The Shadowrun Situation

[Wesley Street]

Jeff Laubenstein's pen and ink spot illustrations were what sold me on Shadowrun during the 1st ed. years. His gritty, warty renderings of orks and trolls riding subways and wearing opulently decorated jackets really pulled me into the setting. But there was also something a bit light and satirical in their tone which I appreciated.

I was never one for the smudgy "grimdarkness" of the Warhammer 40K books. In fact I found it a huge turnoff.

[Stahlseele]

You would probably really love the protrayal of the Orkz then, if you don't think they are silly/pathetic

[UmaroVI]

Huh, OK, I guess we're just anomalous then. Thanks for the input.

[Mandella]

Both my players and I are pretty visually oriented, so having good art that I can show "this is what that thing in the pit you just uncovered looks like" is a must.

Bad art in a sourcebook has in fact caused me to cancel plans to run it.

[TheFlatline]

Both WotC an White Wolf used to have banks of artists cranking out genre stuff all the time, and most of the art going into any particular book would just be genre stuff that happened to fit. Of course, I don't think we can reasonably accuse White Wolf of being successful anymore.

-Username17

Which is an utter pity. White Wolf had some of the most evocative artwork in their books (also some utter shit, but hey, they can't all be the Mona Lisa). To this day I still love Wraith's art aesthetic.

Renraku Shutdown had some good art in it too if I remember correctly. Hell it was probably my favorite add-on in the entire run of SR3 (it helped that it dovetailed into my love obsession of System Shock 2). The "oh shit guys" tone, the art, the story, it all kind of gelled for me, not just for the arcology, but for the rest of Shadowrun's tone. I mean, here was grimdark shit that even professional, hardened criminals were shitting themselves over. It was good stuff.

Good art reinforces the tone and theme in a general sense immediately in a way that text sometimes has to take it's time to do. Genre art as Frank calls it can probably be ordered ahead of time, because it's not a specific reference, it's an evocative piece. It can also help to express specifics though, clarifying what an enemy looks like or whatever. At that point, it's highly subjective to the text that's been written. It's more functional at that point though in my experience, and generally less memorable.

Genre/theme/tone art however has gotten me to purchase games I have no intention of ever even playing. I've plumbed such books for mood, tone, and ideas for other games, but hey, it got me to plunk down 30 bucks.

I kind of feel a core book should almost have a coffee table quality to it's art. By that I mean I should be able to flip through the book, looking only at the artwork, and get an idea of the feel of the game, or at least the intent of the feel. Someone totally unfamiliar with, say, Wraith's setting could flip through that art and grasp pretty quickly what the authors were intending If memory serves, there wasn't even a *lot* of art in Wraith, but it was potent. A lot of Shadowrun's art was that way too. It frames the world that's inside the text you're reading.

[Koumei]

The most memorable roleplaying book art that springs to mind is, of all things, from Rifts. They re-use art crazy amounts, and a lot of the art is extremely stupid, however... this one piece was memorable for the bad decision in placement. The page had:
[*]A write-up of a generic stealth helicopter
[*]A picture of an alpaca or something similar

Now THAT'S stealth!

[Crissa]

Rifts isn't known for having their rules in any recognizable order, why do you expect their pictures to be, as well?

There's power armor for a centaur in the Atlantis book. The only mention of centaurs in the Atlantis book is under the list of races for slaves: They die in slavery, and consequently have a super-high rarity value when put on sale. But that's in a list of every race they'd already put out.

And do you even know which book the enhanced Stamina rules are in? Hint, it's not in a core rulebook.

-Crissa

[Ganbare Gincun]

And do you even know which book the enhanced Stamina rules are in? Hint, it's not in a core rulebook.

What, did they hide it in Federation Of Magic or something?

[erik]

And do you even know which book the enhanced Stamina rules are in? Hint, it's not in a core rulebook.

Rifts Conversion Book 1?


Rifts did have some pretty effective art that I think really didn't just look cool but it also did sell the setting.

[Crissa]

Rifts Conversion Book 1?

Nope.

Any yes, their color art is awesome.

-Crissa

[Ganbare Gincun]

Rifts Conversion Book 1?

I think that would classify as a "core rulebook"? I'm not sure.

But yeah, Rifts Conversion Book 1 was going to be my first guess, but then I realized that it was the most logical guess. And since we're dealing with Palladium, it therefore had to be the wrong choice.

It's probably in The Rifter or something.

[Lago PARANOIA]

Simply awesome.

[Username17]

Oh, the proposal for Harlequin's Gambit has been up for a while.

So... that's the direction that Catalyst wanted to take Shadowrun in this year. And in case you were wondering, High Magic was more elf porn.

-Username17

[Stahlseele]

Well, after the Dragon Heart Trilogy gave us lusty brown elven nipples, i am not really surprised . .

[Fuchs]

I hate that crappy "Ancient/elven/dragon lore is always better" clichee.

[Ancient History]

I never really expected that document to ever see the light of day...to give some context, that was the final draft of the planned "follow up" to the Dawn of the Artifacts storyline, a doc I insisted on writing just so we'd have some frickin' clue where things were headed. I'd been arguing with several people that the DotA themselves did not constitute a storyline since nothing actually happens with the artifacts, the entire reason for their gathering is lost. Everybody wants the macguffins because they were macguffins. So, this was an idea of how to make it so they served a purpose and set new things up.

It was always about one draft short of being the least possible stupidity. I ended up contracted to write about half the damn thing and worked to really downplay the IE angle, focus on the shadowrunners, their job, their immediate counterparts. Who Mr. Johnson is fucking or what her tiff with her parents are should not be a major concern for the bulk of the adventure.

And I set it up where you could shoot an IE in the head.

The set-up was for High Magic, which was part of a new format planned that would be sort of an alternate campaign style - a new setting (in this case, Portland) and new rules to expand on the subject (in this case, lots and lots and lots of new magic stuff, much more innovative than Street Magic because there wouldn't be a need to update or revamp as much). Frank and I actually talked quite a bit about various little spells, adept powers, metamagics et al. that would have gone in it.

But anyway, that's all the past. My terminating my contracts appears to have sunk this book as-is, and Jason wants to go...another way.

[Lago PARANOIA]

Well, after the Dragon Heart Trilogy gave us lusty brown elven nipples, i am not really surprised . .

And in case you were wondering, High Magic was more elf porn.

You two have my undivided attention. Pictures/excerpts, please!

[Fuchs]

What's wrong with hunting down ancient "artifacts" who are sought after because they are old, not because they are superweapons/supertech?

Instead of IEs battling for the future of mankind, you'd have stupid excentric collectors spending a fortune in a game of "I can get more relics than you", with the runners getting paid anyway, but the world won't care one way or the other.

But no... always have to make the lost magical shit matter in the big picture.

[Ancient History]

Basically. If you're going to stretch a stupid idea out to four separate adventure books and a campaign - about $100 of product for a single GM - you need a slightly greater justification than "old people collecting useless shit."

[Fuchs]

But "You make tons of money stealing this" is usually more than enough justification for any Shadowrunner to work. Adding "And it won't harm anyone, or shift the balance of power in this fragile world" will make it work for even more groups.

[Ancient History]

Keep in mind the constraints being worked under: the people in charge mandated a plot with IEs, and they were not going to take a plot without IEs.

[Username17]

Keep in mind the constraints being worked under: the people in charge mandated a plot with IEs, and they were not going to take a plot without IEs.

Yeah, beats the original idea:

Harlequin’s Game:

Sometime after the four artifact adventures have been run, and Lofwyr is on stage as a player in this drama, the product Harlequin’s Game releases to put the previous adventures in perspective. Harlequin has been the one trying to recover the items, and with luck has possession of all four now. Other forces at work may deprive him of one or more of these items at a crucial moment.

This would seem to be a plot book, though it may have some adventure guidance as well for GMs who want a piece of the coming catastrophe.


The Fall of Tir Na Nog:

There are several possible layers to this part of the puzzle. The first being that Tir Na Nog (previously, the Blood Wood) is located over one of Earth’s four corners. Even during the Fifth World, this small scrap (relatively speaking) of land was plagued by troubles, violence, and sorrow. Added to that the mystifying nature of The Veil, and there is plenty we can use to play up this location as one of the places of power.

Now, even back in Earthdawn there was a touch of corruption here. What if the Immortal Elves made it worse by trapping one of the biggest, baddest nasties ever at this place of power? Corrupting the world, in effect. Slowly poisoning it for eon upon eon. Tir Na Nog is not only safeguarding this ancient corruption, like a stopper in a bottle, but is also still partly corrupted itself as it draws on this inherent power for The Veil, for the Tir’s protection, and for whatever else the Big Elves think they can control.

Through a drama of mega-proportions, with an army of Shadowrunners and power-players all at hand for the final throw down between Harlequin and Lofwyr, this stopper is finally popped. Tir Na Nog, as it has been known, is destroyed in favor of a corrupted, desolate shadow of its former self.

Worse, however, Lofwyr’s interference or direct actions have let loose an ancient enemy. The “Eater of Dragons.”

At which point Lofwyr gives the dragon equivalent of “oops, my bad” and runs away very quickly.

The Dark Tir:

Although the camera may swing away from the ruins of Tir Na Nog, this does not mean that it should be forgotten. The Tir is a blasted ruin of its former glory, but not dead. It, and many of the people caught up in the Corruption (yes, with a capital “C”) are still around for adventuring purposes. The Dark Tir would quickly become a kind of open, evil landscape the kind of which draws adventurers in. Think Temple of Elemental Evil.

The Enemy:

I know there are those who hate the Earthdawn crossovers. There are also those who love them. Or so I’ve been told. I think we can play to both by never once speaking of Earthdawn, but simply referring to the released entity as “ancient, eternal, and hungry.”

For those who are not up on their Earthdawn lore, I have, of course, been referring to the horror which is Verjigorm. The “hunter” or “eater” of dragons, depending on which translation of Bartlett’s Elder Beings you own. There are many possibilities here, though perhaps after so long trapped inside of this place of power, Verjigorm can no longer manifest as a physical presence, but is a palpable spirit-type-creature.

Poetic justice would be that Verjigorm could (and would happily) inhabit Lofwyr, turning him forever (or until we tire of it) into a Dracolich, with all of S-K’s resources at his control.

"You know what we need? To blow up countries and turn them into D&D adventures with dracoliches."

-Username17

[Fuchs]

The hard-on those idiots have for Elves and Dragons ...

[Centurion13]

The hard-on those idiots have for Elves and Dragons ...

Not surprising when you consider at the target audience....



Cent13

[Crissa]

Well, eventually some Earthdawn should be creeping into Shadowrun... But this seems a bit... Much. Why aren't you blowing up, I dunno, Machu Pichu?

-Crissa