Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => The Secret History => Topic started by: Aria on <02-15-12/1543:54>
-
I'm currently running an Emerging pbp, I've got the Emergance campaign and shockwave...aside from these has there subsequently been much said about TMs, and the persecution of them, the registration act etc...? There's perhaps something in the timeline in the Almanac but other than that it seems to have gone quiet on this thread?
If you could point me in the direction of relevant info that would be great!
-
The hysteria died down once everyone realized that they weren't all insane people out to crash the Matrix. MCT, NeoNET, and others still do experiments on them that would be called 'horrific' or 'ethically questionable' or 'crimes against humanity' at the best of times. In public, technomancers are treated much like mages. Some people fear them, the ones who live legit have to register, and there are still people looking to find 'test subjects'.
-
Well I'm sure nobody will mind if I take a slightly bleaker view on the state of affairs :-\
I like the idea of them being actively persecuted by the general populace, not just the evil corps. Human history is chock full of scapegoats, and the fact that they look like everyone else makes it all the more interesting!
Witch hunt time!!!
-
The hysteria died down once everyone realized that they weren't all insane people out to crash the Matrix. MCT, NeoNET, and others still do experiments on them that would be called 'horrific' or 'ethically questionable' or 'crimes against humanity' at the best of times. In public, technomancers are treated much like mages. Some people fear them, the ones who live legit have to register, and there are still people looking to find 'test subjects'.
If you've read the TM section of Unwired, then you'll get a vibe on what some of the reaction of TMs from Clockwork and Netcat.
-
There are those who do witch hunts against the TMs. Just like there are those who do witch hunts against mages. Just like there are those who do witch hunts against metahumans. Just like there are those who do witch hunts against changelings. There is plenty of discrimination out there.
I would read Unwired though, if I were you. Clockwork's reaction is the extreme. Most people, however, would fall into the category of others who range from acceptance to mistrust, but not outright hatred. Taking Clockwork as an example of what the general public feels about TMs is like taking a KKK member as an example of what the general public feels about black people.
-
After the initial shock, hysteria, etc, I think technomancers would be regarded much like mages, with slightly more distrust due to certain powerful entities not anticipating the emergence of TMs.
And once the potential profit of employing TMs started coming out, then the tension would drop even more.
-
I would read Unwired though, if I were you. Clockwork's reaction is the extreme. Most people, however, would fall into the category of others who range from acceptance to mistrust, but not outright hatred. Taking Clockwork as an example of what the general public feels about TMs is like taking a KKK member as an example of what the general public feels about black people.
I understand your argument but I think the reaction to TMs is likely to be much more like the hunt for communists in the US during the cold war...after all, black people (or other racial group) don't actively threaten your way of life...TMs (or so the hype goes) caused the crash and have the potential to bring the world down around your ears - I would think that would be more likely to sustain a general negative perception of them?!?
-
I would read Unwired though, if I were you. Clockwork's reaction is the extreme. Most people, however, would fall into the category of others who range from acceptance to mistrust, but not outright hatred. Taking Clockwork as an example of what the general public feels about TMs is like taking a KKK member as an example of what the general public feels about black people.
I understand your argument but I think the reaction to TMs is likely to be much more like the hunt for communists in the US during the cold war...after all, black people (or other racial group) don't actively threaten your way of life...TMs (or so the hype goes) caused the crash and have the potential to bring the world down around your ears - I would think that would be more likely to sustain a general negative perception of them?!?
At least Netcat, Inbus, and other TMs have dispelled that perception on Jackpoint.
-
Plus, the hype was quickly revealed as just hype, as technomancers began showing what the corps were doing to them. Then AIs burst on the scene, and Pulsar wowed everyone. Horizon made a concerted media effort to dispel the hype that technomancers were the boogeyman, and people came to their senses. What you're talking about was indeed the general feeling in '71, but after people started thinking instead of running scared, they came to their senses, for the most part.
-
At least Netcat, Inbus, and other TMs have dispelled that perception on Jackpoint.
