Shadowrun

I'd like to play. I was actually thinking of running a game, but if you happen to run one that'd be perfect. I'm free at almost any time.

I have 4e and would be willing to play almost any type of campaign, but I'd like to play a hacker character.

edited 26th Jul '10 6:37:30 PM by Iverum

dysfunctional human artistry

^ Same here.

Hmm...maybe I should run a one-shot (with an option to go to a campaign), to get over my ridiculous fear of commitment?

We've got enough people to get started, I think...

• Phyi
  • Stealth or Hacker Character
  • Any time, but Tuesdays are best.
• Kyriotsu
  • Hacker, or Assassin/Weapons Specialist
  • Weekends
• Iverum
  • Hacker
  • Any time

Sounds like you guys want to be Anonymous.

• I'm going to need to bone up on the hacking rules, and think of a hacking themed adventure. I've never really had much to do with that...
• Should I assume you're all going to be "hacking, and something else", like multiclass hacker/gunslinger or hacker/rogue?
• Speaking of which, do you prefer Hackers or Technomancers?

---

Hah, I'm reminded of a friend's suggestion that Shadowrun would be the perfect system/setting to run an Outlaw Star game. "Shooting Taoist Space Pirate Cyborg Wizards with your Magic Gun!"

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Hacker gunslinger for me. Mostly hacker though.

And real hacking. Technomancy just seems too flashy for me.

edited 30th Jul '10 3:13:34 PM by Iverum

dysfunctional human artistry

Maybe an Assassin type character for me, I'm trying to break out of the habit of making either pure hack and slash, or pure magic using characters.

Hmm...shall I create a separate discussion for my game, then? I need to get home a brush up on the hacking rules first, though...

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That would be cool with me, Rock.

Meanwhile we can have other Shadowrun discussion here. Like that my favorite part of most the sourcebooks are the amount of time they devote to expanding the setting. For example, the core 4E book includes a story about an illegal weapons shop and an oni buying a sword in it. The Seattle sourcebook includes more about this oni and what he did with the sword. I liked the connection across books.

dysfunctional human artistry

What kind of resources are we starting with, I kind of want to get cracking on the character sheet.

edited 2nd Aug '10 12:52:09 AM by Phyi

Hacking seems kinda odd to me; very much a dungeon crawl, but I suppose you could say that about anything, really.

Hmm...with a party of hackers, we might end up with a lot of NP Cs, and your characters acting as the Voice with an Internet Connection and Mission Control.

I think I'm going to scrap the initial idea; not sure how to make it fit with a hacker party, as well...I've got another, inspired by one of the short stories in the main book, but it's probably too high level.

• The third idea, I think, makes both a good, simple/fast one shot, and I can hook it into further adventures, or make it a background element.

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Quick suggestion: faced with the perspective of having a Squishy Hacker in my Cyberpunk game, I decided to let the players have him as a non-standard support. One of the changes I introduced was the ubiquitous wi-fi in large cities and Everything Is Online. The hacker could use drones to peek where the rest couldn't and relay the images to the rest of the party. And I'd make no problem for them to shoot through cover (especially cars) - but it'd work both ways and the Quirky Miniboss Squad (but not ordinary mooks) could do the same to them.

And yes, the safest place behind a car would be behind the engine block.

"what the complete, unabridged, 4k ultra HD fuck with bonus features" - Mark Von Lewis

Wireless Matrix is standard in 4e; sounds awesome. Kinda reminds me of reading fifties scifi, and people making calls on their "radio phones"

• I got the impression that most of the players are focusing on straight Hacking rather than Rigging.

And the safest place in a car is probably behind the Street Samurai.

edited 2nd Aug '10 1:36:31 PM by DrRockopolis

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The catch is, my world was a Cyberpunk-flavored 20 Minutes into the Future - I took today's technology and went from there. Other changes are: no caseless guns (modern ones are used instead - I mean, what's the difference apart from cleaning after yourself? If it weighs four fucking pounds, is almost a foot long and will most probably one-shot you, the difference between Sternmeyer P35 and Desert Fucking Eagle is completely insignificant) and the need for having Neural Interface for more advanced cyberware functions like pop-up guns and image filters.

"what the complete, unabridged, 4k ultra HD fuck with bonus features" - Mark Von Lewis

Oh, yeah, I might as well say it, new thread.

---

Sounds like Shadowrun to me...well, without the magic, I suppose.

Caseless is an option, and the one bit of advice I've heard is that most smart people go with it. And cyberware has a direct neural interface by default...might have been different in older editions, I guess.

I like the integration of the wireless matrix into daily life, with Augmented Reality. Pop up displays as I'm walking down the street and browsing shops; I can go outside and not have to leave the net behind.

• Of course, then again, I think getting chipped and having a SIN would be a good thing.
  • Paranoia about government conspiracies aside, I sometimes look at it as; we're already losing privacy and being viewed as numbers, so we might as well get some convenience out of it.

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I like the AR stuff that Shadowrun integrates. I also like the touches it adds with megacorps spamming ads and such. There's almost no denying that it would happen.

On another note, anyone know of a Shadowrun character sheet thing similar to the Profiler on Tangled Web?

dysfunctional human artistry

I use a program called Daisy Box SR 4 Char Gen, it have a everything in drop down boxes. Is this the sort of program you are looking for?

edited 2nd Aug '10 2:43:03 PM by Phyi

Yeah, pretty much that. The original Cyberpunk2020 RPG was made in 1984, and obviously Technology Marches On, so my vision of the world is closer to what the recent edition of Shadowrun depicts. A deck (hacker's portable terminal) is no bigger than an iPhone, the Augmented Reality works for everyone who has the Image Overlay (two optics upgrades from the CP 2020 sourcebook rolled into one) installed in his eye implant or smartgoggles (plus a connection like wireless DT Link or a deck plugged into your neural interface). It's just the guns that feel pretty dated (I doubt that caseless ammo will ever be picked up - exposed propellant can mean an uncontrollable chain reaction on such a stupid thing as misfire. Yeah. Put a stick of dynamite studded with shrapnels and wrapped in a non-reinforced plastic handle in your hand, bucko.), but they still pack a punch (I'm actually cutting back on Gun Porn a good bit there).

"what the complete, unabridged, 4k ultra HD fuck with bonus features" - Mark Von Lewis

Couldn't find a working version of that Phyi. But I don't think so. The Tangled Web gives read only links to character sheets that makes it useful for online play.

dysfunctional human artistry

Had a read of the 4e sourcebook today. Combat mechanic is a tad messed up - I tried Average Joe (Agi 3, Pistols 3, light pistol 4/0) nail Average Jack (Rea 3, Bod 3, bulletproof vest 6B), at medium range, without using Edge.

• Joe's attack roll, 5 dice (-1 for range): 2 hits (2 sixes).
• Jack's dodge roll, 3 dice: no hits. So that's 4 damage from the pistol and 2 from the roll.
• Jack's damage soak roll, 9 dice: 4 hits. Takes 2 damage, goes from 11 to 9 health. Yeah, sure.

Did I do something wrong? Wrong dice pools, my usual shitty luck, anything of the sort?

I also have an idea of taking my L 5 R Phoenix and turning him into a SR adept/bodyguard. Lots of Edge, a decent amount of Magic used for tricks like stat boosting and other adept feats.

edited 19th Aug '10 9:17:44 AM by NotSoBadassLongcoat

"what the complete, unabridged, 4k ultra HD fuck with bonus features" - Mark Von Lewis

Well, first thing is, you didn't use a rifle. If you want someone dead, use a mage airstrike booby trap proper weapon. Pistols are for pussies; that's why they both start with 'P'.

Armor is not useless; a Bullet Proof Vest will save your life.

• Remember, without the vest, two of those subpar shots would have dropped him.
• I can't remember what the penalties as you get wounded are; it's not as bad as, say, Burning Wheel, but it still hurts.

