Back to the main page

Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: "J.D. Falk" <jdfalk@****.COM>
Subject: Bioware for beginners
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 13:58:50 -0500
On Wed, 16 Feb 1994 ANGLISS@***.PSU.EDU wrote:

> A GM who allows bioware for beginning characters? Gee, I do that all the time,
> but then I also run high powered campaigns with more varients on the rules than
> FASA has put out actual rules, but hey, that's me.

IMHO, a character should start out with whatever they can afford.
The general idea is usually that they've been Shadowrunning for a while
already, and are not total newbies -- which is why somebody can _have_ a
firearms of 6. You won't find anybody just out of Suburbia with a
firearms skill any higher than can be tought on a shooting range....
Of course, such strange things as the contents of Shadowtech
should probably not be made avaliable to a beginning _player_ -- that gets
too complicated, 'cause its too easy to become a munchkin.
Message no. 2
From: The Powerhouse <P.C.Steele@*********.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Bioware for beginners
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 19:27:34 +0000
In reply to J.D. Falk .....

> Of course, such strange things as the contents of Shadowtech
> should probably not be made avaliable to a beginning _player_ -- that gets
> too complicated, 'cause its too easy to become a munchkin.

A good point about becoming munchkin. But there is also a big chance that
your players will lose interest sooner if they haven't had to work hard for
their gear. I mean, you could offer beta-ware to begginning characters. But
where's the fun in that ? I find when I play any RPG that one of the best
things is slowly increasing the stats of the character, and always having that
something to aim for, wether it be that force 4 power focus, another
initiation, repsonse 3 on your deck, whatever, +3 battle axe :)

Phill.
--
Phillip Steele - Email address P.C.Steele@***.ac.uk | Fighting against
Department Of Electrical & Electronic Engineering | Political Correctness !
University Of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England |
Land of the mad Geordies | The Powerhouse
Message no. 3
From: Michael Garoni <Michael_Garoni@****.INTERSOLV.COM>
Subject: Re[2]: Bioware for beginners
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 1994 09:26:00 LCL
Powerhouse:
}A good point about becoming munchkin. But there is also a big chance that
}your players will lose interest sooner if they haven't had to work hard for
}their gear.

Obi Wan:
Hell, in our game world, we have to work hard simply to get stuff like assault
rifles and bigger. My character has an AK-97 which he was given in DNA/DOA, and
a Walther that he took off someone in another run. Everything else is SMG and
hand guns. Oh - he does have a Remington 950 that he started the game with.
This technique has a second advantage in that it stops some of the rampant
violence inherent in a game. He has fired the Walther twice, in the combat that
he captured it. The AK has been fired during game time once, single shot. It
makes you appreciate the good stuff.

We do have one character with some stuff out of Shadowtech (for which he paid
dearly), but he has a tendency to do things like turn blue and fall down every
now and then. Our GM can be a sadist at times!
Message no. 4
From: Eric Christopher Trager <etrager@***.GWU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Bioware for beginners
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 21:34:41 -0500
On Wed, 16 Feb 1994, J.D. Falk wrote:

> IMHO, a character should start out with whatever they can afford.

...that's available...

______
/ ___/
/ __/ _
/_____/ /_/
Message no. 5
From: Neal A Porter <nap@*****.PHYSICS.SWIN.OZ.AU>
Subject: Re[3]: Bioware for beginners
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 1994 14:55:12 +1100
>Obi Wan:
>We do have one character with some stuff out of Shadowtech (for which he paid
>dearly), but he has a tendency to do things like turn blue and fall down every
>now and then. Our GM can be a sadist at times!
>

Now the Obi Wan, I keep telling you its not Blue, but a lovley shade of
aqua. And dont forget the occasional shade of purple.

A'Deus.
Message no. 6
From: "Silly puppy...." <MHILLIARD@******.BITNET>
Subject: Re: Re[2]: Bioware for beginners
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 1994 12:23:06 -0500
I make my players roll availability rolls for any equiment or weapons with
an availability TN of 5 ir higher.
And I add 6 to the TN of anything in Shadowtech.
It's worked pretty good so far.

Phelan

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Bioware for beginners, you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!