Not all of JackPoint.Plus, the hype was quickly revealed as just hype, as technomancers began showing what the corps were doing to them. Then AIs burst on the scene, and Pulsar wowed everyone. Horizon made a concerted media effort to dispel the hype that technomancers were the boogeyman, and people came to their senses. What you're talking about was indeed the general feeling in '71, but after people started thinking instead of running scared, they came to their senses, for the most part.
Still doesn't stop the racists who are running scared, and the fearmongers who thrive off things like that. Of course, those same groups have been using magicians as the boogyman as well. Not to mention Dragon-Haters who hate them all, despite some being quite decent. And, can't hesitate to mention the Redskin haters who detest them for stealing "Their" land away from them.
-
OOC, after it was revealed how the megacorps were vivisecting TMs, did the pope make any outlandish remarks like what one of the popes did after the reemerging of magic? Or was he a total scrag?
-
Still doesn't stop the racists who are running scared, and the fearmongers who thrive off things like that. Of course, those same groups have been using magicians as the boogyman as well. Not to mention Dragon-Haters who hate them all, despite some being quite decent. And, can't hesitate to mention the Redskin haters who detest them for stealing "Their" land away from them.
Yes, but they aren't typical for the general population. Would you judge all white people by the actions of the KKK? Or all doctors by the actions of Mengle?
Now there ARE bastards out there that hate or fear technomancers. Just like there are people who hate or fear mages. Most people, however, are not in that category.
-
Still doesn't stop the racists who are running scared, and the fearmongers who thrive off things like that. Of course, those same groups have been using magicians as the boogyman as well. Not to mention Dragon-Haters who hate them all, despite some being quite decent. And, can't hesitate to mention the Redskin haters who detest them for stealing "Their" land away from them.
Yes, but they aren't typical for the general population. Would you judge all white people by the actions of the KKK? Or all doctors by the actions of Mengle?
Now there ARE bastards out there that hate or fear technomancers. Just like there are people who hate or fear mages. Most people, however, are not in that category.
Granted, just reminding folks that not everything is A-OK in Technomancer Land. Being "Outted" as a TM is still a major problem. Even in the Shadows, which is usually pretty accepting of people, there's still fear over TMs due to Deus and his Otaku Horde.
-
So spin on both sides...I guess with Horizon pushing the pro angle there may well be an edge on the acceptance side but it seems to me that people are more inclined to think the worst until there's uncontrovertable proof that things are rosy! Fear and hate are much easier to spin than love and goodness after all!
Maybe I'll downgrade the 'you're a TM therefore you are doomed' angle...maybe just 'if you are discovered then you are in for a VERY HARD time'. I know I have a fairly dim view of the 'general population' and mob mentality but I can afford things to be slightly less extreme than I had at first envisaged. Of course MCT and their ilk still want to cut open your head and poke around inside >:(
-
Well, no worse a time than if you were a mage. Remember, this is a world where they've been hit with magic, dragons, two matrix crashes, three rounds of VITAS, SURGE, HMHVV, a dragon running for president and then getting blown up, dragons on the boards of megacorps... I could go on, but you get the idea. A lot of strange has been thrown at the world, and people have gotten a bit jaded. MCT spun the TM crisis hard to whip up fear, but Horizon is better at spin than MCT by far. The world had about a year of major freakout, and then people came to their senses. There are still people who rabidly hate technomancers, but for most people, as long as they aren't doing anything to them, they have more immediate problems, such as taking care of those TPS reports that the boss wants done in two hours, and so on.
A good example would be the earthquake in Haiti a couple years ago (RL, not SR). For a couple months, it was all everyone could talk about, and then people moved on to the next thing to take their attention. TMs were a big thing, and every so often someone will haul them out to make a point (just like they do with mages and shadowrunners), but they're here now, and not going away, so most people went back to concentrating on their own life.
Now, in the shadows, it is a different set of challenges, but the same rule applies. There are people in the shadows who fear TMs (Clockwork is a good example), just like there are people in the shadows who fear mages, or disdain anyone walking the razor's edge of cyberware, or can't stand hackers. But for the most part, biz is biz, and at the end of the day, people look to do what is best for their bottom line.
