Shadowrun?

[Gamerlord]

Okay so I heard about in this forum and saw it in my Local Barnes & Nobles, I understand that it is a futuristic RPG? Is it any good? What exactly are the Core books?

[TheCountAlucard]

I understand that it is a futuristic RPG?

Somewhat; it is set in the year 2070, with flying cars, technomancers, and cybernetics. However, it's also got fantasy elements, like mages, immortal elves, and powerful dragons. The game is typically played with the players taking up the roles of shadowrunners, covert specialists who work for (or against) the looming megacorporations as "deniable assets."

Is it any good?

Very much so, at least in my opinion. If your previous experience only includes D&D, it's going to be an entirely new game, but it's still one I recommend.

What exactly are the Core books?

There's just one Core book (If you're going SR 4e, I recommend the twentieth anniversary Core book; it's better organized), but you might also grab up Arsenal and Augmentation. From what I hear, they're both handy to have around.

[Lycan 01]

Check Alucard's Shadowrun thread, and you'll get plenty of answers.

[Gamerlord]

There's just one Core book (If you're going SR 4e, I recommend the twentieth anniversary Core book; it's better organized), but you might also grab up Arsenal and Augmentation. From what I hear, they're both handy to have around.

So wait, no monster manual? No DMG?

[Lycan 01]

Nope. Just one big book. Some games are like that, and you only need the core rulebook for all your info. Call of Cthulhu is another good example...

[TheCountAlucard]

So wait, no monster manual? No DMG?

Lycan 01's right; it explains most everything in the Core book. Makes things pretty handy, actually.

[Gamerlord]

Sounds interesting, but why would somebody keep the monsters in a players handbook? Doesn't that support metagaming?

[tarbrush]

Most of the people you'll be facing are other people, so don't require special rules.

There is a monsters book, Running Wild, but while it's easily one of the cooler books, it's also quite low down "need" scale.

[Gamerlord]

Most of the people you'll be facing are other people, so don't require special rules.

There is a monsters book, Running Wild, but while it's easily one of the cooler books, it's also quite low down "need" scale.

So basically, everyone you fight is a DM-made NPC?

[tarbrush]

Yeah... basically. It's not the kind of game where you'll tend to face lots and lots of opponents. Generally, most teams try to sneak/bribe/con their way past most of the opposition, cause stand up fighting is lethal very fast, and there are no resses.

[comicshorse]

Particularly as lots of the action takes place on the Corporations property where all their men and resources are. Getting into a fight there and the chances are good you are dead meat

[Gamerlord]

Sounds interesting, I might get it for Christmas.

[LibraryOgre]

Sounds interesting, but why would somebody keep the monsters in a players handbook? Doesn't that support metagaming?

Let us say, for a moment, that you (gamerkid), wanted to rob a store. Now, you know (because a friend of yours told you what he learned from a guy) that this store is protected by rabid pangolins. Since you want to rob this store, you have to find a way around the pangolins. What do you do?

Being an internet savvy child of the 21st century, you probably go on the internet and Google "Pangolins". And you learn about them.

Now, the world of Shadowrun likewise has a internet, called the Matrix. A great many of your fellow high-tech low-lifes use the Matrix to communicate... including sharing information about critters that you might run into. That doesn't mean you won't run into anything new, but the very availability of information means that someone with Computer 1 and time is able to learn what they need to about common subjects.

[Gamerlord]

Let us say, for a moment, that you (gamerkid), wanted to rob a store. Now, you know (because a friend of yours told you what he learned from a guy) that this store is protected by rabid pangolins. Since you want to rob this store, you have to find a way around the pangolins. What do you do?

Being an internet savvy child of the 21st century, you probably go on the internet and Google "Pangolins". And you learn about them.

Now, the world of Shadowrun likewise has a internet, called the Matrix. A great many of your fellow high-tech low-lifes use the Matrix to communicate... including sharing information about critters that you might run into. That doesn't mean you won't run into anything new, but the very availability of information means that someone with Computer 1 and time is able to learn what they need to about common subjects.

Good point . I guess I have been rooted in D&D for a bit too long.

[kjones]

Shadowrun is a lot of fun. I've only ever played 4th edition - older editions are worth checking out, you may find that they suit your tastes better. (Though I think most people will agree that the 4th edition ruleset is the easiest to pick up.)

It's very different than D&D - Ye Olde D&D Lande is nothing like living in a dystopian future ruled by megacorps. In D&D, you might adventure for glory, or your god, or to Do The Right Thing. In Shadowrun, you're usually going on runs for one reason - nuyen. (The global currency of 2070.) If you try to Do The Right Thing, you'll probably end up dead. Most runners are not heroes, in any conventional sense of the term - at best, you might be an antihero.

