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Shadowrun: Mission: 04-00: Back in Business $3.95
Average Rating:4.1 / 5
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Shadowrun: Mission: 04-00: Back in Business
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Shadowrun: Mission: 04-00: Back in Business
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Terry K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/26/2012 16:04:36

A very quick note to say that this is possibly one of the best value RPG products I've ever bought. For less than £2.50 (GBP), you get a full adventure with interesting hooks, fully statted out NPCs and bad-guys and great, colour art-work.

Although the Missions series is aimed at convention play (so each adventure is designed to take about 4 hours to play), every chapter comes with a "Pushing the Envelope" section, with suggestions to extend the game. I didn't even use all of these sections when running for my group and the adventure ran for 4 or 5 evening sessions (about 15-18 hours in total) without feeling stretched out or out-staying its welcome. For £2.50! Bargain!

Honestly, even if you just wanted some nicely statted out goons, this PDF would be worth the asking price!

I'm a Missions convert and will be buying more in this series.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Shadowrun: Mission: 04-00: Back in Business
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 07/06/2012 19:46:48

Shadowrun Missions are part of Catalyst Labs’ Shadowrun Missions campaign which can be run as part of this ongoing evolving campaign or used as standalone adventures. The theme of Season 4 is conflict over magical artefacts by various interested parties and the politicizing of the Ork Underground and it primarily takes place in Seattle.

Shadowrun Missions: Back in Business (04-00) is the gateway scenario for Season 4 in so many ways, containing shout outs to 1st edition Shadowrun and ties to both of the major plot elements of Season 4. It has a lot of action and opportunities for the characters to makes ties that will serves them well later in the campaign, while essentially a rescue scenario, it has some good scenes for roleplaying and investigation as well. It has the potential to work as an excellent introduction to Season 4 of the Shadowrun mission and should be fun even if it does not manage that perfectly.

Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Shadowrun: Mission: 04-00: Back in Business
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Dirk L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/05/2011 15:12:10

I'm a Shadowrun GM, and my review will be from a GM's perspective. I nran the module as part of my home campaign, not in a dedicated Missions game. That is perfectly possible, making this a good buy for more than dedicated Missions players.

In my group, the adventure was very well received. It had the feel of an old module of 1st or 2nd Edition, with many stands to take, many moral decisions to make, but a very linear backbone. It was felt as a bit short, but that's the format. Mercurial went extremly well with the players, I had a couple pretty much squeeing about that NPC. MacCallister was well received too.

The adventure's structure is linear, but that's not too bad because there's not much reason to go astray. I had one scene whre I really had to improvise and make up a replacement for an important NPC, but that was easy to do. The pushing the Envelope pieces I almost all used, even though two slightly time shifted. Nazaire's introduction was a bit bumpy, but that's also due to the short timeframe Missions are meant for, I guess.

The art and maps were very well received, too. Especially the map of the underground. But the NPC pictures too.

Overall, this was one of the best canned adventures for SR I have run to date. It was fast paced, had a nice story and feel, and gave me as a GM pretty much all I needed without having to scour for things endlessly someplace or leaving me to deal with a mess. I could have, in the instance where my players managed to totally run from an opportunity, just let it be (that's what the adventure suggests), but I decided to introduce another interesting character from SRM04-01 instead (which I own but haven't played so far). Lots of fun with the locales - I'm starting to really look forweard to the underground book, and with that old-timey feel, a great addition to ongoing campaigns, or as a one-shot.

Bottom line: 5/5. You get much more than your money's worth out of this.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Shadowrun: Mission: 04-00: Back in Business
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Diogo S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/05/2011 14:49:53

Simple mission: find someone, get paid in the end. It presents some of the major players for the campaign with extra possibilities of earning money. Plus, it has Maria Mercurial as background.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Shadowrun: Mission: 04-00: Back in Business
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 02/20/2011 10:21:43

The new season of the Shadowrun Missions shared campaign takes the storyline to Seattle, and this first adventure opens with atmospheric fiction as a veteran local 'runner takes a call about a job and wonders which of the newcomers to town might be up for it...

The overall approach to structure is interesting. With the core use of 'shared campaign' scenarios being at conventions or other settings where time is limited, it is necessary to make effective use of the time available and the structure is designed to facilitate this. Each scene begins with an overview, then there is the introductory description for the players, the main body looking at what NPCs are doing and how they might react to character actions, extension information for those who have more powerful and experienced characters or who like - and have time for - more developed and convoluted events, and some troubleshooting notes to enable the GM to cope when the characters don't do what is expected of them (er... like always?). Fairly standard, but neatly done with evidence of careful thought. There's plenty of advice to enable all but the most inexperienced GM to cope with the adventure.

And so, on to the Mission Synopsis. There's a lot going on, and events serve to introduce the characters to many of the major players in Seattle, factions and organisations and individuals with whom they will have to deal in the future if they want to make a career out of shadowrunning in this city. Several extra job offers are flying around, and the neat thing is that whatever the characters choose to do they will make both friends and enemies during this initial run!

