Monthly Archives: August 2014

We here at Shadowrun HQ are patient and persistent bunch, and one of the things we have been the most patient and persistent about is getting new Shadowrun novels into the hands of readers. It’s been a long process, beset by many obstacles and delays, but the journey that started when John Helfers and I first convened a “Save Shadowrun Fiction” meeting at Gen Con many years ago has now come to the ending we always wanted: A new Shadowrun novel is out! And better yet, it’s the first in a whole line of planned novels! Fire & Frost is the title, and you can get it in print, ePub, and Kindle-compatible versions at the Battleshop, or just the electronic versions (in one tasty package!) at DriveThruRPG. You can also check the listing at BarnesAndNoble.com (where it’s available for Nook or in print–and be sure to check the review already posted with the print listing). Wanna know what it’s about? Check it out:

The Coldest Shadows

Arcano-archaeologist Elijah knows that digging into the past can be its own reward—or peril. When he’s hired to find an ancient map purported to lead to a mysterious location at the bottom of the world, his professional curiosity is more than roused. But his quest to simply get his hands on the map is more dangerous than he expected—even for a shadow runner.

He and his own team of runners—including everything from a goblin rigger to a troll street samurai—follow a murky trail that takes them from the ruins of Chicago to the jungles of Amazonia. Along the way, they discover that they’re not the only ones looking for this map—and that it may lead to a treasure even greater than anyone could have known. Elijah and his crew plan to get both the map and to its riches first—assuming they survive the very dangerous road trip to get there…

Gen Con is coming up later this week, with all the products and activities that entails, but we have a few things for all Shadowrun fans out there, whether you’ll be attending the con or not. First, we have the latest Mission, SRM 05-03: Gone Long Gone (Battleshop, DriveThruRPG), giving runners another chance to dive into the peril and danger of Chicago’s Containment Zone. Here’s the full summary:

The Deadly Now

This isn’t your first run in Chicago. You may not know every street corner and alleyway, but you know the sprawl well enough that when someone tells you they’ve got a job that “should be easy”—well, it won’t be. It never is. So when you’re offered some money to go retrieve personal items left behind in a pharmaceutical office back before the whole town went to hell, you know you’re going to be dealing with more than dust and a few rats. Once you venture into the Containment Zone, something—probably more than one thing—is going to try to kill you. Not in some vague future, but right now. But you know that about Chicago. You’re ready for something to come after you, and you know that part of the fun is finding out just what it is.

SRM 05-03 Gone Long Gone is the latest Shadowrun Mission set in the deadly sprawl of Chicago. Playable in a single night, but able to be stretched out over multiple sessions if that’s what the gamemaster wants, this is a fun adventure for teams just starting to learn how to get around the city, or for those who have gotten their hands dirty in the sprawl several times over.

SRM 05-03 Gone Long Gone is for use with Shadowrun, Fifth Edition.

Then we have a new Enhanced Fiction story, Nothing Personal (Battleshop, DriveThruRPG, Amazon), from the author of The Vladivostok Gauntlet. With a distinctive narrative voice, it tells the story of a particularly bad day for Mr. Johnson, and what he has to do when he has to rely on a whole different set of skills than he normally uses. Full details ahead:

Johnson Meets Street

Mr. Johnson. You know the name. You probably know the face—smooth, implacable, professional. He’s got the nuyen and resources you want, and he knows it. He may not have your skills, but he doesn’t care. That’s what he has the nuyen for—so he can buy yours. He’s corporate through and through, and you can’t ever forget that, because if you do, that’s when he sells you out for the good of his corp. But he’ll stay professional, of course, right up until the moment he slides the knife smoothly into your back. He’s useful, that Mr. Johnson, but every time you meet him, every time you have to deal with his double-crosses, his condescending put-downs, his smug superiority, you wish that the day would come when the tables were turned, when he was forced out on the street with nothing but his wits and street skills—whatever those might be—to keep him alive.

Well, good news. Sometimes wishes come true, even in the Sixth World. Mr. Johnson is about to meet the street, and you’ve got a ringside seat.

Nothing Personal is enhanced fiction for the Shadowrun universe, with game stats for some of the major characters included in the document or available at www.shadowruntabletop.com. The stats are for use with Shadowrun, Fifth Edition; the story is for everyone!

Another week already gone! And wait, what, this isn’t Tuesday! I know, I know, but I’m on a plane in mere hours and Tuesday will be filled with first day build at Gen Con, so getting this out of the way now.

We’ve had a slew of Shadowrun: Crossfire goodness over the last few weeks: the running of Crossfire Virtual Run that unlocked the Demo Kit rules & cards to an additional Mission, Ambulators, for running with that Demo Kit, from the release of the entire rulebook in PDF to the announced Street Date for Shadowrun: Crossfire (and allowing for online pre-ordering).

This week? Time for another Mission to use alongside your Demo Kit. Below are the front and back of the Mission; you can also scroll to the bottom of the Downloads page and click on the last link (SHADOWRUN: CROSSFIRE DEMO KIT MISSION: Closing The Portal) to download the free PDF. (If you’ve not yet taken a look at the Shadowrun: Crossfire Demo Kit rules and print & play cards, you can find them at the bottom of that page as well.)

You’ll notice that the Mission makes reference to the “Harlequin’s Shadow” Crossfire card. That’s in reference to the unique card that you can get at Gen Con; as noted in our Catalyst At Gen Con 2014 announcement, underneath “Shadowrun: Crossfire”, the first 50 people that purchase Crossfire at Gen Con each day will walk away with this cool promo card!

Enjoy the shadows!

Catalyst Game Labs will be at Gen Con 2014 in force! We’ve got a slew of great gaming and games to check out at booths 417, 413, 509.

THE SHADOWRUN RPG EXPERIENCE

We ran this last year and it was so fantastically successful, we’re bringing it back again this year!

Dive into gaming in the Sixth World like never before as players step into the infamous Dante’s Inferno club in Seattle’s Sprawl. An 8-foot tall, 30-foot long banner creates an immersive 11 foot diameter room were you can learn Shadowrun, Fifth Edition and run the mean streets in the shadows of the megacorps.

Runs must be made by appointment only with our exclusive Dante’s Inferno concierge, and each player of the Shadowrun Experience will not only have memories of a run like no other, but will walk away with a new, free poster!

SHADOWRUN: CROSSFIRE

“I know I sound like I’m talking about a roleplaying game, and it’s not. But it lends itself well to telling a good story.” – Zee Garcia, The Dice Tower

The hotly-anticipated Shadowrun deck-building game is finally here!!!

Shadowrun: Crossfire is a deck-building game crossing cyperpunk with fantasy and plunging players into a world dominated by ruthless megacorporations; Crossfire gives players the chance to dive into the world’s shadows to see if they can survive. They’ll have weapons, spells, contacts, and gear to help them out, and they’re going to need those resources. If they play their cards right, they’ll do more than survive—they’ll become legends.

The first 50 people each day that purchase the Crossfire base game will receive the unique, collector’s item in the Harlequin Character Card, as well as the Harlequin’s Shadow Crossfire Card to play in your games!

SHADOWRUN: CROSSFIRE PREMIER EVENT

You think you know the Shadows? You believe you’ve paid the right price to be a Shadowrunner? Think again chummer! Shadowrun: Crossfire will take you down a new path of mysteries and danger. Harlequin has some big plans for the small group of runners who are willing to risk their very souls to beat the objectives. Invitations to Harlequin’s little soiree are hard to come by.

Come on down to the Indianapolis Convention Center, Rooms 125-127 on Thursday, 14 August at 2200 if you dare to take part in the Shadowrun: Crossfire release event. Crossfire designers Rob Heinsoo, Rob Watkins, and Jay Schneider will be running this event!

THE DUKEDOM

“…this is one of the best abstract strategy games I have ever played.” -Tom Vasel, The Dice Tower

We’ve brought it back again! Come play a larger-than-life version of The Duke with 18 inch tiles on a 10 foot x 10 foot board! Or sit down at one of several The Duke tables and give this fantastic tile-laying game a full try.

The game is also back in stock after a 6 month hiatus…grab your copy while you’re there!

OTHER NEW GAMES

We’ve got some fantastic new games coming your way, based on brilliant universes covering comics to online animation to award-winning TV drama.

The Valiant Universe RPG will be available…stop on by, play a game, and walk away with cool stuff!

Our Encounters: Bravest Warriors card game is fun, fast and furious for any age group!

And don’t forget our just announced games for the History Channel’s hit TV show, Vikings. We won’t be demoing them, but stop on by and learn more about these fantastic games coming soon!

THE GAMING HALL

The Catalyst Demo Team will be running an avalanche of events for our awesome players. For all of your roleplaying and Crossfire action, visit ICC Room 125-127 (it’s across the hallway from Hall C, catty-corner to the North West), while all your miniatures/other TableTop action can be found in Hall C (same location as last year).

