Shadowrun Play > Previous Editions
Shadowrun 4E House Rules
JanessaVR:
Gear
Biotech
DocWagon
Their contracts are revised to:
• Bronze: 5,000¥ per year (equivalent to Basic in canon)
• Silver: 25,000¥ per year (equivalent to Gold in canon)
• Gold: 50,000¥ per year (equivalent to Platinum in canon)
• Platinum: 100,000¥ per year (equivalent to Super-Platinum in canon)
Medkits
These give a dice pool bonus of half their rating to all First Aid Tests. In addition, the higher the rating the bigger the kit. A rating 6 medkit is a full-size paramedic’s duffel bag.
Cyberware
Implant Grades
Alphaware is x2 cost, Betaware is x3 cost, and Deltaware is x4 cost. The listed cost of Deltaware as ten times normal is just completely ridiculous.
Cyberlimbs
These also require Bone Lacing to avoid damaging the user. Otherwise, their body can’t take it – the limb might be made of steel, but the flesh and bone its attached to is not.
Free Tip: If you’re going this far, just get a fully-cybernetic body.
Headware
• Wireless Datajack: This has same Essence cost as an Implant Commlink. Signal 0 (3 meters). Cost is 1,000¥.
Electronics
The following should be considered the baseline prices for things like commlinks or nexi:
Device Rating | Cost / Notes
0: 100¥ (cheapo disposable commlink)
1: 300¥
2: 625¥
3: 1,250¥
4: 2,500¥ (max commlink rating)
5: 5,000¥
6: 10,000¥
7: 20,000¥
8: 40,000¥
9: 80,000¥
10: 160,000¥
11: 320,000¥
12: 640,000¥ (top-of-the-line cyberdeck)
UV: 1,000,000¥ (Rating 12, plus specialized software) UV nodes are not inherently addictive, and can be accessed via cold sim. They’re also not some big secret, and indeed are openly marketed. Though at their price tag, they’re typically purchased only by corporations or the reasonably rich.
Accessories
• AR Trodes Glasses: These AR glasses incorporate a limited form of trodes in the frames. It’s not enough to experience full VR, but they do allow the user to effectively have a hands-free mouse. They also incorporate mini-earbuds for sound. Signal 0 (3 meters), Rating 4. Cost is 1,000¥.
Miscellaneous
The idea that all 3D printer feedstock is secretly infused with stealth tags is an urban legend. People look for that kind of thing and any company selling feedstock that was caught doing this would find itself in the crosshairs of a huge scandal and people would stop buying their feedstock. Individual batches given to specific people or groups might have some stealth tags mixed in, but certainly not every retail box of feedstock.
Items Retconned Out of Existence
• Holoprojectors / Trideo: Holograms don’t work like this in real life. If you want 3D imagery, AR and VR are both readily available. Otherwise, super-thin (and very affordable) flat screen displays are the norm.
• Nanopaste Trodes: Nanotechnology is not yet this advanced.
Firearms and Ammunition
Ammunition
• Stick-n-Stock rounds do exist and are allowed as gear, but players should keep in mind that the rest of the world isn’t stupid, and non-conductive body armor is now the norm, not the exception.
ID and Credsticks
Fake SINs and Licenses
• Fake SIN: Rating x 2,000¥
• Fake License: Rating x 500¥
Credsticks
These are revised to:
• Standard: 5,000¥ (these are typically plain black plastic)
• Copper: 20,000¥
• Silver: 50,000¥
• Gold: 100,000¥
Magic
Equipment
Largely as per the tables in SR4A, p. 348, but may change due to market availability (GM’s call).
Services
• Quickened Spells: These typically cost 6,000¥ per point of Force. This is also the cost for permanent wards.
• Wards: The warding ritual takes a number of hours equal to the Force of the ward and requires no special materials. Magical security companies charge 100¥ an hour (per magician).
Nuclear Technology
Nuclear weapons are becoming less and less reliable in the age of magic. As the mana level rises, nuclear fission becomes less functional. The larger yield weapons already won’t produce a fission explosion and those remaining fission power plants slowly ceased to work. Fortunately, practical fusion power has been developed and eventually replaced the older nuclear power plants.
REASON: The Shadowrun world is already crowded with craziness and adding a possible nuclear war on top of all that is just too much. So, leaning into how this was depicted in canon (depending on the writer), it’s a good way to “ban the bomb.” See SR4 War!, p. 159.
JanessaVR:
Critters
Dracoforms
• Typical dragons have 12 Essence, while Great Dragons have 24 Essence. This gives them maximum Magic attributes of 24 and 48, respectively. Dragons are also smaller than they are in canon. A typical adult dragon is 50’ from snout to tail (roughly the size of a Spinosaurus) and weighs 10 tons. Great Dragons are twice that size.
REASON: If all dragons really were “Super Genius Godzillas,” they’d already be ruling the world without opposition, and their “devious Machiavellian plotting” would be completely unnecessary. (If you’re a kaiju that can casually wipe cities off the map with a snap of your fingers, you just walk in and take over because no one can stop you.) This at least bumps their power levels down a little.
• The Leviathans were nearly extinct by the end of the Fourth Age, due both to infighting and conflicts with other dragons and metahuman empires. The last remaining one, known simply as “The Sea Dragon” in canon Shadowrun books, did go into hibernation with a large clutch of eggs, which would have allowed her to restore the race of Leviathans in the Sixth World. Fortunately for everyone else, she and all of her eggs were destroyed in an accidental act of down cycle dragon hunting due to her unfortunate choice of hibernation location – a remote island in the South Pacific that would later be known as Bikini Atoll.
