8
« Last post by Beta on <02-02-25/1706:41> »
I started with high hopes and was enjoying the book, but the farther I went the more I began to feel that I was back in Cutting Black. Like they were so busy telling this dramatic story that they forgot the part where they made it easy to integrate into campaign.
I thought Scotophobia had been a real step forward in this regard. Sure there was dramatic things happening in the world, but lots of it had me realizing ways I could use it even as I was still reading. Lethal Harvest, not so much. If anything, in parts they almost seemed to go out of their way to make things too big for a shadowrun team to take on. I'll find ways to make use of it as background and inspiration, but it will all be another step removed from anything written in the book.
OK, one exception, the un-awakening will be a blast to run, that part I loved. But it is the exception that emphasizes the general nature of the rest of the book.
Three trends in 6e books that have tended to frustrate me all showed up here strongly too:
First, a lot of words dedicated to mercenary groups, and generally a somewhat 'military' approach. Mercenaries are generally hired for the exact opposite sort of job that shadowrunners are, so what is happening to them seems pretty divorced from anything I'm apt to be doing in my campaign. And the NPCs who are considered great officers or led a a doomed but brave battle, sure, cool stuff, but again not of much interest to me as GM. And a certain amount of military jargon, I guess it is in character for some of the posters, but it also seemed to say "hey, this is a situation for the military, not for stealthy thieves, con men, and saboteurs." I don't know, maybe some of the freelancers do a lot of work for Battletech or Warhammer or something? It just seems strange to me.
Second, what I think of as "word count-ism." Like various authors were asked to come up with some number of words for different sections without a ton of structure or instruction on what to cover, so everyone wrote "In this place, this is what is happening now." Without anyone writing "because of what is going on, here some jobs that teams in the shadows are vitally needed to do."
And finally, what feels like a focus on delivering a plot arc and character development and closure _for_NPCs_. It may make the book a more satisfying read on its own, but I want a book that helps me deliver a plot arc for the characters in my game.
This book will still provide dramatic back drops for things happening in my game. However I started reading it with such high hopes to be able to easily play key events, and IMO that just was not what this book delivered.