So then

Now that we've developed our characters, I figure it'd help for the game, whenever it is we do it, that we establish some characterizations and descriptions for the various organizations you'll be dealing with. I'll be throwing in some character-specific information in here as well, noted by an asterisk.*

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The Jackdaws

This band of cutthroats formed under one idea: "Doesn't matter who, someone's gonna need something done." Under this mantra of sorts, the Jackdaws have carved a reputation in the criminal underworld of Suzail as a group that will take any job, for a sum. It doesn't matter who the client is, who or what the target is, or how it's got to be done, as long as the Jackdaws profit for the effort. They work as a collection, a single organ of wild abandon created from the best and oddest criminal characters, employing anyone sufficiently capable and willing to work for the Jacks. The entire group has developed sufficient trust in one another that, even if only one Jack was present at a deal, everyone is considered to have agreed with whatever he said.

Among the Jacks present at the beginning of the night are Moriarty "Harlequin" Jones, court painter to the Duke of Faustinian and a murderous sociopath. Harlequin is an expert with knives, spells and jokes. He wears a cracked harlequin mask on his face and is weighted by a heavy leather wescot whenever he's on duty for the Jackdaws. Off duty, he can be seen either around his Suzail studio, where many of his incredible paintings hang, or frequenting the many local eateries with his friends, harassing waiters and provoking duels in a most undignified fashion.

Along with Harlequin is Lismuth Evening, a mage whose tribal customs requires him to wear almost no clothing except for a light shawl, thin, slim pants and sandals. All across his body are carved geometric scars, elemental etchings that help him perform his many feats of magic. Lismuth is reserved and infinitely spiteful. He had wished to find employment five years ago in Suzail as a diviner or water weaver or fire keeper or whatever the hell he could find but no, the city didn't need his services. Nowadays, all his magic is good for is killing, and oh does he love to kill. Until meeting the Jackdaws, he'd never taken a life with his magic, but after his first hit he began to realize how he might earn a living using his skills in such a way. He keeps to himself most of the time, but is very much willing to talk someone's ear off or criticize them in the most horrid of fashions.

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The Host of Suzail

Suzail's main government is made up of the merchant councils and trader's unions, and the three families with the most power among those who dwell in the city of bridges are called the Host. They protect and manage the infrastructure, making sure Suzail stays a free city. They are the Pisano, the Haucher, and the Gratsens.

The Pisano are primarily cultured merchants, headed by Nicholas Pisano. The Pisano own much of the wilderness surrounding Suzail, making them the family to talk to for lumber, various foodstuffs and game. They also hire their own private military force to patrol the areas around Suzail, at once protecting the city and their property. Due to their presence in the wilderness, the Pisano family has grown to use exotic and sometimes magical beasts to for transportation, to serve as livestock, and even as pets. Nicholas Pisano is known to keep a clutch of wyvern eggs in his stable, hoping that one day they'll hatch to serve him.

The Haucher clan is a family of shipwrights and sailors who settled in Suzail, seeing that as the Pepper river runs right through it into the 11,500 square mile Great Lake. They make their home at the base of the cliffs, near the great lake that supplies Suzail with its fish and various aquatic wares. The Haucher have monopolized the import and export trade of Suzail, making them the most powerful merchant family for miles around. Suzail's waters are made never to freeze by the Haucher clan's powerful water magi, spellcasters who also help direct the winds for their vessels and summon storms to batter any competition under the azure blanket of the lake.

The Gratsens are less economically powerful than the other two Host families, but they are the most militarily powerful. The Gratsens were the original founders of Suzail, and although they've lost complete control over the many decades, they are steadfast in their devotion to its citizens. Gratsen soldiers are the ones that form the backbone of Suzail's protective shield against invasion and monsters. Johann Gratsen is renowned for his heroic slaying of the very wyvern that Nicholas Pisano stole eggs from, earning Pisano's gratitude and the city's admiration. He is a formidable man, who serves his family's interests directly in any decisions he must make with the other families. He is tireless in his efforts to keep his city safe, tending every day to drilling the ranks of his guardian force and pruning its ranks of weak or incompetent men.

Shameless Self-promotion

Hey, kids! Are your friends spread thin like never before? Wish there were a way to keep up with your buddy's exploits without the trouble of having to deal with his stupid face? Well here you are!

Link

TL,DR: Alex has a blog. Deal with it.

Hah Christ...

