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What is the best edition of Shadowrun?

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ikarinokami

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« Reply #75 on: <06-06-19/2337:39> »
personally I love 5th. I think limits are great idea, and make a lot of sense. what 5th needed were competent editors. .

JoeNapalm

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« Reply #76 on: <06-17-19/1422:45> »
*Fist erupts from the earth...pulls self out of the steaming ground, accompanied by the stench of sulfur, and then shakes and brushes the crypt soil from his trench coat, straightening the collar...*

Started with 1e. Serious nostalgia cred, though I accuse this edition of inventing the double-edged sword that is the splatbook. Loved the setting, had some issues with the dice pools and mechanics, but we made it work.

2e -- I missed this one, was too busy playing Cyberpunk 2020. Interlok System just devastatingly better, in terms of mechanics (though I cannibalized the progressive initiative system from 1e).

3e -- Owned, never played.

4e -- Beautiful, fraught, flawed gem (like my ex-girlfriend  :P). I very much liked the myriad of options and customizations, allowing me to endlessly tinker with my builds -- though the complexity that resulted clashed with the often bizarre and broken mechanics.

5e -- I dunno. I mean, it kinda worked at fixing some of the problems with 4e? I don't know if the trade-offs were worth it...seems like the game system got very Meta -- it was no longer about making a game world function in a contextually realistic way, but more about making a game work in a balanced-ish, less broken fashion. Coming from 4e, if given the choice between the two, I think I'd just play 4e and house rule fixes where necessary, but when playing with groups that want to play 5e, it's not like I won't play it.

6e -- So far, it sounds like they're trying to shoehorn SR into the rule set for Star Trek Adventures, and really leaning into the meta-gaming aspects. Having listened to the Q&As, watched many hours of actual gameplay online, I'm fairly wary. Rules around Edge, Armor, Melee...maybe there's some deeper math there than I yet grok, but I'll be watching and waiting before I leap.


-Jn-
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BeCareful

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« Reply #77 on: <06-27-19/0047:42> »
From what I can tell, mainly from replies to this and other threads:
The rules for every edition seemed to end up being their own different quagmire, each with their own group of people preferring to stay in the one in which they were currently steeped.
I mean, you have to spend more money and learn a new ruleset for the thing you're already playing.
While I might want to try 6th, at the very least, for its plot & setting books, I also want to try 3rd. I only got to it once, which didn't last beyond the initial session. I'd like to try it again.
"Welcome to Shadowrun, where the biggest obstacle is you!"

Iron Serpent Prince

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« Reply #78 on: <06-27-19/0104:20> »
The rules for every edition seemed to end up being their own different quagmire, each with their own group of people preferring to stay in the one in which they were currently steeped.

That is about the right of it.

I am biased, in the fact that I am a Rigger at heart.  If I could be a guinea pig for a Control Rig Alpha test, I would beat my way to the front of the line.

I am still waiting for an edition of Shadowrun to treat them right, and not over do it (as I am led to believe 4th did - never had the opportunity to actually play it).

Even looking past that, each edition had it's long list of proud nails.  It boils down to which edition works best in your head space, and / or which edition you have house ruled to fit your group.

David Chart

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« Reply #79 on: <06-27-19/0411:02> »
I think my favourite edition would be a competently edited version of 5e. Mind you, I've liked all the editions. I still have the softcover SR1 I bought when it was new (not the hardcover).
David Chart
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