ratlaw wrote:Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2002 6:53 AM
Subject: Denver Game
> Alrightie, back from getting spanked at pool, so I'm typing up some basic
> info for this game...
>
> Character Creation: I usually go for 120 or 125 build points, but I've been
> kind of curious about the BeCKS system so...We'll use BeCKS, unless most of
> you haven't used it before. Since I'm not completely sure what sorts of
> character creation rules you guys usually use, I'll lay out my general idea
> of a passable starting character. Most, if not all, of this is canon SR3, so
> if that's what you're used to you can skip down to the good stuff.
>
> - No base skills above 6, no specializations above 7. This goes for active
> and knowledge skills. If you've got more than 6 in a language I'll be so
> impressed I might die.
> - No gear or 'ware with an avail of greater than 8
> - Max Number of Edges or Flaws: 8
> - Max points of Edges/Flaws: +10/-10
> - Deckers are nice, and otaku seem really cool, but frankly I have problems
> with doing really hardcore decking. Mostly because "by the book decking" is
> a giant, sucking maw of time. However, decking is really useful. Solution:
> people who deck in their spare time are great: most of the bennies, and I
> don't smack you around with nasty Black IC. Given the nature of this
> campaign, I don't know that a pure decker would be of much use anyway.
>
> Now for the good stuff. The game will be based mostly in Denver, but will
> extend to such interesting places as Vladisvostok, Seattle, St. Louis, New
> Orleans, Austin and many more. Including a little homebrew location I call
> Gophers, but more about that later. Where you go is kind of up in the air,
> at least within my mind. I'm still digesting Shadows of North America for
> recent NAN history. Which leads into my next topic:
>
> Books: Denver isn't Seattle, and things work a bit differently there. If you
> don't know anything about Denver, let me know and I'll type up some brief
> history. And if you can get your hands on any of the following, they'll be
> of some use: Denver Boxed Set (Best single resource on Denver, just make
> sure you read the Player's Book not the GM's
, Target: Smuggler's Havens,
> Shadows of North America (this is mostly an update to YotC, but there is
> some information about getting in and out of Denver and travel within).
> There isn't much in YotC that would inform you, it's just plot development.
> I don't recommend you read YotC: even though I don't use a lot of the plot
> hooks provided in SR books they are lingering in the shadows and knowing too
> much may spoil some things.
>
> Characters: There are several ways this game can go, and I'll list out some
> styles of smuggling that are in the back of my mind right now and some
> thoughts about each:
> - T-bird team. Hard to do with only 4 people, since you really need 2 or 3
> people with VCRs. Also T-bird's are majorly expensive, so going this route
> will net the group two things: a 'free' T-bird that needs lots of in-flight
> maintenance, and a reallly big debt to some group of people who you don't
> want to default on. Fun, but perilous and getting towards the high-power
> level. Opps would be border patrols in military level vehicles, environment,
> your own t-bird falling apart and people trying to get their cargo for free.
>
> - Ground smugglers. Buy an RV, mod it to hide cargo in unlikely places and
> you're good to go. This is what I would consider a moderate power level.
> Honestly, I find it the least interesting of the three, but maybe I'm
> missing something. If one of you can think of a good..hook, for lack of a
> better word, let me know. Your opps will generally be individual border
> guards, highway gangs and the fact that you'll be working the crappy end of
> the international smuggling chain.
>
> - Denver Sector Smugglers. This is the lowest power level, very much working
> the street. One interesting side effect of dividing Denver into 6 parts is
> that the city couldn't continue to function without a black market moving
> goods illegally across the sector borders. A semi-fictitious example:
> CalHots are illegal in UCAS but not in Ute. Food prices are currently higher
> in the Ute sector, though. So intrepid people bring CalHots into the the Ute
> sector (which is perfectly legal) and sneak them across the border into the
> UCAS where they sell at largely inflated prices. Then they buy food with all
> of that money, which they sneak back across the border into Ute, where they
> sell it at market value (or higher if they're greedy). That money gets used
> to buy more CalHots...ad nauseum. Pretty much all of Denver works like this,
> and not just the black market. Perfectly legal goods get smuggled across the
> border to avoid customs and to take advantage of price fluctuations. So
> there's a lot that could be done on just this level. Opps would be border
> guards, local cops(which are differnt), various groups looking to cut into
> your business.
>
> Time: Tuesdays I don't have class, so this is my favored day for running.
> Given the 6 hour time difference and the fact that most of you have actual
> jobs (*gasp*), I was thinking 7pm to 11pm (1pm to 5pm my time) is a good
> time frame. Feel free to tell me of a better one if it exits. My intention
> is for a weekly game, but if schedules preclude that every other week works
> as well.
>
> I think that's probably good for the first email. Hopefully we can get some
> conversation and thoughts passing back and forth over the weekend and have
> things rolling steadily into week after next.