Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Shadowrun: Anarchy => Topic started by: imaginaari on <10-16-16/1849:01>
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So, do you have any hacks and rules that you created, or found and used? Things that you want to change and need help with? Share ideas and links if you have any.
And just to get things started, I need some advice with changing opposing dice back into thresholds. Should I just divide them in a half or is the math a bit more complicated? I consider doing this for NPCs as well, so I want to be sure that it wouldn't change the balance.
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There is a thread here about drones/equipment that are good: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=25147.0 (http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=25147.0)
I posted some re-balanced NPCs here: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=25126.0 (http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=25126.0)
And a Narration Aid with some house rules/interpretations here: http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=25056.0 (http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=25056.0)
Basically just look here because the audience at /r/shadowrun is limited and no one at dumpshock.com is really talking about it. I don't know why not.
As far as thresholds go, you could easily use the Rule of 4 (borrowed from SR5) as a guide, where you can "buy" one success for every 4 dice you have in your pool. Or you might just shift the whole thing to:
- Very Easy: 1 success (instead of 4 dice)
- Easy: 2 successes (instead of 6 dice)
- Average: 3 successes (instead of 8 dice)
- Hard: 4 successes (instead of 10 dice)
- Very Hard: 5 (instead of 12 dice)
The math on this starts to breakdown because on a typical roll, 1/3rd of the dice succeed, so Very Hard (12 dice) SHOULD be Threshold 4 not 5.
That is going to make things faster, but you may lose some of the drama/tension. I would only use it for NPCs interacting with environment or with NPCs interacting with other NPCs so you don't lose the player drama but aren't rolling dice against yourself while your players watch. A better solution might be to just make your NPCs succeed or fail by common sense or narrative need.
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I'll be instituting a penalty for essence loss to Technomancers. Not sure on how to penalize use of Complex Forms, but applying it to their Logic when they use it for Matrix defense should probably hurt plenty.
Also considering how I might implement Alchemy. Maybe spending a Plot Point at the beginning of a scene to allow another player to cast one of your spells once per Point spent? Fluffed in that you gave them a Preparation to use.
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I like that implementation of Alchemy. Real simple, stays inside existing mechanics, doesn't jam up other skills! It's like spending a Plot Point for "take the hit" but it gives the hit!
Low Essence for TMs should affect only Tasking actions in my opinion. I don't think they should get worse at hacking or cybercombat, just the mystical resonance stuff, which is consolidated into Tasking.
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Essence loss will probably affect technomancers and Resonance the same way it affects magic-users and Magic. Not positive, but it's what I'm suggesting.
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I think one of the issues with Technomancers is that some of their complex forms (Diffusion, Pulse Storm, and Resonance Spike) are based on Cybercombat rolls (Hacking + Logic). I feel like these complex forms should be brought closer to Sorcery: just make them all Tasking Tests and their Defense should be L + FW.
You don't see any spell casters using [Some-skill-other-than-Sorcery] + Willpower to cast spells, and complex forms are essentially Matrix spells.
Also Resonance Spike should be 5S especially if Stun Bolt has changed to 5S/AA (according to some sources).
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Hey folks! First time poster, long time SR fan (1st-3rd edition mostly.)
Figured I'd chime in on one of my house rules:
Quick & Dirty NPC Idea (inspired by BareBones Fantasy)
Anarchy is supposed to be more story, less rules. The stat blocks for NPCs are fine for prepared encounters -- BUT it's also kind of a bummer when the players call on a random NPC out of nowhere to be introduced to the story, and game time has to pause while everyone looks up a pregen to fit the bill.
My solution is instead to just jot down the NPC, and assign them a dice pool rating. Use the difficulty levels for tasks as a guide -- a completely scrub gang prospect would be Very Easy (4 dice), while his leader may be Hard (10 dice).
To flesh it out a bit more, just write up some quick tags to define what they're good at. Any time they do actions linked to their tags, they get their full pool. Any other action, they get half their pool rating. You can also use the tags to mark things that would normally be Amps.
Condition Monitors -- I'd either just give them a base 10 dots of Physical and Stun. If you really need a formula -- 1/4th Dice Pool rating + 8. But seriously just wing that shit man. Other things (like weapons and armor) should be easy to just pick out and go. If it uses an attribute, use half the dice rating as a reference.
So for an example:
Random Street Ganger
Average (8 Dice)
Tags: Brawler, Biker, Athletic, Fast Talker
Baseball Bat (4P Damage)
Harley Davidson Scorpion
Synth Jacket (6 pips)
Condition Monitor: 10 Physical / 10 Stun
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I have found some ideas for spell drain that I think are quite neat: http://gamingronin.blogspot.com/2016/10/spell-drain-for-shadowrun-anarchy.html
On the other hand, anyone have ideas about hot to make flat-cost generation and advancement system? I probably will try to tackle the issue next week, looking at similar things done between the oWoD and CoD. Are there (somewhat tested) flat-cost houserules for SR5 that could help adapt the solution for Anarchy as well?
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So I actually haven't played SRA yet, but pulling from others and what I can already see I won't like, here's my list of house rules.
- After character creation, there is no limit on Skill slots or Amps. The only limit is having the Karma to buy them.
- Armor choice no longer affects Skill points. Instead, light armor (6) grants +1D to defense rolls, heavy armor (12) applies -1D to defense rolls.
- Dispositions = a person's inherent qualities of mind and character, personal beliefs, moral codes, etc = bonus Karma per mission.
- Cues = catchphrase that expresses a behavior or instinct = bonus Plot point per scene.
- In-world mission payments = 2,000 Nuyen per Karma.
- Mages can produce minor magical effects that do not take up Amp slots. Mundane tasks may be described as using magic to accomplish.
- Mages can use Sorcery (counterspelling) to defend against magical attacks.
- Initiative is determined by a single die plus your Agility.
- Wired Reflexes & Improved Reflexes: WR/IR 1 = free movement every turn, +1 init; WR/IR 2 = free movement or attack every turn, +2 init; WR/IR 3 = free movement & free attack every turn, +3 init.
- Glitch die only becomes an Exploit on a 6.
- Players may spend Plot Points on: Live Dangerously, Double Time, First Aid, Take the Hit, & A Dish Best Served Cold.
- Only apply the highest penalty from either Stun or Physical damage tracks.
- Not using Optional Matrix Rules, including not using Technomancers.
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I have found some ideas for spell drain that I think are quite neat: http://gamingronin.blogspot.com/2016/10/spell-drain-for-shadowrun-anarchy.html
For those who don't bother to follow the link, the rule is: "When casting a spell players may roll up to three push dice. The push dice should either be rolled separately or a different color than the other dice. Each 5 or 6 adds an additional success. Each 1 rolled on a push dice does one point of stun damage to the caster. If the spell casting roll fails then the damage is physical rather than stun."
The wording of the rules is strange, since it's unclear whether the push dice are optional or not, or whether they replace existing spellcasting dice or add to them. Depending on the interpretation, this rule could be more for overcasting than for regular casting.
Reintroducing Drain depends on the premise that's it's either needed for fluff and flavor or for game balance. Fluff and flavor are personal choices so I won't weigh in on those. For game balance, I don't think spellcasting needs Drain. The damage from spells seems reasonably balanced with the damage from firearms. Just as shooters no longer need to reload or worry about recoil, I don't think spellcasting necessarily needs Drain.
If anything about Magic needs balancing, it's Summoning (as usual). Spirits are still powerful: with the exception of Earth Spirits, their dodge pools are all better than a maxed-out elf, their attack pools are 10-13, and their Immunity to Normal Weapons in addition to natural armor makes them highly durable. The fact that a magician can have two with a relatively inexpensive summoning focus (Amp Level 2) is more unbalancing than any of the spells I've seen. If I wanted to apply Drain somewhere, I would put it on the Summoning test to help keep spirit spam at bay.
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The push dice are so similar to Glitch Dice, I would say, why not just use glitch dice? A glitch would cause 1 Stun, an exploit would count as a success. Easy-peasy and there is a cost (Plot Point) and a precident.
You could use these for other things too, like full-auto: A glitch jams your gun (cooldown) and an exploit adds a success or adds a target.
I also don't see multiple Plot Points (Glitch dice) spent on the same action as overly powered but I would argue that if ANY of the dice came up a Glitch, the whole roll is a glitch. More risk/rewards to think about.
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- After character creation, there is no limit on Skill slots or Amps. The only limit is having the Karma to buy them.
- Armor choice no longer affects Skill points. Instead, light armor (6) grants +1D to defense rolls, heavy armor (12) applies -1D to defense rolls.
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- Mages can use Sorcery (counterspelling) to defend against magical attacks.
I haven't played Anarchy either so I'm no expert.
I agree with expanding Skill slots after character creation.
Be careful about removing the limit on Shadow Amps. Essence acts as a built-in limit to how far non-Awakened and non-Emerged characters can develop. I grant that 10 or 11 shadow amps of bioware will take you a long way, but what if the player doesn't want to play an augmented character for RP reasons? Then they are limited to gear or social amps (potentially including matrix amps or drones), which limits their potential upside. (Yes, the could spend the karma on skills or attributes or gear or contacts instead, but the point is that it's still tricky to balance.) This would only be an issue in particularly long-running campaigns, but I might consider a different cap on shadow amps rather than removing the limit completely.
