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BLACKJACKS CORNER
INTRODUCTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL THANKS
Paolo Marcucci, Tom Whitter, Drew Rader, anybody
whos ever been a PC in one of my groups, and the
literally thousands of people who have written me Email over the past 2.5 years expressing desperate anguish over things like autopistol rules. I couldnt have
done it without you.
LEGAL STUFF
Shadowrun is a Trademark of FASA Corporation. Used
without permission. Any use of this name or any other
Trademark or Copyright of any other company should
not be construed as a challenge in any way to said
Trademark or Copyright. Feel free to reproduce and
distribute this document at no profit to yourself or others and with due acknowledgement of the author.
BLACKJACKS NETBOOKS
in less than 5
minutes.
8:45
Arrived at work late because a generator
had blown up on
my subway line, thus leaving many stations without power.
11:30
Had to restrain myself from beating the
hell out of
obnoxious computer user. Additional consultants called
in to relieve tension.
12:10 Late to teach because food truck messed
up my
cheeseburger order.
12:40 Encountered wonderful computer crash
while utilizing Avid
editing system during my class.
1:30
Computer back on line
1:32
Computer crashes
2:15
Computer back on line
2:15:48 Computer crashes
3
Send everybody home.
3-4:30
Kill time by using Avid editing system
which mysteriously
came back to life mere minutes after class
was disbanded.
4:30
Get to work
4:45 Get smashed in the face by an extremely
large woman's
extremely heavy book bag as she blindly
swings it over
her
shoulder while getting up.
4:50
Begin to hear things
5:00
Begin to see things
5:05
Feel nauseous
5:10
Write semi coherent message to boss
explaining situation,
requesting pay for the rest of the evening,
and a bunch
of other things I could never remember.
5:30
Ride subway home
5:45
Over shoot stop by several stations
6:00
Ride subway home
6:05
Get home, take aspirin
6:10
Fall unconscious
7am
Wake up
7-8
Get ready to go to work, shower, eat
breakfast, ect.
8-8:30 Ride subway to work
8:30-12 Work at computer services
12-4:30 Teach
4:30-10 Work at computer services
10-10:30 Ride subway home
10:30-12 Write
midnight Go to sleep
Ok, so that was nice and simple. If it was a
shadowrun simply replace each line with "Meet Mr.
Chan" or "Pick up weapons." Now here is what ended
up happening:
7am
Woke up. Mistakenly turned alarm off
instead of hitting
snooze button.
8
Woke up. Dressed and out the door
BLACKJACKS NETBOOKS
PC Masochism
When I play Shadowrun as an actual player (which
is virtually never) I really beat up my PC. What would
normally simply be called out by the GM as light damage from a punch would probably give my PC a black
eye. After a big fist fight the first thing my PC usually
has to do is go to a dentist to get most of his teeth
replaced because I informed the GM that the moderate punch my PC just took knocked out all of his incisors. Light wounds may take off an ear lobe, or punch
a hole in my hand, or even blow off a finger. Moderate
wounds may mess up my wired reflexes, break an elbow into little pieces, or lodge itself in an uncomfortable - but nonfatal - part of my skull. I dont regularly
declare that Ive lost a leg, although if I get racked by a
serious wound, I just may. Even if my PC took a grand
total of moderate plus 1 boxes of damage during a run
he tends to emerge after its over looking like somebody who tried to challenge a panzer to a fist fight.
People tend to question me about this. Why in
the hell, they say would you do that to your own PC?
My answer is simple: I wrack up my PC because my
PC isnt a condition monitor; its a person. When real
people take a bullet a stack of boxes doesnt magically
appear on their chest and start filling up with damage.
They lose fingers, get holes in unnatural places, and
end up with various body parts strewn around the sidewalk. While PCs are sometimes comic book character-like in the way they can shrug off damage, once
they get hurt they GET HURT. Even when my PC
doesnt get hurt I still relay the fact that the PC has
been shot and that he isnt quite as well off as he was
before. If my PC takes an SMG blast to the chest and
manages to roll off the damage Ill still inform the GM
that my PC is dismayed over the fact that a few of the
pieces of his orthoskin are now lying on the
ground. The next time I take a bullet in the chest
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Memory
Remembering past information (or, in the case
of Shadowrun, keeping good notes) will probably save
your ass more often than anything else. As a PC become more experienced and encounters more situations, NPCs, etc. the Big Picture will become more
complete.
Questions?
Well it looks like the Shadowrun Companion is
coming (or is) out. Im personally quite interested in
seeing it because it appears that they have a few entries regarding overbearing PCs, running the game
smoothly, and other domains which I have devoted
much time to contemplating, understanding, and writing about without receiving so much as a dime in compensation. Viva La Internet. All I know is that if they
even MENTION dropping a cow on somebody I will be
VERY upset. (If you didnt understand why the previous sentence was funny...tough.)
So, in an effort to stay competitive Ive decided
to devote this weeks article to answering questions
that FASA probably wouldnt touch in a million years
because nobody in a million years would think of asking them. In other words, every one of the following
illogical questions was pulled from nowhere, similar to
pulling a rabbit out of a hat, but with less fur and rabbit
droppings. The sad thing is, some of the following questions are frightening similar to actual questions Ive
received in the past. Makes you wonder how our species survived...
Inference
When the runners dont know something intuitively, cant find it in a book, and cant learn it through
research, they must start making inferences. Basically:
They gotta guess. The key to successful and accurate
inference is to find out all possible information about
the situation before making your guess. The runners
may KNOW that Corp A and B mines diamonds in a
particular town. They may also KNOW that there is
only one actual mine in this particular town. What they
DONT KNOW is whether or not these corporations
are associated with each other. But, by knowing that
there is only one mine between two corporations the
runners can make a pretty good guess that the corporations are, at least in some way, working together.
