For those who haven't yet caught the news (or the thread in the SR4 subforum): the System Failure pdf is now available through DriveThruRPG. Welcome to the end of the world.

The celebrations will conclude with a good ol' fashion Deck burning party. Some to be roasted from the inside out.

How long for the non-electronic thing?

Birdy

Oh man, time to spend more creditcard money.

*drool*

Well it is easier for me to read a module in PDF than a rule book, so I bought it!

Look for a run to start in welcome!

Edit:

Maybe not, I thought it was an adventure.... its a sourcebook?

It was supposed to be both. Once apon a time, there was going to be a seperate mission book and data book, but that was all compressed down to one book.

Is System failure a SR3 book or an SR4 book?

it's...both i think, kinda. Its the ending to the SR2 world, leading into and through the events of the crash of matrix 1.0.

I am about a 3rd of the way through it and there are no rules. But they do mention several times that it is a SR3 sb.

So far it's pretty scattered and hard to follow. Some interesting short stories. It's nice to see MLB is back. All the hackneyed future sports that people kept coming up with where pretty lame.

System Failure is a mix of event sourcebook (similar to YotC) and track campaign book (sort of like MobWar and Blood in the Boardroom).

Summary of the Introduction:
Forewarnings - Shadowland posts and fiction pieces setting the scene for System Failure and grounding later material. This is followed by relevant game information.

Critical Error - Shadowland posts and fiction pieces giving a real-time patchwork picture of the chaos surrounding the Crash as it unfolds on November 1-2 2064. This is followed by a general and a detailed timeline of events covering the buildup and starting in 2063 - this is probably where Shadow's at. It is intentionally confusing - much becomes clear when you read the following sections though.

Novatech Goes Public - The "What's really going on" section begins with the first campaign/adventure track, which describes the build up and intrigue surrounding the Novatech IPO. This contains all the relevant behind the scenes information of what's going on providing for numerous potential hooks and also features 2 easily adaptable "adventure frameworks" (MobWar-style for those familiar with the track campaign format) and numerous adventure seeds.

Singularity - The second campaign adventure track describes Deus' and his opponents plans and how these relate to ongoing tracks such as the IPO. As the preceding chapter Singularity includes all the relevant background material and 3 "adventure frameworks" and numerous adventure seeds.

Fall of Night - The final campaign/adventure track describes the unlikely alliance between Winternight and Ex Pacis, their ultimate goals and their respective master plans. Events in all three tracks are closely related and interact. Like the previous two tracks this one too includes 3 full adventure frameworks and several adventures seeds.

Crash 2.0 - Fiction and Game Info describing the ace up Winternight's sleave - Operation Mjolnir and its effects on the Sixth World.

Is Anybody Out There?- Fiction and shadowland posts detailing the disastrous immediate aftermath of System Failure and its effects on everyone from lowly guttertrash runners to megacorporate CEOs.

Last Man Standing and Down the Rabbit Hole - Fiction pieces containing surprises which I'm not going to spoil here, followed by relevant Game Information.

Aftershocks - Describes the subsequent fallout of System Failure combining fiction and shadowland posts. It is divided into themed subsections (with material covering Corporate Fallout, the UCAS coup, the Tsimshian debacle, the fate of Ibn Eisa and the Polish Civil War) followed by relevant Game Information.

Matrix 2.0 - Follows the first steps in reconstructing the global Matrix and some of the most unexpected fallout of System Failure (and is littered with interesting hints). It also leads into the tech advances in SR4.

Epilogue - Fiction piece wraps events.

Besides adventure ideas most of the Game Information sections include suggestions on how to incorporate events directly and indirectly into your campaign. Even if your team isn't involved in any of the myriad adventure possibilities these events offer there's no way they should get through the Winter of 64 unscathed.

Thanks for the summary.

I just finished skimming it and I have to say I think I got my moneys worth. $18US for 130 pages of fiction. A lot of it very good, some very interesting stories and reveals. There are even several adventure outlines that span a few days of the events.

Poor poor Dankwalther

It doesn't span the time till 2070, just till the middle of 2066. A lot of it is from NT's perspective which is cool cause they are my fav Mega (I was a little worried in the beginning). It has a MASSIVE conspiracy which has spanned 10 or so books come to a close, not without igniting new ones though.

Unfortunately I don't see how much of this is going to be relevant in 2070? I mean I don't have links in my games back to Bug City or anything like that. Playing retro games during the crash could be cool, but everyone knows how they pan out.

There are some familiar faces in the shadow community in there (AH, Clock, and Synner to name a few) and overall I really like the book. A little bummed that I am not in it

The PDF itself is well done (kudos Adam) and is easily searchable, quotable etc. Skimming it was easier than if I had the book with me and it prints out real clean. Again, overall I am very happy with the book. Now if I could just get my hardcopy of the SR4 rules (hopefully after they fix the horrendous editing problem spotted int eh LE and PDF) I could start looking at it.

Glad you liked the book.

I was!

I didn't know, gotta go check it out now!

Guess i'll have to post more often before I get into an SR book.

so..... when do we start the contest for who's screen names gets to be injected into the shadowtalk? After all, there's plenty of one-time posters out there.

Maybe you should set it up on a 'per donation basis *wink wink*'. Just a thought

<dreaming>Hmm what would my name fit it...</dreaming>

Every entry where elves are dealt with? Just a wild idea

Or dyslectic orcs.

Should I have used my other name? Orci...

Orci? Sounds..uhm... pink.

Or a cute little orc child. "Aw look at the cute little orci."

Interesting book.

I love the story of James Mancuso.

Lol, James is a funny guy.

what else would you call a half-ton man made of rock who sponsors a secret dig in the Andes?

Let me ask in a different way: Where in the book is that? I don't remember reading that...

It appears in the Yamatetsu update, however the subject is a changeling (ie. meaning he was human prior to 2061 not a piece of stone). Make of that what you will.

Any mention of Renny or Dr. Haberstam? I hear they go into the "Captain Chaos" a bit? How would you rate the book overall?

yes

A little more detail wouldn't kill you. Just put it in a spoiler.

What's with all the teasers and cryptic woohaa?!?! What are you, an elf?!

No, but I don't believe in giving away things for free, either.

I think SL James' speculation on a specific thing is wishful thinking:

Also, as far as Yamatetsu:

Yeah... Right.

Anyway, given how poorly written that chapter was, I think I can interpret it to be her perception, as opposed to reality, without much trouble.

Perhaps she ceased to be temporarily. The sentince leaves it openb that she might come back later. Her senses shut down, but that does not preclude them coming back on, especialy where computers are concerned. Maybe someone just turned her hardware off?

Well, buzz me when she comes back, and then we'll talk.

Way to slip out of that conversation.