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Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Scott Hiller)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Fri Mar 1 19:00:01 2002
In the Sprawl Sites Source Book for 1st Edition, there
are many variations of the standard NPCs (such as Bank
Manager, Doctor, etc.), but there are many that are
not detailed. Does anyone have any ideas how to draw
up the stats for the following?

My point is that, per the Sprawl Sites Sourcebook,
each Contact Archetype Variant are derived from one of
the standard Contact Archetypes and are given some
modifiers based on their specific role. Which standard
Archetypes and modifiers would be applicable to the
following?:

Accountant, Advertising Agent, Agent, Airport
Officials, Airline Ticket Takers, Air-traffic
Controller, Aircraft Mechanic, Analyst, Artist,
Baseball Player, Baseball Coach, Baseball Team
Manager, Baseball Team Owner, Basketball Player,
Basketball Coach, Basketball Team Manager, Basketball
Team Owner, Boxer, Chef, City Worker, Combat Biker,
Construction Foreman, Corporate Courier, Corporate
Doctor, Corporate Mailboy, Courier, Dentist, Diplomat,
District Attorney, Fashion Designer, Fashion Model,
Fence, Fisherman, Football Player, Football Coach,
Football Team Manager, Football Team Owner, Forensic
Cop, Forensic Mage, Gambler, Graphic Artist,
Hairdresser, Historian, Hockey Player, Hockey Coach,
Hockey Team Manager, Hockey Team Owner, International
Courier, Investigator, Landlord, Military Intelligence
Officer, Military Officer, Military Quartermaster,
Military Rigger, Military Seargeant, Military Soldier,
Military Special Ops, Parole Officer, Photographer,
Pimp, Priest, Prison Officer, Prison Warden, Private
Investigator, Professional Dancer, Prostitute,
Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Real-Estate Agent,
Research Assistant, Researcher, Restaurant Maitre'd,
School Councilor, School Principal, Simsense Actor,
Simsense Director, Simsense Editor, Simsense Extra,
Simsense Producer, Simsense SFX Tech, Simsense
Technician, Smuggler, Songwriter, Sound Technician,
Sports Official, Sports Reporter, Sportsman, Stand-up
Comic, Stewardess, Stock Broker, Street Cleaner,
Student, Talent Scout, Teacher, Translator, Trid
Cybersnoop, Trid Editor, Trid Producer, Trid
Technician, Trid Vidsnoop, Tutor, Tech-wiz, University
Lecturer, University Student, Urban Brawler, Used-Car
Salesman, Vetenarian, Academic, Amerindian
Tribesperson, Aquantance, Attorney, Author, BTL
Dealer, Baby Sitter, Butler, Cameraman, Brother,
Choreographer, Confidante, Construction Worker,
Coroner, Cousin, Customs Officer, Daughter, Dealer
(Mercenary Fixer), Driver, Drug Dealer, Entertainer,
Father, Friend, Lawyer, Librarian, Linguist, Loan
Shark, Lover, Magical Security Engineer, Magical
Security Specialist, Makeup Artist, Manager,
Masseuse/Masseuer, Media Personality, Mortician,
Mother, Musician, Newsdecker, Nun, Nurse, Office
Cleaner, Saboteur, School Teacher, Security Commander,
Security Decker, Security Executive, Security Guard,
Security Mage, Security Officer, Security Rigger,
Security Specialist: Fast Response Officer, Security
Speicalist: Animal Handler, Security System Design
Engineer, Sensei, Shrink, Sister, Son, Window Cleaner,
Wiz Kid Decker, Wiz Kid Mage, Yakuza Bakulo (Gambler),
Yakuza Decker, Yakuza Koban (Soldier/Bodyguard),
Yakuza Mule (Courier), Yakuza Sarakin (Loan Shark),
Yakuza Sokaiya (Corporate Racketeer), and Yakuza
Tekiya (Peddler).

-Scott

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Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Sat Mar 2 06:05:13 2002
According to Scott Hiller, on Sat, 02 Mar 2002 the word on the street was...

> In the Sprawl Sites Source Book for 1st Edition, there
> are many variations of the standard NPCs (such as Bank
> Manager, Doctor, etc.), but there are many that are
> not detailed.

Not in my copy of that book, but I can see where you're going :)

> Which standard Archetypes and modifiers would be applicable to the
> following?:
[snip list]

You don't ask for a few, do you? :) Just wing it, I'd say -- when the PCs
encounter an NPC, make up the skills they're likely to have at the time
this becomes important. No point in getting all detailed about it
beforehand, IMHO...

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Dat is de kip voor het ei spannen.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

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Message no. 3
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Dan Turek)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Sat Mar 2 13:55:00 2002
>In the Sprawl Sites Source Book for 1st Edition, there
>are many variations of the standard NPCs (such as Bank
>Manager, Doctor, etc.), but there are many that are
>not detailed. Does anyone have any ideas how to draw
>up the stats for the following?

I would use Pedestrian for most, and give them some skills.
The first would be the skill that names their profession,
the others that assist or would be a hobby.

Example: Accountant
Accounting 4, Math 3, Et(Corp) 3,
Computer 3 (Computer Games, Solitare) 5

If you feel like modifying the stats rolls some dice, take the average,
and apply racial modifiers.

If you want to use adjectives basic ones would be

Corp "whatever" Et(Corp) 3 Language 3 Professional Skill +1
School (Public, K-12) Instruction 3 Major 4 Minor 2
Security Police/Security Procedures 3 Et(Corp) 3
Whatever they do 4
Yakuza Et(Yakuza) Japanese 3+

Elite Professional skill +2, other skills +1
(giving ratings of about 6 and 4)
Veteran Professional skill +1

NPCs aren't meant to be fleshed out unless they are Very Important to the
adventure/interaction or that individual is going to be reused several
times. If you really want the level of detail you asked for, I suggest you
take an out of town phone book, call up each person and ask what their
attributes and skills would be in 2060 :) Then you could still use their
names, family trees, etc.

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Message no. 4
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Malcolm)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Sat Mar 2 18:05:00 2002
> NPCs aren't meant to be fleshed out unless they are Very Important to the
> adventure/interaction or that individual is going to be reused several
> times. If you really want the level of detail you asked for, I suggest you
> take an out of town phone book, call up each person and ask what their
> attributes and skills would be in 2060 :) Then you could still use their
> names, family trees, etc.

Or ask each one of us on this list to provide a quick NPC style discription
of themselves in 2060 terms!!
Message no. 5
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Scott Hiller)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Sun Mar 3 00:10:01 2002
In the Sprawl Sites Source Book for 1st Edition, there
> are many variations of the standard NPCs (such as
Bank
> Manager, Doctor, etc.), but there are many that are
> not detailed.

Not in my copy of that book, but I can see where
you're going :)

The ones of which I speak are between pages 8 through
46. Then there are more are on pages 96 through 121.
Those should be in your book.

> Which standard Archetypes and modifiers would be
applicable to the
> following?:
[snip list]

You don't ask for a few, do you? :) Just wing it, I'd
say -- when the
PCs
encounter an NPC, make up the skills they're likely to
have at the
time
this becomes important. No point in getting all
detailed about it
beforehand, IMHO...

LOL. I like to cover all the bases. :-) Also, if
these were included in the official Shadowrun® books,
they would enrich the Shadowrun® Universe as a whole.

But at the same time, you DO raise a good point.
Creating them as one goes along IS much easier! :-)

-Scott

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Message no. 6
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Sun Mar 3 06:35:02 2002
According to Scott Hiller, on Sun, 03 Mar 2002 the word on the street was...

> > Not in my copy of that book, but I can see where you're going :)
>
> The ones of which I speak are between pages 8 through
> 46. Then there are more are on pages 96 through 121.
> Those should be in your book.

Ah, yes, now I see. I thought you meant that the contacts list (pp. 96-121)
had alternatives listed, which it doesn't :)

> LOL. I like to cover all the bases. :-) Also, if
> these were included in the official Shadowrun® books,
> they would enrich the Shadowrun® Universe as a whole.

But they _are_ included in an official SR book -- Sprawl Sites mentions
them, doesn't it?

> But at the same time, you DO raise a good point.
> Creating them as one goes along IS much easier! :-)

When I first started GMing, I wrote up full stats for all the NPCs I
thought I'd need for each adventure. These days, I just make stuff up when
I need it, as it's a lot quicker and requires me to do less work :) It also
means you don't have to consider all sorts of stuff that doesn't have
anything to do with the situation the NPC is encountered in: in several
FASA-published adventures, even minor NPCs have skills that will never be
used in the whole adventure, so what's the point in listing them?

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Dat is de kip voor het ei spannen.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- 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. 7
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Scott Hiller)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Sun Mar 3 16:50:01 2002
But they _are_ included in an official SR book --
Sprawl Sites
mentions
them, doesn't it?

Exactly, those are. But the ones I listed in the
original e-mail on this topic are not. There is
absolutely no place anyone's going to find an artist,
chef, lawyer, priest, graphic artist, restaurant
matre'd, etc. in any Shadowrun® Sourcebook printed
thusfar.

Which was the reason for my original e-mail: the
Sprawl Sites book has NPC stats for Corporate
Official, Bartender, etc., but does not have stats for
such archetypes like the ones in the original MASSIVE
list.

Anyone under the impression that some professions in
that list would be eliminated or extremely altered by
the 2060's? Like, what's up with the Courier? The
Artist? The Graphic Artist? The Tutor, University
Lecturer, Sports Official? And Others . . . ?

Call me crazy, but I wouldn't think anyone would have
a use for couriers in the 2060's what with the Matrix
Grid, Drones, etc. And the Artists and Graphic Artists
- wouldn't they be generally Matrix-based? . . . On
the other hand, some could use pure magic to create
stunning works of art! At any rate, I'd think that the
majority of these professions would be replaced by
drones and the Matrix.

But, that is only my notion. What do you guys think?
Please post. Thanks.

-Scott

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Message no. 8
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Valeu John EMFA)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Sun Mar 3 17:50:01 2002
> But they _are_ included in an official SR book --
> Sprawl Sites
> mentions=20
> them, doesn't it?
>
> Exactly, those are. But the ones I listed in the
> original e-mail on this topic are not. There is
> absolutely no place anyone's going to find an artist,
> chef, lawyer, priest, graphic artist, restaurant
> matre'd, etc. in any Shadowrun® Sourcebook printed
> thusfar.
>
> Which was the reason for my original e-mail: the
> Sprawl Sites book has NPC stats for Corporate
> Official, Bartender, etc., but does not have stats for
> such archetypes like the ones in the original MASSIVE
> list.
>
> Anyone under the impression that some professions in
> that list would be eliminated or extremely altered by
> the 2060's? Like, what's up with the Courier? The
> Artist? The Graphic Artist? The Tutor, University
> Lecturer, Sports Official? And Others . . . ?
>
[Valeu John EMFA]
University Lecturer.... wouldn't that just be a professor?
The Tutor? As in the vengeful free spirit, or as in a private tutor
for everyday study?
Sports Official would be varied depending on the sport. CB, UB
(that's Combat Bike and UrbanBrawl) and American Football would probably be
tougher and have some small amount of cyber (Bonelacing, eye mods, boosted
reflexes of some sort)

> Call me crazy, but I wouldn't think anyone would have
> a use for couriers in the 2060's what with the Matrix
> Grid, Drones, etc. And the Artists and Graphic Artists
> - wouldn't they be generally Matrix-based? . . . On
> the other hand, some could use pure magic to create
> stunning works of art! At any rate, I'd think that the
> majority of these professions would be replaced by
> drones and the Matrix.
>
[Valeu John EMFA]
Hey isn't that what runners are for? (Couriers jobs anyway)
>
>
> But, that is only my notion. What do you guys think?
> Please post. Thanks.
>
> -Scott
>
[Valeu John EMFA]
Well, I put in my little bit of worth. However, I hardly give my
players' contacts stats (since they hardly ever see combat) and just use
them as wells of information. If I need to flesh out a contact, well that's
what roleplaying's for. Anyone can put down numbers on a sheet, but a
contact (or character) is nothing without a personality

EMFN John Valeu
-AKA- TimeKeeper
New Rank, New Quotes
"If life is so precious, why does it have no trade-in value."

"If life deals you lemons, make lemonade; if it deals you tomatoes, make
Bloody Marys.
But if it deals you a truckload of hand grenades... now THAT'S a message!! "
Message no. 9
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Bira)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Sun Mar 3 18:05:01 2002
On Sun, 3 Mar 2002 13:48:59 -0800 (PST)
Scott Hiller <scotthiller2002@*****.com> wrote:
. . ?
>
> Call me crazy, but I wouldn't think anyone would have
> a use for couriers in the 2060's what with the Matrix
> Grid, Drones, etc. And the Artists and Graphic Artists
> - wouldn't they be generally Matrix-based? . . . On
> the other hand, some could use pure magic to create
> stunning works of art! At any rate, I'd think that the
> majority of these professions would be replaced by
> drones and the Matrix.

I don't see any reason why these professions should become any rarer.
The Matrix is perfect for sending information from one place to another,
but physical objects still require someone to take them from point A to
point B. The alternative would be a byzantine arrangement involving CAD
files and 3-D printers, but not everything can be handled that way.

