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Message no. 1
From: The Reverend <IH46@****.BITNET>
Subject: Spetsdods! was Robots...
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 92 11:54:38 MST
> New Weapon: ["stolen" from Matador series by Steve Perry]
> Spetsdod:

YES!! About time! Now I need to revamp my character
Also guys & gals, READ THE BOOKs! They are incredible!
Rev... waiting for the unarmed combat skill of "The 97 Steps"... ;)

--- "If character isn't an issue, why isn't
The Reverend Ted Kennedy President?"-Rush Limbaugh
"My employers have changed but the name remains"
all new .sig virus v.314159: Copy me! Works 99 times out of 1,000!
Message no. 2
From: Stephen Wilcoxon <wilcoxon@***.UDEL.EDU>
Subject: Re: Spetsdods! was Robots...
Date: Sat, 5 Dec 92 13:19:27 GMT
> Also guys & gals, READ THE BOOKs! They are incredible!
> Rev... waiting for the unarmed combat skill of "The 97 Steps"... ;)

First, I whole-heartedly agree that everyone should read the books (all
7 of them)...

Second: Actually Rev, I was thinking about it at the same time I was
working up the Spetsdods... To be faithful to the books, it would have
to be pretty wild though... Here's my thoughts on it... Require a certain
minimum Reaction (unmodified by cyber/bioware) around 5, and a certain
level in some form of unarmed combat (like maybe 6 or 8). Treat Sumito
(the 97 Steps) as a Special Skill (bought at level+2 costs) that ADDS to
the unarmed skill. Treat it as a concentration, then you could specialize
in certain "steps" (most of which are described at least in passing in
the series)... Yes, this gives Sumito a big advantage, but in the books
nothing else compared to a master of Sumito...

Next idea, the Shrouds (don't remember the material they were made out of)...
I'd give them an armor rating around 4 ballistic and 3 impact. Only
available to practitioners of Sumito (only to the Shroud (organization) in
the books). Could be used with the new armor layering rules in NAGRL
since they were gained one layer at a time to denote how far you had
progressed in the training...

Next, Fugue (treat as a new language skill)... The ability to defeat lie
detection methods (verbal and mechanical/electronic). It's basically
the skill of avoiding the truth without lieing by shading things or
omitting key things. The only (non-magical) way to defeat this is in an
Opposed Success Test by the questioner using his/her fugue skill...
Politicians seem to already have this skill ;)

Next, the Musashi Flex... This is a loose network of "fighters" that go
around trying to prove who is best. One person challenges another and
the loser is either the one who gives in or the one who dies. It is
illegal in most areas (they don't seem to like the abundance of bodies
it generates). In theory, you agree on weapons before starting, but in
practice if someone starts losing they usually pulled other weapons (if
the opponent is dead who's going to know?)... You were supposed to stay
with hand weapons (or no weapon) or throwing weapons (no grenades). There
was also an annual "turnament" called the Maze. All the contestants enter
by paying money (10,000 credits/nuyen I think). Once in the Maze, the last
one standing wins (and gets some money), but there is a time limit (10
days I think). Obviously, it's a big maze. They supply food at certain
points (great ambush spots). Weapon rules are enforced.

Comments, ideas, etc welcome...
Rev (or anyone else), did I miss anything else major in the series that
could be ported to Shadowrun?

Well, l8r...


Twilight

The Crystal Wind is the Storm, and the Storm is Data, and the Data is Life.
-- The Player's Litany

Further Reading

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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!