I like this. Taking social engineering to the Nth level. Skills and ¥ will be an issue though. I'll see what I can toss together.


Are we using something akin to chummer for chargen? I have the old SR3 chargen as well.

I'm an old had when it some to shadowrun, I've run several SR3 games so I think I can some up with something nice.

If Warlock is going decker/face then I may go with B&E specialist and flesh that out some.

Unsure of the other 4, but FF & I are usually the sort of party members who will take some of our cut to make sure you can upgrade your decks and programs. Same with Riggers usually, 'cause I honestly don't know what I'll be spending my cash on aside from "gear that hasn't been invented yet".
Oh right - ALE AND WHORES!

Also on that subject, Carver is actually a true-blue doctor. He's got a ripperdoc contact, and works at a good quality clinic. It might not be like it was the first time BB ran a game, but Carver can certainly set you all up with a discount when it comes to installing cyber. He will even promise to use a medical laser-scalpel instead of his kukri.

We usually use sum-10 chargen from the SR3 core, so you can lower one priority (say B to C) so you can raise another (say, D to other C).

Warlock, the more I think about it, the more I like a Decker-Face. You'll have a tough time keeping up in combat (cause every game gets bogged down once in a while), but you can definitely mix infosec specialist with honest-to-god fixer. We had another player, Vigo, whose in-character goal was to become a fixer. Seemed like fun.

As long as you all don't start running off and stabbing people for no reason, or slaughtering the guards I took great pains to incapacitate instead of kill, Carver will do his damndest to not let you all die.

I appreciate the sentiment, but I am unlikely to take you up on that right away. Whatever character I play is probably not going to want to feel indebted to a bunch of people he barely knows. However, if we start accruing a "group pot" THEN I think it would be ok.




I agree, the more I think on it, the more fun it could be. ANY decker/face is mostly going to be shite in combat. I suspect this will be no different, however, it will be amplified. I may just take throwing weapons so I can toss rocks at the enemy :)

I've made a decker face before, they are quite useful and good fun.

For us group pot is SOP

If you are going to play social and decking though, remember to post frequently. Or else we shall have to pout at you.

If you run out of skill points, get a skillwire and a decent gun chip. I already have Carver ready to use knowsofts and datasofts (I don't know if linguasofts require a full rig). We could have encyclopedia exchange parties :)

I figured as much.

I know, These fingers are gonna have to do some typin.

IDK, I have always felt skillwires were cheap. :P But I will probably use them, but I gotta leave space for all that cool headware! Encephelon and whatnot coming down that pipe!

BTW, are we using social cybernetic penalty rules?

Well pooh, my original concept was a raccoon shaman decker but then I noticed the cast had a lot of spell casters so I submitted an idea for a street doc but that seems to be covered also.

Any ideas what the group needs still?  I could play a physad I guess.

I noticed that the companion is being used but we are not using build points is that correct?

Are there any rigger types?  I don't really like them but I can make any character fun.

Hi everyone, I'm here.  I've been looking over everything and am still trying to wrap my head around it (there is a lot to look over).  I am very new to this, but Shadowrun always seemed so fun and interesting and I will definitely do my best not to bog you guys down with my inexperience.  I don't really have a specific character in mind yet and would be up for filling most roles.  All I really have so far is a bit of potential backstory for my guy.

Warlock - not that I know of. At the least, I never got penalties when playing my cybered and fully kitted up combat dwarf. FF kept playing after I left the first time.

PCO.Spvnky - "the cast" page is actually a lot of holdovers from the last crew to play through this game. As it stands, we actually have no spellcasters and only one decker (Warlock offered to take that on). So if you wanted to try being both, then good on you mate! (Riggers are also currently not taken)

So current crew docket may be:
Carver - Medic/Physad
Warlock - Face/Decker
Spvnky - 'coon shaman/Decker

Cloudbreaker - Being a new guy isn't bad at all. This game was originally made to teach my high school friends Shadowrun, and so that Papa Bear could run ('cause I'm actually a godawful GM as it happens). I think we'd never really want to get rid of that part of the experience - we're here to help you learn.
If you decide you need help with character creation, I know PB is usually pretty busy. When I'm a little less caught up in trying to get my usual crew eaten by tremors I'll be happy to run you through it (to the best of my abilities). You would just need to figure out what kind of character you want to play.
IMO Street Samurai are the easiest, Physical Adepts are barrel-o-monkey fun, and mages are explosives on two legs (or less)! Just don't ask me to help with a Decker, because I've been reading these rules for 9 years and I still don't get them (I'm *starting* to understand Riggers).

It has been my experience that Tech characters start out strong but after a long period of gaming magic characters over power them.  Although in pbp that probably won't happen.

I'm glad that being new isn't a bad thing and that's one of the main reasons this group was so appealing.  Shadowrun AND open to total newbies?  Sign me up!

