Dean

Old Gods of Appalachia Review

This is my first ever game review, I hope it is something you good folks enjoy. If so, let me know. I’d love to do a lot more of it!

I have a fondness for folk magic. It’s something I end up making rules for or introducing into just about every horror game I run. Some systems have some kind of magic already. This was the case with Shadowrun and with that I’ve added what I could in new magical traditions to match other folks traditions I know about it. That bit of realism added really pleases me to no end.

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Gameholecon2025

Another year another Gamehole Con in the books. This one was a lot different from my first experience because I finally stepped up to Gamemaster a bunch of games. I also worked with Monte Cook games to help show people their games and teach their system. That was an awesome experience to say the least. I also got a chance to talk to Catalyst people and got some news on our 2e battle.

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Eye Witness Review

Eye Witness is an adventure for 2nd Edition Shadowrun. It is a wildly complicated backstory for a very straightforward adventure. The adventure surrounds a mystery where the players will be sent around to collect evidence for a fellow Shadowrunner bent on revenge. It will have the players bouncing all over Seattle and going to places they may have never even considered.

What can the players expect? Ratings out of 5!

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New Software and Approach

It’s been a little while since my last blog post, but that’s only because life has been full of exciting changes. While writing had to wait, I’ve been busy building tools and exploring new RPG projects. Today, I’m excited to share what I’ve been working on, give you some links to try them out, and even talk a bit about a possible rebrand for Null Sheen. Let’s dive in.

Shadowrun 2e Foundry Prototype

As with all things 2e, it is lacking a lot of great tools and platforms to make life easier for player and GMs a like due to when it came out and where software was at the time. I’ve made it one of my life goals to ensure that barrier is removed. To this end I have been working with some folks to create a foundry module for Shadowrun 2e. This is still VERY early in its dev cycle. It needs some dedicated player testers to continue to hammer on it and ensure it has everything one would need to call it a functioning module.

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Benefits of Physical Props for TTRPGs

Before we get into this months topic, I wanted to tell everyone I finished my next book! It can be found here: https://legacy.drivethrurpg.com/product/514075/Lone-Star-Stories-Blood-Of-The-Lamb. I’m also only 2 purchases away from getting my first Copper Badge for https://legacy.drivethrurpg.com/product/484834/Lone-Star-Stories-Blood-For-Money! If you ever wanted to support me, this would be a fantastic way to do so!

Now, onto the post!

Ever since I saw the original Dwarven Forge dungeons when I was a kid, I was blown away. It was a dream of mine to run some dungeons with a perfectly to scale model with these kinds of high end models. This of course didn’t happen (Only nerds with REAL money could take a swing at such expense for such things), but now in this new beautiful age of 3D Printing. We all can have some things we never thought we could.

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Double Exposure Review

“Is this the path to Eden?” - Johnathan Tang

Double Exposure is an adventure for 2nd Edition Shadowrun. It is a very story heavy adventure that brings characters in a really unique situation that I haven’t seen in many other adventures. This adventure will put the player characters right in the middle of a new sprung up commune in the barons. What’s even wilder? This organization even seems to be actually growing sustainable food crops. They are accepting anyone with a pulse that wants a better life and is willing to work for it. Sounds too good to be true? Yeah, its Shadowrun baby, of course its fucked.

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New Years Goals 2025

Greetings Shadowpunks!

With last year behind us, I look forward to what will come in the future. This year I hope to finish two new tools for the site: Weapon Designer and Vehicle Designer. These will more than likely take at least 3 or 4 months each (Though the vehicle one will take something really special to finish in that time). My hope is always to allow players more control over their characters and to give GMs the tools to be able to create custom things quickly and easily. I hope these will continue to help people make great games!

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Total Eclipse Review

Before we dive in! I wrote another section of my adventure: Protect and Serve.

Music in the 80s was a bit more defining than today (Though Taylor Swift has definitely revived some of the old feelings of hardcore allegiance to a band or musician). Who you listened to and who you repped told you a lot about someone and in general I feel it had a lot more of a cultural impact than it does today. Clothing brands, commercials and like really strove to grab up bands for their products and in some ways it felt like they were larger and more important than even actors in their given time. Often whole movies would be scored by a single band to lend their kind of flavor to a piece. It really held serious weight. Movies like The Crow (The Cure) and Donnie Darko (which is a 00s movie, but was set in the 1980s and had the same done for it as other 80s movies by the Tears for Fears). Music from these movies and their scores really hit home.

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Decker Problems and How to Solve Them

One of the most common problems new GMs (And old for that matter) is running the Matrix for their players. In every edition of Shadowrun, the matrix has been a pivotal part of the game. It makes sense in the larger picture, Gibson’s Neuromancer (Which you absolutely NEED to read if your running Shadowrun or Cyberpunk! [Hardcover or Sprawl Trilogy (Plus Burning Chrome) - Good Christmas Gifts!] gives us the first console cowboy and we have been seeking that experience every since.

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Silver Angel Review

Silver Angel was the first published Adventure for Shadowrun. It was paired with the original Game Master’s screen for 1st Edition Shadowrun. What’s interesting is that it also came with standees (cardboard cutouts that you could use to show placement of characters and NPCs) which we wouldn’t see again until DMZ was released. These paired excellently with the Sprawl Maps.

This adventure is pretty short, but you can see the gritty bones of what would become the Shadowrun we all know and love.The story includes a dynamic cast of interesting street level people including a ripper jack and a dancer. As well, it is positively dripping with atmosphere. Tom Dowd laid some beautiful writing down on these pages. A line really sums up Shadowrun perfectly.

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