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Message no. 1
From: The Reverend <MDB0213@*****.TAMU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Initial character
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1993 11:46:33 -0500
]Question is....Is this too much for a beginning character or is this just
]the result of sacrificing stats and skills for money.
It depends on what you want to do. I certainly hope that you have decent
ettiquetteS, and negotiation... otherwise, this is another one of the classic
"Don" characters (Don played a contacts-monger, but without negotiation.
Another instance is "Eclipse". 'Clips would drag me along to the meets. I had
all the negotiation and ettiquette, whilst he had the contacts. It didn't work
out very well. As long as you have the skills, keep the contacts. Whether or
not you need the followers is a whole other ball game. That's gonna be your
decision. If you've got THAT much money, you might want to
(a) get something useful (like a vehicle, or electronics gear, a microtronics
workshop, etc)
(b) improve your deck. I believe that for about 400000 you can build a deck
that's better than a Fairlight Excalibur. Granted, it takes forever to build,
but if you're playing a decker, might as well have the best money can buy.

If your party doesn't have any type of contacts-monger, you might want to
become it. Heck, if you have the essence, you might think about skillwires.
Depending on your skills, though, if you've got 1000000 nuYen, and only know
what to do with about 400000 of it, you might want to get more skills. See how
the rest of your party is set up; you might be able to get rid of any weak
links the party has!

BCNU,
Rev
Message no. 2
From: "Mercury (Uditha DeSilva uidesilva@*****.meto.govt.uk)"
Subject: Re: Initial character
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1993 17:15:17 +0000
The Rev mentioned Negotiation: even if you haven't
got the Skill points, you can buy a chip-jack and a
Negotiation Chip -- the best you can afford. Since
this doesn't need skill-wires, you can just stuff it
into the chipjack, and Hey Presto! Mr Smooth is on-line!

I once played a character that had skill-wires 6 and
a huge number of KnowSofts and ActiveSofts, for virtually
ANY occasion (yes, including the bedroom. He had no
complaints from his partners until he suffered a short
while thus... _occupied_ in the bath. She has refused
to even speak to him since then. B>}

___/V\ercury____
Message no. 3
From: Richard Pieri <ratinox@***.NEU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Initial character
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1993 15:30:10 EDT
>>>>> "Uditha" == Uditha DeSilva uidesilva@***** meto govt uk
<Mercury>
>>>>> writes:

Uditha> The Rev mentioned Negotiation: even if you haven't got the Skill
Uditha> points, you can buy a chip-jack and a Negotiation Chip -- the best
Uditha> you can afford. Since this doesn't need skill-wires, you can just
Uditha> stuff it into the chipjack, and Hey Presto! Mr Smooth is on-line!

There's a problem with social skillsofts, that being their usefullness
degrades over time. What will get you by last week will get you geeked the
next; and who knows what'll happen in between.

Rat <ratinox@***.neu.edu> Northeastern's Stainless Steel Rat
PGP Public Key Block available upon request Ask about rat-pgp.el v1.6
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And now we meet again, for the first time, for the last time. --Dark Helmet
Message no. 4
From: ntomlin <ntomlin@*****.VALDOSTA.PEACHNET.EDU>
Subject: Re: Initial character
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1993 16:09:41 -0400
thanks for all the advice. I can see maybe I should have mentioned
more about my character. Hmm..hes so new and I don't have him with
me but I'll remember as best I can.
Bod 2
quick 4
str 2
cha 1
int 6
will 5

skills I don't remember well yet firearms (pistol)-3
computer (software)-6
computer theory (software)-6
computer b/r-6
ettiquette (street)-4
negotiation (bargain)-5
thats it as best I remember
A fuchi-4 and a good selection of programs (slightly better than
archtype) no cyberware other than datajack and memory 30mp.
Could someone tell me what use that head memory is by the way?
So thats basically it to start and about 8 contacts a buddy
(rigger),the gang and followers but I was already thinking about
dumping the followers I can get my own (thats the stuff urban
legends are made of) *SR rulebook*
so the tally seems to indicate drop the money to b and bump the
skills to a priority. I was leaning that way a bit myself but I
also like the idea of all those wonderful toys :)
Message no. 5
From: Richard Pieri <ratinox@***.NEU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Initial character
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1993 17:40:23 EDT
>>>>> "ntomlin" == ntomlin
<ntomlin@*****.valdosta.peachnet.edu> writes:

ntomlin> Bod 2
ntomlin> quick 4
ntomlin> str 2
ntomlin> cha 1
^ That's it? "Not In My Game You Don't :-)" I just happen to
feel that anyone who has a "1" in an Attribute has a player
who wants to spend his first 3 or 4 points of Karma on upping
it. Just remember that a "1" will never net you success when
you've got a threshold to beat.
ntomlin> int 6
ntomlin> will 5

And yes, I've discovered that *all* the archetypes are broken one way or
another (like the urbane Ork Street Samurai with a Charisma 1--not!).

Rat <ratinox@***.neu.edu> Northeastern's Stainless Steel Rat
PGP Public Key Block available upon request Ask about rat-pgp.el v1.6
||||| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |||||
You are *utterly* the stupidest, most *self-centered*, appallingest *excuse*
for an anthromoporphic personification on *this* or any *other* plane!
--Death, to her younger brother Dream
Message no. 6
From: Galen Silversmith <galens@***.GWU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Initial character
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1993 19:11:18 -0400
On Fri, 16 Jul 1993, ntomlin wrote:
> body 2
> quick 4
> str 2
> cha 1
^ Uhhh, If you have all these friends, why is you charisma that low?

> int 6
> will 5
>
Also, you might want to drop the Willpower one or two and the same with
Intellegence, up the charasma to atleast a 3 and possibly raise body by
one (you'll need it if anything bypasses your armour, or you get hit by a
physical spell, since you can't use combat poll to stage down damage
(Something my GM forgot... ARGH! =( ))

> skills I don't remember well yet firearms (pistol)-3
> computer (software)-6
> computer theory (software)-6
> computer b/r-6
> ettiquette (street)-4
> negotiation (bargain)-5

Uhh... You can only start with one consentration (besides Ettiquette and
Languages) So either you have the firearms, negotiation or one of the
computers that way. I'd stick with the firearms, if any. negotiation is
something that is nice to have for all of your skills and personnally I
like it around a 3, since a five is a bit high, but YMMV. I'd also go
with the computers as regular skills. Yeah, yuor hacking pool drops by
one, but that still shouldn't hurt you all that much with a decent deck.
You'd also might want another ettiquette, esp if some of your contacts are
from a different field of intrest.
Message no. 7
From: "Mercury (Uditha DeSilva uidesilva@*****.meto.govt.uk)"
Subject: Re: Initial character
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1993 00:13:31 +0000
>> skills I don't remember well yet firearms (pistol)-3
>> computer theory (software)-6
>> computer b/r-6
>> ettiquette (street)-4
>> negotiation (bargain)-5
>>
>Uhh... You can only start with one consentration (besides Ettiquette and
>Languages) So either you have the firearms, negotiation or one of the
>computers that way. I'd stick with the firearms, if any.
> = "Galen Silversmith" (galens@***.GWU.EDU)

Duuhhh... is it you or is it me? I always took that to mean `one concentration
or specialization per general skill' (of course, if you SPECIALIZE, you
automatically do a concentration too:
eg initial firearms 4
specialize in Ares Predator:

Final skills:
General firearms: 2
Pistols: 4
Ares Predator: 6

(based on `Creating a Character' ,SR][, p.45)

I can see no `reality-check' style reasoning for sticking to 1 concentration/spec
TOTAL; eg a character can have a `favourite gun' AND a `favourite motorbike'
without any problem.

_____/V\ercury____
Message no. 8
From: The Deb Decker <RJR96326@****.UTULSA.EDU>
Subject: Initial Character
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1993 21:13:44 -0500
Hey, the one and only Jaez has Matrix Etiquette. . .
As for taking 'eccentric" skills--One of the first things I balked at
in Shadowrun was that you couldn't take a two terribly effective level
in two or three special skills without lowering your effectiveness as
a pro runner. Me, I love taking skills like that, but I've played with
too many people who maximize their characte's efficiency to feel
encouraged to do so. I'm still trying to give Cooper the Law score
he ought to have :).

J Roberson

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