Features

The Art Of “Shadowrun: Returns” – A journey through the Editions

By Arthur De Martino

Posted on July 30, 2018

High tech, low life.
Now add some magic, elves, trolls, orcs, and dwarves and what do you get?
Shadowrun!
Around 2013 though, Shadowrun was a relic. Sure, you would see the odd RPG splatbook released here and there to the Fourth Edition to the tabletop RPG game. But as far mainstream penetration or even niche status, the series was much smaller than it was in the past, gone were the Super Nintendo and Genesis days. But then, a trilogy of video games and a timely release of a new edition shot the franchise in the arm.
Below, we travel the fourth editions through artwork, just to get in a mood. We swear this relates to the Artwork from the games! Remember to click an image to Focus it.

The First and Second Editions of the RPG

The colors! The Trench coats! The Glam hair! It’s the Late 80’s / Early 90’s and it shows. In a good way. In a great way!

‘Burned Out Mage” – An Arcane type that got too many implants. – First Edition Art

The OG Street Samurai – First Edition Art

Second Edition Elven Decker. David Bowie was here. – Second Edition Art

T-shirt and jeans, ready to hack, from the Second Edition

Combat mage. All things considered? Looks a bit of what you would expect from Modern Shadowrun, from the Second Edition

Magical Tribesman, from the Second Edition

Shaman with style, from the Second Edition

He is using cammo in a setting where most shoot outs happen in Urban places, from the Second Edition

Preppy and mystical, from the Second Edition

Sometimes, the color helps, other times, you get this guy, from the Second Edition

Aren’t Bodyguard supposed to be inconspicuous? From the Second Edition

Not much of a Shadowrunner, this Rocker chick, from the Second Edition

The 80’s gang member, from the Second Edition

Fat yet profissional, from the Second Edition

That hair-do makes the Shaman pop up, from the Second Edition

The hat of this mage…Just look at it, from the Second Edition

Yes, this was a Rigger, from the Second Edition

Former Company man, from the Second Edition

Black and White interior art, from second edition

The Third and Fourth Edition of the RPG

Mark Zug’s take on Shadowrun still has a bit of the zaniness and colors from the first two editions, yet check how more detailed and high tech they can look. Paul Bonners cover while not as iconic as the original one is pretty damn rad. Notice how 3e still has colors and the 80’s silliness (and I say that with all the love in the world) while also pushing a more “real” and even “Gritty” approach that is fully realized on 4th’s edition artwork, that becomes more serious and a bit less over the top with the colors. Finally, we are also sharing some of the 4th’s edition Japanese artwork because why not?

“Along with Ork Noir, Elf Covert Ops Specialist, and Ork Decker, she appeared in Shadowrun Third Edition. To read the text, you know she is a trickster. Ah, but to some she is so much more…” – Mark Zug, author of this Third Edition piece.

Cover for the Third Edition game, Paul Bonner

“People have asked me about the significance of the frog shirt. Originally he was wearing a Batman shirt, but I was warned off that for copyright reasons; so I just reached for the next critter that was creepy, sly, and nocturnal.” – Mark Zug, Third Edition

“This was the first piece I did for Fanpro, the subsequent publishers of Shadowrun. In this “awakened” future, long-dormant magic bubbles forth again, for good and for ill. Did I mention ill?” – Mark Zug, Third Edition

“This is probably the quintessential Shadowrun image for me. The high tech, the low life, the soaringly ambitious, the primal and the mundane all mixed up together. Plus a shark.” – Mark Zug, from Third Edition

Japanese Artwork for the Fourth Edition, Cover

Gunslinger Adept, art from the Fourth edition by Michael Kormack

Combat Mage, art from the Fourth edition by Michael Kormack

Weapon Specialist, art from the Fourth edition by Michael Kormack

Shadowrun Returns

While the fourth edition was far from dead in 2013, one couldn’t call it “thriving”. This titan of the tabletop was a cult hit at that point in time. Enter, Shadowrun Returns. Not only it was a return to Shadowrun in a video game format, there was also a return to the tabletop game in a Shadowrun Fifth edition. Bellow, we will explore each entry of the trilogy and finally showcase some art from the newest edition.

Returns conceptual art

Environment Concept Art, Shadowrun Returns

Shadowrun Dragonfall Art

Shadowrun Hong Kong Art

Tristin Ishmael’s concept art for the Matrix

Not really Shadowrun Hong Kong related, but that Gobbet is too cute not to add to the gallery

And just like that, Shadowrun was back in business! Stay tuned for our next post where we explore in depth the art of the fifth edition, the biggest comeback history in a tabletop game, ever.
Bonus things:

That one live-action promo

Here are some more Shadowrun art-based posts:
4 Shadowrun Anarchy character concepts
Shadowrun Anarchy – Character Portrait Showcase
Artlords Tales – Cyberpunk Character Showcase

About the Author Arthur De Martino

The google wearing super hero know as "Wasp Eye Lad" has a secret identity: Arthur De Martino, a quiet Brazilian man who loves Digital Art a bit too much.