[Sacredsouless]

Hello, I'm planning on picking up the core rule book in about a week or so and the start up kit shortly after. After that I will expand as needed long as I have the players (Iowa, south east, give me a pm if your around) to the other books. My question is, for a new GM, to GM-ing and the setting, what do you consider the most important books to get or should I just grab all of them and have at it?

And yes, while I'm new to GM-ing, on of my friends (he'll be a PC) has GM-ed before in another system and has promised thier support in keeping things on track. So its probably gonna end up more like a mentoring type thing for the first session or two.

Please & thank you.

[CanRay]

Depends on your group make-up, and also you knowledge of the Shadowrun Universe.

Arsenal and the new Attitude are good suggestions for any group make-up.  Gear and filling fluff is always good.  Augmentation may be a good purchase as well, but isn't really necessary.

If you don't know the Shadowrun history that well, 6th World Almanac is a great purchase as it lists the history of Shadowrun in one package.  If you have a good idea, then you can pick this up later.

On the old editions E-Book fronts, I'd suggest "Street Samurai Catalog", "Shadowtech", "Corporate Security Handbook", and "Fields of Fire" for gun, cybernetics, and vehicle porn (Lots of nice pictures that give a good idea of what things look like.  Style matters a lot!), if you got the extra cash for pure artistic enjoyment.  (Again, depends on group dynamics.).

If you want a good street-level view of Shadowrun, you can't beat the Nigel Findley Omnibus!  It's 2050s rather than 2070s, but a lot of it still applies.  This was my first exposure to Shadowrun (Shadowplay and 2XS) and is what sold me on the universe, and made me the raving, and possibly rabid, fanboy that I am.  I just wish that I could have seen more of his work.  (Pours a 40 on the curb.).

If you want to really delve into the world, I'd also suggest printing and keeping the Slang Guidebook from the official website handy at the table.  But copy/paste it into a word processor for easier reading in Dead Tree Format.

Those are just my suggestions for general items that I'd suggest to a new GM.  Again, depending on your background and the dynamics of your group, this might be very different.

[Medicineman]

Arsenal because of the Gear and more Skills (Martial Arts) and Contacts
and the Runners Compendium for more Subspecies and Qualities
the Rest depends on Your Group
If they want more ' ware get the Augmentations
If You need more Magic get the Streetmagic
if you have some Hackers or TMs get the Unwired
Maybe the Almanach for Background Info

Hough !
Medicineman

[CanRay]

I know I'm tired.  Runner's Companion is another "Pretty much must buy", good fluff for the universe with decent crunch for lifestyle. 

[LonePaladin]

Yeah, the Runner's Companion is pretty valuable. It has something that used to be in the main rulebook: a set of twenty questions for your players to answer about their characters. I'm handling that by printing the questions out individually on 4-by-6 index cards, with one random card handed out each session.


It also has a metric ton of qualities, most of which cover things that the qualities in the main book don't handle at all. (With the return of the Common Sense quality, I'm now mechanically justified in not telling the players when they're doing something stupid. 'Course, one of my players actually bought this, meaning I'm required to tell him about these times.)


The Advanced Lifestyle rules are incredibly useful, if you can convince your players to use the added detail. It actually gets them thinking about what their homes are like, and includes some themes that the default lifestyles don't cover -- specifically, the option to convert a lifestyle into "perpetual hotel stays" as seen in Johnny Mnemonic. 'Course, the budget-conscious runner might be living out of a coffin hotel (Neuromancer), but that can work out too.


I'm glad they reintroduced coffin hotels; it was one of those oddities that made SR stand out in my mind. I also liked the description of the Soy Processing Unit -- desktop manufacturing for food!

[Sacredsouless]

Wow, that some really cool stuff. Personally my players are already stoked about what we know about the setting (mostly gleaned from the wiki's). And I'm right there with them. Thank you guys for the advice, now I got myself decent list of priorities for what to buy.

[Loki]

So close Sacred, I'm in NE Iowa so prolly a bit of a commute for me.

Core books have been well covered so I'll mention a couple of the more fluff books that may be worth tacking to the end of your list.
Seattle 2072- The name says it all, it's a lowdown on the Seattle metroplex, it's districts and it's movers and shakers.
Vice- Not just a book on the various criminal organizations and solid fluff on how they operate but a great look at various crimes the characters may be involved in.
Running Wild- Critters, critters, critters. From fuzzy things your gf will want to have as pets to nasty beasties trained for security by corps to various AIs your hacker/TM can encounter.

[Chaemera]

The Advanced Lifestyle rules are incredibly useful, if you can convince your players to use the added detail. It actually gets them thinking about what their homes are like, and includes some themes that the default lifestyles don't cover -- specifically, the option to convert a lifestyle into "perpetual hotel stays" as seen in Johnny Mnemonic. 'Course, the budget-conscious runner might be living out of a coffin hotel (Neuromancer), but that can work out too.

Wait... if you can get your players to use it? You mean you had trouble? My players saw that and started demanding I implement it. Everyone not only detailed out their lifestyle, but wanted to know where they lived in what part of town and wanting to know the lifestyle qualities of other neighborhoods they come across (we're set in Hampton Roads, CAS), or guessing at them. All to figure out where their next "bolt hole away from home" might be.

Seriously, best way I've ever seen to get players thinking about a fairly fluff aspect of a character. And it's been kind of revealing about the characters, too.

[Sacredsouless]

The Advanced Lifestyle rules are incredibly useful, if you can convince your players to use the added detail. It actually gets them thinking about what their homes are like, and includes some themes that the default lifestyles don't cover -- specifically, the option to convert a lifestyle into "perpetual hotel stays" as seen in Johnny Mnemonic. 'Course, the budget-conscious runner might be living out of a coffin hotel (Neuromancer), but that can work out too.

Wait... if you can get your players to use it? You mean you had trouble? My players saw that and started demanding I implement it. Everyone not only detailed out their lifestyle, but wanted to know where they lived in what part of town and wanting to know the lifestyle qualities of other neighborhoods they come across (we're set in Hampton Roads, CAS), or guessing at them. All to figure out where their next "bolt hole away from home" might be.

Seriously, best way I've ever seen to get players thinking about a fairly fluff aspect of a character. And it's been kind of revealing about the characters, too.

yeah, at least one of them are that detailed with his character. Heck, i don't even have the core book yet and hes already planned out his background and basic character idea (hacker). i love that enthusiasm.

[Chaemera]

Some of my players have spent more time & effort on their lifestyle (including detailed floorplans) than they have their backstory... The things in their character's lives mean more to them than the who, why and how of their character's history and psychology.

[Sacredsouless]

Some of my players have spent more time & effort on their lifestyle (including detailed floorplans) than they have their backstory... The things in their character's lives mean more to them than the who, why and how of their character's history and psychology.

this is simultanously funny and kinda sad. probably because all the GM's i've had have encouraged us to get detailed about our characters motivations and who they are as a character. *shrug* i'm gonna assume that you guys are having fun at least, and really thats the important bit.

[LonePaladin]

I'm waiting to see how much work they're willing to put into describing these areas before I suggest using it. So far, two of the six have given me very detailed descriptions; if the others look like they're willing to follow suit, then I'll be showing them how to make it work.

I'm only willing to make things as complicated as the group's interests will allow. I'm trying to keep from throwing them too many options at once -- only one of them really has any SR experience.

[Charybdis]

Honestly, the Core rulebook is all you'll need for the first few sessions.

From there, I would let the PC Game style dictate what books and tricks come next.

Big on Weird and Wacky Background or lifestyle?    Runners' Companion
Big on Magic?             Street Magic
Big on Body Mods?     Augmentation
Big on Guns and melee combat?         Arsenal
Big on REALLY HUGE guns and tanks? War! and/or MilSpech tech
Big on Hacking?          Unwired
Big on Paracritters?     Running Wild and/or Parazoology

As long as everyone's having fun, use as few (or as many) books and rules as you're comfortable with. Fun is the name of the game. As long everyone's got that, Sourcebooks are secondary

[CanRay]

Some of my players have spent more time & effort on their lifestyle (including detailed floorplans) than they have their backstory... The things in their character's lives mean more to them than the who, why and how of their character's history and psychology.

Consider people, period.  How many people put more work into their things than their lives?  It's not that hard to believe.

That said, as a writer (Sorta), I do like a nice, in-depth background to a character.  Some of mine have gotten quite insane.

I, uh, have one family figured out back to WWI, with only a few gaps.   

[LonePaladin]

I, uh, have one family figured out back to WWI, with only a few gaps.   

Gaps are a GM's invitation to throw in something unexpected.

Is this a "family", as in the kind who like to meet in Italian restaurants, or is it a Mom-n-Pop family?