User:Mursey
CHARACTERS AND PLAYER STYLE
A quick-glance at the number of runs my Black Trenchcoat characters have compared to my Pink Mohawk and Mirrorshades would make it very clear that my preferences veer very heavily towards the Black Trenchcoat side of the spectrum. I like risk and jeopardy and the sense that if I am not on my toes both as a player or a character, the consequences can be most terrible indeed. That being said, sometimes my brain isn't up to that or I just want a nice, social, casual, crazy, zanny pink mohawk run where I don't have to worry about whether or not I remembered to clean my astral signature or left DNA evidence behind. I don't get into that mood very often, but I have characters available for it just in case I do.
HIGHS AND SEMI-PRIMES/BLACK TRENCHCOAT
Zenith, while Shine is stapling his adbominal wound: "Are those strictly necessary?" |
ROOKIES AND MEDIUMS/MOHAWKS & MIRRORSHADES
"No it's Shutdown. Shut. Down. I don't do that hacker StudlyCaps shit. I'm a professional. Call me ShutD0wn again and I'll make you shit your teeth." |
GM STYLE: CO-OPERATIVE CONFRONTATION.
STYLE SUMMARY:
I am definitely a black trench-coat GM. My goal is to challenge and entertain you, my players. I firmly believe that the greater the obstacles placed in your way the more satisfying your victory becomes. Most of my runs will eventually lean towards the higher threat levels, with a sprinkling of lower threat runs for variety. But for time being, until I hit GM level 3, mid to high threat level runs will be the norm.
Many of my runs will include darker themes while remaining well within the boundaries of the Shadowrun setting and the server rules (Benraku parlours, organ-running, meta-human trafficking, eating disorders, domestic violence etc.) These runs will include a potential trigger warning in the job listing on reddit.
Don't expect to “win” every run. I will never, ever, deliberately set up a run to fail, but if the dice (or your decisions) make things go bad, they go bad. I'm a firm believer in the concept of dramatic failures being just as awesome and character building as a spectacular success. The best stories are the disasters you walk away from rather than the cake-walks you can barely remember.
Remember, you can X-out at any time using the safety card system and if we approach a topic which makes you uncomfortable, just speak up or use the anonymous card system if you're not comfortable talking about it on an open channel. We'll turn it down a notch or two or fade to black for the scene. This doesn't provide a “get-out” clause if it looks like your character is about to be taken down in a hail of gunfire. But nobody wants to RP through a character or NPC being water-boarded if it makes them uncomfortable.
Extreme example, but you get what I mean.
SELECTING THE TEAM FOR A RUN:
I'll make some efforts to accommodate pink mohawk characters and players, but I'll preferentially select black trench coat and mirror shades characters over pink ones for my runs. I more or less automatically consider SURGE characters to be pink mohawk regardless of how the player tends to play them.
Three categories of runners are problematic picks for runs of a threat level lower than semi-prime: Mages who can routinely summon spirits of Force 7+, soak tanks, and snipers. I will never select more than one of these for any run of high threat or less, as their presence on a run can vastly reduce the effective threat level of the opposition. If a single characters constitutes more than one of these problem picks in a single package, they'll never see my table except on semi-primes and above.
Aside from the two caveats above, character selection will be almost entirely IC. I'll select the team based on the Johnson's needs, prejudices, and budget. So having the largest or even the most appropriate dice rolls will not necessary land you the job. Especially if the Johnson is on a tight budget or wants to establish ties with newcomers to the scene. Also, expect newer or less experienced Johnson's to make bad decisions regarding team composition. Dealing with the poor mixing of skill sets IC will be part of the challenge of the run.
Note that this may also mean that a particularly clueless Johnson (a Mr or Ms Smith) might pick a team that's entirely unsuited to the job. That's the life of a runner, omae.
THE MEET:
Please don't propose a character for a run if it looks as though it's a job the character in question won't take. Often though, you won't know if that's the case until you turn up to the meet. If you take a character to a meet and decline the job, there is a chance your character may gain negative street cred or notoriety if they glitch the delicate matter of declining the job.
If in-game time permits, you or your team-mates can IC propose a replacement character of yours be brought in the for run. If the Johnson deems the proposed replacement(s) suitable, then you are much less likely to lose rep or gain notoriety. If he doesn't, we can try to find a replacement player and character last minute on the boards or the team can take the job at the same level of risk, but split the reward between fewer runners. It's up to the remaining characters on the team at that point.
Note that this isn't a loop-hole that I'll permit players to meta-game for the purposes of bringing a different character on the run than the one the Johnson picked. If your character declines the run for a reason that seems suspect, I will most likely *not* allow you to replace the character with another one from your own stable and may ask that you use one of the communal server characters instead.
LEG WORK AND PLANNING:
A little bit of planning before a run will go a long way. It will be entirely possible to walk away from even a high threat run without a single box ticked on any of the runner's status tracks. But it will require decent planning and good communication between players and characters.
