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Post by Crimson D on Aug 10, 2008 19:57:55 GMT -5
It wasn't Shade's eli. He stole from the mage micro and herri were fighting. (which i think froze her for a moment, i don't completely recall) As for oaths, while it doesn't say that in mits that one can get completely burned, in my mind it's implied . Oaths are magically based. Which means a ritual is needed. As for posting without books, I did it for 2 weeks.
Then again I see oaths as being as complicated as the GM desires. It can be a quick "I won't brake the rules" to a ritual that "I will surrender all power if i betray the group." It's up to wolf to decide how his world works.
As for FE being the leader it was raw chance. He's been in the game longest is my guess. As for the guy I would respect, i'd respect the guy who got the results.
I seems to me i've been catching a lot of crap because of the way I've been playing Shade. The way I use his magic and such. I've been accused of being uber and that's just not true. If shade were uber he could raise the dead. He could bring back the big D.
I'm creative with magic. The truth is I have new ideas everyday about magic and it's use. You don't run sr for as long as i have not become something of a min/maxer. I look at game mechanics and I see new ways of using them. When one finds a way to use something to it's absolute maximum people call him a munchkin. Which is basically what wombat accused me of and that's not true.
I've yet to pull all my tricks out. There's things I can do with Shade that I don't BECAUSE it's power gaming.
Instead of calling me and my chars names and getting snotty, why don't you ask me for ideas for your char? I got quite a few magical ideas for research but I can't possibly do them all. Perhaps one of the mage players could ask for a idea for research.
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Post by wombat on Aug 11, 2008 4:02:21 GMT -5
sorry, but i've gotta take exception to that on two counts: 1 - uber does not imply munchkining (whatever that is). i simply referred to all of shade's inside counts about him tangling with wasp spirits, ghouls etc. if shade's accounts are to believed, he's eaten the world and shit the universe - he's gotta be pretty uber to do all of that. if it was done in-game or could be re-created in-game that is 2 - i've been playing SR2/3/4 for the last 12 or so years. with gremlin. so i hope you're not looking down your nose at anybody in particular
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Post by Braddoc on Aug 11, 2008 7:32:25 GMT -5
Please guys...let's keep it calm..
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Post by wolflet59 on Aug 11, 2008 7:57:20 GMT -5
Thanks folks - there are some lovely insights into play and backgrounds an the like here - a wealth of talent and years of application...
What I would like to see is characters developing - moving forward in the wat they think is most appropriate for them - you have spent a good deal of time with each other so do have an understanding of what you are all capable of to a certain degree. Everyone likes to move forward and I ask people to write up what those thoughts ideas are..
Shade is getting some stick here - forging ahead with plans which is good - OK it may well result in his aquisition of arount 200,000 yen's worth of focus which on the face of it seems like he is playing some kind of system and getting away with it -
Look at some options - he could drop out for a month and do exactly the same so there is no big imbalances there.. it is sudden but certainly not unexpected - Shade has been experimenting and collecting for the past few months in gametime
I have been discussing raising big spirits - improving your characters - people have been looking for cyberware - martial arts moves - maybe some heavier ordinance.. So you have all been improving moving forward exploring..
An easy way through this would be to say take a month in downtime to sort out what you want to do with your cash - time - karma - connections etc.. If anything it has been me being miserly with downtime
I know there is quite a lot of available resources the group and individuals have that you can use to improve yourselves - there are different avenues being explored too -
I am off for a weeks hols soon - It would be a good time for you to 1 - Get the meet sorted
2- get your characters comfortable in themselves and with the rest of the team
You have been working in close proximity with each other for three months now - most runners form loose connections then fade away again looking for the next biz - so you will all have a reasonable idea of everyone else's attitudes and capabilities.
Your own backgrounds can be improved and developed too - maybe you do want a specialist knowledge of wasp spirits - it could well be part of your past that you have so far chosen not to bring to light but might pay for as background (and a story!)
A problem is yen - that balancing act - could Chuck make and apply his own implants in the month rather than floating in a tank - well the tradeoff between cash, karma and time ought to balance otherwise cracks appear.
I am often pointed out for not answering a direct question - reason is direct questions lead to a precident being established and that is often damaging to the game or the connection between players..
How far can you go - well that is up to you - it is really you who are shaping your own future and past!
What can you trade karma for - if you can use it to improve skills spells atributes luck - then why not anything else? can it help with connections or cyberware or a rocket launcher? is it as useful as cash or better? I would say it is more useful than cash - as long as you write up the storyline for yourself..
Conversely why not set aside cash or time to spend on skills or even some person as well as personal improvements.. We have already looked at spending a 'long weekend' in gaining the basics of a skill and picked up a few skills here and there for free because you have gained the familiarity with it over time...
the problem is where should it stop?
I would look at the writeups you create - for example if you want to learn a KN or active skill at basic then basic training it is - a weekend crash course in scuba would do the trick to gain you a level in underwater activities... what about improving from a professional level to an even more impressive legendary level? - experience? training time effort yes - and the cash to support you and the connections information etc..
easy levels are easy to gain - like spells or handguns
high level stuff shouuld be tough to gain and make you pay in valuable karma at least. You might have to provide a sweetener or a gift in order to gain access in the first place - cash is always useful here.. could require a chain of events where yoiur time is used up in a search - or you pay someone to do it for you..
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Post by Crimson D on Aug 11, 2008 11:08:57 GMT -5
I'm not looking down my nose at anyone. In fact that's what I feel is being done to me. I've made in-shade comments for readers about Shade's past before and I am pretty sure I made a reference to shade being in Chicago before... now saying that I do remember. He was forced to watch a wasp snatch a kid up.
Keep in mind there's a TON of background for Shade even wolf doesn't know. It's all going to come out if you have the patience for it. Instead of spoiling it, how about some Shade trivia?
Did you know I originally had Shade as a duel uzi 3 wielding masked vigilantly? Or that he almost spoke the common magic language? ((spoiler!)) Shade is a member of a secret society based on the free masons. "The Free Magisons" who speak a language that cannot be broken. ((decrypted)) only learned. Either you speak Arcana or you don't.
The ladder will soon come to light as it unlocks another old friend from Shade's prevois team. More will be comming to light on that soon as well.
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Post by Crimson D on Aug 11, 2008 11:27:43 GMT -5
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Post by wolflet59 on Aug 11, 2008 14:07:00 GMT -5
theres a funny Steve Jackson game Munchkins..
so - any thoughts on the interconnectibility of karma yen etc?
Really it is about developing your characters the way you want.. I have tried to smooth out a few rough edges by introducing extra skills that most players wouldnt buy because they dont do much for them - I think of them as the things you learnt out when....
Seattle kn should be one you will all pick up soon and probably a choice of a gang or area knowledge.. as that is what you are familiarising yourselves with now
There is enough time (as time is flexible) to spread a month's training over the next eight weeks gametime to give everyone a chance to complete a long term project - maybe a little time for the newcomers too -
with incidents inbetween.
Still waiting on Henri and the Ghouls..
There has been a couple of pm's regarding history.. You could learn a skill that you currently dont have on your char sheet (ie paid for yet) that you say is part of your past - pay for it and write it up if it is a big skill.. It could be a way around exchanging karma for cash to get those implants - that have been dormant for a couple of years
there are loads of ways to introduce new stuff or expensive stuff too... those military connections could be persuaded into supplying the 'cause' with some dilligent splashing of 'good will' rather than great wodges of cash
And No this is not a 'giveaway' - it is clearing the ground for you to be able to get to where you would like to be.. An attempt at rationalising time with SR rules
I still owe you two a 'Hunted'.. Shade wanted to attend the military parade to gain that golden handshake -
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Post by Braddoc on Aug 11, 2008 14:36:19 GMT -5
I wanna meet Illiya for the money exchange...and see if Meg wil get them to open shop at the Commute...Then get inot meetin gthe other corps in the fenced area...get stuff agaisnt protection and such..
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Post by wolflet59 on Aug 14, 2008 12:12:57 GMT -5
There are a lot of ideas coming through on spending your karma -
I have indicated before that if it is little things - go ahead - write out a list for shiny new stuff !
If it is an addition to a current big skill - write up a little training - flex those typing fingers to show how you improved that skill or stat through dilligent training and sweat.
Something every character onsite will gain through rubbing shoulders - is some kind of magic knowledge.. those un-magical sammies will gain either talismongering or magic theory at L1 the mages could gain enchanting at L1 as you have all seen enough to have a good grounding in what is going on. You might think of another magicy-type skill which is appropriate..
Looking at something big shiny and new? well that does have to be written up - where does it come from how much what effort who do you owe etc
(OOC I am soon off on my hols for a week so think of this as your downtime to write up your chunky improvements...)
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Post by wolflet59 on Aug 14, 2008 17:44:23 GMT -5
Getting lost in the astral is easy to do - dont think of astral travel as just flying through the mall - or like a disney cartoon - the surroundings are difficult to interperetate you have to get very close to observe detail - from afar it all merges into a blurry mass so you get directions akin to 'over that way' rather than straight on first left hang a right at... there are a few oasis in the city, identifiable areas like parks but manouvering through buildings is black without the light from mother Earth - so cities are as if theyare in a blackout - light comes from life - people in the mall, the pedways, markets, gatherings of people and plants - virtually everywhere else is black A little earth-light filters into the city akin to starlight
think of the astral snooper trying to peer into blackened rooms vaguely lit from a feeble earthlight from the outside.. it is the occupant who gives off a glow - so a busy office would be filled with individuals giving off a glow - bit like they each carry a candle in the blackout!
under treecover would be bright - but the tree trunks would create obstacles - bushes are awful to get through!
open fields are easy to survey same as any flatland - and people hiding would be attempting to hid the ir physical bods from view and therefore their astral.
The best for spotting people hiding is when they are in rubble as the life gives off a glow which you can quickly investigate.
It means guardian spirits inside a building would zero in on astral signs of magic and life which glow
Out in the open earth it is easier to navigate - follow the black roadstrip of null life - fly high and all you get is a fuzzy impression so there tends to be a lot of astral travellers using roads and rivers as guidelines.
at 1000 mph you dont tend to see much and so will need signposts.. plenty of ancient monuments have been erected to create astral paths to follow.. megolithic astral motorways!
yes you can fly high to get a good view - but you have still got to spend a lot of time interpereting the fuzzy ground below you -
It cuts out the idea of astral mages zipping around snooping on everyone - it is still good for short range recce - but the long range flight is dangerous - if you get lost and it is very easy to get lost then you could be stuffed!
Means it is tough to track a car - you could sit in/on it but would end up totally lost very quickly. so fly high.. which way is up? even if you do you still have to navigate back to your bod -
could be a reason why the 'mage's tower' was popular or a readily identifiable spot - a garden around it like an astral landing pad.. close to the coast, on a river, mid-lake, as it would be easier to navigate to.
there will be some favourite astral routes - well lit and identified by crowds of people - like the long exposure films of traffic taillights - you would most often superimpose your Seattle knowledge of where the crowds are onto this black astral monotonous black city backdrop -
Yes you can make out objects - but only if you have astral light to see them in other words if someone (could be you) is close by. A mage in a cellar is fine - it is like having your own candle to see by - you can walk quite easily while others fumble around in the total black until they kick on their IR and crash into the unseen furniture
neon shop or streetlighting does not glow in the astral only the emotion of the place - so there would be subtle back-lit doorways and occasional respected or despised landmarks including toxic wastes - the interior of clubs would be good to see by but soul sapping offices would be bleaker than ordinary blackness!
sunlight.. you could see the sun but not the reflected light
cars would be chameleoned onto the lifeless road backdrops - streetlight and any other electrical light would not be noticed - though church candles would provide a good strong glow...
what is your opinion of the astral?
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kami
Squatter
Harley
I have made 36 posts
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Post by kami on Aug 15, 2008 0:36:43 GMT -5
x.x Not really got any ideas of what to do with Harley during downtime cause she's just joining the group and therefor I've yet to accumulate karma. Just all I gotta say on it.
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cyroa
Chummer
I have made 74 posts
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Post by cyroa on Aug 15, 2008 6:55:14 GMT -5
I'm mostly with Kami on that one.
Though during some downtime, I've already got a few ideas on things to do (more with social and nuyen spending then Karma)...
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Post by wolflet59 on Aug 15, 2008 7:15:40 GMT -5
understood - this is really an opportunity for the oldies to get a chance to splash out their ill gotten gains in cash and karma - with some kinda time and realism behind what they are doing. Harley and Wrench will be pulling six day shifts - of 8 hrs on - 8hrs available -the other 8 are yours! you may notice that some of the others do not appear so much on the rosters - gives you both a chance to get to know everyone a little rather than being stuck with the same faces..
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Post by Crimson D on Aug 15, 2008 20:12:37 GMT -5
I prefer the book explanation of astral space. I don't care for your version but it's your game.
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Post by gremlin on Aug 15, 2008 20:13:28 GMT -5
Quick question, this ransom meet's taking place before the week of downtime, isn't it?
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