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Yamtaggler posted:(All the brackets indicate price, because I didn't trust myself and counted. Had to downgrade to a Scoot, but I think I'll manage. Does Wired Reflexes add to Matrix Initiative?) No. Matrix init is based on your Intuition, not Reaction.
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Aug 3, 2014 02:14
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 Unless there is a huge influx of apps tomorrow and Monday, I am going to close apps on Tuesday. Also, you didn't use your skill groups as far as I can tell Mr Tastee posted:Just need to do a little more. I have to ask, what are the benefits of having a cyberdeck as cyberware as opposed to a handheld version, and vice versa? Additionally, if my deck is cyberware, then are the attachments inapplicable, and is the program limit the total number of programs that I can have on my deck? The difference is that you can't have an internal one taken away when you're captured without surgery, but it is presumably harder to work on. Your cyberdeck has ostensibly unlimited space, so you can have copies of any program you'd like on it, but may only run so many at once. You can even unload / load programs mid-combat. Mr Tastee posted:Finally finished my character sheet! This is my first time making a character for Shadowrun, so please let me know everything I got wrong. You need cerebral enhancers, and you're better off using your attributes to max your mental stats and then buying some muscle replacement (or low-rating muscle toner / augs ). Since you aren't going to do much Face work, dumping essence is fine. Mnemonic enhancers will also go a long way. I'd dump pistols: you only need one combat skill, because if you're in the firefight something's gone pretty wrong and you're better off opening up with a big shotgun or something than a predator. I'm not as convinced as LTR is about your needing wired reflexes: if you're going to spend most of your time in VR, the dice you'll derive from that will hold you over most of the time. It will only be a problem if you're without a deck and in a combat situation, which again, means something went terribly wrong anyway. .
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Aug 3, 2014 04:07
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QuantumNinja posted:You need cerebral enhancers, and you're better off using your attributes to max your mental stats and then buying some muscle replacement (or low-rating muscle toner / augs ). Since you aren't going to do much Face work, dumping essence is fine. Mnemonic enhancers will also go a long way. I'd dump pistols: you only need one combat skill, because if you're in the firefight something's gone pretty wrong and you're better off opening up with a big shotgun or something than a predator. I'm not as convinced as LTR is about your needing wired reflexes: if you're going to spend most of your time in VR, the dice you'll derive from that will hold you over most of the time. It will only be a problem if you're without a deck and in a combat situation, which again, means something went terribly wrong anyway. . I tend to think that initiative boosters are actually pretty good for hackers, since being able to AR hack almost as fast as VR hack is pretty nice. You don't have to worry about arranging protection for your meatbody while you're unconscious and it makes you immune to link locking, since you can always hard reset your deck manually or pull the battery if you get hit by that and need to jack out. No dumpshock either.
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Aug 3, 2014 15:22
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Oo Koo posted:I tend to think that initiative boosters are actually pretty good for hackers, since being able to AR hack almost as fast as VR hack is pretty nice. You don't have to worry about arranging protection for your meatbody while you're unconscious and it makes you immune to link locking, since you can always hard reset your deck manually or pull the battery if you get hit by that and need to jack out. No dumpshock either. Mr Tastee, a lot of these things are very good points, and strong things to consider when deciding if you want to free up the essence and/or money for wired reflexes and/or synaptic boosters.
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Aug 3, 2014 20:47
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QuantumNinja posted:Mr Tastee, a lot of these things are very good points, and strong things to consider when deciding if you want to free up the essence and/or money for wired reflexes or synaptic boosters. Fixed it for you, seeing as they don't stack.
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Aug 3, 2014 21:19
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Hacking in AR basically makes you immune to pretty much anything nasty in the matrix and the worst thing you'll face is the possibility of your deck getting bricked or getting traced. Bricking can be avoided just by disconnecting if things start going too badly and you can avoid the worst of getting traced by running the sneak program, hacking from a public park or something and keeping an escape vehicle handy. So if you can make up for the initiative difference and hack solely in AR, the worst thing that your opponents in the matrix can do is drive you away temporarily and maybe keep an ambush team ready to go in case they can trace your next attempt.
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Aug 3, 2014 22:08
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It's worth noting that this is my first fifth edition character, and, like, third character ever. Anything I missed or should change? http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3654019&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1#post432871301
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Aug 3, 2014 22:27
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Posting for Mandozer/Whatever he's called Tommy Brown Character Sheet Full Bio Born as one of two Fraternal twins, he was the oldest by a few seconds coming out of a BTL addicted mother. As a youth, he basically raised him and his sister himself as best he could. He got his first job at 14 being a lookout at a BTL joint, occasionally trading time for dreamchip time to escape from reality. The way he figured it, escaping from time to time was ok as long as you woke up and faced the music after. Thats why he didn't feel bad about getting and keeping junkies hooked on BTLs, cause they were weak. They were those who were too weak to face the music and just make their way in the world. Tommy was a survivor, he didn't have time for the bullshit. As long as Sadie stayed in that good school in dallas and went on to college, got out of Bach Springs, he didn't care how many lives he had to destroy to keep that dream alive. Shortly after Crash 2.0 happened though, technomancers starting appearing in the news. And unbeknownst to Tommy, Sadie was one. Sadie got snatched by suits claiming to be federal agents one day from community college. A panicked call to Tommy from her boyfriend got him yanked out of a dreamchip and onto the prowl. Before The Emergence, Tommy was just some twobit gangster who dabbled in matrix crimes on some lovely Erika MCD-1 he bought after saving up enough cash. Now he had a reason to wake up and get on his poo poo. The only person in this world who was family to him, his own sister, was threatened and he needed to know why. And then he needed to get her back. Enter Texas Yellow, a fixer who worked out Sage in Bloom. You needed to find a fence, you needed talent for a gig, you went to Texas Yellow. But tommy was no shadowrunner, he was just a thug. So go figure he got poo poo on when he approached Tex. But there was a silver lining, do him favors and he'd give him in the information he thought. So Tommy got in on the extraction game, each job filling in a piece of the puzzle. Pretty soon it became clear it was Ares Macrotechnology who snatched up Sadie. And it also became clear from the medical records they dug up that she was a techno. Now it all made loving sense and just fueled Tommy even more to get her out. But you don't go full frontal on a AAA megacorp without some help. Enter Mitsuhama Computer Technologies, who Texas Yellow put him in touch with via a intermediary, what they call Mr. Johnson around these parts. A bargain was quickly struck, work for us and we'll put together a team and provide you with any resources you need on your search. They wanted in on the technomancer thing and needed someone who wouldn't flinch at doing what needed to be done. Tommy agreed and then he got to work. They hit Ares subsidiaries in the CAS hard with the odd daytrip up north to the UCAS to gently caress with Ares Arms on "Mitsuhama jobs", after all you don't bite the hand that feeds you. Eventually the big day came and they were in Atlanta, running on Ares CAS HQ. Mitsuhama provided the fake SINs that were flawless, supporting documentation that placed each member of the team in the building for a shift. Before it was time for lunch, they confirmed which of the offgrid datastores on site had the paydata they were looking for. Then they broke for lunch, came back, and met on the 35th floor waiting for the screams to start. Mitsuhama went all out for this one, ensuring that at 3PM Shiawase made Siberian Tiger drones were released on multiple floors. When you got a tiger drone literally trying to loving eat you or some poo poo, that makes a mess of the security situation real quick. While corpsec was handling that, they made their run. Tommy got the paydata, got the elevator secured, but he ran into resistance. He duked it out a spider who wasn't there when he went in before, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and dataspiking his Shiawase deck hard. He brawled it out and ended up brainburning the spider before getting hit by Black IC and having to be jacked out by his team. Nothing a heal spell and a slappatch couldn't deal with though. A firefight broke out on the rooftop with Knight Errant HTR while he worked the node for the SAM turrets on the roof with his backup, that old MCD-1. These guys were literally rapelling from a Dragon and firing submachineguns slung on their chest before they even touched the ground until the SAM turrets were redirected to blow their ride out of the sky. That and the timely arrival of their own helicopter ensured a clean extract back to a Mitsuhama Black Site out of state. Tommy turned over the paydata and called it a day, waited for MCT to get back at him with their end of the bargain. And they did but it was nothing like he dreamed. He met Mr. Johnson at some upend Japanese restaurant to get the news. They found Sadie yeah. They tracked her as DocWagon pulled her out of the Ares CAS HQ building in Atlanta and airlifted her to the nearest hospital. They say she died 3 times on the table before they brought her back for good. She was moved to an ICU specializing in treating things like this. Tommy's whole world stopped as soon as he realized what he did. Tommy was a malicious little poo poo, loved to slot that biofeedback program and took pride in flatlining sysops who were too week to cut it. And now look what he loving did. The Johnson explained to him that Ares would try to salvage Sadie but they'd probably call it quits after they exhausted all feasible options, which would be coming up within a few weeks to a month tops. Tommy asked them if there was anything they could do about it. Mr. Johnson nodded in the affirmative but told him they would require a more permanent arrangement. Tommy had no choice, he agreed. And then he told Mr. Johnson to get out of his sight while he looked down at his food and the vintage red wine he was drinking. He drank himself into a near comatose stupur himself that night and spent the night in jail. Though he didn't spend too long, he got bailed out within an hour by Mr. Johnson who gave him a plane ticket to Atlanta with a suitable fake SIN and told him to go say his goodbyes.But to also be discreet about it since Ares would no doubt be looking for him if they could connect him. He stopped by the clinic and slipped in, staying only long enough to drop off flowers for his sister in her room and then got out quick. Driving back in a rental, he played russian roulette with a Ruger Superhawk doing 100 on the interstate and somehow didn't blow his brains out or crash. Disgusted at himself and his weakeness, he tossed the gun over some bridge and kept it moving. Back again in Dallas he had to add up the sum of all the poo poo he's done. Countless families destroyed by BTLs or from the extractions he pulled to change their employee, the occasional murder or two, data on at least 40 technomancers/possibles in the CAS so they can be snatched at MCT's leisure, and Sadie. The devil doesn't ask too much when you sell his soul to him, just your life. He didn't realize all those years ago that it meant his whole life, everyone good connected to him. The coward's way out right now would be to try that russian roulette poo poo again with a AS-7 and a full clip on burst. But thats not Tommy. Instead he figured he needs to start making some things right, however small. He enrolled at college to formally get a PhD in Matrix Science and Security, that sorta thing. That gave him a foundation, something to keep him busy during the day. It was actually nice to be honest, no street poo poo to worry about, a pleasant group of friends to bullshit with in between classes and go drinking with. He always kept them at arms length and truth be told, life didn't need him to be the most friendly person, just the most ruthless. At night is when the world comes alive for Tommy though. He kept doing his research into technomancers, not to sell them out for the paydata, but to help them dodge the corps. He's got at least 40 to make up for. When he's not doing that, he's taking contracts on teams that put him at odds at people like Renraku and Ares. He doesn't just blast anyone because he can, only those who are in "the game", like other runners or corporate execs, not some poor working joe whose just trying to get by in this world. Hopefully if he does enough right, he can die with his soul at rest. But thats a story for another time, Theo Trainer just called. Some guy wants to run for governor and apparently has the most interesting views on metahumans and technos in particular. This could be a fun gig. Xun fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Aug 3, 2014 |
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Aug 3, 2014 23:25
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I've been doing a little tweaking on a separate character sheet. And if I tweak my equipment and skills a bit, I can add basic level of hacking to round out my character's "jack of all trades" gimmick with minimal impact on my primary focuses on sniping and healing. Scrounging up the cash for an entry level deck hits my equipment hard enough to require some edits to my background though, since I had to sacrifice lifestyle and fake SIN levels enough to basically no longer qualify for a privileged corp person equipment wise. I'm thinking of switching Jack's background to an ex-agent of some smaller AA corp that got stranded in Dallas when his parent corp was destroyed in a fully blown corp war and now has to make a living running the shadows. I also have a new set of flaws ready to go to replace the corporate sinner. Though I could also keep the sinner quality to represent that Jack hasn't managed to dump his Felix identity yet and treat the taxes as the necessary expenses to keep the enemy corp that destroyed his parent corp off his trail. QuantumNinja, are you OK with me making the changes and do you have any opinion on which option I should go with regarding the sinner quality?
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Aug 3, 2014 23:55
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Oo Koo posted:I've been doing a little tweaking on a separate character sheet. And if I tweak my equipment and skills a bit, I can add basic level of hacking to round out my character's "jack of all trades" gimmick with minimal impact on my primary focuses on sniping and healing. Scrounging up the cash for an entry level deck hits my equipment hard enough to require some edits to my background though, since I had to sacrifice lifestyle and fake SIN levels enough to basically no longer qualify for a privileged corp person equipment wise. I'm thinking of switching Jack's background to an ex-agent of some smaller AA corp that got stranded in Dallas when his parent corp was destroyed in a fully blown corp war and now has to make a living running the shadows. I also have a new set of flaws ready to go to replace the corporate sinner. Though I could also keep the sinner quality to represent that Jack hasn't managed to dump his Felix identity yet and treat the taxes as the necessary expenses to keep the enemy corp that destroyed his parent corp off his trail. I'm fine with you making changes. When I sit down tomorrow or Tuesday to make my picks, I will read everyone's sheet beginning to end at that time. As for the sinner quality, I'm fine either way. That said, it looks like we've got a good set of decker apps, and it sounds like it's going to hit your money hard, so you could hold off and pick up some decking skills during the campaign instead.
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Aug 4, 2014 00:17
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QuantumNinja posted:I'm fine with you making changes. When I sit down tomorrow or Tuesday to make my picks, I will read everyone's sheet beginning to end at that time. As for the sinner quality, I'm fine either way. That said, it looks like we've got a good set of decker apps, and it sounds like it's going to hit your money hard, so you could hold off and pick up some decking skills during the campaign instead. I could, but I like the hacking element in shadowrun and having multiple deckers in the party would allow us to have fun matrix adventures together, so it's not too much of problem. I got most of the money anyways by dropping the EBR, the activesofts, the lifestyle to low and the mirage to scoot. And replacing first aid, medicine and mentor spirit with perception, sneaking and athletics. I wont need the mundane healing or driving skills anyways, since I can avoid defaulting by analyzing my medkit/scooter. I'll have the edits up shortly. E: The original post has been edited. Oo Koo fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Aug 4, 2014 |
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Aug 4, 2014 00:41
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I'm sorry, but at the rate I go through these sheets, I'm not going to be able to finish tweaking my sheet in time. You can ignore my submission. I might toy with it for another game in the future, though.
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Aug 4, 2014 00:47
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Quant, I'm creating tonight. I'll try to get it in under the wire. I am from Texas and love shadowrun, so this poo poo is right up my alley... Also every game I've been in with you has died... Not because of you, but it makes me sad when Shadowrun games die. Let's keep this one going!
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Aug 4, 2014 21:58
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I will close apps when Malikial has posted. I will post picks 24 hours after that.
