Shadowrun

   The Shadowrun campaigns have been periodic since first edition – so there’s a lot of old files to convert and post. Currently we’re mostly using Shadowrun III, since quite a lot of the players have issues – whether mechanical, technical, or procedural – with Shadowrun IV. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use most of this with Shadowrun IV, it just means that some of it may need a little tweaking.

   As usual, if you’re looking for something in particular, or need further explanations on something, just leave a comment or request.

    Character Creation includes the compiled character-creation handouts (including various new fields of magic, initiate powers, races, and so on in pdf form), the Penumbra Edges and Flaws (a rather large list of character-building modifiers. They’re included in the compiled character-creation handouts, but I was asked to break them out for easy reference), the Revised Skill List for the current campaign, and some information on Becoming A Shadowrunner (common origins and power levels).

   Sample Characters posted here include Shadowed Moon Lotus (an archmage-class sorcerer), Prodigicus Supreme (a giant “robot” “Transformer”), Khaibitu the Valkyrie (a free spirit), Fritz the Infinite (a cloned army of PC’s), Havoc (a dragon-PC), Kimiko Nelson (a british secret agent), Gar (a Troll Ronin), Gabrielle (an Amazon Warrior), Gar, Amnesiac Troll Ronin, Zheung Bao Shun (“The Ninja”), Ixian Astbiliancoatl (a.k.a “Mr Kitty”, a heavily cyborged neojaguar) and his Personal History, Eric Moore (another cyborg horror) and his Contacts, Copper the Bug-Hunter (a physical adept with a symbiotic spirit), Apollonius the AI (a playable artificial intelligence), Hitomi Gilespi, a young witchcraft-adept and communications specialist, Yseult Chaput, an information broker, Edward Cullen (yes, the movie vampire) as a shadowrunner, Pitcain Island and Hitoshi (a powerful magician and the most isolated country in the world), Alex Merriweather (a fox shapeshifter and Master of Enhancement and Conjuration), Akiko Anitoli (a knife-wielding yakuza boss),and Stalker, an Ace Otaku.

   Magical Information includes The Sparrowhawk Grimoire (a selection of eccentric spells for Shadowrun, online HERE and in a better-formatted PDF version  HERE),  Traditions and Initiations (expanded magical systems for Shadowrun. They’re included in the compiled character-creation handouts, but I was asked to break them out for easy reference), Primitive Magic Skills (intuitive magic for pre-totemistic shamans, witch doctors, and hunter-gatherers), the Spirit Imbuement rules (a research project of Satchel, a master conjurer. He never did manage to duplicate what happened to him, but he did get some useful results) Spirit Imbuement II (a follow-up discussion on the original Spirit Imbuement rules), Aces (Class-A Physical Adepts or Superheroes, take your choice), the Witchcraft Rules, The Douglas-Iuri Grimoire, Basic Magical Theory, revised rules for Designing and Learning Spells, Magical Weapons in Shadowrun, Magic from Earthdawn to Shadowrun, Principles of the Renraku Barrier (magic circle variants), Astral Experiments (with cyberware, transplants, power armor, flying saucers, magical circles and resonance), Astral Experiments II (Symbols, Circles, and Magical Resonance), Magical Circles as Weapons, Practical Thaumaturgy (a preliminary sheet on getting the Thaumaturgy rules updated), and Magic Pumps and Metaplanar Cascades.

   Advanced Metamagical Techniques for the General Abilities,  Astral Access, Conjuration, Sorcery, Thaumaturgy, Enchantment, Enhancement, Magical Threats, and Witchcraft.

   Possible Contacts, including Fixers, Gangs and Gangers, Riggers, Medical Types,  Free Spirits, The Little Guys (street level types), Technical Experts, Media, Free Spirits, Mage Contacts I, and Lone Star Officers.

   Modified Equipment includes the Modified Armor Rules (for specialized and enhanced armor), The Basic Optronic Deck (what can you install in one of these things and where can you hide it), Fursona Body Armor (usually simply an oddity, but important to Ixian).

