[OOC] [Shadowrun] Sprawl Stories (Accepting new players!)

[Ollumhammersong]

no you wouldn't have any magic, so you can get rid of that section entirely. For gear look at the equipment listing in the core rulebook. Your looking at more basic equipment like the more common pistols and if your an enforcer, probably a few melee weapons like a machete, or a bat. For armour? armour vest or armour jacket are your real options for starting.

[Munk]

It's absolutely fine not to have magic. Only about 1% of the population are Awakened.

As for gear and cyberware: Something like Wired Reflexes is very popular with (non-Awakened) Shadowrunners, no matter their role. Cybereyes are also very common. It's a cheap procedure, and many regular citizens have them—as such, those who later become Shadowrunners do as well. While trolls have natural thermographic vision, many opt for cybereyes to add stuff like low-light vision, and of course all cybereyes come with an image link. Saves you from having to wear goggles or AR glasses to receive input from your commlink.

Oh, right. Commlinks are pretty important. Think of them as smartphones on steroids. They're not only used for viewing Augmented Reality information (many restaurants have foregone physical menus and only broadcast them onto an AR layer), but also for stuff like communicating with friends (or your teammates in the shadows) and of course surfing the Matrix. Most shadowrunners don't invest heavily in their commlinks, favoring disposable "burner" 'links that can't be traced back to you. Hackers are an obvious exception to this, as their 'links need a but more processing power to crack firewalls. I very much recommend reading the Wireless World chapter in the rulebook to get a feel for how the Matrix works in the 2070's.

[stickman]

Okay, the book has more lore than the elder scrolls and enough rules to make the Death Note look like a coloring book...

BTW, for cybernetics I was planning on a radio, protective covers, flare compensation and low-light for the eyes. Aluminium bone lacing, a retractable hand blade, muscle replacements and a wired reflex system for the core. Furthermore synthetic cyberlimbs and enhanced strengh. And last but not least a heavy gun in the left arm.

And now a very important question, is this overdone?

[Ollumhammersong]

A heavy gun in your left arm would 'BE' your left arm. you wouldn't really have a hand. and I think all of those cybernetics would drain the average persons Essence. But not my call.

[Munk]

The book is very comprehensive, yeah :D and there are several rulebooks in addition to this one.

I'd say it's not completely overdone, but if we're going by Essence as an indication of how much the body can handle, then four cyberlimbs, wired reflexes, and muscle replacements at their lowest ratings bring you up to 6 already. I'd suggest getting rid of the cyberlegs and keeping the rest. Would also make more sense to have muscle replacements if you have some limbs left to replace the muscles of ;) Putting a gun in one arm (totally possible, by the way—cyberguns usually fire through a port in the palm) and hand razors in the other sounds fun.

As for the eyes, I'm not sure what you mean by a radio, but you can stuff a commlink in your head (or one of your cyberarms!) if you want.

[Ollumhammersong]

when are we getting this hoedown started?

[stickman]

Name: Thomas D. Walker
Street name: Quicksilver
Race: Human
Age: 41
Role: Street Samurai

Appearance

With armor:

and without armor:

Bio: Thomas’ ancestors fled to Seattle after England got destroyed by the flood. Thomas grew up in a good family, he was the youngest of three. Both his parents worked for a corporation, now forgotten, that collapsed when the kid was only fifteen years old. To help out his parents with their new money issues he got a ‘job’ as a courier and later as an enforcer. His parents also had lent money from some shady types to help with their money problem. As with most deals with shady people things went south… Interest rates skyrocketed and the brand new enforcer came home to a burned out house with four corpses to greet him.

The young man took all his sadness, his despair, his anger and his hate and he kept it all inside. He vouched to end the people who did this, and he eventually did. Tommy grew up to Thomas, grew up from an enforcer to a hit man, a good one at that. Thomas got himself submerged more and more in this underworld that had taken his parents and his two sisters. The easy going young man had turned into an arrogant powerhouse. Thomas got augmented, implanted, he was jacked in and jacked up.

After a rather unfortunate encounter with what was called a street samurai the 29 year old decided that it was time for even more self improvement. He and his dented ego took all his money and started training again. He also got a couple more improvements, learned how to use a katana and murder the families of the people who had done the same to his. As a final test he decided to look for the samurai that did him in for. Long story short, he found him, they battled, Thomas almost died and the street samurai who went by Vortex was no more. The repairs cost small fortune and Thomas did some time in jail for this, silver lining his ego was no longer dented and he was as arrogant as ever.

Cyberware: Low-light eye implants and eye covers, wired reflex system with reflex trigger, muscle replacements.
Gear: Two katanas, light armor plating, helmet with a disposable commlink and a handgun

[Ollumhammersong]

Is it just his arms that are cyberware? or all four limbs?

[stickman]

Oh, would it than be 4*1.6 for the limbs... That's a lot..

Was planning on all four

[Ollumhammersong]

yes it would be. that's also a shit tone of money.

[stickman]

That's part of the reason I made him 41, figured he than got money enough... I know that's not how thing go in tabletop RP, I almost got into D&D, but I moved away from the people that were also into it. So I know a couple of basics...

@Munk, But could this fly in forum RP?

[Ollumhammersong]

well keep in mind people in this day and age are poor. And they are kept poor. No one really gets raises and bonuses all to often unless they are really high in the company hierarchy, or just really good criminals. And if he lived on the streets were did he get money from? to afford all of these cyberlimbs and titanium katanas no less? on top of living expenses and the like

[stickman]

I thought being a hitman paid pretty well... But what you're saying makes sense as well. I'm really tired right now, so I will look at this in the morning. I'm from Europe.

[Ollumhammersong]

In this day and age you can literally throw a rock and find a hitman for hire. or at least someone willing to kill for money

[Munk]

Sleep tight, stickman!

Generally, four cyberlimbs is a "rule of cool" kind of thing. Both in the universe and from a mechanics perspective, it's rarely worth it to replace all four limbs when you can get less invasive 'ware. If you got your arms and legs chopped off in an accident or something, that would probably make sense ;)

But I'm not extremely opposed to the idea. It could be that someone would get most of their body replaced with cyberlimbs for intimidation reasons—if someone who's 90% machine wants to mess you up, you might be inclined to tell them what they want to know. It almost veers into cyberzombie territory, though. The body can only take so much mechanical punishment.

It just occurred to me that the price of those cyberlimbs would be a good reason for a character to be shadowrunning. You wanna get a hot cyber-bod? Talk to someone in Renraku/the Yakuza/whatever, borrow some money. You'll be in debt for a zillion years, but you'll also be deadly.

[Lord Pie]

Name:
Thorin Doomstride (Thomas Daniels is what his mamma called him, but he didn’t much like that.)

Street name:
‘Doomstride’ ‘Doom’

Race:
Troll

Age:
32

Appearance:

Pic

Thorin is actually a little small for a Troll, lacking the bulking muscles and hunched physique one would generally expect, however despite this he still has some very intimidating qualities to him. His horns are large and pointy, and he has a large set of curved incisors – both of which he is not opposed to using as savage weapons when in a pinch. He has several piercings in each ear and is always generally scowling or frowning, rarely choosing to show any emotion other than anger.
He takes more pride than most in his appearance, though his own opinions of taste and attractiveness differ from your average runner. He wears generally dark clothing, though the occasional coloured item appears from time to time, and he is never seen out and around without his dark sunglasses .

Role:
Ex-Enforcer

Bio:
Thorin has never played well with others, his violent tendencies and mood swings often causing problems. A life filled with aggression quickly lead him to become an enforcer for the highest bidder. It wasn’t bad work, it just never quite paid enough. Several years later and a small stack of debit building and Thorin decided it was time to step things up a little. He never cared for the world of corporations, so it was easy enough for him to become a Shadowrunner, targeting different enemies whenever the money came in. Whatever skills and knowledge he lacks, he makes up for with enthusiasm and a plain simple skill for killin.

Cyberware:
Thorin is no stranger to cyberware, having had multiple implants and procedures when he has been able to afford it. Anything that makes his work easier and makes it less likely to end up bleeding to death is a good investment as far as he is concerned.

Wired Reflexes – One of his first implants, Thorin has had this highly invasive operation which implants a multitude of neural boosters and adrenalin stimulators in strategic locations all over his body. When activated everything around him seems to move in slow motion. The system includes a trigger to turn the wired reflexes on and off allowing him to use it at will.

Muscle Augmentation - Using a biological weaving treatment, special vat-grown muscle cables have been braided into Thorin’s existing muscle fibers, enhancing his muscle’s mass and performance, basically making him stronger.
Muscle Toner - This treatment has incorporated vat-grown elastic muscle fibers into his existing muscle tissue, increasing his muscle tension and flexibility, making him more agile.

Cybereyes – These provide Thorin with 20/20 vision for both eyes and includes an image link and an eye recording unit as standard, he has the following enhancements:
Low-Light Vision - This accessory allows him to see normally in light levels as low as starlight. Total darkness still renders him as blind as an unmodified person.
Thermographic Implant - This enhancement enables vision in the infrared portion of the spectrum, enabling Thorin to see heat patterns. Thermographic vision is a very practical way to spot living beings in areas of total darkness.

Gear
Thorin generally carries the small assortment of firearms with him at all times, having numerous holsters on his person. Most of his weapons he has acquired on the job – taken from the occasional corpse or holdout box.

Ruger Super Warhawk – Thorin’s first gun and the only one he has actually bought. It is a heavy revolver that looks as scary as the holes it tears through things. A tad on the noisy side but very effective.
Remington Roomsweeper – One of Thorin’s favourites, this short-barreled “shotgun pistol” can be loaded with both shot rounds as well as slugs. It’s a very effective pistol capable of stopping most foes in their tracks.
Ceska Black Scorpion – This classic machine pistol combines concealability with fearsome burst fire capabilities. It even comes with an integral folding stock for easy storage, and comes in very handy in a pinch.
Ranger Arms SM-4 – This sniper rifle features a silencer, imaging scope, and a rigid stock with shock pad. The SM-4 disassembles completely in order to fit into a standard briefcase, assembling or disassembling it can take a few moments – Thorin only takes this with him when the mission specifically calls for it.

Longsword – Thorin has a simple blade which he uses when things get up close and personal. It’s not as keen as it once was and is also stained somewhat on the blade, but it’s still just as deadly.

Other: Drinks and smokes like each day may be his last.

[Ollumhammersong]

im just going to go ahead and take myself a pistol

[Blue Demon]

I already took myself a gun... I figured, knowing my character, she'd already have one.

[Ollumhammersong]

Well I had the van and the drone with the SMG attached. But im only taking a pistol for myself.

[Lord Pie]

Oh I forgot I melee weapon - fixed that now. Hope all is good and appropriate with my character. Just picked some cool stuff from the rulebook which seemed so.