To avoid me answering yet another mail on the subject, and so I can once again plug the book, here's a sketch of the table of contents:

• THE NEW OLD WORLD
  Once Upon a Time in Europe
  The New European Economic Community
  CorpTalk Special: AAAs and Eurocorps Mid-2063
  European Organized Crime
  Awakened Europe
  The Rest of Europe
• THE ALLIED GERMAN STATES
• AUSTRIA
• CZECH REPUBLIC
• FRANCE
• ITALIAN CONFEDERATION includes primer to the RCC and Vatican
• POLAND DIVIDED includes the two Polands
• PORTUGAL
• SCANDINAVIAN UNION includes sections for member nations: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden
• SPAIN AND EUSKAL HERRIA
• SWITZERLAND
• TÍR NA NÓG
• UNITED KINGDOM
• UNITED NETHERLANDS

Besides the expected ton of info on Europe, what additions are there as far as rules go? New metamagics, tech, etc? I'm not expecting any details, just teasers.

This book follows the style of Shadows of North America and as such I wouldn't expect much in the way of rules - except for the obligatory Matrix and Border stats - just loads and loads of background information, intrigues and plothooks, national slang and new players. What new rules there are are mostly the province of the GM.

However, Loose Alliances and SOTA64 will likely include further material developing the stuff in the Awakened Europe section.

I can't really add anything of substance here other than to say thanks to everyone involved in this. I am SO excited to read this book. I remember buying the SR1 book when I was 14 in 1989 and hearing, right after DNA/DOA got released, that Shadowrun was cancelled (from a very ignorant comic shop clerk). Obviously, untrue. Then when FASA went under, I got nervous again. Shadowrun has always been a nice distraction and even though I have sometimes taken 2-3 years between games, it is always nice to "come home" (as I recently just started up a campaign with some new folks after a hiatus that started in 2002).

So, for putting your money where your mouth is, thanks to the SoE crew with all sincerity. Even, on the remotest chance, that the book is lousy (again, I highly doubt it, given the warm personalities and vast knowledge that carry across on the board), you still pulled together as a group and DID something for a game you love.

Sorry for the nostalgiac old man rant...just been realizing lately that I have been playing SR for over half my life and wanted to be able to thank some folks who, without realizing it, have given me a place to play when school/work was rough, relationships went bad, or money was tight. Luckily, school/work is easy, I have a good gal (who supports but wants nothing to do with SR ), and money is so so...so dont feel TOO bad for me.

Again, thanks (and sorry for rambling)...just wanted to use this board for something other than a question or debate

Synner: Thanks for the info, I look foward to the read.

Cha-Cha, you'r gonna make us all blush!

To give more details without too much info, I thought a complete ToC could be a good teaser, so here I go:

INTRODUCTION
CAPTAIN CHAOS INTRO
THE NEW OLD WORLD
____Once Upon a Time in Europe
________The End Times
________Dark Days
________Strange Winds
________The Changing Times
________Setting the Stage
________European Restoration
________The Crash
________Russian Invasion
________The Great Jihad
________The Calm After the Storm
________Rebuilding and Restoration
________Current Affairs
____The New European Economic Community
________A Tangled Web
________What It Does
________So HowDoes It All Work?
________Council of Ministers
________The Commissions
________Implementation Committees
________Other NEEC Organisms
____CorpTalk Special: Mid-2063
________The AAA Megacorporations
________The Euro-Mega-15
____European Organized Crime
________Once Upon a Time in Europe
________The Alta Commissione
________Friends of the Family: The Syndicates
________From Russia, With a Vengeance
________Smaller Players
____Awakened Europe
________The European Magic Scene
________The Fey
____The Rest of Europe

THE ALLIED GERMAN STATES
____The Land and The People
________The AGS in a Nutshell
________The Wild North
________A Gateway to the East
________Stuck in the Middle
________Westward Bound
________The Beautiful South
____In the Spotlight: The AGS Hot Spots
________Karlsruhe: The Hermetic Vision Applied
________Rhine-Ruhr Metroplex: The AGS Melting Pot
________Greater Frankfurt Metroplex: The AGS Financial Capital

