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3278 wrote:Those of you using characters recycled from other games get the 32 Frown of Disapproval. Just so you know. Not that you care.
Well, I do care, and I'd rather make a new one, but it ain't happening at present*. Hence the original half-hat entry and all.
*It isn't happening because when I create a character for Shadowrun, I don't just go through a few numbers. I frequently custom build equipment, or hook together existing equipment in interesting ways - and a lot of that takes time I don't really have -- and books I don't really have as easy access to at present. Besides, Toyman rules and I've been wanting to play him in a game that lasts more than 2 hours in-game-time.
3278,Ancient History, Anguriel, Bishop, Buzzed, Cain, Coasini, Crone, Gyro, JetPlane, Matt McS, MissTeja, and Scamp.
Lucky number 13. :cyber
It looks like "Sticks" is our defacto gang leader for now. Congrats Ancient One.
It also looks like you guys are the Inked Angels. Everyone agree with that? I would like a distinctive color for you, and Tat/marker. Somethign that is prominent.
Everyone gets the distinctive style flaw at -1 value (Inked Angels markers, and tagging is part of your MO.)
Ancient you get the added flaw of Dependent at a -3 value, but with out the benefit of actually getting those points to use (Aren't I wonderful?). You are in charge of "Billy" a mute learning disabled eigth year old who came with the library. He requires you, and your gang to feed him, clothe him and generally keep him alive. he can bathe, wipe, etc himself, but functions a lot like a four year old. he is sort of your mascot, and your gangs secret. "billy" is special-things happen around him, and he seems to have a sense for when you guys need a cheering up, or a secret hug. You all love "Billy" even if you don't all show it in the same way. You'd lay your lives down for him, even those of who just joined in recent years. He's a great kid, and just has a special way about him.
As for the color, I would stay away from blues, reds, and whites, as they are prominent gang culture colors. Based on the fact that our group is comprised of young kids, and not a reputable gang with nation-wide links, I think it best we choose something other than the most common colors. I think something green could be pulled off, or maybe gray or brown.
As for the marking we share, I really think it should be a tattoo if we're going to stick with the "Inked" bit. Our trademark should fit our title.
Just my thoughts.
To the entire world, you may be one single person, but to one person, you may be the entire world.
I say we make it a tatoo of the Serra Angel portrait shown on the card in Magic the Gathering tcg. Whenever we want to show that we have been somewhere, we leave a Serra Angel card behind.(proxie of course, in 2063, Serra must be super ultra rare)
Can billy have a special ability where he can ink copies of cards? Billy plays Magic with us to cheer us up! And we usually let him win.
I don't know about having a M:tG card being our symbol.
Also remember that if our gang symbol is simple enough, we can easily graffiti it on the wall somewhere. If it's a piece of art, we can't do that.
What about something simple like a pair of angelic wings spreading out from a circle?
Lots of almost literary symbology can be read by that. Can say that the circle is like a cage (i.e. Devils Playground), and that we're expressing that despite being caged there, we still live and cherish a free life.
Skin bracelet works quite nicely as an initiation. But it doesn't lend itself out to being a 'symbol'. Like, something that someone can pass by and say 'Well, looks like the Inked Angels were here'.
Burning halo sounds fun to me, though I can't quite picture exactly how it would look. But I mainly blame the fact that I'm sitting at the Dept. of Transportation, working on their stupid database, and it's sapping every creative bone in my body and filling me with an overbearing sense of dread and apathy.
"Sticks" has spent his whole life in the Barrens, the unwanted offspring of a Yakuza prostitute and some unknown John. When he was seven years old, he escaped from the institution and started living on the streets. He never talks about where he lived. Since then, Sticks has made a living scrounging from local junkyards and doing petty crimes, like hustling pool. Sticks keen eye, obstinate streek and forceful personality attracted friends and troubles alike.
