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Don O'Malley, the capo of the Seattle Mafia, has just been assassinated by parties unknown and the streets are about to erupt in violence. The Mafia is in the middle of an internal power struggle between the three Mafia families (and a succession play inside one of them). The Yakuza, Triads and Seoulpa Rings are taking this opportunity to expand their own criminal empires. And the players are in the middle of it all.

This is the premise of the new Shadowrun adventure: Mob War!. Written in a style completely different to previous Shadowrun adventures, Mob War! is a combination Seattle crime sourcebook and adventure. The adventures are set up in a series of "tracks", one for each syndicate. Rather than spelling out every particular about the adventures, each scenario in the tracks have a premise and a series of events that should occur during the scenario. This allows the gamemaster to be a lot more flexible should the players decide to go off on their own.

Each section begins with a detailed description of each of the major players in the track including their loyalties, ambitions, and motives. This information allows the gamemaster to run a much more freeform game. The lack of a concrete "play-by-play" scenario will make this more difficult for new gamemasters or those that don't improvise well.

Also included is a Shadowland datafile concerning the "Dragon Crimelords", Lung and Ryumyo. This details their behind-the-scenes control of the most powerful Triad and Yakuza (respectively). Like any of the Shadowrun "black" information, players should take it with a grain of salt.

It's mentioned several times that the Underworld Sourcebook and Shadowrun Companion are recommended for use with this adventure but aren't required. To make full use of Mob War!, however, the gamemaster really does need to have access to these two books. For example, the NPCs are not given actual stats, but use the Equal, Superior, etc. ratings from the Shadowrun Companion.

All in all, this is one of the better adventures released for Shadowrun recently and is worth picking up if you don't mind filling in the gaps.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Mob War!
Author: Stephen Kenson Category: game Company/Publisher: FASA Corporation Reviewed by David Davenport on 07/08/97. Genre tags: none	Don O'Malley, the capo of the Seattle Mafia, has just been assassinated by parties unknown and the streets are about to erupt in violence. The Mafia is in the middle of an internal power struggle between the three Mafia families (and a succession play inside one of them). The Yakuza, Triads and Seoulpa Rings are taking this opportunity to expand their own criminal empires. And the players are in the middle of it all. This is the premise of the new Shadowrun adventure: Mob War!. Written in a style completely different to previous Shadowrun adventures, Mob War! is a combination Seattle crime sourcebook and adventure. The adventures are set up in a series of "tracks", one for each syndicate. Rather than spelling out every particular about the adventures, each scenario in the tracks have a premise and a series of events that should occur during the scenario. This allows the gamemaster to be a lot more flexible should the players decide to go off on their own. Each section begins with a detailed description of each of the major players in the track including their loyalties, ambitions, and motives. This information allows the gamemaster to run a much more freeform game. The lack of a concrete "play-by-play" scenario will make this more difficult for new gamemasters or those that don't improvise well. Also included is a Shadowland datafile concerning the "Dragon Crimelords", Lung and Ryumyo. This details their behind-the-scenes control of the most powerful Triad and Yakuza (respectively). Like any of the Shadowrun "black" information, players should take it with a grain of salt. It's mentioned several times that the Underworld Sourcebook and Shadowrun Companion are recommended for use with this adventure but aren't required. To make full use of Mob War!, however, the gamemaster really does need to have access to these two books. For example, the NPCs are not given actual stats, but use the Equal, Superior, etc. ratings from the Shadowrun Companion. All in all, this is one of the better adventures released for Shadowrun recently and is worth picking up if you don't mind filling in the gaps. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)