AUSTRIA
____From Rising Wyrm to Rising Sun
________MediaSim
________A Queen Elected
________The Strizzis' Honor
____Vienna: By The Beautiful Blue Danube
________North and West: Old Vienna
________South: Escape from Alt-Erlaa
________East: Anarchos Vs. Corps
____Waltzing Through Austria
________The Sound of Music: Vorarlberg and Tyrol
________The City of Salzburg
________The North: Salzburg and Upper Austria
________After the Big Bang: Carinthia and Styria
________States at War: Lower Austria and Burgenland

CZECH REPUBLIC
____Heart/Soul of a Nation
________Past Tense
________Present Tense
____A Walk through the Country
________Bohemia
________Moravia
________Marienbad Council
____The Awakened Republic
________The Kutna Hora Ossuary
________The Karst Caves
____Prague: The Golden City
________A Place of Magic
________Markets for the Arcane
________Corporate Cancer

FRANCE
____A Bolt from the Blue
________Current Affairs
____The Dented Hexagon
________Getting In
________Blending In
____The Estates of the Nation
________The Balance of Power
________The First Estate: Nobility
________The Second Estate: The Church
________The Third Estate: Corporations
________The Fourth Estate: Underworld
____Urban Playgrounds
________Paris
________Marseille
________Lille
________Nice
____French Oddities
________Brittany (Bretagne)
________Auvergne

ITALIAN CONFEDERATION
____History
____The Roman Catholic Church
________The Schism
________The Pontiff and the Divided Church
________The Clergy
________The Vatican
____The Papal States
________Rome
____The Other States
________GeMiTo Sprawl
________Florence/Central Republics
________Naples/Mezzogiorno
________Sicily
________Trieste/Carnia
________Venice/Serenissima

POLAND DIVIDED
____A Short History of Poland
____The Two Polands
________The National Republic of Poland (NRP)
________Free Republic of Poland (FRP)
________The Liberation Army (AW)
________The Domestic Army (AK)
________Other Polish Factions
____Into the Frontlines
________The North: Pomorze and Mazury
________Heart of Poland: Mazowsze and Wielkopolska
________The Front Line: Silesia and Malopolska

PORTUGAL
____Lusiada
________Family Matters
____Making Money
________Spinrad Industries
________AegisCognito
____Underworld Redux
________Baptistas
________Kussondulola
____Lisbon
________The Sentinel
____Algarve Corporate Enclave

SCANDINAVIAN UNION
____State of the Union
________Inside the Union
________Corporate Court Negotiations
________The Wireless Matrix Initiative
________Culture and Religion
________Crime
____Denmark
________Danish Corps
________Places
____Finland
________Erika
________Finnish Shadows
________Haparanda Anomaly Zone
____Norway
________Norwegian Corps
________Norwegian Shadows
________Oslo
____Sweden
________Swedish Corps
________Swedish Shadows
________Stockholm

SPAIN AND EUSKAL HERRIA
____Spain's Recent History
________Dying Land, Rebirthed Land
________Race and Reason
________Crash and Control
________Jihad
________The Fall of Asturias
________Nowadays
____Lights and Shades
________Politics
________Policlubs
________Law Enforcement
________The Spanish Church
________Corporations
________Shadow Biz
____A Tour of Spain
________Madrid
________Barcelona
________Gijón
________The Canary Islands
________Galicia
________Andalusia
____Euskal Herria
________The Basque Life
________Politics and Corps
________Religion

SWITZERLAND
____Set in Quartz
________Dancing to Corporate Music
________Modern Plagues
________Recent Events
____Tüpisch Schwiizerisch (Typical Swiss)
________Identification
________The Virtual Canton
________Swiss Franc Vs. Nuyen
____Berne: Capital in Ruins
____Zürich
________Escher-Bürkli Island
________Zürich Investments
________The Vault
________White Collar Crime
____Swiss Made
________Extraterritorial Business Zones (EBZ)
________Swiss Gadgeteers
________Zeta-ImpChem
________The Genom Corporation
____Swiss Alps: The Idyll of the Mountains
____The United Nations: Shattered Dreams
________The Peacekeepers' City

