Shadowrun Party Quest

[Jhessail]

Extended my description and added a pic above.  Wondering whether I should enter in what motivates him, apart from the thrill of killing, explosions and all.  He's a specialist urban fighter so I figure he'd be skilled and agile enough to rappel down tall buildings and conceal himself in air vents, you know, ninja type.

That sounds be doable. His aversion to cyberware and bioware is going to put him on a serious disadvantage but hey, challenge is good!

What about a lady dwarf mage with a taste for bad liquor and bad men, wielding a metaphorical axe to grind against the DIMR because a rival mage pulled some strings to pull her research grant, ultimately leading to her unemployment and life of crime?

Are you talking about Dnyansagar Institute of Management and Research? 

Good start, throw in a little more description and background stuff, flesh her out a little more. What sort of spells/magic she specializes in? Is she just "generic" hermetic mage or does she follow one of the more detailed paths of magic like Norse/Egyptian/the Wheel and so on? I can provide you a list and descriptions of them if you want.

[Kharille]

Mind you, he's a fat ninja type.  So if he's hanging around in old structures you can imagine most of it coming down.  Might be half the reason he needs to create his own entrances.  If he gets killed we'll 'roll up another one'. 

[Moose!]

Are you talking about Dnyansagar Institute of Management and Research? 

The Dunkelzahn Institute of Magical Research? I literally know nothing about Shadowrun though, so maybe I'm making **** up.

Good start, throw in a little more description and background stuff, flesh her out a little more. What sort of spells/magic she specializes in? Is she just "generic" hermetic mage or does she follow one of the more detailed paths of magic like Norse/Egyptian/the Wheel and so on? I can provide you a list and descriptions of them if you want.

Uh, a list would be helpful, given that I literally know nothing about Shadowrun. 

[Jhessail]

I've been really sick for the past week and a half, so that's why there haven't been any updates. I'll try get you a list of magic traditions either tonight or tomorrow.

[Jhessail]

Hermetic Magic is basically method of magic that tries to marry science with magic, belief that there is a Universal Magical Theory that can be placed alongside other Laws of Physics. Emphasizes book learning and scientific method and is divided into various schools:
-Classic Hermeticism, belief in Ancients (the Greeks knew it all)
-Hermetic Druidism, leylines and stone circles enabled druid to draw magic from the land
-Teutonic Hermetics, Thule and Germanic beliefs
-Egyptian
-Qabbalah (magic comes from Yahweh, spirits are manifestations of his will)
-Christian (magic comes from God, spirits are manifestations of his will)
-Islamic (magic comes from Allah, spirits are manifestations of his will)
-Black/Satanic, not necessarily evil but combining scientific method with belief in the Adversary and quest for personal power
-Avant-Garde Thaumaturgy, magic as form of art
-Chaos Magic, magical theory based on Chaos theory and thinking that "magic" is a secret code that needs to be "hacked"
-Path of the Wheel, rigid Elven magical belief that life follows cycles, only available to elves from Tir na Nog or Tir Tairngire
-Wuxing (Ki and Celestial Bureaucracy)
-Buddhist (Tantric meditation, enlightenment)
-Hindu, karma and reincarnation, ascetism, mantras and yoga
-Wiccan, duality of nature so either Goddess Wicca or Gardner Wicca, belief in Gaia the Mother Earth,

Shamanic Magic is basically method of magic that accepts that magic is unknowable, organic, wild and only semi-controllable, stemming from life and/or the belief of sentient creatures and is divided into various groups:
-Classic Shamanism, animal totems (Fox, Bear, Wolf, Eagle, Owl, so on)
-Modern Shamanism, concept totems (Man, Dragonslayer, Seductress, Dark Lord, Trickster, so on)
-Norse (pick an Aesir to worship)
-Shinto, belief in Kami, finding harmony with them all instead of following one totem
-Aboriginal (Spiritwalking the Dreamtime)
-Aztec (Animal spirits, Aztec god, rituals and feathers)
-Voodoo, magic comes from spirit world and from the loa,


They are all correct and incorrect at the same time. The one thing that matters is that magic visualises itself differently to different people. So a Norse Shaman believes their power comes from Odin or Thor, allowing them to throw lightning bolts, whereas a Christian Hermetic believes their power comes from Jesus Christ, allowing them to throw holy bolts - but the mechanics and effects are the same. This is the same with spirits - an Egyptian Hermetic thinks they are summoning an avatar of Ra to assist them, while a Japanese Shaman thinks they are summoning a Kami of the River - but again the mechanics and effects are the same.

That should help you choose.

[Bluehawk Classic]

Are you treating Yahweh, God and Allah as three separate entities in your lore?

[Jhessail]

To true believers, only one of them is real and the other two are fake. To non-believers, they are all "fake". The strength of Shadowrun magical lore is that there is no right answer to the question of "what powers magic" or "where does magic come from", as it all depends on the personal philosophy and world view of the magic-user in question. So a Christian magician truly believes that Jesus powers her spells, while a Qabbalah magician believes it's the Yahweh of Judaism who does it. Both are correct but only from their personal point of view. I'll leave the quibbling over whether Yahwe/Allah/Jesus are three aspects of the same divine deity or separate deities or what to theologians.

[Moose!]

Classic, please. Will think about some other details to help flesh her out - anything in particular you're looking for?

[Jhessail]

What you've written is generally good enough. If you want to put down some details of her appearance, that would be great.

[QuailLover]

Is there still room, for another character?

[Kharille]

I should think so.  i only count 3. 

[Jhessail]

Is there still room, for another character?

Oh yes for sure!

[Moose!]

What about a lady dwarf mage with a taste for bad liquor and bad men, wielding a metaphorical axe to grind against the DIMR because a rival mage pulled some strings to pull her research grant, ultimately leading to her unemployment and life of crime?

(click to show/hide)

To expand a bit more...

Her name is Mira Radeva Vasilova, but her friends call her Mira. She was born in Chicago to human, immigrant, working class, semi-responsible parents who never really understood her. Her father Radko was a mechanic and an alcoholic, so she learned to get her hands dirty and keep her mouth shut. Her mother Danira taught at a downtown public school and encouraged Mira's curious disposition and cynical, self-disparaging attitude. Mira got along well enough with her human, magically-inclined little sister Katerina, but she ended up losing her to drugs (I imagine there are plenty of dangerous drugs in Shadowrun?). And as I said earlier, she had a promising academic career before it was (allegedly?) sabotaged by that jealous prick. Things went downhill after that. She dated. She drank. She couch surfed and took odd jobs and generally drifted through life in a chemically-altered daze.  Eventually, Mira realized that by abandoning her research, she could put her magical talents towards a more cynical, self-interested purpose - making money. And thus, we find ourselves with the Mira of today.

In terms of looks, I'd say the picture I posted is pretty accurate, except her hair is dirty blonde, long on one side and shaved on the other. She's definitely got a strong preference for quirky and colorful clothing, polished dress shoes, and silly Johnny-Depp-like accessories like belts wrapped around parts of the body that aren't her waist. Of course, she's not afraid to flaunt her best assets when she's in the mood or senses an opportunity - a dwarf woman ain't gonna rely on her legs to get attention when she wants it.

Dunno if augments are allowed at this stage of the game, but I'd say she's more than open to augmenting her body with cyber equipment (if that's something mages do in this game?), as seen in the picture.