Metaplot: Otaku and Technomancers

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Metaplot: Otaku and Technomancers

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cczernia View Member Profile	Dec 31 2005, 10:40 PM Post #1
Target Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 5-December 05 From: San Diego, CA Member No.: 8,048	I'm relatively new to Shadowrun (played a little bit of the early edition but didn't really follow it) and love the new 4th edition. However, I have a few questions regarding the setting. 1. Is there a page or something that has a more detailed brake down of the metaplot. 2. What are the otaku. They seemed to be a big deal but the book only skims over them. It suggests that they morphed into the Technomancers but there isn't much about technomancers beyond mechanics. The reason I ask is that I wanted to include the otaku in my game. I don't really care if I go off canon but I like to know when I do.

Jaid View Member Profile	Dec 31 2005, 10:54 PM Post #2
Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,089 Joined: 4-October 05 Member No.: 7,813	the otaku (AKA children of the matrix, iirc) were people who were able to connect to the matrix with nothing more than a datajack and an ASIST converter, iirc. they are otherwise very similar to technomancers minus the ability to create sprites. oh, and also, they don't have a resonance rating or anything that i can recall... so they can get cyber really easily. they previously had to be young (like 5 years old up to about their early 20s, when they started to lose their powers. it was called fading when that happened iirc). they formed into tribes on the matrix, and could be created by AIs, or by being exposed to the deep resonance iirc. that's about as much as i know about them... can't remember much on the rules for them i'm afraid... :(

RunnerPaul View Member Profile	Dec 31 2005, 11:05 PM Post #3
Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,086 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 364	Also "ASIST Converter" is the old terminology for what's called a Sim Module in this edition (listed under commlink accesories).

BishopMcQ

Dec 31 2005, 11:27 PM

Post #4

The back-up plan

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First off, welcome to Shadowrun. Make sure to check out the new SR Missions which start in February, they will have new adventures released every month. (I don't kow if you have a solid group for SR, if not check out Game Empire in Clairemont Mesa--there are a few GMs who cycle through there regularly running demos. They should be able to put you in touch with the right people.)

Adressing your pts in order

1--There's not a good breakdown of the overall Metaplot, the Dev team likes to reveal hints and glimpses in each new book and as shadowrunners we compile some general threads of what's going on in the world at large.

2--From the Shadowrun Wiki

QUOTE

Otaku, in the Sixth World sense, are the "children of the Matrix", individuals are somehow able to interface with the wired matrix with only an ASIST converter and a datajack, without needing to use cyberdecks. Otaku, with some exceptions, are children below the age of 21, and many of them worship the Matrix with cult-like devotion, almost like a religion. They typically exist in social gang-like groups known as tribes, and are fiercely loyal to these tribes. Some tribes devote themselves to zealous causes or even entities, like Artificial Intelligences.

Otaku interface with the Matrix through a living persona, using channels, complex forms, and sprites. Most Otaku come to realize their powers through an entity known as Deep Resonance, which they can experience directly through Resonance Wells. Some claim that Deep Resonance is a being that exists in a "higher plane" of the Matrix, and these are known as technoshamans. Some claim that they are able to transcend the connections of data to reach a higher state of being, and these are known as cyberadepts. Other Otaku have been created through the efforts of the AI Deus and AI Mirage. Although much research has been conducted by the megacorporations on otaku, there is no known way to artificially replicate otaku abilities.

Since the Otaku abilities often depend on the flexibility of a child's mind, an otaku often expriences a loss of abilities as they grow to adulthood. This is known as "The Fading" (not to be confused with the temporary Fading experienced by Technomancers). While Submersion can halt or delay this slow degradation, most otaku lose their abilities by they time they reach the age of 30. Some Otaku, such as those created by the AI Mirage, do not experience the Fading for reasons unknown.

The "next-generation" or the grown up Otaku are Technomancers, who started to appear after the Matrix Crash 2.0 and are able to interface with the Wireless Matrix without any need of device.

BishopMcQ View Member Profile	Dec 31 2005, 11:31 PM Post #5
The back-up plan Group: Retired Admins Posts: 8,423 Joined: 15-January 03 From: San Diego Member No.: 3,910	Events surrounding the conversion of Otaku to Technomancers can be found in System Failure. It discusses Pax and her zealous quest for the Dissonance, the evil twin of the Resonance.

emo samurai View Member Profile	Jan 1 2006, 12:03 AM Post #6
Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019	I thought in Virtual Realities 2.0 that Otaku abilities decreased with cyberware. Funny. And if you're wondering why I'm referring to that, the only Matrix resource I had for Shadowrun was my sci-fi house library, and that's the book they had.

Ancient History

Jan 1 2006, 12:21 AM

Post #7

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QUOTE (McQuillan)

1--There's not a good breakdown of the overall Metaplot, the Dev team likes to reveal hints and glimpses in each new book and as shadowrunners we compile some general threads of what's going on in the world at large.

I'm working on that. In the meantime, you can read up on my out-of-date Echoes of the Crash page.

SL James

Jan 1 2006, 12:47 AM

Post #8

Shadowrun Setting Nerd

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QUOTE (emo samurai)

I thought in Virtual Realities 2.0 that Otaku abilities decreased with cyberware. Funny.

Not a chance.

BetaFlame View Member Profile	Jan 1 2006, 12:49 AM Post #9
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 105 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,010	I read AH's Echoes of the Matrix page, and I was reminded of something. I'm not sure if this is canon or something my old GM made up, but he used to talk about a "guy" named Remy that underwent cybersurgery in the womb, and was hooked into the Matrix before birth. Anyone know anything about this?

Ancient History View Member Profile	Jan 1 2006, 12:53 AM Post #10
Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,748 Joined: 5-July 02 Member No.: 2,935	"Renny" was the protagonist in the fiction piece in Virtual Realities 1.0, long considered one of the best pieces of decker fiction. He was a kid that was raised in the Matrix, ignorant of the "real" world, as part of Dr. Halberstam's experiments to create a super-decker.

ThreeGee View Member Profile	Jan 1 2006, 01:07 AM Post #11
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 212 Joined: 30-November 04 Member No.: 6,858	If you remember the Renraku Angel you've been playing Shadowrun a long time. I first read Renny's story coming down off of an acid trip, twas an interesting 3 hours.

BishopMcQ View Member Profile	Jan 1 2006, 01:52 AM Post #12
The back-up plan Group: Retired Admins Posts: 8,423 Joined: 15-January 03 From: San Diego Member No.: 3,910	AH--Thanks for posting that. It was the article I initially reached for before going to the Wiki. The Echoes of the Crash is not reachable from your front page btw...

BishopMcQ View Member Profile	Jan 1 2006, 02:03 AM Post #13
The back-up plan Group: Retired Admins Posts: 8,423 Joined: 15-January 03 From: San Diego Member No.: 3,910	So how much speculation would it be to say that the Virus that caused the Crash of '29 is the same virus from System Failure. I noticed, while reading some of AH's echoes, a few hints that lean in such a direction...

Ancient History

Jan 1 2006, 02:24 AM

Post #14

Great Dragon

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QUOTE (McQuillan)

AH--Thanks for posting that. It was the article I initially reached for before going to the Wiki. The Echoes of the Crash is not reachable from your front page btw...

Took it down for a major revamp with SR4, but I haven't finished that...yet.

RunnerPaul

Jan 1 2006, 06:15 AM

Post #15

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QUOTE (BetaFlame)

I'm not sure if this is canon or something my old GM made up, but he used to talk about a "guy" named Remy that underwent cybersurgery in the womb, and was hooked into the Matrix before birth.

Anyone know anything about this?

While the question has been pretty much answered, here are a few other bits of information about Renny:

Throughout the story, Renny is referred to as a "boy who lived in a house on the edge of the Matrix." When the Otaku were later introduced, someone pointed out that while the word Otaku has come to be used as a term to describe the ubergeeky ("pathological-techno-fetishist-with-social-deficit" to use Gibson's definition from Idoru), originally, it meant "you and your house" which is just an rather formal way of saying "you". For a while, some SR fans latched on to the "you and your house" meaning, trying to connect it to the story of Renny and his house.

When the first Matrix movie was in pre-production, there were rumors of a connection to Shadowrun, specifically Renny's story. Supposedly the brothers Wachowski had based their plot of someone who's spent their whole life jacked into a computer network without ever realizing it's not the real world, on the VR 1.0 fiction piece. There were even rumors of the Wachowskis (who were natives of Chicago) paying a few visits to the FASA offices in Chicago. However, most of this kind of talk seemed to vanish just before the movie's release. While it's possible that it could just be wishful thinking on the part of SR fans, there are some similarities in the storylines, particularly with parallels between the characters of Morpheus and Lucifer.

After a little google searching, I found this little chunk of info:

QUOTE

November 10, 1997... "This film may be based in part on a novella called 'Virtual Realities', originally published in the sourcebook of the same name for the 'Shadowrun' role-playing game. Briefly, it's the story of an entity named Renny which lives in the global computer network called the Matrix. Other people, human beings, are able to enter the Matrix and manipulate data, but Renny is much better at it because he's spent his entire life in the Matrix. Eventually, one of the human beings hired to help 'train' Renny discovers that Renny isn't an artificial intelligence at all, but a real human child that has been cut off from all 'real-world' stimuli so that he focuses solely on the Matrix world -- the only world he knows. The story, by Christopher Kubasik, is excellent and well-told.

"Having spoken with the line developer of the 'Shadowrun' RPG, I know that a film based on this novella is in the works. However, all references to the RPG are being removed in the interest of streamlining the story (and possibly avoiding licensing fees). That would explain some of the plot differences, as well as the fact that the film is set in 2197 rather than 2059 (the date of the game world). It's hard to say what similarities the film will have to the original story, but I'm still looking forward to it."

ThreeGee

Jan 1 2006, 07:02 PM

Post #16

Moving Target

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QUOTE

So how much speculation would it be to say that the Virus that caused the Crash of '29 is the same virus from System Failure.

And what about JackBNimble? His task in System Failure seems to be saving files and personas from the worm. Sounds similar to Mirage to me...

Darkness

Jan 1 2006, 07:22 PM

Post #17

Moving Target

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QUOTE (ThreeGee)

And what about JackBNimble? His task in System Failure seems to be saving files and personas from the worm.

:rotfl: Saving. That's the right word.

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