Re: [OT][BNW] Shadowrun and stuff

[GMPax@aol.com]

In a message dated 4/21/00 11:03:12 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
mtrent@bigfoot.com writes:

> Malcolm Knight wrote:
>  > 
>  >     By the way, I consider Shadowrun to be the worst combination of poor
>  > system, weak background, and mismatched style I have ever had the
>  > missfortune to play. Somebody must like it though, it's got to third 
> edition
>  > and there seem to be a lot of copies of it floating about.

Whereas I consider it to be one of hte BEST ocmbinations of 
simple-yet-adaptable system, interesting background, and intriguing 
juxtaposition of style I have ever had the good fortune to play (and I've 
tried a LARGE number of systems in my 20+ years of gaming).

System: what's simpler and easier than "roll a number of dice equal to your 
skill, tell the GM how many of htose dice equalled or exceeded a specific 
number" ... ?  Well, flipping a coin comes to mind, but that doesn't sound 
like fun for an RPG task-resolution mechanic.

Setting: I fail to see what's weak about the setting, we're not that far from 
it.  The setting posits a couple improbable but NOT impossible "landmark 
cases" WRT corporate power and status among nations, and hte return, 
full-blown, of magic to the modern world.  Well, for real-world right-now 
corporations, you can look on Microsoft as a Second- or Third-Tier megacorp 
(sorry, it's just not *diverse* enough to be a AAA Mega).  GE, IIRC, is into 
enough pies to qualify as a A or AA first-tier Megacorporation, or "zaibatsu" 
...

And magic ... some of us believe it's real NOW, though of course not in the 
ridiculously showy style of most RPG's.  Magick IRL is a finesse thing, Magic 
in games (note the spelling change, it's there on purpose) is a 
thunder-and-pyrotechnics thing.  =o)  Mucho difference between the two.

As for the juxtaposition of style, to be honest: you either love it or hate 
it.  I love it: it makes SR *different* from other games: it's not a 
D&D-esque fantasy game, yet it has wizards and elves and dwarves and 
sword-swinging Really-Big-Guy™ sorts; it's not a CP2020, hard-core SF 
setting, yet it has cybernetics, nanotechnology, and all the toys of a Blade 
Runner-esque game.

All in one: the very paradox you call "mismatched" was in fact a conscious 
choice, and it is that mismatching that provides much of the energy to any 
given campaign, as magick and technology strive to coexist in the same world.

=o)


Sean
GM Pax
ICQ# 18582108