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Message no. 1
From: Jaymz <justin@******.NET>
Subject: Physical Adpets, what do you play?
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 1997 20:25:48 -0500
OK,

I have managed to upset my wife by convincing her to play a Phys Ad in my
game.

What sort of characters do you play when playing a PA?

They never will be anywhere near as powerful as a sammy, right?

What are the advantages of playing one in SRII?

The last time I really played was SRI, where Adpets seemed to be more
powerful.

I know this is probably an old subject, but pointers to relative texts
would be extremely helpful.

Thanks,
Jaymz
/-justin@****.mcp.com----------------------jbell@****.mcp.com--\
|Justin Bell NIC:JB3084| Time and rules are changing. |
|Simon & Schuster | Attention span is quickening. |
|Programmer | Welcome to the Information Age. |
\------------ http://www.mcp.com/people/justin/ ---------------/
Message no. 2
From: "Bruce H. Nagel" <NAGELBH@******.ACS.MUOHIO.EDU>
Subject: Re: Physical Adpets, what do you play?
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 01:35:45 -0500
You wrote:
> They never will be anywhere near as powerful as a sammy, right?
All depends on your point of view.

> What are the advantages of playing one in SRII?
Subtlety, superior stealth, unusual and unexpected abilities.

> The last time I really played was SRI, where Adpets seemed to be more
> powerful.
They were, but too powerful in the eyes of many.

Think of the legends about ninja, berserkers, and the like, people who could
push their bodies beyond sane human limits. They can take some o fthe same
roles as samurai, but don't have the heavy reaction abilities of the street
sam. But they can out-stealth him, and outdo him in melee combat, among other
things. Some perform more like AD&D thieves, others simply boost their
attributes and fighting skills, etc...

losthalo
Message no. 3
From: Skye Comstock <bilbo@****.NWLINK.COM>
Subject: Re: Physical Adpets, what do you play?
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 09:52:13 -0800
>What sort of characters do you play when playing a PA?

I usually play "ninja" types-- adepts that focus on stealth and
subterfuge rather than loud guns and heavy feet. I've also made
a couple gun-slingers that turned out rather nicely. The money
wasn't much, so he usually ended up with a good Savalette or
two. <g>

>They never will be anywhere near as powerful as a sammy, right?

Maybe not compared to a sammy with A in resources, but over
time, with initiation and such, they can compete fairly well. I
don't look at characters from a stand-point of one being
better than another, I just play it.

>What are the advantages of playing one in SRII?

Dunno, don't have SR1...

>I know this is probably an old subject, but pointers to relative texts
>would be extremely helpful.

Yes, it is. ;)

-Skye
Message no. 4
From: William Monroe Ashe <wma6617@****.TAMU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Physical Adpets, what do you play?
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 12:41:13 -0500
My physical adept was a detective. He had a large stealth, and
specialized in tracking and tailing people. He also had the "Body Morph"
power that was discussed on this list a while ago. He was a whole lot of
fun to play. I played him sort of like Mike Hammer, but a lot more
sophisticated.

Note: the body morph power could be abused very easily. I could see an
assassin with it being very hard to stop. My GM gave the power a very
serious drawback in that it caused my character to have a very "weird"
and distinctive aura that was immediately noticeable. We never had any
problem with it. It is a cool power, but only let your "responsible"
players have it.


Regards


Bill
Message no. 5
From: "Faux Pas (Thomas)" <thomas@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Physical Adpets, what do you play?
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 13:16:54 -0500
At 12:41 PM 7/7/97 -0500, William Monroe Ashe whispered:
>Note: the body morph power could be abused very easily. I could see an
>assassin with it being very hard to stop. My GM gave the power a very
>serious drawback in that it caused my character to have a very "weird"
>and distinctive aura that was immediately noticeable.

Well, it wasn't immediately noticeable, and the astrally projecting
character did state that he was going to scope your character out, and did
get a fair amount of successes on his perception...

By the by, the Body Morph power (probably called Chameleon or Morph many
moons ago on this list) did work out pretty well in game play. Not sure if
it's an idea being thought about for SR3.



-Thomas Deeny
Your Guide to Shadowrun -- http://shadowrun.miningco.com -- updated every
Wednesday!
Thomas's World is http://telltale.hart.org -- come visit!

One Line Movie Review:
"Face/Off -- Want to waste two and a half hours of your life?"
Message no. 6
From: Jaymz <justin@******.NET>
Subject: Re: Physical Adpets, what do you play?
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 13:20:23 -0500
>By the by, the Body Morph power (probably called Chameleon or Morph many
>moons ago on this list) did work out pretty well in game play. Not sure if
>it's an idea being thought about for SR3.

does anybody by chance have the info for this ability?

/-justin@****.mcp.com----------------------jbell@****.mcp.com--\
|Justin Bell NIC:JB3084| Time and rules are changing. |
|Simon & Schuster | Attention span is quickening. |
|Programmer | Welcome to the Information Age. |
\------------ http://www.mcp.com/people/justin/ ---------------/
Message no. 7
From: David Buehrer <dbuehrer@****.ORG>
Subject: Re: Physical Adpets, what do you play?
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 13:18:17 -0600
Jaymz wrote:
|
| What sort of characters do you play when playing a PA?

The Troll/Martial Artist PA :):) I've also seen the Thief PA (Astral
Perception, Extra Stealth dice, Enhanced Reaction).

| They never will be anywhere near as powerful as a sammy, right?

It would be more accurate to say that a PA will never fill a Sammy's
role. The opposite is also true.

| What are the advantages of playing one in SRII?

Good magic defense (especially when initiated) and good close combat
abilities. More accepted than Sams and Mages (everyone loves Bruce Lee).

| The last time I really played was SRI, where Adpets seemed to be more
| powerful.

Oh yeah, SRI PAs were Munchkin Magnets (no offense). They're a gentler,
kinder people now. Also, keep in mind that they're priority B.

| I know this is probably an old subject, but pointers to relative texts
| would be extremely helpful.

The BBB, Grimmy II, and Awakenings. There's also some stuff on Paolo's web
site (there's an easy to find link to his page from mine :)

-David
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm
--
Observe your co-worker's interaction with the computer mouse. If he
is using it to manipulate the cursor, he's human. If he's using it
as a foot pedal, he's your boss.
Message no. 8
From: TopCat <topcat@***.NET>
Subject: Re: Physical Adpets, what do you play?
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 02:10:47 -0500
At 08:25 PM 7/6/97 -0500, Jaymz wrote:
>I have managed to upset my wife by convincing her to
>play a Phys Ad in my game.

Must've been some mean convincing... heh

>What sort of characters do you play when playing a PA?

I play "normal" characters that just happen to have magical ability. It
could be anything from a ganger to a high-profile bodyguard to a rocker to
whatever else my imagination is running after at the time. I look at the
physad part as a bonus, not as the defining aspect. I've designed/played
everything from cocky street kids who'd just as soon kill you as look at you
to Zen masters to military ops personnel. Any sort of character can be
made, any sort of character made can have physad abilities.

>They never will be anywhere near as powerful as a sammy, right?

Nasty debate to be had there if you're talking serious powergaming in the
field of melee/unarmed combat, but for bandwidth's sake I'll assume you mean
that a physad won't be able to stand up to and/or dish out as much
punishment as fast and/or as well as a samurai in a knock-down, drag-out
fight...

A physad can take powers to get similar (and in some cases better) TN's for
firearm combat, can enhance *all* their combat skills extensively, can take
powers which'll let them deal with pain better, and can increase their
speed. All of which samurai can do. Problem is that samurai can fall
behind the SOTA, cost money to upgrade, can only upgrade a certain amount
before they die, are prone to all sorts of nasty problems involving
cyberware scanners and legality, and heal like crap (magically, anyway). In
some cases samurai get a performance/price benefit over the physad but they
pay for it in all those ways that physads never have to mess with.

It is possible to be the equal of some samurai at the samurai's game or at
least in some aspects of it, but it's a LOT easier and smarter to be better
at the physad game. Each has their advantages, each their disadvantages,
and I'd have to say that I'd rather play a physad now than a samurai when I
weigh the pros and cons. Anyone that remembers my views on this from the
old days knows just how much it means for me to say that... ;^D

>What are the advantages of playing one in SRII?

Huge wealth of natural abilities (meaning no cyberware to be scanned, no
SOTA to be maintained, no cash to be spent, no cyberleggers to worry about)
including many which aren't available to anyone but physads. Oh yeah, and
unlimited growth potential. Put too much 'ware in a samurai and he forgets
to live.

>The last time I really played was SRI, where Adepts seemed to be more
>powerful.

They were demigods... *shudder*
--
Bob Ooton
topcat@***.net
Message no. 9
From: Mike Loseke <mike@******.VERINET.COM>
Subject: Re: Physical Adpets, what do you play?
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 23:08:51 -0600
Quoth Jaymz:
>
> OK,
>
> I have managed to upset my wife by convincing her to play a Phys Ad in my
> game.
>
> What sort of characters do you play when playing a PA?

Think of a concept and apply the physad rules to that concept. It will
change during creation (see Heisenberg's principle) but this is usually
a good thing.

I've played a ganger as a physad and designed a couple B/E types. The
ganger was alot of fun to play as nobody expected his abilities and
deadliness as he didn't look the part.

> They never will be anywhere near as powerful as a sammy, right?

Now if *this* isn't a touchy point... :) I believe that the ShadowFAQ
has somethin to say about this.

> What are the advantages of playing one in SRII?

The character is on the side of the balance of power in the game. SR
tends to favor magic quite a bit and being a PhysAd gets you in with
the in crowd, so to speak.

The list is long (for both sides of this argument) and our friendly
list owner is probably warming up his smiting rod as he reads this so
I won't go into these yet again.

The best advice I could give is to design a character that would be
capable of doing the things that are more fun and more rewarding than
just shooting at people. Let the sams do that. That doesn't take as much
skill and intelligence as stealthing around doing super-sneaky things.
I'll stop now.

--
|
Mike Loseke | You never know how fluffy poodles are,
mike@*******.com | until you step in one.
|
Message no. 10
From: Adam J <fro@***.AB.CA>
Subject: Re: Physical Adpets, what do you play?
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 14:45:08 -0600
At 23:08 7/8/97 -0600, you wrote:
>> What are the advantages of playing one in SRII?
>
>The list is long (for both sides of this argument) and our friendly
>list owner is probably warming up his smiting rod as he reads this so
>I won't go into these yet again.

Friendly list owner.. hrm.. more likely Mark than me, I guess.
:)

-Adam

--
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. 11
From: Mike Loseke <mike@******.VERINET.COM>
Subject: Re: Physical Adpets, what do you play?
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 15:45:40 -0600
Quoth Adam J:
>
> At 23:08 7/8/97 -0600, you wrote:
> >> What are the advantages of playing one in SRII?
> >
> >The list is long (for both sides of this argument) and our friendly
> >list owner is probably warming up his smiting rod as he reads this so
> >I won't go into these yet again.
>
> Friendly list owner.. hrm.. more likely Mark than me, I guess.
> :)

Merely a figure of speech, I assure you. :)

--
|
Mike Loseke | You never know how fluffy poodles are,
mike@*******.com | until you step in one.
|

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