Aminet 22/Aminet 22 (1997)(GTI - Schatztruhe)[!][Dec 1997].iso/Aminet/game/jump/wi13b.lha/Text/NAGEE1.TXT

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@SH y @CO 5 1 @EX 0 ram:data/farbe @TI "NAGEE 1"
           THE FIRST ANNUAL NEO-ANARCHISTS GUIDE TO EVERYTHING ELSE
@CO 2 1
"It is easier not to believe in electrons than in dragons: electrons, at
least taken singly, won't try to make a meal of you."
                                                           Stanislaw Lem
                             The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age

Edited and Compiled by Jerry Stratton
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Compuserve: 76506,636

The copyrights of each article are held by the original authors.
This compilation is Copyright © 1992 Jerry Stratton.
Distribute freely, at no cost to the user or profit for yourself.

Welcome to the First Annual Neo-Anarchists Guide to Everything Else.  If we're
lucky, this will be a semi-regular electronically-distributed magazine devoted
to FASA's Shadowrun® role-playing game.  In the NAGEE, we'll be covering
everything else.  Everything that our contributors feel should have been
covered, but wasn't.  And, just things that look nice, 'cause looking good is
the only way to go.

If you'd like to contribute, here's the kind of stuff we're looking for:
     1) Area Descriptions
     2) Adventures
     3) Fiction
     4) Spells
     5) Spirits
     6) Cyberware, Weapons, and Equipment
     7) Creatures
     8) Reviews
     9) Everything Else

Take a look at this issue for an example.  If you see something that inspires
you, send us your inspiration.  If you see something that's missing, send us
that as well.  If you have no idea what to write about, describe your home town
as it will exist in the year 2050, after the awakening.  Or write a story about
one of your characters' adventures.  Or, just sit back and read.  They also
serve who just chip in.  Tell us what you think about the articles, as well.
If we get letters, we'll print them, just like a real magazine.  Heck, you can
even send them in shadowtalk.

By the way, this Guide comes in two versions -- Rich Text Format (for Word 4.0
and other word processors) and an ascii text version.  The ascii version
contains the same information as the Word version, but doesn't look nearly as
spiffy.  If you don't have a friend with a Macintosh and Word 4.0 (or higher),
expand your circle of friends:  contacts are, after all, the key to survival.

Many thanks to all those who have contributed to this issue.


CONTENTS:
     Bulletin Board
     Fort Hollywood
     Louder Than A Bomb
     The Meat Market
     Dead Zones
     Shadow U.
     The Neo-Anarchists' On-Line Grimoire
     Master Spell List
     The Pharmacy
     Shadow Space
     Insanity
     A Confederate Cajun in Southern California
     Law of the Pack
     The Chipper

The Annual Neo-Anarchists Guide to Everything Else is published whenever I feel
like it.  I'm Jerry Stratton.  My address is 4129 1/2 Utah Street, San Diego,
CA 92104.  The single copy price is jack shit, and there is no subscription.
Direct inquires to Jerry Stratton at [e-mail] or
[e-mail] on internet, or 76506,636 on Compuserve.  The above
addresses are subject to change, especially Snail Mail.  The First Annual
Neo-Anarchists Guide to Everything Else was released on March 15, 1992.  Beware
the Ides of March, chummer.  Current issues should be available on Compuserve's
RPG group and via anonymous ftp at usdcsv.acusd.edu in the rpg/shadowrun
directory.  Shadowrun is a registered trademark of FASA, Inc.

THE BULLETIN BOARD


From: Silver Cianide
Address: <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 52 09:27:11
To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
Subject: The Bulletin Board

Well, the bulletin board for the Neo-Anarchists Guide to Everything Else is now
officially up.  Send your comments, ideas, information, warnings, and just
plain drek to the Bulletin Board via me, Silver Cianide, at
[e-mail].


From: Maximum Overload
Address: <[e-mail]>
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 52 23:07:54 -0500
To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
Subject: Orichalum Cyberarms

How 'bout this one...  to ponder, there are no real rules in this one, merely
an idea.

The Orichalum Cyberarm...  Ideal for punching, plus a good focus as well...
Mind you, the mage using this does lose a point of essence, but the fact that
there is a focus involved does compensate.  Cost is the usual...  Cyberarm
cost+(rating x 300,000); A bit steep, but when you consider the possibilities
(orichalum spurs, razors, etc.) it works out.  I doubt Orichalum Decks would be
useful (magic and VR doesn't mix at all!) and vehicles are right out.

A little background...I ran into a CorpMage with one of these.  Dear ol' Max
Overload (El Rigger Mejor, c'est moi) hit him with a panzer.  Just cuz you're
magic don't mean you're invulnerable to tech.


From: Maximum Overload
Address: <[e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 52 19:37:49 -0500
To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
Subject: BloodRunners

Somewhere in California (any place, really) there is a growing gang called the
BloodRunners.  Even for a Sprawl Gang they are vicious and cruel.  They are all
of mixed race, creed, and subspecies, but they all share a common bond.  Anger
and hate.  Their leadership are mostly Vampiric, and most underlings are not,
but (when they prove themselves) are infected as they rise in rank.  The Yaks
are using them more and more often as hit teams or enforcers (since they are
rather effective), and the Seolpa Rings are beginning to realize their
potential as well.  Both are actively employing the BloodRunners for various
jobs, although each are unaware of the others presence.  The BloodRunners don't
dress like a gang, they all wear normal clothing (so as not to make them easily
distinguishable), however, they do all wear black silk shirts so they can
recognize each other.

The BloodRunners are extremely dangerous...  Not to be taken lightly.  If ever
confronted, pray.  Some of us carry silver crosses for that purpose.  Another
characteristic worth mentioning- whether or not the gang member is infected
with the Vampiric Virus, all members drink the blood of the slain after a
skirmish or battle.  They even scare the I-Marines.

I ran into one once - With an Armored ATV.  Had to back over it twice and then
tossed it into the Pacific.  Needless to say, I now live in FDC.


From: Silver Cianide
Address: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 52 09:18:50
To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
Subject: BloodRunners

Fraggin Christ! Does anyone else have any confirmation of this?


From: TAG
Address: [e-mail]
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 52 07:07:56 EST
To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
Subject: The Barrier

My party is attempting to circumvent the primary problems e.g.  insanity/death
associated with the barrier by entering a state of "cryogenic statis" in a life
support unit on the way up.  Why cryo?  We hope that our lowered body functions
and reduced auras due to being enclosed in high tech machinery will help us
survive.  We have already decided we can deal with the rest of the problems.
Dave will be there with them and could use your input.


From: Silver Cianide
Address: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 52 08:41:55
To: Neo.Anarch.Guide.Everything.Else
Subject: The Barrier

Well, I can't name my sources, but you might look at the article in this issue
of the NAGEE (Shadow Space).  It describes the state of astral space beyond the
barrier and in the void.  (It also includes your group's findings on the
barrier.  Thanks much!  Not everyone would have been willing to share such
hard-won data.)

I think I speak for many when I say we await your findings avidly.  I hope you
come back to tell us what's out there.


FORT HOLLYWOOD
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

 "I think you're wild.
  You're chrome on my cyber, Hollywood Child."
     -- Elven Ozone, Creamtronic Dreams

Disclaimer:  Hey!  I get to write something for the Anarchists' Guide!  Rock
on!  I've tried to make sure this is as accurate as possible, and I've called
on quite a few of my friends to add their comments.  Enjoy, chemsabes.

                            Jerry Stratton, Silver Cianide
                            [e-mail]

LOS ANGELES

A SHORT HISTORY OF HELL

The first thing people see when flying into Los Angeles at night is the sea of
light.  Los Angeles is the largest metrozone in North America.  Extending from
the Angeles National Forest 160 kilometers down to Northern San Clemente, from
the Pacific Ocean 100 kilometers to Palm Springs, Los Angeles is solid urbania.
There are sections of Los Angeles that haven't been seen by outside eyes for 20
years or more.  East Los Angeles and the Watts District are today's versions of
our grandparents' uncharted jungles.  Who can forget Brigit McSidhe's classic
performance in Tarzana of the Jungle?

Landing at LAX, Los Angeles is the largest jewel in the world, a nightlight of
immense proportions.  The third thickest smog in the world makes it sparkle
like chrome on a poseur.

Describing the lights of Los Angeles in the twentieth century, Douglas Adams
said:

"...  but light is meant to illuminate something, and having driven through
what this particularly dramatic sea of light was illuminating they didn't think
much of it."

Mr.  Adams also described Los Angeles as "...being like several thousand square
miles of [...] junk mail, but without the same sense of moral depth.  Plus the
air is, for some reason, yellow."

Of course, today it's brown.  If you plan on spending any time outside, bring a
filter.

He makes a good point.  Los Angeles is now a rat's maze of walls and highways.
In the jungles, there is no law and no escape.  All areas around a jungle are
walled, with the result being the jungles are walled in.  Gangs rule like
ancient Irish marauders.

>>>[You'll need weaponry in the jungles, but don't flaunt it. People
will die for a good weapon in the shit zones of LA, and gang leaders
will not hesitate to sacrifice their gangs for a good automatic.]<<<
-- Erol Flin (10:11:54/01-01-50)

>>>[Don't even be seen with smart goggles. You'll be wading in corpses
in seconds.]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (09:54:12/01-01-50)


HIGHWAYS AND LOWAYS

In Los Angeles you only need a drivers' license to drive the highways, since
that's the only place where the CHP patrols.  Local police will only require
that you have a credstick or other form of identification.  A drivers' license
is a valid form of identification, of course.

Highways:
    2                       Santa Monica Blvd
    134                     Ventura Frwy
    210/30                  Foothill Frwy
    170                     Hollywood Frwy
    42/5                    Santa Ana Frwy
    10 (West)               Santa Monica Frwy
    110                     Harbor/Pasadena Frwy
    405 (from 101 to 2)     San Diego Frwy
    5 (North of 10)         Golden State Frwy
    10 (West to 210)        Santa Monica Frwy
    1                       Pacific Coast Hwy

Loways:
    405 (except 101 to 2)   San Diego Frwy
    101                     Ventura/Hlywd Frwy
    66                      Foothill Blvd
    5 (except  N of 10)     Santa Ana Frwy
    10 (East to 210)        San Bernardino Frwy
    710 (except N of 10)    Long Beach Frwy
    39                      Beach Blvd
    72                       Whittier Blvd

>>>[Last time I was in Hollywood, I was stopped from entering Hwy 101.
Security officer recommended I just turn around unless I had an
automatic of some kind. I guess the rent-a-car looked too sedate.]<<<
-- MicroMara (19:12:34/01-02-50)

>>>[You were in LA without a weapon?]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (10:07:11/01-03-50)

>>>[I had an Ingram under the seat, but I wasn't going to show it to a
fucking cop!]<<<
-- MicroMara (18:49:41/01-03-50)

>>>[Why? Cops admire a good weapon as much as anyone else.]<<<
-- Security Czech (20:52:02/01-03-50)

If you're going to drive a highway, you'll need a permit.  Highways are
strictly regulated to avoid traffic problems.  There are 24 colors, each for a
specific hour, and you buy the color(s) you need.  The Gold Permit is rare and
expensive, but it gives you full access to the highway you ride.  The Gold
Permit costs 20,000´.  Standard Permits cost 1,200´, and permits last for one
year.  You can get a Commuter Permit for 1,800´, which gives you the choice of
two hours, but they must be at least 6 hours apart.  If you want one for a
prime hour (6,7,8, and 9 in the morning, or 3,4,5,6,7 or 8 in the afternoon),
apply early.  The waiting period for these ranges from 2-12 months, depending
on the highway.  Others have a waiting period of from 0 to 11 weeks.

If you need to use the highway now, you can wait in the daily lane.  This
allows you to use the highway once, for up to an hour.  You'll need to buy
another daily for your return trip.  Dailies cost 10´ normally, 15´ on weekends
(6 PM Friday to 4 AM Monday).

>>>[Be prepared to wait up to 3-4 hours on Friday and Saturday nights.
And the Hollywood offramps are usually locked out after 11 PM those
nights.]<<<
-- Thomas Chin (03:39:25/01-03-50)

>>>[Damn cruisers.]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (10:09:11/01-03-50)

>>>[The chips will stop and arrest anyone driving with an incorrect
permit. They do not want another disaster like the Highway 101 fiasco.
If you miss your time slot, you've just missed a day of work.]<<<
-- MicroMara (19:02:12/01-03-50)

>>>[Why not take the bus? They've got Gold Permits.]<<<
-- Security Czech (20:58:59/01-03-50)

>>>[Sure. And you'll be lucky if any part of your car remains at all in
the bus parking lot. They're guarded by incompetent orcs on meth.<<<]
-- Bible Bob (00:05:32/01-03-50)

>>>[Hey! My brother-in-law is a parking attendant for CalTrans.]<<<
-- Erol Flin (10:01:41/01-04-50)

>>>[See?]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (10:29:29/01-04-50)

>>>[The best way to get onto the Highway is to rent a car with the right
permit. Rent-a-car agencies by permits in allotments. Renting a permit
with your car usually adds 20-60´ per day, depending on the time slot.
Or 400-1000´ for a Gold.]<<<
-- Hank Spank Williams
(13:21:05/01-04-50)

>>>[Don't think you can fool a chip with a colored sticker. The colors
of the permit are for you, not the cops. The permits are actually
upcoded for ultraviolet scan.]<<<
-- Puestiel (14:42:20/01-04-50)

>>>[Which brings up a little known fact: when you buy a permit, your
name goes into a police file (easy to get into, my decker friends tell
me). Chip copters automatically scan every car they pass, and the
computer can tell if the car has been reported stolen or if there's
anything the police want to talk with you about.]<<<
-- MicroMara (18:48:02/01-04-50)

>>>[Deckers got friends? Anyway, it also means they keep track of who's
been where, don't they?]<<<
-- Lester Riverfield
(19:18:21/01-04-50)

Loways do not require permits. Bring beer, a pizza, and a weapon. You'll
be going about two kilometers an hour at best. Many people on the Loways
live in their vehicles.

>>>[Of course they do. They lost their lease while they were stuck on
the road.]<<<
-- MicroMara (19:22:34/01-03-50)

>>>[The best way to get around on the Loways is by bike. Gotta look out
for the assholes, though. Never know when someone's going to swerve or
open a door.]<<<
-- Erol Flin (10:11:09/01-04-50)

>>>[Loway 101 has the best parties]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (10:37:29/01-04-50)

>>>[Make sure your credstick is green. Food copters will lower food,
drinks, water, and gas. But it costs. About triple standard prices. Oh,
and bring cash or barter for the less legal stuff.]<<<
-- Feral (12:03:58/01-04-50)



SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS IN LOS ANGELES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DISNEYLAND
----------
Disneyland was founded nearly a century ago as the dream of pioneer vid
animator Walt Disney.  Disneyland is by far the best children's show of the
awakened world.  The Adult price is 40´, and the Child (14 or under) price is
30´.

>>>[You can get a 10´ discount at just about any Ralph's. And Disney is
always doing special promotions.]<<<
-- John (02:33:11/01-02-50)

>>>[Disney security is top-notch. They don't want anything screwing up
the kiddies' fun. And believe me, they can hide a lot of weaponry inside
those stupid costumes.]<<<
-- MicroMara (18:57:09/01-04-50)

>>>[Who the frag wants to make a run on Disneyland?]<<<
-- Feral (12:01:32/01-05-50)


THE LA BREA TAR PITS
--------------------
Once a major attraction in Los Angeles (The Rancho La Brea Fossil Pits), the
tar pits were purchased by the Thessalonians, an order of mages, in 2032.
Originally, their contract required that they keep the tar pits open to the
public, but after an altercation with the city, they closed their doors in
2034.

>>>[Yeah. The city was none too pleased about the drek going on there.
In 2034 a swat team tried going in. The fireworks were incredible, but
the mages won. Nobody's been inside the pits since then.]<<<
-- Puestiel (14:30:32/01-04-50)

>>>[What drek? What were the Thesses doing that the city didn't like
enough to risk taking on an order of mages?]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (10:57:01/01-04-50)

Now, the tar pits are covered with a wicker and mud dome, and surrounded
by meso-american stonework. Shops nearby sell postcards and other
memorabilia.

>>>[Yeah, and every morning the stones are covered in graffiti, and
every morning they clean it off by nine.]<<<
-- Puestiel (14:41:20/01-04-50)


THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
------------------------------------
Located at 851 La Cienega, in a relatively decent section of Los Angeles, the
LA County Museum of Art has a vast collection of modern and historical art.
The Museum specializes in indigenous American artforms - from pre-Columbian
Mexico and Peru to that of the Eskimo tribes of UCAS, and colonial America.

There are also galleries for the Italian Renaissance, the Dutch Golden
Age, French Impressionism, and African post-Awakening.

>>>[Heh. I remember when they airlifted all the art out of the original
location, on Wilshire Blvd, back in '29.]<<<
-- Puestiel (14:49:33/01-04-50)

>>>[Anyone know what ever happened to that building?]<<<
-- Bible Bob (00:12:57/01-03-50)


SOUTH COAST BOTANICAL GARDEN
----------------------------
Located at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the South Coast
Botanic Garden is an amazing sight for most Langelenos.  Admission is 5´ per
adult, 2´ for senior citizens and children.  The garden contains a lake, ducks,
an orchard, and a wild bird sanctuary.  Plants from Mediterranean and African
climes join with Southern California plants in this 87-acre planned wilderness.

>>>[The garden is a fragging weird place. Every once in a while some
enchanter gets the idea that it makes a perfect hunting ground for bio
supplies -- Mediterranean and African? What could be better? -- but it's
invariably an immense waste of time, effort, and soul. The plants here
simply cannot be enchanted.]<<<
-- Arden Ariadne (20:50:31/12-30-50)

>>>[Yeah. I was one of them. Afterwards, I checked into the history of
the thing, and it turns out the gardens are on top of a twentieth
century sanitary landfill. And landfill's atop an earlier diatomaceous
earth mine. It's no fragging wonder there's no magic left there.]<<<
-- John Flaring Tree (09:33:03/01-01-50)


HOLLYWOOD
---------
Hollywood has walls on three sides, and the fourth side is blocked by the
foothills of Mt.  Hollywood.  Hollywood is walled from Van Ness Avenue in the
east to Fairfax Avenue in the west, and Melrose Boulevard in the south.  It is
bordered by West Hollywood (west), Wilshire (south), and City College (east).
Laurel Canyon City is considered by some to be part of Beverly Hills, and
Laurel Canyon does cooperate fully with both Hollywood and Beverly Hills
officials.  Laurel Canyon is the route between Hollywood and Beverly Hills,
since West Hollywood is walled out of both places.  The Laurel Canyon-West
Hollywood wall runs along the south side of Sunset Blvd.

On weekends, outsiders try to go over the walls, especially from West Hollywood
and City College.

>>>[Most succeed. But remember that Hollywood Security shoots to kill.
Still, once you're inside, you're safe.]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (10:29:25/01-03-50)

>>>[Sure, from Security. But don't wander off the blvd at night!]<<<
-- Feral (12:01:11/01-03-50)

>>>[The blvd fills up on Friday nights. Most shops stay open well past
midnight, if only to protect their stores.]<<<
-- Hank Spank Williams (13:33:31/01-04-50)

The authorities recommend that tourists take a bus or a cab.  There is no
parking on weekends unless you get in Friday morning, before the morning rush
hour.  As office workers leave Hollywood, cruisers come in.

>>>[Well, I recommend hiring a helicopter.  No telling who you'll meet
on a bus.]<<<
-- MicroMara (18:37:22/01-02-50)

>>>[Since when was an anarchists' guide for drekkin' tourists,
anyway?]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (10:31:21/01-03-50)

>>>[Incidentally, Hollywood is a Corp. It's got a CEO and a Board of
Directors like any other. And it brings in a ton of Nuyen. Anyone taken
a look at their balance sheet recently?]<<<
-- Feral (12:39:42/01-03-50)


HOTELS IN HOLLYWOOD

THE DUNES SUNSET HOTEL & RESTAURANT
--------------------------------------------
                           5625 Sunset Blvd.
                              [phone]

The Dunes motel actively seeks the tourist market.  It is located near
Universal Studios, Dodger Stadium, the Hollywood Convention Center, the
Memorial Coliseum, and, of course, Beverly Hills.  They provide daily,
inexpensive tours through Hollywood, Laurel Canyon, and Beverly Hills.  You can
expect to pay two times normal prices here.  The rooms are small, and the Motel
only has ten floors, but it is spread out over nearly an entire block.


HOLLYWOOD PALM HOTEL
---------------------------------------------
                        2005 N. Highland Ave.
                               [phone]

The Hollywood Palm cultivates an early twentieth-century charm.  Near the
famous Hollywood Bowl, the Palm is an expensive place for tourists and the
hotel of choice for celebrities.  The upper 19 floors are reserved for those in
the acting profession, and the lower 35 floors are for the general public.  The
Palm has it's own small city -- twelve restaurants, a bank, a rent-a-car
agency, and a small hospital.

Expect to pay approximately 4 to 5 times normal for a general-occupancy room in
the Hollywood Palm.  If you're a celebrity, you can pay up to 10 to 20 times
that, but the service is worth it.


HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT HOTEL
----------------------------------------------
                           7000 Hollywood Blvd
                        (Hollywood and Orange)
                                [phone]

The Hotel Roosevelt was built in the early twentieth century, renovated in
latter part of the twentieth century, and renovated again in 2029.  The upper
floors are almost always reserved for acting ensembles and other luminaries.
Rates for the lower floors will be about three times that of a comparable hotel
elsewhere.  Expect to pay ten to 20 times for an upper floor.

The Roosevelt now has 50 stories, and sways like a palm tree during an
earthquake.  There are plans to add another 10 stories to the old hotel.


HOTEL HOLLYWOOD
----------------------------------------------
                              5825 Sunset Blvd
                                [phone]

The Hotel Hollywood has just been completely renovated.  It is now the largest
hotel in Hollywood, with 79 floors.

>>>[Of course it's just been renovated. Someone blew up the last
one.]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie [10:20:32/01-03/50]

Rates here are only about twice what you'd pay for a comparable hotel room
elsewhere.  The Hotel Hollywood used to be a seedy place, and hasn't yet moved
beyond the tourist industry.  You won't find any stars staying at the
Hollywood.

>>>[You can see the upper floors in the latest Neil sim -- they're using
them for the dormitory site.]<<<
-- Warner Bones (08:49:31/01-07-50)

>>>[There are, of course, dozens upon dozens of seedy dives in this
town. You can get away with only moderate prices (a drekky room for what
you'd expect to pay for a good one) if you want to.]<<<
-- Feral (12:21:19/01-07-50)


HYATT ON SUNSET
--------------------------------------------
                            8401 Sunset Blvd
                              [phone]

The Hyatt is located between Beverly Hills and Hollywood.  It's south side
overlooks the Laurel Canyon-West Hollywood wall, and the north side overlooks
the Hollywood Hills (Laurel Canyon).  The Hyatt is a favorite of corps types.
Corporation meetings and continental conferences are regularly held at the
Hyatt.

Expect to pay three to five times normal for a room here.  Many corporations
have a discount at the Hyatt, so check with your boss first.

>>>[My boss? Somehow I don't think the Ripper has a working relationship
with the Hyatt on Sunset.]<<<
-- MicroMara (18:46:20/01-02-50)



HOLLYWOOD

COLUMBIA RECORDS AND CHIPS
--------------------------
Like most record companies, CRC maintains a sizeable presence in Hollywood.
Columbia, however, is much more ostentatious than others.  Their building is
built with floors that look vaguely like 80 disks stuck one on top of the
other.

>>>[They'll charge you 1´ for a tour of the place. But no free
handouts.]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie [10:20:15/01-05/50]


GUITAR CENTER OF HOLLYWOOD
--------------------------
The famous Guitar Center chain's main store is on Sunset Boulevard near the
border between Hollywood and Laurel Canyon.  See the axes made famous by Paul
Gilbert, Eddie Van Halen, Riot Tenzine and Torquemada, among many, many others.

>>>[Of course, if you don't want to spend quite so much, or the sight of
sleeze bothers you, there are about a dozen other music stores in the
same three block area.]<<<
-- Silver Cianide (10:21:51/01-03-50)


HOLLYWOOD BOWL
--------------
Just head on up Highland Avenue or Cahuenga, and signs will direct you to the
famous Hollywood Bowl.  The Bowl is a wonderful concert hall.  It's surrounded
by the Hollywood Bowl theme park.  The theme park is only 2´ if you have a
ticket for a Bowl event, or 10´ otherwise (8´ Seniors and children).  During
the summer, the Los Angeles Philharmonic plays here regularly.  Most rock and
pop tours pass through the Bowl on their way through the CFS.

>>>[The Bowl is truly a wonderful place to hear music. It's like
listening to Bach somewhere deep beneath the earth.]<<<
-- MicroMara (18:49:41/01-02-50)


THE HOLLYWOOD CHRISTMAS PARADE
------------------------------
For over 120 years the Hollywood Christmas Parade has been a staple of the
Christmas season on the North American continent.  Even in the depths of the
VITAS plague, Hollywood continued to present us with a cheering spectacle of
lightness and goodwill.

The parade is usually the Sunday following the third Thursday of November, for
historical reasons.  Many Hollywood civic groups participate, as do many
celebrities.  Since 2035, the Screen Actors Guild has provided a yearly show of
wage mage actors sure to warm the heart.

>>>[Bleah! Bleah, bleah bleah!]<<<
-- Hank Spank Williams (13:42:31/01-11-50)


THE HOLLYWOOD SIGN
------------------
The sign was originally built with mules and wagons in 1923.  It was destroyed
in 1978, and restored in the same year, this time with helicopters.  Then, the
sign was mostly cement, 45 feet high and 450 feet wide.  In 2032, the Hollywood
Chamber of Commerce decided to bring the sign up to date, and after a five year
celebrity fund-raising campaign, the familiar laser-light auto-stim sign was
put in place.

The sign is part of Griffith Park, near the Griffith Park Astronomical Museum.

>>>[Believe it or not, the Griffith Park Rangers are trouble to mess
with. I guess after the Lord Holies tried to blow up the sign in '47,
Hollywood decided to hire some professionals.]<<<
-- Feral (13:01:53/01-07-50)

>>>[Old news. Sure, they did hire some pretty expert people in '48 and
'49, but 'cost-cutting measures' forced them to go back to standard
security in '50. So if you want to make a run on the sign (why?) you
shouldn't have any problem.]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie [10:15:28/01-08-50]


THE HOLLYWOOD STRIP
-------------------
The place to be in Hollywood on the weekends is the strip.  Hollywood Boulevard
is half of it.  The other half is Sunset Boulevard.  Take your car, your bike,
or your feet, and drive from Hollywood Boulevard to Vine Street to Sunset
Boulevard (or, if you're feeling adventurous, Melrose Boulevard), to .  Don't
take Orange, the lights only work half the time.  And just keep circling.  Stop
in at the Sunset Grill for a burger if you're not worried about your health.
And bring a gas mask.

>>>[Like filters aren't SI in Hollywood anyway? Yo, waitress! I'd like a
burger and a side order of emph, to go!]<<<
-- Hank Spank Williams (13:35:51/01-11-50)

>>>[Designer filters are all the rage. You can pick them up at most
shops on the boulevard. Everywhere but Hollywood, air filters are white
and boring.]<<<
-- Warner Bones [08:43:32/01-07-50]

One of the first things you'll notice on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street
are the stars on the sidewalk.  Don't look down too much, those holograms can
get very disorienting.

>>>[That's verity. I've seen people trip over themselves and fall into
the street because of those things. Fortunately, traffic never moves
faster than a crawl.<<<
-- Warner Bones (09:01:55/01-07-50)

These are dedications to entertainment stars of the past and present.  If a
star has died recently, you'll see a light display and flowers above their
star.

>>>[Heh. When Charlie Sheen died, the faux-fleurs and holo-deds came in
from everywhere. They had to set up a special viewing room somewhere
else, because it blocked the boulevard. And we don't let nothing block
the boulevard.]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie [10:35:09/01-03/50]


THE MELROSE WALL
----------------
On Melrose Boulevard you can see the South Wall -- it's right behind the
buildings.

>>>[You can usually find a couple of bodies there as well.]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (10:49:20/01-03-50)


MUSICIANS INSTITUTE
------------------------------------------------
                          McCadden and Hawthorne

Hidden just off Hollywood Boulevard (and in the shadow of the Hollywood
Dianetics Building), Musicians Institute has been churning out speed
guitarists, bassists, drummers, synthists, and vocalists since the twentieth
century.  As their alumni, they boast of such historic greats as Paul Gilbert,
Adrian Anders, Nathan Holm, Meci Abroux, and Teleri Orloff.  Elven Ozone's
bassist Mike Orgone swears by his BIT (Bassist Institute of Technology)
training.  If you're interested in honing your chops, seriously consider
spending a year with the Institute.


THE NEW ORC WAX MUSEUM
-----------------------------------------------
                         Hollywood and Highland

Once the Hollywood Wax Museum, this is one of the oldest institutions in
Hollywood.  All the stars of today and yesterday are sculpted in life- like
wax.  You can have your picture taken with anyone from Dunkelzahn to Neil the
Ork Barbarian.

>>>[The best museum is their basement. They don't re-use their wax, just
in case some of these has-beens ever come back into style. They've got a
basement full of old and long-forgotten actors.]<<<
-- Warner Bones (09:23:21/01-07-50)

>>>[The reason they don't re-use them is that the real bodies are
underneath the wax, drek-head.]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (10:21:39/01-02-50)


THE SUNSET STRIP
----------------
For most people, Sunset Boulevard is the other half of the Strip.  It doesn't
have the proliferation of small shops that Hollywood Boulevard does but it does
have a couple of nice minimalls and more established fast food joints.

>>>[The best record stores are on Melrose, chummer.]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (10:39:21/01-03-50)

>>>[Yeah, but if you want a guitar, go all the way to the end of Sunset.
Start at Guitar Center, and wander in a blissful haze.]<<<
-- Silver Cianide (10:45:35/01-03-50)


XIAO'S CHINESE THEATRE
--------------------------------------------------------
                         Hollywood and Orange, Xiao Inc.

Calling this Xiao's Theater is a minor misnomer.  All the film theaters on the
Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards are Xiao's.  The Chinese, however, is the first
of the Hollywood empire.  It started as Graumann's Chinese Theater sometime in
the last century, but was bought out immediately and renamed Mann's Chinese
Theater.  Mann's expanded throughout Hollywood, and Xiao Inc.  inherited it
when they bought Mann's in 2029.


DIANETICS VS. THE UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD
---------------------------------------
There is a war being fought, a war for the hearts and minds of the people of
Los Angeles.  This is a war between the established forces of L.  Ron Hubbard's
Dianetics and the usurpers from the North, The Universal Brotherhood.

>>>[Heh. I've got it on real good authority that the only thing keeping
the UB from wiping their leather with Dianetics is something they want
real quiet.]<<<
-- Chrome Charlie (10:30:39/01-04-50)



LOUDER THAN A BOMB
LAS VEGAS UNDER THE NAN

                                                        "This style seems wild.
                                    Wait before you treat me like a stepchild."
                                            -- Public Enemy, Louder Than A Bomb

Disclaimer One:  Las Vegas is it's own place.  You almost have to have been
there to truly understand its personality.  There is a pretty funny and telling
essay in September's Travel & Leisure magazine, which sums up the feeling of
Vegas as "That was the silliest thing I've ever seen.  I loved it."

Disclaimer Two:  There seems to be a feeling that all citizens of the NAN are
back-to-nature environmentalists.  I feel that this is exaggerated.  I feel
that each environmental (and other) issue has more than one side (see entry on
the Glen Canyon dam) and that there comes a point where you have to sacrifice
nature -- even just a little -- in favor of survival.  Also, for the most part,
you're more likely to see a NAN citizen in a suit than in deerskin.  The NAN
people are still human, and corruption doesn't just disappear because your skin
is not white.

What follows are excerpts from Transformation of the West (BarTours, c.  2049)
dealing with the relevant area.

                               Lester Lowe Ward III, American Vacation Magazine
                                                         [e-mail]



AN OVERVIEW
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HIGHWAYS
--------
By necessity, Interstate highways are kept intact and in good repair.  Most of
the U.S.  Highways were also kept intact.  However, due to the NAN's lower
population and environmental stance, many of the State Highways have been
neglected to the point of unsuitability or, most notably in the V Regions (see
below) removed.  It is also worth mentioning that internal combustion ground
vehicles are more heavily taxed than electric cars in the NAN, although there
is no legislation banning the vehicles.

>>>[Just what does U.S. stand for, anyway? I see it all over the old
highways and off-road.]<<<
-- Rocker (02:43:50/5-6-52)

>>>[U.S. is an abbreviation for U.C.A.S. Many of the old roads were
built by the old American States.]
-- Seelie (05:33:12/5-9-52)

>>>[This lack of legislation is mainly due to the efforts of combine
farmers, who -- thanks to White Hawk's process -- find it much cheaper
to make their own gasohol.]<<<
-- LJ (07:10:38/8-29-52)

>>>[In practice, the combustion tax only really applies to legal
citizens of the NAN, as it is, in all of the Nations, levied upon
registration of the vehicle. It is a pretty major tax, though. In the
Ute, for example, registering an internal combustion car is about ten
time more expensive than registering an electric car of the same
make.]<<<
-- Doctor Love (01:01:15/8-31-52)


V REGIONS
---------
 The NAN have turned large portions of their land into places designated as
untouched by legislation or pollution.  Made up originally of the old U.S.
National Parks, they have grown much larger.  The Zion/Bryce Region, one of the
biggest V Regions, contains the old Zion, Bryce and Capitol National Parks, as
well as Dixie and some of Fishlake National Forests.  Like most of the V
Regions, cars are not allowed within, except in certain entrance points.  Only
official air units may enter the air space under 18,000 feet.  All of the state
highways, as well as part of U.S.  89 have been removed from the Region, but
the abandoned small towns have been left to rot, so some manmade shelter can be
found, in decaying shape.

>>>[Riggers are advised to avoid crossing through large portions of the
V Regions. Although the chance of officials firing on you (or even
following you) within the V Regions is pretty slim, if they catch you
outside, you might as well hang it up.]<<<
-- Doctor Love (23:53:02/4-7-52)

>>>[The area bordered by Interstates 70, 15, 25 and 40 is some of the
most breathtaking land on this planet. It also has some interesting
examples of paranatural flora, some with healing properties.]<<<
-- Tess (14:23:45/7-7-52)

>>>[I'm told that there is a small group in the Ute who try to track
down and assassinate riggers who violate V Regions. Anyone heard of
this?]<<<
-- Blaster (12:56:16/8-31-52)

>>>[I've heard that some areas in the V Regions are also Dead Zones.
Anyone know?]<<<
-- Rocker (02:48:59/5-6-52)

>>>[DOO-DOO_do-do-DOO-DOO-do-do<<<]
-- Marker (09:32:01/5-6-52)



THE UTE NATION
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LAS VEGAS
---------
That Vegas was allowed to remain more or less unchanged is as telling as it is
surprising.  Even today, untold kilowatts are used for the light show in
downtown Vegas.  The glitz is the same as it ever was.

>>>[What is surprising about it? Vegas was taking in billions of dollars
a year before the treaty of Denver.]<<<
-- Mamma (17:12:23/2-5-52)

>>>[Vegas is also one of the only places in the Ute where you can get
good steak.]<<<
-- Manticore (12:47:34/3-1-52


HOTELS
------
The legendary hotels in Vegas are still going strong.  Ceasar's will probably
stand for yet another hundred years and Bally's will last until it gets burned
down (again).  Rates are about half of what you'd expect from comparable
resorts in other parts of the world.  Chips, although once good as currency,
are now only useable within the casino where they were purchased.  By old Vegas
tradition, however, churches still except them.

>>>[Tips are big in Vegas. It is a good idea to have chips or other
loose cash in Vegas for tips, as credit transfers are fairly slow. When
gambling (including slots), drinks are free but a tip (1´ is sufficient)
is expected. For good seats at a show tip the maitre d' 5´ to 20´. Other
tips include the standard 15% for meals as well as:
Dealers: based on service and winnings
Valet Parking: 1´
Bellman: 5´, unless lots of bags, when more is required
Maid: 1´ per day ]<<<
-- Archon (19:51:00/11-1-51)

>>>[Vegas casinos are always running and always heavily populated.
You're also always being watched electronically. It is a very tough
place to sneak about.]<<<
-- Spiderman (22:55:12/11-3-48)


ALGIERS HOTEL
----------------------------------------------------
                        Address: 2845 Las Vegas Blvd
                            Average Hotel (2 floors)
                                      No racial bias
                              LTG#     7777 (ALGIER)
                            Owner:   Angie Red Cloud

This motel-style place is a Vegas exception.  It has no casino, no nightclub.
It does have a pool and boasts far better rooms and service than most hotels of
its kind.

