The obligatory out of character thread. Cocktails served at the bar. Please do not molest the waitresses.

Archetypes update: one pirate/college boy and one undecided for now. Ideally, we'd need a Suit, a Hacker, a Muscle and a Driver to round things out.

Hello!  What character concepts were people thinking of?  And what company?

I had thought of being an extortionist or other stealthy intruder, but I'm quite happy to be shooty-muscle or a driver.

Cool, I wanted to be the college kid or pirate.  Some sort of tech-related person.  I could do the Sarariman too, easily.  Was there any particular Zaibatsu that you were interested in?

Not really.  I'm quite happy with any.

One of your caracters should be a sarariman, or at least have the Business skill. Otherwise, you can go whatever way you want with the concepts. Oh, they should be able to work together too.

The choice of zaibatsu is not that important... you can always defect later on. And perhaps live to tell the story. ;)

Well, Sarariman comes with a cyberdeck, and I can always take skills from tech and business.  So, I'll be the Sarariman.

Hello all.

I'd be up for any role really depending on what others want to do.

2, I have no problem doing the Sarariman if you want to go pure tech.

Otherwise of the other suggested needs if I had a preference it would be for the Driver.

@4 If you want to do a sarariman, a more social "face" character, than go for it!  I'll do my techie.

So far:

Player 4: Sarariman (suit)
Player 2: pirate/college boy (hacker)
Player 1: Gun-fighter (Muscle)

Not written in stone, mind you.

Quick question, if I am our resident hacker, can we use the dice rules for hacking?

I'd originally volunteered for a hitter; I suspect in an environment like this, more than one may be needed. If not, I'm willing to go more of a 'thief' route.

@ P3 - If a hitter is a gun-fighter or muscle man, I'll gladly take on the driver and/or stealth character.

Player 4: Sarariman (Suit)
Player 2: Pirate/college boy (Hacker)
Player 3: Hitter (Muscle)
Player 1: (Driver).

?

In reply to Player 1 (msg #14):

Looks good to me.  Just need to wait and see if we get any more people in and what they might be interested in doing.  Doubling up in some areas certainly wouldn't be a bad thing I imagine, but always good not to step on other people's toes too much.

sounds great. I think you can start making the characters now. 4 people is enough for the first team - new arrivals will start forming the second team. We can merge the teams later if enough players drop out of the game.

We can use the dice rules for hacking, no problem. I originally intended to use a sligtly modified card system, where you guess the complete system deck at once, and the number of matches define how well you do with the hacking attempt - different sizes of system decks for different systems, and scouting in advance narrowing down the choice of cards that might be in a system. So an informer might tell you that Asano's database has a deck size of 3, no ice higher than 3 and no black ice. And so on.

Hey kids. Chilling out until a second team can be formed, possibly playing your opposition until then.

In reply to Wintermute (msg #16):

Ok, will do.  Working today so it might not happen until sunday/monday but will get cracking as soon as possible.

Player 2 is done with chargen. He is itching to dive into the neon lit concrete jungle. Don't keep him waiting.

Looks like I'll be joining Player 5 on the second team.

Player 3 / "Agent 19" ready.

As is your resident hacker.

Jenkins the driver is more or less ready to drive.

seems to me team 1 is done. the first misson briefing will be up tomorrow. Zou might choose a yaibatsu and engage in smalltalk until then. Plazers 5 and 6 will help design threats for this scenario until there's one more player for team 2.

I'll try to log on at some point tomorrow, but it being the 4th (a holiday for us in the USA) I won't be online as often as I would normally.

Also set and ready to go.

Any thoughts on the Zaibatsu we want to go with?

A quick read through makes one side or the other of the Haruna Biotech/Makita Genetics conflict seem appealing.

Likewise corporate thuggery on the behalf of Oshima or Yoshiko might have some interesting tasks, the former due to the assumption that the entertainment/nightlife industry would seem to be populated with interesting/snake-like people and the latter because there's just something that strikes me as funny about undertaking espionage over cereal and shampoo.

Off that list, I'd lean towards Makita or Yoshiku (The later would make Agent 19's quarters look... Odd.)

Working for Yoshiko sounds fun!  (Doing strong-arm for the shady tooth-paste seller).  Oshima might be good, too: dealing with show-folk and the night-scene.  Collecting the debt for Ellis-Itami also sounds interesting: repossessing assetts and chasing down defaulters.

