Back to the main page

Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: "Jason Carter, Nightstalker" <CARTER@***.EDU>
Subject: dir
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 01:42:32 CET
This Archetype was written by P. Steele. It uses SRI and RBB.

TROLL TRUCKER/FREETRADER

"I've been 'freetrading' now, as some call it, for the last 20 years and I know
every freetraders route there is to know. If you want cargo running through NAN
lands that they wouldn't normally let through, I'm your man. If you wanna get
by TIR border patrols, I'm your man. As long as the price is right and the
cargo is viable, thats viable, not necessarily legal, I don't care if it's
legal or not, then you can hire me. If you should ever go back on a deal
there's a huge net of truckers like myself and buddies of mine who will help
me see to it that your life expectancy drops considerably."

COMMENTARY
The troll trucker is the one to watch out for. He knows his machines like the
horns on his head. He has a big heart though and can often be won over by a
pretty face and a kindly manner. Being on the road alot he gets lonely so
whenever he gets the chance of human companionship he takes it. If trouble
should arise he can deal with it, his 50 shot Enfield AS7 says he can. On the
roads he uses his Mule keeping those AVM's handy in case of any unscheduled
roadblocks. Off road he drives his Bison which he uses for the slightly less
legit jobs.

ATTRIBUTES SKILLS CYBERWARE
Body 7(8) Car 6 Datajack
Strength 5 Etiquette (Freetrader) 4 Smartgun Link
Quickness 3 Firearms 4 Vehicle Control Rig 2
Charisma 3 Ground Vehicle B/R 6
Intelligence 3 Gunnery 5
Willpower 2 CONTACTS
Esscence 2.3 2 Contacts often
Reaction 3 (7 when driving) Fixer
Initiative 1d6+3 (3d6+7 when driving) Mechanic

VEHICLES

Rigged GMC 4201 (Mechanical Mule) with tray storage and side mounted missile
launchers.
Rigged Ford-Canada Bison with micro pop-up turret and HMG (1000 rounds).

GEAR

Armour jacket
Predator II with reactive trigger.
Enfield AS7 with 50 shot drum, grenade launcher and smartgun built in.
Wristphone with flip up screen.
Vehicle repair kit.
Chemsuit.
Ration bars.
Survival kit.

Notes: Roll for allergy and lifestyle (most truckers live in their cabs).

I've tried to make a character that has a little more depth than is normally
associated with trolls. Picture him as the large but loveable sort, not the
sort to get angry easily though he can handle himself in most situations.

Freetraders etiquette is meant to be a knowledge of who is running for who,
where the good routes are, how to get past border patrol etc.

Although this character will not fit well into many campaigns there might
always be a point when the GM needs a troll trucker archetype for some reason.


-The Powerhouse
--
Phillip Steele

Enjoy Chummers,
Jason J Carter
The Nightstalker
Message no. 2
From: The Deb Decker <RJR96326@****.UTULSA.EDU>
Subject: dir
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1993 13:19:56 -0500
From the annals of Professor Anastashia Halzig. . .

My most fearful encounter with the otherworldly forces that now permeate
our existence occured while conducting research in the Carpathians, a
land that abounds with legends of Vampires, Nosferatu, and other such
Essence-draining ceatures. I have read the reports of Insect Totems
and Toxic shamans, and I have perused the recently unveiled theories
of Hermetic Zombie Death rituals. But I have to to uncover, outside of
my own experience, evidence of the Vampire Cults.

It is not widely known that prior to the Awakening, cults appeared
sporadically to worship powerful vampire-figures, especially in the
Dark Ages. Their existence is not surprising, considering the Vampire's
position as giver of life and death, his god-like sway over the unwashed
masses that were so common. These cults have continued into the Awakening,
indeed growing in number as the existence of true ampires rises.

Mages rarely become involved in these cults. Their understanding of Magic
and the functions of the Awakened world excludes them from the general
mob fever that ignites these groups. Yet sometimes, there is a power to
be working with a Vampire, and there is great power indeed to one who
seems to be a vampire and is not. My particular case, detailed elsewhere,
involved tracking down a hermetic mage who was impersonating a vampire, using
the methods I am about to detail.

Let me explain first that I have seen no responsible mage use these spells
and rituals. The detrimental side effects are too great, and those who
partake of such magic often grow insane. I post this text as a warning to
others.

These mages employ a Drain Essence spell, for lack of a better term. It
allows them to emulate the paranormal ability of Essence Drain, to a limited
extent. This excess Essence drains over time, and thus a ready supply must
be provided to the mage.

They also seem capable of bestowing Essence of a sort, similar to the
way Vampires interact with Vampiric Pawns in Europe.

Mages, beware this magic! It will destroy you in the end, enough so that you
will find yourself better off as a real vampire rather than an imposter.
It may raise your power, but at such cost that I dare not contemplate
enncountering such a one as I did in the Carpatians. below is the technical
data I collected after subduing and vivisecting the mage.
*********************************************************
Alright, the good stuff: I know there's been a lot of debate about this
Essence Drain thing, but I take the side of possibility, while trying to
integrate it logically into the Shadowrun continuum. While we are urged not
to make spells Permanent, we are not denied it.So here is the new, improved
Essence Drain stuff.

The effects of the Essence Drain spell are as follows: The caster may drain up
to his regular 6 points of Essence free of charge. If a combat mage with
5.4 Essence, he can drain up to .6 for free. When I say free, I mean only
free of the restriction below.

After establishing himself with 6 points of Essence, the mage can only have
a cumulative Essence equal to his Magic Rating. That is, that same combat mage
can absorb .6 essence free. If he has a Magic Attribute of 8, he can take
2 more. Power Foci do NOT help.

Mages lose the extra Essence at the same rate of Vampires, or they can
voluntarily discharge it upon others with a Discharge Essence Spell that
I will design later (see excuse below). This discharged Essence can either
be bestowed upon an individual following the same guidelines above for amount
and duration, or fed to Pawns in much the same way as regular vampires do.
They may also discharge it into the atmosphere/Astral Space, where it
dissipates, leaving a small background count for a short time.

The extra Essence drains out of the body slowly, dissipating gradually. It
drains because it is not of the drainer, or or whoever he puts it in (unless,
of course, he puts it back into his victim). It
is not permanently in the drainer; However, it is permanently gone from those
drained (at least, permanent as regular Essence Drain).


****
More to come. . .
I wanted to get this out today. . .tell me what you think. I'm at work and
have to go soon, so I haven't quite worked out all the details. . .like
rates and spell data and such. I will post those later. But in the meantime,
is this acceptable to most of you? And what do you have to add to it?

J Roberson

Further Reading

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

Disclaimer

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

Thwap!