In the end, the maintenance and coherence of
the Big Picture is the responsibility of the GM. This is a
BIG responsibility and it can mean the difference between a Shadowrun world which is full, complicated,
and organized; and a world that doesnt make an ounce
of sense. The world of Shadowrun has to be
BELEIVABLE and, to a certain point, reliable. While
paranoia is an integral part of Shadowrun, it should not
be confused with nonsense. You end up with nonsense
when you have a gang that was allied with the runners
suddenly attack them simply because theyre now working for a corp who the runners ran against. Im
not saying this event couldnt occur, Im simply
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A: When raising children it is important to recognize that they tend to attach themselves to any ideas
which give them power in their relatively mundane and
insignificant little lives. Child psychologists assure us
that this is only a phase and that parents should actually encourage this alternative world view as a method
of strengthening their childs self confidence and ability to negotiate with street whores. Help the child live
his little empowerment fantasy. When he calls you
chummer respond, with a smile, wizzer!. When he
wants to spike his hair and replace his left arm with a
large hunk of metal, drive him to the stylist and hospital. When he wants to crack off a few rounds from his
UZI (available at most U.S. inner city middle schools)
be sure the range in the back yard has sufficient backdrop. All the stress and sleepless nights and puncture
wounds will be worth it when, later in life, he has the
confidence and determination to keep the other inmates
from accosting him in the shower.
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tween targeting a windshield with Powerbolt and targeting it with Wrecker is that Powerbolt would shatter
the glass, whereas Wrecker would pop the windshield
out of the vehicle. Urban Renewal may not know what
a brick is, but it would know what a wall is.
The following should tie a few up a few lose ends:
One thing I know somebody is going to try is to
Powerbolt somebodys eyeball or something stupid like
that. In defiance of a few of my own arguments Im
simply giving living objects which posses Essence an
immunity from such individual attacks. Essence ties
together an object in a way that makes it an indivisible
whole. Im not even going to dwell on it.
Finally, since I got rid of the necessity for an aura
for physical spells theres also another problem I have
to deal with: Can you cast a Physical spell on somebody who is wearing a full suit of security armor? For
Mental spells the answer is easy; the aura extends outwards a few inches and is not blocked by the armor.
For Physical spells, now that seeing exactly what your
target is has become very important, Im inclined to
say no, meaning you cant hit somebody in a full suit of
heavy armor because you cant see them. But I think
we could all agree that it would suck if you couldnt
toss physical spells at hooded polyclub members. To
add more complication I just want to toss in, as I have
in past writings, the horrible effects an acidbolt would
have if it spewed corrosives all over the insides of
somebodys security armor.
Unfortunately, I dont have a really good solution
to this dilemma at the moment. For now, Ill probably
stick, for no good reason, to the normal rules which let
you Powerbolt somebody inside a full suit of security
armor even though this violates my non-existent extended aura philosophy. And should somebody firebolt
them, Ill just make them scream real loud as they burn
up.
In conclusion, I should mention that theres tons
of stuff Ive left out, such as dealing with physical manipulations and such. I primarily referenced combat
spells because these types of spells are the easiest to
deal with when discussing auras, grounding, etc. After
looking through the list of other types of physical spells,
it doesnt appear that Ive screwed with them too badly.
All Ive really done is created a different image of how
the spell goes shazam. For the most part, the die rolling remains the same.
It seems that interpreting Shadowrun is sometimes as difficult as deciphering the Bible. But thats
what makes it fun.
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More Questions?
Once again Im neglecting my duties as a disseminator of semi-informative, yet frequently useless,
Shadowrun advice in the name of slacking off. My last
fake questions article was such a hit that Ive decided
to give it another go. Anything to avoid honest work.
Q: Theres a player in my group who smells absolutely wretched. In our last session three of my regular players became violently ill, with one falling into a
coma immediately after Jack entered the room. Is there
anything I can do about this?
A: First, it is important to determine precisely to
what degree this individual reeks, using the following
table as a guide:
Wretched: Street bums gag whenever this individual is in the area.
Very Wretched: Flies flee at his approach.
Oh God, Is it Human?: Cartoon-like smell rays
are visibly emanating from the individuals body. Raw
sewage shutters at his approach. Air freshener canisters explode when this person enters the vicinity
If the person is merely Wretched, I suggest wrapping a bug spray wrapper around a large can of Lysol
and then chasing an imaginary fly around the room
until the fly lands directly on this individuals head, at
which time you hold down the nozzle and count to onehundred. Very Wretched Individuals can usually be
made to smell more attractive by giving them a once
over with a decent sized flame thrower. Individuals possessing Non Human odors are probably just that, not
human, and I suggest that you get ahold of Scully of
the X-Files to figure out how to return the individual to
his home planet.
Q: I just got a new computer and I want to know
how to use the foot pedal.
A: Its a mouse, you idiot.
Q: Ive written a Shadowrun adventure in Swahili
using a German version of WordPerfect 1.2 and have
zipped, bin-hexed, arcd and encrypted the file. Would
you mind posting it on your page?
Q: A person at my church said that roleplaying games are the work of the Devil and that
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ticle?
Back To Basics
"Simplify, simplify."
A: Only one. I just didnt realize a pewter miniature could do that much damage.
Q: Not PLAYERS, PCs!
A: Oh. All of them. I like to kill them off within the
first five or ten minutes of the gaming session. The
turn sequence flows much faster if you dont have those
damned PCs slowing everything down.
Q: What are your future plans for Brumby, Troll
Philosopher?
A: Aside from the traditional writings, Im planning a merchandising campaign featuring Brumby trading cards, books, collectors plates, dolls, pillow cases,
firearms, and designer drugs. Look for all of these items
soon at your local gaming store and/or inner city playground.
Q: Do you think you will ever completely stop
writing stuff for Shadowrun?
A: Even if I wanted to, I couldnt. You should see
some of the E-mail I get when I miss one of my weekly
updates. Some of its downright frightening. Some examples:
Dear Blackjack,
If you miss another weekly update, I will burn down
your apartment.
Dear Blackjack,
We have kidnapped your sister. Post some more
Brumby or we will sell her into the Thai sex trade.
