Shadowrun – The Neo Skillsoft Store

   The current Shadowrun party has managed to collect quite a few knowlege skill programs - in fact, an outrageous number of knowledge skill programs since they were the most expensive. Since they’re being used fairly often, here are the Knowledge Skillsofts which are currently available: 

Topic:	Micro	Small	Large	Very Large
Behavioral	Animal 6	Psychology 6	Sociology 6	Anthropology 6
Communications	Cryptography 7	Linguistics 6	Communications 6	Information Theory 6
Computer	Hardware 6	Languages 5	Software 5	Interface 5
Earth Sciences	Ecology 5	Hydrology 6	Meteorology 6	Geology 6
Engineering	Materials 6	Structural 8	Mechanical 8	Technical 6
History	Current Events 6	History 5	Archeology 6	Paleontology 5
Life Sciences	Biochemistry 6	Genetics 6	Biology 6	Evolution 6
Magic	Spellcraft 6	Magic Theory 8	Spirit Lore 6	Metaphysics 6
Mathematics	Number Theory 6	Probability and Statistics 6	Analysis 6	Multidimensional 6
Orientation	(City) Lore	(Region) Lore	(Country) Lore	Geography 7
Philosophy	Logic 6	Theology 7	Philosophy 5	Civics and Law 8
Physical Science	Quantum Mechanics 6	Chemistry 6	Physics 6	Cosmology 5

   That accounts for almost 5000 MP of the 18,000 MP worth of material that was downloaded.

   The City, Region, and Country Lore skills are special cases: There are a LOT of them, albeit mostly at relatively low ratings – 2-5, and the sizeable majority at 4. They account for close to 6000 MP – although this does mean that the collection includes a decent database on pretty much every major city, region, and worthwhile country, in the world.

   Another 6000 MP is in the form of less-powerful (and often specialized) skillsoft programs; there are plenty of people out there who don’t want to pay for Rating-6 when a nice Rating-2 program or a speciality program (Ancient Egypt 2 anyone?) will answer their questions and let them write their novel or RPG scenario or whatever-it-is they want to know for quite satisfactorily. 

    There are also a selection of about 20 highly specialized knowledge skills, at ratings hovering around 5 – but none of those matter that much, since the more general skills usually cover enough to get by on. They tend to be popular-culture subjects, although there are a few on infant care and similar practical topics.