Multiple Terms for Article Reference

[reiner72]

Hey all,

I haven't been able to find info yet but is there a way to identify terms other than article titles to be detected as references?

Example:
I would like 'horse' and 'horses' to reference to the same article, 'Horse'.

Thanks for the help and apologies if this has been asked before.

[KefkaZ]

You can create aliases that does this. Check the manual for how-to.

[reiner72]

Aliases! That was the term I was looking for.

Thank you!

[PaladinRevenant]

So, how about secret identities? I'm running a Shadowrun game, in Shadowrun most of the time when someone hires the team, they are only known as Mr. Johnson. This presents 2 problems that I can think of right away.

1) If I have multiple people hiring the team, they can't all be Mr. Johnson in Realm Works because it will cause collisions. This is avoidable by assigning them numbers, but not really ideal.

2) I want to be able to reveal information about the character, but I don't want the topic to have his real name until the players have actually learned it. The only way I see around this is to actually change the topic name after the players have learned his name. But I think that might cause havok with the linking system.

Thoughts?

[Mystic Lemur]

Something similar has been discussed before. The consensus seems to be to create a topic for the Real identity and the Pseudonym, and then create a relationship between the two that can be revealed later. That way you can keep the things they know about Bob and Mr. Johnson separate, without spoiling that Bob is Mr. Johnson.

As for having multiple people with the same pseudonym, how do you want it to appear? That the same person is giving all the missions? Then make one Mr. Johnson topic and multiple relationships. That there are separate Mr.s Johnson? Then create one pseudonym for each real identity. Just be prepared to create a lot of manual links to different topics with the same name.

As for what to call the different Mr. Johnson topics, let the players name them. When they realize that there are multiple people giving them orders, see how they refer to the different ones. If they call them Johnson 1 and Johnson 2, then there is no harm naming the topics that. It would actually help them keep their suspicions straight.

[Pollution]

Originally Posted by PaladinRevenant

So, how about secret identities? I'm running a Shadowrun game, in Shadowrun most of the time when someone hires the team, they are only known as Mr. Johnson. This presents 2 problems that I can think of right away.

1) If I have multiple people hiring the team, they can't all be Mr. Johnson in Realm Works because it will cause collisions. This is avoidable by assigning them numbers, but not really ideal.

2) I want to be able to reveal information about the character, but I don't want the topic to have his real name until the players have actually learned it. The only way I see around this is to actually change the topic name after the players have learned his name. But I think that might cause havok with the linking system.

Thoughts?

As a long time SR DM, here's how I would do Johnsons.

Create a Mr. Johnson Category. Put all your Johnsons under that. This way, you have them all together for ease of use, and you can always display to your players the main heading. Maybe create a text entry for each one in the main topic that gives them the description with a GM Note above to tell you which one it's for.

So you would see (left nav)
Mr. Johnson
++James Spader
++Kirk Tiberius
++Bob Smith
++Insane Bolt

Then under M. Johnson you'd have (Parentheses = DM field)
Description:
(James Spader)
Mr. Johnson stands before you in a nice suit staring at you coldly with his cyber-eyes.
(Kirk Tiberius)
Mr. Johnson stands 5'9" and is bald, with no visible cyberwear.
(Bob Smith)
For a Troll, Mr. Johnson appears quite professional and looks amazing in his expensive threads.
(Insane Bolt)
This is the first time you've ever had a meet with a Mr. Johnson that showed up hocked up on Jazz. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate your Street Cred?

Then, you just reveal each section as appropriate to your party.

You could also look at identifiers and aliases to make 2 separate instances of your Johnson. one for known information, and another for the real deal (Set Truth Level springs to mind immediately for this) Then, you make Johnson 1 have the name Mr. Johnson KT, and have him be linked to Kirk Tiberius (which has the real truth), for example. Once they identify KT, show them that profile instead of the other one.

It's an interesting problem, and if I was running SR right now, I'd be all over it figuring out the "Best way" for you to solve it. Currently, I'm going nuts with RotRL and putting all that in.

Good luck!

[EightBitz]

Originally Posted by Pollution

As a long time SR DM, here's how I would do Johnsons.

Create a Mr. Johnson Category. Put all your Johnsons under that. This way, you have them all together for ease of use, and you can always display to your players the main heading. Maybe create a text entry for each one in the main topic that gives them the description with a GM Note above to tell you which one it's for.

So you would see (left nav)
Mr. Johnson
++James Spader
++Kirk Tiberius
++Bob Smith
++Insane Bolt

Then under M. Johnson you'd have (Parentheses = DM field)
Description:
(James Spader)
Mr. Johnson stands before you in a nice suit staring at you coldly with his cyber-eyes.
(Kirk Tiberius)
Mr. Johnson stands 5'9" and is bald, with no visible cyberwear.
(Bob Smith)
For a Troll, Mr. Johnson appears quite professional and looks amazing in his expensive threads.
(Insane Bolt)
This is the first time you've ever had a meet with a Mr. Johnson that showed up hocked up on Jazz. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate your Street Cred?

Then, you just reveal each section as appropriate to your party.

You could also look at identifiers and aliases to make 2 separate instances of your Johnson. one for known information, and another for the real deal (Set Truth Level springs to mind immediately for this) Then, you make Johnson 1 have the name Mr. Johnson KT, and have him be linked to Kirk Tiberius (which has the real truth), for example. Once they identify KT, show them that profile instead of the other one.

It's an interesting problem, and if I was running SR right now, I'd be all over it figuring out the "Best way" for you to solve it. Currently, I'm going nuts with RotRL and putting all that in.

Good luck!

I've been reading Shadowrun. Haven't played it or run it yet. But when it gets to that point ... I love your method.