War, HUH! It's out on pdf Options

[Rotbart van Dain...]

On the other hand, you could inject a little extra hilarity into everything by changing the item to Wirth's pen (and keeping the current stats).

A fountain pen that needs to be filled with blood? Hm.

That would work for those stats: It doesn't actually cut people/things itself. But any of those lines drawn with blood open themselves up to gruesome cuts.

I reject the idea of wringing a Nazi artefact from the hand of Jewish ghosts, to the extent of not seeing the need for discussion.

That's not even the real issue – as it was pointed out, there are "necromantic artifacts" in the real sense of the word in Shadowrun:
Ghosts sometimes have chains, objects significant to the person – now imbued by the hidden life power of the ghost. You can use those to summon and bind ghosts like free spirits.

Basically, the plot seed suggest the characters go around looting the possessions of camp victims after shooting their ghosts – to then sell those ghosts into slavery.

[Stahlseele]

And then it writes A LIST.

[hermit]

Basically, the plot seed suggest the characters go around looting the possessions of camp victims after shooting their ghosts – to then sell those ghosts into slavery.

This keeps getting better and better! though that's probably unintentional because it requires more than tangential knowledge of the setting and it's rules mechanics.

[Doc Chase]

Were it me running this, I would have humanitarian groups running in to get these artifacts from the spirits in order to properly put the ghosts to final rest.

The idea of a survival horror game where a 'runner team has to fend off a legion of undead while a cabal of mages works a mass banishment/cleansing spell to drop the background count would be kinda neat.

[Rotbart van Dain...]

Except the Sylvestrians were around since 2035 and did not manage to do that – hence the spirit barrier.

[hermit]

Unlike this shit from War, that would not be tasteless. Maybe the guys running it are the sylvestrines, together with some Rabbis and a bunch of catholic-afflicted carebear people?

[sabs]

And where are the Sylvestrians now? A religious order is going to let some Hack Sorceror put a crack in their Spirit Barrier without doing anything about it?

[hermit]

See my idea. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The whole guy from Japan and his cabal of mages could just be dropped because it sucks.

[sabs]

well, in War 2.0 DSF Style! I just think we don't have any mention of Auschwitz at all (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[hermit]

No. Why should we. It's maybe a site worth mentioning in a Cursed Places book, but as related to war as Santa's workshop.

[Ryu]

Basically, the plot seed suggest the characters go around looting the possessions of camp victims after shooting their ghosts – to then sell those ghosts into slavery.

It doesn´t, even if it can be used that way. It is IMO not needed to go there if one merely wants to end up in no-good territory. If the whole story does not raise Nazi regime associations for you, you will simply not be offended.

[Doc Chase]

Except the Sylvestrians were around since 2035 and did not manage to do that – hence the spirit barrier.

What if they did it as a stalling tactic?

They need to find the artifact that would be the focus for the ritual. They can't send people in, as everyone who does so dies horribly, in true horror movie fashion. They seal off the area and head to the books to do research - if they can narrow down what they think is the central piece of the puzzle and its last known location, then they can risk the magical oomph to go behind the shield and cleanse the area.

Years pass. Sylvestrines scour the earth, being called away on other tasks from time to time, but a tight-knit group continues their search. The occasional group continues to attempt to breach the shield, to no avail.

Finally, 2073 - The results are definitive. It's the pen that signed the orders to create the horror that Auchwitz became, and it was located in Argentina in a collector's display. A Sylvestrine team retreives the pen via Shadowrunner, and takes it into the camp to begin the cleansing. At the same time, Rene Belloq a talislegger and a cabal of mages dispels the shield and disrupts the ritual, freeing the dead and killing the ritual magicians. Among the slain Sylvestrines is their head researcher and some of their most powerful mages. The researcher's untested assistant, a magician in her own right - has to gather together a team of shadowrunners with mundane and magical talent to avoid Belloq rival treasure-hunting crews who want the artifact for their own nefarious, profit-driven purposes and restart the ritual to finally put the tortured ghosts of the past to rest.

[hermit]

It still has nil to do with War (the whole point of the book), but yes, that run sounds like it works.

[Doc Chase]

It still has nil to do with War (the whole point of the book), but yes, that run sounds like it works.

Yeah, I know. I just work with what I got. It was the best way I really had to me to make that section palatable.

[hermit]

It's essentially a total rewrite using only the very basic idea. Also, if played hardball, it is instant death, unless a troupe of Rabbis comes to hold the angry spirits at bay.

Who to use for rivals? Other, eviler catholics? APEC? Mormons?

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

It's pretty arid, but last summer's average was around 28 degrees, since we got a couple very continental years now. Peaks regularily are around 36° to 40°. Point is, though, this thing is an oven and there is no mechanism to counter that. I trust in Brazil, AC is a rather common thing, like in SE Asia, China and Hawaii? If not, oh my god how can you people live there. How.

