_Shadowrun Missions Chicago FAQ Update v1.4

SHADOWRUN MISSIONS FAQ V1.4 CHICAGO – UPDATED 7/22/2015 Credits Writing – Steven “Bull” Ratkovich and Ray Rigel Shadowrun Missions Logo – Brent Evans, Matt Heerdt, Jeff Laubenstein Shadowrun Missions Coordinator – Ray Rigel Shadowrun Line Developer – Jason Hardy Special Thanks – To the previous caretakers of the Shadowrun Missions line: Richard Osterhaut, John Dunn, Aaron Pavao, Stephen McQuillan, and Steven “Bull” Ratkovich. Books covered by this FAQ: Shadowrun Fifth Edition, Run & Gun, Run Faster, Street Grimoire, The Assassin's Primer, Coyotes, Gun Haven 3, Sail Away Sweet Sister, Stolen Souls, The Vladivostok Gauntlet, Data Trails, Lockdown Updates and changes to this version of the FAQ have been marked in Red. These changes are Errata for Missions only, and are subject to change when the official Errata gets released. Rules that no longer apply since the last update are marked in Green and have been struckthrough.

Shadowrun Missions Chicago FAQ v1.4 – Updated 7/22/2015

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GENERAL QUESTIONS What is Shadowrun Missions? Shadowrun Missions is the official living campaign for Shadowrun, Fifth Edition.

What is a living campaign? A living campaign is a way for you to create a character and to participate in games run in many different locations by many different gamemasters and still be playing in a single game and single campaign, letting you gain Karma and nuyen for your character so that they can grow and evolve.

Where can I play Shadowrun Missions? Shadowrun Missions are run at many game conventions, at Open Play events run by members of the Catalyst Demo Team at local game stores and game clubs, and can be purchased in PDF format at the CGL Battleshop (http://www.battlecorps.com/catalog/) or at DriveThruRPG (https://www.drivethrustuff.com/) and run at home by your gamemaster. Some Shadowrun Missions adventures may also be available in print format from time to time. If you’re interested in finding out where Shadowrun Missions are being run, head over to the Catalyst Demo Team website (http://www.catalystdemos.com/) and register. If you want to inquire about and encourage Demo Team Agents to run Shadowrun Missions at your convention or in your area, drop them a line and let them know!

What exactly are Missions? Shadowrun Missions are short adventures designed to be run in a single game session. Typically they can be run in less than four hours, so that they fit within the standard time block at gaming conventions. However, Missions typically include additional information and material in the form of optional scenes and material in the Pushing the Envelope sections of scenes that allow gamemasters to broaden and lengthen the game for those times that they are not under a tight schedule. For home game play where time is not a factor, most Missions can be run as two- or three-session adventures.

What is an Open Play event? That’s just our fancy name for any official event run by members of the Catalyst Demo Team at your Friendly Local Gaming Store or other Firebases that are open to anyone who wants to drop in and play.

Someone said there’s a reward for wearing Shadowrun shirts to Missions games? Yes! If you wear a Shadowrun or a Catalyst Game Labs shirt to any Catalyst Demo Team convention or Open Play Shadowrun Missions event, you get a single point of NERPS!

What are NERPS? Within the world of Shadowrun NERPS are a fictional, all-purpose product. They’re great for breakfast, can cure your cough, are good luck, can remove stains, whiten teeth, will improve your gas mileage, and are good for what ails you! In Missions games, they represent points you can earn that will give you some small benefit during a game session. Sometimes you will gain a promotional item that can act as a point of NERPS. These items will come with instructions for when you can use them and for what. Usually you can use one of these per game session, and they’re only good for the duration of the convention or event during which you earned them. Other NERPS points, such as the one you can earn for wearing a Shadowrun shirt, are temporary points that must be used during the game session that you earned it at. These points cannot be saved and used during later Missions games, but it is possible to earn new NERPS at subsequent Missions for the same thing. For example, if you play in three Missions adventures at GenCon in a single day while wearing an awesome Shadowrun t-shirt, you’ll earn a NERPS point at each of the Missions to which you wear that shirt. It is possible to earn multiple points of NERPS for a single Mission. NERPS can be spent during a game session for a single +3 Dice Pool bonus to any one dice test. You may only spend one NERPS per dice roll, and the use of these bonus dice must be declared before you make the test.

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Can I take my character from my home Missions game to a convention or Open Play event? Yes, but only if the character adheres to the Shadowrun Missions guidelines presented in this FAQ. The character cannot be played in non-Missions events, you must have a filled out Calendar for your characters career up to that point, as well as Debriefing Logs for each Missions adventure you have played, signed by your gamemaster and noting all Karma, money, and items earned during that run. Gamemasters running Missions as a home game should adhere as closely as possible to the Mission as written as they can (with certain allowances for players who go off-script, because they can and will!) House rules should never be used for these games, and gamemasters should be careful not to allow the acquisition of crazy, game unbalancing gear. Gamemasters at Conventions and Open Play have the right to perform a character audit at any point and disallow any abilities that are not normally allowed in Missions (i.e., disallowed gear, spells, qualities, etc.) or any gear that seems inappropriate for a Missions character to have obtained (i.e., military-scale gear such as tanks and attack choppers or very expensive and/or high Availability equipment that the player cannot show just cause to possess). These rules seem strict, but as Missions is largely on the honor system and does not maintain a character database or require any sort of character registration, it’s the only way to maintain a semblance of fair play for all Missions participants.

What if I have no intention of playing at conventions or Open Play games? In that case, go nuts. Treat Missions adventures as you would any other game session or Shadowrun adventure. Have fun with it, and the sky is the limit. Just note that these characters will not be eligible to play at sanctioned Missions events, should you find yourself at one. In that case, though, you’re welcome to sit down with a new character and have some fun slinging some dice and running in the shadows!

I’m gamemastering the adventure as a legal Missions adventure. How much leeway do I have to change things? You have a little wiggle room to add your own spin to the game, and of course to deal with whatever the runners come up with. However, a few things you should never change:   

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Major NPCs: Never change the names or personalities of major, named NPCs. These characters can and do come up in other adventures, so you don’t want to cause confusion for the players, since not every gamemaster will know you renamed Bull the Ork Decker to Pony Boy. Major Plot Details: Again, these may come up in future Missions, so changing major storyline details could drastically alter the plot and make things confusing for players in the future. Nuyen Awards: A few gamemasters and players think Missions awards too much nuyen. Many think it doesn’t award enough. Regardless, the run rewards are designed with both the campaign balance in general and the suggested SR5 awards in mind, so please don’t give out more nuyen (or take nuyen away). It’s not fair to players who are playing under other gamemasters. Karma Awards: Same as nuyen awards. It’s not fair to other players if you give out more karma, and not fair to your players if you give out less that the Mission outlines.

Where does Season 5 take place? Missions Season 5 takes place in the Windy City, Chicago.

What are the plot hooks and themes for this Season? This Season follows up the status quo as laid out in Feral Cities and the electoral results set up in Dirty Tricks. Illinois Governor Anthony Presbitiro won his re-election bid on the campaign of rebuilding Chicago, and he helped newcomer Allan Brown get elected as the new mayor of Chicago on the same platform. The two have initiated an aggressive campaign called Project: Takeback (“Healing Chicago and making it safer you and your family!”) to repair and rebuild the shattered city. The first part of this is revoking the Adverse Possession ruling of the Chicago Supreme Court (p. 32, Feral Cities) that granted ownership of property to anyone who lived on a piece of land continuously for an extended period of time without the rightful owner stepping forward to claim it. As of June 1, 2075, Adverse Possession was thrown out, and the residents of the former Containment Zone and areas of the Corridor no longer have any legal rights to property they may have been living on for as long as twenty years. Needless to say, this has angered many of those living in these areas of the city. The second part is offering up a one-year “reclamation period” where anyone who can prove that they had a legal claim to a piece of land prior to the Containment Zone going up or have since purchased rights to that property will be given ownership immediately. After one year, any remaining property will be auctioned off to any interested parties for immediate ownership.

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There are two catches to this, however. The first is that any entities normally exempt from local land taxes due to extraterritoriality will have to pay taxes for the first five years to pay for rebuilding critical infrastructures in the area. The second is that all parties taking ownership of land have until June 1, 2077 to physically take possession, clear the land, rebuild, and start using it, or else the city will declare eminent domain and seize the property back for resale. Many corporations both new and old are moving in to take advantage of Project: Takeback, and you can bet the residents of the Zone aren’t going to take this lying down. Everyone’s looking to hire runners, whether it’s to destroy evidence left behind before the CZ went up, reclaim lost data and tech, prove ownership of property, stop someone else from claiming the land, or simply throw a monkey wrench in the entire process. Either way there’s a lot of money to be made, and it’s a good time to be a runner in Chicago! Just keep in mind that Chicago was termed a Feral City for a reason. Ghouls, bugs, magical voids, toxic zones, gangs organized crime, the government combine to make the Windy City is a mess, and the sprawl made Aethernet’s Five Most Dangerous Cities list the last ten years running for a damned good reason. Watch your back. Shoot straight. Conserve ammo. And never, ever deal with a dragon.

What resources are available for Missions? Missions are designed to be able to be played with just the core rulebooks for Shadowrun, Fifth Edition. Players should be familiar with any official SR5 errata and FAQs. Season 5 takes place in Chicago, and while the primary source of information will be Feral Cities, older sourcebooks such as Neo-Anarchists Guide to North America, Bug City, and Target: UCAS all provide valuable background and information on the setting. All are available as PDF’s through the CGL Battleshop (http://www.battlecorps.com/catalog/) and on DriveThruRPG (https://www.drivethrustuff.com/).

Where can I go to get the latest news and updates about Shadowrun Missions? Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SRMissions) for up-to-date news, updates, and sneak peeks of upcoming Missions releases. This is the primary place we post updates for the game. Also join us on the official Shadowrun forums (http://forums.Shadowruntabletop.com) to discuss Missions and rules with your fellow players as well as the writers and developers of the Shadowrun roleplaying game. The Shadowrun Missions forum is also your go-to place for the latest news, rulings, and Missions updates.

Do Missions gamemasters receive any rewards for running adventures? Yes they do! Gamemasters that are members of the Shadowrun Demo Team earn rewards for every public event they run at game conventions and at their local Firebase. The more you run, the better your rewards. Head over to http://www.catalystdemos.com to sign up and find out more information. Gamemasters who are players as well can also get in-game credit for their Shadowrun Missions characters! In the awards section of each adventure there will also be a listing for the Karma, nuyen, and any other awards the gamemaster receives for running the adventure, just as if they’d played through it with their character! You also gain any contacts, added loyalty, notoriety, public awareness, and street cred that the team you are running did. Be fair, be honest, and don’t lead your players to pad out your own rewards, though! A character can only gain credit for a Mission once, whether it's from GM reward or playing it. A character cannot get credit for running it multiple times, nor for playing in it and gamemastering it, sorry. Characters should only count the very first time they go through a Mission, whether as a gamemaster or player. This prevents GMs from “cherry picking” the better results for their character.

This Mission I just played doesn’t have gamemaster rewards listed! What gives? Gamemaster rewards were added with Shadowrun, Fifth Edition and Season 5, so if you’re playing an earlier edition and season, then those weren’t available. There are also some Convention Missions compilations that have been up-converted for Season 5 and SR5, but because they were written for an older season they don’t have these rewards by default. In that case, take the baseline pay for the Mission and treat it as if you got two net hits on a negotiation test for any bonus pay. You also get the maximum amount of Karma, and any other rewards as above.

Can my Missions character die? Yes. Yes they can. Obviously we want everyone to have a good time, but still, everything has a price, and when you run the shadows sometimes that price is death. Gamemasters should not go out of their way to kill characters, but if runners rush in unprepared or leap into a situation where they are obviously outgunned and overpowered, then death is a very real possibility. It’s a tragedy when it happens, but you can’t become a Street Legend if you don’t take a few risks.

Can I replay a Mission with a different character? With the same character? What if I gamemastered that adventure? Shadowrun Missions Chicago FAQ v1.4 – Updated 7/22/2015

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The answer to all of these is yes, yes you may. However, be advised that you and your character should largely act in a passive support role. You already know the adventure and how it turns out, so it is cheating if you act on the knowledge of how the adventure plays out. You don’t want to spoil the fun for other players now, do you? Ultimately this is on the honor system, so please replay responsibly. Also, while it’s possible to play the same Mission multiple times with the same character for whatever reason, you can only gain the Karma and nuyen from the adventure once, so only the first time you play counts. Also, if you are replaying an adventure with the same character, any money you spend comes out of your actual balance even though you do not earn any additional nuyen for the run. This prevents replay players from using their “virtual share” to handle all contact bribes and buy gear for the other players, knowing he doesn’t get to keep that money at the end of the run.

Any special blanket rules players and gamemasters should be aware of? Yes, there are three. Wheaton’s Law: Don’t Be A Dick. This means that players and gamemasters alike should remember that everyone at the table is there to have fun. Characters might be utter bastards, but players should be courteous and considerate of other players and not do anything that would ruin the fun of others at the table. This means accepting that payments are divided evenly amongst the characters. This means not playing out flaws, character quirks, or whatever else you think is “in character” if it will ruin the fun of other players or make them uncomfortable. And it means no non-consensual PvP (player versus player) actions such as mind controlling, attacking, or stealing from other players. One person’s fun is never more important than anyone else’s. In Player We Trust. From time to time gamemasters may do a character audit and look over your sheet, but at the end of the day they are rarely going to sit and do all the math and inspect every item, every skill, every contact, and every Mission Log. At the end of the day, we trust the player to be honest in their record keeping and their math. Please be honest and don’t abuse our trust. It’s just a game, and if you need to cheat to “win” a roleplaying game, it’s a little sad. In Gamemaster We Trust. Missions adventures are written to be as broad as possible and to encompass as much as possible while still telling a good, fun story. However, we never know what the players are going to bring to the table, and any gamemaster who has sat behind the screen knows that players rarely follow the roadmaps that are laid out for them. So Missions gamemasters need to think fast on their feet, will often have to improvise, and will often need to adjust the power level and scale of the adventure to fit the players. And that’s okay! We trust the gamemaster. Feel free to adapt as needed, so long as the core adventure and events remain intact. Add what you need, remove what you need. Just try to keep the adventure rewards within the established guidelines for the Mission, and don’t go giving out attack helicopters or let them have Lofwyr as a contact. Keep things sane for the next gamemaster who deals with these players!

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CHARACTER CREATION Creating a character is done using the standard priority system presented in the Shadowrun, Fifth Edition rulebook. Be sure you have the latest printing or errata of the rulebook. Additional character creation methods that may be released in expansion material will not be used for Shadowrun Missions. Unless otherwise noted in this FAQ, no rule marked “Optional” or that is listed as being “At the gamemasters discretion” will be used for Shadowrun Missions play. All other expansion material will be allowed once its release grace period has elapsed (see below). When creating a character for Shadowrun Missions, one thing to keep in mind is that when playing at conventions or in Open Play games, you never know who or what is going to show up at the table with you. Nor can you be certain that a given adventure will focus on one particular aspect of the game. Because of this, it’s usually not in your best interest to hyper-specialize a character. Gamemasters will do their best to keep all players engaged in the adventure and story, but if your character only does one thing, it doesn’t matter how well they do that thing if it’s not useful to the adventure or if there’s four other characters that are all able to do that thing as well. Keep flexibility and diversity in mind when designing a new character.

Rating and Availability Any gear, including magic, cyberware, and bioware, may be purchased at character creation, provided the Availability is 12 or less and the Rating is 6 or less (p. 94, SR5). Note that the Damage Value and Armor Rating of an item is not included in this, it is only items that have variable ratings levels you can purchase them at. Players may purchase normal, alpha, and used cyberware at character creation, but not beta or deltaware. Note that cyberware grade only affects the implant costs for implanted cyberdecks and commlinks. The link or deck cost remains the same regardless of whether it’s a used implant or a delta-grade implant.

Wireless Keep in mind that most gear is assumed to have some wireless function built into it, and many pieces of gear benefit from being connected to your Personal Area Network in some way. Skinlink is not available yet at this point, so you’ll either need to run wireless to take advantage of these bonuses, or run wires to your gear if you want to be protected (you’ll look like a fraggin’ antique with wires running all over the place, but don’t worry. Wires are cool again!). With this in mind, you’ll likely either need to make sure you have a good decker in the group to protect you with his cyberdeck, and/or make certain you have a decent firewall on your commlink to protect your gear. Getting bricked (p. 228, SR5) sucks.

