3687 lines
160 KiB
Plaintext
3687 lines
160 KiB
Plaintext
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THE FIRST ANNUAL NEO-ANARCHISTS GUIDE TO EVERYTHING ELSE<53>
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"It is easier not to believe in electrons than in dragons: electrons, at
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least taken singly, won't try to make a meal of you."
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Stanislaw Lem
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The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age
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Edited and Compiled by Jerry Stratton
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jerry@teetot.acusd.edu
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jerry@usdcsv.acusd.edu
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Compuserve: 76506,636
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The copyrights of each article are held by the original authors.
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This compilation is Copyright <20> 1992 Jerry Stratton.
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Distribute freely, at no cost to the user or profit for yourself.
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Welcome to the First Annual Neo-Anarchists Guide to Everything Else. If
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we're lucky, this will be a semi-regular electronically-distributed
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magazine devoted to FASA's Shadowrun<75> role-playing game. In the NAGEE,
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we'll be covering everything else. Everything that our contributors feel
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should have been covered, but wasn't. And, just things that look nice,
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'cause looking good is the only way to go.
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If you'd like to contribute, here's the kind of stuff we're looking for:
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1) Area Descriptions
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2) Adventures
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3) Fiction
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4) Spells
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5) Spirits
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6) Cyberware, Weapons, and Equipment
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7) Creatures
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8) Reviews
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9) Everything Else
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Take a look at this issue for an example. If you see something that
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inspires you, send us your inspiration. If you see something that's
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missing, send us that as well. If you have no idea what to write about,
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describe your home town as it will exist in the year 2050, after the
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awakening. Or write a story about one of your characters' adventures.
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Or, just sit back and read. They also serve who just chip in.
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Tell us what you think about the articles, as well. If we get letters,
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we'll print them, just like a real magazine. Heck, you can even send
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them in shadowtalk.
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By the way, this Guide comes in two versions -- Rich Text Format (for
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Word 4.0 and other word processors) and an ascii text version. The ascii
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version contains the same information as the Word version, but doesn't
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look nearly as spiffy. If you don't have a friend with a Macintosh and
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Word 4.0 (or higher), expand your circle of friends: contacts are, after
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all, the key to survival.
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Many thanks to all those who have contributed to this issue.
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CONTENTS:
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Bulletin Board
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Fort Hollywood
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Louder Than A Bomb
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The Meat Market
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Dead Zones
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Shadow U.
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The Neo-Anarchists' On-Line Grimoire
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Master Spell List
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The Pharmacy
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Shadow Space
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Insanity
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A Confederate Cajun in Southern California
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Law of the Pack
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The Chipper
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The Annual Neo-Anarchists Guide to Everything Else is published whenever
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I feel like it. I'm Jerry Stratton. My address is 4129 1/2 Utah Street,
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San Diego, CA 92104. The single copy price is jack, and there is no
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subscription. Direct inquires to Jerry Stratton at
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jerry@teetot.acusd.edu or jerry@usdcsv.acusd.edu on internet, or
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76506,636 on Compuserve. The above addresses are subject to change,
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especially Snail Mail. The First Annual Neo-Anarchists Guide to
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Everything Else was released on March 15, 1992. Beware the Ides of
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March, chummer. Current issues should be available on Compuserve's RPG
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group and via anonymous ftp at usdcsv.acusd.edu in the rpg/shadowrun
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directory. Shadowrun is a registered trademark of FASA, Inc.
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THE BULLETIN BOARD
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From: Silver Cianide
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Address: <jerry@teetot.acusd.edu>
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Date: Wed, 11 Mar 52 09:27:11
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To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
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Subject: The Bulletin Board
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Well, the bulletin board for the Neo-Anarchists Guide to Everything Else
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is now officially up. Send your comments, ideas, information, warnings,
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and just plain drek to the Bulletin Board via me, Silver Cianide, at
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jerry@teetot.acusd.edu.
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From: Maximum Overload
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Address: <gaul@wam.umd.edu>
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Date: Wed, 11 Mar 52 23:07:54 -0500
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To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
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Subject: Orichalum Cyberarms
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How 'bout this one... to ponder, there are no real rules in this one,
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merely an idea.
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The Orichalum Cyberarm... Ideal for punching, plus a good focus as
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well... Mind you, the mage using this does lose a point of essence, but
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the fact that there is a focus involved does compensate. Cost is the
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usual... Cyberarm cost+(rating x 300,000); A bit steep, but when you
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consider the possibilities (orichalum spurs, razors, etc.) it works out.
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I doubt Orichalum Decks would be useful (magic and VR doesn't mix at
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all!) and vehicles are right out.
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A little background...I ran into a CorpMage with one of these. Dear ol'
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Max Overload (El Rigger Mejor, c'est moi) hit him with a panzer. Just
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cuz you're magic don't mean you're invulnerable to tech.
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From: Maximum Overload
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Address: <gaul@wam.umd.edu>
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Date: Thu, 12 Mar 52 19:37:49 -0500
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To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
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Subject: BloodRunners
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Somewhere in California (any place, really) there is a growing gang
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called the BloodRunners. Even for a Sprawl Gang they are vicious and
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cruel. They are all of mixed race, creed, and subspecies, but they all
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share a common bond. Anger and hate. Their leadership are mostly
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Vampiric, and most underlings are not, but (when they prove themselves)
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are infected as they rise in rank. The Yaks are using them more and more
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often as hit teams or enforcers (since they are rather effective), and
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the Seolpa Rings are beginning to realize their potential as well. Both
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are actively employing the BloodRunners for various jobs, although each
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are unaware of the others presence. The BloodRunners don't dress like a
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gang, they all wear normal clothing (so as not to make them easily
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distinguishable), however, they do all wear black silk shirts so they
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can recognize each other.
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The BloodRunners are extremely dangerous... Not to be taken lightly. If
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ever confronted, pray. Some of us carry silver crosses for that purpose.
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Another characteristic worth mentioning- whether or not the gang member
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is infected with the Vampiric Virus, all members drink the blood of the
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slain after a skirmish or battle. They even scare the I-Marines.
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I ran into one once - With an Armored ATV. Had to back over it twice and
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then tossed it into the Pacific. Needless to say, I now live in FDC.
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From: Silver Cianide
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Address: <jerry@teetot.acusd.edu>
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Date: Sat, 14 Mar 52 09:18:50
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To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
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Subject: BloodRunners
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Fraggin Christ! Does anyone else have any confirmation of this?
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From: TAG
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Address: dmm@linde.harvard.edu
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Date: Sun, 15 Mar 52 07:07:56 EST
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To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
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Subject: The Barrier
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My party is attempting to circumvent the primary problems e.g.
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insanity/death associated with the barrier by entering a state of
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"cryogenic statis" in a life support unit on the way up. Why cryo? We
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hope that our lowered body functions and reduced auras due to being
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enclosed in high tech machinery will help us survive. We have already
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decided we can deal with the rest of the problems. Dave will be there
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with them and could use your input.
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From: Silver Cianide
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Address: <jerry@teetot.acusd.edu>
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Date: Sun, 15 Mar 52 08:41:55
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To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
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Subject: The Barrier
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Well, I can't name my sources, but you might look at the article in this
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issue of the NAGEE (Shadow Space). It describes the state of astral
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space beyond the barrier and in the void. (It also includes your group's
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findings on the barrier. Thanks much! Not everyone would have been
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willing to share such hard-won data.)
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I think I speak for many when I say we await your findings avidly. I
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hope you come back to tell us what's out there.
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FORT HOLLYWOOD
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WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
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"I think you're wild.
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You're chrome on my cyber, Hollywood Child."
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-- Elven Ozone, Creamtronic Dreams
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Disclaimer: Hey! I get to write something for the Anarchists' Guide!
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Rock on! I've tried to make sure this is as accurate as possible, and
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I've called on quite a few of my friends to add their comments. Enjoy,
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chemsabes.
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Jerry Stratton, Silver Cianide
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jerry@teetot.acusd.edu
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LOS ANGELES
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A SHORT HISTORY OF HELL
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The first thing people see when flying into Los Angeles at night is the
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sea of light. Los Angeles is the largest metrozone in North America.
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Extending from the Angeles National Forest 160 kilometers down to
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Northern San Clemente, from the Pacific Ocean 100 kilometers to Palm
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Springs, Los Angeles is solid urbania. There are sections of Los Angeles
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that haven't been seen by outside eyes for 20 years or more. East Los
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Angeles and the Watts District are today's versions of our grandparents'
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uncharted jungles. Who can forget Brigit McSidhe's classic performance
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in Tarzana of the Jungle?
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Landing at LAX, Los Angeles is the largest jewel in the world, a
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nightlight of immense proportions. The third thickest smog in the world
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makes it sparkle like chrome on a poseur.
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Describing the lights of Los Angeles in the twentieth century, Douglas
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Adams said:
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"... but light is meant to illuminate something, and having driven
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through what this particularly dramatic sea of light was illuminating
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they didn't think much of it."
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Mr. Adams also described Los Angeles as "...being like several thousand
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square miles of [...] junk mail, but without the same sense of moral
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depth. Plus the air is, for some reason, yellow."
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Of course, today it's brown. If you plan on spending any time outside,
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bring a filter.
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He makes a good point. Los Angeles is now a rat's maze of walls and
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highways. In the jungles, there is no law and no escape. All areas
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around a jungle are walled, with the result being the jungles are walled
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in. Gangs rule like ancient Irish marauders.
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>>>[You'll need weaponry in the jungles, but don't flaunt it. People
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will die for a good weapon in the zones of LA, and gang leaders
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will not hesitate to sacrifice their gangs for a good automatic.]<<<
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-- Erol Flin (10:11:54/01-01-50)
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>>>[Don't even be seen with smart goggles. You'll be wading in corpses
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in seconds.]<<<
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-- Chrome Charlie (09:54:12/01-01-50)
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HIGHWAYS AND LOWAYS
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In Los Angeles you only need a drivers' license to drive the highways,
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since that's the only place where the CHP patrols. Local police will
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only require that you have a credstick or other form of identification.
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A drivers' license is a valid form of identification, of course.
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Highways:
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2 Santa Monica Blvd
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134 Ventura Frwy
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210/30 Foothill Frwy
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170 Hollywood Frwy
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42/5 Santa Ana Frwy
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10 (West) Santa Monica Frwy
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110 Harbor/Pasadena Frwy
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405 (from 101 to 2) San Diego Frwy
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5 (North of 10) Golden State Frwy
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10 (West to 210) Santa Monica Frwy
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1 Pacific Coast Hwy
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Loways:
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405 (except 101 to 2) San Diego Frwy
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101 Ventura/Hlywd Frwy
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66 Foothill Blvd
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5 (except N of 10) Santa Ana Frwy
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10 (East to 210) San Bernardino Frwy
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710 (except N of 10) Long Beach Frwy
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39 Beach Blvd
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72 Whittier Blvd
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>>>[Last time I was in Hollywood, I was stopped from entering Hwy 101.
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Security officer recommended I just turn around unless I had an
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automatic of some kind. I guess the rent-a-car looked too sedate.]<<<
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-- MicroMara (19:12:34/01-02-50)
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>>>[You were in LA without a weapon?]<<<
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-- Chrome Charlie (10:07:11/01-03-50)
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>>>[I had an Ingram under the seat, but I wasn't going to show it to
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a cop!]<<<
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-- MicroMara (18:49:41/01-03-50)
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>>>[Why? Cops admire a good weapon as much as anyone else.]<<<
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-- Security Czech (20:52:02/01-03-50)
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If you're going to drive a highway, you'll need a permit. Highways are
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strictly regulated to avoid traffic problems. There are 24 colors, each
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for a specific hour, and you buy the color(s) you need. The Gold Permit
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is rare and expensive, but it gives you full access to the highway you
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ride. The Gold Permit costs 20,000<30>. Standard Permits cost 1,200<30>, and
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permits last for one year. You can get a Commuter Permit for 1,800<30>,
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which gives you the choice of two hours, but they must be at least 6
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hours apart. If you want one for a prime hour (6,7,8, and 9 in the
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morning, or 3,4,5,6,7 or 8 in the afternoon), apply early. The waiting
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period for these ranges from 2-12 months, depending on the highway.
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Others have a waiting period of from 0 to 11 weeks.
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If you need to use the highway now, you can wait in the daily lane. This
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allows you to use the highway once, for up to an hour. You'll need to
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buy another daily for your return trip. Dailies cost 10<31> normally, 15<31>
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on weekends (6 PM Friday to 4 AM Monday).
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>>>[Be prepared to wait up to 3-4 hours on Friday and Saturday nights.
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And the Hollywood offramps are usually locked out after 11 PM those
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nights.]<<<
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-- Thomas Chin (03:39:25/01-03-50)
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>>>[Damn cruisers.]<<<
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-- Chrome Charlie (10:09:11/01-03-50)
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>>>[The chips will stop and arrest anyone driving with an incorrect
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permit. They do not want another disaster like the Highway 101 fiasco.
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If you miss your time slot, you've just missed a day of work.]<<<
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-- MicroMara (19:02:12/01-03-50)
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>>>[Why not take the bus? They've got Gold Permits.]<<<
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-- Security Czech (20:58:59/01-03-50)
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>>>[Sure. And you'll be lucky if any part of your car remains at all in
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|
|
the bus parking lot. They're guarded by incompetent orcs on meth.<<<]
|
|||
|
|
-- Bible Bob (00:05:32/01-03-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Hey! My brother-in-law is a parking attendant for CalTrans.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Erol Flin (10:01:41/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[See?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie (10:29:29/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The best way to get onto the Highway is to rent a car with the right
|
|||
|
|
permit. Rent-a-car agencies by permits in allotments. Renting a permit
|
|||
|
|
with your car usually adds 20-60<36> per day, depending on the time slot.
|
|||
|
|
Or 400-1000<30> for a Gold.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Hank Spank Williams
|
|||
|
|
(13:21:05/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Don't think you can fool a chip with a colored sticker. The colors
|
|||
|
|
of the permit are for you, not the cops. The permits are actually
|
|||
|
|
upcoded for ultraviolet scan.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Puestiel (14:42:20/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Which brings up a little known fact: when you buy a permit, your
|
|||
|
|
name goes into a police file (easy to get into, my decker friends tell
|
|||
|
|
me). Chip copters automatically scan every car they pass, and the
|
|||
|
|
computer can tell if the car has been reported stolen or if there's
|
|||
|
|
anything the police want to talk with you about.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- MicroMara (18:48:02/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Deckers got friends? Anyway, it also means they keep track of who's
|
|||
|
|
been where, don't they?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Lester Riverfield
|
|||
|
|
(19:18:21/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Loways do not require permits. Bring beer, a pizza, and a weapon. You'll
|
|||
|
|
be going about two kilometers an hour at best. Many people on the Loways
|
|||
|
|
live in their vehicles.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Of course they do. They lost their lease while they were stuck on
|
|||
|
|
the road.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- MicroMara (19:22:34/01-03-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The best way to get around on the Loways is by bike. Gotta look out
|
|||
|
|
for the assholes, though. Never know when someone's going to swerve or
|
|||
|
|
open a door.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Erol Flin (10:11:09/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Loway 101 has the best parties]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie (10:37:29/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Make sure your credstick is green. Food copters will lower food,
|
|||
|
|
drinks, water, and gas. But it costs. About triple standard prices. Oh,
|
|||
|
|
and bring cash or barter for the less legal stuff.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Feral (12:03:58/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS IN LOS ANGELES
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DISNEYLAND
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Disneyland was founded nearly a century ago as the dream of pioneer vid
|
|||
|
|
animator Walt Disney. Disneyland is by far the best children's show of
|
|||
|
|
the awakened world. The Adult price is 40<34>, and the Child (14 or under)
|
|||
|
|
price is 30<33>.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[You can get a 10<31> discount at just about any Ralph's. And Disney is
|
|||
|
|
always doing special promotions.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- John (02:33:11/01-02-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Disney security is top-notch. They don't want anything screwing up
|
|||
|
|
the kiddies' fun. And believe me, they can hide a lot of weaponry inside
|
|||
|
|
those stupid costumes.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- MicroMara (18:57:09/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Who the frag wants to make a run on Disneyland?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Feral (12:01:32/01-05-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE LA BREA TAR PITS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Once a major attraction in Los Angeles (The Rancho La Brea Fossil Pits),
|
|||
|
|
the tar pits were purchased by the Thessalonians, an order of mages, in
|
|||
|
|
2032. Originally, their contract required that they keep the tar pits
|
|||
|
|
open to the public, but after an altercation with the city, they closed
|
|||
|
|
their doors in 2034.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Yeah. The city was none too pleased about the drek going on there.
|
|||
|
|
In 2034 a swat team tried going in. The fireworks were incredible, but
|
|||
|
|
the mages won. Nobody's been inside the pits since then.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Puestiel (14:30:32/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[What drek? What were the Thesses doing that the city didn't like
|
|||
|
|
enough to risk taking on an order of mages?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie (10:57:01/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Now, the tar pits are covered with a wicker and mud dome, and surrounded
|
|||
|
|
by meso-american stonework. Shops nearby sell postcards and other
|
|||
|
|
memorabilia.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Yeah, and every morning the stones are covered in graffiti, and
|
|||
|
|
every morning they clean it off by nine.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Puestiel (14:41:20/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Located at 851 La Cienega, in a relatively decent section of Los
|
|||
|
|
Angeles, the LA County Museum of Art has a vast collection of modern and
|
|||
|
|
historical art. The Museum specializes in indigenous American artforms -
|
|||
|
|
from pre-Columbian Mexico and Peru to that of the Eskimo tribes of UCAS,
|
|||
|
|
and colonial America.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There are also galleries for the Italian Renaissance, the Dutch Golden
|
|||
|
|
Age, French Impressionism, and African post-Awakening.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Heh. I remember when they airlifted all the art out of the original
|
|||
|
|
location, on Wilshire Blvd, back in '29.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Puestiel (14:49:33/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Anyone know what ever happened to that building?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Bible Bob (00:12:57/01-03-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SOUTH COAST BOTANICAL GARDEN
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Located at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the South
|
|||
|
|
Coast Botanic Garden is an amazing sight for most Langelenos. Admission
|
|||
|
|
is 5<> per adult, 2<> for senior citizens and children. The garden
|
|||
|
|
contains a lake, ducks, an orchard, and a wild bird sanctuary. Plants
|
|||
|
|
from Mediterranean and African climes join with Southern California
|
|||
|
|
plants in this 87-acre planned wilderness.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The garden is a fragging weird place. Every once in a while some
|
|||
|
|
enchanter gets the idea that it makes a perfect hunting ground for bio
|
|||
|
|
supplies -- Mediterranean and African? What could be better? -- but it's
|
|||
|
|
invariably an immense waste of time, effort, and soul. The plants here
|
|||
|
|
simply cannot be enchanted.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Arden Ariadne (20:50:31/12-30-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Yeah. I was one of them. Afterwards, I checked into the history of
|
|||
|
|
the thing, and it turns out the gardens are on top of a twentieth
|
|||
|
|
century sanitary landfill. And landfill's atop an earlier diatomaceous
|
|||
|
|
earth mine. It's no fragging wonder there's no magic left there.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- John Flaring Tree (09:33:03/01-01-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HOLLYWOOD
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Hollywood has walls on three sides, and the fourth side is blocked by
|
|||
|
|
the foothills of Mt. Hollywood. Hollywood is walled from Van Ness Avenue
|
|||
|
|
in the east to Fairfax Avenue in the west, and Melrose Boulevard in the
|
|||
|
|
south. It is bordered by West Hollywood (west), Wilshire (south), and
|
|||
|
|
City College (east). Laurel Canyon City is considered by some to be part
|
|||
|
|
of Beverly Hills, and Laurel Canyon does cooperate fully with both
|
|||
|
|
Hollywood and Beverly Hills officials. Laurel Canyon is the route
|
|||
|
|
between Hollywood and Beverly Hills, since West Hollywood is walled out
|
|||
|
|
of both places. The Laurel Canyon-West Hollywood wall runs along the
|
|||
|
|
south side of Sunset Blvd.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
On weekends, outsiders try to go over the walls, especially from West
|
|||
|
|
Hollywood and City College.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Most succeed. But remember that Hollywood Security shoots to kill.
|
|||
|
|
Still, once you're inside, you're safe.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie (10:29:25/01-03-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Sure, from Security. But don't wander off the blvd at night!]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Feral (12:01:11/01-03-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The blvd fills up on Friday nights. Most shops stay open well past
|
|||
|
|
midnight, if only to protect their stores.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Hank Spank Williams (13:33:31/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The authorities recommend that tourists take a bus or a cab. There is no
|
|||
|
|
parking on weekends unless you get in Friday morning, before the morning
|
|||
|
|
rush hour. As office workers leave Hollywood, cruisers come in.
