Shadowrun RPG - Catalyst Game Labs

Four–count ‘em, FOUR–new releases on sale NOW

JasonHardy — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:34:30 +0000

It’s back-to-school time, everyone’s getting their minds in gear to learn new things and buy new books, so why not buy some new Shadowrun books while you’re at it? To help you in your shopping, we’ve got four–four!–new electronic products for you to choose from, two new releases and two classics.

The new release category is led by Darkest Hour: Dawn of the Artifacts, the third adventure in the Dawn of the Artifacts series. There’s a special disk someone would like you to steal, with the slight hitch that it’s already been stolen. The adventure could take players to Hamburg, Eurport, and a wild archeological dig in Sarajevo as they race to recover the disk before anyone else can get their hands on it. The Darkest Hour PDF is available at the Battleshop and Drivethrurpg, with print versions coming soon!

The other new release is the latest Mission, SRM 03-09, Something Completely Different. Any artist knows that the art world can be brutal, but an event at the Guggenheim is about to take things to a whole new level. Runners are going to need to be quick witted if they want to keep a show opening from turning into a bloodbath–and, most importantly, if they want to make sure they get paid. Something Completely Different is available now at the Battleshop and at Drivethrurpg.

Finally, we have two classic books on sale as well. First, there’s California Free State (Battleshop, Drivethrurpg), your guide to some of the chaos happening on the Pacific Coast circa 2057. Then there’s Never Trust an Elf by Robert N. Charette (Battleshop, Drivethrurpg), a classic piece of Shadowrun fiction that tells the story of a Seattle ork who falls in with some very bad company. This is part of our electronic fiction line, meaning that when you purchase it you get both Kindle and ePub versions.

Enjoy!

Pre-order hard copies of the Sixth World Almanac today!

JasonHardy — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:46:19 +0000

Those beautiful, full-color Sixth World Almanacs are getting ever closer to the warehouse–close enough that we can start offering pre-orders! You can buy the book alone, or the book plus PDF combo! Enjoy the detailed history and the write up of nearly 40 nations–UCAS, India, Japan, the Kingdoms of Nigerian, Amazonia, Tír Tairngire, and many, many more!

Catalyst GenCon rundown

JasonHardy — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:15:45 +0000

I’ve been meaning to post my own GenCon rundown, but time has been a bit thin for that sort of thing. In the meantime, though, the main Catalyst website has a rundown, complete with pics, of the con and ancillary activities. The first picture on the post includes me on the left, bent over my computer putting the final touches on our booth demo; the second picture has a great picture of the Shadowrun corner of the booth, with the beautiful display of Sixth World Almanacs. That pile was restocked a number of times, but still all but gone by Sunday. Read the article for more pics and con info!

Day 3: A few great things

JasonHardy — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 06:17:21 +0000

The days are getting pretty long, but still enjoyable, and a few great things happened. Like: 1) We seemed to sell a lot of fiction today, or at least that was my impression. I love seeing the printed fiction go out the door! 2) Ross from Fantasy Flight came over to the booth and specifically sought me ought to wish Shadowrun well. That was exceptionally cool of him. 3) The second and final day of the tournament wrapped up, and every player I spoke with said they had a good time, which is a total credit to the GMs, who, during the debriefing, showed themselves to be a knowledgeable, crafty bunch!

It is late now. I need sleep.

Three Silver ENnies for Shadowrun 4, 20th Anniversary Edition!

JasonHardy — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 04:00:03 +0000

I don’t have time for a detailed post this second, but we just won three Silver ENnies for Shadowrun 4, Twentieth Anniversary Edition! Best Production, Best Interior Art, and my favorite, Game of the Year! Thanks to all those who worked on the products, and to the fans who voted! You all rock!

GenCon Day 1: Where’s my chair?

JasonHardy — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:39:20 +0000

Great day. But exhausting. Between pitching in in the gaming room, walking around, and working the booth, I started the day on my feet for six hours. Then got a short break, then back to the booth. But why complain when I’m having so much fun? Talking to people on both sides of the booth is great, and people are snatching up books. We’re running a demo that’s kind of Food Fight in a grinder style–we’ve got a convenience store diorama, plus several minis, so people can jump in and out into the ongoing melee at will.

I’m looking forward to all the seminars today–I’ll share announcements from them later! For now, enjoy a pic of that lovely stack of Almanacs!

GenCon Day 0: I love books

JasonHardy — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 02:10:54 +0000

I did not feel like the most useful person today during booth setup day–I walked around a ton but didn’t actually lift much–but the thing is, the booth got setup, and it’s beautiful. The Shadowrun corner makes me happy, and what makes me happiest is the big stack of Sixth World Almanacs on the corner of the table. Finally seeing it in person and holding it is a good, good thing. Spells & Chrome is here too, and plenty of other lovely books.

I’ve also been working on the booth demo, which will feature miniatures painted by my awesome wife, laminated character cards, and grinder-style action–people can drop in and out at will as we play an ongoing assault on an extremely beleagured Stuffer Shack. Look for photos and action reports tomorrow!

New fiction imprint from Catalyst to carry Shadowrun fiction!

JasonHardy — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 23:09:04 +0000

Great news on the fiction front today! Catalyst Game labs has launched Catalyst Press, a new fiction imprint. The first book to come out in the line will be Star Challengers: Moonbase Crisis, the first part of a trilogy by Rebecca Moesta and Kevin J. Anderson (and get a load of the names endorsing the project: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Sally Ride, Leonard Nimoy, Neil DeGrasse Tyson–I get a lot of geek pleasure reading over that list). Coming soon from Catalyst Press: print versions of the Shadowrun short story Spells & Chrome. And after that . . . well, we’ll see, won’t we? But this is a great first step toward new novels!

GenCon’s coming, and we’re (almost) ready!

JasonHardy — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:24:34 +0000

The biggest gaming con of the year is about here, and we’re putting the final touches on a wheelbarrow load of stuff for the show. This post just went up on Catalyst’s web site to give you a taste of what’s going on!

Catalyst Game Labs will be at the 2010 Gen Con Game Fair at our usual spot right in front of the main doors. Next week, come check out the latest and greatest for BattleTech and Shadowrun. You can also take a look at our growing casual game line–such as Merchants, High School Drama, and Ergo–as well as grabbing demos of our coming games in Leviathans, Balance of Power and Hex-A-Gon.

For those playing in Catalyst-sponsored events, below is a link to a PDF you can download showing the complete schedule for BattleTech, Shadowrun, and our casual games. You can also learn how to play Leviathans, a new miniatures game under development.

Catalyst Game Labs Gen Con Events

We’ve also got a host of authors and artists scheduled for signing at the booth (we’ll have a detailed schedule of days and times at our booth).

Artists

Klaus Scherwinski

Alex Iglesias

Echo Chernik

John E. Kauffman

Authors

Michael Stackpole

Steven Mohan

Blaine Lee Pardoe

Randall Bills

Jason Schmetzer

Loren Coleman

****

Also, don’t forget to stop by the booth and check out these ENnie Award Nominees!

Shadowrun 20th Anniversary Edition

BattleTech: 25 Years of Art and Fiction

See you in 3 days!

Corp Guide’s street date is today!

JasonHardy — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:38:25 +0000

There’s new Shadowrun goodness floating around in print! Corporate Guide is out and about. Learn all you need to know about the Big Ten, and some rising powers to boot. For more information, look at this post, or to get a preview of the Aztechnology section, go here. Go buy at will, and enjoy!