When I was a much young gamer, I had some pretty stark views on mixing genres in my role-playing games. I preferred Advanced Dungeons & Dragons for my Fantasy RPG, Traveller for my Science-Fiction RPG, and Call of Cthulhu for when I wanted a Horror RPG.
There were a few exceptions to genre mixing here and there within my favorite games – Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is still one of my all-time favorite AD&D modules – but for the most part, I took a fairly dim view of genre-splicing in role-playing games.
Then along came Shadowrun, and all my previous ideologies went out the window.
It was the magic that got me hooked initially, offering a whole new and carefree magic system than the Vancian-style I’d been playing. Then there was the setting itself, of Gibsonian cyberpunk run amok with urban sprawls, implants, street samurai, and Yakuza, on top of a magical world with orks and dragon. Yeah, it was easy to get pulled into a game like that!
A few months ago, Catalyst Game Labs went back to the roots of the Shadowrun universe, to offer players using the current 20th Anniversary Core Rules a chance for something a little different. Described as “An Historical Setting Sourcebook”, Shadowrun 2050 invites gamer to leave the world of 2070 behind, and enter the original 2050 setting which started the whole role-playing revolution!
Shadowrun 2050
Shadowrun 2050 is setting sourcebook designed for use with the Shadowrun, 20th Anniversary Core Rulebook Edition of the game. The setting sourcebook features information about the original Shadowrun game setting in the year 2050, as well as rules for converting older game mechanics, allowing players and gamemasters to experience it using the 20th Anniversary rules set.
Production Quality
The production quality of Shadowrun 2050 is absolutely superb, with a stunning layout design and some really excellent writing. The presentation of the setting material and rules adaptations is done in a logical fashion, and the overall effect is a very enjoyable reading experience.
The layout uses a fairly heavy border resembling green circuit board, with magical symbols like circuits and other evocative imagery, and even the heading fonts in Shadowrun 2050 are done in an LED style. While it’s a bit heavy graphically - and I’ve never been a huge fan of “busy” pages - the overall effect is actually pretty cool looking, and works well for aesthetics of the sourcebook.
The artwork and illustrations in Shadowrun 2050 are excellent, and considerably enhance the reading experience. The cover art is bold and stunning, and interior illustrations show a wide range of characters and their tech, depictions of sprawls, and even a cyber-battle. Some of the artwork I recognized from the earlier editions of the game, but it felt like a good fit for this sourcebook. However, I was a little disappointed that the guns and gear section didn’t have any illustrations, given that the gear depicted in the 20th Anniversary Core Rules are from two decades ahead of the 2050 setting.
…and never, ever, cut a deal with a Dragon.
The setting sourcebook, Shadowrun 2050, is divided into eight sections, each one covering a different facet of the original Shadowrun RPG world. As has been seen in many of the original Shadowrun RPG sourcebooks, as well as in the 20th Anniversary Core Rules, the authors have included a short story or two to add ambiance and fluff material pertaining to the subject at hand. Work’s Work in the opening pages, and When I was Your Age about half way through the book are two very nice pieces of setting fiction, and well worth reading.
Another feature I particularly liked was the Shadowtalk entries discussing various topics looked at in the book. Instead of that old boxed text in other books, FastJack, Captain Chaos, the Big D, and other notables have a running commentary throughout the sourcebook, adding additional information and setting material. As always, it’s a nice touch and added even more ambiance to the setting.
After a brief introduction, the first section called A Knife at Your Throat details how the world of 2050 is very, very dangerous, elaborating on all manner of threats from gangs and crime syndicates to megacorps and dragons. This section also includes a Ka-Power List of notable NPCs in 2050 such as Neil the Ork Barbarian and Concrete Dreams, as well as details on the dangers of tangling with the police corps in the Neo-Anarchists Guide to Pissing Off Lone Star. It’s actually a fairly well-written section, and useful for giving players some insight into the setting.
Next, in The Darkest Shadows, the authors discuss three of the major city locales where Shadowrunners like to play – Chicago, Hong Kong, and (of course) Seattle. Seattle and Chicago have some fairly detailed write-ups here, although Hong Kong seems to get shorted on pages. For those familiar with the setting, the Chicago detailed here is before the advent of Bug City in 2055, and presents a pretty cool town for GMs and players who want an alternative to the Seattle sprawl. Of course, there are plenty of great Shadowrunning locales left out here - like Tir Tairngire, Denver, the California Free State, and London - and it feels as though it could have used another dozen or more pages here.