REASON: The Sea Dragon is an incredibly disruptive element to the campaign setting. She hates everyone, effectively controls 71% of the planet, and tries to kill everyone who dares to trespass in “her” domain. Worse, she’s breeding more of her kind. This effectively makes her something of an “Honorary Horror,” with the Scourge getting an early start, at least in the oceans. She simply had to go.
• There are no drakes. Ignore all references to them in canon and assume that any of them that played a big part in historical events (like Ryan Mercury) were really just Adepts or Magicians with some special training or spells gifted to them by their draconic masters. (Perhaps being trained in the Draconic magical tradition and then being gifted with a dragon scale amulet that allowed them access to a custom Shapechange spell would let them fake being a “weredragon” when they needed to. That’s the kind of thing a dragon might give a trusted servant.)
REASON: You can’t play a dragon. Get over it.
Immortal Elves
These elves have an Essence of 12, just like dragons. (Which is appropriate, because they are part dragon.) This means that their maximum Magic attribute is 24.
Ghouls
Critter Template
• Physical Attributes: Body +4, Reaction +2, Strength +3
• Mental Attributes: Charisma -2, Logic -1, Willpower +2
• Powers: Armor +1 (cumulative with natural dermal armor), Dual Natured, Enhanced Senses (Hearing, Smell), Immunity (Pathogens, Toxins), Infection, Natural Weapon (Bite: DV (STR+1)P, AP -1, -1 Reach), Natural Weapon (Claws: DV (STR+1)P, AP -1), Sapience
• Weaknesses: Allergy (Sunlight, Moderate), Dietary Requirement (Metahuman Flesh, 1 lb. per night), Reduced Senses (Blind; -6 dice modifier to all tests involving purely physical sight)
• Notes: The victim’s skin becomes rough and takes on a grayish tone, while all body and facial hair soon falls out. The fingers elongate, and the fingernails become claws. The teeth become sharper and more prominent. Their eyes film over with thick white cataracts as they lose their sight, but their senses of hearing and smell become hyperactive. Ghoul characters can overcome their Reduced Senses by taking cybereyes (though they will lose their Astral Sight by doing so). Ghouls can only easily digest raw meat; cooked meat makes them sick and causes nausea (see p. 254, SR4A) within an hour when they consume most other foods, especially cooked foods.
HMHGV Taxonomy
• Group: Group VIII (Magically Active Viruses)
• Order: none
• Family: Nachzehriviridae
• Genus: Draugarivirus
• Species: Human-Metahuman Ghoul Virus
Viral Infection Mechanics
• Vector: Injection
• Penetration: -3
• Power: 5
Etymology Notes
Krieger is clearly a German name, so I chose German terminology/folklore for this virus (assuming that this is what he would have chosen/suggested). The Nachzehrer is a German vampire / mostly ghoul which feasts upon the dead. The Draugr is a Nordic/German predatory revenant, which also served as the inspiration for Tolkien’s Barrow Wights.
Critter Design Notes
To avoid a “Ghoul Apocalypse” scenario that would make George Romero envious, ghouls have been made less infectious. This is otherwise a mix of SR4 and SR5 specs for ghouls.
Horrors
• The Horrors can’t cross over to Earth this early in the mana cycle, except in zones of very high mana, which they would then be unable to leave. They could try, but it would be like a human leaving a space station without a pressure suit; the result is a rather messy death.
REASON: This maintains compatibility with the Earthdawn setting. If Horrors can exist just fine in a world not even a century past the Awakening, then they wouldn’t have been forced back home due to lack of mana just past the peak of the mana cycle, which is what happened in the Earthdawn setting. Accordingly, they really can’t come to Earth when the mana level is this low.
• Horrors can’t just Mark people from the astral plane, they must materialize within LOS of the target to use their Marking power. This is treated as a Mana spell attack, and the victim resists with Willpower + Countermagic (if any) or Charisma (if they don’t have Counterspelling). Raw magic is still a flare to them on the astral plane, and is very likely to immediately attract their attention, but they have to exit the astral plane and materialize on Earth to actually attack the magician who made it.
REASON: Attacking targets on the material plane while you’re on the astral plane is called Grounding, and that’s disallowed.
EXCEPTION: An astrally perceiving (or otherwise dual-natured) magician is fair game for being marked by a Horror in astral space.
• The “Horror Invasion Cycle” starts with the “little guys” who can exist on Earth at comparatively lower mana levels, then the greater Horrors start appearing as the mana levels reaches the peak of the curve. These greater spirits are also the first to be forced home as it starts to fall and the “little guys” are the last to go. So actually, it’s the lesser Horrors that have the most time on Earth during the Scourge.
Imports from Other RPGs
These creatures from other RPGs seem appropriate to add to the Sixth World.
From D&D
• Phantoms (AD&D Monstrous Manual, p. 287)
From GURPS Creatures of the Night
• Darklings, pp. 27 – 29.
• Dread Blossoms, pp. 33 – 34.
• Gallows Trees, pp. 44 – 45.
• Greendreads, pp. 47 – 48.
• Lodgers, pp. 61 – 63.
• Lune Fish, pp. 66 – 67.
• Mazeworms, pp. 72 – 73.
Invae (Insect Spirits)
• While the Horrors (above) can’t cross over to Earth this early in the mana cycle, the Invae can exist on Earth this early in the mana cycle if they can find a way to get to Earth.
REASON: The Insect Spirits are arguably too integral to the Shadowrun setting to get rid of.
• Ignore the canon species of Invae. There are ones that make hives like bees or wasps and those that make burrows like ants, but they only superficially resemble those insects.
REASON: The Invae are aliens. Any resemblance to bugs native to Earth should be coincidental. This also means that Insect totems are available for PCs, as those aren’t inherently toxic/evil.
Ordinary Critters
• No Ordinary Critters are currently revised.
Paracritters
Powers
• Immunity to Normal Weapons does not exist. Any Critter with this power in canon has some combination of Armor / Hardened Armor / Mystic Armor / Hardened Mystic Armor instead.
• All paracritters are dual-natured.
• For creatures that are harmed by sunlight, reflected light works perfectly fine for this. Though it’s the GM’s call if this effectiveness is reduced due to using a poorly-reflective surface.
Paraviruses
• An important addition to the Baltimore Classification is “Group VIII: Magically Active Viruses,” which is used for all Awakened viruses.
• All Awakened viruses to date have been proven to be mutually exclusive. If you’ve contracted one of them you can’t catch or be a carrier for the others.
• HMHVV and HMHGV are similar, but distinct, Awakened viruses. The Human-Metahuman Vampiric Virus transforms its victims into vampires, while the Human-Metahuman Ghoul Virus transforms its victims into ghouls. See the “Ghouls” entry above, and the “Vampires” entry below for more details.
REASON: The official taxonomy for HMHVV badly needed correction to actual medical standards, and the increasing number of weird HMHVV creatures has gotten completely out of hand in canon. Also, making all of them dual-natured makes it easier to keep the filthy creatures out by setting up astral wards.
• VITAS is also caused by an Awakened virus. This is one of the reasons it’s so nasty, but its weakness is that it’s especially vulnerable to magical healing spells. Its designation is HMHAV.
Group: Group VIII (Magically Active Viruses)
Order: none
Family: Allergiviridae
Genus: Histamivirus
Species: Human-Metahuman Anaphylaxis Virus
Infection Mechanics: Vector Inhalation, Penetration 0, Power 10
NOTES: This deadly virus wiped out a good chunk of the world’s population, exhibiting paranormal infectious ability and lethality on par with Ebola. The symptoms it inflicts are codified as VITAS (Virally-Induced Toxic Allergy Syndrome). Magical healing is the most effective treatment (a +4 bonus to the Disease Resistance Test).
Shifters
There are no shifters. Ignore all references to them in canon and assume that any of them that appeared in canon were either magicians with shapeshifting spells or paracritters with some sort of illusion powers.
REASON: They’re just one more complication in a setting already awash in exotic creatures. If you want to play the Wolfman or something like that you can configure a Unique Changeling build (with the GM’s approval).
Spirits
• Spirits get one Critter Power per point of Force (in addition to their free powers of Astral Form, Sapience, Materialization/Possession, and Hardened Armor when Materialized).
• A spirit’s Force rating is used as the default value for all of their attributes.
• Spirits can’t receive cyberware implants, but they can perceive AR just fine and are capable of using any non-cyberware modern electronics.
• A spirit in astral space who manifests on Earth can be seen and heard normally by anyone, as well as recorded on video, etc.
• Materialized spirits have the typical full five senses that a human/animal does.
• Materialized spirits can eat food, and it just vanishes when they dematerialize.
• During the peak of the mana cycle (the Scourge), spirits with Evanescence (this includes the Horrors) have it nullified for the duration.
• Spirits of various types have the following innate powers:
* Air Spirits: Accident, Astral Form, Concealment, Confusion, Engulf, Materialization, Movement, Sapience, Search.
* Beast Spirits: Animal Control, Astral Form, Enhanced Senses (Hearing, Low-Light Vision, Smell), Fear, Materialization, Movement, Sapience.
* Earth Spirits: Astral Form, Binding, Guard, Materialization, Movement, Sapience, Search.
* Fire Spirits: Accident, Astral Form, Confusion, Elemental Attack, Energy Aura, Engulf, Materialization, Sapience.
* Guardian Spirits: Astral Form, Fear, Guard, Magical Guard, Materialization, Movement, Sapience.
* Guidance Spirits: Astral Form, Confusion, Divining, Guard, Magical Guard, Materialization, Sapience, Search, Shadow Cloak.
* Plant Spirits: Astral Form, Concealment, Engulf, Fear, Guard, Magical Guard, Materialization, Sapience, Silence.
* Spirits of Man: Accident, Astral Form, Concealment, Confusion, Enhanced Senses (Low-Light, Thermographic Vision), Guard, Influence, Materialization, Sapience, Search.
* Task Spirits: Accident, Astral Form, Binding, Materialization, Movement, Sapience, Search.
* Water Spirits: Astral Form, Concealment, Confusion, Engulf, Materialization, Movement, Sapience, Search.
* Watchers: Astral Form, Search. SPECIAL NOTE: Watchers are not subject to the diminishing dice pool rule for Extended Tests (SR4, pp. 64-65); “a cumulative -1 dice modifier to each test after the first.”
* Tulpa: These are referred to as “Thought Forms” in SR4 Digital Grimoire, pp. 4-5. They’re unique among summonable spirits in that they can be custom-designed by the Psionicist (subject to GM’s approval). They’re also Materialization spirits, not Possession spirits.
