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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Shadowrunner: Ted Grundy

Shadowrun is the famous combination of science fiction with heavy cyberpunk elements and fantasy into a gritty shades of grey style setting. When magic returned to the world, various mythological creatures manifested ranging from dragons, spirits, angels and demons to less overt things such as elfs, dwarfs, orks, and trolls. As well, magicians of all sorts appeared, and with them have come various traditions relating to their craft. It is 2070, more than sixty years since the return of magic.

The characters in the game are usually the titular Shadowrunns, who are people who live on the fringes of society and range from being professionals just doing a job, to psychopaths out looking for new thrills, to people who just got caught up in a fucked up lifestyle and can't get out. They're hired to go out and perform all manner of jobs for various corporate, criminal, military, and political groups. Such jobs might be as simple as assassination, to as complex as stealing specific sets of data hidden inside vast virtual reality worlds.

Ted Grundy is one such Shadowrunner, but isn't up to doing grand works of hacking or assassination. Indeed, he barely counts as a Shadowrunner as most of his work is gained from gangs and a little on the small scale. He's a Giant, which is a sub breed of troll. Trolls are already huge individuals, standing at three meters tall on average, and being about one and a half to two meters wide. Giants are easily five meters tall, and three meters wide. He lives in Redmond, the slums of the Seattle Megasprawl, and is afflicted with a the Krieger strain of the Human-Metahuman Vampiric Virus, HMHVV. It's a virus that turns the infected into a creature, usually an undead, from myth. All races become vampires, and then there's special racial variants for the others. Elfs become Banshees, dwarfs become Goblins, trolls become Dzoo-noo-qua, and orks become Wendigo. The infected became territorial, except the dwarfs that become Goblins, who developed a pack mentality, and must drain the soul through a symbolic method like eating flesh or drinking blood. In addition, humans have a unique form from a mutated version of this first strain, that turn them into Nosferatu, similar to the Count Orlock from the movie of the same name.

There's a second strain to this disease! Instead of turning the infected into a powerful apex predator style solitary creature, it turns them into weaker pack animals. Humans become Loup Garou, orks become Grendels, trolls become Fomoraiq, elfs become Harvesters, and dwarfs become Gnawers. They're not as powerful as the first strain monsters, but each has a bunch of unique powers, and they work in team. Again, however, dwarfs are the exception. Gnawers do not work well in groups, and tend to be loners. If all of those creatures sound weird and obscure, it's understandable. The second strain is supposed to be odd, and this entry isn't about that.

There is a THIRD STRAIN, god damn. This strain is often called the Krieger strain, because of the scientist that discovered it. They're similar to the second strain, except it effects every race the same. You become a ghoul, a creature with minor allergies to sunlight, and other problems. They only need to eat human flesh, not devour their victim's souls like all the other monsters with this virus. Because of this primary difference, ghouls are almost considered people! The government has recognized them as victims of a horrible disease, and after much mismanagement of their rights, they've finally granted them almost all of the essential human rights. Providing food is an issue, considering how even in dystopian cyberpunk future, the death penalty is still too heavy to promise dead prisoners as a steady supply of food that need it.

I TOLD YOU THAT STORY TO GIVE YOU A BRIEF SUMMARY OF MY CHARACTER.

So, he's a cannibal giant pseudo-zombie. He's probably fifteen to sixteen and a half feet tall, and stealthy as all get out. You can't hear him walking, he wears an active camouflage jumpsuit, like in Ghost in the Shell, and he likes to sneak up on your and disable your body's nerves. He's quick, and magic augments his strength, making him punch as hard as a rocket. Being a troll sub-breed, his body's covered in dermal deposits, hardened muscle, and body fat which allows him to shrug off gunshots with barely a flinch. Combine that with giants having a bark-like skin, and you're never taking him out with a anything short of an assault rifle. All of this without min/maxing.

He works for a notorious gang of ghouls that kidnap people to strip for food and organs. They sell the organs, and the eat the flesh. His job in this is to return people to them in as few pieces as possible. He's a big, dumb muscle head who can barely use a computer. His only marketable qualities is his capability to move around unnoticed, his immense strength. He's not gotten to do anything interesting yet, except fail to use one of those intercom things that are found outside some offices and apartments. But, he's a literal giant with a disturbing countenance, magical enhancement, and a hunger for human flesh. He's a scary bastard that you're likely to meet down a cold, dark alley.