Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Gamemasters' Lounge => Topic started by: tyusmax on <08-16-14/0522:17>
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Hello,
I posted this on rpg.net as well, but I figured I'd post this here too. The more the merrier, after all! :D
So I’ve decided on where I want to take my Shadowrun campaign and was looking for suggestions and ideas. Sorry if this is a little incoherent.
First off, I am running a bit earlier in the timeline, when the Ork Underground was not a legal district. I will be going through the Season 4 Missions that deal with the Ork Underground Prop 123 vote. I just find that storyline awesome, and I will be interspersing those adventures into my campaign.
Tempo is still escalating in violence across the globe. I have changed how Tempo works though, b/c I never really liked the official write-up for it. I never really felt like it had any incentive for anybody to actually use Tempo and take the risk of addiction.
My version:
Spells cast while under the influence of Tempo go through the same steps for spell resolution with the following exceptions:
1. Any sorcery, enchanting, or conjuring tests are made with +3 bonus dice.
2. Drain Resistance roll is made at normal Drain Value +4.
People without the ability to cast magic are suddenly (under the influence of Tempo) able to cast spells wildly and without control. This often leads to deaths (both around them, and most of the time to the casters themselves). There are some few who survive and find that they now have an innate ability to cast magic even without Tempo, though of course they may be addicted to Tempo by that time.
So The Prince of 100k Leaves will be a Horror from the time of the 4th Age (Earthdawn).
Note: I’ve never really looked at Earthdawn too closely, so I don’t really know what their Horrors are actually like. I have gone more for the look of the Primordials from Exalted for this. More conceptual in nature than nasty Big Bad to be defeated by a Manabolt to the face.
The “Leaves” of the Prince will be loose pages from a book with excerpts of an alternate universe ruled by cannibals as normal. Gathering the pages, the more pages you get together, the more reality is being changed to that of the alternate universe in our world.
Ghoul cultists will be trying to gather the “leaves” together in order to transform the world into a universe where they would rule and not be shunned. (Possibly led by the 4 Horsemen Toxic Shamans, mostly b/c I think those guys are really cool and have no other way to incorporate them into my campaign ;D ).
The Black Circle is behind the development and distribution of Tempo. The leadership of the Black Circle know about the Horrors, and they have decided Humanity needs reinforcements to help fight the coming war. Tempo was created in order to jump start the human race to have more magical practitioners. And to have more potential recruits for the Black Circle, of course. People killed b/c of Tempo? Well…sacrifices must be made for the greater good. And the wheat need to be separated from the chaff.
My Nefarious Campaign Action Plan:
Prop 23 adventures sprinkled in between ideas described below.
My players have opened up a sideline business fencing items. I will give them one page of the Prince through that path.
One of my players has backstory of being disgraced Renraku Red Samurai who was dismissed when his charge (midlevel exec’s wife) was murdered while he was no where to be found. I’ve been struggling with what to do with his backstory, but I’ve decided to include it into this.
So, job offer to group to go get whatever is being held in Renraku underwater research lab. They get in, find out that it is the exec’s wife thought to be dead. She’s being held there for some reason to do with the Prince, but I have yet to work that out.
There’s a suggested adventure somewhere ( I forget where) that UK Princess Caroline broke off from seeing American billionaire playboy when reports came that Lofwyr’s spy/troubleshooter Claudia Romonov was pregnant from him. Playboy hires group to find a way to get his note to Princess Caroline.
Party succeeds. This draws interest in them from big guns. Not sure yet if I want it to be Lofwyr, Harlequin, Erin the Scribe, or maybe some other Great Dragon. Big Gun tests them further, hiring through intermediaries to go through the Elven Blood adventures.
Eventually, Big Gun reveals him/herself directly to players and tells them about 4th Age, Horrors, and Prince of 100k Leaves.
Somewhere along the way, head of Black Circle (who has also noticed/been watching the players) concocts some crazy scheme to meet with the players and explains their position, tries to recruit players.
And after that point, I have no idea how I will resolve everything. But not too worried about it since will take me pretty long time to get to this point, most likely.
Does my Tempo version seem ok? Overpowered? Stupid?
I know some people hate bringing up the whole Earthdawn connection, but it works for my purposes here.
Sorry for the wall of text, and any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!