Which SR3 sourcebooks are still 90% valid? |
Which SR3 sourcebooks are still 90% valid? |
Aug 22 2006, 01:19 PM
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#1
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019 |
I was thinking Mr. Johnson's Black Book was one of them. Is it? Are there any others?
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Aug 22 2006, 01:23 PM
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#2
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,453 Joined: 17-September 04 From: St. Paul Member No.: 6,675 |
I would have to say most of the Target:XXX books, but mainly for site specific information and organizations/threats. The locales that got the snot kicked out of them in '64-'65 obviously aren't the same, but you know...
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Aug 22 2006, 01:24 PM
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#3
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,453 Joined: 17-September 04 From: St. Paul Member No.: 6,675 |
Except for Target:Matrix, that is.
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Aug 22 2006, 02:01 PM
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#4
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ghostrider Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,196 Joined: 16-May 04 Member No.: 6,333 |
All of them. All of the previous editions too. The rules might be different, but the history and fluff is invaluable. Know the game. :cyber:
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Aug 22 2006, 02:06 PM
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#5
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Freelance Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 7,324 Joined: 30-September 04 From: Texas Member No.: 6,714 |
It's also good stuff to have because, in many cases, it's stuff your characters should/could/would know. The opening timeline/info in SR4 is all well and good for an opening timeline/info, but... setting-specific books (Seattle, especially) in particular would be great resources. It's not like every character has only been around for the 5 year gap between editions, y'know?
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Aug 22 2006, 04:03 PM
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#6
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Great, I'm a Dragon... Group: Retired Admins Posts: 6,699 Joined: 8-October 03 From: North Germany Member No.: 5,698 |
Sprawl Survival Guide is so fluff-heavy that it's worth using in SR4. Also DotSW and Threats 2.
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Aug 22 2006, 04:59 PM
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#7
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Creating a god with his own hands Group: Members Posts: 1,405 Joined: 30-September 02 From: 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 Member No.: 3,364 |
CyberPirates!
' |
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Aug 22 2006, 05:09 PM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 207 Joined: 3-November 05 From: KCMO Member No.: 7,922 |
All of them, if for nothing more than history.
For the current timeline, I refer to all of the "Shadows of..." books pretty often. Also, a lot of those books had intriguing things mentioned in passing that have never been touched again...could make interesting adventure hooks.... |
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Aug 22 2006, 06:05 PM
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#9
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019 |
I have Dragons. It's a great book.
What about Mr. Johnson's black book? |
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Aug 22 2006, 06:30 PM
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#10
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,314 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Lisbon, Cidade do Pecado Member No.: 185 |
MrJLBB is the closest thing SR has come to a gamemaster's guide. It has a chapter on the basics of preparing and managing a run, advice on how to tailor a campaign to your style, it fills this out further with a bunch of contacts/NPCs (SR3 stats), ready-to-use locations, a bunch of one shot runs/adventure seeds, some random encounter charts and quick resolution(SR3) systems for Decking and Vehicle Combat.
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Aug 22 2006, 08:31 PM
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#11
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Prime Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,577 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Gwynedd Valley PA Member No.: 1,221 |
If you don't go 4th ed, then all of them still work.
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Aug 22 2006, 08:32 PM
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#12
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 193 Joined: 5-January 06 From: Louisiana Member No.: 8,132 |
Here, here! |
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Aug 23 2006, 08:21 AM
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#13
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,086 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 364 |
If you want a short list of recent books, you can not go wrong with Mr. Johnson's Little Black Book, and the Sprawl Survival Guide. My initial reactions on reading both of them were along the lines of "why wasn't this book released shortly after the original first edition core rule book back in '89?"
Keep in mind, I'm saying that despite the fact that a good portion of the content in both of those books I probably already had somewhere in my five feet of Shadowrun Sourcebook shelfspace. What was impressing me about those two books was the fact that all that useful information had been pooled together, organized well, and presented so that someone who'd never even heard of SR could come up to speed on how the setting works in no time flat. In fact, while I never was a fan of the fact that the Street Samurai Catalog got a hasty second edition remake (with pages blacked out for the few items that were intended to be patches of the first edition rules that weren't needed for the second edition), and only grudgingly bought the third edition Shadowrun Companion after having already bought one for second edition, I feel the opposite about these books. If Fanpro were to re-edit MJLBB and/or SSG, updating the relevant sections to 4th edition, and re-release them, I'd snap them up again in a heartbeat. As is though, the books are already quite applicable to either 3rd or 4th. If you understand how the matrix evolved between the 2060s and the 2070s, then you can easily apply these books to 4th. |
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Aug 23 2006, 08:10 PM
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#14
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019 |
Cool. I'll be seeing my comic book shop by the end of the week.
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Aug 24 2006, 03:34 PM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 573 Joined: 23-July 03 From: outside America Member No.: 5,015 |
What a tactful thread topic! Keep them coming...
I'd have to agree with everyone who's said "all of them" and for the same reasons. They are all 90% valid if you allow 10% error margin for all the errata and contradictions. The availability of a few 4th ed books doesn't invalidate a plethora of 3rd ed books. |
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