I like that, and that's part of the reason I like (meta)human threats. External threats are too easy to rally around, politically, emotionally, and are very simple (as a rule) to identify as opposed to the next slot jandering along who just happens to have you on his smoke list.

Otherwise Shadowrun turns into a monster-of-the-week show, and that gets really boring, really quickly.

Not a fan of monster of the week, but I do like a big over arcing plot to involve my players in.
That said I think whole possession thing is a bit played out. Never resolving Tempo crisis before moving onto the next mental threat left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I've always considered tossing some variation of a doppelgänger threat at my players. Concepts behind Horror corruption played out in minor themes in my earlier SR games, shame cannon material can't expand on past events like Mr. Darke and his horror allies.

I think the biggest threat around is that I'm now writing for the universe. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

nah.
your special kind of crazy will mostly get drowned out by the rest of it.
and if you do go over board, do you think bull won't try to reign you in?

and you have seen some of the things my mind comes up with, so eh ^^

Interesting idea Koekepan, If you don't mind me using it I'd like to add your idea to my list of Threats that I use for my campaign arcs.

Coming up with new and engaging threats is hard, I think its mostly due to the overuse of them all in various tropes throughout various games. Personally I tend to use more Mundane threats like the corporations, the government, gangs, organized crime, technology etc... and use Magical/Sci-Fi threats sparingly so I don't burn out my players on them. I've a few good threats that I've yet to implement but only because I'm little hesitant to put my players in situations where they don't have as much control over the outcome as they usually do.

-Drevicious-

Sure, let me know how it turns out.

The best way to deal with threats so that the game actually is involved, is to think them through and ask yourself what the in-world implications of these threats would be. Use these factors as hints to drop, so that they can actually form a picture instead of being completely blindsided. Then they can figure out a plan.

What I find interesting is that frequently parasites have unintentional benefits. For example, there are current studies suggesting that tapeworms assist in reducing allergies and asthma. And given the threats rampant in Shadowrun, I could imagine this creating a genuine dilemma for characters. Imagine a setting where some people are intentionally infecting themselves with these parasitic worms because it protects them from the objectively horrible terrors of the world, or perhaps is even contributing some basic magical abilities! I'd love to present something which, by all accounts is a great implant, BUT you've got a weird, magical parasitic worm inside of you.

Related, I did do a campaign around 'white people'. I never came up with a name for them. The concept was a 'group intelligence' species of tiny, white, wriggling worms. Together they could alter their shape and appearance almost perfectly, letting them impersonate anyone they saw and heal injuries very quickly. They could also exist inside of another living creature, although if they lacked the threshold population that colony would not be intelligent, just available for use by other colonies. In my campaign, they were just trying to exist peacefully beside humans, as they'd been doing for thousands of years, but population pressures and better medical technology was making that tougher. Because they (justifiably) expect humans to destroy them if they're discovered, they do whatever is necessary to maintain secrecy, but are otherwise very peaceful. So great to know in general, but once you learn their secret, you're on the hit list -- of all of them -- and they can be whoever they want.

Hmmm... maybe a Dax symbiont?

this sounds more like the worm people from futurama that invaded frys brain.

I always liked the trill. In fact, one of my KDF Aliens is a klingon with romulan ears and trill spots. I'm also close to being able to convince my GM to let me play a Puppeteer (going Telepath psion/Thrallherd) in an upcoming D&D game - should be fun.

If my memory serves, the problem with the trill is that it overrides the underlying personality. That might be cool during chargen, but in play it makes it not an option for most players.

Have been doing a rif on Ares messing with Insect spirits. I had an Ares bio division create a non-magical insect, super sized tick that are resistant to manipulation by spirits but open to inhabitation to act as a host for insect spirits which can then be used to transfer the spirit into guard animals. Ares took a batch of the ticks to Chicago where the torpored spirits in and around he nuke site attached themselves to said ticks. Ares then took the spirit possessed ticks back to their lab for experimintation without the need for keeping an insect spirit on site. Kind of a way to have a bunch of spirits on hand in a managible form that can be shipped to buyers where they can then infect (transfer) the spirit to their chosen animal.

Of course it went horribly wrong and the ticks got loose and began to breed and attract free insect spirits by giving them a way to join with humans that does not require rituals or summonings.

My players hate me, lol

It's not a replacement; it's a blending, forming a new entity. It's not a Perfect or Flesh Form, it's a Hybrid merging, like the Lich King.

In the FuelDropverse Ares is suffering from a bit of a problem with insect spirits.
Specifically, their corporate command structure has been rather heavily infiltrated. Obviously, this is not a good thing. Ares is suffering because of this as insect spirits don't get human stuff like advertising, economics, and running a company. A hive mind having difficulty working out how non-hive-mind creatures think and interact? Who'd have thought it?
Of course not all of Ares has been compromised, hence the power struggle detailed in the corporate guide. It's going to be very fun to get into that part of my campaign later...

And why not a good old consiracy to add Seattle to your country and take it from UCAS. Something involving a few corporations who where promised huge advantages if they'd help out.

A number of years ago I saw someone wrote rules for that.

I think it's a compelling idea.