| From: | TopCat <topcat@******.net> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Gamemaster and Teams (was: Quickened ...) |
| Date: | Thu, 16 May 1996 13:08:35 -0500 |
>Charette was just an example, I did not inted to say "Hey, if you don't
>follow his line, you are bad!". I did think that was obvious...
I was just making an opening statement that I felt would be relevant to my
words...
>>I would never play a runner such as Ghost because I find the ideas behind
>>that character ludicrous. First off, he's loaded in 'ware. How'd he get it
>>or the money for it? Dunno. Ok.
>Guess you did not read the Charrette-books? Ghost DID Shadowruns, you know?
Sure he did, but there was no why to it or background on it. He was the
samurai-ganger-Amerind and he did things because he had something to do in
the city. Which was? Undefined.
>>Just because I like to be able to get out of town if something goes
>>terribly, horridly wrong I'm a stereotypical samurai player?
>No... just when you insist characters' prime intend for shadowrunning HAS to
>be a financial, I'd call you a "stereotypical samurai player". Just when
>you imply anyone who doesn't follow your 'cash first" philosophy is a bad
>shadowrunner I call you stereotypical at all. And only then I start to disagree
>with you. Of course I WOULDN'T disagree characters COULD have these
>motivations, but why do you have to insist these are the only possible
>motivations?
I wasn't speaking from a "cash first" perspective, I know you read the full
message so I wonder why you say this? I was speaking of being able to drop
every single tie you have in order to preserve your life.
Something that has endlessly bugged me since I showed up on the list is the
fact that so many people don't really realize what shadowrunning is: a life
of big-time crime. This isn't a liquor store hold up or a pound of green
trading hands, this is assault on other nations (corps are
extraterratorial). This is data-theft on a mega-nuyen scale. This is
altering the economies of the world.
Now, I know that few if any of the people on this list have ever done a
crime more serious than underage drinking, substance abuse, or speeding. So
I don't expect most of you to know what a life of crime is really like. Do
I know what it's like? In some ways, yes. Crime's sort of a hobby of mine
(forensics and psychology). Do I know everything about it? Hell no. Do I
know anyone who's done shadowrun-level crimes? Nope. But I know how
incredibly paranoid people WAY below that level are. I also know that none
of these people do what they do because of a warm feeling they might get in
their bellies knowing that they've saved the world from (as perceived by
them) corporate/political hell. They do it for money, they do it to
survive, they do it because it's all they know. If they were able to do
something else, they would in a heartbeat. If/when they can get out, they do.
Many shadowrunners are fully capable of doing something else. Something
that would have a far greater effect on their goals than shadowrunning and
they choose not to. So that gets to me. I can't see the "why" in it.
Perhaps it's because I spend so much time looking at the real that I can't
see playing something unreal.
>I did, and I did like it. As I said: It is not that I disagree with on
>the character per se, but I disagree on your statement 'one gotta leave
>the shadows once one has enough money because that's all that's count'.
>Hey, I know you didn't say these words, but that was what you said.
Exactly, I didn't say those words. You perceived that as the only possible
meaning for what I did say. So I will say my words again, maybe they'll get
through...
Once you achieve your goals, then you move on. If those goals can be
achieved through a more effective manner, use that manner. If what you do
now is the best you can do to bring about your goals, then fair enough. My
character's goals are usually some form of retirement in the light.
TopCat just wanted to find his father's killer. Vagabond ended up going
back to college after a bit of a scare. Brutal is on his way to being a
cyberneticist. TopCat never reached his goal and I still write about what
he's doing. Vagabond may yet be played again after he gets out of college.
Brutal finally became good enough to apprentice with a street doc. Brutal
will never end up in the light, but he's happily retired, having achieved
his goal. TopCat may never, I don't know. Vagabond is back in the light.
All retired, all needed cash and experience, two even met their goals. What
happened to them along the way affected them all, sometimes for the better.
I don't base characters on money, I base them on goals. In case you've been
on a reality break for a while, a good 99.9999999999% or more of goals
require some form of compensation. Money fits that bill nicely more often
than not.
>>I still find it funny though, just because I play my characters as able to
>>move on 5 minutes notice (and leave everything they couldn't take with them
>>behind), that I am suddenly the stereotypical samurai. Or even that this
>>ability of my characters is the only aspect of roleplaying that matters.
>That's what you said.
What I said (quite clearly, mind you) was that no self-respecting
shadowrunner would tie himself down to any situation. Mostly due to
paranoia, the rest due to intelligence. It is stupid in the extreme to have
those kinds of ties when you live a life a crime. You will end up
dead/imprisoned/worse because of them. Maybe you won't end up that way, but
your ties (be they family, friends, whatever) will. Someone will always
have something to hang over your head, and that is the worst possible thing
that any shadowrunner can face.
This bit of intelligence is not the whole of roleplaying. It will factor
into roleplaying, making decisions to form a tie will be harder and that can
be roleplayed very well. My characters have ties, but they can be broken,
some might have to be hellishly roleplayed in order to do so (Vagabond would
have a rough time giving up his girlfriend and college, he might not even be
able to do it). Every character is going to have ties, life does that to
you. But you _should_ be able to drop things if you intend to stick with a
life of crime (which Vagabond is no longer a part of). Working toward the
ability to have those ties is a very good goal to have.
-------------------------------------
"I was thinking of the immortal words
of Socrates, who said: I drank what?"
-- Real Genius
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TopCat at the bottom...
