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[5E OOC] Trial by fire

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badneighbor

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« Reply #15 on: <02-11-16/0839:50> »
I haven't yet done a lot of reading on the ins and outs of the SF area (recommendations?), but as a dwarf my character would probably also be living in one of those meta-heavy areas.

My basic character concept is that he's a freelance fine artist/graphic designer who kept getting screwed by clients because 1. they're corps and screwing people over is their job, and 2. they're racist Japanese corps and he's not a human. He takes up shadowrunning both as a way to make ends meet and to get back at the Japanacorps he's grown to hate so much.

His contacts will range from high-society art gallery types to metahuman rights activists to wageslaves to workaday laborers, if either of you want to share contacts or have previous acquaintance with my character.

Tecumseh

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« Reply #16 on: <02-11-16/1442:55> »
Can I get a ruling on how you want to handle licenses? Specifically, how granular you want to be. Possible licenses my character would need:
- Cyberware
- Bioware
- Firearms (shotgun and rifle)
- Driver's license
- Hunting (more for backstory)

If I give up some cyberware then I might be able to afford a vehicle for team use. A Toyota Gopher would fit the character well, but for story reasons I'd like to buy it used. Can I get one at a discount?

I'm thinking about picking up a point in Performance for fluff purposes. It would be for drumming, although I can't afford the specialization to say so. Not that I ever expect it to come up, but can I tie that to an attribute other than Charisma?

Any idea what time of year the game will be set in? I'm trying to figure out whether to get an armored jacket or vest. He'll want to wear a vest to show off his muscles, but, you know, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

Zweiblumen

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« Reply #17 on: <02-11-16/1629:41> »
Can I get a ruling on how you want to handle licenses? Specifically, how granular you want to be. Possible licenses my character would need:
- Cyberware
- Bioware
- Firearms (shotgun and rifle)
- Driver's license
- Hunting (more for backstory)

1 license to cover all R Cyber
1 license to cover all R Bio
1 license to cover all R firearms
1 license for driving
I'll give you the hunting license as fluff mostly because this needs to be renewed seasonally.  Well, lets call it 25¥ for it. 

If I give up some cyberware then I might be able to afford a vehicle for team use. A Toyota Gopher would fit the character well, but for story reasons I'd like to buy it used. Can I get one at a discount?

Yup!  Describe the condition of the vehicle and we'll work out a price for you.

I'm thinking about picking up a point in Performance for fluff purposes. It would be for drumming, although I can't afford the specialization to say so. Not that I ever expect it to come up, but can I tie that to an attribute other than Charisma?
Hrm, Performance feels pretty tied to Charisma to me.  Get me a justification and what you'd tie it to, and I'll give you a decision.  I can probably be talked into the point of performance w/spec for fluff purposes.  I dig the story and don't see it being over powered.  Yeah, technically it's a free 9 karma, but I don't see it being a big deal for balance.

Any idea what time of year the game will be set in? I'm trying to figure out whether to get an armored jacket or vest. He'll want to wear a vest to show off his muscles, but, you know, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

It's always sweater weather here.  That said, he's a big tough ganger, it's rarely too cold to show off those guns ;)  Keep a hoody in the gopher for when comfort is more important than showing off and it'll go fine under the vest either way.  It's almost never so cold that you'd have exposure issues.
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #18 on: <02-11-16/1712:02> »
I'm trying to keep in mind that he's from Boise, where it's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The San Fran weather will probably confuse him. Wearing a vest is obviously sub-optimal from an armor perspective, but it might fit the character. Or it might not. He's not stupid, just brash. I'll think about it.

Specializations of Performance include Acting, Comedy, Presentation, and [Musical Instrument]. I would definitely agree that Acting, Comedy, and Presentation are all Charisma-driven, but I certainly don't think that someone's ability to play the piano or guitar or drums should be linked to their "force of personality, persuasiveness, and charm". I would link Performance (Musical Instrument) to either Agility, to represent the physical finesse of playing, or Intuition, if you wanted to use Artisan as a parallel. If we're looking for a precedent, instruments were rolled up under Artisan in Fourth Edition. As I said, it's a fluff hobby, so it doesn't really matter, but I figured I would ask.

As for the truck, I'm not sure my vehicular vocabular is very extensive. I was thinking of something that was maybe 4-5 years old and had seen some off-roading use (which is what Toyota Gophers are popular for in the NAN, according to the fluff). I imagine the paint is scuffed up, maybe some chips and dings on the hood and the windshield. The ride might not be as comfortable as it once was, the upholstrey might have some tears and repairs, and the interior smells like snuff, hurlg, and the wrong end of a bean burrito. So, a functional ride, but not socially prestigious. Something that would identify him as an outsider to the city folks.

Zweiblumen

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« Reply #19 on: <02-11-16/1730:05> »
I'm trying to keep in mind that he's from Boise, where it's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The San Fran weather will probably confuse him. Wearing a vest is obviously sub-optimal from an armor perspective, but it might fit the character. Or it might not. He's not stupid, just brash. I'll think about it.

Specializations of Performance include Acting, Comedy, Presentation, and [Musical Instrument]. I would definitely agree that Acting, Comedy, and Presentation are all Charisma-driven, but I certainly don't think that someone's ability to play the piano or guitar or drums should be linked to their "force of personality, persuasiveness, and charm". I would link Performance (Musical Instrument) to either Agility, to represent the physical finesse of playing, or Intuition, if you wanted to use Artisan as a parallel. If we're looking for a precedent, instruments were rolled up under Artisan in Fourth Edition. As I said, it's a fluff hobby, so it doesn't really matter, but I figured I would ask.
Makes sense to me.  Agility for Drumming and I'll give you the 1 with spec for fluff.

As for the truck, I'm not sure my vehicular vocabular is very extensive. I was thinking of something that was maybe 4-5 years old and had seen some off-roading use (which is what Toyota Gophers are popular for in the NAN, according to the fluff). I imagine the paint is scuffed up, maybe some chips and dings on the hood and the windshield. The ride might not be as comfortable as it once was, the upholstrey might have some tears and repairs, and the interior smells like snuff, hurlg, and the wrong end of a bean burrito. So, a functional ride, but not socially prestigious. Something that would identify him as an outsider to the city folks.

I'll give you two choices:
#1 80% cost and it's just as described with the same mechanics.  You'll obviously not be city-chic in this, but remember SF is the land of Burning Man (wonder what the status of that is in the 6th world, that could make for a fun run!), so you don't stand out *that* much, just lumped in with all the other burners/hippies/ranch-hands.
#2 40% cost, but it's got Gremlins level 2 to represent that age and shit just going wrong.  (Note: If you do any upgrades from Rigger 5.0 like pilot upgrade or something that's not covered in the discount, purpose is that you've got a shitty old truck so it was cheap.  That said, I can totally see getting a shitty old truck then throwing some upgrades on it afterwards.)
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rednblack

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« Reply #20 on: <02-11-16/1801:40> »
I just about finished a new version of Uffington, my druid magician, but chummer ate him.  I dunno if I need to do a reinstall or what, but that's kinda bugging me.  Anyway, I gave him some ranks in Survival and Alchemy, mostly for camping and reagent gathering, so while it's not likely that he knows Tec's ork poser, he'll probably appreciate the truck.

@badneighbor, Uffington's decidedly low class and an elf, so there's a chance that he and your dwarf combat face know one another from the hood.  I don't know anything about SF as far as neighborhoods go, but maybe we're from around the same way, or at least know one another by reputation. 
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #21 on: <02-11-16/1819:05> »
I'll go with the 80% truck.

This PC is slowly migrating into Nux from Mad Max, which may be subconscious because I was intending to name him Knucks or something similar.

Zweiblumen

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« Reply #22 on: <02-11-16/1839:39> »
Hah, nice :)
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #23 on: <02-11-16/2129:36> »
Running out the door to catch my bus, but the next draft is up in my placeholder post.

Background is well underway but not typed up yet.

Zweiblumen

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« Reply #24 on: <02-11-16/2204:14> »
Reaction Enhancers, Muscle Toner and Muscle Augmentation are all Rating * 5 for availability.  I'd honestly go with the Restricted Gear quality and then buy rating 4 Muscle Replacement.  You'd only be able to do rating 2 Reaction Enhancers.  Start running into essence and nuyen shortages right about then, but that'd get you your bulk right there.

