What Is A Shadowrunner?

[Finarfin]

The game kind of throws you in without any backstory. What's the state of the world and where did the elves and orcs and trolls come from?

[Zale]

Well, as you play the game you figure it out. But if you want a very rough and quick explanation of how things came to be, I can recount them.

In 2011, magic returned to the world through an event called the Awakening, and with it a sub-type of humans started appearing. Some people transformed into them, and from them they bred and grew in numbers. These are called Metahumans.

Inevitibly, racism spread towards Metahumans. Elves has it the easiest because of their near-perfect human resembalence. Dwarves have it slightly harder, and Orks and Trolls as you can imagine are the worst off.

The current state of the world is that the Megacorporations control pretty much every single square inch of the world, and it's in a pretty dystopian state.

As for what a Shadowrun is, and I quote from the 5th edition core rulebook "SHADOWRUN >noun
Any movement, action, or series of such made in
carrying out plans which are illegal or quasilegal.

And so basically a Shadowrunner is someone who makes a living out of doing Shadowruns.

And that's about all I can recount. If you want more info regarding the basic Geology I can't quite explain since I don't remember myself. Hope this helps though.

[fauxpas]

Mana raises and falls over thousand year cycles, (2nd World had magic ... 3rd World did not, 4th World had Magic, 5th World is today, 6th World has magic ... 1st World was the exception to the rule and would give Lovecraft nightmares) and when the mana level hits certain thresholds it "awakens" dorment genes that certain humans carry; causing some humans to give birth to elves and dwarves, and a decade or so later some humans to painfully mutate into trolls and orks. It also allows some very lucky people to shape magical energies into effects called spells.

It also allowed critters of legends, such as dragons to awaken and become active in the world once again.

Sadly, as the mana levels rose, it opened doorways for stranger critters, such as the Bug Spirits, and shortly will throw open the doors and allow soul eating Gods called the Horror to scrouge the Earth just like they did in the 4th World and undoubtly the 2nd World. ... And no, when the Scrouge comes, humanity WILL NOT win and at best will flee into warded bunkers like they have each time before.



Now, due to the instructions given by an imortal 1/2 Horror that used the same loopholes that a very few elves did to survive during the 5th World the Indian Tribes were able to use a giant blood ritual to drive the 'white devils' out of the western part of America and Canada, and the largest companies in the world have become powerful enough to become nationstates in their own right. Shadowrunners are diposable mercs that the Megacorps use in an endless cold war they wage amongst themselves as the world continues to rot around them.

[Finarfin]

Interesting world that this game is set in. Playing further I'm starting to feel more just like I'm in an interactive story than an RPG. It seems that you aren't really making things happen as much as going to where your single mission is telling you to go and interacting with every thing that is clearly marked for you. I'm used to RPGs where you have a journal full of quests and missions, but this isn't like that. It's almost as if you are just following a script and not anyone that really has any effect on the game. Am I missing something? This game is highly rated, but I'm not seeing what warrants that despite the interesting world and story line. I just don't feel like my character is much more than window dressing.

[Zale]

To be fair, in Shadowrun Returns there are next to no optional quests (I think there's actually only 1 in the entire game). But the decisions you make during the main quests can effect the story slightly. In the next 2 games it's much more expansive. I wouldn't say the next 2 give as much freedom as RPGs most people are probably used to, but it does have alot of depth. But if you don't like the combat and general world setting of Returns, you could pass on the other games.

[fauxpas]

It's an old school linear story, which is different from most modern RPGs, but its not a bad thing either.

[Finarfin]

I am enjoying the game, but I just thought it a bit odd that it was so linear. I'm used to things of the Baldur's Gate style.