Dark Future Ahead 29 – News from the ‘Net of a Cyberpunk bent

How will the world change as we move into the new corporate dystopia?  Join me in looking at some inspiration for cyberpunk gaming culled from my many trips into the matrix.  Enjoy the news:

It is a ridiculous vehicle but cost effective, even if it does look like a toy, meet the Ami.  For absurdity, a chase involving several of these could be hilarious.

For those cyberpunk setting that feature Neo-Soviets or aggressive Russians, here is their Cathedral of War.  It seems like a rather over-engineered justification for any future military actions taken by the Russian state, not disturbing at all.

How Red Bull uses football (and other sports) to build their brand, the success of RB Leipzig in German Soccer. An excellent example of how corporations use various means to advertises themselves which sometimes  becoming money making enterprises in their own right.

The celebrity impersonators making money on Cameo, it seems there is at least the chance to have some confusion on an extraction mission here.  Or possible a way to help pay for that body sculpt into an obscure 20th C actor.

Need something valuable and interesting to people to steal (or need to protect)?  What about Bob Ross paintings which are surprisingly rare given the number he painted . . .

Who says technology and superstition do not meet?  There is a superstition, maybe humorously played into, that a certain type of snack will keep your technology functioning properly . . .

Robots and cows, living together in harmony, at the Oldenkamp Diary.  Would be an interesting place for a chase or fight.

Notes:It has been a bit since I did one of these, hope you find it interesting.

Photo of the Cathedral of War found on Wikimedia Commons, comes from the websites (mil.ru, минобороны.рф) of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and is copyrighted.  This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence.

 

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Shadowrun Campaign News and a new Seattle Scream Prop (#70)

We are continuing to play Shadowrun via the wonders of the proto-Matrix  (supported by Tyche’s Games our local game store) and we are getting back to limited in person play!  Hooray!

Our NorCal set campaign has moved to 6th World Edition rules, with mostly new characters, I am playing a magician as an excuse to learn the magic rules by actually using them.  We have played two session which was one run as there is a lot of adjusting for the players.  I hope to have some sort of writeup on that shortly.

Time fora new screamsheet: Seattle Scream 70.  The piece about Eye in the Sky films is related to one of the runs the characters were on.

Notes: Photo from Needpix.com and is listed as being in the Public Domain.

Shadowrun Campaign News for the start of 2021/2078 and a new Seattle Scream Prop (#69)

We are continuing to play Shadowrun via the wonders of the proto-Matrix  (supported by Tyche’s Games our local game store) but not as often or as long as our in-person sessions.  I deeply miss in person play and it looks like the odd of getting back to that are improving, day by day.

Here are the current state of the House Rules we are using for the 6th World Edition, they likely to be modified as we continue to play.

Our NorCal set campaign in still using 5th Ed rules, we have played another game which I hope to have written up shortly

Time for the first screamsheet of ’21/’78: Seattle Scream 69, the insect nest and go-gangs running rampant are after effects of various adventures.  Turns out the Spikes get violent when they feel they have been disrespected.

Notes: Photo from piqsels.com and is listed as being in the Pubic Domain.

Shadowrun Campaign News and a new Seattle Scream Prop (#68)

Shadowrun continues to be played via the wonders of the proto-Matrix  (supported by Tyche’s Games our local game store).  It makes an adequate replacement for play around the table but I look forward to being able to play live and in person again, someday.

Still working on house rules for the SR6WE but not quite ready to share what I have yet publicly, but soon.

Have managed a few games in our NorCal set campaign, still using 5th Ed rules, you can read about that here.

To support the ongoing campaign, we have a new scream sheet: Seattle Scream 68, the one regarding Aztechnology and illegal dumping is the aftermath of one of the games.  Hopefully it will prove of some use or inspiration for your games.

Notes: Photo Major toxic waste dump by HM Revenue & Customs used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license.

Shadowrun Campaign News for mid-2020 and a new Seattle Scream Prop (#67)

Shadowrun continues to be played via the wonders of the proto-Matrix  (supported by Tyche’s Games our local game store).  It makes an adequate replacement for play around the table and we are playing about every three weeks rather than monthly, so there is that.

Still happily playing the Sixth World Edition of Shadowrun though have added add some minor house rules to match our play style.  Still need to work out a better way to represent gaining edge, around a table I can just toss a chip to the player, online, it is a bit trickier.  But that is a minor issue.  New players do not seem to have any problem picking up how the game works, though the multitudes of edge options is a little overwhelming.

To support that ongoing campaign, we have a new scream sheet: Seattle Scream 67, the corporate buyout is a indirect result related to one of adventures.