Qualities Most qualities are allowed in Missions play. However, since Missions are designed to be run in a tight time frame and because you may be playing under different gamemasters at different venues, some qualities simply cannot come into play or be enforced, and as such are disallowed. The following qualities are disallowed in Shadowrun Missions play, and are inclusive with all available sourcebooks:

Positives: Brand Loyalty (p. 127, Run & Gun) Fame (p. 146, Run Faster) Friends in High Places (Run Faster, pg 147) Online Fame (Data Trails, pg. 45) Trust Fund (p. 151, Run Faster)

Negatives: Bad Rep Code of Honor Dependent(s) Loss of Confidence Social Stress Unsteady Hands Assassin’s Creed (p. 16, Assassin’s Primer) Combat Junkie (p. 127, Run & Gun) Shadowrun Missions Chicago FAQ v1.4 – Updated 7/22/2015

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Earther (p. 169, Run & Gun) Amnesia (p. 152, Run Faster) Big Regret (p. 153, Run Faster) Borrowed Time (p. 153, Run Faster) Day Job (p. 154, Run Faster) Driven (p. 154, Run Faster) Ex-Con (p. 155, Run Faster) Flashbacks (p. 155, Run Faster) Hung Out to Dry (p. 155, Run Faster) In Debt (p. 156, Run Faster) Paraplegic (p. 157, Run Faster) Poor Self Control – Compulsive (p. 158, Run Faster) Poor Self Control – Vindictive (p. 158, Run Faster) Records on File (p. 158, Run Faster) Vendetta (p. 159, Run Faster) Wanted (p. 159, Run Faster) Code of Honor: Like A Boss (Data Trails, pg. 46) Curiosity Killed the Cat (Data Trails, pg. 46) Data Liberator (Data Trails, pg. 46) LEEEEEEEROY JENKINS (Data Trails, pg. 48) Prank Warrior (Data Trails, pg. 49) Wanted by GOD (Data Trails, pg. 49)

Other Qualities such as Addiction, Allergy, and Incompetent normally require gamemaster approval. These are allowed with the restriction that they have to be something that is playable and appropriate to your character. Allergies: All Allergies must be things that are possible to come up in a game session without the gamemaster having to go out of his way to introduce them. An allergy to uranium or Macronesian bee stings, for example, are things that are never likely to come up in a game, and thus would not be allowed. Addiction: The Addiction must be to something that is either somewhat expensive, harmful to the character in the short term, and/or otherwise difficult to obtain. There are many serious, real-life examples of addictions that can be very harmful and have long-term effects on a person but would have little to no effect on a Shadowrun game, especially in the Missions format. Things like caffeine or cigarette addictions would fall into the “disallowed” category, as these can be harmful but are also legal, cheap, and easy to obtain. MMO and sex addiction likewise wouldn’t come up in play very often, other than as a minor distraction to the character. Narcotics, BTLs, and expensive gambling are all acceptable examples of Addictions that can be used in Missions. Characters with addictions should be certain to spend the money needed or mark off doses of the addicted substance as needed during any downtime. No tests are made for addiction during downtime, but at the beginning of each Mission you will need to make a single addiction test for each substance you are addicted to. Edge may be spent on this roll, but it is considered spent and is unavailable until you are able to recover Edge. For addictions that have no set price (such as gambling), you must spend at least 500¥ per level of addiction each time you succumb to your addiction. Incompetent: This quality can only apply to a skill group that the character is likely to need and use on a regular basis. Outdoors, Engineering, Cracking, and Biotech are groups that should only be taken as incompetent if they would directly be a skill your characters build would use, such as a medic for Biotech, decker for Cracking, rigger for Engineering, etc. This should be a skill that has an impact on your character and your gameplay, not something easily ignored. Gamemasters may do a Character Audit before a game session, and if they deem a quality to be unsuitable, they may disallow it. Please consider your qualities carefully and do not try to abuse the system.

What about Exceptional Attribute and Lucky? Those say with gamemaster approval only. Both of these are allowed in Missions.

How many points worth of Qualities can I take? As per the rules under Purchasing Qualities (p. 71, SR5), you may only take a maximum of 25 points worth of Positive Qualities, and 25 points worth of Negative Qualities. If you really wish, for roleplay purposes, you may take additional Negative Qualities, but you may never gain more than 25 Karma for them regardless of how many you take.

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Yes, specializations are allowed following the examples laid out in the book. Choose either a specialty listed or one that’s similar, keeping in mind that a specialty should be a bonus you only get under certain specific circumstances. Specializations may not be chosen for Unarmed Combat. The Martial Arts rules from Run & Gun (pp. 128-142) should be used instead. If you purchased a specialization for Unarmed Combat under the original FAQ rules you get refunded 7 Karma that can be spent however you like.

Contacts You are encouraged to carefully consider the contacts you choose and the fake SINs you purchase for your character. Both are incredibly useful. You’ll likely want (and even need) multiple SINs, because you can’t do much in the world of 2075 without one, and if they get burned, so do you! In Missions, you will likely earn a fair number of contacts through gameplay. However, these contacts are frequently a part of the story and plot and are not always the most diverse, and they’re often limited in how high their loyalty will go. So we encourage you to make certain you have a diverse number of contacts at character creation to support your character and his chosen profession. A general fixer is always useful, and every runner should have one. Street and corp contacts are always worthwhile. Plus keep in mind that you need a way to get gear, so a decker should have a deckmeister or programmer, a street sammy should have an armorer or gunsmith, and a rigger should know a good mechanic or at least a used car salesman. Also, Season 5 takes place in the city of Chicago, so contacts outside that region may be of limited use.

Are the Lifestyle Options allowed for Missions play? Lifestyle Options (p. 374, SR5) are allowed in general. However since Missions are pre-written and rarely take place at the character’s doss, the two negative options (Cramped and Dangerous Area) are not allowed since they will rarely, if ever, come up. Characters should consider the positive options carefully, as they will likely come into play rarely as well, so they may be a waste of money. Team Lifestyles (p. 375, SR5) are allowed, but if used all members of the team who are using this option must synchronize their Missions Calendars. This means that if one member needs to spend an entire month of downtime training and the other members do not, or if a player misses a Mission and “skips” a week, the other players must waste this time and still pay full lifestyle costs. This is done to prevent the Calendar weirdness that happens of one player being several months ahead of another player because he frequently needs extended downtimes, and thus is paying far more for his share of the rent.

Can I transfer my character from a previous Season of Shadowrun Missions? Sadly no. With the new Season and the jump to the Shadowrun, Fifth Edition rules we’re taking the opportunity to start everyone off on equal footing.

So there’s nothing I can do with my old character? Now, I didn’t say that! Shortly after the launch of Season 5, we will start releasing the Prime Missions series specifically for advanced characters. So you will be able to transfer your characters to Prime Runner status and be eligible to play them in any Prime Missions as well as any Special Mission adventures that we will release for special occasions.

What is a Prime Runner? In general, Prime Runner is a term applied to an experienced veteran of the shadows. For Missions, Prime Runner is a designation applied to any experienced character that has been promoted out of the main Shadowrun Missions line, whether due to being remade for a new game system or because at the start of a new season he had enough Karma to qualify and was moved up in rank, no longer your average rookie runner. Prime Runners are eligible to play in any Prime Mission, which is designed for high-power characters, and any Special Mission.

How do I transfer my character to Prime Runner status? First off, you will need to download and fill out a Prime Runner Transfer Log. Use this form to record each Mission adventure that this character played through and how much Karma they earned for that run. For each Mission, you also get 10,000 nuyen. Some characters may have averaged more, but this method evens out the money for each character a little bit and takes into account money that is spent on things like bribes, tips, contact fees, lifestyle payment, and other incidental nuyen spent that is difficult to directly track. You may also transfer Karma into nuyen (or nuyen into Karma). 1 Karma is worth 2,000 nuyen. Also record any Missions-specific contacts that you had previously earned, as these carry over for Prime Missions.

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Next, rebuild your character using the standard character creation rules presented in Shadowrun, Fifth Edition and here in the Missions Season 5 FAQ. Then apply your earned Karma and nuyen from your Transfer Log to buy additional equipment and to raise your skills and attributes. You may only exceed the default Rating 6 and Availability 12 rule to purchase gear that your character still owned after his final adventure on the Transfer Log. You should try to build your character as closely as possible to your Shadowrun, Fourth Edition character. Players are on the honor system, so please do not take this opportunity to drastically change your character. However, to take advantage of the increased skill ratings, players may spend some of their Karma to raise a maximum of 3 skills that were at Rating 6 before your character transfer above Rating 6, up to a max rating 9 (if you can afford it). You may not transfer over or purchase any abilities or gear that has not been released in a Shadowrun, Fifth Edition sourcebook yet. If these are critical to your character, you can either start your character without them and save the nuyen and karma you earn from Prime Missions to purchase them later, or you’ll need to wait to become a Prime Runner until these items make an appearance. Sorry! Have a Missions gamemaster sign off on the Transfer Log, and you’re ready for some Prime Missions! Welcome to the big leagues!

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QUESTIONS ABOUT GAME PLAY Can characters created under prior editions be used in Season 5 Missions? Only if you promote them to Prime Runner status and convert them to Shadowrun, Fifth Edition.

Since you use errata, do I have to go back and fix (fill in the blank) as new errata is released? Yes, characters will need to be updated as errata is released. Use the following guidelines:  Gear (non-’ware): Use the updated stats. If the cost for the item changes, you’ll either get a refund that is added to your total nuyen (if the cost goes down), or you’ll need to immediately pay the difference. If an item is removed from the game completely, you get the full value refunded. If the Availability of an item you already possess makes it otherwise unavailable, you do not lose the item. You just got lucky and your contact was looking to unload it fast.  Cyber- and Bioware: Use the updated stats. If the Essence cost changes, you gain or lose the difference in Essence. If you cannot afford to lose the Essence, you may immediately pay to upgrade the item to alpha or betaware (if you have the nuyen), or you can remove the item from your gear list (and get a full nuyen and Essence refund for the item).  Foci: Treat as normal gear. If the foci bonding cost changes, you either get a Karma refund or must immediately pay the extra Karma.  Qualities: If the cost of a quality changes, you either gain additional Karma for negative qualities or must immediately pay the additional Karma cost for positive qualities.  Minor Rules Changes: For most rules changes and errata, your character won’t be directly affected. However, some changes may directly impact character generation or how a character plays. If the change is something simple, like a cost change to Karma or nuyen amounts, simply calculate the difference and immediately gain or pay that cost.  Major Rules Changes: If the errata or change is something more drastic that cannot be adjusted by Karma or money, you may rebuild your character completely, sticking as close as possible to the original concept and applying any rewards you’ve earned for Missions played to the new character. This can only be done for major errata, and only if the character cannot be easily fixed.

For the errata, it says I must pay any costs immediately. What if I can’t pay? If you need to pay Karma or nuyen and you do not have enough, you go into debt. This debt must be paid out of your run rewards for the next Mission(s), and nothing else may be purchased until these debts are paid off.

With newer expansion books adding in additional rules and options, can I Retcon (Retroactive Continuity, a.k.a. pretending a new addition always existed) my character, as I’d have used one or more of those options had it been available. Yes, as with errata, you can make certain minor tweaks to your character. A Retcon to your character should be done before you play the character for the first time after the book the new rule or option appears in becomes Missions legal (Or before the next time you play your character after v1.3 of this FAQ goes live, for books like Street Grimoire). Use the guidelines for making changes due to errata, except for the following:  Qualities: You may add new qualities at their base price only if this would not take you above the maximum limit of 25 points worth of Positive or Negative Qualities, or you must discard Qualities to make the room. For Positive Qualities, this may put you into karmic debt, which must be paid off immediately (or as soon as you gain karma). For Negative Qualities, you may immediately gain additional karma, which may be spent during your next downtime as normal. If the new quality would put you above your limit, you must purchase the Quality at double the karma cost as you would any other Quality after character creation.  Alternative Chargen: You cannot do a full rebuild of your character if a new character generation system is approved for Missions play.

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Can I use optional rule (fill in the blank)? Unless this FAQ states otherwise, optional rules are never used. To give every Missions player the same game experience and maintain campaign balance, we generally avoid using any rule that is listed as optional.

I want to do X, which can be done in game or as a downtime action. Do I roll skill dice or buy hits? Anything that is permanent or has no explicit “expiration date” to it must be done using the “buying hits” method.

In combat it says I can only make one attack action. What exactly does this mean? It means don’t get cute and try to play word games. Barring using the Multiple Attacks Free Action (in which you split your dice pool to attack multiple targets), you cannot take a second offensive actions toward another character during your pass. This means throwing grenades, shooting guns, casting spells (recklessly or otherwise), spitting in their cheerios, spiking their tea with arsenic, or anything else that could be construed as a physical or mental attack in any way, shape or form. However, you may take a Free Action to cast disparaging remarks at their mothers if you so choose. If you’re not certain if an action would be an attack, well, it probably is. But ask yourself if they used it against you would it be an attack? And if you’re still not certain, ask your gamemaster. However, be warned, if you try and argue with him he is authorized to smack you upside the head with the Shadowrun, Fifth Edition book.

How much damage does the SR5 book do, anyway? The Origins Special Edition is softback, so only does Strength(S) damage. The regular hardback edition does Strength+1(P). The Limited Edition Hardback does Strength+2(P) with –1 AP. The Deluxe Mayan Limited Edition does Strength+2(P) and has –2 AP. If the slipcase is still on, it gains an additional –1 AP.

Are there any restrictions on Mental Manipulation spells? No, there are currently no restrictions on Mental Manipulation spells. That said, characters and gamemasters should be well aware of how these spells work. Magic is very dangerous in Shadowrun, and everyone is scared of it. When the unusual happens, magic is the first thing they blame, and most people will react very badly when magic is used against them. And of all the magic out there, spells that can control and mentally manipulate an individual are the most feared. It’s a violation of the highest order. Using this kind of magic against friends, allies, and contacts is an incredibly bad idea and will always have some kind of negative repercussion. Using it against a Mr. Johnson is usually suicidal. Spells that take direct control on a person’s mind or actions are overt Manipulation spells, and while the spell is active the controlled person will usually act and react as if all the actions are his own, as soon as the spell is dropped they will immediately know that they have been violated. These spells currently include Control Thoughts and Mob Mind. Some spells are subtler, and they simply guide and suggest. These are covert spells, and while they’re more risky to use since they allow the target some free will and choice, they also won’t always realize that the idea wasn’t their own unless it’s something wildly out of character. Using Influence to suggest a guard wants to grab some coffee or use the head is normal, but suggesting they shoot their coworker in the head is likely out of character for him, so he will stop and wonder where that thought came from. If you’re lucky, he’ll simply disregard it. If not, he’ll blame magic and pull an alarm. Regardless of whether the Manipulation magic is overt or covert, there’s always the chance that powerful magic will be noticed. The higher the force of the spell, the more likely it is to be seen. Spellcasting always uses the Perceiving Magic rules (p. 280, SR5). Finally, remember that spellcasting leaves a trace. Every magician has a unique magical aura, and they leave a temporary imprint on astral space whenever they use magic (Astral Signature, p. 312, SR5). In the hands of a skilled forensic mage, these imprints can be traced back to their caster. Mental Manipulations are powerful tools, but they are ones that need to be used very carefully by players. They are not an “I win” button and should not be treated as such.

Can I collect my own Reagents and/or craft my own Foci? No. Crafting or building your own equipment falls outside the scope of Missions.

Are Preparations and Alchemy allowed? Yes.

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If I Quicken a spell during play, do I buy hits or can I spend Edge and Reagents and roll my skill as normal? You must buy hits, and cannot use Edge or reagents.

Does Binding a Spirit have to be done as a Downtime Action (and must therefore buy hits)? No. Bound Spirits have an expiration date (a.k.a., number of services). Further, since they get to resist with double Force, buying hits makes it nearly impossible to ever bind a higher Force spirit and get a useful number of services out of it. As such, players may choose to either buy hits or roll. If a player is binding as part of his normal Downtime between games and wishes to roll his dice, he should let his gamemaster know at the start of his next game session and quickly get all rolls done before the game starts. Players may spend Edge on rolls made in this fashion, but they are considered spent at the beginning of the game session and are unavailable until the GM allows Edge to refresh.

What about Compiling a Sprite? Same rules as Binding a Spirit apply to sprites.

What is the Missions Calendar? When you play your first Missions adventure, you should receive a Missions Calendar. If you didn’t, ask your gamemaster for one or download one from the Shadowrun Missions website. You should also start a new one at the beginning of each Missions Season. The Mission Calendar is used to track time throughout the Missions Season. You can run one Missions adventure per week, and you cannot use that week for anything else. Any additional time that you take to buy gear, train, etc. should all be marked on the calendar, and take additional time on your calendar. You may take multiple actions in a single week if they take fewer than 7 days, and actions may spill into the following week. So a training session that takes 3 days and learning a spell that takes 6 days would take 9 days total. You track your weeks in full though, so any “unused days” before the next Mission are lost. You must pay your Lifestyle costs at the beginning of the week of each month (after the first month), before you do anything else that week. You may not take more than four weeks off between shadowruns. After all, you need to keep your name out there. Runners that stay hidden too long run the risk of being forgotten, and your fixer will stop calling if you ignore him too often.

How much nuyen can I expect to make from the average Missions adventure? Nuyen awards are based very loosely on the Run Rewards guidelines (pp. 375-376, SR5). Most Missions award around 10,000 to 12,000 nuyen. Missions are designed to be easier may pay a little less, and harder Missions a may pay more. The maximum amount you are likely to ever see in a standard SRM or CMP adventure is 20,000 nuyen (on very rare occasions), and the minimum amount you should ever see is 5,000 nuyen. This pay is sometimes subject to achieving multiple goals in a Mission, so if you fail one or more objectives it’s possible to get paid less. Special Missions will usually pay similar to a standard SRM or CMP, but occasionally may pay a little higher if the risks are greater. Prime Missions are designed to be higher stakes and higher rewards, so they start at the 20,000¥ mark and move up from there. Note that some Missions may offer up their pay piecemeal, if there are several small jobs involved. This means the initial Mr. Johnson may only offer a couple thousand nuyen for a job. When this happens, rest assured that there are one or more additional job offers coming in the adventure. Be patient and don’t start threatening Mr. Johnson right away (or worse, threatening the gamemaster). That’s a quick way for your character to gain notoriety and lose contacts, and generally you can count on there being more ways to earn nuyen designed into the adventure to compensate.

How much Karma can I expect to earn from the average Missions adventure? Like with nuyen, karma awards are based loosely on the Run Rewards guidelines (pp. 375-376, SR5) as well as the type of Mission and the difficulty of it will factor into the Karma awards, as well as how well you did during the adventure. The average adventure awards between 6 and 8 karma.

Is there a Cash for Karma (or Karma for Cash) option? Yes! Once between each Missions adventure you may choose to Work for The Man or Work for The People. If you are Working for the Man, you can trade 1 Karma for 2,000 nuyen. This represents your character going out and doing the dirty, sleazy, or simply boring grunt work for a company or corporation. It pays well, but eats away at your soul.

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If you Work for the People, you can trade 2,000 nuyen for 1 Karma. This represents you going out and doing some pro-bono runner work, helping out at a local soup kitchen, or doing some volunteer work. It costs you a little something, but you feel better about yourself afterward. In either case, you may only trade away or gain a maximum of 5 Karma each time you Work for The Man or Work for The People, and it takes up one week of downtime during which you can do nothing else. You cannot do this again until after you pull another Shadowrun. Your total earned Karma does not change, regardless of how much you Work for The Man or Work for The People. For example, Rusty’s street samurai needs money more than karma, so over the course of his career he has earned 75 Karma, but traded in 25 of that over multiple Working for the Man sessions. However, he has still earned 75 total Karma for purposes of things like Street Cred or for Prime Runner advancement. Likewise if Tim’s adept needed more than his 75 earned Karma and Worked for the People, he would still count as having 75 total Karma, regardless of how much he converted into Karma.

Can I fence the gear I found during an adventure? Yes. Gear must be fenced through one of your contacts, and uses the Contacts and Fencing rules (p. 419, SR5).

Can my friends and I pool money to purchase something? Yes, of course! Just be sure that each of you marks off the appropriate money for the item. However, one person needs to be the actual owner of the item, and if that person is not present for the game session, then neither is the item. So carefully consider what you’re going to split the costs on, and who you split it with!

Can I upgrade my bioware or cyberware? Presuming that the item in question has not been damaged, you may sell back installed non-cultured bioware and cyberware for a flat 30 percent of its retail value (book price; taking into account alpha or beta mark-up, if any) when upgrading cyberware. Remember, if you upgrade from 3 points of "normalware" to the equivalent in alpha grade, the alpha only takes 2.4 Essence points off, but you do not get the excess back—you simply have a 0.6 point “hole” that can be filled with something else at no further Essence cost until the “hole” is exceeded. Betaware is available as normal during gameplay. However, keep in mind that deltaware can only be purchased and implanted through special deltaware clinics, and these are only available if a Mission gives the character access to them as a special reward. Contacts will not be able to grant you access to a Delta Clinic under normal circumstances. Recovering from cyber-surgery takes one full calendar week.

Can I make skill tests between adventures? Yes. Unless otherwise noted in the FAQ, all skill tests made during downtime are done using the Buying Hits rule (p. 45, SR5) and using the standard rules for limited Extended Tests (cumulative –1 per test, p. 45, SR5). Assistants and instructors also buy hits for their tests.

Can I buy/train/do downtime items such as (fill in the blank) at the game table? Yes, though the standard rules for making tests during downtime apply. Since not every game will have the time or access to a gamemaster to handle their downtime activities, it’s only fair that everyone follows the same guidelines at all times.

How do I raise skills or attributes, learn new spells, or otherwise advance my character between adventures? Use the Character Advancement rules (pp. 103-107, SR5) as normal. Any week spent on a Shadowrun interrupts your training, but you can resume where you left off. If you spend more than three weeks without resuming your training, you lose any progress made and must start from the beginning.

How much do instructors cost? Instructors will charge (10 x Instructors Skill Rating) nuyen per day, and all instructors are assumed to have a Charisma of 5. They follow the standard rules for Instruction (p. 105, SR5) and need a minimum skill rank of 3 or the skill rank you are training to, whichever is higher. Note that this is a tweak to the standard training rules, since they neither list a minimum skill level requirement nor list standard training times. Instructors may train individual skills, groups, or train specializations.

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Can I buy (fill in the blank)? If the gear is legally available (has no Availability rating), you can buy it from your local Stuffer Shack, Weapons World, or Kong-Walmart at any time, provided you have the available nuyen. Gear with an Availability rating isn’t as readily available, and as such you need to go looking for it, or have your contacts go looking for it. If you go looking for a piece of gear, use the standard Availability Test rules (p. 418, SR5) and mark off the appropriate amount of time on your Missions Calendar. Note that you can only search for one item at a time, as this represents you physically going out and looking for the item, spending time making phone calls, talking with people, buying them drinks, etc. If you wish to have contacts purchase additional items during a single downtime, use the standard rules for determining what items they can find, and how long it takes (p. 418, SR5). Since you won’t always know the skills and attributes of all your contacts, all contacts instead use their Loyalty instead of Charisma attribute and Connection*2 in place of their Negotiation skill for the Availability test. Each contact can only obtain a single item at a time, and only items that fall within their fields of specialty. (A talismonger is not going to be able to get you a gun, and a street doc won’t be any use when looking for a cyberdeck, for example.) You cannot buy used gear (other than cyberware).

Can I spend Edge during downtime? To prevent abuses of Edge and Edge refresh rates, no, you may not spend Edge during downtime.

How long does it take to heal? Damage that is sustained during gameplay is assumed to be fully healed as long as you take at least one week of downtime between Missions. This downtime can be used for any other activity you wish. To heal during a Mission, use the normal rules for healing (pp. 205-209, SR5).

If my equipment takes Matrix damage or is bricked, how long does it take to repair? Equipment that is bricked during gameplay is assumed to be fully repaired and operational as long as you take at least one week of downtime between Missions. This downtime can be used for any other activity you wish.

When do expansion books and eBooks become legal to use in Missions? Thirty days after the full release of the product, to allow plenty of time for gamemasters to obtain and read over the new game material. For eBook-only products, this is thirty days after they go on sale. For products that have a print release, it’s thirty days from the announced street date for the product.

What tests do the Positive Quality Quick Healer effect? Quick Healer (p. 77, SR5) only affects healing tests made on the characters with the quality. It does not help him heal other characters.

Does the official errata for Magical Skills (p. 142, SR5) mean that adepts cannot buy Arcana skill? No. That ruling only applies to skills that directly use the Magic Rating to use them. Arcana is a Logic skill. Any character may learn the Arcana skill.

Can a stim patch be used to heal Drain? Technically, stim patches do not heal anything. They simply temporarily remove the damage for a short period of time. So yes, stim patches can be used to negate the stun damage done by drain. However, when the stim patch wears off the user reapplies the removed stun damage, plus one extra box of stun. To prevent abuse, this extra box of stun is also counted as Drain damage, and thus is unable to be healed magically.

Does the +3 Drain Value from Reckless Spellcasting apply before or after the minimum Drain Value of 2 kicks in? You calculate all Drain modifiers at the same time. Thus if you were recklessly casting a Force 2 spell that normally had a drain value of F – 4, the drain would be modified to F – 1, so the drain value would still be 2.

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Shouldn’t the cost for Submersion for technomancers be the same as Initiation for magical characters? Yes. Submersion (p. 257, SR5) should cost 10 + (Grade x 3).

If an item, skill, power, spell, etc. is listed with different stats in two different published books, which book takes precedence? This should not happen, and when it does it’s simply an accident. Usually it’s simply a typo or something didn’t get renamed as it is supposed to be a new or separate version of the item or power. Official errata should be released to correct this oversight. However, if errata are not released before the book becomes Missions legal use the earlier instance of the item until either the Official errata is released or the Missions FAQ gets updated. As always, keep an eye on the official Shadowrun Missions forums for the latest news and rulings before they are released.

Can we trade money or gear between players? Yes, but only within reason. Giving someone an extra gun, or spotting them an extra 1,000¥ for some gear because they’re short is no big deal. However, you should not be giving away large, expensive items or large sums of nuyen. This is primarily to prevent abuse in games where someone is just sitting in to play a session or two, so they just dump their gear and money on their teammates at the end of the game since they’re not planning to play that character anymore. To set a hard limit on this, gamemasters should not allow players to give away more than 5,000¥ worth of cash and 5,000¥ in gear (using base book value for the gear) per game session.

Can you clarify what constitutes an Augmented Attribute? Yes. Anything that increases an attribute above its natural, base score is considered an Augmentation. This includes cyberware, bioware, magic, adept powers, drugs, and anything else that adds to your attribute. In all cases, the limit of +4 remains in place unless a power or ability specifically says it breaks that cap.

How many Unbound Spirits can you have at one time? The text (p. 300, SR5) isn’t very clear. You may only have one unbound spirit at any given moment.

Do datajacks require a fiberoptic cable? Datakjacks can operate as receivers for wireless signals, effectively acting as an antenna in your brainmeat. However some devices will require a direct fiberoptic connection (throwbacks or devices that have had their wireless turned off or disabled). But under normal circumstances, you can use a datajack wirelessly.

Can I hire my contacts to actually come on a shadowrun with me? Yes, many of your contacts are former shadowrunners themselves, and if the price is right they’re willing to come out of retirement to help out a friend! For Shadowrun Missions: Chicago you may hire several of the Missions specific contacts to help you out on a shadowrun, but there are some restrictions to this. Quantum Princess may be hired to act as Matrix overwatch and to help crack security or encrypted files. She will not physically come on a shadowrun unless it’s absolutely necessary (i.e., a complete Matrix dead-spot), but will tag along virtually and help out where she can. Lothan the Wise may be hired to provide magical support. He will cast spells and will provide summoned spirits as needed (though not bound spirits). Matt Wrath may be hired to provide additional muscle as needed. He loves a good fight and isn’t afraid of getting in the middle of a brawl, but he’s not stupid. None of the other contacts may be hired on. You cannot hire a contact if they were acting as your Mr. Johnson for the adventure. So if they’re hiring you, it means they’re not available to go on the run themselves in the first place. While contacts may be willing to come out and help, they’re retired now for a reason. Maybe they’re getting up there in years, maybe they’ve taken one too many bullets, and maybe they just have a career they enjoy better now that pays as well as running did. They’re not going to put themselves in excessive danger for you, no matter how much you’re paying. So while they will come along as backup and help out, you cannot use them as “10 extra boxes of ablative damage”. They won’t run in front and soak gunfire, and they won’t pull a suicidal distraction to help you get in the back door. They’ll offer up their expertise where necessary and will do their job well and competently, but that’s it. The gamemasters should only allow a contact to be available to be hired if they are filling a role that the group is weak on. Hired Contacts should not be considered an ace-in-the-hole, they should be a last resort for when you’re screwed and need specialized help to complete a mission. Quantum Princess and Lothan should only be available if the party is missing a decker or a mage, and Matt Wrath should only be available if the team is particularly weak when it comes to physical combat.

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The contacts charge 15,000¥ for a single Mission, minus 1,000¥ per point of loyalty the person contacting them about the job has with that contact. They cannot be hired and brought to the meet with Mr. Johnson as an extra team member so Mr. Johnson pays out an extra share to cover the contacts fee. Hiring a contact to fill in is not cheap, and should only be utilized as a last resort. Contacts do not increase Loyalty while hired.

How does a critter with Hardened Armor or the Immunity power interact with regular armor? Mil-Spec hardened Armor? How does this interact with Armor Piercing modifiers? Critters with wearing armor of the same type as their natural ability will add the armor ratings together and Armor Piercing and other modifiers are factored in after. Critters with both Hardened Armor and regular armor will take the Armor Piercing modifiers off the Hardened Armor first, and then off the regular armor if there’s any AP modifiers left to carry over.

Is it possible to run a Direct Connection between Device A (wireless off) and Device B (wireless on) and still receive Wireless Bonuses on Device A? No. An individual item must be wirelessly enabled and have access to the Matrix to gain the wireless bonus.

Will this FAQ be updated as more books are released? Yes, we will update as needed.

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RUN & GUN The Ares Thunderstruck Gauss Rifle (p. 45, Run & Gun) seems awfully easy to get ahold of. Is that correct? Ares shipping screwed up and actually sent off a small shipment of these to their Weapons World outlet stores in crates that were supposed to hold boxes of Ares Predator V’s, so for about a day it was possible to get hold of one of these monstrosities if you could find the right Weapons World store. Ares quickly realized their mistake and recalled them, and they’re now only available through special order if you’re a Platinum Club member. Or through the Black Market, which is more likely where you will find one. Simply put the 12F Availability is wrong, and should be 24F (as it is listed in the chart on p. 207).

Does the custom fit (stack) bonus (p. 59, Run & Gun) count as a “+” armor item for encumbrance (p. 169, SR5)? Yes, each stack piece counts against your encumbrance.

Can you wear multiple custom fit (stack) (p. 59, Run & Gun) items? If there were multiple (stack) items from the same manufacturer that were different types of clothing worn in different locations, then yes it would be possible. You cannot wear two of the same type of item, though (such as two overcoats/greatcoats). At this time, however, there are not two types of (stack) armor available from the same manufacturer.

Does the custom fit (stack) count toward my armor accessory limit? Yes. All that the custom fit rule does is allow an item that would normally be its own individual piece of armor (and thus would not normally stack) become an armor accessory when worn as part of a set.

It’s not clear what armors can the Second Skin armor stack with (p. 63, Run & Gun)? Second Skin is part of the Zoe line of products, and is intended to work with any of the Zoe brand armors only. This includes the Executive Suite, Heritage, and Nightshade/Moonsilver armors as well as Second Skin.

Do Gel Packs (p. 86, Run & Gun) count as armor accessories for the purposes of encumbrance (Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, p. 169), or do they "add to" (as opposed to stack with) the base armor? Gel Packs count as an armor stack, and thus add to encumbrance. Generally anytime you adding something else on top of, underneath, or in addition to your armor it will count as a stack, because it’s going to make the armor heavier and more uncomfortable to wear.

Are any of the Optional Rules for Deadlier or Less Lethal Combat (pp. 107-110, Run & Gun) used? No. These rules, listed as RG1, RG2, etc. are not used in Missions gameplay.

How do you calculate the AP modifier for Bull-Eye Double-Tap (p. 116, Run & Gun)? It’s the base AP of the weapon, before the APDS ammo if factored in, multiplied by the number of bullets. Then add in the APDS AP modifier. So a weapon with a –2 base AP value firing a three-round burst would be (–2 * 3) – 4, for a total AP modifier of –10.

Are the Martial Arts rules (pp. 128-142) allowed in Missions play? Yup! Time to start learning some Kung Fu!

Can we use the Martial Arts as a Specialization from the sidebar on p 135? Yes, but it only applies to the skill listed in the chart. The optional rule to allow some MA’s to give you two different specializations is not used.

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Fixin’ All the Broken Drek (p. 143, Run & Gun) seems cost prohibitive. Can we do something about those costs? Fortunately, Goober has you covered. So long as the item was not completely destroyed (i.e., takes more boxes of damage than it has), the item can be repaired at a rate of 2% of the item’s base cost per box of damage taken. For Missions play, this also covers the cost of the repairman, parts, etc. Keep in mind this does not cover Matrix damage, which is covered elsewhere in the FAQ.

Are any of the Qualities from Run & Gun disallowed? The following Qualities from Run & Gun are disallowed in Missions play: Positive Brand Loyalty (p. 127, Run & Gun) Negative Combat Junkie (p. 127, Run & Gun) Earther (p. 169, Run & Gun)

Is the Blow Up Good chapter (pp. 171-197, Run & Gun) being used? Yes, except for two sections. Homemade explosives are disallowed, as crafting items is outside the scope of Missions, and Gear Qualities are not used as they are designed for story and roleplaying hooks and rely on gamemaster discretion to use, and so fall outside of what most Missions games will have the time to handle.

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STREET GRIMOIRE I built my spellcaster before Street Grimoire came out. Can I trade out my tradition for one of the new ones? Yes, you may switch traditions as a retcon to the character. If your new drain-linked attribute is different, you may swap it with your old attribute only (i.e., Logic for Intuition). If you have any bound spirits of a type no longer available to your character, you must swap them out for one that matches your new tradition (i.e., fire spirit for guidance spirit), keeping the same Force and the same number of services your old spirit had.

Can you clarify what tests Background Counts (p.30-33, Street Grimoire) affect? Background Counts apply their modifiers to all Skill Tests that are being affected by magic in any way. This means casting spells, tests to activate adept powers, any test that is being augmented through a skill or attribute boost, etc. The adept power Improved Reflexes increases your Reaction, and will affect any skill test based on reaction. However, Initiative is not a skill test, so you do not take any Background Count related penalties. Drain is a damage resistance test, so likewise does not suffer Background Count penalties.

When discussing foci deactivating if the background count is higher than their Force, (p. 32, Street Grimoire) says that “A foci cannot activate while under the influence of the background count.” Can you clarify if that’s referring to all foci in general, or just foci whose Force is equal to or less than the background count? Just ones that are equal to or less than the background count. Considering how often runners are in a background count for Shadowrun Missions: Chicago, it would be cruel to not let foci ever activate.

Is anything out of the Dark Magic chapter (pp.78-101, Street Grimoire)) available for players? Hahahahahahahahahahhahahha…. Hahahahahhahahahahahahaha! No.

