I was really excited about this, but after reviewing the list of contents again I'm starting to wish it were coming out as a few separate products. Of course, that's assuming it doesn't come out for $25, but judging from the amount of stuff, it's not likely to be that cheap.

Bit by bit:

-A deluxe, 4-panel hard-cardboard GM screen featuring a stunning full-panoramic illustration of Seattle.

IF, this is a new screen that incorporates the tables a bit better than the first (which I like, but Assensing in a separate booklet?), then I want it. If it's essentially a reprint of what I have, I'll feel like it was a waste of money.

-A 32-page booklet of additional sample contacts and adventure seeds.

See above. And honestly, I rarely get a ton of use out of the ones I have, although I mean to remedy that with my current campaign out of laziness.

-On The Run, a 56-page “first run�.

Already paid for it once, frankly a little miffed that its inclusion is there driving the price point up on this kit.

-Anatomy of a Shadowrun, a fictional account of a shadowrun, annotated with how game rules apply to the fictional run; a perfect “first-time-player� companion.

A great inclusion...but not something I particularly need.

-Big Book of Tables, a 64-page booklet drawn from Shadowrun Fourth Edition as well as all five core rules expansions for an easy-to-use guide when trying to equip your characters with the latest and greatest during character creation.

This has...the potential to be cool and useful, but I have a full set of books (including the bitchin' tables and table index of SR4A) and the PDFs. 64 pages of tables is likely to be one of those things that seems really cool at first, but lacks the context to be truly usable. This depends highly on what exactly is included, of course, I'm just thinking "out loud" here.

-The Pre-generated Auxiliary Character and Kit System (PACKS) allows players and gamemaster’s alike to quickly assemble player and non-player characters using plug-and-play character profiles and equipment kits.

Very cool, very cool. I've heard good things. I might not use it that often for my characters, but having it for players and as an NPC making reference should be awesome.

-6 heavy cardstock, double-sided reference sheets provide quick and easy reference for a variety of tasks, from how to resolve combat, to hacking, to summoning and more.

I think it's cool that this is being done "officially," but these have been available from the community for quite some time.

So there's my thoughts. The price will have to be pretty reasonable, or the product will have to vastly exceed my expectations for me to pick it up with any alacrity.


And of course this is up for debate and discussion, but for the love of (hate of?) Harley, please do keep in mind that these are just my thoughts based on my play style, product library, and preferences, and that I do not assume these to be fact for everyone that plays the game. You'll help my blood pressure out tremendously. Xiexie.

Oh, I don't know. Harlequin holds up as well as it should, and NAN1/NAN2 are still pretty damn good in my book. DNA/DOA and Dragon Hunt, on the other hand...

Given that Mr. Johnson's Little Black Book is still in stock and just as applicable to SR4 as it was to SR3, I have to agree.

Has anyone heard any recent info on this product?

Can anyone provide us with some information on what PACKS really is? At first I thought it was a character generator (like the NSRCG?) but when Jennifer described it at GenCon I got the impression that it was just a bunch of premade characters with a break-down of where the BP/karma went.

I haven't read Mr. Johnson's Black Book, is it what I think it is? (Stuff I pretty much already know after 20 plus years of gaming?)

My understanding were pre-generated stats and gear that you could pick and choose from depending on build point availability to create an pc/npc.

This is pretty close. The Pre-generated Auxiliary Character and Kit System (we're so clever) is an add-on designed to speed up character creation, both player characters and non-player characters. It contains an abbreviated but full-featured version of character generation that references options in all of the core books (Arsenal, Augmentation, Runner's Companion, Street Magic, Unwired and SR4A). That's the first couple pages, the rest of it is a large selection of character Profiles, grouped into a handful of categories (Magic character profiles, Matrix character profiles, etc.) and gear Kits. Profiles and kits have an overall cost attached to them for buying them right-off-the-shelf, as well as costs for each entry (Active Skills, Lifestyle, Programs, etc.), and every item in that entry (Don't want 3 fingernail data storage units? Take it out and subtract 600 from the cost.) Any requirements (minimum attributes or qualities), needed to take the skills or make use of the listed gear are also given.

I didn't manage to cover everything, but it was carefully examined to make sure nothing outright sucked and I hope to expand on the number of profiles and kits if it goes over well.

Just for fast npc generation alone Packs sound like a win.

For the Win for Sure... Waiting patiently, Of Course, but my patience is definitely running out...

Keep the Faith