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Message no. 1
From: Jonas Bolander <Jonas.Bolander@****.SE>
Subject: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 16:48:52 +0200
I have watched the "Nuking a major city"-thread with some interest and
since I'm planning to use terrorism as a focus for some coming adventures
it got me thinking about how extremists could act in the ShadowRun-world.
It would be interesting with some discussion about it.
So, I throw out some general topics and see what I get ... ;)

Nukes : Would probably still be unusual in terrorism. It is hard to get
the raw-material and hard to construct a working bomb (at least if you
want to survive the process).

Radioactive Materials : Easier to get and needs lesser know-how to use.
Just get a few kilogrammes of some nasty irradiated materials, grind it
up and mix it into the casing of a moderately large bomb. Detonate in
a high place within close distance to a large concentration of people.
Or just drop it into a watersupply and watch those nasty toxic water-
elementals start to pop up.
I'm not sure how much actual effect it would have, but I'm sure your
message would get out.

Biological/Chemical Weapons : Probably nothing new here. Easier to get
and use than Nukes and still with a devastating effect. Improved medical
abilities might alleviate some of the threats but who knows what the
scientists in ShadowRun have cooked up. Awakened Ebola ... ?

Matrix-Terrorism : Lots of opportunities here. The seeding of corporate
systems with Black IC, manipulating varying Matrix-connected equipment
to harm the population, general info-mayhem. Take control of a major
hospitals system and make sure the patients get _your_ new special
batch of bloodplasm, and then make sure they are transfered to all the other
hospitals.

High-Tech Suicide Bombers : Who needs a fanatical follower pushing the
button if you can program your own faithful little expertsystem. Connect
it to the Matrix, mix with some IC and let _it_ sit on 10 kg of C12,
delivering demands to the cops and watching the sec.cameras for suspected
SWAT-teams.

Magical Terror : Too many possibilities to count. Everything from manifesting
Fire Elementals in cinemas to Ritual sendings against crucial building
elements ("Support-beam? What support-beam?").

Enhanced Horror : Take a large and vicious animal,say a tiger, enhance it
as much as possible (bioware, cybernetics, some spells). It will of course
go psychotic but who cares. Sedate it. Release it in some suitable
environment, for example a large mall at christmas time. Cut out the
electricity to the building. Watch the fun from a safe distance. Take
bets with the boys on how many police-officers they'll lose trying to
get it. Sell its performance evaluation to whoever gave you the experimental
cyber you put into it. Naah, to complex, it would be easier to just shoot
in some flechette grenades. But this is more entertaining!
(Oops, getting too much caught up in Durandals thoughts. Time to quit.)


With the balkanization of most of the nations, terrorism should
be flourishing in the Awakened World. There are so many borders to
cross and so many causes to follow.

Comments?

/Jonas Bolander

--
Jonas Bolander
Message no. 2
From: "Fisher, Victor" <Victor-Fisher@******.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in Shadowrun
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:27:22 -0400
There's a very interresting article on the psychology of the
subject somewhere on Paolo's page. I'm using a lot of those similiar
themes in all the games, both live and virtual, I'm running.
With terrorism, it's not just the weapon or means used, it's the
precise application of those means. Striking for maximum effect, both
psychologically and physically. Whether it be by a bomb or by a
cyberdeck.
Terrorists tend to be much more dedicated to a cause their fighting
for than your average 'criminal', mush more ruthless. They'll go
'places' and do things, risking their lives where your average 'hired
gun' would stop. Because they BELIEVE in their cause wholeheartedly, and
that belief justifies anything action they take, in their eyes.
Personally of the weapons you mentioned, _biowarfare_ scares the
s**t out of me the most. It's horrifingly much easier to obtain and
deploy NOW than anything else, even with the advert of magic in SR time.
Someone in a newspaper listed a scenerio where a virus was released in a
major U.S. airport, to be contracted by everyone passing thru it, but
whose gestation time wasn't for three weeks. By that time, those people
passing thru that airport had carried the virus to many major airports
around the world!
You don't need to kill someone to inflict terror. By showing a hint
of mercy, you give the masses the notion that you're not really such a
bad guy after all, and that 'society' has forced you to take such
radical action to be heard. A good terrorist tries to at least enlist
the support of some part of the public he's 'fighting' for.
Subvert some portion of the populus to your way of thinking. Give
them SLIGHTLY distorted facts and figures, proving your points. Show
them who the REAL enemy is, setting yourself up as a hero actually
fighting for the public.
Any idiot can blow things up. Actions like this tend to galvanize
your enemies against you. Terrorism works best when you study your
opponent's weaknesses, and find out what really hurts and scares them
and strike at that. Show them that you have control over EVERY aspect of
their lives, and they live and die SOLELY by your sufferance.
Men are most vulnerable when their dignity, the freedom of choice
is stripped away from them by another, while women are hardest hit when
forced to relinquish those choices themselves. [I could be a little off
here. i was only awake for part of my psyche classes.]
Symbolism is extremely inportant. Something that will burn in the
minds of your victims, and remind them of you always.
Fear and the threat of action will do more than simply killing
someone. But above all, be careful NOT to go to far, so you don't loose
your 'supporters'. For then they may brand you as a rogue, and disavow
any connection with you.
Sorry about rambling on for so long. Oh and my players need'nt
worry. I would NEVER use most of this stuff in MY games <evil grin>
Message no. 3
From: "Fisher, Victor" <Victor-Fisher@******.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in Shadowrun
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 11:59:44 -0400
Just a few more thoughts on the subject:

The BIG difference between a terrorist and your 'garden variety
criminal' is that a terrorist had an IDEOLOGY, and wants to send a
message of that ideology to his enemy and the general public.
Because of their belief in that ideology, they'll tend to be much
more didicated to the cause, than some hired mercenary.
Law enforcement agencies can't afford to handle terrorists the same
way the deal with other criminals. Their motives and mentality are
oftimes widely different. And when a terrorist loses sight of that
ideology, then he can slip into becoming just another criminal, out for
material gain.
And contrary to popular belief, not all terrorists are insane,
frothing at the mouth marauders. Many of the 'big money' guys behind
alot of these groups are intelligent, well educated, 'rational' people,
which makes them that much more dangerous.

Okay, now I'll quit.
Message no. 4
From: Gweedo The Killer Pimp <yawas@****.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 19:28:02 -0500
On Thu, 21 Aug 1997 16:48:52 +0200 Jonas Bolander
<Jonas.Bolander@****.SE> writes:
>I have watched the "Nuking a major city"-thread with some interest and
>since I'm planning to use terrorism as a focus for some coming
>adventures
>it got me thinking about how extremists could act in the
>ShadowRun-world.
>It would be interesting with some discussion about it.
>So, I throw out some general topics and see what I get ... ;)

Oh boy, this sounds fuuuuuuunnnn!

>Nukes : Would probably still be unusual in terrorism. It is hard to
>get
>the raw-material and hard to construct a working bomb (at least if you
>want to survive the process).

Gee, what would the availability of a nuke be? 9999/99999? Probably
too low. I would guess the best route for this would be if the
terrorists either stole it, or made a bootleg one.

