Every shadowrunner needs a place to meet a Johnson. Or relax. Or talk. Or unwind. Or hide. Or make a deal with a dragon. Faerie. Ghost. Whatever.
Let’s face it, when the goin’ gets tough, the tough find a bar. Anywhere you can find somethin’ strong, meet an old friend, gather yerself for a second, reload, and maybe – just maybe – get a break. There are high-end nova-clubs, hippy-dippy mage joints, dive-bars, cyber-pubs, drone-operated casinos, and everything in-between. Hell, most of the most up-and-coming are combinations of the above and then some.
Some scientist once said that the world runs on moving water. I say it runs on moving booze. As long as the liquor keeps flowin’ and the cups never run dry.
This is a short-list of pubs, bars, dives, and hideaways I and mine have found useful in the past.
If you stop in, put one on yer tab for the good folks who provided these descriptions. And don’t forget to tip, ya cheap bastards! I’ll try to gather a few more in a second round of paydata.
--Jack Trades, yer friendly, neighborhood info-broker
What this book is:
Bars make a great drop-in location when characters need a brief respite from the menacing Sprawl streets, a place to lay low, a lively location to meet a contact, or a detailed spot for a good shoot-out. Yet, it can be challenging to ad-lib a location like this without warning. What does it look like, feel like, sound like, and/or smell like? Who are some of the most notable people the characters see when they first walk in the door? How much does it cost, and what is there to do? And what kind of security is in place??
Over the course of our games, we have thoroughly enjoyed developing these locations with our players. The places, characters, and descriptions included in this publication have been memorable to us, and we wanted to share them with you. We hope you get to know them as fondly as we have.
Location, Location, Location
Each location has a suggested location address. These settings are meant to be dropped into your campaign no matter where your runners happen to call home. While the pubs, bars, and clubs described in Pub Crawl Through the Sprawl generally include a description of where these establishments can be found, it is entirely up to the Gamemaster if these locations are actually found somewhere else. Does your campaign take place in Chicago? New York? London? Hong Kong? These locations can easily be placed in any of them. The locations listed are only suggestions to help you fit them into the well-known city setting of Seattle in the Shadowrun game-world. Don’t let their prescribed locations stop them from becoming your Runners’ favorite new dives if you prefer a different campaign location!
What’s the Security Situation?
We have detailed four kinds of security for each location to help GMs keep the fun moving: Physical, Technical, Magical, and Matrix. It can be challenging to keep each of these “levels” of play in mind when a GM needs to describe security on the fly, so we have established some basic security features that may be of interest to any character regardless of their particular focus.
Street samurai or other “tough-guy”? Make sure they know about the bouncers or other physical security features. Mages and Shamans? The astral may be abuzz with spirits, critters, and wards. Deckers looking to do a little hacking on the fly? Each location has a Host described and technical security features for them to play with.
People of Interest
Lastly, any pub, club, or tavern would not be complete without its unique host of staff and patrons. They give an establishment life, character, and that particular “je ne sais quoi” that makes visiting it so memorable and entertaining! We’ve given brief descriptions for each of a few of the important people runners may notice or want to talk with for each place. GMs will also find ratings for their connections in case runners attempt to enlist them as contacts. We have listed references to stat blocks that can be found in established Shadowrun game material, but we have refrained from providing detailed statistics in order to make sure GMs can easily fit their skills and details to the needs of their games.
From Chris Low, Lead Author of Pub Crawl Through the Sprawl:
I've always loved being a game/dungeon-master for fantasy and cyberpunk role-playing games, and we loved putting this supplement together for you! This listing is for the battlemaps (created with Arkenforge) associated with our 5th Edition Shadowrun supplement, "Pub Crawl Through the Sprawl." If you only want the battlemaps, you can purchase them through Roll20 on this page. But, if you want the accompanying PDF supplement, you can purchase it on DriveThruRPG.com here at a discounted bundle price! https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/505912/pub-crawl-through-the-sprawl. It comes complete with the battlemaps in Roll20 and the full PDF detailing these three locations.
It was so great to see Pub Crawl come to completion, and I'd love to bring more to you.
What kinds of content would you like for your games? Soundscapes? Battlemaps? Detailed descriptions of locations, characters and contacts, or adventures? New gear and items? I want to make it all, and I want to make it useful for you!
Follow me on Social Media and reach out for anything at all!
If any of your PCs would like to make contact with one of the NPCs listed in Pub Crawl, send me a message on my commlink, omae! Just send a discord Direct Message to knave_of_blades with #(name-of-NPC-here), and I will make sure they respond to you with an in-game message!
X.com - @KnaveofBlades
Instagram - KnaveofBlades
Discord - knave_of_blades
Cards Will Tell Production Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571012902574
Cards Will Tell Productions Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KnaveofBlades
Like what we do? Rate and review Pub Crawl Through the Sprawl to help others recognize the quality of our work!
You can also support us on Patreon to help us produce content like Pub Crawl faster! Simply go to Patreon.com and search for CardsWillTell!
You can also find our DriveThruRPG store here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/browse?author=%22Christopher%20Low%22
Thanks again, chummers, and stay safe in the shadows!
map shadowrun 5th edition
map shadowrun 5th edition
map shadowrun 5th edition
License: Roll20 End User License Agreement
(Personal Use Only, Do Not Distribute)
