Plastic Warriors 0007

Table Of Contents
Introduction	7
Organization	8
Alternatives	8
Authors	8
General Rules	9
Dice Pools	9
Alternative	9
Dikote™	9
Alternative	9
Drugs & DMSO	9
Flesh Contact	9
DMSO Breakdown	10
Fractions & Rounding	10
Money	10
Alternative	11
Exchanging Money	11
Cost Of Living	11
Bartering	11
Side Note—Beggars and Money	11
Tests	11
Opposed Tests	11
Rule of One	12
Rule of Six	12
Alternatives	12
Alternative One	12
Alternative Two	12
Alternative Three	12
SOTA	12
System Identification Numbers	13
Bioware	14
Bioware For Magicians	14
Alternative	14
Enhanced Articulation	14
Alternatives	15
Alternative One	15
Alternative Two	15
Muscle Augmentation	15
Characters	16
Allergies	16
Allergies In The Points-Based Character Generation System	16
Number Of Allergies	16
Alternative	16
Attributes	16
Increasing Attributes	16
Strength 1 Trolls	16
Building Points System	17
Shapeshifters	17
Contacts & Enemies	17
Enemies	17
Location Times for Enemies	17
Critter Powers	17
Regeneration	17
Dice Pools	18
Calculating Dice Pools	18
Using Pool Dice	18
Edges & Flaws	18
Disallowed or Modified Edges & Flaws	18
Addiction	18
Adrenaline Surge	18
Allergy	18
Blind	18
Bonus Attribute Point	18
Day Job	18
Extra Contact	18
High Pain Tolerance	18
High School Education	18
Night Vision	18
Technical School Education	18
Alternative	18
Bio-Rejection	18
Focused Concentration	18
Illiterate	18
Magic Resistance	18
Police Record	19
Registered Equipment	19
Sensitive System	19
Edge & Flaw Development	19
Buying Flaws	19
Buying Edges	19
Being True To Edges And Flaws	20
Taking Edges & Flaws With The Priority System	20
Enhanced Attributes, Skills, Etc..	20
Enhanced Reaction and Reflexes	20
Vision Enhancements	20
Master Character Creation Table	21
Adjusted Priorities	21
Normal Priority Chart	21
Humbling Priority Table	21
Alternative	21
Starting Resources	21
Money	21
Bioware and Cyberware	21
Cyberdecks	22
Alternative	22
Cyberware	23
Cyberears	23
Cyberlimbs	23
Alternative	23
High-Grade Cyberware	23
Vision Magnification and Tactical Computers	23
Karma	24
Karma Pool	24
Blocking	24
Buying Successes	24
Dividing	24
By The Book	24
Good Karma to Karma Pool	24
Alternative	24
Maximum Karma for a Test	25
Refresh Rate	25
Alternative	25
Re-Rolls	25
Starting Karma Pool Size	25
Team Karma Pool	25
Usage	25
Raising Skills	25
Alternative	27
Time Spent Raising Skills	27
Sourcebooks For Karma	27
Magic	28
Astral Space	28
Astral Patrolling	28
Astral Perception & Projection	28
Astral Quest To Bypass Wards	28
Auras	29
Objects and Auras	29
Psychometry (Aura Reading)	29
Alternative	29
Conjuring	29
Alternative	29
Essence Loss and Magic Loss	29
Foci	30
Focus Addiction	30
Magical Items For Mundanes	30
Power	30
Healing Elixir	30
Magical Sword	30
Talisman For Safety In Travel	30
Rejection	30
Acceptance	31
Assensing	31
Personality	31
Cursed Items	31
Destruction	31
Spell Locks	32
Alternative	32
S	32
Initiation & Metamagic	33
Centering	33
Centering vs. Penalties Against Shielding	33
Gradual Initiation	33
Alternatives	33
By The Book	33
Alternative One	33
Masking	33
Physical Adepts	34
Magical Misfires	34
Magical Traditions	34
Magical Ability Breakdown	34
General Rules	34
Magician (20 Points)	34
Adept (15 Points)	34
Minor Adept (Cost Varies)	35
Physical Adepts	35
Extra Abilities	35
Alternative	36
More Powerful Physical Adepts	36
Newly-Created Physical Adept Characters	36
Physical Adept Powers	36
Improved Ability	36
Increased Reflexes	37
Spellcasting	37
Aiming Spells	37
Drain	37
Drain for Sustained Spells	37
Elemental Effects	37
Extended Spellcasting	37
Grounding	37
Holding Spells	38
Last-Ditch Spellcasting	38
Learning New Spells	39
Noticing Spellcasting	39
Reducing Area of Effect	39
R	40
Spell Defense Across Planes	40
Spell Resistance Tests	40
Spell Signatures	40
Starting Spells With Force Modifiers	40
Sustained Damaging Manipulation Spells	40
Sustaining Spells	40
Spells	41
Barrier Spells	41
Barrier	41
Blade Barrier	42
Blast Barrier	42
Bullet Barrier	42
Mana Barrier	42
Spell Barrier	42
Spirit Barrier	42
Barrier Spells and Area of Effect	43
Personal Barrier Spells	43
Alternative	43
Death Touch and Stun Touch	43
Healing	43
Alternative	44
Levitate Person	44
