General Shadowrun campaign news and a new Seattle Scream (#57) prop

Our various Shadowrun games continue on, not least monthly with introductory games at Tyche’s Games (every first Sat, feel free to join us), and the occasional game as part of our Thursday night rotation both the NorCal game and occasional one-shot adventure in Seattle.  Last month we even got to playtest a Prime Runner level game scenario that was played at Dragon*Con.  The NorCal campaign, the game were I actually get to play a character, has seen some more play and remains one of my favorite games with lots of problem solving (latest report from that here).

The latest news from my campaign here in Seattle Scream #57, this one is mostly setup for potential adventures and maybe some stuff for the NorCal campaign to riff off of.

Now, be careful out there in the shadows my friends.  The world is dark place with the threat of betrayal ever present.

Photo Shanghai by Jo is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

 

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Soon October and remembering September

Tomorrow begins October, the eighth month (naturally) of the Roman Calendar.  It seems the Romans had no special association for October beyond Autumn, but we have Halloween!  So the theme on the Sea of Stars Design Journal will be Monsters!

If you have ideas for Monsters, let me know and I will try to make it happen.

September, 2018, was a very slow month as I had many competing demands on my time such as adopting two kittens (Eris and Artemis, see photo), kitten proofing the home, and other things

Leaf’s Letter (L5R Campaign Report)

This is a rather impressionistic report on our last Legend of the Five Rings game from the point of view of my new character, Takeha (Bamboo Leaf), a Nun of the Order of Harmonious Work.  She is still getting to know the group so was not privy to some of the events that happened with them, so the letter is light on such details.

Abbess Kurako-sensei,

You were correct about the world outside the Abbey and the villages, it is more crowded, more noisy and more strange than anything this one could have imagined. Keeping to your advice, this one has been respectful, helpful and avoided being caught alone with men.

The members of the Crane Clan as a whole have been polite and generous but they are also rather stand offish, as if hard work is catching and they may find themselves having to stoop to physical labor if they associate with a nun. This one does not mean to mock, only observe, but it is rather amusing.

This one was able to secure passage down the river at Kosaten Shiro when one of the paying passengers had to get off. The journey was pleasant and this one learned a little about the work aboard a river boat. Knots are surprisingly complex and tricky.

Last of August, September arrives

Now we move into September (and hopefully some cooler weather here in Georgia, USA), the seventh month of the Roman calendar.  September does not seem to have any particular ties to myth or tradition among the Romans, however, as Seven is usually viewed as a magical number, magic and spells will be our theme for this month.   Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see.

At the start of the month I will be in Washington, DC, area visiting family and museums.  My plan is to set the journal to update during that time but I will slow to approve comments from new people but I will do so as soon as I can.  I shall return with new and inspired ideas and photographs of the wonders of the Smithsonian and other museums and historical places.

August, 2018, saw the following posts here:

Review – Shadowrun: Street Lethal

Shadowrun: Street Lethal bills itself as the Advanced Combat Sourcebook for Shadowrun but it is not that, there are new toys, some crazy bleeding edge technology, and some excellent information on corporate security along with updates on mercenaries, pirates and militias in the Sixth World. But apart from one rule section with very narrow applicability, there is not really much to make it an “advanced combat sourcebook,” it is however a very useful sourcebook, especially for a Shadowrun GM, but it could have used a more accurate subtitle.

Shadowrun: Street Lethal, the Advanced Combat Sourcebook of the 5th edition of Shadowrun, while it does not actually add that much in the way of rules it provides new weaponry, for player characters and NPCs, information on how Corporation Security works, and studies the role of mercenaries, pirates and militia in the Sixth World.

PinkCat: Running in the Shade “Great Rasputin’s Ghost! ” (A different sort of SR campaign report)

To understand what is going on here, you had best read the first PinkCat: Running in the Shade post, but short summary, this is a campaign report for our Shadowrun campaign set in NorCal through the filter of a cartoon made by one of the team members.

Episode Thirty-Eight: Great Rasputin’s Ghost!

Guest Starring: Clawz, DD, DoubleUp and Rani.  And introducing:

• Bobin, hyperactive ex-corporate Chihuahua multi-tasker who is always trying to catch up.  (Stand in for Tobin, ex-Horizon corporate shrink who plays in my Seattle game and was “guest starring” in the NorCal game this week.  Played by M.)

The class is on a field trip to the Museum of Old and Not at All Boring Art, where Bobin is taking in the art, when all of the doors and windows close and lock.  From the Treasures of the Czars exhibit, a ghostly voice announces, “I return!” in a comic Russian accent.  Light flicker and eerie music plays.  Poking their head around the corner, they see, well, a wolf version of Rasputin standing among the various Czarist treasures.

He laughs maniacally and rants about forging a new Ruzzian Empire once he finds a new Czar to lead it.  Clawz choose this moment to lean to far forward and falls, attracting Rasputin’s attention.  Rasputin uses hypnotic powers to convince Clawz to be the new Czar and instantly Clawz is wearing a Ruzzian Imperial Uniform and giving commands in a Russian accent.

The rest of the episode is the rest of the team dodging Rasputin and Clawz as they convert people into Russians while trying to figure out how to trap the returned Rasputin.  Lots of good chases ala Scooby Doo before they team works out how to use a Faberge Egg as a spirit trap and tricks the ghost of Rasputin into opening it, setting off the trap; thus freeing everyone from his influence and saving the day.

What really happened:

PinkCat: Running in the Shade “Art Attack” (A different sort of SR campaign report)

To understand what is going on here, you had best read the first PinkCat: Running in the Shade post, but short summary, this is a campaign report for our Shadowrun campaign set in NorCal through the filter of a cartoon made by one of the team members.

Episode Thirty-Seven: Art Attack

Guest Starring: DD, DoubleUp and Rani.

The school has been invited to participate in a showing at the Museum of Pretentious Art where they are given room in the Rundown Wing for New and Poor Artists.  As the student artist are setting up, they are mostly ignored as the museum security (where Officer Bloodhound is moonlighting) is trying to figure out how various work of art are disappearing.

Of course Pink and friends decide that they need to find out who is behind such dastardly crimes.  They investigate as they can, around the security force, and hide cameras in the artwork.  It turns out a team of mice and bats are hiding in one of the artworks and coming out to steal at night, they have hacked the museum’s security.  So the team sets up a new installation (“Arratoi Tranpa”) and lure the thieves into the middle of it, trigger it, and it works just like the old mouse trap game and traps the thieves so that Officer Bloodhound can arrest them.  Of course Pink and crew get no credit, but they know it is a job well done.

What really happened: