[Raiderjoseph]

Ok I'm excited... any veteran shadowrun players got any advice?

[Raven Runner]

Just thought of something. With us all being street scum, which means transport will probably be an issue. Will we all be in the same neighborhood?

Transport wont be a major issue.  You will not all be in the same neighborhood nor will you always be working in the same neighborhood...that said, Seattle will have decent public transit for anyone without a vehicle, and if you ever need a vehicle or any other specific gear then Mr Johnson or a contact or someone will be able to hook you up...though possibly at a price of course.  You will never be totally high and dry and miss out on a run because you didn't buy a such and such.

Also, while we are using the street scum rules, I'm not assuming you will actually be living on the street.  The runs will not be street scum type runs either...they will be the same sort of runs I'd use on a standard group just scaled down to match your characters (in general).

Also this...

It will be like Thailand, we can get some planks and attach them to the dodge scoot and all cram on the one. 😏

[Raiderjoseph]

Good to know. So how many characters are we gonna have max? Edit: I ask because I wonder if the challenge is gonna be scaled for multiple runners.

[Raven Runner]

Yes, challenges are scaled to account for the number of runners.

Right now we have five for sure.  Basically everyone who's on this thread...

Beta
Blueclaws
Raiderjoseph
Ravensoracle
Stoneglobe

Might be others too...will keep ya posted.

Also, for anyone new to SR...at least in my experience combat challenges are very different then in other games.  How you play makes a world of difference...there are no set rules for challenge levels...a goon hiding in some bushes a thousands yards away could take out a whole team with a sniper rifle...where as a jacked up street sam in an narrow alley could be taken out by a bag of grenades...poor examples off the top of my head.  But basically yeah, it's all how you go about it, and the challenges will be very dynamic.  Also, you get Karma for story goals, not shooting X number of "bad guys".  So if you can avoid combat you will save a lot of pain and resources in game.

[Beta]

I am working on my character still.... trying to figure out where I most don't want to be exposed, because with the street scum build for sure there is not enough material to cover everything.   I feel like a troll given a 'one-size-fits-all' hospital gown :p   I'm cycling through "what, I only have four dice for sneaking?  NO WAY is that enough.  OK, I could instead, ummm, have no etiquette skill, wait, that's no good either.  Well, I could take points out of what he's best at, no, no, then not enough dice to actually do what he's supposed to be somewhat competent at.   Could I cover it with gear somewhat?  What if I dropped his fake ID to rating 2 and bought a stealth suit,  but no, that is too low there ...."

Hopefully Raven Runner is cackling maniacally at this point

Oh, and about a vehicle, I was totally planning to have one of those ... until I pulled those resources to cover another gap.  Contact who is a taxi driver maybe?  Until I decide there is another need that could be partially covered by a different contact ....

[Raiderjoseph]

I am working on my character still.... trying to figure out where I most don't want to be exposed, because with the street scum build for sure there is not enough material to cover everything.   I feel like a troll given a 'one-size-fits-all' hospital gown :p   I'm cycling through "what, I only have four dice for sneaking?  NO WAY is that enough.  OK, I could instead, ummm, have no etiquette skill, wait, that's no good either.  Well, I could take points out of what he's best at, no, no, then not enough dice to actually do what he's supposed to be somewhat competent at.   Could I cover it with gear somewhat?  What if I dropped his fake ID to rating 2 and bought a stealth suit,  but no, that is too low there ...."

Hopefully Raven Runner is cackling maniacally at this point

Oh, and about a vehicle, I was totally planning to have one of those ... until I pulled those resources to cover another gap.  Contact who is a taxi driver maybe?  Until I decide there is another need that could be partially covered by a different contact ....

Well what concept is your character going for? (Don't answer. Its rhetorical.) If I may suggest, simply give him 6 in the most important skill or two 5s in the most important skills and have everything else be support for those skills. You can just add some qualities to support the important skills. That's what I did and I covered my bases quite nicely while still keeping myself lacking enough to warrant support.

[Raven Runner]

Hopefully Raven Runner is cackling maniacally at this point

That about sums it up...

Also, AJCarrington is planning on joining the game.  Has been to busy to post much but will probably be on here soonish.

