"Fields of Fire" was great. It took an element of the SR world that we hadn't seen much of prior to that (namely, military-level interactions and hardware) and ran with it for a bit. Fluff covering everything from a mercenary's concept of professionalism to the kinds of work you'll find, the kinds of people you'll be dealing with, and the kinds of places you'll end up.

How much interest would there be in a military-focused SR4 supplement? Not just a pile of guns and vehicles, but a serious look at what kind of work corporate, government and mercenary militaries do in 2073, and how they go about it?

Topics might include:

• Battlefield information systems and networks, from PAN's to strategic-level drone reconnaisance
• Battlefield hacking... does it happen, how does it take place, why don't they just ECM the crap out of everything?
• Organization... what does a standard infantry company look like? Light infantry? Mechanized company? Armored company? Airborne? Armored Cavalry? Armored Infantry?
• Cyberwear, bioware, and cyborgs
• Battlefield medicine
• Drones, and their use by vehicles and infantry
• Personal armor systems, from the basic "camo suit" to Heavy Military Armor and powered armor (if we're lucky )
• ECM, ECCM, sensor systems, thermal masking, flares, smoke, radio and computer traffic, counter-battery radar... how to "see" things you can't see, and what the enemy can see you doing
• Magic on the battlefield... fireball sniping? Barrier vs T-bird? FAB-III dispersal as a tactical weapon? Godzilla spirit hordes? Do mages just hide out and hope their head doesn't get exploded?
• Harsh-environment situations... radioactivity, astral activity, toxic zones, vacuum, all the hazards that come with 'em... and how grunts deal with it
• A gear list (cuz we love toys!) ranging from rifle variants to useful field gear to hand-off capable autonomous missile launchers, and everything in between. Maybe some sort of "kit guidelines"... what might you find someone carrying with them, and what'll just get you laughed at by mercs and soldiers?
• Vehicles! Everything from the latest incarnation of the jeep to MBTs, t-birds to spy-drones, and the kinds of application they see.
• Current conflict zones... be it a covert operation in Aztlan, a brushfire war in Africa, or this year's Desert Wars, what's going on in the world, and who's involved?

I'll be honest... when I run a game, there's certainly a liberal amount of "wow, THAT blew up pretty cool." If there's interest, we can always hope there's a product lying in wait... and heck, if there's interest and a possible product niche, I'm thinking about taking a shot at submitting some freelance work in this realm.

Seems like much of this is what I expect to fall under the scope of Arsenal and Augmentation...

I would definitely love it, but after Fields of Fire, everyone had an Ares Alpha and a Smartlink-II

'No interest at all' - I want that stuff in Arsenal, Augmention and Unwired.

Considering the stated goal in SR4 was to bring it back to street level, I seriously doubt anything milspec will be included in supplements, aside for the odd piece of military weapons that trickle down to the streets.

A military-specific supplement containing a mish-mash of all things military, from hacking to magic to weapons, would be a good idea for SR IMO. Everything milspec in one book.

I believe many of those items would be covered in arsenal + augmentation. Namely vehicles, cyberware, bioware, toys and guns.

I am considering we are still waiting for vital stuff as rigger mods and the holy unwired book, thus, I believe your book has zero chances to be produced this year.

That said, I believe that material would be interesting and I would probably buy it if it were in cheap pdf form and was canon. As I also would buy Shadows of Latin America, for instance.

What's really happening IMO is that Fanpro is not lacking creativity nor love for the game. They're lacking processing power.

Cheers,

Max

Of course, they could always hire me, I am quite cheap

Shrike, I don't think there is much chance of Fan-Pro actually publishing such a book, but I think it would kick ass as a fan-made supplement.

In fact, I would be seriously interested in being a contributor if something like that comes together.

Let me know if you get enough interest.

I will buy anything FanPro release under the SR4 series, upto and including a life-size plush troll samurai, so I voted yes. But I think this would already be covered in a lot of areas by Arsenal.

I'm not so sure, Knasser. A Shadowrun Military sourcebook would cover a lot more than just equipment (which is what Arsenal is, right? Big equipment book?).

You'd have info on the state of the military in major countries, as well as the paramilitary forces of the Megas. There could be info on how the worlds armed forces incorporate the magically active into their operations, how the military views cyber/bioware, and just how much of modern warfare is conducted by unmanned assets.

Of course, a significant section would have to be devoted to Special Operations...the types of missions they do, the equipment they use, the strategies and tactics they employ, etc.

Heck, you can also do a lot of write-ups on Mercenary groups, global hotspots for merc activity, and how governments/corps deal with/view mercs.

If you ask me, there is easily enough material to fill a 200 page book, and hardly touch on gear. No sir, a book like this, done RIGHT, wouldn't come close to stepping on Arsenal's toes.

Well as I said, they print it, I'll buy it. I dont' know quite how someone would make a 200 page book out of military organisations, but I'm more than happy to find out.

Keep in mind that SR4, in an attempt to prevent rules bloat, will be limiting or excluding new rules from setting books. So a setting book about military issues. Including maps, contact networks, etc. Would be cool, but remember it's either rules, or setting, and if it's rules it would be in Augmentation/Aresenal/SM/Unwired...

TheOneRonin understands what I'm mostly angling for here. While my suggestions for gear/vehicles does cross over onto Arsenal's turf, that would be an element that could be easily be omitted.

If Street Magic is any indication, we can expect very little of the material in Arsenal and Unwired to address applications of the subject matter... they'll contain the more advanced rules for using the skills/equipment/abilities they address, and additional stuff you can do with it. Probably the best applications example in the book would be the first 15 pages, where it discusses magic and it's role in the world, primarily as it relates to magic users interacting with mundanes and each other (as it should be... Street Magic is a rules supplement). The discussion of traditions, toxics, and a few of the sidebars contain some useful information, but they're drops of water from the sea that is the SR world.

The primary focus of this project is to give players/GMs an understanding of a major part of the setting. Ex-military characters are common. Mercenaries and veterans of conflict areas abound. I'm willing to bet that the "You're all special forces/covert ops/black bag CIA types" scenario has arisen more than once in many people's games. Demerzel makes a very good point... this would do well as a setting book, more in the vein of Runner Havens talking about military and paramilitary groups and actions than Fields of Fire.

Most of the topics I brought up earlier could easily be laid out in a non-rules format, resembling anything from Matador's monologue to a dump of shadowtalk from a number of characters with this kind of background. The Underworld Sourcebook provided a great deal of information about the codes, business practices, accounting, and organization of various criminal enterprises... and in doing so, made it much easier for many GMs to fill in the details of any scenario involving one of these organizations through either looking it up, or synthesizing from what they'd read.

I believe it would be useful to provide players and GMs with a resource aiding in their understanding of a major element of the Shadowrun world... their presence, the kind of jobs they do, the kind of responses you might expect from them, how individuals cross over into the shadows and get along with the people they meet there, and the different scales and types of things that might be encountered (an infantry platoon, a heavily cybered squad of professional mercenaries, an airborne raiding detatchment, a reconnassance drone network...). Giving the players an idea of the scale of these organizations, the threat they may represent, the lessons the corps and the law have learned from them, and the places or activities in which you may encounter them would provide a valuable part of the setting.

I'm going to chip in my 2 and say heck yes! My PbP game is playing as Firewatch and we could prolly use some of this stuff. If your really serious try bouncing it off of fist or Adam, or the guy who runs the supplemental.

I think *some* of this stuff would be covered by Arsenal and other forthcoming core books, but I don't hate the idea. After all of the core books are produced, we are going to want more than just location books and adventures. Alternate campaign books might provide an avenue for expansion of the game setting (and revenue for the game company). It really depends on how it is put together.

Underworld may be my favorite Shadowrun book of all time (and not because I look a little like the dude with the smoking hole in his head on the cover). Now, it does'nt have anywhere near the level of crunch that you are talking about, but I wouldn't mind if it did have some organized crime specific technology/gear and so on... Or just ways to use known technologies/skills in new ways that pertain to organized crime.

Then again.. I think I like that book so much because it lacks crunch. The game data might be dated, but the information is generally useful regardless of game version.

