What are Archetypes?

To put it simply, an Archetype is a character concept. The sum of a characters attributes, skills, magical ability or lack there of, contacts, personality and history. Usually this is a general word or short phrase that includes your character in a broad group. Another way to think of this is as a stereotype, a word that brings up certain connotations but describes no specific person to a T. Even within Shadowrun archetypes might blur together allowing for a Decker who is also a Fixer or a Street Samurai who use to be a Mage but burnt himself out by installing too much ware.

What Archetypes can I play?

Street Samurai
There are so many characters that fall into the loose category of 'samurai' that we could write reams of text that listed them all. Mercs, Bodyguards, Former Company Men, Former Military Officers, as well as your basic street-pred urban predators. The main thing that pulls these characters all together is that their primary function is usually combat.

Deckers have the Matrix, Magicians spellcast and go on astral quests, Riggers zip around with drones and cars and helicopters, but all samurai usually have is the ability to kick some butt.

There is a surplus of "plain vanilla" street sams on Shadowrun Seattle MUSH. Muscle is relatively cheap for shadowruns because it's so plentiful. Also, if all you can do is beat people up, there are limited opportunities for RP. The best way to make sure that you can keep busy (both in RP and shadowruns) is to make sure that your character is more than just a set of Wired Reflexes with a gun.

Adding 'specialties' to your character, be it mechanic, biotech, electronics expert, demolitionist, paranatural hunter or what have you, adds increase opportunities for RP.

Some guidelines for creating a samurai:

• try and come up with an original skillset and cyberware mix
• review NEWS RULES SKILLS LEVELS when you choose combat skills and make sure that the level you assign to a skill is appropriate to your BG
• remember you don't necessarily need Wired Reflexes to be a good fighter
• most people that are good at violence have a specialty
• decide how your character feels about his cyber and why (s)he got it
• find something to make your character unique among samurai-types

Being a muscle-type character in Shadowrun can be a rewarding experience if you let it evolve beyond simple combat. Anyone can +roll dice in a timestop; the talented samurai grow into something more than just effective combatants.

Decker
This is the straight stuff from the Matrix RPStaff, chummers. If you want to be a decker, read it, learn it, and live with it.

DECKER CHARACTERS RULES FOR SRMUSH:

• Character Attributes of 1 are not allowed
• Computer skill must not be below a 4 and above a 6; you may concentrate the 6 to 5(7) though
• must take Computer, Etiquette (preferrably the Etiquette (Matrix) specialization), one of the programming knowledge skills, and B/R Computer skills
• must get a datajack
• no other skill besides matrix skills (above) may be above a 4
• must have at least 840k left over in resources completing cg

Background Rules:

• Your background must be original (something different not the norm).
• You cannot use Megacorporations in your background; you CAN use a sub-sidiary of a megacorp, but limit the impact you've had on this corp.
• Try and stay away from creating a college-student with a lot of schooling this is a shadow world so keep that in mind with the backgrounds.
• DO NOT just answer the NEWS CHARGEN QUESTIONS straight out, but add the answers within your characters story.
• DO NOT add unnecessary character descriptions within the BG.
• Your background should be written like a story/essay. Make it interesting to read and it should be a minimum of about 2 pages in length.
• Somewhere in your story there would be 2 types of NPC character that the matrix staff might use to get you involved in Tinyplots. Note they do not have to be fixers and should not be a family member or considered a "Buddy" contact. They should be just someone you met and have done some biz with or that you owe something to. Try and describe this NPC a little so a Mjudge can play them.
• Do not make your story all positive and filled with what you can do well with no flaws. Everyone has flaws and we like to see them in your background, too. (also review NEWS CHARGEN QUESTIONS).

Final tips:

• Remember when making your character, you order your deck and programs AFTER you have been approved so save those resource points. The more cyberware you get the less you will have to spend on that deck.
• Spend some time thinking about your character's Matrix ICON and what it means (if anything).
• Decide how your character feels about the Matrix and define it in your background. This character is a DECKER, so the Matrix will help define who (s)he is.
• There are some advantages to playing a metahuman (non-elf) decker. Contact Matrix RPStaff for more information.
• Don't expect to start out as powerful as Dodger or Fastjack. You'll have to grow into your talent and it will take time. Enjoy the ride, it will be a lot of fun!

Ganger
The ganger system is a little bit in flux, so this section just contains a few tidbits of advice for those who want to play street-scum.

• There are restrictions on what cyberware gangers can have, what skills they can have and more. Check out the Ganger Recruitment area in Chargen for more information.
• There are several IC gangs made up of players and NPCs. If you want to be a member of a gang, it's a good idea to try and get in contact with some of the members of the gang BEFOREHAND as well as trying to discuss your app with one of the Ganger Admins (See +staff/all). The '+cgneeded' command can give you some quick information about what gang(s) are open and who you can talk to for information.
• The GANGER ADVANTAGE. It seems like there's not a lot of up side to being a ganger. You can't start with Wired Reflexes-2, your skills aren't that great to start with and you've got pre-set enemies all over the 'plex. What's the up side? In SR's combat system, every opponent beyond the first you engage in Unarmed or Armed combat at the same time give as YOU imparts a +1 to their TNs to hit and a -1 to your TNs to hit. This means when you and three buddies fight a samurai, the sammy has a TN of 6 and the three gangers each have TNs 2 to hit. The sammy's probably going to get pasted. It pays to have friends.
• Gangs are a good place to start off as a player on Shadowrun Seattle MUSH. You have some ready-made partners to RP with, you have some pretty clearly defined goals and you can have a lot of fun.
• Some (though not all) gangs require you to join them once you get IC. You create a 'wannabe' character, someone who is ready to join a gang but hasn't yet done so. Then, you can attempt to join the gang through roleplaying. From the personal accounts of many gang players, this is one of the most-fun RP experiences, as they try to convince the gang that they've got 'the right stuff'.

More ganger information and advice will be posted as it becomes available from the Ganger Admins and players. Orger
Shadowrun Seattle Mush offers two paths by which a player can enter the criminal underworld: the Mafia and the Yakuza. The Frazettis (our Mafia family) and the Jade Panthers (our Yakuza clan) have a long history on the game, something that can be difficult for new players to integrate seemlessly with. It is very important to discuss any possible application with an org related staffer (see +staff/all) or PCs that are currently within the org (Generally any PHA will be able to point you in the correct direction of who to speak with).

A few points to take into consideration if you're interested in joining one of these two criminal organizations:

• You can not start out as a 'made' man, that is something you will have to achieve through roleplay after you've been approved.
• Each org has an established 'turf' which they control as well as a series of buildings and businesses which they own. The Mafia is centered in the Downtown portion of the grid while the Yakuza is centered in the International District. This is important to consider because these areas will be where you will spend the majority of your time.
• Each org has a hierarchy of PCs, and when you first start you're going to be the low man on the totem pole. You should realize that you might be expected to take orders from other PCs and that certain things will be expected of you. If you are not the type of person that can handle other people having authority over you, an org roll may not be the best fit for you.
• Once Orgers are IC you generally have access to a great many resources that standard new PCs don't have access to, as well as a network of other PCs within your org that can help you adjust to your new position. Just like being in a gang, this is a ready source of RP that you should be able to jump into right off the bat.
• As a downside, orgs tend to start out with more enemies then the standard PC does. Player vs. Player Roleplay is fairly common in the Orgs and should be something that doesn't surprise you when/if it happens.

Currently desired character types for each org can be found by checking the '+cgmafia' command and '+cgyakuza' command for the mafia and yakuza, respectively.

Rigger
Being a rigger is a chance to be more than "the guy who drives the cars".

Here are some guidelines for prospective Rigger characters:

• You should own a copy of Rigger 3 and understand the rules therein. Shadowrun Seattle MUSH uses the Rigger 3 rules (with some exceptions, see the postings on the +bboards) and if you want to rig, it's best if you know them.
• In order to be a rigger, you must have a datajack and a Vehicle Control Rig. Even players who claim they have played Riggers in TT games often neglect to give their character a VCR and thus, are not riggers.
• Explain the relationship your character has to rigging. Why does (s)he rig? How did (s)he get started? What kinds of vehicles does (s)he rig? Rigging is primarily for high-performance vehicles. Joe Public doesn't get a VCR so he can drive his Americar better. Nor does FedEx equip its drivers with VCRs to drive their vans around, collecting packages. You might want to be more original than "he was a corp rigger" or "she was in the army and decided to become a rigger" as well.
• You get to start with a rigged vehicle and 2 drones, maximum. Choose these to reflect the background your character has and what would be most appropriate, not just what you can get that has the most "bang for the buck".
• Not every Rigger needs to be a mechanic. Though it helps to be able to jury-rig repairs on your main vehicle, if you need to go to a mechanic for this, it provides a good RP opportunity.

Fixer
Shadowrun Seattle MUSH offers a chance to play a Fixer, brokering deals for nuyen, power and shadowruns in the criminal underworld of Seattle. The application process for Fixers is fairly demanding. With the additional power available to most Fixers, responsibility and maturity are also required. See your Fixer Admins for more details.