Alternative	44
Personal Barrier Spells	44
Sterilize	44
Spirits	44
Allies	44
Allies and Drain	44
Allies and Karma Pool	44
Elementals	44
Permanent Elemental Spirits	45
Initiates & Conjuring	45
Nature Spirits	45
Nature Spirit Area of Affect	45
Bound Nature Spirits	45
Miscellaneous Magic Issues	45
Mana Fluctuation	45
The Mystery of Magic	45
Matrix	46
Escher Loop	46
Mainframe Computers	46
Basic Rating/Capacity System	47
Spending System Capacity	47
Color Multiplier	47
System Infrastructure	47
Normal Things	47
Notes:	47
Unusual Things	48
Subsystem Ratings	48
Using a Mainframe to Write Cyberdeck Programs	48
What About All Those Little Shops With Orange Security?	48
Matrix 1.0 to 2.0 Conversion Rules	49
Host Layout	49
Satlink Uplinks	50
Melee Combat	51
Defending	51
Full Defense	51
Martial Arts Styles	51
Reach	52
Alternatives	52
By The Book	52
Alternative One	52
Alternative Two	52
Second Weapon	52
Alternative	53
Ties In Melee Combat Tests	53
Ranged Combat	54
Actions	54
Announcing Actions	54
Alternative	54
Delaying Simple Actions	54
Standing & Kneeling	54
Ammunition	54
Gel and Stun Ammunition	54
Attacks And Targets	55
Autofire	55
Barriers	57
Table Notes	59
Penetrating The Barrier	60
Vehicle Armor	60
Table Notes	62
Critter Hardened Armor	62
Personal Hardened Armor	62
Gel Packs	63
Armor Degradation	63
Barrier Ratings	64
Alternative	64
Body Armor	64
Body Armor and Called Shots	64
Alternative	64
Variation 1	64
Variation 2	65
Armor Degradation	65
Alternative	65
Armored Boots and Helmets	65
Excessive Armor Penalties	65
Higher Armor Rating Than Power Level	65
Alternative	66
Called Shots	66
Alternative	66
Combat Turn Sequence	66
All Dice Pools Refresh (First Combat Turn Only)	66
1. Determine Initiative	66
2. Characters Take Actions	66
A. Declare Movement	66
B. Declare Actions	66
C. Resolve Actions and Movement	66
D. Acting Character’s Dice Pools Refresh	67
E. Declare and Resolve Movement and Actions of Remaining Characters	67
3. Begin a New Combat Turn	67
Damage	67
Complete Miss	67
Falling Unconscious	67
Overdamage	67
Time Between Taking Extra Damage	67
Alternative	67
Sleeping In Armor	68
Staging Damage	68
Stun Damage And Knockback	68
Unconsciousness From Deadly Wounds	68
Alternative	68
Wounds Affecting Movement	68
Alternative	68
Dodging	69
Alternatives	69
Alternative One	69
Alternative Two	69
Alternative Three	70
Alternative Four	70
Alternative Five	70
Firearms	71
Gas Venting Miniguns	71
Point-Blank Range	71
Recoil	71
Rates OF Fire	71
Single Shot	72
Semi Automatic	72
Burst Fire	72
Full Auto	72
Comments	72
Shotguns	72
Telescopic Sights	73
Alternative	73
Telescopic Sights and Movement	73
Telescopic Sights and Smartlinks	73
Tracer Ammunition	73
Weapon Damages and Ranges	74
Exceptions To The Table	74
Ammo effects	74
Alternative	74
Grenades	75
Air Timed Mini Grenades and Scatter	75
Damage	75
Alternatives	75
By The Book	75
Alternative One	75
Grenade Launchers Against Point Targets	75
Alternative	76
Scatter	76
Hit Locations	76
Alternative	76
Armor	76
Called Shots	76
Called Shots For Melee Combat	76
Resisting damage	77
Wounds	77
Healing	77
Optional Rule 1	77
Optional Rule 2	77
Campaign Effects Of These Rules	77
Initiative	78
Actions In A Combat Turn	78
Initiative Rolls	78
Alternatives	78
Alternative One	78
Alternative Two	78
Initiative Ties	78
Projectile Weapons	78
Skills	79
Build/Repair and Theoretical Skills	79
Combat Skills	79
Armed & Unarmed Combat	79
Unarmed Combat	79
Defaulting	80
Partial Defaulting	80
By The Book	80
Knowledge Skills	80
Language Skills	81
Education and Extra Languages	81
New Skills	81
Body Language	81
Other Skills	81
Metamemory	81
Read and Write	82
Perception Skill	82
Physical Skills	82
Ambidexterity	82
Stealth	82
Social Skills	82
Etiquette	83
Leadership	83
Leadership & Planning	83
Leadership in a ’Run	83
Technical Skills	83
Biotech	83
Vehicles	84
Drones	84
Batch Drone Control	84
Drone Autopilot Initiative	84
Subsystem Damage	84
Subsystem Damage Notes	85
Vehicle Armor	86
Case 1: Base Power Less Than Or Equal To Vehicle Armor Rating	86
Case 2: Base Power Greater Than Vehicle Armor Rating	86
Alternatives	86
Alternative One	86
Alternative Two	86
Undercarriage	87
Index	88

