Shadowrun General = /srg/

My players blew it all up.

They merely had to go to the NeoNET local headquarters, get their paycheck, pat their pet dolphin and leave. They could have left their Johnson get dragged by elite CorpSec for being a backstabbing bitch.

Instead of that they pillaged chemistry labs for makeshift explosives and assorted goodies, killed the security and let a CFD-infected dragon terrorist loose to cover their tracks.

Plus they stole about 3 millions in used ware, and a deck.

I honestly fail to see the problem. Maybe releasing the dragon wasn't the smartest of idea, but that's only assumed it can get traced back to them.

Okay, they'll have to play it smart and fuck off to enjoy their money somewhere very far away from the place they unloaded their loot on the black market. Not that big of a deal with 3M nuyen in their pockets.

There is no problem, it's just that the story will become a bit more gritty.

The bodies aren't chopped for the 'ware yet, and apparently they want to go back and get their dolphin.

Curiosity. All hobbies need something with which to pay for it. Shadowrunning is the way to pay for those hobbies. Parents agreed only to pay for the studies and living in Seattle.

Has anyone home ruled a good way to make Alchemy not suck?

Aspected Lodge gives a bonus to creating alchemy items, and you can make a pouch/container that prevents the preparations from decaying.

There are a bunch of other house rules that are decent, but that's the simplest one I've seen.

An initiation to allow alchemical items to not decay over time.

I came here for Redline, and I shall post a picture of Redline and be on my way. Seriously though, almost any screenshot of this anime can make a good wallpaper.

Being a Halloweener is fun, but already he can see that it's not something with any future beyond fire. If he can spend his non-ganging hours doing something that can help people, while making some scratch, that's all to the good.

He pissed off the Russian Mob and ran to pay them back.

Then the Russians attacked him, now he has to fight off the Russians. Now, he doesn't particularly have a reason to run other than fighting Russians. I'll have to find another reason.

I hear the Mafia isn't too fond of the russians.

And I heard they pay pretty well too.

Yeah, but the Mafia, they're... well, racist doesn't cover it.

So other than the catfolk and the loli magical realm guys on /srg/ how many other people have either magical realm or other "mature content" in their games. I assume every game of SR has lots of murder and ultraviolence so you can probably just talk about the standard Sin City ninja hooker shit that just about everyone seems to use.

It comes up when it comes up.
Last session, our scummy Raven shaman used Control Emotions combined with the line "have you ever wanted to fuck a cyborg" to lure a security guard into the storage room they were breaking into through using the team's street sammy, and it got so far as the sucker getting his hand on her synthskin-less cybertorso before the street sammy socked his head back into the wall.
What followed was a short but engaged discourse on exactly what functions come with what grades of cyberware, and why you want to buy synthskin for your cybertorso.

There's sex and sometimes love in my games, all implied or fade to black, trough. I don't encourage them but I see no reason not to let them happen.

Depending on the tone of the game, I put more or less dirty details in the game too. Like, having some of the meetings in a Berlusconi-themed strip club or the razorboy finding panties when rolling perception.

The fucking Crypto Dragon Alien GMO conspiracy cleaned his bank account 'cause he knew too much. Running is the only job he can do to earn enough Nuyen to buy the metric tons of tinfoil needed to line his house with psychic-resistant material.

Yeah, I'd say that some of the background elements come up a decent amount because meeting yakuza or mafia thugs at a strip club is relatively iconic and it also helps accentuate that sex is just another type of currency in the 6th world.

Seducing targets in order to gain access to a secure site or gain the ability to plant bugs or evidence isn't an everyday event but it does happen on occasion because it's a fairly standard story trope in noir detective stories.

I definitely don't delve to much into extreme exploitation unless I know that the group wants to explore that sort of storytelling. Yeah you might break up a bunraku smuggling operation but I generally avoid being overly graphic with either the violence or the abuse.

