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Shadowrun: Miami

Started by Melnibone, March 26, 2010, 10:49:18 PM

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Melnibone

Howdies.

I'm looking to start a Shadowrun game with a small group. We'll be using 4th edition. The setting is 2070 South Florida.

Sunshine and Shadows: Broad Strokes.

South Florida has been part of the Caribbean League for decades. The gateway to Latin America, the Caribbean, and North America, it remains an important shipping hub, tourist destination, and ecological treasure. It has become three distinct cities.



Miami Beach

This city has grown exponentially, literally. With the sweat and blood, the islands of Miami Beach have been extended over and over until the city has its own highways over the sea, two airports, and is home to five million permanent residents. The city welcome new developments, including residences, offices, and corporate enclaves – with the exception of Aztechnology who are not welcome anywhere in the Caribbean League.

Daily life in Miami Beach is expensive, but enviable. Even the lowliest residents live a middle class lifestyle and eat food on a regular basis. They rub shoulders now and then with celebrities and stars. Here is where many people come to play, and many corporations come do business away from what little scrutiny there is elsewhere. Life is frenetic and those who can't keep up will be evicted, and may have nowhere to go but into the sprawl.

The population is mainly human, though elves and humans are abundant, too. Orks and Trolls are regarded suspiciously, and seldom fit into the image Miami Beach itself tries to maintain.

The Miami Sprawl

Extending from the coast to as many as thirty kilometers inland, The Miami Sprawl is almost entirely lawless. When magic returned to the world, an awakened hurricane roared into the city and sat with its eye over the Miami Circle – a archaeological relic of circular stones discovered by construction workers before the turn of the century and ignored. The hurricane persisted for three weeks until the Seminoles and Mikosukee who took credit for it were appeased by being “given” the Everglades. The damage, however, was done. Most of the city was now in ruins and the sea has yet to retreat from some of the former downtown districts. The wealthy and powerful left for Miami Beach.

Over time, the Sprawl's diverse community has adapted. Communities tend to be tightly knit and well defined. Race, skin color, nationality, ethnicity, and language all serve to identify to others what community you belong in. The sprawl is essentially a dizzying array of tiny neighborhoods that have divided themselves, interspersed here and there with Florida Utility buildings, or corporate properties.

Of course, all this makes it a smuggler and runner's haven. Proximity to the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf, two nations, and the Awakened Everglades make it ideal for moving things unnoticed. Generally much poorer, some areas are like relics of life as it was fifty years ago, with hardly an intrusion from modern technology except the most basic.


The Awakened Everglades

The Everglades is not a swamp, it's a wide and shallow river of grass extending from the water basin in central Florida to Florida bay. Magic's return has made the Everglades intractable. Satellites observing it from orbit find it literally shifts daily. Filled with awakened critters of all types, it can seem deceptively tranquil, like the slow flowing water.

Arguably more dangerous to visitors than the monsters inhabiting it are the two communities of Native Americans living there, the Seminole and Mikosukee. Too far from other NAN tribes to form a powerful coalition, they were left stranded and refused to abandon their homes. Though their populations are small, they are the de feacto rulers of the sawgrass since no one else can manage to keep structures there for long. Either the swamp or the Indians conspire to destroy outsiders.

The Everglades' inhospitable and impossible to map aura of course makes it an ideal place for poachers and smugglers to ply their trade. Be warned, the water drowns all fools.

Important Groups

The Miami Circle. This lodge of mainly shamanic practitioners lives in the half-flooded ruins of what was once downtown Miami, and has build a lodge over a circle of stones discovered in the previous century. They take credit from all the weather in the region, and it may true as far as anyone knows. They are the most influential group in the tumble down ruins soaked by the sea, usually infested with smugglers and function as neutral mediators when groups wish to settle disputes.

The Florida Sheriff's Office. Half police force, half military, this organization treats the three regions of South Florida differently. In Miami Beach, they are solicitous, helpful, and always aware of what you're doing. With dirigible drones in the sky, strike teams always ready in VTOL aircraft, cameras on every street, and patrols threading through the city, they suppress crime through extreme means. Registered tourists and citizens have little to fear aside from the loss of privacy. Unregistered vehicles and persons will be searched and seized. They rarely get involved in the Sprawl except in force, and seldom venture to the 'Glades. However, the routinely tangle with dangerous criminals and have a variety of air, sea, and ground resources you'd more typically except of the military. They rarely attack unless they think they have the raw firepower to win.

