Monthly Archives: August 2013

One of the themes running through the Year of Shadowrun is that we want people to enjoy playing Shadowrun in a wide variety of ways, whether you’re playing a video game, a card game, or the role-playing game. And within the role-playing game, we know that people are playing different editions. We’d certainly be happy if people migrated to Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, but we’re also happy when we can provide options for a wide range of players.

Which brings us to today’s releases! We have three new ebooks out, spanning three different editions of Shadowrun! Let’s get to the newest edition first. In the tradition of Sprawl Wilds, we have Firing Line (Battleshop, DriveThruRPG), an adventure compilation that is dual-statted for both Fourth and Fifth editions. While Sprawl Wilds took you to strange and dangerous corners of Seattle, Firing Line offers more globe-trotting. Here’s the rundown:

Danger Zones

Shadowrunning can take you all sorts of different places and give you the chance to have all sorts of different guns pointed at you. Whether you’re exploring mysterious islands off the coast of Seattle, collecting bounties on the tightly guarded streets of Manhattan, or trying to survive the chaos and conflict in Bogotá, you’re likely to find yourself in trouble and in the line of fire. Because that’s where you’re paid to be.

Firing Line collects four Shadowrun Missions developed especially for the large summer gaming conventions, making them available for the first time to the gaming public. The adventures have all the statistics and game information needed for both Shadowrun, Fourth Edition and Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, meaning that a wide range of shadowrunners will have everything they need to dive into the adventures and get themselves in some high-paying trouble!

Next on the list is a new release for Shadowrun, Fourth Edition–continuing in the tradition of Parazoology, Parabotany, and Parageology, it’s Parazoology 2 (Battleshop, DriveThruRPG)! From Awakened spiders to giant toxic amoebas, Parazoology 2 has a host of critters to throw into your game and adventure hooks to get your players running! Here’s more info:

Natural Born Killers

Some shadowrunners long to escape the dirt and danger of the Sixth World’s sprawls for the supposed peace and tranquility of nature. Thing is, the ones that actually try it generally find themselves quickly scurrying back to the city once they discover what’s waiting for them out there in the wild. From the sharp-toothed, lightning-fast ammit to the sneaky, venomous greater dancing white lady, nature in the Sixth World is full of ways to kill the unsuspecting and incautious.

Parazoology 2 is here to make sure shadowrunners are prepared for the dangers that lie in wait. With full details on dozens of Sixth World critters as well as firsthand accounts of encounters with mysterious creatures in their natural habitats, Parazoology 2 is a critical book for runners making their way into the wilds—even if that means the dark alleys just down the road.

Parazoology 2 is for use with Shadowrun, Twentieth Anniversary Edition.

And finally, we have a re-issue now available in PDF format. It’s Rigger 3 Revised (Battleshop, DriveThruRPG)! Last seen coming out toward the end of Shadowrun, Third Edition’s run (natch), Rigger 3 is your definitive guide to rigging, full of vehicles, drones, and all sorts of goodies:

Planes, Drones and Automobiles

Living is rigging, omae. Like burning rubber down the highway at 150 klicks and hour with only your brain to guide you. What about making a drone an extension of yourself, or undermining the security of a whole building, manipulating every camera, motion detector or security door. But the biggest kick is blowing up a car full of goons without even jacking out — weapons of destruction at your mental command … now that’s road rage, my friend.

Rigger 3 Revised expands upon the basic rigging and drone rules provided in Shadowrun, Third Edition and offers advanced rules for robots, ships, security riggers and electronic warfare. Rigger 3 Revised also offers expanded vehicle listings and rules for vehicle design, construction and modification. This revised edition has been corrected and updated and includes a complete set of vehicle illustrations.

So there you have it! So much Shadowrun goodness that you have no excuse to not hit the streets of the Sixth World! Get out there, get running, and have fun!

The following products have a Street Date of SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2013:

Shadowrun, Fifth Edition [Limited Edition] ($99.99)
There are cracks in the world. They’re slender, dark, and often cold, but they are the only things that keep you hidden. Keep you alive. They are the shadows of the world, and they are where you live.

