Anyone still interested in Shadowrun?

I also thought about playing in the SR universe but using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire ruleset. Because SR is basically a frantic rollercoaster of heists and other illicit operations and would profit from a slick action and narrative based approach imo. I'm not sure what the community thinks about EotE but I like it for what it is.

Played tons of Shadowrun when it came out, but when I came back with SR 5e, I found the rules to have gotten even more complicated. That being said, for those looking to play, Shadowrun Missions, Catalyst Labs’ Adventurers League equivalent is pretty active (though to be honest, I have some strong feelings on the quality of some of the adventures).

I don’t know of anyone that really loves Shadowrun’s rules, though I’m sure such people exist. For most, I think it’s the setting and fluff, the chocolate-peanut butter of Cyberpunk-Fantasy, that is what people like. I just started reading Shadowrun: Anarchy, and it really does feel like a much-needed breath of fresh air. It can be run as either a rules-light version of Shadowrun or a narrative-collaborative FATE-like game. Either way, it’s actually got me excited about Shadowrun again.

The Fighter-Cricket said:

Love the campy world and the fluff books are often a good read by themselves. But man, those rules. I ran 3rd and 4th Edition for some (rather short) time and dropped it without regret.
Now they released a story-focused "lighter" version called Shadowrun: Anarchy which I find far more compelling.

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Ralif Redhammer said:

I don’t know of anyone that really loves Shadowrun’s rules, though I’m sure such people exist.

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I'm one of those people who really likes the rules, or at least, I was back in 3E. I'll admit that it's a fair bit more complex than a lot of the other systems out there, but I can't imagine that a lighter system would do a sufficient job of reflecting the nuances of how that world works.

kalil said:

The thing with SR 5e rules is that for most part they _actually_ work They are crazy, but they do work and have their own internal logic that does sorta make sense once you get used to it. I have ran a bunch of games in SR5 and once you let go of your initial fear of the daunting system and embrace it its not bad at all.

The "three parallel worlds" issue is very real. You can go two ways here:

1) Impose limitations to reduce the complexity (e.g. "no deckers", "no astral projection"). This is the easiest way, but imo takes away some of the uniqueness of the shadowrun experience
2) Embrace the madness and just run with it. This requires high level of command over the rules and a very high degree of parallel computing by the GM, but if you do pull it off it does add to the game. Deckers hacking on the fly while bullets are spraying all over the place and the shaman battling it out in astral space against approaching spirits IS the heart and soul of shadowrunning IMHO.

One ting I really like about SR5 is the initiativ system and generally the combat rules. One of my players (who are VERY picky about rules) once said "when we fight in shadowrun I really FEEL like I am in combat for real! Its fast, furious and messy and I have NO idea what is going to happen next!". For me this is ultimate praise for a rule set in fact.

So, in summary, SR5 is a HELLISH system to GM. But it is ultimately quite rewarding. When it runs it flies.

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#2 is the way to go. Learn to GM. That's what that is.

Funnily enough, like the Priority System, not everyone is going to be good at GM'ing. Like not everyone has high Resonance or Magic: their potential limited by their nature. Unfortunately, this means not many games and even fewer of those games being manned by someone suitably "mathy", level-headed, charismatic and entertaining.

But if you can get all four of those, ing A!

Janus_Neckbreaker said:

I have again been asked to run Shadowrun, this time 5th edition. Any interest in this game? I saw the Shadowrun Pub looked closed down. Any suggestions as to where I can find like minded people?

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Easiest is Roll20. You will NOT find a game on there to play but if you're willing to GM? You can GM ANYTHING you want because people so desperately want to play it but not actually have to GM it (which, to be fair, is a problem across the board). You could be a horrible GM but they won't care (which is a bit sick, to be honest).

The Fighter-Cricket said:

Love the campy world and the fluff books are often a good read by themselves. But man, those rules. I ran 3rd and 4th Edition for some (rather short) time and dropped it without regret.
Now they released a story-focused "lighter" version called Shadowrun: Anarchy which I find far more compelling.

