Peter_Taylor> So, welcome one and all to our final official Shadowrun Chat for 2008. While I'd like to devote today's chat to talking about the past year and our recent releases, I'd like to kick off with a couple of SR-related announcements.
Peter_Taylor> First off, I'd like to welcome Jennifer "Tiger Eyes" Harding on to the Shadowrun development crew. Jennifer's done some great work for us as a freelance writer and we've invited her to try out the role of assistant developer on Shadowrun in the coming months.
AdamJury> (she is fierce)
Peter_Taylor> Jennifer will be helping Adam and myself in a variety of functions with the chock full Anniversary schedule we have planned for 2009.
Peter_Taylor> Next up - SRM. We've finally worked out most of the kinks that have led to delays in the launch of SRM Season 3 arc and we have several releases planned for the next few months including several adventures and the NYC setting ebook that was announced. You can look forward to several releases in the coming weeks.
Peter_Taylor> Aaron Pavao and Stephen McQuillan will be coordinating this SR Missions arc, while John Dunn has also joined the Catalyst ranks as ebook developer (you've seen some of his work on Digital Grimoire and more releases will be coming soon).
Peter_Taylor> John will be expanding our ebook ventures to include adventures and setting/fluff books as well as themed supplementals (such as Digital Grimoire). While its too early to talk about specific releases, expect news to pop up on the website in the next few weeks.

PeterTaylor> That's it for the key announcements, I'm opening up the floor to related questions now before we move into our Year in Review.
radek: Peter - NYC - was there previous source material on NYC in older books? If yes, where?
PeterTaylor> NYC was initially visited back in the FASA days in "Neo-Anarchist Guide to North America", it got a brief blurb in SR3's "Shadows of North America," and it was one of the secondary locations spotlighted in our "Corporate Enclaves" core location book.

radek: Peter and John - what do you mean by "fluff" book???::unsure
The_Dunner> By Fluff Books, we mean game world information ebooks. Some may be in the vein of city books, like the mentioned New York City Guide for the Shadowrun Missions campaign. Others could be along the lines of the old Threats series of books, or similar insights into the game world.

radek: Jennifer - any specific direction you would like to take the SR universe? Anything you always wanted to see in the game and now can make it true?
Jennifer> Really, as an Assistant, Peter is driving the SR universe (I'm just the gun-bunny shooting out the passenger window). But, that being said, I know Peter values my interest in bringing the SR characters to life, giving them some history, relationships, and personality...

dog_xinu: I must of missed the annoucement of the NYC ebook, can you tell us more about it?
stephen_mcquillan> The first NYC eBook will go over the basics of Manhattan; Security, Neighborhoods and the Corps that make up the Manhattan Development Consortium (MDC). It will help runners hit the ground running as it were, and provide some useful insights and strategies to help smart runners..

Zuriel: How many books are planned for the 2009 schedule, and are any of them earmarked for bringing themes/locations such as dragons or the Tirs/Awakened Lands into 4th edition?
PeterTaylor> What we've announced so far for 2009 includes: "Vice" (the underworld sourcebook), "Corporate Guide" (everything corp-related), "Running Wild" (the critter book), "Seattle 2072" (a 20th Anniversary nod to the seminal SR classic), "Sixth World Almanac" (a world almanac and history of the Sixth World. 2072 edition) and.... the four "Dawn of the Artifacts" adventures (if the title doesn't answer your question you haven't been playing enough Shadowrun).

SwiftOne: Any word regarding Topps and the license?
PeterTaylor> Not at the moment. When we have something to announce we will.

Shadowrunner69: I heard from the updates on the Shadowrun web-page that new Shadowrun paper-back novels will be made. When will they be on the book-shelves?
PeterTaylor> The novels have been delayed partly due to the Wizkids/Topps situation and partially to play off the 20th Anniversary hype. We'll have an announcement on the website as soon as we have something more solid .

radek: John - just curious, how do you finance projects like SRM which are free to obtain via the website?
The_Dunner> The Denver campaign was done as a volunteer effort. So, there was an awful lot of uncompensated time, blood, sweat, and tears that went into it, but in many ways the end product has shown that it was a volunteer effort. The NYC campaign will not be a free download, allowing us to compensate the efforts of our writers and artists and to increase our production values. These new scenarios will remain freely available to members of our Demo Team that are running public games. (And to any conventions or game days that request them.)

