Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Gamemasters' Lounge => Topic started by: golan2072 on <05-23-12/1421:19>
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One of my players has chosen the Amnesia quality, as well as a Mild Phobia (Devil Rats) and Prejudiced (Outspoken) (Humanis), as well as Exceptional Charisma. He is playing an Elf Magician (focused on summoning, mental manipulations and negotiation) using the Black Magic Tradition. His back-story is that his character woke up one day (a few months ago) in an E-Zone neighbourhood (probably somewhere in the Bronx or Brooklyn as our game is set in NYC in 2072) with no clear memory of his past, a scar on his forehead, two commlinks with erased memory and a strong hatred towards Humanis.
We are currently playing the SRM03 campaign and today we went halfway through SRM03-00 after a lot of character creation-realted chatting. The other player in the team is playing an Ork Combat Hacker with Scorched and a Mild Phobia (Clowns) after a very bad encounter (in her backstory) with black ICE sculpted with a clown icon...
Anyhow, I'd like to hear ideas about what to do with his background... There might still be something hidden on one of his commlinks for our Hacker to dig out; and he might get flashbacks about his past, but I have a writer's block about the past itself.
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I know, thats not what you asked for, but i would not let him take that prejudice against humanis as a negative quality. He may hate them as a background option though without getting any BP for that. I would assume that most of mankind hates humanis. Its like publicly stating that criminals belong to jail, or criminals are bad - of course they are, its a common opinion and not a prejudice. In an argument with humanis, because of his attitude, most people will be on his side, while with a real prejudice he should have most people against him!
For the background stuff, let him make some suggestions, it was his idea after all, or he should take something else.
Also you don't have to create it in the beginning, make it up as the runs go by. And if at some point he gets his memory back and loses the negative quality, make him pay with karma for it. And until then it should be played as a negative quality. Most of the time, those players are just too lazy to create their own background, especially if they don't have any suggestions themselves. He should not get rewarded for that.
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One word...
"REPLICANT"
*Grin*
-Jn-
Ifriti Sophist
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I'm not sure if you are familiar with the comic series XIII: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XIII_(comics) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XIII_(comics)). There's also a TV series adaptation (link in the comic book article). Do something like that, but adapted for Shadowrun, and have some assassins show up for him and him not knowing why. Should be fun and amnesia is a negative quality, so he should get some problems due to it.
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One word...
"REPLICANT"
*Grin*
-Jn-
Ifriti Sophist
Can a Replicant be a Magician?
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Well have playing that kind of game before as a character learning your a breeding place for Insect Spirit larva is a good shocker.
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Well have playing that kind of game before as a character learning your a breeding place for Insect Spirit larva is a good shocker.
What do you mean by "breeding place"? That a larva is slowly growing inside him? Or that he was prepared for such a ritual?
Anyhow, I think that Bug Spirits will be a great hook, especially since the campaign might move to Chicago after a while (after we finish running through all SRM03 adventures). Maybe his past is hidden there (with a lot of icky bug-related stuff)?
Also, while keeping the "bug" theme, I'd LOVE to have him hunted by assassins, as farothel has suggested...
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Larval spirit form bugs, so when the grow to full size they kill the host. Also my character became hunted because that was the easiest way to kill the bugs.
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So, essentially, he'll have an "Alien" slowly gestating in his stomach?
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So, essentially, he'll have an "Alien" slowly gestating in his stomach?
Yep so Kill him now! if the guy gets pissed that he has a little visitor: Well them's the bones, he took Amenisa so he gave his character's past into your hands.
What I find personaly funny is that most players that take amniesa have a back story for their character, and get pissed when you change it. I've seen such questions as what do you mean my character is royalty! not some wanted convict! Just remember it's your thing you could make him larval infected or wanted or royalty or hell some crazy thing you can come up with.
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I'll make the larva grow very slowly; maybe even allow a small chance of removing it while keeping him alive (requiring A LOT of work and tying him to whatever plot I'll plan for him in Chicago once the NYC plot is finished). This would actually give me an instant plot hook to him... But I'm eagerly awaiting the look on his face when his character will go to an Awakened street doctor and will be told that he has A FRIGGIN' BUG in him! 8)
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What I find personaly funny is that most players that take amniesa have a back story for their character, and get pissed when you change it. I've seen such questions as what do you mean my character is royalty! not some wanted convict! Just remember it's your thing you could make him larval infected or wanted or royalty or hell some crazy thing you can come up with.
I love Complete Amnesia. Take it and just hand your BP over to the GM. ;)
IIRC, someone around here gave a guy Incompetence: Pilot Ground Vehicles.
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I know, thats not what you asked for, but i would not let him take that prejudice against humanis as a negative quality. He may hate them as a background option though without getting any BP for that. I would assume that most of mankind hates humanis. Its like publicly stating that criminals belong to jail, or criminals are bad - of course they are, its a common opinion and not a prejudice. In an argument with humanis, because of his attitude, most people will be on his side, while with a real prejudice he should have most people against him!
Sadly, I disagree. Humanis is a legitimate policlub* and most humans are probably of the opinion that they're pretty harmless or even that they're being brave and telling the truth. "Those orks are costing lots more in social security payments because of their multiple births," etc. etc.
Much as they were portrayed as being like the KKK in earlier editions, SR4 has them as a much more sinister force - people who've learnt to use the media and political processes to their advantage.
*: they are also racist fraggers, but that's by the by for these purposes.
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In other words, they're EXACTLY like the KKK. It wasn't until the civil rights era, when you saw live video of fire hoses and dogs being turned on protesters that public opinion turned against the Klan. And there are plenty of places in the South where people will still say that they had the right idea, but they just took things a little too far...
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Amnesiac characters are fun. If he wants to be biased against Humanis - maybe it's because he was upset that his fellow Humanis members turned on him when SURGE turned him into an elf. ;D
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AFAIK, SURGE didn't change anyone into elves. Elves and Dwarves are born, Trolls and Orks may be born or goblinize later. SURGE, on the other hand, reached in, took some of that 'junk' DNA, scrambled it up, and said, "SURPRISE! Now we have catgirls!" If you were really unlucky, you were one of the ones that got insect features. And then had to run to keep from getting shot in the head.
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I thought that SURGE also brought another round of UGE with it. I could be misremembering, though.
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In Year of the Comet, goblinization was one of the possible effects of SURGE happening to you, but I don't think any humans became elves or dwarves because of it.
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Thats not to say it couldnt happen, but it would be very rare (maybe a dozen worldwide). Absence of evidence and all that.