The rule about armor affecting defense rolls instead of skill points is interesting. If anyone has a chance to play with this, I'd be curious to hear how it went. Mechanically, I wonder if the sure-thing of armor soaking would be offset by an extra defense die that would only roll a hit 1/3rd of the time, and would only be the difference between a dodged attack or an attack that connects even less frequently. What if every armor pip was +1/-1 die with the baseline of 0 at Armor 9, so that the character could pick as much or as little armor as they wanted, rather than the current 6/9/12 categories? Just thinking out loud.
Counterspelling is already mentioned in the rules (pages 32 and 127). Granted, there are no mechanics for it, but you don't need a house rule for it to exist.
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I agree that spirits (as in SR5) need some balancing. I have set up stats for lesser spirits too (which are -2 to all things) to go along with greater spirits (which are +2 to all things).
I am seriously considering spirit sustaining rules:
Sustain a lesser spirit: Roll a Glitch die at beginning of Narration. On a Glitch, take 1 Stun damage.
Sustain an average spirit: Roll a Glitch die at beginning of Narration. On an Exploit, do NOT take damage, otherwise take 1 Stun damage.
Sustain a greater spirit:: Take 1 Stun damage at the beginning of Narration.
Along with this, I would let a conjurer freely and automatically dismiss their spirit before their Narration (instead of requiring a test).
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SR has always been gear intensive and I know Anarchy is meant to counter that somewhat...but 4 pieces for a standard runner seems woeful to me!
I'm suggesting that a single gear slot should give a 'runner essentials pack' which includes a burner link, fakeSIN, bug scanner, tag eraser, basic respirator, a light source and an emergency stim patch. Does that sound overkill? Granted the bug scanner and tag eraser might be considered a bit more specialist perhaps?!?
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I like the idea of a basics pack.
Also other reasonable bundles, along the lines of 'useful stuff in his/her pockets' or 'reporter essentials' or 'detective kit' or 'good tool box.'
Also think that the fake ID should come with some 'normal' licenses (driver, weapon permits, magic permits).
Possibly also a positive quality to the effect "I have all the stuff" or "wealthy" which ups how much gear you get? (or maybe the packs could be rolled into an advantage, something like "licensed reporter" includes a press pass, link with decent recorder capacity, simple camera drone, old fashioned pens and paper, and anything else reasonably essential for the job.)
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Counterspelling is already mentioned in the rules (pages 32 and 127). Granted, there are no mechanics for it, but you don't need a house rule for it to exist.
It's listed as a skill specialty, but is never mentioned how/when it would be used. I wanted to clarify when/how a PC would be able to use such a specialty.
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SR has always been gear intensive and I know Anarchy is meant to counter that somewhat...but 4 pieces for a standard runner seems woeful to me!
I'm suggesting that a single gear slot should give a 'runner essentials pack' which includes a burner link, fakeSIN, bug scanner, tag eraser, basic respirator, a light source and an emergency stim patch. Does that sound overkill? Granted the bug scanner and tag eraser might be considered a bit more specialist perhaps?!?
Another way to go is just make a list of things that everyone is always considered to have on top of their gear that doesn't need to be accounted for. I mean there's no mention of clothes, but it's assumed you have them. Some sort of home isn't listed but I don't think the runners are meant to be homeless nomads necessarily either.
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I do something similar with counterspell but I make the defense cost a Plot Point (basically the counterspell "takes the hit"). I wanted counterspell to be more like a resource and not a permanent shield.
For effect spells, I just make it an opposed Sorcery + Willpower. No need to keep track of hits, just test and succeed or fail.
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Counterspelling
@Gingivitis, very interesting idea to require the use of Plot Points with counterspelling to take the hit. What dice pool do you roll for counterspelling combat spells? Do you make an opposed Sorcery + Willpower test or do you simply add the counterspeller's Sorcery skill rating to the dice pool of the defender(s)?
Gear
I agree that 4 pieces of gear is highly limiting, especially since half of that is likely to be taken up by a fake SIN and a commlink. I think a "Runner's Starter Kit" is a great idea. Of course, not everyone will want one for thematic reasons (or street level games), but those character could receive some other benefit. I would probably include less than Aria suggests, but keep the general idea. Of course, GMs can tailor it to what's appropriate for their campaigns. The core equipment PACKs at the end of Run Faster (p. 228-9) have some good guidelines for what might be in a basic kit. In fact, a lot of the other PACKs have some great ideas for what might be reasonably crammed into a single karma point.