It might also be interesting to work for an emerging Zaibatsu: one entering markets aggressively, in direct competition with one or more established corporations (i.e. work for an underdog with a USP but a small operation and fairly large debts -- I suspect independent market entrants are few and far between in this setting, though).

As hired guns, I don't suppose we'll spend too much time singing a company song; one Zaibatsu should pay as well as another and it wouldn't do to have any particular loyalty (other than money) in case one finds ones' self on the losing side or, worse still, fired and unable to find Ronin work due to too close an association with one employer.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:56, Mon 04 July 2011.

Yoshiko it is then.

The first mission will eb up shortly.

Things to keep in mind:
- firearms are not openly carried in Japan, even in 2030
- keep a low profile
- be polite

How about melee weapons?

Everything the police doesn't see is fine.

Firearms skill: you need to choose one from: Auto Pistol, Riotgun (includes Riot Pistol), Bullpup, Flamer (includes Dragon), Laser.

Also, please roll 20d6 with "record each die" checked so I don't have to wait for hidden rolls. >:)

*also*, feel free to post in the in character thread.

Hrm. Mind if, in that light, I added 'two knives' to my equipment list?

In reply to Agent 19 (msg #35):

That reminds me.  Did Yoshiko pony up a "head-set radio and a handgun" to us when we were hired on?

no ponying. Changing the equipment is fine for now, but there is no real need to ditch that nice katana as it can be disguised easily enough. So, I'll let you have knives as well as the blade.


In other news, we have a third player for team Two. You can start discussing character archetypes if you like, or we can wait for a fourth player.

I'll happily play the muscle (samurai/assassin) or an investigator type (ninja/cop/investigator).

...I don't think I actually care what I play as, so I guess we'll have to see what Player 7's interested in and work from there.

Hi all.  I'll probably lean towards hacker most likely...maybe a street medic but i'm flexible.  I've read the normal cyberpunk rules but i'm trying to catch up on the Zaibasu ones posted on the linked site.  Will have a better idea of what I want to be later this evening I think.

Out of curiosity, how much interaction should Team Two be planning on having with Team One?  Should we be planning on working together, competing, trying to take each other out...?

Your guess is as guud as mine. ;) If you want interaction, you will have interaction. As of now, some minor crossover is planned, but no direct contact. You can pick the same zaibatsu or a different one.

Team One, it's about time to decide who the team leader is.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:22, Thu 07 July 2011.

Okay Team 2, you guys know what you want to be?  I think i would like to go with a street doc character if it will fit into the game?  Perhaps with some tech skills...  but still flexible if we need something else.

Well, we can choose enough skills that we could probably all cover two areas (if we play our cards right), say like:

Muscle/driver
Street doc/hacker
Con man/investigator

Or something to that effect.

I've got a gunman/thief-style hybrid in the works with some Counter-Security and Stealth. Street doc would be handy. Possibly a driver/sarariman dude to round things out.

So, Player 7:  do you want to add sarariman, driver, or hacker to your concept?  I'll take the other two.

Street Doc / Occassional Hacker it is then.  I'll start putting basic character sheet / quick background together for the GM.

my wife managed to kill my computer, so no updates yesterday or today. might be one tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Still suffering from infrequent updates due to using computers at work.

Character sheets should be user editable now. Please upload zour sheets.

Team 2 should choose their corporation. Zou can either work for the same zaibatsu as team 1, or choose a rival.

Wouldn't mind a job with Makita Genetics or Transdyne. Or if people would like to play nice, I guess I can go for Yoshiko.

Out of those three, I'd say Makita wins my vote.  Unless we want to possibly join up with Team One at some point.  However, I'd like to throw Shinobizawa into the ring as well because I'm the most curious about them.

FYI, it's a no go on the character sheet access, at least for me.

Same here.

Makita Genetics it is for Team Two, then. An excellent choice. Biotechnology inspired scenarios were always among my favorites. We will egt you started once player 7 submits his character.

Also, don't be afraid to skip time and assume a bit in the post. The principle of narrative truth holds - everything not described before is free to be defiend by you. Write larger actions as intentions if unsure. Ask via PM if really unsure ;) Add things to the scene, like buildings or people. This gives more stuff for the other players to bounce off as well. After all, cyberpunk lives on details and mood :)

Also, my computer should be repaired on tuesday, so I'll be able to return to full post length and some goodies to go with the game.

Komban-wa, ladies and germs.

The character sheets should all be user editable now (silly me). Please fill'em up.

Work related burnout. Next update saturday or sunday.

Heads-up: I will be gone from Thursday morning til Sunday evening. GenCon approacheth!

