From: | graht1@*****.com (Graht) |
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Subject: | Why I Don't Play Shadowrun Anymore |
Date: | Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:10:07 -0600 |
I don't play Shadowrun anymore. I haven't played it in about 3 years.
When Shadowrun first came out it was incredible, not because of the
rules, but because of the world. Magic and cybertechnology and big
guns and humans, trolls, orcs, elves, and dwarves, all trying to
survive in a somewhat post apocolypic world where data was the only
real commodity. It ruled.
There were problems with the rules, but it didn't matter because that
was part of the fun of the game (trolls in our campaign played shotgun
tag because they couldn't hurt eachother with shotguns, it was loud,
and it was fun).
Along came 2nd edition. The problems in 1st edition were fixed, and
new paradoxes were created (FAB anyone?). But it was okay because it
was still Shadowrun. And then the supplements started coming out.
At first I was a big fan of the supplements for cyberware, bioware,
vehicles, and magic. But what I didn't realize at the time was that I
was getting bogged down in rules and that my campaign was suffering
for it. Instead of writing down notes for adventure ideas I was madly
scribbling ideas to fix the new problems.
Enter 3rd edition. It fixed a lot of problems, but then all of the
supplements had to be updated, and there were a *lot* of changes, and
a lot of creative new rules. Somewhere along the way the balance had
shifted and the Shadowrun universe had shrunk while the rules grew,
and grew, and grew. And there wasn't any real consistency; different
rules for combat, different rules for astral space, different rules
for vehicles (both design and combat), and so on.
I gave up trying to keep up with it all. All of the rule changes just
became to much for me and there just wasn't enough world building to
outweigh that.
IMHO few games are in more need of d20 conversion than Shadowrun. I
would like to see Shadowrun simplified and consistent and see more of
what made it Shadowrun in the first place.
<sits calmly on Gurth's couch, munching popcorn>
--
-Graht