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TheShadowrunSupplementalIssue #1Volume #1Edited and compiled byfro@lis.ab.ca

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Editors NOTESEditors NOTESWelcome to the first issue of TheShadowrun Supplemental. As far as I cantell, there are no electronic magazinededicated to Shadowrun that works quitethe same way this one does. Most arepublished in HTML format on the web, andcan’t effectively be read offline, so I decidedto set this one up a bit differently.

This is the first issue, so its bound to changesomewhat in the future. If you don’t likewhat you see, don’t write it off yet, please.Change will be constant. Hopefully issue#2 will be larger. This is sort of a ‘bug fix’of the first issue. Nothing major haschanged, just a few things, including theconversion to PDF format.

In this issue, we have; A short story by Bull,an adventure module by Thomas Deeny, aTON of book reviews by Gurth, some rantsby Adam Wise, a few shadow-comments, anda new archetype and some correspondingitems. A modest first issue. You will noticethat I myself didn’t write anything, notbecause I didn’t intend too, but because bothitems I wrote turned out to grow more than Iintended, and probably won’t be done untilat least next issue.

If you don’t know who I am, don’t worryabout it, you’re about to learn more thanyou care to know. Most people know me asFro, but my full name is Adam Jury. I amAssistant Fearless Leader of the ShadowRNmailing list, channel manager of#Shadowrun on Undernet IRC, a memberof the Internet Roleplaying Game Society,and a few million other things. I’m sixteenyears old and have been playing Shadowrunfor just about 3 years now. If you want toknow more, get to know me better. : )

CreditsCreditsSeveral people have been extremelyimportant to this project. I couldn’t havedone it without you, but I’ll still try to makethis short.

Gurth- Inspiration, feedback, help and a tonof other things. Think ‘The thread thatnever ends’ is due to die yet?Adam Wise - Writing, artwork, and the guy Ibounce all my ideas off first. Not to mentionyou have a pretty good first name.Bull - Someone that needs a new PC morethan me!The ShadowRN listmembers - For all thefeedback, including all the fighting aboutformats.Skye - For being grumpy about the entirething. You don’t change, boy-o.FASA - For Shadowrun, a damned addictinggame. Mike Mulvihill, for answering mystupid questions and for being a generaldecent guy, even for a corp employee...

Of course, thank you to everyone who wroteand submitted something. I couldn’t havedone it without you. To those who submittedartwork for the cover, I decided to leave thattill a later issue.

And finally, William Gibson for theNeuromancer book on tape, which I’ve wornout listening to over and over sinceChristmas.

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ContactingContacting thetheeditoreditorandandSubmissionsSubmissionsI can be reached at fro@lis.ab.ca andfro@sara.mmlc.nwu.edu, first addresspreferred, please. I can also be contacted onthe ShadowRN mailing list. If you wantsubmission guidelines or just to ask a simplequestion, don’t be afraid, I don’t bite.

LegalitiesLegalities

This magazine is in no way endorsed norproduced by FASA Corporation.Shadowrun and Matrix, are copyrights ofFASA (1992) Neither I, nor the authors ofany individual pieces intend to infringe onFASA’s intellectual property and rights.FASA has not read this material in advance,and as such, none of this material isapproved by FASA.

RedistributionRedistribution

This magazine may be reproduced in anyother computer format only with permissionfrom me. It may be archived on anycomputer system including the internet andfidonet, as long as this copyright notice is notremoved and I am notified.You may not profit from the distribution,nor may you edit the contents and distributethat, you may only edit for your ownpersonal use. You are encourage to print itout and perhaps leave a copy or 2 at a localgaming store. If you do, please leave me anote.

CopyrightsCopyrights

All contents are copyright (1997) by theiroriginal authors. I (Adam Jury) retain thecopyrights over the compilation of material.

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QUICKSILVERQUICKSILVERLIGHTNINGLIGHTNING

by Steven "Bull" Ratkovich<chaos@ncweb.com>

"Drek" I muttered to myself as I dodged thesinuous black scorpion tail that lashed outat me. Before me stood the biggest damnedscorpion I'd ever seen in my virtual life, andit was black. in the Matrix, black meant onething: Black IC, the deadliest form ofIntrusion Countermeasures. And this wasbig, even for corp IC.

My brain buzzed at speeds far greater thanmost norms ever achieve in a lifetime as Iscanned the IC, looking for a weak spot inthe program. One mistake, and that couldend my career for good, leaving me as abrainless vegetable, if I survive at all.Finally I managed to find a weak spot in thecode. I swung back the massive ax that myIcon carried, and swung with full force atthe base of the creature's tail, my Real lifefingers flying over my cyberdeck's keyboardas my attack program ripped into the codingof the IC.

The ax severed the tail, and with a lash, theIC exploded. In the same instant, thevirtual reality of the Aztechnology computersystem started flashing red. Drek, theyknew I was there now. I had to hurry.

I flew through the nodes, stoppingoccasionally to scan for more IC, this timetrying to rely on Stealth more than mydeck's strength. if I got dumped form thesystem now, I might never get the infoJohnny and I needed to finish this run.

My name's Bull. At least, that's my namenow. I've had others, and still have onemore, but that's the one almost everyone

knows me by. I'm a decker, as well as anOrk. I know, that's odd. I'm used to it.After all, aren't all Orks big and dumb?Right.

Anyways, I'm a Shadowrunner as well,which explains why I'm breaking intoAztechnologies computer system, trying tofind some classified data on a formeremployee, and a top secret project. Mypartner is Johnny 99. He's a spell slinger,an Amerind Shaman following Coyote. Wewere hired to get some data for a guy callinghim Mr. Johnson. Yeah, I've heard that onebefore. but he offered a decent amount ofcash, so now I'm slogging it through one ofthe nastiest computer systems in the worldtrying to get a lowdown on some slot I'venever met for I guy I don't know. Ain't lifegrand?

Well, I cruised down a couple of datalines,then turned left at the next data intersection,and stepped into a huge datastore. Aztech ofCleveland's matrix was custom sculpted, andthe whole fragging thing looked for all theworld one of those ancient Incan or Mayantemples, and this datastore was no exception.Row upon row of cases held scrolls, millionsof them, each one representing a data file inthe computers memory banks. I sighed, thenstarted uploading Al, my search smartframe.

Several nanoseconds later, a small creaturewith glasses, a pick-axe tied to his back, andholding a lantern appeared before me. I'dmodeled this frame to represent a Gnome,and he was programmed to scan data forme, leaving me free to deal with anyproblems that arose.

"Whatcha need, boss." Al asked in a highpitched voice."I need some data. Find out anything youcan here about Kano Serennto, and aproject called Quicksilver. Pull and copyanything related to either of them. I browse

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the files later and sort through them. It's aquick pull today."

Al nodded, then went to work, scanningthrough the scrolls faster than I couldfollow. I watched him work for a fewseconds, then spun as I heard a soundbehind me.

Running up the hallway leading to thedatastore were two huge cats, possiblypanthers. I'm not really up on my animalspecies, and this wasn't the time to worryabout that anyways. I pulled my axe as theycharged, and steadied myself. More fraggingblack IC. Whatever it was I was looking for,Aztech certainly didn't want anyone findingit.

I blocked the first's charge with the haft ofmy virtual axe, and shoved it off my as thesecond leaped on me. It's claws raked largegashes in my armor program, but didn'tquite penetrate. I kicked the cat off, and thetwo panthers circled me warily, looking foran opportunity to strike. I tried to keepthem focused on me, hoping that theywouldn't notice Al who was still pluggingaway on the data. If they decided to attackhim, he'd be a sitting duck. Al had no realdefensive abilities, as he was mostly made ofsearch programs and empty memory.

I watched the two panthers for a fewnanoseconds, then launched my MirrorImage program. It created a duplicate ofmyself, and then mimicked my movements.The two panthers looked slightly startled atthis, then split up to deal with both of myicons. I sent my duplicate running backdown the hallway, hoping to lead at least oneof the IC constructs off, leaving me free todeal with only one of the things.Sure enough, one of the panthers followed.One nice thing about IC, is that while it maybe powerful, it still is incredibly stupid.That left only one for me to tangle with, and

that definitely tipped the odds in my favor.Compared to the Scorpion I'd dealt withearlier, this thing was a kitten.

The cat circled me again, and I drew backmy axe, intending to go on the offensive withthis thing. I stepped forward and swung myblade toward it, but in a flash, it wassuddenly gone. then I heard a "click" fromboth sides. I turned to the left to see what itwas, and saw several darts fly from hiddenalcoves in the walls. I felt several darts hitme from both sides. Drek! A trap. And Ifell for it... Damned overconfidence...

I looked up and saw both the panthers re-appear in front of me. I dropped to myknees as my vision went fuzzy. My musclesfelt filled with lead, and I couldn't lift myaxe.

"Boss!" Al's voice called out from behindme. he sounded like he was a million milesaway. "I got it all!"

In the Real World, I struggled to talk.Interacting with the real world whiledecking is difficult enough under the bestcircumstances. I don't know what I got hitwith, but now it was almost an impossibility.I struggled as the panthers got closer andcloser, finally managing to croak out theword "Pull". Fortunately, Johnny's watchedover mymeatbod enough times to know when I'm introuble, and he pulled the jack out of myskull as soon as I said pull.

The virtual world flickered, then vanished.I sat in the bright light of my apartment,staring at Johnny for several seconds, thecollapsed on my face as darkness overtookme.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Friday NightFriday NightChaosChaosThomas Deeny<thomas@cooper8.com>

Here's the first adventure I ran for mygroup. It's got tridnet, BTLs, corps, and abid to take over the police service of theSprawl. This adventure takes place inDallas/Fort Worth, CAS. Your mileage mayvary.

Dallas/Fort Worth Background:

Lone Star doesn't have a contract as thepolice service in D/FW. The police force isthe DFWPD, the descendant of the currentday Dallas and Fort WorthPolice Departments. The Big D and the Fortare two of the larger cities that still havetheir own police forces, but in reality, theDFWPD is more of a puppet of theCorporate Court than Lone Star is.DFWPD is reviewed every two years, and asthe time of this adventure takes place, theDFWPD contract is up for evaluation intwo, three months.

The Texas Rangers are similar to theMetroplex Guards you have in Seattle,UCAS. The Rangers are a cross betweenstate police and the Army of Texas. They'llbe called in during a state of emergency, alikely case in this scenario, "Friday NightChaos".

"Friday Night Chaos" Background:

Last spring, Spectrum HoloflixEntertainment Systems (SHES) laid offseventy people, eventually rehiring 35 of theemployees. Cooper Vertz was one of thoselaid off but not rehired. Cooper was anencoder for SHES's simsense chips, one ofthe better encoders in the biz, a rising star.He and some other ex SHES employeesbegan their own company, ZeeZeeFlash(ZZF). It was a very small operation, noteven denting SHES's market share. Butthings didn't work out to well for ZZF.They were about to go under by mid autumnwhen Gary DeMichaels stepped in.

