Shadowrun 5e: Havana Heat

[Conundrum]

The meeting place looked like any other little restaurant in their area.  A squat one story yellow building with a red roof and overhang with big glass windows, thick enough to be bullet resistant, showing haphazardly arranged tables and chairs inside.  Sitting on a dirty and cracked street between low income apartments to one side and a liquor store to the other with dingy gravel alleys between them both the only thing differentiating this little restaurant bar from any other in this area of Havanna was the little sign setup outside, "Las Tres Hermanas."

Going inside through the doorway low enough that some trolls would need to duck the heavy weight of the glass front door that did not seem to want to move at first confirmed that it was likely bullet resistant. The cool air was refreshing from the July heat though it was still too early for the dinner rush and the open dining floor was empty of anyone living except for two individuals at the far side from the doorway standing around the bar watching a baseball game on the large flat trid over the bottle rack while cleaning glasses.  Both Hispanic male humans the one behind the bar seemed to be pushing on to middle age but still had a fit lean look to him and nodded at your entry to the younger man barely looking to be 20. 

The twenty year old approached the dining floor to you quickly inquiring how he can help you.  That he does not offer to sear you is the final nail in the coffin this is the right place.  Asking for a Mr Fernández causes him to quickly lead you to an open doorway in the far wall just off the bar. 

It opens into a rear dining room with smaller and sparse windows that seem somewhat frosted and likely harder to peer through from the outside.  Other than that though it is appointed with the same cheap looking chairs and tables that the front dining room was.  Back here though there is another Hispanic man, no doubt your "Mr Fernández."

Looking well into middle aged with silver hair coloring his dark hair and creeping at the edges of a thick mustache he smiles jovially at you with tobacco stained teeth as a hefty cigar hangs from one hand.  With a thick hand that matches the rest of his paunchy body he signals for you to sit and with the other signals to the server who brought you his empty beer glass.  The server then rushes off with glass in hand after asking for what you want to srink.

Mr Fernández refuses to talk business for awhile turning any conversation that may veer in that direction to one of sports.  He is a fount of knowledge of local sports of all sorts.  He does not simply seem to watch but analyze knowing thousands of statistics and easily rattling them off at minimal prompt.

It is only when the last of the group is assembled and seated he turns to business with a quickness surprising from such a soft looking man.  Putting out the stub of his cigar in an ash tray he drains the dregs of his beer.

Withdrawing a nickel plated cigar case from the thin jacket on his chair he offers the thick Cubans around the table before taking one for himself and placing the case on the table by his ash tray.

"Thinks work a certain way in the Carin League you see.  Havanna is not New York, Cuba is not UCAS.  Some people do not seem to get that," the man spoke slowly and withdrew a cigar cutter from a compartment on his case and proceeded to nip the head off his cigar before smelling it slowly and putting the guillotine back in the case.

"Some people do not seem to get that, like this cigar," he held it for everyone at the table to see, still unlit.

"This is nice Cuban tobacco in nice Cuban paper rolled by beautiful Cuban maidens.  This is not some stoagie you buy in a dollar store in Seattle but something you sit back, relax with, and enjoy, and you enjoy properly," sticking the cigar in the corner of his mouth he now took out a small box of matches.

Striking a match he let it burn for a moment before he brought it to tip of his cigar and puffed until he felt he had a proper light on it.  Exhaling slowly he took a moment before removing the cigar with one hand and continuing, "With nice Cuban tobacco you do not use a lighter, they burn to hot and the chemicals will alter the flavor.  Now if you so choose you may do so but there are consequences.  Your neighbors will shun you, your friends will shame you, and your seller will sell you the cheap stuff.  All this may happen with nobody telling you.  It is up to you to know the rules of what you are doing because their consequences for your actions here in the Caribean."

Taking several puffs on his cigar he looked about the table, "That is why you have been asked to come here.  Someone in Havana does not know the rules.  I need you to teach him."



This will be a Shadowrun 5e campaign set in the Caribean League.  You do not need system familiarity but I ask that people have at least a little setting familiarity ot br willing to learn some of the ins and outs.

I am looking for around 5 players.
At chargen I will not allow burnout adepts.
Ignore the addiction rules, I will be using a system closer to 4e.
I am currently debating standard runners or prime runners depending on how familiar players are with the system.
I am currently planning Sum to 10 but depending on players Sum to 12 is possible.
I am very open to homebrew and porting things from previous editions.  Some NPCs will have Eurowar Antiques equipment.