Shadowrun Campaign News for mid-2020 and two new Seattle Scream Props (#65 & 66)

Just as my monthly Saturday learn to play / open campaign game of Shadowrun was getting back to an even keel, the Situation happened.  So, we have been trying some gaming via the wonders of the proto-Matrix  (supported by Tyche’s Games our local game store).   We have now played enough of  the Sixth World Edition of Shadowrun to add some minor house rules to match our play style.

To support that ongoing campaign, we have two new scream sheets: Seattle Scream 65, the missing mob informant was related to one of adventures (and is a nod to my casual friend, Sean Patrick Fannon) and Seattle Scream 66.

Photo “Underpass” by Allen McGregor is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Shadowrun Campaign News for 2020 with a New Seattle Scream Prop (#64)

My monthly Saturday learn to play / open campaign game of Shadowrun is back on track (at Tyche’s Games on every first Saturday each month, come and join in) and has successfully moved to the Sixth World Edition of Shadowrun.  To support that ongoing campaign, we have a new Seattle Scream (#64), the warehouse construction was the location of the run this time (which will lead into a new item next issue).

Still pondering the Sixth World edition, almost ready to add a few house rules to help our play experience work better.  But overall, I like what the new edition was aiming for even if it falls short in a few cases/

What with the holidays and all Shadowrun gaming (and gaming in general) in our local group has been slow.  Things are getting going again and I hope to have a new Seaatle Scream for you next month.

Photo “Construction at Oak / Baker” by Salim Virji is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

 

 

Shadowrun Campaign News with New Seattle Scream Prop (#63)

My monthly Saturday learn to play / open campaign game of Shadowrun is back on track (at Tyche’s Games on every first Saturday each month, come and join in)and has successfully moved to the Sixth World Edition of Shadowrun.  To support that ongoing campaign, we have a new Seattle Scream (#63), the floating ice rink featured in the last adventure I ran.

Overall, liking the Sixth World edition, getting used to it and thinking about some small house rule tweaks to make it fit our play style better.

Other than that  Shadowrun gaming in our local group has been slow, but you can read about PinkCat’s latest adventure in NorCal here.  Hopefully once the holidays are done, we will get some more Shadowrun action going.

Photo “Ice skating” by AlisonKillilea is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

 

 

Dark Future Ahead 28 – News from the ‘Net of a Cyberpunk bent

How will the latest technological advances be used to advance the plutocracy?  Join me in reviewing some inspiration for cyberpunk gaming culled from my many trips into the matrix.  Enjoy the news:

Raytheon, that big defense contractor, is working on drone defenses for the US military working with various sorts of directed energy weapons, such as lasers and microwaves.

The Chinese Government is backing a Belt and Road Initiative, a new Silk Road, to build transportation and economic links from Asia to Europe and Africa, some of the giant machine used to build it are impressive in size and productivity.

A Swiss company, Energy Vault, has a design using cranes and concrete blocks to store energy.  If nothing else, it would be a great place to have a fight going on.

More ways to avoid facial recognition technology, some useful, others less so.

There are many ways to grow food inside using artificial light, LEDs are proving to be extremely flexible in such applications.  Who knows what harvest may come from such technologies?

For plants grown in the traditional methods, they are becoming increasingly vulnerable to diseases and other blights in our interconnected world.  Perhaps ironically, viruses may provide the best way to introduces defenses into plants to fight these dangers.

What visions of the coming dark future have you seen recently?

Notes: To my surprise, it has been nearly a year since my last Dark Future Ahead . . .

Image from Energy Vault and used without permission.

 

 

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Shadowrun Campaign Update with New Seattle Scream Prop (#62)

For various reasons Shadowrun gaming in our local groups has been slow for the last few months.  The monthly games at Tyche’s Games (every first Saturday every month, come and join) have been interrupted by Conventions (GenCon and Dragon*Con) and University of Georgia football games but we are back on track for October!  In support of that we have a new Seattle Scream (#62).

The Saturday game will be moving to the Sixth World Edition of Shadowrun which hopefully we will be seeing actual hard copies of in October.  Our other GMs are still debating if they want to adopt the new rules or stay with 5th Edition.  I suspect that eventually we will all shift over but it will take some time.

I have also built my first Shadowrun, 6WE, character: Elvis, a knight-errant of the Church of Elvis, traveling the highways and byways of North America bringing the good news and good music.

Our NorCal campaign just had a game this week and hopefully I will have a game report up soon.

Notes: Elvis Photo found on Wikimedia Commons and used under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.