I'll start with a basic overview of the concept and a short summary of the base rules (leaving out some details) to avoid TLDR. If anyone is interested, I'll develop more.
I've called the project Shadowrun: Universes (SRU in short).
Why Universes?
Because there are many different views of the Shadowrun universe and they don't necessarily mesh well.
For some people it's a techno-thriller: our world with magic and cyber.
For others it's a 80s cyberpunk world
For others it's a Post-cyberpunk world closer to Ghost in the Shell.
The official line is trying to be broad enough to please everyone, but I prefer to acknowledge the differences and actively support each playing style rather than offer bland rules that passively support them and don't really please anyone. While the base rules are the same, each "universe" will have its own variations.
Basic resolution mechanism:
[ Spoiler ]
(Short version)
- All skills are linked to a pool (Physical pool, Combat pool, Magic pool, Hacking pool, Mental pool, Social pool, etc.). Most pools are made up of two attributes.
- Skill have a rating from -1 (incompetent) to 6.
- Actions have a difficulty from 0 to 8, modifiers from the SR4 rules are used, but divided by two. (-1 and +1 modifiers are ignored)
- When a character wants to do something you compare his skill to the difficulty.
- If difficulty < skill, it's an automatic success
- If difficulty = skill, the character needs to spend one point from his pool
- If difficulty = skill+1, the character needs to spend two points from his pool
- If difficulty > skill+2, it's an automatic failure, unless the character spends Edge or finds a way to lower the difficulty (common options are "botching the job" (the lock is picked but everyone heard it) or "taking a risk" (more on that later))
- Opposed rolls have characters compare their skills, each being able to add up to two points from their pool.
- Extended rolls have a base time and a difficulty. Each point above the difficulty divides the base time by two, down to a limit set by the GM depending on the action.
- Specializations or some gear can add adjectives to gear or characters. These adjectives can reduce negative modifiers when they apply (for example thermography or low-light vision give "low-light" adjective that can be used to counter low light negative modifier, a "sturdy" adjective on a gun can counter a negative modifier for firing it after having wandered in the swamps for hours)
- Each pool has two recharging conditions:
-- The first one (called a recharge) recharges half the pool. For example, the physical and mental pool will recharge half their points after a good night's sleep.
-- The second one (called a refresh) let the user make a roll (using SR4 rules), each hit gives a point. For example, the physical pool will recharge this way when the character can rest for half an hour or so.
In most cases, a recharge comes with a refresh. Unless specified otherwise, refreshes aren't cumulative and points not spent before a recharge are lost. Some pools work slightly differently.
For pools that are frequently used (such as combat/magic/hacking pools) it is recommended to use tokens to keep track of them. Tokens should have one specific type out of two (this value is mostly used when "taking a risk", to check if the action succeeds or critically fails) and a value from 1 to 9 (or 10) (used as a damage modifier for ranged weapons or to get drain or other random values). Playing cards or Mahjong tiles can be used.
The idea behind this is that it's fast: the dice rolls are done in the downtime, and in the action the players just need to spend tokens. It also considers that runners are professionals and expected to succeed when doing basic stuff so we don't need to bother rolling for them and focus on really important/difficult actions. It also goes well with the concept of planning operations and then dealing with problems as they come, losing a grip on the situation as the pools erode.
- All skills are linked to a pool (Physical pool, Combat pool, Magic pool, Hacking pool, Mental pool, Social pool, etc.). Most pools are made up of two attributes.
- Skill have a rating from -1 (incompetent) to 6.
- Actions have a difficulty from 0 to 8, modifiers from the SR4 rules are used, but divided by two. (-1 and +1 modifiers are ignored)
- When a character wants to do something you compare his skill to the difficulty.
- If difficulty < skill, it's an automatic success
- If difficulty = skill, the character needs to spend one point from his pool
- If difficulty = skill+1, the character needs to spend two points from his pool
- If difficulty > skill+2, it's an automatic failure, unless the character spends Edge or finds a way to lower the difficulty (common options are "botching the job" (the lock is picked but everyone heard it) or "taking a risk" (more on that later))
- Opposed rolls have characters compare their skills, each being able to add up to two points from their pool.
- Extended rolls have a base time and a difficulty. Each point above the difficulty divides the base time by two, down to a limit set by the GM depending on the action.
- Specializations or some gear can add adjectives to gear or characters. These adjectives can reduce negative modifiers when they apply (for example thermography or low-light vision give "low-light" adjective that can be used to counter low light negative modifier, a "sturdy" adjective on a gun can counter a negative modifier for firing it after having wandered in the swamps for hours)
- Each pool has two recharging conditions:
-- The first one (called a recharge) recharges half the pool. For example, the physical and mental pool will recharge half their points after a good night's sleep.
-- The second one (called a refresh) let the user make a roll (using SR4 rules), each hit gives a point. For example, the physical pool will recharge this way when the character can rest for half an hour or so.
In most cases, a recharge comes with a refresh. Unless specified otherwise, refreshes aren't cumulative and points not spent before a recharge are lost. Some pools work slightly differently.
For pools that are frequently used (such as combat/magic/hacking pools) it is recommended to use tokens to keep track of them. Tokens should have one specific type out of two (this value is mostly used when "taking a risk", to check if the action succeeds or critically fails) and a value from 1 to 9 (or 10) (used as a damage modifier for ranged weapons or to get drain or other random values). Playing cards or Mahjong tiles can be used.
The idea behind this is that it's fast: the dice rolls are done in the downtime, and in the action the players just need to spend tokens. It also considers that runners are professionals and expected to succeed when doing basic stuff so we don't need to bother rolling for them and focus on really important/difficult actions. It also goes well with the concept of planning operations and then dealing with problems as they come, losing a grip on the situation as the pools erode.
Character creation
[ Spoiler ]
(In short)
- Attributes: Body and Strength are merged into Physical, Charisma and Willpower are merged into Charisma
- Skills have been reworked to lower their number, some have been merged into a single skill. Max bonus on a skill (from gear/implants/powers/spell) is +2. When you've got a targeting computer controlling your arm, having a laser dot on top is pretty much meaningless. Skill cost make it very costly to raise skills at high ratings.
- Edge and Essence have been kind of merged. For each Magic point bought or Essence point lost, the character loses one Edge point. Edge points need to be tied to something the character believes in, or something that keeps him alive. Depending on the setting, Edge loss (from implants or magic) can mean becoming estranged from other metahumans.
Combat rules
[ Spoiler ]
(In short)
Defense pool: When combat starts, players decide how many of their combat pools token they want to assign to their defense pool. This represents how much the character cares about not getting hit. Token assigned to the defense pool can be reclaimed for other actions at the cost of two to one. At any time, a character can switch to full defense and put all his tokens in defense.
Intent declaration: Players then declare what they want to do. They're encouraged to give the big picture ("I go behind the closest cover and shoot all the enemies I see", "I move from cover to cover toward this area, shooting when I get an opportunity"). The GM then narrates, with help from the players, what happens. If a player wants to change his intention based on what is happening during the combat, he needs to either spend a complex action or a combat pool point.
Time management: All actions are considered to take the time they take in the SR4 rules (casting a spell takes the time it takes to make a double tap) and all characters are considered to be acting at the same time. If it's important to know if someone is doing something before someone else, it's decided with an opposed Initiative roll. The concept of IP is replaced by multiple actions: for example a character with 2 IP can affect two targets with a single shoot "action".
Combat pools: Combat pools are recharged by spending one complex action to check the situation and refreshed by spending a simple action to take a breath. (I'm considering having the recharge give the whole pool while the refresh gives half, to limit the number of dice rolls in combat). In combat, when a character spends a token to raise his score for an action, the type of the token is used to check if the token is valid or not. This represents the stress that can cause the character to fail something that's normally possible for him. (I'm still not sure if this should apply to defense tokens or not)
Shooting: Shooting difficulty is based on the distance (0,1,2,4) modified by visibility and other modifiers (such as movement). GMs are encouraged to get a table of the most common shooting difficulties for quick reference. The target's defense pool is added to that difficulty. If the attacker score is higher than the target's pool, the target is hit. The DV of the attack is equal to the base DV of the weapon + a value of a token (this depends on the firing mode and/or if aiming, etc.), "net hits" don't count, if a good shooter wants to make more damage he needs to aim. Otherwise he's just shooting the center of mass just like any other shooter and doesn't do more damage.
Close combat: When a character attacks another in close combat, the target can choose to fight back or just try to stay out of reach and keep on doing whatever he's doing. In the former case combat is an opposed test, in the second case the attacker needs to beat the defender's defense pool. DV is weapon DV + 2 for each "net hit".
Damage: Stun damage is soaked by armor (if it applies) + half of the character's Physical attribute. This is directly removed from the DV, without a need for a roll. To make it easier, players are encouraged to have the "soaked" boxes above their condition monitor.
Physical damage is also soaked the same way by armor (if it applies) but contrary to Stun damage it's not cumulative. Players always start from the beginning of the track. If the first line is filled, they'll lose one (cumulative) token in their current pool and all future recharge and refresh. If the second second line is filled, they'll suffer from a (cumulative) -1 modifier to all actions. If the third line is filled, the modifier is -2. If the whole monitor is filled the character is out and will die if he doesn't get medical attention soon. If the character gets too many negative modifier, he can be considered out as well.
A character can choose to ignore the effects of a wound in exchange for a long-term effect (the bigger the wound, the worse the effect)
Magic
[ Spoiler ]
(short version)
Awakened can create their tradition by using positive and negative options. These options are small limitations or tweaks to the way the magic works (not being able to bind spirits, or having to do it, not being able to cast some spells, not having access to metamagic, being able to use spell formulas from other traditions, etc.)
Spellcasting: the value of the spellcasting skill, adjusted by modifiers, give the maximum force of the spell. This value, adjusted by the drain modifier, gives the number of hits. For example a spell with (F/2)-3 drain will have power-3 hits. This means that the caster will need at least a score of 4 to cast it properly. The value of the resisting attribute is removed from the hits. If the caster has at least one net hit, the spell works. In any case, if he used tokens to cast his spell the highest value is the DV of the drain (limited by the power of the spell). If the power is above the mage's Magic attribute and the DV is 3 or more, the drain deals Physical damage.
