Rat's Nest 2/ratsnest2.iso/rpg/shadowru/sredge.dos

Text File | 1997-06-19 | 26.9 KB | 567 lines

All contents Copyright November 1992
Steven D Warble 3519 Sollers Pt Rd Balto, Md 21222 410-288-5941

EDGES IN SHADOWRUN

Edges and flaws are the equivalent of Ars Magica's Virtues and
Flaws or GURPS Advantages and Disadvantages.  The EDGES column
replaces the race column in character generation, all races being
equal in a well run campaign.  All regular NPCs can have up to 3
pts of Edges as long as they are balanced by Flaws, PCs and their
NPC equivalents can have up to 7 points of Edges as long as they
are balanced by Flaws.  The number of points put into the Edge
attribute equals the number of 'free' edge points that do not need
to be balanced out by flaws (ie an Edge of 3 would mean that the PC
can have three points of Edges with no Flaws, and an additional 4
points of Edges balanced by Flaws).

PHYSICAL EDGES

1 POINT EDGES
Versatile Sleeper:  You can fall into a deep sleep virtually at
will, regardless of distraction or discomfort.  You will always be
well rested and do not suffer additional fatigue for long periods
of activity as you cat-nap whenever possible.
Keen Vision:  You gain a -1 to the target number of any visual
perception rolls.
Light Sleeper:  You waken immediately, even from the deepest
sleeps, and have no penalty for the first few rounds of action.
Even while asleep you can make perception rolls to see if nearby
noise or movement awakens you.
Hardy Constitution:  You gain a -1 to the target number of any
healing rolls you make.  This does apply to medical treatments and
magic healings as your body's natural abilities aid in the
treatments.
Sharp Ears:  You gain a -1 to the target number of any hearing
perception rolls.
Immunity:  The character has complete immunity to any one type of
fairly common disease or toxin, due to natural resistence or prior
exposure.  This does NOT cover chemical agents or tailored biowar
agents unless the GM wishes to be nice.  The specific immunity must
be stated when bought, and this Edge may be purchased multiple
times for different immunities.
Alcohol Tolerence:  You have a well developed ability to drink
alcohol.  This gives you a -2 bonus to all sobriety rolls and a
general immunity to hangovers.

2 POINT EDGES
Light Touch:  You have very good manual dexterity, and gain a -1 to
the target number of all rolls requiring fine manipulation, such as
pickpocketing, most B/R skills, etc
Heat Resistant:  You have a high tolerence for heat and humidity.
You never suffer fatigue penalties for environmental heat below 130
degrees Farenhait.  However, you must still make an effort to
conform to the environment or suffer normal penalties (ie no
wearing full body armour in the sahara).
Cold Resistant: As above except covering environmental cold, down
to 0 degrees Farenhait.  Again, you must attempt to conform (no
short sleeves in the Artic), but you could wear lighter thermal
gear than anyone else and even be fully exposed for SHORT periods
(a few minutes tops) with no ill effects.
Combat Reflexes:  You have extremely fast reactions to danger,
getting +1d6 reaction on the first round of combat and a +1 on all
other rounds.

3 POINT EDGES
Light Drinker:  You require half as much water as a normal person,
and are twice as resistent to the effects of dehydration.
Light Eater:  You require half as much food as a normal person, and
are twice as resistent to the effects of hunger.
Ambidextrous:  You are equally dextrous with either hand, and can
use a weapon in each hand with only a 1 point penalty to each.
Note that if two firearms are being used, they must both be fired
at the same or adjacent targets, unless they are being fired wild.

5 POINT EDGES
Needs No Sleep:  Character exists on about 2 hours of sleep per
day, with no disadvantages.  They therefore have the equivalent of
almost an extra 6 hours per day to work or study, and make
excellent night guards.

PHYSICAL FLAWS

1 POINT FLAWS
Missing Ear:  You have a missing ear and/or nerve damage that
prevents a cybernetic replacement.  You have a +1 penalty to all
hearing T#s and cannot tell what direction a sound came from.
Missing Eye:  You have a missing eye and/or nerve damage that
prevents a replacement.  You have very bad distance sense, a +2
penalty on T#s in ranged combat, and a +1 penalty on T#s in melee
combat.  You also have a blind side where you can be approached
without being seen.
Obese:  You are immensely fat.  You gain 1 extra body die to roll
to initially resist damage, but suffer a +3 penalty to resist or
recover from fatigue.
Fragile Consttution:  You are sickly, and have a +2 penalty to
resist fatigue, poisons and diseases, and a +1 point penalty on all
healing rolls, including medical and magical treatments.
Deep Sleeper:  You sleep deeply, not being disturbed by loud noises
or movement around you.  You mus generally be shaken or wounded to
awaken before you are ready.  You gain a +3 penalty for a full
minute when awoken, and always have a +1 penalty for the first half
hour you are awake each day.
Corrected Vision:  You must wear glasses or contacts to correct
visual problems.  While wearing them your vision is normal, but if
they get lost or broken you are treated as having Poor Eyesight (2
point Flaw) until replaced.
Legal Addict:  You are addicted to a legal substance such as
alcohol, tobacco, sugar or caffeine.  Your addiction causes minor
health problems in the short run and may be eventually fatal.
Without your chosen substence, you may be irritable, nervous, or
lethargic.  You will attempt to consume your substance whenever
possible.
Alcohol Weakness:  You get drunk fast and easily. You suffer a +4
penalty on all sobriety rolls.

2 POINT FLAWS
Poor Eyesight:  You have bad eyes that are uncorrectable with
modern medecine.  You gain a +3 penalty to all rolls that require
vision for over a foot or so if near sighted, or anything within 15
feet of you if far sighted.  Note that Poor Eyesight does NOT
influence visual sensations through direct hook ups such as data
jacks or rigger sensors.
Poor Hearing:  You have bad hearing that cannot be corrected with
modern medecine.  You have a +3 penalty on all hearing rolls, and
generally cannot understand speech if it is mumbled or there is
background noise.  This does not affect audio sensations through
direct link ups.
Mute:  You cannot speak, due to injury, defect or trauma.  You must
use sign language and rudimentary grunts to communicate.
Illegal Addict:  You are addicted to an illegal but relatively safe
substance such as marijuana or perscription pain killers.  This
will cause minor short term health problems, financial
difficulties, and fines or short incarcerations if you are caught.
This can also represent addiction to an illegal activity such as
gambling or visiting prostitutes.

3 POINT FLAWS
Arthritis:  Your joints are stiff and painful, and sometimes lock
up on you completely.  You have a +1 penalty to all rolls that
require physical movement and a -2 penalty to reaction rolls.  On
any botched rolls, your joints lock up and require rest or medical
or magical healing as a light wound to recover.
Junkie:  You are addicyed to an illegal and possibly deadly drug
such as heroin or cocaine.  This will cause severe health and
financial problems, as well as a certainty of arrest if caught.

5 POINT FLAWS
Blind:  You are completely blind and your vision cannot be restored
through any known medical or magical treatment known.  This does
not prevent visual sensing through direct hook ups such as data
jacks or rigger sensors.  Some mystical physical adept groups may
have blind fighting skills that help offset this liability to some
degree.

7 POINT FLAWS
Diseased:  The character suffers from some form of incurable
disease, whether a variant of leprosy or AIDS or whatever.  While
the disease is not easily contagious most people will still react
as if it is and shun the character or drive him away.  The disease
does interfere with healing, giving the character a +3 penalty on
all healing rolls, even medical and magical.  In addition, the
character suffers from a variety of minor symptoms, ailments and
disfigurements as assessed by the GM and player.

MENTAL EDGES

1 POINT EDGES
Carefree:  You are unshakably happy and optimistic.  This gives a
-
2 bonus to save on all effects that cause fear, dispair, or loss of
morale.  You also gain a -2 bonus on all social skills except with
people of angry or straight-laced disposition.
Strong Willed:  You gain a -2 bonus to save on all attempts at
coercion and intimidation, including those caused by magic.
Common Sense:  You are sensible and rational.  Once per game the GM
is allowed to alert you when you are about to do a foolish or
dangerous thing.
Free Expression:  You have the ability to express yourself
artistically, whether through painting, poetry or some other art.
Combined with a good skill level, this character could be a great
artist.
Perfect Pitch:  You can sing perfectly in pitch and tune even
elaborate musical instruments by ear.

2 POINT EDGES
Absolute Direction:  You have an unfailing ability to determine
true north, and with alittle concentration, you can exactly retrace
your movements even several days in the past.
Absolute Timing:  You have a perfect sense of time, and always know
how long it has been since any given thing happened, down to the
second.  In addition, your sense can act like an alarm clock,
awakening you or alerting you at a certain time.

3 POINT EDGES
Fast Learner:  You pick up skills and knowledges fast and easily.
When buying skills, you traet them as one level lower for cost.
You begin the game with an extra 5 points of skills.
Jack of All Trades:  You can generalize easily from one skill to
another, attempting things others would find impossible.  On the
skill web, you gain half the normal penalty for utilizing similar
skills.
Visual Memory:  You have a near perfect memory for places and
events.  When trying to remember something, an INT roll vs T# 5
allows basic visualization, while a success vs T# 8 allows perfect
recall of even minute details.  This ability does not extend to
photographic recall of everything you have ever read.
Night Reader:  You tend to stay up late reading and studying odd
interests, with no detriment to your day job.  Each run you gain an
extra experience point to put into a skill of your choice which was
NOT used in the adventure.

4 POINT EDGE
Mastered Knowledge:  You are an expert at a certain field of
knowledge, specified when this Edge is chosen.  When rolling for
anything in that field, you have a -3 bonus.  This does cover
Magical Theory, but does not cover any other magical skills.

1 POINT FLAW
Obsessed:  You have an obsession with a certain behavior or object,
and will become upset if this is threatened.  Examples are keeping
yourself clean and germ-free, always sitting with your back to the
wall, having your lucky belt buckle on, etc
Personal Goal:  You have a personal goal, public or secret, which
you consider more important than the parties goal and will pursue
whenever possible.  This could be pursuit of wealth, knowledge,
vengence, etc
Honourbound:  You have a minor code of ethics which are
occasionally restrictive to your actions, but which you try never
to break.  Examples are never killing a woman, never lying to a
priest, etc.  You will generally have several smaller prohibitions
or a single large one, like never lying, period.
Poor Memory:  You have a poor memory for a single type of thing,
such as names, faces, etc.  You must make a INT roll vs a T# of 8
to be able to dredge up any details on your problem area, and have
a general +1 penalty to all knowledge skill rolls due to mental
fog.
Finicky:  You are very particular about certain things, like
quality of food, piety or personal manners, and object when your
version of what is right is violated.  If you are the violent type,
you might even start fights.
Short Attention Span:  You cannot concentrate for long, and boredom
is your worst enemy.  You must treat all knowledge skills as 1
level higher when trying to improve them, and must make a Will roll
to pay attention to anything for more than a couple of minutes.
Uncommon Phobia:  You have a fear of an uncommon thing or event,
and tend to avoid or run away from the object of your fear.  If
unable to escape, you might even attack or suffer a breakdown.
Examples are fears of graveyards, the open sea, high places, etc
Compulsion:  You suffer from some form of compulsive behavior which
is bizarre but non-life threatening.  This could be hand washing,
coupon clipping, lieing, or any other ordinary action taken to
extremes.
Superstitious:  You are very superstitious, always on the look out
for black cats and four leaf clovers.  If you feel you have done
something unlucky, you will have a +1 penalty to all rolls for the
rest of the day or until you regain your luck.

2 POINT FLAWS
Common Phobia:  You have a fear of some common every day event,
such as nighttime, firearms, women, etc
Over-Confident:  You constantly over estimate your own abilities
and under estimate those of others.  The GM will constantly feed
you distorted information to support your views.
Bloodlust:  Once you attack someone, you won't stop until they are
down.  In lethal combat, you will always make sure your targets are
dead before moving on.  "The only good enemy is a dead enemy" is
your motto.

