// Loot Gained :: 27.3.12 //

After looting the bodies in the hallway, the runners managed to scavenge the following:

• Five HK MP-7 Submachine Guns [5P, -1 AP, SA/BF/FA, RC (2) Ammo 30(c)] 1,450¥ each
• Five Custom Military Armor [10/8] 8,000¥ each
• Two extendable shock staff [2 Reach, 6s(e), -half AP] 750¥ each
• Five Rating VI goggles [smartlink, safe target system, flare compensation, image link, internal commlink rating III] 5,000¥ each
• Five gas masks 200¥ each
• Five thermal smoke grenades 35¥ each
• Ten Rating VI tranq patches
• Forty gel rounds
• Fifty normal rounds
• 682¥ in certified assets

The team can choose to "repo" the corpses of the corporate hitmen, but doing this while under surveillance will gain the runners 3 notoriety each, gaining them the reputation of organleggers.

// Karma Gained :: 27.3.12 //

Dave here. This week we had a guest player, Kristen Johnson, who is playing an Elven weapons specialist. Her character, Luna, was working for Ms. Johnson, and was serving as head of security during an extraction/pick-up at the Hyatt Executive Suites in downtown Seattle. Thanks to the on-site security and tactical expertise of the runners, the team managed to safely deliver Ito Sosuke to the Johnson. There was a big gunfight in the hallway, Hamilton set off a strobe grenade that partially blinded his own teammates, and Dorimo got half of his leg blown off by a shower of bone-shattering burst-fire bullets. Boris and the elf gun-bunnies managed to make quick work of the first wave of thugs, and Dorimo's wind kami managed to distract and disrupt enemy communication. Vulcan's drones caused some confusion in the lobby, and got shot up pretty bad in the process. The Johnson offered double pay for running interference while she coerced Ito to reconsider his allegiances. After all this, Lugh and Vulcan spent a few weeks entrenched in black market negotiations while Dorimo recovered in a Mitsuhama Body Garden. Boris spent his weeks working and purchasing garbage bags full of horse tranquilizers. John Doe and Luna worked a freelance contract with the local mafia, gunning down a jury member. It was a fun session, and I felt it captured a few of the iconic elements of what a Shadowrun session should contain: a hallway gunfight, someone getting a limb blown off, a Johnson acting suspiciously, and the troll becoming bulletproof for a full round. Also Hamilton's character is legitimately paranoid...yup, sounds like Shadowrun!

OH yeah, you guys probably want Karma. Let's see..

1 for surviving, 1 for roleplaying, 1 for strategy and teamwork, 2 for mission objectives, and 1 for acquiring 20,000¥ in one payout. That brings you guys to 40 total Karma, and 4 Street Cred.

NEXT WEEK :: RENT IS DUE!!

I'll post loot in another post.

// Corporate Etiquette Guide :: Shiawase Mega-Corp //

//uploaded Uniformat text file :: posted by Kia//
Shiawase Damashii ETIQUETTE

• Be polite. Never lose your temper. Always show respect. Never violate this rule.
• Make yourself knowledgeable—not only in Japanese business customs, but Shinto as well. The more cultured you appear, the less likely you will be regarded as expendable.
• Bring a meishi. A meishi is a business card. Even in this wireless age you are expected to present a meishi printed on real paper. Don’t show off, though. Having a card that’s more elaborate than your boss’s can cost you points.
• Note how you’re addressed. This will indicate what the speaker thinks of you. Shadowrunners are rarely addressed with the honorific suffix –san. Being a criminal, the best you can usually hope for is a –hikoku (defendant) or –yogisha (suspect). If he calls you a burakumin, he sees you as expendable.
• Call your Johnson “Naka-udo-san.” Naka-udo is the internal Shiawase name for a professional go-between. (Actually, a naka-udo is an archaic name for a professional marriage arranger, a function that is currently regaining popularity.) Just by knowing this, you will distinguish yourself from the riffraff your Shiawase Johnsons usually deal with.
• Watch out for sokaiya runs. No, sokaiya ain’t milk. A sokaiya run is a specialized type of shadowrun in which you’ll be required to attend a shareholder meeting of a rival corporation or corporate takeover target. Your job will be to disrupt the meeting and cause the rival to lose face or to dig up dirt and blackmail it. Sokaiya runs are very well paid because they demand a high degree of flair and fine instincts.
• Be aware of genchi genbutsu. Genchi genbutsu— “Go and see for yourself”—is a guiding principle in
Shiawase Damashii. Following this principle, Shiawase security personnel do not rely solely on sensor feeds
and other forms of remote observation. If an alarm sounds, someone will come and check out the situation.
You can count it. The trick is to make genchi genbutsu work for you.
• Never say things directly. It’s highly impolite. The art of beating around the bush is called ishin-denshin, in
case you’re looking for a class or chip on the topic.
• If you screw up, apologize. Never blame others. It just increases your shame.
• Hurry. If you run against Shiawase, the MFID will be your most dire enemy. MFID personnel make extensive
use of external sources, private eyes, tabs, even holistic probability models. The more time that passes between your briefing and the start of your shadowrun, the greater the chance the MFID has already alerted Shiawase security or is hot on your tail.
• Don’t follow this list blindly. Remember, Shiawase divisions and their subsidiaries have great autonomy
in how they do business. And countless Shiawase people outside of Japan have never heard of a meishi,
naka-udo, or burakumin before.

// RE :: Shinto and Kami //

// Private Message :: Public Terminal Access Code SSB.020.47 //


from: Kia
re: Shinto and Kami

I can understand your confusion regarding Shinto. Hell, even I get confused sometimes, and I believe in this stuff. To make a very long story very short, followers of Shinto believe in the kami— usually translated by Westerners as “spirits” or “gods.”In reality, they are neither and both. Yes, if you are a shaman and you conjure a spirit, a Shinto believer would call it a kami, because in Shinto everything has a kami. And there are a damn near infinite number of them— yaoyurozu no kami as the saying goes.And therein lies the problem. For example, there is a kami for a certain tree, and a kami for all trees, andanother kami for the concept of trees. Similarly, youhave your family kami, individual ancestor kami, and a kami for the idea of your family. Trying to fit that into Western magic theory can get ugly.

//  illustration by Brian Wells //

// end feed //

So imagine this guy as John Doe, only currently he kind of looks like this...

// Karma Gained :: 20.3.12 //

Dave here. After Tuesday's session, the party has earned 5 Karma (1 for roleplaying, 1 for surviving, 1 for teamwork, 1 for rescuing Kosuke, and 1 for evading capture and pursuit). This brings the party up to 34 Total Karma, and Lugh will be able to spend 30 of his Karma.
 

When we left off, the team had finished successfully extracting Kosuke Ito from Fukushima Gardens. During the crossfire John Doe took some serious physical damage, but thanks to distractions on two ends of the residential complex, the team managed to escape with the target in tow. Lugh managed to secure a low-rent safehouse in the back of a food pantry in Downtown Seattle, but John Doe is still going to need immediate medical care - either in the form of a public hospital, street clinic, or street doc.

// Medicine And You :: Modern Trauma Treatment //

 Sooner or later, you're going to get shot. Luckily, thanks to modern armor and medicine, that doesn't necessarily mean you're out of the game. Here's some general game information for Health and Healing.

Last game session, the party performed an extraction at the Fukushima Gardens in Central Seattle.  During the operation, Dorimo and John Doe came under fire from a trio of unidentified assailants. John Doe was pelted by four short bursts (using gel rounds), and took enough stun damage to overflow into his physical damage track box. Dorimo managed to partially resist a stunball launched by a hitmage, but the resulting radius damage was enough to nearly kill John Doe outright. Luckily Dorimo managed to stabilize and heal some of John Doe's wounds, but he's still got 9 full boxes of physical damage. How long will it take the party to find a public hospital, clinic, or street doc, and how long will it take for John Doe to get back on his feet? More importantly, how much will it cost?

Healing Stun damage requires a Body + Willpower (1 hour) Extended Test. The character must rest for the entire hour for it to count. Each net hit heals 1 box of Stun damage.

Healing Physical damage requires a Body x 2 (1 day) Extended Test. The character must rest for the entire day for it to count. Each net hit heals 1 box of Physical damage. Stun damage must be completely healed before Physical damage can be healed.

Public Hospitals cost 250¥ per day for basic care, 500¥ per day for intensive care. Public Hospitals can provide general medical care, basic hospitalization, intensive care, surgery and major trauma, implantation, and emergency services. Finding a hospital requires an Availability check (6/12 hours). Public Hospitals have the following dice pools: Medicine(diagnosis): 6, First Aid(treatment) 6, Surgery(circulatory) 6. Hospitals use Rank VI medkits, have multiple staff members on-site, and offer drone assistance. 

Street Clinics cost 100¥ per day, and can only provide basic care and general outpatient hospital care. Finding a street clinic requires an Availability check (4/12 hours). Street clinics have the following dice pools: Medicine: 4, First Aid 4, Surgery 4. Street clinics use Rank IV medkits and generally work with a small (1-4) staff of medical assistants.

Street Docs cost 500¥ per day for basic care, 1000¥ per day for intensive care. Street Docs can offer general medical care, basic hospitalization, intensive care, surgery and major trauma, and implantation. Finding a Street Doc requires an Availability check (6/12 hours). Street Docs have the following dice pools: Medicine(drug therapy): 9, First Aid(resuscitation): 9, Surgery(implantation): 9. Street Docs work alone, or occasionally with one assistant.

The table below can add or subtract from Healing tests and First Aid checks made by medical facility members and practitioners.

// Healing Modifiers Table //

Situation	Dice Pool Modifier
Conditions
Good (sterilized med facility)	0
Average (indoors)	-1
Poor (street or wilderness)	-2
Bad (combat, bad weather, swamp)	-3
Terrible (fire, severe storm)	-4
No medical supplies/medkit	-3
Medkit/autodoc	+ rating
Applying medical care remotely through medkit/autodoc	-2
Assistance	+1 per skilled assistant (max +3)
Uncooperative patient	-2
Patient is magician, adept, or technomancer	-2
Patient has implants	-1 per 2 points of lost Essence

// Social Modifiers :: How to Schmooze like a Pro //

Dave here. Last game session, we saw a few social interaction rolls that happened between player characters and NPCs.  Dorimo tried to negotiate new terms with the Ms. Johnson and met some noticeable resistance, while John Doe had an easy time fast-talking the absent-minded guard at the front gate of Fukushima Gardens.  Social interaction checks sometimes call for opposed rolls, with the conversation leaning towards the winner of the opposed check (net hits can gain further favorable ground in the conversation). Notoriety and Street Cred can also play a factor in social situations. On the bottom of this entry is a table that gives a list of modifiers that can benefit either side of a social interaction test. Become somewhat familiar with these modifiers, and try to use the knowledge to your advantage. Getting dirt on someone or offering a bribe can give a sizeable bonus if used in the right context.

// Picture by Joe Roberts, originally featured in The Mammoth book of Nebula Awards //

Charisma-Linked Opposed Tests

Skill Used	Acting Character Rolls	Target Character Rolls
Con	Con + Charisma	(Con or Negotiation) + Charisma
Etiquette	Etiquette + Charisma	Perception + Charisma
Intimidation	Intimidation + Charisma	Intimidation + Willpower
Leadership	Leadership + Charisma	Leadership + Willpower
Negotiation	Negotiation + Charisma	Negotiation + Charisma

Social Modifiers Table

Social Situations Dice Modifier
With respect to the character, the NPC is:

• Friendly +2
• Neutral +0
• Suspicious –1
• Prejudiced –2
• Hostile –3
• Enemy –4

Character’s desired result is:

• Advantageous to NPC +1
• Of no value to NPC +0
• Annoying to NPC –1
• Harmful to NPC –3
• Disastrous to NPC –4
• Control Thoughts/Emotions spell cast on subject –1 per hit†
• Character has (known) street reputation +Street Cred (p. 265)
• Subject has (known) street reputation –Street Cred (p. 265)
• Subject has “ace in the hole” +2†
• Subject has romantic attraction to character +2
• Character is intoxicated –1‡

Con Modifiers

• Character has plausible-seeming supporting evidence +1 or 2
• Subject is distracted +1
• Subject has plenty of time to evaluate situation –1

// Augmented Attributes and You //

Attributes and Skills are what allow a shadowrunner to succeed at tasks and skill tests.  What kind of things could an augmented human perform? This picture should give you a visual reference for the general capabilities of a human street samurai with 7 in strength, agility, and body. If a dice pool becomes very large (12+), it may become possible to buy hits (successes), scoring 1 hit for every 4 total die in the pool.

// Loot and Karma Gained :: 13.3.12 //

Dave here. After the DocWagon heist, you have all earned 5 Karma, bringing you to 29 total Karma. John Doe is going to be able to spend up to 25 of his 29 total Karma to acquire skills that represent his background as a CAS freelance shooter. At this point all player characters have earned 3 Street Cred, and Dorimo is at 3 Notoriety now that he has picked up an addiction.
Here is a list of the loot gained from the dead response team.


// Vehicle :: Modified Tamanous Step-Van //

• Handling 0
• Acceleration 5/10
• Speed 90
• Pilot 2
• Body 16
• Armor 16
• Sensor 1

This customized street wagon has been modified to provide a sturdy and reliable mode of transportation. It includes the following mods, and has 13 slots available for modification. The vehicle has a frame similar to a Bulldog step-van and has a discreet white paint job.

• Rating 8 Vehicle Armor (1,600¥ - 1 slot)
• Rating 8 Armored Tires (400¥ per tire)
• Weapon Mount :: Normal Size, internal visibility, flexible, armored control (6,500¥ - 6 slots)
• Mounted Weapon :: Ares MP-LMG [6P, -1 AP, BF/FA, 2(3) RC, 50 belt] (1,500¥)

 I'll post the rest of the loot in the comments section below. Post a comment if you plan on adding an item from the list to your character's inventory. The posted value for items is the standard market value, expect to get 30% of that value as a selling price, with a +5% bonus for each net hit scored on a negotiation attempt.

// Streetwise Status :: 24 Karma Total //

Congrats guys! After completing last week's adventure you have earned enough total karma to be considered 'Streetwise', which is one step up from 'Green'. At 60 total karma, you will earn the recognition of being a tried-and-true Professional. Being established as reliable shadowrunners will ensure that your team will receive work more frequently and for better payouts, although risk factors and overall challenge will continue to increase as well.

Currently all members of the team have 2 Street Cred, which provides a +2 bonus to any test in which your reputation comes into play.  Bribing, threatening, negotiating, bluffing, or seducing are all examples of tasks in which your positive street cred will give you a bonus to your die pool. Performing extremely dangerous or heroic actions successfully can grant bonuses to your street cred rating. If a person is unaware of your credibility, you will generally not receive your bonus when interacting with that person.

The flipside of street cred is Notoriety. You gain this for unnecessarily cruel behavior, committing treason or betraying fellow shadowrunners, failing a mission, getting arrested, working for a dragon, or even for having terrible luck. Notoriety can impose a penalty in social situation if the opposing party is familiar with your notorious behavior or deeds, however, if a character is using a skill involving intimidation or fear, notoriety can add a bonus. Certain negative drawbacks give notoriety [Addiction, Bad Luck, Combat Paralysis, Poser, Gremlins, Incompetent, Infirm, Scorched, Spirit Bane, Uncouth, and Uneducated all give 1 notoriety.]


At any time, a character can burn 2 points of Street Cred to remove 1 point of Notoriety.


Public Awareness is a rating that measures how well-known a person is to the general public.  Known criminals usually have a public awareness rating of 3+, while household names and celebrities have a public awareness rating of 10+.  Public awareness is added as a bonus to any knowledge checks made to recall or access information about the person in question. Public awareness is equal to a person's Street Cred + Notoriety, divided by 3 [rounded down]. Right now everyone has a Public Awareness rating of 0, although that might change at the beginning of next session.

// Image Dump :: Player Character Portraits //

Dave here. I'm working on a recap of sessions 1-4, and I'm also working on a roster for the team of shadowrunners. I'm going to post some pictures below, tell me if any of them appeal to you.

If your character has any distinguishing marks or notable clothing/equipment, make note of it in the comments, and feel free to post any pictures as reference material for your character's appearance.

// Click Here to View/Upload Pictures //

// Game Talk :: Zipper's Commlink //

Dave here. Zipper's commlink is powerful, but it is well-protected.  Even though she is dead, her commlink will still make efforts to defend itself from unauthorized access. Here are the basic stats for her commlink, this includes regular device ratings but does not list any programs or data she has stored within.


// Device :: Customized Novatech Terminos Commlink //

• Firewall 5
• Response 4
• Signal 4
• System 4 

Spoofing an admin account, formatting the operating system and memory, or brute-force hacking through the firewalls and ICs will all yield different results and carry unique challenges. Post comments or questions below!

// Political Profile :: Humanis Policlub //

 // Political Profile :: Humanis Policlub //

Humanis is one of the most powerful policlubs in Seattle. It grew from an alliance of racist and hate groups aimed at “protecting humans against the rising threat of mutation”—mutation being Humanis-speak for metahumanity.
The group maintains that humans are genetically and culturally superior to metahumans, and want metahumanity treated as a disease rather than a natural state of being. Publicly, the Humanis Policlub works against metahuman-rights legislation and lobbies for laws that favor humans over metahumans. Behind the scenes, the policlub is responsible for a great deal more.
Humanis operates as a front organization for anti- Awakened terrorist groups like Alamos 20,000, Human Nation, the Hand of Five and others.
These guys are the hard-core racists, people who will kill or maim for their cause, or people who think bashing in a few metahuman skulls is a good way to spend a Saturday night. The public arm of Humanis denies any involvement with terrorist activities, of course. Local chairman Karl Brackhaven, the group’s regular spokesman to the news media, keeps saying so (and we all believe him, don’t we?). 
http://pl.shadowrun.wikia.com/wiki/Humanis_Policlub

// Originally posted by Karl Brackhaven //
// View Original Article :: the Humanis Policlub //

// Loot Gained :: 21.2.12 //

This is a listing of the gear and money you guys managed to abscond with after the run to Bellingham.
The value listed is the market price, sold value will depend on whatever market connections the team can make.

• Road flares, GPS system (rating 4), and towing winch :: 50-500 ¥ each
• Two first aid kits (rating 1) :: 100 ¥ each
• Rating 2 commlink (with Browse 2, Analyze 2, and Scan 2) :: 500 ¥ each
• Tool kit, tire iron, car jack, and jumper cables :: 25-50 ¥ each
• Three crates of ammunition :: 500 ¥ each
• Five Ares Predator heavy pistols :: 350 ¥ each
• One Nitama NeMax heavy pistol (smartlinked) :: 1,700 ¥
• Three portable weapon mounts (pintle mounts) :: 250 ¥ each
• Two spare off-road tires :: 400 ¥ each
• One Nanoweave Business Suit :: 800 ¥
• Seven armored leather jackets :: 450 ¥ each
• Aluminum barrel of synthetic wine :: 200 ¥
• 845 ¥ in paper money

// Movies from 2008 :: Sleep Dealer //

Sleep Dealer is a movie about two Mexican brothers who are hackers and riggers.  One of them gets a job at a military facility while the other starts working overseas as a 'sleep dealer', basically an illegal immigrant rigger. It's a low budget indie movie so it has some shitty special effects, but it has a solid plot and some really interesting ideas. I'd suggest renting it if possible.

// Brought to You by Maya Entertainment //

// Game Talk :: Commlinks, Programs, Response, and Signal //

Dave here. After going over the rulebook some more I made some cool discoveries. For the first few game sessions I was totally confused about the Response stat, and why it seemed to be connected between a character's commlink and whatever drone or vehicle he was attempting to remotely command.

Commlinks and the stats that go with Commlinks are almost like secondary characters.  The strength and effectiveness of your remotely commanded drones, vehicles, matrix constructs, and avatars are all determined by the stats within your Commlink.  The Computer and Pilot skill can be used to increase available dice pools during matrix actions, that includes hacking, rigging, and any actions taken in the Matrix.  There are cybercombat and cyberdefense skills specifically for combat use within the matrix (remember how Neo learned how to perform impossible feats in the Matrix?).

Programs are specific tools that add to die pools during Matrix actions. Think of programs like equip-able weapons or armor that you switch out to perform specific tasks.  Each program has a specific rating, that this rating is added to die pools for that specific action within the Matrix. Here are the available programs:

Response is basically a measure of how fast your commlink can send signals to wireless nodes. Response is like Reaction or Agility, it represents the ability to do something very fast.  Drones and Vehicles that are being remotely commanded use the Response attribute of the commander's commlink.  If Tron is using a Response 7 commlink to command his spy drones, the drones will use the Response rating for any Reaction or Agility-based tests.

Signal is a measure of the ability to send and receive signals.  These signals can be wireless transmissions from nodes or remote commands from Commlink users with the proper permission.  The higher a Signal rating, the easier it is for the device or drone to access information.  Signal should be used for a remotely commanded drone or vehicle in place of any Intuition or Logic test.

I hope these ideas made sense, post any comments or questions below!!