Ok, here's a question for you old timers.

Is it possible to use the core SR2 rules for Matrix operations and decking while swapping out the new Topography and Security Sheaf rules from VR 2.0?

I'm gearing up to run a new SR2 campaign. A lot of the material from VR 2.0 looks like a good way to eliminate the whole mini-crawl aspect of the matrix, which is a good thing in my mind. However, taken as a whole, the new rules appear to add a whole lot of overhead, jargon, and fiddly bits that I don't really want to deal with. I want a stripped down lean, mean decking system that gets the job done and gets out of the way. I don't need weird, archaic anagrams.

So what I'd really like to do is keep the player-interface side of the matrix rules from SR2 intact, while swapping out the GM-interface side of the rules for VR 2.0. On the surface, I don't see why it isn't doable. Most of the system operations and utilities in VR 2.0 have direct comparisons in the core SR2 rules, and function more or less the same. It looks a whole lot less complicated, too.

Am I looking at a big nightmare here? What sort of pitfalls am I in store for?

Tom

You could, sure, just limit what actions nodes can take/perform based on the old node types. Data Stores would store files, but not SPUs, etc.

You could even restrict what types of IC could run on each to mix it up a little more.

I'm not sure you could really use the mechanics from SR2 vs VR2 though. ACIFS is a pretty massive change, IIRC.

Interesting.

Not sure I'm looking at marrying mechanics so much as changing the back end while keeping the interface the same.

Here's how I envision this working.

The whole map of nodes thing is dumped completely for VR2's host system, complete with ACIFS. Trigger Steps are employed to active alerts and IC. All of this is back end stuff.

On the player end, we stick to ole SR2. Decks function the same, programs function the same, etc. You want to sneak through a host? Better have your sleaze program running. Need to Analyze Host/IC/Icon/Security? Use your Analyze utility. Or maybe Evaluate. Same with Decrypt. Slave stuff would require a new Program. Nothing major.

The idea is to simplify things on the player end. SR1/2 seem pretty simple. VR2 adds a whole mess of complexity that appears to have the side-effect of reducing runs to a few dice rolls.

I'm hoping to strip out the good parts of VR2 and leave the rest of the system intact. I'll understand if that just isn't feasible.

Tom