Satyr
2009-04-01, 05:36 AM
Ullysses Games, the current holder of the Shadowrun license has announced a new edition of Shadowrun for 2010. I will give a try and translate the press release for you non-German speakers:
Shadowrun 5.0 in 2010
Shadowrun has come to a standstill lately - many of the older players left the boat with the edition shift, and both we and Fanpro (the former publisher of Shadowrun) received massive critique for the changes, as well as a significant drop in sales figures - both from an economic point of view and the proclaims of many fans of Shadowrun, the 4th edition of Shadowrun marks a low mark of the franchise.
So we decided to reform the rules again and come up with new ideas and elements for a new Shadowrun edition, because we want to take the critique of you players seriously. Shadowrun 5.0 will be more streamlined, faster to play and more suspenseful in its rules than any previous edition of the game.
Cyberpunk, not Cyberpop
The most common critique of the 4th edition of Shadowrun by far was, that the gaming world started to feel too smooth and cleansed, and has lost its gritttiness and much of the older Cyberpunk style. So we at Ullysses games are going to reintroduce, grit, dirt and violence into the game. Shadowrun 5.0 will be clearly marketed as a game for mature players and will contain more mature contents than before. The Sixth World will face turmoil, chaos and riots and a stronger emphasis than before will be put on the difference between the Beautiful People in their castles of glass and concrete and the scum of the earth that lives in the Barrens. VITAS-7 will hover over the heads of humans and metahumans like the sword of damocles and a new incarnation of the Black Death, while racial conflicts are increasing again. Toxic spirits and toxic shamans will rise in power and become a major threat.
All in all, Shadowrun 5.0 will become darker, grittier and much more violent in the background, but also more mature in contents and topics as the new Shadowrun will be targeted to an adult roleplayer market for experienced and mature gamers who appreciate the internal turmoil and chaos of a dark and fantastic future. Shadowrun 5.0 is going to look more like 1984 and less like the Federation in Star Trek.
Shadowrunners - international specialists instead of local crooks
Shadowrun 5.0 is not going to have a prefered setting anymore, like Seattle in older editions. In general, characters in Shadowrun 5.0 are going to be more competent than in previous editions and the focus of the game will shift from a regional to an international angle - by default, a good shadowrunner is going to operate all over the world, and even beyond, as runs in the space stations are becomming a stronger element than before.
Character creation will feature new and exciting focuses and elements, but will take back many of the changes of 4th edition. Basically, the point-buy model of 2nd and 3rd edition (veterans of Shadowrun who own the Compendium wil remember) will become the standard model of character creation. This allows for very fine-tuned and well balanced characters of various power levels -from the international specialists which will be the default of the setting, to gritty and gruesame campaigns on gang level. The new character creation rules even allow for more exotic characters than before, and even drakes and true dragons (sorry chummers, no Great Dragons) as player characters become feasible.
Brave New Magical World
According to the events in the Year of the Comet and the following increase of the mana level, magic will become stronger and magical characters much more flexible in their powers. Characters will be able to make up new spells and effects on the fly, but more powerful or unused spells will have a harder drain. Another new source of worry for spellcasters is Corruption, as using magic in corrupted areas can slowly turn the character into a toxic wizard or shaman.
The rules for astral projection and metamagic will be streamlined and much easier to use in the game, to come to a quicker and more suspenseful resolution in the game.
The big BANG!
It is a bit early to say anything concrete about it, but the combat system of Shadowrun 5.0 is going to be completely reworked in cooperation with a number of members of the military forces and two technical counselors for action movies. While the combat in Shadowrun will be as quick and fed with adrenaline as ever, we are going to make it even more deadly, more suspenseful and more realistic than ever.
Welcome to Shadowland
Shadowrun 5.0 will follow a new model of release - the different books will all be available via Shadowland, so that every player with an internet access can check out the rules and start to play.
For those players who are more dedicated to the game, a premium access allows to access all published books online and even leave comments in the books as was always the style of the shadowrun source books. The best comments of te pre-release will be chosen by the Shadowrun editor staff and will find their way in the final print versions of the books.
Shadowland will go online this summer and will also feature old out of print shadowrun ressources for a free download, starting with the great Universal Brotherhood campaign book.
With a premium access, every interested Shadowrun gamer can participate in the open playtests for new Shadowrun 5.0 books and can help to create the best Shadowrun ever through their feedback.
Shadowland will feature additional podcasts with "in-world" medias, music, TV-adds, free adventures and floor plans, some of which will be free for all users, some only for premium users. Through this additional information and material Shadowrun 5.0 will be the first roleplaying that uses the fulll potential of the internet and the many dedicated roleplaying gamers out there who want to participate in the creation of a great game.
Shadowrun 5.0 in 2010
Shadowrun has come to a standstill lately - many of the older players left the boat with the edition shift, and both we and Fanpro (the former publisher of Shadowrun) received massive critique for the changes, as well as a significant drop in sales figures - both from an economic point of view and the proclaims of many fans of Shadowrun, the 4th edition of Shadowrun marks a low mark of the franchise.
So we decided to reform the rules again and come up with new ideas and elements for a new Shadowrun edition, because we want to take the critique of you players seriously. Shadowrun 5.0 will be more streamlined, faster to play and more suspenseful in its rules than any previous edition of the game.
Cyberpunk, not Cyberpop
The most common critique of the 4th edition of Shadowrun by far was, that the gaming world started to feel too smooth and cleansed, and has lost its gritttiness and much of the older Cyberpunk style. So we at Ullysses games are going to reintroduce, grit, dirt and violence into the game. Shadowrun 5.0 will be clearly marketed as a game for mature players and will contain more mature contents than before. The Sixth World will face turmoil, chaos and riots and a stronger emphasis than before will be put on the difference between the Beautiful People in their castles of glass and concrete and the scum of the earth that lives in the Barrens. VITAS-7 will hover over the heads of humans and metahumans like the sword of damocles and a new incarnation of the Black Death, while racial conflicts are increasing again. Toxic spirits and toxic shamans will rise in power and become a major threat.
All in all, Shadowrun 5.0 will become darker, grittier and much more violent in the background, but also more mature in contents and topics as the new Shadowrun will be targeted to an adult roleplayer market for experienced and mature gamers who appreciate the internal turmoil and chaos of a dark and fantastic future. Shadowrun 5.0 is going to look more like 1984 and less like the Federation in Star Trek.
Shadowrunners - international specialists instead of local crooks
Shadowrun 5.0 is not going to have a prefered setting anymore, like Seattle in older editions. In general, characters in Shadowrun 5.0 are going to be more competent than in previous editions and the focus of the game will shift from a regional to an international angle - by default, a good shadowrunner is going to operate all over the world, and even beyond, as runs in the space stations are becomming a stronger element than before.
Character creation will feature new and exciting focuses and elements, but will take back many of the changes of 4th edition. Basically, the point-buy model of 2nd and 3rd edition (veterans of Shadowrun who own the Compendium wil remember) will become the standard model of character creation. This allows for very fine-tuned and well balanced characters of various power levels -from the international specialists which will be the default of the setting, to gritty and gruesame campaigns on gang level. The new character creation rules even allow for more exotic characters than before, and even drakes and true dragons (sorry chummers, no Great Dragons) as player characters become feasible.
Brave New Magical World
According to the events in the Year of the Comet and the following increase of the mana level, magic will become stronger and magical characters much more flexible in their powers. Characters will be able to make up new spells and effects on the fly, but more powerful or unused spells will have a harder drain. Another new source of worry for spellcasters is Corruption, as using magic in corrupted areas can slowly turn the character into a toxic wizard or shaman.
The rules for astral projection and metamagic will be streamlined and much easier to use in the game, to come to a quicker and more suspenseful resolution in the game.
The big BANG!
It is a bit early to say anything concrete about it, but the combat system of Shadowrun 5.0 is going to be completely reworked in cooperation with a number of members of the military forces and two technical counselors for action movies. While the combat in Shadowrun will be as quick and fed with adrenaline as ever, we are going to make it even more deadly, more suspenseful and more realistic than ever.
Welcome to Shadowland
Shadowrun 5.0 will follow a new model of release - the different books will all be available via Shadowland, so that every player with an internet access can check out the rules and start to play.
For those players who are more dedicated to the game, a premium access allows to access all published books online and even leave comments in the books as was always the style of the shadowrun source books. The best comments of te pre-release will be chosen by the Shadowrun editor staff and will find their way in the final print versions of the books.
Shadowland will go online this summer and will also feature old out of print shadowrun ressources for a free download, starting with the great Universal Brotherhood campaign book.
With a premium access, every interested Shadowrun gamer can participate in the open playtests for new Shadowrun 5.0 books and can help to create the best Shadowrun ever through their feedback.
Shadowland will feature additional podcasts with "in-world" medias, music, TV-adds, free adventures and floor plans, some of which will be free for all users, some only for premium users. Through this additional information and material Shadowrun 5.0 will be the first roleplaying that uses the fulll potential of the internet and the many dedicated roleplaying gamers out there who want to participate in the creation of a great game.