Contacts: yup, give me everything you got...I will do my best to play them the way you write them...and at the same time, once the game starts, they will be my characters.  As a game mechanic I'll do my best to represent their connection and loyalty, but when the inevitable happens and they do something that's not in line with what you imagined...then we'll just have to roll with it.  Do to my lack of mind reading that's just how it is  

[Beta]

It isn't the core that is the problem, it is the 'everything else.'  Ideally every runner can have a reasonable chance of doing things like:
- sneaking past a dozy guard with headphones on,
- climb a fence
- run away at a more than a moderate jogging speed
- deal with important people without outright insulting them or making them think you are a complete idiot
- do legwork of some sort, in some way
- contribute in a fight
- notice the orc standing behind the curtain, find the car keys stuck above the sun shade, or find the commlink under the sofa

With this build, I'm finding it hard to cover all the usual bases ... so it becomes a question of having really weak dice pools in most of them, or being half decent at a couple and leaving most of them in the  'just not going to happen unless we have a troll who can lift me over that fence' category.  And knowing next to nothing about the game or the other players, have no real basis for deciding which are the ones that most need coverage ...

For someone who likes to analyze and coordinate and plan for contingencies, it makes it hard to decide! 

(do note, this is just me kvetching, not a serious complaint).

[Blueclaws]

I see from Beta's posts me and him have been having the same type of problems lol.

[Raiderjoseph]

Should we reveal our characters then? It makes a certain amount of sense even if it ruins the surprise but wouldn't a fixer looking for runners hire a diverse group anyway or at least make the attempt.

[Beta]

Should we reveal our characters then? It makes a certain amount of sense even if it ruins the surprise but wouldn't a fixer looking for runners hire a diverse group anyway or at least make the attempt.

But I think doing that would result in at least 33% less cackling on the part of our GM ;-)

[Raiderjoseph]

Should we reveal our characters then? It makes a certain amount of sense even if it ruins the surprise but wouldn't a fixer looking for runners hire a diverse group anyway or at least make the attempt.

But I think doing that would result in at least 33% less cackling on the part of our GM ;-)

Yes. Yes it would.

*EvilLaugh.jpg*

(In all seriousness I leave that decision up to Raven Runner. I personally prefer the secrecy but if it helps make the characters I wouldn't mind.)

[Stoneglobe]

One thing to bear in mind is that there is not an unlimited pool of deniable assets just sat by their phones waiting for a call. A Johnson and/or fixer will often take what's available They may want a team of 5 to 6 runners who can cover the 3 M's (Magic, Muscle, Matrix) with a dash of rigging and social manipulation thrown in for good measure but if the run's time sensitive they'll take any team that portrays itself as at least semi competent and expect them to cover the slack out of their own pockets. Some Johnson's will even provide the missing support but be careful accepting that as it usually comes with big pay cuts or other hidden costs.

Hey, welcome to life in the shadows omae. Sometimes it sucks to be you, or me for that matter 

[Beta]

Lots of in-game reasons why you might end up with a team straight from the island of misfit toys.  Most (IMO) boil down to “who they can get” (because networks are not infinite), “who they think they need” (because Johnsons and fixers can be all sorts of fallible, stubborn, misinformed, etc), and “assessing people’s true strengths and weaknesses is hard even when they have nothing to hide; now just try it with runners.”

[Raiderjoseph]

One thing to bear in mind is that there is not an unlimited pool of deniable assets just sat by their phones waiting for a call. A Johnson and/or fixer will often take what's available They may want a team of 5 to 6 runners who can cover the 3 M's (Magic, Muscle, Matrix) with a dash of rigging and social manipulation thrown in for good measure but if the run's time sensitive they'll take any team that portrays itself as at least semi competent and expect them to cover the slack out of their own pockets. Some Johnson's will even provide the missing support but be careful accepting that as it usually comes with big pay cuts or other hidden costs.

Hey, welcome to life in the shadows omae. Sometimes it sucks to be you, or me for that matter 

Wow. Shadowrun is more immersive then I thought. At this point it seems like the line between forum rper and actual vet shadowrunner is blurred more then enough on this forum(and not just in this thread.)to raise suspicion.

Lots of in-game reasons why you might end up with a team straight from the island of misfit toys.  Most (IMO) boil down to “who they can get” (because networks are not infinite), “who they think they need” (because Johnsons and fixers can be all sorts of fallible, stubborn, misinformed, etc), and “assessing people’s true strengths and weaknesses is hard even when they have nothing to hide; now just try it with runners.”

Dibs on being the water gun that squirts jelly.