From: RAGLAN54@CCVAX.MMC.EDU * Sr/WoD Crossover Continued * So let's see if we can put together a unified cosmology for the Shadowrun/World of Darkness crossover. Basically, the WoD runs pretty much the same up until the appearance of spike babies and the events immediately foreshadowing the Awakening. The Caine myth, the Impergium etc. were basically all Fourth World phenomena that could no longer be properly understood when the Fourth World ended and the magical energies that imbued the legends with their power were no longer readily accessible. I'll make some more extensive commentary on the Fourth World and its relation to the WoD at a later date. Okay, so that brings us up to the Day of the Dragons. What happened here was that the various forces arrayed against the Technomancy, combined with the natural cycles of Gaia and the mana/vis/flux/whatever flows, overloaded the Technomancy's reality construct, and all hell broke loose. Reality came apart at the seams. The Technomancy scurried around frantically trying to patch the holes, and almost succeeded, but then ten years after the Day of the Dragons and the reappearance of Elves and Dwarves, the cycle peaked again, the patches gave way and goblinization occurred. The Crash of '29 was a shot taken by the Technomancers at the Virtual Adepts. It backfired in a way, resulting in a new class of Sleepers who were not only aware of the potentials of VR, but who were using it on a daily basis, imbuing the concept with power in the minds of the other Sleepers. Yes, deckers are evangelists for the Virtual Adepts, even if they don't know it. The Technomancy has been trying to regain control ever since. The megacorps, with their pocket realities and restrictive environments, are the tools the Technocracy is using to try and regain control. Wage mages are Technomantic efforts to co-opt magic, and make it part of the Technomantic reality by demystifying the use of magic and making an association between magic and corporate power. Shamans do not fit into this model, which is why there are very few corporate shamans. The NAN is a major breakaway from Technomantic reality. Tir Tairngire and Tir na nOg, which originally promised to be magical preserves, have been corrupted by the Technocracy, and have a strong Technomantic urge at their core. The Masquerade continues, using the media and the HMHVV retrovirus as tools of misdirection. Yes, vampires exist, but it's just a horrible disease, there's nothing mystical or old about it, just a new virus that's going around, and science will find a cure for it soon enough. This of course plays into the hands of the Technomancers, and there's always the possibility of some radical Discordian breaching the Masquerade to break the hold the Technocracy is regaining. Gehenna has happened before, at the end of the Fourth World, some 6000 years ago, but the only people who remember what really happened are the Antediluvians -- a misnomer; Fourth Worlder would be more accurate -- and a few Faerie, now known as Elves. The Winnowing is remembered in Kindred legend as the fall of the Second City, but it didn't happen quite that way. There will be another Gehenna, another Winnowing, in the SR era, probably about the same time the Horrors show up again. The Garou are also allowing the HMHVV retrovirus to misdirect the general populace, but people are becoming aware that there are shapeshifters who are mystical in nature, and many of these are seen as Robin Hood-type crusaders against the megacorps. Slowly, a populace is being brought up that is not thrown into delirium by the sight of a Garou in Crinos form. The various Traditions of Mages can basically be treated as Initiatory Groups in SR, with all of them having the stricture of Secrecy, and most of them having the stricture of Fraternity. The various splinter trads would be groups that managed to form their own astral link (Umbra connection?). As far as astral quests go, well, that's basically travel into the deep Umbra, with the Watcher being loosely equivalent to the Gauntlet. Imagine how powerful the Sons of Jupiter would be with the ability to discover the True Name of anything with a successful astral quest. Ascension is a term used in both the WoD materials and in SR. See the Tir na nOg sourcebook, the chapter on Ways and Paths, for a description of a Mage-style tradition that leads to Ascension. As well, the Earthdawn manual has a section on the Passions that is enlightening. Basically, in the Fourth World, or possibly before it, many beings Ascended. One of these beings was Caine, or someone who formed the core of the legend. Others were the Passions. Each of the Passions Ascended around the virtues they came to embody. This produces a frightening problem: the attack of the Horrors drove three of the Passions mad. This means that there are critters out there that can cause damage to Ascended beings, and according to FASA, the Horrors will be returning in the Sixth World, as the Umbra (Astral Space) draws closer to physical reality. So: Ascension is possible under both systems, and provides a unifying link. According to FASA, one of the founders of Tir na nOg Ascended not too long ago. Now, according to their rules, Liam O'Connor Ascended just a very few years after the Awakening, and the Path he was on required many years to complete, therefore he had to have been working on it before the Awakening, therefore his tradition and path had to be around for a long time, therefore Mages existed before the Awakening, tying in Mage. This may not be terribly coherent, but it at least lays out part of the unified cosmology for the crossover. Basically, the WoD is