Questions we'd like answered in the FAQ.... Options

[Patrick Goodman]

[Deamon_Knight]

No offense intened Patrick, I just tend to make my posts off the cuff.

[Ol' Scratch]

I did have another question, but I'm not sure if it might break any NDAs or anything, so feel free to ignore it if it does.

6) Will there be any type of edge/flaw mechanic built into the core rules, and if so, is it going to be handled in a way similar to how it's been handled or will is it completely new in its implentation? As a follow-up, if there is one, how do you like it compared to the current way of things?

[Patrick Goodman]

[Patrick Goodman]

[RunnerPaul]

[Patrick Goodman]

[apollo124]

I have to say here, not to go against the stream, SR4 has me a LOT less worried than I was when SR got turned over to the Clix people. I just knew that all they were gonna be putting out were Troll Barbies on big dials, and just dropping the books altogether.

So, I will be anxiously awaiting the arrival, and if I can swing it, may even go to GenCon Indy to get a copy firsthand.

Since not a whole lot has come out yet about the spell system, I would like to know how it is changing. I know this also probably comes under the "game mechanics" ban in the NDA, but a guy can dream.

[DrJest]

Hey, that's a thought - it's getting released in the US at the con, what about Europe?

[Adam]

Like all FanPro books, it will be shipped to European distributors and stores as promptly as possible.

[NightHaunter]

[RunnerPaul]

[apollo124]

Since SR4 is going to be debuted at GenCon Indy, will there be game events scheduled? If so, on what days, and how can I get a piece of the action?

[Blitzen]

First) Is SR going to stick with the classic L,M,S,D damage system or will it adopt a fixed 10 hit point system or will it be some completely different?

Second) How is combat handled, is it an opposed test similar to SR3s Melee or does it function as the SR3 Ballistic combat and will it allow for dodging and other cinematic combat features?

Third) Initiative, how does it function in SR4?

[Typhon]

Thats something I'm very interested in knowing too Blitzen , will we keep our Damage Code system. I hope we do , its just one of those things that set SR apart from DnD Case in Point
DnD : (DM to Fighter) : ok take 50 points of Damage
(Fighter to DM): bah thats alright plenty more where that came from!
(DM to Mid Level Mage) : and you take 50 Damage as well
(Mage) : *silently grabs a new character sheet *
SR : (GM to high Karma Sammie) : and you take a Deadly wound
(Sammie) :*silently grabs a new character sheet *
(GM to high Karma Mage) : you did too
(Mage) :* silently grabs a new character sheet *
I don't know I just like the fact that a deadly wound is just that : Deadly
If it can kill you in shadowrun , it doesn't care what archetype you are , it doesn't care if your awakened or mundane it kills you ; and honestly thats one thing I can't stand about D&D , if your a fighter somehow your body can take some unnatural amount of damage and just shrug it off , no penalties to any of his attacks just goes from 60 to dead... I guess I just like the lethality of Shadowrun , it makes death the great equalizer it should be .

[Grinder]

I second that. In our last SR-session our dwarven sammie with really body value nearly died. He was slashed by two gangers with cougar fineblades. The player of the dwarf was so surprised how it deadly SR can be that even forget to complain about it. ;)

[Jérémie]

[hermit]

Yes, the damage system, and the flowing, drain resist, MP-less magic system, were the single best things SR had top offer. If these are gone, I'll use SR3revised, and won't buy a BBB4, period. That's what made SR SR for me, and if that is missing, I can as well go and convert SR to D20 and implement character classes and all that shit.

SR is always deadly, and even a 400-KArma character can be outright killed by two Red Samurai with machine pistols and ExEx ammo firing two salvos each. Bang. No more 400 Karma character. In D20, the lv.20 fighter would walk up to the 300 man lv.1 orc army, pull his +5 enchanted combat spoon, and proceed to wipe the floor with them. With a certain level, D20 turns into DragonballZ. SR never did, it always kept a character grounded and aware of their own mortality.

[Grinder]

I hope they'll make drain a little bit harder to resist, but that's the only thing i want to be changed when it comes to damage, combat and the like.

[hermit]

Actually, drain is fien as it is, but the effects of spells need to be adjusted so that force DOES matter. I mean, invisibility or mask or stealth are almost as good on ,low levels as on high, and keeping them low makes drain resisting soooo much easier. :S

[Grinder]

Good point too. I dislike the way drain is handled. Half Force rating is too low imo. This is usually 2 or 3 and that's handled easily by most mages. I know that there are ways to harrass any mage/shaman, but that's not the point. i want drain to be a more serious drawback of mojo-throwing. Not deadly, but it should leave you with some minor injuries. And no, i don't want to start a discussion about mages vs. mundanes - who's more fucked up or sth. like that.

[hermit]

Not nescessarily that every spell causes drain, but it shouldn't be that, drain-wise, uneven force spells are as hard to resist as even ones that are lower force (Force 5 spells, like force 4 spells, have a base drain resist number of 2).

Also, with the new system of dice pool modification, combat will already speed up, even if the old hit test/dodge/damage resist if applicable mechanic is kept, because hit and dodge can be rolled simultaneously, and results then be compared, and then (if applicable) damage resist is rolled. essentially speeds things up without crippling the general idea of SR combat. I hope they won't make it opposed tests to speed combat up more. Melee is handled that way, and I have always hated how Melee works in SR3, where every Kung Fu 10, str 6 Bruce Lee type can be knocked out by a troll with martial arts 0, str 12 he attacks from behind under cover of silence and invisibility spells, because the defaulting Str 12 troll can knock him off in that test, whcih makes no sense at all, but is how things happen under SR3 rules). THAT could use a revision.

[Grinder]

A troll attacking from behind disguised by an invisiblity spell is nothing that happens so often. ;)

But you're right, a good fighter should have an edge about an nerd with melee 0.

[Kagetenshi]

Er, no, that's not how things happen under SR3 rules. Even a Brawling 4 Troll is at a pretty significant disadvantage against Kung Fu Fighter 10, and even a single point of modifiers tilts the balance even more. In your example, the Troll's chances to hit the Bruce Lee type are atrocious.

~J

[Austere Emancipa...]