Even though other forms of exploitation would probably be horrifically commonplace in a cyberpunk dystopia I also try to avoid anything like KE officers routinely stopping an raping SINless NPCs. Yeah that sort of shit would probably happen all the fucking time in 2050-2075 but yeah no real need to explore that shit.

On the other hand nudity and sexuality and other aspects that most Americans are prudish about typically don't even get too much comment because it's more or less common place for Idoru and Simsense actors to basically do hardcore simsense. Otherwise any sex scene in a simsense would seem fake as fuck unless you are just mapping a stand-ins emotional and physical tracks on the simsense.

I always figured that simsense movies and stuff used doubles to generate the sensations, and were more oblique with the scenes; you get feelings of romance and lust, a whiff of candlewax and fur rugs, but not going the whole 9 yards, just like how flatvids used blankets and clever camera work to make it look real without actual penetration.

The simsense sex market is going strong, but I strongly doubt that you're having A-list actors putting out recordings of their sex scenes. If someone does that, it's the equivalent of taking pictures with that guy who does full-penetration photoshoots- shocking and desperate. Middle America may be gone, but the mentality is still out there.

It was a Mafia debt, at first.
But now the adrenaline, the ludicrous amounts of nuyen, and the chance to leave the Barrens completely behind are the driving factors.

>catfolk
>magical realm

I'd argue that our game is magical realm free (but you probably wouldn't believe me).

As far as "mature content" goes, we've had:
>General Violence
>Light Torture
>Merciless Execution
>A "Rescue a Bunraku Girl" mission

So far, no sex (not even fade-to-black) involving PC's and I'm pretty sure that will continue.

It does come up, but apart from the occasional coarse joke and/or sexy hijink; it's all fade-to-black.

The main reason now is to protect a fellow runner. Though he got into 'Running in the first place because he thought he could someday make a difference when it came to helping out people being oppressed by corps.

Maria Mercurial is incredibly well compensated to moan at the appropriate time when the generic actor stud protagonist is having sex with her.

If she doesn't want to do actual sex scenes she would sign onto different types of productions or just be a Trid star.

Is there a way to control someones actions through cyberware/hacking instead of by magic?

I want to have the corps treat some people as literal tools/machines to do their bidding. but the best I remember from the books are data-locks for johnny mnenomic data transport, or cranial bombs for the "do it or else" approach.
I'm interested in personafix chips but I don't know if those come in hitman flavor with all the firearm/explosive/martial arts experience and skills or are they just restricted to "minor" mental changes to imitate celebrities or sex workers.

>to moan at the appropriate time
Well, if you are in a simsense of her getting fucked and she fakes it, you'll know pretty well she's faking it.

You'd want a Personafix chip, skilljack, and skillwires.

Get 'em at a good rating, and boom. Instant hitman. Or translator. Or cook. Or thespian. Or parts maker. Or mechanic.

You typically want to use a combination of P-fixes and Skillwires/Skillsofts.

P-fixes absolutely can come in hitman flavor. Check out the specialized BTL's on page 193 of Chrome Flesh for similar existing chips.

Your simsense experience is already throttled and controlled- that's the appeal of BTLs, they remove those locks. It's not a stretch to think that a studio with hundreds of millions of nuyen to play around with could substitute someone else's sensations into a scene, replacing her own, especially because I still think that they're not going to put hardcore sex into 'theatre release' style recordings.

Besides, entertainment divisions of corps would have a vested interest in designing disguised sim-recordings; not only could they make movies more convincing, they could alter the news as they wished with supposedly 'raw' simfootage.

>tfw skillsofts are expensive
>tfw skillsoft subscriptions are expensive
i'm trying to decide which one to house rule. reduce activesoft cost, or make subscription costs yearly?

As I recall, the whole deal with simsense actors is that they're capable of fully immersing themselves in their character to the point where their emotions reflect the character. Thus, the simsense recording is "genuine".

If anything, that puts them way above the level of the hacks we have in Hollywood today.

They're supposed to be expensive, that way you can't just buy all the skills you need with nuyen and throw karma out the window.

True, but that doesn't mean that they are making and distributing hardcore sex scenes in James Bond- Casino Royale (2071) (It's the 12 reboot).

I had a character who was in the magical spa/relaxation/massage/health industry before being a Runner, which meant most of her spells were of the fluffy, not so useful sort (Stuff like Healthy Glow). There were a lot of "happy ending" jokes going around that were made accurate a few times when she was causing distractions.

Well, if you're the Make-A-Hitman guy, then remember that somebody else is bankrolling it (although the skilljack did come down some in CF), and the company obviously doesn't pay for its own services.

Now, the person getting the stuff installed is probably under some very severe contracts, and is going to pay out several noses for it.

Or if the hitman stuff is hidden from them, then they're getting a slightly less nasty contract, but only because the implanter isn't expecting them to last long. Hell, they may plan on recycling the implants.

What would be a good system for a Redline RPG?

What does x/x mean in the skills column?
I was thinking it was skillpoints/skill max but that doesn't seem right.

Also any newbie tips for a gm chummer like me?

Skill points and skill group points.

Skill points/Skill group points.

You can buy skills individually, or you can buy the entire group of related skills. Having skill group points helps you be more well-rounded because you can put one point into a group that you don't plan to use often (like Mechanic) to make sure you don't default, and then later on buy up individual skills within the group as you need them.

There's a PDF of advice in the pastebin. Use that, and get the Hayek sheets also in the pastebin.

Can someone give me the rundown on making a "matrix level"?
I have two riggers and I need to get this down pat quickly (im trying but im just not getting it unfortunately)

The numbers represent Skill Points and Skill Group points. The example character generation on page 92 shows how that works.

There's some very good tips for new GM's in the pastebin. You can also look at previous /srg/ threads in the site archive or 4plebs, because this comes up fairly regularly.

What exactly are you trying to do and in what edition?

If it's just riggers and neither one has modded their RCC to be able to hack (I.E. gave it an attack or sleaze attribute), then you can just describe the virtual tags on real things (occasionally things that can't be seen as advertising) and remind them to run silent until combat starts.

And possibly even then, because -2 dice penalty on matrix actions taken could be worth having to be searched for.

Keep in mind that most enemy deckers are going to go for marks instead of bricking. You need to be runner-tier or really lucky to make combat bricking something that's worthwhile.

So with that in mind, just mention some differences in views (smells and tastes if they're in VR), and hide a hacker if the enemy's at that level.

And if they fail, then at least one of the riggers will be able to see the guy and start a meat-side search.

5th edition.
Ah okay, so if I'm getting what you're saying.

The Matrix is the map they are on and the differences are wifi connection ports/computers/things like that?

And advertising that people may have put up. Or matrix side graffiti (which may also be meat-side if there's electronic paper put up).

And music that may be playing.

And one chucklehead that's set his security protocols badly and has all kinds of stuff showing that probably shouldn't be showing.

Alright cool!
Could I bug you enough to get some sort of quick rundown on if say a player needed to find and hack into a simple wifi data storage device?

Woo, time for flowcharts!

First, they need to see the device. If it's not Running Silent, then they'll need to roll Matrix Perception to spot it.

Next, they'll use the Hack on the Fly action or Brute Force action to get one or more marks on the device.

After they've got marks, then they can do the thing, jack out, and reboot their device so the internet police don't drop the hammer.

A combination of a skill set suited to little else and subconsciously being unable to get away from the Adrenalin. A soldier still fighting, despite the fight being over 2 SINs and 4 employers ago.

oh god you are a life saver!
I could kiss you my man

Null sweat, chummer.

Make sure you look into Overwatch score, since that's something that gets done on your end.

Basically whenever the decker does an illegal action (marked by a G on the flowchart) you add the hits from the target's defense test to the decker's Overwatch Score. It also goes up by 2d6 every 15 minutes in-game (starting from their first illegal action).

If their Overwatch Score hits 40, then GOD (the internet police) will fuck their shit up. This is detailed on pace 231 and 232 of the Core book.

Prepare for endless orgasms

trz-airmaster.tumblr.com/

Heh. And I had a big post all keyed up until I had to cut it down.

So instead I'll offer this. The quick way to get a file is this - Matrix Perception to see if it's protected/has a databomb, get a mark on it (and only it), disarm bomb and remove protection (if needed, neither are illegal actions), and then Edit File to get a copy/erase it/both/something else.

You'll probably take a different route than this one, unless you're regularly after just one file in a device/host.

Thank you regardless, I need all the help I can get either way!
This is my first game running Shadowrun, so wish me luck!

Have a big pig!

In the interests of disclosure, if the file you're after is in a device other than the one that the file owner is using, you'll want to get one mark on the owner's persona, and then use Spoof Command on the device that has the file or files. Have it Invite Mark to the hacker's persona (or somebody else's, you've got latitude here), and then accept the mark or marks with a Free Action. Then you can do all the security removal and stealing as legal actions.

This is a good trick for a pair of hackers, one gets the overwatch then immediately reboots once the other has accepted the marks.

Kid - need for new 'ware, full replacement, got grafter (involuntarily) at way too early age
Doc - food, accommodation and privacy, those are considered special needs because HMHVV infected
Starlet - thrill seeking

Running from Seattle PPD when he blew a manabolt as a kid.
Now he's in australia trying to survive after signing a contract he didn't really have much choice in signing in.

Started out as naivete in regards to sticking it to the man and a need to get out from under her family's thumb. Now it's more about survival and getting Lone Star off her back for a team member's mistake and knowing that if she goes back home, it'll mean her family wins.

Ex-military Street Sammy: Needs to pay rent, and killing people is what she's best at but she doesn't particularly enjoy it. Wants to eventually retire and get into the restaurant business.

Razorgirl/Ninja: Employed by a private security company and has sworn an oath of service and loyalty to her ninja clan. Duty ends in death.

Physical Adept: Loves killing people. Getting paid for it is just a bonus.

He's a conspiracy theorist who has convinced himself that metahumans were all genetically engineered to supplant the baseline human race in a caste system led by the elves, magic and stuff is just superstitious nonsense to keep us from reaching our true psionic potential by chaining us to ritual and entities masquerading as mentor spirits. Dragons are actually aliens and are trying to turn us into some kind of war-fodder race to fight their enemies. He runs because getting "legitimate" work means he's stuck in the shittiest parts of the system and would be powerless to do anything about it. for now he's looking for evidence of the truth to validate his theories and to fuck up the NWO's shit.

So I'm working on an Elf wizard, using only the material from the core book. I'm kind of new to Shadowrun, and it seems like I don't have enough BP (400) to get everything I need. How much BP should I put into stats? Which stats can I ignore? Is high initiate important enough to invest in on otp of magic stuff? Should I get skills outside of magic dependant ones? How much Force should I get on my Power Foci?

I like that, perhaps corps have some sort of program for less "fortunate" workers, so that they could have a chance at a better life.

Sign a contract and the corp gets your body for a few years. they rig you up with their ware, your personality goes bye bye for a few years and suddenly 10 years later you come back with a massive pay check.

You might have a few more scars, or a new cyberlimb. or thanks to the fine print, the corp keeps the ware, leaving people damaged from having skill wires/jacks/limbs removed, or because there was a minor technical glitch 1 year into service they no longer are obligated to return your personality.

That's a huge investment, though. It's the way some bunraku parlours work, but a corp wouldn't go all-in on getting basic workers a full new personality. Easier to get a regular Joe and rig him with skillwires to do basic jobs, which is canonically a way they get cheap labour for long-term projects like factory work.

So...Dollhouse?

What are your drain stats? Focus on those and magic first. Waste the 200 BP that you can use on attributes on attributes and I believe you cannot initiate until you are actually playing, and not building, a character (outside of houserules).

