[Aizkora]

Hi guys and gals, I'm mostly new to Shadowrun and have a group of 6 friends who range between brand new to role playing or just minor experience in Shadowrun 3rd ed. but years of role play experience and we are wondering what is the best path for getting into the game. At the moment our thought is the core book and the runners toolkit followed up by the runners compendium. At thte moment the plan is to play one or two of the pre-constructed Runs and if it is the right game for the group then go deeper with making our own campaign and such.

Any thoughts or things we should put a higher priority on for the purchase list?

[Charybdis]

Depends on what your Players want to do:

Core rulebook is mandatory, then other books focus on different types of Character.

Runner's Companion: Advanced options for character creation (Vampires, Shapeshifters, Changelings and some fun general stuff for anybody)
Arsenal: Lots of data for Vehicles and weaponry for Riggers and Gun-bunny types:
Augmented:  Lots of stuff for cyber-ware, Bio-ware and even gene-therapy for DNA improvements
Unwired:  Hackers, Technomancers and Software stuff
Street Magic:  For advanced Magic rules and more spell/adept powers

And then there are a BUNCH more books depending on how deep down the rabbit-hole you want to go

[Aizkora]

Thanks, that is the best breakdown of the books I have seen yet! I really appreciate the help and welcome any further input anyone has. I'm really looking forward to playing, been involved with the Virtual World side of old fasa for nearly 14 years now, even got my hands on some of the master pages from first edition shadowrun books through that connection. Will be great to finally get a chance to play Shadowrun.

[CanRay]

I've found that Arsenal and Runner's Companion are both books that every character build will want to at least contemplate.  The rest are more specialized.

Sixth World Almanac is a good history run-down for those that want to see what's been going on in the 6^th World.  (Over twenty years of RL and Game life do seem intimidating to a lot of folks.).  Also good if you want to create a character that doesn't come from Seattle.

Attitude is a good book for a modern view of how things are in the world.  Fluff for the most part, but good fluff.  Honestly, the worst review of it I've heard was "It wasn't as good as one of the best books that came out in the old days.", which is a pretty bloody good review.  (The crunch in the book, however, needed some more proofing.  But as it's the major minority, that's not a big issue.).

Seattle 2072 is a great book if you want to base your game in the stereotypical Shadowrunner city of, well, Seattle.    Full of information on the city, politics, people, and places. 

For the E-Books, I'd suggest choosing them based on what your group likes, but "This Old Drone" is a must-buy in my mind if your group does any kind of drone work at all.  Gun Heaven is good as well, if you have any Gun Nuts in the group.  (Not you, The Gun Nut.), and might want a classic piece of gunmetal.  I know I wouldn't mind a 150^th Anniversary Colt M1911 as a nice example.    (It isn't in Gun Heaven, but the Colt M1991 is, which is an ergonomically redesigned M1911, so is close enough.).

And, to make Bull happy (And because they're good suggestions), the Shadowrun Mission adventures. 

[Charybdis]

I've found that Arsenal and Runner's Companion are both books that every character build will want to at least contemplate.  The rest are more specialized.

Sixth World Almanac *snip*
Attitude *snip*
Seattle 2072 is a great book *snip*
"This Old Drone" *snip
Gun Heaven is good as well,  *snip*
And,  *snip* the Shadowrun Mission adventures. 

All of the above are brilliant, but for a beginning campaign I've never delved deep into the canonical world, and always found it much easier to just make shit up.
- Fast Eddie's Pizza delivery
- Jumpin' Joes flapjack palace
- Hole in the Wall - Bar for mercs and shadowrunners
- Veegot's Bakery, run by a jewish elf: "'Vat you vant to eat? Veegot!"

But the rules though, I find it best to get them sorted from that get-go, and not have mechanical rulings that worked one-way one session, but differently next session (when we read the new rulebook) because we made stuff up on the fly... that was problematic

So yes, all of CanRay's suggestions are GREAT, but they can be woven in at a later stage without much hassle.

I wouldn't prioritise them....

/ducks CanRay smiting

[CanRay]

*Looks at Charybdis*  Get up.  *Shakes Head*

It all depends on a group's ability to imagine and their creative talents.  If you're able to weave wonderful things from whole-cloth, then you need the BBB (Big Black Book, SR4A, Shadowrun's Main Rulebook), and that's it.

But Aizkora asked for pre-gened adventures and book suggestion lists, so, different thread for creating your own wonderful universes thought the power of only your mind!  ...  And no astral plane or matrix jokes, please. 

But, to throw out another "make shit up":  Sam's Surgery And Deli.

[baronspam]

Depends on what your Players want to do:

Core rulebook is mandatory, then other books focus on different types of Character.

Runner's Companion: Advanced options for character creation (Vampires, Shapeshifters, Changelings and some fun general stuff for anybody)
Arsenal: Lots of data for Vehicles and weaponry for Riggers and Gun-bunny types:
Augmented:  Lots of stuff for cyber-ware, Bio-ware and even gene-therapy for DNA improvements
Unwired:  Hackers, Technomancers and Software stuff
Street Magic:  For advanced Magic rules and more spell/adept powers
the
And then there are a BUNCH more books depending on how deep down the rabbit-hole you want to go

Agreed these first, although Runner's companion is, for me, most useful for its expanded lifestyle rules and additional positive and negative qualities.  If you want to play a centaur that gets turned into a ghoul, yes, the rules are in there, but its not the main draw for me.

I think the other four are pretty core.  Once you look at them you won't want to build a character without them.  Perhaps unwired in skipable, it goes into tremendous detail on matrix, maybe more than is needed, but if you have a technomancer in the group you want it anyway. 

[trea5on]

i really like the run books too, like one stage before etc. i find them very good for starting out as they give you a good idea of how to structure and put together runs.