Counterspelling: a mage can put up to [Counterspelling] magic pool token in counterspelling. This is added to the spell defense. They can be reclaimed at the cost of one per two.
Active counterspelling: a mage can battle against another mage for control of the local mana. The target can choose to ignore the attack or to fight back. In the first case, the attacker needs to beat the defender's counterspelling. In the second case, it's an opposed counterspelling test. The loser looses one magic pool token per net hits of the winner.
Summoning: the summoner splits his Summmoning score (skill value + modifiers) between the power of the spirit and the number of services. For example a summoner with a score of 5 can have a Force 4 spirit with one service or a Force 2 spirit with 3 services. If he uses tokens for the summmoning, the highest value (limited by the number of points of his score the summoner used) is the drain DV. If the Force of the spirit is higher than the summoner's Magic attribute and the drain DV 3 or more, the drain deals Physical damage.
Binding: Opposed test between the summoner's binding and the spirit's Force, except that both of them add the value of a token (limited by the summoner's Magic for the summoner and by the spirit Force for the spirit). Each net hit of the summoner gives one extra service. The value of the drain is the sum of the tokens, each one limited by the spirit's Force. If the Force of the spirit is higher than the Magic attribute of the summoner, the drain deals Physical damage.
Banishing: Opposed test between the banisher's Banishing and the spirit's Force. Each net hit of the Banisher removes a service from the spirit. The drain is handled like the summoning drain.
Spirit Powers: Banishing can be used like counterspelling against spirit powers. Movement power doesn't affect the speed of the target, it just changes the "safe speed" (see vehicle rules).
Matrix
[ Spoiler ]
(short version)
- We don't care how hacking or the Matrix exactly works just like we don't care how exactly a mage casts spells. We care about the effects of the hacking.
- I'll use the term "hacker" for hackers, deckers and technomancers. "Matrix security" is a broad term that encompasses security hackers, ICEs and security procedures/routines. In any case, it's got a value for 1 to 8. A "hack" can be something legal, it's just a non trivial use of the Matrix to reach a goal. A "node" can be pretty much anything, from a device to a network.
- Hacks can be done on nodes or signals, it doesn't really matter. The only special case is wireless where you must make sure that you can actually connect to the target (see below). The only important thing is whoever is the authority (and handles the security) on the target.
- Contrary to other pools, the Matrix pools refresh are cumulative. But each refresh can add to the tracking index of the targeted authority. Matrix pools point have a limited lifespan of one week.
- Gear: A deck/commlink has a rating that's used for the matrix pool and for matrix defense and that's it. If playing when cyberterminals are new, using one gives a +1 to +2 modifier. If playing when DNI is the norm, not using it gives a -4 modifier, and hacking without a hotsim module (which can require a deck if you like the concept) gives a -1 modifier. There aren't any program: we consider that characters have the programs they need for what they need to do. However, a hacker can put up to [Software] points of his hacking pool inside an autonomous program with a lifespan of one day. That program can do quick hacks (see below) using his rating as a score. A program can be made with a single purpose (unlocking doors, disabling cameras, etc.) in which case it gets a +2 modifier to its rating.
- Matrix security rating goes from 1 to 8 (but 2 to 6 are most common). A node with a higher security rating might be less user-friendly. This has no impact in terms of rules but explains why a corp can't just put rating 6 nodes everywhere. This rating isn't just a firewall rating, it also takes into account the tricks the admin might use, so no need to come up with "clever" encryption schemes or tricks that would make a hacker's life harder. In case of a communication between two devices, the highest security rating is taken into account. Remote services (such as the banking services of a commlink) will use the security rating of the remote operator (the bank), so hacking a commlink doesn't mean the hacker will get access to everything. He'll just get a positive modifier when trying to hack the bank for that specific account.
- Wireless access : Wirless devices can have their wireless explicitly turned on or off or use an occasional connection. In the first case, it's always hackable: if there's a signal, there's a way. In the second case it's never hackable, but can't never ever connect wirelessly unless he throws a physical switch. In the last case, the hacker needs to suceed an infosec test against the infosec skill (or Logic-1 if it's better) of whoever set up the node, with an optional modifier of -1 (if the connection is very rarely used) or +1 (if the connection is quite commonly used).
- Quick hack: A quick hack is something that comes up during a run, like disabling a camera, listening to comms, controlling a drone, stopping an alarm, etc. To do a quick hack the hacker needs to have access to the device. The difficulty of the quick hack is the matrix security rating of the target, modified by the impact of the hack: a hack that leads to a -1/+1 modifier will be easier (-2) than a hack that let the runners get past a major obstacle (+2) and controlling a drone for just one action is easier (0) than taking full control for one day (+4). Also, having a clever hack idea or things that can help (access codes, security chip) can make the job easier.
- Matrix defense : A hacker can protect up to [Infosec] nodes with up to [Infosec] points taken from his hacking pool, increasing the security rating of these nodes. Only one hacker can protect a node at any given time. Points used for matrix defense can be reclaimed for hacking at the cost of 2 per 1.
- Cybercombat : A hacker can spend a complex action to attack another hacker. The target can choose either to ignore the attack or to fight back. In the first case, the attacker needs to beat the defender's Infosec rating with his Hacking. In the second case, it's an opposed Hacking test. In both cases, each net hits of the winner removes one token of the loser's matrix pool, unless black ICE is used, in which case the defender suffers physical damage with DV equals to the ICE's rating +2 per net hit.
- Detection index: Most nodes aren't under constant matrix defense for multiple reasons. One of them is that matrix security workers rely on the detection mechanism to tell them when they actually need to look for something. Every time a hacker refreshes his hacking pool, the GM rolls a dice. If the result of that dice is higher than the node's admin infosec rating, the result of the dice is added to the detection index. Otherwise, the hacker isn't detected at all.
Once the detection index is equals or higher than the hacker's Infosec skill, the hack is detected. Security knows something fishy is going on but doesn't know much more about it. Most of the time, the security hacker will start a matrix defense of the node.
Once the detection index is equals to or higher than twice the hacker's Infosec skill, the hacker is detected. The physical position of the hacker is found (despites possible attempts at hiding it).
If the detection index gets equals to or higher than four time the hacker's Infosec skill rating, the hacker loses all tokens and can't do any refresh on nodes under the same authority until the end of the run.
Informations are rarely exchanged from one authority to the other in a timeframe short enough to matter in runs. In some special cases, the index (-2 or -4) can carry over from one authority to another.
The detection index is valid for the whole duration of a run. At the GM discretion it can be lowered if the hacker lays low for long enough.
- Big hacks: Big hacks are hacks that are the main objectives of a run, or that are a large part in a run's plan (such as getting full control of the security system of a run's target). The difficulty is equals to twice the security rating of the target node, with a modifier of +4, +6 or +8 depending on the impact of the hack.
Any runner can get tokens for this hack by doing stuff like getting security passwords or keys, getting information on the security systems used on the target node, getting or developing an ice-breaker meant for that node etc. Most of the time, one task would bring 2 additional tokens.
- Technomancers: Technomancers follow the same rules with three additional features.
-- Resonance hacking: TM can add up to 2 points of their resonance pools to a hacking test. When they do so, they suffer a drain with a DV equal to the highest token's value, limimted by the rating of the target system. If the rating is higher than the TM's resonance score and the DV higher than 2, the damage is physical.
-- Resonance field: A TM can use his resonance field to influence all nodes and signal in an area around him (physically or in the Matrix when in full VR). The TM decides the effect of the field ("we are the security team", "I want to listen to everything", "all drones should get there as soon as possible" and does a Threading test. The score of the test is the rating of the field. All devices with a security rating below the rating of the field will be affected.
If the TM spends tokens, the value of the highest token is used as a DV for the drain, with a limit equals to twice the rating of the field. If the rating of the field is equal to or higher than the TM's Resonance score and the DV higher than two, the drain is Physical.
The field is active and follows the TM as long as the TM can concentrate to keep it up. The TM suffers from a -1 modifier to all actions while maintaining such a field. A TM can have multiple fields active at the same time.
-- Sprites: Sprites work like spirit and are considered as hacker with Infosec and Hacking ratings equals to their own.
- There are rules for "cyber adventures" in which all characters can participate with their skills (while the hacker can do "magic" with his hackings skills), for those who like the concept of a full VR cyberspace.
- We don't care how hacking or the Matrix exactly works just like we don't care how exactly a mage casts spells. We care about the effects of the hacking.
- I'll use the term "hacker" for hackers, deckers and technomancers. "Matrix security" is a broad term that encompasses security hackers, ICEs and security procedures/routines. In any case, it's got a value for 1 to 8. A "hack" can be something legal, it's just a non trivial use of the Matrix to reach a goal. A "node" can be pretty much anything, from a device to a network.
- Hacks can be done on nodes or signals, it doesn't really matter. The only special case is wireless where you must make sure that you can actually connect to the target (see below). The only important thing is whoever is the authority (and handles the security) on the target.
- Contrary to other pools, the Matrix pools refresh are cumulative. But each refresh can add to the tracking index of the targeted authority. Matrix pools point have a limited lifespan of one week.
- Gear: A deck/commlink has a rating that's used for the matrix pool and for matrix defense and that's it. If playing when cyberterminals are new, using one gives a +1 to +2 modifier. If playing when DNI is the norm, not using it gives a -4 modifier, and hacking without a hotsim module (which can require a deck if you like the concept) gives a -1 modifier. There aren't any program: we consider that characters have the programs they need for what they need to do. However, a hacker can put up to [Software] points of his hacking pool inside an autonomous program with a lifespan of one day. That program can do quick hacks (see below) using his rating as a score. A program can be made with a single purpose (unlocking doors, disabling cameras, etc.) in which case it gets a +2 modifier to its rating.
- Matrix security rating goes from 1 to 8 (but 2 to 6 are most common). A node with a higher security rating might be less user-friendly. This has no impact in terms of rules but explains why a corp can't just put rating 6 nodes everywhere. This rating isn't just a firewall rating, it also takes into account the tricks the admin might use, so no need to come up with "clever" encryption schemes or tricks that would make a hacker's life harder. In case of a communication between two devices, the highest security rating is taken into account. Remote services (such as the banking services of a commlink) will use the security rating of the remote operator (the bank), so hacking a commlink doesn't mean the hacker will get access to everything. He'll just get a positive modifier when trying to hack the bank for that specific account.
- Wireless access : Wirless devices can have their wireless explicitly turned on or off or use an occasional connection. In the first case, it's always hackable: if there's a signal, there's a way. In the second case it's never hackable, but can't never ever connect wirelessly unless he throws a physical switch. In the last case, the hacker needs to suceed an infosec test against the infosec skill (or Logic-1 if it's better) of whoever set up the node, with an optional modifier of -1 (if the connection is very rarely used) or +1 (if the connection is quite commonly used).
- Quick hack: A quick hack is something that comes up during a run, like disabling a camera, listening to comms, controlling a drone, stopping an alarm, etc. To do a quick hack the hacker needs to have access to the device. The difficulty of the quick hack is the matrix security rating of the target, modified by the impact of the hack: a hack that leads to a -1/+1 modifier will be easier (-2) than a hack that let the runners get past a major obstacle (+2) and controlling a drone for just one action is easier (0) than taking full control for one day (+4). Also, having a clever hack idea or things that can help (access codes, security chip) can make the job easier.
- Matrix defense : A hacker can protect up to [Infosec] nodes with up to [Infosec] points taken from his hacking pool, increasing the security rating of these nodes. Only one hacker can protect a node at any given time. Points used for matrix defense can be reclaimed for hacking at the cost of 2 per 1.
- Cybercombat : A hacker can spend a complex action to attack another hacker. The target can choose either to ignore the attack or to fight back. In the first case, the attacker needs to beat the defender's Infosec rating with his Hacking. In the second case, it's an opposed Hacking test. In both cases, each net hits of the winner removes one token of the loser's matrix pool, unless black ICE is used, in which case the defender suffers physical damage with DV equals to the ICE's rating +2 per net hit.
- Detection index: Most nodes aren't under constant matrix defense for multiple reasons. One of them is that matrix security workers rely on the detection mechanism to tell them when they actually need to look for something. Every time a hacker refreshes his hacking pool, the GM rolls a dice. If the result of that dice is higher than the node's admin infosec rating, the result of the dice is added to the detection index. Otherwise, the hacker isn't detected at all.
Once the detection index is equals or higher than the hacker's Infosec skill, the hack is detected. Security knows something fishy is going on but doesn't know much more about it. Most of the time, the security hacker will start a matrix defense of the node.
Once the detection index is equals to or higher than twice the hacker's Infosec skill, the hacker is detected. The physical position of the hacker is found (despites possible attempts at hiding it).
If the detection index gets equals to or higher than four time the hacker's Infosec skill rating, the hacker loses all tokens and can't do any refresh on nodes under the same authority until the end of the run.
Informations are rarely exchanged from one authority to the other in a timeframe short enough to matter in runs. In some special cases, the index (-2 or -4) can carry over from one authority to another.
The detection index is valid for the whole duration of a run. At the GM discretion it can be lowered if the hacker lays low for long enough.
- Big hacks: Big hacks are hacks that are the main objectives of a run, or that are a large part in a run's plan (such as getting full control of the security system of a run's target). The difficulty is equals to twice the security rating of the target node, with a modifier of +4, +6 or +8 depending on the impact of the hack.
Any runner can get tokens for this hack by doing stuff like getting security passwords or keys, getting information on the security systems used on the target node, getting or developing an ice-breaker meant for that node etc. Most of the time, one task would bring 2 additional tokens.
- Technomancers: Technomancers follow the same rules with three additional features.
-- Resonance hacking: TM can add up to 2 points of their resonance pools to a hacking test. When they do so, they suffer a drain with a DV equal to the highest token's value, limimted by the rating of the target system. If the rating is higher than the TM's resonance score and the DV higher than 2, the damage is physical.
-- Resonance field: A TM can use his resonance field to influence all nodes and signal in an area around him (physically or in the Matrix when in full VR). The TM decides the effect of the field ("we are the security team", "I want to listen to everything", "all drones should get there as soon as possible" and does a Threading test. The score of the test is the rating of the field. All devices with a security rating below the rating of the field will be affected.
If the TM spends tokens, the value of the highest token is used as a DV for the drain, with a limit equals to twice the rating of the field. If the rating of the field is equal to or higher than the TM's Resonance score and the DV higher than two, the drain is Physical.
The field is active and follows the TM as long as the TM can concentrate to keep it up. The TM suffers from a -1 modifier to all actions while maintaining such a field. A TM can have multiple fields active at the same time.
-- Sprites: Sprites work like spirit and are considered as hacker with Infosec and Hacking ratings equals to their own.
- There are rules for "cyber adventures" in which all characters can participate with their skills (while the hacker can do "magic" with his hackings skills), for those who like the concept of a full VR cyberspace.
