Shadow Run, I am trying this game again.

Instead of playing the Iron Kingdoms RPG we have now taken a break and switched over to Shadowrun.


Fantasy meets cyber-punk is fun and all that, but the rules. There are just too many rules! I like the idea of this game, but I have no idea what I’m doing when I play it. Well I know you need to roll like a bazillion D6 and hope for 5+. Once again if you stuck around long enough here from my 40K days, you know I abhor 5+ rolls. Sadly that is all Shadowrun is.


All this means, is that you need to roll as many D6 as possible to ensure even a moderate chance of success. That is the main part of the rule system, a lot of D6's and a lot of hope for 5+. Everything else is just insanely complex for the sake of complexity.


My guy

Well I had just watched Hacksaw Ridge so I thought some sort of combat medic for a character might be fun. Even better, I would play him as a pacifist. He would be a mix of Hacksaw Ridge and Lifeline from G.I.Joe. Once I mentioned this game master guy sat down with a character creator (hero lab maybe) and busted a build out for me. I had no input, but then again character creation in this game is coco-la-bonza! Looking at the rule book I had no idea where to start. Thankfully a computer program and a guy familiar with the game built a character for me. He was close enough to my idea so I didn’t change anything.

Well like this, but without all that red coloration.

Hell I don’t know what half my skills di besides guns and first aid/medicine stuff. Yeah I have a gun, a tazer and a stun baton. I’m playing a pacifist but have a gun. All the ammo is stun based so I won’t kill anyone if I need to use it. I also have a bit of cybernetic stuff to enhance brain power to make rolls better for first aid. I have some positive and negative traits to flesh out the character. Then there is a bunch of gear and med stuff that I will have to look up in a separate healing/doctor book-PDF document.

I guess this all looks good. Since this guy was built for me be a guy who knows the game I’ll use him. Plus it keeps me from having to muddle through character creation. It is seriously wonky in this game. I can see the need for a computer program when trying to make a guy. The main rulebook isn’t really too user friendly for new players.


So….yeah I’m trying Shadowrun again. We shall see if they guy survives, if he can (or even needs to try) to keep the party alive and if a pacifist can work in game where shooting to kill seems to be a mainstay.