Hello,
I'm still running my life long Shadowrun campaign and, while I nearly have all exiting books, I m still stuck into 2nd edition plots.
Actually the Bugs arc.
What I'm asking is if I'm not forgeting any book related to it, and if their are pitfalls to avoid.
For me:
-you start with Queen Euphoria
-followed with Universal Brotherhood
-then Double Exposure
-Finishing with Bug City
With additionnal elements of Threats.
Am I right? Or do I miss a book?
Is Double Exposure still playable if you ran UB before?
Full Version: Infos about Bugs arc
I seem to recall that while there isn't a specific set of missions to run in them Target UCAS and Threats have some interesting information on the plans of the Bugs and how they dealt with/survived in Chicago and outside of it. Things like the Secret Hive that was more focused on infiltration of powerful organizations through possessing individuals in positions of power.
Also dont forget the novel Burning Bright. It tells the story of the actual events in Chicago leading up to, during, and directly after it became the Containment Zone. It also has great info on characters like Anne Ravenheart, Kyle Teller, and Seeks-The-Moon, all of whom have further write ups in Bug City.
Also dont forget the novel Burning Bright. It tells the story of the actual events in Chicago leading up to, during, and directly after it became the Containment Zone. It also has great info on characters like Anne Ravenheart, Kyle Teller, and Seeks-The-Moon, all of whom have further write ups in Bug City.
Thanks!
I have Burning Bright. I've read it long ago, I guess I should reread it.
There must be "Glow City Blues" in the arc.
I have Burning Bright. I've read it long ago, I guess I should reread it.
There must be "Glow City Blues" in the arc.
Anytime, omae! And yeah, do yourself a favor and reread Burning Bright. Its So. Damn. Good.
Actually the first mention of the bugs is in the first story collection, "Into The Shadows". Also, you could add the Shadowrn Returns plot before Universal Brotherhood and Double Exposure. "2XS" also is pretty central to the bugs plot and would fit before Euphoria.
So it'd be like:
* Into the Shadows (A Plague of Demons)
* 2XS
* Queen Euphoria
* Shadowrun Returns
* Universal Brotherhood
* Double Exposure
* Burning Bright/Bug City
You can run SRR, UB and DE consecutively, but you will only be able to surprise your runners with "omg bugs" once, so you might have to adapt the adventures accordingly.
This ends the first bug plot, and is followed by the CCZ/more Invae plot that stretches through several splatbooks and the novel House of the Sun (order is vague):
* Threats
* Target: UCAS
* Super Tuesday
* Corporate Download
* House of the Sun
* Shadows of North America
* Threats 2
* Loose Alliances
This begins the Ares Umbrella/Yutani plotline. That (the third bug arc) is set to culminate in 30 Days of Night and the associated Campaign book. It stretches through pretty much all 4E and 5E books.
It should be noted that two Bug plots branched off since Threats. One is the Desolation Angels plotline around somewhat benign Mantids, Anne Penchyk and the Empowerment Coalition (remember, Mantids are playable in 5E), and the other is the Chicago plotline that culminates in Missions S7, Chicago Chaos and its dragon-wasp-queen boss fight.
So it'd be like:
* Into the Shadows (A Plague of Demons)
* 2XS
* Queen Euphoria
* Shadowrun Returns
* Universal Brotherhood
* Double Exposure
* Burning Bright/Bug City
You can run SRR, UB and DE consecutively, but you will only be able to surprise your runners with "omg bugs" once, so you might have to adapt the adventures accordingly.
This ends the first bug plot, and is followed by the CCZ/more Invae plot that stretches through several splatbooks and the novel House of the Sun (order is vague):
* Threats
* Target: UCAS
* Super Tuesday
* Corporate Download
* House of the Sun
* Shadows of North America
* Threats 2
* Loose Alliances
This begins the Ares Umbrella/Yutani plotline. That (the third bug arc) is set to culminate in 30 Days of Night and the associated Campaign book. It stretches through pretty much all 4E and 5E books.
It should be noted that two Bug plots branched off since Threats. One is the Desolation Angels plotline around somewhat benign Mantids, Anne Penchyk and the Empowerment Coalition (remember, Mantids are playable in 5E), and the other is the Chicago plotline that culminates in Missions S7, Chicago Chaos and its dragon-wasp-queen boss fight.
Thank you.
You point out a thing I was asking myself.
Does Double Exposure still work if you ran UB before. The subject seems very similar but maybe I'm mistaking UB's storyarc with Burning Bright (or 2XS maybe?)
You point out a thing I was asking myself.
Does Double Exposure still work if you ran UB before. The subject seems very similar but maybe I'm mistaking UB's storyarc with Burning Bright (or 2XS maybe?)
The story arc is indeed very similar. You could run whatever you run as the second as a follow-up investigation. I'd recommend using UB as the first because of the WEALTH of handout material (you don't see lovingly created 50+-page conspiracy memos as a handout every day), and adapting the second adventure as a follow-up to the conclusion of bug city, where the runners find out about project hope and the potential bug army there. Bonus points if you bring in Karen King (Seattle's long-serving ex-Marine Ares rep) as the corporate help throughout the campaign and overall trusted corporate person of the group (Ares could be brought in through the plot of A Plague of Demons already), and make your players culpable for Damien Knight's Weyland-Yutani project.
I'll put a campaign sketch in spoilers, since it will contain spoilers. You sound like you're the GM in this campaign but still.
This'll be a long campaign, for sure, and it needs players not too familiar with the background ideally. Also, it excludes SRR, because the overlap with UB there is just too great.
I'll put a campaign sketch in spoilers, since it will contain spoilers. You sound like you're the GM in this campaign but still.
[ Spoiler ]
This'll be a long campaign, for sure, and it needs players not too familiar with the background ideally. Also, it excludes SRR, because the overlap with UB there is just too great.
Also: Have players willing to have their hard-earned cash and contacts be mulched by enraged fleshforms.
Pull no punches, the Bug-arc is BRUTAL for players who haven't built their characters into magi-adept bugstompers.
And make it thick with horror - the Universal Brotherhood is ubiquitous now, they're everywhere, they're anyone, they're everyone. Play it that way.
Poison in the soycafe, being framed for crimes that were never defined - the hive is everywhere and is learning how to human better with the more fleshies it has.
That being said, if you've got Troll Physadepts with killing hands and polearm weapon foci, then you're laughing.
-Tir
Pull no punches, the Bug-arc is BRUTAL for players who haven't built their characters into magi-adept bugstompers.
And make it thick with horror - the Universal Brotherhood is ubiquitous now, they're everywhere, they're anyone, they're everyone. Play it that way.
Poison in the soycafe, being framed for crimes that were never defined - the hive is everywhere and is learning how to human better with the more fleshies it has.
That being said, if you've got Troll Physadepts with killing hands and polearm weapon foci, then you're laughing.
-Tir
By the way, I haven't written it yt, but thanks for the help. It's appreciated.
I'm currently in the process of reading UniversalBrotherhood and re-reading 2XS.
Honestly, UB's scenario is a total disappointment.
That's a 6th grade level of conspiracy.
So you get the job of finding back a girl who disappeared. You meet 2 NPC (her neighbor and a bug infiltrated as seer/psychologue) and.... this leads to Pat Bambra ... which leads to this : the UB tries actively and very obviously to kill you. Which make you uncover the UB.
What the hell?
It's awfully dumb and easy. It breaks your suspension of disbelief. It's not even scary.
I will have to rewrite that in depth.
I'm currently in the process of reading UniversalBrotherhood and re-reading 2XS.
Honestly, UB's scenario is a total disappointment.
That's a 6th grade level of conspiracy.
So you get the job of finding back a girl who disappeared. You meet 2 NPC (her neighbor and a bug infiltrated as seer/psychologue) and.... this leads to Pat Bambra ... which leads to this : the UB tries actively and very obviously to kill you. Which make you uncover the UB.
What the hell?
It's awfully dumb and easy. It breaks your suspension of disbelief. It's not even scary.
I will have to rewrite that in depth.
QUOTE (sk8bcn @ Nov 25 2019, 06:48 PM) 
Honestly, UB's scenario is a total disappointment.
That's a 6th grade level of conspiracy.
That's a 6th grade level of conspiracy.
That may be, and it is quite likely that my then GM fiddled with the scenario in unholy ways when we played it, but I've been playing pen and paper RPGs for 35 years, and in all of that time there's only one or two other story arcs that came within spitting distance of UB in terms of suspension of disbelief (on our side of the table).
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