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Shadowrun: Coyotes |
$7.95 |
Average Rating:4.2 / 5 |
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Pros:
/ Gives a good idea what Coyotes do
/ Price table
/ Outlines types of border, and what's present at each in terms of actual assets, eg. guard stats, no of spirits, etc.
Cons:
/ Doesn't address corporate extra-territoriality - big omission really, since countries who've signed the BRA and other corporations can't search vehicles belonging to AA and AAA corps (is my understanding)
/ Doesn't look at what happens at a border when you try to get thru! Eg. I have a rating 4 fake SIN, and I try to cross a 'Normal' border - does it work? Ratings of devices such as SIN scanners, MAD detectors, etc. at each border type is not addressed at all.
/ Would have been helpful to have more info about visas, etc. I'd also expect info on bribing officials, etc. here with regards to what's allowed, who gets searched, etc. In the Denver missions there are come quick rules on border crossing, which I imagined would have been expanded upon.
/ Would have also been useful to outline security of borders rather than just checkpoints, eg. drones, minefields, motion detectors, ratings, etc.
I enjoyed what was there, but it seemed somewhat incomplete.
Just my 2c
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So far the best and most helpful setting product for Shadowrun 5th edition. This little booklet tells you what every Shadowrun team not content to stay at home needs to know.. HOW TO GET PEOPLE ACROSS BORDERS! Most of it ties to the default setting of Seattle, but it is easily usable for any part of the world with very general rules and examples. The 30 pages are divided into 5 sections. The first is what seems to be an obligatory short story for 5th edition, fortunately this one is better than most and deserves inclusion. If gives you the perspective from a Coyote of what its like to illegally transport Shadowrunners across borders. Second is a Shadowtalk section from the perspective of Shadowrunners on what its like to hire coyotoes, how much to expect to pay, how one finds them, makes a deal, etcetera. Third you have a section with actual rules or example guards at a border crossing and the categories are given not by specific border but by its difficulty. This gives you a way of making your particular border crossing whatever difficulty you feel is appropriate with a quick turn of the page. 4th you have a nice cross selection of different examples coyotes from parts of the world. The last part is a short little example scenario of a coyote run to fetch a person in the Salish-Shidhe Council and smuggle them into Seattle. The reason for smuggling them was that they have an absolutely ludicrous piece of cyberware. This was the only part of the book that made me go Ughh. In my game I intend to just do a quick swap for illegal nanoware and carry on with the mission as written.
Overall the book is well written, contained few errors you'll notice on your first read through, and was very usable for a Gamemaster of any Shadowrun edition. I wish this had been expanded and made into a full book because I thought it was much better in production values and content than what has been printed so far. Full score on review.
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Widening your horizons from the underbelly of Seattle, the iconic home of the shadowrunner, Coyotes looks at how you cross borders from one region to another, particularly if you lack the papers or resources to just take a flight to your next destination. With the published adventures becoming more and more world-spanning, this is a useful and timely addition - and it can be fun to include in your game (she says, remembering how a certain were-tiger character was smuggled across a border in a crate...)
Beginning with a fluff page of mock activity on a 'runner website and three pages of atmospheric fiction to set the scene, the main body of the work describes - mostly in-character - how a Coyote or people-smuggler operates in the Sixth World. It's dangerous but can be lucrative as well... perhaps your 'runners will want to try it as a trade, or at least need to organise a border crossing as part of their 'run. Or it may be that they need to be somewhere that they are not welcome so more orthodox means of travel will result in an arrest at the airport. Or they may need to leave undetected after stepping on the wrong toes...
Costs can be significant, and there's a handy table to give an idea of how they are calculated (with a note that it is merely a guide for Game Masters), and there's also discussion on the resources that the Coyote needs to ply his trade, and how he defends himself from his 'cargo' as well. Corporates too sometimes have need of a Coyote, and some even have them on the payroll, although that's one of those things they are unlikely to admit.
So now we know a bit about how they ply their trade, where do you find one? Most people use a fixer when they need to engage the services of a Coyote (and that's where aspiring Coyotes tend to look for work). That's discussed as well, so once a need has been determined the deal can be struck.
