Shadowrun 2050 - Back to (old) school

The year is 2050. Magic is back, but still new - for most - and most of it is still unknown.

The setting of this campaign is 'good old' (nostalgic?) Shadowrun in the Seattle of 2050, which is, at its core, a 1980's dystopian cyberpunk future: Japanese culture and megacorporations are still an important thing, the streets are dark, dirty and dangerous, rich corporations do whatever they want and dangerous animals - human or otherwise - hunt the powerless.

The campaign will focus on a group of Shadowrunners but not necessarily follow a 'Shadowrun of the week' format. While Shadowruns and other jobs will play their part, hopefully the protagonists' motivations, flaws, goals, dreams, allies and enemies will provide a lot of narrative drive by themselves. In other words, this campaign is ideal for players who seek to drive the story forward with their own input instead of just consuming plots provided by the GM.

In the Seattle of 2050, Shadowrunners are not a “big” thing, just a minor, specialised subgroup of the criminal underworld, for whom reputation important and death may come very cheap. To know the right people and be known by the right people can make the difference between life and death and so social skills are often more important than the ability to hit something with a gun. Connections are important and so, gaining new ones and maintaining current ones will definitely be part of the game.

Currently, I tend to the Shadowrun 4 Anniversary rules, but this is not yet fixed and up for discussion. Shadowrun 5&6 it out, though, sorry, not sorry about that. Even if the campaign will be played in German, I will refer mostly to the English version of the rules (but using the German ones is totally fine). If you are not familiar with the rules, asking for help is fine.

Assuming the 4th Edition rules will be used, the following things are noteworthy

• If you don't know the rules, quick-start rules are available for free
• I can also provide a version of Chummer (a character generator tool) for 4th edition
• In the original 2050 rules, hermeticism and shamanism were handled with slightly different rules, esp. regarding spirit conjuring. This is also handled in the Shadowrun 2050 sourcebook. Not sure if I'm still a fan of that distinction, so I'll discuss the option to use the standard SR4 rules for all traditions with the magician(s) player(s).

The characters for this campaign will be starting or aspiring Shadowrunners, with at least a bit of connection to the criminal underworld. A sararīman (wage slave) fresh from a corp is not suited, but one who has already spent the last 6 months running from his corp and already had to do some shady jobs to survive might just be. The characters will (most likely) have at least heard some of the others names already - or, preferably, already know some of them. Defining the connection web between the characters will be part of session zero.

Ideally, characters will be more “broad” than overspecialised, so please avoid min-maxing and simply create “round” characters. Characters will be built with the 400 build point system.

Social abilities will play a major role, so it is heavily suggested that every character has at least some ways (aka “skills”) of dealing with people that don't involve force. Not everyone has to be a 'face', but nobody should start stuttering when someone asks a dangerous question.

Since this is the early 2050, equipment, magic, etc. might be limited, but exceptions can be available with good reason. Part of the fun of this campaign will be to explore the hidden things in the Shadowrun universe and use them against your enemies before they become common knowledge.

If someone wants to play a decker, be welcome, we will find a way to make it work, if not, a suitable connection will exist that takes over this in the background.

Metahumans are of course totally acceptable, metavariants (mostly) as well (just be aware that they are somewhat rate, so you might stick out). Not available currently are Changelings (no SURGE yet), HMHVV infects (might happen during gameplay, though), AIs (don't exist… yet), Technomancers (same), non-metahuman sapients & free spirits, let's keep this a bit more down to earth for starters. The “latent Dracomorphosis” quality could be taken but it's positive effects would not come into play for quite a while (but there might be interested parties, who want to… acquire… such a character, one way or another).

Somewhere between Pink Mohawk and Black Trenchcoat - it's also a bit up for discussion. Personally I take inspiration from series like 'Burn Notice' and 'Leverage', especially for the more social aspects, but in the end, it's still Cyberpunk and sticking it to the man can be a great motivator, so if the characters start out a bit rough around the edges that's preferable over polished professionals without any emotions.

Shadowrunning is a job, but your life is not (only) your job. Of course there will be runs, but characters should also chase their own goals, have their own problems, friends, enemies, etc. and all the stories that come from that.

Reputation & Street cred will be an important factor and knowing who's who in the streets never hurts. Connections will also play an important role and it's assumed that the characters will pick up quite a few on their few (as well as enemies).

Story will depend heavily on the characters' motivations, goals, backgrounds, etc. and be influenced by the big changes happening in the world around you - or you influencing them, let's see. Official adventures will be avoided, but will happen in the background or around the characters.

• Gm Notes (only for me, sorry)