Well I did it, I finaly got the GM screen with the critter book for third edition. It was not easy.

First I tryed Ebay. Saw one and bid on it, but lost to some guy who paid $25.00 for it. I thought he was crazy...little did I know.

Next I checked the other online stores. Amazon has one being sold by a privet party for $195.00....No thanks. Then after a lot of searching I found a store on line that had it. They had no pic of it so I wrote and asked, is this third edition of second. The responce was it was third. I paid for it and shipping. When it arived I found that it was second edition and I just got screwed.

I tried to get my money back but that was a fruitless endever. I drove around to three game stores in my area and found that none of them had it...not one copy.

So I had almsot given up when a friend of mine told me that Shadowrun is really big in the UK right now, and maybe I could check out some on-line stores over there. I went on-line and found one in the UK that sold it to me and shipping to for only $4.99....the problem was, I paid for everything and put it on my Credit card, onyl to find that the money is not the same, so I paid more than I thought and my Credit card charged me a converstion fee.....

Any one know why this is so hard to find?

At that point, it's probably just easier to get a good laser printer and make your own.

Yeah, but that doesn't help with critters.

Just wanted to share my adventure with you guys.

I am happy now, I wanted the screen and needed the critters guid.

THe critters book would make great addition to the reprint schedule, maybe with an expansion of new monsters and such.

Ya, a reprint would be great.

And yes, I know its out of print..but why? Shadowrun is not a dieing game is it? Wont new players and new GMs needed screens too...

Gaias, your story sounds a lot like a shadowrun, only the characters in your story got screwed more than runners do.

One potential reason is the population of laptop computers. Copy the essential charts into notepad, save them, and the screen provides half a "Secret GMing Barrier" by itself. Plus with a software dice roller (only to be used when there are more enemies than dice), the GM has total, terrifying secrecy.

Isn't there a new critters book coming out in1 the near future? Running Wild or something?

GMs are typically a much smaller buying audience than players, plus the margin on GM screens is rather poor.

I think Backgammon is right - i would think that Running Wild might have a comprehensive listing of critters and stuff, both old and new, in the back of the book - at least i hope it does...

also, how many players also run? like 1 in 2 maybe 1 in 3. that's a sizeable chunk of the niche.

They are planning to print a book with critters and information about critters. It's called Running Wild. Synner's mentioned it a few times before in other threads.

Well....this gave me reality on what its like to be a fixer, thats for sure.

A lap top could be cool, but I like paper and pencils... I guess I am old.

New critter book you say. That would be just my luck. Get the old one and a new one comes out. LOL

I've been looking for the GM screen for a long time too. I gave up though because I'm poor and all the online places that have it charge rediculous amounts :/

Hmm... they've had one for sale on display at my local game store for months now...

JaronK

I say whip out an old AD&D DM screen and tell your players you are going by the rules on the screen... ask them for handfuls for d20 for your NPC's to use for tests.

LOL, that last one was great. I will give it a try and see what type of reaction I get. LOL

I bought a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Director's Screen for $1. It works, and it has four panels!

yea, i really don't like my gm screen, but i love critters. therefore i cannot sell it on ebay

Either one works, as long as we get a list of critters availible to us again.

I thought the GM screen was being reprinted - I'm sure I saw it on the official website at one point. I didtinstly remember it cos I thought "cool, hopefully they'll get it right cos the screen I've got could do with a reorganisation and some tables removed and others added".

Shame it OOP now, though I'm fairly sure several UK shops, such as Wayland's Forge and Liesure Games have them.

Why they don't Fanpro bring out a book with Paranormal Critters and Critters.
This will solve some things and also give adventure hooks for WWF ideas.

did you read the thread Johnson?
That book is named Running Wild. Info is just a few lines above...

http://www.srrpg.com/products/product.php?...ters+Sourcebook

Says "Status: Upcoming Reprint"

Feonyx

Plans change. A lot. Fairly quickly.

It's incorrect. Note to self: Fix that.

LOL, Now thats funny on so many levels.

I have a question Adam since you are the man .

Whats up with Shadowrun? As a company asset. I mean Whizkids has a whole heck of a lot of other products doing well for them (PoTS, Mage Knight, etc)... and Shadowrun is such a huge and amazing product. Is Whizkids going to ever give the attention to Shadowrun it deserves?

Feonyx

Now thats a good question.

Not to say I don't love everything you guys have put out.

WizKids does not have an 'h' in their name.

I rarely talk to anyone there, and I'm not privy to their plans.

Wow, you should have just said "no coment"

Trust me I know how sub Corporations and Mega Corporations work... /sigh

Sorry for the added "h" I always do that with the URL too...

Feonyx

you know, they really should put in a combined to-date chart in the back of Running Wild. After all, the CC has one, MITS has one, etc...all the major add-on books had a comprehensive chart in them. If you put one in Running Wild, it will probably cover 90-95% of all the paranormal animals for the next couple of years, since there are rarely any additions or changes - and when there are, they tend to be localized in a Target or Shadows Of book, where they won't be encountered by the majority of runners anyways unless they're in that particular area...

I hope there's a chart...

I actually compiled a chart like that for my own reference. There's still more than 70 Critters that were in 1st or 2nd edition that don't have 3rd edition stats. (OTOH, there's more than 160 that *do* have 3rd edition stats.) I think the Wraith is the one whose absence I miss the most.

I hope there isn't. When it comes to critters, you need more than a chart, you need pictures and a detailed description of them. Numbers alone isn't enough.

i agree, but i think we all know the likelyhood of getting pictures...

Personally the fact that the Screens aren't readily available is pretty cheesy. If they're not practical to sell by themselves you "sell them with another product". That's just common sense. You take a hit on the profit margin and "make folks" buy them. So for something like the Shadowurn certain books are going to be needed by GM's. Something like the Shadowrun Companion or some other book that's really usefull. Let's face it, the screen has a certain value added component to it for the base product line. I think the thing that no one is paying attention to is that since the product has been out of print for a while the demand will increase.

Look at it this way. The product is already done. It's finished. You've probably got the plates and the files needed for the product. It's finished. So the development costs are zero. All you need to do is produce it. Hell you could bundle it with the Shadowrun book or something. The key is that if folks don't buy it you package it in a way that creates a profitable exchange. You might loose money on the screen but gain money on the books you sell. If you want to get really inexpensive you sell it through drive thru RPG. That would be the best route to go. No distribution costs and folks can down load it print it out and make they're own screens. Or they print them out to card stock and use them for quick look up. Fanpro is missing out on revinue. I luckily bought mine through Stiggybaby. Another idea would be to print out the screens in the back of the Shadowrun Companinon or other book so that folks can again make they're own screens. The possibilities are endless. If someone is paying $25 for a $15 screen then the demand has driven the price up. That means you could possibly charge $20+ for reprinted screens. At the very least offer them for download in PDF format or sell them on Drive thru RPG.

When I go to game stores I get this question at least 2 or 3 times.

Assume that solutions has been discussed and something is in progress.

Groovy can I buy you a beer the next time your in Bean Town?