I think a three is generally supposed to be a 'grunt' in the armed forces, isn't it? Not a couch potato joe schmoe, which might make a bit of difference.

You can buy armor-piercing bullets to somewhat offset his armor. Manabolt ignores it, if I recall correctly.

• Personally, I love Stick-n-Shock weapons; I almost think they're kinda broken, since they do more (stun) damage, and are resisted by half-impact armor.

And most importantly, they both have names.

edited 19th Aug '10 3:45:52 PM by DrRockopolis

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Yeah, that's a grunt. An "average" grunt. Also, not everyone wears a bulletproof vest and a pair of PanzerPants(TM)... Or Is It? Also, rifles are way harder to conceal and my primary goal is to look unassuming - unless shit hits the fan and it's time to blast my way through.

As for the penalties, I'm kinda suspecting it's like in Requiem - the closer you are to the last point, the harder it is to do things.

"what the complete, unabridged, 4k ultra HD fuck with bonus features" - Mark Von Lewis

Started toying with firearm combat systems with different games. The same combat described above ended up with Average Jack utterly failing his soak roll (wearing armor!) and taking 6 of 7 damage. But somehow, the bastard soaked 5 of 9 damage dealt with a fucking RIFLE, AP -1 and all!

"what the complete, unabridged, 4k ultra HD fuck with bonus features" - Mark Von Lewis

Please recommend Y40,000 worth of starting equipment for a short-range combat character with the Sensitive System (double essence loss from implants) disadvantage and Adept advantage. Firearms 2, Pistols 4, Blades 3 with specialization in Swords. Katana is a must.

"what the complete, unabridged, 4k ultra HD fuck with bonus features" - Mark Von Lewis

I take it you're not planning on getting any 'ware with that setup.

Why do you have Firearms 2, Pistols 4? Did you mean Longarms, or Automatics?

Personally, I've always liked Holdout Pistols with Stick-N-Shock ammo. Can't modify them, though, so maybe light pistols. I seem to remember the Morissey brand sounded rather sleek.

I seem to recall the Sakura Fubuki was goofy but kinda powerful, for a light pistol. Same for some of the weirder Fitchetti variants.

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Firearms, as in the whole group, at 2, but I bought pistols at 4 separately. That gives me Longarms at 2, Autos at 2 and Pistols at 4. What I'd go for is a Colt Manhunter or something like that (maybe Predator? I have access only to the basic rulebook).

Also, as you say, no 'ware. I think I'll have to stick with wearables instead.

How good a commlink is necessary for a non-hacker character?

And one more, this time completely bizarre: Ryu, my L 5 R GM utterly freaks out at the thought of playing a D6-based system after playing Shadowrun and having the party's rigger blow up his van by rolling a critical glitch with remotely controlled minigun. Of course that was after two characters in full battle rattle got floored by three weakly-armed hobos AND Ryu tripped when charging the hobos with his katana.
Can't we use D10s with 8-10 being the hit range instead? :P

edited 27th Aug '10 11:37:50 AM by NotSoBadassLongcoat

"what the complete, unabridged, 4k ultra HD fuck with bonus features" - Mark Von Lewis

Hmm...I gotta remember to carry the books with me. At least the internet is back up in the office. I need to pack, though...

The Predator is the usual standard heavy pistol; it has a built in smartlink, and even if you don't have an implant, you can route it through your comlink and goggles.

• Lately, I like light pistols, mostly for the concealability.
• As an equipment freak, it pains me to say this, but after a certain point, a gun's a gun...

As for your comlink...umm...I think the most important thing is to have a good firewall and ECCM, maybe a signal, to keep you from getting hacked, jammed, or losing communications. The other stuff is mainly important for the hackers.

• Most of the people in my campaign are going to be hackers, so, they can try to cover for you, but you're also going to have a lot of hacker enemies.

A rifle is always a handy thing to have, even if you don't use or carry it much.

Well, glitching is in the hands of the GM, after all...

edited 29th Aug '10 1:21:24 PM by DrRockopolis

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