best 'shadowrun' supplements before 6e for fluff?

[heks]

so i've recently started getting most of the 6e 'shadowrun' stuff and i'm curious as to what previous edition books folks see as worth picking up to better understand the history and culture of the game (outside of the 'sixth world almanac' from fourth edition.)
(and pls no X EDITION WAS BETTER, my group intends to use a different system [probably 'cyberpunk red,' if i can find that conversion that someone did a while back, while having it set firmly in the current 'shadowrun' timeline.)

 

[Ulfgeir]

I would say the following (they are 1-3e):
Was a while ago since I read them though so my mekory might be a bit hazy of how good they are.

For setting stuff:
Shadowbeat
Neo-anarchists guide to Real life
Corporate Download
Corporate Shadowfiles
Coprorate security handbook
Lone Star

Depending on where you set the campaign, but the default is Seattle.
Seattle Sourcebok (well if you play in Seattle)
Neo-Anarchists guide to North America
Tir Tairngire

For metaphyiscal stuff:
Aztlan sourcebook for the views of some of the big players of what is happening behind the scenes there.
Bug City

 

[jdrakeh]

The one Shadowrun book that I come back to time and again, no matter what edition of Shadowrun I happen to be playing, is Sprawl Sites. It is just teeming with great adventure seeds. It kickstarts my imagination every time I open the cover. As an added bonus, it can be purchased in dead format on the cheap.

 

[heks]

oh, thanks!
i've been eying 'bug city' for a while but 'sprawl sites' was barely on my radar and i think i might need to grab it, soon.

 

[Ulfgeir]

There are also some old adventures and novels that are kind of important.

Adventures:
Universal Brotherhood
And the one where lots of bad stuff happens in Renraku Archology due to an AI. Cant'remember the name.

Novels:
The Secrets of Power trilogy (These were the first books that came out and gave some setting)
Burning Bright (This one shows what happened in Chicago before it became Bug City)
Shadowplay (What happens when corps go to war. Not that normal people notice)
Dragon Heart Trilogy (lots of connections to Dunkelzahn)

 

[heks]

i do love 'universal brotherhood' (i'm a sucker for insect spirit stuff) but haven't looked much at adventures and will rectify that.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

Bug City is hall of fame stuff. But I'm a little biased, since I think post 2e Shadowrun lore kind of goes off the cliff. You could do an entire campaign during or related to Bug City though.

 

[Ixal]

To be honest, most of the stuff mentioned here are "old" things from past editions, so while they give you a good overview much of it is already outdated because of the evolving metaplot or at least included in the history section of a new editions core book.
The newest information before 6E is probably the Neo-Anarchist Streetpedia. Also No Future if you are interested in the entertainment industry of Shadowrun.
If you go a bit further back to the beginning of 5E maybe also Market Panic and Storm Front, although they have a rather questionable quality.

 

[schneeland]

There is a book called Sixth World Almanach from 4th edition that summarizes things that have been going on so far. I don't know how good the English edition is, but I remember the German one being decent (I'm not the biggest fan of the Shadowrun metaplot after late 2e, though, so I mostly skimmed through it).