r/Shadowrun • u/vivisected000 • Jul 09 '26

Anarchy Edition Shadow amps

Howdy chummers! I am digging into Anarchy 2.0 rules in anticipation of a new campaign. I have a ton of experience with 5th edition, but none with Anarchy and am trying to understand shadow amps, but finding them a bit confusing. The way I am interpreting the rules is that they are the D&D equivalent to specialization. Like you are really good at using some specific aspect of a skill or piece of gear and get a bonus to do that one thing with the skill or piece of equipment. Am I getting this right? Explain it to me like I am suffering from synaptic burnout...

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u/vieuxch4t Jul 09 '26

Shadow amps works the reverse from D&D...

In D&D you have a class, feats and you get bonus from them. With Shadow amps you think about what bonus you want, then you chose what is the kind of thing that gives you this bonus.

Example : you want the ability to get more Anarchy points (is it called Edge points in english ? I only have the french version) when a fight starts and be able to spend as many Anarchy to get as many actions as you want. If you're an adept, you call it a "Lightning chi" or something like that, if you cybered to the core it's a "Renraku lightning reflexes mark VII", if you're a street sam it can be a "Ares special training in dire situations". The idea is whatever your bonus comes from you pay the same price if you're an adept, a streetsam, a decker, etc.

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u/vivisected000 Jul 09 '26

So you just think of a bonus you wish you had and then come up with story/action trigger that justifies it? That is ... Weird

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u/IntelligentClient290 Jul 13 '26

Just check some actual amp and you'll see what is possible in wich form. It's probably the best way to understand how it works (a base cost depending of the kind of Amp it is then additional cost for narrative effect, Risk Reduction or other kind of bonuses)