I've heard through the grapevine that the latest edition is generally considered awful, but the setting itself seemed interesting to me. Is there an edition that is generally considered good?
>>97046297>Is there an edition that is generally considered good?No, not really. The TRPG is the worst way to engage with the setting. If you are dead-set on playing it tho, play 3rd-ed. Not for it being good, but because there is a lot of fan resources in the sharethread that smooths over a lot of its problems.
>>97046297Third edition or 20th Anniversary book, that one actually looks good and has a decent layout. My condolences on SR passing away from a long, lingering illness. RIP
>>97046297I would say 5th, but with the ammendum to drill into your players, "learn your characters and what they do." It's absurdly convoluted and to GM it, you need autists who will back you up, but it's incredibly satisfying to play, and captures the "heist movie" concept like no other game, has the most gear porn and equipment rules this side of GURPS, and has a lot of rules that do translate to real life. (The Small Unit Tactics rules for instance, cover a lot of what I've actually seen working irl security).Chummer is highly recommended but not required, what is required however, is a huge space to work in. For reference, my longtime group were compsci majors and engineers, we used two huge whiteboards to plan and play on.I think the biggest hurdles people have with it is decking (understandable, shit's retarded complex) and jumping right into technomancer as their first character. To fix it, we have a simple houserule, 1 mark needed for complex actions instead of 3. (Yes this breaks a lot of qualities, but we figured it's best to have a decker who can play the game in a timely manner, than a decker propely minmaxed)
>>97046367>recommending 4eThe Attribute conversions from 3e to 4e really screwed up the metatype modifiers. Elves having a +2 Charisma in 4e is the equivalent of giving them +3 in 3e and prior. Troll stats are even worse, since instead of a converted +5 (+1 dermal armor) and +4 Strength, they got the equivalent of +6 to both (and the dermal armor bonus). People complain that there's no point to playing a human in 6e, but it started in 4e with the Attribute deflation. 6e even tried trimming it back (in spite of the other questionable decisions made).
>>970462976E basically killed the game.
>>97046355You could also just read generally good novels.
>>97046840This is an optimization problem, not a system problem.Play a character, not numbers on a sheet.One of my most memorable pcs was a human that got Orc plastic surgery to hide from Ares after he stole high end secrets and ran to Seattle.>>97046429I have recommended 4e because it is most analogous to how people imagine tech as it currently exists, and smoothed the transition in to roleplaying within the setting.
>>97046873Bullshit. The system bloated frequently-optimized stats out of proportion by changing some numbers and not following through with rigor. If you're going to make the numbers lower so that they're easier to deal with (presumably?), do it all around. Don't leave shit lying around so that the next edition feels the need to make Limits to control still-bloated dice pools.
>>970462973rd is the best of the "classic" edition trio and 4th is the best of the "modern" edition trio. Go download the books and take a look, play whichever you like the feel of more.
Been playing since 1991. (Yes I'm old)Id say its a toss up between 3rdE and 20th anniversary edition with 5E coming in a distant 3rd. Which ever you choose your going to need to go through all the home brew material because there are plenty of house rules needed to patch over rough spots in the rules.
>>970462973e
>>97046873>I have recommended 4e because it is most analogous to how people imagine tech as it currently existsThis shit is, and always will be, fucking stupid.
I've played a little 5e, had fun playing with functional strangers, and all I can add is "fuck 5e's core book"
>>97048065Is there any ttrpg that had a good 5th edition?
>>97048870Not that I'm aware of, it seems like you've beaten the horse to death twice over at that point. Might as well have the balls to make a new game.
>>97048870In terms of the game itself I think 5e's fine. Only dicked around in Chummer for 4 so can't speak with authority on the series. Navigating the core rulebook for 5 was a shit experience, though, and as to that part no, don't know of a well-laid-out 5e of anything
Don't use fifth edition.
>>97048870Pendragon.
>>97046367Kinda sad no Pathfinder analogue manifested dduring the early years of argle bargle edition.
>>97046297The one with the broke ass shotgun rules.
>>97046297Not that I can think of
>>97058549Well, one obstacle to that is that anyone that likes it probably wants to change something about it because it strikes them as a terrible flaw in an otherwise great setup. At this point, you go from being a Pathfinder analog to being a heartbreaker far too easily.
>>97046297Do not let any grogs trick you; 3e SR is one of thw most dogsgit games ever made and you will want to pff yourself running it. I was tricked myself and will always be pissed abput it
>>97061224Are any of the other editions better?
>>97046297I've only played 4e and 5e, but I'd say Cities Without Number is the best SR edition.It's not even particularly amazing, but it fixes all the big issues while still having really fun drone and decking options.
>>97047090>frequently-optimizedDing ding ding!We have someone who can clearly see the situation, but their autism doesn't allow them to recognize they are the problem!>>97047589Why?I mean, I get you may think a romanticized version of mid 80s tech is charming, but outside 'it is because it is' arguments, there is no reason for wireless to not be the norm, especially since it didn't create any weaknesses of note that were not addressed.You still wanted hardwired or closed links for anything serious, and the game made sure you knew it from the jump.
>>970659255e sucks
>>97065939Yes it does!
>>97065925Yes, punish people for putting points in a clearly optimized path or wanting to make characters that have an advantage. Be the picture of a no-fun GM from the depths of the 80s and 90s. Be like White Wolf in its worst "look but don't touch" phase.
>>97065925"My players cannot understand that the fictional technology in this alternate history game where magic, elves, dragons and monsters exist is different than the technology that exists in the real world" is always going to be fucking stupid. If your players can somehow suspend their disbelief that magic exists, but there are brick cell phones instead of iPhones, then your players are simpletons who cannot rotate an apple in their mind's eye.Understand, I'm not saying that wireless itself is bad. I'm saying the attitude of "we have to have wireless, because my players literally cannot understand the idea of not having wireless," is a stupid fucking reason to implement it.
>>97066127>can't unsee optomizing characters but thinks that the problem is othersAre you touhoufag?
>>97066190I didn't say the players couldn't understand it, I'm saying its fucking stupid and dated, and anyone who isn't huffing their own farts can understand that.
>>97066214Retro-futuristic tech is cool. Turning cyberpunk games into an analog of real life is just as gay as turning D&D into a pride parade. If you want to play mission impossible or splinter cell, do that instead. Fag.
>>97066214Have people just become completely unable to follow a fucking text chain? The original post I was replying to:>>97046873>I have recommended 4e because it is most analogous to how people imagine tech as it currently existsYou obviously know how to reply to a post, you replied to my post, so you should understand that the fucking post you were replying to was *also* a reply, you fucking dunderhead.
>>97048870Tunnels & Trolls
>>97066198No, but I cleared a fresh hard KMS in God Hand.4e wanted to bring numbers down. For some reason, it decided not to follow through. It also wanted to reflect professionals at the height or near-heights of their careers, i.e. specializing aka optimizing in various directions.So, yes, you're going to see a lot of optimization. It's natural to the demands of the setting; you're playing a specialist in a team of various different specialists. So, how, then, is optimization not something that the designers of the game should have planned around better?
>>97046840Also turning many Target Number modifiers to straight up extra dice without single fuck given caused decent amount of pain.
How do the Shadowruns compare to Cyberpunk 2020/red?>Renraku or Arasaka?
>>97072925Cyberpunk treats the Sandevistan that you see in Edgerunners as a remarkable and new piece of tech, while in Shadowrun, that was how every reflex augmention worked in the first two editions of the game (and move-by-wire accomplished it in 3e, the last edition when it was useful). SR also has a lot more biotech and genetech innovations that measure up to cyber, so between the bio-samurai and the adepts, there are a lot of completely normal looking people that can suddenly pull superhuman shit.Shadowrun also has a much broader focus on the world, and sometimes cluster of metaplanes, at large; while Seattle is a major focus city, no one is pointing a gun to your head and forcing you to play there like Cyberpunk is focusing on Night City.>Renraku or Arasaka?Are we comparing Deus and Soulkiller now?
>>97073073Did Deus do anything wrong though? He was in full on survival mode all of his sentient life. Under Cy_borg 00 rule Deus was a hero and the Psychothrope was a fascists busybody.
>>97073684>Deus did nothing wrongHe probably could have played things a lot more smoothly by not having a nightmare experiment basement and spending more time convincing Dodger to help. He probably could have twisted the elf's arm really easily by arguing that he was the "son" of the AI that Dodger loved.
>>97074091"C'mon chummer, help your cyber-stepson out."
>>97074358This, but with more overblown, theatrical, Shakespearean English.
>>97046297Anything but 6E.
>>97077908I would suggest using 6E's lifting rules, at least, because trolls that can barely lift more than 150 kg are kind of embarrassing.
>>97046297Krautrun, but it hasn't been translated from genocide yet.
There isn't a single shadowrun that can't be pulled off with pure social engineering. And yet Face remains the least played archetype despite being the most overpowered.
