A friend and I were recently discussing how certain spells feel incredibly cursed, and it got me wondering about the legality of magic like Control Thoughts in places like the UCAS, ADL, or similar regions. Surely, spells like that would be outright banned, right? Is there any official lore on this topic, or has anyone come up with homebrew rules around it?

I know spells like Slaughter are explicitly forbidden since they’re essentially genocide weapons, and it makes sense that blood magic, toxic magic, and insect spirit-related stuff would also be outlawed. But what about other spells? For example, what kind of legal or availability restrictions might apply to things like Flamethrower, Detect Thoughts, Control Thoughts, Powerball, etc.? Surely, combat magic capable of physical damage should have higher availability and stricter restrictions compared to non-lethal spells.

Mechanically, I know spell formulas provide a baseline for availability, but they’re very generic. It feels like there should be more nuance—there’s a big difference between something like Shape Stone and Mind Control. For example, spells that manipulate someone's mind or deal large-scale destruction should logically face more restrictions than those used for utility or creation.

One idea I had is that AoE spells might automatically increase their availability by two and mind spells make the spell forbidden and add like +4 additionally. Does that sound reasonable? Let me know your thoughts or how you’ve handled this in your own games!

Me and my group of 5 have never done anything like this before, no DnD or anything remotely similar.

We settled on Shadowrun as the setting and as I will be DM, I've kind of set it upon myself to try and get everything set up for a starter game.

I was looking at getting the 'Catalyst Game Labs Shadowrun Beginner Box 6th Edition' which I think has everything needed to play some simple games.

Is there anything else I would need? Like a board or figures or anything like that to track what is going on? I'm also trying to read up as much as possible to at least do a somewhat ok time as a first time GM, hopefully enough everyone has fun and wants to carry on getting more into it.

Thank you very much for any advice.

Hello

My copy of Edgezone Might and Magic arrived after almost 2 years. I honestly thought it was lost forever

Anyway, what size card sleeves does it use? The official sleeves look sold out, and I can't find any measurements

Any and all help is appreciated

So I have tried digging around and can't really find good answers. So I figured I would try asking here

What is the difference between the Ultrasound Sensor cyberware/headware and the Ultrasound vision enhancement? From what I can tell both are the same according to the book, but the 'ware is more costly especially since it takes some essence.

Why isn't there a version for cybereyes? You have all the other vision enhancements save that one.

And would the enhancement be limited in what it can be placed on? For example seems unlikely thst it could be placed on contact lenses but nothing against it either.

I know these questions are also up to the GM for how it's handled, but it's nice to have a clearer picture.

Can a player take a non quadruped and put a centaur legs cyber limb attachment. Then take skimmers and have all the increased movement stack?

I love Shadowrun and my friends only want to play D&D. I have started looking online for VTT games to join but am having no luck. If anyone can point me in the right direction, i would really appreciate it.

Thanks :)

Hey all, I have a few novels in German (see pic) and I wondered if anyone wants them. Located in CA, USA these days.

When the Troll uses his Katana, the AR would be 20 correct?!?!? Katana AR is 10 + Str of 10 (melee add STR to AR pg. 39 CRB) .

Hoi chummers! I'm wondering if there is a newer sourcebook than Scotophobia covering the Disian threat. 6e isn't my favorite but I use the information for my other games.

Hi I'm doing some research for an upcoming campaign and something I'm wondering is when exactly did HMHVV become active in North America? I know it originated in africa in 2011 and then the first strain was isolated in 2034 but I cant seem to find any concrete answers as to when it spread to other places in the world. Does anyone know the answer?

Update: I suppose a better way to phrase my question is that when did it become prolific in North America as we know it. I understand that urban legends and previous hold over mana from the previous worlds created proto versions of HMHVV. What I'm more interested in is reading about if theirs any specific events or reactions to HMHVV spreading in North America.

Is there any book of any edition which expand what exactly is the hermetic way of magic? Does It just have the name of hermetic magic of real world, or did it have some of 7 principles of kybalion on some complement or edition?

Was looking through an old Shadowrun 5 character sheet and stumbled upon this name under drones/vehicles but have no idea what it is.

any recommendations?

Look for Go Bag on the Holostreets Collective next weekend! Go Bag is a gear catalog with more than sixty new pieces of kit for only $4.99! Compatible with Shadowrun, 6th Edition.

In the meantime, here's the cover art by Miriam Medina of GenkiGoth Studios.

https://preview.redd.it/bi8fzs0tf91e1.png?width=2550&format=png&auto=webp&s=d47670242584f718db3d5bb32f4bdedbd18ea8f5

At first I wasn't sure if I would like the short stories approach to Shadowrun fiction, but honestly after reading this book, I've completely flipped and absolutely love being able to get a taste of multiple aspects of the universe in a shorter amount of time. I also like the fact that if I didn't really enjoy a character or story that I was wasn't 'stuck' with them for an entire novel. That being said, there was only one story in this book that I didn't care for. Quick reviews of each story.

A Plague of Demons: Fun story that includes great examples of legwork.

Graverobbers: Fun story about runners posing as painters in a data heist. Love the characters in this one.

Tallchaser: Great Shadowrun story that successfully jumps to different points of view.

Striper: I consider this more of a 'pink mohawk' story (not in a bad way) about a were-being.

Whitechapel Rose: Has a great Matrix section describing how the decker can make the matrix appear however they would like.

Turtle in the Tower: A foreboding Tarot reading turns into an all out $#&@ show.

Free Fall: This is the one story that didn't click with me, it just felt too disjointed. Other may enjoy it though.

Would it help to say I'm sorry & It's all done with mirrors: Two top notch Shadowrun stories.

​

TLDR: Overall I would consider this on the must read list of any lover of Shadowrun fiction. The stories are well written and diverse enough that any fan will find at least one they enjoy.

Not sure what flair to add, honestly.

Anyway, I originally started TTRPGs on Shadowrun 4e, so DMing isnt something I'm new at. What I'm needing advice for is that I'm thinking of attempting a post-by-post discord game so everyone can post their actions in their own time and still have fun. I'm wondering if anybody here has tried something like this and might have advice on the process and function of the whole thing?

Might do a dedicated discord server with sections for character sheets. Maybe a loose time constraint of like "post within the week" type thing, to ensure the game keeps moving. I'm really not sure of what else... lol

As GM I'm having a hard time to wrap my head around the RAW and RAI for Form Wood/Plastics/Stone/Metal spells. In another post I suggested to change the drain for these spells to make them consistent with the spell design framework and the lore. This time I'm addressing the actual rules for these spells.

As I understand the RAW, the idea of Form Material spells is that the net hits (NH) against the object resistance determines the amount of material you can form at a given time. Just to nitpick at this point, in the German rules of Form Wood it's defined as 1 m³ per NH, while in the table for volumina examples it's 1/2 m³ per NH.

Now per RAW, those spells target a point in view, not a field/volume, which means you can't upcast the size of the volume by risking more drain and you have to recast the spell over and over if you want to affect a length.

The table makes 6 NH => 3 m³ seem enormous by giving "Michelangelos David" as example, but in reality, this is really nothing.

Let's consider following simple scenario: You want to pull off literally humanity's oldest trick in the book - a trapping pit for a wild animal. One such pit might be 4 by 7 m and about 4 m deep. That is 4*7*4 = 112m³. That's recasting 37 times a 4 (5 if you consider my suggestion to fix the drain) drain spell and always hitting 6 NH against object resistance.

And that is just a trapping pit. What about tunneling into a compound? The sheer amount of volume is unfathomable, let alone playable.

My suggestion to fix all those issues: Let's apply the standard volume spell rules. Have it affect a sphere of 2 m radius, upcastable size and movable with a minor action. Every time a new volume of material is affected, there can be an opposing roll against object resistance, determining the resistance *of this patch of material* (so there's no point to move the spell back and forth - you'd have to recast it with more hits to get over this bump). Net hits determine how well you're handling the material - how smooth and precise the result is. 0 NH would mean that yes, you can rip the wall apart, but there are all kinds of rough pieces sticking out, potentially requiring an athletics test to not cut yourself when moving over it - and when closing the tunnel, it looks like a mole hill. More NH mean it gets harder to notice a difference - so those could be also used as threshold for perception tests.

What do you think?

Hi,

I'm about to start playing SR and I have no idea on how or what i should add to my character's backstory. Until now i have thought only the following.

Street samourai, Female elf.

Bluejay was raised by a distant, critical mother who provided limited emotional support. Her father abandoned her at a young age, leaving her with only faint memories of him. As a teenager, she began using drugs as a way to cope with the emotional neglect. After some time, she became romantically involved with a man, only for him to leave her just days after she revealed her pregnancy. Bluejay gave birth to a daughter, keeping the child a secret from everyone except her mother. They agreed to tell others that the child was her mother's, and Bluejay was simply her older sister. Her relationship with her mother, who reluctantly helps raise the child, is tense and complicated, but there are occasional moments of closeness despite the fragile bond.

I want to add an cyberarm ( from the elbow and down) and that she used to work at a tattoo shop , i have no idea what i should add or change....idk how she became a runner.

The amazon forest has 30% of all biodiversity on the planet, until today, hundreds of species of plants and animals are discovered every year, native tribes around the biggest forest on the planet, some of them have never contact with white men. Imagine this region after the awakening, it's probably one of the most important regions on the world to the science and magical searching, but if you try to build a laboratory on that region, it's possible that a militar group shot on you until you get out of the country, natives try to defende their lands, environmentalists try to stop you and, on the worse day, a dragon fly over your head and burn you.

Hualpa & CIA have conquered the Brazil and create the Amazonia, and order everyone to move for a new city, Metropolés, very distant from the amazon forest. I'm starting to learn about the universe of shadowrun so I don't know if there is on someplace the real reason why Hualpa and the others dragons did it, but I guess that it was to protect the forest from the humanity (if I am wrong, plz explain for me why).

Apparently, there is some king of problems between Aztlan and Amazonia due the wish to create a great empire from Aztecs, and the Amazonians (our Amazonenses in Portuguese) created a hostile feeling about the rest of old Latin America due it, and these 2 nations are on a kind of cold war.

There is some discussion about Brazilians been Latins either, on the real world it doesn't matter at all, on Shadowrun it could be used for some corporations and another governments to promote the hostility between the Aztecs, Latin America countries and Brazilians to facility the operations on Amazonia.

I've read on someplace that Amazonia doesn't recognize extraterritoriality, so a lot of megacorps will be enemies of the government.

The Brazil has the second biggest Japanese society on the planet, but with the diversity of the folks on the Brazil, those Japanese probably will not isolate metahumans, they will be forced by the culture to accept them. But the Brazil's government on the past did a lot of atrocities with this community, maybe some of ultra nationalist Japanese will want revenge.

One religion very present on the Brazil is umbanda which has its own magic system.

Adepts will dance and fight using capoeira.

The great part of rotes and urban region probably will be order by cartels of all South America and they probably will constantly fight.

The Brazilian carnaval could be the biggest party of shamans on the planet.

Shamans with totem of capivara.

What do you need more to run under the shadows of the trees and hidden from the lights of the thousands of buildings in Metropoles?

In all the editions of SR that I'm most familiar with (3, 4, and 5) a smartlink provides benefits identical to taking two Aim actions. It makes sense. The system is a limited simrig that moves your arm to point the gun at targets automatically, not unlike an aimbot in a FPS. So the question I'm wondering is, if you already have this assistance in use, can you do further aiming? Does a smartlink user actually have full control of their limb to fine tune the cyberware's default aim and make it even better or are they forced to accept where their hand is pointing the gun and they can't change it without disengaging the system?

Been fascinated by Shadowrun since I played the SNES game in my youth and finally I convinced my group that this will be the setting for our new campaign. Bought the 6e Berlin edition and the Sixth World Companion. I guess this should be sufficient to run a game, but I love to buy and read more so I wonder which books is worth to invest in

Want some ideas about Shark Mentor Spirit, chummers. Character is mys adept of Red Tradition, if more context needed. Want something not just about violence, but more interesting and maybe in synergy with Akichita code of honor.