Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Bullets & Bandages
Product- Bullets & Bandages
System- Shadowrun 4 and Shadowrun 5
Producer- Catalyst Game Labs
Cost- ~$5 at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/130605/Shadowrun-Bullets--Bandages
TL; DR- One of the best products I can't use! 93%
Basics- DON'T DIE ON ME! Bullets and Bandages is a new product in the Shadowrun Options line. These products will not be Shadowrun Missions legal, but they will provide extra character options and background on the world of 2075. This book focuses on how to be and build a healer in the shadows. The book starts with a story and moves to describing high threat response medical care. After the fluff, the book moves to all the different skills, attributes, abilities, and tools a doctor will need if he's/she's going to be an effective member of a Shadowrun team. The book also introduces a few qualities as well as a few optional advanced rules for treating injuries, care under fire, medical equipment, spells, drugs, armor modifications, and drones.
Fluff or Story- This book has a lot of fluff for a short book. The book even starts with a short story of a runner needs some care on the fly and the standard opening page looking like the reader is logging onto the net. I liked the depth that this book went to to add new aspects of medical care for a character. If you want to know how medical care operates in the future, this is a book you need. 5/5
Crunch or Mechanics- This book goes into almost nauseating detail on how to make a real medical character. All the stats you need, the gear you want, and the rules your patients will need to live by are covered here. There is a lot in this short book, and if you want to add optional rules and make an amazing field medic, this is the book you and your GM need to both read. 5/5
Execution- This book was good, but here is where it shows a few flaws. There is a lot there, but I think a few more pictures to break up the text would have really helped. Also, a lot of the pages are two columns next to each other with the table you need to see a few pages ahead or back. That is slightly annoying, but not a deal breaker by any means. In general, it's a great book, but a few layout problems and lack of art hurt the book slightly. 4/5
Summary- I loved this book. I learned the scoop on DocWagon, and how medical care in the 2070's works. I love what I've read, but this book is firmly in the options line. Since I mostly run con games or Mission games at my local store, this book is almost useless to me. The fluff is amazing, so that part was great and informative. But, I can't use a single piece of crunch out of this book. That's a tragedy! However, if you want to be the medic in the Shadowrunner squad, this is the book you need to start reading and give to your GM. If you want to go down the rabbit hole of proper medical skill use, this is your one stop shop. 93%
Product- Bullets & Bandages
System- Shadowrun 4 and Shadowrun 5
Producer- Catalyst Game Labs
Cost- ~$5 at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/130605/Shadowrun-Bullets--Bandages
TL; DR- One of the best products I can't use! 93%
Basics- DON'T DIE ON ME! Bullets and Bandages is a new product in the Shadowrun Options line. These products will not be Shadowrun Missions legal, but they will provide extra character options and background on the world of 2075. This book focuses on how to be and build a healer in the shadows. The book starts with a story and moves to describing high threat response medical care. After the fluff, the book moves to all the different skills, attributes, abilities, and tools a doctor will need if he's/she's going to be an effective member of a Shadowrun team. The book also introduces a few qualities as well as a few optional advanced rules for treating injuries, care under fire, medical equipment, spells, drugs, armor modifications, and drones.
Fluff or Story- This book has a lot of fluff for a short book. The book even starts with a short story of a runner needs some care on the fly and the standard opening page looking like the reader is logging onto the net. I liked the depth that this book went to to add new aspects of medical care for a character. If you want to know how medical care operates in the future, this is a book you need. 5/5
Crunch or Mechanics- This book goes into almost nauseating detail on how to make a real medical character. All the stats you need, the gear you want, and the rules your patients will need to live by are covered here. There is a lot in this short book, and if you want to add optional rules and make an amazing field medic, this is the book you and your GM need to both read. 5/5
Execution- This book was good, but here is where it shows a few flaws. There is a lot there, but I think a few more pictures to break up the text would have really helped. Also, a lot of the pages are two columns next to each other with the table you need to see a few pages ahead or back. That is slightly annoying, but not a deal breaker by any means. In general, it's a great book, but a few layout problems and lack of art hurt the book slightly. 4/5
Summary- I loved this book. I learned the scoop on DocWagon, and how medical care in the 2070's works. I love what I've read, but this book is firmly in the options line. Since I mostly run con games or Mission games at my local store, this book is almost useless to me. The fluff is amazing, so that part was great and informative. But, I can't use a single piece of crunch out of this book. That's a tragedy! However, if you want to be the medic in the Shadowrunner squad, this is the book you need to start reading and give to your GM. If you want to go down the rabbit hole of proper medical skill use, this is your one stop shop. 93%
