[Poindexter]

well, that's three, so far. seemed like we had more people who wanted to play.

hmmmmm...

[Ravensoracle]

I'm interested in playing I just haven't had time to complete the concept for him. It will be up tomorrow hopefully. Right now I have a partially constructed Chummer file with a Elf technomancer/face.

[Ravensoracle]

Handle: Rip
Rank: Street
Metatype, sex, age: Elf, male, 22
Role: Face, Technomancer
Brief concept/history: Rip was born to the streets. He was always the small kid. The skinny little twirp that was everyone's target. That was until he hit puberty and his powers developed. Then he had a way to get justice on those that were always picking on him. He learned how to make friends to of those bigger than he was.  He may still be a little runt, but know he has the skills to wreck your life and everyone you know.
Appearance:

[Imveros]

there any other mundanes thinking of throwing their hats in? Or will poor Johny be all by his lonesome?

Does anyone have any ideas for contacts or various ways we could know each other? Mr GM said it was out job to form off into teams!

[8-bit]

there any other mundanes thinking of throwing their hats in? Or will poor Johny be all by his lonesome?

Does anyone have any ideas for contacts or various ways we could know each other? Mr GM said it was out job to form off into teams!

I originally had quite a few mundanes I was thinking of playing, but the problem was I couldn't come up with backstories for any of them that made any sense. Not that my backstory for my current character explains why he's completely min/maxed in terms of skill ratings and such ... but mainly I didn't want to just play a random off the streets damage dealer. I couldn't figure out how to make a face that was mundane, so I went for a vodou mage to at least give him some type of flavoring. Grape flavoring perhaps. least have a semi-unique character.

Silk has quite a few contacts (32 karma worth) that you could know him through, and he is a fairly charismatic guy. He's gotten to know some of the low-lifes around the area, but he is fairly spoiled (at least I think he will be) compared to the rest of his chummers due to him actually having a National SIN and a place to stay. I'll list what contacts he does have (their connection ratings) in case you want to use them; I'm still fleshing out backstories and names for them.

Fixer - Connection 6
Gang Leader - Connection 3 (Anyone know what the local gangs of CZ would be? I'm not super familiar with the location.)
Smuggler - Connection 5
Bartender - Connection 3
Talismonger - Connection 3

[Imveros]

The gang leader is the most likely cross over for us. I need to go back and change his back story from New Orleans to Chicago and read up on the anti rad stuff so i can tack that on as well!

[Ravensoracle]

I'm just trying to get Rip put together so I don't have much of a history developed yet. I'll keep working away at him but I will be a little slow this week. I am trying to put out extra product for a show this weekend. It is just getting a little hectic at the moment.

Are you guys thinking of being from the same gang then or to just know the leader and have a sort of alliance with him?

[Imveros]

It all depends on our outlooks and goals. I wouldn't mind us all being from the same gang. That would be awesome to build a gang from the ground up. But Johnny is a man of the people, and if that isn't your schtick then we can all have dealings with the same gang leader

[8-bit]

Eh, I don't really see Silk being part of a gang. Doesn't really serve him well enough and it might restrict the loa's "fun" time. I have the feeling it's more that Silk has built a relationship to pass more freely through gang territory and gets information off of the leader. In return, Silk occasionally does some negotiating and jobs for the gang, maybe bargaining for some item or a shipment of weapons or something.

Silk is more about himself than anything else. Other beings are just vessels for the loa, so they don't really care about the people either. He's good at working with people, and he has no trouble helping them if it furthers his own personal goals to further his power and the loa's. He's extremely true to his word though. If you can convince Silk it's worth his time to do it, he'll complete it to the end.

[Poindexter]

oh yeah, couple more things, I'm giving everyone 7 free points that may only be spent on common contacts, that is, a contact off someone elses character sheet.
Also giving everyone 20 free karma for knowledge: interest skills only. Helps to round out the character without taking away points you were gonna spend on small unit tactics or magical threats or important life saving kinda shit like that.

[8-bit]

oh yeah, couple more things, I'm giving everyone 7 free points that may only be spent on common contacts, that is, a contact off someone elses character sheet.
Also giving everyone 20 free karma for knowledge: interest skills only. Helps to round out the character without taking away points you were gonna spend on small unit tactics or magical threats or important life saving kinda shit like that.

Sweet, that sounds awesome. Just a question, what are the interest skills limited to? Is stuff like religion, conspiracy theory, chicago news (whatever the hell newspaper runs in CZ ... maybe nothing), history of an area out of the question? Those are all things that could be interest skills, but they could also become useful for finding information and stuff. I like the concept of rounding out the character, but I don't want to do something you don't agree with because it might be applicable to a wider number of situations.

[Poindexter]

oh yeah, couple more things, I'm giving everyone 7 free points that may only be spent on common contacts, that is, a contact off someone elses character sheet.
Also giving everyone 20 free karma for knowledge: interest skills only. Helps to round out the character without taking away points you were gonna spend on small unit tactics or magical threats or important life saving kinda shit like that.

Sweet, that sounds awesome. Just a question, what are the interest skills limited to? Is stuff like religion, conspiracy theory, chicago news (whatever the hell newspaper runs in CZ ... maybe nothing), history of an area out of the question? Those are all things that could be interest skills, but they could also become useful for finding information and stuff. I like the concept of rounding out the character, but I don't want to do something you don't agree with because it might be applicable to a wider number of situations.

all that stuff sounds great. if i feel like someone is abusing it or not utilizing it, ill mention it on a case by case basis.

[Poindexter]

Also, for those of you who are thinking about playing mages, deckers, technomancers, consider the fact that there's a CRAP ton of noise and background in the CZ. I'd read a lil bit about chicago before ya get TOO settled on a concept.

[8-bit]

My understanding was usually a minimum of 2 for background count? Do you have any books you would recommend for reading? I guess I might get a few questions out of the way so I make sure I understand background count correctly.

Background count is a negative dice pool modifier (pretty straightforward), but does it mean that in a background count 2 area, force 1-2 spells don't work? Or do I just get less dice to cast?

How does sustaining a spell through background count work? Does anything change, or is it just the same?

Are mentor spirits still available in background count, even if that count if ridiculously high (I don't plan on going to somewhere with like 6+, that tends to cause psychological damage to a mage's mind if I remember correctly)?

How does possession work in background counts? Say there is a count of 2. I take a -2 dice pool modifier for summoning. When it possesses me, do I take a -2 dice pool modifier to stuff as if I was using adept powers? After all, I become dual-natured and such when I'm inhabited by a spirit.

Do background counts affect drain?

That's all I came up with for now. I'm still quite eager to play in Chicago, I'm sure it will be very fun. My understanding is mostly that I just have to summon at a higher level in the case of possession, and be careful with handling drain.

[8-bit]

@Other Players

Do we all want to create one free contact with a connection rating and then each take different loyalty ratings? We have 7 free karma, so we could have a universal fixer and then maybe maybe the same mechanic (probably a bad example, but you get the point).

My main preferences for having shared contacts would be either a Fixer or a Gang Leader. Fixer is obvious, gang leader gives us all similar area knowledge and maybe we've worked together before for the same gang. Plus, you know, a more connected background. I personally like Fixers to have a high connection, so I'm going to say my preference is 4+ on connection. Gang leader doesn't matter to me, but thinking anywhere from 2-4 for connection.