I'm thinking maybe I'll be a knowledgeable, sciency, skill-type... with a shotgun.  Someone who is good at knowing where and how to look for the answers they seek.  Someone who can find ways around obstacles that aren't immediately obvious and are good at connecting the dots... with a shotgun.  What skills would someone like that need?  Intelligence?  Astral sight? Are there spells that would help out? (is there a spell list or something somewhere?  I didn't see one anywhere yet)  I'm thinking maybe a trickster mage could be cool.  (You know, with a shotgun)

EDIT: A raccoon shaman isn't a trickster mage, is it?  Because I don't want to be stealing anyone's character ideas.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:55, Fri 24 Jan 2014.

If we have enough people looking to play, and we have a bunch of redundancy, I am happy to split up the face/decker role and just focus on one or the other.

It seems that no one is going the street sam route so I may take that up (they are very useful).  The raccoon shaman is a bandit type shaman.

I really need to go through all these rules to decide what I want to play and I also want to make sure all our bases are covered.  I can make any character for shadowrun fun although I was really getting into the street doc concept....:(

Holy crap! 20+ posts in 12 hours and I wasn't one of them.  I think that might be a game record :>


Exploding or smoking rocks (or even rocks that look like they might explode) can be fairly effective :>

Still looking for an answer on starting karma and whether we're weakening magic (and if so how)

Carver covered most stuff.

Cyber penalties to social skills: No, I never enforce that. Street sams and the like get screwed over enough as it is.

Cloudbreaker, don't stress. The entire party is advanced except for you, but I'm happy to take as long as you need. Magic is probably more utilitarian, although if you want to be a mage/specialist specialist, that works too.

When it comes to magic you have a few choices. Firstly, you can be a hermetic mage, who approaches magic like science. Everything is repeatable and testable (well, usually). He doesn't get any bonuses, but doesn't get any penalties either. He can conjure Elementals, which take hours and thousands of nuyen to make, but are extremely tough. Alternatively, you can be a shaman. For shamen, magic is a spiritual connection to the world. Shamen follow an animal totem, which gives them certain bonuses (and penalties) and guides their behavior. They can spontaneously conjure nature spirits, which are less powerful than elementals and a bit more ornery, but handy to be able to spontaneously call in a fight.

The second big choice is you can be a full magician or a partial one (a 'groggy'). Full magicians can cast and conjure. Groggies can only do one of them. Full mages can also send their spirit out to do magical stuff in the world, while groggies can only see the magic in the world. However, groggy is a fewer points spent.

Or you can always go with the electronics specialist (who is normally also the B&E specialist or the rigger), or whatever other crazy combination you settle on.

Karma ... yes, I plan on starting at 0 karma (plus whatever you earn in the drop bear threads).

Firefox: 12 hours without your posting?? Yep, sounds like a record to me!

Tidied up a little. Looks much nicer here, I think. I still need to straighten up the rules thread, but I've been fighting off a head cold, and my littlest one has been pushing me to run 8 hours of D&D in the past four days.

Cloudbreaker - Connect the dots on buckshot? What kind of questions do you want to answer? You could certainly pull a Harry Dresden and make a wizard private-eye. You don't get to quite his power level, but that's because the rules are different. And I can certainly find you a good totem if you need help.

To add on "Groggies". They are called Aspected Mages. Basically you start off with more spell points but are a much more focused caster. You actually have three options - Spellcaster, Summoner, or Totemic aspect. Spell casters and Summoners can only use sorcery or summoning (resp.); Totemic can summon spirits/elementals and cast magic based on their element/totem of choice.

PCO - We could always have two doctors. Carver could even set you up with a day job.

on D&D - at least we know where he gets it from.

As requested, added the 'knife gun' to the Rules thread:

Ares Taurus (custom-designed weapon, not in the books)
This gun doesn't seem to quite know what it is. A sword, the size of a sawn-off shotgun, with an integrated handgun. Built as a ridiculous show weapon, mostly for buyers with more testosterone than brains, but with a little tweaking it's an ideal close-combat one-two punch.

The weapon looks almost like a short machete, with an oversize handle and wide spine. The blade is considered adequate, with a conceal of 4, damage of (STR+2)L.

The firearm has an internal magazine holding four rounds (plus one in the chamber), which it can fire single shot. Because of its awkward configuration, it suffers a -1 penalty to attacks, however it does have quite the punch (9M). It can receive an additional top accessory for $100 extra, due to the costs of re-balancing the blade. While not designed to support barrel accessories, street shops have designed a silenced barrel for $600.

Just curious, why not something like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_knife

Ugh have to decide what to play before I post IC.  lol

I think the idea is something he can shoot while the enemies are approaching (or while he's approaching), then stab once he's in melee range. A ballistic knife would hit the target at short range, but then he'd just be holding a handle for melee.

Twitch- it's a drop bear adventure. Worst case, you say you're on a BTL bender and you THOUGHT you could do magic, but really you're just a hobo with a shotgun.

Uhhhh I would prefer to not be a btl junkie....lol.

I think I am going to go with a tech gun bunny right now, if I change my mind later I don't mind making up a new character.

I have seen lots of discussion but nothing saying yes or no, are we using priorities or point build?

priority system, but you can drop one priority to raise another.

Yay! I have more testosterone than brains! two whole points!

I like Warlock. I like them a lot.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:50, Fri 24 Jan 2014.

I seem to get forgotten a lot lately, I stated before that I was planning on going with a B&E character