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Shadowrun
''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic in fiction, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy, and crime fiction, crime, with occasional elements of conspiracy fiction, conspiracy, horror fiction, horror, and detective fiction. From its inception in 1989, it has spawned a franchise that includes a series of novels, a collectible card game, two miniature-based tabletop wargames, and multiple video games. The title is taken from the game's main premise – a near-future world damaged by a massive magical event, where industrial espionage and corporate warfare runs rampant. A ''shadowrun'' – a successful data theft or physical break-in at a rival corporation or organization – is one of the main tools employed by both corporate rivals and underworld figures. Deckers (futuristic hacker (computer security), hackers) can tap into an immersive, three-dimensional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FASA
FASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargaming, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001, after which they closed publishing operations for several years, becoming an IP holding company under the name FASA Inc. In 2012, a wholly owned subsidiary called FASA Games Inc. went into operation, using the name and logo under license from the parent company. FASA Games Inc. works alongside Ral Partha Europe, also a subsidiary of FASA Corporation, to bring out new editions of existing properties such as Earthdawn and Demonworld, and to develop new properties within the FASA cosmology. FASA first appeared as a ''Traveller (role-playing game), Traveller'' licensee, producing supplements for that Game Designers' Workshop role-playing game, especially the work of the Keith Brothers. The company went on to establish itself as a major gaming company with the publication of the ''Star Trek'' RPG, then several successful original games. Noteworthy lines includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earthdawn
''Earthdawn'' is a fantasy role-playing game, originally produced by FASA in 1993. In 1999 it was licensed to Living Room Games, which produced the ''Second Edition''. It was licensed to RedBrick in 2003, who released the Classic Edition in 2005 and the game's Third Edition in 2009 (the latter through Mongoose Publishing's Flaming Cobra imprint). The license is now held by FASA Games, Inc. (from FASA), who have released the Fourth Edition, with updated mechanics and an advanced metaplot timeline. Vagrant Workshop released the ''Age of Legend'' edition in 2016 using alternative rules-lite mechanics. The game is similar to fantasy games like ''Dungeons & Dragons'', but draws more inspiration from games like ''RuneQuest''. The rules of the game are tightly bound to the underlying magical metaphysics, with the goal of creating a rich, logical fantasy world. Like many role-playing games from the nineties, ''Earthdawn'' focuses much of its detail on its setting, a province called ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantasy Productions
Fantasy Productions Medienvertriebsgesellschaft GmbH (a.k.a. FanPro) is a German publishing company based in Erkrath. History The company was founded in 1983 by Ulrich Kiesow, Werner Fuchs and Hans Joachim Alpers to produce small metal miniature figures. When the Droemer Knaur Verlag and the Schmidt Spiel & Freizeit GmbH published Kiesow's role playing game " Das Schwarze Auge", Kiesow organised the editorial work at FanPro. After the bankruptcy of the ''Schmidt Spiel & Freizeit GmbH'' in 1997, FanPro published ''Das Schwarze Auge'' by itself. FanPro LLC Fantasy Productions had spent years translating FASA products into German, and when FASA closed in 2001, WizKids licensed some of the FASA game rights to the Fantasy Productions principals. Fantasy Productions expressed interest in obtaining a license for ''Shadowrun'' before Rob Boyle was able to make a bid, so Fantasy Productions founder Werner Fuchs invited Boyle to visit him in Germany, and Boyle soon set up and ran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catalyst Game Labs
Catalyst Game Labs (CGL) was created in May 2007 by InMediaRes Productions, LLC for the purpose of publishing print ''Shadowrun'' and ''Classic BattleTech'' sourcebooks.InMediaRes Productions, LLC forms imprint Catalyst Game Labs (BattleCorps.com, May 15, 2007) In June 2007, WizKids transferred the licenses for both ''Shadowrun'' and ''Classic BattleTech'' from Fantasy Productions, FanPro's United States subsidiary, FanPro LLC, to Catalyst, and in June 2008, Catalyst announced novels for ''Shadowrun'' and ''Classic BattleTech'', as well as the ''MechWarrior'' series. Most of the individuals responsible for the success of both ''Shadowrun'' and ''Classic BattleTech'' at FanPro moved to Catalyst when it acquired the licenses. At the 2008 Gen Con, Catalyst Game Labs anno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Hume (game Designer)
Paul Hume has been designing role-playing games since the mid 1970s. He co-wrote, with Bob Charrette, ''Bushido'', ''Aftermath!'', and '' Daredevils'' for Fantasy Games Unlimited. He is also a co-author of ''Shadowrun'', among other games. Career Paul Hume and George Nyhen designed the role-playing game ''Space Quest'', which was published in 1977 by Tyr Gamemakers. Hume and Bob Charrette designed the game ''Bushido'', which was first published in limited distribution by Hume through his small press company Tyr Games. ''Bushido'' was republished by Phoenix Games in 1980; Phoenix Games was also preparing to publish ''Aftermath!'' (1981) also by Hume and Charrette, but as the company went defunct, Fantasy Games Unlimited reprinted ''Bushido'' in 1981, and stickered their logo over the Phoenix Games logo on the cover of ''Aftermath!''. Hume and Charrette also collaborated on '' Daredevils'', published by FGU in 1982. Hume and Charette designed the ''Shadowrun'' role-playing game ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urban Fantasy
Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, placing supernatural elements in a contemporary urban area, urban-affected setting. The combination provides the writer with a platform for classic fantasy tropes, quixotic plot-elements, and unusual characters—without demanding the creation of an entire imaginary world. Precursors of urban fantasy are found in popular fiction of the 19th century and the present use of the term dates back to the 1970s. Much of its audience was established in the 1930s-50s with the success of light supernatural fare in the movies (and later on TV). The genre's current publishing popularity began in 1980s North America, as writers and publishers were encouraged by the success of Stephen King and Anne Rice. Characteristics Urban fantasy combines imaginary/unrealistic elements of plot, character, theme, or setting with a largely-familiar world—combining the familiar and the strange. The world does not have to imitate the real world, but can instead be set ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberware, juxtaposed with societal collapse, dystopia or decay. Much of cyberpunk is rooted in the New Wave science fiction movement of the 1960s and 1970s, when writers like Philip K. Dick, Michael Moorcock, Roger Zelazny, John Brunner (novelist), John Brunner, J. G. Ballard, Philip José Farmer and Harlan Ellison examined the impact of technology, drug culture, and the sexual revolution while avoiding the utopian tendencies of earlier science fiction. Comics exploring cyberpunk themes began appearing as early as Judge Dredd, first published in 1977. Released in 1984, William Gibson's influential debut novel ''Neuromancer'' helped solidify cyberpunk as a genre, drawing influence from punk subculture and early hacker culture. Frank Miller's ''Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Dowd (game Designer)
Thomas A. Dowd is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Thomas Dowd was one of the writers who created supporting material for the '' Villains and Vigilantes'' role-playing game from Fantasy Games Unlimited. The ''Shadowrun'' 2nd Edition rules from FASA, by Dowd with Paul Hume and Bob Charrette, won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1992. Dowd was working at FASA in 1990 when he met Peter Adkison, who was trying to understand how the gaming industry worked, and Dowd advised him to attend the next Gama Trade Show in March 1991. Mark Rein-Hagen Mark Rein-Hagen, stylized as Mark Rein•Hagen (born 1964), is an American role-playing game, role-playing, card game, card, video game, video and board game designer best known as the creator of ''Vampire: The Masquerade'' and its associated '' ... turned to Dowd to design his new game about vampires, because Jonathan Tweet was his expert in game mechanics but left Lion Rampant in 1989 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Lewis (game Designer)
Sam Lewis is an American designer of board games and former line developer of the ''Renegade Legion'' line in FASA Corporation. He was also president of FASA for a time. Background He holds an MBA in economics from Northwestern University, which he obtained in 1983. In 1983, he was credited as the designers of Mayfair Games' ''Dragonriders of Pern'' licensed game after a novel by Anne McCaffrey. After Jordan Weisman founded the company which would become Virtual World Entertainment, Sam Lewis became president of FASA. By 1994, ''Renegade Legion'' had been dropped from production, and when Paul Lidberg - president of Crunchy Frog Enterprises - sought a full ''Battletech'' license from FASA, Lewis convinced Lidberg to license ''Renegade Legion'' instead. For FASA, he created the individual combat game '' Battletroops'' in their ''Battletech'' game universe, and is credited for the adaption thereof under the name ''DMZ'' in the ''Shadowrun'' universe. Apart from that, he was res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tabletop Role-playing Game
A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a set role-playing game system, formal system of rules and guidelines, usually involving randomization (such as through dice). Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvisation, improvise, and their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game. Neither pen and paper nor a table are strictly necessary for a game to count as a TTRPG; rather, the terms ''pen-and-paper'' and ''tabletop'' are typically used to distinguish this format of RPG from role-playing video games or live action role-playing games. Online play of TTRPGs through videoconferencing has become common since the COVID-19 pandemic. Some common e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics
Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics (ICE) is a term used in the cyberpunk subgenre to refer to security programs which protect computerized data from being accessed by hackers. Origin of term The term was popularized by William Gibson in his short story " Burning Chrome", which also introduced the term ''cyberspace'', and in his subsequent novel ''Neuromancer''. According to the Jargon File, as well as Gibson's own acknowledgements, the term ICE was originally coined by Tom Maddox. Description of ICE When viewed in a cyberspace virtual reality environment, these constructs are often represented by actual walls of ice, stone, or metal. Black ICE refers to ICE that are capable of killing the intruder if deemed necessary or appropriate; some forms of black ICE may be artificially intelligent. Real-world usage Though real-life firewalls, anti-virus software and similar programs fall under this classification, the term has little real world significance and remains primarily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