>Radioactive Materials : Easier to get and needs lesser know-how to
>use.
>Just get a few kilogrammes of some nasty irradiated materials, grind
>it
>up and mix it into the casing of a moderately large bomb. Detonate in
>a high place within close distance to a large concentration of people.
>Or just drop it into a watersupply and watch those nasty toxic water-
>elementals start to pop up.
>I'm not sure how much actual effect it would have, but I'm sure your
>message would get out.

ummmm, how bout if you just went all out and dropped it on a childrens
hospital? :)

>Biological/Chemical Weapons : Probably nothing new here. Easier to get
>and use than Nukes and still with a devastating effect. Improved
>medical
>abilities might alleviate some of the threats but who knows what the
>scientists in ShadowRun have cooked up. Awakened Ebola ... ?

There's a peice of cyber that you can get A Screen of some sort placed
somewhere in your throat that would alleviate some of the problems cooked
up by chemical weapons. As for a biological one, I could see something
like Outbreak taking place.

<snip matrix terrorism>

>High-Tech Suicide Bombers : Who needs a fanatical follower pushing the
>button if you can program your own faithful little expertsystem.
>Connect
>it to the Matrix, mix with some IC and let _it_ sit on 10 kg of C12,
>delivering demands to the cops and watching the sec.cameras for
>suspected
>SWAT-teams.

I don't get this one, maybe I better reread VR 2.0 again. Why don't you
just hook up a cortex bomb to one your lowly slobs, get him into a subway
(or other public transportation) and make him go boom.

>Magical Terror : Too many possibilities to count. Everything from
>manifesting
>Fire Elementals in cinemas to Ritual sendings against crucial building
>elements ("Support-beam? What support-beam?").

For ritual sending, don't you have to have an integral peice of whatever
your sending to ?

>Enhanced Horror : Take a large and vicious animal,say a tiger, enhance
>it
>as much as possible (bioware, cybernetics, some spells). It will of
>course
>go psychotic but who cares. Sedate it. Release it in some suitable
>environment, for example a large mall at christmas time. Cut out the
>electricity to the building. Watch the fun from a safe distance. Take
>bets with the boys on how many police-officers they'll lose trying to
>get it. Sell its performance evaluation to whoever gave you the
>experimental
>cyber you put into it. Naah, to complex, it would be easier to just
>shoot
>in some flechette grenades. But this is more entertaining!
>(Oops, getting too much caught up in Durandals thoughts. Time to
>quit.)

I think somebody's going to turn out to be a great S&M GM, whaddya
think?

>With the balkanization of most of the nations, terrorism should
>be flourishing in the Awakened World. There are so many borders to
>cross and so many causes to follow.
>
>Comments?

You know, of all of the books that I have read, there's not much about
terrorism in them, I wonder why?

"That's funny, I don't feel tardy!" -Van Halen -'I'm hot for teacher'
Message no. 5
From: Fade <runefo@***.UIO.NO>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 03:50:24 +0000
> I have watched the "Nuking a major city"-thread with some interest and
> since I'm planning to use terrorism as a focus for some coming adventures
> it got me thinking about how extremists could act in the ShadowRun-world.
> It would be interesting with some discussion about it.
> So, I throw out some general topics and see what I get ... ;)

Great idea! Let's get a little paranoid! :)

> Nukes : Would probably still be unusual in terrorism. It is hard to get
> the raw-material and hard to construct a working bomb (at least if you
> want to survive the process).

At the rate of nuclear proliferation today... I'd say it shouldn't be
hard to get one in 2050. (Well, as opposed to impossible, it's not
hard. Up to the GM, I guess. In my campaign, a lot of third world
countries has bought old soviet/chinese nukes. But wether they'll
detonate before or after the button is pressed - or at all - is a
kind of open question after 50 years without maintenance.

> Radioactive Materials : Easier to get and needs lesser know-how to use.
> Just get a few kilogrammes of some nasty irradiated materials, grind it
> up and mix it into the casing of a moderately large bomb. Detonate in
> a high place within close distance to a large concentration of people.
> Or just drop it into a watersupply and watch those nasty toxic water-
> elementals start to pop up.
> I'm not sure how much actual effect it would have, but I'm sure your
> message would get out.

Tch.. well, if you're despearate..

> Biological/Chemical Weapons : Probably nothing new here. Easier to get
> and use than Nukes and still with a devastating effect. Improved medical
> abilities might alleviate some of the threats but who knows what the
> scientists in ShadowRun have cooked up. Awakened Ebola ... ?

Well, there's a lot of nice chemical substances that makes you attack
everyone around you and otherwise go GaGa. Or do all sorts of
other nasty stuff.. Not that easy to treat.. in fact a hell of a
mess. (A friend of mine going through ABC survival training says that
if he got to choose between getting nuked and getting a sniff of bio
or chem stuff, he'd prefer the nuke down flat.. even if he didn't get
a clean hit but a 2 week radiation death.).

> Matrix-Terrorism : Lots of opportunities here. The seeding of corporate
> systems with Black IC, manipulating varying Matrix-connected equipment
> to harm the population, general info-mayhem. Take control of a major
> hospitals system and make sure the patients get _your_ new special
> batch of bloodplasm, and then make sure they are transfered to all the other
> hospitals.
Nice one.

> High-Tech Suicide Bombers : Who needs a fanatical follower pushing the
> button if you can program your own faithful little expertsystem. Connect
> it to the Matrix, mix with some IC and let _it_ sit on 10 kg of C12,
> delivering demands to the cops and watching the sec.cameras for suspected
> SWAT-teams.

They touched upon another one in Winternacht/Dreamchipper - chips
that programs people to become homicidal maniacs. (Or slaves, or
whatever.. just pop in those chips and watch the mayhem.). Once you
can program John Doe to become your suicide bomber.. easy money.



> With the balkanization of most of the nations, terrorism should
> be flourishing in the Awakened World. There are so many borders to
> cross and so many causes to follow.
>
> Comments?

Increased terrorism sounds fine with me.... from a GM's point of
view... :)
--
Fade

And the Prince of Lies said:
"To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven."
-John Milton, Paradise Lost
Message no. 6
From: Jonas Bolander <Jonas.Bolander@****.SE>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 07:58:10 +0200
On Aug 21, 7:28pm, EXT AVS; Gweedo The Killer Pimp wrote:
> Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
>
> On Thu, 21 Aug 1997 16:48:52 +0200 Jonas Bolander
>
> >Biological/Chemical Weapons : Probably nothing new here. Easier to get
> >and use than Nukes and still with a devastating effect. Improved
> >medical
> >abilities might alleviate some of the threats but who knows what the
> >scientists in ShadowRun have cooked up. Awakened Ebola ... ?
>
> There's a peice of cyber that you can get A Screen of some sort placed
> somewhere in your throat that would alleviate some of the problems cooked
> up by chemical weapons. As for a biological one, I could see something
> like Outbreak taking place.