The discussion then moves on to the borders themselves, looking at the various challenges of trying to get through a checkpoint and of trying to cross the border elsewhere - that is, someplace you should not be crossing at all. Security will involve physical, magical and Matrix elements; and there are notes on how to hide that which you do not want discovered (like were-tigers in boxes...). Borders can be classified as easy, normal, hard and very hard; and details are provided about typical border guards, procedures and security (of all kinds) at each level. So what do Coyotes do that's worth paying them for? A few ideas are provided here, to go along with what has been mentioned before. Six sample Coyotes, fully statted-up, are provided in case you need one in a hurry or just want to look over a typical one's build before creating your own.
Finally, there's a short border crossing adventure, Piping Hot. Drop it into a campaign when you want to introduce your 'runners to the fine art of border crossing. A distraught fixer needs some people moved and his regular Coyote isn't answering. Can the 'runners help? Particularly as said Coyote left detailed instructions on his preferred route just in case he needed rescuing...
All good fun with plenty of scope to make travelling to the job as entertaining as actually doing it; whilst the adventure is quite fun and lets you test the water of the border crossing game with ease.
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Kojoten sind Schmuggler ganz besonderer Güter: Personenschmuggler. Mit dem Shadowrun 5 Quellenband Coyotes bekommen Spielrunden eine wertvolle Hilfe für den Transport des Runnerteams oder anderer Personen über gesicherte Grenzen an die Hand. Dabei richtet sich das kompakte PDF-Dokument in allererster Linie an den Spielleiter.
Rezension: Shadowrun - Coyotes
Coyotes ist ein kurzer Quellenband zu Shadowrun 5, der im Dezember 2013 als englischsprachiges PDF von Catalyst Game Labs (CGL) veröffentlicht wurde. Seit März 2014 gibt es diesen auch von Pegasus als deutsche Variante, die Rezension bezieht sich allerdings ausschließlich auf die englische Variante.
Inhalt
Ein Kojote ist hier eine besondere Art von Schmuggler. Er hat sich darauf spezialisiert, Personen über Grenzen zu bringen, die sie anderweitig womöglich nicht hätten überwinden können. Im Shadowrun-Universum sind diese Schmuggler demnach wertvolle Helfer bei der Abwicklung von Aufträgen, die eine Gruppe von Shadowrunnern beispielsweise ins Ausland bringen. Das Dokument nimmt sich dabei 30 Seiten Platz für die Beschreibung von Coyotes, ihrer typischen Arbeitsweise und der Opposition. Dazu gibt es noch eine einleitende Kurzgeschichte und ein sieben Seiten umfassendes Abenteuer, das thematisch zu dem Ganzen passt.
Transporter
Die Kurzgeschichte Transporter ist ansprechend geschrieben und lässt den Leser eine kurze Grenzüberschreitungs-Episode aus der Sicht eines Kojoten erleben. Dabei wird deutlich gemacht, welche Rolle der Kojote in einem Shadowrun-Abenteuer übernimmt: Die des NSC als Helfer oder Kontrahent.
The Kojote Life
Passenderweise ist der folgende Text über das Leben und Wirken als Kojote aus der Sicht des Protagonisten der Kurzgeschichte geschrieben und tatsächlich taucht eben diese Figur später auch als ein möglicher archetypischer Kojote mit Werten und Ausrüstung auf.
Der gesamte Text gibt einen knappen, aber alle wichtigen Aspekte beleuchtenden Einblick in die Art und Weise, wie Kojote und Shadowrunner miteinander verknüpft sind. Dabei verarbeitet er im Wesentlichen dabei die Optionen, die ein Spielleiter hat, um einen Grenzübergang für eine Gruppe von Shadowrunnern zu einem spannenden Abenteuer zu machen.
Das ist prinzipiell nichts, was Shadowrunspieler nicht auch ohne den Band durchspielen könnten. Die Art und Weise, wie Coyotes Standards beschreibt, dürfte Spielern und Spielleitern allerdings eine große Hilfe sein. Es wird beschrieben, was der Kojote von den Auftraggebern oder Passagieren (z.B. Shadowrunnern) erwartet und was diese von dem Kojoten erwarten können, wie viel man für seine Dienste springen lassen muss und was er dafür zu leisten in der Lage ist.
So umfassend die Beschreibung der Grenzübergänge in dem Abschnitt daher kommt, sie ist an einigen Stellen etwas holprig. So gibt es zum Beispiel bei der Beschreibung der einzelnen Schwierigkeitsstufen immer wieder ganze Absätze, die sich wiederholen, was den Text unheimlich aufbläht und darin potentiell enthaltene kleinere Änderungen unschön verbirgt. Schuldig bleibt Coyotes zudem eine Beschreibung der Grenzbereiche abseits der kontrollierten Übergänge, schließlich ist es für einen illegalen Transfer nicht ganz unüblich, die schwer bewachten und kontrollierten Übergänge zu meiden.
Interessant ist, dass bei der Definition einer Grenze nicht nur Landesgrenzen gemeint sind, sondern natürlich auch die Grenzen zwischen einer Nation und dem Gelände eines mit einer eigenen Extraterritorialität ausgestatteten Konzerns. Nicht zuletzt dieser Aspekt gibt den im Grundregelwerk beschriebenen potentiellen Sicherheitsmaßnahmen einen greifbaren Rahmen, der für jede Runde von Shadowrunnern eine Bereicherung ist - nicht nur für jene, die von Seattle in den Salish-Sidhe-Rat oder von den ADL nach Polen reisen müssen.
Six Sample Coyotes
Der letzte Abschnitt des Quellenteils beschäftigt sich mit archetypischen Kojoten und beleuchtet dabei unterschiedliche Aspekte und Möglichkeiten. Dabei sind nur zwei der sechs vorgestellten Personen klassische Rigger und so sind die Unterschiede und Schwerpunkte anregend vielfältig. Die NSC sind dabei teilweise bebildert, wobei die Illustrationen gelegentlich von den Beschreibungen abweichen - ein NSC wird beispielsweise mit einem Cyberarm dargestellt, der sich nicht in der Beschreibung findet.
Piping Hot
Das Abenteuer Piping Hot umfasst sieben der 30 verfügbaren Seiten und beschreibt ohne große Details ein kleines Szenario, dass eine Gruppe von Runnern von Seattle in den Salish-Sidhe-Rat und zurück bringen soll. Passenderweise müssen die Runner dabei die Rolle eines Kojoten übernehmen, sich also mit den Problemen bei Grenzübergängen selber auseinander setzen.
Mit dem restlichen Quellenband (und natürlich dem Grundregelwerk) hat der Spielleiter zwar alles an der Hand, um seine Runde in einen actiongeladenen Run zu stürzen, allerdings kommt das Abenteuer nicht ohne einige Anpassungen aus. Die grobe Geschichte ist dabei einfach und stimmig, die Details sind allerdings eher lieblos ausgearbeitet. So fehlt beispielsweise eine grobe einleitende Handlungsübersicht, die den sich vorbereitenden Spielleiter von Anfang an an die Hand nimmt.
Stattdessen werden wesentliche Aspekte des Runs auch für den Spielleiter nur nach und nach in den Abschnitten aufgedeckt, so dass man unwillkürlich vorherige Abschnitte durchsucht, ob man nicht etwas übersehen hat - zum Beispiel die besondere Natur der zu transportierenden Person. Und während an einigen Stellen die Werte von NSC mit dem üblichen Seitenverweisen auf das Grundregelwerk referenziert werden, haben andere Figuren nur zwei oder drei Werte, die dann nur schwerlich ein dreidimensionales Bild der Figur abgeben oder dem anderweitig Beschriebenen zuwider laufen. Eine nicht unwichtige Figur der Geschichte wird beispielsweise mit wenig mehr Werten beziffert, als einem Charisma von 5 und einem sozialen Limit von 5. Diese beiden Werte würden darauf zurück schließen lassen, dass die Summe aus Essenz und Willenskraft lediglich 5 beträgt, was dieser Figur wahlweise eine besondere Note verpasst, oder sie im Kontext des Runs schwer glaubwürdig erschienen lässt.
Es folgen weitere logische Schwächen und der Spielleiter wird nicht umhin kommen, diese vorweg anzugehen und auszubügeln. Andererseits könnte man behaupten, dass es zum wesentlichen Handwerk eines Spielleiters gehört, ein Abenteuer an seine Runde anzupassen und die Natur der Fehler bedenkend, fällt das Nacharbeiten des Runs eigentlich in genau den Bereich. Die Fehler sind unschön, zerstören dabei aber die eigentliche Geschichte nicht.
Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis
Coyotes hat für meinen Geschmack einen hohen Anteil an in vielen Shadowruns verwertbaren Informationen. Und davon profitieren natürlich vor allem frische Spielleiter, aber auch alte Hasen gehen nicht leer aus. Auf dreißig Seiten finden sich nicht nur viele Ideen, die sich leicht in Abenteuer einbauen lassen oder selber neue Runs ergeben können, sondern auch eine Menge spieltechnischer Dinge in Form von Daten und Werten sowie ein Kurzabenteuer, das Spielleiter wie auch Spieler ins Thema führt. Der Quellenband hat dabei für 7,95 USD einen angenehm kleinen Preis.
Erscheinungsbild
Das PDF-Dokument verfügt über eine saubere Kapitelnavigation und die Abschnitte sind übersichtlich aufgebaut, Tabellen und Bilder lesefreundlich platziert. Die Illustrationen haben eine angemessene Auflösung, die künstlerische Qualität ist allerdings durchwachsen. Dennoch sind die Bilder immer thematisch passend, können aber kleinere logische Unstimmigkeiten enthalten, die man allerdings wohlwollend übersehen kann.
Tatsächlich ist auch der Text nicht völlig ohne Fehler. Mal scheint beim Redigieren ein Wort oder auch ein Halbsatz übersehen worden zu sein, der dann sinnfrei alleine dasteht, mal tauchen bei NSCs Werte auf, die es in Shadowrun 5 nicht mehr gibt (die Fertigkeit Dodge) und dann wieder unterscheidet sich das logische Format der NSC-Beschreibung von einem NSC zum anderen (mal lediglich Fertigkeitsstufen, mal komplette Würfelpools).
Fazit
Ein sehr kompaktes Werk, dicht gepackt mit wertigem Inhalt. Hier macht CGL kaum etwas verkehrt, und liefert Hintergrund, den der Spielleiter schnell in seine Runs einbauen kann, um diese mit Leben und Details zu füllen.
Dabei geht CGL aber gemessen am gesamten Umfang an vielen Stellen auffällig unsauber vor. Ab und an stolpert der Leser über Schreibfehler oder logische Schwächen. Das grundlegende Thema wie auch das Abenteuer hätten dazu deutlich von einer höheren Seitenzahl profitieren können, denn es wirkt an einigen Stellen unnötig kurz gefasst.
Sicherlich wird nicht jeder Leser über die Schwächen hinwegsehen können. Gelingt dies aber, hat man mit Coyotes eine wertvolle Quelle für Informationen und viele Ideen zur Ausgestaltung von passenden Abenteueraspekten.
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Whilst designed more for the GM than the player, 'Coyotes' is a solid addition to the Shadowrun product line in an appropriate price bracket.
I came across the term during Season 4 of Shadowrun Missions, as Coyotes were integral to the border crossings in Denver. Generally, I winged any scene involving this profession, and always lamented the lack of additional story information. This book addresses my needs admirably, and will be folded into my next game with great enthusiasm.
So what do you get?
- Short fiction at the beginning that is decently written and shows a sample 'run from a Coyotes' point-of-view (as well as the inherent dangers)
- an overview of the role of the Coyote, what you can expect when dealing with them, how they calculate fees, and where the money goes, and why Coyotes can be downright distrustful of 'runners
- a section detailing the hierarchy of borders, how to cross them, what resistance you can expect and the stats for any likely security. This section is well-detailed, and should provide any GM with enough information to add a border crossing to their game.
- the book finishes off with some example Coyotes and a module. The characters are diverse in terms of (meta)humanity, preferred transports, and locations, and this creativity is well-expressed. The module is a one-shot that has the 'runners taking on the role of a Coyote for a night. The basic premise is sound, the pacing is good, and there is plenty of scope to personalise the module for individual groups.
In all, it's an extremely handy resource - especially if you're intending to take your Shadowrun game on the road and expose characters to some new locations. It's well worth the cover price.
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Product- Coyotes
Producer- Catalyst Game Labs
Price- $8
TL;DR- Good add for GMs looking to add international tension to a game. 90%
Basics-You need a ride? Coyotes are specialist smugglers who get people across borders. This supplement covers what to expect when you cross different kinds of borders ranging from the simple guarded gate to countries at war. The book is mostly told through a web post by a professional Coyote near Seattle. Near the end of the book, different example Coyotes are presented. The last section of the book is a complete adventure any GM can run where the players are hired Coyotes.
Fluff/Story- Most of this book is fluff. The book focus on how different border crossings will occur as well as giving runners hints on how to cross these borders. The stories are well written and an interesting read. I enjoyed it. 5/5
Crunch/Mechanics- This is not a numbers book. Make no mistake, the book does give statistics, but this isn't a general spat book for everyone. The book outlines what to expect at different borders and give what defenses the guards will have on hand. I would have liked a few example drawings as some border crossings are referenced, but never shown. The inclusion of the adventure really makes this awesome. 4.5/5
Execution- The book is well laid out. It's a bit expensive for $8 bucks for 30 pages, but I didn't hate reading this. 4/5
Art- The art in this book is pretty good. Some art is recycled from previous stuff which I don't like but most of the referenced characters get their own picture. That makes me happy. I would have liked pictures/maps of a few things, but I do like what I see. 4.5/5
Summary- This is a good book. It's not something everyone at the tables needs, but if you want to be a coyote, this is the book for you. If you are a GM and you want either a quick adventure for the next game, or you want to add tension when most players assume their safe like on a highway between places/adventures, this is an excellent addition to your library. 90%
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Originally published at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/12/26/tabletop-review-shadowrun-coyotes/
..and with this, I believe I’ve cleaned up my backlog of reviewables that came in while I was on vacation. Except for White Wolf’s Blood & Smoke: The Strix Chronicle of course. That’s a big one. Anyway, Coyotes is the latest supplement from Catalyst Game Labs. Unlike Gun H(E)aven 3, which was released the same day, I really liked Coyotes, even if the price tage may give you some initial hesitation as to whether you should pick this up or not. Eight bucks for thirty pages of content is a bit high to me, especially for a PDF, but at least there’s actual CONTENT to this piece (all of which is really well done) compared to say 50% blank space, a picture of a gun, line of mechanics and three to four sentences of Jackpoint snark. Best of all, the content in Coyotes is wonderful and you’ll easily get your money’s worth out of this release. Let’s show you why.
In the Sixth World, the term “coyotes” is slang for smugglers. This might throw you for a loop because of the emphasis the game has on Native American folklore and culture. In many NA tribes, the coyote is the symbol of the trickster god. So why use this term for smuggling? Well, it makes sense if you think about a smuggler being a trickster itself. After all, they have to use wits and many a clever scheme to get their cargo to their destination as well as past corporate and government snoops. In this sense the trickster version of coyote is somewhat applicable, at least more so than the animal itself that bears the name. I’m not sure if that is the same train of thought the writers of Shadowrun used to come up with it, but I’d love to see the process. A book showcasing the process for Sixth World slang would in and of itself would be a great read….but I’m going off topic. Let’s talk Coyotes.
Like a lot of supplements for Shadowrun, Coyotes is a multi-faceted piece. You have some short fiction (three pages) to start things off and then it goes into a Jackpoint discussion post. Unlike most supplements of this nature which have the metaplot piece first and the mechanics at the tail end of the book, the crunch and fluff are seamlessly integrated into this release. It’s a bit jarring for those used to the old way these types of pieces were done, especially when you go to flip towards the back for a piece of mechanics and find it’s not there anymore, but it’s well done and if this is the way these pieces are going to be done for Fifth Edition, we’ll all get used to it. Finally, the piece concludes with an adventure, which was a nice little surprise. This is rarely done in Shadowrun supplements, so I loved seeing this at the end of the piece. The adventure, which we’ll look at in depth later on in the review is written with the Shadowrun Missions format, which I loved seeing, as it’s my favorite adventure format, regardless of system/setting because it’s so inviting to GM’s of all skill levels. All in all, you’re getting an amazing amount of content jammed into these thirty pages and I’m really impressed by this release.
“Transporter” is the name of the piece of short fiction that starts this piece off. It’s about a coyote named Tim (Who also appears to be a Rigger BTW) and his unfortunate dealings with a less than professional team of runners. The story is a fine read and makes a great warning for what happens to PCs that think all NPCs are disposable idiots. The story ends a bit abruptly and I’d have liked to learn more about Tim (especially how he gets away with using a “real” name) and Pax, but that’s what sequels are for, right?
The core metaplot content is done in the usual Jackpoint style. The author here is one Timothy Movo, presumably the same Timothy from the previous short story. It’s a great look at the ins and outs of human trafficking (which is mostly what this piece is about, not cargo) and it’s one of the more faceted pieces I’ve seen CGL do on a particular Sixth World profession. You are given examples of what is needed to survive as a coyote, why it’s hard to get out of the job once immersed in it, and the big mistakes people make in the field, which leads to them dying. This section also tries to differentiate between a coyote and a routine smuggler, but it mostly came off as semantics for me.
This piece also covers the various type of situations where PCs might encounter a coyote. Are you in a game where all the PCs work for a specific corporation? There is a section on corporate coyotes. Want to make a Coyote a big NPC contact for your PCs? There is a lot on how to contact and eventually befriend a coyote. There’s a ton of information on border crossings ranging from “very easy” to very hard” along with the types of security, both mundane and magical that you are likely to encounter. These sections really blur the line between metaplot and mechanics, so you would do well to go over this area several times if you plan on making use of it. Of course, where there are descriptions of security measures, there is also commentary on how to get by them, so you’ll want to read that as well, especially if you play Shadowrun rather than run it.
The metaplot bit just kind of tapers off without warning or any real conclusion. It just suddenly goes into six sample NPC coyotes for use with your game and then into the adventure. Three are riggers, one is a guide, one is an adept and one is a technomancer. If you don’t like any of these, at least you’ll come away with an idea for how to design one of your own.
The included adventure is entitled, “Piping Hot” and it’s a one shot adventure designed to introduce new players to the game (or just Fifth Edition). The adventure is for Fifth Edition only, but with some slight modification, I have no doubts it could be played with previous editions of the game. The adventure takes a bit of explaining. The PCs are all unrelated to each other and are called by a Mr. Johnson individually. It seems he needs someone smuggled into Seattle but his usual coyote has up and disappeared. The good news is that the coyote left a set of instructions on how to do the run. The bad news is the runners, all totally new to the concept of human smuggling, are tapped for the job. It SOUNDS simple enough – drive a van into Salish-Shidhe, pick up the client and come on back to Seattle, but when is a run ever as easy as it sounds? The adventure gives characters and players alike a chance to taste the coyote lifestyle and see if it is something that they would be interested in pursuing further. If so, the GM and PC get a chance at exploring a very different aspect of the Sixth World. If not, hey, it was a one-time experience they wouldn’t otherwise get, right? Either way, the adventure is pretty interesting and a nice change of pace.
Overall, Coyotes is a nice purchase that gives you a taste of everything – a fleshed out concept, some short fiction, a full adventure, some Jackpoint material and a decent amount of mechanics (far more than we normally see in a supplement of this type). Basically it has something for everyone. I’m very pleased with Coyotes and can happily recommend it to Shadowrun fans across the board. Definitely pick it up if you haven’t already.
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Coyotes provides information about people smugglers in the Shadowrun setting. I admit, this is the first time I have seen the term ‘coyote’ used for people smugglers in a non-derogatory matter, the ‘coyotes’ I read about in the modern world are pretty universally unpleasant people, while here it is just used as a generic term and I think they would have been well served to have found another term to use. That aside, it is a useful resource if there is a lot of traveling in your campaign, not all borders are easy to move across after all.
Shadowrun: Coyotes, is a resource on people smugglers in the Sixth World, how and why they operate, advice on when to use them, pre-generated coyotes, examples checkpoints and a scenario make up this product.
It begins with three pages of fiction, showing a cross-border run from the point of view of the driver, and then moves into a little over six pages discussing how the transporters work and the dangers of their trade (and a pricing guide for GMs). Next there is about eight pages of border security (ranging from very easy to very hard) covering the sorts of guards and the magical, physical and matrix tools they will have at hand. Six operators are provided as examples, ranging from street guides to waterborne smugglers, for the GM.
Lastly, there is a short adventure “Piping Hot” that gives characters a chance to act as transporters themselves. It is a good early adventure for a team and, which a little stage-managed, looks like it could be quite fun to play.
Overall, a good addition to the resources for Shadowrun covering a niche that has often been overlooked.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Note: Read more reviews and other gaming articles at my journal https://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/
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Coyotes is an interesting piece. It's perhaps more for GM's than for players, but it answers the question of border crossings in Shadowrun nicely, while also providing an adventure and some guidelines for how players can get passage between places.
My main gripe with Coyotes is that it doesn't cover "unofficial" border crossings, like those done through tunnels or using thunderbirds, in very much detail. Fortunately, it gives a good idea of what to expect at border crossings, providing a good framework for roleplaying the events and actually turning crossing the border into a component of an engaging session.
Typesetting and graphics wise, I enjoyed Coyotes. There's a little bit of art repetition from prior works (I recognized one piece from SR4's Runner's Companion), but that's not a deal-breaker given the general high quality of previous works. Each page has the same header art, but it's subdued enough not to be too grating and distracting.
My only caution to people who would buy Coyotes is the price; for a short fiction, bit of fluff, and a short adventure you might do better for $8, but it's still a good product all-in-all, and if you're looking for that crucial travel information there's no better place to look.
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