Monday, October 24, 2016

Shadowrun: Anarchy (Time to Bake the Cookies, Part III) Keebler Harder

All right Chummers, we're back with the third and final part of our character creation example for Shadowrun: Anarchy.  Shadowrun: Anarchy is the brand new, rules lite, story heavy alternative rules set for telling stories and playing games in the Shadowrun Universe.  It's a story telling focused game, and the mechanics of the game are built for players to tell awesome stories that look and feel like Shadowrun.  Now Last time, we were working through the many steps of building your own character, and got through the first five or so.  If you're new to the blog, check out https://zardozgames.blogspot.com/2016/10/shadowrun-anarchy-time-to-bake-cookies.html for the first part of the article.  If you missed the second part of the series, check it out at http://zardozgames.blogspot.com/2016/10/shadowrun-anarchy-time-to-bake-cookies_24.html Let's dig into the chrome and the meat of building a character.


If you recall last time, we conceptualized  a new character for Shadowrun: Anarchy.  From the simple idea of "How about an elf Street Samurai who bakes in his free time, Street Name: Keebler" (and I still blame Tyler Carpenter for at least a part of this), we set off on a grand adventure to make this interesting dichotomy of a character.  Here's what we have so far:

Street Name: Keebler
Identifiers
Elf
Serene
Calculating
Protector
Baker
Street Samurai
Game Level: Street Runner
Metatype: Elf
Awakened/Emerged? No

Attributes
Strength: 5
Agility: 6
Willpower: 5
Logic: 3
Charisma: 4
Essence 3
Edge 1

Skills
Athletics 3
Close Combat 3
Firearms 2
Stealth 3
Escape Artist 1

Shadow Amps
Wired Reflexes 3
Bone Lacing 3
Retractable Hand Razors

Qualities
Indomitable (Close Combat Weapons)
Toughness
SINner, Criminal

Armor
Armored Trench Coat (9 circles)

Weapons
Defiance T-250 (Shotgun)
Ares Alpha (Assault Rifle)

Gear
Fake SIN (Bakery worker)
Harley Davidson Scorpion Motorcyle
Thermographic Goggles
Commlink

Contacts
Harry Haroldson
Red Johnson

We’ll get started today by finishing up the last three things we need to make a character for the Shadowrun: Anarchy rules.  We need Cues, a background, and then we’ve got one last opportunity to tweak anything before we’re ready to play.  

Step 12: Create Cues

Cues are a narrative story telling element for you as a player.  Every character should have several of these.  They are narrative prompts to help you build or redirect a scene.  Conceptually, its a bank of ideas that will help you get your character (and his group of companions) moving in a direction that moves the story forward.  It may not necessarily be the smoothest or easiest transition, but this is Shadowrun, nobody ever expected easy.  

So let’s take a look at some cue ideas that i think are both hilarious and amazingly appropriate for an elf of Keebler’s stature.

Cue 1 “Hey buddy, what’s wrong with your face?”  Keebler is reasonably old for an elf and was part of the initial UGE phenomenon.  He also survived the Night of Rage, but it wasn’t pretty.  He took an exceptional beating from a Humanis Policlub while protecting a couple ork kids, and ended up getting a hammer taken to his face.  He survived, the Policlub didn’t, but whatever claim he could have laid to being a pretty boy ended that night.  In 99% of incidents, this cue is probably going to start a punching match with whichever Go-Ganger/moron/idiot decided to ask him about it.  

Cue 2 “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”  Another combat cue, this is usually the last step before a bloody altercation with another professional.

Cue 3 “How the hell did he get over there?”  Remember, Keebler is more than capable of slipping into places without attracting attention to himself.  This is a stealth insertion cue where he can theoretically get his team into a location/

Cue 4 “Damn it _______________ “  Something, somewhere has fritzed up, and now trouble has begun.  This is usually a cue for a chase scene, or some other type of high tempo conflict.  This is a scene i picture using a lot to spice up another scene, or start the second half of a story.  

Cue 5 “Sirens”  Given Keebler’s Criminal record and love of the streets, he’s a fairly common target of opportunity for private cops.  Usually rousted for information about what’s going on in the streets, this can either lead to being questioned about something else he’s not involved in, or a wonderful way to try to get himself out of a new jam.  

Cue 6 “I need your help”  The shadows are not a place known for their merciful tendencies, but Keebler has a couple of soft spots that can motivate him to action.  He will help kids out, especially ones that don’t have anywhere else to turn to.  He also takes a protective view of his tiny portion of the sprawl, and the Go-Gangers tend to give him a very wide berth after he took a couple of the dumber ones out.  

That should give me enough tags to get started, and i can always add more if i need to.

Step 13: Create Character Background

We’ve got some biographical data to fill in for Keebler, so let’s run things down by the numbers

Height: 5’6”
Weight: 180 lbs
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
Handedness: Right
SIN: XXXXXXXXX-XXXX (Tagged Criminal)

Jacob Morrow was born in Springfield, Kentucky in 2008.  He was a first generation UGE child, and was hailed as a Kentucky born elf for most of his childhood.  He entered the CAS military, where he picked up his first round of augmentations and spent most of his days operating in a variety of classified operations.  At some point during this time, he and his unit were accused of myriad of different crimes.  He spent the next 25 years in prison.  After his release, he relocated away from Kentucky, and ended up settling in Seattle.  He’s been operating in the background of Seattle ever since.  Currently he spends a majority of his time working at Haroldson’s Bakery, and keeping his head down.  

During one of his deliveries, he interrupted an attempted extraction by a team of Shadowrunners.  It wasn’t a personal thing, but by the time the team knew what had happened, he’d allready put down the Street Samurai and the Physical Adept.  The next 8 hours proved to be the time of his life, as he escorted the extraction target back to her family home in the Ares neighborhood of Seattle.  The happy father gave him an extraordinarily large cash payment, and had his cybernetics upgraded on the side.  He still sends him occasional job and offers him work as a field tester for various Ares products.  

Every so often the Ares folks make overtures about making him a company man (this is primarily driven by the daughter of the Johnson who keeps hiring him, who wants him as a bodyguard).  So far, the offer hasn’t been accepted, but it’s always in the back of Jacob’s mind.  

Personality:  Keebler is calm and collected, and tends to enjoy the simple things in life.  He’d rather spend his days and nights working in the bakery than bar hopping and looking for trouble.  When he’s working he’s a planner focused on identifying all the angles of the job before executing the operation.  He finds interruptions to the plan to be mildly irksome.  The few friends he has in the Shadows are always trying to bring him along because he’s irritatingly professional.  

Dispositions:  
Dispositions are basically your character’s operational plan for getting from one part of the day to the next.  Imagining how your character is going to react to a variety of stimuli ranging from “Why’s that troll throwing my car into the river to Well, i missed the bus back to the sprawl.” can give you a great idea of how your dispositions shape up.  Keebler would rather avoid a fight if he can, but has no qualms putting his hands on another person if the situation demands it.  

Eye of the Storm
Nobody has to get hurt
Throw the last punch, not the first


Step 14: Final Tweaks
If you need to modify anything for choices you made or options you took, this is the time to do that.  Also if you want to change any numbers around or swap some qualities/skills/cues, now’s a good time for that as well.

And with that, Keebler is complete and ready to unleash some Anarchy.

Final Sheet (sort of)

Street Name: Keebler
Identifiers
Elf
Serene
Calculating
Protector
Baker
Street Samurai
Game Level: Street Runner
Metatype: Elf
Awakened/Emerged? No

Attributes
Strength: 5
Agility: 6
Willpower: 5
Logic: 3
Charisma: 4
Essence 3
Edge 1

Skills
Athletics 3
Close Combat 3
Firearms 2
Stealth 3
Escape Artist 1

Shadow Amps
Wired Reflexes 3
Bone Lacing 3
Retractable Hand Razors

Qualities
Indomitable (Close Combat Weapons)
Toughness
SINner, Criminal

Armor
Armored Trench Coat (9 circles)

Weapons
Defiance T-250 (Shotgun)
Ares Alpha (Assault Rifle)

Gear
Fake SIN (Bakery worker)
Harley Davidson Scorpion Motorcyle
Thermographic Goggles
Commlink

Contacts
Harry Haroldson
Red Johnson

Cues
Cue 1 “Hey buddy, what’s wrong with your face?”
Cue 2 “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”
Cue 3 “How the hell did he get over there?”  
Cue 4 “Damn it _______________ “  
Cue 5 “Sirens”  
Cue 6 “I need your help”  

Character Background

Personal Data:
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 180 lbs
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
Handedness: Right
SIN: XXXXXXXXX-XXXX (Tagged Criminal)

Jacob Morrow was born in Springfield, Kentucky in 2008.  He was a first generation UGE child, and was hailed as a Kentucky born elf for most of his childhood.  He entered the CAS military, where he picked up his first round of augmentations and spent most of his days operating in a variety of classified operations.  At some point during this time, he and his unit were accused of myriad of different crimes.  He spent the next 25 years in prison.  After his release, he relocated away from Kentucky, and ended up settling in Seattle.  He’s been operating in the background of Seattle ever since.  Currently he spends a majority of his time working at Haroldson’s Bakery, and keeping his head down.  

During one of his deliveries, he interrupted an attempted extraction by a team of Shadowrunners.  It wasn’t a personal thing, but by the time the team knew what had happened, he’d allready put down the Street Samurai and the Physical Adept.  The next 8 hours proved to be the time of his life, as he escorted the extraction target back to her family home in the Ares neighborhood of Seattle.  The happy father gave him an extraordinarily large cash payment, and had his cybernetics upgraded on the side.  He still sends him occasional job and offers him work as a field tester for various Ares products.  

Every so often the Ares folks make overtures about making him a company man (this is primarily driven by the daughter of the Johnson who keeps hiring him, who wants him as a bodyguard).  So far, the offer hasn’t been accepted, but it’s always in the back of Jacob’s mind.  

Personality:  Keebler is calm and collected, and tends to enjoy the simple things in life.  He’d rather spend his days and nights working in the bakery than bar hopping and looking for trouble.  When he’s working he’s a planner focused on identifying all the angles of the job before executing the operation.  He finds interruptions to the plan to be mildly irksome.  The few friends he has in the Shadows are always trying to bring him along because he’s irritatingly professional.  

Dispositions:  
Eye of the Storm
Nobody has to get hurt
Throw the last punch, not the first
 
And that's a fully completed ready to play character for Shadowrun: Anarchy.  All I need to do now is put him on a character sheet and he's ready to play


 



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