[Decker Blue]

Hey Folks!

My friends and I recently finished a long VTM campaign so we've decided to try a new system and Shadowrun won the poll!

Which edition would be recommended for a group (1 GM & 3 Players) completely new to playing the game with only one of us knowing much about the setting?

I actually have a few of the 5th Edition books upstairs but I'd be more than happy to grab 6th Edition instead if that was suggested?

Cheers in advance!

[Reaver]

Welcome to the forums!

6e is the current edition that is being produced, so all future books will be in this edition.

However, the older editions are all available for sale, so there is no waiting


Sadly, be advised that SR is not known for somethings: Erratta is one of them. For erratta, this site is your best bet however, as we even have a community team that works on erratta..

All the editions have their ups and downs, and for new players, its going to boil down to taste.

4e rules were more geared to short story campaigns where a player would play the same character for a dozen or so missions, and then retire.... (not really goid for long running csmpaigns).
5e rules were better for long term campaigns, but presented teething issues to start.... ESP when the players and GMs came from more... shall we say... popular systems... (WoD and SR have a lot in common, due to shared creators... but thing have drifted over the years).

6e seems to be trying for a more fluid, narrative style which is receiving a mixed response from older players... so keep that in mind. (You don't have this issue since you're coming in fresh... )

[Decker Blue]

Welcome to the forums!

6e is the current edition that is being produced, so all future books will be in this edition.

However, the older editions are all available for sale, so there is no waiting


Sadly, be advised that SR is not known for somethings: Erratta is one of them. For erratta, this site is your best bet however, as we even have a community team that works on erratta..

All the editions have their ups and downs, and for new players, its going to boil down to taste.

4e rules were more geared to short story campaigns where a player would play the same character for a dozen or so missions, and then retire.... (not really goid for long running csmpaigns).
5e rules were better for long term campaigns, but presented teething issues to start.... ESP when the players and GMs came from more... shall we say... popular systems... (WoD and SR have a lot in common, due to shared creators... but thing have drifted over the years).

6e seems to be trying for a more fluid, narrative style which is receiving a mixed response from older players... so keep that in mind. (You don't have this issue since you're coming in fresh... )

Hey! Thanks for the quick response! I'll feed this back to the GM so he can make his decision. I think he's leaning towards 5e as I've the books (we're housemates) and he would like to run it on Forge/Foundry.

Thanks again! I'll certainly be popping around these parts I imagine in the coming weeks as I try to learn! 

[Michael Chandra]

SR6 has less mathamancy-requirements than SR5, and fights are faster and more dynamic, but with the books already in hand, SR5 is nice too

[Xenon]

If you already have some SR5 books then I think you should go with that edition. At least until you done a few runs and can get some feedback from your group.


If they don't like the setting then you have not invested anything but time and can just switch to something completely different.

If they like the setting but not most of the mechanics then you have several Shadowrun Hacks out there that offer great alternatives.

If they like the setting and most of the mechanics but perhaps feel that combat is bogged down because of initiative bookkeeping and nitty gritty rules such as keeping track of armor penetration, modified armor and recalculating soak pools as well as keeping track of recoil, recoil compensation and progressive recoil etc for each single attack then SR6 is probably an edition they will enjoy more than 5th edition ;-)

Many veteran players that already know most or all the rules and modifiers by heart seem to enjoy the crunch (in a good way!) SR5 have to offer and many of them will probably promote 5th (or perhaps 4th) edition over 6th edition.

[Decker Blue]

Thanks folks! GM decided to give 5th a go for a few weeks then we can review and see if its working. Thanks again!

[Reaver]

Well, hope to see you and your questions around the forums

We are pretty good at getting back with answers..... even if you don't like them :p