From:	justinf@****.caltech.edu (Justin Fang)
Subject:	Re: Mechanics Question
Date:	Thu, 28 Mar 1996 16:59:51 -0800 (PST)

> OK. You say you chose initiate grade, which a starting character can not
> do, how did you do that? I know this is just RPGing, and I have had it
> explained that unless you wish to die (or say you are going to do
> something stupid like say...umm, hunt metahumans and mages) that you
> wont die.

It's not exactly RPGing. It's more like a "shared storytelling enviroment."
Thre's no one person "in charge," the way there's a GM in a sit-down face-to-
face RPG (well, there are the Great and Powerful List Administrators, but
that's not quite the same.) The best way to figure out how it works is to
just watch for a while. You can read the back logs, too.

> But the character I have created for this is one based off my sit-down
> game character that I play on the weekends and he is initiate grade 8,
> and has Sorcery 10 and other cool stuff. Since there are dragons and
> free spirits being played what is there to stop me from playing him as
> he is other then the group going no, no, and really no.

The list is consensus-based, so yes, there isn't really anything to stop you
from doing so other than the rest of the list objecting. But, keep in mind
that no-one actually rolls dice. While you should have a good idea of what
your character can and can't do, exact game statistics aren't necessary.
There's really no point in giving a character high stats for the sake of
giving him high stats.

> Hmm, I just looked at what I wrote and noticed it sounds a little
> whinney, but I just wanted some guidelines. So deep breath, OK. What I
> wanted was to see if everyone is playing on the same level or just how
> free form the set up is. Sorry if I sound a little...grippey, but as a
> newbee these are questions I thought should be asked.

It's fairly free-form. Shadowtk uses the official FASA Shadowrun world
history and game rules, so that there's a "common standard" that everyone
can agree on for what's happened in the past and what's possible to happen.
(Of course, there are still disagreements about interpretations of the
above...) This is also done so that new people can come on without having
to learn a whole new bunch of "house rules." You also can't change big
pieces of the official game setting: noone can destroy Aztechnology, for
instance, because then everyone who comes on in the future will have to
have it explained to them why it doesn't exist. (You can destroy a
megacorp you've made yourself, though. Heh heh heh...)

> Randy