Yes, we have AC everywhere. Although some nights you can survive with an oscillating fan. But to answer your question, we don't live, we manage the heat (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

What if they did it as a stalling tactic?

They need to find the artifact that would be the focus for the ritual. They can't send people in, as everyone who does so dies horribly, in true horror movie fashion. They seal off the area and head to the books to do research - if they can narrow down what they think is the central piece of the puzzle and its last known location, then they can risk the magical oomph to go behind the shield and cleanse the area.

Years pass. Sylvestrines scour the earth, being called away on other tasks from time to time, but a tight-knit group continues their search. The occasional group continues to attempt to breach the shield, to no avail.

Finally, 2073 - The results are definitive. It's the pen that signed the orders to create the horror that Auchwitz became, and it was located in Argentina in a collector's display. A Sylvestrine team retreives the pen via Shadowrunner, and takes it into the camp to begin the cleansing. At the same time, Rene Belloq a talislegger and a cabal of mages dispels the shield and disrupts the ritual, freeing the dead and killing the ritual magicians. Among the slain Sylvestrines is their head researcher and some of their most powerful mages. The researcher's untested assistant, a magician in her own right - has to gather together a team of shadowrunners with mundane and magical talent to avoid Belloq rival treasure-hunting crews who want the artifact for their own nefarious, profit-driven purposes and restart the ritual to finally put the tortured ghosts of the past to rest.

Hey, can I steal... er, borrow your idea? This would make an awesome arc ending for a campaign.

[kzt]

Is it fair to say that whoever did the whole neo-nazi stuff knows about as much about the nazi's as they do about Nepal, given that the Aktion Reinhardt camps are apparently never mentioned?

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

It's essentially a total rewrite using only the very basic idea. Also, if played hardball, it is instant death, unless a troupe of Rabbis comes to hold the angry spirits at bay.

Who to use for rivals? Other, eviler catholics? APEC? Mormons?

Shedim? Shadow Spirits?

[hermit]

Is it fair to say that whoever did the whole neo-nazi stuff knows about as much about the nazi's as they do about Nepal, given that the Aktion Reinhardt camps are apparently never mentioned?

Probably right, yes.

[Doc Chase]

Hey, can I steal... er, borrow your idea? This would make an awesome arc ending for a campaign.

You may, on the contingency that you tell us how it goes. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

You'll note what I crossed out twice in my rewrite. Simply put, who else wants items that can be responsible for background counts, that make an area so...toxic to the world at large?

That being said, there are any of a number of people.

The rabbis want to put their people to rest. The Vatican wishes to see the artifact disappear into their stores, preferably under another ward so that it may be studied. The private collector wants his pen back. The Azzies might try to use it in some manner. Neo-Nazis might try to recover it as a symbol of their movement.

The ritual has the power to control the restless dead of Auchwitz. As its stroke directed their final movements, it is inextricably bound to them, and they to it. The proper ritual can harness the dead and they will move to the pen's order. Write the order on paper, and the ghosts have no choice. Sign an assassination order, and the ghosts of haunted camp guards will carry your foe off to die of fear. Sign a transfer, and the ghosts will haunt the address you place.

Sign a release, and the restless dead are free to move on.

Imagine at the end, a research assistant pouring every last drop of mana she can into the pen as she sits at the infamous desk, surrounded by guards as a Mexican standoff occurs between rival teams. If anyone moves, the bloodshed starts anew and new souls will come to rest among the restless dead of Auchwitz. Outside, the victims and guards all gather, staring at the office door with hungry eyes.

Waiting.

[hermit]

Imagine at the end, a research assistant pouring every last drop of mana she can into the pen as she sits at the infamous desk, surrounded by guards as a Mexican standoff occurs between rival teams. If anyone moves, the bloodshed starts anew and new souls will come to rest among the restless dead of Auchwitz. Outside, the victims and guards all gather, staring at the office door with hungry eyes.

Waiting.

Turning shit into art. Bravo.

[Stahlseele]

scary <.<

[hermit]

Magic.

[Doc Chase]

Could always throw in a master-class Shedim that inhabits the body of a long-dead teenaged girl that was killed in the camps, and is steadily working on opening a portal for the rest of his brethren to follow and create a foothold.

Food for thought. Mmmyes, mmmyes.

[Ascalaphus]

I firmly believe that the push for the EU is all about making sure that Germany is so economically intertwined with the rest of Europe that WWII can never happen again.

Yes, when West-Germany was achieving semi-independence around 1950, France realized they could never out-industrialize Germany, so they opted for economic interweaving as a way to guarantee peace instead. Which worked far better than any peacekeeping tactic they'd tried in the previous 800+ years...

Anyway, now I'm wondering what it'd do to Shadowrun to write a solid necromantic extension: guidelines for when a person will leave behind a ghost, and what they can do, and how mages can handle them.
It would be kinda like integrating parts of Orpheus with SR. Doable I think; in Orpheus you'll occasionally get hired to spectrally spy on people, or interrogate a dead corporate drone to get the password to his company's mainframe.