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Message no. 1
From: "Richard C. Osterhout" <rcoster@*****.NET>
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1993 17:22:36 -0400
as we all know, CONTACTS can make or break a character sometimes, and
INFORMATION is power, just like magic...

anyway, my question/observation is this...

i have been looking for "official" places to ask questions and stuff about
shadowrun, and this is what i've found so far...if anyone has any others
please let me know...

fasatom@***.com tom dowd
73020.752@**********.com paul hume (has written/contributed to many
SR sourcebooks...i saw that he
was replying to OODLES of questions
from people on Compuserve, and a
lot of them about magic and
grounding...)
FASA.SUPPORT@**********.com not sure about this one, just saw it in a
compuserve forum, may not work


i cannot say if these addresses are correct or still current...as i said
above, paul hume was answering a lot of questions about the game...

if anybody is interested in the q&a from paul hume, let me know and i will
post them here...many are older questions based on SR1, some stuff you
will recognize to have been encorporated into SR2 also, but there were
more recent questions about SR2...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| rcoster@*****.net Currently in Baltimore, MD |
| Richard C. Osterhout but hope to be home in |
| professional nerd Orlando, FL soon!!! |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message no. 2
From: Luke Kendall <luke@********.CANON.OZ.AU>
Subject: Re: Contacts
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1993 09:32:47 +1000
> if anybody is interested in the q&a from paul hume ...
>

Yep, I'm interested. Please post them.

luke
Message no. 3
From: The Powerhouse <P.C.Steele@*********.AC.UK>
Subject: Contacts
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 18:48:48 +0000
In reply to Timothy Skirvin .....

> Why do they put yakuza bosses, or whatever, in the MAIN contacts you
> can have? Isn't that just a little high up? Personally, I'd say that to get
> one of those you should have to pay seven or eight times as much, probably a
> LOT more...

> How many people do you know that knows a Yakuza boss personally?

If your players opt for such high powered contacts make them create a
background as to why they know a Yakuza boss. One of my players did just that
and it turned out to be a reason that spawned many associated runs.

In general though if your players suggest something and it's not written in
granite within the blue/black book then don't dismiss it, listen to what they
have to say. If they only want the contact for the munchkin appeal then
tell them no but if they can come up with a good story then let them.
--
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. 4
From: Timothy Skirvin <tskirvin@********.UNI.UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Contacts
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 11:57:58 -0600
TP> If your players opt for such high powered contacts make them
TP> create a background as to why they know a Yakuza boss. One of my
TP> players did just that and it turned out to be a reason that
TP> spawned many associated runs.

Yes, I understand that it can help immensely for the GM. But I'm
still in the dark for why they PURPOSELY put them in, and made them seem com-
mon place. Hmm...

I don't object to people having them, I just object to LOTS of people
having them, and them being in the base rules for it...

----------------------- "Well, you see, they took the Bible literally.
Tim Skirvin Adam and Eve, the snake and the apple...took
(tskirvin@ it word for word. Unfortunately, their
superdec.uni.uiuc.edu) version had a misprint."
----------------------- - Rimmer, Red Dwarf (The Last Day)
Message no. 5
From: Nightfox <DJWA@******.UCC.NAU.EDU>
Subject: contacts
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 1995 14:34:02 -0700
> Contacts
> Choose (18) Contacts

> In the SR campaigns around here, characters are usually have less
>than ten contacts. If you really want to know lots of people then
>get a gang/buddy/followers. I find that PCs with lots of contacts
>are just annoying. Players rarely take the time to create good
>personalities for their contacts anyway - usually its left to the GM.


I allow a lot of contacts - remember - its not what you know - its who you know.

Many people for my campaign last year had around 12-18 contacts I would say.
One character had 20 some, another was in the 40's.

I require them to say

Contact type - where - who - race/sex - whats he/she like

Corp Secretary - Ares Security - John Doe - Human Male - John was never one
of the big guys, and is sort of anal retentive. It was rather
Ironic that he got the transfer to Security, since he has always
hated jocks. (Well - maybe not that much - but depending on the
contact - they might)

No - no-one in the group has a contact like this - I just made him up.


Nightfox

DJWA@******.UCC.NAU.EDU - Daniel Waisley - DJW2@****.UCC.NAU.EDU
- Insanity is such a delightful state of mind.
BOINGEE!!!BOINGEE!!!BOINGEE!!!BOINGEE!!!BOINGEE!!!BOINGEE!!!BOINGEE!!!BOINGEE!!!
Geek code V2.1 GE d-? H++ s+:->++: g+ p? !au(-) a21! w++ v+* C++$(++++)
U(-) p? L !3 E? N K- W M+ V+ -po+(---) Y+ t+ 5+++! j-x R+(++) G' tv
b+(+++) D(+) B--- e+ u+*(++)(**) h(*) f+(*) r-->+++ !n- y+*>++
Message no. 6
From: THEY ONLY WIN IF WE LET THEM <MKNABUSCH@****.ALBION.EDU>
Subject: Re: contacts
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 1995 03:00:59 -0500
We've had a bit o' a problem with contact mongers
here at school (getting 35 contacts for a beginning
char. is rather obscene). One of the GM's had a nice
way of getting around it. For each contact there had
to be a 100 word desription of who, what, etc. That
discourages some of them, but the writers to be have a
blast.

Kell
aka Harlequin

"Why am I up this late?"
"This isn't late, your just early for class."
Message no. 7
From: The Digital Mage <mn3rge@****.ac.uk>
Subject: Contacts
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 15:55:19 +0100 (BST)
On Thu, 26 Sep 1996, Gurth wrote:

> > Better than the "I'll ask my contact to hack into Ares and see if he can
> > find anything" or "I'm going to apply for a job with Ares"
approach.
>
> I haven't had that happen a lot, but I find the "I'll ask my contact to
> hack into Ares" approach a lot easier on the GM -- since the decker is an
> NPC, you can just have him say "Okay, I'll see what I can do. The usual
> phone number and payment?" and then come up blank several hours later,
> while charging a lot for the time spent hunting for info. Or, of course,
> you could feed the players *some* info if they're really getting nowhere.
> I like decker contacts almost as much as I hate PC deckers-using-VR1-rules :)

And just remember some of teh most useful and easiest sources of
information to be used are often overlooked in teh scramble to see which
contact might know something. The library, BBSs, and old newspapers have
become a regular port of call for my characters.

I remember in one game (a run in parallel to Missing Blood) we had to find
Patrick Bambra who we suspected was a PI. While everyone started scouring
their character sheets to find out how they knew who might be able to
trace him I promptly turned to the GM and said 'Right I'm getting hold of
a phone book and looking him up, there can't be too many Bambra's in
Seattle'. Not long after, we were at his office combing his desk for clues
:)

The Digital Mage : mn3rge@****.ac.uk
"Life is a choice, Death....an obligation."-Me
Shadowrun WWW site at http://www.bath.ac.uk/~mn3rge/Shadowrun
Message no. 8
From: John Chesser <shaggy68@*******.COM>
Subject: Contacts?
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 1997 18:36:27 -0600
I was wondering how the other GM's handle their contacts. I would like to
play everything out like it says in the book but don't really have the
time.

Right now I have detailed contacts for the PC's, and try to somewhat play
out things, but I usually have them do business by the phone to make it
quicker. Should everything the Contact does cost something (like Nuyen) to
the player?

