Overview

Shadowrun is a “pencil and paper” role-playing game set in a near-future fictional universe in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspiracy fiction, horror, and detective fiction.

Shadowrun takes place roughly six decades in the future. In the backstory of the game, magic and mythological beings returned to the world in 2011. The event is known as the Awakening occurred on December 24, 2011 and ushered in the Sixth World based on the Mayan Calendar.

The nations of the world have taken a back seat to megacorporations that control the lives of not only their employees, but command entire armies (the 10 biggest corporations in the world have extraterritoriality, much like an embassy has now). Technology is highly advanced with cyberware and bioware (cybernetically enhanced body parts or augmented parts grown in a vat then implanted in place of natural organs) are common. The computer crashes of 2029 and 2064 as well as various conflicts and plagues have reshaped the political and financial landscape of the world. Magic has also returned with the dawn of the Sixth World. Those with the ability to control magic can do so in strange and mysterious ways. Now when conflicts arise the corporations, governments, even wealthy individuals, and organized crime subcontract their dirty work to specialists. Those who then perform “shadowruns” or missions undertaken by deniable assets without identities or those that wish to remain unknown. The most skilled of these specialists, called Shadowrunners, have earned a reputation for getting the job done. They have developed a knack for staying alive, and prospering, in the strange new world. Players take on the role of a team of Shadowrunners.

The table below covers the editions of the game that have been released over the years, as well as the corresponding in-game dates that each edition covers.

Cover Art	Edition	Publication Dates	In-game Dates
	1st	1989 – 1992	2050 – 2053
	2nd	1992 – 1998	2053 – 2060
	3rd	1998 – 2005	2060 – 2070
	4th	2005 – 2009	2070 – 2072
	20th Anniversary	2009 – Current	2072 +

System

Mechanics

The Shadowrun game mechanics are based entirely on a 6-sided dice system. The game is skill-based rather than class-based, but archetypes are presented in the Core Rulebook to give players and gamemasters an idea of what is possible with the system.