[Mason]

So, in the Shadowrun world, elfs and dwarfs are born that way, forming as their metatype in the womb. Orks and trolls, OTOH, form as a human and then suddenly change into their metatype at puberty, unless their parents were already Goblinized in which case they are born as the metatype of the parents. My question is, then, does it happen anywhere in the fluff that a person can be born to human parents but be born an ork (troll might be kinda hard) or that a human can "Goblinize" into a dwarf or an elf? I have seen a few characters who change into elves run in people's home games, but I don't think the fluff ever says that such is possible. But I have not read all of the novels and sourcebooks yet.

Does anyone know of a case of this unusual occurrence happening in official Shadowrun? Is it a possible concept in standard Shadowrun? Or is it doomed to always be a house rule "whatever works for you" thing relegated to some people's groups?

[FastJack]

There's no fluff about it, but I don't see the problem of "Goblinizing" into elves & dwarves. However, an ork or troll pregnancy may be more difficult on other metahumans, so I'd probably leave it at Goblinizing at puberty.

[jonathanc]

The events were about a decade apart, right? I don't have my timeline on me. It's possible that elves and dwarves can exist at a lower magic level than orks and trolls; as magic began to return, at the low magic level their return was gentler, with just enough magic to activate the latent metagenes in developing fetuses, but not enough to fully transform fully grown humans. The orks and trolls returned when the magic level was a bit higher, high enough to transform fully grown humans. It is also possible that the metagenes for dwarves and elves are not dominant over human genes, while the opposite is true of ork and troll metagenes.

[Mirikon]

I think it said in one of the books that people didn't change into elves or dwarves. They were born that way. However, you can either be born as an ork or troll, or goblinize into one if you're a human (especially a human born to ork or troll parents). And then there's SURGE.

[jonathanc]

I think it said in one of the books that people didn't change into elves or dwarves. They were born that way. However, you can either be born as an ork or troll, or goblinize into one if you're a human (especially a human born to ork or troll parents). And then there's SURGE.

Did someone say SURGE?

[Mirikon]

Some things should have stayed in the 90s.

[FastJack]

Some things should have stayed in the 90s.

Yes, youngsters, guys dressed like that back then. Not me, of course, I was too busy MUDing.

[jonathanc]

This is kind of what I imagine food commercials are like in 2070. Only instead of extreme sports, they have Urban Brawl players endorsing Nukit  Burgers and such.

[CanRay]

This is kind of what I imagine food commercials are like in 2070. Only instead of extreme sports, they have Urban Brawl players endorsing Nukit  Burgers and such.

I'm thinking the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial from Serenity.

As for Urban Brawl, the 2002 version of Rollerball has an example of endorsements near the beginning.  "Do it again, Label out!"

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Does anyone know of a case of this unusual occurrence happening in official Shadowrun? Is it a possible concept in standard Shadowrun? Or is it doomed to always be a house rule "whatever works for you" thing relegated to some people's groups?

I think it said in one of the books that people didn't change into elves or dwarves. They were born that way. However, you can either be born as an ork or troll, or goblinize into one if you're a human (especially a human born to ork or troll parents). And then there's SURGE.

Mirikon is right; at this point, SURGE means you can 'goblinize' into a metatype.  It isn't typical, and the sense I get is that even SURGE isn't common any more as the 'bump' caused by Halley's passing has receded.

As it was pre-SURGE, elves and dwarves were born.  So, actually, were many/most orks and trolls by 2050-2060; an actual 'Goblinization' event was relatively infrequent.  There's actually a discussion about this in one of the books, though I don't recall which one, or even which edition; heck, I don't even remember if it's an IC convo or a game-concepts talk.  However, the discussion talked about the essentials of Shadowrun genetics -- no half-elves or half-orks or half-anything, the genetic dominance of ork/troll genes over elf/dwarf, should two such of 'mixed metahumanity' interbreed, the occasional expression of a human baby to ork/troll parents (which sometimes Goblinized at puberty, but sometimes stayed human for the rest of their lives), that sort of thing.  Very interesting reading.

[Mirikon]

I think there was some talk about that in the 3e Tir Tairngir book.

[jonathanc]

State of the Art 2063 has a pretty good writeup on Sixth World genetics.

[Bull]

Goblinization is still possible, but very, very rare.

Most races "breed true" these days, though that's not always the case.  It doesn't come up much (And I;'d like to play with it more some day), but any race can give birth to any other race.  The odds are miniscule, but it's possible.  Be funny for two elves to pop out a baby Troll though.

[jonathanc]

Goblinization is still possible, but very, very rare.

Most races "breed true" these days, though that's not always the case.  It doesn't come up much (And I;'d like to play with it more some day), but any race can give birth to any other race.  The odds are miniscule, but it's possible.  Be funny for two elves to pop out a baby Troll though.

...not if you're the mother...

[CanRay]

Actually, IIRC, what typically happens when it's a Goblinized Metatype is they're born human (Even if it's two Elves), and then Goblinize at some time before or during puberty.

Inter-Metatype marriages deal with this all the time.  Human females that marry Ork males don't give birth to litters like an Ork woman would, but would give birth to either orks, humans, or humans that will goblinize.

At least, that's how I read and understand things.

EDIT:  It does make for one hell of a strange Parent-Teacher interview at Portland High School when Little Johnny Windwillow when he suddenly outgrows all of his clothing.    On the bright side, sports scholarship at the university of his choice!!!