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Well, I recommend hiring a helicopter. No telling who you'll meet
|
|||
|
|
on a bus.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- MicroMara (18:37:22/01-02-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Since when was an anarchists' guide for drekkin' tourists,
|
|||
|
|
anyway?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie (10:31:21/01-03-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Incidentally, Hollywood is a Corp. It's got a CEO and a Board of
|
|||
|
|
Directors like any other. And it brings in a ton of Nuyen. Anyone taken
|
|||
|
|
a look at their balance sheet recently?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Feral (12:39:42/01-03-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HOTELS IN HOLLYWOOD
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE DUNES SUNSET HOTEL & RESTAURANT
|
|||
|
|
5625 Sunset Blvd.
|
|||
|
|
(213) 467-5171
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Dunes motel actively seeks the tourist market. It is located near
|
|||
|
|
Universal Studios, Dodger Stadium, the Hollywood Convention Center, the
|
|||
|
|
Memorial Coliseum, and, of course, Beverly Hills. They provide daily,
|
|||
|
|
inexpensive tours through Hollywood, Laurel Canyon, and Beverly Hills.
|
|||
|
|
You can expect to pay two times normal prices here. The rooms are small,
|
|||
|
|
and the Motel only has ten floors, but it is spread out over nearly an
|
|||
|
|
entire block.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HOLLYWOOD PALM HOTEL
|
|||
|
|
2005 N. Highland Ave.
|
|||
|
|
(213) 850-5811
|
|||
|
|
The Hollywood Palm cultivates an early twentieth-century charm. Near the
|
|||
|
|
famous Hollywood Bowl, the Palm is an expensive place for tourists and
|
|||
|
|
the hotel of choice for celebrities. The upper 19 floors are reserved
|
|||
|
|
for those in the acting profession, and the lower 35 floors are for the
|
|||
|
|
general public. The Palm has it's own small city -- twelve restaurants,
|
|||
|
|
a bank, a rent-a-car agency, and a small hospital.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Expect to pay approximately 4 to 5 times normal for a general-occupancy
|
|||
|
|
room in the Hollywood Palm. If you're a celebrity, you can pay up to 10
|
|||
|
|
to 20 times that, but the service is worth it.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT HOTEL
|
|||
|
|
7000 Hollywood Blvd
|
|||
|
|
(Hollywood and Orange)
|
|||
|
|
(213) 462-5400
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Hotel Roosevelt was built in the early twentieth century, renovated
|
|||
|
|
in latter part of the twentieth century, and renovated again in 2029.
|
|||
|
|
The upper floors are almost always reserved for acting ensembles and
|
|||
|
|
other luminaries. Rates for the lower floors will be about three times
|
|||
|
|
that of a comparable hotel elsewhere. Expect to pay ten to 20 times for
|
|||
|
|
an upper floor.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Roosevelt now has 50 stories, and sways like a palm tree during an
|
|||
|
|
earthquake. There are plans to add another 10 stories to the old hotel.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HOTEL HOLLYWOOD
|
|||
|
|
5825 Sunset Blvd
|
|||
|
|
(213) 462-5400
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Hotel Hollywood has just been completely renovated. It is now the
|
|||
|
|
largest hotel in Hollywood, with 79 floors.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Of course it's just been renovated. Someone blew up the last
|
|||
|
|
one.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie [10:20:32/01-03/50]
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Rates here are only about twice what you'd pay for a comparable hotel
|
|||
|
|
room elsewhere. The Hotel Hollywood used to be a seedy place, and hasn't
|
|||
|
|
yet moved beyond the tourist industry. You won't find any stars staying
|
|||
|
|
at the Hollywood.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[You can see the upper floors in the latest Neil sim -- they're using
|
|||
|
|
them for the dormitory site.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Warner Bones (08:49:31/01-07-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[There are, of course, dozens upon dozens of seedy dives in this
|
|||
|
|
town. You can get away with only moderate prices (a drekky room for what
|
|||
|
|
you'd expect to pay for a good one) if you want to.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Feral (12:21:19/01-07-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HYATT ON SUNSET
|
|||
|
|
8401 Sunset Blvd
|
|||
|
|
(213) 656-4101
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Hyatt is located between Beverly Hills and Hollywood. It's south
|
|||
|
|
side overlooks the Laurel Canyon-West Hollywood wall, and the north side
|
|||
|
|
overlooks the Hollywood Hills (Laurel Canyon). The Hyatt is a favorite
|
|||
|
|
of corps types. Corporation meetings and continental conferences are
|
|||
|
|
regularly held at the Hyatt.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Expect to pay three to five times normal for a room here. Many
|
|||
|
|
corporations have a discount at the Hyatt, so check with your boss
|
|||
|
|
first.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[My boss? Somehow I don't think the Ripper has a working relationship
|
|||
|
|
with the Hyatt on Sunset.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- MicroMara (18:46:20/01-02-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HOLLYWOOD
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
COLUMBIA RECORDS AND CHIPS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Like most record companies, CRC maintains a sizeable presence in
|
|||
|
|
Hollywood. Columbia, however, is much more ostentatious than others.
|
|||
|
|
Their building is built with floors that look vaguely like 80 disks
|
|||
|
|
stuck one on top of the other.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[They'll charge you 1<> for a tour of the place. But no free
|
|||
|
|
handouts.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie [10:20:15/01-05/50]
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
GUITAR CENTER OF HOLLYWOOD
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The famous Guitar Center chain's main store is on Sunset Boulevard near
|
|||
|
|
the border between Hollywood and Laurel Canyon. See the axes made famous
|
|||
|
|
by Paul Gilbert, Eddie Van Halen, Riot Tenzine and Torquemada, among
|
|||
|
|
many, many others.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Of course, if you don't want to spend quite so much, or the sight of
|
|||
|
|
sleeze bothers you, there are about a dozen other music stores in the
|
|||
|
|
same three block area.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Silver Cianide (10:21:51/01-03-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HOLLYWOOD BOWL
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Just head on up Highland Avenue or Cahuenga, and signs will direct you
|
|||
|
|
to the famous Hollywood Bowl. The Bowl is a wonderful concert hall. It's
|
|||
|
|
surrounded by the Hollywood Bowl theme park. The theme park is only 2<>
|
|||
|
|
if you have a ticket for a Bowl event, or 10<31> otherwise (8<> Seniors and
|
|||
|
|
children). During the summer, the Los Angeles Philharmonic plays here
|
|||
|
|
regularly. Most rock and pop tours pass through the Bowl on their way
|
|||
|
|
through the CFS.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The Bowl is truly a wonderful place to hear music. It's like
|
|||
|
|
listening to Bach somewhere deep beneath the earth.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- MicroMara (18:49:41/01-02-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE HOLLYWOOD CHRISTMAS PARADE
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For over 120 years the Hollywood Christmas Parade has been a staple of
|
|||
|
|
the Christmas season on the North American continent. Even in the depths
|
|||
|
|
of the VITAS plague, Hollywood continued to present us with a cheering
|
|||
|
|
spectacle of lightness and goodwill.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The parade is usually the Sunday following the third Thursday of
|
|||
|
|
November, for historical reasons. Many Hollywood civic groups
|
|||
|
|
participate, as do many celebrities. Since 2035, the Screen Actors Guild
|
|||
|
|
has provided a yearly show of wage mage actors sure to warm the heart.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Bleah! Bleah, bleah bleah!]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Hank Spank Williams (13:42:31/01-11-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The sign was originally built with mules and wagons in 1923. It was
|
|||
|
|
destroyed in 1978, and restored in the same year, this time with
|
|||
|
|
helicopters. Then, the sign was mostly cement, 45 feet high and 450 feet
|
|||
|
|
wide. In 2032, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce decided to bring the
|
|||
|
|
sign up to date, and after a five year celebrity fund-raising campaign,
|
|||
|
|
the familiar laser-light auto-stim sign was put in place.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The sign is part of Griffith Park, near the Griffith Park Astronomical
|
|||
|
|
Museum.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Believe it or not, the Griffith Park Rangers are trouble to mess
|
|||
|
|
with. I guess after the Lord Holies tried to blow up the sign in '47,
|
|||
|
|
Hollywood decided to hire some professionals.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Feral (13:01:53/01-07-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Old news. Sure, they did hire some pretty expert people in '48 and
|
|||
|
|
'49, but 'cost-cutting measures' forced them to go back to standard
|
|||
|
|
security in '50. So if you want to make a run on the sign (why?) you
|
|||
|
|
shouldn't have any problem.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie [10:15:28/01-08-50]
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE HOLLYWOOD STRIP
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The place to be in Hollywood on the weekends is the strip. Hollywood
|
|||
|
|
Boulevard is half of it. The other half is Sunset Boulevard. Take your
|
|||
|
|
car, your bike, or your feet, and drive from Hollywood Boulevard to Vine
|
|||
|
|
Street to Sunset Boulevard (or, if you're feeling adventurous, Melrose
|
|||
|
|
Boulevard), to . Don't take Orange, the lights only work half the time.
|
|||
|
|
And just keep circling. Stop in at the Sunset Grill for a burger if
|
|||
|
|
you're not worried about your health. And bring a gas mask.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Like filters aren't SI in Hollywood anyway? Yo, waitress! I'd like a
|
|||
|
|
burger and a side order of emph, to go!]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Hank Spank Williams (13:35:51/01-11-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Designer filters are all the rage. You can pick them up at most
|
|||
|
|
shops on the boulevard. Everywhere but Hollywood, air filters are white
|
|||
|
|
and boring.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Warner Bones [08:43:32/01-07-50]
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
One of the first things you'll notice on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine
|
|||
|
|
Street are the stars on the sidewalk. Don't look down too much, those
|
|||
|
|
holograms can get very disorienting.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[That's verity. I've seen people trip over themselves and fall into
|
|||
|
|
the street because of those things. Fortunately, traffic never moves
|
|||
|
|
faster than a crawl.<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Warner Bones (09:01:55/01-07-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
These are dedications to entertainment stars of the past and present. If
|
|||
|
|
a star has died recently, you'll see a light display and flowers above
|
|||
|
|
their star.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Heh. When Charlie Sheen died, the faux-fleurs and holo-deds came in
|
|||
|
|
from everywhere. They had to set up a special viewing room somewhere
|
|||
|
|
else, because it blocked the boulevard. And we don't let nothing block
|
|||
|
|
the boulevard.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie [10:35:09/01-03/50]
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE MELROSE WALL
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
On Melrose Boulevard you can see the South Wall -- it's right behind the
|
|||
|
|
buildings.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[You can usually find a couple of bodies there as well.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie (10:49:20/01-03-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MUSICIANS INSTITUTE
|
|||
|
|
McCadden and Hawthorne
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Hidden just off Hollywood Boulevard (and in the shadow of the Hollywood
|
|||
|
|
Dianetics Building), Musicians Institute has been churning out speed
|
|||
|
|
guitarists, bassists, drummers, synthists, and vocalists since the
|
|||
|
|
twentieth century. As their alumni, they boast of such historic greats
|
|||
|
|
as Paul Gilbert, Adrian Anders, Nathan Holm, Meci Abroux, and Teleri
|
|||
|
|
Orloff. Elven Ozone's bassist Mike Orgone swears by his BIT (Bassist
|
|||
|
|
Institute of Technology) training. If you're interested in honing your
|
|||
|
|
chops, seriously consider spending a year with the Institute.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE NEW ORC WAX MUSEUM
|
|||
|
|
Hollywood and Highland
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Once the Hollywood Wax Museum, this is one of the oldest institutions in
|
|||
|
|
Hollywood. All the stars of today and yesterday are sculpted in life-
|
|||
|
|
like wax. You can have your picture taken with anyone from Dunkelzahn to
|
|||
|
|
Neil the Ork Barbarian.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The best museum is their basement. They don't re-use their wax, just
|
|||
|
|
in case some of these has-beens ever come back into style. They've got a
|
|||
|
|
basement full of old and long-forgotten actors.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Warner Bones (09:23:21/01-07-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The reason they don't re-use them is that the real bodies are
|
|||
|
|
underneath the wax, drek-head.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie (10:21:39/01-02-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE SUNSET STRIP
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For most people, Sunset Boulevard is the other half of the Strip. It
|
|||
|
|
doesn't have the proliferation of small shops that Hollywood Boulevard
|
|||
|
|
does but it does have a couple of nice minimalls and more established
|
|||
|
|
fast food joints.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The best record stores are on Melrose, chummer.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie (10:39:21/01-03-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Yeah, but if you want a guitar, go all the way to the end of Sunset.
|
|||
|
|
Start at Guitar Center, and wander in a blissful haze.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Silver Cianide (10:45:35/01-03-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
XIAO'S CHINESE THEATRE
|
|||
|
|
Hollywood and Orange, Xiao Inc.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Calling this Xiao's Theater is a minor misnomer. All the film theaters
|
|||
|
|
on the Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards are Xiao's. The Chinese, however,
|
|||
|
|
is the first of the Hollywood empire. It started as Graumann's Chinese
|
|||
|
|
Theater sometime in the last century, but was bought out immediately and
|
|||
|
|
renamed Mann's Chinese Theater. Mann's expanded throughout Hollywood,
|
|||
|
|
and Xiao Inc. inherited it when they bought Mann's in 2029.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DIANETICS VS. THE UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There is a war being fought, a war for the hearts and minds of the
|
|||
|
|
people of Los Angeles. This is a war between the established forces of
|
|||
|
|
L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics and the usurpers from the North, The
|
|||
|
|
Universal Brotherhood.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Heh. I've got it on real good authority that the only thing keeping
|
|||
|
|
the UB from wiping their leather with Dianetics is something they want
|
|||
|
|
real quiet.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Chrome Charlie (10:30:39/01-04-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
LOUDER THAN A BOMB
|
|||
|
|
LAS VEGAS UNDER THE NAN
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"This style seems wild.
|
|||
|
|
Wait before you treat me like a stepchild."
|
|||
|
|
-- Public Enemy, Louder Than A Bomb
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Disclaimer One: Las Vegas is it's own place. You almost have to have
|
|||
|
|
been there to truly understand its personality. There is a pretty funny
|
|||
|
|
and telling essay in September's Travel & Leisure magazine, which sums
|
|||
|
|
up the feeling of Vegas as "That was the silliest thing I've ever seen.
|
|||
|
|
I loved it."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Disclaimer Two: There seems to be a feeling that all citizens of the NAN
|
|||
|
|
are back-to-nature environmentalists. I feel that this is exaggerated. I
|
|||
|
|
feel that each environmental (and other) issue has more than one side
|
|||
|
|
(see entry on the Glen Canyon dam) and that there comes a point where
|
|||
|
|
you have to sacrifice nature -- even just a little -- in favor of
|
|||
|
|
survival. Also, for the most part, you're more likely to see a NAN
|
|||
|
|
citizen in a suit than in deerskin. The NAN people are still human, and
|
|||
|
|
corruption doesn't just disappear because your skin is not white.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
What follows are excerpts from Transformation of the West (BarTours, c.
|
|||
|
|
2049) dealing with the relevant area.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Lester Lowe Ward III, American Vacation Magazine
|
|||
|
|
ward1@husc.harvard.edu
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
AN OVERVIEW
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HIGHWAYS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
By necessity, Interstate highways are kept intact and in good repair.
|
|||
|
|
Most of the U.S. Highways were also kept intact. However, due to the
|
|||
|
|
NAN's lower population and environmental stance, many of the State
|
|||
|
|
Highways have been neglected to the point of unsuitability or, most
|
|||
|
|
notably in the V Regions (see below) removed.
|
|||
|
|
It is also worth mentioning that internal combustion ground vehicles are
|
|||
|
|
more heavily taxed than electric cars in the NAN, although there is no
|
|||
|
|
legislation banning the vehicles.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Just what does U.S. stand for, anyway? I see it all over the old
|
|||
|
|
highways and off-road.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Rocker (02:43:50/5-6-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[U.S. is an abbreviation for U.C.A.S. Many of the old roads were
|
|||
|
|
built by the old American States.]
|
|||
|
|
-- Seelie (05:33:12/5-9-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[This lack of legislation is mainly due to the efforts of combine
|
|||
|
|
farmers, who -- thanks to White Hawk's process -- find it much cheaper
|
|||
|
|
to make their own gasohol.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- LJ (07:10:38/8-29-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[In practice, the combustion tax only really applies to legal
|
|||
|
|
citizens of the NAN, as it is, in all of the Nations, levied upon
|
|||
|
|
registration of the vehicle. It is a pretty major tax, though. In the
|
|||
|
|
Ute, for example, registering an internal combustion car is about ten
|
|||
|
|
time more expensive than registering an electric car of the same
|
|||
|
|
make.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Doctor Love (01:01:15/8-31-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
V REGIONS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The NAN have turned large portions of their land into places designated
|
|||
|
|
as untouched by legislation or pollution. Made up originally of the old
|
|||
|
|
U.S. National Parks, they have grown much larger. The Zion/Bryce Region,
|
|||
|
|
one of the biggest V Regions, contains the old Zion, Bryce and Capitol
|
|||
|
|
National Parks, as well as Dixie and some of Fishlake National Forests.
|
|||
|
|
Like most of the V Regions, cars are not allowed within, except in
|
|||
|
|
certain entrance points. Only official air units may enter the air space
|
|||
|
|
under 18,000 feet. All of the state highways, as well as part of U.S. 89
|
|||
|
|
have been removed from the Region, but the abandoned small towns have
|
|||
|
|
been left to rot, so some manmade shelter can be found, in decaying
|
|||
|
|
shape.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Riggers are advised to avoid crossing through large portions of the
|
|||
|
|
V Regions. Although the chance of officials firing on you (or even
|
|||
|
|
following you) within the V Regions is pretty slim, if they catch you
|
|||
|
|
outside, you might as well hang it up.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Doctor Love (23:53:02/4-7-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The area bordered by Interstates 70, 15, 25 and 40 is some of the
|
|||
|
|
most breathtaking land on this planet. It also has some interesting
|
|||
|
|
examples of paranatural flora, some with healing properties.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Tess (14:23:45/7-7-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[I'm told that there is a small group in the Ute who try to track
|
|||
|
|
down and assassinate riggers who violate V Regions. Anyone heard of
|
|||
|
|
this?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Blaster (12:56:16/8-31-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[I've heard that some areas in the V Regions are also Dead Zones.
|
|||
|
|
Anyone know?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Rocker (02:48:59/5-6-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[DOO-DOO_do-do-DOO-DOO-do-do<<<]
|
|||
|
|
-- Marker (09:32:01/5-6-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE UTE NATION
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
LAS VEGAS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
That Vegas was allowed to remain more or less unchanged is as telling as
|
|||
|
|
it is surprising. Even today, untold kilowatts are used for the light
|
|||
|
|
show in downtown Vegas. The glitz is the same as it ever was.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[What is surprising about it? Vegas was taking in billions of dollars
|
|||
|
|
a year before the treaty of Denver.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Mamma (17:12:23/2-5-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Vegas is also one of the only places in the Ute where you can get
|
|||
|
|
good steak.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Manticore (12:47:34/3-1-52
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HOTELS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The legendary hotels in Vegas are still going strong. Ceasar's will
|
|||
|
|
probably stand for yet another hundred years and Bally's will last until
|
|||
|
|
it gets burned down (again). Rates are about half of what you'd expect
|
|||
|
|
from comparable resorts in other parts of the world.
|
|||
|
|
Chips, although once good as currency, are now only useable within the
|
|||
|
|
casino where they were purchased. By old Vegas tradition, however,
|
|||
|
|
churches still except them.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Tips are big in Vegas. It is a good idea to have chips or other
|
|||
|
|
loose cash in Vegas for tips, as credit transfers are fairly slow. When
|
|||
|
|
gambling (including slots), drinks are free but a tip (1<> is sufficient)
|
|||
|
|
is expected. For good seats at a show tip the maitre d' 5<> to 20<32>. Other
|
|||
|
|
tips include the standard 15% for meals as well as:
|
|||
|
|
Dealers: based on service and winnings
|
|||
|
|
Valet Parking: 1<>
|
|||
|
|
Bellman: 5<>, unless lots of bags, when more is required
|
|||
|
|
Maid: 1<> per day ]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Archon (19:51:00/11-1-51)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Vegas casinos are always running and always heavily populated.
|
|||
|
|
You're also always being watched electronically. It is a very tough
|
|||
|
|
place to sneak about.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Spiderman (22:55:12/11-3-48)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ALGIERS HOTEL
|
|||
|
|
Address: 2845 Las Vegas Blvd
|
|||
|
|
Average Hotel (2 floors)
|
|||
|
|
No racial bias
|
|||
|
|
LTG# 7777 (ALGIER)
|
|||
|
|
Owner: Angie Red Cloud
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This motel-style place is a Vegas exception. It has no casino, no
|
|||
|
|
nightclub. It does have a pool and boasts far better rooms and service
|
|||
|
|
than most hotels of its kind.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Stay here if you want to keep away from crowds, or just if you're
|
|||
|
|
trying to save money.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Glitterfoot (02:18:12/12-23-51)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BALLY'S LAS VEGAS
|
|||
|
|
Address: 3645 Las Vegas Blvd
|
|||
|
|
Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub, Mall
|
|||
|
|
Bias against magicians
|
|||
|
|
LTG# 7777 (BALLYS)
|
|||
|
|
Owner: Tony Lercara
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
One of the largest resorts in the world, Bally's contains a full
|
|||
|
|
shopping mall, two major showrooms, a health club, a youth center, an
|
|||
|
|
Olympic pool, six restaurants, a comedy club, various bars, golf
|
|||
|
|
privileges, and 2,832 rooms. Formerly the MGM Grand (before the 1980
|
|||
|
|
fire), rooms are rife with old Hollywood photos and each room has a star
|
|||
|
|
on the door.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Gambling facilities include 1,000 slot machines, 11 craps layouts, 84
|
|||
|
|
blackjack (5<> minimum bet), 12 baccarat, 9 roulette, 20 poker (20 nuyen
|
|||
|
|
buy-in), sports and race book. Unlike most resorts, Bally's slots run
|
|||
|
|
entirely on credit (no coins); this drives some away, but provides a
|
|||
|
|
different background noise than most casinos. Magicians are tolerated,
|
|||
|
|
but strongly discouraged from gambling.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Wage Mages roam the crowds, and one checks everyone who enters. If a
|
|||
|
|
magician checks in, almost every employee in the place will know soon.
|
|||
|
|
Winners of big pots are checked for magical ability. Lucky magicians are
|
|||
|
|
politely asked never to return.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Wanda (03:16:12/1-4-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Security is heavy, but very sedate and in the background. Weapons
|
|||
|
|
larger than light submachineguns must be checked in. Bally's squeezes
|
|||
|
|
extra service out of their Wage Mages by giving them first go at trouble
|
|||
|
|
makers in a silent way. They dislike shooting customers, but will do so.