3 POINT FLAWS
Terror:  Some common object or event causes you to run in terror.
If unable to escape you will suffer a breakdown until either you or
the object is removed.
Fury:  Some specific action or insult causes you to go berserk.
When confronted with this action, make a Will roll vs a T# of 9 or
attack the person who offended you.  This can be as simple as a
punch or as deadly as a full auto attack, but if the offender
resists you are more than willing to escalate the conflict.
Noncombatant:  You are incapable of attacking another being.  You
cannot learn any combat skills, and must make a Will roll vs a T#
of 9 to do anything which would hurt someone.
Combat Paralysis:  You freeze during dangerous situations.  You
cannot react during the first round of combat and must make a Will
roll vs a T# of 5 in each subsequent round.  Once you make the
roll, you are free to react normally thereafter.

SUPERNATUARL EDGES AND FLAWS

1 POINT EDGE
Animal Empathy:  Animals love you, and you treat them well in
return.  Wild animals will let you approach them, and trained guard
dogs will let you by on a successful Charisma roll vs a T# of 5.
Even attack animals will not attack you on a successful roll,
unless their master is nearby commanding them.  Even then, they
will hesitate for a number of rounds equal to your successes.  Note
that if you attack an animal or its packmates, your empathy is
blown.

2 POINT EDGES
Latent Magical Ability:  You have the ability to become a full mage
or shaman if circumstances conspire to bring out this ability.
Though this power is well hidden, a particularly sensitive mage or
shaman might be able to detect it.
Magic Resistent:  You are innately magically resistent, gaining a
-
3 bonus on all magic saves.  However, even benefical magic must
overcome this resistence, so don't count on magic healing.
Lucky:  You are uncommonly lucky, random chance just happening to
favor you.  The exact details are up to the GM, but you should have
at least one lucky break per adventure.

4 POINT EDGE
Spirit Warder:  You have a free willed spirit of some type attached
to you.  It has your best interests at heart, but probably
disagrees as to what they should be.  The more powerful the spirit,
the more contrary it is.
Magic Immune:  You have a phenomenal resistence to magic, gaining
a -6 bonus to all saving throws.  Again, this makes benefical magic
less helpful.  This ability is always accompanied by some physical
trait such as a birthmark or two different coloured eyes.

1 POINT FLAW
Magical Air:  Something about you is inherently odd and magical.
Even normal people can tell you are unusual, and will suspect you
of being a mage even if you are not.
Magic Susceptability:  You have a +3 penalty to all magic saving
throws.  Note that this actually helps benefical magic aid you.
Offensive to Animals:  Something about you causes animals to react
badly to you.  Dogs growl and slink, cats run, and other animals
flee or attack you.  Normal people will detect something odd about
you.

2 POINT FLAWS
Haunted:  You have attracted the wrath of a minor free willed
spirit, which will accompany you and cause you discomfort and
distraction.  Astral combat will drive this spirit away, but cannot
kill or bind it, and it will always return.

3 POINT FLAW
Unlucky:  You are just plain unlucky.  Exact effects are up to the
GM, but you should have at least one disaster befall you per
adventure.

SOCIAL EDGES AND FLAWS

1 POINT EDGES
Social Contacts:  You know a great many people in a certain field
of activity (mercenaries, mages, jewellers, etc) and can always
find a friendly contact.  This only works for a given nation or
ethnic area, but can be picked multiple times.
Reputation:  You have a generally positive and well known
reputation in the nation or ethnic area of your choice.  The
details of the reputation are up to the player and GM.

2 POINT EDGE
Authority: You have a position of minor authority, such as a
policeman, minor beaureaucrat, or leiutenent of a gang.
Gossip:  You have a network of gossips that report to you all the
juicy goings ons.  You must pick one field of activity and one
national or ethnic area.  Information from this gossip is not
always correct, but is constant and free.

3 POINT EDGE
Leadership: You have a position of authority and power, such as
gang leader, police leiutenent, or corporate executive.  Your
actions are monitored, but you do have access to a certain level of
resources and money.

1 POINT FLAW
Bad Reputation:  You have a bad reputation in a certain national or
ethnic area.  You may be known as a coward, a cheat or a cold-
blooded killer.  This reputation may or may not be true, either way
it is hard to shake.
Expenses:  You pay a sizable amount of your income on items that do
not give you any physical gain.  This can be frivolous spending,
religious tithes, outstanding debts, or protection money.  Either
way, between 25% and 50% of your money is gone.
Duty:  You owe loyalty to someone or thing, whether a religious
leader, a corporation, or a yakuza boss.  This duty is sometimes
inconvinient and sometimes unpleasent, but cannot be easily
avoided.
Semi-illiterate:  You can read and write, but just barely.  It
takes you a good minute to work through even simple sentnces, and
things such as books are impossible for you.

2 POINT FLAW
Infamous:  You are cursed and hated, or jeered and mocked, by your
peers.  What you did to deserve this is up to you and the GM to
decide.

3 POINT FLAW
Illiterate:  You are completely illiterate, and cannot read or
write even a simple sentence, though you may know how to block
letter your name.  Macic and decking are pretty much out.

BACKGROUND EDGES AND FLAWS

1 POINT EDGES
Well Traveled:  You spent much of your life on the road, and
learned how to pick up on local custom and dialect easily.  You
know how to appear non-threatening to the local populace and how to
spot rip-offs easily.
Close Family Ties:  You have several relatives with whom you are
very close.  They will not hesistate to do you favors when called
upon, but will also occasionally call upon you.
Family Influence:  For better or worse, your family is well known
and respected, or feared.  While you can expect little material aid
from your family, the family name will often get you credit and a
bit of extra influence.

2 POINT EDGES
Blackmail:  You have access to damaging evidence of the wrong
doings of a person or organization, and are using it for material
or monetary gain.  The people involved would love to see you dead,
but must be careful about their attempts to retreive the evidence.
The more powerful the blackmail victum, the harder and sneaker
their attempts to do you in.
Mentor:  An older and more experienced person has taken an interest
in you.  They are probably in a similar field of endevor as you,
and can often offer advice, training, and additional contacts.
Sometimes they may need a favor from you.

3 POINT EDGE
Protection:  You are under the personal protection of someone
powerful and influential, such as a yakuza boss, powerful mage, or
street gang.  This makes most people careful of how they treat you,
but might make you a target for your protectors enemies.

1 POINT FLAWS
Enemies:  You have an enemy who wants to cause you trouble or kill
you.  While not a constant threat, this enemy will appear regularly
to do you harm.
Dark Secret:  You have a past history which would ruin you if
discovered.  Examples are a crime you committed, an accident you
caused, or a former criminal record.
Infamous Family:  Like influential family in Edges, but more likely
to cause hatred and distrust than anything else.  While your family
may still be powerful, its influence willalways have a negative
effect on you.

3 POINT FLAW
Outlaw:  You are a notorious wanted criminal.  Your face is
frequently shown on TV, your retina patterns are in the govt
computers, and a large enough reward is offered to make even your
family think about turning you in.  Though no one is currently
hunting you, as soon as you show your face hunters will come out of
the wood work.  You could also be an outlaw from a relatively large
and powerful criminal group like the mafia or yakuza.

MAGICAL EDGES AND FLAWS

1 POINT EDGES
Adept Student:  You gain a -2 bonus when learning spells from a
teacher.
Book learner:  You gain a -2 bonus when learning spells from books.
Inventive  Genius:  You gain a -2 bonus when inventing new spells.
Special Circumstances:  You have a natural affinity for certain
circumstances and gain a -1 bonus when casting spells in them.
Examples include during storms, when touching the target, when
casting vs elves, etc
Deft Art:  You are extremely adept at one type of spell casting
(combat spells, health spells, etc) and when casting such spells
you get only half the penalties for any environmental or
situational difficulties.
Focus:  You start the game with a 1 point power focus, the details
of which must be worked out with the GM.