It seems player 7 has dropped out. Do wee want more fresh blood for team#2 or do you two want to go at it alone?

Having just the two of us as a full team would limit options.  At the same time, we've kind of just been sitting around for an awful long time, so I'm a little impatient.

Okay. I'll cook something up for you two, and refresh the ad at the same time. Expect a thread in the next 2 days.

I'm currently out of town.  I'll be checking internet once a day so I might have some delays until thursday when I'm back.

Please welcome players 7 and 8, recruited for team two.

Hey, excellent.

Welcome people, welcome.

Howdy. Stoked to start the party at long last.

Newest addition to team 2 here. Howdy all :)

I think I'm on Team 2 as well (though the private messages are a bit wonky for some reason).  What is everyone playing?

A martial artist who really hates Yakuza and enjoys hunting and beating them to death with his bare hands in his spare time. Heh.

I'm thinking about either an Assassin or Ninja.  I'd like to be kinda sneaky, behind the scenes type of char.  I'd love to play something similar in concept to the girl from Leverage that is the thief.  But I'll wait to see what everyone else is doing and mold around that.

As a heads-up, I'm the resident ninja for Team 2. We really need cyberdeck skills, driving, and social.

Sorry, was away a couple of days.  So, still working on character.  Based on what we need, I think maybe either Face Man or Hacker works.  I'll go with face man unless anyone disagrees.

Team 2 roster for now:

Hideo as the ninja
Rokkako as the faceman/sarariman
Player 7 as hacker or faceman
Player 8 as a martial artist

An interestingtroubleshooter group for a biotech zaibatsu. ;) please complete your characters so I can dip you into the case of the lost virus.

I'm fine with switching roles, if 7 wants to be the faceman.

In reply to Tokugawa Rokkako (msg #73):

No, please be the Faceman.  I didn't really want it, just trying to fill the role.

I'll play a hacker.

Ok, I'd like to Introduce you to Ocean He.

Ocean is a Chinese immigrant who does not speak great english or Japanese, but can typically get his point across and understand yours.  He is a hacker and good with anything technical.

He's no good in a fight, but put him in front of a deck and he'll steal the bank.  He learned to drive from his policeman father and how to patch up minor wounds from his mother who was a nurse in an ER.

Team 2 has a hacker (and driver) now.

Shin nad Ocean He, nice sounding names you chose there. Y'all can post in the mission thread, and be sure to send me the cahracter sheets. Don't forget to mark your primary skill with a *.

Shin will probably be joining us later on, so just the other 3 members of Team 2 can start the introductory mission.

Sorry, my health crashed and burned this weekend.  I should hopefully be up and running by tomorrow, but I'll try to get something together tonight.

Is the mission 3 post for team 1 or 2?  Or is there a team 3?

Pretty sure that's ours.

I was waiting to see what was inside the suitcase we got from the airport before moving things into that thread myself.

mission 3 is, as you suspected, for team #1.

Suitcase contents coming up.

family weekend and spa. will update tomorrow evening.

Np.

Have fun.

I was waiting for Takayama to post.  If he's passing, though, the goal is to send him out to Red Silk, I'll find somewhere to deal with the other lady, and Ocean will begin a campaign blitz/blackmail scheme to keep things hopping.

Sorry, didn't realize you were waiting on me. Down with the plan so far. Takayama kills the old lady at Red Silk, the others pressure the handler and dig up dirt on Akamatsu.

massive update tomorrow. Should have been today, but RL had other ideas about my time allocation. if there's anything you'd like to add to your plans, there's still time to post.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:52, Sat 17 Sept 2011.

unfortunately, changes in my schedule mean I won't be able to post with any regularity for the next month, maybe two. If someone else wants to take over the game, I'll transfer ownership. If not, we can continue then if there is interest in the game.

I'm good with most anything.

I tend to get antsy when I don't see movement in a story, so I'll be taking this off of my watch list, but just let me know when we'll be picking things back up and I'll come back.

I'm good with waiting for now.  I can pick up and drop games pretty easily.

Not like I'm going anywhere. I will thank you for the heads-up, though; a lot of GM's don't even give that.

Yeah, somebody can shoot me an rmail when things get rolling again. 'Til then, I'll be focusing on other games.

Yeah, I'm really grateful for the heads up too.  I'm interested in the system and perhaps in the future I'll try running a game but for now I've got a lot on my plate.

Cleaning up my sticky list.

Should this game get going, someone please shoot me a PM or an rmail.