Table of Contents
Welcome to Mars Facts At Your
Fingertips History Of
Mars
Cities
Outlying
Government
Economy
Crime
Maps Cyberware and
Bioware Equipment
Magic
Critters NPC's Of
Note House
Rules Character
Creation Edges
and Flaws
Skills
Physical
Mental
Social
Magical
Miscellaneous
Fate
A Skill
List Magic
on Mars Travel
to Mars Cyber
and Bioware Robots
and
Androids Optional
Rules Facts about
Mars Revised
Timeline
For Shadowrun
Links |
The new Edges and Flaws system
is fairly obviously derived from White Wolf's Storyteller system of Merits
and Flaws, which in turn inherits from Ars Magica's system of Virtues and
Flaws. The calibration of an Edge's or Flaw's worth relative to the other
systems is difficult; in general, Edge points buy you less than Virtue and
Merit points did, and Flaws are worse. I interpret this to be a game
balance call on the part of the designers at FASA. (After all, in
Storyteller, it's really trivial to have huge amounts of money at
character creation time, since money isn't a very large factor. In
Shadowrun, it's much more important.)
Skills
These Aptitudes are
worth considerably more than the number of Aptitudes required to
purchase bonuses with all the separate skills. However, I think that
these work well as package deals. Electronic Aptitude Value: +6 You have an Aptitude with all matters related to
computers and electronics, including Computer, Computer B/R, Computer
Theory, Electronics, Electronics B/R, Electronics Theory, and
Cybertechnology B/R. This does not apply when defaulting off these skills
to related ones.
Crack Pilot Value: +6 You have an Aptitude with all vehicle piloting
skills, including Hovercraft, Bike, Car, Motorboat, Sailboat, Winged
Craft, Rotorcraft, Vector Thrust, and LTA. This does not apply when
defaulting other skills off the piloting skills.
Mechanical Aptitude
Value: +6 You have an Aptitude with working with mechanical
devices, including Lockpicking, Aircraft B/R, Ground Vehicle B/R, Boat
B/R, and any other such skills that are introduced as part of the campaign
(plumbing, clockwork). This does not apply when defaulting other skills
off the repair ones.
Jack of All Trades
Value: +6 You are widely experienced, and can generally fake
any skill test as if you actually have one dot in an appropriate skill a
single spot away on the Skill Web. You must purchase actual skills
normally.
PhysicalLarge Value: +4 +1 to Body and Strength, both the stats and the
maxima. The character is quite large and robust for their subspecies, and
tends to stand out in a crowd of them. Humans with this Edge may find
Ork-Looking a useful accompanying Edge; Trolls with this Edge are
truly frightening.
Short Value: -4 Your character is much smaller than normal for their
metatype; subtract 1 from your Body attribute and racial maximum. You have
trouble seeing over many objects, and lose 1 from your Running multiplier.
Humans, Elves, and Orks with this flaw may take a +1 Edge,
Dwarf-Looking.
Obese Value: -2 Your character is extremely fat. Gain one point of
Body, but lose one point from your Running multiplier and suffer a +2 to
all target numbers regarding athletic motion. This is common among couch
potato mages and riggers. Only a -1 for people who take Paraplegic
and -0 for those who take Quadriplegic.
Note that for all
of the Missing [part] Flaws, these do not apply if you can easily have
the part replaced with clonal tissue or cyberware. Come up with a reason
why your character cannot get the piece taken care of with modern
technology— perhaps it was lost to a fragmentation mine covered with a
mutagenic virus, or was bitten off by some kind of nasty magical
creature or spirit and all attempts at replacement have been rejected.
At the game master's option, you might be able to get a cyber or clonal
replacement after a great deal of effort (perhaps involving getting a
major corp to owe you a favor, or tracking down the spirit, slaying it,
and performing a major Astral
Quest). Missing ear Value: -1 You cannot locate the direction of sounds, and you
often miss things said to your deaf side. +1 to all hearing
TN's.
Missing eye Value: -2 You have no depth perception, and have a blind side
on which people can approach unseen. Take a +2 penalty to all ranged
attacks. If you want to take this Flaw twice, use Blind
instead.
