From: | Mike Loseke <mike@*******.COM> |
---|---|
Subject: | physads and sammies (was Re: SR3 Update) |
Date: | Mon, 22 Jun 1998 10:40:49 -0600 |
>
> If you want to play a physad, you shouldn't be thinking about standup
> gunfights. Think about how easy it would be to accomplish your objectives
> if they didn't even know you were there. Design your character concept
> around that.
IMO, you shouldn't be thinking about standup gunfights in the
first place. Do like you said and design your character around a
concept. There's no limit to what your character can and cannot do
(except most magic for mundanes). You should play your character not
as an archetype but instead as a unique individual. Otherwise, you're
falling into stereotypes and only playing a boring game of Gauntlet
("Elf needs food, badly!")
Now, as much as I like PhysAds (and sammies) I'll have to say that the
difference between the two is not always black and white. One character
I'm playing right now is a very good example of this: he's a mundane
which I've labeled as a "Thief" for the archetype. (I figure that the
street sam field is pretty wide open, basically any mundane with combat
enhancing cyber or bioware, so this guy is, in my mind, a sammie.) This
character has a ton of cyber and bioware which, when put into action with
even more technology, makes him an excellent stealth character, I'd say
equal in that field to a multi-level PhysAd initiate. Stuff like enhanced
articulation, synthacardium, muscle augmentation and reflex recorders can
do amazing things for a character performing physical skills. Others,
like cerebral booster, encephalon and math SPU can boost skills like
electronics (concentrated in security systems) and other B/R skills
useful for doing black/wet work.
On the other side of the coin, I've seen PhysAds delve into the world of
the street sam quite successfully. Another player's PhysAd in the same
campaign is the group's "gun guy." His skills in firearms and gunnery
are quite good (better than my thief and a similar sammie, except for
in our concentrations) and his other magical abilities more than help
out in making him quite the opponent.
Now, none of these guys are "showdown" type of characters, which people
seem to use in their examples of "a physad has no chance against a street
sam" arguments. Anybody that stands in the street to shoot at the other
guy (who is standing in the street shooting at him) deserves to get shot
and shot hard.
--
| "Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills
Mike Loseke | the first woman she meets and then teams up with three
mike@*******.com | complete strangers to kill again."
| -- TV listing for The Wizard of Oz, in the Marin Paper.