Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Malroth on <10-03-10/2031:21>
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So, after taking about 10 years off from Shadowrun, I decided to pick it back up again and start running. I thought the best thing to do was to pick up the Artifacts adventures and start the group on those, since I'm a bit rusty, and half the group are completely new to the game. So far it has been going quite well.
That being said, I'm starting to look at what books I really should pick up, since I'd really like this thing to continue - not to mention having some filler runs between the main adventures. What main sourcebooks would people recommend? So far I've just got the main book (anniversary edition) and Street Magic.
I'll say this though, it is great being back. :)
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Well being a Catalyst Freelancer (For BattleTech mostly) I have an advantage of being able to ask experts. When I asked Randall what were the things I should read to get back into the universe his answer was. SR4A, Runner's Companion, 6th World Almanac, Unwired, Augmentation, Arsenal and Street Magic.
For just game play you can probably skip the Almanac. It's a great "universe" source book, but doesn't have rules and must have info.
Best,
Joel BC
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Sweet, thanks. Actually picking up all of those is exactly within my budget too - I really do want the almanac. The background stuff is always good, especially when 20 years of game time have passed since I last played.
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Don't forget Runner's Companion. Like it's predecessors, it gives a lot of great alternatives and additions to the game.
Also, remember that most of the additional rules in the other books are Advanced rules, so don't feel you have to use something if you're not comfortable with it.
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Absolutely. I'm in the "fun" area of knowing things that I (or my players) should be able to do, because of 2nd (and a bit of 3rd) edition experience. More than once already in the 4 sessions we've played so far I've thought "Well, why don't they do this....oh wait, I have no rules for that. Huh. I bet it's in 'x' book." But then you throw the new Matrix rules at me, and I'm basically useless, flipping from page to page trying to figure out what they're doing. :)
For that reason I might skip initially on the Unwired book, since I'm still trying to grasp the rules of the basic set, though getting it now and just shelving it for the time being might be better. Still deciding.
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Psst, Jack. I did mention the Runner's Companion. I think you've got a data loop running, might want to clear your cache and check for tracer programs messing up your reads. :)
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Okay, listen. YOU go to a day of seminars (highlighted by a keynote speech by Greek Squad founder Robert Stephens), then a day of training, then sleep in the lobby of MSP airport to catch a 6AM flight back to PA, meet with friends, stay with family, watch the Eagle self-destruct, then go on TWO job interviews before flying BACK to Minnesota that night so you can get to work Tuesday morning at 7AM. lol
;D
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Aaaaand Fastjack wins. :) But then again, just being in Minnesota is a win.
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Okay, listen. YOU go to a day of seminars (highlighted by a keynote speech by Greek Squad founder Robert Stephens), then a day of training, then sleep in the lobby of MSP airport to catch a 6AM flight back to PA, meet with friends, stay with family, watch the Eagle self-destruct, then go on TWO job interviews before flying BACK to Minnesota that night so you can get to work Tuesday morning at 7AM. lol
I think we give the Hacker a pass. No one wants to wake up to have their toaster trying to assassinate them.
Cheers FJ and good luck on the job interviews.
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Arsenal greatly increases the survivability and power of riggers and all personal combatants through an infusion of weapons, armor and vehicles, along with the rules to modify them all to gleaming goodness. Martial arts and the toxins and drugs are also very good additions to help people keep up with the mage.
Runner's Companion, despite its flaws is still a great source of character depth for people getting into the game. There are a lot of new options and qualities that can destabilize a game if abused, but which generally just add to the flavor. I'm a big fan of the "Advanced Lifestyles" in their more intricate look at life in the 6th world. Ever wondered just what it means to have a "Street" lifestyle? Well, it's there on the page. Great resources for Players and GMs to draw from.
Unwired might seem like it is only useful to Hackers, Riggers and Technomancers, but.. well.. it pretty much is. There is a lot of internal contradiction as to just what can be done with and in the matrix. Enough that lots of tables just outright handwave it away. I feel like this is a terrible thing though, because the Matrix is literally everywhere in the 4th ed setting. Without it, there's really something missing. Big utility of this book is for GMs to help develop their setting. Also, things like program options and commlink upgrades are useful to all the characters, so long as you're playing in a truly jacked-in world. Technomancers are made considerably more powerful by the rules included here.