* Ghosts: These have powers that are highly-customized due to who they were in life and the circumstances of their death (GM’s call).• Spirits have 2x formulas:
* True Formula: This is their true name, and knowing it grants a summoner the means to enforce their will on the spirit.
* Calling Formula: This formula can be used in summoning rituals for the spirit, but grants no power over it to the summoner. It’s essentially the spirit’s astral commcode, and like any commcode they can (with a bit of effort and spending 1 KP) change it to a new one if they’re getting too many unwanted calls.
Synthetic Intelligences
• True AIs are huge data constructs, and only three have been confirmed to exist – Deus, Megaera, and Mirage. The “little AIs” introduced in SR4 Emergence do not exist.
REASON: Yet another exotic creature. There’s no way that a true AI isn’t going to be a huge data construct, and probably one requiring specialized hardware as well. So, you can’t play one of these.
Vampires
Critter Template
• Attributes: +2 to all Physical and Mental attributes
• Powers: Compulsion, Dual Natured, Enhanced Senses (Hearing, Low-light Vision, Smell, Thermographic Vision), Fear, Immunity (Age, Pathogens, Toxins), Infection, Influence, Magician, Mist Form, Natural Weapon (Bite: (STR+1)P, AP -1, -1 Reach), Regeneration, Sapience, Other (+1 initiative die, +1 to all movement rates)
• Weaknesses: Allergy (Sunlight, Severe), Dietary Requirement (Metahuman Blood, 1 pint per night), Induced Dormancy (Lack of Air, (Body) Minutes), Vulnerability (Wood)
• Notes: The victim’s skin becomes paler and their lateral incisors become more pronounced. If not Awakened as a Magician before their infection, they become one afterwards. Vampires are exclusively hemovores and can consume only blood. Any other food makes them sick and causes nausea (see p. 245, SR4) within an hour when they consume most other foods; this is especially true if they consume alcohol, in which case the nausea kicks in within 15 minutes. Damage taken from sunlight is not healed by their Regeneration power, nor is damage from wooden weapons.
HMHVV Taxonomy
• Group: Group VIII (Magically Active Viruses)
• Order: none
• Family: Vryolakiviridae
• Genus: Strigoivirus
• Species: Human-Metahuman Vampiric Virus
Viral Infection Mechanics
• Vector: Special
• Penetration: Special
• Power: Special
• Notes: If the vampire drains a victim of all boxes of Physical Damage, it might infect them with HMHVV. Make an Opposed Test, rolling the vampire’s Magic + Charisma versus the victim’s Body + Willpower. If the vampire wins, its victim becomes infected. If the victim wins, they die. An infected victim enters into a near-death state for 24 hours, then awakens with an overwhelming hunger to drain blood from the first metahuman unlucky enough to encounter them.
Etymology Notes
Based on their names, the researchers who isolated this virus aren’t themselves Greek or Eastern European, so I assume that they were just by people with a Classical education. At any rate, I tried to try to stay close to Greek terminology/folklore for this virus. The Greek vampire, the Vyrolakas, is the classic corporeal vampire of Greek and Eastern European folklore. The Strigoi is a Roman/Romanian vampire.
Critter Design Notes
This is a mix of SR4 and SR5 specs for both vampires and nosferatu. Also, having vampires being allergic to wood was just really, really stupid. A vampire’s attacking you? No worries, just poke him with a stick and it’ll burn him like acid. That was changed to a Vulnerability instead (see SR4 Running Wild, p. 219).
JanessaVR:
Additional Rules
Combat
The Combat Sequence
I found this method of fast-paced combat without initiative rolls that was pioneered by Professor Dungeon Master. This overrides part of the canon combat rules. Weapons, armor, damage tracks, etc. remain unchanged. But the process of combat now works as follows.
• Step 1: Everyone states what they’re going to do. And once you’ve stated it you can’t change it. You are locked into that move. You have 60 seconds to decide.
• Step 2: Everyone rolls the dice. Runners and enemies all at once. This includes both their attack dice and their fist/weapon/spell damage dice as well.
• Step 3: The GM looks at the dice results and narrates what happens.
Some caveats:
• Ranged Attacks: These always go first, and if the attack kills the target it cancels their attack. Spells count as ranged attacks (unless they’re touch spells).
• Sneak Attacks: If you manage to sneak up behind someone, that’s a free attack. They can’t see you to attack you back.
• Contested Actions: Say that a runner is about to wade into combat but notices a group of enemies trying to sneak up on them from behind. The enemies are about to come through a door in the back of the room and he’s the closest to them. The runner and the lead enemy make attack rolls. The runner’s roll is better, so he can reach the door before they do and then slam it shut and lock it as his action for that combat round. If the lead enemy had won, they would barrel through the door and join in the combat as of the next round.
• Surprise Attacks: Say that the runners are stealthily creeping around a corp’s warehouse and come across a group of guards playing cards in their break room. If the runners decide to attack, then they get a +3 bonus to their attack rolls and the guards get a -3 penalty to their attack rolls. This only applies to the first round of combat.
• Extra Attacks: If anyone has enhanced reflexes then they get multiple attacks/actions while everyone else is doing their one attack/action.
After all that, is one side dead, surrendered, or run away? If not then we do it all over again – you have 60 seconds to decide your actions for the next round of combat. Rinse and repeat until the fight is over.
Contacts
Instead of Connections, Contacts can be rated by their overall skill level. For instance, if your contact is a skilled technician, note them as “Skill Levels 5” instead of “Connections 5.” The costs are otherwise the same.
Hiring Experts
If they desire, the PCs can hire NPCs for certain tasks.
Magicians (Daily Rate)
The minimum is 500¥, if the work is fairly easy and routine. If it’s more labor-intensive and might involve some drain, then at least 1,000¥. If the magician is going to be flat with drain at the end of a long, hard day, or if the tasks are highly specialized so that few magicians could competently perform them, then it’s at least 2,000¥.
Investments
• Monthly profit from running a business is at a ratio of 100-to-1. So, if you invest 1 million ¥ in the business, and it pays out 10,000¥ per month in profit.
Lifestyles
The Advanced Lifestyle rules from SR4 Runner’s Companion, pp. 149-165, are being used by default for all Lifestyles. There are additional Lifestyle rules in SR4 Safehouses and SR4 Running Wild, pp. 39-40. I’ll also allow converted edges/flaws from SR3 Sprawl Survival Guide, pp. 127-144, as well as converted perks/options from SR5 Run Faster, pp. 212-227.
Adjusted Costs
Regarding the Lifestyle Point/Cost Table in SR4 Runner’s Companion, p. 153, there are these adjustments:
• At level 31+ just keep extending by the cost upwards in 10,000¥ increments.
• The cost for qualities/perks is a flat cost based on the Lifestyle level without counting those qualities/perks:
[indent]? Squatter: 100¥ per +1
? Low: 300¥ per +1
? Middle: 600¥ per +1
? High: 1,000¥ per +1
? Luxury: 10,000¥ per +1[/indent]
The Lifestyle Roll
Suggested by Reddit user clarionx here, each PC needs to make a monthly roll to see how well their Lifestyle is working out for them. Based on their Lifestyle level, they roll these many dice:
• Squatter: 2
• Low: 4
• Middle: 8
• High: 16
• Luxury: 32
You need 2 hits to continue living “comfortably.” Any less than that and you start encountering problems this month (the specifics are the GM’s call). Conversely, 5+ hits means that life is great this month (also the GM’s call).
New Lifestyle Qualities
• Large Country Property
[indent]? Prerequisites: The Rural Home quality at minimum, and also the No Neighbors quality if your property is at least 100 acres in size.
? Cost: +2 per increment increase
? Description: The Rural Home quality notes that “lot sizes are at least ten acres or larger,” so we’ll take 10 acres as the baseline for a Middle Lifestyle. High Lifestyle is 100 acres and Luxury Lifestyle is 1,000 acres. Each level of this quality increases your land size by a factor of 10, up to a maximum of 10,000 acres. So you could have a Middle Lifestyle cabin on a very large estate if you pay enough for it.[/indent]
Run Payoffs
The base pay for a single run is 1 months’ worth of expenses; this will vary from campaign to campaign. If the PCs are Low Lifestyle, that’s at least 2,000¥ per run. If they’re Middle, it’s 5,000¥, and if they’re High, it’s 10,000¥. So this assumes they’ll be out risking life and limb at least once a month.
Modifiers
• Milk Run: quarter Base Pay
• Easy Run: half Base Pay
• Average Run: Base Pay
• Tough Run: double Base Pay
• Super-Difficult Run: quadruple Base Pay
But they need to make more than just monthly expenses. “Where do they get those wonderful toys?” Well, typically they need to buy them. Going by this guide, they need to do at least do two runs a month if they want more toys beyond keeping up with their basic expenses.
Replacing Karma with Cash
PCs no longer earn Karma – their rewards are cash, and occasionally gear. The following are the costs for things Karma was normally spent on:
• Improve an Attribute by +1: 50,000¥ (this doesn’t include Magic or Resonance)
• Improve an Active Skill by +1: 25,000¥
• Improve an Active Skill Group by +1: 50,000¥
• Improve a Knowledge Skill by +1: 10,000¥
• Adept Powers: 25,000¥ for 0.25 PP worth of powers.
• Spells: After purchasing the formula, it costs another 10,000¥ for supplies and then takes one week in your magical lodge to fully learn it.
• Initiation: 100,000¥ for supplies and one week of preparation in your magical lodge. This is a one-time expense, after which you gain access to the metaplanes and metamagic techniques.
• Metamagic Techniques: 50,000¥ for supplies and one week in your magical lodge to fully learn it.
• Focus Bonding: 10,000¥ * Force for all foci unless otherwise noted. Power foci cost 30,000¥ * Force.
JanessaVR:
The Sixth World - Part 1
Awakened Demographics
1% of the population is Awakened, so out of 1 million people here is the approximate breakdown:
1% is 10,000 people, but only about 10% of those have any real, usable talent.
• 8,000 are either untrained (and not likely to get that training) or just don’t have the disposition to wield any real magic
• 1,000 are Aware (their sole talent is Astral Perception)
• 350 are Adepts
• 225 are Sorcery-Aspected Magicians
• 200 are Conjuring-Aspected Magicians
• 115 are Enchanting-Aspected Magicians
• 100 are Full Magicians
• 10 are Mystic Adepts (both Full Magicians and Adepts)
If you’re a Full Magician, you’re 1 in 10,000.
If you’re a Mystic Adept, you’re 1 in 100,000.
History and Geography
The current year is 2080. Rather than try to re-hash the entire Shadowrun timeline, this is an outline of the big differences from canon.
North America
• Confederation of American States: All of Florida belongs to the CAS. The Caribbean League does not encompass its southern tip.
• Native American Nations:
* There simply aren’t enough Native Americans to make up the population figures for the NAN in canon. So, the founders of the NAN expanded their definition of “native”…at least on paper.
* Large portions of the Latino population joined up with the Native Americans during the Indian Wars. For social and economic reasons they became part of the NAN afterwards.
* For similar reasons, the Mormon Church supported and joined with them as well, folding Utah into their territory.• Pueblo Corporate Council:
* The PCC sells SINs along with the purchase of any shares of preferred stock, so these are easy to get for any SINless person who comes into some money. (That being said, a lot of SINless people don’t have the money to purchase any PCC stock.)
* Weapon laws are a bit looser than in canon. While they still frown on you owning grenades or rocket launchers, heavy pistols and rifles are allowed (with the proper permits).
* There’s no Deep Lacuna in Los Angeles. The game’s developers clearly twisted themselves into knots trying to justify flooding Los Angeles when it sits on higher ground than the ocean so it’s just a ridiculous concept.• Tír Tairngire: This nation never came into existence. Separatist-inclined elves headed for Tír na nÓg instead, which ended up as something of a mix of those two countries. Oregon and Washington ended up as Salish-Shidhe territory.
Major Events by Year
2012
• The Awakening
2013
• Nuclear fission plants start experiencing some minor quirks.
2018
• Nuclear fission plants are now experiencing a small but measurable drop in power. It’s speculated that this is due to the return of magic to the world.
2023
• By this point, the loss of power from nuclear fission plants is well-documented, slowly accelerating, and can no longer be denied. Funding for fusion power is greatly increased after the first net power process is achieved this year.
2029
• The major players of what would have become the Sinsearach Elf Tribe in Salish-Shidhe territory were instead persuaded to move to Ireland through some intense backroom negotiations. Those that remained behind never managed to get all that organized.
2033
• Fusion power has finally been developed to the point where it’s nominally commercially viable, but will require some work to actually bring it to market.
2034
• HMHVV is isolated by Dr. Emil Harz and Dr. Carla Greenbaum; this magical virus transforms victims into vampires.
• Lugh Surehand, who had previously joined forces with Liam O’Connor and Seamus O’Kennedy back in 2029, is instrumental in helping to transform Ireland into Tír na nÓg. Instead of becoming the first High Prince of Tír Tairngire, he became of the head of one of the powerful Danaan Families who really run the country from behind the scenes.
2043
• The first fusion power plants start coming online in cities across the world.
2047
• The first practical neural interface is developed, but is expensive and soon mired in red tape.
2049
• The Crash Virus sweeps the world and is eventually countered by the cutting edge Echo Mirage team using the newly-developed neural interfaces. This does also hastily clear out the red tape surrounding neural interfaces.
2050
• In the wake of the Crash Virus, the modern Matrix begins to develop.
• The SINner system is implemented.
2051
• HMHGV is isolated by Dr. Jeffrey Krieger; this magical virus transforms victims into ghouls.
2052
• The USA and Canada merge into UCAS.
• The CAS and CalFree secede from the new country.
2055
• By this point, fusion power is fairly widespread and factory farming has replaced a good amount of traditional farming. It’s also made large-scale desalination and arcologies practical.
2061
• The PCC marches across the CalFree border to annex Los Angeles and a good chunk of Southern CA as well.
2063
• Leónization is first marketed. An extensive course of genetic medical treatments returns a patient to their prime as a young adult. It takes months, costs several million nuyen, and the possible side effects are not fully understood (or publically acknowledged).
2065
• The last old fission reactors are finally phased out.
2069
• The PCC plays a major role in removing Keiji Saito from the California Protectorate. They then promptly take the opportunity to absorb the rest of CalFree themselves. CalFree ceases to exist and the PCC now has access to another major seaport and a lot of prime farmland.
2072
• The CAS took back southwest Texas from Aztlan, which later contributed to Aztlan being fought to a stalemate in the Amazonia war instead of nominally winning it. [This happened in a previous campaign, and our PCs contributed to helping the CAS.]
2075
• Dr. Morgana Weston, PhD, ThD, paravirologist, and Hermetic mage, successfully demonstrates the cure for both HMHGV and HMHVV. Unfortunately, it’s both lengthy and very expensive, and thus sees little use outside of her test subjects, but this discovery throws gasoline onto the whole “Infected Rights” issue.
2076
• The Elixir of Youth, the magical community’s answer to Leónization, is discovered. It costs 1 million ¥ in reagents and takes a year to make, so it usually retails for at least 2 million ¥ per dose. It returns the drinker to their prime as a young adult.
Other
The events of the novel Worlds Without End didn’t happen.
Imports from Other RPGs
From Cyberpunk 2020
• Johnny Silverhand and Kerry Eurodyne are well-known rock superstars.
• In the shadows, Morgan Blackhand and Nomad Santiago are fairly well-known street samurai. In the Matrix, Rache Bartmoss and Spider Murphy are well-known (infamous) shadow deckers.
• Mitsuhama Computer Technologies is retroactively re-named to Arasaka, and is ruled with an iron fist by its founder and still-largest shareholder, Saburo Arasaka, who is also effectively a Yakuza oyabun.
