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Character themes and YOUR game

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welldressedgent

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« Reply #15 on: <07-18-18/2308:34> »

Thunderkats is the only problematic one. But not much sillier than...
1. an elf wizard dressed up as a clown
2. a vampire rockstar
3. a dragon running for president

WDG
wdg

Glyph

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« Reply #16 on: <07-19-18/0101:46> »
Crazy cosplayer types can fit into a gritty campaign, what with ubiquitous BTL abuse and AR gamers.  Even Sprawl Sites (1st Edition) had an encounter with some simchip-abusing trolls who thought they were pirates.  The player could play up the tragedy and psychosis of such a character.  Still not practical in a black trenchcoat game, but only in the same way as SURGE, metavariants, many of the qualities, etc.

Seras

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« Reply #17 on: <08-04-18/1903:10> »
Hi all ... wanted to ask a question about the thematics of a character.

One character is an Arabian who dresses like Bo Rai Cho from MK (forgive me if I misspelled that) and is perpetually happy. He's a geomancer, only taking spells that deal with the elements in some form and never seems to find an issue with anything happening around him.

Another is tall fire-haired man who believes himself to be the living edition of Lion-O from the Thundercats, complete with taking a collapsable sword for the Thundercats-ho cinematic.

I'm asking because I'm not entirely sure if these things make sense to me for a 'normal' game. Should I just take the concepts and roll with it? To me it seems like no respectable Johnson would hire someone so outlandish (in the last example) for most jobs. If I reject these kinds of concepts does it seem too oppressive?

What do you normally do at your table? Are thematically inappropriate characters allowed, just because your player wants to play something unusual?

First of, this is shadowrun. Everbody has a street name from serious ones like netcat or cobain  to weird or outright crazy ones like slamm-o or Stinky.
If I was a Mr. Johnson I wound not even blick at a name like lion-O !!

One of the main reasons Shadowrunners are in the shadows is because they are misfits. Neither the corps nor organised crime what them as members and hey, one has to eat......Many turn to shadowrunning because, as long as you get the job done, you are allowed, even expected to be excentric  ;)

The real question to me is are the fuctional insane or stupid insane ?
There is nothing wrong with playing a character that is nuts, as long as he can do his job on the team ( think the mad Irshman in the braveheart movie  for instance. He clearly had some loose sroose but came through when he had to )

As for the arab character....Magic is so huge, that unless your a dragon or another immortal you can never master it all. Gamewise he specialises in that , because it works best for him ...just saying.

Alternativly you could always suggest playing a pure matrix adventure...build regular characters and then go VR. Their're icons can be anything they like them to be and matrixcombat does not care about the laws of physics !! In the matrix anything goes.  Same is true for adventures on the metaplanes...its magic logic be dammed !!


Finally SR can be seen as a nasty setting, it is perfectly believeble that given the horrors like flesh esting ghouls, nature deasters and poverty some people would loose it. I find that far more realistic then " I am afraid of nothing as long as the cash is right ...oh and I have sunglasses and a shotgun

Ask your players if they just whant to have fun ( pink mohawk ) or if they are looking for something differnt /special. Then go with that.

Happy gaming
I apologise for my posts beeing weird to read, I am fluent in english, but almost never write in english anymore :-(

FST_Gemstar

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« Reply #18 on: <08-16-18/1208:53> »
The characters themselves don't seem so problematic to me. 

Something to consider is the team discussing why they run as a team, if you are playing as a consistent crew. This doesn't have to contradict anything in each character's backstory, but you guys may need to discuss a more team backstory to explain the disparate goals, styles, etc. This can add more roleplaying and story idea hooks, but also help the team structure their playstyle in a more aligned way with each other, making them perhaps more successful. 

As for johnsons. Fixers only connect johnsons with runners on things they think they will be good at. There is no generic style play or run. As if a team is not up for a job, they should not be offered it. Even if they are, the team probably shouldn't take it (risk of failure, hit to reputation, risk of arrest, injury, or loss of life, etc.).   

