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The Shadowrun Thread! For All Your Shadowrun Needs!

Ya one of the main selling points in 5e is that it removed the more absurd build options. Another point I really like is that deckers are actually relevant to the group.

Which reminds me, since 4e and 5e have so much in common I can easily port gear, upgrades, etc forward so if you want anything from a previous edition just tell me and we can work it out. I also allow homebrew stuff just talk to me about it first.

As for CO-GM you would be in the loop on what is going on since otherwise there is a risk of a gambit pileup given my planned first arc to the main story.
 
For this PbP game your thinking of, will the use of the Chummer character builder be cool?
 
Time to write out another one of those:
Gear every Runner should have, and why:

A good commlink. You won't actually use it to make calls. Instead, you'll use it's firewall to protect your personal wireless devices. Don't rely on your hacker to be present at all times.
Several cheap commlinks. Burners, in other words. Use them to make calls. If you're tracked, slag them. Heck, do that regularly.
A fake SIN. Those are expensive, but you'll need it. Getting one good one and several cheaper ones might be worth it.
Earbuds, headphones or something like that, with a select sound filter. Just the ability to listen to one voice in a crowded room is great for the price.
Rappelling Gloves and Microwire. Easy to carry - and if you ever need to get out of a high place? That's your answer. Can also be used to build impromptu traps, though it's not as deadly as monofilament wire.
Glue Sprayer. And some Solvent. Soo many potential uses, and it's cheap and portable.
A Medkit. Even if you don't have any medical knowledge - modern medkits make up for that.
Trauma Patches. A last resort, but it's better than a dead teammate.

There's a lot of other good gear of course. And obvious stuff like armor and weapons. But the stuff listed here is either a pure necessity to survive, or so useful nobody should ever go without it. Not a complete list though.

In related news, filled in all the gear for Xiula. And also filled in her knowledge skills - damn, normally my characters have more of those. Oh well. Just some personal interests then, and three spoken languages.


Still pondering whether to Co-GM. But I guess I can live with knowing some mystery, unless it'd totally prevent me from playing as a player as well.
 
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I would prefer Co-GM not be a player. I also like how you clearly have the whole 'basic competency' thing down, it is good to have that since while I am not a killer GM I won't pull punches unless someone is an absolute newbie. Balanced groups are also not needed, if I have a crew of 5 murder hobos you guys get hired for murder hobo jobs. I tailor the campaign around the players, things are also looking positive in terms of me actually running this so far. An important thing that will come up early is everyone's location and current form of residence so I advise Shadows over Europe as a nice starting point if you can get your hands on a pdf version.
 
Yeah, that's....I'll have to sleep on this.
I do love Shadowrun, and I do want to see a game here.
But I've had exactly one chance to actually play a game myself ever since I learned of Shadowrun, which was somewhere around the start of this millennium. So I'm really tempted to just say "No", but...
Well, I'll sleep on it.

Either way, I'll gladly help people with character design, especially with making sure characters have basic competency. Which involves more than just gear, of course. So if anyone wants advice, ask away.

And I do actually have Shadows over Europe as a softcover. I also do have Germany in the Shadows, likewise as softcover. So yes, I can provide information there too. Shadowrun Europe is weird - maybe actually weirder than Shadowrun America.
 
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Dang, those as softcover are hard to come by, if you are this deep in the shadows you might actually get the plot to the initial campaign.
 
I generally use Hero Lab to build characters instead of Chummer.

And I'm definitely going to build that Troll Face, I think.
 
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Nervaqus987 said:
Primarily the Storyteller system and a one shot or two for Unisystem.
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Well you are better set than DMs who have only done systems where players are heroic protagonist characters like D&D. The hardest part with being a Shadowrun DM is the nuanced stuff since there are a lot of little things that really bring the setting together. Like the constant gambit pileups of people throwing you to your death.
 
Conundrum said:
@Serafina there is no pressure to co-gm and at the moment no need, a co-gm would pretty much only be needed if we get like 7+ people interested.
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Oh, whew. I'm very glad to hear that. I'll take the pressure off my mind then, and just look forward to actually playing then.

horngeek said:
I generally use Hero Lab to build characters instead of Chummer.

And I'm definitely going to build that Troll Face, I think.
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I just do everything by hand, to be honest. Chummer is great, but I do like the experience of doing all the calculations myself.

And hey, nobody said that a group can't have two faces! Granted, it's a bit more redundant than two hackers or riggers or mages would be. The best solution is generally to let both characters handle different situations.
Well, a Troll and a Elf already offer some contrast. Contrast that'd allow our GM to play up the racism and racial bias in the Shadowrun world, so it'd actually be interesting. They might also have very different mannerisms.

As for areas of competency - well, a Face consists of two parts: Contacts and Skills.
It's easy to avoid overlap with Contacts. Just take different ones, that know about different layers of society or can get different goods.
As for skills - Xiula actually has two gaps in her skillset. Negotiation and Intimidation. She does neither very well, having no skill in either. That was deliberate - she has absolutely no business sense, and while she can seem scary in her crazier phases, it's not something she deliberately cultivated.
So a very calculating, polite, cool-headed face would definitely fit in well alongside Xiula.

