"Simplify, simplify."

A very famous dead person, whose name I should remember but don't, spouted the preceding quote many years ago, probably while thinking about the umpteen million sourcebooks which would one day be available for the Shadowrun role-playing system. This is not to say that I dislike sourcebooks. I think they're great and purchase many of them, all of which immediately fall apart because FASA seems to use really cheap glue. But even with the pages scattered across the living room floor I can still shuffle through the numerous technological, magical, vehicular, and weaponular (which is not a real word) stuff that raises my pulse in a way I'm not always 100 percent comfortable with.

But, at times, it also seems overwhelming. There's just so much damn STUFF that assembling a character or, if you're the GM, a universe which includes all of the aspects of all of the books can be very painful. This is why I think that, occasionally, it's a good idea to step back and slow things down a bit. Essentially, it's sometimes a good idea to just start over.

What I mean by this is, for a little while, it's nice to ditch Fields Of Fire, Cybertechnology, Awakenings, and the rest of the sourcebooks, dust off the Shadowrun Second Edition Rulebook, and go from there. The following are a few suggestions for people who feel the game has gotten a bit out of control and would like to tone things back, in both the historical and developmental sense. (All you power players out there just cover your eyes and think happy thoughts; The following ideas could possibly kill you.)

1. Start in the year 2050, or even earlier.

Yes, believe it or not, there was a time when people would begin playing Shadowrun by placing their characters in the year 2050. The world was a bit different back then. For example, you would need a helicopter to get to the top floor of the Renraku archology because it didn't actually exist yet. Dunkelzahn was still a mysterious figure, as opposed to being a presidential candidate or, more recently, dead. Watchers had yet to be discovered and I'm pretty sure that metamagic was still a recently unveiled phenomena. But, most importantly, things were much simpler. It was easier to get your bearings straight. In fact, I suggest starting in 2049 because this also eliminates instant access to any technological or historical developments which took place in the 2050 itself, such as the Street Samurai Catalog, which brings me to my next point:

2. Start with the Second Edition Rulebook and nothing else.

Surely this suggestion just sent a shiver down the spine of any player who dearly loves their bioware. Despite the rulebook's numerous flaws it still provides a nice, simple balance of cyberware, magic, matrix, vehicles, and so on. While it is still possible to "pump up" a character using stuff only found in the Rulebook it wouldn't be a spectacularly bright move for a player to blow a million nuyen on a set of ware they know will be out of date the next year. A magic user probably wouldn't want to get 50 points worth of crummy Rulebook spells when, somewhere along the line, the GM will introduce The Grimoire and Awakenings which has better stuff in it. It should become apparent that they players should work on developing the basic, fundamental aspects of their characters, such as skills and attributes, instead of taking the million (or the most "points", or whatever the hell the new system is) and spending it on crap they'll have to pay to remove or relearn later.

3. Introduce technology and history into the overall story line as it happens.

Virtually every historical or technological entry in virtually every sourcebook has something eluding to when the event or development actually took place. Some of these dates are simply stated, but sometimes you have to go off the hints given through those quotes made by fictitious shadowrunners. By reading these you'll discover that certain pieces of equipment have been around for a long time while others don't show up until much later on the time line. (Meaning they won't be able to buy that Salvette Guardian until 2054, or that Dikote until, well, whenever the hell Dikote came out.) On the other hand it may be determined that certain bioware has been around for ages and it would be logical to give the PCs access to it immediately AFTER PC creation. It is up to the gamemaster to determine what happens and what is available when. With magic this can get a bit tricky because nobody really tells you when the Spark spell first came about, which means you sometimes have to:

4. Gradually introduce new Sourcebooks.

Or, at least, aspects of new Sourcebooks. Spark has probably been around for a while, but, perhaps not. Hell, maybe one of the PCs was the one who INVENTED Spark. The GM should decide what aspects of sourcebooks should be allowed when. This goes for rules as well. The GM may wish to stick with the basic Matrix rules for a while and gradually develop them into the VR 2.0 system. He may wish to introduce spell creation rules right off the bat so the mage will have something to do, or he may wish to keep the methods of spell creation "secret" until the PC finds a teacher who will instruct them in the proper ways. One of the problems with starting out with every available aspect of every available sourcebook is that it leads the player to believe that knowledge of the material contained within them is intrinsic . . something every PC is born knowing. I think this creates a callused view towards the marvels of technology, magic, and the world of Shadowrun in general. There are no surprises, no waiting at the cyber clinic for the arrival of the new Smartgun II systems. There are no thoughts, as a newly developed kind of synthetic muscle is installed, that, "Hey, nobody's ever done this before......I wonder if it'll work."

5. Create anxiety from the inevitable.

A possible flaw with my system is that, if the players have been involved with the Shadowrun system for a while, they'll know what's going to happen and therefore won't be surprised by much of anything. This is why the GM has to be slick and play around with history just enough that the players will know WHAT is going to happen, but they won't quite know HOW. The PCs are no longer learning about history, they are part of it. Besides, I think it would rule to see a Merc purchasing his new Guardian quietly mutter, with a slim smile, "I've been waiting for you for five years....."

In conclusion I'd just like to mention that the Big Ass Shadowrun Time Line (or whatever it's officially called) located at Paolo Marcucci's [2018 NOTE: OH, THE MEMORIES] Shadowrun Archive would be an excellent way to keep track of what is happening and when. Also, if you plan on using the guidelines I've portrayed, it is a good idea to instigate them with a group that's in it for the long haul, a group that has enough time to get to 2057. It may even motivate them to keep themselves from getting messed up. No sammy wants to be laid up in a hospital when the first Ingram Smartguns hit the market (around December, 2050).