After participating in the Dungeons and Dragons 5e playtest, one of my players suggested Shadowrun until the the second packet is released. So, I looked into the books.
On this board, I'm Hermes. But I've started with Shadowrun 1st Edition back in 1990, and I thought it was a good game. I built a decker as my first character. In 92, I managed to get ahold of Shadowrun 2nd Edition and ran a couple of games. Okay, so . . . Yeah, Long time Shadowrun fan here. Looking at 4th Edition, there is a lot of
Blue Planet influence. I ought to know, I have a copy of
Blue Planet.So, I live in the Ol' City of Gloom (Salt Lake City if you don't get the Deadlands RPG reference) and I'll be running a game there. I got out my 3rd Edition
Shadows of North America to help fill in the cracks for my game after found out that Pueblo Corporate Council absorbed the Ute Nation. I figured that Salt Lake City would be a great place to run a game now that my people have their government change hands.
I'm also running Shadowrun as an
Alternate Reality instead of a
Possible Future since our timeline diverged at the year 2,000 when George Bush Junior was elected (President Jarman could have been elected after Clinton, that's all I'm saying). Based on what I can glean from
Shadows of North America Salt Lake City is a low mana ebb zone. Well, that might have been great in the 2060s, but this is my game so I'm going to say there's a mana spike in the place and a new Tradition of magic has arisen.
Yep, Rule Zero has struck in my game.
So, as to this new tradition of magic, what is it you say? Well, it's simple.
Metacreativity. I don't like Theurgy as it is presented in
Street Magic, so let me be clear.
Metacreativity is pretty much based on the Law of Attraction you have heard about. And yes, if you played D&D with the Expanded Psionics Handbook you'd know where this is going.
One thing you have to know about Mormon Theology. While most of it is downplayed, the Law of Attraction is throughout the Bible and spelled out in detail in the Doctrine and Covenants. While the Chaos Magic is essentially close to it, I don't like the outcome. Metacreativity is a magic tradition based on the Law of Cause and Effect (bigger part of the Law of Attraction) and it isn't a purely Mormon phenomenon in Shadowrun. Anyone can be a Shaper if they knew who they really are.
Besides this, I've chosen to run a game in Salt Lake City simply because:
1. It's where I live.
2. The effects of being a part of a Corporation out of the box doesn't sit well with my people here. True, if you know anything about the Social History of Salt Lake, you have Utopianists such as Brigham Young. But things have changed. Most Salt Lake citizens do not like Communism or Socialism, or even a Dictatorship. So, I'm setting up the Valley as a place of under heated political turmoil. It's becoming a hotspot as people there are finally getting around to reacting to the Change of State.
Perfect for a Shadowrun game.
Salt Lake City as written in Shadows of North America is like Casablanca in
Casablanca. However, in my game it's about to become something different.
--------------------------------------------------
Okay, enough about my game. My friend has gifted me his books and I've read them last night. 4th Edition has some stark changes from 2nd Edition, because I'm used to the Priorities System. But it doesn't mean that I'm not open to new ideas. I like the point buy system, and I like the new Matrix. In fact, there's nothing that says I can't run
Blue Planet with these rules and Milieu. They are both
that close (Although in Blue Planet, there is no CIRS, but in Shadowrun, you have a CIRS).
