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.

Shadowrun Campaign Update with New Seattle Scream Prop (#61)

Shadowrun gaming is ongoing, but slowly.  The monthly games at Tyche’s Games (every first Saturday every month, come and join) continue apace and in support of that we have a new Seattle Scream (#61).  This month the team had to outwit devil rats to achieve their goal, not as easy as it may sound.

All of the primary groups I play with are excitingly waiting for the Sixth Edition, which we will see at GenCon in early August, and the monthly game will be transitioning to Sixth Edition soon after it is available.

Also excited to see the new version of Cyberpunk from R Talsorian which will be great inspiration for all cyberpunk styled games.

Our NorCal campaign has not had any more play since the last update, sadly.

Notes: Photo “Agnes and Eunice 5” by Sarah_Jones is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Review – Shadowrun: Better than Bad

Shadowrun: Better than Bad is a sourcebook for Shadowrun and provides support for characters “hooding” or helping the little guy. As that is a campaign style that has not seen much support for this edition, I was pleased to see this book as it is a style I like to see. If you are interest in that style of pay, or Azania which also gets explored in this product, it is a worthwhile purchase but probably not a priority.

Shadowrun: Better than Bad, is a Deep Shadows Sourcebook for the 5th edition of Shadowrun, this particular book covers the idea that Shadowrunners can actually do good in the Sixth World and not just be corporate stooges along with a visit to Azania (formerly South Africa).

The book begins with one of the ubiquitous fiction sections, then moves into A Light in the Darkness, talking about “Hooding” doing good for the community and striking against the powerful, named after Robin Hood (of course). Various of the organizations that oppose the corps are covered ranging from self-help groups to full on terrorist organizations, something for everyone and a bit more. It also includes a pitch to fight the power, rock on Opti (aka Old Crow, active NeoAnarchist and host of the NeoAnarchist podcast).

Shadowrun Campaign Update with New Seattle Scream Prop (#60)

Shadowrun gaming is ongoing, as we await the Sixth Edition of the rules later this summer.  Not sure if we will be switching out until we can actually get hold of the new rules and see what they are like.  But the Star Signs campaign, which has had one session, we might move over as the mechanical investment in the characters is minimal at the moment.  The monthly games at Tyche’s Games (every first Saturday every month, come and join) continue apace and will be moving the Sixth Edition, though maybe not immediately after release but certainly by Winter.

The Star Signs campaign is my attempt to move our campaign into a connected set of stories that will reveal aspects of my take on the Shadowrun world but time will tell is it works out, hopefully the new edition will not cause mechanics to distract from story and plot.

Our NorCal still manages about a session a month, the latest report from PinkCat can be found here.

The latest news from my version of Seattle, 2075, can be found in the Seattle Scream #60.

Notes: Photo “Quiet Night at the Terminal” by ashatsea is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.