Other major changes to the basic system is the changeover of the names of several of the attributes. the reaction skill is out since D20 bases reaction on dexterity and the ability to spot/listen. Initiative is determined differently and the Magic attibute is out. Essence has stayed and so has many of the other features of Shadowrun itself. below is the major conversion info. It is available in .dco format on the files page.
Character Generation
Character generation is done by rolling 4 six-sided dice and dropping the lowest roll, then adding the remaining result. Do this 6 times. You then assign these "scores" to your six attributes. (STR) Strength, (CON) Constitution-used to be Body, (DEX) Dexterity-which used to be Quickness, (INT) Intelligence, (WIS) Wisdom, and (CHA) Charisma. You have a 7th Attribute which is called (ESS) Essence which automatically is assigned an 18. Each skill now gets a modifier, see the below table. When rolling in D20 you generally will roll a 20 sided dice then add the appropriate modifier.
1 -5 24-25 +7
2-3 -4 26-27 +8
4-5 -3 28-29 +9
6-7 -2 30-31 +10
8-9 -1 32-33 +11
10-11 0 34-35 +12
12-13 +1 36-37 +13
14-15 +2 38-39 +14
16-17 +3 40-41 +15
18-19 +4 42-43 +16
20-21 +5 44......etc
22-23 +6
Races and Classes
Current race detail is available on the Race page for which there is a link above. The five basic races are Dwarf, Elf, Human, Ork, and Troll. There are others but it is best to start with these. Race plays an important part in who you are. Certain races are despised or have different social class, political rights, etc.
Class is also important. And yes, we all like to look like were rich, but thats not what I meant. Character Classes make up a vital part of who and what your character does. The base character classes are Fighter, Rogue, Magician, Shaman, Decker, Rigger, and Adept. Each one of these certaint connotations. For those of us who already play shadowrun you probably have a favorite. More classes will become available, but again-its best to start here. More info on the classes is available on the class page.
Skills and Feats
Next comes Skills and feats. Skills make up what your character knows. What they are good at. You get a certain number of points to assign to skills based on your class. Things also cost either 1 point/rank or 2 points/rank depending on whether that skill is familiar to someone of your class. You may purchase ranks up to 3+current character level for familiar skills and half that for unfamiliar. This familiar/unfamiliar is refferred to as class or cross-class. After all skills are picked you get to pick feats. Feats are amazing, sometimes supernatural things a character can do. There weren't many equivalents to this in the original Shadowrun, but you'll catch on fast. Refer to the Skills page and Feats page for lists and info on these.
Magic, Decking, and Equipment
So the las things done are picking your spells if you can use 'em, your deck and programs if you use 'em, and bulking up on all the important tools you need. Chalk, nitro-glycerine, dynamite, c-12, paper clips, pencils...you know-office supplies. The pages corresponding to this info is listed above, along with additional rules for them.
Other Changes
Now comes that part that everyone has been dreading....what did he change. Remarkably very little. The reality is that since Shadowrun is skill based and D20 is too, it was fairly easy to absorb. All normal D20 rules apply for combat, skils, dice rolls etc. However, several differences are appparent.
1) Hit Points--I know people don't like the sound of this before I explain it most times. So here is the explanation. The condition monitor concept that old Shadowrun uses is good becasue it takes into account that all people are equal when unexperienced. As people gail strength their Combat pool increases and their Body goes up in the old system. this allows them to soak more damage. Right? Ok...well Hit Points work the same way. As Characters go up in levels they gain more hit points. There is no resistance test to soak damage, the Hit points take that into account.
2) Languages--I am using the D20 system or languages too. I believe that someone can learn so many languages without a tremenedous amount of study or effort. I speak four and have only done that tmany years of study. If more languages are desired...THEN you can purchase more with skills.
3) "Hobby" skills--Inactive knowledge skills as they are also called have been dropped. IT has always been my practice to make characters justify where they pick up the skills anyway...they are used so infrequently that there is no reason for people to spend points on them.
4) Dice pools--For the same reason as hit points, I have removed this system. As people go up in levels they go up in strength, attack bonuses, and feats. There is no reason to give extra points to devote here or there where neccessary, not if the game is properly balanced. Bonuses and negatives to attack and defense are already in effect if certain manuevers are attempted. The only dice pool to stay is Karma Pool, which is talked abotu next.
5) Karma Pool. Every player of EVERY race starts with 1 karma point in their Karma Pool. Karma Pool is exceptionally valuable. It can be spent permanently to buy a success at any test, and can be spent temporarily to reroll a failed roll. It has many other features, which die-hard shadowrunners are familiar with, but these ar ethe main ones. Karma pool refreshes at the beginning of an adventure. Karma Pool points are awarded by the DM as they see fit. They are usually given out every character level in my game.
6) Reaction and Magic Attributes---These two attributes have been removed. The new magic system does not require this attribute. Reaction is no longer needed as we have the Reflex saving throw and D20 initiative.
Other than that the game is absorbed. The skills used are the Shadowrun D20 skill list, and the feat list. New skills and feats are detailed online, but for sanity's sake the ones already written in the D20 book have not been reprinted but page numbers will be cited. Same goes for Equiipment. I'll post the charts, but unless the gam mechanic changes for that item, it is left alone.
Combat
Single Shot: Firing is a
Standard Action. Cocking is a Standard or Move Equivalent Action. So a character
with 1 Attack could shoot and cock, but not move. A character with 2 Attacks
could shoot, cock, and move. etc...
The penalties for burst fire come from the recoil of
the gun. These can be reduced and eliminated by the Auto-Fire Feat, Strength
and recoil compensating accessories for weapons. It should be noted that these
feats and accessories can never provide a bonus to attack, only eliminate the
penalties.
Recoil and strength
14-16 –1
17-19 –2
20-21 –3
+3 = +1
Burst-fire is a standard
action. It incurs a -6 penalty to attack. A burst fires 3 rounds. You may fire
as many bursts as you have attacks. Damage for a burst is x2. Example: A burst
from an Ingram Smartgun is at -3 (-6 from burst and +3 recoil comp) and does
2d10 dm.
Full-auto targets an area, not a person. It is a Full Round Action. Choose how many bullets to fire into each square chosen (squares must be adjacent). Anyone in a targeted square must make a Reflex save against a DC equal to 10 + the number of bullets fired into that square. If he fails, make an automatic attack roll against the target using the character's highest attack bonus , but apply a -2 penalty for each round fired (modified by feats and recoil comp of course) up to a maximum of -20. No more than 10 bullets can be fired in a given round. Add 1 dice of damage for every 3 shots in a square. The other shots are +1 dmg. exemple: if I shoot 5 times in a square with a gun of 3d6, the opponent must make a Reflex save DC 15. If he fail I use my highest attack bonus and throw a d20 to know if I touch. If positive, I do 3d6 + 1d6 (first three ammo) +2 (the other two ammo)= 4d6+2.
