Shadowrun

Shadowrun Play => Gamemasters' Lounge => Topic started by: PixE on <09-27-18/0817:20>

Title: Core Books you should have
Post by: PixE on <09-27-18/0817:20>
I apologise if this is in the wrong section for a start. I’m new to GM’ing 5th edition and was just wondering what books I needed. I have the core rulebook, alphaware, Run Faster & Splintered State. That should be enough for now? Right?
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Fedifensor on <09-27-18/1020:43>
Run and Gun is probably my most-used rulebook, aside from the core rulebook.
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Stainless Steel Devil Rat on <09-27-18/1108:10>
Shadowrun rules have always been partitioned into the "three worlds": Regular/Physical world, the Matrix rules, and Magic rules.  The Core rulebook thoroughly covers only the first, and gives a cursory treatment to the Matrix and Astral.  Even if you don't have any Deckers or Magicians, a GM will still want the rulebooks that are fully devoted to those aspects of Shadowrun (Data Trails and Street Grimoire) just so that you can adequately run that side of the game for the NPC opposition.

In prior editions the "rigger book" has been almost as necessary to understand Shadowrun, but in this edition the Rigger book is really more about giving players more toys/options.  The Core rulebook already tells the GM everything you really need to know about how vehicles/drones/chase combats work.
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Finstersang on <09-27-18/1142:34>
Hard to tell, honestly. It depends on which parts of the 6th world you are interested in, if you are looking more for inspiration and game hooks or actually usable rules and stats, and how much you want to moderate what your players can use for themselfes.

Parts of the Core rules are so shoddy that they hardly work without the supplements. This is especially true for Rigging and Matrix Stuff. If you want to feature this kind of content, you should have a look into Rigger 5 and Kill Code. Both are not flawless, but make things a lot better at this end. The first Matrix Supplement Data Trails is really weak when it comes to actual rules, but it came out before Kill Code, so you might have troubles understanding some things featured there without it - Itīs a stinker, but somewhat necissary...
(Thatīs my opinion on the Matrix and Rigging content, though. Donīt want to argue  ;))

When it comes to the other Supplements:

About the Mini-Supplements:

These are the ones I can offer an articulated opinion on. My best tipp would be to dip into Chrome Flesh or Howling Shadows next, or into Rigger 5 and Kill Code (and Data Trails *sigh*...) if you want to patch up the "Cyber" part of Magicrun ;)
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Marcus on <09-27-18/1242:02>
Core book and run & gun. Everything else is nice but not necessary.
The archtype expansion books were generally all not very good in 5th. Magic was terrible, hacking left out too much, rigging is a mess, chrome flesh was good but not necessary. Everything after that is power creep. Nice but not necessary.
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Tecumseh on <09-27-18/1415:46>
To answer the original question, I think the core rulebook and Run Faster give you a solid foundation to start a game. Yes, you can absolutely run a game with just those.

What book to add next comes down to what elements you want to emphasize in your game, or what kind of characters your players want to play.

If I had to vote for a single book to add to your list, I'd probably add Street Grimoire. Personally, I can build a decker without Data Trails and feel fine about it, but trying to build a mage or an adept without Street Grimoire just leaves me feeling  handcuffed to the point where I'd rather play something else. That's especially true for adepts, since Street Grimoire adds so many useful adept powers.

Run & Gun is a fun book, no question, but in my opinion it's full of "nice to haves" rather than "need to haves".
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Beta on <09-27-18/1526:02>
I'll second what Tecumseh said, and add one thing:. If you don't have Street Grimoire when you are starting the game, get an explanation of background count before anyone builds a mage.  It is a very important constraint on magicians of all kinds, it show up in many pre generated adventures, and it feels crappy to have it explained_after_ you just built a shiny new mage or adept.

Also, Splintered States can be a bit rough on new groups.  Just be aware that characters can apparently die (or close to it) very easily in some early scenes.

And finally, to make sure you know, .pdf versions of all the books are available on drivethrurog.com, at around half the price of dead tree versions.  A lot of people don't like reading .pdf much (I'm one of them) but for supplements where you are mostly looking up some gear or character qualities or a couple extra rules they can be an affordable way to expand your collection
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Stainless Steel Devil Rat on <09-27-18/1626:35>
I'll second what Tecumseh said, and add one thing:. If you don't have Street Grimoire when you are starting the game, get an explanation of background count before anyone builds a mage.  It is a very important constraint on magicians of all kinds, it show up in many pre generated adventures, and it feels crappy to have it explained_after_ you just built a shiny new mage or adept.

It's a very minor point, but I'm seconding it as being pretty important.  Everyone needs to be on the same page as to how closely (or not) the GM intends to stick to the examples of Background Count levels given in SG.  You don't want players being surprised at strong BGCs when Mr Johnson meets them at a rock concert or sports arena, nor when they cause their own BGC mid-scene by torturing or killing opposition.
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Sphinx on <09-27-18/1756:38>
I apologise if this is in the wrong section for a start. I’m new to GM’ing 5th edition and was just wondering what books I needed. I have the core rulebook, alphaware, Run Faster & Splintered State. That should be enough for now? Right?

You can run a long time on just the core rulebook, and you already have Run Faster. Run & Gun would be a good choice; it has something for everyone. If you have players who gravitate toward magic, you'll want Street Grimoire. If you have a decker or technomancer, you'll want Data Trails and Kill Code (the latter has an excellent "Hacking 101" chapter that does a better job of explaining the Matrix and hacking rules than any other book).

You have the Alphaware box set, which has lots of nifty stuff in it. The "Plots and Paydata" booklet has a number of beginner missions that will help you and your players learn the rules and earn some karma; you should definitely run those before you dive into Splintered State. Be advised that "Plots and Paydata" does cut a few corners; you'll want to read through each mission, make some notes, and sketch some maps before you run them. In particular:

Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Marcus on <09-27-18/1830:06>
Forget that noise Street grimoire is a Waste. If you want some useful magic rules the go with FA, it power creep but at least it actually has useful solutions. SG is both bad and horribly edited. Ways are utterly useless in 5th as is anything it has to say about alchemy. Skip it and save yourself the money.
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: adzling on <09-27-18/1844:35>
for core books i'd take run & gun as the first expansion book followed by Street Grimoire as my first choice for "moah magic"  (I'd counter Marcus' input on Ways for Adepts, they are very useful for the right builds, my adept face is far better for taking Speaker's Way).
The rest are nice to have but not needed.
Some are to be avoided altogether: Forbidden Arcana & Complete Trog come to mind.

i'd echo that splintered state is a terrible adventure, and especially terrible for noob runners.
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Marcus on <09-27-18/1900:05>
Notice they don’t say anything about alchemy it took two more books to make that work. Warriors way is a disaster, athletic way is a bad joke. Feral way was good for 10 mins before they errataed into crap. Burnout way is just the next level method to waste resources.

20 point you get a lot more out of from spending in FA.
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Beta on <09-28-18/1000:01>
I suspect you have enough information and opinions by now :-)   But when you start talking to players and get a feel for what they might be looking to build, maybe come back for round two.  People can tell you if a particular book really matters for a particular character (spoiler: if someone wants to play a technomancer you a) need to find the most recent errata to the fading codes in the main book, and b) get Kill Code.  Running a technomancer from the main book alone is a fair bit tougher)
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: PingGuy on <09-28-18/1134:51>
Just FYI, the most recent printing of the CRB does have the errata'd Fade Values in it.
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: Seras on <09-29-18/1913:08>
The core Book (which you have )

Street grimoire A must buy. The extra spells are neat, but the real selling point are the rules for Bug spirits, toxic magic and spirits and Blood Magic. The shedim are in there too

Strongly recommended
Chrome flesh ( not just extra augmentations, the info also gives you lots of stuff to make up shadowruns on your own)

Run and gun ( for more guns and specialty gear )

Neat to have

Run faster ( details on all the differnt infected and rules for them, plus the chapter on how the Johnsons of differnt corps and groups differdeal with runners )

Critter compedium ( things that go bump in the night and cybercritters )


I have many other books, but I rarely use them
Title: Re: Core Books you should have
Post by: PiXeL01 on <09-29-18/2110:09>
It depends on the make up of your group really. You only really need the main rulebook.

I own all the books but most used are Core Rulebook and Run Faster.

If you have magicians then I would say get Street Grimoire and Forbidden arcana to a lesser degree.

If you have technomancers you would want Kill Code. Data trails maybe.
For deckers I’d say Data trails then maybe kill code.

Face then Run & Gun’s armor sector is almost a must.

Riggers would love the mod rules in Rigger 5