Alternate origins for tempo Options

[Megu]

I want to throw some players who think they know Ghost Cartels (and are sick of body horror stuff in SR anyways) for a loop. What are some good alternate origins for tempo? Maybe it's made from blood magic or something? What would you guys do with it?

[Prime Mover]

Felt so burned by this one, Ghost Cartels was the opening for my 4th ed campaign.
I did my best to create a finish using the Dream Seed fiction and write up for Aboreals.
(Only working link I can find for it.)
http://old.shadowrun4.com/resources/downlo...hedreamseed.pdf

Aboreals are statted up in 4th ed critters book as well and seem to fit the threat.
I know I didn't do this justice but one long time player was addicted and we needed some closure.
My players tracked down and interrupted the cults attempt at completing their plot.

[Cain]

Well, I had issues with Ghost Cartels, but the basic concept is sound: the drug is derived from a special type of plant spirit. However, instead of it coming from a huge evil spirit, maybe it's the result of torturing different ones? They'd have to be free spirits that are captured somehow, so no mage would take a hit to their spirit rep. Or, it could be a result of a toxic shaman capturing non-toxic plant spirits, that could work too. Tempo has to be magical in origin to really work, but it doesn't have to be the work on a single evil spiri.

Also: I posted a review on RPG.net. I can dig it up later, but the general thoughts were this: I like the adventure framework concept, it's well-suited to the way I run. But the chapter of "game information" was utterly incomprehensible. Of the three chapters of the campaign, the first was good if a little railroady; the second was okay, being basically "Shadowtemps, Inc."; and the third covered most every mistake a GM can make when building a game.

[BigJake]

I quite liked the angle they took in Ghost Cartels, actually. But the drug would work just as well as being derived from an Awakened plant that attracts the attention of a whole variety of Spirits from the benevolent to the hostile--perhaps as reflected in the mental state of the user--with the shedim creeping into the picture as an addict's mental and physical state deteriorates and they attract the attention of steadily darker and weirder entities.

[pbangarth]

My hypothesis is that Tempo is part of a plan by Gaia to protect her myriad lifeforms and herself from the Horrors this time around. Only now is technology to the point where millions upon millions of people can be drugged and made available for possession, allowing for an army capable of fighting back against the mental and physical powers of the Horrors.

[BigJake]

My hypothesis is that Tempo is part of a plan by Gaia to protect her myriad lifeforms and herself from the Horrors this time around. Only now is technology to the point where millions upon millions of people can be drugged and made available for possession, allowing for an army capable of fighting back against the mental and physical powers of the Horrors.

That's funny, because my take on the Horrors is that they're actually the planet's self-defense mechanism, designed to keep any single Name-Giver civilization from growing too powerful. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Megu]

My hypothesis is that Tempo is part of a plan by Gaia to protect her myriad lifeforms and herself from the Horrors this time around. Only now is technology to the point where millions upon millions of people can be drugged and made available for possession, allowing for an army capable of fighting back against the mental and physical powers of the Horrors.

Thanks for the help, guys.

This one to me really sounds fascinating. I thought I remembered a former dev somewhere posting something similar, but with a more toxic bent, the Awakened forces involved being avenger spirits and the like. Having it straight up be some kind of defense against the Horrors instead of something negative could be an interesting twist.

[pbangarth]

That's funny, because my take on the Horrors is that they're actually the planet's self-defense mechanism, designed to keep any single Name-Giver civilization from growing too powerful. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)