Character Creation

Faanku
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Faanku
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Character Creation

#1 Post by Faanku »

We'll use this thread to go "around the table" and get everything done. Starting on page 46, the first few questions are:

When is The Sprawl set? What level of technology are we talking about?
As listed here, we'll be running in Korea's Rason City. The year is 2070 AD, and a long-standing cold war is coming to an explosive head. A dangerous time to run the shadows (and apologies in advance for using copious amounts of Shadowun terminology but it just works so well), but also an incredibly lucrative one if you're capable enough. Rason City is one of the settings in the November Metric source book, but I wanted to leave enough of the city as a blank slate for everyone to tinker with.

Who are we as a team?
This is for you guys to decide. Do you have any qualms with wetwork, maybe a 'no innocents' rule, or is everything fair game? I believe the game assumes a healthy balance between pink mohawk and black trenchcoat, but if you all take combat themed playbooks and want to go guns blazing, then the game will adjust accordingly. State your ambitions!

With that said, the first part of character creation is...

STEP 0: DEFINE THE CORPORATIONS
Everyone gets to create and flesh out one of the major corps in Rason City. You only need a name and a couple of lines establishing their sphere of interest, but please feel free to go into as much detail as you wish; the more defined they are, the more everyone has to work with. As the book says, you're free to create an entity of similar scope like an organised crime syndicate or a government if you wish. I added the first corporation here as a rough example, and will add your own organisation to the thread once they're posted.

Once everyone has created a corp, we'll move onto the next step!
Marisu
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Re: Character Creation

#2 Post by Marisu »

Horizoonsoft

Known mostly for its flagship product, Horizoonsoft was founded in AD 2048. Horizoonsoft began with a very small core of hobbyist software programmers lead by Ha-yun Soon, who was the brains behind Dokkaebi, a digital assistant Matrix agent who helps users with a wide variety of miscellaneous Matrix-related tasks. Got a meeting at 4 and need to hail a cab? Dokkaebi can alert the nearest driver with a simple "yes" away. You've been looking a lot at those new shoes; want to make an order? Dokkaebi helps organize information in an age where it's easy for the average user to get overwhelmed and knows when to stay out of notice. Initially, Horizoonsoft's work was obscure and seen as little more than a cute gimmick but non-essential. It was not until the collapse of North Korea and the other countries' corporations entering their market that some corporations saw value in the fairly innocuous agent. Here was a program that knew all of the spending habits of the citizens... and they never did any data wipes. Horizoonsoft saw many offers to buy, but Soon smelled an opportunity. She took a risk on a loan, expanded the company's employees and prioritized very, very heavily on security. 5 years later and Horizoonsoft still runs and maintains Dokkaebi as a free service, while the corps shell out on subscriptions for access into their Insights and Analytics program. In the corporations' covert war, the Matrix is a gold mine.

---

Just floating an idea here! Let me know if anything sounds fishy, or if it conflicts with the main idea or anything.
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#3 Post by AoC »

Fujimoto Heavy Industries

As one of the first corporations to attempt to bring prosperity and opportunities to the people of Rason, Fujimoto Heavy Industries (FHI for short) projects an image of conservative ideals and can-do spirit. Styled after the spirit of Post-war Showa Era Japan, along with their motto of "RECTITUDE", FHI aims to provide ample opportunities to both its employees and investors while looking far into a future where they've managed to play a part in bringing Rason, and eventually the whole of the nation, into the 22nd century.
Steps have been taken to avoid the appearance of being a hostile colonization effort and rectifying the excesses of the War and the Zaibatsus, but the reality is that their arcology is populated mostly by middle managers of japanese origin while most of the dangerous grunt work is performed by people of varied nationalities. There are few industries they won't dip their hands into, but their focus remains on ore refinement and megastructure materials processing. Look closely at the heat piping in your assigned apartment, you may be able to spot the telltale logo of a proud Fujimoto product made in their massive and efficient Geongseong Facility, ran by the enigmatic, but always well-mannered head of the company Osamu Saikawa. Rumors are he indulges as well in the favored past-time of many a bored expat manager: Gambling. But you should know that spreading such rumors goes against the ethics and image Fujimoto Heavy Industries and you might find yourself with a Shame penalty in your next paycheck.
Faanku
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Re: Character Creation

#4 Post by Faanku »

These are great! I added them both to the Corporations thread, let me know if you want to change anything.
ZanKyu
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Re: Character Creation

#5 Post by ZanKyu »

Fenghuang Laboratories
Genetic Research, Cyberware, Anti-Aging Theory

Tracing its origins back almost 50 years to a research team lead by Juan Zhang, Fenghuang Labs was founded with the generous help of state funds to tackle contemporary health challenges. Leading the battle against cancer, auto-immune diseases and the Plague it swiftly became one of SEA's leading organisations in the field of medical science. During the Korean Civil War it was one of the first corporations to open a headquarters within Rason City, to help with the humanitarian crisis present.
Nowadays, it commands one of the largest arcologies on the west side and focuses its monumental efforts into anti-aging research, cyber prosthetics, human augmentation and gene research. The head of the company remains Juan Zhang; serene, soft spoken, a bewitching beauty who doesn't look a day older than thirty. Her wits, experience and strong political connections earned her the nickname "The Empress", revered by her allies and feared by her enemies. There are a fair amount of rumours circulating in the shadows about the disappearance of people and their families who spoke ill against her.
thenewflesh
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Re: Character Creation

#6 Post by thenewflesh »

Nozdraviye

A pharmaceuticals company built in Moscow in the year 2024 by the experienced hands of Boris Nozdryov, Nozdraviye rapidly established itself as a household name in throughout Russia. In a world where alienation and mistrust are ubiquitous, their anxiety and depression meds are handed out like candy by most doctors (who get a small cut for every sale). So, too, are their pain medications, which are moderately addictive and taken recreationally more often than not. Due to its involvement in some biowarfare scandals in Russia, Nozdraviye relocated in 2040 to Rason. Nozdryov is now well in his 60s and has begun relying more heavily on the involvement of his daughter Mika.


Let me know if there's anything I should expand upon.
Faanku
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Re: Character Creation

#7 Post by Faanku »

Excellent, the corps are looking great! Next up is:

STEP 1: CHOOSE A PLAYBOOK
STEP 2: NAME & DESCRIBE YOUR CHARACTER
We can go first come first serve, or you can stake a claim on one or two and work it out. As for duping playbooks, it's not really forbidden, but I think it's better for everyone to choose a unique one.
Once everyone's settled on a playbook and given a description we can move onto the last part.

EDIT: I added the Character Sheet thread here if you want to jump right in and finish your sheet once you've chosen a playbook. The next time we go around the table is Step 9, so there's not really much point in waiting.
Feel free to post here with what stats, cyberware, gear, moves etc that you chose though so everyone gets a good feel for what your character's good at and where they may lack!
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Re: Character Creation

#8 Post by Faanku »

Final straight now...

STEP 9: LINKS
Everyone will post a short description of a job their character ran against a corporation. It can be as short as a couple of sentences, or as long as a few paragraphs, but don't stress on it too much. The most important thing is that your character was the VIP on this job; "The character should play a leading role in the job, either in charge of the entire operation, or providing the critical skill around which the mission was based. This is a chance to show off a little."
Once everyone has posted their job, everyone makes a second post stating whether they were involved in the other player's runs or not. For every job your character was involved in, you take +1 Links with the character whose job it was... but the Corporation Clock for that corp will advance by 1: "Your choices at this point, and in the previous step, have a significant role in deter- mining the starting point and direction of the game. There are n characters and n+1 corporations. If you spread out your links missions among the corporations, none of the corps will be particularly bothered by your team – at least initially. On the other hand, if two players choose the same corporation and some other players choose to join in on those missions, that corporation’s clock could be filled up to 0000 from the start of play. This is a lever that allows the players to control the initial intensity of the game. Pull this lever as you wish, but do so knowingly." This is where you guys decide if any of the corps will play a bigger role than the others, and how professionally aware of each other you are in game.

Once we're done here, I'll get the first run posted up!
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Re: Character Creation

#9 Post by Marisu »

Bringing the pain(killers)

Fool got word from Blue Lotus:

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Shipment. Ports. 2 PM. Be there by 1. Expect trouble.
She read her clock. 1:23 PM. Lovely. She closed up shop and made a beeline, arriving just in time to collect the shipment and learn more about the trouble. Painkillers, and someone keeping a close eye on the corps caught some suspicious Nozdraviye movement. In the end, Seoul con Carne! took a massive beating, but Fool somehow managed to drive her way through their interceptions and checkpoints to the Blue Lotus' dropoff point.
Last edited by Marisu on Tue Nov 03, 2020 3:14 am, edited 2 times in total.
thenewflesh
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Re: Character Creation

#10 Post by thenewflesh »

Pagliacci - a new petal on the Blue Lotus, fresh from the gutter. Needed gear, the best in cybercoms and muscle-enhancement. Father needs, Salome gets. In like nothing - stop a Fenghuang delivery vehicle, slice some throats, lift some crates. Now Pagliacci makes his enemies cry. Sold the rest of the stolen goods on the black-market.
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Re: Character Creation

#11 Post by AoC »

Initially brought in to run intel and early recon, Shelley found herself deeply immersed in the current mission into Fenghuang Labs. There was a gap in the team, and her exploration of the targeted area showed they had been working on vertebra implants, not milspec grade, perhaps improvements on the workers exoskeleton harnesses. But they were high quality stuff and the initial goal of seizing some of the coveted med research turned into a snatch-and-grab of gold plated chromed spines.
She apologized for the mess afterward and fixed up any damaged implants on the house, including that one messy lower leg removal, but hey, who could say no to a new pair of blades with a very reasonable payment plan?
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Re: Character Creation

#12 Post by ZanKyu »

A.L.I.C.E. popped up a message about a shipment delivery. That was strange. What was even stranger though was that the "shipment delivery" ended up being an escort of Geomeun Goyangi, a young hacker girl and idol in the shadows for giving the finger to the Man.
Smart kid. Too smart though, having an entire platoon of Russian paramilitaries hunting her down, after hacking into Ledokol Logistika's vessels' OS.
Three exploded armored vehicles and twenty dead men later, the shipment was delivered safely and John had a newfound respect for babysitters.
Faanku
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Re: Character Creation

#13 Post by Faanku »

So we have 2 runs on Fenghuang, one on Ledokol and one against Nozdraviye. If you were involved on these runs, say what you did, or say you were sadly missing.
Marisu
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Re: Character Creation

#14 Post by Marisu »

Salome
Fool signed on as a way to help work off her debt with the Blue Lotus. Plus her truck can help with setting up a blockade for Salome to do her work, and with getting the goods.

Shelley
She wasn't part of the original team for the job, given her conspicuous vehicle, but she happened to be working nearby and someone who knew Fool called her for emergency extraction once things turned sideways. She was a little bit glad for the extra pay.

John
Need something delivered? Call on Seoul con Carne! Having wheels definitely helps, though given her personality she may have given John more headaches.
AoC
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Re: Character Creation

#15 Post by AoC »

Fool
Shelley noticed all the new hastily covered scars and dents on the truck. "I take it you have a new salsa today?" Fool just gave her the usual nod. "You gotta let me know next time, could avoid some of your trouble... Give the usual kimchidilla, and please make it spicy"

Salome
The upsurge of high quality implants in the market was noticeable. She was happy to work on good gear for once and wondered just who flooded the black markets. She should prod contacts, get dibs on the next shipment.

John
"Just a simple escort mission" they said. "Just running comms and getting along with the other techie in down time" they said! At least she got along with the guy running the op and even offered to do his eyes at cost. Least she could do after he pulled her out of more than one fiery situation.
Faanku
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Re: Character Creation

#16 Post by Faanku »

Quite the interesting start...

Image
Faanku
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Re: Character Creation

#17 Post by Faanku »

OK, we're up and running: viewtopic.php?f=1022&t=10520
I know thenewflesh is a veteran poster here, but for the rest of you:

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use [dialog] tags for speech, and [ooc] and/or [spoiler] tags for OOC in the main thread.
I like to try and keep as little ooc visible as possible to give the story a better flow, so you can always use the OOC thread instead if you prefer.

To roll: Go to this site and create a character, then add yourself to campaign number 880.
Please put next to your roll what you are rolling and which attribute you are using, eg. [2d6+2] Get the Job (Edge).
Then copypaste the roll into ooc/spoiler tags underneath your post. If your Move result tells you to pick X results from Y list, note which you choose and roleplay the result appropriately. If you fail (6-) or the result needs MC input, I'll try and respond as quickly as possible to keep things going.

If you need any help with anything, PM me. Happy shadowrunning, chummers!
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Re: Character Creation

#18 Post by ZanKyu »

Fool
He dropped the green vial, empty, on the other side of the road and took a sit on the road. "That right there is the real painkiller." He looked at Fool. "I think I broke two ribs with your driving this time." Looking at her grin, beaming with pride, hurt more than his chest.

Salome
The robotic driver crawled towards its gun only for John to kick it further away. Why do they even make them look like humans? The machine turned its gaze towards him. "Welcome to the rat race." He planted a new hole in its metallic skull.

Shelley
He stood in front of the large test tube staring at the floating vertebral column inside a green fluid. At the top of the column a sponge-like mushroom was pulsating. "...what the fuck is that?" >_NO_DATA_ A.L.I.C.E. responded.
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