Shadowrun
Catalyst Game Labs => Catalyst's Shadowrun Products => Topic started by: Wakshaani on <11-03-12/1858:11>
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Those of you who do Facebook might have noticed a lovely cover pop up recently, for a book called Dirty tricks. If you haven't seen it yet, go look! It's lovely work indeed! Not yet ready for sale, but, it's political season, so here's something to chat about while we wait...because goodness knows, those of us in the US aren't getting enough political ads right now. :)
This one's a teaser... There'll be more information when it's ready to launch, but I got permission to give out just a lil' taste, and to see what everyone might think is in there. We'll see who's a star prognasticator soon!
At the core, the book features politics and how Shadowrunners can be a factor. Dig up dirt, bury dirt, discover boxes full of ballots ... a whole new area for your game to cover, where you might not even need a gun! Gasp!
Several political hotspots get a look... I'll give one away in bit, but I'll leave it for y'all to guess where else might be covered. There's a look at significant political figures as well, natch. Such as ... we'll see!
"But Wak," you say, "I hate politics. Why should I care?"
Well, it wouldn't be a Shadowrunbook without metaplot, now would it?
For example, here's a question for you:
"What did Sirrurg the Destroyer just do, to show Aztechnology that if they want war, he'll give them war?"
OOoo, Dragon Civil War stuff?
"But Wak,"you say, "My guys don't play with dragons. What else can this book bring me?"
Hrm. Well, what if I told you that the CAS is covered, and for the first time ever, every single CAS state gets information supplied? Oh, updates for Texas, Atlanta, and New Orleans, but the first time *ever* for Mississippi, South Carolina, and the rest? Iinformation and plot hooks on each and every state.
Egads!
There's a whole lot more, too, but I've probably said too much already.
So, now I turn it over to you guys. Speculation! Anticipation! Wailing and gnashing of teeth!
(Oh, and if you guys cast a vote at GenCon? You should maybe pick this up. Just maybe.)
What do *you* think is inside?
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Oooh, Atlanta!
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What do *you* think is inside?
Judging from the name, new ways of making money as a Shadowrunner by doing illegal things other than shooting people in the face for money? ;D
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The vote on the orc underground is going to take place or the results are going to be announced.
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The vote on the orc underground is going to take place or the results are going to be announced.
Oh, like Votes are actually COUNTED or even COUNT in Shadowrun. :P
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Oooh, Atlanta!
Not as much as I wanted, believe me. If it sells well, and enough people ask for more, maybe we can get a full-blown "Shadows Across the CAS" book. There's stuff in here from all over the world. I'm not gonna say word one about other sections, however; not my place.
Atlanta is in the Georgia section. It isn't the entire Georgia section. :)
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Most importantly, I hear there's gonna be some intro fiction! Wow! ;D
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I can't help but feel that someone dropped the ball on the title. How can you get that close and not manage to correctly name it...Dirty Deeds (With the first chapter being Done Dirt Cheap of course). ;D
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I can't help but feel that someone dropped the ball on the title. How can you get that close and not manage to correctly name it...Dirty Deeds (With the first chapter being Done Dirt Cheap of course). ;D
You'll see a few dirty tricks being done between the covers, in fact. (Also, the CAS section is the Dirty South, so hey.)
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I can't help but feel that someone dropped the ball on the title. How can you get that close and not manage to correctly name it...Dirty Deeds (With the first chapter being Done Dirt Cheap of course).
The original title was going to be "Dirty Work", but Norm Macdonald kinda ruined that name.
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Can't what to read about NOLA, and the rest of the CAS.
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Can't what to read about NOLA, and the rest of the CAS.
The BIG book on NOLA is Smuggler Havens. This section builds on it, but grab Havens if you want some THICK data. NOLA here is about a page, page and a half I think. Not seen the final layout with art and such yet. CAS is a part of the book, but all of the CAS combines to about a sixth of the book.
The main thrust is political, after all. Take a look at several elections that Runners can influence, how to work political forces into your game (Such as a Johnson working for the FBI that wants to get data from inside a MCT facility), Humanis operations to keep metas down, metas trying to get dirt on elected officials with Humanis ties, IOND and Black Lodge influences, etc.
And there's a border or two that might be heating up a wee bit, for you military peoples.
Neat stuff!
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Any treaty of denver stuff?
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Thanks, I will have to look for Smugglers Havens. Some place I have the New Orleans articles in White Wolf magazine (same box as my Battletech books) that I have misplaced. I have a large gap from the last half of the '90s till 4th Edition that I stopped following.
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Any treaty of denver stuff?
That's a tricky one to answer. I'll hold off on that until teh actual release. (Which should be soon.)
Meanwhile, anyone care to guess what heinous act Sirrurg undertook?
(You can also ask more questions. Just know that some can't be answered. We'll answer what we can, tho!)
(( Also, there are a couple of fiction bits in the book. Don't skip 'em! They're neat!))
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/Pouts in a corner
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Is there going to be anything that might cause real world political annoyance?
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Is there going to be anything that might cause real world political annoyance?
There might be some crossover. UCAS and CAS both have Republican and Democratic parties, for instance, so if you talk about those countries, people who are real-world Democrats or Republicans might get in a tizzy, ditto for hot buttons like gun control or abortion or, well, all manner of things. The key is for people to approach it as an adult, both the readers and the writers, and for everyone to go in with an understanding. TORG was willing to tackle religious issues, for instance, and would put up disclaimers, but people were willing to go "This is for a role-playing game. You get a pass." You won't get anyone flapping a flag around on, say, free trade vs protectionism. This isn't a book that's trying to sell a political view to anyone.
Instead, you'll see things where someone will say, "This is a hot-button issue in this area. These people want Thing to pass. These people want Thing to fail. Both of them are waving money around to get their point of view across. Here're things that you can do to get their money." Info on what these kinds of runs entail, what you can do to make it interesting to gamers, and so on, that's what the focus is, then a bunch of set-ups and plotpoints for you to pick up and weave into your own home game.
You absolutely will not have anyone picking a political position and trying to beat you over the head with it. That's not how we roll.
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Is there going to be anything that might cause real world political annoyance?
Mostly just that the UCAS gets what pretends to be an in depth look at the political landscape that's really just a sloppy rehashing of the current political climate that disregards the idea that the players of the US political spectrum might change in 70 years, despite how much they've changed in the last 30. The bit about the Congressional races in each state would be neat if the same were done for the CAS.
Instead, the CAS gets a sloppy rehash of the same lame stereotypes. For some reason, the CAS has a massive ork population that nearly mirrors the concentrations of African-Americans in the southeast, but without the hundreds of years of socioeconomic issues that led to the real distribution. Instead, the orks are in the poor, shitty parts of the CAS because...reasons.
Oh, and the growth rate on kudzu is wrong. The stuff grows about a foot a day, not an inch an hour. Then the CAS chapter just kind of ends with a half-assed covering of most of the states, with the narrator declaring that he ran out of space and the shadowtalkers explaining that he didn't write anything of value because he doesn't care, because that's how people from the CAS are.
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And the first review is in. Negative it might be, but thank you for taking the time to share! Communities grow when people chip in.
The official population numbers from 2062 are 105 million, with 4% Elf, 8% Dwarf, 19% Ork, 3% Troll, and 0% other. The larger numbers of Orks and Trolls, and smaller numbers of Elves, has been talked about in books before. The Tir Taingire sourcebook, in particular, contained many theories about why it happened, and why the numbers are different in different areas. A painful connection that they found was wealth ... wealthier people were more likely to have Elves, poor more likely to have Orks. It was some uncomfortable science, or "science", to say the least. You'll find that the wealthier states have a smaller Ork population, and poor sections a larger one, which might be evidence for the theory, but it might also be coincidence... you'll also find that areas with higher Ork populations have a higher magical content, while areas with less Orks also have less magic. There are more factors at work than it might first seem.
Space issues and word count did involve the last few states getting shorted, and I apologize for that, but, to me, it was more important that they all get at least a token nod and some plot hooks, so that they could be expanded on later, rather than the usual "Texas, Atlanta, New Orleans, Done" treatment that the CAS has gotten over the years. I hope that future authors (And GMs!) will take the seeds from here and grow them larger. As for the voice, there are four different contributors in there, each with their own biases and interests. Each reflects that the CAS is largely an inward-looking country that's really more a coalition of states than a single real nation (Though there is a movement to change that, as you can see when reading more.) ... so, there's some sniping at one another, dismissing of concerns, and a notation here or there that someone's bias is clearly showing.
This should probably go in the OTHER thread, however, as this one was about getting people excited before the book released, and now that it is, this one should probably be left fallow. Again, thank you for your comments! I'm sorry that you're not happy with the book, but feel free to give suggestions on how it may be improved, as well as point out areas that might need correction. (The Kudzu speed, by the by, isn't one. It was supposed to have been a quiet change that most didn't notice. You got it straight out. Well done!)
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Dirty Tricks has been released on US Election Day/NA Halo 4 Release Day! Buy early and buy often! ;D