Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Character creation and critique => Topic started by: Palladion on <02-14-13/1104:35>
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For the sake of the question, this includes all forms of initiative enhancement (cyber, bio, magical, etc.) that increases initiative passes. How common or prevalent are they in stories and games? Are they specialized gear that is actually special or is it something necessary for a good runner's survival? It is something more exclusive to elite security forces (Red Samurai, Ghosts, etc.) or does everyone have it in some form?
The reason behind the question is for character background and trying to get a general understanding of the power levels between augmented and norms.
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Getting at least a second initiative pass is pretty much imperative to survival for most character types. Exceptions would be hackers, riggers, mages who focus on conjuration, and possibly a Face. Anyone else should definitely get at least a second IP, if you're going against anything higher than street-level threats. The gangers on the corner likely won't have multiple IPs unless they're shooting combat drugs (in which case, you should keep your distance) but if you're going up against corpsec or more, survival will probably depend on those extra IPs.
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Thats something that always interested me as well. I haven't read any books so far but guessing from the example npc's it seems that police forces tend to have 1-2 passes while rigger and mages are often stuck with 1.
Anything higher than that tends to be reserved for an extreme minority (at least fluffwise) so it should be pretty rare.
@ Mirikon: I think you missed the point of the question.
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Runners, in my humble opinion, tend to be up against it odds-wise so getting the edge that extra IPs grant seems very sensible if not essential for surviving the punishing damage of meat-space combats. If a band of say 5 guys is trying to take on a security force of say double or even triple their numbers trying to level the playing fields drastically increases their survival chances. So in the game's I've played in the cyber, adept and mage forms of IP enhancement have been very common.
However, in the stories they get away with a fair bit more handwavium than characters/players do in game. It seems a lot easier for someone to justify not staying ahead of the curve (and therefore not taking the options available eg- no cyber/bio when a mundane) when their general bad-assery gives them super plot armour. Also a lot of the stories I've read were written for previous editions where some of the options were less common
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Probably a good idea to just lock the thread now. This is a very contentious subject with some very...vocal...opinions on the matter.
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Kirschkern, I didn't miss the point of the question. I just answered the only part of it that truly matters, whether getting the extra IPs was an essential tool to runner survival or not. Which it is, unless you're part of a few select groups.
And Ernie is correct that the books are older editions, where the ware was more expensive and less available. Also, even the newer stuff involves people who have considerable plot armor. PCs don't have plot armor. Therefore, PCs need an edge to survive.
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I think a better answer would be to tailor your character to your group and campaign. If you're playing a high powered game extra IPs should be common, and less so to rare for lower powered games. A military setting almost all the soldiers and established PMC/Mercenary groups out there have some baseline bio and cyberware, with wired reflexes 1 being part of it. The militia forces of the world, comprising the greater majority of combatants, would not have wired reflexes but may use drugs in combat though. I would venture to guess that the gunny bunnies and street sams that are professional runners and been around for a little bit mostly all have extra IPs. However the vast majority of on sight security and patrols are not heavily augmented so stay in the one IP range. Drones which make up allot of security for budget reasons have 3 IP each, but often a whole facility, or network of facilities, are run by one rigger to cut costs. The QRT teams that show up if your mission goes loud may or may not have extra IPs across the board, but will most definitely overwhelm you with superior gear but it should take about 5 minutes before they get to you, depending on where you're hitting and who your GM is. On sight spirits should be the same as drones, though they're a bit less frequent.
So as far as your own characters go, you can get by fine with just one IP as long as you're careful and don't try rambo antics, your GM shouldn't penalize you for playing a "Normal" person. But those extra IPs will give you an edge in combat and surviving big scrapes.
At least, that's how it would be in my games, your GM may differ.
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Another option would be to take a look at cyberware suits (and there are new ones in the way of the samurai) to get an impression what typical forces get for upgrades.
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I'm real new to the game, but what I'm suspecting is that player characters are supposed to be exceptional.
I've heard, for instance, that a dice pool of 12 is pretty much the bare minimum for having any reasonable chance of success in making an attack. So let's say you're trying to punch a dude. But to actually get that 12 dice pool, you need like... 5 or 6 Agility and 5 or 6 in your Unarmed Combat skill, right? According the core book, a 5 or 6 is the peak of human physical ability. It's a professional athlete or what-have-you. So your just-starting-out, fresh off the streets shadowrunner can apparently rival a champion boxer. And that's without even throwing in magic or cyberware.
And this is just one skill! Characters with 5 Agility, 5 Strength, and like 5 Logic aren't uncommon. Your "average" shadowrunner is going to be a Harvard-educated professor that can also wrestle a bear. So clearly player characters are something special. I think this would apply to IP, too.
Common in the world? No. But common and necessary for runners? Yes, if you don't want to die hilariously.
Not that there's anything wrong with dying hilariously...
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Right now it seems, at least 2 IPs is needed for most characters.
I'd like to see 5th ed change just a tad where it isn't almost mandatory anymore. Give them the extra IPs if they want, but make them also pay for it to balance it out against everyone else.
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Right now it seems, at least 2 IPs is needed for most characters.
I'd like to see 5th ed change just a tad where it isn't almost mandatory anymore. Give them the extra IPs if they want, but make them also pay for it to balance it out against everyone else.
Whether it's "mandatory" or not depends on the GM really. If the GM is just constantly putting 3 and 4 pass enemies against the team, then yeah the PCs need to have that many, but if the GM is doing things right then 1 or 2 passes for the PCs is plenty.
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Right now it seems, at least 2 IPs is needed for most characters.
I'd like to see 5th ed change just a tad where it isn't almost mandatory anymore. Give them the extra IPs if they want, but make them also pay for it to balance it out against everyone else.
Extra meat IP's is what says you're a combat character. It's even canon - Lone Star had to develop Jazz to give their mundane guys half a chance taking on Augmented criminals.
People with and without them aren't meant to be balanced against each other - because it's someone in their element versus someone out of their element. It's what lets you take on a numerically superior force, because it acts directly as a force multiplier.
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The balancing factor is the relative cost for extra IPs, either in BP/Karma or Essence. At character creation you could go without the extra IP for improved skills or gear and come close to even with your team mates. But I reiterate it's based on the setting you're playing in.
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The balancing factor is the relative cost for extra IPs, either in BP/Karma or Essence. At character creation you could go without the extra IP for improved skills or gear and come close to even with your team mates. But I reiterate it's based on the setting you're playing in.
That first extra IP, and to a lesser extent the second extra, are far more powerful than other things you might do with those points, because they're multiplicative.
And they're supposed to be.
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The balancing factor is the relative cost for extra IPs, either in BP/Karma or Essence. At character creation you could go without the extra IP for improved skills or gear and come close to even with your team mates. But I reiterate it's based on the setting you're playing in.
That first extra IP, and to a lesser extent the second extra, are far more powerful than other things you might do with those points, because they're multiplicative.
And they're supposed to be.
I'll agree on the getting the second pass, but except for the Increase Reflexes spell and Improved Reflexes adept power, I just don't think the 3rd pass is all that worth it for what you have to pay. Awakened kind of have it better on getting that 3rd and 4th pass.
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I did say close. You're investing in extra skills to back up the Gunny Sam Merc at that point, or you already were backing him and are investing in something else to help the whole party.
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Wired reflexes: 1 is 11,000 nuyen - that's a smidge over 2 build points. It depends on what kind of character you are playing - if combat is your primary role, then you will be best off with 3 IP or more (although 4 IP has too high of an opportunity cost for most builds). If you want to contribute to combat, and be slightly more effective than the average rent-a-cop, security grunt, or drugged-out ganger, then 2 IP is the way to go. A single IP, I would only recommend for pacifistic or support characters who actively avoid combat. Initiative passes are huge, both offensively and defensively.
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if combat is your primary role, then you will be best off with 3 IP or more
And yet, playing primarily combat-oriented characters I've done well so far with just 2 passes with only a very few exceptions going to 3.
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if combat is your primary role, then you will be best off with 3 IP or more
And yet, playing primarily combat-oriented characters I've done well so far with just 2 passes with only a very few exceptions going to 3.
Diminishing returns, basically. From 1 to 2 is a 200% multiplier, but from 2 to 3 is only 150%. I imagine you could take such a character, find the points to make that 3rd pass work, I think in play you might wind up with a more effective character in fights of a certain minimum difficulty. Being able to attack again is useful indeed.
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if combat is your primary role, then you will be best off with 3 IP or more
And yet, playing primarily combat-oriented characters I've done well so far with just 2 passes with only a very few exceptions going to 3.
Diminishing returns, basically. From 1 to 2 is a 200% multiplier, but from 2 to 3 is only 150%. I imagine you could take such a character, find the points to make that 3rd pass work, I think in play you might wind up with a more effective character in fights of a certain minimum difficulty. Being able to attack again is useful indeed.
For the most part I think it's mainly melee-based that the 3rd pass would really be that much help to.
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Two more Simple Action attacks can also be quite powerful. Basically, multiply your 2 pass damage by 1.5, and that's roughly your 3 pass damage. To be able to add that much to make your 2 passes just as powerful would take a lot.
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Two more Simple Action attacks can also be quite powerful. Basically, multiply your 2 pass damage by 1.5, and that's roughly your 3 pass damage. To be able to add that much to make your 2 passes just as powerful would take a lot.
Meh, doesn't seem like enough to be worth it to me. I'd rather spend that money and Essence on other stuff. *shrugs*
Heck, take a look at the character in my signature. She's one of my favorite SR characters.
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It's more valuable for specializing, less for generalizing, in essence. It multiplies a specific capability, rather than adding new capability. So it depends a bit on what, exactly, you're aiming for.
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It's more valuable for specializing, less for generalizing, in essence. It multiplies a specific capability, rather than adding new capability. So it depends a bit on what, exactly, you're aiming for.
Yeah...Pred is pretty generalized, isn't she?
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Quite so, yeah.
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Quite so, yeah.
She's kind of intended to be able to at least somewhat do most things other than magic-related stuff.
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Quite so, yeah.
She's kind of intended to be able to at least somewhat do most things other than magic-related stuff.
Backup on just about everything, never really the primary, basically?
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Quite so, yeah.
She's kind of intended to be able to at least somewhat do most things other than magic-related stuff.
Backup on just about everything, never really the primary, basically?
Pretty much. It generally fits me in face-to-face gaming as I actively dodge the spotlight.
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Wow... I did not expect to stir up so many responses. The reason I posed the question(s) is curiosity about the seemingly huge difference between Professional Rating 3-4 and Rating 5-6, the jump from Trained to Elite (SR4A 281). Wired Reflexes makes one of the biggest differences, it seems (example: Lone Star vs. Red Samurai). Also, I am currently reading Spells & Chrome, and plot armor aside (I like that term), the heroes are seldom mentioned with lightning reflexes that are light years faster than everyone else.
Responses have been very helpful, thanks. I do believe I have a better idea of what niche a runner holds in the grand scheme.
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My problem with the built in bullet time is more or less how low end unaugmented characters are made out to be, but even that problem is all because a combat round is 3 seconds instead of just 1. If you watch, or are in, a sparring match you'll notice that, with stance changes and all the minor movements you'll be making a strike once every second. I know it's all supposed to be abstracted, but people are capable and smart without superhuman ability. That's just my main beef with shadowrun in general, and it just comes down to how many seconds a combat turn is.
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My problem with the built in bullet time is more or less how low end unaugmented characters are made out to be, but even that problem is all because a combat round is 3 seconds instead of just 1. If you watch, or are in, a sparring match you'll notice that, with stance changes and all the minor movements you'll be making a strike once every second. I know it's all supposed to be abstracted, but people are capable and smart without superhuman ability. That's just my main beef with shadowrun in general, and it just comes down to how many seconds a combat turn is.
My problem with the built in bullet time is more or less how low end unaugmented characters are made out to be, but even that problem is all because a combat round is 3 seconds instead of just 1. If you watch, or are in, a sparring match you'll notice that, with stance changes and all the minor movements you'll be making a strike once every second. I know it's all supposed to be abstracted, but people are capable and smart without superhuman ability. That's just my main beef with shadowrun in general, and it just comes down to how many seconds a combat turn is.
A melee roll does not represent one strike. It would be pretty ridiculous if it did, regardless of the timescale.
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Two more Simple Action attacks can also be quite powerful. Basically, multiply your 2 pass damage by 1.5, and that's roughly your 3 pass damage. To be able to add that much to make your 2 passes just as powerful would take a lot.
Not just that, but being able to expend on of your passes on full defense as an interrupt action. Against enemies with only one initiative pass, typically you can go first, then go on full defense, then attack again. I see 2 IP as good for a character who can fight and do an number of other things, while 3 IP is where you have become more focused on the fighting aspect (although you can still be good at other things).
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Keep in mind, if the characters have less passes than usual the GM can always adjust his NPC's accordingly and everyone can still have a great time. But in a difficult campaign I would say that most combat oriented characters should have 2-3 passes. If you don't want to spend a lot on them you can always use drugs such as Cram and Jazz.
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Well, I understand that RHat, but then you wouldn't need to fluff it so much. In a fight, with swords or clubs or fists, you are constantly making slight feints and the like, but you'll usually each make a strike once a second, and then go on the defensive or take a second to analyze your foe. I would assume you could accomplish similar reasonable results in a firefight, but probably with allot more taking cover or moving around. And that's just it, my only real problem with shadowrun is the timescale of combat actions. I think a reasonable complex action using a computer should be around 3 seconds if you do it perfect the first time, probably longer and it does go on longer with the thresholds of extended tests, and that's without DNI and the like.
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That's not at all true. You don't strike and stop, you strike, and then strike, and then strike, and then strike, some of which you actually intend for an opponent to block to manipulate their guard and so on... 1 second isn't really a reasonable time scale for the interplay between one person trying to attack, the other person trying to attack, the first and second person both trying to defend and avoid getting baited into a trap, and so on. 3 seconds is every single person's action, not the timescale of each single action.
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Because you defend during their turn, it's simultaneous action, not I punch you then you punch me. It's even described that way in the book. I just didn't feel like writing out a transcript of a duel. 3 seconds doesn't make sense for allot of things in combat, like for instance, you find me the minigun that fires at 400 rounds per minute. But as an abstraction of events and movements it works out okay, and combat moves along, it's still not terribly fluid in allot of ways but far far more flexible than most systems. I'm just never going to buy that a normal person or any weapon, will be shooting that slowly or infrequently. I recall A4BG mentioning splitting dice pools to attack twice with one simple action and one weapon, maybe I'll try and give that a try in combat and see how that works out.
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Ever gone to a firing range? A bit of time is required after a shot before making the next one if you're to have any accuracy at all. There's a specific number for handguns floating around out there.
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Ever gone to a firing range? A bit of time is required after a shot before making the next one if you're to have any accuracy at all. There's a specific number for handguns floating around out there.
And the guys who do quickshot challenges laugh at that number.
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Ever gone to a firing range? A bit of time is required after a shot before making the next one if you're to have any accuracy at all. There's a specific number for handguns floating around out there.
And the guys who do quickshot challenges laugh at that number.
Who would, perhaps, be considered as having more than one Initiative Pass?
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The most important consideration is relative IMHO. Every PC should ideally be within 1 IP of each other most of the time, unless your players don't mind a lot of waiting in a fight.
Also, if you look in the adventure supplements, there's a much greater expectation of power and speed than there is in the main book.
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I'd second Rhat's point about needing time between shots to recover and adjust aim. When I was in the cadet's, many moons ago, the standard taught by the British army was 1 round every 6 seconds for accurate semi-auto fire. Obviously suppresing fire etc is different.
Also, as with any game system, 'need' with be decided by your local situation or meta.
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I'd second Rhat's point about needing time between shots to recover and adjust aim. When I was in the cadet's, many moons ago, the standard taught by the British army was 1 round every 6 seconds for accurate semi-auto fire. Obviously suppresing fire etc is different.
Also, as with any game system, 'need' with be decided by your local situation or meta.
Which is quite a bit longer than the time for a more trained individual, certainly. That's a couple Take Aim actions before each shot. But no matter how short you can make that window, it will always be there.
And I get kind of annoyed with the "it will vary by table" lines in these sorts of discussions; subjects like this require a baseline to have any point.
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Which is quite a bit longer than the time for a more trained individual, certainly. That's a couple Take Aim actions before each shot.
Very true, it was all about the aimed shots, although that was based on medium ranged squad based fire and move firefights and trying not to completely burn out you ammo right away. CQB was a fair bit different.
The different tech in SR does account for some of the speeding up in my mind (as well as it being an abstract kinda game), smartlinks and more sophisticated weapons making it easier to stay on target.
EDIT: The baseline to me is the professionalism ratings of the Bad Guys listed in the main rulebook and how you want your runners to stack up to them. In those only the top 2 tiers outta six are packing extra IPs, the spec forces and super elite corpsec. What you come up against will clearly vary by table, depends on what your GM feels. So as an example I'm currently in a tabletop game where all the PCs started at 300BPs because the GM wanted a lower powered game where we're runners just starting out, rather than experienced professionals
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Missions content is a good baseline. Published modules are a good baseline. And so on. The core book alone isn't quite enough.
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Two more Simple Action attacks can also be quite powerful. Basically, multiply your 2 pass damage by 1.5, and that's roughly your 3 pass damage. To be able to add that much to make your 2 passes just as powerful would take a lot.
This actually isn't true, because the third pass always happens last. Shadowrun is very alpha-strikey, and frequently the third pass happens after the fight is over, or the fight was decided by logistics before the first pass.
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Two more Simple Action attacks can also be quite powerful. Basically, multiply your 2 pass damage by 1.5, and that's roughly your 3 pass damage. To be able to add that much to make your 2 passes just as powerful would take a lot.
This actually isn't true, because the third pass always happens last. Shadowrun is very alpha-strikey, and frequently the third pass happens after the fight is over, or the fight was decided by logistics before the first pass.
Yes, I was leaving implicit the assumption that the action on the third pass matters just as much. Frankly, though, if it isn't, well, that makes the value of the second pass more questionable as well.
Assume an actual challenging combat for these sorts of value propositions, I'd say.
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Yes, having two passes is not twice as good as having one pass.
The point is that hard combats in SR are generally not long combats, especially as the level of optimization goes up. Moreover, acting first and decisively is more important. If you drop someone on the first action of the first pass, you removed all their actions. If you drop someone at the end of the third pass, they've probably already gotten 2-3 actions in.
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Usually my 4 ini pass combat adepts are in fights that take 2-3 initiative passes.
My mage with 1 initiative pass on the other hand runs into fights that take 2-3 combat rounds.
My 6 armed smg hexawield character usually needs a simple action. (if he's got his weapons in hand already)
Why? because you roughly need 2-3 attack actions to bring down an enemy. (And my mage casts support spells or improved reflexes first round)
Get a nicely dual wield pistol adept who goes first in combat and chances are you can pimp him out, so he takes down 1-2 enemies before anyone else acts, you won't need extra initiative passes most of the time.
Characters that do extended tests alot which have a timecost of 1pass/1action profit the most of extra passes, because they can (in noncombat too) do their work in less time. (Hackers for example)
The following reflects my experiences with the game:
In most cases the 4th initiative pass isn't worth it (didn't yet have a character with a 5th), the 3rd is a nice edge and the 2nd is quite necessary to hold up.
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Ever gone to a firing range? A bit of time is required after a shot before making the next one if you're to have any accuracy at all. There's a specific number for handguns floating around out there.
And the guys who do quickshot challenges laugh at that number.
Who would, perhaps, be considered as having more than one Initiative Pass?
No, absolutely not. They're just skilled, not superhuman, not adepts. They've got a feel for their gun and the recoil and can intuitively aim. In black powder quick shot contests sometimes they'll memorize their targets location because after they start firing the smoke completely obscures their vision, and still take 12 shots in just a matter of a few seconds, not 9 seconds.
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Initiative passes are such an abstract thing...
There are people shooting 12 bullets with a revolver in less then 3 seconds, but they probably are not the same persons that can open 2 doorlocks in 3 seconds.
I think Scion had a system where each action you did was putting you x-steps down on the combat wheel, and every action was coupled to a step number.
After everyone on the current step acted (and thus no one is on the current step anymore) the wheel turns until someone is on the current step again.
Then there is equipment that changes the number of steps certain actions take (I don't remeber for genral but there definitely are (legendary) swords/guns that use less time/steps then their mundane counterparts)
Shadowrun splits initiative into physical/matrix/astral but that is not fine enough to actually reflect the real world, or at least not accurate in relation to guns. (The all famous why does the gun have more RPM if held in the hand of a guy with wired reflexes?)
