BattleRun: Best Ever
Not Canon The subject of this article does not contribute canonical content to the BattleTech universe. This may be because it is not an official BattleTech product to begin with, or because it was declared or otherwise determined to be not canon. |
BattleRun: Best Ever | |
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Product information | |
Type | Sourcebook/Scenario Pack (RPG Adventure) (April Fools) (PDF) |
Author | Jason Hardy |
Pages | 50 |
Cover Artwork | Matt Heerdt (layout) |
Illustrations | Brent Evans, Mikael Brodu (Shadowrun Logos), Jason Vargas (Evolved BattleTech Faction Logos) |
Publication information | |
Publisher | Catalyst Game Labs |
Product code | E-CAT2635A |
First published | 1 April 2009 |
MSRP | Free |
Content | |
Era | Eighth World timeline Jihad |
Timeline | 3076 |
Series | April Fools releases |
Followed by | BattleRun II: The Quest for the Thing |
BattleRun: Best Ever (subtitled An Eighth World Adventure; alternately published via BattleCorps as Battle Run: Best Ever! Eighth World Sourcebook/Adventure) is a humorous BattleTech/Shadowrun crossover sourcebook and adventure module that was released as a free 2009 April Fools product.
Publisher's Description[edit]
“ | BEST EVER An Eighth World Adventure A product 45 years in the making! Though most of those years were concurrent! As BattleTech celebrates its 25th anniversary and Shadowrun celebrates its 20th, the visionaries at Catalyst Game Labs have, for the first time ever, brought these two worlds together! Join us in a universe that combines the best of two fantastic game universes in a tournament to decide who is the best warrior of all time! Many warriors have fallen, and only four remain in the Best Ever Tournament: Kieran McCool, the wily immortal elf who pilots the most feared 'Mech on the battlefield; Asmodeal el Angel de la Muerte, the Manei Domini blood mage who is so evil that his mere presence destroys all photons in the immediate vicinity; Nadja Daviar, a refugee from the 21st century who has lost none of her wiles or extreme sex appeal; and newcomer Jonas Hadry, a MechWarrior and battlefield commander so charismatic and beloved that it seems that possibly the deck was a little stacked in his favor. The Best Ever is a bold venture that bridges two universes. Exciting, visionary, and often a bit deranged, this is the project that no one was asking for but everyone will love! Contains a summary of the new Eighth World setting, nine new character archetypes, and a roleplaying adventure that involves your characters in the excitement, glamor and sheer ludicrousness of the Best Ever Tournament. The Best Ever is kind of compatible with Shadowrun, 4th Edition, and A Time of War: The BattleTech RPG, elbow grease to make fully compatible not included. |
” |
Description[edit]
Created and maintained by essentially the same people and frequently mentioned next to each other, BattleTech and Shadowrun have always been something like siblings in the RPG industry. This April Fools crossover combines them in its sourcebook section by applying BattleTech history to the Shadowrun setting, and pairing BattleTech's signature Great Houses and other factions with characteristic megacorporations from the Shadowrun setting.
The pairings are:
- House Davion - Horizon
- House Steiner - Saeder-Krupp
- House Liao - Evo Corporation and Wuxing
- House Marik - LBI ("Legion of the Batshit Insane", in turn formed of the Word of Blake cabal and Aztechnology)
- House Kurita - Mitsuhama, Renraku and Shiawese
- ComStar - Matrix Systems/Fuchi Electronics/Novatech/NeoNET
- The Clans made Clan Sea Fox their own megacorp, noted for business practices practically resembling extortion
The implication is that, after the discovery of the Kearny-Fuchida Drive, the Seventh World equals BattleTech's Star League era and the Eighth World equals the Succession Wars era and beyond.
Within this setting, the Best Ever adventure revolves around a Solaris Games match in 3076 where the players are hired to tip the scales in favor of one side: The Elves of Tir-na-Niops, feeling marginalized, desperately want one of their competitors, McCool or Daviar, to win the title. Finalist Jonas Hadry seems to be invincible, but as it turns out he has a crippling allergy to Mycosia pseudoflora...
Content[edit]
- Table of Contents (You're Looking at Them)
- Credits (Look Below)
- The World You Live in, Though Why We Have to Describe It to You When You're Living in It Is Somewhat of a Mystery to Us
- The Era Of Profitable War
- The Federated Suns: Don't Hate Us Because We're Beautiful
- House Steiner and Saeder-Krupp: Smooth German Engineering
- The Capellan Confederation: You Will Be Our People, and We Will Be Your God
- The Free Worlds League: The Batshit Insane Don't Make the Most Reliable Friends
- The Draconis Combine: They Use All Their Love on Themselves, So They Have None Left for You
- ComStar and NeoNET: Dude, I Put Together a Real, Working K-F Drive in My Basement
- The Legion of the Batshit Insane: Rational Thought Is a Prison, and We've Got the Key
- The Clans: Why Ally With One of Your Weak Megacorps When We Can Build a Better One On Our Own?
- And the Rest: Some Other Powers of Note in the Inner Sphere
- The Best Ever: An Eighth World Adventure
- The Final Four
- Rules, Rules, Rules
- As Nasty as You Want To Be: Archetypes of the Eighth World
- Ork MechWarrior
- Dwarf Prince
- Decker Redux
- Elven Widow
- Battle armor Street Samurai
- Manei Domini Blood Magician
- Totally Awesome Immortal Elf
- Word of Blake Tech Salesman
- The Marisoo
Canonicity[edit]
As an April Fools product, Best Ever: An Eighth World Adventure is explicitly considered noncanonical.
Notes[edit]
- The PDF download can be accessed at CGL's page under "Free Downloads".
- The trademarked title was Best Ever: An Eighth World Adventure.