Sort of an off the wall question, and kind of out of the blue, but... Whatever happened to Lars J. Matthews? (The guy mentioned in Dunkelzahn's will). Or did that story piece never get wrapped up?

From: Dunkelzahn's Will
For a period of ten days beginning on 14 February 2057, Lars J. Matthews will cease to possess any legal status. He will be stripped of all evidence of legal existence, including SIN, credsticks, DocWagon contract, bank accounts and so on. To the individual or group who ends Lars J. Matthews’ physical existence during those ten days, I leave all of Matthews’ assets and 1 million nuyen for a job well done. If Mr. Matthews survives and can prove his identity, his legal status and all possessions will be restored to him. Haven’t you heard? Never deal with a dragon, Lars.

Working at an elven titty bar in Tarislar...as one of the dancers...and not by choice.

Well... It's a living.

That's what happened in my campaign anyway. Y'all's may have ended up a might different.

The best part would be not only the hunt for him and killing him, but the insane amount of fighting to keep possession of the body and claiming the reward. A good campaign could be made around that ten day span.

Since I don't have my rulebooks and sourcebooks with me, so can't trawl for the answer [spotlight searching PDFs makes life so easy]...
...Who was Lars J Matthews, and why did The Big D want to punish him ??

And, almost as important, how did he expect to have his identity completely wiped like that? Especially since he all but announced it publically, making it blatantly illegal in every conceivable way? Seriously. Even if he was the President, you can't just wipe away someone's identity so you can kill and torture him to your delight and definitely not after broadcasting that you're going to do that very thing to everyone the world over.

More interestingly might be the time between Dunk's death and that ten day span.


Who's going to arrest a Great Dragon's vaporized corpse?

I high powered group of mages as hes in some metaplane some place waiting to enact a cunning plan.

Who said anything about that? Someone has to erase the SIN, lots of someones have to pretend that they don't know anything about it, and lots and lots of someones have to pretend they never even heard of the will for it work. And if the Draco Foundation honored it, they'd be liable for all kinds of things, too, including flat-out premeditated murder.

Really? I highly doubt that Dunk's plan involved lots and lots of people. I highly doubt that any more than a handful of people at most were involved in the entire process, and it was probably rigged to occur without any impetus on behalf of any guilty party. While your point about the Draco Foundation is valid, I'm sure our conspiracy-laden dragon president had arrangements made for this to actually occur without intervention, honestly.

If there is one sapient on the planet that was capable of publicly announcing "I'm going to pay someone to kill someone", the Big D is it.

As opposed to Lofwyr, who doesn't need to bother with puny announments...

Precisely.

...or something.

The question is, implications of law aside, if your SIN suddenly stops to work and all your assets get frozen, which I assume happened upon disclosure of the testament - would you go to ANYONE and complain that you are the guy with 1.000 K nuyen and all his assets on his head?

Yes, if there's one thing i've noticed about old Dunky, it's his total dedication to the full letter of the law lol! I mean he'd definatelybe afraid they'd incarcerate his rather vast incinerated corpse, what with his sacrificing himself to empower the Dragon's Heart and patrol a very gods-forsaken metaplane to protect the Earth!


"Hello, my name is John Q Target, worth more dead than you'll make in a very long time." "PS, when I had an identity, I was enough of an asshole to make it into Big D's Will as an item on a hitlist. Where do I find the records department to straighten this out?"


"Big D died for our sins, and now you can too. Join the COD Crusade, and follow the path of our 'Savior'!"

Oy.

Look, -everyone- who sees that will -knows- what's going to happen. They -know- he's ILLEGALLY going to have his SIN erased. They -know- he's ILLEGALLY going to have his accounts frozen. They -know- that it's ILLEGAL. In every sense of the word. Law enforcement, government officials, EVERYONE who reads it will know. Thus they will ALL have to be a part of the conspiracy by letting it happen. Every. Single. One. Of them. And they will have to stand by and do nothing in order for it work, which is criminal in and of itself.

Lars should have been in full protective custody and ANYONE who tried to claim the reward and ANYONE who gave the reward should have their heads rolling. And since the Draco Foundation is responsible for it, they should have lawyers, government agents, and everything else you can imagine crawling all over them about it even if Lars didn't even get a scratch during the ordeal.

We could always just attribute it to bad writing that wasn't thought all the way through and then move on.

Unless of course Lars' SIN was a fake to begin with, and D just arranged to have proof of that, and of crimes that will cause any law enforcement agency to freeze the suspects assets, delivered to the authorities. And maybe have a presidental pardon arranged after the 10 days.

"Hey, this Lars is actually Kane! Get him!"

Now, I actually like this.

