Contact

103 thoughts on “Contact”

  1. Hi there!

    I’ve heard your first episode and will listen to more, but since you’ve asked for character stories, I’d like to tell you about my favorite character first.

    Her name is Quill.

    Quill is a crazy elf street sammy with a long shadow career. When I say ‘crazy’ I mean crazy ambitious, crazy paranoid, and a risk taking streak a mile wide. She’s a Seattle local who threw away her SIN after working at a burger joint to make ends meet. She wasn’t going to end up like her wageslave father, who hung himself with his own necktie. Screw that! Smuggling paid real cred. Quill made her first real money muling, and she was good at it. See, Quill was scrawny and a little short for an elf, with a short mop of black hair and an olive complexion; Mediterranean. She could pack a lot of contraband on her frame and pass as a man with a little makeup. She worked her way up from muling to packing heat on the back side of a speedboat. When she made enough cash and the game went bad, Quill bought a rifle, a smartlink, a little wired reflexes and some camo fatigues.

    My favorite story with Quill… She walks into a bar in Redmond, completely invisible, and sits down across from a ganger in a booth. The ganger’s got a patch across his jacket “lieutenant razor.” She says, “hey, buy me a beer and I’ll tell you my story.” Razor bites and buys a beer for the depression in the seat across from him. “I was trying this invisibility spell,” she says, “and it got stuck. Now I can’t work or anything. No one believes it’s me, they think runners are hitting the office or something, so I’m gonna end it. Let’s play Russian roulette” She pulls out her pistol, a chrome automatic, and places it on the table. Razor says nothing, eyes wide. She picks up the gun, puts it to her temple, and fires. The bullet impacts with her hardened polyreuthenium coated helmet and glances off. She passes the gun to Razor. “Your turn.”

    What can I say, she hedged her bets.

    1. Hey, Jimmy!
      I totally dig the story! Quill sounds like my kind of runner. 🙂
      You have the story up here in the comments, but we’ll certainly put it on the air for you in a future episode! Thanks so much for the contribution!

  2. Greetings to everyone at the Arcology podcast.
    I wanted to explain a bit in response to your reply on Twitter concerning Contacts. I have no favorites or interesting stories of runs. I was introduced to Shadowrun when second edition was released. The guy that was to gm the game was a new player to our D&D group. He instructed us to disregard any limits and make a character that fulfilled our background story. Over the course of two weekends, he helped us design, build, and flesh out our characters. Then we never saw him again. Our DM for D&D said that he spoke with him a couple more times, but eventually lost contact with him as well. I kept buying the books every now and then. I remade my character several times across three editions, but never actually played a run of Shadowrun.
    The character was a combat medic monster that had worked for DocWagon. He and his team were bioengineered Fomoran trolls. They were genetically tweaked and augmented to the max. The team was a joint venture with a AA corp specializing in bioware. They were the center pieces of a media recruitment campaign targeted towards individuals thinking of platinum level protection. Who wouldn’t want to know that if the drek hit the fan that this group would be coming anywhere, anytime, through anything to rescue you. And that’s what the ads promoted. Being shot in extreme locations using live fire and uncountable sinless extras

    1. Nice! I, for one, would feel extra-specially secure knowing those dudes were on their way. So, you’ve never had the chance to play SR, or you’ve never had the chance to play using this character idea?

      1. Vox, I’m sorry to say it was the former. After high school, I drifted away from my gaming group, save one. The two of us settled into playing Rolemaster for years. About ten years ago we fell into a cycle of creating and testing campaign settings. Now, we talk about playing, but never get there. Life has spread time thin. At my age, it’s difficult or awkward joining a new group. I now read message boards and listen to the podcasts to enjoy it vicariously. So, keep up the good work. Your efforts are much appreciated.

  3. First off, THANK YOU for creating this podcast… it has been many, many years since I touched a Shadowrun product. Seeing “Shadowrun Returns” on the Android marketplace led me to the SNES version, and eventually… the books. Your podcast has made it easier to get re-acquainted with the Shadowrun Universe. Currently, I am looking for some Runners in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area… so, if there is a means of linking Runners together for a mission or a hundred… please share. Vox, I love your voice…perfect for broadcasting. Mr.Johnson, you have a way of explaingin things so easily that even dumbest of Street Sam’s can get it! Keep up the great work… and hoping for many, many more Podcasts! For some of the newer Runners out there what do you recommend (music, movies, etc.) to help get in the “Running” mood?

    1. Thanks so much for the kind words! I love it when people confide that we’ve played a role in helping them get back to (or *into*!) the game – stuff like that just really makes my day! And just between you and me, Mr. J’s ability to explain rule sets in games is what led me to marry him. Ha! (J/K – though it is nice!)

      I like the idea of doing a Looking for Group/GM/Runners segment, but I want to give it a little more thought i.o.t. protect people’s privacy and whatnot. We’ll figure something out.

      Check out the Ghost in the Shell anime – very cyberpunk. I like The Matrix movies… really, any caper kind of stuff: The movies Ronin and The Italian Job, the Firefly episode ‘Ariel’ is a great SR. As for music, Cruciform Injection is a good choice – anything industrial works really well. Mr. J suggests the little-known but incredible album ‘Don’t Be Afraid,’ by Information Society.

      How about the rest of y’all? What media gets your blood pumping to do a Run?

    1. That’s a great idea. When we have some free time (which may not be til 2014!), we’ll start compiling. I think I’ll put an extra tab out here on the WS. Thanks for the suggestion!

  4. Hello Arcologists , I am enjoying your podcast immensely .
    Firstly I like the aesthetics of your voices , secondly I am enjoying the content and method of presentation .
    I have not played any Shadowrun since first/second edition and it is refreshing to have a podcast
    that acts as a primer in a non condescending manner.

    1. Thanks for the kind words! I hope you catch the bug to play Shadowrun again. 😉

  5. I have recently discovered your podcast through the Shadowrun subreddit. I have listened to just about all your podcasts in the past two days while working and I have to say I am now a huge fan. I am suggesting to a couple of my players who don’t like to read a whole lot that they listen to your dossiers of the archetypes to help them out. I am also really liking critter corner as I rarely have used them in my campaigns. Now as you requested I will share a shadowrun story. Now back in my third edition days we had a TPK and decided to make a group of runners who would work better together. We all made a group of runners who had a gimmick and called our runner group “The Dead Presidents”. All of our runner alias’ were the last name of an assassinated president. Whenever we had to meet a Mr. Johnson we would refer to him as “Uncle Sam”, Whenever we had to meet with a contact we would refer to them as presidential aides. It was a lot of fun. Also one time we had a new player jump into the game and try to join our group. We decided that before he could join us he had to be inaugurated so to speak. We kidnapped his character, blindfolded him and brought him to a self-storage facility. We got armored uncle Sam outfits and clubs, then proceeded to beat him while playing the presidential theme music and reciting the Declaration of Independence. Though we almost killed him, he managed to live and we made him a vice president. Only shame is that the campaign didn’t last that long, but now there are talks amongst my gaming group of the presidents running for a second term in office.