The adventure proper begins with a brief scene to cater for those characters arriving in Seattle from elsewhere and, in particular, those who have been participating in the previous season of adventures set in New York). It serves as a bit of a bridge, establishing continuity, but can be omitted if the characters are already in Seattle or if you feel that time might be an issue later on. Events in the last scenario, Elevator Ride to Hell, are referenced, with scope for you to tailor this scene to reflect what your characters did when they played it. Even if they didn't, there's scope to give them good reason to depart New York in a hurry - and likely to be looking for work by the time they reach Seattle. If running a home game, suggestions for making much more of this are given.

Once in Seattle, the action proper begins with an invitation to a concert in the sort of nightspot that people want to be seen in, never mind want to actually get into. It's well-detailed, and if you regularly run games set in Seattle you may want to co-opt it for yourself. While the real purpose for going here is to meet the fixer and get hired for the job that comprises this adventure, it has been built into a convincing event in its own right, getting around the standard 'meet the fixer in a bar and get a job' that begins all too many adventures!

Hired for what ostensibly is a simple job, although there isn't much to go on initially, the action soon hots up as other people vie for the characters' attention and services, with everything interlocking neatly to make a complex and harmonious whole, an adventure that is embedded in much wider events rather than a discrete task in isolation. It makes for a nice immersion in the alternate reality of 2070s Seattle. Actually finding a starting-point in their quest could pose some problems for characters low on ideas or if the dice fail to cooperate - especially given that they are supposed to be new in town. Once they have found their way in, a pitched battle between two gangs and the ensuing Knight Errant involvement ensures that their task is not straightforward...

Despite the obfuscation caused by subplots and byplay of unconnected events, the main adventure is actually quite easy to complete and most characters ought to be able to achieve their objectives. The extra bits just serve to ensure that it's a lively introduction to Seattle, and it's getting to be one of those moments when I wished I played more and reviewed less! Maybe I'd better round up some players and run this...



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Shadowrun: Mission: 04-00: Back in Business
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Michael R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/17/2011 11:31:47

To review this you almost need to write for two audiences, firstly there are the people that have never played Shadowrun before and then there are the people that are experienced runners. Both will be looking for different things from the mission.

Beginners will be looking for a way to learn the system through playing a prewritten mission. Luckily for those people the mission is clearly laid out, with each scene being broken down in to easy to use sections. Some of the sections are for the players, most is information for the GM. The premises of how missions work is laid out at the start of the adventure, but most importantly, in my mind, the mission includes references back to the core rule books (relevant pages) when those rules are likely to be needed. The mission is playable with the sample characters, which again is important for those new to the game.

However, the mission has added bonuses for experienced players. Compared to the last season of mission the bar has been raised again, with full colour pages and art work that is of the same standard as the SR4A art. The mission includes easter eggs or references to Shadowrun history and canon. It also includes some interesting pushing the envelopes scenes to challenge the more experienced player, though due to the Table Rating system being removed the GM will have to wisely gauge his group before using them.

If the quality stays the same then I will be getting the whole season without a doubt.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Shadowrun: Mission: 04-00: Back in Business
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Christian K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/20/2011 00:35:47

Review also available on www.Shadowrun.co:

Today I bought the newest release of Shadowrun Missions “Back in Business”.

It marks the return of Shadowrun Missions to Seattle which in my opinion is still THE hotspot for Shadowrunners around the globe.The PDF contains 34 pages and is separated in some mayor parts.

As usual you get an Introduction chapter, which should help the gamemaster preparing for and running the adventure.

It also defines the general rules for this adventure, which is an addition or reduction of the standard Shadowrun Fourth Edition ruleset (keep in mind that Shadowrun Missions is a campaign to be run at faires or conventions, though many use it as regular adventure campaign, like myself).

Like in previous campaigns there are several NPC characters and factions available, which can have an impact on future missions of the same campaign. During the campaign the player characters can make certain decisions which favor one or another faction and they get faction points. That way the gamemaster can measure reaction and actions of certain faction parties concerning meetings or activities with the player characters.

After the general rule information there is a short summary about the mission itself. I will not spoiler any of the mission content here. The following chapters describe certain scenes in which a part of the mission takes place. It begins with a transition chapter in case the player characters are transfering from the previous mission campaign in New York. Each scene has certain subchapters: a chapter with a text which can be read to the players directly, some behind the scenes information describing details to the gamemaster to build into his description of events. Pushing the envelope gives some help to the gamemaster how to handle certain events, and Debugging describes how to handle bad or problematic player behavior which threatens the campaign itself.

There is a lot of artwork inside the PDF, and it’s colored! Not the usual black&white picture, there are really nice full-color, well modeled pictures inside, for example the contacts and NPC. There are also maps and floor plans for key locations. Handouts and the debriefing log at the end are standard additions like in previous mission campaigns, but also in a high quality and in color.

My summary is: it’s a well designed new mission campaign with very good artwork and finally in Seattle again! Definetly worth the $3.95. Some people were shocked because the first mission was supposed to be free, but … hey chummers….its worth evers buck!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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