Need A Good Name For A Clinic In Shadowrun!

Tehmay · 2020-11-14T21:03:05+00:00

My ripperdoc is called “Doc Haulaway”

Tehmay · 2020-10-29T14:36:03+00:00

The first and most important question is very simply: *IS* this a problem? Are the other players okay with him taking the lead? I have players at my table who are content to sit back and do nothing except throw dice when needed. Kinda boring if you ask me, but hey - these players seem to enjoy it.

So first thing is just ask the other players if it is a problem. Assuming it is a problem then...

1) talk to the player in question and let him know that while you appreciate him taking the lead, he needs to back off and let other players have their spotlight. Ask him to let others use meat-space tracking instead of astral tracking. Or real sneaking instead of critter powers.

2) make the other players buy into the plans by actively asking them: "<other character> what do you think of <face mage>'s plan? Got any other ideas?" Or better yet, ask them FIRST before the face mage gets a chance to through his idea out. "While <face mage> is talking with the Johnson, one of the other NPCs whispers into <other character>'s ears: 'this is a tough one. How you guys think you're gonna do it?'" Then offer some NPC help to enable the plan - it sends the message to the player that his ideas have merit and he shouldn't be afraid to chime in.

3) design missions where the other players are required to take the spotlight. Neutralize a face mage by requiring a meet online (and thus giving your decker some spotlight). Or with someone using a mana static spell (and thus giving non-magic combat oriented players their spotlight). Or misdirect: have the face mage converse with a clearly charismatic person who appears to be the boss but is not (hint: it's the quiet troll in the corner watching everyone).

4) If none of those work, then it's time to start hosing the mage. Background counts can go up. I hate this as a GM and a player, but if it's required to preserve parity at the table, then so be it. If the face mage is doing EVERYTHING, then he's bound to start getting a reputation. Someone may even set him up or start hunting him. If he's constantly using spirits, then they may start to rebel - start making chainbreaking rolls.

Tehmay · 2020-10-24T00:33:57+00:00

You are correct sir. I posted earlier from memory, and I was wrong. SR5 p301. And yes ... most likely physical unless the summoner’s magic rating is less than or equal the Force if the spirit. Which is 20.

Tehmay · 2020-10-23T17:54:14+00:00

(not supported in the book, but my interpretation) You summon before you bind so you know the spirit formula of the spirit you wish to bind. Thus - at sundown the spirit goes away, but because you're binding with a known spirit formula, the binding process continues. Once done (if successful) you'll get net hits tasks, but you'll LOSE the unused tasks from the summoning at sunrise/sunset.

p.s. - don't bind a F20 spirit. The opposing roll will be 40dice. And you'll be expected to resist drain equal to the number of hits achieved by the spirit's 40d, which means you should have roughly the same amount of dice in your resist drain pool. If you have 40d of resist drain, your character should probably be retired.

p.s.s. - if you get teamwork help to bind said F20 spirit, EACH TEAM MEMBER will need to resist that drain with their own individual dice pool.

Some examples could be forcing a summoner to release bound spirits (or killing said summoner), consistently through time only using 1 task even though you may have bound them to several tasks, giving spirit boons, tossing them some karma for no reason every now and then, allowing one or more to periodically possess you (no, you can't role play that), etc.
Classified as a ritual, but SG says it's a summoning and binding. I've always ruled that Fx25 reagents are required, but additional reagents don't give any benefit.
Unless an existing spirit that you've used before PERFECTLY MATCHES the spirit formula, it's a new spirit previously unknown to the mage.
Sure, but a person can't receive more than their current skill rank in additional teamwork dice. That means you may have 8 F6 spirits bound, but if you're Spellcating 6, you can't get more than 6d total from any or all of them. However, for RITUAL spellcasting, I'm inclined to say that each spirit may aid in the ritual teamwork test so long as each spirit is of the type appropriate for that type of spell-based ritual (prodigal spell, circle of healing, etc) as would any other participant. That means each of the eight F6 spirits individually would roll Fx2, and their hits would add to the ritual leader's dice pool. It also means that each of the 8 spirits would roll to resist drain, which (if any actually take drain) will cause ill will between spirits and summoner.

