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All I have to say is that Shadowrun 4th Edition, 20th Anniversary printing should be known as Shadowrun 4-20 edition. "There's something you might not know about me, Troll Rogan! I smoke novarocks!"
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Aug 29, 2009 17:11
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Hey, I'm running a game right now and it occurred to me that no information had ever been revealed about Dubai in the post awakened world. Does anyone know if any sourcebooks cover this?
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Aug 30, 2009 21:46
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FutureBoy posted:Hey, I'm running a game right now and it occurred to me that no information had ever been revealed about Dubai in the post awakened world. Does anyone know if any sourcebooks cover this? Shadows Over Asia has write ups on most the Middle Eastern countries. If I remember correctly, Dubai is covered in at least some fashion since it's a pretty recent book.
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Aug 30, 2009 22:34
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FutureBoy posted:Hey, I'm running a game right now and it occurred to me that no information had ever been revealed about Dubai in the post awakened world. Does anyone know if any sourcebooks cover this? Shadows of Asia or Target: Wastelands might have some data, but right now, it's an unknown. Checking the Middle East section of the Sixth World wiki, the United Arab Emirates has been absorbed into the Nation of Arabia. Given Dubai's current state and it's predicted future, it looks like Dubai could be a feral city in Shadowrun. Crap. Beaten, because I got distracted with the Sixth World wiki and didn't his Submit.
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Aug 30, 2009 22:56
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Young Freud posted:Shadows of Asia or Target: Wastelands might have some data, but right now, it's an unknown. Checking the Middle East section of the Sixth World wiki, the United Arab Emirates has been absorbed into the Nation of Arabia. Given Dubai's current state and it's predicted future, it looks like Dubai could be a feral city in Shadowrun. I didn't even know the sixth world wiki existed, thank you!
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Aug 30, 2009 23:11
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So what 4e books should I absolutely get? All I have is the original 4e book, so I'm thinking of picking up the 20th anniversary edition. Any other essentials?
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Aug 31, 2009 22:29
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Blowupologist posted:So what 4e books should I absolutely get? All I have is the original 4e book, so I'm thinking of picking up the 20th anniversary edition. Any other essentials? The core supplements are a good place to start, just pick up the ones most relevant to your group if you're DMing, or to what you want to play if you aren't. C/P'd this straight from the 20th anniversary book (which you should definitely get) Street Magic: the advanced magic rulebook adds more bang to your spellslingers and adepts alike. Street Magic contains new magical traditions, more spirits, more spells, detailed enchanting rules, advanced initiation options, new metamagics, and even a look at magical threats in the sixth world. Augmentation: the advanced medtech rulebook is much more than a budding street samurai’s upgrade catalog; it introduces more cyberware and bioware augmentations than you can wiggle a prehensile tail at, as well as a selection of genetech and nanotech enhancements useful to all character types. If that isn’t enough, Augmentation introduces biodrones, cyborgs, and cyberzombies. Arsenal: the advanced gear book is chock full of useful gear the enterprising shadowrunner can’t live without. Arsenal’s pages are crammed with guns, armor, spy toys, manatech, survival gear, vehicles, and drones that will have everybody on the team saving up to buy the good stuff. all that plus advanced martial arts, and vehicle and weapon customization rules. Unwired: the advanced matrix resource is a guide to the wireless matrix for both beginners and experts. hackers and technomancers are treated to all the new tricks, new toys, new echoes, advanced submersion, and new sprites you might expect. Unwired opens the world of ubiquitous computing to all character types and showcases how any shadowrunner can use the matrix to keep her edge. Runner’s Companion: this character-oriented rulebook features advanced options to provide additional depth to character creation and play. Runner’s Companion not only introduces optional metavariants, sentient races, and unique character types, but also dozens of new qualities, advanced contact and lifestyle rules, and rounds everything out with some basic survival tips for budding runners. I can't really speak to the quality of these books, as it's been forever since I've looked at them and I haven't really evaluated them in a mechanical sense. Beyond these, if you're interested in running a game set in Seattle, the new "Seattle 2072" book is really good. Edit: The master index in the back of the 20th anniversary book also indexes those five core supplements, which is really cool. FirstCongoWar fucked around with this message at 23:04 on Aug 31, 2009 |
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Aug 31, 2009 22:52
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There is a Seattle 2072 book? I've yet to see one?
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Aug 31, 2009 23:10
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Came out a week or two ago. http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=64134
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Aug 31, 2009 23:12
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FutureBoy posted:Hey, I'm running a game right now and it occurred to me that no information had ever been revealed about Dubai in the post awakened world. Does anyone know if any sourcebooks cover this? Digging this back up because I was flipping through some books. Dubai is in Corporate Enclaves, but it only gets a few pages. It is most definitely not a Feral City, as it's one of the few places in the Middle East actually worth visiting, if you've got the nuyen, of course.