Social rules
(Short version)
[ Spoiler ]
Social defense : Social defense is the rating of the target's Logic, Charisma or Intuition, depending on the persuasion style. Default is Charisma (which now includes Willpower). Modifiers can apply on top.
Social protection represents things done to avoid persuasion. It can be dogmas, rules, social pressure or many other things. If it comes from someone, the Leadership of that person is used. if it comes from something (religion, prejudice, etc.) the rating depends on the importance of that thing for the character. This rating is added on top of the social defense.
Active defense : A character can spend up to two points from his social pool to actively resist a persuasion attempt. That's only possible when the character is conscious of the attempt (resisting a sales pitch for example)
Fast-talk: Fast talk is used for situations that come up during a run, without the need to get too much into details. The persuader does a Con test with a difficulty equals to the social defense of the target and the necessary modifiers. If he gets at least one net hit, the target is persuaded, the more net hits he gets, the more the target is persuaded. (1="Ok I'll let you in but I've got my eyes on you", 2="Ok, you may enter, have a nice day", 3="Here, take this pass, it will make your life easier.")
[I hesitate on giving more strict guidelines similar to the ones in the hacking rules]
Long cons: Long cons are used for cons that need to work on a longer term (such as infiltrating a group) or when the stakes are too high to just solve this in a fast-talk test. The rules are similar to the big hack rules, but adapted to social situations.
Street-cred: The PCs street-cred is made of many different rumors. When a PC does something that can get him a specific reputation in some circle, he adds it to his rumor list with four values: the label ("good guy", "psychopath", "thief", "impulsive", "coward", etc.), the place ("Seattle", "The Crimson Crush", "Seattle's Shadows"), the area (from a few people (1) to international (7)) and the impact (from anecdotical (1) to legendary (7)). In most cases, a rumor will apply in the area above the current one with one less point per step. For example a legendary (impact 7) fighter for a small gang (area 2) will be well-known (impact 4) as a fighter among gangers in the metroplex (area 5).
The impact of a rumor can be used as a negative or positive modifier during social interactions in a group where it is known.
Vehicle rules
[ Spoiler ]
(Short Version)
- There are two main uses of rules for vehicles: maneuvers and chases. For the maneuvers, a simple test of the pilot skill can be used, with a difficulty set accordingly (the tables of SR4A can be used as a guideline). The chases are handled with specific rules.
- There is no maneuverability score for the vehicles. Instead, they get adjectives such as "compact", "off-road" or "massive". These can be used to ignore negative modifiers when they apply.
- Chase values: At the beginning of a chase scene, the GM sets three sets of values. The first is the score of each participant. It indicates the distance between each one. The higher the score, the further ahead the vahicle is. The second is the end value. It can be either a score to reach, or a difference of score after which the chase is over, or both. The third is made of the three different speeds: the safe speed (the speed below which anyone can drive safely), the excessive speed (the speed above which even a good pilot is taking risks) and the limit speed (the speed above which it's not physically possible to go). The speeds can change during the chase if the conditions change. The safe and excessive limits are set regarding the conditions: climate, traffic, etc. At rush hour, the safe speed will be something like 5km/h, while it can be 150 km/h on the same road when it's empty. They're also set considering a basic vehicle (basic car on road, basic propeller plane in the air and regular civilian motorboat on the sea). The limit speed will most of the time depend on the vehicle, though in some cases the conditions can also change it.
- Chase resolution: Each participant choose his speed, in the limits of his vehicle. Above the excessive speed, they suffer from a -4 modifier, below it but above the safe speed they suffer from -2 and below the safe speed they don't suffer from any speed modifier. Each adjective that helps the vehicle will remove one point of modifier, or can even let the driver ignore all modifiers in some cases.
Some conditions might add additional negative modifiers (going at excessive speed during rush hour when there's a snowstorm is more dangerous than going at excessive speed during rush hour on a sunny day), which can also be reduced by adjectives.
The difficulty of the pilot test is one. Any participant who wants can decide to do a maneuver to get an edge over the others. In that case, the difficulty depends on the complexity of the maneuver. If someone decides to do a maneuver, anyone can decide to do one as well in reaction.
Characters who succeed their pilot test increase their score by 1 if they were going below safe speed. Above safe speed, characters get 1 point per multiple of safe speed. For example if the safe speed is 50, going at 100 will give 2 points and going at 150 will give 3. Characters who failed their roll get no point. If they tried a maneuver they've got the choice between losing point (one per point below the difficulty) or taking damage (as a rule of thumb 2 or 3 box per point of the maneuver).
Characters who successfully tried a maneuver get a bonus according to the maneuver. It can be a bonus to the score (as a rule of thumb 2 points per difficulty point of the maneuver), reducing the score of an opponent, damaging an opponent, changing the conditions of the chase (getting on a road where the character will be more at ease) or even ending the chase (jumping off a bridge and landing on top of a passing train).
Drones and rigging
[ Spoiler ]
(Short version)
Drones can be used either by giving orders or by direct controls:
- Giving orders: The player gives the order to the GM who then plays the drone. If a situation comes up where the orders might not do what the rigger would like, the rigger can do a Logic test to check if the rigger has prepared for such a situation. Drones usually have the skills they need to do their job at a rating equal to their Pilot rating. They don't have any pool.
- Direct control: The rigger controls the drone as if it was his own character (using his own skill and the drone's Physical attributes) but the only pool he can use is the rigging pool. If the rigger is remote controlling the drone (as opposed to jumped into it) he suffers from a -1 modifier (-2 if not using DNI). If he's jumped into the drone in hot sim, he gets a +1 modifier.
- Group actions: Since drones don't have pools, they can't use the normal group action rules. Instead the drones ratings are cumulated and the result is divided by the rating of the person or drone who'll do the test, rounded down. The resulting number, limited by half the person's commlink rating (in case of drones assisting someone) or half the rating of the drone doing the test (in case of a multi-drone action), is added to the score of the test.
Drones can be used either by giving orders or by direct controls:
- Giving orders: The player gives the order to the GM who then plays the drone. If a situation comes up where the orders might not do what the rigger would like, the rigger can do a Logic test to check if the rigger has prepared for such a situation. Drones usually have the skills they need to do their job at a rating equal to their Pilot rating. They don't have any pool.
- Direct control: The rigger controls the drone as if it was his own character (using his own skill and the drone's Physical attributes) but the only pool he can use is the rigging pool. If the rigger is remote controlling the drone (as opposed to jumped into it) he suffers from a -1 modifier (-2 if not using DNI). If he's jumped into the drone in hot sim, he gets a +1 modifier.
- Group actions: Since drones don't have pools, they can't use the normal group action rules. Instead the drones ratings are cumulated and the result is divided by the rating of the person or drone who'll do the test, rounded down. The resulting number, limited by half the person's commlink rating (in case of drones assisting someone) or half the rating of the drone doing the test (in case of a multi-drone action), is added to the score of the test.
Legwork and infiltration
[ Spoiler ]
- Legwork can give "one-shot" tokens the runners can use whenever they need during the run.
- Infiltration: security systems are abstracted, because you can't expect all players and GM to be able to think about every security stuff that could exist and be used in 20xx. Any room is just given a security rating that represents all these. This rating is the difficulty of the infiltration test needed to get past the security system. It can also be used as the difficulty on a security system knowledge test when a runner wants to help the other to get past security. Patrols can do perception test opposed by the infiltration skill of intruders.
It's recommended to have one roll per room and one per patrol. This leads to a slowly erosion of the infiltration pools, increasing tension as the runners get further in.
If the PC had time to plan the run and do legwork, when the GM reveals a new obstacle, if the players can come up with an explanation as to how they managed to get rid of it during the legwork phase, they can do a test of the relevant skill against a difficulty equals to the rating of the obstacle. For example, if the GM announces that a guard is standing in front of the door they need to get through, the face can explain that he befriended and bribed him during the legwork phase. He can then do the Con test and spend the nuyens for the bribe. If he suceeds, the PC will be able to get in, if he fails, the guard is still a problem (maybe he's refused the bribe, or he's under watch and can't let the runners in or any other satisfactory explanation).
Gear, powers and stuff
[ Spoiler ]
- Investments: Most runners have a list of gear they always like to have. This includes both "permanent" gear like ware and drones but also consummables like ammo, grenades, medkits and so on. To make it easier to handle them, runners can spend karma (1 per 1000 nuyens) to turn gear into "investment". They will then always be able to easily find replacements/repairs (at least during downtime), and the cost of these will be divided by 5. A good practice is to bundle all little common consummables so that the player just has to spend x nuyens at the end of each run, regardless of what he actually spent. If he really spent too little that cost can be ignored, if he spent a lot, it can be doubled.
Gear obtained at chargen is considered an investment without having to spend karma.
This is done to limit bookeeping, but also so that riggers can lose a drone or two without suddenly losing 10% of their initial karma/build points.
- Lifestyle : When playing outside of a campaign, the lifestyle is quite hard to handle correctly. In that case, it is recommended to use the following mechanism. To keep nuyens at the end of a run, a runner needs to spend 1 karma point per 1000 nuyens. This karma cost can be counted in a future investment. The rest of the nuyens can only be spent in fluff spendings, consummables and lifestyle. The lifestyle the runner gets at the end of a run will dictate the amount of nuyens he'll start with at the beginning of the next mission.
- Encumbrance : Characters have a maximum encumbrance equals to twice his Physical attribute. Each piece of gear has an encumbrance rating (based on a table). For each encumbrance point above the maximum, the character loses one point of his physical and combat pools. Extra points also lower the speed of the character and make him tire faster. Armor encumbrance is counted in this rather than have its own rule.
Armor encumbrance can be doubled for groups who want to play in a world where punks run around in shorts and t-shirt against slow heavily armored cops. On the other hand, groups can decide to divide by two armor encumbrance to play in a world where armor won the arms race and either enormous guns or close combat are necessary to take out armored targets. But in that case, combat spells should be made less powerful.