Yes, a screen should work, at least as long as you're not hit by something
that enters through the skin. I once had my Cyberpunk-players have a
firefight in an abandoned chemical plant, complete with hundreds of barrels
of assorted nasty chemicals. I asked a friend of mine with some knowledge
of chemistry to write down some 'fun' chemicals and then I rolled a dice for
every shot/burst that didn't hit its target to see what started to leak/burn.
They sure wished for chem-screens back then. >;)


> >High-Tech Suicide Bombers : Who needs a fanatical follower pushing the
> >button if you can program your own faithful little expertsystem.
> >Connect
> >it to the Matrix, mix with some IC and let _it_ sit on 10 kg of C12,
> >delivering demands to the cops and watching the sec.cameras for
> >suspected
> >SWAT-teams.
>
> I don't get this one, maybe I better reread VR 2.0 again. Why don't you
> just hook up a cortex bomb to one your lowly slobs, get him into a subway
> (or other public transportation) and make him go boom.

Hmm, I thought something along these lines : A complex AI is quite expensive
but it should be much cheaper to program a moderately intelligent "Terrorist"-
expert system. Then you put it into a attache-case together with the explosive
device of your choice and a Matrix-link. You go to, say a subway, and hook
up the system to a public phone. In the Matrix you have a Decker standing-by
who connects the system to some of the security cameras, a police-station and
the media. Then you activate "Terrorist v.2.1.1" and leave. The expert system
goes online and delivers an ultimatum to the media and the police, threatening
to explode a bomb in the subway unless demand A is met within X hours. It
also tells the police that if they start to evacuate the locale or cuts it
out of the Matrix it will detonate the bomb. Then we have a nasty little
situation for some hours until your demands are met or until the police
catches on and sends in some Decker who manages to fool the expertsystem
long enough for the bomb-squad to remove it.
A problem would probably be that some punk would try to steal the nice looking
attache-case standing around in the subway and prematurely set of the bomb.

>
> >Magical Terror : Too many possibilities to count. Everything from
> >manifesting
> >Fire Elementals in cinemas to Ritual sendings against crucial building
> >elements ("Support-beam? What support-beam?").
>
> For ritual sending, don't you have to have an integral peice of whatever
> your sending to ?

Yes, but what is an integral piece of a steel I-bar? I would say it is enough
with a small sliver of steel from it. And this is probably much easier to
get (depending where the I-bar is situated) than to sneak around placing
explosives on it. Then you send some appropriate manipulation spell through
it. Hmm, this could work quite well if you wanted to down a plane too.
Instead of trying to add a suspicious looking package you simply remove
one small bolt of the wing-carriage and use it for ritual magic.
Or am I being too lenient on the 'integral' part of the rules in this case?

/Jonas Bolander

"One man's terrorist, is another man's freedom fighter."



--
Jonas Bolander
Message no. 7
From: Mike Bobroff <AirWisp@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 03:41:00 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-21 10:51:42 EDT, you write:

> Nukes

The only problem with a terrorist organization using one of these is that the
megacorps may decide to join forces and hunt them into extinction. Although,
with Winternight there is another reality check involved, Winternight still
needs to figure a way to survive Ragnarok if they want to enjoy the fruits of
their labors.

> Radioactive Materials

This would be a high visibility thing to do, for instance, painting it onto a
hand rail of a subway entrance or something similar will infect many people
and will cause some hysteria. Putting it into the drinking has one small
problem, it also brings in the feds and they do not stop hunting for you
until you are dead or caught.

> Biological/Chemical Weapons

The only problem with these weapons is the lack of control that happens after
the weapon is released. Some Terrorists get their thrills off just because
they have control over the very lives of the people they intend to do
something to.

> Matrix-Terrorism

The only problem with matrix terrorism is based on how pissed off you make
somebody, and besides, this sort of thing happens all of the time, it is the
main reason why a lot of places have a duplicate matrix that is off-line
unless needed, or it is the one hooked up to the corporate net.

Mike
Message no. 8
From: "MARTIN E. GOTTHARD" <s457033@*******.GU.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 19:01:57 +1000
> Radioactive Materials : Easier to get and needs lesser know-how to use.
> Just get a few kilogrammes of some nasty irradiated materials, grind it
> up and mix it into the casing of a moderately large bomb. Detonate in
> a high place within close distance to a large concentration of people.
> Or just drop it into a watersupply and watch those nasty toxic water-
> elementals start to pop up.
> I'm not sure how much actual effect it would have, but I'm sure your
> message would get out.
>

Drop radioactive or heavy metal salts into the water supply.... Just do
it at some point after routine sampling.

> Magical Terror : Too many possibilities to count. Everything from manifesting
> Fire Elementals in cinemas to Ritual sendings against crucial building
> elements ("Support-beam? What support-beam?").
>

Very reasource-intensive; You need to get the 1% of the populatation
which are active, and then you need to find enough people willing to
become terrorists for your cause.... Not easy to get a large number of
them together.

> Enhanced Horror : Take a large and vicious animal,say a tiger, enhance it
> as much as possible (bioware, cybernetics, some spells). It will of course
> go psychotic but who cares. Sedate it. Release it in some suitable
> environment, for example a large mall at christmas time. Cut out the
> electricity to the building. Watch the fun from a safe distance. Take
> bets with the boys on how many police-officers they'll lose trying to
> get it. Sell its performance evaluation to whoever gave you the experimental
> cyber you put into it.

Nasty.....In general circumstances animals die too easily from gunshots,
though.

Chemical/Biological weapons would be the big one for hard-core
terrorists, because they're potentially so destructive and have a huge
fear factor associated with them. They're also very easy to make. I'm a
qualified chemist (at last), and I could cook up enough nerve gas (Sarin
for example) to kill a couple of hundred people. Hell, the formula and
general instructions are in my 2nd year Chemistry textbook.

Marty
Message no. 9
From: George Metz <W0lfstar@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 05:17:06 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-22 04:37:58 EDT, you write:

> > >Ritual sendings against crucial building elements ("Support-beam?
What
> > >support-beam?").
> >
> > For ritual sending, don't you have to have an integral peice of whatever
> > your sending to ?
>
> Yes, but what is an integral piece of a steel I-bar? I would say it is
enough
> with a small sliver of steel from it. And this is probably much easier to
> get (depending where the I-bar is situated) than to sneak around placing
> explosives on it. Then you send some appropriate manipulation spell
through
> it. Hmm, this could work quite well if you wanted to down a plane too.
> Instead of trying to add a suspicious looking package you simply remove
> one small bolt of the wing-carriage and use it for ritual magic.
> Or am I being too lenient on the 'integral' part of the rules in this
case?

Integral to my mind would mean anything that is part of the main item. In
other words, your wing-carriage bolt, or even a sliver of metal from, say,
the control stick or engine housing would work, but an armrest from the
inside or a paint chip from the exterior wouldn't work.
Also, think about the pure terrorist potential of the main structural
support beams that were targeted in the World Trade Center bombing and an
Acid Bomb, or(Even better), a good, old-fashioned, Turn to Goo spell......
Run scared.

Wolfstar
Message no. 10
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 11:43:19 +0100
Gweedo The Killer Pimp said on 19:28/21 Aug 97...

> Gee, what would the availability of a nuke be? 9999/99999? Probably
> too low. I would guess the best route for this would be if the
> terrorists either stole it, or made a bootleg one.