|
|||
|
|
The last man to attempt a robbery at Bally's was allowed to leave with
|
|||
|
|
100K in cash and chips, but was sliced in half by a security drone as
|
|||
|
|
soon as he left.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Cooler (12:23:10/1-15-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Bally's computer system is layered and an onion style fairly typical
|
|||
|
|
of Vegas. The outer layer is blue, housing reservation making
|
|||
|
|
information and news about upcoming events. Next is a green system
|
|||
|
|
holding ticketing, control of the movie units in each room, elevators
|
|||
|
|
and some of the more mundane resort operations. Next is an orange layer
|
|||
|
|
for billing, personnel records and the security cameras. The supposedly
|
|||
|
|
deepest layer holds more personnel records (hard to read) and financial
|
|||
|
|
information (which seems legitimate and really boring). From the
|
|||
|
|
outside, there seem to be more nodes than I can account for, but so help
|
|||
|
|
me if I can find another SAN, even in the red layer. All the things that
|
|||
|
|
can help you get rich quick are usually their own isolated systems. This
|
|||
|
|
is the Vegas norm. Keno, for example is an isolated system. The slots
|
|||
|
|
are individual non-Matrix computers, also isolated. The record keeping
|
|||
|
|
archive for the sports book is isolated (and red). This is actually more
|
|||
|
|
effective here than in the rest of the world, because these isolated
|
|||
|
|
systems are constantly used and manned, as the casinos run 24 hours a
|
|||
|
|
day.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Bilbo (23:29:10/2-24-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
CEASAR'S PALACE
|
|||
|
|
Address: 3750 Las Vegas Blvd
|
|||
|
|
Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub
|
|||
|
|
No racial bias
|
|||
|
|
LTG# 7777 (PALACE)
|
|||
|
|
Owner: Joel Spicola
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This Vegas standard emulates a Roman city, complete with moving
|
|||
|
|
sidewalks, pool, health club, shops, seven restaurants, bars, and 2000
|
|||
|
|
rooms. The statuary of the Palace is composed of replicas (some in
|
|||
|
|
Carrara marble) of David, Venus de Milo, the Rape of the Sabines, and
|
|||
|
|
more.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There are two separate casinos and a private baccarat lounge. Minimum
|
|||
|
|
blackjack bet is 5<>, but there is one 3<> table. Poker buy-in is 25<32>.
|
|||
|
|
Ceasar's still has slot, poker and blackjack machines which run on
|
|||
|
|
quarter nuyen chips.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Centurions abound in this place, some orks and trolls. They are
|
|||
|
|
usually armed with Taser weapons. Some areas have lockers with a
|
|||
|
|
Narcojet rifle and Net Guns. More insidious are the hidden cameras, some
|
|||
|
|
of which have servoguns. Just about every mirror in the place has a
|
|||
|
|
camera behind it.
|
|||
|
|
I'm told that Ceasar's hires (some say creates) Samurai to walk about
|
|||
|
|
undercover, armed. I've seen several men who would fit the bill; not
|
|||
|
|
obviously cybered, but very fast. Custom stuff if I've ever seen it.
|
|||
|
|
There is usually a rigger wired into the security system, part of which
|
|||
|
|
is not Matrix accessible. Remember that Heavy Armor is way illegal in
|
|||
|
|
the Ute, even for corporate (or casino) security.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Cooler (12:24:01/1-15-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Elementals patrol astral space on the lookout for spells. Awakened
|
|||
|
|
customers are warned upon entry that magical spells will not be allowed
|
|||
|
|
for any reason within the casino. Elementals do not attack quickened or
|
|||
|
|
locked spells. Instead they alert a Wage Mage, who checks to make sure
|
|||
|
|
the spell is not for the purpose of cheating. Generally, the Mage will
|
|||
|
|
watch the magician for quite some time.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Marackeshh (23:56:52/2-6-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Ceasar's entire system is red, except for a separate green
|
|||
|
|
reservation computer. It utilizes isolated gambling systems. The system
|
|||
|
|
is not sculpted at all. Perhaps Ceasar's wished to spare its employees
|
|||
|
|
Roman overkill.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Bilbo (23:29:12/2-24-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Big winners, especially on the slots, at Ceasar's are usually
|
|||
|
|
subject to examination for magical ability and cyberware. Slot winners
|
|||
|
|
with cybereye video cameras are asked never to come back. Ditto card
|
|||
|
|
game winners with headware memory/program carriers. By the way, cameras
|
|||
|
|
and hand computers are not allowed in any casino in Vegas.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Ex-Big Winner (12:18:34/2-25-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE EDGE
|
|||
|
|
Address: 3661 Las Vegas Blvd
|
|||
|
|
Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub
|
|||
|
|
No racial bias
|
|||
|
|
LTG# 7777 (28-1287)
|
|||
|
|
Owner: Matre Pagano
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Built in the late 1990's, this smaller resort is themed around the dark
|
|||
|
|
future presented in the cyberpunk literary movement of the early '80s.
|
|||
|
|
Among it's neon, lasers, smoke and stainless steel-sheeted architecture
|
|||
|
|
can be found a Matrix amusement park (looking much like an auditorium of
|
|||
|
|
chairs, each with a input into the 'mind-park'), three restaurants, two
|
|||
|
|
lightning exhibits, 900 rooms, one of the largest holo-game arcades in
|
|||
|
|
the country, and several historical/artistic exhibitions of some of the
|
|||
|
|
less savory aspects of human nature. Recently, in an effort to win back
|
|||
|
|
customers, the Edge has taken a post nuclear turn. (Two guests
|
|||
|
|
apparently died of heart failure when illusory nuclear detonations
|
|||
|
|
kicked off a surprise attack party last January.)
|
|||
|
|
Where most Vegas casinos are open spaces, the Edge's casino is a mass of
|
|||
|
|
twisted metal, smoke and arcing electricity. It also has no slot
|
|||
|
|
machines of any kind. Blackjack minimum is 10<31> and poker buy-in is 30<33>.
|
|||
|
|
Baccarat tables occupy a sort of aristocratic calm in the storm.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[No slots? They're cutting themselves out of some profits. Plus the
|
|||
|
|
atmosphere is one not really suited to those with weak constitutions.
|
|||
|
|
Weird.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- A.C. (19:32:09/12-1-51)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[We view the Edge as an artistic endeavor, not a profit making
|
|||
|
|
opportunity. But A.C. is correct. If not used to the lifestyle, please
|
|||
|
|
stay away. This makes it easier on our janitorial staff.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Alexis Pagano, L.L.B. (18:50:19/12-23-51)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Security here is very visible, as fits in with the theme. Guns are
|
|||
|
|
allowed, but using them his harshly dealt with. The camera/servo-gun
|
|||
|
|
combo is used here too, except that they are not concealed. An
|
|||
|
|
occasional patron disappears, but other patrons are usually blamed. I
|
|||
|
|
tend to agree with that, the Edge is a tough place. But artistic in a
|
|||
|
|
kind of jump-off-a cliff way.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Cooler (12:24:01/1-15-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[I was present at what is now called the Doomsday Party. It was a
|
|||
|
|
pretty raucous time, and surprising as hell. There I was, up five grand
|
|||
|
|
at blackjack, when suddenly missiles bust through the far wall
|
|||
|
|
(apparently, no matter where you were, it was through the 'far wall')
|
|||
|
|
and bathes the poker tables with nuclear fire. Lasers fired from the
|
|||
|
|
walls, 'killing' people (employees in make up, it turned out). The place
|
|||
|
|
quickly turned into a madhouse. We all wondered why they took guns that
|
|||
|
|
night, but the place woulda been a bloodbath if they hadn't. It ended up
|
|||
|
|
being a hell of a party. My winnings were swiped in the confusion, but I
|
|||
|
|
didn't mind so much. It was that kind of party.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Arc (15:10:01/3-03-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The Edge is one of the few casinos where Magic is actually
|
|||
|
|
tolerated. But be warned, if (and only if) you use magic to gamble, it
|
|||
|
|
will be used against you. They usually have much more practice. The
|
|||
|
|
magician to normal ratio is about double in employees and patrons
|
|||
|
|
alike.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Scar (23:59:01/6-25-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The Edge system has two layers, an orange reservation/billing layer
|
|||
|
|
and a black everything else layer. Stay away from this one; it is very
|
|||
|
|
heavy into psychological IC, but not sculpted (which enhances the IC's
|
|||
|
|
mental impact).]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Bilbo (23:29:14/2-24-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
EXCALIBUR
|
|||
|
|
Address: 3850 Las Vegas Blvd
|
|||
|
|
Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub
|
|||
|
|
No racial bias
|
|||
|
|
LTG# 7777 (28-5630)
|
|||
|
|
Owner: Joseph H. Thomasi
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Looking like a fantasy castle (complete with drawbridge, moat and
|
|||
|
|
ladies-in-waiting), Excalibur harkens back to the legends of King
|
|||
|
|
Arthur. On the 117-acre site can be found 23 shops, an 890-seat
|
|||
|
|
amphitheater, two pools, a marriage chapel, 7 restaurants (including
|
|||
|
|
Lance-A-Lotta Pasta), 6 theaters, bars, and 4,000 rooms.
|
|||
|
|
The gaming area is over 100,000 square feet, including 2,600 slot
|
|||
|
|
machines, a crossbow arena and a separate gladiatorial games viewing
|
|||
|
|
room. Excalibur also boasts its own jousting arena. Minimum blackjack
|
|||
|
|
bet is 3<> and poker buy-in is 20<32>.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[As you'd expect, all the guards here are in armor (chain or plate
|
|||
|
|
mail, that is) and carry archaic weapons. Be warned, the spears are
|
|||
|
|
tasers and under the plate is much tougher stuff. Beware of the head of
|
|||
|
|
security, named Merlin, natch. He keeps magical things under control.
|
|||
|
|
For some reason, not too many real mages come here. Too tacky, I
|
|||
|
|
guess.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Cooler (12:25:59/1-15-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Excalibur's system is sculpted to appear as Avalon, but in function
|
|||
|
|
is almost identical to Bally's.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Bilbo (23:29:16/2-24-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE MIRAGE
|
|||
|
|
Address: 3400 Las Vegas Blvd
|
|||
|
|
Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub
|
|||
|
|
No racial bias
|
|||
|
|
LTG# 7777 (27-6667)
|
|||
|
|
Owner: Maria Maldinato
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Mirage's claim to fame is a volcano which erupts every 15 minutes.
|
|||
|
|
It also houses 5 restaurants, a spa, a salon, a waterfall strewn pool,
|
|||
|
|
an indoor rainforest, shops, 3049 rooms, and empty cases and aquariums
|
|||
|
|
which used to house dolphins, sharks and paratigers. The top five floors
|
|||
|
|
are penthouses, accessible only by private elevators.
|
|||
|
|
The casino is a bit brighter than others. Minimum bet is generally 5<>,
|
|||
|
|
but some 2<> blackjack tables exist.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Mirage security is notoriously hard to spot, until they're all over
|
|||
|
|
you. All firearms bigger than handguns are asked for (but not absolutely
|
|||
|
|
required) at the door. Two riggers are always on duty, one monitoring
|
|||
|
|
cameras, one running drones inside and out. If some security people
|
|||
|
|
hassle you, remember their faces; data worth money.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Cooler (12:25:59/1-15-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The Mirage has a structure similar to Bally's, but where Bally's has
|
|||
|
|
an orange sub-system, the Mirage's is red. Additionally, both red layers
|
|||
|
|
can be reached from the green layer and not each other. This system has
|
|||
|
|
no unaccounted for nodes and is sculpted so that each layer appears as
|
|||
|
|
Caribbean island. The SAN to the rest of the Matrix appears as the beach
|
|||
|
|
of the Mainland.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Bilbo (23:29:18/2-24-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
TROPICANA
|
|||
|
|
Address: 3801 Las Vegas Blvd
|
|||
|
|
Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub
|
|||
|
|
No racial bias
|
|||
|
|
LTG# 7777 (TROPIC)
|
|||
|
|
Owner: Michael Beck
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Tropicana offers Caribbean decor, seven restaurants, lounges (one of
|
|||
|
|
which offers a great view of the tennis courts), a golf course, glass
|
|||
|
|
elevators, the largest indoor/outdoor pool (including swim-up blackjack
|
|||
|
|
tables, three Jacuzzis and a water slide), a lagoon surrounded island,
|
|||
|
|
and 1,913 rooms.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Gambling is pretty standard (5<> minimum with two 2<> blackjack tables,
|
|||
|
|
20<EFBFBD> poker buy-in), with the added feature of weekly underwater glad
|
|||
|
|
games.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Tropicana security wear Caribbean dress and carry SMGs very
|
|||
|
|
prominently, but if you want to pull anything this month, do it here.
|
|||
|
|
The guards are competent, but don't work as a team. It won't be long
|
|||
|
|
'til they fire their sec head. They require gun check in, but don't
|
|||
|
|
check real well.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Cooler (12:26:40/1-15-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Hmmm. I don't pay attention to mundane matters so I will take
|
|||
|
|
Cooler's word for it, but astral space in and around Tropicana is
|
|||
|
|
teeming. Avoid spell casting at all costs.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Praxis (13:13:13/1-16-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The Tropicana system is an almost laughable orange. Unfortunately,
|
|||
|
|
there isn't much in it.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Bilbo (23:29:18/2-24-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BOULDER DAM
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Completed in 1935 to control water flow and provide power to a large
|
|||
|
|
portion of the Southwest, Hoover Dam was an asset that the Ute Nation
|
|||
|
|
could not afford to be without. Although there was an initial media
|
|||
|
|
outcry favoring elimination of the dam to "remove man's scars to the
|
|||
|
|
land", when the issue was put to a national election, the Ute people
|
|||
|
|
elected to keep the dam by a 90 percent majority, mostly due to a highly
|
|||
|
|
successful (not to mention different) word-of-mouth campaign.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[This entire campaign was funded by the corporations who wish to
|
|||
|
|
continue their exploitation of our lands.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Michael Breathing-Dog
|
|||
|
|
(05:49:55/4-25-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Sorry. B.D., but for the first time I can recall, your info sucks.
|
|||
|
|
It was the Vegas-based Mafia who sent the Dam advocates to every town in
|
|||
|
|
the Ute. The Mob was concerned about the loss of the electricity from
|
|||
|
|
the Dam to Vegas, although I think the people would have voted to keep
|
|||
|
|
it even without the Mafia preaching about farmer's water rights.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Ex-terminator (01:19:39/9-4-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Originally named Boulder (due to its proximity to Boulder City), the Dam
|
|||
|
|
was renamed Hoover Dam not too long after completion. When the Ute
|
|||
|
|
Nation was formed and they began to assess their territory, they changed
|
|||
|
|
the name to its original form.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Although the lake formed by the dam -- Lake Mead -- was a large tourist
|
|||
|
|
center before the Awakening, the entire dam complex (as well as Boulder
|
|||
|
|
City) is now a military installation ensuring the safety of the dam
|
|||
|
|
(mainly against aggression from the California Free State). Although
|
|||
|
|
Interstate 93 still exists as a road through the region (and still runs
|
|||
|
|
across the top of the dam), it is closed to public traffic.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[There is more traffic in and out of Boulder Dam than is strictly
|
|||
|
|
necessary for simple dam defense. It could be anything from simple
|
|||
|
|
training to high security stuff. Any guesses?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Edward Seven Men (12:12:12/10-10-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The dam is 660 feet thick at the base, 45 feet think at the crest and
|
|||
|
|
spans the 1244 feet across the Black Canyon. The structure contains
|
|||
|
|
roughly 4.4 million cubic yards of concrete.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
As the dam was originally built using funds from seven states, some
|
|||
|
|
legal documents existed dealing with the dams distribution of water and
|
|||
|
|
power to these seven states. The NAN lands who left the Treaty of Denver
|
|||
|
|
with control of these lands (some sooner, some later) invoked these
|
|||
|
|
documents and demanded their share from the Ute.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Ute Council responded by declaring that as the previous agreements
|
|||
|
|
dealt with borders that no longer existed, new agreements would have to
|
|||
|
|
be made. The other nations soon discovered that whether Ute had a legal
|
|||
|
|
right to do this or not was irrelevant, as the Ute had the dam and could
|
|||
|
|
control its output.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Agreements were drawn up, with Ute getting by far the best end of the
|
|||
|
|
deals. The Council gave preferential treatment to other Amerindian
|
|||
|
|
nations. It treated Aztlan with disdain, but they received a far better
|
|||
|
|
deal than did California.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Boulder Dam's 17 generators now supply over 2.4 million kilowatts to a
|
|||
|
|
large portion of the Southwest, including Vegas and Los Angeles. The
|
|||
|
|
Boulder Dam still controls water flow to prevent the floods of summer
|
|||
|
|
and droughts of autumn which necessitated its construction in the first
|
|||
|
|
place. Lake Mead, which backs up nearly 180 miles behind the dam, can
|
|||
|
|
store nearly 2 years of average Colorado River water flow (about 28.5
|
|||
|
|
million acre-feet).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
GLEN CANYON DAM
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Before 1956, the area which was to become the Glen Canyon dam site was
|
|||
|
|
almost entirely inaccessible. The nearest available point of crossing to
|
|||
|
|
the other side of the canyon was 200 miles away. That changed with the
|
|||
|
|
construction of the Glen Canyon Bridge in 1959. The dam itself (built
|
|||
|
|
about 75 feet upriver from the bridge) was completed in 1963. Lake
|
|||
|
|
Powell did not finish filling the canyon until 1980.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
After the new Ute government had dealt with Boulder Dam, they began to
|
|||
|
|
discuss what to do with Glen Canyon. Sighting the reasons for keeping
|
|||
|
|
Boulder Dam, most of the government was satisfied to leave Glen Canyon
|
|||
|
|
as it was as well; however, a somewhat large lobbying group attacked the
|
|||
|
|
Council over the issue, charging that the Council members had "turned
|
|||
|
|
their backs on the land." In a short time, this group gained more
|
|||
|
|
support, and seemed ready to demand the destruction of the dam "to allow
|
|||
|
|
the earth to heal herself."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Council reacted by putting the issue on the next national ballot.
|
|||
|
|
During this announcement, a small coalition forced their way to the
|
|||
|
|
podium and announced that destroying the dam would destroy the ecosystem
|
|||
|
|
which had finally stabilized in Lake Powell, doing more harm to the land
|
|||
|
|
than good. This was coupled with a well executed media blitz, including
|
|||
|
|
support from Vegas, Salt Lake, Provo, and Denver news services.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The election was held, and after four recounts, the Ute elected to keep
|
|||
|
|
Glen Canyon dam with 59% of the vote. Security at the dam was increased
|
|||
|
|
for a time, but eventually returned to normal as disgruntled activists
|
|||
|
|
flocked to another issue of the day.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[At the time, rumors abounded about who was behind the ecosystem
|
|||
|
|
group (who actually seemed to be the most coherent, if you ask me). I
|
|||
|
|
give most credence to the rumor that FoodTech was their main financial
|
|||
|
|
backer (this was before their U.N. indictment, remember). What their
|
|||
|
|
interest was, I'm not sure. In any case, the ecosystems group was most
|
|||
|
|
decisive in splitting up the environmental vote.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- John Phillip Souixsa (23:45:13/01-04-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Lies! It was Aztechnology, who wanted to maintain their stranglehold
|
|||
|
|
on our lands.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- anonymous (12:49:12/03-06-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[After FoodTech's indictment, they were eaten up by Maritech, who now
|
|||
|
|
holds a monopoly on trout exportation.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Tess (14:58:45/7-7-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The dam is one of the major hubs of the Colorado River Storage Project
|
|||
|
|
(CRSP) not only in water storage, but in power generation. The dam's 1.8
|
|||
|
|
million kilowatts do not reach L.A. or Las Vegas and only rarely (in
|
|||
|
|
emergencies) does the power reach Phoenix, Salt Lake or Denver. Instead
|
|||
|
|
the dam powers hundreds of medium and small cities and towns in what
|
|||
|
|
what used to be Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico and
|
|||
|
|
Nebraska. The 13,800 volts from the generator is stepped-up to 345,000
|
|||
|
|
volts for its transmission to Montrose, from where all power from the
|
|||
|
|
CRSP system is routed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Like Boulder Dam, Glen Canyon provides water to acres of surrounding
|
|||
|
|
land, as well as maintaining a steady flow of water to prevent flooding
|
|||
|
|
in the early summer and drought in the fall. Summer output is generally
|
|||
|
|
about 30,000 cubic feet per second. Additionally, Lake Powell (the lake
|
|||
|
|
formed by the dam) has grown to be a major tourist attraction for the
|
|||
|
|
Ute.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
PAGE
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Located on the northwestern border of what used to be the Navajo Indian
|
|||
|
|
Reservation, Page was founded in the 1950's to provide homes and
|
|||
|
|
services to those who worked on the Glen Canyon Dam, and later, those
|
|||
|
|
who ran the dam and worked for the tourist trade.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
After the Treaty of Denver, income from tourism fell to almost zero and
|
|||
|
|
Page lost half of its population. Once the furor from the dam vote had
|
|||
|
|
died down, Page officials realized that the only way to assure the
|
|||
|
|
survival of Page was to bring back the tourists. After securing a small
|
|||
|
|
Federal loan from the Ute Council, Page launched an extensive
|
|||
|
|
advertising campaign throughout the Ute.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Although the growing Amerindian corporate class was slow to respond,
|
|||
|
|
they did respond. By 2045, Page had doubled in size and is rapidly
|
|||
|
|
becoming one of the Ute's most visited vacation spots.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Page offers a back-to-nature type vacation without many of the back-to-
|
|||
|
|
nature type drudgeries. This "go rock-climbing in the naked desert by
|
|||
|
|
day, sleep in silk sheets by night" style of recreation appeals to the
|
|||
|
|
growing Native American urban/corporate class, as more of them are being
|
|||
|
|
born and raised within cities. Page offers boating, water-skiing, white-
|
|||
|
|
water rafting, Anasazi ruins, hiking and rock-climbing hand in hand with
|
|||
|
|
music, theatre, dancing, night clubs and luxury hotels on the lake.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The canyon itself separates the two halves of Page's offerings. Page
|
|||
|
|
itself is located on a hill overlooking the south rim. The boat harbor
|
|||
|
|
(and a few hotels) are on the north shore of Lake Powell. Up the coast
|
|||
|
|
of Lake Powell can be found Nonnoshoshi (a Navajo word meaning "the
|
|||
|
|
rainbow turned to stone"), the largest natural bridge on earth.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Page boasts a fairly large convention hall, a 700-seat auditorium, a
|
|||
|
|
small airport, and a moderate-sized, state of the art heliport.
|
|||
|
|
Helicopter travel is the only convenient ways to get into page,
|
|||
|
|
especially from the North, as U.S. Highway 89 is no longer (State
|
|||
|
|
Highway 98 still runs south from Page, however). Supplies usually reach
|
|||
|
|
Page by helicopter or by pollution-free barges and ferries down Lake
|
|||
|
|
Powell. It is important to note that what was the Glen Canyon National
|
|||
|
|
Recreation Area is one of very few such areas that was not turned into a
|
|||
|
|
V Region.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Page, at least Inner Page (the original Page, before the Tourist
|
|||
|
|
Boom) is a designed town. Schools and churches are built right across
|
|||
|
|
from one another, apparently in deference to old United States zoning
|
|||
|
|
laws. (Something about churches and schools in neighborhoods where you
|
|||
|
|
couldn't get alcohol licenses.) Mind you, it is a bit expensive. If you
|
|||
|
|
plan on staying for more than a week and wish to shuttle from hotels to
|
|||
|
|
camping to conventions, it will probably be in your best interest to
|
|||
|
|
have your car (electric ONLY) ferried to Page. Cabs can get a bit
|
|||
|
|
expensive. Better yet, bring a bicycle. Generally, about everything
|
|||
|
|
useful (hotels, meals, etc.) is about 20 - 25% more than usual for
|
|||
|
|
Ute.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Steel Monkey (04:42:43/01-01-50)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[You can find an occasional rigger here, as sweaty people wandering
|
|||
|
|
in from the desert isn't that uncommon. Anglos here are met with a firm
|
|||
|
|
politeness that gets annoying quickly. You will get great service and
|
|||
|
|
will be treated well, but not the friendly smile which seems to be
|
|||
|
|
reserved for Amerinds. Ditto for metahumans. Oh yeah, check out the
|
|||
|
|
Holiday Inn's restaurant. Inexpensive food is really good. And the
|
|||
|
|
luncheon hostess, Dorian, is definitely a sight for travel-weary
|
|||
|
|
eyes.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Doctor Love (00:01:23/02-16-51)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Careful, chummer, Dorian is one of the Elementals.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Mirage (15:12:37/04-30-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[The who? Aren't they a band?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Doctor Love (00:03:43/05-05-52)
|
|||
|
|
>>>Mirage said 'Elementals', Doctor, and he did not refer to a band. He
|
|||
|
|
also was just found drowned to death. You were the Ziess-eyed one who
|
|||
|
|
ordered the milk with the hair in it, correct, Doctor?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Pyre (00:04:00/05-05-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[If that's a threat of some kind, man, I'm in Denver.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Doctor Love (00:10:12/05-05-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Isn't Nonnoshoshi 'river of death' in Navajo?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Rocker (02:10:55/05-06-52)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Apache, Helen. Not even Shakespeare or Dickens has been translated into
|
|||
|
|
Apache."
|
|||
|
|
- The World According To Garp
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"We suck at night. We suck during the day. We even suck during
|
|||
|
|
eclipses."
|
|||
|
|
- Late Night with Raji Chandrakasar
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go."
|
|||
|
|
- Hamlet
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE MEAT MARKET
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BLADEBOY
|
|||
|
|
Daniel Alexander Bruns <gaul@wam.umd.edu>
|
|||
|
|
Priorities: Skills 4, Tech 3, Attributes 2
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
On one of my brief forays into the Hollywood areas (God save me) I, Max
|
|||
|
|
Overhaul, happened across an odd version of Street Samurai. They seem
|
|||
|
|
to be indigenous to Hollywood, but are spreading out into the Eastern
|
|||
|
|
Coast and the outlying areas. I can only speculate about their origins,
|
|||
|
|
Perhaps the heavy Japanese influence in the Hollywood area led to their
|
|||
|
|
existence, but I digress...
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Bladeboy is much like a Street Samurai, but, instead of emphasizing
|
|||
|
|
firearms, uses Armed and Unarmed combat. Quite deadly at close ranges,
|
|||
|
|
and not any less dangerous from a distance. If you meet one, don't mess
|
|||
|
|
with him. If you are one, kick some butt.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[I believe the term is 'ass' Mr. Overhaul. Nun looking over your
|
|||
|
|
shoulder?]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Silver Cianide<09:03:12/03-10-52>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Referees take note: the Bladeboy has a starting Armed Combat of 7.
|
|||
|
|
Technically, this is illegal. It would not be unreasonable to make
|
|||
|
|
Stealth a 5 and Armed Combat a 6.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Jerry (08:22:48/03-14-92)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BLADEBOY
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Bladeboy embodies the Real Samurai of Feudal Japan, honorable
|
|||
|
|
(usually), deadly (always), and stealthy (as often as possible).
|
|||
|
|
Extremely dangerous at close range, the Bladeboy uses a plethora of
|
|||
|
|
silent weaponry for the quick kill. However, this doesn't mean that the
|
|||
|
|
Bladeboy is not dangerous in ranged combat. His bow fulfills that void.
|
|||
|
|
Some also think that a bow cannot keep it's place in a firefight. That
|
|||
|
|
is why he carries a Colt Manhunter.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
QUOTES:
|
|||
|
|
"That's not a knife...<pulls out a Wakizashi> THIS is a Knife..."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"You are about as stealthy as a yak in heat! Stop moving or you will
|
|||
|
|
blow my cover!"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Please, friend Mr. Johnson, don't stiff me this time. Really..."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ATTRIBUTES
|
|||
|
|
Body 5
|
|||
|
|
Quickness 5
|
|||
|
|
Strength 6
|
|||
|
|
Charisma 2
|
|||
|
|
Intelligence 3
|
|||
|
|
Willpower 2
|
|||
|
|
Essence 0.9
|
|||
|
|
Reaction (6+3d6) 4
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SKILLS
|
|||
|
|
Firearms 4
|
|||
|
|
Unarmed Combat 6
|
|||
|
|
Armed Combat 7
|
|||
|
|
Etiquette (choose) 4
|
|||
|
|
Stealth 4
|
|||
|
|
Throwing Weapons 6
|
|||
|
|
Projectile Weapons 6
|
|||
|
|
Bike 3
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
CONTACTS
|
|||
|
|
Any Street type
|
|||
|
|
Fixer
|
|||
|
|
Mr Johnson
|
|||
|
|
Street Doc
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
CYBERWARE
|
|||
|
|
Dermal Plating (2)
|
|||
|
|
Smartgun Link
|
|||
|
|
Boosted Reflexes (3)
|
|||
|
|
Cybereyes
|
|||
|
|
Lowlight
|
|||
|
|
Flash compensation
|
|||
|
|
Spurs(retractable)
|
|||
|
|
Gear
|
|||
|
|
Armor Jacket
|
|||
|
|
Katana
|
|||
|
|
Monofilament Sword
|
|||
|
|
Aurora Racing Bike (or Rapier)
|
|||
|
|
Ranger X Bow
|
|||
|
|
Smartgun Adaptor
|
|||
|
|
36 Precision Ranger X arrows
|
|||
|
|
Colt Manhunter
|
|||
|
|
Reactive Trigger
|
|||
|
|
Firepower Ammo rigged
|
|||
|
|
200 rounds ammo
|
|||
|
|
Wallacher Combat Axe
|
|||
|
|
Doc Wagon acct (Gold)
|
|||
|
|
Middle Lifestyle (4 months ppd.)
|
|||
|
|
3d6 x 100 Nuyen credstick
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE STREET RIGGER
|
|||
|
|
Daniel Alexander Bruns <gaul@wam.umd.edu>
|
|||
|
|
Priorities: Tech 4, Skills 3, Attributes 2
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Street Rigger is the best there is, an all around Jockey of motor
|
|||
|
|
vehicles. He has worked for the best and worst of clients, but has
|
|||
|
|
always gotten the job done at any cost. Now he works the streets, and
|
|||
|
|
the occasional Corp Shadowrun, for his pay. He is known by many names:
|
|||
|
|
Gyro Captain, Getaway Man, TopGunner, Panzerboy, and AirCavMan. Whatever
|
|||
|
|
name he is today, you can count on two things. One, he is one of the
|
|||
|
|
best. Two, nobody does it better.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[Note the heavy use of GM discretion in the Street Rigger's gear.
|
|||
|
|
Gamemasters must exercise veto powers and disallow vehicles they don't
|
|||
|
|
want new players to have.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Jerry (09:07:07/03-14-92)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
QUOTES
|
|||
|
|
"Oh dear, excuse me Mr. Corp Slime, did I run over your toes in my
|
|||
|
|
Panzer?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Dangit, Mr. Troll, would you mind sitting in the BACK SEAT, I can't
|
|||
|
|
drive with you crowding up the front!"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Approaching Warp Nine, Captain. Heh heh, I love this job..."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ATTRIBUTES
|
|||
|
|
Body 4
|
|||
|
|
Quickness 6
|
|||
|
|
Strength 3
|
|||
|
|
Charisma 2
|
|||
|
|
Intelligence 6
|
|||
|
|
Willpower 3
|
|||
|
|
Essence 0.3
|
|||
|
|
Reaction 6
|
|||
|
|
Normal 8+1d6
|
|||
|
|
Vehicle 12+3d6
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SKILLS
|
|||
|
|
Any four vehicle skills at level four.
|
|||
|
|
Etiquette (Street or Corp) 1
|
|||
|
|
Firearms 4
|
|||
|
|
Gunnery 3
|
|||
|
|
Computer 3
|
|||
|
|
Electronics 3
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
CONTACTS
|
|||
|
|
Merc Mechanic
|
|||
|
|
Fixer Technician
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
CYBERWARE
|
|||
|
|
Vehicle Control Rig (2)
|
|||
|
|
Smartgun Link
|
|||
|
|
Datajack
|
|||
|
|
Wired Reflexes (1)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
GEAR
|
|||
|
|
Smart Goggles (lowlight)
|
|||
|
|
Ear Communicator
|
|||
|
|
DocWagon Contract (platinum)
|
|||
|
|
2 drones of choice (GM discretion)
|
|||
|
|
Any 3 vehicles of choice, however check with GM beforehand. (i.e.no
|
|||
|
|
panzers or restricted craft)
|
|||
|
|
Acceptable armaments (GM discretion)
|
|||
|
|
Colt Manhunter (Smart)
|
|||
|
|
Firepower ammo
|
|||
|
|
4 clips ammo
|
|||
|
|
Armor Jacket
|
|||
|
|
Remote control deck
|
|||
|
|
3 slave ports
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DEAD ZONES
|
|||
|
|
Doctor Jerold Stratton, Ph.D. Psychology
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Dead Zones are mysterious regions where technology fails. There are
|
|||
|
|
known Dead Zones in the Anzo-Borrego near San Diego, and one north of
|
|||
|
|
Denver.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Dead Zones are known to change size at irregular intervals. One rumor is
|
|||
|
|
that they wax and wane with the phase and visibility of the moon.
|
|||
|
|
Another is that they grow as a natural check against the human
|
|||
|
|
population -- as populations in nearby cities grow, so will any Dead
|
|||
|
|
Zones nearby.(1)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
When nearing a Dead Zone, computers stop working (and may lose volatile
|
|||
|
|
memory), and cyberwear starts acting up. This 'warning zone' can vary in
|
|||
|
|
size from a meter to a kilometer. Once within a Dead Zone, nothing
|
|||
|
|
electronic works, and it seems that sub-atomic processes stop as well.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Because of the effects, it's very hard to determine how a Dead Zone
|
|||
|
|
affects technology in the way that it does. Some magicians claim that
|
|||
|
|
within a Dead Zone, the laws of nature revert to their natural state --
|
|||
|
|
that devised by the Greek philosophers and naturalists. Matter becomes
|
|||
|
|
homogeneous, composed of Earth, Air, Fire and Water.(2) Unfortunately,
|
|||
|
|
we can't just go in and check this out -- Electron Microscopes don't
|
|||
|
|
work, of course, in a Dead Zone. Everything visible seems to remain the
|
|||
|
|
same, but electricity stops flowing and radiation stops (or is blocked)
|
|||
|
|
within the zones.(3)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
One of the most intriguing theories surrounding the Dead Zones is that
|
|||
|
|
the Awakening hasn't yet finished. Eventually, the Dead Zones will grow
|
|||
|
|
to cover the world. Most of the theorists believe that such will only
|
|||
|
|
occur after hundreds of years, but the implications are staggering.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Much of our knowledge about humanity comes from inference based on
|
|||
|
|
techno assumptions. Carbon (radioactive) dating is a prime example. If,
|
|||
|
|
throughout half of our history, radioactive breakdown has not been
|
|||
|
|
occurring, then everything over five-ten thousand years old is up to
|
|||
|
|
twice as old as we thought it was.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
And what will happen to our civilization when technology fails
|
|||
|
|
completely? Satellites will fall and undersea villages will suffocate.
|
|||
|
|
But is it possible that this has happened before? There are many strange
|
|||
|
|
legends that crackpots of the last century have attempted to explain via
|
|||
|
|
an alien race or technologically advanced forebears. Could it have been
|
|||
|
|
an earlier Awakening that drove Atlantis into the sea? Might astronauts
|
|||
|
|
have visited us in unknown times, only to be stranded here (or
|
|||
|
|
elsewhere) when the magic came and the technology went?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
(1)Urban Legends of the Awakening, Adam Cecil, Harcourt, Fuji,
|
|||
|
|
Jovanovich, 2049.
|
|||
|
|
(2)A Theory of Quantum and Zonal Atechnology, Science, Ariadne and
|
|||
|
|
Phillips, March 15, 2043.
|
|||
|
|
(3)Two well-received experiments have backed this up. The first
|
|||
|
|
(Wiedrich and Fries), reported in New Research, February, 2050,
|
|||
|
|
showed that X-Ray sources do not leave a mark on photographic plates
|
|||
|
|
within a zone. The second (Larasia), reported in Scientific
|
|||
|
|
Republican, January, 2050, showed that rats exposed to highly
|
|||
|
|
radioactive uranium within a zone were unharmed after weeks of
|
|||
|
|
exposure, while their control group counterparts contracted severe
|
|||
|
|
cases of cancer in days.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SHADOW U.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
NEW SKILLS, CONCENTRATIONS, AND SPECIALIZATIONS
|
|||
|
|
by ANANDA%BSU.DECNET%MSUS1.BITNET@Sdsc.Edu
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The first campaign I started included a rocker and a theatre-type. Due
|
|||
|
|
to the dearth of related skills in the skill listings, I worked on
|
|||
|
|
creating my own. After a few sessions and a few new non-player
|
|||
|
|
characters, new concentrations and specializations also cropped up.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FORMATS:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
GENERAL SKILL
|
|||
|
|
concentration (specializations)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
GENERAL SKILL
|
|||
|
|
concentrations
|
|||
|
|
specializations
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
PERFORMING ARTS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Instrumental music and vocal music encompass the ability to play
|
|||
|
|
instruments or sing well, and can be considered a measure of how good a
|
|||
|
|
musician a person is. Performance encompasses how the musician interacts
|
|||
|
|
with an audience. A person could be a technically brilliant musician,
|
|||
|
|
cutting lots of audio tracks, yet never do a single concert because of
|
|||
|
|
an inability to deal with an audience.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
|
|||
|
|
instrument family--e.g. saxophone, clarinet, flute, guitar, synth,
|
|||
|
|
etc.
|
|||
|
|
specific instrument--e.g., alto sax, bass guitar, etc.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
VOCAL MUSIC
|
|||
|
|
choral, barbershop, rock, opera, etc.; vocal synth
|
|||
|
|
specialization is some aspect of the specific concentration
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MUSICAL COMPOSITION
|
|||
|
|
vocal (choral, barbershop, rock, etc.)
|
|||
|
|
instrumental (chamber music, symphonic, jazz, etc.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
PERFORMANCE
|
|||
|
|
actor, singer, comedian, musician
|
|||
|
|
specialization is a specific style of the concentration
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Performance is stage presence and working with an audience.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ACTING
|
|||
|
|
simsense, movies (flat films), stage plays, trid (by medium)
|
|||
|
|
comedy, drama, western, horror (by genre)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This skill could possibly switch the concentrations with the
|
|||
|
|
specializations. I have it arranged this way because more actors talk
|
|||
|
|
about making 'the big step' from one medium to another (especially
|
|||
|
|
trid to movies) than from one genre to another. Also, anything to
|
|||
|
|
simsense is a much bigger step than between any two genres, since the
|
|||
|
|
latter doesn't usually require the actor to get cybered.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
NON-PERFORMING ARTS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ARTISTIC COMPOSITION & DESIGN
|
|||
|
|
two-dimensional (painting, drawing, etc. [by general technique];
|
|||
|
|
color or black and white), three-dimensional (sculpture,
|
|||
|
|
holographs, etc.), animation (children's, adults',
|
|||
|
|
educational/instructional, etc. [by audience or purpose])
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
WRITTEN COMPOSITION
|
|||
|
|
fiction genre -- e.g. mystery, romance, poetry, western, science
|
|||
|
|
fiction, fantasy, suspense, `popular fiction', etc.
|
|||
|
|
novels, novellas/novelettes, short stories
|
|||
|
|
non-fiction genre -- news, science (either general or a specific
|
|||
|
|
field), self-help, diet/nutrition, etc.
|
|||
|
|
books/texts, articles (e.g., magazine, journals, newspaper, etc., as
|
|||
|
|
appropriate), etc.
|
|||
|
|
scripts -- simsense, movies (flat films), stage plays, trid
|
|||
|
|
(series), music videos
|
|||
|
|
comedy, drama, western, horror (by genre); documentary, etc.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The reason that the genres are concentrations and the lengths are
|
|||
|
|
specializations is that a person can easier write different lengths of
|
|||
|
|
works within a different genre than write works of similar length across
|
|||
|
|
different genres. Scripts are the exception; script authors seem to
|
|||
|
|
cross genres more frequently than they cross medias.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ACTIVE SKILLS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
UNARMED COMBAT
|
|||
|
|
Fist-fighting (brawling, boxing)
|
|||
|
|
Throws
|
|||
|
|
Grapple is renamed Wrestling (take-downs, holds, escapes)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ELECTRONICS
|
|||
|
|
Security systems (while it is true that many security systems are
|
|||
|
|
tied into a computer, there are many that aren't.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SOCIAL SKILLS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
LEADERSHIP
|
|||
|
|
Gang
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
INTERROGATION
|
|||
|
|
Verbal (interviewing)
|
|||
|
|
Machine-aided (lie detectors, etc.)
|
|||
|
|
Coercive (torture) (sick, I know, but just the thing for your next
|
|||
|
|
cyberpsycho npc who is determined to get that tidbit of info
|
|||
|
|
that your players didn't know they had.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
NEGOTIATION
|
|||
|
|
Bargain (haggling, barter)
|
|||
|
|
Con (duping someone; persuading someone to do something they normally
|
|||
|
|
wouldn't do)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ETIQUETTE
|
|||
|
|
Media (Journalists, Rockers, Musicians, Actors, etc.)
|
|||
|
|
Organized Crime (Yakuza, Mafia, Seoulpa rings, Tongs, inter-group
|
|||
|
|
relations)
|
|||
|
|
Religions/Cults (by religion or cult, inter-group relations)
|
|||
|
|
Tech (Technicians, Armorers, Mechanics, etc.)
|
|||
|
|
Military
|
|||
|
|
Government
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Military and Government specializations include:
|
|||
|
|
specific branches or departments
|
|||
|
|
inter-branch or department relations
|
|||
|
|
local- or state-level groups
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
About the Organized Crime concentration: Although arguments can be made
|
|||
|
|
to include this under the Street concentration, the different groups
|
|||
|
|
listed as specialization possibilities are highly organized and have
|
|||
|
|
their own rules of conduct, which are very different from the rules of
|
|||
|
|
etiquette that would apply to gangs and other Street elements. This
|
|||
|
|
would seem to argue for the various mob groups to be specializations of
|
|||
|
|
the Corporate concentration. However, the primarily illegal and extra-
|
|||
|
|
legal orientation of the mob groups does not fit the Corp.
|
|||
|
|
concentration. Making Organized Crime its own concentration solves these
|
|||
|
|
problems.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
KNOWLEDGE SKILLS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THEOLOGY
|
|||
|
|
Christian, Hindu, Muslim, etc.
|
|||
|
|
history of the religion or church, rituals, customs, etc.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
LANGUAGES
|
|||
|
|
Move Estonian from the Baltic family to the Finnic family. One person
|
|||
|
|
speaking Finnish and one speaking Estonian can understand each
|
|||
|
|
other fairly well.
|
|||
|
|
Romance family: add Ancient Latin, Medieval Latin, and Church Latin.
|
|||
|
|
There are sufficient differences between the three to
|
|||
|
|
differentiate them.
|
|||
|
|
Sign Languages: American Sign Language, Perkins-Athabaskan
|
|||
|
|
Sasquatch
|
|||
|
|
Special Languages: Pidgin English (the City Speak equivalent of many
|
|||
|
|
semi-aboriginal groups in South America, Africa and Asia)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SHADOW SKILLS
|
|||
|
|
Jerry Stratton
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Here are some skills you won't necessarily learn at the city college.
|
|||
|
|
You'll most likely need to find a teacher in security or in the shadows.
|
|||
|
|
These are all special skills, and fall under the heading of Action
|
|||
|
|
skills. These require 2x Karma to train in, so referees take note: they
|
|||
|
|
are general skills, and cover quite a bit of ground.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
OPEN LOCKS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Opening locks covers hard locks (padlocks, etc.), electronic locks, and
|
|||
|
|
computer locks. Each type requires its own special tools, and characters
|
|||
|
|
can concentrate in any of those three types (or any other types that may
|
|||
|
|
exist). A hard lock kit costs 200<30>. An electronic lock kit costs 400<30>,
|
|||
|
|
and a computer lock kit costs 800<30>. Opening locks is usually an
|
|||
|
|
unresisted test against the lock's rating, with extra successes reducing
|
|||
|
|
the base time to unlock. Some especially tough locks will have a
|
|||
|
|
threshold less than or equal to their rating.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IMPERSONATION
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Impersonation covers all forms of impersonating other people:
|
|||
|
|
ventriloquism, disguise, and mannerisms. Each of those three can be
|
|||
|
|
concentrated in. Using this skill is usually an unresisted test against
|
|||
|
|
a number chosen by the referee, using the Skill Success Table. A troll
|
|||
|
|
trying to impersonate a human, for example, will find it nearly
|
|||
|
|
impossible. The referee will need to take into account the backgrounds
|
|||
|
|
and appearance of the impersonator and the person being impersonated. A
|
|||
|
|
street punk impersonating a CEO will find it a difficult task, unless
|
|||
|
|
the street punk has knowledge of corporate etiquette.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The number of successes show how well the impersonation succeeded. Only
|
|||
|
|
one success will be necessary to fool most people. People who know the
|
|||
|
|
person being impersonated will have a threshold up to their
|
|||
|
|
intelligence. If the street punk tries to impersonate the CEO to the
|
|||
|
|
CEO's wife, the punk will need at least one more success than the wife's
|
|||
|
|
intelligence. Impersonating the CEO to his secretary will require only 1
|
|||
|
|
extra success (a threshold of 1).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The impersonator can reduce the target number by studying what needs to
|
|||
|
|
be done. If the street punk above finds someone willing to show him how
|
|||
|
|
a corporate CEO acts, he can make an Intelligence test vs. the target
|
|||
|
|
number (6), and the successes here reduce the target number when making
|
|||
|
|
the actual impersonation attempt. The street punk's intelligence is 3.
|
|||
|
|
He rolls 1 six. This brings the impersonation target number down to 5.
|
|||
|
|
Characters cannot study to bring down target numbers that are high
|
|||
|
|
because of physical reasons (a troll impersonating a human). The referee
|
|||
|
|
will have to decide which part of the target number is physical and
|
|||
|
|
which mental. It takes target number days to study for the intelligence
|
|||
|
|
test.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A disguise kit costs Rating times 50<35> and weight three times Rating
|
|||
|
|
kilograms. The rating is the maximum target number the kit can deal
|
|||
|
|
with. A rating 5 kit can only be used for challenging or easier
|
|||
|
|
impersonations.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SLEIGHT OF HAND
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Sleight of Hand covers picking pockets, magic tricks, and diverting
|
|||
|
|
attention. Each of those can be concentrated in. Sleight of Hand is
|
|||
|
|
usually an unresisted success test against the target's intelligence
|
|||
|
|
(perception). The referee may assign a threshold for particularly
|
|||
|
|
difficult sleight-of-hand attempts. Picking a pocket is fairly easy (no
|
|||
|
|
threshold), but picking a pocket inside several layers of clothing will
|
|||
|
|
be more difficult (a threshold of 1 or 2).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A magic kit will cost 50<35> or more, depending on what the character is
|
|||
|
|
going to do.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE NEO-ANARCHISTS' ON-LINE GRIMOIRE
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Spells attributed to D.C. and Spectre thanks to Keith Ammann,
|
|||
|
|
aa687@cleveland.Freenet.Edu
|
|||
|
|
Spells attributed to White Winter thanks to Erekosse,
|
|||
|
|
dsk@gator.cacs.usl.edu
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ASTRAL FOG Manipulation (Transform)
|
|||
|
|
D.C
|
|||
|
|
Astral Fog M1 Mana Sustained
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A rather oddball desperation move, but D.C. swears it can be effective
|
|||
|
|
(then again, he's not as good in Astral Combat as I am). Target number
|
|||
|
|
of 6, and each success generates a point of background count within the
|
|||
|
|
spell's area of effect, making an effective smokescreen.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Background Count is defined in the Grimoire. It affects every magical
|
|||
|
|
act in the area.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BLACKOUT Illusion
|
|||
|
|
D.C
|
|||
|
|
Blackout M2 Physical Sustained
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
An area-effect stunt of D.C.'s that blinds everyone in the room
|
|||
|
|
(including yourself, so you might want to Perceive before casting it).
|
|||
|
|
And yes, this one does work on cybereyes.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It's a physical spell, so it affects cybereyes and cameras. You can
|
|||
|
|
think of it as cutting off visual input, or you can think of it as
|
|||
|
|
replacing one's visual input with basic null-light 0% black. Either way
|
|||
|
|
it affects cameras (however, the target for living beings is their
|
|||
|
|
Willpower, while the target for a camera is 9, it being a high-tech
|
|||
|
|
gizmo thing).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The mere shift to Perceiving voids the spell. However, then you can't
|
|||
|
|
really hear what's going on...
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DISGUISE VEHICLE Illusion
|
|||
|
|
Spectre
|
|||
|
|
Disguise Vehicle L2 Physical Sustained
|
|||
|
|
Touch Required
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mask for your car. And it's touch-required, but if you're inside all
|
|||
|
|
you've gotta do is lay your hands on the wheel or on the seat. Real
|
|||
|
|
handy for evading pursuers in heavy traffic.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I gave it a one-level boost to the drain code to make it sound like
|
|||
|
|
another vehicle as well as just looking like it (people are going to
|
|||
|
|
raise an eyebrow when your erstwhile Dodge Scoot makes the noise of a
|
|||
|
|
150cc engine).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
EXISTENTIAL BLUES Manipulation (Control)
|
|||
|
|
D.C
|
|||
|
|
Existential Blues M1 Mana Sustained
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A nihilistic Mob Mind -- overwhelms everyone in the area of effect with
|
|||
|
|
a terrible sense of futility and pointlessness. Makes 'em just wanna
|
|||
|
|
give up and quit whatever they're doing. Frankly, I have trouble staying
|
|||
|
|
motivated sometimes without this spell, but I can see some potential
|
|||
|
|
uses.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
D.C. originally designed it as a single-purpose Mob Mood, but then
|
|||
|
|
realized that for only one more level of Drain (and really, M1 is no big
|
|||
|
|
deal), he could intensify the effects and make them actively want to
|
|||
|
|
give up instead of just feeling angsty.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FORCED TRUTH Manipulation (Control)
|
|||
|
|
White Winter (Leader, Hermetic Order of Guardians)
|
|||
|
|
Forced Truth L2 Mana Sustained
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The subject of this spell is forced to tell the truth while this spell
|
|||
|
|
is in effect. The spell does not, however, force the subject to speak.
|
|||
|
|
The threshold is the victim's willpower. The referee may allow
|
|||
|
|
additional resistance tests as warranted by the situation.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>>>[Like this spell is wiz, but if you want to pick it up at your
|
|||
|
|
local lore store, ask for the Pinocchio spell version 2.]<<<<<
|
|||
|
|
----Erekosse<12:15:03/11-14-51>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>>>[I picked up this spell at Blue Moon Lore Store over near Seattle
|
|||
|
|
U. I got it by its proper name, but I guess it's to be expected since
|
|||
|
|
the sign on the door said "White Winter Proprietor." This is great to
|
|||
|
|
lock on an enemy; they'll never be able to live it down in the
|
|||
|
|
streets.]<<<<<
|
|||
|
|
----Grey Eagle<21:47:16/02-09-52>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>>>[Tell me about it; in fact, your probably the #*@#$* red-skin who
|
|||
|
|
nailed me with it. I haven't been able to hang out around my old
|
|||
|
|
friends since, and they're a wond.... truly obnoxious bunch of fat
|
|||
|
|
bigots. Oh no, not again. Anyone out there know of a reliable mage for
|
|||
|
|
hire with reasonable rates.]<<<<<
|
|||
|
|
----Hooded Knight<14:18:52/02-12-52>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
KNOW EXIT Detection
|
|||
|
|
Spectre
|
|||
|
|
Know Exit M2 Physical Sustained
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Now this one is useful. It's a hypersense spell, with the usual
|
|||
|
|
provision that the number of successes establishes the effective range.
|
|||
|
|
Basically, it's a trail of bread crumbs -- lets you know exactly the
|
|||
|
|
fastest way out of a building, assuming the exit is within the effective
|
|||
|
|
range. Once you get this spell up and running, you're a virtual escape-
|
|||
|
|
route bloodhound.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The thing took me two days to write. It doesn't exactly determine the
|
|||
|
|
fastest route per se... simply the most efficient one. There's a little
|
|||
|
|
bit o' Detect Enemies in there too, which I accounted for by adding the
|
|||
|
|
Drastic Effects modifier.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
PHANTASMAL FORCE Illusion
|
|||
|
|
Spectre
|
|||
|
|
Phantasmal Force D1 Mana Sustained
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This is my baby, and I do love it so. Area-effect, full-sensory,
|
|||
|
|
realistic illusion. I get this sucker going and reality is mine for the
|
|||
|
|
creating. You see, hear, smell, and feel what I want you too. Having
|
|||
|
|
always had a nuyen for the macabre, I like to pull stuff like lowering
|
|||
|
|
the ambient temperature ten degrees, having shrieking demons descending
|
|||
|
|
from out of the sky, having a room overrun by crawling rats, or
|
|||
|
|
surrounding myself in a skull-mask and blue flame. A real mindfragger --
|
|||
|
|
unfortunately it's mana-based, but that just confuses the chromies even
|
|||
|
|
more.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This is a standard illusion spell -- my target number is the victim's
|
|||
|
|
Willpower and varies from victim to victim. What I have to do is keep
|
|||
|
|
track of the numbers I roll for the success test.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For example, I cast it at Force 4 and throw in 6 points of Pool, and I
|
|||
|
|
roll 10,9,5,5,4,4,4,3,1,1. Now, characters with Willpower 6+ need to
|
|||
|
|
roll two successes against my Sorcery to resist; characters with
|
|||
|
|
Willpower 5 need four successes; characters with Willpower 4 need seven
|
|||
|
|
successes; etc.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
TEMPORARY INSANITY Manipulation (Control)
|
|||
|
|
Jerry Stratton
|
|||
|
|
Temporary L Insanity L2 Mana Sustained
|
|||
|
|
Temporary M Insanity M2 Mana Sustained
|
|||
|
|
Temporary S Insanity S2 Mana Sustained
|
|||
|
|
Temporary D Insanity D2 Mana Sustained
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Temporary Insanity changes the target's outlook on life to an extent
|
|||
|
|
that resembles insanity. The nature of the insanity will depend on the
|
|||
|
|
circumstances when the spell is cast and the target's original
|
|||
|
|
personality.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The target resists with Willpower, and there is a threshold equal to the
|
|||
|
|
target's Willpower. The number of successes indicate how detailed the
|
|||
|
|
insanity will be.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Marcia the wage mage, with Temporary Moderate Insanity (Force 4),
|
|||
|
|
Sorcery 5, Magic Pool 5, and Willpower 6 casts this spell on Billda Ork,
|
|||
|
|
Willpower 3. Marcia uses 3 of her Magic Pool dice to augment the spell's
|
|||
|
|
Force, rolling 7 dice:, getting 5, 7, 8, 1, 4, 4, 10. This is 6
|
|||
|
|
successes, minus 3 (Billda's Willpower), for 3 successes. Billda resists
|
|||
|
|
with her Willpower, rolling 3 dice vs. Marcia's Sorcery 5, getting 9, 4,
|
|||
|
|
and 1. One success does not offset Marcia's 3 successes, so Billda is
|
|||
|
|
moderately insane (see Insanity)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Marcia rolls drain. She saved 2 Magic Pool dice for drain, so she rolls
|
|||
|
|
8 dice, vs. the force of 4, getting only 3 successes. She takes Light
|
|||
|
|
drain.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
TRUTH GLOW Manipulation (Control)
|
|||
|
|
White Winter (Leader, Hermetic Order of Guardians)
|
|||
|
|
Truth Glow M2 Mana Sustained
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This area spell works like a polygraph test, however, with more
|
|||
|
|
accuracy. Instead of monitoring physiological signs of falsehood, it
|
|||
|
|
detects aural indications. When a subject tells a lie, the individual
|
|||
|
|
will shed a white glow perceivable to anyone in visual range. The spell
|
|||
|
|
does not force someone to speak nor does it require the subjects to
|
|||
|
|
speak the truth; however, falsehood will be quite obvious. The threshold
|
|||
|
|
of this spell is half the subject's willpower.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>>>[The street name on this puppy in most places is Pinocchio version
|
|||
|
|
1. It's great to use at a meet. If everyone knows the nature of spell,
|
|||
|
|
it's a good way to establish trust where none is present.]<<<<<
|
|||
|
|
----Erekosse<02:19:43/03-04-52>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>>>[I beg to differ. This spell is awful at a meet. You know the old
|
|||
|
|
saying, "Tell me no secrets, and I'll tell you no lies." Well most meets
|
|||
|
|
are secret.]<<<<<
|
|||
|
|
----Shade<04:25:34/03-04-52>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>>>[Ignore Shade; she's a pathological liar. At our last meet we used
|
|||
|
|
her to read the contracts.]<<<<
|
|||
|
|
----Spit Fire<15:54:54/03-08-52>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
TURN MARBLE TO BAT Manipulation (Transform)
|
|||
|
|
D.C
|
|||
|
|
Turn Marble to Bat L3 Physical Sustained
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Yeah, I looked at D.C. that way too, but he wasn't kidding. He actually
|
|||
|
|
carries a bag of shooters around with him, and when things get tight,
|
|||
|
|
he'll lob a handful of 'em into the oppos' general direction and chase
|
|||
|
|
'em down with this area effect spell. Whammo -- cloud of bats. Instant
|
|||
|
|
chaos. It does need to be sustained, though; soon as you drop it, the
|
|||
|
|
marbles fall to the floor again. 'Course, then they can be stepped on.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The drain code is so low because of the Very Limited Target modifier.
|
|||
|
|
Not only does it only affect glass (real glass, not Plasti-Vue or Saf-T-
|
|||
|
|
Glas), it only affects spheres of glass less than 3 cm in diameter...
|
|||
|
|
and it will only turn them into one specific animal, the northern brown
|
|||
|
|
bat. Note that the target number is going to be the marble's Object
|
|||
|
|
Resistance of 5 (simple techie object).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
X-RAY SPECS Detection
|
|||
|
|
Keith Ammann
|
|||
|
|
X-Ray Specs L2 Physical Sustained
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A handy little gem, to be cast on any voluntary subject. It's a
|
|||
|
|
hypersense spell, so roll against a Target of 4. Each success lets you
|
|||
|
|
look through one point of Barrier Rating (inanimate objects only -- you
|
|||
|
|
can look through a bench, but not a dog). You can guess what my focus
|
|||
|
|
for it looks like. Yeppers, made in Taiwan.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The target for all hypersense spells (as opposed to ranged detection) is
|
|||
|
|
4; the number of successes usually determines the range of
|
|||
|
|
effectiveness, but in this case it determines the strength of the spell
|
|||
|
|
instead. BTW, there is no resistance test on the part of the object one
|
|||
|
|
looks through, in case anyone was wondering.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SPELL CREATION NOTES FROM D.C.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
D.C. reverse-engineers everything. He'll think back to the last bad
|
|||
|
|
situation he and his pals were in, think, "What would have been really
|
|||
|
|
handy to help us out or buy us some time?" and come up with a spell that
|
|||
|
|
fits the bill. The Astral Fog came from the time he got his butt creamed
|
|||
|
|
in a mano-a-mano in the ether and decided that the best thing for him
|
|||
|
|
would have been to make it twice as tough for anyone to do anything --
|
|||
|
|
that way his oppo would be just as ineffective as he was at the time.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MASTER SPELL LIST
|
|||
|
|
originally compiled by Chris Spindler
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Here's a quick reference guide for Shadowrun spells. Thumbing through
|
|||
|
|
two separate books to determine things that were left out of the table
|
|||
|
|
in the Grimoire just got too irritating. And now that the On-Line
|
|||
|
|
Grimoire is regularly providing new spells, it'll only get worse.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The following table is a revised version of the Grimoire's which
|
|||
|
|
includes useful things like drain code, staging, target numbers and
|
|||
|
|
threshold (if any).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Notation
|
|||
|
|
MA magic attribute
|
|||
|
|
#S number of successes
|
|||
|
|
F force of spell
|
|||
|
|
(X) Extended version
|
|||
|
|
Perm(n) Permanent after n actions
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>[Double asterisks indicate spells created by us net types. Single
|
|||
|
|
asterisks indicate spells from published adventures.]<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Silver Cianide<09:03:12/03-10-52>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We'll include an update with each issue of the NAGEE that includes the
|
|||
|
|
On-Line Grimoire. If you have any updates (new spells in an adventure,
|
|||
|
|
mistakes in this listing) send them to us. We'll print the update, and
|
|||
|
|
then everybody can use their favorite word processor/text editor to
|
|||
|
|
paste the update into the master list.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Combat Spells
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Name Drain Target Staging Range Area Duration Type
|
|||
|
|
Death Touch M1 Willpower 1 Touch Single Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Fire Bolt D3 Body 1 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Fire Cloud S3 Body 3 Visual Magic Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Fire Dart M3 Body 3 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Fire Missile S3 Body 2 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Fireball D3 Body 2 Visual MA Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Fireblast D4 Body 1 Visual MA Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Mana Bolt S1 Willpower 1 Visual Single Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Mana Cloud M1 Willpower 3 Visual MA Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Mana Dart L1 Willpower 3 Visual Single Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Mana Missile M1 Willpower 2 Visual Single Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Mana Ball S1 Willpower 2 Visual MA Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Mana Blast D1 Willpower 1 Visual MA Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Power Bolt S2 Body 1 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Power Cloud M2 Body 3 Visual MA Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Power Dart L2 Body 3 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Power Missile M2 Body 2 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Power Ball S2 Body 2 Visual MA Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Power Blast D2 Body 1 Visual MA Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Ram M2 Barrier Rating 1 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Ram Touch L2 Barrier Rating 1 Touch Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Slay (Species)M1 Willpower 1 Visual Single Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Stun Bolt M1 Willpower 1 Visual Single Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Stun Cloud L1 Willpower 3 Visual MA Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Stun Missile L1 Willpower 2 Visual Single Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Stun Touch L1 Willpower 1 Touch Single Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Stun Ball M1 Willpower 2 Visual MA Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Stun Blast S1 Willpower 1 Visual MA Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Urban Renewal M2 Material Body 1 Visual MA Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Wrecker L2 Vehicle Body 1 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DETECTION SPELLS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Name Drain Target Range Area Duration Type
|
|||
|
|
Analyze Device S2 Object Resistance Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Analyze Truth M1 Willpower Visual Aural Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Combat Sense M2 4 Visual Special Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Clairvoyance M1 4 Visual MAx#S Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Clairvoyance(X) S1 4 Visual MAx#Sx10 Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Detect(Life Form) L1 4/6/10 Visual MAx#S Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Detect (Object) L2 4/6/10 Visual MAx#S Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Detect Enemies M1 4/6/10 Visual MAx#S Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Detect Enemies(X) S1 4/6/10 Visual MAx#Sx10 Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Detect Individual L1 4/6/10 Visual MAx#S Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Detect Life L1 4/6/10 Visual MAx#S Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Eyes of the Pack* S1 4 (Voluntary) MAxFx10 Sustain
|
|||
|
|
Identify Device M2 Object - Skill Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Know Exit** M2 4 Visual MAx#S Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Mind Probe M1 Willpower Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Pers. Analyze Truth L1 Willpower Personal Aural Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Pers. Clairvoyance L1 4 Personal MAx#S Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Pers. Clairvoyance (X) M1 4 Personal MAx#Sx10 Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Pers. Combat Sense L2 4 Personal Special Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Pers. Detect Enemies L1 4/6/10 Personal MAx#S Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Pers. Detect Enemies (X) M1 4/6/10 Personal MAx#Sx10 Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
X-Ray Specs L2 4 Visual Special Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HEALTH SPELLS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Name Drain Target Threshold Range Area Duration Type
|
|||
|
|
Antidote L Toxin L2 Tox. Str. Tox Stg Touch Single Perm(5) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Antidote M Toxin M2 Tox. Str. Tox Stg Touch Single Perm(10) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Antidote S Toxin S2 Tox. Str. Tox Stg Touch Single Perm(15) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Antidote D Toxin D2 Tox. Str. Tox Stg Touch Single Perm(20) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Cure L Disease L2 Dis. Str. Dis Stg Touch Single Perm(5) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Cure M Disease M2 Dis. Str. Dis Stg Touch Single Perm(10) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Cure S Disease S2 Dis. Str. Dis Stg Touch Single Perm(15) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Cure D Disease D2 Dis. Str. Dis Stg Touch Single Perm(20) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Dec. Min. Att. M2 Attribute Staging:3 Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Dec. Med. Att. S2 Attribute Staging:2 Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Dec. Mas. Att. D2 Attribute Staging:1 Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Dec. Min.Cyb.Att.M3 Attribute Staging:3 Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Dec. Med.Cyb.Att.S3 Attribute Staging:2 Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Dec. Mas.Cyb.Att.D3 Attribute Staging:1 Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Detox. M Toxin L1 Tox. Str. Tox Stg Touch Single Perm(10) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Detox. S Toxin M1 Tox. Str. Tox Stg Touch Single Perm(15) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Detox. D Toxin S1 Tox. Str. Tox Stg Touch Single Perm(20) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Heal L Wounds L2 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(5) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Heal M Wounds M2 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(10) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Heal S Wounds S2 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(15) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Heal D Wounds D2 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(20) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Healthy Glow L1 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(5) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Inc. Att. +1 L2 Attrib. x 2 Touch Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Inc. Att. +2 M2 Attrib. x 2 Touch Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Inc. Att. +3 S2 Attrib. x 2 Touch Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Inc. Att. +4 D2 Attrib. x 2 Touch Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Inc. Cyb.Att. +1 L3 Attrib. x 2 Touch Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Inc. Cyb.Att. +2 M3 Attrib. x 2 Touch Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Inc. Cyb.Att. +3 S3 Attrib. x 2 Touch Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Inc. Cyb.Att. +4 D3 Attrib. x 2 Touch Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Oxygenate L2 10 - Ess. Touch Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Prophyl. L Path. L2 10 - Ess. Touch Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Prophyl. M Path. M2 10 - Ess. Touch Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Prophyl. S Path. S2 10 - Ess. Touch Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Prophyl. D Path. D2 10 - Ess. Touch Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Resist Mod. Pain L2 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(10) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Resist Sev. Pain M2 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(15) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Stabilize M1 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(20) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Treat L Wounds L1 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(5) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Treat M Wounds M1 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(10) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Treat S Wounds S1 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(15) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Treat D Wounds D1 10 - Ess. Touch Single Perm(20) Mana
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ILLUSION SPELLS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Name Drain Target Threshold Range Area Duration Type
|
|||
|
|
Blackout** M2 Willpower/Object Visual MA Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Chaos S2 Willpower Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Chaotic World D2 Willpower Visual MA Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Confusion S1 Willpower Visual MA Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Disguise Vehicle** L2 Vehicle (7) Touch Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Entertainment L1 3 (Voluntary) Visual MA Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Invisibility L2 3 (Voluntary) Touch Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Mask L1 3 (Voluntary) Touch Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Overstimulation S1 Willpower Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Phantasmal Force** D1 Willpower Visual MA Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Physical Mask L2 3 (Voluntary) Touch Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
See Me Not* L1 Willpower Visual Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Spectacle M1 3 (Voluntary) Visual MA Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Stimulation M1 3 (Voluntary) Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Stink S2 Willpower Visual MA Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
TriD Entertainment L2 3 (Voluntary) Visual MA Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
TriD Spectacle M2 3 (Voluntary) Visual MA Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
CONTROL MANIPULATION SPELLS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Name Drain Target Threshold Range Area Duration Type
|
|||
|
|
Control Actions M2 Will Will Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Control Emotions L1 Will Will Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Control Thoughts L2 Will Will Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Existential Blues** M1 Will/3 Visual MA Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Forced Truth** L2 Will Will Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Hibernate L2 4 Touch Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Influence L3 Will Will Visual Single Perm(10) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Mob Mind S1 Will/3 Visual MA Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Mob Mood M1 Will/3 Visual MA Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Temporary L Insanity** L2 Will Will Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Temporary M Insanity** M2 Will Will Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Temporary S Insanity** S2 Will Will Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Temporary D Insanity** D2 Will Will Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Truth Glow** M2 Will Will/2 Visual MA Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
TELEKINETIC MANIPULATION SPELLS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Name Drain Target Staging Range Area Duration Type
|
|||
|
|
Clout L1 4 (Will)M1 Visual Single Instant Mana
|
|||
|
|
Levitate Item L2 4 Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Levitate Person M2 Will Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Magic Fingers M2 6 Personal Sight Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Poltergeist S2 4 L3 Visual MA Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Use (Skill) L2 6 Personal Sight Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
TRANSFORM MANIPULATION SPELLS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Name Drain Target Threshold Range Area Duration Type
|
|||
|
|
Acid S3 4 Staging:2 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Acid Bomb D4 4 Staging:1 Visual MA Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Acid Volt D3 4 Staging:1 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Armour L3 4 Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Anti-Bullet Barrier S2 6 Visual MA/Force Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Anti-Spell Barrier S1 6 Visual MA/Force Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Astral Fog** M1 6 Visual MA Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
(Critter) Form L3 4 (Voluntary) Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Fashion L2 4 Visual Single Perm(5) Physical
|
|||
|
|
Flame S3 4 Staging:2 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Flame Bomb D4 4 Staging:1 Visual MA Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Flame Volt D3 4 Staging:1 Visual Single Instant Physical
|
|||
|
|
Ignite S4 Body/Barrier Body/Barrier Visual Single Perm(10) Physical
|
|||
|
|
Makeover L1 4 Visual Single Perm(5) Mana
|
|||
|
|
Mana Barrier D1 6 Visual MA Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Pers. Anti-Spell Barrier L1 6 Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Pers. Physical Barrier M2 6 Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Petrify M3 Body Body Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Physical Barrier D2 6 Visual MA Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Shapechange M3 4 (Voluntary) Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Transform S3 Will Will Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Turn Being to Goo(P)S3 Body Body Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Turn Being to Goo(M)M4 Will Will Visual Single Sustain Mana
|
|||
|
|
Turn Marble to Bat** L3 3 Visual MA Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Turn to Goo M2 Body/Barrier Body/Barrier Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
Turn to Tree M2 Body Body Visual Single Sustain Physical
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE PHARMACY
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DRUGS IN SHADOWRUN
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Drugs have an effect, which is presumably why they're used. They also
|
|||
|
|
have the following characteristics: Onset Time, Duration, Aftershock
|
|||
|
|
Code, Addiction Code, and Addiction Lethality.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Body tests vs. Drugs are almost never affected by dermal armor.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ONSET TIME
|
|||
|
|
The Onset Time is the amount of time it takes for the drug to take
|
|||
|
|
effect. Often, this will by multiplied by a Body test vs. an Onset
|
|||
|
|
Target. This target will usually increase with the drug's rating.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DURATION:
|
|||
|
|
The Duration is the amount of time the drug's effects last, once the
|
|||
|
|
drug has taken effect. This will usually be divided by a Body test vs.
|
|||
|
|
the Duration Target which will increase with the drug's rating.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
AFTERSHOCK CODE:
|
|||
|
|
This is the damage code for Mental damage taken once the drug wears off.
|
|||
|
|
If the drug's rating is high enough with respect to the user's Body,
|
|||
|
|
this will be Physical damage. Staging is often affected by the dosage.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTION CODE:
|
|||
|
|
If the drug is addictive, the user must make a Willpower test once the
|
|||
|
|
drug wears off. The 'Wound Level,' or Addiction Level is almost always
|
|||
|
|
the dosage. The Target number is proportional to the drug's rating. The
|
|||
|
|
addictiveness of the drug is measured in the staging.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The final Addiction Level (after the Willpower test reduces it) is
|
|||
|
|
multiplied by the drug's rating, for the number of boxes permanently
|
|||
|
|
filled in on the character's Mental damage monitor. This is the
|
|||
|
|
Addiction Level, and it isn't additive. The only time the Addiction
|
|||
|
|
Level increases is when an Addiction test results in a higher Addiction
|
|||
|
|
Level than the character previously had.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If a character with Willpower 5 takes two doses of a drug with a Rating
|
|||
|
|
of 3, and an Addiction Code of 4(dosage)2, the player rolls 5 dice
|
|||
|
|
against a target number of 4, staging 2. If the player rolls 1 success,
|
|||
|
|
the Addition Level is 2 -- the dosage. If the player rolls 2 or 3
|
|||
|
|
successes, the addiction level is 1. If the player rolls 4 successes,
|
|||
|
|
the character is not addicted.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
While using the drug, a number of Mental boxes equal to the dosage taken
|
|||
|
|
times the drug's rating are freed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If a character has an Addiction Level of 6, and shoots up 1 dose of
|
|||
|
|
rating 2, the Addiction Level will be reduced to 4 for the duration of
|
|||
|
|
the drug's effects.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If a character is addicted to more than one drug, keep track of each
|
|||
|
|
Addiction Level, but only apply the highest.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Penalties due to Aftershock damage do not apply to the Addiction test.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTIVE LETHALITY:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Each day, the character must make a Craving test. This is a Willpower
|
|||
|
|
test with a target number equal to the character's Addiction Level. If
|
|||
|
|
successful, the character has no craving that day. If unsuccessful,
|
|||
|
|
subtract the highest die roll from the character's Addiction Level, for
|
|||
|
|
the additional Mental monitor boxes filled in.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If the character goes the full day without getting a fix of at least
|
|||
|
|
Addiction Level (Rating times Dose), a Body Test is required, vs. the
|
|||
|
|
drug's Addictive Lethality, with a target number equal to the Addiction
|
|||
|
|
Level minus the fix taken (0 if none), and a staging equal to the
|
|||
|
|
Addiction Code staging. If the target number is greater than twice the
|
|||
|
|
character's Body, the damage is physical. Otherwise, it's mental.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This is also how the character can reduce his, her, or its Addiction
|
|||
|
|
Level. If the addictive lethality is reduced to no damage, reduce
|
|||
|
|
addiction level by the number of extra successes, divided by the staging
|
|||
|
|
(and rounded towards 0).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
These tests are not affected by stun caused by the character's addiction
|
|||
|
|
level, but they are affected by other stun and physical damage that is
|
|||
|
|
there for most of the night or day.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
John is addicted to Crack, with an addictive lethality of Serious and an
|
|||
|
|
addiction code of (Rating times 2)(Dosage)(2). His addiction level is 5.
|
|||
|
|
He has a Willpower of 2 and a Body of 3. Monday morning, he rolls a
|
|||
|
|
craving test, getting 5 and 3. His target number is his addiction level,
|
|||
|
|
or 5, so he has no craving that day. On Tuesday, he rolls 2 and 4. He
|
|||
|
|
craves some crack, but his friends lock him up so that he can't get any.
|
|||
|
|
He must make a Body test vs. 5S2 (addiction level Serious addiction code
|
|||
|
|
staging). This is mental, since his target number is not greater than
|
|||
|
|
twice his Body. He rolls 2 and 4, taking Serious mental damage.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
On Wednesday, he fails the craving test again, and manages to sneak in 2
|
|||
|
|
doses of rating 2 crack. This is a fix of 4, reducing the Body test to
|
|||
|
|
1S2 (the target number is really 2, since that's the lowest possible
|
|||
|
|
target number). He rolls 4 and 2, taking Moderate mental damage.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
USING DRUGS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Combat drugs (such as booster shots, nopane, and hul kaline) are most
|
|||
|
|
commonly administered via slap patches. This takes one action to self-
|
|||
|
|
administer, as long as the patches are readily accessible.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The next most common means of injection is through built-in cyber-
|
|||
|
|
controlled injectors. These take no action to use -- a simple thought is
|
|||
|
|
all that's required. Of course, if a character with a loaded cyber-
|
|||
|
|
injector gets a craving, the mind will automatically trigger an
|
|||
|
|
injection.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BOOSTER SHOTS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
EFFECT: Booster shots affect the user as boosted reflexes (see the
|
|||
|
|
Street Samurai's Catalog) of rating equal to the drug's rating. Booster
|
|||
|
|
shots are not cumulative with boosted reflexes. Booster shots interfere
|
|||
|
|
with wired reflexes. Subtract the booster shot rating from the wired
|
|||
|
|
reflexes rating, for the effective wired rating. If this is negative,
|
|||
|
|
Reaction is reduced, and negative dice are applied.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
COST: Booster shots originated in Korea, and Japan is trying very hard
|
|||
|
|
to keep them from reaching the western world. The Japanese government
|
|||
|
|
does not want boosted reflexes within reach of drug addicts in their
|
|||
|
|
colonies. Within Korea, Booster shots are less expensive than in the
|
|||
|
|
Americas.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BOOSTER SHOT COST
|
|||
|
|
Rating Korean American
|
|||
|
|
1 200<30> 500<30>
|
|||
|
|
2 250<35> 750<35>
|
|||
|
|
3 400<30> 1,500<30>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Unless Japan can stop the flow, American prices will drop to Japanese
|
|||
|
|
levels within 2 years.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ONSET TIME: One Action. The onset target is the drug's rating+3.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DURATION: (Dosage+2)d6 turns. The duration target is the drug's rating
|
|||
|
|
+1.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
AFTERSHOCK CODE: (2x Rating)D (dosage). If the rating is higher than
|
|||
|
|
body, the damage is physical.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTION CODE: (Rating+1)(dosage)2.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTINO LETHALITY: Deadly.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
NOPANE
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
EFFECT: Nopane reduces the penalty for physical damage by the drug's
|
|||
|
|
rating. It reduces Reaction and Quickness by rating. Quickness can't be
|
|||
|
|
reduced below one. If rating is higher than or equal to Quickness,
|
|||
|
|
Quickness is reduced to one, and the character has a penalty of 1, plus
|
|||
|
|
rating minus quickness, on all quickness tests.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Cost: Nopane was developed by the UCAS army, and its use has spread
|
|||
|
|
across the Americas. It is not common in Europe or Asia yet.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
NOPANE COST
|
|||
|
|
Rating America Eurasia
|
|||
|
|
1 50<35> 200<30>
|
|||
|
|
2 100<30> 300<30>
|
|||
|
|
3 200<30> 400<30>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Nopane is very illegal, and possession of Nopane marks the user as a
|
|||
|
|
seedy mercenary or killer. There are better and cheaper drugs on the
|
|||
|
|
market (illegal or otherwise) for normal drug-users.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ONSET TIME: Two Actions. The onset target is the drug's rating+2.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DURATION: (Dosage+1)d6 minutes. The duration target is the drug's rating
|
|||
|
|
+3.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
AFTERSHOCK CODE: (Rating+1)M(dosage). The damage is never physical.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTION CODE: (Rating+1)(dosage)2.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTION LETHALITY: Moderate.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
HUL KALINE
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
EFFECT: Hul kaline (also known as Conananol or Scharzezine) increases
|
|||
|
|
the user's strength by causing the body to go into overtime. Hul kaline
|
|||
|
|
is very debilitating, though not very addictive. Hul kaline increases
|
|||
|
|
the user's Strength by rating,. It decreases the user's Quickness by
|
|||
|
|
half rating (round down) and Intelligence by half rating<6E>(round up).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
COST: Hul kaline was developed by the Aratech Arcology in the late 30s.
|
|||
|
|
When Aratech went under, they sold the formula to a consortium of
|
|||
|
|
military contractors, and Hul kaline is a staple of South American
|
|||
|
|
subcontractors.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Rating Hul kaline Cost
|
|||
|
|
1 500<30>
|
|||
|
|
2 1,000<30>
|
|||
|
|
3 2,000<30>
|
|||
|
|
4 4,000<30>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Possession of hul kaline is very illegal in most areas.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ONSET TIME: Four Actions. The onset target is the drug's rating+2.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DURATION: (Dosage+2)d6 turns. The duration target is the drug's rating
|
|||
|
|
+2.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
AFTERSHOCK CODE: (Special)D(dosage). The target number is the drug's
|
|||
|
|
rating plus half the user's original strength (round up). The damage is
|
|||
|
|
always physical.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTION CODE: 2(dosage)2. The addiction code is not dependent on the
|
|||
|
|
drug's rating. Hul kaline is surprisingly non-addictive.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTION LETHALITY: Deadly.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SIMSENSE
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Simsense is almost exactly like drugs, except that Body is replaced by
|
|||
|
|
Charisma. Onset time and duration are chip in and chip out, and dosage
|
|||
|
|
is measured in time.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Simsense gives you the movie, but with all five senses instead of just
|
|||
|
|
two. BTL [Better than Life] gives you the same, but pushes the sensory
|
|||
|
|
signal to the red line. 2XS... hits you at the physiological level as
|
|||
|
|
well: adrenalin, endorphins, everything."
|
|||
|
|
-- Nigel Findley
|
|||
|
|
Shadowrun 4: 2XS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Some less reputable simsense producers program their chips to degrade
|
|||
|
|
with use. Of course, even normal simsense will go bad under the typical
|
|||
|
|
handling it receives. Simsense users are not known for their
|
|||
|
|
organizational skills and hygiene.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
COMMON SIMSENSE: (rating 1 to 3)
|
|||
|
|
AFTERSHOCK CODE: (Rating+1)M2
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTION CODE : (1+Rating)(dosage)1
|
|||
|
|
DOSAGE : 30 minutes
|
|||
|
|
LETHALITY : Moderate
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Simsense is very much like movies: a sequence of pre-recorded actions
|
|||
|
|
and scenes. The simsense industry (centered in Hollywood) has directors,
|
|||
|
|
producers, and actors, just like TriVid.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BETTER THAN LIFE: (rating 1 to 4)
|
|||
|
|
AFTERSHOCK CODE : (Rating+2)S3
|
|||
|
|
If rating is greater than willpower, aftershock is
|
|||
|
|
physical.
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTION CODE : (2x Rating)(dosage)2
|
|||
|
|
DOSAGE : 10 minutes
|
|||
|
|
LETHALITY : Serious
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BTL chips are the scummy side of simsense. The signals are amplified to
|
|||
|
|
provide a 'better than life' experience. Oddly enough, most BTL chips
|
|||
|
|
deal with violence rather than sex, although there's usually a sexual
|
|||
|
|
tint to the violence.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2XS : (rating 1)
|
|||
|
|
AFTERSHOCK CODE: (Rating+3)D4
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTION CODE : (2x Rating)(dosage)4
|
|||
|
|
DOSAGE : 1 minute
|
|||
|
|
LETHALITY : Deadly
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2XS is new to the market. It requires a datajack. It must be fed
|
|||
|
|
directly into the brain. 2XS is so illegal very few people outside of
|
|||
|
|
illegal simsense users know about it.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
INTERACTIVE SIMSENSE: (rating 1 to 3)
|
|||
|
|
AFTERSHOCK CODE : (Rating-1)L1
|
|||
|
|
Level 1 and 2 InSense will not cause aftershock,
|
|||
|
|
unless the user has penalties sufficient to bring
|
|||
|
|
the target number above 1.
|
|||
|
|
ADDICTION CODE : (Rating)(dosage)1
|
|||
|
|
Rating 1 InSense is not addictive unless the user
|
|||
|
|
has penalties to the roll.
|
|||
|
|
DOSAGE : 30 minutes
|
|||
|
|
LETHALITY : Light
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Interactive Simsense (InSense) allows the user to change the flow of
|
|||
|
|
action, and make choices. Some insense gives the user a character-eye
|
|||
|
|
view. Others are like movies. In each case, however, the viewer has the
|
|||
|
|
choice of what directions to follow.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Insense requires a special computer buffer to interface. Some insense
|
|||
|
|
won't work without the interface. Others will work as standard simsense,
|
|||
|
|
providing a pre-recorded sequence of scenes.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It is rumored that FASA Corp, in conjunction with the Collegium for
|
|||
|
|
Research in Interactive Technologies, is developing a networking
|
|||
|
|
technology for insense.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SHADOWSPACE
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Here are two articles describing aspects of outer space. The first
|
|||
|
|
describes the barrier between the living Earth and the empty void. The
|
|||
|
|
second describes what exists beyond the barrier. We at the Guide cannot
|
|||
|
|
vouch for the accuracy of these reports, nor be held responsible for any
|
|||
|
|
problems any inaccuracy causes.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE SPACE BARRIER
|
|||
|
|
by David Meleedy (dmm@linde.harvard.edu)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
What is the barrier? The barrier is a non-typical manifestation of the
|
|||
|
|
awakening. It is similar to a convection ring, which is caused by mana
|
|||
|
|
being released in a (typically) traumatic way (i.e. death), and which
|
|||
|
|
gets trapped at the outer boundaries of earth's domain. Consider that in
|
|||
|
|
the rules, the earth is described as being one huge spirit. When a being
|
|||
|
|
dies, the mana is expelled from the body. Mana with no body is at first
|
|||
|
|
tenuous and is typically near sources of mana that are still bound to
|
|||
|
|
living, organized matter. In an attempt to preserve itself, the mana
|
|||
|
|
flees upwards. Soon however, it reaches the outer boundaries of the
|
|||
|
|
Earth Spirit domain and cannot travel any further because it is not
|
|||
|
|
powerful enough to traverse beyond the domain in which it was created.
|
|||
|
|
At this point, the more powerful spirits are able to gather force and
|
|||
|
|
form, and return as ghosts. Unfortunately, the lesser spirits, are
|
|||
|
|
subject to entropy and are eventually dissipated at the boundary of the
|
|||
|
|
Earth Spirit's domain over a long period of time. This vast bubble of
|
|||
|
|
agitated mana is known as the barrier.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Now, any living magically sensitive creature (including man), that comes
|
|||
|
|
in contact with the barrier is instantly subjected to the trauma of
|
|||
|
|
being in contact with the dissipation of thousands of living creatures.
|
|||
|
|
This is what causes the phenomenon of insanity and death which manifests
|
|||
|
|
in magicians who pass 50 miles above the earth either astrally or
|
|||
|
|
physically. In game terms for a magician to survive contact with the
|
|||
|
|
barrier he must make a Body roll against an (Essence)D1 wound, using his
|
|||
|
|
base Body score (no spells allowed). What is happening, is that the
|
|||
|
|
entropic effect of the barrier is attempting to rip the spark of life
|
|||
|
|
(Essence) from the body of the magically attuned character. The
|
|||
|
|
character's only defense at this point is the effect of his/her body
|
|||
|
|
which is attempting to stay alive (hold in the Essence). To avoid
|
|||
|
|
lasting insanity because of the joining of his mana with that being
|
|||
|
|
dissipated, he must make a Willpower roll with a target number of his
|
|||
|
|
magic rating and a threshold of his Essence-1. This is because the
|
|||
|
|
higher the character's magic rating, the more attuned he is with
|
|||
|
|
awakened phenomenon. This effect is so powerful that the character's
|
|||
|
|
mind will become overwhelmed by the environment unless he makes a roll
|
|||
|
|
to maintain his identity. At this point though, the character has
|
|||
|
|
already been determined to be alive, and so there is a tenuous link
|
|||
|
|
already between his body and his Essence, this tenuous link is
|
|||
|
|
represented by the small subtraction in the threshold number. The
|
|||
|
|
threshold method was chosen because of its similarity to mind affecting
|
|||
|
|
game mechanics (i.e. thought control spell, or decking).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Magic which comes into contact with the barrier is subject to the full
|
|||
|
|
force of its disruptive power. As the weaker spirits dissipate (which is
|
|||
|
|
most of them) they release their magical energy, which causes a domino
|
|||
|
|
effect across the upper atmosphere. What this means to a magicians
|
|||
|
|
spell, is that the magic is dispelled and "washed away" by the tidal
|
|||
|
|
forces of magical energy that sweep across the edge of the barrier. All
|
|||
|
|
astral links (yes, Quickened locks too), including those established by
|
|||
|
|
ritual sorcery are instantly severed. Obviously spells cannot be
|
|||
|
|
sustained in this environment.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Magic items which are physically carried into contact with the barrier
|
|||
|
|
will be destroyed unless they make a save of the Force of the object vs.
|
|||
|
|
a target number of 12. Also, the link between the magician and the item
|
|||
|
|
is also disrupted unless the item makes a save of its Force vs. a target
|
|||
|
|
number of the karma invested in the bonding and a threshold of the
|
|||
|
|
number of items bonded when the barrier was reached. The magical energy
|
|||
|
|
of a Fetish is automatically destroyed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Nature Spirits, being restricted by domain, and more intelligent than
|
|||
|
|
any mage who goes to the barrier, will not come in contact with its
|
|||
|
|
destructive phenomenon. If a shaman attempts to bring/summon a nature
|
|||
|
|
spirit to the barrier, he will fail. Elementals are a different matter.
|
|||
|
|
An Elemental which comes into contact with the barrier must resist
|
|||
|
|
discorporation with its Force in dice against a target number of the
|
|||
|
|
number of services remaining times the magic rating of the mage who
|
|||
|
|
bound it. Should the Elemental survive, the magician must make a Magic
|
|||
|
|
test (his magic rating in dice) against the Force of the elemental or
|
|||
|
|
the bond between them is broken, and it will go free. Should the mage
|
|||
|
|
die or go insane, the spirit or elemental, is obviously free of any
|
|||
|
|
further obligations. Allies, due to the unique process of their
|
|||
|
|
creation, are not instantly disrupted by the barrier. However, the mage
|
|||
|
|
must make a test using his magic rating in dice against twice the ally's
|
|||
|
|
force or it will go free if it so chooses. (Note that you cannot use the
|
|||
|
|
magic rating dice supplied to the mage by the ally or use automatic
|
|||
|
|
successes from an elemental). Whether allies or elementals may pass
|
|||
|
|
beyond the barrier is currently unknown.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
>>>[See the next section. While elementals can pass beyond the barrier,
|
|||
|
|
they are extremely volatile in the void. It may be possible that allies
|
|||
|
|
in a physical form will be protected from the void. Our sources are
|
|||
|
|
unclear on that point. None of them have an ally.]<<<
|
|||
|
|
-- Silver Cianide<09:00:15/03-15-52>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BEYOND THE BARRIER
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ASTRAL PERCEPTION
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Anyone viewing the astral plane while in outer space must make a
|
|||
|
|
Willpower test vs. 6D3/Mental. Anyone who remains conscious after this
|
|||
|
|
test must make a Charisma test vs. 5D1/Insanity, each turn. Already
|
|||
|
|
existing insanity is applied as a bonus, not a penalty, to these two
|
|||
|
|
tests.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SPIRITS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Nature spirits cannot travel into space. If they are forced to do so,
|
|||
|
|
they lose 1 Force Point per minute. Other planet-created controlled
|
|||
|
|
spirits (Elementals, Watchers, etc.) must make a Force test vs. 4D1
|
|||
|
|
every Force days. The spirit does not actually take damage, but loses
|
|||
|
|
Force points equal to the wound level -- 4 for Deadly, 3 for Serious, 2
|
|||
|
|
for Moderate, and 1 for Light.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
On a largely uninhabited planet, the target number for resisting drain
|
|||
|
|
from summoning a nature spirit is at +2. On an inhabited but alien
|
|||
|
|
planet, the target for drain is at +1. When conjuring elementals,
|
|||
|
|
watchers, and other non-nature spirits on a largely uninhabited planet,
|
|||
|
|
the staging for drain is increased by 1.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Non-nature spirits can be summoned in space, with a staging for drain at
|
|||
|
|
+1, but the spirit will not be controlled.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SPACE INHABITANTS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Many strange creatures live in space. There are abandoned, haunted space
|
|||
|
|
stations, lost, insane wizard ghosts (wizards who tried to astral
|
|||
|
|
project beyond the barrier), and free spirits. There are rumors, as
|
|||
|
|
well, of gigantic floating webs in space, and man- or whale-sized
|
|||
|
|
spiders spinning them. Legends of creatures that thrive on magic cast at
|
|||
|
|
them, and rumor of a strange nature spirit or elemental whose domain is
|
|||
|
|
the void. It will take much more exploration before the truth of these
|
|||
|
|
legends comes out.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
INSANITY
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Insanity is measured as Light, Moderate, Serious, or Deadly. The penalty
|
|||
|
|
to target numbers is the same as for normal damage, and is cumulative
|
|||
|
|
with physical or stun damage. There is no penalty for deadly insanity,
|
|||
|
|
but such a character can only be a non-player character.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
When in a situation where insanity may occur, resistance will be rolled
|
|||
|
|
with Willpower. Insanity helps keep a character sane: if an already
|
|||
|
|
insane character makes a willpower test vs. further insanity, the
|
|||
|
|
insanity penalties are applied as a bonus instead of a penalty.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Insanity heals in a manner similar to mental damage, although rest is
|
|||
|
|
not required. A Charisma test is rolled. Insanity damage does not apply
|
|||
|
|
penalties to this roll, but mental or physical damage does. Divide the
|
|||
|
|
duration by the number of successes. This is the amount of time it takes
|
|||
|
|
for insanity to drop one level. If there are no successes, the level
|
|||
|
|
does not drop, and the duration is doubled for the next roll.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Insanity Duration Target Number
|
|||
|
|
Deadly 10 days 6
|
|||
|
|
Serious 6 days 5
|
|||
|
|
Moderate 3 days 4
|
|||
|
|
Light 1 day 3
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
EFFECTS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The exact effects of insanity are left up to the player and referee. The
|
|||
|
|
style of the game and the situation that caused the insanity should
|
|||
|
|
dictate how insanity is treated.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Light insanity should involve minor distractions or compulsions.
|
|||
|
|
Moderate insanity should involve definite compulsions and/or a twisted
|
|||
|
|
world-view.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Serious insanity will involve occasional hallucinations, paranoia,
|
|||
|
|
and/or very strange compulsions. Deadly insanity indicates that the
|
|||
|
|
character is completely insane. Most of the character's time is spent
|
|||
|
|
with hallucinations. It might involve paranoid delusions and
|
|||
|
|
schizophrenia, or a complete, non-stable personality switch.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Insanity is not cumulative. However, characters can have multiple
|
|||
|
|
insanities. Only the penalty for the most serious insanity modifies
|
|||
|
|
success tests. Each insanity must be cured separately.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A character might have a deadly psychosis (fear of flying), a moderate
|
|||
|
|
neurosis (kleptomania), and a light paranoia. Whenever the character is
|
|||
|
|
in a situation where kleptomania grabs hold, the character has the
|
|||
|
|
penalty of 2 for moderate insanity. If kleptomania isn't in effect, the
|
|||
|
|
character has the penalty of 1 for the paranoia (since paranoia will
|
|||
|
|
pretty much always be something the character will have to worry about).
|
|||
|
|
Whenever the character's fear of flying takes effect, the character is
|
|||
|
|
played by the game master, and no penalties are in effect. (Yes, the no
|
|||
|
|
penalty for deadly does override the real penalties for lesser
|
|||
|
|
insanities. It's the highest insanity, not the highest penalty, that
|
|||
|
|
takes precedence.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A CONFEDERATE CAJUN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
|
|||
|
|
Sony-Louis Rollando
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The desert sun beat hard from the west. In my right hand, I held an
|
|||
|
|
Ithaca SA-50. Not standard issue, but I prefer a little surprise. To my
|
|||
|
|
left, Gary surveyed the area with binoculars. He pocketed them, and
|
|||
|
|
pulled out an old pair, with glass lenses and no electronics.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Looks like the zone caught up with us. Does it grow?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Could be. Full moon tonight."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I looked at my wristwatch -- a mechanical one, for in the zones nothing
|
|||
|
|
else worked reliably. Above the watch was a wrist calculator. There are
|
|||
|
|
no mechanical analogs to that. I punched in 3 + 2. It came up 7.12159.
|
|||
|
|
We were definitely in the zone. Half an hour ago, 3 + 2 equalled 5. I
|
|||
|
|
sheathed my gun. At best, firearms in a zone don't work at all. At
|
|||
|
|
worse, the decreased burn rate builds pressure slowly and explodes the
|
|||
|
|
weapon.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We went back into the small cave. Gary slept three hours, and I kept
|
|||
|
|
watch. I saw one snake.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It was 2045. In the east, President Iroff had finally signed the Lee
|
|||
|
|
Treaty, though the war between the states had really been over with for
|
|||
|
|
nearly a decade. Not my problem anymore, though. Not since I moved to
|
|||
|
|
SoCal. I'd been with the Pendleton Franchise for 8 years, and the
|
|||
|
|
Confederate Army for three years before that, and was just beginning to
|
|||
|
|
have second thoughts about spending my life as a career soldier. Or
|
|||
|
|
ending my life as a body shield for whatever renemage tries to earn
|
|||
|
|
extra pesos hiring out to the Franchise.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
No mages here, fortunately. Just a real mental jack who'd decided he
|
|||
|
|
could hide from the law in a technodead zone. Hell, he'd of been safer
|
|||
|
|
staying in San Diego. Even then, the law didn't give a damn about some
|
|||
|
|
minor murderer. All the wigs wanted was to make sure no one thought a
|
|||
|
|
dead zone was a free zone.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
So here I was. Somewhere in the Anzo Borrego. I loosened up with the
|
|||
|
|
katana before handing the watch over to Gary. In three hours, we moved
|
|||
|
|
on. I've been meaning to ask a naturalist why there are no dead zones on
|
|||
|
|
a beach.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Two sleeps later, we found our first trace of him. At first we thought
|
|||
|
|
he was being clever, setting an obvious trail to lead any one following
|
|||
|
|
either astray or into a trap. So we move along real careful, like, for
|
|||
|
|
an hour. Turns out he's not clever, just an idiot. I heard a saying once
|
|||
|
|
about mad dogs and Englishmen. I've never met an Englishman, but this
|
|||
|
|
guy was a total cake. Swapped spit one too many times with the dragon.
|
|||
|
|
He's living in a cabin in the center of a small, flat valley,
|
|||
|
|
sun baking the rocks like a natural microwave.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Still thinking this guy can't be that crazy, but wondering what it does
|
|||
|
|
take to systematically track down and kill only redheads whose names
|
|||
|
|
begin with G, I set up my bow. Adjusted the scope, a mechoid, of course,
|
|||
|
|
for the estimated distance, and waited underneath an overhang.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
In the vids, this is where two soldiers always manage to solve their
|
|||
|
|
existential problems in a down-home, philosophical discussion. Screw
|
|||
|
|
that. In the middle of the desert, it's hot, it's dry, the sun stares
|
|||
|
|
down like an ancient angry god, you don't feel like thinking, let alone
|
|||
|
|
talking.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
So he comes out, probably to take a leak, the poor slob. One arrow and
|
|||
|
|
he's down, the next, he's good as dead. Gary looks on with the
|
|||
|
|
binoculars, and tells me when it looks like he's stopped breathing. We
|
|||
|
|
don't bother to check the body until nightfall. It's not worth leaving
|
|||
|
|
the cool, and you never know -- he may be faking it. From 300 feet it's
|
|||
|
|
hard to tell with old optics. But if he lays there in the sun all day,
|
|||
|
|
it won't matter what he's faking.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The moon rose before the sun disappeared. We came out of hiding, went
|
|||
|
|
into the little valley, checked the body. He's dead, no doubt. Peek
|
|||
|
|
inside the cabin, which is still holding in the day's heat, and there's
|
|||
|
|
nothing there. We left.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
At the top of the valley's side, I turn around to take one last look at
|
|||
|
|
the sucker. And stop. The body was gone.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Like the old chummer used to say, just when things can't get any
|
|||
|
|
better, they gotta get worse.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Gary saw the same thing. He swore as well. It meant we were going to
|
|||
|
|
have to track the bastard, or whoever stole him, down. The hot day was
|
|||
|
|
fast becoming a cold night.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The calculator no longer worked at all. We climbed about fifty feet
|
|||
|
|
higher than we were, and surveyed the area. The full moon lit the desert
|
|||
|
|
almost as well as the sun, but our binoculars showed no one nearby -- no
|
|||
|
|
person, no animal larger than a lizard, the only sign of humanity the
|
|||
|
|
fruitcake's cabin.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The door swings in the breeze, but I don't feel anything up here. The
|
|||
|
|
air has that humid, kind of damp, fleshy feel. You've never been in heat
|
|||
|
|
until you've been in Louisiana in August. Or the Yucatan, I suppose, in
|
|||
|
|
whatever passes for boiling there. Or even West Africa, from what I've
|
|||
|
|
heard. But I believe I'm babbling.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
And I was. But momma set me right. She always did, that silvery smile,
|
|||
|
|
bright red hair. But that was the neighbor-girl-next-door. Daddy came in
|
|||
|
|
from the wars and set his briefcase down, but I couldn't see him over
|
|||
|
|
the din of the trivideo set. It wasn't for nothing they called us
|
|||
|
|
inseparable, my sister and eye. Red blood in my I, and a song in my
|
|||
|
|
heart.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Obviously, something was wrong. Far wrong and way cool. I thought I
|
|||
|
|
heard thunder in the distance, but it was Gary slapping me back to
|
|||
|
|
reality. Which wasn't an easy trip with the whore-whore-horehounds
|
|||
|
|
blowin' in the wind. I steeled myself against his mind, obviously the
|
|||
|
|
fruitcake's mind was still here in the dead zone, trying to infect us
|
|||
|
|
with his madness.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Or, perhaps not trying at all. Only a mindless life force, a shell, a
|
|||
|
|
lifeless mind trapped in the moon, to fade as the moon fades to
|
|||
|
|
nothingness.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I crouched, and saw the stars, and felt the ground again. Now there was
|
|||
|
|
a cold wind, and an odd smell in the air.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Gary kicked at someone. The kick should have sent his opponent tumbling
|
|||
|
|
over the edge. Instead, there was a slurping noise, and I saw his toes
|
|||
|
|
exit his opponent's back, straight through the liver. A hot smell
|
|||
|
|
exploded into the air, sun-boiled meat. Gary tried to hold back his
|
|||
|
|
nausea, and lost. It occurred to me that it was too bad he wasn't a
|
|||
|
|
redhead, then without thinking I drew my sword and hit whatever it was
|
|||
|
|
he'd kicked. I saw the thing's face, and it was the nut, and he was
|
|||
|
|
dead, but he clawed at me anyway. His mouth hung open, and his tongue
|
|||
|
|
lolled out one side of it.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
My sword had cut deep, and I yanked it out, as he clawed at me again. I
|
|||
|
|
rolled back, and realized why video adventurers always had a shield.
|
|||
|
|
Steaming water poured out the wound in its side. Gary pounded its back
|
|||
|
|
with his staff. It staggered forward, but kept its eyes on me as I swung
|
|||
|
|
the sword back and chopped off his head.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It staggered forward, still clawing, and I thought we were screwed, when
|
|||
|
|
it just stopped, swooned, and fell. I could still feel the ripples of
|
|||
|
|
the life force in the air, but it had lost its power.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We didn't rest until we reached the horses the next morning.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
LAW OF THE PACK
|
|||
|
|
by Keith Ammann
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The gray October wind blew plastic wrappers up the street and some of
|
|||
|
|
the brown haze out of the air. The afternoon sky was thick with clouds.
|
|||
|
|
The street was empty of people except for a thin, white-haired young man
|
|||
|
|
wearing a respirator mask and a goblin in a tan trenchcoat and spiked
|
|||
|
|
dog collar. As the thin youth covered his motorcycle with a plastic
|
|||
|
|
sheet, the goblin stared at the sky.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"So much for today's job-hunt," said the goblin, spitting on the ground.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Yeah, Arch, like we were goin' anywhere anyway." The young man lifted
|
|||
|
|
up his respirator and wrinkled his nose. "Man. This rain better wash
|
|||
|
|
some o' the smog down." The two moved into a nearby doorway and sat down
|
|||
|
|
on the steps. Thunder rumbled quietly to the west.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I don't know why you're hangin' around with me, man," said the goblin.
|
|||
|
|
"You're the one with the diploma. You could be out doin' somethin'."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The human shook his head. "The corps ain't for me, Archie. I can't live
|
|||
|
|
like that. You gotta give yourself away, man. They don't let you have
|
|||
|
|
your own life anymore. I'd rather stay on the streets."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Man, Corin, you always was the spooky one."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Neither one said anything for a while.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"How's your dad?" asked Corin.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Better. He's finally gettin' the people organized. They're gonna have
|
|||
|
|
some kind of rally." Archie kicked his heel against the concrete steps.
|
|||
|
|
"I'm really glad he finally got that promotion. 'Bout time they got an
|
|||
|
|
ork foreman down there. Might make some real money now."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"You think of applyin' down there?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Naw, man. Not on the line."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Why not?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Because..." Archie thought for a minute, resting his chin on his hand
|
|||
|
|
and rubbing his enlarged lower teeth with his thumb. "Because I wanna be
|
|||
|
|
someone. Because I want a real job and a real life. I don't want people
|
|||
|
|
lookin' at me like I'm just another dumb ork with nothin' but muscle and
|
|||
|
|
attitude. That drek chokes, man."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Corin looked down, then at Archie. "They gonna think that anyway."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie sighed. "I know. But down on the line, people fight you to prove
|
|||
|
|
it. Too much hate there for me, man. I don't wanna get into all that."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I know what you mean," Corin said. "But you gotta get somethin'
|
|||
|
|
sometime."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Yeah." Archie hadn't had a job since he'd left high school. He hadn't
|
|||
|
|
even gone for an interview since the disaster a year before, when he
|
|||
|
|
applied for a counter job at the neighborhood Stuffer Shack convenience
|
|||
|
|
store, hoping that he could eventually make it to manager. Since that
|
|||
|
|
interview, he'd always found excuses not to go to any others, fearing
|
|||
|
|
the rejection he was sure he'd receive.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
---
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Name?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Archie Santangelo."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"How old are you?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Nineteen."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Education?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Two years at Jarman High."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Only two?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie hadn't thought it would be the right thing to say that he'd been
|
|||
|
|
expelled his junior year for trying to stop a fight between two normals.
|
|||
|
|
The security guard, seeing Archie shove the larger of the two hard
|
|||
|
|
against a locker, assumed he had started the fight. For some reason, the
|
|||
|
|
dean didn't think it was strange that a B student with a clean
|
|||
|
|
disciplinary record would assault two other kids at once. "That's
|
|||
|
|
right," Archie said.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Program?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"College prep."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Not vocational?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The dogs in Archie's head woke up. His voice took a hard edge.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"No, not vocational. College prep."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The interviewer noticed the change in tone and looked up coldly.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie had made his first mistake. "What previous experience do you
|
|||
|
|
have?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"None yet."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"None yet," repeated the interviewer, as if he had guessed the answer
|
|||
|
|
beforehand and just been proven correct. "What made you want to work at
|
|||
|
|
Stuffer Shack?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"It's near home," Archie replied as Corin had coached him. "I don't have
|
|||
|
|
a car. I can work night shifts. I know how the stores are organized. I'm
|
|||
|
|
not afraid of being robbed."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The interviewer smirked. "Do you know what to do in case of a robbery?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Don't resist. Get a good look at the robber so you can describe him
|
|||
|
|
later. Give him what he wants. Hit the Panicbutton as soon as he
|
|||
|
|
leaves."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The interviewer scowled. He'd expected the ork to say something like,
|
|||
|
|
"Jump the counter, maul the fragger, and give what's left to the cops."
|
|||
|
|
Somehow he didn't like the fact that Archie knew the right answer. He
|
|||
|
|
looked up. "Why the dog collar?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Second mistake. He'd forgotten to take it off before the interview.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I just like it."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Can't wear it on the job."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I understand."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"We have strict dress codes. You wear the uniform and the hat. No
|
|||
|
|
scruffy clothes, no street clothes. No dog collars."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I understand."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Good." The interviewer looked down again. "Any criminal record?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Nope."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"No assaults? No vandalism?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I said no."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Ever stolen from an employer?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I told you, I've never been employed."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"You drink? Use drugs or chips?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I don't have a jack. And I don't use drugs." The dogs began to growl.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"But you do drink."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Yeah, some."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Ever drink on the job?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie jumped up. "Goddamnit, I told you! I haven't had any other job
|
|||
|
|
yet!"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The interviewer looked up slowly, icily, and closed the folder.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Strike three. "Thank you, Mr. Santangelo. That will be all."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie looked open-mouthed at the interviewer. Gradually, disbelief was
|
|||
|
|
replaced by understanding. "You never intended to hire me at all, you
|
|||
|
|
bastard. You were just stringin' me along. It's 'cause I'm an ork, isn't
|
|||
|
|
it?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The interviewer said nothing.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Isn't it?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The interviewer pressed a button on his telecom. "Liz, please show the
|
|||
|
|
applicant out."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"You goddamn bastard." Archie shook his head and walked wearily out of
|
|||
|
|
the office, ignoring the girl in the doorway who stared at him vacantly.
|
|||
|
|
The barking of the dogs was giving him a headache.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
---
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The clouds finally broke open. A drizzle of pale yellow rain began to
|
|||
|
|
fall, turning gradually into a steady shower. Archie backed further up
|
|||
|
|
the steps, pulling his long legs out of the rain's reach. The wind
|
|||
|
|
picked up. Corin zipped up his heavy black jacket.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"What time is it?" Corin asked.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Why don't you get a watch?" said Archie.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Can't afford one, drekhead. What time is it?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie looked. "Quarter after four."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Guess we're stuck here for a while."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
---
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The rain continued on into the early evening. When it finally stopped,
|
|||
|
|
Corin took a sniff, decided the air was safe to breathe again, and
|
|||
|
|
walked up the block toward his basement apartment. Archie went down the
|
|||
|
|
block to his own building.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
His family was already seated around the dinner table when he got there.
|
|||
|
|
"Hurry, Archie, your food's getting cold," his mother called as he hung
|
|||
|
|
his long coat on a peg, picked up his two sisters' coats, and hung them
|
|||
|
|
up too. He sat down at the table between his father and his younger
|
|||
|
|
sister, Mary. The dinner was flavored nutrisoy, as usual. No specials
|
|||
|
|
tonight. He picked up his fork and started shoveling it in. His father
|
|||
|
|
was talking about the union; they were going to have a rally the next
|
|||
|
|
night. Archie made interested noises.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Mommy, can I get a straw?" Mary asked.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Certainly, honey." Archie's mother got up and went to the drawer that
|
|||
|
|
had the straws. She and his other sister, Anna, hadn't undergone the
|
|||
|
|
mutation that affected Mary, him, and their father, making their muscles
|
|||
|
|
denser and stronger, their frames taller, and their faces frightening
|
|||
|
|
parodies of normal humans' faces, with slightly pointed ears and
|
|||
|
|
overgrown lower canines that poked out between their lips. Archie and
|
|||
|
|
his younger sister had been born that way; their father, he was told,
|
|||
|
|
changed at puberty. He'd spent three weeks in the hospital, and come out
|
|||
|
|
more strong and stubborn than ever before. Anna, being fifteen years
|
|||
|
|
old, was considered beyond risk. She would probably stay human the rest
|
|||
|
|
of her life.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Mom, why you gettin' Mary a straw?" Archie said. "She's gotta learn to
|
|||
|
|
drink from a glass some time."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Archie, don't be mean."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I'm not bein' mean, Mom. Mean is gonna be the kids in high school
|
|||
|
|
askin' why she don't drink out of a glass like everyone else." Mrs.
|
|||
|
|
Santangelo put the straw in Mary's glass with a resigned look at Archie.
|
|||
|
|
Mary drank the soymilk. Archie shook his head and returned to his food.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Find a job today, Archie?" asked his father.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Drek, thought Archie, having hoped that his father would talk about the
|
|||
|
|
union until dessert. "No, Pop. Got rained out."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"It wasn't raining this morning."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I wasn't up this morning." Knots formed in Archie's stomach. His
|
|||
|
|
appetite fled. The dogs howled.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Why weren't you up this morning?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Pop, I'll go out tomorrow."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Answer me! Why weren't you up looking for a job this morning?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Michael, please." His mother's face had a pained expression.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Paula, stay out o--"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Pop, I'll go tomorr--"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Don't shout --"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"You will get up out of --"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Pop, I will --"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Can I head over to Rachel's?" said Anna. Her soft, steady voice cut
|
|||
|
|
through the shouts. The argument lost what little continuity it had.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Yes, dear, go ahead," said Mrs. Santangelo. Anna got up from the table
|
|||
|
|
and went for her coat. Archie and his father looked at each other once
|
|||
|
|
again.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Archie, hon, if you're not doing anything tomorrow, could you pick Mary
|
|||
|
|
up from school?" asked his mother before the shouting could begin again.
|
|||
|
|
The front door opened and shut.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"He's not--"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Yes, Mom," Archie said. His father scowled angrily. "Pop, I'll check
|
|||
|
|
the ads tomorrow morning."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mr. Santangelo glared at Archie, pushed away from the table, and walked
|
|||
|
|
into the TV room.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
---
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie got up early the next morning, mainly because his father woke him
|
|||
|
|
up. That day he browsed through the want ads on the newsfeed, made a
|
|||
|
|
couple of half-hearted phone calls, and didn't write down the
|
|||
|
|
information he got.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Early in the afternoon, he went out to find Corin. He was hanging around
|
|||
|
|
on the corner with Martin Megistus, the street magician. Martin was
|
|||
|
|
popular with all the kids, but only Corin had stayed interested in the
|
|||
|
|
old man's tricks as he grew up. He said the magician was the real thing,
|
|||
|
|
and he was learning the stuff himself. Martin had always told Archie he
|
|||
|
|
had the talent as well, but Archie could never stay interested. Most of
|
|||
|
|
the things the magician said went over his head. Any time he thought he
|
|||
|
|
understood something, the dogs would get restless, and he'd lose his
|
|||
|
|
concentration. Corin could focus his attention on something for hours at
|
|||
|
|
a time. Archie didn't care about things if he didn't understand them
|
|||
|
|
right away.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Corin, as usual, was completely wrapped up in what the magician had to
|
|||
|
|
say. Archie tried to look interested but couldn't. His efforts to get
|
|||
|
|
Corin's attention away from the magician came to nothing. His "Sayonara"
|
|||
|
|
as he left barely got a nod. He checked his watch. It was a little after
|
|||
|
|
two-fifteen. He headed off to pick up his sister.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie walked up the drive to the front door of Milton Elementary. He'd
|
|||
|
|
gone there too, when he was little. The lobby always looked really small
|
|||
|
|
compared to how he remembered it, no matter how many times he came back.
|
|||
|
|
Watercolor paintings from the art classes covered the fake-wood- paneled
|
|||
|
|
walls. Children milled noisily about. Parents bumbled through the crowd,
|
|||
|
|
calling out, trying to find the ones that were theirs. Carefully and
|
|||
|
|
gently Archie pushed his way over toward the auditorium doors, next to
|
|||
|
|
that weird metal thing that was supposedly a sculpture. It had been
|
|||
|
|
there forever. Corin had always been fascinated by the metal thing, with
|
|||
|
|
its small, intricate shapes and moving parts. Archie had never gotten
|
|||
|
|
the point. He craned his neck and scanned the lobby, looking for Mary.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
When he spotted her, the dogs started barking in his head. She had been
|
|||
|
|
crying; there were dark circles under her eyes. A big black smudge of
|
|||
|
|
dirt covered one side of her new jacket. Her long, brown hair was messed
|
|||
|
|
up. Forgetting politeness, Archie plowed through the crowd toward his
|
|||
|
|
sister.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Mary, tell me what happened."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"No." Her lip trembled.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Who did this, Mary? Tell me who did this?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"No." She shook her head.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Dammit, Mary, what happened?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Nothing."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie felt ready to explode with frustration. "Come on. Let's get
|
|||
|
|
home." He took her hand and started walking, too fast, toward the door.
|
|||
|
|
As they walked out the door and down the drive, Archie's questions were
|
|||
|
|
answered. A group of human kids, standing at the bus stop, pointed and
|
|||
|
|
laughed. Archie stopped in his tracks and put a hand on Mary's shoulder.
|
|||
|
|
"Stay right here, Mary," he said. Mary stood as still as a fence post.
|
|||
|
|
Archie strode toward the bus stop kids.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"What're you starin' at?" he shouted. "What the hell you think you're
|
|||
|
|
starin' at?" Most of the children stopped laughing. One whispered, "I
|
|||
|
|
don't know, but it's u-u-ugly!" Another giggled at that.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Who said that?" demanded Archie. The dogs strained at their leashes.
|
|||
|
|
"Who was it? Was it you?" he shouted into on child's face.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The child was petrified. Archie straightened up.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"That," he said with fierce restraint, "is my sister. You hear me? My
|
|||
|
|
sister. And if I find out that any of you little snots are messin' with
|
|||
|
|
her again, teasin' her, pushin' her around, callin' her one single
|
|||
|
|
fraggin' name that's not her own, then I hope you got the bus fare to
|
|||
|
|
get back from where I'm gonna kick your snotty little asses to. You got
|
|||
|
|
that? One word! One word and you're meat." The children stood frozen,
|
|||
|
|
speechless. Out of the corner of his eye, Archie saw a teacher walking
|
|||
|
|
over. He nodded to her and turned to walk back toward his sister. The
|
|||
|
|
teacher continued walking, approaching him. He gritted his teeth.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Can I help you, sir?" the teacher asked accusingly.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie turned his head and gestured to his sister. "No, but maybe you
|
|||
|
|
could start helpin' her. 'Bout time someone did." He shut himself off
|
|||
|
|
from the teacher, took Mary by the hand, and walked her home without a
|
|||
|
|
word.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
On the way home, his head was full of angry thoughts. He'd only been
|
|||
|
|
trying to look after his sister, and the teacher -- the same one he'd
|
|||
|
|
had years before -- had thought he was some sort of criminal. A chill
|
|||
|
|
wind picked up. The studs of his collar felt cold against his neck.
|
|||
|
|
Archie hung his head, ashamed of his outburst. He wondered if he could
|
|||
|
|
actually bring himself to do anything to those kids if they bothered
|
|||
|
|
Mary again. He wondered if he'd ever be able to live with himself if he
|
|||
|
|
did. His hand gripped Mary's tightly. The dogs remained awake, watching.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
When Archie got home, Corin was waiting outside. "Sorry I wasn't -- " He
|
|||
|
|
noticed Mary's condition and broke off. What happened? he mouthed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie motioned Corin to come on in. He glanced at the elevator; broken
|
|||
|
|
again. It's not fair to make a ten-year-old kid walk up four flights, he
|
|||
|
|
thought. He carried Mary up the steps.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
His mother told Mary to go change and wash up. "Mom," Archie started, "a
|
|||
|
|
bunch of kids were --"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"It's okay, Archie. She's fine. She just needs to get straightened up."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Mom, she's not fine. The kids are knockin' her around. You gotta talk
|
|||
|
|
to the teachers there."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"She'll be fine, Archie. She's not hurt. Just a little dirty."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"What if she gets hurt?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Archie, don't worry. Everything will be okay." Mrs. Santangelo turned
|
|||
|
|
and followed Mary.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie swung his fist at the air. "Nothing. Not a damn thing I can do."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"C'mon, Arch. 'Sko over to my place." Corin motioned Archie to leave.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
They went out the door. Anna was coming up the stairs. "Hoi, Anna," said
|
|||
|
|
Archie. Corin waved. She smiled at the two and turned into the apartment
|
|||
|
|
without a word.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Corin walked down the stairs. Archie stomped. "I can't take this
|
|||
|
|
anymore," Archie said. "Kids pickin' on Mary. Guys at work givin' Pop
|
|||
|
|
the screws. Pop givin' me hell for not bein' perfect. Day after day with
|
|||
|
|
nothin' to do. I can't take it."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Get a job."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Slot off, man, I'm serious. I am goin' absolutely nuts. I live on a
|
|||
|
|
street with squatters, chipheads, people with dead-end jobs and
|
|||
|
|
unemployed bums like us. And there's not a fraggin' thing I can do about
|
|||
|
|
it! I can't even get a fraggin' job--"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"You tried lately?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"That's not the fraggin' point!" snapped Archie as they walked out the
|
|||
|
|
door. "Even if I tried, I wouldn't get nothin'. They're keepin' me out.
|
|||
|
|
Don't want me. Don't want a fraggin' ork doin' somethin' they could get
|
|||
|
|
a normal do to. Don't want me nowhere but on the line or on the street,
|
|||
|
|
where I can't do nothin'. Christ, I gotta do somethin'!"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"What can't you do?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I can't change nothin'. I can't stop people from messin' with my own
|
|||
|
|
goddamn sister. I can't make people see what's goin' on. I start maulin'
|
|||
|
|
people, what does that do? Nothin'. I'm just what they want me to be
|
|||
|
|
then, see?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Corin nodded quietly. "Yeah, I get it."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I don't wanna hurt no one. I just can't stand to see all this drek
|
|||
|
|
goin' on around me. I gotta do somethin'. God, they won't even let me
|
|||
|
|
protect my own goddamn sister."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Corin gave Archie a moment to cool down. "Let's get somethin' to eat,
|
|||
|
|
man."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Got no appetite," said Archie.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"You can buy mine, then."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie laughed. "You take me to Stuffer Shack, you're meat."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
---
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The dogs started barking later that evening. Archie couldn't shut them
|
|||
|
|
up. They drove him to distraction. As he and Corin approached his
|
|||
|
|
building, the barking became more and more insistent. Archie stared
|
|||
|
|
blankly at the building. In his mind, the dogs barked disaster. A
|
|||
|
|
dreadful intuition overcame his reason. He bolted away, up to the
|
|||
|
|
building and through the door, bounding up the steps two and three at a
|
|||
|
|
time, hitting the stairwell wall once as he lost his grip swinging
|
|||
|
|
around the rail. The dogs barked incessantly. He burst through the
|
|||
|
|
apartment door without turning the knob all the way, nearly ripping the
|
|||
|
|
bolt slot from the frame.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
His mother sat on the couch, holding Mary. The girl was crying in terror
|
|||
|
|
and grief, tears streaming down her face, gulping in air and expelling
|
|||
|
|
it in horrible wails of anguish. His mother sat still, her face pale,
|
|||
|
|
her eyes sunken, staring straight ahead, mechanically stroking the
|
|||
|
|
girl's hair. Anna sat on a chair in the dining room, tracing a finger
|
|||
|
|
around in circles on the table.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"What's wrong?" screamed Archie. "Someone fraggin' tell me what's
|
|||
|
|
wrong!" His shouting intensified the young girl's crying. His mother
|
|||
|
|
shrunk back against the sofa. Neither spoke.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The only answer came from the other room. "The Humanis Policlub crashed
|
|||
|
|
Pop's union rally," said Anna in a melancholy monotone, not looking in
|
|||
|
|
Archie's direction. "They came with baseball bats and shotguns. They
|
|||
|
|
said they were there to punish the local that hired goblins as foremen."
|
|||
|
|
She paused. "They beat Pop to death."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The dogs were going crazy, barking, pulling at their leashes, jumping
|
|||
|
|
and cursing and yelping in every direction. Archie's head spun.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"They what? Who were they? Who did it?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"The police broke it up," said Anna. "Pop was already dead. They
|
|||
|
|
arrested a bunch of them." Anna looked at Archie, a strange, puzzled
|
|||
|
|
expression on her face. "Mom won't press charges."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"WhaaAAAGGHHH!" Archie had meant to confront his mother, but instead of
|
|||
|
|
words came an inarticulate roar. His mother's face was devoid of
|
|||
|
|
emotion, almost devoid of life. She spoke like a ventriloquist's dummy,
|
|||
|
|
like the words weren't her own and she was only the medium. "I don't
|
|||
|
|
want any more trouble, Archie. I don't want any more trouble. Everything
|
|||
|
|
will be all right. It has to be. No more trouble."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
In his anger, Archie brought both his forearms down on the end table,
|
|||
|
|
smashing it into jagged fragments. His mother closed her eyes tightly
|
|||
|
|
and shook her head. Mary wailed. Anna turned back to staring at the
|
|||
|
|
table. The dogs broke free, the pack charging off on the hunt. Archie,
|
|||
|
|
running, followed them out the door, leaping down the stairs. On the
|
|||
|
|
second flight he turned his ankle painfully as he landed, adding to his
|
|||
|
|
rage as he stubbornly and unevenly ran down the rest of the stairs and
|
|||
|
|
out into the street, screaming incoherently all the way.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Corin saw his friend tear out of the apartment building, yelling his
|
|||
|
|
guts out, loping along with a face that could give a mercenary a heart
|
|||
|
|
attack, and was struck dumb with shock. Archie never even saw Corin as
|
|||
|
|
he ran through the streets in agony, flailing his arms, barely
|
|||
|
|
maintaining his balance. The dogs had been loosed to the hunt. Hunting
|
|||
|
|
normals. Archie was part of the pack, being driven along with them. The
|
|||
|
|
pack would find their quarry, and Archie would join them as they chased
|
|||
|
|
and cornered and tore it to pieces. He charged down the streets with the
|
|||
|
|
pack, looking for the one that would pay for what normals had done to
|
|||
|
|
his family.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Suddenly something caught him and he wasn't running, he was falling....
|
|||
|
|
His body slammed heavily against the pavement, his jaw scraped against
|
|||
|
|
asphalt. His hands were torn by gravel. He tried to get up but couldn't
|
|||
|
|
get his limbs to obey his commands. He was losing the chase. As he lay
|
|||
|
|
on the ground, screaming pleas to the darkness, the pack charged off and
|
|||
|
|
left him behind. He collapsed down and sobbed helplessly, unable to do
|
|||
|
|
anything.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Combat boots appeared next to Archie's head. Corin was kneeling down
|
|||
|
|
beside him, his face painted with nervousness and every limb shaking.
|
|||
|
|
"You go-g-gotta ch-chill, Arch," he stuttered out. "You g-gotta t-tell
|
|||
|
|
t-t-tell me wh-wha-what ha-what happened."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie's voice was choked with anguish. "They got away... The fraggers
|
|||
|
|
got away...."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Who-who did?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"They're gonna pay," sobbed Archie. "I'm gonna kill 'em... kill 'em
|
|||
|
|
all... every fraggin' one...."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Archie, what are you talkin' ab-bout? You're n-n-n-n--" Corin scrunched
|
|||
|
|
his eyes shut and bit his lip. "You're... not... going to... kill
|
|||
|
|
anyone."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie's scream tore ruts through the street. "I KNOW!! They'll never
|
|||
|
|
let me... won't let me defend my own fraggin' family....
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Don't you see? All this goddamned drek... I can't do anything... they
|
|||
|
|
won't let me...."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Archie, you can't kill anyone. You said it yourself. You can't become
|
|||
|
|
what they want you to be."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie exhaled a deep sob and dropped his head. His forehead hit the
|
|||
|
|
asphalt, jarring his senses. "I can't be anything," he breathed out. "I
|
|||
|
|
can't do anything. All I can do is lie here and take it." He paused.
|
|||
|
|
"All I can do is lie here. Corin, why can't I move my fraggin' arms?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"My fault, man."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie suddenly felt free to move. He sat up dizzily. "What the hell'd
|
|||
|
|
you do?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Somethin' Martin taught me. Said your anger'd run away with you
|
|||
|
|
someday. Told me to do that if I ever saw it happen."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Do what?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Never mind, man." Corin took a deep breath. "C'mon, let's get you
|
|||
|
|
cleaned up. You're a fraggin' mess."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Gimme a sec. My head hurts." Archie lay back down, propping himself on
|
|||
|
|
his forearms. "I dunno what to do, man. I feel so fraggin' helpless.
|
|||
|
|
Muscle an' attitude's all I got. Can't use it without becomin' somethin'
|
|||
|
|
I can't stand to look at. Just another dumb goddamn ork."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"You got a lot more than that, Arch. You know what's right. Lots o'
|
|||
|
|
people can't see that. And you ain't afraid to stick up for it."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Doesn't matter. Just a dumb fraggin' ork. Never be anything else. Not
|
|||
|
|
even good enough for the line...."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Come on, man, your head works just fine. I can't stand stupid people,
|
|||
|
|
but I hang with you. You know what's right. You just gotta know how to
|
|||
|
|
make people listen."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Archie sighed. "I dunno. I just get so fraggin' confused... maybe if I
|
|||
|
|
just got somewhere where I could think...." Archie fell silent for a
|
|||
|
|
moment. He looked up at Corin, his eyes narrow. "You think they'd let me
|
|||
|
|
back into Jarman?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Corin thought. "Doubt it. Maybe another school."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Got no car."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"We'll figure somethin' out. Come on."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Corin steadied his friend's arm as he got to his feet. They walked and
|
|||
|
|
limped up the block. "Hey, Corin," Archie asked, "how come you got so
|
|||
|
|
many books? You won't buy a TV or a fraggin' watch, but you buy books?"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"You wanna read any of 'em, you're welcome to," Corin said, looking
|
|||
|
|
Archie and breaking into a small smile. "Knowledge is power."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Neither one said anything for a while.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
---
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"The more I think about it... the more it looks as if I've been a cog in
|
|||
|
|
one thing or another since the day I was born. Whenever I get set to do
|
|||
|
|
what I want to do, something a whole lot bigger than me comes along and
|
|||
|
|
shoves me back into place."
|
|||
|
|
-- Anonymous WWII soldier
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE CHIPPER
|
|||
|
|
Reviews of things you have to pay for.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
THE FUTUROLOGICAL CONGRESS
|
|||
|
|
Stanislaw Lem
|
|||
|
|
translated from Polish by Michael Kandel
|
|||
|
|
Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1985
|
|||
|
|
1250 Sixth Avenue, San Diego, CA 29101
|
|||
|
|
111 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10003
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
In the world of Shadowrun, altered reality is a way of life. People jack
|
|||
|
|
in and chip in, using drugs, simsense, BTL, 2XS, and decks. What effects
|
|||
|
|
will there be when people can control their lives to the extent that
|
|||
|
|
chips can be controlled?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Stanislaw Lem wrote The Futurological Congress before the advent of
|
|||
|
|
virtual reality technology, but the drugs that play a major part in this
|
|||
|
|
work are uncannily similar to chips in 2050 AD. Lem shows us what is
|
|||
|
|
possible with simsense.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
In a society where governments can no longer take care of their
|
|||
|
|
citizens, they use drugs to create an artificial world. Artists drop out
|
|||
|
|
of the real world and create their masterpieces in their own private
|
|||
|
|
world, for their own private pleasure. Companies spring up that create
|
|||
|
|
custom drugs which allow customers to vent their anger against
|
|||
|
|
individuals in a non-violent, socially acceptable way.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Lem's writing, as usual, is superb, and he deftly explores the
|
|||
|
|
ramifications and possibilities of a world where reality is both fixed
|
|||
|
|
(nature) and fluid (simulated). The Futurological Congress is highly
|
|||
|
|
recommended to any Shadowrun referee.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
reviewed by Jerry Stratton
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SHADOWRUN 4: 2XS
|
|||
|
|
Nigel Findley
|
|||
|
|
Penguin Books, USA Inc., 1992
|
|||
|
|
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The writing in 2XS is awkward, and typos abound. Simply as fiction, I
|
|||
|
|
cannot recommend this book. It does, however, provide a good look at the
|
|||
|
|
world of Shadowrun. While general editing was lacking, continuity
|
|||
|
|
editing seems to have been tight -- everything conforms almost exactly
|
|||
|
|
to Shadowrun terminology and effects. You can almost see the game behind
|
|||
|
|
the story.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
But only almost. Dirk (the hero) just isn't on the ball. It's surprising
|
|||
|
|
he's survived this long without getting fragged. We, as readers, can
|
|||
|
|
tell what's happening to Dirk and his friends before he figures it out,
|
|||
|
|
even though we're only told what Dirk sees. Are we more pre-disposed to
|
|||
|
|
strangeness than Dirk would be? Unlikely. Dirk lives in the awakened
|
|||
|
|
world. The traffic report he listens to warns of octopi climbing onto
|
|||
|
|
the highway and chomping cars.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If you're a Shadowrun gamer, I do recommend reading this. You get a
|
|||
|
|
description of simsense (the 2XS of the title) from the user's
|
|||
|
|
experience. You see a mage/free spirit relationship. And you get a
|
|||
|
|
nicely described Shadow-mission towards the end. The virtual reality
|
|||
|
|
descriptions in this book are better, and more useful from a gaming
|
|||
|
|
standpoint, than those from the story in the Virtual Realities
|
|||
|
|
supplement.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SPOILER WARNING: This book contains spoilers for the Universal
|
|||
|
|
Brotherhood.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
reviewed by Jerry Stratton
|