IRC: Shadowrun: Cross-town Traffic

ratlaw · Post by **ratlaw** » Sat Sep 07, 2002 5:49 pm

Purpose of this thread is to provide my upcoming Denver game with a forum for discussing characters and such so that no body feels like they're duplicating another character. Also this will allow us to develop some amount of group backstory, unless you want to be total strangers when we start. Also, any questions about Denver itself should probably go here as well. Thanks, and have fun

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Wed Sep 11, 2002 7:27 pm

I apologize; I have to bail. Walter, check your email.

ratlaw · Post by **ratlaw** » Thu Sep 12, 2002 12:37 pm

If anyone is ineterested in filling in Deev's spot, let me know. Time frame for the games is 1pm - 5pm EST (GMT - 5). Email works best.

Van Der Litreb · Post by **Van Der Litreb** » Mon Sep 16, 2002 8:56 am

Still doing the number crunching. Goddamnit, I hate this part.

Eva · Post by **Eva** » Mon Sep 16, 2002 9:49 am

I assume the rest of us are still in then?

Twisted Sister · Post by **Twisted Sister** » Mon Sep 16, 2002 3:33 pm

Hell yes!

ratlaw · Post by **ratlaw** » Tue Sep 17, 2002 12:12 am

Yay! So, out of curiosity, is anyone going to actually fill me in on what they're playing, or do I get to be surprised? Oh, another thing: Sam :: What's the state of your Vamp game?

Twisted Sister · Post by **Twisted Sister** » Wed Sep 18, 2002 10:11 am

It's all going to be a surprise. Meaning - Gah! *runs in small circles*

And so far as the Vampire game is going...we started properly last week - woot! Now then, I would like to make sure that it is motoring along nicely before we launch into yours. Next week is when the shit should hit the fan in terms of the game, so I can give you more an idea of progress then.

Can you send me that stuff you were talking about though?

Eva · Post by **Eva** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 7:40 am

Twisted Sister wrote:Next week is when the shit should hit the fan in terms of the game, so I can give you more an idea of progress then.

Gee, that's good to hear. Gets on plane to Bologna /now/.

Twisted Sister · Post by **Twisted Sister** » Sat Sep 21, 2002 3:53 pm

And what makes you think it won't follow you there? Hrm?

Ghe ghe ghe

ratlaw · Post by **ratlaw** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 12:20 pm

Alrightie! Characters are due by October 4th. Also, are you guys planning on knowing each other IC at all prior to our first session? I would recomend it, since this isn't going to be a "fixer calls you with a job" type campaign. You don't have to be bonded by dark oaths sworn over blood or anything, but business relationships would be useful.

Eva · Post by **Eva** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 8:32 am

No blood oathing? :o(

Toryu · Post by **Toryu** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 8:42 am

Hi there.

Eva just informed me that you might be looking for a 4th player, and I thought I could apply for it.

However, please do keep in mind that I haven't RP'd in English yet, and never over IRC either. So be warned if you decide to let me in.

I both have the Denver box and Smuggler Havens, so SB-wise, I should be set.

So whatcha say? Huh? Huh? Am I in?

Eva · Post by **Eva** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 8:46 am

In Jan's defense, his English is better than mine and he knows where Denver is.

ratlaw · Post by **ratlaw** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 9:43 am

Wow. A player who knows where Denver is? My gosh.

More seriously, drop me a line via email and I'll get the baisc campaign information to you. Once you've digested that we can start talking characters with more specifics.

Eva wrote:No Blood oathing :o(

I said you don't have to do blood oathing, not that you couldn't

Toryu · Post by **Toryu** » Sat Sep 28, 2002 5:29 am

Maybe we should start talking about group setup and characters.

From what I've gathered, neither Sam, Eva nor Claus want to play a rigger, yet a smuggling campaign in Denver sorta requires us to have one.

I have no previous Rigger experience and don't really have a solid understanding of the vehicle rules yet, but I'd be willing to give it a try. I just hope I'll pick it up quickly.

AFAIK, we have so far:

Eva: Cybered ex-ganger, combat-oriented

Claus: Ex-Specnaz operative, combat-oriented; maybe an Adept would be nice, since Eva's char already has cybermods

Sam: No info yet, but maybe a spellslinger would be handy

Jan: Rigger, with focus on T-Birds? But then again, if we smuggle between sectors, we prolly won't need one. I already have a background in mind that would tie my char to Claus' (similar/overlapping background)

So, what are your thoughts on this?

