Sorry again for being a doofus and forgetting to post this, as it not only helps us establish personal and interpersonal boundaries but also because it's super important to know if I need to alter any of the content I had in mind for the game.

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Anyways, the way I handle Session 0 is having everyone make three lists. These lists are the Red List, the Blue List and the Black List. The Red List is for things that make you uncomfortable but in a good way. The Blue List is for things that you don't want to see in the campaign from a narrative/design standpoint. The Black List is for things that you don't wan to see in the campaign from a personal standpoint.

You DO NOT, under any circumstances, have to justify not wanting content in this game. If something would cause you discomfort in a way that takes you out of the game, let alone causes you emotional distress, then I won't include it. Period.

E.G.

• Cannibalism/Ghouls/Vampires. My character has a fear of them so if used sparingly they could have good narrative impact.
• Spiders/Arachnids: I have a personal fear of them but could work through it via my character.

• I hate DM NPC's that get too involved in combat. I'd prefer if they "save" us by providing us an escape vector rather than hogging the spotlight or somehow killing things we can't handle by themselves.
• I don't like betrayal arcs from characters who we've done nothing to. Having friendly NPCs that we're actively helping turn on us late in the game is a big buzzkill for me.
  

• Physical intimacy: I'd prefer fade-to-black encounters if this comes up, even with other characters.
• Suicide: I'd rather this not come up at all during the game.

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Outside of these lists, Session 0 is a place to establish connections to the other characters and Jude, the NPC Fixer that is bringing you all together for the job.

Each of you will have known Jude for a minimum of six months. He frequents the local bars, loves Thrash Metal and Combat Biking and is a retired Razorboy (as rare as that is). He's chromed to the gills (literally, the man has cyber gills) and loves to scrap after a few drinks, but he also pulls his punches because he never sets out to cause permanent harm. As a Fixer, Jude is a known entity in the LA sprawl. He only has two rules: The job has to help the community and the pay has to be anonymous. He protects the anonymity of his Runners, suppliers and Johnsons religiously. He's also a sucker for dumplings so at least twice a day he can be found at one of the cheap, soy-filled dumpling carts around town.

You could know him from the local hotspots, waiting in line at a dumpling cart, brawling with him, chatting him up on Shadownet in a Combat Biking thread, or maybe just hunting for a Fixer to find work.

As for how you all know each other, leave a few places it's likely you could have connected with the others and we can connect the dots from there.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:23, Sat 14 Jan 2023.

Red list:
Can't think at this time, will see as I build Paradox up in my mind.

Blue list:
TBC

Black list:
Anything involving children being at risk of harm, and beyond (actual harm and death). Adults are fine.

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Paradox is the Shadowrun version of a Twitch streamer. Recording their runs, doing reviews of any new gear they have, and playing games on the Matrix.

They have low level fame (Fame:Local quality) as a result of their streams/recordings, and hope to continue to grow.

I'm still getting the crunch sorted for them (I can't decide on gender atm), so knowledge skills have plenty of wiggle room to connect with others, or give hooks into others.

Perhaps they streamed a performance of yours from some dive bar?
You have been a guest talking about something you do on a stream?
We have been on a run already thanks to Jude?

Most my karma I intend to throw into more Connections. They will be the person who knows a person. And I'll aim to have people different to the rest of you, to widen our base, and make our connections more connected to us individually.

None

Philosophy about AI, you can bring it up if you want but Bucky will just shrug it off as already resolved/unimportant.

"Real Boy" narratives. Bucky doesn't care that he's not "real" he's real to himself and if you want to refuse that he is real he has an uzi full of reasons for you to reassess that position.

If I wanted romantic roleplay I would have my wife put on her elf ears. Not interested in it in character.

Everything that fits in a mature rating is fine.

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Bucky is an AI he technically doesn't have a body, just a few preferred devices. He likes horror moves, hence the Chucky aesthetic. He likes guns and mayhem, hence the guns... and mayhem.

He's sort of a hedonist, despite being digital and most vices not applying to his form of life. Hence the 'adrenaline' junky lifestyle.

He is begrudgingly an expert hacker by nature, since it's not "fun".

@paradox Bucky could have done some digital coverup work for you? Like your job is publishing illegal activity on the net lots of security problems with that.

None

Nothing that I can think of.