Canis: Will novels, anthologies of short stories or novellas and the like be produced as ebooks?
AdamJury> I'm pretty sure we'll be releasing all the fiction as electronic products, but we haven't decided on the exact format/formats yet.

Gorki_pl: Demo Team's? Few years ago I heard about "Comando" or somethink like that but in German...
The_Dunner> http://www.catalystdemos.com The Commando Program was part of FanPro. The Catalyst Demo Team is under the banner of Catalyst Game Labs. There have been a couple of hiccups, but we'll be more aggressively recruiting new members soon. (n.b. And, I should have mentioned that the Denver Shadowrun Missions campaign scenarios will remain freely available for the foreseeable future.)

radek: Adam - "all the fiction" including all the old fiction (all backstock novels)? Whichever format you choose I?d prefer to put the bucks for them in your lap instead of ebay?s...
AdamJury> It would be cool to get all the old novels available electronically, wouldn't it? Can't say for sure one way or another. If you're jonesing for them now, eBay!

Brennor: Any ideas yet on roughly how much the NYC SRM items will be for those of us not on the demo team? Are we talking $2-$3 or $10 or more?
The_Dunner> We're aiming for $5 or less. There are still a couple of things that need to be straightened out before I can give a more definitive answer. We also plan on having the first scenario, which covers introducing new characters and transitioning character's into the New York Shadows be a free download.

AdamJury> Just to clarify: the new novels will be in print, obviously. When I said I'm not sure about what formats they would be in, I mean which exact electronic format -- PDF, Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader-compatible, etc.
Shadowrunner69: Other than Nigel D. Findley, which he announced on his web-site that he was contracted, what other Shadowrun paper-back novel authors are contracted despite the delays? Any of the old authors like Mel Odom, Carl Sargent & Marc Gascoigne, Stephen Kenson, Lisa Smedman, etc?
PeterTaylor> We've announced that the first novel is likely to be by Mel Odom. Several other "classic" authors and established writers who are taking their first steps in Shadowrun will be contributing to an upcoming anthology of Shadowrun short stories. Other names will be announced once the novel line is up and running.

dog_xinu: is there going to be an offical CGL/SR4 Character Dossier produced?
PeterTaylor> This is something we'd very much like to do, but right now we have a bunch of other priority stuff to work on.

Canis: Will you be sticking to the same Table Rating type system, and if so can you have a level above 200 karma please!
Aaron> There will be a Table Rating system, rated 1 through 6 as in SRM02. However in SRM03 the players at the table will choose the rating to be used on the run, and that choice is binding through the session. Also, the difficulty curve has been tweaked somewhat so that TR 1 is a cakewalk for new characters, TR 5 is challenging to veteran runners, and TR 6 is basically asking the gamemaster to try to kill your team.

PeterTaylor> Okay, if that's all with the first round of questions, I'd like to talk a little about the past Year. We've had some of the strongest SR releases in the past few years and we've managed to keep to our planned schedule for the most part.
PeterTaylor> What I'd like to do is talk a little about each of our releases this year, open the floor to questions about each release and take some feedback on what you liked, disliked and would have liked to see.
PeterTaylor> So, first up, "Corporate Enclaves" the second of our core location books, this time round focusing on Neo-Tokyo and Los Angeles.
Jennifer> And despite a little water, LA brought an entirely new viewpoint to the SR universe. ;) It gave us a chance to delve into an alternative playstyle. And it gave a peek at Horizon, the newest Big 10.

PeterTaylor> "CE" was a transition book and was impacted by the move to Catalyst. Using our current location book format CE spotlighted the corporate domains of Neo-Tokyo and the ravaged Los Angeles. It features several very different corporate locations from the aforementioned corp havens to postindustrial Europort, financial center Dubai, Azzie-run Tecnoctitlán, New York/Manhattan and gateway to space Nairobi.
Jennifer> And if some of you are on dumpshock, I've greatly enjoyed reading some of the runs you GMs have created for Tinsel Town...
BobbyDerie> Neo-Tokyo is a crucial sprawl in the Sixth World, and the authors really worked hard with some of the people that were translating SR4 into Japanese to get the facts straight while we were exploring the megaplex.
PeterTaylor> Jennifer Harding wrote Los Angeles with a little inspiration from Brian Cross and myself, while Neo-Tokyo was handled collectively by some of my favorite writers Bobby Derie, Jason Levine and Malik Toms.
PeterTaylor> Ultimately I believe we achieved our goal with this book, it not only introduced new environments to use but it also featured very different approaches to shadowrunning than those people are used to to in settings like Seattle.
radek: Beyond Seattle, LA is my preferred setting now because of the magical twists LA has. Plenty of space for the GM to tweak the setting in all ways magical. Liked it :-)
PeterTaylor> Los Angeles is particularly cool since it showcases a very different way of running as well as introducing a boat load of plot hooks and ideas.

