OK; my Shadowrun library currently consists of:

Shadowrun (20th Anniversary Edition)
Runner's Companion
Arsenal
Augmentation
Running Wild
Street Magic
Unwired + Digital Grimoire

Runner Havens

On the Run
Ghost Cartels

As far as I can tell, the above covers the Fifth Edition rules and catalogues rather thoroughly, which is a high priority for me; indeed, I ended up picking up Ghost Cartels because of the drug in there that lets non-mages see the Astral. Assuming that I'm pretty much caught up on that side of things, my next goal is to fill out the setting details. To that end, I'm considering picking up either Corporate Enclaves and Feral Cities, or the Sixth World Almanac. Which one would you recommend as my next purchase, or is there something else that I should be looking at?

War!!!!

It's pretty out of date but I actually really liked some of the background stuff in Emergence. Fun read but saddly Technos/AIs are pretty mainstream these days.

I didn't care much for Feral Cities.

Get the Seattle 2072.

Seconded.

While not without its flaws, the Sixth World Almanac is quite useful, too.


I also found the PDFs of the Core Rules (SR4A + Runner's Companion, Arsenal, Augmentation, Street Magic, and Unwired) quite a good buy for the price ($75 altogether).

While I like having the actual books, I almost always use the PDFs these days, when I need to look something up or generate a new character.

Bye
Thanee

Seattle 2072, 6th world almanac may be helpful. War! too, it's excellent toilet paper.

Regardless of the issues with War! the reality is it is of limited value for a shadowrunning group. This is why I can't recommend it. Some new weapons and rules for leadership and tactical fights with groups. Overall, War! even if in a great state I would put at a very low buy rating.

If I recall the quote from a jack pointer in regards to runners taking on the military--"You have done something seriously wrong."

Now a merc campaign, it may be worth it.

My thoughts +1 Seattle 2072 and a +1 for the 6th world almanac.

Down the list I would put Feral cities, Runner Havens, and Corporate Enclaves.

Also the runners toolkit when it comes out.

Seattle 2072 is pretty nice and good for some setting detail.

I've checked out 6th World Almanac but I'm holding out for a reprint with the editing mistakes fixed, because some of them are really problematic, like chunks of text missing. If it gets reprinted with those mistakes fixed, I'm buying it though, because it's fairly well-written and extensive.

I wasn't too impressed with Runner Havens. Seattle 2072 does a much better job of describing a setting. Runner Havens just doesn't go deep enough into any single city; I expect I'd give a similar verdict to Corporate Havens and Feral Cities, but I haven't read those yet.

System Failure is a very entertaining read, and has lots of seeds for conspiracy theories or plots.

I'm kinda on the fence about Corporate Guide. It's got some interesting parts, but I expected a bit more somehow.

Vice is interesting, if you want to flesh out organized crime a bit. It does a good job of making all the syndicates distinctive and usable. It also does a good job on the lesser syndicates, particularly the Koshari, which is nice because those are pretty new; they have no real-world equivalent that I know of.

Seattle 2072, Arsenal, Augmentation, Street Magic. Runner's Companion if you want more in-depth options for characters and lifestyles. Unwired is a good possibility if you want more complex hacking. Running Wild if you plan on using a lot of critters, but skip otherwise.

A reprint with the major issues fixed (esp. such stuff like missing text and duplicate pages) would be awesome. I would buy it a second time for that.

But even with these flaws it is a useful book, esp. for those new to the setting, as it is quite a comprehensive overview of the Shadowrun history.

Bye
Thanee

Well, your choice. You do reward shoddy product that way though.

Nah, I already rewarded a sub par product by buying the first printing. I would reward fixing such issues by buying it again.

Bye
Thanee

Ohkay, ignoring half that conversation as it's not really useful to the OP's question...

To your literal question, get 6WA first. Feral Cities is ok, but really only if you're planning on doing running in Lagos or Chicago (or the other few blurbs, but they're kinda specific). Corp Enclaves could be more useful as it hits LA and Tokyo (with about the first update on Techno-chitlins you've seen in over a decade due to SoLA's demise), but 6WA would at least cover the basics until you decide where you want to go with your campaigns. People have also put in their suggestion and I'd agree with Seattle '72- as well, it's Seattle.

As to associated books to further flesh out the world- And do realize that a lot of my suggestions are about to become a long process in eBay scouring, Amazon looking, and used book store hopping unless they're already out on pdf and you prefer digital. (Not me, dead tree all the way, but YMMV)

I would put in a vote towards Corporate Guide- since it may not be to some's liking, but it does flesh out the Big Ten. I would also vote for finding Corporate Download and Corporate Shadowfiles (The 3rd Ed and 1st/2nd ed Corp books respectively) so you can get more layers of the onion, with at least the corps that are still around as well as any underlying causes for the others' demises that may still be around.

