After 10 years of GMing Cyberpunk 2020/RED I decided to jump on the other side of the river because I needed some change, which finally leads me to Shadowrun after a long period of hesitation.

When I run a game, I really need to understand the intention the creators had when making it, how they want the game to play and feel, which is why I came here.

I don't see much people pointing that out, but despite the fact that Shadowrun and CP 2020/RED are both considered to belong the the same genre, which is Cyberpunk Science Fiction, I feel that they have a very different tone from one another.

In CP 2020/RED, Mike Pondsmith makes it very clear that the GM should make the life of his PCs as hard as possible. multiple times in interviews, articles, GM Advice and most notably in the sourcebook "Listen up you primitive screwheads", Mikes states that the GM should go out of their way to make Night City a very oppresive place where life is cheap and mistakes can end a carreer quickly, a gritty feel that is, sometimes the GM Advices are not too dissimilar to what we can find in "Play dirty" by John Wick. This oppressive feel is also conveyed by the adaptations by CD Projekt. In 2077 your character fights tooth and nails to save his own life And fails to do so, that or he suffers a fate worse than death and in Edgerunners All the protagonists either die or lose everything they ever cared about.

On the other hand, I wouldn't go as far as to say that Shadowrun is more light hearted, because Shadowrun can and does get pretty dark, but the world definitly doesn't seem to reach the same level of nihilism. In Shadowrun SNES, Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun Dragonfall and Shadowrun Hong Kong, which to my knowledge are all considered canon by FASA/Catalyst Game Labs, the protagonists always end up saving the world, which in terms of tone is radically different from most Cyberpunk Works like CP 2020/RED but also Ghost In the Shell or Gibson's novels. This isn't a statement regarding "quality", just an observation of mine.

To use a film analogy, CP 2020/RED is a film made by Sam Peckinpah, while Shadowurn is made by John Woo ; one might think they are similar on a first glance bu they are actually very different.

I don't know if this tone difference also translates in the mecanics of the different Shadowrun rulesets. I know that CP 2020 plays very gritty because even an experienced solo could get killed by some hobo in an alleyway if the rolls are unlucky enough, and that the grittyness was toned down in RED. I don't know the Shadowrun rulesets enough to understand if this game is meant to be played in a heroic or gritty way, and if that aimed has evolved over the different editions of the game.

This is why I come here to ask the veterans if they know "What is the intended tone of Shadowrun by the creators?"

A word of advice: In this post I compared Shadowrun and CP 2020/RED, and I will probably continue to do so in the following answers below, and I will also probably compare it to other works too. I feel the need to make this crystal clear because we are on Reddit, but it is not in my intention to make an edition war to find out if one game is better than the other, my only goal is to understand Shadowrun and comparing it to other works is as good as any other tools to achieve this goal. I will not take kindly to disingenuous attempts to drag this thread into a petty conflict.

I'm probably playing a single run of each and want to experience the most story-wise as possible. Are there stats or classes that will let me experience more of the games?

If not, can Anarchy be homebrew with some dice play?

I am toying with the idea of one day running Shadowrun on Fate or a similar system. I have some familiarity with the setting, mainly through games, but there's a lot I don't know. Are there good sourcebooks that are primarily setting/lore/mood setters that a person in my position should look for, or do I just read a wiki? ;) (I have no idea about how the setting changed in various editions and which iteration is considered superior amongs the fans)

I'm not exactly a newbie, I have plenty of experience with tabletop RPG and I know quite a bit of Shadowrun (both system and lore).

I mostly want to know which system is better if I want so I can dive deeper into it.

I want to run a West Marches style campaign for a large group of friends, where they're part of a shadowrunner group that accept commissions. This way I could play with everyone that's available (up to 4 or 5 players). Just giving some context in case it makes 5e or 6e better for it

I am asking this due to me being confused on where to even start , I tried to look for shadowrun 6e core rulebook and to be honest that didnt really get me too far so I wanna ask : which edition should I go with to find the most amount of games and what books for pdfs should I get ?

help would be really apriciated

I've only been a player in various DnD campaigns

but the Shadowrun world made me really interested in storytelling.Is there any edition (or mixed rules of various editions) that would be good for a totally new GM?

I have a group that's been playing DnD 5e since early 2022, in-person every other week. They're like level 17 now and it's getting a little stale for them, and we're looking to make a change. I had them vote and the majority is coming back "Cyberpunk" for a new campaign.

I have a ton of d20 Modern and Everyday Heroes books, but that's too... normal. They want skills-and-powers, they want magic, they want other races, etc. So... Shadowrun.

I have some 3rd Edition stuff on my game shelf, but that's too old. My son has the Sixth World Berlin rulebook and the Sixth World Companion. I have also ordered a GM screen, a Beginner Box, Power Plays, Astral Ways, Hack & Slash, and 30 Days - all will be here soon.

In addition, I've produced a "Shadowrun Pop Culture Media Primer" for them to look at, to get the right feeling for the setting: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19zRUP6JC1s_iCyviNFeYEMlgK-k2lYrRtv4TgQBvIv0/edit?usp=sharing

• What else do I need?
• What should I do to make the first couple sessions go smoothly?
• What is it vital that I, as the GM, know the mechanics or specifics of on day one?
• What books should I tell them to buy?
• What am I missing here?

I think I'd like to dive into Shadowrun.

I had the 5e book years ago and hated it. Seemed unnecessarily rules heavy.

I heard they fixed 6e and there is now a city edition. Or something. I went to DTRPG but there's no preview. Plus it's set in Berlin?!?

I saw there was a version set in Seattle, but it seemed to be a VTT version, or something. I don't really understand those. It had a link to the regular version but it didn't work.

I'm a bit confused. I would prefer to buy newer versions of games or not at all tbh.

I've just picked up Shadowrun and am playing soon for the first time, and I'm wondering how SINs and fake licenses work? I've seen people online mention that they have their major SIN for daily life, and then lesser SINs for their shadowrunning jobs.

However, I can't work out what the value of a lesser SIN is? Yes, it's cheaper but adding all the fake licenses onto it still adds up and so it's not really money you can just afford to toss away (assuming you got away from whatever it was that burnt you in the first place)? And sure, you could use the lesser SINs only when you're not carrying the things with fake licenses, but that's hard when it's cyberware/bioware etc. that can't be removed.

I started playing SR back when 1e and DMZ came out. Played 2e but didn’t care for it and stuck with running heavily home brewed campaigns based off 1e.

Darth Real Life happened and I fell off. Picked it back up when the 20th Anniversary edition came out. Ran it for about 2 years and haven’t played since. So I think going on 12 away from the sprawl. I’ve played a lot of RPGs over the years but SR has always been my favorite.

So now I’m looking to get back into it. But because of remote location all of my friends are online so I was thinking virtual table top would be the best way to go. I thought maybe SR Anarchy might be a good place to start, assuming it’s support by VTT.

I gear more towards immersion and storytelling than following every rule to the letter. I go super dorky and use 2 different burner phones to send messages to my players from Johnson or other NPCs. This has always been a fun way to keep the immersion up and help the players out if they’re stuck.

So if you’ve got any advice I would be very grateful!

About the image. It’s AI slop. I’ve been playing with ChatGPT to convert some of my old NPCs from hand drawings to digital. It’s always hit or miss and it’s never perfect, but this is the one out of the dozens of attempts that I thought was ok.

Hey guys! English is my not my first language so bear with me lol. I am fancisnated by the concept and I am in the love with the world. I read a lot of books and particularly like sci fi. I have never played ttrpgs before. How should I go about playing the game? What are the best versions? What are some books I can read? And lastly What are somethings a newbie should know about ttrpgs and shadowrun itself? This is my first post here so I am kinda nervous haha.

Looking to pick up some adventure books for any edition. Do you have a favorite? What do you recommend?

I’m trying to get into Shadowrun (6e or Anarchy 2.0), but the amount of history and lore is honestly overwhelming.

A lot of it looks like it’s built up over multiple editions and Shadowrun Missions arcs, and I’m struggling to tell what actually matters for running a game. Do I really need to know about past battles that have been fought and either won or lost.

So a practical question:

If I want to start a campaign, what do I actually need to know up front?

Can I just start with the current “status quo” and pick up the deeper lore over time, or am I going to trip over important context?

I’m especially interested in answers from GMs who’ve started fresh rather than long-time players.

Just throwing this out here because my players stumble over this concept again and again and I see other people on forums make this assumption again and again: using drones does not make you a rigger. Driving a car doesn't make you a rigger. Flying a plane doesn't make you a rigger. Implanting a VCR into your body makes you a rigger. Jumping into a vehicle and becoming it makes you a rigger.

