New game and a great group.

“The year is 2072. Magic has returned and creatures of myth and legend walk among us as megacorps bleed the world dry. You’re a shadowrunner-a deniable asset, a corporate pawn-using bleeding-edge science and magic to make your meat body and mind better-than-flesh. Stay on the edge, and you may survive another run on the mean sprawl streets. Shadowrun, Fourth Edition offers a completely new rules system that is simple, integrated, and accessible. The state-of-the-art has also been advanced, introducing a new level of augmented reality, new gear, and new magical discoveries.”

I read this and I was sold, I have been dying for a solid cyberpunk game that wasn’t so fucking outdated it’s unplayable. Apparently there are two versions of Shadowrun 4^th ed., one being total crap, the other much better. I ordered the 20^th anniversary edition, the not crap one, and I’m really looking forward to introducing this one to my gaming group, we need more options and more options with a gritty cyberpunk edge.

The only genre of game I want more than this is a modern fantasy setting, ala D20 Modern, done with D&D 4^th edition’s rules, but I really don’t believe that is going to happen. Though my hopes are rising that Wizards of the Coast will need to fill the void left by Star Wars and D20M is a great choice for revamp. Plus, if they use their current version of the D20 system I think players will really get into it, and that would only help WotC’s standing in the gaming community, which pretty low right now. I could be totally off base, but I right about Star Wars, maybe I’ll be right about this.

My current gaming group, though we have only played once, is making very excited about playing, or in this case running, a game. Dan is game for anything, which allows me to throw in different game systems and campaign plots. Doug is an insanely competent role-player and seems to have no issues with new rules. Charlie’s a loose cannon, and that’s a good thing. Teriyuki is a an adventure seeker and has no idea about the limitation of the system, and thus throws out great and interesting ideas. It’s a solid group and after Dan and Teriyuki gain a better understanding of what they can and can’t do in game we’ll only be missing Alan. Hear that? I’m turning on the giant search light on the roof, blasting the Alan signal into the cloudy, Pacific-Northwest Sky.