Into the Shadows
Magic — Machine — Mayhem
$10.00
/ Session
Details
1 player following this game
Once / Sunday - 12:00 AM UTC
Oct 11
Session Duration / 3–3.5 hours
1 / 5 Seats Filled
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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Meet your party members
1/5
About the adventure
The future belongs to the megacorporations. They own the cities. They control the media. They manufacture the technology. They decide who gets to live comfortably—and who gets left behind in the shadows. But the corporations don't own you. Welcome to Shadowrun, Fifth Edition—a world where magic has returned, megacorporations rule like nations, dragons sit in boardrooms, and the streets are filled with people who survive by bending the rules. In this single-shot Learn-to-Play adventure, you’ll step into the role of a cyberpunk rebel: a shadowrunner willing to take dangerous jobs, break corporate security, and thumb your nose at the powers that run the world. Your team has one job. Get in. Get the target. Get out. Simple, right? Not in Shadowrun. Maybe the building is crawling with corporate security. Maybe the target has a secret of its own. Maybe the Johnson who hired you isn't telling the whole story. And maybe your team has bitten off considerably more than it can chew. That’s the fun. Shadowrun combines cyberpunk action, fantasy, and tactical roleplaying into one wildly unpredictable game. Hack computers as a decker. Bend reality as a mage. Call on spirits as a shaman. Blast your enemies with cybernetic reflexes. Talk your way past security. Sneak through the shadows. Or kick down the door and let the bullets fly. There’s no single way to be a shadowrunner. And there’s certainly no guarantee that your plan will survive contact with reality. This Learn-to-Play session is designed to introduce you to the core concepts of Shadowrun 5E while throwing you straight into the action. You’ll learn the basics by doing: working as a team, tackling a dangerous mission, and discovering just how quickly a professional shadowrun can turn into absolute chaos. You don't need to know the rules. You don't need to understand the Sixth World. You just need a willingness to take the job—and perhaps a healthy disregard for corporate property. The corps have the money. The streets have the attitude. The shadows have the work. So grab your gear, jack into the Matrix, load your weapon, and meet your team in the shadows. Welcome to Shadowrun. No heroes. No laws. No guarantees. Just the shadows. The Sixth World is waiting…
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(86)
5 years on StartPlaying
1473 games hosted
Highly rated for: Knows the Rules, Beginner Friendly, Creativity
Average response time: 4 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
I have been running games since I was ten years old and have always enjoyed stories of hijinks and high adventure as well as the occasional creepy crawl into the shadowy abyss. I enjoy a wide variety of games and love to have a table filled with laughter. I have experience running games for players between 7 years old and 87 years old, if you need an experience tailored to your specific age group or other demographic, I would be happy to work with you to get just the game you are looking for. You can learn more about me and some of my games at my website: caithegm.com
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
You will be selecting a pre-generated character at log-in so that everyone can learn to play by actually playing.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You will need either a PC or Mac-compatible PC with broadband internet access and electricity to play in this game; a mouse with left and right buttons, as well as a third button and mouse wheel is optimal for online use of Foundry VTT. You will need a Discord account to access the game chat. The Foundry VTT runs on a modern web browser, so there is nothing to install if you have a browser on your computer. If you have an older computer, you might consider using the Foundry Lightweight Client, which is a free lightweight web browser that gives you the most bang for your machine's capabilities. You can get it for free here: https://flc.ruleplaying.com/ If you intend to speak in the voice channel on Discord, you should have a headset with a microphone. *You will be required to set up a push-to-talk button*; you are, however, free to communicate to the group using text only in Discord, but you will then need speakers to hear their chat and the game sounds. Special text-only sessions are available for the deaf and hard of hearing. Don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you'd like to schedule one. Bringing a friend or two would help ensure we don't need to recruit additional players. While text-only is actually my preferred method of play, it does seem difficult to organize those games. Instructions for setting up the push-to-talk button and installing all the needed software are available on my Discord channel (#getting-started), to which you will be supplied a link when you join. You can download the quick-start rules for free at <https://rb.gy/ofv9im> but you are welcome to come to session zero with no knowledge of the system and learn as we play.
What Cai the GM brings to the table
The ruleset and adventures we’ll be using plus an extensive knowledge of the sixth world. I pay for all the licenses for the software used in the campaign, so you wont have any additional costs besides the session fees. You bring a willingness to have an awesome time.
Homebrew rules
Why Fifth Edition and not Sixth Edition or Anarchy? Fifth Edition has excellent support in the VTT space, and for my money captures the "feel" of Shadowrun much better than the more generically corporate versions that followed. Not saying they can't be fun, But a large part of the community has chosen to stay with SR5.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Headphones
Platforms used
Safety
How Cai the GM creates a safe table
You can expect fast action, creative mysteries, and cyberpunk heist hijinx using the Shadowrun 5th edition rules and the Foundry VTT ruleset, supercharged with some wonderful extensions to give you an immersive experience. This is conceptualized as a 'grand campaign' and it is possible if you start with a 20 year-old character in 2055 you could find yourself as a prime runner in the 2070s at the height of your game and power.
Content warnings
Safety tools used