So after a blowout in our living room and a week and a half of waiting for a part to repair my almost-decrepit tower, I am now finally coming back swingin'.

Wanna get some games going on the weekend?

100th post

That's right, kids. 100th post.

100 posts.

Anyway. Games this weekend?

Soapbox

Alright fellows, time for business. We should arrive at a time and date for commencing such revelry as we are so inclined to indulge. Perhaps some time after the highest sun on the only day named for a Roman god?

We must observe some enthusiasm for scheduling and punctuality, lest we allow ourselves another week without merriment and festivity.

Running in the Shadows - Things to consider

So while not the best solution, using the pre-generated character archetypes has allowed us to circumvent one the game's more arduous (though fun) processes. And just as I will become more comfortable running a Shadowrun game, becoming more reflexive about certain operations, so too will you become more familiar with yourselves as your character. There may come a time (probably soon) that as we explore the setting and its many idiosyncrasies, we might want to reconsider some character traits and their mechanical build. And that's fine; I have no qualms one way or another if you want to rework your dude to something more your speed, in fact I encourage it in all of the games I run.

It helps, obviously, if your new interpretation of the character is somewhat reminiscent of the old one. It's fine if your guy who was a gun-toting cyber-mercenary and social vampire (who is trying to find his friend's actual, meaty brain) is now a gun-enthusiast and avid sci-fi fan (who is just looking for something to do when there's nothing good on the Tridnet.) It's not quite as fine is that same mercenary suddenly becomes a Psychic animal-wrangler (who is out to topple the corrupted social network of the 2070s.) Still, I'd consider myself a very accommodating sort, and it's actually not that big of a deal to me if you decide to completely reinvent your character between sessions. You'll be breaking the story over your knee and instantly destroying any definitions the party might have made toward their roles, but that's your beef, not mine.

Anyway, enough of that. Let's just look at some things that you, "the player," can consider for you, "your character.:

Metahumanity and Social Schemes

In Shadowrun, there seriously are fucking dragons who ride limos who laugh all the way to the bank because they just strong-armed their corporate competition into a merger. That's a weird picture, to be sure, but in the 2070s it's not that uprising and actually kind of "meh." The U.C.A.S actually had a Dragon president for about 10 hours, Dunkelzhan, the very same dragon who educated and enlightened the newly Awakened humanity during his 12-hour interview on January 12, 2012. He was killed (more specifically, committing suicide, but the reasons why don't need to be explored right now) just after his inauguration in 2061.

Irrespective of dragons, there are now wholly strange social paradigms emerging or solidifying due to the fact that, after the Awakening in 2012, some children born exhibited startling and downright weird traits. This is deemed the Unexplained Genetic Expression, or UGE, and its effects are what give us the option of Running as Elves, Dwarves, Orks, and their many delineations. I won't get into all of the many different schema that came about because of this, mostly because there's too much and most of it's outlined in the book.

At the same time, the rise of the Megacorporations and the Matrix seriously changed the way that people lived and worked. Consider: There exist a finite number of almost impossibly powerful corporations that run literally everything that matters. There are no longer any governments that can legitimately say they work for the people, because they actually work for a Corp now. Yeah, there are some pre-corporate and even pre-industrial places still left on the Earth, but no one goes there because there are some friggin' powerful and/or malevolent Spirits who run the show there and want none of what you're selling. In Seattle, where a majority of games are run, pretty much every thing can be observed to have been influenced by the 'Corps' presence. The city doesn't have a standing police force, it has contracted mercenary groups whose job is to keep shifty-looking slots out of important or important-looking places. There have been actual, literal wars broken out because two rival Corps want significant market share in a given area. (Example, the Cola Wars in southeast Asia.) In 2070, people don't get loans from a bank. They get assurance of a job at a Corp, with an advance on their wages. Then, they have to work off the principal amount plus interest at barest minimum salary, essentially becoming slaves to the Corp because they still owe money, which equals work. There are innumerable examples of how strange, and incredibly interesting the world has become in 2070 of the Shadowrun Earth, and it's actually worth it to just read the sourcebooks for the sheer entertainment.

Regardless, it's a good idea to consider how your Runner perceives metahumanity and the new social paradigm.

Magic and the Awakening

Filler.

The Matrix and You

Filler.



If you want more info just go to the damn Sixth World wiki. They give some concise definitions of terms and brief tidbits about some events; pretty good for gaining a cursory idea about what to expect.

Soapbox

So. Games this weekend?

Maybe something different? Or maybe more of the SAME?