Corry912: I really liked both the LA- Setting and Neo Tokyo but it's really difficult to get my players there espacially to LA. Will there be any Features so that I get them there easier?
PeterTaylor> <Blatant Plug> Have you had a chance to look at "Ghost Cartels"? The campaign is specifically structured to give you an excuse to take your players around all the core locations in "Runner Havens" and "Corporate Enclaves"

Canis: Boat load is right, one of thr aspects of LA I liked most was that you can get away from the trite American, Road Master and Rapier as vehicles
Jennifer> Yes. Jetskis, motor boat chase scenes, and my personal favorite, a reason to have underwater mini-subs.

The_Dunner> RE: Visiting LA - One of the planned eBooks will be a scenario that provides an excuse for a veteran team of Shadowrunners from Seattle to make a trip to LA and experience the life of Shadowrunners far outside of their native environments.
PeterTaylor> It's been very gratifying to see people pick up on the storytelling opportunities and plot hooks that books like "Runner Havens," "Corporate Enclaves," and now "Feral Cities." I plan to keep developing those options by making sure that the metaplot and even the rulebooks we produce plug directly into the location books that we put out (in the way "Ghost Cartels" does). This kind of integration will make everything we put out that little bit more useful to GMs and players.
radek: just send them runners diving :-) 1st time they figured that swimming-skills are ALSO important :-)
PeterTaylor> They'd better have Survival skills for "Feral Cities" too.

BobbyDerie> One of the real advantages to doing Neo-Tokyo was getting a chance to clarify and expand on the Yakuza. Of course, the Yaks will be getting their own section in the upcoming Vice sourcebook, but I was really itching at the chance to display them in their native environment, as it were.
radek: @ Peter ...and this integration again gives the feeling to play in an existing and evolving universe - I missed this somewhat during the fanpro times
PeterTaylor> Well, the movement towards greater integration started even before I took over as was very much Rob Boyle's intent too. However his primary goal was to get our core books out the door, and that in turn limited our ability to introduce more metaplot and setting-related material even though we wanted to. With the core books now out we have a little more flex to play around.

Gorki_pl: I must go so I will just leave my opinion about RH and RC. Both of them (as CE) are very useful. I hope in future we will see more of locations books, witch will show complexity of SR universe. On thing I don't like about RH was not enough information about gangs (colors, leaders and so one). On other hand Hong Kong was grate piece of work.
PeterTaylor> Actually this is something we'd like to bring up and get some feedback on from the fans. There are some limitations to the current location book format, including the amount of detail that we can squeeze in. On the other hand, location books focusing on one location have the potential to be more of a hit or miss situation with gamers. What do you all think about our current format?

radek: @ the Metaplotters - will we ever discover the mystery behind good ol Dunkelzahns demise?
PeterTaylor> <Off Topic> The truth about Big D's demise was at least partially revealed in the Dragonheart trilogy of novels.

PeterTaylor> Returning to the location book thing. I'd very much like to continue the trend towards making Shadowrun more global and one way to do this is opening up new environments with their own cultures, social mores, and unique challenges. Some people believe that this necessarily means leaving behind the street level feel that SR4 has recaptured, but I believe books like "Ghost Cartels" prove this need not be the case.
Canis: The current format is quite good value for money, since it offers several locations in one book. That said, the level of detail can be somewhat sparse, especially on something/somewhere which hasn't had much coverage before. This means that some useful information might not be present, especially as the 'what' on each 'where' isn't consistent
PeterTaylor> That trade off is indeed the biggest disadvantage with the format. On the other hand each book opens up two different places ensuring more options and variety.

radek: Personally I think the current location book format (several places in one book) works very good. And when it comes to details you could squeeze them in as you did with details in Ghost Cartels (e.g. internal Agency communication and such) This made the concept of GC very interesting to read and use.
PeterTaylor> Our intent is indeed to make adventures/campaigns, plot books, and even rule books plug into the settings we develop. Some of the Sentient races in "Runner's Companion" may be a little uncommon in Seattle or Neo-Tokyo, but they'd fit right in were we to do a book featuring Metrópole.