We will have tons of Shadowrun Missions with Fifth Edition goodness, Cosmic Patrol for rockets, rayguns and robots, become a superhero and battle deadly villains in the Valiant Universe RPG, both BattleTech: Alpha Strike and BattleTech: Total Warfare for all your BattleMech destruction, and Leviathans for domination of the skies in an alternate 1910! We will also be running a wide range of Shadowrun: Crossfire games, as well as a The Duke tournament.

And we’ve some additional games focused on specific games and communities. Shadowrun GM Bootcamp-Basic will provide a GM the tools and advice they need to start running Shadowrun; attend the Advanced Bootcamp to gain insight into solving problem areas of GMing Shadowrun. Dress up as your favorite Shadowrun character and join us in the Shadowrun LARP discovering the underbelly of Chicago. Too many runs have you down, laugh it up with our group of GMs at the Whose Run is it Anyway yearly event.

For The Duke tournament, every participate will walk away with a new, unique tile they can use in any The Duke game, the Lancer.

Finally, looking for pickup games after the Exhibit Hall closes? We will have all of our games available in the gaming hall to play with events starting up as soon as we have enough people to play a round.

Please peruse the Gen Con Event listings: www.gencon.com.

FREE STUFF AND WINNING STUFF!

You can play in almost any game (either in the Exhibit Hall or the gaming halls) and walk away with cool stuff. For example, play in a BattleTech: Alpha Strike or Shadowrun: Mission game and walk away with these enamel pins. Or for other games you might get a button. Not to mention for some games you can win a unique pin you won’t find anywhere else!

GAME DESIGNS AND ART PORTFOLIO REVIEWS

Randall N. Bills, Catalyst’s Managing Developer, will be in-booth for reviewing game designs from 2PM to 5PM Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Brent Evans, the Catalyst Art Director, will be in-booth specifically for review of art portfolios Thursday through Saturday, 10AM to Noon and 2PM to 4PM.

NEW BOOKS/GAMES

As usual, a good chunk of the Gen Con experience is diving into the plethora of new games released just for the show. Below is what we hope to have for our various communities.

(As always, a few caveats: A. We are trying to get all of these items to the show, but there’s a chance some might not make it: simply the luck of the draw when trying to coordinate this many items through five printers from three different countries around the world; B: Some of these items are convention exclusives; C. Non-exclusive items won’t be available in-stores until a later time; once we have Street Dates for any items available to stores we’ll post updates with that data.)

In no particular order, the following are brand new to the show (or only recently released):

SHADOWRUN: CROSSFIRE ($59.99)

Shadowrun: Crossfire is the hotly-anticipated deck-building game in one of the most popular game settings of all time. Crossing cyperpunk with fantasy and plunging players into a world dominated by ruthless megacorporations, Crossfire gives players the chance to dive into the world’s shadows to see if they can survive. They’ll have weapons, spells, contacts, and gear to help them out, and they’re going to need those resources. If they play their cards right, they’ll do more than survive—they’ll become legends.

Oni Character Card
In addition to the rare Harlequin cards provided with the first 50 copies purchased each day (noted above), every copy of the game sold will include the promo Oni Character Card (provided it arrives, of course).

SHADOWRUN: CROSSFIRE CHARACTER EXPANSION PACK 1 ($14.99)

Your imagination and ideas aren’t limited, so the characters you use in Shadowrun: Crossfire shouldn’t be limited either. With Character Expansion Pack 1, you can branch out, creating whatever shadowrunner concept comes to mind, starting them on the path to being a legend!

SHADOWRUN STREET GRIMOIRE, Standard Edition ($49.99)

Magic can burn your brain and sear your soul. It can inject power into every millimeter of your veins, or leave you a lump of ashes at the end of a dark alley. It’s dangerous, but to spellslingers in the Sixth World, it’s worth it. Because magic is power, and power in the Sixth World needs to be grabbed with both hands.?

Spells, rituals, alchemical preparations, adept powers, metamagics—all of those elements and more can be used to help an Awakened shadowrunner move off the streets and get a taste of the high life. Street Grimoire has more options for Shadowrun players, along with information on magical traditions, magic societies, and the dangers and benefits of living as a spellcaster in a world where “geek the mage first” is a common adage. With more options, deeper rules, deadlier threats, and dozens of way to have fun with magic, Street Grimoire is an essential book for anyone playing Shadowrun, Fifth Edition.

SHADOWRUN STREET GRIMOIRE, Limited Edition ($74.99)
Street Grimoire Limited Edition book includes a bonded red leather cover with gold foil stamp and a de-bossed graphic.

SHADOWRUN BEGINNER BOX ($19.99)

The Shadowrun Beginner Box is the easiest way to dive into the intrigue, grit and action of one of the most enduring role-playing settings of all time! Tailor-designed for an easy-on-the-credstick entry, the Beginner Box includes the following:

• A Universe Primer: A 24-page exploration of the Shadowrun world.
• Quick-Start Rules: Fast rules and a quick adventure to whet your appetite for more.
• A pre-generated booklet: Allows for a gamemaster and one person to run a solo adventure.
• 4 pre-generated character sheets: Details that’ll allow up to four players to play with the help of a gamemaster.
• Dice: Never forget your handfuls of D6s!

Whether you’re new to Shadowrun or new to roleplaying, this package will get you into the fun of hacking, shooting, and spellslinging your way to the top!

SHADOWRUN RUNNER’S TOOLKIT: ALPHAWARE ($59.99)

Scan This, Chummers:

• Do you play Shadowrun now and are looking for a set of tools to easily allow you to more easily run your existing group, or that’ll allow you to introduce new gamers to your favorite RPG at your local game store or hangout?
• Are you a gamemaster ready to give Shadowrun a shot, and you want a few extra tools at your disposal from the first toss of your dice?
• Have you tackled the Beginner Box and are ready to move up in the Sixth World?

Say yes to any of those? Then the Runner’s Toolkit: Alphaware is the box set for you. Designed to provide adventures, maps and tools to use in conjunction with Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, or to be the perfect stepping-stone between the Shadowrun Beginner Box and the core rulebook, this box can fill a number of roles. Whether you’re looking for more tools to help your existing gaming group, or adventures and options to move beyond the Beginner Box, laying the groundwork for your gaming group to move fully onto Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, you’ll find this kit invaluable.

SHADOWRUN FIRING LINE ($19.99)

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!

SHADOWRUN: FIRE AND FROST, NOVEL ($12.95)

Arcano-archaeologist Elijah Knows that digging into the past can be its own reward—or peril. When he’s hired to find an ancient map purported to lead to a mysterious location at the bottom of the world, his professional curiosity is more than roused. But his quest to simply get his hands on the map is more dangerous than he expected—even for a shadow runner.

He and his own team of runners—including everything from a goblin rigger to a troll street samurai—follow a murky trail that takes them from the ruins of Chicago to the jungles of Amazonia. Along the way, they discover that they’re not the only ones looking for this map—and that it may lead to a treasure even greater than anyone could have known. Elijah and his crew plan to get both the map and to its riches first—assuming they survive the very dangerous road trip to get there…

ALPHAWARE 2.0: WEAPONS, SPELLS, GEAR & AUGMENTATIONS ($9.99)

More spells. More weapons. More augmentations. More gear. This deck has more of the things you need to survive the shadows and make your living on the streets. Selected from the gera, spells and weapons in Runner’s Toolkit: Alphaware, these cards offer players more optins, with game stats for each item or spell. As in the Alphaware deck, gear items have color illustrations, and some common items are on multiple cards so that more than one player can have easy access to the game information.

These cards can be used with Runner’s Toolkit: Alphaware or can also be used by players of Shadowrun, Fifth Edition.

RUN & GUN CARDS ($9.99)

When the bullets start flying, when you desperately need to bring someone down, you need the right weapon at your side and the right armor covering your hoop. There are plenty of options out there, so there’s no excuse for not having the tool that will get the job done. This deck has fifty-four choices, cards with full-color illustrations and game stats for weapons and armor from Run & Gun. Choose the right one, and live to see another day.

Run & Gun Cards are for use with Shadowrun, Fifth Edition and the Run & Gun supplement.

MAGIC CARDS: STREET GRIMOIRE ($9.99)

Being a spellcaster is all about taking the inconveniences and problems of reality and making them work for you. But reality is a complicated thing, and if you really want to shape it right, you need plenty of spells at your disposal. And not just any spells—the right ones, the ones that get the job done. Street Grimoire Spell Cards have summaries of 54 spells from Street Grimoire, with stats, a brief statement of what the spell does, and references to help you find more information. Use them to shift reality from the way it is to the way it should be.

Street Grimoire Spell Cards are for use with Shadowrun, Fifth Edition and Street Grimoire.