The Hiring Board section offers quite a few adventure seeds to use in a Shadowrun 2050 campaign, and they are nicely organized by types, such as Data Snatching, Infiltration, and Wetwork. Again, there’s plenty of Shadowtalk here, commenting on the various job listings on the board, adding some depth and additional hints for GMs to use, or perhaps not use.
The next section, Runners of 2050, gives over a dozen examples of Shadowrun character archetypes from that setting, complete with flavor text and using the 20th Anniversary Core Rules for stats and abilities. The characters range from a Body Guard and Burned-Out Mage to a Former Wage Mage and a Rocker. Most of these entries have very nice illustrations, although I could not help but notice that the human Street Mage has pointy ears in her depiction. Maybe she’s an elf-poser?
The section entitled Life in 2050 is shockingly short, and consists of only a couple pages followed by two pages of a slang glossary. By this point in my reading, I sadly realized that much of the history that lead up to 2050 is lacking in this book, which rather makes the setting a bit anemic to the casual reader.
Magic is an important topic in any Shadowrun game, and this section covers the basic differences between the arcane arts in 2050 versus 2070. This section discusses various traditions, such as Hermetic and Shamanism, but includes a few others like Buddhist, Wuxing, and Sorcery. While it is another short section, it gives enough information to convert the 20th Anniversary Core Rules into an approximation of the earlier 2050 setting.
And like Magic, knowledge of the Matrix is essential to make the Shadowrun setting the cyberpunk setting it needs to be. This section differentiates the wireless world of 2070 from the wired world of 2050. The authors are quick to point out that there are no Technomancers in 2050, and actually bring back some of the mechanics of the earlier Matrix, as well as how it was hacked. Sadly, I did not get a chance to playtest these changes, but they do not appear to drag the game system back to that earlier time when the GM and the hacker would play off to one side, while the rest of the players say bored to death around the gaming table!
Gear is the topic of the final section, and many common guns, implants, decks, rigs, and other accoutrements from the 2050 setting are given updated stats to mesh with the 20th Anniversary Core Rules. As I mentioned before, I was disappointed that there were almost no illustrations in this section, given that the tech, gear, and vehicles are 20 years behind the current setting, and likely to look and function quite differently.
Overall Score: 3.75 out of 5.0
Final Conclusions
I don’t want to say that I disliked Shadowrun 2050, because I have to admit that it is a very good sourcebook and a darned good read, with a lot of information about the 2050 setting and good conversions of the old setting to the new rules. However, I can’t say I love the book either, because it was just simply lacking in the depth and detail I think should have been part of any sourcebook trying to offer the “old Shadowrun” experience.
I was left with the same feeling you get when you look up the plot of a piece of classic literature on Wikipedia. Sure, you may now know the plot of War and Peace, but you don’t have the depth of nuance and knowledge that can only come by slogging your way through Tolstoy.
Certainly, Shadowrun 2050 is a great book to start as a springboard to running the current 20th Anniversary Core Rules in the original campaign setting, but it just doesn’t feel like enough. The only way to really make it work, in this reviewer’s opinion, is to pull out your old dusty original Shadowrun sourcebooks (or acquire some used copies), and have the information you really need to run the original campaign setting the right way – complete and in full detail.
So until next Review… I wish you Happy Gaming!
Author’s Note: This Reviewer received complimentary copy of the product discussed, which were used in the writing of this review.
Grade Card (Ratings 1 to 5)
There were a few exceptions to genre mixing here and there within my favorite games – Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is still one of my all-time favorite AD&D modules – but for the most part, I took a fairly dim view of genre-splicing in role-playing games.
Then along came Shadowrun, and all my previous ideologies went out the window.
It was the magic that got me hooked initially, offering a whole new and carefree magic system than the Vancian-style I’d been playing. Then there was the setting itself, of Gibsonian cyberpunk run amok with urban sprawls, implants, street samurai, and Yakuza, on top of a magical world with orks and dragon. Yeah, it was easy to get pulled into a game like that!
A few months ago, Catalyst Game Labs went back to the roots of the Shadowrun universe, to offer players using the current 20th Anniversary Core Rules a chance for something a little different. Described as “An Historical Setting Sourcebook”, Shadowrun 2050 invites gamer to leave the world of 2070 behind, and enter the original 2050 setting which started the whole role-playing revolution!
Shadowrun 2050
- Authors: Jean-Marc Comeau, Raymond Croteau, Jason M. Hardy, Adam Large, Aaron Pavao, Scott Schletz, R.J. Thomas, Robert Wieland
- Illustrators: Matt Heerdt (cover); Joel Biske, Victor Perez, Phil Hilliker, Levi Hoffmeier, Jason Juta, Igor Kieryluk, Ian King, Jeff Laubenstein, Randall Mackey, Dan Masso, Jeremy McHugh, Jason Cheesesman-Meyer, Mark Molnar, Victor Manuel Leza Moreno, David Nash, Alessandra Pisano, Ryan Portillo, Rob Ruffolo, Klaus Scherwinski, Andres “AAS” Schroth, Peter Tikos, Brent Elliot White
- Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
- Year: 2012
- Media: Hardbound (200 pages)
- Price: $44.99 ($38.64 from Amazon.com)
Shadowrun 2050 is setting sourcebook designed for use with the Shadowrun, 20th Anniversary Core Rulebook Edition of the game. The setting sourcebook features information about the original Shadowrun game setting in the year 2050, as well as rules for converting older game mechanics, allowing players and gamemasters to experience it using the 20th Anniversary rules set.
Production Quality
The production quality of Shadowrun 2050 is absolutely superb, with a stunning layout design and some really excellent writing. The presentation of the setting material and rules adaptations is done in a logical fashion, and the overall effect is a very enjoyable reading experience.
The layout uses a fairly heavy border resembling green circuit board, with magical symbols like circuits and other evocative imagery, and even the heading fonts in Shadowrun 2050 are done in an LED style. While it’s a bit heavy graphically - and I’ve never been a huge fan of “busy” pages - the overall effect is actually pretty cool looking, and works well for aesthetics of the sourcebook.
The artwork and illustrations in Shadowrun 2050 are excellent, and considerably enhance the reading experience. The cover art is bold and stunning, and interior illustrations show a wide range of characters and their tech, depictions of sprawls, and even a cyber-battle. Some of the artwork I recognized from the earlier editions of the game, but it felt like a good fit for this sourcebook. However, I was a little disappointed that the guns and gear section didn’t have any illustrations, given that the gear depicted in the 20th Anniversary Core Rules are from two decades ahead of the 2050 setting.
…and never, ever, cut a deal with a Dragon.
The setting sourcebook, Shadowrun 2050, is divided into eight sections, each one covering a different facet of the original Shadowrun RPG world. As has been seen in many of the original Shadowrun RPG sourcebooks, as well as in the 20th Anniversary Core Rules, the authors have included a short story or two to add ambiance and fluff material pertaining to the subject at hand. Work’s Work in the opening pages, and When I was Your Age about half way through the book are two very nice pieces of setting fiction, and well worth reading.
Another feature I particularly liked was the Shadowtalk entries discussing various topics looked at in the book. Instead of that old boxed text in other books, FastJack, Captain Chaos, the Big D, and other notables have a running commentary throughout the sourcebook, adding additional information and setting material. As always, it’s a nice touch and added even more ambiance to the setting.
After a brief introduction, the first section called A Knife at Your Throat details how the world of 2050 is very, very dangerous, elaborating on all manner of threats from gangs and crime syndicates to megacorps and dragons. This section also includes a Ka-Power List of notable NPCs in 2050 such as Neil the Ork Barbarian and Concrete Dreams, as well as details on the dangers of tangling with the police corps in the Neo-Anarchists Guide to Pissing Off Lone Star. It’s actually a fairly well-written section, and useful for giving players some insight into the setting.
