Rating: 
Summary: Excellent revision of a great game - but ware the printing!
Review: I really like what they have done to clean up what can be a very confusing RPG. There are a lot of little things that they have done to make the core game better. What I really liked abou this was that they encorporated a lot of the materials from the 2ed expansions into the core rules. They leave plenty of room, then, for future expansions to add more variety into the game, rather than just extended or reworking game mechanics! Just be warned that different printings have revised rules. Try and get the 8th printing, if at all possible. I have a first printing, which has some pretty significant problems.
Rating: 
Summary: Sr3 makes gameplay smoother and faster than using sr2
Review: I think that the gamplay with Sr3 is faster and less complicated for advanced players and new GMs becasue it offers a user friendly access to the new rules that most people are now playing with since the new sourcebooks came out and since they are all in one book it is now very easy and fast to play the game using the newer and better rules.
Rating: 
Summary: The Game isn't the problem
Review: I think that the rules in 3rd edition are limited so that yo have to buy all the books. This is especially the case with all of the third edition books gradually coming out. The worst part about this book (3rd ed) is the organization, you can't find anything and the index doesn't help
Rating:
Summary: I love it!!!
Review: I think this is one of the best books by FASA ever. I think everyone who ever played shadowrun should buy it. Very good information and good descriptions of everything.
Rating:
Summary: A great game, but there's a new version
Review: I've been playing SR for three versions now, and it never ceases to amaze me. It is definatly one of the most complete, well thought out worlds and game systems out there. People looking to get into it, though, should by Shadowrun, version 3, not this one.
Rating:
Summary: Shadowrun 3rd Ed. is the most fit yet for new players.
Review: It is the most complete and understandable guide for Shadowrun which has been published. It's great because not only does the guide stick to the basics so that the concepts will not overwhelm new players, but also because it is very logically organized. Ever since I purchased Shadowrun 3rd Ed., I am so excited about the future of the game, and I cannot stop thinking about all of the possibilities. If you are interested in roleplaying in the world of Shadowrun, where man meets magic and machines, then this is where you must start. You will not be disappointed. I guarantee it.
Rating: 
Summary: a dystopic setting with an awful rule set
Review: Like lots of game books, this one includes two main elements, an introduction the Shadowrun setting and the rules. The setting is a creative mix of "cyberpunk" technology and fantasy, in a grim dystopic world. The rules are an awful mess. What I like about the setting is that it offers a detailed future history that explains how all the technology and fantasy elements ended up in the same setting. It feels reasonably self-consistent. The only serious hole is the idea that a mishap with a computer plugged into a character's brain could injure the character. Who would build a computer-brain interface without the firewalls and surge protection necessary to prevent a software-domain mishap from causing physical harm? Who would use such a product? Temporary disorientation makes sense, but physical harm doesn't. That's a common cyberpunk convention, however; even _The Matrix_ follow it. Along with the technology and fantasy ideas of the setting, there is the social system. The world of Shadowrun is an amoral dystopia where corporate power eclipses all governments. Money can buy anything, even military might, without meaningful restraint of laws or governments; the police are corporate employees who protect corporate interests, but protect ordinary citizens only incidentally. In short, it is pure Libertarianism. In the typical campaign style, player characters start as ordinary low-lifes, with just enough extra power to allow them to take jobs as deniable corporate covert forces. They take jobs that their corporate backers prefer to keep clear of their acknowledged employees -- in other words, thuggery that would be illegal in a setting where law meant anything -- in hopes of gaining greater powers with their corporate payola. There are alternatives to that campaign style -- one could even be a noble "street doctor" out to elevate the quality of life of the masses -- but the setting material doesn't offer