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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Starting year for a new group (was Re: Favorite Pistol.)
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 15:54:35 +0100
John Penta said on 17:31/11 Nov 97...

> Which brings up a new topic:What year do ya think I should start a group
> that is TOTALLY NEW to Shadowrun in?

Just start them off in 2058 and let them do typical shadowruns at first,
so they can get the hang of the game and the background. From there they
can gradually get into the big leagues and get involved in the stuff that
has a greater impact on the world as a whole.

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
So what if we're making a scene now?
-> NERPS Project Leader & Unofficial Shadowrun Guru <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html <-
-> The New Character Mortuary: http://www.electricferret.com/mortuary/ <-

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Message no. 2
From: "Logan Graves <Fenris>" <logan1@*****.INTERCOM.NET>
Subject: Re: Starting year for a new group (was Re: Favorite Pistol.)
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 19:19:31 -0500
In our last episode, Gurth wrote:
>
> in reply to John Penta's earlier post...
>
> > Which brings up a new topic:What year do ya think I should start a
> > group that is TOTALLY NEW to Shadowrun in?
>
> Just start them off in 2058 and let them do typical shadowruns at
> first, so they can get the hang of the game and the background. From
> there they can gradually get into the big leagues and get involved in
> the stuff that has a greater impact on the world as a whole.

Well, yes. You basically have two choices. You could either start your
campaign in early 2058 to keep up with the most current sourcebooks or
you could start it on today's date.* (Actually a third choice is that
you could set _any_ date for your campaign to limit tech-level. Say
2053, when the 2nd ed rules came out. Or 2050: no Predator II's, etc.)


*Since the timeline in Shadowrun is *exactly* SIXTY YEARS ahead of the
present day, today is "officially" 11/12/57 in the Shadowrun Universe.
However, due to publishing deadlines, they have to plan their modules,
sourcebooks, & novels at least 18 months in advance. So, all of the
recent material has the "2058" stamp on it. Technically it's just a
little over three months since Dunky's assassination, but many GM's are
ahead of this schedule. (I got all o'this striaght from FASA's
collective mouthes, back in my 'submitting' days...)

--Fenris
_______________________________________________logan1@*****.intercom.net
Message no. 3
From: Fredrik Lindblom <fredrik.lindblom@******.KALMAR.SE>
Subject: Re: Starting year for a new group (was Re: Favorite Pistol.)
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 10:02:51 +0100
>> > Which brings up a new topic:What year do ya think I should start a
>> > group that is TOTALLY NEW to Shadowrun in?

I started a new campaign a coupla months back, with old players (of other
RPGs) that were new to SR. I let them start out in 2051, since I plan on
running most of the published adventures in chronological order. Starting
early means you have a valid reason (apart from divine GM judgement, that
is) to deny them fancy equipment that produce extra-powerful PCs.

"Suprathyroid gland? Yeah, well, of course they EXIST, but they are kinda
experimental. Not supposed to hit the streets until '53, see... Though your
friendly neighborhood street doc probably could get you one... He's
connected. Safe? It's perfectly safe! Been tested on monkeys. Twice! The
second one even survived! Now at 4 times the listed price..." and so on...

Anyway, running Harlequin, Mercurial, and the others, once more (and this
time with 6 years of experience from my old group of players) brings back
memories... :) Damn! I love this game!

/FL
Message no. 4
From: Craig Rickel <crickel@***.EDU>
Subject: Re: Starting year for a new group (was Re: Favorite Pistol.)
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 14:51:35 -0600
Logan Graves wrote:

> *Since the timeline in Shadowrun is *exactly* SIXTY YEARS ahead of the
> present day, today is "officially" 11/12/57 in the Shadowrun Universe.
> However, due to publishing deadlines, they have to plan their modules,
> sourcebooks, & novels at least 18 months in advance. So, all of the
> recent material has the "2058" stamp on it. Technically it's just a
> little over three months since Dunky's assassination, but many GM's are
> ahead of this schedule. (I got all o'this striaght from FASA's
> collective mouthes, back in my 'submitting' days...)
>
> --Fenris
> _______________________________________________logan1@*****.intercom.net

Whoa! That means that my runner I created way back when I started this game
has been running the shadows for.... 9 years now! Yikes! That's kinda
scary... He started at 19 years old, that means he's 28 now... Man. Other
runners must think he's an old fogey. :)

And he doesn't even have that much karma.. Hard to find a RL group around
here. Oh, well. I'll just have to fix that sooner or later. :) He'll get to
retire by the time he's 55, I swear!

Spider Murphy

Further Reading

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Thwap!