Los Reyes The Kings A huge, but loose organization of Latin gangs spanning two continents, many local chapters run ethnic enclaves at the street level. Violent, they runs drugs, better-than-life chips, prostitution, and protection rackets. Their main strength is numbers and the roots in their communities, but they do have rivals.

The Mob. No one mafia family has supremacy in the area, but several UCAS and CAS based families have interests in the area. They often run entirely legitimate businesses in both Miami and Miami Beach, and focus mainly in smuggling and money laundering.

The Yakuza The Yakuzu presence is relatively small, but they run all the bunraku prostitution rings, legally. Bunraku prostitutes are sex workers whose brains have been modified to accept any personality downloaded to them. Many celebrities and politicians have personalities that have been. . .creatively entered into surgically sculpted sex workers available at hourly, daily, and weekly rates.

Friends of the Everglades An affiliate organization with Earth First! this organization loudly pursues legal and illegal means to make the Awakened Everglades its own sovereign nation. The biggest obstacles are that the local Native Americans view the 'Glades as their home, resenting outsiders, and much of the watershed consisting of the Everglades reaches halfway up into the peninsula, into CAS territory. Many members live in the 'Glades and are among the greatest experts in the terrain and ecology.

Notes about character creation.

I strongly encourage normal metahuman types. Language can be important, so don't neglect it. English is the lingua franca of the region, but whole neighborhoods exists where people go their whole lives speaking only Spanish or Haitian Creole. I'm looking for around four players. Feel free to send me a message if you have questions.

Muse

A link for all of us who ever had a shouting match with our muse: http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

How to set this Muse ablaze (O/Os)

When the little angel won't appear no matter how many plum blossoms you swirl:  https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=135346.msg16474321#msg16474321 (Major update 5/10/2023)

Thorn14

What can we expect gameplay wise?

Actiony? Social? And adult content?

Kunoichi

Hmm.  I'm interested, and yet my muse has not been the most cooperative lately... ><;

*waits to see what the answer to Thorn's question is before making any definite decisions*

NotoriusBEN

Im going to add my interest as well. Pending Thorn's questions, I'll work on a character for submittal.

Melnibone

#5
Oh, content.

There's definitely going to be plot, adventure, crime and the standard fare of Shadowrun. The sexy content is going to range from R rated to late night Skinemax and beyond. I have several different plots and adventures planned, so the types of characters you folks propose will tell me which ones I select. There's room for social characters, hackers, street samurai, everyone. However, don't make your characters one trick ponies. Life can throw you curve balls.

There's definitely combat, social interaction, and sexy stuff.

Melnibone

#6
Quote from: sinoraa on March 27, 2010, 02:02:37 AM
street samurai!!! i don't know what that is but it sounds nice!

Street Samurai are what cyberware loaded, "Honorable", guns-and-swords-for hire are typically called. Latinos and Haitians often find the term obnoxiously gringo but there's plenty of former Nicaraguan, Venesualean, Haitian, Cuban, and Bolivian cyberware enhanced toughs plying their trade, too.

Map of North America:

Kunoichi

Huh.  Well, I do have an idea for a spellslinging rockstar...

Knowing my schedule and current muse issues, though, I'd guess I probably won't wind up turning in a character sheet before all the slots are filled, though. >>;

Behemoth

Mmm, sexy Shadowrun.

I'm ALSO keen to play. I have some Shadowrun experience, first played it WAY back in 2nd edition. I also have some experience with 4e including some GMing. Big fan of 4e :-)

If i was to play i'd go for a female elf Hacker, Mage or Face OR a human or orc Adept or Street Samurai.

-Behemoth

Muse

Yondala Moreno, Panda to her friends, is the daughter of an Aztechnkowlgy magician and bureaucrat by a man who went rogue on the corp. 

By age thirteen, she realized the horrible things her mother was doing and fled to her father, persuading him to take her as a sadowrunning aprentice.  In her seventeenth year, her father disapeared in a raid on their safehouse.  She changed identites and moved into a condo on Miami Beach while looking for a new crew and setting up new safe houses. 

