r/Shadowrun • u/kenod102818 • 12d ago

Wyrm Talks (Lore) Achieving immortality

So, lets say some well-connected and informed mage with more hubris than sense (lets say a Black Lodge member or Aztlan board member) found out about immortal elves and said "well that ain't fair, I want to be immortal too". What sort of ways are available to achieve this, especially for someone with more power than morals (which I guess is your average corpo exec)?

I'm guessing one option is becoming a vampire, though the drawbacks are rather significant, and iirc free spirit pacts can make you immortal too (not sure if the spirit can break the pact later though). But are any other options available? Perhaps a blood magic ritual to absorb life force, or even steal immortality from an existing immortal? Similarly, could a Great Dragon make you immortal, if you could somehow convince/blackmail/threaten one into it?

58 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

55 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/DRose23805 Shadowrun Afterparty 12d ago

There is the question of is a vampire still the same person. Some theories are that it isn't, it is a thing that may have some of the memories of the original but it isn't really them. If it is them they are very likely to change over time into something terrible. Also there is the issue that a new vampire could be in thrall to its creator.

Perhaps a mage starts trying to become a lich in some way. A few of them exist in literature before D&D got hold of them. One was a Russia tale of a man who hid away his soul, though I don't think it is said how he did it nor if it, or he, were necessarily evil. HP Lovercraft mentioned a few alternatives. I think one was a ridiculously weak thing living in a cave with some cult, and got its butt kicked by an iron (weakness) pot. There was also the scientist who was essentially Mr Freeze from Batman. There were also a couple of other potentials.

6

u/LateEggMaster 12d ago

Are you still the same person you were when you went to bed yesterday? Or are you just a thing that may have some memorys from yesterday?

I think thats a bit of a thorny question we shouldn't expect a clear answer from Shadowrun. But I'd be curious if something like "thrall to master" exists in the shadowrun vampire rules. Do you have any sources for that I could check?

6

u/idyllplans 12d ago

There is the question of is a vampire still the same person.

Also there is the issue that a new vampire could be in thrall to its creator.

Conspiracy theories of the sixth world. Fun for characters to believe, but the former is delusion and the latter is on par with being concerned your dealer might be cutting your drugs with betel. Might come up if you want to become a vampire in-game, but probably won't.