 Expectations for sr4 |
  |
 Oct 9 2006, 04:14 PM
Post
#1
|
|
|
Shooting Target  Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 1,755 Joined: 5-September 06 From: UCAS Member No.: 9,313  |
Ok honestly I veered away from SR during 3rd edition, just seems to be somthing lacking. But 4th edition has brought me back with a vengance, I know everyone plays differently and wants different things out of there games and suppletments.
I personaly am all for the "crunch" of new toys and tools. Something I loved about Street Sami 1 and Rigger 1 was fact that along with the "crunch" we got came along with some great visual representations. Fiction is all about the suspension of disbelief and great art has always helped when comes to rpg's. So Please dont give us a block of text and leave out a great visual aid to show around the table. Dont get me wrong as long time GM I can describe just about anything and get my point across but helps me to "see" the gun,vehicle,drone,behemoth, etc... as well as can speed up play time and ignite players to want that "saab" as opposed to just wanting to soup up some generic block entry in rigger book. Now before I ruffle any feathers let me say so far so good...I'm really happy with SR4 and just curious what others expect of future releases outside of specific mechanics. |
 |
 
|
|
Oct 9 2006, 05:17 PM
Post
#2
|
|
|
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,333 Joined: 19-August 06 From: Austin Member No.: 9,168 |
I would buy a book that contained nothing but illustrations of everything in the core book.
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 9 2006, 05:37 PM
Post
#3
|
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 668 Joined: 4-September 06 Member No.: 9,304 |
I wonder if with all the old art and fans, could we put together an art PDF or such, so that we can all visualize the same thing?
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 9 2006, 06:41 PM
Post
#4
|
|||
|
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,754 Joined: 9-July 04 From: Modesto, CA Member No.: 6,465 |
I got hooked on BattleTech and on one of the coolest manuals released for it was FASA's 3025: Technical Readout which was more art and fluff than rules. Yes it had stats on all the pictures, but it was a pleasure to look at as well as an aide! |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Oct 9 2006, 07:00 PM
Post
#5
|
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 524 Joined: 12-April 06 Member No.: 8,455 |
The original TR3025 was what got me *into* BT in the first place.
The stats didn't make a lot of sense without a rulebook, but the hundreds of years of story told in those pages got me hooked... and kept me hooked. |
|
|
|
|
Oct 9 2006, 07:28 PM
Post
#6
|
|||
|
Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,537 Joined: 27-August 06 From: Albuquerque NM Member No.: 9,234 |
FASA was very good at the "Sell the Sizzle" part, it was the steak that was often lacking. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Oct 9 2006, 07:35 PM
Post
#7
|
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 433 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Somewhere in Iraq Member No.: 1,789 |
Pics and fluff were the main reason I got so into Rifts. Palladium always had great visuals to back up what the stats and fluff said. You could not only envision their mechs/power-armor/guns but you could turn to page 175 and actually see exactly what they looked like. I liked that.
So I was mildly confused when I started SR because it seemed like every picture of an Ares Predator had a different size or style to it. Trolls were always a very hard thing to visualize in the world and drones changed based on the artist's thoughts. Somethings were standardized but that took awhile. I liked some of Prescott's stuff but damn, he was weird. I have high expectations for SR4, I got really hooked in near the end of SR2 (Arcology Shutdown) and have been ever since. The storyline has always bugged me as I've never really been one for metagaming. The atmosphere and the rules system were what really hooked me though. |
|
|
|
|
Oct 9 2006, 11:48 PM
Post
#8
|
|||
|
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,754 Joined: 9-July 04 From: Modesto, CA Member No.: 6,465 |
Same here. SR1 was a nice change from what I was used to in RPGs. I was excited about SR2, very resistant to SR3 (at first ;)) and am excited about what's being done with SR4. Despite SR4 abandoning its unique Dice system for a recycled one, I am enjoying enjoying the "new" look and feel of it. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Oct 10 2006, 01:21 AM
Post
#9
|
|||||
|
Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...ditto here too. Definitely a refreshing change. Being in the Northwest, the setting is what initially attracted me. When I got my hands on SR2, I thought what could be better? Gone were oddities like the old weapon damage codes, and when the build point system appeared (SRC), that clinched it for me. Then there were the supplements like the first SSB, Shadowbeat, Shadowtech, and two of the best adventure arcs, Harlequin & Harlequin's Back One thing I still miss to this day is the old Skill Web (which was dropped in SR3). I kind of liked the idea of defaulting from French Cooking to make Molotov Cocktails. :beret: |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
Oct 10 2006, 01:31 AM
Post
#10
|
|
|
Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,479 Joined: 6-May 05 From: Idaho Member No.: 7,377 |
One thing that got me hooked on shadowrun was the shadowtech book, I loved that thing. Beyond being the bastard that knew all the rules for all the cyber, I knew how they implanted it, how it looked, the whole deal.
Same with the street samuari catalog, I miss those book that had a whole page for each item. I guess they may not sell well, which is sad, but I really miss books like those. |
|
|
|
|
Oct 10 2006, 05:13 PM
Post
#11
|
|
|
Genuine Artificial Intelligence Group: Members Posts: 4,019 Joined: 12-June 03 Member No.: 4,715 |
I frequently reference SR1-3 for gear because even though I'm using stats from SR4, I know that somewhere in one of those books, the first time that bit of gear was introduced into the game world, there is a nice big illustration and a full-page write-up with shadowtalk and all for that one piece of gear.
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 11 2006, 03:48 AM
Post
#12
|
|
|
Target Group: Members Posts: 23 Joined: 20-March 05 Member No.: 7,193 |
To be honest if Arsenal/Augmention doesn't change somethings drastically I'm afraid I will not be playing SR 4. The changes to the Matrix/Deckers/Riggers are a great improvement. The problem I have with the game is that the game caters to the magic side almost exclusively. I mean, first Cyberware now takes a back seat to Bioware (yes I know its more expensive, big deal) because Bioware is more magic friendly. I'm sorry but machines will always be faster, stronger, and all around better than flesh at this point in technology, though, yes it should be harder on the system (cost more Essence).
Then the skill/attribute caps, great if everyone had to abide by the same rules, though this is not the case. Magic characters can initiate therefore allowing them to escape the cap using the Magic attribute. Due to this Deckers and Samurais are inherently disadvantaged to Technomancers and Adepts. As I said if Arsenal/Augmention doesn't even the odds between tech and magic I'm done. |
|
|
|
|
Oct 11 2006, 04:16 AM
Post
#13
|
|
|
Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,089 Joined: 4-October 05 Member No.: 7,813 |
the no cap on technomancers part is a sick joke.
sure, you can boost your technomancer infinitely... too bad you start in a deep, dark hole, and the simple act of digging yourself out of that karma-sucking pit is going to take you the rest of your career! by the time you have a 'commlink' and 'programs' as good as what the hacker can start off with, the hacker is probably sitting on a response 7, firewall 7, system 7, signal 8 commlink with a few rating 7 programs, because by the time you've gained that much karma everyone else is already maxed out. of course, the mage on the other hand is going to be laughing with their unlimited progression, because by the time you're as good as a starting hacker, he's capable of tossing powerballs the size of a moderately large building... |
|
|
|
|
Oct 11 2006, 05:27 PM
Post
#14
|
|||
|
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,754 Joined: 9-July 04 From: Modesto, CA Member No.: 6,465 |
Drastically? Like extra limbs, prehenciles tails or the ability to transform? ;) What more are you hoping is provided to "balance" SR4 for you? The whole series has been slanted towards magic since SR1. I am guessing Augmentation is going to be a lot like everyone other version itteration of Cyberware/Bioware that's come out since SR1. If it keeps the trend of Street Magic the new concepts won't superceed Core but extend it further and that means at least covering the items that have been around since SR1-3. Now alternatively, you could play all of SR w/o using the magic system if you wanted that more "realistic" bend on things which isn't a bad idea if the whole magic is a turn off for you. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Oct 11 2006, 06:12 PM
Post
#15
|
|||
|
Shadow Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 3,737 Joined: 2-June 06 From: Secret Tunnels under the UK (South West) Member No.: 8,636 |
I'm not quite so extreme that I'd ditch SR if Arsenal & Augmentation don't provide a much needed boost to the technology side, but likewise, I'm sincerely hoping for some heavy duty kit in these books. I particularly want to see more powerful cyberware (less so the bioware) and better cyberlimbs (i.e. higher caps, troll-size, more armour capacity, etc.) Oh, and really big guns. If Magic has dragons, then technology should have heat-seaking missiles and jet fighters. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Oct 11 2006, 06:13 PM
Post
#16
|
|||
|
Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...i've considered this in the past. To this end I have also tinkered with a more MA based adept which relies on MA styles & moves (similar to what was introduced in CC), instead of magic. |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Oct 11 2006, 06:22 PM
Post
#17
|
|||||
|
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,754 Joined: 9-July 04 From: Modesto, CA Member No.: 6,465 |
That's my current stream of thought on how to make Martial Arts more than it was in SR3.CC. With SR4 making most things similar to other things, I wouldn't suprise me to see MA follow the Magic/Resonance trend. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
Oct 12 2006, 05:52 AM
Post
#18
|
|||||
|
Target Group: Members Posts: 23 Joined: 20-March 05 Member No.: 7,193 |
It's not so much I'm look for a realistic experience, as this is Shadowrun. It is true that Shadowrun has always had a bit of a skew toward magic, the problem I have is that magic has become all-important. Even the tecchnology in the game has become tanted by magic in a way that it never had in the past. Now Bioware somehow has become the augmentation of choice. I thought Shadowrun was supposed to be Cyberpunk, not Biopunk. That and now if you realized, "oh shoot I screwed myself by going mundane", well with Streetmagic its not too late you can pick-up magic later on. It just seems too much, even System Failure exploits magic instead of technology to knockout the Matrix. I'm not saying the story isn't cool its just the reliance on magic to explain and justify everything in 4th that gets under my skin. Though, this is the culmination of years systematically transitioning to this point since FanPro took up the reins, to which they have turned tech (particularly cybertech) into the dirty stepchild of Shadowrun. I don't know, I'm just very disappointed with this decision and hoping that technology gets some love in the coming source material. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
Oct 12 2006, 01:35 PM
Post
#19
|
|||
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 750 Joined: 9-August 06 Member No.: 9,059 |
Well, no. Now with Street Magic you can create a character concept that awakens during the campaign. It costs you BP, gives you an awe inspiring Magic of 1 when the GM finally decides it activates, and you can't take any cyber if you want to keep things cheap. OMG!!!! |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Oct 12 2006, 02:10 PM
Post
#20
|
|||||
|
Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,718 Joined: 14-September 02 Member No.: 3,263 |
Really, I don't see any difference. Mages have always rocked SR. If you faced magic you were at a severe disadvantage if you didn't have magic on your team. That part hasn't really changed.
:? You see magic as being behind this, the source 'taint' as it where? Well that would explain why you see magic as all-important. You seem see it everywhere. Or are those just two different sentences that are coincidentally placed together like that? |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
Oct 12 2006, 02:49 PM
Post
#21
|
|
|
Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 750 Joined: 9-August 06 Member No.: 9,059 |
Magic caused 9/11.
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 12 2006, 09:04 PM
Post
#22
|
|
|
Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...I thought it was voodoo politics.
or maybe Voodoo Doughnuts... But then again, Voodoo is a magical tradition I guess. |
|
|
|
|
Oct 12 2006, 09:57 PM
Post
#23
|
|||||
|
Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,754 Joined: 9-July 04 From: Modesto, CA Member No.: 6,465 |
It has CP roots, but it was never billed as CP. The orginal intent has always been about Magic. As for gaining magic later, that's really a GM call. If you're GM allows it, then that's their decision. I'd think as long as it follows your group's ideal then cool. It's just nice to have some option in RAW.
Well the only remaining source books are all Tech unless some other new magic stuff is in the future. Personally, I can care less about the "storyline of SR" it was never what drew me to the game. I had read the book and played Neuromancer on my C-64 and saw SR as an interesting blend between that and Fantasy RPG. If you're sincere about a tech only game you could do it but be prepared to fill-in-the-blank if you want a complete history of things SR. |
||||
|
|
|
||||
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 17th June 2025 - 11:08 PM |
Topps, Inc has sole ownership of the names, logo, artwork, marks, photographs, sounds, audio, video and/or any proprietary material used in connection with the game Shadowrun. Topps, Inc has granted permission to the Dumpshock Forums to use such names, logos, artwork, marks and/or any proprietary materials for promotional and informational purposes on its website but does not endorse, and is not affiliated with the Dumpshock Forums in any official capacity whatsoever.