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Message no. 1
From: Adam J <fro@***.AB.CA>
Subject: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 14:53:52 -0600
At 10:10 7/10/97 EST, you wrote:
>> their lifes during every job... And earn big nuyen for it... I
>> _hate_ the Dirk-Montgomery-shadowrunner-image. (no, I don't hate the
>> novels... just the attitude that Montgomery is the typical
>> shadowrunner...)
>
>Heck, in the book, Dirk himself admits that he's just a lurker at the
>edges...he's pretty overwhelmed by Argent and the other "real"
>shadowrunners.

Dirk is probably my favourite SR character to appear in FASA published
stuff. Merely because he's not some shit-hot runner with tons of cybermods
or magical skills. He's somewhere between 'ordinary guy' and
'shadowrunner', and to me, it represents the majority of the shadowrunning
community. The non-elite.

>P.S. 2XS one of my favorite...probably second favorite after
>changling.

Haven't read Changling, but I would say 2XS probably is my favourite.

-Aj

--
http://shadowrun.home.ml.org \ TSS Productions \ The Shadowrun Supplemental
ShadowRN Assistant Fearless Leader \ WildAngle@******** \ fro@***.ab.ca
-
"Can I have a cup of angst to go with my un-happy meal?" -- Hi & Lois
Message no. 2
From: "Bruce H. Nagel" <NAGELBH@******.ACS.MUOHIO.EDU>
Subject: Re: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 00:16:12 -0500
You wrote:
> Haven't read Changling, but I would say 2XS probably is my favourite.
Well, given that I stopped reading SR novels around Changeling (which was
decent) I have to say 2XS is the only SR novel I've read that would have stood
on its own as a novel without the SR gamers to buy it. It was written well,
and didn't suffer so much from the formula plots that the others do.

losthalo
Message no. 3
From: NightLife <habenir@******.SAN.UC.EDU>
Subject: Re: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 00:18:52 -0400
>Dirk is probably my favourite SR character to appear in FASA published
>stuff. Merely because he's not some shit-hot runner with tons of cybermods
>or magical skills. He's somewhere between 'ordinary guy' and
>'shadowrunner', and to me, it represents the majority of the shadowrunning
>community. The non-elite.

Dirk is definately amusing. At least when he get's hit with a dumpster his
reply is to fall to the ground and say Duh! That kind of vulneralility
impresses me unlike characters like Striper or the group from Black Madonna,
Gerriant and his buddies.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Nightlife Inc.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

YES and my followers will be legion! The world will be mine
"SO SWEARS THE LEADER!"
All will bow before my might and bask in my radience. Kneel before you lord
and master. Kiss the ruby ring of power and cower before me.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Document Classified
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Message no. 4
From: "J. Keith Henry" <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 1997 12:15:35 -0400
In a message dated 97-07-11 05:55:39 EDT, fro@***.AB.CA (Adam J) writes:

>
> >P.S. 2XS one of my favorite...probably second favorite after
> >changling.
>
> Haven't read Changling, but I would say 2XS probably is my favourite.
>
I got a kick out of House of the Sun and Burning Bright personally. Burning
nearly sent player shockwaves through my whole game group actually. We being
in the shadow of Chicago (Lafayette is close), it made us think of nasty
alternatives (just what -IS- Purdue hiding in their steam tunnels anyway?)
-K
Message no. 5
From: "J. Keith Henry" <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 1997 12:20:15 -0400
In a message dated 97-07-11 07:32:45 EDT, habenir@******.SAN.UC.EDU writes:

>
> Dirk is definately amusing. At least when he get's hit with a dumpster his
> reply is to fall to the ground and say Duh! That kind of vulneralility
> impresses me unlike characters like Striper or the group from Black
Madonna,
> Gerriant and his buddies.
>
>
Striper!!! The ultimate in ---Pussy Cats---
-K
Message no. 6
From: "Simon T. Sailer" <Simon.Sailer@****.AC.AT>
Subject: Re: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 09:16:14 +0100
> Dirk is probably my favourite SR character to appear in FASA published
> stuff. Merely because he's not some shit-hot runner with tons of cybermods
> or magical skills. He's somewhere between 'ordinary guy' and
> 'shadowrunner', and to me, it represents the majority of the shadowrunning
> community. The non-elite.
> -Aj

Strange thought, if you ask me... What is wrong with tons of
cybermods and magical skills? That's what shadowrun is
all about...(aside from the roleplaying itself)
Runners have to own very special talents, eather cyber or magic (or
rigging, or decking.....). It's their job.
They are no ordinary guys. They are the elite.

And before another one calls me munch... having a powerful
character is certailnly not munchkinism... my characters have always
been extremely powerful, but nevertheless I'm a roleplayer, no
powergamer.

ss
Message no. 7
From: Adam J <fro@***.AB.CA>
Subject: Re: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 03:42:39 -0600
At 09:16 7/14/97 +0100, you wrote:
>
>Strange thought, if you ask me... What is wrong with tons of
>cybermods and magical skills?

Nothing.

>That's what shadowrun is all about...(aside from the roleplaying itself)

Uh, no.

>Runners have to own very special talents, eather cyber or magic (or
>rigging, or decking.....). It's their job.
>They are no ordinary guys. They are the elite.

And how many of these 'Runners' are there in the world? 1 in 100,000,
Maybe. I don't see Shadowrun as a world just for these elite badass
runners. Its a world for everyone, and everyone has to find a place.
Everyone starts somewhere, nobody starts out as 'elite'. There is a huge
giant gap between what I would call a 'shadowrunner' and what I would call
a 'character I play in Shadowrun'.

-Adam
-
http://shadowrun.home.ml.org \ TSS Productions \ The Shadowrun Supplemental
ShadowRN Assistant Fearless Leader \ WildAngle@******** \ fro@***.ab.ca
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Message no. 8
From: SilverFire <shergold@***********.NET>
Subject: Re: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 10:25:34 -0400
Adam wrote:
>
>
> >Runners have to own very special talents, eather cyber or magic (or
> >rigging, or decking.....). It's their job.
> >They are no ordinary guys. They are the elite.
>
> And how many of these 'Runners' are there in the world? 1 in 100,000,
> Maybe. I don't see Shadowrun as a world just for these elite badass
> runners. Its a world for everyone, and everyone has to find a place.
> Everyone starts somewhere, nobody starts out as 'elite'. There is a huge
> giant gap between what I would call a 'shadowrunner' and what I would
call
> a 'character I play in Shadowrun'.

I have to agree with Adam, one of my Street Sams is just a jumped up
ganger, she has a small degree of professionalism (when she has it
together, the chemicals used to adapt her body to the cyber caused an
imbalance so she's a screwed in the head. It is NOT cyberpsychosis, though
many might think it is.), but she anything but elite.
Actually most of my characters fall in that range, they have a degree of
professionalism, but are hardly amongst the elite. The same held true for
most of the characters in group I was in, it may have changed, but except
for some of the people who's characters had there for awhile and they were
professionals.

SilverFire
"I merely chewed in self-defense."

-Draco the Dragon
"Dragonheart"
Message no. 9
From: "Simon T. Sailer" <Simon.Sailer@****.AC.AT>
Subject: Re: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 11:06:06 +0100
> Everyone starts somewhere, nobody starts out as 'elite'. There is a huge
> giant gap between what I would call a 'shadowrunner' and what I would call
> a 'character I play in Shadowrun'.
>
> -Adam

Check the character creation table, and compare it with some of the
contacts, and you will see that the contacts don't stand the
slightest chance- nearly all of them.
No matter how you distribut your priorities, your character will be
much tougher that the average ganger or cop or whatever.

I guess we represent two different styles of playing, none of them is
right or wrong. You dislike playing powerful characters, I dislike
playing Joe Average. (and for a reason... I am joe average in real
life, so I see no point in playing him... but... never mind..)
Message no. 10
From: Adam J <fro@***.AB.CA>
Subject: Re: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 06:02:54 -0600
At 11:06 7/15/97 +0100, you wrote:

>Check the character creation table, and compare it with some of the
>contacts, and you will see that the contacts don't stand the
>slightest chance- nearly all of them.
>No matter how you distribut your priorities, your character will be
>much tougher that the average ganger or cop or whatever.

Then its a good thing I'm smart enough to generate my own NPC's, to match
the ones FASA publishes.

>I guess we represent two different styles of playing, none of them is
>right or wrong. You dislike playing powerful characters, I dislike
>playing Joe Average. (and for a reason... I am joe average in real
>life, so I see no point in playing him... but... never mind..)

Right, I think we should agree to disagree on this one.

-Aj
-
http://shadowrun.home.ml.org \ TSS Productions \ The Shadowrun Supplemental
ShadowRN Assistant Fearless Leader \ WildAngle@******** \ fro@***.ab.ca
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Message no. 11
From: Skye Comstock <bilbo@****.NWLINK.COM>
Subject: Re: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 09:41:30 -0800
>>Check the character creation table, and compare it with some of the
>>contacts, and you will see that the contacts don't stand the
>>slightest chance- nearly all of them.
>>No matter how you distribut your priorities, your character will be
>>much tougher that the average ganger or cop or whatever.
>
>Then its a good thing I'm smart enough to generate my own NPC's, to match
>the ones FASA publishes.

I think he was saying the Shadowrun characters are always a bit
more powerful than Franky the Fish & Chips Seller... It had nothing
to do with being "smart" enough to generate other NPC's to match
PC's in your campaign, IMO. Shadowrun characters are made to
be special, after all, this isn't Hot Dog Vendor vs. Ice Cream
Man. Heh... The Ares Corndog Shooter vs. The Ares *Bomb* Pop. :]

-Skye
Message no. 12
From: Adam J <fro@***.AB.CA>
Subject: Re: 2XS/Dirk Montgomery (Was Combat Spells -- Level 6?)
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 15:30:01 -0600
At 09:41 7/15/97 -0800, you wrote:
>>Then its a good thing I'm smart enough to generate my own NPC's, to match
>>the ones FASA publishes.
>
>I think he was saying the Shadowrun characters are always a bit
>more powerful than Franky the Fish & Chips Seller... It had nothing
>to do with being "smart" enough to generate other NPC's to match
>PC's in your campaign, IMO. Shadowrun characters are made to
>be special, after all, this isn't Hot Dog Vendor vs. Ice Cream
>Man. Heh... The Ares Corndog Shooter vs. The Ares *Bomb* Pop. :]

I was tired when I made that post, and it shows. I'm even more tired now,
but, I'm just gonna clarify it quickly.
The NPC's my player characters meet are matched to their level, whether
they are corn dog venders, ganger punks, corp hit men, or damien knights
personal fitness trainer.
Its not a case of me playing or GM'ing 'Average joe' type characters,
either. I'm just not a fan of a hugely high powered campaign, its not the
way I see the Shadowrun world at all.

-Adam

-Aj
-
http://shadowrun.home.ml.org \ TSS Productions \ The Shadowrun Supplemental
ShadowRN Assistant Fearless Leader \ WildAngle@******** \ fro@***.ab.ca
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