Session 0

[Shadowstarr]

6 minutes ago, NewSheo said:

@Shadowstarr Just to confirm, the game is taking place in 2067, correct? Asking because that might alter some backstory stuff for the concept I want to make.

yeah that was my thought kinda in the middle between bigger events and content. Open to suggestions for another year. Breaking out the 4th edition 2055 rules and restrictions might turn off some /shrug

Also to everyone, this is a 3rd question on the poll now you may of missed.

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by Shadowstarr (see edit history)

[Essence]

I think anything post 2061 would be interesting. Especially since after that year the FRFZ fell under the dragon Ghostwalker and Aztlan is essentially kicked out of the region (though taking their time naturally). Of course, whether or not they really were 'kicked out' remains to be seen! Dealing with all the shifting power scales due to Ghostwalker's interference in local affairs between the NAN's and the American states (UCAS and CAS respectively). Lot of lucrative potential for runs there!

Edited December 27, 2023 by Essence (see edit history)

[NewSheo]

I was going to suggest 2072, specifically after the start of the Az-Am War. Would be a neat setup leading into 2074 with the shenanigans that happen then in Denver, with Aztechnology apparently involved.
 

Of course if that’s too close to a major event I understand not wanting to touch that lol.

Edited December 27, 2023 by NewSheo (see edit history)

[Essex]

New to a city does not mean you have to be a newb in general. Plenty of Shadowrun stories are about rubbers having to leave a city due to way too much heat or burnt bridges. Same with contacts. You can have old friends or friends of old friends as contacts in the city you are moving to, maybe the contact is the reason you are moving to that city in the place. An old lover or a new business partner. Armondo the gun runner in an abandon building could sure use your help becoming someone the big players look to for the real deal hard ware. And Armondo got to that point because of you and your team. Essentially leveling up along with the chars, because of the chars.
I don't really mind the style of game because that can change in game during story or the right players can shift the mood at certain times. Same with level of runners. Starting new gives a slight challenge as well as starting fairly mid range just making it easier to not have to be at that point where you feel like you are a level 2 char in D&D and just can''t wait to hit level 6 to feel like you are finally useful. But starting in a new city is how I create most of my chars anyways. Either a straight drifter or somebody on the run for some reason. I moved around a lot in my life so hitting a new city/state is just fun if you know what you are doing.
I'm up for any of it because it is Shadowrun, I'll make it fun.

[Zaathun]

Looks great!

 

I'm currently pondering between a pair of concepts, either a hotshot overconfident deckjockey from the PCC with a big mouth, or a burned investigative journo/snoopscoop that needs to adapt to Denver due to digging up something that should've remained buried. One overly enthusiastic, one cynical as hell.

Both concepts sit at matrix-primary with a side of something, will most likely decide when inspiration strikes and I'm back home after the new year!

Edited December 27, 2023 by Zaathun (see edit history)

[Zaathun]

Looks like a great summary!

Re: building rules, my first point is, what the GM is comfortable with best is, imo, best.

That said, my thoughts as this is sesh 0:

Point buy is pretty good, though I'd suggest changing the metatype to count as 1 base for the purchase of normal attributes, to give the bigger metas some loving.

Another thing I think I saw here, and then yoinked for personal use - for a more streety level of game that doesn't favour awakened, the standard 800 karma + limiting edge, magic and skill rank maximum to 4 or 5 is pretty decent is good and it gives broader characters as they can realistically do at least two things each, to start.

That's my mechanical musings, at the least, but again, purely opinion, I've got a few 5e games under the belt and I'm mostly interested in playing in a dragon's back yard!

[zazamz12]

As a relative newcomer to SR5, I myself would vote for all the default stuff - Priority, max availability 12, all that, but I'm willing to try out the other modes as well.

[Havelock]

For me, other than obvious stuff like full character creation rules, things I need to know to get the gears grinding in my head:

-How important will guns be? More specifically, if having to shoot someone, where on the line between just another day at work or everything going sideways would we be?

-New to Denver or not?

-Established team (as in having done a few jobs together) or not? If established and new to Denver, where?

