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Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (aaron b chappell)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Thu Aug 23 22:20:00 2001
Hello everyone after a long absence I'm back (stupid computer stupid
internet provider stupid phone company.....*puff* *puff* but I digress)
anyway I was just wandering what nifty character creation tips do you
guys have. I'm Gm'ing for a virgin group (at least to SR anyway) so any
other tips you might have in that regard would be greatly appreciated If
you see anything on the internet regarding this cut and paste if you
wouldn't mind (no internet access just JUNO at the moment).


Gwylly, Elven Speed Adept And Wetworker (Reasonable rates and Flexible
methods)

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Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Derek Hyde)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Thu Aug 23 22:25:01 2001
<<<SNIPPAGE>>>
>anyway I was just wandering what nifty character creation tips do you
>guys have. I'm Gm'ing for a virgin group (at least to SR anyway) so any
>other tips you might have in that regard would be greatly appreciated If
>you see anything on the internet regarding this cut and paste if you
>wouldn't mind (no internet access just JUNO at the moment).
>Gwylly, Elven Speed Adept And Wetworker (Reasonable rates and Flexible
>methods)

well my typical rule is that there's no priority a cash and the more
powerful stuff is completely unavailable (anything of 5 or higher
availability) unless you want a group that has the potential for "power
players"
I force my players to make a very detailed background up for their character
and then I tie it into the runs as well so that they're forced to actually
role play quite a bit as opposed to just making a blow em up character


Derek
Message no. 3
From: shadowrn@*********.com (caric)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Thu Aug 23 23:15:01 2001
It went thusly:

> <<<SNIPPAGE>>>
> >anyway I was just wandering what nifty character creation tips do you
> >guys have. I'm Gm'ing for a virgin group (at least to SR
> anyway) so any
> >other tips you might have in that regard would be greatly
> appreciated If
> >you see anything on the internet regarding this cut and paste if you
> >wouldn't mind (no internet access just JUNO at the moment).
> >Gwylly, Elven Speed Adept And Wetworker (Reasonable rates
> and Flexible
> >methods)
>
> well my typical rule is that there's no priority a cash and the more
> powerful stuff is completely unavailable (anything of 5 or higher
> availability) unless you want a group that has the potential
> for "power
> players"
> I force my players to make a very detailed background up for
> their character
> and then I tie it into the runs as well so that they're
> forced to actually
> role play quite a bit as opposed to just making a blow em up character

The characters that we enjoyed the most were the first characters we
ever made. Basically we knew qhat the world was like and the basics of
what it meant to be a shadowrunner, but as far as rules go we were in
the dark. The GM explained what attrubutes and skills were used for and
then let our backgrounds and character concepts guide what we took. The
characters were far from being over powering, in fact they had more
realistic skill level and the like. Far and away the most well rounded
and sensible characters. I'd recommend going that route. As total
karma increases they can mold them into more powerful characters, but by
then the power will make sense within the context of the greater
campaign.

~Caric
"Aside from the fact that he thinks he's Wee Willy
and talks in Seussisms, does he appear to be sane?"
-Quote from Asher in our 7th Sea campaign. Stolen from Pariahic. ;)
Message no. 4
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Fri Aug 24 05:25:04 2001
According to aaron b chappell, on Fri, 24 Aug 2001 the word on the street was...

> anyway I was just wandering what nifty character creation tips do you
> guys have. I'm Gm'ing for a virgin group (at least to SR anyway) so any
> other tips you might have in that regard would be greatly appreciated

Just two things I can think of, for now:

Try to steer them away from playing all elves, all the time. You can do
this by pointing out the advantages of the other races; it won't sway the
die-hards, but the more impressionable players will probably feel compelled
to play something other than the elf they'd normally have chosen if you
make a good enough case for dwarfs, orks and trolls.

Don't confuse them with too many rules. Go over the basics before the
create their characters, so that they'll know what is a good score and what
isn't, and what kind of stuff may be useful, but keep it basic.

> If you see anything on the internet regarding this cut and paste if you
> wouldn't mind (no internet access just JUNO at the moment).

You're sending e-mail to the ShadowRN list, right? So that means you have
internet access. You may not have _WWW_ access, but the two are not the
same no matter how much the media tries to tell us they are :)

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Tot straks en poppelepee maar weer.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+@ UL P L++ E W-(++) N o? K w+(--) O V?
PS+ PE(-)(+) Y PGP- t@ 5++ X(+) R+++(-)>$ tv+ b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 5
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Valeu John EMFA)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Fri Aug 24 09:40:00 2001
>> anyway I was just wandering what nifty character creation tips do you
>> guys have. I'm Gm'ing for a virgin group (at least to SR anyway) so any
>> other tips you might have in that regard would be greatly appreciated

>Just two things I can think of, for now:

>Try to steer them away from playing all elves, all the time. You can do
>this by pointing out the advantages of the other races; it won't sway the
>die-hards, but the more impressionable players will probably feel compelled
>to play something other than the elf they'd normally have chosen if you
>make a good enough case for dwarfs, orks and trolls.

>Don't confuse them with too many rules. Go over the basics before the
>create their characters, so that they'll know what is a good score and what
>isn't, and what kind of stuff may be useful, but keep it basic.

Just as a personal reference, if you're going to use the skill list as a
quick and dirty refernce guide, make sure you tell them that "Build and
Repair" is not a seperate skill.

>> If you see anything on the internet regarding this cut and paste if you
>> wouldn't mind (no internet access just JUNO at the moment).

>You're sending e-mail to the ShadowRN list, right? So that means you have
>internet access. You may not have _WWW_ access, but the two are not the
>same no matter how much the media tries to tell us they are :)

Trust me, don't argue with the man. He's right.
Message no. 6
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Fri Aug 24 11:15:01 2001
According to Valeu John EMFA, on Sat, 25 Aug 2001 the word on the street was...

> Just as a personal reference, if you're going to use the skill list as a
> quick and dirty refernce guide, make sure you tell them that "Build and
> Repair" is not a seperate skill.

A very good point. The same can be said about the entries for "Knowledge
skills" and "Language skills," but they're more clearly groups instead of
individual skills.

Another thing, which I notice some of my players doing recently (even
though they've been playing SR for about three years now...), is writing
attributes as "4(5)" when they mean they've got an elf and spent 4 points
on Quickness and have no cyberware. They seem to think that the natural
attribute is only the points they spent on it, without the racial
modifier. Not a big problem, but it has caused some cases where a player
was unnecessarily penalized when asked to roll the natural attribute
rating, so if you have new players you'll want to make the difference clear
on this point.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Tot straks en poppelepee maar weer.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+@ UL P L++ E W-(++) N o? K w+(--) O V?
PS+ PE(-)(+) Y PGP- t@ 5++ X(+) R+++(-)>$ tv+ b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 7
From: shadowrn@*********.com (sven)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Fri Aug 24 13:00:01 2001
aaron b chappell wrote:
>
> Hello everyone after a long absence I'm back (stupid computer
> stupid internet provider stupid phone company.....*puff*
> *puff* but I digress) anyway I was just wandering what nifty
> character creation tips do you guys have. I'm Gm'ing for a
> virgin group (at least to SR anyway) so any other tips you
> might have in that regard would be greatly appreciated If you
> see anything on the internet regarding this cut and paste if
> you wouldn't mind (no internet access just JUNO at the moment).

I'd keep them away from the more powerful stuff and just give them
access to basic hardware. That way it's more fun when they achieve and
learn about it in-game and it'll also help the characters to grow
(IMHO).

Ask them for a background story/ideas before they start to look at the
numbers, afterwards let them pick attributes and skills in line with the
ideas they fleshed out.
One or two skills might seem useless at the time, but in roleplaying
situation they might prove their need.

Just my thoughts,

-sven ;)
--
Message no. 8
From: shadowrn@*********.com (C J Tipton)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Fri Aug 24 17:50:01 2001
On Fri, 24 Aug 2001 16:44:01 +0200 Gurth <Gurth@******.nl> writes:
>
> Another thing, which I notice some of my players doing recently
> (even
> though they've been playing SR for about three years now...), is
> writing
> attributes as "4(5)" when they mean they've got an elf and spent 4
> points
> on Quickness and have no cyberware. They seem to think that the
> natural
> attribute is only the points they spent on it, without the racial
> modifier.


As an interesting aside, I just had the same problem in my
GURPS/Shadowrun conversion game.
I believe the misunderstanding occurred because the player had paid a
separate point cost for being an elf and wanted to be able to quickly
reference how much Dexterity her points actually amounted to. Math ain't
one o' the ladys strong points.

Cowboy(says "It's a small world, after all...")
CJ
Arkades@****.com
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Message no. 9
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Lady Jestyr)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Sat Aug 25 10:45:01 2001
At 04:44 PM 24/08/2001 +0200, Gurth wrote:
>
>Another thing, which I notice some of my players doing recently (even
>though they've been playing SR for about three years now...), is writing
>attributes as "4(5)" when they mean they've got an elf and spent 4 points
>on Quickness and have no cyberware. They seem to think that the natural
>attribute is only the points they spent on it, without the racial
>modifier. Not a big problem, but it has caused some cases where a player
>was unnecessarily penalized when asked to roll the natural attribute
>rating, so if you have new players you'll want to make the difference clear
>on this point.

Not just that, but they're also getting an easy break (probably more often
than they're being unfairly penalised) in that it's costing them less to
raise their attribute by Karma, if they're treating the natural attribute
value as 4, not 5.

Lady Jestyr
"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just
have to be a horrible warning." - Catherine Aird
* jestyr@*****.com | URL: http://www.ladyjestyr.com/ *
Message no. 10
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Sat Aug 25 13:20:01 2001
According to Lady Jestyr, on Sun, 26 Aug 2001 the word on the street was...

> Not just that, but they're also getting an easy break (probably more often
> than they're being unfairly penalised) in that it's costing them less to
> raise their attribute by Karma, if they're treating the natural attribute
> value as 4, not 5.

If they ever get so far that they spend Karma on attributes, that is... :)

(To avoid misunderstandings, that's not a comment along the lines of, "The
character will be dead before they get enough Karma," but an observation on
the fact that the players in my group seem to spend very little Karma at
all, and even less on improving attributes :)

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Tot straks en poppelepee maar weer.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+@ UL P L++ E W-(++) N o? K w+(--) O V?
PS+ PE(-)(+) Y PGP- t@ 5++ X(+) R+++(-)>$ tv+ b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 11
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Chipeloi)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Tue Aug 28 15:25:00 2001
In the asylum, Gurth whispered in the corridors:


>
> (To avoid misunderstandings, that's not a comment along the lines of,
> "The character will be dead before they get enough Karma," but an
> observation on the fact that the players in my group seem to spend
> very little Karma at all, and even less on improving attributes :)

Hmmm geee now why do you think that is?



--
>If you thought Chipeloi was crazy just wait till you meet me !
Message no. 12
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Jane van Roekel)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Tue Aug 28 19:25:01 2001
>From: "Chipeloi" <chipeloi@***.nl>

>In the asylum, Gurth whispered in the corridors:
>
>
> >
> > (To avoid misunderstandings, that's not a comment along the lines of,
> > "The character will be dead before they get enough Karma," but an
> > observation on the fact that the players in my group seem to spend
> > very little Karma at all, and even less on improving attributes :)
>
>Hmmm geee now why do you think that is?
>
>

I can tell you are having a go at Gurth about something, but seriously, why
not? I am asking because most of players are spending their first 7 or 8
karma points (I forget how much I gave them) on exactly that. Since they are
not very experienced karma-spenders, any tips on what they should do with it
would be handy.

jane

_________________________________________________________________
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Message no. 13
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Damion Milliken)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Wed Oct 3 12:20:03 2001
A number of people expressed interest in one or more of my newbie SR
handouts. So I'm going to post them to the list. Feel free to comment and
make additions and suggestions, as I'd love extra ideas and content. Also
feel free to use, in part, whole, or modified form, any of what I post.

Second are my "Character Background Creation Tips".

Damion's Guide to Shadowrun Character Background Creation

1. The De-Dodgified Manual has some excellent character creation notes
starting on page 6. Read them. Discuss them with your GM if you wish.

2. Read the SR II 20 Questions. Although not exhaustive, nor always
appropriate, these points at least give a good idea of what to include in
your character's background. Try to cover at least half of the points when
you create the character history.

3. Determine what your character used to do, before becoming a shadowrunner
(very important).

4. Decide why your character left his or her old job (also important).

5. Come up with a reason for why the character became a shadowrunner. (This
will very often tie in with the previous point.)

6. How did your character come to know his or her contacts? Contacts are an
important part of Shadowrun, decide how and why you know them.

7. (Optional) What are the characters' contacts like? How do they act, what
do they really do, why are they involved in the shadows?

8. Does the character have a SIN? Does the character actually use it? Or
is the character one of the SINless masses? This may be affected by the
previous employment of the character.

9. Is the character a full-time shadowrunner? Or does the character lead a
Batman-like double existence?

10. What kind of personality does your character have? This should not
necessarily be obviously stated in the background, as it is more important
for actually playing the character, but it may colour or add mood to the
history.

11. The format of the background. A character background does not
necessarily have to be a verbatim description of your character, his or her
past, attitudes, contacts and so forth. Make it different - a corporate
security file on the character, a contact's notes, a police record, two
street types discussing the character. A short story is appropriate.
Perhaps the history is the character's journal entry for one day, or a
letter to a friend.

12. Don't forget that GMs love to have things included in a character's
background that can be used as launch points for future adventures. Suck up
to your GM and put things like this in your background.

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong
Unofficial Shadowrun Guru E-mail: dam01@***.edu.au
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
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GE d- s++:-- a25 C++ US++>+++ P+ L+>++ E- W+ N++ o@ K- w+(--) O-@ M--
V- PS+ PE- Y+ PGP-@>++ t+ 5 X+>+++ R++ !tv(--) b+ DI+++@ D G+
e++>++++$ h- r++>+++ y->+++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
Message no. 14
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gak The Great)
Subject: Character Creation Tips
Date: Thu Dec 20 11:40:05 2001
Bitte weiterleiten an die Gang:)

Siehe erste Mail für Urheberzeugs. Ignoriet alle hier genannten Bücher. Was
ihr daraus braucht, geb ich euch vorm Spiel.

> A number of people expressed interest in one or more of my newbie SR
> handouts. So I'm going to post them to the list. Feel free to comment and
> make additions and suggestions, as I'd love extra ideas and content. Also
> feel free to use, in part, whole, or modified form, any of what I post.
>
> Second are my "Character Background Creation Tips".
>
> Damion's Guide to Shadowrun Character Background Creation
>
> 1. The De-Dodgified Manual has some excellent character creation notes
> starting on page 6. Read them. Discuss them with your GM if you wish.
>
> 2. Read the SR II 20 Questions. Although not exhaustive, nor always
> appropriate, these points at least give a good idea of what to include in
> your character's background. Try to cover at least half of the points
when
> you create the character history.
>
> 3. Determine what your character used to do, before becoming a
shadowrunner
> (very important).
>
> 4. Decide why your character left his or her old job (also important).
>
> 5. Come up with a reason for why the character became a shadowrunner.
(This
> will very often tie in with the previous point.)
>
> 6. How did your character come to know his or her contacts? Contacts are
an
> important part of Shadowrun, decide how and why you know them.
>
> 7. (Optional) What are the characters' contacts like? How do they act,
what
> do they really do, why are they involved in the shadows?
>
> 8. Does the character have a SIN? Does the character actually use it? Or
> is the character one of the SINless masses? This may be affected by the
> previous employment of the character.
>
> 9. Is the character a full-time shadowrunner? Or does the character lead
a
> Batman-like double existence?
>
> 10. What kind of personality does your character have? This should not
> necessarily be obviously stated in the background, as it is more important
> for actually playing the character, but it may colour or add mood to the
> history.
>
> 11. The format of the background. A character background does not
> necessarily have to be a verbatim description of your character, his or
her
> past, attitudes, contacts and so forth. Make it different - a corporate
> security file on the character, a contact's notes, a police record, two
> street types discussing the character. A short story is appropriate.
> Perhaps the history is the character's journal entry for one day, or a
> letter to a friend.
>
> 12. Don't forget that GMs love to have things included in a character's
> background that can be used as launch points for future adventures. Suck
up
> to your GM and put things like this in your background.
>
-- GAK THE GREAT

"Ein Ring, sie zu knechten, sie alle zu finden,
Ins Dunkel zu treiben und ewig zu binden,
Im Lande Mordor, wo die Schatten drohn."
Sauron aus "Herr der Ringe von J.R.R. Tolkien

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