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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ Ruined City

Posted by: bustedkarma May 12 2006, 08:56 PM

Canon Gods, I invoke thy power to aid me.....

Aside from parts of Chicago, and Terhran, whats a good blowed up or otherwise ruined city to stick a civilization of Ghouls in.....or under.

Posted by: stevebugge May 12 2006, 09:04 PM

Well Shadows of Asia had a few parts of Japan seriously damaged by the Mt. Fuji eruption, you could try those. Drawbacks is that it's a fairly recent event and there are active recovery efforts.

Posted by: bustedkarma May 12 2006, 09:08 PM

Thanks Steve, Japan may actually work for my needs.

Posted by: blakkie May 12 2006, 09:11 PM

Isn't there that African ghoul nation? Forget the name off the top of my head right now. It isn't really blowed up though, if that is an actual requirement instead of just being a good place to look for ghouls.

Posted by: The ubbergeek May 12 2006, 09:13 PM

Asamando, I think.

Ghastly place, may fit your needs.

Posted by: Demonseed Elite May 12 2006, 09:37 PM

I'd say Los Angeles is also pretty beat up right now, though there aren't specifics yet.

Posted by: bustedkarma May 12 2006, 09:45 PM

@ Blakkie
Kinda breaking canon. Well, not kinda, AM. The group I play SR with, I also play WoW with, and we're looking at kinda integrating the WoW Races and some lore, with SR.

If your familiar with Warcraft, you know that, on a basic level, The Forsaken are for the most part Ghouls, free from the binds of the Lich King, and independent of his will. There are still your typical undead, flesh eating Ghoul types, but these guys are different.

So I need an Undercity, which happens to be Bitola, Macedonia.

Posted by: emo samurai May 12 2006, 09:52 PM

God, how do the people of Asamando survive?

Posted by: bustedkarma May 12 2006, 09:55 PM

They import orphans?

Posted by: Kanada Ten May 12 2006, 09:59 PM

Dimonds for blood.

Posted by: bustedkarma May 12 2006, 10:05 PM

WILL TRADE CONFLICT DIAMONDS FOR YOUR SKIN!

Posted by: hyzmarca May 12 2006, 10:19 PM

Ghouls don't need too much metahuman flesh. They get most of their nutrition from the same animals that everyone else eats. The higher costs of real meat can be offset by the fact that they can only eat rotting meat, meaning that they can buy the stuff that isn't fit for human consumption at a fraction of the price it is worth. Grocery corporations should jump at that since they would have to throw the meat away otherwise.

Posted by: Trax May 12 2006, 10:55 PM

Nah, they usually put the meat that is starting to turn funky into spaghetty sauce.

Posted by: Prospero May 12 2006, 10:59 PM

Another good place for a ghoul enclave would be somewhere in the Balkan microstates or in what's left of Romania or Bulgaria. They're pretty much hell-holes anyway and a strong force of ghouls could thrive in a ruined city there... with the skirmishes still ongoing, they'd have plenty of food, too.

Posted by: ChuckRozool May 12 2006, 11:15 PM

Just thought I'd stop in and say I like your WoW/SR integration idea. Also, it's nice to know that there is actaully a ghoul nation, what book is that found in? I like the whole ghoul idea and have been trying to come up with ways to involve them more in runs I plan.

Posted by: Ophis May 13 2006, 12:04 AM

The ever loverly Cyber Pirates has Asamado (or however it's spelt).

Posted by: BookWyrm May 13 2006, 01:05 AM

What about the Shattergraves (the ruins of the Sears Tower)?

Posted by: SL James May 13 2006, 01:09 AM

He said, "aside from parts of Chicago..."

Posted by: Grinder May 13 2006, 03:34 PM

Tripolis comes to my mind.

Posted by: mintcar May 13 2006, 03:50 PM

Why not Chicago? It's were the ghoul liberation movement (don't remember the name) that managed to get a shortlived sentience status reclamation through was based, I believe. But I guess a collection of ghouls with their souls intact would chose a place that's easier to clear of mindless ghouls.

Posted by: otaku mike May 14 2006, 03:53 AM

In Europe, you should be able to find a place that suits your needs. Lots of flooded cities in the Netherlands, irradiated towns in UK or within the SOX, or even an entombed city (a la Pompei) in France's Auvergne volcanoes area.

Mike

Posted by: fistandantilus3.0 May 14 2006, 04:16 AM

QUOTE (otaku mike)

even an entombed city (a la Pompei) in France's Auvergne volcanoes area.

Lots of fun times with shedim there too.

Posted by: Dog May 14 2006, 06:05 AM

Richmond BC... I mean SSC, was devestated by a quake. Now, where did I read that?

Posted by: SL James May 14 2006, 07:03 AM

Smedman's last novel, SoNA...

Posted by: Grinder May 15 2006, 11:50 AM

QUOTE (fistandantilus3.0)

QUOTE (otaku mike @ May 13 2006, 10:53 PM)

even an entombed city (a la Pompei) in France's Auvergne volcanoes area.

Lots of fun times with shedim there too.

French Shedim: twice the horror!

Posted by: SL James May 15 2006, 02:45 PM

Twice the fun killing them!

Posted by: FlakJacket May 15 2006, 02:46 PM

But twice the satisfaction when you kill the buggers!

Posted by: hobgoblin May 15 2006, 02:58 PM

hmm, vulcanos in france. what a mental image...

Posted by: Muskie May 15 2006, 03:36 PM

So what would the Tauren be? A bunch of SURGEd Native Americans?

Posted by: SL James May 15 2006, 03:51 PM

No, that would be http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/t/tribforc.htm.

Posted by: bustedkarma May 15 2006, 04:54 PM

QUOTE (Muskie)

So what would the Tauren be? A bunch of SURGEd Native Americans?

Yeah, I definitely wanted to write The Tauren into my game, but thus far, they've been the toughest in integrate.

Originally, I postured them to be replacements for the SR Troll, but the WoW Ogre filled that spot much better. So now I've got a Flagship WoW Race, and really don't have a good spot to put them.

The Native American stereotype was the easiest path to take, but I felt like I was cheating. The NAN is already in game, and plays a crucial part of early canon, and I didn't wanna shit on that. I also didn't wanna cast aside Blizzards take on the Tauren, and that they are a Shamanic People, and tend to be dialed into Mother Earth.

So I tried to ask myself, if I was a Corp, why would I want to hire a Tauren? Where do they fit into society. Where do they make their money?

So thinking in PURELY stereotypes...

I'd hire a charismatic elf. I need a sales department. I'd hire a hard working Dwarf or Tech Savvy Gnome or a crafty Goblin. I'd hire Orcs or (WoW) Trolls for security, they have some natural advantages that make them effective hunter/killers. Humans, obviously, I'd hire. Ogres are brutes, but big (8-15ft), and notoriously dense. thus difficult to equip, and to transport or train. I'd think they would be good security or manual laborers in hazardous or remote locations. So I'm left with Taurens, who are big enough to pose a logistics problem, smart enough to be tough to manipulate, and have issues (stereotypically) with Strip Mining Mother Earth.

What I landed on, was a sort of innate green thumb, much like the innate "work ethic" possessed by the Dwarves. Tauren are valued by the Corps as Agricultural workers, and many Tauren are contracted to work in environments where crops cannot grow. Thunder Bluff Agriculture (Shameless Theft!!!!) is the largest privately owned Agricultural Operations company in the world, and is wholly owned by Tauren Investors. Many AAA corps contract TBA to handle startup, and often manage day-to-day operations for their farms. TBA also specializes in Awakened Agriculture, and is world renowned for their work in the field.

Another interesting point about The Tauren existing in the 6th World, would be the impact on people or nations who viewed the Cow as a holy icon. The Hindus for example, don't worship the Cow, but treat it as a Sacred Animal. What about if some Tauren in India brought about some sort of Theocracy?

Anyway, I still think they are lacking, and don't think I'm finished polishing the idea.

OK, so I laid it out there, thoughts?

Posted by: Firestorm May 15 2006, 07:00 PM

QUOTE (hobgoblin)

hmm, vulcanos in france. what a mental image...

Actually it's not a mental image, it's a fact.
The house of my parents is built on top of a nice 15 meter basalt flow that happened to be flowing some 15000 years ago. This basalt flow also happens to end on top of a maar that exploded some 150000 years ago. ( said maar is just in the center of Clermont Ferrand, which would make it quite fun if it was to explode again. )
The last active volcano seen in Continental France is just 4000 year old.
The last active volcano seen in a French departement ( county ) is still active.

Posted by: stevebugge May 15 2006, 08:32 PM

You know there is an absolutely great resource I have in my collection of printed stuff: A tectonic map from National Geographic printed Feb of 1995. AMong other things it shows that much of the North Coast of the Mediterranean, east of Italy is a fairly active Subduction Zone. This map actually shows a "live" volcano in france, as well as a developing divergent zone in northeastern France, running through Luxembourg in to Germany.

Posted by: SL James May 15 2006, 08:56 PM

QUOTE (bustedkarma)

OK, so I laid it out there, thoughts?

I know nothing about WoW, but uh... Wow. That's pretty cool.

Posted by: bustedkarma May 15 2006, 09:15 PM

lol, Danke SL.

Posted by: ChuckRozool May 15 2006, 11:16 PM

OK, so in WoW the playable races are: Humans, Elfs, Dwarfs, Gnomes, Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, and Forsaken.
Are these also playable in your Shadowrun mod?
In addition to the Gnome you also mention Goblins, are they also playable? If so, are you using the meta-variants rules for both the Gnome and Goblin; or have you come up with your own stats?
I really like the idea of mixing the two games, Shadowrun and WoW. I don't know why, but it just agrees with me.

Posted by: bustedkarma May 15 2006, 11:46 PM

As far as sentient, playable Metahumans, I've got, by size:

Small
Dwarves
Gnomes
Goblins

Average
Humans
High (Blood) Elves - SR4 Elf, with some subtle changes
Night Elves - SR4 Elf, again, with some subtle changes
Orcs
Trolls - More akin to WoW Trolls
Forsaken - a sort of Ghoul reborn.

Large
Tauren
Ogre
Draenei - The New Alliance Race, sort of a Demon
http://www.bit-tech.net/news_images/new_world_of_warcraft_race_draenei/article_img.jpg

I know the metavariant rules exist, but I haven't been using them. I've just been kinda using what I know from Warcraft Lore and SR Canon, and placing them where I think they would be in the 6th World.

I think WoW and SR go REALLY well together, since Metaplots aside, the same story is being told. The big picture is the same. End of the day, be it Earth in 2070, or some point in Azeroths history, there is something from beyond, knocking at the door of the mortal races, and it wants to come in, and tear shit up.

Plus, your toon in WoW is just an animated Shadowrunner anyway. He's just trying to get by, score the best gear, and keep some money is his pocket.