The Awakening heralded great change in the small peninsula nation of Korea. The North, failing in it's attack on Japan, was forced into reunification shortly before the Awakening transformed Asia.
Unlike in the West, the return of Magic was easily accepted, given the region's Shamanic history and mystic belief. Along with Magic came technology. As in the past, Korean society devoured the advent of cyberware, with most people sporting at least one or two obvious cybernetic or cosmetic implants. High fashion blends with Magic and Technology.
The Matrix is absolutely integral to Korean life in 2075. Virtually no aspect of living goes untouched, from shopping to gaming to religious practice; all things are touched by the Matrix. Technomancers and ace deckers are Trideo and Gaming superstars, often competing on dangerous, sometimes even deadly, terms in an effort to play at the next level. Widespread BTL and Matrix addiction are ugly, yet common, secrets.
Underneath the glamourous surface, however, the country is again troubled. Democracy has given way again to military rule, and tensions with the Japanese are at a boiling point politically. Japanese megacorps span the country, spreading the fear of a covert occupation to many more suspicious types. The rebuilding of the North took a massive financial toll, and the government was forced to allow the Japanese to spread across the North to alleviate the costs of reconstruction. Where Seoul is a neon wonderland, Pyeongyang is a bed of crime and filth, overrun with heavy industry, pollution, crime, and brutal management.
Across the nation, various gangs and cabals vie for control, squabbling amongst each other and against the ever present Japanese Yakuza. Further south, the island of Jeju-do is home to an unusual number of free spirits, many of whom carry on day to day as any normal metahuman may do, even taking jobs and maintaining relationships with mundanes. Almost every politician consults with a personal shaman, or mudang, before making any major decisions. Indeed, the goings-on of Korea hinge very heavily on the advice of a select few of these Shaman.
In the shadows, the majority of Korean runners are female. Males often work as Samurai, deckers, and riggers. Korean runners are well-advised to remember that working openly with more than one fixer causes one to appear distrustful and unreliable, and the fixers maintain a close network of information on available runners. Get blacklisted by one, and you'll have a very unpleasant time finding any decent work.
System: Shadowrun 5th Edition
Number of Players: 5
Deadline: 1/16/2015
Character Creation: Standard rules. All released SR5 books are in play. A "1" in a stat is acceptable, but I will expect it to be roleplayed. It doesn't mean total debilitation (e.g. INT of 1 does not suggest mental retardation, but the runner will be obviously slower than the norm, while a STR of 1 will be especially frail. BOD of 1 would suggest minor illness or some other mild physical impairment. And so on, be creative.)
House rules:
Technomancers are able to establish and direct connection when physically in contact with a device, regardless of wireless status.
Devices running publicly are immediately detected in the Matrix and located to within 1m. Tracking the device reveals exact location.
Equipment/Qualities from 4th Edition can be ported in. Be sure to ask me about it first, however.
Combat cyberwear and weapons are increased 10% in cost, as the Korean government strictly controls movement and sale of these items. Unrestricted items of this nature are considered Restricted. Restricted items of this nature are considered Forbidden. This includes Smartlinks.
Cosmetic/non-combat cyberware (datalinks, cybereyes, etc) and all cyberdecks/commlinks are reduced in price by 10%. Forbidden items of this nature are considered Restricted. Restricted items of this nature are considered Unrestricted.
Armored cyberlimbs will only apply armor in circumstances where just that limb is being damaged. Strength increases will average with natural strength when lifting/pushing. Unarmed attacks using the limb will use the modified strength to determine DV.
Armor takes damage as barriers do. Prolonged battle makes armor progressively less useful. This does not apply to cyberware/bioware.
Optional Reading: Shadows of Asia (3rd Edition). Only covers up to 2064; I will be making it up from there. Feel free to take small liberties past that in backstory, if you wish.
Notes: For the most part, I prefer to let players guide the story. I will not force you into any paths or actions, although I do have an outline for the adventure drawn up, the beauty of TTRPGs is that a human GM can adapt and change the story to suit the will of the players. This does not mean certain actions won't have dire consequences, but in most cases, this will be fairly obvious. I will not stop you, however.
Death happens. Be careful and think through your actions.
If I feel a rule is too easily abused, I may decide to disallow it. RP will be more important in this game than high dice rolls. Overall, I want everyone to have fun. Please, no OOC drama. A game is no good if it isn't fun for all involved.
Dice Rolls should be made on orokos.com, with CoH as the game name, using your character's name. We will use this thread as the OOC/Dice Rolling thread after recruitment closes, and will post our results in an IC thread I will create.
I will give Karma at the end of each Chapter of the run. There will be a standard Karma for completing the run, then individual awards based on performance. Edge will be restored at this time as well.
I'm still learning the 5th Edition rules. If I make a mistake, feel free to point it out to me so I can correct it.
