It’s once again time to get the latest material index updated and to transfer the material from the old one to the main index tabs at the top of the page. If you want the very latest material, it may be necessary to either scroll down or consult the “Recent Posts” listing-widget on the lower right. The previous Latest Materials Index can be found HERE, and – for those who like to rummage at random – the full post-by-post index can be found occupying a great deal of space in the lower right column.

   Eclipse Classless d20 Character Construction Cribsheet / Sample Character List - Character Creation Primer - Compiled Martial Arts.

   Subindexes: RPG Design - Twilight Isles - Battletech – Champions – d20 – Legend of the Five Rings – Shadowrun – White Wolf – Other Games – Battling Business World

Cumulative General Index.

   d20 Material:

• Twilight Isles Setting:
  • Rudra:
    • Rudra at Second Level: A Thunder Dwarf warrior. Another Eclipse point-buy d20 character example.
    • Rudra’s letters home about events in the Twilight Isles: #1,
  • Frederonon:
    • History of a Conjurer - a collection of background notes, including a long list of names, friends and enemies, the House of Rhiannon (a new Shadow Elf House), and an experimental Party Template.
    • Pregame History, including his House and Curse.
    • Diary: Part I and Part II
    • Experimental Thaumaturgy - some notes on his spell designs.
  • S’stam: An Ikam Follower-Bodyguard.
• Federation-Apocalypse Session Logs: Session 85a, Session 85b, Session 85c, Session 86a, Session 86b, Session 86c, Session 86d, Session 87a, Session 87b, Session 87c, Session 88, Session 89a, Session 89b, Session 90a, Session 90b.
• Federation-Apocalyupse Sample Character: Abigail Saunders-Tabard, Iron Homemaker. Housewife, Mystical Cook, and Martial Artist.
• The Tongues of Heaven: Combined enchantment-relics and quest objects.
• The Fedyra: A race of dragonblooded fey.

   RPG Design:

• The Magical Worldview, The Magical Ruler (general theory, d20 mechanics), The God-Favored (general theory, d20 mechanics), The Noble-Blooded (general theory, d20 mechanics), Offices (general theory, d20 mechanics),
• Star Trek Physics: Keeping new principles to a minimum in science-fiction RPG’s.

   General RPG Material:

• Uncontrolled Substances: Zashin (A drug that extends the user’s mind into other dimensions),

   Shadowrun Material:

• Playing with Pixels: In search of a new Shadowrun video game

Keddi korrekció, 2058/45
Amanda A. Art

A Keddi korrekció, mint annak olvasói kiválóan tudják, a hét legfontosabb híreinek utóéletét tárgyalja néhány mondatban. Lássuk hát, milyen események követték az általunk is bemutatott fontos történéseket.

A Renraku Arcológia építésénél történt baleset után a cég seattle-i vezetősége úgy döntött, nem tartja meg tovább a főépítészt az állásában. A helyére a baleset harmadnapján Arihito Ganju került, akinek nevéhez számos építészeti újítás és hajmeresztő megoldás köthető, melyek egyelőre csakis Japánban találhatóak meg.

A CBM kórházban történt végzetes leállást követő nyomozások a sokak által suttogott szabotázs-elméletet erősítették meg. Ezek alapján a generátorok ellenőrzését végző személyek hamis igazolvánnyal kerülhettek a gépek közelébe, melyeket kedvükre és tervük szerint alakították olyanra, hogy az áramszünet alatt maguk is meghibásodjanak. A rendőrség komoly erőkkel nyomoz a tettesek után. A tacomai vonatbaleset után, melyben a Biotin Electrics erőforrás-menedzsere, Hamamoto Akagi is elhunyt, eltűnt a védőőrizet szemei elől annak titkárnője, a 27 éves Reika Ayami Hudson. A Lone Star eddig nem akadt nyomára.

A város alatti metró-szervizalagutakból sikerült teljesen kiűzni a rovarszellemeket, leszámítva néhány, emberi forgalom elől szinte teljesen elzárt aknát, melyekben a munkák most is folynak. A közlekedés visszaállt az eredeti menetrendre és zavartalanul működik.

A Felelősséggel A Gyermekeinkért Alapítvány kuratóriumának elnöke, John Capricci nyomára bukkantak Aztlanban, miután a szervezetről kiderült, hogy a Bigio család pénzmosásának egyik eszköze. Seattle-i hatóságok felvették a kapcsolatot az Aztechnology helyi felügyeleti szerveivel és megkezdték az együttműködést a férfi előkerítésére és kiadására a Lone Star számára.

Az everetti új, Felébredtekből álló banda egyik tagját sikerült sarokba szorítani. A tünde egy sikátorban firkált egy szöveget a falra, amikor nyomára bukkantak. A férfi ahelyett, hogy átadta volna magát a hatóságoknak, a helyszínen öngyilkos lett. A falon ezt lehet olvasni: „A Tűzokádók felébredtek”.

(Lord Rufus)

Új banda Everett határán
Jorge Cidarez

A hatóságok nyomozásának következtében mostanra nyilvánvalóvá vált, hogy az utóbbi időben általunk is ismertetett Everett határán elkövetett bűntények mind egy csoporthoz, egy új bandához köthetőek. A Lone Star mágikusan aktív helyszínelői már korábban megállapították, hogy a bűntényeket – főleg gyújtogatásokat – mágiával követték el, mostanra pedig sikerült kideríteni, hogy a helyszíneken egymáshoz hasonló, rejtett személyes lenyomatokat, ugyanazon személyek auráinak emlékét találták meg.

A Lone Star everetti rendőrkapitánya, David Myles mai nyilatkozatában elmondta: „A banda, mely valószínűleg teljesen vagy legalább többségében Felébredt, mágikusan aktív RASZ-talan személyekből áll, a bűntény-sorozattal látott neki területe kijelölésének, hogy helyet követelhessen magának a kerületi határon komoly csempésztevékenységet is folytató Kabuki Ronin banda mellett.”

A támadások célpontjai jellemzően a Kabuki Ronin banda területén elterülő szórakozóhelyek, raktárak és pincék illetve ezek környékei voltak, a banda válasza így hamarosan várható, a helyiek nagy nyugtalanságára.

Arra a kérdésünkre, hogy a hatóságok mit tesznek az egyszerű emberek nyugalmának biztosítására, Myles kapitány azt mondta: „A rendőrség erőit átcsoportosítottuk, melynek megkönnyítésére szerencsére más kerületektől is kaptunk segítséget, így az érintett területeken háromszorosára növeltük a járőrök sűrűségét. A kerület polgármesterének engedélyével ideiglenesen változtathattunk továbbá a tűzengedély szabályain is, így a járőrök a valóban gyanús jelenségekre fegyveresen is eljárhatnak, hacsak ezzel szemben a központból külön tiltást nem kapnak.”

„Kiemelten fontos, hogy Everett békéjét és biztonságát az elmúlt évekhez hasonlóan továbbra is fenntartsuk. Nem engedhetjük meg, hogy a kerületben kialakulhasson egy újabb fél-alvilági bűnszervezet, ennek érdekében pedig minden szükséges lépést megteszünk” – hangsúlyozta a kapitány.

(Lord Rufus)

Újabb otaku a Microdeck Industries gyermekei között
Aldonse Gamer

A seattle-i székhelyű Microdeck Industries (MDI) magas beosztású kutatóinak gyermekei között egy újabbról bizonyosodott be, hogy otaku. Otaku névvel illetik az utóbbi időkben egyre gyakrabban – bár még így is elenyésző számban – feltűnő csodagyerekeket, akik képesek kiberdekk nélkül elérni a Mátrixot és ott a képzeletük segítségével utazni.

Jeremy Ianstone a cég Mátrix-rendszerének vezető programozójának a fia kérésünkre szívesen demonstrálta képességét. Az idősebb Ianstone kiváló kiberdekkjének kijelzőjén követtük Mátrix-útján a gyermeket, aki olyan könnyen vett minden akadályt, amelybe ütközött, akárha apja dekkjét használta volna.

Különös, hogy a MDI több kutatójának gyermekén megfigyelték, hogy egyfajta félálomszerű állapotban képesek elérni a Mátrixot mindenféle kibernetikus segítség nélkül is. Nem tudni, mi okozza a jelenséget az MDI berkein belül, annyi azonban bizonyos, hogy a cégnél idén létrehoztak egy külön kutatócsoportot, hogy az okaira fény derülhessen.

Talán a csodagyermekek jelentik a nagy visszatérést az MDI számára, amely a szakértők szerint mára az AAA megatársaságok között lehetne, ha a 2029-es Összeomlás nem sújtja olyan érzékenyen. A cég Összeomlást követő ügyvezető igazgatója, Charles Gates verejtékes munkával összeszedte az MDI darabjait és újrakezdte a munkát, melyet gyermeke és utódja, Brian Gates III is folytat.

Brian Gates III gyermekéről, a computer-zseni Brian Gates IV-ről egyébként a szakmai világban sokan úgy tartják, hogy maga is otaku, de ez az állítás nem került még bizonyításra, az ügyvezető igazgató pedig nem siet szétoszlatni a kételyeket.

(Lord Rufus)

   Here we have something from Editorial0, who would like to see a new Shadowrun video game, and likes to write things like that up as proposals. Sadly, his formatting will not translate properly to the blog, ergo I’ve done a bit of formatting and fixed five or six typos. Without further preamble, here we have the

Shadowrun:

RPG Game Design Document

   Introduction

   This document is meant to showcase design ideas and the Shadowrun game, and how they can work together.

   Shadowrun is a classic pen-and-paper RPG game, specializing in cyberware, computer hacking, and espionage involving megacorporations who act as corrupt quasi-governments amid the decay of society. Despite this, it’s not known for exceptionally grim or dour character. It ranges from anarchic fun to cautious strategic planning to real heroic stories.

   Shadowrun also had a more unusual aspect than its mix of character and setting. Unlike almost every other cyberpunk game, Shadowrun mixed in fantasy elements. Magic, dragons, and elves played as much a role in defining the world as guns and computers. Magic is also fairly powerful – a starting character can toss fireballs, just as he or she might toss grenades.

   Despite this strong mix, Shadowrun has been held back after a strong run in the 1990’s, with divided ownership. It has not has a video game RPGH in years, despite having a record of success and a good background to work with.

   The perfect opportunity exists to build a new Shadowrun game using modern technology. Computers can now do justice to the vibrant, complex world of Shadowrun. Furthermore, modern computer games can do it big. As games like FUEL and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion demonstrate, games can now feature huge and complex environments with plenty to explore and accomplish.

   The time is now. Shadowrun can tale advantage of existing genres and ready-built audiences to stage a comeback. No other game can offer the amazing varieties of gameplay. No other game mixes the modern, the retro, the futuristic, and the fantastic. Take advantage of it!

High Concept

   Shadowrun will take place in both 3rd-person and 1st-person perspective, allowing the player to choose the most convenient or personally-liked form of exploration and combat. During the game, the player will explore large, open-world content comprising dozens of unique neighborhoods in twelve themed areas.

   The entire world becomes available shortly after starting a new game, but the game is self-balancing. Some areas may be too dangerous for starting characters. The player may choose to advance in whatever area he or she sees fit, granting great control over gameplay and difficulty.

   Although a major quest-line acts as the centerpiece of the game, the overall style of the game remains player-directed content. The player can take the missions he or she likes, even down to making friends and allies of various game factions. These factions include gangs, syndicates, and corporations. Players can even functionally create missions for themselves, such as raiding rivals to please friends and then fencing the loot. Characters will earn experience to build their characters during this or pre-set missions.

   Players may use experience to build up a variety of bonuses for the character. Nearly everything and anything the player can do is affected by a skill and/or attribute, from buying equipment to shooting a gun to casting a spell.

   And the game will feature a wide variety of powers and gear. Characters can carry everything from automated medical kits to advanced firearms to advanced computers to crack enemy data systems. Furthermore, characters can customize clothing to their tastes, and can wear whatever they choose. Armor will not affect a character’s appearance except for certain high-end armors more akin to “walking tank” than bullet proof vest.

   Of course, the gear and armor the character uses will directly impact how NPC’s react. Wear heavy military armor and carry a cannon down a commercial street, and civilians will run away and call the police. Visit the high-end retailers, however, and they will react pleasantly. Since “legwork” is a major element of the game, this is important.

   Legwork is a term derived from detectives – walking around and gathering information. Shadowrun takes this concept to new heights in gaming. Characters can visit contacts or hunt up leads to find a wide array of useful information, though it will usually cost money. Maps, alternate entry points, likely enemy numbers and equipment, codes to access systems – all of this can be had for the right price from the right contact. This once again lets players develop their own difficulty. This also gives players strong incentive to develop and use social skills, since these may be necessary to gain contacts in new areas.

   As mentioned, each area has its own character, including the following zones:

• Downtown Seattle – High-tech commercial offices
• Tacoma – Medium industrial and commercial
• Bellevue – High-end entertainment
• Renton – Small offices and residences
• Everett – Sea port and smaller towns
• Snohomish – Farms and agricultural combines
• Fort Lewis – Military base and zoo
• Redmond – Crime-ruled urban hell
• Puyallup – Half slum, half eerily beautiful wasteland
• Salish-Sidhe – Wilderness with small towns

   Each area, moreover, has two or three residences the player can buy and sell. Each residence can be used to store gear (gear is shared between areas). It is possible for NPC’s to attack the apartment of the gear stored inside. (The player can always get it back, but may wish to invest in an improved security system in the future!)

   Although driving will not be available in the basic game, the character can use or call taxis to ferry him or her about. (This element could be explored and added in expansions or sequels.)

   But the key core elements of gameplay are Shadowruns: criminal missions for profit. Each mission may require different things, from kidnapping to extortion to blackmail, to perennial favorite theft. Although the basic mission structure doesn’t vary hugely, the location, enemies, and challenges do. Although missions are mostly randomized, different mission-givers tend to offer certain types and work for certain employers.

   The character is paid in cold cash, but also gains experience and possibly favor with a faction. Special rewards might be offered for unique, pre-generated missions (which appear at certain points to develop a faction further or gain allies. All main-quest missions are unique.

   Not only are most missions randomly generated, but most buildings are randomly generated, at least past the first floor or lobby area. This enables the creation of large, intricate worlds procedurally generated without the necessity of specifying every object. Likewise, the character can interface with computers to get data or get around certain challenges, such as locked doors or hidden information.

   The player need not go it alone, however. Several NPC’s can assist and lend their guns and skills to the player’s cause. The player character effectively has access to their abilities and skills while they follow him or her, although they act independently in combat. That is, if the character needs to hack a computer, an NPC with better skills would automatically act instead. 

Plot

   Shadowrun is essentially an open-world game, but the player is presented with a major central mystery, which is a good source of missions and rewards. This plot should certainly engross the player, but is also available as needed. The player need not follow up on the main questline until he or she desires. Furthermore, it will self-regulate, as certain missions within it do not activate until the player becomes strong enough to handle the challenges.

   The game begins with the player character being abducted, beaten, and seemingly left for dead. However, a mysterious magician hauls character to his hovel and quickly heals the limited damage. The character soon finds that not only was he or she attacked, but all accounts are drained and the character’s very legal identity erased. With no choice but to turn to crime, the character must find a new life on the shady side of the street.

   Unraveling this mystery will require numerous missions, finally discovering not only who destroyed your life (and why), but also uncovering a terrible threat to the city. Final victory involves several related missions to defeat a villainous trio of greedy corporate executives, corrupt government operatives, and terrorist madmen. The final battle pits the main character against a similar enemy, so that whatever the player chooses to specialize in, the enemy does also.

   The end of that quest need not end the fun, as is common in open-world games. The player can continue with his or her character and go on to explore the world more.

Interface

   Shadowrun will use a versatile third-person / first-person variable interface for maximum playability. This allows players to use whatever view is most pleasing to them or convenient to their circumstances. First person, for example, is particularly suited to run-n-gun gameplay, while many players choose 3rd-person perspective for exploration.

   A major source of difference also lies in the use of computer versus console controls. In order to maximize the user of both, this game will incorporate a menu-selection system that can be equally used by either controller or mouse with only small tweaks. Console users will flick left or right to change sections, and equip items by scrolling up or down through lists and pressing a button. Mouse users can more easily change between menus.

