Shadowrun

Shadowrun Play => Gamemasters' Lounge => Topic started by: Magnaric on <12-01-18/1758:51>

Title: Advice for upcoming campaign(2050s)
Post by: Magnaric on <12-01-18/1758:51>
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.
Title: Re: Advice for upcoming campaign(2050s)
Post by: Reaver on <12-13-18/1541:33>
I have to admit, the 2050s of Shadowrun are truly epic in their writing. (RIP Nigel Findley). I have some of my best memories from this era of SR.

Now, as to your particular problem, I would strongly suggest you use the 4e 2050 book for as much as you can. The writers of that book did their level best to include as much of the feel of the 2050s in that book while updating it to the 4e rules system. This would be the most cost and hair saving way to go, as much of the conversions have been done for you.

Trying to convert 2e and 3e material to 4e could lead you a migraine real fast, as there are so many fundamental changes to the rules  between the editions as to leave you lost. (floating target numbers, different attributes, different valuations due to FTN and different attributes, the list goes on..heck, even the way damage is handled is different!)


Now, if you have the time, energy, and the money, I would say "learn 3e and play that for a true 2050s feel"... but that's a lot of scratch and effort for a single game.. not to mention that its a dead edition :(
Title: Re: Advice for upcoming campaign(2050s)
Post by: Michael Chandra on <12-14-18/0102:47>
*Double-taps* Yeah, it is. 8)
Title: Re: Advice for upcoming campaign(2050s)
Post by: Magnaric on <12-14-18/0741:20>
So since I made this post, we actually looked into it, did some comparisons, etc, and we ultimately decided on playing 2E(since we have access to all the PDFs and are steadily increasing the physical library). It'll have s few tweaks and changes, some house rules my table likes, etc. But I'm doing my GM homework now(IE reading through about 6 books) and then myself and my 2 most knowledgeable players are going to do some quick run throughs of various aspects of the system to see what we need to trim.

Things like a basic firefight, car chase, summoning various spirits and casting various spells, hacking things in the Matrix, etc. It's going to be a process, but a pretty fun one I think.

And in the end it'll be easier for me to run some of the old modules for 1-2E. That's one of the biggest draws for the group this time, that almost none of them have any experience with the old adventures being maybe hearing about them.

Anyways, I'll let you guys know how it goes. Out of curiosity, would anyone here want me to post my thoughts and list of house rules we come up with afterwards? I know the old editions are kind of dead stick at this point, but there seems to still be a lot of cans of the "Golden Age of Shadowrunning" of the 2050s.
Title: Re: Advice for upcoming campaign(2050s)
Post by: Tecumseh on <12-14-18/1748:47>
You're more than welcome to share them here but, as long as we're being honest, they might not get a lot of attention.

If you want feedback and conversation, I might suggest sharing your experiences on the Dumpshock forums: http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showforum=26 (http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showforum=26)

While not the most vibrant and active of forums, there is a persistent community of players who still play the earlier editions (especially 3E) and occasionally pretend that 4E and 5E don't exist.

My personal advice would have largely reflected Reaver's, but any Shadowrun is better than no Shadowrun so if 2E is where you begin then great. That's where a lot of us got our start, myself included, so hopefully you'll get hooked the same way we did.