TÍR NA NÓG
____Recent History
________Current Events
____The Paths of the Wheel
________The Danaan Mythos
________The Paths and Magical Orders
____The Courts
________The Seelie Court
________The Unseelie Court
____Power Players
________Tír Government
________The Danaan Families
________Celtic Druids
________Underground Groups
________Corporations Crime
____Strange Magic
________The Veil
________Storms and Madness
____Tír Society
________Getting In/Out
________Law and Enforcement

UNITED KINGDOM
____Land of Hope and Glory?
____The People
________Made in England
________Enter the Revolution
________It's a Fair Cop!
____The Power
________Rule Britannia: The Crown
________The Nobility
________The New Druidic Movement
________The Government
________The Lord Protector's Office
________In for a Penny
____The Land
________The Zone Act
________The Sprawls
________The Spills
________The Wild Lands
____And It's Spirit!
________Lore and Orders
________The Ley of the Land

UNITED NETHERLANDS
____Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice
________History
____Power Playing
________The Corporations
________The Government
____Location, Location, Location
________Amsterdam
________Antwerp
________Brussels European City
________The Europort
________Drowned Lands

GAME INFORMATION
____Faeries and Euro paranimals
____Austria
____Czech Republic
____France
____The Allied German States
____Italian Confederation
____Poland
____Portugal
____Scandinavian Union
____Spain and Euskal Herria
____Switzerland
____Tír na nÓg
____United Kingdom
____United Netherlands
____Border Crossing Stats
____Euro Grids
____Slang

Note that this ToC comes from the final edits docs, but may be slightly different from the actual one presented in the book.

I hope that helps I also hope that doesn't breaks my NDA...

I doubt there's a single copy of the book in Finland yet, but I'd just like to get this out of my system:

ERIKA?!?!?!

(Although I remember reading a rumor about that earlier...)

Still, I'm checking the local gaming store's website every hour for any news on when it's going to be available...

Let's not get started on that name. It was the subject of months of discussion and all manner of headaches. It was originally introduced into canon in Dragons of the Sixth World (see it all comes together now) in Celedyr (thanks, Jon) and Lofwyr's chapters. Why the name is explained in the book as well as quite a few surprising details on this Scand mega.

erika?

If you haven't gotten it yet then the logo should be a dead giveaway

I'm blaming it on the Finn. (if you can't pick his name from the credits you're not from Finland )

I would still have preferred a completely new name rather than a merging of 2 real names. I prefer the solution adopted by the new corpo that is a fusion of an english and dutch corpo.

Can't Fast Reply on sub-forums?

Oh I agree, Erika sounds infinitely better than Noricsson. However, it could have just been Nokia-Ericsson. However, I do understand that artistic license is much more important than 3x the revenue or ½ the other's revenue in net income in 2003 -- 60 years is a very, very long time, when Nokia hasn't been a major corporation for more than maybe 10. And I think I already ranted about this once, I didn't really want to get back into it. I just wanted to get it out of my system.

deeweef: No fricken way, he'd have to have been really unpatriotic to sell Nokia that cheap.

It was a pity, many things had to be left as mere references deep in one of the chapters. We really wrote waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than what can enter in any normal-sized sourcebook!

True

Do people meet the Sysops of each country, i.e. do you meet Tell, AHAB, Reality Czech, and Konwacht for ADL or Austria?

Don

Last I saw there was an introduction to each section /country/ by one of the locals. So I guess Yes kind of, sort of, don't know exactly if it was those people talking but there was someone.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by meet, but basically Shadows of Europe is a standard Shadowland upload. Only this time rather than Captain Chaos coordinating the work it was the Helix Sysop (and before someone says anything, the guys decided it was fitting).

The Helix sysop then hands out the actual writing in the chapters to various locals, including a number of recognizable and obscure names. Obviously as well as some new faces, all the regular European shadowtalkers make an appearance throughout with their comments, counterposts and add-ons.

