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Message no. 1
From: Marcin Serkies <yasiu@******.COM>
Subject: matrix design/books
Date: Sat, 3 Jun 1995 13:44:23 +0200
Hi all...

two simple questions
1. i`m looking for good utilities to design matrix (for PC / no matter
win95/dos) - gimme addreses or something like this if you can
2. what books i should buy for good start in SR GM`ing ???

thanks in advance - c-ya

yasiu
Message no. 2
From: David Buehrer <dbuehrer@****.ORG>
Subject: Re: matrix design/books
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 06:40:08 -0600
Marcin Serkies wrote:
|
| Hi all...

Howdy. The Bull Bot will be by shortly :)

| two simple questions
| 1. i`m looking for good utilities to design matrix (for PC / no matter
| win95/dos) - gimme addreses or something like this if you can

Go to Gurth's page. His address is in his sig. Stick around for at least
a day and you'll see some of his posts.

| 2. what books i should buy for good start in SR GM`ing ???

The main rule book. Everything else is dependant on what type of a
campaign your running.

-David
--
/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\ dbuehrer@****.org /^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\
"His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking
alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free."
~~~http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm~~~~
Message no. 3
From: Greg Wright <greg.wright@*******.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: matrix design/books
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 13:48:13 +0100
>Hi all
> hello
>
>two simple questions
>1. i`m looking for good utilities to design matrix (for PC / no matter
>win95/dos) - gimme addreses or something like this if you can
>
>
Try Cyberspace for Shadowrun at
http://autos.cs.tu-berlin.de/~sauron/cybersp/matrix.htm
to design and run your own you will need to register the program

or try gurths page at
http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html

also try Paolo Marcucci's archive at
http://www.interware.it/shadowrun/

>
>2. what books i should buy for good start in SR GM`ing ???
> The main rule book is a must, but you should also buy Virtual realities 2.0
>and the street samurai catalogue.
> Also try downloading the plastic warriors, Nerps, and nagee source books for
>the web as these have lots of house rules and extra gear in
>
>thanks in advance - c-ya
> No Problem
>yasiu
Message no. 4
From: Gossamer <kajohnson@*******.TEC.WI.US>
Subject: Re: matrix design/books
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 07:54:09 -0500
> | two simple questions
> | 1. i`m looking for good utilities to design matrix (for PC /
> |no matter win95/dos) - gimme addreses or something like
> |this if you can
>
> Go to Gurth's page. His address is in his sig. Stick around f
> or at least a day and you'll see some of his posts.

Better than that:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html

Love,

Gossamer
Message no. 5
From: L Canthros <lobo1@****.COM>
Subject: Re: matrix design/books
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 10:52:16 EDT
On Sat, 3 Jun 1995 13:44:23 +0200 Marcin Serkies <yasiu@******.COM>
writes:
>Hi all...
>
>two simple questions
>1. i`m looking for good utilities to design matrix (for PC / no matter
>win95/dos) - gimme addreses or something like this if you can

There's some sort of matrix simulator out on the net somewhere. I
installed it once on my computer and turned all the help files and dialog
boxes into German (which I can't read much at all). I haven't even looked
at the program since then.


>2. what books i should buy for good start in SR GM`ing ???

All you need is the SR2 main book. If you plan on using much in the way
of magic, the Grimoire is a good buy, and VR2.0 is a must for Matrix use
(or so they tell me), but all you need is the main book. If you're just
starting out as far as GMing goes, you might find it easier to buy an
adventure or two before writing your own, so that you can get an idea of
how things like that are done, but it's not necessary.


--
-Canthros
And ye shall know the truth, and lobo1@****.com
the truth shall set you free. canthros1@***.com
--John 8:32, KJV
http://members.aol.com/canthros1/
Message no. 6
From: Marcin Serkies <yasiu@******.COM>
Subject: Re: matrix design/books
Date: Sat, 3 Jun 1995 17:45:48 +0200
>Go to Gurth's page. His address is in his sig. Stick around for at least
>a day and you'll see some of his posts.

okay i`ll check it out... thanks

>The main rule book. Everything else is dependant on what type of a
>campaign your running.

Hmmm... surely there will be some magic because i`ve at least one
ONLY-MAGIC-NOTHING-MORE player, some shooting ONLY-SHOOTING-NOTHING-ELSE
player ;) and hanging around in shadows... dealing with all that shit that
is destroying the world... and just living :)

c-ya

yasiu
Message no. 7
From: Marcin Serkies <yasiu@******.COM>
Subject: Re: matrix design/books
Date: Sat, 3 Jun 1995 18:00:49 +0200
At 10:52 AM 6/3/97 EDT, you wrote:

>All you need is the SR2 main book. If you plan on using much in the way
>of magic, the Grimoire is a good buy, and VR2.0 is a must for Matrix use
>(or so they tell me), but all you need is the main book. If you're just
>starting out as far as GMing goes, you might find it easier to buy an
>adventure or two before writing your own, so that you can get an idea of
>how things like that are done, but it's not necessary.

Okee thanks... i`ve just called to biggest RPG distrib. in Poland and they
don`t have Shadowrun on stock... because there will be Polish version in
three or four weeks... shit so much time to wait ;))) I`m not going to buy
any adventures.... i`m GMing for about five years so i don`t need it :)) But
i need some books with weapons/cyber(bio)nics for my players :) and
countries sourcebooks... And here is question - which one is good ???

c-ya

yasiu
Message no. 8
From: L Canthros <lobo1@****.COM>
Subject: Re: matrix design/books
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 14:48:31 EDT
On Sat, 3 Jun 1995 18:00:49 +0200 Marcin Serkies <yasiu@******.COM>
writes:
<snippy>
<<Okee thanks... i`ve just called to biggest RPG distrib. in Poland and
they don`t have Shadowrun on stock... because there will be Polish
version in three or four weeks... shit so much time to wait ;))) I`m not
going to buy any adventures.... i`m GMing for about five years so i don`t
need it :)) But i need some books with weapons/cyber(bio)nics for my
players :) and countries sourcebooks... And here is question - which one
is good ???>>


Well, there are three (D'oh! Four, technically) books out with cyber-
ware, one of which also contains bioware. Two of the four also contain
basic gear. These four books are:

Shadowtech: Bioware, Cyberware (including C2 decks, FIFF head-
ware memory, SPUs, Encephalons and other toys for the Matrix set),
Gene-tech, Biological Weapons, Chemicals, Legalities, and a gear list
with all Legalities for items introduced prior to 2051-2052.

Street Samurai Catalog: Cyberware, Weapons, etc, mostly ex-
pands on the stuff in the main book. Also includes some rules for
cyber-implantation surgery and intros alpha and beta grade cyber.
c2050-2051

Fields of Fire: Weapons, Vehicles, Lots of Optional Rules. The
only Cyberware this book contains is the SmartlinkII. Also contains a
complete listing of gear put out in FASA books up to that point. The
Merc's version of the Street Samurai Catalog. c2054

Cybertechnology: Cyber. Lots and lots of cyber. I don't know
exactly what all is in here, but a friend of mine just bought a copy
of this book, so I get to look at it a bit this Thursday. Includes
stuff on cybermancy, delta-grade cyber, a re-hash of alpha and beta
grade cyber, and perhaps more, but I don't know. Sort of like
Awakenings for the Street Samurai: Lots of new rules, but nothing
necessary for the game. c2057

The next group of books don't contain much in the way of cyber or
weapons, but they do focus on specific archetypes.

The Rigger's Black Book: Now out-of-print, the RBB was to the
rigger what the SSC or FoF is to Sammie or Merc, respectively. It
contained vehicles, rules for vehicular combat (these were, I think,
reprinted in SR2), rules for customizing vehicles and the like. Also
included info the VCR (reprinted in SR2) and remote control decks.
c2050-2051 The good news is that FASA will be putting out a *new* RBB
(titled, creatively enough, 'The Rigger's Black Book 2') in September
of this year.

Virtual Realities 2.0: This book revises and/or replaces all
previously published rules for the Matrix, including the rules
contained in the SR2 main book and the rules found in VR1.0, the
1st-edition Matrix rules. It contains information on building decks,
writing programs, Matrix combat and more. Also provides an update on
the current SOTA for the Matrix. c2056

The Grimoire, second-edition: Contains more in-depth rules on
magic in The Sixth World. Includes rules for Initiation, Metamagic,
druids, enchanting, ally spirits, and a new type of adept. Also
includes an expanded spell listing and a lot of new spells. c2053

Awakenings, 2057: Generally updates SR's magic, expanding the
scope of a magician's powers, adding a new type of adept, a new type
of magician, another magical tradition, and providing guidlines for
making new totems, more spells, a listing of all totems, spells, and
physical adept powers previously published by FASA. This book is not
necessary for the game, though it can be very useful. c2057

Shadowrun Companion: This is just a rules companion, it
expands and clarifies some things, introduces a few others, and
generally is not even close to being _necessary_ for a given game.
Buying this one is merely a matter of choice. c2058 (not that it
matters in this case).

That provides a pretty short listing of the books you _might_ find
useful when playing SR. It does not provide a listing of books which
are necessary, only the SR2 main book is *necessary*. I hope I haven't
overwhelmed you with a overly large chunk of information:) Good luck
to you:)


--
-Canthros
And ye shall know the truth, and lobo1@****.com
the truth shall set you free. canthros1@***.com
--John 8:32, KJV
http://members.aol.com/canthros1/
Message no. 9
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: matrix design/books
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 10:08:19 +0100
David Buehrer said on 6:40/ 3 Jun 97...

> | two simple questions
> | 1. i`m looking for good utilities to design matrix (for PC / no matter
> | win95/dos) - gimme addreses or something like this if you can
>
> Go to Gurth's page. His address is in his sig. Stick around for at least
> a day and you'll see some of his posts.

To go there even quicker, http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/pw/gameprogs.html
will take you to the RPG utilities page directly, though all it does for
matrix programs is link to Paolo's page due to lack of HD space on my part
:( Come to think of it, not anymore... I'll upload the utils to my own
page soon.
Anyway, it has a program that rolls up random matrix systems according to
the rules/tables in VR 2.0, and a program to calculate off-the-shelf
cyberdeck costs. There is a VR 1.0 matrix simulator out there somewhere,
but I decided it was too big a download for a program I'll hardly ever
use, so I can't comment on what it's like.

> | 2. what books i should buy for good start in SR GM`ing ???
>
> The main rule book. Everything else is dependant on what type of a
> campaign your running.

Best advice IMO is to buy the main rules and a FASA-published adventure,
so you can get a feel for the kinds of jobs shadowrunners are supposed to
do. Just about any adventure will do, except for Harlequin's Back, Celtic
Double-Cross, Imago, and possibly one or two others intended for more
experienced players. A Killing Glare may be a good start, since it has
some good combat scenes in it for new players to get to grips with.

Once you decide you like the system, you can invest in some of the other
books people will be recommending to you.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
People always talk about long-distance phonecalls as if they had to walk
all the way.
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version 3.1:
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Y PGP- t(+) 5++ X++ R+++>$ tv+(++) b++@ DI? D+ G(++) e h! !r(---) y?
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
Message no. 10
From: Marcin Serkies <yasiu@******.COM>
Subject: Re: matrix design/books
Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 11:44:26 +0200
At 10:08 AM 6/4/97 +0100, you wrote:

>To go there even quicker, http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/pw/gameprogs.html
>will take you to the RPG utilities page directly, though all it does for
>matrix programs is link to Paolo's page due to lack of HD space on my part
>:( Come to think of it, not anymore... I'll upload the utils to my own
>page soon.
>Anyway, it has a program that rolls up random matrix systems according to
>the rules/tables in VR 2.0, and a program to calculate off-the-shelf
>cyberdeck costs. There is a VR 1.0 matrix simulator out there somewhere,
>but I decided it was too big a download for a program I'll hardly ever
>use, so I can't comment on what it's like.

Okee i`ve found some shadorwrun utils all around the net.. so EOT and thanx
for help...

>Best advice IMO is to buy the main rules and a FASA-published adventure,
>so you can get a feel for the kinds of jobs shadowrunners are supposed to
>do. Just about any adventure will do, except for Harlequin's Back, Celtic
>Double-Cross, Imago, and possibly one or two others intended for more
>experienced players. A Killing Glare may be a good start, since it has
>some good combat scenes in it for new players to get to grips with.

i`ll try to find that in Poland... :)

>Once you decide you like the system, you can invest in some of the other
>books people will be recommending to you.

I`ve decided already that i like the system. I tried to buy it few
days/weeks ago but there is no SR main book in Poland because FASA is not
sending it here (because there will be Polish version). So i`m now looking
for other books :))

c-ya

yasiu
Message no. 11
From: Matb <mbreton@**.NETCOM.COM>
Subject: Re: matrix design/books
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 20:13:40 -0700
<<Well, there are three (D'oh! Four, technically) books out with cyber-
ware <...> Shadowtech, Street Samurai Catalog, Fields of Fire,
Cybertechnology... >>

There's also the Corporate Security Handbook, which contains valuable
(?) information on deckers infiltrating rigged security systems. The
reason I mention this is that while all the items (SCRE, CCSS etc) can
be either internl or external, no Essence costs are listed for the
internal
versions (very obviously cyber, from the pictures).

Does anyone have suggested values for them?

-Matt

Further Reading

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Thwap!