Shadowrun: Earth , Circa 2075

Welcome to Shadowrun, Fifth Edition. Welcome to the streets. If you’re here, it’s because you think you have what it takes to be a shadowrunner. And if you got it, we definitely want to help you use it. What you have to understand, though, is that not everyone’s got it. So we’re going to throw a quick screening interview at you, just to make sure you’re ready to hit the shadows. Answer fast—no one’s got time to sit around these days. Do you have imagination? And your own weapon? If you’re in a dark alley and the earth buckles under your feet, and some being materializes from the ground and prepares to attack, are you ready to make that thing—whatever it is—hurt? If the situation suddenly changes in the middle of a mission, and you’re swarmed by security guards who weren’t supposed to be there, and you’ve got bullets, drones, and magic lightning streaming down on you, can you keep your shit together? Will you trade your flesh and blood for steel and chrome? Will you risk blowing out your mind to seize a piece of the magic power flowing through everything? Will you put your whole self into the Matrix so you can be faster than the next guy, even if it means you might have your brain seared by biofeedback? Will you pay what it costs to be the best? Forget the rest of the interview—the last question is the only one that matters. If you’ve got the guts and the will, you’re ready for the streets. There are plenty of jobs waiting for you. Top-secret research plans need to be stolen from closely guarded R&D labs. Street gangs need rival leaders to disappear. Powerful executives need to be protected from street rabble looking to take their cash or kidnap them for ransom. Hidden artifacts need to be recovered from toxic wastelands. And, if you’re willing, there are always people offering cash in return for putting someone down. I won’t lie to you—it won’t be easy. The Man takes on a million forms, and all of them work hard to keep you down. Organized crime outfits want your blood, and the corporations want your soul. The cops and the government, of course, just want you put away somewhere, out of sight and out of mind. Maybe they’ll get you in a cell, maybe in a tomb. Either option works for them. But all those people who want to bring you down? Let them come. You didn’t choose the life of a shadowrunner to run away from trouble. You picked it to be in control, to keep from selling out to anyone. So bring it on. You have everything you need. You have enough to be more than a street criminal, more than a run-of-the-mill shadowrunner. You have what it takes to be a legend.   It starts now.