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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Marc A Renouf <jormung@*****.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Combative Samurai
Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 09:55:24 -0400 (EDT)
On Thu, 16 May 1996, Mike Broadwater wrote:

> >On the contrary, have you ever seen a non-combat samurai?
>
> Ever seen a non combat gun? A samurai, by definition, is going to be combat
> oriented.

Not necessarily. I've seen and played Samurai to whom actual
combat is something abhorrent. ShortFuse was at his best outside of
combat. Rather than blowing someone away with a gun, he'd rig their
house/car/office/briefcase/underwear with explosives and wait. He was
technically a Samurai, someone who uses direct, violent means to achieve
his end, has some cyber, and isn't a mage. But he rarely if ever used a
gun. A firearms skill of 2 will do that to you. :)
I've also seen a sniper who was death at range, but as soon as
people started getting close enough to fire back, he'd freeze up. The
stress of being in danger that one gets in actual "combat" was too much
for him. He was a sam, but with a twist. It's these kinds of quirks and
deviations from the norm that make great characters.

Marc
Message no. 2
From: mbroadwa@*******.glenayre.com (Mike Broadwater)
Subject: Re: Combative Samurai
Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 09:44:38 -0500
>On Thu, 16 May 1996, Mike Broadwater wrote:
>
>> >On the contrary, have you ever seen a non-combat samurai?
>>
>> Ever seen a non combat gun? A samurai, by definition, is going to be combat
>> oriented.
>
> Not necessarily. I've seen and played Samurai to whom actual
>combat is something abhorrent. ShortFuse was at his best outside of
>combat. Rather than blowing someone away with a gun, he'd rig their
>house/car/office/briefcase/underwear with explosives and wait. He was
>technically a Samurai, someone who uses direct, violent means to achieve
>his end, has some cyber, and isn't a mage. But he rarely if ever used a
>gun. A firearms skill of 2 will do that to you. :)
> I've also seen a sniper who was death at range, but as soon as
>people started getting close enough to fire back, he'd freeze up. The
>stress of being in danger that one gets in actual "combat" was too much
>for him. He was a sam, but with a twist. It's these kinds of quirks and
>deviations from the norm that make great characters.
>
>Marc
>
Kewl. That just proves that he was more wrong. Personnally, I wouldn't
call either of those characters "samurai". A sapper and a sniper, yes, but
they aren't really, IMO, samurai. To me, a samurai is a character who can
handle themselves in combat and has some sense of honor. Whether its in
back and forth fire fights, hand to hand, or armed combat. They might do
some demolitions and a little sniping, but that isn't their focus. They
walk point, do close cover work, etc. That type of thing. I don't call
every character who's not decking and not magic a "samurai". There are
usually better terms for them. However, I think those two characters show
that not every "fighter" type is a hollow shell who just goes and buys some
stuff and is suddenly a "shadowrunner".

Mike Broadwater
http://www.olemiss.edu/~neon
"An object at rest cannot be stopped! YEAH, BABY! YEAH!" - The Evil Midnight
Bomber What Bombs at Midnight.

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Combative Samurai, you may also be interested in:

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