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Khyron had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
Nae : Y'know, you could simply run a backstory like, you joined Lone Star to be the law, then left because of the corruption in the system. Now you're just a shadowrunner who takes very specific (IE : Good ) jobs

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oooooooooooh I LIKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Deth, we need to host a Shadowrun game! We can co-lead it

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Lyinar Ka`Bael had this to say about Optimus Prime:
I need to pick up the rules again for that game.

Deth, we need to host a Shadowrun game! We can co-lead it

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Oh! oh! can I play?

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The logic train ran off the tracks when Lyinar Ka`Bael said:
I need to pick up the rules again for that game.

Deth, we need to host a Shadowrun game! We can co-lead it

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Id like to get in on that action, Im all for trying out new games.

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Fennar thought about the meaning of life:
Oh! oh! can I play?

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I chould make a char under the low power rules (no Priorty A, ava 6 or lower, raiting 4 max)

[ 07-19-2002: Message edited by: Fennar ]

I'm less familiar with the game than you or Deth, having once had the old rulebook, and having played the Sega game often.

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Lyinar Ka`Bael had this to say about Jimmy Carter:
I'd be glad to have you, Christmas Roach.

I'm less familiar with the game than you or Deth, having once had the old rulebook, and having played the Sega game often.

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I've been wanting to learn how to play that, you guys wouldn't mind me sitting in, would you?

You aren't good enough to be around us.

Go away

Yes, you can sit in. At least I have no problem with it. I doubt Deth would, either. I just have to be a bitch because Jan has a rep to uphold

[ 07-19-2002: Message edited by: Jania ]

Okay...Nae here's the deal on the "sides" of the conflict...

The government as we recognize it now is for the most part deceased. When the magic all came back, some people started turning into elves, dwarves, trolls, orcs, etc. Dragons started flying around. All hell broke loose. Corporations stepped in during the ensuing chaos and offered to take over certain duties the government used to handle. For instance, they started taking over the police force, turning police into paramilitary security forces they'd lease out to city bodies.

Those cities that could afford the corporate security also started to rely on the corporations for other things. Not just security/policing, but also for their technology, education, large numbers of people worked for the corporation. Soon it got to the point where corporations became veritable cities within cities. Renraku, Ares, Aztlan, one by one the megacorps started to form Arcologies...massive complexes of living environments, shopping centers, schools, etc. All owned by the company, all working on the company "plan".

The problem is that not everyone fit the plan. At first a lot of the Awakened (dwarves, trolls, elves, etc) weren't accepted. So they started out in the slums between arcologies. In the shadows living in the cracks between the megacorps' civilization. Add the disenfranchised, the exiled, the patriots to the old way of life (truth, justice and the American way), the criminals, the drug-dealers, the dregs of society, the lawless, the street gangs. Stick them all out in the slums.

That's where Shadowrunners are made. Oh you might have come from inside one of the arcologies, but you don't live there anymore. Shadowrunners live outside the corporate system. Most live a mercenary lifestyle where they sell their services to the highest bidder, illegally and illicitly raiding corporations, conducting industrial espionage or inciting product wars that are every bit as gory and violent as the term "war" can be.

So here's the basic "classes" of people...

-Street Sams (short for "samurai") are generally cyber-augmented warriors who get their title from a loose interpretation of Japanese business strategy (which is in turn loosely based on the feudal samurai bushido code). They don't always have honor, though. A good number are vicious bastards who get off on killing. Guns, monoblade swords, explosives, armor, cybernetic weapons backed by vat-grown muscle implants, chromed augmented eyes, they're the tanks of the shadow battlefield.

-Deckers...The "Matrix" is the interconnected internet of the future. Deckers illegally use their cyberdecks (imagine having an uber high-end machine that looks like a keyboard on steroids) to hack into the Matrix from any fiberop point they can get access to. Technology is a part of everything worth having in the future, and Deckers can hack into the systems and fight the killer ICE (intrusion countermeasure electronics) that protects the valuable information.

-Riggers...Riggers are to vehicles what Deckers are to the Matrix. Whereas a Decker becomes one with the programs they run on the cyberdeck, Riggers hook up to (very frequently highly-twinked out) vehicles. Unless they've got some sort of robot drone they're not very use inside buildings...but on the other hand they're the ultimate wheel-men when you need a getaway...and heaven help the enemy if they've got personnel suppression weapons on their rig.

Those are the big ones...There's also the adepts, who use magic to boost their reflexes, and the dedicated mages (shamanic and hermetic) who get magic power from other sources (hermetics are your standard wizards, shamanics pact with spirits).

So...Now we get to Lonestar and the other traditionally NPC'd groups. Lonestar is one of the security corporations I mentioned earlier. This does not, however, make them inherently evil. A dedicated cop who wants to make everyone answerable to the same law could easily be a Lonestar cop. Or the evil cop on the take could be Lonestar. Just as shadowrunners have their good and bad numbers, so also does Lonestar.

However, given that the "heroes" of Shadowrun almost always break the law to do their thing, they almost always come into a clash with Lonestar.

But there are heroic Lonestar officers. Same as there are heroic shadowrunners. Not everyone's corrupt, but almost everyone is tainted in some way.

[ 07-19-2002: Message edited by: Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael ]

I can bring my laptop over for Game Nights and we can work out who'll do what

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Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael had this to say about Duck Tales:
-Deckers...The "Matrix" is the interconnected internet of the future. Deckers illegally use their cyberdecks (imagine having an uber high-end machine that looks like a keyboard on steroids) to hack into the Matrix from any fiberop point they can get access to. Technology is a part of everything worth having in the future, and Deckers can hack into the systems and fight the killer ICE (intrusion countermeasure electronics) that protects the valuable information.

