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Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Holly Feray)
Subject: Plot contrivances
Date: Tue Oct 9 23:40:01 2001
> Yep, a good point. And remember how we all ended up working for
> Yamatetsu
> after the Renraku run? To hide out from the guys who were going to
> stamp out our little lives, we went to work for the competion.
> Yamatetsu Black Ops squad, or Pravda news team? Gods, I loved
> working with the Russians.
> NO! Don't push the Plot Contrivance Button!

Ok, You, yes you D, (and anyone else who can help)

Since you will be no where near my game, help me out. Plot with me.
Let me pick your brain. I have one guy playing Dark Wing an elven, raven

shaman, troll hating street waif, bi/ kinsey 4.5 chick who is not getting

into character or is role playing deficient. (Ernie's character) Ernie
last
gamed back when D&D was hot off the first presses. Chester Cheetah
super cyber/bio speed human 105 MPH is his top ground speed and
yes he has spots and he is a cool dude in a loose mood. (Patrick's
character) Mr. Brown, Mr. plain Joe average looking human guy,
cyber/bioware. (Carl's character) He also plays Demo. A demolitions
cyber human guy who is in my opinion committable. We swap the 2
characters out as needed to avoid horrid personality conflicts and
the leveling of 1/2 or more of the city. Shadow Dancer is the last
character, he is a phys ad elf and gay as all get out. (played by
Jason) <this player also is still finding his role playing stride.

I admit I have been thrown for a loop. I was not expecting Ernie to
play a chick playing to her own gender, I also admit I was not expecting
a flaming elf boy from Jason. I am having a heck of a time getting the
characters to work with one another. They have been through Dragon
Hunt together and through Food Fight. They have done reasonably
well in Dragon Hunt, but the personalities are not meshing. Short
of kidnapping the lot of them by Tamminus, they are not going to rely
upon one another. They DO NOT function as a unit and it seems to
drag on the overall play.

Darkwing has met her overall goal after surviving and prospering
on the Dragon Hunt run. She has enough money to survive. She
is off the street and is financially sound. Chester will always work
on his goal to be the fastest living thing on the planet. Chester is
a local star athlete at a sport he was involved in the creation of called

Speed Ball. His list of contacts is the who's who of Seattle, including
but definitely not limited to, Nadia Daviar, Tron, Dunkelzain, and Karen
King. Mr. Brown lives to work. Demo lives to find minuscule excuses
to blow up (fill in the blank). I think Shadowdancer's only goal is to
get laid.

Help! I need to blend these characters into a functioning unit.

Holly
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Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Bira)
Subject: Plot contrivances
Date: Wed Oct 10 00:40:01 2001
On Tue, 9 Oct 2001 22:35:45 -0500
Holly Feray <ldytinne@****.com> wrote:

>
>
> Help! I need to blend these characters into a functioning unit.

It looks like you have a lot of material for many game sessions involving your
character's relationships with one another :). You could try to come up with a situation
that threatens one of them (have the char's personal problems come knocking on his door),
and set it up so that the other PC's are his/her only hope. They can become more friendly
and learn to work togheter if they are forced to help each other out.


---
Bira -- SysOp da Shadowland.BR
http://www.shadowland.com.br
Redator de Shadowrun da RPG em Revista
http://www.rpgemrevista.f2s.com
Message no. 3
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Damion Milliken)
Subject: Plot contrivances
Date: Wed Oct 10 07:55:01 2001
Holly Feray writes:

> Help! I need to blend these characters into a functioning unit.

Whooa! I know the problem, but I think you've got a much worse case on your
hands than I've ever had to deal with.

I guess there are two approaches that you could take.

The first assumes that you want to run a (sort of) professional shadowrunner
game. In which case, you feel free to drop them in the deep end, and
whichever characters pull through do. The ones who don't were, well,
unsuitable shadowrunning material, and in all sensible perspectives,
wouldn't have made it in the SR world anyway. This is the path I have more
or less taken in my current campaign. Half the characters are fairly
professional runners, and the other half are, well, half baked nutcases and
freaks. Usually the professionals hold the team together and the nutballs
get killed.

The other end of the spectrum is to have fun with a very curious bunch of
characters. In your case, it seems like this might be the way to go, as
pretty much _all_ of your PCs are, er, /unusual/, and there isn't really any
interest in being professional at all.

In this case, the inter-character interactions become very important. It
certainly seems that most of the storylines and plots will revolve around
the characters and their ambitions, rather than GM created plotlines. But
first, you'll have to get the rather eclectic bunch of individuals to form
some sort of a team together. Once they've a good team foundation, they will
be much more willing to work together on each other's crazy goals.

I once had some serious inter-team conflict between the professionals in my
current campaign. One of the PCs had to be set aside for a couple of runs,
but the player wanted to play him again. So I developed an entire large
scale adventure that forced these characters to form a team, and then put
them through a situation whereby they had to save each other's lives in
order for them both to survive. It was a team building exercise like no
other, and although the two characters in question still do not really get
along, they have a level of trust for each other and their respective
capabilities that is actually greater than what they have for other
characters. It was well worth the planning.

