Hello all,

I recently came up with an idea seed for an adventure in the Middle East. (Israel/Palestine to be specific.) My idea revolves around a project to build a Skyhook on Mt. Moriah the location where Jacob had his dream of a ladder to heaven, also the location of the Temple of Jerusalem. The Skyhook named Bethel, would be a step towards making the middle east the destination for Corporations to transfer materials to space.

The adventure revolves around a group of Shadowrunners who are contracted through several sources to steal data and materials that will aid a group of Muslim extremists to hijack a shipment going into orbit and diverting it towards the Zurich orbital. These extremists are being backed by a group of corporate interests that wish to replace Zurich as a neutral body and seize control of banking and commerce. The Muslim group is a pawn and a main adversary.

My questions are:

1) Does this make sense at all?
2) Does the current political climate (in game) of the Middle East actually play into this scenario?
3) Are there any Muslim groups in the SR Cannon that I can use here?
4) What Megacorps would be involved in building the Skyhook?
5) What Megacorps would be interested in taking down the Zurich Orbital if any?
6) Should I just stick with the terrorists and skip the corporate tie in all together?
7) What sources should I go to in order to find SR info on the Middle East other than Shadows of Asia?

Thanks!

I'd grab Shadows of Asia, and the 6th World Almanac when it's published, for the political climate information. You can also check out Corporate Enclaves for a little bit of the corp vibe around the Arabian Caliphate--that should give you a sense for who the major players are in that corner of the world.

The Corporate Court owns Z/O, so it would need to be a corp who either wasn't part of the CC, or was so brazen as to believe they could do a better job. If the corp gets caught, there would be an Omega Order before you could yell "duck," which means they will need to play their cards close to their chest and use cat's paws for several layers between them and the extremists.

Edit: An older source for information, though a chunk of it will be out of date, would be Year of the Comet and SOTA 2064. This will deal with the NIJ.

Also some info in Loose Alliances.

I really like this idea- but a corp-led conspiracy to take down ZO might be a bit of an over reach. As BishopMcQ said, such action would be unlikely to achieve that goal, and would likely result in that corps demise. Most (if not all) corps would understand this.

But as a senseless act of terrorism designed to disrupt the global economy and send a political message- awesome.

[edit]You should also check out some of the fluff about the great dragon Aden- he has a grudge against Lofwyr (who happens to have a major presence in the Middle East and on the Corporate Court). Aden also likes to fuck shit up just to cause chaos...

[edit2]And if you happen to be planning this as a PbP game, you better let me know when you're recruiting, because I am SO there....

First of all, this sounds like a cool idea.

I have some ideas that may help. As previously stated ZO is home of the Corporate Court and therefore the corporation that tries to usurp control would either be not a member or have some dikoted orichalcum balls. I had an idea that it is neither per se. In the Crash of '64 CATco went the way of the dodo and Ares snapped up most of it's assets. Now CATco, as everyone knows, had some of the most feared operatives, the Seraphim. Since CATco and Ares were pretty much at each others throats, in my opinion, the elite Seraphim would not necessarily enjoy the new leadership. A core of the organization, ones who answered only to Lucien Cross himself, went rogue and covertly declared war on Ares, and to a lesser extent the Corporate Court. This project in the middle east would be a perfect opportunity to make a move. Because of the tensions in the area it would be relativley easy to manipulate local extremists into doing dirty work without raising suspicion of an orchestrated plan.

As for the corp that is building the facility, why not AresSpace? That kind of thing is what they do, right?

Holy shit! This is an awesome idea. I'm definitely stealing this one.

On the Seraphim: Ares also has a number of orbital installations that could be targeted. It doesn't have the "Earth-shattering" implications of taking out ZO, but it would fit with their objectives...

same here, I´m itching for my first SR game

Thanks for the quick and valuable feedback folks. Keep it coming. A few more questions.

1) Where can I find more info on the ZO?
2) Where can I find the fluff info on the Seraphim?

I am not encyclopedic in my knowledge of the game especially past 2nd edition.

Thanks again!

You can find info about ZO in Corporate Shadowfiles (there's a whole chapter starting on page 87). That info was updated in Corporate Download (page 18) which also includes a blurb on CATCo and the Seraphim (page 57). There is a more recent profile of the Seraphim in SOTA 2064 (page 24) and some chatter in other late SR3 books, but there hasn't been any official word on what happened to them after the events in System Failure (during which Ares gobbled up most of CATCo).

