Runner's Travel Primer

North America

The United Canadian and American States is the primary successor to the old USA.

• The city/state of Seattle, a notorious runner haven, is a lone outpost surrounded by the Native American Nations.
• Much of the city of Chicago has been taken over by an insect infestation, quarantined in a containment zone.
• The Northeastern Metroplex Axis (NEMA), including Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, and the now-disintegrated New York City, is a massive sprawl, the economic and political center of the UCAS.
• Detroit was rebuilt into one of America's safest and most prosperous cities by Ares Macrotechnology, one of America's two AAA megacorporations.
• Following the secession of the California Free State, Toronto became the UCAS's entertainment capital.
• Prince Edward Island became famous when the great dragon Dunkelzahn established his residence there.

The Confederation of American States comprises the old southeastern United States, now infamous for its exploitation of metahumans. Its capital, Atlanta, is a center of commerce. The Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex is a hotbed of conflict with Aztlán to the south.

The California Free State is a libertarian republic.

• The Northern Crescent sees steady conflict with Tír Tairngire to the north.
• Big Sur is a toxic wasteland spotted with magically-reclaimed farms.
• The Mojave has only become more hostile with the Awakening, a home to awakened animals and spirits.
• That Japanese Imperial State took control of San Francisco in the interest of its megacorporations.

The Free City of Los Angeles is a global entertainment capital, starkly divided between the haves and the have-nots.

The Republic of Québec is an isolationist socialist Francophone republic.

Tír Tairngire is one of the two Tír nations and a former Native American Nation, occupying what used to be Oregon. It embraces the old elven system of nobility.

The Native American Nations claimed most of the western United States and Canada and are now a haven for Native Americans, spirits, and the wild.

• The city of Denver serves as a diplomatic hub for the NAN states.
• The Salish-Shidhe Council includes most of what was once the state of Washington and southern British Columbia, surrounding the city of Seattle. It's the most tribally-oriented and has opened its borders to all metahumans, regardless of whether they're Native.
• The Sioux Nation covers what once was the midwestern part of the United States. The Sioux Nation has the largest military of any of the NAN members and one of the best-developed intelligence services. The city of Cheyenne has a thriving tech center built around the University of Cheyenne and is host to the headquarters of the Sovereign Tribal Council.
• The Pueblo Corporate Council includes territory from what were previously the US states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. The country is organized as a large corporation, mimicking the extraterritorial megacorps. It has a information economy based around Matrix hardware and software development.
• The Ute Nation is much of what was once Utah, Nevada, and the southern portion of Idaho. While generally suspicious of Anglos, it hosts the Mormon "tribe" and welcomes tourism in Las Vegas.
• The Algonkian-Manitou Council land comprises much of what once was western and central Canada. They declined to deport non-Natives. It has a strong "back-to-the-land" mentality, which is often at odds with its light industrial economy.
• The Athabaskan Council includes much of what was once Alaska and the Yukon, as well as some of northern British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. The most lightly populated of all the North American countries, it relies primarily on its natural resources. It hosts Ares's Kodiak Island Spaceport.
• The Trans-Polar Aleut Nation includes much of the portions of North America and Asia within the Arctic Circle, plus Iceland and Greenland. It is mostly a loosely-knit affiliation of tribal and sub-tribal groups subsisting mainly by hunting and fishing, excepting the more-developed Inuvik region's pursuit of undersea resource extraction.

The Tsimshian Nation includes the northern area of what was once British Columbia, including the Queen Charlotte Islands, and the south part of the old Alaskan "panhandle." It seceded from the NAN union over its exclusion of even other Amerindians. Hostile to metahumans, its economy depends on lumber and mining.

Latin America

The Caribbean League is a loose collective of Caribbean nations, a notorious haven for pirates, with some states run by former (or even active) pirate lords.

Aztlán controls most of Central America and extends into northern South America. Inextricable from the Aztechnology AAA megacorporation, Aztlán and the megacorp officially deny the use of blood magic, but reports of its usage are widely believed, leading to both condemnation and fear.

