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Shadowrun 5: Anarchy
Mensch. Maschine. Magie. Shadowrun. Die Sechste Welt. Orks im Nadelstreifen-Anzug mit Maschinenpistolen. Tätowierte Zwerge, die ihren Geist in Fahrzeuge einklinken und in halsbrecherischer Geschwindigkeit durch die Straßenschluchten von Megasprawls rasen. Menschen, die Feuerbälle herbeizaubern und das Inferno über trainierte Paracritter kommen lassen. Trolle, die in der Matrix die Gitter von gigantischen Konzernen hacken und Daten über die neuste Technologie stehlen. Dies ist der Ort, an dem Magie und Maschine miteinander verschmelzen. Begib dich in die Welt, die dystopischen Cyberpunk mit erwachter Mystik und dunkler Mythologie verschmilzt. Werde Shadowrunner: ein ableugbarer Aktivposten, der die Jobs erledigt, die sonst keiner übernimmt. Breche in geheime Laboratorien ein, stelle dich gefährlichen Gangs und dem Chaos der Straßen, entdecke dunkle Geister und magische Geheimnisse. Und frage dich, ob du deine Seele den Megakonzernen verkaufst oder in dieser Welt trotzdem noch einen Hauch deiner eigenen Werte behältst. Shadowrun: Anarchy ist ein alternatives Grundregelwerk, ein neuer Weg in das erfolgreichste Cyperpunk/Urban-Fantasy-Rollenspiel. Basierend auf einem vereinfachten und leicht zu lernenden Regelsystem legt Shadowrun: Anarchy den Fokus auf ein erzählorientiertes Spielerlebnis. Dieses Buch enthält dafür nicht nur die vollständigen Regeln und ist damit ohne weitere Bände von Shadowrun spielbar es bietet auch viele Charaktere und Abenteuerideen, sowie die Möglichkeit, Werte aus anderen Quellenbänden und Abenteuern für Shadowrun: Anarchy zu konvertieren. So einfach und erzählerisch war Shadowrun noch nie. Tauche ein in die Schatten der Sechsten Welt!
236 pages, Hardcover
Published May 15, 2017
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11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 4, 2025
Starting to think that D&D 5e is the only vaguely competently written TTRPG rulebook.
Read
January 7, 2023Playing this tonight, so hopefully I got enough info for it to make sense!
November 21, 2020
Shadowrun Anarchy is a rules-light narrative spin on Shadowrun. That, in itself, is interesting. Even moreso is that it seems to be playable which Shadowrun hasn't been in.. decades.
Anarchy features all of the parts of Shadowrun that you like: The setting, the fantasy elements. The feel. The themes. But it condenses it into a fairly digestible format. Character creation is more about the concept than it is the the bits and pieces. One of the hallmarks of cyberpunk TTRPGs is the high degree of customization character and being able to fiddle with your character. Adding chrome or tech as needed. Anarchy still has that but allows you to focus more on the narrative than having to worry too much about specific gear.
The game uses karma as its sole currency. It is an aggregate of money, resources, and XP.
Unfortunately, the game isn't quite rules-light enough to be run without the players being able to see the rule book, I don't think. Which is a shame because it's otherwise a good package just not quite light enough for pick-up-and-play style.
Anarchy features all of the parts of Shadowrun that you like: The setting, the fantasy elements. The feel. The themes. But it condenses it into a fairly digestible format. Character creation is more about the concept than it is the the bits and pieces. One of the hallmarks of cyberpunk TTRPGs is the high degree of customization character and being able to fiddle with your character. Adding chrome or tech as needed. Anarchy still has that but allows you to focus more on the narrative than having to worry too much about specific gear.
The game uses karma as its sole currency. It is an aggregate of money, resources, and XP.
Unfortunately, the game isn't quite rules-light enough to be run without the players being able to see the rule book, I don't think. Which is a shame because it's otherwise a good package just not quite light enough for pick-up-and-play style.
January 1, 2018
Got this as a pdf from drivethrurpg.com. Thinking about getting the hardcover version, too.
Last summer I sold all my Shadowrun books that I'd gathered between 1996-2016; the system was just too much about bookkeeping and not enough about feeling the atmosphere. I thought I'd never play Shadowrun again.
