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Just wanted to post a recent experience here. The group was tasked with finding a chip containing something secret fot a local mob boss. Last intel said it was in the possession of a biker gang called the Soy Sloppers, due to the Mafioso boss' girl sleeping with their leader, and she'd been holding the package. The team found out that the Soy Sloppers were planning a big party at one of their safehouses, an abandoned Krill Krisps factory. So it was one players big idea to get ahold of some nausea gas to flush the place and give the group time to search. So in searching for the nausea gas, the team hit up their contacts looking for someone to provide it, and were directed to an arms dealer named Mikhail, who worked out of a junkyard and spend his time making scrap metal sculpture. This jovial, burly guy informed the team, sure, he had some gas. He didn't think it was nausea, but something like stun gas. His linguasofts (and theirs) read the 20 year old military Chinese as "bad gas". The group merrily purchased the canisters and went on their way. The crew placed the canisters at several points in the building's ventilation via drones, and sat back to watch the show on their commlinks. What they got was the worst snuff film ever. It turned out that the "bad gas" was a nerve toxin, and they sat two blocks away, watching abuelas and kids and yes, gangers, breaking their own backs over the enchiladas and taquitos (this was in Pueblo). They ended up fleeing the scene and not getting the chip, which was later revealed to have been in a ganger's rear end for safe-keeping. It's in the hands of Lone Star now, in the ME's office. The description of the event literally had most of the players in tears. As they watched a whole building full of people, even gangers, bang against the doors (blocked!) and succumb. And that's what Shadowrun should be about: consequences. When you shoot a security guard, he had a family. Maybe his brother was a Lone Star detective. Maybe he's a scrub instead, and just goes looking for vengeance. Shadowrunners are fundamentally hosed up people doing fundamentally hosed up things, and at the end of the day, they have a bullet to look forward to. Edit: oh, and we never found that loving chip.
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Aug 17, 2011 08:08
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I wouldn't even require a roll to see new nodes within his signal area, as long as the hacker specifically states he's constantly scanning for new nodes. After all, you can't hide the fact that there's a new signal. Once the node is within the hacker's range, the hacker uses a Simple Action to Observe in Detail on the icon, and roll Computer + Analyze against whatever you set as the threshold. Each hit is one detail regarding the icon (that it's a Stormcloud drone, whether it's actively rigged or running on autopilot, who's listed as the registered owner, if it's loading its launcher, etc.). If the drone is trying to hide its icon, it's an Opposed roll vs. Hacking + Stealth (or Firewall + Stealth if it's running on autopilot). Once the hacker has identified the blimp, he can then hack that bitch. In order to issue any kind of command to the drone, he first has to log in with an account suitable for issuing commands (such as the registered owner mentioned earlier). Now, since he won't have time to probe the target (which takes hours in VR), he's gonna have to do it on the fly (pg 221 of the core). This is a Complex Action (if you're all rolling initiative right now) Extended Test of Hacking + Exploit vs. the drone's Firewall (probably +6 for admin) each Initiative Pass until he's exceeded the threshold. Every roll also gives the drone (or rigger) an Analyze + Firewall test against the hacker's Stealth program rating. If they succeed, all the fun on pg. 222 starts. Once the hacker has established an admin account, he can do whatever the Hell he pleases. The table on pg. 219 is useful as a reference. Unless a rigger is actively perceiving through the drone, I wouldn't even roll for detection after that, unless the hacker's doing something like trying to crash the OS or something else blatantly malicious to the blimp itself. Go hog wild! Vent the hydrogen! Eject the fuel cell! Launch CS grenades in random directions, bringing police attention to the owner! tl;dr: New node in the area allows a Matrix perc check that works just like a regular perc check except it's Computer + Analyze. Node requires a hack on the fly to create an admin account. After that, it's all gravy. Unless, of course, the rigger's paying attention. In which case, Matrix combat, pg. 230!
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Sep 7, 2011 19:04
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Mystic Mongol posted:Have you ever opened a wireless laptop in the city? You can get a couple of dozen hits, easy--and this is today, when each signal is a distinct local area network or router designed for accessing the internet. In the future, where signal technology is better and the half-digested soykaf bar in your stomach probably has a small node for the collection and dissemination of advertising information, your commlink is probably in range of thousands if not tens of thousands of networks at any given moment. That's why you specifically have to scan for nodes using specialized software--humans just can't keep up by pawing through a list. That's fair enough.
