So is there any good information on the CAS?, A discussion about a seemingly information-lacking area Options

[Darkeus]

So is there any good information out there about the CAS? It seems to end with Shadows of North America and I can't seem to find any fan ideas as well. Does nobody want to Shadowrun in the Confederation? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

As there seems to be no good information on the CAS, are there any ideas you guys would like to share on the subject?

I am really looking for good campaign ideas and to try to expand on what is in the Shadows of North America book.

[The Dragon Girl]

>.>; every time I ask questions like this I get told to wait on Atlas to get published.


Personally I want to write some stuff for the CAS area myself, for fooling around with, having grown up in NW Ga.

[Darkeus]

I guess I should throw in some of the important facts and hooks I have managed to find in the material there is. I will just make a list, you know, to stimulate ideas. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The CAS had went through a major shift in political power in 2062. The True American Coalition is a combination of the Republican Party and the Reform Democrats. The Republicans in the CAS are more moderate right than far right. The Reform Democrats are Democrats with a major metahuman rights message. Together the claim to strive for a return to the original United States. One of their sayings is "The South shall not rise again; rather, America shall rise again from the South."

The powers that lost, the Southern Democrats (mired in corporate special interest) and the Southern Conservatives (Old South types hoping to show metahumans their "place". Probably similar to the Conservatives of now.) really showed no chance of coming back into power soon. They still held important positions in the State and local governments of the CAS, including the governor of Atlanta, but this power was seemed to be on a time schedule.

Turner Field was turned into some sort of Bio-dome experiment that failed and is now inhabited by some sort of cult or tribe that may be associated with Insect Spirits. That could be a disaster area.

Of course there is Crash 2.0 and all of what that would do to the CAS

The CAS had also just acquired the former Aztlan territory in Denver so they would have been enjoying a increasing power base in North America leading up to the Crash 2.0

The CAS has a lot less megacorp influence because of isolationist policies that the Southern Democrats and Southern Conservatives employed. This has started to change a little but will never reach a level like the UCAS. For now, the CAS has lots of AA corps with plenty of power. Plenty of them are Matrix oriented as well. Hiasto-Turner is based here as well making them a force in media and entertainment. It seems that the CAS would also have plenty of agricorps and Virginia could be an interesting place with its history and unique situation in the CAS. Some of the surrounding suburbs of DC that were part of Virgina stayed with the UCAS. Tensions can run high.

I will find more if I can...

[The Dragon Girl]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) That'd be wiz, actually.

[Darkeus]

>.>; every time I ask questions like this I get told to wait on Atlas to get published.


Personally I want to write some stuff for the CAS area myself, for fooling around with, having grown up in NW Ga.

I live in Virginia for the moment and it just seems so weird that the CAS is so bereft of information. I am starting to write my own stuff expanding on what I can. The biggest question is Crash 2.0 and the effects it had.

Oh, another interesting fact. The Southern Conservatives did manage to push through a bill offering bounties on any awakened able to animate the dead. Houngans became every afraid. The Southern Conservatives would probably taken the spot of the Southern Democrats in the power structure by 2072. I see that bill not making to 2072 (probably not past the Crash) but I do see The True American Coalition still number one, Southern Conservatives Second and Southern Democrats third.

[jimbo]

I have the fortune/misfortune of being new to Shadowrun, very ignorant of lots of big picture stuff, but free to do "mostly" what I want in my hometown of Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, Norfolk 'wannabe' Sprawl...

I toyed with the idea of several local major military bases in the area creating a UCAS zone because the UCAS refused to let the bases, and they would kinda be like Guantanamo Bay UCAS islands. I discarded it. As important as Langley AFB, Norfolk Naval Station, and Oceana NAS are/were to the UCAS I didn't see how they could keep control. I guess I could have just said, "Well, they did keep control...so there." The deciding factor for me is that I didn't want to deviate from the back page map of the SR4a.

I did figure that major parts of the coast are almost completely taken over by existing military bases, Shipyards, and major import/export companies involved in seagoing shipping. This gave me options of increased Japanese and Cinese rep in the area by making two said companies owned by the them. The Virginia Beach resort area, residential "North End", Back Bay Wildlife Refuge, ODU, Buckroe Beach in Hampton...all gone.

The Intracoastal Waterway running from Virginia to Florida is thriving in legal, grey, and black market activity.

Our already troubled local waterways that empty into the Chesapeake Bay are heavily polluted. Smaller waterways and wetlands, lacking eco-protection, have been terraformed over.

The Eastern Shore coast has some import/export action but is mostly lined massive desalinization plants, hydrogen production, It is also headquarters to Virginia's 29th Mechanized and tasked with protecting the vital strategic corridor against a UCAS attack (real or imagined) down from Maryland.

Getting a little past Williamsburg, the area is much more rural and wild. Farming, private estates, go-gangs, you name it. Populated areas pick up as one approaches the Richmond/Petersburg Sprawl.

There are two more bridge tunnels connecting Norfolk/Portsmouth to Hampton/Newport News.

Local Gangs
Largest---Street Kings New members are called 1 or 2 pointers. 3 pointers are official and get plastic bone lacing. 4 pointers are 'Lites...not Lieutenants (5 pointers) but really bad dudes. All these guys have Dermal Plating. The leader is a Troll called "6 Point".

Mas Muertes

Huangchong (Grasshoppers) At the top of the gang hierarchy are 3 to 6 Kung Fu-chopping Adepts going by Hei Longs (Black Dragons).

The Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) are the local Japanese Yakuza.

The Lee Family is the local organized crime power player. It is headed by Johnny Lee. His top troubleshooter/mage is Adam Cartwright. He has an associate named Latoya Ayanja, a formidable shaman in her own right. She is in love with Chambers, an Ork Lieutenant in the Street Kings.

All of the above humbly offered up for use by any and all...

[Darkeus]

I would think those resort areas would be nice, corp owned and rich... Since the Megas don't have alot of control in the CAS, it would be AA corps picking up the slack...

[Red-ROM]

Here's some thoughts:

NASA- now owned by Ares, is still operating in Florida, Houston, and Virginia

Orachalcum- Plenty of mining towns in West Va and the Carolinas

Tennessee- With all the troubles in California, Tennessee's entertainment market has skyrocketed, enter Horizon

Hurricanes- I imagine that there have been some brutal Hurricanes that have changed the landscape. If L.A. is under water, I would assume that Louisiana is too.

[Bull]

I'm sure Patrick Goodman will pop in here tomorrow. He's been wanting to do more with the CAS (And Texas in specific) for a long time.

[The Dragon Girl]

*rubs her hands together* I want to write about a smuggler's circle using mostly the less accepted metahumans, and the cave system I know exists from virgina throught the carolinas , tenn alabama, and ga, and the fact that most of the older cities here in nw ga, round the Coosa river and the Etawah have an entire story of their structures underground with tunnels connecting them- and the river system runs right -through- some major cities..


I'm still trying to figure out why Dahlonega of all places ended up a capitol, unless the old gold mines come into play somehow

[LurkerOutThere]

I have been digging for CAS info recently, I believe there was some brief references in system failure including some intimation that the New Revolution might have had friends South of the mason dixon. I've even heard a rumor that one the convention pack mods might deal with something like this although this rumor comes from a highly trusted source.

[Darkeus]

*rubs her hands together* I want to write about a smuggler's circle using mostly the less accepted metahumans, and the cave system I know exists from virgina throught the carolinas , tenn alabama, and ga, and the fact that most of the older cities here in nw ga, round the Coosa river and the Etawah have an entire story of their structures underground with tunnels connecting them- and the river system runs right -through- some major cities..


I'm still trying to figure out why Dahlonega of all places ended up a capitol, unless the old gold mines come into play somehow

I know it is cliche and stereotypical but I would use those caves as various Troll and Dwarf Kingdoms... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I live in the Shenandoah Valley in VA and there are more than enough mountains around here...

I know from some third edition text that the Mega's do not have a very big foothold in the CAS at all. I know that the CAS may be the only North American country that leases land to the Megas. That means that they can evict any corp off their land if they choose... The Southern Democrats and the Southern Conservatives practice an isolationist policy built to let local CAS corporations get the first crack on everything. Instead of Horizon, you have Hisato-Turner (I could make three adventures right off of that power struggle alone). Ares has a small foothold but is known as a UCAS corp so they are very wary of them. You won't see any Knight Errant cops with contracts in the CAS, this Lone Star country. Literally.

This is why I think the CAS may have come out of the Crash in better shape than most countries because they would probably have more self-contained systems and not many outside lines to get into the CAS matrix. I am sure the CAS had its share of troubles. This shouldn't be too much of an advantage because I can see the CAS being a little wary of letting NeoNet come in a fiddle with things since they are a UCAS corp as well. What would likely happen is for the work to be contracted out to Southern corps. The text does mention that the CAS had alot of matrix businesses and computer start-ups.

SO much info missing about the CAS. How did this area go so long without at least some fleshing out? We have books about Tir na Nog (Which I will probably never run a campaign in) and no book on the CAS....

[Darkeus]

I have been digging for CAS info recently, I believe there was some brief references in system failure including some intimation that the New Revolution might have had friends South of the mason dixon. I've even heard a rumor that one the convention pack mods might deal with something like this although this rumor comes from a highly trusted source.

Doesn't make sense though. The Political party in charge of the CAS at the time of Crash 2.0 were already reunification minded. I posted this early but they are run by the True American Coalition, a mix of the Republican party in a more moderate form, and the Reform Democratic party, which are Democrats with very similar to how they are now. They do have a bigger metahuman rights agenda that defines them.