Ares was tossed out of his home when his parents couldn't afford him anymore. Alienation from home and his emerging adept powers made the self-proclaimed "God of War" brutish and violent, until he tried to pick a fight with a young pool-player. Sticks' nonchalant attitude and response, a scornfully accurate portrayal of Ares faults, chiefly his misused potential, struck a chord with the young adept. Ares began to hang out around Sticks, and after a few conversations the two became friends.
Chopper was damn near born on the back of a motorcycle, and he's proud to tell people of it. Growing up in a go-gang had its share of ups and downs; the attention-starved kid learned to wolf down food so the bigger members wouldn't take it from him. Chopper's chance to get away from the bullying bikers after one fateful-and fatal-bar fight where a group of trolls cacked the entire gang. Forced out on his own, Chopper used his size and aggressiveness on the streets to get by. Eventually, he ended up hanging around with a bunch of other kids in a dingy bar, where Sticks was hustling. Ares eyeballed Chopper as the young biker asked in on the game, which Sticks agreed to. Pretty soon, Chopper owed Sticks more than he could pay, and told him so. Sticks nodded and asked if he wanted to pay it off another way, Chopper agreed. Ares, Chopper and Sticks left the bar and broke into an old apartment to scrounge the copper piping. A few days later, Chopper came back, got soundly beaten at pool, and helped Ares and Sticks break into a car and steal a pocket secretary. Eventually, Chopper stopped counting how much he owed Sticks and just went along with whatever the plan was.
Now that the three were regularly working together, Sticks made a call on Toyman. Sticks and Toyman had met on an earlier scrounging trip, whent hey both found an intact hydrogen fuel cell and wanted to fence it. The ork and human both decided the winner should be determined by skill and wit, so they challenged each other to games. The result of the contest was a tie, neither having much of an advantage on the other at the final game of marbles, so the two agreed to fenc eit together and split the cash. later on, the regularly met while scrounging and amicably played a game of marbles or two when they had the time. Toyman got involved with an ork gang, but that ended badly when the Humanis Policlub set their hang-out on fire. A few weeks after this, with Toyman settling back into his scrounging routine, Sticks approached him with a proposition: Toyman needed friends and Sticks' little gang could use some technical help to pull off more lucrative jobs. Toyman thought about it and accepted.
The initial meeting between Chopper, Ares and Toyman was rough, but Sticks used common sense and a few well-placed jibes to smooth ruffled feathers. Chopper and Toyman nearly went at each other at one point, but Sticks rapped them both on the head with one of his batons and told them to think of the money. Toyman and Chopper made their peace, and though they still trade insults now and then, they're always friendly insults which the other tries to outdo. Once Toyman got along with Chopper, and Sticks already approving of him, Ares warmed up to him and began an ongoing conversation about gadgetry. Sticks smiled and offerred to buy Chopper lunch after a game of nine-ball while Ares and Toyman yakked.
It was during just such a game a week or two later that Sticks and Chopper heard a ruckus outside and decided to investigate. A half-dozen gang-bangers were beating up a young girl. Sticks brought his poolcue down on the back of the nearest one's head as Chopper tackled another. Pretty soon, four of the gangers were bruised and bleeding into the gutters and the others ran off. Speed was carried into the bar, where the two finished their game of pool. Not really wanting to go back to her drunk aunt, the poker shark Speed decided to hang out with her "little angels." While not an official member of the gang at first, Speed hung around with the guys and no one objected when she crashed at the gang doss. Pretty soon, she started helping out with the gang's plans, in little ways, then in bigger ones.
On All Hallow's Eve of that year, Sticks told the group it was time to be a real gang, and expand operations accordingly. He used a borrowed knife to cut his skin bracelet first, then passed it on. Once everyone had made their bracelet, he led them down to the library."This is it. Our new home." Toyman and Aries broke out a power sprayer and put the first tag up on the side of building. Chopper broke open the first beer, and the first Inked Angels woke up in the morning just as the last of them got finished at the tattoo parlor. It was time to mark their territory, make themselves felt, and recruit.
