Cyberpunk 2020 v Shadowrun - Intro

Something I've been meaning to try for a while is creating similar characters in the top cyberpunk RPGs from the 80s.  Cyberpunk 2020 is getting noticed again thanks to Cyberpunk 2077 while Shadowrun recently had its sixth edition released.  Let's see how similar characters compare.

There are a few ground rules.  The first, no magic.  Cyberpunk 2020 does not have magic.  That means, all characters will be human,  There's just no getting around it.  Second, the characters have to be viable in both games.  That shouldn't be an issue, but some of the roles in 2020 don't quite work in Shadowrun.  Third, gear needs to be equivalent.  This is going to be the tough one.  I can't go by costs; the two games use a different base of reference.  Instead of going by costs, I'll be going by rough equivalence - a heavy pistol is a heavy pistol in both games.  The same goes with cybernetics; enhanced reflexes are done differently in the two games but are still enhanced reflexes.  Finally, core games only.  No supplements, at least mechanically.

What does that leave me?  My plan is to use ideas from cyberpunk novels.  Character types like the Street Samurai and the Hacker, both from Neuromancer, a combat driver, loosely based off Cowboy from Hardwired, a combat medic, like Nadia from Trauma Team, and possibly a Rocker, like Priss from Bubblegum Crisis.  Try to tell me either version of Bubblegum Crisis isn't cyberpunk.

Obviously, this will take some time.  Expect the first comparison to be the Street Samurai.  The concept is simple, street muscle with cybernetics.  Until then, chummers and choombas, keep your stick on the ice.

Friday, Lost in Translation continues at Psycho Drive-In.

Saturday, Lost in Translation can be found at The Seventh Sanctum.

Shadowrun Thoughts - Mr. Johnson and Chronic Backstabbing Syndrome

It's been quiet around here.  I hate summer.  And record heat and humidity.  It makes doing anything difficult, even thinking.  The heat and humidity just drain you of energy.  Summer sucks.

On to the meat of the post.  A recent thread over at RPG.net, "The worse tropes in modules/scenarios that new writers should really avoid", had me thinking.  Shadowrun and, to a lesser degree, Cyberpunk 2020, especially in published adventures, tended to have the PCs betrayed by their employer in one way or another.  It's not as bad as it used to be, but after the first betrayal, the players aren't going to trust anyone who hires them.  This is a problem.

Security in Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun - Part 3 - Example

It's been a couple of weeks, but here's how the security levels play out during a heist.  I'll assume a pure cyberpunk approach and point out where the magic from Shadowrun can make a difference.  If you need a refresher, check out parts 1 (the levels) and 2 (the responses).

Meet the crew, one I was going to use for a Shadowrun story that needs some work before I start.  Skater is the group's hacker; she uses skating metaphors to get past the Intrusion Countermeasures (or IC).  The Chrome Rainbow is the team's cybernetically enhanced combat expert, a street samurai if you will.  Hudson is the getaway driver, one with the car.  Tempest T. Pot, the team's face and dealing with a few personal issues.  And for Shadowrun, Datalore, a mage who uses detection spells.

The crew gets hired to break into a corporate facility to remove a MacGuffin that Mr. Johnson wants.  Mr. J has added a "no killing" clause to the contract, so the crew wants to get a better idea of what they're walking into.  Skater and Tempest, being the least likely to draw casual attention thanks to a low amount of cyber installed, are sent to the facility during an open house of job seekers.  Between the two of them, they make note of the security guards around, which are mainly the first level, obvious but lightly armed, the security cameras, and get copies of employee IDs to check later for security tags,  Skater and Tempest leave after spending the entire time under the watch of guards and trying to fit in, and report back to the rest of the crew.  In Shadowrun, Datalore stays back; the crew assumes that the corporation will have someone scanning the astral and mages are rare enough that one walking in will be noticed.

A day and a half later, the crew has a plan.  Mr. J has given a general location of his MacGuffin and everyone has less-than-lethal weapons like tasers and stun batons.  Skater has done some more homework online and has a map of the facility's grounds, including entrances.  She has also given the crew modified security access to use to get through doors.  The access won't last long, but they just need to get inside.  The door near the facility's parking lot responds to the stolen security access, and the crew enters.

The crew has a plan.  Skater and Datalore will go grab the MacGuffin while the rest of the team pretends to go after another target with the intent to fail.  They're not getting paid for stealing a second item.  Skater is prepped with the needed props, a copy of an IT work order.  Datalore will look at the work order from time to time.  Tempest, Chrome, and Hudson make their way through the facility, staying in touch with Skater and keeping close to exits and not going too much deeper.

Team False Intrusion eventually trip an alarm.  The security station sends out drones to locate the intruders, followed by several human guards a few metres back.  Without Skater to hack into security's radio encryption, Team False Insertion doesn't know that theyve been discovered.  However, that is part of the plan.  When the drones appear, Chrome throws one into a wall, guaranteeing the security control knows where they are.  The human guards take up posiition and tries to stop TFI.  Chrome's reflexes allow him to tase two before they can react, and a quiet foot chase begins in the facility.

Skater arrives at the location where the MacGuffin is.  She hacks her way into the secure room, but notes that the lock used is something she has seen where there is more security.  Yet, there isn't thing here, no drone, no camera, no tripwires, nothing.  Inside the secure room, she finds the MacGuffin and notes that it's older than she expected.  Again, the security surrounding the MacGuffin is off.  Tight but not.  Skater gets what she came from and lets the rest of the crew know.  Datalore checks for magical security, but magic and tech don't play well together, and the room is almost a storage space for tech gear.  While Skater does her work, Datalore magically keeps an eye out for security passing outside.

TFI is still dealing with security.  On the part of security, they're noticing that they're not being killed.  Security control makes the choice to not call in heavier troops.  With TFI withdrawing, security decides that pushing the intruders out is enough; going for an arrest may turn the intruders violent and they're not getting paid enough to be killed.  TFI escapes, leaving a number of tased and confused guards behind.  Hudson gets his car going and the crew escapes with what they came for.

If Mr. J. was after something else, say a weapon prototype, the crew may have run into high levels of security who might not have bothered to warn them before opening fire.  Security, though seemed light, leaving the crew wondering just what Mr. J. wants with the MacGuffin.  Skater takes some notes so she can follow up after exchanging the MacGuffin for the crew's pay.

Questions?

Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, The Live-Action Adaptation.
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, hiatus week.
This weekend, Renaissance Press is holding a virtual convention.  I will be on a panel about adaptations Saturday at 4pm Eastern.

Security in Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun - Part 2 - Response

Oops.  Meant to post this last week.

Disclaimer:

What follows is a discussion of how security in a near-future science fiction setting would work, not a how-to on breaking into a secure facility.  Some of the information comes from my personal experience in working in public- and private-sector offices.  The rest is imagination.  Any similarity to a real location is coincidental.

Last time, I wrote about the layers of security that can be expected at a megacorporation in Shadowrun and Cyberpunk 2020.  This week, how the layers respond,

Security response will depend on how far the PCs have gotten into a facility and the time of day.  Ideally, heists are done when there aren't as many witnesses, but sometimes there's a deadline looming and a daytime break and enter is needed.  Given the levels above, here's what the PCs can expect to run into.

During business hours, intruders will warrant a quiet response to avoid panicking workers.  Last thing security wants is workers running through the line of fire.  Security control will use cameras to locate the intruders  Drones could be sent in to follow the intruders. A few guards, lightly armed and armoured, will walk into the area to isolate the intruders to deal with them away from the workers.  If the intruders begin a firefight, the first guards will fight a holding action to ensure most of the workers escape and to hold the intruders in place until the second wave arrives.  This new wave will be using firearms and won't care as much for collateral damage.  Depending on the setting, heavily armed drones will accompany or even lead the way.  If the intruders are able to make a stand, more guards will arrive, though the average team of expendables are going to cut their losses at some point.

Outside business hours, the first line of response will be armed drones.  Unless there intruders area in an area of the facility that is in use 24/7, the drones won't hesitate to open fire, especially if the would-be thieves have obvious weapons.  Guards will follow, more to confirm that the intruders are down than to get involved.  The fewer live targets around, the more likely the drone will shoot intruders instead of guards.  However, guards can't be hacked line a drone can be.  Sure, there's social engineering, not quite to the point of, "these are not the droids you're looking for," but asking the right questions and carrying the right props can get an intruder into a facility past guards.  Drones, thus, are second level response.

If the intruders get past the drones, then out come the heavy hitters,  Heavily armed, heavily armoured.  The intruders are after the expensive, core business, and need to be stopped.  Traps are activated, lockdown and alarms go off, and security stops the pretense of caring about the average workers, though the braintrust and senior C-level executives get to see far more guards than normal.  The goal becomes directing the intruders into a designated killzone and making sure none survive.

The elite guard, like Renraku's Red Samurai and Arasaka's elite corporate soldiers, are only going to be in areas that are mission critical.  The average worker will know about them more from corporate propaganda pretending to me entertainment.  If they're around and get called in, they will be calling the shots.  They are the last line of defense.  And they will be combat monsters.  Player characters may want to think of running away if they hear that the elite guard are involved.

Shadowrun adds one more twist - magic.  Cyberpunk 2020 is the near future, with today's society having been shattered and destroyed by unfettered capitalism.  Pretty much today but worse, really.  Shadowrun tosses in the return of magic, so it adds a twist to how security operates.  The last thing any corporation wants is to be on the receiving end of a magical intrusion when they have no way to counter it.  Given that magicians and adepts of any tradition are rare and are worthy of being protected by security themselves, those who go into security are worth their weight in Unobtanium.  This means that they are never going to be part of the front line, especially in a setting where, "Geek the mage.first," is an altruism.

The security mage is going to be busy handling astral security, not physical or network.  Full mages and aspected mages focusing on conjuring can create weak spirits known as watchers to keep an eye on out-of-the-way corridors and report on any activity and full strength spirits to patrol independently.  The runners will have their own magical capabilities, so the corporations are going to try to get the magical edge.  Magical research is one of those categories that could bring out the elite, though the researchers may be better at defending themselves.

Next week, an example run from security's point of view.

Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, Alien Nation, the series.
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, Scooby-Doo (2002).

Security in Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun - Part 1 - Levels

Disclaimer:

What follows is a discussion of how security in a near-future science fiction setting would work, not a how-to on breaking into a secure facility.  Some of the information comes from my personal experience in working in public- and private-sector offices.  The rest is imagination.  Any similarity to a real location is coincidental.  If you choose to use the following in anything outside a tabletop RPG, it's on you, not me.

For GMs, figuring out the opposition is one of the tougher jobs in the role.  Too easy, and the players run roughshod over the plot.  Too hard, and it's a Total Party Kill and no one leaves the session happy.  Level based games, like D&D, have ways to help balance encounters, but games like Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun aren't so easy.  Being skill-based games, sometimes the lack of a skill causes problems, or a player gets creative or even lucky with their character's skill set and completely bypasses a challenge.

The issue in a stereotypical mission in the two games mentioned is that the characters are hired to be disposable, untraceable cutouts in the grand game of corporate espionage.  The opposition will be corporate security.  But even in a time where a corporation can expect a bunch of reshirted murderhobos to smash in to steal some cutting edge tech that isn't exactly ethical, the corp isn't going to put their best or most effective security up front.  They cost too much to cover the front desk instead of the multi-billion dollar research lab.

In the dystopias of the games, corporations are 24/7.  However, humans function best during daylight hours, so there still is a concept of business hours.  During business hours, when the bulk of the workforce is in, security's physical presence is going to be light.  There will be a small number of uniformed guards at the main entrance, three to five, making sure that commuters are able to sign in and checking ID badges.  There may be one stationed on each floor of the building, not obtrusive, but visible to reassure employees that they are safe.  They won't be in the cube farm.  An armed guard out of sight is one thing; an armed guard watching workers is another.  The goal is productivity at a low cost, and worried workers are inefficient workers.

The uniformed guards, though, are there as a deterrent.  They are a sign that the facility is under guard.  Deeper inside, probably in the basement, is a security room with banks of monitors.  Electronic security is handling the bulk of the work.  Cameras will be everywhere.  Privacy is not a perk; if workers wanted privacy, they can start their own corporation.

The light security will be in areas that aren't critical - parts of IT, accounts payable, HR, essentially, anywhere that counts as support instead of money making.  Network security will be covered and may work with physical security directly.  Deeper in, security is going to be more obvious, with weapons visible.  Critical areas, such as the multi-million dollar research lab, are going to have the best security the corporation has, to hell with how the scientists feel about it.  At that point, though, the scientists will appreciate having the beefier guard.  They, too, can be targets for extraction.

Short version?  The Renraku Red Samurai and Arasaka's elite guards aren't going to be found at the main entrance of a low-level facility with only support staff and rookie guards aren't going to be guarding an ultra-secret lab performing unethical experiments for fun and profit.  Unusual levels of security can act as a hint for players that something is not quite right, whether a run is too easy or too hard.

Getting a little long, so I'll pick up next week with security's response to PCs creating havoc,

Today, over at Psycho Drive-In, Remaking Emergency!
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, Star Trek Continues.

Test Run - Shadowrun: Run Faster - Blast Hardcheese

With Flint Ironstag, troll street samurai, done, let's try a more mechanically complex character.  Flint delved into the cybernetics rules, but cyber augments a metahuman.  Magic weirds things all on its own.  Concept is always the first stage of character creation.  At this point, I have an idea for a dwarf hermetic mage, so let's get going.  First things first, a name.  Like last week, I'll plunge the many names of David Ryder created by Mike and the Bots is the MST3K riff of Space Mutiny.  Let's put our faith in Blast Hardcheese.

Test Run - Shadowrun: Run Faster - Flint Ironstag

It's been some time since the last character generation system tested here.  Time to rectify that with a look at the Shadowrun 5th Edition supplement, Run Faster.  The supplement introduces a number of new options for characters, including a lifepath system to bring a character up from childhood to shadowrunner.  To see how it works, I'll create a new character, Flint Ironstag*, with the intent of making him some sort of street muscle.  First, as always, concept, already started above.  Flint will be a troll, with the idea that he's /the/ muscle of a team.  He's the one people turn to when a door needs to be kicked down.  From there, I'm open to ideas.  However, the idea is that Flint is from the streets of Seattle.  More after the break.

NaNo Backgrounder - Tempest T. Pot Commentary 2

Tempest lured her prey into her web, but Mason had a few surprises in store.  No plan ever survives contact with reality, and Murphy's Law reigns supreme.

I skipped over the flirting and the travel from the bar; the scenes weren't necessary for my purposes.  Tempest wouldn't be herself but her target's preferred pick.  Instead, I jumped to the new location.  The audience can imagine what happened in the cab.  Might be better than anything I can come up with, which isn't a bad thing.  Sometimes, implying is better than showing.

Again, I needed the names of bars.  I did think about using locations from Seattle 2072, but the sprawl has room for much much more than what's in the book, allowing me to create the locations I needed.  Part 1's Two Pines received its name for being a restaurant/bar in the Pacific Northwest trying to be a neighbourhood establishment, a place the locals go to for a night out.  Liber Pater, however, got its name after I did a quick search for the Roman equivalent of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, indicating that the bar is more hedonistic.  Since this is where Mason goes when he wants to indulge his BTL habit, the name worked for my purposes.

The Triads are part of Chinese organized crime with connections to the illegal simsense chip trade.  Tempest's concerns about being in a Triad-controlled bar comes from her own background and contacts, which are hinted at with the final scene.  Part of the her background that didn't get revealed is that she worked in a Yakuza bunraku, or "puppet", brothel.  Tempest maintains ties with the Yakuza.  Those of you remembering what sort of surgery Tempest had, this is the reason why.  This work is also why Tempest has the chip habit.

Something that I didn't work at but realized I should have emphasized a bit more is the difference between Tempest's addiction and Mason's.  Mason thinks he is a casual user, though he has a mild problem.  It's not affecting him yet, but he's heading down the dark path of addiction.  Tempest, though, is climbing out of that hole.  She's well aware of her addiction and is trying to kick the habit.  When Mason ran his BTL raw, Tempest did what she could to keep up appearances while still negating the worst effects.

The BTL, Rage Red until I come up with a better name, wasn't planned out when I started.  The usual moodchips focus on highs like happiness with a few going the depression route.  Rage Red goes for anger.  This BTL may become a recurring plot device, though, unplanned for.  The Shadowrun setting includes such things as combat drugs that boost the natural abilties of their users so they can keep up with the cybernetically and the magically enhanced.  Typical users are street cops, gang members, low level corporate security, and other redshirts that would cross paths with shadowrunners.  Drugs, though, have drawbacks that affect the users's health.  BTL chips are a psychological addiction with no direct physical drawbacks.  A combat BTL that amps up aggression may have a few bugs, but that's what Mason's there for, to be a guinea pig.

While the effect of the chip is obvious on Mason, I wanted it to be a little mopre subtle with Tempest.  She's not aware of the effect right away, even though she's already getting angry.  Running the BTL through cold simulation means she's not getting the full effect; she can still choose how to react, even if there's snark involved.

In the van, Tempest gets to show off for the reader some of her implants.  She lied to Mason about not having a chipjack, but no one should be surprised there.  Tempest has a skilljack with skillwires, letting her use specialized programs to fill in skill gaps she may have.  The software, called skillsofts, are a replacement for the education and experience; they don't add on.  But, for teams that need niches filled, skillsofts are a stopgap.  For added fun, Tempest's skillwires are second-hand cyberware; cybernetics shouldn't buzz if installed properly.

The last scene has Tempest alone again.  Her call to Takamura is less calling a friend and more repaying an old debt.  Takamura is Yakuza; Tempest is giving him a heads-up on the new BTL chip the Triads have on the market.  This ties into other elements, including the plastic surgery I mentioned last time and her work in the /bunraku/ brothel.  Tempest feels that she owes the Yakuza and, specifically, Takamura for what they did for her, ignoring for the moment that they're also responsible for her addiction.  Thanks to how the Yakuza operates, Tempest may always have a debt to them, beyond buying her BTLs from them.  This connection and her addiction will provide conflict in the potential NaNo project.

Tomorrow, more background work
Also tomorrow, over at Psycho Drive-In, Electra-Woman and Dynagirl.
Saturday, over at Seventh Sanctum, Star Trek: The Animated Series.

NaNo Backgrounder - Tempest T. Pot Part 2 of 2

Previously:
"The target always comes here on Thursdays."
"Reel him in already!"
"Cal Hots.  Shh."
"Are you sure that the chip-head can do this?"

Liber Pater, Tacoma, 20h37 August 3, 2072
The cab stopped in front of a two story building, the name, Liber Pater, outlined in flashing neon.  A few people milled around outside, smoking, vaping, chatting, or just taking a breather in the cool night air despite the rain.  Mason exited the cab, holding his arm out to help Tempest get out of the car.  He kept the hold as they entered the bar.  "I need to talk to some people.  I'll meet you at the bar."

Tempest maintained her smile as she looked up into his eyes.  "I need to hit the little girl's room."

Mason pointed at a hallway.  "Back there.  Don't be long."  He leaned down to nuzzle Tempest's neck before walking away.

Tempest watched Mason for a moment before making her way through the rougher looking crowd.  Once in the women's washroom, she went to a sink, turning the water on full.  "Crab, still with me?"

"Still online with you," he answered.  "And that's Mr. Crab.  Where are you?"

"The ladies' room at Liber Pater in Tacoma.  Where are you?"

"Getting into position."

"ETA is ten minutes," Greyline added.

"What the hell were you doing with the target in the cab?" Blaze asked.

Tempest scowled.  "What you're paying me to do.  Can you get here sooner?  This is a Triad joint.  They might not like me being here.  And their chips are pure junk."

NaNo Backgrounder - Tempest T. Pot Commentary 1

Last week, I posted the first part of what was supposed to be a quick background story for Tempest.  The idea was to get a better idea of who the cast is, something I've discovered helps for NaNoWriMo.  My goal was to have a self-contained story.  That, well, didn't quite work out.

Once again I am playing in the Shadowrun setting, something I did with By the Numbers.  Tempest, as a character, started when I wondered if I could create someone with a potentially crippling flaw and still want to play her.  My choice for the flaw was an addiction, and with Shadowrun's cyberpunk setting and computer-brain interfaces, the Better Than Life, or BTL, chip seemed like the best way to go.  Tempest is a chiphead in the game's lingo, addicted to software that stimulates the brain without having to deal with the dangers of artificial chemicals.  Problem is, even with the type of person who would become a expendable deniable asset*, that addiction means Tempest isn't considered reliable.

Tempest has teammates for this run, though she doesn't normally work with them.  I'm not sure how much of that came through, but at least Greyline is up front about his objections.  Greyline is the rigger, the getaway driver who can plug into his vehicles.  Blaze is a street samurai, much like Molly from William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy.  Mr. Crab is the decker, a hacker like Case from Gibson's Neuromancer.  All that's missing is magical support, but magicians are supposed to be rare.  The team needed a face for the job, thus Tempest's involvement.

The job is an extraction.  Someone, and for the purpose of the story, it's not important who, wants Darren Mason, alive if at all possible.  The plan is to use Tempest as the lure using Mason's habits and known preferences.  From the writer's point-of-view, this let me show Tempest off in a good light, using her strengths - her ability to get along with people.  In this case, her ability to fake being sympathetic to a mark.  It's a knack for her.  Her goal is to flirt with Mason, get him to choose her for his Thursday night fun, and make sure that the rest of the team can take him without being seen.  And contrary to what Blaze thinks, Tempest is the best choice for the role, as will be shown in Part 2.  However, her mentioning Cal Hots, or California Hots, is a hint.  Cal Hots are simsense chips that aren't quite BTLs but push the legal limits on what is allowed.

The awkward phrase, "At least he's not that skeevy to follow a teenage band if he doesn't recognize Aimee Klein right away," refers to how Tempest looks.  For reasons that will be revealed in next week's commentary, Tempest has had plastic surgery to resemble Aimee Klein, the bass player of the teenaged pop band, the Latchkey Kids, as introduced in the 4th edition supplement, Attitude.  The lead singer, Trish Scallenger, is mentioned as being about fifteen years old in 2073; Tempest is older than that.  I went over that bit a few times and couldn't find a better way to phrase it.  sigh

For what was meant to be background work, not much of Tempest's background gets revealed.  It's mostly characterization, though that is what I wanted.  The story she told Mason is just that, a story.  Tempest is from Seattle, not Pittsburgh, but the lie lets her explain why Mason has never seen her before.  If this was a longer con, she'd have a better story for him, but she's not expecting to see him after he's been delivered.  Mason is a target for her, not even a hookup.

Tomorrow, the conclusion of Tempest's NaNo 2016 Backgrounder.
Also tomorrow, over at Psycho Drive-In, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG.
Saturday, over at Seventh Sanctum[http://codex.seventhsanctum.com], Electra-Woman and Dyna Girl.  Yes, really.


* AKA a shadowrunner.

NaNo Backgrounder - Tempest T. Pot Part 1 of 2

Two Pines Restaurant & Bar, Downtown Seattle, 19h21 August 3, 2073
"No sign out here," Blaze said, annoyance creeping into her tone.  "Are you sure he comes here on Thursdays?"

"The target always comes here on Thursdays," Mr. Crab answered.  "He has no reason to not come tonight.  Is the chip-head in position?"

"Confirmed."  Greyline's voice sounded like it was several metres away from his comlink's mic.  "Are you sure that the chip-head can do this?"

"The chip-head can hear you."  Tempest took a sip of her cocktail to hide her subvocalization.  "She wouldn't have been recommended if she couldn't do the job.  Now stop referring to me as if I'm not here."  Assholes.  She took a longer sip of her drink to let herself calm down.  I have this under control.  No BTLs on the job.

Shadowrun Webcomic - Beyond the Panels

After last week's venture into a dangerous place, time to switch back to preparing for November.  For this, I'm going back to the webcomic.

One of the things that makes for a fuller world is the sense that there is something happening beyond what's shown.  Not just the lives of the characters off-screen, but the world being populated by other people who may or may not interact with the cast.  My plan is to have the webcomic share the setting with By the Numbers.  Will Numbers show up?  I have no plans, but would anyone be able to tell given that she can alter her appearance?  However, some of the supporting cast is more likely.

In my notes, Corporal shares a fixer contact with Charles - Mr. Macro.  The decision was one part cast reuse*, one part realizing that there aren't that many fixers relative to the general population, and one part making sure that my leads had contacts in certain areas.  Does this mean Corporal and Charles are aware of each other?  Probably.  Likewise, with By the Numbers, I reused Baba Ganoush in an actual campaign.  Fixers - the people who know people for a price - are nice to have.

I'm planning on using locations from the Seattle 2072 supplement.  Some of this decision is to keep to the canonical locations of the megacorporations.  The first run will involve Ares Macrotech**, and if I create a location, someone is going to bring it up.  I will have some of my own locations, too.  Seattle of 2072 is large enough to have many nightclubs, many corporate buildings both official and unofficial, and many minor gangs.

I do have a follow up for By the Numbers planned.  Characters from the webcomic may appear in the sequel, though knowledge of one shouldn't be needed for the other.  I may be tempted to show a crossing of the runs, but not right away.  The webcomic needs to be its own thing before I start adding outside elements unrelated to the general setting.

It does occur to me that it could be interesting to see By the Numbers adapted as a webcomic.  Three-quarters of the cast should be interesting for an artist to do.  After all, Charles is visually impressive being the wall of augmented muscle of a troll, Oswald does scruffy with magical effects, and Treehugger has her elf poser deal going on.  Numbers, though, adds a challenge; her appearance changes, but she needs to be recognizable to the audience.


* Go green!  Recycle your supporting cast!
** However, the book lists two addresses for Ares.  If I were a GM, and I have been, I'd say one is for the company's northwestern headquarters and the other is Ares Seattle.

NaNo Prep 2016 - Shadowrun Webcomic - Art Details

Time to switch back to my other potential NaNoWriMo project, the unofficial, unauthorized Shadowrun webcomic.  I've have a cast list, but the final product will be visual.  Time to get out the details about the setting, as filtered through my thought processes.

As with By the Numbers, I want to keep what happens in the webcomic within the mechanical possibility of the game.  I do have character sheets for the main cast, which did take a bit of time.  If this is the chosen project, then the sheets will be made available.  Why create the cast as player characters?  To figure out exactly what they have.  Shadowrun gets into details to bring the feel of the game closer to home.  Characters are, in a default game, deniable expendable assets for hire, without access to equipment that a PC in a Traveller may have.  Most of my cast have fallen through the cracks in the society of 2072.

I've broken things down by character, noting what items that would be visible to the reader.  Obvious cybernetics are obvious, and all that.  A quick note on commlinks - they're the equivalent to smartphones with more procnessing power.  All of the cast has subvocal microphones for them, so dialogue will need to reflect that usage.  Chrome and Corporal have smartgun links, so their weapons should have laser sights.  Everything else after the break.

NaNo Prep 2016 - Shadowrun Webcomic

Two weeks ago, I previewed two potential ideas for NaNoWriMo 2016.  Last week, I posted details on the setting for one of the ideas, the Terran Commonwealth  Today, I want to lay out the idea for the other idea, the Shadowrun webcomic.

The still-unnamed comic isn't the first time I've delved into the Shadowrun setting.  I've played the game, even acted as the GM for a group of friends, and wrote By the Numbers.  The amount of world building needed is far less than that of Colony Base 183, though some is still needed.  Also, unlike Colony Base 183, the webcomic is starting from characters instead of the situation.  Unlike By the Numbers, the characters aren't a team, at least not yet.  The nature of the RPG lets me bring in a diverse cast and throw them into a job with little time for them to get to know each other.  Instant conflict there, and that can ramp up during the plot.  Let's meet the cast.

Chrome Rainbow - the muscle of the team.  Chrome is an elf from Tarislar, a neighbourhood in Seattle where displaced elves went during the Night of Rage.  He has a number of implants, as would be expected in a street samurai, and knows people from the neighbourhood who he can call on if needed, including the Elven Mob.  Chrome is also gay, thus the street name.  He's tall, tan, with short platinum blond hair.

Corporal - the getaway driver.  Corporal is an ork who is ex-UCAS Army, having served in the motor pool.  As a rigger, he has a number of vehicles available to him, including drone.  He named his vehicles after Transformers, based on the closest approximation between his vehicle and a character.  That does mean the Roadmaster is named after Optimus Prime and the insect-like Fly-Spy after the Insecticon, Ransack.  Corporal still has his Social Identification Number, which will make it tougher to avoid official notice.  His demeanor is far gruffer than Chrome's; Corporal doesn't waste time mincing words.

Papa Slick - the hacker.  Slick started running after Crash 2.0* caused his wife's death and destroyed the company he worked for.  Slick picked up "Papa" after his then-teammates discovered that he was raising his daughter.  The transition from corporate designer to shadowrunner was difficult, so Slick picked up some extra cyberware to try to keep up with the edge.  He brings an older but not necessarily wiser view to the group.

Sister Sam - the magician.  Formerly a Shinto priestess at a Shiawase location, Sister Sam fled the corporation after making a discovery that she couldn't reconcile with her beliefs.  She follows the Shinto tradition of magic, naturally enough.  Sister Sam has set up a shrine in Seattle, and takes jobs as needed.  She doesn't charge for dealing with dangerous spirits, such as insect spirits; she sees such beings as abominations that should be allowed to roam the Earth.  Her street name comes from being a priestess with a katana as a weapon focus; the name is short for "Sister Samurai".

