[Namikaze]

I went ahead and made a ticket with them to see if they either already have MediaWiki installed, or if they can offer us any advice on installing it.  It should be pretty straightforward - just load the site with the files, and that should be that.  But I figured I'd ask just in case.  I'll update here when we have an answer. 

[iamfanboy]

As a thought, what about using NPCs from older adventures to shorten creation time? For example, the old 2nd Edition adventure Burning Angel has 3 yakuza oyabun of a single rengo, all of which had allies statted out and are playing off against each other - I actually used the three of them in a year-long campaign. When I made my Contacts list, I actually just read through all the old adventures and grabbed NPCs from there - Patrick Brumby from the ancient UB book, Morlock and Sandi from the first Harlequin campaign, etcetera.

Making them era-agnostic would be difficult but not impossible; I'm actually working on a way to quickly translate NPCs over from 2nd/3rd to 5e...

...And why is it that fifth editions fix what's wrong with the game so often?


As far as a map of Seattle itself goes, I found a detailed pdf map that a website is selling for FORTY-FIVE dollars, so what I'm thinking about doing is screenshotting Google Maps zoomed into an appropriate size and combining them - and I also have some .psds saved from scanning in my old Seattle Sourcebook map, and my attempts to combine it into one mega-map. Sadly, the images just BARELY don't line up... rather a bummer.

[Michael Chandra]

A detailed pdf map seems like a bit much. Personally I'd prefer figuring out how to update these, especially the first, and hosting that:

http://www.1w6.de/rpg/sr/map/
http://www.chinagreenelvis.com/gaming/tools/shadowrun/map/

[Shaidar]

This might help, for Chrome users anyway.  And it's free.

iMapBuilder Online - GMap Editor

[iamfanboy]

A detailed pdf map seems like a bit much. Personally I'd prefer figuring out how to update these, especially the first, and hosting that:

http://www.1w6.de/rpg/sr/map/
http://www.chinagreenelvis.com/gaming/tools/shadowrun/map/

Different GMs have different needs; while I do like those two maps (the first one especially with the zones), I do also like having a physical printout that I can cover in clear film, slap on the table, and say, "Make a Street Gangs knowledge roll... Okay, you know that the Red Hot Nukes reign in this area. You're traveling from Seattle to The Rubber Suit in Redmond? Are you trying to get through this way, through Bellevue and Council Island (risking security patrols) for a faster trip, or going north up I-5 to pass all that?"

You don't really need a hugely detailed map for that. I'm probably going to get more detailed myself, just because I'm going to run a street-level game where all the characters are from the same area (southern/western Seattle) and knowing where certain things are will become important. (also, it lends more immersion, something I'm constantly fighting to do more of!)

Plus, my GM'ing laptop LAAAAGS on the online map stuff. <_< Opening up both of those and trying to scroll around nearly crashed the poor darling.

[Namikaze]

Since the objective is not to create a one-stop place for GMs to find all the tools they'll ever need, I think we'll stick with the Google Maps options most likely.  Plus, they integrate into MediaWiki very easily.  I'm hoping to get a chance in the next day or two to install MediaWiki on Michael's website and begin the administrative processes for it.

[iamfanboy]

sounds good, then - hell, it's what I was planning on doing myself (just with a plan to print it, too!) Shall I pull my file of NPCs from (FASA) published adventures and start converting the stats to 5e to upload them?

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Actually, if you have a list (complete or not) of NPCs from published adventures, we'd love it here (or there) at least initially without detailed stats - for a couple of reasons.

First, you should understand that especially in 1e and 2e, the writers of the adventures had No Fragging Idea what they were doing, and were creating stuff on the fly and throwing it out there.  It wasn't until the Seattle Sourcebook that FASA started to get their crap together on the Seattle background, and it wasn't until 3e until they really got the underworld in line.  The 'three oyabun of a single rengo' is a good example; another one is looking at that rengo's name, and realizing that it,  never existed in Seattle according to non-adventure canon.

Second, first and second edition stuff is coming from the early to mid-2050's.  While some of those people may still be around and involved, most are going to be in different circumstances.  Dead, retired, working as a fixer or mechanic, whatever.  The names and baseline information - including where we can find them to discuss where they might be 'now' - would be a great thing to have, but primarily as a starting point.

[Namikaze]

Ditto with Wyrm on this - if you can compile a list of NPC names, locations, and ideally times of major events (like deaths) that would be very helpful.  We might even be able to make some children for these NPCs or something along these lines.

[iamfanboy]

On the one hand, yes, timeline might matter; but for a game master looking for (for example) a set of oyabun to populate his rengo with, the trio of a young and viciously ambitious woman, an outwardly decadent but sharply manipulative man, and the elderly senior oyabun playing them against each other while wishing he had a decent successor seems like a solid and useful group of NPCs whether you're in 2050, 2063, or 2075.

It's laid out like this:

NAME: Morlock
TYPE: Fixer
SPECIALITY: High society
DESCRIPTION: A dwarf who hires for people who prefer their runners to be descreet, intelligent, and thorough - and who like to be very, very wealthy.

I'll have to go through and add the meat from my GM notes, and the actual adventures, for more detail  - the list is meant for players to look through and pick contacts from, so it generally only has a couple of lines. Might take me a bit. Changed version might look like:

NAME: J.P. Morlock
TYPE: Fixer
SPECIALITY: High society; he hires for people who prefer their runners to be discreet, intelligent, thorough - and that want to be very, very wealthy.
DESCRIPTION: "The guy looks like a cross between a hunchbacked dwarf and a dzoo-noo-qua, only somehow even shorter than the former. You've actually seen guys that are paler than him - but only after they'd lost enough blood to fill a bank. What makes him even weirder looking is that his suit is purple crushed velvet, trimmed with lace!"
HABITS: Tests new shadowrunners for their ability to handle things quietly, smokes cheroots from a holder, serves high-class food, talks in a highly cultured tone, but treats others as equals even if they fail test. 
LOCATION: Laubenstein Plaza (a hotel), downtown Seattle
B4 A2 R1 S3 W6 L5 I5 C3
Acting 4 Con 5 Influence 3 Negotiation 6

I tend to note only the relevant skills; it doesn't matter whether Morlock prefers automatics or pistols, can use unarmed combat, or even what he can do on the Matrix, so I didn't note those skills. (and yes, I know that Laubenstein is the artist that did all the broken-nose shadowrun art; as much as I made fun of it in the past, these days I almost miss it...)

EDIT: To make it clearer, the list exists, but it's all as above; just one or two lines and a general speciality. It also has characters from other sources, like Ren Martindale from Prime Runners and even the Shadowrun CCG from the '90s - and the latter were mostly just fleshed out by me to fill out the shadows. So, if we're looking for stuff from official sources only I may as well edit it a bit and get it up in the next couple of days as a .txt file. Tommorrow's my Deadlands HoE game though so I can't work on it then.

[Namikaze]

No worries on time - I still haven't even gotten the software installed yet. 

General mooks won't be included on here though, since those are easily built or referenced - we're only worrying about actual NPCs.  At this point, we'll just compile all the canon NPCs if possible, then we'll start adding more as we get things up and running.  If you get a chance to make a list of canon NPCs, it would be very useful. 

[iamfanboy]

Oh, I have the list - mostly, it's just mixed up with my NPCs (and while my players love some of 'em, like Loli Lovely the high society rumormonger who has a physical age of between 11 and 14, a SIN that says she's 22, and the mental age of a 37 year old world-weary Shangai prostitute), I rather think that they need to be separated out from canon NPCs.

How much detail should the list include? Is the first example of Morlock fine for the list, or should I write out the second for all of 'em? And, darn, I'd better attribute the sources... probably by book number for the precon adventure NPCs...

So much to do, and that stupid little "Are you a human" thing is still popping up. And it won't accept "I am a meat popsicle". It should only be 10 posts total til it vanishes, just like on the Battletech forum...

[Michael Chandra]

Correct, so you only got 1 post to go.

I'm definitely going to include short versions of a few NPCs I've been using, such as Mr. Gunderson (son of), Boris Errascoe and my new SWAT officer. Wouldn't surprise me if someone gets some of them killed but eh, they're not mine once I share them.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Fanboy, timeline does matter, and in some cases it's critical - but what's at least if not more important is the fact that the above three 'oyabun' (Dark Angel?  I have the adventure, I just don't recall which one those three are in off the top of my head) really aren't canonical once you get into 'hey, this is how the Yakuza work, and this is who exists in Seattle'.  Which means the names may be changed, personas may be merged, in order to get to what is / what should be.  In other words, we want as close to current canon as possible, and we want to make it populated usefully with what people bring in.

I'm not saying your list is bad; far, far, far from it.  But it will get audited for fitting with later canon.

[iamfanboy]

Okay, the initial format is going to be like this. The source of the NPCs are listed first, then all the reusable NPCs or organizations (like gangs, small policlubs, magical groups) from said adventure - though a couple that might make recurring villains are also mentioned, like Doctor What from Harlequin. I'm gonna go through all the precons I have in paper or pdf (currently only missing Mercurial!) and wring 'em dry for useful info.

Here's the sample for Harlequin.

7306 HARLEQUIN

NAME: Sandii
TYPE: Organized crime fixer
DESCRIPTION: Has a stainless-steel smile that is rumored to be the gift of an oyabun she angered. Works as an intermediary between various organized crime syndicates as a neutral party.

NAME: Morlock
TYPE: High society fixer
DESCRIPTION: A hunchbacked dwarf who hires for people who prefer their runners to be descreet, intelligent, and thorough - and who like to be very, very wealthy.

NAME:Anton Helms
TYPE: International, top-level fixer
DESCRIPTION: A fixer rich enough to operate from Lear Platinum, he moves at the highest level of the shadows - if a normal fixer shifts the balance of power between gangs, he shifts power between nations.

NAME:Association Para-Nobilis
TYPE:Elf poser gang/budding eco-terrorist group
DESCRIPTION:A group of humans who idolize elves - well, Tolkien fantasy elves that shoot bows, wear fur, and eat dandelions that is. Despite that the APN has no qualms about using modern weaponry to 'further the agenda of the elven race'.

NAME:Young Elven Technologists
TYPE:Elven policlub
DESCRIPTION:Sponsored by Ehran the Scribe, a high muckymuck in Tir Tairngire, the YET are the polar opposite of the APN: "Technology is the future" etc. That doesn't mean they neglect magic, though.

NAME:Lancelot Windtree
TYPE:Elven Mystic Adept
DESCRIPTION:If the APN could pick an ideal Elf, it'd be Lancelot - too bad he's also a huge racist and would rather spit on them than say a word in favor of their goals. Troubleshooter for the Tir Tairngire and Ehran personally.

NAME: Bonecrack
TYPE: Street Samurai
DESCRIPTION: A cold-blooded bastard, even for a samurai. He'll do anything for the right price. Save a kidnapped child or kill a little old lady, it's all the same to him, but damn if he's not good at what he does. Has a brother who goblinized into a Troll and suffered mentally, but Bonecrack takes care of him - it's his one soft spot.

NAME:Doctor What
TYPE:Torturer
DESCRIPTION:A man who looks like Santa Claus and is an expert at extracting information with pain, he is known only to a select clientele. A coward who despises pain himself. (probably dies in adventure!)

NAME:Harlequin
TYPE: Immortal (dragonblooded) Elf
DESCRIPTION:A seemingly capricious man, he acts the role of the jester to try and illuminate his fellow immortal elves on the differences in this cycle.

NAME:Ehran the Scribe
TYPE:Immortal Elf
DESCRIPTION:A man, serious to a fault, that takes his role in recreating the glories of the last cycle's elven kingdom as his only joy.


That seem OK?