Shadowrun Single-player/Co-op Campaign [Archive]

Tel Prydain

11-25-2010, 06:55 PM

http://www.shadowrun.us/shadowrun.png

Story
In the world of Shadowrun there are two types of people, those who understand magic and those who are dead.

According to the ancient Mayan calendar, magic is cyclical, leaving the world and returning every 5000 years. Magic enters the world, grows, peaks, and eventually retreats. When magic was last at its peak, a powerful ziggurat was constructed near what would be modern day Santos, Brazil. The purpose of this construct is shrouded in the mists of history. Even the Chancela family, who secretly maintained the ziggurat for thousands of years, did not know its purpose. Nor did they know the purpose of the strange artifacts somehow connected to the ziggurat. In the millennia since its construction the ziggurat was eventually buried, hidden in the side of a mountain. Then, on December 24, 2011, magic began returning to the world, leaving change and confusion in its wake.

The years after magic’s return wrought change on a global scale. RNA Global, a powerful multinational corporation, sent a research team to Santos, Brazil. Their job was to explore and research the strange energies coming from a mountainside along one edge of Santos. Armed with an artifact from ancient times, the research team sought to channel and control the magical energies they were exploring. Instead they caused a magical accident that destroyed half the city and brought down the mountainside, revealing the ziggurat to all. Deflecting blame for the incident to an Ork paramilitary organization, RNA retreated from the city while rethinking its strategy.

After a time, RNA Global returned to Santos, this time armed with a government contract that provided them control over the city. Vowing to keep the peace and clean up Santos, RNA’s first actions were to enact martial law and declare a curfew for all citizens. The locals, still upset over the initial accident and trying to rebuild on their own, began resisting RNA’s efforts. The resistance was helped greatly by the leadership of the Chancela family. Resistance turned to conflict, conflict turned to skirmish and skirmish eventually plunged the city into all-out war.

On one side is RNA Global, a powerful multinational corporation that has been researching magic seemingly since before it returned. Driven to control magic as an economic tool, they find themselves with a powerful but precarious toehold in a city ravaged by change.
On the other side is the Lineage. Led by the Chancela family and dedicated to defending the Santos ziggurat, they struggle to keep its magic free of anyone’s control, no matter the cost.

And in the middle is the last of the strange artifacts... one that seems to be the key to everything.

The year is 2031.
The place is Santos, Brazil.
The future is up in the air.
It's up to you to determine who will win, and who will lose.

Contents
Setting up the game
Running the Game
Maps
RNA Story
Lineage Story
FAQ

Setting up the game

This document takes the bare bones offered by Microsoft’s team based FPS game and rearranges it into a story-based structure with outcomes decided by your actions. A game that was just ‘Counterstrike with magic’ becomes an epic struggle as an elite Lineage team engages in one of the first ever Shadowruns.
The Game can be played with two human teams, co-op with friends or by yourself. Games should always be created as private matches to keep random players from invading your game.
Once you have created the game, you need to configure the teams. As the story is supposed to depict the rebel Lineage vs the globe spanning RNA, it is recommended to set the RNA team to eight players while the Lineage team is set to four. To balance this out, set the Lineage Bot’s AI to one or two AI levels higher then RNA’s. Make sure you set the auto-balance feature to 'OFF' to maintain the team balance that you have created.
Obviously, you can alter the AI to make the game harder or easier to provide a level of challenge you are comfortable with.

Depending on the group you are playing with, you may also wish to assign roles to everyone before the game starts. You can use this to both add flavour to the game or to address additional balance issues. For example, you may limit the number of people who can possess resurrect to increase the challenge.

If you are looking for class ideas, try some of the following:
Human Soldier – Rifle, Shotgun, Smart Link, Smoke, teleport
Human Scout – Rifle, Enhanced Vision, Glider, Teleport, Anti-magic Grenades
Human Street Samurai – Katana, Wired Reflexes, Teleport, Glider
Human Medic – Shotgun, Tree of Life, Resurrect, Teleport, Glider

Troll Weapons Platform – Chain-gun, Rocket Launcher, Smart-link, Tree
Troll Tank – SMG, Shotgun, Wired Reflexes, Tree, Teleport
Troll Berserker – Katana, Shotgun, Wired Reflexes, Tree

Dwarf Soldier - SMG, Shotgun, Wired Reflexes, Smoke, Resurrect
Dwarf Summoner – SMG, Tree of Life, Strangle, Resurrect, Summon Minion

Elf Solder – SMG, Rifle, Smoke, Gust, Teleport
Elf Ninja – Katana, Teleport, Glider, Gust, Smoke
Elf Cleric – SMG, Tree of Life, Resurrect, Glider, Teleport

Running the Game

The game itself is played across the normal Shadowrun Maps with the outcome of each match determining which map will be used next.
At the start of each map, you may what to read the description of the area from the maps section to remind everyone of what is going on. If you are playing with a group that is interested in the story/roleplay aspect of the campaign you may also want to read out the section from the relevant faction’s story section.
The maps are divided equally into Lineage maps, RNA maps and neutral maps.