>>>[Stay here if you want to keep away from crowds, or just if you're
trying to save money.]<<<
-- Glitterfoot (02:18:12/12-23-51)


BALLY'S LAS VEGAS
----------------------------------------------------
                        Address: 3645 Las Vegas Blvd
               Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub, Mall
                              Bias against magicians
                              LTG#     7777 (BALLYS)
                               Owner:   Tony Lercara

One of the largest resorts in the world, Bally's contains a full shopping mall,
two major showrooms, a health club, a youth center, an Olympic pool, six
restaurants, a comedy club, various bars, golf privileges, and 2,832 rooms.
Formerly the MGM Grand (before the 1980 fire), rooms are rife with old
Hollywood photos and each room has a star on the door.

Gambling facilities include 1,000 slot machines, 11 craps layouts, 84 blackjack
(5´ minimum bet), 12 baccarat, 9 roulette, 20 poker (20 nuyen buy-in), sports
and race book.  Unlike most resorts, Bally's slots run entirely on credit (no
coins); this drives some away, but provides a different background noise than
most casinos.  Magicians are tolerated, but strongly discouraged from gambling.

>>>[Wage Mages roam the crowds, and one checks everyone who enters. If a
magician checks in, almost every employee in the place will know soon.
Winners of big pots are checked for magical ability. Lucky magicians are
politely asked never to return.]<<<
-- Wanda (03:16:12/1-4-50)

>>>[Security is heavy, but very sedate and in the background. Weapons
larger than light submachineguns must be checked in. Bally's squeezes
extra service out of their Wage Mages by giving them first go at trouble
makers in a silent way. They dislike shooting customers, but will do so.
The last man to attempt a robbery at Bally's was allowed to leave with
100K in cash and chips, but was sliced in half by a security drone as
soon as he left.]<<<
-- Cooler (12:23:10/1-15-52)

>>>[Bally's computer system is layered and an onion style fairly typical
of Vegas. The outer layer is blue, housing reservation making
information and news about upcoming events. Next is a green system
holding ticketing, control of the movie units in each room, elevators
and some of the more mundane resort operations. Next is an orange layer
for billing, personnel records and the security cameras. The supposedly
deepest layer holds more personnel records (hard to read) and financial
information (which seems legitimate and really boring). From the
outside, there seem to be more nodes than I can account for, but so help
me if I can find another SAN, even in the red layer. All the things that
can help you get rich quick are usually their own isolated systems. This
is the Vegas norm. Keno, for example is an isolated system. The slots
are individual non-Matrix computers, also isolated. The record keeping
archive for the sports book is isolated (and red). This is actually more
effective here than in the rest of the world, because these isolated
systems are constantly used and manned, as the casinos run 24 hours a
day.]<<<
-- Bilbo (23:29:10/2-24-52)


CEASAR'S PALACE
----------------------------------------------------
                        Address: 3750 Las Vegas Blvd
                     Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub
                                      No racial bias
                              LTG#     7777 (PALACE)
                               Owner:   Joel Spicola

This Vegas standard emulates a Roman city, complete with moving sidewalks,
pool, health club, shops, seven restaurants, bars, and 2000 rooms.  The
statuary of the Palace is composed of replicas (some in Carrara marble) of
David, Venus de Milo, the Rape of the Sabines, and more.

There are two separate casinos and a private baccarat lounge.  Minimum
blackjack bet is 5´, but there is one 3´ table.  Poker buy-in is 25´.  Ceasar's
still has slot, poker and blackjack machines which run on quarter nuyen chips.

>>>[Centurions abound in this place, some orks and trolls. They are
usually armed with Taser weapons. Some areas have lockers with a
Narcojet rifle and Net Guns. More insidious are the hidden cameras, some
of which have servoguns. Just about every mirror in the place has a
camera behind it.
I'm told that Ceasar's hires (some say creates) Samurai to walk about
undercover, armed. I've seen several men who would fit the bill; not
obviously cybered, but very fast. Custom stuff if I've ever seen it.
There is usually a rigger wired into the security system, part of which
is not Matrix accessible. Remember that Heavy Armor is way illegal in
the Ute, even for corporate (or casino) security.]<<<
-- Cooler (12:24:01/1-15-52)

>>>[Elementals patrol astral space on the lookout for spells. Awakened
customers are warned upon entry that magical spells will not be allowed
for any reason within the casino. Elementals do not attack quickened or
locked spells. Instead they alert a Wage Mage, who checks to make sure
the spell is not for the purpose of cheating. Generally, the Mage will
watch the magician for quite some time.]<<<
-- Marackeshh (23:56:52/2-6-52)

>>>[Ceasar's entire system is red, except for a separate green
reservation computer. It utilizes isolated gambling systems. The system
is not sculpted at all. Perhaps Ceasar's wished to spare its employees
Roman overkill.]<<<
-- Bilbo (23:29:12/2-24-52)

>>>[Big winners, especially on the slots, at Ceasar's are usually
subject to examination for magical ability and cyberware. Slot winners
with cybereye video cameras are asked never to come back. Ditto card
game winners with headware memory/program carriers. By the way, cameras
and hand computers are not allowed in any casino in Vegas.]<<<
-- Ex-Big Winner (12:18:34/2-25-52)


THE EDGE
----------------------------------------------------
                        Address: 3661 Las Vegas Blvd
                     Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub
                                      No racial bias
                             LTG#     7777 (28-1287)
                               Owner:   Matre Pagano

Built in the late 1990's, this smaller resort is themed around the dark future
presented in the cyberpunk literary movement of the early '80s.  Among it's
neon, lasers, smoke and stainless steel-sheeted architecture can be found a
Matrix amusement park (looking much like an auditorium of chairs, each with a
input into the 'mind-park'), three restaurants, two lightning exhibits, 900
rooms, one of the largest holo-game arcades in the country, and several
historical/artistic exhibitions of some of the less savory aspects of human
nature.  Recently, in an effort to win back customers, the Edge has taken a
post nuclear turn.  (Two guests apparently died of heart failure when illusory
nuclear detonations kicked off a surprise attack party last January.) Where
most Vegas casinos are open spaces, the Edge's casino is a mass of twisted
metal, smoke and arcing electricity.  It also has no slot machines of any kind.
Blackjack minimum is 10´ and poker buy-in is 30´.  Baccarat tables occupy a
sort of aristocratic calm in the storm.

>>>[No slots? They're cutting themselves out of some profits. Plus the
atmosphere is one not really suited to those with weak constitutions.
Weird.]<<<
-- A.C. (19:32:09/12-1-51)

>>>[We view the Edge as an artistic endeavor, not a profit making
opportunity. But A.C. is correct. If not used to the lifestyle, please
stay away. This makes it easier on our janitorial staff.]<<<
-- Alexis Pagano, L.L.B. (18:50:19/12-23-51)

>>>[Security here is very visible, as fits in with the theme. Guns are
allowed, but using them his harshly dealt with. The camera/servo-gun
combo is used here too, except that they are not concealed. An
occasional patron disappears, but other patrons are usually blamed. I
tend to agree with that, the Edge is a tough place. But artistic in a
kind of jump-off-a cliff way.]<<<
-- Cooler (12:24:01/1-15-52)

>>>[I was present at what is now called the Doomsday Party. It was a
pretty raucous time, and surprising as hell. There I was, up five grand
at blackjack, when suddenly missiles bust through the far wall
(apparently, no matter where you were, it was through the 'far wall')
and bathes the poker tables with nuclear fire. Lasers fired from the
walls, 'killing' people (employees in make up, it turned out). The place
quickly turned into a madhouse. We all wondered why they took guns that
night, but the place woulda been a bloodbath if they hadn't. It ended up
being a hell of a party. My winnings were swiped in the confusion, but I
didn't mind so much. It was that kind of party.]<<<
-- Arc (15:10:01/3-03-52)

>>>[The Edge is one of the few casinos where Magic is actually
tolerated. But be warned, if (and only if) you use magic to gamble, it
will be used against you. They usually have much more practice. The
magician to normal ratio is about double in employees and patrons
alike.]<<<
-- Scar (23:59:01/6-25-52)

>>>[The Edge system has two layers, an orange reservation/billing layer
and a black everything else layer. Stay away from this one; it is very
heavy into psychological IC, but not sculpted (which enhances the IC's
mental impact).]<<<
-- Bilbo (23:29:14/2-24-52)


EXCALIBUR
----------------------------------------------------
                        Address: 3850 Las Vegas Blvd
                     Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub
                                      No racial bias
                             LTG#     7777 (28-5630)
                          Owner:   Joseph H. Thomasi

Looking like a fantasy castle (complete with drawbridge, moat and
ladies-in-waiting), Excalibur harkens back to the legends of King Arthur.  On
the 117-acre site can be found 23 shops, an 890-seat amphitheater, two pools, a
marriage chapel, 7 restaurants (including Lance-A-Lotta Pasta), 6 theaters,
bars, and 4,000 rooms.  The gaming area is over 100,000 square feet, including
2,600 slot machines, a crossbow arena and a separate gladiatorial games viewing
room.  Excalibur also boasts its own jousting arena.  Minimum blackjack bet is
3´ and poker buy-in is 20´.

>>>[As you'd expect, all the guards here are in armor (chain or plate
mail, that is) and carry archaic weapons. Be warned, the spears are
tasers and under the plate is much tougher stuff. Beware of the head of
security, named Merlin, natch. He keeps magical things under control.
For some reason, not too many real mages come here. Too tacky, I
guess.]<<<
-- Cooler (12:25:59/1-15-52)

>>>[Excalibur's system is sculpted to appear as Avalon, but in function
is almost identical to Bally's.]<<<
-- Bilbo (23:29:16/2-24-52)


THE MIRAGE
----------------------------------------------------
                        Address: 3400 Las Vegas Blvd
                     Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub
                                      No racial bias
                             LTG#     7777 (27-6667)
                            Owner:   Maria Maldinato

The Mirage's claim to fame is a volcano which erupts every 15 minutes.  It also
houses 5 restaurants, a spa, a salon, a waterfall strewn pool, an indoor
rainforest, shops, 3049 rooms, and empty cases and aquariums which used to
house dolphins, sharks and paratigers.  The top five floors are penthouses,
accessible only by private elevators.  The casino is a bit brighter than
others.  Minimum bet is generally 5´, but some 2´ blackjack tables exist.

>>>[Mirage security is notoriously hard to spot, until they're all over
you. All firearms bigger than handguns are asked for (but not absolutely
required) at the door. Two riggers are always on duty, one monitoring
cameras, one running drones inside and out. If some security people
hassle you, remember their faces; data worth money.]<<<
-- Cooler (12:25:59/1-15-52)

>>>[The Mirage has a structure similar to Bally's, but where Bally's has
an orange sub-system, the Mirage's is red. Additionally, both red layers
can be reached from the green layer and not each other. This system has
no unaccounted for nodes and is sculpted so that each layer appears as
Caribbean island. The SAN to the rest of the Matrix appears as the beach
of the Mainland.]<<<
-- Bilbo (23:29:18/2-24-52)


TROPICANA
----------------------------------------------------
                        Address: 3801 Las Vegas Blvd
                     Luxury Hotel, Casino, Nightclub
                                      No racial bias
                              LTG#     7777 (TROPIC)
                               Owner:   Michael Beck

Tropicana offers Caribbean decor, seven restaurants, lounges (one of which
offers a great view of the tennis courts), a golf course, glass elevators, the
largest indoor/outdoor pool (including swim-up blackjack tables, three Jacuzzis
and a water slide), a lagoon surrounded island, and 1,913 rooms.

Gambling is pretty standard (5´ minimum with two 2´ blackjack tables, 20´ poker
buy-in), with the added feature of weekly underwater glad games.

>>>[Tropicana security wear Caribbean dress and carry SMGs very
prominently, but if you want to pull anything this month, do it here.
The guards are competent, but don't work as a team. It won't be long
'til they fire their sec head. They require gun check in, but don't
check real well.]<<<
-- Cooler (12:26:40/1-15-52)

>>>[Hmmm. I don't pay attention to mundane matters so I will take
Cooler's word for it, but astral space in and around Tropicana is
teeming. Avoid spell casting at all costs.]<<<
-- Praxis (13:13:13/1-16-52)

>>>[The Tropicana system is an almost laughable orange. Unfortunately,
there isn't much in it.]<<<
-- Bilbo (23:29:18/2-24-52)


BOULDER DAM
-----------
Completed in 1935 to control water flow and provide power to a large portion of
the Southwest, Hoover Dam was an asset that the Ute Nation could not afford to
be without.  Although there was an initial media outcry favoring elimination of
the dam to "remove man's scars to the land", when the issue was put to a
national election, the Ute people elected to keep the dam by a 90 percent
majority, mostly due to a highly successful (not to mention different)
word-of-mouth campaign.

>>>[This entire campaign was funded by the corporations who wish to
continue their exploitation of our lands.]<<<
-- Michael Breathing-Dog
     (05:49:55/4-25-52)

>>>[Sorry. B.D., but for the first time I can recall, your info sucks.
It was the Vegas-based Mafia who sent the Dam advocates to every town in
the Ute. The Mob was concerned about the loss of the electricity from
the Dam to Vegas, although I think the people would have voted to keep
it even without the Mafia preaching about farmer's water rights.]<<<
-- Ex-terminator (01:19:39/9-4-52)

Originally named Boulder (due to its proximity to Boulder City), the Dam was
renamed Hoover Dam not too long after completion.  When the Ute Nation was
formed and they began to assess their territory, they changed the name to its
original form.

Although the lake formed by the dam -- Lake Mead -- was a large tourist center
before the Awakening, the entire dam complex (as well as Boulder City) is now a
military installation ensuring the safety of the dam (mainly against aggression
from the California Free State).  Although Interstate 93 still exists as a road
through the region (and still runs across the top of the dam), it is closed to
public traffic.

>>>[There is more traffic in and out of Boulder Dam than is strictly
necessary for simple dam defense. It could be anything from simple
training to high security stuff. Any guesses?]<<<
-- Edward Seven Men (12:12:12/10-10-52)

The dam is 660 feet thick at the base, 45 feet think at the crest and spans the
1244 feet across the Black Canyon.  The structure contains roughly 4.4 million
cubic yards of concrete.

As the dam was originally built using funds from seven states, some legal
documents existed dealing with the dams distribution of water and power to
these seven states.  The NAN lands who left the Treaty of Denver with control
of these lands (some sooner, some later) invoked these documents and demanded
their share from the Ute.

The Ute Council responded by declaring that as the previous agreements dealt
with borders that no longer existed, new agreements would have to be made.  The
other nations soon discovered that whether Ute had a legal right to do this or
not was irrelevant, as the Ute had the dam and could control its output.

Agreements were drawn up, with Ute getting by far the best end of the deals.
The Council gave preferential treatment to other Amerindian nations.  It
treated Aztlan with disdain, but they received a far better deal than did
California.

Boulder Dam's 17 generators now supply over 2.4 million kilowatts to a large
portion of the Southwest, including Vegas and Los Angeles.  The Boulder Dam
still controls water flow to prevent the floods of summer and droughts of
autumn which necessitated its construction in the first place.  Lake Mead,
which backs up nearly 180 miles behind the dam, can store nearly 2 years of
average Colorado River water flow (about 28.5 million acre-feet).


GLEN CANYON DAM
---------------
Before 1956, the area which was to become the Glen Canyon dam site was almost
entirely inaccessible.  The nearest available point of crossing to the other
side of the canyon was 200 miles away.  That changed with the construction of
the Glen Canyon Bridge in 1959.  The dam itself (built about 75 feet upriver
from the bridge) was completed in 1963.  Lake Powell did not finish filling the
canyon until 1980.

After the new Ute government had dealt with Boulder Dam, they began to discuss
what to do with Glen Canyon.  Sighting the reasons for keeping Boulder Dam,
most of the government was satisfied to leave Glen Canyon as it was as well;
however, a somewhat large lobbying group attacked the Council over the issue,
charging that the Council members had "turned their backs on the land." In a
short time, this group gained more support, and seemed ready to demand the
destruction of the dam "to allow the earth to heal herself."

The Council reacted by putting the issue on the next national ballot.  During
this announcement, a small coalition forced their way to the podium and
announced that destroying the dam would destroy the ecosystem which had finally
stabilized in Lake Powell, doing more harm to the land than good.  This was
coupled with a well executed media blitz, including support from Vegas, Salt
Lake, Provo, and Denver news services.

The election was held, and after four recounts, the Ute elected to keep Glen
Canyon dam with 59% of the vote.  Security at the dam was increased for a time,
but eventually returned to normal as disgruntled activists flocked to another
issue of the day.

>>>[At the time, rumors abounded about who was behind the ecosystem
group (who actually seemed to be the most coherent, if you ask me). I
give most credence to the rumor that FoodTech was their main financial
backer (this was before their U.N. indictment, remember). What their
interest was, I'm not sure. In any case, the ecosystems group was most
decisive in splitting up the environmental vote.]<<<
-- John Phillip Souixsa (23:45:13/01-04-52)

>>>[Lies! It was Aztechnology, who wanted to maintain their stranglehold
on our lands.]<<<
-- anonymous (12:49:12/03-06-52)

>>>[After FoodTech's indictment, they were eaten up by Maritech, who now
holds a monopoly on trout exportation.]<<<
-- Tess (14:58:45/7-7-52)

The dam is one of the major hubs of the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP)
not only in water storage, but in power generation.  The dam's 1.8 million
kilowatts do not reach L.A.  or Las Vegas and only rarely (in emergencies) does
the power reach Phoenix, Salt Lake or Denver.  Instead the dam powers hundreds
of medium and small cities and towns in what what used to be Arizona, Colorado,
Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico and Nebraska.  The 13,800 volts from the generator is
stepped-up to 345,000 volts for its transmission to Montrose, from where all
power from the CRSP system is routed.

Like Boulder Dam, Glen Canyon provides water to acres of surrounding land, as
well as maintaining a steady flow of water to prevent flooding in the early
summer and drought in the fall.  Summer output is generally about 30,000 cubic
feet per second.  Additionally, Lake Powell (the lake formed by the dam) has
grown to be a major tourist attraction for the Ute.


PAGE
----
Located on the northwestern border of what used to be the Navajo Indian
Reservation, Page was founded in the 1950's to provide homes and services to
those who worked on the Glen Canyon Dam, and later, those who ran the dam and
worked for the tourist trade.

After the Treaty of Denver, income from tourism fell to almost zero and Page
lost half of its population.  Once the furor from the dam vote had died down,
Page officials realized that the only way to assure the survival of Page was to
bring back the tourists.  After securing a small Federal loan from the Ute
Council, Page launched an extensive advertising campaign throughout the Ute.

