/srg/ Shadowrun General

Going crazy is definitely an option but doing it automatically hurts the cyberguys and enforces the power of magic even more.
Superhuman psychosis is something players can get if they feel leagues about the normal humans.
Cyberpsychosis can be got if you start acting antipathycly towards other metahumans and are below 1 essence
Dying is not anticlimactic if you stuff yourself with cheap low grade augs. Its one thing to put Wired Reflexes 3 you just took from a dead guy and whole different if you put ones designed for you.

And now that I've written this I remembered my own experience with the Superhuman psychosis.
It was after trying to stop a bounty hunter that have gotten in our faces home. I managed to sneak right behind this guy and was planning to interrogate him. But how do I do this? He had cheap assault riffle with him an armored jacked while I was using my machine pistol.
So I shot him in the back and told him to stop. The bounty hunter survived and started running for his car. I kept yelling for him to stop and that I dont wanna kill him. He didnt stop so I shot him down. All stun damage of course.
Later asked the GM "Why didn't this guy just stop" he answered "Because you shot him!"
It occurred to me that I acted like I was trying to hold down someone on my level and not a regular metahuman. If someone have pointed a gun at my head I would have turned around and kill him. I could take the bullet and still tear him to pieces. So in my head I expected the same to happen and acted one step ahead. Shot before he can turn around and shoot me.
But a normal human can't do this. Normal Human cant resist a bullet or act this fast.
It was a strange feeling

What isn't at this point, besides the fine firearms from Colt (Trust the Legend™)?

Shadowrun suffers from the "It isn't an RPG without elves, magic, and dragons" mindset. Because DnD is overhyped and has the arguably incorrect distinction as the first RPG

>Honestly, why don't you just play CP2020 instead?

Not as balanced. Wish there was a middle ground.

Is it possible to take anything from RIFTS books? Never read them.

>Not as balanced.
I'm not sure I believe you.

>Is it possible to take anything from RIFTS books?
Yes, but why in the fuck would you want to?

If you want something anywhere less then "Several dozen times the magnificent clusterfuck that is SR 5e" You stay far, far away from RIFTS

I wouldn't say Shadowrun "suffers" from its most unique aspect that sets it apart from every other cyberpunk setting.

but user, it has an aspect which that user doesn't like, so it's OBVIOUSLY suffering, don't you know?

Funny thing is, Shadowrun managed to become the cyberpunk RPG, so now it's more that SR having magic is what allows every other cyberpunk setting to differentiate themselves from it.

You know, I realize this general doesn't have the storytimes most other ones do. Is this because the tabletop doesn't tend to have an overarching campaign? Players swap characters too much? Or does the high lethal setting discourage people from growing too attached to their character? I'm curious, since I hardly ever hear about retiring characters or characters that swap careers once they do score 'the big job.'

You what chummer? We have dozens of smaller storytimes all the time and we also have the best storytime of them all, the 2D storytime (in the OP mediafire)

My campaign has been running for a year and I plan on doing a story time at some point.

Oh hey, official forums are back up. Woop woop.

Nobody actually plays Shadowrun, we all just make characters and bitch about the rules.

This is painfully true.

Nobody plays anything on Veeky Forums. We just come here to complain about rules and settings of stuff we never play and long for a group that isn't crap.

I played Shadowrun like a year ago, no bamboozle.

I play SR every other weekend. It's awful. I hate this game. I love my friends and the characters and the stories that play out, but this game sucks ass.

News to me
I guess I have to go cancel everything and double the salt

Missions do tend to be self-contained. The characters are not heroes; they're scumbags that take odd jobs to make ends meet. There's not going to be a "final mission" that the characters' struggles have been building towards; they're the grunts that do a corporation's dirty work. I think the best way to get storytime out of /srg/ is talking about TPKs. That's the closest to a satisfying conclusion you can ask for.

>There's not going to be a "final mission" that the characters' struggles have been building towards
unless of course you are preparing and improving for the metaphorical "Death Run" that will leave them SO RICH and POWERFUL and KNOWN, that they can retire to a tropical island with a mercedes full of cheerleaders or [insert alternative big dream here]

Hey guys, a friend of mine wants to run something a bit different and I wanna help him... except I have no idea how to build it.

He wants to basically run the mastermind from Payday 2. Like, the guy who is calling the shots, teamwork, and shit like that.

My initial plan was to make sure he had high charisma and Intuition, and then giving him a lot of points into Leadership, intimidation, and Small Unit Tactics.

But, like... That feels super flimsy so I'm really not sure what to do besides that.

Small Unit Tactics, while it DOES give mechanical benefits, feels super weak, all things considered.

Leadership gives some nice benefits, but they seem... kinda miniscule, given they take up a whole turn to use. Command... I dunno, I am not sure it would work for anything except metagaming asshole players to be forced to listen to you. Direct feels like a trap because most of the times you're gonna be dealing with composure tests, it's gonna be catching someone off guard. Inspire seems nice out of combat, but in combat... Not so much. Finally, Rally seems shitty because only getting 1 initiative every 2 hits seems really bad as well. It could be handy if someone only needs 1 or 2 points in order to get another pass, or if someone is already out of points for the round and are at 0, then you could give them one turn in exchange for your own, but otherwise, I don't see a use for it.

All in all, I feel like there should be a way to make this kind of shit work, but I have no idea how to do it.

Face builds (and subtypes) are usually secondary archetypes, built in tandem with another one, usually mages, since you don't need that big of an investment for them
Maybe a rigger with Information gathering capabilities? Uses his drones to give oversight, can search well in the matrix, is good with asking people about stuff, though it doesn't really overlap with rigger attributes

Sounds like an Arm of God face to me. Have you read the Run & Gun parts about tactics?

You wanna support people be a mage and pick the right spells. Or be Social Adept
You want to be a mastermind? Actually be one. Put thought in it and come up with plans and things for the team to do. Get gear. Be creative.
There is no mechanic for being smart.

>The characters are not heroes; they're scumbags that take odd jobs to make ends meet.There's not going to be a "final mission" that the characters' struggles have been building towards; they're the grunts that do a corporation's dirty work.

My group has been doing Shadowrun really fucking wrong, then. Our goals tend to be about stopping bad shit like Technomancers being kidnapped, Metahuman right's activists being targeted for assassination, and doing some vigilante justice to a serial killer Wendigo. That, and our final run has been hinted at to involve stopping a Horror from coming to full power.

>mfw last session I skipped getting paid 200k for a job just so a woman would have enough money to live off of for the rest of her life, and all my contacts have 6 loyalty

>Playing as the Boondock Saints in Shadowrun.

...I want to see where this idea goes.

So much cyber you have grown cold and jaded omae.
Where is the punk in you? Where is the desire to stick it to The Man? Where is the personality? The wrong runner at the right time can move the world!

>Where is the desire to stick it to The Man?
Chummer, who the fuck do you think gives you the money?
You don't hurt The Man, you just shift wealth from one ruler to another

2nd'd

>The characters are not heroes; they're scumbags that take odd jobs to make ends meet.
Not entirely. You can be a pro-liberty idealist who opposes corps out of principle just as well as a gun for hire.

So, an idea has come to me... There are a number of instances where an Adept can be an Adept without KNOWING they're an adept.

This might sound stupid, but... do you think it's possible for a mage to be a mage without realizing it either? Where they're not, like... casting actual fireballs or shit like that, but more subtle magic, and they just associate the drain they take with either stress or exhaustion from effort of doing something?

Do you have idea how many money I have lost and how much hurt I have taken to do the right thing. I'm living in a shithole and have ton of heat behind me but once in a while, when sitting on my busted couch, I get a call from a girl that would have been sold as bunraku doll. Its nothing big, she just ask how I am doing, am I taking care of myself and I smile a little bit and I keep going.

sure thing but someday someone would have told them : Chum you are a mage

It would be rare to impossible for a person to not know they're Awakened. Even if they have a "Muscle Wizard" Tradition where Magic is an extension of physical prowess or something along those lines, people who can Assense or ways of testing for Magical abilities are common enough that anyone Awakened would be screened, formally or informally.

An early grave when they step a bit too hard on something with the means to track them down and terminate them with extreme prejudice, giving them the motive to do so.

Alright, that's a fair point, i suppose. Yeah, eventually they'll be told...

I'm not really seeing this. They can be the hardest S.O.B.s on the market and just choose to be doing 'the right thing' with their skills.

They don't have to be pussies to have morals.

That's why they have powerful connections with the Catholic Church, omae.

>powerful connections with the Catholic Church
How would you represent that?
Wanted(Pedophile)?
Neoteny?

Show us on the doll where the priest touched you user.

Being a member of the Order of St. Slyvester, to answer straight in response to your tired, worn-out joke.

How about magic 12 bishops with force 20 Fire Spirit that looks like Archangel Michael with his flaming sword.

They'd need a large helping of delusion to maintain the ignorance past the first time they were told they were a mage.

>magic 12 bishops
I think there are countably many MAG 12 mages around, even less of those being Christian Theurges
They'd have to initiate at least 6 times which at best would cost 75 Karma (at worst 123 Karma) + the cost of getting your MAG to 12 which would cost another 285 Karma if they start at MAG 6 (and more if they don't)
It would cost them at least 360 Karma just to get there, which probably only few have managed.

Additionally: Unless they snort Reagents and/or Adept Veins like a crack whore they'll most likely die just trying to summon a F20 Fire spirit

Well, an NPC high bishop can be bullshitted by the GM to be anything they want.

Sure, but if your players are high enough that a MAG 12 bishop takes his time of day to deal with you, then you don't have connections at the church, the church has connections AT YOU

>captcha: calle Ancienne
No captcha, leave the gangs out of this

Friend in High Places. In theory, you could have the god damned pope as a 12/6 contact. Under the right circumstances and with the right characters (Players, roleplay, etc.) calling in a favor like that wouldn't be completely unreasonable.

>you could have the god damned pope as a 12/6 contact
but why would I want a contact in the black lodge?
Why not the normal, god blessed one?

>captcha: hotel only
Lewd, captcha! Lewd!

I actually played shadowrun for 5 years with a couple of friends until recently
We play Traveller and L5R now

I GM a SR 4e game
We have a face that can't face, a pacifistic Druid Mage and a vory sammy with a taste for blood

>Not playing vantablack trenchcoat

There is a point where a contact stops being a contact, and YOU are HIS contact instead

In theory, there is no "point" where this is the case, as it should "always be"

You have a 1/1 contact that is a drug dealer in the barrens. The guy sells low quality novacoke and nothing else, but you get information from him and pay him for it. It's a functioning business contact. Nothing more.

So, you can call him for information or coke or whatever you want at (almost) any time. But, just like you have his number in your phone, he has your number in his, and has every right to call you for a job.

Now, you have the right to turn down that job, for either legitimate reasons (Not enough money, on another job at the time) or illegitimate reasons (don't give a shit) but be enough of an asshole and he will stop being your contact. Be nice to him, and loyalty goes up, and even connection if you feed him the right way. (Give him some money on loan so he can get better equipment for better drugs. Take out rival drug dealers. Send good clients his way. Defend him from other runners who are hired to take out rival drug dealers)

Contacts should ALWAYS be a two way street, or at least, should always have the understanding that there is the potential for it. 1/1 Druggy might not really need the help of a prime level hired mercenary, nor the budget, and he may never feel the need to call you, but he should always have the right to.

Even if its just something like "Hey, boss, word on the street is you's gonna be shooting up that mafia safehouse. I'll buy any coke you find over dere. Extra payday for you, more coke for me, and you don't have to worry about finding a fence!"

So, no, even at 12/6, the pope is still your contact. Sure, you're his contact as well, but at no point does he stop being your contact and it becomes a one way relationship.

