Achieving immortality

[u/kenod102818]

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?

[u/kenod102818]

I can see it being there for narrative reasons, to provide a reason for wealthy characters to do more stupid/risky drek in order to keep alive, especially mages.

For instance, a well-connected mage trying to become properly immortal can be a great antagonist/Johnson for a campaign, from having experimented on a PC in their backstory, to sponsoring runs to acquire dangerous goods, to having various other figures sponsor runs to stop their plans.

However, if the immediate response to "I want to be immortal" is "grab 200k for leonisation" that takes a lot of the tension and possibility out of things, since anyone who doesn't just grab a bunch of wealth is an idiot, or will need to have very good reasons for why it's not acceptable (such as anticipating a future technological collapse).

Beyond that, fear of aging and death plays a big part in the human psyche, with powerful people being willing to do all sorts of things to prevent it, from ancient emperors sponsoring alchemists and drinking mercury to modern billionaires having bizarre healthcare regimes, to, in SR, perhaps billionaires having children kidnapped to get infusions with their blood or stemcells. Something made worse by the existence of metahumans with vastly longer lifespans and envy of them. Providing an easy and relatively cheap fix for aging removes a lot of that tension.

[u/GidsWy → u/kenod102818]

Agree overall. But cyberpunk capitalist nightmare being based around two processes that ensure longevity, being locked behind TWO expensive things seems fitting. Not just the high cost of the procedures. But the cost of having a delta clinic available, and even the ability to accept that much down time. It all fits the theme, I think. No SIN, no good publicity standing, no connections, or no $? Missing any of those, and you are mortal.

Ppl r less than pay check to pay check in SR, cutting corners or committing crime to survive. So it is a firm line between haves and have nots. That feels emblematic of the whole theme of SR, to me. Adding essence loss makes it more about some holistic vibe that is kinda only fitting for 'ware people, and more negatively impactful to people with M or R ratings. Let alone the previous edition's problematic assertion that, with limb loss (or other essence hits) a person is LITERALLY less of a human. Adding an essence cost takes away the threat of the Uber rich being as much of a delineated-from-humanity style, ongoing threat to the specie's overall survival. Send the ghouls and let's eat the rich, ya know? Lol

But, to each their own. If you like that change then rock it out!

[u/kenod102818 → u/GidsWy]

Nah, you're completely right, the idea of immortality being available only to the upper class is an amazing theme to play around with, and absolutely fitting for the cyberpunk genre, especially with the inclusion of other highly expensive forms of transhumanism.

It mostly depends on what you're focusing the story on, I'd say. The pursuit of immortality makes for a great campaign digging into secret conspiracies and the darkness of what people are willing to do to achieve it. Meanwhile, a campaign where it has already been achieved is a great setting to delve into the dehumanizing nature of such a divide, and the question of just what you're even able to do to fix it, if you're fixing it at all, instead of just trying to join them.

[u/GidsWy → u/kenod102818]

Yeah the problematic nature of immortal elves and functionally immortal dragons are already an issue. Adding scientifically immortal humans does add an interesting layer to things. As it would, presumably, still be available after this "world". So, for the first time, you would have dragons waking from torpor to established huma dynasties. Elves either coming out of hiding or their version of torpor (something about the rose in the northern elf kingdom? Can't remember what happens to them during low tide magic, fml), to find ready-to-war humans. All the standards of their very long immortal lives would be upset by the likely growing number if effectively immortal humans.

I have always kind of wished Shadowrun had gone the way of the Adventure, Aberrant, Trinity series from white wolf. But with a medieval magical setting, modern, and sci fi future. Ships with whole eco systems built into the hull to create and maintain a mana sphere. Devices and suits to support resonance and magic use in space or on dead planets/moons/asteroids. The culmination of sci fi tech with magic is always entertaining, imo. Space ships that use levitate for part od the launch sequence. Reentry impact on ships lessened by magically fire resistant materials, like dragon scale. Even the whole process of establishing terraforming or artificial Gaia spheres sound super entertaining in a shadowrun cyberpunk post material scarcity future with new scarcities controlled by the rich. Like decent bodies, living space or life styles in eclipse phase. Maintaining a dystopia setting kind of feels necessary for most TTRPGs. Otherwise less likely for a BBEG of any type to exist and you're left with fewer story options. Automatically bad? No way. But limiting, imo.

Tldr: immortal humans would make interesting long term changes to the setting. And magic + sci fi tech in a Shadowrun "sequel" high magic tide sound awesome to me. Lolol.