[Crimsondude]

Eventually you learn to do it in your head, or not if you're unfortunate.

[wolfrider66]

Eventually you learn to do it in your head, or not if you're unfortunate.

That's what I did with AD&D but with learning a whole new game mechanic I find that there is a back up at the intersection of rules & imagination street. This will pass with time. Sooner than later. I find the more NPCs I make the more familiar and comfortable I am with the system. Though I have combat down pretty good, i think I might stumble a bit with AR & VR combat. Or even just playing through Boxter's (Dwarf Technomancer) part in all this. Even though it's a  "make believe" computer meta-network I find it complicated. I hope I don't over think it during play. I'm going over those sections again tonight. If anyone out there has any suggestions on how to play the networked AR & VR side of the game feel free to chip in. I want it to flow and be lite and simple.

[Crimsondude]

Way to kneecap my mental dick-waving. :-)

[CanRay]

Yes, along with the Holy Friars of Sinter Klaus.  However, neither of them can hold a candle to that other top-secret elven war society, the Mystic House of Keebler.

A simple "No" would have sufficed.

[wolfrider66]

ah man James, I laughed so hard I spotted when I saw your post. I did NOT expect that. Plus 1 to you my comic mental dick waving friend.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

So, no love for the Knights of Saint Nicholas? 

Are they elves?

Yes, along with the Holy Friars of Sinter Klaus.  However, neither of them can hold a candle to that other top-secret elven war society, the Mystic House of Keebler.

A simple "No" would have sufficed.

To be entirely honest, I know nothing about the Knights of Saint Nicholas; the joke was a long play on the whole 'elves' and 'Santa' thing, and not meant to be mean, CanRay.

That said - is there a 'Knights of Saint Nicholas' in Shadowrun?  If so, tell me - or at least give me a reference!!

[Crimsondude]

It's in Safehouses.

[Black]

It's in Safehouses.

Didn't remember this straight away, but its a pretty cool tidbit...

[spoiler]

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share this or not, but I figured why not.
The Catholic Church has a series of safehouses run in countries
that have heavy anti-Christian attitudes by an unconfirmed and
completely denied group called “The Knights of Saint Nicholas,”
which will also provide safety for persecuted Jews and Muslims,
and occasionally to shadowrunners that have proven that they
are “of good moral fiber and friends of the Church.” Nicholas is,
apparently, the patron saint of shadowrunners.
> Plan 9

You’ve asked us to swallow a lot of big stuff over the years, Plan
9, but are you telling me, with a straight face no less, that Santa
Claus is the saint of shadowrunners? I ain’t buying.
> Slamm-0!

> Makes sense in a way. I mean, most if not all of us have gone
down a chimney at least once in our careers, haven’t we? Well,
HVAC systems—close enough.
> Mika

[/spoiler]

I now remember reading this.  Sorry CanRay, when you provide so much quality, sometimes a piece of coolness slips through the memory cracks.    And its a Plan 9 quote! and apparently Saint Nick is our parton saint!

I'm so ashamed for not picking the reference straight away....

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Oh, yeah, so NOW I remember reading it ...

[Wakshaani]

I was reading the Sixth World Almanac this morning and was a bit surprised to see this:

2042- Oct 25th, Italy. Poke John the XXV allows women into the Roman Catholic Priesthood.

Now, I'd talked a bit about wanting to do this a while back, but the response from the Catholics was rather ... pronounced. It's a pretty darn sacred tradition, so changing it would be a Big Deal. Turns out that ol' John had done it thirty years back and, somehow, that'd never got covered.

It probably should.

Of course, that brings us to the Pope himself. John XXV is still in office, first elected in 2013. That means he's been in there for 60 years, and clearly wasn't young when he started. He's outlived all of his opposition and the Brazillian has since stacked the college of Cardinals with like-minded folks. When (Heck, IF!) he dies, the policies are likely to continue, rather than snap back to something regressive like his predecessor, who was famously anti-Meta and anti-Awakening.

Sixty years.

Man.

[Longshot23]

I was reading the Sixth World Almanac this morning and was a bit surprised to see this:

2042- Oct 25th, Italy. Poke John the XXV allows women into the Roman Catholic Priesthood.

Now, I'd talked a bit about wanting to do this a while back, but the response from the Catholics was rather ... pronounced. It's a pretty darn sacred tradition, so changing it would be a Big Deal. Turns out that ol' John had done it thirty years back and, somehow, that'd never got covered.

It probably should.

Of course, that brings us to the Pope himself. John XXV is still in office, first elected in 2013. That means he's been in there for 60 years, and clearly wasn't young when he started. He's outlived all of his opposition and the Brazillian has since stacked the college of Cardinals with like-minded folks. When (Heck, IF!) he dies, the policies are likely to continue, rather than snap back to something regressive like his predecessor, who was famously anti-Meta and anti-Awakening.

Sixty years.

Man.

Unfortunately the Pope HASN'T managed to stack the College of Cardinals. It's explained in more detail in Shadows of Europe, but the short version is that the (arch)conservative side of the Church is still going strong because they can designate their respective successors. Hence, deadlock.

The next Papal election is going to be . . . Drawn-out. Hell, Fianchetto might get pulled back into Vatican political machinations.

[CanRay]

I now remember reading this.  Sorry CanRay, when you provide so much quality, sometimes a piece of coolness slips through the memory cracks.    And its a Plan 9 quote! and apparently Saint Nick is our parton saint!

Quality, well, yeah, maybe.  Certainly not Quantity.  Yet.

Considering that Saint Nicholas of Myra is the Patron Saint of Thieves (Supposedly penitent thieves, but all devout Catholic thieves accept him apparently), pawnbrokers, paupers, the falsely accused, prisoners, victims of lawsuits lost unjustly, murderers, orphans, pirates, the poor...  Well, let's just say that he's probably also the Patron Saint of Shadowrunners, Fixers, the SINless,  and at least half the Contacts every Shadowrunner has...  Yeah, I felt I was justified in saying so.

"Knights of Saint Nicholas" was a nickname for thieves at one time, as well, BTW.  For an obvious reason.

Now, is this Plan 9 spouting off conspiracies, or is he accurate in that there is an organization dedicated to protecting the faithful by creating safehouses (and probably hiring Shadowrunners to smuggle them out of bad situations), is all in how well you believe Plan 9.  His info is good on occasion, but it's also often very wrong.

See, I do research. 

PS:  I had a hard choice with going with good ol' St. Nick, or Saint Joshua the Patriarch, who is the Patron Saint of Spies (Apparently).  But I figured that the Santa Claus joke was more than worth it.  And, let's face it, most Shadowrunners have more in common with thieves than spies.

And to think, the last time I was in a Catholic Church was over a decade ago.