[Michael Chandra]

So McDougle found this gem of a Q&A session with J.M. Hardy, where a bit of intel is given out. Apparently chargen will be Priority including karma, where karma left after chargen carries over to play. There also will be some sort of character converter apparently.

For the rest he confirms all rolls will have limits, skillcap goes to 12 (nothing on chargen cap though), Denver/Seattle will get good coverage while Missions Season 5 gives Chicago new material and Shadowrun Online: Lockdown! will be in Boston. Vladivostok is getting an e-book.

Matrix became harder to hack because the corps are finally cracking down on it again, with tougher tools required for the hackers (now deckers). As we already knew, more Simple Tests for Matrix and skill+attribute. And (as was noticed) they've been dropping hints in the books for a while now on the new matrix setup. The new setup should also tone down any overkill Matrix approaches used by runners. Technomancers are changed up to fit the new Matrix setup, and hopefully more balanced compared to deckers.

Magic: More emphasis on tradition-flavor. There might be a splat book later with more difference between traditions. A dialback in the control spells. Summoning mostly unchanged though Spirits can't use their Edge anymore. Drain rebalance to prevent stunspells from being far too easy. (Nothing stated on the Simple-Action spellcasting that was at PAX East.) New option of preparing magic in vessels for later triggering.

Metaplot book soon (Stolen Souls?) following up on Storm Front, there will also be metaplot developments in the sourcebooks and Missions. The Boston book will also have quite a bit there, due to the Lockdown being a big plotthing. No current active full-out wars.
Also, a corpbook should come out soon, since SR5 and SRO combined are really setting things in motion there so the intel about it is important. JackPoint will have more users on it. The Great Dragons will be going back into the shadows more.

More indication that some dicepool modifications, including Adept Powers, were changed to limit modifications, including social territory. Higher damage values and changes to Called Shot to make it easier to kill people fast with even weaker guns. A teaser on that nanotech and genetech is having some problems (Sybil virus anyone?). However, cyberware and bioware was mostly just rebalanced. There will be a Runner's Companion-type book (Run Faster?) with other-metatype support.

They're trying to get the core sourcebooks out in a spaced-out tempo where you don't have to wait ages for the entire extended core to be out. No drone customization in core, Rigger 5 will NOT be the end of Fifth Edition. There will be a few SR4 e-book releases, including Parazoology 2 and, finally, EuroWars Antiques. They're going for books emphasizing specific runtypes. Sounds like the way the Sybil book focuses on extractions. More linked adventures such as Dawn of the Artifacts.

HeroLab will go SR5 and has been kept in the loop already.

[Warmachinez]

Wow great recap!

Thanks for all that info, it should keep me "fed" for a few days...

[I_V_Saur]

Well, that's convenient. I've been running a game in Vladivostock for a little already. Now I'll have a bit of a peek, beyond 'EVO's HQ is here'.

[Basic]

If you want can you still use the BP system ?

[Michael Chandra]

They mention there will be other chargen methods in future sourcebooks.

[AJCarrington]

Great summary - thanks for this. Really like the way this is shaping up

Aside - anyone know if future releases beyond core book will be full color?

[mtfeeney = Baron]

What do you mean by "no drone customization"?

[Michael Chandra]

Vehicle (including drone) modification is in Arsenal in SR4, apparently it won't be in SR5-core either. At least that's what I suspect it means.

[Mirikon]

Oh god, I hope the Priority system isn't coming back. That thing should die in a fire and the earth be salted over it.

[Michael Chandra]

I think a Priority-base (excluding Race/Type) that you can then expand on with karma might work, but yeah, it's easy to mess up. Still, if it resulted in annoying chargen I doubt the playtests would have resulted in this system being the one picked, so I got hope it will not be the same Priority system as before.

[Belker]

Did you catch the bit where Karma will be included in the build system, and that you will be able to use it to buy things at the same costs as during character advancement?

[Michael Chandra]

I did. =) If they make you pay for Race and Type with Karma, and let you translate chargen Karma to chargen nuyen (and maybe even give you possible PACKS), then Priority could translate to skillpacks that you might be able to raise afterwards as well. So I got hope it will be a nice system that's not just easy to use but also translates to decent characters.

[Mirikon]

Did you catch the bit where Karma will be included in the build system, and that you will be able to use it to buy things at the same costs as during character advancement?

I like the Build Point system currently in place much more than the karmagen system, and worlds more than the priority system, primarily for the fact that everything scales linearly. For instance, going from one rank in an active skill to another is 4 BP, no matter what rank it was. This makes creating an autocalcuating spreadsheet easy. With karmagen, that same cost changes depending on what rank, and making it autocalculate takes a great deal of work. In my opinion, BP is a much cleaner, simpler system for chargen. And whoever thought of the priority system should be given cement shoes and tossed in the lake.

I'll refrain from making any judgements about the system in 5th until I've had a chance to read over it myself, but this does not inspire confidence.

[Lucean]

Did you catch the bit where Karma will be included in the build system, and that you will be able to use it to buy things at the same costs as during character advancement?

I like the Build Point system currently in place much more than the karmagen system, and worlds more than the priority system, primarily for the fact that everything scales linearly. For instance, going from one rank in an active skill to another is 4 BP, no matter what rank it was. This makes creating an autocalcuating spreadsheet easy. With karmagen, that same cost changes depending on what rank, and making it autocalculate takes a great deal of work. In my opinion, BP is a much cleaner, simpler system for chargen. And whoever thought of the priority system should be given cement shoes and tossed in the lake.

I'll refrain from making any judgements about the system in 5th until I've had a chance to read over it myself, but this does not inspire confidence.

But you have to admit, that having a system equally valid for creating and improving runners is way easier to transport to new players. Why different ways to create and improve characters, especially when they have so extremely differing costs for the same things (e.g. specialization)?

[Mirikon]

Did you catch the bit where Karma will be included in the build system, and that you will be able to use it to buy things at the same costs as during character advancement?

I like the Build Point system currently in place much more than the karmagen system, and worlds more than the priority system, primarily for the fact that everything scales linearly. For instance, going from one rank in an active skill to another is 4 BP, no matter what rank it was. This makes creating an autocalcuating spreadsheet easy. With karmagen, that same cost changes depending on what rank, and making it autocalculate takes a great deal of work. In my opinion, BP is a much cleaner, simpler system for chargen. And whoever thought of the priority system should be given cement shoes and tossed in the lake.

I'll refrain from making any judgements about the system in 5th until I've had a chance to read over it myself, but this does not inspire confidence.

But you have to admit, that having a system equally valid for creating and improving runners is way easier to transport to new players. Why different ways to create and improve characters, especially when they have so extremely differing costs for the same things (e.g. specialization)?

Then change the method for improving runners to match the method for creating them.