The three Shadows of books are a good start to basic expansion from 6WA (even if some of the stuff is dated) in the world, even different people would argue that either Asia or Europe is flawed, but I thought they were both good reads.

And then one last suggestion, Dragons of the Sixth World. It may be a bit tough, but depending on how you view the wyrms in your game it's good insight to how they can change things around.

I could go further down the line, but I think you're looking more for a general start.

Seconded. I loved it.

You're starting to run out of available rules books. It may be worth it to save your money and pick up some old SR3 setting books, instead. Like Little Johnson's Black Book, or Shadowbeat.

I'd only say hold off on Shadowbeat because Attitude is supposed to be the (thank God) long-awaited update for it. Though I suppose you could say that SOTA '63 was a sorta update since that last chapter touched on a lot of the things that Shadowbeat did.

While i'm looking forward to attitude, i'm expecting it to be shit.

Let other fans hungry for the cashcow of capitalism to buy it first, and let me know if its worth my money.


Hell, I'm expecting there to be at least 5 threads on dumpshock bitching about it when it comes out.
.... and thats if its a good book.

Uh, ok... While your initial reaction is a bit strange, I can't help but agree with you about the sentiment of the five+ threads with the way things are going here...

"Starting to"? What have I missed?

Actually, I'm pretty sure we won't see a turd like War! again so soon, but I'm expecting something lackluster and half-baked and 'meh' like Corp Guide. Get yourself Shadowbeat, for it is a good book, and then judge Attitude. After all, it wants to be the new Shadowbeat, just like War! was originally advertised as the new Fields of Fire.

I don't think you missed anything. Please pardon the bad phrasing.



Not really. hermit summed it up pretty well.

I also don't happen to think hermit speaks for the fandom, but all right.

There just aren't that many SR4 books out there... and you have the most important ones already (apart from Seattle 2072 and Sixth World Almanac).

Bye
Thanee

I agree - I have all the same books you do, and have added 6WA and Seattle 2072, and reference both pretty regularly as a GM. Even as a player, I'd use the info in them to build up a reasonable backstory for my characters.

As I have all of these resources in digital format, I'm sorely tempted to go copy and paste crazy and build a "Compendium" of sorts that puts it all in one place, eliminates the rules that have been superseded, and organizes them better for reference purposes.

But I'm not intending to buy War! as it's not the kind of Shadowrun that I like to run, and will wait for Attitude instead to increase my collection.

Anyone have thoughts on Shadowrun: Vice?

Don't have that, yet, but I heard it's a good book. Organized crime always plays an important role in Shadowrun, so it's surely useful.

Bye
Thanee

I recommend "Soul Pancake" by Rainn Wilson

Vice is quite good. It's pretty much pure fluff; no new gear or powers in there that I remember.

It has a primer on what kinds of crimes actually get committed in the 6th world. It's useful but not very innovative; you could use a similar chapter from a different game.

It then goes into extensive detail on major and second-tier syndicates; the Mafia, Yakuza, Vory, Triads, Koshari, Seoulpa Rings, Ghost Cartels and some more obscure ones. These chapters are really good.

There's also a big section on gangs, detailing several of the major gangs. and general structure of gang types.

Overall, I liked it. The color it gives the syndicates is very nice.

IIRC, Vice was also the book that made Bubba the Love Troll cannon, right?

An okay book, though it feels a bit bland. But it gives lots of insight in the criminal underworld of SR, and if you do not own previous releases to that effect, it's worth having.

How has no one mentioned this:



Bite your tongue! No 5th ed yet!!

On topic, yeah, Seattle 2072 to start with. 6WA for a high level overview.

We all hoped it would go unnoticed. You say the bad word thrice and things happen ...

You're kidding, right?


Edit:
.... searching the vice PDF, page 174

Looked right past it when looking for it. Thanks Udoshi!

I like it a lot. I can´t judge how good it would be without having read the (2nd? Ed) Underworld Sorcebook, because reading it was like 1 year ago, but i think it is pretty usefull. And I enjoyed the reading more then I did Corp Guid. If you have to pick one of those, it depends on the things you want to emphasize in your game.

I wouldn't say that "Vice" is a "Must Buy", but it is a good book to have when you have the other stuff that is "Must Buy" and want a complete set.

Other than War! that is.

Damnit, did it again!