Shadowrun RPG - FanPro

FanPro Looking for GenCon GMs

AdamJury — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 01:09:19 +0000

We’re still looking for GMs to help us out at GenCon running our huge slate of Shadowrun games. We’ve had several inquiries from people who have said “I love Shadowrun and want to help out, but I’ve only played and haven’t GMed games before.”, so we’re working on a new “GM-in-Training” program — those that participate will get a crash course on running Shadowrun, Fourth Edition, then run a few games, and still get compensated [at a reduced rate from the regular GMs] for their time.

If you want to run Shadowrun games at GenCon — whether you think you need some training or not! — drop runningcow@gmail.com a line and let him know you’re interested, and give him a short adventure blurb [about 150 words] that you would like to run at the con.

Runner Havens Artwork

RobBoyle — Wed, 31 May 2006 20:43:10 +0000

We’ll have the Runner Havens PDF for you soon, but in the meantime, here is a selection of artwork from the book.

First, we have the cover from RK Post:

Then we have two pieces from an artist new to Shadowrun, Ed Cox:

Here’s a hungry spirit from John Gravato:

And a pissed-off cabbie from Chad Sergesketter:

Finally, a runner making use of his augmented reality input, from Klaus Scherwinski, who remains committed to getting at least one illustration in every Shadowrun book:

Real World History of Shadowrun

AdamJury — Wed, 10 May 2006 09:05:01 +0000

FanPro has been publishing Shadowrun for nearly five years now; we released our first Shadowrun title, Year of the Comet, at GenCon 2001. Five years and dozens of products later, and still some people are confused as to who we are and how things came to pass, so here’s a quick primer on the real world history of Shadowrun:

1989: FASA Corporation publishes the first edition of the Shadowrun tabletop cyberpunk-fantasy roleplaying game. It is an instant success.

1990: The first Shadowrun novel-Never Deal with a Dragon by Bob Charrette-is published by Roc. FASA also publishes a Shadowrun fiction anthology this year: Into the Shadows.

1992: Shadowrun, Second Edition is published, revamping the SR rules.

1993: Beam Software develops and Data East releases a computer RPG for the SNES console titled Shadowrun.

1994: BlueSky Software develops and SEGA releases a computer RPG for Sega Genesis also titled Shadowrun.

1996: A Japanese company called Group SNE develops an interactive fiction computer game for the Mega CD console (in Japanese only).

1997: FASA releases the Shadowrun collectible trading card game.

1998: Shadowrun, Third Edition is published, cleaning up the SR2 rules.

2001: FASA Corporation closes its doors. The Shadowrun IP is sold to WizKids. WizKids licenses the rights to publish the Shadowrun RPG to FanPro LLC.

2003: WizKids releases Shadowrun: Duels, a collectible action figure game.

2005: Microsoft announces plans to release a Shadowrun FPS for its X-box 360 console.

2005: WizKids/ROC publish Born to Run, the first in a new trilogy of Shadowrun novels.

2005: FanPro publishes Shadowrun, Fourth Edition.

Origins Registration Hiccups

AdamJury — Wed, 10 May 2006 03:08:21 +0000

We’ve been informed that there are some interesting “features” on the Origins event registration website. If you’re registering for Chasing Dreams, the two-round Shadowrun tournament [running at 7PM Friday, event number 6253 and 7PM Saturday, event number 6254], you need to register for both 6253 and 6254, unlike previous years where you only had to register for the first round.

Microsoft Shadowrun

RobBoyle — Tue, 09 May 2006 23:04:08 +0000

Microsoft has finally unveiled their Shadowrun FPS computer game for X-box 360 and Windows Vista. Fair warning, however: Microsoft rewrote the timeline and setting for this game, so it is not in continuity with the tabletop RPG. It may be more accurately described as a game loosely based on Shadowrun.

Czech Shadowrun

RobBoyle — Tue, 09 May 2006 22:57:50 +0000

FanPro is offering a Czech language translation of the Shadowrun Third Edition rules for free download. If you happen to speak Czech, you can grab them here.

Thanks to the volunteers who did the translation!

SRM: The Grab

AdamJury — Sat, 06 May 2006 23:15:58 +0000

The May Shadowrun Missions free download is now available — so go ahead and grab, err… download The Grab.

The shadows can be a dirty place to make a living, but a runner’s got to make end’s meet somehow. When opportunity calls, you answer. But when answering that call involves extracting an eleven-year-old girl as part of an elaborate and bizarre extortion scheme, the shadows can get much dirtier… and some stains can never be washed out.

Origins and GenCon Convention Schedules

AdamJury — Wed, 03 May 2006 01:48:40 +0000

We’ve posted PDF versions of the Shadowrun game schedules for Origins and GenCon. Event registration for GenCon has already started and Shadowrun events are selling out fast, so if you haven’t registered for games yet, don’t delay!

Origins 2006 Shadowrun Combined — This schedule has both regular Shadowrun and Shadowrun Missions events listed.
GenCon 2006 Shadowrun — This schedule lists the regular Shadowrun events — including the three-round tournament! — running at GenCon.
GenCon 2006 Shadowrun Missions — this schedule lists Shadowrun Missions events only.

Shadowrun Missions is the FanPro sanctioned “living” campaign set in the Sixth World, where you create your own character and can participate in any sanctioned Shadowrun Missions event with them — at conventions, your local game store, or even your own home-run Missions campaign.

The Missions crew are running several special events this year, but most notable is Shadowrun Missions Scramble!:

Mr. Johnson has put out a call to the Shadows of Denver — he needs every ‘runner available to prevent all out war in the shadows. A one time only Shadowrun Missions BYOC Interactive, with unique campaign rewards. Costumes encouraged!

The Shadowrun Missions Scramble! will be a combination of a traditional Shadowrun tabletop scenario and a LARP-like interactive session. During the first portion of the event, players will be meeting with Mr. Johnson at the Lakeside Amusement Park Casino in the PCC. While there, they’ll be able to gamble, and engage in many of the amusements to be found in the finest gambling facility owned by the Chavez mafia. All the while, characters will have an opportunity to explore the plots and subplots of the criminal organizations at work. Including those of their fellow shadowrunners.

This scenario provides a peek into the background of Denver’s criminal underbelly. Exploring themes from earlier Shadowrun Missions, and granting a glimpse into upcoming events.

Unique prizes will be awarded to Missions characters. These will include a focus believed to have been part of Dunkelzahn’s horde, a program secured from Mitsuhama’s labs, an appointment with an Evo clinic, and an armament fresh from Ares testing facility. Of course, there’ll also be the Nuyen.

This is a one-time run event, created by a collaboration between the Shadowrun Missions writing team and the FanPro convention team. If you enjoy the campaign, you really won’t want to miss this.

On the Run In Stores Soon

AdamJury — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 01:05:29 +0000

On The Run will be hitting book stores soon — it has a release date of April 24th, so it will be shipping to stores starting that day. Give your local game store a call and let them know you want a copy so they can be sure to order enough.

The third printing of Shadowrun, Fourth Edition is also in stores now. It’s moving fast, so grab your copies before it’s sold out again!

New Fiction: Dog Days

AdamJury — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 04:27:39 +0000

In Dog Days by Robert Derie, a down-and-out runner learns more than he wants to about raising pups in the sixth world.