I just want to know how everyone else handles them, which should give me
some ideas on how to handle mine.

Thanks.

John
Message no. 9
From: David Buehrer <dbuehrer@****.ORG>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 1997 18:27:26 -0700
John Chesser wrote:
|
| I was wondering how the other GM's handle their contacts. I would like to
| play everything out like it says in the book but don't really have the
| time.
|
| Right now I have detailed contacts for the PC's, and try to somewhat play
| out things, but I usually have them do business by the phone to make it
| quicker. Should everything the Contact does cost something (like Nuyen) to
| the player?

I let the players come up with most of the information on
thier contacts. Sometimes they make a contact a close
friend that does favors at cost. Othertimes the contact is
a money grubbing self-centered person. One the one hand
they get a break from the friend, but that's something I
can use against them. The greedy contact costs a lot, but
the character doesn't have very much invested in the guy.

As for the actual encounters, that's up to the PCs again.
One of my players has a contact that lives half way around
the world. They conduct their meets in cyberspace (they're
both deckers).

-David
--
/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\ dbuehrer@****.org /^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\
"His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking
alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free."
~~~http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm~~~~
Message no. 10
From: Tim P Cooper <z-i-m@****.COM>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 1997 23:16:01 EST
On Mon, 17 Feb 1997 18:36:27 -0600 John Chesser <shaggy68@*******.COM>
writes:
>I was wondering how the other GM's handle their contacts. I would like
to
>play everything out like it says in the book but don't really have the
time.
>
>Right now I have detailed contacts for the PC's, and try to somewhat
play
>out things, but I usually have them do business by the phone to make it
>quicker. Should everything the Contact does cost something (like Nuyen)
to
>the player?

I tend to do the same thing for general, conventional info. However when
something big or important is at stake I'd play it out. (Although it's
sometimes fun to go all out on some simple piece of general info - keeps
the pc's off guard :)

I hold to the same principle when it comes to paying the contacts.
Easy, simple info = little or no money, more of an "I owe ya one" deal.
Hard, important info = he he he... Either large lumps of nuyen or
services to be
rendered in exchange.

I remember one published run (it was in England and I wasn't GMing) where
the price for any info was something between Y500 and Y5,000 per success
on the "legwork" rolls.

Largely use common sense. If a fixer came to the group and asked them to
see what they could find out about some guy, or some security system or
something, wouldn't they expect to get paid for their work? And that pay
would vary depending on if the mark was a StufferShack or some Ares
compound. The contacts don't work for free either - unless they have a
good reason.


>
>I just want to know how everyone else handles them, which should give me
>some ideas on how to handle mine.
>
>Thanks.
> John

Hope that was usefull.
~Tim
Message no. 11
From: Fastjack <uc298@*****.UNICAN.ES>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 13:41:05 +0100
On Mon, 17 Feb 1997, John Chesser wrote:

> I was wondering how the other GM's handle their contacts. I would like to
> play everything out like it says in the book but don't really have the
> time.

I have the same problem as you.Usually all the PC want to see their
contacts at same time,so with the first player i always play a lot the
encounter,but after 2-3 contacts im tired,because all the contacts are
very very similar!they dont have personalitiy,and i must improvise all!:-(
So after these first contacts the encounter is very fast,or by phone.I
found the contacts one of the best oportunities to roleplay,is very
interesting...but with 5 players that have very similar contacts,and
"visiting" them at same time...I dont know if you understand what i`m
trying to say:5 players+5 mercenary contacts(for example)+same
information+no personality of each contact=Master bored,so the encounters
are very similar,so they are fast.My PC think that the contacts are only
"information machines" without a private life and problems.
I remember that with the first group,every player only have 2-3
contacts,so they wrote a long history and personality of each one :-)
,but IMO i dont wanted to be 4 hours of playing time looking how the
others handle his contacts,get the information and after i will look for
the same information!Of course the PC dont know the information that get
the others PC...but wait 4 hours...:-(

>
> Right now I have detailed contacts for the PC's, and try to somewhat play
> out things, but I usually have them do business by the phone to make it
> quicker. Should everything the Contact does cost something (like Nuyen) to
> the player?
>

Usually money,but is interesting that the players have a debt with his
contact.




*************************************************
* *
* >>>>>[Tu ciberterminal sera mia.Piensalo bien *
* cuando te encuentras en lo mas oscuro de la *
* matriz]<<<<< *
* -Fastjack<18:05:46/12-22-52> *
*************************************************
Message no. 12
From: Sascha Pabst <Sascha.Pabst@**********.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 13:52:11 +0000
On 17 Feb 97 at 18:36, John Chesser wrote:
[snip]
> Right now I have detailed contacts for the PC's, and try to somewhat play
> out things, but I usually have them do business by the phone to make it
> quicker. Should everything the Contact does cost something (like Nuyen) to
> the player?
Depends. I usually charge players requesting contacts something. This
doesn't mean they have to drop a credstick their contact's way, taking
the bill in a restaurant ("You had WHAT???" :-), offering a gift ("I
remember ya always wanted to have one of these babies?
Well..."), information will do.

Usually, the contacts I run will insist on physical meets (apart from
Deckers). This is a behaviour I copied from the RL criminals whose modi
operandi I know, as noone trusts a phone line to be secure.
Sascha
--
+---___---------+------------------------------------+------------------------+
| / / _______ | Jhary-a-Conel aka Sascha Pabst |Things that try to look |
| / /_/ ____/ |Sascha.Pabst@ | like things often do |
| \___ __/ | Informatik.Uni-Oldenburg.de | look more like things |
|==== \_/ ======|*Wearing hats is just a way of life*| than things. Well known|
|LOGOUT FASCISM!| - Me | fact. - E.Weatherwax |
+------------- http://www.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de/~jhary -----------------+
Message no. 13
From: Mark McLaughlin <mmclaugh@*******.EENG.DCU.IE>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 16:56:22 -0800
John Chesser wrote:
>
> I was wondering how the other GM's handle their contacts.

I have a few simple rules about contacts GMing...

1. They generally give only superficial help to charactors.
2. They only make major contributions when they the charactors are
facing death.. They just happen to be there to save their lives..
3. The often charge for anything more than a bit of info over the phone.
4. If players piss them off I tell them to put a "?" after their
contact.. If they do it again they have lost that contact. This can also
happen if players bug them constantly for informion.

There you go..
Mark McL
Message no. 14
From: "M. Gotthard" <s457033@*******.GU.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 08:37:02 +1000
Here's my 2 ¥ worth.

> > I was wondering how the other GM's handle their contacts.
>
> I have a few simple rules about contacts GMing...
>
> 1. They generally give only superficial help to charactors.

Personally I've often let the force of the Street Ett. roll determine how=

much the contact knows, or is willing to reveal... Kind of like a 'luck
test' in knowing the right person to talk to. Of course, it
often makes a difference if you're improvising the plot as you go; it's
harder to do that t a scripted plot.


> 2. They only make major contributions when they the charactors are
> facing death.. They just happen to be there to save their lives..

Don't like that, personally. It's a two way street, and if the players
still NEED their contacts to do everything important, they might as well be=

breast-fed and wearing nappies.

It's hard enough to get he players asking the right questions without
stonewalling them if it's not the right time to put them in debt to the
