I've used the system to run a fairly successful Stargate game, and even managed to use it for Star Wars.

Has anyone else used the system for an alternate setting? If so how'd it go?

I've been working on a template overlay for turning it into an Eberron-esque setting of my own design. I've been working on the lore and world for over a decade, and am working on writing a book series set in it. I'm actually using the so-modified SR4A rules as guidelines of what is and is not possible in the setting.

I may take a shot at modding the SR4A system for Mass Effect. Sorry, with the way the Mass Effect universe is, you HAVE Shadowrunners. Hell think of Wrex, all the Mercenary companies, private shipping/smuggling, and Noveria. Noveria is the Corporate Enclaves on an iceball.

Shadowrun 4 is pretty good as a basis for Post-Apocalyptic worlds like DeGenesis and Fallout (it is actually far better than DeGenesis' actual rules, especially if you import the life module idea from SR5 and use that for DeGenesis' cultures and cults). Similarly, it is extremely good for lower-power Supers worlds, such as Wildcards. It's less so for Fantasy thanks to its little more than rudimentary close combat system. With a few imported rules from SR5, especially Achemy and magical items, though, it could probably carry fantasy, too.

However, it is far from a universal system, and will always need a bit of fiddling. And I wouldn't try to run anything other than Shadowrun on Shadowrun 5 - its just too restrictivel built and completely lacks SR4's openness. Same with SR1 through 3.

Our GM used it for Star Wars (though my favorite system for Star Wars is Feng Shui), and we have used it for Fantasy at least once.

Once upon a time I used SR2 to run a home brew fantasy game but then Earthdawn came out and it seemed kind of pointless. These days I play SR for the world, not the dice pool system (I am soooo over rolling giant handfuls of dice as a GM).

Admit that I've had to go to a dice app for at least one game I run. Very high powered.

But back to topic, my husband first introduced me to fantasy gaming using the 3rd edition books. I'm also running a game where the players have two characters, one in a fantasy setting (Diablo) and what they do there influences events in the shadowrun game.

it's turning out to be a logistics nightmare to set up, but should be fun.

Funny, I know a guy that uses the Edge system from Star Wars to run Shaodwurn

Use the Force!


Of course I am using Force, I am a mage dammit!!

I have the beginning of my 5th ed Star Wars conversion if anyone's interested.

I used my 2e/3e/Home system to run an EarthDawn/SR x-over campaign where players played an ED character, & then their descendants (or re-incarnations, as desired) in SR. They didn't have to learn a new rules set, and it seemed to work =)

We played the Dawn of the Artifacts serie with four additional 'magical flashback' adventures between each episode: first as a group of 15th century Ottoman sailors led by a young Piri Reis sailing near the African coast encountering the Heavenherds tribe and retrieving a strange map ; then as a group of crusaders who found an armillary sphere in a crypt under Jerusalem during the 1099 siege ; as a team of British soldiers and Greek resistants preventing a nazi from moving the Phaistos Disc out of the island ; and finally as soldiers from a legion of Thera, escorting an orichalcum convoy back to Thera and, witnessing the explosion of the island and the destruction of the island as were were trying to move the Shantaya's Compass out.

It went rather smoothly, but those were pre-made characters. Except for the last adventure (whose characters abilities were modeled after Earthdawn classes), there were no awakened ability available. It worked because the players were focusing on the characters' role and trying to understand what was going on for a single adventure, but it was obvious there wouldn't have been a lot of option for development otherwise. When you're playing a a swordsman with a Blades skill of 5, there s not much u can do except a swordsman with a Blades skill of 6. Shadowrun already comes across this issue with some characters, it was only more glaring. On the other hand, acquiring knowledge and language skills would become a major point before 21st century (like, the difference between characters speaking or not speaking Arabic in 1099 Jerusalem or Greek and/or German in 1944 Crete).

I've used SR3 for contemporary adventures, Victorian steampunk adventures, and World War II era stuff.

Basically SR3 system is far superior to the more widespread D20 because firearms combat is actually deadly. This is what made it so much better for trying to portray tense and serious situations than D20, because D20 tends to play like The A Team.

I didn't know about Pheonix Command at the time, but I suppose in theory that would have been best for present day gritty tactical stuff. SR3 was a good balance of being able to play easily, though, and had more flexibility for dealing with mystical or steampunk elements, because cyberware and magic was already there in the system. Like, if you want to have a psychic detective, basically you have a SR3 normal human character with Astral Perception, and it fits in perfectly with the rest of the system.

Fantasy (Sr2, SR3, SR4)
40K (SR3, SR4)
Star Wars (SR4)
R1ft5 (SR3, SR4) [can't spell the actual name when the word 'conversion' is involved, the Gaming Police are listening)
Stargate (SR3, SR4)

A few others that never went anywhere. I do like the customization of other systems (GURPS, D20, Basic Roleplay, World of Darkness, etc), but I've been playing Shadowrun for so long I tend to gravitate back to it.

For Fantasy I actually prefer WHFRP 2nd, GURPS, or (more recently) Fantasy Age and D&D 5th, but I get a lot of nostalgic feel from playing it in Shadowrun.

As for Star Wars, tried sooooo many systems over the years, but SR4 does it nicely (not tried 5th much yet) but I acyually prefer the old D6 WEG or the new FFG versions.

But even with all that.....Shadowrun........gravitation........it must be a black hole or something.

And they said the subliminal programming buried in the ads never work....

Precursor to psychotropic IC.

The only game system I tried before SR was one about a Western. I think one rolled for stats and I think it involved rolling 3D6 to resolve events. It included a couple scenarios and had an index of stats for historical and fictional gunfighters. I lost PCs every time I tried it.

Years later, a coworker called me a troll (I'm a big guy, even then) then I overheard him talking with a friend about his SR gaming sessions. He filled me in on his gun bunny character, but not really the setting. After work that day, we went to the FLGS and he pointed SR1 out to me. Shadowtech had recently come out, I saw the cover and was hooked. I bought it and the hardcover BBB.

I got home and read through it and my first thought was you could use this to play any type of setting. Maybe ignorant or naive.

Naaa...
Intelligent and insightful.

Sounds like Boot Hill. Loved that game back in the day. Grew up on westerns with my dad.

That is it. I am tempted to find it again and see if it is as deadly as I remember, or if I was just a newb and missed some obvious stuff.

Which reminds me... The first time I was playtesting SR1 for myself to see how things worked, I forgot to buy armor for my test group of runners. WHOOPS! Can you say TPK?