Hi, I'm interested in starting to play Shadowrun, unfortunately I know nothing about it. Any tips, help, or online playing communities would be greatly appreciated. I have NSRCG, but I gave up because I was confused aobut what I was and was not supposed to do... is there an online database for the rules or something, because I'm 13, and saving up 30 dollars would take a little while...



PS: I've played some d20 modern.

Um.

Ok.

You're not new to the idea of RPGs, so that helps.

Mix "Blade Runner" with "King Arthur" and toss in hefty bit of "Lord of the Rings".

The standard game theme: "You belong to an illegal set of criminals undertaking acts of sabotage, theft and similar crimes against targets at the behest of third parties."

If you've played d20, you're familiar with the idea of "roles" or "classes" -- SR is a little better about blurring the lines so the idea of a "fighter/thief" is more casual than the rigid lines of d20.

Basic "classes" or character types:

Fighter (samurai, merc, former company man, etc.)
Decker (computer hackers)
Wizards (mages, shamans)
Rigger (people who 'jack' into vehicles)

Variations of the same.

Another key ingredient is "cyberware" -- bits of machinery jammed into your body that increase your performance at the cost of your overall health. Think "bionic man" for a tv reference.

Did you have any specific questions?

-Siege

You might want to pick up the Quick Start Rules. click here to check it out. At $6.99 (US) it gives ya the basics on how to play and gives ya a few character archetypes to play with. In fact, I usually like to keep a copy or two myself for new players to take home and read so when they play they have an idea of how things work.

It's hard enough to learn to play Shadowrun from the books, that I expect you'll be quite frustrated trying to learn from what you can pickup on bulletin boards and web sites.

I suggest you go to the Player/GM Registry and look for other players in your area. If you don't find a post for your city/region, create one and see who replies. It's easiest to learn the game from other players.

Thanks alot... I don't think I can even get that Quick start thing... My parents probably wouldn't approve or something. But thanks! d20 I picked up as I played in some relaxed circles... I guess I'll try that with this too... Find some tolerant GM's and play with a wide learning curve.

Hey, if you don't mind waiting for long periods of time between responses, I can run a little One-on-one email session with you. Of course my books are at home (mainland States) and I'm over here (see by-line), but I can run most of it from memory. And I can help you get into the setting (though it's more like Urban Arcanium then d20 Modern).

Ah, disapproving parents. The bane of our existance, all of us, or at least it was at one time (go on, admit it).
Well, here's to your managing to learn somehow, and may you profit from your time on these boards.
Oh, one more thing, your mostly proper use of the english language: KEEP IT. It appears to be a rapidly vanishing quality amongst those of your generation.
So says the guy five years older than you

~J

Hoo-fragging-rah, Kage. That little language known as "English" seems to be deteriorating rapidly in people our ages (yup, 18 as well, yay).</off topic>

Your best bet to learn would be from somebody else. Books don't teach much. When I started, I tried the books, but I just got bored and stopped. The GM finally explained it to me, and now it all makes sense.

If you can't find one in your area, find one online who will be willing to spend a few hours in IM with you to help answer any questions you have.

When i started playing in high school (age 14), i was luck enough to have parents the were open minded.

I was told that any money spent on a book is NOT wasted. Whether you like it or not you are reading and learning new things.

RPG's as i like to explain them to new, young players and parents are great ways to improve your vocabulary, and math skills. You learn new concepts which will in time spur you imagination to the point where you create new concepts of your own.

Reading, and thinking are not things parents should discourage no matter what the parents think of the material...within reason.

I feel... old!

Regardless - My father (bless him!) taught me how to roleplay. Myself and my best friend at first, then others. He was the "overseer" at a youth club. He's cool. Not only that, he plays on here in PBP as Rakshasa...

Point though - RPGs taught me a lot about life, the universe and everything. Mathematics and English amongst them. There's a lot to be said for the Munchkin tendencies of youth - all the number crunching helped me to get an A grade in my GCSE math!

Go tell your parents, man: "Roleplaying is GOOD FOR YOU!!!"

The Shadowrun game system is based around assigning a Target Number (TN) to a task based on how hard it is, and rolling a certain number of d6 against that target number.

For example, skills:

You have a skill of 4 in whatever (1 is low, 6+ is expert). You are trying to do something with a TN of 5 (2 is very easy, 9+ is very hard).

You roll 4d6, looking at each die individually. You usually do not add them. You come up with 3, 5, 6, 2.

Since the two of the dice are 5 or greater, you have 2 "successes". The number of successes mean different things with different skills. No successes means failure.

That is the core of the system. There a lot of bells & whistles that can modify the above example, but that is the essence of it all.

Give your parents a chance - you'd be surprised at what they'll tolerate if you present it to them in a mature manner - heck, even point them to this thread. You already roll-play, so they obviously tolerate that much...

And I'm giving you this advice as a parent of a 13-year old myself. She doesn't play (her choice), but her 16-year-old sister has been for almost 4 years.

