From: cdr@kpc.com (Carl Rigney)
Subject: SR: Watch Out!  The Decker's got a gun!
Summary: example decker who can handle a physical situation
Keywords: shadowrun, character, the library, sheen
Organization: Kubota Pacific Computer Inc, Santa Clara, CA
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 06:43:30 GMT

Actually, even better than giving a decker a gun is making him a physical
adept; it's especially a help for running naked in the matrix.
So by way of example here's Sheen, the decker Mary Kuhner created for The
Library.  (Sheen was designed using the draft adept rules and sum to 10
and has some experience; your mileage may vary.)

Description:

	Sheen is about 5'7", slim and wiry, obviously in good shape but
not particularly muscular.  He's fairskinned, especially in recent
years; he doesn't see the sun much.  His hair is straight and shaggy,
worn nearly shoulder length; it has been more or less permanently dyed
the color of used solder, a sort of watery black-on-silver.  Grey eyes,
fine lines around them the main tip-off to his age.

	He favors loose cotton pants gathered at the ankles, shirts to
match-- preferably black or grey.  Won't wear anything constraining if
he can avoid it.  One ear is pierced, and generally sports a small
diamond stud, unless he's on a job.

	Intense.  Nervy.  Doesn't make small talk unless he knows the
other person quite well.  Speaks perfectly standard English unless he's
under real pressure, in which case the street slang comes back.

Background:

	Sheen was a street kid, self-taught the Matrix after he
acquired a deck from a dead schoolmate.  Most deckers don't worry about
the state of the meat, but Sheen was stubborn from a young age.  He set
out to match his Matrix self-image in the real world, and did a fairly
good job, studying with a number of odd people and synthesizing their
ideas into something individual and peculiar, but very effective.

	By the age of 25 he was organizer and leader of a small, hot
data-steal team, the Silver Sliver.  Sliver worked freelance; Sheen
objected to being anyone's employee.

	He was running security interference from the Matrix on a run
against the Bank of New Hong Kong - the big time - when either he or
one of his people - he's not sure - triggered an alarm.  The team got
cornered in a locked-up wing of the building.  Sheen was pulling wires
wildly on the Matrix, trying to unlock the doors, when another alarm
went off - the one he'd set to warn of intruders into his lair.  In
seconds he was off the Matrix, out the window and away.

	The rest of the team died.

	Sheen split town and began a systematic harrassment of the
Bank.  When they sent a squad after him he killed them.  He didn't do
that much damage, but he was upsetting.  Big business doesn't
understand the death wish.  Sheen was getting away with hell because he
didn't care if he lived or died.  He was more than a match for hit
squads who were expecting a scrawny decker; he could take insane
chances with Black IC and live; but most of all, they couldn't predict
which way he'd jump, because they thought he intended to survive.

	Eventually they grew afraid of what they couldn't understand,
and hired Aware (A wah reh).

	She must have seen something in him which she valued, because
she offered him a position in the Library if he decided he'd rather not
die.  One condition was that he give up his vendetta.

	He saw something in Aware that he wanted badly enough to forget
his elaborate suicide and agree to work for someone else for the first
time in his life.


	Sheen is intensely competitive, but always with the intent of
proving himself to himself.  He doesn't care much what others think of
him, and he actually enjoys being surrounded by top people--they
provide a challenge, not a threat.  His own failure is what he can't
abide; the success of others doesn't bother him.

	The death of Silver Sliver is still gnawing on him, and it
makes him unwilling to accept full responsibility for planning or
leading an operation.  He'd prefer to be backup and support, and he's
very good at it.

	He's obsessed with Aware, can't shake it though he's tried.
After missions they'll spend a day or two in private:  Aware will come
back rested and perky, and Sheen will be physically and mentally
drained, sometimes for days.  He doesn't love her in any romantic
sense; she's gotten under his skin, like a living embodiment of the
death he was chasing.  He doesn't even look at other women.

	Sheen's not closed-minded, he'll listen to advice, but he
remains deeply stubborn and it's almost impossible to sway him with
threats or bribes.  Aware can give him orders; for anyone else he's a
difficult subordinate at best.  He comes across as intense and nervy,
not easy to get to know.  Even money in the group is that he'll burn
himself out before he's forty.


	Relationships with the others:

	Wendy is a creature of Aware's, and after some initial
puzzlement Sheen has come to treat her very matter-of-factly.  He's
sometimes frustrated, however, by his inability to understand her;
he'll question her for hours, too stubborn to admit that he'll never
comprehend her mindset.  She's fond of him because he will answer hours
of questions in return, and because Aware likes him.

	Dunsany's patriotism and Sheen's complete lack of allegiance to
anything but Aware and The Library clash, and their skills are similar
enough that they're very competitive, sniping at each other constantly;
but it's kept under tight control, and in a pinch they work together
perfectly.

	Sheen is the one who figures out how to get past the
maglocks, the infrared sensors, and the TV cameras, while Dunsany
tackles problems like guards and checkpoints.  Dunsany's probably much
more involved in planning (and organizing) combat of any kind than
Sheen.  Sheen respects him, but there's bound to be a fair amount of
tension between them, since their roles *are* somewhat similar and
since Dunsany's military competence is going to be a challenge to Sheen.

	Shiko is "little sister" to Aware, and hence to Sheen; he's
friendly until they come into competition, even a little protective -
when they're working along the same lines he treats her just as he
would Dunsany.  Once in a while she has managed to remind him of Aware
enough to get a reaction from him, but only until he realizes what's
happening.

	Dr. Totoro is as close to a friend as Sheen has; Sheen's not
afraid of the Troll physically, understands his mental problems without
being offensively sympathetic.  He will, however, push ruthlessly if he
thinks Totoro is slipping in any way that could affect the Library's work.

%Name
Sheen		The Library		90.01.30
%Archetype
Physical Adept / Decker		34300
%Stats
BODY	5	K4
QUICK	8
STR	6	K5
CHA	4
INT	5
WILL	6
ESSENCE	5
MAGIC	5
REACT	6+3d6
%Skills
Unarmed Combat*	6
Armed Combat	5
Projectiles	4	K13
Athletics*	5
Car		3	K7
Electronics	3	2, K4
    Maglocks	5	K7
Stealth*	5
    Urban*	7
Computer	4
    Software	6
	Decking	8

English		7
Cityspeak	5
Cantonese	4

--------	--
Quickness +2		1
Athletics 1 auto	0.5
Stealth 1 auto		0.5
Unarmed Combat 1 auto	0.5
Initiative +2d6		2
Pain Resistance 1	0.5

%Pools
Defense	6
Dodge	8
Hacker	14

Karma	10

%Cyberware
Chipjack 			.2
Program Carrier			.2
Lowlight eyes, sparerodded	.3
Headware Memory 30		.3

%Equipment
Clothes
Pocketphone	

Chip: Sensor 6	 9000
Chip: Evade 6	15000
Chip: Mask 6	15000

Medkit
Trauma Patch 5
Stimpatch 5 
Docwagon Platinum

%Contacts
%Notes
%Comments
%End
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.frp