   A character’s equipment capacity will be fairly low, and simply grabbing every odd item is not terribly useful. Therefore, there will be fewer issues with oversize menus and too much information. To further ease its use, the menus will instantly open a comparison to current equipment to display the difference.

   Equipping characters will be handled through the use of a paper-doll system, so that the player sees the differences immediately.

Equipment and Visual References

   Many games now display strong visual reference for a character’s equipment. Shadowrun will not focus on this. That is, we assume a character’s armor is usually semi-hidden under clothing and does not display, while many weapons are hidden or relatively small, such as concealed weaponry or small firearms in general. Instead, Shadowrun will cater to the player’s sense of style by allowing extensive visual customization. A character’s clothing is separate from armor and usually covers it.

   Exceptions include heavy armors, such as military or security armor. These not only visually identify the character, but trigger a fear reaction in the AI – wearing it in public is a serious crime. Likewise, a character’s weapon can significantly affect interactions.

   Players can retain a second set of clothing and switch between the two. As mentioned, carrying capacity is finite. This option is for players who wish to spend that capacity mixing subtlety and raw power.

Role-Playing and AI

   As a strong role-playing game, Shadowrun contains many customization options. Amost all of these affect how the character intereacts with the game world. In essence, the character is also playing a role, though of course the player is in control of both levels. This means that a pacifist character might choose clothing and gear which mark him or her as a violent killer, and use that to proceed effectively.

   Every piece of clothing carries attributes, which affect AI. In short, these are as follows:

• Fear – Fear makes AI more nervous and makes the use of intimidation easier. NPC’s are more likely to run away. At high levels, pedestrians may call the police on sight. It isn’t a good idea to carry a missile launcher and military armor down Main Street! This may make combat easier, because enemies will run more easily.
• Cool – Cool is a general social enhancer. Everyone will like you more for it. It is very non-specific. A few characters don’t like Cool, so it has a negative effect on them.
• Professional – Professional appeals to many fewer people than Cool, but much more strongly. Not incidentally, these people may also have more power to help the player. Most stores and the better classes of criminals and contacts like Professional.
• Poor – Poor clothes act as a negative trait for some zones, where the area has a lot of wealthy people. They have a positive trait in poor zones, where the character “fits in”.
• Rich – Rich clothes act as the reverse of Poor image. Some zones do not respond to either trait.

   Every AI will essentially use the same routines and code, but different priorities decide their actions. Priorities are decided by thresholds, where certain reactions trigger at certain thresholds of value. A character with a high fear threshold will not blink if an armored titan bearing a Vulcan cannon walks down the street.

   Unlike most role-playing games, the amount of a character’s skill and bonuses determine what the character can convince them of. That is, having high social abilities and good circumstances get better results, even from the same dialogue options. Bargaining, for instance, does not simply pass/fail: it has dynamic results based on player success.

Role Playing and Protagonist

   The character’s actions also affect how other’s opinions. Doing evil deeds and murdering grants as much advancement potential as helping people and showing mercy. However, it does give Bad Karma.

   Karma is the Shadowrun term for experience points. Players will use this pool in order to raise attributes, skills, spells.

   The video game Shadowrun adds Bad Karma to the mix. Completing missions earns you Karma. If the protagonist character acts cruelly, however, he or she gains Bad Karma instead. This is used exactly like normal Karma, but also increases a permanent meter behind the scenes. This affects a character’s reputation, and as the character increase Bad Karma past pre-specified levels, he or she will gain increasingly nasty reputation. This is somewhat similar to the Fear attribute. However, some nasty types will appreciate the character’s disposition. This reputation can never be erased once earned.

   Shadowrun does not generally judge people’s conduct. Killing is not considered outright monstrous in self-defense (it’s a brutal world out there), but too much killing may change that Karma into Bad Karma – security guards are people, too.

   However, this doesn’t work one-way. Characters can change Karma into Good Karma through acting well. Enemies will frequently be wounded and in need of medical attention. Just as killing them grants Bad Karma, offering aid changes Karma into Good Karma. This works very similar to Bad Karma, but helps with nicer, kinder individuals.

   Dialogue is the larger and more important area. Dialogue in Shadowrun offers new options and seeks to take gaming interaction to the next level. Dialogue interactions with NPC characters offer several ways of interacting, not merely selecting from the standard one nice, one nasty, and one boring responses.

   Players will choose from at least three options in nearly any dialogue tree, a standard Shadowrun will live up to. However, other choices exist. In the dialogue system, it is also possible to simply choose to whip out a gun and start killing. Or you can opt to simply leave in mid-dialogue (rudeness makes some people unhappy if you come back).

   But the player can also use a classic keyword system. Dialogue won’t be sufficient to hand out all the information the player might want. Each character will have a list of keywords, which they can use to gather information. To avoid overly-demanding or erratic voicework, only keywords about which an NPC has any information will be available. Keywords are usually gained from skills, so that characters with high skills in certain areas can gain access to relevant gear, information, or services related to those skills. Of course, other contacts and stores are always available. Furthermore, characters must actively search out those new options using their keywords, and skilled players might locate them without the keywords.

   In short, keywords are a self-balancing gameplay element introduced to let players control their own progress through the game. 

Allies

   During the game, the character will encounter a number of potential allies, each with personal skills and styles. At the start they will only hire themselves out for pay and for a certain period of time, although they won’t abandon you during a mission. Each ally has individual quests and will join permanently for free once that’s taken care of to their satisfaction. Allies further act as contacts and may let you know about where to buy equipment or find information.

Gene

• “But I don’t wanna take a bath!”
• Gene is a young and inexperienced street shaman – an urban-bred spellcaster with a powerful totemic mentor. Gene follows the Rat, a survivor if ever there was one. Even without an education, Gene can be a powerful ally, as he learns many spells for secrecy and misdirection. Gene is the first character most players will likely meet, and the easiest to recruit permanently.

Jaws

• “This aincha daddy’s party, boy, so get a bigger gun next time.”
• A crude, loud, thuggish troll of man, Jaws likes to carry big guns and lay down a suppressing fire pattern on anything which threatens him. Or annoys him. Or exists. Alright, so he likes guns? Can you blame him, when Shadowrun offers so many examples of brutal firepower with enhanced cybernetic targeting and precision design? Despite his apparent lack of subtlety, he’s a keen observer and can use the Investigate skill effectively. Upfront doesn’t mean stupid, after all.

Jem

• “Bad news is the alarm just went off. Good news is I redirected it to the toaster. Anyone for a hot bagel?”
• Everybody needs a hobby, and Jem’s hobby is taking things apart and putting them back together. She’s a master of repair and deals with alarms and security systems with gusto. Although she affects a certain naivety, Jem is no stranger to danger. She uses automatic rifles effectively even without monstrous levels of cybernetics.

Millions

• “Do we have time for tea before robbing the vault?”
• Millions is an older, experienced wizard with a streak of adventure. With a thick British accent and equally-thick glasses, he retains a powerful streak of adventurism and love of excitement from his youth. Millions has done everything under the sun from ramjet racing to big-game hunting, and usually has a long-winded story of derring-do and death-defying stunts to prove it.

Rubicante

• “… and Cagnazzo and Barbaricia and Mad Rubicante!”
• In a world of brain-scrambling drugs, cybernetics overloads, potentially fatal computer feedback, and 24/7 media saturation, you find some people have “issues.” Rubicante makes those people look normal. Convinced he and his crew are demons dwelling in the Eighth Circle of Hell, he takes odd jobs to shoot people while preaching his insane babblings to his much-feared gang. Surprisingly knowledgeable about the human body, he’s also unusually good and patching up the wounds of his friends.

Shade

• “Guard to vault room ETA 24 seconds. Request orders. Confirmed, moving to silence threat.”
• Shade has several cybernetic systems devoted to stealth, and prefers the quiet approach to crime. Using several detection systems and improved sight, Shade can locate guard patrols and stay out of their way or take them down with lethal or non-lethal force. This character mostly uses melee weapons like swords while acting like a Hollywood movie ninja. Of course, no ninja would ever let someone see his face!

Contacts and Rep

   Contacts are a character’s business assistants in crime, and sometimes even friends. Characters can never have too many contacts… until they run out of fame. The player-character can only have so many contacts, and this is capped by the Reputation score. The more fame he or she acquires during play, the more contacts available.

