User:BloodLibrarian
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| Reddit Username | [1] |
|---|---|
| Timezone | GMT-4 |
| Country | USA |
| GM Level | 1 |
| GMP Tracker | [2] |
I am myself, but what are you?
Characters
Paragon -- manipulation mage w/ 4 manipulation spells.
Metaplots
Declining the Meet
I will do my best not to pick characters who are blatantly unsuited to the job and likely to decline (e.g. if your character lists themselves as a pacifist, don't expect to be picked for jobs involving wetwork). If you feel that your character honestly wouldn't participate in the job because of a conflict of interest/morality/not enough cash/whatever else after meeting with the Johnson, you are perfectly free to refuse to take the job - however, this may come with Consequences(TM) depending on the prospective employer, the exact nature of the job, how gracefully you declined the offer, whether or not they were planning on betraying you, etc.
Thwarting/Derailing the Run
A fun alternative to outright declining the job (because that means you don't get to enjoy the run!) is the time-tested option of betrayal - screwing over the Johnson is one of the most classic scenarios in the game, and is always encouraged if you think that you can get away with it without getting yourself or the rest of the team killed. If you're planning to take this route, please try your best to discuss it with the rest of the group first to make sure that everyone is okay with it - at the very least, send me a PM with your intent so I know what to expect and can react accordingly. With that said, please don't take it as license to derail the run without a good reason and ruin everyone else's fun; the game is a collaborative effort, not an excuse for your character to just go off and do whatever they want at the rest of our expense.
Setting
Burn bright Chummer. the Sixth world is a place where corporations have taken over, reaching an end state in a game of corporate dominion. I run Shadowrun games to tell stories to the players. Tragic Stories of people who were ground to dust. Stories of fires rising. Stories of determination and love. In these stories, the fires of change roar, as runners can cause change: For the better, sometimes.
In the end, the very nature of the Sixth world is painted with misery and uncertainty, but I like to think that in the end, there is comfort to know that there is light in the darkness. Runners, as flawed as they are, are part of this light in the darkness. Burn bright, and fade away but in our memories.
The OPFOR are people. they will fight and die, and they will die hard. Sometimes they might ask for mercy, but is it really worth exposing yourself, omae?
By the words of Sarcarian, (who gracefully let me copy paste his style sheet)
"If you haven't caught on yet, the Sixth World is generally a pretty dark place - it's a very unfair world where bad things happen to good people for no real reason, the deck is constantly stacked against you, and most of the time your opponents aren't even playing by the same rules. Conversely, it's also a world of adventures and future-tech and literal magic, where sometimes the good guys manage pull off amazing feats of strength and cunning through which they gain enough of an edge win the day. Both of these depictions of the world are equally valid, and most of the time runs will tend to fall somewhere between the two. Verisimilitude (the appearance of being true or real) is important in storytelling - I try to have things be as internally consistent as I can, and I'll expect you to have your characters act in a way that makes sense within the context of the setting. This doesn't mean don't have fun with it, just try your best to keep in mind the sort of world that these people live in."
Consequences
Actions have consequences, and if one plays stupid games they should generally expect to win stupid prizes - that is to say that, while I'm always going to be on the side of the players and root for them to achieve their objectives, I'm also not going to hold your hands throughout the process and treat you with kid gloves. A real victory, especially in a setting like Shadowrun, should feel both deserved and earned, otherwise there's little point to it; thus, the chance of failure will always be present. However, just because the world is unfair doesn't mean that I am - if your characters fail, it should be because of their own poor decisions or just plain old bad luck. I don't really care for gotchya moments or unwinnable situations, and there will always be at least a glimmer of hope that victory can be snatched from the jaws of defeat.