Making a nuclear weapon from scratch isn't particularly easy to do either,
mostly because of the materials needed for it (AFAIK).

> There's a peice of cyber that you can get A Screen of some sort placed
> somewhere in your throat that would alleviate some of the problems cooked
> up by chemical weapons.

Only for ones you have to inhale. Against things like nerve agents, it
won't do any good, since they can be absorbed through the skin just fine.

> For ritual sending, don't you have to have an integral peice of whatever
> your sending to ?

Only if you can't see the target. It might be easy to get, though, for
example a garbage can from a railway station would do to send a big spell
to that railway station, I think.

> >With the balkanization of most of the nations, terrorism should
> >be flourishing in the Awakened World. There are so many borders to
> >cross and so many causes to follow.

OTOH balkanization is what most terrorists want -- a lot strive for an
independent nation for their people, and with the world split up the way
it is, many will have gotten just that.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Looking over the edge...
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-

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Message no. 11
From: "M. Sean Martinez" <ElBandit@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 11:08:43 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-21 22:55:27 EDT, you write:

<< Gee, what would the availability of a nuke be? 9999/99999? Probably
too low. I would guess the best route for this would be if the
terrorists either stole it, or made a bootleg one. >>

Considering with the break up of the soviet union, a nuke would be readily
available. I would put the avialbility at 30.

It would be cheaper to whip up a biological agent to wipe a city out. Most
likely easier too. Dio you really want to deal with some one who has a stolen
nuke?

-Bandit
Message no. 12
From: Sir Philos Nex <philos@****.NET>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 15:04:06 -0400
Jonas Bolander wrote:

> Nukes : Would probably still be unusual in terrorism. It is hard to get
> the raw-material and hard to construct a working bomb (at least if you
> want to survive the process).

I would think that nukes are on the same level as they are today... they're
there but nobody wants to use them...

>
>
> Radioactive Materials : Easier to get and needs lesser know-how to use.
> Just get a few kilogrammes of some nasty irradiated materials, grind it
> up and mix it into the casing of a moderately large bomb. Detonate in
> a high place within close distance to a large concentration of people.
> Or just drop it into a watersupply and watch those nasty toxic water-
> elementals start to pop up.
> I'm not sure how much actual effect it would have, but I'm sure your
> message would get out.
>

Most terrorists like to see a fast reaction... setting large amounts of a
radioactive in an area (drinking water, air etc) takes a more long term effect...
20+ years at times to realize the amount of death. Freaks don't have that kind
of patience. (Don't care what you think... terrorists are freaks of nature... at
times smart, other times crazy... freaks in both cases.)

> Biological/Chemical Weapons : Probably nothing new here. Easier to get
> and use than Nukes and still with a devastating effect. Improved medical
> abilities might alleviate some of the threats but who knows what the
> scientists in ShadowRun have cooked up. Awakened Ebola ... ?
>

Even setting the ebola virus that's around today in SR would cause panic.
The virus has an incredibly short development cycle that even if SR doctors *DO*
have a cure, many many people will die if you get it out fast enough... and
that's excluding the initial panic when the SINless and such go to hospitals and
find out that because they don't have insurance or anything they won't get
vaccinated. That'll kill at least a few hospital receptionists :) Chemical
weapons are probably worse because they're controlable... image a gas based
weapon that's put into the air fltration systems at a major mall in the christmas
rush? With Bio weapons you're not sure of a kill until days/weeks later.. more
visible and at time more horrible than with radiation deaths.. but with some of
the chemical weapons they have today (don't want to imagine what 60 years of
research would come up with <shudder>)... eeek!

> Matrix-Terrorism : Lots of opportunities here. The seeding of corporate
> systems with Black IC, manipulating varying Matrix-connected equipment
> to harm the population, general info-mayhem. Take control of a major
> hospitals system and make sure the patients get _your_ new special
> batch of bloodplasm, and then make sure they are transfered to all the other
> hospitals.

That's a creative way to do things.. imagine giving all patients in a
hospital the ebola virus...

> Magical Terror : Too many possibilities to count. Everything from manifesting
> Fire Elementals in cinemas to Ritual sendings against crucial building
> elements ("Support-beam? What support-beam?").
>

Too too inefficient... especially when there are other and better ways.

> Enhanced Horror : Take a large and vicious animal,say a tiger, enhance it
> as much as possible (bioware, cybernetics, some spells). It will of course
> go psychotic but who cares. Sedate it. Release it in some suitable
> environment, for example a large mall at christmas time. Cut out the
> electricity to the building. Watch the fun from a safe distance. Take
> bets with the boys on how many police-officers they'll lose trying to
> get it. Sell its performance evaluation to whoever gave you the experimental
> cyber you put into it. Naah, to complex, it would be easier to just shoot
> in some flechette grenades. But this is more entertaining!
> (Oops, getting too much caught up in Durandals thoughts. Time to quit.)
>

More entertaining yes, but easily put down by someone with a large calibre
weapon at a distance...

--
Andrew Dominas
AKA Sir Philos Nex
3rd Year Honours Business Administration U of Windsor
Jedi Knight

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Message no. 13
From: Sir Philos Nex <philos@****.NET>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 15:17:51 -0400
Fade wrote:

> > Nukes : Would probably still be unusual in terrorism. It is hard to get
> > the raw-material and hard to construct a working bomb (at least if you
> > want to survive the process).
>
> At the rate of nuclear proliferation today... I'd say it shouldn't be
> hard to get one in 2050. (Well, as opposed to impossible, it's not
> hard. Up to the GM, I guess. In my campaign, a lot of third world
> countries has bought old soviet/chinese nukes. But wether they'll
> detonate before or after the button is pressed - or at all - is a
> kind of open question after 50 years without maintenance.
>

The total number of nukes today is rapidly declining.. however the
availability of information on making nukes *IS* publically available. I think
people underplay the ability of terrorists to create their own bombs especially in
SR world.. where the technology is very much more advanced, the population centers
have DMZs where hiding such a facility would be much easier (so they could produce
the bomb(s) right in the country they want to nuke or even just right in the city
that they want to vapourize)... granted they're not going to be able to create
gigaton-death-to-all-things-in-a-600-mile-radius bombs but a bomb with the power
of Hiroshima, planted in downtown NY would kill a few hundred thousand just by the
blast... add a few hundred thousand for the riots and such and you got yourself a
cool million with outdated tech..


--
Andrew Dominas
AKA Sir Philos Nex
3rd Year Honours Business Administration U of Windsor
Jedi Knight

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Message no. 14
From: George Metz <W0lfstar@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 17:22:03 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-22 05:51:03 EDT, you write:

> > Gee, what would the availability of a nuke be? 9999/99999? Probably
> > too low. I would guess the best route for this would be if the
> > terrorists either stole it, or made a bootleg one.
>
> Making a nuclear weapon from scratch isn't particularly easy to do either,
> mostly because of the materials needed for it (AFAIK).

Sure it is!!! All you need is some uranium and a paper plate!!! (Anyone got
a paper plate?) =)
(Sorry, butI've been fighting that off since nukes came up. Guess I lost.)

> > There's a peice of cyber that you can get A Screen of some sort placed
> > somewhere in your throat that would alleviate some of the problems
cooked
> > up by chemical weapons.
>
> Only for ones you have to inhale. Against things like nerve agents, it
> won't do any good, since they can be absorbed through the skin just fine.

Out of curiosity, would Nephritic Screen and Toxin Extractor have full
effect on nerve agents, or none at all? Basically, I know nerve agents are
either inhaled or absorbed through the skin for the most part. How does it
work once it gets in, though? Does it become a blood-borne toxin?

> > For ritual sending, don't you have to have an integral peice of whatever
> > your sending to ?
>
> Only if you can't see the target. It might be easy to get, though, for
> example a garbage can from a railway station would do to send a big spell
> to that railway station, I think.

I don't know about a garbage can(Take the garbage can away and it's still a
subway), but a smallish chunk from a support beam, or a rail spike, or even a
piece of the turnstiles you have to go through once you've paid. I see
integral as meaning anything that when you remove all of them, the usual
function of the area changes.

Wolfstar
Message no. 15
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowrn@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 22:39:32 +0100
In message <199708220153.DAA12544@***.uio.no>, Fade <runefo@***.UIO.NO>
writes
>At the rate of nuclear proliferation today... I'd say it shouldn't be
>hard to get one in 2050. (Well, as opposed to impossible, it's not
>hard. Up to the GM, I guess. In my campaign, a lot of third world
>countries has bought old soviet/chinese nukes. But wether they'll
>detonate before or after the button is pressed - or at all - is a
>kind of open question after 50 years without maintenance.

They won't work unless they've been maintained, or unless you have a
very skilled nuclear weapons engineer. A key problem is the tritium used
to catalyse the nuclear reaction: it has a half-life of twelve years,
and its decay product (helium-3) poisons the initial reaction and causes
the weapon to "fizzle", detonating at a fraction of its yield.

Anyone who wants a good introduction to the subject is recommended to
read Tom Clancy's "The Sum Of All Fears", where the problem of
manufacturing a nuclear weapon (using a recovered core) is addressed.

--
There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and
praiseworthy...

Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk
Message no. 16
From: Jonathan Hurley <jhurley1@************.EDU>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 18:41:06 -0400
On Friday, August 22, 1997 17:39, Paul J.
Adam[SMTP:shadowrn@********.DEMON.CO.UK] wrote:
> In message <199708220153.DAA12544@***.uio.no>, Fade <runefo@***.UIO.NO>
> writes
> >At the rate of nuclear proliferation today... I'd say it shouldn't be
> >hard to get one in 2050. (Well, as opposed to impossible, it's not
> >hard. Up to the GM, I guess. In my campaign, a lot of third world
> >countries has bought old soviet/chinese nukes. But wether they'll
> >detonate before or after the button is pressed - or at all - is a
> >kind of open question after 50 years without maintenance.
>
> They won't work unless they've been maintained, or unless you have a
> very skilled nuclear weapons engineer. A key problem is the tritium used
> to catalyse the nuclear reaction: it has a half-life of twelve years,
> and its decay product (helium-3) poisons the initial reaction and causes
> the weapon to "fizzle", detonating at a fraction of its yield.
>
> Anyone who wants a good introduction to the subject is recommended to
> read Tom Clancy's "The Sum Of All Fears", where the problem of
> manufacturing a nuclear weapon (using a recovered core) is addressed.
>

It is a good example, but before anyone runs out and uses the thing as a
primer on how to build The Bomb, read the author's note, where TC makes
clear that he obfuscated some steps. But, what he describes could be easily
done.

-
Quicksilver rides again
--------------
Those who would give up a little freedom for security
deserve neither freedom nor security
-Benjamin Franklin
Yeah, I have Attention Deficit Dis - Hey, look at that butterfly!
Jonathan Hurley (mailto:jhurley1@************.edu)
Message no. 17
From: John E Pederson <lobo1@****.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 22:14:29 EDT
On Fri, 22 Aug 1997 17:22:03 -0400 George Metz <W0lfstar@***.COM> writes:

> Sure it is!!! All you need is some uranium and a paper plate!!!
>(Anyone got
>a paper plate?) =)
> (Sorry, butI've been fighting that off since nukes came up. Guess I
>lost.)


Query: Why a paper plate?


--
-Canthros (the mightily confused)
I had rather believe all the fables in the legends and the Talmud
and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is without a mind.
--Francis Bacon
Warning: Home Page in Transit
Message no. 18
From: John E Pederson <lobo1@****.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 22:14:28 EDT
On Fri, 22 Aug 1997 11:43:19 +0100 Gurth <gurth@******.NL> writes:
>Gweedo The Killer Pimp said on 19:28/21 Aug 97...
>
>> Gee, what would the availability of a nuke be? 9999/99999?
>Probably
>> too low. I would guess the best route for this would be if the
>> terrorists either stole it, or made a bootleg one.
>
>Making a nuclear weapon from scratch isn't particularly easy to do
>either,
>mostly because of the materials needed for it (AFAIK).


Depends on how advanced a bomb you want to make. The Hiroshima bomb
wasn't particularly complicated. Two chunks of Uranium (aka: subcritical
masses of U235, I think), a gun barrel, and some conventional explosives.
One piece of Uranium was at each end of the barrel (it was something like
a 105mm non-rifled ship cannon barrel), with the conventional explosives
behind one of them. When the timer ran out at 1850 ft above the city, the
conventional explosives went 'boom', propelled a large piece of Uranium
down the gun barrel at a larger piece of the same stuff. The two pieces
collide and create a hypercritical mass and set off the chain reaction of
nuclear fission which produced an explosion equivalent to about 13000
tons of TNT. The bomb weighed about 9000 pounds. But the Little Boy was a
fission bomb. Fusion weapons are much more complicated (and, conversely,
more powerful).


--
-Canthros
I had rather believe all the fables in the legends and the Talmud
and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is without a mind.
--Francis Bacon
Warning: Home Page in Transit
Message no. 19
From: George Metz <W0lfstar@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 04:34:08 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-23 01:44:13 EDT, you write:

> > Sure it is!!! All you need is some uranium and a paper plate!!!
> >(Anyone got a paper plate?) =)
> > (Sorry, butI've been fighting that off since nukes came up. Guess I
> >lost.)
>
>
> Query: Why a paper plate?

BECAUSE IT'S DULL, YOU TWIT! IT'LL HURT MORE!!!!
Oh, wait, that's a spoon.
Ummm, the accelerant casing? Those chemicals they use in paper are mwuh!
Magnifique! =)

Wolfstar
Message no. 20
From: George Metz <W0lfstar@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 04:38:01 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-23 01:44:36 EDT, you write:

> One piece of Uranium was at each end of the barrel (it was something like
> a 105mm non-rifled ship cannon barrel), with the conventional explosives
> behind one of them. When the timer ran out at 1850 ft above the city, the
> conventional explosives went 'boom', propelled a large piece of Uranium
> down the gun barrel at a larger piece of the same stuff. The two pieces
> collide and create a hypercritical mass and set off the chain reaction of
> nuclear fission which produced an explosion equivalent to about 13000
> tons of TNT.