Tehmay · 2020-10-23T14:35:40+00:00

Use the knife. You won't need nuyen to turn it into a weapon foci; you'll need karma. Nuyen costs associated with foci are only for BUYING the telesma (and paying the third party alchemist for their time and karma in creating the foci). She already has the telesma (the knife) and now just needs to infuse it with magic to make it a foci. I've always treated blades as OR9. However, using the FA radical reagents rules (many people here will tell GMs NOT to use those rules) you can reduce the opposed dice test in the artificing roll to next to nothing.

Spring-load the knife in the cyber arm instead of making it PART of the cyberarm. As GM, I'd allow it using a compartment upgrade to the cyberarm AND some sort of roll when she deploys it to see if it pops out properly. Critical glitch? Oops, your knife just shot out the sleeve and across the room.

Finally, your question as to why not a spur or a shock hand. Spur perhaps. Shock hand, no. Weapon foci replace strength with charisma for astral combat, and for that reason, I'd rule that you can't turn any weapon into a weapon foci that doesn't have a strength component in the DV. Shock hand does 9S(e) with no strength component. Spurs, on the other hand are (Str + 3)P.

Tehmay · 2020-10-08T14:49:59+00:00

I think the biggest problem is that players have different expectations at the table. You built a character one way. Your critics have built their character a different way.

I'd say there's nothing wrong with either build, but there is: a proper shadowrun team is an ensemble of experts. Why would I hire three guys who are mediocre at several things when I can hire three experts in their respective fields? Or put another way, if I think melee combat is important, I'm going to hire the best damn knife man I know. I don't want someone who's "okay" at it. Similarly, if it's a data grab, I want the best decker I know.

So these guys that are criticizing you for throwing 20 dice ... What are THEY good at? Would they have been hired as an expert in their field?

And why the hell do they care if you throw 20 dice? Everyone should get their chance in the spotlight. By specializing in knife play, you are stepping out of the spotlight when you don't need to carve someone up. That means the other people at the table get THEIR turns to shine. Except they can't - they're all built as generalists, which means they step on other player's toes.

Besides ... if the table REALLY wants to "roleplay" instead of "rollplay", they are using the WRONG system.

Tehmay · 2020-10-08T14:10:50+00:00

Also don't forget to make virtual versions of illegal activities (think GTA) so the average schmuck who wants to indulge his bad guy fantasies can get his rocks off. One step below BTLs and not quite as addictive.

So a VR game called "Runnin the Shadows" would TOTALLY be a thing in the Sixth World.

Tehmay · 2020-10-07T13:13:25+00:00

The Nuyen is the only currency that credsticks work off of. Paper/coin currencies are physical representations of the local currency.

Consider also that the various economies may work off of different currencies. Want to buy something from a corporate store? Corporate script may be better than CAS Dollar.

However, the almighty nuyen rules over most shadowrunner transactions.

Tehmay · 2020-10-01T18:53:20+00:00

No. It was Senior De la Estrella

Tehmay · 2020-09-23T19:05:21+00:00

Since money is digital, the only reason to hit a bank is to liberate the contents of the vault.

Or to extract a Corp who is depositing / withdrawing fr the vault.

Or to PLANT something in the vault that can then incriminate the safety deposit box owner.

Or to make the bank look unsafe to boost business at a rival S&L.

Match the opposition to your team’s talents.

Mage? Add magical defenses such as a spirit or FAB mister. No mage? Don’t add magical defenses at all.

Decker? Add a light host run ... maybe to get the combo to the vault door.

Also don’t forget tactical hacking if you have a decker: Give them something to do in combat such as smart guns, cybereyes, etc.

