Shadowrun: Any illegal or quasi-legal activity undertaken on behalf of a corporate, military, or governmental organization that favors anonimity. Your history books tell you there was a time when the Triumvirate existed in a state of constant competition and shadow wars, they were just Mega corps back then, there were at least 7 others as well, but those aren't covered as heavily in the books. Those were different times. Used to be these people called Shamans, and Mages, and Awakened. Apparently they could summon " spirits " from the Astral and see and do things that even the most gene-jacked Bio-Knight wouldn't dream of being possible. There used to be tiny short men and big ugly horned ones and even tall pretty ones and people would fight over how they looked because apparently it helped them ignore the A.I.'s that were erasing people's brains and turning them into zombies. Heck, your books even say there used to be dozens of dragons pulling the strings of the world instead of the few you know today. You can even see them on Trids, the big white one was always fun to watch. He isn't as intimidating as the Big L. There used to be people who weren't people, SINless, Back before the Population Re-astabilishment Reform, after they started going away, back during that brief time when we were " meta-humanity " and not just " humanity " and the world needed more people after so many just.....went away. Those were the times when there were Shadowrunners. But those were different times. Welcome to the Seventh World. Howdy! and welcome to my Play-By-Post Homebrew biopunk, shadowrun based Call of Cthulu crossover game! Premise: You are a newly inducted faculty at the newly opened Miskatonic University within the sleepy town of Arkham. Recently though the strange changes to the world have been getting even stranger. and as a member of one of the only remaining centers of Paranormal study you have volunteered to go and investigate some strange, but likely docile, happenings. Little do you know that you are to bear witness to the final death of the sixth world. and the dawn of the Seventh. If your interested in knowing more just post below or shoot me a PM but for now here's some quick info. 1. Character " archetypes " are treated a bit more like Classes in that everyone has some sort of special thing that only they have / can do. for some quick info on what the 2175 version of your favored archetype is like just ask below and I'll rattle out some info. Ex. Decker/Cephalon, Rigger/Wrangler, Street Sam/Bio-Knight, Face/Thespian, Infiltrator / Aquanaut. etc. etc. 2. It's the future so everyone's getting some fancy shiny pieces of gear that don't normally exist in Shadowrun. 3. It's a century into the future and a Call of Cthulu Crossover, so needless to say the MetaPlot for Shadowrun is more or less being completely ignored / changed. For some people that will be a massive deal breaker so I want you to all know ahead of time. 4. For narrative reasons there isn't any Magic left in the setting, that said if you REALLY REALLY want to play a mage I'll allow a low magic rating for 1 player. No adepts though, mostly as you may just as well play a street sam / Bio-Knight as that won't mess with the new established lore. 5. for same reason as above most metatypes simply aren't around anymore ( Surges though are more common than ever and Technos are still around. ) I may permit again 1 player to play an Elf though they would have to be visibly aged ( roundabout 60 by human standards with leonization treatments. ) 6. Your character isn't a Shadowrunner. Those don't even really exist anymore, I've axed them so the temptation to play as one won't distract anyone from the Call of Cthulu half of the game which involves being a paranormal Investigator. 7. Alot of the overall themes of shadowrun are still coming through in the game despite the major changes. Bigotry has transferred over to the wealthy few who can afford biological overhauls to their bodies and those who must rely on traditional cyberware. as well as the unfortunate wage slaves who require crewd and cheap augments to survive on day to day basis and the new generation of Surges who are far better adapted to living in the environs of the 22nd century. On top of all of this there is a looming catastrophe that everyone can sense just over the horizon and YOU! are the only ones who can prevent it. final tidbit of info I'm posting is that the game is going to revolve around one of two different " Scenarios " and it's up to you to vote on which is your favorite. I may be willing to combine them if I get enough overwhelming support. Otherwise though just post which is your favorite. 1. The Edge of Darkness: A dear friend and colleague has requested your presence at his death bed. His message was hysterical and he dared not reveal any great information over an unsecured channel. worse still.....he has requested that the University remain uninformed of what he needs to tell you. He lies at Arkham Central Medical. What is so important that the Triumvirate funded University can't learn of it? Why has he hid it from you for all this time? What horrors of the past will return to haunt you? Will you survive the truth? The only thing that is certain is that you will find that there is far more to your sleepy hometown of Arkham than meets the eye. Expect: Minimal to Moderate combat, more wide spread investigation, secrets, both mundane and esoteric to be revealed! Expect to take time to uncover secrets of a bygone era as you uncover relics of the sixth world and......perhaps the worlds that came before. who knows. you may even end up getting to live out the fantasies of every history professor and go on a real " shadowrun ". Also Horror, plenty of Lovecraftian Horror. This is something of a " hero's journey " scenario where you start as a bunch of clueless proffesors and turn into genuine grade AAA. paranormal investigators. 2. Dead Man Stomp: Neo Orleans, the cultural capital of the 7th world. turns out word of your strange little exploits have reached the ears of the Trancendent Flesh Barons of the Flooded City. and now you've found yourself in a lavish ball, replete with music of a time long gone. Swing Jazz plays as beings unrecognizable as human dance in living parodies of period clothing. The conversation is stimulating, as you explore the issues troubling the world. and as you perhaps experience firsthand how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Expect: a unique experience compared to the other scenarios. This one is VERY roleplay heavy, a great deal of this scenario will play out more like a simple RP chatroom which leads to investigation. and possibly some combat. This one isn't so much dependent on experience with SR as it is with Roleplaying your specific character. also important to note, this is one of the only scenarios that includes a Dress Code. crack open Run and Gun as your going to need to show up in style. also final very important note. This scenario explores the burgening Trancendent Culture and the new form of bigotry to be found between the Trancendent's and Bioconservatives as well as the increasing SURGE minority and Techno's new place in the world ( that is to say, that the massivly Bio-Modified and those who chose to fill themselves with Zetaware don't always get along with each other and neither always get along with the un-augmented ). Be aware of this as the overal themes and ideologies of Bigorty and Racism will be explored. Also still includes plenty of investigation, possiblities for combat, etc. etc. This one is more of a " we're established as Investigators into the strange and unknown but lets learn a thing or two about the non-paranormal world we live in. " Current vote is 3 for Dead Man's Stomp, 1 for The Edge of Darkness. ( There were 2 other scenario possiblities but voting for them was so overwhelmingly low that I cut them off and instad concentrated on fleshing out the two existing scenarios. )