Dear Blackjack,
Located beneath your chair is a small device
which contains A: A heat sensor, and B: 5 kilograms of
C-4. If you attempt to move from in front of your computer without posting some more Radio Phree Philadelphia the device will detonate, killing you and everybody else on the block. Just thought Id let you know.
Q: When do you plan on finishing this arBLACKJACKS NETBOOKS
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Variety
Lets take a typical gang and set up a simple run
during which the PCs are supposed to raid a building
which the gang occupies for the purpose of stealing a
small device. (The preceding statement was so grammatically incorrect that every English teacher Ive ever
had just spontaneously combusted.) Now it would be
simple enough to set up a bunch of gang members
armed with some kind of default weapon, position them
throughout the building, and sit around and wait for the
runners to approach. The result would inevitably be a
stereotypical fire fight and, generally, the PCs would
win by using normal, everyday bang-bang tactics.
But lets mess up the situation a bit. Ill make one
of the gang members an electrician who is a bit of a
coward and who happens to be working on a fuse box
in the basement when the runners attack. Another member ODd on a drug called Sleep earlier in the week
and is currently lying naked in a shower with no pulse.
The another member is a 4th level initiate adept who
is currently fulfilling some weird ass initiation requirement by training another gang member, age 9. The
gang leader is dead, and has been for about two days.
In an attempt to hide the device he placed it in an odd
place; rupturing something, and dying on the spot.
Nobody has bothered him because hes a mean guy
and ordered everybody to leave him the hell alone
before he locked himself in his room. The rest of the
gang probably accepts fact that he hasnt emerged for
several days as a blessing. There are two more gang
members, both named Steve, sitting on the roof and
cleaning their guns. Steve #1 doesnt know but Steve
#2 has placed some double powered rounds in his sporting rifle; rounds which will cause quite a punch but which
will also destroy the weapon. Three more lower end
gang members are in an obscure 3rd floor room playing poker. One of them has lost a lot of cash and is
considering suicide. One more gang member is actually on guard; in astral space.
OK! Now when the runners arrive theyll be looking around for gang members with guns sitting in windows and looking out or whatever gang members
stereotypically do while waiting for somebody to steal
their device. Odds are the runners wont be expecting
that the guy who ODd on sleep isnt actually dead and
will arise at the first sounds of gunshots, grab his
weapon, and come at the runners completely naked.
The runners also wont be expecting the adepts apprentice to suddenly discover his killing hands ability.
The electrician will accidentally cause the entire
electrical system to completely spaz out as he
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Perception Problems
At about 1:35 am on Tuesday, January 14 a friend
and I finally came to a realization which explained what
had thwarted the speed and grace of many a gaming
session for the last, oh, five years: Both of us had completely different perceptions as to exactly what a C
Security Rating area looked like. My friend perceived
the area as consisting mostly of small single family
homes mixed in with the occasional high rise and office building with virtually no regular foot traffic and
the occasional abandoned stru cture. Take away the
abandoned building and youll have exactly my perception of what a B area looks like. My perception of a
C area revolved around rowhouse apartments, high
rise apartment buildings, the occasional cop racing
through with sirins blarin g. Generally your typical city
oriented blue collar living environment.
It was long before another individual chimed in
that he never really thought the security rating had
anything to do with setting and simply reflected the
odds of you or your house getting robbed, the presence of drugs or gangs, or just all around crime. The
more I think about it, the more I believe this theory is
the most correct.
But the point is that none of us had any idea what
was going through each others head as far as setting
and mood was concerned which was the direct
cause of many a misunderstanding. I like to keep
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Oops
This week I was going to follow up my Magical
Theory article with more elaboration, mainly because
of some the interesting E-mail I received regarding it,
but as I prepare for my Winter break Shadowrun campaign I came to a startling realization: The PCs don't
seem to be scared of anything.
I base this statement on the lone experience I
had with my new group of characters over my Thanksgiving break during which the group encountered fire
elementals, vehicle lasers, a room filled with drug
crazed maniacs, the possibility of paranormal animals,
an air force base, a few MP lasers and a heavy response team and NOT ONCE did any one of them
stop an go "Oh, shit." for any reason other than surprise. Not one of them seemed to ponder the thought
of what it may be like to be engulfed by a fire elemental. Not one of them seemed to reflect upon the resulting effects of having their sternum perforated by a laser beam. Not one of them considered the possibility
that the rattle in the woods may be a group of Hell
Hounds looking for a midnight snack, not simply a man
with a gun.
Then I came to an even more startling revelation: This was MY fault.
When one of the runners was scouting a tunnel
leading to a targeted facility he tripped a laser
trap and got shot through the leg. I let it slide.
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Dear Blackjack,
Do you have a life?
Dear Blackjack,
You have a large amount of stuff on your page. I
can only conclude
that you have no life.
Dear F**ckhead,
Your page has lots of s*it. F**king tons of it. You
must be a
real f**cking loser you miserable piece of s*it!
Ha! Ha! I love you wacky people! But, seriously,
I also receive a fair amount of positive feedback which
more than makes up for the occasional bash I receive
from some putrid little mutant child who finds time to
stop by as he passes from smut page to smut page,
looking at females he will never in a million years get
within fifteen miles of. I also take comfort in the fact
that I have a friend on the CERT team and, if I felt like
it, could track these little weasels down and destroy
their credit rating for the next sixty years.
But this does raise an interesting question: Why
do I have time to create so much stuff for my web
page? The answer is simple: I don't watch television.
Ever. People spend more time in two days watching
the tube than I do in a week working on my Shadowrun
page. So not only do I have time to work on my page
but I also have time to respond to the honest and coherent questions I receive from my feedback form. Sort
of the self proclaimed "Dear Abby" of Shadowrun on
the web, I receive questions regarding rules, ideas, GM
problems (A lot of GM problems) and the occasional
inquiry as to how old I am. To answer the last one, I'm
347.