Missing hand
Value: -2 You can only use one hand for climbing, combat, and
other such activities. Take a +2 to +4 penalty on any such
actions.
Missing foot
Value: -2 You have an artificial (strapped on) or peg foot;
lose two dice from your Combat Pool, lose one point from your Running
multiplier, and gain a +2 penalty to actions involving keeping your
balance. If you take this Flaw twice, it is only worth one Flaw point the
second time.
Missing arm Value: -3 You have only one arm; in addition to the penalties
of Missing Hand, your balance is thrown off and you lose one die from your
Combat Pool and gain a +1 penalty to actions involving keeping your
balance.
Missing leg Value: -3 You can get around on crutches, but cannot run, and
your Combat Pool is cut in half. If you want to take this Flaw twice, use
Paraplegic instead.
Unthinking Reflexes
Value: +3 Your reflexes are so fast, you react without
thinking. Whenever you are surprised or startled, make a Reaction (4)
roll. Even one success indicates that you react reflexively on the
phase in which the startlement happens, independent of your Initiative
roll: choose one type of action (dodging, blocking, attacking,
shooting, running) which you are most likely to do, though the game master
may override this if you have showed other choices in the past. (If you
have been fully aware of someone making a startling move, you may follow
your planned course of action.) This can, however, lead to blowing a
joking friend's head off if your reflexes are ready for an assassin's
strike.
Ork-Looking Value: +1 A human character with the Ork-Looking Edge
can "pass" for an Ork in most circumstances, though their teeth aren't
quite tusks and they need to hide their round ears under their
hair.
Elf-Looking Value: +1 A human character with the Elf-Looking Edge
can "pass" for an Elf in most circumstances, though making their ears
properly pointed will require good cosmetic surgery. An excellent Edge for
competent Elf Posers.
Catlike Balance
Value: +2 You have an innately perfect sense of balance. You
are able to land on your feet from a fall almost every time. You have two
extra dice to roll on all balance-related matters.
Light Sleeper
Value: +1 You seem to sleep
with one eye open, and become wide awake immediately when woken. -2 to all
TN's to waking up.
Versatile Sleeper
Value: +1 You've mastered the
art of catching quick catnaps; perhaps you were in the military. You can
fall asleep at will, any place, any time; you can get the equivalent of a
full night's sleep without having to occupy a large block of time with
continuous unconsciousness. This goes well with Light Sleeper and
Cat shamans.
Deep Sleeper
Value: -1 You sleep heavily,
though you do not necessarily snore, have a +2 to all TN's for being woken
up, and suffer a +1 to all TN's for up to half an hour after waking
(though your morning coffee, hot shower, or a jolt of adrenaline can clear
this up pronto).
Keen Sense Value: +1 You
have -1 to all Perception target numbers with a particular
sense.
Poor Sense Value: -1 You
have +1 to all Perception target numbers with a particular
sense.
Distinctive Features
Value: -1 These must be something you cannot hide without great
difficulty— a sixth finger, tattoos all over your face, a missing ear— and
a reason you aren't going to have this corrected as soon as you've got the
nuyen for cosmetic surgery.
Short of Breath
Value: -2 You have difficulty performing strenuous tasks
because you cannot breathe properly; medical science has yet to find a
cure for your asthma-like ailment. Because your lungs only pull in a
fraction of the air you need for serious exertion, any time you attempt
such, make a Body (4) roll or be unable to perform any action on the next
round while you catch your breath.
Mental
Amend the Phobia
table on page 29 of the Shadowrun Companion: common events
such as magic, sunlight, crowds, and the outdoors are common; other
common things include specific metahuman races. Uncommon phenomena
include particular sorts of weather (storms, high winds), common animals
(dogs, cats, insects), and spirits. Rare phenomena are worth -0 and are
specific things (dogs barking, cats hissing, fire elementals, dragons,
lightning). Delusion, Compulsion, Obsession, Hatred,
Intolerance Value: -1
to -5 Use the Phobia table
from the Shadowrun Companion, page 29, for comparison of the
effects of your particular psychological Flaw.