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Counterspelling: I just have the player spend a Plot Point and roll Sorcery (counterspelling) + Willpower instead of whatever the spell normally targets.
- I didn't want to add 3 number together when we could use 2 like everything else.
- Also I felt like counterspelling a Fire Ball had little to do with the defender's AGI or LOG and more with stopping the spell.
- I didn't want counterpelling to be an unlimited resource.
Gear:
- For a Street Runner: a burner commlink (including cheap AR-only glasses), and fake SIN (with associated fake licenses), a trauma patch (to justify some of the not-dead-yet options on p. 44), some stim-patches (to justify First Aid use of a Plot Point on p. 36), and some non-armored, Tag-appropriate clothing.
The more I think about it, the more I would say this would NOT count as one of the four pieces of Gear. That way the Gear chosen by the runner will really distinguish them from the other runners.
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You guys got great ideas and spirit patching the product you actually PAID for.
Here are a few basic and advanced house rule brain teasers on top of what has been posted:
Judge intentions should rather not be CHA +CHA, but rather CHA +LOG (surely supermodels aren't the best at judging intentions)
Muscle augmentation amp is currently useless with STR related rolls (unless your team really needs a forklift), so added DMG would suit better
Skillwires amp should be for other AGL or LOG related skills as well. You can observe this intention on sample chars as well
Adepts could have Increased ability amp same similar skill wires, but 1 point more expensive (no essence cost) and could be connected to AGL, LOG or CHA skills
Jack of all trades and team player are rather positive qualities than amps. Fear is ok-ish if you consider it as some sort or a critter amp
Break up Intimidation skill into Intimidation (connected to STR) and Influence (CHA). Former has specialisations as torture, threat and frighten and latter is interrogation, command and instruction (these last two were missing anyways).
On a larger house rule scale I am working on;
- reduce Agility importance by adding Reaction back on, which will be the base for dodge and surprise test or even for an initiative test (consequently attribute points at chagen will need to change too)
- Get limits back: for each of 24 skills I assigned a secondary attribute (e.g: Close Combat DP uses AGL and STR for limit) and the actual skill limits are calculated as: (secondary attribute x2 +skill rating)/3 round up. This way you penalise defaulting as well.
- Limits reintroduced can bring Magic attribute back (as limiting attribute), so being awakened no longer costs 2 amp points, but you would have to spend the attribute points on them
- Once Magic is back you can use it's rating for drain in multiple ways; e.g. success above MAG, or 1s rolled above MAG or simply use the Sorcery/ Conjuring skill test's limit
- Specialisations would no longer give +2 to DP, but +1 DP and +1 limit (and could even be 2 levels)
- each skill test would have 3 components: dice pool, re-roll, limit. The hard work here will be to align amps and qualities to this rationally; dice pool would be increasing if something directly affecting a specific skill (e.g. skill wires, expert shot etc), re-rolls would be connected to the attributes involved in the skill test and limit would be increased by such amps as smart link, cyber eyes, tailored pheromones, foci etc.
- change armour rules completely : protection to have 2 simple factors: cover extent and armour rating and basically the net hits from an attack have to be equal or lower than cover extent of the armour to have any damage reduction by the rating it gives. Naturally, new armour stats and slight damage adjustments need to be done
- for qualities, it would be better to have a basic a point system (1-3) and have 3 slots for both positive and negatives as well (I felt negative qualities made characters more role-playable)
- knowledge skills would be nice to be expanded: e.g.: 3 slots: 1 for a backghround knowledge skill (corp, runner, ganger, magical), 1 knowledge skill connected to the main profession the character had and the last one for an interest/ hobby. Skill points should be spent for additional K skills and/ or more qualities would affect them.
I think none of the above would slow the game much down (being fixed precalced values) and expanding knowledge skills and qualities would rather help to flesh characters out.
.... the effort to actually revise this whole thing, however, is infuriating as a paying customer.
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.... the effort to actually revise this whole thing, however, is infuriating as a paying customer.
Well, there's no game on earth without some house rules, but yeah, Catalyst has a real talent for releasing semi-finished games. Most of your first paragraph of rules makes sense to me, but your bolded list makes it seem that you're interested in a more complicated game than they chose to design. You're right that your suggestions wouldn't slow down play much, but that wasn't the only goal of the very simplified rules system. A rules-lite system gets people playing quickly, and can get rules-averse players into the game. We had an Anarchy character gen session last night, and I could just say to my players "You get two positive and one negative quality" without explanation, point spending, checking their work, or assigning point value to qualities. This is a big benefit to my group, which is a mix of people with varying interests in crunchy rules.
