Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!
Module-The Assassin's Primer
Game System-Shadowrun
Producer-Catalyst Game Labs
Cost-~$5
Page Count-17
TL;DR- Good story with a few rules. A little pricey for the page count. 87%
Basics-The first player centered addition to the Shadowrun 5e RPG. This focuses on a webpost by an assassin who is about to die. He wants to help future assassins and give tips and tricks through this post. Along the way, various other Shadowrun characters pop in to give their two nuyen. At the end of the story, the book also gives stats for a new gun as well as few new qualities for your character.
Art- The book does have some art, but don't expect much. There are a few black and white pictures as well as a picture of the new gun with its stats and background story. It's all ok, but this is not an art heavy book. I liked what I saw, but there isn't much. 3/5
Story or “Fluff”- This is really a well done story. The whole story and they way you read it really put you in the world. I loved every minute of it. I felt like I was sitting drinking a soyacaff in a crappy rundown house reading this in AR. 2.5/2.5
Mechanics or “Crunch”- Don't go into this looking for crunch. The book does have some mechanics, but if you are a living game person like me, most of the new qualities are parts of codes of honor which you can't have in the living game. So, that is kind of a bummer. The story does give some good hints on how to play an assassin. All and all, it's an ok book for crunch, but I wanted more. 1.5/2.5
Execution- The way this ways laid out initially left me a little put off, but once I got into it I liked it. It's worth a read, as it does get you into the head space of Shadowrun and some of the major players in the universe. The rules part at the end was a bit short, but well executed. However, I was a little disappointed with the price. For a PDF that is mostly story, I felt the $5 price was a bit much as its pretty short and rules light. I would have liked this a bit more at the $3 price point. I'm quibbling over dollars, but this is Shadowrun! What good would a run be if we didn't negotiate the price? 4/5
Final Thoughts- All said and done, I'm pretty happy with this book. It's not up to the quality of the core book, but I'm glad I read this small part of the Shadowrun lore. I really enjoyed what I read. And think that for anyone out there who likes the Shadowrun world, it's worth it. Don't go into this thinking it's going to give you the metagame advantage you were hoping for as there are only two pages of real rules though! 87%
Module-The Assassin's Primer
Game System-Shadowrun
Producer-Catalyst Game Labs
Cost-~$5
Page Count-17
TL;DR- Good story with a few rules. A little pricey for the page count. 87%
Basics-The first player centered addition to the Shadowrun 5e RPG. This focuses on a webpost by an assassin who is about to die. He wants to help future assassins and give tips and tricks through this post. Along the way, various other Shadowrun characters pop in to give their two nuyen. At the end of the story, the book also gives stats for a new gun as well as few new qualities for your character.
Art- The book does have some art, but don't expect much. There are a few black and white pictures as well as a picture of the new gun with its stats and background story. It's all ok, but this is not an art heavy book. I liked what I saw, but there isn't much. 3/5
Story or “Fluff”- This is really a well done story. The whole story and they way you read it really put you in the world. I loved every minute of it. I felt like I was sitting drinking a soyacaff in a crappy rundown house reading this in AR. 2.5/2.5
Mechanics or “Crunch”- Don't go into this looking for crunch. The book does have some mechanics, but if you are a living game person like me, most of the new qualities are parts of codes of honor which you can't have in the living game. So, that is kind of a bummer. The story does give some good hints on how to play an assassin. All and all, it's an ok book for crunch, but I wanted more. 1.5/2.5
Execution- The way this ways laid out initially left me a little put off, but once I got into it I liked it. It's worth a read, as it does get you into the head space of Shadowrun and some of the major players in the universe. The rules part at the end was a bit short, but well executed. However, I was a little disappointed with the price. For a PDF that is mostly story, I felt the $5 price was a bit much as its pretty short and rules light. I would have liked this a bit more at the $3 price point. I'm quibbling over dollars, but this is Shadowrun! What good would a run be if we didn't negotiate the price? 4/5
Final Thoughts- All said and done, I'm pretty happy with this book. It's not up to the quality of the core book, but I'm glad I read this small part of the Shadowrun lore. I really enjoyed what I read. And think that for anyone out there who likes the Shadowrun world, it's worth it. Don't go into this thinking it's going to give you the metagame advantage you were hoping for as there are only two pages of real rules though! 87%
