I'm Back, Back in the Shadow(run) Again

Back in college, Shadowrun was one of my RPGs of choice. I was an avid player and game master of the game's third edition. Played and ran in several campaigns. Amassed quite a collection of third edition books (and some 1st and 2nd as well). Alas, when college ended, so did my Shadowrun gaming. Sure some of it was change in gaming groups. Another was the advent of Fourth Edition. While I picked up a signed copy of the edition's release at Gen Con, I never did play it. My experience running third edition left me with impression that I required much, much more extensive knowledge of the rules before running. Fourth Edition changed quite a bit. Before I knew it, there was less and less demand to play Shadowrun. I relegated the game to the backburner and started playing other games instead. Many of those gaming experiences one can read about via earlier entries on this blog.


So for about a decade I didn't play one of my favorite role-playing games of all time.


Recently, the organized play group that runs the Adventurer's League for D&D 5E decided that they'll once a month host Shadowrun Missions using the fifth edition of Shadowrun. D&D 5E, Shadowrun 5E quite a funny coincidence, isn't it? If SR4 hadn't preceded D&D 4E by a couple years, you'd swear they were in lock-step...


Anyhoo, back on track... Before starting official SR Missions, they ran a one-shot in order to get a feel for the fifth edition rules. They used the Quick-Start Mod, 'Food Fight'. Players from earlier editions who fondly remember the quickie 'Food Fight', this is not that Food Fight. This a complete run, in and of itself, and not a chaotic firefight within a Stuffer Shack. Still a good mod. I selected a pre-made Combat Mage. While my prior knowledge helped quite a bit, fifth edition changed just enough of the rules such that playing the mod was a good crash course to smooth out the rough edges. Regardless, my Shadowrun fandom was energized. I eagerly awaited the start of SR Missions.


Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men... My schedule was such that I could not make that first session. My planned write-up for that 'Food Fight' session vanished into the aether such that what I wrote above is all that remains of what comes easily to me. But then it is rather difficult to write a review or about a session, two months after the fact. On the gaming front, since I wasn't going to play the game immediately, reading the core book went from avid to not much at all. My character creation didn't get out of the concept stage. Still deciding between a full magician and mystical adept. A Doctor Strange like character was dashed when I finally perused the SR Missions guidelines and discovered a flaw was banned. Sigh...


Well, today marks the end of such stalled progress. I finally get to play my first Shadowrun Missions session. Once again, my interest is sparked. Don't think I'll procrastinate reading the core book or the SR Missions guidelines anymore. While I haven't created a character yet, I will play the same Combat Mage that played in the one-shot. Who knows? Instead of making my own, the pre-gen may even grow on me! Better yet, after a decade-long hiatus, once more I'll be playing in a Shadowrun campaign albeit an organized play campaign. To paraphrase the song: 'I'm baaack! I'm back in the shadows again'.