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Character rebuild/conversion

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Longshot23

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« on: <09-21-10/0756:48> »
I'm having real problems doing over my preferred SR3 character to SR4A.  Mainly because the Edges/Flaws don't translate, or don't exist.

The PC is skill-based, no magic, no cyber/bio/nano.  My Gm suggested/allowed a retcon in taking the Biorejection Flaw - but there isn't quite an equivalent Negative Quality.  Closest is Sensitive System.

Minor problems also in shoehorning the character into 400 BP.  The lowest i've managed so far is ~530 BP.

Suggestions?

Devil

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« Reply #1 on: <09-21-10/0831:17> »
Post the character here and I'll see if I can help. It's hard to give suggestions when I don't have enough info.

Longshot23

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« Reply #2 on: <09-21-10/1224:03> »
character is attached as SR3.


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anotherJack

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« Reply #3 on: <09-21-10/1405:11> »
I've translated a pretty experienced character from SR3 to SR4 (400 BP). He is really really weaker (and underpowered compared to a character normally built, without trying to respect some caracteristics of the old one), but I just gave an explanation in his story why he has lost so much of his old abilities. So yes, he is weaker, so what ? he's much more fun to play in this version than he was in the SR3 one, even, and maybe because, he's weaker, old, angry and can't help but criticize the new runners' bach.
If you have to translate him into 400BP, he will be weaker. Try to find why your character is weaker than he was, then you'll find what you have to sacrify in his old abilities. Maybe he had a cancer, and doctors had to pull out his chrome in order to heal him ? maybe he fell into coma during the crash, and wake up with a less sharp mind ? maybe he became addict to a dirty drug, and hardly survived, his body still have sequels of it ?
Me am french, me am not speaking good english, but me am trying to correct this.

Glyph

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« Reply #4 on: <09-21-10/2232:23> »
One thing to keep in mind is that SR4 has a far narrower range of skill.  A six (or seven with the aptitude quality) is the highest that a natural skill can ever get.  It is like a 9 or higher in SR3.  If you look at SR3, even the archetypes had characters with lots and lots of sixes in their skills.  In SR4, you can start out with one six, and that's it.

But although they may seem weaker, SR4 characters are actually more powerful in some ways - they can start out closer to being the absolute best at something.  Skill monkeys, though, are one of the character types that does not transition over to SR3 particularly well.  One of my favorite character types in SR3 was the sorcerer with 50 points in skills, but it doesn't work in SR4.

I would give it up and start from scratch, personally.  Despite both being Shadowrun, the gulf is far more than between, say, SR2 and SR3.  From the game mechanics, to what certain levels of skills and Attributes of a certain level mean in the game.