So I've recently been reading a LOT of Shadowrun sourcebooks, all the way from Arcology Shutdown to the middle of Clutch of Dragons (note to anyone: finishing System Failure at 4 in the morning does give a person weird dreams) and I've noticed something other than the, uh, somewhat substandard editing of many 4E books.
Much like Battletech, it seems to me that there are distinct Eras of Shadowrun games - some of which do overlap with other eras, in their starts - which I kind of want to set down in text format and see if anyone has any ideas of what to add, subtract, and otherwise change. One might say that each era is defined by the metaplot which came to fruition during its time, but as several had no metaplot, and several had a dozen metaplots, defining them BY metaplots are trickier. Instead, I tried to peg an overriding 'theme' to each era, as each one has its own distinct flavor of Shadowrun.
CLASSIC SHADOWRUN 2050-2052
As the blurb on my 1e book says, "The world is ruled by megacorporations, and you live in their shadows." You're shadowrunners, the Johnson hires you, you do the job, and you try not to die from a doublecross. The main themes are dystopia caused by megacorps rolling the government over, the incongruity of magic existing alongside machine, and that no matter how hard you struggle, the megacorps always win.
INSECTS AMONG US 2053-2058
Insect spirits are infiltrating our lives and could be anyone, using the cover of the Universal Brotherhood and anything else they can think of. Now, the Johnson, the target, or an unknown third party could be monsters, with inhuman agendas and powers. This era's most dramatic moment is the siege of Chicago, but has many horrifying possibilities before then as shadowrunners are one of the few groups 'in the know' on insects. The two main themes are wildly different: Creeping horror at the idea of infiltration by alien beings, and blood-and-guts action.
DUNKELZAHN 2057-2059
From the moment he announced his candidacy to when Lofwyr won the right to be the dragon's Loremaster, this is an era defined by the dragon's will (in more ways than one), and deserves to be a setting in its own right. Doing political runs in the runup to the campaign, doing runs for the will's items, or getting involved in the great dragon's contest, it's all from and because of Dunkelzahn. This setting's main theme is actual hope for the future and the world's institutions trying to crush that hope - 'hooding for a cause that might matter.
THE AI WAR 2059-2064
From the moment Deus took over the Arcology to perform his experiments to the moment he tried to recompile himself, he was THE defining item of this era. So many things circled around him and the things he represented that calling this era the AI War seems right to me - the otaku are important, but not the center, and Winternight was called in as an enemy mostly because it's the polar opposite of the technocentric era. The central theme of this era is technology ruling humans instead of being a mere tool, and the people who oppose that so radically they're willing to destroy the world.
POST CRASH 2065-2069
Wireless becomes widespread and common, and if shadowrunners were ran in this era it'd be like Classic, but with Wireless rules. It seems as though an uneasy truce extended through these years, with no world-shattering events lest the careful reconstruction of the world be interrupted.
CRASH AFTERSHOCKS 2069-2072
The things created by the Crash, technomancers and new AIs, are outed as existing - and that the megacorps were hiding and in some cases brutally experimenting on these beings. Themes for this would be the sudden terror of mob rule, and that megacorps consider themselves truly above the law - and that they actually ARE.
THE DRAGON WAR 2072-2075
From the ignition of hostilities between Atzlan and Amazonia to the current day, this era is defined by dragons not only reasserting what they consider to be their 'rightful' place on top of the food chain, but by their efforts against each other, and humanity's denial that they are, in fact, superior. The overriding theme for this era is that conflicts which have simmered for years in the shadows spill into the light - whether it be the extreme gang and drug warfare of tempo, the Amazonia conflict, the dragon/anti-dragon warfare, the relatively placid surface of 'the megacorps rule the world and it sucks for everyone else' is ruined.
THE AI BODYSNATCHERS 2074-?
The AIs that could live only in the Matrix have found a way to enter meatspace - but at a terrible cost. They use nanites, the fundamental underpinning of new technology, to overwrite their victim's mind... and they can spread to multiple minds with just a transfusion of blood and nanites. The common theme here is pity overlaid with paranoia: yes, the AIs are victims escaping death and torture, but they destroy someone in the process, someone who might be a contact, a chummer, or even a lover.There are few symptoms of becoming a headcase other than personality shifts, there is no cure, and all it needs is a scratch to get into you, too. It is technology turned against its creators on several levels, a tale of hubris and horror. As a subset to this is the Boston Lockdown scenario, which resembles a zombie survival game: limited ammo, hordes of shambling once-humans to splatter, and if too much of their goo gets on you then you become one of them.