Zuriel: As for the current locations format, a thought that I've had regarding the balance of broad content verses focused detail is whether it would be feasible to have such depper details included in supplementary ebooks or downloadables (such as the Web Enhancement series used in WoTC products). Files that, for example, dig into a detailed view of such locations as Drowning Narscicus in LA or bring detailed looks into smaller local A and AA corporations.
PeterTaylor> That is very much the approach we'd like to take.

dog_xinu: @peter I like the format of the "locations" books. It isnt too focused (on a single local) but is focused enough to make it easy for a GM to run something there.

Canis: I haven't read Ghost Cartels yet (I'll come to why later), but Corporate Enclaves gave a much more balanced mix of high level and street level info than previous books, which has helped to make SR4 feel more alive to characters who don't have AA corps and multimillion nuyen budgets. Perhaps continue that balance for a couple more books and then evaluate how it's affected the 'street feel' of SR4
PeterTaylor> I believe you'll find the new "Feral Cities" does that too. What we did with "Ghost Cartels" was devise a storyline (my thanks again to all the writers who contributed to the brainstorming) that threaded the core locations together by way of a street-level, gritty, and dark campaign framework.

dog_xinu: the feedback I get from many of the SRM players (especially the SRM03 series) is that SR4 is more "CORP"-level than the "STREET"-level. Or that is how they perceive it.
PeterTaylor> the New York arc necessarily has more involvement corporate involvement than either the Denver or Seattle arcs, simply because it's set against the backdrop of the Corporate Capital of the Western World and the earthbound HQ of the Corporate Court. That said we're endevoring to keep the street feel and playstyle in coming Missions.

Zuriel: Watching the evolving interactions between the JackPointers continue through the recent books has been excellent, and one of the things I was starting to miss from earlier editions as the first 4th ed. books rolled out. JackPoint and its denizens (especially the new generation represented by folks such as Slam-O!, Clockwork, Sunshine, Kat-O-Nine-Tales, and Netcat) are truly growing into their own. Kudos all around to those writers who breathe life into the various personalities.
PeterTaylor> Thanks. One of the reasons Rob decided on the shift to a closed network like JackPoint rather than an open network like Shadowland (or now ShadowSEA) was exactly to allow for greater character development. It helps that we have some very talented writers on board throwing twists and turns into the character's stories that would be the envy of some primetime TV writers. ;-).

stephen_mcquillan> @Dog--The SRM 03 campaign is being retuned and you should see some specific changes to the play level and environment. The Missions will be the same, but some of the details will be different than played from their GenCon and Origins releases.
Canis: Follow on on location book size: perhaps an ebook which expands each location. For example, I'd have loved to have more info on LA but Neo-Tokyo left me cold. Don't get me wrong, I liked the update on the Emperor and his agenda, but the rest of that material wasn't very useful. And for Runner Havens, the info on Seattle wasn't useful at all, too vague I felt, but HK was awesome! I'd gladly pay the difference to get 'full dedicated book' sized additional supplement on LA and HK
PeterTaylor> Plug ins for location books are something we're definitely considering, as well as ebooks with generic locations that plug right into pretty much any setting.

radek: I?m sorry guys, I gotta run... this was my first time so thanks to the Catalyst staff for taking the time to talk to us players directly - very much appreciated! Greets and see y all next time! Bye
PeterTaylor> Thanks for your time. See you next month.

PeterTaylor> Moving on... 2008 also brought us the much-awaited "Unwired" advanced rulebook (unsurprisingly one of our bestsellers this year) and while its had its share of criticism, I believe it's a solid expansion to the core ruleset and does an excellent job of opening up the Matrix, AR and VR, to all types of characters (and their players). The options it introduces for both hackers and technomancers greatly expand the roles and abilities of both, but the book also provides all the basics to make the Matrix playable in your games.
the_big_cali: i heard at my game store that Peter Taylor used a SR book to propose to his girlfriend. is it true?
PeterTaylor> LOL. That did happen but it was someone else...

Canis: I love Unwired! Definatley the best release of 2008 in my opinion. The main rulebook left me cold after reading the tech chapters, but Unwired made it make sense, especially Technomancer rules. It's also nice to have a tech book for SR which I don't have to tell my players "ignore the tech in there, it was old when printed". And another nice thing about Unwired was that, unlike Matrix 2.0, it actually makes the matrix easier to use for non-hackers and complemented the core rules instead of making them even more (unnessecarily) complex. Bravo and kudos to all!!!
PeterTaylor> "Unwired" has had mixed reviews, though its been a solid seller and has already gone to a new printing, so it's nice to hear that people actually enjoyed it and found it easy to digest and implement. Our intent was always to pull it off in such a way that players understood that unlike previous editions that made the Matrix the realm of the decker/hacker, we very much wanted the Matrix in SR4 to be ubiquitous to everyday life and to all types of characters.

dog_xinu: not bashing the other books, but the Unwired book seems to be the stongest of the expansion core books. The players I know really really enjoy it.
PeterTaylor> I honestly believe that the anticipation around it paid off, and also that we didn't rush it out the door but put thought and . Personally, I'm very fond of "Augmentation" (I got to add a lot of stuff I thought was long overdue) but "Unwired" is probably my next favorite advanced rulebook.

Canis: I think you suceeeded Peter, my wolf shaman is now a card carrying matrix predator. Sure he's no Slamm-O! or Netcat but he can hold his own against most nodes. One thing I would like to see come back, the colour codes for nodes. That was handy, and could be used in character - something a pure Rating system can't I find.
PeterTaylor> Cool. I'm not sure the color coding is something we'd introduce at this point, but you can still use it in character by defining Rating ranges colors apply to.

Tycho: I think whats missing in Unwired is a mechanism that prevents a hacker from getting in the node in the first place. Outherwise I think Unwired is very good.
PeterTaylor> Like other Matrix related issues (like Encryption) this has to do with a compromise between realism and making something fun and playable. One of the most difficult challenges a developer faces is that any such technology or development has a cascading effect and hidden implications that might (a) change the core setting significantly and (b) render it much less fun and dynamic to play in. All that said I believe stuff like Strong encryption and some of the new security options in "Unwired" find the right balance.

Zuriel: Technomancers received an understandably thin slice of the main SR4 book (enough to play them, but not enough to really 'feel' them), and having the new information and expanded options for technomancers made it possible for others in my area (who hadn't had any exposure to earlier editions with the Otaku) to get a strong feel for just how this form of matrix-user impacts the setting. <Break> And for the record, I feel that Augmentation and Arsenal easily hold their own alongside Unwired. Augmentations expansion of the paramedical side of things and Arsenal's black market information, equipment modifcation rules, and martial arts chapter made them essential reads above and beyond their tables of new 'wares, guns, and rides.
PeterTaylor> If there's one thing I'd change in the core book is to add a little more context to technomancers and their place (or lack thereof) in society. That said I believe we did a good, if tardy, job of that in "Emergence" and "Unwired" showcases what technomancers have been developing into following the events in 2070.

PeterTaylor> And of course "Unwired" went a long way towards making technomancers live up to the hype in "Emergence."
PeterTaylor> If that's all on "Unwired" let's move on to another controversial book we released just in time for GenCon: "Runner's Companion."
PeterTaylor> With this project we wanted to add options and depth to the setting, including everything that really didn't fit in previous books. I believe the two introductory sections "Starting Out" and "Survival Tips" (often overlooked in the rush to get to the new options and toys later in the book) are actually some of the best game and setting advice for new players that we've released to date. The much-requested alternate character creation systems made an appearance. The metavariant and optional races were a lot of fun to do, and the fiction adds a significant amount of setting context on all the options that was previously unavailable. The new Qualities offer a eclectic variety of options while avoiding the "must have" trap. And finally the Advanced Contact and Lifestyle rules add to the depth and variety of play, and they're just plain cool to boot. I have to admit that I was glad we managed to include the character perspective stories at the end because they go a long way towards ground the qual
Canis: Runner's Companion was a nice addition to the SR4 line I thought, I was surprised with the wide array of character options as well as the inclusion of Windlings and a few other things from ED. There were some qualities which were left out or changed significantly enough to be an unpleaseant susprise but on the whole I enjoyed this book. It also gave me the tools for some 'oddball' character concepts I'd been planning for a while which previous editions didn't help with. And nice to see SURGE stratified. All in all, a good book though not a 'one per player' kind of supplement in my opinion.
PeterTaylor> Good to hear. This was very much our advanced options book. I think a lot of people missed the point that not all these options were intended to be developed in all games - we just wanted to have them out there from each group to pick and chose.

Tycho: Runners Companion is one of the best books, I recommend it for every beginner (except the adv. concept section), because it conntians everthing you need to know.
PeterTaylor> Cool.Though I think even the fiction section of the Adv. Character Concepts chapter should provide a lot of mileage for players.

teclo: Hey there. I've been a loyal fan of shadowrun since back in the 80's and love the new direction that 4th edition has gone. Speaking of Runner's Companion, I really enjoy the idea of being able to play new character types like vampires and sasquatches. I also had a question about vampire characters: Can they cast spells in mist form? That does make them particularly deadly.
PeterTaylor> Technically there's nothing to stop them, however, in my game I have been known to rule that keeping cohesion in mist form requires too much concentration to allow channeling mana...

Ryu: Unfortunately, no dragons... ::wink
PeterTaylor> I was going to mention that. I know it pissed a lot of people off, but I couldn't have asked for more hype for "Runner's Companion" than we got from that late April's Fools joke.

PeterTaylor> Well, moving along, after "RC" we released what is probably my favorite project this year "Ghost Cartels." For the longest time this book felt like it was jinxed, and almost everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong in development. However, I'm very pleased with the final result. The main storyline is wicked good, the NPCs are vibrant and original, the characters are in the thick of the action, and the surprise twists at the end should leave you asking yourself what's next... all that plus some of my favorite art in a very long time and those awesome maps by Sean.
Ryu: The stories in the end of RC were great. Good inspiration not only for newbies.

radek: GC was the best book in 2008 - graphically awesome cover, maps and interior illustrations. Also best concept for the overall product. Very useful layout and structure. That said, Feral Cities cannot keep up with this standard (not talking about the content, because I didnt read it yet)

Aaron> To address a previous question: yes, there was a marriage proposal in Runner's Companion. It was hidden as an acrostic by one of the writers. There were actually a number of acrostics in various places in the book, but only one survived editing.
BobbyDerie> Aaron is the one who proposed. If you haven
PeterTaylor> "Ghost Cartels" also features a new format which combines what I believe are the best features of our traditional adventure/campaign formats: standalone/canned adventures, episodic campaigns, and track campaigns. I'm very interested in hearing how you liked this new format since it may impact how we treat future metaplot projects.
stephen_mcquillan> *cough*Aaron*cough*, My understanding is that she said yes.
Canis: From the teasers I've seen on SR4.com, Ghost Cartels looks awesome. I can't say any more, since it took my FLGS in the Smoke a month to get stock and so I couldn't get hold of it while in the UK last month. So I'll spend Boxing Day reading it

dog_xinu: @aaron.. congrats...

PeterTaylor> Seems like everyone has been awed into silence about "Ghost Cartels," I'll move on to our next release, our first ebook: "Digital Grimoire".
Canis: Which begs the question, what exactly does a 'street date' mean? Is it when distributors can order it/ it starts shipping to distributors, or does street date mean when it should be on shelves? Because if the latter is your intent, you need to have a serious word with a UK distributor
AdamJury> The "street date" is the day that stores can start selling the book; distributors get it before the street date and if a store has ordered the book, the store should get it on or before the street date. However, with international shipments, this doesn't always hold true. Also, and this has been the case for years -- you need to tell your local gaming store that you want a copy of a book before the street date, so they can order one just for you. Most stores don't order more than 2 copies of any new RPG title, even for a popular game like Shadowrun. If you're the third guy at the store that day ...

BobbyDerie> I had a lot of fun working on Digital Grimoire. There were a lot of things that we just didn't have room for in Street Magic, and I'm glad we got to present them someway. I guarantee you'll be seeing blood fetishes in the future.
PeterTaylor> "Digital Grimoire" includes a lot of material we simply didn't have space for in Street Magic but thought was interesting and cool to offer players - all in one inexpensive and attractive package. It is also a pretty good sample of one of the ebooks you can expect in the future and which John Dunn will be developing for us. While we will be doing rules supplementals like "Digital Grimoire" we'll also be releasing adventures and setting/fluff books that provide plug and play material for any campaign.
Valashar: @Peter: Sorry for no questions/comments about Ghost Cartels. That book is strictly verboten to me by our GM. ::tongue
PeterTaylor> LOL. That bodes well. Boy are you in for some surprises.

