Shadowrun 4e newbie questions

[Stahlseele]

So . . appearantly, despite my input, my people have decided to give SR5 a go . . and have chosen Hamburg, Germany, as the Playground of the characters for some reason . . i am utterly stumped on how to proceed in this x.x

For starters, i refuse to give CGL money for the books, be it dead tree or free money copy!

Second . . even though i still like some of the people that worked on some of the SR5 stuff . . i can't help but think the leaving of some other people who worked on SR4 means i am rather cross with it.

In ADDITION to the crunch and fluff <.<

[Omegonthesane]

If they're expecting you to run Shadowrun 5, I think as GM you can just veto that.

If they aren't, then someone else really should be getting the books for the group. Like the GM.

[Rasumichin]

Hamburg would be a pretty cool setting...if SR rules could handle hovertank chase scenes.

[Stahlseele]

SR Rules can't even handle scooter chase scenes <.<

And no, they are not expecting me to run it.
They are expecting me to play it, which is almost as bad.

[Silent Wayfarer]

Just focus on RP, that touches the shitty system as little as possible.

[Stahlseele]

I was thinking of pulling a disappearing move on them, like one of our old buddies did some years ago . . but i work with one of them, so that's a no go <.<

Sadly, i do not like playing magical characters, so i will have to deal with more of that damn system than i want anyway . .

[Stahlseele]

And already my first character concepts have been shut down with the words:"only META-HUMANS and HUMANS!"

anybody have an interesting and fun character concept that can break the world a bit instead of the rules system?

[Silent Wayfarer]

And already my first character concepts have been shut down with the words:"only META-HUMANS and HUMANS!"

anybody have an interesting and fun character concept that can break the world a bit instead of the rules system?

Mystic Adept, show them the meaning of MAXIMUM FUCK.

[Longes]

And already my first character concepts have been shut down with the words:"only META-HUMANS and HUMANS!"

anybody have an interesting and fun character concept that can break the world a bit instead of the rules system?

You are limited to magic types. The muggles are limited by laws of physics and author's imagination, technomancers are ass and hackers have to interact with matrix.

[Stahlseele]

i was afraid of these answers <.<

[vagrant]

There really isn't any reason to not play a Mystad in 5th, so you should just do that. See if there are rules interactions you can play with immediately to make your GM hate you, like 'LOL CAN I HAVE A SPIRIT POSSESS MY MAN THONG' and 'WHAT IF ITS ALSO A TRUCK'

[Stahlseele]

yeah, i tried that next.
after some hours where i assume the GM read up on mystads, he told me not to break the game so obviously <.<

[Jason]

Fomorian main battle tank with astral hazing?

[Stahlseele]

That merrits looking into.
See if it gets vetoed as well.
Thank you.

[Longes]

Fomorian main battle tank with astral hazing?

I don't know how this works in SR5, but in SR4 this build is highly overrated unless you strap MysAd with Sorcerous Parry and Counterspell 6 on top. Otherwise you are nowhere near as hard to hit as you think you are, and you are not protecting your party so they'll just be picked off.

[Jason]

Fomorian main battle tank with astral hazing?

I don't know how this works in SR5, but in SR4 this build is highly overrated unless you strap MysAd with Sorcerous Parry and Counterspell 6 on top. Otherwise you are nowhere near as hard to hit as you think you are, and you are not protecting your party so they'll just be picked off.

It heavily depends on how much Essence you would like to retain but yes, it's mostly a self-preservation build. As far as I understood it, 5th edition uses background count rules similar to earlier versions. Spell levels, spirit levels and focus levels as well as power points get reduced by the background count (in this case 3). Dicepools suffer a malus equal to the background count (3 again) as does astral perception and ritual magic (technically it stops astral magic dead by raw as I read them). By sheer presence in your humble abode over night you basically create a hughe background count 4 zone. It's labelled as "aspected", so even though the "negative quality" says it affects your own casting as well there is nothing in the rules preventing you from attuning or even alingning yourself with your own background count, this goes particularly for your teammates who could use you as a walking magical amplifier.

I admit that is based on a very, very cursory reading of the 5h edition rules presented in street grimoire as well as run faster, so I may be wrong in any or all of my interpretations.

[Stahlseele]

Wait . .
Aspected?
What?
Did they actually change it to read that?
Because i don't think it did that in SR4 O.o
That would make it HUGELY OP!

[Longes]

Wait . .
Aspected?
What?
Did they actually change it to read that?
Because i don't think it did that in SR4 O.o
That would make it HUGELY OP!

Arguments about geomantically attuning the Astral Hazing were a special olympics topic since Runner's Companion came out.

[Jason]

Wait . .
Aspected?
What?
Did they actually change it to read that?
Because i don't think it did that in SR4 O.o
That would make it HUGELY OP!

That's how I read it.

ASTRAL HAZING
BONUS: 5 KARMA (FOR NON-AWAKENED CHARACTERS), 15 KARMA (FOR AWAKENED CHARACTERS)

A character with this quality has expressed metagenes that somehow catalyze and feed on the character’s darker emotions and negative feelings, isturbing the character’s aura and any ambient mana in her vicinity. For reasons not yet understood, the character becomes an aspected domain in her own right and taints astral space around her wherever she goes: she is a generator of tainted background count. This astral haze affects all attempts to cast magic on, at, or in the character’s vicinity. Whatever the ambient mana conditions are, the character always stands at the heart of a Rating 3 background count (p. 30–32, Street Grimoire) that extends a number of meters from her body equal to her Essence; this background count also impairs her own actions if the character is Awakened. If she remains in one place for long, the background count expands by one meter in every direction every four hours (at the gamemaster’s discretion, with an upper expansion limit of 4 points of background count).

And no, it didn't do that in SR4. So, technically you could play a mage, with this "negative quality" get an extra 15 karma at chargen and boost yourself and every team member with it.

[Stahlseele]

Damn it, i am at work and can not directly compare to the SR4 Text <.<

[Jason]

Here you go:

Astral Hazing
Bonus: 10 BP (for non-Awakened characters), 15 BP (for Awakened characters)

A character with this quality has expressed metagenes that somehow catalyse and feed on the character’s darker emotions and negative feelings, disturbing the character’s aura and any ambient mana in her vicinity. For reasons not yet understood, the character becomes an aspected domain in her own right and taints astral space around her wherever she goes; a generator of tainted astral background count (similar to a cyberzombie).
This astral haze affects all attempts to cast magic on, at, or in the vicinity of the character. Whatever the ambient mana conditions are, the character always stands at the heart of a Rating 4 background count (see p. 117, Street Magic) that extends a number of meters from her body equal to her Essence; this background count also impairs her own actions if the character is Awakened. If she remains in one place for long, the background count expands by one meter in every direction every two or three hours (at the gamemaster’s discretion).

And it turns out I was wrong and it did say that in SR4.

[Shrieking Banshee]

Is it just me or are adepts terrible? I mean sure theoretically they can be super powerful with enough Karma, but thats applicable to about anything. Everything they can do seems to be overpriced and punishes the idea of a supernatural fighting hero.

[Whipstitch]

Adept powers are mostly good for adding a bit of extra mustard to a Face/Detective build that emphasizes social and perception boosters. The whole thing where you pay more for augmenting your combat skills than your physical, social or technical skills is a travesty.

[Longes]

Is it just me or are adepts terrible? I mean sure theoretically they can be super powerful with enough Karma, but thats applicable to about anything. Everything they can do seems to be overpriced and punishes the idea of a supernatural fighting hero.

Yes. Adept's power is in stacking magical power-ups with cyber power-ups, which makes them more powerful in the long run.

[virgil]

Have they said what the background count of the moon is?