From:	Mark Fender markf@******.com
Subject:	Shadowrun Novels
Date:	Mon, 19 Jul 1999 14:52:33 -0500

> In a message dated 7/18/99 1:24:37 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> jarmokaronen@***.fi writes:
>
> > Whew... I just have to ask: why is it wrong? Why is it wrong to make
> > your own, alternate universe? After all, as I see it, making your
> > campaing an alternate one would be the solution for your problem ("the
> > official stuff, namely novels ruining your plots"). Why do you have to
> > stick to the official material like it was some holy grail?
>
> While all campaigns are going to be unique to a certain extent, most
> people
> will play in teh main universe. While it is fine to preface every new
> development with "change it if you wish" all future products will assume
> that
> event took place. For example, if I had set my campaign in Chicago, where
> Dunkelzhan was the master mind behind a huge plot to bring the horrors
> across, that is my prerogative. However, why buy anything new for
> shadowrun,
> sinc ethey will be operating under a totally different set of parameters?
> The products need to leave leeway for individual campaigns, if
> everything
> comes down to "ignore this at will" than the GM is doing all the work, and
>
> has no need to buy new stuff. (may seem like an extreme example but..)
> While a developing universe is good, you need to keep major world
> altering
> events in check. It is a given that you can ignore anything you want, but
> eventually it just means you are ignoring everything.
>
Again, why must I keep major world altering events in check? I don't really
see this as ignoring everything. For instance, if I run a low level ganger
type campaign in Seattle, I can interact with thousands of various runners,
gangers, corp powers, etc. and never touch anything FASA has published. In
fact, I did this for several years back in 1st. ed. As new sourcebooks came
out, they filled in the world a little more, provided detailed info on areas
left uncovered. As I read them, I incorporated them into the SR world, but
they still didn't affect my players.