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Shadowtech
Personal-technology sourcebook: Shadowrun.
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 5, 2015
Another catalogue of Shadowrun stuff
25 August 2013
To be honest I am not really all that certain what this book is about. I know that I have read it and that it is connected to Shadowrun (which is pretty obvious anyway) but I am not sure what the technology is that the book describes. Maybe, I suspect, that this book is about Shadowrun technology that does not necessarily fit into any off the other categories.
The reason I say that is because there are a number of books that seem to be character specific (though the Mercs can use stuff from the Street Samurai Catalog and the Street Samurai and use stuff from Fields of Fire) but thinking through all of the archetypes in Shadowrun I can't think off anything in which this book would be connected to.
I have read it, as I said, but then with most of these Shadowrun equipment catalogues, reading them is hardly any chore at all because they generally consist of a picture, some rules based stuff below it (as well as the name of the item) and then some comments from Shadowrunners as to whether the equipment works or not. Mind you, I like those little comments because they tend to add depth to the item, but also gives the gamemaster ideas as to its flaws.
However, as I said, I can't really comment much further on this book because I can't remember much more of it, and even then, if you do want to get the book, it is probably a bit obsolete because, well, we are up to about 3rd edition Shadowrun, and are probably going to see more in the future.
25 August 2013
To be honest I am not really all that certain what this book is about. I know that I have read it and that it is connected to Shadowrun (which is pretty obvious anyway) but I am not sure what the technology is that the book describes. Maybe, I suspect, that this book is about Shadowrun technology that does not necessarily fit into any off the other categories.
The reason I say that is because there are a number of books that seem to be character specific (though the Mercs can use stuff from the Street Samurai Catalog and the Street Samurai and use stuff from Fields of Fire) but thinking through all of the archetypes in Shadowrun I can't think off anything in which this book would be connected to.
I have read it, as I said, but then with most of these Shadowrun equipment catalogues, reading them is hardly any chore at all because they generally consist of a picture, some rules based stuff below it (as well as the name of the item) and then some comments from Shadowrunners as to whether the equipment works or not. Mind you, I like those little comments because they tend to add depth to the item, but also gives the gamemaster ideas as to its flaws.
However, as I said, I can't really comment much further on this book because I can't remember much more of it, and even then, if you do want to get the book, it is probably a bit obsolete because, well, we are up to about 3rd edition Shadowrun, and are probably going to see more in the future.
June 3, 2020
I guess I'm on a cyberpunk roll.
This was the first sourcebook I ever bought for early Shadowrun after paging through it at a friend's house, and it really helps set the world background. While the Street Samurai Catalog contained a bunch of guns and tools and cyberwear so that the consummate professionals that make up a team of shadowrunners can better murder everyone who gets in their way, Shadowtech has a broader focus. It introduces the concept of bioware, so that people who don't want to hack their arms off to put guns in them still have a method of self-improvement. It has sections on genetic engineering, including Leónization life-extension treatment, and on drugs. I made an entire character based on the use of MAO from the drug section, a chemical compound that allows for immediate absorption of other chemicals through the skin, who would use sedatives and sleeping drugs so as never to be responsible for a single death. I'll always be thankful to Shadowtech for that.
In keeping with the expansion of the background, large sections of the book are dedicated to technical explanations of how genes work, or how drugs are addictive, or how long it takes to recover from cybersurgery. Some of these have rules, and some don't, but they all paint a better picture of the technology available to the average citizen better than the main rulebook does. The average shadowrunner is not going to live long enough to make life extension technology worthwhile, but a corp executive will. And much like permanent high lifestyle, it gives the PCs something to aim for.
Essence in Shadowrun is kind of a kludge so that magicians can't also use cyberwear and thus become more all-powerful than they already are, and it's kind of monstrous if you think about it for more than a moment (wait, someone who needs a replacement limb due to an accident is less of a person?), and bioware has "body index" which is an entirely separate scale to track, allowing mundane characters to load up on bioware and cyberwear simultaneously to stay as close to the bleeding edge as they can. Magicians still lose Essence from installing bioware, but with some of the intelligence-boosting bioware available, it can still be worth it.
Magicians, and anyone else, can also lose Essence from drug addiction, so stay clean, kids. Winners don't use drugs.
The real fun of Shadowtech is the comments, though. Much like Paranormal Animals of North America, each new piece of tech or pharmaceutical product has a section where shadowrunners comment on its efficacy, how dangerous it is, runs they've used it in, how they want to get their hands on it, etc. All your old favorites like KAM, the Neon Samurai, Findler-Man, Fastjack, The Smiling Bandit , Feral, Hatchetman, and so on get their words in, and even though I play later editions now and most of the rules information here isn't useful, the banter between the commenters still make it a worthwhile read.
Shadowrun has moved on, but if you like games set in the 2050s like I do, then Shadowtech is a great resource for what the world was like then in a way that Shadowrun 2050 can't really portray.
This was the first sourcebook I ever bought for early Shadowrun after paging through it at a friend's house, and it really helps set the world background. While the Street Samurai Catalog contained a bunch of guns and tools and cyberwear so that the consummate professionals that make up a team of shadowrunners can better murder everyone who gets in their way, Shadowtech has a broader focus. It introduces the concept of bioware, so that people who don't want to hack their arms off to put guns in them still have a method of self-improvement. It has sections on genetic engineering, including Leónization life-extension treatment, and on drugs. I made an entire character based on the use of MAO from the drug section, a chemical compound that allows for immediate absorption of other chemicals through the skin, who would use sedatives and sleeping drugs so as never to be responsible for a single death. I'll always be thankful to Shadowtech for that.
In keeping with the expansion of the background, large sections of the book are dedicated to technical explanations of how genes work, or how drugs are addictive, or how long it takes to recover from cybersurgery. Some of these have rules, and some don't, but they all paint a better picture of the technology available to the average citizen better than the main rulebook does. The average shadowrunner is not going to live long enough to make life extension technology worthwhile, but a corp executive will. And much like permanent high lifestyle, it gives the PCs something to aim for.
Essence in Shadowrun is kind of a kludge so that magicians can't also use cyberwear and thus become more all-powerful than they already are, and it's kind of monstrous if you think about it for more than a moment (wait, someone who needs a replacement limb due to an accident is less of a person?), and bioware has "body index" which is an entirely separate scale to track, allowing mundane characters to load up on bioware and cyberwear simultaneously to stay as close to the bleeding edge as they can. Magicians still lose Essence from installing bioware, but with some of the intelligence-boosting bioware available, it can still be worth it.
Magicians, and anyone else, can also lose Essence from drug addiction, so stay clean, kids. Winners don't use drugs.
The real fun of Shadowtech is the comments, though. Much like Paranormal Animals of North America, each new piece of tech or pharmaceutical product has a section where shadowrunners comment on its efficacy, how dangerous it is, runs they've used it in, how they want to get their hands on it, etc. All your old favorites like KAM, the Neon Samurai, Findler-Man, Fastjack, The Smiling Bandit , Feral, Hatchetman, and so on get their words in, and even though I play later editions now and most of the rules information here isn't useful, the banter between the commenters still make it a worthwhile read.
Shadowrun has moved on, but if you like games set in the 2050s like I do, then Shadowtech is a great resource for what the world was like then in a way that Shadowrun 2050 can't really portray.
May 1, 2015
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11977082
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11977082
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews