[Tecumseh]

I don't know what OP means in this context.

We had broad consensus that the street-level nature of the game would lend itself well toward a group of gangers or syndicate men (and women) but I don't think we had settled on which one. If 8-bit has a concept for a made man then that might tip the scales toward a syndicate. That also might make more sense if Poindexter is thinking Prime or another system with bonus karma.

The question then becomes which syndicate. Collectively, we probably have the most understanding of Mob culture from Hollywood, but that's not to say the others (Yakuza, Vory, Triads, Seoulpa Rings, Koshari) would be impossible.

[rednblack]

OP level?

I was asking about Optimization level.  Since it doesn't seem like Poindexter is really concerned with inter-party balance, it's kind of a moot point, but I like to play skill monkeys when possible, which usually eats into dice for the char's primary role.

[Tecumseh]

Would Baby Hardcore work with a syndicate team or would it go against his Neo-A leanings? Poindexter wants us to trust each other so it doesn't sound like Baby Hardcore should be laboring under the threat of (fratricidal) violence.

[rednblack]

Would Baby Hardcore work with a syndicate team or would it go against his Neo-A leanings? Poindexter wants us to trust each other so it doesn't sound like Baby Hardcore should be laboring under the threat of (fratricidal) violence.

If Poindexter is ok with it, I'm fine with BH being forcefully "encouraged" to join a team by a group that he's in over his head to.  Also, he may be working off a debt, say to leave his corners alone, or something along those lines.  If he's been working with that group for awhile, then he'll be totally loyal to the team.

[Poindexter]

We had broad consensus that the street-level nature of the game would lend itself well toward a group of gangers or syndicate men

This game will lend itself to whatever kinda concepts yall wanna play. They dont have to be from the street, in the street at the moment, or even able to function very well on the street should they end up there, if that's how you wanna swing it. But the majority of this game will HAPPEN on the streets.

[Ryo]

Would Baby Hardcore work with a syndicate team or would it go against his Neo-A leanings? Poindexter wants us to trust each other so it doesn't sound like Baby Hardcore should be laboring under the threat of (fratricidal) violence.

If Poindexter is ok with it, I'm fine with BH being forcefully "encouraged" to join a team by a group that he's in over his head to.  Also, he may be working off a debt, say to leave his corners alone, or something along those lines.  If he's been working with that group for awhile, then he'll be totally loyal to the team.

Sounds like a good application of the new 'In Debt' quality.

I started building my Troll with Sum to 10 but ended up with a standard A,B,C,D,E array anyway. If we're doing something fancy with Prime Runner rules, or bonus karma or what have you, that would certainly be beneficial for my build. Being Infected eats up pretty much all of my starting karma.

[Poindexter]

I'm trying to decide whether to just make yall prime runners, or whether I want you to build your "1st level" version of yourselves first, y'know? Get a feel of who yall were and where yall were at back in the day when you first met, THEN giving you a shit ton of money and karma to "fast forward" them 6-8 years in the shadows.

I'm REALLY leaning toward the second. What are yalls thoughts?

[Ryo]

I'm trying to decide whether to just make yall prime runners, or whether I want you to build your "1st level" version of yourselves first, y'know? Get a feel of who yall were and where yall were at back in the day when you first met, THEN giving you a shit ton of money and karma to "fast forward" them 6-8 years in the shadows.

I'm REALLY leaning toward the second. What are yalls thoughts?

That second idea actually sounds pretty cool. I could build my Troll as he was prior to infection, then use the shit ton of karma to infect him and advance him from there. A nice way of differentiating what he was before and how infection changed his priorities in terms of what skills he knows and what have you.

[Tecumseh]

I've had good luck with the second approach in the past. It worked as you suggest, i.e. giving the players a good sense of the "before" and "after" of their characters. Ryo, for example, could make his troll a troll and then use the additional karma on the Infection. Not saying he should, just that it's an option that might be interesting to portray the character's evolution.

Ninja'd by Ryo!

[rednblack]

I'm trying to decide whether to just make yall prime runners, or whether I want you to build your "1st level" version of yourselves first, y'know? Get a feel of who yall were and where yall were at back in the day when you first met, THEN giving you a shit ton of money and karma to "fast forward" them 6-8 years in the shadows.

I'm REALLY leaning toward the second. What are yalls thoughts?

I'm fine with that.  I can dig a 2 part char-gen.

[Poindexter]

Ok, that's what we're gonna do then. Here's the character gen rules SO FAR...

1- Everyone make you a street level character. A "1st lvl" version of the character you envision for this game. Where did he/she get his first real experience in the shadows and what was he/she like back then? Make THAT character. Once everyone is done, and we all feel like we know each other, then we'll level em all up to where we need em.
2- Use prime runner restrictions for points that can be spent on qualities, but still starting with only 13 karma.
3- If you're gonna rock anything other than elf, dwarf, human, ork, troll, message me first and let's talk more in depth about it. I've never really dug all the side races and whatnot. Maybe, like Ryo with the infected, you can convince me that they're actually pretty cool.
4- TBA

[Ryo]

Ok, that's what we're gonna do then. Here's the character gen rules SO FAR...

1- Everyone make you a street level character. A "1st lvl" version of the character you envision for this game. Where did he/she get his first real experience in the shadows and what was he/she like back then? Make THAT character. Once everyone is done, and we all feel like we know each other, then we'll level em all up to where we need em.

Friends don't let friends use Street Level rules. Just say no, Poindexter! Just. say. no...

[Poindexter]

Well, usually yeah, but since we're not actually gonna be playing these guys, Only using them as a jumping off point, i figured it would be cool. If not, we can just use standard.

[Ryo]

Well, usually yeah, but since we're not actually gonna be playing these guys, Only using them as a jumping off point, i figured it would be cool. If not, we can just use standard.

Only thing Street Level does is harm gear acquisition. Lower Nuyen totals, lower availability and lower rating caps. Ultimately all that serves to do is hamstring mundane builds while awakened characters barely notice. It wouldn't actually affect my troll much at all, since he's an infected adept, but anybody planning to be a decker or street sam, or just not awakened, would be seriously handicapped.

I personally think we should do the standard build, then add on whatever perks you want from there.

[8-bit]

So, are we deciding on the whole syndicate angle? Because that will likely affect what I'm going to play.

I also second Ryo, I would rather start from Standard as a jumping off point, and then upgrading them.