Still, more backstory would be nice. I've never run across this guy anywhere else. But still... To incur someone's wrath in their Will rather than having them (the them being a very powerful dragon with many powerful friends) just leave you as a smoking corpse is... Well, interesting.

Dunkie was "One of ours" as Captain Chaos put it, and had sent his Last Will and Testiment to the ShadowLand BBS to make sure an unedited copy went out. (I'm sure CC only cut out the legalese BS for the Infoburst, and you can read it at your own leasure on the primary, Read-Only, ICed five metres thick file! Damn Ka-Pow Ka-Pow ShadowTeens and they're lack of attention span... OH SHINY!).

As for making someone a non-citizen... "If the President does it, it's not illegal" after all. ("That's a joke, by the way.").

What did he do to earn the ire of Dunkie, one of the, if not THE most powerful dragon in the world at the time?

Could be anything and everything.

And, of course, be careful what you wish for.

BTW, I have one character in backstory that's a Dragon Lotto Winner... And what he wished for...

Yeah, but dragons are so powerful (even after they're deceased) that their word is essentially law. I mean, look what Ghostwalker did in Denver, he basically strolled in, told everyone that he owned the place, and everyone else agreed. I don't see why Dunkelzahn couldn't have arranged for some shadowrunners to erase any evidence of Lars J. Matthews. I mean, lots of people fall through the cracks, and if the shadowrunners do it right, this guy's information wouldn't be any different.

look up dystopia. the cops dont care, or care just enough to get payed (by the highest bidder, not the government exclusively). also, the name could maybe cover some 1000+ individuals in ucas alone. and i suspect the old dragons will had a global reach...

If a decker, so good to be worthy of Dunkelzahn's payroll, wanted to erase every single trace of Lars J. Mathews from the Matrix, he could. Lars knows people are gunning for him, and because their is no mugshot, no SIN, no address, no job to track him down with, I'm pretty sure that the hitters are going to find him first, and he's surely not going to stick around. He probably got himself some money of his own and hired a team to protect him and smuggle him away.

Also, of course we don't know who he is. Dunkelzahn's will was a metaplot tool to spark ideas for imaginative gamemasters, it was not full of well-realised watertight runs. Lars J. Mathews could be who-ever you wanted him to be, and Dunkelzahn could want him punished for anything.

Like our good friend Leonardo, with the optical decking technology ??

Hmmm...


Shame SR v4 seems pretty intent on killing anything like that off

<sigh>

Look at it this way. If publically and openly erasing someone's SIN was as easy as declaring it to be, that means it could happen to you, too. There wouldn't be any point in having a SIN, in fact, as your legal status as a citizen could be taken from you at someone's whim with zero reprecussion. Every single citizen could have every single right removed from them. All those rich people. All those lawyers. All those government officials. Everyone. Do you really think that would go by without reprecussion? If a single politician allowed it to happen, impeachment trials would run rampant. There would be rioting. There would likely even be assassinations. And all because some pissy little dragon wanted to teach someone a lesson, too, and apparently a dragon who didn't give a fuck about the country he was trying to become president of no less.

It's the single worst entry in the entire will.

He didn't just declare it to be, he was Dunkelzahn, with all of the extensive shadow network and resources at the disposal of his will. Also, look at the wording of it. It doesn't mention the Draco Foundation at all. And this is one of those "if you are reading this..." things. There's zero repercussions because Dunkelzahn was already dead, and this particular section was evidently orchestrated in a manner involving plausible deniability. You do play Shadowrun, right? Where corporations use proffesional criminals to do illegal things for them under the umbrella of plausible deniability? Dunkelzahn shirked the deniability by putting it in his will, but then again he was dead. The Draco Foundation however would have no connection to the crime, because Dunkelzahn would have arranged it with outside operatives.

At the end of the day, maybe some-one could complain. But nothing would happen. The government is unlikely to find Mathews in time, and they're even less likely to find out who did it. And in the end, who cares? The guy was likely a shadowrunner or other underworld or shady figure.

Uhm, no. Just no.

I hate to break it to you, but publically announcing "hey, I'm going to have your identity taken from you and give anyone who kills you one million bucks" is pretty much the exact opposite of plausible deniability.

It doesn't matter if he was alive or dead, a dragon or a sewer rat. That changes nothing. The would-be president of the UCAS basically said "I can and will erase any of your identities if you cross me. Your citizenship means jack shit. To hell with the Consitution. To hell with the law. To hell with your peace of mind. To hell with the basic social contract that the entire world operates on. Why do you even have a SIN? It's obviously meaningless. You're all nothing so burn in hell." That's essentially what that single part of the will says.

