Most of what I'm about to tell you in either straight out of Dragons of the Sixth World, Shadows of North America, or the Commando Quarterly on Denver; or extrapolated from those sources (extrapolations are in italics for ease of reference; take these with a grain of salt). For the serious Denver runner and/or GM, I'd suggest picking up SoNA and DLing the CQ article; DotSW is optional. I'll see what I can do to help you out, but remember: you're the GM. It's your game. Feel free to make sh!t up.
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For clarification, and to answer BishopMcQ's question, I need it all. The big gangs and important people among them (if known), The corps and their importants, fixers, Organized Crime, any prominent social figures that may be of note, etc etc.
- In the CAS sector, there is an underground group called Los Espejos -- "The Mirrors." They are all ex-Aztlan folk who went to ground after Pale Scales smashed the teocali and booted the Azzies out of Denver for good. Despite the best efforts of the CAS security forces and the Zonies, Los Espejos survive as a network of revolutionary cells trying to keep a toehold in Denver for Aztechnology. Their leader is an Eagle shaman who goes by the Matrix handle Eagle Warrior and has a pet blood spirit named Carmesi; apparently, Eagle Warrior's sanity is starting to slip.
After years of getting beat down by the Zonies and GW, Los Espejos' membership has probably been culled to the point where only the smart and tough are still around. This makes them extremely dangerous, but they're hamstrung by the fact that they have no friends in the rest of Denver and are almost totally cut off from Aztlan. The Council and the ZDF both regularly sponsor "independent scouting missions" into the sewers and abandoned subway tunnels under Denver in order to keep The Mirrors too busy defending themselves to attack. The most likely form of attack would be ambushes of ZDF and/or corpsec patrols and terrorist attacks on FRFZ government installations. Knight Errant runs the security patrols for the CAS sector, so of course Ares has a heavy presence; Saeder-Krupp and Wuxing have offices built on top of the old Azzie pyramid. The Mafia are the top dogs in syndicate terms, though the Koshari and Triads have made some small in-roads (Chinatown is in the CAS area).
- The Pueblo Sector is probably the quietest. The Koshari crime syndicate completely pried the Mafia out of the Pueblo sector as of 2063, leaving them pretty much king of the hill. Cal Hots and most other high-grade simsense up to (but not including) BTLs are legal, so there's a pretty hefty trade in chips. PuebSec runs security and they're pretty good about it
though if you're Amerind, they'll probably bribe easier. Like I said earlier, Fort Carson and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal are in the Pueblo Sector south of Denver, and those'll be pretty good spots to snag some milspec gear if you're really good, really lucky, or really rich, and the Koshari peddle most of the vice (drugs, prostitutes, etc) to the ZDF and PuebSec troops hereabouts. As for corps, the Pueblo Corporation -- aka the government of the Pueblo Corporate Council -- rules the roost, but NeoNet (Simplex Software) and Renraku (HyperSense) both have offices here, too. Decking/hacking is basically a national past-time in the PCC, so a lot of good hackers come out of this area. The Pueblo swallowed the Ute, including their sector of Denver, so they also inherited the Mafia-run Lakeside Amusement Park which is full of casinos as well as rides.
The Mafia is so entrenched in "Little Vegas" that I doubt the Koshari have kicked them out completely, though that kind of a mob war makes for interesting shadow-work. The Arvada neighborhood has been overrun by gangers, making it the roughest turf in the Pueblo Sector, and of course a center of Koshari activity.
- The Sioux Sector is pretty rowdy. The Koshari have their fingers in this pie too, but there are lots of Amerind gangs and ultra-aggressive warrior-types, mostly Lakota and Mohawk, and they love to pick fights regardless of tribal affiliation. A big part of the Hub is in Sioux territory, so keep that in mind. The corporate heavy-hitters here are Shiawase, Universal Omnitech, and Arboritech, all of them hip-deep in agritech, biotech, and genetic engineering. Eagle Security Services maintains the peace. A feathered serpent named Henequen used to run a lot of ops in the Sioux Sector when the Azzies were still around, but now that GW kicked him out, he's been pretty quiet of late; supposedly, he's trying not to step on GW's toes, but most of the rest of the local dragons beat feet when Ghostwalker showed up, so no one's quite sure why he stayed.
- The UCAS Sector houses the other half of the Hub, and has plenty of corporate sponsorship: the Draco Foundation, MCT, NeoNet, Evo, and (of course) Ares all have offices or subsidiaries here. The Aurora Warrens -- Denver's version of Redmond, only worse -- is in the UCAS sector. An Ares Firewatch team torched the UB offices here way back when, and the area just fell apart.
Runners live here in they can't afford better, but the gangs run the place. It's the next best thing to a warzone; surprisingly, Lone Star holds the contract here, but they don't go into Aurora unless they have a very good reason, lots of guns, and plenty of air cover. The Mafia run the vice hereabouts, but with all the corporate folks and Lone Star keeping a lid on things, it's all pretty under-the-table.
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As to the GW question... I was hoping for more specifics. Does he sit around all day and wait for his next snack, I mean, guest? Or does he patrol the astral realm making sure no massive threats are arriving? Does he wander the streets, snacking on random trouble makers, or does he sit in his luxurious home/office and monitor a number of shadowrunning specialists who he sends to deal with any problems that may occur?
First off, even though they're brothers, GW isn't Big D. He's by no means tyrannical, but his word is law and he expects those laws to be obeyed by us mere mortals. Ghostwalker also isn't as public as Dunkie was, rarely making proclamations and even more rarely making public appearances. He sits in on the occassional Council meeting, but his translator, Nicholas Whitebird, represents him, say, 80% of the time. He also has a penchant for spirits, probably a result of his long sojurn in the metaplanes (or wherever the Hell he was before he climbed through the Rift), and has an army of such spirits who act as guards, messengers, and spies.
Because of all the spirit activity he pushes, Ghostwalker himself probably doesn't get out much. Chances are, he sits around all day scheming like most good dragons do. He's not as hands-on as Lofwyr or Hestaby, but his temper tantrum when he first got to Denver means no one's going to underestimate him. He does grant petitions and hold audiences with common folk
though these are probably screened first to separate the baseless from the worthwhile. Most of these petitioners come asking for something, usually cash (GW's big on helping out small businesses) or support for one thing or another, though some try to barter deals and flat-out sell information. The lucky ones usually walk away empty-handed; the not-so-lucky get eaten or worse (there's a troll statue at the front door of GW's office building that used to be a real person. Whoops.). One last note. GW doesn't like Lofwyr, to the point where the corporate deck is stacked against Saeder-Krupp in the FRFZ. Might make for good runs, if you don't mind fraggin' with the landlord.
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Coming soon to a Dumpshock near you: Karn Evil. The Clowns aren't the only scary thing at this Carnival.
I hope I've earned a spot in that, omae. I haven't run in Denver in a while.