| From: | Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Saving Money |
| Date: | Wed, 6 May 1998 17:50:17 -0400 |
have more money to spend on Shadowrun...but maybe you aren't old enough to
work or something, so don't take it personal. *Damn that makes me feel
even older*
But with the sole exception of "Burning Bright" by Tom Dowd, all of the
novels are not required reading to understand the current world of SR. And
I say Burning Bright is the exception because it was that novel that
dropped the bomb about Bug City. It's the only novel that's done that
though, and since it's old news, it's no longer mandatory reading.
The Dragonheart Trilogy gives background information and is an interesting
read, but not much more. Well, okay, the little blurb at the fron of Blood
in the Boardroom about Nadja Daviar's "hunky" mystery friend isn't a
mystery to those of us that read the trilogy, but it's essentially trivia.
"Technobabble," which I thoroughly enjoyed (just how much can I suck up?
;-)) isn't necessary either. Yes, it gives background on why Renraku is
fighting for it's corporate life, yes it explains the current situation of
Miles Lanier (details removed to preserve spoiler integrity). But you
could very easily run your entire SR world without even knowing it existed.
It gives background information to the story, it isn't the entire story in
and of itself.
Save the $30/3 mo that you get for SR and use it to purchase solid
sourcebooks, not novels. Get Blood in the Boardroom and Cyberpirates.
Make sure you have $30 for when SR3 comes out in August/September. And if
you happen to find a fiver laying in the gutter, brush off the dirt and
pick up Technobabble.
Heck, most game shops now have used bins; I know my game store does, and it
has some great stuff in it (I'm gonna try to find some Mage: the Ascension
stuff in the used bin tonight, I'm hoping it'll make good SR Initiate group
background). I've seen hardcover editions of core game rules, like
Earthdawn and Star Wars, in used bins before. And if your game store
doesn't have used stuff, see if your town has a used book store. Back in
Tucson there was an endless amount of D$D/AD$D stuff to be found there.
And if you really have to get stingy with your cash, simply read everything
that has a spoiler on it; you'll get the interesting info about the product
without actually spending anything except for your e-mail access. I always
ignore spoilers, but that's just me.
Anyway, back to work.
Erik J.
What I wouldn't give to be a "carefree" student once again...this 9 to 5
stuff sucks rocks...