   The Modular Cyberware Rules were broken down into specific subsystems, for design-your-own cyberware. So far, I’ve put up the sections for Neuralware, Holdouts, Cyberdisguises, Cyber-Replacements and Additions (as well as Cyberforms and Neuroborgs), Proware, and some information on Cyberlimb Construction. Here also is the information on reaction enhancement - Biological Basics, Design-Your-Own Enhancement Systems (breaking down the standard ones), and Exotic Enhancement Systems.  

   Campaign Logs include The Gang Wars (a short street-gang campaign), Iuri’s Tale (a character diary/campaign log a cross-dimensional setting. It’s still underway, albeit on an occasional basis. His Colonization Progress sheet is a record of what’s been done in setting up his domain so far), Vanishing Shadows (The current PC’s and the disappearances they’re investigating), and Gates of Shadow Part I. A much more condensed version for new players can be found here – Current Campaign Summary: Part I, and Part II.

    Technical Research efforts include Accelerated Learning  and Conditioning Methods. Experiments in Cyberware and Elsewhere (a player article).

   Campaign Background: Project Ushus (a very dangerous experiment), Background Realities (how reality varies from the books), Corporate Strengths and Weaknesses (how the various corps strategies differ), Running the Numbers (how anonymous are Shadowrunners anyway? And how many are there?), The Renissiance Society: How to Initiate Mundanes - and how it actually turned out, Shadowfelons (crime rates and statistics on Seattle), Revised Timeline, and introductions to the Renraku Arcology and Seattle, Corporations-at-a-Glance (for some of the major players around), and an Overview of Seattle (neighborhoods and major features). Gangs: Reality and Fantasy Part I and Part II (types of gangs), along with a Players Prospective on Gangs. Here we have the Revised Shadowrun-Earthdawn Prehistory Timeline. On Remaining Anonymous: Just how secretive can you expect to be? Ninjas and Ghosts. Interviewing a spirit from the fourth age. Pitcain Island and Hitoshi: A powerful magician and the most isolated country in the 2060’s. For Cybergeneration, which seems closely enough related, we have some Exotic Power Packages for “Sports”. We also have The End Times - a peculiar player submission. The Neo Skillsoft Store - the parties collection of stolen skill programs – probably isn’t of interest to anyone else, but it is useful to the party.

   Locations include the Renraku Arcology Level Eight (High-Energy Research),

   The one-page quick-reference rules sheet for SR III (PDF).

   Unclassified Items include: Technology and Magic in Fourth Edition Shadowrun (a review of sorts), along with a players Shadowrun 4 Review.

   Ninja Crosslinks: Speculations from one of the players. These include: theories about Renraku’s Weird Magic Circle, Kyle Alexander (a simsense-store operator), Wesley Crispen (a necrorigger), Lucy Conroy (a Fixer),  and Ben Jones (a mystic gardener), Relationships between the Magical Skills (contrasting with the basics of the magic system found HERE), using Gates for long-range travel,  his Spell Design to-do List, “The Ninja” (a secretive organization), some Modified Armor Rules (these led to the current Armor Rules), some of Zheung Bao Shuns Contacts and the original Character Setup for comparison with the version I created, the Final Version of his Edges and Flaws, the Final Version of his Magical Expenditures, the Final Version of his NY Expenditures,  his Spreadsheet,  Metamagics for Ninja, ideas for Expanded Spell Limitations, his Personal History, his Karma Tracking Sheet, Housing for Ninja, Magical Research with Mitsuhama, The Cabal of the Shining Horizon (the groups Initiatory Group), Magical Travel Realized II (a followup on the original post), speculations on the Ranraku Magical Circle (Part I and Part II), Comparative Jedi for Shadowrun Penumbra How to Build a “Lightsaber” (or at least something that might look like one), and Dissection of a Shadowrun Cyberlimb. Proposals for New Magical Advantages, Developments in Gamma Rays, New Cyberware to buy, making Magical Flying Saucers, Hulk Smash! (a confrontation with a Horror), Ninja Accounting, Magical Research for Mitsuhama on the Renraku Barrier, More Research on the Renraku Barrier, Magical Reflex Enhancement (a companion piece to the technological articles on Reaction Enhancement), and some Preliminary Spell Designs, Initiation Plans.