much support for such alternatives. In short, player characters are likely to be hoods, not Robin Hoods. A player's liking for the setting will depend on a few things. Some people will like the fantasy-cyberpunk hybrid; others will not. The gloomy dystopia of the social setting will appeal to some players, and be depressing to others. The opportunity to be a small-time villain struggling to become a big-time villain will appeal to some, but put off those who want to be heroes. A game-master with the creativity to offer heroic opportunities to players can avert the villain issue, but removing the fantasy-cyberpunk and social dystyopia elements would make something that is no longer Shadowrun. While the setting is a question of taste, the game mechanics are a wreck of cumbersome rules. Anyone who likes the setting should ignore the rules, substitute something playable. GURPS, FUDGE, Hero, and even d20 are all improvements on the native Shadowrun rule set. The rules are extremely elaborate -- more complicated than GURPS or Hero -- but also very abstract, along the lines of d20. Normally, elaborate rules are meant to provide a feeling of detailed simulation. For example, GURPS tries hard to give every rule a justification that improves the feeling of realism, and does a pretty good job of it. In contrast, abstract rules are meant to favor quick, simple play, at the cost of leaving a lot of details to the imagination, or even reducing them to statistics without a clear connection to the world of the characters. The d20 rules do a good job of this, offering fairly simple game mechanics, but offering no quantitative connection between game-mechanic statistics and measurements in the world of the characters. The standard Shadowrun rules provide the worst of each rule design style. They are even more complicated and detailed than GURPS or Hero. It's difficult to reduce the complexity of the rules by dropping optional rules, because cutting rules is likely to break the rules that remain. But beyond comparative differences, the game statistics lack any perceptible connection to the characters. (For example, in GURPS one inch of steel armor equals 20 Damage Resistance, and in Hero each 5 Strength doubles the weight a character can lift.) The sole exception is money, which means the same thing to the characters as to their players. The standard Shadowrun rules also suffer in comparison to d20. The absence of a strong link between game statistics and the statistics a character could perceive makes both rule sets abstract. But in d20 the abstraction does a good job of speeding game play. One rolls to hit, then rolls damage, with addition-only arithmetic and a linear probabilities that are comprehensible to a math-shy child; all non-combat tests are resolved with the same one-roll mechanism. With Shadowrun, one assigns dice pools, rolls initiative to calculate the number and order of actions in a round, assigns dice pools to actions, rolls damage if an attack hits, rolls dice to avoid damage if one is hit, etc. Several different systems apply to different types of non-combat actions. The pools of "exploding" dice defy anyone short of an actuarial hobbyist with a spreadsheet. And still the statistics don't correspond to anything perceptible to the characters. Summary: If you like the idea of blending cyberpunk and fantasy in a gloomy, corporation-dominated dystopia, and being a small-time villain struggling to join the big-time, the Shadowrun setting is excellent. If you have a creative enough game-master, you could even play a heroic character in the same dystopia. But throw don't touch the rules.
Rating:
Summary: a dystopic setting with an awful rule set
Review: Like lots of game books, this one includes two main elements, an introduction the Shadowrun setting and the rules. The setting is a creative mix of "cyberpunk" technology and fantasy, in a grim dystopic world. The rules are an awful mess. What I like about the setting is that it offers a detailed future history that explains how all the technology and fantasy elements ended up in the same setting. It feels reasonably self-consistent. The only serious hole is the idea that a mishap with a computer plugged into a character's brain could injure the character. Who would build a computer-brain interface without the firewalls and surge protection necessary to prevent a software-domain mishap from causing physical harm? Who would use such a product? Temporary disorientation makes sense, but physical harm doesn't. That's a common cyberpunk convention, however; even _The Matrix_ follow it. Along with the technology and fantasy