Compare it to the modern world. You're in line at McDonald's accidently bump into some guy. When you look up, oh shit! It's McCain and you just caused him to spill his drink on himself. McCain's none-too-happy about this and scribbles something down. A week later, he gets assinated and his will is presented to the world. In that will, it stipulates that YOU are to have your identity completely erased, all your accounts frozen, everything taken from you, and anyone who kills you gets a million bucks.

Yeah. If that were to happen nothing at all would come of it. Not a thing. No sir. Not at all.

lets not forget that the erasure would not be permanent, if the victim made it to the draco foundation and could somehow prove to them who he was.

in that sense, its no better or worse then other dystopic themes, like say "running man". survive the zone and you get your freedom and have whatever crime you committed forgotten...

also, how much of this was made public on (inter)national news, and how much was a shadow release only?

as for gross abuses of power, real world third world dictators anyone? welcome to the balkanized states of america...

or in other words, UCAS dropped like a rock, but other places in the world dropped even harder (eurowars anyone?), so its still possibly a high point on the curve, its just that the curve in general have taken a dive compared to real life...

That's why I posted the "Lars is actually a wanted criminal, and his ID is actually fake, here's the proof" possible explanation.

I also doubt that anything posted remains in the shadows, not with cybersnoops and hacker searches.

And given the numerous opponents of the Draco Foundation, I doubt anyone would not drag this up to give them a scandal.

but then, how much effect do scandals have in SR?

even the extreme ones thats bug city and the archology lockdown seems to have gone kinda flat...

Well, I don't really agree with how those were handled. Scandalous and blackmail info would be worthless if such stuff can run under the radar, and doesn't cause lots of heads to roll. And the rest of the material doesn't seem to indicate that public opinion and press coverage is worthless.

IMC, public opinion forced much quicker action in both cases, it wouldn't have been possible to quarantine either the arc or chicago for months.

I describe this as the, "The Dragon shows up, and goes... 'Damnit, I have an infestation in my lawn. HEY! YOU METAHUMANS! GET OFF MY PROPERTY!!!' syndrome.

And, frankly, not many people argue with them. I mean, one religion tried declairing war on all of Awakened kind, and look at the responce to that!

Well, such is life in the world of Shadowrun chummer.

So, regardless of teh question of legality, could he do it, etc etc etc, the BIG question is this:

Who is/was Lars, what deal did he make with a dragon (Dunk? Someone else?), and why was he marked for such treatment/death? Was he ever mentioned in any product, ever, before the Will? Module, sourcebook, novel, anything at all?

given the work AH did on the will before going "to the dark side", nope, it was never touched on...
http://ancientfiles.dumpshock.com/Dunk_Will.htm

Who wants to bet Lars has family that wants revenge for what the "Assassins" did to dear ol' Dad/Uncle/Second-Cousin-Twice-Removed-From-Both-Sides.

Considering that dragons can burn down entire metropolises, grab huge swaths of public land and declare them their personal crash pads, as well as wrest power away from elected governments it's safe to say that dragons (including "cuddly" ones like Dunklezhan) view humans how we view dolphins and chimps. Amazingly interesting, intelligent as well as dangerous in a pack... but ultimately beneath them. Their minds are so much older, so much more powerful and more evolved than ours, that a human can't completely fathom motivation or reason for actions taken. "Right" and "wrong" as we view it may not even be in their emotional makeup. Lars may have been a total jackass or a completely innocent person. It doesn't really matter. If a great dragon wants something done, it gets done. Hence you never make a deal with one. Stay off their radar if you can.

If John McCain could shoot fire out of his mouth I might switch my party registration to the Republicans.

I consider the modern SR4 commlink (and trodes) to be largely derived from Leo's work, based on their effectiveness.

I consider it derived of my current smartphone.

Kinda both really IMO. I was speaking from an SR perspective with that though.

My SR perspective is that if the SR world needed "Leo" to get our smartphones matched with VR tech then the world would be better off discarded.

Did anyone notice that the 10-day period in question actually occurs before Dunkleberry's death?

No, what was the date of Dunkelzahn's death? A provision like this would be void if the appointed time preceded the testator's demise.

As for UCAS outrage, the SIN could be corporate or another nation. Corporations probably rescind SIN's frequently and without much fuss being made.

indeed, strange really...

http://wiki.dumpshock.com/index.php/2057

could be a numbers typo, but still very much a funny little detail

btw, anyone have the actual book handy and can check that the date is the same there?

i have a feeling both the wiki and AH used the text on shadowrun4.com as basis...

I'll keep this short due to time and not wanting to derail too much, so please forgive if this sounds too aggressive.