Until I ran into this gold nugget via Google! Shadowrun Anarchy is a simplified interpretation of Shadowrun. You still roll loads of D6's but the system is more about putting character interaction first. You don't need to keep track of all the ammo/gizmos/spells/whatever tidbit and can instead focus on narration. There's nothing to stop you from doing that with "traditional" Shadowrun, but the sleekness of this system just invites you to play. And I mean "to play" as in "to play when you really don't have the time you had when you were under 20".
Last summer I sold all my Shadowrun books that I'd gathered between 1996-2016; the system was just too much about bookkeeping and not enough about feeling the atmosphere. I thought I'd never play Shadowrun again.
Until I ran into this gold nugget via Google! Shadowrun Anarchy is a simplified interpretation of Shadowrun. You still roll loads of D6's but the system is more about putting character interaction first. You don't need to keep track of all the ammo/gizmos/spells/whatever tidbit and can instead focus on narration. There's nothing to stop you from doing that with "traditional" Shadowrun, but the sleekness of this system just invites you to play. And I mean "to play" as in "to play when you really don't have the time you had when you were under 20".
August 26, 2020
A narrative take on the Shadowrun universe. This game uses the cue system introduced in Space Patrol, and most recently used in MechWarrior Destiny, and applies it to the world of Shadowrun.
The core mechanic uses D6 pools, just like the more complex core rules, but in a much simpler overall system. I'm not sure it would fully capture everything I want out of a Shadowrun game as a player, but if it doesn't, then I think it probably comes close, and with an order of magnitude less overhead in terms of complexity.
If I ever run Shadorun again, then it will probably be with this rule set.
The core mechanic uses D6 pools, just like the more complex core rules, but in a much simpler overall system. I'm not sure it would fully capture everything I want out of a Shadowrun game as a player, but if it doesn't, then I think it probably comes close, and with an order of magnitude less overhead in terms of complexity.
If I ever run Shadorun again, then it will probably be with this rule set.
January 23, 2023
I wasn't sure what to expect from Shadowrun Anarchy. It wasn't popular when it first came out, but then, you can never be sure if that's because something is new or because it's genuinely not good. I'm glad that I finally decided to give in to my curiosity and picked up this book.
Anarchy finally makes Shadowrun playable. I mean, sure, we'd played it before, but the system was so heavy, so complex, that it was always a mammoth task running it. So we'd managed to play only a handful of sessions before it fizzled out.
Anarchy gets a lot of the junk out of the way so you can just focus on the game. Now, there are some downsides, which I'll list here so you go in with your expectations firmly set:
-The editing and cross-referencing, as with many modern RPGs, is not great. CGL apparently have form in this department (and 6e has it even worse), but I really should knock off a star for this. I won't, because I think at least some of the reviews are too harsh, so this is me counteracting that. Related to this, some of the rules aren't immediately clear on first glance, but will become clearer as you familiarise yourself with the "Anarchy approach".
-The pregenerated characters in the book aren't "legal" according to the rules. I think the errata might have tried to fix them, but as GM, I would double check any character sheets first to make sure they follow the rules. If there's an error, suggest how the PC can fix it. It shouldn't take too long. (And, TBF, if you're just diving into a one-shot, you needn't even bother, as no one will notice.)
-The book has a truncated setting section in English (the Germans get the full 5e setting intro instead -- the lucky krouts!), which isn't super useful for newbies and is wasted page count for old-timers. The game does seem to assume you will already have Shadowrun 5e (which makes sense, as it isn't supposed to be a full game), but then they added the intro in case people bought it on its own, I guess? I would've preferred either they committed to a standalone game, or they dropped all the setting stuff and just gave us a huge list of Shadow Amps, Qualities, Gear, NPCs and contract briefs, but whatever. It's fine. I'm sure someone finds those scant few pages of setting interesting if they don't know what they're missing.
-Some of the rules will put some people off (e.g., armour basically gives extra condition boxes instead), although they are extremely easy to change or remove. Also, if armour is your biggest gripe, make it work like the Dermal Deposits Amp instead (the book does discuss ways to make the combat more lethal, so you can just use those changes to ramp up damage, if needed).
-For some reason, the default presentation is for players to share the GM role. However, it's quite clear from the book (and what most of the freelancers have said), that this isn't how anybody plays it. Nor is it how most groups play it IRL either. There are rules for running this is a trad roleplaying game, so I suggest you just humour the "shared narrations" stuff and accept it for the compromise it undoubtedly was.
What's good is as follows:
-Simplified Attributes and Skills list. Simplified gear. Simplified approach to adventure creation. Thank you, Anarchy team!
-All special gear, abilities and powers use the Amp system. Excepting the base costs, which vary from 0-2 points, +3 dice from a spell costs the same as +3 dice from cybernetics. This makes it so incredibly easy to balance things, you can whip up Amps on the spot with little difficulty.
-Plot Points are a lot of fun. Edge feels valuable and useful. I would probably combine them into one metacurrency, but I can see why they kept them distinct (one is about luck; the other is about narrative focus and drama). Some people will hate Plot Points, but it's easy enough to combine them with edge: 1) remove all the dramatic editing stuff; 2) make the other stuff (healing, etc) a function of Edge; 3) grant Edge in the same way the book says to grant Plot Points (in addition to the standard ways to gain Edge); and 4) go nuts!
-There's only one thing to track for advancement: Karma. There's no longer the split between street sams who can spend their dosh on upgrades and their Karma on Skills, and mages who have a mountain of cash piling up that they rarely get to use.
-Character creation can be done in 15 minutes, or quicker if you take one of the (many) pregen characters to play. (Though see above for checking their stats.)
-The game has a laidback vibe that reassures you that it's okay to just wing it. That is honestly so helpful for appealing to newbies, it can't be understated.
The game probably needs a few more supplements to really flesh it out and provide all the Qualities, Amps and Gear that Shadowrun gearheads love, but thankfully, there's a really good collection of secondary rules designed by the community over at SurpriseThreat.com. They plug any niggling holes and allow you to add a great deal of depth to the game. They also have a Shadow Amps catalogue with dozen of cool stuff to add to your characters.
So, yeah, I'm basically giving this five stars just because it's the first playable and accessible version of Shadowrun ever -- so sue me! But if that doesn't get you excited, then why are you reading about an alternate ruleset for Shadowrun anyway?
Anarchy finally makes Shadowrun playable. I mean, sure, we'd played it before, but the system was so heavy, so complex, that it was always a mammoth task running it. So we'd managed to play only a handful of sessions before it fizzled out.
Anarchy gets a lot of the junk out of the way so you can just focus on the game. Now, there are some downsides, which I'll list here so you go in with your expectations firmly set:
-The editing and cross-referencing, as with many modern RPGs, is not great. CGL apparently have form in this department (and 6e has it even worse), but I really should knock off a star for this. I won't, because I think at least some of the reviews are too harsh, so this is me counteracting that. Related to this, some of the rules aren't immediately clear on first glance, but will become clearer as you familiarise yourself with the "Anarchy approach".
-The pregenerated characters in the book aren't "legal" according to the rules. I think the errata might have tried to fix them, but as GM, I would double check any character sheets first to make sure they follow the rules. If there's an error, suggest how the PC can fix it. It shouldn't take too long. (And, TBF, if you're just diving into a one-shot, you needn't even bother, as no one will notice.)
-The book has a truncated setting section in English (the Germans get the full 5e setting intro instead -- the lucky krouts!), which isn't super useful for newbies and is wasted page count for old-timers. The game does seem to assume you will already have Shadowrun 5e (which makes sense, as it isn't supposed to be a full game), but then they added the intro in case people bought it on its own, I guess? I would've preferred either they committed to a standalone game, or they dropped all the setting stuff and just gave us a huge list of Shadow Amps, Qualities, Gear, NPCs and contract briefs, but whatever. It's fine. I'm sure someone finds those scant few pages of setting interesting if they don't know what they're missing.
-Some of the rules will put some people off (e.g., armour basically gives extra condition boxes instead), although they are extremely easy to change or remove. Also, if armour is your biggest gripe, make it work like the Dermal Deposits Amp instead (the book does discuss ways to make the combat more lethal, so you can just use those changes to ramp up damage, if needed).
-For some reason, the default presentation is for players to share the GM role. However, it's quite clear from the book (and what most of the freelancers have said), that this isn't how anybody plays it. Nor is it how most groups play it IRL either. There are rules for running this is a trad roleplaying game, so I suggest you just humour the "shared narrations" stuff and accept it for the compromise it undoubtedly was.
What's good is as follows:
-Simplified Attributes and Skills list. Simplified gear. Simplified approach to adventure creation. Thank you, Anarchy team!
-All special gear, abilities and powers use the Amp system. Excepting the base costs, which vary from 0-2 points, +3 dice from a spell costs the same as +3 dice from cybernetics. This makes it so incredibly easy to balance things, you can whip up Amps on the spot with little difficulty.
-Plot Points are a lot of fun. Edge feels valuable and useful. I would probably combine them into one metacurrency, but I can see why they kept them distinct (one is about luck; the other is about narrative focus and drama). Some people will hate Plot Points, but it's easy enough to combine them with edge: 1) remove all the dramatic editing stuff; 2) make the other stuff (healing, etc) a function of Edge; 3) grant Edge in the same way the book says to grant Plot Points (in addition to the standard ways to gain Edge); and 4) go nuts!
-There's only one thing to track for advancement: Karma. There's no longer the split between street sams who can spend their dosh on upgrades and their Karma on Skills, and mages who have a mountain of cash piling up that they rarely get to use.
-Character creation can be done in 15 minutes, or quicker if you take one of the (many) pregen characters to play. (Though see above for checking their stats.)
-The game has a laidback vibe that reassures you that it's okay to just wing it. That is honestly so helpful for appealing to newbies, it can't be understated.
The game probably needs a few more supplements to really flesh it out and provide all the Qualities, Amps and Gear that Shadowrun gearheads love, but thankfully, there's a really good collection of secondary rules designed by the community over at SurpriseThreat.com. They plug any niggling holes and allow you to add a great deal of depth to the game. They also have a Shadow Amps catalogue with dozen of cool stuff to add to your characters.
So, yeah, I'm basically giving this five stars just because it's the first playable and accessible version of Shadowrun ever -- so sue me! But if that doesn't get you excited, then why are you reading about an alternate ruleset for Shadowrun anyway?
October 14, 2019
A version of Shadowrun... I’d actually run. Like don’t get me wrong, this is not cutting edge game design and I feel like significant bits would be weird in actual play, but this is a neat “sit down and play” system without all the cruft that drags Shadowrun down.
August 15, 2025
It was interesting to read this soon after reading the PbtA Sourcebook „The Sprawl“, which is also about cyberpunk. Noticeably, the part of Anarchy that actually explains both how the game works and what it is supposed to be about for the players, is only a small portion of this book. The rest is taken up with character sheets, plot suggestions and background info. And while all this is certainly helpful, especially if you are already familiar with Shadowrun and just want to dive into the new system, it demonstrates the fundamentally different approach of the two frameworks. Anarchy slims down the unwieldy rules system of SR and makes it „playable“, as another reviewer suggested, it is still very much a rules and setting first book. You might democratize the storytelling in an improv way around the table, but you are still lugging 40 years of SR history (both rules and story) around with you wherever you go. This is not a diss on the system, it’s just a fact.
I much preferred the PbtA way of stating its core philosophy and values first and developing the story from there, mostly addressing the GM in how they should steer the game to make sure all players exist on the same plane and have fun together while they make up the story. This might simply not be possible here, because of the specific setting, but even so, „Anarchy“, for my taste, had far too many rules and exceptions even in the parts where there weren‘t supposed to be a lot of rules.
Just as with a lot of RPG books, this never gave me the feeling, unlike with PbtA, that it simply just works if everyone embraces its general spirit. More examples of actual play situations would have been a great addition. Also, I think the „The streets are tough, huh, chummer?“ 80s tone of many descriptions should finally be retired.
I much preferred the PbtA way of stating its core philosophy and values first and developing the story from there, mostly addressing the GM in how they should steer the game to make sure all players exist on the same plane and have fun together while they make up the story. This might simply not be possible here, because of the specific setting, but even so, „Anarchy“, for my taste, had far too many rules and exceptions even in the parts where there weren‘t supposed to be a lot of rules.
Just as with a lot of RPG books, this never gave me the feeling, unlike with PbtA, that it simply just works if everyone embraces its general spirit. More examples of actual play situations would have been a great addition. Also, I think the „The streets are tough, huh, chummer?“ 80s tone of many descriptions should finally be retired.
December 2, 2022
Botched attempt to provide an alternate system for Shadowrun, undermined by the fact that a) it can't decide whether it just wants to provide a rules-lighter version of the same basic playstyle or a radically different, narrative-oriented playstyle with only the setting in common, and b) the designers don't seem to have that deep an understanding of the latter approach. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews