Retconning through the editions, Post your favorite examples Options

[Fuchs]

Over the course of four editions, a lot of Shadowrun's rules changed. Some of the rule changes had no effect on the flavor of the world (guns still shoot), other changes had profound effects, leading to retconning.

One example is astral space. Back when astral travellers couldn't go through living beings - like plants - ivy made a very cheap and effective barrier to astral scouts. Earth was the same, first not allowing anyone to pass through, then requiring hours to pass through 1 meter of earth. So, in my campaign, many corp facilities were underground, completely safe from astral intruders, or had quaint ivy growth over their walls because that was more cost-effective than wards (and more secure in someways as well).

With the rules changes, that changed as well, since it did not make econimical or otherwise sense anymore.

What examples do you have of "world-changing" retcons?

[nezumi]

Spell grounding was a surprisingly big one. Before using a foci was undertaken with some degree of caution because it was liable to blow up. Now everyone and their brother has a foci or two. Bah!

[Prime Mover]

I think the passing through the earth was never forbidden in 1st edition just not explained on how it was accomplished until later expansions. Guess did'nt realize the plant issue until looking back over astral security in BBB, I see the ivy there is dual natured.

Some of other glaring changes spirit service times 24 hours for hermetics, sunrise/sunset for shamans and spirit domains for shamanic spirits.

Missing critter power Alienation that not only existed for several editions but was noted in Dunks will. I know it has glaring holes to be misused and simply reversed effect to make it viable again. (target cant see/touch/notice those around him as opposed to them not seeing him).

Narcoject weapons missing, few other pieces of gear missing too and probably replaceable with new toys but for converted characters who've been around since 1st edition they were an old standby.

Edit: Ahhh how did I forget that one, spell grounding..nothing like thinking you've gotten away and the adept with 8 spells locked and active gets targeted from the astral and a few massive Hellblasts go off in the get away car.

[Fortune]

Grounding Spells.

Edit: Damn! Waaay too many windows open. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[hermit]

Vehicles - all of a sudden, modding just didn't work any more, all vehicles massively changed prices and stats during every edition switch.

Dikote - it's effects changed massively from 2nd to 3rd edition, and it just vaporized in 4th. Propably, all the diamond-coated surfaces disintegrated because computers crashed.

Spirits 3rd to 4th - because of massive computer problems, Spirits decided to completely change their classifications and nature.

[Caine Hazen]

Did anyone mention Spell Grounding yet?

[Blade]

The spirit change is because of the "Unified Theory", when Hermetists discovered they could actually summon without having to bind.

[cryptoknight]

Grounding

Invisibility seems to have changed to my memory.. I know somewhere Thermographic vision was a defense against all forms... and now... bupkiss

[paws2sky]

I lament the elimination of Domains.
I really liked ivy covered or underground corp facilities.
I violently hate FAB and everything related to it.
Spell Grounding... ah, the good old days.
My SR world is not tied to Earthdawn.
Immortal Elves don't exist.

Hmm. Those are the biggies.

[Prime Mover]

The spirit change is because of the "Unified Theory", when Hermetists discovered they could actually summon without having to bind.

Well can explain many of the magic changes due to time passing and mana levels settling in and slowly rising. Hell given enough time and thought you can rationalize anything. LOL

[cryptoknight]

I miss Shamans automatically having a totem... instead of having to buy a mentor spirit.

It's what made them different from Hermetics... and very very cool.

[hermit]

The spirit change is because of the "Unified Theory", when Hermetists discovered they could actually summon without having to bind.

Sure, that's why nature spirits, before divided into wood, plains, forest, tree, and whatnot, now unify themselves into plant and animal spirits (leaving the plains spirits ... whereever ...)

Besides, this thread is meant to lament, not to argue anything. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Fluff: SR and Space. Noone seems to be able to decide - either there're 5 large Torus stations at the Lagrange points, a number of large Orbitals around Earth and several Stations on the Moon, Mars, and Mercury - or there aren't, and they just vanished somehow, eaten by wormholes or malicious Great Dragons from outer space. This has been retconned repeatedly.

I think spell grounding also deserves a mention.

[Magus]

I do miss the ability to cast from Astral Space to Physical Plane and take Physical Drain no matter what. Casting on the Astral was not done willy-nilly.

[Elve]

Summonig in Astral space...

[Particle_Beam]

Ah, Magic, the one thing that completely changes from edition to edition, and retcons the SR-world, whereas the Matrix evolves, and there's a whole end-scenario for SR 3, bridging towards SR 4.

Well, there aren't astral quests anymore where you have to reach the citadell of power (and where if the goal was to subdue the spirit, their Force would get doubled. CRAZY!!!) at the end of several trials.

[mfb]

running speeds! in SR3 (and probably 1-2), a Qui 1 character would take a minute and a half to run the 100m dash. at 9 Qui and 8 athletics, you could on average beat the current world record by a full two seconds. in SR4, if you allow double sprinting and blow Edge for an extra IP, the world record for the 100m dash by an unaugmented human will be 5.66 seconds, with a top speed of 39mph!

[nezumi]

in SR4, if you allow double sprinting and blow Edge for an extra IP, the world record for the 100m dash by an unaugmented human will be 5.66 seconds, with a top speed of 39mph!

Well everyone knows people were shorter in the past, so as time moves forward, people get taller, then can run faster. Duh.

[Kyoto Kid]

...Grounding, most definitely "dat mage, he blowed up real good he did"
...Shamans being distinct from Hermetics
...Spirit Domains
...Elementals and health spells: There was no elemental type that controlled Health Spells, this changed in 4th ed
...Movement: at first it was unsegmented then in 3rd edition (I believe) divided up among the character's IPs
...Weapon damage codes: 1st ed had separate codes for weapon damage and staging
...Knowledge Skills being supplemental (& therefore more useful) to Active Skills (3rd ed)
...Karma Pool: replaced by Edge attribute in 4th
...Melee Counterattack: dropped in 4th ed
...the old Skill web: tweaked between the first two editions before being pretty much eliminated in 3rd. "I can make a Blumonge that can take out a bridge by defaulting to my French cooking skill!"

...if I am not correct, didn't object resistance against spells change (I think between 2nd & 3rd ed) making it more difficult for a spell to affect a non living item?

[Spike]

running speeds! in SR3 (and probably 1-2), a Qui 1 character would take a minute and a half to run the 100m dash. at 9 Qui and 8 athletics, you could on average beat the current world record by a full two seconds. in SR4, if you allow double sprinting and blow Edge for an extra IP, the world record for the 100m dash by an unaugmented human will be 5.66 seconds, with a top speed of 39mph!

Actually: those numbers don't sound all that far out to me. Quickness 1 is like the fat kid huffing a puffing down the track, and quickness 9 is 'superhuman'... maybe we just haven't found that guy yet.

I'm not sure but I think you 'unaugmented' human would be a '6' yes? I've read 35mph as a 'top speed for humans' sort of number... and I'm tempted to say 6 seconds on a 100m dash isn't outlandish on either side... but I could be wrong.

Sorry: on topic all I can say is 'grounding spells'.


Which, really, is only my peeve. Nobody else even noticed, I'm sure.

[nezumi]

6 is the cap straight out of chargen. 9 is the maximum number you can get naturally, so those people who have the absolutely perfect genetics and spend a huge amount of time focusing on it, sort of like Lance Armstrong or, in theory, Olympic athletes. This may have changed in 4th edition, of course, but a Quickness or Strength 9 human is quite possible. No data is given on precisely how common it is, however.

[mfb]

in SR3, 9 is the unaugmented human maximum. the current 100m world record is just over 9 seconds; the first recorded world record for the 100m dash, in 1912, was 10.6 seconds.

regardless, there are already several different threads about double sprinting.

[Blade]

Troll height... If they keep shrinking like that, they'll end up shorter than dwarves!

[swirler]

the language
I miss frag and chummer and hoop and decker
I mean i guess you can say it isnt retcon but it seems like it to me
they use f--- now
when the main characters in one of the old novels said that one of the guys trying to kill him said "He said f---, isn't that quaint?"

[hobgoblin]

ah, spell grounding. nothing quite like summoning a force 1 spirit, have it materialize and the blast it with a elemental spell. btw, those have gone back and forth between combat and manipulation iirc.

[It trolls!]

Oh god, here I was reading the thread title, thinking if I might have missed any major timeline retcon like adding 9/11 to the SR-timeline or such... but calling the lack of Dikote in 4th edition rulebooks is hardly what qualifies as a retcon. Of all the stuff mentioned here, I find the shrinking trolls to be the most concerning to me. I like my troggies > 3 meters, my good sir!