Tempest T. Pot - the face.  Slightly more naturally charming than Chrome, Tempest has learned how to set people at east, thanks to her life on the street, first as a hooker, then as a bunraku parlour "employee".  Tempest managed to gather information when her second-hand skill jack was on the fritz and used it to leverage herself out of her contract with the Yakuza and into the life of a Shadowrunner.  She's still pulling herself out of the hole she's in; she still has the BTL addiction that sent her to the Yakuza parlour in the first place.

The first storyline will start with the cast already placed together as a team by Mr. Johnson, though without the needed prep time to get used to each other's foibles.  In media res bypasses the early set up and drops the audience right into the plot, hopefully giving them time to root for the characters before discovering their backgrounds.  All I need is one hundred pages of script.

Simple, ne?


* The one in-game, not the one that occurred in 2008.  Details at the link.

Test Run - Shadowrun 5th Edition

Ah, Shadowrun.  Picture 80s-style cyberpunk.  Now toss in Tolkein-style fantasy.  Shake and let simmer.  It's not quite urban fantasy, with the supernatural hiding just out of the perception of the mundanes.  Magic is a known factor, and sufficiently advanced to be indistinguishable from technology.  The first edition came out in 1989.  The fifth edition was released two years ago.  I've been sitting on the game since then.  I've read through the rules a few times, taking it in bits and pieces.  There's a lot to the game, but not every character will use every rule.

In the game, shadowrunners are deniable, expendable assets used by corporations, governments, and anyone else who has the money to perform black ops and dirty tricks against another entity.  The default approach to Shadowrun is that the player characters are these redshirts for hire, though there's a large enough setting to go in different directions.  The sheer breadth of character potential has stopped me from testing the system until now; there was just so much choice.  I could have recreated a character from By the Numbers, but I wanted to try something new*.  Do I try a magical character?  A hacker or decker?  Mix the two and create a technomancer?  Or do I go the combat bunny route with a street samurai or just troll street muscle?  Maybe a rigger, a getaway driver who is one with his vehicle, could be interesting.

I thought about a Shinto miko, but I still have to work out why she'd be in the shadows doing dirty deeds at a price that isn't dirt cheap.  I set aside two character ideas I had from first edition, a elf decker and a human hermetic mage with healing skills and spells, because I want a character that's current, not a legacy.  I also want to keep with just the main rule book, at least for the first character, so Numbers is also out**.  With all that in mind, time to get started and go *ahem* by the numbers.

Test Run - Shadowrun 5th Edition

It's been a while.  Things cropped up, and NaNoWriMo took over November, but I now have time to try out a new ruleset and new character generation.  This time around, I'll look at Shadowrun 5th Edition.  If you've read By the Numbers, especially the commentary, you'll have an idea of the setting, a cross between cyberpunk and high fantasy as magic returns to the world.  By the Numbers was written with the fourth edition of the game in mind, so characters, like Charles, were built using that edition's character generation.  The latest edition, the fifth, returns to the priority system used in the first three versions.  As always, I'll go through the process as laid out in the core rules.  This gets long, so everything starts after the break.

By the Numbers Commentary - Numbers

As with the previous three Thursdays, I'll go into Numbers as a character in a narrative as opposed to a game.  Numbers was the first to be cast.  It wasn't that I needed a hacker right away so much as I knew Saeder-Krupp would be involved.  Numbers, with her background and her nemesis, made for conflict.  The goal of By the Numbers was to have the story feel like it could have been part of a campaign.  Having someone with an enemy on the character sheet meant having that enemy show up.  Numbers had the perfect nemesis.

By the Numbers - Behind the Scenes VI

Wrapping up the behind the scenes work is Numbers.  The hacker was the first I statted out.  Between her and Charles, I didn't want to spend more pre-NaNo time prepping Oz and Treehugger.  Numbers, though, did need statting out.  The core Shadowrun rules doesn't have an archetype for the social engineering hacker.  Numbers also got a full name, mainly because Herr Wulfe of Saeder-Krupp was going to use it against her.  The negative Notoriety comes from the First Impression quality, which I'll cover later.  The core concept, as mentioned, was a social engineering hacker, someone who not only breaks into computer networks but also hacks social interactions.  Social engineering hackers exist even today; the Nigerian prince scam/spam is a classic, if poorly executed, example.

By the Numbers Oswald - Commentary

Last week, I went through the character sheet for Oswald, the crew's mage, with comments about the changes made for By the Numbers.  Today, let's look at Oz as a story character instead of a player character.

As with Treehugger, Oswald's role was defined first.  The crew needed a magician.  The goal of By the Numbers was to present the Shadowrun setting while still making sure that the events in the story could be played out.  The main difference between Shadowrun and other cyberpunk and even non-cyberpunk science fiction is the addition of almost Tolkien-esque fantasy.  It's possible to argue that Shadowrun is a futuristic urban fantasy setting, but the fantasy elements harken back to more traditional fantasy than the supernatural or the faerie of urban fantasy.  As a fantasy element, magic exists, though in Shadowrun, it can be tested with the scientific method.

