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Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (kawaii)
Subject: Style? Substance? (Was: 'Nother gun question)
Date: Tue Mar 27 22:00:04 2001
From: "Lady Jestyr" <jestyr@*********.html.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2001 17:54


> At 03:06 PM 27/03/01 -0500, kawaii wrote:
> >
> >I tend to have my NPCs mock those players with Guardians. While statwise,
> >the Guardian is a great weapon, socially, (in my world at least) it seems
to
> >be on the showy side. Hardly a proper weapon for a "real" runner. ;)
>
> It's a great gun. Surely carrying it (and effectively making the statement
> of "I don't care what you think about my image, I'm choosing the most
> efficient tools for the job. This may look overly flashy, but it's what I
> need to get the job done") is a more easily respected behaviour than
> picking a gun because it *looks* "professional"? ;-)
>

lol. Fair enough. :)

> I'd have my PC turn around and say to a mocking NPC "Well, hey, if looks
> matter more to you than the effectiveness of your weapons, go ahead and
> laugh at me", and watch them shut up right quick. ;-)
>

Style is everything. :) It's not about killing people, but how stylish you
look when you do it! (Ok, I don't really believe that, but it sounded nice..
=P)

In a more serious tone tho, from a IC point of view, a gun is a gun. The
effectiveness is based on the skill of the user moreso than the weapon
itself. While the Dirty Bird (Desert Eagle) is a powerful and undoubtedly an
effective anti-personnel weapon, if you can't hit the broadside of a barn,
well.. =P

My view (and I've been known to be horribly wrong. Often. =P) is that the SR
world presents itself where flash and style carries a lot of weight. In my
mind, I make the connection that because reputation is more important than
what you've actually or is capable of, hence flash and style must be more
important than substance. =) But that's just wacky me. =)

Altho that brings up a good point: Do other GMs emphasis the social ("fad")
aspect of SR? That the tools that a runner uses reflects on the runner just
as their reputation, or how effective they are? :)

> Lady Jestyr
> ~ Hell hath no fury like a geek with a whippersnipper ~

Ever lovable and always scrappy,
kawaii
Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Shane Hyde)
Subject: Style? Substance? (Was: 'Nother gun question)
Date: Tue Mar 27 22:15:06 2001
> Altho that brings up a good point: Do other GMs emphasis the social
("fad")
> aspect of SR? That the tools that a runner uses reflects on the runner
just
> as their reputation, or how effective they are? :)

In my corner of the SR universe, flash (or lack of - it's a dark World) and
style can topple the mighty. It's not about the bullets you fire, it's about
what you say to the person you're threatening to to fire it at. If the gun
looks mean, the weilder of the gun looks serious and the issue is
convincingly 'argued', then style wins over substance - that saying, my PCs
generally avoid combat. 1 of the 2 carries a gun, the other a knife
(although he has a snipers' rifle stashed under the floorboards of his
doss - a leftover from the Russian-Siberian conflict). My NPCs generally
don't draw guns - everybody is expected to have one, and this is deterrent
enough.

The only people who carry overt guns are the cops.

Shane

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Thwap!