Customer Reviews

Corporate Download (Shadowrun)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Another excellent source for information on the Awakened World. A much needed update on the corporate struggles that plague the UCAS, CAS, and anywhere else that holds any value. Valuable info on new corps, such as Novatech. A good accessory to help sort out the chaos of the Fuchi collapse.

I liked the book overall, and found that a lot of background info was given to help anyone who cared learn about the big 10. The mega-corps are all very well-detailed, and some of the info has mucho potential as GM material and story hooks. However, I thought that the game info section with the rules could have been a bit better, such as maybe including general pay scale for certain types of shadowruns. But that's just me. Overall, the book rocked. Get it if the Big 10 interest you at all, and especially if you're a GM planning on some corporate espionage!

Corporate Download is everything that the old Corporate Shadowfiles supplement was not. While CS was a text on how the corps did business and made money, CDL tells GMs and players alike how they operate, what they want, and who they oppose. It also tells PCs how to survive working with the corps, and gives GMs ideas on how to use the corps in their games and create new corps of their own to fill in the cracks in the shadows. This is the good stuff; I highly recommend it.

"CORPORATE DOWNLOAD focuses on the ten most important characters in the SHADOWRUN universe - the AAA megacorporations that dictate what happens in the shadows and the world at large. The year is 2061, and the dust is settling on a corporate war in which one of the mightiest megacorporations fell. In the aftershocks, three new megacorps rose to prominence, each taking a different path to the top and showing the other megas that they do not have the market cornered on deception and power."
- from the Introduction

Meant for use with:
SHADOWRUN, 3rd edition and the revised SHADOWRUN COMPANION
RIGGER 2
VIRTUAL REALITIES 2.0
CRITTERS
MAGIC IN THE SHADOWS

Plot-wise, CORPORATE DOWNLOAD describes the corporate world as it is after the death of Dunkelzahn (which indirectly triggered the corporate war) and after Deus' takeover of the Renraku Arcology in Seattle, so it is effectively a sequel to PORTFOLIO OF A DRAGON and to RENRAKU ARCOLOGY: SHUTDOWN.

Typically of the best of the Shadowrun sourcebooks, this volume is organized as an electronic document from Shadowland, the (fictional) central clearinghouse for shadowrunner information in the Shadowrun world. As in the real world, of course, information is compiled by characters having their own agendas, which may include the spread of disinformation, so gamemasters are free to decide whether the truth is out there and what it is.

Captain Chaos begins by turning over center stage to two shadowrunners who in parallel provide two quick and dirty tutorials about the facts of life. The Chromed Accountant in "Taking Care of Business" outlines the basic knowledge needed to understand the megacorps: the definitions of "corporation", "multinational corporation", and "megacorporation", and what the AAA rating system actually tells you about a megacorporation. Alongside this explanation of what the corps are lies Wobbly's "They Got the Whole World in Their Hands", which discusses the power of the megacorps: how it evolved and how they maintain it.

The next section, before discussion of the individual megacorps begins, covers "The Corporate Court". The Big 10 megacorps - the 10 biggest multinationals, who between them control more resources than all the other corporations on Earth put together - comprise the Corporate Court, which not only settles inter-corporate disputes but determines a corporation's status in the A - AAA rating system; that is, the Corporate Court decides whether a corporation has extraterritoriality, whether it can act as a law unto itself.

After a final bit of initial tutorial material, "Surviving the Corporations", each individual member of the Big 10 has its own chapter, ranked in alphabetical order. Several entries begin with a little corporate history lesson before moving on to discuss the corporation's internal organization (e.g. primary divisions or businesses) and the major power players, such as Lofwyr's inner circle in the case of Saeder-Krupp.

All of the above is marked up with running commentary by Shadowland's shadowrunner visitors, expanding on areas of their own expertise and debunking items they disagree with. Lots of adventure seeds here, though no pre-packaged scenarios; shadowrunners often give examples. The main article on Yamatetsu, for instance, describes their corporate policy of no shadowruns not sanctioned by upper management, to prevent pointy-haired middle managers from messing up situations they don't understand. (The policy came about because a mid-level exec arranged for the murder of a Shiawase employee who'd been making trouble for Yamatetsu - who turned out to be a Yamatetsu deep-cover agent luring Shiawase into trusting him, unbeknownst to the middle-management Yamatetsu weenie who tried to take him out.) In real life, this means that runs arranged for a mid-level exec's personal gain involve dodging Yamatetsu's own security.

Very good read.

"Though AA corps have frequent dealings with the Corporate Court and accounts with the Zurich-Orbital Bank, they have no official presence on the Court proper. Despite their power, they remain as much at the Court's mercy as the smallest corps. Each and every one would kill their mothers to get on the Court."
- the Chromed Accountant

While a lot of the information is in fact from Corporate Shadowfiles, this time around a more 'universal approach' was taken whe reviewing the Big ten. Ares,Aztechnology and Renraku no longer hold ALL the attractions for runners, and GM's will find the Information on Shiawase and Yamatetsu (the most often ignored Megacorps)to spawn many different story ideas. The sections on how each corp treats it's runners,reacts to runners,and pays their runners is a step above CS, and the corp stats are actually useable this time around.

This book is great. It has a little bit of everything about the big ten megacorps. From a listing of major subsidiaries, to product lines, members of the boards, and a few juicy little skeletons in some closets. In the Game Information section, it breaks down each mega by how much they will pay runners, how they deal with intruders, and how their security forces will react. Great way to spark ideas for Game Masters and scare the drek out of players.

this is a great book if you feel like running a game where the corps have a greater presence and intrical part in the story. also good for a history on the corps.

shadowrun is one of the best rpg made. this is my opinion but you you should definatly should get it.