*shrug*

Fields of Fire was probably my favorite book simply for the opening section written by Matador. Oh sure, the gear was wiz enough, but the only thing I honestly every bought from it was the Savalette which was reprinted in CC anyway. I was always intrigued by the possibility of going Jagged Alliance 2 style into a hostile country as a merc hired by contras to help form resistance groups and take back points of interest. It could make for a fun and interesting campaign.

With any luck the power armor will make it through the testing process and military grade ECM will be handled in Unwired. What I think would be more likely to be made and be good would be something along the lines of:

Conflict Zones

The cities of 2073 are dangerous places, but in the disputed lands your life may not be worth the bullet it takes to end it. Tribalism, corporate nationalism, magical power and rival ideologies have torn the world assunder, and that means one thing... profit.

With the world coming apart at the seams it seems there is no shortage of people willing to pay good nuyen for a gilette or a mage who's willing to fight their fights for them.

You're in the Army Now

This is a section that details the rigors of being in a company of soldiers. Logistics, missions from the perspective of the "Chain of Command" rather than from Johnsons, that sort of thing.

Strangling the Peacock
"That many heads on bamboo poles usually means 'keep out'."

This is a section that highlights the Southeast Asia Conflict Zone. Some space for Apocalypse Now references, and a bunch of stuff about how you shouldn't go to Trollish Myanmar. Pull in a freelancer who is at all familiar with the Indochinese Peninsula rather than someone who has seen Platoon twenty times.

You say Crusade, I say Jihad.
"Whatever you wish for, I shall grant the Turk across the valley twice as much."
"I want to be blind in one eye."

This is a section detailing the Balkan Conflict Zone. Discussions about the Ottoman Empire and the Soviet Court, as well as the perplexing maze of ethnic and religious hatred amongst the residents. Grab a freelancer who knows what the difference is between a Herzegovinian and a Macedonian for this section.

This is Africa
"An AK is a weapon so simple that a child could use it. And they do."

This section talks about Africa. In depth preferably. You can go nuts here, because most of the countries haven't ever been described. Talk about the resource caravans, ghoul nationalism, harvesting blood diamonds for unscrupulous enchanting.

Ghosts and Jaguars
"¿Si yo le disparo, cuidará cualquiera?"

A good place to put some reprints from SoLA. A section talking about the three-way free for all between Ghost Cartels, Amazonia, and Aztlan in Columbia. Most of the writing for this sectio is already done, it just needs to be editted for modernity.

Fighting for Market Share
"But if you buy this version, I won't shoot you in the face."

A take on good old fashion corp war. Probably focus in on the Cola Wars. Get some place information about Oceania. Grab a freelancer who at least knows that the Japanese Imperial Military Corporate Attachments speak Bahasa Jepang in Borneo.

---

You know, setting book. I honestly don't need rules for nightwraith fighterbombers because I'm not going to be pilotting them in a street fight. It makes a better setting book than it makes "Arsenal 2: Electric Boogaloo."

-Frank

I... love it. I want *that* book.

I'm just sad that we have to wait until Arsenal to find out what the life-size plush troll samurai can do...

Frank, I really want yo to say drop the cola wars. Soda is a big market but it is not as big as say Coffee, oil, computers, cars, or many other marketable goods. Really Coke, and pepsi are small compared to say Walmart and microsoft.

Why not have the war of open sources verus closed source codes. IE google Vs Microsoft. Or wha ever stand in name you want.

Let's say Horizon Vs Neo-net.

Cool name? Not really. It has anovel name until you read or hear about it for so long.

I mean the pirate wars..Where google tries to make things all open source has a cool name too. The name of anything are like jokes.. Say them enough and they are no longer cool. you said this one enough. No longer cool. That is if you even thought they were cool in the first place.

I'd have to disagree, I still like the ring that Cola Wars has...

Being from Atlanta, I just have one thing to say...
Coke is it!

I think Cola Wars is good enough as an example rather than trying to make something more serious like one between Walmart and such. A slight bit of craziness like war over a drink brand name is nice and simple that can get everyday folks to appreciate how extensive and crazy corporate warfare has gone.

Be sure to get it dikoted...

... only if you have a troll fetish, otherwise buy a plush lesbian stripper elf ninja doll...

Sign me up. I want it now!!!


I buy all the Battletech books as well, and the books I like the most deal with military operations and combat equipment. The more the merrier!