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The year was approximately 1990 or so and this new RPG was being release from FASA Corp. FASA Corp. was renowned for for releasing Battletech and its RPG addon MechWarrior many nights, and 85 tonne Battlemechs , had been lost and won. However this fine day was the release of the new ShadowRun (tm) series. Combining magic and cyberpunk together in a not so distant "Awakened" world.
It was with much glee when my good (gullible) friend, Henry, decided to start his campaign utilizing the 3 most mercenary PC's known to Beaufort, SC. With trembling fingers and much scratch paper our "Shadowrun" group was formed - Wolf - A Human Street Samuri, forged with custom state of art cyberware. Explosive ordinance specialist who carried enough weapondry to arm a small Pacific Island. Stalker - An Elven Hit Man, renown in for being the most lethal humanoid alive with a rifle, and having an obessive penchant for lugging plastique, mini-grenande cocktails and using them liberally amongst backdrop targets (read: civilians) Lastly came my character. Sho'Nuff - A dwarf mage, who exercised the only bit of common sense, until the train accident of 2053. When in fit of rage, he ripped off a the infamous Hellblast which decimated half a STA (Seattle Transit Authority) car and wiped out a sizeable contingent of the "Bloody Skulls" Motocycle Gang. With our outrageously over powered characters we proceeded to shake the foundations of the Pacific Northwest. Men, women... and especially children began to speak our names with awe and fear. My personal favorite recollection involved us laying waste to an entire settlement of homeless squatters. All in order to whack one corporate turn coat. The imagery which will always stick in my mind is seeing the place engulfed in flames, every moving humoid (and animal), shot, grenaded, and magicked back to hell. Yet in the midst of the conflageration one woman and infant child made it through to the door... Only to hear: *clickety clak* *sounds of mini-gun spinning up* Wolf - "I got the woman" Stalker - " I got the kid" *sounds of autofire ring out into the night* The horrors we unleashed were the stuff of legend and due to bad rules interpretation it was all possible. Yet it was fun, needless pointless fun. I look back on those times with great fondness, because while online games and computer/console graphics can make everything surreal, nothing beats the old times and gathering places of having a group of friends together with caffeinated beverages and thoughts of barely legal debauchery on their minds. |
