Campaign Chronicles

Despite the ubiquitousness of hoverbikes , there all have the same problem - limited cargo space. While luggage racks and saddlebags do what they can to alleviate this drawback, it wasn't until recently that manufacturers came up with a practical solution.  Universal Mission Pod Hardpoint There are several makes and models of Universal Mission Pod Hardpoints. The most common is the Tyrell Corporation Universal Mission Rail (UMR-6). Tyrell also produces the UMR-8 which is suitable for use on hovercars and the UMR-10, commonly found on hovertrucks, and UMR-20 for use with construction equipment and salvage vehicles.      Mounted beneath the hoverbike is a reinforced modular hardpoint designed to accept a variety of interchangeable mission pods.      Changing pods requires approximately 30 minutes with basic tools (10 minutes with a properly equipped workshop). While any pod is installed: • Maximum Speed: reduced to ¾ normal • Flight Ceil...

Again, not technically Shadowrun, just Earth-218 revisited in with cyberpunk elements incorporated... The summons arrived without ceremony. A child no older than twelve found Raven delivering groceries to a tenement in the Redmond Barrens. "Are you Raven?" He nodded. She handed him a black envelope. No stamp. No address, just a seal pressed into dark green wax—a dragon coiled around the Seattle skyline. "I was told to give it only to you." "What did they pay you?" The girl blinked. "They paid my mother's hospital bill." The envelope contained a single sheet of thick paper. Mr. Raven, You have demonstrated an unusual habit. You complete dangerous work. You accept payment. You give nearly all of it away. While irrational... ...it is statistically interesting. Present yourself tomorrow at 1900. Come armed. Come alone. Do not decline. -- X The handwriting was precise, a flowing cursive committed to paper by a long-practiced h...

The kitchen was narrow, cluttered, and warm. Magnets from long-defunct superhero charity drives clung to the refrigerator beside faded photographs of people Raven did not recognize. One showed Rudy in his Char costume decades younger, grinning beside a line of caped heroes in front of a burning building. A decades old "Char" action figure "with swivel arm combat grip" hung on the wall, still in its plastic package. Rain rattled against the van's windows. Rudy Chavez stood at the counter assembling tacos with the practiced efficiency of a man who had spent years working inside of a truck barely larger than a coffin. An artificial knee clicked quietly with each step he took. "You want hot sauce?” he asked without turning. Raven eyed the simmering pan suspiciously. “Is it poisonous?” The ex-hero laughed, “You might find it... spicy." Cipher chuckled. “That means yes.” Rudy laughed and handed him a plate anyway. "Used to be, I hated spicy food. E...

Like the other posts in what has become something of a series , this is not actually Shadowrun but relies on tropes from the setting for my home campaign.  - - - - - The music in the ballroom pulsed like a living thing—deep, synthetic techno-bass threaded through with something almost orchestral, as if the past were being politely strangled by the future. Light cascaded from the chandeliers, reflecting against chrome limbs, subdermal implants, and cybernetic eyes that glowed faintly. Raven stood at the edge of it all, a still point in a sea of motion. The tuxedo, delivered to his rented room just hours earlier, along with an invitation that implied an offer of employment, fit him as though it had been tailored by magic rather than machine. It concealed much, but not everything. The faint crystalline dusting across his pale skin caught the light just enough to suggest something… other. Something not entirely of this world . His swords—subtly worked into the ensemble, disguised b...

Earth-218, Seattle, 2050 AD Neon bled through the grimy, rain-streaked windows of Chonky's .  The place smelled of old fryer oil and regret hung heavy in the air. Raven sat in the naugahyde booth, long dark hair tied with a leather cord, green pirate jacket looking wildly out of place surrounded by chrome fixtures and flickering holo-menus. His hand rested near the hilt of Nightwatcher, wrapped carefully in cloth beneath the table. Across from him, Rudy , once the superhero known as Char —broad, scarred, and with a lot more white in his hair than he liked to think about —sipped coffee from a Styrofoam cup, a Big Chungus with fries sitting before him. “I know you can't be poisoned but,” the elf said, ears twitching as a synthesizer music rattled the walls, “you actually eat this stuff ?” The man snorted. “Hey, it’s cheap and open at 2 a.m. Who am I to judge?" The door slid open with a hiss. Three punks walked in—neon mohawks, tattoos scrawled across their necks, pierci...

OK, not actually Shadowrun but Earth-218 with elements of Shadowrun/Cyberpunk incorporated into sort of a neo-noir corporate dystopia on the cusp of achieving interstellar flight .  Hoverbikes have become a staple of city living with thousands plying the skylines of major metropolises from New York and Chicago to Tokyo, Delhi, and London. Commuters and couriers make extensive use of the nimble and efficient transports. Of course, like any other technology, these bikes have been modified by the military, criminals, and adventurous individuals to meet their exacting specifications.       Standard Aeris Exolvuntur Model 47 Hoverbike Crew:  1      Passengers:  1      Cargo:  5 lbs* Init:  +1      Maneuverability:  -4 Top Speed:  410 (41) in air - approx. 232 mph (flight ceiling 15,000') Defense:  10      Hardness:  5  ...

So, still really grooving on the whole cyberpunk/ Shadowrun aesthetic. We join this scene, already in progress, after Raven's first run-in with a "modern" (for the setting) mobile enemy. I am picturing the hoverbike to look pretty much like the Speeder Bikes from "Return of the Jedi" but with a chain gun and grenade launcher in place of the laser cannon and have drawn a not-so-good piece of concept art and even put some stats together but I digress... "... and that is how you reload the minigun. Any questions?" Raven shook his head and Butch closed the front panel on the hoverbike. "I have arranged for the entire system to function as a cohesive whole but I totally 'Frankenstein-ed' the weapon system together - General Electric Minigun, AresTech Grenade Launcher, precision aligned and calibrated with tech from Stark Industries." The old racer moved around to the far side of the bike. "Now...right yoke - throttle and gun control...

So...after we get through the whole story I have planned and the characters can use Malazzarr's trees to go back and revisit worlds , this could be a thing... - - - - - Raven twisted the throttle on the hoverbike's steering column and pulled back. The repulsorlift vehicle screamed into the sky, the thunder of its engine and the roar of the wind was almost loud enough to drown out the sirens of the corporate security vehicle chasing him.  The world had changed dramatically in the thirty-eight years that had passed since his last visit. Many of the metahuman superheroes he had fought alongside had retired, replaced by a younger generation of cybernetically-enhanced individuals in the employ of the mega-corporations who, for all intents and purposes, had replaced the governments of entire nations. These powerful companies had lobbied for and won numerous concessions in the intervening decades. Those same privileges, won through political graft, had weakened the authority of the ...