +1 to social tests with such individuals. Skills:
Active Skills: +1D
Social Skills: -4/-3 TN
Knowledge Skills
Languages
Implants:
Cyberware
Current Essence: 1.98 Bioware:
BioIndex: 4.6 Carried Gear:
Retract. Climbing Claws(CYB) (STR-1)L Katana(EDG) (STR+4) 9S - Dikoting (900 cm^2) - Quick Draw Holster (Conc.) Wakizashi(EDG) (STR+3) 8S - Dikoting (500 cm^2) - Quick Draw Holster (Conc.) Tanto(EDG) (STR+3) 8M - Dikoting (150 cm^2) - Quick Draw Holster (Conc.) Hardliner Gloves(UNA) (STR+1)M Stun Colt Manhunter Smart2 (HPist) (cl) Conc. 5, 16(c), SA, 9M - Personalized Grip - Silencer - Quick Draw Holster (Conc.) +1 Conc. - Clip (16r) (Reg)/HermeticSeal (cl) - [2]Clip (16r) (Reg)/HermeticSeal (cl) Walther PB-120 Smart2 (LPist) (cl) Conc. 8(6), 10(15)(c), SA, 6L - Personalized Grip - Silencer - Quick Draw Holster (Conc.) +1 Conc. - Clip (10r) (Cp-G-S/DMSO)/HSeal (cl) 10D Stun - Flash-Pak (N) Conc. 12, (Special) - Flash-Pak (N) Conc. 12, (Special) - Smoke Grenade (N) Conc. 6 - Smoke Grenade (N) Conc. 6 - Smoke (IR) Grenade (N) Conc. 6 - White Phosphorus Grenade (N) Conc. 6, 14M/10L Mortimer "Ulysses" Coat Conc. 10, B4/ I2 Secure Jacket Conc. 9, B5/ I3 Forearm Guards Conc. 12, B0/ I1 Form-fitting Full-Body Suit Conc. 12, B 4/ I 1 V-Island "Actioneer" Jacket Conc. 13, B 1.5/ I 1 V-Island "Actioneer" Slacks Conc. 14, B 1/ I 0.5 V-Island "Actioneer" Shirt Conc. 14, B 1.5/ I 0.5 V-Island "Actioneer" Long Coat Conc. 13, B 2/ I 2 Ordinary Clothing Fine Clothing Tres Chic Clothing Rappelling Gloves Victory "Rapid Transit" Hvy J. Conc. 6, B 2/ I 4 Plastic Restraint Melters-Acc Victory "Rapid Transit" Helmet B 0/ I 2 Victory "Industrious" Coverall Conc. 9, B 4/ I 2 Victory "Industrious" Hardhat B 0/ I 1 Earplug Cell Phone Basic Pocket Secretary Handset Cell Phone Nav-Dat GPS Ultrasound Detector Data Cable (5m) w/interface Respirator Survival Kit [3]Ration Bar (1 Day) CUS:Dental Mirror Wire Cutters [3]Restraints, Plasteel Savior Adv. Medkit [2]Antidote Patch [6] [2]Stimulant Patch [3] [2]Tranq Patch [6] Trauma Patch Gear At Home:
Handset Cell Phone Ration Bars (10 Days) False-Bottom suitcase (.2CF) Small Military Rucksack Grapple Gun Stealth Grapple Line (100m) Stealth Line Catalyst Stick Fins - [4]Clip Heavy Pistol (16r) (Reg)/HermeticSeal (cl) - Flash-Pak (N) - Flash-Pak (N) Conc. 12, (Special) - Smoke Grenade (N) Conc. 6 - Smoke (IR) Grenade (N) Conc. 6 - White Phosphorus Grenade (N) Conc. 6, 14M/10L [2]Fine Clothing [8]Ordinary Clothing Gear In Stash:
Katana(EDG) Conc. 3, 1, (STR+3) 8M, 1 - Quick Draw Holster (Stand.) Wakizashi(EDG) Conc. 5, 0, (STR+2) 7M, 1 - Quick Draw Holster (Conc.) Enfield AS7 Smart2 (ShtG) (cl) Conc. 3, 10(c), SA/BF, 8S/11S - Shock Pads (RC:1) - Gas Vent IV - Under Barrel Weight - Sling - [2]10-Rnd Clip (EX Explosive) (cl) - 50-Rnd Clip (Regular) (cl) - [2]50-Rnd Clip (Stun Shells) (cl) - 10-Rnd Clip (Stun Shells) (cl) Colt Manhunter Smart2 (HPist) (cl) Conc. 5, 16(c), SA, 9M - Personalized Grip - Quick Draw Holster (Conc.) +1 Conc. - Silencer - Clip (16r) (Reg)/HermeticSeal (cl) - [2]Clip (16r) (Reg)/HermeticSeal (cl) - [4]Clip (16r) (Reg)/HermeticSeal (cl) Walther PB-120 Smart2 (LPist) (cl) Conc. 8(6), 10(15)(c), SA, 6L - Personalized Grip - Silencer - Quick Draw Holster (Conc.) +1 Conc. - Clip (10r) (Cp-G-S/DMSO)/HSeal (cl) 10D Stun Hardliner Gloves(UNA) Secure Long Coat Conc. 10, B 4/ I 2 Secure Jacket Conc. 9, B 5/ I 3 Forearm Guards Conc. 12, B 0/ I 1 Ordinary Clothing [30]Ration Bar (1 Day) Data Cable (5m) w/interface Handset Cell Phone Lifestyles & Contacts:
Primary: Area:A-Hgh Comforts:Mid Entertainment:Low Furnishings:Mid Security:Mid Space:Mid Bribed Security, Defensive Setup, Privacy Screen(1), Escape Tunnel, Terrific View, Annoying Neighbors (2), Trigger-Happy Landlord, Cacophonous Neighborhood, Rough Neighborhood, Mail Leftovers, Gnomes Under The Floorboard (A) - 18 pts, 7000/mo A 3-bedroom apartment in the French Quarter. Stash:
Kenshiro Kumamoto; Kumamoto, JIS
Mr. Cleaner; Central Business District / Various
The Wyrm Ouroboros
The Fisher King; Holy Cross
Matty O'Hara; French Quarter
Dorah Sammamash; Mid-City
Red; Red's Bar / The Red Floor, Iberville
Spotlight; Waterways
Monk; Top Stop Shop, Dillard
Jose' Tonito; Desire
Clever Blackhand; Varies
Det. Jacob Paulson; 8th District (French Quarter & Central Business District)
Expanded Clothing: To use the Expanded Clothing information from the clothing and lifestyle worksheet in your NSRCG program, simply follow these directions: 1) Copy the information from page 2, 'NSRCG Code', of said worksheet. You can do it in a clump, just select all of those cells.
In regards to the cost required by the 'Needle'n Threads' clothing - the multiplier shown in the name (such as 'MrJ Spec-Need'nThread (x3-5)') is a cost multiplier for the base amount listed for that particular type of clothing. It is up to the GM how high that multiplier is going to go; the base given is a generally good minimum. You cannot, unfortunately, get a one-of-a-kind cutting-edge fashionable dress that would stop them on the red carpet at the Oscars for a measely $2500, sorry. ;)
Tips, Suggestions, Advice: Typically, ratings at game start can only go up to R6, just for your fake IDs. You also might not want to link them to a corporation; make yourself a freelancer. Cyber/Bioware:
IMO, dump the cybertaser; you have the shock hand, that should be enough for a desperate situation. Pick up pistols and a couple of high-quality holdouts, light pistols, and - here's the kicker - silencers and KO chem rounds. (See Shugyōsha's stuff for examples on that.) If you don't want to muck with that, go with SMGs. Get a smartgun link. SG2, by preference. Sure, it's illegal (per se), but you have the cash to be able to load the perms for it into your IDs. Get the highest level of Mnemonic Enhancer you can afford - L3 should suit you very nicely. It is worth it, trust me. Skills:
Active Skill Recommendations: dump biotech and cyber-taser. Put both into Pistols or SMGs; if you don't want to muck around with chemicals, go for SMGs. This lets you do something in physical combat besides cower and hopefully find a wireless link you can hack through. (Remember, not all the world is wireless at this point, and I would imagine most cyberware isn't.) Knowledge Skills: I like the wide spread, but again, it's a 1:1 result at this point, and if you go for the mnemonic enhancer, you'll rack up KSs in no time. Drop Gang ID and Pop Culture; turn Philosophy and Zen Philosophy into Philosophy (Zen) 3(5), and spend 2 points elsewhere. Languages: You currently do not speak English. This is a major oversight. Typically, you should speak your native language at a 4 or 5; Cityspeak, Deckerese, Netspeak, all the 'jargons' and 'ebonics' stuff are specializations of the language. I would suggest Deckerese/Netspeak. (Why they have two ... I don't know. I guess Netspeak is what the general public babbles.) So really, you should have English (Deckerese) 5(7), then Japanese 3. Gear:
You also don't need to 'dot' the threads; just go to your campaigns tab, and they'll be laid out whether you've posted to them or not. *bouncing eager to start* I wanna post!! I wanna post!! Can I post going to my gunperson to try to arrange for some guns or bullets?? :D
I's all done!! I hope. Though I am tempted to load up the 'clothing' stuff ... ;) Hm. 250 characters per section; put up in order of Gender, Race, Classes/Levels.
