Ah, metavariants are regional offshoots of the typical five metatypes, thus the name metavariants. Basically, think the same way that people from Ethiopia and Egypt are both African, but have certain cultural differences. In the case of SR, metavariants are rarer subgroups native to certain areas of the globe, which while still recognizable as human, ork, troll, etc also have certain physical differences in addition to cultural discrepancies. They include such groups as satyrs, oni, dryads, and various other things. Basically, it's a way to include certain geographical legends into the five race system or give players a more unique character. Of course, in SR, it's not always a good idea to be unique, as you are far more likely to be noticed and remembered. Not the best thing for people who work as thieves cum mercenaries.

Yay, a newbie friendly game! most games want experienced players. I would like to join in on this but what time is it being held? or is that not set yet.

Ultimately, it is Corwin's campaign. That being said however, I see no reason why he wouldn't as their existence (and the return of magic to a technological age that causes it) is pretty much the entire fulcrum of the setting, not to mention they're part of the core rules. And really, they don't particularly change anything mechanically beyond a few stat mods, vision types, and small miscellaneous boni for one or two metatypes. RPing is another thing, though they're all still technically human.

Also, Corwin, I just realized you distinguished between Hermetics/Shamans, a la SR1-3. Given the UMT hasn't been discovered/formulated yet in 2052, that is understandable. Nevertheless, how will that interact with SR4 magic rules, which are far different and don't make that divide? From what I gather from your earlier posts, this campaign will extend across at least a few decades gametime (I imagine it will work up to the present 2072 in SR4, but that's just a guess - might be a little troublesome for orcs though, with their reduced lifespan). Anyway, if a player chose to play a magic-user long-term and survived to a point that makes this question relevant, would they be allowed to redo their abilities in this area as advances in magical theory were made across the years?

Ah, metavariants are regional offshoots of the typical five metatypes, thus the name metavariants. Basically, think the same way that people from Ethiopia and Egypt are both African, but have certain cultural differences. In the case of SR, metavariants are rarer subgroups native to certain areas of the globe, which while still recognizable as human, ork, troll, etc also have certain physical differences in addition to cultural discrepancies. They include such groups as satyrs, oni, dryads, and various other things. Basically, it's a way to include certain geographical legends into the five race system or give players a more unique character. Of course, in SR, it's not always a good idea to be unique, as you are far more likely to be noticed and remembered. Not the best thing for people who work as thieves cum mercenaries.

Bleak: You sure you haven't played SR before?
If this campaign gets truly epic I'm going to need an assistant GM and you seem like the right person for it.

As for mages vs shamans: that distinction is mainly going to have to be one of good roleplaying, and yes orc and perhaps troll characters will be ripe for retirement if not already pushing up the daisies by the time commlinks come into fashion.

Alright, so we'll be using SR4 magic rules then. That makes things easier. One thing you might consider is to limit mage characters to hermetic or shaman based magical traditions until further developments in the field are made. You might also want to ban certain aspects as appropriate to either hermetics/shamans (spirit summoning, etc.) to fit the fluff of earlier editions.