| From: | flakjacket@***********.com (FlakJacket) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | China in 2060??? [Long] |
| Date: | Tue, 6 Jan 2004 00:47:58 -0000 |
the index in one of my regular cleanups. That along with life not
co-operating meant it took a little time to dredge my memory and some of the
books. Anyway, here's the best I could come up with.
For the most part I've kept it like Lester's Sixth World site, which as
always has been incredibly useful, and given the book, page reference and a
quick excerpt/overview since I didn't really feel like typing out whole
books. :o) Lester's site is at, http://www.divnull.com/lward/sixthworld/
like he already posted. It's got most of the older books covered although it
tail off towards the end unfortunately. :o(
Two books that I haven't looked at though are the recent Dragons sourcebook
which is bound to have some more information spread over the Lung, Ryumyo
and Masaru chapters, and the novel Tails You Lose. I know that the novel
deals with one of the Coins of Luck from Dunk's Will and has a number of
Asian dragons in it which will have a knock-on affect in the Pacific
Prosperity Group. Just didn't have the time I'm afraid.
And now, on to the index-
Shadowrun Main Book
p. 24 In 2005, with encouragement from Japanese corporations, South Korea
declares war against the North, early in 2006 the North launches several
nuclear tipped missiles at Japan which fail to detonate, soon after the
North is overrun and Korea re-unified again
p. 29 China splits into warring warlord states based mainly on their
provinces in 2018
p. XX Tibet declares independence by raising a magical barrier around the
country, walling themselves off from the rest of the world- much like Tir Na
nOg, nothing is able to penetrate the magical barrier and what is happening
behind it has remained a mystery to the world
Shadowrun Companion
p. 38 Japanese variant of metahuman variant dwarves- koborokuru
p. 38 Menehune, the Hawaiian variant of Dwarf
p. 41 Japanese variant of orks- oni
Magic in the Shadows
p. 17 Brief introduction to the Path of Wuxing, one of the Chinese/Asian
schools of magic
p. 87 Hong Kong suffers from Wild Magic, means that magic can act
differently from day to day, table for you to roll to see whether Wild Magic
will affect the area that day and what it'll do
Cyberpirates
p. 55 Major section on the Philippines and how the Japanese basically took
them over and the current rebellion, Year of the Comet updated/changed the
situation quite a bit
p. 116 Tan Tien runs simsense studios in Hong Kong
p. 123 Information on piracy in SE Asia as well as a number of bits of
information on the area; Japan apparently has a fair bit of influence in
Thailand and Cambodia, mention of the heroin drug cartels in the Golden
Triangle- Shan United especially, Chon Buri and Sattahip south of Krung Thep
(Bangkok) sprawl have major pickups, in Malaysia, ex-military cartels seem
to have been given the nod to control smuggling
Threats
p. 13/16 Alamos 20K chapter has one faction in Asia working through a front
called the Ministry of Mankind which is recognised as a proper religion in a
lot of places, also funds TruthNet- a pay per view channel that exposes the
truth about supposed conspiracies against upstanding human right wing types,
and the Army of Light- a human supremacist, apocalyptical cult based out of
Vietnam with their fingers also in the drugs trade, since it was never
mentioned again and Alamos 20K was seemingly set up for PC's to take down,
how relevant this is is doubtful
Portfolio of a Dragon
p. 27 Leaves Wuxing 200 million nuyen per their 'previous arrangement'
p. 28 Leaves Inzo Aneki the Seal of the Green Gloves that allow the holder
access to the walled off Tibet
p. 29 Leaves Lung the Second Coin of Luck
p. 29 Leaves To Meynt-Zai Industries Proteus Subsystems as long as Adam
Goines is made Co-President/Chief Executive Officer
p. 30 Sharon Chiang-Wu gets the Second Coin of Luck
p. XX Leaves the first Coin of Luck to a fisherman called Sun Yat-sun
p. 32 Wu Lung-Wei gets the Jade Dragon of Wind and Fire
p. 71 Mini-profiles of Wuxing and Yakashima Technologies- Japanese AA corp.