Also, I thought of something that might throw a wrench in your plan if you're trying to stick with cannon: IIRC Jerusalem is under the protection of a UN (AKA Corporate Court) Peace Keeping force. A multi-denominational Ecumenical Council oversees everything (which means there is an institutionalized stalemate between the Jews, Christians and Muslims). The problem is that Mt. Moriah (aka the Temple Mount) is uber holy ground and the location of the al-Aqsa Mosque (the 3rd holiest site in Islam). There is no way the Ecumenical Council (especially the muslims) would allow any corporation to build a skyhook or anything else there.

Unless of course you want to play the Council as a bunch of puppets that cater to the whims of the Corporate Court- which would greatly alienate and enrage the kind of muslim extremists that would hijack a spacecraft and drive it into ZO.... Muahahaha...

Unless it's changed, Saeder-Krupp carries the most megacorp clout in the middle east. And if anyone had the cojones to make a play against the Z-O, it'd be Lofwyr. If Lofwyr found that it'd be a profitable move for him or S-K, I could see him making it happen.

If you were going to work the dragon angle it seems more feasible to me that SK would be involved in building the skyhook and Aden would subvert it for a terrorist plot just to piss of Lofwyr. That is, after all, Aden's style: use misinformation, trickery and deceit to cajole a bunch of zealots into doing your dirty work, then sit back and watch the fireworks.

Thanks. I saw the posted criteria and had a lightbulb/lightning stroke moment.

1) Does this make sense at all?

Yes, although is the technical term actually 'skyhook' or 'space elevator'?

2) Does the current political climate (in game) of the Middle East actually play into this scenario?

Yes, Things are pretty hot down there. However, feel free to change it to meet what you want.

4) What Megacorps would be involved in building the Skyhook?

A space elevator is a very expensive proposition. However, given its nature, it would probably be Ares, Renraku, and S-K. Given its location, S-K would be the most likely candidate to be the leader on this project.

5) What Megacorps would be interested in taking down the Zurich Orbital if any?

The Z-O serves to maintain the status quo. It's a tool of the corporations to keep things 'as they are'. Who would want to drop it? Any corporation with overreaching political goals that won't be served solely by acquiring capital. Aztechnology, and perhaps S-K (no one ever knows what the dragon is thinking). Plus any corporation that is afraid of losing AAA status (Evo, Horizon and Yamatetsu all hold non-permanent seats, but the seats are assigned to particular sub-corporations within the mega. If, somehow, Ares managed to acquire Keruba International, Renraku's seat could be challenged.) Any AAA that is now excluded from the Corporate Court (CATCo), or any AA organization who is tired of feeling the boot. In any of these cases, they would want several levels of plausible deniability, because any HINT that they were involved could result in the entire corporation being dismembered.


6) Should I just stick with the terrorists and skip the corporate tie in all together?

Up to you. In this case, corporations would add a very deep level of intrigue and mystery. If you like those sorts of games, go for it. If you want it straight-forward, keep it straight-forward.

You do realise that Mount Moriah is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem? With Jawa Al Aqsa on it? Not to mention being surrounded by the Muslim and Jewish quarters.

The hill itself is only 700 meters high. Most of it the formation of deposits from over 2000 years of continious living the area.

How about Har Meron instead, which is in the Golan heights.

I really cannot see S-K ever being part of a plot to take down the Z-O. Even with the long game implied by a dragon big L has too much control over the CC (if i recall Saeder-Krep has the chairmanship still). On the other hand if you wanted to you could play things very switch. Maybe a high level director of operations in SK has grown tired of the big wurm, or gotten the neo-anarchsit fever. Taking out the ZO could be a step towards that goal which could put the palyers at odds with SK until Lowfyr wises up to hats really going on and takes control.

Personally, and I may steal a variation on this theme I would run the project as being trun by SK with Aden lining up his irregular forces tot ry and take it out. Both to strike a blow at the corporate power base and maybe give his brother a black eye in the trade.

I agree, I can't see S-K plotting to take down the Z-O either, but there's no way anyone else could get away with a project like that in Lofwyr's backyard without at least his tacit approval. Crossing S-K interests in Europe or the Middle East is something you just don't do.

Well i can certainly see one of the big 3, especially Ares or Evo wanting to tweak the Dragon's nose by starting a project in the middle east. After all at least in theory no mega has exvlusive domain over any piece of international real-estate so one of the other corps may seek to test that jus to prove a point. Which actually could lead to a reason why SK would try and sabotage the project by making it take down the ZO. Of course Big L would work through so many swithc backs and double blinds tracking down Sk's involvement would be a run unto itself and a high stakes one at that.