The Panama Pan-Corporate Zone is the one portion of Central America not controlled by Aztlán, with the crucial trade conduit instead under the authority of the Corporate Court.

Amazonia is a highly eco-conscious nation, a superset of old Brazil, governed by the great feathered serpent Hualpa, who has led the country to embrace the Awakening.

French Guiana is an overseas territory of France. The city of Cayenne is where the European powers—whether national, corporate, or criminal—interface with their South American counterparts. The city of Kourou is a rapidly-growing spaceport.

Ciudad Libre de Caracas (Free City of Caracas) is what's left of an independent Venezuela after the rest was divided between Amazonia and Aztlán. An unregulated megacorp playground, it's a thriving black market for the cutting-edge tech being tested in the slums.

Peru is functionally a protectorate of Japan, under a military occupation protecting the interests of the Japanese corporations exploiting the awakened flora and fauna of the Peruvian rainforest.

Bolivia struggles to hold to the values of the communist cause that took control of the country in the early 2050s as it depends on foreign megacorps to develop the natural resources that were nationalized during the revolution.

Argentina, led by a corp-backed military dictatorship, struggles to recover from its bloody defensive war with Amazonia. Dominated by corporate interests, its populace finds itself trapped between the police enforcing megacorp rule and the vice-dealers given free reign.

Northern Europe

The United Kingdom has maintained itself as an island of stability in the face of a chaotic European mainland.

Tír na nÓg is one of the two Tír nations, comprising the territory of a unified Ireland. Tír na nÓg follows fey and druidic principles, its spiritual life ruled by the Seelie Court.

The Scandinavian Union (composed of Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden) was formed as a bulwark against Europe's troubles. It is home to the Ship City refugee city, the famed Oslo shadowclinics, and the toxic and awakened Haparanda Anomaly Zone.

The United Netherlands is one of the most well-organized, technologically-advanced, and environmentally toxic parts of the world, all of which are represented in the Europort, a massive five-city sprawl focused on maritime trade.

The Svalbard Independent Environmental Zone is an independent territory on the Svalbard archipelago. It is ruled by a shamanic council overseeing the islands' many nature reserves. Thanks to the protections of the permafrost, it is home to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and the Arctic World Archive.

Western Europe

The Allied German States are a loosely-organized collection of kingdoms, duchies, and republics, the successor to the old Federal Republic of Germany. Its member states range from democracies to monarchies, from metahuman havens to toxic wastelands, and from capitalist powerhouses to anarchist collectives.

While Saeder-Krupp is based out of Northrhine-Ruhr in the AGS, it's also made Austria its personal playground. Austria is also home to Salzburg (a vacation spot for Europe's high-society) and the vast estates of the still-wealthy Habsburg family.

France has become an aristocracy in all but name, ruled by its nobility, with a helping hand from the French Catholic Church.

Switzerland is best known for the cities of Zürich, a center of global finance, and Geneva, a center of global diplomacy home to the United Nations.

Southern Europe

The Italian Confederation is a loose coalition of Italian states, replacing the old Italian Republic. It is politically dominated by the Papal States, economically dominated by the Republic of Serenissima (Venice), and home to the headquarters of La Cosa Nostra in Sicily, but includes a variety of other members.

The Kingdom of Spain is a highly-religious parliamentary monarchy, hostile to metahumans and magic.

The Basque people achieved independence from Spain and France to form Euskal Herria, a haven for metahumans and the awakened in the Iberian Peninsula, dedicated to their own brand of Catholicism infused with pre-Christian Basque spiritualism.

Portugal is deeply intertwined with its partially-nationalized home-grown AA megacorp, the Lusiada Corporation, which is otherwise almost entirely under the control of the four families that ultimately rule the country. In the south, the Algarve Corporate Enclave is a vast extraterritorial sanctuary, a vacation spot and summer home for megacorp executives.

Eastern Europe/West Asia

The Russian Republic is an expansionist state that, while nominally democratic, is ultimately controlled by a few powerful factions ranging from the military to the Vory criminal syndicate.

The Siberian people found their independence with the creation of Yakut, but found their new state dominated by their shapeshifter allies, paranormal animals capable of taking the form of metahumans.

Poland is a client state of Russia, a major hub of arms manufacturing, and home to the Mazury-Białowieża Containment Zone, a dangerous combintion of awakened land and toxic zone.

The Czech Republic is a rare metahuman and awakened friendly nation in Eastern Europe, home to the Univerzita Karlova, a premiere hermetic college for practicing casters.

The Transcaucasian Federation combines the territory of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. It is a corporate client state dominated by the oil extraction industry.

Turkestan is best known for the reborn Silk Road, a trade corridor connecting the east to the west. Dominated by the megacorps, it is modern and cosmopolitan. Outside the Silk Road, the Khans lead nomadic hordes bolstered by shamanic traditions empowering a deep connection to the area's spirits.

Middle East

The Arabian Caliphate is a pan-Arab state formed in 2055 as part of the Islamic Unity Movement. Deeply culturally conservative, it maintains careful relations with the megacorps.

The Islamic Republic of Iran increased its embrace of conservative Islam following the destruction of Tehran by the great dragon Adan. As the attack was performed in response to the Ayatollah's declaration of jihad against metahuman races, metahumans took the blame, making the country even more hostile to their presence.

The Federal Republic of Iraq is relatively liberal by the standards of the Middle East. Dominated by Saeder-Krupp, which has rights to the Basra oil fields, popular opposition to the megacorp and to the country's liberal government threatens civil war.

Israel is a Jewish state surrounded by hostile Muslim nations. It maintains partial control of the Palestinian territory, though Jerusalem has become an international city under the control of the UN, a hub of diplomacy in the Middle East.

The Secular Republic of Turkey was formed from the disillusion of greater Turkey during the broader realignment of the Middle East. Rejecting political Islam, the country has embraced ties with Western Europe and the UCAS. Its ruling body, the Neo-Atatürk, has secret membership jointly represented by a Matrix avatar that has become a figure of national unity.

The Free City of Constantinople is an independent multi-religious democracy controlling access to the Black Sea.

East Anatolia or East Turkey is an Islamist state situated in the eastern portion of Anatolia, ruled by extremist remnants of Alliance for Allah.

Afghanistan is in the hands of warlords and the Kabul maffiya, dealing in opium or making counterfeit copies of designer clothes or name-brand electronics. The only corporate asset in the country is the trans-Afghan highway, running from Pakistan to the New Silk Road in Turkistan, built and operated by Saeder-Krupp.

The island of Cyprus was heavily damage and depopulated by the Euro Wars. It is a meeting ground for smugglers and other criminals, with a growing pirate presence.

The Kurdish Autonomous Zone is an independent Kurdish state controlling the Zagros Mountains, called Kurdistan by the locals. Its leader and many of his followers are rumored to be members of a dragon cult to Adan.

Syria is a power base for the more radical factions of the Islamic Unity Movement. Having claimed much of Libya, it clashes with Israeli forces over taking the rest. The al-Ḥamīdīyya Bazaar in Damascus is world-renowned for the breadth of wares on offer.

Indian Subcontinent

The Indian Union, the world's most populous nation, has embraced Hindu spiritualism to grapple with its problems. Enlightened and accepting in its treatment of metahumans and the awakened, it still operates according to a strict caste system.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a military dictatorship struggling with extreme poverty and rampant crime, still ravaged by its 2030 war with India.

The Kashmir Wastes are an irradiated toxic zone between India and Pakistan, the now-abandoned remnants of a nuclear exchange in the 2030 war.

Khalistan is an independent Sikh state in the north of the subcontinent, hostile to India for its role in the bombing of the Kashmir Wastes.

The Bangla Commonwealth is a growing, stable modern Muslim nation on the eastern border of the subcontinent.

The island country of Sri Lanka is a peaceful haven for business, whose tropical climate has made it a popular tourist destination.

Tibet hasn't been seen by outsiders since the Awakening in 2011. It's protected by the Maya Cloud, a magical barrier that has proven impenetrable to all attempts to cross other than those extraordinarily rare few with an invitation.

East Asia

The Japanese Imperial State is an economic powerhouse ruling a Pacific empire. Home to fully five AAA megacorporations, it is arguably the most influential country in the world.

The Republic of Korea, a reunited North and South Korea, is a reluctant Japanese client state with a thriving high-tech economy.

The Chinese Splinter States are the remnants of the now-defunct People's Republic of China.

• The Sichuan Dominion is a militaristic and magocratic constitutional dictatorship.
• The Kingdom of Shaanxi is a monarchy, a steward of pre-communist Chinese culture.
• The People's Republic of Henan is the sole communist descendant of the PRC, a sponsor of anti-corporate resistance movements.
• The Canton Confederation is a successful capitalist state heavily involved in international trade.
• Manchuria is an Awakened Land that has embraced ancestor spirits and Spirits of Man.
• The Coastal Provinces are a series of microstates, each managed by a different megacorp, Asia's primary sweatshop.
• Western China is mostly controlled by warlords and bandits, except for the New Silk Road trade corridor.

Taiwan is a capitalist democratic state comprising a main island and dozens of smaller islands. While memories of its long security ties with the old US help maintain friendly relations with the UCAS, this relationship has waned following the dissolution of the PRC and the USA.

Mongolia found itself well-adapted to the Sixth World, embracing metahumans and making significant use of magic in both the cities and the steppe.

The Hong Kong Free Enterprise Zone is an independent corporate-governed city-state. It is home to the Walled City of Kowloon, a tightly-packed slum that produced some of the world's most famous shadowrunners.

Southeast Asia

Indochina comprises the mainland of Southeast Asia. Long used to fighting off colonizing nations, it contends with drug lords, scheming megacorps, and the strange forces of the awakened jungles.

• Burma is a corrupt democracy run by drug cartels.
• Cambodia's monarchy is intermingled with the naga, sentient awakened serpents.
• Thailand has been building its economic strength, but faces a rising political movement backed by the ferocious garudas, a local sub-species of harpies.
• Vietnam is struggling to maintain its communist heritage while engaging in international commerce through its complete ownership of the Khouang Combine megacorp.
• Yunnan has a weak government unable to control the various crime orgs, warlords, and narcotics syndicates that run rampant in the country.

The archipelago state of Indonesia broke into pieces in the early 21st century, with various islands now controlled by criminals, eco drop-outs, cultist fanatics, and wanna-be warlords.

• The Javanese Republic is run by a military junta that has sold the country out to whatever megacorps will fund their lavish lifestyles and security apparatus.
• The Sumatran Alliance is a bulwark of various allied indigenous peoples attempting to avoid absorption by the Javanese Republic.
• The Enlightened Kingdom of Bali & Lombok is run by the spirits awakened by the eruption of the Gunung Agung volcano, who have made it a meeting place for the spiritually interested and the number one spot of the wellness-tourism industry.
• The Dayak Council of Borneo & Sulawesi is ruled by a council of different animist tribes native to the islands, extremely hostile to outsiders.
• The Malay Archipelago has never been densely populated and contains no major settlements, just scattered settlements of farmers and fisherfolk.
• The Independent State of New Guinea is an unwilling protectorate of ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand).
• Mompracen is a playground for runners, smugglers, pirates, and entrepreneurs of all shades, colors, and origins.

Malaysia, a center of Asian banking, has managed to resist absorption by the neighboring Chinese states through a careful balancing of megacorporate support.

Singapore is a highly-developed island city-state that blends the language and culture of China, Malaysia, and many more in a thriving economy focused on advanced electronics.

The Philippines are a protectorate of the Japanese Imperial State, which exploits it for its abundant natural resources.

Oceania

The Kingdom of Hawaiʻi is a protectorate of the Japanese Imperial State, whose influence it attempts to ameliorate with its longstanding ties to the UCAS.

