Hi!
I am new to SR4. I really wanted to play SR, and had purchased the first book and quite a few sourcebooks back in the day but never could get others to play. Well, now I have started a group of five players plus myself (GM) and we have almost finished the character creation process. Finally I WILL PLAY!!!
I have read through the SR4 rules a few times now and most of it has sunk in. I have found some great GMing tips here, as well as the wonderful makeshift GM screen. I have purchased some older modules SR1 through 3 to help inform the adventure I am planning, and some source material. I have not acquired the older rulebooks yet and am having trouble with some conversions.
I downloaded the character conversion document, and the matrix conversion post is great, but what about tests? The tests in all my modules have an attribute or skill, followed by a number in parenthesis e.g. Body (6), Willpower (4), or Corporate Etiquette Skill (5). Are these "dice pools" as I have seen mentioned, or is the dice pool the Attribute or skill rating with the number in parenthesis being a target number?
Is there a quick and easy way to convert these types of tests? Also, how did perception tests work before? Can I just use the same success to result ratio or would this make things too easy/difficult for players?
And last but not least, Thanx
Full Version: Conversion Query
Check both the main site FAQ & the conversion guide you downloaded. I'll follow up later, but when I posted this, my eyes are tired & I need sleep.
| QUOTE |
I downloaded the character conversion document, and the matrix conversion post is great, but what about tests? The tests in all my modules have an attribute or skill, followed by a number in parenthesis e.g. Body (6), Willpower (4), or Corporate Etiquette Skill (5). Are these "dice pools" as I have seen mentioned, or is the dice pool the Attribute or skill rating with the number in parenthesis being a target number? |
In SR3 and earlier editions, a test written like "Body (6)" meant to roll your Body dice, at a TN (difficulty) of 6. So you'd toss however many Body dice you have, and look for anything that came up a 6.
In SR4, that's not how it works. Every die is looking for a 5 or 6 to succeed, and the difficulty of rolls is represented by modifying dice pools or by requiring a certain number of successes.
The "average" TN in SR3 and earlier was a 4. The "average" test success needed in SR4 is, well, probably 1 (for most tests). You could house rule a conversion for those sorts of tests by looking at the TN difficulty (the number after the attribute or whatnot, (6) in this case), comparing it to 4... and then requiring that many hits/successes in an SR4 game.
So it might read Body (2 success threshold), Willpower (any successes), or Etiquette/Street (1 success threshold), for that Body (6), Willpower (4), Etiquette/Street (5) comparison. It might make for a decent conversion. I don't by any means claim it to be perfect, or accurately depict the difference between a high TN and a difficulty threshhold for dice rolled at TN 5...but it would be easy math on your part, and on-the-spot-conversions wouldn't be very difficult (just setting a "hit" threshold of [listed TN -4] every time).
SR4 is all about the KISS principle, so why not use it for converting TNs, too?
| QUOTE |
| Is there a quick and easy way to convert these types of tests? Also, how did perception tests work before? Can I just use the same success to result ratio or would this make things too easy/difficult for players? |
Perception tests were a mixed bag in previous editions. There were times it would be a standard "TN 4 +/- modifiers" sort of check (normally when looking for an object or an item, as opposed to a person).
Most of the time (in my games, at least), it ends up instead being a character trying to spot someone who's actively hiding (using the Stealth skill). In that case, the hider rolls a Stealth open test, you apply modifiers (for ruthenium, camo, lighting, Adept powers, distance, whatever)... and then the results of that open test became the TN for the Perception checks. Lots of people aren't terribly fond of this method, but I always liked it, personally (because I tend to have lots of Stealth, and tend to also generally get kind of lucky with open tests -- someone once had a TN 52 to spot one of my street sams).
But, since SR4 is all about streamlining -- I guess the easiest way is to have the hiding person roll Stealth + Agility (or whatever), and then just compare their successes to someone else rolling Perception + Alertness (or whatever).
Many thanks. 
np.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.