Shadowrun 5ed, What kind of tech would you expect to see in SR in 20 years time? Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Chugga]

Hey Guys, I'm quite new to Shadowrun and have really only been playing for about 6 months, but it strikes me that a lot of the technology in SR 2072 is more or less similar in kind to what we see now. For example, I see a lot of reference to cyberdecks, which from what I can tell were more or less future laptops, but as people in real life have switched increasingly to handheld wireless devices (mobile/cell phones and tablets, etc) so the the post Crash 2.0 world has switched to using similar devices (Commlinks). Obviously these all have a good dash of sci-fi in them, and are much more advanced than what we actually have, but in kind there is a connection there. Drones are another good example of this, from what I can tell, as they have become more popular in modern warfare, so have they become much more important in the 6th World.

So my question is, assuming that SR 5e is going to happen at some point (I have no idea whether it will or not) and assuming that it happens somewhere between 5-15 years from now, what major technologies can you see on the horizon for us that will translate over to Shadowrun as being massively important? It's kind of hard to predict the Next Big Thing, but I'm mostly just curious to see what people come up with as a thought experiment.

As an example, I read an article recently about animal uplift, and how augmenting animal intelligence is starting to look like something we may be able to do in the mid-future. Obviously there are a lot of ethical implications here, and it may be something that is referenced in an SR sourcebook that I haven't read already. But if it does become popular, I can see augmented intelligence animals suddenly becoming a force, in greater numbers than the sort of awakened/sapient critters that we already see.