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Message no. 1
From: silently@*********.net (Ronald James)
Subject: Firearms skill, 2nd to 3rd ed conversion
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2004 16:15:01 -0500
Hello, I'm new to the list.

I have some players who might be interested in Shadowrun again
after a long hiatus. If nothing else, I'm definitely interested. To get
familiar with 3rd edition, I'm converting a 2nd edition character.

Naturally, I have questions. ;) I do apologize if I am rehashing
things that have been discussed before on this list, but the archives
don't seem to have a search feature.

First question; converting the Firearms skill. My 2nd ed character
had Firearms 5 (SMG 7). Now he only has SMG 7. Where he
used to be competent with all small arms, now he must use the
skill default penalty when he draws his pistol or borrows an
assault rifle.

It seems odd that Firearms was hamstrung this way, but other
active skills like Computer and Electronics are still very general
skills that can be used do *anything* in those categories.

I suppose the new method is more realistic, since the weapon
classes actually handle differently and require separate training
in the real world. But this does downgrade the combat expertise
of a converted character. How have other players reacted when
this happened to their favorite characters?

Have any GM's allowed the old Firearms skill to convert directly
to multiple weapon skills, based on what the character actually
used in the past? For example, my character might convert to
SMG 7 and Pistol 5 because he used those weapons on a regular
basis. But he would not be given Shotgun 5 or Assault Rifle 5,
because he rarely handled those.

I will probably be doing the bulk of the game-mastering, so it is
largely up to me. Just wondering how others have handled this
specific conversion issue.

Thanks,
Ron
Message no. 2
From: tjlanza@************.com (Timothy J. Lanza)
Subject: Firearms skill, 2nd to 3rd Ed conversion
Date: Tue, 09 Nov 2004 17:29:48 -0500
At 04:15 PM 11/8/2004, Ronald James wrote:
>I have some players who might be interested in Shadowrun again
>after a long hiatus. If nothing else, I'm definitely interested. To get
>familiar with 3rd edition, I'm converting a 2nd edition character.

Honestly, I found conversation wasted energy. It was far easier to just
start over from scratch and build a character that "felt" the same. With
good players, it isn't even a problem.

If you were doing a whole team, I'd suggest using the point-based system
out of the SRComp. You figure out the highest point cost for any one
character, then bring all the other characters up to that same point.

In your case, it sounds like an academic exercise rather than a whole-party
conversion, I wouldn't bother. You'll learn more by starting from scratch
than from trying to force your old character into a new mold.

--
Timothy J. Lanza
"When we can't dream any longer, we die." - Emma Goldman
Message no. 3
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: Firearms skill, 2nd to 3rd ed conversion
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2004 11:30:17 +0100
According to Ronald James, on Monday 08 November 2004 22:15 the word on the
street was...

> First question; converting the Firearms skill. My 2nd ed character
> had Firearms 5 (SMG 7). Now he only has SMG 7. Where he
> used to be competent with all small arms, now he must use the
> skill default penalty when he draws his pistol or borrows an
> assault rifle.

The penalty is not very great (if you don't count that you can't use as
much Combat Pool) so in the end it works out OK. Many of the current
players in my group (few of whom have played SRII) when they first made
their characters tried to get a skill for each type of weapon they wanted
to own (Pistols, SMGs, Assault Rifles, etc.) and then quickly discovered
that having one or two skills at 5+ is enough to handle most weapons
they'll be likely to handle. With your SMGs skill of 7 you won't have much
trouble firing a pistol or a shotgun, is my experience.

> I suppose the new method is more realistic, since the weapon
> classes actually handle differently and require separate training
> in the real world. But this does downgrade the combat expertise
> of a converted character. How have other players reacted when
> this happened to their favorite characters?

I found that converted characters don't work out too well; like someone
else said, it's probably easier to design your character from scratch
using the SR3 chargen rules instead of trying to port your existing
character to the new rules. If you want to keep the characters at their
old levels, simply give them the same amount of Karma they had before and
make the players spend it so that the new char's skills etc. will be
roughly the same as the old one's.

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Ik ben het beu
-> Possibly NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Site: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 4
From: mrnexx@*********.net (Mark Hall)
Subject: Firearms skill, 2nd to 3rd ed conversion
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2004 21:03:19 -0600
Gurth wrote:

> The penalty is not very great (if you don't count that you can't use as
> much Combat Pool) so in the end it works out OK.

Hmmm. Thought on this. What if you were allowed to use a portion of
your combat pool... perhaps minus the target number adjustment?

--
***
Nexx
aka Skaldmark
aka Mark Hall
***
http://www.editors-wastebasket.org/nexx/
***
"We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all
time have gone before us."
-Joseph Campbell
Message no. 5
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: Firearms skill, 2nd to 3rd ed conversion
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2004 10:58:12 +0100
According to Mark Hall, on Thursday 11 November 2004 04:03 the word on the
street was...

> Hmmm. Thought on this. What if you were allowed to use a portion of
> your combat pool... perhaps minus the target number adjustment?

If you default to a related skill, you _are_ allowed to use a portion of
your Combat Pool: half of it, to be precise. Only when defaulting to an
attribute do you lose all your CP. So a character with only SMGs skill at
7 may roll up to 14 dice when firing SMGs, and up to 10 dice with just
about any other firearm.

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Ik ben het beu
-> Possibly NAGEE Editor & ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Site: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998

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