Greets, in order of length of name:
Dvixen
Adam J.
Joe Cotton
Killbeggar™
Elle Holmes
Erik Jameson
Danny Schog
Tobias Berghoff
Mark Steedman
Hilde Hoogland
Maurice Francke
Michel Platteeuw
Garmt Meulendijks
Martijn Weezepoel

No book’s complete without them :)
TWO VERY SPECIAL Greets:
Ivy Ryan
Terry L. Amburgey

Because I know they’re just going to love this book… {display evil_grin}

CREDITS:
Written By
Blackjack	<bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
David Buehrer	<dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Stephen F. Eley	<sf@techwood.org>
“Double-Domed” Mike Elkins	<mikee@dragonsys.com>
Fade	<runefo@ifi.uio.no>
Martin Gotthard	<s457033@student.gu.edu.au>
Gurth	<gurth@xs4all.nl>
Jonathan Hurley	<jhurley1@stevens-tech.edu>
Leszek Karlik	<trrkt@friko.onet.pl>
Steve Kenson	<talonmail@aol.com>
Lady Jestyr	<jestyr@faraday.dialix.com.au>
Loki	<gamemstr@primenet.com>
David R. Lowe	<dlowe@dnai.com>
Lucifer	<lucifer@mci2000.com>
Ray Macey	<nightrain@elf.brisnet.org.au>
Chris Maxfield	<cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Andrew Mellinger	<geburah@teleport.com>
Susan Mellinger	<ssalmon@portland.cushwake.edu>
Damion Milliken	<dam01@uow.edu.au>
Nurse Wratchett	<wratchet-rn@ns.arizona.edu>
Ferri G. Pagano	<ferri@digiface.nl>
Justin Pinnow	<vanyel@provide.net>
Marc A. Renouf	<jormung@engin.umich.edu>
André Selmer	<031andre@cosmos.wits.ac.za>
The Twilight Brigade	<twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
WoLfMÅÑ	<lmc4@keene.edu>
Wordman	<wordman@flashpt.com>
Editing & Layout
Gurth	<gurth@xs4all.nl>
Copyright
The copyrights to each house rule are held by the original author, who is credited with the rule in question.
This compilation is copyright © 1998 by Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>. Unauthorized copying, hiring, lending, reproduction, circulation, distribution, etc. etc. etc. highly recommended, on the conditions that the file remains completely unmodified, is distributed in its entirety, and no profit is made by the distributor.
Shadowrun and Matrix are registered trademarks of FASA Corporation, IL 60608, USA, other book names are trademarks of FASA Corporation, all used without permission. Original Shadowrun material is copyright © 1989-1998 FASA Corporation.

Introduction
Something big is coming, I’m quite sure of it. I think it’s still pretty far away, though.
	— Chris Berlini, just before being crushed by a juggernaut

Unlike in many other Plastic Warriors books, in this one you won’t find new stuff for your characters to play with; instead, it gives stuff for players to play with. This book is a compilation of house rules from Shadowrun groups the world over. It got started when I wanted to write up my own house rules for use by my group late last year, and remembered I had house rules by several other people sitting on my hard drive. So, I thought, why not compile them into one file and make it a Plastic Warriors book?
I then spent some time looking through Shadowrun web pages and the messages I’d saved from the ShadowRN list, and compiled them all into the book you’re reading now. Not every house rule I came across made it into the book, but most have—only very inconsequential ones, or those that had been badly thought out, were left out.

A few words of warning are in order: first of all, some of the rules may contradict one another (though hopefully not themselves). This is, of course, because they don’t all originate from one source, and also because I didn’t try to make everything fit—that would go against the idea behind this book of putting as many good house rules as possible into one place.
Second, I’d advise inexperienced players to stay away from this book for now, as Shadowrun can be complex enough without having to remember all kinds of rule additions and alterations. Once you’ve got the basics down, only then it’s time to start thinking about changing them.
Finally, just because something is written down here doesn’t mean you can’t change it. A function just as important as supplying “ready-made” house rules is, in my opinion, that these rules can be the starting point for your own house rules, which will probably suit your particular group of players better than rules thought up for someone else’s campaign.

That said, I hope everyone enjoys what’s in this book, and makes use of it in their game. As always, I’m open to comments, criticisms, and most other responses…

	— Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>, 16 March 1998.
Organization
The house rules are organized into chapters dealing with different topics, such as general rules, magic, skills, and so on. Within each chapter, the rules are ordered alphabetically into sections, and rules within sections are again ordered alphabetically.
In some cases, rules fit under two different headings; they have been placed in the chapter or section which seemed most logical, so if you can’t find a rule in one part of this book, it may be in another chapter that is also relevant to the rule.
Before many headers, small circles are provided so you can easily mark which rules you want to use.
Alternatives
Where different house rules are given for a single topic, one rule (the one that seemed “best”—easiest to use, most comprehensive, etc.) appears under the main heading, and the rest are under the header Alternatives, following after the main text. The alternative rules are labeled “Alternative One,” “Alternative Two,” and so on. If a FASA-published book has an alternative rule as well, that is listed under the header “By The Book.”
Authors
If you have a question about a house rule, send a message to the person who wrote the rule, not to the editor of this book (unless they happen to be the same person…). The original author will know his or her house rules much better, and should be able to answer questions about them.

General Rules
Nothing is written in stone. Nothing.
It’s all on optical chips now.
	— Black Circle, decker
•	Dice Pools
Andrew Mellinger <geburah@teleport.com> & Susan Mellinger <ssalmon@portland.cushwake.edu>
Reference: SRII p. 84
Pools (Combat, Magic, etc but not Karma) refresh at 1 die at the beginning of a character’s action. A character can spend a Simple Action to regain 1/2 their pool or a Complex Action to regain the entire pool.
•		Alternative
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Refresh everyone’s pools at the beginning of combat.  From that point on the characters’ pools refresh at the END of their action phases.
•	Dikote™
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 184-185, Shadowtech p. 91
Dikote™ is hard to come by and is very powerful. Thus, Dikote has an Availability of 16, not 6. Also, in order to start the game with any Dikoted items, you MUST have a valid contact who can provide you with this service. This contact will most likely not be able to provide you with any other items or services of any real worth. The contact will specifically be for acquiring Dikoted items.
•	Alternative
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
Dikote has an Availability of 21/24 days and is only available through special fixers. Weapons cannot be dikoted during character creation. (Yes, I hate Dikote.)
•	Drugs & DMSO
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
Reference: Shadowtech pp. 87-88, 92, 96-100
People seem to have a love/hate relationship with DMSO and squirt weaponry. Generally, they love it when they use it, and hate it when it’s used against them. Despite which position people take, there seems to be a general consensus that squirt weaponry combined with DMSO is a game unbalancing conjunction. While I think it’s great that people seems to knock people out with squirt weapons more often than they kill, the power of squirt weaponry seems to have caused more than one gamemaster headache.
Below are a few rule ideas and optional equipment designed to deal with the DMSO problem. Some are fairly decent; some suck. Pick and choose as you wish. (Most of the equipment/chemical examples have rules with relate to my Flesh Contact rule variation, below. Gamemasters are welcome to design rules around the substance or object that are more suitable to the general Shadowrun rules, or their own house rule variations.)
Flesh Contact
Since Shadowrun does not generally work off a hit location damage system, it can be difficult to tell whether or not DMSO managed to work its way to the skin. Vests with plates, hardened armor, and perhaps even raincoats have the potential to stop the liquid before it damages anybody. If a target is wearing a security armor suit without a helmet the only places the chemical could come in contact with skin would be the seams of the armor (if the suit is not sealed) and the head (if they’re not wearing a helmet). If the target is fully armored and sealed, the odds of the DMSO hitting anything are about nil.
My DMSO/Squirt rules are a variation of my Called Shot Rules (page 66). To review: My called shot rules get rid of the flat +8 modifier for hitting a specific section of a target, and instead modifies the to-hit target number by +1 for every point of armor the attacker wishes to disregard on his target. Basically, an attacker firing at somebody wearing heavy military armor could take a +14 modifier to his to-hit target number and, if by some miracle he actually succeeds, the target doesn’t get any armor benefits at all (just for this shot, of course). The attacker could also take a +5 and, if he hits, the defender will have an armor rating of 9 for defense. Rather than aiming for “the head” the attacker aims “better” than he normally would, perhaps looking for seams in the target’s armor, lightly armored patches, etc. The actual hit location is still left up to the gamemaster. If the attacker did hit in the +14 example above, the gamemaster may very well declare that the attacker managed to hit a weak spot in the target’s face plate and blow off his head.
The DMSO/Squirt variation of this rule takes a lot of the kick out of a weapon that, in its current state, is way too powerful. One rule I’ve gotten rid of is the combat pool negation rule (or the Dodge pool, as it’s stated in Shadowtech which came out before SRII.) Everybody else may wish to keep it; I simply got rid of it because, generally, I don’t use the Combat Pool in my games. Essentially, the pool rule stated that “if combat successes exceed attack successes then DMSO doesn’t take effect.”. I think it’s a pain in the ass.
My rules are a bit simpler, although they may go to far in reducing the effectiveness of squirt weaponry. Basically, if you’re firing against somebody with porous armor (kevlar, armor clothing, etc.) add 1/2 of this armor’s rating to the target number of the attacker. Only one success is needed, and the DMSO makes “flesh contact.” I’d probably allow the target to use their bio or cyber based armor as well, just to keep things simple.
If the target is wearing hardened armor (security suits, military armor, etc) it’s a lot more difficult to get a good flesh hit. For hardened armored targets, add the full rating of their armor to the target number of the attacker. Again, only one success is needed for the DMSO to make “flesh contact.”
Perhaps you can see how this system follows my basic Called Shots philosophy. By adding 1/2 armor to the attacker’s to-hit roll, the attacker is, essentially, looking for a decent place on the body to hit. I believe, despite the porous nature of most armor, that a Squirt shot hitting somebody in his chest if he’s wearing a jacket over clothing over form fitting would still have some difficulty making legitimate flesh contact. And even if this belief is false, something has to be done to keep people from squirting everybody to hell and back.
The hardened armor aspect of these rules may seem harsh by, again, they follow my basic armor philosophy. Since you HAVE to hit exposed flesh if the target’s wearing hardened armor, the task is much more difficult. If you have somebody dressed in a suit of heavy military armor (minus the helmet), you’d have to hit him in the head (or get lucky enough to tag a seam in the armor.) If you hit them anywhere else, the Squirt shot simply splashes.
•	DMSO Breakdown
Gamemasters may wish to declare that DMSO loses its effectiveness after being exposed to air for more than a few minutes. This rule may solve a few problems, such as “how do you get out of a suit of hardened armor if it’s covered with DMSO/Cyanide?”
•	Fractions & Rounding
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
In the vast majority of cases, both non-player characters and player characters round in their detriment whenever a fraction comes up when figuring target numbers.
