Sixth World, Sixth Edition

The world has endured much in the last eight decades in what has been an interesting twenty-first century. December 24th, 2011, marked the end of the five-thousand-year Mayan calendar and the beginning of the next, and with it came unimaginable change. U.G.E., or ‘Unexplained Genetic Expression’, gave rise to the birth of mutant and changeling children, followed by ‘Goblinisation’, in which a tenth of the population mutated into hideous forms. Although their appearance triggered global race riots, they became recognised as Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, and Trolls, separate species in their own right, members of Metahumanity known as the Awakened. Dragons appeared in the skies and were greater than anyone even imagined, owning corporations, becoming media stars, and one even getting elected president—before being assassinated on the day of his inauguration. Corporations were recognised as sovereign states unto themselves, so rose the power of the mega corps, all chasing status on the ten-member Corporate Council, regulating their activities where once national governments had done so. Recognition of the corporations and their extraterritoriality weakened the United States as the Native American demand for recognition turned into an armed struggle that would eventually force Canada, Mexico, and the United States to recognise the Native American Nations under the terms of the Treaty of Denver. Worse was to follow with the data Crash of ‘29 as a killer virus destroyed data and systems worldwide, toppling governments and threatening to destroy the USA. In response, operatives co-opted by the US government and using advanced cybertechnology entered cyberspace and fought the virus. Not all survived, but several of those who did took that technology to market, ultimately leading to personal cyberdecks which allowed individuals to easily access cyberspace and travel anywhere from the comfort of their own homes. In the wake of the Crash of ’29, what remained of the United States merged with Canada to form the United Canadian and American States in order to save both their economies and resources. It was followed by the secession of the Confederated American States four years later, and the founding of Tir Tairngire, an Elf nation just outside of Seattle. The rise of two types of technology—cybernetics and virtual reality would lead to widespread adoption of cyberware as augmentations and the Matrix, the descendant of the World Wide Web, its virtual reality or augmented reality accessed via cybernetic implants, a commlink, even the natural ability of the Technomancer, has run parallel with the rise and study of magic through various traditions.

By the year 2080, the divide between rich and poor, between SIN and SINless has only got wider. A SIN or ‘System Identification Number’ provides state and corporate recognition, access to education, healthcare, and potentially a job, but that job is going to be as a wage slave serving the interests of a corporation. Some of the SINless see their not being part of the system as a badge of honour. It enables them to undertake jobs and tasks that having a SIN would make very difficult, whether that is protecting the rights of fellow slum dwellers or becoming Shadowrunners. Shadowrunners do the jobs, perform the heists and personnel extractions, steal data, babysit assets, investigate mysteries, and the like that corporations and other agencies with a budget big enough do not want to be seen doing. Employed by a ‘Mister Johnson’, they are a corporate fixer’s deniable assets, willingly paid to do underhand tasks that would otherwise ruin a corporation’s reputation, until that is, the Shadowrunners become a liability!

This is the setting for Shadowrun – Sixth World, the roleplaying game originally published in 1989 by FASA, Inc. and subsequently developed over the course of thirty years into novels and short story anthologies, miniatures games, card games—collectible and otherwise, computer games, and more, including, of course, a detailed background and history of the Sixth World setting itself, which also spanned the roleplaying game’s thirty year history, from 2050 to 2080. It combines three genres in particular, two of them particularly not being obvious bedfellows—Cyberpunk, Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy. It is a roleplaying game in which the Player Characters take the roles of Shadowrunners, freelance operatives trying to get by without attracting too much attention, but getting involved anyway.

Shadowrun – Sixth World is the latest iteration of the rulebook, published by Catalyst Game Labs essentially the sixth edition for the setting’s Sixth World. It introduces the setting, provides the means to create the numerous types of Player Characters possible, run the different aspects of the setting—primarily magic and the Matrix, details a wide array of threats and other NPCs and creatures, lists numerous items that the Player Characters can equip themselves with, and hidden at the back, almost like an afterthought, provides a handy introduction to the Seattle of 2080 that includes several NPC contacts and almost twenty scenario hooks! This is all peppered with fiction set within the world of Shadowrun that helps to impart its flavour and feel, examples of the rules in action, and a pair of pullout sections that showcase just a little of the artwork of the roleplaying game’s past thirty years. Veteran players will recognise many of these pieces.

One of the first things Shadowrun – Sixth World does is highlight the differences between it and previous editions. This is aimed at the veteran player coming to the new edition. So, what then are those changes? First, and foremost, it includes faster easier rules for Edge, the undefinable element of risk taking, guts, and heedless ignorance in the face of danger, stripped down skills, Armour not being part of the Damage Resistance test, the Elimination of Limits, a hangover from the previous, more complicated rules, simplified action, spells no longer needing Force, and altered Matrix functions. The aim is to provide simpler, more streamlined mechanics that encourage greater, faster, and more dynamic action, whilst ultimately making play easier.

A Player Character in Shadowrun has a mix of physical, mental, special attributes, typically ranging value between one and six. The four physical attributes are Body, Agility, Reaction, and Strength, and the four mental attributes are Willpower, Logic, Intuition, and Charisma. The four Special attributes are Edge, Magic, Resonance, and Essence. Of these, only magic-using Player Characters have Magic and only Technomancers have Resonance, whilst all Player Characters have Edge and Essence. The latter measures how much cyberware, bioware, and other augmentations that a Player Character can have before he becomes too machine-like. It also measures the capacity for a Player Character to use magic. Install too many augmentations and the Player Character’s Essence is reduced, and so is his capacity to use magic. Skills, on the same scale as attributes are divided between active skills and knowledge skills, plus languages. A Player Character has a Metatype—Dwarf, Elf, Human, Ork, or Troll—which conform to the classic fantasy versions of them, plus a Lifestyle, ranging from Street and Squatter to High and Luxury, which apart from Street has to be paid for and maintained. He can also have Qualities, positive or negative, such as Analytical Mind, Catlike, AR Vertigo, or Combat Paralysis.

A Player Character will also have a broad role, either Arcane Specialist, Face, Street Samurai, or Technology Specialist, but within them there are several ways of achieving what each role is designed to do. The Arcane Specialist can be a Mage, a Shaman, or an Adept, the latter being able to focus his magic inwards to enhance himself either physically or socially; a Face can be skill based, a social Adept, or augmented with the right cyberware or bioware; and a Street Samurai can be all skill focused, a physical Adept, or heavily augmented with cyberware. The Technology Specialist can either hack into the Matrix or operate vehicles and drones, either through technological means or innate magical means. The Decker uses technology to hack the Matrix, whilst the Rigger uses it to control technology. The Technomancer uses innate magical ability to hack the Matrix, whilst the Dronomancer uses it to control technology. In general, Player Characters will be specialists in their role. There is some flexibility in terms of character design and the degree to which a character is augmented, but that degree will always be limited by how much a player wants his Arcane Specialist character to be able to use magic.

Character creation itself is not an easy process and takes some getting used to. It uses an updated version of the Priority System first seen in Shadowrun, First Edition in 1989. A player sets the priorities for his character’s Metatype, points to assign to skills and attributes, Magic or Resonance capability, and Resources. Metatype also includes Adjustment Points, which are then spent on Edge, attributes for that Metatype, and either Magic or Resonance. Resources are not just spent on weapons, armour, and other equipment, but also cyberware. At the end of the process, a Player Character receives some Knowledge and Language skills for free (but can purchase more), chooses Contacts and some Qualities, and spends Karma to customise the character. This is in addition to a series of questions designed to help the player envision his character and his motivation as well as his place in the Sixth World. Alternatively, a set of ten pre-generated archetypes provide ready-to-play Player Characters or examples to show what the end result looks like.

Kimama Sanchez
Metatype: Ork Role: Shaman
Racial Qualities: Low-light Vision, Built Tough 1

Body 6 Agility 4 Reaction 3 Strength 6
Willpower 4 Logic 2 Intuition 2 Charisma 5
Edge 4 Magic 6 Essence 6

Attack Rating: 9 Defence Rating: 6+3 Initiative: 5+1d6
Composure: 9 Judge Intentions: 6 Memory: 4 Lift/Carry: 10

Skills: Astral 1, Athletics 1, Close Combat 1, Conjuring 5, Influence 1, Perception 1, Sorcery 5 (Spellcasting +2)

Knowledge Skills: Spirit Types, Seattle Dive Bars

Languages: Or’zet

Spells: Analyse Truth, Antidote, Armour, Confusion, Detect Life, Detect Magic, Heal, Mindlink, Stabilise, Stunbolt

Rituals: Circle of Healing, Ward

Qualities: Mentor Spirit (Bear), Combat Paralysis, Quick Healer, Built Tough (2)

Contacts: Bartender (Connection 2/Loyalty 3), Beat Cop (Connection 2/Loyalty 3), Fixer (Connection 3/Loyalty 2), Mechanic (Connection 3/Loyalty 3), Mafia Consigliere (Connection 3/Loyalty 1), Mentor (Connection 3/Loyalty 3)

Equipment: Extendable Baton, Combat Knife, Lined Coat, Metalink Commlink, Credstick, Lifestyle – Squatter (Prepaid, One Month), Evo Falcon, ¥3557

Mechanically, at its most basic, Shadowrun – Sixth World is quite simple. To have his character undertake an action, a player rolls a dice pool of six-sided dice, results of five and six counting as successes or hits. If more than half of the results consist of ones, then there is potential for a glitch or critical glitch. The dice pool typically consists of the total of an attribute and a skill, a task having a threshold, which represents the number of hits a player has to roll to succeed. This is a straightforward Simple test, whilst an Extended test consists of two Simple tests, the side rolling the most hits winning the outcome. Extended tests are essentially a series of Simple tests, the Player Character having a period of time in which to roll them in order to achieve a greater threshold. Alternatively, a player can buy hits, dividing the number of dice in his dice pool by four and counting the result as the number of hits.

Edge gives an advantage to a Player Character’s action. The cost ranges from one to five Edge. So, for example, a one-Edge Boost will enable a player to reroll a die or add three to Initiative; a two-Edge Boost lets him add one to a die, give an ally an Edge, or Negate an Edge used by an enemy; a three-Edge Boost grants an automatic hit or heals a some Stun damage; a four-Edge Boost can add Edge to the dice pool and make results of six explode or reroll all failed dice; and a five-Edge Boost can make results if two count as glitches for the enemy or create a special effect, that benefits the action. These are not the only Edge Boosts, but in addition, there are Edge Actions. These include making a Big Speech, a Called Shot, a Knockout Blow, or gaining Sudden Insight, all of which have their benefits. Lastly, Edge can be permanently burned to gain a ‘Smackdown’ when a Player Character really, really has to hit hard, and ‘Not Dead Yet’ when otherwise, it looks like the Player Character should be.

Edge is integral to play. A Player Character can earn Edge through play, especially in combat encounters, up to a temporary maximum of seven, so a player should not only be looking for opportunities to earn it, but opportunities to spend it too. Thus, ideally, there should be a constant turnover of Edge as play progresses. Yet, this is hampered by the sheer number of Edge Boosts and Edge Actions to choose from and they are a lot to remember. In fact, too many to remember without having a reference sheet to hand for every player, let alone the Game Master.

One Saturday night, Kimama Sanchez gets home from the bar where she has been drinking to find four gangers, members of the 7th Avenue Slashers, attempting to lift her Evo Falcon. They have a Professional Rating of two, so their attributes are all two with skills to match, except for their intimidating manner and willingness to throw their weight around. Kimama Sanchez just wants to go to bed, so to avoid a fight, she attempts to intimidate the gangers. As a tough-looking Ork, Kimama is definitely more physically powerful than any of the gangers. This gains her an extra point of Edge from the Game Master. Kimama’s player keeps that in reserve and rolls her dice pool, which consists of six dice, equal to her Charisma + Influence. This will be opposed by the gangers’ Willpower + Intuition, equal to two each. The Game Master rolls this as a group, stating that for each hit that Kimama’s player scores more than the gangers, one of them will flee. The Game Master rolls three, three, six, and six. Kimama’s player rolls two, three, four, six, six, and six, a good roll, but only enough to affect one ganger. Fortunately, Kimama has the extra Edge awarded because she is tough-looking and her player decides to use it as well as a point of her innate Edge to purchase a two-Edge Boost to add one to one of the die results. She turns the result of four into five and now has two hits. This means that she has successfully intimidated two of the gangers, who after Kimama asks gruffly, “Hey, squishies, you really wanna be trying this, this time of the morning?”, decide that taking on a tough-looking Ork this time of the morning is not for them.

The core mechanics are used throughout Shadowrun – Sixth World, including all of the mechanical subsets that handle the different aspects of the rules—magic, Technomancy, the matrix, rigging, and so on. Combat is surprisingly treated in just twenty pages, but that also includes plenty of examples that really help the Game Master grasp the rules. At the core, combat revolves around comparing Attack Rating to Defence Rating, and if one is greater than the other by four or more, that combatant gains a point of Edge. More Edge can be gained from the situation, from gear, and more. Edge can be spent before or after the roll. Damage can be soaked by rolling hits generated from a roll based on the Body attribute. Damage is applied to the defendant’s Condition Monitor. Overall, the combat covers ranged and melee combat, grappling, knockdown, explosives, gas attacks, spray attacks, and more.

Magic is divided into two traditions, Hermeticism and Shamanism, the former being academic in nature, the latter more experienced and performative in nature. The first relies on Logic as its attribute, the second on Charisma as its attribute. The rules cover spells, conjuring, summoning, enchantments, alchemy, and more. Adepts have innate powers, such as Astral Perception, Danger Sense, Killing Hands, and more. One danger of using magic for any tradition is the possibility of Drain because using or casting magic is tiring. Every spell has a Drain Value, and when it is cast, the magic-using character’s player must make a roll to withstand its effect. For every hit, the Drain Value is reduced. Any Drain Value left over inflicts stun damage, but this is stun damage that cannot simply be healed. It must be rested to recover from!

It is Sunday morning following a Seattle night out and Kimama is still facing down two gangers who want to steal her bike and were not put off by her intimidating manner. One of them draws a streetline special and points the pistol at her and with a sneer says, “Whatcha gonna do ’bout it, trog?” The other one pulls out a knife. Things have taken a bad turn, one which Kimama wanted to avoid. Combat is about to ensue, which begins with initiative. The Game Master will roll one die and add four for the gangers, whilst Kimama’s player will roll one die and add five. However, Kimama has the negative Quality of ‘Combat Paralysis’, which not only halves the result, but means that she goes last in the first round. The Game Master rolls one, adds four, for a total of five. Kimama’s play rolls a five and adds five for a total of ten. Halved, this is five. What this means is that after the first round when Kimama has to go last due to her Combat Paralysis, she has the same Initiative as the remaining gangers. However, since her Edge is four compared to their one from their Professional Rating of one, this breaks the tie and she will go first in subsequent rounds.

The lead ganger, armed with his Streetline Special, opens fire at Kimama. The Game Master rolls the ganger’s Firearms 2 + Agility 2, Kimama’s player will be rolling Reaction 3 + Intuition 2, whilst the Attack Rating of the Streetline Special is compared against Kimama’s Defence Rating. The Streetline Special has an Attack Rating of eight, whilst Kimama has a Defence Rating of nine, which includes the benefit of her lined coat. Since the Attacking Rating is not four greater than the Defence Rating, there is no Edge benefit. From the situation, the Game Master states that it is dimly lit in the alley alongside Kimama’s squat, but since she has low-light vision as an Ork, gives her a bonus Edge. The Game Master is rolling four dice, getting a result of four, six, six, and six, whilst Kimama’s player rolls two, three, three, five, and six. The Game Master rolled one more hit than Kimama’s player. This is added to the damage value of the Streetline Special, which is two, for a total of three damage. Kimama’s player now rolls to soak this damage, which is six for her Body. Her player rolls two, three, four, four, five, and five for two hits, leaving Kimama with a point of damage to suffer. Given how tough she is, this really is a scratch! This is marked off on the Physical damage Track of her Condition Monitor on the character sheet. Fortunately for Kimama, the other ganger thinks that the pistol is enough to change her mind and does not attack this round.

It is time for Kimama to act. She is not keen on violence, so decides to cast Stunbolt at the ganger with the gun. Kimama’s player will roll her Magic 6 + Sorcery 5 (Spellcasting +2) for a total of thirteen dice! This is definitely four higher than the ganger’s Defence Rating of three, so Kimama is awarded a bonus point of Edge, plus another one because of the poor light conditions and her Low-light Vision. So, she has two. The ganger will oppose the roll with his Willpower + Intuition total of four. Kimama’s player rolls one, one, one, one, three, three, four, four, four, five, six, six, and six, which is four hits and four ones. Fortunately, for Kimama, the number of ones rolled is not enough to cause a glitch. Her player decides to spend the two bonus points of Edge to turn two of the fours into fives, and now she has six hits. This is added to the total effect of the Stunbolt, which is five. The ganger is about to take eleven points of damage, though it is only stun damage. Since damage from direct combat spells cannot be resisted, this is applied directly to the ganger’s Condition Monitor, which is only nine. So down he goes, asleep in charge of a cheap gun. Still, Kimama must check for the effects of Drain because she has cast a spell. Stunbolt has a Drain value of three, so Kimama’s player must roll three hits or more, using her Willpower 4 + Charisma 6, to negate the effect. Kimama’s player rolls one, two, two, two, four, four, six, six, and six, which means three hits and no effect due to Drain! In the meantime, the last ganger is standing there with a knife, just having seen his compatriot fall over, wondering if he should run for it, grab the gun, or use his knife…

The general effect of simplifying the mechanics is to streamline play, most notably with the different subsystems. The magic feels a lot more fluid and easier to run, whilst the rules for handling the Matrix, hacking, and the Decker character type have been adjusted so that Hackers are no longer quite playing what was essentially a separate game or combat to the rest of the Player Characters. This has been done by reducing the number of hacking related skills in the roleplaying, just as the number of skills have been reduced elsewhere in the rules; keeping Noise—the factor, such as distance, which occludes hacking attempts, which ensures that a Decker is on-site with the other Player Characters rather than somewhere else; and by shifting the timeframe of hacking attempts to be in line with that of the other Player Characters in the ‘real’ world. It is still quite technical, so actually something that both Game Master and a player whose character is a hacker, need to learn, and do so separately from the other players. As does the Technomancer, but there is a more personal feel to the play of this character type in comparison to the Decker. Similarly, the Rigger has a lot to encompass in terms of what the role can do, with the Technomancer’s equivalent feeling a bit more fluid. All of which stems from the efforts of the designers Shadowrun – Sixth World to ease play and reduce the seemingly insurmountable technicalities of the different subsystems in previous editions. This is not to say that they have not been removed completely, but they have been reduced.

The other aspect of Shadowrun—cyberware, is listed at the back of the book in the lengthy chapter of gear. Here is where the Game Master and her players will find all of the guns, katanas, armoured trench coats, cyberdecks, and cyberware they will need. Much of it is illustrated, and it also includes vehicles and a wide range of tools as well, all of which can be used to outfit the Player Characters as well as the NPCs, the latter according to their NuYen, the latter according to the needs of the budget. Here is where the players will spend the amount of money listed under Resources in the Priority Table for character creation.

For the Game Master there is a good selection of NPCs, including threats and surprisingly detailed contacts for the Player Characters, and critters, both mundane and awakened. Many of the latter are quite nasty, such as the Basilisk, the Ghoul, and the Vampire, and listings also include dragons, though not the named dragons of the setting. The section on running the game is fairly short, but the advice is good and there are rules here too, for handling ‘heat’, the measure of which the Player Characters might have come to the attention of the authorities. Beyond this—and beyond the numbered pages of the book, the Game Master is given an extra set of bonus content. This includes an overview of Seattle in 2080, its isolation and independence from the United Canadian and American States making a good spot in which to base a campaign, just as it did in the 2050 and the first edition of Shadowrun. There are even some extra Qualities which a Player Character can have as an inhabitant of particular districts in and around the city! The four NPCs given are fully rounded out and detailed, all ready for their involvement in some of the plots and hooks listed here at the end of the book. There are almost twenty of these, all ready to be fully fleshed out by the Game Master, so they will need some work to prepare for use with a playing group. Overall, the support for the Game Master is generous.

However, as complete as Shadowrun – Sixth World does feel, it is not perfect. Whilst it goes out of its way to explain what the changes are with the new edition and what the slang means in the setting, what it does not do is give a glossary of game terminology. That would have helped in places where game terms are mentioned before they are properly explained. There is no full example of character creation, so it is different to know quite what you are doing with the creation process, at least initially. There are just too many nuances to it for it to flow easily. There is no example of play. There is plenty of in-game fiction and examples of the rules, but not of general play, and again that would have helped ease the learning process of the game. In terms of background, anywhere beyond Seattle is glossed over, which is disappointing for anyone coming to the city from the surrounding area, especially from any of the Native American Nations or Tir Tairngire.

All that aside, the biggest issue with Shadowrun – Sixth World is its complexity. It is a complex game, one with several separate sets of rules for handling the activities of various roles in the game. All of which need to be learned and understood by a player and the Game Master if they are going to be brought into play. None of which is insurmountable, but it is a hurdle nevertheless, and it always has been since Shadowrun first appeared in 1989 and subsequent supplements and rulebooks added new roles. That said, the rules for Shadowrun – Sixth World really have been streamlined and they do a great deal to reduce the complexity. The challenge of learning to play is still there, but it has been eased.

Physically, Shadowrun – Sixth World is decently presented. In general, it is well written, but it does need an edit in places. The artwork though is good, and it is very nice to see the artwork of past editions presented in the book’s several pullouts.

Shadowrun – Sixth World is a great setting with a lot to explore and experience. That is not quite present in Shadowrun – Sixth World, which instead hints at it whilst presenting the means to access it and explore the wider world presented in other supplements. That means—magic, hacking, rigging, technomancy, combat, and more—have been reworked to be streamlined, and faster and easier to run and play, and so make playing or running Shadowrun not as daunting as it has been in previous editions. That is an impressive feat, and whilst Shadowrun still remains a roleplaying game that calls for more than a casual commitment, Shadowrun – Sixth World has made it more accessible and easier to learn.

—oOo—

Catalyst Game Labs will be at UK Games Expo which takes place on Friday, May 31st to Sunday June 2nd, 2024.

Sixth Beginning for the Sixth World

The year 2019 marks the thirtieth anniversary of Shadowrun. To mark that date, its publisher, Catalyst Game Labs is releasing an all new edition of the roleplaying game in which man meets machine and magic, corporations are states unto themselves, dragons are CEOs and media personalities. The year is 2080 and the setting is the Sixth World, a future in which shadowrunners run the shadows to undertake missions against corporations, gangs, organised crime, and more, often simply to make a living, but at other times to make a difference. The first release for Sixth Edition is the Sixth World Beginner Box, a quick-start for the new edition designed to introduce both the setting and the rules as well as provide a starting scenario.

Open up the deep box and you will find contents aplenty. This starts with a quick one-sheet guide to what is in the box, preparing the reader for what lies underneath. Underneath is ‘An Instant Guide to the Sixth World’, which explains the setting and history of the Sixth World into just three pages, whilst devoting a fourth to summarising ‘The Big Ten’, the current most powerful, influential, and rich corporations in 2080. It is a quick read, but deftly distills over thirty years of multiple editions of the roleplaying game and accompanying supplements into something which can be read in a few minutes.

Below this are not four character sheets, but four character dossiers. They include a Troll Street Samurai, an Ork Combat Mage, an Elf Covert Ops Specialist/Face, and a Dwarf Decker. Each is eight pages in length and includes a character sheet with a breakdown and explanation of its various parts; background, preferred tactics, and roleplaying tips; and a write-up of a complete Run or mission. It is a simple Run, basically a case of getting into a lightly guarded facility, stealing some data, and getting out again. How it is presented is actually old fashioned, so looks a bit clever by today’s standards. It is divided into two columns. In the left hand column, the narrative of the Run is given, whilst in the right hand column, is an explanation of what skills might used, what dice might be rolled, and what the outcome might be if the Run had been run as a roleplaying session. The Sixth World Beginner Box does this not once, but four times, once for each of the Character Dossiers and thus from a different point of view each time. Read each of these recaps for the Run and you get a nice idea of not just how each character approaches the Run, not just in terms of roleplaying, but also in terms of their role on the team and they do. The only issue with the set of Character Dossiers is that there is not a Human among them and so do not reflect the mix of Metahumanity—Dwarves, Elves, Orks, and Trolls—and Humans in the Sixth World. (That said, a Human Rigger, a Drone or vehicle pilot, is available to download as an expansion to the Sixth World Beginner Box.)

Characters in the Sixth World Beginner Box and thus Shadowrun, Sixth Edition have eight attributes, plus two or three special attributes, depending upon their character type. The primary attributes are Body, Agility, Reaction, Strength, Willpower, Logic, Intuition, and Charisma, and whilst all characters will have the special attributes, Essence and Edge, only spellcasting characters have the Magic attribute. As in previous editions, the value for attributes typically ranges between one and six, but can be higher. Of the special attributes, Essence is a measure of a character’s nervous system and spirit, whilst Edge represents the ability to do amazing things within the bounds of the setting. Characters also have skills, typically rated between one and nine, which have been greatly streamlined and condensed in comparison to previous editions. All of the gun skills are not represented by the Firearms skill for example, but it is still possible to specialise in weapon types. Characters also have Knowledge skills and Qualities, sort of advantages and disadvantages, but whilst the characters have them in the Sixth World Beginner Box, they are not explained and do not play a role in the game. Really they are there for flavour and detail, though experienced players of Shadowrun may want to bring them into play.

The new rules are explained in the twenty-four page ‘Quick Start Rules’ booklet. As with previous editions of Shadowrun, it uses a dice pool mechanic to generate successes and the more successes or Hits a player rolls, the better his character does. To have his character undertake an action, his player rolls a number of six-sided dice, aiming to roll fives or sixes. Each five or six rolled is a Hit and the more rolled above a task’s threshold or more than an opposing character, the better the character does, but if more than half of the dice come as a one, then a ‘Glitch’ has been rolled and something goes wrong for the character. Dice pools are typically formed from a skill plus a linked attributes, such as Firearms and Agility, Sorcery and Magic, and Influence and Charisma, with modifications adding to or detracting from the dice pool. It should be noted that characters can get a lot of dice to roll, often ten or more.

Besides having a lot of dice to roll, what the players and their characters also possess something that gives them the edge, and that is, well, Edge. Every character has an Edge Pool equal to his Edge attribute at the start of every session and his player can spend Edge points from the pool to give the character an advantage in a situation or encounter, for example rerolling a die, giving Edge to an Ally, gaining an automatic Hit, adding more dice to roll, rerolling failed dice, healing damage, or even forcing an opponent to roll a glitch. These all have varying costs and a player can only spend Edge on one of these options on a turn. In the Sixth World Beginner Box, Edge can be gained through having tactical advantage in a situation, up to a maximum of seven. Hopefully more options will be provided in Shadowrun, Sixth Edition to gain Edge through play and roleplaying, what the Sixth World Beginner Box introduces is an Edge economy, with a flow going in and out of each character’s Edge pool.

Combat involves multiple dice rolls, but still feels quite streamlined. Characters get to maneuvre before they act, check to see if they gain any Edge, and expend Edge as necessary, but then their players get to roll dice. So when a shadowrunner fires at a ganger with his Ares Light Fire 75 light pistol, his player rolls dice equal to his shadowrunner’s Agility and Firearms, whilst the Game Master would roll the ganger’s Reaction and Intuition. So for a shadowrunner with Agility 4 and Firearms 3, his player would roll seven dice, whilst the Game Master would roll six dice for the Ganger’s Reaction 3 and Intuition 3. The shadowrunner’s player rolls 1, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, and 6, whilst the Game Master rolls 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 6. This gives two extra Hits to add to the weapon’s Damage Value of 2. That is a total of 4 Hits against which the Game Master will roll four dice the Ganger’s Body of 3 and his ganger leathers which give him +1. The Game Master rolls 1, 3, 4, and 6 for one Hit, which means that the Ganger takes three damage.

The rules for the Matrix and Netrunning use the same mechanics, whether a Decker is scanning for a wireless feed or the presence of corporate decker, taking control of a set of security cameras, hacking open a data file, and so on. Basically, a Decker’s player will either be rolling his character’s Electronics and Logic if action is legal, but Cracking and Logic if not, choosing from a mix of legal (edit file, enter/exit host, jack out, and Matrix perception) and (crack file, data spike, format device, hack, snoop, and spoof command) illegal actions. An interesting limitation upon a Decker’s actions in the Matrix is Convergence, which occurs when a Decker has done too much and attracted the attention of the Grid Overwatch Division, illegal actions in particular attracting their attention. When Convergence occurs, the Decker is dumped from the Matrix, his cyberdeck is bricked and rendered useless, and law enforcement is called to their meatspace location. Overall, it adds an urgency to all decking operations in the Matrix, whilst the mechanics are easy and fast, giving netrunning an immediacy that was not always present in previous editions.

Lastly, there is magic, and that too uses the same mechanics. The traditions are Hermetic and Shamnic magic, all just using the Sorcery, Conjuring, and Enchanting skills. The danger of casting magic is that spellcasters can suffer from Drain, causing fatigue, and a spellcaster can only improve the effectiveness of a spell—Amp up a combat spell for extra damage or Increase Area effects for spells with area effects—by increasing the effects of Drain. Fortunately, a spellcaster can Soak the Drain Value of a Spell, using either Logic and Magic if a Hermetic Mage or Charisma and Magic if a Shaman. Again Shadowrun, Sixth Edition will add more detail, but the mechanics for magic in the Sixth World Beginner Box cover just about everything the Ork Combat Mage will need just as the rules for the Matrix cover everything the Dwarf Decker will need.

The second book in the Sixth World Beginner Box is the ‘Battle Royale Adventure’. The adventure begins in a Stuffer Shack supermarket and if that is enough to cause veteran players of Shadowrun to groan—the first adventure for Shadowrun, ‘First Run’, which appeared in the first edition was essentially a fight in a mini-mart—then there is no need to be on that account, for it is only the start. The shadowrunners are in the Stuffer Shack when something goes down outside and in the warehouse complex opposite, a four-way gang showdown over a limousine and its passengers. It comes with advice for the Game Master, a map or two, and some NPC stats. In general, the players are free to approach the situation however they want—stealth, charm, diplomacy, out and out combat—and there is good advice for all of that for the Game Master  (though it could have been organised to more obvious during play), but it is a terrible scenario.

The problem is that it is a set-up to help both the Game Master and her players work out the rules. Which is fine, because that is what you want in a quick-start or an introduction to a roleplaying game. Yet it is no more than that. There is no plot to speak of that the player characters will get involved in; there is no beginning, middle, or ending, it is just a set-up for the player characters to be pulled into, resolve, and no more. The backstory for that set-up involves Seattle and Washington, DC politics, but there is no way for that to come out in play and there is no sense of Seattle as a place because it takes place in one location. In fact, it is so annoying unsophisticated in its lack of storytelling and development, it does not actually read like a scenario for a roleplaying, but an encounter for a wargame. And that is exactly what it is.

Above all, what ‘Battle Royale Adventure’ does not do is provide a means for the pre-generated player characters to do what they are supposed to—and that is, to go on a ‘Run’. In fact, what the Sixth World Beginner Box does instead is tell the players, in each character dossier, how a run through the shadows might go down without the players having any influence over it. Given how irrelevant the ‘Battle Royale Adventure’ actually is except as a combat encounter, the Game Master could actually tell her players not to read the fiction in their character dossiers and then she could run the run that the characters go on in that run. It would be a better illustration of a Shadowrun adventure than the ‘Battle Royale Adventure’.

In addition, the Sixth World Beginner Box comes with an excellent poster map of Seattle—which would be even better if more of it was involved in the ‘Battle Royale Adventure’, a dozen Shadowrun six-sided dice—not quite enough for some of the pre-generated characters in the box, and a set of fifty-four quick-reference tool cards for items, weapons, spells, and stats for the NPCs in the adventure. Physically, all of this is presented in full colour, on glossy card, with fantastic illustrations. The cards are perhaps a little flimsy and it would have been nice if they had been illustrated too as they would have increased their versatility, but otherwise, the production values on the Sixth World Beginner Box are excellent. 

The Sixth World Beginner Box is an impressive set. It is a great introduction to Shadowrun, Sixth Edition, with some excellent pre-generated characters and well presented rules that are easy to read and understand. Veteran players of Shadowrun will find a lot here that is familiar and mechanics that are easy to run and play, whilst those new will be enticed by the nicely done pre-generated characters and the quality of the components before discovering the ease of the rules. Unfortunately, both will find the single encounter that is ‘Battle Royale Adventure’ a dreadful disappointment. As written, there is nothing wrong with the single encounter that is ‘Battle Royale Adventure’, but as a Shadowrun adventure and as an introduction to playing Shadowrun it is singular in nature and severely lacking in terms of plot and story, and that lack fundamentally betrays the quality and purpose of the Sixth World Beginner Box.