The Library came with Billy. Small, young, mute, Billy just sits in a corner of the library and reads most of the day, unless someone plays with him. The only time he cracks a smile is when one of the Inked Angels come by; be it Toyman with a new gizmo, Chopper with a snack, or anybody else just sitting down and talking to him. Sticks takes care of Billy's main needs out of his own pocket, especially when gang funds are low.
Ancient History wrote:No one likey the "skin bracelet" idea, huh? I figured we could call 'em our halos. That's make an interesting gang symbol.
We can use that, along with tattooed flames off of them. The graffiti version could be a banded/striped/braided halo as well, to resemble the wrist version.
MissTeja wrote:So, does anyone /object/ to having a halo (just halo) on fire?
No, I don't think anyone does. Though we may want to go from Inked Angels to Burning Angels or Fiery Angles or Blazing Angels, or Flaming Angels... that last one in particular if we all have color-coordinated outfits.
Coasini wrote:We'll need gasoline.
Gasoline doesn't last long enough. I'll create something better with Powder Keg.
Rust color is great as a concealing color in a brick environment, and fairly easy to produce using, you know, rust as a dye. Which we should be able to find all over the place. And Toyman is all for blending into buildings. Adding additional color in the form of insignias and such would probably be good as well.
Anguirel wrote: or Flaming Angels... that last one in particular if we all have color-coordinated outfits. .
!!
Rust color is great as a concealing color in a brick environment, and fairly easy to produce using, you know, rust as a dye. Which we should be able to find all over the place. And Toyman is all for blending into buildings. Adding additional color in the form of insignias and such would probably be good as well.
I like the Rust. Close to red, but not so close as to not be plainly differentiated.
Still working out some stuff on the UG front, but I'll get it up as soon as I have anything substantial. But the very short version is one enormously huge troll who is slightly retarded, although certainly not on the level of Billy or anything. Certainly someone you want to have around you in a gang brawl, though (on your side, at least). Mother was and still is (who knows at this point) a BTL/drug addict who was using while pregnant with him. BTL and drug dealing would be a problem for him personally, but it probably wouldn't be all that hard for any interested gang members to keep that side of the gang from him, if they felt like it.
[Edited to remove stuff that isn't true any more.]
Ancient History wrote:The ork and human both decided the winner should be determined by skill and wit, so they challenged each other to games.
Saw this earlier, but forgot to comment on it. Toyman is human. The All-Ork gang stole Toyman's revenge against Humanis Policlub from him, he didn't join them. Humanis burned his family's apartment building for having been tainted by meta-humans. The fact that some humans could live together with metas made them equally tainted or a necessary sacrifice (I guess -- I'm not inventing motives for them ).
Since Scamp brought it up... On the BTL/Drug front, one of Toyman's things will be to screen all the chips and drugs to make sure they're "pure" -- not cut or fragged or otherwise likely to cause serious problems for the user. He doesn't see it as his place to choose what people do with their lives, but he's going to make sure what he sells isn't directly harmful -- or at least isn't harmful in an unexpected fashion. He'd also probably prefer to reduce addictive qualities and potential burnout a bit, so, for exmaple, California Hots are likely to be his preferred BTL type to sell as those are within a certain set of limits, just not the UCAS limits. They're also easier to get, as I recall, assuming we know a smuggler. *Adds smuggler to list of needed contacts*
Jimmy. "Shiroi Tora, or White Tiger, or just plain Tiger depending on who's talking to him".
Jimmy grew up on the streets. His parents were killed in an apartment fire when he was 7. He bounced around a couple foster homes before finally deciding fuck it. Life on the street was better. At least on the streets he knew who was gonna try to beat him up; pretty much everybody else. Not like the foster homes; sometimes the dad, sometimes the mother, sometimes the step dad who tried to do real bad things to him. (see 3rd paragraph)
Jimmy’s a pretty big kid. At 16, he’s 5’8”, and 197 lbs. He’s in to weightlifting, and can often be seen around wherever the gang happens to be hanging out, just lifting big heavy things..including some of the bigger gang members, sometimes. He’s also into music. He’s pretty good with a guitar, and is often just plucking away. He’s started to play for Billy, sometimes. At all hours of the night, he can be seen playing some made up spur of the moment song, bringing a delightful smile to Billy’s (and thus his own) face.
Jimmy’s had to kill before. He didn’t like it; in fact he hated it. But he found a quote once, in an old old book in the library. “You don’t have to like it. You just have to do it”. He turned it into one of his mottos. .
He doesn’t show a lot of emotion. Never has, probably never will. Unless something is really bothering him, he’s pretty inscrutable. Jimmy knows a little bit about the Samurai of old, and their code. He’s trying to follow it, but he still has a lot to learn.
He has a couple tattoos. One on his left forearm, a large rose stretching from elbow to wrist. It has a blade going through it, with a serpent wrapped around the blade. The detail is very intricate and exquisite. He has a Tiger on his right shoulder and upper arm, stretching from the top of his shoulder to just below his elbow. And a large dragon on his back, stretching from shoulder blade to shoulder blade with the wingspan, and from the bottom of his neck about ¾ of the way down his back. And of course the flaming halo on his right forearm, along with the skin bracelet.
He first met Sticks and the rest of the gang around 4 years ago, in a local pool hall. Sticks beat him soundly at the table, but he held his own with the rest. His steely demeanor almost earned him a fight with Ares and Chopper, but Sticks managed (like always) to calm everybody down. Along the way, they’re became pretty good buds. Jimmy’s self control, even temper (unless he’s pissed; then he makes Ares seem tame. It doesn’t happen often, but he usually scares the rest of the gang when he goes off), his cold, blue-eyed gaze, and his size has earned him the number two spot and a certain reputation around the gang’s turf.
Jimmy has a small day job, working at the local Stuffer Shack as a stocker. It’s very part time, averaging like 10, 15 hours a week. But it’s sometimes enough to get food for the rest of the gang, especially the outdated and damaged goods. He’s in pretty good with the boss man, the manager of the shack.
He’s picked up some general mechanical skills along the way. Not very much, as he’s learned from experience, but given enough time, he can usually figure /something/ out to fix just about anything. It just..might not look pretty. Or at all what it started out as. But he gets along with the other mechanically inclined members pretty well, playing with them.
Last edited by Bishop on Fri Jun 04, 2004 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Pax Romana, Motherfucker. Breaker of unbreakable things.
This is not aimed at any one person. So don't take it as aimed at you.
Okay I am in the process of disassembling each character point by point. I will PM whatever questions or results I have to you individually.
Keep in mind a few things when we are creating characters: According to the SR3 main book, a skill rating of six is as follows:
SR# Main Book P.99 wrote:6 Active
The skill becomes Innate. You no longer think about using it. whenever you use the skill, your mind and body are one. The skill is less an action performed, and more a triggered reaction. You concern yourself with performance rather than style and effect.
Its only 2 points from World Class/Genius.
I know its hard at times but you can end up with extra points. we don't have to use them all. I gave 90 as the number to use as a guideline-you may go over, you may go under. he concept is what I care about.
Okay now that I have rambled time to dissect characters. For those who haven't gotten theirs finsihed, you know whom you are, lets get it gear. Everyone else expect feedback today.
[16:27:09] 3278: In an lot of ways, 90 points is too much for kids who are 14-16.
[16:27:41] Retard Bus: Yeah-I am thinking maybe I should have limited it to less, but at the same time I wanted to be fair.
[16:29:12] 3278: Real gang members are, what, maybe 10 percent likely to hit their opposition in a gunfight? One round out of a clip might hit someone? So you figure your average shot in a gunfight has a target number of 6-10, with all the modifiers. In order to roll a single, say, 10, out of 10 shots...that's not a skill of six. With a six, you're looking at hitting - well - every shot or every other shot, not every ten shots.
[16:29:55] Retard Bus: Yeah.
[16:30:05] 3278: So most /real/ gang members have a skill of 2 or 3.
[16:30:18] Retard Bus: Exactly, maybe a 4, or some specializations.
[16:30:56] 3278: What I really want to capture is the amazement at ability at this level. On the street, when some 14 year old picks up a cop and throws him 20 feet, that's a big deal. But in "the
[16:31:18] 3278: ..."the shadows," a strength of 10 - which is what you'd need to do that - is no big deal.
[16:31:35] Retard Bus: Exactly.
[16:31:47] 3278: It's like, in Star Trek, going lightspeed is no big deal. I'd like to see a show where people are like, "Holy crap! We're going faster than light!"
After Reggie found himself on the streets, he needed to figure out how to survive. He discovered that his instincts were frequently good about small thefts and scams. Sometimes, he would swear that piles of trash would come and bring him things to sell; others, it amazed him how things kept falling out of people's pockets. He also developed an uncanny ability to negotiate with people-- it wasn't until he tried this trick on a talismonger that he realized he was magically active, a raccoon shaman.
He was given his nickname, Hock, by the people who saw him constantly coming and going from pawn shops. He got the attention of Toyman because of this, who in turn introduced him to Sticks and crew. Ares even managed to hook him up with a talismonger for some more magical training; however, in a fight Hock never was able to do more than stun people, and even then, he wasn't particularily good at it. Hock still has an embarassing tendency to panic and throw fireballs; he can't really handle them all that well, and he has no idea where he learned that spell. So far, he's managed to keep it quiet or pass it off as deliberate.
Hock started to hang out with the gang, and did more and more errands for them. He improved his scrounging by watching Sticks, and started learning to shoot from Ares. Hock always felt bad about his abilities in a fight; so when he heard the ruckus outside and saw a half-dozen gangers beating up a young girl, he attacked with a stunball. Unfortunately for him, he didn't manage to do much more than give them a headache and distract them a little; things would have gone very bad for him if Sticks and Chopper hadn't already been inclined to jump in.
When Sticks made the offer to form into a real gang, Hock jumped at the chance. He's been working hard on improving his control, but he still can't figure out why he's so bad at combat spells. To offset this, he stole a gun from a biker's saddlebag-- a huge Ruger Warhawk in a nice soft holster. He's been practicing secretly, but had to stop because he's running out of ammo.
Appearance: A gangly fifteen-year old with greasy black hair, acne scars, and a huge nose. He's about 5'11, and about 135 lbs; he doesn't seem to eat enough but maganges somehow.
Serious Paul wrote:Okay now that I have rambled time to dissect characters. For those who haven't gotten theirs finsihed, you know whom you are, lets get it gear.
I'd love to, but you never got back to me on whether my gear is acceptable, which kinda dictates my eventual skill list. Assuming everything was acceptable, I'm mostly done, just need to count everything up to make sure I didn't miss something.
Serious Paul wrote:Okay now that I have rambled time to dissect characters. For those who haven't gotten theirs finsihed, you know whom you are, lets get it gear.
I'd love to, but you never got back to me on whether my gear is acceptable, which kinda dictates my eventual skill list. Assuming everything was acceptable, I'm mostly done, just need to count everything up to make sure I didn't miss something.
Hmm I sent you a PM in reply. Let me check my sent messages box and see if I still have a copy of it.
So far everyone is reasonable, so don't take this as a singling out. I think the highest pint value I added up was something like 93 or 94 points-thats the highest. Most are either 90 on the dot, or less.
It was meant as a reminder to the rest of us, and me. It also concretely puts my perspective into writing. Which I hope will help all of us make the game cooler.
You know I am going to say use your judgement on this one. If it fills the character out better then use it. If you are just buying extra shit to have extra shit-forget it. But you know if you need that one piece of signature gear-by all means rape the starting cash for it.
I purchased the music chip for the Harley. It has a mix of tunes like "Bad to the Bone" "Born to Ride" "Another One Bites the Dust" "Whip It" and of course "Die Motherfucker" from the Officespace soundtrack.
!!
