Shadowrun 1st Edition To Be Reprinted

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1988's 1st Edition of the near-future urban fantasy game Shadowrun is being reprinted, according to publisher Catalyst Game Lab who tweeted the announcement this weekend.

Shadowrun is currently on its 6th Edition, which came out in 2019. The game features a dystopian fantasy cyberpunk future with elves, trolls, dragons, cybernetics, megacorporations, and automatic weapons. Characters include technomancers, mages, and street samurai.

Coming soon, Shadowrun 1st edition reprints!Relive the classic fantasy of the Sixth World with all of the dystopian action that entails!

You can currently buy the game via print-on-demand at DriveThruRPG for $11.99.

 

[Crusadius]

I'm gonna be the devil's advocate about SR 2e.

I don't think it was playable. I admit I only played one session. But in the first 5 minutes my mate, Frog the Power Gamer, broke it. He took one look at the rules and realised that, when shooting someone, the dice pool system would allow him to throw something like 12 dice (I feel it was more like 15-18 dice), looking for a TN of 2. Even with a light pistol he'd easily do Deadly+2 or more damage. Meanwhile his target/victim would be rolling, at best 6-8 dice, looking for 3's. Unless that target was a troll in heavy armour they were going down. And if it was a troll in heavy armour obviously you'd break out the HK227 with the AP rounds. Or, since Frog's character was a mage, just hit 'em with a stun bolt.

I'll be honest, I have no idea how any other aspect of the game worked, I walked away shaking my head in disappointment. I really did (and still do) want a Shadowrun that works. But we're what, 6 editions in? And still no winner. Many wieners. But no winners.

I’m not going to disagree with you about how you can overwhelm the opposition with larger dice pools and low target numbers to generate more successes than the opposition has in their dice pool to resist. But this was a feature, not a flaw.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

@Crusadius

Each to their own. I knew a lot of people who loved it for that. For me, that is not a playable game.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

That was my experience with the older Shadowrun editions too. As characters become stronger their ability to do damage increases much faster than their ability to resist damage, so "high level" combat is just about being the one to shoot first.

 

[SteveC]

I came into Shadowrun with second edition because the group I was playing with at the time did as well. From what I remember about 1E, there were enough problems that the group just kind of punted on it. I'd buy a 2E book for nostalgia's sake (providing it wasn't crazy expensive) but I am going to pass on 1E. I guess it must have its fans, right?

 

[Mercador]

Man I feel old

 

[teitan]

Now this is a Shadowrun I would play. 1-2e and 20th Anniversary are well done. Kind of excited about this coming especially if it means the other books NEEDED

 

[pencilmage]

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1988's 1st Edition of the near-future urban fantasy game Shadowrun is being reprinted, according to publisher Catalyst Game Lab who tweeted the announcement this weekend.

Shadowrun is currently on its 6th Edition, which came out in 2019. The game features a dystopian fantasy cyberpunk future with elves, trolls, dragons, cybernetics, megacorporations, and automatic weapons. Characters include technomancers, mages, and street samurai.

Coming soon, Shadowrun 1st edition reprints!Relive the classic fantasy of the Sixth World with all of the dystopian action that entails!

You can currently buy the game via print-on-demand at DriveThruRPG for $11.99.

why not just revamp 5e... seems to be the best version and most popular???

 

[MGibster]

why not just revamp 5e... seems to be the best version and most popular???

This product isn't really designed to be played. It's for people who have warm, fuzzy feelings for the first edition of the game and would like to own a nice copy.

 

[Thomas Shey]

That was my experience with the older Shadowrun editions too. As characters become stronger their ability to do damage increases much faster than their ability to resist damage, so "high level" combat is just about being the one to shoot first.

The way multiple actions was handled, at least in 1e, didn't help here. It put such a premium on reflex boosters and the like no one who didn't focus on that was even in the same game.

 

[Thomas Shey]

This product isn't really designed to be played. It's for people who have warm, fuzzy feelings for the first edition of the game and would like to own a nice copy.

Yeah, it really only makes sense in that context.