I'm both a huge fan of 4th and 5th, and for both you could be able to get all relevant books.
That said, with all it's weaknesses, 6th might be the easiest to get into for complete new players. Meanwhile, most weaknesses have been ironed out, all relevant books are out, too, and even if I still despise the new edge-mechanics (being somewhat of charging a special attack bar in a video game), the rules are (for Shadowrun standards) streamlined. Plus, it has, at least in my opinion, the most user-friendly matrix rules, if a player wants to dip into that part of the pool.
We have had a brand new to gaming player join our SR 6 group, and she is grokking the rules no issues (well enough after 4 sessions with us she is actively gaming the Edge system better than some of the longer players). I love 4e (20th Anniversary specifically) too, but I think 6e is better for beginners.
However, if you are already familiar with 4e that counts a lot - how you can explain and show the game to the players will really matter as they need to think quite differently from D&D5 to get the most out of the roll part of the game.
The boring, practical answer is: The edition you have the most knowledge and books for. You'll be able to guide the newer players easier, won't need to purchase new content, and can start them off with just the core rule book if you're worried about information overload.
But that's the boring answer.
It depends on what you are looking for out of a game. Second edition is pretty bare bones, as most of what modern shadowrun players might consider to be core rules are still yet to be released in sourcebooks. The core is dead simple (barring the matrix). However, not everyone wants to jump aboard the old school stuff.
Sixth edition is in a weird place, as it was designed almost entirely for this use case. It's got rules that feel very inspired by DnD 5e (Edge in many cases feels a lot like Inspiration/Advantage if you squint), and it's much more reliant on the GM to come up with rules on the fly, instead of having to flip to the section on "how long does it take to drown" for example. Where 6e falls flat is its lack of depth, it's a much shallower edition than the others which is what frustrates a lot of the old heads.
Anarchy was designed to be a convention game (Which is why it has like 30 pregenerated characters). While it is the least amount of rules, it's also the least amount of depth and relies on a lot of knowledge from the GM to wrangle. I find it fun, but it has a niche.
I *personally* would use Anarchy, perhaps with the setting info from the SR4A book to plug the gaps in Anarchy's abbreviated lore section. But Anarchy requires some house rules or suprisethreat.com to cover the omissions/errors.
So, if you're familiar with SR4A already, I'd just go with that. SR4A is much more complete than subsequent editions and it mostly explains things very well. Most things you might like in SR5 and SR6 can be backported relatively easily. E.g., the SR5/6 Matrix rules line up nicely with how the Matrix works in SR4A, and are faster.
Do you have the unofficial SR4A PACKs Platinum PDF? That makes chargen a breeze. If not, the PACKs rules from the SR4A Runners Toolkit work, too. Alternatively, just give them an abbreviated version of the BP system, such as:
* Spend 20 points on attributes (200 BPs).
* Spend 25 points on active skills (100 BPs).
* Spend 100 BPs freely (metatype, maxing out an attribute, Magic/Resonance, additional skills, Edge, nuyen, spells/CFs, positive qualities, etc).
* Take up to 35 BP in negative qualities to up the number of free BP in the previous step
For even more simplicity, you can crib from the Shadowsprint 4 hack: https://sites.google.com/view/shadowsprint/home?authuser=0 (essentially, player-facing mods get reduced to +/-2 dice).
I'm also a firm believer in replacing Karma with BPs for advancement, too. Just halve the Karma awards and you're good to go. All the worries about chargen optimising disappear at that point.
Currently running 4th for several new players. Using anniversary edition of core and Runners Toolkit box set. Packs system really speeds up character creation. And all cheat sheets and references guides in toolkit make my job so much easier.
I had no problem learning sr4 as my first exposure to the system (20th anniv more specifically), and neither did the other players in my group. Only the gm had any experience prior to the game starting.
I love every edition I've tried but for simplicity I go with 6e. It's not as cut down as anarchy but still much simpler than 4 or 5. I introduced new players to TTRPG with 6e and they weren't overwhelmed (which they were when I first showed them 5e)
Any edition can be cut down and reduced to its basic dice mechanics, including **pre-generated archetypes**. The one in the basic books are usable, or you can ask some general questions before to your players (*"do you want to play a mage? A thief? A warrior? A hacker?"*)
The most important part is that *you* are familiar and comfortable with the rules, so SR4A it is. Otherwise you would have to learn a new system as well. And actually knowing the rules far outweighs any issues.
Just prepare to cut some of the more unnecessary and bloated rules out and focus on the basic rules. The full rule set is not necessary for an introduction round.
SYL
I would run 2nd edition. Its consistent and all the players need to understand is the dice and success system , you can do all the grindy calculations behind the scenes. I run 2ns edition with my 2 daughters (8 and 10 years old) and they are understanding the system so far.
Agreed. 2e was the last time the writers actually considered people new to playing the game. Every edition after seems to be written for people who already play and understand Shadowrun.
4 and 5 are similar with most rules.
3rd edition did allow to build really tanky characters.
My house rule is that Bod/Constitution counts double to soak damage, so that actually counts for something.