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I have seen various reviews/rants about that game online. It sounds like its crappier version of the regular game. On an objective level. This true?

The Fighter-Cricket said:

I also thought about playing in the SR universe but using the Star Wars Edge of the Empire ruleset. Because SR is basically a frantic rollercoaster of heists and other illicit operations and would profit from a slick action and narrative based approach imo. I'm not sure what the community thinks about EotE but I like it for what it is.

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Edge of the Empire (award for best roll-off-the-tongue name) is pretty solid for what it is. But that's not what Shadowrun is. The feel from the game comes heavily from the system that it uses. Even Shadowrun Returns feels a little different because of the nature of adapting P'n'P system to a computerized format. High-level example: Mages and Shaman are treated as separate spellcasters even though the P'n'P system does not do that to anywhere near that level of separation. Low-level: P'n'P far more lethal than HP-based system of the computer game.

Anyway, there may be a system at some point that delivers that mechanical style you're talking about while retaining the Shadowrun feeling but stuff like Priority is pretty unique in how its executed (although the quasi-racist undertones of the racial limits stuff needs to be taken out like happened in Pathfinder).

kalil said:

There are tons of interested players, but very few willing DMs for Shadowrun. Put a game up on roll20 and it will fill within hours.

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My man! This guy knows, hah hah!

PrometheanVigil said:

Funnily enough, like the Priority System, not everyone is going to be good at GM'ing. Like not everyone has high Resonance or Magic: their potential limited by their nature. Unfortunately, this means not many games and even fewer of those games being manned by someone suitably "mathy", level-headed, charismatic and entertaining.

But if you can get all four of those, ing A!

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Phew, that sound quite... intimidating to be honest. As I get older I really like rules light systems (or at least those with a manageable amount of obscure rules). SR has its merrits, don't get me wrong, but I prefer systems where I don't have to be Leonardo da Vinci to run them properly.

The Fighter-Cricket said:

Phew, that sound quite... intimidating to be honest. As I get older I really like rules light systems (or at least those with a manageable amount of obscure rules). SR has its merrits, don't get me wrong, but I prefer systems where I don't have to be Leonardo da Vinci to run them properly.

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I saw a blog post where some random dude was complaining about the way explosive damage is handled in-game, especially the fact it actually attempts to simulate blast compression and ricochet from grenades/bullets bouncing off walls.

I laughed. What an ass.

Math is fine in RPGs (the hobby is a nerdy one, after all) and it's not even like you're being asked to do college-level calculus but because the designers dared to say "hey, like explosions are really nasty in real-life, yo..." and provided the means to mechanically represent that, suddenly its like the antichrist being reborn or something.

(If you -- or anyone -- were so interested, a quick Google search of Shadowrun 5th reviews might find it).

My home group is planning to start playing Shadowrun once our 3 1/2 year 4E game comes to an end. We're thinking of doing a round robin style gamemaster thing between 3 or 4 of us.

Demorgus said:

My home group is planning to start playing Shadowrun once our 3 1/2 year 4E game comes to an end. We're thinking of doing a round robin style gamemaster thing between 3 or 4 of us.

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Shadowrun really lends itself to that kind of play, since characters are assumed to go home and rest between missions. If one character is unavailable for the next mission, such as if their player is the GM that week, then you just call up another character to take their place.

Saelorn said:

Shadowrun really lends itself to that kind of play, since characters are assumed to go home and rest between missions. If one character is unavailable for the next mission, such as if their player is the GM that week, then you just call up another character to take their place.

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That was our thoughts. I've been the only DM for our group this run and I could really use some time playing and not planning.

First of all: cool, that you have played 4E for the last couple of years.
Second: I never thought about it that way, but SR really is about those one time jobs that could tie to a bigger campaign structure, but don't have to. So rotating the GM is perfectly fine! (I could use some of that in my game, too...)