Shadowrun deserves better

[DarkCrisis]

Before I ever touched a D&D book, I was absorbed by Shadowrun.

This was thanks largely to the SNES and Genesis games. I can still remember the first time I played them. SNES first and then the Genesis game later.

In between the 2 I learned of the trilogy of novels about Sam "Twist" Verner. I still love The Artful Dodger. Best Decker this side of Seattle.

Eventually started getting my hands on the RPG books. This was 2E.

I've owned every edition (even 1E). Yes, also Anarchy.

I'm one of those people who think 3E is the best of the main line and quality has gone hill sinse. 6E is one of the worst edited and error prone RPG books I have ever owned. The sheer amount of errata is staggering.

My main issue with SR is the rules crunchiness. It refuses to change. No matter how much it changes it refuses to slay some sacred cows. D&D figured out it (though its still far to bloated), why can't SR?

This of course brings me to Anarchy. 1E was fine. I get what it was going for. And despite it's flaws it was still the best version of SR to play simply because it was Rules Lite. 2E seems to have fixed all that and is bar none the best version of SR to play. IMO.

And of course the other video games. not sure much to say about the arena shooter but the trilogy of top down games that came out 6+ years ago. Good stuff.

ANYWAYS.

With the success of Cyberpunk 2077 I was like where is Shadowrun? Deus Ex? Why aren't companies jumping on this?

Things I learned, while Catalyst has the publishing rights for the TTRPG, SR is owned by Microsoft and they don't give a naughty word. This is very obvious by how they care not how badly Catalyst does with their TTRPG product. Not to completely dump on Catalyst, at least they keep the torch burning. They just really need a "come to Jesus moment" when it comes to SR and frankly I don't think they care enough. SR6 drove that nail home for me.

Why would they care about a new video game? Top down or FPS. Maybe if someone came to them with a sack of cash, but CP2077 seems like lightening striking whos to say if a modern SR game would be as lucky. (Someone call the BG3 guys). Can you imagine a CP2077 style game but it's Shadowrun? Or even akin to the Deus Ex games. Perchance to dream.

And if the owner of the IP doesn't really care then not much can be done about it. It took a French company that actually gives a naughty word about Shadowrun to make a Good SR game. (SRA2E) To bad they don't believe in PDF with purchase of a physical book. No one is perfect I guess.

I've often heard that SR is beloved more in certain other countries and that always seems to be true. Germany has some of it's own SR products not found here? I think?

So yeah, I really wish SR was bigger than it is. It used to be mighty and now it's just barely a thing. I need a Manganello to step in and do what they can to revitalize it.

At least I have SRA2E. There will always be fans, even from other countries to help keep it alive.

 

[payn]

I was more than a little surprised to see RPGs invade Adepticon this year and not a single game of Shadowrun. CGL there already for Battletech!

 

[sevenbastard]

We played so much 1e and 2e in the 90s. But the game was always a little broken and the bloat just got to be too much that I skipped 3e.

Yeah I think the game deserved better, but also im in no hurry to play it again.

 

[Xenolith234]

I actually just started looking into various editions of SR over the weekend for the first time. I've played the Harebrained Schemes video games (amazing) but never the ttrpg!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Without a major effort to revive it -- meaning at least a big a splash as the World of Darkness is getting nowadays, which means real money -- I think Shadowrun is basically done as we know it.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I feel like the editing has been bad since SR4, which had so many micro-revisions that its almost impossible to find two people with matching books.

SR3 didn't seem to be riddled with defects, nor SR2. I started playing with blue-book 1e, before any supplements were released when the rules were....so very first edition. SR2 was fun, but you got a anime-levels quick. Sr3 was probably my favorite as it was the best of the "combat pool" editions,

Having said that, I've decided to keep running SR4 because a) the humble bundles mean most of my players have a solid library of sr4 e-books and b) neither sr5 and sr6 don't seem to fix the problems I had with sr4 and if anything make it worse.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Honestly, there are those who like the mood of SR; but the rules don't do it for them - I fall into that category. And others (I'm positive they exist!) who actually like one or another of the rules sets. But to come out with a 7th edition that would satisfy all of the above? Seems like a fool's errand.

If I was king of the (Sixth) world, I'd go way far away, and strip that dog down to the core, which is runners with magic and tech doing "jobs" and every third job or so, Mr. Johnson screws you until you can't take it anymore and you go after Mr. Johnson. Personally, I think Shadowrun's stories are ultimately tragedies - or at the very least noir. So I'd make the core loop reflect that.

Something that puts pressure on what the PCs care about to make them head out again, and again, and again, even in spite of their better judgment (sort of like continuously buying editions of Shadowrun - but I digress).

Robust faction play; fast and gritty combat with true stakes; a decker sub-game that's exciting but also fast; and a magic system that's unstable and powerful.

There isn't a system that does that really well, although I do like the faction play in a|state and other forged in the dark games.

Decker sub-game I would seriously and literally use Lasers & Feelings - you either intuit your way through, or you use your exceptional skill and knowledge of esoteric security protocols.

OR, hear me out, put all that aside, and hack Burning Wheel with life-path creation, artha that ties you to the setting and every "encounter" has intense stakes.

Hah, someone already thought of that a mere 18 years ago.

[Burning Wheel/Shadowrun] Beliefs and Instincts in Shadowrun | Tabletop Roleplaying Open

For those of you familiar with both systems, does anybody see any reason why I shouldn't retrofit the Beliefs and Instincts from Burning Wheel/Empires onto Shadowrun 4e? Essentially, just as in Burning Empires, players would create three beliefs and instincts. And when they let their beliefs...

forum.rpg.net

 

[MGibster]

My main issue with SR is the rules crunchiness. It refuses to change. No matter how much it changes it refuses to slay some sacred cows. D&D figured out it (though its still far to bloated), why can't SR?

I think anyone who saw the title of this thread knew the rules were going to be the sore point. As my group preferred Cyberpunk, I had fairly limited experience with Shadowrun circa 1990 with the first edition of the game. I remember loving the setting, greatly admired the aesthetic and art style (those few, full color pages being a highlight), and there were plenty of great NPCs, and I loved character generation. Since it's been about 35 years, I can't say I remember much about the rules other than having to roll a lot of d6s.

I purchased 5th edition, read it, and quickly came to the conclusion that I'd never run it for my group. As the GM, I just didn't want to deal with the rules though I cannot remember them well enough to tell you my specific complaints. I purchased 6th edition and came to the same conclusion. I don't know why I keep buying Shadowrun books.

I was more than a little surprised to see RPGs invade Adepticon this year and not a single game of Shadowrun. CGL there already for Battletech!

Catalyst was at GameHole Con in 2025, and while there were a few Battletech events I don't think there were any Shadowrun events. I might have missed the SR events though.

Without a major effort to revive it -- meaning at least a big a splash as the World of Darkness is getting nowadays, which means real money -- I think Shadowrun is basically done as we know it.

Which is too bad. While I preferred Cyberpunk back in the day, Shadowrun has done a much, much better job keeping up with the passing of years than Cyberpunk 2020. While I don't want to deal with the rules, the setting is still fantastic, and I've actively disliked the setting for Cyberpunk 3.0 and Red.