http://timeline.dumpshock.com

Probably the best timeline out there, it has it all with references for more info as needed.

Maps.

As Eismann would say, more MAPS. Just in German, but pretty comprehensive.

Don

I'll just join the chorus to say :Don't do any decking! My groups been playing for years and our deckers are all NPC's. Not only are the rules confusing when you're starting but the matrix play slows down the game flow as everyone else sits around and waits. NPC deckers don't disrupt the flow and are great for plot exposition."Ok guys this is what I found out..."

People keep saying combat is deadly. this cannot be stressed enough. In D&D even a first level fighter in not likely to die from one hit by an ork. In SR a character whose been around for years can be blow away by only one burst of an MG. When we first started we had one player run an ork street sam. He decided he didn'ty need any body armor. The first burst of gun fire from an Uzi shredded him.

Style wise the big difference from D&D is that SR lets you pick skills for a character, you aren't limited to a traditional role. For example a mage in D&D is pretty pathetic in a fight. In SR , if you want to use the points to develop him that way you can have a mage who's hell on wheels in a brawl, or a sneak thief or what ever.

I'll disagree. The decking rules are deceptive in that they're very simple to use in practice but hard to learn from scratch. I'd definitely discourage pure deckers, and try to avoid a lot of wholely Matrix action, but any PC with a deck and computer skill can use the search rules in Matrix to great effect.

Aside from that, you really can run a matrix run in < 10 minutes if you know the rules. It's just a bunch computer + hacking pool rolls against some system rating - some program rating with the system rolling its rating in dice against your masking rating every time you do something.

Seattle maps from this recent thread.

Awesome, just what I needed!
Thanks!

A rigger can easily make a nice combat-capable Body 1 rotodrone to go along with the sammies. I've got a flamethrower drone that'll send 'em running for the huts.

The huts being, y'know, cubicles. But that's ok.

~J

If you're looking for a prepackaged adventure, Eye Witness is quite good, and 3rd ed. It doesn't require a decker, from memory

The Matrix rules are pretty easy once you get the hang of them, but for the first few adventures, just leave it. If you have a player who's interested in decking, get together with that person and have them make a decker, then go through the rules with them on a few practice runs until you get it down. And again, check out the Idiot's Guide to the Matrix thread here on the boards.

The Abstruse One

In Shadowrun, combat equals trouble for most runs.

If you have problems with players not getting this, the best way I have found to get accross the idea of SR is "Think Thief, not D&D."

I am also new to Shadowrun, though not to gaming. My friend ran me in a game when he visited recently, and I enjoyed it so much I'm trying to keep the character going via the wonderful world of the internet. This thread is very helpful, and I'm sure I'll have many questions as time goes by, so, hello!