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Dippy
Whilst I commend Fanpro for carrying on SR after FASA gave up, I am a little confused about their strategy.

I believe I am correct in assuming that they are a business, i.e. there to make money. Certainly they have gone to the expense of reprinting old SR supplements and creating some of their own. If this has been profitable, then there must be enough SR customers about.

Now I'm not a great fan of sourcebooks. I buy a few but in general I use my imagination. However I have a family and I need to work for a living so I really don't get huge amounts of time to write my own adventures. So I need to buy published adventures. I've just started running SR with my group so I've bought a few adventures from ebay. But I will need some more.

So where are Fanpro's published adventures? I can't see them.

Now I find out that Fanpro are doing SR4.

OK, so I've just started running SR3 so I'm not competent to judge the need for SR4. But what I have seen from Fanpro is that SR4 will supersede all previous material.

Doesn't this mean that Fanpro will be left with selling virtually one product? I don't get the business sense in that.

Anyway, I'm happy with SR3 for now, and there's a few things about SR4 that I don't like. Based on my current situation (I still GM 2nd edition AD&D), I may buy a SR4 rulebook sometime around 2015. Of course if Fanpro start publishing SR4 adventures I might buy sooner...
Slacker
First Run, Wake of the Comet, Survival of the Fittest, and System Failure(upcoming) are all SR3 adventure books release by FanPro. Not to mention the Shadowrun Missions you can get from them for free.
Jrayjoker
There is also a book called Missions IIRC, and Predator and Prey has scenarios. MJLBB has tables for making random runs on the fly. There are quite a few SR1 and SR2 campaign books out there too.
hermit
MJLBB (Mr. Johnson's Little Black Book) actually has a section of 20-something one-shot adventures. It also has NPC stats and characters, locations, and the like (very recommendable for the GM with little time to prepare).

Also, there're adventure hooks in most sourcebooks. And finally, there're community-made adventures on the internet. I'll check and maybe post some links lateron.

FanPro US adventures (on their site):
They Shoot Wild Horses
The Family Jewel (ties in with Survival of the fittest)
Shadowrun Missions

Also, the (dead) Shadowrun Archive is worth a look

BlackJack's plot hooks ooks and worked-out adventures are worth a look too, though his style of improvising on the run might not be whatb you're looking for. [url=]Check out his site[/url] too, while you're at it. Lots of info there. Also dead, though, sadly.

More if I find it. Hey, you don't know German, by any chance?
Backgammon
You are in a minority in buying adventures but not sourcebooks. Fanpro makes far more money in sourcebooks than adventures.

QUOTE
Doesn't this mean that Fanpro will be left with selling virtually one product? I don't get the business sense in that.


Uh, no. They're also gonna remake all the "core" books into SR4 equivalent (M&M, MiTS, Rigger, etc), and then they will make new books about whatever, just as they always have.
Cray74
QUOTE (Backgammon)
You are in a minority in buying adventures but not sourcebooks. Fanpro makes far more money in sourcebooks than adventures.

Yes. I've heard that adventure books/modules/whatever are usually only breakeven propositions for RPG companies.
Synner
True. Adventure sales are down across the board and most companies barely break even on them.
Nikoli
In my experiece, pre-written modules seem to involve heavy amounts of what in the US would be illegal substances to concoct. Not so much in SR, but with other systems they tend to make little if any sense. SR has been better overall about the prewritten stuff (not a huge fan of Brainscan in the beginning, nor the railroaded cyberimplantation at the end) yet some elements have their moments. Like a previously mundane research scientist suddenly awakening and summoning a loa.
Grinder
QUOTE (Synner @ May 23 2005, 06:54 PM)
True. Adventure sales are down across the board and most companies barely break even on them.

But every (new) system needs some to bring new players & gms the feeling of the world.
Synner
Setting books do that too. But yes, that is one of the primary reasons adventures still get made even though they sell like crap. Another is the fact that a lot of players like to feel like they had a small hand in affecting the big picture and that's one thing SR adventures usually go for.
Grinder
Could you please explain your last sentence? I didn't got it....

Iirc a lot of people complained about having too few Earthdawn adventures back when it was published by FASA. And that game had a lot of good sourcebooks, but only a handful adventures, which may be one of the reason leaving to its decline.
Apathy
QUOTE
Like a previously mundane research scientist suddenly awakening and summoning a loa.

[ Spoiler ]
Synner
QUOTE (Grinder @ May 23 2005, 09:58 PM)
Could you please explain your last sentence? I didn't got it....

A lot of players like to have the feeling their actions contributed/impacted in some (most often) minor way the setting (and possibly the metaplot). Not necessarily something as world-moving as Harlequin's Back or Survival of the Fittest, but the thrill of blowing the lid off the UB in Missing Blood and then Double Exposure, or the runs in Super Tuesday, or playing through the Seattle Mob War - stuff that involves them in big events in small ways but makes them feel like their characters had a hand in something greater.
Grinder
Thanks a lot smile.gif I think you summarize it very accurate. smile.gif
Mortax
There is also a book entitled Corprate Punishment. It's got some fun ideas. vegm.gif

If you are using published adentures, here is some advice:
Read them about three or four times beforehand, and make LOTS of notes. No matter how good the module, there are going to be bumps.

If you run Harlequin, read the walkthrough posted on here somewhere. That book really needed to be looked over by the editor again, that or the printer was on crack and ex.

Be ready to adapt, if the book gives you 15 possible paths, you're players will chose #16.

Have fun. smile.gif
Dippy
QUOTE (Cray74)
QUOTE (Backgammon @ May 23 2005, 04:19 PM)
You are in a minority in buying adventures but not sourcebooks. Fanpro makes far more money in sourcebooks than adventures.

Yes. I've heard that adventure books/modules/whatever are usually only breakeven propositions for RPG companies.

I see, that explains it. I suppose a lot of the gaming community get heavily immersed in the worlds of their RPGs and so thrive on sourcebooks. However my gaming has always really been a case of getting stuck into actual adventuring.
Jrayjoker
I find published adventures to restrictive in most cases, but I am a very linear thinker and I try to make the scenarios work as written. Perhaps if I were a bit more patient and let the runners bring it back to the story...
Krazy
I'm not a big fan of modules as they trip over each other. (your group runs one adventure, but the following story makes them track down a diffrent group of runners who did the same thing) so i pull ideas from them (DNA-DOA was alot of fun) that and having to adjust power levels/weapons/random junk is not my thing. may as well just use those stories as metaplot and work off of them. of course that means that you end up with a lot of extra NPC's.
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