   Contacts help the character and player out in a wide array of services. They may sell equipment or magic spell or computer programs, offer discounts for stores, transport the character around, offer training in skills, buy information, sell information such as maps, help the character get into secure locations, sell fake identity cards, get the character out of trouble with the police, stop the police from reinforcing corporate security, make local thugs and criminals respect the player, and much more.

   Obviously, no one contact offers all of that. Contacts normally offer only three services.

Skills

   Shadowrun uses a wide array of skills to cover every possible situation. Each skill has its own special uses and grants certain keywords.

• Combat
  • Pistols: Controls the use of one-handed firearms.
  • Rifles: Controls the use of two-handed firearms.
  • Gunnery: Controls the use of oversize weapons such as machine guns.
  • Melee: Controls both unarmed and armed melee combat.
  • Demolitions: Controls the use of explosives and grenades.
• Technical
  • Electronics: Controls the use of electronics (including opening maglocks) and repair.
  • Biotech: Controls the effectiveness of healing and information about opponents.
  • Computer: Controls hacking into computers.
  • Investigation*: Controls the visibility of useful items (they gain a glowing aura) and hidden clues.
• Social
  • Street*: Controls dealings with low-class people, squatters, and ordinary criminals.
  • Professional*: Controls dealings with government, police, and elite criminals
  • Corporate*: Controls dealings with businessmen and women.
  • Leadership: Controls the willingness of party members to act and grants bonuses. (Player-only)
  • Bargain*: Controls character’s earnings every time he or she earns money.
• Magical
  • Sorcery: Controls the effectiveness of spellcasting.
  • Conjuring: Controls the power of conjured creatures and their duration.

* – Indicates skills used most commonly in conversation.

Magic

   Magic is an integral part of the Shadowrun universe. Spellcasters, though uncommon, can become important figures in science, business, and government. And they’re very handy in committing crimes. While magic has its limitations, it remains a very considerable gameplay element that every player will want to use. Even if the player character does not wield magic, some allies can.

   The primary balancing factor for magic is that any points spent on magic are not spent on attributes, skills, or other bonuses. Thus, magic-using characters must spend their points wisely and well, and choose from a large array of effects.

   In general, magic has equivalents to guns and grenades, as well as enchanted melee weapons. While it can’t completely substitute for social skills, the right spells will make any social encounter vastly easier. Spells can protect characters or make them stealthier. Of course, characters have limits on how many spells they can maintain, because each one makes all actions more difficult.

Sample Adventure

   In order to really deliver a feel for how Shadowrun is played, we close by presenting a sample adventure, mixing all the elements we’ve described, and how they fit together to deliver a compelling game experience.

   Needing some money, the shadowrunner known as “Neon” finds her currently-favored employer, a colorless and seemingly unimportant middle manager. Gliding into the backroom at a family restaurant, they discuss a job quickly. The balding, buttoned-down businessman offers a few types of jobs. Our heroine decides on a theft job. She’ll have to enter a corporate facility and steal a small prototype.

   Neon chooses this job based on her own abilities. Charismatic and magically-skilled, she has a number of stealth options. After all, she doesn’t even need to carry a gun! Neon takes the job, and her natural talents lead to being offered more pay.

   Neon takes to the streets, and makes some phone calls to her contacts. She arranges to purchase a corporate ID for the facility, which costs her a painful portion of her profit from the job. Still, the ability to walk right into the front door is worth it.

   Neon calls up her associates, and asks for Shade to come help her. Neon takes a cab to her apartment, changing into an official business suit. With these bonuses, she casts a spell to make herself even more Sociable, and heads for the corporate offices.

   Neon and Shade stroll right into the corporate building by the front door. Neon has stacked so many bonuses that she handily persuades the guards she belongs there. In fact, she even cons them into giving her information, and knows where to look into the building. Neon’s act is so convincing that the guards simply ignore Shade’s presence. Had Neon brought along the cigar-chomping brute Jaws instead, she might not have been so lucky.

   The pair head towards their target, although it takes a little exploration to find the right direction. Getting worried that she might be running out of time (those corporate guards might eventually realize something is wrong), she has Shade hack into a computer in a dark corner. Office computers don’t have good access, so Shade must risk going deeper into the system.

   After poking around the office Matrix for a few minutes, Shade finds the information he needs. Shade grabs a building map, and for good measure opens a security door. Logging off, the pair has definitely increased their risk. Building security will soon notice the inexpert hacking. Neon decides to move fast and blasts a guard with a Stun spell, hides the sleeping man, and takes his security card.

 With the security door down and a card in hand, they get to the prototype lab in mere moments. Inside the lab, Neon waits out of sight while Shade sneaks around. The prototype is easily taken because the few lab workers aren’t prepared or alarmed. Unfortunately, taking the device finally triggers an alert as security puts 2 and 2 together.

   The guards only know the general location of Neon and Shade, and they don’t intend to stay still. Neon leads the way with a stunning spell ready, and asks Shade to ready a shockprod. They smack a few guards before they can raise an alarm, but the security team relocates them every time they do.

   Feeling overwhelmed, Neon checks her map one more time, and looks for exits. She finds a couple, and guesses that the service doors would be less guarded. She takes time to become invisible, and she and Shade sneak down into the basement. Once there, they have to evade only a few guards, and open the doors.

   Uh-oh! The pair took too long and now might have the police to deal with. With cops on the outside and guards on the inside, they choose to hold back. Neon spotted another exit nearby. There’s a service tunnel that leads out to a loading dock. Fortunately, the worst is already behind them. The two slip off into the night – and they’ve got a delivery to make.

Visszavonul az Ace of Spades?
Victoria Funes

Talán pillanatnyi levegőhöz juthatnak az Ares Macrotechnology seattle-i részlegének ellenségei. A cég rettegett, hivatalosan nem is létező különleges osztaga, a nyílt titoknak számító Ace of Spades ugyanis bejelentette, hogy visszavonul a szakmából.

A rutinos árnyvadászokból toborzott különítmény az utóbbi hat év legsikeresebb vadászat-szériáját vitte véghez – a csapatot alkotó egyének kilétét máig homály fedi, ám csapatukhoz számtalan kisebb-nagyobb bűntény köthető. A bűnözők csoportja onnan kapta a nevét, hogy minden akciójuk helyszínén hátrahagytak egy-egy acélból készült pikk ászt.
A csapat tegnap egy üzenetet juttatott el szerkesztőségünknek, melyben kifejtik, hogy úgy gondolják, ideje „teret engedniük a nyüzsgő ifjúságnak”, hogy azok is megmutathassák, mire képesek. Az üzenetből kiderül, hogy a csapat az Ares zsoldjában követte el az utóbbi hat év bűntényeit, köztük a nagy port kavaró Felelősséggel A Gyermekeinkért Alapítvány pénzszállító autóinak múlt héten elkövetett kirablását és a pénz eltüntetését is. A levélben a csapat kifejti, hogy ezen a legutolsó bevetésen a cég el kívánta árulni őket, így úgy döntöttek, kilépnek a megatársaság irányítása alól és elhagyták Seattle területét.
Sokak számára érdekes lehet, hogy állításuk szerint az elkövetkező egy éven belül szétosztják a zsákmányolt százharmincmillió nujen felét kiválasztott seattle-i seftesek, Johnsonok és árnyvadászok között, amennyiben azok teljesítenek számukra egy-egy feladatot, melyet a Mátrixon ismertetnek majd velük.

A pénzről egyébként eltűnése után három nappal, hétfőn derült ki, hogy a seattle-i maffia egyik családjához, a Bigio családhoz tartozott. A pénzt az alapítványon keresztül akarták tisztára mosni. A Felelősséggel A Gyermekeinkért Alapítványt hatósági rendelettel már szerdán feloszlatták, kurátorai ellen azonnal eljárást indítottak. John Capricci, a Kuratórium elnöke eltűnt.

Az Ares seattle-i részlege nem reagált az Ace of Spades írta levéllel kapcsolatos megkeresésünkre, riporterünket nem fogadták.

(Lord Rufus)

Rovarszellemek a csatornákban
George Walter Mikowecz

A tacomai és rentoni lakosok eddig csak félve suttogtak róla, mert nem volt  kézzelfogható bizonyíték. Ma hajnalban azonban egyértelművé vált: a seattle-i metró Tacoma-Rentoni szakaszának szervízalagútjait ellepték a darázsszellemek. Ma hajnalban, három korábbi, még eheti támadás után újabb támadás történt, mely ezúttal öt technikus életét követelte és két másik életét örökre megnyomorította. A Metro Transit Company (MTC), a metróhálózat és így a szervízalagutak négyötödének tulajdonosa hatósági segítséget kért.
Az UCAS hadserege, amint értesült a ma reggeli támadásról, még a segélykérés előtt lezáratta a szervízalagutak kijáratait, a Lone Star és a Knight Errant emberei pedig ezúttal összefogtak és közös hadműveletet indítottak a probléma mihamarabbi megoldásának érdekében.
Egyelőre nincs információnk, hogy sikerült-e a megfékezni a problémát, a kapcsolat mindenesetre állandó a csapatokkal. A velük dolgozó Felébredtek szinte folyamatosan asztrális lenyomatokról jelentenek minden bevetési szakaszon. Ezekhez az információkhoz a sajtónak egyelőre nincs hozzáférése, de annyit már sikerült megtudnunk, hogy eredeti tervtől eltérve most már ezek alapján mozgatják parancsnokaik a csapatokat.

A dolgok eddig sem álltak túl fényesen az MTC háza táján. Az előző hónapban, októberben átalakították cégstruktúrájukat és eladták a klasszikus egyvágányú vasút egy jókora szakaszát a hozzá tartozó szervízgépekkel együtt. Új gazdára talált a kiterjedt metróhálózat egyik teljes útvonala is, melyhez szintén tartoznak Tacoma-Renton-térségi, tehát valószínűleg fertőzött szervízjáratok. Az MTC stabilizálását célzó műveletek eredményének érdekessége, hogy mindkét vonalat – külön-külön – száz százalékig frissen alakult cégek vásárolták fel. Az előbbit a Rail-Web Co. szerezte meg, az utóbbira a MetroLine tette rá a kezét.
Ezen cégek komolyabb társasági érdekeltsége egyelőre ismeretlen.

(Lord Rufus)

Halálos vonatbaleset Tacomában
Fred Plummer

A San Fransisco felé haladó golyóvasút vonalán halálos kimenetelű baleset történt a tegnap esti órákban. A vonat teljes sebességgel haladt a sínen valószínűleg műszaki hiba miatt várakozó személygépkocsiba. A jármű vezetője és társa a helyszínen az életüket vesztették. Az egyik áldozat, bizonyos Hamamoto Akagi a Biotin Electrics CO., egy bellevue-i székhelyű kutatócég erőforrás-menedzsere volt.
Hamamoto a másik áldozathoz, Uruyu Ittohoz hasonlóan közeli kapcsolatban állt a yakuzákkal, ezért a vonatbaleset mögött többen alvilági leszámolást sejtenek. Mint arról több korábbi cikkben beszámoltunk, az utóbbi időben szabályos háború alakult ki Seattle város Tacoma kerületében, ahol a Maffia próbálja átvenni a yakuzáktól az alvilág irányítását. Mások, mint Agnes Cutter, a Cross Applied Technology egyik elemzője, nem felejtik el felhívni a figyelmet arra sem, hogy a távol-keleti bűnszövetség és több japán megacég között igen szoros a kapcsolat, így hibát követ el az, aki mindjárt a Maffia számlájára írja a sajnálatos eseményt.
Azt, hogy az átkelőknél is elhelyezett elektronikus sínakadály-jelző rendszer miért nem jelzett a vonatnak, hogy az elektromos rendszer azonnal leállíthassa vagy legalább lassíthassa a szerelvényt az akadály továbbgördültéig, a Rail-Web Co. szakértői már vizsgálják.

(Lord Rufus)

Kétórás rendszerleállás a rentoni CBM kórházban
Gabrielle Werter

Éjszaka 22:12 és 00:10 között teljesen állt a rendszer a rentoni Cross Bio-Medical (CBM) kórházban. A teljes leállás három halálos áldozatot is követelt az intenzív osztályon.
Összeomlott ugyanis a EnerGrate Mátrix-rendszere, amely a rentoni Marysted körzetet is ellátja árammal. Ennek következménye volt a körzeti áramszünet, melyet a kórházban egy rendesen működő generátorral és tartalékgenerátorral könnyen át kellett volna, hogy vészeljenek.

(Lord Rufus)

Újabb baleset a Renraku Arkológia építkezésénél
Richard Darius

Ismét halálos kimenetelű baleset hátráltatja a hatalmas Renraku-gúla megépítését, melynek legújabb emelete mintegy kilencszáznyolc méter magasan épül. A munkálatok során a huszonharmadik  emelet szigetelőinek többször ellenőrzött és biztosított egyik állványa a rajta dolgozó háromtucatnyi munkással és a rajta figyelő háromszor két biztonságival együtt leszakadt és alázuhant a mélybe. A balesetet egyikük sem élte túl.
Az építkezés éveleji kezdete óta ez már a nyolcadik rejtélyes baleset, mely megzavarja a Renraku örömét és várakozását. Sokak szerint ezek a jelek mind arra utalnak, hogy a gigászi arkológia építését addig kellene leállítani, amíg nem történik komoly gond.

“Igazán sajnálatos, ami ma történt…” – mondta el kérdésünkre John Cuttner, az arkológia főépítésze – “…de szerencsére az épület struktúrájában nem esett nagy kár, így már holnap folytathatjuk a szigetelést, egy napot sem késünk a tervvel. Az áldozatok családjait természetesen a szerződés szerint kárpótoljuk.”

A tervek szerint még ez év novemberében befejeződik az AAA társaság seattle-i központjának építése és megkezdődhet a céges komplexum berendezése és lakhatóvá tétele, melynek átadása a következő év tavaszára várható. Az arkológia építésének kezdete óta a Renraku részvényei jelentősen megerősödtek a tőzsdéken.

(Lord Rufus)

The second session… To learn where we are picking up, read session one.

I had just drawn my weapons, and leaped through the glass door, guns blazing. I opened fire with a full burst on the nearest security guard, and hit him square in the chest. With my adept enhanced reflexes, it was as if everything was in slow motion. I then rolled and flipped over the security checkpoint (think of those stations in government buildings) and opened fire on the next guard, but my shots went wild and I blew the chandelier apart. (glitch) My next burst was not so bad, and knee-capped the next guard. Smitty dashed in and curb-stomped the injured guard, who was trying to crawl away (With his augmented strength, it was not a pretty sight) The last guard was sprinting for the phone, so I knelt, took careful aim, and squeezed off a burst… larger than I had anticipated. Guard number three was splattered all over the walls and floor. I spotted that one of the guards had a Colt Manhunter with a silencer (a gun I had been wanting, but unusual for the average rent-a-cop) and while searching his body, we realize something is amiss. These guards were waiting to ambush us with guns drawn, but there was no way they had the skill or the tech to hack our comlinks…

Flashback to upstairs…

CJ turns to the opening coffin, and sees a disfigured Elf wearing armor, hissing at him. (presumably the Blood Mage who summoned the elemental) CJ fired a full burst from both of his Skorpions, and shredded the mage’s skull. Greg lept forward with his forearm blade to take a swing at the bloody monstrosity (everyone knows bullets are useless against spirits, right?) The Blood Elemental surged forward, and engulfed Greg, trying to crush him with its dark energy, or drown him. (drowning in a malevolent puddle of blood, not the way I would want to go) Allen, seeing this, quickly tries to counter the dark powered spell, and banishes the elemental. Blood explodes everywhere. (seeing a pattern here?)

Allen calls up one of his last fire elementals. “Burn this whole building to the ground, after we leave,” he commands it. The team grabbed the box and headed for the stairwell. (elevators weren’t working because of the fire on the upper level. The instant they step into the stairwell, they hear “CLEAR! GO! GO! GO!” and the heavy tread of combat boots. The sound is unmistakable, it’s a SWAT team. They begin to run down the stairs, but CJ slips on the landing and falls down a whole flight and cracks his head at the bottom. He’s out cold. Greg has to pick him up and carry him over the shoulder. (if only I could really see this instead of having it described to me. A dwarf carrying a hulking, muscular full grown man on his shoulder, running down the stairs) They run down many flights of stairs, until Allen is able to wake CJ up. The put him down and continue. On floor six, a door pops open, and a light machine gun pops out and sprays the stairwell. Greg, in the lead, narrowly misses being in the direct line of fire. They stagger back up a level to seven and run for the stairwell on the other side of the building. “FIRE IN THE HOLE!” The door at the end of the corridor explodes with the concussive blast of a breaching charge. They duck into a studio door, narrowly missing the shrapnel and automatic weapons fire. Allen calls up his last fire elemental. “I need you to burn down all of the stairwells in the building” Fortunately, this one doesn’t take him literally, assuming the intention of the command. Whoosh! The stairwells fill with fire for about a minute. No screams can be heard over the raging inferno in the stairwell. They start back down the stairs, but have to pause half way down from the sheer heat and smoke.  The run the rest of the way down the stairs and out into the lobby. In the smoke and haze, Smitty raised his weapon to fire, not knowing who was coming out of the stairwell, having just seen it explode in fire. Archon swatted the gun away. CJ, Greg and Allen walked out into the ghastly carnage in the lobby. Allen, Greg, Archon and Smitty headed for the limo but CJ stopped to take the 2,000 credstick from the guard (which Smitty had popped his head like a melon).

We got in the limo and headed out. Looking behind us, we see the whole building erupt into flames as the elemental did its work. We looked in the data packet for the run, but there was no drop-off point for the package. Greg realized that there was a code, and the solution were GPS coordinates. Upon arrival at the location, there was nothing there. Just a lonely mailbox out in the middle of nowhere. CJ, (being his paranoid self) checks the mailbox for traps. (D&D reference anyone?) He sees a data cable running into the ground from the mailbox. Unsure what to do next, CJ puts the package into the mailbox. Nothing happens. Something clicks in his mind, and CJ reaches over and puts up the flag. The mailbox and ground surrounding it suddenly drop quickly out of sight into a hole in the ground. Archon peers over the edge to look with his low-light vision, and sees many heavily armed elves with assault rifles looking back up. That instant, CJ’s commlink pings with the info that his bank account had been updated. Mission Accomplished!

In addition to the cash for completion (and karma, of course) CJ, Archon, and Smitty all gained notoriety for their actions. (for general carnage and looting dead bodies)

Általában nem megy minden a terv szerint. Ha életedben legalább egyszer vadásztál, tudod, miről beszélek.

Azon a bizonyos napon – tisztán emlékszem, október 28-a volt – úgy tűnt, hogy sínen van az életünk. Néhány nappal azelőtt elvállaltunk egy komoly melót; nagy kockázat, nagy pénz. Az a nagy melák, Kazel, otthagyta ugyan a fogát – de mint mondtam, nem mehet minden a terv szerint. A terv jó volt; ránézésre kilencvenkilenc százalék lehetett, de ilyenkor nem lehet mindennel számolni. Sőt, többnyire nem is szabad minden eshetőséget számításba venni, mert az ügy mélyére pillantva annyi céges mordály mered az arcodba minden felől, hogy nincs bátorságod az egészhez. Lényeg, hogy van választásod. A troll vállalta a kockázatot, és rajtavesztett.
A kicseszett seattle-i időjárás hozta a szokásos formáját, és a többiekkel egy ideiglenes búvóhelyen gubbasztottunk a kikötőben. Akkor arra gondoltam, hogy kiszállok. Minden egyes vadászat után erre gondolok; na, majd most! Aztán valahogy soha nem jön össze. Merengtem az előző nap történteken, próbáltam nem arra gondolni, hogy hol szúrtuk el, győzködtem magam, hogy nem szúrtuk el, hiszen még élünk. És ekkor mindig a trollhoz kanyarodtak vissza a gondolataim. Ahogy a folyosón a sorban leghátul rohan, majd megtorpan egy pillanatra, aztán összeesik.

A trid érdekes hírt közölt, a maga burkolt, semmitmondó formájában: sajnálatos baleset végzett Hanamoto Akagival, a kikötő egyik leghírhedtebb yakuza fejesével. Mi a fene?! Tudomásom szerint Akagi valami céges menedzser, akinek annyi kapcsolata van a yakuzával, mint pék kenyerében az adalékanyag. Úgy döntöttem, hogy én ezt nem eszem meg; néhány perccel később már az összerakott kiberdekkemmel a megbütykölt illegális vonalra csatlakozva, a kibertérben szálguldottam. A Shadowlanden pásztázva, valami pletyka, infómorzsa után, szinte azonnal rábukkantam valamire, ami közelebb vihetett az igazsághoz.

A rejtélyesnek éppen nem mondható, fekete kámzsás ikon jelezte, hogy jobban is kinyithatnám a szemem; és tényleg, Mr, Akagi autóját tegnap éjjel a földdel tette egyenlővé egy tehervonat. A roncs kigyulladt, és a holttestek a felismerhetetlenségig összeégtek – hát persze, hogy baleset volt…

Nem tartottam szokatlannak az esetet, elvégre alvilági berkekben semmiképpen sem mondható szokatlannak, hogy leszámolnak a feleslegessé vált arcokkal – de ahhoz, hogy a miértet megtudjam, és kielégítsem azt a bizonyos, oldalamat fúró kíváncsiságot, mélyebben bele kellett ásnom magam a fellelhető információkba.

De semmi mást nem találtam – minden a jegek mögött volt, és nem hiányzott a csapat számára sem, hogy céges látogatókat hívjak meg, éppen akkor, amikor már azt hisszük, hogy biztonságban vagyunk. Elálltam a szándékomtól, és unottan bámultam tovább a tridet, gondolataim pedig ismét visszakanyarodtak a vadászathoz; egyre szilárdabban eltökéltem, hogy ez volt az utolsó.

És ekkor csörrent meg az asztalon levő mobiltelefon. A hívó fél rejtett kapcsolatot használt. A mobil száma titkos, nem juthat hozzá bárki, gondoltam. Néhány másodperc alatt semmiképp sem tudják bemérni. Kis ódzkodással felvettem. Egy ismeretlen hang szólt bele, megelőzve engem:

- Halló, itt Mr. Johnson. Egy kis munkám lenne a számukra…

(Hevee)

An dieser Stelle ein Bild von Lynx, wie sie die Ancients kennen

In voller Größe könnt ihr euch das bild hier ansehen

After creating my character, I was unable to show up for the initial half of the first gaming mission. I didn’t quite know what all had happened, but as best as I could understand, CJ had been contacted by a Paladin, a crazy uber-powerful magic police officer of sorts, to “extract” a box. Turns out this box was in a “magic studio”, which is a bit like a modern music rentable studio. Allen, our occult investigator rented a room to “study” right down the hall from the target room. Allen used his pass and got in and went up the room. CJ and Greg followed but were stopped by the Security guard. CJ talked the guard into letting him bring  his “master” some “ritual weapons”, (a pair of Ceska Skorpions) with a 2,000 cred chip. Once upstairs, Greg hacked the fire suppression systems and shut down he alarms and sensors, but was unable to turn off the water flow. Allen called a water elemental to go into the pipes and block the water systems, but CJ interrupted him and it just hopped into the plumbing with no orders. Allen then went astral to check out the room, but it was protected by both magical and physical barriers.

This is where I came in. Supposedly, Smitty and myself were waiting in the Nightsky limo in the parking lot. I recieved a text message on my comm saying, “Come in now, we need you”. At first, I grabbed my guns and a gun for Allen and Greg and went to the door. Thinking this a bit suspicious though, I called in to check everything out, just as Greg discovered that his comm had been hacked, and sent us the message. We knew our cover was blown, and we had to ramp up our plans.

Allen called up a fire elemental and sent up a few floors up to cause “chaos”. He then used his earth elemental and had it rip the vault door off of its hinges. They rushed down the hall, in the door, and into a very disturbing scene. In the room were shackles, torture equipment, coffins, mage equipment, and a WALL of BOXES. They quickly found the correct box, pulled it out and turned around to see a dark shape in the doorway. CJ drew his guns to fire, but something told him it wouldn’t be a good idea. Allen flipped on the lightswitch… only to see a Blood Elemental, a Water elemental tainted by human sacrifice. Allen popped out another fire elemental, and then heard one of the coffins open. Allen let out a few choice words, Greg stood dumbfounded, and CJ began screaming like a lunatic. Over the commlink. (if this was Cthulhu, I guess that would be “sanity loss”)

I drew my dual Ingram Smartguns, and Smitty leaped from the Limo…

Session one was over. Cliffhanger… awesome.

So… this is the new blog. I’m writing this, because these things don’t fit in with the rest of my blogs. They don’t fit in with the rest of my blogs, because they don’t quite fit in with the rest of my life. I am a secret gamer, a hidden geek. Sure, plenty of people know about me playing Xbox, and PC Games, but very few know that I also occasionally enjoy the miniature strategy game, and most recently, a cyberpunk fantasy role-playing game known as Shadowrun. So this is what I will be writing about. My adventures, and those of my friends, thoughts on roleplaying, and other games. Always feel free to comment or write suggestions. After a weeks session, I may ask for advice on where to go next. Keep checking back!

   It’s once again time to get the latest material index updated and to transfer the material from the old one to the main index tabs at the top of the page. If you want the very latest material, it may be necessary to either scroll down or consult the “Recent Posts” listing-widget on the lower right. The previous Latest Materials Index can be found HERE, and – for those who like to rummage at random – the full post-by-post index can be found occupying a great deal of space in the lower right column.

   Eclipse Classless d20 Character Construction Cribsheet / Sample Character List - Character Creation Primer - Compiled Martial Arts.

   Subindexes: RPG Design - Twilight Isles - Battletech – Champions – d20 – Legend of the Five Rings – Shadowrun – White Wolf – Other Games – Battling Business World

Cumulative General Index.

   d20 Material:

• Twilight Isles Setting:
  • Maps of the Twilight Isles: The geography of the known world.
  • Mystic Martial Arts: Two more player-designed occult styles.
  • Peregrine, a Veltine Bodyguard-Companion.
  • Ahriman, a second level Thunder Dwarf.
  • Houses of the Shadow Elves: Part I, Part II, Part III,
  • Dwarven Firearms and Species Compatability.
  • The Veltine in Depth: More details on the culture of the Veltine.
  • Monetary Systems: What the Isles use for mediums of exchange.
  • Commerce of the Twilight Isles: Imports, Exports, and Economies.
  • Exotic Languages of the Twilight Isles: The rare tongues and their effects.
• Federation-Apocalypse Session Logs: Session 82, Session 83a, Session 83b, Session 84a, Session 84b,
• The Rhynsin Dragonslayer Martial Art: A specialized martial arts style for would-be dragonslayers.
• Eclipse – Building the Level One Bladesinger.
• Eclipse – Building the Blade Dancer and Wuxia Adept.
• Eclipse – Building the Stances, Maneuvers, and the Classes (Crusader, Swordsage, and Warblade) from the Book of Nine Swords.
• The Party Template Basics and samples – the Knights of Yggdrasil, Forest Stalkers, Company of Kardeon, Angbokor Guild, Royal Cartographic Society,
• Eclipse Character Creation Primer: The basics of making a character using Eclipse: The Codex Persona.

   Shadowrun Material:

• New Technologies: Why you should always carefully examine new gadgets before turning them loose in your games.

   General RPG Material:

• Uncontrolled Substances: Precious compounds and drugs for use in any world, M’ram (a stimulant), Denila (metabolic stabalizer).

   Next up it’s another special request. In this case, it’s how to build a Wuxia-style character like the old Oriental Adventures Blade Dancer – albeit with a few more of the classical abilities, such as the ability to trade blows in midair – in Eclipse.

   Just in case anyone doesn’t know, the Wuxia style involves high-energy, high-mobility, martial arts combat while making incredible leaps through the air, balancing on posts and ropes, or running up the walls. Since that’s the signature of the style, we’ll want our Wuxia Adept to be able to do it at level one and to be able to select from a wild variety of “Chi Based” martial arts abilities later on.

   So what will we need to uy to build such a character?

   At level one:

• Proficiency with Simple and Martial Weapons (9 CP) and Light Armor (3 CP).
• +2 on Reflex Saves (6 CP).
• 8 Skill Points (8 CP).
• Adept (Balance, Jump, Tumble, and any one Martial Art, 6 CP).
• +1 BAB (Warcraft, 6 CP).
• 1d8 hit die (4 CP).
• Qinggong / “Light Foot”: Celerity with Additional Movement Mode/Flight (base total of 30′), Corrupted/not usable while wearing medium or heavy armor or while carrying a medium or heavy load, Specialized/does not allow true flight, although the user can make astounding leaps, turn in midair, “run” up walls, across chasms, and over water, stand on twigs, fall great distances without being injured, and leap up and trade blows with someone in the air before coming down in the next turn. When relevant rolls are made, the character gains a bonus of +(2x Level) on Balance, Jump, and Tumble rolls (6 CP).
  • Note that this can be expanded, at +10′ to this movement mode per additional CP. This is, in fact, a rather cheesy way to build this ability – but if it’s the only major piece of cheese involved in a build, it’s certainly no worse than many others.

   That comes to a total of 48 CP – the basic level one allotment. If the character has a few points from disadvantages – compulsions, hunteds, and vows are favorites in the source material – I’d recommend picking up another point or two worth of movement and Fast Learner, Specialized in Skills. That will effectively keep the character’s Adept skills up to the maximum without further worry for a mere (6 CP).

   At each level past the first:

• +1 BAB (Warcraft, 6 CP).
• 1d8 hit die (4 CP).
• 2 Skill Points (2 CP).
• +1 on Saves (presumably split between the various categories) (3 CP).

   That only comes to 15 CP per level – and there are 24 available. To stick with this style - and to allow me a silly reference to chinese menus - at each level past the first the character can pick one item from Column A and one from Column B…

   Column A: Additional Three-Point Options

• +3 Skill Points.
• +1 on a Save. (Often more bonuses on Reflex saves).
• +1 To Hit in Melee whenever the user has sufficient space and freedom to maneuver to attack while leaping and tumbling around. This may be selected up to four times.
• +1d6 Damage in Melee whenever the user has sufficient space and freedom to maneuver to attack while leaping and tumbling around. This may be selected up to four times.
• +30′ Movement with Qinggong (I wouldn’t allow this more than – say – three times myself).
• Martial Arts: 1d4 base damage the first time, increasing to 1d6/1d8/1d10/1d12 damage for 1/2/3/4 additional selections.

   Column B: Additional Six-Point Options

• Block/Melee or Block/Missile – and other abilities from that sequence – fit in well here.
• One level of Psychic Warrior Spellcasting.
• Reflex Training. Both the Combat Reflexes variant and the Extra Actions variant fit in well.
• +4 daily Bonus Uses on an existing Inherent Spell or Psychic Power.
• One level of Wilder Spellcasting.
• One Inherent Spell or Psychic Power (L3 the first time, L4, the second, and L5 the third), usable once per day.
  • Popular choices of Inherent Powers include
    • The Augment Weapon sequence: Touched weapon gains a +1 bonus or +1 equivalent weapon ability of choice, excluding Bane, for one minute per level of the user. This stacks with magical, but not psionic, enhancements. The level four version provides abilities totaling a +2 equivalent and the level five version provides abilities totaling to a +3 equivalent.
    • A Healing Touch Sequence – Neutralize Poison, Cure Critical Wounds.
    • A Dim Mak sequence – Bestow Curse, Enervation, and Slay Living.

   There are, of course, lots of other things that a character could buy – enhanced attacks and strikes, strange powers, witchcraft abilities, and more – but that covers some of the most common basics. Personally, I’d recommend some Innate Enchantment (possibly substituting for the Light Armor), using effects like Mage Armor and Shield to help make up for the troubles inherent in a poor-AC melee build – but that’s up to the player.

I was not present for this last session of Shadowrun, being unfortunately at work. As expected, my ability to participate will be haphazard at best. There is a new player who joined this last session and another who should be making a character later this week.

The GM did send along a recap of the first two sessions, which does include the basics of what I’ve already relayed here, but here it is in its entirety:

Greyfield Inc. (Run by Rog Carlisle and his assistant Roxy) has put together a new team to help the little guy and stick it to the corporate man. He’s had some trouble with his previous teams, but he’s hopeful that this new one will do great things. Rog brought in his old friend from the corporate world, Sean Borren aka Mimic, to help the team. He discovered the Thunderbird Shaman, Rain, a wild yet effective runner while Rog was discovered by the naive and wayward conjuror, Willow. Leading up the tech division is ace hacker, Bill aka Aster, veteran of several foreign wars. A late addition to the group is the mage detective with a bad reputation, Alex Hastings.

After signing the extension contracts and non-disclosure agreements, the representative from LoneStar, Detective Donovan; delivered Greyfield its first new assignment. A software engineer, (whose name escapes me at the moment), has been accused of nearly beating to death another software designer, Dolores Mapa, and stole something from her. The target works for Bushido Technologies, a subsidiary of Mitsuhama, a inventory and gaming software company/call center in the heart of Seattle. After some good recon and several hot chick’s personnel profiles making their way into Bill’s computer, the team sent Bill into the Matrix to fire one of the security guards and hire Rain on in his place.

A small beast spirit conjured by Willow found the stolen item in the President’s penthouse and the team soon discovered that the logical time for the stolen item’s passing of hands would be that Saturday, so the launched their cunning plan! Wednesday morning, the second day of work for the new security guard, Rain, saw a requisition for a repair for the onsite security camera system. Our humble technician, Bill, comes in to hack the security system and install a backdoor (The security system can only be accessed onsite). With time running out and the job unfinished, Bill let out such a stream of geekbabble that he bought himself another 2 hours. He finishes with plenty of time to spare and heads to the cafe in the first floor. One glitch- the building has wireless countermeasures so his signal is not as strong and he’s not as sharp in his Augmented Reality.

About 3:30pm, two nondescript employees from another branch are given their passes and head up to the employee dorms. Alex and Sean have an easy time finding the target’s room and break in while Bill hides their presence from the cameras. Inside, they discover a discarded framed photo of Dolores Mapa in the trash. At 4pm, Rain ends his shift and heads to the cafe to give Bill someone to talk to so as to not attract notice.

A long hour and a half later, Alex sets out toward the penthouse. Bill attempts to get him up by the elevator, but only thing he manages to do is get the elevator locked down on the 8th floor. Mimic sits tight in the room, trying to maintain the plan, starting to sweat. Bill attracts the attention of the security spider who comes hunting for him. Alex jumps up through the escape hatch on the elevator before the lone security guard arrives. He starts climbing the ladder toward the 12th floor, thinking he’s not the right guy for this bullshit. The spider finds Bill and attacks with his Blackout program, giving our faithful hacker and bit of a wake up call.

The lone security guard looks around the elevator, puzzled and distracted by his girlfriend’s (Linda) phone call. He’s about the leave when he notices the hatch in the elevator. Alex is almost to his destination, while the injured Bill had been playing cat and mouse with the spider in the system. He’s able to unlock the elevator doors above Alex before the battle is renewed. The guard throws open the hatch and spots Alex. “There’s someone in the elevator shaft!”

Mimic flies out the door, “Light it up!” Willow’s fire spirit blasts to life on the 8th floor causing the fire alarm to go off, unlocking all the stairwell doors and causing a goodly amount of chaos. The blast of the alarm is right next to Alex’s ear causing him to lose his grip and fall to the elevator below. He does knock out the guard, but that’s about the only good thing to come from that. He drops into the elevator and starts to limp back up the stairs. Rain runs out toward the main door to make sure the target doesn’t slip out.

Bill finally gets a good crack onto the spider’s cyber-noggin as Mimic shoots down 2 flights of stairs and waits for the target to evacuate. He comes and Mimic quickdraws his gun into the man’s back and has no problem convincing him to be cool as they head down the several flights of stairs to the bottom.

When we left our team, Mimic reached the bottom floor, Bill and the Spider are still standing off, and Alex slides his maglock passkey  at the penthouse door, fooling the cardreader, but when he tries his magical thumbprint (physical mask), nothing happens.

Glücklicherweise haben wir auf der SPIEL auch die Gelegenheit bekommen, Fanpro-Geschäftsführer Werner Fuchs für eine Plauderrunde aus dem Nähkästchen zu bekommen. Hier erfahrt ihr viel zur Geschichte von DSA, der Geschichte um die Romanrechte und Lizenzen zu Shadowrun und BattleTech, wieso der Rollenspielbereich doch eigentlich wächst, wieso es nicht zum DSA-Onlinerollenspiel kam, den DSA-Kinofilm, weitere DSA-Computerspiele, wieso die DSA-Fernsehserie nicht von RTL realisiert wurde, wie die DSA-Novellen vom Markt angenommen wurden und was sich Werner Fuchs noch für die Marke wünscht.

Veszprém – 2053

SEATTLE

Ránkzuhan az Ég

növények

KERÜLETEK

Und wieder steht uns Tobias “Tigger” Hamelmann zur Verfügung, um auf dem Hinterhof der Messe über Shadowrun von Pegasus zu informieren. Wir reden über 20 Jahre Shadowrun, Merchendise und SR-Würfel, die es nun endlich gibt, den Shadowrun-Kalender, das neue Grundregelwerk, die Neuheiten der Messe und was uns im nächsten halben Jahr erwartet, inklusive dem dicken deutschen Schattenstädte in der Neuauflage und dem exklusivem Berlin-Quellenband.

Autor: Rob Boyle und andere
Verlag: Pegasus Press
ISBN: 978-3-939794-92-9
Hardcover – 232 Seiten – deutsch – 29,95 EUR

Seit die Shadowrun-Lizenz in den Händen des Pegasus-Verlags liegen, kann sich der geneigte Schattenläufer auf eine ordentlichen Ausstoß an Produkten für sein Spiel freuen. Mit „Strassenmagie“ wird von den fliegenden Pferden jetzt auch ein Quellenband nachgereicht, dass seiner Zeit noch von FanPro veröffentlicht wurde.

Da der Inhalt sich nicht wesentlich geändert hat, möchte ich auf meine ausführliche Rezi zu „Strassenmagie“ hinweisen, die man HIER findet.

Ein paar Kleinigkeiten haben sich allerdings schon geändert. So wurde immer mal wieder kurze Abschnitte ergänzt, in denen optionale Regeln vorgestellt werden, wie beispielsweise zu den Verlorenen Adepten, die noch keinem Weg folgen oder die Möglichkeit auch während einer laufenden Kampagne eine Fokusabhängigkeit zu erwerben. Diese kurzen Texte ändern zwar nicht viel am Spielgefühl von Shadowrun, erweitern aber die Möglichkeiten für magische Charaktere.

Auch das Layout hat sich nicht großartig geändert, wobei es mir schon ein weniger luftiger erscheint. Das neue Cover gefällt mir allerdings nicht wirklich, sieht der Magier darauf eher aus wie ein Lemmy Kilmister auf Drogen, als wie ein cooler Shadowrun-Charakter.

Anders als sein Vorgänger, kostet das Pegasus-Strassenmagie nur 29,95 EUR, was dieses gut verarbeitete Werk auch wert ist.

Loren Coleman erzählt uns etwas zu den Shadowrun- und BattleTech-Romanen die es ab 2010 wieder geben soll, übrigens dann von Pegasus, an dessen Stand er auch zusammen mit Jordan Weisman saß. Ecclipse Phase und andere Spiele von Catalyst Games werden ebenfalls angesprochen, wie ERGO und Papparazi.

Ohje, da stammel ich mir was zusammen. Aber das Interview mit Loren Coleman war wirklich ziemlich kurzfristig und wir haben jede Frage vorher kurz absprechen müssen, weil ich einfach nicht so recht wusste, was ich ihn fragen sollte. Immerhin waren Loren Coleman und Jordan Weisman so freundlich, auf meiner altgedienten Shadowrun-Kappe zu unterschreiben.

Wir hatten die Chance auf der SPIEL auch mit Jordan Weisman zu reden, der seit 30 Jahren Spiele entwickelt, darunter so Kleinigkeiten wie Shadowrun, BattleTech und Crimson Skies. Aktuell ist er nicht nur bei der Produktion von Videospielen wie einem neuen MechWarrior-Game beteiligt, sondern hat auch ein neues Tabletop-Spiel namens Arcane Legions vorgestellt. Mehr zu Arcane Legions findet ihr beim Interview mit dem GamesOrbit.