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Sep 8, 2011 17:28
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Tias posted:Me too What issues are you still having with the rules? Because I know you understand how to hack vehicles now. You pretty much apply the same principles to whatever Matrix system you're trying to hack. Be more specific about what you're stumbling over, and I'll see about whipping something up tonight or tomorrow to explain it.
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Dec 31, 2011 19:57
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Tias posted:The entire system confuses me. Hacking skills: This is pretty well spelled out on page 218, under Using Computer Skill: If you don't have access to do something, use Hacking + relevant software. If you have access, use Computer + relevant software. Here's how I rule on what's authorized and what isn't: A hacker can phone in an on-the-fly hack and grab himself a regular jagoff user account. This is Smitty in Sanitation's account, or some mope in the mail room. The hacker has free access, using COmputer + Application, to do whatever that account is normally permitted to do. They can browse the company portal and intraweb for their department, use E-Mail from that account, and access whatever files are laying around in their particular directory. If they want to do something shady or beyond their access level, they need to use Hacking + app to, more or less, sudo that particular action. Security's a step up from this, and was already covered in Zweihander01's post. You can get away with more stuff by using Computer instead of hacking, within the purview of the account/ If the hacker takes his time, scopes out the target, preps his entry, and nabs himself a solid admin account, then he can do damned near anything using only Computer + app short of crashing the system, or any of the obviously shady things listed on page 223-224 (which use Hacking). I don't agree with page 225's stance that editing security logs if you already have an admin account, but YMMV. Aside from the dice pool, the other important thing is this: The way I rule it, having authorization and using the Computer skill rather than Hacking doesn't cause alarms if you gently caress up, generally speaking. Screwing up a Hacking roll sends up big red flags to IC and security hackers alike, but with a "legit" account, you're just a retard who can't get your syntax right on the first try, as far as security is concerned. Now, you can still get outed by passive IC beating you on a scan, or if, through some means, an observant security hacker notices Barry the Admin's account actively copying financial records when he knows Barry the Admin is at home asleep, or maybe in the can, or sitting right next to him, maybe also in the can. This assumes the hacker actually manages to get in with the Hacking attempt. Any time a Hacking + Exploit test is made to gain access, regardless of level, the system gets to make its own Analyze + Firewall check vs. the hacker's active Stealth software. This is an Extended test, in that every time the hacker makes the hack roll, the system gets to roll again and add those hits until it finally succeeds. This makes kludging together a lovely user account viable for quick access to one or two things, where a more complicated plan will result in alarms and traces without the Admin or Security account, depending on what you need to do and the type of system you're accessing. Data Searches use Data Search and differ from Analyze rolls mostly in scope. Data Search is researching information on a particular subject, Analyze is determining the configuration or predisposition of things within a node. Oh, and Matrix combat uses the Cybercombat skill. Software: By and large, this is self-explanatory. If you're hacking yourself an account, regardless of the level of access, use Exploit. Wanna know something? Analyze. Want to change something? Edit. To reconfigure that 3D plastic printer to make an endless series of dongs, use Command. Beyond that, pages 226 and 227 are very explicit on what software is used for what purpose. Again, the skill used in conjunction with the software is determined by current access, as above. Timeframes: This is very vague in the core, so I generally rule that most Computer and Hacking actions require a Complex Action. AR or VR, Hot Sim or Cold Sim doesn't make a different for most of these rolls. So if the group's in the middle of combat, once the hacker has access to the system and is actually doing poo poo, the only difference is whether he's ducked behind cover, waving his hands like a lunatic at things only he can see, or if he's slumped over on the floor, drooling onto the concrete. Where AR vs. VR really makes a difference is in three places. First, Probing the Target on page 221: this is scanning and testing the system for weaknesses before hacking your access. This is an Extended test of Hacking + Exploit against System + Firewall (different from hacking on the fly, which has you only rolling against Firewall), with the thresholds also listed on page 221. If the hacker's in AR, each roll is a day. If in VR, each roll is an hour. The advantage of doing this is that assuming you don't glitch, you can roll for weeks and never trigger even a hint of suspicion, until the moment you actually implement the exploit you've found (a Complex Acion, automatic success), when the system gets only one Analyze + Firewall vs. Stealth. The other place where it makes a difference is in cybercombat, where it gives big initiative bonuses. The third is additional actions, expounded upon a bit down the line. Now, that's if the hacker is actively doing something. If they're letting their programs do the talking, it works a bit differently. Say the hacker finds a big, encrypted file and wants to know what's inside immediately, but doesn't have the key (which would only take a Simple Action). I will generally rule that the first roll on the Extended test requires the hacker's full attention for a Complex Action, to bring up the application and start the process. After that, it runs in the background for however long the Extended roll determines it takes (in this particular case, Decrypt + Response vs. Encryption rating X2, 1 Combat Turn), requiring no attention and, so long as the hacker doesn't leave the node or get shot through the commlink, he's free to do other poo poo, either in or out of the Matrix (assuming he's not in VR mode). I don't allow that rule if there's an Extended test that actually requires Hacking or Computer, just rolls that are program + commlink attribute or whatever. If it requires Computer or Hacking, it requires the hacker's full attention for the duration of the Extended test. Finally, as far as time is concerned, there's a few things that are purely GM fiat. The one that immediately comes to mind is downloading or editing a large document. Frankly, that just takes however long you want. If copying/downloading, it happens in the background after the first action. If it's editing, you've gotta be engaged. I'm sure there's a couple other examples you or someone else could think of. So long story short, assume Complex Actions where not specified otherwise, which makes it easy to fit into the combat sequence that's already going on. If the hacker has multiple Matrix Initiative passes, I generally allow the hacker to take an action per Initiative pass, even if not in combat. So if the hacker wants to redirect a trace (Complex Action) to divert a security rigger on his rear end while telling that rigger's drone to open fire on nearby security forces (Spoof COmmand, COmplex Action), then he could do the first one round, while the mage is manaballing a charging cyberdog, then spoof the command the next pass, when the samurai is making his second full auto spray at anything that moves. If the hacker is using AR and has multiple Initiative passes in meatspace, I usually don't allow the same sequence, to reflect the cumbersome dicking around with interfaces. This has occasionally run into some complications where the hacker wants to Spoof something one pass, and shoot someone with his SMG the next. I generally just handwave it as shooting a dude while waiting for stuff to load/respond, and the hacking action is complete at the end of the combat round. But do it how you like, there doesn't appear to be any canon preventing AR users from performing a full Matrix Action every initiative pass. Odds and Ends: Data bombs are pretty simple. Hacking + Defuse Opposed vs. Rating X 2, same Complex Action as everything else. Succeed, file's yours. gently caress it up, and it blows, damaging you and probably destroying the file and alerting security. Matrix communication can be text IM, VoIP-style voice exchanges, video conferencing or (in VR), even full-sense avatar interaction. I usually play communication as popping up little windows here and there, containing text/images, and regular sound through the commlink. Full sensory meetings in VR would be much the same as having a meeting with someone in meatspace and organizing your IMs/calls/videoconferences, except your "main" sensorium would be the VR. I generally rule that pretty much all communication occurs real-time with Free Actions if you're in combat. You can completely destroy a file by deleting it, then finding out if there's backups/undelete options and deleting those. This is largely the GM's job, something I'm going to touch on in a bit more depth for the last bit of this huge tirade. Editing a video feed to loop, I would rule, takes a Complex Action to start recording the feed, then however long the hacker wants to record it, then a Complex Action to spoof the camera feed with his new, recorded file. This is a lot easier to do when not on-site. Probe the target, hack it, record some feed, edit the timestamps, and then it's all ready to go once you're on the run. Otherwise, you're standing around in a janitor's closet for ten minutes, idly recording poo poo. Takes maybe a few hours if you're off-site, to edit the whole thing and tie it together. Security: This is where you have the largest amount of leeway, do the most creative work, and have the least amount of mechanical support. Almost all system security comes down to GM fiat, and every system is going to be a unique snowflake, beause every security hacker and system architect has a different vision of what security is supposed to do, and how. The biggest factor I consider when designing Matrix security is budget. How valuable is this information and how damaging could it be in the wrong hands? These are not the same thing. A patented process for 3D printing amazing plastic dongs might be the company's very livelihood, but some hacker jacking the schematics isn't going to break the bank, because the hacker doesn't have the manufacturing infrastructure to compete, and even if they do, you can sue the everloving poo poo out of them for intellectual property theft. In those case, passive traces and IC are the order of the day. Passwords, security tokens, all those are perfectly serviceable for most systems. Then there's company intranets containing finanacial and accounting databases, customer financial and personal information, employee records, things like that. You're still not going to load grey IC onto something like that, because you don't want to give Phil in Accounting a concussion for screwing up his password six times in a row because he just changed it before lunch, then forgot the new one. You'll also probably have one on-duty security hacker, probably working a 12-hour shift 3-4 days a week, who may or may not double as the IT guy. Active IC with hair-trigger alerts may be the order of the day, here, however, and no doubt Phil gets at least one annoyed call from IT security every three months, when it's password changing time. I usually build non-critical systems on the fly, and make them reasonably weak. I've worked for a number of major communications and IT companies, and I can tell you that security's been mind-bogglingly sloppy, even at what would today be considered a AAA megacorp. Forgotten hard tokens lying around, passed from person to person. Weak password-locked PDFs containing stock reports before they actually get released, where all you need it to keep idly looking through directories on the shared drive until you hit something. Supposedly confidential HR soft copies just sitting on that department's drive. Your typical Shaodwrun PC hacker probably wouldn't have much trouble getting access to stuff like that, barring some kind of catastrophic dice fluke. Then you have your critical systems. What a company or other system architect considers "critical" varies wildly, but super-secret R&D research, damaging black budget reports, high-level executive communication and information, sensitive installation security, stuff like that, you can go goddamned hog wild. Multiple on-duty security hackers, grey and black IC everywhere, active spider riggers, honeypot VMs, go crazy. Make it dangerous as Hell, because these types of systems are usually the reason for the run, rather than intelligence gathering/security sabotage that support the main objective. This way, hackers don't get in the way so much when everyone's waiting for ShadowHackerElite6813 to find out about Randy Cosgrove's attendance problems. My Christ, that was long. But if you can think of anything not specifically or sorta vaguely addressed there, let me know. But man, give me some structure, so I don't ramble anymore! Edit: It occurs to me that I probably write a similar-sized ramble just about security theory (physical, psychological, Matrix, magical) in general in the Shadowrun universe. If anyone was interested. Solid Poopsnake fucked around with this message at 09:53 on Jan 5, 2012 |
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Jan 4, 2012 19:50
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Swags posted:Last time I DMed Shadowrun, I started with the plot of Max Payne and then veered off into some kind of opium dream. With all due respect, you're sort of creating that problem on your own. You're running such epic, convoluted, high-fantasy-style plots that the players are perfectly justified in acting like they're in a D&D game, because they pretty much are. If you want your players to understand the quieter, subtler side of Shadowrun, start with desperation. No one's going to hire a bunch of runners who act so high-profile, except maybe as decoys for real runners. If you want to teach your players the stealthy business of running the shadows, have their fixer(s) start shrugging helplessly when they call up looking for work. Let time pass. Let them start being late on the rent. Maybe knock them down a lifestyle level. Give them lots of Notoriety and Public Awareness. The only NPCs that are willing to hire the runners are similarly desperate, and the jobs are either low-paying, or practically suicide missions for their style of play. Or both! Introduce them to competing shadowrunners that steal their prize through stealth and intelligence, rather than brute force. And hit that troll with a lot of manabolts.
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Jan 6, 2012 19:27
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Swags posted:I have hit him (and all of them) with manabolts, but I have to admit I don't find it to be particularly honorable as a DM to just go "Oh, you have no defense against this one thing. Then I will always hit you with this one thing." Instead I'm trying to just use superior number and the threat of things like Lonestar and Mitsuhama police coming down hard on them, which was finally beginning to make them think about stuff. Don't forget suggestion-type spells. But really, if you don't want to constantly exploit the troll's lack of Will, just exploit his overt behavior. I mean, they still have the nightly news in whatever city they're running, right? Maybe some leaked CCTV footage of the "crazed metahuman menace" or something similar is in order. "If you have any information that could lead to the apprehension of this dangerous outlaw, please contact your local Lone Star representative. A reward is being offered."
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Jan 7, 2012 18:28
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So that ramble on security I mentioned has been sort of rolling around in my head for awhile, but I just hadn't found the right handhold to start really exploring it deeply until I decided to start with population demographics and go from there. The problem is that I can't find a loving thing with any solid demographic information to work with. That being said: Anyone know of any sources? Any wikis that've cobbled together the information? It doesn't necessarily need to be super up-to-date in 4th, I could work with 3rd pretty easily. A brief teaser on my notes so far: OSHA must not exist in 2070 because there are a lot of dead employees.
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Jan 29, 2012 08:38
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Sixth World Almanac is probably exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks! Nevermind, turns out that's not what I want. Thanks anyway, though. Solid Poopsnake fucked around with this message at 09:13 on Jan 30, 2012 |
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Jan 30, 2012 08:51
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Tias posted:Could you tell me exactly what you need? I'm not going to hire runners to steal your idea, silly :p Haha. I'm not sure, exactly. First, it started with wondering about the percentage of the population who're mages. Then I started thinking about the demographics of metatypes, and now I just want to pore over as much info as I can, because the more I started thinking about security theory in the Sixth World, the more I started sperging about the nature of shadowrunners and the setting in general. I'm sure I'm not coming up with anything no one's thought of before, but I'm coming up with stuff I've never thought of before. For example: Shadowrunners are the dumbest goddamned people in the world. They emerge from the moist, pulsating, gun-laden cocoon of character creation as an elite in their chosen field. They're a Navy SEAL, a top-flight hacker, a powerful wizard, or a loving cyborg with guns in his chest who can run at 200 kph. They have skills any megacorp would literally kill for. And instead of taking that lucrative consulting gig with Horizon or Ares (with support, backup, and benefits), they live in substandard housing out in the Barrens, looking over their shoulder and scraping by with a job that invariably involves the threat of painful, messy death. In short, shadowrunners are losers, down to a man. E: Oh, how this relates to security: Most GMs 've played with and most SR fiction depicts corporate security as entirely too lethal. This makes sense, because it's dangerous and dramatic. But it doesn't make sense. If I were a corporate security manager tasked with securing a facility likely to see shadowrunner activity, I'd design my physical and Matrix security to capture, not kill. Because once you capture and subdue a shadowrunner, you can take a ritual sample. And then you've got a free asset! Double edit for fridge logic: If the common practice is capture and the taking of ritual samples, then releasing the runner back into the plex, how well do you really know your teammates? Think about that the next time you trust them to watch your back, or the next time they crash at your place. Solid Poopsnake fucked around with this message at 23:25 on Jan 30, 2012 |
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Jan 30, 2012 23:15
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You add Acrobatics or Gymnastics or whatever to the existing roll, so Rea + Dodge + Acro. I'd go all stealth all the time with this one. Hit and run, lots of Perc checks trying to track the slippery bastard. This build seems more geared toward wearing down and frustrating the target before going in for the kill.
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Feb 15, 2012 20:01
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I never really liked the idea of Shadowrunners operating under self-assigned nicknames. For some reason, it reminds me of BBSing teenagers, and that just doesn't smack of a serious criminal community to me. Now, there's nothing wrong with a nickname being associated with their reputation, such as "oh, yeah, they call him 'the Butcher', real bloodthirsty type". But if I'm hiring deniable assets for a paramilitary raid and the guy sitting across from me introduces himself as "The Butcher" or "Turkey" or "DarkSith2057", I'm going to have some pretty serious reservations about hiring the dude. Generally speaking, when playing runners, my group and I tend to operate under the primary identities used when on the job or associated with elements of said job. Of course, I generally like to use crazy layers of assorted fake IDs, with at least three layers associated with each major facet of life (beyond my actual, born ID). But that's just me, and maybe other players wouldn't be as into tracking/making up that sort of thing. Solid Poopsnake fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Apr 12, 2012 |
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Apr 12, 2012 00:50
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Misandu posted:I always got the impression that a lot of Runners DID start out as BBSing teenagers. Well, certainly the 2050 deckers. But the 2072 hackers? Facebook.
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Apr 13, 2012 03:27
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SirFozzie posted:TPK Brackhaus wants the PCs' help with what, exactly, if the SK HQ has already been bombed?
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Apr 28, 2012 04:43
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Ziggy Stardust, corporate assassin.
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May 4, 2012 21:16
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There's the same foul air of mage supremacy as D&D 3.5 in a lot of ways. However, there are plenty of useful, fun roles (I'm partial to riggers and hackers) without magic that I don't think it really crushes the fun late-game like 3.5.
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May 5, 2012 06:59
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Tias posted:Mages, oh god, the mages. Still trying to work out how to avoid the mage with decent summoning, improved invisibilty and stunbolt instant-killing my encounters. Spirits, spirits, and more spirits. Spirits all day until the mage stops summoning. Because every goddamned lowlife must summon as much as he, yeah?
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May 5, 2012 11:43
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Hell, might as well build all your drones as custom jobs from scratch, then.
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May 10, 2012 07:38
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In terms of planning, I typically don't. I scribble a mission goal, the main players such as who's paying for the run and their motivations for doing so, jot down a couple notes on a few major points of interest ("the security mage dabbles in necromancy on the side OOOOOooooOOOOoooo!"), and go. That being said, since this is your first time GMing Shadowrun, and GMing in general, you might want to be a little bit more prepared. Being a B&E mission, it's actually easier to plan a little bit on points the runners can't necessarily break or bypass, such as sketching out the building layout and including things like deployed security systems. That way, you can focus on improvising NPC behavior and the consequences of player actions without suddenly needing to develop a coherent, integrated security plan on the fly. Though, Hell, for all I know, they could be breaking into the back room of a Stuffer Shack with a few gangers playing cards and one dude whacked out on beetles in the corner, so no real planning necessary. Something to remember about the earlier comment of a bog-standard 400 BP runner outclassing world-famous corporate paramilitaries is that, while mechanically true, Red Sams or whoever have something very important that runners don't: support. Runners are, by definition, losers and outcasts, performing high-risk, high-reward operations with their asses hanging in the wind and no backup. By the time Red Samurai are deployed, so are the rest of Renraku's local assets, and the runners are hosed. Of course, I'm a pretty consequence-heavy GM. That Red Sam you just shot in the face? Yeah, the corp spent a lot of nuyen on that guy, and there's a fair chance that his DocWagon contract is paid in full. So he'll likely show up a few months down the road packed with even more 'ware and a serious grudge.
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May 11, 2012 17:27
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I once made a runner allergic to peanuts. I thought this was reasonable, roleplayed it ("But I'm allleeeeerrrrrgiiiic") and tried to stay away from it. Until the GM introduced one of our many villains: Mr. Planter. After many bullets and cane-pellets were exchanged, I proudly handed over my sheet.
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May 12, 2012 10:06
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Swags posted:I never really saw technomancers as being all that bad. Max resonance sprites can do with edge what most hackers can do, and you can keep making sprites all day and sucking down bacta or something to heal up. Yeah, sprites are where Technomancers really shine, much like spirits are the mage's greatest asset. Stun damage is pretty easy to stave off until you have a few hours to hole up somewhere and rest.
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May 20, 2012 21:35
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Mystic Mongol posted:Personally I don't like using fancy ammo in actual play because it makes building a crime scene profile much, much easier, but most GMs won't bother with details like that and your past will catch up to you the minute they have a cool idea for an adventure and not a minute sooner. If your GM isn't constantly taking fastidious notes on the forensics your team is leaving behind physically, astrally, and electronically, right there in front of the group and God and everybody, you have a lovely GM who isn't doing their goddamned job. That doesn't, of course, necessarily mean that the GM has to use all of it. Cops are generally pretty lazy in my games, unless the PCs give them a reason not to be. "Oh, another break-in. Ho-hum, we'll probably never catch them. I guess we'll go through the motions and take pictures and file it away with Property Crimes so the corp can file it with their insurance. Goddamned runners." Basically, as long as no one (who matters) ends up hurt or dead, and as long as no one who doesn't matter ends up hurt or dead anywhere where those who do matter have to deal with them, everything gets quietly filed away with this or that department. Most security firms don't have the budget for long-term cold storage of ritual samples, of course, so most runners are safe on that front. However, once the runners start making waves in "real" society, the kind of people whose taxes pay for Lone Star's contract, well, that's different. That's when ambitious and/or stubborn detectives start cross-referencing evidence. That's when task forces start being assembled (if the runners are really loving up). That's pretty much the point when the runners get to burn all their current IDs, safehouses, and (if it's bad enough) contacts (who'll certainly be pissed, regardless, when Johnny Law starts sniffing around) and get to start over, rep-wise. Hell, maybe they'll have to skip town awhile!
