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Posted by: Kiwi Aug 17 2003, 11:55 PM

One of my biggest gripes about Shadowrun is the lack of representative artwork. In fact, this is my ONLY gripe about Shadowrun. In a cyberpunk genre (at least by inspiration) style is almost as important as having the best gear. But how can you style up if you don't know what an Ares Predator II looks like, or what your character will look like in that leather duster by that specific company (I can't remember any names from Cannon Companion)?

There is the one thing I think Cyberpunk 2020 has up on Shadowrun; the style books. This would be an excellent concept for Shadowrun. Now I know that artwork in books is expensive (blah, blah, blah) but I would be more than willing to shell out a few extra bucks for some more artwork. To me, this is just as effective as having a character portrait.

Now I do seem to remember a Second book that my buddy had and I remember that it had pictures of guns, vehicles and other toys. Is my memory correct? Can anyone tell me some other books (old or new editions) that show a good spread of equipment pictures? I'm looking for guns, vehicles, cyberware, and anything else that you could buy in New Seattle. It just helps my players and myself if we can browse by looks as well as stats.

On a similar note, there are a few pictures of guns in the current edition of the Cannon Companion. Can anyone tell me which weapon these pictures represent? There seems to be on picture for each grouping (light pistols, heavy pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles, etc.). Are there any good representations in other, more scene oriented, artwork that stands out? For instance, is that troll on the cover carrying a specific weapon, or is it just a generic gun?

Thanks in advance for any help!!

Kiwi

Posted by: TinkerGnome Aug 18 2003, 02:24 AM

Some of the books from earlier editions had a lot of representative artwork. Some of these include: Fields of Fire (weapons, some drones and vehicles), Street Samurai catalog (same), Rigger's Big Black Book (vehicles and drones), and Shadowtech (cyberware and bioware). I'm sure there are more out there, like the German version of Cannon Companion.

Finding them can be difficult, though I've always had good luck with used book stores.

Posted by: Kiwi Aug 18 2003, 02:43 AM

Posted by: TinkerGnome Aug 18 2003, 02:49 AM

Posted by: Sepherim Aug 18 2003, 03:15 AM

You must remember that when Ares Predator appears, it mostly is just an example of a kind of gun. There are other versions of it, from different, companies, and these have different appearances.
Other source for drawings, though, are the cards from the shadowrun trading card game. Though weapons aren't too common (at least, I haven't gotten too many, precissely).
As for the weapon drawings in Cannon Companion, here go my takes:
The cover has a human with a Predator (can't say if it's I, II or III) and a troll with a heavy machine-gun, so I'd say it's a Stoner-Ares 107 since it's the only heavy machine-gun included in the book.
I can't tell either for the self-defense guns, the small caliber guns or the automatic guns. The heavy gun is either Predator II or III, hard to tell. The taser is, obviously, a Yamaha Pulsar. Can't tell for the submachinegun. The hunting rifle is, again obviously, a Rugger 100. The sniper rifle is the Barret 121.
The dwarf in the Weapon Accessories chapter (just beneath the title) is holding a mini-gun, so I'd say it's a Vindicator. The gun in the next is a Beretta, though I don't remember the exact model. The heavy cannon that a woman with "three arms" is holding in the next page is a Panther Assault Cannon.
Well, that's about it for the Cannon Companion. Remember that many guns can be other models not covered in the book, or maybe personalized weapons, so don't think too hard on it.

Note: as for page references and all that, I own the spanish version of the Cannon Companion, so I hope you can find the drawings I refer to in your version of the book.

Posted by: Kiwi Aug 18 2003, 03:32 AM

Posted by: Lilt Aug 18 2003, 12:47 PM

If I could add to those weapon to picture suggestions;

In CC:
I think the hold-out is one of the two Fichetti Tiffanis by a process of elimination.
The light pistol is either an Ares Light Fire 70 or a Fichetti Security 500(a).
The machine pistol is presumably the Ares Crusader as it seems to mount some form of gas vent
The heavy pistol looks too small to be a predator (and looks different from the pic on the cover). My money's on a Browning Max-Power.
The SMG is tricky, I'd say a SCK Model 100 or a Sandler TMP without laser sight.
The assault rifle is possibly a Colt M23 but I'm basing that on the lack of accessories.
The shotgun is probably a Mossberg SM-CMDT as it has a clip.
The pic on page 29 of CC is of an Ares MP laser III (looks like the picture in fields of fire too)
The guns being used akimbo-style on page 95 are Colt Cobras (fits with the pic from fields of fire too)

That sound OK?

Posted by: TinkerGnome Aug 18 2003, 01:27 PM

Posted by: Lilt Aug 18 2003, 02:18 PM

I suppose. I was discounting the alpha as there wasn't much space for 8 microgrenades but there's not much space for that in the FOF picture either. In-fact there's more space in the CC picture for that than there is in the FOF picture. OK: Alpha it is.

Posted by: Ancient History Aug 18 2003, 02:21 PM

The difference between the Gear books (Street Samurai Catalog, RIgger's Black Book, Shadowtech, Fields of Fire, Cybertechnology) and Cannon Companion is that each of those supplements were meant to be recent additions while CC and Mand Machine were just bringing everything up to date.

Not that I wouldn't like the occaisonal New Gear book in catalog format. But I understand why they don't do it ('s a LOT of weapons already).

Posted by: Ulfgeir Aug 18 2003, 04:08 PM

Also if you can get hold of the first edition of the main rule book, there you have a lot of nice illustrations that do not appear later on.

And for critters, you have to get the the two sourcebooks for 1st edition.. =^_^=

/Ulfgeir

Posted by: The Surgeon Aug 18 2003, 04:21 PM

I can tell you that the Sniper Rifle pictured is the Walther MA-2100. The Barret 121 (what I use) looks a lot different.

I don't remember where I saw a picture, but the Ruger Thunderbolt, carried by Lone Star officers, looks like Robocop's gun, more or less.

And I'm pretty sure that Assault Rifle shown isn't the Ares Alpha. The Ares Alpha doesn't have a gas-vent, and that thing under the barrel looks more like a laser-sight than a mini-grenade launcher.

Posted by: TinkerGnome Aug 18 2003, 04:45 PM