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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Jimpy <lowfyr@***********.COM>
Subject: Shakespeare ala Shadowrun
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 02:10:35 -0500
Just had a hell of an idea (IMO), if not a slightly blasphemous one.

To me the whole point of roleplaying is the story, without which you
might as well play a computer game. In this story the characters
interact to build their own personalities, while at the same time
developing the story.

I also believe the old adage that there are "no new stories, just better
retellings of old ones." So as I read through Hamlet, perhaps one of the
greatest stories by one of the greatest authors who has ever lived
(IMHO) I have decided to take it upon myself to use a little
Shakespearean plot in my games, and began it two nights ago.

I took the basis of Hamlet (ie, Corporate President killed by his
rival who prompty attatches himself to his brother's widow, throw in a
peeved son feigning insanity and the ghost of his dead father, drop
in the hapless runners to get to the bottom of it all, and walah,
HAMLET: 2057).

The players are loving it, though none have even realized the source of
the plot yet, and the real beauty of that is there is an English Lit
major in the group who is clueless ;)

Shakespear's work is perfect for SR, comedy, betrayal, deciet, murder,
sex, more betrayal, more deciet, more murder, with a huge dose of ever
present intrigue and even enough supernatural influence to make magic
an easy addition. A little tweaking and any of his stories seemed custom
made for SR.

Anyone else tried this or something similar?

Jim <a guy using great literature for schlock fiction...is that
wrong...I feel so dirty> :)
Message no. 2
From: "John (RunnerX)" <georgas@***.NET>
Subject: Re: Shakespeare ala Shadowrun
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 01:01:50 -0700
> I also believe the old adage that there are "no new stories, just better
> retellings of old ones." So as I read through Hamlet, perhaps one of the
> greatest stories by one of the greatest authors who has ever lived
> (IMHO) I have decided to take it upon myself to use a little
> Shakespearean plot in my games, and began it two nights ago.
>
> I took the basis of Hamlet (ie, Corporate President killed by his
> rival who prompty attatches himself to his brother's widow, throw in a
> peeved son feigning insanity and the ghost of his dead father, drop
> in the hapless runners to get to the bottom of it all, and walah,
> HAMLET: 2057).
>
> The players are loving it, though none have even realized the source of
> the plot yet, and the real beauty of that is there is an English Lit
> major in the group who is clueless ;)
>
> Jim <a guy using great literature for schlock fiction...is that
> wrong...I feel so dirty> :)

Well, you just discovered a great source of inspiration. : )
Using novels, magazines, newspapers, etc. is one of the best ways to get
ideas. Either just taking an aspect or two, or simply using the entire
concept, I've used them before. They work great....hey, if something is
good, like Shakespeare, its bound to be a hit!

RunnerX
Message no. 3
From: David Diaz <Swordman@******.NET>
Subject: Re: Shakespeare ala Shadowrun
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 12:19:35 -0500
Jimpy wrote:
> Shakespear's work is perfect for SR, comedy, betrayal, deciet, murder,
> sex, more betrayal, more deciet, more murder, with a huge dose of ever
> present intrigue and even enough supernatural influence to make magic
> an easy addition. A little tweaking and any of his stories seemed custom
> made for SR.
>
> Anyone else tried this or something similar?

Yes, In fact I even used Hamlet myself. It was 2 years ago, I had taken
the entire play and rewrote it so that the PCs did nothing. There were
momemnts of interaction with other 'cast memebers' but for the most part
they were compleatly out of control of the events around them. They
actualy liked more than one would imagine. The entire episode took place
on a private cruse ship of Victor (Hamlet) who wanted evidence, not
revenge - but one thing led to another, and buy the end of it
Christopher (Horatio) was left to cover up the death of 7 people. The
PCs, knowing where the adventure was comming knew more or less how the
adventure would end, the fun part was trying to figure out who was who.
There were many 'extras' on the cruise but one of my favorites were two
women how were undercover corp spies keeping an eye on Victor
(Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), the PCs didn't recognize them untill
they were killed (tragic flaw: lying). All and all, they thought it was
too cool!

-Swordsman

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Shakespeare ala Shadowrun, you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!