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PACKS questions for you guys.

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Wakshaani

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« on: <02-24-15/1305:47> »
First off, the new PACKS system from Run and Gun... do you feel as if it'll be useful or not? (It's tilted heavily for new players, not veterans, mind, but also for pick-up games, conventions, etc.)

Do you prefer the current style (2000 Y/1 Karma "chunks" that may have some uneccessary gear included) or the previous style (More rational gear inclusions but with prices that aren't "smooth" and cost, for example, 4316 Nuyen.)

Are the smaller PACKS more useful or would you rather have larger ones? That is to say, would you rather see a 10,000 Y "Rigger Pack" or five 2000Y PACKS for, say, mechanic, door-cracker, drone programmer, etc.

Do you want to see more PACKS in future products as it makes sense?

Would you like to see PACKS made into "gear cards" that could be easily passed out?

Anything else PACKS related should go here, I think, including any errors you might find. I ran the numbers or each five times, but that dosn't mean an error won't crop up when I blinked!

Senko

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« Reply #1 on: <02-24-15/2332:47> »
Hard to say on the cash/karma values. In some situations being able to do a quick X karma equals X gear but in others having more useful gear with some bookkeeping could be better. Personally I'd tend towards the uneven exchange rate as I'm willing to put the extra cash to use elsewhere.


I'd rather see a mix of packs a few large general ones and some broken up smaller ones e.g basic rigger cheap, medium, expensive and some options extra drone pack options if you see what I mean.

I'd like to see more packs in future products.

Don't normally use cards so can't comment on that.

I do feel the basic runner packs really should have included at least one fake license in their costs because I can't see any concept not needing at least one license in their concept and a new player is going to think buying these packs will cover everything they need. Then they'll get pulled up by the local police for not having a magic license, drivers license, license for restricted items that come in the packs themselves

Jack_Spade

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« Reply #2 on: <02-25-15/0405:49> »
Actually, the strict cash limit makes most of these packs pretty nonsensical.

I'd rather see actually useful combinations like for example combining a chameleon suit with the thermal dampening enhancement and gecko gloves.

During our Core only times, our group already made an excel list with equipment packages. The values were never even but a lot more useful.
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Medicineman

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« Reply #3 on: <02-25-15/0542:20> »
I would've prefered it seperate from the Run Harder in a more compact form as a PDF so that oldschooler (like me) can choose to buy it seperately and aren't forced to buy it included in the Book.
And then I would've prefered it separated by Nations
Complete Lists for CAS/UCAS , and for AGS, Lists for Hong Kong and Japan(Asia) etc
BUT it schould be more compact and acurate, and (if possible ) with a bit more ...content.
1000 Bullets standard Ammo as one single pack is .... kind of tooo simple (even for Beginners ) ImO

The Base Idea is ok (for Newbs and Beginners :) but the way its presented is a bit....loveless
The List of Items to buy is quite interesting (even though day to day shopping is included in the Lifestyle of the Chars, but its quite interesting to see how much certain Item cost .
And I really like the 1 ¥ List   (Thumps up for whoever invented it   :) )

so If you put a bit more efford into these lists they could become a valuable additional source
(the way they are presented right now is for Me just a waste of Paper :) )

HokaHey
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Rift_0f_Bladz

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« Reply #4 on: <02-25-15/1941:15> »
I would like a bit more variety in the packs, along with prices. But this is a good start. The random price tables are great, bicycles, skateboards, burgers, super cheap comlink, tats, etc.
Quote- Mirikon on 7/30/2019 at 08:26:51
Agreed. This looks like a 'training wheels' edition, that you can use to introduce someone to the setting, and then shift over to something like 5E or 4E. Like how D&D 5E is best used as training wheels for D&D 3.X.

Turned in Toxshaman for ¥1 million/4 once.

Wakshaani

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« Reply #5 on: <02-25-15/2300:05> »
The "Thousand rounds of standard ammo" is brought from the first iteration of teh PACKS system, in fact. "Ammo Crate" is just a really simple concept and gets the idea across quick and easy.

"Here's a thousand bullets. Split 'em up between your guns as you see fit." - Super handy to jump over book keeping and get rolling. :)

For the combination stuff, you can see some (A chameleon suit's in one of the PACKs, in fact!), but I figured smaler sets were better for now. I'll look into larger "Everything a 'blank' needs" style for later tho.

And I had a blast on the random gear! Spent a few days wandering around assorted stores, taking notes on all kinds of oddball things that people might need. Did you know that Wal-Mart sells machettes, for example? The "I'd buy THAT for a Nuyen!" bit is, obviously, a riff on Robocop (For all yoru Ares needs, watch RObocop!) but was a neat way of tying a bunch of tiny useful things together. Never kow when some sandwhich bags will come in handy.

One thing that I -didn't- get to get across was the gradual replacement of plastic products, which need petroleum, with wood and paper, which is renewable. It keeps the same disposable feel, but, it puts a more Asian cultural feel in the mix. I'll have to angle that  more in the future. (Note that much of the paper is made from fibrous material, not neccessarily trees. So much soy in food that the leftovers can be put to industrial uses. Probably no small number of mycoid fibres in the mix as well.)

