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Delarn
Hi gang ! I would like to start making a campain into Montreal (Easyer for me since I live there.) I would like to find information about montreal's shadows.
Can someone help ?
Fatum
You can find a bit of info in Shadows of North America, p. 109.
Delarn
Bits are not enough tho... I'll have to work on something. Thanks !
MJBurrage
IIRC, The Republic of Québec has been covered twice.
Fatum
Yup, but only the two pages I referenced have anything on Montreal in those two books for all I've noticed.
pbangarth
I know how you feel, Delarn. I have had to do my own work for Toronto, my home town.
Fatum
Don't even get me started on Moscow, or all the drek they've written in Shadows of Asia about Russia as whole. :\
Khairn
QUOTE (pbangarth @ Mar 14 2010, 02:12 AM) *
I know how you feel, Delarn. I have had to do my own work for Toronto, my home town.


Home town 'eh? You have my sympathy. nyahnyah.gif

If you're looking for some idea's, I used this one in a cyber-punk game I ran that used Montreal as its setting.

Metro System
During the yearly years of the 21st Century, the STM (Montreal Transit Society) expanded the underground metro system to accommodate the cities growing immigrant population. The lines extended to the Dorval Airport (Pierre Trudeau) and Chateauguay in the west, Laval in the north, Repentigny in the east and Chambly in the south. But the cities model transit system came to a grinding halt when many of the recent "goblinized" of the early 20's began making the tunnels their home. Some were drawn back to the surface when the Quebec Gov't extended full rights to Francophone meta-humans, but the majority didn't trust the gov't in Quebec City and remained literally underground.

The meta's sabotaged the trains, and beat back repeated efforts from the Surete de Quebec (Police)to expel them from the tunnels. Eventually, the city decided to abandon the metro system entirely, and had the entrances sealed. This allowed the meta (and the transient as well as criminal) population to grow and create a city beneath Montreal. They call it Sous-Sol.

With over 70 miles of tunnels connected by hidden stairways to the surface, Sous-Sol is the heart of the black market in Quebec. A situation that the gov't would love to change but can't figure how to do it while avoiding a complete blood-bath.
Delarn
QUOTE (Khairn @ Mar 14 2010, 08:46 AM) *
Home town 'eh? You have my sympathy. nyahnyah.gif

If you're looking for some idea's, I used this one in a cyber-punk game I ran that used Montreal as its setting.

Metro System
During the yearly years of the 21st Century, the STM (Montreal Transit Society) expanded the underground metro system to accommodate the cities growing immigrant population. The lines extended to the Dorval Airport (Pierre Trudeau) and Chateauguay in the west, Laval in the north, Repentigny in the east and Chambly in the south. But the cities model transit system came to a grinding halt when many of the recent "goblinized" of the early 20's began making the tunnels their home. Some were drawn back to the surface when the Quebec Gov't extended full rights to Francophone meta-humans, but the majority didn't trust the gov't in Quebec City and remained literally underground.

The meta's sabotaged the trains, and beat back repeated efforts from the Surete de Quebec (Police)to expel them from the tunnels. Eventually, the city decided to abandon the metro system entirely, and had the entrances sealed. This allowed the meta (and the transient as well as criminal) population to grow and create a city beneath Montreal. They call it Sous-Sol.

With over 70 miles of tunnels connected by hidden stairways to the surface, Sous-Sol is the heart of the black market in Quebec. A situation that the gov't would love to change but can't figure how to do it while avoiding a complete blood-bath.


WOW ! Thanks !
Khairn
QUOTE (Delarn @ Mar 14 2010, 08:48 AM) *
WOW ! Thanks !


You're quite welcome.

Some other things about Montreal that you might want to consider are ...
-Mount Royal is a dormant volcano. But what's dormancy to a sleeping dragon?
-The Canadian Shield is a region of stone just north of Montreal that is the oldest rock (4.5 billion years) in the world. Add that elemental feature to the convergence of the Ottawa River and St Lawrence that join just west of the island, and you have a "logical" location for an ancient ley line.
-Strong economic and cultural ties to both Europe and N. America
-Already a hub for Great Lake and Atlantic shipping (can you say smuggling?)
-Mirabel with its huge runways becomes a hub for travel to low orbit stations
-In the tradition of online gaming companies in Montreal like UBIsoft, lucrative tax breaks given to Simsense companies makes the city one of the industry's key location

What would hockey be like in 2070? Are meta-humans allowed to play? Don Cherry has been downloaded into an AI, and still provides mildly entertaining but horrible commentary on games. Couldn't you see him complain about how the meta's are ruining the game ... just like he complained about the Europeans? "Just look at those elves ... sure they're fast, but they can't dig in the corners, and can be taken out with a solid hit!"