- Heavy pistols are what their names say : HEAVY pistols. They were made to counter new threats such as trolls and cybered characters. Heavy pistols are heavy to counter the ludicrous recoil of their extra-powerful ammo. A character needs a Physical attribute of at least 4 to handle one with one hand, they've got a DV of 9 and a AP of 1, but only shoot in SS due to the recoil and the heat. (In contrast, SA weapons get new shooting options, making the choice of packing a LP vs a HP something more interesting). Optionally, other kinds of gun can get the heavy treatment, making them more powerful but with a higher encumbrance and a high Physical attribute requirement ("this gun is meant for people with two spines").
- Armor: Armors go from rating 1 to 6, there are no extra options or ways to raise that rating. Wearing two rating 2 clothes on top of one another makes a rating 4 armor. Combining armors to get above rating 6 leads to very impractical suits, so 6 is pretty much the limit of worn armor someone can have while still being able to move.
- Options: Options are stuff that add adjectives to objects ("smartlinked" or "silenced" to weapon) or characters ("disguised", "cloaked"). These adjectives can cancel negative modifiers or raise the difficulty of an action made against a character (but should very rarely give positive modifiers to an action, that's the role of powers and ware). That modifier is equal to its rating. An option can be single-use or multi-use, and an option can be "undefined". In that case, the player can reveal what the option is when he decides to use it.
Cost: 100 nuyen (rating 1)/1000 nuyens (rating2)
Single use: /2
Undefined: *2
The option needs to make sense. It's up to the GM to accept or refuse an option.
- Kits: Some players don't want to bother searching and keeping track of each and every little piece of equipment they need for their job. They can use the kit rules. Kits are a pack of gear that serve a purpose. Common examples are B&E kits, sensor kits and of course medkits. Kits come in three ratings.
Rating 1: can be attached to the belt or put into different pockets of a tactic vest. Contains the basic tools that are small enough. (500 nuyens)
Rating 2: a bag/briefcase. Can be used for most situations except really special cases (1000 nuyens)
Rating 3: a backpack. Contains nearly everything a runner could need on site. Still not as complete as a Shop, though. (5000 nuyens)
When a runner needs some gear, if it's for a common case it can be found in all kits, less common cases will require at least a rating 2 kit while edge cases will need a rating 3 kit. In doubt roll a dice, if the value is below 2*rating, the kit contains the tool needed for the job.
- Shortcuts: Shortcuts are one-shot objects that can be used to bypass problems. They include disposable fake SINs, fake access cards, etc. They add one pool point per rating point. Players only need to specify the pool of the tool, the exact nature will be revealed when the character uses it.
Cost: 1000 nuyen per rating
- Implants:
The way implants are handled depend on the setting.
Technothriller : Implants are tools, characters need to "invest" karma into them (see investment rules) to represent the time and effort it takes to learn how to control implants.
Cyberpunk : Implants make you less human. Or do they? Implants don't need investment, but characters can spend karma points (not during character creation though) to reclaim an Edge point lost because of implants. Cost is 10/20/30/40/50/60. If the character decide to burn this point for implants again, he loses it for good, along with this connection to his humanity. A character can end up with 12 essence point invested in implants, but at that point he's completely lost touch with his human side. (mages get more or less the same stuff with initiate grade)
Post-cyberpunk: Implants are part of your indentity, or just something you swap like you change clothes. Implant costs are divided by ten, but a character needs to spend 10 karma point to turn an Edge point into an Implant point. Each point needs to be explained with the philosophy that goes with it ("only the strong survive" for muscle replacement for example) and the character needs to stick to that philosophy, at the risk of losing that point. Character can buy new Edge points, but their philosophy need to be aligned with the others.
- Generic implants:
The SR4 implants can be adjusted, but it is recommended to use the following framework. Implants come in five kinds:
-- Bonus to skill (-1 Edge point, 10 000 nuyens for +1, 50 000 nuyens for +2). Either a bonus to a single skill or to multiple skills but only under some conditions.
-- IP bonuses (-1/-3/-5 Edge points, 10 000/50 000/100 000 nuyens). See "multiple actions" in the combat chapter
-- Bonus to pool (-0.5 Edge point, 10 000 nuyens for pools that can be refreshed in one complex action, 5000 nuyens for the others, price is doubled for each additional implant for the same pool) : Give one additional token at every refresh. Up to 4 tokens for one pool.
-- Bonus to attributes (-0.25 Edge point, 5000 nuyens): +1 to an attribute, max is 1.5 times the natural maximum
-- Options: (-0.5 Edge for undefined, -0.25 Edge for defined, 1000 nuyens) : An option can be an option of an implant or a small independant implant. Options can either provide a +1 bonus to very specific actions, provide an adjective (to ignore negative modifiers in some situations), cause negative modifiers to opponent in some situations, or provide a small effect (such as being able to breathe under water). Defined options are defined by the player when bought. Undefined options can be defined at any moment by the player. (For example, a character restrained with ropes can decide that one of his undefined option is a wrist blade that can be used in that kind of situation). Once the option has been defined it will stay the same until the end of the adventure. But at the next adventure, the optiond can have been changed to something else.
Feel free to comment, or ask questions.