But the kinds of johnsons that would higher a more eccentric team. Well, there are eccentric johnsons with their own odd jobs. Private magical museum galleries. Shut-in tech wiz. Desperate normies with a personal issue that can't involve their corp or the police with  who think Shadowrunners are always over the top because that's what they see in the trideos. Gangs/Syndicate johnsons that have their own appreciation for style. Corportate johnsons who need a distraction job or are false flagging where they want a crew that may draw a lot of attention. Etc. Not everything has to be a corp secret ops  smash and grab or extraction. 

As for the world. Shadowrun is dark and dystopian, but it can also be vibrant and silly. There is a humor underlyling a lot of lore and style that can incorporate a lot of eccentricity. Things have their contexts, and being the wrong kind of silly in the wrong place can be bad, but it doesn't always have to be a deal breaker. People in Shadowrun have seen it all before by this point.

PingGuy

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« Reply #19 on: <08-29-18/1132:55> »
This is definitely the kind of thing my players would do, and yes they are all over 30, most over 40.  There is probably a limit, a point where I would say, "you know, that just isn't going to work."  Lion-O wouldn't hit that point for me, but it would limit the type of content I could provide with that character involved.  And that is probably the point I would make with the player, that it's fine to be who they want to be, but that they may want some options for hiding that if a run requires it.  Otherwise that kind of run won't be an option, or if it is, it could be potentially damaging to their future survival.

If the player is really interested in having fun playing Shadowrun, they should be willing to consider making some adjustments to ensure the most fun can be had, without seriously impacting their vision for the character.  When a player isn't running they can be doing anything.  If they want to be Lion-O and do kids birthday parties for extra nuyen on the weekends, why not?  It will be even funnier when they are on a run and some wage-slave caught in the chaos is doing double takes because he swears he's seen them before.  That only works if they dress down for a run, or obfuscate the more obvious bits of their get-up.  They can be themselves most of the time, as long as they are willing to take the appropriate steps to hide their identity when it matters.

Wrayyth

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« Reply #20 on: <08-30-18/1646:09> »
That is, how important is it to you and your table that the character makes sense for the world at hand?

A little backstory here, my players have struggled recently to successfully complete a mission and I'm beginning to think it has a lot to do with the individual characters present on the run. While the group leader is little more than an angry blade adept, some of the other members have made characters that dont necessarily fit as your typical runners.

One of the characters is a ex K-E dispatcher who's backstory is that she was abducted and mentally tormented by criminals and now runs to find a way to bring her own form of justice to shadows.

One character is an Arabian who dresses like Bo Rai Cho from MK (forgive me if I misspelled that) and is perpetually happy. He's a geomancer, only taking spells that deal with the elements in some form and never seems to find an issue with anything happening around him.

Another is tall fire-haired man who believes himself to be the living edition of Lion-O from the Thundercats, complete with taking a collapsable sword for the Thundercats-ho cinematic.

I'm asking because I'm not entirely sure if these things make sense to me for a 'normal' game. Should I just take the concepts and roll with it? To me it seems like no respectable Johnson would hire someone so outlandish (in the last example) for most jobs. If I reject these kinds of concepts does it seem too oppressive?

What do you normally do at your table? Are thematically inappropriate characters allowed, just because your player wants to play something unusual?

Hmmmm.... My first thought is this... No one that places their life on the line on a daily basis to feed from the scraps of entities that can crush them at a whim, especially those that have such distinctive styles, is in their right mind. What I mean by that, is that every character in Shadowrun does it for power, need for revenge or control, or because they do not know any better... They are the epitome of Anti-Social Personality disorder with a laundry list of concurrent disorders, like narcissistic personality disorder, sociopathy, psychopathy, paranoia, and so very many more. I can completely see a Shadowrunner that believes he is the incarnation of Lion-O from a 2d cartoon made 80 years before and goes out to find a level of justice in the world gone wrong. That being said, he probably wouldn't survive long as a runner because of the unique distinctive style he plays.

I alwys sit down with my players and give a general overview of the world the characters are going to be living in. Not specifics like the current Queen of England, but the basic grittiness level, seriousness of the situation, basics of the story line, and direction of the campaign.  That way they have an idea of what to expect. You look at your group and think, holy crap, this will get wierd.... I look at it and think, you have a unique version of the A-Team! Good luck handling Lion-O reminds me of Murdock. (I might have suggested he make a Decker with that simsense overlay). Have fun with it. I would =)
I am power incarnate and the Ancients are my family!