I would murder ten men to play or run in that game.

Is there a way to change the range of spells?

Like, if I want a healing spell that is LoS or something?

I know it really wouldn't make sense for everything (Like a non touch range Punch spell) but, there are a number of support spells that would be nice if the were more than touch range.

Everything you said is true, let me put it this way:

At some point the contact so far outstrips the character in power and resources that the character becomes almost irrelevant to the contact. If the pope has one runner on his contact list, he has another dozen or so that can do any given job just as good or better than the character. Depending on the character, he might just not bother with some two bit sam anymore.

You might go for the "been friends since childhood" or "saved their life" angle, but even then, the head of some major religion or mega corp will be way too busy to put much care into the relationship. At this point, the character will mostly deal with their underlings that are acting on their order, and the contact becomes not they themselves, but the organization they represent, with maybe the occasional face-to-face meeting to say "yes, mr. runner, we are still very grateful to you" or "we should go for drinks some time"

That said, I definitely would someone play with that kind of contact. They'd be an extremely powerful ally, but the character should have to work really hard to stay relevant to the contact

Eh...don't think so?
Alchemical preparation could do the trick. Just need the stuff from Forbidden Arcana for it to be worth it.

So, a character becomes a member of/otherwise involved with the Black Lodge. What do they then have to do? What kind of responsibilities or tasks would they be sent on? What's the initiation process like?

You're also not wrong. I think the circumstances are also important as to what is going on with that phone call.

If you call the pope because a coke deal goes wrong, that is a gross misuse of his time and power.

Now, if there was something that was super relevant to him or the world at large (Hey, your Holiness, I need a favor. There is a powerful Shadow Spirit that is planning on destroying seattle with a bomb to feast upon the pain and misery) then by all means he would be able to assist.

Yes, it might be assistance by sending underlings or something, but, it is an important contact to be had in said scenario.

Its a fine line that you need to walk as a player and as a GM you need to make your players remember that. "This IS the pope, leader of an entire religion, and while you and him are close personal friends due to one reason or another, he's not exactly going to throw a major portion of the world population into turmoil for you. There are other people with 6 loyalty he has to think about. Calling him over every bad run is a way to just make him feel like you're using him."

It's really great, I especially like my contacts in the game, they're actually good characters in their own right: like the owl shaman that took care of my character once he Awakened later in his life (Latent Awakening in 4th edition), that is kind of a kitsch salesman, but also provides sagely advice and moral support when my character is down, and a 10 logic scientist troll that is a father figure to him.

Favorite game I play at the moment, honestly

Friends in High Places + Latent Dracomorphosis
Backstory: Lofwyr illegitimate child
>MY FATHER WILL KNOW ABOUT THIS!

Malfwyr?

Doesn't it make the contact less useful to the character if they can only call on them in extreme situations? It's not like Seattle gets threatened by nuclear annihilation every other tuesday, even in Shadowrun.

On the other hand, it would be kind of awesome when your character gets arrested by mall cops for shoplifting, and suddenly a swiss guard officer shows up and says "Yes, this man is an official dignitary of the Holy See and a close personal friend of His Holyness the Pope, he has diplomatic immunity. We'll be taking him off your hands now"

I don't need to bring my RPG to every run, but I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not want it.

But, yeah, funny situations like that are also options too.

"need it and not have it" fucking typing on autopilot.

In the end, it depends on how the GM wants to play it, I guess.

Now I kind of want to play the childhood friend of the pope that picked up running as a hobby, partially because he knows he can always flash his State of Vatican City SIN if he gets into trouble. Cue monthly meetings with His Holyness, formerly The Kid Next Door I Play Soccer With, to ask my character to cut that shit out

I like this idea.

I also like the idea of your character buying monthly "Indulgences" with enough money to actually be worth the time. Like, being a runner who is donating thousands of dollars to the church on a montly basis sounds like fun.

Fuck, I wanna make this now.

DO IT
Then post it here for peer review

>My son, your life of violence is a sin in the eye of God...

