The criminal underworld of the Sixth World has never been exposed like this. Vice talks criminal operations worldwide, from small fry to international syndicates. Vice is a 192-page softcover for Shadowrun, Fourth Edition.

And it comes to gaming stores on the street date of Tuesday, February 23rd! Give your local store a call this week or next and let them know that you want a copy, and they should be able to have it for you that date or later that week. Overseas customers, as usual, will need to give it another week or two to get across the pond!

Take a look at the first two Vice preview: the Table of Contents and the first few pages of the International Syndicates chapter in one preview, and part of the Yazuka section in another!

Vice

Illegal is a strong word.

It means you’re doing something that the government doesn’t want you to do. You’d never do anything like that, right? Or would you?

It might be that some laws are… misguided.

It’s civil disobedience and a moral imperative to oppose those laws.

Gandhi taught us that.

My friends and I—we’re here to help you make these difficult moral choices. We’ll even provide you with a support network, if someone objects to your strong moral compass. And, hey, if everything works out, maybe all of us might come out ahead. Don’t worry! We’ve got your back.

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It’s been pointed out to me by various diligent people that my first answer contained a mistake (there’s a reason I pointed out that I’m not that bright). The level of adept powers is limited by the character’s Magic attribute. So in order to have Mystic Armor at level 12, the character would need a Magic attribute of 12. Which would be rather rare.

Sorry for the mistake!

Edit: Please take a look at the correction to this post.

A while ago I asked if people would be interested in blog posts on questions that come into the info@shadowrun4.com address, and the responses were positive. So welcome to the first in the IQ&A (which stands for “Informal Questions and Answers”) series. Remember the “I”–these answers should not be taken as the final word on any subject. They merely represent my thinking at the moment. And I’m not that bright.

Our question today comes from a fine player named Daniel, who writes:

I've been running Shadowrun since I found it in the late 80s and I
have a few questions with the new edition which I deeply enjoy by the
way. They are:

There's nothing in the books but is there a realistic cap on the
number of levels of Mystic Armor for Adepts?  I have a player who is a
Troll Physical Adept who took this 12 times for his new character.

Also do Mystic Armor and the Armor spell stack?  I could see the arguement either way.

Thank you

My answer: Glad you’re enjoying the new edition! The first part of your question is somewhat simple. Mystic Armor is limited the same way any other adept power is limited–the combined cost of the adept powers selected cannot exceed the character’s Magic attribute. Mystic Armor costs 0.5 points per level, meaning that to buy 12 levels of it, a character needs to have a Magic attribute of 6. That would be the only adept power they had, and the character could not cast spells.

So if the character wanted Armor cast on him, someone else would have to do the casting. The result is a judgment call, but I’m going to base it on the descriptions in the text. Mystic Armor “magically toughens your skin,” while Armor “creates a glowing field of magical energy around the subject.” I don’t see a reason why the glowing field should interfere at all with the magically toughened skin, so I would assume that the effect of the Armor spell would stack with the Mystic Armor. This could make the troll a tank–but I should note that the Adept quality would cost it 5 BP, the 2-5 Magic points would cost it  40 BP, and the 6th Magic point would cost it 25 BP. The fact that it’s a troll adds in another 40 BP. That’s 110 BP spent, with all attributes at 1, no Skills, no cash, and no gear. He’ll be a tank, but he’ll have some vulnerabilities, too. There might not be enough points to make this guy offensively skilled and strong-minded. If I faced this guy, the first thing I’m doing is going with Control Thoughts to see if I can get that tank pointed in the other direction. Just sayin’.

The most recent Shadowrun Missions adventure is now available for download for only $3.95!

Defend a truck—What could possibly go wrong?

This 17-page scenario includes a complete adventure, plus six pages of player handouts and record handling sheets for participating in the Shadowrun Missions (SRM) campaign.

Shadowrun Missions is an international shared campaign. The goal is to have characters and adventures that all share the same universe, and of course have fun while doing it. Missions are played at local game stores, conventions, game days, and as home games. Players who participate in these scenarios will have a real opportunity to influence the Shadowrun game world, and play their characters in events worldwide.

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Remember that if you haven’t checked out Shadowrun Missions yet, the first installment of the current season—Everyone’s your Friend—is free at DriveThruRPG and BattleCorps!

We just uploaded an updated PDF version of Vice—whether you bought it on BattleCorps or DriveThruRPG, you’re entitled to free downloads of the updated version. And if you haven’t bought it yet … well, no worries, you get the new version too!

By the way, please make sure that you tick the “send me email updates” box when you buy our PDFs, and that way you’ll get directly emailed when—and only when—we issue updates to them!

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