Example:
Barry, a Trollish Physical Adept, has been on the receiving end of
discrimination one too many times. He is Intolerant of injustice, and
tends to interfere when a bunch of humans gang up on an Ork, when a
bunch of Orks gang up on a human, or when corrupt Lone Star officers
begin brutalizing innocents. Such injustice is Uncommon in the world of
Shadowrun, and he must make a Willpower (4) roll not to interfere in
such troubles; if he fails to interfere, he is at +2 to target numbers
as he watches. This is worth 3 points of
Flaw. Code of Honor Value: +1 Unlike most
shadowrunners, you possess a firm code of ethics. (You must define this as
part of your character creation, though your character's position on such
issues may change over time.) You have little difficulty with most
attempts to make you break your code; with respect to stronger
temptations, such as torture or mental manipulations, your effective
Willpower is two points higher.
Lightning Calculator
Value: +1 You have an
exceptional talent for mental arithmetic, and are dangerous at the poker
and blackjack tables due to your ability to estimate odds on the fly. Gain
-2 to all appropriate target numbers.
Confused Value: -1 The world seems to
be a very distorted and twisted place, and you are often left confused.
Sometimes, things just don't make sense. Mostly, this is a roleplaying
Flaw, but you should gain penalties to your target numbers when suffering
from overwhelming sensory input, such as in a crowd or loud nightclub.
This Flaw can work equally well on brainless thugs who just don't bother
making sense of the world and reclusive geniuses who fail to find a
pattern in the wealth of information they can perceive.
Shy Value: -1 You a naturally shy person, and prefer to avoid most
social situations if you can. Increase your target numbers for Social
activities with strangers by +1, or +2 if you are the center of
attention.
Soft-hearted
Value: -1 You cannot bear to
witness suffering, and causing it can bring you nights of nausea and days
of sleepless grief. It may be that you empathize too strongly, or merely
that being in the presence of such intense emotions drives you to
distraction. Whenever you must witness suffering, difficulties of all
rolls are increased by one for the next hour.
Overconfident
Value: -1 You have an exaggerated
sense of your own abilities, and do not hesitate to meet challenges that
would leave more sensible people quailing in their boots or heading for a
fortified position. You can always find fault in others to blame for your
failure. If you are a charismatic individual, you may be able to infect
others with your overconfidence.
The following three
Flaws have relatively large point values because they are especially
dangerous to shadowrunners. Short Attention Span Value: -3
Your parents left you at
home all day with the electronic babysitter, and you don't understand why
you can't change the channel on the real world. Keeping watch, listening
to complex orders, following the plot of a story, or performing other such
tasks that require continued attention are usually not within your
ability. Raising Knowledge Skills costs double the Karma for
you.
Absent-Minded
Value: -3 You don't actually
forget your Knowledge skills, but details like names, addresses, and the
last time you ate continue to escape your mind. In order to remember more
than your name and home address, you need to make an Intelligence roll
(target number varying with the obviousness and simplicity of the
information— remembering your favorite restaurant is a 4, remembering
where the meet with the Johnson is requires a 6, and the details of
complex plans can be an 8 or 10).
Curiosity Value: -3
Your natural curiosity
is strong enough to override your common sense, even if you possess that
Edge. To resist the temptation to investigate mysteries, make a Willpower
roll. Resisting "I wonder what's in that cabinet?" requires only a 4, but
"I'll just peek into the Renraku mainframe— no one will notice!" requires
an 8.
Speech Impediment
Value: -1 You have a stammer or
some other speech impediment that hampers verbal communication. Your TN's
for communication and some Social rolls can go up by 2 under appropriate
circumstances.
Lifesaver Value: -1
While you are not a
complete Pacifist, you consider killing to be the last resort, and will
only do so when it is obvious that a person cannot be brought to justice
or in self-defense; even then, you do so in as humane a means as possible.
You have a firm conviction in your beliefs, and will attempt to exhort
your teammates to avoid wetwork contracts against all but the most heinous
of criminals.
Clear Thinker
Value: +1 You have a -2 bonus or
others a +2 penalty when attempts are made to confuse, befuddle, lie to,
or fast talk you.
SocialPiercing Gaze Value: +2 By gazing intently
at someone, you make them feel uneasy, as if their inner secrets were on
display. Those with ulterior motives, uneasy consciences, nervous
dispositions, and those who are lying must make Willpower rolls against
your Charisma or suffer a +2 penalty to all Social rolls as they
fidget.
Attractive Value: +1 You gain a -2 to Social rolls with sexually
compatible characters in appropriate situations. People are often
attracted to you; at times, this can be put to good use, at other times
it's an annoyance.
Striking Value: +2 This edge provides a -2 target modifier on all Social
and Etiquette Tests made when dealing with the opposite sex (-1 with the
same sex) and members of the opposite sex great the characters with a
friendly attitudes when they first meet.
Spectacular Value: +3 This edge provides a -3 target modifier on all Social
and Etiquette Tests made with members of the opposite sex (-2 with the
same sex) and members of the opposite sex great the characters with
Friendly attitudes when the first meet.
Curse of Venus
Value: -1 You are very attractive
to people whom you do not wish to attract (+-3 to appropriate target
numbers). People whom you detest are constantly getting crushes on you,
and tend to overlook your rejection of them. On the other hand, people you
wish to attract or endear tend to think you are vain and shallow (±1 to
appropriate target numbers).
Innocence Value: +1
For some reason,
everyone considers you pure and innocent, though not necessarily naïve.
You have a saintly quality that is hard to put a finger on, but others
tend to see it in you; you are trusted, even if you are not trustworthy.
You tend to receive lesser punishments for wrongdoing and are liked by
most; you get a great deal less hassling on the street than
most.
Scapegoat Value: -1 For some reason, you just seem to be the guilty
party; even when you're asleep, you look like you're up to something.
People seldom trust you, even if you've done nothing wrong, and you are
often singled out for special attention.
Eerie Presence
Value: -1 You may be physically
unexceptional, but there's just a creepy aura about you; choose how it
manifests, whether people are simply uneasy around you, if they get the
feeling you exude waves of invisible slime, if menace and evil hang over
your head like smog, et cetera. You possess a +2 penalty to Social rolls
around most people, though friends may grow to overlook your magical air
and some people— often magically active, though many enlightened,
self-assured people also possess such capabilities— may automatically
overlook it. People with Eerie Presence can seldom detect this presence in
other people.
MagicalCyclic Magic Value: +3, +6, -3, -6 You experience a harmonious effect from particular
astrological phenomena, whether it be the position of the sun in the sky,
the phase of the moon, or the motion of the sun in the zodiac. For every
three points of Edge or Flaw, your target numbers for magic are adjusted
by 1 for roughly half the time, are adjusted by 2 at the peak of the
cycle, and adjusted by 1 the other way at the nadir. (Thus, a person with
3 Edge points in solar cyclic magic might get a -1 bonus during the day,
-2 for two minutes at precisely noon, and a +1 penalty for the two minutes
surrounding midnight, while a person with annual cyclic magic might get a
bonus in the months surrounding winter and a doubled one on Midwinter's
Day.) This occurs most often in Hermetic mages, with their ties to
astrological cycles, but has also turned up among the Germanic mages who
follow the icons.
Elemental Ties
Value: +2, +4, -2, -4
Hermetic mages only. Your magic resonates
strongly with a particular element, in harmony or disharmony. For each two
points in the Edge or Flaw, you have a permanent one-point bonus or
penalty with respect to dealing with spells and elementals of that
particular element. With respect to the metaplanes, it only aids in
understanding the geography of that particular plane, and does not help in
the usual tests made on Astral Quests.
Blatant Magic
Value: -1 Your
magic is always obvious whenever you cast spells, though you may sustain
them normally. Perhaps your totemic mask appears at the drop of a hat—
often regarded as a good thing by shamans— or glowing signs and sigils
appear in the air when you cast your spells.
Continuous Blatant Magic
Value: -2 As Blatant Magic, but it continues while you sustain
spells.
Oracular Ability
Value: +3 Life, for you, is filled with signs and portents;
pigeons sitting above a door, clouds in the sky, and reflections in
puddles of spilled water stand out to you with significance. Recognizing
the meaning of such things requires a Special Skill, Omen Interpretation.
Your teammates will quickly learn to duck when you say, "I've got a bad
feeling about this."
Magic Sensitivity
Value: +2 You tend to notice when magic is occurring around
you.
Precognition
Value: +4 You have an uncontrolled ability to catch glimpses of
the future. When and how your visions come to you, and what they relate
to, are up to the game master, as well as whether they are the future as
might-be or will-be. You may have developed some rituals that can
occasionally induce such premonitions, such as reading Tarot cards,
drinking yourself into a stupor, or meditating with the stereo turned up
to 110 dB.
Visions Value: +2 Similar to Precognition, but the nature of the
visions you experience is usually allegorical, and are always related to
your own life. Like Precognition, you may have rituals that increase the
probability that you will have visions. The Dream Interpretation
Specialization of Psychology may be very useful to you.
The Bard's Tongue
Value: -1 Somehow, you are in contact with a pool of universal
knowledge, or some spirit deep in the metaplanes has hooks set deeply into
you. Roughly once per adventure, an uncomfortable truth will come into
your head and proceed immediately to your lips; only making a Willpower
(6) roll and biting your tongue hard enough to cause a Light wound can
prevent it. Gamemasters who do not feel up to making use of such a Flaw
should ban it.
Danger Sense
Value: +? You have a sixth sense that warns you of danger. When
danger threatens, the game master should have you make a perception check
against a target number based on the remoteness of the
danger.
Miscellaneous
The notion in the
Shadowrun Companion that a character should have more
enemies because they had more starting nuyen just doesn't make sense;
we're ignoring it. Enemies Value: -1 to -6 Each point in Enemies is another purchase point for
buying Enemies with. If you choose to buy many small Enemies rather than
one large one, you should end up in more trouble than having simply gotten
one large one if ever they have cause to network.
Background Trouble
Value: -1 Somewhere in your past, you've left problems that
could lead to difficulties if ever you go back where you left the trouble.
You might have a relatively large organization gunning for you, but
insufficiently motivated to chase you to your current
location.
Hidden Past Value: -1 Either you're trying to keep your own past secret, or
there's something about it you yourself are not aware of. Either way,
respectable amounts of trouble may ensue when it's uncovered that you're
not just any orphan, you're the illegitimate grandchild of a megacorporate
CEO, or you were once a charter member of the Humanis
Policlub.
Favors Value: -1 Someone did
something major for you in the past and you owe them, big time. They can
call on you for favors which may be fairly dangerous.
FateNine Lives Value: +6 You must have earned some very good karma in your
last life, because something is taking care of you in this one. You get
nine chances at life. Any time that an event occurs that would kill you,
fate intervenes. The mechanics of this are up to the game master: they may
quietly divert you from a dire fate before it happens and mark off one
life, or they may simply allow you to mark off one life and reroll any
roll that would kill your character. After eight of these are up, you're
on your own.
Weirdness Magnet
Value: -1 Whenever weird shit comes down, it happens in your
neighborhood or to you directly. Spirits seem to find you absolutely
fascinating for reasons they can't or won't describe, and paranormal
animals keep popping up in your neighborhood. You keep getting Elvis
shamans as free contacts. Not-quite-sane street people seem to consider
you a valuable confidante.
Trouble Magnet
Value: -2 Perhaps you were a very evil person in a previous
life; you cannot seem to escape the vicissitudes of the world. Gang wars
seem to break out around you, and trouble happens in your general vicinity
and neighborhood, if it doesn't seek you out directly. If you're in a bad
neighborhood, it's gangs and muggers; if you're in a good one, it's
intrigue and happenstance occurrences that piss off powerful people. Thugs
will cross the street to get in your way. Surviving this kind of trouble
may get you a reputation as a badass.
When multiple characters
with Weirdness Magnet or Trouble Magnet group together,
sum the number of Flaw points devoted to this magnetism. This is the
level of the Flaw that the group has. Thus, three people with Trouble
Magnet should regularly run into lethal danger; two with Trouble
Magnet and two with Weirdness Magnet will be in similar
amounts of trouble, but it will be somewhat less lethal and somewhat
more bizarre.
These are not all the Edges
and Flaws I came up. I copied them from Twilight Brigade Homepage.
It is a very good site and I highly recommend it. I did add some edges and
Flaws myself, but they did most of the work. I can't also forget some of
the work done by my third SR G.M., he has given me permission to reproduce
his work within these pages also. |