Don't forget the rule-of-six, which is what allows TNs higher than 6 to be achievable. Basically, if any die comes up a six, it is rerolled and the result is added to the six. If you get another six, reroll and add to twelve. A third six, reroll and add to eighteen. A fourth six, reroll, add to 24, and order yourself pizza in self-congratulation. Etc. etc. etc. all the way up to infinity, though seldom are TNs higher than 24ish, and even those are comparatively rare, mostly reserved for certain Computer tests or Availability tests.
I would offer you a spot in the online game I'm GMing, but it wouldn't be very good at all in terms of convincing your parents to approve. Shadowrun can be run all different ways: from noble Robin Hooding to the most despicable group of criminals in existance. My group tends to be somewhat middle-of-the-road, but the game in general is definitely geared towards older audiences, with some of the NPCs being truly vile individuals.
However, remember that it doesn't have to be this way, and that to some degree Shadowrun was designed to follow some moral structure. Remember that the unit of advancement isn't experience, but Karma, which under a strict interpretation would be earned by doing good deeds. In D&D, you get experience for killing that Goblin. In Shadowrun, depending on your GM, you might get an extra point of karma for carrying a dartgun loaded with stun darts on a run rather than a pistol in all its lethality (and noisiness, but that's another issue ).
If presented in the proper matter, I'd say Shadowrun is (to many parents, though admittedly not all) definitely presentable in a positive way.

~J

Apart from the "I'm commiting heinously criminal acts - stealing, bribing, shooting folk..."

Nah... no worries...

A good, simple way to see if you're interested in Shadowrun is really simple.

1) find a Sega Genesis emulator
2) www.edgeemu.com, download their Shadowrun ROM
3) play play play

That's how I got started way back in middle school. It's overly simplified compared to the pencil-and-paper (vastly superior) version, but it should help you get on your feet and learn your way around the world.

I think I may pick up the QS Guide at a gaming store I go to for my Magic cards one weekend. thanks for all your help... I'm going to make my first character now... wish me luck!

Make it fun and exciting! I think I can speak for all of us (don't shoot me!) when I say that the majority of our first's were something close to terrible.

If you aren't in that assumation, congratulations. You made a character that didn't attempt to be a hundred different things at once.

I still remember my first character.

Diego Pelear: Former ganger and (according to the GM) professional mook. I never did explain how he had that Panther cannon...

Oh, man, I still have my first character on a sheet!

Wannabe Ninja that used a Dikoted Katana, a Mossberg CMDT/SM, a Panther Assault Cannon, and a bunch of grenades that he had no Throw skill for. Man. He sucked.

My first character was a Bodyguard Archtype, and my first run was DNA/DOA... AAAAH! I lived at least...

My first character was a combat decker, IIRC. Started there, never went back. Not to say that I don't play other types of characters, of course, but the decker (and Otaku) is still my favourite by far.

~J

What was my first run... Oh, yeah, that's right.

MrJ: Find this guy.
Us: How?
MrJ: Your pick. Here's an address. Go.
Us: Uh, OK.
* Us hunts, finds, does stuff, is confused for a while, finally gets a Control Thoughts cast on him, asks who guy is. It's him. As an Ork. Yay for a new body.
Us: Here he is, MrJ!
MrJ: No way, hosers.
Us: Yup. Do a DNA scan.
* MrJ curses and hands over a credstick.

Oh, and, we had to face a couple of Hellhounds as well. That was entertaining.

Me: Hey, you! Let us in!
Guard: No.
* Me sees "guard dogs" and one guard. Points gun at guard.
* Hellhound1 shoots giant fireball at Me.
* Me somehow manages to stage it to L or something ridiculous.
GM: That was a Hellhound, if you didn't figure it out.
* Me shoots shotgun at Hellhound. Blows head off. Me shoots shotgun at other Hellhound. Isn't so lucky, only puts a few holes in it's side.

I'm not telling anyone they have to read the book.

I'm also not saying that the parents will buy the book for you.

However, my parents would never stop me from doing something I wanted to do. They saw the good of role-playing.

On a side note, I asked a guy to teach me how to play. He told me to buy SR II, I got it. Then I asked him to teach me. He told me to read the book, then he would teach me. I read the book, and then I understoud. He taught me the whole thing without explaining a thing.

My first character was a non-cybered SINer, who had doc-wagon, could shot someone in half with a SMG, and could not match anyones speed because he was mundane. Dang the GM got me for that. He retired soon after starting(the character and the gm.)

I would point out that a great majority of roleplayers tend to be people who manage to become fairly successful to some degree or another. Also, from my experience a great deal of the people who are of college age (17 - 23) tend to be in college.

Just for example of the people I know who game, those who didn't attend college during the college ages are almost *all* attending post secondary education now (we're in the 23 - 28 category) or have fairly successful jobs (one person runs their own business while at the same time attending the local University/College)

Just something you may want to add in there when persuading your parents.

I'd be happy to field questions privately as well if you like, I seem to have specialized in introducing new characters to the game in the past few years (of the 13 players I've GM'd for in the last five years, only about 6 of them had any RPG experience, and of those six, only 2 had prior shadowrun experience.

you can reach my at jts7@pitt.edu my name's joshua, by the way
(to clear up any confusion as to whom to address the email to.)

I also, however, cannot reinforce enough the benefit of learning the game with an actual group (be it online, over chat, or in real-life)

I hope you find your stay here enjoyable, and educational (at least for shadowrun!)

Again, Thanks to everyone! I'm learning alot, and as soon as I get my character sorted out and I find a game with a nice learning curve, I'll be ready to run!