Incidentally, when they were prepping the bombs apparently, the smaller
chunk slipped from it's housing and one of the research scientists on reflex
reached in and grabbed it before the reaction could occur. He was the first
real indication that atomic bombs had side-effects from radiation. I guess he
died not too long after that.

Wolfstar
Message no. 21
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 11:40:59 +0100
George Metz said on 17:22/22 Aug 97...

> Out of curiosity, would Nephritic Screen and Toxin Extractor have full
> effect on nerve agents, or none at all? Basically, I know nerve agents are
> either inhaled or absorbed through the skin for the most part. How does it
> work once it gets in, though? Does it become a blood-borne toxin?

Nerve agents work by paralyzing nerves, but I don't know how they get
around the body; they could travel through the bloodstream, or through the
nerve cells themselves. If the latter, I doubt toxin filters or extractors
have much effect against them; OTOH from a game standpoint I'd say they do
afford protection.

> I don't know about a garbage can(Take the garbage can away and it's still a
> subway), but a smallish chunk from a support beam, or a rail spike, or even a
> piece of the turnstiles you have to go through once you've paid. I see
> integral as meaning anything that when you remove all of them, the usual
> function of the area changes.

That isn't necessary for material links to a person: remove some hairs and
the person's "function" is still the same. BTW, with garbage can I meant
one that's bolted to a railing or something, not one that's easily picked
up and taken away.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Looking over the edge...
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-

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Message no. 22
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowrn@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 14:23:29 +0100
In message <199708230938.LAA02820@*****.xs4all.nl>, Gurth
<gurth@******.NL> writes
>George Metz said on 17:22/22 Aug 97...
>> Out of curiosity, would Nephritic Screen and Toxin Extractor have full
>> effect on nerve agents, or none at all? Basically, I know nerve agents are
>> either inhaled or absorbed through the skin for the most part. How does it
>> work once it gets in, though? Does it become a blood-borne toxin?
>
>Nerve agents work by paralyzing nerves, but I don't know how they get
>around the body; they could travel through the bloodstream, or through the
>nerve cells themselves. If the latter, I doubt toxin filters or extractors
>have much effect against them; OTOH from a game standpoint I'd say they do
>afford protection.

They're blood-borne. Optimum absorption is by inhalation: next best is
through mucous membranes (mostly your eyes, if you're not inhaling, and
the reason blindness is often associated with nerve agent poisoning.)

The compounds can be absorbed through the skin, but rather more slowly
and with a higher dosage needed.

The British Army issues an activated-charcoal facelet - looks like a
thicker green surgical mask - that gives appreciable protection against
nerve and blood agents, without the problems of wearing a respirator.
It's worn with a full NBC suit less gloves and respirator, and basically
lets you work better and still gives you time to mask and glove up if
attacked.

Air filters and tracheal filters would provide their usual protection,
as would blood filters and toxic extractors. Nephritic screens work on
too long a timescale.

Shadowrun doesn't have any rules for blister agents, which would be
useful weapons for extreme-security, zero-zone-type sites and as theft
deterrents. If there's interest, I'll write something up. Ditto for
Combopens and NAPS tablets (for first-aid and protection against nerve
agent respectively).

--
There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and
praiseworthy...

Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk
Message no. 23
From: Fade <runefo@***.UIO.NO>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 17:46:07 +0000
> > > Gee, what would the availability of a nuke be? 9999/99999? Probably
> > > too low. I would guess the best route for this would be if the
> > > terrorists either stole it, or made a bootleg one.
> >
> > Making a nuclear weapon from scratch isn't particularly easy to do either,
> > mostly because of the materials needed for it (AFAIK).
>
> Sure it is!!! All you need is some uranium and a paper plate!!! (Anyone got
> a paper plate?) =)
> (Sorry, butI've been fighting that off since nukes came up. Guess I lost.)

How to make a nuke in 5 easy stages:

*SNIP* myself. Noone's interested in how to make a nuke.

The major problems in designing it is twofold. First you need the
plutonium. For a simple device like that, you need a lot. (The more
you use the less accurate the detonator needs to be. That's the
difference between a clean nuke and a dirty one (among other things)
- a clean nuke detonates more accurately, and so uses less plutonium.
The amount used doesn't affect the effect. The amount reaching
critical mass at the same time does, which is determined by the
exactness of the device.

The second problem is that you need to know how to make the bomb
accurate enough so it will work - and work at the first try. To
accomplish that most devices would use a lot of space. While
modern tactical nukes can fit into a suitcase, a device such as the
one outlined above (snipped) MIGHT fit into a van.

Making nukes isn't hard. Remember, the theory behind it is 50 years
old. While it was state of the art then, it's not much of a challenge
today, technically. You need a serious metalworking facility, an ok
load of physics and math, and expertise in demolitions. (In SR terms,
you'd need a metalworking (vehicle would do fine) facility,
demolition shop, electronics shop, and a skill of 6+ in electronics,
physical sciences, and demolitions.... and a kilo or ten of weapon
grade plutonium. You could do without the skills and shops, but then
you'd be working your butt off in libraries, going around to shops
and factories, and so on. And a number of items and texts helpful in
making nukes is 'tagged' by the FBI... besides the plutonium, I
mean. Because *THAT* is close to impossible to get!



--
Fade

And the Prince of Lies said:
"To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven."
-John Milton, Paradise Lost
Message no. 24
From: "J. Keith Henry" <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 15:43:21 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-22 07:46:20 EDT, W0lfstar@***.COM (George Metz)
writes:

> Integral to my mind would mean anything that is part of the main item. In
> other words, your wing-carriage bolt, or even a sliver of metal from, say,
> the control stick or engine housing would work, but an armrest from the
> inside or a paint chip from the exterior wouldn't work.
> Also, think about the pure terrorist potential of the main structural
> support beams that were targeted in the World Trade Center bombing and an
> Acid Bomb, or(Even better), a good, old-fashioned, Turn to Goo spell......
> Run scared.
>
> Wolfstar
>
Only problem with that theory Wolfstar is that the building in question gets
to roll it's barrier rating against the spell (how does 100 dice sound???)
And the target number for the ritual -begins- at the Object Resistance
rating for the steel i-beam, which is no lower than an 8.
-Keith (whose players tried this ages ago and learned the hard way,
especially when the building security group came screaming in on top of them)
Message no. 25
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 11:18:20 +0100
Fade said on 17:46/23 Aug 97...

> And a number of items and texts helpful in making nukes is 'tagged' by
> the FBI... besides the plutonium, I mean. Because *THAT* is close to
> impossible to get!

So get it off Libyan terrorists :)

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Looking over the edge...
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-

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Message no. 26
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 11:18:19 +0100
Paul J. Adam said on 14:23/23 Aug 97...

[nerve agents]
> They're blood-borne. Optimum absorption is by inhalation: next best is
> through mucous membranes (mostly your eyes, if you're not inhaling, and
> the reason blindness is often associated with nerve agent poisoning.)
>
> The compounds can be absorbed through the skin, but rather more slowly
> and with a higher dosage needed.

At any rate, to protect against nerve agents you need a full-body suit of
some kind. Plus they're fast-acting, and that combination should make then
very useful for terrorist purposes -- just look at those Japanese subway
attacks.

> The British Army issues an activated-charcoal facelet - looks like a
> thicker green surgical mask - that gives appreciable protection against
> nerve and blood agents, without the problems of wearing a respirator.

The Dutch Army too.

> Shadowrun doesn't have any rules for blister agents, which would be
> useful weapons for extreme-security, zero-zone-type sites

It would be _very_ bad for your PR if it's found out that you're gassing
people with Lewisite when they try to break into your compound.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Looking over the edge...
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-

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Message no. 27
From: David Hinkley <dhinkley@***.ORG>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 03:04:10 +0000
The key element of a terrorism campaign is to create terror in the
minds of the civil population. Currently it is mainly used in two
slightly different manners, that depend on the goals of the parent
political organization. It is often used as a "political" tactic as
a part of a guerrilla campaign to destablize a government, the aim is
to cause the government to impose such draconian couter-measures in
such a wide spread manner to alienate the population, thus driving
them into the anti-government camp. If this is the goal, then a key
aspect is the carefull selection of targets. Part of the care is
keying on governmental targets(officials, buildings, the police and
the military) , and important governmental supporters (the rich
ruling class, multi-national corporations, forign owned). While at
the sametime avoiding colateral damage to non-governmental property
(i.e. children, the general population, and private property). As the
support grows in the general population the tactics tend to those of
a more conventional national independance movement. There is a
variation found where a third party is occuping the nation, that is
to make the cost of occupation, in terms of money, material and
casulities, so high that they just leave.

The other is to use to "blackmail" the government into agreeing
to a set of demands. Normally the demands are for money or the
release of "political" prisoners, sometimes those that are held
in other nations. These terrorists attempt to create a level of
fear and Terror to the level that groups outside the local government
(i.e. victim's families, the church, forgin governments,
multi-national corporation, influential citizens) push the government
into agreeing to the terrorist's demands. The terrorist need to
control the level of terror such that it is high enough to be
effective, but not so terrible as to create a hardening the public
will against the terrorist and his cause.

In addition to these two "accepted" reasons for using it I belive
that I am beginning to see a third, much more scary rational. The I
can't possibly win so I will take as many of you as I can or the best
thing for this planet is the total distruction of the human race
school of terrorism. I do not belive that there is any current
organzation that can be pointed out that is following this course.
But slight overtones of this can be seen in some of the more
fanatical enviromental groups.

Below I have commented on the specific tactics that Jonas Bolander
proposed in his 21 Aug 97 (16:48) posting:

[SNIP]
> Nukes : Would probably still be unusual in terrorism. It is hard to
> get the raw-material and hard to construct a working bomb (at least
> if you want to survive the process).

First problem is that one bomb is not enough, even if you set a nuke
off "they" will not belive you have another. IMO you would need 4-6
devices and have to explode 3 or 4 (one demonstration device in a
un-populated area, and the bombs in the cities) before they truely
belived you. But by then such a backlash would be created that the
whole project would be counter productive. The third type group might
find this attractive especially if they could use the governments own
nukes against them.

> Radioactive Materials : Easier to get and needs lesser know-how to
> use. Just get a few kilogrammes of some nasty irradiated materials,
> grind it up and mix it into the casing of a moderately large bomb.

While it kills, this method is to slow, for a terroist act to be
truely effective it has to make the evening news with graphic
pictures. By the time the victoms die the story will be on page 12.
Granted there will be the inconvence of water shortages, but this
will not create terror in the minds of the populus only hate for the
perpitrators. It is also too indisrimate for a political act. But
again the third type might find it appealing especialy if it was
done, say by, derailling a train transporting radioactive waste into
a water supply.


> Biological/Chemical Weapons : [SNIP]
Same problem and possible appeal to the tird type of terrorist as
nucular materials.

> Matrix-Terrorism : Lots of opportunities here. The seeding of
> corporate systems with Black IC, manipulating varying
> Matrix-connected equipment to harm the population, general
> info-mayhem. Take control of a major hospitals system and make sure
> the patients get _your_ new special batch of bloodplasm, and then
> make sure they are transfered to all the other hospitals.

All three would like this the first two groups becase it is
targetible and the last because it doesn't have to be.

> High-Tech Suicide Bombers : Who needs a fanatical follower pushing
> the button if you can program your own faithful little expertsystem.
> Connect it to the Matrix, mix with some IC and let _it_ sit on 10 kg
> of C12, delivering demands to the cops and watching the sec.cameras
> for suspected SWAT-teams.

A interesting consept, but not as effective as a human in getting the
simpithy of the press. And as what man creates man can destroy, thier
is the chance of successful disarming or evacuation.

> Magical Terror : Too many possibilities to count. Everything from
> manifesting Fire Elementals in cinemas to Ritual sendings against
> crucial building elements ("Support-beam? What support-beam?").

Magic as a bomb, what an interesting comsept, of course the magical
community may take offense, and start a counter campagin against the
terrorists.

> Enhanced Horror : Take a large and vicious animal,say a tiger,
> enhance it as much as possible (bioware, cybernetics, some spells).
> It will of course go psychotic but who cares. Sedate it. Release it
> in some suitable environment, for example a large mall at christmas
> time. Cut out the electricity to the building. Watch the fun from a
> safe distance. Take bets with the boys on how many police-officers
> they'll lose trying to get it. Sell its performance evaluation to
> whoever gave you the experimental cyber you put into it. Naah, to
> complex, it would be easier to just shoot in some flechette
> grenades. But this is more entertaining! (Oops, getting too much
> caught up in Durandals thoughts. Time to quit.)

It also lacks subtly, small bombs placed in trash cans all over the
same mall that go off randomly, then bombs in small packages, then
in woman's purses, mix in vandalism to the cars in the parking lot a
drive by shooting or two and you will have put it out of business,
aim the campaign at all shopping areas and you will create a security
and public relations nightmare.

The subtle, less spectacular means have been left out. A note left on
a executive's desk that reads "this could have been a bomb", spray
painted comments on the private cars of governmental officials while
they are parked in large public lots with a lot of other cars, all
untouched or phone calls to the same sort of officals that comment of
the clothes thier wife and children are wearing. These and variations
on them can be quite effective and are extreemly difficult to
counter. They also tend to push athorities into security
procedures that are irritating to the public and open to
ridicule. (I can't walk here because someone complemented the
mayor on the dress his daughter wore to school today!!) Granted they
would not make a spectactular a run as some of the others they would
be effective and if the desk is in a secure area or the family
protected by bodyguards there is an elemet of risk and the makings of
a run.

As to weither ther is a set of correct or proper terrorist tactics
that would be used in the 2050s of Shadowrun I do not think there
will be such a set any more then there is one today. Each group will
choose the methods they feel are effective and the public by thier
responce will grade thier effectiveness. As a hook for a Shadowrun
Campaign I like it, now all I need is a GM.





David Hinkley
dhinkley@***.org

====================================================
Those who are too intelligent to engage in politics
are punished by being governed by those who are not
--Plato
Message no. 28
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowrn@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 11:21:51 +0100
In message <199708240916.LAA07100@*****.xs4all.nl>, Gurth
<gurth@******.NL> writes
>Paul J. Adam said on 14:23/23 Aug 97...
>> Shadowrun doesn't have any rules for blister agents, which would be
>> useful weapons for extreme-security, zero-zone-type sites
>
>It would be _very_ bad for your PR if it's found out that you're gassing
>people with Lewisite when they try to break into your compound.

Since nerve agents are already used in corporate security, I don't think
anyone cares :)

If it leaked off site, sure, but I was thinking of using it as a flood
system in really critical areas: if the area's compromised, blast it
with Lewisite or nitrogen mustard. Personnel fatalities even if it's an
accidental release will be low, but handling/stealing anything from that
room is going to be difficult as hell.

They seem more practical than Seven-Seven for that purpose, at least.




--
There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and
praiseworthy...

Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk
Message no. 29
From: George Metz <W0lfstar@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 15:28:49 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-23 12:45:22 EDT, you write:

> Shadowrun doesn't have any rules for blister agents, which would be
> useful weapons for extreme-security, zero-zone-type sites and as theft
> deterrents. If there's interest, I'll write something up. Ditto for
> Combopens and NAPS tablets (for first-aid and protection against nerve
> agent respectively).

Go for it. That'd be a nasty/lovely surprise for me to throw at the party
the next time they want to stray into the higher-sec areas after completing
primary... <EGMG>

Wolfstar
Message no. 30
From: George Metz <W0lfstar@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 16:08:03 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-23 15:44:05 EDT, you write:

> Only problem with that theory Wolfstar is that the building in question
gets
> to roll it's barrier rating against the spell (how does 100 dice sound???)
> And the target number for the ritual -begins- at the Object Resistance
> rating for the steel i-beam, which is no lower than an 8.

Target number on a ritual sending isn't all that major; there are ways to
reduce it IIRC. And I'm not targeting the building with that, I'm targeting
the main support beam itself, and turning THAT to goo. Knock a pebble loose
to start an avalanche.

Wolfstar
"The avalanche has begun, it is too late for the pebbles to vote." -- Kosh
Message no. 31
From: Avenger <Avenger@*******.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:56:44 +0100
In article <Wq8HnIA$sAA0EwpC@********.demon.co.uk>, "Paul J. Adam"
<shadowrn@********.DEMON.CO.UK> rambled on endlessly about Terrorism in
ShadowRun
>Since nerve agents are already used in corporate security, I don't think
>anyone cares :)
>
>If it leaked off site, sure, but I was thinking of using it as a flood
>system in really critical areas: if the area's compromised, blast it
>with Lewisite or nitrogen mustard. Personnel fatalities even if it's an
>accidental release will be low, but handling/stealing anything from that
>room is going to be difficult as hell.

Thanks Paul, you've just given me an idea for the next time you use an
enclosed area to hide yourselves in, I wonder how Harold & co, will
react to something like this. :)

--
__ \ | \ __
| | _` | __| | / _ \ \ / _ \ __ \ _` | _ \ __|
| | ( | | < ___ \ \ / __/ | | ( | __/ |
____/ \__,_|_| _|\_\ _/ _\ \_/ \___|_| _|\__, |\___|_|
A Dark Shadow in a Dark World |___/
Web page at: http://www.shalako.demon.co.uk
Message no. 32
From: George Metz <W0lfstar@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:08:20 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-24 06:08:49 EDT, you write:

> First problem is that one bomb is not enough, even if you set a nuke
> off "they" will not belive you have another. IMO you would need 4-6
> devices and have to explode 3 or 4 (one demonstration device in a
> un-populated area, and the bombs in the cities) before they truely
> belived you. But by then such a backlash would be created that the
> whole project would be counter productive. The third type group might
> find this attractive especially if they could use the governments own
> nukes against them.

I forget where I heard it, but I do remember hearing this(Possibly Broken
Arrow): "Someone who wants six nukes doesn't scare me. It's the person who
only wants one that scares me." This is a true statement. If you walk into an
armory full of nuclear devices and only walk out with one, people are going
to get VERY worried. "Why did he take only one? What's he planning on doing
with it? What's the place that one nuke can devastate an entire country in
one shot?" Six or seven nukes is no problem. Geiger counters, demands,
satellite imaging, etc. are all more likely to pick up a large number of
nukes. Take one, and make 'em sweat.
(Although, all the other points were exceptionally valid. =) )

Wolfstar
Message no. 33
From: Mike Bobroff <AirWisp@***.COM>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 01:49:49 -0400
In a message dated 97-08-25 01:23:37 EDT, you write:

> > Shadowrun doesn't have any rules for blister agents, which would be
> > useful weapons for extreme-security, zero-zone-type sites and as theft
> > deterrents. If there's interest, I'll write something up. Ditto for
> > Combopens and NAPS tablets (for first-aid and protection against nerve
> > agent respectively).
>
> Go for it. That'd be a nasty/lovely surprise for me to throw at the party
> the next time they want to stray into the higher-sec areas after
completing
> primary... <EGMG>

In a game earlier this evening, the game group I was playing with broke
someone out of a TRC jail deep within Tir na Nog. After having gotten to the
person we wanted out, we then tried to get away from the area. Our first
exit attempt we decided not to follow after a horde of bats flew in the
opposite direction saying that something loud had distrubed them. We then
changed are were then going to go in another direction. One of the players
noticed a trail for a secondary objective that we also had and decided to go
after it. The group could pretty much not make up it's mind, and so followed
the player's lead and not deciding to bug out of the situation.

We ended up getting into a big fight with a panzer and a morphseeker team,
half of the group was dropped (luckily someone had a EMP strike spell effect
and disabled most of the morphseekers full capabilities).

So, the moral of this story, if the player decide they want to loiter around
the site where they just pulled off a run, nail them hard.

AirWisp (who is getting tired of wasting time doing something he usually
enjoys)
Message no. 34
From: Sir Philos Nex <philos@****.NET>
Subject: Re: Terrorism in ShadowRun
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 18:17:42 -0400
> Making nukes isn't hard. Remember, the theory behind it is 50 years
> old. While it was state of the art then, it's not much of a challenge
> today, technically. You need a serious metalworking facility, an ok
> load of physics and math, and expertise in demolitions. (In SR terms,
> you'd need a metalworking (vehicle would do fine) facility,
> demolition shop, electronics shop, and a skill of 6+ in electronics,
> physical sciences, and demolitions.... and a kilo or ten of weapon
> grade plutonium. You could do without the skills and shops, but then
> you'd be working your butt off in libraries, going around to shops
> and factories, and so on. And a number of items and texts helpful in
> making nukes is 'tagged' by the FBI... besides the plutonium, I
> mean. Because *THAT* is close to impossible to get!
>

But with the collapse of the soviet union how much weapons grade plutonium has
dissapeared? I've heard varying estimates in the news but that fact is that some
*has* disappeared! I seriously wonder how many of their warheads are unaccounted
for. If even one is gone, it is possible for someone to seriously destabilize the
planet today.

> --
> Fade
>
> And the Prince of Lies said:
> "To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
> Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven."
> -John Milton, Paradise Lost



--
Andrew Dominas
AKA Sir Philos Nex
3rd Year Honours Business Administration U of Windsor
Jedi Knight

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