Not only does this information exchange give me
an opportunity to solidify my own SR ideas and help
others, it also give me the chance to spend hours attempting to decipher the occasional message that rolls
in written in complex forms of Shadoweese. I've never
been a big fan of Shadowrun's alternative language
and thus rarely use it. But it appears that many people
out there in Shadowland actually think they're in
Shadowland and insist on writing cryptic messages like
this one:
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Hoi, Cummerwalken!
I was jandering down the matrix and said to myself, "Frag! I got a question about the possibility of
spelltossing trogs in the etheral who also sideline in
the wax biz!". So I decided to pass on this wizzer question hoping your head gear is in order so you could
help me out of.....
This gets to be even more fun when somebody
located way the hell across a large ocean in some place
like England decides to send me a message that looks
like they took elements of slang out of the London
Sourcebook completely at random:
PMFJ,
Chummer IMHO jander SWEUB :( half AK-98
wizzer and happening :D* up in :O-<- the warehouse
FUAGEK SNUPPLE tweed jacket HEFY? chummer,
=>8-# I was ROTFL!
And I don't even want to TALK about the decker
nuts who like to write in binary. (By the way, that last
emoticon is Uncle Sam after getting bit in the rear end
by a badger.)
But, all in all, I get some pretty good mail and,
hopefully, provide some half way decent answers to
SR questions. These questions range from simple inquiries..
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failed liver.
Well, that's about all for now and I'll leave you
with my top ten pet peeves about running a "viewer
interactive" Shadowrun web page. I'd like to thank everybody who has visited my page, E-Mailed me comments and threats, and made the game of Shadowrun
one of the best damn roleplaying systems on the face
of the earth.
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The run requires an extreme amount of finesse, professionalism, and grace. On the other hand, an extraction at an illegal chemical lab defended by a contingent of mercenaries may require that the runners rent
a Panzer and learn how to use heavy weapons if they
wish to survive. Even performing legwork for these differing runs would require a change in the way a runner
may normally conduct themselves. If research for the
Renraku run requires that they meet with a guy at Chez
Rico then the runners better not be brazen and defensive or the guy they're talking with may call up Renraku
collect and tell the head of security that there are a
couple of punks sniffing for info. Likewise, for the merc
run the first acceptable action when meeting with a
contact may be to punch him in the face lest he think
your some kind of wussy negotiator trying to sweet talk
some information out of him. Hell, he may want the
PC to try to floor him before hell start talking.
A GMs job is to make sure the runners know which
mood is currently active and when one mood changes
to another. After meeting with the guy at Chez Rico the
runners may learn that they have to meet with some
guy named Philly The Stink who works at a bar called
Bash In Your Goddamned Head. If the runners are
smart theyll stop home and trade their Tres Chic and
their Lightfire for an armor jacket and an SMG.
Knowing the mood of a run also helps a lot in
designing adventures in the first place. If I know Im
going to write a Nasty Extraction I can more easily
center my thoughts on the subject of large guns, mean
people, and lots of violence. Once you give a run a
theme; like Elite Raid, Professional Kidnapping,
Adrenaline Contraband; the runs almost write themselves.
Below are a few of the general moods which tend
to permeate my shadowruns. Enjoy.
Nasty: These runs involve meeting, dealing with,
and fighting a lot of really mean, nasty, disgusting
people. Usually nobody wants to negotiate, preferring
to fight out the simplest argument instead. The locations involved are usually drunkard bars, makeshift
combat arenas, broken buildings, etc. The environment
usually involves incessant red rain and foul smelling
fumes. Reputation usually doesnt mean a damn thing,
the only thing which really matters is how much muscle
and firepower you have. Loyalties are rare and
backstabbing is frequent. NPCs tend to be large, heavily
modified and armored, sluggish, and deadly. Nasty runs
frequently generate heavy casualties on both the PC
and NPC side.
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23
Humiliate
Implement
Infiltration
Information
Instigate
Intelligence
Jam
Kidnapping
Legal
Manipulate
Messenger
Passive
Please
Poisoning Prank
Redirect
Raid
Recovery
Rescue
Robbery
Sabotage
Scout
Search
Shaft
Slam
Slap
Suicide
Support
Terror
Theft
Topple
Tracking
Transport
Vanishing
Weapons
Wipeout
Magical Theories
Recently I was working on a computer program
which, if I ever complete it, would contain just about
every bit of information on every weapon, critter, vehicle, piece of cyberware, and spell in every Shadowrun
book ever created. Obviously I'd never be able to make
this program available on the web, it would violate every copyright in the book, I'm simply constructing it for
my own use in the hopes that it will make me a more
efficient GM. It couldn't possibly make me any less
efficient.
In any case, I was working on my program, typing in spells, when I suddenly realized that a few of the
rules regarding Mana and Physical based combat spells and some of their elemental effects
24
age, the damage is transferred to the body itself. Likewise, when you damage somebody with a physical spell
it shows in the aura.
2. If you're hit with a Mana based combat spell
with elemental effects you get to use your armor to
resist the elemental effects. If this spell is Physical,
you don't.
Wouldn't firing a Firebolt at that guy in the security armor just set his head on fire?
25
target's cyber eye? I still probably wouldn't let him because when the target obtained that cyber eye he paid
essence for it which made it part of his integral body.
What does all this mean for the Object Resistance Table?
Fluidity. I don't think a Dodge Scoot and a Panzer
should rate anywhere near each other on the Object
Resistance scale. The Panzer would probably have an
off the scale rating as would an entire building being
targeted with a Ram spell. Does this mean Wrecker
would be virtually useless against a Panzer? Most definitely. If the spell could talk it would say: "You want me
to do WHAT?", a question the spell caster would not
be able to answer because he doesn't know the first
thing about a Panzer. What if the spellcaster DESIGNED the Panzer? No problem. To him the Panzer
wouldn't appear all that complex. But, at the same time,
some Shaman from the sticks who has never even
seen a Panzer before could blow out a window as easily as the next person using a normal combat spell.