Stuck at the far end of Indonesia, the Black Islands of Melanesia face megacorp exploitation of the natural resources of the Melanesian Coalition, while the Corporate Republic of Fiji is studded with megacorp arcologies and luxury resorts.

Patrolled by numerous corporate and governmental navies (particularly Japan) and exploited by pirates (notably the Huk), the Small Islands of Micronesia's existence on the fringe of the civilized world make them an ideal haven for smugglers.

The remotest of the Pacific islands and the furthest from unwelcome interference, the Many Islands of Polynesia are an ideal location for quiet research outposts and any other hush-hush projects the megacorps would prefer not to have discovered.

The Australian and New Zealand Allied Confederation (ANZAC) was born out of the necessity of encroaching foreign powers. Australia faced particular difficulties with the Awakening, suffering from out-of-control mana storms and the loss of the Outback to the chaotic magic. New Zealand fared better, and remains one of the most environmentally-conscientious countries in the world.

Africa

Asamando is a ghoul nation in western Africa, in what used to be northern Ghana. It's a highly awakened-friendly nation and is also populated with spirits, shapeshifters, other meta-sapients, and HMHVV infected metahumans

For shadowrunners, Azania is best known for Cape Town, a haven for pirates, smugglers, and other criminals.

Egypt is a moderate Islamic nation and major tourist hotspot.

Kenya maintains its status as a regional hub for East African commerce and trading that it has held for centuries.

Madagascar was abandoned after being devastated by the VITAS plague and the awakening of the jungle. It now serves as a focal point for pirate gatherings and a rumored store for hidden pirate treasure.

International Territories

Antarctica has seen the development of several megacorp research stations looking to map out the possible exploitation of resources revealed by the changing climate.

Some megacorps are attempting development of the deep sea floor in response to an entry in Dunkelzahn's will.

Space

Low Earth orbit sees the most intense megacorp development.

• Apollo station is the primary hub for travel to LEO, run by Ares, and an orbital town center.
• The Camelot Research Platform is Fuchi Orbital's orbital launch hub.
• The Himmelsschmiede Orbital Factory is the largest of Saeder-Krupp's orbital space factories.
• The Shibanokuji Freefall Resort is the first station assembled in space for the sake of commercial recreation.
• The Spindle is Aztechnology's mostly-failed attempt at an orbital platform, operating at only a third its planned capacity years past its expected completion date.
• The Zürich-Orbital is the headquarters of the Corporate Council.

While geosynchronous orbit is mostly occupied by unmanned satellites, it's also home to a number of manned stations.

• The Obelisk is the communications nerve center for the Hisato-Turner Broadcasting Corporation.
• The Silver Pinnacle is Trans-Orbital's platform for subcontracted satellite launches and orbital operations.
• Ares Macrotechnology is busily constructing Icarus station, its planned hub for traffic between Earth, the LaGrange points, and the Moon.
• The free Echo station is a freelancer haven, an independent hub for orbital mercs and smugglers.

The LaGrange points have seen limited but important development.

• Darkside Junction at the L2 LaGrange has been under construction since 2055 on the far side of the moon, intended to be Fuchi's deep space outpost, enabling exploration further out into the solar system.
• Opposite the Moon in its orbit, Nerva at the L3 LaGrange is an abandoned station rumored to be housing out-of-control biotech experiments.
• Ahead of the Moon in its orbit, Daedalus at the L4 LaGrange is Ares' primary research habitat in outer space and the main staging area for Ares's other deep space facilities.
• Behind the Moon in its orbit, the "Junkyard" at the L5 LaGrange is a field of space junk clustered around the now-defunct Angel station.

With the additional expense created by the need to drop down and emerge from a gravity well, the Moon has seen less development than LEO, GEO, or the LaGrange points, but the Artemis Lunar Arcology and Fernseit Lunar Station engage in space exploration research and mineral extraction.

Helios orbits the sun directly opposite the Earth. A solar research platform, it is the only manned platform in deep space.

Mars has not yet seen manned exploration, but questions revealed by its unmanned exploration were raised by Dunkelzahn's will.