  6. I’ve been running a 5th Ed. game this winter. The last mission, the team had to steal an Ares Dragon transport helicopter, which will be used for a future run. (And here is something you might throw into conversation on the podcast: side Shadowrun to equip for the main Mission, be it vehicles, weapons, information, or just laying the foundation.) I’m glad I am going more off the cuff these days, as the team took a direction I totally didn’t see. After finding the flight path of some corporate copters, they planned to use technomancer sprites to emulate a malfuction and block communications. Then, they would arrive in a “repair truck,” con the crew into handing over the vehicles and fly away. However, I decided that the repair crew would arrive in a smaller utility chopper, not a ground vehicle. So, our Face suggests sneaking into the corporate airbase to steal the maintenance chopper. I just stared, as he pushes his idea on the team. In fact we are all staring at him.

    I say, “So, you are going to just sneak past all the gates, cameras, guards, AND THE HELICOPTER YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO STEAL, and grab the little one for a more complicated plan?”

    He says, “Well, yeah, because in the end, we can keep the little helicopter.”

    In the end, their plan went far smoothly than anyone expected. The Technomancer carried that mission with some incredible rolls. They didn’t even kill the crew. The Face was disappointed, but the pay was good. I mean, not EVERY run is a cluster of deceit and danger.

  7. Hallo! I am currently listening to your series on GM advice, and I really enjoy the structure of the podcast. I used to run Shadowrun for some friends before college, but I always had problems with preparation and the like. I’m really digging your advice, and hoping to try again soon!

    Now, to nerd out a bit, I wanted to offer some insight on the Japanese words used in the Shadowrun lexicon, being a Japanese Language major living in Tokyo.

    Omae, pronounced oh-my-ay, is a rather old pronoun for “you”, coming from more or less “the honorable one before me”, “Mae” meaning “before”. It has since taken on sort of sarcastic derogatory conation, hence it’s popularity in anime and Shadowrun.

    Additionally the “bunraku”, pronounced boon-rock-ooh, parlors have a slightly chilling meaning, bunraku being an ancient form of puppet theater. In addition, it is thought that the modern ninja costume is derived from bubraku puppeteers.

    Anyway, I love your podcast so far, and since I only found it yesterday, I look forward to burning through the Archives.

    Cheers,
    Counter

    1. Very nice – I love nerding out on linguistics. It was nearly my major in college. 🙂 Thanks for the notes!

  8. I caught the first episode or two when they came out, but only in the last couple of weeks have I been able to really dig into your excellent podcast. It’s great to see another cool addition to the Shadowrun community.

    Even as a life-long gamer and long-time GM (my first DMing experience was during the Carter presidency) I still learn things from the experiences of other GMs and players. Keep up the great work!

  9. Hello Arcology! I’m really loving the podcast. I’m going to be GMing my first Shadowrun game in a few weeks and the information you guys have provided have been crucial in getting me set up. I do have a rules question though, and it’s regarding Cyberlimbs. The explanation in the book is really fuzzy to me as far as when it’s appropriate to just use the attributes of the limb vs. when to take the average of all limbs. Also, is the naturel Attribute assigned individually to each natural limb, or is it divided out?

    Also, I wanted to give you a listener story. It’s not so much a character story as much as it is a player story. I have a curse, going all the way back to my very first Shadowrun session. Every single one of my characters has either died or almost died in a vehicle. Every. Single. One. It started with my first character, Cledwyn, an Elf Physical Adept. The first combat of my first session, I was riding shotgun in another character’s car. That said character decided it would be a good idea to try and run over one of the enemy shadowrunners. Only the runner dove out of the way, and we were on a collision course with a building. I tried to dive out of the car, failed my Athletics check, and since I wasn’t strapped in I slammed into the dash of the car. Luckily, Cledwyn survived that accident…only to die later in the same run (non-vehicle related).

    After that was Edge, my Orc Decker. He was inititated into Shadworun combat by suffering a surprised attack of a shotgun to the face while in a teammates car. Later in the same run he was waiting in the van and had hacked the security cams in a bakery that a local gang was using as a front for drug distribution. The driver just happened to park the car directly in front of the bakery after I failed my initial hack and alerted the system that there was an intruder. So the rest of the team went in, guns blazing. One character, Indy, fired off his grenade launcher. And somehow (to this day the GM’s explanation doesn’t make sense to me), the grenade blast not only took out the targets, but the shrapnel managed to hit me in the van outside! But magically none of the players INSIDE were hit. Not 5 minutes later, another character opened the door to a back door of the building. It had anti-personnel mines strapped to the outside of it. But the character was standing in just the right place that the cone of the explosion missed him…but guess what WAS in the explosion’s cone? That’s right, the van I was sitting in, that had a whole lobby between it and the door. Again, no idea how it makes sense.

    Then there was Zell. Zell surprinsgly was the only character not to take damage from his incident, but it was still very traumatic. We were in Denver, chasing another runner that had an artifact we were hired to retrieve. We chased her to a national park, where some cult had set up its camp. The driver of the SUV I was in decided to drive through said camp. One of the cultists set up a Wall of Fire (a house-rule spell our GM had created) that the SUV drove through and was engulfed in flames. Somehow Zell dove out without a scratch, but never rode with that character again.

    Finally there was Burnout, my favorite character. We were hired to hit a CIA safehouse. That adventure is a listener story in and of itself, but suffice to say by the end of it, Burnout was in the back of the rigger’s truck on the verge of death, had just witnessed his girlfriend bleedout next to him, and an attack chopper in chase. The rigger drove into a morgue (very fitting). Burnout decided this was a great place to jump out and hide because no way was he going to survive an attack from a chopper. But he failed his fall check to get out of the back of the vehicle, and bled out in the morgue.

    The common deonminator in all of this is that they were all other people’s vehicles. Never were they hit in their own vehicles. So needless to say, every character I build now has his own car. And I never get in the car with other runners. It’s safer that way…

  10. have you thought about giving a shout out on the show for help with the site? The nets fully of nerdy folks and RPGers have an even higher concentration.

  11. Hoi, chummers!

    So at the beginning of SR4 I was playing Thomas Cross, former Doc Wagon wageslave turned Shadowrunning Face and Combat Medic extraordinaire! We had an extraction of a low-level programmer that Horizon wanted, and things went swimmingly, apart from our team’s utter lack of the Throwing skill, which made our choice to use flash-bangs… Lets say “interesting.” At any rate, fast-forward to the payday, where we were all set to exchange the target for the rest of the cred we were owed. Greedy Johnson, target’s corp wanting him back, and starving Runners leads to a three-way gun battle, during which the Johnson’s bodyguard Crit Glitches and the GM rules that the mark got in the way of the shot, dropping him like a sack of burned credsticks (which – in a sense – he was.)

    Queue the Amazing Mr. Cross.

    I break out into a full run to clear the firefight (thankfully nobody cared about the guy with the pea-shooter when there were Nordic Axe-wielding Orcs and armored security guys with assault rifles around) and I power-slid next to the target, pulling out my handy-dandy Rating 6 Medkit (say what you will, the Downtown Platinum DW ambulances come STOCKED.) The sucking chest wound and the lack of movement told me where he was on the condition track, but Mr. Cross did one thing and did that thing VERY well. Next turn, I don’t get shot at, pop off some edge, scoop up 19 dice and roll, scoring 3 regular hits and 5 6s. Pick up the 5 and reroll. two more hits and 3 6s. The last three give me 2 more hits. 15 total hits! After the session we found out that the target had only had 9 health, but the GM felt bad or us because of his Crit Glitch and he had made the mental note that we had one turn to to SOME kind of miracle to save him. From that point on the GM ruled that part of my Rep was as “The Miracle Man,” which caused its own problems later on, but the cred stick that night bought a refill of my medkit’s supplies, reloads for my pistol, and a super-sized super combo meal at the Stuffer Shack.

    Oh yeah, now that’s living!

    Keep it classy,

    Farquestor

  12. Catalyst is up for two Origins Gaming Awards, one for best roleplaying game with SR5, and the other for best gaming accessory with the SR5 GM screen. I’m pretty happy with SR5, but I was amazed at the quality on the GM screen. Hardcover, four panels, and page references along with the charts. http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/28344.html

  13. Hello!

    As someone new to Shadowrun, I find your podcast simply amazing. Your work is very organized and extremely helpful. When I am driving, doing chores or working, I can learn about my new RPG! I would love to see more pictures of you guys. I am always curious to see what the people I listen to look like.

    I need some advice…After introducing the game to my friends and playing milkrun from the starter set, I now have buy in to start a SR 5th ed campaign. Question is -where do I start. I see that Splitered State is released, but some reviews say that there is a lot of back story starting players will miss out on. Do I now worry about this and just move forward with it?

    I do want to start with a module at least until I get my feet a little more wet. But I don’t mind change the NPCs or skill challenges. I would prefer to use 5th edition stuff if you think there is a good one to start with.

    Thanks for the help and please continue with the incredibly awesome podcast.

  14. Is it true that fasa games us creating a new sixth world to follow earthdawn since they do not have shadowrun anymore

  15. Mr. J and Vox,
    I’m loving the podcast, keep up the good work. I’ve been a runner since Shadowrun 1st Ed and I think now that we have things like Legal Digital downloads for gaming books and podcasts like yours and Critical Glitch to share ideas we’re in a sort of Golden Age of gaming.
    I’m going to be running some Shadowrun with a friend of mine in a join campaign and was wondering what are some good resources for plots?

    One minor quibble… The Ares “Quenn of Hearts” Monofilament Garrote… Garrote is pronounced like ga-wrote not like Carrot…

    1. Thanks very much! I’d have to agree with you on the “Golden Age” idea – there’s just so much discussion out there, it’s great. 🙂 And in the same vein, I’d recommend browsing forums for resources for plots. I’ve found my own through web searches – there are oodles of writing sites out there with lists of ideas. Pick out the ones you think you’d like to put your players through and see what comes to mind to make it your own. Good luck!

  16. With Hiddegrid taking a break, your actual play recordings would be most appreciated with or without minimal editing.

    1. Well thank you! I *swear* I’ve heard Mr. J working on editing them within the past week or so. Maybe very soon?

  17. Heyo! Counter here again. I’m SO late in commenting, but your mention of my previous post in the actual podcast had me skipping half the way to the train station. Totally made my day!

    I was thinking of trying to write up a bit of a “Guide to Japan in the Sixth World” and was thinking Arcology listeners might have some things they’d like explored. I’m thinking of doing a language section, a culture section, and a Points of Interest section. Language will cover words like omae in addition to company names and such. So, looking for suggestions!

    1. Glad we could make your day! Thanks! 🙂 That guide sounds pretty cool – we’ll put a call out.

    2. Hi Counter,
      We’ve had a fervent request that you include in your Guide to Japan in the Sixth World a section on religion… He says, “Specifically Shinto. I’ve seen people begging for info on the forums who are working with/on Evo/Yametetsu campaigns to which Shinto and its cousin Buddhism are key.”
      Thanks!

      1. Sweet! I’ve been letting this sit around a little bit, but I’ve got some time and tech now to work on it a little more. Shinto’s going to take a little bit of work, but I can tell you these quick facts:

        Shinto and Buddhism are VERY mixed in the modern day, let alone the Sixth World. Approximately 60% of Japanese claim to be Buddhist and 80% Shinto according to a poll I heard in High School. There’s none of this silly Western THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE kind of deal. Shinto itself is very animistic, based around the idea that pretty much everything has a spirit. This allows for holy stones, sacred rivers, etc. In the Sixth World, we may even have sacred machines. I’ll write more in my guide. Speaking of which, here’s a short preview!
        ———————————————————————————————————————————————

        A Guide to Japan in the Sixth World
        第六世界の日本案内

        Konnichi wa, omae. So, you’re planning a trip to the Imperial State of Japan, are you? Good luck, you’ll need it.

        Japanese culture is a huge part of North America in the Sixth world, barring the cultural drekhole that is Aztlan. You probably understood my opening line, despite it being in a language you don’t speak, but probably have the KnowSoft for. If you don’t have it, GET IT. Your average Japanese speaks more English than they did 50 years ago, but Japanese is still the go-to language, and that’s not going to change any time soon. Sure, they’re a lot less xenophobic than they used to be, but with the Awakening and re-affirmation of their Eight Thousand Kami, their high opinion of themselves has gotten even higher. Oh, and with the increased beef consumption, your average Japanese isn’t much shorter than your average UCAS SINner, so leave the short jokes out of your carry-on. Let’s start with the bits of Japanese culture that you probably have heard, but don’t know all that much about.

        Language
        Even in North America, Japanese language has infiltrated to a sufficient degree that most people don’t even know it’s not English. Here are some words you’ve probably heard, and their origins.

        omae (御前) (Oh-MA-ay): Literally “The honored one in front [of me]” this second-person pronoun used to be a respectful term up until the early 1900s. Then it shifted to take on a sarcastic tone, and became the commonplace word we use today. That’s the thing about Japanese sarcasm: It tends to be misplaced use of respectful language, rather than the tonal sarcasm we’re used to in English. If your Japanese running mate tells you “That was a great idea!” after your botched breaching charges set off the alarm, he actually probably means it. But in the debriefing, if he says something along the lines of “Our honored demolitions expert…”, you might have a problem. Omae is commonly used as a friendly if somewhat provocative term for “you” in both modern Japanese and English.
        ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
        Let me know what you think!

        1. Good stuff! We’ll put the word out in the next episode – thanks for sharing the wealth!

  18. Hey guys, first off, thanks a ton for making this podcast. It has been incredibly helpful and entertaining to listen to. I only discovered shadowrun last year(how I missed it earlier in life baffles me), and have been filling the heads of my DND group with stories and lore from the Sixth World. It is largely credited to this podcast that I am taking the plunge and preparing to GM(my first campaign) for my group. To that end, I have two questions relating to mechanics:
    1. One of our runners is an adept Japanime Assassin using a prototype scythe/sniper rifle as his primary weapon. It was inspired by the weapon Crescent Rose from Rooster Teeth’s RWBY. http://rwby.wikia.com/wiki/Crescent_Rose
    Question is, should I rule a single exotic weapon skill covers its entire use, or require blade, longarm, and exotic depending on its combat mode? Most importantly, I am unsure of how to rule an attack with the scythe aided by the recoil of the rifle firing(perhaps making a QuickDraw test with net hits over the threshold adding to damage?) Any thoughts you could share on The matter would be appreciated.

    2. My own character, Vortex is a wind mage, he made a pact with the spirit of air to search out magical knowledge in exchange for…well wind(and a distinctive style of a constantly blowing wind around his person[even underground]). To that end, he primarily uses a sustained magic fingers spell to throw things at other things in combat(sustained force 4 with the thrown weapons skill). The problem is, I have yet to discover rules relating to improvised throwing weapons, or throwing large objects(I don’t really thing the lift and carry rules apply here). So how would you rule say, hurling a trashcan across an alley into an unsuspecting thug? Again, any input would be greatly appreciated.
    Thanks to you both for the time and effort put into making the Sixth World easier to delve into!
    Sincerely,
    Romara Ahallow

    1. Yes, there is. However, we’re reexamining whether we’ll do it as a Kickstarter or some other way. Stay tuned. 🙂

  19. Hoi, Mr. Johnson and Vox,
    Where do I send things like a bumper, house rules, or shadowrun stories? I figured I could find a link here on the ‘contact’ page, but it eludes me.
    –Double Domed Mike

    1. Thanks for asking – you can either click “Contact” at the top of our page, then click the old-timey operators picture to open the contact form (for anything that doesn’t have an attachment). For attachments, or as an alternate, you can send your stuff to contact@arcologypodcast.com.

  20. Hoi Chummers! I’m here to tell you a little Ghoul story after listening to your episode where you explained what Ghouls are. Well, my most recent Shadowrun had them be a prominent figure that we had to deal with, but not in the way you think. I was, and still am, playing a Face/Phys Adept Elf. Our job was to locate a lost Horizon truck and trailer that our Mr. Johnson had recently lost. Our investigations took us to a junkyard, which soon met us face to face with four Ghouls. Rather than immediately firing at them with my Browing Ultra Power pistol, we simply walked along, with the pairs of red eyes following us. With me and my group, a Mage and a Gunslinger, we walked into an open area in the junkyard, along with a horde of Ghouls staring us down. Before us also stood a tall figure, cloaked in a black robe. Before any words were exchanged he removed his hood, revealing what seemed like an Elf turned Ghoul. Possibly what I would be like in a few seconds. Though for some reason, the Ghouls did not attack. In fact, it seemed like they didn’t dare to even go past the Elven Ghoul. Though one of them felt brave and lunged at us, with one deathly scream from the Elven Ghoul, it stopped in its tracks.

    He revealed himself as Reemus, the protector of the Ghouls that lived in the junkyard. Thankfully he was still sane, and in fact was willing to help us in playing glorified repo-men. He was more than helpful to us, showing us security footage of when a group of Hellions drove through the gate in the exact vehicle we were looking for. Explaining that the Ghouls now feared outsiders because of this event, I took it upon myself to help serve justice to them. The Ghouls were hungry, and a few Hellions would be more than enough to satisfy them.

    We stopped by a Hellion hideout of where we thought the horizon vehicle was. Beating the location out of a couple of intoxicated gangers (not without playing roshambo beforehand) we found out that the junkyard of our new Ghoul friends was on the way to the location of where the truck was hidden. The decision was unanimous, the two unconscious Hellions would make great snacks for the Ghouls.

    Driving to the location where the Horizon truck was, we couldn’t believe what we saw. It almost seemed like they blew a hole into an abandoned subway and hid it. I knew Hellions were stupid, but this is downright, well, might as well not offend any ethnic groups out there. Bad for business and all. Now this is where the crazy stuff happens. Our Mage sends a spirit into the tunnel to try and find where the truck was. Well he did find it, as well as two crazy teenagers making love in the front seat. Well within a few minutes we saw he wasn’t lying. A naked girl out the window and a guy emptying his bowels just outside. i’m pretty sure I heard our Dwarf, Shade, snap a few pictures.

    Anyways, long story short we incapacitated them, with the man bleeding out the head and the girl laying in the back of the trailer. Just as we thought we were Scott free, guess what we see? Hellhounds. Two of them making a meal out of the man. He was as good as dead anyways, but my Docwagon contract doesn’t cover death. Somehow we didn’t get attacked by the two. I guess they would rather have Hellion on their menu than Elf. Speaking of Hellion, there was one in the trailer. Taking it upon myself I made one last trip to the junkyard. The smile of the Ghoul’s face when I told him that she was the one responsible for the truck driving through the gate was almost heart-warming.

    Yes, you heard it here. I’ve officially made friends with Ghouls. I guess it just goes to show anyone, and anything still has a heart, no matter how monstrous they may seem.

  21. Hey guys! I have been enjoying your podcast now almost since the beginning, though I have heard every episode. I always look forward to your interesting Shadowrun topics for the regular shows and have also tremendously enjoyed the actual plays. I can’t get enough. They are in the perfect bite sized portions for me to be able to listen to regularly, but always leave me anxious for more. I do have a couple of things for you, the first is a question regarding bug spirits and the second is a character I made back in the second eddition days, but don’t ever remember playing.

    First, the question: INSECT SPIRITS – You stated that you can use normal weapons to damage them, as from what little I recall from 2nd edition you could do just that. In the inhabitation power it states that “An inhabiting spirit is only disrupted when its vessel is either destroyed or killed from physical damage overflow.” However later in the passage it talkes about the type of inhabitation the first type gains the Materialization power which grants immunity to normal weapons and the other types specify that they also gain immunity to normal weapons, so what gives? I have looked at every aspect in the Street Grimoire about this and it remains unclear.

    Second my character build:
    Back in the day in Second Edition I had a character concept for a street samurai type character which I built, now I don’t remember ever playing this character, but thought it might be fun. I started with the concept of an exterminator, now this was before Insect Spirirts, but could be cool against them. Think “Orkin Man” An Ork who had a Vindicator Minigun, AK-98 Assault Rifle with Underbarrel grenade launcher and of course an Panther Assault Cannon. He also had a GMC Step Van with the appropriate logo on the side. He specialized in critter problems.

    1. I know that it has been a while since you answered this question and asked a return question to me, but here is my answer to how the “Orkin Man” got the minimum and panther cannon.

      We were teenagers and weren’t particularly fond of following all the rules as written, I did however clear it with my GM and he loved the idea so much that he let me roll with it, though as I stated earlier I don’t believe I ever actually played him as our game dissolved shortly after his creation.

