Shadowrun Done Easy Options

[Plasteel Franken...]

I was preparing to start a new game with some friends who have effectively 0 experience with traditional pnp role-playing. Everything was going fine until it came time for them to read the rules. They took one look at the size of the book and the complexity of the combat/hacking/magic, and were thoroughly intimidated by it. Everyone in the group is an adult and has life responsibilities (work and kids etc) that makes it unreasonable for everyone to read a bulky textbook just to play a game.
Is anyone aware of a site or set if house rules dedicated to making Shadowrun simpler and easier to just jump into? I'd love to get these guys into role-playing, but without a simpler ruleset it's not going to happen.

[Medicineman]

there are official Quickstarter Rules for SR5
Go Google for these (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

with a quick Dance
Medicineman

[IridiosDZ]

Don't make them read the rules from the get go. Make some pre-gen characters using input on what kind of character they would like. Let them choose their race and basic type then work up a basic character w/ basic gear. Explain how initiative works, and how skills work. Get them into the Role part of role playing. Maybe take a session to go through a 'combat sim', something that won't be counted in the story.

Once they get comfortable with the basics they might go looking in the book for more and you could tell them where they can find information relevant to their characters.

[Kyrel]

Simple answer is "teach them", rather than force them to read the rulebook cover-to-cover. Run them through some different situations that will teach them the basic game rules, using pre-gen. characters you've made. The base rules themselves are really pretty simple to learn. It's all the different modifiers etc. that's the pain in the ass. The background setting can probably be somewhat be explained. Magic isn't all that complex on the base level. 4th ed. Matrix was something of a pain to get to grips with IMO, I haven't read 5th ed., so no comments on whether or not the Matrix rules are easier to handle in that ed.

[Stingray]

..There is a Food Fight - scenario, that would work for first educational run.. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Faelan]

You could try this Savage Worlds hack http://wrathofzombie.wordpress.com/2013/01...shadowrun-hack/ It appears to be pretty comprehensive, and it is definitely simpler than just about any edition of Shadowrun, and really hits all the bases. Another game you can use that is an easy port is http://www.antipaladingames.com/p/mini-six.html mini six. You will have to do more prep on this one, but once again a very simple and easy to use system. I have found in the past, especially with new players with zero background that the crunch many of us love is not desirable to others, and that this wall of crunch gets in the way of what they are looking for out of the experience. You know your potential players best, so only you really have the potential to get this right.

[Draco18s]

If you're (and they) familiar with World of Darkness at all, Shadowrun uses a very similar system.

Attribute + Skill, "30%" success threshold on the dice.

You can pretty much take it from there.

[mister__joshua]

All good advice. What I did also when my group was started was limit starting characters to mundanes and largely combat types. It's a bit DnDish, but combat is a good place to learn the basic system mechanics (and is a core part of the system). Once people were more comfortable with the rules I added in Magic as a mechanic (which until then had been purely descriptional). After magic I added Matrix characters and challenges etc. building up slowly. This will normally help people by giving them less to think of. Trying to make your first character a Technomancer for example is a great way to quickly get fed up (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Plasteel Franken...]

Thank you for all the helpful suggestions! I am currently looking through the Savage Worlds version that was suggested, trying to decide if the group will find this a little more acceptable.

[ravensmuse]

There's a few hacks out there of SR stuff.

ShadowHack! uses the rule set for Old School Hack for Shadowrun.
World of Shadows is by the same dude, but this time uses the streamlined Dungeon World rules of World of Dungeons.
Sixth World is a full on Shadowrun hack of Dungeon World.

Speaking from personal experience / thoughts, it would be relatively simple to convert Shadowrun to FATE and Cortex+ Action.

These are all rules light, easy to learn systems that let you sit down and play Shadowrun, instead of agonizing over the mess of rules.

(I need to just make a page for these links...)

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

FATE Core would indeed work well, in my opinion. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)