Amethyst is not Shadowrun

[Dias Ex Machina]

Too often, I have been reading posts of people that have read our main pages at http://www.diasexmachina.com and have judged our game inspired by, or similar to, Shadowrun.

This is far from the case. Beyond the fact I have neither read or played Shadowrun, I can still claim they are far apart from each other. I had to get my knowledge only recently from Wiki. Shadowrun is a cyberpunk game which creates a virus and various other elements to create fantasy creatures and magic in a world not unlike the common image of Blade Runner. It endorses the idea of elves and dwarves jacking into the net and casting spells and so forth.

Amethyst is a fantasy / science fiction setting where the two worlds of science and fantasy do not mingle and actively disrupt each other's existence. It is set far in the future, enough for whole new magical kingdoms to form around islands of technology still gripping onto their old ways. So Shadowrun's basic premise cannot actually occur in Amethyst. Its a setting where traditional mythological fantasy actually sits outside our city walls. Because of this perspective, the story has a massive history brought over from the elves and dragons from the time on Earth when they reigned without humanity.

Imagine driving out of Los Angeles and into Lothlorien. Alas, you will be walking back.

 

[philreed]

Sounds more like Cynosure than Shadowrun. And that's not a bad thing at all. We need a Cynosure-like setting for RPGs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynosure

 

[Ilium]

Sounds more like Cynosure than Shadowrun. And that's not a bad thing at all. We need a Cynosure-like setting for RPGs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynosure

Yes, but rather than being a crossroads of all realities, Amethyst is basically our world with two competing sets of physical laws.

I've looked over the web site and it looks very very cool.

But I agree that a Cynosure-style setting would rock as well.

 

[Dias Ex Machina]

Yes, I've read through Cynosure and I don't really see any similarities. Well, thats not exactly true. They mention a demon invasion which has some cross points, but they are extremely minor. Illium is right, in that Amethyst has two competing sets of rules: One where magic can exist and one where it cannot and science rules uncontested.

I always like to joke when people make comparisons like that. The biggest difference between Cynosure, Shadowrun, and Amethyst is that those other ones are fantasy and Amethyst is real.

 

[Ilium]

One similarity between Cynosure and Amethyst is that the rules of physics actually change depending on where you are. In Cynosure, you can cross a street and suddenly your guns stop working but a certain chord played on a guitar can destroy a tank.

I don't know if the lines are that sharp in Amethyst, but that's one of the things that appeals to me about it.

 

[Dias Ex Machina]

Yes, I don't have that much experience with the Cynosure setting (actually none), so I guess there is a similarity there, save that Amethyst covers the entire Earth.

Alas, music cannot destroy a tank in our setting...we thankfully have removed Bard as a class option.