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Aug 5, 2014 02:34
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 pre:Priorities(A,B,C,D,E) Resources A(450,000) Race B(Troll) Attributes C(16) Skills D(22) Magic E(NA) Init: 8+3d6 Limits: M 3 | P 9 | Social 3 Condition: P 12 | S 9 | O 9 Reputation: N 3 | PA 0 | SC 0 Name: Kenneth "Slim" St. John Age: 26 Metatype: Troll Gender: Male Attributes:(16 pts)[Priority C] BOD 9 4 AGI 3(6) 2 REA 3(5) 2 STR 7 2 WIL 3 2 LOG 2 1 INT 3 2 CHA 2 1 EDG 1 ESS 2.55 MAG N/A Racial Advantages: Thermographic Vision +1 Reach +1 Dermal Armor Positive Qualities: Bilingual(-5) Spanish Natural Athlete(-7) +2 to Running and Gymnastics rolls. Negative Qualities: Weak Immune System(+10) +2 to any disease power Bad Rep(+7) An Ex-Texas Ranger, Kenneth is said to have quit because he lost his nerve after a fire-fight went bad and his partner, who is presumed dead due to his cowardice, went missing. Kenneth rarely talks about what occurred but all evidence points to him quitting after almost dying... +3 Notoriety that can only be removed via confronting the source of the reputation. Distintive Style(+5) You'd be hard pressed to find Kenneth outside without his duster and hat on... and though not part of his style it is rather interesting to hear a troll with a southern drawl. Skills: 22 Pistols[Revolvers] 4[6] (5) Unarmed Combat 4 (4) Perception 3 (3) Etiquette[Street] 2[4] (3) Intimidation[Interrogation] 2[4] (3) Pilot Ground(Bike) 4[5] (4) Skill Groups: Electronics 2 (20 Karma) -Computer -Hardware -Software Knowledge Skills: Texas Ranger Tactics 4 Criminal Haunts 3 Texas Biker Gangs 3 Language Skills: English N Spanish N Contacts: Texas Yellow[Bar Owner/fixer] Connection 5, Loyalty 2(free) Theo Trainer[Fixer] Connection 6, Loyalty 1(Free) Jason McCall[Texas Ranger, friend, somewhat estranged] Connection 3, Loyalty 5(-8K) Slip Dash[Ganger, Ex-CI, Friend] Connection 2, Loyalty 4(-6K) Maizon Raider[Gang Leader, Ally] Connection 5, Loyalty 2(-1K 6Chapts)) Lifestyle: High 11,000 +Hard to Find Cyberware:[Ess Cost] Datajack [.1] 1000 Smartlink [.2] 4000 Shock Hand .25 5000 Bioware:[Ess Cost] Damage Compensators 4 [.4] 8,000 Bone Density 3 [.9] 15,000 Muscle Toner 3 [.6] 96,000 Synaptic Booster 2 [1] 190,000 Weapons: Rugar Super warhawk 400 -Top Mounted Smartgun 200 -Advanced Safety 600 --Electro Shocker 350 60 APDS 720 60 Explosive 480 60 Regular Rounds 120 60 Stick and Shock 480 Cavalier Deputy 225 -Top Mounted Smartgun 200 -Advanced Safety 600 --Electro Shocker 350 -Concealment Holster 150 (Placed in Lower Back) 70 Regular Rounds 140 70 Gel Rounds 175 20 Stick and Shock 160 Armor: SWAT Armor 8000 -Gear Access -Increase Social Limit by 2 for Intimidation -Wireless, Social Limit increase raised by 1 -Unit has -2 armor from use(AND ALSO BECAUSE I hosed UP) (Synth)Leather Duster 1100 Cowboy Hat 400 Gear: Renraku Sensai 1000 -Subvocal Mic 50 Jammer 4 800 Fake SIN rating 4 10,000 -Fake License[Pistol] 4 800 -Fake License[Armor] 4 800 Camera 6 600 -Vision Enhancement 3 1500 -Audio Enhancement 3 1500 Contacts Rating 3 600 -Vision Enhancement 3 1500 Earbuds Rating 3 150 -Audio Enhancement 3 1500 Docwagon Contract(Platinum) 50,000 2x Metal Restraints 40 Maglock Passkey 4 8000 Survival Kit 200 Vehicles: Harley-Davidson Scorpion 12000 Toyota Gopher 25,000 10,260 Starting Cash Kenneth spent a good few years investigating everything that was assigned him. While not exactly the greatest investigator, he was good at punching a clock and even better at punching criminals. His reputation within the Rangers grew a bit, he was never considered a smart or tactical Law Man but he was tough as poo poo and capable of taking and delivering a hell of a beating. Due to this he actually started moving up a bit in the ranks. He acquired a full time partner in one Buck Sanchez. Buck is a Tejano Ranger who is proudly and vocally anti-Aztlan. He and Kenneth worked together for a couple years. During an investigation in south Texas, near Corpus Cristi, Buck betrayed Kenneth for a sum of money and Ken was shot repeatedly, he managed to kill all those involved in his betrayal, except for Buck. No help came for him and the only reason he lived is that a local family took pity on him, loaded him into a truck and took him to a Street Doc. He used the money the thugs had tried to kill him for to pay for his medical care and pay back the family that had saved him. After his recovery he stayed in the Rangers for only enough time to quit. He has sense been living quietly, still using the money he was betrayed for to survive but... well... everyone's gotta work sometime and god drat it he'd really like to find Buck. http://orokos.com/roll/212196 <--- Starting money roll Back story is a bit light. Hope to flesh it out in conversation with QNinja later. Maybe include some of my contacts. Basically they're people he knows from his past who he had a 'working' relationship with. malikial fucked around with this message at 11:38 on Jan 10, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2014 11:41
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Apps are Closed. I'll post picks in less than 12 hours.
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Aug 5, 2014 18:23
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I lied about picking! These apps are all really great, so I've decided to do a second-round thing where Sorry again about the delay. Moving is tedious.
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Aug 6, 2014 08:38
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First, I should apologize. Starting a recruitment thread with a looming move was a terrible idea, and closing applications the day before I was moving out an even worse one. But I'm moved now, so barring catastrophe things should proceed as scheduled. Now, on to some questions to help me refine my decisions so that I don't end up taking like 8 applications again. Note that these questions are not explicitly being asked by anyone, so don't worry about sharing too much and it coming back to screw you or something. I am asking these for information, not character interaction purposes. I'm going to wait until most of y'all are done, but I'm shooting for Saturday night or Sunday afternoon for answers. Ah-Ri-Yung "Sparrow" Han - Atlatl I understand you're lookin' fer some work, but I gotta say, I got a few questions first. Now, I done my homework, and yer a racer, far as I can tell, but I gotta ask: you still boostin' cars from the airport economy parking for that chopshop over south a' 80, in Arlington? Tell me what yer racin' career is like: who calls you with details, who are the heavy hitters on the street circuit, what was yer biggest win? Alfred Nobel - Thanatosian drat, yer a big'un, ain't ya? Mr. Nobel, I presume? Now I done some digging, heard about yer time in Windermere, and I jus' gotta ask: what's a rich-kid yankee like you doin' down here in Dallas? Who do you know that keeps you local? You're in that poo poo club scene, right, part a' DanceSafe? How'd you get involved with that, down there in Garland, or was it Irving? Who are ya workin' with? What's a good story from the club scene? Cat - CaptainCarrot Where'd you come up? Are you from here in Dallas? I heard you hooked up with some---group a' some sort. I heard you were good with you words: tell me how you got into this line a' work, though, when you could be manipulatin' yer way through Plano. Chris "Double Tap" Johnson - ProfessorCirno drat, don't you look the part. Like you want to be doin' a job a bit above the average pay grade. Now I heard you got burned real hard by Ares, but you gotta know some people still there. Revenge is the kinda thing'll eat a man inside; how are yer plans for it goin'? Since gettin' strung up by Ares, you've been spendin' yer time working connections, but you get anything together beyond that? Friends, recreations, enjoying the better part a' Dallas? Gabriel De Los Santos - Arkangelus You certainly ain't new to this runnin' business. Free Aztlan does some pretty heavy lifting, and I doubt yer any exception. After all that poo poo with the sickness, who helps you, looks after yer brother when you're out? Do you still work with Free Aztlan, or jus' friends from the old neighborhood? You aren't as bad off, but how is that illness affecting you? And what do you do when you ain't running or looking after Raphael? Jack "All-Trades" Harris - Oo Koo Your old employer died in a corporate war, right? I couldn't find too much written history, so why don't you tell me exactly what they did and why they were destroyed. You keep in touch with any a' the other ex-employees? More importantly, yer part a' the Technomagicians, ain't ya? What's that like? You get together often, do things together? Jake "Hardline" Franklin - Yamtaggler So you're a hacker, right? Oh, excuse me, 'decker', ain't it? You got displaced by that Aztlan invasion along with the rest a' yer friends and family, but where did they end up? Yer siblings still in the Dallas area? Surely you at least know some people you spent time with in undergrad: old room mates, advisers, fellow ACM associates? You catch up with 'em in yer free time, or just sit at home and jack? Kenneth - malikial Your resume and pedigree is impressive, but I just can't put one thing together: you've spent a good few years as a law man, making money and upholding order alongside the Rangers themselves. Even after you got sold out, the corruption got revelaed, why not just go work for Lone Star? After so long on the right side a' the law, what's drawn you into the shadows? More'n that, what do you do to pass the time now? You got family local, or do you just bury yerself in a bottle with yer time off? Marcina Montgomery - Ronwayne You got into this scene to avoid gettin' a real job, but this kind a' thing can't be easy for a white collar kid like you. How do you deal with the violence and general criminal element that you get exposed to on these jobs? And what do you do in yer downtime? I'm sure yer parents don't talk to you, but do you still see yer brother? What about those old college friends? Still hit up their parties, or what? Mia Fuentes - KittyEmpress. After comin' on up with the Santas, you've managed to make it on out on yer own. But now you stick around, right, and give back? How do you? Stick around and helpin' kids to read, or is it strictly financial support? Do you still pull jobs with them, helping move weapons and drugs, or just stay out of the way and do your own thing? Which one of 'em would you call if you were in trouble, and why? Redeye - LTR You're new to town, ain't ya? You did a pretty small stretch, all things considered. Why Dallas, a' all places? I know you came lookin' for work, but it's gotta be just a bit more'n that, to travel this far from Seattle. What did you do for fun back in Seattle? Do you know people down here, or are you just hoping to exploit the Aztlan border to turn a solid profit? You ain't like most riggers I've seen: no control rig from what I can tell. Is that something you see in yer future, or do you prefer yer smuggling work? Snowstorm - Manic_Misanthrope You came up on the rougher streets a' the UCAS, gang involvement an' all, right? So what brings you down south, no ties to speak of? That's quite a ways to travel for a yankee like yerself, and Atlanta or Denver seem better suited if yer just lookin' for work. You'd probably get a little less trouble 'bout that hideous pink coat a' yours, too. How are you likin' Dallas so far? Find any good night spots or good places to snort a few lines a' novacoke and burn away the twilight? The Birdman - Lazy Bear You're that PI, the one that can't get a break, huh? You're pretty chromed up for an ex-con; did that happen before or after you did yer stretch? More importantly, a family man like you, failing detective agency, why are you lookin' for work in the shadows? That's pretty heavy for a dude who is tryin' ta make a livin' as an investigator, and it's pretty much on the other side a' the law altogether. Tommy Brown - Mandozer You've got a reputation that speaks for itself, Tommy: a man without a reputation, who deals with his employers quickly and quietly. Hell, you've even got a long history a' running, but from what I understood, you're out for vengeance more than for the money, and that's a dangerous game to play: what happens when the two come to odds? And how is student life treating you? Do the other people in yer research group know what you do, and do you socialize with them that much? Where's yer sister now, that you can take care a' her full-time? QuantumNinja fucked around with this message at 11:48 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Aug 8, 2014 05:17
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Tommy Brown quote:You've got a reputation that speaks for itself, Tommy: a man without a reputation, who deals with his employers quickly and quietly. Hell, you've even got a long history a' running, but from what I understood, you're out for vengeance more than for the money, and that's a dangerous game to play: what happens when the two come to odds? And how is student life treating you? Do the other people in yer research group know what you do, and do you socialize with them that much? Where's yer sister now, that you can take care a' her full-time? "Well you got me started in this game. Appreciate everything you've done for me by the way, I'll never forget it. Sounds like you got some concerns about how that thing turned out and what it means going forward. I can tell you that won't be a problem professionally. College life is pretty wiz actually, though I can't really get too used to it. My research group knows nothing about what I do and I don't really hang with them outside of class though I have a clique I party with occasionally and meet up with between classes. Some business majors, girls who want to major in fashion design, a troll who got out of the CAS army whose trying to get a nursing degree if you'd believe that. Its like one of those after school specials where you got a bit of everything mixed in, its unreal. They're good people. Only clue they have is when I leave abruptly to take care of things, usually to go see Sadie." "I got my own apartment now in a decent part of town, 2 bedroom apartment. One is my work room the other is for Sadie. I got all the life support stuff, IVs hooked up everywhere, and a biomonitor slaved to my commlink with reminders everyday for when I have to get back home and change a IV bag, clean up after, infuse nutrients, whatever, I take care of all that. If I'm not on a job or doing my once or twice a week night out of town to keep up appearances I'm searching for any whiff of cutting edge research I can find. Everything I've found so far isn't anything that can help Sadie but I'm holding out hope. 2075 man, there's gotta be someone working on things like this." "Oh yeah you were talking about vengeance earlier. Its a dish best served cold man and there's a time and place for everything. I need money to get Sadie well again, I need power to pull the strings to make that happen. Maybe not now but years from now. I'm not gonna get myself killed before then. Along the way I'll try to do some good but I'm out for the gusto here. I know when you can afford to grow a conscience and when you need to cut the bleeding heart out and toss it in the trash." "I assume thats why I'm still on your christmas card list. Because I can keep it in perspective." Viva Miriya fucked around with this message at 11:34 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Aug 8, 2014 05:51
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timg is your friend
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Aug 8, 2014 05:51
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Aug 8, 2014 06:00
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QuantumNinja posted:The Birdman - Lazy Bear  The Ork straightens his tie somewhat, and then lights up a cigar. "S'no secret I got a kid." he says, and takes a puff. "But, you have any idea how expensive a thirteen-year-old is, let alone a girl?" He shakes his head, mentally pulling up a list. "Lemme go over this. So, let's start with food. Thirteen years old, she's already worrying about her weight. So that's trimming out the high-cal soy, and the meat..." A wistful pause. "I miss meat. Anyway, so, diet food's a good 900 a month. Clothes, staying even close enough to trends that she isn't an outcast runs me anywhere from 600 to 1200 dollars every month. And of course she wants to go to the movies and go shopping, so she needs an allowance. I did my own research. Guess what? A hundred-fifty Ghost-damned dollars a week. A week. I'm lucky, she buys her own makeup, sometimes. When she doesn't, that's another couple-hundred. Add in allergy meds, extra-curriculars--And oh yeah, she just started menstruating so there's not only pads but condoms just in case. That doesn't count birthdays or Christmas, class trips, doctor's bills, and little extras. Always the fuckin' extras." He sighs, flicking some ashes. "That's not counting me, the bird, or the rent. So, yeah, money's a factor. Besides, PIs work on a grey section of the law anyway. We do cop work when the cops are bein' fuckin' idiots, so obviously cops ain't my best friends. But I'll have you know the business ain't failing. S'just... Well, a little trim sometimes. And I gotta keep a house down." A shifty look. The Merlin's Eye was... Well, it was struggling. This was just to help him through a rough patch, maybe make some business connections. That's all. "But anyway, the point is that workin' one side of the law gives you an interesting perspective on the other. Not to mention the skills and tech necessary to do my job translate pretty well to the other end. Not much difference between tracking a missing kid and tracking a VIP on the lam." He lets the point sit. "But I'm sure you've got a legwork guy with over a decade of experience in the field, advanced tactical training, a degree in law, and a legitimate front that gets him past a lot of locked doors, right?" A moment's realization. "The chrome's... Well, it's to replace some stuff from before the jail time. Rather not get into it." Last thing he needed to tell anyone at any time was that he worked for Aztechnology. Though, if this Texas Yellow gentleman didn't already know he was corpsec before the... incident, the fixer did a poor job of background-checking. Lazy Bear fucked around with this message at 15:26 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Aug 8, 2014 06:25
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Marcina Montgomery - Ronwaynequote:You got into this scene to avoid gettin' a real job, but this kind a' thing can't be easy for a white collar kid like you. How do you deal with the violence and general criminal element that you get exposed to on these jobs? And what do you do in yer downtime? I'm sure yer parents don't talk to you, but do you still see yer brother? What about those old college friends? Still hit up their parties, or what? This is a real job, as far as I'm concerned. What small business owning SHOULD be about, personal initiative and competence being rewarded, instead of being chained to a storefront for 100 hours a week waiting for an A or AA to buy the land you're on and kick you out. Would you think of me as more of a professional if I just took the easy way out and got a vapid office job and slowly died inside for the next several decades? I'm a magic keebler, I could score a 120k a year gig doing magic lantern shows for rich kids birthdays and insipid corp parties. Instead, I'm here, I'd like to think that proves I'm serious about this. The 'criminal element' is just what happens when vicious assholes just start being honest about who they are. Only in the worst parts of the barrens do you get the level of psychotic social cannibalism that marks what upper-middle corp managers get up to on a daily basis. The world in which these two groups meet is where I spend most of my time growing up. If you're looking for specific references, you ever heard of the "Florist" down in Atlanta? The katana dork adept who cut up the johnson that screwed him and stuck his limbs back on in interesting places? Yeah, he was my team's muscle for near a year. This ain't my first time at the rodeo, hoss. Well, off times I try to hit up my old contacts and try to keep abreast of what's going on in the city. The kid bro is teetering perilously close to the point where you go from "troubled youth" to "fuckup". I'm torn between wanting to prevent that and not actually wanting to be around him or his friends. Still, amazing crowd to blend in with if you're lying low, especially since no one is willingly going to go hanging around them willingly. I have the contacts, mojo, looks, and skills. Man, I know what kind of problems y'all have to deal with when putting together a team. "Is this guy going to flip off the Johnson?" "Is this guy going to be the Jackson Pollock of dismembered limbs?" "He claims to be an Insect shaman only 'ironically'." In that context, "Is she numbed enough to acts of ultraviolence" is a pretty good problem to have, and I have the juju to avoid it in the first place. I don't need half a mag of sticky shock to drop a guy trying to kill me. You want to keep this clean, quiet, and pro, I'm your best bet.
