rpg

I don't have a direct experience with SR1 but SR5 was the first RPG I've GMed and we did check out SR3 briefly

1. Don't try to get everything right (mechanics-wise) from the start. It's impossible with that amount of intricacy. If you really feel that it's important to get the rule right - right now, ask a player to check in the book and continue with other thread
2. For the first few sessions forget about the details of the mechanics. Focus on the world appearing in the run
   Remember about the three:

• Meat (bribes/social/gangs/mafia/etc & violence)
• Magic
• Technology (Matrix & drones)

Focus on what should the characters find where and how. Try not to kill them, telegraph dangers

1. Without some flashback mechanics your players might get stuck in analysis paralysis in Legwork phase. Try to find a way to mitigate that, that will work with your table

• Three-clues rule

1. Hacking will be taking a lot of time and unfortunately in later mainline editions it is only better, IMO never really good.

2. From what I've skimmed, the Matrix house-rules for SR3 can make it move faster

3. If you have the chance, take a look how Anarchy 2 approached hacking, IMO it's much better. But it might not fit your taste for crunch

4. Shadowrun flows very differently than D&D

5. Don't prepare plots

6. Onion plots

7. Split the party
   * helps maintaining more divided spotlight time
   * gives time to check up rules
   * allows you to gauge if they are going to completely miss the mark with how they approach the current situation

8. IMO The Lazy Dungeon Master is THE WAY to prepare heist games and in general games where there are a lot of moving parts and players might solve a problem in a way that totally makes sense but you haven't thought about it. Having a bag of ideas instead of a planned plot makes it possible to play along

BTW, there's !shadowrun@sh.itjust.works. It's not very active but I dream some day it will be

And good luck, Chummer!
While personally I've ditched the mainline mechanics, it's a great setting and I really like running SR

I wouldn't worry too much about the actual edition people could play with it 40 years ago, and there is enough nostalgia to do a 2025 reprint, so they must be somehow playable.

With my limited shadowrun experience,

• Beware of Decker going to the Matrix and mage doing Astral projection, it "splits the party" lead to a player having their own overcrunchy game-phase spending a hour to open a door or locate someone. I believe some latter edition got better but the early one where like their own game in the game

• I see shadowrun like the diesel engine of "crunchy system"it's heavy, slow to start, but there is a point where it runs smoothly

• Just like every other crunchy system, and especially older one, feel free to ignore half of the rule (You know the meme about aircraft carrier, but more seriously never saw a GM caring about the Grenade dispersion roll)

This was my very first RPG, back in 1990.

The first piece of advice: Don't have player character deckers. Make them NPCs. The decking rules are a horrible, horrible mess that takes the action away from the table.

I prefer the world of 2050 to later versions. I'd put 1st ed Shadow run at like a 6/10 on complexity. Once you get the swing it is smoother than lots of games. Personally I think staging is a brilliant mechanic.

The matrix in first ed is pretty messy but you can fudge it to make it go faster. (just get them to roll a few skill checks depending on what they want to do.) Or just tell your players to not play deckers and you wont make them need one.

Why Shadowrun 1st edition? It's not the game at its best. Burst fire and full auto require rolling dice for every single bullet! (And I say this as someone that was introduced to RPGs through Shadowrun 1st edition, and even has a Shadowrun tattoo)