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Jun 17, 2012 03:15
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Atlatl posted:You can definitely do it, and it works out pretty well. The only problem is that the points spread and equipment costs can be tricky, so you won't necessarily be able to start off with every single fancy toy you want at the start. Also keep in mind that when you're a hacker/rigger it's insanely easy to steal cars, so maybe you could take black market pipeline and get a lot of money for drones and things that way. Actually, this raises the question: What does go into stealing cars in the Sixth World? I mean, sure, you've got the maglock, but then you've also, presumably, got the GridGuide transponder, the ignition, and what kind of security systems are packed into commuter vehicles in 2070?
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Jun 17, 2012 21:45
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According to pg. 311 of the corebook, the imaging scope's got nothing of its own, but can be fit with "any" of the enhancements of pg. 323 of same. That being said, I'd let a player go hog wild, as long as they're willing to pay the whole wad at once.
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Jun 19, 2012 09:42
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Talmonis posted:I'm a fiend for Orks. You can be almost as beastly as a troll, but way more efficient for BP spent. Give yourself a neon blue Mohawk, spurs, silly strength, wired up reflexes and then make most people you meet very unhappy. Sure, that elf may shoot you six ways from Sunday, but you'll survive it long enough to hit him in the face with 6 inches of acid etched titanium. Good night Irene. I was going to go on a giant tirade here about being an ork in terms of social drawbacks and civil rights (i.e. "good luck getting a job, there, buddy! But at least you can get shot a lot!"), but it occurs to me: is the situation as bad for metahumans in 2072 as it was in, say, 2050? Does the fluff even address this in any detail anymore?
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Jun 24, 2012 07:36
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Have their been any Ork/Troll civil rights leaders, or is that field wide open? I can't recall any.
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Jun 24, 2012 16:33
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Just completely cock up an extraction and get the principal killed, like every other first shadowrun.
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Jul 5, 2012 05:32
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Tias posted:I'm making ready for an IRC group that starts come September, I haven't heard back from the entire team. Understand I can't promise anything, but I'll write here if an opening shows up. Understand I can't promise anything, but you need a hacker. E: Or a mage with something more than combat spells. When did people stop finding Influence useful? I use it all the time! It's lunch time, Mr. Security Guard! And you've got a powerful hankering for that fried chicken place down the street! Solid Poopsnake fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Jul 14, 2012 |
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Jul 14, 2012 22:57
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Tias posted:As I understand it we'll have a Latent TM with some hacking/rigging skill. I hope by "stumped" you mean "have literal stumps where their limbs used to be."
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Jul 15, 2012 17:32
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SerCypher posted:To be fair, we are usually quite violent, just nonlethal. So a combat character could fit in nicely, but we tend to leave a trail of people knocked out and ziptied to things, rather than a trail of corpses. I can tell Atlatl wants a face so he won't have to con us into the building anymore though. How has DocWagon not come after your crew for damages yet, or at least to tell you guys in no uncertain terms to knock that poo poo right the gently caress off? You must be costing them a fortune in extraction alone, not to mention hospital care. Standard 2012 procedure for getting tased or knocked about the head (say, by the police), at least in the US, is an immediate ambulance to the hospital for evaluation and observation. I can't imagine it being much different in 2070. I mean, I'm sure everyone's pleased as punch to be shipping a dozen dudes to the ER instead of the morgue, but there comes a point where it all gets pretty cost-prohibitive any way you slice it.
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Jul 18, 2012 15:08
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Huh. Turns out I've been misreading DocWagon contracts for years, looking at it more as medical insurance for the terminally violent. I just re-read the service description, and nevermind! Though I really, really like the idea of a group of runners hitting a particular corp and using non-lethal force indiscriminately, and that corp coming back not with elite black ops corpsec forces, but with a bill for medical care for their employees. Being willing to accept lost revenue from, say, a stolen prototype (since that prototype is obviously already in the hands of a competitor and a lost cause), but insisting to be compensated for "incidental expenses".
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Jul 21, 2012 22:35
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Bigass Moth posted:I got it, and have been discussing it on Dumpshock. The general feeling is that it was terribly edited, rushed, and basically useless. Save your money. Dumpshock generally feels that way about everything. They are grogrunners.
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Jul 22, 2012 17:47
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404GoonNotFound posted:Why are we going over all this when a proper Runner would just plant it on some Gangers who've been bothering them and take out two birds with one stone? Mostly because D&D-style play doesn't take place in the same mindset as Shadowrun, thus the question. With regards to Karma awards, I tend to set very low base rewards. 1-2 Karma for completing a run, 1 per optional objective accomplished where applicable, etc. I am, however, pretty liberal with Karma rewards during play for things like creative or elegant solutions to problems, good roleplay, or anything else that might enhance the experience for everyone, myself included. By way of example, in one of the earlier tabletop experience threads, I described how a street sam in one of my games became fixated on a red, blinking light in the upper corner of an elevator. Finally, he turned to the gunslinger and asked, "So... should we shoot it? Or what?" Everyone pretty much thought this was hilarious, so I awarded him one million Karma for suddenly becoming the living embodiment of the archetypical street samurai, and then subtracted 999,999 Karma for the same reason. Contacts can be a great way to mitigate some of the drive of D&D-minded players to loot everything. In D&D, looting is pretty much your sole means of financial gain in an average dungeon-crawly campaign. Shadowrun affords money-making opportunities aside from "standard" runs. I tend to hand out contact opportunities like crazy, because I spend a fair amount of prep time for my games making NPCs that may or may not end up being used otherwise. These can't be bought with Karma, of course, but the runner can take advantage of the opportunity to add the contact through roleplay, or even just the explicit expenditure of time/resources during downtime. Having access to lots of contacts can sometimes offset the tendency to loot everything on-site, because there's always the opportunity for side-jobs during downtime to make extra scratch. If you don't feel like writing up quick, half-dozen-roll downtime missions to make extra cash, the PCs can always strike out on their own and start running their own scams and schemes: hijacking trucks, extortion (if they feel like tangling with organized crime), independent heists, whatever. Contacts can be handy here, as well.
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Aug 1, 2012 00:10
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Vavrek posted:Of course, being a camera, you can use it for all the other things you can use cameras for: taking pictures to run through facial recognition software, feeding the stream into your Empathy Software for all its uses, etc. Unless I'm not understanding you, I just want to point out that your character will then be pointing a (presumably loaded) firearm at an individual in order to take their picture and assess their current emotional state. Seems like you could accomplish that without the camera at that point.
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Mar 27, 2013 23:56
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RicochetD20 posted:Maybe post run analysis? To make sure the guy you shot is who you thought he was, or maybe getting sick joy out of all the fear in the guy you held up's face. "UGH! This stupid thing never works, it only registers panic and mortal terror every time I use it! I'm returning this!"
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Mar 28, 2013 01:39
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Minorities posted:Nerfing mages Everyone, everywhere, has one priority: 
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Apr 9, 2013 15:54
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Nyaa posted:Welp, now that people can get the DNA from your chewing gum and cigarette butt to reconstruct your face, now Betal gum and cigarette addiction is a little more fair compare to real drug addiction. ...I can't loving believe I never used DNA from cigarette butts as a GM to screw with my players. I am not the GM I thought I was. 
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Sep 5, 2013 04:20
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Manic_Misanthrope posted:So could an Archer themed game of Shadowrun work? Like you're your own private company, dedicated to shadowrunning. More spy stuff along with the usual stuff and a bit higher class of pay and accommodations. Until some rival agency turns it against us. This is absolutely doable. Just set yourself as a "private security contracting" company.
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Sep 9, 2013 22:47
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