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Splatbooks - To Use Or Not To Use

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irthinker

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« on: <11-25-15/1802:42> »
Hello,

I am suddenly starting a new Shadowrun campaign.  For the first time, I have come across someone wanting to use something from a splatbook.  Honestly, in 30 years of gaming, I had never come across the term "splatbook".

I look at them and see rules that are variations/additions and printed only in PDF.  This makes me wonder:

1. Have the rules been as rigorously vetted as the core books?
2. How much of a monster will I be for deciding, as a rule, to simply not use splatbooks?
3. Is it worth having hundreds more pages of rules to mange?

But I am naive about what is in the splatbooks and, frankly, even though I am a Shadowrun fanboy, I am not eager to invest the money and TIME to include splatbooks unless there is a compelling argument.

What are you thoughts and experiences with them?

[And, holy crap, there is a shedload of anti-spam mechanisms on this site!]

I look forward to hearing your experience and opinions.

PiXeL01

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« Reply #1 on: <11-25-15/1932:49> »
1 - see the mission FAQ for what changes they propose. They are pretty thorough in my opinion.

2 - it is your campaign so you can do what you like. It might however be better to sit down with said player and gave them introduce you to what they want a little bit before starting to give you a chance to crunch the new information a bit. A monster? No.

3 - Some books are great. Hard Targets adds tons of crunch (awesome book btw) so on that book you would be missing out I believe and Shadow Spells add spells, traditions and more. Other books I'm not so sure about. Many say Gun Heaven 3 is a bit overpowered but that's been errata'd. Mostly the none-core books add tons of fluff other than the three I mentioned.


If Tom Brady’s a Spike Baby, what does that make Brees and Rodgers?

irthinker

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« Reply #2 on: <11-25-15/2021:25> »
1 - see the mission FAQ for what changes they propose. They are pretty thorough in my opinion.

2 - it is your campaign so you can do what you like. It might however be better to sit down with said player and gave them introduce you to what they want a little bit before starting to give you a chance to crunch the new information a bit. A monster? No.

3 - Some books are great. Hard Targets adds tons of crunch (awesome book btw) so on that book you would be missing out I believe and Shadow Spells add spells, traditions and more. Other books I'm not so sure about. Many say Gun Heaven 3 is a bit overpowered but that's been errata'd. Mostly the none-core books add tons of fluff other than the three I mentioned.

Thanks.  A very reasonable and measured response.

Do you happen to know if the splatbooks undergo the same editorial rigor as the core books?

Mittensworth

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« Reply #3 on: <11-25-15/2030:55> »
God I hope not.

Lucean

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« Reply #4 on: <11-26-15/0300:13> »
Your misconception is assuming that the Core book is "rigorously vetted".
Since that assumption can be clearly viewn as false (just compare the length of the errata thread http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=11514.0 with the actual amount of produced errata or even better the last release date of such errata (hint: more than 20 months ago for Core) I don't think you should worry about the quality of splat books.

Dropship

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« Reply #5 on: <11-26-15/0708:13> »
More importantly, are the extras from the splat book going to enhance the game? There's no requirement to use the whole book. My D&D group has been cut & pasting from different splat books for years (after running it by our DM to give him a chance to break it or prepare for it)

Is the player trying to twist the rule to his advantage or is he using to make the game more fun? If it's the latter awesome. If it's the former....well, the unwritten rule of my SR games is whatever the players get, I get two of, to use as and when they don't expect it ;D

Reaver

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« Reply #6 on: <11-27-15/1225:46> »
The PDFs add options. Nothing more.

And with everything, its all in how you use it. I don't own any of the PDF only books (I enjoy paper in my hands... and sometimes a electronic reader just can't be taken with me - no way to charge it.)

But I have had players print off/show me what they wanted from one. 90% of the time I have said 'yes'

The few times I said 'no' had more to do with the player (headache player) then the actual material.
Where am I going? And why am I in a hand basket ???

Remember: You can't fix Stupid. But you can beat on it with a 2x4 until it smartens up! Or dies.

Whiskeyjack

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« Reply #7 on: <11-27-15/1502:21> »
I am pretty sure that books like Run Faster, Run & Gun, Chrome Flesh, Street Grimoire, and Data Trails (and the forthcoming Rigger Zero or whatever it's called) are actually considered "core supplements" because they each greatly expand on the options for different archetypes that simply cannot be fit into the core book.

Your misconception is assuming that the Core book is "rigorously vetted".
Spot on.

Aside from the truly terrible organization in some books (the way metamagics and martial arts maneuvers are laid out is truly atrocious in their books) and the exception of Street Grimoire making Alchemy even shittier than it was in the core (and some didn't think that was possible), the supplemental books are really well done.
« Last Edit: <11-27-15/1504:51> by Whiskeyjack »
Playability > verisimilitude.