21 thoughts on “https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BwzNN7yL3u8NdjBhX1Zzdlhfd3M”

  3. It’s looking good Mark! I’d definitely be up for helping playtest if you ever need it! Especially if it would be something I could do when available and not have an every week commitment.

  6. Mark Cleveland Massengale if it’s just a three shot I could probably manage no problem. I was just thinking if it’s an every week thing I couldn’t add any more every week commitment.

  8. It seems needlessly complex. too many rules for minor things (like ammo) that could just be done by the fiction.

    And playbooks with dragons or toxic spirits as starting connections? this is a different game than anything you’d see in Shadowrun.

    Don’t get me wrong, this could be cool. But you are on the verge of making your own IP here, so you might as well strip the rest of the SR references and do that.

  10. I have written my own, very minimalistic, shadowrun hack so I am always on the lookout for inspiration. But after reading this one in its entirety, it really does not ‘click’ for me. You tried to cram to much stuff into your hack and lost some of the original elegancy.

    The beauty of blades, or powered by the apocalypse games, is the simplicity of it and the huge amount of fictional space the mechanics create. If I take a look at the extra mechanics you added – EDGE, Cyberrating (Essence Tax) / Augments, Weapon Tags / Ammo, Matrixrules – I ask myself, are any of those really necessary here? All of that can easily be covered by the fiction. Ammo runs out when the dice require a complication or when it makes sense in the fiction. How people acquire their special abilities can simply be part of the fiction as well, couldn’t it? If they have augmentations, it can be both a fictional advantage and disadvantage that then effects the effect levels and positions for the action roll. Why are cyberdecks handled different than all other gear and introduces limits to ones actions? And why is matrix an entirely new rulesets, that modifies harm levels?

    Now don’t take this the wrong way – I can really appreciate the amount of work you put into this and I see where you are coming from. But whenever I see a new mechanic being introduced to a very clear and precise ruleset I have to ask myself – which purpose does this serve? Does it increase the tension at the table or improve the gameflow? And in this hack, there seem to be quite a few mechanics for the purpose of having them. It feels like you are working your way through a checklist based on original shadowrun mechanics, instead of responding to perceived “gap” in the ruleset that needs to be included to improve the fiction. Maybe I am just biased, since the amount of simulation shadowrun tries to achieve with its rules has always struck me as unnecessary and convoluted. And while this hack is far from being that, it still seems to go into the same direction – having rules for the purpose of having them in case someone wants to use them, instead of having a clear vision and aligning the mechanics with that vision.

    I do not know if you got around to it, but you might be very interested in “The Sprawl” and the design philosophy in that ruleset. I have since added some of the sprawls legwork and mission mechanics to my blades in the shadows hack and it runs exceptionally smooth.

  11. oh good, cutting I can do. Oliver Smock yea I cut some areas just now because I agreed with most of that; the fiction is enough most times. Not done with the Cutting either, I am sure, but some of the fat got trimmed.

    re: Edge/stress. although I rather like it in play, I could see just taking it out.

    re: the hacking interface mode. hot simming was always optional in the fiction, and once turned on required you stay in it until you did some matrix crap to disconnect (since you are literally helpless in meatspace). I might cut the rules bits there as well and just leave the flavor text for guidance.

    The effect of augments on magical ability as permanent harm (Essence tax) is well known fictionally, so I wonder if you mean I should just describe it or it doesnt belong. anyways, it got simplified to keep it out of the way some (you’re either a cyborg, chromed, or not). No special “ignore drawback” options since chromed is -1d to magic stuff, and.. push yourself can just as easily negate that now for a hybrid tech-magic player (which I do want to have be discouraged, and highlighted to showcase the cost of being too augmented).

  12. After talking a bit to Heiko Qd I decided addiction rules should get a culling. No charts; I just name which things are restricted or illegal, and which are addictive or highly addictive. The effects of taking things will get fiction, but ruleswise, the rest of the addiction fiction is up to the table and can just use Vices to get deeper

  14. I know there is still a lot of material here (70 pages) so I thought I might call out some things I am unsure about as well since they are sort of new additions. Any thoughts/feelings on the reflavoring of demons as dragons? or the atypical appearance of a dragon as a friend/rival (on the Awakened playbook)?

    Also, the use of fewer hacking terms than in SR but still using some of them?

  15. Oliver Smock the desire for a cyberdeck with its own load arose from wanting to determine when a person in cyberspace gets slower and more obvious, vs when a person in meatspace gets slower and more obvious. They felt like they were necessarily separate after much playtesting. That being said, I streamlined the hacking rules a lot since your comment.

    All the things you mentioned that I added got trimmed down a lot in response to your feedback (I agreed with most of that, and left in the things I know do add tension or eliminate confusion).

    And yea, I read the Sprawl/watched APs, and took a couple cues from it (Payoff tied to Performance, for example). Hamish is a beast

  18. Hi Mark Cleveland Massengale! I’ve looked everywhere for your Runners in Shadows Playbooks and Crew Sheets, but cannot find them. Please help me, as I’m dying to give it a go! 🙂

  19. i noticed a mistake in the text of v6 that i wanted to call to attention because i am not sure if it has been pointed out before. in the touchstones section, you list the matrix as being directed by ‘the wachowski brothers’ when the matrix was directed by the wachowski sisters.

    i wanted to mention that because i am pretty sure it was a mistake, and also it had made my girlfriend (who is a trans woman) uncomfortable about trying runners in the shadows despite otherwise enjoying most of the content out of worry that the mistake was intentional transphobia.

    but ye, i just wanted to point that out, because i was not sure if anyone had.

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