None of the editions were playable as far as my tastes were concerned, but 1e at least filled me with a sense of novel inspiration.

Im forced to agree with Pundit here. Even if 2nd ed was the one I liked most, the reality is that Shadowrun never had a truly great system. Its convoluted and mathematically broken. Any system out there with half the complexity should give the game a better cost-benefit, from OD&D to BoL to AW.

Yup, I've thought about using a cross of Rolemaster and Cyberspace to play in the Shadowrun setting, because whatever original system you might choose: it has issues.
Another problem I have with Shadowrun is the cyberpunk crossed with fantasy. On the one hand it looks tempting, on the other hand I'm disgusted by it. It's a love-hate thing...
Nevertheless, I played it for several years: 1E through 3E.

Quote from: Vonn;676876Yup, I've thought about using a cross of Rolemaster and Cyberspace to play in the Shadowrun setting, because whatever original system you might choose: it has issues.

I never saw the SF books for Rolemaster, so do you know if the critical hit tables are just as fun with energy weapons and assault rifles?  

JG

Quote from: Vonn;676876Another problem I have with Shadowrun is the cyberpunk crossed with fantasy. On the one hand it looks tempting, on the other hand I'm disgusted by it. It's a love-hate thing...

I thought I was the only who felt that way.  Actually, my discontent is limited to running Shadowrun.  "Fantasy in MY cyberpunk?  Get out you heathen!  MY games are pure.  Oh, you're running it?  I'll be a troll physical adept then."

I have zero explanation for why I feel that way.

I just had the most brilliant idea for a Shadowrun character - a troll that's a hacker, whose sole purpose is to troll corporations.

Quote from: Rincewind1;679486I just had the most brilliant idea for a Shadowrun character - a troll that's a hacker, whose sole purpose is to troll corporations.

Hah. I love it.


Of course Troll in the Machine was an NPC I used to post things to my players with--he was of course not a Troll. But an AI in a Trollcola machine (he hides inside it when not elsewhere.)

Quote from: Rincewind1;679486I just had the most brilliant idea for a Shadowrun character - a troll that's a hacker, whose sole purpose is to troll corporations.

A Troll troll!

JG

Quote from: James Gillen;679694A Troll troll!

On which note: thanks to a certain episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I've kind of entertained the idea of playing a Troll character in Shadowrun who refers to his fees as the "troll toll".

"Troll" (in the internet sense) wasn't even a term yet when Shadowrun first came out, I don't think.  That somehow makes it more amusing.

RPGPundit

Anyone have any opinions on 5E now that the .pdf is available?

1) Hacking/Decking is improved. There are throwbacks to classic decking though that makes it a minigame again. However, while gear can be hacked. Your own Decker can defend it. The new handling of decking is a win for people who don't think corporations, governments, etc, basically goto the lowest bidder for their stuff, and are super-anal retentive so that only the absolute best runners ever survive to actually run again. Loss: Anyone who realize that sometimes kids with cheap gear can get into so called secure places, like in real life.



2) The Priority system makes chargen a bit faster. Win for people who like characters who are less customized, but quicker to make. Probably combined with one to help make the loss of characters more palatable. Loss: Anyone one who likes a bit more customization/details and choice at chargen.

3) Gear now has a stat that applies in some cases that cause you to lose many of your "hits" in the game. Win: People who think you should always spend the most money to have the best gear. Loss: Everyone else. Seriously, the game makes it so you can't be "skilled" and "talented." Instead you must be rich.

4) Magic gear also use limits, they can force you to take damage when you get to many successes, physical, rather than stun/fatigue damage. Foci are also now likely to be addicting. Win: See 3. Loss: Anyone who likes mages/shamans having a choice in how hard they push themselves.

5) Due to limits, it seems best to cast the most powerfull spells you have at the highest force. This way, if you get burned at least you have something big out of it. Win: Min Maxers. Actually lets retcon this list, Min Maxers win on all of these. Loss: Anyone who likes a bit of subtlety in actions.



Pretty much my opinion is it fixes some things, and fucks up some things that makes the fixes kind of pointless. Gear is more expensive in some ways, and so it seems that Adepts win out as the archetype most likely to be min-maxed and useful, against everything else (nearly.) Can't be hacked, can't burn themselves with their magic (that I recall.) Less expensive gear needed.

Overall? I'm sticking with 20A, and a few house rules I've been using (most of those are similar to the good changes in 5E.)

Of course I may say screw it and just use Sixth World (Dungeon World Hack) or Fate, because frankly they can't seem to get the crunch vs playability right, and they listen to the biggest complaints from the small minority, and that means 'running is back again something only optimal min/max, super professionals due.


I love SR's setting, I like (marginally 20A edition), 5E seems like a huge misstep to me, its selling well, but we'll see how it plays out in the long run (without people house-ruling the heck out of it.)

Quote from: Silverlion;6804881) Hacking/Decking is improved. There are throwbacks to classic decking though that makes it a minigame again. However, while gear can be hacked. Your own Decker can defend it. The new handling of decking is a win for people who don't think corporations, governments, etc, basically goto the lowest bidder for their stuff, and are super-anal retentive so that only the absolute best runners ever survive to actually run again. Loss: Anyone who realize that sometimes kids with cheap gear can get into so called secure places, like in real life.

3) Gear now has a stat that applies in some cases that cause you to lose many of your "hits" in the game. Win: People who think you should always spend the most money to have the best gear. Loss: Everyone else. Seriously, the game makes it so you can't be "skilled" and "talented." Instead you must be rich.

Like in real life!

JG

Sounds like a classic problem of many sci-fi games, where the equipment you have ends up mattering way more than your stats.

Funny thing, lots of people here complained about 4e as it is the most GURPS like system, but in my RPG groups most of the guys I play/played Shadowrun with were GURPS players as well, so we were glad to see the rules system going that way.