2 POINT EDGES
Quiet Magic:  Your magic requires only soft whispering or other
noises to perform instead of a normal speaking voice.
Side Effect:  Your magic produces a minor, but pleasant or useful
side effect whenever spells are cast.  Examples are a pleasent
scent, interesting light effect, or a feeling of light heartedness.

Under some circumstances, this effect may be detrimental.
Subtle Magic:  Your spells require no overt gestures to cast, and
can therefore be cast very stealthily.
Fast Caster:  You are extremely fast with your spells.  If your
first action in a round is spellcasting, you may roll an additional
+1d6 Reaction.

3 POINT EDGES
Enduring Magic:  Your spells tend to last longer than anyone elses.

When counting successes to increase duration, increase your number
of successes by 50%, rounding up.

4 POINT EDGES
Elemental Aptitude:  You have a knack for summoning elementals of
a certain type, and for casting spells related to that type.  Pick
one type of elemental to be attuned to.
Living Magic:  You have the rare ability to drain fatigue from
others to power your spells.  The donors must be willing, and you
still make all drain rolls, just they can take any fatigue results.

Multiple donors may be used simultaneously, but all must be within
your magic rating in meters.
Silent Magic:  You can cast spells without any spoken words or
noises.


1 POINT FLAW
Deleterious Circumstances:  You have a +2 penalty on all spell
casting in certain unusual circumstances, such as when near a
dragon, fling, or targeting a virgin.
Minor Magic Deficiency:  You have problems with one form of magic
(combat spells, manipulation spells, etc), and suffer a +2 penalty
with those spells.  In addition, those spells are treated as if
they were one level higher when attempting to learn or advance
them.
Necessary Condition:  For you magic to work at all, you must
perform an easy but unusual activity, such as hop on one foot,
spit, spin around, etc
Warped Magic:  Your magic is always accompanied by a minor,
annoying, unpleasent side effect, such as harsh noises, foul odors,
smelly slime, or a tendency to become edgy after casting magic.
This side effect gets worse as the power of the spell increases.
Fetish Magic:  You must use a fetish of some sort to cast all of
your spells.

2 POINT FLAWS
Deleterious Circumstances:  You have a +2 penalty on all spells in
common circumstances, such as at night or when inside a building,
or you have a +5 penalty in uncommon circumstances, such as when in
a graveyard or casting at wild animals.
Lack of Control:  You must spend one action gathering your thoughts
after casting a spell, or suffer a +2 penalty on your next spell.
This penalty is cumulative for each action of recovery missed.
Magic Restriction:  Your magic does not work at all in certain rare
situations, such as when touching an animal, when used against
children, etc
Short Lived Magic:  When calculating successes to increase spell
duration, your successes are divided in half.

3 POINT FLAW
Magic Addiction:  You are addicted to the rush magic use gives you.

After casting a spell, you must make a Will roll vs the level of
the spell.  If you fail, you must immediately cast another spell
of equal or higher level.  You will continue to cast spells until
you make your Will roll or until you are drained into a coma.
Weak Aura:  Your ability to resist magic can never be used to aid
another, only yourself, due to an inability to project it.
Painful Magic:  Your spells cause you much pain.  Whenever you fail
a Drain resistence roll, make a Body roll vs the level of the spell
or suffer a light wound.
Poor Reader:  You do not read very well, and suffer a +3 penalty to
any attempts to learn spells from written formulae.
Slow Caster:  Your spells take longer to cast then normal.  Each
spell takes 2 actions to cast instead of one.

4 POINT FLAW
Material Components:  You require  expendable fetishes to cast any
spells.  These fetishes are not terribly expensive or rare, but
only a limited number may be carried with you.

5 POINT FLAW
Magic Restriction:  Your magic does not work at all in certain
common situations, such as when inside a building or at night.
Major Magic Deficiency:  You are completely unable to cast a
certain type of spell, such as health or illusion spells.

6 POINT FLAW
Personal Magic:  Your magic abilities are so tied to you that you
suffer a +2 penalty to affect anyone besides yourself with magic.
Also, you cannot Astrally project, but you can still assence.  This
does not prohibit Astral Quests, however.