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Aug 8, 2014 07:47
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QuantumNinja posted:Alfred Nobel - Thanatosian Al shifts again, taking a chug of the beer sitting on the end table beside him. "I've worked a lot of different places with DanceSafe, but lately it's been for this chill popup club, Desirée's Desires. Desirée is a total babe[1], and has enough portable equipment to move from squat to squat as the heat catch on and drive her off. It's not exactly the best neighborhoods, so half the time I end up having to provide security on top of the labwork. I started working for them shortly after I started doing runs. Anyway, we were at this swag office park in the Reunion District--it was our first night there, and I was in the middle of informing some spaced-out breeder that the "psyche" he had gotten such a great deal on was actually Cram, when all of a sudden there's some static at one of the other tables. My omae, Chad, has these four dandelion eaters getting up in his face." "Now, I don't want you to think I'm some kind of racist; I have plenty of elf friends. It's just that so many of them are so uppity, thinking they're better than the rest of us. I just want them to know their place. So anyway, these pixies are clearly upset, so I say 'everything all right, Chad?' They don't even look in my direction, the leader says 'everythings fine, celénit. Mind your business.' So I decided to mediate; I finished my conversation, grabbed my katana, and walked over just in time to hear the fragging keeb threaten Chad with physical violence. So, I offer to take over for Chad; he passes me some lab results, and this low-rent versionel-ha is upset that we were telling people his Novacoke was complete drek. The fact was he'd cut it so much it was basically flour, so I told him 'unless you're selling it to people to bake with, you don't have much to complain about. Now, I get it, you're angry, you've got your little pixie troop here with you, got to keep up your serulos, so you get your one makkanagee mistake. Now, you need to take your drek and buzz.' He decided instead of leaving he would call me a coward, so I told Chad I was taking a ten-minute break, and followed them to a nearby office building." "Usually, I try to avoid violence when I'm volunteering, but, you know, these guys just didn't know how to take 'buzz' for an answer. Also, they were really uppity for low-rent dandelion-eater drug dealers, I figured a beating would do them some good. What I didn't expect was for the first pixie to jump on my back as soon as we get in the door. So, I hit the nearest guy with my katana--still in the sheath, but hard enough to crack a few ribs--and kool-aid-man it through the nearest wall to knock out the one on my back. As I'm climbing back through the hole, the lead keeb pulls a fragging pistol and fragging shoots me! Twice! At this point, I fragging lose it, yank the sheath off my katana, and cut his gun in half. His last buddy has just about pissed himself, when I ask 'chummer, do you know first aid?' When he nods, I tell him he's won the lottery, reach over and grab the head keeb--who, by the way is insulting my lineage! At least, I think he was insulting my lineage; he might have been begging for mercy. Sperethiel is kind of a nuanced language, you know? I might have missed some context clues; I was pretty upset. Anyway, I proceeded to rip his arm off." At this point, Al is laughing while telling the story, and miming the ripping off of the arm. "Oh, don't worry, it was a cyber-arm. He passed out, I told his friend where he'd be able to pick up the arm later, and took off. Much as I wanted to geek the lot of them, nothing brings down a heatwave faster, and the four of them weren't likely to spread a story of me beating the drek out of them. I finished up my shift, then traded the cyber arm to a street doc in exchange for removing the bullets and patching me up, told him to expect a buyer in the next couple of days. Never saw those pixies again, though, let me tell you." Al finishes off his beer. "So, do I get the job?" [1]Desirée is very attractive for an ork, and has no idea that Al exists. Ham Equity fucked around with this message at 10:42 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Aug 8, 2014 10:31
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QuantumNinja posted:Kenneth - malikial Ken listens to the question and then leans forwards a bit, drumming his fingers on the table before he gives it an open palmed smack with his hand, "I mean, yeah, my family is kinda Local, I guess. My ma and pa still live up in Lubbock, where I grew up. Closer to Amarillo than Dallas, but you know, not very far. I got friends around here... I didn't just... immediately want to leave the Rangers. When I was bleeding from 17 gunshots in the drat desert I swore I was gonna find Buck, bring him to justice. See him behind bars with the scum he put away. I went into the hospital, street doc. I was hosed up but good... but I told him I wanted revenge. I told him I wanted... I don't even really remember. Guy had good facilities. I was hosed up and out of it on pain killers and some Peyote the family that rescued me gave me. I don't remember anything much about the Doc except that I swear he had antlers... But that was probably the Peyote... I don't know why he didn't just cut my throat and take the money. But he didn't. I woke up 8 days later in those good people's back room recovering. I gave them some of the money for their service and then went home. My friend Slip Dash hid the money for a bit, for a cut, but you know, he's good drek..." Kenneth leans forwards and says, "When I went in the Rangers did a full medical. I didn't... I knew some things were different. Some of the 'Ware I have I got in the line of duty but some of it... Well, some of it was new. Like I said, I don't know what I even told that doc I just know I woke up with more chrome than when I went under. So, they got all suspicious. Before I could even file my report they were treating me like I had done some shady poo poo. Like I got Buck killed. I realized I couldn't report exactly what the hell happened. I realized that Buck was more valuable than me. He was a better investigator and, frankly, a human. I got talked down to by junior Rangers more than ever in that first week back. Called a Trog by a god drat interviewing intern. I admit I was a bit single minded too. Then they started talkin' about putting me on Evidence Room duty because I didn't have the stomach for a fire fight. Like I turned tail and ran. I got shot 17 drat times but I'M A COWARD." He reflexively grabs the arms of his chair and leans forwards, anger causing him to tense up to the point that the chair creaks ominously before he seems to deflate and sit back, "Still I... I guess I do have friends, like you asked. I got Slip Dash, good guy, a bit of a drek head, but good guy, ya know and then there's McCall... Only man in the Rangers who believed me. He's been my friend since we were in the Army together. He's the one that talked my rear end into joining the Rangers..." Kenneth leans back and runs his hands through his hair and over his horns as he tries to calm himself down, "McCall thinks I should do what you say, get a legitimate job and forget about this but... I want to find out why Buck betrayed me, if it was just money. If he was the only one in the Rangers who was in on it and I want to see him go down. I can't do that from inside a real police agency. Lone Star ain't gonna be happy to see one of their boys doing off the books investigations and I can't be putting my money into certain... tasks if I'm earning it on the books. Ya know?" He leans forwards and motions around himself, "I admit freely I have a bit of an agenda... but everyone has a god drat agenda.Even if it's just earning their money and getting their dick wet. It's still their agenda." He shrugs and crosses his arms, leaning back to wait. ALSO, I just realized that I had used Karma only for my contacts and I had 6 points from my Cha to spend on them too... So I edited the sheet to reflect that, So now Kenneth has REAL FRIENDS. malikial fucked around with this message at 13:07 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Aug 8, 2014 12:59
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Snowstormquote:
No ties is the entire point of moving down here! Look how well the first time being cut loose worked out. Admittedly that wasn't exactly what you'd call a willing departure from the norm but eh, it worked out then, it'll work out now. Especially considering I'm not leaving empty handed, da? Thanks to Big Z, I have a large enough stash to keep the Corp Court higher than their satellites, and with Stevie boy I'm not exactly going to run out of bullets. Denver was a tempting destination to be sure, but I never really liked the encircled cities, where the border is the city limits. It creates complications whenever it's time to leave town and go to different markets, factoring in border crossing on a regular basis is a pain for the SINless and you'd see why I'd prefer a little bit of legroom in my homestead if you see what I mean. The same reason I never went out west to Seattle. No, the real reason I was drawn to Dallas is the gun control, or lack there of. Do you know how much of a pain in the rear end it can be to get some mods done on my precious guns when I have to go through the black market for loving EVERYTHING!? First you have to find the guy who sold you the gun to find if he's got any modifications for it in stock, he never loving has, so you have to hire a decker to find the rear end in a top hat who does, who happens to be behind proxies and poo poo and will only talk on the matrix, which I have no loving clue how it works so like I said, I have to get some decker rear end in a top hat who's probably ripping me off to find him. When I do find the mod guy, I have to go to his place of business, offer him my guns to take a look at and he says he can be done within 24 hours to attach the gas vent, which I need because at the speed I shoot recoil is a loving bitch. The problem is I'm supposed to be the muscle for a shipment moving in, and I now have no guns. Which means I have to find the first rear end in a top hat who sold me the gun in the first place to get me some spares, and of course they loving jam, and uuuuugggghhhhhhhhhhhh. Here? I go into store in the middle of the day, say "Hey, can I get some gas vents on my Predators quickly?" They say "Okay" and hand me the bill, I pay the bill, I get the guns, everyone's happy and I don't have to deal with loving middle men trying to get their itty bitty cuts before I get pissed off and cut them! Sorry, it's just so nice not to just be able to talk about guns and what to put on them without having to hush my voice in case Lone Star has an ear out. I trawled the bars for a while, nothing really to my taste for the most part, too much Whiskey and no Vodka, although I did find this one place downtown. It's a bit childish of me, but now that I am an adult, I can afford to indulge my inner child: and the house of bounce is loving awesome on nearly any drug. There's a modern nightclub section and then... a cross between a bouncy castle and a mosh pit in the centre, no sharp objects and it's not a place to hold a drink in, but everyone's bouncing around, stoned, high or whatever and the music is pounding. Got money to burn and don't get motion sick? Fan-loving-tastic. And my coat is loving fabulous, thank you. Leaving UCAS was a hardship to be sure, but sometimes you just have to get up and walk away, not looking at the giant explosion that killed a few important figures in the underworld with powerful friends who probably now want me dead because of it... poo poo, I said that out loud, didn't I?
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Aug 8, 2014 13:14
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QuantumNinja posted:Ah-Ri-Yung "Sparrow" Han - Atlatl Sparrow Eh, I haven't done much grand theft since I split with Finch. I mean, I can totally get a car to move on its own with a little magic, but it's real slow and I can't do much about all the anti-theft tracking stuff. Anything I've taken over there recently has been some sort of, uh... Convenient loot? You know, someone tries to get the jump on me, I murk 'em with lightning or whatever, and - hey, look! - their car's just sitting there, ripe for the taking! Sweet, free money! Thanks, dead guy. Racing's been a little meh lately too. I recently swapped out the ricer for something a little more utilitarian and less flashy. Slower too, but the extra seats are kind of important since everyone seems to want to hire me on as some kind of glorified illegal soccer mom, shuffling kids around to and from the run. Prior to that trade-in, the whole jig ran out on me being magical and all. I got too much of a reputation as a hustler, y'know? It got to the point that nobody wanted to play. They knew that the moment I pulled up, one of two things was happening: either I'd throw the race in spectacular fashion, or drop the spirit nitro and take first like it was nothing. I'm functionally retired. I'll still hang out at the races for fun and mess with the new faces on the circuit, though. Gotta keep those chrome domes in their place, heh. The races are only kinda-sorta organized, usually. Unless there's some big-money person that wants to come play, the meets are run like house parties. Someone hosts, calls go out. Those people call two more friends, and so on. I pride myself on being in the first or second round of calls almost every time. The biggest organizer on the north side is Benny V, a retired rigger from out near old Carrollton. He usually has us run the 35 to 121 to Allen route. Tons of money trades hands those nights. As for the actual racers, there are only two that really keep it exciting for me, so I guess they'd be the heavy hitters. First is Tires, an ork rigger that's been around here just a little longer than me. He got his start in Atlanta and moved out here for some reason. If I had to guess, it was shadows-related. Second is Li'l Smokey, an elf girl out of Amarillo. Pretty sure she's some sort of tech-adept, because she's always bringing the most ridiculous hardware to the meets. Totally rebuilt and overhauled engines, custom transmissions, the works. All done by herself. Biggest win? Technically a loss, but I guess it depends on if you're going by the race or the gains, heh. First time I came to one of Benny's meets, odds were pretty stacked in my favor. I pulled way ahead in the last quarter-mile before throwing it with a crash. Had a spirit blow out a tire for me. I hurt for days, but the split pot was totally worth it.
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Aug 8, 2014 15:07
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QuantumNinja posted:Where'd you come up? Are you from here in Dallas? I heard you hooked up with some---group a' some sort. I heard you were good with you words: tell me how you got into this line a' work, though, when you could be manipulatin' yer way through Plano. Cat sighs. "Born in Seattle, but my parents died when I was three, and I got handed off to my aunt here. She did her best, brought me up speaking Sperethiel and English, but when I was ten she lost her job, lost her health insurance, and kicked the bucket. Found a crew that took me in, but half the time we were shaking down middle managers and grifting folks who were barely any better off. I want to make a living hurting people who deserve it, make up for all that petty crap. Besides, conning on your own's too risky, and the folks I grew up with couldn't keep up."
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Aug 8, 2014 17:49
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QuantumNinja posted:Jack "All-Trades" Harris - Oo Koo Alternative Unitechnics was a relatively new megacorporation that focused on everything where the supernatural and technology mixed. Astral security, technomancers, technology affecting spells, burnout research, awakened security spiders, the "Factotum Project" (using magic or technomancy to augment the performance of skillwired agents) and so on. Though barely large enough to qualify for extraterritoriality, things were looking bright for the corporation. Until they, in an exceptionally poor show of foresight, managed to beat Saeder-Krupp to a key patent. Lofwyr didn't take too kindly to getting one-upped by what amounted to a megacorp version of a start-up and initiated a very hostile takeover campaign that saw the patent library raided, the leadership executed, most of the researchers extracted and the rest of employees unceremoniously fired. Leaving Alternative Unitechnics to exist in name only as on of the subsidiaries of Saeder-Krupp. Felix and Clarence had been sent to Dallas to scout out expansion possibilities when the takeover happened, leaving them stranded far from the corporation's core market areas. Between the distance, most of the fired workforce melting into other companies and the rest fading into marginal existence, they lost contact with their ex-coworkers. As for the technomagicians, they are a secretive bunch. Between practically open membership, being an organization only about 300 strong with strong technomancer and awakened presence, and being feared by both the general public and the corps, they have to be to survive. At any given time, a part of the members are moles for other organizations. Due to the varying ideologies of the members, the organization mostly deals in information exchange, sourcing software and magical supplies and initiation and submersion rites. It's hard to have a concrete agenda when almost everyone disagrees politically and anyone could be a spy. Meetings happen online in secure Matrix hosts. Any physical objects that need to be transported are sent anonymously via couriers, drones or dead drops. Everyone uses a separate handle for technomagician business and meetings in real life only happen between members that have built strong rapport with each other. One of the reasons Felix joined the organization, besides the access to an existing support network, was to hopefully find some of his ex-colleagues. The Technomagicians were an organization of interest for the corporate intelligence of Alternative Unitechnics due to their matching areas of expertise, and Felix expects that a lot of the other graduates of the "Factotum Project" will be joining the organization for the same reasons he has.
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Aug 8, 2014 21:53
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QuantumNinja posted:So you're a hacker, right? Oh, excuse me, 'decker', ain't it? You got displaced by that Aztlan invasion along with the rest a' yer friends and family, but where did they end up? Yer siblings still in the Dallas area? Surely you at least know some people you spent time with in undergrad: old room mates, advisers, fellow ACM associates? You catch up with 'em in yer free time, or just sit at home and jack? Jake "Hardline" Franklin Jake is in the middle of pulling off his duster (it's way too hot for a duster, what was he thinking?) and stops mid-escape to answer the question. "Well, we weren't really displaced in the traditional sense. We just got kicked out by our landlord so they could free up space for wealthy traditional displacees. Denton is the place for the well-to-do now, and I'm well-to-don't. Lucky my dad teaches Thaumatology up at UNT, or else they'd probably be in my shoes. As for my siblings, my big brother Wallace, or I guess it's "Caemaenor" now, he got out of here a long time ago. He moved up to Tír Tairngire to be around other elves, people who really "get" him, or some drek like that. We still keep in contact on the Matrix, but I haven't been able to take him seriously ever since he changed his name." At this point, Jake finally manages to extricate himself from his jacket and throws it haphazardly onto the back of his chair. He refuses to notice it slip slowly to the floor as he continues his thought. "I've got a few friends from college, like my roommate-turned-best friend Decky. He runs a comm-kiosk in the mall, but keeps a lot of wiz stuff under wraps. He helped me put together this deck," Here a shiny deck is brandished, "So he really knows his stuff. We don't tend to hang out a lot in meatspace, but we meet at this Data Haven called Null Set, which is pretty fun. Recently we've been running our Matrix Game 'Blood Bleeders' by publishers, but none of the bigs are biting, which is a real shame. Decky poured his heart and soul into that blood-code. Best blood I've ever seen in a game, hands down." Jake absently looks at his half-empty beer. He didn't like the taste but a real 'Runner was too cool to ask for something else. "Also, it's a shame because I need the money. Almost forgot that part."
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Aug 9, 2014 01:51
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QuantumNinja posted:
Redeye Sitting across from Texas Yellow, Redeye takes a drink of his beer and thinks for a second, gathering his thoughts, before answering. “Why Dallas? Well, like I mentioned, Seattle was not going to work for me anymore. Running or smuggling, I was going to have to take a break. Xavier had this option open to me so I took it. I thought about stopping in Denver, but the whole situation there between the Azzies, CAS, UCAS, and the Amerindians was off putting, felt like the whole city was 10 seconds away from a six way gunfight, so I motored on. I could have gone home to Japan but I’m sure someone at Renraku still remembers a certain theft from them that got a bit messy a few years ago. I was younger and dumber back then, helicopter chases involving triple-As and the JDF aren’t in my plans unless that’s what the job calls for, and I know many more tricks to deal with that now.” What kind of question is this, does Texas Yellow here want all his runners hanging out for Sunday afternoon barbecues or something? I’ll humor him for now since I really need some work. “What did I do for fun in Seattle? Well, it was much more comfortable than now. Had a nice apartment in a middle class neighborhood and none of my neighbors ever bothered me. Spent most evenings either working or being seen in the right places to attract work. When I wasn’t doing the smuggling thing, I guess I watched action trids or whatever else seemed interesting. Didn’t really get mixed up with go gangers or petty crime as any extra attention toward my line of work is bad, ya know?” “I’ve met a few people here in Dallas. Nome of them anything other than acquaintances though. There’s a deadbeat ganger that provides ‘protection’ to the building my shoebox apartment is in, though I don’t have much in the way of belongings as it is.” Thinking a little, “There’s Nail, some ork who runs the dive bar around the corner from my place. Apparently the gangers are afraid of him, Kermit the ganger I know, says Nail used to be a runner or something. Guy definitely seems like the real deal from my limited time around him. But nothing like old friends or enemies that I know of here so pretty much here for the money.” As he finishes up with this question, a thought comes to Redeye so he takes another drink of his beer and continues, “But you know, sometimes it’s good to have a new face around. Like you told me, the scene here is small. I’m sure the facial recognition software Lone Star uses has all your normal runners indexed already. You send one of your regulars around the block of a building to check it out and alerts are sent out. Me, well I’m not in the Dallas databases.” “Yeah, no control rig, don’t really consider myself a rigger anyways. Never got into all the drones and gadjets. Had the opportunity to get a control rig once, but didn’t take up the option, was going to be in debt to the T-Bird pilot I was working for at the time and didn’t like someone else dictating my options. There were a couple times in Seattle that having a Flyspy I could jump into would have been handy, but in general I’ve never really missed not having it. Even without it, I’m a great wheelman if needed, but in the past I’ve mostly depended on prepration and talking my way out of problems. And when everything goes wrong, I’m a pretty good shot as well.”
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Aug 9, 2014 06:05
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QuantumNinja posted:Chris "Double Tap" Johnson - ProfessorCirno "Hey chief, you know what they say, the best revenge is a life well lived. You see Tex - you don't mind that, do you? - the thing of it is, being burned by Ares, sure, it sucks, but it's just biz. Can't get mad a fellow for doing what, let's all be honest, most of us would do given the same situation. We're runners after all, being in this game excludes you from bein' a boyscout. The man in Ares saw an opportunity to better his life and he took it. Sure, I'm the bystander who gets burned in the process, but can you honestly say you've never seen a run where things go south and an innocent gets drawn in? We don't AIM for the civvies, but when luck goes rotten, sometimes the good people of the street find themselves between criminals on one side and, if you'll allow me to be frank about our corporate employees and the cops they hire, better dressed criminals on the other. Hey, don't get the wrong idea, give me a chance and I'll geek the idiot, but no need to go out LOOKING for him." Double Tap lights a cigarette and gives Texas Yellow a simsense-worthy smile. "So I try to get a life well lived. I ain't there yet. My previous living standards are a bit, eh, above my current pay scale. But, those things change. You don't get to be a good employee with a good paycheck if you ain't a little ambitious, and ambition serves me just as well on this side of the shadows. Now me, I like to do a little of everything, dabble in this and that, whatever catches my fancy. Like I said, I ain't at the place I wanna be just yet; no offense to this place, I'm sure it offers nice enough, but I'm used to Genetique-touched joygirls, samples of Horizon's newest, and front row tickets to Urban Brawl. And if that sounds disgusting, take another look at your bum fights, your beetle pits, and your bunraku parlors, and ask again who's really knee deep in the drek. But see, how I think is, this side of the shadows, that side off the shadows - the end goal's the same, yeah? That penthouse suite ain't for wageslaves. You gotta be a truly noteworthy suit - or someone powerful enough to rub elbows with them. Gettin' burned, it's a setback. Minor one, I'm sure. Don't matter what side of the law you operate on, everyone's looking for a bigger piece of the pie. I'm just grabbin' it from the other end, is all. Front row seats to Urban Brawl is nice, but when I'm done, they're gonna be box seats."