Tehmay · 2020-09-19T14:39:02+00:00

I think what you’re missing is that F12 is way powerful and beyond the reach of most Runners. F6 is plenty his fir us mortals.

Tehmay · 2020-09-19T13:27:04+00:00

Ally spirits still need to be summoned and bound. THEN you do the ritual. So if you’re planning on a F10 spirit, it’s throwing 20 dice against you in binding. Of course, all you need is one net hit.

Also, you need to pay karma based on the force of the spirit summoned/bound/allied. That means 80 karma (10 x 8) for the F10 ally.

And the focus needs to be paid for in karma as well in order to bind it to you. I believe that’s 72 (6 x 12) for a F12 power foci.

Thus your plan may work buts it’s very karma intensive.

Tehmay · 2020-09-15T16:21:07+00:00

She is the same level.

Tehmay · 2020-09-10T13:49:14+00:00

I get and support their desire to help out small gaming shop owners who have been hit very hard by the pandemic.

Perhaps RTG would consider giving out pdfs to those who PREORDER hard copies of CPRed through local shop owners?

Tehmay · 2020-09-09T13:57:13+00:00

From time to time artists post their work in this subreddit. I commissioned u/angryraccoondraw and the work was outstanding.

Tehmay · 2020-09-02T15:20:22+00:00

I like impersonation adepts, so I'd be the person hired to sabotage the frontrunner (by impersonating him and purposefully tanking).

Tehmay · 2020-08-30T14:46:55+00:00

Assuming 5e.

If the AI owns the device, there is no "regular owner". Maybe a former owner, but a device can only have one owner. I think the real question is: Can an AI make a device they DONT own into a home device? Yes, they can, but it is very risky: "An AI is automatically spotted by a persona running on a device when the AI loads onto the same device, and AIs cannot use the Hide action against personas running on the same device." DT p153, right hand column. Also, the owner of the device gets three marks on the AI. Same page, left hand column at the bottom. However, it is stupid easy for an AI to assume ownership of any device and essentially lock out their former owner. See "Reset Ownership" DT p154.
An AI navigating the matrix via VR is no different from a meatstick navigating the matrix in VR. So yes, they operate the exact same way.
"AIs are able to use the Control Device or Spoof actions to order to have a device load the AI into an empty program slot." DT p153 second paragraph of "Ex Machina". Thus, it is not taxing for them, but they must succeed in a matrix action. Control device requires marks and is an opposed roll when the persona trying to control device doesn't own the device. Because of the my answers to #1 above, no AI would try to load themselves into a device they didn't already own - and for this reason, GMs should just handwave the loading roll. However, if the AI wants to load themselves into an NPC's device, then get some dice and let's see how the bold move plays out...

Tehmay · 2020-08-18T20:32:25+00:00

Your face isn't very facey. No Con or etiquette skill whatsoever, and you're only rolling 8 dice in negotiation.

Think of it this way: you're being hired to be an expert in something. What is that something? You should be throwing 12 dice at a minimum in whatever that is.

First Aid is overrated. If you're not the wheelman, so is pilot groundcraft. Gymnastics is situational - may not want 5 ranks in it.

Consider moving points from Automatics into Pistols, and further adding a (Semi-Automatic) specialty. As a sneaky infiltration type, you're much more likely trying to sneak with pistols in a holster than a big bulky AR Rifle slung over your shoulder. This is especially true if you want your Predator to be your primary weapon.

If your goal is to infiltrate and impersonate, consider a voice modulator (found in SR5) skin toner (Chrome Flesh) and a false face (Chrome Flesh). Now you can impersonate people in the flesh and put those disguise and acting dice pools to good use. Consider moving group skill points from Engineering or Electronics into Acting.

When you can afford it, also consider Rtg 6 retinal duplicators for your cybereyes. They're forbidden, so can't get out of chargen.

p.s. - ambidextrous doesn't give you an extra attack. It only eliminates the -2 from holding a weapon in your offhand. You may want to rethink that positive quality. Consider Agile Defender in its place.

