| From: | "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Info wanted... |
| Date: | Sun, 30 Mar 1997 02:11:08 +0000 |
<Avenger@*******.DEMON.CO.UK> writes
>But with Lynch
>I find that the man is a tad over the top, in as much as he is an
>epitomy of "good guy". I keep getting strange visions of him as a Tom
>Berenger look alike (from Rustlers Rhapsody) <grin> (No offence meant
>Paul)
None taken. Mind you, I see Lynch more as John Clark from Tom Clancy's
novels: and especially from the movie "Clear And Present Danger".
He's not exactly a shadowrunner. And he's not exactly a good guy. But he
does his best.
>As regards the commentary on preferences for old aircraft/weapons/music.
>Well, there's not much one can do about that. If Lynch wants to fly an
>old Phantom, use ancient weapons and listen to 80's rock, that is merely
>part of his character, the same as people today prefer centuries old
>classic music, and classic tales. I don't think it would be a
>reflection of society in 2058, just a personal preference.
It's meant to be an anachronism, not a reflection of the superiority of
this period :) Just the way the character developed since 1989, not a
heavy statement.
>That's also part of the reason a Johnson won't frag over a Runner team,
>not because he's scared of reprisals, I doubt the Johnson could care
>less,
Some runner teams could make a Johnson's life short, painful and
interesting, though. The success rate need not be high for that to be a
deterrent: having to involve Security and other agencies to shut down an
"unsanctioned" operation could be penalty enough for many shadowruns
(since not all involve the approval of, or are in the best interests of,
Johnson's employers).
>Runners are the exception to street
>life, they have skills the normal person does not possess. For example,
>Paul plays about with the TA's occassionally, both he and I are
>shooters, he's probably better than I am, as a result of more training
>and more opportunity. On the flip side, I'm better trained than he is
>regarding computers and networks, though these skills are far from
>unique, they seperate us from the majority of people in our
>neighbourhoods. Nobody else in my street knows dick about computers, so
>they come and talk to me when they want something or need advice on an
>upgrade. Paul works for a defence firm, designing and producing
>materials for the military, again, not something for the average person.
Yep. If you gave us more budget and training, Pete's "decker who can
take care of himself" and I'm the merc that Fields of Fire was written
for :)
Pete's right, though. Compare the Archetypes offered as starting PCs to
the Contacts in SR2, or (if you have Sprawl Sites) to the Contacts in
there. Your typical Shadowrun PC is considerably more capable than the
average citizen.
>These are not normal street people. I can't see a standard
>tramp (bum) being able to co-ordinate a run against a guarded facility.
I work in a "guarded facility" where the guards don't have truncheons,
let alone guns, and it would be pretty hard to pull off a raid on it
unless you were willing to accept a double-figure body count.
As for hitting RNAD Frater (where our products are stored and
maintained)... forget it. Even visiting contractors meet gun-toting
security, and this in the UK where armed police are confined to airports
and weapons stored in locked cases in patrol cars. That site would need
a pretty exceptional team to crack.
>Cyberware is one of my pet hates. A street sam with increased reflexes,
>cybereyes and all manner of enhancements is going to move in a massively
>different way to other people, he's going to alienate himself from
>society because of that difference, he has become a combat monster, and
>as such is unpredictable and deadly, making him a "risk" to casually
>associate with. I always see this type of character as the shadow in
>the corner, hiding from prying eyes, desperate not to be noticed, and
>terminated by law enforcement.
This is why Cybertechnology's "reflex trigger" is such a sought-after
item.
I made the point in character, it's true everywhere: most characters
would yearn to be able to turn off those short-circuited reflexes for a
few hours, to react like normal humans for a while.
Again, the IC reference on S-TK was Tim Zahn's "Cobra", but it's a
superb description of what it is to be a wired combat machine. To kill
without thought, because your short-circuited reflexes evaluated the
target as a threat, is not a nice thing to have happen to a PC.
Cybertechnology's introduction does a superb job of describing the
problems of many cyber enhancements.
>That does unfortunately appear to be a general thing on the list, but
>then maybe the people here like to play the hero, rather than a
>character who is darker and less "good guy". Again something I call the
>"John Wayne Syndrome". It's kinda fun sometimes to play a hero, someone
>who comes through against the odds, with his/her morals intact and a
>deep personal code unviolated. I am guilty of possessing exactly such a
>character, though the plots he's involved in are contrary to those
>personal codes - he just doesn't know it yet.. <g>
I've got a character coming in who's pretty dark. He probably won't last
long, though....
>Well, there are two problems here. Though you are right, and Shadowtk
>should be changed to reflect the primarily corporate and incredibly
>highly skilled/classed/quality characters that post here, it would
>result in a situation where the majority of plots would collapse from
>this restriction, with people not being able to post comments/storylines
>as a result of their characters not being able to access it. Certainly
>all of my characters bar one, would not be able to access a board with
>those restrictions. None of them can apparently compete with the likes
>of Serenity and Flux, the Two Jakes and other "high class" deckers. The
>other basic characters I have wouldn't be able to utilise this node for
>transfering data, and the plots I have ongoing would stop, as would
>other people's.
Well, some characters ride on the back of those deckers (Lynch and
Lilith get access via Karlsbruhn, and more recently Flux). Quinn gets
access via a PhD student at Seattle U. I'm less certain how Easy and
Marlowe get access, and if I bring Harley in more often I don't know how
she'd claim to be getting access (she's a hardcore biker: any machine
with less than two, or three or more, wheels is beneath her notice).
It does, though, irritate when children are able to post "help me, help
me" messages so easily.
>Again, although I may not agree with the presence of SIGA, the FBI and
>others on this list, I'm involved in Pauls plot, from two angles and am
>enjoying his little twists and plot developments. The same applies to
>other posts here. I may not agree with such a high corporate presence
>here, but it does make for interesting reading sometimes.
A dissenting opinion. A board like this _would_ be monitored. What
shadowrunners can create, corporations and national intelligence
organisaions can read. If it's available to competent runners with
decker contacts, then for sure Fuchi, Renraku, Ares, Aztlan, the UCAS et
al can read it. If Fuchi can't access it, neither can most of the
characters currently posting.
IMHO most of the contributors recognise this: and the demands of writing
interesting and entertaining plotlines override total realism. I'd like
to see fewer PRIVATE: headers, but that's going to take a culture change
on S-Tk.
NOT TO: is a good workaround for plot purposes, but Thunda ignoring it
crippled that particular device. While it's unrealistic, it has a lot of
value for this list.
--
There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and
praiseworthy...
Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk