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There's a few things I would like to add to that.

First, Deckers don't just hit keys on a keyboard and "hack" a system. They plug themselves into the Matrix using their Cyberdecks (which contain VR software) and a direct cyber connection to their brain (the Datajack).

When decking (as they call it), you exist within the Matrix as an Icon (kinda like your character in EQ). Almost all of your actions are carried out, at least in part, by the "physical" actions of your Matrix icon. All other things in the computer systems also have icons that you can interact with.

Let's say I'm a hacker, and my icon is Zaile (my VahShir Beastlord). If I load my attack program (to destroy ICE), it shows up as Zaile putting on his fighting claws. To attack an ICE program (which could look like anything, but we'll say it looks like a red samurai), I would by using my decking skill, but my icon would be using the claws to attack the samurai. To me, it would feel like I was actually fighting.

Of course, the ICE can sometimes fight back. In this case, its attack program would be the samurai sword. If it rams it through me, it's doing damage to my cyberdeck. Excess damage (if it's "Black ICE") will damage my brain. Some ICE does stun damage, other does worse. Some will screw with your mind in ways you don't want to think about.

Of course, there's more to decking than just fighting. Basically, there's a list of programs you can have, each working much like a skill within the Matrix. More powerful programs take up more memory, and too much can slow you down. You try to Sleeze (stealth program) your way into a secure system while carrying a level 10 attack program, and the data load you create with that might tell them you're there, even if they don't see you directly.

Of course, the real fun comes when the corp tries to flush you out by sending in their own deckers to fight you. Corp deckers have all the passcodes, and can move through their own systems with no problems. Beat them, and they will likely shut down whatever part of the system they think you are in to "dump" you out. So, stealth is a Decker's best friend, and speed is the second best friend.

Style is a very important third.

[Edit] Oh yah, I almost forgot my favorite kind of ICE. Trace and Report, and Trace and Burn. T&R tries to track down the address of your cyberdeck's connection to the Matrix, and report that back to the corp so that they can track you down in the real world and take you out there. T&B does the same thing, then tries to fry your cyberdeck as well.

[ 07-19-2002: Message edited by: Palador ChibiDragon ]

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Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael had this to say about Robocop:
Geeorn's also a tool of the Man.

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you've never read Snow Crash have you?

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Lyinar Ka`Bael had this to say about Captain Planet:
I'd be glad to have you, Christmas Roach.

I'm less familiar with the game than you or Deth, having once had the old rulebook, and having played the Sega game often.

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yey some one remembers the title i gave him

and can i play too ?
(never heard of this stuff before though )

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Everyone wondered WTF when Palador ChibiDragon wrote:
A whole lotta Decker stuff

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I was giving a brief overview. If I wrote everything you wrote just about deckers I would've doubled the size of my post

I have never touched shadowrunner...

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We were all impressed when Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael wrote:
I was giving a brief overview. If I wrote everything you wrote just about deckers I would've doubled the size of my post

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You think that's bad, just get me started on Riggers.

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ACES! Another post by Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael:
Pfft you're a cybered up jive honky working for the man

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cyber my ass. all i need is my '94, a full tank of gas, and an open road.

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From the book of Geeorn, chapter 3, verse 16:
cyber my ass. all i need is my '94, a full tank of gas, and an open road.

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A passport would help too. Otherwise, you're not getting out of city limits. At least, not legally.

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Everyone wondered WTF when Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael wrote:
Okay Geeorn's a cybered up jive trucker working for the man.

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i don't think you're quite getting it Dethie.

but thats all right. i know JUST the thing for you.

*opens rift to the Earth in Night of the Living Dead 1 - 10000. Pushes Deth in. Closes rift.

there we go! all done

*joins Lyinar afterward in praying to their Goddess for Deth's restoration*

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Palador ChibiDragon wrote, obviously thinking too hard:
You think that's bad, just get me started on Riggers.

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This one time, at Lyinar Ka`Bael camp:
*plays slicey dicey with Geeorn and her scimitar*

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YOU have been hit by a Druid for 1 damage!
YOU have been hit by a Druid for 1 damage!
YOU have been hit by a Druid for 1 damage!
YOU have been hit by a Druid for 1 damage!

*looks up from his book that he was reading at the sound of someone trying to break his/her sword on his armor.

<Big Deth> Damned Zealots.

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Fennar had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
One more thing, I'm gonna need a cople of people to be Lonestar.

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Rasberry! There's only one man who would DARE give me the rasberry! LONESTAR! *Clunk*

1) A panther assult cannon! This belt fed monster of a gun can take out 9 out of 10 people in one shot! The down sides include a report that can be heard accross town, and a tendacy to inspire a "Shoot first, shoot Second, and then shoot some more" responce from lonestar and corp security.

2) a Full auto shotgun! for when you REALLY dont like the looks of the croud over there.

3) a Preditor 3 heavy pistol! Sporting a good balance of firepower and conciblty, this is the standard backup weapon of the shadows, plus Lonestar dosent freekout if they catch you with one.

4) any other weapon from the books, Ava <>

(Yea, yea, I'm promoteing everyone to prime runner levels, so quit yer bitching)

[ 07-20-2002: Message edited by: Fennar ]

Weapons Hooray!