Just saw another trailer for World War Z, and I've been trying to think of how to do some sort of event similar to this in Shadowrun. I don't want to go full-scale epidemic, but I'm considering the idea of picking a city, having the event occur, having the PCs in the middle of it, and having them try to escape as the city goes under quarantine. Or perhaps an archology..., keeping the scale 'small' but 'horrific'.
The PCs have already stopped a sheddim invasion in Egypt, so I don't think I want to use the sheddim as the threat, but what should it be? A new strain of HMHVV? Something that, on touch, cause infection unless you can resist it, making contact with the enemy something to be avoided at all costs? Or perhaps it's a new form of possession.
Watching the sprawling mass of people trying to scale a wall, working as a hive-mind, gave me another idea, involving the Horrors. Perhaps this hive mind is a single entity, pulling everyone together into its will. THe more people it takes, the more 'aware' it is in the physical world. I could see them grasping each other, and taking on a semi-horror shape - a mass formed from parts. This would be a 'see for an instant and its lost' effect, like when the mass rise up, piling on each other, before the tower of people topples forward in a rush of limbs.
Yeah, I want this to be an isolated event, unless the PCs really screw up. Thoughts?
Full Version: Shadowrun Apocalypse
Uh ... this might be the obvious answer, but ... Bugs?
Or, if you go the HMHVV route, the ghoul virus is plenty killy, even with Patrick Goodman's inofficial errata to Running Wild.
Other than that, the AI in an Arcology has been done, but the setting is very cool and decidedly nightmarish.
Religious riots could also be an angle, but how well that is received depends on your players.
Personally, I think horrors have no place in SR anymore. They were interesting as a short crossover to ED for a while, but most of what they can do, can be done equally well with evil free spirits.
Or, if you go the HMHVV route, the ghoul virus is plenty killy, even with Patrick Goodman's inofficial errata to Running Wild.
Other than that, the AI in an Arcology has been done, but the setting is very cool and decidedly nightmarish.
Religious riots could also be an angle, but how well that is received depends on your players.
Personally, I think horrors have no place in SR anymore. They were interesting as a short crossover to ED for a while, but most of what they can do, can be done equally well with evil free spirits.
I've been toying with a cross between the alien movies and SR for a while but never ran it. Basically a bunch of people go missing (possibly even caused by the PCs as a job). They end up in an arcology for experimentation (testing how the aliens bread). Something goes wrong and the players must get out alive or if noble enough, set off the reactor taking all the biomorphs with them to the great beyond. I plotted it out to be 3 runs, real short campaign. I feel aliens make better horror enemies than zombies in SR as MilSec makes zombies a cakewalk (for the corps anyway). If you steal it let me know how it goes.
I thought about aliens as well. Though just a tad longer maybe 4-5 runs. Would be a fun heavy combat horror thing. Was thinking about basing it in Russia.
QUOTE
Just saw another trailer for World War Z, and I've been trying to think of how to do some sort of event similar to this in Shadowrun.
Apply the HMHVV rules RAW. Instant zombie apocalypse.
Bugs has been done with Chicago, and the problem with bugs is that they don't spread fast enough. I like the raw speed of infection in WWZ, and that can put the fear of god into the PCs when they see it happen. The Aliens plot is interesting, and having the set up / break down of it might work well. PCs do a job, which triggers the catastrophe in the archology, which the PCs then get to deal with. I did something like that once inspired by the movie Species, in fact. The alien 'black oil' got out, infected someone, and then started looking for mates, and the PCs had to decide whether to toast the thing or capture it - then decide what to do with the offspring.
While the Horrors is an ED thing, and more powerful spirits parallel, I think that's sort of the point with them. The Horrors are, effectively, grotesquely powerful Free Spirits from the deep astral. That's not a contradiction to me, it's symmetry. But I kind of like the idea of 'possession as plague', where you take one spirit intelligence, and it infects a mass of people to increase its presence on Earth. Hmm, could do it from the Matrix angle too, and have something from the Deep Resonance infecting people who are connected - though the question then becomes, "how does it spread"? And if I do go that route, it would make the PCs paranoid of doing anything matrixy ever again (and freak out on the Technomancer). The deep astral is an 'alien' place, so using that should be fine, since I want the PCs to be very, very uncomfortable with astral space.
Decisions, decisions...
While the Horrors is an ED thing, and more powerful spirits parallel, I think that's sort of the point with them. The Horrors are, effectively, grotesquely powerful Free Spirits from the deep astral. That's not a contradiction to me, it's symmetry. But I kind of like the idea of 'possession as plague', where you take one spirit intelligence, and it infects a mass of people to increase its presence on Earth. Hmm, could do it from the Matrix angle too, and have something from the Deep Resonance infecting people who are connected - though the question then becomes, "how does it spread"? And if I do go that route, it would make the PCs paranoid of doing anything matrixy ever again (and freak out on the Technomancer). The deep astral is an 'alien' place, so using that should be fine, since I want the PCs to be very, very uncomfortable with astral space.
Decisions, decisions...
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Hmm, could do it from the Matrix angle too, and have something from the Deep Resonance infecting people who are connected - though the question then becomes, "how does it spread"? And if I do go that route, it would make the PCs paranoid of doing anything matrixy ever again (and freak out on the Technomancer).
Depending on where they take the Morbus Schletz/Sybil Virus plotline, CGL may do exactly that.
I ran a game where the PC's were hired to check out a remote research facility in the Northern Rockies. The only access was by an aircraft with decent range and a 30 mile hike over rough terrain to get to the facility. There had been a road but the facility was so out of repair that the road had been overgrown and washed away.
To make entry easier the plan was to parachute in closer to the facility and then hike the 30 miles out to the lake that was the airstrip a week later. Their mission was to recon the older facility and determine if it was viable enough to be reopened. Most of the facility was underground in tunnels that had been formed by mages with shaping spells in order to have a secure facility that wasn't tracked by seeing heavy equipment moved in by satellite.
The catch was the the facility had attracted a pack of free wild beast spirits after it had been abandoned. Once the team was in the facility communications were lost because of a severe storm that had moved into the area. It became a survival scenario with the team trapped in the tunnels with some very nasty critters. Made for a fun game.
To make entry easier the plan was to parachute in closer to the facility and then hike the 30 miles out to the lake that was the airstrip a week later. Their mission was to recon the older facility and determine if it was viable enough to be reopened. Most of the facility was underground in tunnels that had been formed by mages with shaping spells in order to have a secure facility that wasn't tracked by seeing heavy equipment moved in by satellite.
The catch was the the facility had attracted a pack of free wild beast spirits after it had been abandoned. Once the team was in the facility communications were lost because of a severe storm that had moved into the area. It became a survival scenario with the team trapped in the tunnels with some very nasty critters. Made for a fun game.
QUOTE (ravensoracle @ Jun 5 2013, 02:43 PM) 
I ran a game where the PC's were hired to check out a remote research facility in the Northern Rockies. The only access was by an aircraft with decent range and a 30 mile hike over rough terrain to get to the facility. There had been a road but the facility was so out of repair that the road had been overgrown and washed away.
To make entry easier the plan was to parachute in closer to the facility and then hike the 30 miles out to the lake that was the airstrip a week later. Their mission was to recon the older facility and determine if it was viable enough to be reopened. Most of the facility was underground in tunnels that had been formed by mages with shaping spells in order to have a secure facility that wasn't tracked by seeing heavy equipment moved in by satellite.
The catch was the the facility had attracted a pack of free wild beast spirits after it had been abandoned. Once the team was in the facility communications were lost because of a severe storm that had moved into the area. It became a survival scenario with the team trapped in the tunnels with some very nasty critters. Made for a fun game.
To make entry easier the plan was to parachute in closer to the facility and then hike the 30 miles out to the lake that was the airstrip a week later. Their mission was to recon the older facility and determine if it was viable enough to be reopened. Most of the facility was underground in tunnels that had been formed by mages with shaping spells in order to have a secure facility that wasn't tracked by seeing heavy equipment moved in by satellite.
The catch was the the facility had attracted a pack of free wild beast spirits after it had been abandoned. Once the team was in the facility communications were lost because of a severe storm that had moved into the area. It became a survival scenario with the team trapped in the tunnels with some very nasty critters. Made for a fun game.
I'd play that game...
I have a plot in my head that involves the starting minutes of 28 days later, and the runners as backup for the ecos. The road to hell is paved in good intentions (and bigotry) ...
There's plenty of viruses and nanites and genetic experiments and shit running around. Just make up one that does what you want, layer on some magic if you feel you really need to (maybe to give them all spell resistance or something?), and call it a day.
I remember a previous idea presented on the forums was for an awakened drug, I think it was called Slab, that the GM created for his game. Look that up, you might be able to find inspiration from that, as well. Not every infection needs to be unwilling, after all, and it might only take a handful of a******s who simply don't care or want the world to burn before it becomes too big of a problem. Heck, you could run an infection/possession that's memetic, or runs via subliminal signals from a very particular ad, or anything else, really.
QUOTE (hermit @ Jun 5 2013, 10:21 PM)
Apply the HMHVV rules RAW. Instant zombie apocalypse.
What (s)he says! Makes for some nice Resident-Evil-like campaign.
Just make sure you are alright with a lot of dead (zombie) PCs.
QUOTE (Tashiro @ Jun 5 2013, 02:25 PM)
Deep Resonance infecting people who are connected - though the question then becomes, "how does it spread"?
Well, if you make it Dissonant instead, you could use the Pryon echo as a basis... Dissonant crafts a CID with the needed properties, spreads it to some key areas, and then hits the "on" switch. Which also means that any targeted infrastructure collapses immediately. Think about how much worse a zombie apocalypse would be if someone could specifically target origin points.
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