Gary DeMichaels is the head of D/FW LoneStar's Security Operations, in charge of thesecurity offices at the BeLTV compound andother smaller contract holders. Gary knewthat the DFWPD was going to get thecontract once again, and once again, LoneStar will be shut out. But if somehow,DFWPD could be shown to be unable tohandle their cities, and Lone Star troopscould come in and have a good showing justbefore the review - Lone Star might have achance at getting the contract. But how?

DeMichaels found his answer in Vertz.Desperate to keep his company afloat, heagreed to create BTLs for DeMichaels, aspecial type of BTL. This one-shot BTLchip, which they called Silver Tiger,delievered a sense of euphoria to the user.But hidden in Vertz's code was anotherprogram, one that made the chipheadsusceptable to visual subliminals. A tapewas worked up, and given to a trideo pirate.The pirate piggybacked the tape'ssubliminals onto Channel 47's popularganger show, "Firefight This Week". FTWairs at 9pm on Fridays.

The subliminal tape's message? Kill, kill,kill.

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One week ago, the chips hit the streets in asmall area, a test group. The test was asuccess, they (Vertz and DeMichaels) think.Two go-gangs went wild, tearing up theirturf, geeking whoever they came across.DFWPD had their hands full.

Cooper Vertz found out how well the chipsworked, and the next Wednesday,blackmailed DeMichaels. 1 million Nuyen,or the real cops find out what Lone Star'sRegional Director was up to. DeMichaelsagreed, but brought in a street assassinnamed St. John from Quebec City to killVertz. "Make it look like it's part of theFriday night chaos," he explained to thefemale assassin. She went out and hired astreet gang, the Reverends, to geek Vertzbefore the city erupts.

Adventure start:

The adventure starts about 6:30 on Fridayevening. The runners are outside, walkingdown a pedwalk when two bikes and a carcome towards them. The vehicles slow asthey pass a crowd of people on the street.One of the Reverend gang members insidethe car shouts out, "Hey, Cooper!" AsCooper looks up, the gang members openfire on the crowd, killing Cooper Vertz, twobystanders, and wounding three others. Thegang vehicles take off, passing the runners.The gang doesn't care about the runners andwon't do anything to the runners unless thePCs do something. Remember, the gangershave at least two SMGs and one shotgun.

Later that night, the Reverends meet withSt. John to get thier pay. Shewill kill all ofthe gang members. The Player Characterswill be nowhere around when this happens.

The runners should realize that the city iscoming apart. Gangs mainly are attackingwhoever they can find. Some things youmight want to include are: A scene where

two different gangs (who usually worktogether) are fighting each other and have aDoc Wagon ambulance pinned down. Havesirens in the distance and whizzing policecars rush by. Helicopters with spotlightsshining on the streets. The runners comeacross a couple fighting in front of anelectronics store. One of the fighters has thechip in and caught a glimpse of the"Firefight this Week" episode being shownon 25 trideo units in the window of thestore. Don't forget looters, perhaps even abuilding goes up in fire and the firefightersrush to the rescue.

10:30 pm, Friday:

City Manager Abernathy orders an 11:00pm city-wide curfew as DFWPD scramblesto contain the madness. Sporadic riotingthoughout the night until about 2 am wheneverything calms down.

Saturday, early afternoon:

One of the runners gets a call from thierfixer with a job offer. Meet a Mr. Johnsonlater that day at such and such a time, suchand such a place.

Mr. Johnson is from Tandy Corp., a rathersuccessful computer house based indowntown Fort Worth (in 205x, Tandy is asbig as Apple three years ago, or IBM tenyears ago). Last night, about 9:15, fiveexecutives killed each other in one of theboardrooms in Tandy Tower. They killedeach other with their bare hands, one ofthem crushed another's skull with a pottedplant's base. All five died. "All five had achip like this in their chipjacks," says Mr.Johnson, holding out a burnt out BTL chipwith a holo of a silver tiger on it. Mr. Jwants to hire the runners to find out wherethe BTL’s came from. Then tell him. He'lltake it from there.

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Next Friday, 9:00pm:

If they haven't caught DeMichaels by now orstopped the subliminals from beingpiggybacked onto Firefight This Week, theboth cities will erupt in Friday Night Chaos.The City Managers will decide to call in theRangers, declaring a state of emergency.DeMichaels will be in meetings with the CityManagers and be allowed to bring in LoneStar's operatives. The piggybacking willcontinue for a few days, diminishing as LoneStar is able to put on a good show. Soonafter, it appears that Lone Star wasresponsible for saving the cities. It lookslike Lone Star will get the Police Servicesjob.

If they find ZeeZeeFlash but don't make aconnection to DeMichaels and just tell theTandy Forces where the BTLs came from,the ZeeZeeFlash building will be a smokingcrater by next morning. DeMichaels willhave gotten away with it, and may try thesubliminals on Friday, hoping that there willstill be enough product out there to causeenought damage. In two weeks from thisFriday, all of these Silver Tiger BTL chipswill have been used up.

This is how it played out with my group:

Friday night, the PCs witness the Cooper hitbut don't attack the Reverends as theyescape. The runners get Cooper's ID whenthe ambulances arrive to cart off the deadand wounded. One PC contacts his gangboss buddy once it's after 9pm, gang boss(and gang) disdains cybertech, so they aren'tchipheads. They don't know what is goingon. Runners witness and take partin a three-way fight (wiz-kid gang vs.ambulance vs. razorgirl gang). They hearabout some members of PC's buddy's ganggetting jumped by an unknown group. PCcontacts gang boss buddy, mentions theReverends and finds out that the Reverendswere found in small, wet piles in a parkinggarage. Hmm. Runners get caught behindthe curfew, bunk out with PC's buddy'sgang.

Next day, Mr. J hires the crew. They takethe chip to a technician contact whorecognizes the work as containing SHESproprietary code. He also noticed some

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coding in there that didn't make any sense,like there was a second program runningwhile the euphoria program was running.

A visit to SHES and to SHES's datastores,cross-checking with a list of casualties fromFriday night turns up a familiar name,Cooper Vertz. One PC meets with abuddy/potential girlfriend who works forLone Star Security Services at the BeLTVcompound. He mentions something about acase he's working on. She prods him formore details on what he's working on (she'san innocent with regards to DeMichael'splans). She tells the runner that if she letsLone Star in on what's going on, she'll getnoticed in the department and possibly getadvanced in the system. In turn, she'll seethat he gets a few Lone Star contracts. Itlooks like a good deal, and he tells hereverything. The next day, she tells hersupervisors, hoping that she'll get the creditwhen the BTL bust goes down. It goesstraight up to the Lone Star RegionalDirector, who is also the Bad Guy NumeroUno of this scenario. Bad call.

That PC returns home to find hey hey hey,his home has been broken into, andthere are the culprits. Four undercovercorrupt Lone Star cops are here, ready tobreak a few legs and arms. They want toknow who is working with the PC. Theydidn't know the PC was an EarthElementalist with two Elementals ready foraction. Big fight scene. Lone Star is ontothem.

Later, the PCs track down Cooper's housewhere they find hidden away a computerpad with schematics of the chip and partialcode for the subliminalprogram. They also find a box of chips.They head to the ZeeZeeFlash offices. Smallwarehouse type of place, many boxes ofchips. A Lone Star FRT (dressed in Tandycolors) staking out the place charges in

(thinking the PCs are committing a littleB&E, which they were). Big battle.Scramble. Escape. Runners come acrossDeMichaels' name in some files stolen fromZZF.

Investigation into the Reverends massacreturns up a survivor who describes theassassin to the players. After a bit oflegwork, they find out the assassin's streetname, and find that St. John is going to havea meet with her Mr. Johnson. Runners setup to bug the meet with help of the DFWPD(one of the runners has an Undercover Copcontact). Mr. Johnson is in fact GaryDeMichaels. DeMichaels wants the runnerskilled. St. John leaves, the PC shaman has ahearth spirit confuse DeMichaels and someof the runners KODeMichaels, DFWPD grabs DeMichaels.The street sam PC and chromed elf PCchase after St. John. Battle scene in aparking garage, chrome against chrome. OurHeroes (tm) win, St. John is left in a fewsmall, wet piles.

Tandy pays them the second half of thepayment.

The next day, the runners head over toZeeZeeFlash. The storehouse is empty.

Editors note:Since there seems to be a lot of interest inthe Dallas / Fort Worth area, I will beincluding future scenarios by Thomas Deenyin upcoming issues.

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Urban SpiderUrban Spidertotemtotem

by Steven "Bull" Ratkovich<chaos@ncweb.com>

Spider is many things. He is a wily hunter,often able to defeat creatures more powerfulthan he. He is a patient captor, waiting forhours on end to catch his prey withoutmoving. He is a builder, creating andfortifying his home. He is a protector,defending his home and his web with his life,if need be. Shamans and Shamanic Adeptsfollowing Spider are all of these things aswell.

Shamanic Adepts following the ways of theUrban Spider are very territorial, by nature,and will adopt a "home turf" to be their own.This is referred to as the Sham-Ads "web".The web can be of any size, ranging from asingle building to a city block, or even a citydistrict. More powerful Spider Shamans andSham Ads have been known to adopt entirecities as their webs. A Spider Shamans webmay never decrease in size, although he mayexpand it as he grows in power (at the GM'sdiscretion). He will strive to protect thisterritory from other predators.

While a Spider Sham-Ad may hunt in hisown territory, no other may without hispermission. Those that seek to harm or huntothers in the Sham-Ads territory will meetwith swift retribution from the Sham Ad. Heis both the protector, and the predator, of his"web".

The Spider Sham Ad gains the Home TurfBonus, which operates very similar to theHome Turf Advantage from the SRCompanion. this gives him a - 1 to all skillbased tests within his "web". If the Sham-Adis operating outside his territory, he loses

these benefits. Also, should he fail to"protect" his "web" adequately, he loses thesebonuses until he regains favor with Spider.

A Spider Shaman gains the Home TurfAdvantage as well, but additionally gains +1dice to all illusion spells and Combat spellswhile on his home turf, as spider will lie inwait and try and trap his prey, although he'sa fierce warrior when necessary. These spellbonuses are tied in with his Home Turfadvantage, and should he lose the Home Turffor whatever reason, he will lose the spellbonuses as well.

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Spidey-runnerSpidey-runnerarchetypearchetype

by Steven "Bull" Ratkovich<chaos@ncweb.com>

Name: Stephen Parker, aka. Spider-ManRace: HumanSex: MaleAge: 18Description: Shamanic Adept, following theUrban Spider Totem.