Game Theme
In addition to the mission type (theft, extraction, wetwork, etc.), each run post will include a game theme - including a piece of music - to give the players an idea of what sort of general tone to expect. The theme could be specific to the job, or part of an ongoing series (these are not metaplots, but thematic elements or even NPC which may carry over from job to job). A few examples:
- Life on These Mean Streets: These are typically street-level jobs around the low or medium threat level. They depict the everyday trials of criminal life in the Sixth World, and can range anywhere from "just doing this to pay rent" sort of drek jobs, to feel-good "light a candle in the darkness" hooding jobs, but either way expect the pay to be a bit lower and karma a bit higher on these ones.
- What We Do in the Shadows: As a contrast to the above, these are typically also street-level jobs, but ones that specifically explore the shadow community and the various characters that populate it. They often explore the darker elements of the Sixth World, and will frequently include content warnings if I feel that it is "R-rated" enough. Expect slightly above average pay but less karma here.
- The Fire Rises: I expect and design a "straightforward" assault of a corporate facility, with the possible option of a loud or quiet insertion and exit. Typically higher threat jobs.
GMP Tracker
PROTOCONTACT "RELIQUARY"
Profession=E-Ghost
Short Blurb Nameless Faceless? Seeker Connection=?
Archetype=Networking
Location=Matrix Metatype=E-Ghost AwakenedEmergedOrMundane=Emerged/(N/A) Gender=M PreferredPayment=Pay Data HobbiesOrVice=? PersonalLife=? Faction=?
Overview
RENRAKU E-GHOST “Reliquary” is a 120 year old guy who looks to be in his forties thanks to life extension programs. He had his contract ended a month ago through the ambition of his lessers. Back in his hayday, he was one of the higher ups involved in the day-to-day operations of SCIRE, the Renraku Arcology in Seattle before the events that lead to the Crash 2.0 Having survived the fall of the arcology as one of the members of the Network as a comatose patient during a world-wide global infrastructure collapse
Despite his massive failings in the eyes of the corporation, he got a break. After more than a year of unconsciousness, he returned to the realm of the living a changed man. He was put away, given a new identity and pushed, towards an easy position in a place where he was put to live the rest of his life far away from any old projects he could damage, but close to something he could build. Reliquary remembers building a subsidiary from the ground up, the uplifting of metal and paper from the foundations of the earth without having to worry about greed from above or ambition from below. Then, he awakened as a Technomancer, and everything changed on the inside, but nothing really did on the outside. He kept his operations up, scared to death that he would get picked up and drop kicked into a veritable hell. Scarred from the experience of having an alien intelligence root around in his head and make a home, he tried to suppress his ability through any method he could, but he was already too ‘wared up from the Renraku arcology, too deep in the path to go any further without giving up the animus. His child woke up as a Technomancer too.
He kept the balancing act for a long time, right up until something happened, and he fought. He died on his feet, cut down by red Samurai for a crime he did not commit. Sometimes it was with his kin, othertimes he died with a curse on his breath for his flesh and blood, or he died alone.
This is what Reliquary remembers. The story is inconsistent every time, the names and details change and the details initially line up, but it’s not him in the end, just someone else's memories that he stole, or something that he fabricated up and the resonance was all too happy to twist into the matrix. It doesn’t make any sense.
It doesn't have to, he just has a job as a johnson. This guy's original name was erased, scorched to the bedrock of the foundation and as forgotten as forgotten could be. Underneath all the layers, there is hate. Maybe it came from the corporate executive who worked to knife their superiors or to shake down their underlings for nuyen as part of every effort to keep their sweet digs despite the assault from all sides by his inhuman corporate kin. Perhaps it's from some hapless, nonsensical winge on a system he partakes with a silent protest on his mind.he always hated the corporate structure, and ade the most of what he had despite this moral protest.
It’ll be buried deep. He survived the fall of SCIRE. Carefully picked for his neural compatibility with a fearsome intelligence and having the will-to-power to survive that blasted hellscape and walk out long enough to have his brain burned by the Crash 2.0, and then wake up and walk away from that too. Whatever originally drove him, is burned away and replaced with this infinitesimal seed of hate: hate against himself, hate against his corporate kin, hate against whichever corporation that had him murdered while jacked into the matrix. It’s usually Renraku, but on a rare few occasions, its some other corporation.