Also, and this applies to everyone, no limits on Qualities, but the delta can't be less than a -10 difference (@Tec, if you want to go that route, you can use that karma to buy the performance skill I should have thought of that earlier sorry).  I'll update the House Rules section with this.
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #25 on: <02-11-16/2341:17> »
== Cyberware/Bioware == (all Used, except Biosculpting+Tusks)

Almost all the 'ware is Used. Chummer, for whatever reason, does not include the 'ware quality on its printouts. I was racing the bus and didn't have time to label every piece individually, so I put an easily-missed note in the title section.

The Used aspect is important for the ork poser's mindset. On a conscious level, Knucks likes the idea of having 'ware in him that used to be in orks because that makes him feel more like an ork. (Whether it actually came from orks is an open question. His street doc learned long ago that Knucks is gullible.) On a subconscious level so deep that he has no chance of ever finding it without some brain-diving magician, Knucks has confused feeling "less human" (i.e. lower Essence) with feeling "more ork". In that sense, he's like a cyber-singularity seeker, but for second-hand ork bioware instead of cyberlimbs. I'm actually kind of excited about this dynamic.

Zweiblumen

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« Reply #26 on: <02-12-16/0025:07> »
Then why did you have to switch to the bioware?  Rating 3 Used Muscle Replacements are 11R.  I thought you said you needed to switch due to availability. 
Bah, I'm sure you figured it all out and wether biocompatibility (cyber) or biocompatibility (bio) would be better for you (with all that bioware, might be better off switching that, dunno haven't done the math).  But then as you said, he feels more ork by feeling less human.  Cool psychological switch there.

Kinda sad about the bow, I dug that aspect.  Overall looks good.  And feel free to tweak the qualities if there's something you want that you feel you didn't have room for.
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #27 on: <02-12-16/0052:46> »
My working Chummer file is at work, but I think Muscle Replacement got the boot for Essence concerns. I think he could only afford Rating 2 without imploding into an Essence black hole.

Switching to Muscle Replacement 2 and losing that point of AGI+STR would free up something like ¥140,000, but he'd be left with something like 0.22 Essence, so he wouldn't have the Essence to play with any of that cash.

ICly, he decided that he liked bioware better because it felt "more ork". On that note, I think I need to switch his Biocompatibility from Cyberware to Bioware. I don't think it's going to change much of the end product, but now that his bones and muscles are bioware that's where most of his Essence cost is.

badneighbor

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« Reply #28 on: <02-14-16/1633:13> »
@badneighbor, Uffington's decidedly low class and an elf, so there's a chance that he and your dwarf combat face know one another from the hood.  I don't know anything about SF as far as neighborhoods go, but maybe we're from around the same way, or at least know one another by reputation.

Yeah, works for me. I can imagine the sort of social gatherings that would attract both an artist and a druid. :D

Zweiblumen

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« Reply #29 on: <02-15-16/0214:45> »
I'm open to suggestions, critique, whatever. I picked up a motorcycle just cause I understand SF sucks to travel on foot and it seemed weird for the Face to take the bus to a meet. I might drop it though.

I'll probably fill out a 20 Questions for him, as well as a brief writeup for my contacts. Speaking of which, should I have thrown a Fixer in there? I've played with groups that have required everyone to have a fixer, and groups that take that as a given.

What SIN(s) do you have?  I see you've got the National SINner NQ, I'm assuming that's going to be what he does his art under and possibly where the Downtown SF lifestyle is associated with?  Speaking of, what rating is your lifestyle?  Low, Medium, High?  Guessing it's not street or squatter and pretty sure it's not luxury :P
You'll want at least 1 fake SIN to commit crimes under.

Would like to see a bit more invested in your Art Gallery contact, and/or another artist-type contact given that he's supposed to be one of the best artists in the area (the Inspired PQ along with the heavy investment in the Artisan/Performer skills).

If you can afford it, the Mortimer line is probably more useful than the actioneer, and better armor than the jacket when paired with one of the overcoats.  Especially as the actioneer and the armored jacket don't stack.

I'm sure you'll get more into this with the 20 questions, but a few off the top:
Is he going to be from Halferville and moved into Downtown?
How long has he lived in Downtown?

Overall, I really like the concept.  If you're finding that you don't have enough room for all of the traits/skills remember you can take a few more NQ's as I don't limit you to 25 for PQs and NQs just the net can't be more than -10 (if you go over the 25 for NQs.  If you take 25 NQs with 0 PQs, you get the full 25 karma).  Can't wait to read Expo's background :)
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