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Aug 10, 2014 18:40
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QuantumNinja posted:Gabriel De Los Santos - Arkangelus You hit the bulls-eye on that, we're... we were exceptional, not the exception. I still think I am, but who knows... As for my brother, a mix of family and "family". My cousin Rosario comes by most days to help out. She or one of her brothers generally covers for me when I'm working. People from Free Aztlan help out some too, as you know he was one of their shining stars. Alvaro and I are still pretty close, he's around a lot. Chuy and Rodrigo come by at least a couple times a weak, they were with us that night... Others come by as well. You know I AM grateful but... Well we'll see how long before the visits become less frequent, the help and financial assistance offered more sparingly. They all say they'll be around until it's over, one way or another. I'll believe when I see it. I've taken a few jobs with them since things went south. These days when I do I get paid though. I've done one pro-bono, but it's just 'cuz I don't want to end up feeling like I owe them for their help. And yeah, if someone from the barrio is in trouble I'ma lend a hand. We always have. We all got the same story, if we don't watch out for each other then ain't no one gonna watch out for us. People understand my situation though, they don't ask for me unless they're running out of options. I'm weaker, less energy in reserve, get sick real easy. I've got intermittent nausea that seems to pop up at the worst times, and when I get the shakes in a tussle don't expect me to do much more than my magic. At that point I'm more likely to shoot myself or a friend than the enemy. That shotgun is honestly more for show than anything else these days. What do I do between taking care of him, looking for a cure, and paying the bills? Not much time left over to do with. Still, everyone deserves to forget once in a while. I go out on the town with the boys sometimes, take my mind off it all. We party like the "good old days" and I pretend that I'm not Gabriel for a night. That I'm not gonna wake up the next day and have to take care of Raphael. Have to pretend that there is some sort of treatment that will make the nightmare end. Have to watch my brother die... Still, there's a chance right? Doc has figured out a few ways to treat the symptoms and slow the deterioration down. He says we're getting closer to figuring out exactly what we're dealing with. We'll see I guess. Arkangelus fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Aug 10, 2014 |
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Aug 10, 2014 19:40
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PICKS Alfred Nobel, Troll Wageslave (Adept Swordsman), played by Thanatosian Kenneth, Texas Ranger (Sammy), played by malikial Chris "Double Tap" Johnson, Human Aristocrat (Face/Pistoleer), played by ProfessorCirno Ah-Ri-Yung "Sparrow" Han, Human Spellrigger (Mage/Rigger), played by Atlatl Jake "Hardline" Franklin, Human Script Kiddie (Decker), played by Yamtaggler Gabriel De Los Santos, Elf Ganger (Mage), played by Arkangelus Marcina Montgomery, Elf Rich Kid (Mage), played by Ronwayne I'd like to thank everyone for applying. I'm sorry to everyone I didn't pick; if I had more free time, I'd run two games and take you all (this is something I seriously considered). As it is, this was an awesome showing of applications that actually put me in a difficult spot with picking people. Thanks to everyone who applied, and for your immense patience with me while I moved. Homework. For those who are picked, answer the following about your fellow 'runners: One of them, you've heard about. Tell us how exactly the story went, and what it tells you about how they work. One of them, you've worked with, or for, or had them work under you. Tell us about that job and how it went. Remember that you were both instrumental to its success or failure. One of them, you've worked against. Describe that job, and why you don't (or do) hate each other in light of everything. Game Thread. I'll have the game thread up in just a few hours, after I run a few errands. Get the homework done when you can. QuantumNinja fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Aug 11, 2014 |
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Aug 11, 2014 16:25
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Shame I didn't get in, but there's always the next game. Good luck with the game. Have fun.
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Aug 11, 2014 18:52
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Kinda sick and really tired, will post what you asked for later. But I wanted to post some themesong stuff for QuantumNinja, I forgot to include them in my character sheet! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYeghF4mA8Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mmhMpNf01s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL5c31KRgiY
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Aug 11, 2014 21:33
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So I hear there's this Johnson that got burned that goes by the name Double Tap. Apparently he's been picking up contacts like mad, because it feels like everyone I pick up has at least met the guy. I figure he's just sitting on those numbers, waiting for the right time call everyone in. I imagine he still acts like he's a J despite being on the other side of the table now. There was this one night where I get woken up by a call from Marcina. I'm real annoyed at first - right? - but it's an emergency call and payed nicely. Didn't ask why or how things came about. Not my problem. So I come screaming in through the middle of a pretty wild firefight in an uparmored hatchback and drat near slide right into her. Totally intentional. I was providing cover. Yeah. Looked awesome. I get them out of there no problem, and after dropping off some of her less fortunate buds at the doc, we go smoke. She's cool, I'd work with her again. Got a little bit of a perma-bake going on, though. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Then there was this other time I was doing some cheesy surveillance job - no big deal - when I start losing control of one of my flies. The decker with me turns out to be waaay not as good as the J made him out to be, so he can't do much besides identify the icon trying to nab it. Had the identifier Hardline. Whatever. I just animated it myself, forcing it to shut its eyes and fly on back to me. Dude don't know what's up about my magical override, yo. But really, gently caress deckers.
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Aug 12, 2014 00:19
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We're live!
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Aug 12, 2014 07:53
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Homework: (Lemme know if I stepped on anyone's toes) "I hear there's this mage, Sparrow, that runs as a rigger. Weird if you ask me, but to each their own. I heard that one time she was racing and the competition wasn't exactly playing fair. He'd pulled a few tricks to get ahead and then blown the bridge behind him. Sparrow just up and jumped the gap. Way I hear it, no ramp, nothing. Car just lifted off the ground and landed on the other side without missing a beat. If the story's true she has got some skills, regardless of how she chooses to use them." "Yeah, I worked on that Ares job a while back. With the Johnson, Double Tap that got bounced out afterwards. Don't understand why, I wish more jobs went as smoothly as that one did. The intel was good, job was straightforward. Only catch was that it seemed like he wanted us to attract attention. Which we did, I ended up conjuring up a phantasm of a pack of hell hounds. Threw in some actual fire to make it convincing. Got paid at the end of the day, everything was gravy. Like I said, don't know why he got burned. Don't know why he hasn't struck back either. You gotta take your pound of flesh or people just gonna keep walking all over you." "That Ranger is a runner now? Huh, go figure. Usually Free Aztlan and the Rangers have an enemy of my enemy is my friend relationship. We keep our heads down, they mostly leave us alone. Unfortunately once in a while we bring more heat from Aztlan than they want to deal with and the hammer drops. We'd just finished a job on the other side of the border and Aztlan was hot on our tail. We cross and think we're home free but then the rangers jump on us. We split up. Raffy and me got out safe with our decker. The rest of the guys weren't so lucky. I saw the Trog and his partner on the news vids at some news conference congratulating the Rangers for 'Upholding law and order' or some drek like that. No hard feelings though. I mean if I see him on the other side of a run I'm not gonna have a problem frying him. But I could work with him too. I'm sure he was just following orders. You point me to whoever gave the order though it'll be a different story."
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Aug 13, 2014 22:57
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 04:50 |
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Homework: I've heard drek about Kenneth. Good drek, of course. I read on Runnr (Shadowrunner forum) about how he got in a shoot-out with Corpsec that lasted a good 30 seconds. Evidently he shot six of them through the head and punched the seventh one out a window. The last one, and I'm quoting here, "loving pissed his pants and ran." I thought it was just some runner hyping himself up, so I did some digging. Found the security cam footage, and it all went down just like the stories said. The picture quality wasn't good enough to show me the last guy's pants, though, which was a shame. Yeah, I worked with Gabriel De Los Santos. We were doing a pretty standard extraction, when all of the sudden we got jumped by, like, fifty goddamned guys. You should have seen this guy, spells flying left, right, up, down, and some directions that hurt my brain. It was a drat bloodbath. Then, once the smoke cleared, he just starts shaking and coughing like you wouldn't believe. We get him and the extraction out of there and by the time we get our pay, he's mostly fine again. I offer him a ride to the clinic, but he shakes his head and says something about a "pre-existing condition." He's a tough fucker if he runs with that kind of "condition" Once I was working some counter-surveillance when I noticed a couple of drones buzzing around the secure zone, evidently they belonged to a rigger name of Sparrow. I had just finished the override when suddenly I lost the visual feed and none of the controls would respond. They had somehow managed to control it without the controls, but they forgot to turn them off, so I managed to subtly invert its Y-axis. I wish I could have seen the look on the rigger's face the next time they turned it on and it lunged for the pavement. But seriously, gently caress riggers
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Aug 15, 2014 17:58
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