Windows aren't that hard to comprehend. But isn't a
living creature complex? Yes, but the spell caster would
probably be a living creature as well and would have a
decent understanding as to what life is.
Well, I'm out of cigarettes and it is now four in the
morning. Time to call it quits for tonight. I'll probably
follow up this article next week with more elaboration.
Stay tuned.
Bovine Bombardment
This week Im going to spend a little bit of time
talking about cows. Im sure, if youve GMd, you have
(or at least been tempted to) drop a cow on one or
more of your PCs. Im sure there are even a few GMs
out there who are calculating the physics necessary to
loft a cow the size of Seattle into space so you can not
only take care of the PCs, but all the idiotic results of
their petty existence as well (i.e. fortified apartments
they never leave, cyberdecks coated in Orichalcum,
motorcycles equipped with SAM tubes, etc.)
The main reason Ive chosen cows as this weeks
discussion topic is because Ive recently encountered
an bit of frightening, reality based cow information which
I believe everybody should know, lest they be crushed
or otherwise killed by a ton of bovine muscle and flesh.
My concern arises from a news story E-mailed to
me by a variety of individuals concerning the inadvertent bombing of a Japanese trawler by a
group of irresponsible, cow wielding Russians.
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Cows Away!
Earlier this year, the dazed crew of a Japanese
Trawler were plucked out of the Sea of Japan clinging
to the wreckage of their sunken ship. Their rescue,
however, was followed by immediate imprisonment
once authorities questioned the sailors on their ship's
loss. They claimed that a cow, falling out of a clear
blue sky, had struck the trawler amidships, shattering
it's hull and sinking the vessel within minutes.
They remained in prison for several weeks, until
the Russian Air Force reluctantly informed Japanese
authorities that the crew of one of its cargo planes had
apparently stolen a cow wandering at the edge of a
Siberian airfield, forced the cow into the plane's hold
and hastily taken off for home. Unprepared for live
cargo, the Russian crew was ill-equipped to manage a
now rampaging cow within its hold. To save the aircraft
and themselves, they shoved the animal out of the cargo
hold as they crossed the Sea of Japan at an altitude of
30,000 feet.
So there you have it. A innocent, confused cow
brutally kidnapped and then thrust into the ozone when
the kidnappers found it too difficult to handle. Now,
from this story we may conclude that, hey, it was a
single cow and an isolated accident. I mean, how much
damage could one cow do? Such an act of bombing
would have been futile if the target had been, say, the
South Korean army.
Well, thats how I felt: Until I received an
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Getting Hurt
You feel a burning flash run through your body
and your vision is filled with a million tiny splatters of
blood as most of the vessels in your eyes simultaneously explode. You try to scream but all that manifests is a horrid gurgle as your lungs also fill with blood,
bubbling up to your mouth and running down your chin.
Red fluid also leaks from beneath your finger nails and
a vein in your wrist pops free of the skin, writing and
twisting and spraying gore. Then the burning fades and
your heart rate calms but still pumps hard to replace
the fluids lost through your wounds. You've been nailed
with a Power Bolt....a Power Bolt that only did serious
damage.
Be it by bullet, car wreck, IC or spell every runner
is going to get hurt. Unfortunately the definition of "hurt"
tends to elude a lot of PCs and gamemasters. A runner doesn't care about the Serious damage because
they say they're "tough". Well guess what, buddy, tough
doesn't help you when fifty percent of your body is covered with first degree burns.
While the Condition Monitor is a wonderful way
of keeping track of exactly how far a character has to
go before they're dead it does a crappy job at giving
you any clue as to what state the character is in before
he gets there. Sure there's the modifiers but it's not as
if the character gets shot, is given his plus two, and is
suddenly unable to do everything as well as they could
a moment before. Light damage may mean you got
the tip of your trigger finger sliced off. Moderate damage may mean a bullet just shattered your elbow.. Serious damage may mean somebody just smashed both
of your hips with a sledge hammer. And Deadly damage, well, we all know what that means. If you just went
by the Condition Monitor the guy with the smashed
hips would take his plus three, get up, and mosey on his way.
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Random Thoughts
This week I'm devoting the content of my Corner
entry to a few of the many random Shadowrun related
thoughts which roam my mind but aren't well formed
enough to build an entire article around. And for those
of you who may think I'm doing this just so I can get
out of the serious work involved in writing a coherent,
meaningful essay....you're right.
1: If I ever hear another player say "I hit him"
during melee combat I'm going to scream, take all of
their karma, and shove it in a dark uncomfortable place.
"Hit him" doesn't tell me anything. Be creative, for God
sakes.
2: The same goes for "I shoot him".
3: Just once I'd like to hear a character running
through the sewers say: "You, know what? I'm really
getting tired of the smell of shit...."
4: The first player who announces they are buying Chapstick for their chapped lips get's a billion points
of karma. Same goes for Oder Eaters.
5: It would be nice, just once, to meet a Street
Samurai who has a collection of antiquated Buddy Holly
45s. (For you kids who have never seen a 45, they
look kinda like CDs only they're black and a bit bigger
and don't require the use of a laser in order to listen to
them.)
6: Lesson Number One: You will never, ever BEAT
Renraku.
7: I've never been a big fan of Shadowrunized
profanity. I know it was created in order to keep the
parent groups from going nuts but, hell, most foul words
have been around for centuries and I see no reason
why they wouldn't have survived into the 21st century.
So fuck it.
8: Every time you use a sniping rifle you
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that none of the PCs have even a half way decent electronics skill so you write up a run during which the PCs
run into a bunch of complex electronic boxes they must
manipulate if they are to succeed in the mission. In
other words, create a shadowrun in which the PCs will
outright FAIL if they do not possess the required skill.
A run where a firearms of 22 wouldn't do them any
good because THERE'S NOTHING TO SHOOT AT.
It's best to begin utilizing this technique by slowly introducing it into runs in a way that, yeah, the runners won't
get their butts kicked if they don't have the skill, but the
run will be noticeably more difficult. Hopefully they will
perceive this as a hint sent special delivery from the
GM. A hint that, in future runs, they won't get the fifty
grand upon completion, or even get out alive, if they
don't have the skill.
Another benefit of this method is that, instead of
raising their firearms from a 10 to an 11, the PCs will
have to divert the karma into other skill areas. It may
actually be a good idea to begin introducing the need
for a more diverse group of skills BEFORE the runners
begin to really kick ass in the interest of slowing their
"progress".
Blasts From The Past
When a PC begins to approach a certain degree
of skill they may also acquire an aura of smugness
and complacency as a result of their success, if they
weren't like this already. They just keep cruising along,
getting good runs, kicking various NPC's around, and,
sooner and later, become somewhat comfortable with
the idea that nobody can touch them. This is an excellent time for the GM to have Renreku show up at their
front door, inquiring with attack choppers and machine
guns as to what the runners did with the data they stole
about a year back.
What I'm saying is: Make the PC's the prey for
once. Now it may seem like such an action requires
that the runners simply fight off the invading force,
which they could do if they were good, and then get on
with their lives. Not quite so. Do you think Renreku
isn't going to try again, this time with bigger guns and
bigger people and, perhaps, a nice missile targeted at
the runner's dwelling? The idea is to make things so
rough on the runners that they're forced to flee underground, abandon some of their equipment, and divert
energies which would have previously been used to
make themselves level 12 firearms experts and owners of various MP Laser systems into the act of simply
staying alive.
Rule Manipulations
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Mentoring
Mentoring is when a powerful PC takes under their
wing a fledgling character of similar archetype and
assists them in advancing their new character and, most
of all, helps them survive. This may involve the donation of cash but, if I ever used it, would also involve the
transfer of karma. Now this is a bit more complicated
then simply saying "Hey, kid, here's two points." What
it represents is an amount of time during which the
powerful PC trained his underling in whatever skill the
karma is to be used for. The older PC doesn't advance
his skill because he's simply showing the newer PC
what he already knows. The catch is that the skill being taught to the lower level PC can't be more than two
thirds that of the better PC. In other words, a PC with a
Electronics skill of 6 can only train somebody until their
level reaches a 4. Mentoring doesn't necessarily have
to take place between really good and less skilled PCs.
Two more advanced PCs are more than welcome to
do the same thing.
Retirement
Yes, it's the dreaded "R Word". C'mon
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Powerless
A little story:
It began as a simple run. The characters were
new, so I decided to give them an easy one: A simple
kidnapping. The location was a nightclub, large and
lightly patrolled. The target was the MC of an small trid
awards ceremony. In order to add some spice, and to
introduce the new characters to a more aggressive form
of gamemastering, I introduced into the scenario a
group of runners who were far better trained and
equipped than the PCs and who had the same target. I
won't go into the details but, by the time it was over,
the NPCs had the target, and the PCs had one of the
NPC team's members.
Ok, it wasn't quite over. The PCs knew their
Johnson wasn't going to give them drek for kidnapping
a low level mage when what he really wanted was Mr.
Kepler, a high level trideo producer. To save time, I
had the NPCs contact the PCs and arrange a trade.
Perhaps I should go into some detail regarding the NPC team. First of all, they're good.
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to his discredit, written up a character who didn't believe in negotiation, never yielded, and never knuckled under. To continue:
The negotiations lasted, in game and real time,
for two hours, during which time the PC refused to
budge when Dimples A: Threatened to have her decker
forward the surveillance footage of the kidnapping, with
Dimples and her group edited out of course, to the
police. B: Explained to PC runner that, even if he made
no money, completing a run would build his reputation.
C: Informed the PC that she had the power to squash
him like a bug. It ended with the PC breaking off negotiations and leaving the club.
Actually it ended when one of Dimple's buddies
blew a six inch hole through the PC's chest as he walked
out the front door.
This was the first time I outright executed a PC.
But I can't say I feel the least bit bad about it. Why?
Picture this: Two people enter a gun fight, one armed
with a Panther assault cannon and wearing military
armor and the other armed with a Streetline and wearing only boxer shorts. What the PC did was the equivalent of taking his Streetline and ordering the Panther
wielder to drop his weapon. The Panther person would
have blown him away simply for being an idiot, which
is exactly what Dimples did.
I'm sure at least a few readers are thinking, "Well,
if the PC was faster and stronger then he could have
survived." All I have to say to that is: Wake the fuck
up. There will ALWAYS be somebody faster and better
then a PC. The GM should see to that. As a PC develops the number of people better than him lessens, but
never quite goes away. Too many gamemasters allow
PCs to waltz around with a high and mighty attitude,
living out the lives of flawed characters who's attitudes
and actions are going to eventually get them killed.
This is really messed up. If anything's going to kill a
PC it should be a situation which pushed their skills to
the limit and, unfortunately, over the edge. A character
should never die because they're a screw up. And that's
exactly what the PC in my example was: A screw up.
He was in no position to do what he did and he paid the
ultimate price for his actions. Dimples was trying to be
nice, she was trying to teach him a lesson, a lesson on
the value of knowing when to give in to a superior force.
The PC insulted her by being such a moron and presented himself as a disgrace to the shadowrunning profession. Ego played into it too, but ego COULD play
into it because, let's face it, she had the right to have
one. She'd been running for years, having built herself
up from absolutely nothing into a respected professional. Why should she have to put up with crap
from some idiotic newbie? Sure, she could have
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Character
I tend to catch a lot of flack from gamemasters
and fellow players when the rare chance arises for me
to create a and actual playing character. "Damnit,
Branson (my real name)", they say "I could have written up ten PCs in the amount of time it takes you to
decide what rating your Street Etiquette skill is going
to be.". Well, gee, sorry, I guess. Perhaps I do take the
process of character creation a bit too seriously, but it
also appears that there are a lot of players out there
who don't take character creation seriously enough. I
run in to a lot of "My guy sucks" comments, not necessarily meaning that their skills aren't up to par, but usually referring to the fact that the character they spent a
whopping ten minutes drawing up isn't fun to play. Then
there are also a lot of the "forever a sammy" types who
say they can't have fun playing anything else, probably because they never put any effort into trying to
create something unique.