Thus, Oswald was needed, or at least a magician.  I could have gone with a shaman instead of the hermetic Oswald, but I felt that was one more layer that could break the suspension of disbelief.  Oz was still nebulous, though.  I was envisioning a man in a long coat, collar turned up against the wind, lighting a cigarette with his finger.  That image told me a bit about the mage, but not everything, and nothing about his background.  I went back to Charles and Numbers to see what they lacked.  Charles covered the combat roles while Numbers had the social and computer skills covered.  They didn't have any real investigative abilities.  Sure, Charles could stand menacingly over someone, but intimidation tends to leave the intimidated frustrated, embarrassed, and angry afterward.  Polite questioning, though, would leave the questioned wondering, but not in a mood for vengeance.

Once I realized that a mage investigator would work, I remembered the Mage Detective archetype in the rules.  That still left me having to work out the character's background.  A private investigator could work for the plot, but PIs tend to have a sheen of legitimacy to them.  I wanted a team of runners, equals to each other, not a team that answered to one person.  The Federated-Boeing Johnson wanted a team of deniable assets, not a private investigator who would leave a data trail.  That meant that the detective had to be in the shadows for some reason.  From there, the idea of an ex-cop came to mind.  The ex-detective couldn't be from Seattle, though; he'd be recognized by former colleagues.  That's how Oswald came to be ex-NYPD Inc.  New York is the other side of the continent from Seattle and NYPD Inc never had the law enforcement contract for the West Coast city.  Ta-daa!

Most of Oz's personality came out while writing.  He has a low tolerance of BS, which has him in conflict with the elf poser Treehugger.  He doesn't target innocents, though who is innocent is based on his judgement and experience.  He won't harm children, though teenagers are another matter.  In Chapter 9, Oz is the one championing rescuing Sun Jung for the girl's sake.  And, somehow, Oswald turned into a ladies man.  Completely unintentional, but it worked for him.

Tomorrow, Numbers' character sheet.
Also tomorrow, over at Psycho Drive-In, hiatus week Q&A, where you get to ask the questions..
Saturday, over at MuseHack, an early round-up as announcements come fast and furious.
Also Saturday, check out Comics Bulletin for comics-related reposts of Lost in Translation.

By the Numbers Commentary - Treehugger

Going back, I put up Treehugger's character sheet and discussed the mechanics and how her traits affected writing.  Now it's time to look at Treehugger as a character in a story, much like I did with Charles.

Treehugger was the last to be cast in the crew.  I had a role that needed filling, the rigger, but didn't quite have an idea of who the getaway driver would be.  The Shadowrun fourth edition anniversary version had two different rigger archetypes, the Smuggler, as seen with Treehugger's sheet, and the Drone Rigger.  I needed a getaway driver and didn't feel like going through creating a player character sheet from scratch, thus I went with the Smuggler, who came with vehicles.  From there, it was a matter of reading the character sheet and seeing if anything struck me.  The Elf Poser drawback led to Treehugger's elfiness.  From the elfiness, I got the idea of an ill-informed girl from the city streets thinking that elves are in touch with nature, then wrapping her car around a tree on her first run.  The dam broke, and Treehugger because a character instead of a set of stats.

Treehugger also wound up being the team's face for negotiations.  As you will see later this week, Numbers focused her skills on social engineering, deceiving people into giving her everything she needed to hack past security.  Treehugger, though, had the very critical Negotiation skill.  She learned to hide her surgically altered ears during negotiations.  TH also became the backup hacker; she's as wired as Numbers is for direct neural interface.  The difference between plugging into a computer and into a van is negligible; it's just how the hardware works that's different, not the interface.

Of the crew, Treehugger had the cheeriest outlook, despite having the most invasive set of implants.  Part of this is from her elfiness, her belief that she is really an elf in a human body.  She believes that elves are, overall, happier.  It's not that she hasn't met any dour elves; she just sees them as being dour because she sees them in the same line of work she's in.  Shadowrunners aren't a happy group in general; Glenn Frey's "Smuggler's Blues" works for both Colombian drug smugglers and shadowrunners.

Treehugger is an awkward fit with the group.  Between her allegy to sunlight and her elf delusion, she is an oddity, someone who will stand out from a crowd.  Numbers is the chameleon.  Charles is the big one, as is expected from trolls.  Oswald, outwardly, is scruffy, like many a shadowrunner.  Treehugger stands out; she's there for the rush, though the money will help her with the gene therapy she needs to be the elf she truly is.  However, from the narrative perspective, she let me add some intra-team conflict by being herself.  Treehugger also reflects a reality in the settings - sometimes, you have to take what's available, the good with the bad.  Treehugger is an amazing driver, but her teammates have to deal with her being elfy.

Tomorrow, Oswald's commentary.
Friday, the last of the behind the scenes posts with Numbers.
Also Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, hiatus week questions and answers.