Hoi there and first things first.  This may be a Shadowrun game, but things you may consider canon are being played pretty fast and loose.  A few things you need to know and need to get right to make it in the shadows:

- Blackbox mechanics means the GM does calculations, dice rolls and action resolution stuff behind the scenes.

- No secret, I’m using a simplified minimal rolls rule set based on Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) mechanics.  You give me your actions and likely reactions in a given situation, then I let you know how things have turned out.  No god-modding and better story-telling, better chance of success. Should keep things pretty simple and avoid a slog through slow dice heavy mechanics.

- Setting is California Free State (alternatively referred to as the Republic of California) in the San Francisco Sprawl in 2059.  A Japanese peace-keeping force has just arrived to assist the Republic with stabilization after unrest in the Bay Area. Setting is limited to 2050s tech levels with a few exceptions.

- It is a world of extremes where the pendulum has swung on one side toward puppet and figurehead governments where strings are pulled by multi-national corporations.  On the other hand, some governments have maintained central control has at almost all costs.  Several states now emulate the old Chinese communist approach where corporate penetration into government and media has been rigidly controlled.

- The Corporate Court may seem like it reigns supreme, but there are a few old-school national governments out there that still play in the big leagues.  The Corps can ruin the everyday life of a little fish in their big multinational pond, but two things keep them in check: bad marketing and trade sanctions.  Extra-territoriality does a CEO a fat lot of good  with the shareholders when the company is on the outs with the government and aren’t competitive enough to tap into market share.

- On that note, remember: private security only goes where there is a lucrative profit margin.  For the record, no mega-corp has invested the capital to maintain a standing military of tanks, fighter jets, aircraft carriers and nuclear fracking weapons.

- Tech is everywhere.  Cyberware is not.  Although the data jack, color shift tattoos and elf poseur cosmetic modifications are pretty standard fare, the cybernetic trappings of your average street sammie can’t be picked up at the local Mitsuhama store down at the outlet mall.

- Wireless tech abounds, but bandwidth has become a huge problem.  Physics is the limiting factor.  There simply aren’t enough useable frequencies in the right range bands to make it all work all the time.  Wireless is great for updating your pocsec, controlling our coffee maker, sexting or surfing public domains for today's scream sheet, but it just doesn’t do it for the hard stuff.  You want to infiltrate a mega-corp system and make it dance to your drum, face off against a security spider and shut them down or run a network of rigged combat drones then you need a neural interface, a deck or control rig and a jack-point into a fibre line.

- Magic is real, but so are astrophysics and brain surgery.   How many rocket surgeons do you know?  Well, figure you know about the same number of real magicians and if you swim in those waters, chances are you’ve got a bit of juice yourself.  Most magically active folks are either physical or sorcery adepts.  Real mages and shamans are few and far between.  Also remember that magic scares the pants off the layman.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:20, Sun 05 Apr 2020.

Before you RTJ:

Ideally this is going to be a story heavy game and the system will be largely based on roughly 3e tech and PbTA mechanics.  Most of it will be blackbox (meaning the character stats and mechanics are behind the scenes).

For PCs, there will not be die rolling; if you can handle that, read on…

We’ll start with a simple character idea and run through the paces.  I’ll certainly need more from you.  Just... not yet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:26, Sun 05 Apr 2020.

To join the game, give me an RTJ that, includes:

A statement that you have reached the age in our region of residence to be consider an adult and are comfortable with a game that includes mature situations and themes. (Yeah, I know it’s handled through the admins but I like to get a sense of age, and hopefully maturity, of the players)

A character name and a street name or alias if they have one.

The character's race (human, dwarf, elf, orc or troll only).

Who the character is right now?  (a mage, a street samurai, a decker - most archetypes are acceptable).

Some other things that will need to come eventually - start now if you like.

Ancient History:
Where was your character born?
Who, if anyone, in your family is still alive?  Describe them.  Do you still have a relationship with them?
What was your lifestyle like, growing up?
Were you born with a SIN?  If so, do you still have one or has it been erased?
Do you still have friends from before you started running; from childhood or high-school, college or a straight job you used to have?
Where were you when Dunkelzhan died?

Life in the Shadows:
How did your character end up running the shadows?
Where do you live now?
Who do you care about?  Who are your enemies?
Has your character ever messed with drugs or BTLs?  How did they kick the habit if so?
Where does the character draw the line? Has your character ever had to kill someone?  How did they feel about the life they now lead?

Style:
Describe your character's appearance.
Your character can take three things with them on a desert island, what are they?
What do you drive?
Where do you relax?  Where do you party?
What kind of music files are on your pocsec?
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:04, Tue 07 Apr 2020.

Once accepted into the game, for the first 30-50 posts in the game, we'll play out a prelude scene to establish a narrative that will help develop the character's traits and personality.  The questions I'll ask and decision you will make in the prelude are meant to fill out the chargen details.  As decisions are made, the results will be reflected in your PocSec thread.

We’ll set the stage with a brief synopsis of the character’s first run, or look at some choices that needed to be made during a mid-career milk run or flesh the character out with a scene from your most recent foray into the shadows. Your rep is only as good as your last run after all.

Disclaimer: Don't stress about decisions and the impact on character stats that come up in prelude. At the end you get to veto anything on the character sheet and make changes to ensure the character is what you’re after.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:23, Thu 21 Sept 2023.

After nearly 2000 posts, it’s become clear that the nuts and bolts of character generation are not all that important in the mechanics light play-by-post Powered by the Apocalypse gameplay. The character idea and a creative approach to writing and role play are far more important.

So, once I have your character ideas, I'll roll up the numbers and share the playbooks for changes and tweaks. This will get characters into play quickly.

Or, if a pregen character isn't your thing, maybe give one of these orphans a look...