Stolen Souls Options

[Prime Mover]

PDF is out.
Big chunky book.

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/1298...erm=Stolen+soul

[Curator]

what is CFD?

[Grinder]

Not all has been right in our shadows of late. Especially in the dark shadows of my mind.

Those were among FastJack’s parting words to JackPoint when he left, the victim of a condition that divided his mind against itself. And the condition is spreading. Across the Sixth World, people’s minds are in schism, as new personalities emerge and battle the old. The world is in chaos, and there is a dramatically increased demand for extractions, to get infected people out of sensitive positions and to steal the insights of people who might know what’s gone wrong.

Stolen Souls is a Deep Shadows sourcebook for Shadowrun with plot updates and adventure hooks, as well as information, techniques, and gear to help make runners extraction aces. It also contains setting information about Manhattan, where key extractions are taking place. Players will get the chance to dig deeper into a new mystery that has torn through the Sixth World—and discover just how deep the conspiracies and cover-ups go.

Stolen Souls is for use with Shadowrun, Fifth Edition.

[Sengir]

what is CFD?

Consciousness Fragmention Disorder? (just random guessing)

[Prime Mover]

Also been refered to as Sybil virus.

[Sengir]

Also been refered to as Sybil virus.

Sure, but what does the acronym mean?

[Sendaz]

Sure, but what does the acronym mean?

Cognitive Fragmentation Disorder (splintered states pg 56), a technologically propagated computer virus that can directly influence human brainwaves in a manner superficially similar to simsense, changing thoughts, overwriting memories, and altering behavior patterns

Or at least that is what the docs are treating it as.

They do not understand all of it so are trying to fit it into terms that make sense to them, where as scrambling a bunch of e-ghosts together and pouring straight into someone's brainpan is not so scientific sounding. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Prime Mover]

Flashed through, lots of stuff here. Gear, vehicle/drones,spells, city write up, extraction advice and more. First fiction does add a creepy vibe though. This "virus" pretty scary concept for metahumanity.

[psychophipps]

So they took the "Living Net reprogramming people" thing from TSR's Kromosome and plugged it into Shadowrun.

[X-Kalibur]

Sounds more to me like they almost listened to Frank.

[binarywraith]

Strap yourselves in, folks, the metaplot's about to get even dumber. Because clearly bug spirits, Shedim, Loa, Psychotropic IC and the like weren't enough of the same tired fragging thing.

[Fatum]

Loving the positive reaction.
Come on, Deus has been running around in people forever, and you now hint at plagiarism? Seriously?
Now, has anyone read the book? Is it any good? Of all the recent CGL stuff, this book is the only one giving me hope.

[Prime Mover]

Haven't had ton of time, but working my way through it. Engaged and enjoying what seen so far.

[psychophipps]

Loving the positive reaction.
Come on, Deus has been running around in people forever, and you now hint at plagiarism? Seriously?
Now, has anyone read the book? Is it any good? Of all the recent CGL stuff, this book is the only one giving me hope.

Who, or what, is Deus?

[Bigity]

The AI responsible for the Renraku Arcology situation.

[KarmaInferno]

Renraku Arcology Shutdown, originally published in 1998, predating Kromosome by 6 years.

In a nutshell, Renraku creates an AI to run their arcology in Seattle, partly by mashing together and experimenting on some existing AIs. Then somehow everyone is surprised when it goes berserk, seals the arcology shut, and turns the place into a biomechanical horror nightmare. Surgical experiments on the captive population, bizarre nanotech and mechanical creations, and a lot of tinkering on otaku technomancer children.

Eventually the arcology was breached and re-taken, but a lot of the experiments escaped and vanished. Also missing was the insane AI, now known as Deus. It was suspected that it may have downloaded parts of itself into the otaku that escaped. Since then there have been references over the years to Deus and his legacy, but nothing really concrete.

Of course, as soon as the hints of the whole Sybil thing started appearing, first thing that popped into my head was, "DEUS IS BACK!"


-K

[Sengir]

Yeah, it's hardly the first incidence of Body Snatchers from X in Shadowrun -- but you got to admit that the concept creates horror and paranoia like few others

Also missing was the insane AI, now known as Deus. It was suspected that it may have downloaded parts of itself into the otaku that escaped. Since then there have been references over the years to Deus and his legacy, but nothing really concrete.

Deus' recompilation from the fragments stored in the minds of his victims was a central part of the Crash 2.0 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

What happened to Deus (and the other AIs involved in the battle) afterwards is not known, Street Legends made an off-hand reference to Deus being back (which somehow worried none of the assembled matrix elite), but...well, it was Street Legends...

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Strap yourselves in, folks, the metaplot's about to get even dumber. Because clearly bug spirits, Shedim, Loa, Psychotropic IC and the like weren't enough of the same tired fragging thing.

Indeed - I see this as a pretty lame Plot hook, personally. I was never a huge fan of the Super-AI.

[binarywraith]

Yeah, it's hardly the first incidence of Body Snatchers from X in Shadowrun -- but you got to admit that the concept creates horror and paranoia like few others

If by 'hardly the first' you mean 'literally every major threat introduced since 3e', then you're tracking. Seriously, Catalyst, there are other compelling threats beyond body horror and possession. I know it was a huge thing in the 1980's media as a parallel for Communism, but still.

[psychophipps]

Renraku Arcology Shutdown, originally published in 1998, predating Krosome...

-K

*Bzzt!* Wrong answer! Kromosome was originally published in 1994. To be honest, I can't fault them too much as the Kromosome game world is one of the better CP genre tabletop gaming worlds published. System was shit, but the game world rocked.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

*Bzzt!* Wrong answer! Kromosome was originally published in 1994. To be honest, I can't fault them too much as the Kromosome game world is one of the better CP genre tabletop gaming worlds published. System was shit, but the game world rocked.

Ahhh Yes, The Amazing Engine System. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Sengir]

If by 'hardly the first' you mean 'literally every major threat introduced since 3e', then you're tracking. Seriously, Catalyst, there are other compelling threats beyond body horror and possession. I know it was a huge thing in the 1980's media as a parallel for Communism, but still.

I'd say 2nd Edition at least. Bugs, Tutor, Winternight...the even the Horrors would qualify.

But if a big bad threat has not been done to death in SR, it has been done to death elsewhere (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[binarywraith]

I'd say 2nd Edition at least. Bugs, Tutor, Winternight...the even the Horrors would qualify.

But if a big bad threat that has been done to death in SR, it has been done to death elsewhere (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

That actually makes doing it yet again even more creatively bankrupt and uninteresting. Not to mention that it pretty solidly implies that the whole handwaving of all the previous Matrix problems to make always-on Wireless as the default state accepted by everyone something that was jammed down the players' throats specifically to make this a threat.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

That actually makes doing it yet again even more creatively bankrupt and uninteresting. Not to mention that it pretty solidly implies that the whole handwaving of all the previous Matrix problems to make always-on Wireless as the default state accepted by everyone something that was jammed down the players' throats specifically to make this a threat.

Can I say... Well Duh?

[KarmaInferno]

*Bzzt!* Wrong answer! Kromosome was originally published in 1994. To be honest, I can't fault them too much as the Kromosome game world is one of the better CP genre tabletop gaming worlds published. System was shit, but the game world rocked.

You know, I have to facepalm at myself, because for some silly reason when I looked up the publish date of Kromosome my mind saw "2004" instead of "1994".

Still, I have doubts on whether Kromosome was a direct influence. Let's be honest, Amazing Engine was never a particularly popular RPG (heck, a lot of folks in that era never even knew it existed), and mind or body invasion themes were pretty common in 1980-90s cyberpunk.



-k