We played our first session of Shadowrun last night and man is it fucking deadly.  We had made our characters a few weeks ago (russian mobster, ex-air force pilot, & an ex-docwagon emt) and established that we are just using the system to run a Bladerunner style future game (set in Chicago) rather than magic and trolls and all that other bullshit.

So last night we sat down and got to town with our opening scene.  Russians sold a dude to the Columbians who is sick in a critical way and we had to run transport.  He was crashing and the only stablizing cocktail we could get in time was from some rough types on the west side.  It got pushed into a conflict and a shoot out and fucking madness.  The 4th edition of Shadowrun does not fuck around man.  Pilot got gacked, but was stabilized.  Everyone else also took at least some damage.

The whole deadliness thing was cool, but I do got a couple of problems with the system.  Round by round combat is too fucking slow for us.  We want fast and deadly.  Burning Wheel has me hooked on the scripted combat.  It works for us cause we prefer the short pause to script then the rapid fire of dice rolls for the three phases.  It also resolves the who declares first during an initiative tie considering you can choose to dodge.

Which brings up my other issue with the system.  Dodge is a learned skill.  I mean seriously?  I got to have training to jump behind the fucking car when an asshole is shooting an SMG at my ass?  Please.

So our plan is to assess that shit and try and come up with a scripting method and see what dodge as say reaction+agility does to the system.

I like deadly combat for sure. In the games I have played in, combat got pretty deadly, but we squeaked by (I think mostly due to the GM fudging die rolls in our favor at the end).

Combat does seem slow to me. I often thought that Savage Worlds would do a better job of Shadowrun than the actual SR rules.

I don't think making dodge a reaction+agility roll would be a big game breaker at all.

We play with no dice fudging at all.  No GM screen, none of that shit.  It certainly adds to the tension when you watch the GM grab a handful of dice for the shots being fired at you and let fly.

Combat is deadly through design. The game is meant to replicate stealth and diplomacy as much as possible, so having a deadly combat system helps that. The deadliness also speeds combat up. Imagine if you were dealing half as much damage in the same amount of real time.

It sounds like you may not have a "face" character whose job it is to do the hard talking. If so, get one quick. A shaman (because of the built in focus on charisma) can make for a good part-time face. If you do have one, I'd say to let him do his job and avoid pushing scenarios like that to a fight.

That's all based on extremely spotty information though, so if it wasn't your fault the fight started (some GMs like to shoot) then ignore me.

I assume 4E, right? SR2 was a friggin' walk in the park on default levels...

He (the GM) pushed us into a corner with the time frame.  The "package" was crashing and we needed the drugs.  The dealer wasn't negotiating (we tried, but he knew he had us under the gun).  So we boosted a car nearby and two of us slammed it into the garage (backwards with the trunk open of course) and proceeded to try and shoot our way to the drugs.  The medic came in later and saved the pilot's bacon and got the one body guard.


4th Edition.  I remember 2nd E where you could take it in the face.  I was being shot and an deciding if I was going to dodge last night, did the numbers and dove for fucking cover...

Sounds cool. I've never gotten warm with the setting (even Cybergeneration was better), but the fourth edition almost makes me play again or at least use the setting for something else. Still dice pools, but at least well done and rather universal.

Quote from: SosthenesSounds cool. I've never gotten warm with the setting (even Cybergeneration was better), but the fourth edition almost makes me play again or at least use the setting for something else. Still dice pools, but at least well done and rather universal.

Oh we completely dumped the setting.  I want no part of elves and trolls and shit in my gaming unless I am hunting them down.  The system is strictly a spring board for us and the die mechanic is similar to the game we play the most, Burning Wheel, so there is a nice comfort level there.