Overview Basics Freebies The Way You Do the Things You Do Magic Resonance Augmentation Career Counseling The Brute Squad  Hackers & Riggers Spellslingers Ninjas! Smooth Talkin' The Road That Brought You Here  Shadowrunners Corporate Flunkies Good Enough for Government Work (Dis)Organized Crime Mercenaries Entertainment Racial Lines Metahumanity Metavariants Infected Changelings Drakes Brain in a Jar Parahumanity Non-Humanity Sapient Critters Emergent Technologies Spirits Among Us Where to Find Stuff

Overview

 

Basics

 

In addition to some house rules, this is how character creation works in a nutshell:

 

All characters are built off of a pool of 400 points. Things that will cost points:

• Racial Package: Being a human is free. Everything else costs points. 
• Attributes: These are raw potential. Strength, agility, willpower. With some exceptions, you will get the first rank in an attribute for free.  Some races start at higher than 1 in an attribute. It costs extra to buy the final dot in an attribute.
• Skills:  These are things you have some degree in training. Shooting guns, sneaking, driving cars. There are also Skill Groups, which allow you to buy a several skills at a discounted price. You also receive a pool of points for Knowledge skills. 
• Qualities: Most of the advantages and disadvantages from the rules are being replaced by Aspects, but there are some that are still better handled as a flat purchase. 
• Gear: Most of the equipment is handled in an abstract fashion, but higher ticket items will need to be bought as part of your starting pool of points.  

 

The broad scope of the game is that PCs will be employees of an organization called "The Motley Institute." The purpose of this institute is to investigate the weird. Given the nature of the Shadowrun universe, that's pretty weird. Inspiration for this includes The X-Files, Hellboy/BPRD, Torchwood and Planetary. Unlike most Shadowrun games, my hope is that this will involve less combat and more roleplaying and investigation.

 

Play will begin on the first day of the job, with all of you hired fresh.

 

Freebies

 

As employees of the Motley Institute, there are a few benefits and resources available to characters.

• As part of their personal work spaces, each PC is allowed enough budget and space to maintain a shop-sized workspace for a relevant technical skill. If three PCs either combine their efforts or one PC can convince two others to do without, then this area can be considered a facility. See p. 322-323 in the SR4 core rules for details. For specific rules about different types of work spaces, consult Arsenal (for weapon and vehicle modification), Augmentation (for bio-tech) and Street Magic (for magical item creation).
• On top of the personal work areas, the Motley Institute provides a med-tech "shop" (basically an infirmary) and a Ground Vehicle repair "facility," each with drones for handling basic work. 
• The garage has a small fleet of company vehicles that can be checked out.
• Chrysler-Nissan Jackrabit (one-person commuter car, Arsenal p. 109)
• Mercury Comet (sedan, SR4) 
• GMC Bulldog Stepvan (Heavy-Duty Cargo Van, SR4)
• Rover Model 2068 (SUV, Arsenal p. 109)
• All field agents may, at their discretion, have Super-Platinum DocWagon contract, courtesy of  the Institute. Since this involves wearing a tracking beacon and giving over a tissue sample, this may not be a good choice for the paranoid. It also would have no value to a character that does not have a body. This service is intended for injuries sustained on the job. For personal health care, employees may opt into a generous healthcare package.

 

The Way You Do the Things You Do

 

There are plenty of people who have nothing special about them. These people often don't accomplish anything noteworthy. There are three routes to exceeding the limits of biology: technology, Magic or Resonance. Anyone can get tech, but very few have access to either Magic or Resonance. And no one has both Magic and Resonance together.

 

Magic

 

There are two broad categories of people who use magic. There is arguably a third, which is a hybrid of the other two.

 

Mages are the most common users of magic. They are capable of casting spells, summoning spirits and astrally projecting. Everyone from Christian theurgists to voodoo houngans to tribal shamans to self-proclaimed psychics are "Mages."

 

Less common are Adepts. They channel magic to enhance their abilities, whether it's driving better, bringing social influence to bear, jumping higher, punching through walls.

 

Still less common are Mystic Adepts. They are are mix of both Adepts and Mages. Not quite as good as either, but still more versatile.

 

Resonance

 

More recently, people have appeared that are able to interact with the Matrix through force of will. At first the only ones known to be capable of doing this were special children known as otaku. As they got older, those abilities began to fade. With the advent of Matrix 2.0, more people are now capable of using this power and it is no longer bound by age. These newer people accessing the Resonance are called technomancers.

 

Augmentation

 

Those not blessed by fate or genetics can pay to have their bodies modified to extreme levels. Cyberware, bioware, nanoware, performance enhancements. They are all available in varying degrees of legality. The drawback to these implants is that they eat away a bit of your soul. If you also use Magic or Resonance, it will limit your ability to use those abilities.

 

Career Counseling

 

Then there's the matter of just what it is your character is good at. Here are some broad roles that your character might fit into.

 

The Brute Squad 

 

The general, all around combat monkey. Augmentation and magic, especially those who are adepts, are the best suited for these roles. Augmented bad asses are called "street samurai." There's no cute name for adepts that follow that line of work. There are combat mages, who can use spells to beef up their prowess, and there's a few technomancer tricks that can help in a fight. But for raw beat downs and shoot outs, chrome or innate ability is the most common.

 

Hackers & Riggers

 

These used to be separate roles, but the evolution of the technology (and the rules) has shifted that a bit. Hackers are those who break into computers and muck around with them, usually through an AR or VR interface. Riggers control vehicles and drones through an AR or VR interface. The tools between the two tasks overlap heavily, and either can fill into the other role. But for the most part people specialize in one or the other.These roles are mostly covered by those who either are augmented or can tap into Resonance. There are some adepts who enhance their mental abilities and make good hackers and a few mages that dabble in hacking, but they are the exception.

 

Spellslingers

 

Unlike the other jobs a person might have, there's only one way to cast spells: being a mage or mystic adept. Mages can branch out and touch on other focuses, but no one else can astrally project, summon spirits, do counterspells, etc.

 

Ninjas!

 

The sneaky route is best handled by either augmented infiltrators or magically enhanced sneaky types. Having a bit of hacking ability can help with getting past security systems, so a technomancer might be useful here. Otherwise it falls into the lap of tech or mojo.

 

Smooth Talkin'

 

The front man. The face. The negotiator. As with many other focuses, tech and magic are the most beneficial whether it's tailored pheromones and cosmetic surgery or

 

The Road That Brought You Here 

 

You should also consider what you did to learn your current skills prior to coming to the Motley Institute. Here are some common routes that also highlight some different aspects of the Sixth World. There is often some movement from one group to another. A gang member might join a mercenary group for a while before getting picked up by a corporation then later go rogue and become a shadowrunner.

 

Shadowrunners

 

Freelance operatives that engage in illegal activities, usually under the employment of an anonymous corporate employer. In the realm of corporate warfare, they are deniable assets. Most don't start out as shadowrunners, coming to the work, from some other field. But some people do get their start doing this sort of work. Many of the jobs I mention below tie into this shadowrunner role.

 

Corporate Flunkies

 

Corporations, especially the megacorporations, are sovereign states that have their own military and law enforcement. Anything that a shadowrunner might do, there is someone working for a corporation that is working to stop shadowrunners from doing it. There are also all the usual jobs you might expect to be working for a corporation.

 

It should also be noted that most public services, such as the police and fire departments, have been privatized.

 

Good Enough for Government Work

 

Government agencies still exist, despite the rise of the megacorporations. And with the rise of the Sixth World and the toppling of major governments, there are many new nations in the world. In North America alone, the continent has gone from three nations to over a dozen. More if you count the Kingdom of Hawai'i and the Carib League. And each of these nations have their own military, intelligence networks and so on. Everything from the UCAS Federal Bureau of Investigation to the Sioux Nation's special forces group known as the Wildcats, there are many potential backgrounds out there for you.

 

(Dis)Organized Crime

 

Every sort of criminal organization exists in the Seattle Metroplex.

 

Because the game was originally written in the 80s, the gangs often look more like The Warriors or Akira than Boys n the Hood. While there are some ethnic gangs, mostly along metahuman lines (like ork or elf gangs), most gangs are multi-ethnic. Street gangs carry names like "Halloweeners" or "the Rusty Stilletos." Motorcycle gangs, called go-gangs, have names like "the Eye-Fivers," "the 405 Hellhounds" or "the Leather Devils." There are also online gangs of hackers and gangs made of mages ("wizzer gangs").

 

Most of the standard crime syndicates appear in the Shadowrun universe as well. Mafia, Yakuza, Triads, etc.

 

There are also an assortment of illegal or legally gray jobs that exist that are not part of organized crime or shadowrunning. Smugglers, fixers, fences, forgers, pirates, freelance hackers.

 

Mercenaries

 

Mercenaries are the larger scale version of shadowrunners, deniable military assets for when a government or corporation needs a whole lot of guys with guns. Further, megacorporations have an ongoing "friendly war" in the Saraha Desert called the Desert Wars. There they have mercenaries armed with state of the art equipment wage war on one another. Because this is the future viewed through the lens of the 80s, these wars are televised for public entertainment.

