[Ryo]

So I play a lot of Shadowrun 4th online in an IRC channel, and most of our players have kinda disappeared. We're down to three people, a GM and two players, and our two player shadowrun game just collapsed. We're looking for a full roster again, so I'm starting a new campaign up in Seattle. Looking for a grand total of 4 to 6 players, so since I've already got the two, I need two to four more.

750 Karma build, 12 Avail, Standard rules for Karma build apply. All source books are allowed. Basically all the Advanced Rules are in use. Severe Wounds are in play. If there's an optional rule you like, I'll probably allow it, like Initiating for Power Points, Geas to reduce Power cost, Spending Edge to reduce Extended Test intervals, Cosmetic Surgery as a Charisma Augmenter, basically the entirety of Runner's Companion, so on and so forth.

As already stated, the campaign will be taking place in Seattle, and I happily encourage you to go wild with your character. One of my players is currently building a Rigger who owns a Mech, for example. Have at it.

We play in an IRC channel on Sundays, usually starting at 5 PM PST and going until people are too tired to keep playing. Dice are rolled using dice bots, and we occationally bring Maptools into things if we need a visual aid in combat.

EDIT:

A few house rules that have already been established in use.

1: Free Knowledge skills, same as in BP. (Intuition + Logic)*3.
2: Free Contact points, equal to Charisma*2.
3: One piece of gear, up to Avail 16, can be taken without needing the Restricted Gear quality. Any further pieces of gear needs the quality as normal.
4: IP boosts from Drug use stack with all other IP boosters, up to the max of 4 IP.
5: All IP boosters, with the exception of Synaptic Boosters, have to be activated before they can be used. This is technically already the rule, but I'd just like to clarify that I'll be heavily enforcing it.
6: Rockets are fired like a normal ranged attack test. If you miss, roll scatter to see by how much. Missiles operate the same way, except their Sensor rating is used as a penalty on the target's defense test. This makes said weapons actually useful, rather than woefully inaccurate.

[Joush]

That sounds like it could be a lot of fun, if a rather high powered game. I'd certainly be interested. Out of curiously, what is the game style? (I've never gone wild with a character before, so it should be an experience for me)

[gfrobbin84]

I would love to join yall, new to shadowrun and online play but an old dog when it comes to RPGs, mostly various versions of D&D.  Been reading over shadowrun stuff alot lately, though.  I haven't looked at the karma build option but have the pdf with it and been toying with a Mystic Adept (Mage) Build and a Adept Martial Artist Knife thrower build that I would love to get to try out.  The day is perfect for me as well

[Tyrs13]

Perfect day and time for me. I have never used karma as a building system, ... nor have i done 750 Karma.

Though i dont know much about IRC chats.

I would probably be playing a Spell Slinger/Summoner Norse Mage if your cool with that.

[gfrobbin84]

Perfect day and time for me. I have never used karma as a building system, ... nor have i done 750 Karma.

Though i dont know much about IRC chats.

I would probably be playing a Spell Slinger/Summoner Norse Mage if your cool with that.

If you are going mage I will go with my Adept them for sure.

[Ryo]

750 Karma is the standard for Karma build characters. After playing around with it for awhile, I've found that the end result is roughly equal to 400 BP, with one critical difference: Players tend to end up with a wider variety of low rank skills, making them generally better prepared to handle whatever comes their way as they default significantly less often. This is because virtually everything balances out between the Karma build and BP build, except low rank skills, which come out cheaper in Karma. This is why it's become my preferred creation system.

As for the style of game, that's largely up to the players. I take the idea of 'No plan survives contact with the players' to heart and GM Shadowrun by the seat of my pants. I set up an over arcing plotline (or three), get a rough idea of the runs that take place over the course of it, and then fill in the details as the runners blow through it in whatever method they decide is most appropriate. I get the feeling this time around will be a bit wacky, hence why I'm encouraging you to go a bit wild. Really, its all about having fun, after all.

I'm totally cool if a few relative newbies feel like learning the ropes with me. I was the one that pushed my gaming group into Shadowrun in the first place, so helping a new batch through the rules won't be too difficult. IRC is easy enough to figure out. You just need a client, like mIRC, Hydra, Trillian, or whatever. Dice rolls are done with bots, then its just like any other chat client. You talk and you RP.

So, Joush, gfrobbin and Tyrs? How extensive is your knowledge of the Shadowrun rules, especially pertaining to the roles you wish to play?

[Tyrs13]

gfrobbin84> Dont let my character influence yours at all i mean we haven even been accepted into the game. Maybe of his 2 remaining players they are both mages  . Even still a Mystic Adept is very different from a mage ...

This is just the concept i have right now. I can change it as the party needs ...

Ryo> I have played SR 4E on serveral different occassions and am quite familiar with the System. (Inculding the magic system).

This specific mage has been through several recreations. But to my Previous GMs magic has always been an after thought ... as most of the group pretty much were street samuria. And the general opinion was to keep magic very limited.

I follow the belief if magic is used properly no one knows it is being used. And am well aware of the rules for magic and the settings view point on magic. I have read the Magic Book ... and i do understand Mages in the setting are the Abnormal / semi-feared. And that being caught is a most assured gruesome outcome.

I did have a Rough Draft on my home computer. I have to change somethings for the 750 Exp build (mostly add alot of crap i think i was only at 300 or 400 xp. I use one of the new character builders ... so it shouldnt take me long to fix it up. I will send it along towards the end of the day.

[Ryo]

My two current players are looking at a Technomancer and a Spellcaster/Summoner as it currently stands. I'm not against multiple Awakened characters in a single party, though I do prefer if the talents within that group are spread around enough so that two characters aren't essentially interchangeable.

Good to know you're familiar with the system though, Tyrs!

[Joush]

I am ok with the rules, not perfect but good enough to handle what I normally do. I'm currently leaning to playing a street samurai type with experience as a solider before getting burned and ending up on the streets. I'll try not to get too serious, with the wacky and wild possibility.

I didn't mean high powered by the Karma point,s I'm sorry. I mean high powered in the anything goes for concept, books and rules used. In my experience, people can do quite a bit of damage with the baseline points.

Do you want us to pots characters here when they are ready to go, so you can approve them?

[Ryo]

Either post them here or PM them to me, whichever you're more comfortable with.

If you feel like being fancy, you can use the Chummer chargen. All the optional rules I'm using for character building can be covered within the program, and then you can just send me the chargen file.

[gfrobbin84]

I haven't played SR before but I have played with die pools in White Wolf and read and played tons of various RPG systems over the years so pick things up fast and been reading over rules for the past week or so.  As for the setting rad the general description chapter 2 or 3 I think in the core anniversary book and I am open to suggestions for other sources to look into.  Looking to be a stealthy combat adept carries only ceramic throwing knives so easy to get around and skilled in the stealth group for getting around and into  places.  A Killer and B&E specialist from the streets.  So quite different from the other Awakened members it seems.

P.S. Where can I get Chummer?  Sounds like it would simplify things a lot.

[Ryo]

Sounds pretty decent, Gfrobbin. You can get Chummer here:

http://www.dndjunkie.com/blog/?cat=9

It needs .Net framework 4 to work, if you don't already have that installed.

Then when you open it, go to Tools, Options, and select all the sourcebooks. Then click Optional Rules, and select the bottom one, "Metatypes cost Karma equal to their BP." Then click House Rules, and select "Free Contact Points: Cha * 2" and "Karma Build: Free Knowledge Skills like BP Build."

Then close the program and open it again. Create a new character, Select Karma instead of BP, and you're good to go.

[Naki]

Don't let 'wild' deter you from serious characters. It really just means you can experiment more with your characters. Expect the silliness of things like the mech to be considerably downplayed, and be taken fairly serious in-game.

EDIT: Also, one of the already existing players. Notably, said Technomancer.

[PapaR]

Hey I'm interested in playing, I would like to roll up a free spirit. Are there any additional rules I would need to follow? Also I think I would need more karma to roll it since it costs 500 alone just to play a spirit.

[Ryo]

BP cost of Metatype isn't doubled. It'd be 250 to play a Free Spirit. You can play them, if you want, but I highly recommend reading Street Magic and the rules in Runner's Companion to know how that works out.

Also, there ARE already 3 awakened characters out of the 5 players we've got. I can work with a fourth, but if you aren't deadset on Free spirit, it might be a good idea to go with a different idea.