Author Archives: jhardy

New Shadowrun PDF goodness awaits! Back in January we announced the new Shadows in Focus PDF series, where we pick a spot and use several PDF books to give it a detailed scrutiny. First up was the already-released Sioux Nation book, and now we have the next in the series–Cheyenne (Battleshop, DriveThruRPG)! Here’s what it’s got:

And while we’re talking Shadowrun, which we almost always are, remember that tomorrow, February 18th, is the street date for Run Faster–both in standard and limited editions–and the adventure compilation London Falling!

A few months ago we announced a contest for fans to design their own mission for Shadowrun: Crossfire. We received some intriguing submissions, and the time has come for fans to vote both on the Fan Favorite mission and on the Wildest Ride! Votes can be submitted at a forum thread posted for that purpose, or they can be e-mailed to randall@catalystgamelabs.com. So get voting, and good luck to all the designers!

It’s a big, big Sixth World out there, with lots of danger and weirdness and shadowruns waiting for the right team. At the august and elegant Shadowrun headquarters,we’ve been pondering the best way to give Shadowrun fans a chance to explore the various parts of the world, and the solution we’ve hit upon is the Shadows in Focus series. For this series, we will pick nations that have not been covered recently in Shadowrun products, or places that have not been covered at all, and get an in-depth look at that spot. For each location we pick, you’ll get a national overview, detailed looks at two large cities in that nation, two adventures set in the selected nation, and an Enhanced Fiction short story to help immerse you in that locale.

Up first: the Sioux Nation. The initial book in the series, called Sioux Nation of all things, is out now (Battleshop, DriveThruRPG), ready for you to explore! With information on major cities, corporations, law-enforcement entities, power sites, and more, this book has all you need to bring Shadowrun adventures to the Sioux Nation. Whatever type of run you specialize in, be it smuggling, corporate espionage, talislegging, high-level extractions, or what have you, the Sioux Nation is waiting to throw challenges your way!

We’ve been working hard in Shadowrun-land to provide the dedicated Shadowrun public with the novels for which they’ve been clamoring, and we have great news on that front! Dark Resonance is now out (Battleshop, DriveThruRPG, Amazon, and print copies can be found in bookstores and game shops)! Written by Phaedra Weldon, contributor to the award-winning Spells & Chrome anthology as well as author of the Zoë Martinique series of novels, it tells a twisted, enthralling tail of technomancers, families, and deep-seated vendettas. Here’s the synopsis:

SOME SECRETS CAN KILL YOU…

Kazuma Tetsu is a technomancer—one of the rare people who can manipulate the Matrix without technology, using only the power of their mind. But he’s on a more personal mission—he’s searching for his missing sister, Hitori. Following her trail leads him into a tangled web of corp execs, mercenaries, and double-crossing rogues—usually just another day in the Sixth World.

But as Kazuma digs deeper, he uncovers a plot that could bring about the end of the world. Upon seeing a simulation of the Resonances Realms accessible to technomancers, an A.I. declares it will use the realms to ascend to a higher plane of consciousness. The intelligence’s goal seems impossible, until an imprisoned and manipulated group of technomancers accesses dissonance to open a gateway to a new realm—possibly the heaven the A.I. seeks. But opening this dissonant hole in the Matrix could trigger global disaster, and it’s up to a team of shadowrunners, including a couple of denizens of the fabled JackPoint, to free the trapped technomancers and stop the Dark Resonance before it destroys the entire Matrix—and worse …

And Hell on Water is out there as well and has recently been added to the Kindle shop in addition to the Battleshop and DriveThruRPG. So go and get your Shadowrun fiction fix in!