Remade History of Shadowrun, The New History of the Sixth World Options

[Hida Tsuzua]

For the past couple of months, I've been working on a complete reworking of Shadowrun with friends of mine. One of the first things we did was rewrite the history to reflect the tone we wanted and solve the oddity that was the NAN.

The greatest change of all was the Great Ghoul Infection: originally designed as a way to explain for the existence of the NAN without resorting to the Great Ghost Dance, the Great Ghoul Infection grew to be a major cause of everything from corporate power to why there are shadowruns.

Many aspects of normal Shadowrun have been greatly changed by this revised history. For example, the meaning of SINs and being SINless was completely redone. In this version there are no vast hordes of SINless nor can shadowrunner use the greyness of being SINless for much advantage. Another noteworthy change is the elevation of Mircosoft to Megacorp status. (This has to do with biases on the authors' part more than anything else. We might include Walmart at a later date). Despite being set in 2060, none of the things in the metaplot have happen.

Opinions are welcome. The major question I have is should this history be more OOC or IC? If it should be IC, should it from Captain Chaos or an encyclopedia format?

The New History of Shadowrun

1990-2011: The Good o’ Days
Yes, there really was a time before magic. While recalled by many as a peaceful and prosperous time, it was much like now with its wars, pollution, and crime. During the 1990s, computers and the Internet spread all over the globe in what was referred to as Globalization. Riding the waves of the economic growth of the period, corporations began to increase their power over the government though “donations” and “guest services” for fulfill their various aims from tariff protection to reduced environment regulations. Many of the corporations know today, Microsoft, Renraku, Mitsuhama, and other megas were born and raised during this period of rapid growth.

Native Americans also improved their conditions. Using money from lawsuits against the government for its many broken treaties, Native Americans set up many businesses (later forming the core of Aztechnology), tourist attractions, and bettered their children’s education.

In the Middle East things did not go so well. After a Libyan assault on Israel in 2004, Israel invaded Libya and her allies. Despite countless stories of human rights abuses by both sides, many of the other major countries helped and played with both sides trying to secure the oil deposits of the area in what is now referred to as the Great Middle Eastern Conflict. It was not until 2029 when Rage hit the whole area like a cow from space did the fighting stop. Due to the pressure put on the oil supplies, the gas-guzzling SUV and its ilk died a quiet death as cars got smaller and engines more efficient.

Computer and electronics improved at a rapid pace along with major inroads in knowledge of the human body and cybernetics. In 2009, the first successful cybernetic implantation in a mammal, a cyberlimb into a hamster, started the field of true cybernetics. Human implantation would be developed later.

2011: The Awakening

On December 24th, the dragon Ryumyo was spotted circling Mt. Fuji. At first, it was believed to be some sort of special effect created by a publicity stunt. Later when the dragon Dunkelzhan appeared in what was then Colorado and was interviewed by media personality Holly Brighton did people begin to accept the changes that swept the world (the capture of a live Basilisk and of Bigfoot helped as well). Luckily for the dragons, they were able to lay extremely low when people decided that they didn’t really want to wrestle with the concept of intelligent non-human race and the threat it posed.

In the Great Middle Eastern Conflict, there were many tales of soldiers summoning spirits and casting spells in the middle of combat. Religious figures of various stripes claimed the end of the World was coming and used their “God-given/Earth Goddess-given/Great Spirit-given/Psychic Alien-given” powers to help out their flocks. Both of these events formed the basis of later magical theory.

The greatest long-time magical change was UGE or Unexplained Genetic Expression. Healthy “mutant” children were born to parents all over the world, the first elves and dwarves. Reactions varied thought the world. In some places, infanticide occurred. Other areas were more tolerant and gradually elves and dwarves were accepted worldwide. Humanity thus begun to split into its various sub-species.

2012-2029- Welcome to a Magical World

Uncertainty is the great bane of the investor and therefore of the market. With all the changes sweeping the World, uncertainly was an all time high. The boon times of the previous two decades finally ended as people withdrew their holdings for security along with the mass retirement of the Baby Boomer Generation. Unemployment rose and business began to go under. Among the survivors feasting on the remains of the good times were the precursors of the Megacorporations we know today.

Magical research was the hottest area of research however and actually underwent its own bubble period despite overall conditions. While most leads of the magic research never lead anywhere (I really love the story of the magical perpetual motion machine that destroyed a good chunk of forestland in Canada), the sciences of parabiology (study of magically affected life), thaumaturgy (study of magic), and incarnology (study of spirits) were born.

On April 30th, 2021, people all over the world began to change. Though a process called Goblinization, they gained a great deal of muscle mass, size, and sometimes tusks. They were referred to orks and trolls like the fantasy creatures of old. For some it was a slow and gradual process, for others a quick and painful one. Either way, the new metahuman races faced harsh discrimination even after it was discovered not to be a disease because they were not as considered as attractive as elves and dwarves. However like UGE before it, orks and trolls slowly became accepted by society but never to the degree of elves and dwarves.

In the field of technology, computing power increases steadily making for vast amounts of information stored and available. However hacker attacks increase as a revolt against what is viewed as the corporation's takeover of the Internet. When nearly all of Renraku’s systems were taken down following Renraku’s takeover of Google in 2025, Renraku released Paladin; a program designed to counterattack hackers while they were hacking a target by destroying both their software and hardware. At first, it was a major failure (aren’t all initial program releases?), but it would form the core programming for Grey and Black IC, a decker’s worst enemy.

In 2028, Damien Knight burst onto the corporate scene. A little known businessman in Sweden, Knight using a series of financial transactions preformed the infamous Nanosecond Buyout. At the end of the minute, Damien ended up with 22% of Ares, three corporations were no more, and two multimillionaires ruined while making three. After this feat, he was elected president of Ares and holds this post to this day.

2029-2034- Rage

First observed in India, Rage spurted all over the globe in what would be the greatest epidemic of humanity’s history. Rage, now believed to be a mutated and magical version of rabies, infects the host’s nervous system destroying whatever mind the victim (also known as zombies and ghouls) had. Reduced to the level of a mindless beast, the virus makes them extremely aggressive and in a near constant adrenaline surge giving the victim increased strength and speed. Oddly, Rage infected will not attack other Rage infected, but will attack nearly anything else moving. Those infected reach this furious stage roughly within 24 hours of being bitten. During this time, the infected attacks all in a mindless killing frenzy. After seven days, the ghoul enters the “dormant stage” where it goes into hiding and typically hibernates for several weeks, but cases of hibernation lasting years are known. This means even if zombie activity is eliminated in an area, outbreaks can still occur at later dates.

Appearing over the entire globe, Rage spread like wildfire. Governments faced huge costs fighting off the zombies, relocating the uninfected into refugee camps (which were as bad and filthy as you expect) and the huge damage to infrastructure. Large corporations, seeing the possible collapse of international trade if not civilization, bailed out the World’s governments. In exchange, they gained many rights and privileges that they use to this day.

In North America, Rage was extremely virulent what was then Western United States. So bad in fact, the United States to abandoned the area to save the less affected Eastern Coast during the darkest days of Rage. In an ironic twist of fate, Native Americans turned out to be immune to Rage greatly reducing their losses. Seeing themselves basically left for the ghouls, Native American leaders, well-educated and wealthy, began to gather whatever survivors they could and form militias (using all the old military gear left behind by the government) for protection and some resemblance of civilization and gained in some part its own nationalism. By the time the US was able to try to retake its Western frontier, it discovered an army in its way. Seeing that stained and debt-ridden as it was, it would have problems taking out the zombies much less the Native American led militia. With the Treaty of Denver in 2035, the US gave its Western half to fledging nations called the NAN (Native American Nations) with the exception of Denver, Seattle, and a few other areas. In the next year, the US and Canada merged to form the United Canadian and American States (UCAS) to pool their resources. To this day, it’s argued who got the best out of the deal.

In South America as Rage raged though the continent, ecowarriors, ecoterrorists, and other econuts moved in the now abandoned and heavily deforested Amazon Rainforest. Renaming the area Amazonia they were able to force their way to acceptance for the fledging nation (forest?). Since then Amazonia has largely left to itself as its goal seems to be the wildly successful growth of the rainforest or more aptly named “Green Hell on Earth.”

