This was posted on Reddit as well, so sone of you might have seen it tgere already. I apologise for the inevitable length of this post. Im wordy at the best of times. So my group just finished a 4th Edition campaign that ended up being about 4 years long. As the GM, I'm taking a much-needed break so my creative batteries can recharge. Having said that, the next campaign is going to be a 2050s game since quite a few people have expressed interest in the old modules and the gritty, 1980s neon-and-chrome feel. Cool.
I'm doing the very initial prepwork(campaign won't start for a few months yet), and I know a TON of people have posted about running 2050s games lately, so figured I'd ask for some advice.
The initial plan is to keep using the 4E rules(since we're most comfortable with those), but only use the old sourcebooks for material. So any weapons, gear, etc from things like Rigger Black Book, Street Samurai Catalogue, etc is allowed so long as it has a rules conversion in 4E. If it doesn't, we can come up with an acceptable substitute.
Now I do have the 4E Shadowrun 2050 book, and I'm a bit curious as to whether it would be better to use that as the basis for the game, or 4E core rules for the mechanics and 1-3E for flavour(IE sourcebooks with pretty pictures). All my players do have access to either Chummer or Herolab to help with the actual character builds.
The first question that comes up is a matter of costs, in Nuyen and BP/Karma. I know some things were more expensive back in the 2050s than the 70s, so would it make the most sense to use classic prices for goods? This would obviously change starting money, but I haven't compared all the various systems yet so I can probably come up with something that works once I do more reading.
The other big question is the Matrix. I know the 1-3E and 4E systems are radically different, and the 2050 book has it's own rules for the Matrix that's essentially unique(But more similar to 3E). I assume it would be easiest to use the 4E 2050 Matrix rules, but does anyone here have experience with this? A basic search online results in mixed re iews, some people like it, others aren't huge fans. I'm curious as to what anyone here has come up with for solutions.
As a final note, if anyone wants to suggest using 3E or 5E instead, I'm not completely opposed to that. However, I and my group have the most experience and familiarity with 4th Edition, and if there is a way to use (most of)that system then I'd prefer it. The most important aspect of this campaign is the Feel of the 2050s, even if we aren't 100% true to the exact rules. I plan to do a mix of my own runs and some of the more classic and well known modules(Mercurial, DNA/DOA, Universal Brotherhood), so I can to ultimately do whatever rules conversion are necessary. I know I have a fair bit of work ahead of me.
Anyways, any thoughts, advice, and especially experience from players and GMs who have done this would be greatly appreciated. You guys are incredible with information, and I just want to say thanks for helping me many times with being a GM for what's come to be my favourite game universe.