Shadowrun FAQ v0.99! Options

[Bull]

Ok. This is a dirty version of the rules in a quick and sloppy PDF format. It ain't pretty, but it'll get the job done till matt gets a free moment and can make it pretty. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1203480...ons%20v0.99.pdf

this does not really include the official Errata at all, and is not meant to be an SR5 FAQ. This is strictly for Missions. I have a small handful of things that I want to post as a "Hot Patch Errata", stuff that effects basic chargen on an impotant level, but am waiting on approval for those.

Just keep in mind that Mystic Adepts are getting hit with the Nerf Crotch Bat, so don't go making one and then getting disappointed down the line.

Bull

[Dyspeptic]

Good to see this info, it's really appreciated. A few quick questions:

1) Used gear *is* available at character creation?
1a) But used gear *cannot* be purchased later?

2) Loss of Confidence and Social Stress qualities are banned, but Unsteady Hands is OK?

3) Because only 7 Karma may be spent on a single Contact, your best Contact (for instance a 2 Loyalty/5 Connection Fixer) will only have 7 dice on the availability test to find a piece of gear for you? And therefore can't find you so much as a silencer without a substantial markup?

4) Are we going to see some purchasable setting-specific contacts for Season 5, as we had for Season 4?

[Bull]

Sorry it's unclear.

1) Used Cyberware should be cleared up in the official FAQ/Errata from CGL. But used Cyebrware is allowed at Chargen for Shadowrun Missions. Used Gear in general, however, is not. this is primarily because there is a specific downside to used Cyberware (increased essence cost). So you can buy used Wired, but not a Used Car. i know, wonky, but until there are concrete rules for Used Vehicles (or used anything else), it's gotta be this way.

2) That one got missed. I think it will be allowed, but with the caveat that it applies under ANY stressful situation (i.e., anytime the runner is in a position where he can be injured, go to jail, or otherwise have a serious negative consequence to failing). It'll be more of an automatic thing rather than a triggered by a specific memory or situation thing. Which may make it not worth taking, which is also ok by me, since otehrwise i'll just outright ban it.

3) At chargen, yes. these are the base rules for this sort of thing. but keep in mind you'll be earning a large number of contacts through gameplay, and those contacts can get fairly beefy. But, more importantly... you're in Chicago. Getting anything good on the black market is pretty tough. It's a feral city for a reason, and not in a "good for shadowrunners" kind of way.

4) yeah, I'll be posting them up in the next couple days. There are 12 major contacts for Season 5.

[FateBurn]

So it's looking like we wont be able to transfer previous edition/season characters over at all? That's a real bummer. I thought I had read in a previous thread that we'd basically be remaking our characters in the new system and then reapplying karma/nuyen. I suppose I misread.

EDIT: Oh, I see now. The remade character is for Prime Status. So at least I can still use Fate for something!

[Bull]

So it's looking like we wont be able to transfer previous edition/season characters over at all? That's a real bummer. I thought I had read in a previous thread that we'd basically be remaking our characters in the new system and then reapplying karma/nuyen. I suppose I misread.

EDIT: Oh, I see now. The remade character is for Prime Status. So at least I can still use Fate for something!

Yeah. the first prime Missions is just about done, and the second and third ones are coming along nicely, so we WILL actually have some of those for you guys. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[The Masked Ferre...]

Yeah. the first prime Missions is just about done, and the second and third ones are coming along nicely, so we WILL actually have some of those for you guys. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Will any of them be done before Labor Day (so we can possibly include them in the available modules for Dragon*Con?)

[Bull]

Will any of them be done before Labor Day (so we can possibly include them in the available modules for Dragon*Con?)

I have no idea. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Gen Con is completely destroying my production schedule. As usual.

[The Masked Ferre...]

Is there any chance you could make the Welcome to the Sixth World available on the Catalyst Demo Team website?

[UmaroVI]

Under the "errata" section, you only pay for Essence changes in bio/cyberware, not nuyen changes - it should probably be both.

Otherwise it looks good, and I particularly want to thank you for having put the thought in for repairing gear during downtime and for sharing gear and lifestyles between characters.

[bonehead]

3) At chargen, yes. these are the base rules for this sort of thing. but keep in mind you'll be earning a large number of contacts through gameplay, and those contacts can get fairly beefy. But, more importantly... you're in Chicago. Getting anything good on the black market is pretty tough. It's a feral city for a reason, and not in a "good for shadowrunners" kind of way.

Can you pay an extra +25%/die to give your contact an extra die in their pool as per p.418?

[Bull]

Is there any chance you could make the Welcome to the Sixth World available on the Catalyst Demo Team website?

There isn't anything concrete for that. It's not something taht's written out, it's just whatever the GM wants to run.

[bonehead]

Also, as per the Swag rules on p388, will a Contact trying to buy something for your get dice pool of Charisma+Negotiation+Connection rating, which in Missions would be Loyalty+Connection+Connection?

[DWC]

For the NPCs that we have stats for, can we use those stats instead of the Loyalty and Connection ratings?

[Bull]

Under the "errata" section, you only pay for Essence changes in bio/cyberware, not nuyen changes - it should probably be both.

Yeah. It follows the gear stuff as well. i assumed that would be understood.

Can you pay an extra +25%/die to give your contact an extra die in their pool as per p.418?

Yes.

Also, as per the Swag rules on p388, will a Contact trying to buy something for your get dice pool of Charisma+Negotiation+Connection rating, which in Missions would be Loyalty+Connection+Connection?

Yes.

For the NPCs that we have stats for, can we use those stats instead of the Loyalty and Connection ratings?

No, mainly to keep things even and fair, since not all Contacts will be fully statted out. Just use the Connection & Loyalty.

[j2klbs]

Hi Bull!

Are there guidelines for increasing contacts loyalty ratings? I GM'd recently the compilation modules (great writing BTW), and one of my players did an excellent job roleplaying with his contact (bringing him food, etc.). So, I gave him a +1 Loyalty increase (from 1 to 2) for that. Can I do that as a GM in an organized play setting? If not, how do players increase Loyalty and/or Connection ratings?

Thanks!
~Jason

[Bull]

Connections don't really change.

For loyalty, for Missions specific Contacts, they generally are "fixed" and only go up as rewards for Missions.

For individual contacts, the Missions have a bit of discussion about gaining loyalty for non-Missions contacts. Generally, it's GMs discretion, but you have to really make an effort to raise the loyalty, going above and beyond to earn it.

Bull

[bonehead]

Thanks for the responses Bull!

[artent]

any minimum karma required to promote to prime...or can I just move on to 5th right now...totally chomping at the bit, but can't leave a fellow runner behind

[Bull]

any minimum karma required to promote to prime...or can I just move on to 5th right now...totally chomping at the bit, but can't leave a fellow runner behind

To move to Season 5 proper, the main stuff, you have to make a new character.

However, for Prime Runners though, no karma requirement. Any Season 4/SR4 character can be converted over, but keep in mind you'll only be able to play in Prime Missions and Special Missions, which we don't have any of out yet (I have several on tap, and will hopefully have the first one out a little bit after GC).

Also keep in mind that Prime Missions are designed to be higher power, so a low karma character may have some issues, depending on where his skills are and how he's focused.

[DWC]

any minimum karma required to promote to prime...or can I just move on to 5th right now...totally chomping at the bit, but can't leave a fellow runner behind

The karma requirement is effectively 1. If you've played the character at all in any of the 4th edition seasons, you have to either promote to Prime or retire.

At the risk of going slightly OT, it's going to be interesting to see how the Prime missions are going to handle the folks who made characters at SIBCon back in the spring and have 25 karma when they're facing stuff written to challenge the die hard Season 3 cheese weasels (a remark I will admit to resembling) who slipped under the bar to finish Season 4 as well.

[FateBurn]

To move to Season 5 proper, the main stuff, you have to make a new character.

However, for Prime Runners though, no karma requirement. Any Season 4/SR4 character can be converted over, but keep in mind you'll only be able to play in Prime Missions and Special Missions, which we don't have any of out yet (I have several on tap, and will hopefully have the first one out a little bit after GC).

Also keep in mind that Prime Missions are designed to be higher power, so a low karma character may have some issues, depending on where his skills are and how he's focused.

Any idea how many prime missions we may be looking at in comparison to regular missions? Like way way less, or something close to the same?

[Bull]

Any idea how many prime missions we may be looking at in comparison to regular missions? Like way way less, or something close to the same?

No. I'm shooting for 4 a year, while SRMs will see between 8 and 12 a year, I hope.

Prime are not intended to be a "core game experience", to use a lame buzz term. they're something extra to do, and a way to continue playing older characters every now and then, because it's fun to bust the old guys out sometimes. But our focus is and has to be on the primary Missions line, which needs to be more "newbie friendly".

Bull

[Bull]

The karma requirement is effectively 1. If you've played the character at all in any of the 4th edition seasons, you have to either promote to Prime or retire.

At the risk of going slightly OT, it's going to be interesting to see how the Prime missions are going to handle the folks who made characters at SIBCon back in the spring and have 25 karma when they're facing stuff written to challenge the die hard Season 3 cheese weasels (a remark I will admit to resembling) who slipped under the bar to finish Season 4 as well.

Well, as with anything, part of it is going to be up to the GM. And a HUGE part of it will be how well the player characters are built. I've said from day one, and continue to say... You can easily build a starting character that can hold his own in nearly any combat situation as well as any 100+ karma character, and better than some. Same for magic, decking, etc. The higher karma characters might be able to eek out a few dice more, but 3-4 dice often translates into one hit, which isn't really that significant in the long run. Now, in both cases, we're talking uber focused characters who are in the right situation as well...

I think where more experienced characters tend to shine is that they often have more depth to them... they have a broader array of skills and equipment, so they end up being more flexible.

So it'll be hard to say. It's also hard to write. So we'll see how it shakes out. The pay and the karma rewards will be better, that's for sure.

But, as with any Mission, it'll be up to the GM to tailor the experience for the team he has, regardless of their karma totals or abilities. Missions should be challenging for any character, and the GM should modify on the fly as needed to make it a challenge.

Bull

[DWC]

Will Prime Hackers get an exception to the Availability 12 limit to purchase cyberdecks, since there was no real equivalent in SR4a? Also, what about riggers and Control Rigs and RCCs? Or do they get their Availability cap raised to the Availability of their SR4A Commlink or Nexus?

[Shortstraw]

Please tell me you are going to sell Prime mission pdf's.