ideas of the setting, there is the social system. The world of Shadowrun is an amoral dystopia where corporate power eclipses all governments. Money can buy anything, even military might, without meaningful restraint of laws or governments; the police are corporate employees who protect corporate interests, but protect ordinary citizens only incidentally. In short, it is pure Libertarianism. In the typical campaign style, player characters start as ordinary low-lifes, with just enough extra power to allow them to take jobs as deniable corporate covert forces. They take jobs that their corporate backers prefer to keep clear of their acknowledged employees -- in other words, thuggery that would be illegal in a setting where law meant anything -- in hopes of gaining greater powers with their corporate payola. There are alternatives to that campaign style -- one could even be a noble "street doctor" out to elevate the quality of life of the masses -- but the setting material doesn't offer much support for such alternatives. In short, player characters are likely to be hoods, not Robin Hoods. A player's liking for the setting will depend on a few things. Some people will like the fantasy-cyberpunk hybrid; others will not. The gloomy dystopia of the social setting will appeal to some players, and be depressing to others. The opportunity to be a small-time villain struggling to become a big-time villain will appeal to some, but put off those who want to be heroes. A game-master with the creativity to offer heroic opportunities to players can avert the villain issue, but removing the fantasy-cyberpunk and social dystyopia elements would make something that is no longer Shadowrun. While the setting is a question of taste, the game mechanics are a wreck of cumbersome rules. Anyone who likes the setting should ignore the rules, substitute something playable. GURPS, FUDGE, Hero, and even d20 are all improvements on the native Shadowrun rule set. The rules are extremely elaborate -- more complicated than GURPS or Hero -- but also very abstract, along the lines of d20. Normally, elaborate rules are meant to provide a feeling of detailed simulation. For example, GURPS tries hard to give every rule a justification that improves the feeling of realism, and does a pretty good job of it. In contrast, abstract rules are meant to favor quick, simple play, at the cost of leaving a lot of details to the imagination, or even reducing them to statistics without a clear connection to the world of the characters. The d20 rules do a good job of this, offering fairly simple game mechanics, but offering no quantitative connection between game-mechanic statistics and measurements in the world of the characters. The standard Shadowrun rules provide the worst of each rule design style. They are even more complicated and detailed than GURPS or Hero. It's difficult to reduce the complexity of the rules by dropping optional rules, because cutting rules is likely to break the rules that remain. But beyond comparative differences, the game statistics lack any perceptible connection to the characters. (For example, in GURPS one inch of steel armor equals 20 Damage Resistance, and in Hero each 5 Strength doubles the weight a character can lift.) The sole exception is money, which means the same thing to the characters as to their players. The standard Shadowrun rules also suffer in comparison to d20. The absence of a strong link between game statistics and the statistics a character could perceive makes both rule sets abstract. But in d20 the abstraction does a good job of speeding game play. One rolls to hit, then rolls damage, with addition-only arithmetic and a linear probabilities that are comprehensible to a math-shy child; all non-combat tests are resolved with the same one-roll mechanism. With Shadowrun, one assigns dice pools, rolls initiative to calculate the number and order of actions in a round, assigns dice pools to actions, rolls damage if an attack hits, rolls dice to avoid damage if one is hit, etc. Several different systems apply to different types of non-combat actions. The pools of "exploding" dice defy anyone short of an actuarial hobbyist with a spreadsheet. And still the statistics don't correspond to anything perceptible to the characters. Summary: If you like the idea of blending cyberpunk and fantasy in a gloomy, corporation-dominated dystopia, and being a small-time villain struggling to join the big-time, the Shadowrun setting is excellent. If you have a creative enough game-master, you could even play a heroic character in the same dystopia. But throw don't touch the rules.
