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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Derren" data-source="post: 6156171" data-attributes="member: 2518">Seeing that Shadowrun is the current spotlight game and that the introduction set for 5E has not been released yet as far as I know let me talk about what Shadowrun is as a setting as I guess many people will be unfamiliar with it.Shadowrun is a mix between Cyberpunk and Fantasy. While most people are accustomed with fantasy settings, Cyberpunk might need some explaining.A Cyberpunk setting is a subset of Science Fiction and set in a dystopian world, usually the real one. That means it is pretty much the opposite of an Utopian society. The environment is destroyed, the world is controlled by corporations with near unlimited power, most people are poor and live under abysmal conditions while the privileged elite live in undreamed luxury. Examples of this would be Blade Runner, Deus Ex (video game) or even Orwell's 1984.The "Cyber" in Cyberpunk obviously comes from the existence of Cyberware. Cybernetic enhancements or even whole replacement limbs who makes you stronger or smarter, if you can afford it. This also goes hand in hand with a Matrix, a global network you can directly connect to your brain (which also carries the risk of frying it). The theme in most of such settings is the rebellion against authority, thats where the Punk comes from.The genre was defined by the novel Neuromancer and Shadowrun borrows a lot of terminology from it.The unique thing about Shadowrun is its blend of fantasy and cyberpunk. When the mayan calender ended (the setting was written in the 80s, so some of its backstory is outdated by now) magic seeped back into the world, transforming people into the Tolkien races, awakening spirits and dragons etc. And while in some places the expected battle between magic (including nature) and technology wages for the most part magic has by now integrated into the society. Your co-worker at the factory may be an Orc or Dwarf, wizard is a normal job description, dragons figured out that a stock portfolio is better than a pile of gold and there is even a Ghoul nation waiting to be acknowledged by the UN.If you want to know more about the world of Shadowrun you can read the settings history which was included in the 4E book.<a href="http://www.hitpoint.com.au/srd/history.php" target="_blank">http://www.hitpoint.com.au/srd/history.php</a>I find it a pretty entertaining read, but it can be dry when you are not into history. The 5E book focuses more on the here and now and so does not include the now nearly a century worth of history, but I am sure it will be printed in full in a setting book in the future.The usual player characters are the name giving Shadowrunners. Criminals who are used by corporations, private individuals, governments and anything else as disposable and deniable assets to wage a secret war against their enemies. Your main task will not only to perform the missions you are given, be it assassination, theft, blackmail, etc. but also to stay below the radar of the big players maintain your contacts, plan your intrusions or even just finding out who you are working for and against whom. Because if you anger someone too much you are in trouble as other than in many fantasy games you will never, ever be anywhere near the top of the food chain no matter how powerful you become.And if a Shadowrunner is not to you liking, there are many other roles you can play. Journalists, trying to report the truth in a world ruled by corporate propaganda, rebels who openly fight against oppression and the destruction of nature or even paramedics trying to save their client while under fire by gangs or worse.</blockquote>

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