[ShadowsOfEurope] Shockwaves of Europe, The references Options

[shadd4d]

Back in the DotSW discussion, some things about Proteus and Shockwaves came up. Sometimes I do wish that everyone had access to Schockwellen. As a seim-civic duty (wondering if I'll get banned from 2 forums for this), I'm here to give you the references in SoE just to show how Shockwaves did influence the current picture of Europe (not all that much, but some). I'm not explaining them though.

Not to spoil too much, but that's the first half of the Shockwaves campaign, if you know what you're looking for. I let you all make whatever guesses you want.

Don

PS. Any admin who takes offense at this, feel free to bleep it out.

[ Spoiler ]

Here are the Shockwave references. It's really a "you have to know what you're looking for."

[ Spoiler ]

p.26-27, 28, 43, 57, 164.

[Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_*]

Paranoid?

[shadd4d]

Not really. It's the question of am I exposing too much of an official product solely based on my ability to read it. Am I giving out info that shouldn't be given out? That's one brings one pause when posting.

Don

[Synner]

At this point Shockwaves has been out for quite a while and giving a heads up on the various shockwaves shouldn't be a problem - I mean explaining it all is unnecessary but pointing out that the Real Cold War ties into Shockwaves isn't giving anything major away. Both books are now out and if you can find the links go ahead. The problem isn't so much us writers (the links are there for you guys to catch in the first place), but rather the people who haven't played the campaign.

In a way, it's sort of like London, Tir Na nOg and the original Germany sbs, those who've got them will probably get an extra kick out of the book by tracing the links and developments from the material presented therein but they are by no means necessary to understand any of the fundamentals or use the material. SoE is fully self-contained.

[shadd4d]

[FlakJacket]

Speaking of Shockwaves, wasn't someone on the boards doing a brief guide on what happened/was in the book? Or am I on crack again?

[mfb]

i was about to ask the same question, and also suggest that if someone weren't already working up such a guide, someone ought to start.

[shadd4d]

It's a question of people playing the campaign. Actually, the book itself is pretty brilliant in the fact that the reader has no idea how it finishes except for all the little pieces that finally make sense in the end.

How would one keep it in that format and not "read the last page" to everyone?

Don

[FlakJacket]

Well since this would be mostly for an English speaking audience that is likely to never run the adventures in the book- since they've said they wont be translating it- that wouldn't really matter greatly would it?

[mfb]

no kidding. slap in a spoiler warning and lay it out--it's already been made clear by the developers that Shockwaves will never see an official english translation.

[shadd4d]

Point.

The campaign begins in June 2062. Nachtmeister has died, leaving the Proteus concern high and dry. There are a few factions in play as one sees in the openning fiction:

[ Spoiler ]

1) a group of people are running Proteus and have links, if not outright control, of at least 2 AAAs and 1 AA. Because Nachtmeister was their...bank consultant, among other things, he made it possible for money to get to the Proteus AG. In order to make sure that that stays happening, they decide to take over the Frankfurter Bankenverein, which was Nachtmeister's corp. They hire runners, which is the 1st Adventure, which draws the runners in (Sheet Lightning). They want to buy out the FBV cheap and need runners to drive the prices down. Honestly, you could streach it out to 10 runs. They need to take over the FBV before Lofwyr goes and invokes "to the winner goes the spoils" dragonic tradition somehow someway. Proteus does not like SK or Lofwyr.

2) Some old man sees his opportunity. Another older man tells him to wait.

3) A woman goes to Nachtmeister's lair and with the help of deckers starts going through Nachtmeister's things. The president is trying to keep the corp afloat, especially in response to Proteus' runs. That's where the reference comes into play.

4) Some unknown man is spying upon Proteus.

5) Ares really wants to get into Proteus' space station for some reason.

So that's the first chapter

Good night.

Don

[mfb]

sweet.

[FlakJacket]

You might also want to give a brief overview of how Proteus is set up. I know most of it thanks to early SoE stuff but a lot of the English language crew are still mostly in the dark AFAIK.

[shadd4d]

That's one of the mysteries you find out along the way. Not going to spoil it.

Mysteries along the way:

1) How it was set up
2) How it makes money
3) What it actually does
4) Who is really behind it
5) What it really controls

Don

[Sepherim]

Thans a lot, Shadd. Will you explain a bit even the rest of the chapters?

[Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_*]

Trans-Latvia? The corp that owns like 20% of Novatech.

[shadd4d]

Hmmm. Where are you getting this about Trans-Latvia?

Don

[shadd4d]

The Official History of the Proteus AG (abridged from Shockwaves, Smuggler Havens, Germany Sourcebook, Chrom und Dioxin, Walzer, Punks und Schwarzes IC, Deutschland in den Schatten II, and Wunderwelt #49 and #50).

Proteus is founded on January 1, 2049. There are some rumors that the corp had to have massive backing, probably through shell companies, because it appeared to have emerged fully grown from nothing. There were already staff offices, factories, etc. belonging to the corp when it was founded. For the most part, the corp has focused on building arkoblocks and arcologies in hostile or dangerous environments and has built quite a few. It has multiple arcologies in the ADL alone, including its headquarters Helgoland, an arcology in the SOX rad zone, and has taken over and further secured the former Fuchi arcology in Berlin. Proteus has usually been a very silent and mysterious corporation. According to company policy, which is reflected in the management, no worker for Proteus is married or has any relatives where they are stationed. Employees must sign a 10 year contract, which does include some perks such as health care and plenty of space, given that the Proteus Arcologies are underpopulated (each one holds less than the possible 3 million they could hold). Proteus also requested extraterritoritality from both the ADL and Corp Cort and is a solid AA corp.

Although mysterious, this has not stopped Proteus from making some steady gains. They already have their own private army based out of Helgoland. They also own quite a few subsidiares, including the Genom company in Africa. This previously mentioned private army was also a part of the corporate task force that subdued West Berlin in response to the anarchists and the bugs. This private army also valiantly defended Proteus during a hostile takeover attempt by AG Chemie, which did cause some damage to the Helgoland headquarters. Following mediation (and the murder of Chango-Chao) by Nachtmeister, joint ventures and peace seem to have restabilized between Proteus and AGC. Proteus also, surprising for a AA corp, took part in the probe race to Halley's Comet. It is also probably the only AA corp that has its own orbital facilities, parts of which are leased to lesser corporations such as Transys Neuronet, AGC, and ECC. At the beginning of 2062, it seems like Proteus is a comet that will most likely achieve AAA status at some point in the foreseeable future, probably when the next election of Justices comes up.

Proteus is more or less SOTA on biotechnology, aquatechnology, building, heavy industry, drone production, computer programming, cyber and biotechnology, vehichle production for acquatic use, and space technology and nanite technology. Not bad for a corp that seemed to spring fully grown from nothing on Jan 1, 2049.

That's the official history. The truth is much, much scarier.

Don

[shadd4d]

Let's go on to part 2: Ein Sturm zieht auf:

[ Spoiler ]

First, let's look at the events that have lead up to this moment. Proteus, through the players and others, has been conducting a lot of runs against the FBV in order to bring down its share price so that it can cheaply buyout the FBV. It has also aided those who would like to depose the president, Monika ...Waffenschmidt (Weapon smith) in order to maneuver more favorably toward its ultimate objective: takeover of the FBV. The big thing Proteus has to worry about, aside from SK snatching up the FBV, is that Nachtmeister owned the stock and he hasn't left a will, as he believed that was a weak humanization by Dunkelzahn. So someone has to have the stocks. That someone ends up being President Monika, who announced before the board meeting to dipose her that she actually owned 86% of the FBV. An elf as well as a shrewd businesswoman, it looks like the FBV is on an even keel for the moment. She publically says nothing about takeover bids.

Having done multiple runs for Proteus, although they don't know it, the runners are now engaged by a Johnson, who promises a perfect set-up for them to pull off the run. Everything is worked out to make sure the run will go off; all the runners have to do is be there, fulfill the job, and do so in a competent manner. The job: kidnap the President who will be at a certain spot at a certain time when the runners will be there to collect her from her bodyguards (who are none too shabby). As stated in SoE, this doesn't quite work out according to plan, as Monika is also a powerful magician, aside from other hidden talents. She escapes while the runners deal with several powerful spirits. The real downside is that she escapes with Mr. Johnson in tow. At the end of the run, the runners know they screwed up and probably know Monika's secret, which means they're probably better off dead.

End Result: A perfectly good run is blown, and the runners are probably in a lot of danger if they survived dealing with all the spirits and the bodyguard team they had to take down. I think the adventure is good, as it's going to hook the runners in for the rest of the campaign. It does however have a railroading flavor that perceptive players might pick up if the luck of the dice isn't with the GM. Really tense adventure, but you ain't seen nothing yet.

Also as a result of this run, the FBV now knows who is behind trying to take them over and can start planning a defense. A lot of this defense will be undertaken by the runners in the next 8 adventures as well as a large part is discovering the truth about Proteus so that a defense and offense can be successful.

That's not everything but it's the gist of the adventure. Somethings should remain secrets.

Don

[Nath]

[shadd4d]

[Jon Szeto]

[Nath]

[Guest_Crimsondude 2.0_*]

[FlakJacket]