In this respect, I'd recommend something similar for you. Some of the
elements that allowed my plan to work were:

1) Employers that stated upfront, during initial negotiations, that
this mission was a collaborative effort, and that personnel and
representatives from the other collaborators were going to be
present as part of the team. It was a requirement of the mission
that an effective team be formed. (This wasn't as briefly or
bluntly put, but it was certainly reasonably ovbious.)

2) Put them somewhere where they have no other resources to draw
upon. Isolate them from their contacts. For me, this involved a
manhunt in deepest, darkest Africa. No contacts, no matrix, no
phones, no nothing.

3) Ensure that there are plently of situations where the skills of
one team member save the entire team from certain death. This can
get a little tricky, as balancing "certain death" with an
achievable outcome that's dependant on one (or two) characters
can be a bit risky. This is why you have many chances. If it
seems to not be working, back everything off a little - the
players will not realise that the bad guys stats suddenly went
down 2 points, or that those 15 reinforcements that the demo
expert was supposed to set a booby trap for (but didn't) never
arrive.

The other idea that comes to mind is exploit the characters powerful
contacts. This is something I am just starting to do in my current campaign,
but will be doing more of as time goes by. Most characters have some sort of
powerful contact. An example in my current campaign is a Triad Boss contact
that the Adept has. Sure, he's a powerful contact and can do alot for the
PC, but he's a powerful influencing piece from my side of the table as well.
When I want a particular plot to go a certain way, or the PC in question to
take a specific action at a precise time in the run, then all I need is a
little talk with his character and the Triad Boss, and I've got a particular
story element all sown up. It's easy to invent some reasonable sounding
explanation for why this contact wants things done in a certain way.

If these types of things can be used on PCs to _make_ them interact with
other PCs, then you might have a chance at pulling them into a team
together, too. If a couple of such big contacts, and even a few smaller
ones, can be be pulled together into a sort of "uber" plot or "mega"
behind
the scenes story, then you may be able to manipulate all or most of the PCs
into working together without even making it overtly obvious to all of them.

Anyway, best of luck - it sounds like it'll be fun ;-).

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong
Unofficial Shadowrun Guru E-mail: dam01@***.edu.au
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Message no. 4
From: shadowrn@*********.com (sota)
Subject: Plot contrivances
Date: Wed Oct 10 18:40:03 2001
At 01:32 AM 10/10/01 -0300, you wrote:

>On Tue, 9 Oct 2001 22:35:45 -0500
>Holly Feray <ldytinne@****.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Help! I need to blend these characters into a functioning unit.
Bira Wrote:


> It looks like you have a lot of material for many game sessions
> involving your character's relationships with one another :). You could
> try to come up with a situation that threatens one of them (have the
> char's personal problems come knocking on his door), and set it up so
> that the other PC's are his/her only hope. They can become more friendly
> and learn to work togheter if they are forced to help each other out.
>

And the dark side of this would be: kill one of the PC's and begin a
manhunt with the remainder of the team for the killer. Nothing brings
together a group better than the loss of a loved one (or hated one for that
matter)

Mr. Sota
Message no. 5
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Deidre M Van Hise)
Subject: Plot contrivances
Date: Thu Oct 11 15:25:04 2001
> Darkwing has met her overall goal after surviving and prospering
> on the Dragon Hunt run. She has enough money to survive. She
> is off the street and is financially sound. Chester will always
> work
> on his goal to be the fastest living thing on the planet. Chester
> is
> a local star athlete at a sport he was involved in the creation of
> called
>
> Speed Ball. His list of contacts is the who's who of Seattle,
> including
> but definitely not limited to, Nadia Daviar, Tron, Dunkelzain, and
> Karen
> King. Mr. Brown lives to work. Demo lives to find minuscule
> excuses
> to blow up (fill in the blank). I think Shadowdancer's only goal is
> to
> get laid.
>
> Help! I need to blend these characters into a functioning unit.
>
> Holly

Mmmkay, a mage with no real goals anymore... does she have a SIN?
If not, her position may not be very secure. Use that to keep the mage
active. Mr. Speedball sounds like he's got a lot of friends... who have
a
lot of enemies. The physad, could have problems with one of his
sexual adventures coming back to haunt him (angry boyfriend).
Demo and Brown sound like guys who don't need an excuse to
work the shadows, they love doing it.
What year are you running them in? The timelines could help you out
with what to do with them.If its after Pres. D's death, you could get
them
involved in Dunk's will. Do they have families? Any of them have ties
to any orginizations? You mentioned the speedster was part of a sport,
how about a little fixing operation trying to put him under their
control?

You're good at suprsing people with unexplained things. I still don't
know
who put the bone lacing and prehensile tail on Sophie. Do somthing to
them, something noone will explain, or admit to. Nothing horrible, but
confusing. Make em paranoid, and reward them for sticking together, or
punish them for deserting each other. You'll either get a team, or
they'll
get new charcaters.