BATTLETECH INTRODUCTORY BOX SET, Reprint ($59.99)

Strap yourself into the ultimate suit of armor: the BattleMech. Thirty feet tall and weighing up to a hundred tons, this humanoid engine of destruction is a walking arsenal with enough firepower to level a city block. The BattleTech game system takes you into the world of the 31st Century, where war has become a way of life. You are a MechWarrior. You are in command of the most powerful machine on the battlefield, and hold the fate of empires in your hand!

The BattleTech Anniversary Introductory Box Set thrusts you onto the battlefields of the 31st century. This box contains everything needed to play:

• 24 unpainted, ready-to-play plastic BattleMech minis
• 2 unpainted, premium-quality plastic BattleMech minis
• One 12-page full-color quick-start rulebook will have players into the action in minutes
• 36-page book of pre-generated BattleMech Record Sheets
• One 80-page full-color rulebook
• Inner Sphere at a Glance, a 56-page full-color book of universe background and BattleMech technical data
• One 16-page full-color Painting and Tactics Guide
• Two heavy-duty cards of compiled tables
• Two 18″ x 24″ game-board quality maps

BATTLETECH: ALPHA STRIKE COMPANION ($39.99)

BattleMechs clash, fighters duel, and infantry swarm across the landscape. High above the clouds, mighty WarShips emerge from hyperspace, laden with DropShips filled with reinforcements. A host of new machines, new warriors, and new tactics are unleashed as war rages from the void of space to the earth below. The BattleTech universe is yours to conquer!

Alpha Strike Companion adds legions of new rules and expanded options for BattleTech: Alpha Strike, the miniatures war game. With this expansion, players will unlock new tactical abilities, special warrior options, design quirks, and unit types. But more than that, players will find within these pages an expanded abstract aerospace system that will enable them to wage war from planet to jump point, while a handy conversion system opens the path to translating the stats for any BattleTech unit to its fast-playing Alpha Strike equivalent.

BATTLETECH COUNTERATTACK: BC ANTHOLOGY 5 ($12.95)

A Star League Gunslinger fights against overwhelming odds during a rebellion. A dauntless warrior faces his most painful trial yet, far from home and all but alone. Mercenaries, betrayed from within, lash out at all who threaten them. And the Word of Blake, always present, plots and schemes and maneuvers allies against each other.

Thirteen stories of combat, honor, betrayal and death fill the pages of Counterattack: BattleCorps Anthology Volume 5.

BATTLETECH LANCE PACK: ASSAULT LANCE ($19.99)

Thrown into the thick of the firefight, an assault lance MechWarrior has an ego as wide as a DropShip. That ego was earned in blood, sweat and hardfought victories in the teeth of the enemy across a hundred worlds…

Unleash the Assault Lance Pack on your enemies! Atlas, Grasshopper, Blackjack and Victor BattleMechs—no assembly required. Perfect for BattleTech and Alpha Strike heavy metal action! Contains 4 plastic miniatures (unpainted) and 8 dry-erase Alpha Strike Cards.

BATTLETECH LANCE PACK: PURSUIT LANCE ($19.99)

Whether headhunting or running down recon forces, a pursuit lance MechWarrior is a commander’s surgical instrument. Not deployed for just any situation, these specialists are only unleashed to turn the tide of battle…

Unleash the Pursuit Lance Pack on your enemies! Centurion, Clint, Jenner and Wolfhound BattleMechs—no assembly required. Perfect for BattleTech and Alpha Strike heavy metal action! Contains 4 plastic miniatures (unpainted) and 8 dry-erase Alpha Strike Cards.

BATTLETECH LANCE PACK: SUPPORT LANCE ($19.99)

Support lance MechWarriors are the unsung workhorses of every army. Overlooked by most, commanders know these stalwarts are the glue that binds any military, enabling success for any type of military campaign…

Unleash the Support Lance Pack on your enemies! Awesome, Vindicator, Firestarter and Charger BattleMechs—no assembly required. Perfect for BattleTech and Alpha Strike heavy metal action! Contains 4 plastic miniatures (unpainted) and 8 dry-erase Alpha Strike Cards.

BATTLETECH LANCE PACK: BATTLE LANCE ($19.99)

At a distance, in the thick of it; driest desert, coldest glacier: a battle lance MechWarrior is a jack-of-all-trades. He or she doesn’t need a specialty because they can take the battle to the enemy under any conditions…

Unleash the Battle Lance Pack on your enemies! Zeus, Hatchetman, Banshee and Orion BattleMechs—no assembly required. Perfect for BattleTech and Alpha Strike heavy metal action! Contains 4 plastic miniatures (unpainted) and 8 dry-erase Alpha Strike Cards.