Toryu · Post by **Toryu** » Sun Sep 29, 2002 10:25 am

<Sam_NPA> Dude!
<Sam_NPA> hello :o)
<Sam_NPA> right then - I am in the middle of going through the Denver bit on the Shadows of North America
<Sam_NPA> as I know nothing about the place
<Sam_NPA> on top of that I am most ademently against playing a mgiker
<Sam_NPA> um
<Sam_NPA> magiker
<Jan> oh.

<Jan> you're gonna have to play the rigger, then.

<Jan> but seriously, what do you want to play?
<Sam_NPA> special ops/ something like that
<Jan> hrm...
<Sam_NPA> I know that makes two
<Sam_NPA> I have never looked into a rigger before
<Sam_NPA> perhaps I should ifyou have another prefernce
<Jan> a smuggling campaign with 3/4 of the group being combat-oriented? That's gonna be fun.

* Sam_NPA practises her fu
<Sam_NPA> but seriously - will look at rigging if it would help ?
<Jan> yeah, we'd definitely need a rigger.
<Sam_NPA> ok - will look at that then
<Sam_NPA> :o)
<Sam_NPA> Just no. magic!
<Jan> But if you wouldn't want to, no problemo, I'd take over any time.
<Jan> That's coo'. I like playing magicky types.

<Sam_NPA> then we're sorted!
<Sam_NPA> does this mean I should learn how to park?
* Sam_NPA gulps
<Jan> You should. Parking skills better than Tyrone's are definitely a must.

<Sam_NPA> shite
<Sam_NPA> *slump*

Twisted Sister · Post by **Twisted Sister** » Sun Sep 29, 2002 11:42 am

Introducing your new Rigger!!

<cue mad applause>

Hello?

*throws a small rug over embarrassing parking bit in above conversation*

Toryu · Post by **Toryu** » Sun Sep 29, 2002 2:41 pm

Yay!

Ok, update then:

Eva: cybered ganger

Sam: Rigger

Claus: Ex-Specnaz

Jan: Magician (Shaman?)

Van Der Litreb · Post by **Van Der Litreb** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 2:46 pm

Well, I spent my internet-less days polishing off my character (no!), so I'm pretty much hell-bent on playing this character.

---

Anatolij Nikolajev Potanin.

Cold-blooded motherfucker. If you want your rival's ten-year-old daugther executed, this is the guy to call. Highly intelligent, physically fit, and dedicated, Anatolij has served with the Russian Spetznas. Realising that his career options within the faltering Russian army were, well, shitty, he, like so many of his comrades in arms, started working as a bodyguard/assassin/etc. for various higher-ups in the Russian mafia (the Vory-v-Zakone).

The Vory, in turn, decided to send Anatolij to Denver, to help create a foothold in this city for the Russians. Here, he has taken up positions such as smuggler, bouncer, back-breaker, assassin, bodyguard, etc. Whoever pays, has his undying loyalty. His reputation as a stone-cold killer, and his distinctive military-assassination style, have some people thinking twice before hiring him, though. Anatolij himself, however, will work with just about anyone as long as they maintain a professional profile.

Anatolij speaks English with a very thick Russian accent, something he does nothing to conceal. He is proud of his former occupation as a special forces soldier, but will never unveil any details from his missions. He is physically in very good shape, and customarily wears black leather to emphasise this fact. He has blond hair, which he keeps military-cropped, has blue eyes, and stern features (think Schwarzenegger in Red Heat).

He is trained in several necessary field operations skills, including ranged and melee, combat tactics, infiltration, and explosives. And he's not bad at chess, either.

Edit:

Oh yeah: Anatolij has very little cyberware, relying instead on his own and his team members' skills. "V Russije... not so much money. We use hread instead."

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 3:54 pm

Some of Jeff's game has been rubbing off, I see?

Van Der Litreb · Post by **Van Der Litreb** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 5:38 pm

*looks at his books on Russia's mafias*

No, not really. I just always wanted to be a Russian.

ratlaw · Post by **ratlaw** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 7:43 pm

Well, I'm happy to see everyone's moving along at a nice clip to get done by Friday

Sam: If you have any questions about riggers let me know, I'm pretty good with the Rigger rules.

