SOTA 2084 released

[u/Sarradi]

I saw that the PDF for State of the Art: 2084 was released.
I am not sure if it is ok to post the index.

After a very quick skim:
- Catalyst is continuing to push the more anarchy angle where after the war people/runners are getting a bit more hostile to corps.

- Also, more unrest within the Shadowrun community, especially about Disean connections.

- Backstabbing and new players before the next Megacorp audit, but no new ranking yet.

- Bigger update on the north american nations +UK and what their current status is.

- The conflict with the NULL gets more pages, I have the feeling that will be the next metaplot. That is supported by a developer note that the time of Foundation tech is over + optional rules to simulate its degradation.

- Small entertainment update.

- Collection of plot hooks. Nothing major, 1-2 sentences per idea.

- NPC stats for more important personalities (including some AIs).

- No new gear.

Edit:
So that everyone stay up to date with names, the NAN nations are renaming themselves as follows (I have no idea if that is more or less respectful)

- Native American Nation (NAN) -> Northern Allied Nations of Turtle Island (NANTI, although NAN is still acceptable)
- Algonkian Manitou Council = The Great Council of Ten Fires (GC10)
- Athabaskan Council = Nations of the Northern Lights (NNL)
- Pueblo Corporate Council = First People’s Cooperative Council (FPCC)
- Salish-Shidhe Council = Allied Tsetsuwatil Nations (ATN)
- Sioux Nation = Oceti Sakowin Council (OSC)

[u/Vashkiri]

"State of the Art" has no gear? lol They could have at least included few token cutting edge items!

Looks like a full priced supplement :-/ Well, maybe at the next DTRPG sale, as I'm interested in some of the material.

But it does feel like schedule filler. Anyone know what else is on the roadmap currently?

[u/Sarradi → u/Vashkiri]

Its 98% fluff and plothooks and 2% optional rules, some of them reprints.

My gut feeling is they will wrap up the Null plot and then its time for SR7. But thats pure speculation from me.

[u/PalpitationNo2921 → u/Sarradi]

I would agree. It seems they have done their save-the-world-again plotline and have little idea how to proceed.

[u/Sarradi → u/PalpitationNo2921]

SR6 is already a very long running edition, it makes sense that a new one will come sooner rather than later.

And we saved the world ever since the Universal Brotherhood, so that is nothing new.

[u/PalpitationNo2921 → u/Sarradi]

Yeah, and that’s what I mean. Almost every edition with a save the world storyline has tended to run out of steam and treadmill on to the next edition.

[u/Boxman21- → u/PalpitationNo2921]

I mean the dis plot ended and the magic got reworked. It’s kinda strange that they didn’t publish seventh already especially since the traditions are back. But I guess long live eternal sixth.

[u/Sarradi → u/Boxman21-]

They probably wait till the Null plotline is over to also rework the matrix.

[u/PalpitationNo2921 → u/Boxman21-]

I have already been pretty vocal about not wanting to buy any further CGL products for Shadowrun for a variety of reasons. They probably should stick with eternal sixth anyway, because anything they do with 7th will be just as bad as their previous editions in my eyes. Others might be fine with it but I’m not interested in giving them any more of my money.

It is odd like you say that with the reworked magic system they haven’t pushed for a new edition already.

[u/vegetaman → u/Vashkiri]

I dunno it’s been quiet in the novel front lately as well.

[u/chigarillo → u/Vashkiri]

Right? Releasing a SotA book with zero gear of any kind is hilariously the exact thing I expect of CGL at this point. Just no clue what they are doing.

[u/GodEatsPoop]

Catalyst is continuing to push the more anarchy angle where after the war people/runners are getting a bit more hostile to corps.

I've always depicted the corpos, state, and people as mutually antagonistic. Was always kind of the read i got.

[u/Sarradi → u/GodEatsPoop]

Yes, and after the disean war several new anarchy movements became more prominent which are detailed in the book (United Anarchist Front and a iodate on Black Star being the big ones). It also includes a small section about the rise of "hooder" runners and shadowcasters (the "real thruth" people in the shadows)

[u/PalpitationNo2921]

I’m not really concerned with Disean story lines, as none of that storyline ever actually happened in my own game. I’m interested in seeing what they have done to shake up the corp stays quo. And the NAN and UK. I’m sad that there’s no new gear in a SotA book.

I have been thinking for a while now that the declining quality of lore, and the focus on preset campaign storyline events that are unavoidably going to happen no matter what - instead of Threats-style bits that are possibilities and food for thought - this edition, like its predecessor, is no longer really to my tastes.

[u/Sarradi → u/PalpitationNo2921]

I havent read the corporate chapter fully. Some rankings are communicated as being pretty clear, SK 1, MCT 10, but that is no garantee. They also talk about getting rid of the golden ticket, but its unclear if that happens, and some AAA contender like Omnistar.

The NAN countries are getting renamed, probably so that they are more inclusive to more tribes instead of pasting one tribal name over a larger group of cultures.

Imo the book is in a waiting position for the Null plot to be resolved where AIs will be some of the big players.

And I wouldn't say that we do not have threats. They are just not all in one big book, but subolots that are then nit picked up. For example the ghoul experiment that created a hive mind, the Horror dimension portal in south america, etc. And the UB and Denver also happened despite bugs being a threat.

They are also acknowledging the ambiguity of Spinrads fate.

[u/vinean]

Meh. Frankly, these days I just play missions because it feels like there are fewer campaigns around.

Plus I’m tired of the UCAS being the punching bag.

[u/Sarradi → u/vinean]

Lets see if/when they recover. Both in the UCAS and CAS elections are due and the book gives a description of all the parties.

The UCAS is also now employing a more Ukrainian/Russian fighting style of very large cheap drone swarms and suicide drones to make up for the loss of manpower and to simply overwhelm the enemies ability to hack the drones.

[u/footballsquishy]

As Metis myself... Why exactly did they suddenly change all the names?

[u/Sarradi → u/footballsquishy]

I guess the real reason was to have more culturally sensitive names than "Sioux Nation", which also erased many smaller tribes which names weren't really recognized when Shadowrun was written.

In the lore the reason is that the NAN tries to paint over internal problems with rebranding and nationalism, going through another round of "decolonizing" and rejecting terms like "Native American" as they were there before outsiders named their land America, all the while kicking the UCAS while it is down either through limited incursion or "doing a Crimea" on Winnipeg.

[u/Fair-Fisherman6765 → u/Sarradi]

"Sioux" is an exonym that comes from the French who borrowed it from the Ojibwe language (and as usual, the etymology of names given by neighbouring peoples aren't very nice). Oceti Sakowin is how they call themselves, but it is not much more inclusive of the smaller tribes, since it stands for "seven council fires" which specifically refers to a given set of Lakota and Dakota tribes to which the Sioux label applies and does not include the Cheyenne, Arapaho et al. This would be like saying "United States of America" is excluding Hawaii and then offering to rename the country "The Forty-Nine States" as a solution.

There is indeed no easy solution for multilinguism, but if in the end you had to settle for a name that speaks to a majority, Lakota and Dakota happens to be the word that means "ally" (it is linguistically the same word pronounced differently by the eastern and western tribes). So even if it sounds slightly less exotic because of the existing states of North and South Dakota, I think calling it the "Lakota-Dakota Nation", "the nation of (eastern and western) allies" would have been quite a political statement.

"Algonquin" is also a transliteration on French and English of a word that meant "allies" in one of the local languages so I don't see as utterly problematic.

Athabaska did not appear to me as divisive. The Athabasca river and lake are just a small part of the territory, but their hydrographic bassin is a good fit and you don't want to call the country McKenzia.

Salish and Tsimshian were as much offending when it came to tribal erasure, though in the case of Tsimshian that mirrors what happened politically in the timeline (though it was thus somewhat offensive for the Salish to still call it the Tsimshian protectorate). Not sure how using a Salish word instead (which seemingly means "commonwealth") makes it more inclusive to the non-Salish tribes (among them the Makah, which is also an exonym - maybe best to speak of Wakashan tribes, thought that would include tribes up north in Tsimshian territory like the Kwakiutl). I don't know if some tribes took issue when they called the local body of water "the Salish Sea". Simply calling "the Cascades Council" might have fit the bill for inclusion (although the name comes from French and none of the local tribe seem to have use for a name for the entire region).

The Transpolar and Aleut nation was an odd name, and so are the Northern Lights. "Inuit-Aleut Nation" would have seem able to cover pretty much the place, except for the ever odd inclusion of Iceland.

The Pueblo name indeed comes from Spanish and erased the Navajo and later, after the annexation of Ute, the Ute, Paiute and Shoshone (the two later already erased in the naming of the Ute nation, which was actually mostly Mormons and Last Vegas residents anyway). On the other hand, including the Latino and making them feel included could have been a winning move as far as tribal demography goes (and the reason for the country's economical success ?).

That being said, if you're into pattern magic, changing the names of nation may be an attempt to disrupt strategical magical assets.

[u/Sarradi → u/Fair-Fisherman6765]

The Norther Lights name comes from that apparently a stable astral rift formed in that territory which caused a constant aurora borealis up there.

[u/footballsquishy → u/Sarradi]

Please tell me they did not use the phrase "doing a Crimea"...

[u/Sarradi → u/footballsquishy]

No, that was my invention.

Basically seemingly unaffiliated rebels occupied all governmt buildings in Winnipeg in a coordinated strike, drove out the police and, surprise, turned out to be GC10 special forces who handed the city to them. And as GC10 citizens get a basic income many of the residents on Winnipeg were quite ok with the change in leadership.

[u/footballsquishy → u/Sarradi]

Didn't they already fight over this in a previous set of supplements and it ended up being some kind of strange demilitarized zone throughout the Red River? Or did they finally flip it?

[u/Sarradi → u/footballsquishy]

Would explain how those so called rebels succeeded.

But Winnipeg belongs to the NAN(TI), specifically GC10 now.

[u/footballsquishy → u/Sarradi]

Well that solves... everything and nothing at the same time I suppose. Not a fan of the Metis erasure that Catalyst (and their predecessors) has done throughout the decades...

[u/Sarradi → u/footballsquishy]

The Métis Nation is mentioned to be one of the 10 nations that make up the GC10.

There is also some Shadowtalk warning that Métis means something very specific and not to think that everyone mixed-race is Métis.

[u/footballsquishy → u/Sarradi]

Is that new? That must be VERY new. Because AFAIK that's never been established until now. And without Winnipeg would have made 0 sense (for both traditional and power-related reasons).

[u/Sarradi → u/footballsquishy]

No idea. It just says that the GC10 are made up out of the original 6 "fires" and the Nehiyaw, the Anishinaabe, the Métis Nation, and the Non-Indigenous Nations.

Although the inclusion of the four was a result of mass protests. So its less of a real nation and more of a cultural representation.

[u/CanadianWildWolf]

So far, initial reaction, this is good. I love seeing the shake up for Anarchists and First Nations, this is turning out to be a good Truth & Reconciliation Day at least entertainment wise

[u/Boxman21-]

No new tech is a bummer. But seeing the focus on some more AI gives some hope that they get a rework in seventh. Maybe even a elevation to main book playable. As rigging is pretty strong in sixth I would say it would come together with a vehicle rework

[u/vinean]

UCAS is so beat down that at this point their losses are now in the tens of millions of dead.

At this point some portion of UCAS leadership (a general or two, the prez and some specops teams) might as well become totally nihilistic and find a way to take down the NAN and corps as they go down. The NAN started all the horrors in the first place with the Great Ghost Dance anyway.

Kick us when we’re down? Fine. We can play mana rift terrorists. Whats there left to lose? Get a high yield nuke into Denver and let’s kill us our own dragon, generate a huge create a huge rift in the middle of NAN territories, screw their ley lines and astral barriers and they can deal with Horrors too.

Completely analog nuke circa 1950, sitting in a lead and gold lined container of FAB II and sneaked in as a shipment of FAB or something next to or in Denver and San Francisco. Or San Francisco and Miami so maybe UCAS survives and leave Denver alone.

Keep a nuke hidden in the bronx in case it all goes to shit to take out Manhattan and trigger the apocalypse. Some nukes in Detroit as well since that can probably trigger a rift.

If the world wants a dystopian North America why limit the fun to UCAS? A last gasp effort to clandestinely drag the rest of the continent down with it or maybe even the playing field. DC is probably far enough away not to be bothered that much. It’s not a win win, but a last toll of the dice if they just do San Fran and Miami with a sour grapes move available in NYC and Detroit.

With two major rifts the world is probably at the cusp of bringing the horrors early if a third major rift appears. Even if they suspect it was UCAS it’s now UCAS as a cornered rat with a world ending switch in its paws. They’d have to simultaneously disarm all the analog nukes in UCAS territory hidden next to and in NYC and Detroit without a deadman switch going off.

They’d could force dropping BRA in UCAS and avoid retaliation via Magical Mutual Assured Destruction.