Questions, comments, concerns?

I wrote this from my phone so I apologize for mistakes and there are likely some autocorrect errors.

[Muse]

  Wow!  You wrote that on your phone?  I'm extremely impressed! 

  I'd like to express interest in your game, please.  I'm proficient with most aspects of Shadowrun 4th and 5th, but still having issues with deckers.  I prefer to play the magical types.  I lean away from murder hoboing the game, grabbing non lethal attack options and such, but I like some of the wilder styles. 

[Drowdeviant]

*PLANTS INTEREST FLAG IN THE NAME OF SPARTA! xD

I has so many ideas. :3

[Conundrum]

  Wow!  You wrote that on your phone?  I'm extremely impressed! 

  I'd like to express interest in your game, please.  I'm proficient with most aspects of Shadowrun 4th and 5th, but still having issues with deckers.  I prefer to play the magical types.  I lean away from murder hoboing the game, grabbing non lethal attack options and such, but I like some of the wilder styles. 

The first job is wetwork but there is a reason this is potentially a prime game.  For me murder hobo jobs are for cheap runners picking up jobs for a few grand, wetwork jobs that need the footwork real runners bring to the table pay better and is what you will be looking at.  I tailor jobs to the team overall so unless the group goes full murder hobo the jobs you guys get will not be murder hobo.

If you are a magic user then plenty of jobs will call for a magic user as an aspect.  Same for decker or street sam.  If the group has no muscle then they will not brought on for muscle heavy jobs.

*PLANTS INTEREST FLAG IN THE NAME OF SPARTA! xD

I has so many ideas. :3

Any ideas spring to the forefront yet?

[PixelatedPixie]

I'd be interested.  I'm not entirely sure as what though.  A respectful suit type with secrets up her sleeve (maybe an adept?) is the first thought that comes to mind, otherwise maybe an infiltrator type or a rigger. 

[Drowdeviant]

I'd be interested.  I'm not entirely sure as what though.  A respectful suit type with secrets up her sleeve (maybe an adept?) is the first thought that comes to mind, otherwise maybe an infiltrator type or a rigger.

I was looking at an infiltrator adept myself actually. Maybe our gal can be sisters or something. xD

[Marie Reynolds]

I am interested in jumping in on this.

[Conundrum]

Will anyone be needing help once I am decided on character tier for character generation or is everyone sufficiently familiar with the system they can do it on their own?

[Drowdeviant]

Will anyone be needing help once I am decided on character tier for character generation or is everyone sufficiently familiar with the system they can do it on their own?

Aside from background connection shit and possible local contacts? xD

[Conundrum]

Aside from background connection shit and possible local contacts? xD

Aside from that, Shadowrun is a dense system so I know for people not familiar with the system I need to help at times.

It is good you brought up contacts though and will add this to the first post.  When you make your character one of your contacts or a contact of another player you have a background with will be designated as your primary hirer.  Traditionally Shadowrunners have a fixer but fixers will also use cut-outs and intermediaries so you do not need someone who is a designated fixer.  If you have a black market connection, information broker, or even just a bartender they can act as the person you get most of your jobs through.

[Muse]

I shouldn't need much help and will be able to offer some. Anything that comes up I can ask questions.

[Ampere]

Looks like I waited too long with this one: I had a hankering to play a troll shaman - former jungle fighter with a penchant for pharmacy and kitchen sink chemistry.

[Conundrum]

Looks like I waited too long with this one: I had a hankering to play a troll shaman - former jungle fighter with a penchant for pharmacy and kitchen sink chemistry.

Unless I miscounted you would be number 5 which is still fine.

[Ampere]

Excellent - let me dig out the latest version of Chummer and I'll get something done.

[PixelatedPixie]

If there is a bunch of magic users I will probably go something else.  I am reasonably comfortable with creation.  Were you doing Sum to 12 and Prime?

[Conundrum]

If there is a bunch of magic users I will probably go something else.  I am reasonably comfortable with creation.  Were you doing Sum to 12 and Prime?

Thinking on it more I think I will go with Sum to Ten Prime Runners.  If people feel Sum to 12 is needed to make a character work ask and we can discuss it.

[PixelatedPixie]

I tossed together a face/driver type, probably suboptimally as I actively avoided the control rig stuff to avoid going down that rabbit hole.  The pdf doesn't want to seem to upload, so will need to convert it to text or some such. 

[Terian]

I'm in the mood for a punchy character, I'll see what I can whip out.

[Muse]

Here's one of my more rough and tumble but still idealistic magicians: 

   Anonymous Web Blog: The Ouroboros Bites It’s Tail

   I’m not going to tell you who I am.  If you need to know you already do. 
   I’m not going to barrage you with street jargon to give myself legitimacy.  That stuff is all over the net. 
   I’m going to talk about snakes. 
   They’re an old symbol lodged deep in metahumanity’s collective mythology reminding us that every life form exists by feeding upon something else alive.  We have existed their way, in a sort of brutal harmony, since millennia before man first descended from the trees.
   But man isn’t a harmonious animal.  The same intelligence that makes a slow, thin skinned hominid with neither claws nor fangs an apex predator allows us to break that harmony. 
   Many ancient cultures understood this well enough to predict that our own hungers might consume us.  When the ancient Norse spoke of the end of the world they described the Midgard Serpent, a monster who—in its insatiable hunger would devour all the world and then—with nothing else to devour—swallow itself. 
   The image of the snake biting its tail has other meanings.  The Ouroboros is a purer representative of the serpent, an ancient alchemical symbol of renewal and resurrection on par with the fiery phoenix that is reborn from the ashes of its own funeral pyre. 
   Hunger is natural.  The Midgard Serpent is not a force for annihilation because it defies nature, but because it exercises it’s prerogatives from a position of vastly unequal power.  Neither gods nor giants can reign it in, much less vanquish it. 
   Today, in the 52nd year of the sixth world, a dozen Midgard Serpents threaten to devour us all.  Their mass media devours our dreams.  Their frivolous products devour our resources.  Their unchecked pollution devours our environment. 
   We sleep while they nibble at our toes. 
   Unlike the Midgard Serpent, these apex predators—whom neither gods nor giants can challenge—war ceaselessly with one another. 
   I am a shadowruner.  I am a fang of the Ouroboros.  Sleep in peace, little snakes, you need not rise up against your oppressors this night.  They will bite their own tails. 

   Cassandra Kissling, known on the streets as Fang of the Ouroboros (or just Fang) is the daughter of a professor of the arcane arts who was abducted by corporate agents with an unknown agenda.  Hoping to find him, Fang used her magical abilities to become a Runner.

[Marie Reynolds]

Hey connundrum may i pm you about  some character details?

[Conundrum]

Hey connundrum may i pm you about  some character details?

Sure.

[Ampere]

AMAZONIAN ARMY (ACTIVE)

DISCHARGE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that No.    JK008H          (Rank)      SGT
Name (in full)  Ximena DELGADO            enlisted
enrolled in   Medical Branch Amazonian Army (Experimental)
the AMAZONIAN ARMY (ACTIVE) at  Rio Paulo on the 9 Sept 2073
She served in Amazonia, Bolivia and Uruguay
and is now discharge from the service under Routine Order 1029.5C.1 by reason of
   "To return to Civil Life, (on demobilisation)"

Medals, Decorations, Mentions                 Bogota star, Defence Medal
awarded in respect to service                  Meritorious conduct under fire (citation)
during this war

THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS SOLDIER on the DATE below is as follows :-
Age:     28                                                              Marks or Scars:
Height: 7'10"                                                          JK series barcode nape of neck
Complexion: Medium/Dark                                       Numerous linear scars left sacro-iliac region
Eyes: Grey                                                             
Hair: Brown                                                            Augmentations:
Metatype: Homo sapiens ingentis                             Tropical Environment
                                                                             Medical Package


                                                                             Other Active Army Service
                                                                                        (this war)

                                                                                             Nil

Date of Discharge: 31 October 2075

Character Sheet

Curador (Ximena Delgado)

Height: 7'10"
Weight: 500lbs
Age: 28
Eyes: Grey
Hair: Brown
Skin: Dusky Pink

Troll

Background:

As an untested doctor, straight out of training, Ximena was eager to serve the country that had effectively built her. She was young and idealistic (and probably had a whole shit load of behavioural training while being grown). That changed very quickly when the full reality of the war became clear. Coming to a head in Bogota.

Positive: Magician, *Prototype Transhuman, Thermographic Vision
Negative: Code of Honor (Hippocratic Oath), Flashbacks I (Bogota), No Man Left Behind, Prejudiced (Specific, Biased): Aztlan
          *Insomnia (Basic), Poor Self Control (Thrill Seeker)

Body      5
Agility      2
Reaction   2
Strength   5
Charisma   3
Intuition   4
Logic      4
Willpower   4(5)
Edge      1
Magic      6

Init: 6 + 1d6 [Astral: 8+3d6]
Movement: 4/8, 1m/hit

Limits: Physical 6, Mental 6, Social 6, Astral 6
(Medkit: +6 for first aid and medicine)

Skill Groups:

Biotech 3
Outdoors 2

Skills:

Alchemy MAG 2 (8)
Arcana LOG 4 (8)
Armorer LOG 4 (8)
Artificing MAG 2 (8)
Assensing INT 5 (9)
Astral Combat WIL 2 (7)
Banishing MAG 1 (7)
Binding MAG 1 (7)
Biotechnology LOG 3 (7)
Chemistry LOG 6 (10)
Counterspelling MAG 1 (7)
Cybertechnology LOG 3 (7)
Demolitions LOG 6 (10)
Disenchanting MAG 1 (7)
First Aid LOG 3 (7)
Heavy Weapons AGI 2 (4)
Medicine LOG 3 (7)
Navigation INT 2 (6)
Perception INT 1 (5)
Spellcasting MAG 5 (11)
Summoning MAG 4 (10)
Survival WIL 2 (7)
Throwing Weapons AGI 2 (4)
Tracking INT 2 (6)

Knowledge:

Architecture 4 (8) Professional
Engineering 4 (8) Academic
Magical Theory (Street) 3 (7) Street
Street Drugs 3 (7) Interest

Languages:

Spanish (N)
English 2 (6)

Composure: 8
Judge Intentions: 7
Damage, Fire, Cold, Elec, Acid, Falling Resistance: Stun 15, Physical 10
Fatigue Resistance: 10
Sonic Resistance: 5
Toxin/Pathogen: 10 (Inhaled: Immune)

Spells:

Combat:

Magebolt
Stunball

Detection:

Eyes of the Pack
Mind Probe

Health:

Cure Disease
Heal

Illusion:

Improved Invisibility
Physical Mask

Manipulation:

Physical Barrier
Shapechange

Resist Drain: WILL + CHA 8 (Shamanic)

Spirits:

Spirit of Earth Force 6 (4 favours)

Bioware:

Dareadrenaline **
Heat Adaptation (Jungle)
Sleep Regulator
Tactile Sensitivity
Tremor Reducer (Rating 2)

Gear:

Medkit (Rating 6)
Biomonitor
2 Medkit Supplies

Renraku Sensai (Commlink)

Backpack (good)
5 slap patches (Antidote: 4)
Slap patch (Stim: 4)
4 slap patches (Tranq: 5)
Slap patch (Trauma)

Toolkit (Chemistry)

5 grenades (Flash-Bang)
10 grenades (Smoke)
5 grenades (Gas: CS/Tear Gas)
7 grenades (Gas: Pepper Punch)
5 grenades (Thermal Smoke)

Gas Mask

Fake SIN (Rating 2)
Certified Credstick: Standard (620 new yen)

Armour:

Lined Coat

Weapons:

Survival Knife

Lifestyle:

Squatter (1 month)

Contacts:

Smuggler (L2, C3)
Freedom Fighter (L4, C3)
Supply Sergeant (L1, C5)

[Terian]

Yeah, trying to decide if we're going with Prime Runners or not right now, because that's going to determine a lot of my build, but we're looking at a walking, smiling citadel of enough cyberware to contest with armored vehicles.

[Conundrum]

Yeah, trying to decide if we're going with Prime Runners or not right now, because that's going to determine a lot of my build, but we're looking at a walking, smiling citadel of enough cyberware to contest with armored vehicles.

Prime runners sum to 10 is what I am going with.

[Ampere]

Are you happy for me to use the 'Prototype Metahuman' background?