Back to the main page

Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: The Geek in the Hat alex@**********.com
Subject: Wolverine, Mutants, and physads in SR
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 16:39:54 -0400 (EDT)
Assuming that it'd be desirable to have 'em in your personal Shadowrun
universe at all, I would say that it would be best to have a system
seperate from the physical-adept rules to describe mutants. You could have
a guy who was kinda like Wolverine by taking a physad and loading him up
with cyberspurs, bone-lacing, and (an extreme case of) symbiotes and a
trauma damper... but it would be a lot more slick if there were rules for
mutant superpowers, if that's what you really wanted. I'm thinking that
cyberware wouldn't get in the way of using mutant powers; take a look at
Cable, (or Bishop, or Stryfe)... they're not really magic, so one's
essence would have little to do with it.

Throughout X-Men comics, mutant powers are described as just that; coming
from a genetic mutation... like the next biological step in human
evolution. So effectively, Wolverine's super-quick-healing powers aren't
at all magical in nature, just the effects of some really quirky genes.
That one takes a good bit less Willful Suspension Of Disbelief than some
of the stuff that those X-Men guys can pull off. Weather control,
manipulating magnetic fields, energy beams, or stuff along those lines
seem like they might be a bit more easily explained with Magic.

That could be kinda interesting to try, running a superhero game under SR.
I dunno how well they'd fit... superheroic antics kinda diverge from the
"dark and gritty" SR game that we all love, and then there are all those
other systems that were designed from the outset to work with
superheroes... and then we'd get to make up some psionics rules for
dealing with the obligatory telepaths, and then figure out just what
happens when you've got natural super-speed and then try to jack yourself
up with wired reflexes. Or can you be a mutant -and- have a talent with
magic?

Happily opening up an overlarge, writhing can of worms,

The Geek in the Hat
alex@*********.com
http://www.rudnickdev.com/~alex
Message no. 2
From: Simon and Fiona sfuller@******.com.au
Subject: Wolverine, Mutants, and physads in SR
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 11:00:18 +1000
-----Original Message-----
From: The Geek in the Hat <alex@**********.com>
To: shadowrn@*********.com <shadowrn@*********.com>
Date: Sunday, July 16, 2000 6:34 AM
Subject: Re: Wolverine, Mutants, and physads in SR


>Assuming that it'd be desirable to have 'em in your personal Shadowrun
>universe at all, I would say that it would be best to have a system
>seperate from the physical-adept rules to describe mutants. You could have
>a guy who was kinda like Wolverine by taking a physad and loading him up
>with cyberspurs, bone-lacing, and (an extreme case of) symbiotes and a
>trauma damper... but it would be a lot more slick if there were rules for
>mutant superpowers, if that's what you really wanted. I'm thinking that
>cyberware wouldn't get in the way of using mutant powers; take a look at
>Cable, (or Bishop, or Stryfe)... they're not really magic, so one's
>essence would have little to do with it.
>
>Throughout X-Men comics, mutant powers are described as just that; coming
>from a genetic mutation... like the next biological step in human
>evolution. So effectively, Wolverine's super-quick-healing powers aren't
>at all magical in nature, just the effects of some really quirky genes.
>That one takes a good bit less Willful Suspension Of Disbelief than some
>of the stuff that those X-Men guys can pull off. Weather control,
>manipulating magnetic fields, energy beams, or stuff along those lines
>seem like they might be a bit more easily explained with Magic.
>
>That could be kinda interesting to try, running a superhero game under SR.
>I dunno how well they'd fit... superheroic antics kinda diverge from the
>"dark and gritty" SR game that we all love, and then there are all those
>other systems that were designed from the outset to work with
>superheroes... and then we'd get to make up some psionics rules for
>dealing with the obligatory telepaths, and then figure out just what
>happens when you've got natural super-speed and then try to jack yourself
>up with wired reflexes. Or can you be a mutant -and- have a talent with
>magic?
>
>Happily opening up an overlarge, writhing can of worms,
>


I'm personally against mixing worlds (except maybe Earthdawn), but if you
absolutely have to, Shadowrun has metatypes already. You know, children born
genetically different to their parents, in a world that hates and fears
them. I see no reason that mutants can't be just mutants. If this means
having mutant mages and adepts, as well as mutant cyborgs, then good for
them, Marvel comics are full of them anyway. You can also have Super Soldier
Serums and chemical experiments making vanilla superheroes, those corps have
no morals. There is also no reason this would rob Shadowrun of any of its
atmosphere, it doesn't have to be campy Batman episodes since there are
plenty of dark gritty superheroes.
Message no. 3
From: Nightwinder nightwinder@*******.com.au
Subject: Wolverine, Mutants, and physads in SR
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 22:01:41 +1000
The Geek in the Hat wrote:

> Throughout X-Men comics, mutant powers are described as just that; coming
> from a genetic mutation... like the next biological step in human
> evolution. So effectively, Wolverine's super-quick-healing powers aren't
> at all magical in nature, just the effects of some really quirky genes.
> That one takes a good bit less Willful Suspension Of Disbelief than some
> of the stuff that those X-Men guys can pull off. Weather control,
> manipulating magnetic fields, energy beams, or stuff along those lines
> seem like they might be a bit more easily explained with Magic.

Ever tried converting Aberrant (WW game o' mutants for those who don't know)?
Gives you all that stuff.

> That could be kinda interesting to try, running a superhero game under SR.
> I dunno how well they'd fit... superheroic antics kinda diverge from the
> "dark and gritty" SR game that we all love, and then there are all those
> other systems that were designed from the outset to work with
> superheroes... and then we'd get to make up some psionics rules for
> dealing with the obligatory telepaths, and then figure out just what
> happens when you've got natural super-speed and then try to jack yourself
> up with wired reflexes. Or can you be a mutant -and- have a talent with
> magic?

See above post, insert AEON Trinity (Again WW, this time later on in the
timeline)

> Happily opening up an overlarge, writhing can of worms,
>
> The Geek in the Hat
> alex@*********.com
> http://www.rudnickdev.com/~alex

Skills/Attributes'd be about double the level they are in the WW games......

Hey, why am I doing this?
There's people on this list who are converting the WoD stuff to SR anyway,
surely they can take the next step and go into doing novas and psions as
well.....

Nightwinder;
"Damn the torpedoes! Launch the Tomahawks!"

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Wolverine, Mutants, and physads in SR, 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.