Shadowrun RP discussion
 

I have the feeling that we need a Shadowrun RP thread, but because I'm not too good with Shadowrun, and I doubt everyone is familiar with it, I was hoping to discuss a few things here before posting the signup thread.

1. Are you interested in Shadowrun, with its blend of high tech and magic and shamanism?

2. How much do you know about Shadowrun?

3. What kind of a game would you like to play? (I.e. covert ops work vs. kick-in-the-door action)

4. What kind of person would you like to play? (Cybernetic Street Samurai vs. Willowy Elf Adept, etc.)

There's probably more, but that's all I can think of for now.

1. I really, really, REALLY want to play Shadowrun - I've been trying to get a game going for YEARS now with no real success.

2. Partially because I don't know a whole lot of the fine points, rules-wise. Sure, I know the general story, but have never really gotten around to carefully reading the game mechanics.

3 and 4. But, at any rate, none of that really matters, as I'd never rp on here. Not as a slam to this forum, mind you, but because I prefer to play with rules and dice. Freeform makes my skin itch.

What's Shadowrun? I've never heard of it.

Cyber-punk with magic mixed on in. Think like Blade Runner.

Alright, maybe that explanation was a little brief and unhelpful. I blame television.

OOH! OOH! I played the video game! Does that count for anything?

1. I have never heard of Shadowrun, but the name sounds cool.

2. Like above, el zilcho.

3. I'm more of a "kick-in-the-door-and-kill-everyone" kind of RPer.

4. The Cybernetic Street Samurai would kick that Elf's ass. Go Samurai!

Was Shadowrun a really old Genisis game, where you get guns and magic and I think summon like things, and at one point your thrown into a slum/jail, and have to win in an arena to get out? Cause I played a game like that...

And if it is, you might want to remove guns... Since all solutions woud be "Person A shots person B"

1. Extremely. Like Gram, I've been interested into getting into Shadowrun for a while, but never had a plan to play it and can't get the basic information.

2. I became interested after playing the SNES and Genesis game versions, and while I don't have the rulebooks or anything, I have a good idea how to play and what everything is.

3. Doesn't matter. I would think the missions could change around each time, from basic transport jobs (with interesting complications of course) to all out corperate raids.

4. For those that know shadowrun, I would want to play a Decker (like a cross between hacker and matrix person) with plenty of cyber upgrades.

And yeah, taking out guns in shadowrun would be the equivelent of taking out medieval weapons in a fantasy RP, so that would be a no.

1) Oh yeah! I love Shadowrun!

2) I've got the Third edition core rulebook, and have perused it many-a-time. My cuz has "Man and Machine", the basic cyberware/bioware book.

3) Depends on how we start. If I start with a shadow-assassin/sniper, it's very in-depth with much skullduggery and cloak-and-dagger...was that redundant?

4) I'll play anything you need, although I have less experience with the magic realm. Not that I have anything against it, it's just not my expertise. I'll "DM" it if you need.


Ok, a quick over view would be...

Only 6-siders. No d20s. Ever.

Set in/around 2060. Plenty of games/novels aren't in that year, or else we'd all get bored of it, but that's the general base year.

World maps, political moreso than physical, have gone wild. US is NOT the standard US. Europe has gone crazy-go-nuts, etc.

Megacorporations now run the world. Imagine Microsoft, left unchecked, with it's own private "security" force, and enough contacts to make just about anything happen. Now make ten more companies with just about the same capabilities, and you get the idea.

Corporations, by international law, are allowed to have a "shoot first, ask questions later" policy. Almost all of them do.

Standard races are elf, ork(yes, I know it's a k), troll, dwarf, and human.

Dwarf=1.2meters/54kg
Elf=1.9meters/72kg
Ork=1.9meters/95kg
Human=1.7meters/70kg
Troll=2.8meters/225kg

Orks are pretty close to fantasy orcs, for the less geeky among you, the Lord of the Rings movies have a pretty good approximation. At least, the larger ones. Uruk-Hai, basically. Small tusks, generally they don't go past 3 inches out of mouth.

Elves are same as fantasy elves. Almost entirely.

Dwarves are physically the same. They have no special love for gems and money, aren't superior smiths unless by training, and if they live underground, it's because they tend to fit better, since they're smaller, and basements are often cheaper than penthouses.

Trolls are not DnD trolls. They are big orcs. Not quite ogres...think 8 or 9 foot tall bodybuilder, add 1-2 foot horns on head. Tusks can be up to 6 inches long.

Humans are, in a mixed blessing, unchanged.


Magic isn't D&D style "memorize/day-limit", nor is it FF style mp/mana. "Cast 'n' Roll" as my cousin says. First, you choose what spell you're casting, and at what level. Then, you roll your Willpower to resist it...I'll explain later.

Characters Are drawn up using a Priority system. Magic, Attributes, Skills, Resources, and Race are the priorities, and you assign them "A" through "E".
| Race | Magic | Attributes |Skills|Resources
A - Full Magi 30 50 1,000,000
B - "Half"-Magi/Adept 27 40 400,000
C Elf, Troll - 24 34 90,000
D Ork, Dwarf - 21 30 20,000
E Human - 18 27 5,000

Attributes are Strength, Quickness, Body, Willpower, and Intelligence. 6 is max unmodified human, but the races get alterations/mods.

Skills are self-explanitory, but don't work the same way as D&D. If you have "Skill-Pistols-4" You don't get a +4 on your roll, you get to roll 4 dice to see if you can hit the target number.

Dice can be re-rolled, this makes it possible to hit a number like 9 with a d-6. If you roll a 6, roll again. repeat until a non-6 is rolled. (Yes, there are difficulties above 12...these tend to be things like "Jump from 60mph car with only minimal injuries.)

Body can be modified by Cybergear, but this decreases Essence. When Essence hits 0...bye bye! Magic is DIRECTLY linked to Essence. So no, it would not be a good idea to put a pair of cyberarms on your combat mage.



I think that just about covers the main things, any other things you want/need to know, just tell me, I'll do what I can.

1. Yay Shadowrun!

2. As much as I've been able to find out without ever actually playing a game or buying the rulebooks.

3. i'm more a fan of covert-ops type stuff. and blowing things up. and no, from my point of view that isn't a contradiction in terms.

4. i'm a rigger at heart. *grin*