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[The Setting][The Action][Overview][About the Cards][Playing the Game][Combat][Credits][FAQ][Optional Rules]

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Overview

WHAT YOU NEED TO PLAY
You do not need to know how to play the Shadowrun roleplaying game to play the Shadowrun Trading Card Game. However, you will need the following:

· A deck of the SRTCG
· A six-sided die
· Tokens (for example, pennies, poker chips, buttons-you get the idea)

OBJECT OF THE GAME
The object of the SRTCG is to earn enough Reputation points to become the King of the Sprawl. You earn Reputation points by taking your crack team of Runners on shadowruns against Objectives, operations such as blowing up a building or saving a species. Other players will try to stop your team with Challenges in order to win the Objectives and Reputation points for themselves, so you'll need to equip your Runners with a variety of Gear in order to fight your way to the top.

Before beginning play, all players must agree on the number of Reputation points required to win the game. We suggest 60 - 75 points for a two-player game and 75 - 100 points for a game with 3 or more players. The first player to acquire the agreed-upon number of Reputation points wins the game.

The higher the number of Reputation points required to win the game, the longer the game will last. The Reputation point total should always be at least 50, so that players must take at least two Objectives to win the game. You can also adjust the length of the game by altering the maximum number of Challenges per Objective (see About the Cards).

THE LAW OF THE SHADOWS
If a rule on a card contradicts the rules printed in this book, the rule on the card takes precedence. Cards that manipulate, ignore or even reverse these rules reflect the fact that the chaotic world of Shadowrun continually affects the lives of those who dwell in it-in other words, drek happens.

There are no exchanges or permanent loss of cards in the SRTCG.

If there is confusion or conflict about how to interpret the rules on a card and you are unable to find a satisfactory resolution using this book, resolve the disagreement by rolling a D6. Please don't waste time arguing!

GAME FUNDAMENTALS
The following information explains the basic concepts and mechanics of the SRTCG.

Number of Players
Any number of players can play the game. The SRTCG works equally well for two-player or multi-player games.

Card Limits
You may place up to 4 copies of any single card in your deck. If a card is designated as Unique, you may only put one of that card in your deck.

The Hand
You may have a maximum of 7 cards in your hand at the end of your turn but you may have more than 7 cards in your hand during your turn.

Game Terms
The following terms are used throughout this book and on the cards to describe game play.

Deploy: When a card is brought into play, it is deployed.

Turn(ed): You turn a card (rotate it off-center) to use its abilities. A turned card reminds all players that the owning player cannot use that card again during his turn.

Unturned: An unturned card indicates that the owning player may use that card's abilities during his turn. Cards are brought into play unturned to indicate that they may be used.

Trash: Your discard pile is called the trash. If instructed to trash a card, place that card in the discard pile.

Frag: In some situations, a card may be fragged (removed from play). Cards that are fragged are set off to the side and can no longer be used in the current game. You may return such cards to your deck only after the game is over.

The Safehouse: The safehouse is the area on the playing surface directly in front of the player (see Card Set-up). You play Runner cards and Gear cards directly from your hand into the safehouse. Shadowruns take place outside the safehouse.

Nuyen: Nuyen (indicated by the ¥ symbol) is the currency of the Shadowrun world. Most of the cards in the SRTCG have a nuyen deployment cost. You must pay this cost to bring the card into play from your hand.

Upkeep: Some cards have an Upkeep cost in addition to a deployment cost. You must pay a card's Upkeep cost every turn to keep that card in play (see Credstick Phase, in Playing the Game).

The Credstick: The Credstick is the physical place on the playing surface where you pile the tokens representing your nuyen (you also may choose to track your nuyen on a piece of paper). We recommend using tokens for your Credstick, because that allows all players to easily keep track of the progress of the game.

Shadowrun (Run): Players send their Runners on shadowruns-missions to take an Objective and thereby earn Reputation points.

Reputation: Players earn Reputation points to win the game by taking Objectives. All earned Reputation points should be placed in a Reputation pile in front of the player.

Sleaze: To sleaze means to slip undetected past Challenges-the defensive measures designed to stop a Runner team from reaching its goal. A Runner team that has the proper skills may sleaze past a Challenge and thereby avoid a fight. For example, a Runner team sneaking past a sleeping guard dog is sleazing the dog.

Present: A card referred to as "present" may be in one of three situations. 1) On a shadowrun. This includes all Runners on the shadowrun as well as the currently revealed Challenge. 2) In the safehouse. This includes all unturned Runners currently in the safehouse. 3) In Runner-against-Runner combat. This includes all the Runners involved in the combat on both sides.

Searching Your Deck
Certain cards allow you to search your deck and add a card to your hand or deploy a card. Anytime you search your deck, you must shuffle the remaining cards.

Card Categories
The SRTCG uses seven different types of cards: Runners (the main characters of the game), Gear ("toys" for the Runners, such as Armor, Weapons, Spells, Drones and so on), Objectives (the targets of shadowruns and the primary source of Reputation points), Challenges (things that get in the way of succeeding at a shadowrun), Locations (places in the world of Shadowrun), Contacts (potentially useful people who live in the shadows) and Specials/Stingers (the wild cards of the game). A complete description of each card category appears in About the Cards.

Die Rolls
Some cards require the player to roll a six-sided die, indicated by the abbreviation D6 in the text, and consult a table on the card for the result. In some cases, the die-roll result will modify an existing number. For example, a weapon may inflict D6 + 4 damage. In other words, the weapon will inflict damage equal to the result of the D6 roll plus 4 additional points. A result of 5 in this case would cause 9 points of damage. A modifier may also be negative, as in a spell that inflicts D6 - 2 damage. In this case, a die roll result of 5 would yield a final result of 3.

A dice roll cannot be modified to a value of less than 1. There is no maximum value.

Tokens
You use tokens primarily to represent your available nuyen and to mark damage your Runners have received. The cards also may require you to use tokens to track other elements of the game.

Timing Issues
If two people want to play a card simultaneously, the person who is currently taking his turn gets to play his card first. If neither player is in the middle of his turn, the players should roll D6 to determine who goes first.

Basic Deck-Building
Your deck must contain at least 60 cards, plus a minimum of 6 Objectives. These 6 Objectives must at least equal the Reputation points needed to win the game and do not count as part of your deck for deck-size purposes. We recommend a 60–70 card deck. You may build larger decks, but larger decks tend to be less effective.

The following list suggests a good beginning deck. This list only scratches the surface of deck-building possibilities, but it is a good place to start. As you collect additional cards, you can build more specialized decks according to specific themes, such as a troll, rigger or street samurai deck. If you build a deck that bombs, don't sweat it-it's just a game. Part of the fun of playing is finding new and inventive ways to create a winning deck!

Shadowrun is a registered trademark of WizKids, LLC. Some content may be copyright © 2002 Fantasy Productions. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission. Any use of WizKids' or FanPro's copyrighted material or trademarks in this file should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks.