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Corp campaign centered around CFD.

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imperialus

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« on: <09-03-16/1621:40> »
I'm gonna be starting up a shadowrun 5 campaign in the next little while to intersperse with the D&D game I DM.  For something different I was thinking of doing a corp focused game where the players are all members of an elite black ops team within one of the AAA's.  I've also always enjoyed trundling along and throwing my players into events in the metaplot all the way back to fixing presidential elections and the CFD plotline strikes me as quite interesting especially for a corp campaign.  Very reminiscent of Ghost in the Shell.

Couple of things I'm having a tough time nailing down though is an actual timeline of events.  When did people (particularly the megas) start noticing?  When did they start responding?  Heck, what year is it in Shadowrun now?  Still 2076?

Also debating which mega I want the players to be associated with.  Sort of a toss up right now between Ares and Renraku.  I like Ares because Knight's Leonaization treatments require nanotech which would give him a vested interest in finding a cure or at least a vaccine...  Also, the gung-ho 'Merica aspects of Ares would work well for a slightly more pink mohawk style 'black ops' team which would probably work a bit better with my players personalities.  One of them wants to be a physad based off of Cordell Walker to give you an idea.  I also have a vision where the climax of the campaign takes place on Zurich Orbital as the players try to stop the release of a nanite cloud within the station that will infect the entire corporate court.  Ares space seems like a good way to get them there.

Renraku on the other hand is a lot more closely associated with CFD in general, and I've always had a soft spot for the Japanacorp since I ran a short campaign where the players were Red Samurai trapped inside the Archaeology.

At any rate, the campaign is going to kick off when the players get sent to Seattle to investigate the disappearance of a nanotech researcher at the University of Seattle who's research happens to be funded by the megacorp that they work for.  He'll turn out to be one of the earliest headcases who is now actively working to spread the virus.  He'll lead them on a merry chase eventually pointing them towards Evo which will end up being a much larger conspiracy beyond Justice Hino which actually involves an attempt by headcases to take control of the entire corporate court.

brasso

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« Reply #1 on: <09-04-16/1727:14> »
Stolen Souls is the CFD setting book, and is really just a book of fluff. However, it does give a good overview. The book's in-game date is April 10, 2076, and it looks like those in the know (ie. Jackpoint) have known about it for a little while now. Splintered State was set in March 75, and featured someone with CFD, so it's been around for a while. Also, from SS, it looks like the megas have been in the know about it for quite a little while. It also has a good list of companies, and people who have something to do with it, as well as the actual game rules for infection. Having one of the team end up with CFD may be an interesting quirk... Chrome Flesh 8-25 has further info, as does several other source books!
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imperialus

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« Reply #2 on: <09-05-16/1359:40> »
Thanks for pointing me towards Splintered State.  I'm getting back in the saddle after not having played Shadowrun for probably 4 or 5 years now so I'm a bit behind on things.  I do have a copy of Stolen Souls I must have missed the date though.

I'm thinking I might have things kick off in October or November of 74.  This would let them in on the ground floor of the outbreak.  It'll also let me have a much more robust response from Ares than what is written in cannon.  I could see Knight trying to use the CFD to try and come out looking like a big damn hero again.  74 should also set it up as being pre-Excalibur I think so I can either ignore that entirely or work the fallout into the campaign...

Lorebane24

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« Reply #3 on: <09-17-16/0452:02> »
The Boston Lockdown book has a lot of extra info about CFD, and Market Panic takes a gorgeous look at where the megas are today and what their agendas are.

If you still aren't married to a specific mega yet, here are a few considerations.

NeoNet CFD is pretty much their fault.  It was a joint project along with Evo and Aztechnology, but the whole thing was Celedyr's baby.  Evo actually seems to be taking more heat from it because they've been taking in CFD infecties who have been ejected from their parent corps (and making bank because of it) which makes it seem like this was their plan the whole time, but NeoNet is not above suspicion, and in 2077, they're really starting to fall apart as important people are jumping ship.  They're third A is in real danger, so a team of corporate dudes would have a lot of jobs to help the company hang onto their status.  They would also have a lot of jobs dedicated to finding, destroying, and scrubbing evidence of NeoNet's connection to CFD.  On top of that, the way they're splintering means you could have a team who works directly for one of the big players, and give them jobs aimed towards salvaging as many pieces of NeoNet as they can for their employer to take with them when they change horses.  Of particular note is that they seem vulnerable enough that other corps are soliciting Richard Villiers, hoping to get the seat on the CC that comes along with JRJ ownership in their stable.  Lot's of fun to be had there.

Evo As mentioned, Evo is coming under a lot of fire, and they're the other mega most at risk of being downgraded to a AA right now.  They were definitely involved in CFD, but not as much as NeoNet, so they're going to want to get their hands on anything they can to shift blame onto their recent partner and off of them, and what they have going for them is that the evidence is there, it's just very closely guarded.  The fact that they have taken in rogue head cases from the R&D divisions of their rivals has allowed them access to a lot of sensitive information as well as given them a windfall of bleeding edge technical expertise that's now giving them the resources to put out new tech that we would have been decades away from otherwise.  Could be some fun and potentially dangerous toys there for your players.

SK: They have nothing to do with CFD, but Lofwyr is furious about it and he wants to see heads role.  You could conceivably have the party playing an SK Prime unit whose main goal is to find out who is responsible for the virus, and why.

Ares:  The thing about their gung-ho streak is that it's what you see in their militaries.  If you want them doing black ops, that's something they can't afford.  Being gung-ho gets you noticed, and when your guys get noticed, you need plausible deniability.  That's what shadowrunners are for.  However, that does bring us to...

Renraku:  They have a thing for stability, including in their runners.  Something that they've played up in sourcebooks recently is how after several successful runs, Renraku Johnsons prefer to place their best runner teams on retainer, eventually grooming them to become company men, and you could have a party who begins in this situation.  For extra fun, the Red Samurai HATE these guys.  Like they say in Run Faster, the Red Samurai are the jealous wife, and the runners are the mistress.

Shiawase:  I mention them because you said you wanted to do stuff with CFD and you also had a soft spot for the Japanacorps.  There has been mention that because Shiawase has long been a pioneer in nanotechnology, people have been expecting a cure or vaccine from them.
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #4 on: <09-17-16/1403:34> »
Great input, Lorebane. Some nice thinking in there.