Dumpshockers...

http://www.shadowrun4.com/2012/04/rewind-a...adowrun-returns

... have at it

A. Maze. Ing.

Dunno, I really love the 2070's setting, or at least most of it. The AR, technomancers, wireless everything, it would be weird playing in the old setting now. Still, I guess everything depends on good storytelling and good group dynamics anyway.

Going to wait until I've read it, but this might actually make me run SR4A for a change.

Then again, given the PR flack talks about 'how to adapt Twentieth Anniversary Edition Matrix, gear, and magic rules for the 2050 setting', I don't know if it'll be enough of a back-shift to make me content. A lot of the newer gear would make a 2050's era street sam eat his own mirrorshades in jealousy, and the current Matrix and Magic rules are outright incompatible with the old assumptions.

I think they are trying to show some love to the old-timers. I'm not a regular shadowrun player but I am an old-school-ish gamer (born in the 70s...), and this Shadowrun Returns stuff really made me happy. I guess veteran tabletop players will feel the same way about "2050 is back".

I don't like it, not because I dislike the setting, but these sort of things is what separates fan bases. Two settings/systems we know have the "classical" SR and the "new" SR. I really don't want SR to turn out like a certain other rpg games. It seems that it is going that way. Also I like what shadowrun is doing, its a setting that isn't stuck in stasis unlike some other rpgs. Tech advances even if it is 20 minutes in the future tech. Also nostalgic lens.

The split already happened when 4th ed came out; there were enough changes not just to mechanics but to the fluff that some people chose to stick with SR3. I wasn't one of them, but to be honest some of the 4th ed changes rub me the wrong way.

Auguably that split has happend multiple times in SRs history though... 2e, Big Ds Death, 3e, YOTC... there was just less internet then (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Theres alot of 1e in 4e mechanics and the fluff has constantly changed.

It's hard to get the right feel without messing too much with the magic and matrix, imo.

Gear is easy - bring back some old stuff that was taken out (program carriers, but with the added drawback of causing some long term problem - which was what they used as fluff-reason for taking them out; boosted reflexes; old weapons etc), and remove the newer stuff. There are in-game dates for the introduction of most gear, so it shouldn't be a problem really.

Magic needs(?) to be scaled back to only a few traditions, and preferably more difference between the spirits. All that can be done without specific rules, of course...like forcing hermetics to use Binding and shamans to stick to Summoning.

Matrix...dunno. It might be easy to make cyberdecks out of commlinks, I don't know.

Other than that:

I'd make a 2050s campaign book picking up loose ends and tying into old adventures and modules. As an old-timer, it would be awesome going back and 'redoing' stuff from another angle. See other sides to some of the classic runs, have previous antagonists be mr johnsons and contacts, and old contacts turn up as antagonists. I'd re-introduce old npcs from both modules and novels in other runs and situations, and maybe have some of the current 'legends' show up as youths, wannabees and fresh runners in 'cameos'.

I do fear that a 2050s book will have the wrong feel, though. While I may not agree with everything that has occured over the years, Shadowrun's strength is the year-for-year (nearly) developing storyline that has been going on since 1989.

I think a 2050s book will be very useful for creating 'old' runners - people with old cyber or gear.

If it's done right, and contains good conversion guides for each old edition to 4th, it can possibly increase interest in the old modules.

For my own sake, I'm hoping it will help me finally sketch out my 'history of Shadowrun' campaign, bringingthe same PCs through runs related to the major events from 2050 up through the 2070s.

Hopefully they get some of the good writers in on this, and not the hacks like some of the newer Freelancers.

LoL

Just as an aside, but there aren't currently any plans for future "2050" or other era supplements or long-term support. It was a one-off thing that came up in a freelancer meeting, and we all got bright eyed and were all "awwww, yeah, that'd be awesome," and it snowballed from there. It's a very happy coincidence that we aren't the only 2050 fans (so you've got Shadowrun Returns aiming for the same period)...but, no. There aren't any current plans for further supplements or anything that should cause that kind of long-term split.

It's a throwback book that's there for folks who want it, and can be passed over by those that don't, but (aside from being a project we're working on) doesn't seem likely to disrupt the overall production schedule, supplant the actual metaplot/timeline, or anything like that.

Good to know, but if it hasn't been suggested/thought of/planned for, may I suggest adding a small chapter of plot hooks similar to current campaign books, only set in the 50s?

Starting a new SR4A 2050s line now would be an absurd move: I wouldn't be surprised if 5th edition was around the corner (probably next year), so you'd have to start all over with the new edition.
However, it could be a good way to test the water for the creation of such a line in the 5th edition.

I hope than rather than just throw around references to old sourcebooks and toy with their favorite old known or obscure NPC, the authors will take advantage of this release to offer a setting with a clear tone and flavor.

The problem with the current state of Shadowrun is that it's like Nutrisoy: nearly everyone will eat it, but it's pretty bland. Sure, everyone can add his own favorite flavor, but the real meat/vegetable is still more flavorful.

5th Edition is going to happen sooner or later, so it's nice that CGL release a benchmark on how good they are for writing crunch (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

And if they succeed it means nostalgia, running old stuff smoothly with the new rules, and "full-color artwork showing the chrome, dirt, neon, and darkness that was in the heart of Shadowrun when it started". Sign me up

It would have me interested, that's for sure, and the current stuff does not interest me at all, outside of rules.

If they are taking the fluff of the 2050s and adding to it the rules and gear of SR4a then it sounds like a great idea. I agree with those above that say the current setting is a bit watery - though that said, it can only be as weak as your GM's imagination allows it to be. I play fast and loose with the fluff for my group, as I like to make the world my own, write my own runs etc.

My group hasn't found it watery... Although they hate RFID Chips with a passion.

Of course, that's the point of having a gm, after all. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) The SR4a gear would have to be changed, though. A lot of it is -way- too advanced for the 2050's flavor, not to mention the ridiculous power creep that's gone on since then.

I'm not really familiar with first edition. What has not been around then that exists now?
I know in 3rd the Rigger control was a huge investment and gave a tremendous bonus, but in 4th it provides a mere +2.

Was Bioware around then?

Not in the core book, but IIRC Shadowtech, which introduced bioware in some excellent writing, was still 1st Ed..

It's...how do I put this....it tries too hard to resemble the real world, so instead of being this exotic, weird future, it's comes off more like Burn Notice with Trolls. The world of SR3 seemed much more alien and interesting to me.

This.

Welp, as a relative newbie I don't see much difference between the settings. I do vaguely remember bioware being something very new and with a high "coolness" factor once, hermetics being very different from shamans, more native-Americans everywhere being awesome, while now everything is just there in the core rulebook sharing mechanics and being kind of bland but more accessible.

Still, the wireless and the technomancers are just too great to let go. I guess if it was 2072 right now I'd join a matrix cult, but right now I'd settle for playing a hacker or techno or messing with my players using wireless shenanigans.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I was a veteran player I would probably love the original setting more because of the good memories of playing in it, and I'd be kind of excited about the new guys publishing something meant for me.

Agreed. I'm really looking forward to this.
Plus some of the best adventures were from that time period.


And I do appreciate the Love. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
The day couldn't have gotten any better unless the original game designers were going to do a real Shadowrun PC game. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)