[K5pbem] Some comments from the GM

[Mike Surbrook]

On Mon, 9 Jan 2006, Dulio Giovanni wrote:

>  Fair enough. A few questions though, how does control work here? I mean 
> I know I have full control over my PC but how does it work with my 
> DNPCs?  Do you run them for me or do I?

Define run? Do I write them for you in a story? No. Do I decide what they 
do on their own? Possibly. Not a lot of people have taken DNPCs as such, 
although a lot of characters have NPCs they heavily interact with. Much of 
this is a collabertive effort, with both "sides" working together.

> Because my character's bounty 
> hunting will only form at most 50% of my story writing, the rest would 
> be soap opera, comedy and day in the life interactions with his sizable 
> roster of DNPCs most of which gather around his small cafe since I'm 
> planning to run this guy like a Sunday Assassin similar to Mr & Mrs. 
> Smith only reverse, killing and merc work is a large part of his life 
> but it does not dominate it completely in fact it takes a back seat to 
> personal affairs.

Hmm... what do you mean by "sizable roster of DNCPS"? Are these all people 
he is going to defend/protect/rescue? Or are they simply secondary 
characters who associate at his cafe?

I've never seen Mr. & Mrs. Smith, so I don't quite know what you mean by 
"Sunday Assassin". Does your character have some sort of Secret ID thing 
going? (Sort of like Celia and her "Silky Doll" shop in BGC?)

>  Also how do we do interactions with other PCs? Is it through the email 
> board or are we supposed to handle it ourselves and just submit a joint 
> post at the end of the turn?

Intially though the board, the take it offline into private emails when 
putting the story together.

As a side note, I presume your PCs does more than bounty hunting, even 
Kitten (on the secret page) works as a courier, bodyguard, armed escort, 
dirver, and the like when not actively hunting down wanted criminals. 
Swiping a term from CP 2020, the term "Solo" works well here.

As a second side note, there are several hardsuit wearing characters out 
there. I'll run them down now, in brief:

The Black Company:  A high-tech merc unit of 5 people (four women, one 
man), who wear advanced hardsuits with internal weaponry. Used for 
para-military action, especially the ever-popular "denial of assests" 
strike. Also used for extractions, counter-espionage work, and out-and-out 
assassins. Their hardsuits are black with highlights of different colors. 
Work all over the world, supposedly based out of Mega-Tokyo.

The Steel Commandos:  Hardsuit mercenary unit. Used for security work 
mostly. Their harsduits are top-notch, but don't support internal
weapons for the most part -- instead the standard sidearm is an Ares LMG. 
Hardsuits are steel-gray with red trim. Based out of Chicago.

The Lovely Angels:  Duo of genetic upgrades who work the Pacific Rim for 
the most part. Not to picky about jobs, and have an (un-)deserved 
reputation for blowing things up. This has led them to being hired for 
jobs where property destruction isn't a concern, which in true circular 
logic fashion, leads them to having a reputation for being destructive.
Hardsuits are steel and black and blue and gold, and like the Steel 
Commandos, they carry their weapons in hand (although the steel colored 
suit does have a blade-launcher built into one arm).

Wolf Brigade: Jinsei unit of elite security forces in non-powered heavy 
armor. Actually, the suits may be powered, but only enough to counteract 
the weight of the suit itself. As with other suits, vision enhancement, 
air filters, and internal radios are standard (as well as other 
intelligence gathering electronics). Standard armament is a light machine 
gun, although troopers may carry an assortment of assault rifles, 
autocannons, and other side arms.

Other groups/individuals may exist -- hardsuits are used all over for all 
sorts of work, ranging from the rescue to exploration to (para-) military.

-- 
Michael Surbrook
susano at guisarme . net http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/
"One thing vampire children have to be taught early on is, don't run with
a wooden stake."