Nothing other than what has already been stated.

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Banshee on the record is a nomadic artist of all rock and metal genres. That of course doesn’t always pay the bills as she is in it for the music not for the pay. She has done some hooding and shows for charity events. Even a potential gang fight over turf was turned into an impromptu block party. This has garnered her a reputation for being unbiased and a fair negotiator that most respect her for. Shadowrunning helps pay for all of her ‘ware and lifestyle expenses which certainly haven’t been cheap. One could say for her it was like getting a tattoo. Once you get one, you keep getting more until one arm gets covered then you move onto the next one and so forth.

I would not be surprised if Jude had approached her about networking after a Thrash Metal concert she performed at.

Others may have been introduced to her by a friend of a friend as she has many contacts in the city both high and low.

None that I can think of that haven't already been mentioned.
(will separate and update if needed)

EDIT: (Sorry Imperatrix)

None that I can think of that haven't been mentioned.

None that I can think of that haven't been mentioned.

Walking genitalia enhancement advertisements.

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Any of you might have heard (by word of mouth) that a Dryad sacked a minor gang with a horde of plant spirits and then leveled a small building to turn it into a very small arboretum before letting a much less burn-it-all-down gang take over the rest of the territory.

Certain of you might have tried to record the fight, taken a shot of her, or have done a video on location or in which she walked by in the background... only to have it completely disappear from the Matrix.  Permanently. (She is oh so very erased.)

Any of you might have seen Darina meeting up with Jude at a food cart.  If you frequent those areas in meatspace, there's a reasonable chance she's approached you for help with a tech issue.., possibly to help her view one of your own trids.  (She is as bad with tech as she is erased.)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:57, Mon 16 Jan 2023.

• Prostitution. My character has a history there, and a soft spot for helping joygirls.
• Guard dogs. My character fears them. Prepare for some animal abuse however..
• Bleak atmosphere. Johnson can't be trusted. Fixer looks out for his own best interest. Things break. People die. No one cares about anyone but themselves. Drugs, BTL's and other vices are rampant. It's a dark world and it sucks for the people in it. And a Shadowrunner might make it even worse for the little guy.
• "That's not fair!" Sometimes the corp you heist is expecting you. Sometimes the Johnson disappears without paying up. And that gun you just bought turns out to have a ident-code you don't have. In that moment, it sucks. But then the payback that follows afterwards feels so goooood...
• Violent crime. A jazzed up biker beating the shit out of someone for kicks. Junkies knifing someone for a few nuyen. Arson. Riots. Bring it all!
• Hate crimes. Racism is a big theme of the setting. Let's see some Humanis Policlub in action.
• Mental degradation. Imperatrix is a walking essence hole with all the problems that come with it. She's not the only one. Let's see those burned-out BTL junkies, cyberpsychos and walking genitalia-enhancement advertisements.
  

• Being forced to be the good guy. Shadowrunners get their hands dirty, and helping mom and pop stores pays like shit. My character is not a nice person. She wants the nuyen, not the praise.
• Dungeons & Dragons-like party dynamics. We're Shadowrunners. In some way or form we keep to the professional code to get the job done, but that does not automatically make us best friends who lay down their lives for one another. Heroes live short lives in the shadows.
• On that note: Meeting in a tavern bar all the time. :D

• ....

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Imperatrix is sliding down a deep slope. The others will not know why she did so, but she has had a stupendous amount of chrome. Literally stupendous, for it's well known that much burns you out quick. All her limbs are replaced with obvious augmatics with a feline theme. The legs are digitigrade variants, her hands and paws have retractable claws. She even has a working tail and wears a cat-head shaped ballistic mask from which actual cat eyes look out. All the limbs have actual cat-like fur and that can change color, just like her clothing. Naturally, she acts like a cat and makes cat-themed noises. Crazy. She might as well have walked out of a specialized fetishist joyclub. Maybe she did. The only thing is that it's all alphaware military-grade stuff. But people don't tend to find that out until it's too late..

Word on the street will be that she's an augmatic thief. She sneaks up on people with valuable chrome and steals it. Naturally, there's no real way of being nice about that.

She knows Jude through her own street doc contact. She is very much into the work for the nuyen. Jude knows she doesn't care about the average joe.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:52, Mon 16 Jan 2023.