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Shadowrun Heads to Egypt with New “Risks & Rewards” Sourcebook

The Sixth World of Shadowrun is heading into the Land of the Nile with a new campaign sourcebook entitled Shadowrun: Risks & Rewards. The supplement takes places in the sprawling Egyptian city of Cairo, where ancient magic and cutting-edge technology collide in the shadow of the Great Pyramid.

It’s a part of the world that’s rarely been explored in previous Shadowrun materials across all editions, and is a notable change from the rain soaked streets of Seattle, which has served as the game’s primary setting for decades. The book is available now in both hardcover and PDF from Catalyst Games and DriveThruRPG. Below, we take a closer look at all the details.

The cover to the digital book "Shadowrun: Risks & Rewards" from Catalyst Games.

What is “Shadowrun: Risks & Rewards” about?

Risks & Rewards is a 152-page supplement from Catalyst Games for Shadowrun 6th Edition. It includes:

  • A new campaign setting: A fully developed overview of Cairo in the wake of the Disian Shadow War
  • New missions: The book GM advice and hooks for running running standalone missions or a complete campaign, with new factions and NPCs.
  • Monster stats: The book includes stats for a range of creatures, including touching on djinn and ifrit.
  • Magic rules and items: A deep dive into the magicians known as Sufis and practitioners connected to the Egyptian Old Gods.
  • Gear and equipment: A variety of new weapons and cybernetic upgrades.
  • A city poster map: A complete sprawl map of Cairo, with a variety of mission location tie-ins.
Artwork from "Shadowrun: Risks & Rewards," showing a futuristic Cairo with glowing pyramids, neon skyscrapers and a holographic pharaoh floating in the air.

How much is “Shadowrun: Risks & Rewards”?

The hardcover version retails for $49.99 USD (and includes the PDF). Alternatively, you can pick up the PDF for just $19.99 USD from either Catalyst of DriveThruRPG.

Why is “Shadowrun: Risks & Rewards” worth checking out?

  • A unique new setting: The book shifts focus from North America to the Middle East, digging into the sprawl of a city that’s rarely been explored in any previous Shadowrun material.
  • Campaign-ready content: Risks & Rewards offers plenty of content for structured missions along with flexible tools for GMs to build their own runs and long term campaigns in the region.
  • Strong creative lineup: Features writing and art from a number of well known Shadowrun veterans, including line editor R.J Thomas and long time contributor Aaron Dykstra.
Artwork from "Shadowrun: Risks & Rewards featuring an elf woman leaning out from the darkness as pair of blue spirit hands reach out for her.

Final Thoughts

It’s great to see Catalyst Game Labs bringing Shadowrun to a rarely explored part of the world, and it’ll be interesting if they expand on the materials and a create a Cairo: City Edition Core Rule Book (much like they did for City Edition: Berlin). In the meantime, it remains to be seen just what chummers think of this new run into on the land of the Nile.

You can purchase Shadowrun: Risks & Rewards now from Catalyst Games and DriveThruRPG.

Jason Volk
Jason Volk
Jason Volk lives in the wilds of Western Canada and has been playing TTRPGs for over 25 years. His favorite games include D&D, Shadowdark, Starfinder, Traveller and Shadowrun. When he's not rolling dice, he enjoys video games, Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40K, watching football and spending time with his wife and adorably nerdy children.