New to Shadowrun Options

[Keeps]

I've been interested in Shadowrun for quite some time now, just havn't had the time to really do much. At first I was under the impression that Shadowrun was played (or there was a place to play) online, through messageboards or something like that, but after looking into it, the only events that are going on are at conventions and in-stores? Kind of bummed, would really like to get into it, though I don't know anyone that is really into tabletop gaming, and there really isn't any places around here that host events for tabletop gaming, except Warhammer, and that's at Gamesworkshop.
If anyone could kind of point me in the right direction, to get started and what not, that'd be great. Kind of hoping that there would be some online kind of adaptation, but the more I look into it, it seems it's all scheduled events or in-store/home type stuff. I'm located in San Jose, California by the way.
Thanks.

[Tanegar]

First, welcome to the shadows, chummer. Tinfoil hats and asbestos underwear are in the boxes by the door.

Second, permit me to direct you to Dumpshock's GM/Players Registry board. Also, a quick search of meetup.com turns up two RPG groups within 40 miles of you, and that's just using the keyword "shadowrun." Expand the search a bit and you might find something even closer. There are also any number of other RPG forums around; penandpapergames.com springs to mind. Good luck, omae.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Watch your back. Shoot straight. Conserve ammo. And never, ever, cut a deal with a dragon.

[Laodicea]

Game shops can usually be a place to find people. Buy a book. Ask the manager if he knows anyone playing shadowrun. He really might.

[JaronK]

There are large gaming communities in both Santa Cruz and San Jose, but I don't know the San Jose one very well. Unfortunately, it's all very word of mouth... you have to game with people who know other people and so on...

JaronK

[Saint Sithney]

There are online Play by Post games on several forums if you want to jump right in. Check out the Welcome to the Shadows forum here on Dumpshock. Honestly though, you'll benefit a lot from reading some of them more than you will from playing in one. There are also several good Campaign Logs that GMs will post, detailing the action of their games. Fun, but spoilerific if you ever hope to run through some official modules.

Additionally there are folks who run games through the net using video-conferencing and Opencanvas or some other shared draw tool.

I know MikeKozar is working on a wicked maptool plugin for running games over the net. So, don't lose hope when it comes to finding a game on the webbernets.

[Keeps]

Thanks all for the replies, has helped out quite a bit.

Game shops can usually be a place to find people. Buy a book. Ask the manager if he knows anyone playing shadowrun. He really might.

Don't have reliable transportation, so getting anywhere is kind of iffy, hoping I can find someway to get into the hobby.

There are large gaming communities in both Santa Cruz and San Jose

I'll have to look around a bit, didn't know they had search engines for this kind of thing. Thanks for letting me know.
Will have to check out some 'play by post' roleplays and what not, see how things move along. Will definately be checking out some rulebooks and stuff online, characters and guidelines. Thanks all for the help.

[Inpu]

If you ever get reliable transport, there is a group of Shadowrun players who meet at Anzar High School, just outside of San Juan Bautista. A little south of where you live. I seem to remember there being five or six groups in San Jose itself as well.

Exalted and 4E D&D were more popular when I left that region, but there are still a few die hard runners.

[Abstruse]

Start hanging out in the local comic/game shop where they play Magic: The Gathering, HeroClix, and especially where the Warhammer 40K guys hang out. They'll typically have a RPG night where someone runs a D&D game. Ask around and you'll find someone interested in Shadowrun.

If transportation's an issue, convert a friend with a car into a Shadowrun fan or make friends of someone who is already a fan. Or just hold a game at your place. You can get by with only 4 people for a game (3 players and a GM).

[Yerameyahu]

God, I'm not sure Shadowrun is even worth hanging out near MTG, HeroClix, and WH40K people. :/

[BookWyrm]

Welcome to the asylum, Keeps. Remember the following rules;

--DO NOT come within 1 meter of the red-zone cells.
--DO NOT look directly into the eys of ANY fellow 'guests'.
--Thursday is Salisbury Steak night, so get your place in line by the first buzzer.

[Voran]

Be glad you're not here in Hawaii. Gaming community is pretty limited, and niche games like SR tend to be even rarer.

Still, its nice to see that we're nearly getting to the point where it'd be easy to teleconference a game (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Surt]

God, I'm not sure Shadowrun is even worth hanging out near MTG, HeroClix, and WH40K people. :/

Heretic how dare you insult the God Emperor

[Yerameyahu]

Leto is My God Emperor! (bumper sticker, oh yes)

[Lansdren]

Leto is My God Emperor! (bumper sticker, oh yes)

*bow*

Nicely done