The Inside Scoop on Gaming

After pressing the send button I asked myself. Was it really worth it ? Would I fell for the same trick again ? The old Seattle sourcebook wasn't as good as I had hoped for. But still it was considered something you had to own if you were a Shaodwrun GM.

I never though of the old Seattle sourcebook as something you sat down and read through. No I had tried several times, but there was to much info, to much rubbish info acually, things that I never wanted to use, and to little info that I wanted on other things instead.

After a couple of days I got my package in the mail (mailorder is the way to go here in Sweden since your local Gamestore hardly get anything new in except for White Wolf games, which they instead have overpriced... ).

When I opened it up (and was kind of suprised since the cover was a different one than the one FASA showed on their site. But since that one was ugly as hell, I shouldn't complain). I sat down and started to flip through the book. And I felt that, no I haven't been tricked this time, the Shadowrun sourcebooks has been looking great since the third edition.

The book starts out with an Introduction like all books probably should which explains what this book is all about.

The we jump to the chapter titled "The Pacific Northwest" which gives brief info about the other locations around Seattle, like Tir Tairngire, California Free State and so on.

After that "Welcome to Seattle". Seattle at a Glance, information about the weather, traffic, entertainment, local NewsNets and things like that (all very nice, but I miss the cost table that was in the old one, you know the one for bribes and that kind of expenses you have to know as a Shadowrunner :P).

After the allround info on Seattle we move on to the History of Seattle, and as we all know things have happend since the last book, so here you will find the (so far) updated version. From the Awakening to the Renraku Arcology Shutdown and the Lindstrom Administration.

Then it time to go downtown in Seattle, the place you want to be if you hang out with the big boys (and girls for that matter to). The info here is put out in an At a Glance, Neighborhoods, Places to be, Places of intrest, and local gangs kind of template.

The info here is very easy to swollow i you compare to the old books. The New Seattle does just what it promise to do in the introduction, to give the important information in an easy to understand format.

After beeing downtown for quite awhile we have to move around town. And what chapter could be better than "Around Town" to do that ?

This chapter give you the info on Bellevue, Tacoma, Everett, Renton, Auburn, Snohomish and Fort Lewis (and a very brief look at the Ork Underground) in the same way Downtown did.

Then it's time to the all familiar "The Barrens", which gives you the info on Redmond and Puyallup in the same way the other two chapters.

After looking for places to be and gangs to keep away from it's time for "The Body Politic" which goes through the different district mayors, law enforcements, military, the different policlubs, foreign relations (someone has to keep watch on those Aztech fellows! :P).

And of course what could fit better after politics then "The Corporate Sector". The info on the United Corporate Council can be found here. And of course the information on the Seattle corps (presented in a "President/CEO, HQ, Seattle Division, Divisionhead" style), and after that it's time for those big ones, yes that's the Mega Corporations we're talking about (the former Big 8 is now the Big 11!). They are presented in the same way as the other corps except that every entry show it's logo.

And ironicly enough after the mighty clash of the Mega Corps we move on to the perhaps as mighty "The Seattle Underground", which gives us brief info on the Mafia, the Yakuza, the Triads, The Seoulpa Rings and the top gangs in Seattle.

Then it's time for the Game Information, which starts with "Dealing with the Law". This entry gives us rules for response times for the Lone Stars, templates for your typical local Lone Star patrol officer, detective. mage and elite officer. It also gives you a new "toy", the signature weapon of the Lone Star, the Ruger Thunderbolt, which in my personal meaning is one mean gun !

After this it gives you lots of adventure hooks (presented in small, small entries, kind of like the ones on Renraku Archology: Shutdown) ! This is a great improvement to the old one! The adventures hooks are presented and tied to the different districts in Seattle starting with Downtown and moving down to the always as rough Barrens.

After this the book finished of with a great Location Index which is given in a "Hotels, Resturants, Bars & Nightclubs, Attractions, Government Buildings, Businesses and Medical Facilities" kind of template. One for each district ! And each entry complete with an adress and a small description or page reference.

And as this wasn't enough FASA has thrown in a complete (well so far it feels complete).

But what about the art in this book ?

The art in here is very good if you look at FASA's standard. I was acually terrefied when I saw that buth Peter Bergting and Jeff Laubenstein had provided art for this one (one of those usally is enough...), so I started to look for Bergtings typical art... But I only found one picture which was very good in his normal standard. But when I flipped though the book a couple of times I found some more stuff made by Bergting that was acually great ! Yeah ! And I mean great ! And there are some Laubenstein pictures in here to... But those noses ain't that bad (as they most often are if Jeff's been there..), not as bad as some of his art is. Overall the art in this book is just as I said very good by FASA standards (But the cover art could have been, well not nicer. But a cooler scene at least). I can only do one thing and that is to recommend this book to every Shadowrun GM out these.

And there is one thing I have to complain about and that goes for EVERY FASA product, maps... We want maps !!! I will never give a FASA product full pot until we get some usefull maps. Ok I know that you can't put in a complete super detailed map for every single house in Seattle. But you could provide the places of intrest with a decently detailed small map. And we shouldn't even talk about Renraku Archology: Shutdown... that supplement practially screams for maps !! Shame on you FASA. But for now you are forgiven, since this is one of the most usefull sourcebooks you have put out in a long time.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

New Seattle
Author: Stephen Kenson Category: game Company/Publisher: FASA Cost: 20 $ Page count: 136 ISBN: 1-55560-342-4 Capsule Review by Joakim Karlsson on 03/12/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Conspiracy	After pressing the send button I asked myself. Was it really worth it ? Would I fell for the same trick again ? The old Seattle sourcebook wasn't as good as I had hoped for. But still it was considered something you had to own if you were a Shaodwrun GM. I never though of the old Seattle sourcebook as something you sat down and read through. No I had tried several times, but there was to much info, to much rubbish info acually, things that I never wanted to use, and to little info that I wanted on other things instead. After a couple of days I got my package in the mail (mailorder is the way to go here in Sweden since your local Gamestore hardly get anything new in except for White Wolf games, which they instead have overpriced... ). When I opened it up (and was kind of suprised since the cover was a different one than the one FASA showed on their site. But since that one was ugly as hell, I shouldn't complain). I sat down and started to flip through the book. And I felt that, no I haven't been tricked this time, the Shadowrun sourcebooks has been looking great since the third edition. The book starts out with an Introduction like all books probably should which explains what this book is all about. The we jump to the chapter titled "The Pacific Northwest" which gives brief info about the other locations around Seattle, like Tir Tairngire, California Free State and so on. After that "Welcome to Seattle". Seattle at a Glance, information about the weather, traffic, entertainment, local NewsNets and things like that (all very nice, but I miss the cost table that was in the old one, you know the one for bribes and that kind of expenses you have to know as a Shadowrunner :P). After the allround info on Seattle we move on to the History of Seattle, and as we all know things have happend since the last book, so here you will find the (so far) updated version. From the Awakening to the Renraku Arcology Shutdown and the Lindstrom Administration. Then it time to go downtown in Seattle, the place you want to be if you hang out with the big boys (and girls for that matter to). The info here is put out in an At a Glance, Neighborhoods, Places to be, Places of intrest, and local gangs kind of template. The info here is very easy to swollow i you compare to the old books. The New Seattle does just what it promise to do in the introduction, to give the important information in an easy to understand format. After beeing downtown for quite awhile we have to move around town. And what chapter could be better than "Around Town" to do that ? This chapter give you the info on Bellevue, Tacoma, Everett, Renton, Auburn, Snohomish and Fort Lewis (and a very brief look at the Ork Underground) in the same way Downtown did. Then it's time to the all familiar "The Barrens", which gives you the info on Redmond and Puyallup in the same way the other two chapters. After looking for places to be and gangs to keep away from it's time for "The Body Politic" which goes through the different district mayors, law enforcements, military, the different policlubs, foreign relations (someone has to keep watch on those Aztech fellows! :P). And of course what could fit better after politics then "The Corporate Sector". The info on the United Corporate Council can be found here. And of course the information on the Seattle corps (presented in a "President/CEO, HQ, Seattle Division, Divisionhead" style), and after that it's time for those big ones, yes that's the Mega Corporations we're talking about (the former Big 8 is now the Big 11!). They are presented in the same way as the other corps except that every entry show it's logo. And ironicly enough after the mighty clash of the Mega Corps we move on to the perhaps as mighty "The Seattle Underground", which gives us brief info on the Mafia, the Yakuza, the Triads, The Seoulpa Rings and the top gangs in Seattle. Then it's time for the Game Information, which starts with "Dealing with the Law". This entry gives us rules for response times for the Lone Stars, templates for your typical local Lone Star patrol officer, detective. mage and elite officer. It also gives you a new "toy", the signature weapon of the Lone Star, the Ruger Thunderbolt, which in my personal meaning is one mean gun ! After this it gives you lots of adventure hooks (presented in small, small entries, kind of like the ones on Renraku Archology: Shutdown) ! This is a great improvement to the old one! The adventures hooks are presented and tied to the different districts in Seattle starting with Downtown and moving down to the always as rough Barrens. After this the book finished of with a great Location Index which is given in a "Hotels, Resturants, Bars & Nightclubs, Attractions, Government Buildings, Businesses and Medical Facilities" kind of template. One for each district ! And each entry complete with an adress and a small description or page reference. And as this wasn't enough FASA has thrown in a complete (well so far it feels complete). But what about the art in this book ? The art in here is very good if you look at FASA's standard. I was acually terrefied when I saw that buth Peter Bergting and Jeff Laubenstein had provided art for this one (one of those usally is enough...), so I started to look for Bergtings typical art... But I only found one picture which was very good in his normal standard. But when I flipped though the book a couple of times I found some more stuff made by Bergting that was acually great ! Yeah ! And I mean great ! And there are some Laubenstein pictures in here to... But those noses ain't that bad (as they most often are if Jeff's been there..), not as bad as some of his art is. Overall the art in this book is just as I said very good by FASA standards (But the cover art could have been, well not nicer. But a cooler scene at least). I can only do one thing and that is to recommend this book to every Shadowrun GM out these. And there is one thing I have to complain about and that goes for EVERY FASA product, maps... We want maps !!! I will never give a FASA product full pot until we get some usefull maps. Ok I know that you can't put in a complete super detailed map for every single house in Seattle. But you could provide the places of intrest with a decently detailed small map. And we shouldn't even talk about Renraku Archology: Shutdown... that supplement practially screams for maps !! Shame on you FASA. But for now you are forgiven, since this is one of the most usefull sourcebooks you have put out in a long time. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)