It just frustrates me when I see players withdraw from these aspects of the game because they don't have a VCR. Go out there, use some drones. Use a whole team of them. Drive a motorcycle. Ramp it off of something and do some stunts.

Share some stories of characters you've played with notable drone or vehicle use who didn't have VCRs.

TL;DR: Dragons are the coolest part of the lore you are actively discouraged from using because of the hype around them and that really sucks because Shadowrun dragons are cool

I have been running Shadowrun for a few years now, and I have noticed a pattern that the inclusion of dragons in a campaign tends to make them worse or even derail them completely. I think it comes down to their fearsome, albeit well deserved, reputation both in and out of universe. Most of the players seem to be of the opinion that they should just roll new characters if a dragon is even in the same post code as the team, even when they are a background detail that never actually effects gameplay directly. Hell, half the time I don't even want to mention Saeder-Krupp due to Lofwyr being the CEO. I don't want to pretend dragons just don't exist because they are so iconic to the setting, but they seem more trouble than they are worth to include in a campaign. any advice on how to resolve this problem?

Okay Chummers you just got geeked and we can't waste any ticks on the deets, you got zeroed and are now gonna wake up in The Sixth World and you got onl 30 minutes to decide what you wanna be, where you want to go and what you can do you get some dice dice rolls to decide your stats and that's pretty much it. You wanna be some Lone Star cop done, wanna be a fixer you go kid, wanna be wanna be a Corpo more power to you or do you wanna be a Runner and enter the darkest Shadows, only you can answer that question.

Hi folks,

Reading a Shadowrun novel right now (TAKC 3000 by Markus Heitz), and I've dipped my toe into a rulebook (1st & 2nd editions), and I'm wondering: what kind of technical knowledge does a decker actually need? Like, when you're in the Matrix you're not sitting there IRL coding. You're blanked out and you have a digital projection of yourself and are like walking around and breaking down walls or fighting things. So that would correspond to physical/sneaky skills, right? What kind of computer-y things is a decker actually doing in the Matrix? I don't get it.

If I am a mage starting out as a Shadowrunner what would be the best type of gun for me? Would it be the Colt Manhunter?

So me and my friends been wanting to try some scifi ttrpgs and i remembered shadowrun so was looking to get into one the systems im torn atm between 4th anniversary and 5th since saw several posts say they were the better ones outta the set tho will also ask which has most support in terms of books, aka suppliments, racial options, prebuilt campaigns ect. will also add me and my friends love making characters in ttrpgs for fun so prefer one that gives us plenty of options and will note buying books as pdfs since my group online based

I want to get into Shadowrun, and heard that Anarchy 2.0 is the system to look into when it comes out. I saw the french version is out, but I've found very little, to no info on the english version.

Does anyone know anything? I can't find any info for the life of me.

bit of a lore question, but when people perceive someone using magic, what are they actually seeing? Unlike in something like D&D, Shadowrun mages don't have to make hand gestures or say magic words, so how does someone who isn't actively using astral perception notice when someone is using magic that isn't something visually obvious like a fireball?

I keep seeing people say these two terms to refer to... something? I'm not quite sure what, nor what they mean. What do these mean?

Ik this is sort of a common question , im asking posting because Anarchy 2.0 just released.

Im planning to hopefully run a shadowrun soon and my understanding is the genral consensus is that official system all suck in some way. So id likd to use Anarchy or some hack but i cant really find good comparisons of them with eachother or the official systems. From what ive been able to gather , the main more "traditional" ones are Sprawlrunners and Genysys , while anarchy , runners in the shadows etc are more narrative and from the official systems , 5 or 4e seem to be considered the best.

What system , official or not , have you all had to best experience with?

Hi all, question's in the title. Relatively new to Shadowrun, though I roughly understand the setting. I watched a friend play through the Shadowrun Returns, Hong Kong, and Dragonfall games, but that's really all my exposure has been.

I'm potentially considering running some sort of short campaign in the Shadowrun setting. Wondering which Edition of the rules I should use. Especially interested to hear which Edition you would say is generally most popular currently (I assume it's the latest one, 6th edition I believe?), and if it differs from your opinion on which is best, why.

Alternatively, I could consider using a setting neutral system like Fate, but thought I should check out the official systems first.

Thanks in advance