Day 1
Intro and a short what I plan to do.
Teller of the Tales Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
We sit about and talk about our feelings and the fun we had at Origins.
Zendead- Torg on Kickstarter Sadly this Project has already funded
Joules- Steam Summer Sale: Steam World Heist
Guard-a-Manger- Shadowrun Trilogy on Steam
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on YouTube or on Bandcamp
Show- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Zendead- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Joules- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Nulloperations-Email, Twitter, Facebook
Guard-a-Manger- Email, Twitter,
Find us on Patreon
I’ve been enamored with Faces, especially non-standard Faces for a while. The concept for Preesh came specifically from the SK Cyberlogician Cyberbundle in Chrome Flesh and the classic Shadowrun prime runner, The Chromed Accountant. The concept spun out of a variation on the burned corporate employee who lost his SIN and took the fall for some kind of mistake made. I decided to work with the idea of an accountant that cost Saeder-Krupp a lot of money and was burned and left in the wind. This means that the Con and Performance aspect of a lot of faces was left behind to focus on other things.
I went back and forth between making an A priority nuyen character who made up for either attributes or skills with the nuyen expenditures, but at the end of the day it didn’t fit the concept. He was good enough that SK invested in him without the cyber so I kept his Nuyen, Skills, and Attributes all at “B” in a Sum to Ten character generation. Preesh is not a heavy combat character, but he excels at planning, legwork, and the initial negotiations. When his existing contacts and skillset are combined with the Tradejack bundle, he is able to fill in a lot of roles for a team before combat starts.
His cyberware is built around mental bonuses and skill enhancements so that he has a better than normal chance of uncovering what the corporate plan behind the run is. His expertise in negotiations and valuation of corporate assets helps him negotiate better pay for the runs while his contacts give him an “in” on the corporate world a lot of runners lack.
To make sure that he wasn’t complete dead weight in combat, he has a pack of jazz and enough dice to use the Ares Alpha and Ingram Smartgun to put bullets down range to support the rest of the team. The combination of the psyche boosts to logic, high mental limit, and analytic mind mean he should be able to figure out what is going on even in the middle of the run.
Depreciation, or “Preesh”, is a former Saeder-Krupp accountant who made one mistake. The one mistake cost Saeder-Krupp a lot of nuyen and him his SIN. Where once he was an up and coming corporate middle manager in the accounting department, now Preesh found himself hung out to dry by the corporation that had invested so much in him. After making a hasty exit from his home sprawl with some certified credsticks stored away, Preesh settled into Seattle where he found a team of other runners now called Balance Sheet through his Fixer, Elias.
Preesh’s skillset isn’t common in the shadows so the Johnson’s often have difficulty adjusting to a cold, dispassionate argument that their return on investment of the run requires additional compensation to ensure the maximum profitability. Preesh’s contacts in the corporate world left him behind for the most part, but he held on to a few. Jackson, the janitor where he used to work, has a real friendship with Preesh from when they would waste a little time talking about all of the different tropical islands that would make a good retirement. Prissy, a secretary who always saw how uncomfortable the board room made Preesh is glad to chat and take some nuyen for her troubles. Reginald, “Reggie”, was the outside counsel who would handle more “delicate” expenditures that were “off the books: but not completely off the accounting ledger. Preesh has become a bit cold since he entered the shadows – he lost the corporation he thought was his family, and this has left him pretty jaded. He is never far from complaining about how much he misses his old apartment and his old life, but seems resigned to his shadow existence.
Recently, Elias has been finding them more and more jobs against Shiawase which is making Preesh nervous. Maybe SK didn’t leave him as far behind as he thought. Maybe this was all a game of chess to set up a catspaw in the shadows for SK Prime. It’s been eating at him lately.
Key –R&G = Run & Gun; RF = Run Faster; DT = Data Trails; CF = Chrome Flesh; CA = Cutting Aces
Balance Sheet Overview Here.
This is The Card Catalog. Welcome to a corner of the Seize the GM for characters and NPCs you can take and use in your home games. These character sheets will run the gamut of games from new to old, fantasy to space opera, and beyond. One word of warning, while these characters won’t be pushovers, they also are not made to be fully optimized.
We are starting with some Shadowrun 5th Edition, which is what I play the most today but it will branch out from there. This covers the overview of a running team in Shadowrun 5th Ed with each team member getting their own post and character sheet to follow. They are built on starting character generation values with the Sum to Ten method, so use them as Prime Runner opposition for your party, contacts, or even grab the sheet for a backup PC or a new player.
Balance Sheet is an established group of runners in sprawl. With their diverse backgrounds, they are able to accomplish a wide variety of runs and have made a good reputation for themselves as professionals. They got their name from Preesh’s negotiating tactics breaking down the costs and ROI for the Johnsons, often coming away with more nuyen for the team. Their diverse backgrounds do create some friction internally that manifests as jabs and inside jokes. Recently, they have been taking on more challenging and higher profile jobs especially against Shiawase.
Today we sat down and talk with Jeffery from the World Builder’s Anvil. About gaming and world building as well.
You can find him at his Website or his facebook group
Zendead- The GM’s Craft
Joules- Grade A under A
Jeffery- D.N. Frost
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on YouTube or on Bandcamp
Show- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Zendead- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Joules- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Nulloperations-Email, Twitter, Facebook
Find us on Patreon
We get to work on setting atmosphere at the table and things to help with that.
Lighting-
Sounds-
Scent-
Zendead-
Hexennacht or Witchnight is a derelict ship that is floating on the edge of current space travel. She is an ark ship that has been missing for the 200 years. She left Sol controlled space and lost contact with control. Hexennacht has just appeared on the Observation Stations sensors. No power and no crew that is responding. A ghost ship that has gone further than any ship before or since. No real damage that can be detected by sensor. She could be harboring something from the fringe of explored space or she got lost and has just now gotten back to humans. Maybe the ship hold information about what is out that far or a dire warning.
Joules-
Are you frustrated by the near incomprehensible nature of magic? Are your mage friends making fun of you behind your back? The catalogue has a new product for you. From the catalog’s shadow subsidiary “Frobozz Magic and Electric” comes a new fragrance “Fluxx and Warp.” This fragrance will definitely put you mentally on par with your other colleagues. No longer will you be ridiculed for your lack of comprehension. During the annual wizards convocation, you will be on par with your peers while wearing this fragrance.
Just a spritz behind each ear and the magically enhanced pheromones begin to work. They synchronize with your mental acumen. Those that inhale the fragrance now match your IQ and level of comprehension. Simply put they are now as stupid as you.
And as an added bonus, the effects linger. Lasting anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks.
So just spray and go. Then sit back and take in the schadenfraude.
Warning do not use during family reunions or events of national importance.
Frobozz Magic and Electric are not responsible for law troubles, one night stands and national election results
Frobozz Magic and Electric, naysayers will be totemized
Jubilee noun ju·bi·lee \ˈjü-bə-(ˌ)lē, ˌjü-bə-ˈlē\
Definition of jubilee
1a : a special anniversary; especially : a 50th anniversary
b : a celebration of such an anniversary
2a : jubilation
b : a season of celebration
3 often capitalized : a year of emancipation and restoration provided by ancient Hebrew law to be kept every 50 years by the emancipation of Hebrew slaves, restoration of alienated lands to their former owners, and omission of all cultivation of the land
4a : a period of time proclaimed by the Roman Catholic pope ordinarily every 25 years as a time of special solemnity
b : a special plenary indulgence granted during a year of jubilee to Roman Catholics who perform certain specified works of repentance and piety
5 : a religious song of black Americans usually referring to a time of future happiness
Origin and Etymology of jubilee
Middle English, from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French jubilé, from Late Latin jubilaeus, modification of Late Greek iōbēlaios, from Hebrew yōbhēl ram’s horn, jubilee
First Known Use: 14th century
Zendead- Big Eyes Small Mouth by Guardians of Order
Joules-What Remains of Edith Finch on Steam, The Abominable Charles Christopher
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on YouTube or on Bandcamp
Show- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Zendead- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Joules- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Nulloperations-Email, Twitter, Facebook
Find us on Patreon
And Thanks to Merriam-Webster for our Lexicon segment
We sit back and discuss the merits and drawbacks of landscape and terrain at your table.
Zendead- The Tome
It is a book of magic but like very few others. The tome is magic, real magic. The kind that can rip reality and remake portions of it. Unlike any other book like this you are the pages of the tome. The tome tethers its magic to the life force of the person that inscribes the spells to their flesh. At first the spells might do small things that don’t seem like much but as time goes the spells grow in power and scope. As you cast these spells parts of you grow weak and die. If you were to want to cast every spell you scribed on you then you would not likely live to see the last spell completed. Since you never know the amount of energy needed to cast the spell the number left on you is not an indication of how much more you can do. So be careful of taking on the power of the Tome.
Joules-
The Darktown Poker Club. Where hucksters, con men, grifters and the damned go to play cards. This mysterious club has been rumored to exist since the mid 1800s and for those that have been invited say the decor hasn’t changed much. The inside is smokey, there’s an old honkey tonk style piano in the corner. Booze is poured from unlabeled bottles. And the patrons are as likely to kill you then to invite you to join their table.
The legends say that the Darktown Poker Club never really left the 1800s, it just has the power to invite players that would make the games ‘interesting.’ And honestly interesting people exist all across space and time. So where’s the fun in limiting the game to just one decade?
The club is exclusive. Invite only. How one receives an invitation is unknown. And to be honest, sometimes some members wish that they never received one. The invitation is more like a “polite request.” The kind usually heard from mafia dons or the CIA. You really don’t refuse an invitation.
So at the predetermined time and location, a set of saloon doors manifest. And the invitee is subtly ushered through. A tall gentleman in a black hat and duster greets you and gives you the rules of the club.
Break any of these rules will get you kicked out of the club. Intentionally breaking these rules will net a bounty on your head. And the Darktown Poker Club has never failed to collect.
Welcome to the game.
Stagnate verb stag·nate \ˈstag-ˌnāt\
Definition of stagnate
1: to become or remain stagnant
Origin and Etymology of stagnate
Latin stagnatus, past participle of stagnare, from stagnum body of standing water
First Known Use: 1661
Zendead- DC Adventures by Green Ronin
Joules-First we Feast’s series “Hot Ones”
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on YouTube or on Bandcamp
Show- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Zendead- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Joules- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Nulloperations-Email, Twitter, Facebook
Find us on Patreon
And Thanks to Merriam-Webster for our Lexicon segment
Sitting around and shooting the breeze with Zippy today
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on YouTube or on Bandcamp
Show- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Zendead- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Joules- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Nulloperations-Email, Twitter, Facebook
Find us on Patreon
Today we get on the topic of Props. Do you use them? How do you use them? And Why do you use them?
Zendead- I will be Presenting a letter of Marque to use in your game.
Joules- “The Faded”
Always on the very edge of memory live the faded. They are what’s left when the you and the world have finished with them. Ground them into ashes and vague recollections.
They were once people. They could have been your friends, co-workers, patrons. But how their peers perceived them, how the world perceived, how you perceived them ultimately cursed them.
In your world, in your life’s narrative, you saw them as simply support. To be used to further your own end. For advancement, for money, for fame, for power, for your own pride. In your eyes, they had no value except what they could provide for you. And as you grew in power, in fame, in stature, the curse of the faded began to manifest..
And when you had no use for them, they became immaterial to your life. They were broken tools that had no use. You forgot about them. They moved on. Searching for someone, something to give them substance, a meaning, a value. Most never find it. For a very lucky few, they met an individual who gives in addition to taking. This halts the fading process.
For the rest of the faded, each time the cycle repeats, they start to disappear. They effectively fade from memory. Forgotten first by distant acquaintances, then by neighbors and co-workers, followed by friends and family. Ultimately even the world itself forgets them. Records of their existence (birth records, photos, passports) cease to exist. The curse is now complete.
But the faded retain their minds, their memories, their personality and emotions. And since they aren’t part of the world anymore, the rules of the world don’t apply to them. They can pretty much affect the world how they wish. A kind faded may act as a guardian angel. A mischievous faded becomes the gremlins that screw up the computer or hide car keys. But beware the faded of pain and rage. They are the ones who have seen hell and lived through it. And now they bring it with them.
Pygmy noun pyg·my \ˈpig-mē\
Definition of pygmy
1: often capitalized : any of a race of dwarfs described by ancient Greek authors
2: capitalized : any of a small people of equatorial Africa ranging under five feet (1.5 meters) in height
3a (1) : an unusually small person (2) : an insignificant or unimpressive person an intellectual pygmy
b : something very small of its kind
Origin and Etymology of pygmy
Middle English pigmei, from Latin pygmaeus of a pygmy, dwarfish, from Greek pygmaios, from pygmē fist, measure of length
First Known Use: 14th century
Zendead- Mantic Games Kickstarter. , Bordertown
Joules- Hollow Knight , Full Throttle
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on YouTube or on Bandcamp
Show- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Zendead- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Joules- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Nulloperations-Email, Twitter, Facebook
Find us on Patreon
And Thanks to Merriam-Webster for our Lexicon segment
Today we have a fun discussion about miniatures at the table.
Zendead- Karotin the faithful is a faith healer like no other. He is able to heal the laim and afflicted. Karotin is able to use anything that he touches to “channel” the power of his gods to heal you. Weather he blows air on you or hits you with his shirt or pours a drink on you. He preachers to large groups of people and gets them to pay him to do the things that he does. Is he a charlatan? Most likely if you use him in a fantasy setting, in a modern of scifi setting then he might or might not be. It could be interesting if he was able to heal with a touch.
Now is he actually able to heal people or do they just think they are better? This is for the game to determine. If you want a reference for this guy think Benny Hinn the TV evangelist.
Joules – Dance by Wire Club
Welcome to the Dance by Wire club. I take it this is your first time coming? Well, welcome. You’re in for an experience like no other. Trust me.
Ok first we need you to take a little test. No no no. Nothing like that. We’re seeing your natural dance ability and getting measurements for your range of motion. Great, I see you have some skill wires too. I need to know what rating they are. We have a wide variety of dance skill softs for rent. We need to be sure that the dance style and skill soft rating match up with your cyberware. To see the whole catalogue, pick the dance catalog’s AR icon. Fantastic!
You see the little map AR icon? That displays club’s layout. The club is set up kind of colosseum style with 7 floors. Floor 7 is at the top and is the largest. People of all skill levels can dance here. There are 3 bars on this floor and a various smattering of booths where you can order something to snack on. Yep the floors are clear. I’ll get to that in just a minute.
Floors six through one are restricted. No it’s not a money thing. It’s actually based on how well you dance. Better dancers get access to the lower levels. Hence the smaller and smaller dance floors. When there is truly a spectacular dancer, everyone wants to see them dance. This setup makes it easier. No no, you’re not confined to that floor. Your floor access allows you to dance on that floor and all the floors above. And yes there are bars on every floor.
Right below floor one is the DJ booth. Old Man QWERTY usually spins. That old dwarf had a reputation back in the day as one of the most unconventional deckers. Even in retirement he still comes up with unconventional uses for tech. You ever hear of a TAC-NET program? Yeah where everyone’s networked and using that network gets everyone a little boost? Well Old Man QWERTY found a better use for it. Everyone kind of feeds their music and dance “vibe”into the TAC-NET. That data is fed to the DJ, and he melds it to the music and sends it out to all the club patrons. No it’s not invasive or anything like that. Actually think of it as turning a set of headphones into speakers. It’s shared while you want to share it and you can turn the speakers back into headphones. I know not a perfect metaphor. Still it’s pretty awesome. And it cut the rate of bar fights by 70%.
Excellent! Seems you’ve finished all the movement tests and the stamina test. You have access all the way to floor one. Enjoy yourself Maria Hernandez and please don’t hesitate to message me if there’s anything I can do for you.
Nulloperations- Fortam the Bear
Children need protection, but even the greatest of guardians need their own rest. The Catalog presents the means to insure these guardians can sleep easy with their latest child-care product; Fortam the Bear. Fortam appears to any layman observer as a mere soft and plush teddy bear, but when within 50ft. of a sleeping child*, Fortam will arm and defend the area from any perceived threats.
Fortam the Bear comes standard equipped with his mighty sword, knight bearer shield, and disjunction potions. Accessory packs include his mighty tiger steed, the astral armor of infinite slumber, and a potion of warm snuggles. Using these tools, he will strike down even the mightiest of foes who’d dare fight against the ward he is tasked to defend.
*Manufacturers Warning, Fortam’s ability to determine if a being is considered a child is related solely to state of mind, and beings who have been overexposed to the horrors of the real world will no longer be able to receive Fortam’s protection. Fortam’s detection may also extend to legal adults should their innocence and virtue still remain within their hearts, mind, and body. Fortam’s childhood detection does not depend on chronological age. Machine Wash Warm, Rumbly Tumbly Dry.
**Catalog warning: Fortam is designed to protect children from all perceived threats, including monsters, dream eaters, math, waking them up before they have had enough sleep, Draculas, the clinically boring, and the seventh flavor of the color yellow. The catalog is not responsible for Fortam’s actions against these perceived threats. The only friend Fortam recognizes is children that are sleeping.
Fortam the Bear. Sleep tight, Fortam won’t let the bed bugs bite.
Order with caution. All purchases recorded and authorities will be notified.
Hecatomb noun hec·a·tomb \ˈhe-kə-ˌtōm\
Definition of hecatomb
1: an ancient Greek and Roman sacrifice of 100 oxen or cattle
2: the sacrifice or slaughter of many victims
Origin and Etymology of hecatomb
Latin hecatombe, from Greek hekatombē, from hekaton hundred + -bē; akin to Greek bous cow — more at hundred, cow
First Known Use: circa 1592
Zendead- Sky Doll by Titan Comics and The Worldbuilders Anvil
Joules – Terrible Writing Advice
Nulloperations- Moana
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on YouTube or on Bandcamp
Show- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Zendead- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Joules- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Nulloperations-Email, Twitter, Facebook
Find us on Patreon
And Thanks to Merriam-Webster for our Lexicon segment
