Character sheets

Which Character would you want to be in a dark future? A human, upgraded with biotech links to connect to smart guns or computers, enhanced electronic eyes or muscles or a meta human like a Troll or Dwarf that come with different attributes in size, strength and affinition to magic?

Pic taken from google search results and a Pin on a Pinterest hit

Or...

Would you try to recreate yourself to take the role play to super realistic “what-if” scenarios?

A dark future pen and paper game Character sheet like in the Shadowrun Game, I am for the record in no way financially connected to, lists Attributes such as physical strength, intelligence and even beauty, Skills such as rifle handling, car repair, combat driving and Qualities such several languages or knowing a certain area by heart.

The first will help you to let your imagination fly, the latter to understand yourself, to get to know to yourself, but also to the group within you are when the jealous stupid next to you insists that the number of beauty and intelligence must be both waaaaay less than his....

Beside helping to figure out when to look for new friends this way you will also understand quickly that the beautiful normal law abiding life is something you want to defend and keep.

With some creativity and imagination required to actually enjoy pen and paper games you will e.g. despite tight gun laws quickly come to a realistic value of your personal character sheets fire arms handling ability by using a (or two) laser pointer on fixed targets in known distances and some basic mathematical principals of statistics based on average. The difference to a fictional character is that you can enhance the number on the sheet by real training.

In pen and paper games you also have to consider that attributes and skills are interconnected such as endurance and your ability to hit a target with a fire arm.

So, after that 10k run in one hour how often do you hit bulls eye at the end in the hall way in exactly 10 meters with that laser pointer from behind the kitchen chair and how quickly do you improve over which time windows with which dropping pulse rate? 150 caus your sprinted the last 50 giving you x avg, after 5 head down and a drop to 100 you increase to y. Excel sheets will all for a sudden become quite fascinating, just mum might be a bit concerned at some point...and if "mum" is your MILF your kids will freak out right with the dog, I guess.

Pen and paper games work based on known knowns, known unknowns and unknown...basically the Rumsfeld Theory, misunderstood as poetry. Like the skills of your Character are known knowns. Another known known is the information the Game Master gives you such as an explanation of a scenario:

You are out in the bar area of the sprawl trying to have a good time. Two bodyguards in expensive suites ask you, if you are looking for a run as soon as they recognise you as a lone street samurai eyeing your 9mil Pistol in your holster along with your Katana. They say it is in the real estate business and you should walk over to the bar on the other side of the street to the “Notty’s Dawn” and ask for Solly.

Each character gets the same kind of story.

They all meet in the bar and the Game Master provides a map of the place. Everybody will get quickly into e.g. understanding blue prints, because it helps to save time using existing and well established sets of rules from the real world a lot to have the game flow going. Another trick is to stress realism by not giving out all information, because we all don’t get the interior of bars immediately and life is full of unknowns of two kind: 

Known unkowns and unkown unkowns. You know that you don't know what is behind the door beside the toilettes, but not how they look like or who is in. You do not know that the Game Master will let you find the hidden stairway to the private gang rooms only if you body search also the barkeeper and find the electronic buzzer.

The value for urban reconnaissance can be established by simply checking a random bar by getting in and out again and than noting down how much you saw checking later while you have a drink with your lads your precision. Like on the map the door does not show which way it opens. Usually the nob on the door indicates the direction and if you add the position of the door hinge you get in which way beside reading the push or pull indicator. To see both in a pen and paper game you would have to make a dice role against your urban reconnaissance value relative to the difficulty considering that you are in a position of the map where you could see the door. Rules may vary between different pen and paper games. 
A good game master has several maps at hand, therefore.

You cannot see behind the door except it is made out of transparent material and a DIY shop helps to get an avg for that skill. Distinguishing different transparent materials like Glass, Safety Glass, Acrylglas, Plexiglas, transparent foil ... just trying to figure out which is bullet proof in the DIY shop might cause insurance issues, but all manufacturers have webpages that Dr. Google knows.

I think you get an idea.

The e.g. war driving part is more difficult to figure, but a realistic driving simulator and understanding that only who can drive slow and precise like inbetween markings on a parking lot, possibly on difficult and different pulse levels simulating stress or just the run to the car, will help. While using paint ball guns to get police or gang attention for the ultimate, but super stupid real world test for your personal characters driving skills is ... ambitious and over the top.

Close combat skills can be trained without a dojo, but based on literature such as Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do which is the most comprehensive book on martial arts, a ton of YouTube videos, sparring within the group and a realistic look back on the last school or street skateboarding years.

 

PS: Give it a go and you took both pills. Red or Blue Pill? (The Midtro from the Jungle Tracks Album)