What is Shadow Run?

[Lina Inverse]

Someone tell me, what this is!!!!! ^_^.......Please.

[Thorne Breede]

Shadowrun is a roleplaying game kinda like D&D but it is set in the futer with guns and compters and things like that preety good game if you are experinced with Pen and Paper RPGS Dice system sucks though

[Soul Sythe]

Don't have a damn clue. I was going to ask myself, but I never got around to it.

[Lina Inverse]

Well what is D&D and paper stuff??..I am confused!

[Soul Sythe]

D&D is Dungeons and Dragons. As for pen&paper it is rping like the following:

(Soul walks in the garden and faces Max)

(Max stands there and says,) Hello, wonderful weather is it not?

(Soul looks at the falling sun and says,) the end is coming; can you sense it.

(Max stares into Soul's eyes and says,) yes, it is true, but I just take it by day, and when they come; I will defend this planet.

And so on and so on. This was an example of me and max once at school. Its just like how you rp on the computer, but you type instead of write.

Sounds coool Thorne

[Lina Inverse]

I thought that you RPed by typing..awe man!!..this isn't making sense to me!!!What is pencil and paper?

[Thorne Breede]

OK i shall try to explain, First let me start by saying that role playing games while on the systems (i.e. FF, Baulders gate, Legend of legia) are fun they origainally started out as a pen and paper game meaning that you and a bunch of your friends got together everynow and then with a Character you had made following rules (likethe one you have on this site but with a lot stricter rules) then you role played your character through events, you use dice to determine outcomes, that is How Role Playing got started, and That is how lots of people still do it!! Shadowrun is one of the Rule sytems that is used! Ya DIG?

[Lina Inverse]

I am VERY confused!!!

[Soul Sythe]

I am confused on how to help. Uhhhh.....thinking.....uhhmmm. Lets see.....uhhhh. Okay I don't know what I can say to help much more, but this: you can RP with pen and paper the same as typing on the internet. I honestly don't know what else to say, but they are the same thing other than one thing is typing while the other is writing.

[Lina Inverse]

Well that makes a lot more sense!!..you should have just said that in the first place!!

[Matrim]

Sounds cool

[Soul Sythe]

Well, I'm glad I posted it than. I feel useful for today. YEAH!!

[WhiteStalker]

Or lina you coulda asked you sis admin made and marketed his own rpg pen and paper game..i remember this...But yeah aeris and that dude played it all the time....you me aeris and a coupla others were chatting one late night.:D

[Lina Inverse]

Hey I never thought of that :D

[vahn]

it's simple, even i understand it, u use a pencil adn paper, and use dice to do a bunch of stuff, i'm confused

[Evangelion Kun]

Let me try and clarify as best I can. I think the dice things' already sorted out, but I'll summarize anyway. Pen and paper was actually out a bit before the whole online RP scene kicked in, and the online RP scene actually owes a fair amount to it. Simply put, pen and paper roleplaying describes the actual RP systems, that determined actions through dice rolls and character stats, to decide whether or not they could get away with. Originally, RPing was done in large or small groups amongst friends, rather than the hundreds of options online today. Now, as for Shadowrun, being a resident Shadowrun nut, let me clarify.

The basis for Shadowrun is a distant future, spefiically, the year is around 2060, if I remember my date correctly. The short version is (while still rather long) that corporations, through political wheelings and dealings, have managed to gain far the very power to define themselves as secondary nations, allowed to do everything from write their own laws to have their own PRIVATE armies, even define territory. (In response to eco-terrorist attacks, to be precise). This pretty much kick-starts an all out corporate war environment, with the government being pushed aside by the almight dollar. Now, SOMEWHERE along the lines, the corps begin to run low on resources. In America, there is but one place still rich in resources; Native American reserves and the like. This, of course, pissed off the Native Americans, who'd been pushed around for years, and now were getting pushed away for good. All out guriella war breaks out, complete with fun "Native American Re-Education centers"... and generally pisses them off. In retailation however, they begin a strange ritual... A "Great Ghost Dance". This in turn, strangely enough, causes all those wonderful magic things we here in stories to re-surface, with NASTY consequences. A great purging, volcanos and tidal waves iand the like, put a world already at the brink over the edge. Trees respout over sprwaling cities, a huge area sanctioned off and protected by fierce creatures, even Dragons rising from mountain tops! (And what do they do, live the American Dream and become Corporate Sponsers, one even becomes President! May he rest in peace and that junk). Now, on the edge between sprawling forests and urban decay, The corporations continue to try and claw their way to the top at the decedant world, and utilize the lowest of the low--Shadowrunners, the mercenaries of the streets, of all shapes and sorts, from mages to sleek hackers to drivers to all out gun-toting mercs, to carry out their dirtywork.

THAT is the short version, there's a lot of little things thrown in here and there, but it all adds up to a really interesting cyberpunk RPG. If you want any other information, go ahead and post a reply, or drop me a line through PM or email. I'll try and answer all your questions to the best of my ability (or better, once I get my RPG book back...)

[Desperado]

This thread made me kind of depressed. To know that some people out there RP online with out having a CLUE as to what old school Dungeons and Dragons "pencil and paper" roleplaying games are. So let's see, where do we start?

Well first I think anyone that does ANY sort of legit roleplaying should owe it to a guy named Gary Gygax. He worked for TSR in the 70s and the company made wargames. What are wargames? Basically each player was a set of miniatures (inch tall figurines) that represents an army. One player moderates the game as the others fight it out on a personal territory (usually built out of plastics, heavy cardboard, paint and the like to give it a realistic feel). Well as for the dice, these were used to aliviate a lot of stress on the "Who hit who" issue. the moderater chose a 'target number' that a roll had to meet or exceed for a successful hit and so on and so forth.

Now Gary's father always told him stories when he was younger. This lead to reading a lot of fantasy fiction (which wasn't much back in the day) and in particular Tolkien (ie, Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit). Gary Gygax started incorperating these fantasy elements in his wargame designs at TSR. One day a friend of his brought a set of rules he called Chainmail! in which a group of lone adventurers set out inside a dungeon to rid it of evil and collect the treasure. These rules used Gygax's wargame fantasy rules as well. Gygax took this new game and redesigned it, calling it Dungeons and Dragons. That was 1975.

From then on the genre evolved. s we see it now from D&D, Shadowrun, Vampire: The Masquarade, and other games have spawned into there own heritage.

As for the explanation (I'm not done yet, sorry, haha)

"Paper and Pencil" refers to the fact that your characters statistics (attributes, skills, gear, and history) are all recorded on a character record sheet. Archaic compared to electronic gaming (internet stuffs) but it suffices and thrives to this day. Instead of having vague hit and miss rules online, these "pencil and paper" games utilize the dice as a means of rating success and failure. Your dice roll is helped by a skill rating in most cases, so if you have a 10 (on a scale of 1 to 10) in baking, then you would have a better chance when rolling dice to bake something tasty (even superb) than someone with, say, a 5 in the baking skill.

PnP games are FAR more personal as well. Instead of typing actions and dialogue you actualy get the chance to speak in character, whether she be a gruff dwarf or an angelic elf. On top of it all you're with friends for an entire night, doing something you love, and watching the story grow, influencing plot and the like. Time to go, damnit . . . .read you all later!

[Evangelion Kun]

I very much agree with "Desperado" here on a lot of points. PnP RPing can be a far more personal experience. In a good group, there's almost a synergy that develops between players, who seem to almost absorb their characters. It can develop a strong dynamic, very quickly. Unfortunatly, in the WRONG hands, it becomes an annoying math game where the point is to come up with the best set of stats to ensure the character can "do anything" (Anyone who reads 8-Bit Theater is probably aware of Red Mage, the character who can "do anything" and bends the rules occasionally to suit his needs should he not have the proper roles, all while being obsessed only with stats. Some PnP RPers aren't too far off that)

Here's food for thought though. Is online's influence on RP good or bad, truly? Though the roots are forgotten, let's not ALSO forget that even as far as 10 years ago, RPing was such a small niche that the general populace didn't even KNOW what it meant, much less cared to join in. Furthermore, those that were involved... Let's just say they weren't exactly the popular types. To be honest, online RPing has even local impacts, as I meet a great many people even in this little rinky-dink town who have had a trial-by fire online, and now are much more open to the concept of creative realtime stories and the like. And let's face it. Sometimes Pen and Papers REALLY only give a damn about raising their stats. That illusive magical weapon that gives let's them have enough points to lift a buick. Dice are good for control, but at what point is it too much control? D&D 3rd edition seems ripe with that stuff (Star Wars 3rd edition fitting into that category too. I will never accept Living-armor-clad-Lightsaber/Force resistant Jedi hunters). Yet Online RPing sacrafices that control for freedom, with mixed results (one extreme or the other, depending on who you talk to). So what do ya think?

[Desperado]

Awesome, then first thick and rich discussion on the boards! I'm ready to rumble, hahaha.

I have good moments with online RPing, to be honest. I also have bad ones. I always thought The Keep at WebRPG was terrible, but the more often I go into this chatroom I find more to love about the keep and less to love about this. No offence to anyone, I'm just one of those Mad Gamer perfectionist archetypes, haha.

When it comes down to dice and game mechanics in general I think the most important thing to do is find the happy medium. Like Evangelion Kun said Dungeons and Dragons 3e (and all the other D20 supported merch) rely too heavily on statistical factors than player's common sense and trust. When ever I get a player who's always looking at statistics I always do one of two things. First, I introduce him into roleplaying as opposed to adventure gaming. Secondly, I'm always sure to invite him to the LAN parties I atend, because that's a good place to get all your ego-growing stat pumping juices out and dead. Thanks to Unreal Tourny and Counter Strike I've seen a lot of good games com out afer LAN parties, just because everyone's gotten sick of the statistical kill'em'all mentality and tediousness.

As for magical weapons, I think they're a good tool in some aspects. Whenever I give out a magical weapon I make sure the character (or the player) never knows it's realy magical (unless the power becomes obvious). When they recieve the weapon they recieve it because it's special ability levels the playing field. What does that mean? Well for example, if I were to give a character a flambirge longsword than I'd start pitting him or her against water elementals. A purely combative stance I know, but the example suffices. For magical users I usually give them a charm that allows them one or two extra spells to be cast a day. I do THAT when they'll need that extra Enchantment, Incantation, or other unique plot-driven spell. If a thief gets a belt that allows them to become twice as dexterous, then they'll need to dfo some nasty flips, grabs, and jumps to help their companions on their journy.

So I think that much covers it for me stat-wise. Here we go again! Always be aware of the games balance. Especially in chat. I suggest the "attempt" aproach. Begin an action, and let whoever it effects resolve it. This means a lot of trust and commitment, plus being honest enough to take a few bruises (and for the good RPer, a death of a character to really effect and harden the plot of a story). Don't ever be afraid of letting your character go. If it improves the story and brings depth to the world, people will enjoy it and it'll all be worth it. Plus, those people you're RPing with online will be more than happy to let you back into the game under a new character, for a different (yet important) reason. It's the best way games are played, mwuahahahahaha! Okay, I'm done now . . . Damn I love these forums, thanks all. :cool:

[Vampiro Valdez]

Hey people

So I see some people have a bit of trouble with the whole shadowrun rpg game if you guys want to know i am a player/dm of shadowrun and a game called dark matter and if you guys would be interested in knowing on how to play shadow run just pm me or e-mail at GMCroteau678@hotmail.com and i would be honored to show you how to play

[Lina Inverse]

I'm sorry. I'm not very smart. That's all. No depression allowed!

[darkparadox]

Shadow Run rules!! So does CyberPunk! and so doed Dark Matter!! I wish I could run those games and play in them at the same time with my group....!

[Desperado]

Haha, sorry Lina. Didn't mean to be all depressed. Don't think you're not smart either. Of course you are. The answer to your question was just one I was able to get a little overzealous with, hehe. My apologies. I'm a tried and true roleplayer devotee so, of course, I get that fenatical must-inform-everyone attitude going.

[Lina Inverse]

LOL!! Thanks anyways!! You're smart ;)

[Desperado]

I do with what I have.

[Sistalrena]

just posting messages to test somehting ignore this!

[Lina Inverse]

Lol. alright then ^_^

[Sephylight]

Oh man, I think I'm gonna throw up. You mean you are online, playing RP's, and you don't even know what a pen and paper RP is? Man this thread made me feel like an old man, and I'm only 13! I loved playing DnD, the 2nd edition that is, or Call of Cthula, or Shadowrun. Man me and my pals getting together and playing the Hollow World or maybe The Lost Realms, or maybe even Dark Sun campainge that day, twice a week, every week. No questions asked, I finally found a online RPG boards that has it's own dice program, and some of the members don't even know what a pen and paper RPG is. Wow, this new generation is lost in my eyes.

[Arwen~]

I know it's depressing right.

Damn. I've only been into role play for the past four years, and two of three of those with Shadowrun. I'm 20, and I've played D&D first, then Shadowrun, then a little Vamp Masquerade and a little Exalted. But, damn. Maybe online access has just ruined them. Not enough limits and rules to rp online. It's nuts that people don't know how to play table top. That's how it got started. **shakes her head** Sad sad thoughts.

[Maester Lou]

HEY PEOPLE WHATs UP? :)

[Arwen~]

Not much, what's up your way? :)

[SnowMan SK]

so do anybody here ever use T1 orT2 or T3 fighting style in RPG?

[airlonnie]

deah ria

What edition is shadow run in? 2nd? I know fasa went bankrupt at one point. Perhaps its 3rd edition. Shadow run is a great game. You should give it a try. I got the second edition book for 10 dollars the other day...

As for magical weapons, should you ever come across a lone sword stuck in a rock, with lots of dead bodies around it(one body even has a hand one the swords hilt) dont pick it up.