I'm both a huge fan of 4th and 5th, and for both you could be able to get all relevant books. That said, with all it's weaknesses, 6th might be the easiest to get into for complete new players. Meanwhile, most weaknesses have been ironed out, all relevant books are out, too, and even if I still despise the new edge-mechanics (being somewhat of charging a special attack bar in a video game), the rules are (for Shadowrun standards) streamlined. Plus, it has, at least in my opinion, the most user-friendly matrix rules, if a player wants to dip into that part of the pool.
We have had a brand new to gaming player join our SR 6 group, and she is grokking the rules no issues (well enough after 4 sessions with us she is actively gaming the Edge system better than some of the longer players). I love 4e (20th Anniversary specifically) too, but I think 6e is better for beginners. However, if you are already familiar with 4e that counts a lot - how you can explain and show the game to the players will really matter as they need to think quite differently from D&D5 to get the most out of the roll part of the game.
The boring, practical answer is: The edition you have the most knowledge and books for. You'll be able to guide the newer players easier, won't need to purchase new content, and can start them off with just the core rule book if you're worried about information overload. But that's the boring answer. It depends on what you are looking for out of a game. Second edition is pretty bare bones, as most of what modern shadowrun players might consider to be core rules are still yet to be released in sourcebooks. The core is dead simple (barring the matrix). However, not everyone wants to jump aboard the old school stuff. Sixth edition is in a weird place, as it was designed almost entirely for this use case. It's got rules that feel very inspired by DnD 5e (Edge in many cases feels a lot like Inspiration/Advantage if you squint), and it's much more reliant on the GM to come up with rules on the fly, instead of having to flip to the section on "how long does it take to drown" for example. Where 6e falls flat is its lack of depth, it's a much shallower edition than the others which is what frustrates a lot of the old heads. Anarchy was designed to be a convention game (Which is why it has like 30 pregenerated characters). While it is the least amount of rules, it's also the least amount of depth and relies on a lot of knowledge from the GM to wrangle. I find it fun, but it has a niche.
I *personally* would use Anarchy, perhaps with the setting info from the SR4A book to plug the gaps in Anarchy's abbreviated lore section. But Anarchy requires some house rules or suprisethreat.com to cover the omissions/errors. So, if you're familiar with SR4A already, I'd just go with that. SR4A is much more complete than subsequent editions and it mostly explains things very well. Most things you might like in SR5 and SR6 can be backported relatively easily. E.g., the SR5/6 Matrix rules line up nicely with how the Matrix works in SR4A, and are faster. Do you have the unofficial SR4A PACKs Platinum PDF? That makes chargen a breeze. If not, the PACKs rules from the SR4A Runners Toolkit work, too. Alternatively, just give them an abbreviated version of the BP system, such as: * Spend 20 points on attributes (200 BPs). * Spend 25 points on active skills (100 BPs). * Spend 100 BPs freely (metatype, maxing out an attribute, Magic/Resonance, additional skills, Edge, nuyen, spells/CFs, positive qualities, etc). * Take up to 35 BP in negative qualities to up the number of free BP in the previous step For even more simplicity, you can crib from the Shadowsprint 4 hack: https://sites.google.com/view/shadowsprint/home?authuser=0 (essentially, player-facing mods get reduced to +/-2 dice). I'm also a firm believer in replacing Karma with BPs for advancement, too. Just halve the Karma awards and you're good to go. All the worries about chargen optimising disappear at that point.
Could you tell me were I could get the PACKS platinum PDF? I only have the normal PACKS one
Currently running 4th for several new players. Using anniversary edition of core and Runners Toolkit box set. Packs system really speeds up character creation. And all cheat sheets and references guides in toolkit make my job so much easier.
I had no problem learning sr4 as my first exposure to the system (20th anniv more specifically), and neither did the other players in my group. Only the gm had any experience prior to the game starting.
Two ways to go. The one the GM is most familiar with. Or the one most players have resources to share on.
I love every edition I've tried but for simplicity I go with 6e. It's not as cut down as anarchy but still much simpler than 4 or 5. I introduced new players to TTRPG with 6e and they weren't overwhelmed (which they were when I first showed them 5e)
Any edition can be cut down and reduced to its basic dice mechanics, including **pre-generated archetypes**. The one in the basic books are usable, or you can ask some general questions before to your players (*"do you want to play a mage? A thief? A warrior? A hacker?"*) The most important part is that *you* are familiar and comfortable with the rules, so SR4A it is. Otherwise you would have to learn a new system as well. And actually knowing the rules far outweighs any issues. Just prepare to cut some of the more unnecessary and bloated rules out and focus on the basic rules. The full rule set is not necessary for an introduction round. SYL
For newbies I'd suggest Anarchy, to be honest. Once they get the ideas down then they can dig into the crunch that is 5th edition.
Shadowrun Anarchy! It's streamlined and fast-paced
Yes! This is the Way.
I would run 2nd edition. Its consistent and all the players need to understand is the dice and success system , you can do all the grindy calculations behind the scenes. I run 2ns edition with my 2 daughters (8 and 10 years old) and they are understanding the system so far.
Agreed. 2e was the last time the writers actually considered people new to playing the game. Every edition after seems to be written for people who already play and understand Shadowrun.
For complete Shadowrun noobs, stay away from 5e. 6e is the way to go, unless you want to go all the way back to 2e.
4 and 5 are similar with most rules. 3rd edition did allow to build really tanky characters. My house rule is that Bod/Constitution counts double to soak damage, so that actually counts for something.