Retcon for 5e Matrix, Transition of ongoing 4A campaign to 5E Options

[Voran]

I appreciate the link to the macro/nano stuff, but at the same time that's whats frustrating about this game at times, now its really a MAKE A MAGICUSER constrained choice kinda thing.

In some ways its also a hearty "Go F yourself" to anyone buying earlier versions (yknow, supporting the product line) because the heavyhanded 'haha not backward compatible with previous editions' feel.

Coming soon Sixth Edition: We call it Earthdawn cause, well, tech is fantasy age again! Magic for everyone!

[RHat]

Sure, but not every sector impacts the economy equally. How much is all the tech in the world worth when you are hungry and the prospect of acquiring food isn't even a speck on the horizon. People with endure a great many things so long as they have their bread and circuses, but you take away either and the whole party falls apart.

Yeah, and the nanotech issues aren't hitting every sector equally. Could get a lot of runs out of companies having to adapt to the nanotech revolt, though.

For reference, though, I don't think it's causing the entertainment sector anywhere near as much trouble. Food might have gotten harder to get for the lower strata, though.

I appreciate the link to the macro/nano stuff, but at the same time that's whats frustrating about this game at times, now its really a MAKE A MAGICUSER constrained choice kinda thing.

In some ways its also a hearty "Go F yourself" to anyone buying earlier versions (yknow, supporting the product line) because the heavyhanded 'haha not backward compatible with previous editions' feel.

Coming soon Sixth Edition: We call it Earthdawn cause, well, tech is fantasy age again! Magic for everyone!

Except that they massively increased the resources available. Many prices went up by a greater proportion, but a lot of that was balance changes that needed to be made. And as long as you adjust prices accordingly, pretty much everything from before is compatible (other than nanotech stuff and basically the entirety of Unwired).

[BigGreenSquid]

pretty much everything from before is compatible (other than nanotech stuff and basically the entirety of Unwired).

There is a reason I did not, and will never switch to D&D 4E, and you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Any company which I have supported for years by purchasing their entire product line, who then goes and renders it entirely obsolete so they can sell me a new edition of their old stuff has burned all of the goodwill they have garnered over the years.

[Sendaz]

It's a fine line.

If the new edition does not introduce enough new material/rules, it's not a new edition, it's a reprint. Yes, it could be called a 2nd edition printing, but you know what I mean.

Change it too much and it may or may not be the same game you started with.

I do not envy the devs the task of trying to make those choices to keep a game fresh or more fun without radically upsetting the very system you are basing it on.

I am still wading through this all, trying to decide what will have to be houserule to fit the taste I want for this and hoping some of the errata clears up a bunch of questions of intended meaning.

[Voran]

Heh, it could be worse, it could be Forgotten Realms (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Heh, it could be worse, it could be Forgotten Realms (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

What's wrong with the Forgotten Realms (From Edition 3.5 at least - will never play Editions 4+)? Currently playing a campaign in the Silver Marches right now. Immense Fun. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Wakshaani]

For most, I have been treating them like were leased, that way any wageslave who up and ran was a criminal in the eyes of the law (grand-theft).

Has there been any justification by the devs as to why the nuyen has hyper-inflated between 2074 - 2075? Are prices still ramping, is the value of the nuyen still tanking? It might be a good story element, if worked properly.

Hyper-inflation of the Nuyen? Some individual things have gone up, mostly those connected to nano-production, but you'll notice that across the board, many prices haven't moved. In essence, if you watched the prices of modern solar panel production when China shut down the export of needed tech, you saw the prices in that sector jump, but inflation as a whole didn't budge. There's a similar thing in effect here; a tad more widespread, but still not what you would traditionally call hyperinflation. In particular, you'll see that lifestyle prices didn't budge an iota, and that's where you should really be looking. Food prices went up somewhat, so people have had to drop back to more bland fare to save money, but rent, electricity, etc, are the same. So, not hyper-inflation.

I may end up deviating from cannon, but I think I might take this and run with it. Why should we think that inflation should slowdown? And if nanotech is involved in the manufacure of soy based foods, who's to say it isn't involved in every step of the food production process from seeds and soil, to cattle in vetro, all the way up. Manufacturing should be just the tip of the iceberg.

Inflation largely doesn't move around due to the Corporate Court, who are a bit big on stability. They like harvesting money from the populace and inflation makes things more unstable than they'd like. Nano-issues make them unhappy as manufacturing had been using more and more nano-machines in the process, which had only just started to be moved into food. Obviously, that experiment's over. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) The real hit in the food side was the loss of NatVat, which shook Aztechnology badly. As they recover from that, the food issues will let up. (There's no worldwide famine, mind you. Other agricorps stepped up, with Shiawase making a bundle and, of all people, Horizon. The nation of Aztlan is hurting, but the rest of teh world not so much.)

Sure, but not every sector impacts the economy equally. How much is all the tech in the world worth when you are hungry and the prospect of acquiring food isn't even a speck on the horizon. People with endure a great many things so long as they have their bread and circuses, but you take away either and the whole party falls apart.

Once again, keep an eye on Aztlan. Other nations got worried and tightened up a bit, but Aztlan's the one place where food got *scarce*.

[BigGreenSquid]

Thanx Wakshaani,

Is all this in the Horizon series?

[Wakshaani]

Thanx Wakshaani,

Is all this in the Horizon series?

Depends on which part, but none of it should be. Dirty Tricks and Storm Front for most, with a few other tidbits hidden in areas like the Sixth World Almanac and in the JackPoint newsblurbs at the front of many products.

[Voran]

Btw do hosts get to run programs other than IC? Can you have a Host that runs sleaze or attack boosters/etc? Otherwise I was seeing programs for decks as the way to mitigate the generally superior ratings of Host attributes. Otherwise even when running a Fairlight Excalibur, if you're decking anything more than a small college or private business, you're at a disadvantage that just gets worse as your runner targets increase. The gap simply gets bigger against you when you actually start trying to deck local corporate and higher.

Then consider that general runners don't start with Fairlights, and that even low end hosts end up being superior to mid-range cyberdecks. "Everyone hacks Stuffershack" which ends up being...kinda not true unless 'everyone (even the wannabes)' has dropped around 200k for a device 3 cyberdeck and that's before any programs running in 'hot sim' to protect the host.

[Ryu]

Coming soon Sixth Edition: We call it Earthdawn cause, well, tech is fantasy age again! Magic for everyone!

I DO have a transition strategy for that (will be SR4A-E rather than SR6, and only for one campaign). So far it´s working.

If I wanted to phase in the SR5 matrix, I´d start by making jury-rigged commlink extensions a way to beat matrix security on a regular basis, then offer street-level "custom decks", to be phased out by corp product. Adding storyline elements on the fly.


Regarding inflation, only uncertainty has a damaging effect. A known constant inflation can be build into any planning formula.

[BigGreenSquid]

Btw do hosts get to run programs other than IC?

That is a good question, as they do have all four matrix attributes.

[Abschalten]

Ok, maybe that was a little harsh.

No, no. Don't apologize. I personally think you're pretty close with that assessment.