RPG a Day 2017 Question 5

What is RPGaDay2017?

I’ll link here to the actual group. Basically, it’s a series of questions that you can answer. There are 31 questions that you can answer to help shine a light on the different reasons people play role-play games. This is my answer to the 5th question. For my full list of answers check here.

Question #5: Which RPG cover best captures the spirit of the game?

I’ll admit I tried to think of better ones but the first one that came to my mind was the top of the pyramid. FASA’s first edition Shadowrun. I remember walking through Barnes and Noble, sometime around 1990. They had a single shelf near the back of the store for roleplay games. I was walking past the shelf and saw the front cover. The cover showed three people in an alley having a firefight with a couple of guys in suits using a car for cover. The cover had a guy shooting two guns at the corporate fellows, a woman with a shotgun and glowing had like she was casting a spell, and an elf hacking into a computer. I knew from the front cover they were criminals, they we’re in the future, they were stealing from a corporation, and I wanted to be one of them. I didn’t get the book that day, I didn’t have the money, but I saved and as soon as I could I came back and bought it. I enjoyed running that game, but I loved playing in it more. My friend Scot was such an amazing Shadowrun Game Master (GM) that it was always fun to play in his campaigns. I remember talking to him once, years after we had played, and he told me about all of the notes he had taken, which groups knew we existed, which hated us, which wanted revenge, which saw us as future tools, and the vendetta’s and favors people had out on us. I miss Shadowrun with Scot, I wish we could play again.