In Europe, Rage swept its course with its standard major devastation. However when the dust cleared, Europe faced down the New Red Army of Russia. Russia, long the kicking boy since the fall of the Soviet Union, weathered Rage quite well as few infected could reach a Russian city before hibernating (even zombies can’t win a land war in Asia it seems). Under the leadership of Pavel, Russia once again rose to power. The European nations weren’t crazy about it though. After three years of on-off fighting and boarder raids, a crease fire was created as both sides were stalemated. With the assassination of Pavel, Russia lost much of its organization but remains a moderately powerful state.

In the Middle East, Rage ended the Great Middle Eastern Conflict as both sides suffered from the disease. The city of Tehran was completely wiped out in a space of a day leaving the city a silent monument to the epidemic. With the war ended, Israel “the Victor” found itself increased many times in size, but half the newly won area battled into dust and other half, unsuitable for metahuman life due to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons at best till 2110.

Africa, already facing major problems from diseases, was extremely hard hit by Rage. Areas of Africa have been effectively left for the zombies with the metahumans there reduced to tribes.

In Asia, China was hit hard. Its communist government desperately trying to keep hold of the various movements in China was overthrown in the face of its total failure dealing with Rage. In the chaos, many were killed the resulting civil wars, leaving China spilt into various states. Japan was little affected by Rage due to being an island nation and a fair deal of luck. However many corporations especially Japanese ones had or made major inroads into the government. Japan reasserted itself as a major world leader and also following an amendment to its constitution a military one though its power is still largely economic.

The tide turned against Rage in 2032 when a vaccine was developed. Administered to those in refugee camps, a system was developed to keep track of vaccinations. Using SINs (signature identification number), one could pull up the person’s vaccination history as boosters have to be given every ten years. Like the social security number before it, SINs are the cornerstone of identification and cross-reference. Armed with a system to regulate vaccination and world-wide vaccination, Rage infections dropped. Even so, it took two more years for the epidemic to end.

While the vaccine was given free to nations around the world, hostilities towards the NANs meant they were not given the vaccine in the hope Rage would weaken them enough to allow the US to take them back. In what is considered the first true shadowrun, agents hired by the NAN were able to steal the vaccine and secure their place in the world.

2034-2040- World Rebuilds

With Rage gone, the world rebuilt. The corporations, many now in their familiar names today, were more or less in charge of the rebuilding as the governments were now firmly in their pockets. Emphasizing on stability over all, many aspects of one’s life are now heavily regulated by either the corps or governments (for the corps). People flocked to the cities once more as the countryside already depopulated due to Rage were deserted for the cities. The cities thus expanded into the megasprawls, though public transportation is better than before (one of the effects of the Great Middle Eastern Conflict).

In 2039, cyberware entered the mainstream with cyberlimbs for amputees. Later that year, the datajack was revealed, allowing one to directly connect to the computer and mentally control commands in ways never seen before. Renraku’s Paladin program was discovered to be effective to hackers using datajacks as it could not only attack the hacker’s software, programs, and hardware, it could also attack the hacker directly. The results of this are the various IC we see today.

2040-2060- Shadow Wars

In early 2043, breakdown of transportation of booster shots to the city of New York resulted in a major outbreak of Rage. UCAS forces moved in to contain the outbreak. Afterwards, cases of human rights abuses by the military such as torching entire buildings of people on the grounds they could be infected were made. In Darren Wray vs the people of the United Canadian and American States, the Supreme Court ruled that those lacking SINs or lacking appropriate booster shots can be considered armed and dangerous and lacking of many rights and privileges. Since then those lacking SINs are most likely unvaccinated, they are a possible carrier and incubator of Rage (the thought of a mutated Rage is a deep-seated fear) and a major public threat. If discovered, they are kept in quarantine, vaccinated, and given a SIN if they are lucky. They are killed if not as lucky.

As the world finally settled into stability, the corporations discovered a problem. With all the rules and regulations they came up with, they could not effectively compete with each other as they wished to in the good old cutthoart days of yore. Drawing upon the example set by the NAN’s raid for the Rage vaccine, companies began to hire “outside help” to attack their rivals. As the outside help could not be directly connected to their hirer (terrorist attacks and all that), it sidestepped the self-imposed regulations set up. Shadowrunners entering the scene, doing things both illegal and quasilegal that their employers wanted done but couldn’t otherwise. As the Megacorporations liked the competition provided by employing and using shadowrunners, a gentleman’s agreement was formed to let the shadowrunners thrive by not hunting successful ones too heavily.

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