/srg/ - Shadowrun General

You're going to get a visit from the Sons of Sauron, you keep that up.
stole my more menacing picture

I won't mind a visit from the SoS as long as they look like pic related.
At least you posted a female this time

> How many of us wouldn't use the vast possibilities of the matrix for porn?

How many of us wouldn't put their bodies in a coffin, with IVs keeping them alive, as our minds explore endless possibilities of the virtual?

I mean, I guess you can find work in Matrix, so funding it wouldn't be too much of a problem. Were there any mentions of such "Matrix communities" in lore?

So, Shadowrun's not the right system, then? I'll give Eclipse Phase a look. Thanks!

Happy to help.
Kill all xeno's

I always thought this girlie could be an example of a trog with troll reduction surgery would look like.

Not a real troll, but close enough for the Humanis types that like fucking meta's on the sly.

My last troll girlie.
We need some more meta-love up in this shizzle.

How far fetched is a runaway teenage technomancer as a character concept?

Not very. Kind wish that you could really use metatypes other than Dwarf, Elf, and Human for 'em easily, though.

Most TMs or Otaku will either be runaways or be in corporate control.

Considering they largely suck as characters it's really surprising that the corps care about them.

Same with AIs.

Technomancers suffer from a lack of program options, and really, really needing direct connections.

The near invisibility of Complex Forms doesn't help if you have to eat a few stun for every attempt against the die pools of a slaved-to-a-good-other-device device.

Honestly I don't really mind that the TMs are fubar because I play in a pre-Deus timeline so not my problem.

I'm not sure what can be done to fix them as they stand currently.

One simple thing is to make it so that instead of Resonance Program, it's Resonance Program Slot and they can buy a good number of programs for cheap. (And more importantly, don't need to submerge for that.)

But a more comprehensive fix would want to adress more things. Perhaps make Resonance a bit more relevant for the actual hacking side.

Or make them take a bit less damage for attack failures and so on.

In a campaign I'm playing, the guv'mint started kidnapping SINless technos in order to put them into huge sprite-controlling supercomputer, with their powers being controlled using modified ASSIST interfaces.

Generally, if someone's gunning for technos, it's either for sprites, or using them to puppeteer some shit.

Why are motorcycles so sexy? I say every shadowrunner should always have a motorbike, or work towards getting one.

>that stance
>that gun
>that complete lack of trigger discipline

Are you trying to trigger me?

Hey man, the Koopalings didn't have much time to learn the finer points of firearm safety.
Either way, it seems they evened the playing field between them and Mario.

All that power between your legs does things to a girl. And yeah, everyone should have a cheap bike at least if they have no other transport- you don't need more than a point in Pilot Groundcraft, you've got GridGuide to do the lifting and you won't have to beg the rigger for a ride.

Man, poor skittles.

In my game, one of the AAA companies is kidnapping SINless technos and are cutting them up to see how they tick, they're using the information to revolutionize the drone industry based on the research of an ex-AAA scientist.

The first run was the party intercepting the data at a "hard-site" and going back, but the decker had a run-in with a powerful resonance being destroying the host from the inside.

Technomancers are full of plot hooks, they're built like an nWOD bloodline, clan, etc that way.

Your idea is p

>Your idea is pretty cool too.

Sorry, my computer is being weird.

>In my game, one of the AAA companies is kidnapping SINless technos and are cutting them up to see how they tick

Isn't that all the AAAs, especially MCT, in canon?

Exactly. Every member of the group should always have a means of independent transportation. And a bike is the most cost-efficient way to move from A to B, when considering that sometimes speed is of the essence.

So rev up those Mirages, chummers.

And a rigger should have a backup vehicle just in case

Why are they robbing Mario of his ?-blocks?

That girl's stance is asking for a cunt punt.

You can't tell me that a drug made of an Awakened flower that allows you to literally spit hot fire wouldn't sell. You just have to beat it out of him.

They are robbing Mario of his spent ?-blocks. Do you even see a ? on any of them?

MCT is one of my favorites. Is there a lot of stuff out there about the big 10 for the SR5 era?

Look closer chummer: Groin cover

No, just tripping. She don't have any weight on the foot she's pressing onto Mario, and you could literally push her over just by moving a bit.

Market Panic is all about them, and honestly the AAAs have eclipsed every other corp. Even AAs don't get a lot of airtime anymore.

That's an oni, omae.

I've got more tusks in mind for next Friday. Might not do requests, but definitely more coming.

Are there any nations where AA+ extraterritoriality isn't recognised? I'd imagine places like the Nordics would be quite resistant to corp influence, being the least corrupt places in the world.

The corps would naturally be in the area, stirring shit up, but if caught, they couldn't just hide inside their property, because the national cops would have jurisdiction even inside their arcologies.

Could increase the incentive for them to hire Runners to prevent them from being incriminated.

Both Tirs, most of the NANs, probably a few others.

>probably a few others.
Any particulars? North america is gay as fuck, and Ireland doesn't stroke my fancy.

Amazonia in South America

Probably some places in Africa and southeast Asia too

Yakut, Amazonia (though they have loosened up for their allies after the Azt-Am War), France for a while but I think they caved.

I was thinking more along the lines of Europe and... Europe.

Quebec? Though I think that might have changed in 4E.

S-K plays a shell game with what they own, so less of it is extraterritorial than one might expect, but it's still pretty much everywhere.

Any civilized country has surrendered to the Corporate Court rather than risk sanctioning and embargoes.

They gave CAT extraterritorial power, and I think extended it to the inheritors and eventually everyone after Cross fell.

I'm fairly sure Quebec is in North America.

>pretty much everywhere in Europe

I meant to say. Can't deny the dragon.

>Any civilized country has surrendered to the Corporate Court rather than risk sanctioning and embargoes.

Is there anywhere where that's explicitly stated? I'd like to pretend that there are still some nations with a bit of a backbone left. And I think the Court would be willing to negotiate over extraterritoriality, since the embargo goes both ways.

Corps not being extraterritorial and having embargoed a country would open up some neat opportunities for smuggler activity though, so I might actually just go with that.

Hey,

Are there any places or anything to actually find good SR GMs?

Also, how terrible is SR as a system for me to try and introduce my GF to? She likes the setting but if new to TTRPGs in general

France refused to acknowledge the Shiawase Decision, thinking they would lead the world in fighting back against corporations, but the CC embargoed France for years and essentially collapsed it's economy, IIRC.
Nobody wanted to step out of line after that.

Corps lose a lot less than a nation does in an embargo, since they can still sell there services elsewhere, but the embargoed state cannot get the services no matter what, if it's a universal CC embargo.

>GF

Fuck off, normie.

>new to TTRPGs
>Shadowrun
I mean, it's a possibility, but Shadowrun is really crunchy.

At least use normalfag if you're going to be a dick for no reason.

>Is there anywhere where that's explicitly stated?

Throughout a lot of the fluff. Check Sixth World Almanac, they mention in the history section of numerous countries that the CC basically waits until some kind of disaster strikes (flooding and earthquakes are common), then withholds support to force their hands.

It's not terrible, but easing a new player in through a combat character (adept or street samurai) is the best way to do it (helps if the rest of the table is vets who know their own subsections of the rules). There's a rules-light version supposedly coming at Gencon called Anarchy, so maybe wait for that.

So the nation essentially turns into North Korea lite, I get that. But even if the corps refuse to play ball, nations still would. And not everything is controlled by AA+'s, and there probably would be a lot of single A's willing to deal with the embargoed country to get an edge over competitors.

Sure, but getting embargoed by the AAAs is like getting embargoed by the member states of the G8 summit.
Other nations would play ball (or maybe wouldn't, to not slight the court), and AA/As could, yeah, but it's still a huge blow and would remove millions of jobs from the country at least.

The biggest thing is making sure that if you are the GM, you're well versed in the rules and maybe color code sections on the character sheet. Like highlighting attributes with a green highlighter, skills with a blue highlighter, decker, mage or rigger stuff with a red highlighter.

My girlfriend never played a pen and paper RPG before, but she loves Shadowrun. She's a down-right evil tactician, and she's really good at coordinating a team.

Shadowrun may be a little crunchy, but the nature of the game demands that players take initiative and do their legwork so it's more involving than D&D for that reason (even though the latter has no real reason for playing this way, it just seems that most players need to have their hands held these days)

>(flooding and earthquakes are common)
Not in Europe.

>basically waits until some kind of disaster strikes (flooding and earthquakes are common), then withholds support to force their hands.
Nations have enough funds and emergency services to deal with natural disasters. In the worst case, they could simply seize corp assets.

If the fluff is being really adamant on universal corp hegemony, I'll just have to overrule that.

>Sure, but getting embargoed by the AAAs is like getting embargoed by the member states of the G8 summit.

G7. Russia, remember? Speaking of which, they're being embargoed in the real world over that naughty business over at Crimea, and while their economy IS down by a huge amount, they're not completely ruined. I imagine the hypothetical nations opposing the corporate court would have a similar situation on their hands.

Forgot to quote

I also have a binder with two cheat sheets for combat, matrix & magic.

Just action costs, dice, pools, etc. My games run smoothly and I'm quite new at DM'ing for Shadowrun

Shadowrun doesn't really have hoverbikes, does it?

Which is kind of a shame, since hoverbikes are badass.

I know you can make one with the secondary propulsion mods in Rigger 5, but the rubber skirt just kills my Jet Moto dreams.

I mean, I'm not saying it's impossible to oppose the corporate court, just like it's not impossible for oppose the UN, but it's much easier and way more beneficial to you to play along, combined with the fact that corps are perfectly fine with greasing palms, along with how most people always grew up with megas being a thing (keep in mind the Shiawase Decision/France acting fussy was in 2001) so the situation is normalized at this point.

They would if we had proper "create your own vehicle" rules. Hell, there's nothing stopping a vtol drone or gyrocopter from serving as one.

Because I can get a girlfriend that is also interested in my hobbies

Gg, you really owned me.

I guess I'm a normalfag

The situation would require a significant overhaul of the nations' constitution, and if they are nationalistic enough, they could view their constitution as something sacred and worth fighting for.

I can't suspend my belief over top 5% countries just folding over and going "sure, giving corps free reign over our lands seems like a great idea!". Unless corps achieved dominance overnight, I'll just say the situation just never normalised in specific places.

Maybe after a decade, the next court would be willing to negotiate some mutually beneficial trade agreements.

Hey guys, im looking to join a SR campaign. Im a completely new player and would prefer something late night on the week ends. Anyone have any openings or looking to start up a game soon? Id prefer to play a decker who is completely new to shadowrunning so that I can roleplay my character learning the ropes along side me as a player.

Traveller, GURPS, Corporation, Nova Praxis, Eclipse Phase, Stars Without Number, Hellas ... there are many other options to consider before you poke a hole in the bottom of the barrel and consider Shadowrun.

Word of advice, make sure you KNOW-know how to play as a decker. The act of a decker breaking into a host, doing matrix stuff, and jacking out takes long enough as it is. Pausing to scan rules and programs and character sheets will lead to impatience in your group. this is coming from someone who also started out as a decker for the very first time

You could also start out as a combat-focused or face character. Those tend to be easy for beginners to start out with.

>you don't need more than a point in Pilot Groundcraft, you've got GridGuide to do the lifting
Even without gridguide, you only need pilot groundcraft for combat or situations outside day-to-day any-weather driving.

Hey everyone,

Never played Shadowrun before but looking to run a game with a few friends.

Which edition is your favorite?

Which edition would you recommend to people new to Shadowrun?

Yeah ive read the rules pretty well, and I have a very very large background of RPGs (mainly D&D) so I know all about how rule hunting can slow down a game. Im a very mechanics focused player so I feel like ill have a solid grasp of the rules, its more the in world rules and lingo I wont be familiar with which is why I want to play a newbie character who will be learning this stuff as well.

So, I've always heard of Shadowrun, but never really looked too far into the setting until after reading TwoDee's storytime. Now I've got an idea for an opening run that I'm really itching to flesh out, despite my lack of knowledge.

Here goes:

I'd start by telling my players to make the silliest most cliched pink mohawk special snowflake drama queen characters they can think of, not getting too attached to them (in fact, it's best if they kinda hate them). When they're done with that, I'll give them the twist: they won't be playing those characters; they're be playing those characters' stunt doubles.

The first characters they made are actually part of a pseudo-reality tv series filmed by a small-time company in LA, and the *real* PCs are just random people off the street being paid to be shot up on-screen (with illusions and editing making them look like the stars)(but the *bullets* are real, of course). Introductions are done as co-workers in the break room.

The twist: it's a set-up. The 'actors' are using the show as cover for a *real* crime, and plan to use the PCs as scapegoats. Thankfully, they aren't very competent, and let something important slip.

But wait! It's actually a triple cross! The guy pulling everyone's strings deliberately set it up to give the PCs the best shot at keeping their names clean (relatively speaking). His motivation? He's got hidden cameras everywhere, filming everything. And he works for Horizon, while the company running the show is a subsidiary of a subsidiary of Ares (think Fox).

No matter what happens, Horizon gets a story to sell, and Ares looks weak.

What do you guys think? I like the concept, but am having trouble thinking of exactly what crime is being committed. (I'm sure there is a movie that follows this plot that I could use for inspiration...)

Is there anything special I need to keep in mind for making a character if I am supposed to be a tank/bodyguard type troll?

that's pretty fuckin' shadowrun actually, mind if i borrow the concept?

make it The NovaItalian job for ez ideas

>color code sections on the character sheet

This is a really good idea for any new player or system. Match it up with the Hayek sheets for that extra mile.

>not being a car based rigger
>not committing acts of terrorism to get to your target
do you even a trunk filled with ANFO, Chummer?

Try not to limit your character's talents to "tank." Being able to do something outside of combat (eg: sneaking, burglary, social stuff) is always a good idea, otherwise you'll be consigned to the van until shit hits the fan.

That sounds dope. Just to increase the involved parties to preposterous levels, the crime could be a raid or theft from a third megacorp.

Current (5e) is always recommended for every system, because that's where you find the majority of new stuff, hopefully improved stuff, and discussion/people able to give advice.

They've had 70+ years, resistance lasted through the first 50 or so. Rules are already in place for embassies and other extraterritorial outposts, the corp zones are just... bigger.

Also, flooding is definitely common in SR Europe. One of the big things in the early Awakening was the toxic North Sea overcoming the Low Countries and pumping sludge along the rivers. Everywhere's a lot more wild and prone to natural disasters as Mother Earth wakes up.

Not that user but coordinating the run from the van and then shooting the place up when it all goes to hell is exactly what my character does Chummer.

Dorf Street samurai stuffed fulla cyberware with a background as a former mercenary. I make the plan, load up the ammo and weaps, drive the team to the run, set up the comms frequencies, go over the plan that I know you fuckers are going to ruin one more time, and then shoot the place up when the plan inevitably is ruined.

It's fun

>mind if i borrow the concept?
Please do, since I don't see myself actually being in a position to use it myself for several months at least.

>make it The NovaItalian job
Hm, a heist film to cover up smuggling something inside the fake gold bars, perhaps?

>Just to increase the involved parties to preposterous levels, the crime could be a raid or theft from a third megacorp
Well, I don't want to make it *too* big, since it'd be a one-off or the start of a campaign. But something smaller like that could work, yeah.

Players, how long do you take in real time and in game time to plan your run. What do you look for, what kind of legwork do you do?

4e/20th anniversary is my favorite, 5e is fine to start with now that they've fixed some of the stupider problems it had at launch.

To plan the run? anywhere from twenty min to an hour. To get enough intel to make a decent plan? We're talkin half a session or more, boys.

I'd recommend 5e.

My favorite is 3rd ed for stupid nostalgia reasons.

Essentially that's what I planned to do, really. Seems really fun, and I might keep a clock for when the run goes to hell to see if they can beat a record.

>drive the team to the run

Wheelman is a noncombat role.

I'm glad that hanging out in the van works for you, but it was a little bit of an issue for the main combat guy in our group. He's a sniper street sam, and since our first two runs were effectively no-contact he literally spent two sessions hanging out in trees and on roofs rolling Perception.

After a session, GM tells the group on a skype group chat about the new job. We make knowledge rolls, matrix searches, and get new equipment during the week, as well as some downtime RP. That way, we don't waste time during the sessions and can get straight into the action.

The VITAS and other destabilizing elements helped a fair bit.

>They've had 70+ years, resistance lasted through the first 50 or so. Rules are already in place for embassies and other extraterritorial outposts, the corp zones are just... bigger.

>Also, flooding is definitely common in SR Europe. One of the big things in the early Awakening was the toxic North Sea overcoming the Low Countries and pumping sludge along the rivers. Everywhere's a lot more wild and prone to natural disasters as Mother Earth wakes up.

It's cool, I'll just refluff it.

don't feel like you're limited to 'classic' heists. maybe the NovaItalian job is about credstick smuggling and the 'props are actual sticks carrying triad laundering money. OR instead of the Italian job, It's Ocean's Eleven: "robbing" (for real) some NAN casinos. Maybe it's The Bank job: 2075, where the movie-heist uncovers some actual dirt on a megacorp and suddenly the actors need to move some seriously hot black book stuff while filming. Lots of heist movies you can look at and spin a shadowrun twist to. but the core idea, that a movie is being used as cover for an actual heist, is def. a solid one. I'll be using it for sure as a two-three-off for my episodic campaign.

>Corps not being extraterritorial and having embargoed a country would open up some neat opportunities for smuggler activity though, so I might actually just go with that.
How so?

>he literally spent two sessions hanging out in trees and on roofs rolling Perception.

Not sure what he was expecting specializing in sniping. His entire concept is based around doing a stakeout

Corps refuse to sell merchandise to country, country wants merchandise, smugglers seize opportunity.

Imagine if Portugal refused to recognise corp extraterritoriality, there'd be a shitload of illegal traffic between it and Spain. It could be even encouraged by Portuguese government.