There are, however, a couple of exceptions to this in the standard rules. To keep things simple, and to emphasize the oppressive nature of the world of Shadowrun, always round “bad.”
In other words, whenever you come up with a fraction, adjust to the nearest whole number in whichever direction would be worse for you. That’s life in the shadows, chummer. Don’t worry, you should be able to take some comfort in knowing that the non-player characters have it just as rough.
•	Money
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
The standard currency in the world of Shadowrun is the nuyen (¥). For the sake of simplicity, this is the standard currency all over the world. It is accepted pretty much everywhere. However, there may be some rural settlements that have their own method of trade and shy away from this electronic currency.
Also, there is no such thing as a partial nuyen. Think of it as having dollar bills, but no coins. Everything is bought and sold in increments of 1¥.
Nuyen exists only on the Matrix. There are no paper forms of nuyen, and all paper money has been destroyed by the UCAS government. This happened shortly after the advent of the Matrix. While all paper money was recalled, not everyone wanted to turn theirs in to be destroyed. Those who held onto their hard currency had their own reasons for doing so, and this has had an interesting side effect on the black market.
Since the dollar (both American and Canadian) has been completely removed from society whenever possible, this money is also effectively untraceable. Whereas certified credsticks are very hard to trace (about the same as tracing a dollar bill today), they can still be traced if someone is dedicated enough to do so. The paper dollar isn’t at all traceable.
This means that the paper dollar has a higher level of value to someone in the shadows than certified cred. This generally amounts to a 10% discount in price, but this is by no means a hard and fast rule.
Some SINless individuals are more paranoid than others about what they buy their guns and ammunition with. Others don’t have much of a problem with certified cred and don’t give discounts for paper money.
Possession of hard currency is a federal offense. If a person is found in possession of any paper money, it is confiscated on the spot. Depending on the officer discovering this crime, that may be all that happens. However, if he arrests you and you are convicted, jail time is required. Small amounts of paper money only warrant a month of jail time or less, depending on the circumstances. Significant amounts can lead to investigation and significantly larger sentences.
•		Alternative
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
It seems I can’t look at a Shadowrun book without coming across something weird about the management of money in the world of 2050. All kinds of screwy stuff about exchange rates and weird forms of currency and false creds and so forth. In my opinion, as both PCs and gamemasters, we have better things to worry about than whether the nuyen is worth $5.50 UCAS or $6.00. So, in my continuing effort to mess with the rules to the point that they are no longer distinguishable from the original, I’ve come up with a new set that I normally use in my game.
Exchanging Money
90% of the time the nuyen is world standard and may be used in any nation AS LONG AS THE CREDSTICK USED IS CERTIFIED. This is out of the assumption that many backwoods nations do not possess the ability to do all of the identification checking necessary to verify a SINed credstick. Very rarely in my game do we go through the steps necessary to change money to the various other exotic forms of denominations found throughout the world. If we actually do go through the exchange procedure we leave the exchange rate at a constant, if a range is given this is usually the one in the middle.
Cost Of Living
I still use all cost of living tables.
Bartering
Sometimes in remote villages or independent urban entities such as the Ork Underground I use bartering as opposed to cash. Although a player may barter using anything of value the most common form of materials used as payment are precious metals and gems. It is almost standard for any runner who plans on venturing into remote regions which they know to be somewhat underdeveloped to purchase an amount of gold, silver, gems, etc. before going there. Simply use the price table for Enchanting Materials (raw form) for these exchanges. I even have a few underground “moneychanger” contacts roaming around the city which not only sell the materials but even press them into coins, small statues, etc. for a fee. This visual appearance has little effect on the materials value and is simply there to make it so a runner can have a one pound block of silver valued at 4,800¥ pressed into one hundred 48¥ coins.
Side Note—Beggars and Money
Without the use of a cash system I’ve always wondered how street beggars survived. While previously a suit may have dropped a few dimes into the hat of a beggar, with the advent of the credstick I could never really picture them whipping out their Platinum valued at 2,342,423¥ and clicking over 50 cents. I have yet to solve this problem in the corporate world but in the world of the runner a certain system has developed.
First of all, shadowrunners very rarely use anything but certified cred sticks. The few that do rarely use them for transactions, mainly just transferring money to them from their certified credsticks for storage. Over the years a system of managing certified cred has developed, centering on the concept of the “clean” certified credstick and the “dirty” certified credstick. The clean credstick holds a fairly large amount of cash and is used for transactions between fixers, the purchase of expensive objects, buying a plane ticket, etc. The dirty credstick, on the other hand, rarely holds more than a grand and is used for small bribes, purchases at the Stuffer Shack™, and the simple charity of giving a squatter a few nuyen here and there. Since certified credsticks are fairly easy to get a hold of I don’t see why a squatter wouldn’t have one, probably the same grime covered stick they’ve been using for years.
Tests
•	Opposed Tests
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 30-32, 180-184
Except for Damage Resistance tests, all success tests have a base target number of 4. I have a few reasons for doing this. When using the written rules for resisted tests (opposing target number equals opposing stat) a difference of even 1 point results in the character with the lesser ability losing 99% of the time. Changing the base target number for resisted tests to 4 gives the weaker opponent a chance. Also, changing the base target number to 4 for all tests speeds up the play of the game significantly. And I (as the gamemaster) don’t have to give away opponent’s stats.

