The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Has it really been almost ten years? I remember getting The Seattle Sourcebook for Shadowrun when it first came out. I was, of course, fascinated.

It struck me as possibly the best location sourcebook I'd ever seen. Instead of a catalogue, listing stats and maps, it instead was a region by region breakdown. Each burb had some choice places for runners to hang out (and work).

I was enthralled the first time I laid eyes on TSS. It was laid out wonderfully, it was full of information, and it had gorgeous full colour photographs that were ads for some of the fictional establishments within (and had somewhat nekkid women; hey, I was 16). The ad for The Big Rhino, an Ork restaurant, with a snake slithering over a dinner plate (freaky dinner, too) with ancient Egyptian themed cutlery still makes me tingle.

Each establishment had a few pieces of info. Their Sprawl Sites template (was it a large restaurant, a coffin hotel, or a black clinic? Check the map in SS! In fact, here's a lengthy digression: Why is there not a third ed (and why was there no second ed) Sprawl Sites? That book had ALL the info a GM would need to run their first SR game. It had contacts, maps, character templates and encounters. Not those crappy Random encounters (2d6 in lair), but fleshable ones that had enough in them to fuel several game sessions worth of excitement. End digression) gave you the layout (alter at whim), you got any biases they had, the owner, the prices... It was all quite sweet.

The New Seattle sourcebook is not quite as thrilling as its predecessor was. Don't get me wrong; it's a nicely laid out, well written, and generally useful sourcebook for Shadowrun. It's just not as nice as the original. It's like comparing a honda civic to an old Cadillac; one of those huge monsters with the fins and stuff. They're both cars, right? And both of them will get you to the grocery store after work, and home for Christmas. But, really. Which one do you want to ride in? (And you ever tried making out in the back seat of a Civic? No elbow room.)

They both have the same info, and mostly the same stuff (although New Seattle seems to be lacking a map of downtown Seattle). The organization of New Seattle is a bit lacking; whereas the first book had convenient tabs at the top of every page ("Hmm, let's look up Corps", flip flip flip), New Seattle makes you wander around a bit more.

Seattle Sourcebook was, for lack of a better word, probably the perfect rpg sourcebook. It had oodles of Data, lots of character (but no characters), and one time my brother found it in the travel guidebook section of a bookstore.

New Seattle, on the other hand, is in no danger of being mistake for a travel guide. It is, through and through, a role-playing supplement, and a good one. It's only sin is not transcending the idea as its predecessor did.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

New Seattle
Author: Stephen Kenson Category: game Company/Publisher: Fasa Corporation Line: Shadowrun Cost: 20 Page count: 135 ISBN: 1-55560-342-4 Capsule Review by Justin Mohareb on 04/22/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Horror Espionage Conspiracy	Has it really been almost ten years? I remember getting The Seattle Sourcebook for Shadowrun when it first came out. I was, of course, fascinated. It struck me as possibly the best location sourcebook I'd ever seen. Instead of a catalogue, listing stats and maps, it instead was a region by region breakdown. Each burb had some choice places for runners to hang out (and work). I was enthralled the first time I laid eyes on TSS. It was laid out wonderfully, it was full of information, and it had gorgeous full colour photographs that were ads for some of the fictional establishments within (and had somewhat nekkid women; hey, I was 16). The ad for The Big Rhino, an Ork restaurant, with a snake slithering over a dinner plate (freaky dinner, too) with ancient Egyptian themed cutlery still makes me tingle. Each establishment had a few pieces of info. Their Sprawl Sites template (was it a large restaurant, a coffin hotel, or a black clinic? Check the map in SS! In fact, here's a lengthy digression: Why is there not a third ed (and why was there no second ed) Sprawl Sites? That book had ALL the info a GM would need to run their first SR game. It had contacts, maps, character templates and encounters. Not those crappy Random encounters (2d6 in lair), but fleshable ones that had enough in them to fuel several game sessions worth of excitement. End digression) gave you the layout (alter at whim), you got any biases they had, the owner, the prices... It was all quite sweet. The New Seattle sourcebook is not quite as thrilling as its predecessor was. Don't get me wrong; it's a nicely laid out, well written, and generally useful sourcebook for Shadowrun. It's just not as nice as the original. It's like comparing a honda civic to an old Cadillac; one of those huge monsters with the fins and stuff. They're both cars, right? And both of them will get you to the grocery store after work, and home for Christmas. But, really. Which one do you want to ride in? (And you ever tried making out in the back seat of a Civic? No elbow room.) They both have the same info, and mostly the same stuff (although New Seattle seems to be lacking a map of downtown Seattle). The organization of New Seattle is a bit lacking; whereas the first book had convenient tabs at the top of every page ("Hmm, let's look up Corps", flip flip flip), New Seattle makes you wander around a bit more. Seattle Sourcebook was, for lack of a better word, probably the perfect rpg sourcebook. It had oodles of Data, lots of character (but no characters), and one time my brother found it in the travel guidebook section of a bookstore. New Seattle, on the other hand, is in no danger of being mistake for a travel guide. It is, through and through, a role-playing supplement, and a good one. It's only sin is not transcending the idea as its predecessor did. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)