contacts.

But then, our game is very RP based and our contacts are essential almost=

all the time.


> 3. The often charge for anything more than a bit of info over the phone.

True enough, but it's hard to judge what they'd charge.... and would they=

exact their price in money? I've had contacts ask for favours... both
physical or sexual (in one case.... though I have to say that the player
was happy 'servicing' that debt).

If the players have to save their contact's life by risking their own it
builds a bit of a bond, and they are more likely to think of them as
'people' (for want of a better term)

BTW....Long live Python !!

> 4. If players piss them off I tell them to put a "?" after their
> contact.. If they do it again they have lost that contact. This can also
> happen if players bug them constantly for informion.
>

True enough, but if the players are trying to piss their contacts off
(their friends, in many cases), then they really don't want to live very
long.


I guess that there really isn't any 'right way' to handle contacts... it
depends a lot on the style of game, and how much effort to want to put
into developing that side of the campaign.

Bleach
Message no. 15
From: Mark McLaughlin <mmclaugh@*******.EENG.DCU.IE>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 23:00:43 -0800
M. Gotthard wrote:
>

> > 2. They only make major contributions when they the charactors are
> > facing death.. They just happen to be there to save their lives..
>
> Don't like that, personally. It's a two way street, and if the players
> still NEED their contacts to do everything important, they might as well be
> breast-fed and wearing nappies.
>

I feel that I must add that I only save my charactor`s asses if they
roleplayed well but they were screwed by dice rolls, if killing the
party was against the spirit of a really fun game (remember fun is
everything!!!) or the contact owed a BIG favour. (I mostly personalise
my contact so they all have personalities and favours!)

> > 4. If players piss them off I tell them to put a "?" after their
> > contact.. If they do it again they have lost that contact. This can also
> > happen if players bug them constantly for informion.
> >
>
> True enough, but if the players are trying to piss their contacts off
> (their friends, in many cases), then they really don't want to live very
> long.
>
The dont try to piss the contact off, but they used to ask too much..
They dont anymore!!

Mark McL
Message no. 16
From: Caric <caric@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 16:30:49 -0700
Mark wrote:
> I feel that I must add that I only save my charactor`s asses if they
> roleplayed well but they were screwed by dice rolls, if killing the
> party was against the spirit of a really fun game (remember fun is
> everything!!!) or the contact owed a BIG favour. (I mostly personalise
> my contact so they all have personalities and favours!)

We do that as well...my GM won't even consider bringing in a new NPC unless
he has some idea where he would take their personality because we tend to
latch onto the little NPC that are just supposed to be in the background
and bring them into the story line...fall in love with them etc....

> The dont try to piss the contact off, but they used to ask too much..
> They dont anymore!!

Amen to that brother

~Caric

"All the world's indeed a stage, we are mearly players.
Performers and portrayers. Each anothers audience,
outside the gilded cage." -Rush
caric@*******.com
Message no. 17
From: Brett Borger <bxb121@***.EDU>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 21:45:53 -0500
>Amen to that brother
>
This reminds me of a great line the other night...

We were in the midst of a run, and my partner killed a big black guy
terrorizing part of the Barrens under the street name Death (had the skull
mask, robes, the works. One of us looked him over, and said "What do you
know, Death's a brother!"

Maybe you just had to be there, but we found it hilarious....mainly 'cuz it
was the last statement expected.

-=SwiftOne=-
(I mean no offense, and if anyone was offended by my post, I apologize in
advance.)
Message no. 18
From: John Chesser <shaggy68@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 23:16:11 -0600
Fastjack Wrote:


> I have the same problem as you.Usually all the PC want to see their
> contacts at same time,so with the first player i always play a lot the
> encounter,but after 2-3 contacts im tired,because all the contacts are
> very very similar!they dont have personalitiy,and i must improvise
all!:-(
> So after these first contacts the encounter is very fast,or by phone.I
> found the contacts one of the best oportunities to roleplay,is very
> interesting...but with 5 players that have very similar contacts,and
> "visiting" them at same time...I dont know if you understand what i`m
> trying to say:5 players+5 mercenary contacts(for example)+same
> information+no personality of each contact=Master bored,so the encounters
> are very similar,so they are fast.My PC think that the contacts are only
> "information machines" without a private life and problems.
> I remember that with the first group,every player only have 2-3
> contacts,so they wrote a long history and personality of each one :-)
> ,but IMO i dont wanted to be 4 hours of playing time looking how the
> others handle his contacts,get the information and after i will look for
> the same information!Of course the PC dont know the information that get
> the others PC...but wait 4 hours...:-(

When all of my PC's have the same contact such as an Arms Dealer, I make
them all know the same guy. (Like Benny Yale, an Arms Dealer in my
campaign) Another reason I want to make my contacts more realistic is that
maybe if the PC's see that they have real lives, and can't always talk to
them, that maybe they will see that the enemy(or average corp guard) has a
real life too. I had (notice the past tense, he's dead) a character that
had 23 contacts, yes 23! (that's what you get when you give a human street
sammy 1,000,000 bucks and only let him have gear with availability under 6)
and I made backgrounds for every single one of them (With the help of
Blackjack's People 1, 2, and 3). I can still use those contacts for any
other new contacts or NPC's. (Which gives me a thought, would if the main
enemy in the game had the same contact as one of the PC'S?.....Heh, Heh!).

John
Message no. 19
From: John Chesser <shaggy68@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 23:07:09 -0600
Tim P Cooper Wrote:

> I tend to do the same thing for general, conventional info. However when
> something big or important is at stake I'd play it out. (Although it's
> sometimes fun to go all out on some simple piece of general info - keeps
> the pc's off guard :)

Time is the main thing limiting me to keep the characters lives from being
more realistic. Think if I roleplayed a trip to the grocery store to buy
some milk. It would keep the Paranoia alive though, but I seem to have
enough of that.

> I hold to the same principle when it comes to paying the contacts.
> Easy, simple info = little or no money, more of an "I owe ya one" deal.
> Hard, important info = he he he... Either large lumps of nuyen or
> services to be
> rendered in exchange.

I just reread the section on Favor for a Friend(contact) in the Shadowrun
Companion, and it gave me some new ideas.

> I remember one published run (it was in England and I wasn't GMing)
where
> the price for any info was something between Y500 and Y5,000 per success
> on the "legwork" rolls.

> Largely use common sense. If a fixer came to the group and asked them to
> see what they could find out about some guy, or some security system or
> something, wouldn't they expect to get paid for their work? And that pay
> would vary depending on if the mark was a StufferShack or some Ares
> compound. The contacts don't work for free either - unless they have a
> good reason.

> Hope that was usefull.

So far so good.
Message no. 20
From: John Chesser <shaggy68@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 22:58:52 -0600
David Buehrer Wrote:

> I let the players come up with most of the information on
> thier contacts. Sometimes they make a contact a close
> friend that does favors at cost. Othertimes the contact is
> a money grubbing self-centered person. One the one hand
> they get a break from the friend, but that's something I
> can use against them. The greedy contact costs a lot, but
> the character doesn't have very much invested in the guy.

I don't know if I could let the players do that, (Besides, I like to do
that, and it makes me keep the plot of the campaign together) they might
make the background of the Contact owe his whole life to the Character. (I
GM a bunch of Munchkins!) I will let them do it if they come up with a
good enough plot such as: this guy helped me escape from prison, or she
trained me in the martial art forms.

> As for the actual encounters, that's up to the PCs again.
> One of my players has a contact that lives half way around
> the world. They conduct their meets in cyberspace (they're
> both deckers).

Cyberspace, eh that was in my mind, but you just brought it back up.

John
Message no. 21
From: John Chesser <shaggy68@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 23:21:06 -0600
Sascha Wrote:

> Depends. I usually charge players requesting contacts something. This
> doesn't mean they have to drop a credstick their contact's way, taking
> the bill in a restaurant ("You had WHAT???" :-), offering a gift ("I
> remember ya always wanted to have one of these babies?
> Well..."), information will do.

Ah.....Gifts (Maybe the Decker of the group could write a program to give
to a Fixer for info or something) should work good, and I never really
thought of taking a contact out for dinner, or to a club, or to Seaworld.
(I could probably go on forever now)

> Usually, the contacts I run will insist on physical meets (apart from
> Deckers). This is a behaviour I copied from the RL criminals whose modi
> operandi I know, as noone trusts a phone line to be secure.

Yes, physical meets are the norm, but I don't really have the time to play
them out so I use the phone. (hell, maybe the characters are willing to pay
extra for some encrypted cell phones!)

John
Message no. 22
From: Tim Coxon <Tim.Ntoo@**********.COM>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 17:58:35 -0000
<snip>
> When all of my PC's have the same contact such as an Arms Dealer, I make
> them all know the same guy. (Like Benny Yale, an Arms Dealer in my
> campaign) Another reason I want to make my contacts more realistic is
that
> maybe if the PC's see that they have real lives, and can't always talk to
> them, that maybe they will see that the enemy(or average corp guard) has
a
> real life too. I had (notice the past tense, he's dead) a character that
> had 23 contacts, yes 23! (that's what you get when you give a human
street
> sammy 1,000,000 bucks and only let him have gear with availability under
6)
> and I made backgrounds for every single one of them (With the help of
> Blackjack's People 1, 2, and 3). I can still use those contacts for any
> other new contacts or NPC's. (Which gives me a thought, would if the main
> enemy in the game had the same contact as one of the PC'S?.....Heh,
Heh!).
>
>
John

Black jack's people is that on Pauolo's site?
And that was another thought from the black depths of my mind.
****Tim-Ntoo****
Tim.Ntoo@**********.com
Message no. 23
From: John Chesser <shaggy68@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Contacts?
Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 15:08:22 -0600
> Black jack's people is that on Pauolo's site?
> And that was another thought from the black depths of my mind.
> ****Tim-Ntoo****
> Tim.Ntoo@**********.com

Some of the stuff is on Pauolo's site but Blackjack's Page is at

http://thunder.ocis.temple.edu/~bhagerty/srindex.html

Great Site.
John
Message no. 24
From: "D. Ghost" <dghost@****.COM>
Subject: Contacts
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 12:55:32 -0600
According to TSS-07, a 60 BP dependant is worth a 1 point flaw. How many
points should your "Average" Contact be? I was thinking 80 points or at
most 100 points (100+ points would be special and cost more.). The
reason is that I don't want a charcter's contacts to be more powerful
than the characters and it kind of fits with the dependant scale in
TSS-08 (it went in increments of 10 BPs so by that scale, 70 BP would be
0, and 80 BP would be a 1 point edge.).

I was also thinking (Based on the above) of making a variable cost system
for contacts based on the BPs used to create them. I was thinking of the
following:
-All contacts are made with a minimum of 80 BPs.
-The edge cost for a contact is (BP cost -80)/20, round UP with a minimum
cost of 1.
-The Nuyen cost for contacts is the edge cost times 5,000 nuyen (x2 cost
for buddies.).

Also, can Dependents be useful? I was thinking of making my char's
decker spouse a dependant. Since the spouse would be 50 or 60 BPs, would
this be okay (ie, non-munchy)?

--
D. Ghost
(aka Pixel, Tantrum, RuPixel)
"Coffee without caffeine is like sex without the spanking." -- Cupid
re-cur-sion (ri-kur'-zhen) noun. 1. See recursion.

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Message no. 25
From: Lehlan Decker <DeckerL@******.COM>
Subject: Re: Contacts
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 16:54:19 -0500
>Also, can Dependents be useful? I was thinking of making my
>char's
>decker spouse a dependant. Since the spouse would be 50 or
>60 BPs, would
>this be okay (ie, non-munchy)?

I've never had a problem with this, as long as it contributed to
the game, and the player wasn't just trying to munch points.
My PA's love interest is a sergent with Lone Star, and I've
called her several times for information. It also makes a convient
way for the GM to relieve me of money, since taking her out
to nice restraunts can be a bit pricey. :)
YMMV and it really depends on the type of campaign you run and
your players.
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Moore & Van Allen, PLLC Pager 1-888-608-9633
Message no. 26
From: E. Gorey sp00kyt00th@*******.com
Subject: Contacts
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 12:35:47 EDT
I'm a big fan of the use of contacts and info gathering in SR. But it still
seems like they are little more than "Bartender", "Mr. Johnson" and
"Elven
Hitman". Any have feedback on how to get the players to interact w/ their
contacts a bit more. (Btw- losing them doesn't seem to affect them much.
Losing gear would be more upsetting.

Bonus House Rule:
When using etiquette with one of your contacts, you add the level you have
them at to the roll (with the idea that even a street newbie has a better
chance getting info or gear through a friend or acquaintence)
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Message no. 27
From: Raveness Ravensbane ravenessravensbane@*****.com
Subject: Contacts
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 09:51:03 -0700 (PDT)
--- "E. Gorey" <sp00kyt00th@*******.com> wrote:
> I'm a big fan of the use of contacts and info
> gathering in SR. But it still
> seems like they are little more than "Bartender",
> "Mr. Johnson" and "Elven
> Hitman". Any have feedback on how to get the
> players to interact w/ their
> contacts a bit more. (Btw- losing them doesn't seem
> to affect them much.
> Losing gear would be more upsetting.
<snip>

If your players want something, roleplay it out with
them.
My fiance' (only 1 week left!) was GMing and my PC
(bodyguard/escort) had to "convince" my city offical
contact to get her the blue prints to a building they
were going to run on. The really funny part is when
Chris played the city offical, he did a Bill Clinton
accent. You know how rough it is to try to seduce a
man with a Bill Clinton accent? I earned that blue
print baby!


====~Raveness

http://www.sova.net/trish/roleplaying/shadowrun/pocketsecretary/

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Message no. 28
From: Grey metis76@*****.com
Subject: Contacts
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 09:51:30 -0700 (PDT)
--- "E. Gorey" <sp00kyt00th@*******.com> wrote:
> I'm a big fan of the use of contacts and info
> gathering in SR. But it still
> seems like they are little more than "Bartender",
> "Mr. Johnson" and "Elven
> Hitman". Any have feedback on how to get the
> players to interact w/ their
> contacts a bit more. (Btw- losing them doesn't seem
> to affect them much.
> Losing gear would be more upsetting.

Most the characters I play have tons of contacts.
Mofia Dons, Yakuza Boss, Government Officals, a few
execs from some of the Major corps, at least 2 fixers,
armorer, weapons dealer, melee weaponsmith, snitch,
etc. Very rarely do I take contacts that are
Shadowrunners themselves (sometimes a Decker, but
never street sams). I go for contacts that can be
used for getting/selling info, or getting/selling
gear. Hope that helps.

Grey

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Message no. 29
From: dbuehrer@******.carl.org dbuehrer@******.carl.org
Subject: Contacts
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 11:07:10 -0600
E. Gorey wrote:
>I'm a big fan of the use of contacts and info gathering in SR. But it
>still seems like they are little more than "Bartender", "Mr.
Johnson" and
>"Elven Hitman". Any have feedback on how to get the players to interact