Magus casts a Force 5 mana bolt at Fred (Willpower 3). Magus rolls 5 dice vs. a base 4 (instead of a target number equal to Fred’s Willpower). Fred resists by rolling 3 dice (Willpower of 3) vs. a 5 (the spell’s Force). Successes are compared to determine the outcome of the spell.

Shamus is eating a ham sandwich. He puts it down to turn the page of the book he is reading. A rat, which has been admiring the sandwich hungrily, tries to steal it. The rat’s Stealth is 4. Shamus’ Intelligence is a 5. The rat makes a Stealth (4) test, which is modified because it has to run across some crumpled newspaper. Shamus makes an Intelligence (4) test, which is modified due to the rat’s small size and poor lighting conditions. Successes are compared to see if the rat succeeds in stealing the sandwich without Shamus noticing.
•	Rule of One
André Selmer <031andre@cosmos.wits.ac.za>
Reference: SRII p. 32
We use the rule that if more than 50% of your dice roll 1s then its a fumble. So if you roll 16 dice, and roll 9 1s its a fumble (and yes, this has been done before). We then roll 2D6, the higher the worse the fumble. (Current best fumble includes rolling the above mentioned nine 1s, then rolling 11 on the 2D6. The physical adept’s attempted kick to a trolls chest failed, the Remington a pointblank didn’t.)
•	Rule of Six
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 32
Haven’t you always hated it that all the FASA printed modules give legwork tables that require 6+ successes to obtain useful information? Especially when your character only had an Etiquette skill of 4? Further, doesn’t it strike you as odd that an average person with a Firearms of 2 is unable to inflict a Deadly wound with a light pistol? To fix this problem, I employ a commonly used modified Rule of Six whereby additional successes may be obtained from a single die if the roll is sufficiently high. If a die’s result is 6 greater than the required target number, then an extra success is generated. If it is 12 higher, 2 additional successes are gained. This pattern follows on further to higher rolls, 18, 24, etc. higher than the required target number.

Crystal is rolling her Firearms of 6 against a target number of 4 to cap some poor stooge in an alley behind a pub. She rolls 1, 2, 4, 4, 8, 11. Normally this would be 4 successes. However, with the addition of the new “rule of 6”, it becomes 5 successes. The 11 is 7 higher than the required target number, so that particular die generates 2 successes.

I find that this rule makes for higher numbers of successes in general, and means where someone would have generated 6 successes they may now get 8. Fortunately, this applies to both NPCs and PCs alike, and in the case of Opposed Success Tests usually offsets itself. It does however, allow for those really amazing one off super scores from few dice that just cannot occur normally. Something like a 6 success masterstroke from a 3 die roll.
	Alternatives
•	Alternative One
Gurth <gurth@xs4al.nl>
Divide each die’s roll by the target number, rounding down, to find the number of successes. For example, a roll of 3, 4, 5, 5, and 9 against a target number 4 counts as 5 successes, because the 4, 5, 5, are three, and the 9 counts as two (9 ÷ 2 = 4.5, which rounds down to 4).
A problem here is that against low target numbers, characters with lots of dice will score immense numbers of successes.
•	Alternative Two
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
When rolling a five or a six, add four to another roll. This gives a similar probability distribution while removing the step-like behavior that makes target numbers of 6n and 6n+1 equally probable.
•	Alternative Three
Andrew Mellinger <geburah@teleport.com> & Susan Mellinger <ssalmon@portland.cushwake.edu>
When the final number on a skill or attribute die, not a die from a pool, is equal to or greater than twice the base target number or six greater than the base target number, whichever is lower, an extra success is generated. Subsequent successes can be generated by continuing to double the subsequent numbers. We do this so people with really low target numbers and few dice can still do amazing things, because, “It is JUST THAT EASY FOLKS!” Think of a character with 4 Body dice resisting a Serious wound with a target number of 2, Can’t get it to zero, for example:

With base target number of 2, extra successes would be at 8 (2 + 6),16 (8 × 2), etc. In this case the first extra success uses the add 6 rule because 2 + 6 is greater than 2 × 2.
With base target number of 8, extra successes would be at 16 (8 × 2), 32 (16 × 2), etc. In this case the first extra success is generated by doubling because 8 × 2 is greater than 8 + 6.
•	SOTA
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: Shadowrun Companion pp. 85-87, Virtual Realities 2.0 p. 78
The State of the Art rules in the Shadowrun Companion only apply to fields in which baseline activities can be upgraded as part of the advance of the SOTA; only if the baseline activities (such as ECM and ECCM working against each other or deckers trying to break the latest Matrix security) do the SOTA mechanics make sense. (Arms broken during a fall do not become harder to treat because the SOTA advanced in a biological warfare lab, nor does Mana Dart get harder to invent because someone came up with advances in Magic Theory. Body armor doesn’t lose any ability to stop ordinary slugs because armor-piercing ammunition just got better or cheaper.)
•	System Identification Numbers
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: Shadowbeat p. 86
SINs are rare in the shadows. This is because anyone with a SIN is on this nice huge database owned by the government and they can be identified on sight. Anyone who is magically active in any way has it even worse. They also have a tissue sample on file with the UCAS government. This has been justified as a means of locating any rampant magically active criminals. And if the government has your file, megacorps can get it. They have influence everywhere.

If you wish to avoid being this recognizable, you can choose to start the game as SINless. You are a non-citizen and have virtually no rights in the eyes of the government and the megacorps. What few rights you are legally recognized as having are often ignored anyway. If you are ever convicted of a crime, you are immediately assigned a SIN accompanied by a police record. This, of course, makes you more recognizable in the future. If you desire your character to be SINless, he can start the game with all traces of his identity permanently erased from all databases at no cost. This reflects the employment of a good decker sometime in the past to eradicate your identity. Just not using your registered credstick is not enough to make you SINless. You are still on the database(s) and are just as recognizable. Just because your fixer doesn’t know who you are doesn’t mean the law is equally ignorant.

