Shadowrun_4th_Edition_-_Questions.pdf

11 Shadowrun Questions

(for new players)

1 What can technology do in 2070?

A lot and a little. The biggest advances are in data processing and understanding of the

human brain. For the computers, this (a) means countless little computers everywhere. You

can message your fridge to order food in when its low, you have voice recognition on your

comm (the next evolutionary step on from mobile phones), your car can find its way home

when you pass out drunk behind the wheel. And (b) the real computers are able to run

incredibly realistic virtual environments and interface with the human brain in real time.

The latter is called SIMsense and is a way of overriding the normal sensory input of the

human body. It has many wonderful uses and a few really, really nasty ones.

Other advances are in biology, materials science and power storage. The upshot? Biological

and cybernetic alterations to the human body. They can give you a new arm, they can

rebuild your skull, they can vat grow additional grey matter from stem cells and give your

brain an upgrade. And eyes... you can get some really cool eyes, these days.

But there aren't many big revolutions in science. No teleporters or lightsabres. The things

that are possible in theory 2007/9, are sometimes possible in practice in 2070. But noone's

radically changed the theory yet.

2 What can magic do in 2070?

Noone really knows for sure. At least noone who's talking. All that's definite is that magic

is dark, sinister and powerful. Mages have been able to manipulate energy to throw fire, fly,

turn flesh into stone or control the very way people think. There seem to be limits though.

There have been constraints though – noone has managed to teleport or raise the dead.

Spirits and Astral Projection are real, however.

3 Is everybody happy?

No. Really, no. It's bad out there. Stay here in your little corporate enclave where our nice

security forces will protect our loyal employees. Seems like every year, the police lose

control of another part of the city. And the VITAS plagues... who did you lose to VITAS?

Me? Just my sister. I was kind of lucky. I tell you this, it's a good job the Megacorps are in

charge. If it wasn't for us, you'd be left with what remains of the World's governments

trying to run things. They had their chance and they failed. Now don't you think you should

be getting back to work? You're productivity was down this month, and you really don't

want to be blacklisted if you lose this job. Not with little Timmy wanting school vouchers,

eh?

4 Where did the metahumans come from?

Us. It began with UGE back in the early 2010's. Children were being born “deformed” (as it

was thought back then). So many of them in so many parts of the world, the medical world

was baffled as to the cause. Because they fitted the stereotypes so well, it was inevitable

that the media dubbed the children Dwarves and Elves. That got about 10% of newborns in

the early years. But it wasn't anything compared to what happened to seemingly normal

children when they hit puberty (and some unfortunate adults). “Goblinisation” put people

in prolonged, agonising states lasting from months to over a year. And they emerged

grotesquely changed. With “dwarves” and “elves” setting a precedent, it was inevitable that

we got “Orks” and “Trolls.” though they have scientific names. It's still settling down and

even now, a human child will occasionally goblinise at puberty (every parent's nightmare).

Likewise a troll or an elf will sometimes give birth to a human child. It's getting less

frequent though.

And everyone falls into one of the races. There are no halfbreeds. Human and orc get it on,

it could go either way, but it will be one or the other.

5 Who's in charge?

There are ten corporations that are called Megacorporations, or triple AAA's. There's

barely a government in the world that isn't in their pockets. Megacorps like Renraku,

SaederKrupp or Ares run the show. National governments remain for the most part

because “the mega's don't want to deal with taking out the trash.” But there are no real rules

for the big boys. The manoeuvring and struggle for dominance between them is what turns

the greasy cogs of the world.

But perhaps there are also other powers at work. Less obvious. No less dangerous. You'll

learn.

6 How many hit points do I get?

About 10 15. And you don't get more. One of the fundamental principles of Shadowrun,

and you need to get used to this, is that it is easier to dish out damage than it is to take it.

You can be the best shot in the UCAS, you can hurl a fireball that will scorch the armour

off an Ares Citymaster, but you will never, ever get away from the fact that if someone

catches you in the open with an assault rifle, you might die. Even the big players are

vulnerable. That dragon might have enough magical juice to level your party in one go, but

with the right planning (and a Medium Machine Gun), a single starting character could

bring her down. That's why Shadowrun is so filled with plotting, treachery and stealth. It's

part of the game. (And oh yes, dragons are very good at all three of these).

7 Who is Harlequin?

An urban myth. Forget about it. Just because a death goes unexplained, there's no need to

go inventing nightmares. Seriously, forget it.

8 What do Shadowrunners do?

It depends how much you pay them. They range from competent professionals to gangers

from the street, but are usually a cut above the common man (or else they wont last long).

Mr. Johnson might hire them to steal a prototype or sabotage a rival's operation or

something else entirely. As “deniable assets” they can't be traced to their employer.

9 What can I get away with?

Depends where you are. If you're in the barrens then you can probably walk down the street

with an assault rifle in your hands (but keep an eye out for the local gangs who might take

offence). Try the same thing in Bellevue and you'll have heavily armed police all over you

in minutes. Likewise, who you piss off probably matters more than what you do. A murder

in Redmond will get some paperwork filed. Punch somebody richer than you and they'll

have a chip in your head faster than you can say “privatised police force.”

10 What magical creatures and places are there?

Lots of creatures, some places. Just as in a manarich environment, some humans expressed

as elves or dwarves, some faction of animals became altered versions of themselves. You

wont see unicorns galloping down the freeway, but the zoo might have some depressed

looking naga and a few corporate facilities use barghests for their ability to perceive (and

harm) astral forms.

The big ones are dragons and spirits. The former for their intelligence, magical power and

most importantly of all, their ability to communicate with mankind. One has even

established itself as the major shareholder and director of a corporation. The spirits because

they can be summoned and controlled by magicians. They come in many different forms

and wield various abilities. And some spirits are free of any master. These in particular, are

to be wary of.

11 What happened to America?

About everything bad you can imagine. It is no more. Instead you have the United Canadian

and American States (UCAS) and they've had a lot of territory taken from them. Back in

the early 2000's, there was growing popular unrest due to increasing corporate power and

the economic woes that had befallen the debt ridden USA along with growing fear at the

small, inexplicable phenomena that were starting to happen. The government responded in

the usual way of governments that see themselves losing control and tightened their grip

with stronger laws, harsher punishments and reductions in civil rights. A terrorist group,

called SAIM, motivated by the blanket seizures of native american land struck at a nuclear

missile facility in the USA. The native american movement in general had become

something of a cause celebr é for the anticorporate and antiestablisment factions and the

government didn't like it. Amongst the many dissidents who were being relocated to “re

education centres” was included a young man called Danial Howling Coyote. A few years

later, during a storm, he led the entire inmate population of the camp out into the night.

Guards reported that he was “glowing” and that “bullets would not touch him.” For the next

year he was the USA's most wanted individual whilst at the same time support for him grew

in many quarters and with all ethnic groups, fuelled by his occasional media statements

against the government and corporations, and by his ability to elude the very best attempts

to capture him. With incidents of being able to demonstrate real magic, native american

shamans (though this actually included converts from any race), made enormous gains in

popularising native american belief systems, including a “back to the land” ethos. Scared,

the government hit back in all the ways it could and there is a strict media clampdown.

Danial Howling Coyote issues a demand to the government of the USA to relinquish

control of large swathes of North American territory to his “NAN Council.” This is treated

with derision until Mt. Redondo erupts, burying Los Alamos. Danial Howling Coyote

broadcasts a message from a nearby reservation taking credit for 'invoking Mother Earth'

and an entire battalion of USAF airborne cavalry is sent after him. None survive. The truth

of what is happening leaks to the public despite government censorship provoking panic

and more civil unrest. Over the next few years, repeated attacks on Danial's guerilla forces

are foiled and the USA is now in a state of actual warfare against the enemy within its own

borders. In 2017, Danial leads what he called the “Great Ghost Dance.” Four volcanos in

North America erupted simultaneously, devastating whole regions. Faced with an enemy it

cannot fight, and demands within its own populace, the USA negotiates. Large territories

are ceded to NAN control and other parts of the USA secede of their own accord. After

twohundred and forty years of existence, the USA was no more.

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