The year is 2065. The world has changed. Ravaging diseases and computer viruses have brought humanity the brink of disaster.
The lines between man and machine have blurred as science finds new ways to incorporate cybernetic wonders into flesh. Data pirates in the new world called Deckers, interface with the virtual reality of the matrix to plunder one of the worlds remaining commodities; information.
Unexplained Genetic Expression as it is called changed the race lines from color to species as Trolls, Elves, and other creatures of legend emerged from all walks of life. Corporations who are powers unto themselves put on a warm and fuzzy face to the public while striking each other in silent shadow wars using freelance agents known as Shadowrunners.
This is Shadowrun, and the setting for the MUD known as Deckeon. For nearly a decade Deckeon has striven to recreate the Third edition Shadowrun game in a role playing enforced MUD.
Deckeon, a Shadowrun MUD:
Address : telnet://deckeon.mine.nu:2065
Deckeon is a Shadowrun MUD (Multi-User Dimension/Dungeon) that follows the 3rd Edition rules and takes place in Denver in the year 2065. Many of us have been players, builders, GM’s or other types of pseudo-staff on and off for over a decade.. Over the past ten+ years, we’ve seen Deckeon continually evolve, moving closer toward complete compliance with the (albeit now outdated) 3rd Edition Shadowrun rules and implementing many features that are completely unique to Deckeon.
Deckeon is completely free to play, and only requires a download if you want to use a MUD client instead of telnet (very reccomended). Connect to Deckeon at: deckeon.mine.nu port 2065, or if you use the ZMUD client, then navigate to the Deckeon entry.
We strongly recommend MUSHclient to connect to the game. It’s free, and works well on both Windows and Linux (in wine).
OSX users may want to take a look at Mudlet, which is a fairly feature rich multiplatform client (and one of the better/best ones for OSX) which also supports Perl scripting.
MUDs:
A MUD is a command-line, text based MMO game that operates over the telnet protocol. Most modern MMO’s are MUDs with graphics:
Shadowrun:
Shadowrun is a pen-and-paper roleplaying game invented by FASA Corporation that takes place in a cyberpunk setting (think Bladerunner, Johnny Mnemonic, and especially the book Neuromancer) that also includes fantasy elements.
The year is 2065, and while technology and capitalism have grown out of control, a natural cycle of the universe has brought the planet closer to the astral plane and revived magic. The megacorporations, as powerful as nations now, have rushed to invest in this new area of research, creating an age of reason matched with superstition. The near-apocalyptic circumstances of this transformation has left the corporations in control, and in the chaos, the players – “shadowrunners” – provide dirty deeds for pay.
In this theme, the players play professional criminals in the vein of “heist movies” with a cyberpunk setting.
But I hate elves and fairies!:
So do I. I’ve always wished SR didn’t have fantasy in it, but they actually do a good job of merging the genres, and it has an outstanding game framework. For instance, racism is big business in 2065, and an important part of the setting. In fact, I guess the people of 2065 hate elves and fairies too.
Why you should play Deckeon:
The feature set of Deckeon is immense, and we have a dedicated development staff, led by the awesome Trip, that releases updates at least monthly. The game has been in constant improvement since the mid-90′s.
We have a corps of in-game players assigned to assist players called “newbie helpers”. They’re easily identifiable from the player list by entering the “who” command, and looking for the (NH) badge next to the names.
We have many GMs, in stages of authority, from RP-Assists that do daily roleplay and small runs to GMs that do epic stories that could even span years (up to and including an evolving story that spanned 3+ years).
Our consistent updates bring the game ever closer to the 3rd Ed rules. Recently, we added specialist awakened characters such as elementalists and conjurers.
Are you always getting lost in MUDs? Deckeon has a fully functional ASCII map that displays where you are at all times:
Deckeon has fully implemented all the core aspects of the SR game including adepts, cyberware, conjuring, rigging (pimping rides), astral projection, decking (computer haxxoring), and you can even play as a LoneStar agent (a cop).
As a decker, you can open doors from the matrix, hack into the phone system and tap other players’ phones, shut off camera systems, or just datamine to sell info to databrokers and strike it filthy rich (and then spend it all on expensive decker gear). You can also program utilities to help you hack systems as your character gets better at decking.
Mages can astrally project and enter the parallel invisible astral plane, where they can pass through walls and see aspects of the world not visible from the “meat world”. You could even just view astrally to see the astral plane while awake. Just don’t leave your body laying around where it’s vulnerable. Of course, you can always just burn your way through your problems using dangerous spells.
Realistic methods of communication such as cell phones, radios, telepathy, and matrix forums give your characters the ability to coordinate or plot against each other.
If you earn the $$ later on in the game, you can build your own areas and send the build orders to our developers. Have your own safe house, or even your own nightclub.
You can either choose a pre-built archetype to try the game out, or build a custom character using the SR rules.
For people that like to get absorbed in the theme, the game is (lol) roleplaying enforced, meaning that players are not allowed to give in-character info over out-of-character channels, vise versa, and you must remain in-character. If you like a strong cyberpunk theme, then this place is great for you.
Why you should not play:
Deckeon has a large (lol) roleplaying component. If you don’t enjoy roleplaying, you may not get a lot of enjoyment from this game, and the GMs and other players won’t enjoy you.
If you like to cyber, don’t do it on Deckeon. The GMs will humiliate you. We see everything.
If you have any questions about the people in the game, the theme of the game, or the features of the game, or if you need help playing or working a MUD client, please feel free to ask me in this thread. If you have criticism of the game, then discuss that here too. I work on the game, and I like to hear things that I could make better.
Some more basic info:
The game has no set “classes” that you are required to be. It’s an open-ended creation system where you can select individual skills and stats based on a priority system.
The closest thing to a “class” in the game, however, is the magic stat. People in 2065 are either born with magic, or they are not. Like the gays, it’s biological. People with magic are called “awakened”. While the magic they are born with is the same on a basic level, it can manifest itself in different ways, usually based on how the person lives their life a child. An awakened person cannot change the nature of the magic later in life. Here are the most basic types of awakened people in 2065:
The Hermetic Mage:
This is an awakened person that had an active, scientific, interest in his magic and actively choose to research magic while growing up. Hermetic mages study sorcery and believe that their power comes from their own personal connection to the astral plane. Hermatic mages use spells, can astrally project, can view the astral plane, can summon elementals, among other things.
The Shaman:
The shaman was unaware that she was awakened until she was approached by her totem. The shaman’s totem guides her on her quest to learn about her powers, and in return, the shaman embodies the spirit of her totem. Shamen take on characteristics of their totems (or perhaps the totem chooses shamen that already have these characteristics). Totems can be the spirit of many concepts, but the most common are living creatures: Bear, Wolf, Cat, Raven, Rat, etc. There are exotic shamen, such as toxic shamen that follow the spirit of pollution. These are not available to the players at creation. The Shaman has similar powers to the Mage, but summons spirits instead of elementals. For instance, if standing on a street corner, the Shaman could summon a city spirit; if sitting in a bar, she could summon a hearth spirit.
The Physical Adept:
The physical adept was born awakened, but grew up using his powers to augment his athletic ability. Physical adepts are capable of supernatural feats of prowess: they can perhaps jump stories high, or maybe keep their balance on a tightrope in a windstorm, punch through walls, or just go Keanu on people. Adepts select their powers at character creation. Adepts cannot cast spells or visit the astral plane. They can view the astral plane if they select that adept power at character creation. They cannot conjure.
There are a few other types of magic, which are mostly variations of the above:
Sorcerer: Can only cast spells.
Conjurer: Can only conjure.
Elementalist: Can only cast spells aligned with their element.
People who are not awakened are referred to as “mundane”. The vast majority of the population of the world is mundane; however, magic is a big enough business that universities offer degrees and research fellowships into it, and the megacorps sell spells from their own R&D.