Basically. The tangible object is worth a handful of nuyen at best, as compared to the minimum of 1k you're spending on a falsified SIN, so the makers toss it in as a gimmie. And as I said, you COULD get multiple credsticks linked to the SIN, but once the SIN is burned, so are the credsticks ... which is why you shouldn't load a lot of cash onto a cheap SIN. ;)
I might've edited after you got started. The main forging is accomplished in the databanks, just like in 4e (or rather, 4e is like 3e, but let's go past that), so your falsified SIN is going to be first and foremost the identity and supporting information. However, credsticks are generally created and issued by people who have very good access to the databases - read as 'high-end SIN checkers' - and who are going to be knee-jerk checking the validity of the SIN even as they're encoding the ID onto a credstick for you to cart around. Since a SIN is an alphanumeric about three times as long, and thirty times as complicated as a public identity number today (whatever they have in your country, Social Security number in the US), you can't generally just ask for a blank credstick and encode your fake SIN's information onto it. It thus behooves you to get a credstick, which is attached to your fake SIN, from the people who have made the fake SIN. Generating and origin-validating the credstick is practically an afterthought for them. To be fair, this is essentially the way it works in 4e and 5e - it's just that if you have a valuable commlink, you don't want to trash the thing just because an ID got busted, so you wipe the information from the commlink and have the Fake SIN people load the new one on. You could do the same with a credstick - get it reprogrammed to a new SIN - but since the actual credstick cost is a negligible part of their side of the operation, shadowy people like us don't bother; we just get a new credstick to go with the new ID. You can have multiple SINs encoded onto a credstick, too, just like you could with a commlink - a different passcode (and even a different person's fingerprint/voiceprint/etc.) will call up a different SIN. But typically if the SIN gets burned, the credstick isn't going to be returned to your greasy criminal mitts, so having multiple different credsticks (albeit only carrying one at a time, or at least color-coding their ends or something so you know who you are at the moment) tends to be somewhat wiser.
Technically, no - you can get a fake SIN with several different credsticks tied to it, and you can get a Fake SIN without any credsticks tied to it, but you should have at least one credstick tied to a SIN, real or fake. Most people, however, only have one credstick, as cracking credstick protections is a pain in the ass that usually only specialized people typically try to pull off. Can be lucrative, but how often are you going to run into a Platinum or Ebony credstick holder with enough just sitting there in the bank and not working to make more money to make it worthwhile? However, people in 3E carry credsticks the way people RL carry credit cards/licenses, the way people in 4E & 5E carry commlinks - so that when the Man says 'Who da heck are you?' you can pull out your credstick and let 'em see. And my little collection of modern NOLA maps in my Drive folder might help, presuming you have some reasonably good extrapolation capabilities. Income levels, crime rates, all sorts of interesting stuff in there ... ;)
SINs are in the Gear section - Lifestyle, Cresticks and Other. Remember that the level of credstick you select affects both how much cash you can shift around via that stick as well as the cumulative ID required to use it: Standard: 5,000 max, passcode.
IMO, unless you're going to be shifting around large sums, or you're going to get a rock-solid (R6+) Fake ID, a standard or silver credstick is going to be fine. For everything else, use certified ('bearer bond') credsticks. Note that a good fake SIN is expensive...
NSRCG rolls starting nuyen, went with its 1300 roll. 1300: NSRCG roll
FWIW, I seem to recall that the CAS dollar converts to the nuyen at around 4:1. Also, from the Target: Smuggler Havens book: New Orleans
* - The low-end ones are cheaper, much-lower-quality Aztechnology devices that have made it across the border. Do we want to compute with nuyen, and just talk about $CAS, instead of having to convert over and back for the program and whatnot?
Shugyōsha's .sr3 file can be found in the appropriate folder of My SR Stuff. The pages there are not yet up-to-date with all of her contacts and her revised gear; should happen some time tomorrow / Monday morning. I also stashed in a clothing style/designer thing I'd love to use, instead of the basic 'regular / fine / tres chic' clothing bit that basic SR has. The clothing sheet also has a lifestyle worksheet which applies food advantages/disadvantages (such as Suki's increased consumption) to the 'food' portion only, but it's also set up for SR5 lifestyles, so ... :P :)
As someone who also has a combat aptitude here, my recommendation is to allow it, but - like with all other bonuses - put the onus of remembering the advantage onto the player. In this particular case, both combat aptitudes are for items that the character has no other reduction for - shotguns in the case of a non-smartlink-using adept, blades in the case of Shugyosha. The reduction in either case is going to be -1 - equal to a pair of smartgoggles, and not as good as a smartgun link. IMO, that particular suggestion is a bad one; an aptitude for a particular sort of weapon is a character point, and in some cases is the only way to reduce their target numbers - either in a non-cyber way for one character, or excepting situational modifiers for the other. Putting the burden of remembering their bonuses on all players is the way to balance it out. This is why I have all the penalties as modified for Shugyosha on my sheet ... though I did actually forget to modify the Blades skill. ;)
Doing a (pretty quick) meatball look at it - and my katana is not your run-of-the-mill weapon (i.e. dikote does lots of wonderful loving things to it :D ) - and I'm looking at almost 30k for licenses, which would be on 'burnable' SINs anyhow. I don't think I'd spend that much in bribes to ask the NOPS at the cop stop to look the other way. I'd definitely be better off spending that much for contacts in the local precincts ... which I am reminded I haven't got. *goes back to widgeting*
2) Can I pick up hydraulic jacks without having actual cyberlegs and/or would lower leg replacements perhaps suffice? Replacement is required; up to the GM whether or not lower leg replacements are sufficient.
5/7 (6 points spent) is the max. Apti, If you can afford it, get a spell lock for that IR+3. But you undoubtedly already know that. ;) Shugyōsha's basically-complete sheet(s) can be found here. An HTML-reading plug-in for Google docs is recommended, though I don't mind people downloading and viewing them if they don't want to bother with the plug-in. I decided to do some maximizing of starting skill points, since at the higher end, a couple points now can equal up to 16 karma later. I was VERY tempted to not take Bike (because defaulting at a +4 TN when you have -2 TN and 11 dice to throw is actually kind of workable), but went ahead and did it anyhow. Glad I got mnemonic enhancer to start with, though. ;) Any questions, please ask. :)
Black Trenchcoat for the win!!! If Ultra-spies is 1 and Mad Max is 10, I vote for about 2.5. We can break out the super mayhem if we need it, but it should be something held for a last resort. At least that's my vote. :) Demolitions is a choice; for heavy weapons, you want (deep breath) Assault Rifles (for, err, assault rifles), Gunnery (for vehicle-mounted weapons), Heavy Weapons (for direct-fire gunpowder/railgun weapons), Laser Weapons (if you think you'll ever be able to afford one), and Launch Weapons (for rockets and missiles). Unfortunately, you need a build/repair (B/R) skill for every skill there is; Heavy Weapons B/R, Launch Weapons B/R, etc. Fortunately there IS a straight-out Armor B/R, and doubly-fortunate Demolitions acts as its own B/R skill. My personal advice? Get Demolitions, then get contacts to supply the rest - 15k will get you an armorer, a technician, and a mechanic, enough to supply all your nasty 'big mayhem' needs. Having a demolitions girl would be great, though. Understand, though, that ARs are pretty much not fraggin' concealable. (A 2 or 3 just don't do it, y'know?) SMGs are (marginally), so if we're going to be intruding and we get caught at all, well - an AR is going to mean fighting. And get a silencer/suppressor!!
If you aren't including Thrown, you should - while it won't get you distance (you might go with archery, if you want to stick pure ungunpowdered adept), it will get you grenades. And grenades, as everyone knows, are pure fun. Unfortunately, SR3 is a little rough on the combat skill mavin. |