 

Entertainment

 

Continuing with the 80s filter of the future, most new sports in the future involve guns. Combat Bikers and Urban Brawl are the biggest along those lines. (There's also all sorts of new delineations between augmented and non-augmented athletes, which is a whole different topic.) The elven nation of Tir Tairngire practices the Gaelic sport of hurling. The way it is played in Tir Tairngire results in many fatalities and maimings every year.

 

There is also a romanticized view of the rocker as an adventurer, a la Jem and the Holograms. This combined with sports and journalism formed the basis of the sourcebook, Shadowbeat. (Why, yes, that is one of my favorite Shadowrun sourcebooks!)

 

Racial Lines

 

The predominant races are humans and subcategories from there. But there's a wide cosmology in the Shadowrun universe, and part of my motivation for setting up the game this way is to make it more reasonable for unusual character concepts to have a place. Some ideas are just wasted on the notion of, "You guys run around and kill things for nuyen."

 

Metahumanity

 

With the rise of magic, old races have appeared in the breeding lines of humanity. Some humans found themselves giving birth to elves and dwarves. Other humans found themselves mutating into orks and trolls. All four subraces were very close to humanity genetically, so they have come to be referred to as "metahumans" with individual each sub-race called a "metatype." These five metatypes, and variations on them, form the core of the sapient population on the Earth.

 

• Dwarves: Short, resilient, slow, muscular, strong willed, resistant to toxins, thermographic vision.

 

• Elves: Tall, agile, charismatic, low-light vision.

 

• Humans: Mostly harmless. Oh, and they are a bit luckier.

 

• Orks: Resiliant, slow to react, muscular, not as smart, thermographic vision.

 

• Troll: Very resiliant, less agile, very muscular, not very bright or charming, low-light vision, bony deposits under skin that function as armor.

 

Metavariants

 

Within each metatype, there are a few varients that have appeared. They are far less common than their base metatype. Some appear in specific geographical regions, others just appear whereever. Below is a list of the metavarients they provide rules for. I am willing to discuss other metavarients. Rules for these can be found in the Runner Companion.

 

• Dwarf: 
• Gnome: From Eastern Europe and Asia Minor. Often mistaken for children, they are also resistant to spells being cast at them. Lacks toxin resistance.
• Haruman: From India. Hairy, agile, monkey-like with a prehensile tail and feet that can be used as hands. Lacks toxin resistance. Has lowlight vision instead of thermographic.
• Koborokuru: From Japan, Korea and Indonesia. Hairy and fast moving.
• Menehune: From Hawai'i. Eyes are adapted to function underwater.

 

• Elf: 
• Dryad: All dryads are female. They are supernaturally beautiful and form a symbiosis with whatever neighborhood they live in for prolonged periods of time.
• Night Ones: From Europe. Uncomfortable in daylight, excellent hearing, covered in dark fur.
• Wakyambi: From Africa. Taller, faster moving, longer reach.
• Xapiri Thëpë: From the Amazon rain forest. Sensitive to pollution, gains some nourishment from sunlight.

 

• Human: 
• Nartaki: From India. Has four arms and unusual skin.

 

• Ork: 
• Hobgoblin: From the Middle East. They have fanged maws and are pathologically vindictive.
• Ogre: From Europe. Capable of eating things that would make most people sick.
• Oni: From Japan. Unusual coloration.
• Satyr: From Greece and the Mediterranean area. They have, unsurprisingly, goat legs.

 

• Troll: 
• Cyclops: From Greece and the Mediterranean area. They have one eye that does not have the low-light vision of normal trolls. They are also stronger than the average troll
• Fomori: From the British Isles. They are tougher than trolls and are resistant to magic.
• Giant: From Scandinavian regions. Taller than the average troll by a couple feet. They have bark-like skin.
• Minotaur: From Greece and the Mediterranean area. They have horns and are more resilient than the average troll.

 

Infected

 

The undead exist in the Sixth World. Aside from spirits animating corpses, most are metahumans who have been infected with one of a few strains of the Human-Metahuman Vampiric Virus (HMHVV). This virus grants the victim an assortment of abilities and disabilities. Almost all of them have a dietary requirement that requires them to feed off of metahumans. One version of the virus can affect any metatype, creating ghouls. Most of the other strains are metatype specific. Many infected awaken as Mages. Implants are problematic for them. There are no known technomancer infected. Character creation rules can be found in Runner Companion, but additional info can be found in Running Wild.