Next, in The Darkest Shadows, the authors discuss three of the major city locales where Shadowrunners like to play – Chicago, Hong Kong, and (of course) Seattle. Seattle and Chicago have some fairly detailed write-ups here, although Hong Kong seems to get shorted on pages. For those familiar with the setting, the Chicago detailed here is before the advent of Bug City in 2055, and presents a pretty cool town for GMs and players who want an alternative to the Seattle sprawl. Of course, there are plenty of great Shadowrunning locales left out here - like Tir Tairngire, Denver, the California Free State, and London - and it feels as though it could have used another dozen or more pages here.
The Hiring Board section offers quite a few adventure seeds to use in a Shadowrun 2050 campaign, and they are nicely organized by types, such as Data Snatching, Infiltration, and Wetwork. Again, there’s plenty of Shadowtalk here, commenting on the various job listings on the board, adding some depth and additional hints for GMs to use, or perhaps not use.
The next section, Runners of 2050, gives over a dozen examples of Shadowrun character archetypes from that setting, complete with flavor text and using the 20th Anniversary Core Rules for stats and abilities. The characters range from a Body Guard and Burned-Out Mage to a Former Wage Mage and a Rocker. Most of these entries have very nice illustrations, although I could not help but notice that the human Street Mage has pointy ears in her depiction. Maybe she’s an elf-poser?
The section entitled Life in 2050 is shockingly short, and consists of only a couple pages followed by two pages of a slang glossary. By this point in my reading, I sadly realized that much of the history that lead up to 2050 is lacking in this book, which rather makes the setting a bit anemic to the casual reader.
Magic is an important topic in any Shadowrun game, and this section covers the basic differences between the arcane arts in 2050 versus 2070. This section discusses various traditions, such as Hermetic and Shamanism, but includes a few others like Buddhist, Wuxing, and Sorcery. While it is another short section, it gives enough information to convert the 20th Anniversary Core Rules into an approximation of the earlier 2050 setting.
And like Magic, knowledge of the Matrix is essential to make the Shadowrun setting the cyberpunk setting it needs to be. This section differentiates the wireless world of 2070 from the wired world of 2050. The authors are quick to point out that there are no Technomancers in 2050, and actually bring back some of the mechanics of the earlier Matrix, as well as how it was hacked. Sadly, I did not get a chance to playtest these changes, but they do not appear to drag the game system back to that earlier time when the GM and the hacker would play off to one side, while the rest of the players say bored to death around the gaming table!
Gear is the topic of the final section, and many common guns, implants, decks, rigs, and other accoutrements from the 2050 setting are given updated stats to mesh with the 20th Anniversary Core Rules. As I mentioned before, I was disappointed that there were almost no illustrations in this section, given that the tech, gear, and vehicles are 20 years behind the current setting, and likely to look and function quite differently.
Overall Score: 3.75 out of 5.0
Final Conclusions
I don’t want to say that I disliked Shadowrun 2050, because I have to admit that it is a very good sourcebook and a darned good read, with a lot of information about the 2050 setting and good conversions of the old setting to the new rules. However, I can’t say I love the book either, because it was just simply lacking in the depth and detail I think should have been part of any sourcebook trying to offer the “old Shadowrun” experience.
I was left with the same feeling you get when you look up the plot of a piece of classic literature on Wikipedia. Sure, you may now know the plot of War and Peace, but you don’t have the depth of nuance and knowledge that can only come by slogging your way through Tolstoy.
Certainly, Shadowrun 2050 is a great book to start as a springboard to running the current 20th Anniversary Core Rules in the original campaign setting, but it just doesn’t feel like enough. The only way to really make it work, in this reviewer’s opinion, is to pull out your old dusty original Shadowrun sourcebooks (or acquire some used copies), and have the information you really need to run the original campaign setting the right way – complete and in full detail.
So until next Review… I wish you Happy Gaming!
Author’s Note: This Reviewer received complimentary copy of the product discussed, which were used in the writing of this review.
Grade Card (Ratings 1 to 5)
- Presentation: 4.25
- - Design: 4.5 (Beautiful design and layout; great writing and presentation)
- - Illustrations: 4.0 (Awesome cover art and interior illustrations; would have liked more in certain sections)
- Content: 3.5
- - Crunch: 4.0 (Good conversions on the gear mechanics; fairly rules light overall)
- - Fluff: 3.0 (Far too much information condensed into a few pages; book simply needed more page length!)
- Value: 3.5 (Pretty decent price for the content – even if it feels a little incomplete)
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