Customer Reviews

Shadowrun 4th Edition (Shadowrun (Catalyst))

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

 

 

A new edition of the rules for a role-playing game usually spells death for the company making the release. It happened to FASA, ICE and many others. The reason is that the fans see it as just another attempt to get them to buy a game they already own, and usually that's true.

In 4th Edition Shadowrun we have something special. The revisions of the rules actually make the game better than earlier editions. In fact with the exception of the character creation system (which could use some work) this edition is head and shoulders beter than earlier editions and well worth the investment.

Add to that the fact that given the publishing arrangements it seems unlikely that a 5th edition will be showing up just around the corner and it looks like you could get several years use out of this product.

For a few specifics, combat flows better and is less lethal across the board. The magic system has been revised to allow spell casters to buy a spell and cast it at whatever force level they choose instead of buying the spell once for each force level that might interest them. Cybernetics have been revised to allow enhancements without overwhelming advantage.

The people that revised this game really had an eye to making the system more playable. For perhaps the first time I feel the new edition is well worth your time and money.

I've been a big Shadowrun fan for a long time. I owned every second edition rulebook, as well as many first and third edition books. In addition to the novels and video games. So when I first looked at this new 4th Edition book, I was a bit skeptical. A great many things had been changed, both in terms of setting and mechanics, and I didn't know if I liked them.

Having now played the game for several months, I can say that most of my worries were unfounded. The mechanics have been greatly improved while still retaining a fair amount of detail and complexity. However, it will still take someone new to the system a while to learn completely, even players who are otherwise experienced gamers. The setting has, in large part, been updated to reflect some of these mechanical changes. Though I'm not a fan of all of the changes that have been made, by and large they seem natural enough and I can live with them.

Overall, the classic Shadowrun feel is there despite the changes. Dirty gritty cyberpunk fused with the mysterious and unusual magic in a way that makes sense and is more fun to actually play than it has been in a long time.

This is a wonderful extension of the original Shadowrun (or Shrun by some folks)that has very detailed explinations of what abilities do, examples of how to use them, and excellant pre-made characters.
We started by using the pre-mades just to see how well done they were, and are still using them months into the campaign, giving them their own personalities and quirks.
I recomend this book to anyone who is a Shrun Veteran, plus anyone who is just starting to find out that Mr. Johnson IS their best friend! Sit back and enjoy the adventure!

This book is a compete RPG that has the best system I've ever played (I've played a lot too).
The ideas in it are unique and extremely fun. It's Cyber Pumk meets D&D (the good editions, not the crap out today). It's the best investment of your gaming dollar.

I bought this version by mistake. It was my error, not Amazon's. Unfortunately Canada Post would have charged me about $24 to ship it back to Amazon for the purposes of returning, so I decided to keep it. Shadowrun is a fun game, but if you want to start playing it you're better off buying the 20th Anniversary Edition; it's much more streamlined and includes some balancing fixes; also most of the other books were written with the 20th anniversary edition in mind it seems.

There are a few Typos but a must have if you are going to run the Shadows ;)