1) Does this make sense at all?

As long as it is not in Jerusalem, but say in the Golan heights. Please do not ruin Jerusalem. Take the West Bank. I insist.

Usually large contraptions like that need to have new infrastructure and not have to fight with two thousand years of construction and bad managment. If you insist on putting it in Jerusalem then you have as much to worry about Jewish terrorists as Muslim ones.

2) Does the current political climate (in game) of the Middle East actually play into this scenario?

The Middle East is painted with such (caricatured) broad brush strokes you can fit anything into it. Maybe it would be better if it was based near DUbai as that place in 2070 still is like Disneyland

3) Are there any Muslim groups in the SR Cannon that I can use here?

For what?

4) What Megacorps would be involved in building the Skyhook?

All the AAAs, Aztechnology, Ares, Wuxing, and S-K being the top.

5) What Megacorps would be interested in taking down the Zurich Orbital if any?

Z-O is a place, but also the large AAA bank and seat of the corporate court. You take out Z-O and you take out the CC bank and they hold a large controlling interest in the AAAs and are responsible for the financial flow of money.

6) Should I just stick with the terrorists and skip the corporate tie in all together?

Depends as someone said: if you play straight, keep it straight: if you play convoluted play convoluted.

7) What sources should I go to in order to find SR info on the Middle East other than Shadows of Asia?

Corporate Enclaves has Dubai.

S-K could have motives. If the CC is no longer offering 'growth opportunities', if the chairmanship has resulted in a general malaise against S-K, the destruction of the Z-O isn't likely to end the chairmanship, but would force the CC to grow closer, increasing S-K's power (a crisis is always a good excuse to extercise greater power), and a greater opportunity to falsify data while lost to shift things more in S-K's favor.

Just tossing out ideas for the creative GM to take and run with.

What about the hot-headed dragon in the middle east there.

While S-K may be the corp... I'm sure Lofwyr and him have some territorial disputes.

Also, I could see the dragon using his sworn enemies as pawns to achieve some other goal.

Do people actually read the threads?

In correction to my previous work It's Alamais who is big L's brother. Aiden is the main dragon active in the middle east responsible for razing tehran to the ground. Both could make interesting interplay with muslim extremists although Aiden doens't seem the "blow up stuff" just because type. If the plot inolves Alamais the runners may have to face off against the most feared and mysterious artifact bequeathed in Dunky's will.

The Fruitcake

Most are too involved in their own ego stroking. Literacy is more than just repeating words.

Method... no need to be outraged... I had the wrong dragon's name in mind as well. I didn't realize that Aiden was the one I was referring to.

I simply remembered one dragon razed tehran and had a blood feud w/ the muslims. So it would be funny to see him use them as his unwitting pawns and bring the corps wrath down on them.

Don't be so quick to take offense... imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The two of us think alike on that score.

I'm not outraged or offended.

And I believe it's Aden.

In short... yes. I did a considerable amount of research in actuality. My intent was to create an attack on Jawa Al Aqsa that destroyed the structure and the surrounding area in a very 9/11 fashion. The Jacobs Ladder idea was presented as a way to use the place in a secular that befit the religious significance of the site. Basically it was leveled by hate and the corps used it as a great way to sell the idea of building something they wanted there. Whether the site was demolished or destroyed is a basic matter of perception.

In short... yes. I did a considerable amount of research in actuality. My intent was to create an attack on Jawa Al Aqsa that destroyed the structure and the surrounding area in a very 9/11 fashion. The Jacobs Ladder idea was presented as a way to use the place in a secular manner that would befit the religious significance of the site. Basically it was leveled by hate and the corps used it as a great way to sell the idea of building something they wanted there. Whether the site was demolished or destroyed is a basic matter of perception.

Every time someone tries to build something around that mountain, you dig up enough ancient graves and archaeological finding to shut down any project. Remember that both Muslims and Jewish dont like that people mess with their ancient stuffs, even if its just dirt.
But you can easily build something not far from there while still in Jerusalem, assuming you can handle the fact that the entire city is infested with shedim, background counts and stuffs like that.

Yes, it's almost like the corps do things that piss people off with no concern for how they feel about it. How shocking and out of character for them.

Well outside of dramatic license and the idea of someone leaving a crater instead of a mountain there after an attack of some kind, I think I am going to stick to my original plan.

How the hell did I double post? Sorry.