It's been awhile, /srg/. I think you might've forgotten, so I came bac here to remind you what constitutes a mary sue in shadowrun:

SURGEd characters
Troll Faces
Any character with a characteristic (augmented or natural) greater than eight (of any metatype)
Technomancers
Mages or adepts with more than 4 magic
Anyone with six ranks in a skill
Anyone with more than four specialties
Anyone with less than two points of essence left from 'ware
Anyone with bioware, geneware, or nanoware.
AIs, Drakes, Shapeshifters
The Infected (including ghouls)
Any Adept that is not Warrior's Way.
Any magician that is not Shamanic or Hermetic.

>disclaimer: this is not meant to be an exhaustive list

It's one thing to use skillwires to make Joe Shmo a decent microelectronics tech, but 10 years under a P-fix will mess you up bad.

You disgust me.

>did not mention that Hermetic mages may only cast spells, and Shamans may only summon spirits

0/10.

He runs for money to keep his upkeep running as he likes good lifestyle. Having more fake SINs than hooker STDs he can get pretty much everywhere. With his premium SIN he participates in high class mask parties and other incognito spectacularities and silently arranges jobs for him and his crew.

When he is not using his premium he is Matthew Carter, Ares low end office slave. It does help that he has multiple personalities which I asked for him to have, DM approved it by having right to switch those personalities at will. This has lead to fun situations when normally slick ladies charmer turns into awkward slick office worker mid conversation. Luckily for us DM handles the switch well and doesn't over use it or in wrong time.

Pic related for office monkey

Aspected magicians are special snowflakes by definition.

>pixies not included
>centaurs not included
>naga not included
> Dicepools higher than 12 not included
>prioritygen and BPgen not included
>otaku
>anyone with CPD
>anyone with more than 15 points worth of flaws
>anyone with neoteny as a trait
>fomori
>oni
>gnomes
>all elf metavariants
>hell most metavariants in general
>anyone using monofilament anything

what about my sasquatch mage/clay-working enthusiast, Hairy Potter

What's his Pottery dicepool?

You forgot
>Anyone with combat skills
>Anyone with an attribute above 3
>Anyone who isn't a 9-5 wageslave SINner

4
he's an enthusiast not a professional

7

>>anyone using monofilament anything

Is it time to revive the 'using classic cyberpunk imagery is snowflakey'?

He did include a disclaimer: But nobody should be buttmad. Create the sue. Embrace the sue. Become the sue.

That image reminds me- one day I'm going to make someone with cyberblades coming out of every possible place, he's going to specialize in brutal wrestling holds, and he's just going to dive-tackle corpsec all day every day.

Street level. Totally reasonable character 10/10

>cyberblades coming out of every possible place
>brutal wrestling holds
>dive-tackle all day every day

That's just a quintessential Sangre y Acero practitioner, right?

Sangre y Acero is fucking sweet.

If the GM gives the thumbs up, then your catgirl adept loli kawaii ninja is good to go.

Just don't go crying that my paraplegic decker girl is cuter than you. and that our big strong orc street sam with the cyberdong likes me better.
How do you think I got into this wheelchair?

I'll pass, thanks.

You underestimate how many spikes I want to implant.

So like, the cyberware equivalent of the Bone Spikes or Thorns metagenic qualities? Cool.

>If the GM gives the thumbs up
>implying he didn't already

Also, that spoiler nearly made me choke to death, you hilarious scamp.

Haaaa. Took me a minute.
Also, her deck lifts and separates and you can slave your commlink to it

On the note of cyberspikes, I think I'm going to be making a quintessential razorgirl, what weapons should she have?
I was thinking razor claws on cyberarms with a monowhip in a fingertip compartment, and hydraulic jack legs for maximum gofast. Maybe an oral slasher too.

>Wearing heels
>in a wheelchair
For what purpose

So you're making just straight Molly Millions? Then yeah, hand razors and oral slasher. You don't need a whip and hand razors, IMO, and you can add the saved money to your WR fund.

>not wanting your calves to look amazing anyways

Why not? It's not like someone is expecting her to run somewhere