The main NERPS web site is located at http://www.shadowrun.html.com/nerps/. The books are not reviewed here because the former Project Leader is the person who also puts this site together, and thus reviews might be considered to be biased :)
However, if anyone is willing to do short reviews of these books in the same style as the other book reviews on this site, please email them to Gurth@xs4all.nl.
(An explanation of the items in each book review can be found here.)
Release: 30 March 1996
Authors: Paul J. Adam, Paul E. Buchanan, James Cueno, Jani Fikouras, Mike Goldberg, Gurth, Scott Harders, Erik Jameson, Dave Jordan, Rin Parks, James Prier, Brandon Riddle, Michael Ruane, Shadow, Mark Steedman, Brion Waters, Sebastian Wiers
Editors: Erik Jameson & Gurth
URL: http://shadowrun.html.com/nerps/Edge Runners/index.html (HTML), http://shadowrun.html.com/nerps/Edge Runners/edge_run.zip (RTF)
Pages: 46
File Size: 237 kB (HTML), 329 kB (RTF)
Sections: Introduction, Characters, Appendix A, Appendix B
Overview by Danyel Woods: Several years ago, FASA released a sourcebook called Prime Runners, full of NPCs who were supposed to be the best of the best of shadowrunners. I haven't seen Prime Runners, but apparently some players thought that the 'Prime Runners' were featherweights, and decided to compile a document full of real heavy-hitters. The result is NERPS: Edge Runners, a collection of submitted characters edited by Gurth and Erik Jameson.
NERPS: Edge Runners is in the familiar format of an on-line document with shadowtalk annotations—this document is presented as a guide for Mr Johnsons looking for the elite for a critical mission. The characters are listed in alphabetical order, with some nasty new spells and a very useful house rule at the end. Each character is given a brief description and what the e-document's compilers have found out about the character, then the gamemaster is given the real story, some role-playing pointers for the character, and the character's stats (in SRII format).
I'm told that the characters in NERPS: Edge Runners were actually being used as player characters by those who submitted them. If so, the power-levels in their games must be frightening, because the characters in Edge Runners are phenomenally powerful. [Erik upped the power level of the characters submitted to the original Edge Runners from what was actually submitted. —Gurth] From one perspective, this is good; these characters definitely are the elite of the shadow world. On the other hand, if a gamemaster uses these characters as opposition for his players and things get nasty, the players will probably need to create new characters in short order. Personally, the characters in NERPS: Edge Runners are far too high-powered for me, but I play a campaign where a liquid-lightning killing machine has only Wired Reflexes 1; others might find the threat-level of NERPS: Edge Runners just right.
NERPS: Edge Runners uses a clear, concise, and actually quite pretty two-column format for presenting the character profiles. About the only inconvenience about NERPS: Edge Runners is the alphabetical listing of characters. Many of the characters are actually in groups with some of the others, with their affiliations mentioned in their notes. I feel that splitting the book into two sections—Groups (with their members and their descriptions) and Solo Runners—might have avoided a lot of fore-and-back hunting and searching, and been more appropriate to the in-character e-doc format to boot.
Similar Products: Edge Runners, NERPS: Foundations, Prime Runners
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Release: 19 August 1994
Authors: David J. Altman,
Dwayne Baker, Brandon Bradley,
Brad Caldwell, George Campbell, Angus Chan, David Dauwen, Marcel Emami, J.D. Falk, Thomas Frost, Robert A. Hayden, Chad Hessoun, Mazda Hewitt, Martin Hillgrove, Erik Hultgren, Chris Innanen, Benjamin Legangneux, Steve Mancini, James Mann, Paolo Marcucci, Dylan Northrup, Chris Pedersen, Neal Porter, Tim Rayburn, Christopher Ryan, Joshua Seely, David Sherohman, Phillip Steele, Geoff Surrette, E.C. Trager, Daniel Waisley "NightFox", Robert Watkins, Robert Winterhalter, Nathan Yourchuck
Editor: Robert A. Hayden
URL: http://shadowrun.html.com/nerps/Foundations/index.html (HTML), http://shadowrun.html.com/nerps/Foundations/foundat.zip (RTF)
Pages: 95
File Size: 235 kB (HTML), 268 kB (RTF)
Sections: Characters, Plotlines, Sprawls, List of Contributors
Similar Products: Edge Runners, NERPS: Edge Runners, Prime Runners
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Release: 25 August 1997
Authors: Greig Chisholm, Rod Dreher, E, Vance Jon Edward, J.D. Falk, Jani "Darth Vader" Fikouras, Guido Ferraro, Paul Finch, Keith Graham, Gurth, Robert A. Hayden, Inquisitor, Chris McKinnon, Alex van der Kleut, Michael "Harlequin" Knabusch, Kyle Kohler, Jakob Lorberblatt, Nightfox, Shadowdancer, Tim Skirvin, Mark Steedman, Eric Trager, The Wyrm Ouroboros
Editor: Gurth
URL: http://shadowrun.html.com/nerps/Lost And Found/l&f.zip
Pages: 67
File Size: 407 kB (RTF)
Sections: NERPS: Shadows of the Mind (History of NERPS: Shadows of the Mind, History of Psionics in the Sixth World, Short Fiction, Creating the Psionic Character, The World Around a Psi, Psionic Design, Additional Thoughts), NERPS: ShadowLore II (Shadow's Edge Spring Catalog 2056, Bioware & Cyberware, Technology, Melee Combat 3.0, Magic, Target Firearms-Duty Ammunition), NERPS: DragonLore (Dragons, Dragon Guardians, Dragon Worship, When, Where, and What Do Dragons Come From?, ...Something In The Waters, Maybe?, Critters, Bio-Armor, Shadowtalk)
Similar Products: NERPS: ShadowLore
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Release: 15 April 1994
Authors: various
Editor: Robert A. Hayden
URL: http://shadowrun.html.com/nerps/ShadowLore/index.html (HTML), http://shadowrun.html.com/nerps/ShadowLore/lore.zip (RTF)
Pages: 104
File Size: 289 kB (HTML), 347 kB (RTF)
Sections: Races, Magic, Cyberware, Bioware, Matrix, Tech, Behind The Scenes
Similar Products: Ka•Ge, NERPS: ShadowLore, Neo-Anarchist Guides to Everything Else, Shadowland
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Release: 30 July 1996
Authors: Paul Jonathan Adam, Gurth, David G. Hinkley, Erik Jameson, Bob Ooton, Sascha Pabst, Bryan Linn Schuler
Editor: Gurth
URL: http://shadowrun.html.com/nerps/Underworld/index.html (HTML), http://shadowrun.html.com/nerps/Underworld/underwa4.zip (RTF A4), http://shadowrun.html.com/nerps/Underworld/underw_l.zip (RTF Letter)
Pages: 73
File Size: 354 kB (HTML), 1.18 MB (RTF)
Sections: Basement Transactions, Fixing the Fence, Item Encounters, The Arms Bazaar, The Organizatsiya, Better Living Through Biochemistry, Plastic Weapons, Pee Cee Cops, Criminal Gear and Equipment, All That Is Old Is Not Obsolete, Shadow Holdings, Vehicle Accessories, Frequently Asked Questions for NERPS@listproc.itribe.net
Similar Products: Underworld Sourcebook
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