Body: 3Quickness: 6Strength: 5Charisma: 3Intelligence: 6Willpower: 3Essence: 6Magic: 6Reaction: 6Initiative: 2d6 (+6 Reaction)

SKILLSAthletics: 6 (7)Projectile Weapons: 4>Wrist Throwers: 6>>Web Shooters: 8Unarmed Combat: 6>B/R Web Shooters: 5Stealth: 4 (5)

POWERS6th Sense (3 pts)Extra Initiative- 1 dice (1 pt)Traceless Walk (.5)Adhesion (1 pt) (See next page)Stealth +1 (.25 pt)Athletics +1 (.25 pts)

GEARWeb Shooters (See next page)Form Fitting Armor (Costume)

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WEB SHOOTERS

The Web Shooters are a pair of wristmounted devices that can fire a stream ofliquid that hardens almost instantly (aboutthree seconds after contact with air) into avery tough (strength 8) and incredibly sticky"webbing". This can be used for tying up orcapturing people, as well as for "webswinging", a method of travel that involvesfiring webbing from building to building andswinging on it as if on a rope.

The web shooters have 5 small canisters oneach wrist, all linked to the firing mechanism.Each canister contains enough of the "web"compound to fire 100 meters of webbing, thusbetween both wrist units, a full charge willallow the wearer to fire up to 1000 meters ofwebbing.

Web Shooters are fairly rare and hard tofind, thus they have a fairly high cost.

Cost: 2000 Nuyen per shooter100 Nuyen per canister of webbing.Street Index is 3.

ADHESION POWER

Adhesion power created by:Georg Greve<greve@FUSEBOX.HANSE.DE>Many thanks to him for allowing us to use it.

"Adhesion" - Cost: 1.0

The Adhesion power gives the PA the abilityto make parts of his body adhesive to objects(it works more like magnetism than glue butit works on all material). The adhesion powerhas a very limited range (only up to the outerborder of the PA's aura) and can becontrolled in a way that allows the PA to say"I make my left palm and my right foodadhesive" and can be turned on/off instantly.When combined with the "Traceless Walk"power the Adept doesn't apply pressure/forceto the object he is adhesive to. Pressuresensors will not recognize him and so on (seeTraceless Walk power in Awakenings).

This power is perfect for climbing buildings,hanging under ceilings and walking along aceiling upside down...

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FASA ReviewsFASA Reviews

by Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>

Lately, a lot of people seem to want to knowwhich sourcebooks to get or to avoid, andwhy. So, I thought to myself, why not just putreviews for nearly all of them into one place?Give a short review, talk about theirusefulness, stuff like that. FASA’s cataloggives an overview of what’s for sale, but youcan’t expect it to be an objective source ofinformation about the books. So, here is anarticle that might prove useful to thoseplanning to shell out some cash for asourcebook or two in the near future—everything is IMHO, of course.You’ll notice that I don’t discuss anyadventures; mainly this is because that a)would add a lot of work, b) would likely spoilthe fun for the players, and c) I don’t owneven half of the ones that have beenpublished. There are also no net.sourcebooksin this list, though I may do a similar articleabout them in the future. Then again, I mightbe considered biased when it comes to these...*grin*

Goth <brooks@odie.ee.wits.ac.za> compiledthe first net.RPG.Product.Ratings ofShadowrunShadowrun products in early 1995, whichconsisted of a survey in which each productwas to be rated between 1 (sucks) and 10(super) by the participants; 25 people sent inthe completed form, and I added the averagerating from the survey for each ShadowrunShadowrunproduct in this sourcebook review, as well asone quote I found interesting from theComments section of the survey (and no, Ididn’t include any of the comments I made init).

FormatFormat

Each book discussed below is rated for thefollowing aspects:Title: Title: obviously, the book’s full title as itappears on the front cover. In brackets is theyear in which the book came out.Author(s):Author(s): who is to blame for writing it.Number:Number: a split figure. The first part isFASA’s product number, the second, insquare brackets, is the book’s ISBN number,to make ordering easier.Price:Price: the price in U.S. dollars as listed onthe back of the bookPages:Pages: the number of pages, obviouslySections:Sections: the sections (chapters) into whichthe book is divided, in the order they appearin the book.Overview:Overview: a short general discussion of thebook, from which it should also be apparentas to how useful this book is to which kindsof players.Rating:Rating: the rating (from 1 to 10) that thisproduct received on theNet.RPG.Products.Ratings for ShadowrunShadowrun;only for books published up until late 1994.Comment:Comment: the one comment I picked fromthe survey.Notes:Notes: any notes to the publication, if any.

If anything is marked with a question mark,I’m not sure of whether or not the data iscorrect, or I simply don’t know.

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FASA PublicationsFASA Publications

Awakenings (1995)Awakenings (1995)Authors:Authors: Stephen Kenson, Robert Cruz,Diane Piron-Gelman, Sharon TurnerMulvihillNumber:Number: 7120 [1-55560-273-8]Price:Price: $15.00Pages:Pages: 160Sections:Sections: Introduction, What You Need ToKnow About Magic, The Ways Of Magic, TheMagical Arsenal, The Astral Advantage,Adepts, Voudoun, Major Mojo, Rules, StreetGrimoire, Archetypes, TablesOverview:Overview: An advanced magic sourcebook,like TheThe GrimoireGrimoire in some ways, and unlikeit in others, AwakeningsAwakenings is one you mightwant to stay away from until you’ve gottenthe hang of the magic rules presented in SRIISRIIand The The GrimoireGrimoire, as it builds on theinformation given there. The workings andtheories behind magic in the Sixth World areexplained in the usual neo-anarchist fashionof presenting a “real world” text withcomments added by various people, whichmakes some things clearer but also raisesmore questions. The first part of the book isdevoted to such game world discussions ofmagic and its applications, with the secondpart consisting of rules expansions andclarifications. Included are rules for physicaladepts, new adept powers, a system forpracticing voudoun (voodoo), new totemsincluding some for paranormal animals, anda load of new spells. Then added on are somenew player character archetypes and tableslisting all spells, totems, and physical adeptabilities published up until 1995.Rating/Comment:Rating/Comment: wasn’t out yet when theratings were compiledNotes:Notes: this is the full version of a file thatfloated around the net in early 1995, usuallyknown as the Neo-Anarchists’ Guide toNeo-Anarchists’ Guide toMagicMagic (NAGM) or Neo-Anarchists’ Guide toNeo-Anarchists’ Guide tothe Awakenedthe Awakened (NAGW).

Aztlan (1994?)Aztlan (1994?)Author(s):Author(s): Nigel D. FindleyNumber:Number: 7119 [1-55560-257-6]Price:Price: $18.00?Pages:Pages: ?Sections:Sections: ?Overview:Overview: a book I don’t own, so I can’t sayanything much about what’s in it. I do knowit’s about Aztlan (the former Mexico) andthat weird things happen there...Rating/Comment:Rating/Comment: brought out after thesurveyNotes:Notes: as said, I don’t own this one.

Bug City (1995)Bug City (1995)Author(s):Author(s): Rob Cruz, Tom Dowd, MikeNystul, Christopher Kubasik, Diane Piron-GelmanNumber:Number: 7117 [1-55560-253-3]Price:Price: $18.00Pages:Pages: 160 + 8 color + fold-out color mapSections:Sections: Welcome to Bug City, City UnderSiege, Windy City, Living In Oblivion,Insects Among Us, The Core, GamemasterInformationOverview:Overview: Bug CityBug City deals with what happensin Chicago in the summer of 2055 and later.If you’re not a gamemaster, you might wantto stay away from this book (and thisoverview) until your gamemaster says it’s OKfor you to read it, though. As said, Bug CityBug Citydeals with Chicago, and as the name suggestsit has something to do with insect spirits.Namely, some organizations have beensecretly breeding tens or even hundreds ofthousands of them underneath Chicago, andwhen something goes wrong, they breakloose. The UCAS seals off the city, and letsnobody in or out in order to keep theproblem contained. Some time later,somebody even uses a... you didn’t think Iwas going to tell you that, now did you?Anyway, if you’re a gamemaster and plan onthrowing some nasty surprises on yourplayers, Bug CityBug City is the book to buy: it offersa complete campaign setting, which I tend to

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describe as “Combine Mad Max and Alien,and then set it in Sarajevo,” and because it’stotally isolated it is a gamemaster’splayground.Concerning the artwork and layout, this isdifferent than most people will be used to. Atfirst, it’s a bit difficult, as it seems to attemptto give an impression of the chaos in Chicago.Once you get used to it it’s okay, though Ithink it could have been done a little bitbetter.Rating/Comment:Rating/Comment: the book wasn’t out yet.

California Free State (1996)California Free State (1996)Authors:Authors: Lori Methany, Michael Mulvihill,Steve Perrin, Diane Piron-Gelman, andothers.Number:Number: 7209 [1-55560-193-6]Price:Price: $18.00Pages:Pages: 160 + 8 color + fold-out color mapSections:Sections: Introduction, The CaliforniaQuestion, Free State Fast Facts, NorthernCrescent, Central Valley, San Francisco BayArea, Big Sur Coast, Los Angeles, MojaveDesert, The Players, Game Information,Maps, IndexOverview:Overview: the now out-of-print Neo-Neo-Anarchists’ Guide to North AmericaAnarchists’ Guide to North America dealtwith California Free State in one of itschapters, but this sourcebook expands on thedata given there, and updates it to 2057. Ifanything, it only makes the situation worsefrom the one described in the older book,making California a patch-work of semi-independent areas more or less under threatfrom each other and the countries borderingon the Free State. Anyone planning to set acampaign in California will need thissourcebook, and for those just visiting for awhile it can also provide good adventureideas. However, if only a short visit isplanned, the information in the Neo-Neo-Anarchists’ Guide to North AmericaAnarchists’ Guide to North America will besufficient for most gamemasters. Also addedare some new rules for California-specificthings, although these mainly deal with

magical side-effects and complications. Thereare also rules for mutant and toxic critters,which can be useful in other areas of theworld as well. In the back of the book aremaps of the various parts of California, andone for the whole state.Rating/Comment:Rating/Comment: published after 1995, sonot available.