Medicineman

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« Reply #6 on: <02-26-15/0253:50> »
 
Quote
The "I'd buy THAT for a Nuyen!" bit is, obviously, a riff on Robocop (For all yoru Ares needs, watch RObocop!)
???
every Oldschooler should know that ;)

Quote
"Here's a thousand bullets. Split 'em up between your guns as you see fit." - Super handy to jump over book keeping and get rolling. :)
But hey, I don't need a pack for that. I just need the Price from the BBB.
(Maybe it's a German thing , or i'm kinda "picky" but when I first read the Packlist I felt a bit insulted and got the impression that you (as CGL the company) don't think that I'm smart enough to calculate 20 ¥ x 100 thats why you have to explain it to me (as a reader & player)  and make/calculate it up for Me.
I know that this is Impression is not right, but it's still there ) and this is not because I'm playing for a long time now. Even if I would be a total Newb at Shadowrun or at RPGS ,
If I see a List (from the BBB ) that says 10 Bullets cost 20 ¥ than I know that 1 Bullet is 2 ¥ and 1000 Bullets are 2000 ¥
I don't need a special Pack for Bullets.
Thats what I meant with
Quote
BUT it schould be more compact and acurate, and (if possible ) with a bit more ...content.
1000 Bullets standard Ammo as one single pack is .... kind of tooo simple (even for Beginners ) ImO
a combination Pack would be Ok for those that are brand new at SR or RPG or that have trouble with mathematics, but a Pack that consist of only 1 Item.... ???


Quote
And I had a blast on the random gear! Spent a few days wandering around assorted stores, taking notes on all kinds of oddball things that people might need.
So you wrote the List ? !
Well done ,cool List. I like it 
...but, ( :) )
Quote
but was a neat way of tying a bunch of tiny useful things together. Never kow when some sandwhich bags will come in handy.
at my tables we don't bother  paying  for these Items. they're included in lifestyle (if you're living above Street or Squatter)
A Char either has them on his body or he just gets them in the next Stuffer shack

Quote
One thing that I -didn't- get to get across was the gradual replacement of plastic products, which need petroleum, with wood and paper,....  So much soy in food that the leftovers can be put to industrial uses. Probably no small number of mycoid fibres in the mix as well.)
Two questions :
 what happened to Plassteel ?
and why not replace plastic with...soyplast ?
Hey , You are one of the writers/creators YOU (as a Writer)can set the tone for "our Shadowrunworld"

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Medicineman
« Last Edit: <02-26-15/0309:23> by Medicineman »
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Tecumseh

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« Reply #7 on: <02-27-15/2116:56> »
I'm a longtime player who can go through most of chargen in a matter of minutes before slamming into a wall and spending days on spending my nuyen. As such, I can only imagine what it's like for a new player. I can see the value of PACKS even if I don't use it myself. That said, I read through the entire section anyway.

My favorite parts were the intro/basic/advanced runner packs, since they were interesting, diverse, and a good summary of what a runner needs to function at a given level. If I had new players, I would definitely point them toward those. The same is true for the bug-out bag. As for the rest of the PACKS, I thought the primary value was in the supporting description, explaining what this is and why you might want it. Those paragraphs were good for introducing new ideas and for helping players envision scenarios outside of their normal experience.

I know this wasn't the goal, but one thing I thought would be neat is if the PACKs picked up on some of the ideas of the cyberware suites from Augmentation. Namely, a take-it-or-leave-it combination of cyber and/or bioware that might be available for a modest discount in essence and nuyen.

I actually found the ¥1 = 1 hamburger rule of thumb to be more confusing than enlightening. What kind of burger? Thin discs of bread-meat-bread, or something fancier? USD prices at my local McDonald's range from $1.25 cheeseburgers to $4 for a Big Mac or a Quarter Pounder. My gut instinct is that the hamburger in question should be a "cheap hamburger", but the mention of the Big Mac PPP threw me off. I'm skipping this for now.

Wak, if you're still on the line, how much is a real hamburger supposed to cost? My PDF says ¥5, which is an obvious typo, but I wasn't sure if it was supposed to say ¥25 or ¥50. I'm guessing it's ¥25 based on the multiplier between myco-protein steak and real steak, and to avoid a hamburger costing as much as a steak, but the question has been niggling at me ever since I saw it.

Wakshaani

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« Reply #8 on: <02-28-15/1155:19> »
An actual meat-havin' burger would run Y5 for what you pay $1 for today. Y1 will net you a soyburger, however, which is what you get in most fast-food places. A fancy Big Mac-style burger that runs $5 would run about Y25 in Shadowrun. Yeah, it starts trotting in on steak levels, so you're looking at something really fancy at that point. (Wait. You want real meat, actual lettuce, real tomato, and actual condiments? Chummer, you livin' the high life!)

The typical middle-class family eats assorted 'replacement' food (Soy, krill, and myco-protein), with a rare time eatting real food on special occasions (Birthday parties, anniversaries, etc). The more typical poor see it, like, once a year. (Happy birthday baby! I got you an apple.)

The hamburger ratio's an old economics trick. It -used- to be a Big Mac rate, but the Big Mac went way up in price, so it quietly got replaced. :)