Shadowrun (D&D4E Conversion)

Dunkelzahn

First Post
Hi everybody. The title of the thread explains it all. I know this is actually quite a controversial subject - afterall Shadowrun fans are decidedly loyal (AKA stubborn). Multiply that by the "internet asshattery factor" and I'm sure I'll catch alot of flak. But despite how much some people will hate idea, I do think a few of you guys might enjoy it. So here it is, my version of Shadowrun modified to use D&D4E rules:

SR4E

Check out the site. It's still a work in progress, but I think there's enough content there to start sharing it. Leave some comments on this thread to let me know what you think!
 

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I have played in a few ShadowRun 2E campaigns many years ago and I learned to hate the clunkiness of the ShadowRun rules. I like the concept and setting of ShadowRun.

One thing that could be done with a class conversion of SR to 4E would be to keep the 4E classes more or less as is but with few changes to the fluff. Modifications that should be done are adding firearms proficiencies to classes.

The Street Samurai/Company Man class would be Ranger as it is the class specializing in ranged attacks.

Street Mage/Shaman would be Clerics, Invokers, Spirit Shamans, Druids, Wizards, Warlocks, Sorcerers and Bards.

Physical Adepts would be Barbarians, Fighters and the upcoming Monk class.

Riggers and Deckers don't really fit any 4E but rigging and decking could be done with equipment and executed with skill challenges.

Warlords would usually be either smalltime gang leaders or former military officers.

An equipment list with converted cypernetics and bioware need to be made.
 

I think this is a very novel idea and I'm curious to see how it turns out. One of the biggest stumbling blocks you're going to hit though, in my opinion, is certain powers which seem like they should be usable with guns. I suppose one could say that the Street Samurai's code of Bushido naturally lends itself to melee combat, but both real samurai and previous Shadowrun street samurai (if I remember correctly) favored firearms.

The lethality will also be radically different between these two systems: as I remember it, you want to avoid fights in Shadowrun, because guns can and will kill you. Finding a D&D player looking to avoid fights is a bit less likely.
 

Thanks for the replies guys.

Garthanos: I too loved and hated Shadowrun's rules. At first, I wasn't sure if the conversion would actually work, but we've playtested a little and it seems like it will be fun.

Alisair: Thanks for the input. I had to think pretty hard about how I wanted to transfer Shadowrun character types to D&D classes, but I think I've got something that might work. As I explain on the website, the only way to mentally accept the conversion is if you're willing to view the Shadowrun character types in a slightly different light.

In Shadowrun terms, not every member of the team is a heavily trained combatant. For example, the Decker concept has always been far more about hacking the Matrix then blasting Yakuza. But in D&D, every person in the party is balanced to function equally well in combat. At first, this threw me for a loop, but if you think about it, what legitimate Shadowrunner would want a pansy ass Decker watching his back in the middle of a fire fight? They're much more likely to bring along a Decker that can actually handle himself in some form or fashion on the battlefield.

This idea lead to the concept of two different elements of the Shadowrunning team - the "Field Crew" and the "Support Crew". Every member of the Field Crew (the players) is adept at some form of combat. The pansy decker is not part of the Field Crew, because the Street Samurai and the Mage need a capable fighter with them on dangerous missions. The Support Crew (helpful NPCs) assist the Field Crew via commlink, offering information and technical assistance from a safe distance. That doesn't mean that a Decker can't be part of the Field Crew, he just needs to be a capable fighter. So therefore, the Decker can belong in D&D4E rules - he's just not a traditional pansy decker, but a decker who's also capable of defending himself in combat.

As far as Shadowrun Archetype to D&D Class conversion, this is what I've got and the reasoning behind it:

Street Samurai (Fighter)
I personally never saw the Street Samurai as a primarily ranged fighter. Rather, he uses firearms as backup weapons, preferring to get up close and personal with large melee weapons (like a katana) or cybernetically implanted weaponry (like handclaws and snapblades). I didn't think this was too far of a stretch, since I always played my Street Samurai in this fashion. In SR4E, Street Samurai's function as defenders, either specialising in katana's or cyberweaponry.

Former Company Man (Ranger)
My personal favorite Shadowrun archetype, I always pictured the FCM as somewhat of a gunslinger (probably because of this picture). Alternatively, he could also be adept at close-combat fighting, taking on a concept similar to the body guard.

Shaman (Cleric)
I feel the Shaman to Cleric conversion was relatively smooth and simple. Rather then worshipping a diety, the Shaman has his totem spirit. They also fit the Leader concept quite nicely. Not much idea-stretching had to take place for the Shaman.

Rigger (Wizard)
Here's a perfect example on how a traditionally "pansy" archetype can be molded into a "badass" with a little imagination. In Shadowrun, the Rigger's capabilities didn't usually extend beyond controlling vehicles and drones. In SR4E, we took the drone rigger concept and applied to the Wizard D&D class, with a touch of Beast Master Ranger thrown in to make it work. The result? The Rigger class comes with a class feature that gives them a combat drone ally (like the Beast Master's companion). The rigger uses the variety of weaponry attached to his drone to the effect of a Wizard casting spells.

Some other Archetype/Class conversion ideas I'm working on are the Physical Adept (Based on Paladin), the Mage (Based on Warlock), the Fixer (Based on Warlord), the Decker (Based on Rogue), and the Brawler (A Melee Controller).

TheLorderWinter: Thanks for the input. You made some good points, but I don't really feel that they'll be significant stumbling blocks. For example, in SR4E the Street Samurai does favor melee combat over ranged combat (a necessary stretch to fit the fighter class), but he's still capable of using a variety of firearms (Class Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Ranged, Military Ranged). This means that the Street Samurai has the option of sitting back and pegging enemies with his assualt rifle via Ranged Basic Attacks, but he's much more effective when he get's up close and personal.

As for combat lethality, I think you're right. But I also feel it's just as much a result of "game attitude" as it is the rule systems. From the get-go it's important to understand that this is a "close-as-I-get" conversion and is obviously going to take some adjusting to get it to feel right. If the combat doesn't feel brutal enough, it may just be a matter of the GM leaning more towards N+2 or N+3 Encounters. One thing's for sure: the "battle in every room" approach of D&D4E isn't going to work.

Sorry if my post ended up being novel-length. It's just nice to have some people to discuss this type of stuff with. It also doesn't help that I just started working on this project and my enthusiasm level is extremely high at the moment.
 

Never played Shadowrun, only heard about it, but I liked it.
I loved the Rigger (beastmaster+wizard=win!)

On a quick note though: isn't Close BURST 3 a little too much for the wizard/rigger static net at-will? I thought it meant Blast, but the power description says otherwise...
 

Little experience of Shadowrun but at a quick glance this looks good.

Was also interested to see how you worked the classes as I started pondering a similar D&D 4E conversion for Traveller over the weekend. No idea how this will work yet given lack of magic but will start another thread if this comes to anything.
 

Again thanks for the replies. I'm glad everyone likes it so far.

erf_beto: You're right, I didn't think about it at the time, but a burst 3 is a little too powerful for an at-will. Thanks for catching that. It was supposed to be based off of Cloud of Daggers anyway, so I switched it to Area 1 square within 5 of your drone.

Medriev: The conversion for Shadowrun was actually less painful than I anticipated thanks to the similarities of the two games. Traveller seems difficult at first, but I don't think it will be so bad, assuming you're willing to bend the traditional concepts to make them fit into 4E. Let me know how this turns out if you start working on it.

Update: Added The Mage class, which is based off D&D's Warlock.
 

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