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Message no. 1
From: Paul Gettle <pgettle@********.NET>
Subject: Rebooting the game back to 2050 [was: Re: Best Modules]
Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 23:12:01 -0400
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At 09:11 PM 5/13/98 +0100, Gurth wrote:
>That's why I started off with the first adventure for our recently
>re-started campaign: a simple run to get everyone in the mood for
2050,
>and at the same time put an ongoing thread through the adventures.

My co-gm and I are starting some novice SR players off in 2050 in a
campaign this summer, and my co-gm came up with an interesting
houserule that allows the players to start off with some of the
post-2050 toys from the various sourcebooks, at a price:

1. Anything in the BBB is available to runners at base cost (or street
index, if cheaper).

2. Items in SSC must be bought at street index (or base cost, if
higher)

3. Toys from sourcebooks after SCC must be bought at street index (or
base cost, if higher) with a price multiplier equal to the number of
years 'ahead' of 2050 the item is.

The timestamp on the first line of shadowtalk sets the year an item
was available. (Items with no timestamped shadowtalk are given a
default year, equal to the copyright year of the book plus 61.)

Exceptions may be made by the GM on a case by case basis. (after all,
I'm sure that they had cybereye covers and Toyotacorp Gopher
Pickuptrucks in 2050, among various other items)

This way, if the players want some of the shiny new toys from the
newer sourcebooks, they can get them, but they're discouraged from
doing so by the amount of character creation resources this would eat
up.

If you've got players balking at the thought of a 'Back to 2050'
reboot, because they simply have to have bioware and that one hold out
pistol from NAGtRL, they can do so with this system. Mind you, the
character's background had better have a good explanation why they
have the stuff that they do -- "That encephalon? Experimental military
prototype that got put in when they had to patch up my brain because I
took that assault cannon round to the head during the 2049 Desert
Wars"

You can also use this houserule if your players want to buy toys
'early' once the game is in progress. The multiplier is just how many
years ahead of current game time the item is from, and multiply the
cost and the availability time by it. The number of years ahead (or
perhaps even 2x or 3x the number of years ahead; GM's discretion)
should also be added to the availability TN#.

Another thing to remember if offering this houserule to your players:
The GM reserves the right to exploit the fact that the players are
using prototypes, beta-test units, pre-production models (Or even
reverse engineered knockoffs of the above) and is free to make the
items less reliable than the final product.
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--
-- Paul Gettle (pgettle@********.net)
PGP Fingerprint, Key ID:11455339 (RSA 1024, created 97/08/08)
625A FFF0 76DC A077 D21C 556B BB58 00AA
Message no. 2
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Rebooting the game back to 2050 [was: Re: Best Modules]
Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 11:30:22 +0100
Paul Gettle said on 23:12/13 May 98...

> My co-gm and I are starting some novice SR players off in 2050 in a
> campaign this summer, and my co-gm came up with an interesting
> houserule that allows the players to start off with some of the
> post-2050 toys from the various sourcebooks, at a price:
[snip]
> The timestamp on the first line of shadowtalk sets the year an item
> was available. (Items with no timestamped shadowtalk are given a
> default year, equal to the copyright year of the book plus 61.)

Basically the same thing I'm using, except that items aren't really
available before that time. Except, as you said, for prototypes,
pre-production models, and other stuff that's bound to find its way onto
the streets before the main production run.

> Exceptions may be made by the GM on a case by case basis. (after all,
> I'm sure that they had cybereye covers and Toyotacorp Gopher
> Pickuptrucks in 2050, among various other items)

Who says it wasn't introduced as a brand-new model in 2053? :)

> If you've got players balking at the thought of a 'Back to 2050'
> reboot, because they simply have to have bioware and that one hold out
> pistol from NAGtRL, they can do so with this system.

I've got one of those. When first presented with the idea, he said okay,
then later on when he had had time to think about it, he started whining
about how little stuff there was available... I told him you can create
very decent characters with just SRII, without any additions, but I have
a feeling he'll want some special stuff anyway :/

> Another thing to remember if offering this houserule to your players:
> The GM reserves the right to exploit the fact that the players are
> using prototypes, beta-test units, pre-production models (Or even
> reverse engineered knockoffs of the above) and is free to make the
> items less reliable than the final product.

Naturally. And knowing my player, he'll try to make me guarantee that the
items he has won't suffer from those kinds of faults. At which point I put
on what would be my poker face if I knew how to play poker, and tell him,
"Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? I'm not going to say anything about that
either way." *evil GM grin*

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html - UIN5044116
There was radiation. Garbage. Pestidices, toxic waste, and free enterprise.
-> NERPS Project Leader * ShadowRN GridSec * Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

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