Under tattoo magic (p. 131, Street Grimoire) it says "Using the Artificing skill, the magician can create qi and other foci as tattoos." May we get other foci as tattoos? Yes, any focus may be bought as a tattoo, using the normal focus costs. However, keep in mind that these are permanent magical markings on your body that you can’t hide. You may turn them “off”, but they still show up in the astral plane as magical foci. They make you very conspicuous, since you can’t just leave them at home or lock them up when you need to be incognito.

Can I join a magical group (p. 129, Street Grimoire) and/or use Magical Ordeals or Schooling to reduce initiation costs (p. 140 Street Grimoire)? Yes and no, within certain restrictions. Magical Schools are not available as there are none in Chicago and few schools willingly accept a short-term, part-time student of dubious or SINless background. Players may only join the magical group “The Ash Union” (see sidebar for details). There are no other groups in the Chicago area that will accept shadowrunners (they’re all dedicated to specific factions or groups not available to the players), and players may not create their own group. Players may undertake the following Ordeals, following the normal rules for each plus any exceptions listed here: 

Nine Paths To Enlightenment: You must spend 4 full calendar weeks where he may do nothing else, including having contacts work on his behalf as all of his focus must be on the Ordeal. At the beginning of the next game session, before the game starts, ask the gamemaster to perform the opposed roll for this test, and she should choose the higher of

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  



the two attributes involved. You may spend a point of Edge on this roll, but that point is spent for the entire game session. Deed: Any shadowrun involving Lothan the Wise as a Mr. Johnson (either in full or in part) may count as a Deed for purposes of Initiation. However, you earn no money for the run (This is given to either Lothan or The Ash Union for their part in the Initiation). Familiar: Complete this ritual as normal. Hermit: You must spend 4 full calendar weeks living by yourself in the wasteland of the Containment Zone, scrounging for food and shelter. At the end of the first week you must succeed at an Intuition + Survival (2) [Mental] test. At the end of the second week you must succeed at a Logic + Survival (3) [Mental] test. The third week you must succeed at a Charisma + Survival (4) [Social] test. The fourth week you must succeed at a Body + Survival (5) [Physical] test. These represent the various challenges you will face alone and with no supplies or gear. These tests may be made at the beginning of the next game session with the gamemaster supervising them. Edge may be spent on each roll, but that edge is then spent for the entire game session. Failing any of these tests aborts the Ordeal after that week (So failing the third test would only cost three calendar weeks), costs you no karma, and you may try again after your next Mission. Sacrifice: This ritual may be taken as normal.

If I am getting discounts from both being a member of a Group and doing an Ordeal, how do I apply the discount? Always add up all percentage discounts before applying them. In this instance, you would add the –10% from the group to the –10% from the Ordeal, and apply a –20% discount to the Karma cost, rounding up.

>>>>>Begin sidebar

THE ASH UNION Purpose: The Ash Union is a loose group of magically active individuals, mostly shadowrunners, operating in the Chicago area. They have banded together to help each other grow magically and help combat the numerous magical threats to the city. Members: 30+ Strictures: Dues, Exclusive Membership, Exclusive Ritual Dues: 500¥/month Patron: Lothan the Wise Description and Customs: The Ash Union is a loose group of largely unaffiliated spellcasters, adepts, and talismongers in Chicago. The Union was originally formed by a magician named Ash who had a talismonger shop in northern Chicago, outside of the Containment Zone erected by Ares. He decided to try helping those displaced by the CZ as well s to investigate what was going on, and he turned to the remaining shadowrunners in the city for help. Since then the group has become the de factor “runner initiatory group” within the city. After Ash’s death last year due to age, Lothan assumed leadership and has maintained the group. He’s turned the groups purpose toward investigating whether or not the bugs are truly gone from Chicago, dealing with the many other magical threats that still exist in the area, and finding a way to try and cleanse the local astral plane. Once any magically active character gains Lothan at Loyalty 1 or better, that character will be invited to join the Union following the normal rules for joining an initiatory group, and gaining all the usual benefits from being a member. Dues are due the 1st of each month.

>>>>>End Sidebar Q. The Ash Union magical group in the FAQ has several strictures that require an oath. However, Oaths are not permitted Ordeals for initiating in Missions. A. The Oath required under the strictures of the Ash Union is the only Oath ordeal which qualifies for purposes of initiation in Missions.

Can I make a Spirit Pact (p. 191, Street Grimoire) with a Free Spirit? No, Spirit Pacts are disallowed in Missions play.

Can I use any of the New Spirit Options (p. 192, Street Grimoire)? Long Term Service is not allowed, but Fettering and Reckless Summoning are. Shadowrun Missions Chicago FAQ v1.4 – Updated 7/22/2015

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Are the Spirit Reputation rules (p. 206, Street Grimoire) used? No. Considering how often you’re running inside an area with a background bount, it wouldn’t take long to accrue a negative reputation high enough to disrupt gameplay.

Is any of the Turning Lead Into Gold (pp. 208-230, Street Grimoire) chapter rules used? The Magical Items listed on p. 217 are available using the normal restrictions for buying goods. Otherwise this chapter is mostly disallowed as item creation is generally outside the scope of Missions play, and the alchemical preparation magical compounds do not have any prices listed for the special materials and as such are unavailable for the time being.

Can I have a Talismonger upgrade my focus (p. 230, Street Grimoire)? Yes. It takes a number of days equal to the new Force for a Talismonger to complete, and it will cost the difference in nuyen between the old and new focus, plus 20% for the talismongers time and materials. You will also have to pay the karma difference between the old and new focus.

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RUN FASTER Do I need to fill out the 20 Questions (p.19, Run Faster)? No, it is not a requirement for Missions, but it is suggested since it can help give you a better idea of who your character is, and may provide fun roleplaying hooks.

Are the Codes from Ethics, Codes, and Other Jokes (pp. 22-32, Run Faster) allowed to be used? Not really, since these are intended to be used with the Code of Honor Positive Quality (p. 79, SR5). However, as with all things, if you want to take one just to use it for roleplay purposes, without getting extra points for it, feel free! There are some great codes here that can help provide the foundation of a solid character concept and facilitate some fun roleplay.

Are any of the alternative character generation methods under Construction Kits (pp. 62-86, Run Faster) allowed? The Priority system from the core SR5 book is still considered the primary character generation method and is recommended to be used. The Point Buy system is also allowed, though players should note that Point Buy will sometimes create slightly less powerful characters than the Priority System, due to the balanced nature of using Karma to buy up your skills and attributes. The Sum to Ten and the Life Modules systems are generally not allowed in order to facilitate as much balance as possible between characters playing Missions. At their discretion, however, gamemasters can allow a character generated through these means that they have examined and found to be reasonably balanced. Gamemasters should use this discretion very cautiously, keeping in mind the importance of balanced power levels in Mission games

Is the Positive Quality Rank (p. 86, Run Faster) allowed? Yes, even though it’s in the Life Modules section, it can be applicable to any character.

Can I play a Metavariant (pp. 88-98 & p. 104, Run Faster)? Yes, all the normal racial variants are available to play.

Can I play a Metasapient (pp. 98-105, Run Faster)? None of the metasapients are available for play in the Chicago Campaign. This is for two reasons. First and foremost, the majority of the metasapients are dual natured or otherwise utilize magic for their powers. As such they find Chicago, with its twisted and corrupt background count, to be physically painful to even be near. As such they are simply not appropriate for this campaign. The second reason is that Chicago natives are even less tolerant of weird and unusual than most places. Between bugs, ghouls, and the twisted toxic mutants that have arisen in the Containment Zone, your average Chicago native will shoot most metasapients on sight and leave the corpse for the crows. There is also logistical and balance reasons for not allowing them as well. However, as an exception to this (and because they were allowed in prior seasons), the metasapients are allowed for Prime Mission play. Just remember that Prime Runners are not eligible for the regular Campaign.

Can I play an Infected character (pp. 133-143, Run Faster)? Sorry, no. Vampires are outside the scope of Missions, and as with the dual-natured metasapients, any sane vampire will find the background count of Chicago nearly unbearable. Those that can tolerate it are usually fairly twisted and little more than monsters.

But what about ? There are rare exceptions to the rules, and the (very) few metavarients and Infected that do call Chicago home and are not crazed monsters are there for story purposes, and frequently they have many, many years of experience or powerful backing from something like a megacorp allowing them the ability to live there without (much) harassment. Plus Simon Andrews can charm the pants off of anyone, even an angry mob hell-bent on burning his scaly hide at the stake.

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Are any Qualities (pp. 144-158, Run Faster) disallowed? Yes, the following Qualities are disallowed for Missions play:

Positives: Fame (p. 146, Run Faster) Trust Fund (p. 151, Run Faster)

Negatives: Amnesia (p. 152, Run Faster) Big Regret (p. 153, Run Faster) Borrowed Time (p. 153, Run Faster) Day Job (p. 154, Run Faster) Driven (p. 154, Run Faster) Ex-Con (p. 155, Run Faster) Flashbacks (p. 155, Run Faster) Hung Out to Dry (p. 155, Run Faster) In Debt (p. 156, Run Faster) Paraplegic (p. 157, Run Faster) Poor Self Control – Compulsive (p. 158, Run Faster) Poor Self Control – Vindictive (p. 158, Run Faster) Records on File (p. 158, Run Faster) Vendetta (p. 159, Run Faster) Wanted (p. 159, Run Faster)

Is the Who you Know? section (pp. 172-195, Run Faster) allowed? Not really. Much of this section involves the ins and outs of Contacts, specifically in what sort of relationship a character has with her contacts. Unfortunately, much of this is outside the scope of your average Missions game to handle, and we already handle contacts a little differently anyway. Factor in the unusual nature of the Campaign Contacts that characters automatically earn (usually), and the majority of this section doesn’t really apply.

Are the expanded Lifestyles from A Dump of One’s Own (pp. 217-218, Run Faster) used? Yes, though the lifestyles Traveler and Commercial are not allowed.

Are the Lifestyle Entertainment Options (pp. 220-224, Run Faster) allowed? Yes, you can add any of these to a Lifestyle, if eligible.

Are the Lifestyle Qualities allowed? Yes, all the Qualities are allowed, if eligible.

Are the PACKs (pp. 228-252, Run Faster) allowed for Missions? Yes, PACKs can be purchased at character creation to make your life a little easier. After chargen, gear should be purchased as normal. Q. What are stats used for the spear found in the Magic Spear package? (Run Faster, pg. 252) A. Spear, Acc. 5, Reach 3, Damage (STR + 3)P, AP -2

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GUN HAVEN 3 The Ultimax Rain Forest Carbine (p. 32, Gun Haven 3) seems too good to be true. What are the real stats on this thing? Yes, the Rain Forest stat block is a mistake. Use this stat block instead: ACC 5

DAM 11P

AP -2

MODE SA/BF

RC (1)

AMMO 18(C)

AVAIL 8R

COST 2,800¥

ASSASSIN’S PRIMER The Assassin’s Creed qualities (p. 16, Assassin’s Primer) are listed as specific examples of the Code of Honor positive quality. Does this mean they are disallowed? Unfortunately, yes.

SAIL AWAY, SWEET SISTER How much does a Personalized Grip cost? 100¥, Availability 2.

SHADOW SPELLS Since you can’t make two attack actions, how does the [Element] Grenade spell work, since it requires two separate actions to cast and to detonate, both of which could be counted as an attack? While it takes two actions, it counts as a single attack since it’s a spell.

SRM 05-03: Gone Long Gone Karma Award errata: The Karma awards for this adventure are in error, using the Season 4 format. The correct award for the Gamemaster should be 7 Karma, and the awards for the players should be:    

2 Karma - Delivering the Node to either Sarah Silverleaf or Maggie Goldberg 2 Karma - Returned the Focus to Lothan 1 Karma - Delivered the drone to Goober 2 Karma - Adventure Difficulty

The maximum Karma award for this adventure should be 7.

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Data Trails Disallowed Qualities: Positives: Online Fame (Data Trails, pg. 45) Negatives: Code of Honor: Like A Boss (Data Trails, pg. 46) Curiosity Killed the Cat (Data Trails, pg. 46) Data Liberator (Data Trails, pg. 46) LEEEEEEEROY JENKINS (Data Trails, pg. 48) Prank Warrior (Data Trails, pg. 49) Wanted by GOD (Data Trails, pg. 49) Otaku to Technomancer (Data Trails, pg. 45): Otaku first came to light when it was discovered they could interface with the matrix with only an ASIST converter and a datajack (Matrix, pg. 137). I know I’m referencing an SR3 sourcebook, but that’s where you will find some background information on Otaku. Therefore, in order to take this quality, the character must also install a datajack. Prime Datahaven Membership (Data Trails, pg. 45): Prime Datahaven Membership applies to acquiring data only, not gear. Use of the membership does not automatically grant access to the entire world of data, the Datahaven is still treated a contact for purposes of Legwork. Latest and Greatest (Data Trails, pg. 48): You just HAVE to have the newest thing out. This means the newest AK-97 with gold plate, the diamond glitter encrusted armor jacket, and so forth. You must spend 60% of your earnings from each run on upgrading your most commonly used gear. Note: this does not apply to consumable or expendable items, e.g. bullets, reagants, etc. May I use Paths to Hackerdom to create my decker or technomancer character? (Data Trails, pg. 50) Yes May I take both the Mind over Machine echo (SR5, pg. 258) and the MMRI echo (Data Trails, Pg. 59)? No, you may only choose one or the other. The initial run of Nixdorf Sekretaers (Data Trails, pg. 61) had a full blown agent included in the package. Marketing quickly realized the error and sent out a patch to correct the situation. The only skill the agent now has is the Computer skill. Those corporate programmers got rid of the Cybercombat and Hacking package.

Can I put a commlink dongle on a cyberdeck or RCC? (Data Trails, pg. 61)

No, they are limited to just commlinks. The chart for commlink dongles looks kind of weird, what should the prices for the attack and stealth dongles look like? (Data Trails, pg. 62)

Dongle Attack dongle (Rating 1-6) Stealth dongle (Rating 1-6)

Availability [Rating x 2]R [Rating x 2]R

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Cost (Rating x 2) x 3000¥ (Rating x 2) x 3000¥

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Are the various cyberdecks mentioned in the Shadowrun 5th Edition Sourcebook standard or non-standard form factors? (Data Trails, pg. 62) ‘Tablet’ cyberdecks, implanted cyberdecks, and ‘hack-pack’ cyberdecks mentioned in the core rulebook are all standard form factors and carry no additional cost per this rule. Can I scrounge for electronic parts? (Data Trails, pg. 66) Sure, if you and your team want to hang around for the 10 or more minutes it will take you to cannibalize the item(s) in question. This just gives the GM more opportunities to exercise his/her tactical skills with HTRs! Please remember, this is not a license for runners to start looting every electronic item they see just for parts…we have a separate note to GMs on that. Can I make device modifications? (Data Trails, pg. 66) Yes, but this is a downtime activitiy. Is the chapter Deeper and Deeper going to be used? (Data Trails, pg. 110) Deep Runs into host Foundations will not be allowed unless explicitly included in the Mission. Can I play an AI character? (Data Trails, pg. 145) No Can my technomancer access Resonance Wells while on a Mission? (Data Trails, pgs. 162-163) No, unless it’s explicitly in the Mission. Can I make a Dissonant Technomancer or take Dissonant echoes during Submersion? (Data Trails, pg. 164) No, simply, no.

Boston Lockdown Are the Cyber Suites from Lockdown Missions legal? (Boston Lockdown, pgs. 205-207) Yes I want to buy MADAR for my character, but I don’t see any prices listed. What gives? (Boston Lockdown, pg. 208) Uncle Ares is still developing the MADAR system, so it’s not even close to being released. It’s totally experimental (as far as we’ve been told), so keep dreaming for now. Okay, so I can’t buy a MADAR, what about those cool microwave guns and the blaster (repeating laser)? (Boston Lockdown, pg. 209) Sorry, Uncle Ares is still experimenting with this stuff, so you can’t find it anywhere. Save up your ¥ for the day they are out! Fine, can I at least get a Crazy-Repeller? (Boston Lockdown, pg. 209) Not yet Can I play a Dissonant Techno? (Boston Lockdown, pgs. 209-210) Um, no.

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Questions that have come up since last revision Q. Do karma discounts from positive qualities stack? For example, if raising a language skill from 3 to 4, would it be eligible for a discount from both Linguist and Jack of All Trades, Master of None? A. Only one discount can be used at a time. Q. For Prime Runners, metasapients from Run Faster are permitted as conversions from the previous campaign. However, the Pixie Vanishing weakness is not defined in Run Faster. It also appears to be different from the Critter Power "Vanishing" (Aetherology). How should this be handled? A. For a PC, it’s called “Vanish” and here are the rules for it: “When a critter would die from any cause, be it old age or the detonation of a nuclear weapon, it vanishes from this world, leaving no trace. This disappearance can be captured on film, video, or trideo cameras with ease, but there is no way known to stop or prevent it—even the critter itself seems powerless to remain. Researchers debate exactly where the critters go; many suggest they transition to some metaplane where they cannot die. Naturally, no resuscitation, autopsy, or cybermantic procedure is viable on the critter without a body with which to work.” Q: Some metasapient powers are not allowed in Missions, so how do we handle this? A: Since it is a listed power for the specific metasapient race, it is allowed for that metasapient race.

Q. What is the Aspected/Domain background count in your Magical Lodge (Street Grimoire, pgs. 30-32). Per the examples it should be no more than 6. Is it equal to the Rating of the Lodge? A. Character created or built magical lodges do not have a background count.

Q. Are metagenic qualities which come along with the legal metavariants Missions legal? A. Yes

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