Speaking of contacts: I added them in now too, actually forgot to put them on the online sheet.
 
Has anyone thought of where they are living? Where you guys live, personality, and capabilities will decide the first ~5 story driven runs. Since I make the story work with whatever group is present.

Also as this is kind of a Europe wide campaign be aware you may leave the continent also since you guys are not bound to accept every contract that comes your way. If it smells like a setup, it might be.
 
I'd prefer the Rhine-Ruhr Megaplex. It's enough of a melting pot that you can justify most nations of origin. It also has a large shadow community. The only drawback is that a lot of it is focused around Saeder-Krupp, and unlucky runners might end up as dragon fodder.

But I'm fine with other places too. Germany is the country I know the most about (living here IRL and it having a dedicated sourcebook), but as long as I know in advance I can adjust Xiulas background (and language skills) to fit.
 
I'll be running as L0v3-L@ce, a punk rock decker with bite. Backstory coming in like, 24 hours.
 
Serafina said:
I'd prefer the Rhine-Ruhr Megaplex. It's enough of a melting pot that you can justify most nations of origin. It also has a large shadow community. The only drawback is that a lot of it is focused around Saeder-Krupp, and unlucky runners might end up as dragon fodder.

But I'm fine with other places too. Germany is the country I know the most about (living here IRL and it having a dedicated sourcebook), but as long as I know in advance I can adjust Xiulas background (and language skills) to fit.
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You can pick anything you want and the team can scatter across Europe. In my planned campaign there were players from London to Naples to Ukraine and I had plans to get each of them into the group for the initial mission. You guys can start as a group or not, team call.
 
Well, Raymond Thax is certainly going to be good at Intimidation, even if it isn't his preferred way of doing things- he prefers to be polite.

Actually, he's polite even when intimidating. Makes it even scarier.
 
Ada Nadia Karimi, the girl who would become Lovelace, Mercenary Decker for Hire, was six years old when her parents moved house from her native home, a Casablancain apartment that was cramped, expensive and surrounded by nosy neighbors. To an apartment in Stepney, London's East End
that was cramped, expensive and surrounded by noisy neighbors.


The French Corp to whom Ada's father was a middle manager for their tech department insisted it was for the best. That he would be allowed to "branch out, and spearhead a new office in a new location, and prove your chops as lead on this. Everything will be fine!"

The ruthless takeover by Novatech five years later said otherwise. The restructuring demoted her father out of his job, and he found himself hawking used bits and bobs for all manner of mechanical and electronic devices to more shady elements of London's market.

At the age of twelve, Ada found her passion. Hardware, software, everything that buzzed and clicked and wurred with not-so-shiny perfection. In her Father's shop Erol's 2nd Hand Electronics And More. She learned how to build, maintain, and repair the electrical treasures others thew away, and sell them far above what they were worth only a week before. From this passion, she made her first deck at fourteen using the case of a Radio Shack that had fallen off a truck and ripping everything else out replacing the insides with bits from around the shop. She affectionately calls it "Ol Trusty."

She began to write programs, viruses, ways to attack and defend in the world of the digital, selling those for sweet nuyen on the darknet. Falling into a all female gang of Deckers, Hack-tivists and Punk Rock cromeheads known as the Shine Grrrls at fifteenth getting her first Aug six mouths after she joined. Then moving onto Hooding, and from there she entered the Shadows at seventeen. She became L0v3-L@ce.

She's been a Runner for seven years now. The length her career a testament to her luck. Or her skill.

She's not really that sure.
 
Hrm. While we have had a Face, we don't seem to have many gunslingers or magic-users cooked up for this yet- and while I've got an idea for a Troll Face, part of me also wants to play a Mystic Adept Gunslinger.

Might put together stats for both characters then see which I prefer. Either Raymond Thax, Troll Face ("Call me Mr. Thax.") or Firehair, Mystic Adept who's a handy shot with a gun.
 
So I am getting set to prepare an OOC thread now tonight or tomorrow, I would like to know who all is interested in being a character so I know if I should put up an interest check for more people.

Also, I told someone in PMs already this but I don't like 5 essence adepts or most adepts who reduce their magic but not their total magic then buyback, at least when 5e came out they were 4e levels of broken which has the issue that everyone else has been brought down a bit from 4e levels of insanity. If it is crazy cheesy broken stuff I generally will have to say no to it.

I am also not a big fan of having a 1 in a stat usually, particularly as prime runners a 1 in a stat is just asking for something bad to happen but I will not say no to a character for it.
 
horngeek said:
Ah, we're building Prime Runners instead of standard character creation?

Neat.
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Yep, prime runners in Europe.

Also if people have questions or concerns and want to talk in real time I am Omega on Skype and have a Jackpoint avatar. I am usually on mobile so it is the easiest way to contact me usually.

Since Shadows of Europe, the London book, and Germany book are a bit outdated at this point we will need to do a bit of homebrew stuff with the last couple of years. Nothing too major just little things like escalation of hostilities in Poland.
 
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