The RNA maps are Lobby, Nerve Centre and Pinnacle. Each time RNA win a match on a RNA map, you progress to the next RNA map in the sequence. If RNA win on Pinnicle, then RNA win the campaign. If Lineage win on a RNA map, you then play on Favela.

The Lineage maps are Dig Site, Temple Grounds and Maelstrom. Each time Lineage win a match on a Lineage map, you progress to the next Lineage map in the sequence. If Lineage win on Maelstrom, then Lineage win the campaign. If RNA win on a Lineage map, you then play on Poco.

The Neutral maps are Power Plant, Favela and Poco. Power Plant is the opening map, and will be the area you start with. Once the opening match is over, you then progress to the first map of the faction that won.
Favela is the map you will play if Lineage manages to retrieve the Artefact from the RNA. If Lineage wins this match, progress to the first Lineage map. If Lineage lose, then return to the map you were playing immediately before playing Favela.
Poco is the map you will play if RNA manages to steal the Artefact from Lineage. If RNA wins this match, progress to the first RNA map. If RNA loses, then return to the map you were playing immediately before playing Poco.
Each neutral map can only be played twice… if the team who just LOST the artefact lose the 2nd match on the neutral map then the artefact is considered ‘lost’ and the campaign is a draw favouring the winning team.

http://www.freewebs.com/larryboy_dragon/Shadowrun.jpg

Example A: A game starts on Power Plant and is won by Lineage. Lineage then go on to win on Dig Site, thus forcing the next match to be played on Temple Grounds. Lineage then lose the match, seting up a game in Poco. RNA wins Poco, which allow them to then play Lobby, which they win. RNA then wins both Nerve Centre and Pinnacle to win the campaign.

Example B: A game starts on Power Plant and is won by RNA. RNA then lose on Nerve Centre which allows Lineage to attempt to steal the artefact on Favela. RNA win Favela, returning the artefact to the Nerve Centre. RNA then win Nerve Centre, progressing to Pinnicle. However on Pinnicle RNA looses again and are forced to replay Favela. This is the 2nd time on Favela, so if Lineage wins they can then try to complete the Lineage maps – But if RNA wins (this being the 2nd time this neutral map has been played) the artefact is lost.

MAPS
After the disaster of 2025 and the subsequent construction of the RNA arcology, Santos became a city of extremes.
On one end of the city was the shiny new RNA arcology, towering more than one hundred stories over the city. Packed with modern technology, it’s a shining glass and steel icon of the unparalleled power of today’s megacorporations.
Sitting across the city as a counterpoint are the Slums. Vertical shanty towns perch precariously over tight, twisty roads. Graffiti is everywhere and every building is in desperate need of repair. While RNA has almost complete control over its arcology, in the slums the people rule and RNA never enters with less than a full squad of heavily armed security.
Just outside the city sits the recently exposed ziggurat. Both the cause and victim of the Santos disaster, the ziggurat remains a mystery even to those who study it. It’s known to be a confluence of magical power, but no one understands how to control it. If any one place encapsulates the danger now enveloping Santos, it is the ziggurat.
Welcome to Santos, Brazil. Welcome to Shadowrun.

Power Plant
Abandoned since the disaster at the ziggurat, the Santos Power Station now lies in a state of disrepair. Nestled in the mountains to the west of the Slums, the power station is now gradually disappearing beneath an invasion of jungle vegetation that threatens to overcome the vacant facility altogether. However, rumours still circulate that, beneath the decrepit exterior, the complex is home to some of the most volatile experiments conducted by the RNA Corporation.
Dirt covers the steel walls and vines climb as high as the helicopter platform at the top of the complex - a reminder of the days when the station was the primary energy supplier for the region.

Lineage Maps:

Dig Site
Deep within the mountain, RNA Global worked to excavate the foundations of the ziggurat and reveal the source of its magical fire. The Lineage is determined to prevent such a powerful and important force from falling into corporate hands, however, and so the ziggurat tunnels are the scene of regular conflict.

