So I'm starting in a Shadowrun campaign fairly soon. No one in the group has had alot of experience (I've played, and a one other guy has as well), and for the most part the players either haven't RPed before, or haven't done so in a long time. To make matters worse there are going to be 7 PCs, which isn't a problem as we're all good friends and the GM is up to the task (and we think it works, sort of an Ocean's 11 thing).
What I'm looking for are good Shadowrun resources. Myself and the GM have read Snowcrash, but books take alot longer to read and absorb than movies. I know there's Bladerunner, and most of us have seen that. Mad Max is a little bit of a stretch, but it isn't bad.
So do you all know of any good resources (be they movie, comic, book or what have you) that'll be a good introduction to Shadowrun?
Full Version: Shadowrun resources
All of the third edition books? 
The problem is that SR is pretty much its own genre.
The problem is that SR is pretty much its own genre.
Yeah, there isn't alot of fantasy-cyber punk out there, but there's got to be more cyber punk.
Well if you haven't read William Gibson, he's a good place to start. Read Nuromancer.
The wiki entry on Cyberpunk has some other good authors.
Bruce Sterling, Philip K Dick, Pat Cardigan and John Shirley are all members of the same 'mirrorshades' generation of early CP authors. You've already read Neal Stephenson but he has a couple other novels too, though he's far from prolific.
Jeff Sommers is the only 'next generation' cyberpunk author I can think of off the top of my head. He's only written one book (that I know of) called The Electric Church. Quite well done IMO.
If you want to get a taste for the different styles of Cyberpunk I'd recommend picking up an anthology. I think that Cyberpunk lends itself well to short stories, moreso than novels. Mirrorshades edited by Stirling is probably the best out there but it's been out of print for over 20 years so it might be tough to find a copy.
Actually here is a list of one man's opinion of the best cyberpunk books out there. It's a little too Gibson focused for my tastes, especially at the front end but most the books are pretty good.
A lot of authors are also moving into what is being increasingly called 'post-cyberpunk'. I'm not enough of a lit snob to be able to list the difference but I think it tends to have a more transhumanist, element to it. I seem to recall the Matrix being described as post-cyberpunk.
*edit* Here you go. A complete list of everything under the sun that could be considered Cyberpunk.
The wiki entry on Cyberpunk has some other good authors.
Bruce Sterling, Philip K Dick, Pat Cardigan and John Shirley are all members of the same 'mirrorshades' generation of early CP authors. You've already read Neal Stephenson but he has a couple other novels too, though he's far from prolific.
Jeff Sommers is the only 'next generation' cyberpunk author I can think of off the top of my head. He's only written one book (that I know of) called The Electric Church. Quite well done IMO.
If you want to get a taste for the different styles of Cyberpunk I'd recommend picking up an anthology. I think that Cyberpunk lends itself well to short stories, moreso than novels. Mirrorshades edited by Stirling is probably the best out there but it's been out of print for over 20 years so it might be tough to find a copy.
Actually here is a list of one man's opinion of the best cyberpunk books out there. It's a little too Gibson focused for my tastes, especially at the front end but most the books are pretty good.
A lot of authors are also moving into what is being increasingly called 'post-cyberpunk'. I'm not enough of a lit snob to be able to list the difference but I think it tends to have a more transhumanist, element to it. I seem to recall the Matrix being described as post-cyberpunk.
*edit* Here you go. A complete list of everything under the sun that could be considered Cyberpunk.
There have been some attempts to combine cyberpunk with magic...it just generally isn't pretty. Warren Ellis dabbled with it a little in Marvel's 2099 line with his character Metalscream, for example. The SERRAted Edge universe. Various cross-dimensional efforts like the Borderlands anthologies and the GrimJack comic contain plenty of material to borrow from. An alternate approach to a magic-enabled tech-heavy universe can be seen in GURPS Technomancer, which is very similar to cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling's short story The Unthinkable. In the same vein as that are Charles Stross' novels The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue.
For movies, Hellboy has a mix of magic and science but not future. Ghost in the Shell cover the future with a wireless matrix too. mix the two and you get close to shadowrun.
For the tech and dystopic aspect you could always check out Johnny Mnemonic.
A T.V. show you could go with is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They combine magic and fantasy with "modern times."
A T.V. show you could go with is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They combine magic and fantasy with "modern times."
As for comics, I recommend Transmetropolitan, Global Frequency and Desolation Jones, all by Warren Ellis. Transmet has a good look at media culture out of control, and Global Frequency and Desolation Jones both have a sort of mercenary-- read work for hire, rather than soldier of fortune-- mission theme to them, with Desolation Jones being of a more violent bent. Hellblazer is also great for a look at the dark and weird side of magic.
In movies, I recommend any heist movies you might find, or the like. Some good ones to check out for that are Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, and-- The official movie of my high school Shadowrun group-- Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead. The Ninth Gate is good for a more supernatural feel, and a lot of legwork, and any James Bond is great for the crazy action that might break out at any time.
To step outside of the usual suggestions, one resource that I thought was very neat was Life After People on The History Channel, which showed some of the sort of urban decay that you can expect to find in the Barrens, and the like, where maintenance services have completely stopped.
I figure that ought to do for a start.
In movies, I recommend any heist movies you might find, or the like. Some good ones to check out for that are Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, and-- The official movie of my high school Shadowrun group-- Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead. The Ninth Gate is good for a more supernatural feel, and a lot of legwork, and any James Bond is great for the crazy action that might break out at any time.
To step outside of the usual suggestions, one resource that I thought was very neat was Life After People on The History Channel, which showed some of the sort of urban decay that you can expect to find in the Barrens, and the like, where maintenance services have completely stopped.
I figure that ought to do for a start.
Have you tried doing a Google search for "Shadowrun resources" yet? =i)
I don't even think I've done that yet.
To add somethiing; a couple of shadowrun references I have used sometimes to describe something are the movies "I robot" and "minority report"; both provide good visual cues of drones, ar and the omnipresence of surveillance devices. The movies themselves are quite interesting too.
Cheers,
Max
Cheers,
Max
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