Canis: Ah, Digital Grimoire. Nice try, but way off the mark. I felt this was either material which should never have been cut from Street Magic, or left on the cutting room floor and shouldn't have been charged for in a million years. I like the idea, the concept offers a lot of potential, and the price isn't too harsh, but the choice of material for the first one let it and CGL down tremendously. And by the way, thanks again Adam, you rock!
PeterTaylor> Fair enough. However, having announced the contents before hand, "Digital Grimoire" has had some very good sales and positive reviews too. While future ebooks are unlikely to be include as much material left out of the core book and more original material, the success of does bode well for the ebook format.

Tycho: The price is nice and the content is really good. Would like to get an simular "Digital..." expansion for all the other core rules.
PeterTaylor> That is definitely a possibility. Others include additional Vehicles to complement the range in "Arsenal" and maybe a few augmentations and cyberware suites to complement "Augmentation"...

dog_xinu: I liked the sub-$5 ebook that gave that extra little.. it was a good mix of size/cost in my book. And my players were drooling over the printout as soon as I showed them
PeterTaylor> That was indeed the desired effect. ;)

Canis: As I said, it's a great idea with lots of potential, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next one. I'm glad the experiment was comcerially viable enough for there to be more.

PeterTaylor> Just to wrap our Year in Review, I'd like to mention "Feral Cities."

Canis: Adam: my FLGS has my card on file, they don't even need to be told to send me a copy of every SR release (except the revised orange cover SM). Their distributor simply wouldn't let them order it for almost a month.
AdamJury> If your store has issues getting stuff, they should contact us and we'll help work it out.

PeterTaylor> While many of you will be waiting for the hardcopy to order online or hit your FLGS, the pdf is already available. As those who've peaked at the previews on Shadowrun4.com will know, the book focuses on the urban wilderness of Chicago and the lawless chaos of Lagos. Both cities provide unique environments and challenges that will turn the table on characters that have become too reliant on modern amenities and the decieving safety of contemporary sprawl life. Plus the books are chock full of adventure hooks and interesting places.
BobbyDerie> One question we've been asked before is "Which city is more dangerous - Lagos or Chicago?" Personally, I like Adam's answer: "Whichever one you're in right now."
Valashar: Digital Grimoire is exactly the kind of supplement that I was refering to in my earlier remark about follow-up publications for books like Corporate Enclaves (I was Zuriel before and had to relog due to connection issues). While some of the specific content of DG wasn't to my taste, it was still a good first showing for this format.
PeterTaylor> As I mentioned previously plug ins for the setting books are very much a possibility.

Tycho: Havn't read much, but so far Chicago remind me (positively) of Fallout 3, but is once more a entirely new Setting for SR. Geneva Setting is very inovative and an interesting enviroment.
PeterTaylor> One of my primary goals with the current batch of location books is to provide very different environments and detail the spectrum of different atmospheres and societies that exist in the Sixth World. This richness is integral to the setting and its one of the things that made the Shadows of series so popular. As far as Feral Cities is concerned I'm kind of partial to Karavan myself.

PeterTaylor> For those who haven't read the book the secondary locations include: a troubled Bogotá reeling in the wake of events in "Ghost Cartels" and caught between two massing superpowers, prim and proper Geneva besieged and gradually falling to pieces by a concerted campaign of Matrix sabotage and attack by AIs and technomancers, Karavan a roving tent city of traders, bandits and other dangerous types rolling across the steppes of Central Asia, GeMiTo a mega-barrens that includes the former Italian cities of Milan, Genoa and Turin, and beleaguered Sarajevo neutral ground in the midst of the everchanging Balkan clusterfrag

Canis: Will we ever see any more continent spanning books like the 'Shadows of' series or will SR4 concentrate on the individual cities with the surrounding country being a segment in the chapter?
PeterTaylor> We'll be doing a brief global overview in the Sixth World Almanac but we're currently discussing what might follow further down the line. Whatever they are, I would very much like to make the books relevant and integral to the plot material we are developing.

PeterTaylor> Any last questions before we bring this chat to a close?
Shadowrunner69: Will there be more Shadowrun apparel, besides the books and figures, to purchase in the future? Clothes? Posters? Etc.? I recently bought one of the old holostreet Shadowrun t-shirts and wondering if more Shadowrun stuff is on the way.
PeterTaylor> We'll likely be looking into all of those and more once the Wizkids/Topps situation is sorted out.

AdamJury> Moderation is off! ding!