Do you really have to ask, this is Dumpshock! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/silly.gif)

wasn't my posting about the corp war enough?

LOL, define Eurocentric?

The game was originally centered around Seattle and heavily involved resurgent Native American culture. It did well for the then even though I agree they've made the game more Euro-Centric (and I'm not saying it is all bad either).

I like the challenge though. I'd love to bring Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, and Lebanon into the 6th world. I've got some material I could use too as one of my player groups once wanted an Egyptian involved adventure. Beware the Taxi Drivers!

Shadowrun's strength has always been the meta-story. (The game system, whichever version, meh.) Those original writers took pieces and parts from disparate universes and synthesized them into something unique. Gestalt.

Thus I'm genuinely surprised at the lack of appreciation being expressed for the NAN, because to me the Great Ghost Dance and Awakening giving power to the disenfranchised tribes is a brilliant example of the authors taking Cyberpunk sensibilities and using them to ground magic in a modern setting.

I agree that Shadowrun really isn't in need of a "reboot". Yes, their are many things that could be downplayed or emphasized to bring it more in line with how modern politics/technology/etc. are aligning…but why? Who cares if the real Japan is losing influence if the Japanese influences in SR are just plain cool? Who cares if augmented reality if more likely than the take-over-your-brain VR matrix…the VR Matrix is a limitless fictional universe to play in?

Shadowrun has *never* (thank God) been High Fantasy sandwiched with Cyberpunk. Shadowrun is Shadowrun. Long live Shadowrun.

Hail Shadowrun...

OT



I sadly have to agree. I am Italian and finding something about Italy in this kind of games is always difficult (I'm coming from the oWoD, and pretty new to SR). Even Shadows of Europe doesn't say all that much about Italy. If anyone could point out the sourcebooks of informations regarding Italy and Europe I'd really appreciate that.

BTW, I have been writing a few ideas for the Italy of 2072, taking into account Shadows of Europe only partly.
For example I think that a New Pontifical State is mandatory, but I also liked the idea of resurgent druidism in England, and wanted to implement it in northern Italy, which will be caught between Rome and the ultraconservative German Catholic Church.
If anyone cares to know more and wants to help, I can open a thread.

Bye
Marco

Find who was working on it for the Euro SB.

Italy IIRC was one of the sections for which we got a good amount of player material. Some countries people totally didn't come through and do their part, but for others there was a huge amount of material produced for the Euro SB which had to be trimmed down for Shadows of Europe.

There is a little mention of the Vatican in books here and there and all over of course. Corporate Downloads, Threats 2, Aztlan, Tir na nOg, Paranormal Animals of Europe, etc all have little bits tying to Italy.

I too would be interested in a Vatican that had a lot more power as well as a lot more opportunities for Shadow Business. There is no way a major religious organization like the Vatican and the Catholic church couldn't be of interest to Shadowrunners.

Heh, I probably should have said Anglo-centric.

But the Vatican angle is just like the Islamic angle. You start involving the Pope in intrigues or start talking about Mecca at all, and you invite problems.

At least, with all the mafia talk in core SR, it's not going to take much imagination to flesh out Sicily.

I think the backstory of Shadowrun will continue to work... until it doesn't. Like for instance, it was something of an anachronism in previous editions that the future of the internet was supposed to be a Virtual Reality internet. As time went on, it became increasingly obvious that the internet would probably be wireless first. But, of course we didn't know that in the 80's.

I think that it is inevitable that, as time goes on past the point where SR's timeline and ours diverged, that the disconnect between our world and SR is going to be so great that it will have to face facts and, eventually, reboot. I don't think that time is now, or necessarily soon... but I think it will inevitably happen.

I think it is also worth mentioning that SR got a mini-reboot in the xbox/PC game. Teleportation, anyone?

I don't think that that will happen at all... Shadowrun is its own unique entity, it will go through changes, sure, but I don't see a reboot happening... Just my opinion, though...

Keep the Faith

Nimblegrund you might have a point if the devs were ever stupid enough to declare that the video game was actually canon or even possible to recreate in the true Shadowrun.

Well since you specified in print. I'd say Hero, and hackmaster spank it soundly.

Most in print games seem to be trending towards streamlining there rules to the point that they remove all interesting elements from the game. They are the Budweiser's of RPGs, lets remove all objectionable flavors so we wont drive away anyone in the market.

I want games to be full of flavor and the trick is finding the one that suits your taste.

I have to say that I do like HERO Games (Champions anyone?)

But my favorite is Feng Shui... Lots of Flavor and a great system to boot... And Very Customizeable indeed...

What an incredibly subjective thing to say.

Best in what way - faster, easier, more intuitive, more flexible ??
How better than World of Darkness, since they are almost identical ??
Really better than any of the 2d10, 3d6 or d% systems out there ??

Straight off, SR v4 isn't as flexible as HERO or GURPS or FUZION...
...or d20, if it comes to that.

<IMHO>SR has always been a better game than others. The game encourages roleplaying over gunfighting (via a very deadly combat system). You can still take out a great dragon with a light pistol (matmatically at least, probability is etremely low though!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/twirl.gif) ). For modern combat it does a decent job of simulating damage, without being overly complex. The magic system is unique, and adds a lot of flavor to the game. The other aspects rigging/hacking are decent though not the best parts of the game. That being said information warfare/electronic warfare is a very complex thing to model.

D20-great for heroic fantasy, however the combat system breaks down at higher levels as there are too many abilities to keep track of.
Gurps-not much experience on my end (not since HS 15+ years ago), but I'll agree it is a flexible system.
Hero-never played hero, did do Rifts-thought it was too complex (combat and PC creation wise though).
Twilight 2000-Complexity up the wazoo, the only thing more complex is possibly Pheonix command (which I have not played).
Savage tides-Combat while easy was to bland (I have similar feelings towards the current edition of the game that causes cancer)
Star Wars (west-end version not the D20 version)-The closest to SR in terms of combat, however PC's start at a very low skillset, which makes it hard to be heroic (a theme of the game).

</IMHO>

I Like Twilight 2000 As well... but it is a very different game than Shadowrun...

Keep the Faith

SR4 was for all intents and purposes. Yes the timeline was kept, but the rest was dramatically "rebooted".

The last video game was a complete reboot. The NES video game was practically as well. Based on who is being hired for the new Shadowrun game I'll be surprised if it (hopeful that it isn't?) based on SR4.

This is where I would disagree... it was not a reboot, it moved forward and included a great deal of technology upgrades that we have already in our current society... not a reboot, just an upgrade...

Keep the Faith

A friend of mine actually looked into how to make a teleport spell for Shadowrun. If you wanted it to be an actual teleport as in you disappear and reappear, it could be done as a mix of an invisibility spell and a levitate/fling type spell that 'throws' you in a direction. You wouldn't be able to go through walls, but it would look as if you did teleport.

if you could physically shift to the astral (lightbringers from earthdawn) to a mundane you could appear to be 'teleporting' for short distances of teleport.

to anyone astrally active it'd be obvious what you were up to though.