| From: | Patrick Goodman pgoodman13@************.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Mike Mulvihill on STATE OF THE ART |
| Date: | Wed, 25 Oct 2000 07:36:01 -0500 |
you guys who aren't regular freelancers could provide some input. Mike
asked the freelancers to disseminate this one, so here goes:
From: Mike Mulvihill, Shadowrun Line Developer [shadowrun@****.com]
Hi everyone,
Next summer will be the first of new update/upgrade gear books for
Shadowrun 3. Many of you have heard me talk of it. It is called State Of The
Art.
The concept behind State of the Art is...
The book will include an update of existing gear.
It will include new gear
It will include all aspects of gear in one book (magical, armor,
weaponry, matrix, rigging, standard gear...)
While that is all well and good, we have two directions that fans have
actually spoke to me about. Here they are in no specific order:
A: State of the Art: 2062
Like the rules expansions we just put out (Man & Machine, Matrix, Rigger
3) this book would feature gear and small rules-voice write-ups. No fiction.
Four or five sections of gear broken down by it's generic classification.
B: State of the Art: XXXXX
This book would feature both a source material section (black
information, POV writing, etc.) and the rules/gear section, in a 50/50 mix .
The closest product to this would be Awakenings.
The fiction book can be broken down into two subsets...
State Of the Art: Fiction Theme or
State of The Art: Rules Theme
While seeming the same they are actually very different.
The Fiction Theme book would be, for example State Of The Art: Security or
State of the Art: Mercenary or State of the Art: Special Ops. The fiction
would cover the basics of the theme and all the gear would lean (but not be
totally be exclusive) towards the theme.
The Rules Theme would be like the State of the Art: 2062 - but with a
fiction section in the front. There is no overall pattern to the book and
information could jump from place to place with no specific continuity.
Since each book has it's pros and cons, and at the present time, we see the
benefits and the problems with all types, we feel that input from those that
would buy the book would make sense.
It is important to note that we already plan on doing more than one SOTA
book...these will be the rule books of the future for Shadowrun. Each one
will most likely share the common elements outlined above but can switch
between the various presentation formats.
Let us know what you think...but wait there's more!
Here is a list of some of the topics and rules that we know need to be
included in SOTA books at one time or another. Let me know what interests
you the most...
Rules to still do/update to SR3.
Genetech (never updated from SR2)
Host Construction (taking the Matrix rules one step further)
Lots of Metamagic that we cut from MITS
Lots of stuff that we compiled and cut from the other rules expansions
Themes mentioned repeatedly from people.
Corp Security (a way to update Corp Security and part of Lone Star)
Mercenaries (a way to update the information presented in Fields of Fire)
Special Ops (from Corp spies like Cross' Seraphim etc.)
Government Agents (Men in Black, Delta Green, Tir Paladins and Sioux Wild
Cats)
Please respond to this document by Friday November 10th to
Shadowrun@****.com
For the record: we will not be doing gear specific black information mixed
in with the rules. That is a terrible idea and it will not be done. Rules
need to be clear and concise and the way we have done it so far has been a
boon to Shadowrun and made Shadowrun a playable game. So there. :-)
Thanks for the help -
Have Fun!
Play Games!
Mike Mulvihill
Shadowrun Line Developer
FASA
www.fasa.com
