From:	Arkane Arkane@***********.net
Subject:	Shadowrun Novels
Date:	Mon, 19 Jul 1999 20:21:22 +0200

Twist0059@***.com schrieb:

> In a message dated 7/17/99 10:27:37 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> D.N.M.vanNederveen@****.warande.ruu.nl writes:
>
> > Again I ask you: what's the difference between a sourcebook telling you
> > "BTW, Dunkie killed himself. A few people found out and made it
public"
> > (OK, in the novel they didn't, but how could peoeple otherwise find out
> > about it) or a novel (or series) doing so with a bonus that it has more
> > than a few pages to give you the details? Not just a few lines as we got
> > with Bug City - in a _sourcebook_!!! If you had other plans with Bug City,
> > the sourcebook spoiled your campaign as much as a novel would have. Your
> > campaign would've been as historically inaccurate as it was now.
> >
>
> The thing is, the sourcebooks never come out and tell you "Dunk killed
> himself" nor would they. That's what Shadowtalk is for, to provide rumor and
> doubt. Even in Bug City just who set off the tac nuke is never revealed,
> though hinted at, and the KE raid again is never proved. The novel Burning
> Bright gave these answers, though it came out along with Bug City and didn't
> step on any events that occur after the sourcebook's timeline. In other
> words, the novel complemented the events in Bug City, gave you the depth and
> flavor you want from the SR novels, and did it all without intruding on the
> GM's adventure ideas he takes from the sourcebook. It's possible to run an
> accurate campaign BEFORE the sourcebook's timeline finish, so that you can
> interact with the events of Kyle Teller and the KE hit team, yet that can be
> done in a historically correct manner since the sourcebook and the novel came
> out in unison.
> With PoaD, the first DHS novel came out almost a full year after the
> GMs had been using the book, effectively destroying any plots and
> conspiracies they had created. Saying you can keep your campaign correct
> historically just by not letting the players read the novels is false; the
> novels still happen, they are still considered part of the the SR universe
> (the official part, it should be noted), and your campaign has now become an
> alternate universe one. Which is wrong. The novels only exist because of
> the RPG, so the players and GMs of the game shouldn't have to conform to them.
> And what other plans would you have had with Bug City? I don't know
> of any GMs who run their campaigns ahead of FASA's current year and date as
> of the last sourcebook, so that the next sourcebooks can be introduced
> smoothly. So August 2055 came along, Bug City happened, and the GMs got to
> use it. Even if you were running a game in Chicago, the events in Bug City
> still had no problem happening, and might have instead spiced up a game with
> such a huge, disturbing event.
>
> -Twist

But the only things the official history of SR is influenced by the DHS novels is:

- the bridge is destroyed (so the GM´s can handle how much Earthdawn-Horrors they
want in their SR-World)
- Harlekin got his armor (from Dunky´s will)
- the blood mages of Aztechnology lost much of their support
- there is a very mighty ghost on the metaplane of the bridge

that´s all (I hope)!!!

And your runners can search the killer of Dunky for years, because
- no one told the publicity the truth
- and IMHO it´s not important who killed him


Arkane
(who apologize for spelling errors and bad grammar)