that's the hostile takeover king of Japan
p. 74 In-depth in-game fiction piece about Wuxing and the Coins of Luck and
what they do, written by Lei Kung- leader of the Sons of Thunder, major
runner group in Hong Kong
/Lots/ of information about Wuxing's past, what the Coins of Luck and the
statute of Jade Dragon of Wind and Fire might do, as well as dragon/mana
lines- very good read
Part of the fiction piece also involves Lei Kung going to visit the
fisherman Sun Yat-sun at his houseboat in the harbour district of Hong Kong,
whilst there Triad hitmen attack and kill Sun, Kei Lung grabs the coin and
runs, later sells it to the Triads so it's basically believed that it ends
up with the dragon Lung meaning he has two of them
Rigger 3
p. 21 Early in 2061 Wuxing won the contract to build six Soohong-class
destroyers for the Canton Confederations navy (see Other Resources)
Predator and Prey
p. 35 Tan Tien has a Gold Coast division in Africa, working on picking up
the bequest from Dunk's will for creating a way for dolphins and satyrs can
access the Matrix
p. 41 The Louh Fo assault rifle, basically a rip-off of the Samopal vz88v
from either the main book or Canon Companion that Tan Tien produce, could be
very popular in the Chinese warlord states - although it doesn't really mesh
with other statements that Tan Tien doesn't produce goods, just does
research and farms production out to others
Corporate Download
p. 10 Back in 2045 when Wuxing went AA and got extratorriality, the Canton
Confederation refused to recognise them as they didn't want to lose control
of several key docks Wuxing ran, so Wuxing complained to the Corporate Court
and they brought pressure to bear that forced a regime change
p. 10 Manchuria doesn't recognise the Business Recognition Acts
p. 10 Likewise Yakut doesn't recognise the BRA either
p. 63 Mitsuhama runs most heavy construction in China
p. 102/138 Run-down on Wuxing
p. 78 Renraku Computer Systems is located in Taipei
p. 78 Renraku Computer Systems have a branch in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
p. 78 RCA also in Seoul
p. 106 Yakut suffers from Wild Magic
p. 107 Wuxing's split relationship with the Triads, works with some and
seems to have a blood feud with others
p. 116 Yamatetsu recently moved in and set up shop in Yakut and Manchuria
Underworld Sourcebook
p. 38 Details the Yakuza- their history, organisation and methods etc.
Whilst it's mainly based on North America still /really/ useful
p. 47 Seems the ninja assassin clans are back in business :o)
p. 51 Information on the Triads
p. 60 The Seoulpa Rings
p. 73 The Vory v Zakone, the Russian Mafiya
Target: Smugglers Havens
p. 30 Information on Vladivostok, main Russian port on the Pacific and
hometown of Yamatetsu
p. 31 In 2005 a 'North Korean communist dissident' assassinates President
Rhee of South Korea, General Yun- head of the army- seizes control and after
a little encouragement from the Japanese invades the North
p. 34 Awakened forces in the Yakut region of Siberia overthrow the local
government and withdraw from the CIS - Commonwealth of Independent States -
declaring independence, Russian Interior troops are sent in to deal with the
revolt but are pushed back
p. 36 Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland take the opportunity the also break away
whilst Russia is dealing with the Siberian problem, this prompts the
Russians to invade Poland and Germany kicking off the Eurowars, this along
with fierce resistance from the Siberians mean Yakut holds its territory and
the affair settles into a general stalemate with frequent border clashes
p. 56 Description of what's up in the Sea of Japan
p. 59 Ports of Call- couple pages dealing with the Korea and the ports of
Pusan, Wonsan and Ch'ongjin, mention if the Japanese regularly sending an
Imperial Japanese Navy ship to visit Pusan to remind them who's really in
charge, also quick rundown on the country itself and Korean pirates
p. 59 Korea's apparently led by a President-General
Paradise Lost
Details Hawaii and how Ryumyo controls both Yakuza and ALOHA through the
feathered serpent Naheka who works for him
Blood in the Boardroom
p. 68 The Chairman of Yamatetsu finally kicks from a heart attack that had
incapacitated earlier and he leaves his stock to a son no-one had known
about- Yuri, Yuri is a Russian ork so the idea of a foreign metahuman
running a Japanese Mega goes down like a led balloon over there, several
assassination attempts are made but he stays on, then teaming up with
Buttercup- who's basically running the show- and the minority Philippine
shareholders they get enough of a stock majority to move the corp. to
Vladivostok
p. 71 Mentions that corporations from Vietnam and Thailand are part pf the
PPG suggesting that they're still proper countries, this contradicts a
previous mention from Fields of Fire saying the whole place had
disintegrated - since Blood is the newer book I'll take this view
p.71 History of the Pacific Prosperity Groups (PPG) and how it's set up and
run
p. 75 The Players section gives half page rundowns on a number of PPG
members, these include- Eastern Tiger Corporation, Federated Boeing,
Kwonsham Industries, Tan Tien Inc, Wuxing Inc,
p. 77 Pacific Rim Bank and Financial Services Corporation, one of the
largest banks in the Pacific, did business with the PPG Japanacorps and
assorted corps, meant it had to walk a fine line between the Japanacorps and
the PPG, eventually decided to side with the Japanacorps which led to all
the PPG and affiliated corps. to migrate over to the Malaysian Independent
Bank- itself a PPG member
Matrix
p. 159 Manadyne, member of the PPG, designers that specialise in ICE, the
Malaysian Independent Bank relied heavily on their product for securing
their systems
p. 160 Canton Confederation (AS/CAN) Security Green-4 Access 6 Control 7
Index 5 Files 5 Slave 5, Guangxi (AS/GUA) Blue-3 A4 C4 I4 F3 S2, Hong Kong
(AS/HK) Orange-6 A8 C9 I8 F7 S7, Korea (AS/KOR) Green-3 A5 C7 I5 F5 S5,
Manchuria (AS/MAN) Green-2 A5 C6 I4 F3 S4, Yakut (AS/YAK) Blue-2 A3 C3 I2 F2
S2,
Target Matrix
p. 15 Yamatetsu runs an ISP called Yamatetsu Metamatrix, geared towards
metahumans
p. 19 Shiawase MIFD (Marketing Information and Forecasting Department),
their intelligence service and repository of the mass amounts of information