      I just finished your debugging Tiny episode and loved your deep run and anxiously await the rest, nothing like a good old fashioned “cliff” hanger.

      I also wanted to share that with the regularity and variety of your podcasts that in my opinion you are the premier Shadowrun podcast out there. You cover game materials, reviews, GM/player concepts and ideas, actual plays (which conveniently allow me to game vicariously through you), and interviews. In addition you don’t “compete” with other podcasts you embrace them and point me in the direction of more Shadowrun goodness.

      Thanks for all that you do!

  22. I am loving the podcast.
    The first couple of episodes were a little rough around the edges, but you have really found your grove.
    Thank you so much for the actual play. I really enjoy it. Really really really enjoy it. You are killing me with all these teasers. I have no idea how much work goes into editing it, but I image it is significant, so a heartfelt thanks for the effort.

    Since shadowrun doesn’t have an extensive bestiary like other games there isn’t a lot to talk about in “Critter Corner”. I think it would be cool to have a “Character Corner”. Build (or dissect depending on your view) a character. It could be a shortcut for GM’s who need some muscle. Also it could be inspiration for PC’s.
    For NPC type characters like fixers, contacts, and Mr. Johnsons it would include what interesting tidbits that are either obvious or the character could find out with little effort and include what they can bring to the table (contacts).
    For PC type characters: Where did they start and how did they get where they are, build priorities (meta attribute skill magic resources), notable qualities/cyber/gear, ongoing motivation.
    ….and you could start with the fixer we all know and love King James…(unless that would spoil things for the game you are running).

    Keep up the good work. You are my favorite podcast. Thank you. See you around the matrix.

    The Bald Man

    1. Thank you so much! And believe me when I say that I want you to hear the episodes we’re constantly teasing about as much as you do! 🙂 Thanks, too for the suggestion – I really like it. I don’t know whether Mr. J will be keen on revealing King James’s secrets, but we can certainly present others if he’s not.

  23. Well i just wanted to say thanks, longtime gamer and DM 20+ years 100+ gamers all over maritimes (Canada), and me and my latest group switched to shadowrun 5th, you have made it so much clearer. human Decker (mystic adapt Decker,sniper,medic,summoner), human rigger (adapt fast and deadly), orc combat medic( mystic awesome pod on that one), human Phis Adapt(fists scary nerve punching..zot frozen),elven mage(astral killing machine),human gun adapt(nuff said). The group all know each other, they survived a/the last Aztech mission, dumped in Seattle,pick up in week after last get together, stopped off at stuffer shack and well…..that leads to a shoot out, a drug mule gone bad, mafia betrayal, save a kidnapped kid, uncover a metahuman slave ring, blowing up a humanist Italian social club, being hired by mob, Irish lady, to punish those involved, a hit on a yak sweat shop(shipping point of non human kids)
    It is a learning experience to the rules, but you/podcast have made it so much more easier to DM. You guys are chill Chummer.
    If you wanted I could spin you a tale or two of some of our runs from the past, Jamican Orc shaman bear, Druid of the sun, Troll that survived death,a elven face man that knows people and decks, a elven rigger(later eliminated by my Druid..Level 12 fire elemental told to burn him to ash), female phis adapt assassin (buried alive F11 earth elemental..see druid), they were Removed, they failed to kill druid first….they tried to kill innocent bystander, a big no no to my druid. This lead to a character war, Druid great with poison an herbs and a healer, – x to reaction, called shots with tranks…..you get the picture.
    Any way thanks from my group.

  24. Is there a location to download the completed story that you and your Facebook crowd were able to create?

  25. Guide to Japan in the Sixth World -Update-

    Heyo, chummers! Just finished my semester, so here’s the next bit of my guide I had some time to work on. I’m really sorry for the delays, college has kicked my arse this past semester, and that combined with an internship at what would probably be a AA tech company in the Sixth World had left me with little time. As asked for, here’s a larger section on Shinto. If it’s too large, you have my apologies XD

    ————————————————————————-

    Religion

    Shinto (神道 shin-toh)
    Literally “Spirit Way”. Everyone seems to have forgotten about the problems that State Shinto caused back in the early and mid 1900s, but come on, that was over a hundred years ago. Nobody has time for that! Well, Shinto is back as the state religion and it’s more powerful than ever due to the Awakening. Main point here is this: There are spirits called Kami, and there are a lot of them. First, if you’ve forgotten, go back and read the section on the word Kami, because it’s important. Shinto has what’s called The Eight Thousand Kami, meant to imply the near infinite number of these spirits. I guess back in old Yamato, Eight Thousand was as high as anyone ever bothered counting. Some of these Kami are very old, such as Izanagi and Izanami, the two responsible for creating Japan in the Kojiki, the oldest extant text from that country, written in 712AD. Shinto in its modern form is very formalized, as fits the extremely organized society of modern Japan. You will find local shrines to local kami, organized and overseen by the Jinja Honchou, or Association of Shinto Shrines, and Imperial Shrines, of which there are three and are the center of rituals performed by the Imperial Family. Since you’re not likely to see those three, let’s talk about what to do at a regular local Jinja or Shinto Shrine.

    One of the first things you need to do is to purify yourself. Luckily, this doesn’t require a huge ceremony like a Catholic baptism. There will be a well with small ladles. Follow my instructions carefully, and you may not embarrass yourself and/or get fragged by an overzealous Shinto Priest.

    1. Take the ladle in your right hand and pour the water over your left.
    2. Take the ladle in your left hand, and pour water over your right.
    3. Take the ladle in your right hand, and pour water into your left.
    4. Drink from your left.
    5. Take the ladle in your right hand, and pour more water over your left.
    6. Turn the ladle straight up, allowing water to pour down over the handly and your hands.
    7. Rub the ladle down and replace it.

    Congrats, you are now pure! Yeah, yeah, seven steps seems like a lot, but you’d be surprised how many foreigners can’t read a three-step infographic.

    Shinto and Magic
    Shinto is one of the main “schools” of magic found in Japan, and is the state religion as well. The ancestral religion of Japan, Shinto is an animistic spiritual system in which just about everything (rocks, waterfalls, trees, not to mention people and animals) have a spirit. The greatest of these spirits are called kami, and they deserve your respect. They are everywhere in Japan in the Sixth World, and you would do well to offer respect and maybe some sake at the local shrine where you intend to work, run, or live. These kami are invoked by Shinto magicians, but also by Japanese Buddhist magicians as well. It gets complicated. Shinto magicians tend not to focus on combat magic, with a huge tradition of manipulation and illusion spells being preferred. You’ll be hard pressed to find a Shinto mage without barrier spells, often boosted by fetishes called ofuda (お札 OH-foo-dah). These are the little paper charms you’ll see posted all about shrines and temples, and excel at keeping hostile spirits at bay. If they have to resort to combat, these mages prefer summoned spirits to combat spells, but should it come to that, fire is the all-purifying force they bring to bear against their foes. On the upside, you can usually see when their spells are coming, as they use an intricate series of hand gestures to cast them.
    I would be remiss not to mention Onmyoudo (陰陽道 ohn-myoh-doh) here, the tradition practiced by my running partner. I’ve managed to cut his superfluous language down to information, so bear with me as I try to put it down. Onmyoudo, when translated to English, is read as “The Way of Yin and Yang”. Though they rely on the same Shinto kami, traditionally, these sorcerers and diviners were responsible as court astrologists and were charged with protecting the ancient capitals from evil spirits. They believe in a cosmic balance of light and dark, which doesn’t necessarily mean good and evil, I’m told. Preferring divination and support roles, they are nonetheless powerful summoners whose shikigami, or familiar spirits, are among the most powerful I’ve seen. Though the tradition is small today, I’ve seen them in action, and they are just as potent as your local combat mage. Even more so than Shinto magicians, they refrain from pure combat spells. In fact, my partner insists he doesn’t know a single one, though I’m inclined not to believe that, if only to avoid accepting the fact I go into battle with a mage who can’t throw a fireball. He prefers to work towards peaceful methods of combat resolution, but I’ve seen him bind trolls with those ofuda of his, rooting them to the spot. Like their Shinto brethren, they use gestures for casting, but I could swear I’ve seen my partner cast without them. He says I must be remembering wrong.

  26. What have you heard about the earthrise, Earthdawn, earthdusk and earth fall settings? From what I saw and read is that they are the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th world’s going to be published by fasa games. That the earthdusk series would be more steam punk in the 2300s after the corporations gave failed and we’re destroyed by the horrors. The earthrise uses dragons which sounds a little like battle tech with dragons to me and earthfall has space colonies and not as strong magic which sounds kind of star wars or Warhammer 40k versus the horrors game to me.

  27. Hello! Just joined the Patreon! I wanted to drop a line to say that I have heard lots of actual play podcasts and this is by far my favorite ever! And not just because I have been in to Shadowrun since edition 1. The game is well run by Mr. Johnson in the GMs chair (nice job, sir!) and the PCs do a great job playing their characters. To that end, I offer these virtual pats on the back all around and say that I am a huge fan. Thanks to everyone involved for all of your creativity, effort, and plain hard work! Keep it up, chummers!

  28. I have been listening to your actual play cast for since the beginning, (Favorites are still Maverick, The Kid and of course Tiny) I just wanted to say you all are amazing and I look forward every week to Wednesday’s release. Please keep making these amazing casts for everyone to enjoy.

  29. D-bone here, In your two part series on chrome flesh- there was an extensive amount of tie trying to figure out what genetic renewal or whatever its called was meant to be used for… Basically Genetech when removed- or wiped, doesn’t even leave an essence hole. It’s gone, as per page 165

    ” Doing so costs ten percent of the initial cost of the cyber or bioware. Also, if the ’ware is being upgraded in Rating or Grade, the benefits of the complementary genetic augmentation do not carry over and must be purchased again and the procedure repeated to regain the benefit—and as with all genetech, you don’t get an Essence refund.” – This is buried in some weasel words- but basically- Genetech can’t be taken out, and than replaced with better genetech or alternate cyberware- the only way to get essence back from genetch, is to take it out, and THAN revitalize. Of course you then run into the problem that revitalization indicate that you can’t seem to do it for that, yet… the procedure only makes sense in the context of genetech not leaving essence holes.. so..

    Here is why Essence Rivitalization is so important in Chrome Flesh

  30. Hi Vox and Mr. Johnson! It was a lot of fun to “see” you both on the Complex Action YouTube video. Great interview!

    Wanted to say I look forward to your podcasts, both the standard and actually play varieties, every week. I respect your combined perspectives and opinions on the game and find myself often aligning with your take on things.

    In that regard, I would love to know some of the things you both enjoy hearing in an actual play Shadowrun podcast and would cause you to continue to listen to such a podcast, time permitting. On the flip side of the coin, some things you are “turned off” by when listening to or when selecting another actual play Shadowrun podcast to listen to.

    I know your time is precious, with family, work, and a multitude of obligations and requests vying for your attention. Hope you’re both having fun despite life’s chaos and all is well with you and the family.

    Thanks again for all you’re doing for the Shadowun and gaming communites!

    Tim I

    1. Thanks! Well, I don’t listen to actual play podcasts, to be honest. I don’t commute anymore, so that’s part of it, plus, I prefer my podcasts to be non-fiction. Dunno why. 🙂
      Mr. J, on the other hand, listens to a bunch of actual play podcasts. He says that the things he enjoys about them are interesting and engaging characters, a fairly quick pace to the story, and occasional discussion of the rules in use. What turns him off AP podcasts are poor sound quality (including too wide a dynamic range), lots of dead air, too much rules discussion, and players with analysis paralysis (kind of goes hand-in-hand with the dead air). There is a particular actual play podcast he started listening to (not Shadowrun-related) but eventually stopped checking in with because several episodes in a row were just discussions among the players about what to do next.

  31. Hi guys. Love the podcast. I am currently up to episode 8 of the actual plays and I am noticing a distinct lack of in game ‘glitches or critical glitches’. Is that intentional?
    The reason I ask is because we are getting a group together who hasn’t played shadowrun in 20 years and Iam looking for examples of glitches to drop on some unsuspecting runners.
    If it is a recitified oversight, what episode do you introduce glitches into your game play?

  32. I have a story from my first character, Alger. Al was a rigger, well a cybered-up tank, with smaller tanks with him. He never did get a new bot before perfecting it(and dumping piles of newyen in them). He always had a project, machines were the only thing that made sense since he was kicked out of Lone Star, by his girlfriend-at-the-time’s father, his superior, a holyer than though trog hater. Years later, years of life on the streets and in the shadows, and he was only good at the two things working with machines, and playing the guitar; it was, after all, the last thing he and his girlfrien… ex-girlfriend did together.
    Now on this one mission he was eager to show off a new program he had developed (with previous GM approval) called ‘sonic command protocals'(SCP) for when there was too much noise in the area. So for this one mission we were hired by Mr. Johnson to do a double-grab from a Sader-Krupp facility. We were supposed to do a data grab and an extraction, which ended up splitting the three person team so Alger, and his bots, were on their own, while the mage and sniper were elsewhere. Which seemed fair.
    Now, Al had been recently putting some karma (and major newyen) into small unit tactics, and small unit tactics programs. (We couldn’t find them in the book, but the GM let him buy them…. at an increased price.) So here goes a cybered-up troll in full body armor and half a dozen meduim to large heavily improved bots. Needless to say we were quickly noticed. A couple turns later Al and his bots were in overlapping strateegic small unit formations, and mowing through security…. when a decker showed up, hacked the Lynx and quickly started causing poor Alger trouble. There was no way Alger was gojng to out hack a full-on decker.
    Formation broke, the security was advancing, and all Alger had to fix it was the new SCP program, and a large black, rectangular, bulletproof case he had been carrying.
    Well he quickly took cover and opend up the case, and pulled out a guitar. Some quick strumming, and good dice rolls, and the bots override program is active and they are moving as well as ever.
    His teammates arived several minutes later to a room of ‘disposed of’ security and Alger holding a gnome decker up, and asking which was going to get smashed, him or the deck.
    On the ride home Al’s teammates asked him why he was threatening the Gnome. Al turrned away from his new cyberdeck to answer, “Noone messes with my family.”

  33. I just started listening to your podcast while working on a game for a group of friends who have NEVER played Shadowrun. They are all really excited about it and your podcasts have been a great help in slowly immersing them in the world.

    I’ve played Shadowrun for years, and have a couple stories I’d love to share. Do you still do a Story Time or has the podcast become all actual play?

    1. We would love a Storytime story! Although we aren’t able to do as many regular episodes as we would like, we will get them out when we can, so send them in!

  34. Hoi Archology, just to say hi from sunny South Africa.

    Your cast is an inspiration, and there is much I learn from both the discussions to the actual play. I have an idea for an Africa/Azania, and the more I listen the more keen I am to try that. I love the approach you follow to put together a campaign. (Like the recent pirate one)

    Is there perhaps a suggestion you have regarding African fluff? What I have seen is very limited. I will poke Opti about this as well.

    All the best and thank you for your time and effort.

    Ingwe (Totally a Shadow handle)

    1. Hoi! Thanks so much! Check out Jason Hardy’s SR book “Hell on Water”- it takes place in Lagos.

  35. I just started listening to the Actual Play group recently, and have gotten a blast out of it. It’s hardest to find Shadowrun players and I figured I would hate listening to a podcast of people playing it, but I was impressed from the start. I’m only on episode 24 or so as of now, but working my way up. Just wanted to say love the work so far and looking forward to listening to more. Yours is the type of group I would love to have as its a group that syncs pretty well with each other at the table.

    I do have a request; would it be possible to get a link to download all the podcasts for it at once instead of piece by piece? If not, not a heartbreaker.

    1. Thanks for the comment! I’m glad you’re enjoying the game! Unfortunately, I do not know of any way to download all the ‘casts at one time.

    2. Mr. Smith, Are you using iTunes to listen to the podcast? If so once you’ve subscribed there will be an option under iTunes to “Get All”. Conversely if you are using the Apple podcast app you can go into settings under your subscriptions and set it to “Download all new” and it will auto download all the episodes to which you have not listened.

      1. Mr. The Face,

        I’m not; I stumbled across this on a random whim while deployed. I don’t use iTunes or anything like that, so I have to do this the old fashioned way. Still trying to catch up to all the new episodes (just finished the Drekstorm series and the Corporate Spy incident with Kit, Kenji and his mom and I still laugh at that one). Eventually I’ll have everything on my tablet and life will be beautiful.

  36. Hello,
    Been listening to your many actual play podcast. And really enjoying the character interactions and missions and team activities.

    I have been recently invited to a shadowrun 5e game. And want to run a rigged, but with the books being fairly confusing, and few guides out there I was wondering what you recommend for a drone rigger, much like Borg.
    Any advice would be greatly appreciated

    Raven

  37. Hey, Mr. Johnson and vox. I am a long time fan, I’ve been listening since episode 13 but this is the first time ever writing to you. I have a question for you about running a small team.

    I’ve been a big fan of the shadowrun world since third edition, when I found the first sprawl trilogy with Sam verner in highschool. I never got a group together to play and learn the rules though. Since then I have finally found another group of players. But I quickly grew bored with all the fantasy again, so I turned to to my past and look up shadowrun again. I found your podcast and all of a sudden my passion for the game and cyberpunk in general have been reignited and turned up to eleven. I bought the fifth edition core rules book as soon as I had the extra nuyen to pay for it.

    I’ve spent the last year pouring over the book, trying to learn the rules as best as I can, jotting down idea’s in a notebook, building characters and NPCs in chummer, and generally trying to take in as much material as I can.

    I’m ready for a game. But without a computer I am unable to participate on places like the runnerhub right now and for the foreseeable future. So If I want to play I am forced to GM. Which I don’t mind. The GM hat is an old friend of mine. The problem right now is that my group is small. 2 people small: my dossmates who are married. So teamwork won’t be a problem. I’ve heard your advice for first time gm’s and players and written in my notebook and memorized it. I’m even running a few missions to get my feet wet.

    My question is this: Do you have any advice for running small teams of runners? Say 2 or 3 players? It seems like they need to have certain bases covered. But I don’t see how they can cover all of them between just two players. I don’t want them to get fragged up when they run Into their first spirit, cause they can’t see astrally, or never visit the matrix which is a big draw of the game, or even just get messed up by a few gangers cause neither of them are fully equipped to deal with certain threats. I’m a firm believer in character death, but it sucks when they go out cause of a couple Street punks got the drop on them, and not the blaze of glory or noble self sacrifices I have planned. Any advice?

  38. Hi, I found your podcast about two and half mouths ago and have got up to data on it and just signed up for your patron as well as looking the other SR podcast you’ve talked about but first…

    I write in with a story, not about me but about one of the people I play with.

    He have a habit of play… weird shadowrunners, like his sasquatch technomancer, the class 3 changeling rigger that used more than drones to swarm (the book Howling Shadows is used a lot), the centaur cyber knight, the pixie adapt assassin, the bear shaman of bear medic, the naga social adapt face, the naruaki gunslinger that used six guns at once, the ex-lone star vampire, the Mantis shaman, the DRAKE sea captain and the bloody MUTAQUA NINJA.

    However the past weeks have bought about the end of one of his characters, which started as a shaman called “Dusk till Dawn”, be aware that house rules and the rule of cool has been use to the limit.

    It all started, as it always does, on a run that went south and involved (outside the actual run) the Azzis, three blood mages, enough boom sticks to impress Tiny and most important to with story, a deep run on the matrix, where his tried to cast a spell, failed and got enough stun damage to outright kill him,
    one burned edge later, he was in a three mouth coma.

    After he woke up he had a datejack installed and started to learn how to deck, not too surprising as he plays very story drive characters, and he started using his magic to enchant his deck, it had not possible use but he did it anyway. It is about the point we should have been worried because the GM was perfectly happy at us one shotting the current big bad and was smiling about it.

    Sometime pasted and we notice that Dusk’s magic seem to be getting weaker but he was using it less and less, focusing more and more on decking, then the other decker on the team saw him get attack have his cyderdeck bricked, he then attacked the security spider, that’s right he attacked after his deck was bricked, he was slowly changing in to a technomancer.

    This continued of about a year and a half in game, until one day, he didn’t show up to the game season but instead skyped call the GM, who informed us that our fixer had an urgent mission for us.

    He said that old Dusk had gone mad, renamed himself “Midnight Zero” and had brought the eye of… someone/someone’s/something that wanted him dead at 800,000 new yen and that they would take this job or be included on the list for the other teams. This was a problem not only because he had gone to ground but also because he was the one in charge of the team’s com network so he knew everything that was going on and the reason of the skype call was so the gm could control what info he had to work with.

    We decided that a good search of the new Midnight’s old hideout was a good place of info or a good place to release some “stress” about the whole situation. We got lucky and found his diary that explained his Mission, apparently the deep run had driven him total mad or we hoped it had anyway.

    He claimed that during his coma that he was visited by several people including Dunkelzahn, Daniel Howling Coyote, Captain Chaos, the AI’s Mirage and Megera as well as some people that said they were the e-ghost of Echo Mirage and they said that he had to build something call a Resonance Terminal.

    Long story short we find him, after six game season, and find out that the Resonance Terminal is an updated version of one of the (room sized) first cyberterminal ever made, using higher than state of the act tech (what people where angry about), magic, pray and possible sheer dumb luck.

    When we comforted Midnight, the GM told us that the VR icons where interfering with our vision and that his persona was overlapping with his standing body, including the unaltered mage that didn’t trust anything about tech and had no possible way of seeing VR.

    After some roll the magic users where told by the GM that this seemed similar to a Astral Shadow but with the Matrix, totally house rules using background count. Midnight than said he was using the “Final” Complex Action with all seven of his FORCE 20 Sprits, using teamwork rules with a rule that used a burned edge to add the total hit as dice and limit for all sprits (one Edge for each Sprit), he then used 5 Karma to buy back 1 edge, and then spent that to pre-edge the roll, 58 hits, one burned edge and 5 more Karma he is still standing.

    He then shot himself in the head and burns his last edge, his body fell over with his persona still standing there. Not to such what to make of that but we grab the body and burn rubber to get out before the place blows. We get payed and this that.

    The next season this player has a new character that was a background character in the group network (we have a lot of weird friends) and we are contacted in the Matrix by a new Mr Johnson calling himself Midnight Zero…

    This player may be the bane of our group with his “plans” and “interesting character concepts” but he is the best person to have on a team if you want a good story to become a great story and this was an epic one.

  39. Hoi once again Arcology. My last question was a little too vague and I do apologize for that and that campaign idea has gotten temporarily shelved until I can better figure out how to set it up.

    My current question however is one that may be a little less crunchy. Is use of the chemistry skill applicable towards creating toxins for use in ammo such as the tox darts and squirt gun? I ask because my group’s face took the skill primarily for that purpose and don’t want to make him feel useless if it’s not.

    Thanks again for any assistance you can give.

  40. one quick suggestion. Would it be possible to get a list/link to the other podcasts you mention? Possibly on the shop page, or maybe just on the side under the widgets? I know I can find them in some of the show notes where they are mentioned, or with a web search, or probably on the Shadowrun reddit, but I usually listen on my commute and it’s hard to take notes of the titles when driving at 70 MPH at 4 am. Plus, I’m lazy…

  41. Soeaking of other podcasts, one broke on the scene recently and plugged you guys! Figured i should pass this on for mutual podcasty vibes.

    The shortwaverad.io podcast network has a shadowrun actual play show they call ‘crit squad’. The players are new and its not super by the boom, but the roleplay is fantastic, and its edited kind of like a radio play.

    Definitely worth a listen, and could use arcology support

  42. Hey All,

    first off I love the show, amazing storyline! I have pledged 2 bucks a month and need a password for the other story arcs. Did I pick the wrong one? If not can you email me? Thanks guys and keep up the great work!

  43. Hi guys,
    I will be starting a new campaing in Januray. It will be a transition from WOD Vampire to SR 5. Two PCs will be Vampires form the 1980s (old Chars from our Vampire campaing), one will be a newly created one. I will start with the great ghost dance (descripted in Forbidden Arcane as a big blood magic ritual). I’m planing on 2 to 4 sessions and will then let some years pass to another significant event in SR history (eg Night of Rage, VITAS, UGE 2…, Bug City). Do you have any suggestions for great hevents in SR history?
    Greeting,
    Axel

    1. Check out the Neo Anarchist Podcast, if you haven’t already. That’s a great place for your history. Some events that come to mind are the Universal Brotherhood outing, the Renraku Arcology shutdown… maybe the Crash of ’29 and the subsequent arrival of the Matrix? Sounds like fun – best of luck! Be sure to send us some stories! 🙂

  44. Is there any place you guys have your 5e character sheets posted? I just finished listening to episode 131 of the actual play podcast and Maverick saying that his running speed is 432 meters completely blew my mind. (Calculated all out, he can run 518.4 km/hr or 322.12mph.) I know that Maverick has a super high agility, but how did he achieve such great speeds using the game mechanics? What combination of qualities, adept powers, augmentations, etc does he have that can make him so fast?

  45. Hi All, I’ve been a long time listener, but started in the middle of your episodes a few years ago. So this year I reset and began at episode 1. I listened to episode 70 where Tiny shot the thunderstuck from Dan’s rig. The chemistry and laughter of that session was really enjoyable. Cliff is a very smart GM, but all the players are very fun to listen to. I noticed that recent episodes began trailing off–and maybe that due to conflicting times or just life. Nonetheless, listening to you all play is like watching a sitcom. Anyway, good work and I hope you all continue to find time and keep gaming. I’m not a gamer myself, but found your podcast by chance. Thanks for doing what you all seem to love.

  46. Hi!! Hope all is well. I had a quick game related question. Kenji has some kind of crazy trait/submersion/skill… where he can make free matrix perception checks, and take one free action before combat begins… I cannot find it anywhere. Could you clue me in on where I should look?

    Also… thank you so much for your continued efforts to produce so much high quality content. Each podcast I discover with Mr J in it is invariably the best in class. I listen to Origins, plus the earthdawn campaign… just awesome. It is more than just entertainment for me. It calms my nerves. Thank you both (and the kids) for sacrificing so much time to give the rest of us such fantastic content.

  47. Hey guys,

    Is your Discord server public? Also, where do you host your podcast? Asking for a friend.

    Love your work, but Arcologies creep me out ever since…well that thing. Don’t know how you guys can live in one but to each his own.

  48. The Shadowrun Community Network Discord server is the closest thing to a public server, and though we’ve been involved in its operation in the past it really isn’t our server specifically. It’s a great online Shadowrun community though.
    Here’s a link to join it if you need one:
    https://discord.gg/sUFDfeT4

    We do have a private server that is patrons-only as well. And another private server that we use mainly for the Exploding Dice bot.

  49. Hello, I am about to wrap up a long-running Pathfinder game with my group and looking at running a Shadow run game. My question is should I run 5e or 6e? I am currently listening to your backlog (only at ep 79 of the actual play) and know you are running 5e at this point. Did your group switch to 6e? Would you recommend a new DM to the game running 5e or 6e? Thank you for all you do and the countless hours of entertainment you have provided!

    1. Both editions are a lot of fun. My recommendation would be to go with 6e. I’ve mostly switched over to running that edition, and I find that I especially enjoy the action economy a lot more. It’s also crunchy yet a bit more streamlined than 5e. There’s a lot of content that’s come out for it as well, so it’s not really missing anything important on the expansion/splat-book side of things. I highly recommend checking out the Sixth World Companion, as it includes additional character creation options and a solid selection of useful optional rules.

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