Back to the main page

Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Derek Hyde)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Mon Nov 19 20:45:03 2001
I know we discussed it not too long ago but it's coming up again and I
don't recall how we decided the easiest way to fix it was. I've got
about half of my group that refuses to roleplay anything other than the
actual run, the rest of the group is really enthusiastic and is coming
up with side lives and stuff like that....really fleshing their
characters out....anyone got some good ways of helping the situation and
getting everyone to actually role play their characters? (oh by the way
we're talking about a gaming group of 4 people and that's really only
half if I'm playing instead of GMing)

Derek
Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Robert Manning)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Tue Nov 20 01:25:01 2001
At 08:47 PM 11/19/01, you wrote:
>I know we discussed it not too long ago but it's coming up again and I
>don't recall how we decided the easiest way to fix it was. I've got
>about half of my group that refuses to roleplay anything other than the
>actual run, the rest of the group is really enthusiastic and is coming
>up with side lives and stuff like that....really fleshing their
>characters out....anyone got some good ways of helping the situation and
>getting everyone to actually role play their characters? (oh by the way
>we're talking about a gaming group of 4 people and that's really only
>half if I'm playing instead of GMing)
>
>Derek


In my campaign, most of the time is spent in between runs as the
players prepare, talk to contacts and each other, and deal with other
business. They run into a lot of people at the places they hang out and I
don't always let them know what's connected with the run and what
isn't. This practice keeps them on their toes and makes them pay attention
to what's going on throughout the whole session. I usually go around the
table and ask what each character is doing during each day or night, and
then deal with them individually or in groups depending on who's with
who. It's time consuming, but everyone's been enjoying it, even with a
rather large group of 7 players and myself. Last week we had a seven or
eight hour session with a grand total of half a round of combat involving
only one PC. Surprisingly enough, I didn't have even one complaint about
the lack of action.
Even though some of my players are usually substandard
roleplayers, they've been improving quite a bit in the last several weeks
since I began the SR game (they're mostly D&D players). Maybe my methods
wouldn't work with your group, but it's done wonders with some of the hack
and slash munchkins in mine. I hope something I've said will prove to be
useful to you.

archangel@*********.com

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12 (Decipher at http://www.geekcode.com/ )
GU d- s+: a22? C++ UL P L+ E(----) W+ N++ o? K? w(---) O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+
PGP? t-- 5 X+ R+ tv b++(+++) DI++++ D++ G e h(--) !r y-
-----END GEEK CODE BLOCK-----

--
SRGC v0.22 SR1 SR2++ SR3+++ h b++(1/2) B UB !IE RN- LST !W dk+ sa+++ ma++
sh+ ad++ ri++ mc+++ rk-- m+ gm+ M- P
--
Message no. 3
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Damian Sharp)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Tue Nov 20 05:05:01 2001
On Mon, 19 Nov 2001, Derek Hyde wrote:

> I know we discussed it not too long ago but it's coming up again and I
> don't recall how we decided the easiest way to fix it was. I've got
> about half of my group that refuses to roleplay anything other than the
> actual run, the rest of the group is really enthusiastic and is coming
> up with side lives and stuff like that....really fleshing their
> characters out....anyone got some good ways of helping the situation and
> getting everyone to actually role play their characters? (oh by the way
> we're talking about a gaming group of 4 people and that's really only
> half if I'm playing instead of GMing)

I can think of two things that may help.

The first, is to connect the runs partly to their external lives. Perhaps
some of thier contacts want things done, or thier families. Maybe there's
something they want to do themselves (though you indicated no motivational
problems). Or, someone's taking things personal. If the run becomes the
between runs lives they live, then they may slip into roleplaying
constantly. Maybe someone's out to get them, and bits and pieces show
through, between runs.

The second, is to give some mild benefit for roleplaying outside of
runs. If they roleplay more with thier contacts between runs, perhaps
they'll share a little more info more freely. Maybe thier fixer will get
to like them, and give them a slightly better deal. Maybe the girl they
meet in the bar happens to work at the local they're running. Or, to get
to the simplest 'cause and effect', maybe they get more RP Karma, for
Rping out of the run. Since you've got at least the one player who does
it, the others can see that the extra roleplaying he does is getting him
some benefit, and they'll likely follow suit. Just make sure it's clear
why he's getting the perks. After a while, they'll likely do it, for its
own sake.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Damian Sharp of Real Life, College Graduate |
| Zauviir Seldszar of Wildlands, Scribe of House Maritym |
| Xavier Kindric of Shandlin's Ferry, member of Valindar |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"An explosion doesn't usually display the best parenting skills"
Message no. 4
From: shadowrn@*********.com (John)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Tue Nov 20 09:45:01 2001
Derek,

I've run into similar problems where a couple players want to severely flesh
out their character and others just want stats on a piece of paper. Bottom
line for my group is that if you roleplay, your survivability increases, if
you are strictly looking for action you become a "red-shirt expendable"
(canon fodder). Between the game and that bottom line however I've added
some flare for those that want to play.

For instance, I've revamped the rules for contacts. I figure, in the real
world, NPCs are people too. They would have lives of their own and if they
were being used solely for what they can offer (unless they are a snitch)
they will get offended and be less likely to assist the character in the
future. If a player (read: the character) keeps up with his/her contacts
they will be more likely to receive assistance in the future (as well
favors). I've had some people tell me this takes away the roleplaying
element of NPCs but let me tell you, in play it only adds to it.

Hope these suggestions help.
John
Message no. 5
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Wallace Blade)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Tue Nov 20 12:25:01 2001
Well, I've done like someone already pointed. It takes time to go asking one
and another what they do but they get to see it as the "normal thing" and
start taking personal iniciatives. Anyway, this is, in my case, something
that takes time, so don't expect to get answers right away.
Another option I use is tellnig them each day a couple of news of the rest
of the world. Sometimes, this news interest them and they start moving to
get more info on 'em.

Wallace Blade
Sepherim (Dagger in sperethiel)
"The Matrix was made to serve,
but only obeys those of us that love her."
Nodo 666: http://www16.brinkster.com/sepherim

_________________________________________________________________
Descargue GRATUITAMENTE MSN Explorer en http://explorer.msn.es/intl.asp
Message no. 6
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Dan Turek)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Tue Nov 20 13:15:01 2001
>Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 01:26:15 -0500
>From: Robert Manning <archangel@*********.com>
>At 08:47 PM 11/19/01, you wrote:

> >I know we discussed it not too long ago but it's coming up again and I
> >don't recall how we decided the easiest way to fix it was. I've got
> >about half of my group that refuses to roleplay anything other than the
> >actual run, the rest of the group is really enthusiastic and is coming
> >up with side lives and stuff like that....really fleshing their
> >characters out....anyone got some good ways of helping the situation
>
> In my campaign, most of the time is spent in between runs as the
>players prepare, talk to contacts and each other, and deal with other
>business.

Some people just aren't meant to role-play. They like to react and roll
dice, but not initiate any action. This people usually have simple goals for
their characters and wish down time would fly by so they can do their 100
days of programming/spell-design/car repair/etc. As long as they are
pleasant to be around, there's nothing wrong with this.

Most days are down time. No place is so hot there's a run every day, or even
Every month. There are preliminary things though - in the campaign I play in
the GM writes mini adventures that take about 5-15 min to play (the decker
is asked to get a file/make an ID stick, the bounty hunter gets to talk to a
lead, etc). Usually he gets the people right when they come in so they can
start and get in character. If you want to blow it off, that's fine too
(though it may annoy your contacts).

Of course, roleplaying is worth a Karma point. It also lets you play more
rather than sitting around, waiting for a happening. If downtime is fun (the
point of playing the game) and kept short (so the others aren't bored while
the one character goes on a date - I managed to fix this somewhat by having
the two Chinese girls be friends and only double-date) it works best. Of
course, you might end up with ALL roleplayers, in which case downtime might
take over the game, and they will end up carefully picking their runs if not
creating their own. (one session in a former campaign was a Berlin vacation.
Maybe our was more sedate than others since no one died, but those who
bought cameras had a long photo list for blackmail opportunity on the other
characters).

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
Message no. 7
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Anders Swenson)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Tue Nov 20 16:40:01 2001
On Mon, 19 Nov 2001 19:47:03 -0600
"Derek Hyde" <dhyde@*********.net> wrote:
....anyone got some good ways of helping
> the situation and
> getting everyone to actually role play their characters?
> (oh by the way
> we're talking about a gaming group of 4 people and that's
> really only
> half if I'm playing instead of GMing)
>
> Derek
>
Give Karma for roleplaying the sidelines (1-3 pts). That
should spark some creativity.
Message no. 8
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Derek Hyde)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Tue Nov 20 16:50:01 2001
> Give Karma for roleplaying the sidelines (1-3 pts). That
> should spark some creativity.
>
heh heh heh....already doing that one....except it's 5 for having a good
background written up and actually roleplaying non runs is worth another
5 after each run because like someone else said on here if you don't do
the prepping between runs then you'll NEVER be able to actually do the
runs....

Derek
Message no. 9
From: shadowrn@*********.com (david lowe-rogstad)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Tue Nov 20 17:00:02 2001
At 1:41 PM -0800 11/20/01, Anders Swenson wrote:
>Give Karma for roleplaying the sidelines (1-3 pts). That
>should spark some creativity.

agreed. and give other goodies too. information, toys, contacts. it's
always fun when one character waltzes right into the club, without
paying the cover, while the rest have to wait for the snotty doorman
and his two troll sidekicks to choose them out of the crowd.

another trick i use is to do as much downtime as possible via email.
players can participate as much or as little as they like, and the
"non-roleplayers" won't feel like valuable game time is being taken
up by activities that don't involve shooting something.

of course there is the other extreme, like when my shaman and our
rigger spent the entire session at her pad playing "playstation X",
and only remembered that they were supposed to be on the run when
their cell phones started burning up from the other characters
wondering where their backup was. ooops.

d.
--
david lowe-rogstad
flash designer + developer
dlowe@****.com
Message no. 10
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Holly Feray)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Wed Nov 21 00:10:01 2001
Make them fill out the thirty questions on their characters so that they
understand them better. Base a "run" around their background, especially
the trivial stuff. They can only succeed if they stop and get to know
their neighbors, their local gang(s), are up on the local rumor mill,
have hung out at the local pub on occasion etc. Have and NPC set the
example on this one. They might get the hint. OR have runs dry up for
a while due to some police crack down on runners, make them find another
way to make their dough, it will force roll playing. Introduce a new
virus that must be stopped that is begging to drop the populous like
flies and one of them has early stage symptoms.

Tell me what you think.

Bandit (who is a plot line unto herself due to pursuit of the all mighty
oreo)
Holly


On Mon, 19 Nov 2001 19:47:03 -0600 "Derek Hyde" <dhyde@*********.net>
writes:
> I know we discussed it not too long ago but it's coming up again and
> I
> don't recall how we decided the easiest way to fix it was. I've got
> about half of my group that refuses to roleplay anything other than
> the
> actual run, the rest of the group is really enthusiastic and is
> coming
> up with side lives and stuff like that....really fleshing their
> characters out....anyone got some good ways of helping the situation
> and
> getting everyone to actually role play their characters? (oh by the
> way
> we're talking about a gaming group of 4 people and that's really
> only
> half if I'm playing instead of GMing)
>
> Derek
>
>

________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.
Message no. 11
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Derek Hyde)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Wed Nov 21 11:40:01 2001
> Make them fill out the thirty questions on their characters so that
they
> understand them better. Base a "run" around their background,
especially
> the trivial stuff. They can only succeed if they stop and get to know
> their neighbors, their local gang(s), are up on the local rumor mill,
> have hung out at the local pub on occasion etc. Have and NPC set the
> example on this one. They might get the hint. OR have runs dry up
for
> a while due to some police crack down on runners, make them find
another
> way to make their dough, it will force roll playing. Introduce a new
> virus that must be stopped that is begging to drop the populous like
> flies and one of them has early stage symptoms.
>
> Tell me what you think.


*offers a CRATE of oreos*
great idea!!! I'll put it to use immediately! Thanks for the
thought....(by the way anyone know how difficult it is to cure HMHVV?
Message no. 12
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Jonathan)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Wed Nov 21 12:20:01 2001
> *offers a CRATE of oreos*
> great idea!!! I'll put it to use immediately! Thanks for the
> thought....(by the way anyone know how difficult it is to cure HMHVV?
>

Um I'm sure contacting a dragon through the Draco Foundation plays a part in
there somewhere... :)
Message no. 13
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Derek Hyde)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Wed Nov 21 12:25:01 2001
> > *offers a CRATE of oreos*
> > great idea!!! I'll put it to use immediately! Thanks for the
> > thought....(by the way anyone know how difficult it is to cure
HMHVV?
> >
>
> Um I'm sure contacting a dragon through the Draco Foundation plays a
part
> in
> there somewhere... :)
>
>
is that a serious answer? I mean that one for real game wise...I will
probably stick one of em as a vamp and make em work REALLY fast to keep
from dying....need to know how and who they'd have to do to get the
stuff to cure it
Message no. 14
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Jonathan)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Wed Nov 21 13:55:01 2001
> is that a serious answer? I mean that one for real game wise...I will
> probably stick one of em as a vamp and make em work REALLY fast to keep
> from dying....need to know how and who they'd have to do to get the
> stuff to cure it
>

Partly a joke and evil GM. Technically speaking though a dragon would
probably be the best idea for "sagely" advice of course actually getting to
speak to one, let alone getting the draco foundation to part knowledge to
factual dragonic locations is mission impossible itself.

For a vamp disease yer not exactly going to get ghouls or vampires to give a
cure. And I doubt human or metahuman science can fully disect a vampire to
learn the diseases nature. And unless you have some mages willing to blow a
chunk of karma on an astral quest to find the answer that leaves seeking the
knowledge from either:

a) Conjured Spirits (preferably a Ghede Loa or similar area of influence)

b) Awakened Critters on the physical plane (ie Dragon/Free Spirit)

Point a would mean tracking down a Loa Shaman in damn good favour of his
patron to conjure a greater spirit.

Point b would mean finding the location of a dragon through either blind
luck or somehow convincing the draco foundation you are not out for its
hoard and can give them some great reward for the information (since they do
have dragons as clients money would not do hence a service of some import,
greater knowledge of the disease and its cure etc would be payment or maybe
even a service to one of the dragons...)

In the case of a free spirit...it would mean gaining some leverage.
Message no. 15
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Lars Wagner Hansen)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Wed Nov 21 15:50:03 2001
From: "Derek Hyde" <dhyde@*********.net>
> heh heh heh....already doing that one....except it's 5 for having a good
> background written up and actually roleplaying non runs is worth another
> 5 after each run because like someone else said on here if you don't do
> the prepping between runs then you'll NEVER be able to actually do the
> runs....

5 Karma for background = Karma inflation.

I would rather deduct karma for a nonexisting background, and that would be
deducted each run until the player actually writes up a good background.

5 Karma for non run Roleplaying = Even more Karma inflation.

It should be way less.

In the olden days when I was a player, we usually got around 5 karma for the
whole run, including rescuing the princess, clearing the bug nest, and sawing
the world.

Lars
--
Lars Wagner Hansen, Jagtvej 11, 4180 Sorø
l-hansen@*****.tele.dk http://home4.inet.tele.dk/l-hansen
--
SRGC v0.22 SR1 SR2++ SR3+++ h+ b+++ B--- UB++ IE+ RN LST W++ dk sa++ ma+
sh++ ad++++ ri mc rk-- m- (e-- o t-- d-) gm+ M- P-
--
Main Rule of Usenet: Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to
their level, then beat you with experience.
Message no. 16
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Derek Hyde)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Wed Nov 21 16:20:03 2001
> 5 Karma for background = Karma inflation.
>
> I would rather deduct karma for a nonexisting background, and that
would
> be
> deducted each run until the player actually writes up a good
background.
>
> 5 Karma for non run Roleplaying = Even more Karma inflation.
>
> It should be way less.
>
> In the olden days when I was a player, we usually got around 5 karma
for
> the
> whole run, including rescuing the princess, clearing the bug nest, and
> sawing
> the world.
>
> Lars
now now...I know it's quite a bit but they're all pretty much inept when
it comes to what you do with the karma other than the fact that your rep
goes up and I allow them more access to restricted goods as well as it
gives you a way to re-roll critical "oops"s I've got about 75% of the
group doing the full RP thing if you count me now I'm just working on
that one stubborn one...think I have him in the bag though....anyone
know the simple cure for vampirism? Hehe...didn't think so....I'm
probably going with the "find a dragon and beg for knowledge" to find
the cure run after he gets bit...hehe

Derek
Message no. 17
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Damion Milliken)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Thu Nov 22 05:20:01 2001
Lars Wagner Hansen writes:

> In the olden days when I was a player, we usually got around 5 karma for the
> whole run, including rescuing the princess, clearing the bug nest, and sawing
> the world.

Sawing the world? That'd have to be worth more than 5 karma, no? Cutting up
the earth is a pretty, er, earth shattering event, don't you think? <grin>

<...Damion, having the Neo-Anarchist's Guide to Gurth's House, and thus
knowing all it's secrets, ducks into the carp proof shelter underneath
Gurth's stairs...>

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong
Unofficial Shadowrun Guru E-mail: dam01@***.edu.au
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GE d- s++:-- a25 C++ US++>+++ P+ L+>++ E- W+ N++ o@ K- w+(--) O-@ M--
V- PS+ PE- Y+ PGP-@>++ t+ 5 X+>+++ R++ !tv(--) b+ DI+++@ D G+
e++>++++$ h- r++>+++ y->+++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
Message no. 18
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Thu Nov 22 06:05:00 2001
According to Damion Milliken, on Thu, 22 Nov 2001 the word on the street was...

> Sawing the world? That'd have to be worth more than 5 karma, no? Cutting
> up the earth is a pretty, er, earth shattering event, don't you think?
> <grin>

Hey, sawing the world is easy -- just take a saw and make some cuts into the
ground. Sawing _through_ the world would be worth a lot more than 5 Karma,
though... :)

> <...Damion, having the Neo-Anarchist's Guide to Gurth's House, and thus
> knowing all it's secrets, ducks into the carp proof shelter underneath
> Gurth's stairs...>

I think that is probably a very wise idea :)

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Come down here and I'll show you the wrong way.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+@ UL P L++ E W-(++) N o? K w+(--) O V?
PS+ PE(-)(+) Y PGP- t@ 5++ X(+) R+++(-)>$ tv+ b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 19
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Damion Milliken)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Thu Nov 22 06:55:01 2001
Gurth writes:

> Hey, sawing the world is easy -- just take a saw and make some cuts into the
> ground. Sawing _through_ the world would be worth a lot more than 5 Karma,
> though... :)

This reminds me of the question one of my players asked once: "hey, we killed
all their guards, does that mean we get more Karma?" I had to explain to the
player that Karma awards in SR were not quite the same as Experience Points
in D&D - killing everything in sight, including baby Kobolds, didn't get you
any additional awards, unlike D&D. However you chose to complete the run,
through stealth or Brute Force and Ignorance, you got the same award, so
long as you succeeded. OTOH, characters in the latter example may well have
received Guts awards, and characters in the former Smarts.

Hmm, this also reminds me of back when I used to use various candies as "Bad
Guy" markers on maps. Goons might have been jelly beans, nasty bad guys
snakes, dragons cream eggs, and various (supposedly) uninvolved (innocent?)
bystanders skittles. Unfortunately, occasionally players got a sugar craving
and picked up their LMG and headed for the nearest high traffic pedestrian
location to rack up half a bag of skittles...

--
Damion Milliken University of Wollongong
Unofficial Shadowrun Guru E-mail: dam01@***.edu.au
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GE d- s++:-- a25 C++ US++>+++ P+ L+>++ E- W+ N++ o@ K- w+(--) O-@ M--
V- PS+ PE- Y+ PGP-@>++ t+ 5 X+>+++ R++ !tv(--) b+ DI+++@ D G+
e++>++++$ h- r++>+++ y->+++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
Message no. 20
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Thu Nov 22 13:45:01 2001
According to Damion Milliken, on Thu, 22 Nov 2001 the word on the street was...

> This reminds me of the question one of my players asked once: "hey, we
> killed all their guards, does that mean we get more Karma?" I had to
> explain to the player that Karma awards in SR were not quite the same as
> Experience Points in D&D - killing everything in sight, including baby
> Kobolds, didn't get you any additional awards, unlike D&D.

My usual response was something along the lines of "Unless one of the goals of
the adventure is to kill all the guards at the facility, then no." These days,
as my group is playing D&D, killing as many of those pesky dwarfs as we can is
both a goal and worth XP in its own right :)

> However you
> chose to complete the run, through stealth or Brute Force and Ignorance,
> you got the same award, so long as you succeeded. OTOH, characters in the
> latter example may well have received Guts awards, and characters in the
> former Smarts.

I've never actually given out any Guts karma awards, as far as I can remember.
Most of the actions I've seen that might have qualified for Guts were more of
the Stupidity kind...

> Hmm, this also reminds me of back when I used to use various candies as
> "Bad Guy" markers on maps. Goons might have been jelly beans, nasty bad
> guys snakes, dragons cream eggs, and various (supposedly) uninvolved
> (innocent?) bystanders skittles. Unfortunately, occasionally players got
> a sugar craving and picked up their LMG and headed for the nearest high
> traffic pedestrian location to rack up half a bag of skittles...

Which is one of the reasons why my group uses dice and markings on an erasible
sheet of grid paper instead of whatever edible items are at hand :)

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Come down here and I'll show you the wrong way.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+@ UL P L++ E W-(++) N o? K w+(--) O V?
PS+ PE(-)(+) Y PGP- t@ 5++ X(+) R+++(-)>$ tv+ b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 21
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Holly Feray)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Fri Nov 23 18:00:01 2001
On Wed, 21 Nov 2001 11:26:15 -0600 "Derek Hyde" <dhyde@*********.net>
writes:
> > > *offers a CRATE of oreos*
> > > great idea!!! I'll put it to use immediately! Thanks for the
> > > thought....(by the way anyone know how difficult it is to cure
> HMHVV?
>

As GM you decide. I would involve a lot of research, some rare
ingredients, some magery and some high biotechnology to suspend the
animation of the infirmed so that they do not fully develop HMHVV.

Bandit (dancing wildly atop her CRATE of oreos)
Holly
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.
Message no. 22
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Holly Feray)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Fri Nov 23 18:00:04 2001
On Wed, 21 Nov 2001 13:54:31 -0330 "Jonathan" <jhogan@**********.nf.net>
writes:
> > *offers a CRATE of oreos*
> > great idea!!! I'll put it to use immediately! Thanks for the
> > thought....(by the way anyone know how difficult it is to cure
> HMHVV?
> >
>
> Um I'm sure contacting a dragon through the Draco Foundation plays a
> part in
> there somewhere... :)
>

Ok I' feelin heat here for allowing that contact, but that contact was
built in game and became textually important. No one started out with
more than 2 actual contacts. Some had dependants, some had friends,
others had family even others had gangs.
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.
Message no. 23
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Holly Feray)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Fri Nov 23 18:00:08 2001
On Wed, 21 Nov 2001 21:51:26 +0100 "Lars Wagner Hansen"
<l-hansen@*****.tele.dk> writes:
> From: "Derek Hyde" <dhyde@*********.net>
> > heh heh heh....already doing that one....except it's 5 for having
> a good
> > background written up and actually roleplaying non runs is worth
> another
> > 5 after each run because like someone else said on here if you
> don't do
> > the prepping between runs then you'll NEVER be able to actually do
> the
> > runs....
>
> 5 Karma for background = Karma inflation.
>

My GM used to award 5-15 karma depending upon how GOOD the background
was. There was a page limit,

Bandit (astral tail waving wildly about in the air as butt hangs out of
the crate of oreos)
Holly
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.
Message no. 24
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Derek Hyde)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Sat Nov 24 03:10:00 2001
> My GM used to award 5-15 karma depending upon how GOOD the background
> was. There was a page limit,
>
> Bandit (astral tail waving wildly about in the air as butt hangs out
of
> the crate of oreos)
> Holly
Well I officially have a temporary cure to the whole no roleplaying
thing, I got everyone going now on new characters with good backgrounds
and all of that silly stuff, they just finished their last runs with
their old characters, one of which died and one is officially retired as
soon as they make it back to Seattle. I was really impressed with how
well everyone roleplayed everything so I gave them all 10 Karma since
the run had been spread across 3 sessions and they all basically
accepted the run as a favor to each other and the original one was as a
favor to one of the rigger's lone star contacts., they got squat for
pay, almost died 4 times, and achieved the objective with absolutely
incomparable heroics as far as this group goes, the female Sammie
actually sacrificed herself to get the rest of the group out, blew all
of her karma and everything to accomplish her "out in a blaze of glory"
antics.

Derek
Message no. 25
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Lars Wagner Hansen)
Subject: Role Playing (or lack thereof)
Date: Sun Nov 25 18:10:01 2001
From: "Gurth" <Gurth@******.nl>
> Hey, sawing the world is easy -- just take a saw and make some cuts into the
> ground. Sawing _through_ the world would be worth a lot more than 5 Karma,
> though... :)

Thats what I said to the GM, but he refused and said we would have to do with
the 5 karma points.

And that was even before the stats for the chainsaw was published, so we had to
do it with a oldfashioned saw.

I was hard being a shadowrunner in the olden days, these days the kids have it
all, chainsaws, orichalcum mines and karma inflation.

Lars
--
Lars Wagner Hansen, Jagtvej 11, 4180 Sorø
l-hansen@*****.tele.dk http://home4.inet.tele.dk/l-hansen
--
SRGC v0.22 SR1 SR2++ SR3+++ h+ b+++ B--- UB++ IE+ RN LST W++ dk sa++ ma+
sh++ ad++++ ri mc rk-- m- (e-- o t-- d-) gm+ M- P-
--
Main Rule of Usenet: Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to
their level, then beat you with experience.

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Role Playing (or lack thereof), you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!