/srg/ - Shadowrun General

This is fair. I say "generally safe" because from what I can tell, unless you're hitting 5+ on an assessing test, the only way to definitively rat out a technomancer is to BE a technomancer, and that means ratting someone else out is ratting yourself out.

wrong, isobel should always be on the team because of her duping glitch

i also don't play racter anymore because he's waaay too fiddly
you get gobbet talking about food

actually this whole sequence is good so i'll post it all

2/3

A good security spider will look at the logs and realize that you've never had a mark on the file and no access to it. Your complex form will look like garbage code and scrap he can't even comprehend. Your complex form leaves a matrix signature, one that's undeniably visible because only technomancers and AI leave a matrix signature.

It's at this moment that the security spider calls his superior and tells him there's a suspected technomancer on site. The superior then sends a whitehat technomancer or a team to locate and kill you.

3/3

I almost want to play that game again, just for the ending. Slaughtering Gobbet and Isobel with a monowhip with Murderbot and Svenghoulie is so goddamn satisfying.

>Cops Edition
>How are they in your game?

Cops are like Retail Customer Service workers, except with a gun. Underpaid, understaffed, mostly unmotivated (except for that one guy. You know the one), and just trying to get through the day without getting shitcanned or murdered due to somebody else's bullshit. Nine times out of ten, runners are that one task that comes in ten minutes before its time to go home and the cops just can't be arsed to tackle it unless lives are literally on the line.

dragonfall has a more annoying team but yeah i killed my team on my first playthrough too but only with my MC for the flavour

Okay, I'm blaming 5e editing on this but I'm a little confused.

So, in the Technomancer section, it talks about leaving a Resonance signature (Quote: "Other Resonance Beings") which can ONLY be detected by entities with a resonance score.

But, looking through, I don't see anything about leaving behind a 'matrix signature' fucking anywhere, other than its a matrix action, not a resonance action, but I'm gonna assume that Matrix Signature and Resonance Signature are the same thing, because fuck 5e.

So, that doesn't change the fact that apparently only a resonance entity can see a resonance signature. so what the fuck would a spider be looking at?

And, yeah, I do get the idea that the complex form would look like garbage code, but unless he's a technomancer he wouldn't be able to connect that code to me without another techno tracking the signature.

I guess what I'm saying is, according to the logs "SOMETHING edited this file. it looks like technomagic bullshit" but there would be no way to connect it to me without another techno, right?

Goddamnit, I wish I could play a game in a setting like that. Instead, I get to have a character's backstory be from there. I'd love to hear more about the setting, though. The interplay between MVD and the Vory, the ambient corruption, cybergopniks, and of course the latent slav outlook of fatalistic pessimism. Just perfect for Shadowrun.

Read Shadows of Asia, 3E. That's the most source on Russia released so far.

Yeah, ditto. With Gaichu and Racter was mostly just referring to the three blessed boys that made it out. Just imagine what Racter could do with a single year of basically adding Edge to everything he does.

They got squatting in the art?

>With Gaichu and Racter was mostly just referring to the three blessed boys that made it out.
i meant that i just idled gaichu and racter and killed gobbet, isobel and duncan with my MC

>Just imagine what Racter could do with a single year of basically adding Edge to everything he does.
i don't have to imagine it because i played the bonus campaign

you don't get a whole lot and there are a few annoying bugs and one of them is gamebreaking

They have a squatty, and that's the next best thing.

I'll just copy this to the new thread this once.

I have a fair amount of vacation in front of me and nothing to do, so I decided I'll finally make good on the stuff I always complain about.
I'm the guy who's perpetually pissy that cosmetic modifications, "casual" consumer cybernetics and the myriads of kinds of biosculpting in the setting get no coverage whatsoever, which means that neither GMs nor players use them because the only explanation you get is a price and a very fuzzy description ("minor", "major").
I was figuring I'd do some write-ups on in-universe products and services in the style of a FASArun book, listing the prices, Essence costs, treatment times and limitations of various cosmetic modifications and vanity 'ware while getting into the culture surrounding it.
It'll be artless homebrew, but let's be honest there's just too little to work with as it is, for one of the things which really defines the setting and makes it recognizable.

This is where I have to ask for your imagination, because there's always something you don't think of yourself.
Give me every idea for cosmetic modifications, vanity/everyday 'ware and other little cyberware or bioware augmentations with peripheral or negligible mechanical effects you have.
No matter how vanilla, how bizarre, how niche or how ineffective it is, throw it at me. It can't get worse than Chromebook 4 anyway.
If I get a few ideas to work with, I can probably have a booklet of like 60 pages ready for late January, with in-universe commentary and rules for both FASA and CGL editions.

Yeah withouth another techno there's no way of knowing you did it specifically.

wasn't there a 4E book about cosmetic cyberware/ bioware

yeah the book is augmentation

coSMetic cyberWare
The term “cosmetic cyberware” refers to two different kinds
of cyberware. The most common variety of cosmetic cyberware
is cosmetic cyberware modification and refers to the further cus-
tomization of cyberware implants by altering their off-the-shelf
shape, color, surface texture, location, and sometimes even minor
functions of these implants, either for pure aesthetics or to adapt
them to specialized needs.

Cosmetic bioware is the natural complement to biosculpt-
ing, using bioware implants and transplants to help transform the
metahuman form to the client’s desired ideal. Cosmetic bioware
usually involves less preparation than normal bioware, as few im-
plants are very complex or invasive, even if cosmetic remodeling
is part of the procedure.

i mean if it didn't make it to 5E then there's probably a good reason for it, like the sporting rifles/sniper rifles split

Dietware: Dietware is for those image-conscious people who
don’t want to worry about gaining weight or losing their figure.
It consists of a series of gastrointestinal tract modifications that
limit the amount of food that is digested, in proportion to the
user’s metabolic rate. It ensures that no excess carbohydrates and
proteins are created and converted into fat. In essence, recipients
won’t pick up any extra pounds—no matter how much they eat.
Dietware is not compatible with digestive expansion.

wow i sure am sad that this thing that doesn't affect gameplay was cut from 5E

Alright, this was worth if for this dude alone.

If UMT isnt real than how come everyone can cast the same spells?

"If standardized tools aren't real, how come people can use things that aren't a hammer to do the job of a hammer?"

Asked this in the last thread and (understandably) didn't get many responses, but I'll try again.

Does anyone have tips on running Earthdawn? I wanted to run fourth edition and port some adventures from older editions in. Does anyone have suggestions on porting them in terms of game balance? What about lore, given 4e is set (I think) about five years after 3e, are there any setting books I could show my players to help them know the older era and whip up some appropriate characters? Are there any good chargen programs like Chummer to help speed things along?

SOX-user here again. Today, we have information about your best bets for help getting into and out of the SOX in one piece.

Next up, we have the Corps you can expect to find in the Zone, and what they're up to.

docs.google.com/document/d/1tbh7C7YIiPgfFuJcgpoeRk0qP0vPM7i5tlhRtlVESDU/edit#

I see you anons lurking in the doc, and I appreciate you guys paying attention to this shitty project.

Goddamnit, why is all of this out-dated information on Russia so good? If I ran anything for my group, I'd be forced to run it in the modern timeline, when all of this politicial instability based around who assumes the role of Secretary General makes for such a delicious powerkeg of intrigue and shadowrunning.

Just do what I do and update the tech while keeping the plot/political situation the same. Has CGL even addressed anything about Russia besides 6th World Almanac?

No.

Then there is no problem, chummer.

>unless you're hitting 5+ on an assessing test,
Not exactly the most impossible thing to do, but I guess there probably won't be many wagemages doing it

>the only way to definitively rat out a technomancer is to BE a technomancer, and that means ratting someone else out is ratting yourself out.
Most of the people hunting technomancers are probably hypocritical enough to have a few house boy technomancers on the payroll and, like I said, there are plenty of people willing to take that job.