That said, not everyone enjoys the leg work and planning stage of a run to the same extent. Some players just like to wing it. I'll adapt to your desires as players as best I can. But if you try to improvise without a plan in a higher threat run, it'll make your run that much harder.
ASSUMED COMPETENCE AT THE TABLE:
If you have time to do something that needs to be done that requires no equipment (for example, cleansing your astral signature) I will often assume you do it even if you do not specifically say so. If you have a given piece of equipment you listed on your character sheet or on the character sheet of a team-mate at the start of a run (or you buy it "on camera" during a run) then I will assume you use it appropriately. If no-one has the piece of equipment in question on your character sheet, then clearly, you can't use it.
For example: If a member of the team owns a Tag Eraser and someone buys a candy bar while on a run, I'll assume the tag eraser has been used even if no-one specifically says so. However, if no-one has a Tag Eraser listed on their sheet, then you weren't able to erase the RFID tag. Congratulations, you are now walking around with a RFID tag in your pocket that will give away your position to anyone with the means and inclination to look.
WHEN THINGS GET NOISY:
I have eleven years of real-world (UK) police and military experience although I've now been a civilian for almost as long. Expect my NPCs to use a modicum of real-world tactics and problem solving skills appropriate to their threat level. Gangers on a milk-run or low threat run will do dumb shit that includes holding their weapons in a manner that looks cool, causes themselves soft tissue damage and vastly reduces their accuracy. But a Knight Errant SWAT team will use authentic real world tactical doctrines including insertion and infiltration tactics, surveillance, over-watch, over-lapping fire-arcs, suppressive fire, fire-by-movement etc. Remember, NPC's can have the Small Unit Tactics knowledge skill too.
I won't actively be trying to kill any of the PC's, but character death (or edge burning) will be increasingly likely on higher threat runs, in accordance with the GM standards for the Haven. If I run a prime or semi-prime, Burning Edge to survive character death will most likely not be an option.
Don't expect to “win” on every run. As I've already said I won't deliberately set you up to fail but on higher threat runs if you make a mistake or leave an opening, you can bet that HRT team is going to see it and pounce on it.
Remember that when we're in rounds, you don't get to have long conversations about what to do next (either IC or OOC). The rules say you get three or four words per combat round. I'm somewhat more flexible than that, but you'll need to be concise during communication in combat. Making a plan in advice really helps.
INFECTED:
If your character is infected, and you are at my table, be prepared for complications arising from your condition to appear when dramatically appropriate or when edge rolls are called for and failed. This can range from minor inconveniences to the potentially very dangerous, especially during daylight hours.
OOC TALK AND TABLE ETIQUETTE:
We play this game to be social. By means, chat and talk with one another OOC, but I'd prefer it if you kept the OOC banter to the roll 20 chat window. When a NPC is present I'll assume anything you say is being said in character unless you specify otherwise (I'll remind you of this in game). Even so, if you want to discuss how to rip off a particular NPC, the time to do that is before or after you meet them IC. Not while your character is standing in front of them (unless you do it through DNI, of course).
Which reminds me. If you are speaking in DNI, don't speak out loud. Use the chat window with the prefix "DNI" at the start of your message.
Don't discuss dice pools at the table when deciding who will perform a given task. When trying to ascertain who should take the lead on a given skill check, discuss it in-character rather than throwing OOC numbers around. That's not an invitation to discuss dice pools in the roll 20 chat or on discord or in PM's. Keep it in character. Your character doesn't know how many dice he has in his pool, and the other characters don't know either.
I encourage IC banter between player characters using the roll 20 chat. I only have one voice to speak with, and using roll 20 for IC inter-party party when I'm focused primarily on the actions of one character (during matrix and astral scenes for example) keeps you guys engaged in the session when you are not "on camera" and really adds to character development.
I am happy if you use the Roll 20 text chat function to talk OOC about anything except tactics, especially during those long, long combats when you are waiting for your initiative pass to come round again. Too much OOC voice chat during combat makes it difficult for people to keep track of what's going on and slows combat down to even more of a crawl It makes the run go so much faster and makes it less likely that the run will need to become a multi-session one. Especially at higher threat levels. This is entirely optional, but 100% recommended by your GM.
MURSEY'S RUN HISTORY
| Name | Date | Metaplot(s) Run is Part of | Threat Level | GM | Runners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borderline Ammunition | 16 May 2082 | ShadowHaven Shutdown | Medium | Mursey | Canter Gav Jacinto Will-o'-the-wisp Bland |
| Soirée | 2 May 2082 | Low to High | Mursey | Charon Babylon Fidem | |
| The Dodo's Had It's Day | 22 April 2082 | High | Mursey | Babylon Zenith Milliam | |
| Another Night In Hell | 14 April 2082 | Medium | Mursey | Mission Control Delphi Jowls | |
| Night Shopping | 5 April 2082 | Low | Mursey | Swerve Shy | |
| What Lies Beneath | 2 April 2082 | Medium | Mursey | Rougarou La Rapide Black Samurai Stargazer | |
| Blood Hounds | 28 March 2082 | Mid | Mursey | Canis Potato Black Samurai |