Although the growing Amerindian corporate class was slow to respond, they did
respond.  By 2045, Page had doubled in size and is rapidly becoming one of the
Ute's most visited vacation spots.

Page offers a back-to-nature type vacation without many of the back-to- nature
type drudgeries.  This "go rock-climbing in the naked desert by day, sleep in
silk sheets by night" style of recreation appeals to the growing Native
American urban/corporate class, as more of them are being born and raised
within cities.  Page offers boating, water-skiing, white- water rafting,
Anasazi ruins, hiking and rock-climbing hand in hand with music, theatre,
dancing, night clubs and luxury hotels on the lake.

The canyon itself separates the two halves of Page's offerings.  Page itself is
located on a hill overlooking the south rim.  The boat harbor (and a few
hotels) are on the north shore of Lake Powell.  Up the coast of Lake Powell can
be found Nonnoshoshi (a Navajo word meaning "the rainbow turned to stone"), the
largest natural bridge on earth.

Page boasts a fairly large convention hall, a 700-seat auditorium, a small
airport, and a moderate-sized, state of the art heliport.  Helicopter travel is
the only convenient ways to get into page, especially from the North, as U.S.
Highway 89 is no longer (State Highway 98 still runs south from Page, however).
Supplies usually reach Page by helicopter or by pollution-free barges and
ferries down Lake Powell.  It is important to note that what was the Glen
Canyon National Recreation Area is one of very few such areas that was not
turned into a V Region.

>>>[Page, at least Inner Page (the original Page, before the Tourist
Boom) is a designed town. Schools and churches are built right across
from one another, apparently in deference to old United States zoning
laws. (Something about churches and schools in neighborhoods where you
couldn't get alcohol licenses.) Mind you, it is a bit expensive. If you
plan on staying for more than a week and wish to shuttle from hotels to
camping to conventions, it will probably be in your best interest to
have your car (electric ONLY) ferried to Page. Cabs can get a bit
expensive. Better yet, bring a bicycle. Generally, about everything
useful (hotels, meals, etc.) is about 20 - 25% more than usual for
Ute.]<<<
-- Steel Monkey (04:42:43/01-01-50)

>>>[You can find an occasional rigger here, as sweaty people wandering
in from the desert isn't that uncommon. Anglos here are met with a firm
politeness that gets annoying quickly. You will get great service and
will be treated well, but not the friendly smile which seems to be
reserved for Amerinds. Ditto for metahumans. Oh yeah, check out the
Holiday Inn's restaurant. Inexpensive food is really good. And the
luncheon hostess, Dorian, is definitely a sight for travel-weary
eyes.]<<<
-- Doctor Love (00:01:23/02-16-51)

>>>[Careful, chummer, Dorian is one of the Elementals.]<<<
-- Mirage (15:12:37/04-30-52)

>>>[The who? Aren't they a band?]<<<
-- Doctor Love (00:03:43/05-05-52)

>>>Mirage said 'Elementals', Doctor, and he did not refer to a band. He
also was just found drowned to death. You were the Ziess-eyed one who
ordered the milk with the hair in it, correct, Doctor?]<<<
-- Pyre (00:04:00/05-05-52)

>>>[If that's a threat of some kind, man, I'm in Denver.]<<<
-- Doctor Love (00:10:12/05-05-52)

>>>[Isn't Nonnoshoshi 'river of death' in Navajo?]<<<
-- Rocker (02:10:55/05-06-52)


"Apache, Helen. Not even Shakespeare or Dickens has been translated into
 Apache."
     - The World According To Garp

"We suck at night. We suck during the day. We even suck during
 eclipses."
     - Late Night with Raji Chandrakasar

"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go."
     - Hamlet



THE MEAT MARKET
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BLADEBOY
------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Daniel Alexander Bruns <[e-mail]>
                        Priorities: Skills 4, Tech 3, Attributes 2


On one of my brief forays into the Hollywood areas (God save me) I, Max
Overhaul, happened across an odd version of Street Samurai.  They seem to be
indigenous to Hollywood, but are spreading out into the Eastern Coast and the
outlying areas.  I can only speculate about their origins, Perhaps the heavy
Japanese influence in the Hollywood area led to their existence, but I
digress...

The Bladeboy is much like a Street Samurai, but, instead of emphasizing
firearms, uses Armed and Unarmed combat.  Quite deadly at close ranges, and not
any less dangerous from a distance.  If you meet one, don't mess with him.  If
you are one, kick some butt.

>>>[I believe the term is 'ass' Mr. Overhaul. Nun looking over your
shoulder?]<<<
-- Silver Cianide<09:03:12/03-10-52>

 >>>[Referees take note: the Bladeboy has a starting Armed Combat of 7.
Technically, this is illegal. It would not be unreasonable to make
Stealth a 5 and Armed Combat a 6.]<<<
-- Jerry (08:22:48/03-14-92)


BLADEBOY
--------
The Bladeboy embodies the Real Samurai of Feudal Japan, honorable (usually),
deadly (always), and stealthy (as often as possible).  Extremely dangerous at
close range, the Bladeboy uses a plethora of silent weaponry for the quick
kill.  However, this doesn't mean that the Bladeboy is not dangerous in ranged
combat.  His bow fulfills that void.  Some also think that a bow cannot keep
it's place in a firefight.  That is why he carries a Colt Manhunter.

QUOTES:
 "That's not a knife...<pulls out a Wakizashi> THIS is a Knife..."

 "You are about as stealthy as a yak in heat!  Stop moving or you will blow my
cover!"

 "Please, friend Mr. Johnson, don't stiff me this time. Really..."

ATTRIBUTES
   Body             5
   Quickness        5
   Strength         6
   Charisma         2
   Intelligence     3
   Willpower        2
   Essence          0.9
   Reaction (6+3d6) 4

SKILLS
   Firearms           4
   Unarmed Combat     6
   Armed Combat       7
   Etiquette (choose) 4
   Stealth            4
   Throwing Weapons   6
   Projectile Weapons 6
   Bike               3

CONTACTS
   Any Street type
   Fixer
   Mr Johnson
   Street Doc

CYBERWARE
   Dermal Plating (2)
   Smartgun Link
   Boosted Reflexes (3)
   Cybereyes
   Lowlight
   Flash compensation
   Spurs(retractable)
   Gear
   Armor Jacket
   Katana
   Monofilament Sword
   Aurora Racing Bike (or Rapier)
   Ranger X Bow
     Smartgun Adaptor
     36 Precision Ranger X arrows
   Colt Manhunter
     Reactive Trigger
     Firepower Ammo rigged
     200 rounds ammo
   Wallacher Combat Axe
   Doc Wagon acct (Gold)
   Middle Lifestyle (4 months ppd.)
   3d6 x 100 Nuyen credstick


THE STREET RIGGER
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                           Daniel Alexander Bruns <[e-mail]>
                          Priorities: Tech 4, Skills 3, Attributes 2

The Street Rigger is the best there is, an all around Jockey of motor vehicles.
He has worked for the best and worst of clients, but has always gotten the job
done at any cost.  Now he works the streets, and the occasional Corp Shadowrun,
for his pay.  He is known by many names:  Gyro Captain, Getaway Man, TopGunner,
Panzerboy, and AirCavMan.  Whatever name he is today, you can count on two
things.  One, he is one of the best.  Two, nobody does it better.

>>>[Note the heavy use of GM discretion in the Street Rigger's gear.
Gamemasters must exercise veto powers and disallow vehicles they don't
want new players to have.]<<<
-- Jerry (09:07:07/03-14-92)

QUOTES
"Oh dear, excuse me Mr.  Corp Slime, did I run over your toes in my Panzer?"

"Dangit, Mr.  Troll, would you mind sitting in the BACK SEAT, I can't drive
with you crowding up the front!"

"Approaching Warp Nine, Captain. Heh heh, I love this job..."

ATTRIBUTES
   Body          4
   Quickness     6
   Strength      3
   Charisma      2
   Intelligence  6
   Willpower     3
   Essence     0.3
   Reaction      6
     Normal     8+1d6
     Vehicle   12+3d6

SKILLS
   Any four vehicle skills at level four.
   Etiquette (Street or Corp) 1
   Firearms                   4
   Gunnery                    3
   Computer                   3
   Electronics                3

CONTACTS
   Merc Mechanic
   Fixer Technician

CYBERWARE
   Vehicle Control Rig (2)
   Smartgun Link
   Datajack
   Wired Reflexes (1)

GEAR
   Smart Goggles (lowlight)
   Ear Communicator
   DocWagon Contract (platinum)
   2 drones of choice (GM discretion)
   Any 3 vehicles of choice, however check with GM beforehand. (i.e.no
     panzers  or restricted craft)
   Acceptable armaments (GM discretion)
   Colt Manhunter (Smart)
     Firepower ammo
     4 clips ammo
   Armor Jacket
   Remote control deck
     3 slave ports



DEAD ZONES
------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Doctor Jerold Stratton, Ph.D. Psychology


Dead Zones are mysterious regions where technology fails.  There are known Dead
Zones in the Anzo-Borrego near San Diego, and one north of Denver.

Dead Zones are known to change size at irregular intervals.  One rumor is that
they wax and wane with the phase and visibility of the moon.  Another is that
they grow as a natural check against the human population -- as populations in
nearby cities grow, so will any Dead Zones nearby.(1)

When nearing a Dead Zone, computers stop working (and may lose volatile
memory), and cyberwear starts acting up.  This 'warning zone' can vary in size
from a meter to a kilometer.  Once within a Dead Zone, nothing electronic
works, and it seems that sub-atomic processes stop as well.

Because of the effects, it's very hard to determine how a Dead Zone affects
technology in the way that it does.  Some magicians claim that within a Dead
Zone, the laws of nature revert to their natural state -- that devised by the
Greek philosophers and naturalists.  Matter becomes homogeneous, composed of
Earth, Air, Fire and Water.(2) Unfortunately, we can't just go in and check
this out -- Electron Microscopes don't work, of course, in a Dead Zone.
Everything visible seems to remain the same, but electricity stops flowing and
radiation stops (or is blocked) within the zones.(3)

One of the most intriguing theories surrounding the Dead Zones is that the
Awakening hasn't yet finished.  Eventually, the Dead Zones will grow to cover
the world.  Most of the theorists believe that such will only occur after
hundreds of years, but the implications are staggering.

Much of our knowledge about humanity comes from inference based on techno
assumptions.  Carbon (radioactive) dating is a prime example.  If, throughout
half of our history, radioactive breakdown has not been occurring, then
everything over five-ten thousand years old is up to twice as old as we thought
it was.

And what will happen to our civilization when technology fails completely?
Satellites will fall and undersea villages will suffocate.  But is it possible
that this has happened before?  There are many strange legends that crackpots
of the last century have attempted to explain via an alien race or
technologically advanced forebears.  Could it have been an earlier Awakening
that drove Atlantis into the sea?  Might astronauts have visited us in unknown
times, only to be stranded here (or elsewhere) when the magic came and the
technology went?

(1)Urban Legends of the Awakening, Adam Cecil, Harcourt, Fuji,
   Jovanovich, 2049.
(2)A Theory of Quantum and Zonal Atechnology, Science, Ariadne and
   Phillips, March 15, 2043.
(3)Two well-received experiments have backed this up. The first
   (Wiedrich and Fries), reported in New Research, February, 2050,
   showed that X-Ray sources do not leave a mark on photographic plates
   within a zone. The second (Larasia), reported in Scientific
   Republican, January, 2050, showed that rats exposed to highly
   radioactive uranium within a zone were unharmed after weeks of
   exposure, while their control group counterparts contracted severe
   cases of cancer in days.


SHADOW U.

NEW SKILLS, CONCENTRATIONS, AND SPECIALIZATIONS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                          by [e-mail]


The first campaign I started included a rocker and a theatre-type.  Due to the
dearth of related skills in the skill listings, I worked on creating my own.
After a few sessions and a few new non-player characters, new concentrations
and specializations also cropped up.

FORMATS:

GENERAL SKILL
   concentration (specializations)

GENERAL SKILL
   concentrations
      specializations

PERFORMING ARTS

Instrumental music and vocal music encompass the ability to play instruments or
sing well, and can be considered a measure of how good a musician a person is.
Performance encompasses how the musician interacts with an audience.  A person
could be a technically brilliant musician, cutting lots of audio tracks, yet
never do a single concert because of an inability to deal with an audience.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
   instrument family--e.g. saxophone, clarinet, flute, guitar, synth,
         etc.
      specific instrument--e.g., alto sax, bass guitar, etc.

VOCAL MUSIC
   choral, barbershop, rock, opera, etc.; vocal synth
      specialization is some aspect of the specific concentration

MUSICAL COMPOSITION
   vocal (choral, barbershop, rock, etc.)
      instrumental (chamber music, symphonic, jazz, etc.)

PERFORMANCE
   actor, singer, comedian, musician
      specialization is a specific style of the concentration

Performance is stage presence and working with an audience.

ACTING
   simsense, movies (flat films), stage plays, trid (by medium)
         comedy, drama, western, horror (by genre)

This skill could possibly switch the concentrations with the specializations.
I have it arranged this way because more actors talk about making 'the big
step' from one medium to another (especially trid to movies) than from one
genre to another.  Also, anything to simsense is a much bigger step than
between any two genres, since the latter doesn't usually require the actor to
get cybered.

NON-PERFORMING ARTS

ARTISTIC COMPOSITION & DESIGN
   two-dimensional (painting, drawing, etc. [by general technique];
         color or black and white), three-dimensional (sculpture,
         holographs, etc.), animation (children's, adults',
         educational/instructional, etc. [by audience or purpose])

WRITTEN COMPOSITION
   fiction genre -- e.g. mystery, romance, poetry, western, science
         fiction, fantasy, suspense, ´popular fiction', etc.
      novels, novellas/novelettes, short stories
   non-fiction genre -- news, science (either general or a specific
         field), self-help, diet/nutrition, etc.
   books/texts, articles (e.g., magazine, journals, newspaper, etc., as
         appropriate), etc.
   scripts -- simsense, movies (flat films), stage plays, trid
         (series), music videos
   comedy, drama, western, horror  (by genre); documentary, etc.

The reason that the genres are concentrations and the lengths are
specializations is that a person can easier write different lengths of works
within a different genre than write works of similar length across different
genres.  Scripts are the exception; script authors seem to cross genres more
frequently than they cross medias.

ACTIVE SKILLS

UNARMED COMBAT
   Fist-fighting (brawling, boxing)
   Throws
   Grapple is renamed Wrestling (take-downs, holds, escapes)

ELECTRONICS
   Security systems (while it is true that many security systems are
         tied into a computer, there are many that aren't.)

SOCIAL SKILLS

LEADERSHIP
   Gang

INTERROGATION
   Verbal (interviewing)
   Machine-aided (lie detectors, etc.)
   Coercive (torture) (sick, I know, but just the thing for your next
         cyberpsycho npc who is determined to get that tidbit of info
         that your players didn't know they had.)

NEGOTIATION
   Bargain (haggling, barter)
   Con (duping someone; persuading someone to do something they normally
         wouldn't do)

ETIQUETTE
   Media (Journalists, Rockers,  Musicians, Actors, etc.)
   Organized Crime (Yakuza, Mafia, Seoulpa rings, Tongs, inter-group
         relations)
   Religions/Cults (by religion or cult, inter-group relations)
   Tech (Technicians, Armorers, Mechanics, etc.)
   Military
   Government

Military and Government specializations include:
      specific branches or departments
      inter-branch or department relations
      local- or state-level groups

About the Organized Crime concentration:  Although arguments can be made to
include this under the Street concentration, the different groups listed as
specialization possibilities are highly organized and have their own rules of
conduct, which are very different from the rules of etiquette that would apply
to gangs and other Street elements.  This would seem to argue for the various
mob groups to be specializations of the Corporate concentration.  However, the
primarily illegal and extra- legal orientation of the mob groups does not fit
the Corp.  concentration.  Making Organized Crime its own concentration solves
these problems.

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS

THEOLOGY
   Christian, Hindu, Muslim, etc.
   history of the religion or church, rituals, customs, etc.

LANGUAGES
   Move Estonian from the Baltic family to the Finnic family. One person
         speaking Finnish and one speaking Estonian can understand each
         other fairly well.
   Romance family: add Ancient Latin, Medieval Latin, and Church Latin.
         There are sufficient differences between the three to
         differentiate them.
   Sign Languages: American Sign Language, Perkins-Athabaskan
   Sasquatch
   Special Languages: Pidgin English (the City Speak equivalent of many
         semi-aboriginal groups in South America, Africa and Asia)


SHADOW SKILLS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      Jerry Stratton


Here are some skills you won't necessarily learn at the city college.  You'll
most likely need to find a teacher in security or in the shadows.  These are
all special skills, and fall under the heading of Action skills.  These require
2x Karma to train in, so referees take note:  they are general skills, and
cover quite a bit of ground.

OPEN LOCKS
----------
Opening locks covers hard locks (padlocks, etc.), electronic locks, and
computer locks.  Each type requires its own special tools, and characters can
concentrate in any of those three types (or any other types that may exist).  A
hard lock kit costs 200´.  An electronic lock kit costs 400´, and a computer
lock kit costs 800´.  Opening locks is usually an unresisted test against the
lock's rating, with extra successes reducing the base time to unlock.  Some
especially tough locks will have a threshold less than or equal to their
rating.

IMPERSONATION
-------------
Impersonation covers all forms of impersonating other people:  ventriloquism,
disguise, and mannerisms.  Each of those three can be concentrated in.  Using
this skill is usually an unresisted test against a number chosen by the
referee, using the Skill Success Table.  A troll trying to impersonate a human,
for example, will find it nearly impossible.  The referee will need to take
into account the backgrounds and appearance of the impersonator and the person
being impersonated.  A street punk impersonating a CEO will find it a difficult
task, unless the street punk has knowledge of corporate etiquette.

The number of successes show how well the impersonation succeeded.  Only one
success will be necessary to fool most people.  People who know the person
being impersonated will have a threshold up to their intelligence.  If the
street punk tries to impersonate the CEO to the CEO's wife, the punk will need
at least one more success than the wife's intelligence.  Impersonating the CEO
to his secretary will require only 1 extra success (a threshold of 1).

The impersonator can reduce the target number by studying what needs to be
done.  If the street punk above finds someone willing to show him how a
corporate CEO acts, he can make an Intelligence test vs.  the target number
(6), and the successes here reduce the target number when making the actual
impersonation attempt.  The street punk's intelligence is 3.  He rolls 1 six.
This brings the impersonation target number down to 5.  Characters cannot study
to bring down target numbers that are high because of physical reasons (a troll
impersonating a human).  The referee will have to decide which part of the
target number is physical and which mental.  It takes target number days to
study for the intelligence test.

A disguise kit costs Rating times 50´ and weight three times Rating kilograms.
The rating is the maximum target number the kit can deal with.  A rating 5 kit
can only be used for challenging or easier impersonations.

SLEIGHT OF HAND
---------------
Sleight of Hand covers picking pockets, magic tricks, and diverting attention.
Each of those can be concentrated in.  Sleight of Hand is usually an unresisted
success test against the target's intelligence (perception).  The referee may
assign a threshold for particularly difficult sleight-of-hand attempts.
Picking a pocket is fairly easy (no threshold), but picking a pocket inside
several layers of clothing will be more difficult (a threshold of 1 or 2).

A magic kit will cost 50´ or more, depending on what the character is going to
do.








------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     THE NEO-ANARCHISTS' ON-LINE GRIMOIRE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spells attributed to D.C. and Spectre thanks to Keith Ammann,
     [e-mail]
Spells attributed to White Winter thanks to Erekosse,
     [e-mail]


ASTRAL FOG     Manipulation (Transform)
               D.C
Astral Fog     M1     Mana     Sustained

A rather oddball desperation move, but D.C.  swears it can be effective (then
again, he's not as good in Astral Combat as I am).  Target number of 6, and
each success generates a point of background count within the spell's area of
effect, making an effective smokescreen.

Background Count is defined in the Grimoire.  It affects every magical act in
the area.


BLACKOUT     Illusion
             D.C
Blackout     M2     Physical     Sustained

An area-effect stunt of D.C.'s that blinds everyone in the room (including
yourself, so you might want to Perceive before casting it).  And yes, this one
does work on cybereyes.

It's a physical spell, so it affects cybereyes and cameras.  You can think of
it as cutting off visual input, or you can think of it as replacing one's
visual input with basic null-light 0% black.  Either way it affects cameras
(however, the target for living beings is their Willpower, while the target for
a camera is 9, it being a high-tech gizmo thing).

The mere shift to Perceiving voids the spell.  However, then you can't really
hear what's going on...


DISGUISE VEHICLE     Illusion
                     Spectre
Disguise Vehicle     L2     Physical     Sustained
Touch Required

Mask for your car.  And it's touch-required, but if you're inside all you've
gotta do is lay your hands on the wheel or on the seat.  Real handy for evading
pursuers in heavy traffic.

I gave it a one-level boost to the drain code to make it sound like another
vehicle as well as just looking like it (people are going to raise an eyebrow
when your erstwhile Dodge Scoot makes the noise of a 150cc engine).


EXISTENTIAL BLUES     Manipulation (Control)
                      D.C
Existential Blues     M1     Mana     Sustained

A nihilistic Mob Mind -- overwhelms everyone in the area of effect with a
terrible sense of futility and pointlessness.  Makes 'em just wanna give up and
quit whatever they're doing.  Frankly, I have trouble staying motivated
sometimes without this spell, but I can see some potential uses.

D.C.  originally designed it as a single-purpose Mob Mood, but then realized
that for only one more level of Drain (and really, M1 is no big deal), he could
intensify the effects and make them actively want to give up instead of just
feeling angsty.


FORCED TRUTH     Manipulation (Control)
                 White Winter (Leader, Hermetic Order of Guardians)
Forced Truth     L2     Mana     Sustained

The subject of this spell is forced to tell the truth while this spell is in
effect.  The spell does not, however, force the subject to speak.  The
threshold is the victim's willpower.  The referee may allow additional
resistance tests as warranted by the situation.

>>>>>[Like this spell is wiz, but if you want to pick it up at your
local lore store, ask for the Pinocchio spell version 2.]<<<<<
----Erekosse<12:15:03/11-14-51>

>>>>>[I picked up this spell at Blue Moon Lore Store over near Seattle
U. I got it by its proper name, but I guess it's to be expected since
the sign on the door said "White Winter Proprietor." This is great to
lock on an enemy; they'll never be able to live it down in the
streets.]<<<<<
----Grey Eagle<21:47:16/02-09-52>

>>>>>[Tell me about it; in fact, your probably the #*@#$* red-skin who
nailed me with it.  I haven't been able to hang out around my old
friends since, and they're a wond.... truly obnoxious bunch of fat
bigots.  Oh no, not again. Anyone out there know of a reliable mage for
hire with reasonable rates.]<<<<<
----Hooded Knight<14:18:52/02-12-52>


KNOW EXIT     Detection
              Spectre
Know Exit     M2     Physical     Sustained

Now this one is useful.  It's a hypersense spell, with the usual provision that
the number of successes establishes the effective range.  Basically, it's a
trail of bread crumbs -- lets you know exactly the fastest way out of a
building, assuming the exit is within the effective range.  Once you get this
spell up and running, you're a virtual escape- route bloodhound.

The thing took me two days to write.  It doesn't exactly determine the fastest
route per se...  simply the most efficient one.  There's a little bit o' Detect
Enemies in there too, which I accounted for by adding the Drastic Effects
modifier.


PHANTASMAL FORCE     Illusion
                     Spectre
Phantasmal Force     D1     Mana     Sustained

This is my baby, and I do love it so.  Area-effect, full-sensory, realistic
illusion.  I get this sucker going and reality is mine for the creating.  You
see, hear, smell, and feel what I want you too.  Having always had a nuyen for
the macabre, I like to pull stuff like lowering the ambient temperature ten
degrees, having shrieking demons descending from out of the sky, having a room
overrun by crawling rats, or surrounding myself in a skull-mask and blue flame.
A real mindfragger -- unfortunately it's mana-based, but that just confuses the
chromies even more.

This is a standard illusion spell -- my target number is the victim's Willpower
and varies from victim to victim.  What I have to do is keep track of the
numbers I roll for the success test.

For example, I cast it at Force 4 and throw in 6 points of Pool, and I roll
10,9,5,5,4,4,4,3,1,1.  Now, characters with Willpower 6+ need to roll two
successes against my Sorcery to resist; characters with Willpower 5 need four
successes; characters with Willpower 4 need seven successes; etc.


TEMPORARY INSANITY       Manipulation (Control)
                         Jerry Stratton
Temporary L Insanity     L2     Mana     Sustained
Temporary M Insanity     M2     Mana     Sustained
Temporary S Insanity     S2     Mana     Sustained
Temporary D Insanity     D2     Mana     Sustained

Temporary Insanity changes the target's outlook on life to an extent that
resembles insanity.  The nature of the insanity will depend on the
circumstances when the spell is cast and the target's original personality.

The target resists with Willpower, and there is a threshold equal to the
target's Willpower.  The number of successes indicate how detailed the insanity
will be.

Marcia the wage mage, with Temporary Moderate Insanity (Force 4), Sorcery 5,
Magic Pool 5, and Willpower 6 casts this spell on Billda Ork, Willpower 3.
Marcia uses 3 of her Magic Pool dice to augment the spell's Force, rolling 7
dice:, getting 5, 7, 8, 1, 4, 4, 10.  This is 6 successes, minus 3 (Billda's
Willpower), for 3 successes.  Billda resists with her Willpower, rolling 3 dice
vs.  Marcia's Sorcery 5, getting 9, 4, and 1.  One success does not offset
Marcia's 3 successes, so Billda is moderately insane (see Insanity)

Marcia rolls drain.  She saved 2 Magic Pool dice for drain, so she rolls 8
dice, vs.  the force of 4, getting only 3 successes.  She takes Light drain.


TRUTH GLOW     Manipulation (Control)
               White Winter (Leader, Hermetic Order of Guardians)
Truth Glow     M2     Mana     Sustained

This area spell works like a polygraph test, however, with more accuracy.
Instead of monitoring physiological signs of falsehood, it detects aural
indications.  When a subject tells a lie, the individual will shed a white glow
perceivable to anyone in visual range.  The spell does not force someone to
speak nor does it require the subjects to speak the truth; however, falsehood
will be quite obvious.  The threshold of this spell is half the subject's
willpower.

>>>>>[The street name on this puppy in most places is Pinocchio version
1. It's great to use at a meet. If everyone knows the nature of spell,
it's a good way to establish trust where none is present.]<<<<<
----Erekosse<02:19:43/03-04-52>

>>>>>[I beg to differ. This spell is awful at a meet. You know the old
saying, "Tell me no secrets, and I'll tell you no lies." Well most meets
are secret.]<<<<<
----Shade<04:25:34/03-04-52>

>>>>>[Ignore Shade; she's a pathological liar. At our last meet we used
her to read the contracts.]<<<<
----Spit Fire<15:54:54/03-08-52>


TURN MARBLE TO BAT     Manipulation (Transform)
                       D.C
Turn Marble to Bat     L3     Physical     Sustained

Yeah, I looked at D.C.  that way too, but he wasn't kidding.  He actually
carries a bag of shooters around with him, and when things get tight, he'll lob
a handful of 'em into the oppos' general direction and chase 'em down with this
area effect spell.  Whammo -- cloud of bats.  Instant chaos.  It does need to
be sustained, though; soon as you drop it, the marbles fall to the floor again.
'Course, then they can be stepped on.

The drain code is so low because of the Very Limited Target modifier.  Not only
does it only affect glass (real glass, not Plasti-Vue or Saf-T- Glas), it only
affects spheres of glass less than 3 cm in diameter...  and it will only turn
them into one specific animal, the northern brown bat.  Note that the target
number is going to be the marble's Object Resistance of 5 (simple techie
object).


X-RAY SPECS     Detection
                Keith Ammann
X-Ray Specs     L2     Physical     Sustained

A handy little gem, to be cast on any voluntary subject.  It's a hypersense
spell, so roll against a Target of 4.  Each success lets you look through one
point of Barrier Rating (inanimate objects only -- you can look through a
bench, but not a dog).  You can guess what my focus for it looks like.
Yeppers, made in Taiwan.

The target for all hypersense spells (as opposed to ranged detection) is 4; the
number of successes usually determines the range of effectiveness, but in this
case it determines the strength of the spell instead.  BTW, there is no
resistance test on the part of the object one looks through, in case anyone was
wondering.



SPELL CREATION NOTES FROM D.C.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D.C.  reverse-engineers everything.  He'll think back to the last bad situation
he and his pals were in, think, "What would have been really handy to help us
out or buy us some time?" and come up with a spell that fits the bill.  The
Astral Fog came from the time he got his butt creamed in a mano-a-mano in the
ether and decided that the best thing for him would have been to make it twice
as tough for anyone to do anything -- that way his oppo would be just as
ineffective as he was at the time.


MASTER SPELL LIST
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                               originally compiled by Chris Spindler


Here's a quick reference guide for Shadowrun spells.  Thumbing through two
separate books to determine things that were left out of the table in the
Grimoire just got too irritating.  And now that the On-Line Grimoire is
regularly providing new spells, it'll only get worse.

The following table is a revised version of the Grimoire's which includes
useful things like drain code, staging, target numbers and threshold (if any).

Notation
     MA             magic attribute
     #S             number of successes
     F              force of spell
     (X)            Extended version
     Perm(n)        Permanent after n actions

>>[Double asterisks indicate spells created by us net types. Single
asterisks indicate spells from published adventures.]<<
-- Silver Cianide<09:03:12/03-10-52>

We'll include an update with each issue of the NAGEE that includes the On-Line
Grimoire.  If you have any updates (new spells in an adventure, mistakes in
this listing) send them to us.  We'll print the update, and then everybody can
use their favorite word processor/text editor to paste the update into the
master list.


                                 COMBAT SPELLS
                                 -------------
Name        Drain   Target      Staging Range  Area   Duration Type
·········································································
Death Touch   M1    Willpower      1    Touch  Single Instant  Mana
Fire Bolt     D3    Body           1    Visual Single Instant  Physical
Fire Cloud    S3    Body           3    Visual Magic  Instant  Physical
Fire Dart     M3    Body           3    Visual Single Instant  Physical
Fire Missile  S3    Body           2    Visual Single Instant  Physical
Fireball      D3    Body           2    Visual MA     Instant  Physical
Fireblast     D4    Body           1    Visual MA     Instant  Physical
Mana Bolt     S1    Willpower      1    Visual Single Instant  Mana
Mana Cloud    M1    Willpower      3    Visual MA     Instant  Mana
Mana Dart     L1    Willpower      3    Visual Single Instant  Mana
Mana Missile  M1    Willpower      2    Visual Single Instant  Mana
Mana Ball     S1    Willpower      2    Visual MA     Instant  Mana
Mana Blast    D1    Willpower      1    Visual MA     Instant  Mana
Power Bolt    S2    Body           1    Visual Single Instant  Physical
Power Cloud   M2    Body           3    Visual MA     Instant  Physical
Power Dart    L2    Body           3    Visual Single Instant  Physical
Power Missile M2    Body           2    Visual Single Instant  Physical
Power Ball    S2    Body           2    Visual MA     Instant  Physical
Power Blast   D2    Body           1    Visual MA     Instant  Physical
Ram           M2    Barrier Rating 1    Visual Single Instant  Physical
Ram Touch     L2    Barrier Rating 1    Touch  Single Instant  Physical
Slay (Species)M1    Willpower      1    Visual Single Instant  Mana
Stun Bolt     M1    Willpower      1    Visual Single Instant  Mana
Stun Cloud    L1    Willpower      3    Visual MA     Instant  Mana
Stun Missile  L1    Willpower      2    Visual Single Instant  Mana
Stun Touch    L1    Willpower      1    Touch  Single Instant  Mana
Stun Ball     M1    Willpower      2    Visual MA     Instant  Mana
Stun Blast    S1    Willpower      1    Visual MA     Instant  Mana
Urban Renewal M2    Material Body  1    Visual MA     Instant  Physical
Wrecker       L2    Vehicle Body   1    Visual Single Instant  Physical


                               DETECTION SPELLS
                               ----------------
Name           Drain Target            Range  Area     Duration Type
·········································································
Analyze Device    S2 Object Resistance Visual Single   Sustain  Physical
Analyze Truth     M1 Willpower         Visual Aural    Sustain  Mana
Combat Sense      M2 4                 Visual Special  Sustain  Physical
Clairvoyance      M1 4                 Visual MAx#S    Sustain  Mana
Clairvoyance(X)   S1 4                 Visual MAx#Sx10 Sustain  Mana
Detect(Life Form) L1 4/6/10            Visual MAx#S    Sustain  Mana
Detect (Object)   L2 4/6/10            Visual MAx#S    Sustain  Physical
Detect Enemies    M1 4/6/10            Visual MAx#S    Sustain  Mana
Detect Enemies(X) S1 4/6/10            Visual MAx#Sx10 Sustain  Mana
Detect Individual L1 4/6/10            Visual MAx#S    Sustain  Mana
Detect Life       L1 4/6/10            Visual MAx#S    Sustain  Mana
Eyes of the Pack* S1 4 (Voluntary)            MAxFx10  Sustain
Identify Device   M2 Object - Skill    Visual Single   Instant  Physical
Know Exit**       M2 4                 Visual MAx#S    Sustain  Physical
Mind Probe        M1 Willpower         Visual Single   Sustain  Mana
Pers. Analyze Truth L1 Willpower     Personal Aural    Sustain  Mana
Pers. Clairvoyance  L1 4             Personal MAx#S    Sustain  Mana
Pers. Clairvoyance (X) M1 4          Personal MAx#Sx10 Sustain  Mana
Pers. Combat Sense     L2 4          Personal Special  Sustain  Mana
Pers. Detect Enemies   L1 4/6/10     Personal MAx#S    Sustain  Mana
Pers. Detect Enemies (X) M1 4/6/10   Personal MAx#Sx10 Sustain  Mana
X-Ray Specs       L2 4                 Visual Special  Sustain  Physical


                                 HEALTH SPELLS
                                 -------------
Name           Drain Target    Threshold Range  Area   Duration Type
·········································································
Antidote L Toxin L2  Tox. Str. Tox Stg   Touch  Single Perm(5)  Mana
Antidote M Toxin M2  Tox. Str. Tox Stg   Touch  Single Perm(10) Mana
Antidote S Toxin S2  Tox. Str. Tox Stg   Touch  Single Perm(15) Mana
Antidote D Toxin D2  Tox. Str. Tox Stg   Touch  Single Perm(20) Mana
Cure L Disease   L2  Dis. Str. Dis Stg   Touch  Single Perm(5)  Mana
Cure M Disease   M2  Dis. Str. Dis Stg   Touch  Single Perm(10) Mana
Cure S Disease   S2  Dis. Str. Dis Stg   Touch  Single Perm(15) Mana
Cure D Disease   D2  Dis. Str. Dis Stg   Touch  Single Perm(20) Mana
Dec. Min. Att.   M2  Attribute Staging:3 Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Dec. Med. Att.   S2  Attribute Staging:2 Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Dec. Mas. Att.   D2  Attribute Staging:1 Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Dec. Min.Cyb.Att.M3  Attribute Staging:3 Visual Single Sustain  Physical
Dec. Med.Cyb.Att.S3  Attribute Staging:2 Visual Single Sustain  Physical
Dec. Mas.Cyb.Att.D3  Attribute Staging:1 Visual Single Sustain  Physical
Detox. M Toxin   L1  Tox. Str. Tox Stg   Touch  Single Perm(10) Mana
Detox. S Toxin   M1  Tox. Str. Tox Stg   Touch  Single Perm(15) Mana
Detox. D Toxin   S1  Tox. Str. Tox Stg   Touch  Single Perm(20) Mana
Heal L Wounds    L2  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(5)  Mana
Heal M Wounds    M2  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(10) Mana
Heal S Wounds    S2  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(15) Mana
Heal D Wounds    D2  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(20) Mana
Healthy Glow     L1  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(5)  Mana
Inc. Att. +1     L2  Attrib. x 2         Touch  Single Sustain  Mana
Inc. Att. +2     M2  Attrib. x 2         Touch  Single Sustain  Mana
Inc. Att. +3     S2  Attrib. x 2         Touch  Single Sustain  Mana
Inc. Att. +4     D2  Attrib. x 2         Touch  Single Sustain  Mana
Inc. Cyb.Att. +1 L3  Attrib. x 2         Touch  Single Sustain  Physical
Inc. Cyb.Att. +2 M3  Attrib. x 2         Touch  Single Sustain  Physical
Inc. Cyb.Att. +3 S3  Attrib. x 2         Touch  Single Sustain  Physical
Inc. Cyb.Att. +4 D3  Attrib. x 2         Touch  Single Sustain  Physical
Oxygenate        L2  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Sustain  Mana
Prophyl. L Path. L2  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Sustain  Mana
Prophyl. M Path. M2  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Sustain  Mana
Prophyl. S Path. S2  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Sustain  Mana
Prophyl. D Path. D2  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Sustain  Mana
Resist Mod. Pain L2  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(10) Mana
Resist Sev. Pain M2  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(15) Mana
Stabilize        M1  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(20) Mana
Treat L Wounds   L1  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(5)  Mana
Treat M Wounds   M1  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(10) Mana
Treat S Wounds   S1  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(15) Mana
Treat D Wounds   D1  10 - Ess.           Touch  Single Perm(20) Mana


                                ILLUSION SPELLS
                                ---------------
Name           Drain Target    Threshold Range  Area   Duration Type
·········································································
Blackout**       M2  Willpower/Object    Visual MA     Sustain  Physical
Chaos            S2  Willpower           Visual Single Sustain  Physical
Chaotic World    D2  Willpower           Visual MA     Sustain  Physical
Confusion        S1  Willpower           Visual MA     Sustain  Mana
Disguise Vehicle** L2 Vehicle (7)        Touch  Single Sustain  Physical
Entertainment    L1  3 (Voluntary)       Visual MA     Sustain  Mana
Invisibility     L2  3 (Voluntary)       Touch  Single Sustain  Physical
Mask             L1  3 (Voluntary)       Touch  Single Sustain  Mana
Overstimulation  S1  Willpower           Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Phantasmal Force** D1 Willpower          Visual MA     Sustain  Mana
Physical Mask    L2  3 (Voluntary)       Touch  Single Sustain  Physical
See Me Not*      L1  Willpower           Visual        Sustain  Mana
Spectacle        M1  3 (Voluntary)       Visual MA     Sustain  Physical
Stimulation      M1  3 (Voluntary)       Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Stink            S2  Willpower           Visual MA     Sustain  Mana
TriD Entertainment L2 3 (Voluntary)      Visual MA     Sustain  Physical
TriD Spectacle   M2   3 (Voluntary)      Visual MA     Sustain  Physical


                          CONTROL MANIPULATION SPELLS
                          ---------------------------
Name           Drain Target    Threshold Range  Area   Duration Type
·········································································
Control Actions  M2  Will      Will      Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Control Emotions L1  Will      Will      Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Control Thoughts L2  Will      Will      Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Existential Blues** M1 Will/3            Visual MA     Sustain  Mana
Forced Truth**   L2  Will      Will      Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Hibernate        L2  4                   Touch  Single Sustain  Physical
Influence        L3  Will      Will      Visual Single Perm(10) Mana
Mob Mind         S1  Will/3              Visual MA     Sustain  Mana
Mob Mood         M1  Will/3              Visual MA     Sustain  Mana
Temporary L Insanity** L2 Will Will      Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Temporary M Insanity** M2 Will Will      Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Temporary S Insanity** S2 Will Will      Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Temporary D Insanity** D2 Will Will      Visual Single Sustain  Mana
Truth Glow**     M2  Will      Will/2    Visual MA     Sustain  Mana


                        TELEKINETIC MANIPULATION SPELLS
                        -------------------------------
Name           Drain Target    Staging  Range  Area   Duration Type
·········································································
Clout            L1    4      (Will)M1  Visual Single Instant  Mana
Levitate Item    L2    4                Visual Single Sustain  Physical
Levitate Person  M2    Will             Visual Single Sustain  Physical
Magic Fingers    M2    6              Personal Sight  Sustain  Physical
Poltergeist      S2    4         L3     Visual MA     Sustain  Physical
Use (Skill)      L2    6              Personal Sight  Sustain  Physical


                         TRANSFORM MANIPULATION SPELLS
                         -----------------------------
Name           Drain Target   Threshold Range  Area   Duration  Type
·········································································
Acid             S3   4       Staging:2 Visual Single Instant   Physical
Acid Bomb        D4   4       Staging:1 Visual MA     Instant   Physical
Acid Volt        D3   4       Staging:1 Visual Single Instant   Physical
Armour           L3   4                 Visual Single Sustain   Physical
Anti-Bullet Barrier S2 6                Visual MA/Force Sustain Physical
Anti-Spell Barrier S1 6                 Visual MA/Force Sustain Mana
Astral Fog**     M1   6                 Visual MA     Sustain   Mana
(Critter) Form   L3   4 (Voluntary)     Visual Single Sustain   Mana
Fashion          L2   4                 Visual Single Perm(5)   Physical
Flame            S3   4       Staging:2 Visual Single Instant   Physical
Flame Bomb       D4   4       Staging:1 Visual MA     Instant   Physical
Flame Volt       D3   4       Staging:1 Visual Single Instant   Physical
Ignite     S4 Body/Barrier Body/Barrier Visual Single Perm(10)  Physical
Makeover         L1   4                 Visual Single Perm(5)   Mana
Mana Barrier     D1   6                 Visual MA     Sustain   Mana
Pers. Anti-Spell Barrier L1 6           Visual Single Sustain   Mana
Pers. Physical Barrier M2 6             Visual Single Sustain   Physical
Petrify          M3   Body    Body      Visual Single Sustain   Physical
Physical Barrier D2   6                 Visual MA     Sustain   Physical
Shapechange      M3   4 (Voluntary)     Visual Single Sustain   Mana
Transform        S3   Will    Will      Visual Single Sustain   Mana
Turn Being to Goo(P)S3 Body   Body      Visual Single Sustain   Physical
Turn Being to Goo(M)M4 Will   Will      Visual Single Sustain   Mana
Turn Marble to Bat** L3 3               Visual MA     Sustain   Physical
Turn to Goo M2  Body/Barrier Body/Barrier Visual Single Sustain Physical
Turn to Tree     M2   Body    Body      Visual Single Sustain   Physical




                                 THE PHARMACY
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DRUGS IN SHADOWRUN
------------------
Drugs have an effect, which is presumably why they're used.  They also have the
following characteristics:  Onset Time, Duration, Aftershock Code, Addiction
Code, and Addiction Lethality.

Body tests vs.  Drugs are almost never affected by dermal armor.

ONSET TIME:
The Onset Time is the amount of time it takes for the drug to take effect.
Often, this will by multiplied by a Body test vs.  an Onset Target.  This
target will usually increase with the drug's rating.

DURATION:
The Duration is the amount of time the drug's effects last, once the drug has
taken effect.  This will usually be divided by a Body test vs.  the Duration
Target which will increase with the drug's rating.

AFTERSHOCK CODE:
This is the damage code for Mental damage taken once the drug wears off.  If
the drug's rating is high enough with respect to the user's Body, this will be
Physical damage.  Staging is often affected by the dosage.

ADDICTION CODE:
If the drug is addictive, the user must make a Willpower test once the drug
wears off.  The 'Wound Level,' or Addiction Level is almost always the dosage.
The Target number is proportional to the drug's rating.  The addictiveness of
the drug is measured in the staging.

The final Addiction Level (after the Willpower test reduces it) is multiplied
by the drug's rating, for the number of boxes permanently filled in on the
character's Mental damage monitor.  This is the Addiction Level, and it isn't
additive.  The only time the Addiction Level increases is when an Addiction
test results in a higher Addiction Level than the character previously had.

If a character with Willpower 5 takes two doses of a drug with a Rating of 3,
and an Addiction Code of 4(dosage)2, the player rolls 5 dice against a target
number of 4, staging 2.  If the player rolls 1 success, the Addition Level is 2
-- the dosage.  If the player rolls 2 or 3 successes, the addiction level is 1.
If the player rolls 4 successes, the character is not addicted.

While using the drug, a number of Mental boxes equal to the dosage taken times
the drug's rating are freed.

If a character has an Addiction Level of 6, and shoots up 1 dose of rating 2,
the Addiction Level will be reduced to 4 for the duration of the drug's
effects.

If a character is addicted to more than one drug, keep track of each Addiction
Level, but only apply the highest.

Penalties due to Aftershock damage do not apply to the Addiction test.


ADDICTIVE LETHALITY:
--------------------
Each day, the character must make a Craving test.  This is a Willpower test
with a target number equal to the character's Addiction Level.  If successful,
the character has no craving that day.  If unsuccessful, subtract the highest
die roll from the character's Addiction Level, for the additional Mental
monitor boxes filled in.

If the character goes the full day without getting a fix of at least Addiction
Level (Rating times Dose), a Body Test is required, vs.  the drug's Addictive
Lethality, with a target number equal to the Addiction Level minus the fix
taken (0 if none), and a staging equal to the Addiction Code staging.  If the
target number is greater than twice the character's Body, the damage is
physical.  Otherwise, it's mental.

This is also how the character can reduce his, her, or its Addiction Level.  If
the addictive lethality is reduced to no damage, reduce addiction level by the
number of extra successes, divided by the staging (and rounded towards 0).

These tests are not affected by stun caused by the character's addiction level,
but they are affected by other stun and physical damage that is there for most
of the night or day.

John is addicted to Crack, with an addictive lethality of Serious and an
addiction code of (Rating times 2)(Dosage)(2).  His addiction level is 5.  He
has a Willpower of 2 and a Body of 3.  Monday morning, he rolls a craving test,
getting 5 and 3.  His target number is his addiction level, or 5, so he has no
craving that day.  On Tuesday, he rolls 2 and 4.  He craves some crack, but his
friends lock him up so that he can't get any.  He must make a Body test vs.
5S2 (addiction level Serious addiction code staging).  This is mental, since
his target number is not greater than twice his Body.  He rolls 2 and 4, taking
Serious mental damage.

On Wednesday, he fails the craving test again, and manages to sneak in 2 doses
of rating 2 crack.  This is a fix of 4, reducing the Body test to 1S2 (the
target number is really 2, since that's the lowest possible target number).  He
rolls 4 and 2, taking Moderate mental damage.


USING DRUGS
-----------
Combat drugs (such as booster shots, nopane, and hul kaline) are most commonly
administered via slap patches.  This takes one action to self- administer, as
long as the patches are readily accessible.

The next most common means of injection is through built-in cyber- controlled
injectors.  These take no action to use -- a simple thought is all that's
required.  Of course, if a character with a loaded cyber- injector gets a
craving, the mind will automatically trigger an injection.


BOOSTER SHOTS
-------------
EFFECT:  Booster shots affect the user as boosted reflexes (see the Street
Samurai's Catalog) of rating equal to the drug's rating.  Booster shots are not
cumulative with boosted reflexes.  Booster shots interfere with wired reflexes.
Subtract the booster shot rating from the wired reflexes rating, for the
effective wired rating.  If this is negative, Reaction is reduced, and negative
dice are applied.

COST:  Booster shots originated in Korea, and Japan is trying very hard to keep
them from reaching the western world.  The Japanese government does not want
boosted reflexes within reach of drug addicts in their colonies.  Within Korea,
Booster shots are less expensive than in the Americas.

           BOOSTER SHOT COST
     Rating     Korean     American
       1          200´        500´
       2          250´        750´
       3          400´      1,500´

Unless Japan can stop the flow, American prices will drop to Japanese levels
within 2 years.

ONSET TIME:  One Action.  The onset target is the drug's rating+3.

DURATION:  (Dosage+2)d6 turns.  The duration target is the drug's rating +1.

AFTERSHOCK CODE:  (2x Rating)D (dosage).  If the rating is higher than body,
the damage is physical.

ADDICTION CODE:  (Rating+1)(dosage)2.

ADDICTINO LETHALITY:  Deadly.


NOPANE
------
EFFECT:  Nopane reduces the penalty for physical damage by the drug's rating.
It reduces Reaction and Quickness by rating.  Quickness can't be reduced below
one.  If rating is higher than or equal to Quickness, Quickness is reduced to
one, and the character has a penalty of 1, plus rating minus quickness, on all
quickness tests.

Cost:  Nopane was developed by the UCAS army, and its use has spread across the
Americas.  It is not common in Europe or Asia yet.

             NOPANE COST
     Rating     America     Eurasia
       1          50´     200´
       2         100´     300´
       3         200´     400´

Nopane is very illegal, and possession of Nopane marks the user as a seedy
mercenary or killer.  There are better and cheaper drugs on the market (illegal
or otherwise) for normal drug-users.

ONSET TIME:  Two Actions.  The onset target is the drug's rating+2.

DURATION:  (Dosage+1)d6 minutes.  The duration target is the drug's rating +3.

AFTERSHOCK CODE:  (Rating+1)M(dosage).  The damage is never physical.

ADDICTION CODE:  (Rating+1)(dosage)2.

ADDICTION LETHALITY:  Moderate.


HUL KALINE
----------
EFFECT:  Hul kaline (also known as Conananol or Scharzezine) increases the
user's strength by causing the body to go into overtime.  Hul kaline is very
debilitating, though not very addictive.  Hul kaline increases the user's
Strength by rating,.  It decreases the user's Quickness by half rating (round
down) and Intelligence by half ratingÊ(round up).

COST:  Hul kaline was developed by the Aratech Arcology in the late 30s.  When
Aratech went under, they sold the formula to a consortium of military
contractors, and Hul kaline is a staple of South American subcontractors.

     Rating     Hul kaline Cost
       1            500´
       2          1,000´
       3          2,000´
       4          4,000´

Possession of hul kaline is very illegal in most areas.

ONSET TIME:  Four Actions.  The onset target is the drug's rating+2.

DURATION:  (Dosage+2)d6 turns.  The duration target is the drug's rating +2.

AFTERSHOCK CODE:  (Special)D(dosage).  The target number is the drug's rating
plus half the user's original strength (round up).  The damage is always
physical.

ADDICTION CODE:  2(dosage)2.  The addiction code is not dependent on the drug's
rating.  Hul kaline is surprisingly non-addictive.

ADDICTION LETHALITY:  Deadly.


SIMSENSE
--------
Simsense is almost exactly like drugs, except that Body is replaced by
Charisma.  Onset time and duration are chip in and chip out, and dosage is
measured in time.

"Simsense gives you the movie, but with all five senses instead of just two.
BTL [Better than Life] gives you the same, but pushes the sensory signal to the
red line.  2XS...  hits you at the physiological level as well:  adrenalin,
endorphins, everything."
                                                               -- Nigel Findley
                                                               Shadowrun 4: 2XS

Some less reputable simsense producers program their chips to degrade with use.
Of course, even normal simsense will go bad under the typical handling it
receives.  Simsense users are not known for their organizational skills and
hygiene.

COMMON SIMSENSE: (rating 1 to 3)
AFTERSHOCK CODE: (Rating+1)M2
ADDICTION CODE : (1+Rating)(dosage)1
DOSAGE         : 30 minutes
LETHALITY      : Moderate

Simsense is very much like movies:  a sequence of pre-recorded actions and
scenes.  The simsense industry (centered in Hollywood) has directors,
producers, and actors, just like TriVid.

BETTER THAN LIFE: (rating 1 to 4)
AFTERSHOCK CODE : (Rating+2)S3
                   If rating is greater than willpower, aftershock is
                   physical.
ADDICTION CODE  : (2x Rating)(dosage)2
DOSAGE          : 10 minutes
LETHALITY       : Serious

BTL chips are the scummy side of simsense.  The signals are amplified to
provide a 'better than life' experience.  Oddly enough, most BTL chips deal
with violence rather than sex, although there's usually a sexual tint to the
violence.

2XS            : (rating 1)
AFTERSHOCK CODE: (Rating+3)D4
ADDICTION CODE : (2x Rating)(dosage)4
DOSAGE         : 1 minute
LETHALITY      : Deadly

2XS is new to the market.  It requires a datajack.  It must be fed directly
into the brain.  2XS is so illegal very few people outside of illegal simsense
users know about it.

INTERACTIVE SIMSENSE: (rating 1 to 3)
AFTERSHOCK CODE     : (Rating-1)L1
                       Level 1 and 2 InSense will not cause aftershock,
                       unless the user has penalties sufficient to bring
                       the target number above 1.
ADDICTION CODE      : (Rating)(dosage)1
                       Rating 1 InSense is not addictive unless the user
                       has penalties to the roll.
DOSAGE              : 30 minutes
LETHALITY           : Light

Interactive Simsense (InSense) allows the user to change the flow of action,
and make choices.  Some insense gives the user a character-eye view.  Others
are like movies.  In each case, however, the viewer has the choice of what
directions to follow.

Insense requires a special computer buffer to interface.  Some insense won't
work without the interface.  Others will work as standard simsense, providing a
pre-recorded sequence of scenes.

It is rumored that FASA Corp, in conjunction with the Collegium for Research in
Interactive Technologies, is developing a networking technology for insense.




SHADOWSPACE
-----------
Here are two articles describing aspects of outer space.  The first describes
the barrier between the living Earth and the empty void.  The second describes
what exists beyond the barrier.  We at the Guide cannot vouch for the accuracy
of these reports, nor be held responsible for any problems any inaccuracy
causes.


THE SPACE BARRIER
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                            by David Meleedy ([e-mail])

What is the barrier?  The barrier is a non-typical manifestation of the
awakening.  It is similar to a convection ring, which is caused by mana being
released in a (typically) traumatic way (i.e.  death), and which gets trapped
at the outer boundaries of earth's domain.  Consider that in the rules, the
earth is described as being one huge spirit.  When a being dies, the mana is
expelled from the body.  Mana with no body is at first tenuous and is typically
near sources of mana that are still bound to living, organized matter.  In an
attempt to preserve itself, the mana flees upwards.  Soon however, it reaches
the outer boundaries of the Earth Spirit domain and cannot travel any further
because it is not powerful enough to traverse beyond the domain in which it was
created.  At this point, the more powerful spirits are able to gather force and
form, and return as ghosts.  Unfortunately, the lesser spirits, are subject to
entropy and are eventually dissipated at the boundary of the Earth Spirit's
domain over a long period of time.  This vast bubble of agitated mana is known
as the barrier.

Now, any living magically sensitive creature (including man), that comes in
contact with the barrier is instantly subjected to the trauma of being in
contact with the dissipation of thousands of living creatures.  This is what
causes the phenomenon of insanity and death which manifests in magicians who
pass 50 miles above the earth either astrally or physically.  In game terms for
a magician to survive contact with the barrier he must make a Body roll against
an (Essence)D1 wound, using his base Body score (no spells allowed).  What is
happening, is that the entropic effect of the barrier is attempting to rip the
spark of life (Essence) from the body of the magically attuned character.  The
character's only defense at this point is the effect of his/her body which is
attempting to stay alive (hold in the Essence).  To avoid lasting insanity
because of the joining of his mana with that being dissipated, he must make a
Willpower roll with a target number of his magic rating and a threshold of his
Essence-1.  This is because the higher the character's magic rating, the more
attuned he is with awakened phenomenon.  This effect is so powerful that the
character's mind will become overwhelmed by the environment unless he makes a
roll to maintain his identity.  At this point though, the character has already
been determined to be alive, and so there is a tenuous link already between his
body and his Essence, this tenuous link is represented by the small subtraction
in the threshold number.  The threshold method was chosen because of its
similarity to mind affecting game mechanics (i.e.  thought control spell, or
decking).