It seems like the grounded and gritty theme is going to win out.

 

Other thing I like is guidance on to how big dice pools should be for things one wants to be decent and good at respectively, and how much is going too far.

[Miss]

Well hello Shadowrun game, and with a Session 0 no less! A surprise, but a pleasant one to be sure. Lol

I've read through everything spoken to here in the OOC thread, and voted in the 3 polls running, so hopefully that should help. And as to previous topics of discussion- I kind of don't want to inflame anything with a hot take or something, but as someone who has a fairly wide net of experience in the system and setting- Contacts can be many things, the least of which has to be "a person within a 10 mile radius of my character". They can be online contacts, group contacts, caravan or trucker smugglers who constantly travel, AIs who can go anywhere, Free Spirits able to travel the world in an instant as easy as we walk to the Stuffer Shack down the street, and so much more.

Now that being said, many things said already are still correct. Most if not all in fact. There's many ways you could write having in-person contacts in a new city who you already have well established relationships with, and there's also a limitation in doing all of that. We've all had our own experiences with how a GM conducts Contacts- and I think we'll all agree we've had mostly bland experiences with them but with a few outliers that pleasantly surprised us. Games where contacts were little more than numbers and modifiers for our rolls, and games where the GM really took a contact we made and rolled with them.

To me, contacts are a tool that a player and a GM work together on. That's where the magic can happen. Contacts can be as useful or useless as the GM allows them to be. And while I certainly don't mind developing a contact in-game, deepening bonds, growing their power alongside my own etc.... I would hope it's not controversial to say that this is MW; games move painfully slow, we've all had terrible experiences, and 99% of the time the games we dedicate time to don't go anywhere, nothing ever truly develops and things seem like a waste. So it's extremely rare for a contact to grow at all- leading to the idea that a contact must be XYZ or they'll never be anything useful.

I'm probably just rambling at this point, but, I'll just call it there and say "Definitely interested!" and will see what I can do for putting up a few concepts to cross the gaps in what the polls are reading. :)

[Shadowstarr]

I updated the character creations rule early so have at it if you are interested. I'm going to close down the applications on January 12th and make my selections by Jan 15th.

 

Thank you to all who participated in Session 0.

Edited December 28, 2023 by Shadowstarr (see edit history)

[Havelock]

So ca. 4 years since Spy Games hit Jackpoint (2073 in universe), but since I have it and it's near 100 pages of Denver...I'm going to work off on that for inspiration.

 

Unless I do the refugee from Aztlan thing. Now there's an idea, although Aztlan maybe making a return after the Harlequin vs Ghostwalker conflict at the end of SR4? Wiki doesn't have much to say about what comes after. Reddit nerds points to some released adventures moving Denver history forward, but I'm not going to dig that deep.

[zazamz12]

A quick question, would we be getting any contacts for free? E.g. like a fixer all our characters know? Also, how granular would it be for licenses and such on fake SINs? Like, does a Firearms license cover everything, or would we need a separate one for Pistols and Automatics?

Edited December 28, 2023 by zazamz12 (see edit history)

[Shadowstarr]

You can assume the first meet-up will be with a Johnson or Fixer who would be hiring the group for X reason. One of your creation contacts will be the person who turned you onto the opportunity. Do the job well and Blame there is the first group contact every gets for free.

 

Regarding SINs and licences

Pasteing in some stuff from a few sources, I've played with GM who mostly ignore them, and some who are religious about it. Rule of thumb in my game You should try and blend in. Most of your work will be Illegal in one way or another it's best not to keep running afoul of the law. Everything is tracked.

"Your SIN might be checked in legal shops by weak systems, will be checked in legal shops if you buy Restricted gear, will be checked in the better neighborhoods (and broadcasting it would be required), whenever a cop decides you're suspicious they'll check your gear with a mediocre system and see if you have the licenses for it, getting into a secured area will involve a SIN check of a decent level. And chances are the black market won't sell you the more complex stuff if you're too hot to handle, aka ain't got a good enough fake ID and the license to own the stuff.