One of their sayings is "The South will not rise again; rather, America shall rise once again from the South."

If the New Revolution had anything to do with the CAS, then they were probably working together and not against each other.

The CAS seems to be about four things mainly: Politics, trouble with Aztlan, tension with the UCAS and their resistance to Megacorporate influence.

Oh sorry, Smuggling... Lots of Smuggling. Again, how does a holder of a territory in Denver not have any detailed info about it!!

[Darkeus]

Really? No body has any ideas about the CAS or has even thought about playing in it??

Somehow that seems a bit weird... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Bull]

The only time I've had any games set in the CAS, it was New Orleans. The game didn't stay there long, after the group pissed off the Mafia there. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

My other games have been Chicago, Seattle, Cuba, and Cleveland.

Bull

[Angelone]

I've only played in CAS a few times and they where only stops in New Orleans as part of a pirate campaign, which was based mostly out of Miami (Carib League). I think the reason most people don't play there is the lack of info (and southern accents (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif) ), although that does give the gm free reign to do what they want with the setting.

[Red-ROM]

I have a short, fat, redneck rigger from Winston-Salem if anybody wants to start a game (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Pepsi Jedi]

I grew up in NC, why would I wanna go there? It's not exactly a garden spot in Winston Salem NOW!

[Red-ROM]

shadowrun is all about slummin it. I think a little deliverance in my dystopian future could be fun (que banjo's)

[Darkeus]

I think the CAS could be a very interesting place to play. Piracy, Smuggling, Megacorps trying to worm their way in while local AA corps try to hold on to power now that the CAS isn't so isolationist. Austin, Texas is split in half with Aztlan as of SoNA as well and with Lone Star just getting kicked out of Seattle, the Lonies may be pissed off enough to make in interesting in their hometown.

The political situation laid out in SoNA is enough to fuel a campaign of laid out right. Crash 2.0 is is the only real stumbling block, IMO.

[Whipstitch]

I think the problem with the CAS is that well, it's the South, and the image people have of the South simply isn't very cyberpunk. Ironically enough, this is because in many ways cyberpunk is the South's baby. The general mistrust of technology and the very '80s notion that the US had lost its place in the sun to Japan is a fairly conservative fear by nature. Further, cyberpunk has some pretty obvious nods to Southern Gothic and noir-- all three genres feature a lot of anti-heroes, grotesques and generally flawed characters. There's always a sense that society has sold some of its soul (or at least lost some innocence) and that there's no going back. Hell, William Gibson is from South Carolina and grew up in Virginia. He once described his boyhood home as a place where "modernity had arrived to some extent but was deeply distrusted." In other words, the South has had a big influence on cyberpunk precisely because it is the kind of place that fights tooth and nail from becoming cyberpunk.

Plus, there's simply so damn much tradition and history there that presenting all of it while still saying "But we're becoming one big monoculture! Fear the corps!" becomes rather absurd. I mean, really, spending some time in Louisiana or Memphis is a great way of dispelling any sense that the Japanese are taking over our culture. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Pepsi Jedi]

shadowrun is all about slummin it. I think a little deliverance in my dystopian future could be fun (que banjo's)

I think they did a book on that, "Feral Cities"!!

[The Dragon Girl]

I think the problem with the CAS is that well, it's the South, and the image people have of the South simply isn't very cyberpunk. Ironically enough, this is because in many ways cyberpunk is the South's baby. The general mistrust of technology and the very '80s notion that the US had lost its place in the sun to Japan is a fairly conservative fear by nature. Further, cyberpunk has some pretty obvious nods to Southern Gothic and noir-- all three genres feature a lot of anti-heroes, grotesques and generally flawed characters. There's always a sense that society has sold some of its soul (or at least lost some innocence) and that there's no going back. Hell, William Gibson is from South Carolina and grew up in Virginia. He once described his boyhood home as a place where "modernity had arrived to some extent but was deeply distrusted." In other words, the South has had a big influence on cyberpunk precisely because it is the kind of place that fights tooth and nail from becoming cyberpunk.

Plus, there's simply so damn much tradition and history there that presenting all of it while still saying "But we're becoming one big monoculture! Fear the corps!" becomes rather absurd. I mean, really, spending some time in Louisiana or Memphis is a great way of dispelling any sense that the Japanese are taking over our culture. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I've always wondered about the really weird ideas I've run across that people have about the south.

I can tell you a couple of things about the CAS though:
There will be sweet tea.
Theres no way in hell someone took their guns away from them.
Still some damned fine shade tree mechanics round about.

[last_of_the_grea...]

I wonder if, in the CAS, the people still revere Jerry Lawler and refer to the Carolinas as "Flair country?"

[Darkeus]

I wonder if, in the CAS, the people still revere Jerry Lawler and refer to the Carolinas as "Flair country?"

WWOOooooooooo!!!!


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)