As for artists... Just because new technologies are developed, it
doesn't mean the old methods must fade away. People will still be
painting and sculpting in the traditional ways by the 2060s. There will
also be Matrix-based artists, of course, but they won't be the only
ones around.

--
Bira -- SysOp da Shadowland.BR
http://www.shadowlandbr.hpg.com.br
Redator de Shadowrun da RPG em Revista
http://www.rpgemrevista.f2s.com
Message no. 10
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Adam Jury)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Sun Mar 3 18:05:04 2002
At 14:48 03/03/2002, Scott Hiller wrote:

>Anyone under the impression that some professions in
>that list would be eliminated or extremely altered by
>the 2060's? Like, what's up with the Courier? The
>Artist? The Graphic Artist? The Tutor, University
>Lecturer, Sports Official? And Others . . . ?

Most of these, to me, fall into the "Make up appropriate attributes and
skills as necessary but otherwise don't bother with" category. If they're a
focal point of some sort of adventure, then they may deserve the full stat
treatment, but at that point they aren't The University Lecturer anymore,
they're Melvin Reynolds, professor of Anthro at the University of New York.

>Call me crazy, but I wouldn't think anyone would have
>a use for couriers in the 2060's what with the Matrix
>Grid, Drones, etc.

I definitely see couriers existing within cities for delivering physical
material. Drones may be used in some places - for example, inside corporate
compounds where there is virtually zero chance of exposure to
"undesireables" - but I still think a street courier would have his place.

> And the Artists and Graphic Artists
>- wouldn't they be generally Matrix-based?

How do you mean "Matrix based?" Sure, a lot of the materials they may be
creating would be used on the Matrix [System sculpting, advertising, Matrix
transmitted trideo and Simsense], but billboards, storefront signs and
other such things aren't going to disappear, even if they do change in form
from flat paintings to animated trideo images.

Adam
--
| Editor, The Shadowrun Supplemental: http://tss.dumpshock.com |
| adamj@*********.com | http://www.talkinabout.com | UIN: 2350330 |
Message no. 11
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Jane VR)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Sun Mar 3 20:05:01 2002
>From: Scott Hiller <scotthiller2002@*****.com>

>
>Exactly, those are. But the ones I listed in the
>original e-mail on this topic are not. There is
>absolutely no place anyone's going to find an artist,
>chef, lawyer, priest, graphic artist, restaurant
>matre'd, etc. in any Shadowrun® Sourcebook printed
>thusfar.

There might be some stuff on artists, photographers etc in Shadowbeat. There
is also stuff about sports and cyberware and magic.
>

>
>Anyone under the impression that some professions in
>that list would be eliminated or extremely altered by
>the 2060's? Like, what's up with the Courier? The
>Artist? The Graphic Artist? The Tutor, University
>Lecturer, Sports Official? And Others . . . ?
>

I think there would be lots of drone couriers, but they would need
supervision for when they ran into trouble, and there still would be human
couriers for complex jobs, with the filtered headware memory etc.

Graphic Artists would probably use the Matrix a lot, and computer graphics
programs (like they do now) but I don't see them being replaced. Artists may
or not use the Matrix at all, depending on whether they want to make
physical works of art or not.

University Lecturers and Tutors would be replaced by teaching programs, for
the most part, but a good teacher might be cheaper than a good teaching
program (esp. for individual tutoring).

Sports Officials - computers could probably do most of the umpiring, but
they wouldn't make very inspiring coaches.

If the GM wanted to make the world more faceless and mechanical, then you
could have automated Real Estate Agents, Airport Officials, Airline Ticket
Takers, Air-traffic Controller, Landlord, etc. If I need a stat or a skill
on the spur of the moment for someone like that, I roll a d4+1, or a d6, or
choose something that makes sense.

Anything the players are going to fight has to be customised to each group
and each world. You couldn't have a standard 'security guard' that would fit
every campaign. I usually use modules for this (my group has met trainee Red
Samurai from First Run several times).

A Gambler or a Sister or a Son could be anyone or anything. No standard
stats.