I bet the Leafs are still waiting for another Stanley Cup win. smokin.gif
pbangarth
QUOTE (Khairn @ Mar 14 2010, 08:42 AM) *
I bet the Leafs are still waiting for another Stanley Cup win. smokin.gif
Now THAT was meant to hurt! Unfortunately, I have been a Montréal Canadiens fan from the start. It won me many beers from my buddys over the years (Leafs fans are insanely loyal) ... until the Canadiens began to suck too.

Those of us not from the U.S. have to deal with the fact that SR developed there and is understandably ethnocentric. Most of the fluff is written to be meaningful to the locals. I understand Germans have taken this bull by the horns and developed a lot of backstory for their neck of the woods. The rest of us can learn from their proactive example.

It is my belief that both Montréal and Toronto would grow tremendously from immigration in the years after the formation of the NAN. I suspect they would both be larger than the SR Seattle of 2072. (Toronto already is if you look at the Greater Toronto Area that is built of surrounding, adjoining cities as the Seattle Metroplex of SR is, and maybe Montréal is too if you add in the outlying satellite urbanizations.) They would be massive centers of industry and shipping, and be cultural mosaics. Can it get any better for runners?

And if SR ever comes around to dealing with global climate change the way it did with wireless Matrix access, then all those coastal cities that figure so prominently (Seattle, New York, Boston, New Orleans....) will be inundated. Meanwhile, Montréal and Toronto, way upriver as they are, will only become more important.

Cool idea about the Métro, Khairn! I might steal it for Toronto.

If you want to incorporate ley lines into some local runs, Delarn, check them out through Google, and you will find that Québec has a major nexus on its Hudson Bay shore and a secondary one SE of James Bay.
Umidori
I imagine that in the dystopian future, while the cities get bigger and more "human"-ized than ever, the wilds get wilder and crazier.

All those little towns in isolated places left to their own devices in the aftermath of magical awakening? The Ozarks? The Deep Rockies? The Mississippi River? Yeah, those places all would give you nightmares. Same sort of thing in Canada, I'm sure. Heck, I actually had my first ever SR character hail from the backwoods of Alberta where he made a living as a deep woods hunter before becoming a runner.

~Umidori
pbangarth
QUOTE (Umidori @ Mar 14 2010, 12:04 PM) *
Heck, I actually had my first ever SR character hail from the backwoods of Alberta where he made a living as a deep woods hunter before becoming a runner.~Umidori
Hey! I think I know that guy. One of my neighbours!
Delarn
QUOTE (Khairn @ Mar 14 2010, 09:42 AM) *
You're quite welcome.

Some other things about Montreal that you might want to consider are ...
-Mount Royal is a dormant volcano. But what's dormancy to a sleeping dragon?
-The Canadian Shield is a region of stone just north of Montreal that is the oldest rock (4.5 billion years) in the world. Add that elemental feature to the convergence of the Ottawa River and St Lawrence that join just west of the island, and you have a "logical" location for an ancient ley line.
-Strong economic and cultural ties to both Europe and N. America
-Already a hub for Great Lake and Atlantic shipping (can you say smuggling?)
-Mirabel with its huge runways becomes a hub for travel to low orbit stations
-In the tradition of online gaming companies in Montreal like UBIsoft, lucrative tax breaks given to Simsense companies makes the city one of the industry's key location


-False, it's a magmic intrusion.
-That could fit.
- somewhat ...
- This is already happenning.
- Mirabel is closed sadly.
- Working on corporate enclave for Montreal at the moment.
Backgammon
Montreal in Shadowrun suffered from a crucial mistake the first time that got written up, which unfortunately tied the hands of future developer. The original writer mixed up Quebec City and Montreal. He thought Quebec City was the biggest city and Montreal was the smaller one. So this is wht in SoNA it's all about QC and Montreal is just one big slum with a new highway going through it.

So.. yeah. I encourage you to expand and re-write!

There are some pretty good ideas already, to which I would add an idea that Montreal might be home to a political block working on bringing down's Quebec's draconian business laws. Both foreign corporate powers and nationals should view a 6 million+ place as a pretty lucrative market currently being blocked by Quebec's protectionist laws. A lot of people would want those laws to disappear, and Montreal would make a good political base.
Snow_Fox
Mosty of what we have is Quebec as old world charm so in our games Montreal is a modenr chromed city full of skyrakers.

The lack of coverage on Toronto is really annoying for us. With the loss of Chicago and Detroit being Ares-ville we figure that Toronto would be one of the principal cities of the UCAS but there's sod-all in the cannon.
Delarn
QUOTE (Backgammon @ Mar 14 2010, 04:41 PM) *
Montreal in Shadowrun suffered from a crucial mistake the first time that got written up, which unfortunately tied the hands of future developer. The original writer mixed up Quebec City and Montreal. He thought Quebec City was the biggest city and Montreal was the smaller one. So this is wht in SoNA it's all about QC and Montreal is just one big slum with a new highway going through it.

So.. yeah. I encourage you to expand and re-write!

There are some pretty good ideas already, to which I would add an idea that Montreal might be home to a political block working on bringing down's Quebec's draconian business laws. Both foreign corporate powers and nationals should view a 6 million+ place as a pretty lucrative market currently being blocked by Quebec's protectionist laws. A lot of people would want those laws to disappear, and Montreal would make a good political base.


Let's make it big, bigger and BAD !!!
lonewolf23k
I have a few beefs of my own, being a Quebecois born and bred, and here are my thoughts on the topic:

-I like the "Sous-Sol" idea, but I'd change it a bit, keeping Montreal's subway system working, since it's such an essential part of the mass transit system that the city would practically fall apart without it. But it'd still remain a huge community for the Orks and Trolls of Montreal.

-While French remains the official language of the nation in terms of law, politics and roadsigns, I doubt even the strictest members of the Seperatist movements would launch a massive purge of the English language as suggested in the corebooks. Especially considering how large our province's population of immigrants is.

-I'd also tone down the outright meta-racism and do away with the sapient bounties, if only as a recent development due to a pro-sapient rights party winning favor in Parliament.
Khairn
QUOTE (Delarn @ Mar 14 2010, 03:10 PM) *
-False, it's a magmic intrusion.
-That could fit.
- somewhat ...
- This is already happenning.
- Mirabel is closed sadly.
- Working on corporate enclave for Montreal at the moment.


-It may be a magmic intrusion ... but dormant volcano is just plain sexay! lick.gif
- good
- ok
- true, but many aren't really aware of the scope and volume.
- I think Mirabel is still open and is used for air cargo at the moment. Or at least it was last year when I sent a shipment through Mirabel. The concept for the airport was great ... half way between Montreal and Ottawa. But lack of rapid access, and proximity of Dorval and St Hubert was too great a problem to overcome.

QUOTE (lonewolf23k @ Mar 14 2010, 08:56 PM) *
I have a few beefs of my own, being a Quebecois born and bred, and here are my thoughts on the topic:

-I like the "Sous-Sol" idea, but I'd change it a bit, keeping Montreal's subway system working, since it's such an essential part of the mass transit system that the city would practically fall apart without it. But it'd still remain a huge community for the Orks and Trolls of Montreal.

-While French remains the official language of the nation in terms of law, politics and roadsigns, I doubt even the strictest members of the Seperatist movements would launch a massive purge of the English language as suggested in the corebooks. Especially considering how large our province's population of immigrants is.

-I'd also tone down the outright meta-racism and do away with the sapient bounties, if only as a recent development due to a pro-sapient rights party winning favor in Parliament.


Language and meta-racism I agree with. As for the Metro, you're probably right, but the idea of such a vast, already built underground is just too perfect for the setting. Maybe instead of the entire system being shutdown, just 1 or 2 lines have been annexed by the meta's? Just a thought.