Augmentation is the mundanes' best friend. Another step closer to non-mage characters being able to bust heads like a wizard. The section on biodrones, cyberzombies and other monstrosities are pretty good GM fodder. The advanced medicine rules are great fluff as well.
Hope this helps you figure out where your priorities are bound to take you first.
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Other than SR4A the only other book I recommend is Seattle 2072 for a GM. If your not going to play in Seattle then that becomes much less important. The "core" books do add a lot of options/gear but I don't feel any of it is needed, especially unwired, but it will all depend on what your PCs create if you'll use them or not.
[edit] The reason I recommend Seattle 2072 is the street talk is full of adventure ideas, I could run years of gaming just off the ideas presented from the street talk, none of the core books street talk or fiction did this for me.
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Also keep in mind, that the core books (http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/2010/09/more-street-dates/ (http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/2010/09/more-street-dates/)) will all be reprinted to match the page numbers in SR4A edition (along with minor errata fixed). You may want to wait until after the reprints if you can. Or just pick up the PDFs for now.
Street Magic is the first to be reprinted. Ironically, that is the first core book I picked up in hardcopy aside from the main SR4A book.
EDIT: Actually, now that I re-read that link, it looks like only the Street Magic book is being reprinted so far. Nothing else has been announced.
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Also keep in mind, that the core books (http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/2010/09/more-street-dates/ (http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/2010/09/more-street-dates/)) will all be reprinted to match the page numbers in SR4A edition (along with minor errata fixed). You may want to wait until after the reprints if you can. Or just pick up the PDFs for now.
Street Magic is the first to be reprinted. Ironically, that is the first core book I picked up in hardcopy aside from the main SR4A book.
EDIT: Actually, now that I re-read that link, it looks like only the Street Magic book is being reprinted so far. Nothing else has been announced.
You were right the first time. (http://forums.shadowrun4.com/index.php?topic=135.msg9547#msg9547) Nothing's been announced, but JMH is working on it.
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Thanks for the list Joel! Now where's my sammich'...err...3039 list? ;)
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Also keep in mind, that the core books (http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/2010/09/more-street-dates/ (http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/2010/09/more-street-dates/)) will all be reprinted to match the page numbers in SR4A edition (along with minor errata fixed). You may want to wait until after the reprints if you can. Or just pick up the PDFs for now.
Street Magic is the first to be reprinted. Ironically, that is the first core book I picked up in hardcopy aside from the main SR4A book.
EDIT: Actually, now that I re-read that link, it looks like only the Street Magic book is being reprinted so far. Nothing else has been announced.
You were right the first time. (http://forums.shadowrun4.com/index.php?topic=135.msg9547#msg9547) Nothing's been announced, but JMH is working on it.
Doh! and of course I replied to the thread, then promptly forgot about it.
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I actually think Unwired answers loads of the niggling questions that were raised by the Matrix chapter of SR4. Definitely recommended.
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Thanks for the list Joel! Now where's my sammich'...err...3039 list? ;)
*throws turkey club wrapped in random BT TRO pages*
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Thanks for the list Joel! Now where's my sammich'...err...3039 list? ;)
I have people working on it as we speak.
For those not in the BT side of things, you could say I'm something of a Fixer for special BT projects. Yeah I write, but I also wrangle volunteers for various things. Peter here is a Mr. Johnson who wants his project completed by the "runners" I sourced the work out to.
Mr. Johnson is not happy, I need to go zap some runners.
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in addition...I reccomend using SR missions 1. Just convert the storylines to sr4. They are great for new players, especially since i love seattle...
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Thanks for all the advice everyone. :)
I ended up getting Arsenal, Runner's Companion, Seattle 2072, and the 6th World Almanac. Next up will be Augmentation and Unwired, when I get my next paycheck.
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A suggestion-
I just read SR4A cover to cover and then dove right into the Almanac. Having not followed the game since 2nd Edition, I'm lost on a few things that I think reading the other core rules would have helped a lot with. Like I think I've got what an Astral Shallow is, but I'm not 100% sure.
Read the core rules before you read the Almanac.
Best,
WM
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Astral Shallow? That's a new one on me.
Are you sure it wasn't meant to be Astral Shadow, but it snuck past the spellchecker?
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An astral shallow is a place where the barrier between the astral and physical planes are so weak anyone can see through it. The biggest one I remember is in Hong Kong at Wuxings HQ. They are described in Street MAgic page 116.
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Wotcha-wa there Malroth, welcome back to the 6th World chummer.
Being a SR old timer myself and getting back into the scene after a decade's break, I'd recommend grabbing Seattle 2072 for starters if you're kickingup a new campaign. It's a damn fine piece of GM hardcopy and the good thing is, there's still a lot of old stuff from previous editions you can incorporate, say if you happened to have/remember the classic Seattle Sourcebool [1st Ed]. Always nice to have a familiarity with the campaign environment.
Second up would be additions that expand the ruleset that you're going to be using. Street Magic is one of my essential choices as it covers things like initiation and threats and stuff that is pretty useful to you as a GM creating NPCs as well as getting a firmer understanding on all the astral/magical phenomina out there. Players will fnd bits useful too.
{b]Augmented[/b] and Arsenal are other great back-up to the basic rules, primarily for the additional gear players and NPCs will want to use. But they also cover a lot of important areas that a GM should be knowledgable about - I particularly found the demolitions chapter of Arsenal to be very informative. (You know how player's like to blow things up?)
Likewise, Unwired is important for the Matrix 2.0 and the uimpact of the wireless world of data available to PCs. Personally though, I generally leave this to last because not many of my players are techy decker-types. (Besides, I'm still running my campaign in 2055, so there's a while to go before AIs and wireless networks screw up my carefully (1990's-era) laid GM plans. ;D) Runners Companion, however, is also a solid investment for a GM as it coevers a lot of things that'll make your life easier and the players' more interesting.
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Really, I've just come to calling them the Quints. ;)
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Mr. Johnson is not happy, I need to go zap some runners.
*hands Welsh a cattleprod stun batton*
In all seriousness, I too am a long time 'Runner, but new to 4E. I dropped off the grid as it were just before 4E came out and had to deal with other things so I never really got back into it. But as they say, you can take the runner from the sprawl, but you cant take the sprawl out of the runner.
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Must haves to restart your Shadowrun: The 20th anniversary edition of the core book, Runners Companion, Street Magic, If you are setting your game in Seattle the Seattle 2072 book is awsome, and the new Sixth World Almanac is also good for feeling out the world. Augmentation, Arsenal and Unwired are nice but not mandatory, the Vice source book is fun too if you are having a more organized crime twist on your game, but still not needed.
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Hmmm. While Street Magic and Unwired are pretty cool, I've used Augmentation and Arsenal much more than the others. Runner's Companion more so too.
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The long and short of it is that your "must have" books vary based on the gaming group and what aspects of Shadowrun they tend to enjoy.
SR4A (20th Anniversary Edition), or at least the older core SR4 book, are cold, hard, must haves. It's hard to go wrong with Runner Companion, too, but you can get by with just the basic book if money's tight. At any rate, you -- obviously -- need the basic rulebook to jump in. Everyone does, no matter what "flavor" of game they're into.
Setting wise? If you're planning on the traditional Seattle sprawl, too, Seattle 2072 is a great book. Depending on the flavor of the game, Vice is good stuff, too. There's also Corporate Enclaves, Running Wild, and Feral Cities, that could all be very very helpful, or could be dead weight, just depending on what you, the GM, have in mind.
A more combat oriented game, with a group that's big on street sammies, mercs, and run-and-gun? Fans of The Transporter or Heat or Collateral? Augmentation and Arsenal will be important, along with Street Magic if anyone wants a cool Adept. Arsenal's probably the most "must have" of these, because it's also the closest thing to a Rigger Black Book so far for SR4, with lots of vehicles and mods -- so someone can have fun with a Wheelman type -- and you might also want Vice depending on what sort of jobs and contacts you've got in mind.
A group with more of a fantasy background, that's likely to be full of guys who want to play folks slinging mojo and wading in with esoteric martial arts and weapon foci? Street Magic, Street Magic, Street Magic. Lots of stuff in this one for the feel and flavor of magic, not just crunch (though the crunch is quite nice).
You and your buddies techheads? Eager to dive into the Matrix? Unwired and Emergence will be great, and probably some Augmentation, too (for high tech goodies).
Etc, etc. The "must have" books aren't "must haves" for everyone but us purists and collector's, really. A lot of what you'll "need" to run a game will vary based on the game you want to run, and your players want to play in. The basic truth is you can get probably by with just the basic rules if you want to, because it's a strong enough book to shoulder a campaign if you let it -- or, at least it can do so until you and your buddies talk after a game and someone says "Man, I wish I had more magic tricks" or "Oooh, new chrome would be awesome!"
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Dont get me wrong, Companion is a really great book - but I dont find it near as fundamental as Street Magic and Unwired. Its IMO essential that (advanced) Matrix and (advanced) Magic are covered, but metasapients and metavariants? Eh, IMO, not so much. In fact, personally I would find both more essential than Arsenal, too, but I guess Im just not rigger-y enough and find the equipment in SR4Core/SR4A to be sufficient, heh.
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I like Vice, it's not a core book but it covers different criminal syndicates and DIY crimes.
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Psst, Jack. I did mention the Runner's Companion. I think you've got a data loop running, might want to clear your cache and check for tracer programs messing up your reads. :)
I'll buck the trend here and suggest that really all you need is the SR4A core rule book. You can run a perfectly fine campaign with it alone, and indeed I'd probably recommend sticking to it if you're just getting back into the swing of things to prevent information overload. Shadowrun is a complex system with a lot of moving parts and the supplements increase the complexity significantly.
For example, I'd personally be very leery of grabbing the Companion right off the bat. It has some really cool rules in it, but unless you have a pretty well developed degree of system mastery it can also break the system fairly quickly. It has some nice new qualities, and the return of the priority system is a godsend for creating NPC's but a lot of the fancier metahuman species are difficult to work with for one reason or another.
Likewise Unwired and Streetmagic are handy if you've got players who are interested in running those archtypes, but if you don't or if they are still relatively new to the system themselves then you'd be doing yourself (and them) a favor by just running things straight from the core book.
Augmentation is probably a bit more general purpose, and serves to help a wider variety of archtypes but even then the genetech and nanotech rules add a layer of complexity that isn't really 'needed'.
Arsenal is probably the most useful of the supplements, if for no other reason than the wider variety of equipment that becomes available. The weapon and vehicle mod rules can be added as needed.
Seattle 2072 is a handy book if you plan on running around the plex and I'd honestly suggest that it should be the second book you buy unless you plan on setting the campaign somewhere else of course. If you can track down the older books in the "Seattle" series they're pretty useful too.
6th world almanac is a nice book, though I'm not sure if the editing issues have been fixed in the actual print product since I only have the PDF copy. It's hardly what I'd call essential though unless you really want to run a globetrotting campaign.
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I agree with imperialus. I am trying to get a new group together, and I haven't run a campaign in a couple years. I have every pdf for shadowrun availabe for 4th edition, and not enough free time to study everything. So I'm just going with the core book, and On The Run, along with SR missions 1, 2, and work my way to 3.
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That's what I have been doing with my players... although I DO like the additional spells that Street Magic provide. I also don't mind them looking through Arsenal to see if there is additional equipment they may want or request, but as far as all the optional and advanced rules, I'm still just trying to wrap my head entirely around the core book.
Having said that, I don't mind if they peruse any of the advanced rules and make suggestions on which ones they'd like to run with. It's just that for getting started, I think it is best to keep it simple.
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AMEN!
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That's what I have been doing with my players... although I DO like the additional spells that Street Magic provide. I also don't mind them looking through Arsenal to see if there is additional equipment they may want or request, but as far as all the optional and advanced rules, I'm still just trying to wrap my head entirely around the core book.
Exactly. Just for example. My previous campaign had 3 total newbies to Shadowrun, 1 veteran who's been playing since the mid 90's, and one guy who has played a few times but never really developed a deep understanding of the system. We used the Core Book, Arsenal, Augmentation (no gentech or nanites) and Unwired simply because the veteran was playing a hacker and we were perfectly happy to traipse down the rabbit hole of the advanced matrix rules but I wasn't about to inflict that on the newbies.