Shadows of Africa, Where can I find info on the Dark Continent? Options

[I Hate All Life]

I'm fascinated by Africa, and I'm considering running a game set in Sierra Leone. But I haven't seem all that much about Africa in Shadowrun.

It may well be I haven't seen a lot of the right books, but I have a sinking feeling there might not be much info out there for the Dark Continent. It's not an uncommon oversight though, since African cultures lack the pop kewl factor Asian, Native American and ancient European cultures have in the gaming/fantasy community. There's a great deal of political, ethnic and religious diversity in Africa that is sadly overlooked -- people tend to look at Africa as a single culture with subtle variations, which just isn't accurate. (I've talked to people that think Africa is a country, for Pete's sake... so I suppose that would make Nairobi, Ghana and South Africa all states or provinces to them, assuming they even heard of these places.) I noticed in Magic in the Shadows, for example, out of numerous Eastern, European, Native American and made-up trads there's just one African tradition. And Voodoo is about as authentic to Ifa (the African faith from which it evolved) as Protestantism is to Judaism, being as heavily influenced by Catholicism and Hollywood as it is. (And the actual term is "Voudon," BTW.) The Voodoo trad is fairly well-written, and I'm not bashing it. But it's disappointing this is the only Africa-influenced trad in the entire book. The faiths and practices of Yorubans, the Masai and the Basarwa (Bushmen) could have been explored, or at least mentioned. Similarly, we get tidbits about Africa, a metahuman variant here and mentions of corporate presence there. Oh, and a nation of ghouls.

Sorry, that was a semi-rant. I'll stop now.

It appears the Caribbean League includes some of Africa, which would only realistically be part of the West Coast. But what of the southern, eastern and interior regions of the continent? What's the political situation like? How many nations remained sovereign, collapsed, split or merged? How much influence do the corps have, and which ones hold sway where?

I suppose a lack of information would be a good thing in a way, as that gives me to more room to play and I won't have to worry about contradicting canon overmuch. However, any structure previously established would be a handy framework upon which to build. Unless of course the SR writers decided "We don't know jack about Africa and can't be bothered to develop it, so... um, it's mostly a rural irradiated diseased manaquake-blasted wasteland with outposts of blessed Western civilization here and there." If this is the case, I'll probably just take what good ideas I manage to mine from the books and build from the ground up. If any of you guys could fill me in on what you know about the Dark Continent, or point me at some books, I'd appreciate it.

And besides canon, have any of you developed much about Africa or set games there? Have any ideas you wanna share?

[hermit]

Much info can be found in Cyberpirates (a 2nd Edition book, IIRC), Feral Cities (Lagos), some more in DotA: Dusk, Shadows of Europa and Shadows of Asia, mainly for the Maghreb. Azania - South Africa - is covered in the old Roc novel 'Nosferatu 2055', as well as some tidbits on wildlife in Running Wild, Loose Alliances, and ... elsewhwere, but only really tiny snippets.

And then of course there is the up and coming 6th world almanac which will detail every nation and tribal alliance there is in the Shadowrun universe.

It appears the Caribbean League includes some of Africa, which would only realistically be part of the West Coast.

What?!

You are aware Africa is NOT in the gulf of Mexico, are you? Because that is there the CL is. I suppose you mixed up "Carib League" with "stuff covered in Cyberpirates". CCP details Ivory coast and Ghana, or what remains of them.

[Synner667]

I'm fascinated by Africa, and I'm considering running a game set in Sierra Leone. But I haven't seem all that much about Africa in Shadowrun.

It may well be I haven't seen a lot of the right books, but I have a sinking feeling there might not be much info out there for the Dark Continent. It's not an uncommon oversight though, since African cultures lack the pop kewl factor Asian, Native American and ancient European cultures have in the gaming/fantasy community. There's a great deal of political, ethnic and religious diversity in Africa that is sadly overlooked -- people tend to look at Africa as a single culture with subtle variations, which just isn't accurate. (I've talked to people that think Africa is a country, for Pete's sake... so I suppose that would make Nairobi, Ghana and South Africa all states or provinces to them, assuming they even heard of these places.) I noticed in Magic in the Shadows, for example, out of numerous Eastern, European, Native American and made-up trads there's just one African tradition. And Voodoo is about as authentic to Ifa (the African faith from which it evolved) as Protestantism is to Judaism, being as heavily influenced by Catholicism and Hollywood as it is. (And the actual term is "Voudon," BTW.) The Voodoo trad is fairly well-written, and I'm not bashing it. But it's disappointing this is the only Africa-influenced trad in the entire book. The faiths and practices of Yorubans, the Masai and the Basarwa (Bushmen) could have been explored, or at least mentioned. Similarly, we get tidbits about Africa, a metahuman variant here and mentions of corporate presence there. Oh, and a nation of ghouls.

Sorry, that was a semi-rant. I'll stop now.

It appears the Caribbean League includes some of Africa, which would only realistically be part of the West Coast. But what of the southern, eastern and interior regions of the continent? What's the political situation like? How many nations remained sovereign, collapsed, split or merged? How much influence do the corps have, and which ones hold sway where?

