Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
RPG Bundles, Freebies, and Sales News (May 8, 2022)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Abstruse" data-source="post: 8628939" data-attributes="member: 6669048"><p>I am a very biased source since I'm a huge Shadowrun fan, but if it's something you're interested in, this is the best deal you're likely to see for a while for the books. Some things to keep in mind if you're a D&D player who doesn't have experience with other systems:</p><p></p><p>1. Shadowrun is very tied to its setting. You may think that D&D seems focused on the Sword Coast, but Shadowrun takes place in the Shadowrun world. The mechanics are entirely tied to their setting and work under the assumption you're playing in that setting. If you want to do something else other than play in the Shadowrun world, it takes a lot of houseruling and handwaving of different aspects of the game.</p><p></p><p>2. Shadowrun plays very differently to D&D. It's not level-based and it's not class-based. There's not really such a thing as a "balanced encounter" in Shadowrun because you're just as likely to talk your way past it or sneak around it or come up with some wild plan as you are to get in a shootout. You also won't miss out on any rewards for doing it this way - "experience" (called karma in the game) is given out by accomplishing goals not by defeating encounters.</p><p></p><p>3. The rules system is very different. It's a d6 dice pool system. To accomplish anything from attacking to hacking to casting a spell to trying to con someone, it's all handled by the same basic mechanic: You roll a number of d6s equal to an Attribute and a Skill. For example, if you're shooting your gun and you have Agility 4 and Firearms 3, you're rolling 7 dice. For every 5 or 6 on the dice, you get one Hit. You are attempting to get as many Hits as possible as many times you'll need more than one to succeed at something, and frequently you're rolling while defending as well. The rules aren't hard once you get the hang of them, but it might take some time due to the very different mechanical systems involved.</p><p></p><p>4. Shadowrun has a lot of lore. Like a lot a lot. It's one of the reasons this bundle is such a good place to start as the Core Rulebook bundle features two nice introductory books to the lore of the setting. Neo-Anarchist Streetpedia gives a full timeline of all the major events that have happened in the world since the return of magic (along with in-universe comments section so various characters from the setting can chime in with their two cents about the subject), while No Future talks about the society and culture so you have a better idea of what the world is like to live in. Now you don't need to know all of that lore to play the game, but it does help a lot in understanding the setting.</p><p></p><p>Personally, I think <s>$15</s> <em>edit: $18 (sorry, mixed up the bundles)</em> for the core rules and two books expanding the world is a great introduction to the game. I'd also recommend picking up the physical copy of the Shadowrun Beginner Box if you can find it since it has a more streamlined version of the rules (that way you can grasp the basics before diving into the deep end) and it comes with custom dice made specifically to be easy to read for the way the system works - 5s and 6s are a different color on the dice so you can spot them immediately and know how many Hits you have on a particular roll.</p><p></p><p>However, if all you're looking to do is add some sci-fi elements to your D&D game...it might not be for you. Even though it is a cyberpunk fantasy game, it's still very different from D&D in both tone and rules. To compare it to movies or TV, D&D is action/adventure, while Shadowrun is a heist movie. If you're looking for something more like "D&D in Space", Starfinder is a lot closer to the science fantasy genre, or you can wait for later this year when EN Publishing releases Voidrunner's Codex, which is a sourcebook for Level Up: Advanced 5e (and thus compatible with D&D 5e) focused entirely on science fiction so you can have just straight tradition sci-fi or mix in the fantasy elements from A5E or O5E.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Abstruse, post: 8628939, member: 6669048"] I am a very biased source since I'm a huge Shadowrun fan, but if it's something you're interested in, this is the best deal you're likely to see for a while for the books. Some things to keep in mind if you're a D&D player who doesn't have experience with other systems: 1. Shadowrun is very tied to its setting. You may think that D&D seems focused on the Sword Coast, but Shadowrun takes place in the Shadowrun world. The mechanics are entirely tied to their setting and work under the assumption you're playing in that setting. If you want to do something else other than play in the Shadowrun world, it takes a lot of houseruling and handwaving of different aspects of the game. 2. Shadowrun plays very differently to D&D. It's not level-based and it's not class-based. There's not really such a thing as a "balanced encounter" in Shadowrun because you're just as likely to talk your way past it or sneak around it or come up with some wild plan as you are to get in a shootout. You also won't miss out on any rewards for doing it this way - "experience" (called karma in the game) is given out by accomplishing goals not by defeating encounters. 3. The rules system is very different. It's a d6 dice pool system. To accomplish anything from attacking to hacking to casting a spell to trying to con someone, it's all handled by the same basic mechanic: You roll a number of d6s equal to an Attribute and a Skill. For example, if you're shooting your gun and you have Agility 4 and Firearms 3, you're rolling 7 dice. For every 5 or 6 on the dice, you get one Hit. You are attempting to get as many Hits as possible as many times you'll need more than one to succeed at something, and frequently you're rolling while defending as well. The rules aren't hard once you get the hang of them, but it might take some time due to the very different mechanical systems involved. 4. Shadowrun has a lot of lore. Like a lot a lot. It's one of the reasons this bundle is such a good place to start as the Core Rulebook bundle features two nice introductory books to the lore of the setting. Neo-Anarchist Streetpedia gives a full timeline of all the major events that have happened in the world since the return of magic (along with in-universe comments section so various characters from the setting can chime in with their two cents about the subject), while No Future talks about the society and culture so you have a better idea of what the world is like to live in. Now you don't need to know all of that lore to play the game, but it does help a lot in understanding the setting. Personally, I think [S]$15[/S] [I]edit: $18 (sorry, mixed up the bundles)[/I] for the core rules and two books expanding the world is a great introduction to the game. I'd also recommend picking up the physical copy of the Shadowrun Beginner Box if you can find it since it has a more streamlined version of the rules (that way you can grasp the basics before diving into the deep end) and it comes with custom dice made specifically to be easy to read for the way the system works - 5s and 6s are a different color on the dice so you can spot them immediately and know how many Hits you have on a particular roll. However, if all you're looking to do is add some sci-fi elements to your D&D game...it might not be for you. Even though it is a cyberpunk fantasy game, it's still very different from D&D in both tone and rules. To compare it to movies or TV, D&D is action/adventure, while Shadowrun is a heist movie. If you're looking for something more like "D&D in Space", Starfinder is a lot closer to the science fantasy genre, or you can wait for later this year when EN Publishing releases Voidrunner's Codex, which is a sourcebook for Level Up: Advanced 5e (and thus compatible with D&D 5e) focused entirely on science fiction so you can have just straight tradition sci-fi or mix in the fantasy elements from A5E or O5E. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
RPG Bundles, Freebies, and Sales News (May 8, 2022)
Top