Ok, I have a friend going thru a bad time and he liked shadowrun, usually plays 2 or 3 edition rules. He has little material for it, just the basic rules, the seattle sourcebook and the street samurai catalogue.

I'm thinking of getting him a shadowrun product for christmas, and since I'm not into shadowrun, any edition, I was looking for advice on what a good product for it is.

Suggestions?

Well...all the current stuff is for the crappy new edition, which jumps the timeline a whole bunch. So I'm not sure how easy it would be to follow.

Of course you could get used stuff off ebay or something.

Quote from: QuasarWell...all the current stuff is for the crappy new edition, which jumps the timeline a whole bunch. So I'm not sure how easy it would be to follow.

Of course you could get used stuff off ebay or something.

I'm looking at some stuff on ebay for the 2-3 editions.

Quote from: QuasarWell...all the current stuff is for the crappy new edition, which jumps the timeline a whole bunch. So I'm not sure how easy it would be to follow.

You mean the new kickass playable edition that advanced the always advancing timeline about 5 years?

If you buy the core SR4 rules for him he'll get a slice of all the extra rules books for previous rules thrown in.

On the other hand if you want to get a setting book...um, maybe Dragons of the Sixth World if he's a lizard-nut? Or Shadows of Europe and Shadows of Asia are two meaty books. Incidentally all these are 3rd edition but very usable in 4th because there is vey little the way of crunch in them, and the few bits that are there are easily converted.  Same can be said of the new Runner Havens which is an SR4 book. It is the counterpart to the Seattle Source Book, so the Seattle section is somewhat redundant for him. However it also has second major city coverage (60 pages) on Hong Kong that's pretty good (and that's in the estimation of some of the most cynical SR-geeks I know) along with quick coverage of another 4 cities around the world.

If you are looking for collectorish ones the Lone Star Sourcebook might be the thing, but it can be pricy at times. Or if you want old school nostalgia go with Shadowbeat maybe.  Try the forums over at //www.dumpshock.com (use the Search feature first) as there are a number of threads and more opinion that you'll likely want on the different books.

P.S. If he's getting by with just the one rules supplement books it might be good to steer clear of those, especially if he bounces between SR2 and SR3.

Get him SR4. It's a majorly different system, which has some people upset, but it's a much better product than any of the previous editions in terms of cohesiveness.

I also support SR4, but I'm biased.

If you want to stick with SR3 or SR2, though, a setting book like the "Shadows of..." series might be a good pick for your friend.

Quote from: blakkieYou mean the new kickass playable edition

Obviously I got a different 4th Edition

You might want to trade yours in. It sounds like you got a counterfeit.

I got the 4th edition and I liked it, but since I never played 3rd edition I can't compare.

Well, I got him a copy of "The neo anarchist's guide to north america' which he ought to like since most of his players run anti-corporate characters, like most SR playuers, I guess.

I'm aiming for getting him a copy of some big adventure called "System failure" that I hope is good too.

System Failure is basically the "final" product for SR3, and leads into SR4. If you want something a little less dramatic (and perhaps fitting for the anti-corp characters?), go for Loose Alliances. Not a campaign per se, but I think you guys will like it.

Brainscan is also a good one. If you're looking for classic go with Harlequin, but it diverges greatly from the typical Shadowrun adventure model, so if he's a die hard merc gamer he may not like it.