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Ever gone to a firing range? A bit of time is required after a shot before making the next one if you're to have any accuracy at all. There's a specific number for handguns floating around out there.
And the guys who do quickshot challenges laugh at that number.
Who would, perhaps, be considered as having more than one Initiative Pass?
No, absolutely not. They're just skilled, not superhuman, not adepts. They've got a feel for their gun and the recoil and can intuitively aim. In black powder quick shot contests sometimes they'll memorize their targets location because after they start firing the smoke completely obscures their vision, and still take 12 shots in just a matter of a few seconds, not 9 seconds.
Remember that part of the conceit of Shadowrun is that a lot of people actually are/were Adepts, because their abilities simply don't need as much magic. So yes, they would be considered as such by the system.
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Remember that part of the conceit of Shadowrun is that a lot of people actually are/were Adepts, because their abilities simply don't need as much magic. So yes, they would be considered as such by the system.
Surely they'd just count as Magic 1 characters with a specific power or two?
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so, magic 3 or 4 isn't that much magic? Are you saying that millions of people who enter various competitions requiring good reaction time and coordination, are walking around today, before the awakening, with 3 magic and various adept powers and this is low magic and rare?
Stan Lee's Superhumans, had adepts, I'll just put it that way.
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With magic 2 and a geas like meditating/praying an hour each day or a way you can get 3 initiative passes.
Magic 1 dosn't suffice for multiple initiative passes, but 2 isn't that much magic.
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No I'd say 3/4 magic is a lot. What I was thinking that one way of looking at the previously mentioned people is that they are highly practiced/trained people with a tiny bit of a magical edge
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I don't think it's either, they just set the bar well bellow actual human capability in the game, is all. I'm not saying all humans can take 6 shots in 3 seconds and hit 5/6 targets, but a human with above professional skill damn well better be able to if he competes on a regular basis. It extends to other examples too but this one incorporates the time scale bit.
Another example would be the ability to pilot an airplane or helicopter, without crashing or loosing control, and fire upon a target while tracking them at the same time. Then we get into complex high G maneuvers that require you to operate multiple controls at the same time, while still following your target. People can do this, definitely they are above average people, but they're not "Magic".
Bringing the skill default caps up to 12 in the next edition will probably help with this, but there are still underestimates of human capability, and timeframe issues that need to be addressed. I like the shadowrun system, allot, but I still think they could do better.
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Changing the timeframe wouldn't help. Martial Arts style system, once again, presents a better fix. Maneuvers for things like the Mozambique drill, for example. Add in advanced variants, as well, and we're well on the way to improvement.
You should not, however, expect to see unaugmented mundanes be a viable choice, particularly given the design philosophy.
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The hell I shouldn't, setting the bar lower to make the augmentations, and very few of them, looking higher up and "Super Human" is not the answer.
I'm not looking for ballooning dice pools, just some perspective, normal humans are amazingly capable. Why shouldn't super humans be that much more impressive, instead of, oh I just sank half my buildpoints into being able to do something an IRL "Mundane" can do. Maybe bringing skill caps up to 12 will fix it, or maybe lowering the needed success number will, I don't know. I'm not against remedying some things and adding in trick moves by way of the martial arts. I'd just like to see super actually be super, and still see people slated as professionals able to function on their supposed level.
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I too would like to see a greater variety in skill level. 1-6 doesn't, to me, accurately represent a significant enough difference from passing knowledge (1) to best in the world (6). Mechanics wise there is only an average 2 hits difference.
I think unaugmented mundanes can have a place, normally in being sneaky, doing legwork and hacking. It's a lot easier to blend in and sneak around when you're not setting off cyberscanners or irritating that wagemage at the check point and Hacking seems to me to be about what you can buy/make and very little about how super you might be. But from a pure combat standpoint I don't think they can stand up very well.
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Skill ratings from 1 to 6?
With a couple of exceptions every now and then I only see 1,4 and 6 as skill levels for player characters.
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For the sake of the question, this includes all forms of initiative enhancement (cyber, bio, magical, etc.) that increases initiative passes. How common or prevalent are they in stories and games? Are they specialized gear that is actually special or is it something necessary for a good runner's survival? It is something more exclusive to elite security forces (Red Samurai, Ghosts, etc.) or does everyone have it in some form?