Basically, my logic is in SR1-3 trodes were crap and cyberdecks required DNI linkage to take commands (you could use trodes to view VR/simsense, but that was it). Leo comes around with shiny new "optical decking" (basically using trodes to deck, in terms of input though there was likely more to it I'm forgetting). Leo gets "hired" by Lofwyr. Fast forward to SR4 and we're all using trodes as DNI interface to palm sized decks. Was it all due to Leo's tech? In setting it comes down to either Leo's stuff had some influence on the new Matrix, or it's a massive case of convergent evolution. I think the former is more likely, though I will say it's unlikely the entire UI end of the new Matrix is completely a result of his tech.

I don't have the book handy, but I am positive that the dates are the same, as I had noticed this oddity before becoming acquainted with Ancient History (or even Dumpshock).

Well, by canon, optical tech was being used in the prior editions. Old datajacks and hardwired systems used fiberoptic cables for data transfer. Fiberoptic cables are basically transparent plastics that bend and allow lasers to move through them to transfer the data.

Leo was an incredible techie, but you've got to understand that he was an artiste with a fanciful idea of a completely optical computer. The guy was a nutjob.

Personally, I think that the reduced size of consumer computer technology (eg. Commlinks) came from market pressures. Commlinks are small because of the mass market. Everyone uses them. Cyberdecks were just really powerful computers. In SR3 and prior editions we had the p-sec, or pocket secretary, which is essentially a low rating commlink, but it just didn't have the pervasive wireless infrastructure that replaed the Matrix after crash 2.0. Market forces always cause tech to miniaturize. Just look at how far cell phones have come: They used to be a phone in a suitcase, and as they became smaller they became smaller and smaller. And now that they're reached the comfortable limits of miniaturization, we're further miniaturizing their components and putting cameras and extra memory and soundcards and wireless hardware.

That said, i'm sure Leo's tech has influenced Shadowrun tech, but Shadowrun is about pervasive capitalism and it's power when harnessed by unethical McCorps who have the legislation behind them to write their own laws and do whatever the hell they want behind closed doors. Even IE's like Leonardo are average sized fish in a very big pond.

For example, I'd say Leo's tech may have had some influence on MASER power/data systems, such as the one that apparently runs the Transys system at Caerleon. It also fits in with the eccentricity and aforementioned artistry of Leonardo, an obscenely complex and volatile system composed of light and raw energy. It's just his style.

Hmmm...
...Considering that DNI technology is mature by the time Leonardo's tech is revealed, I'd say his technology had nothing to do with anything that's currently used as a basis for the current machines and interfaces.

If I recall, it was something akin to the Otaku [remember those, before SR v4 retconned them away]...
...And was a quantum leap away from the DNI technology being used - remember he hit several MegaCorps, and managed to get to the core systems with no trackback or problems. Even when they were on high alert, with premier grade Deckers online using DNI technology.

Setting up his project and allowing access was the only way anyone would get access to the tech...
...But it appeared it would be a whole new paradigm for network access.


But that's just my interpretation >shrug<


BTW - what happened to Leonardo and his project [I know it's mentioned in at least 1 of the sourcebooks, but I don't have them to hand] ??

Leo was a stupid idea, stupidly done, and a good example of the SR version of the old WoD "anyone important, ever, was a vampire or other critter in disguise" way of thinking.
I don't subscribe to that nonsense.

I really like the Fake Sin explanation.

But that aside, I think the question is "What are you going to do about it?"

Yup, there might be public outcry. But so what? What is the "public" going to do about it? What is a Senator going to do? "I use my legislative powers to make this thing that can't happen, not happen."

The long and the short is that is did happen. Everyone freaks out because it does potentially destroy the whole point having a SIN (crashes aside). So experts are called in, the FBI and anyone else who matters ICE his SIN to the gills... and it happens anyway.

There is always a way to do something like that. This is Shadowrun, encryption (for example) means jack. So the guy wakes up on the date (probably somewhere remote, since who knows what might happen, right?) goes to buy coffee... and his accounts are useless. Despite everything he, the goverment, and countless experts could do. And there is no proof he is himself. He procedes to a police station, and the cops go "Really? Your THAT guy? Sure. What are you doing in Montana?" And then a rent a cop follows him and kills him for the money while on his lunch break. Bad idea, and he probably knows it. Even if the cops put him under their protectection, people are going to find out where he is, and now he can't run because the cops won't let him.

Also can you imagine now many SINless are probably going to the police and the institute trying to prove they are this guy? A chance to take over his life, when you don't have a SIN? Probably going to cause a bit of chaos, what with bounty hunters killing the imposters, so the police have to protect ever crazy person who makes the claim.

Once the "impossible" has happened, what do you do about it? How do you prove who you are, when all the procautions you took were for naught?

And as for legal responce... "Ahh, you killed the target. I was told that if someone could prove this, I should give them this serial number. Have a nice day." Said runner finds out it's a black offshore account, and no one can prove anything.