Yadi is a magical adept favoring a mix of social fu and athletics over overwheming force. 
A link for all of us who ever had a shouting match with our muse: http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

How to set this Muse ablaze (O/Os)

When the little angel won't appear no matter how many plum blossoms you swirl:  https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=135346.msg16474321#msg16474321 (Major update 5/10/2023)

NotoriusBEN

I feel like playing a Covert Ops (defeats Physical security compared to a hacker that breaks electronic security) character or a Drone Rigger. More than likely a Human. I'll be working on a character for the moment.

Melnibone

Yeay! I've gotten a few PMs with character concepts. If you haven't yet, feel free to send more. We'll try to iron everything out and begin play Friday.

Muse

Hey folks.  (Especialy, but not nessicariy, anyone playing girls).  Yadi is looking for some runners to know in backstory and set up a civiliain ID in miami beach with.   Anyone intrested? 
A link for all of us who ever had a shouting match with our muse: http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

How to set this Muse ablaze (O/Os)

When the little angel won't appear no matter how many plum blossoms you swirl:  https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=135346.msg16474321#msg16474321 (Major update 5/10/2023)

Behemoth

Hey Muse,

I'm definitely keen in to tie my character's back story in with yours. It certainly helps to have some friends in common, plus would make the roleplaying interesting if some of the group already knew one another. I've pitched 4 possible concepts to Melnibone so far, two of which are female, just waiting to hear back from him on them.

Feel free to PM me about it, otherwise i'll be in touch.

-Behemoth

NotoriusBEN

It'd be nice to see some concepts up here as well. I know it definitely helps me get some ideas going.

So far for my character, I have a Seattle native that decided to head to Miami for various reasons (waiting for the heat to die off possibly).
Im going to go with a Human Drone Rigger/ Wheelman concept.

Now to dive into the books and build the guy... >.> (wish catalyst had something like DnD Insider character creator)

Melnibone

#15
Aircraft, boats, and cars are all in wide use in the region. A wheelman with multiple vehicle talents could make a killing. :)

I'll be lurking on the IRC chat under channel #Miami if anyone has any questions.

Melnibone

P.S. The official website has links to several character generators.

http://www.shadowrun4.com/resources/faq.shtml

Kunoichi

I've heard that those have some problems, actually. ^^;

*starts work on a sort of Face/Magical Support character, her aforementioned Mage Rocker*

Hmm.  Her band is named 'Urban Ritual'...  Works for me. ;D

Melnibone

Quote from: Kunoichi on March 28, 2010, 04:16:03 AM
I've heard that those have some problems, actually. ^^;

*starts work on a sort of Face/Magical Support character, her aforementioned Mage Rocker*

Hmm.  Her band is named 'Urban Ritual'...  Works for me. ;D

Word. :)

Kunoichi

And now for the most important question:

Seeing as I've given her the Geas (Must sing and/or play the guitar while casting spells), if I also give her the Orgasm spell, will that make her Nekki Basara? ;D

Macross 7 is awesome

Melnibone

Quote from: Kunoichi on March 28, 2010, 04:39:00 AM
And now for the most important question:

Seeing as I've given her the Geas (Must sing and/or play the guitar while casting spells), if I also give her the Orgasm spell, will that make her Nekki Basara? ;D

Macross 7 is awesome


. . .I draw the line at speaker-missiles, OK?

Kunoichi

xD Good, 'cause with Arsenal, I can already make the giant robot.

Not that I will, of course.  That would just be silly. ;D

NotoriusBEN

My character is shaping up nicely. I got us a good ol' GMC van to move around in before the mission and during the getaway.

Demitri Martin Creeper van

Melnibone

Quote from: NotoriusBEN on March 28, 2010, 06:23:03 AM
My character is shaping up nicely. I got us a good ol' GMC van to move around in before the mission and during the getaway.

Demitri Martin Creeper van

Subtle.

Kunoichi

#24
 ::)

Well, at least it'll be good for storing drones.  Plus, it might be able to come with some fun options...

Edit: Ah, and you might eventually wind up taking a certain band on tour with it, too. >>;