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I was running an Anarchy session for 5 folks on Saturday. Two had played SR a bit years ago. 3 had played ONCE years ago. This was our second session as a group (I've run another group through about 6 sessions). The first session was a blast.
Then one of the newbs brought his girlfriend over. To play. In Shadowrun. A person who has never played ANY RPG ever. To play. In Shadowrun!
It was fine. It was actually better. She just grabbed a pre-gen that she liked (Rose Red) and jumped in, mid-contract brief. THAT is the power of this system.
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Fellow Gamemasters,
As a fan of the Shadowrun video games by Harebrained Schemes (http://harebrained-schemes.com) I have translated the Known Etiquettes feature to my Shadowrun: Anarchy campaign.
Should you find the rules below to your liking, please feel free to include them in your personal campaigns.
KNOWN ETIQUETTES
Each player character knows CHA/2 (round down) etiquettes, chosen from the following list.
Etiquettes:
- Academic
- Corporate
- Gang
- Security
- Shadowrunner
- Socialite
- Street
(Source: Official Shadowrun Returns Wiki. URL: http://shadowrun.gamepedia.com/Etiquette (http://shadowrun.gamepedia.com/Etiquette))
If a character interacts with a NPC that has a compatible etiquette, either as a Tag or as decided by the gamemaster, the following benefits may apply:
* Modify Tests
Option 1: Gain +1 die to appropriate Tests (usually CHA and LOG based Tests). This option may be only chosen before a roll is made.
Option 2: Re-roll 1 die of appropriate Tests. This option may be chosen only after a roll is made and if Option 1 was not used.
* Affect NPC Attitudes and Behavior
The attitude and behavior of a NPC (usually but not always towards the PC) may be improved or worsened. This may lead to mission-based changes, new Narratives and can modify future Tests (see Shadowrun: Anarchy, page 38).
* Mission Modification
The use of an etiquette may create mission complications (positive, negative or both), open new dialogue options and lead to Karma or other gains.
GAINING MORE ETIQUETTES
New known etiquettes may be added by raising CHA, as well as purchased as Shadow Amps under the category of Social/Other Amps, as shown below.
Even More Etiquettes (Amp Level 2)
Gain CHA/2 (round down) new known etiquettes.
Thank you for your interest!
Yours,
R.L.
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Fellow Gamemasters,
Jack Bauer rode motorcycles. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace painted. Adam Jensen was into mechanical wristwatches. Why not give your Shadowrunner some hobbies as well?
If the following optional rule is to your liking feel free to include it in your personal campaigns.
OPTIONAL RULE: HOBBIES, PASTIME AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES OF A SHADOWRUNNER
All Shadowrun: Anarchy player characters and any important NPC's gain a free Hobby Skill. This skill represents the most significant pastime activity of a Shadowrunner. The skill can be used, for example during downtime Narrations to add further color and insight into a character.
The Hobby Skill should be chosen from outside the range of normal Skills, unless the GM permits otherwise. A Hobby Skill is not counted against the maximum of five skills, has no rating and thus does not cost Skill points.
A Hobby Skill engaged in during a Narration may at the GM's permission justify any of the following:
- Regain 1 point of Edge, if spent
- Heal 1 Stun damage, if sustained from a suitable source
- Spend up to 2 Karma to gain 2 Gear items or 1 Contact
- Create new Narrations
In order to maintain the momentum of Shadowrun a player character may use a Hobby Skill once per mission.
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Fellow Gamemasters,
The printed version of Shadowrun: Anarchy lacks rules for cybercombat damage. Until an official errata is published I am introducing the following rules to my campaign.
If you find that these rules add value to your games feel free to use them in your personal campaigns.
OPTIONAL RULE: BASE CYBERCOMBAT DAMAGE
Cybercombat damage is based on the Logic attribute of the decker and the quality of the cyberdeck. The base damage values per cyberdeck rank (see SRA, page 203) can be seen below.
Cyberdeck 1 (LOG/2)S
Cyberdeck 2 (LOG/2 +1)S
Cyberdeck 3 (LOG/2 +2)S
Cyberdeck 4 (LOG/2 +3)S
From a design perspective the damage scaling is consistent with that of close combat weapons (SRA, page 206).
The base damage values of lower-grade cyberdecks can be increased as per the rules for improving Shadow Amps, with a maximum value of +3.
What About Technomancers?
The base cybercombat damage of a technomancer is based on the virtuakinetic's unmodified Logic Attribute. This rule gives technomancers a potentially higher base damage when compared to deckers. This is offset by the Optional Matrix Rules governing the use of technomancers (SRA, pages 45-46).