Metahuman Demographics
These are average figures, taking into account the global population, and will vary from region to region:
• Human 72%
• Elf 7%
• Dwarf 6%
• Ork 11%
• Troll 3%
• Other (T’skrang, Windlings, Obsidimen, Unique Changelings) 1%
Magic and the Law
Law Enforcement
The Early Years
The first patchwork of laws to regulate the Awakened was clumsy, ham-fisted, and partly nonsensical. Things like unannounced home inspections, trying to regulate spells and foci by the Metzger-Typhus scale, licensing fees that cost more than most cars, and even trying to license individual spells per magician. Naturally, all it really did was make a giant mess.
The unannounced home inspections led to what eventually became giant class-action lawsuits for tens of millions in nuyen for property damage and some wrongful death cases. Trying to regulate magic by the Metzger-Typhus scale was essentially impossible to comply with as relatively few magicians could tell the difference between a spell that was Rating 3 or Rating 3.07436 on that scale (if they could get that close). Even trying to learn what spells a magician knew was a non-starter, and was frequently compared to trying to license each application that all the Matrix programmers in the world created every day. And many Awakened made less per year than the exorbitant licensing fee charged by Lone Star (for just a basic license, at that).
After many years, this giant mess eventually snowballed its way into public awareness due to the sheer number of lawsuits and horror stories, which Awakened civil rights groups had actively solicited and publicly posted in an attempt to shame the powers that be into some badly-needed reforms. In the end, that arguably worked.
Current Era (2075-ish)
While laws vary between the UCAS, CAS, and CalFree, most of them have been streamlined into a basic licensing system which is something like getting your Driver’s License or CCL Permit as it involves classes, written tests, and practical tests to obtain. Their costs have been reigned down to about 2,000¥ and the courses are typically a week to complete. Foci are licensed rather like firearms and while there are no explicit Metzger-Typhus scale limits, all foci will be assessed to determine their Force Rating according to that scale, which also gives the legal authority an idea how powerful the creator of the focus was and how powerful the magician who bonded it is as well. In addition, the registering officials shave a little sliver off of each focus and save them in a magical preservation vault to serve as magical links to both the focus and indirectly the bonding magician as well.
Lone Star
They did not take the magic law reforms gracefully, and largely regarded it as their right to push around the Awakened whenever and however they chose. Their response was a massive escalation of the whole situation, in such a way that its effects would be felt around the world. At the time, Black Guardian Vines were barely known as an obscure variant of Awakened Ivy that were only found in the deepest corners of the Amazonian Jungle. But their Division of Paranormal Investigation’s Research Department prides itself on being well-informed and saw their potential in law enforcement.
At considerable expense and trouble, they carefully imported several specimens for testing purposes and the results were all that they could have hoped for. Within 5 to 10 minutes of forcible exposure, any Awakened criminal could be rendered permanently mundane, greatly simplifying their treatment by the legal system. The vines had to be carefully restrained into a “mat” of sorts and they typically had to slap a tranquilizer patch on the prisoners first, but they did the job. One of their first acts was to immediately depower the entire populations of all the private mage prisons under their jurisdiction, resulting in massive cost savings going forward in dealing with the now perfectly normal criminals. All Awakened criminals that have even been arrested (not necessarily on valid charges) are likewise subjected to this fate unless some corporation offers to take them off their hands instead (for a suitable discrete payment, of course).
Most legal systems are still reeling from this new tactic, as such an approach was not addressed at all in the most recent reforms. Lone Star’s response was to note that their depowered prisoners are completely unharmed physically (as verified by medical examination), and that their new “Paranormal Containment Protocol” was entirely both ethical and legal. So far, they’re continuing to get away with it.
However, this has completely burned any bridges they had with the Awakened community as a whole. They now firmly regard Lone Star as Public Enemy Number 1 and are openly hostile towards them. This has severely hampered the DPI’s ability to hire new magicians and there are persistent rumors in the shadow community that magicians are being captured on trumped-up charges and offered deals to either join up or be immediately depowered.
Knight Errant
They regard themselves more as soldiers than police, and view the Awakened as individuals possessing potent concealed weapons. Accordingly, they insist on mandatory licensing as soon as they identify them and stress the penalties (getting shot dead) if they become a public nuisance with their abilities. As Lone Star’s top competitors, they strive to differentiate themselves from them and have deliberately avoided using Black Guardian Vines save as an absolute last resort for powerful Awakened prisoners who would otherwise be very difficult to contain. Note that this situation is mostly rare due to their “shoot first and ask questions later” policy towards Awakened criminals, so that’s of dubious benefit to the Awakened community as a whole. Nevertheless, their “only as an absolute last resort” policy on Black Guardian Vines has won them some grudging support from the Awakened, if only because they want to spite Lone Star by lobbying for their main competitor instead.
NAN
At least in North America, these are arguably the best places to be a magician, as magic there is treated as an everyday part of life and regulated like any other profession. This has caused a steadily-increasing “mage drain” as more and more Awakened try to immigrate to the NAN (typically the PCC) from the rest of North America. It could be said that the UCAS and CAS are getting exactly what they said they wanted (less magic around), but it’s happening in a way that makes them weaker and their neighboring states stronger. It’s a complicated issue and the UCAS and CAS find themselves arguing either side of it on any given day, but in the end it’s undeniable that the NAN (and again, mostly the PCC) are growing magically stronger every year at their expense. The NAN are, of course, delighted at their neighbors’ short-sighted laws and gleefully take in nearly any Awakened that apply, as long as they don’t have a history of being violent criminals. Black Guardian Vines are illegal all across the NAN (Availability 25F), where they’re regarded as a sacrilege to their spiritual beliefs. Very quietly, various NAN governments run “underground railroad” networks to smuggle promising Awakened onto tribal lands out of the UCAS, CAS, CalFree, and Aztlan.
Elsewhere
Fundamentalist religious communities, in particular, have eagerly embraced the use of Black Guardian Vines to “cleanse the demonic taint of magic” in their midst. New Coming-of-Age rituals have been devised where every young person is required to lay upon a mat of writhing vines to drain away their magical potential. Likewise, anyone in those communities found to be exhibiting sorcerous talents are liable to be kidnapped in the night by a local vigilante squad and forcibly depowered. The slowly-healing divide between the Awakened and organized religion has now shattered into a vast gulf that will likely never be mended. The Awakened have largely become far more militant on the subject of religion, and will routinely ostracize members that belong to any sects that do not loudly condemn this practice.
Newly-formed Awakened terrorist groups have started hunting down and destroying Black Guardian Vines wherever they can find them, and they have strong (if not always open) support from the rest of their Awakened brethren.
Regulatory Authorities
UCAS
Regulations for Awakened citizens (and creatures) are determined by the Department of Magical Affairs (DMA). This department was created by the UCAS Congress shortly after the nation’s founding. But from that point it’s up to typically Lone Star or Knight Errant to actually enforce those laws, depending on specific jurisdictions.
Spirits
Outside of a few nations such as the NAN, spirits are not recognized as citizens of any country and have no legal rights. Legally, they’re considered the responsibility (and liability) of the magician who summoned them. Free or wild spirits encountered by magical law enforcement are likely to just be banished without a second thought. This attitude has not endeared them to any shamans (or spirits).
Tools of the Trade
In first world nations, at least, police use Quicksilver Mana Sensitive Film Cameras (Arsenal, pg. 67) to capture astral signatures and then digitize them, giving them a searchable database of magical signatures. (Pro Tip: Shadowrunners, clean up your astral signatures or the cops will take a photo and use it against you in the future.)
The Infected
Most nations do not offer legal rights to the Infected. Asamando is a notable exception, but it’s a puppet state propped up by DeBeers-Omnitech for access to its mineral wealth. There was some traction for a ghoul rights bill a few years ago in UCAS, but it died in committee after the latest ghouls-eat-innocent-people atrocity to hit the news.
The typical Ghoul Bounty is about 1,000¥ a head. Vampires are worth 10,000¥ a head (if you live through trying to take one down).
JanessaVR:
The Sixth World - Part 2
Shadowrunning
Governments and Corporations
Shadowrunning exists as a profession because – as a general rule – governments are weak and corporations are strong. If it were the other way around, corporations could never get away with hiring mercenaries to sabotage and attack each other. If both were strong, it would result in a surveillance state dystopia where everyone was constantly tracked and regulated. So, this actually contributes to something of a new status quo, as both corporations and the shadowrunners they employ are generally aware of this and thus aren’t exactly keen for governments to regain any real degree of power.
Jobs and Fixers
Contrary to canon, most shadowrunners do not meet directly with Mr. Johnson. Instead, they work for a (more or less) trusted fixer who vets and arranges jobs for them. This is a safer approach for everyone involved. When your work is very illegal, exactly what sense does it make to let the client know who you are by meeting them face to face? Or, from their perspective, why on Earth would they let the “hired help” for an illegal enterprise actually know who they were? The whole “traditional” method of actually meeting the Johnson makes no sense at all. When the team works for the fixer, the fixer is the go-between and sole point of contact between the two parties, and that’s safer for everyone all around. Neither side can betray the identity of the other, as they don’t know who they are.
(See the section “Deniable Assets” under Neo-Tokyo in SR4 Corporate Enclaves, p. 107, for a description of how this is SOP for Japanese runners in canon.)
Technology
Agriculture and Food
Thanks to readily-available fusion power (see below as well as the History section above) and biotechnology, most meat is grown in factories instead of on farms. There are even “farm buildings” consisting of aeroponic gardens that are dozens of stories tall. This approach has replaced many traditional farms and those that remain are largely those catering to the “natural and organic” consumers for premium prices.
Of special note is cloned human meat for ghouls. This does satisfy their nutritional requirements but it’s a bit expensive and only a few biotech food companies are willing to be known as the ones growing humans as a food source. So, this really only helps those ghouls who can afford this premium food supply.
Fusion Power
Practical fusion power was finally developed and eventually replaced the fission power plants that were slowly failing in the new age of magic. This has provided cheap electrical power for the masses, made large-scale desalination practical, and fueled the growth of arcologies.
SINs
The SIN format is 12 alphanumeric digits in three blocks of four digits (e.g., 5T2G-8U6V-PK02). All SINs are essentially high-tech Driver’s Licenses in a government-proprietary format mini-data-card form, and all commlinks will have an integrated slot reserved for just this mini-data-card. The core pieces of a person’s identity will be permanently burned onto one of the chips on this card, unalterable, at whatever factory presses them out under government contract with high security. Other areas of the card are open for controlled/authorized read/write access (new medical history entries, etc.). If lost, you have visit the future equivalent of the DMV to pay to get a new one and the unique hardware ID of the old one would be flagged in the government’s central ID database as lost/stolen/invalid.
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