Most games that I've played in revolve around the players getting a "job" of some kind - corporate espionage or sabotage, escort/delivery, "extraction" (read: kidnapping), you name it. Then follows a great deal of planning (my groups usually think that way regardless of the system). Finally, we try to implement our plan, and something inevitably goes horribly awry and we're left trying to pick up the pieces and escape with our asses intact.

I hope you decide to pick up the game. I've had a lot of fun with it. It's a really good system and a really awesome setting.

And remember: Never deal with a dragon!

[T.G. Oskar]

One thing that most people have pointed out here and that's good to point every so often is that Shadowrun is not quite suited for hack & slash kinds of combat. It can happen, but it's best to keep it limited. Teamwork is crucial, and subterfuge is even more.

You can adventure for something other than good ol' Nuyen, but it requires the setting to change a bit. Unlike on D&D where you have organizations and churches and even deities rooting for you, SR is pretty hostile. Even though it may sound like metagaming, it's perfectly normal to consider that, 9 times out of 10 your run (say, as if you were running through a dungeon for recovering an artifact, or entering a castle to do some kidnapping) will go wrong, and at times pretty badly. It is perfectly normal to expect at least one betrayal, or one pretty horrible set-up. Not always (though it's pretty rare to see a really good and uneventful run), but it's something to expect. If the character had some experience as a 'runner, even more.

Also, magic works very differently. This is no mere X times per day fire-and-forget kind of magic; this kind of magic can go from bad to catastrophically dangerous pretty quick (though, it can be used at will and it can be made easier if you get the rules right). Cybernetic implants should be taken with care; the best is quite expensive, and the cheap ones can't be stacked that easily.

But, all in all, it's quite probably one of my favorite settings just for the background and concept. Considering it's pretty much the most vicious amalgam of fantasy and cyberpunk around (barring such settings as CthulhuTech), and that the idea is to be as cool as possible, and it mingles some stuff that other settings usually don't (coexistence between magic and technology, man-machine integration, myths becoming reality) and attempt a very, very, very fragile balance. Not to mention it's not a screwed-up utopia but quite dark and gritty.

[Farlion]

Good point . I guess I have been rooted in D&D for a bit too long.

Well, I wouldn't go as far, to say your whole D&D expirience is of no use in Shadowrun, but it requires ALOT of rethinking.

1. Shadowrun is deadly! As a D&D comparison, your almost always going to be a level 2 wizard with varying con-modifier. Usually one gunshot is enough to kill you, sometimes you will survive one. If you have to fight, you probably already made a mistake!

2. Being hurt is bad! The first blow is REALLY important. As soon as you're hurt, you're doomed. I D&D taking damage is something that won't alter your capacity to fight/use abilities. In Shadowrun, even the smallest wound, makes everything alot harder.

3. As stated above, you don't fight for glory. You fight to survive. As Shadowrunner, you're an outcast of normal society. You live in Slums, trying to squeek by, get enough nuyen to eat, pay the rent and tune yourself to be able to keep up to your competitors.

4. It's all about contacts! Information is everything in Shadowrun. The more you know, the better for you (but don't ever tell anyone, what you know, or they might want to see you dead ).

5. Depending on the DM and personal preferences, the Shadowrun universe can be really dark and unfair. I've had players tell me to not describe things in so much detail, because it made them angry/upset/scared (good thing they told me, now I always ask before I start a campaign)

6. Shadowrun is fun! It's really RP heavy. It lives of "political" connections (mostly in the underworld) and asking the right people the right questions.

7. Shadowrun is dirty! Life is worth nothing, if you piss someone off, they might send you a killer or just beat you up themselfs. You're never safe and paraonoia is your constant companion.

Hmmm... that's all for now!

I hope I got you interested

I love the game, but it's alot harder to play and DM (at least in my opinion) than the standart D&D campaign.

Cheers,
Farlion

[OverdrivePrime]

Shadowrun 4 is easily my favorite game right now. All love to D&D and the rest, but the shadows are where it's at.

And while combat is extremely dangerous and deadly to PCs, it's certainly not impossible to create a character who can take a few shots from a pistol and not care. 'Course sniper rounds are a different story.

[Lost Demiurge]

Definitely check it out!

And once you've got the book, there's a ton of resources online, everything from general advice to campaign stories, to fan-made homebrew content.

Oh, and the folks who made the game put out about 24 or so free missions. They're set in Denver, but that's easily changed. Each one's about a 10-20 page module, with a different idea for a run. Some are good, some are meh, but you can't argue with the price.

Don't have the link right now... Anyone got it? (Failing that, google for SHADOWRUN MISSIONS DENVER)