| From: | Matb <mbreton@**.NETCOM.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Card/Deck of the Week: Dirk Montgomery |
| Date: | Mon, 26 Jan 1998 16:15:44 -0800 |
Long-term Shadowrun players should be familiar with Dirk Montgomery, the
lead character from several of Nigel Findley's novels, including _2XS_
and _House of the Sun_. (Findley was, imho, one of the best early
writers for SR; far, far surpassing Robert Charrette.)
For such an exciting character, however, Dirk ranks as probably the
worst of the Prime Runners in SRTCG. Let's look at the spoiler:
Dirk Montgomery / Prime Runner : Detective / 5/1Y
3/3. Athletics-1. 3Y: Turn to search deck for a Contact. Show card to
all before adding it to your hand.
At 5/1, Dirk is the absolute cheapest Prime Runner there is. With only
the most basic skill, however -- and Athletics is not *that* rare of a
skill -- the savings isn't justified. This is made worse by the absence
of "benefits" for Detectives; if Dirk was, say, a Mercenary, you could
scoop extra nuyen from Operation Cottonmouth. If he had an extra skill,
you could use a Moonlighting on him. As far as stats and skills go, a
much better choice would be Jack Skater, who costs just one more nuyen,
yet has a fair variety of skills, and a decent Threat Rating as well.
Dirk's special ability is worth noting, and despite my low esteem of
this card, I've built a deck around him. Deck manipulation -- the
ability to search your deck for a particular type of card -- remains on
of Shadowrun's strengths. Dirk's is not particular useful (even though
it's the only one which searches for Contacts); by FASA's own
guidelines, you should pack at most five Contacts into a sixty-card
deck. While a card like Dirk might entice you to add more Contacts to
your deck, Contacts are by far the weakest resource, and adding too many
only thins out your deck. Nevertheless, here's our deck.
"Dicks and Pricks" (or, the Detective/Skinhead deck)
Runners: (20)
*Archie McDeven x1
*Dirk Montgomery x3
Sam the Sleuth x3
Ajax x2
Cannonball x1
**H-Man 2057 x1
Jack Hammer x1
Kraker-Jack x2
Roadrash x2
Skag x1
Syn x2
Thrash x3
Turbo x2
As you can see, all the Detectives in the set are worked in. Dirk's the
only important one; Sam provides a nice selection of skills. The
remainder of the team (the muscle) are chosen mostly for their ugly
faces. Ravage and Jack Skater probably *look* the most like neo-Nazies,
with their buzzcuts, but, as Prime Runners, they're simply too
expensive.
I've selected most of these Runners because they have a very good
Threat-to-cost ratio. Their skills are somewhat lacking.
You can turn this into the Detective/Goth deck by substuting in
Nightshade, Stiletto, and Gutter Rat as you see fit. (That actually
works slightly better, as you keep the deck very Human.)
Gear: (10)
Beretta x2
Ceska vz/120 x2
Crawler Drone x2
Hunter Drone x1
Lined Coat x2
Streetline Special x1
No, I really don't know why I've selected so many pistols. I figure a
street gang can't really have a steady supply, so they've probably
picked up pieces here and there. The Streetline, I've found, works
really well with Mr. Black (below), although by the exact phrasing on
the card Mr. Black may make the Special actually cost nuyen.
In keeping with the theme of the deck, I *should* have Chipjack-3s and
Skillsofts: Melee. That's another deck for another day.
Contacts: (8)
Humanis Policlub Member x4
Media Chick x2
Troll Bouncer x2
The Humanis is, of course, the backbone of this deck. As I was writing
up the "Anti-Everything" deck many moons ago, I realized there was one
other anti- card I had forgotten. There chance that you might interfere
with your own deck is rather slim (and non-existent when playing against
Troll and Elf decks). With three different races, your next Runner
probably won't be affected. Between McDeven and the two Crawler Drones,
you should be able to keep an important Runner turned for a while,
hopefully long enough to kill it odd.
With weak Runners and lots of nuyen, Media Chick is a must have.
Locations: (2)
Club Vortex x1
The Iron Lung x1
What better hang-outs for skinheads than nightclubs that are almost
guaranteed to kill them off?
Specials: (10)
Drive-By x3
Even Steven x1
Stingers:
Blazing Guns x2
Moonlighting x2
Rough Night x2
Drive-By makes Turbo actually worth using. Sinec all of the Gear are
cheap pistols, and most of my Runners have Firearms, Blazing Guns can be
a decent boost in offensiev power. (Now think: with the Beretta, the
Runner suddenly gains +4/+2.. really!)
Challenges:
Ambush x2
Gut Check x2
Halloweener Hell x2
Hellish Traffic x2
Knight Errant Guards x1
Razor Head Turf x2
Security Consultant x1
The Funhouse x2
Voiceprint ID Scanner x2
Again, a skinhead theme in the Challenges; I'm tempted to reverse the
"Indoors only" Objectives and use a lot of the Outdoor ones
(specifically, Highway Showdown, Hellish Traffic, and Ambushed En
Route.) But I feel rather brave attempting a "Gear destruction" deck by
way of the Voiceprint and Teh Funhouse Challenges.
Objectives:
Extraction x2
Kamikaze Run x2
Wetwork x2
Total Cards: 66/6 (now isn't that symbolic?)
------------------------------------
With nomads I am numbered. -- E. MacColl
Teen Poets FAQ: http://pw1.netcom.com/~mbreton/poetry/poetfaq.htm
SRTCG Website: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/2189/ccgtop.htm