Do I sense the start of a fan project? If so, I'm in.
Delarn
QUOTE (Khairn @ Mar 14 2010, 10:22 PM) *
-It may be a magmic intrusion ... but dormant volcano is just plain sexay! lick.gif
- good
- ok
- true, but many aren't really aware of the scope and volume.
- I think Mirabel is still open and is used for air cargo at the moment. Or at least it was last year when I sent a shipment through Mirabel. The concept for the airport was great ... half way between Montreal and Ottawa. But lack of rapid access, and proximity of Dorval and St Hubert was too great a problem to overcome.

Do I sense the start of a fan project? If so, I'm in.


- Yeah I know. I was only pointing to the fact wink.gif
- wink.gif
- wink.gif
- Then let's show the volume and the scope wink.gif
- YEah comercial only. That's sad because Mirabel is far better than Dorval.

Check your pm
Fatum
QUOTE (Delarn @ Mar 15 2010, 08:32 PM) *
- YEah comercial only. That's sad because Mirabel is far better than Dorval.


60 years from now, remember? Where was Heathrow sixty years ago?
Delarn
Dorval being closed nice! that would rock 1!!
Dr.Rockso
Maybe the ol' hometown will get some love when Atlas comes out. With the downfall of CatCo during the last crash the Republique has been woefully neglected. I'd play it like this: Meta-racism and language laws are still decades behind the rest of the continent. However, since Knight bought up CatCo left and right I'd also state that this is rapidly changing. Quebec City and Montreal in particular would be much more open with Cross out of the picture. I like the Sous-sol idea but doubt the STM would ever lose the metro. From the way things are going I'd say security would be rather tight. It would definitely expand as well, as stated above. I think it's a safe bet to say that it would expand to cover the entire island and go deeper into Laval and the South Shore. Back to the Sous-Sol idea: we already have an underground city, of sorts. Have it become larger and fall into disrepair and it would fit the bill.

QUOTE
Do I sense the start of a fan project? If so, I'm in.

Where do I sign up?
Delarn
Sent you a PM
Delarn
QUOTE (Dr.Rockso @ Mar 16 2010, 01:52 PM) *
Maybe the ol' hometown will get some love when Atlas comes out. With the downfall of CatCo during the last crash the Republique has been woefully neglected. I'd play it like this: Meta-racism and language laws are still decades behind the rest of the continent. However, since Knight bought up CatCo left and right I'd also state that this is rapidly changing. Quebec City and Montreal in particular would be much more open with Cross out of the picture. I like the Sous-sol idea but doubt the STM would ever lose the metro. From the way things are going I'd say security would be rather tight. It would definitely expand as well, as stated above. I think it's a safe bet to say that it would expand to cover the entire island and go deeper into Laval and the South Shore. Back to the Sous-Sol idea: we already have an underground city, of sorts. Have it become larger and fall into disrepair and it would fit the bill.


I would have to say that the Quebec politique on english would be a lot more strict after Ares is buying everything. They would make commercial licences to speak english for business. So it would prettymuch say that if you don't speak french on the street you are ... doomed !

Sureté du Québec would be the whole Republique Police tho not just like it is now.
lonewolf23k
I can definitely see French being the official language of law, business, politics and public signs in Quebec, but I doubt anyone's going to shoot at you for speaking English. But it would definitely be ironic for Anglophones going around asking for directions in Quebec, and being told "Parle comme du Monde!" by the local Francophone population, considering how in the 1970s, French Canadians trying to talk to Anglophones were often told to "Speak White".
Dr.Rockso
QUOTE
I would have to say that the Quebec politique on english would be a lot more strict after Ares is buying everything

I don't think it the law would get more strict so much as the gov't would try to crack down on them all the time. They would in turn to their extra territoriality which would likely raise tensions further. The presence of the other mega corps would increase as well as they scramble for their own piece of the pie. This sounds like the beginning of an interesting campaign, actually... wink.gif

Delarn
QUOTE (Dr.Rockso @ Mar 16 2010, 03:25 PM) *
I don't think it the law would get more strict so much as the gov't would try to crack down on them all the time. They would in turn to their extra territoriality which would likely raise tensions further. The presence of the other mega corps would increase as well as they scramble for their own piece of the pie. This sounds like the beginning of an interesting campaign, actually... wink.gif


Let's start building it ! And has Montrealers we can do a lot more job to detail it.
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