"It's not my fault!" - Famous Last Words
Message no. 6
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Holly Feray)
Subject: Plot contrivances
Date: Thu Oct 11 17:15:01 2001
> > Help! I need to blend these characters into a functioning unit.
> > Holly

> Mmmkay, a mage with no real goals anymore... does she have a SIN?

SINless

> If not, her position may not be very secure.

I am probably suffering brainlessness right now, but how so?

>Mr. Speedball sounds like he's got a lot of friends... who have a lot of
enemies.

You an EEEEEEEVIL Genius. I love you so much. Thanks for polishing my
light bulb.

>The physad, could have problems with one of his sexual adventures coming
back to haunt him (angry boyfriend).

Good, but this will not draw the party together, unless the ex thinks...
hehehe (sorry, I'd tell you but one of the people on this list just
joined my game and he is on a need to know basis)

>Demo and Brown sound like guys who don't need an excuse to work the
shadows, they love doing it.

Yup. Carl is easy. What can I say. (yes I left that open for a 2x4 D)

> What year are you running them in?

2054 late September

>Do they have families?

No one has written any family ties into their backgrounds and they have
been through the background questions. Apparently they are apparently
heartless B*****ds. Except the raven shaman. Her father did unspeakable
acts to her thus, the explanation for being a street urchin.

>Any of them have ties to any organizations?

Chester know Yaks. A lot of the ties were handled through Azrael (CJ,
aka Cowboy) whose is presently out on tour with his rock band. I will
see what I can arrange to make the cat sweat.

>You mentioned the speedster was part of a sport, how about a little
fixing operation trying to put him under their control?

Possibly, though Speed Ball is not more than about 6-9 months old as a
public sport.

> You're good at surprising people with unexplained things.
Thanks--Holly

>I still don't know who put the bone lacing and prehensile tail on
Sophie.

please imagine me grinning gleefully from ear to ear to ear (ooops one
too many! <grin, w/ sparkle in eye>)

>Do something to them, something no one will explain, or admit to.
Nothing horrible, but confusing.
>Make em paranoid, and reward them for sticking together, or punish them
for deserting each other.
>You'll either get a team, or they'll get new characters.

I was trying to avoid the evil God on high plot lines until they could
find their way out of a paper sack, but if that is the only way to cure
this annoying tendency to act as individuals rather than as a unit then,
their pretty little butts are about to get a lube job, errr or maybe no
lube.... Switching to evil overlord mode <pop, whizZz, *!BANG!*>
bWAhAHaHa! (thanks.)

> "It's not my fault!" - Famous Last Words

>From Sophie

Till Later,
Bandit -- Licking paws, errr hands clean of oreos
(the Racoon Shaman)
a.k.a. Holly
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Message no. 7
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Deidre M Van Hise)
Subject: Plot contrivances
Date: Fri Oct 12 18:10:01 2001
> > Mmmkay, a mage with no real goals anymore... does she have a SIN?
>
> SINless
>
> > If not, her position may not be very secure.
>
> I am probably suffering brainlessness right now, but how so?
>
A SINless person in the SR universe, is a non-person.
The law is her enemy, because she has NO rights.
If she survives a stint in prison, she'll be saddled with a
criminal SIN. A corp could drag her off to perform
experiments on her with minimal reprisals. It's why
I had Daytona and Satori with not only false SIN's,
but a genuine one. A little risky one way, far safer
another. I'd rather be a criminal WITH rights than
one without. Heck, even Sophie got a genuine SIN
after that little adventure that got us Knighted in
Firth im Wald with the appelate of the Order of
St. George. It's how Sophie got her IPKC
(Imperial...uh... International Peace Keepers
Certificate (aka International Bounty Hunter's
Licence)). Now if I could only get on Big Shots...

"Hey Daytona, what's with the alligator in your
backyard?"
"Budro? Well, he was going to be dinner, but I
like his personality."
Message no. 8
From: shadowrn@*********.com (John Smith)
Subject: Plot contrivances
Date: Fri Oct 12 22:00:01 2001
*snippety-snip-snip*

<Basically the character in question has no SIN, and someone stating this is
a bad thing, then someone else asking why it was bad and then someone else
telling them pretty much exactly why>

>If she survives a stint in prison, she'll be saddled with a
>criminal SIN.

Fast fact: She won't even need to make it thru prison, necessarilly.
Anytime you are arrested (hauled in by Lone Star) your SIN is checked--that
would be IF you make it down to the station house... in my games that
seldom happens--and if you do not have one, then one is assigned. It
doesn't matter if it's jaywalking, grand theft auto, or attempted murder of
an officer. Right then and there they send you to the lab, do a complete
genetic workup and process your brand spanking new official criminal SIN
right then and there.

Yes, this is according to cannon. Check that wonderful Lone Star sourcebook
from the days of yore. If you don't have one, get one. search high and
low, because I'll be buggered if it's not the most useful book (aside from
the main book) I've ever owned.

Lepper.
seutekh@*******.com (period)

Yep, been gone a while... but I finally got my mail configured right, so
expect to once again hear WAY more than you want to out of me.

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