------------- The Classes of Shadowrun Player The Role-Player The Real Man(TM) The Munchkin The Lunatic Favourite Character Type The Role-Player: Gang member, reporter, detective, decker The Real Man(TM): Mercenary, samurai, physical adept The Munchkin: Lofwyr the Great Dragon, Damon Knight, God Almighty The Lunatic: Rockers, escaped mental patients, Barney the Dinosaur Favourite Weapon The Role-Player: Hold-out pistols, knives, tasers, no weapon at all The Real Man(TM): Pump-action shotguns, suppressed submachineguns, Savalette Guardians, combat axes The Munchkin: A modified hold-out pistol firing belt-fed assault cannon ammo at full-auto with no recoil penalty, with underbarrel nuclear missile launcher and monofilament whip (total concealability 12) The Lunatic: Rubber chickens, chainsaws and an Ares Squirt loaded with LSD Favourite Cyberware The Role-Player: Cranial cyberdecks, headware memory, cortex bombs, fingertip compartments full of mysterious paydata The Real Man(TM): Cyberspurs, wired reflexes, smartgun links, cybereyes The Munchkin: A full-body Borg conversion, Move-By-Wire IV, and 30 points of hardened armour that looks completely normal The Lunatic: A "Mr Studd" from CP2020... adapted to a forehead mount Typical Line The Role-Player: "This doesn't look good... I think we should blow the job off. Too dangerous." The Real Man(TM): "Fall back! I'll give covering fire!" The Munchkin: "Don't worry. If Aztechnology give us trouble, I'll just buy them out and take them over." The Lunatic: "You know, you dragons think you're sooooo clever just because you're bigger than us..." Favourite Spells The Role-Player: Analyse Truth, Detect Guns, Clairvoyance The Real Man(TM): Mana Bolt, Fireball, Mindprobe The Munchkin: Create Platinum Credstick, Shapechange Into Dragon, Summon and Bind Cthulhu The Lunatic: Shapechange Into Invisible Pink Unicorn, Summon and Taunt Cthulhu, Turn Self To Goo Style of Dress The Role-Player: Worn trenchcoats, down-at-heel shoes, stubble The Real Man(TM): Combat fatigues or leather jeans, mirror shades The Munchkin: Armani suit, with concealed military-grade armour The Lunatic: Bathing costumes, fishnet stockings, anything sequinned, musical underpants Negotiating Style The Role-Player: "Of course, we checked up on you in the meantime... does your Site Security Officer, Major Williams, know about this little discussion? Would you like her to? Then please, I'm sure you'll come to see things our way." The Real Man(TM): "Why should you listen to me? Because I'm holding a thermal detonator..." The Munchkin: "Oh, and say hello to Damien Knight for me when you see him. Damien and I, we're like that we are, best mates..." The Lunatic: "If you don't agree to pay us what we want, I'm going to scream and scream and scream until I'm sick, and then I'll hold my breath until I turn blue and die!" Most Likely to Say The Role-Player: "I call my contact and ask her what she knows. I offer her the information about the Welinsky kidnapping as sweetener." The Real Man(TM): "Go on... make my day!" The Munchkin: "But my last GM said it was okay..." The Lunatic: "BAD TRIP! BAD TRIP! BAD TRIP!" (while banging head on wall) Least Likely to Say: The Role-Player: "Just because you're the GM doesn't mean you're in charge!" The Real Man(TM): "Actually, I don't think the violent approach is appropriate here." The Munchkin: "Well, if you say it doesn't suit your game I guess I can't do it..." The Lunatic: "My character sits quietly and listens..." Character Background The Role-Player: 20 pages of meticulous detail The Real Man(TM): Descriptions of Special Forces training, then four years in the military "assigned to miscellaneous duties" before retirement due to "mistaken attempt to permanently separate individual from service". The Munchkin: "My mother runs Aztechnology and my father owns Ares. And I'm just running the shadows for fun because I get given Renraku when I reach 21, but it's held in a trust fund until then." The Lunatic: "Who am I? Where am I? How did I get here? Who are you?" Meeting the Fixer The Role-Player: "I walk in, calm and assured, looking like I belong. I sit and wait... my fixer will either join me, or give me a waveoff." The Real Man(TM): "I throw in a concussion grenade and wait for my fixer to stagger out." The Munchkin: "I use a Control Fixer spell to make him say "Here! Take ten times as much money as we agreed, even though you didn't do the job!"" The Lunatic: "I walk into the bar and shout "WE'RE THE TEAM WHO NAILED ARES LAST WEEK AND YAMAETSU THE WEEK BEFORE THAT! IS OUR FIXER HERE? WE'VE GOT ALL THE PAYDATA READY!"" Character Personal Life: The Role-Player: Roleplays the character's complex emotional problems The Real Man(TM): Roleplays the character's fixation with a pneumatic blonde simsense starlet The Munchkin: "I call my girlfriend. She's a blonde simsense starlet with loads of money and really, really big..." The Lunatic: "I call my girlfriend. Flossie? Flossie? Bless your beautiful white fleece, Flossie, you're the most lovely sheep in Seattle..." Character Death Scene The Role-Player: Shot dead by a sniper while leaving his coffin hotel, reason and motive unknown The Real Man(TM): Last seen holding off a Dragon with pistol fire so his teammates could escape. Listed as "missing", not "dead". The Munchkin: Vapourised when the nuclear hand grenade he was building prematurely detonated. Insists he can be resurrected as his identical twin clone-brother. The Lunatic: Assassinated by his own teammates; electrocuted when trying to deck into a system through a power socket; shot while resisting arrest (for jaywalking) Relationships With The Police The Role-Player: Has lengthy, Chandleresque interviews that end with the police saying things like "You can walk, for now. But don't walk far." The Real Man(TM): Subcontracts to rescue SWAT teams in emergencies. Spends most of his time on bail for firearms offences. The Munchkin: His brother is Chief of Police for that city. Set a run in Denver, and he has an uncle who is Chief there. He has a large family and all of them are cops this week. Last week they were all in corporate security: they get around a lot. The Lunatic: Headbutts police cars for a dare, says "If you're so smart how come you're just a cop?" Bribing People The Role-Player: "Three pieces of ID? Well, I have two pictures of Garraty and one of Reagan here..." The Real Man(TM): "I can bribe you with gold or pay you in lead. Which would you prefer?" The Munchkin: "I roll my Bribery skill. Eighty-six successes! *He* gives me all *his* money and forgets he ever saw me." The Lunatic: "Go on, officer. Forget you ever saw me and you can have this nice candy bar. I hardly chewed it at all..." Vehicles The Role-Player: A battered Jackrabbit, an anonymous Americar, or a worn-out pair of shoes The Real Man(TM): Anything by Harley-Davidson, especially if it mounts guns The Munchkin: A GMC Banshee that looks exactly like a Jackrabbit and gets three hundred miles to the gallon. The Lunatic: A motor scooter covered in pink fluff, a VW Beetle called "Herbie", a rocket-propelled skateboard Favourite Stories to Base Shadowruns On The Role-Player: Anything by Raymond Chandler or H. P. Lovecraft The Real Man(TM): Aliens, Predator, Die Hard, and anything directed by John Woo The Munchkin: Anything by Lovecraft ("Go on, Cthulhu. Do you feel lucky?") The Lunatic: Godzilla and Rodan Meet Mothra, Army of Darkness, Magic Roundabout - The Movie ------ -Dan