[Gmanjkd]

Hello all, I'm coming to grips with the Shadowrun Product line and would like some guidance.

I'm trying to associate the current product line with books that i know from the past so that i can make informed purchases of SR6 books.  To my understanding the SR6 product line falls into a few categories.

Shadowrun Missions. - Are these books the closest thing I'm going to find to old Adventure Modules like - Dreamchipper.  A storyline and a detailed set of scenes to play through?

Plot Sourcebooks  -I just finished reading Renraku Arcology Shutdown for the 1st time this morning.  HOLY CRAP it was awesome!  While that book is titled as a "Adventure" it really appears to me to be more setting material and then plot seeds so the GM can create their own adventurs with the included information.  Would a modern day parallel to Renraku Arcology Shutdown be Cutting Black or The Kechibi Code....not in subject matter mind you but in the way the information is presented to the GM so they can create their own adventures?

Campaigns -  I read Assassins Night a couple of weeks ago and really liked it.  I'm not sure of what a parallel from older editions  (1 through 3) would be as this book is clearly a series of loosely detailed adventure ideas painted with very broad strokes where the GM will still have to do quite a bit of work to use this book.  No Maps, no real scenes are detailed etc.  Thats not a complaint I'm just trying to understand how each of these books in the product line are meant to be used.

Summary:   I'm listing below books from SR1-SR3 and my assumption of what a SR6 parallel book would be.  Are my assumptions correct?

Dream Chipper  = Shadowrun Missions 09-01
Renraku Arcology Shutdown =  Cutting Black
Harlequin = The Kechibi Code

Thanks for any inside and corrections in my logic.

[FastJack]

Missions: These are books that are official Adventures that you can run a character made for Shadowrun Missions at gaming stores and conventions. What you accomplish in the mission follows you through other missions, like the old D&D RPGA or Pathfinder's Adventure Paths (These will always be listed as Missions and list a Season they are a part of - SRM 09-01 Started from the Bottom is the first adventure of the 9th season. All the seasons have an interconnected storyline and are meant to play from the first book onward to scale difficulty with the players).

Adventures: 6th Edition are not really about single-shot Adventures anymore, old adventures like Dreamchipper, Mercurial, and Queen Euphoria don't really have counterparts in the new edition.

Campaigns: These usually involve a plot hook and include a bunch of adventure ideas around that hook. Characters that go through these adventures are for home-games only and do not gain any advancement in the Missions games. 30 Nights and Assassin's Night are Campaign books for 6th Edition. Universal Brotherhood, Harlequin, and Renraku Arcology Shutdown are examples of previous editions.

Plot Sourcebooks: These books are used to update the Shadowrun universe. They may include some adventure ideas, but are basically info-dumps for players and GM's about what's going on in the SR Universe. Book of the Lost, Collapsing Now, and The Keichibi Code are 6th Edition examples of Plot books. Previous edition examples include The Clutch of Dragons, Portfolio of a Dragon: Dunkelzahn's Secrets, Shadows of North America, and Bug City.

[Gmanjkd]

thanks so much!  that was very helpful and informative.  I had emailed Catalyst with a similar question and they were kind enough to answer but upon additional reading that brought about more questions.   thanks again for the excellent detail and examples. 

[MercilessMing]

Pegasus still makes proper adventures with maps and stuff, for their German language products.  For a long time, Catalyst's adventures have just been story beats .  They're fine with saying "a warehouse on the docks" and letting you do all the heavy lifting to come up with what that is. 

[Michael Chandra]

thanks so much!  that was very helpful and informative.  I had emailed Catalyst with a similar question and they were kind enough to answer but upon additional reading that brought about more questions.   thanks again for the excellent detail and examples.

One side-note: Missions can be used by people for inspiration, but if players want to use their characters at official conventions, they must follow some mission-specific rules. This to make characters equal-ish, rather than having one overly generous GM upset the balance to other players. But if you want to just make it your own thing, and not attend cons, then nothing's holding you back.