Magic which comes into contact with the barrier is subject to the full force of
its disruptive power.  As the weaker spirits dissipate (which is most of them)
they release their magical energy, which causes a domino effect across the
upper atmosphere.  What this means to a magicians spell, is that the magic is
dispelled and "washed away" by the tidal forces of magical energy that sweep
across the edge of the barrier.  All astral links (yes, Quickened locks too),
including those established by ritual sorcery are instantly severed.  Obviously
spells cannot be sustained in this environment.

Magic items which are physically carried into contact with the barrier will be
destroyed unless they make a save of the Force of the object vs.  a target
number of 12.  Also, the link between the magician and the item is also
disrupted unless the item makes a save of its Force vs.  a target number of the
karma invested in the bonding and a threshold of the number of items bonded
when the barrier was reached.  The magical energy of a Fetish is automatically
destroyed.

Nature Spirits, being restricted by domain, and more intelligent than any mage
who goes to the barrier, will not come in contact with its destructive
phenomenon.  If a shaman attempts to bring/summon a nature spirit to the
barrier, he will fail.  Elementals are a different matter.  An Elemental which
comes into contact with the barrier must resist discorporation with its Force
in dice against a target number of the number of services remaining times the
magic rating of the mage who bound it.  Should the Elemental survive, the
magician must make a Magic test (his magic rating in dice) against the Force of
the elemental or the bond between them is broken, and it will go free.  Should
the mage die or go insane, the spirit or elemental, is obviously free of any
further obligations.  Allies, due to the unique process of their creation, are
not instantly disrupted by the barrier.  However, the mage must make a test
using his magic rating in dice against twice the ally's force or it will go
free if it so chooses.  (Note that you cannot use the magic rating dice
supplied to the mage by the ally or use automatic successes from an elemental).
Whether allies or elementals may pass beyond the barrier is currently unknown.

>>>[See the next section. While elementals can pass beyond the barrier,
they are extremely volatile in the void. It may be possible that allies
in a physical form will be protected from the void. Our sources are
unclear on that point. None of them have an ally.]<<<
-- Silver Cianide<09:00:15/03-15-52>


BEYOND THE BARRIER
------------------
ASTRAL PERCEPTION

Anyone viewing the astral plane while in outer space must make a Willpower test
vs.  6D3/Mental.  Anyone who remains conscious after this test must make a
Charisma test vs.  5D1/Insanity, each turn.  Already existing insanity is
applied as a bonus, not a penalty, to these two tests.


SPIRITS

Nature spirits cannot travel into space.  If they are forced to do so, they
lose 1 Force Point per minute.  Other planet-created controlled spirits
(Elementals, Watchers, etc.) must make a Force test vs.  4D1 every Force days.
The spirit does not actually take damage, but loses Force points equal to the
wound level -- 4 for Deadly, 3 for Serious, 2 for Moderate, and 1 for Light.

On a largely uninhabited planet, the target number for resisting drain from
summoning a nature spirit is at +2.  On an inhabited but alien planet, the
target for drain is at +1.  When conjuring elementals, watchers, and other
non-nature spirits on a largely uninhabited planet, the staging for drain is
increased by 1.

Non-nature spirits can be summoned in space, with a staging for drain at +1,
but the spirit will not be controlled.


SPACE INHABITANTS

Many strange creatures live in space.  There are abandoned, haunted space
stations, lost, insane wizard ghosts (wizards who tried to astral project
beyond the barrier), and free spirits.  There are rumors, as well, of gigantic
floating webs in space, and man- or whale-sized spiders spinning them.  Legends
of creatures that thrive on magic cast at them, and rumor of a strange nature
spirit or elemental whose domain is the void.  It will take much more
exploration before the truth of these legends comes out.


INSANITY
--------
Insanity is measured as Light, Moderate, Serious, or Deadly.  The penalty to
target numbers is the same as for normal damage, and is cumulative with
physical or stun damage.  There is no penalty for deadly insanity, but such a
character can only be a non-player character.

When in a situation where insanity may occur, resistance will be rolled with
Willpower.  Insanity helps keep a character sane:  if an already insane
character makes a willpower test vs.  further insanity, the insanity penalties
are applied as a bonus instead of a penalty.

Insanity heals in a manner similar to mental damage, although rest is not
required.  A Charisma test is rolled.  Insanity damage does not apply penalties
to this roll, but mental or physical damage does.  Divide the duration by the
number of successes.  This is the amount of time it takes for insanity to drop
one level.  If there are no successes, the level does not drop, and the
duration is doubled for the next roll.

Insanity     Duration     Target Number
Deadly       10 days            6
Serious       6 days            5
Moderate      3 days            4
Light         1 day             3


EFFECTS

The exact effects of insanity are left up to the player and referee.  The style
of the game and the situation that caused the insanity should dictate how
insanity is treated.

Light insanity should involve minor distractions or compulsions.  Moderate
insanity should involve definite compulsions and/or a twisted world-view.

Serious insanity will involve occasional hallucinations, paranoia, and/or very
strange compulsions.  Deadly insanity indicates that the character is
completely insane.  Most of the character's time is spent with hallucinations.
It might involve paranoid delusions and schizophrenia, or a complete,
non-stable personality switch.

Insanity is not cumulative.  However, characters can have multiple insanities.
Only the penalty for the most serious insanity modifies success tests.  Each
insanity must be cured separately.

A character might have a deadly psychosis (fear of flying), a moderate neurosis
(kleptomania), and a light paranoia.  Whenever the character is in a situation
where kleptomania grabs hold, the character has the penalty of 2 for moderate
insanity.  If kleptomania isn't in effect, the character has the penalty of 1
for the paranoia (since paranoia will pretty much always be something the
character will have to worry about).  Whenever the character's fear of flying
takes effect, the character is played by the game master, and no penalties are
in effect.  (Yes, the no penalty for deadly does override the real penalties
for lesser insanities.  It's the highest insanity, not the highest penalty,
that takes precedence.)


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A CONFEDERATE CAJUN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Sony-Louis Rollando

The desert sun beat hard from the west.  In my right hand, I held an Ithaca
SA-50.  Not standard issue, but I prefer a little surprise.  To my left, Gary
surveyed the area with binoculars.  He pocketed them, and pulled out an old
pair, with glass lenses and no electronics.

"Looks like the zone caught up with us. Does it grow?"

"Could be. Full moon tonight."

I looked at my wristwatch -- a mechanical one, for in the zones nothing else
worked reliably.  Above the watch was a wrist calculator.  There are no
mechanical analogs to that.  I punched in 3 + 2.  It came up 7.12159.  We were
definitely in the zone.  Half an hour ago, 3 + 2 equalled 5.  I sheathed my
gun.  At best, firearms in a zone don't work at all.  At worse, the decreased
burn rate builds pressure slowly and explodes the weapon.

We went back into the small cave.  Gary slept three hours, and I kept watch.  I
saw one snake.

It was 2045.  In the east, President Iroff had finally signed the Lee Treaty,
though the war between the states had really been over with for nearly a
decade.  Not my problem anymore, though.  Not since I moved to SoCal.  I'd been
with the Pendleton Franchise for 8 years, and the Confederate Army for three
years before that, and was just beginning to have second thoughts about
spending my life as a career soldier.  Or ending my life as a body shield for
whatever renemage tries to earn extra pesos hiring out to the Franchise.

No mages here, fortunately.  Just a real mental jack who'd decided he could
hide from the law in a technodead zone.  Hell, he'd of been safer staying in
San Diego.  Even then, the law didn't give a damn about some minor murderer.
All the wigs wanted was to make sure no one thought a dead zone was a free
zone.

So here I was.  Somewhere in the Anzo Borrego.  I loosened up with the katana
before handing the watch over to Gary.  In three hours, we moved on.  I've been
meaning to ask a naturalist why there are no dead zones on a beach.

Two sleeps later, we found our first trace of him.  At first we thought he was
being clever, setting an obvious trail to lead any one following either astray
or into a trap.  So we move along real careful, like, for an hour.  Turns out
he's not clever, just an idiot.  I heard a saying once about mad dogs and
Englishmen.  I've never met an Englishman, but this guy was a total cake.
Swapped spit one too many times with the dragon.  He's living in a fucking
cabin in the center of a small, flat valley, sun baking the rocks like a
natural microwave.

Still thinking this guy can't be that crazy, but wondering what it does take to
systematically track down and kill only redheads whose names begin with G, I
set up my bow.  Adjusted the scope, a mechoid, of course, for the estimated
distance, and waited underneath an overhang.

In the vids, this is where two soldiers always manage to solve their
existential problems in a down-home, philosophical discussion.  Fuck that.  In
the middle of the desert, it's hot, it's dry, the sun stares down like an
ancient angry god, you don't feel like thinking, let alone talking.

So he comes out, probably to take a leak, the poor slob.  One arrow and he's
down, the next, he's good as dead.  Gary looks on with the binoculars, and
tells me when it looks like he's stopped breathing.  We don't bother to check
the body until nightfall.  It's not worth leaving the cool, and you never know
-- he may be faking it.  From 300 feet it's hard to tell with old optics.  But
if he lays there in the sun all day, it won't matter what he's faking.

The moon rose before the sun disappeared.  We came out of hiding, went into the
little valley, checked the body.  He's dead, no doubt.  Peek inside the cabin,
which is still holding in the day's heat, and there's nothing there.  We left.

At the top of the valley's side, I turn around to take one last look at the
sucker.  And stop.  The body was gone.

Shit.  Like the old chummer used to say, just when things can't get any better,
they gotta get worse.

Gary saw the same thing.  He swore as well.  It meant we were going to have to
track the bastard, or whoever stole him, down.  The hot day was fast becoming a
cold night.

The calculator no longer worked at all.  We climbed about fifty feet higher
than we were, and surveyed the area.  The full moon lit the desert almost as
well as the sun, but our binoculars showed no one nearby -- no person, no
animal larger than a lizard, the only sign of humanity the fruitcake's cabin.

The door swings in the breeze, but I don't feel anything up here.  The air has
that humid, kind of damp, fleshy feel.  You've never been in heat until you've
been in Louisiana in August.  Or the Yucatan, I suppose, in whatever passes for
boiling there.  Or even West Africa, from what I've heard.  But I believe I'm
babbling.

And I was.  But momma set me right.  She always did, that silvery smile, bright
red hair.  But that was the neighbor-girl-next-door.  Daddy came in from the
wars and set his briefcase down, but I couldn't see him over the din of the
trivideo set.  It wasn't for nothing they called us inseparable, my sister and
eye.  Red blood in my I, and a song in my heart.

Obviously, something was wrong.  Far wrong and way cool.  I thought I heard
thunder in the distance, but it was Gary slapping me back to reality.  Which
wasn't an easy trip with the whore-whore-horehounds blowin' in the wind.  I
steeled myself against his mind, obviously the fruitcake's mind was still here
in the dead zone, trying to infect us with his madness.

Or, perhaps not trying at all.  Only a mindless life force, a shell, a lifeless
mind trapped in the moon, to fade as the moon fades to nothingness.

I crouched, and saw the stars, and felt the ground again.  Now there was a cold
wind, and an odd smell in the air.

Gary kicked at someone.  The kick should have sent his opponent tumbling over
the edge.  Instead, there was a slurping noise, and I saw his toes exit his
opponent's back, straight through the liver.  A hot smell exploded into the
air, sun-boiled meat.  Gary tried to hold back his nausea, and lost.  It
occurred to me that it was too bad he wasn't a redhead, then without thinking I
drew my sword and hit whatever it was he'd kicked.  I saw the thing's face, and
it was the nut, and he was dead, but he clawed at me anyway.  His mouth hung
open, and his tongue lolled out one side of it.

My sword had cut deep, and I yanked it out, as he clawed at me again.  I rolled
back, and realized why video adventurers always had a shield.  Steaming water
poured out the wound in its side.  Gary pounded its back with his staff.  It
staggered forward, but kept its eyes on me as I swung the sword back and
chopped off his head.

It staggered forward, still clawing, and I thought we were fucked, when it just
stopped, swooned, and fell.  I could still feel the ripples of the life force
in the air, but it had lost its power.

We didn't rest until we reached the horses the next morning.




LAW OF THE PACK
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     by Keith Ammann

The gray October wind blew plastic wrappers up the street and some of the brown
haze out of the air.  The afternoon sky was thick with clouds.  The street was
empty of people except for a thin, white-haired young man wearing a respirator
mask and a goblin in a tan trenchcoat and spiked dog collar.  As the thin youth
covered his motorcycle with a plastic sheet, the goblin stared at the sky.

"So much for today's job-hunt," said the goblin, spitting on the ground.

"Yeah, Arch, like we were goin' anywhere anyway." The young man lifted up his
respirator and wrinkled his nose.  "Man.  This rain better wash some o' the
smog down." The two moved into a nearby doorway and sat down on the steps.
Thunder rumbled quietly to the west.

"I don't know why you're hangin' around with me, man," said the goblin.
"You're the one with the diploma.  You could be out doin' somethin'."

The human shook his head.  "The corps ain't for me, Archie.  I can't live like
that.  You gotta give yourself away, man.  They don't let you have your own
life anymore.  I'd rather stay on the streets."

"Man, Corin, you always was the spooky one."

Neither one said anything for a while.

"How's your dad?" asked Corin.

"Better.  He's finally gettin' the people organized.  They're gonna have some
kind of rally." Archie kicked his heel against the concrete steps.  "I'm really
glad he finally got that promotion.  'Bout time they got an ork foreman down
there.  Might make some real money now."

"You think of applyin' down there?"

"Naw, man.  Not on the line."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Archie thought for a minute, resting his chin on his hand and
rubbing his enlarged lower teeth with his thumb.  "Because I wanna be someone.
Because I want a real job and a real life.  I don't want people lookin' at me
like I'm just another dumb ork with nothin' but muscle and attitude.  That drek
chokes, man."

Corin looked down, then at Archie.  "They gonna think that anyway."

Archie sighed.  "I know.  But down on the line, people fight you to prove it.
Too much hate there for me, man.  I don't wanna get into all that."

"I know what you mean," Corin said.  "But you gotta get somethin' sometime."

"Yeah." Archie hadn't had a job since he'd left high school.  He hadn't even
gone for an interview since the disaster a year before, when he applied for a
counter job at the neighborhood Stuffer Shack convenience store, hoping that he
could eventually make it to manager.  Since that interview, he'd always found
excuses not to go to any others, fearing the rejection he was sure he'd
receive.

---

"Name?"

"Archie Santangelo."

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

"Education?"

"Two years at Jarman High."

"Only two?"

Archie hadn't thought it would be the right thing to say that he'd been
expelled his junior year for trying to stop a fight between two normals.  The
security guard, seeing Archie shove the larger of the two hard against a
locker, assumed he had started the fight.  For some reason, the dean didn't
think it was strange that a B student with a clean disciplinary record would
assault two other kids at once.  "That's right," Archie said.

"Program?"

"College prep."

"Not vocational?"

The dogs in Archie's head woke up.  His voice took a hard edge.

"No, not vocational.  College prep."

The interviewer noticed the change in tone and looked up coldly.

Archie had made his first mistake.  "What previous experience do you have?"

"None yet."

"None yet," repeated the interviewer, as if he had guessed the answer
beforehand and just been proven correct.  "What made you want to work at
Stuffer Shack?"

"It's near home," Archie replied as Corin had coached him.  "I don't have a
car.  I can work night shifts.  I know how the stores are organized.  I'm not
afraid of being robbed."

The interviewer smirked.  "Do you know what to do in case of a robbery?"

"Don't resist.  Get a good look at the robber so you can describe him later.
Give him what he wants.  Hit the Panicbutton as soon as he leaves."

The interviewer scowled.  He'd expected the ork to say something like, "Jump
the counter, maul the fragger, and give what's left to the cops." Somehow he
didn't like the fact that Archie knew the right answer.  He looked up.  "Why
the dog collar?"

Second mistake.  He'd forgotten to take it off before the interview.

"I just like it."

"Can't wear it on the job."

"I understand."

"We have strict dress codes.  You wear the uniform and the hat.  No scruffy
clothes, no street clothes.  No dog collars."

"I understand."

"Good." The interviewer looked down again.  "Any criminal record?"

"Nope."

"No assaults?  No vandalism?"

"I said no."

"Ever stolen from an employer?"

"I told you, I've never been employed."

"You drink?  Use drugs or chips?"

"I don't have a jack.  And I don't use drugs." The dogs began to growl.

"But you do drink."

"Yeah, some."

"Ever drink on the job?"

Archie jumped up.  "Goddamnit, I told you!  I haven't had any other job yet!"

The interviewer looked up slowly, icily, and closed the folder.

Strike three.  "Thank you, Mr.  Santangelo.  That will be all."

Archie looked open-mouthed at the interviewer.  Gradually, disbelief was
replaced by understanding.  "You never intended to hire me at all, you bastard.
You were just stringin' me along.  It's 'cause I'm an ork, isn't it?"

The interviewer said nothing.

"Isn't it?"

The interviewer pressed a button on his telecom.  "Liz, please show the
applicant out."

"You goddamn bastard." Archie shook his head and walked wearily out of the
office, ignoring the girl in the doorway who stared at him vacantly.  The
barking of the dogs was giving him a headache.

---

The clouds finally broke open.  A drizzle of pale yellow rain began to fall,
turning gradually into a steady shower.  Archie backed further up the steps,
pulling his long legs out of the rain's reach.  The wind picked up.  Corin
zipped up his heavy black jacket.

"What time is it?" Corin asked.

"Why don't you get a watch?" said Archie.

"Can't afford one, drekhead.  What time is it?"

Archie looked.  "Quarter after four."

"Guess we're stuck here for a while."

---

The rain continued on into the early evening.  When it finally stopped, Corin
took a sniff, decided the air was safe to breathe again, and walked up the
block toward his basement apartment.  Archie went down the block to his own
building.

