Here's the scan:

I haven't bought a new SR book in over a year. I've been on board since '89 with SR1 and kept up pretty well through SR2. Then I fell outta the loop. Being a poor collage student w/o a group will do that to ya...

SR3wise I have the BBB, SR Comp, The CC, M&M, MitS, and Matrix (stupid impulse buy--I've never played a decker and odds are slim I will anytime soon)

Here's what I need:

I don't have a real life group. The old group I rolled with mostly played That Other Game with a smattering of SR, TMNT&OS, and some Heros Unlimited. It was on and off while I was at school and then really "off" when I took a job in another city. We got back into SR briefly agian when I returned home recently (this influenced my Matrix purchase) but have since drifted apart.

The only place I get to play is here.

I love being able to contribute to thread discusions and such in a useful manner (which is rare, I know, but I like to try ). What I need to know what books should I break down and buy?

For Thread Talk:

I'm a pretty smart fellow (and modest, too ) so I have a fairly good grip on whats going in the 6th world but I like details. SoNA? DotSW? YotC? RA:S? SoE? Blood in the Boardroom? Super Tuesday? T:WL? T:AL? Threats: any? etc...

For Welcome to Shadows Playing:

Which of the previously listed "Thread Talk" books are most useful? In addition, SOTA 63? SOTA 64? MJLBB? Rigger 3 seems out for the same reasons as Threats: Matrix but I could be conviced otherwise.

I mostly play light sam/ merc types with the occasional phys ad tossed into the mix. Generaly because I've see the awakends that my fellow DSers crunch out and I, quite frankly, can't hold a torch to the numbers that are generated (I think I can create a pretty good background but the fact remains, if I play the mage there's a chance that my inexperience will get either my character or the other PCs flatlined. So I don't go down that road.)

As a last note:

I am not rich. Big surprise, right? So I can't just go out and buy all of these at once--despite my strong desire to tell little kids at the gaming store I can do just that ("Look at all those books kid. Guess what, I can buy ALL OF THEM IF I WANT TO!! MU-HA-HA-HA-HA!!)

Thanks for your help!

-Kevyn

I think you have enough books to play online. The game isn't about having the latest gadget. It's about being part of a group that tries to accomplish something that no player could do on his own. It's about having the fear of death, facing tough challenges, and being proud of what you accomplished if you survive.

My suggestion is that you consider writing some adventures to get published with Shadowrun Missions. Instead of spending 4 hours every Saturday playing with your live buddies (which you can't do because they don't live where you do), spend that time improving your skill as an author and help out the SR community at the same time.

Or write articles for TSS. Or build archetypes or NPCs to post on the web for other GMs to use.

When you get a gaming group together, then you can go buy the books.

Unless you just want to read more of the game world. Then get SONA or DOTSW or MJLBB and enjoy. Or you can read the main books again and wherever you find errors you can send them to info (at)shadowrunrpg.com

For playing online I would think you have enough in those base 3rd ed books you have. You need the expansions only if you wish to GM - and frankly a lot of it you can learn by reading the various timelines posted on other threads - or Ancient History's boundless knowledge of the arcane. *bows to AH*

If you're building your own missions all you need is basic writing skills and creativity in addition to those books you already own. From other posts I've seen of you, you've got that. *grin*