Temple Grounds
The Ziggurat is both a magnificent feat of engineering and a work of art built on a site of great power. This giant stepped pyramid bubbles with magic and potential. It was used as a temple by an ancient civilization during the fourth age of magic, more than five thousand years ago.
However, the unleashed magic of the ziggurat conjured a blizzard that is in constant motion around the mountain’s peak, leaving the site in a continuous glacial winter. Extensive catacombs connect the snow-covered exterior with the central chamber, which contains large statues and other artifacts indicative of the temple's magical heritage.

Maelstrom
Perched on top of the ziggurat, a piercing blue beam of light passes through multiple layers of cloud, hundreds of feet into the air. Surrounding the magical light are multiple layers of ancient stone structures and stairways.
The RNA are trying to escape by bringing the artifact to an awaiting VTOL while the Lineage are trying to deliver the artifact into the heart of the maelstrom, well above the cloud layers.

RNA Maps

Lobby
Just off the main entrance to the RNA arcology, the lobby area connects the arcology monorail station with the rest of the arcology environment. The lobby itself boasts a selection of archaeological treasures from the nearby ziggurat, and the statue garden next door houses a truly awe-inspiring ancient sculpture found deep inside the ziggurat.

Nerve Centre
A sprawling city inside a single building capable of sustaining over 100,000 people, the arcology was originally intended as a research and development lab focused on studying the ziggurat. The complex has since expanded to include housing for RNA military forces and the company’s highest-ranking executives. Banners embroidered with the RNA corporate logo hang proudly from the ceiling while tribal artifacts, taken from the surrounding area, add a splash of local colour. Posters bearing the company motto are always within view.
The Nerve Centre is about halfway up the arcology, and is home to a security centre, conference rooms and a private aircraft hanger.

Pinnacle
Short of the top of the ziggurat itself, the pinnacle of the RNA Arcology is the highest point in Santos. The rooftops, communications towers, and helipad of the Pinnacle map provide both a stunning (and potentially lethal) view of the city below. With the giant RNA symbol towering above the central area, it’s impossible to forget that this is RNA’s home territory.
The pinnicle is divided into three areas: the executive side, the central area, and the communications side.

Neutral Maps: The Slums
Once this was a prosperous and heavily-populated part of the city of Santos, Brazil. Now it’s all gone, and its residents struggle merely to survive. They say hardship breeds toughness. That is true. No location in Santos has had it tougher than the Slums.
In the year 2025, RNA Global Corporation’s CEO Jonathan Cain led an exploratory team into the ziggurat: a powerful source of magic that for thousands of years has been the ancestral focus of the Lineage. Having an aptitude for magic himself, he sought to conduct experiments within the great structure and learn to harness these mysterious energies.
Something went wrong with Cain’s experiments, however, and a great explosion killed—amongst many others—Cain and the leader of the Lineage, Marco Chancela.
Even worse, this explosion rocked the mountainside under which the ziggurat slept and destroyed a quarter of the city of Santos, causing such devastation that the city has never fully recovered. Where once there was a thriving neighborhood, now there is nothing but the Slums.

Favela
The Favela neighborhood is a virtual microcosm of the entire city of Santos. A couple areas remain almost untouched, including a Mediterranean-style mansion and a public square that is still used for the Sunday market in the slums.
Then there are sections that were completely devastated by the Santos disaster. The Sol Bar used to be one of the most popular gathering spots in Santos, especially among patrons of the FASA Theater just around the corner. But both establishments were ravaged during the Santos disaster and were eventually abandoned.
In today’s Santos the Favela district is used for the Sunday market, but Monday through Saturday it is a haven for the homeless and desperate. Formerly one of the liveliest neighborhoods in Santos, Favela is now the emblem of Santos’ problems.

Poco
The neighborhood to have made the largest transition since the Santos disaster is probably Poco. In the days leading up to the disaster, Poco was one of Santos’ most popular housing districts. High-rise apartment buildings dominated the landscape. The streets were filled with young families and old retirees. The view at sunset was one of the best in the city.
Today the high-rises have been mostly destroyed and the streets are choked with shantytowns. Guttering fires in garbage cans are one of the few sources of light at night.
Walking alone in Poco is tantamount to suicide. Not even the Lineage goes in there alone. As much as members of the Lineage are respected by the average Santos citizen, in Poco they’re just another target. Still, some signs of Poco’s former glory remain. The high-rises are still there, though mostly destroyed. They tower over the landscape like relics of a better age, silently reminding Poco’s people of what life used to be but may never be again.