>w/ their contacts a bit more.

Step up to the plate as a GM and have their contacts interact with
them. To the contacts, the players are their contacts.

For example, the PC could be sitting at a sidewalk cafe when their phone
rings. The Elven Hitman on the other end asks, "Hi, it's me. Would you do
me a favor and tell me if the guy at the table opposite you has a pencil
thin mustache and blue eyes? He does? Thanks." click. The face of the
guy at the opposite table explodes as the result of a dumdum round being
fired through the back of his head by the Elven Hitman.

Or, the bartender calls up the PC and asks him to fill in as a bouncer
tonight. The regular bouncer ate some bad faux pork and can't come in.

The street kid contact is pounding on the PC's apartment door. He needs a
place to hide from the social worker who is rounding up street kids and
sending them to a state/corp run boarding school.


To Life,
-Graht
http://www.users.uswest.net/~abaker3
--
"Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday ... and all is well."
Message no. 30
From: Gurth gurth@******.nl
Subject: Contacts
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 19:26:55 +0200
According to E. Gorey, at 12:35 on 14 Jul 00, the word on the street
was...

> I'm a big fan of the use of contacts and info gathering in SR. But it still
> seems like they are little more than "Bartender", "Mr. Johnson"
and "Elven
> Hitman". Any have feedback on how to get the players to interact w/ their
> contacts a bit more. (Btw- losing them doesn't seem to affect them much.
> Losing gear would be more upsetting.

Play it out. When someone calls a contact for information, don't just say
"Roll Etiquette. Okay... Your mechanic contact tells you that he saw
somebody of that description the other day," but rather, do a large chunk
of the conversation, starting from the moment the contact picks up the
phone, or otherwise encounters the PC. This works best if you make them
meet their contacts face-to-face instead of over the phone (if the PCs
insist on phoning up their contacts, have the contacts say they can't talk
over the phone, but want to set up a meet).

The only problem is that skill rolls become difficult this way, so you
have two ways of doing them: rolling before or after the roleplaying. If
you let them roll before, you should make it clear to the players that the
result of the conversation depends on the roll, but that good roleplaying
can improve a poor roll (and vice-versa). If rolling afterward, again let
the previous roleplaying influence the roll -- if they didn't roleplay at
all, lower the roll (and so give them less information), for example.

I guess I should note here that I generally let the player who does the
most talking make a single roll for an entire meeting with a contact,
instead of one roll per question as the older FASA adventures seemed to
assume.

--
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Message no. 31
From: Gurth gurth@******.nl
Subject: Contacts
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 19:26:55 +0200
According to Raveness Ravensbane, at 9:51 on 14 Jul 00, the word on the
street was...

> You know how rough it is to try to seduce a man with a Bill Clinton
> accent? I earned that blue print baby!

Here's a good reason why you should never go to a meet with a contact
without a box of cigars on you... *g*

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Message no. 32
From: Yiannakos yiannako@*******.edu
Subject: Contacts
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 14:27:26 -0400
Grey wrote:
>
> --- "E. Gorey" <sp00kyt00th@*******.com> wrote:
> > I'm a big fan of the use of contacts and info
> > gathering in SR. But it still
> > seems like they are little more than "Bartender",
> > "Mr. Johnson" and "Elven
> > Hitman". Any have feedback on how to get the
> > players to interact w/ their
> > contacts a bit more. (Btw- losing them doesn't seem
> > to affect them much.
> > Losing gear would be more upsetting.

I have a P.I. character who has many, many contacts. Most of them
started out as just what you said - just a title or job description. As
I met each one of them for the first time (in game) my GM put on a
personality and a name, and then I would update my little black book -
"Mafia made man 2" would then become "Johnny Stompanado, Made man with
the stutter and the bikerchic girlfriend. Looks upon me as a pest, but I
pay well."

To make your characters interact with contacts more/better, I suggest
what other people have already said: Personal meets are better - play
through the whole conversation. There was also something in either SR3
or SRComp3 about how contacts will "lose touch" if they're not
maintained - buy them dinner, do THEM a favor once in a while, remember
their birthday, slip 'em some equipment you *cough* acquired but don't
really need, etc. Basically, someone who just shows up every month or
two to weasel info out of you is going to become tiresome and you'll
probably start avoiding him/her, not give up the info at all, or even
slip them some bad info, if they've really pissed you off.

Think of contacts as real people, not just resources. Real people who
have a whole life outside your run. Then get your players to think like
that too. If they persist in using contacts like library terminals, have
the contacts get fed up. IMHO, the more the character interacts with the
contact in non-run-critical situations, the more that contact becomes a
part of the runner's life.

Oh, and if Donnybrook lost his contacts, it would be the End of the
World. Take everything I own, take my lifestyle, take my cyber, but
please God(phantom) don't take my contacts.

> Most the characters I play have tons of contacts.
> Mofia Dons, Yakuza Boss, Government Officals, a few
> execs from some of the Major corps, at least 2 fixers,
> armorer, weapons dealer, melee weaponsmith, snitch,
> etc. Very rarely do I take contacts that are
> Shadowrunners themselves (sometimes a Decker, but
> never street sams). I go for contacts that can be
> used for getting/selling info, or getting/selling
> gear. Hope that helps.
>
> Grey

I did take several shadowrunners as contacts. Basically one or two of
each general type. Al Donnybrook isn't especially good at any one thing
- he's good at knowing people and bringing everything together. I try
not to pick contacts just in terms of "what can I get out of them",
because that tends to tie me down to that mindset - contact 1 is for
circumstance A, and contact two is for circumstance B". I just wrote
down people my character may run into. If I need to find a talismonger
and don't happen to know one, I'm sure I know someone that does. I'm not
saying that what you do is wrong, by any means - I'm glad to see someone
who makes good use out of contacts - but I like knowing some extra
shadowrunners. If you've been in the biz for a while, it makes sense too
- people you've worked with, friends of former teammates, that troll you
met in the Aztech torture chamber, etc.

To find someone's runaway daughter, he may need a decker and six
"man-on-the-streets" to find her, but he'll need a sammie and a rigger
to get her out of the brothel she's been railroaded into, a gunshop to
equip them, a doc to fix them up afterwards, and maybe a completely
different decker to cover their tracks afterwards. I've got contacts
that I took that I don't know if they will ever be useful, but you never
know. Everything from Reporters to Yaks, hookers to a Lone Star Captain.
Of course this many contacts may be a luxury that other players can't
afford (I spent eight hundred thousand nuyen on contacts) but having a
few extra beyond the basic two, IMO, is always a good idea. It also
helps that I have a great GM who loves the concept of this character,
and helps me make it work, even though it's my first real character.

I'd say this was just my two cents, but I'm probably over a buck my
now...

I hope there was something in all this mess that helps you.

And boy are my fingers tired...

---Dave ('s not here man)
Message no. 33
From: Rand Ratinac docwagon101@*****.com
Subject: Contacts
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 18:28:56 -0700 (PDT)
> >I'm a big fan of the use of contacts and info
gathering in SR. But it still seems like they are
little more than "Bartender", "Mr. Johnson" and
"Elven Hitman". Any have feedback on how to get the
players to interact w/ their contacts a bit more.
>
> Step up to the plate as a GM and have their contacts
interact with them. To the contacts, the players are
their contacts.
<Snippola(TM)>
> -Graht

Graht has some very good in-game ideas, there.
Pre-game, this is what you want to do. If they players
want a contact, make them CREATE the contact. Not as a
