[LadyQuiris]

I am fairly new to Shadowrun and I just got the 5th edition core game book and I plan on getting all 5th edition books as they come out from now on... I am also pretty new to the world of this game and the last time I read anything about this game it was during it's 3rd edition days and I pretty much missed the 4th edition era.

So I am asking this from the perspective of a brand new potential GM wanting to run a game... what books from the 4th edition/20A era of sourcebooks would be the best ones to get? Either because of fluff of the game world, or all practical game usefulness as a whole like a bestiary kind of book of creatures, a book that just goes over the world better for the average person, a book that details how to make adventures better than what's in the core book, things like that. What are the most useful books to get?

[TheDai]

I asked the same question when I began with 5th Edition. Here is what I got:

1. 6th World Almanac (haven't read it, so I can't say much about it)

2. Seattle 2074: Now that is an awesome book! 100% Fluff, 100% Seattle. Splendid and very informative to read.

3. Vice: Deals and explains a lot about criminal organizations (Mafia, Yakuza, Triads, Gangers, and a few little ones). This one might give you an idea overflow if you plan a street level campaign Also just Fluff, so nothing there that isn't still relevant.

But having said that, I'm also interested in such a list. Especially Fluff Books, because my collection and knowledge about these is also very small.

[Dangersaurus]

Sixth World Almanac, Corporate Guide, Vice, Stormfront, and Attitude go together well to give you a good overview of the world of the early 2070s.

Clutch of Dragons, Spy Games, Dirty Tricks, War!, and Conspiracy Theories are all interesting looks at different facets of the world, although quality is even more mixed than usual on some of these.

For adventure design, I thought the digital tool set had much better DM advice on building adventures and running campaigns than the core book. One of the books even has five or six adventures and a bit of advice on how to weave them together into a campaign.

I haven't got all the campaign sourcebooks yet; hell, I haven't even read through all the ones I do have. Using them as-is can be a little tough since quite a few are tied into the ongoing soap opera stuff. Plus there are lots of "Elminsters" in these, having exciting adventures while the PCs do guard duty... a few of them do have world info that doesn't appear elsewhere though.

[Timothy M. Patrick]

I would also strongly recommend Storm Front as it closes some SR4 plots and opens a lot of new SR5 fun with out giving anything away.