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Archetype spins for Shadowrun (1st Edition)

It's happened to all of us.

Maybe your long-time home-brew PC ran out of Karma dice in the Renraku Arcology and the Red Samurai used them to test the iron sights on their SCK-100s.

Or maybe you're brand new to the game and don't want to spend five hours making a new character -- so you want to grab and go.

Except that... after a while, you don't want to play the same old lonely decker. But you still need a decker.

You can still play the archetype, and you don't even need to make any changes -- you just need a new spin.

Check below for some ideas.

Burned-Out Mage

Government Experiment

Corporate Assassin

Conspiracy Theorist

Decker

Computer Pirate

Go-Ganger

Graduate Student

Detective

FRT Sniper

Crisis Negotiator

Wrestler

Elven Decker

Tir Tairngire Spy

Elf Poser Ganger

AI Theorist

Former Company Man

Saboteur

Chauffeur

Gun-Fu Artist

Former Wage Mage

Therapist (Healer Orientation)

Hit-Mage (Fighter Orientation)

Face (Prowler Orientation)

Gang Member

Spotter

Ninja

Bike Racer

Merc

Navy Chopper Pilot

Military Police

Tank Gunner

Ork Mercenary

Cascade Ork Smuggler

Barbarian Go-Ganger

Garbage Man

Rigger

Drift Racer

Courier

Marine Pilot

Rocker

Jingle Writer

Chip Dealer

Social Media Personality

Shaman

Soldier (Wolf Totem, Fighter Orientation)

Information Broker (Snake Totem, Detector Orientation)

Con Man (Rat Totem, Deceiver Orientation)

EMT (Bear Totem, Healer Orientation)

Street Mage

Spy (Deceiver Orientation)

Gang Soldier (Fighter Orientation)

Consigliere (Detector Orientation)

Street Doc (Healer Orientation)

Street Samurai

Barrens Gladiator

Cosplayer

Personal Trainer

Street Shaman

Busker (Rat Shaman, Deceiver Orientation)

New Age Hippie (Snake Totem, Healer Orientation)

Gang Scout (Dog Totem, Detector Orientation)

Muscle (Coyote Totem, Fighter Orientation)

Tribesman

Vaquero 

Survivalist

Modern Pentathlete

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As seen at the Drachenfels, Rheinland-Pfalz.

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Neuromancer in Shadowrun (1st Edition). Part 1. Dramatis Personae

Player Characters

Case is a decker.

Take the stock archetype and switch the gender. Or don’t. Give them a single shuriken for flavor.

Molly is a street samurai.

If you really want to follow the text, remove the muscle replacement and dermal plating, give her an Ares Viper flechette pistol.

Riviera is trickier – the image projecting implants he possessed don’t have an equivalent in Shadowrun. Not a cyberware equivalent, which is why…

Riviera is a street shaman.

Deceiver orientation, Rat totem.

Non-Player Characters

Armitage is, natch, Mr. Johnson.

Finn should be a Dwarven Technician – matches his sour disposition.

If you want to use Finn as a PC, there’s the Gadgeteer. I guess.

Wage and Julius Deane are Fixers.

Lupus Yonderboy is a Gang Boss.

You really should make Hideo as a physad, but in a pinch there’s the Former Yakuza Ninja, or, since the only weapon we see him actually use are the bow and arrow…

Hideo is a tribesman.

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Draw someone with extra prosthetic limb/s – not a replacement, but an addition. What is the human form missing?

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William Gibson on Shadowrun

Three days ago, Catalyst Game Labs, the current makers of Shadowrun, tweeted that:

"Something new is coming January 24th…"

along with the following image:

seems buggy...

On the eve of whatever this announcement will be, it seems like a good time to remind everyone that the philosophical father of cyberpunk, William Gibson, hates Shadowrun.

There's a quote from Gibson in 1998 that I've quoted before, but after some digging I found the original source, in an interview with Ben Lincoln.

bottom left corner

For those not in the know, this is from The Peak, the independent college newspaper of Simon Fraser University, which is hands-down my favorite Canadian institute of higher education named after a fur trapper.

A quite dapper trapper, as you can see.

Five years later, Gibson would bring up Shadowrun on his own blog:

I haven't been able to find any further comments from W.G. in the twenty years hence, so apparently kept good on his intention.

So he probably won't care about what I'm planning next...

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Elf Sketch by Misha Sviridenko

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Security employees of the Variant Club, "[DATA NOT FOUND] and Marcus", 2075.

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INPRNT SALE!!! ALL Pet Adventurers and D&D Toads are 40% OFF!!!! Prints

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The Troll Decker, a Better Troll Archetype for Shadowrun (1st Edition)

Goblinized Teenage Angst and Art by @skullchicken

I cite the ancient texts:

“Suppose you wanted a Troll Decker.” (Charette, Hume, & Dowd, 1989)

So it will be.

It can’t be easy being a troll in 2050.

And despite several advances in the field since 1989, neither is pimpin'

But some "normal" children changed as they grew older, joining the ranks of the so-called Orks and Trolls. These either grouped with their own kind or mated with great-hearted souls who could see past the physical shells. The offspring of such unions were sometimes normal and sometimes produced the new racial types. Not all the "normal" children remained that way, however. Many suddenly underwent gobllnlzation at puberty, and the trauma and its associated maladjustments cycled again through the community. (Ibid.)

Reader, think back to when you went through puberty, and just what a messed-up bag of acne and stress you were. You found solace in the online world, where you could create an image and persona of yourself that was closer to the True You than anyone you knew in your real miserable life.

Then, while waiting for pizza rolls to cook in the microwave, you start goblinizing. Instead of sprouting a few inches, you sprout a few feet. Instead of zits, you have sudden dermal bone deposition and grow fragging horns. And yes, you have the munchies like you wouldn’t believe, but this doesn’t explain the doubling of your body weight.

Suddenly your pre-teen moping seems pathetic – you imagined yourself a hideous monster before.

But now this.

This is our Troll Decker.

Attributes:

Body: 6 Quickness: 2 Strength: 5 Charisma: 1 Intelligence: 4 Willpower: 2 Essence: 5.3 Reaction: 3

Skills:

Computer: 6 Computer Theory: 6 Computer (B/R): 6 Electronics: 4 Etiquette (Street): 2

Cyberware:

Datajack Headware Memory (50 Mp)

Gear:

Microtronics Tool Kit Fuchi-Cyber 4 (Response Increase 2, Active Memory 550 Mp, Storage Memory 1000 Mp) Programs (All at Rating 6): Bod, Evasion, Masking, Sensors, Analyze, Attack, Browse, Deception, Decrypt, Evaluate, Medic, Mirrors, Relocate, Shield, Sleaze, Slow, Smoke

Contacts:

Decker Dwarf Technician Elven Decker Troll Bouncer

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more assorted commission work

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View from the Undercity

Tomoaki Okada

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The Ork Street Shaman, a Better Ork Archetype for Shadowrun (1st Edition)

Definitely a Coyote Shaman.

Black Hole Cat Sweater and Art by @skullchicken

The core rulebook has the Street Shaman as a distinct archetype from the Shaman, though in the interest of adjective parity, the latter should have been termed the Tribal Shaman. And I’ve already made an Ork Shaman, so here’s the Ork Street Shaman.

You’re welcome.

Attributes:

Body: 4 Quickness: 2 Strength: 4 Charisma: 3 Intelligence: 2 Willpower: 5 Essence: 6 Magic: 6 Reaction: 2

Skills

Conjuring: 5 Etiquette (Street): 4 Firearms: 3 Magical Theory: 2 Sorcery: 6

Spells:

Mask: 4 Chaos: 6

Gear:

Armor Clothing (as seen in portrait) Remington Roomsweeper (currently out of bullets)

Contacts:

Bartender Squatter Talismonger Troll Bouncer

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"Night City" by Sideygitart

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The Dwarf Shaman, a Better Dwarf Archetype for Shadowrun (1st Edition)

Leonine art by @skullchicken

I’ve made a Troll Shaman, an Ork Shaman, an Elf Shaman, so…

The advantage of being a Dwarf Magician is, as demonstrated in the Dwarf Mage, is the +1 Willpower, the only metahuman to get a bonus to that attribute. The bonuses to Body and Strength also suggests a martial totem like Bear or Wolf, though you could always choose Lion and redeem a lapse in judgement from Queen Euphoria.

Attributes:

Body: 3 Quickness: 3 Strength: 3 Charisma: 4 Intelligence: 3 Willpower: 7 Essence: 6 Magic: 6 Reaction: 3

Skills:

Conjuring: 6 Etiquette (Tribal): 3 Sorcery: 6 Stealth: 2

Spells:

Heal Deadly Wounds: 4 Mana Bolt: 6

Gear:

Armor Jacket Survival Kit

Contacts:

Dwarf Technician Shaman Talismonger Tribal Chief

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The Elf Freelance Troubleshooter, a Better Elf Archetype for Shadowrun (1st Edition)

Elfin Fisticuffs and art by @skullchicken

Quotes:

“Yeah, I’ve done some business with the O’Malley’s. We both share an appreciation for a job well done. But I’ll never be familia with these pointy sound catchers. Better than the Yak’s attitude, though.”

“I’m sorry, am I not elf-y enough for you? Should I put on a leafy dress and dance for you?”

“Talk to the hand.” *gunshot*

Attributes:

Body: 5 Quickness: 3 Strength: 5 (6) Charisma: 3 Intelligence: 3 Willpower: 4 Essence: 2 Reaction: 3 (5)

Skills:

Car: 2 Etiquette (Street): 5 Firearms: 5 Interrogation: 3 Unarmed Combat: 5

Cyberware:

Headware Radio Obvious Cyberlimb with Increased Strength 1, Built-in Smartgun Link, Retractable Spur, Built-in Ares Predator (Smartgun Variant), 50 rounds normal ammo Wired Reflexes (1)

Gear:

Armor Jacket Fine Clothing Ford Americar Plastic Restraints (10 sets) Platinum DocWagon Contract (1 year) Wrist Telephone

Contacts:

City Official Yakuza Boss Gang Boss Street Doc

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The Troll Neo-Anarchist, a Better Troll Contact for Shadowrun

Art by @skullchicken

Neo-anarchism is the means by which we humans can throw off our chains and live rich, fulfilling lives. Only through neo-anarchism can humanity transcend its current, degenerated state and rise up from the mire. -- Neo-Anarchist’s Guide to North America, 2052

Quotes

"We believe in Law and Freedom without Force. Of course, if Force is how you like it…” cracks knuckles

“You look like you can’t even spell Pareto Optimality, let alone achieve it through non-coercive means.”