>Yeah, yeah... Look, Your Holiness, the orphanage ain't gonna run itself, and someone gotta keep the streets clear of dealers and other scum preying on the weak.

God damn it. Brb, making this.

Question is: What should this runner be? Mage? Adept? Street sam? I'm really leaning towards street sam.

I'd say street sam too. Gives a nice contrast to the Leader of the Catholic Church. And it gives opportunities for conversations like
>My son... look, Kyle, I'm just going to drop the ritual for now. You really have to stop chroming up. It gives my awakened cardinals the chills, and my camerlengo keeps asking why we keep a 'travesty unto God, who damages his Immortal Soul with metal and plastic' as a dignitary

Would I do a vatican SIN?

Corporate?

National

He could probably be a citizen of any nation, as members of the catholic church often are, but with a seperate means of identification as a church dignitary.
Since the catholic church (the Holy See) is a souvereign political entity, I'd go with National

Quick question:

Was there ever a final decision on how Red-liner works?

Do you get+2 to your strength and agility attributes as well as +2 to your strength and agility in your limbs (With the assumption of 4 total limbs)?

And CAN it surpass the normal 9 that a human is capable of achieving with their limbs?

>read this
>mfw my players don't even bother to question the shit they do that could have incredibly bad consequences
>they do it for basically nothing

Did you mean 10? 10 is the aug limit for humans physical attributes.

I always read it as a cheaper way to get to 10.

Well, a while back there was the argument: "Cyberlimbs can normally go all the way to 9 through customization. would this +2 get you to 11?" and then there was "Humans can only go to 10" and a lot of conversation back and forth and blah blah blah.

Just gonna go with chummer and say that it's still a cap of 10. And yeah, it IS a cheaper way to get to 10, but having all your limbs be 5/5 base, as well as improving your natural strength and agility is pretty handy.

You can't surpass the augmented maximum without GM fiat.

Alright, and here is Kyle, the Pope's childhood friend.

I ran out of money, and if i'm being honest, I could probably remake him with only C stats and A money, instead of B in both.

all in all, He's not a bad guy, he does the right thing... for the most part. donates a lot of his money to the church (Which I think running out of funds can reflect), and... while he does do a lot of things he's not proud of, that's also why I have him Pie lesu domine to show that it does affect him.

Give him a little more money so he can round out his lack of gear, and you've got yourself a competent runner... if a bit of a glass cannon since he's got kinda shitty Initiative, and low HP due to Redliner.

I'm pretty new to the game and I'm having a bit of trouble finding a good picture representing my character's face. Would any of you happen to have a picture of a an elf with a heavily scarred face?

How scarred?

Scarred how?

What's the secret ingredient of Shadowrun, /srg/?

I like Shadowrun, and I've been playing on and off again it for quite some time. I'm not blind to the flaws of the system, though, and I am not a great fan of some pieces of the lore. So, some time ago, I've read through CP 2020 to see if maybe it would be more fun to get my dose of cyberpunk that way.

And... shit. I'm not a great fan of magic-heavy SR, and CP has no magic. I do not really like the geopolitics of SR (as my games rarely take me to North America or Germany, which are two pieces of the world with any though put into it even if it possibly was not enough), and I kind of prefer the ones of CP. I am okay with the 'everything wireless' of SR, but I do prefer the technological aesthetics of CP. Also, it's much easier to find CP2020 group than SR group where I live.

And for some reason I still prefer Shadowrun.

I mean, CP as system is kind of shit, but I don't think it's mechanics that make me stick to SR. What is it then? What makes this clusterfuck of a universe so compelling?

Subliminal messaging.

Subliminal massaging.

You seem tense.

As I described my character to my GM he was in a horrible car wreck like car flipped 10 times, fell 20 feet, and then caught on fire. I'm more machine than man now. I also have the elf poser quality so I have scars from the hasty back alley cosmetic surgery.

Cyberelf pussy

My cyborgization and technological mind control fetish

It's us, user! It's us that make Shadowrun fun!