Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Banshee on <02-05-20/1103:28>
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The thread about the cyberpunk documentary got me to thinking. Question to the masses?
If you were looking for an alternative setting to Shadowrun, what would it be like?
Completely original? Based on an existing novel, series, movie, ect? If so which one?
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For me the main appeal of the Shadowrun setting is the "Mash-up" aspect.
Games like Torg, Rifts, Starfinder also scratch that itch for me.
"Cyberpunk" gets real table specific. I've played Shadowrun games that are essentially high fantasy kind of campaigns and had plenty of fun.
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I'm kind of sour on the mashup nature, but I think it has more to do with unbalanced game mechanics than not liking the atmosphere. Honestly i think Shadowrun would be vastly improved if spirits were just taken away ;)
Setting-wise, though... call me morbid but Shadowrun is kind of too "Happy Bright Future" for my cyberpunk tastes. Nowhere near enough despair and dystopia. A cyberpunk-supernatural mashup I could totally dig is Cyberpunk/Cthulu.
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For me the main appeal of the Shadowrun setting is the "Mash-up" aspect.
Games like Torg, Rifts, Starfinder also scratch that itch for me.
"Cyberpunk" gets real table specific. I've played Shadowrun games that are essentially high fantasy kind of campaigns and had plenty of fun.
For me too. Although Rifts is limited by the rules and imo too post apocalyptic while Starfinder ignores the SciFi aspect too much and is too much geared towards dungeon crawls far away from any form of civilization. I do not know Torg.
So from all those mentions only Shadowrun really does a "mash-up" of technology and magic.
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Setting-wise, though... call me morbid but Shadowrun is kind of too "Happy Bright Future" for my cyberpunk tastes. Nowhere near enough despair and dystopia. A cyberpunk-supernatural mashup I could totally dig is Cyberpunk/Cthulu.
Same here, I'd prefer less high fantasy, more occult. And Shadowrun definitely pays more lip service to cyberpunk themes than they actually support it in game terms.
If we're talking about a Shadowrun game with a different Shadowrun setting, where Cyberpunk and Magic are mashed up, I think I would just like a setting that's more tightly designed, to be honest. Instead of a setting where Tech and Magic are blended all over the place (despite what the books say about them not playing well together), I'd like a tech-heavy setting where magic is rare, lower powered, and represents chaos in a world obsessed with control. So it has a cyberpunk purpose, because it's f'ing magic. When magic is powerful and you need magic to fight magic and it boils down to just another dimension of combat, it becomes ubiquitous and predictable and it ceases to be magic for me.
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For me I'm really digging what K.C. Alexander did in Necrotech ands it's sequel Nanoshock
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For me I'm really digging what K.C. Alexander did in Necrotech ands it's sequel Nanoshock
Would you mind providing a brief summary of that Banshee please?
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For me I'm really digging what K.C. Alexander did in Necrotech ands it's sequel Nanoshock
Would you mind providing a brief summary of that Banshee please?
The primary character Riho is a razor girl street thug who wakes up in a lab with a huge gap in her memory and her girlfriend has been turned into a cyber zombie by the Necrotech virus and she has to figure out what's going on from there in a very gritty street action cyberpunk mystery
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There is The Sprawl from Ardens Ludere; it's a cyberpunk setting and the Touched: A Darkening Alley (http://Touched: A Darkening Alley) supplement adds low magic and horror to the game.
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What I like about Shadowrun is the cyberpunk/urban fantasy cross over. What I don't like about it is the focus on mega threats of the week and high fantasy shenanigans. Personally, I don't think shadowrun is "cyberpunk" thematically. It has cybertech, but it is a high fantasy world in its themes and stories.
I'd be tempted to do something like a cyberpunk version of iHunt.
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The primary character Riho is a razor girl street thug who wakes up in a lab with a huge gap in her memory and her girlfriend has been turned into a cyber zombie by the Necrotech virus and she has to figure out what's going on from there in a very gritty street action cyberpunk mystery
Interesting. I will have to see if they are available when I hit my FLGS tomorrow.
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Eh, I don't often include megathreats myself. And that's the beauty: You get enough variation in the material that you can go either way. Want heavy cyberpunk? You got what you need. High fantasy? Sure. A splash of hope? Well, okay, there's a bit of room for that.
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The primary character Riho is a razor girl street thug who wakes up in a lab with a huge gap in her memory and her girlfriend has been turned into a cyber zombie by the Necrotech virus and she has to figure out what's going on from there in a very gritty street action cyberpunk mystery
Interesting. I will have to see if they are available when I hit my FLGS tomorrow.
They are not game books ... yet. Just novels using thatcsetting.
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The primary character Riho is a razor girl street thug who wakes up in a lab with a huge gap in her memory and her girlfriend has been turned into a cyber zombie by the Necrotech virus and she has to figure out what's going on from there in a very gritty street action cyberpunk mystery
Interesting. I will have to see if they are available when I hit my FLGS tomorrow.
They are not game books ... yet. Just novels using thatcsetting.
One of my FLGS's is also a book store. It celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.
Not sure if this will be linkable or not but this is one of the news stories that ran last month.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/sentry-box-d-d-scifi-fantasy-gaming-board-games-1.5412019
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I've only been to the Sentry Box once, and I already miss it very, very much! :o
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I've only been to the Sentry Box once, and I already miss it very, very much! :o
It is a mecca of gaming after all and a store like none other I have ever seen.
Banshee, I did pick up both books, the art and the blurb both are quite captivating. Thanks for recommending them.
As for an alternate to Shadowrun, I am really liking Cyberpunk Red's Jumpstart Kit and the way they laid out the world there. Eclipse Phase is also well done. I have not read the books that Altered Carbon is based on but the Netflix series I found fun and would enjoy I think.
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I have not read the books that Altered Carbon is based on but the Netflix series I found fun and would enjoy I think.
Oh, you should seek those out. The first one in particular is tonally and structurally a classic detective noir, which I think is an underrated element in cyberpunk. The second and third become a bit more straight sci-fi but are still excellent.
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I have not read the books that Altered Carbon is based on but the Netflix series I found fun and would enjoy I think.
Oh, you should seek those out. The first one in particular is tonally and structurally a classic detective noir, which I think is an underrated element in cyberpunk. The second and third become a bit more straight sci-fi but are still excellent.
I plan to eventually. Started Necrotech last night and it definitely starts with a bang. The character is salty but if you can stomach that I'd recommend anyone reading it. I was getting various ideas pretty much from the start of it.
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The primary character Riho is a razor girl street thug who wakes up in a lab with a huge gap in her memory and her girlfriend has been turned into a cyber zombie by the Necrotech virus and she has to figure out what's going on from there in a very gritty street action cyberpunk mystery
Interesting. I will have to see if they are available when I hit my FLGS tomorrow.
They are not game books ... yet. Just novels using thatcsetting.
One of my FLGS's is also a book store. It celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.
Not sure if this will be linkable or not but this is one of the news stories that ran last month.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/sentry-box-d-d-scifi-fantasy-gaming-board-games-1.5412019
Calgary you say???
Only a 9 hour drive...
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Calgary you say???
Only a 9 hour drive...
That's not quite a day trip for you. ;)
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There is a kickstarter for an Alter Carbon ttrpg, by a company called Hunter Books I believe, looks very interesting.
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There is a kickstarter for an Alter Carbon ttrpg, by a company called Hunter Books I believe, looks very interesting.
Yeah I have my eyes on that as well ... not a big fan of there mechanics as shown in the quick start though
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There is a kickstarter for an Alter Carbon ttrpg, by a company called Hunter Books I believe, looks very interesting.
Damnit. I'm not allowed on Crowdsourcing sites any longer. :'(
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There is a kickstarter for an Alter Carbon ttrpg, by a company called Hunter Books I believe, looks very interesting.
Damnit. I'm not allowed on Crowdsourcing sites any longer. :'(
The crowdsourcing websites are not letting you on, or your significant other? ???
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Setting-wise, though... call me morbid but Shadowrun is kind of too "Happy Bright Future" for my cyberpunk tastes. Nowhere near enough despair and dystopia. A cyberpunk-supernatural mashup I could totally dig is Cyberpunk/Cthulu.
Same here, I'd prefer less high fantasy, more occult. And Shadowrun definitely pays more lip service to cyberpunk themes than they actually support it in game terms.
If we're talking about a Shadowrun game with a different Shadowrun setting, where Cyberpunk and Magic are mashed up, I think I would just like a setting that's more tightly designed, to be honest. Instead of a setting where Tech and Magic are blended all over the place (despite what the books say about them not playing well together), I'd like a tech-heavy setting where magic is rare, lower powered, and represents chaos in a world obsessed with control. So it has a cyberpunk purpose, because it's f'ing magic. When magic is powerful and you need magic to fight magic and it boils down to just another dimension of combat, it becomes ubiquitous and predictable and it ceases to be magic for me.
Check out "Cthulutech " and "Blades in the Dark". Both offer very rich world settings that dabble in "what man was never meant to know".
Cthulutech is an epic genre mashup that features the best parts of science fiction, occult horror (X-Files meets The Guyver) and big frickin' mecha (Gundam meets Neon Genesis Evangelion).
Blades in the Dark is set in an early industrialization/post-occultolypse world that is cast in perpetual darkness. Not a lot of tech, not a lot of Magic, but what there is can set the odds in your favor. Think "Gangs of New York" meets the "Dishonored" video game franchise.
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There is a kickstarter for an Alter Carbon ttrpg, by a company called Hunter Books I believe, looks very interesting.
Damnit. I'm not allowed on Crowdsourcing sites any longer. :'(
The crowdsourcing websites are not letting you on, or your significant other? ???
My wallet. I start kicking up to one, then I go crazy. I had to stop.
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There is also PbtA game called The Veil which has rather nice not-setting, that is a setting frame where there are a few facts which are set and the rest of the setting you create during session 1. It could support Shadowrun esque setting even with the fantasy heritages if one would so wish. Only facts that must be there for the system is that the setting is cyberpunk, has a virtual reality layer upon the world (the titular Veil) and that society has a strong reliance on obligations. The system can handle existence of magic if one wishes as well so it could be run that way as well.
As just another option for people to consider especially if one likes PbtA games. It’s second book brings to the table in some form, havent read that one yet, so it could propably do altered carbon as a setting as well.
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Friend of mine has The Veil. I’ve only flicked through it, but it is a seriously gorgeous book, and an intriguing setting. It felt almost Dark City ish, with its faintly surreal lack of detail.