• Your rep is your livelihood. How you behave, in your BG and once you're IC, will determine what people think of you and what kind of business they're willing to transact with you. If you don't have the natural paranoia and shadow-smarts to play like a top-class Fixer, then don't create one in your BG ... play an amateur Fixer who still needs to learn all the ropes.
• Your most important skills are your Etiquettes and your Negotiation. You need to demonstrate HOW the character became so street-savvy or corp-savvy (or whatever) in the BG.
• You are who you know. Without contacts, a Fixer can't DO anything. You must cultivate contacts and relationship in order to be a successful Fixer.
• You are more than a gear distribution device. Many players treat their local Fixer like a shadowy Stuffer Shack. They demand this, that and the other thing, all with APDS ammo and then the player will often quote sourcebook prices to the Fixer and get all in a snit if they can't get what they want or if the Fixer deviates from the list price. Equipment sales the LEAST lucrative part of being a Fixer. The margins on brokering shadowruns and info trading are generally much higher and much more likely to put the Fixer into the lap of luxury.
• Many fixers enter the sideline business of Information Brokering, which includes buying and selling paydata from Deckers. In order for your fixer to do this you must have a Data Havens skill at rating 3.

Media
This archetype is the only form of Corporate PC allowed on Shadowrun Seattle MUSH. Whether an employee of Net23 news or Metanite news, these PCs are generally SINned and licensed. This type of PC will be a reporter that seeks to view interesting events and report them to the world at large, which means writing IC bulletin board posts that reflect the news as they see it or sending out shorter blurbs over the IC media channel. Some work as undercover reporters while others work out in the open, advertising who they are and what they're doing. Yet another option is to be a Radio announcer on one of our IC radio channels such as KBLD. Contact a Streets RP Staffer for additional information (+staff/all).

Mage and Shaman
Magical applications are restricted on Shadowrun Seattle MUSH. Currently, once a month or so, applications are opened up and people can compete for a number of open "slots" for various kinds of magical characters. The info on the opening and closing of applications is typically posted to +bboard 1 (General).

Because of the competitive process for magical applications, these backgrounds need to be EXTREMELY well done. Applicants must display their knowledge of Shadowrun and Shadowrun magic, their creative ability and their sense of how the magic of their character 'works'.

On average, the background for successful magical applicants run anywhere from 20 to 40 one or two-paragraph Bgslots. This translates into something like 3000-5000 words. Length isn't a requirement, but most people find that in order to explain their character concept in the required depth, a fairly long BG develops.

When writing a background for a magical character, the character's magic is one of the most important aspects of the character. Therefore, the BG must include good detail about the character's magic, the character's feelings and/or perceptions about the magic and some sort of proof that the player understands how Shadowrun Magic is supposed to work. It's not absolutely required, but possession of the SR3 rulebook and Magic in the Shadows (MITS) will be extremely helpful to a magical character. The Magic RPStaff can provide more insight into exactly what they're looking for in an magical application. In the meantime, here are some tips for magical applicants.

• Cat, Raccoon and Snake shamans are a little overdone here at Shadowrun Seattle MUSH.
• fetish-required spells are looked kindly upon because they stimulate RP with the MUSH's talismongers.
• playing a magical character is considered a privilege and magical players are expected to be online and RPing as often as possible. As such, the timeout period for magical PCs is three months instead of the standard six months.

Other Options
There are a multitude of other options that you can play. We feel that people should not be restricted to specific archetypes. Many of our deckers are also samurai, our riggers also deckers and our fixers double as some other archetype. Any combination of skills, cyberware, bioware, magic and attributes that you can come up with that fall within the bounds of the Shadowrun 3 rules is theoretically plausible!

What Archetypes can't I play? Some archetypes are flat out denied. The reason for the denial of these specific character concepts comes from a lack of code to support them, the fact that staff feels that that particular archetype isn't balanced for our version of Shadowrun, or past experience with allowing that type of character has shown that they are unwieldy.

The following are archetypes that are always going to be denied. For additional archetypes that might be denied temporarily use the '+cgdenied' command.

Blood Mages
Covert Goverment/Military This includes: Special Forces, CIA, FBI, Cover Ops, etc.
Docwagon Employees
Drug/BTL Dealers
Employees of Corps This excludes media PCs such as Net23 reporters.
Gangs and Orgs No -new- gangs or orgs can be created without staff pre-approval.
Humanis Policlub Members
Insect Shamans
Legal Law Enforcement This includes: Lone Star, Knight Errant, Military Law enforcement, etc.
Mage Slots Mage slots are restricted and are not always available. There are also requirements for who may and may not app a mage. Check '+cgmages' for a list of available mage slots and 'hr magic applications' for a list of requirements to app a mage.
Non-SR3 Metatypes
Otaku
Toxic Mages