From:	Robert Watkins <bob@**.NTU.EDU.AU>
Subject:	Re: Starting out characters
Date:	Wed, 22 Feb 1995 14:25:25 +0930

>
> The reason for doing this is that other-wise my players would
> possibly have to learn all of the rules before they could begin to play.
> This way they start off using a comfortable subset of the rules and
> earn their characters better skills and gear through roleplaying.
>

Well, I make a little booklet for my players walking through character
generation, describing what the skills and stats are actually used for, and
a (very) brief example of the combat process. I also offer to run them
through a quick combat.

This tends to solve that problem.

> Does anyone else have any ideas on starting out new characters,
> as I don't want to be too generous at this point and start dishing out
> lots of fancy stuff to my gang member players.
> My idea is , once we have finished this introductory scenario,
> to let the players age their characters a few years and let them pick
> up some new skills and gear before they start their first real run.
>
> Anyone see any problems with doing this?

It could work, but the problem here is that you skip a large chunk of the
player's lives. I don't like doing this, for a variety of reasons. I can
see what you are getting at, but look it this way:

Skills don't have to be clumped into a small collection of "brilliant"
skills (almost always combat, as well). Tell your players to spread them
out. Instead of having 6 as the maximum level for a skill, make it 4. This
way they are competent, but not overwhelming. Futhermore, they will
probably have a broader range of skills (something I have difficutly
convincing my players to develop, if they don't start with it and see it's
usefullness).

Resorces isn't just cash, ya know. Joining that gang just set them back,
what, 50K nuyen? Add, say, a dozen or so contacts, and some light gear, and
it just seems to vanish. (I could show you a character like this I made,
but I'd need Gurth's permission... what do you say, Gurth?). Essentially,
Resources are your entire life. And high resources (well, maybe not the one
million level) should not be a problem for most characters.

Stats are worth having... :)

The biggest problem here is magic. I like to play mages as if they are just
starting in their career, so I like them to have low Force Points to spend.
The trouble here is that this means they also have little in the way of
cash. What you might consider doing is evening out the Resources chart for
mages, providing fewer resources but more Force at the low end (still a
reasonable number of resources, though, like 20K. Enough to buy a few
contacts besides the base 2), while having more cash (less than a mill) and
little Force at the high end. Or something like that. It's a balancing act,
really, if you want a low level magical presence.

(I really like doing this kind of thing with agreeable players. It helps to
simulate the "Sam Verner" scenario: a mage who only recently discovered his
powers, but who isn't flat broke with a measly 100 nuyen)

--
Robert Watkins bob@**.ntu.edu.au
Real Programmers never work 9 to 5. If any real programmers
are around at 9 am, it's because they were up all night.