pre-Awakening, SR is post-Awakening, and the WoD still exists under the cover of SR's corporate reality. Shadowrunners are fighting against the Technocracy by simply existing. They don't have to know about the Technocracy. Simply by existing, they provide an example that it is possible to live and to make a living outside of the Technocracy's structures. This is why the media portrays shadowrunners in such a negative light -- the media is controlled largely by the Technocracy, and they want to trash the image of shadowrunners. As well, the media does its best to demystify magic and to maintain the Masquerade, using the HMHVV retrovirus as a Purloined Letter. The struggle against the Wyrm still goes on, both more and less openly. Many people are overtly fighting against the Technocracy and the effects of the Wyrm, without knowing exactly what it is they're really fighting. Many people wander through a world that they only partially understand, and the part they do know terrifies them. SR with more of a Gothic-Punk edge and a strong undercurrent of conspiracies at war with each other. I like it. A few notes about my current campaign: Characters: Duchess Ria, an Elven mage from Tir Tairngire. Her husband, Sean Benton, a physical adept, former Urban Brawl superstar, knighted for service to the High Prince and now a Tir citizen. Phoenix, a Cherokee, another physical adept (Coyote totem, coyote shapeshifter) and budding simsense star, contracted to Sony. Benjamin, a Bear shaman from the Tir. Onyx, heavily chromed decker from Seattle; he knows he's hot and doesn't care what you think. Jonathan, Elven Wolf shaman from the Salish-Sidhe lands, wolf shapeshifter. Wall, a Troll mercenary with a hyperthyroid condition, known for getting charged triple for the buffet. Roger, Ork rigger and bodyguard to the Duchess, former teammate of Sean (combat biker). The group is presently pursuing an old enemy of theirs, Belainesh Teka, a human mage with a psionic teleport ability (which Sean also has). Teka is on the board of directors of Phillips Bioproducts, a megacorp that she helped create, along with Richard Greer, her former lover and Lodge leader, and Granville Lyles, a wiz-hot decker. Greer and most of the Lodge were killed by Ria and her allies, while trying to summon something big and nasty from the Umbra (can we say Gate Cthulhu?). This was over about two years of playing time, chasing Greer all over the planet, political manueverings back home in the Tir that caused interference, all sorts of drek. These were beginning level characters at the start of the campaign, and two powergamers were killed out along the way. I do not run a munchkin campaign, regardless of what the foregoing may suggest. The group has decided that they are sick and tired of Belainesh, especially after a sniper attack on Ria's father, and Phoenix receiving the head of one of his contacts in the mail. They've gone out to try and track this woman down and do away with her once and for all. What they don't know is that two or three months ago, she was Embraced by the Ventrue. The situation is this: Ventrue is having a love/hate relationship with Tremere. The clans agreed via treaty to cooperate in a venture to experiment with Embracing a Mage, to see if the magic would be kept. However, there are factions within Tremere that do not like this at all. Thaumaturgy is the Tremere discipline; it is what makes the clan unique, it is their territory and they do not approve of Ventrue poaching on their patch. So, a faction of the Tremere are secretly working against the project. Belainesh was Embraced at 9th Generation, but has diablerised her way up to 7th, taking a Nosferatu for 8, and gaining Obfuscate, and a Tremere for 7, gaining Thaumaturgy. If the Tremere find out about her diablerie, they'll toss the pact with the Ventrue out the door into the sun, and Belainesh right after it. The Nosferatu know about her diablerie, but are waging a quiet, subtle campaign, as they tend to do. They have provided information to the Brujah and the Gangrel about the project, and have whispered rumors to certain Tremere. The Malkavians have overheard some things, and taken an interest, which has resulted in a cryptic warning being delivered to the players. Belainesh has made use of a favor to get Vicissitude used to resculpt her appearance. She is now taller, fair of skin, and is living under the name Svetlana Dimitrioff, Russian accent and all. Spinning Jenny (thank you for the New York Malks!) sent Ria a message from a public com, paying with the equivalent of cash, so that the message could not be traced back any further than the phone booth: Fear the Bear. Well, Russia used to be symbolized by a bear. However, there's a Bear totem shaman in the group, and there's also a bear on the flag of Heidelburg, where the group was planning on travelling to. The players are very confused by this message, but have travelled on to Heidelburg anyway. There, they will receive another cryptic message. During a street festival, a Skye Mane (again, thanks) will approach Phoenix and tell him, The Wyrm has set his eye upon ye. Fear not, laddie, we're wi'ye. He'll then do a fast fade, using an ungodly-level stealth skill to lose himself in the crowd. Phoenix, who has recently ticked off a dragon, will no doubt assume that he has picked up an ally against Lofwyr, the street term for dragon being "wizworm". It helps that that term has been used recently. The Kindred are concerned about this group's being involved in the situation. The Brujah and the Gangrel are going to take a direct hand in preserving the Masquerade, by Embracing the decker and Benton respectively. The Garou