RNA Story

Power Plant
Beneath the rusty oil pipes and moss-covered girders lies unpredictable research that RNA would rather keep out of the public eye. While they consider the Santos Disaster to be a regrettable incident, it did allow RNA to come into the position of the last artefact. An object possessing substantial magical energy, little is known about the artefact – although it they report that they have had visions, a sense of the artefact feeding off pain and time turning back on itself.
The one thing that is known is that RNA management want the artefact removed from the volatile Santos region and moved to a North American safe house. All you need to do is hang tight and wait for the pickup.

RNA Maps

Lobby
The Artafact is waiting to be picked up from the main lobby.
As one of the main arcology entrances, the lobby normally has a large contingent of RNA security forces in it. The lobby is one of the Lineage’s favourite entry points into the arcology.
RNA reinforcements will need to keep their eyes open, their guns ready and be ready for any strangeness that the artefact may cause..

Nerve Centre
The artefact has been delivered to the private hanger on this level. RNA squids have been sent to retrieve it and bring it to the command centre. From there it will go to the roof where it will be picked up by a long-range transport.
Additionally, the artefact seems to be messing with time – forcing moments of conflict to repeat in order to feed some strange power source. Do not be surprised if the relic seems to draw conflict to itself.

Pinnacle
Soon RNA Santos will be rid of the cursed relic and the freaks who are continually perusing it. Not to mention, the RNA troops are dammed close to a big payday and some well-earned time off.
All that is required is to get the artefact to the landing pad, and the air-boys will take care of the rest. And as for the damned Lineage who have been dogging the RNA’s steps… soon the RNA will be able to give them the ‘attention’ they deserve.

Lineage Maps:

Dig Site
The Lineage strike force has absconded with the artefact, and escaped to the network of tunnels beneath the ziggurat. RNA do not know what the Lineage want with the artefact, but after the Santos Disaster we all know that RNA can’t allow the Lineage access to that kind of unrestrained power.
The remnants of the RNA excavation crews still roam the halls of the dig site, so RNA troops will need to hurry and reinforce their positions.

Temple Grounds
The ziggurat’s magical energy first caught the attention of RNA Global in 2025. They led an exploratory group into the ziggurat to determine how to use this magical energy, but his experiments went awry and unleashed an enormous amount of magical energy, killing the leaders of RNA Global and the Lineage as well as levelling a quarter of the city of Santos.
When they returned to Santos years later, RNA Global Corporation concluded their experiments on the magic of the ziggurat after locating the Relic that the Lineage have now stolen.
The Lineage base camp on the ziggurat has been ‘cleared’ of sympathisers, and all the RNA retrieval team needs to do is wait for the artefact to come to them.

Maelstrom
The RNA retrieval team doesn’t know what the Lineage have done, but they know it is not good. Untamed magic energy cascades around them, and the top of the ziggurat is in tatters.
The good news is that RNA have sent a jump ship to pick them up. All they have to do is grab the relic and then make it to the jump ship before the Lineage complete whatever crazy plan they have in mind.
For the good of the locals, and for the good of their future pay-checks, the RNA forces can not fail.

Neutral Maps:

Favela
Lineage have taken the artefact, but they can not have gone far. RNA need to search the slums for the relic and then get it back to base.

Poco
Having retrieved the Relic from the Lineage thieves, and RNA control is sending in a retrieval team that will get it back to the arcology. Poco is still hostile territory, so they will need to keep their eyes open.

Lineage Story

Power Plant
The power station was once an important utility plant, but now it lies dormant as a result of the Santos Disaster. Still rumours circulate that, beneath the decrepit exterior, the complex is home to some of the most volatile experiments conducted by the RNA Corporation.
Fearing a repeat of the Santos Disaster, the Lineage have launched concentrated attacks on the power station, determined to uncover whatever schemes RNA might be hatching and stop them before it’s too late.
The extraction point is the helicopter landing pad at the top of the station – once the Lineage operatives have obtained all the information they can, someone will be there to pick them up.
Also, rumours persist of a relic that RNA researches retrieved. They report visions, a sense of the artefact feeding off bloodshed and of time turning back on itself. This is probably exaggeration, but they would do well to exercise caution as they explore.

Lineage Maps:

Dig Site
The Lineage strike force have absconded with the artefact, and escaped to the network of tunnels beneath the ziggurat. The remnants of the RNA excavation crews still roam the halls, so they will need to be careful while transporting the artefact to the ziggurat above.
During the last conflict, the tales of the artefact have been proven to be true – as it rewound time, feeding off the violence of the repeating conflict. There is something evil about it, and you cannot let it fall back into RNA hands.

Temple Grounds
As the Fourth Cycle of Magic came to a close the Ziggurat would have been entirely forgotten if it were not for the Chancela family. For generations they took it as their charge to act as its caretakers and kept watch over its secrets. They eventually founded a secret society known as the Lineage, made up of family and followers, to carry on their charge. When the RNA retreated back to their arcology, the Lineage made the Ziggurat their base of operations once again - setting up multiple structures around the ruins to house research equipment and protect against the cold.
The relic is a heavy burden… Perhaps returning the artefact to it’s place of origin wi quiet it. Having safely emerged from the tunnels, all the Lineage force needs to do is bring the artefact to the Lineage’s base camp, where a warm welcome will obviously be waiting….

Maelstrom
The Lineage team don’t have time to wonder what RNA did with the Lineage members at the base camp… the moment that the relic was returned to the heart of the Ziggurat the relic vanished and all hell broke loose. They are still at the top of the Ziggurat, but they are now surrounded by the greatest torrent of wild magic since the Santos Disaster, and the artefact is the key to stopping it.
According to the writings etched on the newly reviled interior walls, the Ziggurat was designed to be a repository for magical energy to be unleashed when magic returned to earth. Instead of releasing it, the relic could be used to try and control it – but using it to do so could cause a backlash that would destroy Santos once and for all.
However, there is hope. If they re-locate the artefact they could feed it into the heart of the Maelstrom the magic would consume it – without the relic holding it here the magic would dissipate, and magic will grow stronger throughout the world.
Magic belongs to no man… no matter what the cost, they must release the magic that threatens Santos and allow history to take its proper course. This is what the Ziggurat was made for, and this is your role.

RNA Maps

Lobby
A Lineage shadowrun team have breached into the arcology through a hole in the basement under the lobby. They need to make their way through the art collection, and locate where the artifact is being stored there. They can then made their escape by way of the monorail station which will take them out into the slums.

Nerve Centre
The RNA troops have transported the artefact to the upper levels of the arcology, and believing it safe they will leave it temporally unguarded. There is a small window of time wherein a small team could get in and grab it before it gets moved on. Once they have it, they can make their escape via a rip-line that will deliver you to the slums below.

Pinnacle
RNA is about to send the relic away for good. The last time RNA was permitted to experiment they destroyed half of Santo. The Lineage can not let the artefact slip through their fingers.

Neutral Maps:

Favela
The Lineage shadowrun team have made it out with the artefact, and now have the chance to get it to safety. They will need to bring it through Favela and to the foot of the great mountain. From there they can smuggle the artefact through the under-ground tunnels to allies waiting at the temple.

Poco
RNA have the artefact and there is no telling what they will do with it. Poco is an unfriendly place, so a Lineage shadowrun team is being established to recapture the relic. They will need to get in and out fast, before the situation has a chance to turn bad.

FAQs

Q: Why did you write all this?
A: Well, I love story-based games, and thought it was a shame that a game based on an RPG had no story at all. Plus, FASA wrote a lot of location descriptions that were pretty good, and I wanted to use them to show the thinking that went into some of the maps.

Q: Isn’t the ‘time powers’ of the artefact just lame way to explain why the maps have six rounds?
A: Yes. :)

Q: You say the artefact grants visions and ‘powers’. Whys that?
A: In attrition matches the relic shows the other teams locations and is the only way to destroy bodies.

Q: How much of this did you write, and what did FASA write?
A: Many of the area descriptions are lifted from the Official FASA site, although most has been chopped, rearranged, edited or rewritten for this document.
The Campaign was all me, though.

Q: Did you change anything?
A: In the Lineage story I framed the maelstrom map as the being the top of the ziggurat after the arrival of the artefact. In the game it’s part of the ziggurat blown off during the Santos disaster. In fact, if you look up on the temple map you can see the maelstrom clouds abovt you.

Q: This still isn’t Shadowrun. Why didn’t you change the story to match the RPG?
A: Because I had to work with the maps and backgrounds I have. And besides, half the fun of any RPG is that you can mess with the source material – consider this a DM adding a side event outside the main timeline.