The Sixth World setting of Shadowrun has always had a cold, sharp edge. When shadowrunners become heroes, it’s often by accident, because all they really meant to do was survive, and maybe find a way to keep some integrity in a rough, difficult world. Many of the best plotlines and moments in Shadowrun’s past have been about the difficult choices the world pushes on people, and what characters are willing to do to get what they want.

With that in mind, Shadowrun, Fifth Edition was built around the idea that everything has a price. Characters have the potential to transcend human limitations, to become better, stronger, faster than anyone out there—but they will not do so for free. There are limitations and challenges built into the new edition of Shadowrun, but there are also opportunities to surpass and transcend those limits, giving players a feeling of real accomplishment for having achieved something great in the face of adversity.

Shadowrun has a lot of forms of currency people can use to get what they want. One of them is, well, currency. Shadowrunners are always forced to ask themselves just what they are willing to do in order to make a living and buy the gear that will give them an edge. The more a runner is willing to compromise themselves, the more money they can earn. In Fifth Edition, each character, including mages and adepts, has a chance to gain significant improvements from their hard-earned money.

Another form of currency in the Sixth World is Essence, that piece of your soul you trade in order to get the latest, hottest cyberware, bioware, and other augmentations. Trading Essence for gear has long been a part of Shadowrun, but Fifth Edition looks to make the cost somewhat steeper by making Essence appear in more tests and other game functions than it did before. The penalties are not so prohibitive that there isn’t a clear gain from acquiring augmentations, but players will now have to think a little more carefully about how much they are willing to give up to get the advantages they want.

In its mechanics, Shadowrun, Fifth Edition introduces a new way for players to think about the trade-offs they make. The basic mechanic of the game remains the same — players roll a pool of six-sided dice and then count each five and six they roll as a hit. In some instances in previous editions, players were limited in the number of hits they could count, such as when casting a spell. That mechanic has been expanded; for each test they roll, characters have a limit, imposed either by the piece of gear they are using or by their attributes. While the amount of dice they roll will be determined by their attributes and skills, players will have to pay attention to their limits to make sure they can take advantage of the hits they roll as often as possible.

Of course, there still needs to be room for the extraordinary roll, the great stroke of luck that comes out of nowhere. Previous editions of Shadowrun have used a game statistic called Edge to represent a character’s ability to benefit from a burst of luck or a sudden, unexpected twist of fate. In Fifth Edition the use of Edge has been expanded so that players have a chance to claim all their hits if they happened to come up with a dynamite roll. This costs them a point of Edge that won’t refresh immediately, so they’ll have to make sure they can spare it.

In order to encourage players to take chances and to reward creative gameplay, Shadowrun, Fifth Edition has new ways to get that all-important Edge back. A daring move, a stunning insight or idea, or a brilliant moment of humor can be immediately rewarded by the gamemaster refreshing one of the player’s Edge points. This mechanic gives immediate positive feedback to players and encourages them to be lively and creative.

Fifth Edition also has overhauled Matrix rules. The Matrix has long been an iconic part of the Shadowrun setting, but Matrix play has not always blended well with other players’ activities, and it also has been hindered by complex rules. Shadowrun, Fifth Edition has easier-to-use Matrix rules that conform more closely to the rest of the book while also better integrating Matrix actions with other activities. More than ever, it makes sense for shadowrunning teams to have a hacker right by their side, blasting at the Matrix while they advance with their guns blazing. If they can survive the chaos, they can reap the reward of big-time paydata.

Shadowrun, Fifth Edition features many other improvements, including easier-to-use vehicle chase rules, revamped technomancers that are more distinct from hackers, a reconfigured initiative system that reduces the amount of time some players spend while waiting for others to go without taking away the advantage of speed, and overall rebalancing of game statistics.

Shadowrun, Fifth Edition is grittier and deadlier, while giving players a chance to survive, thrive, and overcome the odds to make themselves prime runners and street legends.