Last episode on Shadowrun...
Seeing as the 5E Shadowrun core book does not include a history I want to fill in what happened since 4E. The history before that you can read here
http://www.hitpoint.com.au/srd/history.php
If I make mistakes or forget something important, please correct me or add it.
And one thing before I start, let me explain the concept of a metaplot to new players.
A big difference to settings like Faerun in D&D is that the world in Shadowrun is constantly evolving. Most books, even books about equipment are written in character (except for the stats part) and take to form of a post on Jackpoint, the board for serious Shadowrunners and includes the usual forum talk, banter, insults, etc. Also Shadowrun Missions, the SR version of a living campaign also ofter revolve around the metaplot. And finally there are the event books and campaigns where big things happen and the PCs are part of it (Campaign) or the situation is explained, stats are given for all parties involved and suggestions are made how to involve the PCs in the events (not necessary in a lead role).
Even the 5E core book contains references to the metaplot (See the "Where there's Smoke" story)
Anyway, in not totally chronological order.
The Ghost Cartels, drug dealers dealing with new, magical drugs which turned out to be a little less safe than the drugs currently on the market rose to power and spread their product everywhere. That lead to a new War on Drugs which ultimately escalated into the war between Aztlan (Aztec Mexico I mentioned above) and Amazonia. Meanwhile Kennet Brackhaven won the election for Major of Seattle and used the failure of the current (rented) cops to stem the tide of drugs to replace them with Ares Knight Errant.
Meanwhile on the mystical side, several powerful parties started an Artifact Hunt for items which combined could do bad things. Long story short, after going through several hands they all ended up in the claws of Ghostwalker who used them to close the Washington Rift and also recombine the Denver Spirit and fused it with the ghost of his beloved which died in the last cycle. During the ritual the girlfriend of Harlequin died (she wasn't dead dead, but no one told him) and he swore revenge.
The dragons were fed up on how they were treated this age and started to settle old scores with metahumans. And old for dragons really means old. Anyone who traded with dragon parts was a target, as were people whos great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents slighted a dragon. Not all dragons were happy about that as they saw their interests endangered by the anti-dragon sentiments this created (or even feared it but they won't say that openly) and some wanted even to live peacefully with metahumans. Because of this a civil war between them broke out, with some dragons wanting to show whos the boss (Sirrurg, Alamais), some who wanted to preserve the status quo (= dragons in power but behind the scenes) like Lofwyr and some dragons who wanted to coexist with humans (pretty much only Hestaby).
Back in Seattle the campaign to formally recognize the Ork Underground as official part of Seattle gained momentum. Kennet Brackhaven didn't like that, he being a racist and so on, and so lots of explosions and murders happened on both sides. In the end the proposition passed and whats more, it was possible to link Kenneth with some of the murders which happened. So now the Underground is a official part of Seattle, although no one is sure who actually wanted that, certainly not the cops who now have to police this thing, the citizens of Seattle who have to pay for it or even the inhabitants of the Underground who now have to follow laws (theoretically). But you know, once the metahuman rights groups gathered pace they don't really listen to what metahumans want.
The war between Aztlan and Amazonia ended when Aztlan managed to nearly kill Sirrurg by throwing lots and lots of drones (and cruise missiles, fighters, tanks, chemical weapons, ...) at him and conducting a rather big (several thousand sacrifices and a few big artifacts) blood magic ritual. He was only saved by his fellow great dragons which used magic to carry his broken body away. Aztlan then used the leftover troops to reinforce the south while securing the north by simply trading territory away to Pueblo which now served as buffer to the CAS (which were angry at Pueblo for not giving them the territory like they expected). The fight in the south was short and bloody (curtsy to the anti dragon magic-chemical weapon they used which mutated into a huge, rage inducing cloud) and when everything was over and the UN peacekeepers moved in Aztlan was left standing and got the medal.
The dragon civil war ended about the same time as Lofwyr killed his brother Alamais (see GeMiTo above). End result, while many dragons had sympathies for Sirrurg he got imprisoned. Hestaby got exiled and Lofwyr gave away his Loremaster title the Celedyr.
Harlequin was not finished with the dragons, though. As revenge on Ghostwalker he staged a rebellion in Denver and helped to get Aztlan their sector back and forced Ghostwalker to admit defeat. It would have been a duel to the death (winner unclear with Aztlan showing up with their toxic spirits) if not Frosty and Erhan finally telling him that his girlfriend is not completely dead.
Ever since then Harlequin has been depressive, only muttering "What have I done" and hinting that the worst for Denver is still to come.
What the future holds
So how will the metaplot evolve in 5E? The last 4E book, StormFront gave some hints. Still, if you want to play 5E and get surprised you might not want to read it, so:
SPOILER
During a Shadowrun on a research facility owned by Celedyr something escaped. A new type of AI or e-shost which had the ability to take over humans by wiping their brain (think Smith in the later Matrix movies). This was only brought to light when Miles Lanier and Fastjack, both infected, were able to keep enough control to research this issue and tell the Shadowrun community about it. But they were unsure if they could fight the invasion forever, so they voluntarily removed themselves from positions of power. During their research they uncovered several more people they expect to already have been taken over, many no names but also Plan 9 and Riser. Apparently the process is completed, or accelerated with a Leonization treatment (= advanced gene therapy to make you younger) and the installation of a Nanohive inside your body (cyberware to house and recharge nanites) as that is what FastJack's invader wanted.
As a minor plot, during the duel between Lofwyr and Alamais, the Black Lodge tried to assassinate Lofwyr and failed and are now on the hit list of all Great Dragons.
