Shadow Run 4e HOUSE RULES

Josh made an excellent argument in an email, copied here

Ok, under any point total, you can only spend half (250 in our case) on your attributes, right?  I have no real issue with that... the problem is, if you try to max out one stat, say Body, in the case of Shivak it would cost 65 points to do so:  40 for the first 4 points (to get it to 5) and then another 25 to max it out.

Now, using that example, this means that Shivak would have 185 left to spend on Attributes.. this means that, by the rules, he will only be able to spend 180 because 5 points doesn't do anything for you with Attributes (unless he was to try and max something else).  Using this as a guide you end up losing a potential point in another Attribute if you want to max just one out.  My original suggestion was to drop the cost of maxing an attribute out to 20 instead of 25 points, but I don't think that would work out all that well.

My solution of allowing an extra 5 points to be spent just made it so a player could devote as many points as possible to attributes (given how expensive they are to raise later) and not get 'screwed' because they want one stat to be maxed out to start with.

Again, I don't think it's THAT big a deal but it does seem a bit shitty to me given that it costs so much karma to raise attributes... which takes away from other things that you can raise (skills, magic, etc.)

To me, it seems like, as I think you've observed, that this game is really Skill driven, which is fine.  I just think that, assuming that's the case, that players should get the most bang for the buck with their attributes.  Shivak, for instance, is probably fine with his attributes, but I'd still really like to raise several of them later... it's going to be expensive but that's fine, it kind of makes sense.  For a character that really, REALLY, needs the physical stats to be high, it seems like they get the short end of the stick.


Thank you.

I really did not understand what you were suggesting before.  That makes sense because each attribute costs 10BP to raise, so you are left with 5 hanging, assuming you want to max out your attributes but not max another stat (25) which would use those 5 pts.

That's fine, you can spend 51% on attributes or 255 pts.

credit Josh for another good point....

I had previously said that you could just whatever basic gear (not cyberware, not foci, etc) that you wanted for free. At the end of the day, that is a bit loose and probably not fair to everyone given the costs of certain items, needs of non-cyberware concepts, etc.

Here is the new deal: nothing is free.

Each player gets $150,000 worth of gear (essentially 30 BPs) but it cannot be converted back into BPs. You must purchase everything your character owns - lifestyle, guns, armor, gas vents, cyberware, magical foci... including anything "special" you want or are carrying over - Ghost touch lightsaber, Red Mando armor, etc.

With GM approval, you can build\buy any items that you want from any of the books using this $$ to represent what your character has earned over his career. You must still pay the bonding costs (if it is a foci). You can, of course, supplement this starting fund by spending BPs as usual at the normal rate of 1 BP = $5000 up to the max of 50 BP = $250,000

pg 88 has a table that determines starting cash in your pocket. The roll is based on the Lifestyle level you buy. Any leftover money from the starting $150,000 is not carried forward, but can be used to influence the roll, per the rules on pg 88.

So just to put stuff in 1 place....

characters are built with 500 BPs - no more than 1/2 (250) can be spent on attributes
120 Karma
$150,000 in cash for Gear

4e 20th anniversary rule book

This is what Jedi\Sith use for Lightsaber Defense, not Missile Parry

Combat Sense
Cost: .5 per level
Combat Sense provides an instinctive sense about an area and
any potential threats nearby. The character gains one die per level for
Reaction on Surprise Tests and when defending against ranged and
melee attacks.

This is an existing rule that does exactly what Lightsaber Defense did from d20. And YES, that means the Jedi does NOT have to have his LIghtsaber "Readied" or even drawn to use it! The Jedi would have to have his Lightsaber drawn and Ready to Redirect (splitting dice) any blaster fire. YES, that means it applies vs ANY type of ranged attack - flechettes, bullets, blasters, arrows, etc


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Per Josh's question about a Weapon Focus (magic item) as a Lightsaber.....  

rulebook says of Wpn Focus

When used in physical combat, weapon foci grant the character a
dice pool modifier to melee attacks equal to their Force.


I would allow you to choose whether the Wpn Focus dice count as normal (above) or count for Lightsaber Defense\Deflect rolls.  It is 1 or the other, not both.  Essentially you could choose to have an "offensive" or a "defensive" focus

and in case anyone missed it.... I started a new thread which is a consolidation of House Rules and SR-SW conversion issues.

Please don't ask questions there, that is just for posting the rules updates.