Examples: SRM04-01 involves a weak SIN-check while entering a protest area, Sprawl Wilds: Manhunt involves a SIN-check when cashing in a bounty vs a rating 6 system, because hey, it's money and the government.

By the way, in SR5 licenses are (stated by Bull and supported by the Sample characters) per Item Category and specific rights. For example, Firearms, Augmentations, Drones, Magician, Spellcasting, Practicing Medicine, Concealed Carry, Bounty Hunter."

-Michael Chandra (Catalyst Demo team)

BUT: if you are looking for a practical sense of just what a SIN and licencing has become in the 2070s.

---

"WITHOUT a SIN,
you can not have legal employment.
you can not buy anything legally (even food)
you can not rent a living space.
you can not own anything of real value. (legally speaking)
you can not open a bank account.
you can not make a phone call.
you can not buy clothing.
you can not buy a commlink
you can not enter parts of a city.



This list goes on and on, but I am sure you are getting the idea. basically, without a SIN, you are the homeless of today. You are basically screwed. Enter the importance of fake SINs for those not lucky(?) enough to have been issued a SIN at birth, or by their employers. If you can afford it, you can get your hands on a fake SIN of various quality. (this is all the device VS rating stuff) The better quality, the easier it is to buy more expensive stuff and see the nicer parts of town and NOT make for a great 6pm news cast 


Now, how in the real (SR) world does all this fit together? a little like this:

you are Joe Average, you work an average job, earn an average wage, and blah blah blah. (So you have a, LEGAL, NATURAL SIN) You are an upstanding citizen, but, are worried about crime and personal protection so, like a good citizen, you go to a gun store, and enroll in the safety class. After completing this class (which could be minutes to weeks, given the country) you buy, register, and license your light pistol. Now, attached to your SIN, is your license for your light pistol, and it's serial number, your license for concealed carry, on top of a host of other licenses and permits.

On the way home, you remember that you Soymilk. So you pull into the local 7-11 (or other corp-owned subsiderary) and walk in the front door.....

Well, that Corp-owned Store has a security built into that door frame! The MAD sense and RFID reader go to work as you pass through, The MAD sensor picks up your light pistol at the same time as the RFID reader picks up the serial number of the gun. Now we have an ALERT issue.

The MAD sensor sends an alert to the clerk that a man with a weapon has entered the store while asking your Commlink to provide SIN information. Your Commlink happily chirps back that you are the proud owner of a light pistol, with a serial number matching that of the gun on your person, and that you also passed a <insert qualification stamp> firearms safety course and have a concealed carry permit for the light pistol. Once the MAD sensor has this additional info, it again alerts the clerk that you are allowed to own and carry your firearm,

And you take the second step into the store to get your milk. On the way out, the clerk and the AR try to upsell you some crap based off your previous purchasing history and the soymilk in your hand.... and the cost of the milk is deducted from your back account, tied to your SIN that was scanned on the way in and read by the RFID reader in the doorway and the RFID tags in the soymilk itself.


it is the "fast quick, convenient, easy consumerism" from hell. that basically turns you from Joe Average to UCAS citizen #1219126a-1879123-189127a-89791."

-Reaver

 

---

So if you are running around the Barrens, no one is going to care. Higher ned areas/ the higher the security rating the stronger the expectation of SIN checks.

Also, be mindful that if you mess up and you dirty up your Fake SIN too much, you are going to have to replace it. Also Denver has an addition wrinkle most other cites do not have. A crap ton of international borders.

[Sapphic Reiver]

There's a fair few more restrictions on the chargen in this than what I'm used to (I'm a dirty Shifter / SURGE player, sue me), but I'll roll something up. I need the practice for 5E anyhow, haven't made a char in this system for a while.

 

I don't see anything regarding generation rules specifically? What are we doing? Sum-to-Ten? Priority? Karma?

Found it

Edited December 29, 2023 by Sapphic Reiver (see edit history)

[Laird_Thorne]

In doing some poking around to change my concept up a bit I came across this: Denver In The Shadows - a Google Map someone did with various locations/etc. on a real map of Denver...