Source Book Reccomendations, What source books have inspired/amused/aroused you? Options

[SIN]

Hello all,

I've been playing Shadowrun, somewhat sporadically, since 3rd ed., but have never really played seriously or consistently enough to warrant buying many source books. Now that I'm planning on running a campaign for a few friends, and now that Cambridge (UK) has finally gotten a game store again, I'm thinking that it might be worth picking up a few fluff books for ideas and inspiration. I'm setting my campaign in a home-brewed version of the UK (with a definite V for Vendetta/1984 flavour), and I'm pretty pleased with my timeline and general ideas thus far, but there's definitely room to flesh out my vision by borrowing (blatantly stealing) good ideas from source material. I'd be interested to know what source books people have read in the past that really inspired them and the way they ran their games? Did any particular book inspire a really memorable run/character/NPC?

Please bear in mind, my current knowledge of the sixth world doesn't go much further than the history based stuff at the beginning of the 3rd and 4th ed. rulebooks, so any source book would need to be pretty self-contained. Also, whilst I'd still be interested to hear about the older source books, please bear in mind I'll probably struggle to get hold of anything pre 3rd ed.

Finally, a few specific questions:

1) As I'm setting my game in the UK (albeit a completely non-canon version) I'm considering picking up Shadows of Europe (it's in the game store and only 3rd ed. I believe so not too far behind the current timeline) - what did people think of this book?

2) What's are people's opinions of Runner Havens and Corporate Enclaves? I'm struggling a little with my image of London in 2070 overall, though I have a lot of ideas, so a book with good sprawl descriptions and interesting well fleshed out geography would be helpful.

Thanks in advance. I know you guys'll come through - I've never had to start a topic before, because the answers to all of my questions have always been hidden away in here somewhere!

SIN

[hermit]

For the UK, you might also consider the CP2020 Britain and Eurpoe books, which do have some nice ideas. Also, there's the London book, if you can get hold of one.

Runner Havens is a nice enough book. Corp Enclaves is JUST above Arsenal in being the second most disappointing SR4 book yet, if you ask me, but there're enough fanboys around here who'll happily tell you otherwise, I suppose. London 2070 MIGHT feature in Cities of Intrigue, an upcoming book.

The best books ever are, in no particular order and purely in my most humble opinion:

- Cyberpirates
- Augmentation
- Aztlan
- Tir Taingire and Tir na nOg (grouped because they were released in a bundle in German)
- Shadowbeat
- Sprawl Sites

[Fortune]

Definitely try to find the London Sourcebook.

[Particle_Beam]

Although SR 3, still always a good book: Sprawl Survival Guide. Talks about regular life in the Shadowrun world. If one wants to enrich the setting, I consider it a must-have.

[hermit]

I'm setting my campaign in a home-brewed version of the UK (with a definite V for Vendetta/1984 flavour)

Yeah, that was Sargent/Gascoigne's idea. The CP2020 Britain and Europe book's authors', too.

and I'm pretty pleased with my timeline and general ideas thus far, but there's definitely room to flesh out my vision by borrowing (blatantly stealing) good ideas from source material.

Then try to find:

- Rough Guide to the UK (CP2020 sourcebook)
- EuroSource (CP2020 Sourcebook)
- London Sourcebook
- Shadows of Europe
- Dragons of the Sixth World
- SR novel Streets of Blood
- SR novel Black Madonna
- SR novel Choose Your Enemies Carefully

[Blade]

I've just finished reading Black Madonna, and it doesn't have anything to flesh out London or UK...

[hermit]

It has info on nobility and slang and all that, though that's propably only interesting to non-natives.

[TW]

I'd second the recommendations for Sprawl Survival Guide and Shadows of Europe (unfortunately not available as pdf).
The books' in-game year is 2063, and the European continent (or UK in particular) has not yet been revisited in detail for SR4, so the information therein is the most current (with a few exceptions - namely Transys Neuronet and the WMI culminating in System Failure and building the bridge to SR4) and can easily be adapted to the SR4 timeline.

Since you mentioned your version will deviate from canon, I don't know if the SR1 London sourcebook might be of much use. London might be revisited for SR4 in one of the upcoming setting books, Centers of Intrigue (working title), though this might still be a year or two away. Depending on how you envision London you still might want to look at either Runner Havens, Corporate Enclaves or the upcoming Feral Cities for inspiration. Previews of the first two are available here and here.

[Stahlseele]

Dragons of the Sixth World, definitely . . and the Big D's last will of course ^^

[Synner]

I'm setting my campaign in a home-brewed version of the UK (with a definite V for Vendetta/1984 flavour), and I'm pretty pleased with my timeline and general ideas thus far, but there's definitely room to flesh out my vision by borrowing (blatantly stealing) good ideas from source material. I'd be interested to know what source books people have read in the past that really inspired them and the way they ran their games? Did any particular book inspire a really memorable run/character/NPC?

1) As I'm setting my game in the UK (albeit a completely non-canon version) I'm considering picking up Shadows of Europe (it's in the game store and only 3rd ed. I believe so not too far behind the current timeline) - what did people think of this book?

If that's the sort of campaign you're looking for I strongly urge you to take a look at Shadows of Europe. I think you will positively surprised. Great Britain as depicted in the original London sourcebook takes some twists and turns that I think you will appreciate. The country is under the iron hand of the Lord Protector's Office bureaucracy (secret police and all) and the influential New Druidic Movement, but the population is all riled up by some hardcore activists calling themselves the Movement (think anti-Thatcher protests and 80's unrest at their height) and taking to the streets. Unfortunately when the Crash 2.0 strikes the establishment clamps down with an Emergency Act (basically an excuse for curfews and martial law to quell unrest) meant to get the country back on track—unsurprisingly, 5 years later, in 2070 the Emergency Act is still in place.

[SIN]

Wow! Lots of food for thought there chaps - thanks!

As a first few stops, I'll definitely swing by our local store and pick up Shadows of Europe then, and maybe try and find the Sprawl Survival Guide (sounds like just what I'm after for the feel of the city).

Still definitely interested to hear what other books have gotten people's juices flowing too...

SIN

[the_dunner]

Loose Alliances is one of my personal favorites. The coverage of all of the different factions which are at work in the sixth world really makes things come to life for me.

[DocTaotsu]

I have to say that Man and Machine is one of my favorite books although Augmentation is growing on me (with the realization that no one really wants to spend 20 minutes figuring out various surgical results).