...couldn't find what I was looking for.

So, while waiting for my TF2 update to download last night, I had the opportunity to kill some time with Runner's Companion. Eventually I came to the Priority-Based Character Creation. It's... interesting. More complex than in previous editions, but still workable (once I copied everything into ONE chart). I think I like it.

Does anyone have any practical experience with it?

-paws

EDIT: Here's the link to the index, further down the thread.
EDIT 2: In case by sig changes, here's the link to the newest version of the Streamlined SR4 Priority System (PDF)

We tried but it gimps skillgroups.
In the group I run, the average character has 4 skill groups. Many have more.

BlueMax

if you need to make a character fast, like 10 to 15 minutes, the system works

for indept, well planned characters. no

Does your group use BP or Karma Gen normally? How many points do you folks allow?

-paws

400 Points BP.
We are a very skill and contact heavy lot. But people are happy to take a skill group at 1 or 2. Former Company man had Influence 3, Stealth 2, Firearms 4, CloseCombat 3 and Electronics 2.

That said, for our Missions campaign we have gone cheesy and people take just Spellcasting and Counterspelling. Now they each have 3 skill groups. The "meat" has Athletics, Firearms and CloseCombat. Each of the three TMs has Tasking, Electronics and Cracking. So now we are down to three.

I don't think they will even give you three on the Priority System. The system feels like it was added just as a checkbox.

BlueMax
/yeap, we have it, now we can tell them to shove it
// Like GenCon west!

I have messed around with Priority char-gen a bit. It is frustrating, and almost unworkable, as opposed to the SR3 version, which was actually fast and very usable. The biggest problem is that there are a lot of areas, such as Attributes, where almost any player takes the equivalent of Priority A or B all of the time. In 400 BP, you can pare down one or two non-essential areas to have a mage with 200 BP in Attributes and high Resources and a Magic of 5 with a good spell selection. Far from being easy to use, the SR4 Priority system makes it difficult to create decent, playable characters.

So, I've been tinkering with the Priority System for the past few days. Why? I'm not entirely sure. Maybe I'm just pining for the "good old days" of SR2? All these SR2 and SR3 posts that have been popping up lately certainly have been looking back... No school like the old school, as they say. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Anyway, after converting several characters, I've come to the following conclusions:

1) The system is MUCH¹ simpler to use if you distill everything down to a single chart. Maybe its just me, but I flew through character creation after re-working the priority chart.

2) Priority built characters have a SR1/SR2 feel to them (glee!). While the SR4(A) BBB sample characters feel like established pros (for the most part), the Priority built characters seem like they might just be getting their feet wet.

2a) I would definitely favor Priority for a "street level" game.

3) I haven't converted any of the gear heavy characters yet, but the characters seem to end up poor. I'm going to tackle a couple of the riggers and/or street samurai tonight if I get a chance. It'll be interesting to see how that works out.

4) Converting from earlier editions is a breeze. So far, every SR1/SR2 character I've touched as fallen into almost exactly the same spots on the priority chart.

4a) Characters with Magic and high Resources are still a royal bitch. Heaven forbid you try to make the character a metahuman too! Which, as I think about it, is okay by me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/silly.gif)

5) One huge issue I have is with the suggested optional rules for Priority. Some of these should have been included as part of the core priority system. In particular, qualities, bonding foci, binding spirits, and registering sprites should have included. I know they add complexity, but the concept of buying a focus, but having it unbonded at game start is, well... stupid bad. And some character utterly fail without including allowing qualities. (see: Gunslinger Adept) (see also: Shamans - uh, Mentor Spirit anyone?)

5a) Contact Points are a cool idea, but easily the most complex of the suggested optional rules (which isn't saying that much, I guess). It occurred to me that allowing players to burn CPs for things like bonding, binding, etc. would make for an interesting house rule.

¹ I don't usually capitalize (shout) for emphasis, but this deserved it. The Priority Chart really should have been presented as one complete chart, not a main chart plus two or three smaller ones². Cross Referencing yields nothing but Epic Fail for a system that's supposed to be "fast."

² Seriously, even if its just a couple other charts it makes it harder to commit to memory. And you need to be able to go by memory if you intend to crank out a couple dozen characters a week during study hall! Unless of course you want to be that guy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/newbie.gif) and bust out with your "weirdo books."

-paws

I'm creating an SR4 game for a Con this winter and I thought about using the archetypes out of the book for people to play. I decided that for such a short game Qualities were just going to be confusing and get in the way of ease of play so I decided to make my own characters instead of dickering with the BPs of the archetypes.

Being a fan of the old priority generation system I decided to use the rules from the Runner's Companion. I was able to almost exactly recreate the Street Samurai, Infiltration Specialist, and Hacker with only some cosmetic differences.

I personally like priority character generation. I've always found that having the limitations that it imposes on a player makes them pretty creative in how they make their characters.

Old school for the win! Mages shouldn't have money or attributes (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

A - Magic: Snake Shaman
B - Skills: 30
C - Race: Elf
D - Money: 5,000! / 15 force points
E - Attributes: 17

Yep, that's my character for the campaign we're about to play. She's pretty awesome.

If you're looking for the good old days of SR2... Well, it's still here. In all of its absurd glory. Re-convert to SR2! The wired world awaits!

@Chibu:

Yeah, Snake Shamans were whipass.

As for playing SR2... well, my group is pretty happy with SR4. Since I have a SR newbie who's still learning the rules, I think switching things up right now would be detrimental.

Anyway, since we don't have a full-time hacker, I don't need to worry too much about wireless. Everyone pretty much uses AR.

@ShadowPavement:

I'd love to take a look and see what your finished priority system characters look like.

-paws

No problem paws. You can find the files here http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=14d322b...75a55d6a9515688

As they stand the characters may not look as much like the archetypes as they did when I started out. I did a little adjustment so that the characters each had their own niche in the group with something useful to contribute during the con game.

The way I created them was by actually opening the BBB to the archetype pages and used the priority system to try and exactly recreate what was on the page. Worked pretty well for the most part.

I'm sorry this is probably off topic, but what is TF 2?

Hey Paws, would you be willing to pass along the single chart you made for Priority Char Gen?

Team Fortress 2, one of the greatest if not the greatest FPS(first person shooters) out there. Download it off steam its worth the money.

I occasionally play as Shinobi Killfist, but I'm currently on wireless and its a pain. If I had a better connection I'd likely live on it.

By "worth the money" they aren't joking. $20 for just TF2, or $30 for The Orange Box (TF2, Portal (another worth the $20 game), Half Life 2 and Eps 1 and 2).

Thanks for the clarification.

I too would like to see that priority chart.

I think I can arrange that. I'll post a link when its available


Portal, by the way, is an awesome first person puzzle game. Highly worth it.

-paws

They are also working on a sequel if the Steam beta testing options are any guide.

This links straight to the file: SR4 Priority System (condensed).

Cleaned the table up a bit and polished up my notes on each priority for clarity. Let me know what you think. Anything that could be clearer? More user friendly? More streamlined?

-paws

EDIT: I just realized I accidentally labeled a house rule for Group Contacts as Optional in the "Resources and Contacts Priority" summary. For those interested, it was originally intended to simulate the ability to buy an entire gang (or similar group) as a contact, like you could in previous editions. Sorry for any confusion.

Thank you for the link.

Yes, thanks for the link Paws. The chart looks great and really does simplify things a great deal.

Have you had a chance to look at the priority characters I posted? I'd like to get your feedback on them.

I've downloaded them, but I haven't printed them out yet. One thing I did catch was that one of the characters (the Hacker, I think...) had a Skill Group at 5. The normal starting limit is 4.

Also...
I've found more errors on my file! Holy crap, I thought I'd done a better job with this thing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

• Added notes indicating which rules are Optional and which rules are House Rules.
• Added Adept (Magic 1) as Talent Priority D. This was inadvertently left off the original chart.
• Added description of the Contact Points Optional Rule.

Version 2.0 can be found here.

-paws

Doh! Thanks chummer. I've been looking at these characters alot lately so something like that may just "look right" to my brain at the moment, even if it isn't.

Am I seeing this right? With the Priority System it is not possible to play a Troll Mage with Magic 5 or 6?

I'm thinking the answer to your question is no. It looks like you can do Heritage B and Talent A and have a troll magician with Magic 5, along with one Special Attribute Point you can use to bump Edge to 2 or Magic to 6.