From:	Steven A. Tinner bluewizard@*****.com
Subject:	Why Shadowbeat both rocked and sucked
Date:	Tue, 16 Feb 1999 22:22:27 -0500

> BTW, if Shadowbeat is made out to be the "holy grail" so often on this
list, how come it only got rated 6.9 in the survey? :)

IMO, Shadowbeat was a double edged sword.
For GM's the book utterly rocked.
All the rules needed for Rockers, Sports, Media and more in a well written,
useful book.
What more could you ask for?

For players however, Shadowbeat offered very little.
A few average archetypes, and still no real reason to play a Rocker or
Reporter who also runs the shadows.
Very little gear/tech.
Not a lot of "fluff" fiction.

Unless you are planning on using this info in a campaign as a GM, it's kind
of a waste.
In fact, even as a GM, unless I have a player who is a Rocker or Media star
(which has been a total of TWICE in the last 10 years!) I don;t even bother
to bring the book to gaming sessions.

If you're a GM or SR-Zombie who just likes to read about the Sixth World,
then Shadowbeat is an awesome purchase full of nifty facts and useful data.
If you're a player who tends towards physads, merc, mages and sammys -
there's not much here for you.

Steven A. Tinner
bluewizard@*****.com
http://listen.to/Tinner
"9 points for word usage, and a cookie for using the term "Gygaxian
Whore"."