Corporate Security HandbookCorporate Security Handbook(1995)(1995)Author:Author: Michael E. Colton, Rob Cruz, TomDowd, Diane Piron-Gelman, Sam Lewis,Mike Mulvihill, Sharon Turner MulvihillNumber:Number: 7118 [1-55560-261-4]Price:Price: $18.00Pages:Pages: 128 + 8 colorSections:Sections: Introduction, History, PhysicalSecurity, Technical Security, MagicalSecurity, Matrix Security, PersonnelSecurity, Executive Protection, Behind TheCurtain, Ares Security International Fall2055 Catalog, Gamemaster Information,Corporate Security Personnel, ArchetypesOverview:Overview: Promised as being “On thehorizon” in a 1993 FASA flyer, this bookfinally came out in 1995. At first glance, it’s agood book, but when you get a little deeperinto it, you soon start thinking “I could havecome up with those ideas too!” The book iswritten as a Knight Errant brochure on howto secure your corp’s facilities, and as such itprovides a good many ideas on how to do justthat in the ShadowrunShadowrun game, but like I saidbefore, there’s virtually nothing you can’tthink of yourself if you apply a bit ofcommon sense coupled to a little research.One nice idea is the Fat Aerial Bacteria(FAB), which can be used to block thepassage of astrally-projecting magicians,though nobody seems to agree on how itactually works. The Ares Catalog bitcontains lots of things useful for security inStreet Samurai CatalogStreet Samurai Catalog-style, thoughvirtually no new weapons except two squirtguns and a paintball weapon. Also in the

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book are typical security troopers, and threenew archetypes of freelance security people.Rating/Comment:Rating/Comment: not applicable.

Corporate Corporate Shadowfiles — AShadowfiles — AShadowrun Sourcebook (1993)Shadowrun Sourcebook (1993)Author:Author: Nigel D. FindleyNumber:Number: 7113 [1-55560-211-8]Price:Price: $18.00Pages:Pages: 152 (incl. 32 color)Sections:Sections: Introduction, Big Brother is Here,Megacorporate Primer, Doing Business,Competition, Zurich-Orbital Habitat, RatingCorpsOverview:Overview: Unlike many other ShadowrunShadowrunsourcebooks, Corporate Corporate ShadowfilesShadowfiles is notan “open the cover and out pop usefulthings” book. Don’t get me wrong, this is agood book and I like it, but its subject matteris not useful to most shadowrunners. Thebook deals with the way megacorporationsmake money, and has a chapter on givingcorps ratings, in order that these ratings canbe used to show the effects of shadowrunsmade against those corps. The last section ofthe book is probably the most useful toplayers, because it gives information on theeight biggest corporations in the ShadowrunShadowrunworld. The main reason to buy this bookwould be to get background information onthe world in general and corporations inparticular, and gamemasters can find ideasfor adventures in here (preventing corporatewar is always nice), but as a game supplementit is only moderately useful.Rating:Rating: 6.9Comment:Comment: “This had more useful info thanmy business textbook!!!”

>>>>>[ Chummers, enough of this drek.Here’s something you might actually finduseful <<<<<] ---Wild Angel (06:03/02-06-58)

>>>>>[ Who the heck was that? And whyare they pulling drek like that? ] <<<<< --- Spewfing Fewl (18:24/02-08-58)

>>>>>[ Can we get back to my reviews?Puhleasse? No offense, but I don’t typethese up for my own good! ]<<<<< --- Gurth ( 04:51 / 02-10-58)

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Cybertechnology — A ShadowrunCybertechnology — A ShadowrunSourcebook (1995)Sourcebook (1995)Author:Author: Tom DowdNumber:Number: 7119 [1-55560-267-3]Price:Price: $15.00Pages:Pages: 102Sections:Sections: Introduction, Part 1: Cyberware,Welcome To The Cutting Edge, Life On TheWire, Comfortably Numb, Cyberware Rules,Part 2: Cybermancy, Beyond The Pale,Cybermancy, Magic And Death, CybermancyRules, Chrome Kings, Tables, IndexOverview:Overview: this is the book that those wholove the Street Samurai CatalogStreet Samurai Catalog andespecially ShadowtechShadowtech will want to own. Thefirst part of the book follows a street samurainamed Hatchetman as he recovers from anear-fatal incident, with him describing howand why he got his cyberware, followed by acatalog-type section with new cyberware—things from lights in your eyes to cyberarmswith built-in gyromounts—although it suffers(IMHO) from the ShadowrunShadowrun attitude ofonly including things that have a direct use inthe game. A few are also a bit over the top,like the oral weapons and the extra arm.Then there’s expanded rules covering justabout everything involved with cyberware;this section has some rules that appeared inprevious books, and gives yet another systemfor cyberware damage (ShadowtechShadowtech still hasthe best one, if you ask me). There is no newbioware in this book, by the way.The second half of the book talks aboutcybermancy: getting more than 6 Essencepoints’ worth of cyberware, without dyingand without using alpha or higher grade’ware. This has some inherent risks, and isvery hard to get, but it can be done. It seemsto me like this will mostly be a gamemaster’stool, though. Then there is a chapter withsome Prime RunnersPrime Runners-type characters whoall have lots of cyberware, and a table withall the cyber- and bioware that has appearedin ShadowrunShadowrun books.Rating/Comment:Rating/Comment: not available.

Denver — The City of ShadowsDenver — The City of Shadows(1994)(1994)Authors:Authors: Nigel D. Findley, Bill Lenox, TomWong & Tom DowdNumber:Number: 7212 [1-55560-236-3]Price:Price: $25.00Pages:Pages: 168 in the players’ book, 62 in thegamemaster’s bookSections: Sections: Players’ book: Introduction, ReadAll About It, What You Need to Know, HowIt Got This Way, How It is Now, The RealPower, The Nexus, Aztlan Sector, CASSector, Pueblo Sector, Sioux Sector, UCASSector, Ute Sector, IndexGamemaster’s book: Introduction, Spirit ofDenver, People, Locations & Organizations,RulesOverview:Overview: Yep. Two books in a box. The boxis of the same size as FASA uses forBattleTechBattleTech products (if any of you play thatone), with one of the books being for theplayers to read, and the other the property ofthe gamemaster. The players’ book is set upas a Neo-A guide to Denver, in the familiarstyle, and contains no game rules whatsoever.It also doesn’t tell the whole truth, as usual,as this is up to the gamemaster to decide byusing his/her gamemaster book. Each of thecity’s sectors is described, with its notablelocations, but the book does more than justgive a city description. It also spreads rumorsabout the Nexus, a sort of decker-heaven (ifyou can get in), and its inhabitants, and thebook gives a history of Denver as well as agood description of the current fucked-upsituation (and that is just anunderstatement).Taking the gamemaster book to hand, this isset up in such a way that the players couldread it if they want, and still not know whatis truly going on. You see, the gamemaster isgiven three choices for everything described,so (s)he can choose which to use in thecampaign. The rest of the gamemaster bookis a section with rules; these include credstickrules (from Sprawl SitesSprawl Sites), legalities rules

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(from ShadowtechShadowtech or Sprawl SitesSprawl Sites), securityand search rules (from the Neo Anarchists’Neo Anarchists’Guide to Real LifeGuide to Real Life), and more previously-published rules as well as some new rules onpolice response times and typical equipmentused by Denver border guards.The idea behind this set is to run a campaignin Denver after you’ve bought it. If you planon staying in Seattle (or wherever), there’s noneed to bother buying this campaign set.Rating:Rating: 7.9Comment:Comment: “Looks good. A few holes in theplots, needs an expansion on the “FreeMarket” mechanics, but lots of potential for agamemaster running a group of smugglers.”Notes:Notes: The box contains a players’ book, agamemaster’s book, a small (about 28 x 44cm) full-color map of the whole of Denver, alarge (about 55 x 90 cm) full-color map ofdowntown Denver, and two credit-card sizedvisitor passes to two different sectors (I gotAztlan and CAS, but there are others too).

DMZ — Downtown MilitarizedDMZ — Downtown MilitarizedZone (1990)Zone (1990)Author:Author: Tom DowdNumber:Number: 7111 [1-55560-132-4]Price:Price: $30.00Pages:Pages: 72 in the rulebook, 46 in thearchetypes bookSections: Sections: Rulebook: Game Stuff, Preparingto Play, Sequence of Play, Movement andActions, Basic Combat, Magic, Motorcycles,Critters, Shadowrunning, Playing the Game,Timeline, Weapons TableOverview:Overview: Ever played BattleTroopsBattleTroops? Likedit? Then DMZDMZ should prove easy enough tolearn: DMZDMZ is BattleTroopsBattleTroops withShadowrunShadowrun-knobs on, plain and simple. Ituses dots for movement purposes (byspending a certain amount of MovementPoints, you can move to the next dot), andalso uses those dots to find weapon and magicranges. The whole BattleTroopsBattleTroops game system

has been overhauled to include typicalShadowrunShadowrun things like magic, critters,motorcycles, and some more of that stuff, butunderneath the glitter it’s still theBattleTroopsBattleTroops system. That’s OK, I likeBattleTroopsBattleTroops, but for ShadowrunShadowrun Isomehow feel it doesn’t come out really right.The system is 2D6-based, instead of thehands-full-of-D6s-based ShadowrunShadowrun rules,and includes rules to convert yourShadowrunShadowrun character to DMZDMZ. What itdoesn’t do is give rules to convert it back, soif you do take your ShadowrunShadowrun characterinto DMZDMZ, prepare to spend a lot of timefiguring out exactly how wounded (s)hecomes out. Anyways, the rules themselves aresuitable for what they try to do: you canspeed up combat by playing DMZDMZ instead ofShadowrunShadowrun. As soon as you’re used to themof course, but they’re not very hard to learnanyway. Still, I had expected a bit more,really.By the way, the Archetypes book is nothingmore than all ShadowrunShadowrun archetypes (fromfirst edition ShadowrunShadowrun and Sprawl SitesSprawl Sites)converted to DMZDMZ stats, plus a few addedextra ones. It also has four scenarios to startyou off.Rating:Rating: 3.7Comment:Comment: “DMZDMZ is a playable but notterribly exciting tactical wargame. We didn’tfind it at all usable for roleplaying as itsresults are strikingly different from theroleplaying combat system’s and much morelethal. A combat-optimized DMZDMZ characterlooks quite different from an optimized SRSRcharacter, and each will die in the others’environment. The damage-track system canbe adapted, though (my SRSR-based homebrewused it).”Notes:Notes: In addition to a rulebook and anarchetypes book, the box contains 2 large(approx. 55 x 85 cm) gray maps with a whitedot pattern; 7 small (about 28 x 42 cm) full-color maps with overprinted dot pattern; 1large (same as size as gray maps) full-colormap, also overprinted with a dot pattern; 16

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plastic figure stands; two six-sided dice; and4 sheets with cardboard countersrepresenting characters, smoke, doors, firingarcs, etc. The weapon stats are conversionsfrom first edition ShadowrunShadowrun weapons, so noFields of FireFields of Fire guns are included, and theweapons don’t always match the secondedition weapon stats.

Fields of Fire (1994)Fields of Fire (1994)Author:Author: Tom DowdNumber:Number: 7114Price:Price: $15.00Pages:Pages: 110Sections:Sections: Introduction, Fields of Fire,Mercenary Equipment, Rules, TablesOverview:Overview: The ShadowrunShadowrun mercenarysourcebook. The first part of the book givesbackground material on what it is like to be amerc, written as an article by a well-knownmerc. The next section is more useful togadget-lovers: in a similar fashion to theStreet Samurai CatalogStreet Samurai Catalog, this provides allsorts of gear, intended for mercenaries.Naturally, this is also useful to just about anyshadowrunner who wants a good gun. Inaddition to new weapons, things such asclimbing gear, military armor, andcommunications systems are also featured, asare a few new vehicles. Then comes the rulesclarifications. These provide optional rules toenhance your game (most are very useful),and rules pertaining to some of the newequipment featured in the book. The finalsection is a huge equipment table, listing justabout all gear officially released by FASA upuntil early 1994, useful as a quick reference.Rating:Rating: 7.2Comment:Comment: “Get some people who know bothguns and the system rather than bootleggingC-Punk’s already garbled munchkin guns.”

Germany Sourcebook (1993?)Authors:Authors: most likely the same as those forDeutschland in den Deutschland in den SchattenSchattenNumber:Number: 7204 [1-55560-186-3]Price:Price: $18.00Pages:Pages: ?Sections:Sections: ?Overview:Overview: What can I say? Maybe that I’venever really read this one—I got the Germanversion, but I haven’t been bothered to alsobuy the English one. What I do know is thatcertain things have been left out of theEnglish version, so if you speak Germanyou’re probably better off buying the originalrather than the translation.Rating:Rating: 6.2

The The Grimoire — The Manual ofGrimoire — The Manual ofPractical Practical Thaumaturgy 15thThaumaturgy 15thEdition, 2053 (1992)Edition, 2053 (1992)Author:Author: Paul R. HumeNumber:Number: 7903 [1-55560-190-1]Price:Price: $15.00Pages:Pages: 142Sections:Sections: Introduction, The Ways, The Arts,The Higher Mysteries, The Beings, ThePlaces, Magical Threats, Spells, IndexOverview:Overview: Magicians, buy this book. Uselessto any other kinds of characters, anymagician will find this one invaluable simplybecause of all the new things it details. Mostof the information presented in TheTheGrimoireGrimoire is immediately useable in anycampaign, provided your character hasenough Good Karma to spend. Things likeinitiations, astral quests, spell design, newspirits, and rules expansions all combine tomake magicians more powerful and moredangerous than ever. The druid rules fromthe London SourcebookLondon Sourcebook are also includedand updated to second edition ShadowrunShadowrun,and some magical threats are introduced,giving gamemasters some very nastysurprises to spring on unwary players.Rating:Rating: 8.3

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Notes:Notes: This is the reworked version of theoriginal GrimoireGrimoire (1989, I think), which isnot included here

London Sourcebook (1991?)London Sourcebook (1991?)Authors:Authors: Carl Sargent & Marc GascoineNumber:Number: 7203 [1-55560-131-6]Price:Price: $15.00Pages:Pages: ?Sections: Sections: ?Overview:Overview: Haven’t got this one either. I didtake a look into it once (thanks, Phill!), andit seemed OK to me. I do know that itcontains rules on druids and ley lines, but Ican’t remember much else.Rating:Rating: 6.2Comment:Comment: “London London sourcebooksourcebook had far toomany geographical inconsistencies (Invernessis NOT on the West coast....)”

Lone Star (1994)Lone Star (1994)Authors:Authors: Nigel D. Findley & Stephen AtkinsNumber:Number: 7115 [1-55560-230-4]Price:Price: $18.00Pages:Pages: 136 + 8 colorSections:Sections: Introduction, Behind the Star,Corporate Structure, Enforcement Arm,Corporate Arm, Personnel, OperationalProcedures, Intelligence Gathering, NewEquipment, Gamemaster Information, IndexOverview:Overview: Everything you always wanted toknow about Lone Star, but were afraid toask! Seriously, this book does a good job oftelling the truth (as far as it can be dug up, ofcourse) behind Lone Star. It goes into almostevery aspect, from corporate politics to thecops on the street, and also has informationabout the equipment and methods used byLone Star employees. Granted, the book doescontradict some information from previousbooks (mainly adventures), but nothing youcan’t live with. The book is most useful forgamemasters, who will be able to judge LoneStar’s response to the players actions mucheasier after reading through the book once ortwice, not to mention having a use for the

stats for typical Lone Star employeesincluded in the back. Players don’t reallyhave much use for it, though as always theymight want to read it anyway. Know youropposition, and all that jazz?Rating:Rating: 7.3Comment:Comment:“More useful than ShadowbeatShadowbeat, it details thecops. If the GM doesn’t use the cops often, oras a real challenge, they may want it and thePC’s may not want them to have it. Adds alot of flavor.”

Native American Nations VolumeNative American Nations VolumeOne (1991)One (1991)Author:Author: Nigel D. FindleyNumber:Number: 7202 [1-55560-130-8]Price:Price: $12.00Pages:Pages: 136Sections:Sections: Peacekeeper: A Prologue,Introduction, The Adventure, Picking Up thePieces, Legwork, Cast of Shadows, PlayerHandouts, Native American Nations, Salish-Shidhe Council, Sioux Nation, PuebloCorporate Council, Ute NationOverview:Overview: The largest part of this book isthe adventure Peacekeeper. What follows onfrom this is a short guide to four of theNative American Nations, described in asimilar way as in most other ShadowrunShadowrunsourcebooks: basic text with comments bypeople who think they have something to say.As with the Neo-Anarchist’s Guide to NorthNeo-Anarchist’s Guide to NorthAmericaAmerica, the information provided doesn’tgo very deep but is sufficient to get some ideaon what is going on in each country. Ipersonally would have liked to see moregame-specific information as well as morethings on topics like how to cross borders,but that is just my personal opinion. Playersmight want to read this book, especially iftheir characters are Native Americans, butotherwise it’s mostly a gamemaster’s book,giving ideas for adventures if you readbetween the lines a bit.Rating:Rating: 5.4

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Comment:Comment: “NAN 1NAN 1 was awful — half of it isa bad adventure module, and the other half isvery shallow and prefunctory. Nothing aboutculture at all.”

Native American Nations VolumeNative American Nations VolumeTwo (1991?)Two (1991?)Author:Author: Nigel D. FindleyNumber:Number: 7207 [1-55560-158-8]Price:Price: $12.00Pages:Pages: ?Sections:Sections: ?Overview:Overview: I haven’t got this one, and I havenever really had the chance to read it either,so I don’t know. I suspect it is much along thelines of Native American Nations VolumeNative American Nations VolumeOneOne. I do know that it has an adventurebacked up with source material, and that itdetails the remaining nations not covered byNAN1NAN1.Rating:Rating: 5.6

The The Neo-Anarchist’s Guide toNeo-Anarchist’s Guide toNorth America (1990 or 1991 –North America (1990 or 1991 –the book contradicts itself)the book contradicts itself)AuthorsAuthors:: A whole lot of peopleNumberNumber:: 7206 [1-55560-135-9]PricePrice:: $15.00PagesPages:: 128 + 6 double-sided fold-out mapsSectionsSections:: Introduction, Neo-Anarchism,California Free State, San Francisco,Confederated American States, Atlanta,Dallas/Fort Worth, Republic of Québec,Québec City, United Canadian and AmericanStates, Federal District of Columbia,Chicago, New York CityOverviewOverview:: What does North America looklike in the 2050s? This is the book thatexplains. Sort of. Even though it claims to bea guide to North America, you will need boththe Native American NationsNative American Nations books, theSeattle SourcebookSeattle Sourcebook, and Tir Tir TairngireTairngire toget a more or less complete picture. This oneis concerned mostly with the areas occupiedby Anglos. Anyway, this Guide describessome areas of North America in the well-

known fashion of text filled with deckercomments, but also gives an idea of what neo-anarchism is all about. The text is supportedby three-color maps in the back of the book:every major city that’s discussed has twomaps, one that shows the complete city andone to illustrate the downtown core, andthere is also a map of almost the whole ofNorth America. All this combined gives areasonable picture of ShadowrunShadowrun’s NorthAmerica, but doesn’t really go into details. Ofcourse, that is to be expected from a bookthat handles an entire continent. As forusefulness, again mostly for the gamemaster,and only if you want to know more about theworld, or if your players want to venture outfrom Seattle to explore the lands beyond.RatingRating:: 6.6CommentsComments:: “Useful. Provides a necessaryview of the old US. Helps to show the newworld order.”NotesNotes:: Out of print.

The The Neo Anarchists’ Guide toNeo Anarchists’ Guide toReal Life (1992)Real Life (1992)AuthorAuthor:: Nigel D. FindleyNumberNumber:: 7208 [1-55560-165-0]PricePrice:: $15.00PagesPages:: 104 + 8 colorSectionsSections:: Introduction, Finding Your Feet,Security Blanket, Fringe of Space, KillerAccessories, Dressed to Kill, DocWagon’sNew Medicine, Seattle on 30¥ a Night,Guarding the Till, Eating Fast andFearlessly, Best of Home Security, SharperImage, One-Way Communication, You AreYour Credstick, RulesOverviewOverview:: Lots of background materialmixed in with useful and less-useful newequipment and rules, the Neo-A Guide toNeo-A Guide toReal LifeReal Life gives an insight into securitysystems, fashion, medical clinics, coffinhotels, credsticks, and a few more things ofinterest to ShadowrunShadowrun players. The book ispretty useful for getting to know a bit moreabout how the world of ShadowrunShadowrun works,

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and what you can expect to encounter in thesprawl. The section on credsticks is reallyjust a slight expansion and reprint of therules in Sprawl SitesSprawl Sites, however. Forgamemasters, the chapters on securityprovide good information on how corps andothers guard their compounds, houses, andplaces of business, while for the fashion-conscious players there are some fashion-weapons and equally-fashionable armor andgoodies (finally! I like useless gadgets for mycharacters...). The last chapter providesspecific game rules for all subjects covered.All in all, I’d say you could do a lot worsethan buy this book.RatingRating:: 7.4CommentComment:: “Useful. Again, it’s backgroundmaterial, but it’s the day to day stuff. Veryhandy. Very little of it will imbalance a game,if any.”NotesNotes:: Stats for things like weapons and gearare included for both first and second editionShadowrun.Shadowrun.

Paranormal Animals of EuropeParanormal Animals of Europe(1993)(1993)AuthorsAuthors:: Carl Sargent, Tom Dowd & MikeColtonNumberNumber:: 7112 [1-55560-199-5]PricePrice:: $18.00PagesPages:: 168 + 8 colorSectionsSections:: Introduction, Preface, AwakenedAnimals, Appendix 1, Appendix 2, Powers ofthe Awakened, World-Wide Distribution,Critter TableOverview:Overview: Very similar to the earlierParanormal Animals of North AmericaParanormal Animals of North America (seebelow), this book details the creatures thatstalk Europe. Gamemasters can baseadventures around these animals, or simplythrow them against the players to make themspend some ammo. Apart from this, the bookis useful as background material, because itgives a short scientific description of theanimal, based on observations made byresearchers, while also adding shadow-

comments based on observations made bynon-researchers, as well as a picture of theanimal and a map showing where you arelikely to encounter it. Be wary of the sizecomparison pictures, as the animals in theseare sometimes grossly out of proportion tothe size they’re supposed to from in the text.In addition to critter descriptions and stats,included is a very much expanded Powersand Weaknesses section (expanded over bothShadowrun Second EditionShadowrun Second Edition andParanormal Animals of North AmericaParanormal Animals of North America),and a stats list of all critters published inShadowrunShadowrun up until 1993, which means ithas virtually all of them. One of the mostuseful parts of the book, apart from the newanimals themselves, is the World-WideDistribution chapter, which gives indicationsfor how you can put European critters inNorth America and the other way around. Bythe way, the beasties of Europe are generallymore powerful than those that lurk in thegood ol’ US of A (RIP).RatingRating:: 6.3

Paranormal Animals of NorthParanormal Animals of NorthAmerica (1990)America (1990)AuthorAuthor:: Nigel D. FindleyNumberNumber:: 7105 [1-55560-123-5]PricePrice:: $12.00PagesPages:: 176 + 8 colorSectionsSections:: Street Smart, Introduction, Powersof the Awakened, Awakened AnimalsOverviewOverview:: Another one for the gamemaster.The only thing this book talks about isawakened critters, so unless you want yourcharacter to have a greater wolverine as apet, this isn’t much use to players. Much thesame comments apply to this book as toParanormal Animals of EuropeParanormal Animals of Europe, so I won’trepeat them; there is a section with expandedPowers and Weaknesses for the critters, butthis is superseded by the same listing inParanormal Animals of EuropeParanormal Animals of Europe—not in theleast because the list in that book is for usewith the second edition rules. Naturally,

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complete game stats for each critter aregiven, as is a quick-reference list of allcritters in the book.RatingRating:: 6.4CommentsComments:: “The animal guides aren’tneeded if you don’t plan on running intoany.”NotesNotes:: The stats in this book are for firstedition ShadowrunShadowrun (at least, in the copy Iown). There are conversions in the back ofthe second edition ShadowrunShadowrun rulebook.

Paradise Lost (1994)Paradise Lost (1994)AuthorAuthor:: ? (Nigel Findley, I think -Fro)NumberNumber:: 7317 [?]PricePrice:: $10.00PagesPages:: ?SectionsSections:: ?OverviewOverview:: Not in my possession, I’m afraid.Like the Native American NationsNative American Nations books,Paradise LostParadise Lost is basically an adventure witha source section bolted on for good measure.Oh, and it’s about Hawaii.RatingRating:: 7.4

Portfolio Of A Dragon:Portfolio Of A Dragon:Dunkelzahn’s Secrets (1996)Dunkelzahn’s Secrets (1996)AuthorsAuthors:: Steve Kenson, Mike Colton, ToddBolling, Jon F. ZeiglerNumberNumber:: 7122 [1-55560-306-8]PricePrice:: $15.00PagesPages:: 112SectionsSections:: Introduction, The Dragon’s LastDance, The Last Testament Of Dunkelzahn,I, Dunkelzahn..., The Players, ShadowlandOn Parade, The Sleeping Dragon, WhoWatches The Watchers?, In The CardsOverviewOverview:: this review could have some bigspoilers if the game you play in hasn’treached August 2057 yet! Consider yourselfwarned... If you’re still reading this, then youprobably already know Dunkelzahn wasassassinated when he was inaugurated asUCAS president, and left a will that raiseslots of questions. Portfolio Of A Dragon:Portfolio Of A Dragon:Dunkelzahn’s SecretsDunkelzahn’s Secrets contains this will, and

takes a look at who benefits (and some of thereasons why), and tries to find out who killedthe Big D (and again: why). In essence, thisbook is one big device for generatingadventures, because a great many of theentries in Dunkelzahn’s will could be turnedinto anything from short one-off adventuresto whole campaigns, in search of an item, thetruth, both, none, or something else entirely.It doesn’t give any concrete adventure plots,but could spark lots of them; for this reason,it can be considered “safe” to read forplayers.Rating/CommentRating/Comment:: not for this one.NotesNotes:: better check with your gamemasterbefore reading this book.

Prime Runners (1994)Prime Runners (1994)AuthorAuthor:: Carl Sargent (?)NumberNumber:: ?PricePrice:: $18.00 (?)PagesPages:: ?SectionsSections:: ?OverviewOverview:: A book with NPCs to put into aShadowrunShadowrun campaign. From what Iunderstand, these are not simple contacts butmore fully-developed NPCs, like the Cast ofShadows section of the FASA-publishedadventures. These NPCs are supposed to behigh-powered, but the ShadowRN grapevinesays that they aren’t really, and that anaverage player team would kick theircollective asses with relative ease. I haven’tactually seen the book, mind you, but anet.publication called NERPS: EdgeNERPS: EdgeRunnersRunners is available, which featurescharacters actually in use by ShadowrunShadowrunplayers—and that one’s free.RatingRating:: 5.2

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Rigger Black Book (1991)Rigger Black Book (1991)AuthorAuthor:: Phillip McGregorNumberNumber:: 7108 [1-55560-169-3]PricePrice:: $15.00PagesPages:: 136 + 8 colorSectionsSections:: Introduction, Civilian Vehicles,Security Vehicles, Drones, Military Vehicles,Vehicle Ratings, Vehicle Operations, VehicleModifications, Vehicle Weapons, Sensors andECM, Vehicle Combat Turn, Revised CombatRules, IndexOverviewOverview:: I’ve heard people complain aboutthat the Rigger Black BookRigger Black Book isn’t reallyuseful, but I disagree. It provides largenumbers of vehicles of all types to populateyour ShadowrunShadowrun campaign with, and moreimportantly, it gives rules for modifyingvehicles. The vehicle combat rules havealmost all been integrated into the secondedition ShadowrunShadowrun rules, as have the revisedcombat rules for personal combat, so youdon’t need to buy the book to get those.Vehicle ratings are expanded over those inbasic ShadowrunShadowrun, and include such things ashow many seats and doors the vehicle has,fuel and engine types, and cargo space. Alsofeatured are new weapons, though mostlymissiles and cannons for military-gradevehicles; not something street riggers can putonto their modified Westwind 2000 easily.The book is moderately useful to characterswho just want a car or bike; riggers, on theother hand, will find it very useful because ofthe large number of vehicles andmodifications to choose from.RatingRating:: 6.3CommentComment:: “RBBRBB, IMHO, was very vague.Vehicle mod rules seem arbitrary in places,and just what the heck is a CF, anyway?Area? Volume? Mass? Weight?”Notes:Notes: stats are for first edition ShadowrunShadowrunin my copy of the book. The ShadowrunShadowrunSecond EditionSecond Edition rulebook has conversionguidelines.

Seattle Sourcebook (1990)Seattle Sourcebook (1990)AuthorAuthor:: Boy F. Peterson Jr.NumberNumber:: 7201 [1-55560-111-1]PricePrice:: $15.00PagesPages:: 175 + 4 color + fold-out mapSectionsSections:: Introduction, Welcome to Seattle,Facts At Your Fingertips, History,Downtown/Seattle, Renraku Arcology,Aztechnology Complex, Council Island,Bellevue, Tacoma, Everett, Renton, Auburn,Snohomish, Fort Lewis, Redmond, Puyallup,Government, Economy, Crime, MapsOverviewOverview:: Not, as the FASA catalog says,loaded with maps. In fact, there are only 13pages with maps in the back of the book, andall these are of the different districts inSeattle. (And guess what? They don’t even fittogether!) The major part of the book is anoverview of all the districts that make up theSeattle Metroplex, with histories,geographical descriptions, demographics, andso on given for each district as well as Seattleas a whole. The most important part of eachdistrict chapter consists of short descriptionsof various buildings and locations—as you’llall be familiar with from the city descriptionsin the NAGEENAGEE. The last (shorter) chapterstalk about how the ’plex is governed,organized and non-organized crime, andother things that are handy to know. As withmost ShadowrunShadowrun sourcebooks, there are lotsof decker comments everywhere, so make ofthe text what you will. The book is almostessential to run a campaign in Seattle,because it gives a much better insight into thecity that the short text in the back of theShadowrunShadowrun rules does.RatingRating:: 7.1CommentComment:: “Maybe being a Seattle nativebiased me, but I found the SeattleSeattleSourcebookSourcebook very dry. It didn’t do much atall to give a feeling for the variousneighborhoods. You’d do better to get a mapand tour guide to modern Seattle and thenimprovise.”

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Shadowbeat (1992)Shadowbeat (1992)AuthorAuthor:: Paul R. HumeNumberNumber:: 7109 [1-55560-159-6]PricePrice:: $15.00PagesPages:: 102 + 8 colorSectionsSections:: Introduction, It’s Only Rock &Roll, Broadcasting, The Nets, ThatsEntertainment, And Now the News, Sports,Simsense, Archetype Additions, Gear,GlossaryOverviewOverview:: Information about the media inall its aspects in the ShadowrunShadowrun universe.ShadowbeatShadowbeat is not very useful forrollplayers, because it provides little hard-and-fast rules, but if you want to roleplay ajournalist, musician, or other media-affiliated character, you could do a whole lotworse than invest your money in this book.Its contents are fairly useless to typicalShadowrunShadowrun characters (mages, samurai,etc.), so it’s a bit of a specialized sourcebook;the first chapters give background materialon music, trideo, sports, and simsense, aswell as actual rules for their inclusion in thegame. This book isn’t written as a Neo-Aguide, so it freely mixes rules with sourcematerial in a humorous writing style. Thecolor section has some interviews withnotable NPCs, together with their full gamestats, while the Archetype Additions andGear sections have things like cameras,musical instruments, simsense recorders, andthe skills to operate them.RatingRating:: 5.9CommentComment:: “ShadowBeatShadowBeat was not useful (tome at least) at all. I found it dull andunnecessary.”

Shadowrun GM Screen SecondShadowrun GM Screen SecondEdition (1992?)Edition (1992?)AuthorAuthor:: ?NumberNumber:: 7902 [?]PricePrice:: $12.00PagesPages:: ?SectionsSections:: ?OverviewOverview:: Haven’t bought it, don’t want toeither (but a copy is welcome if someonewants to make a donation to a worthy cause:). Not because I hate the thing, but I alreadyhave a gamemaster screen that I made myselfand so has all the stuff I want on it; the bookand character standups are not enough toconvince me to buy this one. However, if youdon’t already have a gamemaster screen andalso nothing to fake one with, why not buy it?NotesNotes:: In addition to the cardboard screen,this contains a book of archetypes andcontacts, plus “standup character” (probablyDMZDMZ-style cardboard figures).(Yup, the kind with the cruddy cardboardbase, I made wood bases for them all, workednicely -Fro)RatingRating:: 6.0CommentComment:: “The GM screen is not entirelycomplete, as I think other tables could havebeen put on it. Eg the skill web wassuperfluous (one could just copy it from thebook, and leave it on the table, for all to use.)Also, it IQs a bit too high, but I think thatcomment is just that bit too subjective ;)”

Shadowrun Companion: BeyondShadowrun Companion: BeyondThe Shadows (1996)The Shadows (1996)AuthorsAuthors:: Zach Bush, Jennifer Brandes,Chris Hepler, Chris Hussey, JonathonJacobson, Steve Kenson, Linda Naughton,Brian Schoner, Michael MulvihillNumberNumber:: 7905 [1-55560-298-3]PricePrice:: $15.00PagesPages:: 136SectionsSections:: Introduction, In Their OwnWords, Character Creation, Skills AndTraining, How To Hire A Shadowrunner,Contacts And Enemies, Advanced Rules,

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Running The Game, Alternate CampaignConcepts, Shadowrun Character Sheets,IndexOverviewOverview:: the advanced rules supplementfor the ShadowrunShadowrun game as a whole, most ofthis book expands existing rules, addsoptional new ones, and clarifies others. It isin no way required to play the game, but it’squite a good add-on to increase the scope ofthe game itself as well as of the game world.Among the topics covered are a whole newcharacter generation system (points-based,rather than a priority system), edges andflaws to make a character more unique, newmetahuman races, a new skill web, rules forlearning and improving skills (making thismore involved than just spending GoodKarma), and more. There is also a chapterthat builds on the Behind The Scenes chapterfrom Shadowrun Second EditionShadowrun Second Edition, givingmore advice to gamemasters, and a chapterwith alternate settings for campaigns, such asmaking all player characters employees ofDocWagon™. Al in all it’s a good investmentfor players who know the intricacies of thebasic ShadowrunShadowrun rules, although I wouldn’trecommend it to groups who are relativelynew to the game.Rating/CommentRating/Comment:: not applicable

Shadowrun Second Edition (1992)Shadowrun Second Edition (1992)AuthorsAuthors: lotsa folksNumberNumber: 7900 [1-55560-196-0] for thehardback edition; 7901 [1-55560-180-4] forthe softback editionPricePrice: $30.00 for the hardback edition;$25.00 for the soft back editionPages: 296 (incl. 16 color) + 24 color + fold-out mapSectionsSections: Welcome to the Shadows, The YearIs 2053, Plus Ça Change, And So It Came ToPass, Game Concepts, Metahumanity,Creating A Character and Archetypes, Skills,Combat, Magic, The Matrix, Behind theScenes, Contacts, Critters, Gear, The ModernNorthwest, Seattle, Developer’s Notes,Sourcebook Updates, Index

OverviewOverview: Essential for anyone who wants togamemaster Shadowrun, but I’d adviseplayers to get a copy as well. Being the basicrules, you’re gonna need this to run any kindof Shadowrun game. Why am I telling youthis anyway? You’re obviously playing italready...NotesNotes: the hardback was a limited edition,and only the softback is still in print (eventhough the hardback is much sought-after).This was the second-highest rated book onthe survey (Harlequin’s Back got 8.9).RatingRating: 8.8CommentComment: “The second edition book has allthe good points (because it’s basically copied)of the first book, without the confusing rules,and a complete set of updates.”

Shadowtech (1991)Shadowtech (1991)AuthorAuthor:: Karl WuNumberNumber:: 7110 [1-55560-156-1]PricePrice:: $15.00PagesPages:: 120 + 8 colorSectionsSections:: Introduction, Bionetics, Bioware,Cybertechnology, Cyberware,Eugenics/Genetics, Gene-Tech, Chemistry,Compounds, Technology and the Law,Equipment Table, Equipment IndexOverviewOverview:: as well as adding lots of newimplant-goodies to your runners’ wish-lists,this book provides an insight into howcyberware and bioware work in the gameuniverse, together with explanations ofgenetic engineering. Rules for drugs and druguse are given, as are general data about thehuman body (the author is a doctor,apparently). The implants are divided intobioware and cyberware, with the biowaregenerally being of more use to combat-oriented characters than the cyberware.Headware cyberdecks are introduced, butyou will need Virtual RealitiesVirtual Realities tounderstand what is what with these. The lastpart of the book has a legalities section(expanded over that in Sprawl SitesSprawl Sites), and

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tables listing the legalities of almost allequipment published until 1992.RatingRating:: 7.8CommentComment:: “A GM caveat book, it canseriously change the power level of a game,both for and against PC’s. Use with care.”

Sprawl Maps (1994)Sprawl Maps (1994)AuthorAuthor: ?NumberNumber: 7401 [?]PricePrice: $15.00PagesPages: “8” (there’s 8 maps and a thick pieceof cardboard in the plastic wrapper)Sections: ?OverviewOverview: A set of 8 maps for use with DMZ.If you like DMZ and play it a lot, I guess youshould buy this one as well. I don’t own themaps, I’ve just read the bit in the FASAcatalog and looked at somebody else’s copyonce, which means I can’t say much aboutthem. Going by the rating from the survey(this was the lowest-rated out of 67products...), there’s not much need to buythis set unless you’re desperate for new mapsfor your DMZ game.RatingRating: 3.4CommentComment: “Maps are nice but too expensive.And do me a great favour: No morecardboard without maps on it. I was thinkingI’d gotten a big pack of maps and what did Iget? Some maps and a thick piece ofcardboard.”

Sprawl Sites (1990)Sprawl Sites (1990)AuthorsAuthors:: Boy Peterson, John Faughnan &Mike StackpoleNumberNumber:: 7103 [1-55560-119-7]PricePrice:: $12.00PagesPages:: 128 (incl. 8 color)SectionsSections:: Introduction, Life on a Limb,Location Archetypes, Sprawl Encounters,Archetypes & Contacts, Sprawl Law,Credsticks and IDsOverviewOverview:: A mixed blessing. First off, let mesay that most of this book is for gamemastersonly, not for the players. The new contacts

are useful if you’ve gotten bored with theones in the basic rules, as are the archetypes.The Location Archetypes are not, as you maythink, character archetypes with appear atspecific locations, but instead these are mapsof “typical” buildings. This section isdefinitely the most useful of the book, as itgives an idea of what a typical bar, shop,office, or house looks like, and who you canexpect to find there when you get inside.Maybe Americans have less use for it, as Iexpect these things were based on1980s/1990s American buildings, but I guessthat non-Americans will find it pretty handy.The least useful bit is the Sprawl Encounterssection. This provides the gamemaster with afew tables to roll dice on, and then areference to the 132 encounters listed on thenext pages. The encounters are a bit too farworked out to be true encounters, and toolittle worked out to be useful as shortadventures. The best use for them would beas something to base home-writtenadventures on, I feel. The chapter on laws isalso featured (and expanded) in ShadowtechShadowtech,but Sprawl SitesSprawl Sites still has some useful bitshere, namely the enforcement ratings.Finally, the credsticks bit is included (andagain expanded) in the Neo Anarchists’Neo Anarchists’Guide to Real LifeGuide to Real Life.RatingRating:: 6.0CommentComment:: “Sprawl SitesSprawl Sites had a couple ofnice bits in it, including usable floor plansand a few good adventure seeds, but notenough for its length.”NotesNotes:: A bit strange, this one: on all FASAprice sheets I’ve seen, it is marked as“Sprawl Sites OneSprawl Sites One,” but I’ve not heard of a“Two” so far...? Anyway, it’s out of printnow.

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Street Samurai CatalogStreet Samurai Catalog(1989/1992)(1989/1992)AuthorAuthor:: Tom DowdNumberNumber:: 7104 [1-55560-122-7] for eithereditionPricePrice:: $12.00PagesPages:: 112SectionsSections:: Ares Winter Catalog 2050, AresSecurity Catalog 2050, WiremastersSupplement, Working the Streets, CyberwareDamage, Cyber Repair, Upgrading Cybrware(the typo in “cybrware” isn’t mine), CustomCyberware, Cheap Cyberware, SamuraiArchetypes, WeaponryOverviewOverview:: the Street Samurai CatalogStreet Samurai Catalog haslots of equipment of all kinds, ranging fromlight pistols to riot-control vehicles. Despitethe name of the book, most of it is usable byjust about any character interested inprotecting him- or herself (and who isn’t?).The Ares Security Catalog has security-grade equipment, though some of the“civilian” gear would fit in here better thanin the first section (Joe Pedestrian with aburst-fire shotgun??). Both sections includesome new vehicles, but these are betterdetailed in the Rigger Black BookRigger Black Book. TheWiremasters Supplement focuses mostly onheadware but fails to provide many usefulthings. The optional rules bit (all thesections about the cyberware) can be useful,but the equivalent rules in ShadowtechShadowtech arereally better to use. The book rounds off allthis by providing four metahuman streetsamurai archetypes. If you have theShadowrun Second EditionShadowrun Second Edition rulebook, you’llfind almost all equipment from the StreetStreetSamurai CatalogSamurai Catalog in the Sourcebook Updateschapter, though without the notes on whataccessories that the gear might have asstandard, such as built-in smartlinks or gasvents.RatingRating:: first edition: 6.4 / second edition: 6.0CommentComment:: (first edition) “The StreetStreetSamurai CatalogSamurai Catalog is a big waste of paper —huge margins, one entry per page, irrelevant

graphics. There are about 5-10 pages worthof useful material in here, but it is not worththe price of purchase.” / (second edition)“The SSCIISSCII was a joke! It was just a re-formatted version of the original. Nothingnew, and not much you couldn’t find in theSRIISRII book. What a waste.”NotesNotes:: This overview is for the first editioncatalog, published in 1989. I haven’t got thesecond edition (from 1992), but the basicdifferences are that things like damage codeshave been altered to second edition rules (a4M3 SMG becoming a 6M SMG, etc.), andthat a few items have been deleted. Almost allthese changes are outlined in the SRIISRIIrulebook.

Threats (1996)Threats (1996)AuthorsAuthors:: a whole load of peopleNumberNumber:: 7121 [1-55560-290-8]PricePrice:: $18.00PagesPages:: 104 + 8 colorSectionsSections:: Introduction, Alamos 20,000,Afraid Of The Darke, Winternight, TheVampir Conspiracy, Halberstam’s Babies,KSAF, The Atlantean Conspiracy, HereThere Be Dragons, Bugs, Blood Mage Gestalt,The Black Lodge, The Human Nation, Tutor,Strain IIIOverviewOverview:: As the name suggests, this bookhas the low-down on a number of people andorganizations that have the potential ofdrastically altering the balance of power inthe Sixth World. This poses a problem forme here, because I want to say somethingabout the book, but I can’t say too much...The chapter names tend to give a fairimpression of who and what gets discussed inthe book, which is done by dividing eachchapter in a section with neo-anarchist text-with-comments followed by a section withgamemaster information. This is partly agood idea, because it means the gamemasterhas the real scoop (as far as that is given)right next to the information to which playerscould have access, but it also means that itbecomes difficult to give this book to players

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— it’s all too easy to read on into thegamemaster section and find out things thatthe gamemaster would want to keep secret forthe moment. The only way to do this seems tophotocopy the parts that the players haveaccess to, but that gets expensive, especiallysince the book itself isn’t cheap either for a104-page sourcebook. The threats themselvesare good ones, and could easily form thebasis for an entire campaign rather than aone-off adventure, though this once againbrings up the matter of cost: in building acampaign around these threats, you’ll neveruse all of them in your game (not unless youplan on playing nothing but ShadowrunShadowrun forthe next 10 years) so in fact most of the bookwould be wasted...Rating/CommentRating/Comment:: not applicableNotesNotes:: I would consider this book very mucha gamemaster-only work.

Tír Tír na na nÓg (1993?)nÓg (1993?)AuthorsAuthors:: Carl Sargent & Mark GascoigneNumberNumber:: 7211 [1-55560-209-6]PricePrice:: $18.00PagesPages:: ?SectionsSections:: ?OverviewOverview:: Again, I haven’t got this one, but Iscanned through it once. Not that Iremember much, though... Sorry.RatingRating:: 6.1CommentComment:: “Please note, I am Irish and myvote for the Tír Tír na na nÓgnÓg source book mightmean something, it is the best Ireland book ofany genre I have read. My congratulations tothe authors, at least they didn’t indulge instereotypes.”

Tir Tir Tairngire (1993)Tairngire (1993)AuthorAuthor:: Nigel D. FindleyNumberNumber:: 7210 [1-55560-197-9]PricePrice:: $18.00PagesPages:: 152 + 8 colorSectionsSections:: Introduction, First Impressions,Geography, How It Came to Be, Politics, TirSociety, Economy, Telecommunications,Laws, Tir Tairngire Peace Force, Portland,Salem, Eugene, Open Conference, MapOverviewOverview:: Finally information on the Tir.After lots of contradictory statements inearlier books, this one attempts to give a viewbehind the curtain, sorry, wall thatsurrounds Tir Tairngire. This is, in myopinion, one of the best country sourcebooks,mainly because it not only focuses on thecountry’s customs and laws, but also on howthose laws are implemented, when you haveto look out, and more along those lines. Likemost of the country books, this one is mostsuitable for gamemasters in order to writeadventures based in Tir Tairngire, but it alsocontains useful information for players whowant to check up on the world behind thegame system. We also get a look at the mostImportant people in the Tir government, witha lot of hints dropped that not all is as itseems to be (EarthdawnEarthdawn players, payattention!). Three cities (Portland, Salem,and Eugene) are also described in reasonabledetail, and a map of the country is providedat the back of the book, something I feelFASA should have done in all sourcebooks.However, since Tir Tairngire is not very easyto enter (sort of East Germany-styleinaccessible), the book is not really useful forplayers operating from Seattle (or Denver),unless, of course, some Tir noble decides tohire outside help.RatingRating:: 6.9CommentComment:: “This place couldn’t ever exist.Too much inside joking. Wannabe junk.”

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Virtual Realities (1991)Virtual Realities (1991)AuthorsAuthors:: Tom Dowd & Chris KubasikNumberNumber:: 7107 [1-55560-144-8]PricePrice:: $15.00PagesPages:: 152 + 8 colorSectionsSections:: Introduction, Computer Systems,Intrusion Countermeasures, Cyberdecks,Programs, Cybercombat, Matrix Realities,Fuchi Incorporated — A Matrix Tour,Hacker House Summer Update, VirtualRealitiesOverviewOverview:: I’ll say it right out, I was ratherdisappointed with this one. I may be biased (Inever liked the decking rules), but to devotealmost half of the book to a short story was abit of a rip-off for my taste. The firstchapters give useful information aboutdecking: the decking rules are expanded witha new node, new utilities, new IC, and morenew things deckers can use to theiradvantage. Also given are rules forconstructing/updating cyberdecks andwriting utilities yourself. The book goes on togive a general image of what the Matrix reallyis, both from the gamer’s point of view, andby using a tour from Fuchi Inc. This lattergives very nice color pictures of “actual”Matrix nodes so you can see what it all reallylooks like. What follows then is a sort ofStreet Samurai CatalogStreet Samurai Catalog for deckers, butwithout anything new: all the stuff thatHacker House sells is detailed in the firstchapters of the book. Then there’s the shortstory, with which the book ends. The story,titled Virtual Realities like the book, is setentirely within the Matrix.RatingRating:: 6.0CommentComment:: “The decking system stinks, andso did Virtual RealitiesVirtual Realities. I didn’t flunk it, cozI liked the story.”NotesNotes:: This book is out of print, mainlybecause VR 2.0VR 2.0 came out in ’95.

Virtual Realities 2.0 — AVirtual Realities 2.0 — AShadowrun Sourcebook (1995)Shadowrun Sourcebook (1995)AuthorAuthor:: Paul HumeNumberNumber:: 7904 [1-55560-271-1]PricePrice:: $18.00PagesPages:: 176 + 8 colorSectionsSections:: Introduction, Interlude 1:Welcome To The Matrix, Matrix 2.0,Interlude 2: Things To Come, Grids AndHosts, Intrusion Countermeasures, Interlude3: SOTA In Fear, Mapping Matrices,Interlude 4: Worlds Of The Matrix, Deckers,Cyberdecks, Programs, System Operations,Cybercombat, Hacker House, Matrix Law,Artificial Intelligence, The Otaku, MatrixHot Spots, Appendix, IndexOverviewOverview:: this book presents a completeoverhaul of the Matrix system, changingthings down to almost the basic principles ofhow the Matrix was run before. It attempts tomake decking easier for players andgamemasters, in which it succeeds for themost part. For example, the complicatedbusiness with nodes populated with IC isreplaced by rules in which deckers entercomplete systems that activate particularpieces of IC when the decker gives away hispresence. The more obvious you’ll gostomping around the Matrix, the moreintrusion countermeasures will get fired yourway. A few drawbacks of the book are that itrequires everyone who is used to the oldrules, to convert to the new ones without a setof conversion guidelines for old characters orsystems, and that the rules are scattered allover the book, making it hard to find specificrules in a hurry. All in all, though, it makesthe Matrix a lot more playable than VirtualVirtualRealitiesRealities ever did. The color plates are alsonice, all of them computer-generatedartwork, though they don’t really give all thatmuch of an idea of what the Matrix is reallylike.Rating/CommentRating/Comment:: published after thesurvey.

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NotesNotes:: replaces both the Matrix chapter ofthe SRIISRII rules, as well as the completeVirtual RealitiesVirtual Realities book.

>>>>>[ Guys and gals, check thisout..heeheehehehee.. I found this in an oldprint publication under some boards in an

apartment. The funny lettering on thebottom, some sort of ‘World Wide Web’address.. I would have never thought it

was that complicated back then.. ] <<<<< -- TeeHee (19:05/02-11-58)

>>>>>[ Weird..very weird. I wonder whatwas there? ] <<<<< -- Beserker (21:43/02-12-58)

>>>>>[ The Internet Role-playing Gamesociety, perhaps? Whatever the hell thatwas. Simsense does the same thing thoseold RPG’s did, and you don’t need a..whatdid they call it.. Game Master, orsomething. ] <<<<< -- HeadCrash (14:12/02-15-58)

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RantingRanting

Adam Wise aka The Dodger- 42

I’ve been playing Shadowrun forawhile. Not as long as some, longer thanothers. I generally GM, but I’ve been knownto run a PC as well. On many of theseoccasions, some things just tend to irk me.Maybe I’m just being absurd, but I’ll rantabout it a little anyways. Before I really gooff here, I’m not actually torqued about allthis stuff, even though it may sound like it. Ijust want to call attention to some things thatannoy me. ‘Nuff said.

As a PC, my basic problem occurswhen the GM throws the rules out thewindow to produce an effect they want. Ireally hate this. I’ve had times when a GMdescribes stuff to me that couldn’t possiblyhappen according to the rules of the game. Irealize that for the plot’s sake that sometimesrules simply have to be scrapped, butmessing with the rules on a regular basis isvery annoying. I mean, if the NPC’s don’thave to play by the rules, why should mycharacter?

Another gripe is the unreasonable useof tech. I realize that making high-tech toysis fun, but lets keep some limits on it here,people. I was once attacked by a cyber-ninjathat was carrying the equivalent of a light-saber. The thing had a fuel pack thatgenerated plasma. I’m sorry, but even asadvanced as the Shadowrun universe is, it’snot that advanced. New tech introduced intoa game should have some point of referenceoff of which it builds, e.g. a new type ofdelivery system for missiles that increasestheir accuracy. Something like that ispossible. An entirely new and advanced typeof power source and weapon suddenlyappearing on the street in a hand held size is,frankly, off the wall. Oh, I really, really,

apologize to the GM who came up with thisone. I really wasn’t meaning to dis you toomuch, buddy. :)

As a GM, my biggest gripe withplayers is their lack of personality. I won’tcarp too heavily on this one, because most ofmy players haven’t been at it very long, but Ithink they should at least attempt to do a fewthings in another personality. I love playinganother person for awhile, someone whomI’ve created, whose every thought is my own,but is still not me. To me, that’s pretty muchthe point of role-playing games. There’s alsothe problem of characters whose onlypersonality is “badass.” These are usuallyfrom the new players. Almost invariablysammies with essence running in the range of.1-.01. Their players are simply in it to kill.This isn’t a game of Doom. Its supposed tobe a little more real than that. I mean, evenmost criminals have a little problem withkilling. Those among us that don’t seem tohave any problem at all with the it are lockedaway in small, padded rooms. If you had anactual person who had absolutely no problemwith killing whatsoever, he’d be a truemonster. There is something intrinsicallywrong with a character who acts like this.The characters we play are supposed to actreal, to have personality, and these grimreaper characters are utterly devoid of it.

Well, my ideas for things to gripe athave run out for the moment. But come backlater, and I’m sure I’ll have some more stuffdreamed up to annoy you with. Alsoremember though, that everything I’ve saidhere is my own, personal opinion. If youhave a great time playing a game where therules mean nothing, the tech makes Star Treklook like the Dark Ages, and you slaughterNPC’s (or even other PC’s) left and right,then go ahead and play it. Its fine by me aslong as you have a good time. Just don’t askme to join in.

CreditsCredits

Layout and Design: (What little there is.)Adam Jury

Editing:Adam Jury

Writing:Steven "Bull" Ratkovich

Thomas DeenyGeorg Greve

GurthAdam Wise

ArtworkAdam WiseAdam Jury

-- Fin --