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Thoughts about Shadowrun 5th edition

   
Morning everyone! New to the site, nice discussion. I actually came here for Shadowrun, hoping to stumble into a game and run one of my own. Lots of pbp experience with D&D, this would be my first pbp Shadowrun game.

I'm really torn between 4th and 5th. I like that 4th set out with the intention to modernize the ruleset and the setting, but I think it sacrificed a lot of the tone of the setting to get there. The magic system is functional but boring, the organization of the rules is a nightmare, and character creation is a HUGE stumbling block for new players and GMs. It's too complex, the rules too disparate. I think point buy is a better system than priority, but it takes way too long to create a character, and that's before you even go shopping. Shopping itself is a minigame.

I like that 5th tried to go back to the setting's roots, and I like that it tried to simplify chargen, but as others have pointed out, priority has its flaws. The huge amount of errata (still with no physical reprint incorporating any of it) was a huge turnoff, and the organization of the rules is even worse than 4th. Way too much page flipping.

To Shadowrun's credit, though, I think the allure of the setting is greater than the flaws of its rule sets. I'd play a game in either edition. Once I get more acquainted with the site, I'll post a game of my own.

No one mentioned wireless bonuses yet? The Wired Reflexes with always online DRM in order to stack with Reaction Enhancers seems like a very EA thing to do. Especially since those two stacking was a core functionality in previous editions that got gutted by RetCon. The revisionist approach to the matrix is something I dislike as well, as accessible hacking made the archetype a lot more appealing. And don't get me started on the cop-out reasoning behind nanotech removal.

I rather like priority, as it's simple, fast and easy. My favorite system was Sum2Ten, which is essentially a modified priority. BP in 4th encouraged crippling overspecialization, while Karmagen punished certain archetypes very hard, like melee trolls and technomancers.

The item costs, particularly ware, combined with the low payouts of runs by default, effectively eliminate character progression by ware for mundanes.

Overall, I prefer 4th edition, as it's a more well rounded game where Steven Ratkovich did not influence major design decisions.




 

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