Rumor has it that fanpro does not plan to release any rules sourcebooks whatsoever for SR4!  If they do, I hope that it will be a supplement or companion type book which has chapters which enhance and clarify everything in the original.  Answers to the kinds of questions were're talking about here (which aside from the first four posts are almost 100% to do with commlinks and the matrix) would be more likely to appear in FAQs.  Maybe we should write them up and send them in to try and get some definitive answers.

Negative chummer. Check out the text from http://www.shadowrunrpg.com/products/product.php?i=26004&title=Street+Magic


Now, I would consider this a rules sourcebook. I think, (not sure, never played) SR2 had tech, 'ware, gun, and magic sourcebooks. SR3 had tech, 'ware, gun, rigger and magic sourcebooks... so most likley, I'd think that, since SR4 has a magic sourcebook, it'll have a tech, rigger, gun, and 'ware book (though I'd hope they wouldn't add so much. Or at least come out with some of those books before Chargen so we can try and include them in sheets. And they kinda had enough 'ware in the corebook)

I mean, just based on guns alone, I think there needs to be a Cannon Companion sorta book, just for variety.

I mean, in terms of game stuff, Cannon companion didn't add a whole lot. In the end an Assualt Rifle was an Assualt Rifle, and just becuase one had a laser sight and one had a laser sight but held 4 more bullets doesn't make much a difference. There's no difference, in function, from an AK-97, FN HAR, M-23, or a Semopal vz/88V, or any other of the assorted batch of assualt rifles other then, this one comes with a grenade launcer, this one comes with a scope, this one comes with a gas vent... noting you couldn't already add. But it added  variety to that game, more depth.Your character had more of a choice then just Ares Alpha. Even among the comfigurable weapons, if your character was a CAS type, there was the Styer-AUG. Or you could take a G-38, or now an XM-30. Even among cheap ass rifles, you had a the M-23, the AK-97, among the mid-range 'army rifles' you had the G12, the M22A2, and the Semopal. Just... so much variety to equip player's and PC's with. None of this, Ares Alpha and AK-97, FN-HAR and thats it stuff. I mean, theres a specialization in Revolvers, but unlike SR3 with its core book and CC, theres only one revolver. In SR3, there was the Tauris Multi-6, the Colt Asp, the Cavilier Deputy, and the Rugar Warhawk. I mean, since light pistols are like /useful/ now too, it'd be cool to make the revolver's specialization like... worthwhile.

Same with the Rigger book, which gave you a buncha choices for sedan's that were different, and then even a list of similar models so you could expand your character's car choice even more. And there were like, different price ranges with the different cars. I mean, now all we can buy outta chargen is the Westwind, when most of us would be just fine with a 3220. Which could be a Ford Mustang as well... it was /cool/.

Yeah, I'm blathering, but I guess what I'm saying is that while I think we'd all prefer to keep the rules as simple as possible, the game could do worse then give us some more guns and cars to drool over. Then again, I'm an equipment monkey. But damnit, I want my budget sport's car! How else am I suppose to reenact that one chase scene with Steve McQueen?

EDIT: Oh, and whats the deal with replacing the classic and prolific Americar with Mercury Comet. I mean, yeah, its cheaper, thanks, but... Americar!

Right. I'm done.

You want an Americar, spend a +nom on it.

But yeah, that's the silliest rumor I've ever heard. It's been posted on Dumpshock that there are going to be more rulebooks. Aside from Street Magic, there's Unwired, the tentative title for the new Matrix book, and Arsenal, which is going to be chock-full of guns, gear, go-gos (vehicles), and guts ('ware). There's also Running Wild, which was originally going to be an SR3 book, that'll have critters and other such outdoorsy things.

Weyall, hopefully the new sourcebooks will at the very least be content books, not rulebooks.  The way that Cannon Companion turned unarmed combat into an intricate dance was cool, but it was also complicated.  And let's not even get into what Mits and Rigger 3 and Matrix did to their respective professions   

From the description they're offering for the new magic book, it sounds like it will add a lot of content but not so many rules.  We'll get more spells, powers, totems, traditions, and a lot more background information, but hopefully they'll keep the rules simple

Rule of thumb: If it has more than a couple + or - signs, it's a rulebook.

In other words, I include "content" books under the heading "rulebooks." Only if it were predominantly fluff, like the Target series, is it not a rulebook.