Shadowrun 4e

[silentjudas]

I've recently purchased Shadowrun 4th edition and am liking it. I haven't read toooo much into the system, but the setting makes me happy. I've been thinking about running at least an adventure with it, debating whether or not to remove the fantasy elements or keep 'em, most likely having to keep them 'cause the few mates I play with love their fantasy.
How does everyone feel about SR4e?

[JonHook]

It's been forever since I've played SR, but I loved the setting, so I'd keep the fantasy elements if I were you.

[Tadanori Oyama]

I thought the fantasy elements where what kept it from being like other modern spy games? Doesn't make alot of sense to remove them.

I mean sure, you get major changes to a system that work well, like Iron Heroes for D&D, but by and large taking a major element of the system out kinda throws things off.

[Phelanar]

Keep the fantasy. It's what makes Shadowrun Shadowrun. Without them, SR is just another generic cyberpunk game system, albeit a pretty good one.

[silentjudas]

yeah i decided i'll probably keep the fantasy elements, but slightly tone down the magic, make it more of a rare thing.

but what do y'all think of the game itself?

[Tadanori Oyama]

Oh, of Shadowrun in general? Great game. It's got everything a cyberpunk needs and then some.

[Kyyrn]

 I recently got my hands on a copy of Shadowrun as well, and I really enjoy the overall feel of the game.  It's rife with "layers upon layers" (as the good folks at RPPR would say) and the setting lends itself well to a deep, intrigue filled story.  The rules are a bit...in depth, and I can imagine you'd have to run the game a couple of times to really pick up on the intricacies of the system.  From experience with previous editions, I will add that the game is brutal, a couple of bad choices can get PC's dead with a quickness.  Not a bad deal, and needed for the flavor. After all, if running the shadows were easy, everyone would probably do it. 

A couple of recommendations from experiences I've had running previous editions:

1) Don't let the rules bog down the game.  There are a lot of rules for a lot of situations, and unless you're running it for a convention, focus on the plot and making that work.  If you have to, make something fair up on the fly, note the rule you forgot, and look it up later.

2) When writing for Shadowrun, the city / place your game will occupy up first.  Pick your NPC's, factions in the city, and local powers before you sit down to write your first run.  Build these up first, and make sure that everything your PC's do have some ripple effect. Everything and everyone living in such close proximity as a sprawl is connected, and therefore every major event in the city is bound to have fallout. If you do this, your players will feel like they are really accomplishing, not just getting EXP.  I'm sorry, that's Karma in this system.

3) When you develop NPC's give them a few goals, and decide how open they are about accomplishing these objectives.  Runners should have to struggle and do their homework to figure out what people actually want, it’s not a game of spoon-feeding the PC’s. 

4) Make sure that all your NPC’s have that spark of life.  It takes doing, but in Shadowrun contacts are important.   Success can really be based on who you know, and of course, how well you know them.

Anyways, it’s a great game in a lot of ways, (but make sure you have PLENTY of D6’s around) and I hope this helps anybody looking to get into a shadowrun game. 

[Tadanori Oyama]

Which edition did you get? I've been playing 3rd, because that's what the GM likes but I bought the newest edition, the 20 years special. They are quite different.

[Kyyrn]

I used to run a game in 2nd Edition Shadowrun, however, I just purchased 4th edition and it's decently similar, nothing groundbreaking but some needed tweaks.  I haven't gotten the opertunity to run that system in a while, (lately I've had a bad run with finding players) but 4th looks good.  Second wasn't bad, but the improvements would probably make the game run a lot smoother.  I don't have any experience with third edition (kinda skipped that one!).

[Kyyrn]

Oh, and not the 20 years special, just the not special 4th edition (for cheap and or plain people) one...

[xHero]

We are running a SR4 game and I agree whole heartedly about the rules easily bogging down the game. We jokingly refer to SR as "Modifier the game".

yeah i decided i'll probably keep the fantasy elements, but slightly tone down the magic, make it more of a rare thing.

Magic is inherently rare in Shadowrun. There is a part in the corebook that says something to the effect of:
If you get caught doing some b&e or a datasteal from a corp they are likely to give you a slap on the wrist or even hire you themselves for a run. But if you ever kill a wage mage, say your goodbyes for they will hunt you down.
There are also other parts in the book that suggest that magic is very rare.

I'm loving the game we are running right now though. It has a very strong horror aspect to it and shows the versatility of the game mechanics.

[Kyyrn]

SR is a great game, you can really go a lot of places with it.  It's worth the investment, and I'm glad to hear there's still some good shadowrunners out there.  That's a hard game to find a group for... what's your group make up like? 

[Tadanori Oyama]

Our shadowruners are a fun bunch.

Only two of five have played it before this group's campaign. Social misfits would be the best way to put it with them. Their nice guys, just a little weird looking and they love black metal. One of our players is really emotional, which really throws the rest of us off alot. The last guy is pretty normal aside from his inverted sleep patterns and unreliability.

I'm the only 9-5er in a crew of night dwellers so we end up with these twilight games during weeknights. It's really quite fun, when we manage to get it together.

After weeks with the book my master stroke of a shadowrunner is a troll demolitiations expert named "Boom the Troll".

[xHero]

SR is a great game, you can really go a lot of places with it.  It's worth the investment, and I'm glad to hear there's still some good shadowrunners out there.  That's a hard game to find a group for... what's your group make up like?  

Well I'll find out the group make-up next week. We've had some issues with a new player who was uncomfortable role-playing and as of Wednesday quit. I've got a friend joining us next week and looking for another player. Now we have:
My character: Blink, elven, face/combat expert (imported master of masks prestige class from D&D)
Torn: Dwarven Weapon Specialist
Yuki: Vampiric Technomancer
Havok: Mage/Smuggler
We'll see how it goes... I love this game too much to watch it fail.

[Kyyrn]

@ xHero.... Awesome make up, that's one of my favorite aspects of Shadowrun, the skills needed for success are so diverse.  You can do just about anything with your charachter and he'll still be useful.

@  Tadanori Oyama: Haha very cool man.  Ahhh, yes, I miss running shadowrun.  Sounds like an awesome character.  

I'm writing a campaign for the next group of players I get... probably going to set it in LA.  It's in the idea phase, but a couple of highlights let me know what you think.  

Japanese Yakuza are making a grab against the local Mafia for land in LA, threatening to result in an out right street war.  The Mafia has more guns though, so the Yakuza bunch has employed a rogue, sentient AI who's basically enslaved a group of local gangbangers by selling BTL chips with a bit of his own programming in them.  The result, an almost undead gang that's run by a rogue AI, joining forces with the local Yakuza lining up against the Mafiosos and thier deep infastructure.  Like I said, just some initial thoughts, and I have no idea when I'll get the chance to run it...