If you do not have a SIN, you MUST buy everything through underground/illegal means. Society views the SINless as criminals and will not tolerate them around where they live and shop. Thus, the vast majority of legal establishments will require a SIN to even enter their premises. This way, the store owners can state that they are doing what they can to keep the scum of the earth away from their businesses and customers. Thus, Street Index will almost always apply when a SINless individual wants to make a purchase.

Bioware
So this won’t impact my physical integrity? Are you sure?
	— Vanessa Stokes, mage, at a Body + Tech
•	Bioware For Magicians
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: Shadowtech p.5
Shadowtech states that bioware costs Essence for the magically active equal to the Body Index of the piece of bioware, as well as giving the character a Body Index. This might seem reasonable, but after a little though it is obvious that this klutz of a rule is lacking much reasoning behind it. Compare the following two situations to see what I mean:

Claudius is magically active, and has 2 Body Index worth of bioware. By the rules he has an Essence of 4, and a Body Index of 2. Thus the target number for a Treat Spell to affect him is 8 – 4 +2÷2 = 5. Say Erg, a mundane, has the same bioware kit. He has a Body Index of 2, and an Essence of 6. For a Treat spell to affect him, the target number would be 8 – 6 +2÷2 = 3. A very vast difference indeed. Even though both individuals have exactly the same bioware kit.

To remedy this “double jeopardy” effect, I implement what I think was the writers original intention with the rule. That bioware damages the magical ability of a magically active character. To this end, I subtract the Body Index of the character from the characters Essence, as the rule states, but only for determining the loss of the characters Magic Attribute. Bioware does not subtract Essence from magically active characters, but it does frag with their Magic Attribute as if it did.

Irrumatee has 2 Body Index worth of bioware implanted. He now has a Body Index of 2, and an Essence of 6, even though he is magically active. His Magic Attribute, however, is now reduced by 2, as if his Essence were really 4.
•		Alternative
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
As above, with the following additions:
Cultured bioware is available as per the standard rules in Shadowtech, with one exception. ALL listed bioware items are of standard quality, and therefore not Cultured. Thus, even neural bioware can be Cultured beyond the standard values.

There is also another version of bioware available that is more magician-friendly. Very friendly, in fact. This “personalized” bioware causes no loss of Magic Rating whatsoever (!) and doesn’t add to the Body Index.
However, this technology is very rare and very expensive. The cost is ten times that of the standard version of the item being purchased. The availability is, shall we say, limited. If you desire to purchase this type of bioware, you must discover, in game time, a person who can create and implant it for you. These individuals are hard to come by, and generally only cater to the higher levels of society and to the military/megacorps. They will require a valid SIN (or a VERY solid fake one, if you get my meaning) and a background check. This process requires the donation of several tissue samples and several weeks to grow the bioware before surgery.
If you desire to start your character with personalized bioware, you must have a strong background for your character that would realistically allow for such a luxury.
•	Enhanced Articulation
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 70-72, Shadowtech p. 34
Enhanced articulation, as presented in Shadowtech  is by far and away the most powerful bit of bioware that anyone could obtain. It adds an extra die to any test involving any Active skill. Upon looking in SRII to see what an Active skill is, we see that Active skills include all the following: Combat, Physical, Technical, Magical, Social and Vehicle. The only skills not included are Build and Repair, Knowledge and Languages. Somehow I fail to see just how Enhanced Articulation manages to assist in the summoning of elementals though. Or in the decking of computer systems. Or the fast talking of your fixer. My take on the benefits of enhanced articulation is that it was supposed to give an additional die to any Physical skills, meaning Stealth and Athletics, but that the author fragged up.
	Alternatives
•	Alternative One
According to Tom Dowd (the original Shadowrun line developer at FASA), enhanced articulation adds one die to the following skills: Armed Combat, Athletics, Firearms, Gunnery, Projectile Weapons, Stealth, Throwing, and Unarmed Combat. As it isn’t printed in any FASA book, you can make of this ruling what you will.
•	Alternative Two
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
This bioware enhancement, does not benefit all active skills. Rather it only increases the following skills by one level: Athletics, Stealth, Throwing Weapons, and Armed & Unarmed Melee Combat.
•	Muscle Augmentation
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: Shadowtech p. 35
I interpret the bonuses granted by Muscle Augmentation to give the character +1 Quickness per level and +1 Strength per level.

Characters
Here, this’ll help you build character.
	— Greg Holloway, bartender
Allergies
•	Allergies In The Points-Based Character Generation System
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: SRII pp. 44-47, Shadowrun Companion pp. 20-21, 25
For characters created with the priority table from the basic Shadowrun rules, I let players select allergies from the table on page 46 of that book; in this way, the allergy doesn’t count as a Flaw, and doesn’t provide Building Points.
Characters created with the Building Points system from the Shadowrun Companion, however, purchase allergies as Flaws (p. 25 of the Companion) and do not use the table on page 46 of SRII.
•	Number Of Allergies
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 46
The rules on page 46 of SRII state: “At the player’s option, a metahuman character can be given an allergy during character creation.” To me, this indicates that only a single allergy may be chosen (“an”). Thus I do not allow multiple allergies to be selected.
•		Alternative
David Buehrer <dbuerher@carl.org>
Characters may only start the game with one nuisance allergy. Allowing a character to take more than one nuisance allergy at character creation is munchkinous in my opinion.
Attributes
•	Increasing Attributes
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 43, 190, Shadowrun Companion pp. 50-53
Unaugmented Attributes may not be increased above the appropriate Racial Maximum, unless the character has the Exceptional Attribute edge to allow him to do so. Of course, an augmented Attribute is only limited by the cyberware/bioware/magical enhancement that is increasing the attribute.
The Karma cost of improving an Attribute is an amount of Karma equal to the new Attribute’s rating multiplied by the number of times the Attribute has been improved without augmentation (including the current improvement). Thus, a character raising his Strength for the first time from a 3 to a 4 would have to spend 4 Karma points. Raising this Attribute again at a later time from a 4 to a 5 would cost 10 Karma points (5 multiplied by 2-since this is the second improvement being made to the Attribute).
Also, increasing an Attribute requires proper roleplaying and a certain amount of time dedicated to the improvement. This is done in a similar manner to improving skills. The rules for doing so are found in the Shadowrun Companion.
•	Strength 1 Trolls
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 45
The rules pertaining to the allocation of Attribute points, and the modifying of Attributes with racial modifiers are sufficiently ambiguous as to be interpreted two ways. I do not allow metahumans to place 0 or negative values on their attributes that will gain positive modifiers due to the racial modifiers, thus gaining a final positive value.