Jane





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Message no. 12
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Valeu John EMFA)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Sun Mar 3 23:40:01 2002
> > NPCs aren't meant to be fleshed out unless they are Very Important to
> the
> > adventure/interaction or that individual is going to be reused several
> > times. If you really want the level of detail you asked for, I suggest
> you
> > take an out of town phone book, call up each person and ask what their
> > attributes and skills would be in 2060 :) Then you could still use their
> > names, family trees, etc.
>
> Or ask each one of us on this list to provide a quick NPC style
> discription
> of themselves in 2060 terms!!
>
>
[Valeu John EMFA]
Name: John Valeu
Street Name: TimeKeeper
Former Military tech-head
Str: 3 Quick: 2 Body: 2
Intel: 4 Will: 3 Char: 3

Skills:
Computer: 3
Computer B/R: 4
Pistols: 2
Rifles: 1
Etiquette (Matrix): 3
Etiquette (Military): 3



Just thought I'd give it a try :)

EMFN John Valeu
-AKA- TimeKeeper

"If life deals you lemons, make lemonade; if it deals you tomatoes, make
Bloody Marys.
But if it deals you a truckload of hand grenades... now THAT'S a message!! "

>
>
Message no. 13
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Mon Mar 4 05:15:01 2002
According to Jane VR, on Mon, 04 Mar 2002 the word on the street was...

> There might be some stuff on artists, photographers etc in Shadowbeat.
> There is also stuff about sports and cyberware and magic.

Only for taking news pictures, not making paintings etc. However, there's
no reason why the rules for that can't be adapted.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Dat is de kip voor het ei spannen.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- 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. 14
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Lone Eagle)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Mon Mar 4 06:40:01 2002
>From: Valeu John EMFA <ValeuJ@*************.navy.mil>
> [Valeu John EMFA]
> Name: John Valeu
> Street Name: TimeKeeper
> Former Military tech-head
> Str: 3 Quick: 2 Body: 2
> Intel: 4 Will: 3 Char: 3
>
> Skills:
> Computer: 3
> Computer B/R: 4
> Pistols: 2
> Rifles: 1
> Etiquette (Matrix): 3
> Etiquette (Military): 3


Hey why not?

Name: William Raybould
Street Name: N/A
Archetype: Engineer
Str: 3 Qui: 3 Bod: 4
Int: 6 Cha: 3 Wil: 3

Skills:
Computer: 2
Ettiquette: 3 (No Specialisations)
Rifles (177 Air rifle): 1(4)
Shotguns: 3
Edged Weapons: 2
Edged Weapons B/R: 2
Unarmed Combat (Ju-Jitsu): 1(3)
Car: 3
Electronics B/R: 2
Vehicle B/R: 3
... and the list goes on! I dread to think how many build points I
am!!!???!!! ;-)


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Message no. 15
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Scott Hiller)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Mon Mar 4 13:55:01 2002
My replies are nested within the original message from
EMFN John Valeu -AKA- TimeKeeper.

> But they _are_ included in an official SR book --
> Sprawl Sites
> mentions=20
> them, doesn't it?
>
> Exactly, those are. But the ones I listed in the
> original e-mail on this topic are not. There is
> absolutely no place anyone's going to find an
artist,
> chef, lawyer, priest, graphic artist, restaurant
> matre'd, etc. in any Shadowrun® Sourcebook printed
> thusfar.
>
> Which was the reason for my original e-mail: the
> Sprawl Sites book has NPC stats for Corporate
> Official, Bartender, etc., but does not have stats
for
> such archetypes like the ones in the original
MASSIVE
> list.
>
> Anyone under the impression that some professions in
> that list would be eliminated or extremely altered
by
> the 2060's? Like, what's up with the Courier? The
> Artist? The Graphic Artist? The Tutor, University
> Lecturer, Sports Official? And Others . . . ?
>
[Valeu John EMFA]
University Lecturer.... wouldn't that just be
a professor?

Yeah.

The Tutor? As in the vengeful free spirit, or
as in a private tutor
for everyday study?

No. I'm not talking about that free spirit in Threats
1. I'm talking about a one-on-one special instructor.

Sports Official would be varied depending on
the sport. CB, UB
(that's Combat Bike and UrbanBrawl) and American
Football would probably be
tougher and have some small amount of cyber
(Bonelacing, eye mods, boosted
reflexes of some sort)

> Call me crazy, but I wouldn't think anyone would
have
> a use for couriers in the 2060's what with the
Matrix
> Grid, Drones, etc. And the Artists and Graphic
Artists
> - wouldn't they be generally Matrix-based? . . .
On
> the other hand, some could use pure magic to create
> stunning works of art! At any rate, I'd think that
the
> majority of these professions would be replaced by
> drones and the Matrix.
>
[Valeu John EMFA]
Hey isn't that what runners are for? (Couriers
jobs anyway)

Exactly, that's what I was thinking.

>
>
> But, that is only my notion. What do you guys think?
> Please post. Thanks.
>
> -Scott
>
[Valeu John EMFA]
Well, I put in my little bit of worth.
However, I hardly give my
players' contacts stats (since they hardly ever see
combat) and just use
them as wells of information. If I need to flesh out
a contact, well that's
what roleplaying's for. Anyone can put down numbers
on a sheet, but a
contact (or character) is nothing without a
personality

EMFN John Valeu
-AKA- TimeKeeper
New Rank, New Quotes
"If life is so precious, why does it have no
trade-in value."

"If life deals you lemons, make lemonade; if it deals
you tomatoes, make
Bloody Marys.
But if it deals you a truckload of hand grenades...
now THAT'S a message!! "



--__--__--

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Sports - sign up for Fantasy Baseball
http://sports.yahoo.com
Message no. 16
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Ice Heart)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Tue Mar 5 17:50:01 2002
This is my sytem for giving stats to NPCs quickly. You are welcome to use
it. I accepted caffiene in place of cash royalties. *grin*

Start from an average human attribute value of 3.5
(Every two points of essence you are goping to sacrifice to cyber or bio
will raise this average by 1 point. So a human with 4 essence will have an
attribute average of 4.5)
Now assign an attribute spread around this average, and assign them
(I ususally use 2,3,3,4,4,5)
Add racial mods if they are a metatype

Assign benefits from cyber/bio
(typically I use +1D initiative, +2 Reaction, +1 Bod OR Smartlink, 2 extra
senses such as falre comp and low light...this is for 2 points of essence
spent...expand the list accordingly for more chromed NPCs)

Assign skills. Only bother with skills the NPC would use in interacting
with the PCs. All NPCs receive a special skill that describes their
proffession and is non-combat applicable. (e.g. journalism, cooking,
security) It is rated at 4 + their Prof. rating
They have a number of usefull skills based on their age.
child-14: 1
15-19: 3
20-24: 5
The skill ratings are curved just like attributes. The average is 4.
(so a 20 year old would have 5 useful skills rated 2,3,4,5,6)
Every 5 years after 24, the skill average goes up one.
(so a 26 year old with an average of 5 would have 3,4,5,6,7 and so on)
Assume the NPC speaks a number of languages equal to half Int, round down

Give them some gear and you are done.

Lets make a quick NPC. The players decide their characters are going to a
club and one of them asks about the bouncer. My approach would be this:

I'd Say: "The bouncer looks female, and judging by her mass, she is a troll.
She looks you over cooly, staring at each of your faces for a few
seconds."

I'd Think: 'she is a recovering synthaholic, single mother of two, dislikes
wanna be punks flashing weapons and making trouble, and is named
Susan...Zippy, the bar owner, gave her a break after she got sober, but she
stays outside to cut down on temptations...(roll 5 dice)...she recognizes PC
A from his rep, (consulting dice) but has yet to decide her own opinion
about him...she likes faux jade jewelry'

And while the players decide what to do, get chips, bring me coke, etc. I'd
write down the following.

Susan: Troll, Female, Bouncer, 27 Prof./Threat: 2/4
B: 8(9-dermal), Q: 3, S: 7, C: 2, I: 1(3-booster), W: 3
Cyber/Bio: 2 points
+1D Init, +2 React, low-light, flare comp, vid link, camera, radio,
cerebral boost
Bouncer: 6 (replace perception to notice weapons/potential trouble)
Street Et: 5 (I rolled 5 dice, so this is already set)
Armed: 7
Unarmed: 6
Athletics: 4
Media Et: 3

Armored clothing, form fitted, stun baton, brass knuckles

And she is done. That whole process ate up four minutes of real time. The
only time I put more into an NPC is some arch villain, or critical ally

Korishinzo

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Message no. 17
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Alex Case)
Subject: Some Quick NPCs
Date: Fri Mar 8 00:20:01 2002
From: Scott Hiller <scotthiller2002@*****.com>
>Call me crazy, but I wouldn't think anyone would have
>a use for couriers in the 2060's what with the Matrix
>Grid, Drones, etc.

Well, I remember finding on the net an Mnemonic Courier (as in Gibson's
short story "Johnny Mnemonic") archetype. That would be a good start for
couriers. There is also stuff out there for Radtech (as in from "Snow
Crash") couriers.

"It is written that it is better to burn a single city than to curse the
darkness"
-From "The Furies" By Roger Zelazny

Further Reading

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Thwap!