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Logan Graves (Fenris@BigKnobiKlub.virtualAve.net)
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Logan Graves (Fenris@BigKnobiKlub.virtualAve.net)
In the interest of reducing the load time of the main page, I relocated this Q & A section to its own page, which should allow it to grow unemcumbered.
 What is Shadowrun?
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Shadowrun is a roleplaying game designed for two to eight players. Unlike most such games, however, it is open-ended, with no time limit, specified number of turns to play, or single goal to reach that ends the game. And unlike most games, there is no winner and no loser. The object is to have fun with the excercise of imagination. When roleplaying, the players control their characters' actions and respond to the events of the plot. This roleplaying game plot, or script, is flexible, always changing based on the decisions the players make as characters.
Shadowrun rulebook, 2nd ed. (Chicago: FASA Corp, 1992), 10.
You and your friends wait in the shadows: Technomancers, sliding like whispers through the databases of giant corporations, spiriting away the only thing of real value: information; Street Samurai, enforcers for hire, whose combat skills and reflexes make them the ultimate urban predators; and Mages, those who have recaptured the ancient gift, the ability to shape and wield the energies that flow around and through the Earth.
The world of Shadowrun, known to denizens of the new age as the Sixth World, is a place of magic and high technology, a landscape of danger and mystery, a maze of noble sentiments and double-crosses. Those who play stand on the edge, in the shadow of adventure.
In this world where magic and technology coexist, and where both have become far too advanced for comfort, the shadowrunners survive by the quickness of their wits, the sharpness of their fangs and blades, and their skill at riding the computer Matrix. And if the price is right, or the need is great enough, they'll sell their services to any bidder.
As predicted by the ancient Mayan calendars, magic has returned to the world, with elves, dragons, dwarves, orks, and trolls assuming their true forms. Magicians and shamans wield the ancient power in the modern world, while the nations of the world are mere figureheads compared to the giant megacorporations whose power cannot be constrained by mere borders.
Moving through it all like whispers in the night are the shadowrunners. No one admits their existence. They show up in no corporate or governmental database. They have no SIN's, System Identification Numbers; in effect, they were never born. No one admits their existence, but no one else can do their secret work. When a corp or other individual or group needs some dirty work done, they hire shadowrunners. A runner's life can be a short but lucrative career.
It is a glinting-glistening-flashing-studded-neon-chrome-mirror-rhinestone-circo conglomeration of humanity--sweating, shoving, swearing, shouting, and laughing down every side street and along every alley. The clubs, the meat racks, the body shops and porno parlors, the punk food dives, the roach hotels, the cabarets and cafes and simsense theatres, all blazing with neon and clawing the sidewalks in search of extra dinero.
THE YEAR IS 2050...The melding of technology and human flesh began in the late 20th century. Interfacing the human mind with computers was just the first, simple step. Cybernetic implants boosting reflexes and other physical abilities quickly followed. Then came the Awakening. A five-thousand-year lull in the flow of certain energies ended, and magic returned to the world. Elves, orks, dwarves, and trolls reassumed their true form, throwing off their human guise.
Shadowrun products catalogue, (Chicago: FASA Corp, 1991), 1.
Fantasy & Science collide in the world of Shadowrun, where Man meets Magic & Machine! In the year 2050, magic has returned to a world dominated by megacorporations and the human mind has been interfaced with computers. Elves, dwarves, & trolls walk the streets, having shed their human guise. Great dragons soar above the Sprawl, their immense figures casting vague phantoms into the shadows of the megaplexes, where shaman & street samurai stalk, armed with the mystical weapons of the past & the cybernetic hardware of the future.
FASA Corporation products catalogue, (Chicago: FASA Corp, 1992), 29.
In the world of 2053, the metroplexes are monsters casting long shadows. And it's in the cracks between the giant corporate structures that shadowrunners find their home. When the megacorps want a job done but they don't want to dirty their hands, it's a shadowrun they need, and they turn to the runners who are the only ones who can do it. Though a shadowrunner's existence is not listed in any governmental or corporate database, the demand for his or her services is high.
Shadowrun rulebook, 2nd ed. (Chicago: FASA Corp, 1992), 10.
In the world of the future, reality has shifted. It is a time where supercorporations are the true rulers, and their corporate wars, power games, and espionage missions all too often rampage out of control. The nation is divided into megaplexes, sprawling urban centers peopled by everything from true humans to elves, dwarves, orks, trolls, were-folk, mages, and the occasional upwardly mobile dragon.
Jordan K. Weisman, Back Cover blurb, Shadowrun #7; Into the Shadows, paperback ed. (New York: Roc, 1992).
The year is 2050. Advances in technology are astonishing, with humans able to meld with computers and travel through that neitherworld of data known as the Matrix. Not only that, but cybernetic enhancements able to penetrate the skin allow man to behave in ways more than human.
Jordan K. Weisman, "Prologue," Shadowrun #7, Into the Shadows, paperback ed. (New York: Roc, 1992), 1.
Downtown is nowhere. The noise and the life are up in the Reds, Seattle North, or "Everett." This is where the boulevards teem, where the party-girls line the corners, where the skagmen do their biz in full view of other citizens, where the wireheads and the pervos and the gutterpunks in black mingle with the suits and the execs, the chippies in gleaming day-glo plastic, the freaks in their web-weave body stockings, the metas, the Amerinds, the skinheads, the screw and razor crowd, the polis and the skats. There are hawkers pushing everything from tempting young boys to designer dorphs to fully functional biosynthetic limbs and organs, all at the most reasonable of prices, guaranteed.
Nyx Smith, "Striper," Into the Shadows, paperback ed. (New York: Roc, 1992), 79.
For more information on Shadowrun:
Preview the SR2 Trading Card Game.
Peruse the Glossary of 2058 Slang.
Check the Timeline.
or
Visit the Shadowrun® home page.
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What is the Big Knobi Klub?
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Located in the basement of a downtown Seattle building, this restaurant has something of a dual identity. By day the Big Knobi Klub is a classy neighborhood bar and grill, where dining customers can confidently order from a menu that contains no trace of vat-grown pseudo-food or have a seat at an authentic teak-wood and well-stocked bar that features real and synthetic drinks.
By night, however, the Klub takes on a more sinister guise, shedding all conventionality to become a bass-pounding nightclub, featuring nothing but nova-wiz stage bands. (You try to argue with a three-meter talent critic.) When the Klub was placed on the market in 2048, its long time manager, Genghis, put up half of the asked price, then convinced Ricochet Rita to come up with the rest, thus setting the stage for it to become a haven for shadowrunners.
The following is an excerpt from of the Foreword to "Tales From the Klub"
[13:00:04/01-15-55]Prior to 2052, in Shadowland's on-line Seattle Directory and under the heading, "Restaurants, Downtown," a black entry USED TO read:
Big Knobi Klub (#14H)
Lg. Restaurant-Nightclub Archetype / 124 H Blah Blah Strasse / Genghis Grimtooth, Manager / subtle bias against corp suits / LTG # 206(56-1964). Big Knobi Klub Sandwiches, Big Knobi Klub Drinks -- a place to dine, dance, & drink, where the bands aren't tone-deaf. Some years ago, all parties concerned agreed that in order to maintain the Klub's Shadowy existence, it would be for the best to delete its listing from the fileserver. But due to the decker's bout with insomnia and other trivial factors, the pic.file at the bottom of page 58 was completely overlooked. Upon clearer reflection the next morning, it was decided to "just leave it be." Needless to say, "Blah Blah Strasse" is a euphemism for the street's real name and the local tel group number has been changed. Sadly, this is all that remains:
![[Big Knobi Klub logo]](images/bkk2.gif)
The Klub today is alive and flourishing. By day it's a classy restaurant and neighborhood bar, boasting a total of eight Mitsuhama "Magna" 3-meter trideo screens. Regular clientele can be assured of receiving fabulous cuisine while catching all of the Seahawks' action.
Ever since the Halloween Heist against Ares Arms in 2052, the Klub has also served as a haven for various shadowruners. And like these notorious patrons, the Klub itself seems to shed its commonness and morph into a pounding nightclub as the darkness sets in. Genghis has always succeeded in booking superb techno-punk stage bands. And although it's an old cliché, Concrete Dreams did play there -- TWICE!
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Your site doesn't display right. What settings do you recommend?
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The Big Knobi Klub is formatted for: 800 x 600 resolution on 14" monitors.
The DTD coding flavor is HTML 3.2+ "Wilbur with [Netscape] extensions" or specifically:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//Netscape Communicator//DTD HTML Pro//EN"> However, nearly all of Netscape's extension tags are identical in name & function to Microsoft's.
Our graphics are primarily (8-bit) gifs, so most of the site will look fine in 256-color mode. Note that we occasionally use (16-bit) jpeg's. Translation: the BKK is best viewed in "hi-color" mode.
The majority of our pages will accommodate higher screen resolutions & larger monitors (up to at least 21") without displaying grabage. A few of the tables may "run together," & a couple of the BKK's title graphics will fail to center, but that's the price ya pay for broad-band accessibility. (The notable excpetion being, all of the Tales from the Klub chapters. These pages are coded under a very stringent formatting standard, more so than even the site's main page.)
What follows are our comments and recommendations for viewing these (& most) webpages with Netscape, Opera, Explorer,
AOL, Lynx, & Others. Displayability comments are always welcome.
| For best Netscape viewing, set your screen-width to 800 pixels ===> |
(You'd think that after three years & five versions, Netscape would finally get a clue & install a "Blink-Off" switch somewhere. But, NOOOoo!)
| Opera users, set this child window's width to here (if possible) ===> |
| Internet Explorer users, set screen-width to here ===> |
America On-Line: http://www.aolsucks.com
AOL users need not apply ;-p)
Macintosh Windows Chicago System Courier Courier New Geneva MS Sans Serif Helvetica Arial Monaco Terminal New York MS Serif Symbol Symbol Times Times New Roman
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"Kenobi?" What's that mean?
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Knobi \ 'näb-e \ (or for the diacritically challenged: "knob-ee") [MG dial. fr. Knobel] 1 adj. akin or pertaining to knuckles; 2 n. knuckle-bones, ie. dice; 3 v.n. to the roll dice; fate; karma; 4 slang. a word-play on 'knobby.'
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When are you going to write more TFtK chapters?
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The short answer: "good question."The somewhat longer, yet still un-satisfying, answer: "I've switched jobs twice since I first began writing Tales From the Klub. These changes & the accompanying relocations have resulted in progressively less time to actually sit down & write, and as a direct result, fewer web-site updates. Which is a real pity, since updating this site is relatively easy, compared with writing good fiction. The best answer I can provide at this time is that I'm (slowly) working on it and I intend to complete the story long before the Computer Crash of 2029."
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What else is here? / Why don't you have a sitemap?
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| Take a look for yourself. We now have an index: |
BKK's Site Index |
| You can also search the whole site by keyword: |
BKK's Search |
| or See our listing of Datafiles: |
BKK's Datafiles |
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How can you be reached?
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(Ah, another creditor . . . )
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