How might a dwarf know throalic in Shadowrun?

I didn't mean to imply that 5+ assensing is entirely impossible, but, for a PC, thats... 6 magic, 6 assensing, specialization, and that's 14 dice right there and not even an average of 5 successes. Is it possible? absolutely. is it going to be a common occurrence? No.

as for your second point? Fair. entirely fair.

Fair enough, and it's not like the people I play with know that the information's out of date, either. Thanks, chummer. You make a good case. And goddamnit, Russia is teeming with intrigue. From the political situation in Moskva, the syndicate situation in Vladivostok, the situation with Yakut, and the fun of Sankt Petersburg and the smuggler's haven of Kronstadt. So many different possibilities.

Does eyeware stack with each other?

Like, can you have contacts and glasses both? And I am talking about separate mods. +3 perception in both wouldn't stack to +6 perception.

>a canonical gangwar between renegade Russian submarine pirates and Viking smugglers from the Scandinavian Union
Goddamnit, I can only get so erect.

There's so many cool parts of Shadowrun that are ignored in favor of
>muh Jackpointers
>muh Bug spirits

Depends on the GM, I would say that it would be like stacking to cameras in front of each other. You can't use your thermographic vision to look at a camera feed and expect to see anything.

>+3 perception in both wouldn't stack to +6 perception
Zoom and enhance motherfucker

*two cameras

Archaeologist. Or metaplanar exploration. Or Oracle Mentor Spirit. Or all three, like my Indiana Jones rip-off character.

Fuck CGL. I can handle their bordering on criminal business practices, but the fat steaming shit they took on Shadowrun's feel kills my soul. These old books are just a joy to read, and the new ones are just such cringefests.

I would rule no. One device might be able to blend thermal imaging, magnification, low light, and image enhancment into a single useful picture with a bunch of digital processing, but just straight pointing your low light imaging at a screen displaying a thermal video feed isn't going to get you anything but a headache.

Frag, chummer, they're trying their best*. It's not their fault they're completely out of their depth and incapable of delivering the same 'quality' that looks a couple decades out of date, because it is.
*May not actually be 100% FACT.

...

Why is that trog's arm so short?

...

that's clearly a shopped version of that halfling hitting on an elf image

That's fair, I suppose it's kinda case-by-case basis. I was more thinking about, say, having contacts that are just +perception, and then having some glasses with the Thermographic/image link/flare comp/whatever

I'm aware, but look at his right arm. Yikes.

>6th World Almanac
Talking about the 6th World Almanac, what is exactly wrong about it?

I remember reading they fucked something up in this book. But i don't enough about SR to know what exactly.

best mission in the game, i wish more missions changed based on if you did them with 3AP or not

BLOOD WHIP
(Blood, Physical)
Type: P Range: T
Duration: I Drain: F-2
With a slice of the blade across the wrist, the
mage causes some of their blood to erupt out in
the form of a magical whip. The caster deals 1P
damage to themselves, generating the Blood Pool
Point required to cast this Blood Spell. The blood
whip functions as a bullwhip (R&G p21). For ev-
ery two hits on the Spellcasting test, the lash gains
+1P and -2AP. The whip has an Accuracy equal to
the Force of the spell, and persists for that number
of minutes. When wielded by the caster, attacks
use Spellcasting +Agility. Any other person using
the blood lash uses Exotic Melee Weapon (Bull-
whip) + Agility.

Alright, I need a hand here, because this thing is so shittily written I'm honestly not sure how it's actually intended to work.

So, it calls out that it functions as a Bullwhip, but the problem here is that the Bullship is fucking absolute garbage. It's Str+1P and +3 AP.

And this is, y'know, a spell. It's a Manipulation spell, specifically. Which has it's own thing for Damaging Manipulation spells. Namely:

Damaging: Manipulation spells that cause damage
have a Damage Value equal to their Force (unaltered by
hits on the Spellcasting test) and 0 AP. The damage is
resisted with Body + Armor.

