[Violetsaber]

As crazy as this sounds, I'm creating a cyberpunk alternative to my fantasy RPG, and in so doing I'm translating my Pathfinder NPC's into futuristic Shadowrun versions of themselves.

Unfortunately I've never... actually... played Shadowrun.  I have the book, I like the system, I just don't have any practical experience.  Therefore, I'm having some trouble envisioning how a low, mid, or high-level NPC in Pathfinder would translate into Karma.  For example, skills can reach up to 12 dice... but the cost for that is hundreds of Karma.  How often does that realistically happen?  Is a character with an aptitude for a skill and a level of 13 a once-in-a-generation find?  After all, the Karma to reach that level of expertise would be exorbitant.

I know this may sound kinda like cheating, but I guess I'm looking for something of a table.  Levels 1-5 in Pathfinder would be a range of 0-200 Karma, levels 6-10 would be 200-500, etc.  Does anyone have enough experience in both systems to offer some suggestions?

Thank you so much for your help!

[Lucean]

The skill sets are very different, as D20 and the D6-System are world's apart as far as probability goes.

Converting characters from another setting can only be an approximation of their abilities.
The starting capabilities of SR and Pathfinder are also miles apart. There's no fear of housecats for wizards Characters can be very competent in what they do right from creation alone.

So the first distinction would be Street Level for levels 1-3, normal for 4-7, prime runner up to 10.
Bonus karma can be given to round some things out, like 20/50/100.

After level 10 you could maybe start to increase karma given by 70/100/140/190/ further increasing the gap by 10 for each level.
Something around these numbers.

But converting high level casters will be a pain ... The near-god-level you can reach by levels 13+ can hardly be emulated in SR.

[Poindexter]

I'd worry less about the exact karma and more about general dice pools for common actions they should be good at.

[Namikaze]

I'll save you a bunch of time and headache, Violetsaber.  Don't bother trying to convert the characters.  There are WAY too many differences between the systems.  It's not just a matter of skills, experience/karma, etc.  The mechanics are so vastly different, the scaling of a character from Pathfinder to Shadowrun simply wouldn't work.

[incrdbil]

Frankly, just starting out with the game, you don't need to get fancy, or try characters more powerful than the normal start. Feel free to create similar personalities, some Shadowrun version of their backgrounds, but start out as standard starting shadowrunners. 

Starting off in a new system that you don't have experience with and using super powerful characters for the setting is a recipe for disaster. You the GM will be overwhelmed, as will your players who are in a completely different style of game in about every way possible.  Just getting the basics down is enough, without having super powerful characters requiring you to create super powerful opposition, and making most of the existing adventure compilations out there of limited use to you, when they are a starting GM's best friend.

[Michael Chandra]

Here's a really important thing about Shadowrun: Even a 1k karma character can still get mowed down by a lousy ganger on a bad day. Which immediately throws all the level stuff out of the equation.

[Anarkitty]

Yeah, Shadowrun is a much more "realistic" game.  Where a mid-level character in PF can get run through with swords several times and shrug it off with no ill effect, in SR even a highly experienced Prime Runner character will be severely injured and suffer severe penalties even getting shot once or twice.

On the "unrealistic" side, SR magic takes a much higher toll on the caster and because of that can never be as powerful as PF magic at the high end.  If a mage in SR tried to cast an equivalent to an 8th level Wizard spell, their brain would leak out their ears from the Drain.

[Lucean]

Yeah, Shadowrun is a much more "realistic" game.  Where a mid-level character in PF can get run through with swords several times and shrug it off with no ill effect, in SR even a highly experienced Prime Runner character will be severely injured and suffer severe penalties even getting shot once or twice.

You do understand, though, that a hitpoint system in and off itself is meant to be abstract?
Losing HP is not always physical injury, but also fatigue, fighting spirit, bruises ...

And btw. your seriously injured SR-char can be up walking and jumping with a mere First Aid check, so be careful where you shoot the "realism-railgun"

[Namikaze]

Yeah, Shadowrun is a much more "realistic" game.  Where a mid-level character in PF can get run through with swords several times and shrug it off with no ill effect, in SR even a highly experienced Prime Runner character will be severely injured and suffer severe penalties even getting shot once or twice.

You do understand, though, that a hitpoint system in and off itself is meant to be abstract?
Losing HP is not always physical injury, but also fatigue, fighting spirit, bruises ...

And btw. your seriously injured SR-char can be up walking and jumping with a mere First Aid check, so be careful where you shoot the "realism-railgun"

No need to get defensive.  Anarkitty used quotes around the word "realistic" for just those reasons.  No one's pissing on Pathfinder here.

[Lucean]

Yeah, Shadowrun is a much more "realistic" game.  Where a mid-level character in PF can get run through with swords several times and shrug it off with no ill effect, in SR even a highly experienced Prime Runner character will be severely injured and suffer severe penalties even getting shot once or twice.

You do understand, though, that a hitpoint system in and off itself is meant to be abstract?
Losing HP is not always physical injury, but also fatigue, fighting spirit, bruises ...

And btw. your seriously injured SR-char can be up walking and jumping with a mere First Aid check, so be careful where you shoot the "realism-railgun"

No need to get defensive.  Anarkitty used quotes around the word "realistic" for just those reasons.  No one's pissing on Pathfinder here.

Hey, I avoided the strongest arguments against realism for a reason like dragons and magic existing as well in SR

[Michael Chandra]

And btw. your seriously injured SR-char can be up walking and jumping with a mere First Aid check

Gotta be a real good First Aid check. You're usually on a -3 or worse, and the first 2 hits go poof, so even a Rating 6 medkit has bad odds at healing more than 2 boxes. Takes a dedicated medic to do better.

[Senko]

Yeah, Shadowrun is a much more "realistic" game.  Where a mid-level character in PF can get run through with swords several times and shrug it off with no ill effect, in SR even a highly experienced Prime Runner character will be severely injured and suffer severe penalties even getting shot once or twice.

On the "unrealistic" side, SR magic takes a much higher toll on the caster and because of that can never be as powerful as PF magic at the high end.  If a mage in SR tried to cast an equivalent to an 8th level Wizard spell, their brain would leak out their ears from the Drain.

That's what blood magic sacrifices are for, where do you think I got my pocket metaplane from?

[Anarkitty]

"Realism":

Hey, I avoided the strongest arguments against realism for a reason like dragons and magic existing as well in SR

Realism:

Gotta be a real good First Aid check. You're usually on a -3 or worse, and the first 2 hits go poof, so even a Rating 6 medkit has bad odds at healing more than 2 boxes. Takes a dedicated medic to do better.

Also, I'm not bashing Pathfinder, I play it almost as much as SR.  I've always though the way HP works is a little silly though, as far back as AD&D.

Star Wars D20 had a good concept with HP that are set at character creation, and "Vitality Points" that go up each level.  VP recover quickly and represent minor cuts and bruises, fatigue, dodging, plot armor, etc.  When they run out then you start taking HP damage.  Critical hits don't do extra damage, but they bypass Vitality and do HP damage directly.  Given that a level 20 character might still only have 10 HP, that can be devastating.  This is all off topic though, I guess.