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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 6157589" data-attributes="member: 3192">It's a life of cyberpunkian revolt 80's style, with elves. The game's setting is really the guts of what is interesting about it, but the adventures one goes on are very much informed by the punk culture as expressed in cyberpunk writing. Corruption abounds. Most people have either sold out to money and power or have blown their minds on drugs or media. Lawbreaking isn't about being a criminal, but the only sane act in a ruthless culture where the laws are tools of the rich and threats to everyone else. Everything you own you probably stole or found. It's cities are modern day Dalllas: An isolated , expensively manicured downtown surrounded by a vast doughnut of urban decay where life is cheap. Goals and matters of identity are largely inscribed by personal rebellion for survival, if not rogue justice.Now into this culture of threat, think 80's Cold War fatalism, advance the tech timeline forward about 100 years, but based on 80's futurism. (No nanites, singularities, etc.) Then add in fantasy D&D style, but every bit as dark and punk as every other element. Magic has returned, but it isn't innocent and pretty. People are transforming into magical creatures. Shamanistic magic is real and in the standard setting, a future U.S., it is almost completely based on Native American traditions. The rural areas have been given up on largely to environmental crazies, but cities are still own and run by megacorps, think multi-nationals without international law.When I've played what we most often ended up doing is making the world better if just a little bit. We saved people who were kidnapped. Stole money to give to those on the streets. Set up a half way house and defended it. Broke into corps so the Decker can plug into a secure terminal and hack something on the Matrix. This last is probably the iconic Shadowrun op. The biggest problem we had with the game, aside from the rules in 1e, was the decker could end up being a solo gamer where everyone else had their own session in support of what they were doing. The decker was designed to kickass on the Matrix, but not so much elsewhere. It's the reverse from every other archetype. This often left them out of game until we started treating almost everywhere (in cities) as hardwired to the Matrix, sort of like an tech informed Ethereal plane. Then they could help out in a street fight and not be sidelined.</blockquote>

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