full character, of course, but instead of just "Elven
Hitman" or whatever, have them write 50-100 words for
any contact they want to have, detailing their name,
race, physical appearance, personality and how the
character met them at the very least (I'll admit, I
tend to leave physical appearance for the GM to decide
:) ). If they don't do, they can't take the contact.

That starts them thinking of their contacts as real
people. I don't know about you, but I'm a lot more
attached to Dr. Richard Dean (aka Doc Savage), an
ex-DocWagon surgeon who went into plastic surgery (and
cyber/bioware installation on the sly for a limited
clientele) and does one day a week in a local clinic
in Redmond than I am to "Street Doc - Level 2 contact
- 10k nuyen". Or Holly Gold, the up-and-coming simstar
whose main claim to fame is playing Lara Croft in "The
Mummy's Curse" and whose neck my character saved (and
she actually KISSED him!).

Another similar idea is to get them to use old
characters (belonging to them and to the other
players) as contacts where appropriate. My character
Ironguard, for instance, has played in a number of
different teams and all his decker and mage contacts
are characters from the old teams. I could have taken
"Elven Hitman" for him, but why do that when I can
have Void (elven adept sniper), another one of my
characters, as a contact?

Make the contacts real to the players and they'll
start treating them as people.

====Doc'
(aka Mr. Freaky Big, Super-Dynamic Troll of Tomorrow, aka Doc'booner, aka Doc' Vader)

.sig Sauer

Can you SMELL what THE DOC' is COOKIN'!!!

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Message no. 34
From: Jill jmenning@***********.com
Subject: Contacts
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 22:17:38 -0500
>Another similar idea is to get them to use old
>characters (belonging to them and to the other
>players) as contacts where appropriate. My character
>Ironguard, for instance, has played in a number of
>different teams and all his decker and mage contacts
>are characters from the old teams. I could have taken
>"Elven Hitman" for him, but why do that when I can
>have Void (elven adept sniper), another one of my
>characters, as a contact?

Took one of my previous characters - my first SR character actually - as a
contact. By the end of the campaign the GM had made her into a major NPC
and then killed her off but been too chicken to actually let me be sure one
way or the other (due in part to threatening gestures with a pair of
scissors, but I digress). We even crashed the funeral, which was
interesting, because there was a hologram in the coffin and snipers in the
choir loft...

>Doc'

Jill
Message no. 35
From: Damon nomad74@*********.net
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 01:14:25 -0400
>The really funny part is when
> Chris played the city offical, he did a Bill Clinton
> accent. You know how rough it is to try to seduce a
> man with a Bill Clinton accent?
> ====> ~Raveness

Umm... if you are a female, not hard at all. Just flash those thongs.
Sorry.... heheh... couldn't help it...

-Damon Harper
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Message no. 36
From: Logan Graves logan1@********.net
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 08:08:35 -0400
In our last episode, Graht wrote:
>
<Snip!>
> For example, the PC could be sitting at a sidewalk cafe when their phone
> rings. The Elven Hitman on the other end asks, "Hi, it's me. Would you do
> me a favor and tell me if the guy at the table opposite you has a pencil
> thin mustache and blue eyes? He does? Thanks." click. The face of the
> guy at the opposite table explodes as the result of a dumdum round being
> fired through the back of his head by the Elven Hitman.
>

Graht,
You've outdone yourself with this one. I simple *have* to use it!!

And maybe the "bouncer stand-in" too. ;-)

--Fenris
______________________________________________Fenris@************.virtualAve.net
Still KNOBI after all these years!
http://BigKnobiKlub.virtualAve.net
Message no. 37
From: GuayII@***.com GuayII@***.com
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 10:10:52 EDT
In a message dated 7/14/00 8:19:29 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
jmenning@***********.com writes:

> By the end of the campaign the GM had made her into a major NPC
> and then killed her off but been too chicken to actually let me be sure
one
> way or the other (due in part to threatening gestures with a pair of
> scissors, but I digress). We even crashed the funeral, which was
> interesting, because there was a hologram in the coffin and snipers in the
> choir loft...

Wow...at my grandma's funeral, we just had brownies and coffee...I'm jealous.

Cash
Message no. 38
From: LDYTinne@***.com LDYTinne@***.com
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 11:19:38 EDT
In a message dated Fri, 14 Jul 2000 12:37:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, "E.
Gorey" <sp00kyt00th@*******.com> writes:

<< I'm a big fan of the use of contacts and info gathering in SR. But it still
seems like they are little more than "Bartender", "Mr. Johnson" and
"Elven
Hitman". Any have feedback on how to get the players to interact w/ their
contacts a bit more. (Btw- losing them doesn't seem to affect them much.
Losing gear would be more upsetting.

Bonus House Rule:
When using etiquette with one of your contacts, you add the level you have
them at to the roll (with the idea that even a street newbie has a better
chance getting info or gear through a friend or acquaintence)

[snip]

Dear E. Gorey,

Simple solution, make them roll play finding, getting new ones and DO NOT make it easy on
them. Do not make the sterotypical characters act/look so sterotypical so that they have
to treat them like people. Reward your players with cudos in the form of their contacts
call them with info or neat stuff that they found if they are treated well. If the npc's
are treated like robots the PC's deserve the cold shoulder or that they are constatly busy
or ... have the PC's walk in on the NPC at their usual spot talking to someone more
important, smooching a girl/boyfriend, drunk off their a--, etc. Give em' Hell.

Have Fun,
Tinne



>>
Message no. 39
From: shadowrn@*********.com (John)
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat Jan 27 09:45:01 2001
I am curious how you all play contacts. What role does each play and how
much should they impact the game? I realize this is on a game by game,
situation by situation basis but how do you determine the worth of one
player's freely chosen contact over another's?

I've always liked Cyberpunk's method of contacts from Wild Side which allows
each player to effectively build the worth of their contact from a set
number of points. But where does this set number of points come from? In
my opinion this would restructure the way ShadowRun's contacts are done
which would effectively get rid of the 'regular contact, buddy, and
followers'. But how points should be alloted for how much resources? Any
suggestions?

The Mr. Johnson is basically the liason between the corps and the 'runners
right? The Fixer is the gear guy? There many different interpretations
about what a Fixer is. They have been portrayed in movies differently and
going on my limited knowledge of the underworld and its intricasies I have
to rely on fiction. What do you guys think?

John
Message no. 40
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Phil Smith)
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat Jan 27 10:05:01 2001
>From: "John" <john@*******.com>
>I am curious how you all play contacts. What role does each play and how
>much should they impact the game? I realize this is on a game by game,
>situation by situation basis but how do you determine the worth of one
>player's freely chosen contact over another's?

When a player builds their character they pick the contacts. I once asked a
player to pick a different contact when they came to me with someone who
could easily provide milspec stuff at no risk to the character. But apart
from needing the GM's aproval players can pick their own contacts.

B y far the most common contact in my games is the fixer. They provide
goods and services that can not be legally aquired. Some specialise in
equipment, others provide Johnsons with runners and vice versa (if you know
one fixer you have access to at least fifteen runners). In my game we have
Duke who specialises in matching runners to Johnsons - think of him as an
agent and Shade who deals mainly in drugs with occasional guns and jobs.

Probably the most useful contact I have ever let a PC have is Blue - an
ex-Lone Star detective who is very in tune with underworld politics. He
acts as an infinate source of information.

