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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: "Jackson, Hank" <Hank.Jackson@*********.COM>
Subject: 'Tudes
Date: Fri, 5 Sep 1997 18:08:23 -0400
Hi,

I have developed many NPC's with very colorful personalities in my game.
My experience with the world indicates that many people are colorful,
but not all. What do y'all think is a common attitude for a runner to
have in reacting to the gritty, grim atmosphere present in Shadowrun?
How do people react to the knowledge that the next time they hit the
streets, they could die? How can I interject some reality into my game
in relation to personalities? Colorful people are fun to roleplay, but,
not always commonplace.

Thanks,

Galen
Message no. 2
From: Stefan <casanova@***.PASSAGEN.SE>
Subject: Re: 'Tudes
Date: Sat, 6 Sep 1997 00:30:25 +0000
> I have developed many NPC's with very colorful personalities in my game.
> My experience with the world indicates that many people are colorful,
> but not all. What do y'all think is a common attitude for a runner to
> have in reacting to the gritty, grim atmosphere present in Shadowrun?
> How do people react to the knowledge that the next time they hit the
> streets, they could die? How can I interject some reality into my game
> in relation to personalities? Colorful people are fun to roleplay, but,
> not always commonplace.

Well as we all know all people know that they are one day going to
die but being a runner usually mean you are going to have a violent
death and I guess going out every day knowing that this could be your
last die before you get a case of severe lead poisoning I would also
live every day as it was my last ...

another possibility is that you would become very paranoid,
suspicious towards everybody and almost live in seclution.

and ofcause there is the possibility that you would just go MAD!

Most people are probably quite cold and harsh ... This can already
be seen today in our society that people are becoming harder and
colder ... it is survival of the fitest drawn to an extreme ...

/Stefan

------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Frag you and the datastream you came on!" - Sinjin the decker
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... E-Mail .............................. casanova@***.passagen.se ...
... HomePage .................... http://hem.passagen.se/casanova/ ...
... ICQ .................................................. 1403212 ...
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Message no. 3
From: Dvixen <dvixen@********.COM>
Subject: Re: 'Tudes
Date: Sat, 6 Sep 1997 01:54:57 -0700
Jackson, Hank wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I have developed many NPC's with very colorful personalities in my
> game.
> My experience with the world indicates that many people are colorful,
> but not all. What do y'all think is a common attitude for a runner to
> have in reacting to the gritty, grim atmosphere present in Shadowrun?
> How do people react to the knowledge that the next time they hit the
> streets, they could die? How can I interject some reality into my
> game
> in relation to personalities? Colorful people are fun to roleplay,
> but,
> not always commonplace.

Personailities in general?

Much fun...

Some people react to stress by becoming a bag of nervous energy, not
able to concentrate on any one thing for more than is *absolutely*
necessary, some go to the other extreme, and have concentration so
focused that they'd mis a naked woman/man if one walked past.

You could have one character with a habit of chewing his lip, to the
point that it's always bleeding during a run. Distracting?

Personally, when I am stressed, I scratch my arm so much I nearly draw
blood. Now that is one hell of a habit to try and stop. :/

Other things a character might do cause he knows his next run might be
his last...

-Be careless. Who wants to work with someone who might make that run
thier last?

-Overzealous.

-Follow, hidey, let someone else take the shots.

-False bravado. Looks like Arnie in Commando, but is really wearing
brown trousers.

-Put the blame everywhere but on yourself. "Hey man, it wasn't my fault
your gun jammed, you must have done something to it after I cleaned
it...."

-Reflects on past glory. Annoying listening to some old fart tell
stories of how it was in his day, when he's the same age...

--

Dvixen Code-word : Weevil-chuck. dvixen@********.com
"And I thought First Ones were rare." - Ivanova - Babylon 5
Message no. 4
From: GRANITE <granite@**.NET>
Subject: Re: 'Tudes
Date: Sat, 6 Sep 1997 16:11:25 -0700
Galen said:
>....... What do y'all think is a common attitude for a runner to have
>in reacting to the gritty, grim atmosphere present in Shadowrun?

Well I think that it would parallel the attitudes represented in
todays RL criminal... The first thing they think.."It could never
happen to me." They truely believe they are untouchable..They do the
things they do because they believe they have some sort of right
to..And they will never get caught.. Second thing.."It is all somebody
elses fault" Wether it is the reason they were caught or the reason
they were doing their crime..or the reason they commit crimes to begin
with..It is never their fault.. Third..They know their rights ..even
if they are completely misconcieved rights..they know them..And by the
way they all watch too much TV that drekola is nonsense..They
gravitate toward the lower end of the gene pool.. Slime attracts
slime..And for some strange reason they seem to like it that way..Oh
some few of them want something better..but those are few and far
between..And for some strage reason they accept going to jail as just
one of those things in life that is inevetable..They even look at it
as a sort of vacation or rest..they get to see their friends and don't
have to worry about bills or food or crying babys or when to go to bed
or anything..it is all taken care of for them..they are told what and
when for everything..Hmm..Did I get a bit off track?? I do that
sometimes...

>How do people react to the knowledge that the next time they hit the
>streets, they could die?

With disbelief..Even the RL people that live that life..don't really
think they will ever die in a hail of bullets..even though they strap
on the hog leg every day with the full intentions of using it..they
don't believe they will ever be on the business end of it..

> How can I interject some reality into my game
>in relation to personalities? Colorful people are fun to roleplay,
>but, not always commonplace.

Why? Commonplace is boring..and RL sucks..why clutter the fantasy with
a direct injection of reality?? I mean I understand a certain amount
of realism is needed in order for the game to remain coherent..But
there is such a thing as too much..I rarely go out of my way to inject
realism into a game..It either happens or it doesn't..Frankly there
are some elements of realism that I do not want in my game..For that
matter they are a big reason I like to game in the first place...
--------------------------------GRANITE
"Rock Steady"
===============================================
Lord, Grant Me The Serenity To Accept The Things I Cannot Change,
The Courage To Change The Things I Can,
And The Wisdom To Hide The Bodies Of Those People I Had To Kill
Because They Pissed Me Off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ShadowRunner's Serenity Prayer

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!