Shadowrun (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

Jordan Weisman (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Fasa; 3rd edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555603718
• ISBN-13: 978-1555603717
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,315 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but much better, July 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shadowrun (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

First off, the setting has been revised and updated, and organized in a much nicer presentation(the index is more organized as well). Next off, the fiction story to introduce new players to the pretty schizo genre is much better than the previous ones.Overall the book does a good job of immersing an individual in the setting without simply throwing terms around without explanation. The absence of a map,critters,and contacts section is felt, but considering the sheer bulk of the rules included and the quality of the presntation, it's likely to be small qualm at best. initiative has been made more fair, and magic now works like the rest of the game system,while maintaining a unique feel. Much of the gear seems very skimpy, but considering that most of the SR players I know of already own all the perfectly compatible SR and SR2 books, that hardly seems like a drawback. Overall, a strong product.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, could've been a wee bit better, June 30, 2000

By 

Brad Smith (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadowrun (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

Way back in 1990, I wandered through the bookstore and saw Shadowrun, 1st edition. I got it. It was an enjoyable game, but I never really got to play it until 2nd edition, Freshman year, which was *all* I played in college.

So, I have most, if not all, of the sourcebooks, and I consider myself a diehard fan. When I saw the new edition, I had mixed reactions.

Some of the good points are that it looks nicer now, and that character creation has been cleaned up and improved...suddenly, metahumans are a lot more common than they used to be. They cleaned up a lot of rules, and rationalized things, which happens when you've got a bunch of supplements for each area out there.

Bad things...well, I'm not convinced they've fixed magic quite the way they want to. The skills are kind of odd...I like having the background/knowledge skills, and the extra skill points, but certain decisions are just odd. There's no good reason to have separate skills for shotgun, rifle, and assault rifle, as they work the same. I'd've used something like Millenium's End's way, which has skills for smallarms, longarms, and autofire, and use the lowest of the appropriate skills (i.e. if I'm using a rifle, I use longarm, but if I'm firing a burst, use autofire).

All in all, it's a good book. The system had gotten overly sprawling, and this reboot was pretty much necessary to rationalize everything.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to learn and fun to play!, March 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shadowrun (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

The 3rd version of Shadowrun Role Playing Game is great! It is well written and is very easy to understand and remember. It has added a few new rules to make the game more fun and realistic and is definitly a great choice for avid RPGers or people that have never tried them before! To fully understand and be able to allow the gameplay flow, the Game Master should read ALL the rules and memorize the most important ones, bottom line: It might take a 4-6 hours to learn everything, but it is well worth it.

Players feel imersed in a land of crime, shadows, magic and intense situations. I especially find it cool that it's most set in Seattle, me being from Washington. Reality seems to blend with unreality well and all the technological devices seem plausible. If you have a few freinds willing to spend a few hours to immerse themselves in a world of action and suspense, then I recommend this game wholeheartedly!