-
My game is set roughly between 2070 to 2072 so it will certainly have been bad but the arguments are winning me around to a more 'ignore them if they don't bother you' attitutude. I've still got the mega corp threat (most runners do I guess) as a lurking nemisis. And of course my twisted GM brain will dream up other threats that the players shouldn't see coming :-X
-
Ahha, just beginning to read through the new horizon stuff and it seems my darker ideas are not so far from what is being talked about in the TM uprising :) Nice to know I read the way the wind was blowing...even if it is all a single perspective and not necessarly Truth
-
Honestly, if you want to run the "witch hunt" angle and stay close to canon, the easiest course is probably to just set your campaign in the months directly before and directly after the Hong Kong Incident in 2070. That's when TMs really were getting snatched left and right, and after the HKI, even getting accused of being a TM could lead to someone being beaten or lynched.
-
I'm currently playing a techno in a campaign set in about 2072, so the techno hysteria has died down a little. But, I do have to say, she still has a lot of distrust toward the general population. I mean, she only tells people who need to know that she's a techno. The only reason that her entire team knows is because she currently lives with them and they would notice her lack of hardware. Also, she comes from Neonet, so she knows just how bad it can be for technos. Also, if she survives this campaign, she will join another team of professionals, and she plans on never telling at least two of the members because they honestly don't need to know. The only reason the two who will know will know is because one hired her to go to the resonance realm to get some information and the other person is a hacker and will take notice of my lack of hardware.
-
Honestly, if you want to run the "witch hunt" angle and stay close to canon, the easiest course is probably to just set your campaign in the months directly before and directly after the Hong Kong Incident in 2070. That's when TMs really were getting snatched left and right, and after the HKI, even getting accused of being a TM could lead to someone being beaten or lynched.
I've more or less downgraded the atmosphere to low level hostility...but if TMs have been openly engaged in matrix hostilities in Geneva and Horizon are pushing buttons I think the chances are that most people will at least take a dim view of them even if lynchings are a thing of a couple of years ago...
-
Oh, lynchings still happen.
But, then again, Humanis is still lighting crosses on fire in front of that household with the cute dwarf couple.
-
Oh, lynchings still happen.
But, then again, Humanis is still lighting crosses on fire in front of that household with the cute dwarf couple.
Ah, yes - Humanis, the natural prey of the thinking 'runner 8) ;D
-
Ah, yes - Humanis, the natural prey of the thinking 'runner 8) ;D
Or even the unthinking 'Runner.
"Ah wan' Ice Cream and Humanis Beatin'." "Yes yes, we can do that after the 'Run. Damnit, I'm the troll here, and it's the human that wants to go Humanis beating." "Don't mind him, Trogdor, he hasn't been the same since he was shot in the head." "Bullets hurt." "Yes, Jimmy, bullets hurt. Good thing Trogdor had that healing spell handy or else you wouldn't have survived. ... Such as you have."
-
Not 'zactly what I was thinking, but a nice little script. Kudos CanRay.
It's funny, but after nearly every CGL release i think another JackPointer I'd love to have as a contact.
-
Ah, yes - Humanis, the natural prey of the thinking 'runner 8) ;D
"I use to hunt Metas for Humanis because I thought I hated them, later it was Mages, Changleings, Drakes and TMs. Finally I realized the truth of the matter and started killing Humanis'...I just hate people"
--Honest Abe
-
"I use to hunt Metas for Humanis because I thought I hated them, later it was Mages, Changleings, Drakes and TMs. Finally I realized the truth of the matter and started killing Humanis'...I just hate people"
--Honest Abe
Is he a Vampire Hunter too?
-
i am currently playing a tm and my feelins on the whole issue is ' don't ask, don't tell'. i carry a 'link with me and make it obvious to anyone looking that i am going thru the 'link to get into the matrix. my team knows that i am one, just because we all got drunk aftet our last run and had a secret sharing party. ;D but everyone else we meet the just think i am another hacker, which is fine with me.
-
I'm getting a group together for a Shadowrun Missions game, and the Technomancer started at Street Lifestyle.
I said he just got back from some Pacific Islands where he was a step ahead of a bounty hunting team going after the TM Price on his head.
Give him a few minutes, and he'll be like Hardison in Leverage. "Does that look like Mic Jagger to you?"