Explaining more things to new players, How would you go about it? Options

[ElFenrir]

Well, with the new player threads scattered around, i figured id ask a few more things, that im a little wondering about.

I pretty much know how i'd describe the game in general, and how to build up a character. But describing the numbers, even with the book, i think could be more in depth.

Attribute-wise, the book uses the old attribute scale..but with attributes scaled down(ie, a 6 in SR3 is more like a 5 here, and so on), i think its a little off. So i tried to come up with my own scale here, for a description...dunno how accurate this sounds, but how is this:

Above 6: You're pretty much, in a few words, extremely awesome here. And not many are going to be at this point...especially if it's natural. (You'll find some augments in this area, though.)

6- This is still pretty much human pinnacle, even with the bar a bit lowered. To have a 6 means you invested a lot of time into this. an Olympic person could have a 6, but even a 5 could suffice here, with a high skill. If you put a natural 6 into something, try to give a little explanation how it got around here.

5: You are damned good in the area. Smart, fast, strong, tough, charasmatic, you're in the top bunch. There are others like you around; but it's not a massive percentage. This is a stat you've worked at quite a bit.

4: This is a solid stat...definately above the average joe, but it's not astronomical. I'd say many a competent shadowrunner has a few of these around; it's not impossible to get to, but you pay more attention to developing this than other things.

3: This, rather than total 'joe average' is, to me, the higher end of 'joe average'. This is a run of the mill computer tech's Logic, a dockworker's Strength, a street detective's Intuition(not a higher end classic gumshoe..Intuition would be pretty high there). Basically, its not really up there, but you do develop it a bit more.

2: This is the 'low end' of average, IMO. It's not horrible, but it's not great. You really don't bother much with the stat. However, there are plenty of people in the world, even shadowrunners a cut above the working stiff, that have some of these. You probably won't be relying on this much, though. A dockworker's Logic, secratary's Strength, etc. You probably won't be picked on for an utter weakling/dumbass, but don't count on it getting you many places, unless you have a hot skill rating backing it up.

1: Regardless of what some say, this score is indeed, weak. You have to basically not care at all about this stat. In fact, you might be compromised somehow here. a 1 Body is a real softie made of paper..or perhaps someone healing from serious injury. For example-even a tough ass football player might have a temporary body of 1 if he's in the Burn Unit of the hospital...the people so fragile they need to be in antibacterial quarantine. a Strength 1 means you are the proverbial 90 pound weakling who gets sand kicked in their face. 1 logic? Yeah, as my friend says, you're stipud. 1 Intuition? You bet against the Harlem Globetrotters. 1 Willpower? a 5 year old could intimidate you. a 1 is more of a dumpstat, and as a GM i ask someone to explain this a little, as well. I know there are so many points, but a 1 OR a 6 should be worked into the background.

Now, it's tricker with metas....an Ork who leaves a 1 in Body still has a 4. Is he deficient? For an ork he's soft, but he's still tougher than the average human. I'd say even an Ork can get a temporary lower Body if he's recovering from a hardcore illness. An Ork with a 3 strength is still as strong as an average human who actually takes care of themselves...but to an Ork he's sort of the little guy. I admit, when it comes to the metas i have a little more trouble explaining. I know many people who can dump a Meta's stat if they get the bonus, but that 1 there for a Human's body...they will blow away in a strong breeze.

I guess how i'd explain it, that Ork mage just doesn't have to pay attention to Body...he just...is tougher. Like a Dwarf with Willpower 2...his type are just a little more stubborn than the average human...making THEIR lowest around a low-end average human. Trolls are just tougher and stronger than humans....their 5 Body and Strength might be low for them, but it's damned high for a human.

I perhaps would look at stats as ''high end'' and ''low end'' rather than ''human''..since there are so many metatypes out there, each with their minimums and maximums. That 5 Strength Troll dockworker can still carry alot more than that 3 strength human, and the human has done this for a little while, and takes care of himself.

Now, onto Skills. Happily, these are well taken care of by the book. But there is one thing im a little unclear on, and wonder how you all describe it: the use of Specializations. Take runner A and runner B. A has a Pistols of 6, which is, well, the best of the rest, as it says. B, though, has a Pistols of 4 with a Specialization in Semi-Automatics(+2), which is 6 dice still. Both, say have an Agility of 5.

Both with SemiAutomatics roll a base 11 dice. B only rolls 9 with the rest though, while A rolls 11 with ALL pistols. But, when using semi-automatics...would you say theres a difference? Would you describe a difference, or would you say they are pretty much even? Would a guy with Unarmed Combat 5 look different when fighting someone with Unarmed Combat(Boxing) 3(+2), if B was using his specialization? I admit, this is where im a little unclear.


And the other thing with skills: while a 1 in an Attribute means you're weak, a 1 skill means you're actually ok. Not great, but a 1 in Pistols is better than most people down the street. a 1 in Data Search means you're better at datamining than the average guy outside. a 1 Pilot Ground Craft, as it describes, means you're a seasoned driver with low insurance premiums. You know what you're doing.

I do make it a point to explain even a low skill is good; you can at least complete most typical tasks with a level of competence. an Influence Group of 2 means you actually know how to get around a sight better than 'the guy on the street'.

Well, just wanted to do another ''new player intro thread', to see what other ideas you guys have. Some may disagree with my attribute ratings, but i admit this is where i stand there. I more or less think explaining what the numbers mean is a good idea.