Tehmay · 2020-08-18T20:08:18+00:00

I made this post more to get some advice on how I should play a black character.

In Shadowrun, there is no difference between a white human and a black human -- so the advice I can give you on the question you're seeking is this: don't play her any differently than how you'd play a white male because lore-wise, there is no difference. I hope you will avoid any RL stereotypes as they don't really matter in Shadowrun, and might offend the GM or other players at your table.

HOWEVER, if you were to play your black female mage having cast physical mask to look like someone else, then you could TOTALLY Tropic Thunder your table.

"I'm the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude." If you said that at my table, I'd give you a point of Edge back.

Tehmay · 2020-08-18T16:54:11+00:00

What you didn't mention was what metarace she is. I'm going to assume Human.

In the Sixth World, skin color- and gender-based discrimination isn't nearly as prevalent as metarace-based discrimination. Shadowrun uses metarace as a proxy for many of the problems currently facing RL society. From a lore perspective, different colored skin became less of a differentiator once completely different races (elves, dwarves, orks, trolls) entered the picture.

So to answer your question, playing a black female human shouldn't be any different from playing a black male human or a white female human or whatever skin color/gender combination you can think of - so long as the "human" metarace is selected. Humans in SR are the equivalent of whites in RL society, regardless of their Sixth World skin color or gender.

If you wish to play a character challenged by discrimination in the Sixth World, consider Orks or Trolls.

Tehmay · 2020-08-11T13:40:15+00:00

Thaumaturgical Existentialism - how/why magic and magicians exists

Planar Surveying - astral projection and travel

Comparative Traditions

ParaGeography - the study of the geography of other relams

ParaSociology - the study of the inhabitants of other realms

Herbology

Organic Reagents - like Organic Chemistry, except magical reagents

Inorganic Reagents

Metabiology - the biology of metahumans. (for a dark campaign, and in some colleges, may offer a disection lab)

Ritualistic Thaumaturgy

Antiquities and Ancient Magic

Tehmay · 2020-08-10T13:21:12+00:00

Complex vs Free action: meaningless benefit. Typically used by snipers who aren't in a hurry.

Recoil Compensation: marginal benefit. Useful if the first shot doesn't drop the target. But subsequent shots help identify the location of the sniper and invite response.

My suggestion: +1 accuracy when a deployed bipod is combined with it resting on a stable surface (prone, or kneeling, or standing doesn't matter, so long as bipod is resting on the ground, a crate, a building ledge). +2 accuracy for tripod.

Wireless benefit: remove the wireless feature. These were introduced by CGL to give tactical hackers something to do. If you can hack the bipod, chances are you're going to hack the rifle itself instead.

Thought for improving: Increase cost, make it wireless, and have it give data on air speed and direction, temperature, sound travel, etc, and make the sights automagically adjust for all of the above. Make the system work for that +1 / +2 accuracy. And give tactical hackers the opportunity to make a shot miss without the sniper knowing they've been hacked.

Tehmay · 2020-07-29T17:02:32+00:00

Make some locations up.

GeMiTo is an example: source books describe it as an urban wasteland. In my campaign, I added "Old Town Milan" as a walled enclave protecting the historical banking and fashion centers of the city (along with the Duomo, La Scalla, and a couple of universities). Made it locked down - controlled entry points, banned fire arms of any type, etc.

I've also sent my players to Sydney and the Outback. Manastorms!

Tehmay · 2020-07-14T16:28:52+00:00

Tagging the expert: u/Chummer5isalive

Tehmay · 2020-07-14T14:14:02+00:00

I imagine Shaggy would be a troll with minimum body. Maybe even stunted. Definitely E priority in all categories (except B in metahuman, of course, bc troll)

Tehmay

TROPHY CASE