His family was already seated around the dinner table when he got there.
"Hurry, Archie, your food's getting cold," his mother called as he hung his
long coat on a peg, picked up his two sisters' coats, and hung them up too.  He
sat down at the table between his father and his younger sister, Mary.  The
dinner was flavored nutrisoy, as usual.  No specials tonight.  He picked up his
fork and started shoveling it in.  His father was talking about the union; they
were going to have a rally the next night.  Archie made interested noises.

"Mommy, can I get a straw?" Mary asked.

"Certainly, honey." Archie's mother got up and went to the drawer that had the
straws.  She and his other sister, Anna, hadn't undergone the mutation that
affected Mary, him, and their father, making their muscles denser and stronger,
their frames taller, and their faces frightening parodies of normal humans'
faces, with slightly pointed ears and overgrown lower canines that poked out
between their lips.  Archie and his younger sister had been born that way;
their father, he was told, changed at puberty.  He'd spent three weeks in the
hospital, and come out more strong and stubborn than ever before.  Anna, being
fifteen years old, was considered beyond risk.  She would probably stay human
the rest of her life.

"Mom, why you gettin' Mary a straw?" Archie said.  "She's gotta learn to drink
from a glass some time."

"Archie, don't be mean."

"I'm not bein' mean, Mom.  Mean is gonna be the kids in high school askin' why
she don't drink out of a glass like everyone else." Mrs.  Santangelo put the
straw in Mary's glass with a resigned look at Archie.  Mary drank the soymilk.
Archie shook his head and returned to his food.

"Find a job today, Archie?" asked his father.

Drek, thought Archie, having hoped that his father would talk about the union
until dessert.  "No, Pop.  Got rained out."

"It wasn't raining this morning."

"I wasn't up this morning." Knots formed in Archie's stomach.  His appetite
fled.  The dogs howled.

"Why weren't you up this morning?"

"Pop, I'll go out tomorrow."

"Answer me!  Why weren't you up looking for a job this morning?"

"Michael, please." His mother's face had a pained expression.

"Paula, stay out o--"

"Pop, I'll go tomorr--"

"Don't shout --"

"You will get up out of --"

"Pop, I will --"

"Can I head over to Rachel's?" said Anna.  Her soft, steady voice cut through
the shouts.  The argument lost what little continuity it had.

"Yes, dear, go ahead," said Mrs.  Santangelo.  Anna got up from the table and
went for her coat.  Archie and his father looked at each other once again.

"Archie, hon, if you're not doing anything tomorrow, could you pick Mary up
from school?" asked his mother before the shouting could begin again.  The
front door opened and shut.

"He's not--"

"Yes, Mom," Archie said.  His father scowled angrily.  "Pop, I'll check the ads
tomorrow morning."

Mr.  Santangelo glared at Archie, pushed away from the table, and walked into
the TV room.

---

Archie got up early the next morning, mainly because his father woke him up.
That day he browsed through the want ads on the newsfeed, made a couple of
half-hearted phone calls, and didn't write down the information he got.

Early in the afternoon, he went out to find Corin.  He was hanging around on
the corner with Martin Megistus, the street magician.  Martin was popular with
all the kids, but only Corin had stayed interested in the old man's tricks as
he grew up.  He said the magician was the real thing, and he was learning the
stuff himself.  Martin had always told Archie he had the talent as well, but
Archie could never stay interested.  Most of the things the magician said went
over his head.  Any time he thought he understood something, the dogs would get
restless, and he'd lose his concentration.  Corin could focus his attention on
something for hours at a time.  Archie didn't care about things if he didn't
understand them right away.

Corin, as usual, was completely wrapped up in what the magician had to say.
Archie tried to look interested but couldn't.  His efforts to get Corin's
attention away from the magician came to nothing.  His "Sayonara" as he left
barely got a nod.  He checked his watch.  It was a little after two-fifteen.
He headed off to pick up his sister.

Archie walked up the drive to the front door of Milton Elementary.  He'd gone
there too, when he was little.  The lobby always looked really small compared
to how he remembered it, no matter how many times he came back.  Watercolor
paintings from the art classes covered the fake-wood- paneled walls.  Children
milled noisily about.  Parents bumbled through the crowd, calling out, trying
to find the ones that were theirs.  Carefully and gently Archie pushed his way
over toward the auditorium doors, next to that weird metal thing that was
supposedly a sculpture.  It had been there forever.  Corin had always been
fascinated by the metal thing, with its small, intricate shapes and moving
parts.  Archie had never gotten the point.  He craned his neck and scanned the
lobby, looking for Mary.

When he spotted her, the dogs started barking in his head.  She had been
crying; there were dark circles under her eyes.  A big black smudge of dirt
covered one side of her new jacket.  Her long, brown hair was messed up.
Forgetting politeness, Archie plowed through the crowd toward his sister.

"Mary, tell me what happened."

"No." Her lip trembled.

"Who did this, Mary?  Tell me who did this?"

"No." She shook her head.

"Dammit, Mary, what happened?"

"Nothing."

Archie felt ready to explode with frustration.  "Come on.  Let's get home." He
took her hand and started walking, too fast, toward the door.  As they walked
out the door and down the drive, Archie's questions were answered.  A group of
human kids, standing at the bus stop, pointed and laughed.  Archie stopped in
his tracks and put a hand on Mary's shoulder.  "Stay right here, Mary," he
said.  Mary stood as still as a fence post.  Archie strode toward the bus stop
kids.

"What're you starin' at?" he shouted.  "What the hell you think you're starin'
at?" Most of the children stopped laughing.  One whispered, "I don't know, but
it's u-u-ugly!" Another giggled at that.

"Who said that?" demanded Archie.  The dogs strained at their leashes.  "Who
was it?  Was it you?" he shouted into on child's face.

The child was petrified.  Archie straightened up.

"That," he said with fierce restraint, "is my sister.  You hear me?  My sister.
And if I find out that any of you little snots are messin' with her again,
teasin' her, pushin' her around, callin' her one single fraggin' name that's
not her own, then I hope you got the bus fare to get back from where I'm gonna
kick your snotty little asses to.  You got that?  One word!  One word and
you're meat." The children stood frozen, speechless.  Out of the corner of his
eye, Archie saw a teacher walking over.  He nodded to her and turned to walk
back toward his sister.  The teacher continued walking, approaching him.  He
gritted his teeth.

"Can I help you, sir?" the teacher asked accusingly.

Archie turned his head and gestured to his sister.  "No, but maybe you could
start helpin' her.  'Bout time someone did." He shut himself off from the
teacher, took Mary by the hand, and walked her home without a word.

On the way home, his head was full of angry thoughts.  He'd only been trying to
look after his sister, and the teacher -- the same one he'd had years before --
had thought he was some sort of criminal.  A chill wind picked up.  The studs
of his collar felt cold against his neck.  Archie hung his head, ashamed of his
outburst.  He wondered if he could actually bring himself to do anything to
those kids if they bothered Mary again.  He wondered if he'd ever be able to
live with himself if he did.  His hand gripped Mary's tightly.  The dogs
remained awake, watching.

When Archie got home, Corin was waiting outside.  "Sorry I wasn't -- " He
noticed Mary's condition and broke off.  What happened?  he mouthed.

Archie motioned Corin to come on in.  He glanced at the elevator; broken again.
It's not fair to make a ten-year-old kid walk up four flights, he thought.  He
carried Mary up the steps.

His mother told Mary to go change and wash up.  "Mom," Archie started, "a bunch
of kids were --"

"It's okay, Archie.  She's fine.  She just needs to get straightened up."

"Mom, she's not fine.  The kids are knockin' her around.  You gotta talk to the
teachers there."

"She'll be fine, Archie.  She's not hurt.  Just a little dirty."

"What if she gets hurt?"

"Archie, don't worry.  Everything will be okay." Mrs.  Santangelo turned and
followed Mary.

Archie swung his fist at the air.  "Nothing.  Not a damn thing I can do."

"C'mon, Arch.  'Sko over to my place." Corin motioned Archie to leave.

They went out the door.  Anna was coming up the stairs.  "Hoi, Anna," said
Archie.  Corin waved.  She smiled at the two and turned into the apartment
without a word.

Corin walked down the stairs.  Archie stomped.  "I can't take this anymore,"
Archie said.  "Kids pickin' on Mary.  Guys at work givin' Pop the screws.  Pop
givin' me hell for not bein' perfect.  Day after day with nothin' to do.  I
can't take it."

"Get a job."

"Slot off, man, I'm serious.  I am goin' absolutely nuts.  I live on a street
with squatters, chipheads, people with dead-end jobs and unemployed bums like
us.  And there's not a fraggin' thing I can do about it!  I can't even get a
fraggin' job--"

"You tried lately?"

"That's not the fraggin' point!" snapped Archie as they walked out the door.
"Even if I tried, I wouldn't get nothin'.  They're keepin' me out.  Don't want
me.  Don't want a fraggin' ork doin' somethin' they could get a normal do to.
Don't want me nowhere but on the line or on the street, where I can't do
nothin'.  Christ, I gotta do somethin'!"

"What can't you do?"

"I can't change nothin'.  I can't stop people from messin' with my own goddamn
sister.  I can't make people see what's goin' on.  I start maulin' people, what
does that do?  Nothin'.  I'm just what they want me to be then, see?"

Corin nodded quietly.  "Yeah, I get it."

"I don't wanna hurt no one.  I just can't stand to see all this drek goin' on
around me.  I gotta do somethin'.  God, they won't even let me protect my own
goddamn sister."

Corin gave Archie a moment to cool down.  "Let's get somethin' to eat, man."

"Got no appetite," said Archie.

"You can buy mine, then."

Archie laughed.  "You take me to Stuffer Shack, you're meat."

---

The dogs started barking later that evening.  Archie couldn't shut them up.
They drove him to distraction.  As he and Corin approached his building, the
barking became more and more insistent.  Archie stared blankly at the building.
In his mind, the dogs barked disaster.  A dreadful intuition overcame his
reason.  He bolted away, up to the building and through the door, bounding up
the steps two and three at a time, hitting the stairwell wall once as he lost
his grip swinging around the rail.  The dogs barked incessantly.  He burst
through the apartment door without turning the knob all the way, nearly ripping
the bolt slot from the frame.

His mother sat on the couch, holding Mary.  The girl was crying in terror and
grief, tears streaming down her face, gulping in air and expelling it in
horrible wails of anguish.  His mother sat still, her face pale, her eyes
sunken, staring straight ahead, mechanically stroking the girl's hair.  Anna
sat on a chair in the dining room, tracing a finger around in circles on the
table.

"What's wrong?" screamed Archie.  "Someone fraggin' tell me what's wrong!" His
shouting intensified the young girl's crying.  His mother shrunk back against
the sofa.  Neither spoke.

The only answer came from the other room.  "The Humanis Policlub crashed Pop's
union rally," said Anna in a melancholy monotone, not looking in Archie's
direction.  "They came with baseball bats and shotguns.  They said they were
there to punish the local that hired goblins as foremen." She paused.  "They
beat Pop to death."

The dogs were going crazy, barking, pulling at their leashes, jumping and
cursing and yelping in every direction.  Archie's head spun.

"They what?  Who were they?  Who did it?"

"The police broke it up," said Anna.  "Pop was already dead.  They arrested a
bunch of them." Anna looked at Archie, a strange, puzzled expression on her
face.  "Mom won't press charges."

"WhaaAAAGGHHH!" Archie had meant to confront his mother, but instead of words
came an inarticulate roar.  His mother's face was devoid of emotion, almost
devoid of life.  She spoke like a ventriloquist's dummy, like the words weren't
her own and she was only the medium.  "I don't want any more trouble, Archie.
I don't want any more trouble.  Everything will be all right.  It has to be.
No more trouble."

In his anger, Archie brought both his forearms down on the end table, smashing
it into jagged fragments.  His mother closed her eyes tightly and shook her
head.  Mary wailed.  Anna turned back to staring at the table.  The dogs broke
free, the pack charging off on the hunt.  Archie, running, followed them out
the door, leaping down the stairs.  On the second flight he turned his ankle
painfully as he landed, adding to his rage as he stubbornly and unevenly ran
down the rest of the stairs and out into the street, screaming incoherently all
the way.

Corin saw his friend tear out of the apartment building, yelling his guts out,
loping along with a face that could give a mercenary a heart attack, and was
struck dumb with shock.  Archie never even saw Corin as he ran through the
streets in agony, flailing his arms, barely maintaining his balance.  The dogs
had been loosed to the hunt.  Hunting normals.  Archie was part of the pack,
being driven along with them.  The pack would find their quarry, and Archie
would join them as they chased and cornered and tore it to pieces.  He charged
down the streets with the pack, looking for the one that would pay for what
normals had done to his family.

Suddenly something caught him and he wasn't running, he was falling....  His
body slammed heavily against the pavement, his jaw scraped against asphalt.
His hands were torn by gravel.  He tried to get up but couldn't get his limbs
to obey his commands.  He was losing the chase.  As he lay on the ground,
screaming pleas to the darkness, the pack charged off and left him behind.  He
collapsed down and sobbed helplessly, unable to do anything.

Combat boots appeared next to Archie's head.  Corin was kneeling down beside
him, his face painted with nervousness and every limb shaking.  "You go-g-gotta
ch-chill, Arch," he stuttered out.  "You g-gotta t-tell t-t-tell me wh-wha-what
ha-what happened."

Archie's voice was choked with anguish.  "They got away...  The fraggers got
away...."

"Who-who did?"

"They're gonna pay," sobbed Archie.  "I'm gonna kill 'em...  kill 'em all...
every fraggin' one...."

"Archie, what are you talkin' ab-bout?  You're n-n-n-n--" Corin scrunched his
eyes shut and bit his lip.  "You're...  not...  going to...  kill anyone."

Archie's scream tore ruts through the street.  "I KNOW!!  They'll never let
me...  won't let me defend my own fraggin' family....

Don't you see?  All this goddamned drek...  I can't do anything...  they won't
let me...."

"Archie, you can't kill anyone.  You said it yourself.  You can't become what
they want you to be."

Archie exhaled a deep sob and dropped his head.  His forehead hit the asphalt,
jarring his senses.  "I can't be anything," he breathed out.  "I can't do
anything.  All I can do is lie here and take it." He paused.  "All I can do is
lie here.  Corin, why can't I move my fraggin' arms?"

"My fault, man."

Archie suddenly felt free to move.  He sat up dizzily.  "What the hell'd you
do?"

"Somethin' Martin taught me.  Said your anger'd run away with you someday.
Told me to do that if I ever saw it happen."

"Do what?"

"Never mind, man." Corin took a deep breath.  "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up.
You're a fraggin' mess."

"Gimme a sec.  My head hurts." Archie lay back down, propping himself on his
forearms.  "I dunno what to do, man.  I feel so fraggin' helpless.  Muscle an'
attitude's all I got.  Can't use it without becomin' somethin' I can't stand to
look at.  Just another dumb goddamn ork."

"You got a lot more than that, Arch.  You know what's right.  Lots o' people
can't see that.  And you ain't afraid to stick up for it."

"Doesn't matter.  Just a dumb fraggin' ork.  Never be anything else.  Not even
good enough for the line...."

"Come on, man, your head works just fine.  I can't stand stupid people, but I
hang with you.  You know what's right.  You just gotta know how to make people
listen."

Archie sighed.  "I dunno.  I just get so fraggin' confused...  maybe if I just
got somewhere where I could think...." Archie fell silent for a moment.  He
looked up at Corin, his eyes narrow.  "You think they'd let me back into
Jarman?"

Corin thought.  "Doubt it.  Maybe another school."

"Got no car."

"We'll figure somethin' out.  Come on."

Corin steadied his friend's arm as he got to his feet.  They walked and limped
up the block.  "Hey, Corin," Archie asked, "how come you got so many books?
You won't buy a TV or a fraggin' watch, but you buy books?"

"You wanna read any of 'em, you're welcome to," Corin said, looking Archie and
breaking into a small smile.  "Knowledge is power."

Neither one said anything for a while.

---

"The more I think about it...  the more it looks as if I've been a cog in one
thing or another since the day I was born.  Whenever I get set to do what I
want to do, something a whole lot bigger than me comes along and shoves me back
into place."
                                               -- Anonymous WWII soldier



THE CHIPPER
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Reviews of things you have to pay for.


THE FUTUROLOGICAL CONGRESS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Stanislaw Lem
                            translated from Polish by Michael Kandel
                                   Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1985
                              1250 Sixth Avenue, San Diego, CA 29101
                               111 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10003

In the world of Shadowrun, altered reality is a way of life.  People jack in
and chip in, using drugs, simsense, BTL, 2XS, and decks.  What effects will
there be when people can control their lives to the extent that chips can be
controlled?

Stanislaw Lem wrote The Futurological Congress before the advent of virtual
reality technology, but the drugs that play a major part in this work are
uncannily similar to chips in 2050 AD.  Lem shows us what is possible with
simsense.

In a society where governments can no longer take care of their citizens, they
use drugs to create an artificial world.  Artists drop out of the real world
and create their masterpieces in their own private world, for their own private
pleasure.  Companies spring up that create custom drugs which allow customers
to vent their anger against individuals in a non-violent, socially acceptable
way.

Lem's writing, as usual, is superb, and he deftly explores the ramifications
and possibilities of a world where reality is both fixed (nature) and fluid
(simulated).  The Futurological Congress is highly recommended to any Shadowrun
referee.

                                              reviewed by Jerry Stratton


SHADOWRUN 4: 2XS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Nigel Findley
                                       Penguin Books, USA Inc., 1992
                               375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014

The writing in 2XS is awkward, and typos abound.  Simply as fiction, I cannot
recommend this book.  It does, however, provide a good look at the world of
Shadowrun.  While general editing was lacking, continuity editing seems to have
been tight -- everything conforms almost exactly to Shadowrun terminology and
effects.  You can almost see the game behind the story.

But only almost.  Dirk (the hero) just isn't on the ball.  It's surprising he's
survived this long without getting fragged.  We, as readers, can tell what's
happening to Dirk and his friends before he figures it out, even though we're
only told what Dirk sees.  Are we more pre-disposed to strangeness than Dirk
would be?  Unlikely.  Dirk lives in the awakened world.  The traffic report he
listens to warns of octopi climbing onto the highway and chomping cars.

If you're a Shadowrun gamer, I do recommend reading this.  You get a
description of simsense (the 2XS of the title) from the user's experience.  You
see a mage/free spirit relationship.  And you get a nicely described
Shadow-mission towards the end.  The virtual reality descriptions in this book
are better, and more useful from a gaming standpoint, than those from the story
in the Virtual Realities supplement.

SPOILER WARNING:  This book contains spoilers for the Universal Brotherhood.

                                             reviewed by Jerry Stratton