they collect
p. 28 Shadowland nodes are located in Okinawa, Honshu, Seoul, Sydney, Guam
and Hawaii although they're not just limited to these and could also move
over time
p. 47 Singapore incorporated like Pueblo did, each citizen owns shares in
the country and it's run by a CEO and Board of Directors
p. 47 The Morgue datahaven is based out of Singapore, subsection called
Limbo serves as a virtual lounge where deckers and data pirates from around
Asia hang
p.51 The Mosaic data haven is located out of Vladivostok, originally grew
out of the Beppu data haven from Japan but the authorities and corps had
been trying to shut it down for years and in 2059 launched a physical
assault against the place, they were able to get advance warning though and
had already relocated offsite, after drifting around for a but- including
locating themselves on an abandoned oilrig in the Sea of Japan, they came to
Vladivostok
Rumoured to have lots of background links to ex-friends and hackers that
eventually put on a tie and went to work for the Megas from their student
days, especially a lot that ended up at Yamatetsu, currently have deals with
both the Vory and Seoulpa Rings in Vladivostok to operate
p. 70 Information on the Malaysian Independent Bank, member of the PPG and
their major financial institution, was originally a fairly shady operation
but the founders son convinced them to go- mostly- legit in 2058, almost a
completely virtual bank accessed through the Matrix, their main host/home is
based in Kuala Lumpur grid and their main computer host is rumoured to be in
Hong Kong and have backups in Bangkok
p. 70 Mangadyne, another PPG member, provides almost all their ICE
p. 71 Cut out one faction of Triads but let another stay on
p. 91 Introduction of the decker NPC Snowtiger, runs with the runner group
the Suns of Thunder out of Hong Kong who are major professionals, for a
number of different reasons the Sons of Thunder are serious enemies of
Wuxing and try to screw with them whenever possible, has masses of in-depth
information on Wuxing and the Triads that can be bartered for
Brainscan
p. 96 Description of Madam Kim's, small theatre renting out simsense chips-
and BTL's for the right- price located in Hong Kong, also has an interesting
garden
Year of the Comet
p. 18 Aztechnology apparently owns the Jiuquan space launch site in the
Gansu province
p. 48 Snippet of a newspaper article from Vladivostok the disappearance of
20 members of the Bridging the Void cult. MVD is investigating after their
all being missing for at least a week and signs of blood and a magical
ritual being found in one of their apartments
p. 76 First breaking of the news about natural orichalcum thanks to the
Comet, Wuxing seems to have noticed first and they moved in fast, also
mentions that their HQ is in the Aberdeen area of HK and is a massive
mirrored skyscraper called the Wuxing Skytower, built in 2017
p. 76 Bit of background on Wuxing,
p. 76 The Wuxing Skytower is built upon a major manaline junction, even the
building itself is built according to feng shui to help channel mana
p. 79 The astral area around the Skytower has become visible, even mundanes
can see spirits or magicians who are in the astral
p. 85 Nepal was a hotspot for naturally occurring Orichalcum
p. 97 Major earthquake hits Japan levelling large swathes, Imperial family
is killed en-masse and the then Emperor's 14 year old grandson is named
Emperor, quietly pushing a platform of business liberalisation and metahuman
rights that's putting him at odds with the Megas, pulled back the Japanese
Army and Imperial Navy from Philippines, Peru and North America
p. 126 With Japan withdrawing its troops from the Philippines, the Huk
rebellion has gathered pace considerably
State of the Art 2063
p. 59 New branch of Desert Wars opening shop in the Gobi desert, look deep
enough and it's being organised by a SK subsidiary, planned and announced
after Lung took up home in Tai Shan so could be Lofwyr's looking into Lung's
doings
p. 60 Mitsuhama runs several mining operation in the Russian Far East
p. 60 Yamatetsu recently won the rights for mining in several sights in the
Gobi desert against Mitsuhama, they were not pleased
p. 63 Macao is the largest merc hang-out in the Far East, also runs the
massive casinos since unlike HK over the river they didn't go for attracting
large corporate interests, major underworld with strong Yak and Seoulpa Ring
presence since the Triads had Hong Kong already taken, thriving smuggling
market as well- seems to be gateway to Guangxi province, mainstays are
Chinese and Russian arms going into Guangxi and to Vietnamese pirates with
heroin and magical goods heading up to Shanghai and Vladivostok
p. 64 Canton Confederation and Guangxi involved in large border clashes
after China split up some time in 2018 or during the couple of years after,
and with warlord states fighting became merc central
p. 64 Imperial Kingdom of Beijing mentioned in passing
p. 66 Combat Inc- mercenary group that used to work out of Hong Kong before
moving over the river to Macao, best mercenary group in the Pacific on both
the east and west side, forced out of Hong Kong by Wuxing since they'd been
guarding competitors sites that Wuxing had wanted during the natural
Orichalcum rush
p. 66 Another merc group out of Japan called Tsunami, second largest
mercenary corp. after MET2K in Germany, based in Okinawa, fairly racist as
per norm with Japanacorps, fair bit of outside sponsorship- usually from
Japanacorps, spend most of the cash on cyber/bio augmentation of troops
rather than tanks and other large toys, new Emperor- as of YotC- has been
pressuring has been pressuring them to take more metahumans
Survival of the Fittest
The Balance adventure from the involves the runners visiting the Wuxing
Skytower and performing a magical ritual. Wuxing had been using the statue
Jade Dragon of Wind and Fire they had got from Dunk's will with the
powersite their HQ is located on to manipulate the mana lines and draw extra
magical power towards them. This has helped boost Wuxing's performance but
had the effect of making magic in HK even screwier than ever and possibly
contributing to the Japan earthquake. They'd also been coming to dominate
the Pacific Prosperity Group more and more.
The ritual mirrored one that Buttercup did at Yamatetsu in Vladivostok and
basically linked the two. Some of the stored magical energy gets channelled
to Vladivostok and takes the pressure off of HK some, also slows Wuxing down
some whilst boosting Yamatetsu so they don't dominate the PPG so much, also
means that by being linked Wuxing has an incentive to help make sure
Yamatetsu doesn't get killed and drag them down as well
p. 78 Introduces Sen Lo as an NPC, a well-known geomancer that lives in HK
and whose services are very much in high demand
Sprawl Survival Guide
p. 74 Half-page in-character write-up of Bangkok, still a massive gulf
between rich and poor, generally looks the same thanks to strict planning
laws- lots of native motifs worked into buildings, not much organised shadow
activity, major slave market here as well as pirate goods tech and software
in the Chinese District of Sapanlek, lots of fixers and data merchants about
The Triads and Pacific Prosperity Group have been doing a of business there
although Saeder-Krupp has had some good joint ventures with the government
and seems to be looking to expand here as well
p. 75 Similar write-up for Neo-Tokyo, basically rebuilding after the YotC
quake, Emperor has refused the Megas rebuilding planes and is drawing up his
own, Yamatetsu who seems to be on good relations with him have re-opened
offices here although still based in Vladivostok, Shiawase and Yamatetsu are
going along with him whilst Renraku, Yakashima and MCT are acting pissy
Target Wastelands
p. 38 Eastern Tiger, Global Oil and Seven Arrow run mineral exploitation
operations out in the Gobi, Yamatetsu also does as well as mining operations
and several refining sites, also own a massive double pipeline that
transports crude oil and natural gas all the way to Vladivostok
p. 40 Gobi desert in northern China, because it's so high and shaped like a
bowl- lot of corporate deep space/orbital tracking stations located here,
mainly located in Mongolia, Mongolians apparently pretty tolerant, smuggling
route for arms down into the Chinese warlord states
p. 45 SK, AG Chemie Europa and Zeta-ImpChem have facilities in the twin
Kara-kum and Kyzl-kum deserts- this is mainly Central Asia but I'll include
it anyway- they go from the Caspian Sea to the city of Omsk, Russian. The
whole place is a dumping ground, both legal and illegal for chemical and
toxic waste.
p45. AG Chemie rumoured to have a secret underground bio-warfare research
station in the Kyzl-kum desert
p. 46 Description of the Taklimakan desert located in the Xinjiang province
of what was China, natural Orichalcum turned up here for a bit, disappeared
later but also turned up some precious gem deposits
Target Awakened Lands
p. 6 About two thirds of the books deals with Australia, so if you want any
information on the place look in this book
p. 81 Quick mention of Cambodia and how it's currently in a state of civil
war between the government, would-be successors to the Khmer Rouge, drug
cartels from the Golden Triangle and Chinese warlord state proxies, the
ancient Angkor city ruins are out in the middle of the jungle, new rebel
group called the Angkor Awakened made up of sentient animals is based out of
here, want to take over the jungles of SE Asia
p. 91 The mountain of T'ai Shan, home to one of the largest magical power
sites in the world and now also home to the Great Dragon Lung, was
originally considered neutral ground and the Chinese warlord states avoided
using the place until the surrounding magic levels started rising
So massive build-up of armies from the surround warlord states but before
anyone makes a move Lung flies down onto the Mountain and sends messengers
to all the armies leaders personally inviting them up, he basically tells
them that the place is his now and so they all have to back off and go home
p. 92 Shandong province is highly industrialised, home to both Mitsuhama,
Wuxing and other corporate interests,
p. 92 Henan province is run by neo-Communist government, invaded the
neighbouring Shaanxi province some time in 2062 then turned around and
looked like having a go for T'ai Shan before Lung showed up
Other Resources
Couple things that were cut from Rigger 3 and Target: Matrix respectively,
but I consider them to kind of be semi-canon so I include them. First up are
the stats for Soohong-class Destoyers mentioned in Rigger 3,
Wuxing Soohong-class Destroyer (Ship)
The six Soohong-class destroyers being produced by Wuxing for the Canton
Confederation will help boost that nation's naval presence in the South
Pacific.
Handling: 4
Speed: 60 (25)
Accel: 6
Hull: 5
Bulwark: 4
Sig: 2/3
Autonav: 3
Pilot: -
Sensor: 7
Cargo: 36,000 PS/100
Load: 72,600 (+843,750 PS)
Accommodation: 375 basic living amenities
Setup/Breakdown: NA
Entry Points: 2 + 2 + T4
Landing/Takeoff: NA
Fuel: Jet (60,000 litres)
Economy: 0.15 kilometres/litre
Chassis: Destroyer
Power Plant: Jet Turbine
Point Value: 443,655
Cost: 266,000,000 ¥
Other Features: Naval weapons control network (10 stations), 4 Heavy launch
control systems (32 heavy internal missile mounts), 6 Medium launch control
systems (120 medium internal missile mounts), Large turret (medium naval gun
with 250 shells in 50 CF ammo bin), Flight deck (20 meters), Aircraft
facilities (1 helicopter)
The other one is 'Triads Online' - which can be found on the official
Shadowrun web page here http://www.shadowrunrpg.com/resources/tm_3.shtml -
dealing with, like the name suggests, Triads and the Matrix. :o)
The Novels
Never Trust an Elf
p. 27 Logan Tower - Major skyscraper, built by the corps, no one major corp.
owns or occupies a majority of the space many have offices there, HK
government also has offices as well, 75th floor is devoted to an exclusive
restaurant, no name given
p. 28 Magick Matrix - Secure conferencing
Find Your Own Truth
p. 30 Entity called Mother had offices there
Choose Your Enemies Carefully
p. 65 Hong Kong city-speak is a mishmash of English, Cantonese and Japanese,
enforced restitution labour - indentured slavery to make up the loss caused
to corporations- very financially minded :o)
Now those are the canon references. All of this from here is basically stuff
that I came up with myself- or borrowed from other people. Just figured I'd
share some thoughts on the different countries. I'm using Lester's Sixth
World site and the Asia section as I go through the countries so it makes
more sense if you look at that as well. :o)
http://www.divnull.com/lward/sixthworld/asia/
Japan
Still recovering from the earthquake and the political manoeuvring from the
new Emperor and the reforms he's trying to make. Aside from that, pretty
much business as usual for the Japanese corporations. Just think basically
like it is today just cranked up a bit
Korea
Seems to still be under some form of military dictatorship due to the
President-General as head of state. Makes sense since Korea's military have
staged coups quite a few times in the past if they've perceived the civilian
government to be doing things they disapprove of.
With Japan trying to recover from the quake and withdrawing all their forces
back home to help, I could see the Koreans becoming more assertive. With
several of their larger corporations being members of the Pacific Prosperity
Group, I'd see a definite anti-Japanacrop/independence sentiment set in.
Korean pirates would probably kick things up a step or two as well.
Taiwan
No real information for Taiwan is given. Basically I see it as today only
completely independent since there's no longer any threat from a Communist
China to worry about. I figure they're in the same position as Korea, a
democracy but Japan and their Mega's have a lot of control. With such a
strong economy for the area, and it being along the way to the Philippines I
couldn't see them ignoring the place. With the quake in Japan they're
likewise starting to get a little restless at Japanese domination.
Philippines
Until the quake removed the Japanese Military presence, the Japanacorps and
through the Japanese government ran the place. It's basically all set out in
Cyberpirates. With the removal of Imperial troops though, the Huk rebellion
led by the dragon Masaru is operating even more openly and aggressively to
get rid of the remaining Japanese presence.
India
Since there are no canon references to say otherwise, figure they're pretty
much as they are today. VITAS is bound to have hit them hard, in fact, IIRC
MitS says something along the lines of this. So the place got cleaned out
for a whilst, which probably cause a few speed bumps. But otherwise a
functioning democracy with a good economy- with the Matrix long distance
telecommuting is even easier so more outsourcing of jobs to India like we
see in the news today's. High-tech cities contrasting with less affluent
farming communities. If you want to add a little anarchy then maybe the
independence movements from several eastern states that's going on today is
still happening.
Sri Lanka
Not a clue. The fact that a corporate big-shot was going to retire here
though suggests that the whole Tamil Tiger situation though has been cleared
up. You don't normally retire to a war zone, do you?
Bangladesh
Likewise, have a clue about what to do with the place.
Pakistan
See dumpshock.
Nepal
Nothing Much said about here except the natural occurring orichalcum from
Year of the Comet and that dried up. Nepal does have a very long military
tradition supplying Ghurkha troops to both the British and Indian armies.
With the mess that China and South East Asia become, I could see them doing
a very good trade in Ghurkha mercenary companies, rented out to various
sides.
Bhutan
Drawing a blank here. Only thing I can think of is that like Nepal, it
borders Tibet which walled itself off from the rest of the world. So it
could be used as a base for magical researchers looking at the wall
Tibet
Used a magical barrier running the length of their border to cut themselves
off from the world so no one knows what's up with the place. Best guess,
probably went back to a kind of theocracy with the Dalai Lama as head of
state but other than that make it up yourself.
Historically, before the were invaded by China, 'Greater Tibet' covered most
of what are now the Chinese provinces of Qinghai and a bit of eastern
Sichuan. Large sections of Tibet were re-organised and 'given' to them IIRC.
DemonseedElite, a freelancer and board member of dumpshock and shadowland
brought up the idea of when the barriers went up, Qinghai and a bit of
Sichuan were behind the barrier as well- not just what is now shown as
Tibet. Also has the bonus of writing off another whole province that you don
't need to come up with for- ah, so very Second Edition-esque. ;o)
Russia
Currently in a stalemate with the Yakutians/Siberians. The borderlines have
pretty much stabilised so now it's just border clashes and the occasional
large-scale fight. They're still pissed about it. Vladivostok as their only
Pacific port is very important to them, likewise the link to it of the
Trans-Siberian express.
I see them kind of like China is today. A strong central government that
doesn't allow democracy, but is content to allow a free market to make cash
off of it. Like the books say, Vladivostok and the east are also a lot more
freewheeling than the European end of the country. They still don't get on
with the Japanese, especially after the while Imperial Empire bit.
Kazakhstan
Again, nothing canon for the place. I see it as either still part of the CIS
with Russia or a very close friend to theirs. What with fighting the
Siberians to the north, the Russians would want to make sure that their rear
is secure- wars on two fronts are a bitch. Ask the Germans. Fairly strong
central government, with perhaps the veneer of democracy or still just a
neo-Communist state. Basically used as a bulwark against Central Asia.
Getting more rough and ready the further south and east you go in the
country.
The place was heavily Russ-ified and also had lots of other Soviet
nationalities shipped in so today there's not much in the way of a real
Kazak population. Less chance of an independence breakaway then.
The 'Stans and Central Asia
Again, pretty much like today. Collection of Tin-pot Dictators, Presidents
for Life and possibly even Khans if some of them are historically inclined
and decide to resurrect the Khanates. Basically the area has gone to the
dogs in a big way. Afghanistan even more so is just complete anarchy with
dozens of competing factions, like how it was before the recent American
intervention. Complete hellhole.
Mongolia
Independent country. It's in the same position it was in back in the 1930/40
's of being a client state of the Russians, who again want to keep their
southern neighbours sweet whilst having a go at the Siberians to the north.
Arms and military advisors to help patrol and defend the southern borders
against any of the Chinese warlord states that might get any ideas, and
financial and industrial aid for their economy as well.
One overriding feature of the place is going to be emptiness. The place is
the size of France, with a population of only XX, and XX of them are
concentrated in the capital of Ulan Bator. That leaves a mass of countryside
for nomads, smugglers and roving military patrols akin to the hordes of
history only this time with t-birds and assorted 2050's equipment.
Corporate operations in the Gobi brings in some revenue and the government
is looking forward to possibly more money from the new Desert War franchise
in the Gobi.
Manchuria
All the canon mentions seem to agree and highlight that Manchuria is very
magically active. Lot of telesma smuggling goes on round here. Another idea
of Demonseed Elite's that I swiped was that Japan had put Imperial troops
into the place like they did in the Philippines or Peru and tried to take
over. With it being so magically active, Megacorps like MCT, through their
international Pentacle Talismongers subsidiary, would be very interested in
plundering the area. They already controlled most of Korea behind the scenes
so land transport and over-flights wouldn't be a problem.
I could see this leads to an armed revolt against the Japanese and their
corporate interests. Russia, who's never like the Japanese, sees this as an
incursion into their sphere on influence and a possibly attempt to almost
surround the Russian Far East and Vladivostok. They respond by secretly
funnelling arms and resources to the Manchurian rebels to help screw over
the Japanese.
The Russians though, also have other worries. An independently minded,
highly magical state that doesn't recognise the Corporate Court's Business
Recognition Acts or get on well with corps, this remind you of anyone they'
re fighting in the north? The Russians have to be shitting bricks over the
thought of a possible link-up between Manchuria and Yakut. A quick drive
north to link up with them and they've cut off Vladivostok. So the Russians
are pumping in supplies to win friends and make sure of a friendly
government if it ever happens.
Of course numerous other governments could have the same idea about buying
friends and influence so they could trying giving donations as well. Which
could get messy very quickly.
And with Japan withdrawing all their garrison troops from around the world
back to the Home Islands, MCT's and the other corps. asses are going to be
hanging in the wind. An upsurge in attacks is forecasted.
Vietnam
A cross between China of today, authoritarian yet free market, and some of
the moderately stable African nations as well. Fairly stable government but
still very rough and ready feel to the place away from the cities.
The Soviets used to have an ELINT station set up in Camrahn Bay run by the
GRU, military intelligence IIRC. It's located to the east of Dalat on the
coast if you want to try and find it. With Asia being very important
economically, I couldn't see the Russians closing a place like this down. I
figure they're still paying the current government in aid to rent to place
and share, most of, the intelligence take.
Control swings between Neo-communists- and the shifting power struggles
inside the communist regimes when they're in power, military dictatorships,
Triads and criminal narco-militias in the countryside growing Opium and
other drugs.
Burma
I'm calling it Burma since I refuse on principle to call it Myanmar. Burma
came apart at the seams following the crash and VITAS and hasn't been a real
country since. Just lots of different competing factions. There are already
a number of different rebel groups operating in the country nowadays, made
up mainly of ethnic minorities. The Karen, Shan and Rakhine are just three
of them. They mostly operate along the borders with Thailand, Laos and China
deep in the jungle.
VITAS deals Rangoon and the urbanised areas a complete body blow, making the
situation precarious. Rebel groups like the Karen though, based in deep
jungle are largely insulated from VITAS much like the Native Americans were
in the Re-education Camps in North America. Seizing their chance when it
dies down, they launch major all out offences and take large tracts of the
country. And since they're half a dozen independent groups, the already
weakened military has great difficulty dealing with them.
When the dust settle various ethnic groups have carved out areas of the
country for themselves and have dug in enough that the weakened government
has to just accept it. The military dictatorship itself doesn't survive and
from them on the official Burmese government that controls Rangoon and most
of the coastal lowland areas periodically swings between democracy,
sham-democracy and military dictatorship again. The place is now a patchwork
of different groups and areas.
Growing drugs is still a major industry. In my games, natural or synthetic
drugs still outsell BTL's on the streets the world over. You need a datajack
to get anything out of them, and even a second hand one is 500 nuyen, not
counting implantation costs. Since this puts it out of reach of a lot of
people, naturally grown, synthetically produced, or if you decide to get all
Monsanto and genetically alter naturally grown drugs, are still the kings of
the drugs trade.
Laos and Cambodia
Haven't realty come up with anything for these two. Since they're not
mentioned I generally just placed them as somewhat between where they are
today and how I pictured Burma. Not much in the was of industry or natural
resources except heroin production outs these two in the Triad/drug lords
controlled box I think. What governments they have are unstable and likely
to change as various factions vie for power. Japan has a fair bit of
influence over them according to Cyberpirates.
Plus you have that whole bit of nasty business down by Angkor Wat from
Target: Awakened Lands as well.
Thailand
Again, pretty much like they are today. General prevalence of Japanese corps
and influence. Several PPG corps have facilities and operations in Thailand
so could see some drift away from Japan towards to PPG camp. Aside from
that, unknown.
Malaysia
Again, stock answer of pretty much like it is today since I haven't though
of anything better or more interesting.
Singapore
The ultimate corporate state, just like Pueblo in North America. Being a
shareholder and being a citizen are one and the same thing. Sing not much in
the way of land, mainly geared to high-tech and the matrix. The crash is
bound to have hit these guys hard but they seem to have recovered well
according to Target: Matrix.
Brunei
Still around since it's mentioned that Renraku Computer Systems has an
office here. With synthetic alternatives to natural oil becoming available
in Shadowrun's timeline, Brunei's oil reserves would become less valuable.
But that depends on how expensive the alternative is and if natural supplies
might not be cheaper in some cases.
Either way, Brunei already has a program investing part of their oil
revenues back into education and the economy to diversify them away from a
solely oil based national income. By the 2050's or so I see them as a kind
of smaller, bit less developed Singapore. Sultan is still head of state
although more power has been handed over to an elected parliament, although
they still retain a lot of influence.
Britain has a battalion of Ghurkhas and flight of army helicopters based in
Brunei. It's also where they run the jungle warfare school for the armed
forces. Since they lost Hong Kong I could see them wanting to keep the base
and friendly relations fairly seriously.
China
And here we come to the main thing. FASA, and Fanpro seem to have continued,
seem to have written China with each of the individual internal provinces
becoming separate warlord states. This makes sense from the way China is run
AFAIK. Each province has its own military chain of command and party
bureaucracy that control the province and report to the central commands in
Beijing. If China were to splinter then they'd provide already set up local
governments. Plus it's just easier to write about, make sense of different
warlord states by using the provinces. :o)
Hong Kong
Broke away from China early on and is basically a corp. city-state. Like
pre-handover HK, there's a small bit of democracy but the corporate advisory
council basically calls all the shots. The whole place is geared to making
money. Areas of vast wealth can sit only a few miles away from complete
squalor. Used by corps as a kind of gateway into China. Very westernised and
developed, HK makes most of its money by services, banking, trade and some
light manufacturing.
Since Wuxing vaulted into the Corporate Court and became triple A rated,
along with starting the Pacific Prosperity Group, the city has become more
and more a Wuxing and PPG town. I could see them using their combined
influence to force out a lot of the Japanese corporations from the governing
bodies and local contract. PPG members like PacRim Communications would
probably get the contracts to run the city's matrix grid, the Malaysian
Independent Bank would start to edge out the Pacific Rim Back as the
premiere institution etc. Several sourcebooks already mention Wu Lung-Wei,
the head of Wuxing, as being treated almost akin to King of the city.
Of course this is going to start to worry some people. Wuxing started using
its dominant position in the PPG to subtly influence smaller members into
giving it good deals. This led to the whole Balance adventure from Survival
of the Fittest as people started to get worried and worked to reign them in.
Wuxing also got pissed at Combat Inc and forced them out of Hong Kong and
over to Macao. The fact that they forced out a mercenary group that had more
than enough guns and people to defend them at least physically, is bound to
scare some people that think Wuxing is starting to act a little too much
like to Japanese Megas used to.
Canton Confederation
The CC is the most stable and economically developed of all the post
break-up Chinese warlord states. The fact that they ordered six destroyers
with a combined price tag of a little over one and a half /billion/ nuyen
kink of suggests this. :o) This stems, in part, from their symbiotic
relationship with Hong Kong. HK handles all of the tertiary industry and the
high-tech light manufacturing, whilst leaving the CC with its far larger
pool of people to handle mass production and heavy industrial production of
products.
Whilst this has brought in a lot of revenue for the CC and made it one of
the most prosperous states, it could also possibly cause some jealousy. I
could see a lot of the conservatives being annoyed that the corporations
'stole' Hong Kong out from under them as it were. The communists also did 50
years or so of propaganda about how HK belonged to the motherland and was
stolen by foreigners so there could be some residual feeling even this long
after. That they know they're the junior partner in the deal.
And then there's the mention from Corporate Download about the government
being overthrown after the showdown with Wuxing. They don't agree to
recognise Wuxing's extraterritoriality since that means losing parts of
their territory, so the Corporate Court uses its combined influence and has
the government changed. Whilst the new one is bound to be more co-operative,
there could be some old-timers that are still bitter.
Macao
Doesn't mention a governmental type so I figured probably a democracy with
some of the larger mercenary groups that call the place home and
representatives of the large casinos having a lot of influence. Fairly
relaxed place aw enforcement-wise as long as you're not too obvious and don'
t step on any of the important local groups toes. Smuggling transit point
into/out of Guangxi and from there southern China.
Quinghai
Got absorbed into Tibet when the magic iron curtain went up so no idea what'
s happening in there.
Yunan
Pretty close to the mess that is South East Asia so fairly anarchic as well.
Just another way of saying I haven't a clue. :o)
Beijing/Hebei
There's a one line mentions of the Kingdom of Beijing so I guess that some
warlord walked into the Forbidden Palace, plonked himself down and declared
himself Emperor and in charge of the place. Since the Municipality of
Beijing probably wouldn't be enough for a viable state, probably expanded
and took the surrounding province of Hebei as well.
Since this is where Tan Tien if headquartered, I could see them holding a
fair bit of sway over the current Emperor/Empress' policies and decisions.
And the fact that a monarchist has taken over Beijing- possibly called
Peking now- is bound to anger the communist warlord states. Even if he just
left Mao's embalmed body in his Mausoleum in Tiananmen Square along and didn
't remove it, it's still be a sore point for them.
Xinjiang
Was the first province to break away some time in the early twenty-teens.
Since the main book says China split in 2018, I figure the place broke away
at best a couple years before some time between 2016 and 2018. The place
already has a growing Muslim independence movement that uses armed attacks
since a negotiated settlement is available.
But to digress for a moment. China and India in the past haven't always
gotten on very well. A large, democratic- anathema to the Communists in
Beijing- country in the same region as them hasn't been greeted well. There
have been a couple of small border wars between the two, the main one being
the 1962-1963 border war, over border disputes. Since relations were never
that good, China took the position of supporting Pakistan- India's other
regional enemy- whenever possible to form a kind of pincer gang-up as it
were. They helped the Pakistani's with their nuclear capability and missile
technology. China and India have been improving relations greatly in the
past decade or so, but that didn't happen in the Shadowrun timeline.
So my idea is that with China supporting Pakistan, India decided to get
their own back and started secretly supporting the rebels in Xinjiang, and
to a lesser extent Tibet. It even had the extra kicker that they were
getting back at China by supporting Muslim separatists, effectively against
Pakistan as well who was also a Muslim nation but was allied with China so
couldn't help the Xinjiang rebels.
Shandong
Is a highly industrialised area home to a number of corporations. Your
average less developed country with less than democratic government.
Henan
This one is run by a neo-Communist government. Henan province is also
considered to be the cradle of Chinese civilisation thanks to its location
on the Yellow River and where the country first urbanised and organised.
This means lots of interesting historic relics and ruins-possible Earthdawn
links- or just some really valuable stuff to nick. Seems to be fairly
aggressive in expanding communism back into the rest of China. Have an
Emperor in Beijing must really piss these guys off something rotten.
Shaanxi
Only information we have on this province is that the neighbouring Henan
province invaded and took them over some time in 2062. Coupled with Henan's
industrial base, this extra land could see the communists becoming a serious
power. The fact that they felt confident to turn round and prepare to invade
the Shandong province only a short time later implies they've got Shaanxi
pretty much controlled. Although a fight back wouldn't be surprising from
remnants of the old government.
As for the others, aside from the odd mention that's in the index, there
aren't any canon references and I don't have any ideas myself. Since that
leaves you half the country or so to play with, that's pretty good since it
means you can do what you want without any canon complications as it were.
:o) Anyway, hope you find some of this useful.