are also involved, obviously, and I'm thinking seriously of tossing in the Trenchcoaters and the Virtual Adepts just for confusion's sake. I mean, let's face it, there's a secret war going on, there's lots of sides, and there's going to be lots of groups trying to get in on the action. I'm handling vampires and magic on a simple basis: Embracing does not sever the mage's astral link, but does tie it to her blood pool. One Blood Point equals two dice in the Magic Pool, and one point of the Magic Stat. Every two dice used from the Magic Pool burns a point of vitae, and temporarily knocks off a point of Magic. Let your Magic stat drop to 0, and you lose your astral link and your magic. Permanently. I'm using thanatos' Surrender rules. Imagine a Kindred Surrendering to magic - two or three rounds of spelltossing, then torpor and loss of magic, from neither of which they ever recover. That ought to put a nice game-balancing lid on things. * Avatar in SR terms * I really haven't tried to explain the Avatar in SR terms. SR studiously avoids terms like soul, Avatar, etc., preferring to tapdance around the concept with Essence, the meassure of the intactness of the aura. I would say that the Avatar is something that the subcultures, Kindred, Garou, Mage, Wraith and Fae are aware of, but that the mainstream does not generally believe in. This could be the reason why Mages still pick up Paradox -- anything that concerns the Avatar defies the general belief and therefore the general structure of reality, and thus incurs Paradox. As far as Kindred doing magic, I'm allowing this only for people who were magically-active before the Embrace, and then I'm clamping down hard on it. By using the Surrender rules (thank you, Thanatos, for a very nice bit of game-balance) and the rule that if the vamp burns off too much Blood Pool she loses her connection to the Umbra and thus her ability to do magic, I think I've balanced it out pretty well. What I'm basically doing is setting the stage for a hated NPC to fall by her own arrogance, Surrendering in the middle of a fight with the good guys. I haven't decided what she's going to Surrender to, but her lowest disciplines are Obfuscate and Thaumaturgy. The latter -- can anybody say torpor? * SR/VtM Crossover * Okay, a few more thoughts. An SR mage who was Embraced could keep his magic only by keeping up his supply of blood points. SR magic is based on connection with the Gaiasphere, the field of ambient life energy around the planet, and on connection with the astral plane, represented by the character's Essence and Magic stats respectively. If the character loses Essence, he also loses Magic. Okay, 2 blood points equals one point of Essence. Burn off too much blood, and your Essence drops too low to maintain the connections, and you lose the magic. Permanently. So, a Kindred SR Mage is going to have to keep up his blood supply, which means a steady diet of vitae, which means the possibility of Surrender (I really like the idea!). Nasty situation. Certainly a major act of game balance and antimunchkinism. Keep up your blood supply and risk Surrender, or ease off on the vitae and risk losing your magic forever. OK. Frenzy: I see Frenzy in SR terms as adding a temporary point to all three physical stats, Strength, Body and Quickness, while deducting a point each from Willpower and Intelligence, so no change in Reaction. Add a die to Initiative for the increased speed of the berserker, and a Power Level to any physical attacks (Armed/Unarmed Combat skills), but also add a target number penalty of 1 to all physical attacks because of the wild, unreasoning nature of the attack. Rotschreck (if I understand it correctly as being a greater Frenzy) would add two to physical stats, nuke off two from Int and WIll, add 2d6 to Init, two Power Levels to physical attacks but give a target number penalty of 3 to all actions. As well, there's the usual problems associated with Frenzy from VtM to consider. Not hard to adapt. Humanity=Essence, like above for magic. Lose Humanity, lose Essence, lose Magic. Gain Humanity, gain Essence, but Magic has to be increased through Initiation just like normal. You have to go through ordeals to recover your connection to the magic. And you still have to have some shred of Magic left for the ordeals to work. From: Steve.Gilham@wizards.com (Entropy requires no maintenance) * SR/WoD crossover * The spin I put on the idea as a background to my SR game was that the Awakening in 2011 was a Garou/Nuwisha masterstroke against the Wyrm; not winning the Apocalypse, but postponing it. After all, wasn't the key figure in the Great Ghost Dance called Daniel Howling Coyote. [At this point pause to ignore the FASA line that such displays of magic make more imminent the return of the Horrors out of EarthDawn *blech*] Now, with the arrival of Mage, one might consider it instead as a partial Ascension of the Dreamspeakers; or perhaps both. Argument for the former:- the ecological repair implied by the Awakening esp. in Amazonia. Argument for the latter:- Howling Coyote was a Shaman; and the Dreamspeaker Ascension is the Awakening of Gaia. Random idea on these lines:- a toxic shaman is the Dreamspeaker equivalent of the Black Spirals; a Nephandus here on Earth. The Paradox-free vulgar mages of SR don't really fit in with the Mage idea; you could say that post-Awakening, the mage casts as if in the Umbra, but that doesn't do what I hoped Mage might, which is provide a system that places a sensible limit on the mage's ability to do magic (having had to deal with an empirically-optimised wired Combat Mage who never took drain while doing outrageous amounts of magic).