Re: [BNW] OT: Shadowrun

[GMPax@aol.com]

In a message dated 4/22/00 4:22:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
darious@darious.com writes:

> I too played it for years - I personally like the setting, but the
>  mechanics had flaws - the worst of which was the patchwork nature of the
>  character classes, and the general weakness of the early adventures. GM: "A
>  dragon flies up, breathes on you, and flys away." Players: "Again?"  
>  
>  But it was one of the first games I encountered that heavily emphasized
>  setting - and it worked, despite the - IMO - clunky mechanics.  We just did
>  what most gaming groups do anyway and  made up a list of house rules and
>  changes to the system.   Of course, by the time we were done - our house
>  rules were 8 pages long.  :-)
>  -------------------

If you haven't yet, please check out the Third Editionrules, a lot of the 
patchwork nature has been replaced by a more unified mechanic (spellcasting 
is now MUCH different than before, for example).

Granted, the number crunching needed for Riggers to modify or personal-design 
drones and such is very involved, ditto for deckers making their own gear ... 
but actual *play* mechanics have been smoothed out and unified a lot.

BNW still gets the prize for overall simplicity of task resolution, mind, but 
SR has improved, nonetheless.


-- Pax --

Ever Defiant !