Metaplot Idea, WARNING: Long initial post Options

[BigJake]

Agreed. And it also helps a reminder to look "friendly" if it doesn't start out by misrepresenting the post it's responding to. But enough said.

[Bertramn]

To the topic then.

The plot reminds me a lot of what goes on behind the return of the Bug Spirits in Shadowrun Returns: Deadman's Switch.
There too, a conspiracy exists to fight a menace from a long time ago.

Question of plausibility. How fine can you slice the pie that these individuals can control that much of the world's wealth without the megacorps and Great Dragons ever noticing them? I mean, Lofwyr considers Saeder-Krupp (the #1 AAA mega since 2054, big enough that it fields nuclear-powered supercarriers in its navy) to be a rather attractive part of his horde?

That is why I do not see this as a problem. Why should Lofwyr not have his hands in the conspiracy? He was around back then, was he not? And if you were beginning that kind of Conspiracy, why would you not approach Lofwyr to join/lead?
The great problem in the world of Shadowrun is that in all world-wide conspiracies, you will find a dragon somewhere, if not more. It is just a quirk of the setting. Though it is still more optimistic than Dark Sun, so that's nice.

My whole take on the Horrors in Shadowrun is that they don't understand that they're outclassed. They think they're going to show up as the destroyers of the world... but they're in for a terrible surprise when they discover that humanity doesn't need magic as a crutch anymore, and has spent the entire 5000 years of the Fifth World learning how to make war with nothing more than physics.

That sounds friggin' baddass! Love it.

[BigJake]

[On the Horrors as outclassed]

That sounds friggin' baddass! Love it.

I totally agree. But strictly speaking if that applies to Horrors (and it should), it should also apply to dragons (which are not as powerful as the Horrors). That's part of why humans shouldn't be approaching dragons to solve their problems for them (aside from the basic implausibility of humans wanting to share power and wealth with overgrown lizards -- when they have enough trouble sharing it with sufficiently different humans -- although that shouldn't rule out a dragon trying with variable success to manipulate them through proxies and double agents).

[nezumi]

I really like this, and BigJake's thoughts as well. And it makes sense--not everyone is looking for 'profit next quarter'. And if these people have enough power, they can absolutely nudge things in the right direction; a land acquisition by a favorable agency here; increased resources in developing a particular technology there.

Of course, this doesn't mean that everything is square. Sooner or later word will leak. Lots of people like the idea of a lifeboat, and they want their people to be the ones on it. So there would be competition with other major organizations in securing the most desirable locations and resources, and in gaining the political leverage to ensure their picks are the ones with guaranteed slots in the kaerns. Other people will take advantage of their business knowledge to force the organization to pay for the resources they want.

But overall, I really like the idea. The runners are still doing dirty work, likely for dirty people, but they're also racing the clock and ultimately doing something good. They know they won't have seats in the kaerns. Your Bildeburg group will throw them away when it's done. But they're still saving lives. It's a nice conflict I haven't really seen done before.