You are a shadowrunner, thriving in the margins, doing the jobs no one else can. You have no office, no permanent home, no background to check. You are whatever you make yourself. Will you seek justice? Sow seeds of chaos? Sell out to the highest bidder? It’s up to you, but this much is certain—if you do nothing, the streets will eat you alive.

You can survive—even flourish—as long as you do what it takes. Sacrifice part of your soul for bleeding-edge gear. Push the limits of your will learning new and dangerous magic. Wire yourself into the Matrix, making your mind one with screaming streams of data. It’ll cost you something—everything does—but you can make it worth the price.

Shadowrun, Fifth Edition is the newest version of one of the most popular and successful role-playing worlds of all time—a fusion of man, magic and machine in a dystopian near-future. With rules for character creation, magic, combat, Matrix hacking, rigging, and more, you have everything you need to face the challenges of the Sixth World.

NOTE: Shadowrun, Fifth Edition Limited Edition includes: bonded red leather cover, foild-stamped cover, spine and back with dragon embossed on cover, gold-gilded page edges, and cloth bookmark. Interior is identical to the standard printing. While supplies last.

Sprawl Wilds ($19.99)
You live in any sprawl long enough, you’ll find out that there’s a lot more to it than businessmen and soykaf stalls. Any sprawl worth its mettle has its dark corners, its forgotten places, its spots that are just as wild and untamed as the deepest rainforest.

Seattle, the prime metroplex in the world for shadowrunning, is filled with such places, and Sprawl Wilds gives shadowrunners a chance to tour them. From a fortress-like Barrens farm recovering from a mysterious attack to a dark secret hidden in a clinic, runners have a chance to see the sites most people never encounter, and uncover information that some people want to stay secret at any cost. They’ll meet jaded smugglers, wary police officers, passionate activists, hardened criminals, wounded warriors, and at least one deranged killer. The questions are, will they survive long enough to collect a paycheck—and how much of the sprawl will be nothing more than dust when they’re done with it?

Sprawl Wilds is a collection of Shadowrun Missions developed for major summer gaming conventions. These adventures have been adapted for both Shadowrun, Twentieth Anniversary Edition and Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, and they provide hours of shadowrunning goodness for experienced street veterans and new shadowrunners alike. With complete game information, including NPC stats, these adventures are poised to plunge players into urban chaos!

The following products have a Street Date of SEPTEMBER 25TH, 2013:

Shadowrun, Fifth Edition [Standard Edition] ($59.99)
There are cracks in the world. They’re slender, dark, and often cold, but they are the only things that keep you hidden. Keep you alive. They are the shadows of the world, and they are where you live.

You are a shadowrunner, thriving in the margins, doing the jobs no one else can. You have no office, no permanent home, no background to check. You are whatever you make yourself. Will you seek justice? Sow seeds of chaos? Sell out to the highest bidder? It’s up to you, but this much is certain—if you do nothing, the streets will eat you alive.

You can survive—even flourish—as long as you do what it takes. Sacrifice part of your soul for bleeding-edge gear. Push the limits of your will learning new and dangerous magic. Wire yourself into the Matrix, making your mind one with screaming streams of data. It’ll cost you something—everything does—but you can make it worth the price.

Shadowrun, Fifth Edition is the newest version of one of the most popular and successful role-playing worlds of all time—a fusion of man, magic and machine in a dystopian near-future. With rules for character creation, magic, combat, Matrix hacking, rigging, and more, you have everything you need to face the challenges of the Sixth World.

Note: All online orders have already begun to ship (including all three editions).

As happens every year, Catalyst Game Labs is effectively closing down as all-hands are on deck to run Gen Con. Effective from tomorrow and running until roughly August 21st, the usual channels of communications (emails, website updates, and so on) will go unanswered.

Additionally, even once communications resume it’ll be another week or two for us to dig out of the backlog and resume timely responses.

For those attending Gen Con, we’ll see you in five days! For those not attending, thanks for your patience while we’re gone…we’ll have our usual stories and photos to share after the con.

Thanks for your brilliant support!

Catalyst Team