Rating:
Summary: a dystopic setting with an awful rule set
Review: Like lots of game books, this one includes two main elements, an introduction the Shadowrun setting and the rules. The setting is a creative mix of "cyberpunk" technology and fantasy, in a grim dystopic world. The rules are an awful mess. What I like about the setting is that it offers a detailed future history that explains how all the technology and fantasy elements ended up in the same setting. It feels reasonably self-consistent. The only serious hole is the idea that a mishap with a computer plugged into a character's brain could injure the character. Who would build a computer-brain interface without the firewalls and surge protection necessary to prevent a software-domain mishap from causing physical harm? Who would use such a product? Temporary disorientation makes sense, but physical harm doesn't. That's a common cyberpunk convention, however; even _The Matrix_ follow it. Along with the technology and fantasy ideas of the setting, there is the social system. The world of Shadowrun is an amoral dystopia where corporate power eclipses all governments. Money can buy anything, even military might, without meaningful restraint of laws or governments; the police are corporate employees who protect corporate interests, but protect ordinary citizens only incidentally. In short, it is pure Libertarianism. In the typical campaign style, player characters start as ordinary low-lifes, with just enough extra power to allow them to take jobs as deniable corporate covert forces. They take jobs that their corporate backers prefer to keep clear of their acknowledged employees -- in other words, thuggery that would be illegal in a setting where law meant anything -- in hopes of gaining greater powers with their corporate payola. There are alternatives to that campaign style -- one could even be a noble "street doctor" out to elevate the quality of life of the masses -- but the setting material doesn't offer much support for such alternatives. In short, player characters are likely to be hoods, not Robin Hoods. A player's liking for the setting will depend on a few things. Some people will like the fantasy-cyberpunk hybrid; others will not. The gloomy dystopia of the social setting will appeal to some players, and be depressing to others. The opportunity to be a small-time villain struggling to become a big-time villain will appeal to some, but put off those who want to be heroes. A game-master with the creativity to offer heroic opportunities to players can avert the villain issue, but removing the fantasy-cyberpunk and social dystyopia elements would make something that is no longer Shadowrun. While the setting is a question of taste, the game mechanics are a wreck of cumbersome rules. Anyone who likes the setting should ignore the rules, substitute something playable. GURPS, FUDGE, Hero, and even d20 are all improvements on the native Shadowrun rule set. The rules are extremely elaborate -- more complicated than GURPS or Hero -- but also very abstract, along the lines of d20. Normally, elaborate rules are meant to provide a feeling of detailed simulation. For example, GURPS tries hard to give every rule a justification that improves the feeling of realism, and does a pretty good job of it. In contrast, abstract rules are meant to favor quick, simple play, at the cost of leaving a lot of details to the imagination, or even reducing them to statistics without a clear connection to the world of the characters. The d20 rules do a good job of this, offering fairly simple game mechanics, but offering no quantitative connection between game-mechanic statistics and measurements in the world of the characters. The standard Shadowrun rules provide the worst of each rule design style. They are even more complicated and detailed than GURPS or Hero. It's difficult to reduce the complexity of the rules by dropping optional rules, because cutting rules is likely to break the rules that remain. But beyond comparative differences, the game statistics lack any perceptible connection to the characters. (For example, in GURPS one inch of steel armor equals 20 Damage Resistance, and in Hero each 5 Strength doubles the weight a character can lift.) The sole exception is money, which means the same thing to the characters as to their players. The standard Shadowrun rules also suffer in comparison to d20. The absence of a strong link between game statistics and the statistics a character could perceive makes both rule sets abstract. But in d20 the abstraction does a good job of speeding game play. One rolls to hit, then rolls damage, with addition-only arithmetic and a linear probabilities that are comprehensible to a math-shy child; all non-combat tests are resolved with the same one-roll mechanism. With Shadowrun, one assigns dice pools, rolls initiative to calculate the number and order of actions in a round, assigns dice pools to actions, rolls damage if an attack hits, rolls dice to avoid damage if one is hit, etc. Several different systems apply to different types of non-combat actions. The pools of "exploding" dice defy anyone short of an actuarial hobbyist with a spreadsheet. And still the statistics don't correspond to anything perceptible to the characters. Summary: If you like the idea of blending cyberpunk and fantasy in a gloomy, corporation-dominated dystopia, and being a small-time villain struggling to join the big-time, the Shadowrun setting is excellent. If you have a creative enough game-master, you could even play a heroic character in the same dystopia. But throw don't touch the rules.
Rating:
Summary: Slightly modified, Greatly improved.
Review: More info than the orginal and more useful than a samrtlinked autocannon. New skill web system and the knowledge skill area allow greater character depth.
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