Introduction

Shadowrun? Isn't that a PnP/Genesis game?

It is! Both the SNES and Genesis versions are based off the pencil and paper version. The Genesis version is a lot closer to the mechanics of the PnP game, while the SNES version treats itself as more of a straight adventure game. There's an archived LP of the Genesis version here if you're curious about it.

Wait, what the heck HAPPENED to our world?

So yeah, things got REALLY out of hand on planet earth. Remember the whole mayan apocalypse thing in 2012? Well that happened, but instead of just a straight up rapture or what have you, a bunch of dragons and aboriginal gods resurrected.

Here's a bit of a run down on what's different.

-All the Aboriginal religions in the Americas were right.
-Magic is real.
-Dragons are real, but instead of flying around being assholes, they're CEOs of megacorporations... and assholes.
-Speaking of megacorporations, they have militaries and own nations now, also everything got crazy and now a lot of countries are just gone. If you're curious, Here's a map of North America nowadays.
-A lot of people are cyborgs now, and it's awesome.
-A lot of magical creatures exist now too, when shit went down, a lot of people turned into Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and Trolls. They're about what you'd expect.

What exactly does "Shadowrun" mean?

So basically, in this crapsack world, Shadowrunners are freelance mercenaries. If you're a megacorp, and you want to deliver a package, sabotage a computer system, or straight out assassinate a dude, you hire yourself a Shadowrunner. Shadowrunners talk big, but really, any dickhole with a handgun and a cell phone can be a Shadowrunner. The more expensive the runner, the less likely you are to just be paying to mess up your rival company's floor.

Most runs are coordinated by a Mister Johnson, a handle for anyone who sets up runs. You talk to Mister Johnson, who talks to the runner, who gets your shit done. Being a Johnson also fucking sucks because any well paying job might also make the megacorp want to shut you up, and unfortunately you're in a field of work that's full of greedy gun-toting sociopaths.

Aside from being able to hire runners as party members, none of this comes up as a game mechanic. I just thought it was neat.

Hey wait a minute! You got X detail wrong!

Okay so let me be honest. As much as I love the Shadowrun universe and all the video games, I never got to play a single game of the pen and paper version. I had the book, but somehow I was apparently the one person in my town who wanted to play. In any case, I might get a detail or two wrong when I bring it up. Feel free to correct me on it.

What's the deal with spoilers?

The big plot of the game is the fact that we're trying to piece together our past, so let's try to keep the spoilers to the minimum. Spoiler tags are okay if you REALLY need to talk about something. Honestly even if you start talking about the second half, no one would understand anyway, but even so, let's keep it as spoiler-free as possible.

The Let's Play Archive

Shadowrun (SNES)

by Danaru

Introduction

Table of Contents