[Stormdrake]

With the upcoming release of the Artifact book later this year are we looking at a major increase in magic in the sixth world?  If so, what will this change in cannon?  Looking back at the comet event I would think new races, different magical abilities and possibly a reorganization of the map as land masses undergo more transformations would be possible.  I did look at some information released on the web from individuals who are no longer attached to Shadowrun and some of the initial ideas did seem to be leaning that way.  Is Catalyst still thinking along those lines? 

[The_Gun_Nut]

I'm curious to know if the t'skrang or obsidimen are going to put in a showing in the near future.

[Kot]

I'm curious to know if the t'skrang or obsidimen are going to put in a showing in the near future.

Already did, as Changelings. And I wouldn't like a shift to Man, Magic, More Magic, and some Machine.

[Acme]

The way I'm reading the Artifacts thing is that their use is generally a one-time event, that there will be aftereffects to be sure, but I don't think it's a ratcheting up of the magic like YoTC.

[Kot]

I just mean i don't want more magic focus in the storyline.

[MK Ultra]

I'm curious to know if the t'skrang or obsidimen are going to put in a showing in the near future.

Already did, as Changelings. And I wouldn't like a shift to Man, Magic, More Magic, and some Machine.

Obsidimen are also hinted at in Shadows of Asia (3rd edition book), in the description of lake Baikal, IIRC - something about stone ppl being observed on an island with a strong negative background count, or s.th. like that.

I think there was some similar allusion to the t´skrang (also in SoA?) - some lizard ppl living along some river in the deep jungle.

might have mixed up some of this, but those sounded more like the real thing then some freak changelings that look similar.

Also, Scale, Lowwyr´s true Drake has a t´skrang form (among others).

[Stormdrake]

I am reading into a two to three sentence blurb but the description for the followup atrifact book seems to suggest significant events that can change the world.  It is interesting that they say the GM and players can decide which events in the book they wish to use or not.  Granted that is always the GM's right but for them to put it into the description indicates to me that there may be some rather radical ideas included in the book.  At least one can hope so, lol.

[Frostriese]

And I wouldn't like a shift to Man, Magic, More Magic, and some Machine.

I agree to a degree. I certainly wouldnt like additional metaraces, in any case, and I also dont want a repeat of that way too magic-focused Horrors storyline or something like that. Still, OTOH, I find it a bit sad and pointless how the magical states like the two Tirs have been, well, nerfed... IMO there certainly should not be more focus on magic in the storyline, but there should be potent magical powers here and there.

[Semerkhet]

I am reading into a two to three sentence blurb but the description for the followup atrifact book seems to suggest significant events that can change the world.  It is interesting that they say the GM and players can decide which events in the book they wish to use or not.  Granted that is always the GM's right but for them to put it into the description indicates to me that there may be some rather radical ideas included in the book.  At least one can hope so, lol.

So, you've read Mr. Derie's draft material.  Now you know what Catalyst cannot do because Mr. Derie wrote the draft and then left the company.  Or at least that has been my understanding, bolstered by the current rumored nature of the artifacts being gathered in the DotA series.  That rumored nature being one-shot items which grant some magical effect and then disappear after they are used.  I have to say this is incredibly disappointing to me because by volume three of DotA it's fairly obvious in the nature of the objects being found (a map, a sextant, a key) that the gathered artifacts are going to *find* and *unlock* something.  If, in the end, the artifacts are nothing more than disappearing one-time effect generators then color me severely displeased.

[Stormdrake]

No, I read the release info for "Artifacts unbound" on the recently released sales sheet.  It says;

"Continues the plot strands introduced in the Dawn of the
Artifacts series of adventures.
• Explores the hidden powers of the artifacts gathered in
the previous adventures and shows the effects they are
having in the Sixth World, as well as revealing how they
have affected past history.
• Provides a flexible plot structure that allows players
to follow the parts of the campaign that are most
interesting to them; gamemasters may also explore
locations in the Sixth World that they fi nd compelling
for a campaign setting."

[Ancient History]

The original plot proposal - I don't know where to find a version online right now and it's not mine to upload - called for four artifacts to locate and unlock an ancient enchantment that would bring Atlantis back to the world. This was considered very bad, and was revised. The final revision to the plot proposal was Harlequin's Gambit, which I wrote, and you can find it here. The gist is that instead of finding Atlantis, Frosty & co. were scrabbling to uncover timecapsules filled with Atlantis' magical knowledge. This was to help lead into a new magic sourcebook called High Magic, written by Jennifer Harding and myself. When I terminated my drafts, I pulled about half the book - it was my understanding at the time that Jennifer Harding and Steven McQuillian would be finishing it up on their own, probably revising the plot to work with their already-written drafts. I since heard that line developer Jason Hardy was unhappy with this - I don't know his reasons and won't guess - and it's apparent that he's since decided to go a different way with Artifacts Unbound. There was a solicitation for the book up, but apparently it's since been removed.

So to answer the original poster's question: I dunno. Maybe. It's entirely up to the writers of the new book and the direction the line developer wants to take it in. The book that I was working on was going to end with a major magical paradigm shift, but not so much in there being more magic in the Sixth World but more magical knowledge being available to everyone. At the end of Harlequin's Gambit, Frosty was going to seed the magical knowledge onto the Matrix. Learning blood magic was going to be as easy as downloading a torrent. Obviously, that's unlikely to happen now.

[Crimsondude]

Heh.

[Stormdrake]

Went and read the write up for Harlequin's Gambit.  While I understand Atrifacts Unbound will be somewhat different I hope the underlying idea of new magical knowledge making its way into the world comes through.

[Crimsondude]

Hm. I have not read that or any other proposal or whatnot Bobby wrote because what is the point? Hell I only read half the last paragraph in the above post. That said as one of the AU authors I think the sell sheet is accurate.

[Ancient History]

Hm. I have not read that or any other proposal or whatnot Bobby wrote because what is the point?

Funny, I was thinking much the same thing about your material.