From: flashlife@amd.com
Reply-To: flashlife@amd.com
Errors-To: flashlife-control@amd.com
To: flashlife@amd.com
Subject: Flashlife Screamsheet   V2 #1

From: Carl Rigney (moderator) <flashlife-control@amd.com>


Flashlife Screamsheet  Fri, 22 Mar, 1991   Volume 2 : Issue 1

Today's topics:

  Flashlife Returns! 		(Moderator)
  Homicidal Players 		(P. J. Adam)
  Help with spirits? 		(jmellby)
  Request for NPCs 		(Brian Dunn)
  GM requests help 		(Ananda)

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From: flashlife-control@AMD.COM (Moderator)
Subject: Flashlife Returns!
Date: Wed, 9 Jan 91 08:34:43 PST

After 10 weeks, I've finally had the time to switch Flashlife to digest
format.  It'll start out weekly but may be more frequent if traffic
warrants.

The list is now at 173 users, which is too big a load to send each
message individually.  Further, by going to a digest format I can weed
out the noise, at the cost of slower turnaround.  More importantly, I
can batch submissions and send them out only in the evening so that it
doesn't clog our mailer during the day.

Mail submissions to flashlife@amd.com.
Mail add & drop requests to flashlife-control@amd.com.

--
Carl Rigney, Moderator
flashlife-control@amd.com

"Not impossible, but unlikely.  Most of Seattle is like that, these days."


--------------------------


From: P.J.Adam@loughborough.ac.uk
Subject: Homicidal Players
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 91 16:30:14 GMT

	Greetings.
	 
	 Is it just our group or are there some homicidal maniacs out
there?
	We had a run where the runners planned and executed a raid on a MCT
shipment. During the firefight, one guard was hit and knocked over, and 
although he wasn't badly hurt he decided he only had three years until he
could retire with pension. Unfortunately, while he was lying there minding
his own business one of the runners coup-de-graced him for no apparent
reason.
	Similarly, when I was playing Bottled Demon, one of the group shot 
someone for reaching into his coat. Eight armed runners, all in Kevlar, 
this guy has something small enough to hide under his coat (and so too small
to seriously hurt anyone) and the runner still blew him away. 
	And now in Queen Euphoria, we're about to try to kidnap Euphoria, and
our mage fried the brains of the corridor guard with a mana bolt. Lynch is 
busy trying to stabilise the guy, which seems to confuse everyone else since
they all seem happy to let him die. 

	Does roleplaying do things to people or are they like that anyway? 
My character at the moment is an ex-corp merc who knows what it's like to be
on the wrong end of a runner's gun. Even if you don't stop to stabilise the
dead guards, at least break their medevac bracelets so their trauma teams 
can arrive and help them. You'll get a much better reputation and fewer
embitterred survivors will come gunning for you.

	Combat is dangerous. As regular correspondents will know, in my 
games it's even more dangerous. Players don't lose fights often enough - if
they came out worst more often, perhaps they would behave often enough - if they
did, they might behave in a more civilised manner towards fallen opponents. My
personal thought is that most inter-corp warfare is kept 'clean' - limited 
extent, picked battlegrounds, and medics on standby - to reduce the risks for 
forces, chosen ground and medics on standby - to reduce the risks to innocent
bystanders (They shot my wife! I'll never buy Renraku again!) and their own 
troops (Don't work for the Aztech, buddy, their medics don't know squat about
trauma care).

	On a lighter note, is the NRA still out there? Fighting for the right
of every citizen to bear the automatic weapon of their choice? Campaigning for
the legalization of APDS ammo (in case Bambi evolves a Kevlar skin?) Demanding
that smartlink circuits be fitted to every citizen at birth? The mind boggles.

	Another idea, suggested by the warring police tribes in 'So Long and
Thanks for all the Fish' by Douglas Adams - when does the Seattle police 
franchise come up for review? And how far is Knight-Errant prepared to go to
win it? What will Lone Star do to keep it? Even if the runners aren't actively
involved, the possibilities are interesting as background.

	Anyway, enough for the moment. Let's see what this digest looks like...

--
P.J.Adam%uk.ac.loughborough@net.cs.relay



--------------------------


From: jmellby@skvax1.csc.ti.com
Subject: Help with spirits?
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 91 08:36:29 -0600

My group is just starting its first real Shadowrun, and because they
haven't start conjuring yet, I figured I would generate an elemental
or spirit or two for their potential foes to use against them.  Hopefully
this would get the magician/shaman in the group to start using
spirits themselves.

I have a couple of questions about spirits.  

1. What power do spirits have?  I know the Shadowrun errata said "We
won't define spirit's powers so that the players can be kept guessing"
but frankly, this is stupid.  If you're not going to define anything,
why have rules in the first place?  It reminds we of a short role-playing
session between two friends of mine when they were more than a little
"under the influence": 
  Bob: "You attack the demon.  Roll to hit!"
  Ed:  "I roll 1,017.35!"
  Bob: "You hit, but it instantly regenerates two new arms, and eats
       Cleveland!"

2. What services do spirits do?  It is explicitly spelled out for
elementals.  Do spirits do the same thing?  (I would assume so.)

3. Elemental/nature spirit attacks, or any critter attacks.
In the critter section it lists attack power, such as 4m3, but how
do they hit?  They have no unarmed combat skill.  Strength can transfer
on the skill chart but only at -4.  Do the critters then automatically
do 4m3 with no chance to increase the damage class, and no chance to miss?
Do they get a single die to hit?  Help?

4. In the example in the book (I don't have it here so I don't know the
page number), a shaman summons a desert spirit to help him, and it
performs an attack, a movement/transport, and protects him from the
desert.  I didn't see this class of protection listed under spirit
powers.  Does this mean a water spirit could allow someone to
breath underwater?  Or form a bubble of air around someone underwater?
How about a city spirit protecting someone from a car wreck or a
falling building?

5. Has anyone got any good examples of allies?  I created a basic
ally spirit, not too powerful, and the amount of karma it took would
boost a merc or street samurai up to firearm skill 10+ or give
someone a HOST of lower-power skills.  Is this what old, experienced,
powerful magicians will be?  I.E. someone with a super-powerful Ally, and
a pack of summoned elementals?


On a final, comic note, its interesting seeing what the characters do
just discovering the Shadowrun universe.  They come from other FRP
backgrounds (mainly D&D and the like).  We have had incidents like:

Players: "We bargain with him"
Me:      "Who has the highest negotiation skill?"
Players: "Negotiation skill?"
Me:      "He cuts your fee in half!"

or, just after a very nice bit of capturing someone by coordinating
a car, a remote drone, and several large street samurai, they
didn't really know who this guy was, just he had perhaps been following
the Mrs. Johnson who was trying to hire them (they didn't even know
Mrs. Johnson's name yet)
Players: "We question this guy we picked up"
Me:      "Whats your interrogation skill?"
Players: "Huh?"
Me:      "The street samuraii says 'See this blackjack?  Tell us
         why you were in the street or we'll hit you, and this
         really hurts!  See?' <hits prisoner>  'Now talk!'
         The rigger says 'Hey!  His eyes are closed!  And
         he is bleeding!'"

Classic D&D questioning techniques :-)

--
John R. Mellby                       Texas Instruments
jmellby@skvax1.ti.com                P.O.Box 869305, MS 8513
                                     Plano, Texas, 75266
(214)517-5370                       (214)575-6774
telephone companies are not stupid, at least for large values of "stupid".
               -- Mr. Protocol, Mark O'Brien



--------------------------


From: "Brian Dunn 312-935-6790" <U08884@UICVM.uic.edu>
Subject: Request for NPCs
Date: 8 February 1991 08:49:40 CST

i am still collecting pc's to use as npc's for shadowrun
please send your favorite pc/npc to u08884@uicvm.uic.edu
and when i get enough pc's i will post them
mr sin



--------------------------


From: ANANDA%BSU.DECNET@MSUS1.BITNET
Subject: GM requests help
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 91 21:02:42 CST

I'm supposed to start gming SR this Sunday (read: 3 days from *now*), and I
think I'm dooooooommmmmedddd......  

Among other things, I have no good answeres as to why a physical adept can't
use a (wierd) magical sword to its full abilities.  I've been punting, but the
results are falling a bit short...

	[ Because the magic of Physical Adepts is internally focused.
	  They can do amazing things with themselves, but they can't
	  bind magic foci or cast spells or call up spirits.  (That's
	  why it only takes priority 3, not 4.) -- CDR ]

And I'm looking for suggestions on how to make a _Phantom of the Opera_-like
character actually useful in some of FASA's modules...  I don't know anything
about the Phantom, d*mn it.

--
Ananda

ananda%bsu.decnet@msus1.bitnet	   /ananda%bsu@msus1.bitnet   \__if the .decnet 
ananda%bsu.decnet@msus1.msus.edu   \ananda%bsu@msus1.msus.edu /  causes problems



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End of Flashlife Screamsheet
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