Anyone still interested in Shadowrun?

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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MNblockhead

A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
I never played Shadowrun, but after seen the Zombie Orpheus Entertainment video mini-series "The Gamers: Natural One" I looked into the game and it looks like a lot of fun.

There are a number of folks on the Lone Wolf Development forums for Hero Lab and Realm Works that are into ShadowRun, but are there mainly to discuss using the software for their SR games. I've seen folks discuss SR-specific forums, but I can't find the post with the URL. It may have been this one: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/
 

I grew up playing Shadowrun, but I haven't played since 3E. It's hard to find a group, and I'm not overly eager to try, given the radical changes that they've made to the setting in the last decade.
 


kalil

Explorer
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.
 

Dualazi

First Post
No. The lore and world behind shadowrun is great, the rulebooks are some of the worst I've ever encountered. They have a dizzying number of rules, and many of those are in direct contrast with each other, with little to no guidance on how they are to be resolved. Some, like the 5th ed. addiction rules, don't actually function in any capacity, and you can find like a 15+ page thread on the official forums trying to decipher them.

From what I've read/lurked on their forums and news sites, this is because a large number of their freelance writers aren't in contact with each other/the editors, and are under oppressively strict NDAs. This leads to baffling mistakes like errata printings being released, then when they update other rules in the same book, they somehow use the original print and undo the prior errata, creating more issues.

Even if these rampant editing problems and game-breaking rules loopholes didn't exist, the way the game is structured the DM basically has to run 3 games simultaneously, one for the matrix, one of the astral plane, and one for material reality. Add in all the rules and subsystems for those 3 and games can slow to a crawl even with the best of intentions. Furthermore, balance appears to not even be a concern, with some guns/spells/specs being wildly more effective than others, and little has been done over the past 2 editions to rectify these issues.

I want to like shadowrun, I really do, and played it for about a year or so, but it just became too much, and until there is an earth-shattering shakeup within their company that can address some of the problems, I have no intention of playing that system again.
 

Jhaelen

First Post
Having worked my way through the 5th edition rules, I realized it's not a game I'd like to play. Waaaaay too rules-heavy and fiddly for my tastes. If you want to have a real good chuckle, check out the rules for explosives.

I like the setting, but I've never been a fan of the rules (the 2nd edition rules, which were the first I read were even worse than the current rules).
I think I've realized part of the problem, though: You basically have three separate worlds that each use a different system: the 'real' world, the astral realm(s), and the matrix/cyberspace.
It's just too much. To make it work, you'd need a lighter ruleset that works the same no matter which reality the characters are currently in.
 

kalil

Explorer
Having worked my way through the 5th edition rules, I realized it's not a game I'd like to play. Waaaaay too rules-heavy and fiddly for my tastes. If you want to have a real good chuckle, check out the rules for explosives.

I like the setting, but I've never been a fan of the rules (the 2nd edition rules, which were the first I read were even worse than the current rules).
I think I've realized part of the problem, though: You basically have three separate worlds that each use a different system: the 'real' world, the astral realm(s), and the matrix/cyberspace.
It's just too much. To make it work, you'd need a lighter ruleset that works the same no matter which reality the characters are currently in.

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.
 

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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