[New to Shadowrun] Questions, Altering the backstory & incorporating Horrors Options

[SJE]

It also might make sense as to why there were so many ICBMs being thrown around in the early 2000's that never detonated. (Korea, Lone Eagle Incident, etc.)

I thought that was the Immortal Elves mystically defusing the nukes - a Shadowrunner does the same thing in the 3rd Sam Twist novel.

SJE

[Adarael]

They never explained why they were defused. My rationalization for this is as follows. It involves the now-destroyed AI Mirage.

Mirage was an AI that evolved from the complicated interlinkings of US defense systems such as NORAD, and his kernel was based on NORAD code. As such, I rationalized that Mirage's prime directive was to protect the citizens of the US from all threats, foreign or domestic, but especially nuclear ones. When nukes started flying, Mirage was aware that the proper authorities had not authorized the launches. He rationalized that all such nuclear exchanges would be bad for the US, because any nuclear exchange could trigger massive retaliation which would escalate to Fallout-level destruction. So he disarmed the warheads, having the de-activation codes in his kernel.

Alternately, there are any number of other, non-magical explanations. Hackers, early Shadowrunner/Rainbow Six style teams sabotaging the warheads prior to launch (but being unable to prevent launch - it's REALLY easy to sabotage a nuke), or the entire thing was a false-flag operation used as an excuse to pass certain laws or put certain people in camps.

Of ALL of the possible explanations, I find the trope of "fundamental laws of physics are now different" to be the most ridiculous. First, it relies on the assumption that the laws of physics have changed, rather than new laws being discovered. Magic returning, sudden racial mutations, et cetera, those are new laws suddenly coming into play. Changing an existing law is another kettle of fish. What's worse is that:
A) IF those laws of physics changed, they have not only changed, but now behave in unpredictable ways. A changing, that's bad. A law sometimes deciding to work normally and sometimes deciding to work differently is just flat out LOL WUT territory.
B) Even if the laws changed, given that people still use nuclear power in 2070 it implies that nobody has either noticed or figured out how they changed in 60 years, and that is also stupid.

I find it much more likely that the meltdowns to date have been the result of espionage, accidents, or mishandled reactors due to corporate owners cutting corners and safety precautions to increase their own profits. That is MUCH more in keeping with the theme of shadowrun than "Suddenly, nuclear fission and fusion work differently in an unpredictable and totally non-scientific way.'

[Adarael]

Suddenly, a double post appears!

[Draco18s]

Suddenly, a double post appears!

You are surprised!

The double post crits for double damage!

[PBI]

I like that the malfunctioning nukes were left ambiguous. Leaves it open to the GM. I also have major problems with the background, but like others have said, do what works for you.

BTW, I'm one of the apparent heretics that likes the link between ED and SR (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[WyldKnight]

I like the link as well, it gives the world a sense of history that few others have.

Out of curiosity did the Shadowrun Novels answer any questions or did they just raise new ones?

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

While I've never played ED myself, I like the link between them.
Now, the novels might answer some questions, but will raise new ones (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[hahnsoo]

The Ancient Files is informative reading for the links between Earthdawn and Shadowrun, if you are interested:
http://ancientfiles.dumpshock.com/

[WyldKnight]

Thanks for the link, I think I found myself some reading for those slow work days.