As some of the German freelancers were involved in the writing of this (and at least part of the material is based on previously published German concepts), you can expect some of the regulars in German material to make an appearance.

Yup, I wouldn't have it any other way. But, like we did for the Erika name, I think we discussed it quite a bit before setteling with the name we have now.

So while I wait to get mine-STUPID BOOK STORES! Tease me! I followed some of the early, early SoE threads back on the old old forums.

• THE NEW OLD WORLD
  * Once Upon a Time in Europe - Eurohistory: the ecocatastrophes, the effects of the Awakening, the Euro Wars and much, much more.
  * The New European Economic Community - High politics, backroom deals, character assassination and why it all matters to runners. The shape of the New European Order is revealed. From who's running the show to how its organized learn all the dirt on an entirely unique political beast.
  * CorpTalk Special AAAs and Eurocorps Mid-2063 - An unusual primer on the Triple A presence in Europe and capsule (re)introductions to the biggest Euro AAs. IIRC loads and loads of plothooks not to mention some "shockwaves".
  * European Organized Crime - A look at the fracticious org. crime scene and the major players on all sides of the imminent conflict. Some hidden twists for those with a keen eye.
  * Awakened Europe - A run down on Euromagic scene, its ideosyncrasies and oddities, and of course the Fey make a comeback...
  * The Rest of Europe - A brief look at the countries not included in SoE, as far as (but not including) Russia.
  
• THE ALLIED GERMAN STATES - Brings the biggest developments in recent German material (namely DidS2) to the English audience and has some surprises for the Germans too. A lot is going on in this splintered giant and things are coming to a head with a member state up and leaving the Alliance...
  
• AUSTRIA - Once firmly in the hands of S-K, but as suggested in DotSW, things are not what they used to be. An unexpected turn of events lead to the rise to government of old powers and a shift in policy which may leave S-K out in the cold. Learn who orchestrated it, how it was pulled off and how it may change the face of Europe. The German fans haven't been left out in the cold and the essence old material has been incorporated.
  
• CZECH REPUBLIC - One of the special surprises (teasered in DotSW), the Republic is now arguably one of the most unique nations in SR canon. It has a style and atmosphere, not to mention perils and plots, all its own. But every paradise has a serpent, even if it's not the one you expect.
  
• FRANCE - Welcome to the Sixth Republic. The birthplace of democracy is a place that came up with words like facade and eminence grise so you should expect, well, the unexpected. A lot is going on here, far more than meets the eye including the return of old favorites in new guises. Shadowgames, intrigue-laced high society and lots and lots of surprises lie in wait.
  
• ITALIAN CONFEDERATION - A tour of the divided Italian peninsula this chapter includes an indepth primer to the RCC and Vatican (which hopefully sheds light on all the apparently contradictory background of the RCC and introduces a whole new level of intrigue). Learn about the Papal States, the megabarrens known as GeMiTo, dangerous alleys of Venice and the guarded estates of the Cosa Nostra crimelords in Sicily. And that doesn't even scratch the surface though.
  
• POLAND DIVIDED - Another huge surprise and one of my favorite chapters. Learn the fate of 2064 Poland, ravaged by a recently-ignited war for the future of this once-great nation. The question is whether the freedom is worth the price generations to come will have to pay. If you've ever wanted to know what a clusterfrag of a situation war in the Sixth World can be, this is the place to look. Dark, gritty and certainly unexpected. Several pieces from DotSW will fall into place now too.
  
• PORTUGAL - If Europort is the European Seattle, then Lisbon is New Orleans. Actually it's what you get when you mix New Orleans with 1940's Casablanca, add a tablespoon of Rio de Janeiro, a dap of African culture, a pinch of North European values, a lot of local color, a unique corporate scene and a setting where players from across Europe come together makes for something special, but then again... I'm biased when talking about my hometown.
  
• SCANDINAVIAN UNION includes sections covering the member nations - Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden - plus an intro to the Scand Union itself and what it does. Also updates details on the WMI and everybody interested in it, not to mention details of what happened when "shockwaves" hit the Proteus-Kvaener Maersk joint venture. And that's only the tip of the IC-berg...
  
• SPAIN AND EUSKAL HERRIA The Crown is all that's holding the highly conservative kingdom of Spain together so what happens when succession goes awry and an unexpected heir comes forward. And if you thought that might be complicated consider that this is where S-K and the Catholic Church cross swords, the New Jesuits and Aztechnology have their European HQs, and where the Basques finally got what they wanted only to learn sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.
  
• SWITZERLAND - Another surprise and twist. You thought Japan was a tough nut to crack? Just wait till you try running in Switzerland! Problem is, though the game is deadly, the stakes are the highest in world. Also includes a look at the Nº1 Euro AA ZetaImp-Chem and other local peculiarities.
  
• TÍR NA NÓG - Well, let's just say Ancient History is going to have his work cut out updating several of his pages. The Emerald Isle is definitely not the elven paradise its made out to be in the brochures. The Path orders, the Danaan, the Druids, the Courts, and much, much more.
  
• UNITED KINGDOM - A decade makes all the difference. Regardless of whether you loved or hated England under the Lord Protector's rule, things are definitely not what they were the last time canon visited. You know what they say about absolute power. Things have started to slide, tensions are running high, the great cauldron is about to boil over and now the most unexpected of players is about to change the playing field forever. And you thought Callanish was wierd? Well, that was just the harbinger! Welcome to the revolution indeed...
  
• UNITED NETHERLANDS - Sugar, spice and things definitely not nice. Ever wonder why its called the Netherlands? Well, come in and find out. Amsterdam, the flooded north, the old world's answer to Seattle the Europort megasprawl and Brussels EC the seat of the NEEC. Down and dirty, post-industrial, cyberpunk, noir, you name it they've got it.

Hope that helps.

Heh, heh, heh. Sysops. Heh.

Anyway, it's a great brief description of the book.

Hell yeah. i just called my book store and bitched them out. Told them to rush my order!

so, for those of us who have to wait until they can catch a plane to the states to buy this... what's the name of the Helix sysop?

Well, why?
It's Synner of course

The only appropriate name. Could only be him.

Hehehe. Right on.

Ahh, finally! By the looks of things this is going to be a great book - I only wish Russia was in it, too, but since Russia is going to be introduced in an upcoming supplement (I remember reading something like that), I really can't complain.

Now, if Fantasiapelit only did its part and ordered a few copies, all would be well. Taking into consideration Fantasiapelit's lack of initiave when it comes to ordering new products and the fact that SR isn't really popular here in Finland, I'd say that I'd be happy to see the book by this fall.

Neither in Spain is it too loved. Still, guys, stop raising your expectations, or they'll reach a level were no one can catch them and you'll be dissapointed. SoE is, without a doubt, a good book, but it won't satisfy your imagination if you keep raising those expectations, simply because it's not personalized and you'll find things you'd probably do in a different way. Don't you think?

Target: Smuggler Havens.

How extensive is the slang? I've got the old Germany Sourcebook and I was wondering if it's like that in some fashion. I remember that Mr. Johnson has many different names depending on the country (Germ. Herr Schmidt, Austrian, Dr. Novak IIRC, etc.)

Don

arkadi - There's an extensive history of Russia plus some general details on government and the powers-that-be in both old Rodina and independent Yakut/Siberia. It isn't a full blown chapter in a sourcebook but its pretty detailed and interesting.

shadd4d - Depends on what made the final edit. We had an average 20 entries for each country, some had significantly more, some had a little less. It includes stuff like the variant "Mr. Johnsons" and local shadow vocabulary for runs, riggers, runners and razorboys amongst other ideosyncrasies.

And it was a pain in the a*s to write. It's probably the part of the spanish chapter that I'm less satisfied with, without a doubt.

Of course, there's Shadows of Asia due up next... year? (Suppose it all depends on the availablity of Jon's Freelancer Crack )