 

• Ghouls 
• Dwarf 
• Goblin
• Elf
• Banshee 
• Human:
• Loup-Garou
• Nosferatu
• Vampire 
• Ork
• Wendigo 
• Troll 
• Dzoo-noo-qua
• Fomóraig 
• Sasquatch
• Bandersnatch

 

Changelings

 

In 2061, Halley's Comet swings by the planet again causing a spike in the mana levels of the Earth. This triggered a second wave of goblinization that was dubbed "Sudden Regressive Genetic Expression" or SURGE. People developed secondary mutations, ranging from minor cosmetic changes to drastic changes in biology. The more extreme cases usually have a theme, like the Ganesha-like elephant-men that appeared in India. This is a template added on top of the normal metahuman/metavarient package. Rules for these can be found in the Runner Companion.

 

Drakes

 

Another thing to arrive in the 2060s were metahumans that could turn into mini-dragons. Current explanation is that drakes were a servitor race that the great dragons designed in the Fourth World, and those latent features have begun to manifest with the increases in magic levels.

 

Brain in a Jar

 

In an effort to bypass the limits of how much machinery that can be put into a metahuman body, some have taken the approach of removing the body entirely. Cyborgs are metahuman brains housed in entirely mechanical bodies. Some brains once belonged to an actual metahuman, but some of the brains are either vat grown or cloned from someone else. Because they have no bodies, they are unable to learn magic or become technomancers and they cannot take any more implants than those needed to keep them alive. Rules for cyborgs can be found in the Augmentation sourcebook. The main cost for playing a cyborg is in the equipment needed to keep your character alive.

 

Parahumanity

 

I like the transhuman options inherent in cyberpunk settings. One element that comes up in some settings but is underrepresented in Shadowrun are genetically engineered races. There is some mention of them in the setting, but not very much. If this is an option you'd like to explore, I can work with you on it.

 

Non-Humanity

 

Now that we've covered all of the metahuman varients and options, we get to the weird stuff.

 

 

Sapient Critters

 

Just as metahumans spun off of humans with the rise in mana levels, so did other creatures diverge from animals. Some of these metacritters have provient to be intelligent beings. Governments vary on the matter of whether or not they can become citizens or not. Rules for these can be found in the Runner Companion. Many of these sapients Awaken to a magical path. Cyberware for them can be problematic. They are unlikely to become technomancers.

 

• Centaurs: An offshoot from horses, they are look like what you expect a centaur to look like but have a bit more horse-like facial features.
• Naga: Sentient snakes.
• Pixies: No one knows where pixies evolved from. They are 18 inches tall, with fairy wings and everything.
• Sasquatch: No one knows where sasquatches come from either. They are genetically similar to humans, but are not considered metahumans. They are incapable of understanding or speaking metahuman speech and must communicate with sign language.
• Shapeshifters: There are several different types of shapeshifters. Similar to the lycanthropes of mythology, these are animals that are able to change into metahumans.

 

Emergent Technologies

 

As the Matrix has grown, new and stranger things have begun to manifest.

 

• Metasapients: The technical term for artificial intelligences that are not horribly, horribly alien. Began life as some semi-autonomous piece of software, but at some point became self-aware. 
• Ghosts in the Machine: When Crash 2.0 hit, some people died while jacked into the Matrix. Some portion of them remained in the Matrix and continues to haunt the virtual world. Mechanically the same as a metasapient, and yet radically different in tone. 
• Free Sprites: Sprites are the virtual equivalent to spirits that can be called forth the technomancers. Sometimes a sprite goes rogue and remains in the Matrix long after its work would otherwise be complete. There are no specific rules for free sprites, but I'm willing to adapt the free spirit rules (below) to allow for this.

 

 

Spirits Among Us

 

Spirits are entities from the astral planes that are conjured forth by mages. Sometimes they break free of their servitude and remain in the physical plane.  By their nature, they are automatically considered mages. They are incapable of summoning other spirits. They are almost never capable of having implants and fundamentally incapable of becoming technomancers.

 

 

Where to Find Stuff

 

Beyond the Core Rules, there are multiple sourcebooks out there for different character types.

• Runner Companion: Rules for most strange character concepts: Metavarients, HMHVV infected, sapient critters, AIs, free spirits, etc. 
• Magic in the Shadows: The magic sourcebook. Introduces rules for initiatory groups, new magic-related skills (Arcana and Alchemy), unusual types of spirits, magic related phenomena and threats. Expands information regarding magical traditions, initiation, metamagic and mentor spirits. 
• Arsenal: The equipment sourcebook. Introduces advanced combat rules, including martial arts, and rules for explosives, chemical compounds and other weird equipment. Expands equipment options for everything from guns to airplanes.
• Augmentation: The implant sourcebook. Introduces rules for cyborgs and other implant-related oddities, nanotech and genetech. Expands on cyberware and bioware rules.
• Unwired: The Matrix sourcebook. Introduces a bunch of rules for technomancers (streams, paragons, free sprites), and rules for the more unusual portions of the Matrix. Expands on basic rules for hacking and technomancers.