I suppose a lack of information would be a good thing in a way, as that gives me to more room to play and I won't have to worry about contradicting canon overmuch. However, any structure previously established would be a handy framework upon which to build. Unless of course the SR writers decided "We don't know jack about Africa and can't be bothered to develop it, so... um, it's mostly a rural irradiated diseased manaquake-blasted wasteland with outposts of blessed Western civilization here and there." If this is the case, I'll probably just take what good ideas I manage to mine from the books and build from the ground up. If any of you guys could fill me in on what you know about the Dark Continent, or point me at some books, I'd appreciate it.

And besides canon, have any of you developed much about Africa or set games there? Have any ideas you wanna share?

I wish you the best of luck, because it strikes me as being a fabulous place to do things in.

The only place I know it's mentioned is one of the novels, where the characters goto Africa to follow up on some info they have - it mentions magical themes, streetlife, racism, and a few other things.

I've never understood the there aren't more local information packs, written by local people/fans.

One of my friends put together an Aussie a5 guide, and it was great !!

[I Hate All Life]

Much info can be found in Cyberpirates (a 2nd Edition book, IIRC), Feral Cities (Lagos), some more in DotA: Dusk, Shadows of Europa and Shadows of Asia, mainly for the Maghreb. Azania - South Africa - is covered in the old Roc novel 'Nosferatu 2055', as well as some tidbits on wildlife in Running Wild, Loose Alliances, and ... elsewhwere, but only really tiny snippets.

And then of course there is the up and coming 6th world almanac which will detail every nation and tribal alliance there is in the Shadowrun universe.

Ah, interesting. I'll have to keep an eye out for that then. Thank you.

What?!

You are aware Africa is NOT in the gulf of Mexico, are you?

That seems to be the case the last time I checked. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Because that is there the CL is. I suppose you mixed up "Carib League" with "stuff covered in Cyberpirates". CCP details Ivory coast and Ghana, or what remains of them.

I thought I had read something to the effect that the Caribbean included parts of Africa. I could be mis-remembering, however. And I never read Cyberpirates, though I'm hoping to check it out along with the other books you mentioned.

[hermit]

I thought I had read something to the effect that the Caribbean included parts of Africa. I could be mis-remembering, however. And I never read Cyberpirates, though I'm hoping to check it out along with the other books you mentioned.

It appears you did. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Cyberpirates contains the Carib League, the Slave/Gold Coast (Africa), and the Phillipines, in that order. If only glanced, it could well appear as one country entry ... anyway. Get it, it's one of the best sourcebooks ever written, IMO.

[I Hate All Life]

I wish you the best of luck, because it strikes me as being a fabulous place to do things in.

The only place I know it's mentioned is one of the novels, where the characters goto Africa to follow up on some info they have - it mentions magical themes, streetlife, racism, and a few other things.

Thank you. And I like works that handle these themes and issues in a straightforward and mature manner. Which novel? And you'd recommend?

I've never understood the there aren't more local information packs, written by local people/fans.

One of my friends put together an Aussie a5 guide, and it was great !!

That sounds quite cool. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[hermit]

As a general rule, things are a tad weirder than today, a little less bad, but finally, people admitted the nations we see on maps are just imaginary for a good part. Much of Africa is like Somalia is today, only it is openly admitted. Lots of little, petty tribal fiefdoms. Nigeria somewhat remained as a rump state, Azania still is a loose federation of semi-states, and then there is the Maghreb, which by and large is still made up of actual nations, some even with infrastructure. TheCongo and adjoined areas are carte blanche again, Contrad's Heart of Darkness all over.

I actually converted HoD into a run. Kinda lent itself to it, given how Marlowe is esentially assigned as a non.company specialist to deal with Kurtz.

[EKBT81]

IIRC there are chapters dealing with Capetown in Runner Havens and Nairobi in Corporate Enclaves

[Tiger Eyes]

Lagos, in Feral Cities, has a section that gives a (very very) brief overview of the major hot spots in Africa - of course it's downloaded from a Merc club so "hot" spots has a different meaning. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

However, the Lagos chapter also mentions a bit of the history of Africa, and it talks about fun places like Asamando. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Nairobi is detailed in Corp Guide and Capetown in Runner's Havens.

I also wrote up a handful of countries for Africa in 6th World Almanac.

Cyberpirates talks about pirates and a bit about Africa.

Vice has the Fanti pirate group featured as an ethnic syndicate.

[FlakJacket]

State of the Art 2064 has Addis Ababa being a self-governing city state of 5 million or so souls and 'the only real stable area in the chaotic dustbowl known as the Horn of Africa' so you can write off Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia and add them to the list of countries that have gone back to 'little, petty tribal fiefdoms' as hermit described.

The Congo and adjoined areas are carte blanche again, Contrad's Heart of Darkness all over.

There's also meant to be some mysterious spooky shit going on in the area according to some shadowtalk from one of the books which I can't remember off the top of my head.

[Larsine]

And then there is the rumored African Sourcebook by Nigel Findley, but I doubt you will be able to find any part of that as it was proposed a long time before anything could be leaked on the internet.

Lars

[Angelone]

Pretty much all human life on Madagascar was wiped out only one or two pirate settlements IIRC. There are ghost lemurs, rumors of cybermancy labs in the interior, aand dragon egg rumors.

[hermit]

And a seven headed great hydrawyrm guarding it.

And then there is the rumored African Sourcebook by Nigel Findley, but I doubt you will be able to find any part of that as it was proposed a long time before anything could be leaked on the internet.

Damn shame, yes. Now that would have been totally awesome.

I wonder what shadowrun would look like had Sargent and Findley not kicked the bucket so quickly.

/old man rambling