Phil

Since most of my face never gets a chance to heal, I've got nothing to lose
in the looks department. My boss, at work, he asked me what I was doing
about the hole through my cheek that never heals. When I drink coffee, I
told him, I put two fingers over the hole so it won't leak.

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Message no. 41
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Arclight)
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat Jan 27 10:30:01 2001
Von John :

>I am curious how you all play contacts. What role does each play and how
>much should they impact the game? I realize this is on a game by game,
>situation by situation basis but how do you determine the worth of one
>player's freely chosen contact over another's?

This is, in my game, determined by the type of character. A street type
character will have other advantages than a corp-type one. I always try to
be fair too :) . And in my last game, a character never met his
fixer-connection, and had to deal with a subordinate instead.

<snip>

>The Mr. Johnson is basically the liason between the corps and the 'runners
>right? The Fixer is the gear guy? There many different interpretations
>about what a Fixer is. They have been portrayed in movies differently and
>going on my limited knowledge of the underworld and its intricasies I have
>to rely on fiction. What do you guys think?

In my game, fixers mainly buy and sell stuff and get you the occasional
decker when you need him. A Johnson is the one who offers the job, but can
be anything between corporate CEO and Aunt Erna needing to get rid of some
gang kiddies.

Arclight
Message no. 42
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Scott W)
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat Jan 27 12:50:01 2001
> I've always liked Cyberpunk's method of contacts from Wild Side
which allows each player to effectively build the worth of their
contact from a set number of points. But where does this set number
of points come from? In my opinion this would restructure the way
ShadowRun's contacts are done which would effectively get rid of the
'regular contact, buddy, and followers'. But how points should be
alloted for how much resources? Any suggestions?

You could always try a variation on the Enemies rules that appear
in the SR Companion. Assign points to represent different factors:
Influence, Networking, Relationship, etc. Make it up. I tried a
similar thing for Lifestyles once and never touched it again, but it
sure _seemed_ like a good idea :)
Fact is, as with the Enemy rules, a good GM will usually just say,
"The hell with the numbers, here's how it is." Contacts, IMO, are
filled out through roleplaying, not statistics.

> The Mr. Johnson is basically the liason between the corps and the
'runners right?

Sure. Or in a more general sense, anyone who hires a runner, be
they corp, organization, group, or individual.

====-Boondocker

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Message no. 43
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Augustus)
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat Jan 27 13:10:22 2001
----- Original Message -----
From: John <john@*******.com>


> I am curious how you all play contacts. What role does each play and how
> much should they impact the game? I realize this is on a game by game,
> situation by situation basis but how do you determine the worth of one
> player's freely chosen contact over another's?

Well, I use my own system for contacts than the book... I have a formula
that I use that will determine how much "contact money" players get to start
with (they can supplement this with "starting cash", but can never convert
"contact money" to real cash, its refered to as "money" simply for
ease of
use)

Anyhow... its all based on skills, attributes, and sometimes a die roll.
The PC will usually end up with something between 1,000¥ and 1,000,000¥ to
spend on contacts.

Then after that, I give the PCs a list of contacts with a rough description
of what they do and a price range... So in a nutshell, the PCs pick the
contacts they want, and then decide how much they want to spend, within the
range, on the contact... and that will mostly determine who/what kind of
contact they end up with...

Example:
Fixers run from 1,000¥ to 100,000¥.
A 1,000¥ fixer would be something akin to a punk on a street
corner... can always score you drugs or BTL, only jobs he'll have are penny
ante small time things (if he ever does) and as for gear, you can probably
find it faster/easier/cheaper if you went to the pawn shop yourself.
As for the 100,000¥ fixer... I have 2 at this level in my Berlin
setting. The 100K¥ fixers would be operating at the scale of international
crime lords and power brokers... thier control not only covers the city, but
extends beyond it.

So anyhow, you get the idea... the players usually come up with 5-15
contacts... Then, we usually sit down, go over the contacts... and I get an
idea of what the player wants from his/her contacts... and we more or less
work something out. Then I write up the life story/history, come up with
stats, gm notes, pc notes, areas of influence, etc... for the contacts...
print a copy up for me... delete all the GM-only info and then print up the
PC version.

Then thats about it... sometimes the contacts are what the player wants,
sometimes they aren't... either way, I've never had any of them complain.

Augustus
Message no. 44
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Augustus)
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat Jan 27 13:10:31 2001
----- Original Message -----
From: John <john@*******.com>
>
> The Mr. Johnson is basically the liason between the corps and the 'runners
> right? The Fixer is the gear guy? There many different interpretations
> about what a Fixer is.

In my campaign... Mr. Johnson's usually only hire the PCs. They rarely ever
answer to "footwork" questions... they usually only provide gear/services to
the PCs if its in lieu of a cash payment (or to supplement cash payments)
and again, only if its in the purview of their corporation.
I don't run my Mr Johnsons the way the novels seem to ellude to them...
that they are some mysterious dark figure that the PCs know nothing about.
IMC, they are corporate black ops specialists (usually)... some are employed
by their corp, others work as independants (I treat the independants and
"fixers in the making"). Either way, they liase with the shadowrunners or
fixers to find the right talent to get the job done.

In my campaign... I run Fixers as almost everything... they have jobs and
operations (some contracted out by Mr Johnsons (who might not have the
contact base yet to hire runners), other fixers (that might be in over their
head) or their own workings (they might be figuring that new tech from Ares
will be worth something and they wanna try to fence it to a contact, or
present it as a favour to a contact) etc.
So they supply everything... gear, info, knowledge, advice, contacts,
runs, etc... But I don't devalue the Mr Johnson contact... they all have
their own place and concept in the campaign.

Augustus
Message no. 45
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Andrew Murdoch)
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat Jan 27 14:05:01 2001
- John <10:04/27-Jan-2001>

> The Mr. Johnson is basically the liason between the corps and the 'runners
> right? The Fixer is the gear guy? There many different interpretations
> about what a Fixer is. They have been portrayed in movies differently and
> going on my limited knowledge of the underworld and its intricasies I have
> to rely on fiction. What do you guys think?

When one of my players chooses a fixer, they're basically tailored to the
character's specialty. My adept's fixer has ways of getting in guns,
ammunition, firarms accesories and military electronics, but doesn't
really have anyone who can customize a weapon or get in magical supplies
(despite her being an adept). The Decker's fixer is, natch, a deckmeister,
who also can get his hands on things to do with vehicles. Finally, the
Street Samurai's fixer is a gunsmith. He can get weapons, customize them,
and build tehm from scratch, but pretty much anything else is out of his
league. This is not to say these fixers could not get something out of
their specialty, but it takes a lot longer (as with the decker trying to
get his hands on C4).

In addition, the types of jobs these fixers get vary according to the
fixer's specialty. The jobs that come from the military hardware type tend
to involve lots of shooting and either the liberation or destruction of
personell or equipment. Jobs coming to the players from the deckmeister
tend to be information-based.

--
Hail, Centurion!
Andrew C. Murdoch
toreador@***.bc.ca
http://members.nbci.com/corvisraven
Message no. 46
From: shadowrn@*********.com (John)
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat Jan 27 16:40:01 2001
----- Original Message -----
From: Augustus <shadowrun@********.net>
To: <shadowrn@*********.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2001 1:18 PM
Subject: Re: Contacts


>
> Well, I use my own system for contacts than the book... I have a formula
> that I use that will determine how much "contact money" players get to
start
> with (they can supplement this with "starting cash", but can never convert
> "contact money" to real cash, its refered to as "money" simply
for ease of
> use)
>
<snip>

That is an incredibly interesting method of generating contacts and I would
assume that this would be for long-haul campaigns? I agree with what others
have said and when it comes down to it, I could care less about the numbers.
I have a few players that like to put a lot into their characters so I
thought I would let them 'design' their ideal contacts. Nothing more.

Thanks everyone for your input.

John
Message no. 47
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Augustus)
Subject: Contacts
Date: Sat Jan 27 17:30:01 2001
----- Original Message -----
From: John <john@*******.com>
>
> That is an incredibly interesting method of generating contacts and I
would
> assume that this would be for long-haul campaigns?

Yeah... been so long since I ran a one-shot or short series of adventures...
but if that were the case, then I'd pretty much reduce contacts to the
stereotypes presented in the books and keep everything about "where I need
it for the campaign".

Augustus
Message no. 48
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Iridios)
Subject: Contacts!
Date: Sat Mar 9 19:10:01 2002
Greetings all,

With all the talk about contacts, I find it ironic that I came across
this site this evening. It's a random crime fighter generator (intended
for mystery writers?).

http://www.rain-street.org/fightcrime.htm

2 examples that I've gotten so far are:

He's a leather-clad native American shaman haunted by memories of
'Nam. She's a provocative impetuous femme fatale living on borrowed
time.

He's a gun-slinging white trash cyborg in drag. She's a wealthy goth
cab driver with an evil twin sister.

It always generates 1 male and 1 female.

Have fun. :)

--
Iridios
--
From:The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord
(http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html)

If an enemy I have just killed has a younger sibling or
offspring anywhere, I will find them and have them killed
immediately, instead of waiting for them to grow up harboring
feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age.

Used Without Permission
Message no. 49
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Iridios)
Subject: Contacts!
Date: Sat Mar 9 23:40:01 2002
Iridios wrote:

> With all the talk about contacts, I find it ironic that I came across
> this site this evening. It's a random crime fighter generator (intended
> for mystery writers?).
>
> http://www.rain-street.org/fightcrime.htm
>

Update: I took the liberty to alter the code a bit and added some
shadowrun terms. It's an early version, I plan to make more changes as
soon as my brain gets working.

The SR version is at:

http://www.geocities.com/iridios/runners.html

--
Iridios
--
From:The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord
(http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html)

Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge
in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss
unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could
adjust to accordingly.

Used Without Permission
Message no. 50
From: shadowrn@*********.com (shadowrn@*********.com)
Subject: Contacts!
Date: Mon Mar 11 18:00:01 2002
On Sat, 9 Mar 2002, Iridios wrote:

> Update: I took the liberty to alter the code a bit and added some
> shadowrun terms. It's an early version, I plan to make more changes as
> soon as my brain gets working.
>
> The SR version is at:
>
> http://www.geocities.com/iridios/runners.html
>
>

This is superb! I've even made a .sig from my favorite!
Mind if I link to the page, and, possibly, rip the idea off and create my
own version?

--
john@*****.net http://www.kript.net/shadowrun
SRGC SR1+ SR3++ !SR2 h b++ B--- UB IE+ RN+ !W ma+++ gm M-- P-
"He's an oversexed shark-wrestling wage mage haunted by an iconic dead American
confidante. She's a bloodthirsty Bolivian Valkyrie with her own daytime radio
talk show. They're Shadowrunners!"
Message no. 51
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Iridios)
Subject: Contacts!
Date: Mon Mar 11 19:45:01 2002
Jconstable@*****.com wrote:
>
> On Sat, 9 Mar 2002, Iridios wrote:
>
> > Update: I took the liberty to alter the code a bit and added some
> > shadowrun terms. It's an early version, I plan to make more changes as
> > soon as my brain gets working.
> >
> > The SR version is at:
> >
> > http://www.geocities.com/iridios/runners.html
> >
> >
>
> This is superb! I've even made a .sig from my favorite!
> Mind if I link to the page, and, possibly, rip the idea off and create my
> own version?

Go ahead. Especially since I ripped it off someone else. :P I will be
doing a new more detailed version in the near future (maybe tonight), if
I can muster the drive. The way it stands, there may be a few
descriptions that don't quite work.


--
Iridios
--
From:The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord
(http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html)

If an advisor says to me "My liege, he is but one man. What can
one man possibly do?", I will reply "This." and kill the advisor.

Used Without Permission
Message no. 52
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Iridios)
Subject: Contacts!
Date: Mon Mar 11 21:55:01 2002
Jconstable@*****.com wrote:

>
> This is superb! I've even made a .sig from my favorite!
> Mind if I link to the page, and, possibly, rip the idea off and create my
> own version?

Preview of version 2.0 (beta).

He's a fiendish moralistic wakyambi street doc who must take medication
to keep him sane. She's a man-hating insomniac giant mercenary with an
evil twin sister. They're Shadowrunners!

They're are still some features I want to add. If anyone has anything
to suggest feel free to pipe in. I may add it in version 3 if it
doesn't end up in 2. :)

--
Iridios
--
From:The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord
(http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html)

I will not strike a bargain with a demonic being then attempt to
double-cross it simply because I feel like being contrary.

Used Without Permission
Message no. 53
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Iridios)
Subject: Contacts!
Date: Mon Mar 11 22:05:01 2002
Iridios wrote:
>
> Jconstable@*****.com wrote:
> >
> > On Sat, 9 Mar 2002, Iridios wrote:
> >
> > > Update: I took the liberty to alter the code a bit and added some
> > > shadowrun terms. It's an early version, I plan to make more changes as
> > > soon as my brain gets working.

New version is up. It includes a random race specification, but there
are still some broken bits. Such as the "ork semi-autonomous knowbot
who is allergic to blood"... Go figure.


> > > http://www.geocities.com/iridios/runners.html

Same address, new version. :)

--
Iridios
--
From:The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord
(http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html)

My dungeon cells will not be furnished with objects that contain
reflective surfaces or anything that can be unravelled.

Used Without Permission
Message no. 54
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Jed Mitten)
Subject: Contacts!
Date: Mon Mar 11 22:30:01 2002
> > > > http://www.geocities.com/iridios/runners.html
>
>Same address, new version. :)

Looks like the link is broken. I can't access it.

Jed

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Message no. 55
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Iridios)
Subject: Contacts!
Date: Mon Mar 11 22:35:01 2002
Jed Mitten wrote:
>
> > > > > http://www.geocities.com/iridios/runners.html
> >
> >Same address, new version. :)
>
> Looks like the link is broken. I can't access it.

Doh! http://www.geocities.com/iridios/runners.htm

Forgot to change htm to html when I uploaded the file.

--
Iridios
--
From:The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord
(http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html)

My vats of hazardous chemicals will be covered when not in use.
Also, I will not construct walkways above them.

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