Out of curiosity, the group is being built along lines that resemble a more typical group of shadowrunners than I had at first thought. Would you guys want to keep the focus of the campaign on smuggling or shift more of it to shadowops?

Eva · Post by **Eva** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 8:07 pm

ratlaw wrote:Out of curiosity, the group is being built along lines that resemble a more typical group of shadowrunners than I had at first thought. Would you guys want to keep the focus of the campaign on smuggling or shift more of it to shadowops?

This is something that I've been thinking about, too. I mean, we've got a bunch of dudes who hurt other dudes for a living. Unless Sam and Jan's characters are hugely different, we're very physical.

Personally, I'm egalon which type of game we choose. I can make my character to fit a smuggling ring or a gang, I go both ways.

Toryu · Post by **Toryu** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 9:27 pm

Well, the char I'm designing atm is a Wujen with lots of stealthy skills and illusion spells plus smuggling experience, but changing him more towards a typical shadowrunner shouldn't be a problem.

Smuggling is fine by me, although I don't see all that much variation in regard to what we as a smuggler's band could do. I mean, it's basically just smuggling, innit?

But then again, I'd really like to try something new. Smuggling could be fun if it isn't too repetitive, I guess.

So I'm kinda egal too.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Thu Oct 03, 2002 3:56 pm

Van Der Litreb wrote:Vory-v-Zakone

I finally read that article, and there are some things in it that seem "romanticised" and sometimes just plain "wrong" compared to much I've read about the Vory.

ratlaw · Post by **ratlaw** » Thu Oct 03, 2002 6:16 pm

Jan asked what year the game will be starting in. I figure 2060 is as good a time as any, probably late spring/early summer.

Van Der Litreb · Post by **Van Der Litreb** » Thu Oct 03, 2002 7:14 pm

Deev: Yeah, probably. I didn't bother reading more than a few pages; I just needed an online description for whoever was interested. A really good book on the Russian mafia/organised crime (street level as well as political) is a Swedish book called Ryslands undre värld (Russia's Underworld), by Malcolm Dixelius and Andrej Konstantinov. I have no clue whether it's been translated, but a quick search turned up negative.

Toryu · Post by **Toryu** » Thu Oct 03, 2002 10:07 pm

So what kind of campaign will we be playing? It would be good if Sam and Claus voiced their opinions as well, IMHO.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Fri Oct 04, 2002 6:23 am

Perhaps this will help to fill in some of the info that you might be missing, Toryu.

ratlaw wrote:Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2002 6:53 AM
Subject: Denver Game

> Alrightie, back from getting spanked at pool, so I'm typing up some basic
> info for this game...
>
> Character Creation: I usually go for 120 or 125 build points, but I've been
> kind of curious about the BeCKS system so...We'll use BeCKS, unless most of
> you haven't used it before. Since I'm not completely sure what sorts of
> character creation rules you guys usually use, I'll lay out my general idea
> of a passable starting character. Most, if not all, of this is canon SR3, so
> if that's what you're used to you can skip down to the good stuff.
>
> - No base skills above 6, no specializations above 7. This goes for active
> and knowledge skills. If you've got more than 6 in a language I'll be so
> impressed I might die.
> - No gear or 'ware with an avail of greater than 8
> - Max Number of Edges or Flaws: 8
> - Max points of Edges/Flaws: +10/-10
> - Deckers are nice, and otaku seem really cool, but frankly I have problems
> with doing really hardcore decking. Mostly because "by the book decking" is
> a giant, sucking maw of time. However, decking is really useful. Solution:
> people who deck in their spare time are great: most of the bennies, and I
> don't smack you around with nasty Black IC. Given the nature of this
> campaign, I don't know that a pure decker would be of much use anyway.
>
> Now for the good stuff. The game will be based mostly in Denver, but will
> extend to such interesting places as Vladisvostok, Seattle, St. Louis, New
> Orleans, Austin and many more. Including a little homebrew location I call
> Gophers, but more about that later. Where you go is kind of up in the air,
> at least within my mind. I'm still digesting Shadows of North America for
> recent NAN history. Which leads into my next topic:
>
> Books: Denver isn't Seattle, and things work a bit differently there. If you
> don't know anything about Denver, let me know and I'll type up some brief
> history. And if you can get your hands on any of the following, they'll be
> of some use: Denver Boxed Set (Best single resource on Denver, just make
> sure you read the Player's Book not the GM's , Target: Smuggler's Havens,
> Shadows of North America (this is mostly an update to YotC, but there is
> some information about getting in and out of Denver and travel within).
> There isn't much in YotC that would inform you, it's just plot development.
> I don't recommend you read YotC: even though I don't use a lot of the plot
> hooks provided in SR books they are lingering in the shadows and knowing too
> much may spoil some things.
>
> Characters: There are several ways this game can go, and I'll list out some
> styles of smuggling that are in the back of my mind right now and some
> thoughts about each:
> - T-bird team. Hard to do with only 4 people, since you really need 2 or 3
> people with VCRs. Also T-bird's are majorly expensive, so going this route
> will net the group two things: a 'free' T-bird that needs lots of in-flight
> maintenance, and a reallly big debt to some group of people who you don't
> want to default on. Fun, but perilous and getting towards the high-power
> level. Opps would be border patrols in military level vehicles, environment,
> your own t-bird falling apart and people trying to get their cargo for free.
>
> - Ground smugglers. Buy an RV, mod it to hide cargo in unlikely places and
> you're good to go. This is what I would consider a moderate power level.
> Honestly, I find it the least interesting of the three, but maybe I'm
> missing something. If one of you can think of a good..hook, for lack of a
> better word, let me know. Your opps will generally be individual border
> guards, highway gangs and the fact that you'll be working the crappy end of
> the international smuggling chain.
>
> - Denver Sector Smugglers. This is the lowest power level, very much working
> the street. One interesting side effect of dividing Denver into 6 parts is
> that the city couldn't continue to function without a black market moving
> goods illegally across the sector borders. A semi-fictitious example:
> CalHots are illegal in UCAS but not in Ute. Food prices are currently higher
> in the Ute sector, though. So intrepid people bring CalHots into the the Ute
> sector (which is perfectly legal) and sneak them across the border into the
> UCAS where they sell at largely inflated prices. Then they buy food with all
> of that money, which they sneak back across the border into Ute, where they
> sell it at market value (or higher if they're greedy). That money gets used
> to buy more CalHots...ad nauseum. Pretty much all of Denver works like this,
> and not just the black market. Perfectly legal goods get smuggled across the
> border to avoid customs and to take advantage of price fluctuations. So
> there's a lot that could be done on just this level. Opps would be border
> guards, local cops(which are differnt), various groups looking to cut into
> your business.
>
> Time: Tuesdays I don't have class, so this is my favored day for running.
> Given the 6 hour time difference and the fact that most of you have actual
> jobs (*gasp*), I was thinking 7pm to 11pm (1pm to 5pm my time) is a good
> time frame. Feel free to tell me of a better one if it exits. My intention
> is for a weekly game, but if schedules preclude that every other week works
> as well.
>
> I think that's probably good for the first email. Hopefully we can get some
> conversation and thoughts passing back and forth over the weekend and have
> things rolling steadily into week after next.

ratlaw wrote:Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 10:31 PM
Subject: Re: No Subject

> On a related note, I believe I've heard back from everyone but Claus
> (who is rather busy as well) on their preference for the style, and
> since everyone so far has opted for the low-power, inter-Denver version
> that's what we'll be playing. So make appropriate characters. I'm going
> to send out an email laying out the basic Denver background everyone
> should be aware of later tonight.

ratlaw wrote:Sent: Friday, August 30, 2002 6:41 PM
Subject: Denver and Environs

> The original treaty didn't divide the Front Range Free Zone (as the
> entire area is called) up into parts controlled by each member of the
> council, that happened later. All the treaty did was set the borders for
> the entire FRFZ (which includes Boulder and Colorado Springs), declare
> that the FRFZ was extraterritorial and it's own separate country, that
> signatory nations could not establish any sort of taxes within the FRFZ
> nor could they station military personell within the FRFZ. Additionally,
> they couldn't raise trade barriers on imports or exports from Denver.
> Originally the Council was made up of the Pueblo Corporate Council,
> Sioux Nation, Ute Nation, Aztlan and the US. For the first 10 years or
> so, the three NAN nations formed a voting bloc against the USA. Finally,
> the US had enough and over the space of four days built an enourmous
> wall (around 75 km long) around a large chunk of Denver and left the
> Council. Pretty soon the tribal nations had their own, single area
> walled off and Aztlan had one as well. Then came the secession of the
> Southern states from the UCAS. This prompted the UCAS to give up half of
> its territory and grant the CAS a seat on the Council (using a loophole
> in the treaty language). So now instead of 5 nations we have 6. Seems
> that the people who wrote the treaty didn't see that one coming, so
> there is no process for resolving a deadlocked Council. (You can
> probably see where this is going...) The result is that on important
> issues the Council is useless and the city is divided into multiple,
> arbitrarily drawn armed camps.
>
> How does all of this affect you? Well, the dividing of Denver into
> separate areas of national control means that almost all of Denver
> relies on the gray (and very often the black) market for all sorts of
> things from perfectly legal goods to weapons, drugs and cyberware. Just
> getting around town can be a hassle, for example you can cross three
> walled and guarded borders just walking 8 blocks across downtown Denver.
> That's going through the equivalent of customs three times. On the plus
> side there are 'frequent border crosser' passes that let you get through
> border checks faster, but (A) you need a SIN, (B) you get logged and
> (C) you still have to go through some amount of harassment. Want to
> fly? Same problem: each nation owns the air space above its sector.
>
> Some other things to know. Organized crime is pretty big in Denver, but
> fairly conservative: there's not a lot of fighting between the various
> groups. The mafia is pretty much in charge, they deal in vice crimes
> (gambling, prostitution, pornography, etc) but don't mess with drugs.
> Drugs and chips are pretty much controlled by the yakuza. The Triads
> work what's left over from the Mob and the Yaks, squeezing in on the
> independent shadow market.
>
> I think that covers most of what i wanted to say about Denver. Email me
> with specific questions, or if you want some aspect clarified.

ratlaw · Post by **ratlaw** » Fri Oct 04, 2002 10:47 pm

Thanks Deev, I was trying to dig those emails up myself but only found the first one. *looks in his inbox and notes a lack of character sheets* I'm assuming everyone's been trucking along on their character, since no one's told me otherwise. Sure hope I've got some sheets to peruse soon

In an attempt to speed along the process, I'll send out an email with the rtf sheet I use. Just load in Wordpad and adjust your line wrapping options so that it looks normal.

Toryu · Post by **Toryu** » Sun Oct 06, 2002 12:34 am

Ok, here we go...my character in a nutshell:

Anthony Shen, aka Dr. No
Archetype: Wujen
Race: Elven

Anthony Shen was born July 13 2040 in Englewood, Denver FRFZ to parents Shen Liu and Jack Ward, both fixers on Denver’s shadow market.

At age 12, Tony’s parents were killed during a Knight Errant raid. Tony and his older brother were given into custody of their uncle Shen Wu, a respected Wujen and Talismonger in Chinatown.

In 2057, he joined one of the bigger Denver gangs, "The Godz", who specialize in escorting and protecting smugglers crossing the Mile-High City's sectors.

During his time with The Godz, he befriended Anatolij, who had frequent business dealings with the gang. It was him who taught Tony to play chess.

For reasons unknown to outsiders, he left the gang in 2060 to break into the smuggling business with Anatolij and a few associates (read: Sam's and Eva's PCs;)).

Tony is an asian-looking Elf of slender, athletic stature and a somewhat tanned complexion. He possesses slim facial features with high cheekbones. Tony has long, dark hair, which he mostly wears tucked back.

Tony has a “Live and let live” attitude. He detests unnecessary violence and tries to get along with anyone he meets.

Following the tenets of Taoism, Tony doesn’t believe in the values and laws that modern society and the megacorps dictate. He definitely has a problem with authority. Nonetheless, he shares the “honor among thieves” notion and could be considered an honorable man from a certain point of view.

Tony is a cheerful, laid back, social person who enjoys to associate with bizarre and interesting people, which is one of the reasons why he likes the thrills of Denver’s shadows so much.

He boasts a pretty cocky attitude and likes to brag about the stunts he’s pulled. One other trait of his is a certain degree of vindictiveness; Tony was raised to be a proud practitioner of the arcane, and hates it when his craft is ridiculed. He usually proceeds to retaliate with humiliating, but non-lethal pranks, mostly with help of his magic.

In short: He's quite the opposite of Anatolij, which might be the reason why the two get along.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Mon Aug 16, 2004 12:34 pm

Whatever happened to this game?

IRC: Shadowrun: Cross-town Traffic

IRC: Shadowrun: Cross-town Traffic

A Deadline, At Long Last