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Sep 5, 2009 19:07
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Kwyndig posted:Digging this back up because I was flipping through some books. Dubai is in Corporate Enclaves, but it only gets a few pages. It is most definitely not a Feral City, as it's one of the few places in the Middle East actually worth visiting, if you've got the nuyen, of course. I mean, I just don't see the "Corporate Controlled City" part of that.
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Sep 6, 2009 20:38
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Jonked posted:The Corporate Enclave book is weird. Neo-Tokyo fits because it's a city pretty much dominated by Zaibatsus, but the first article is on Los Angeles, which seems more like a Feral City to me, what with the huge sections of the city submerged in radioactive ocean sludge covering huge sections of the city that collapsed into magical giant sinkholes due to double 9.0+ earthquakes. The LA section was mainly an excuse for a massive infodump on Horizon. And besides that, isn't LA strictly regimented/walled off now like Berlin?
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Sep 6, 2009 21:19
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404GoonNotFound posted:The LA section was mainly an excuse for a massive infodump on Horizon. And besides that, isn't LA strictly regimented/walled off now like Berlin? I suppose Funland would still be pretty gated-community, though.
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Sep 7, 2009 03:29
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I'm creating my first couple characters with SR4 20th Anniversary edition, this book is really nice. My question is referring to qualities. I want this guy to be allergic to air pollutants. He has bad lungs and has to have clean air to breathe to perform at his best. Would it be cheesy or game-breaking to have him wear a respirator when in especially polluted environments? He would look a bit silly running around in the slums in a respirator, but that's kind of the look I want. He can go inside and take off the mask and breathe fresh air.
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Sep 7, 2009 16:38
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As a GM, I'd have no problem with it. As a player, I'd advise you to keep it a mild or moderate allergy, so people can't kill you by pulling your mask off.
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Sep 7, 2009 17:07
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If you want to be a bit more specific, there's an Asthma quality in the Runner's Companion for 15BP.
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Sep 7, 2009 22:29
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Kwyndig posted:Digging this back up because I was flipping through some books. Dubai is in Corporate Enclaves, but it only gets a few pages. It is most definitely not a Feral City, as it's one of the few places in the Middle East actually worth visiting, if you've got the nuyen, of course. When "Corporate Enclaves" was written in 2007, Dubai was an extravagantly prosperous city. The big problem is, in real life, that prosperity is unsustainable. The recent economic downturn exposed that Dubai's wealth comes from it's real estate holdings, not trade or oil or anything else. Which is pretty interesting since Dubai is nothing but sand. What I'm saying is that Dubai is already pretty shaky as is. It's unlikely if Dubai will survive for another decade, let alone more than half a century.
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Sep 8, 2009 07:26
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Wasn't a good chunk of the middle east blown up by a dragon when they declared jihad on metahumans?
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Sep 8, 2009 07:35
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Young Freud posted:When "Corporate Enclaves" was written in 2007, Dubai was an extravagantly prosperous city. The big problem is, in real life, that prosperity is unsustainable. The recent economic downturn exposed that Dubai's wealth comes from it's real estate holdings, not trade or oil or anything else. Which is pretty interesting since Dubai is nothing but sand. Yes, and the Soviet Union didn't break up until around 2030. Shadowrun in know way represents reality, and thank god for that.
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Sep 8, 2009 07:47
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YOTC posted:Wasn't a good chunk of the middle east blown up by a dragon when they declared jihad on metahumans? Only Tehran. 404GoonNotFound posted:Yes, and the Soviet Union didn't break up until around 2030. Shadowrun in know way represents reality, and thank god for that. It does eventually. Remember, cellphones got progressively small and cheaper in the prior editions, up until everyone can have them and get can wireless In 4th edition, we have "Hindus up, Japs down", which reflects the new thoughts that Japan, Inc. as a memory of the '80s and the new reality is BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Shadowrun has always been topical.
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Sep 8, 2009 08:19
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It would be nice if they did more with China, like reunify it Romance of the Three Kingdoms style. The main problem though is that American gaming companies are invariably focused on Japan due to the close relationship between Japan and the US. The bias is very prevalent in almost every instance a game has a contingent that focuses on Asia. Even in some cases when they say it's based off ancient China, it ends up being more like Japan because average Americans know so little about historical China. Now that people aren't ranting about how the Japanese are going to eat us alive, it's time to give China some loving. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Sep 8, 2009 |
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Sep 8, 2009 17:10
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Anyone have any tips on how to smoothly transition into this as a DM, via some cheat sheets or screens or something, or possibly mapping for the game session? I'm still trying to wrap my head around some of the stuff, and while overall it seems pretty easy (roll ability+skill against target number to varying degrees of success), I have yet to really understand the fullness and complexity of combat, and haven't even tried delving into what the world would have. For example, is there a good resource that says to what extent a corp has defenses both technical, astral, and matrix? Is it a dick move to have a group of runners constantly going through all 3 of those, or are those just for the most secretive and deadly of corp secrets? I really want to run this game and even debated using a Savage Worlds conversion but I want to give it a try and god damnit I already bought a block of 36 urban camo d6's for this. Edit: Also no bookstore within 50 miles carries the drat rule books, which is a pain since I'm just going off the drat pdf.
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Sep 8, 2009 20:20
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Fenarisk posted:Stuff One, get the 20th anniversary book on amazon. Two, you don't have to throw them against EVERYthing. If you dont have a hacker in the party then don't worry about having to plan out matrix threats or sending them against them. If you don't have a mage well there is gently caress all they can do vs magical threats anyways. This(grey hunters:On the run thread is a great example of how to play the game, there is a chunk of combat like 3 or 4 pages from the back, and hell, its the only combat done the entire game and it takes like 20 seconds for the whole combat event to go down. Shadowrun is more about thinking on your feet than it is about firefighting. Also, corps have defenses in measure of what they're guarding. Trying to break into ARES laser weapon research facility in Detroit. gently caress that's gonna be lots of security with paranormal beasties to let out at your guys. Breaking into ARES HR devision to steal some employees records or the employee themselves, well there are gonna be a few guards packing some pistol to smg weapons, but your more likely to run into a few ceiling mounted rail run auto turrets controlled by a rigger 20 miles away at the rigger security center for ARES facilities. Best way to think about it is to think: how much is what the runner after worth, how much defense would I put on it if I had almost unlimited resources and was an AAA corp. Then look at the grade of the corp who's stuff it is and tone it down by how much weaker they are.
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Sep 9, 2009 01:36
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Tons of cheat sheets are located here: http://pavao.org/shadowrun/cheatsheets/ I'm not really sure how useful they are as my first game is on Saturday, but they seem to really break down most actions.
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Sep 9, 2009 03:47
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angrylinuxgeek posted:Tons of cheat sheets are located here: http://pavao.org/shadowrun/cheatsheets/ Also that, those sheets are a godsend and I'm glad they exist.
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Sep 9, 2009 03:49
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Complete Shadowrun neophyte here. I've seen the books, heard and read people discussing the game, and played the SNES and 360 versions to some extent. At a glance it seems complex and intimidating as all get out. Reading about people's concepts and the like gave me a thought I'd like to ask, though: Is there any advantage to a "pure" human? I mean someone who doesn't do drugs or cyber-up. Maybe just focuses on maxing out the basic stats, skills, and putting money away for emergencies/medical treatments/emergencies. I know that cybering can interfere with doing magic, but is that really the only advantage to not hacking yourself to the teeth?
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Sep 9, 2009 04:54
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Yeah, aside from being totally inconspicuous, there's no advantage to being both mundane and fresh flesh.
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Sep 9, 2009 05:53
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There's literally no advantage to being mundane and not taking cyber or bio 'ware. Without good ware or magic, as a mundane you can't exceed your natural scores, and since it doesn't cost karma to buy ware, in the long run a guy who takes the ware route is just plain going to outperform the guy who didn't, because he'll have stats over the natural maximum, extra initiative passes (in 4e or just plain more turns in previous editions), and built in capabilities that can only be matched by specialized gear like smartlinks, extra senses, commlinks or weapons that can't be disabled or stolen easy, etc.
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Sep 9, 2009 06:01
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At the same time, being a mundane, uncybered bloke does have it's advantages, at least starting. You should be free to spend more BPs in stuff like skills, more points in Edge (which, if you're human, you start with 2 already, and, if the poo poo hits the fan, you can burn those for instant extra init. passes, exploding dice, also instant bacon-saving), contacts, etc. An uncybered mundane can still be playable, but it'll be a strictly roleplaying character, like a face or fixer. Also, if you're looking to play someone who trains to be the absolute pinnacle of human perfection, might I suggest an adept.
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Sep 9, 2009 09:10
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From an RP perspective people will actually look at you weird if you don't have at least a datajack shoved in your brain. On the other hand not having a ton of cyber makes it less likely that people would suspect you of being a shadowrunner, so it might have benefits from a stealth perspective. Also the 'face' characters probably spend more points on skills and may not benefit from cyber. On the other hand it's really hard to argue against the benefits of a Smartlink. My favorite characters use a bunch of bioware and headware, and tend to be electronics and computer monkeys. Not necessarily deckers, but the kind of character that can break into a maglock or rewire a turret so that it only shoots friendlies. My character Ransom in the Streets of Seattle game is a good example of the kind of character I like to play.