Would it be reasonable to have Blood Whip use THAT as it's baseline, and just modify it for hits as per normal?

it looks more like it's angled strangely than it's short

if the arm was extended fully it would make the scene look worse
>shaping energy into a weapon makes it more inefficient
whoda thunk it

also are you missing this
> For ev-
ery two hits on the Spellcasting test, the lash gains
+1P and -2AP.

The biggest thing I remember is that most of the entries are pretty short and that the world map/borders are really inconsistent for no reason.

Nope, eyewear is like armour, you can have as many on as you like but you gotta use one at a time.

Yes, which means that rather than use this garbage spell, you could just... use a monowhip, not need to cut yourself, and get 12P -8AP for functionally free.

And not get fucked over hard.

Bzzzt, wrong. Form Fitting Body Armor still applies it's enhancements while wearing more armor.

a monowhip is forbidden and this gets a str bonus

it seems fine, just not necessarily as good as a weapon that is difficult to conceal, compared to a holdout it seems good

Please tell me what book that's from son.

Is it 2050 ? SR5 books takes precedence over 2050

It's from SR5.

Looking at Form Fitting Body armour in R&G p.65 and I'm not seeing a reference to that at all.

Might be thinking of the cloak from HT

No, I'm thinking of literally what the armor says. It's form fitting body armor, designed to be worn underneath something. Please, tell me how a suit of form-fitting armor that conceals your thermal signature stops functioning when something is worn over it, given that it'd stop the heat from radiating out to the outer layer.

Like, dude, this is basic logic here.

Oh I know it's logic, but it's not RAW.

When you want to state you're using RAI, state it. I was answer a rules question.

I know it's logical and I'd probably be okay with it at my table.

So here's a question: how do SINless who aren't resourceful criminals/runners live? I'm talking about everyday kinda people living in squats, slums, barrens, etc... ork and troll communities pushed out of nice upscale areas. If there was a massive fire in a barren or slum would the municipal fire service/cops go out to keep order? Do SINless get emergency hospital treatment? What obligations do national governments have to them?
I know corps don't give two shits about and wouldn't even let them stay in their residential enclaves,

>how do SINless who aren't resourceful criminals/runners live?
Wretchedly

>If there was a massive fire in a barren or slum would the municipal fire service/cops go out to keep order?
Chummer, they'd bring the marshmallow to roast on the burning remains while laughing.

>Do SINless get emergency hospital treatment?
No.

>What obligations do national governments have to them?
Absolutely none what-so-fragging-ever. SINless aren't people as far as they're concerned. They don't pay taxes, they don't contribute to the economy, they don't exist!

I think that answer boils down to the local politics.
We know Brackhaven in Seattle gives zero fucks about the Sinless so emergency services wouldn't be sent.

Now of course, a raging inferno out of control in the Barrens killing hundreds is a really bad PR move for the municipal or state government.

Hospitals are mostly privatized so they'd let them die unless they have money. In the rare cases where there's a free clinic or a public hospital I guess it'd be up to the doctor on shift.

Sinless and poor folks live by essentially relying on criminal or community-based services. Local volunteer firemen, volunteer militias (also called gangs) ect.

Basically, Kowloon Walled City.

Municipal services don't care about you and will let you die, and it's up to a SINless population to look out for themselves. No, you won't get emergency hospital treatment. No, the cops don't care if you die. You are a persona non grata, and it is up to you to either prove your worthiness or stay in the shadows. And the relationship with the shadows is pretty close. SINless communities are naturally off of the radar, which makes a good place to lay low and find services that the rest of the world shies away from. And it's a place where those that don't belong in real society can take refuge.

kwoloon walled city in game is worse than normal for sinless because of the fortune engine

most of the families in the barrens that get mentioned in the videogames die or become junkies

So, technomancer gets a few resonance skills at higher levels with a high enough priority.

So, like... on chummer, why are Software, Computer, Hacking, etc. available to be chosen, when the only resonance skills are compiling, decompiling, and registering?

By RAW the only thing that doesn't stack is the same bonus from multiple items. If two items are worn, but have different bonuses, they work fine.
There was a thread on the official forums recently where this exact question was asked. Have a look when they are up again.

Because they still use them

>trusting anyone at CGL to know how their own rules work

Sometimes i wonder if going back to 3rd edition is not a better idea.

Because, fuck...

I mean... Yeah. They do. But the rules say that they get RESONANCE skills. Computers is not a resonance skill. even if they use it.

Nah just wait for Genesys PDF and run shadowrun using that system.

Quick, /srg/, houserule question time.

Is there a decent way to get back to the old school division between the spirits summoned by hermetics and shaman?

Use the Forbidden Arcana rules. Make Hermetics summoning Elementals mandatory. Make Shaman's follow the rules for their totem. Find ways to punish them if they avoid it.

> Gimmick dices

No

So, what are some good "Friends in High Places" options to have?

GovCops: The remnants of the yesteryears of precorp rule, ruthless and still extremely well funded. The extraterrority treaties means the areas they control they control with an iron fist.

Private cops: Fiercely protetctive of corp assets. No so much for people not under their shield.

>rules for their totem
You mean their tradition? Does seem like the more in-depth Traditions have a lot of nice flavor baked into them. And I reckon that might work. Hermetics shackled to just 4 elementals, while the various other traditions have plenty of restrictions to keep them flavorful and not as freewheeling as the the generic do-literally-everything shaman.

I favor corrupt police officers, military staff, and organized crimelords. People with access to particular services and goods. People often go for politicians and corporate executives too, but I'm usually leery about those sorts. Police, military, and crimelords usually have some sense of honor at least.

Porn stars!

Richard Villiers. The man is the richest person in the world, is one of the politically smartest, and now he has no responsibilities. There's lots of opportunity if you have him on your side, either for revenge or to make a new megacorp.
Johnny Spinrad. The man is awesome, unpredictable, canonically loves to hang out with Shadowrunners, and will randomly give 'runners expensive gear "just to see what they do".
Arleesh. She's a young Great Dragon who seems motivated by morals. She scours the world looking for dangerous artifacts, then either hides them or destroys them. Is quite famous for NOT backstabbing people.
Deus Fragment 75/0/B. Because lol, Shodan.

Nothing like being flanked on both sides by paramilitary douchebags.

You can't accidentally kill yourself with the blood whip

youtube.com/watch?v=SHKjOl9ocR0
Stat me.

More seriously, shouldn't there be a bunch of anarchocommunist and socialist agitators in Shadowrun? It seems strange that there isn't really anything written about anarchist and possibly terrorist groups. Or are they just in supplements?

When is it possible to have a Johnson use a Blood Oath to guarantee he (technically) won't fuck over the runners and they, in turn, should (technically) not fuck over him? Besides waiting for SR6 to advance the timeline more.

Only if you are Triad or Aztechnology.

Policlub terrorists. They can help you on the social side with their own influence network and on the violence side with fucking car bombs.

Downside is they'll want pain in the ass favors from you too. Also when the CIA comes and slits all their throats they might find your names in their records.

Spinrad Johnson: I have heard word a couple of my employees has asked for invitations to join Omega Dawn because they drank too much corp kool aid. Do us a favor and remind them the error of their ways

Thee are a bunch, you just have to look in the source books.
If you want some in your campaign, though, probably the most universal is Anarchist Black Star, a worldwide network of Anarchist Shadowrunners who focus on hitting corps and governments when they're treading on the little people too hard. There's also Anarchist Black Crescent who are basically an anarchist DocWagon.

Black Star got mauled pretty bad when they all turned up in South America and got into a fight with the Azzies around 2070, and since then they've gone back underground and renewed focus on being robin hood type figures while they rebuild.

There are a lot of other groups, but the Black Star are a good fit for almost any campaign since a cell of them could turn up anywhere and be masquerading anyone.

I think Chicago also has a lot of smaller more independent neo-communist and Anarchist communities, but they're more limited in scope.