Seeing as the 5E Shadowrun core book does not include a history I want to fill in what happened since 4E. The history before that you can read here
http://www.hitpoint.com.au/srd/history.php
If I make mistakes or forget something important, please correct me or add it.
And one thing before I start, let me explain the concept of a metaplot to new players.
A big difference to settings like Faerun in D&D is that the world in Shadowrun is constantly evolving. Most books, even books about equipment are written in character (except for the stats part) and take to form of a post on Jackpoint, the board for serious Shadowrunners and includes the usual forum talk, banter, insults, etc. Also Shadowrun Missions, the SR version of a living campaign also ofter revolve around the metaplot. And finally there are the event books and campaigns where big things happen and the PCs are part of it (Campaign) or the situation is explained, stats are given for all parties involved and suggestions are made how to involve the PCs in the events (not necessary in a lead role).
Even the 5E core book contains references to the metaplot (See the "Where there's Smoke" story)
Anyway, in not totally chronological order.
The Ghost Cartels, drug dealers dealing with new, magical drugs which turned out to be a little less safe than the drugs currently on the market rose to power and spread their product everywhere. That lead to a new War on Drugs which ultimately escalated into the war between Aztlan (Aztec Mexico I mentioned above) and Amazonia. Meanwhile Kennet Brackhaven won the election for Major of Seattle and used the failure of the current (rented) cops to stem the tide of drugs to replace them with Ares Knight Errant.
Meanwhile on the mystical side, several powerful parties started an Artifact Hunt for items which combined could do bad things. Long story short, after going through several hands they all ended up in the claws of Ghostwalker who used them to close the Washington Rift and also recombine the Denver Spirit and fused it with the ghost of his beloved which died in the last cycle. During the ritual the girlfriend of Harlequin died (she wasn't dead dead, but no one told him) and he swore revenge.
The dragons were fed up on how they were treated this age and started to settle old scores with metahumans. And old for dragons really means old. Anyone who traded with dragon parts was a target, as were people whos great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents slighted a dragon. Not all dragons were happy about that as they saw their interests endangered by the anti-dragon sentiments this created (or even feared it but they won't say that openly) and some wanted even to live peacefully with metahumans. Because of this a civil war between them broke out, with some dragons wanting to show whos the boss (Sirrurg, Alamais), some who wanted to preserve the status quo (= dragons in power but behind the scenes) like Lofwyr and some dragons who wanted to coexist with humans (pretty much only Hestaby).
Back in Seattle the campaign to formally recognize the Ork Underground as official part of Seattle gained momentum. Kennet Brackhaven didn't like that, he being a racist and so on, and so lots of explosions and murders happened on both sides. In the end the proposition passed and whats more, it was possible to link Kenneth with some of the murders which happened. So now the Underground is a official part of Seattle, although no one is sure who actually wanted that, certainly not the cops who now have to police this thing, the citizens of Seattle who have to pay for it or even the inhabitants of the Underground who now have to follow laws (theoretically). But you know, once the metahuman rights groups gathered pace they don't really listen to what metahumans want.
The war between Aztlan and Amazonia ended when Aztlan managed to nearly kill Sirrurg by throwing lots and lots of drones (and cruise missiles, fighters, tanks, chemical weapons, ...) at him and conducting a rather big (several thousand sacrifices and a few big artifacts) blood magic ritual. He was only saved by his fellow great dragons which used magic to carry his broken body away. Aztlan then used the leftover troops to reinforce the south while securing the north by simply trading territory away to Pueblo which now served as buffer to the CAS (which were angry at Pueblo for not giving them the territory like they expected). The fight in the south was short and bloody (curtsy to the anti dragon magic-chemical weapon they used which mutated into a huge, rage inducing cloud) and when everything was over and the UN peacekeepers moved in Aztlan was left standing and got the medal.
The dragon civil war ended about the same time as Lofwyr killed his brother Alamais (see GeMiTo above). End result, while many dragons had sympathies for Sirrurg he got imprisoned. Hestaby got exiled and Lofwyr gave away his Loremaster title the Celedyr.
Harlequin was not finished with the dragons, though. As revenge on Ghostwalker he staged a rebellion in Denver and helped to get Aztlan their sector back and forced Ghostwalker to admit defeat. It would have been a duel to the death (winner unclear with Aztlan showing up with their toxic spirits) if not Frosty and Erhan finally telling him that his girlfriend is not completely dead.
Ever since then Harlequin has been depressive, only muttering "What have I done" and hinting that the worst for Denver is still to come.
What the future holds
So how will the metaplot evolve in 5E? The last 4E book, StormFront gave some hints. Still, if you want to play 5E and get surprised you might not want to read it, so:
SPOILER
During a Shadowrun on a research facility owned by Celedyr something escaped. A new type of AI or e-shost which had the ability to take over humans by wiping their brain (think Smith in the later Matrix movies). This was only brought to light when Miles Lanier and Fastjack, both infected, were able to keep enough control to research this issue and tell the Shadowrun community about it. But they were unsure if they could fight the invasion forever, so they voluntarily removed themselves from positions of power. During their research they uncovered several more people they expect to already have been taken over, many no names but also Plan 9 and Riser. Apparently the process is completed, or accelerated with a Leonization treatment (= advanced gene therapy to make you younger) and the installation of a Nanohive inside your body (cyberware to house and recharge nanites) as that is what FastJack's invader wanted.
As a minor plot, during the duel between Lofwyr and Alamais, the Black Lodge tried to assassinate Lofwyr and failed and are now on the hit list of all Great Dragons.
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