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Message no. 1
From: "Steven A. Collins" <scollins@**.UML.EDU>
Subject: Famous characters
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 14:44:32 -0400
Being my groups Gm I have only played Sr about 6 times in my life and
3 of them were at cons. Recently one of my players decided to give
Gm'ing a try, as much to let me play as any other reason. Well the
character I generated was a street sam whose background had him as a
former NFL quarterback who was banned from the league for gambling on
the games and shaving points. Well in the Run he went on his former
fame came back to bite him about 4 times. Like accidentially getting
caught in a Press conference while walking through Dallas Fort Worth
Airport. Needless to say having it generally known I was in Dallas was
a major pain. At other times I managed to get things much easier
because the people I wanted them from were fans of mine. It turned out
that even though this player in one of my worst munchkins whose
characters have no personality or reason for having the stuff they
had. He was a pretty good Gm from a Role Playing stand point, he still
needs work on the plot side and he tried to give us a run that if
totally sucessful would have meant about a 4 Million nuyen payoff for
a group of about 7 characters.

This got me to thinking about a new edge/flaw, Fame. The only thing I
can't figure is should it be an edge or a flaw? At times it seems to
help and at others it is a royal pain. It turned out to be far more of
a pain so I'm leaning towards it being a flaw. Also has anybody ever
played a character who was famous, or a character who became famous?
Message no. 2
From: The Swordsman <swordman@******.NET>
Subject: Re: Famous characters
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 14:13:14 -0500
Steven A. Collins wrote:
>CLIP<
> This got me to thinking about a new edge/flaw, Fame. The only thing I
> can't figure is should it be an edge or a flaw? At times it seems to
> help and at others it is a royal pain. It turned out to be far more of
> a pain so I'm leaning towards it being a flaw. Also has anybody ever
> played a character who was famous, or a character who became famous?

I would base it off the Police Record Flaw, it's similar. Instead of
Police spotting you right off, the media spots you right off. Even half
the down sides seem to fit, and if the famous character turned to the
shadows for some reason that was less than legal, it would seem all that
more parralel.

--

"Creativity is my sharpest weapon!"
-The Swordsman '97
Message no. 3
From: "J. Keith Henry" <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Famous characters
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 19:12:27 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-09 15:20:28 EDT, scollins@**.UML.EDU (Steven A.
Collins) writes:

> This got me to thinking about a new edge/flaw, Fame. The only thing I
> can't figure is should it be an edge or a flaw? At times it seems to
> help and at others it is a royal pain. It turned out to be far more of
> a pain so I'm leaning towards it being a flaw. Also has anybody ever
> played a character who was famous, or a character who became famous?
>
Variations already exist. At Ease (though not necessarily means being
Famous) does mean that people have a given idea of your medial reputation.
Friends in High Places can be a variation as well.

If fame were an edge, it wouldn't be for a Shadowrunner at least not from the
view of "Public Fame". I would have to call it a Flaw. Perhaps making
target numbers for tracing your whereabouts by a -1 (as people tend to
remember the famous). Variations on the Flaw side might be a Fan who becomes
a dependant of some sort. The flipside is that an "Edge" variation might
work out in that some people who "liked" your reputation, give you a break
now and again (making the target numbers for social skill tests a -1 on the
behalf of the PC).
-K
Message no. 4
From: Chuck Stevens <harmonix@**.NET>
Subject: Re: Famous characters
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 00:43:33 -0700
----------
> From: J. Keith Henry <Ereskanti@***.COM>
> To: SHADOWRN@********.ITRIBE.NET
> Subject: Re: Famous characters
> Date: Saturday, August 09, 1997 4:12 PM
>
> In a message dated 97-08-09 15:20:28 EDT, scollins@**.UML.EDU (Steven A.
> Collins) writes:
>
> > This got me to thinking about a new edge/flaw, Fame. The only thing I
> > can't figure is should it be an edge or a flaw? At times it seems to
> > help and at others it is a royal pain. It turned out to be far more of
> > a pain so I'm leaning towards it being a flaw. Also has anybody ever
> > played a character who was famous, or a character who became famous?
> >
> Variations already exist. At Ease (though not necessarily means being
> Famous) does mean that people have a given idea of your medial
reputation.
> Friends in High Places can be a variation as well.
>
> If fame were an edge, it wouldn't be for a Shadowrunner at least not from
the
> view of "Public Fame". I would have to call it a Flaw. Perhaps making
> target numbers for tracing your whereabouts by a -1 (as people tend to
> remember the famous). Variations on the Flaw side might be a Fan who
becomes
> a dependant of some sort. The flipside is that an "Edge" variation might
> work out in that some people who "liked" your reputation, give you a
break
> now and again (making the target numbers for social skill tests a -1 on
the
> behalf of the PC).
> -K

I'm currently playing a character who is a linebiker for the Seattle
Timberwolves Combat Biker team. It has both an edge and a flaw. The edge
is "Automatic High Lifestyle" [+3] (to reflect his pay and endorsement
income, that sort of thing), and the flaw is "Notable" [-2]. He's not the
star of the team, so he's not as noticable as he could be, but any true
Timberwolves fan will recognize him.
So far, his familiarity has only been annoying, not dangerous. One time
it actually helped (the contact we met was a bit more cooperative than she
would otherwise have been, since she was a fan). He does wear his bike
helmet while running, though. :)

------------------------------------------------------
Chuck Stevens
harmonix@**.net

"If your god is so omnipotent,
why does he need my money?"
- Salmoneus
------------------------------------------------------
Message no. 5
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Famous characters
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 12:11:47 +0100
Steven A. Collins said on 14:44/ 9 Aug 97...

> This got me to thinking about a new edge/flaw, Fame. The only thing I
> can't figure is should it be an edge or a flaw? At times it seems to
> help and at others it is a royal pain. It turned out to be far more of
> a pain so I'm leaning towards it being a flaw. Also has anybody ever
> played a character who was famous, or a character who became famous?

You can use the rules for rockers in Shadowbeat; they're not edges and
flaws, because SR didn't have those when Shadowbeat was published, but oyu
spend a certain amount of starting money to buy a Rocker Status, which
indicates how famous you are. It includes the chance of being recognized
somewhere, though you might have to tinker with them a bit to come up with
rules usable for retired football players instead of active musicians.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Pleasure is to be insane.
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-

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Message no. 6
From: Gabriel <bginc@***.ZEELANDNET.NL>
Subject: Re: Famous characters
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 19:37:13 +0100
On 9 Aug 97 at 14:44, Steven A. Collins wrote:

> This got me to thinking about a new edge/flaw, Fame. The only thing I
> can't figure is should it be an edge or a flaw? At times it seems to
> help and at others it is a royal pain. It turned out to be far more of
> a pain so I'm leaning towards it being a flaw. Also has anybody ever
> played a character who was famous, or a character who became famous?

Well, in Earthdawn the whole point of the game is to become famous,
thus considered an edge in the game. You get to know other famous,
and influentional people, and usually have loads of money. This is
all very nice when you're still in the fame business, but when you're
a Shadowrunner, and break/bend the rules on occasion (blowing
people's homes up, picking on Wendigo's, that sort of stuff ;-) it's
not so easy. I figure it's like playing Batman. He has to keep up his
rich, succesfull business appearance, and be a crimefighter, who
himself isn't all that popular among some. He keeps his identity
secret, so his old life doesn't come down on him.
In short:I'd consider Fame a flaw, unless the player would take on
multiple identities and succesfully keeps both of them going.



>
>
Gabriel "Lance Cooney" Knight

"When you gotta go, you gotta go."

bginc@**********.nl

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/bginc
http://www.dahx.demon.nl
http://www.dra.nl/~mom

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Message no. 7
From: Barbie <barbie@**********.COM>
Subject: Re: Famous characters
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 01:31:43 -0500
At 09-Aug-97 wrote Steven A. Collins:


>This got me to thinking about a new edge/flaw, Fame. The only thing I
>can't figure is should it be an edge or a flaw? At times it seems to
>help and at others it is a royal pain. It turned out to be far more of
>a pain so I'm leaning towards it being a flaw. Also has anybody ever
>played a character who was famous, or a character who became famous?

I would suggest that you take a look at the shadowbeat sourcebook.
In the rocker section is a good chapter about that.

BTW: I`m a novastar sim performer.

--
Barbie


One lived hour is still living.
Message no. 8
From: "Steven A. Collins" <scollins@**.UML.EDU>
Subject: Re: Famous characters
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 23:59:23 -0400
On Mon, 11 Aug 1997, Barbie wrote:

->At 09-Aug-97 wrote Steven A. Collins:
->
->
->>This got me to thinking about a new edge/flaw, Fame. The only thing I
->>can't figure is should it be an edge or a flaw? At times it seems to
->>help and at others it is a royal pain. It turned out to be far more of
->>a pain so I'm leaning towards it being a flaw. Also has anybody ever
->>played a character who was famous, or a character who became famous?
->
->I would suggest that you take a look at the shadowbeat sourcebook.
->In the rocker section is a good chapter about that.
->
->BTW: I`m a novastar sim performer.


I've seen the rules in Shadowbeat and while they are good I can't see
where they would be useful. My problem with them is I can't see why a
Rocker character would be running the Shadows. The idea behind this
character is that he is famous but doesn't want to be. He made his
mistakes but can't get away from them because alot of people still
remember him.

I agree with most people's asessment that it is more of a flaw that an
edge, but being a retired athlete makes alot of things easier for you.
It's amazing how much people trust you just because they know your
face. Like the cop who was more interested in getting my autograph
then finding out why I was trespassing on a crime scene. It didn't
hurt that my char is a liscenced Private Investigator. I still don't
think this makes up for the cop recognizing me in the first place but
if he hadn't we may have had to kill him, or at least knocked him out.
Message no. 9
From: Barbie <barbie@**********.COM>
Subject: Re: Famous characters
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 06:50:46 -0500
At 10-Aug-97 wrote Steven A. Collins:


>I've seen the rules in Shadowbeat and while they are good I can't see
>where they would be useful. My problem with them is I can't see why a
>Rocker character would be running the Shadows. The idea behind this
>character is that he is famous but doesn't want to be. He made his
>mistakes but can't get away from them because alot of people still
>remember him.

The reason for everyone to run the shadows are his alone and no one elses.
The rules are usefull for you to some part, mainly the recognition thing.

>I agree with most people's asessment that it is more of a flaw that an
>edge, but being a retired athlete makes alot of things easier for you.
>It's amazing how much people trust you just because they know your
>face. Like the cop who was more interested in getting my autograph
>then finding out why I was trespassing on a crime scene. It didn't
>hurt that my char is a liscenced Private Investigator. I still don't
>think this makes up for the cop recognizing me in the first place but
>if he hadn't we may have had to kill him, or at least knocked him out.

I agree here that been famous can help someone alot, esspecialy if the
one that recognizese you are some kind if fan. So it could be considered a
edge, but on the other hand been recognizesable can lead to trouble like hell
and so its a flaw, too.I would not make it a edge/flaw thing mainly because
its both, only at different times. If you want to make it such, I would say
make it for a shadowtype character a flaw, because for such character it is
mostly a hinderence to be known widely.
For been recognized I would take the status rule from shadowbeat and evalued
the recognition factor from them.

--
Barbie


One lived hour is still living.
Message no. 10
From: Kim Christiansen <kimc@**********.COM>
Subject: Re: Famous characters
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 19:41:43 +0100
> From: "Steven A. Collins" <scollins@**.UML.EDU>
> Subject: Famous characters
> Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 14:44:32 -0400

...cut some stuff...

> Well the
> character I generated was a street sam whose background had him as a
> former NFL quarterback who was banned from the league for gambling on
> the games and shaving points. Well in the Run he went on his former
> fame came back to bite him about 4 times.

...cut some more stuff...

> This got me to thinking about a new edge/flaw, Fame. The only thing I
> can't figure is should it be an edge or a flaw? At times it seems to
> help and at others it is a royal pain. It turned out to be far more of
> a pain so I'm leaning towards it being a flaw. Also has anybody ever
> played a character who was famous, or a character who became famous?

Actually, I came up with Chuck's chrarcter's edge/flaw combo. He has a
sponsor and a guranteed high life style, but that balances with his notable
flaw. That can be a real p[ain in the ass. People are going to remember when
and where they saw him, and if that happens to lead some lone star or other
crime fighting organization his way, he'd better have a damn good
explanation or he looses the egde right away, and the falw some distant time
later [I know, that's not fair, and that matters to me how? :) ]

start rant task

I like the way I set it up, but that is STRTCLY a house rule. It happened to
fit inot the game I am currently running. I might not allow it later. As for
edges and flaws in general, I ask that the players create 100 point
characters, complete with background, and then we choose edges/flaws
together that FIT IN WITH THE CHARACTER BACKGROUND WHICH I HAVE ALREADY
APPROVED. Yeah, I'm yelling... edges and flaws are munchkinism waiting to
happne. I like playable characters in my game.

end rant. task

Thanks for you patience
kim

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