In any case, the following is a character I created
followed by details describing the logic behind just about
every one of his attributes, pieces of equipment, etc.
My goal is to show how, through the investment of a
little bit of time and thought, you can come up with a
fleshed out and interesting character.
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The character:
Attic - Elf Physical Adept
ATTRIBUTES
Body: 5 Char: 5
Quic: 6 Inte: 4
Stre: 5 Will: 4
Reaction: 5 + 2D6
SKILLS
Armed Combat:
4/6 (edged weapons)
Unarmed Combat: 1
Firearms:
4
Stealth:
2
Athletics:
3
Street Etiquette: 5
Negotiations:
3
STARTING CASH
$80
Ok, now for the comments:
Streetname
ADEPT POWERS
Armed Combat +4 (Gesture Geas)
Increased Reflexes +1
Mystic Armor Level 2
Freefall Level 2
ALLERGIES
Sunlight (Moderate)
LIFESTYLE
Low Class (1 Month)
WEAPONS
Knife x4
Sword x2
Stainless Steel Pipe x2
Ares Crusader MP x2 (200 Rounds Normal Ammo
+ Holster)
Colt Manhunter x2 (100 Rounds Normal Ammo
+ Holster)
Defensive Grenades x4
ARMOR
Real Leather
Form Fitting Level 3
Forearm Guards
STUFF
Ordinary Clothing
Music Playback Unit (5 Chips)
Pocket Computer (40MP)
Micro Transceiver
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Most street names, in some way, reflect the attitude of the individual it titles. Attic's name, however,
ties in with his history more than his disposition. Attic
has already tried his hand at running, beginning three
years ago at the age of 18, and, for the most part did
fairly well. Unfortunately he also discovered the existence of drugs during this period of time and, quite rapidly, became an addict of a variety of substances. On
the street he came to be known as The Addict or, more
simply, Addict. Attic later checked himself into a rehabilitation clinic and, somewhere along the line, Addict
became Attic. He loves to make up elaborate, melodramatic stories about the history of his name. ("I am
known as Attic because my mind is where the bats of
my consciousness dwell.")
Attributes
None of Attic's attributes really stand out. Many
were probably higher before his addictions wore them
away. Attic was very lucky to emerge from his drug
laden world with his magic attribute in tact. In fact, it
wasn't until he entered rehab and met up with his room
mate, Devon, that he even realized he was magically
active. Devon, an adept himself who had all but destroyed his magical ability with drugs, was Attic's first
"instructor", training him how to use, recognize, and
respect his power.
Skills
Attic is very good with bladed weapons, so good
that, under normal circumstances, the gamemaster
would probably be a little agitated with his skill level.
But there are several catches to the use of his adept
powers. Before entering rehab and discovering
his magic Addict was still pretty good with swords
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Stuff
Attic's dress still gives off the impression of
druggieness, which he's found has been beneficial in
street situations. Although he looks rather runnerish
when he has his swords and pipes hanging off his back
he still doesn't portray the image one might attach to
the profession. In situations where his shabby appearance might be adverse he can usually reassure everyone of his professionalism by utilizing his street knowledge and good old fashion charisma.
I'm sure at least one person is wondering what
he's doing with a Global Positioner and a pocket computer. First, I have to confess something. Technically,
this character only started with the 500ny granted to
him by the priority chart. In violation of the rules I rolled
for his starting money, which came out to 12,000ny,
and then spent it during character creation. But I did
this for a few good reasons. First of all, 500ny doesn't
buy you anything, so the 12 grand would have been
spent immediately upon starting the game anyway.
Second, this character would never have that much
money just laying around. He may have gone through
rehab but having that much cash to blow on anything
you want (like, perhaps, drugs) is a bad thing. I did it
for a noble roleplaying reason and I don't believe it
drastically messed anything up. When Attic returned
home his first priority was to get rid of the little bit of
money he had. The positioner and the computer simply represent two frivolous purchases he made for this
reason.
The repelling kit and the transceiver were more
thought out. The repelling kit ties in with his Athletics
and his need to get close and the transceiver was still
around from his old shadowrunning days. You can't run
if you don't know what's going on.
Attic purchased the gems and minerals as another way of getting rid of some of his cash. But it also
assured him that, if he absolutely needed money, he
could sell the goods for real money. This extra step is
intended as a deterrent to going right out and buying
drugs. Not many dealers take lumps of gold as payment.
While in rehab Attic passed time by attempting
to play a small flute given to him by Devon. He never
was that good at it but still enjoys whistling out his own
little tunes from time to time. If he ever develops a
centering skill, this flute will probably play a part in it.
Finally, there's the cat, a small, grey, skinny little thing
Attic found rooting through garbage in an alley near
his apartment as he walked home after leaving
rehab. The cat took a liking to him and now Attic
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In The Mood
I've received a few E-Mail messages from
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Contact
I'm going to tell a little story, whether you like it or
not, about a recent Friday night Philadelphia adventure I had involving a broken down Grand Marques, a
homeless man named Erving, and the American Automobile Association. This story may have very little relevance to the world of Shadowrun, but I don't care.
It all started with a phone call from a friend living
in up state New York I hadn't heard from for a very
long time and, having nothing better to do but write
stuff for my page over the weekend, I decided to drive
up for a visit. The time was about eight p.m. and I
figured I could make the drive in a little under three
hours, barring the high possibility that I would receive
my token speeding ticket. (Cops come from as far as
Nebraska just so they can ticket me. I believe it's some
kind of contest.) In any case I grabbed some stuff,
stopped by a drug store for a Cherry Coke and some
cigarettes, and walked to my car.
I should probably mention the fact that I live in
downtown Philadelphia. If I was any more downtown
than I already am I would be living in the mayor's office. And if you've ever lived in the dead center of a
major metropolitan area you know the significance of
a Friday night. If you haven't I'll lay out the general
mood for you: Chaos. During the week everybody works their nine to five jobs and goes home
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physical support and finally asked him, as a final favor, if he could assist me in moving my car off of the
road and into a nearby parking space which had recently opened up. He was more than happy to assist
and when I confided with him that I was going to simply give up, leave the car for the night, go home, and
call AAA again in the morning he informed me that I'd
better put everything in the trunk or somebody was
sure to mess with it. "Even the scraps of paper," he
said "because somebody's gonna wonder what's underneath them." Together we emptied out the vehicle.
With the car empty, the trunk closed, and the
Club deployed on the steering wheel I asked him if
there's any way I could repay him. He was very straight
forward, asking if I could give him a few bucks so he
could get a beer or two. Unfortunately my cash situation wasn't too good at this point in time and I offered
to get him a few beers from my apartment, which was
a few blocks away, and whatever change I could find.
He said that was ok and together we began to walk to
my dwelling. About half way there I stopped and asked
him to wait in an alley for me to return.
Rule number four: Never let them know where
you live. A very, very important rule. I admit he was,
essentially, a bum and probably harmless. But you
never know. You see, you can accidentally reveal your
name, your past, and your emotions and usually get
away with it, even if the individual you revealed them
to has adverse goals. In situations like this one the
individual usually doesn't have the resources to effectively use this information to screw you over. But giving somebody your address is like giving them the dictionary to your life. Every part of you, every skeleton in
the closet, every evil you have committed, everything
you own, and everything you are exists in your home
in some way, shape, or form. And all they have to do is
kick in the door to get to them.
I stopped by my apartment, grabbed a few beers,
some spare change, and a box of cigarettes, threw them
into a bag and returned to the alley. Erving was still
there, and was actually surprised when I returned. He
didn't expect anything less than me screwing HIM over.
I didn't realize the perception of the possibility of getting the shaft was a two way street. I handed him the
bag and asked him if he could keep an eye on my car
for me. He nodded and we were about to part when I
decided to try something that may sound familiar, even
funny, to anyone who has ever seen this line in a movie
or used it in a role-playing game. I don't even know
why I said it, perhaps just to see if it would work:
"You don't know me. I never gave you anything.
And if you remember this I promise to help you
out some time in the future."
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People Production
If you'll permit me a moment of egocentricity I'd
just like say that I personally believe I have a pretty
damn good NPC collection. Not NPC sheets, mind you,
but actual living and breathing people which reside in
slumber in a charcoal notebook until such time as I
release them into the fantasy world. For those who
might have wondered where they all come from I provide the following step by step description of the thought
process I use when designing my non player characters. For those who don't care, go watch Oprah.
Step One: Pick Up A Publication With A Bunch
Of Nifty Words In It
My favorite are music catalogues, my most recent name source being the Discovery magazines I
get from the BMG Music Club (motto: "serve you now,
screw you later"). Other good sources are video catalogues, text books, weird WWW pages, car manuals,
Sears advertisements, and anything else containing
words and names like "Diebold", "Hellground",
"Bloomdido", and "Shania". Type all of these up in a
long list, not stopping until you get at least thirty of
them. Congratulations, you now have names of your
NPCs.
Step Two: Look For Names That Compliment
Each Other
Certain words are simply made to be with one
another. Diebold and Hellground make an excellent
couple, Diebold and Bloomdido do not. When creating
groups with members of diverse professions this rule
can be broken, although it is rare one will find a "Throg"
and a "Muffin Seed" standing side by side. Your list
should slowly clump into smaller groups of four or five
names each. As for the left overs, make them into a
group anyway because an NPC is a terrible thing to
waste.
Step Three: Go For A Walk In A Densely
Populated Area
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of somebody innocent.
In the world of fantasy role-playing it's frighteningly easy to forget too much of reality, not the reality
of technology and time and physics and so on, but the
reality of human emotions. I understand that not having to deal with this reality is part of the pleasure playing an alter ego and, perhaps, my opinions on violence
and murder within the fantasy world are off base. But
I'll tell you straight up that the murderous character
does not last long with me at the helm.
Now I've read the articles defending violent roleplaying actions as being a cathartic experience and
that it helps the individual work out their aggressions
in a fantasy world as opposed to reality. I believe this is
only half true. Sure it allows them to blow off some
steam by hammering away at imaginary enemies with
a large firearm but, at the same time, I firmly believe
that in most role-playing situations, under the direction
of many gamemasters, it cauterizes the player to the
point that they commit to such actions without really
thinking about exactly what that action entails. More
often than not these actions and their results can be
summed up in one word: Murder.
I've always divided the term "murder" into two
categories: Guilty and innocent. The two categories
depend on the morality of the victim of a murder (or
the target, if they have yet to be killed), not the individual committing the act. These categories are also
independent of laws and are based upon the perception of the murderer in regards to their target. When
referring to a target as being "guilty" the word "murder", as used as a verb, is usually replaced with something a little less ominous, as "murder" is generally
associated with doing something bad. If the target is
perceived as being guilty then the individual committing the act commonly referred to as "murder" isn't really doing anything wrong. If the target is "innocent",
however, the player should have at least a momentary
debate with him or herself over how to act, react, and
deal with the situation.
As for the exact definitions of who is "guilty" and
"innocent", that depends on the individual. In the world
of Shadowrun it's easy to have a character run under
the "everybody's guilty" philosophy. Any player who decides on this philosophy should take a course in creativity. I personally am sick to death of cold as steel,
built a wall between him and his emotions, one hundred percent professional shadowrunners. They always
fall back on the stupid "it's his job" or "he can't feel
remorse" lines which, in my opinion, means the players either can't or don't want to deal with the wonderfully multifaceted and gloriously flawed human
mind. It should not be possible for a character to
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