. I've never played SR3, but am trying to skim read to get enough of an understanding to make a good faith effort at this. I am beginning to see why people are telling me not to bother - the mechanics are so different.I started off with the SR3 to SR4 character conversion guide, but have some questions. If an Attribute or Skill of 3 is average in both systems, why do we multiple by 2/3 (and round up)? I've done that for the NPCs, but I want to understand why it is necessary/desirable. For Quickness and Intelligence, why do those get doubled and split up instead of multiplied by 4/3, rounded up and then split? I'm assuming this was for simplicity, not game mechanics/balance.
I'm trying to understand the odds (probabilities) behind the skill tests. Converting SR3 Skill tests to SR4 is where things get confusing for me. To do it I need to understand what an average dice pool is and then calculate the odds of success and then compare the probability curves of both systems to arrive at approximate equivalents. If I understand correctly in SR3 you only use an Attribute OR Skill level to determine your dice pool (modifiers move the Target Number, right). Since an average Skill or Attribute is 3, I used a dice pool of 3 as my basis for SR3 calculations. In SR4 you add the Attribute and Skill together to get your dice pool, so I used 6 (3+3) as my average dice pool for SR4. This resulted in the below approximate (statistical) conversion table:
SR3........SR4
Target....Hits
2-4.........1
5............2
6-10.......3
11-14.....4
15-21.....5
22+........6
Part of my my concern with this table is that I've used numbers of an "average" person, not an average Shadowrunner, and given the complexity of the math and the very different shaped probability curves that they create, I'm concerned that it could imbalance game play (too hard and/or too easy). So what would be a reasonable average (beginner) Runner dice pool be under each system, in your opinion(s). Maybe 4 and 8?
The conversion of Barrier Ratings seems to be 1:1 except in the weakest two categories.
I really don't understand hacking in either system (I'm fairly inexperienced with SR overall). Any help in trying to convert Computer / Hacking tests would be appreciated.
Please tell me anything else that I will need to know and should consider including in my Module/Mission Conversion Guide, and if I've failed my Data Search test and this research has already been published, point me in the right direction - I figure there has to be a wealth of info out there that I just missed.
If this all comes together and seems to be accurate and balanced, I plan to make an expanded conversion guide available for others to use. Also, if it is legal/moral, etc., I'd like to make available the converted and revised Season 0 & 1 Missions since I'm updating them for my own use anyway - comment/permission from the rights owners would be appreciated - the original non-PDF files would be even more appreciated (as copy and pasting from PDF to Word is a nuisance).