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I've found a couple of books of Shadowrun 4th edition and I'm trying to find more (books) about other regions of the world than North America. Where can I get more info about Asia, Europe and Australia? Official books would be preferable.

Edit: Main reason I want books (instead of reading a Wiki article) is because:

1) I'm not a technomancer connected to the internet while in the bus or taking a break at work. 2) Book format is better for the eyes and you can bring it easily at the game table. We have a no laptop policy because my players are easily distracted by 9gag or finding sound effects for the game.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I would think that you may need to go to early sourcebooks. As a SR1 and SR2 fan (I'm that old) a lot of the world was laid down in SR1 sourcebooks. I can't speak to how much was updated in the later editions -- especially considering the timeline as I know it advanced continuously from SR1 through SR4, no resets. In short, SR1 is canon, as I know it, hence a comment, not an answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – javafueled
    Aug 21, 2012 at 13:51
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    \$\begingroup\$ The 6th World Almanac will give you an overview of both the setting timeline, and pivotal global locations. \$\endgroup\$
    – Runeslinger
    Aug 22, 2012 at 13:57

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Consider seeking out the books found for earlier editions of Shadowrun. A fairly comprehensive list is available on Wikipedia's List of Shadowrun books. No need to repeat the list here.

Shadowrun canon has been strongly congruous through all editions, advancing from a common starting point, with light retconning, e.g., wireless technology was present in the 1989, but not ubiquitous as today, e.g., original Shadowrun did not have a wireless matrix which I believe is commonly accepted in SR4.

You'll find that the setting laid down in the editions prior to fourth (SR4) is relevant to the setting today.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I should caveat this with: you may or may not have luck finding said books in print. You may find them on eBay, etc. \$\endgroup\$
    – javafueled
    Aug 21, 2012 at 21:36
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A few of the old sourcebooks are available from DriveThruRPG in print-on-demand format, but none of them deals explicitly with locales outside the Americas:

The Germany Sourcebook is available in PDF form, but is not a print on demand title. The same is true of Tir na Nog. House of the Sun, a Shadowrun novel by Nigel Findley, takes place in Hawaii, but I haven't read it so I don't know how much useful background material it would provide.

The London Sourcebook is out of print, but I believe I have a copy of it gathering dust in a closet. If you're interested, I can see if it's still there.

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    \$\begingroup\$ FWIW, California Free State is pretty lousy. It reads like a laundry list of tired and uninteresting stereotypes about California. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ichoran
    Aug 22, 2012 at 14:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ Surf Elves, ftw! \$\endgroup\$
    – Erik Schmidt
    Aug 22, 2012 at 15:49
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One has to resort to random old (pre-SR4) sourcebooks to get detailed information outside of North America.

Awakened Lands deals primarily with Australia, and is available through third-party merchants on Amazon; it also has shorter sections in east Africa and south Asia and possibly Siberia (I forget). I'm not going to keep linking to Amazon or wherever; you can still find most everything at least on eBay, but it may take some work.

Smuggler Havens has a section on Vladivostok, but mostly covers North America.

Shadows of Europe and Shadows of Asia were on Europe and Asia (the former being somewhat more comprehensive, as I recall). There was supposed to be a Shadows of Latin America, but it never made it out; some of the drafts were made available by the authors, however.

The old Tír na nÓg, Germany, and London sourcebooks cover what we would now call Ireland and--well, we call the other two the same thing. (London covers more than just London, but it isn't a comprehensive treatment of the UK either.)

For SR4, there really aren't any supplements that treat regions in depth. Sixth World Almanac is a good overview--better than has ever existed before--but obviously can't be very comprehensive. There are predominantly but not exclusively non-North-American cities and locations in all of Runner Havens, Corporate Enclaves, Feral Cities, and War!. These can be good as long as you don't want to get too far outside the targeted location.

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