From: | Gurth gurth@******.nl |
---|---|
Subject: | Decker/otaku initiation (was Re: The Deep Resonance) |
Date: | Sat, 3 Apr 1999 12:40:36 +0200 |
the street was...
> > So you could say becoming an otaku is to normal deckers what initiation is
> > to magicians? Somehow they "see the light" and realize they don't
actually
> > need a cyberdeck to manipulate the Matrix.
>
> Actually, there were rule ideas for Initiation on the old Shadowlands
> website, and I know that Mike B. has a copy of those for one of our Otaku
> players.
I take it these differ from the otaku-initiation rules you put up at HHH
that one of my players (Callisto) found and wanted me to read?
> However, the idea of a decker becoming Otaku is not something I'd see
> readily. I am not saying that I could not see it. On the contrary,
> we've done it. I am merely saying that life should be made difficult
> for some period of time for the character, along the lines of an
> Ordeal.
An idea I've been playing with is that otaku start out as normal deckers,
with a special knack for using the Matrix, probably, that sets them apart
from others who are "merely" good deckers. After all, you don't run before
you can walk. From there, becoming otaku seems like an initiation to me.
One idea I've been playing with (which got worked out slightly after last
night's game) is to consider all otaku as "initiate deckers," and charge
normal deckers who want to become otaku a lot of Karma to do so, much like
for magicians. I was thinking of basing the Karma cost on the character's
age, because most otaku are very young. My idea is for the base cost being
(age + grade) x multiplier, with the multiplier being the same as for
magicians: 3 for a DIY-otaku, 2.5 for DIY-with-ordeal, etc. This would
limit young otaku to those who have gained quite a bit of Karma already
(which would rule out most normal children, IMHO) and make it _really_
costly for older deckers -- up to 75 Karma for a 25-year-old, for
instance...
From there, each grade could add special abilities much like a magician's
initiate powers, but focused on the otaku in the Matrix. This is the bit
I'm still trying to work out, though.
--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Everyone has a lie to live.
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
->The Plastic Warriors Page: http://shadowrun.html.com/plasticwarriors/<-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-
GC3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ U 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