SoA: Japan, The Emperor Options

[toturi]

[martingotthard]

[martingotthard]

[fistandantilus4....]

I'm actually happier with the way the Tir is going now, getting destabilized and all, with Aithne out and about, Lugh unseated. Could be fun. Hopefully that will make them more of a behind the scenes plot than the invincible power they have been so far.

[FiveVenoms]

Assassination? Bullet Train? Scurvy? The mind reels at the possibilities.

No, I was actually talking about a topic I was bitching about on the Shadows of Asia Review topic (fistandantilus3.0 might remember it), wherein I was going off topic by complaining that I'd like to see something a tad less "Tolkienesque Fantasy Novel" than the Immortal Elves that would serve as a nice counterweight to their all-powerful all-seeing schemes.

Unfortunately, as people pointed out,

a) Shadowrun quite possibly does not need another super-power aside from Great Dragons and the IEs-it would just complicate things.

b) I wracked my brain for a while to try and think of a good, culturally based idea for some sort of superbeing that would also fit into the dynamic of Shadowrun. I realize now that with enough creative license this isn't too hard to do, not a lot of "Asian" myths, etc. that I'm familiar with seem to work terribly well straight out of the box.

c) There already are quite a few examples of mysterious powerful creatures roaming throughout Asia that they DID give. This, however, never quite cut it for me, since at best the entry in a sourcebook will go something like this:

CHIANG MAI

"This small city in Northern Thailand has recently come under the control of a mysterious local monk from the nearby temple Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep who has claimed divine power from the heavens. In the aftermath of the wars in the SE Asian War Zone, mercenaries in the area claim to have seen the monk and his followers wielding magic on a huge scale, repelling their military forces."

• He ain't lyin', chummers. My crew and I were trying to cut through the area to get north when we got pinned down by a ground unit coming south out of the Shan State. Sooner than you could blink, this bald guy in robes and a big-ass spirit started slinging some HUGE mojo-fireballs the size of houses, power blasts ripping through our gear. Glad I made it out alive, although most weren't so lucky...
• Mercenaries RU

Or something like that. So I'll get all excited about it, but sooner or later, you'll get one of these afterwards.

• Ah, I see that old habits die hard. Perhaps our old acquaintance didn't learn his lesson in the last age.
• THE LAUGHING MAN/WORDSMYTH/LADY OF THE COURT/BLAH BLAH ELF BLAH

I would really appreciate it, if just once, somebody off-handedly mentioned something like this, and instead of mentioning in a blasé tone how they know perfectly well what's going on, instead freaked the hell out. When I say "counter" the Immortal Elves, that's what I'm getting at. The IEs are not without their charms, but they barely blink when even Dragons are in their path, so something should exist that they can't just shrug off. Otherwise it tends to get annoying when this cycle of "possible threat, anticipation of something great, IEs casually dismiss it" repeats.

I know I could just rewrite it in my own games, but I actually like the SR Canon as it stands, except for that one tiny detail that rubs me the wrong way.

End rant.

[hahnsoo]

Shadows of Asia does have quite a few dragon/IE shadowtalk references. The SR sourcebooks tend to be either heavy with them or tend to be "IE-lite", and there are fans of both. Some folks like the connections back to the 4th world, and others think it is the worst thing that has happened to the game.

I'd like to point out that if it's a threat that the IE/Dragons are concerned about it, it's not going to show up in the usual Shadowtalk comments. For example, the comments in the entire Aztlan sourcebook.

[FiveVenoms]

I will confess to being more or less oblivious to the Earthdawn setting and related ideas. I may have bought the main book at one point and promptly given up on it, if memory serves.

I mean, all said and done, if I'm going to go ahead and say I don't mind Earthdawn being background for Shadowrun, possibly I should just leave it be. And to be sure there are the Horrors, and other unknown factors roaming around (speaking of Aztlan: Emperor of the Sun? What?), but I was really hoping for something less abstract than Ye Deadlie Creatures fromme thee Multyvyrse. I personally don't feel one should dismiss either the Dragons or the Elves-I mean it's Shadowrun, so I think a healthy dose of magical conspiracy and ancients with convoluted schemes works in its favor. But I've always wanted something of a checks-and-balances in the plot, and the more I learn about Shadowrun's background (thank you Ancient History), the less of that I see.

[fistandantilus4....]

The dragon's and IE"s are supposed to the balances for each other, which is why there's a dragon on the Tir council. Doesn't always seemed played out that way.

As for ED, I really enjoy the system mechanics, and the world setting. My suggestion would be , don't use the horrors for every little thing (unless the game is for a nethermance, natch). Use them for the dark and the hidden. I like using them to make a more horror-genre (excuse the pun) game feel. But that's just me.

As for something bigger/badder then the dragons/IE's, that's the horrors. But that's also a whole new mess to deal with in SR , and should be used very sparingly IMO.