Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Character creation and critique => Topic started by: Slazarith on <11-24-11/2217:03>
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Playing a Shadowrunner and a Luddite seem to be mutually exclusive.
Shadowrun has been described to me as a game of meta-humanity, in its literal sense, becoming something beyond an ordinary person. With magic and tech, one can become so much more than what we can in real life.
But I've recently some up with a character idea who resists that, which I feel opens the stage for a different kind of development, one much older that the others. That of the spiritual self.
So, the question I pose to you:
What kinds of things do you feel would be necessary to have a functional Shadowrun character who does not in any form use any electronic tech that isn't much greater that a coffee maker, flash light, or pager?
Furthermore, how would he cope and overcome all of the technology used against him, from the camera on the corner, to the RFID mist sprayed on him by a corp, to MAD scanners? How would he cope?
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With a very strong case of OCD and homemade EMP Bombs. ;D
Likely, he'd be traveling by Ork Underground a lot, or by the sewers. Using shaped charges or cement saws to cut into the basements and foundations of targets in order to get around a lot of tech. (Remember: A wall is just an entrance/exit you haven't made yet.). He'd also likely not leave the Barrens a lot. And have lots of print-outs at his squat with coloured yarn linking each one to another in a mad array that proves the reason why he's staying far, far away from technology.
"See, it's all simple, it starts with Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison fighting over AC and DC..."
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Hahaha! Very nice, CanRay :D
Reading through the Runner's Companion, another question arises.
What are non-cyberware/tech ways to increase the number of initiative passes? I remember from the core book that some drugs will do it, but I wonder if there are qualities, adept powers, or any other things that can allow for that extra time spent doing damage during combat rather than sitting waiting for everyone else to get done dealing it.
I'm reading through the books I have as fast as I can, but there's only so much I can hold in my head at any one time :/
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There's a few drugs (Cram and Jazz, SR4A Page 257. Kamikaze, SR4A Page 258. K-10, Arsenal Page 75) and the Adept power "Improved Reflexes" (SR4A Page 196) that do it.
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Other sources are Rush (adept power from WAR!) and the Increase Reflexes spell.
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War! is one of the books I should have gotten on PDF instead of DTF. And I forgot that spell. Sorry.
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Coffee maker?
Grind your beans, boil your water and use a Bodum or Bialetti!
Coffee makers... for shame!
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You can spend a point of Edge for an extra initiative pass. A Luddite is one of those cool concepts that might be great for an eccentric NPC, but is too limiting for a PC. There are some concepts that simply aren't supported enough in the crunch to be effective, and trying to play one of them can become an exercise in frustration. A normal unaugmented mundane is already struggling - when you take away their MagLock passkeys, techie skills, combat drugs, and such, then you are even worse off.
If you are still gung-ho about it, then I'll give some ideas - the Plastic Jungles in the Barrens would probably fit as a place for him to live, since it would both fit his philosophy and keep him off the grid. Give him high stealth skills, long arms skill with a hunting rifle for sniping and a sawed-off shotgun under his tattered long coat for up close and concealable. Maybe give him demolitions/improvised, if you think homemade bombs aren't too high-tech for him. This guy will have to survive as an urban guerilla fighter and sniper, since most augmented or awakened characters could destroy him in a straight up fight. So have him sneak and snipe and blow people's apartments up. Give him lots of street-level contacts. Make him someone who can fade into the Barrens after a job, with people who consider him one of their own and are not friendly towards outsiders. Good luck!
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I'm not sure he wanted to play an unaugmented mundane; I was assuming he intended to be Awakened. You can probably play an OK magician who doesn't use any technology and be... alright. Enough that if everyone else is playing averagely suboptimal characters you'll fit in because mages are hard to mess up.
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One of the (many) story ideas I have involve an unawakened, unaugmented person... He really stands out in a lot of ways.
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Is your Luddite also mundane? You can build a totally credible magician or a feasible but maybe not optimal adept without any implants. Giving up both magic and tech is playing the game on hard mode.
Also, how luddite is luddite? Will he use a comlink? If he won't then things get really complicated. Not only is it hard to communicate with the team, its hard to do day to day activities an you get hassled by security/law enforcement if you try to go into even moderate security zones without a comlink running a cover identity. Forget ever getting through a checkpoint.
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He talked about magic and tech, and a character that resisted that, which is why I got the impression he wanted an uncybered mundane.
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Sorry, guys. Been busy the last few days, forgot to check up on my own thread :/
The idea has come along a bit since the initial seed. So!
So far, he does follow the sniper role pretty tight, although for some kick, and because it makes for a much more interesting back story, he is an adept. I hear you on playing hard mode with an un-cybered, mundane character. His adept powers I've almost exclusively decided are for extra initiative passes through Improved Reflexes (pg. 188, SR4). That coupled with Adrenaline Surge (pg. 96, Runner's Companion) means he'll hit first, and hit often.
But I'm feeling a little sidetrack-y, sleep deprivation aside.
So, back to the no tech.
He hates commlinks, social networking sites, and pretty much anything to do with the now-now-now culture of 2070.
I want to take the hardline stance, because of the way his life has played out, but because of the group, and those things pointed out, such as managing cash, SINs, and communication, he'll have a commlink. That said, it will be something he bought out of a Stuffer Shack vending machine (Much to the bane of our resident hacker :D ).
In every other aspect though, from getting past security to just firing his fragging gun, there will be no tech,
So, what I'm asking now is; How can a character that follows that ideal get by in a tech based society? WHat tricks would he have picked up that don't include hacking a node to fool a MAD scanner, or the like?
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Eh, I think it it can work. You're giving up 2 dice to hit, 3 dice to percieve, special senses, and 'ware. Also you're an adept. That makes you bad, but not terrible, and you can work fine so long as nobody else makes a character who can do your job better.
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Good luck with your build! Just one question, how does the character feel about armor? Without armor, that'll drastically reduce his defenses. You could wear a chain shirt for 2/7 armor or padded leather for 2/5 if chain is too high-tech.
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So, back to the no tech.
He hates commlinks, social networking sites, and pretty much anything to do with the now-now-now culture of 2070.
I want to take the hardline stance, because of the way his life has played out, but because of the group, and those things pointed out, such as managing cash, SINs, and communication, he'll have a commlink. That said, it will be something he bought out of a Stuffer Shack vending machine (Much to the bane of our resident hacker :D ).
In every other aspect though, from getting past security to just firing his fragging gun, there will be no tech,
So, what I'm asking now is; How can a character that follows that ideal get by in a tech based society? WHat tricks would he have picked up that don't include hacking a node to fool a MAD scanner, or the like?
On the comlink- give your access codes to the hacker and anytime you guys are in the same room he should slave your like to his PAN to prevent hacking. Keep no useful or personal data of any kind on it. Use credsticks whenever possible and let the hacker put a false id on there as needed.
How well this character will work depends largely on the campaign. In a more casual campaign the dice pools will not be high enough that you will not feel that far behind. In a highly optimized campaign its really hard to see how you will "keep up" if that matters to you.
On the MAD scanner, remember you have the advantage that on scan you look like Joe Schmuck. No implants, nothing funky in your aura if you don't have a spell/power active. Unless you are packing heat you can get through the checkpoints very easily, provided the fake id is up to snuff.
The problem with being low tech in general is that anything more complicated than a mechanical lock you basically have the option of go around of shoot it full of bullets. Infiltration won't open a locked maglock without the right gear no matter what you roll. Find an open window, impersonate a guard, shoot it full of holes and kick it in are all options, but for the most part you are going to be relying on the hacker/techie to get you guys tech challenges like locks, scanners, etc.
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Adepts are suboptimal, but they do have some useful abilities. For your sniping, Agility boost, improved ability, some improved senses (like magnification), and, later on, the item attunement metamagic. Enhanced perception is a quick way to boost your dice pools for perception. And there are lots of adept powers that can help with stealth. If you use the optional rules with adept Ways, they can give you a discount on power costs.
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If you go with the concept that he knows how to use technology in order to know how to wreck it, then you've got the makings of a very good infiltrator. As non-magic and non-tech, no amount of scanning on you is going to give you away as anything but a harmless mundane.
Some tips:
1) Grow a bunch of aliases. The idea is that these are real SINs of people that died at childbirth but you've been maintaining their virtual lives for years. They're likely too young to be your character, but they are valuable commodities to this younger group now that believes in technology.
2) Harvest dumps for old RFid tags. It doesn't really matter which ones they are. Store them in a damping box (preventing radio waves). When the drek hits the fan, open the box and dump out literally thousands of tags. All of which broadcasting their augmented reality info.
3) Try to make viral hacks from RFid tags. This is a much more advanced Luddite trick, probably a crowning moment of awesome for your character.
The whole wireless matrix and augmented reality is just begging for manipulation by rabid Luddites.