Shadowrun General > General Discussion
I am over tentacles...
The_Gun_Nut:
Insanity is easily fixed in SR nowadays. Behavior mods and personafixes see to that. It's only the ones cause by serious biological trauma (I.E. damage) that is dificult to repair. Of course, it still costs big nuyen...
Having uber-powerful opposition that you can't do anything about is really boring. It's a terrible way to play a game. It only works for CoC because when you play it, you go in accepting that fact. It is a part of that setting and that genre that players buy into in order to play.
However, for a game set in the "real world," as it were, such things don't work too well. Real, common sense questions and actions work just fine in Shadowrun, because it is set in "our world" with just a few new things added in. The great strength of the setting is that everyone and everything act like you would expect a real, living person to act (sometimes they act badly, but still). Even the monsters act in a manner that can be understood, because they exist in a world where the rules are just the same. Magic is just something that got tacked on to people's world and worldview, and the people have reacted much the same way they react to everything else in the world. I.E. how can it be used/exploited to maximum advantage/gain? Should such entities become known to the Shadowrun world, they will be either exploited for maximum profit or eliminated. As apothetic as the world at large has become, it wouldn't do a lot to stir up worship (except with the tiny number of crazies around), since those entities don't actually DO anything, either for or against the people worshipping them. And if they did, then we are straight back to mainstream exploitation or elimination. There's not a lot of in between here.
For the limited communication and knowledge base of the 1920's, it works fine. But with the oversaturation of information present in the 2070's (heck, even in modern times) those things will become just another resource to exploit. Good old practical exploitation and apathy will annhilate any lingering terror. The Enemy (the Horrors from Earthdawn) want to devour the world, and they are very interested in who takes notice of them, and so act cautiously, lest they be opposed and stymied before they are ready. In this way, they are easier to understand, and integrate, than any Cthuloid monster.
GBL:
My opinion differs. From having seen it work. When you think you can control everything THAT is when you take the control away. Sure there could be a Reasonable Explanation at the end, but Horror comes from losing power, not from not knowing about it in the first place.
Our games are fun. And seriously, all i asked for was a new nasty megabeast outsider type. I have seen Dragons in other settings become similar in power and scope. No need to drag this into a discussion of whether or not how we have our fun is legitimate in your view.
Jadehellbringer:
Just make your 'aliens' in business suits and tell your players they're selling time-shares.
If that doesn't terrify your players, I don't know what will.
The_Gun_Nut:
--- Quote from: GBL on ---My opinion differs. From having seen it work. When you think you can control everything THAT is when you take the control away. Sure there could be a Reasonable Explanation at the end, but Horror comes from losing power, not from not knowing about it in the first place.
Our games are fun. And seriously, all i asked for was a new nasty megabeast outsider type. I have seen Dragons in other settings become similar in power and scope. No need to drag this into a discussion of whether or not how we have our fun is legitimate in your view.
--- End quote ---
Cthuloid horror is predicated upon the knowledge that They Are Out There (tm). When the characters realize this (in CoC) that is when the insanity points start piling up. Real horror, IMO, is from getting a glimpse of SOMETHING and then having no clue what it is or why it is killing you, or just having everyone around the characters start dying or worse, and realizing that something, some entity is causing it. Cthuloid horror doesn't spring on them until they grasp the situation. But familiarity breeds contempt, and, truthfully, knowing what is causing it (as completely as it seems some CoC games go) is a short step to dealing with it. Knowledge of the Beast doesn't scare me; it's not what I would call that exciting. But that's my thing.
I wasn't suggesting that your fun is or is not legitimate. I said that you go into CoC (as a player) accepting certain truths of the setting. I have had lots of fun playing CoC the few times that I did play. But that is more a function of the GM and the other players. I, as a player, knew that there were things in the game that my character had no way of coping with, and I just ran with it and ran with the other players. The role playing off the other characters is what made it fun for me, even though it wasn't terribly suspenseful.
As far as Megabeasts go, dragons and great dragons are the top dogs of the SR game setting currently. The Enemy (we know now that they were the Horrors from Earthdawn) are out there, but only in very tiny numbers. The barrier between worlds hasn't been reduced enough for them to swarm over en masse yet. THAT knowledge is keeping the dragons of the world up at night, as well as a few of the Immortal elves. When the rest of the world finally learns of it, there is going to be some mass panic for a bit, probably. Then it will calm down and the world will prepare for the invasion. But that is milennia away right now.
Electron Dream:
Here's an idea for ya. You could use a magician of a tradition with possession tradition without directly targeting the runners-just have the magician target the runners contacts or casual acquaintances. Have someone the runners know disappear for a while and then suddenly show up acting strangely. Over a couple of sessions have more and more acquaintances do things that are more and more disturbing. Give a couple of dead ends and then let the runners confront the magician. If you want a more powerful villian, use a spirit from a distant metaplane that's trying to manifest in the physical world. Something like that.
The same thing could be set up using an AI, Sprite, or dissonant technomancer for the matrix.
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