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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Adam Getchell <acgetchell@*******.EDU>
Subject: Re: [SR3] High starting attributes
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 11:04:44 -0700
>On 18 Aug 98, at 10:08, Adam Getchell wrote:
>Average people that live on the edge, so they seek other ways to
>increase their survivability. I see little reason for a person with
>maxed attributes to seek a life in the shadows. They would have it
>all. Such a person would be an athlete, movie star, or corporate fast-
>tracker. A cut above the rest, and naturally to boot. They are the
>reason others seek ware to compensate for their own failings.

Well, I guess we'll agree to disagree. I don't see Shadowrun as a game of
average people ... average people would not put cyberware in their bodies
to compensate for their limitations. Average people are not magicians ...
that fact alone puts them in a club that only 0.1% (as of the last
Grimoire) belong to. If you limit street sams all the more, they're that
much weaker against magicians, who can in no way, shape, or form be
considered average.

Also, there are plenty of kids with talent, brains, and raw ability who
never get the chance, lose it due to drugs, alcohol, socio-economic
standing, et. al., *today*. That's in the U.S., "the land of opportunity"
(and no, for our international members, I'm not arguing that the U.S. is
better than the other nations.) How good are your chances in a third world
country? We are incredibly fortunate if we live in the "first world"
economically developed nations.

Shadowrun is most definitely about the haves vs. the have-nots, the
tremendous gap between them, and the fact that the haves are a tiny
fraction of the populace while the have-nots are the vast majority. Just
because a kid is smart enough, studious enough, and driven enough to go to
Harvard or Oxford or Seoul University doesn't mean he'll be able to, and
this is doubly true in the world of Shadowrun.

> - Tim Kerby - drekhead@***.net - ICQ-UIN 2883757 -

--Adam

acgetchell@*******.edu
"Invincibility is in oneself, vulnerability in the opponent." --Sun Tzu
Message no. 2
From: Steve Collins <einan@*********.NET>
Subject: Re: [SR3] High starting attributes
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 15:49:16 -0400
>>On 18 Aug 98, at 10:08, Adam Getchell wrote:
>>Average people that live on the edge, so they seek other ways to
>>increase their survivability. I see little reason for a person with
>>maxed attributes to seek a life in the shadows. They would have it
>>all. Such a person would be an athlete, movie star, or corporate fast-
>>tracker. A cut above the rest, and naturally to boot. They are the
>>reason others seek ware to compensate for their own failings.
>

}}snip Adams very eloquent response{{

Also has it occoured to anyone that becoming a shadowrunner is one of the
best mechanism's for a "superman" character (near max atributes) to
escape the slums? That is why characters with street backgrounds have
such high stats (after all they don't have any money so that's one low
priority). The only think street characters shouldn't have is high levels
of academic based knowlege skills although I could see a 1 or 2 in such a
skill I don't think there are too many Will Hunting's running around out
there.

Steve
Message no. 3
From: David Foster <fixer@*******.TLH.FL.US>
Subject: Re: [SR3] High starting attributes
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 10:12:36 -0400
On Tue, 18 Aug 1998, Steve Collins wrote:

->>>On 18 Aug 98, at 10:08, Adam Getchell wrote:
->Also has it occoured to anyone that becoming a shadowrunner is one of the
->best mechanism's for a "superman" character (near max atributes) to
->escape the slums? That is why characters with street backgrounds have
->such high stats (after all they don't have any money so that's one low
->priority). The only think street characters shouldn't have is high levels
->of academic based knowlege skills although I could see a 1 or 2 in such a
->skill I don't think there are too many Will Hunting's running around out
->there.

Sorry, I've had little in the way of "official" education (much to
my occupational detriment) but learned a great many things while
street-born. You may not have ratings of 5 or 6 in skills, but for people
who spent their time in libraries (like myself) reading up on whatever
interested them I'd allow reasonable knowledge skills.

Fixer --------------} The easy I do before breakfast,
the difficult I do all day long,
the impossible only during the week,
and miracles performed on an as-needed basis....

Now tell me, what was your problem?

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Thwap!