Shadowrun 5th Edition?

[Astrella]

Hi,

I've been wanting to play a futuristic setting game for quite a while. I'm mostly doubting between Eclipse Phase and Shadowrun 5th, leaning towards Shadowrun cause I've heard that Eclipse Phase can be quite a hard system / setting to do well as a novice DM. So I'm wondering about how easy Shadowrun DM'ing is to get into as a newbie DM and what the big strengths / downsides of the system are.

[Nifft]

I have enjoyed both games.

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Eclipse Phase isn't necessarily tough.

It's several different games, in different genres, using the same system and books.

Basically, you will need to pick what type of game you want to run, and that will allow you to narrow down the genre and character options into something much more manageable. This is a decision you might want to make on your own, before

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Shadowrun is also several different games in different genres, but with a LOT more history and also magic spells and elves and spirits and dragons.

I have some fairly extensive house-rules for Shadowrun which serve to curtail certain bad habits like over-planning, and which eliminate a bunch of the worse Qualities.

So, yeah... great game, but not necessarily less work.

[Milodiah]

First off, I recommend 4th Edition over 5, and I find a lot of people do. Some recommend 3rd over 4th, which I find to be a matter of taste, but I don't hear a lot of people saying they like 5th more than either.



I have some fairly extensive house-rules for Shadowrun which serve to curtail certain bad habits like over-planning, and which eliminate a bunch of the worse Qualities.

So, yeah... great game, but not necessarily less work.

Funny, when I play Shadowrun I find over-planning to be a good habit. To me it's a thinking man's game, where the decisions are a lot more complex. I enjoy when the plans factor in means of secondary egress, lines of sight, escape routes, etc, both because I am a mirrorshades player and because my favorite character is retired SWAT. Who is usually playing with pink mohawks, so it sometimes devolves to shooting guys.

If you're interested in learning about Eclipse Phase, I know these guys (http://actualplay.roleplayingpublicradio.com/) have played a few games of it, and are almost always top-notch podcasters. I stopped listening to the Eclipse Phase ones because it simply didn't appeal to me, but I still recommend them.

Also, while you're there, listen to the Bryson Springs game...that recording has to be my favorite RPG session of all time.

[Nifft]

Funny, when I play Shadowrun I find over-planning to be a good habit. To me it's a thinking man's game, where the decisions are a lot more complex. I enjoy when the plans factor in means of secondary egress, lines of sight, escape routes, etc, both because I am a mirrorshades player and because my favorite character is retired SWAT. Who is usually playing with pink mohawks, so it sometimes devolves to shooting guys. What you're describing sounds like useful planning, and therefore it's not over-planning.

Over-planning is when the "planning" is not useful.

So, take whatever you consider "good planning", and stretch it out to four unproductive hours or so, in which nothing novel or interesting happens after the first 20 minutes.

Still think you'd enjoy that ~good~ habit?

Well, maybe you do.

I sure didn't.

So, I fixed it.

[Slipperychicken]

Shadowrun is quite unforgiving as a game system, and the setting can also be that way if your playstyle leans dark trenchcoat. Even if you're running a pink mohawk game where in-character planning is less decisive, it pays to put a lot of thought into your character's stats and equipment. It's an extreme example, but I even found myself writing scripts to compute diepool success chances.

EDIT:
The planning does drag on longer than I'd like when subtlety and finesse are required. I'd rather actually do something within the first session.

[themaque]

I've never played Eclipse, So take my word with w grain of salt, but I really do enjoy Shadowrun.

I also PREFER 5th over 4th edition. So there is a bit more conflicting information. ;-)

[GrayDeath]

Neither is "easy" to GM.

Both require you and your group to concentrate on a few aspects/subsettings to be coherent and fun if you are all "new".

That said, both are robust Systems that allow a wild variety of different Styles to flourish.
As long as youre not afraid of some strange aspects (EP) or LOs (if not as many as in 3rd) of Dice (SR).

SR has the advantage that its a lot cheaper to start, but with the buckload of extras it gets more expensive fast.

Also: I do slightly prefer 5th over 4th, but if we play SR here we still mostly use our houseruled and almost decadelong evolved SR 3.8. ^^

[Steampunkette]

Shadowrun is wonderful. But whichever system you choose, beware of choice paralysis.

Due to the fairly open ended nature of modern and future fantasy settings, thanks to magic and tech smacking each other around like snails trying to dart one another, you'll wind up with tons of possible directions for your players to go. Try to narrow things up for them.

[Anonymouswizard]

SR has the advantage that its a lot cheaper to start, but with the buckload of extras it gets more expensive fast.

Really? You get money if you buy Shadowrun PDFs? Because Eclipse Phase costs nothing to start (you can download the PDFs for free, legally). As long as you have 2d10 (ideally a pair for each player) youcaplay Eclipse Phase without paying a penny.

[GrayDeath]

Huh, I somehow thought that had been a temporary thing.... in that case disregard that part of my post. ;)