The reason behind the question is for character background and trying to get a general understanding of the power levels between augmented and norms.
For a good exploration of what it means to have a group of 'normals' - such as gang members - be augmented even so simply as one level of wired reflexes, look into Mary K. Kuhner's Shadowrun-based fiction, "Jayhawk (http://www.coris.org.uk/jdc/RPG/Fiction/Jayhawk/index.html)".
In regards to prevalence, though, you should look at what it takes on its most basic level to gain: cost.
A smartlink (your first necessary cyber-based combat purchase) is 1,000¥. That is 50% of the monthly cost for a low lifestyle - 20% for a middle.
Wired-1, on the other hand, is 11,000¥: more than double what an ordinary white-collar citizen is going to make in a month. it's almost six months' pay for a blue-collar worker - pay, not 'what's left over'. If you think of it investment-wise, and if a citizen has 10% left over after lifestyle costs, at 500¥/mo this is almost two year's savings for a white-collar (middle-lifestyle) worker - or over nine years worth for the blue-collar worker who has only an extra 100¥ per month. From a corporate standpoint, it is an investment in your future -- and you can believe that they're going to make damn sure they get their money's worth.
In Jayhawk - even before the very beginning of the story - Kuhner's GM wondered what it would be like to have an entire gang (15-30 people) with wired reflexes, how that would affect combat, etc. And only afterwards did they get into what that would mean financially (330,000¥ investment just for that), and what the corporation who did it would want with such a group, etc. etc.
Overall, you'll find maybe one in a hundred, one in a hundred fifty people in a crowd with some sort of reflex boost. In a group of specialists, e.g. security guards or cops, that ratio will increase immensely, so that you're talking about 1 in 10 or 15. Shadowrunners? 2 out of 3, if not 9 in 10, somehow - and almost always in their area of expertise, i.e. the hacker may not have physical reflex enhancements, but you can be sure his commlink is juiced.
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Great post.
A common theme in the cyberpunk genre - how to pay for your chrome.
Also something that is a good backstory hook for both PCs and NPCs - if a ganger has Move-by-Wire, there's gotta be a reason.
How many Runners are walking around with hundreds of thousands of nuyen worth of enhancements? Plus a cargo lifter full of gear, and skills in the Pro or even Elite ranges. Never understood why some people feel that your average street thug should pose a threat to that.
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Ifriti Sophist
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On the side note- why would you need wired reflexes for a gang, when they have much cheaper chemical options available? Entire gang having a few doses of cram or jazz available each member should be much more reasonable.
Add a few troll gang members with cram and nitro, equipped with armored jackets, helmets and combat axes, to make it extra interesting, and still within what you can reasonably expect from a gang.
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rfv, you're looking at it from a metagame perspective. Look at it from the ganger's point of view; no addiction, no withdrawl, autoboost to the next level of 'work', that sort of thing. Look at it from the corporation's point of view; whatever they ARE using the gangers for (strike force, guinea pigs), it is presumably worth that amount to them - and in this case, it's the GM's task to figure out what that reason is, and the Player's task to go find that out.
Drugs run out; worse, they can shred your psyche and body in even the relatively short run. You can't control WHEN a gang takes their drugs; druggie Greg the Ganger might take all his jazz over four or five nights, before you call them up and tell them what their target is. You can make sure they'll always be wired. Cyberware is more expensive, yes - but it's also more controllable.
In the end, the WHY of your question is something to be answered in-game, by the GM in his own mind and, eventually, by the players investigating.
Though I did just have an evil thought of a bunch of stepped-wired-up Aztlan Guards going 'undercover' as an AZT-inspired gang for some proactive punishment work ...
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"Gangs" run the gamut from feral kids scrounging in the Barrens, to groups like the Ancients that are more like criminal syndicates. Low-end augmentations are comparatively affordable; second-hand wired reflexes: 1 only costs 5,500 Nuyen, so it is hardly out of the reach of a successful criminal.
Typically, your average security grunt, beat cop, or street punk should have combat drugs at the most. When you get to the level of SWAT teams, corporate fast response teams, and underworld enforcers or successful career criminals, you should start to see wired reflexes: 1 a lot more. I would reserve wired reflexes: 2 or better for runner-level opposition, with just enough exceptions to keep players guessing.