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Sep 9, 2009 22:11
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Datajacks aren't as important now that everyone carries a commlink and uses AR glasses or whatever. But yeah, if you go around with no cyberwear whatsoever people are going to assume you are the team mage on the run, and you're going to get shot, with bullets. One of the things I noticed in the 20th Anniversary book is that they switched cover from being an attacker modifier to a defender modifier. Has anybody actually played with cover giving a bonus to the defender instead of as a penalty to the attacker? If so, did it noticeably change the outcome or behavior of characters in a firefight?
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Sep 10, 2009 04:30
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Assuming it's the same modification(in number of dice), then I can't see it making a difference.
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Sep 10, 2009 05:46
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Kwyndig posted:Datajacks aren't as important now that everyone carries a commlink and uses AR glasses or whatever. But yeah, if you go around with no cyberwear whatsoever people are going to assume you are the team mage on the run, and you're going to get shot, with bullets. A lot more glitches happen if you use the old method of reducing the attacker's dice pool instead of increasing the defender's dodge pool. In a recent firefight (under the old rule) I had quite a large number of goons with ~6 dice to shoot. The players had cover, so that reduced the baddies to 2 dice. Very high chance of glitching. So if you find glitches fun, use the old rule. I kinda like 'em.
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Sep 10, 2009 17:34
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On the topic of Augmented Reality, what does the user see and what does everyone else see? Is AR just something the user would see through their eyes, or through some bulky commlink thing over their eyes? Is it visible by everyone? All the pictures I see are just a person standing with this huge array of panels and projected images and I can't figure it out. It seems like one of those things pivotal to running the game right, and I know one player really, really wants to play a hacker so will probably be using AR/VR a lot.
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Sep 10, 2009 18:49
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Everyone with an AR-capable device turned on sees the matrix - as it is - in a given area. They see the same thing, unless we're talking something special like a complex AR-tag programmed only to respond to certain IDs or whatever. The most common setting is as a sort of HUD where you see nodes, tags, communications etc. as vibrant objects superimposed on your normal field of vision, although there's no reason you couldn't shut out your normal reason. Most people wanting to be that immersed, however, usually ditch AR and go for full virtual immersion by DNI or hitcher electrodes to the brain. You don't need 'bulky' equipment for AR, either. The most common way to access matrix with AR are AR-upgraded shades, goggles or cyber-eyes with an Image Link. If you don't have glasses/cybereyes/shade with AR capability, you can't see what's going on in the matrix. That's it, basically, ask if I was being unclear  (also, check out "the wireless world" chapter in the rulebook for more comprehensive blurbs on the matrix, simsense and AR perception)
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Sep 10, 2009 19:58
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Cool, thanks. I'm just preparing myself for the player that wants to know all his options for going into AR mode for hacking and the like, and the examples he has given of ideas or what's "cool" has been kind of like the small shaded single lens that wraps around to one eye from the ear or something. I think if he has the essence/nuyen to spare he might go for the AR-capable eyeball though. I really didn't like this system when I first saw it but the more I have read into it and toyed around with the rules, along with this thread, the more I see it as a really fun setting once I finally lock down the dizzying array of skills, options, implants, combat, etc. This and the WoD thread have expanded my gaming horizons beyond just D&D and Savage Worlds .
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Sep 10, 2009 21:56
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Fenarisk posted:Cool, thanks. I'm just preparing myself for the player that wants to know all his options for going into AR mode for hacking and the like, and the examples he has given of ideas or what's "cool" has been kind of like the small shaded single lens that wraps around to one eye from the ear or something. AR monocles are listed as a flavor option in the book. 
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Sep 10, 2009 23:44
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Getting into an SR4 game tomorrow, got my Rigger mostly worked up but I have a question in need of clarification. When I'm "jumped in" to a drone, it says that the drone uses my initiative. I'm assuming it is my VR initiative, and not my 'real world' initiative, correct? Also, any cool rigger tricks to be aware of?
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Sep 13, 2009 02:50
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Young Freud posted:At the same time, being a mundane, uncybered bloke does have it's advantages, at least starting. You should be free to spend more BPs in stuff like skills, more points in Edge (which, if you're human, you start with 2 already, and, if the poo poo hits the fan, you can burn those for instant extra init. passes, exploding dice, also instant bacon-saving), contacts, etc. An uncybered mundane can still be playable, but it'll be a strictly roleplaying character, like a face or fixer. Being mundane vs cybered or biowared really depends on your GM. Some games have pretty much no security at any time because the venue doesn't call for it or the DM doesn't give a poo poo. However, a decent GM that has you on corporate or other high security runs will have cyberware scanners at almost every turn, which is why I tend to go with bioware at chargen because it is harder to detect the illegal stuff.
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Sep 13, 2009 23:02
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Another plea for help, is there any book which goes into depth on the security or inner working of any large scale prison?
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Sep 14, 2009 16:48
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