Wimpy the Troll cannot assign –3 to his Strength Attribute, and then add the +4 racial modifier to have a final Strength of 1. He must assign at least 1 point to his Strength, thus forcing him to have a final Strength of 5 or greater.
Building Points System
•	Shapeshifters
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: Shadowrun Companion pp. 20, 36-38
Since it was missing on the Building Points table, I’ve set the Building Points cost for a shapeshifter character at 20 points.
Contacts & Enemies
•	Enemies
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: Shadowrun Companion pp. 71-75
Enemies, in the Shadowrun Companion, are not based on your Resources. (While one can argue that you might have acquired your Enemies in the same way you acquired your Resources, or that people have figured out that you’re worth that much and hence are gunning for you, this begins to either strain credulity or limit one’s character conception.)
•	Location Times for Enemies
Ray Macey <nightrain@elf.brisnet.org.au>
Reference: Shadowrun Companion pp. 71-75
I use the following rules for location time for enemies. This provides a loose framework for the enemies to find the characters that they so hate.
Enemies with a Knowledge Rating of 1 or 2, check every 6 months. Every sixth month game time, the gamemaster rolls 1D6 for the enemy. For a Knowledge Rating 1 enemy, they have found the character on the roll of a 1. A Knowledge Rating 2 enemy finds the character on a 1 or a 2. If the gamemaster determines that the enemy has found the character, then the gamemaster determines when the enemy finds the player in the 6-month period.
Enemies with a Knowledge Rating of 3 or 4 check every month. For a Knowledge Rating 3 enemy, the find the player character on a 1, for a Rating 4 enemy, they find the player character on a 1 or a 2.
Enemies with a Knowledge Rating of 5 or 6 check every week. Rating 5 enemies find the player character on a 1, and Rating 6 enemies on a 1 or a 2.
If the Enemy finds the character, it is up to the gamemaster to determine what the enemy does about it (this is related to the enemies motivation rating), and how exactly the enemy found the character, whether through searching, or by an accident.
Critter Powers
•	Regeneration
Ray Macey <nightrain@elf.brisnet.org.au>
Reference: SRII p. 219, Paranormal Animals of North America p. 12, Europe p. 137, Shadowrun Companion pp. 36-38
I didn’t like the abstract 1D6 method of determining whether or not a regenerating creature has been killed. I also had problems with the fact that the regeneration occurred at the end of the turn, and then completely healed all damage. I have changed the way they regenerate as follows. Every action, the Damage Category of the wounded creature drops by one.

A weretiger takes Serious damage at phase 18. The weretiger acts on phases 16 and 6. On 16, the creature would drop to a Moderate wound. On 6, it would drop to a Light wound. Then on its first action next turn, it would be undamaged.

I count all overflow damage as 1 wound category, and Deadly without overflow as another. So a creature on Deadly damage with 4 squares of overflow would heal to Deadly in one action. It would then heal to Serious, down to Moderate etc., all the way to nothing.
These rules make regeneration extremely deadly once you combine them with the fact that I have done away with the random “1D6 to kill” rule. To ease this, I rule that to kill a regenerating creature beyond its ability to regenerate, you must do an instant kill. That is, in one hit, you must hit the creature, and do enough damage to kill it (i.e. past its Body in overflow) in one hit (This is made easier by using deadlier Damage Overflow rules, see page 17). Doing multiple hits that take the creature past its maximum overflow does not count, unless one of the hits is enough to kill by itself. However, if the regenerating creature takes Deadly damage, it still falls unconscious as does anyone else, making it quite easy to administer the killing blow if you can hit it in time. Also, when combined with my Falling Unconscious from normal damage rule (page 17), regeneration does have a lot of its bite muzzled.
None of these new regeneration rules work with player characters playing shifters from the Shadowrun Companion.
Dice Pools
•	Calculating Dice Pools
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 84-85
Combat Pool is calculated by adding Body, Quickness, Intelligence and Willpower and dividing by 3.
Magic Pool is calculated by adding Intelligence, Willpower, Sorcery and Magic and dividing by 3.
•	Using Pool Dice
Mike Elkins <mikee@dragonsys.com>
Whenever a character uses some dice from a pool, reduce all pools by the same percentage, rounding against the character. This way, you can split your attention between spell casting and dodging, but can’t do both at 100%, and things you aren’t very good at take a lot more attention (for the same number of dice) than things that have become second nature to you.
Unfortunately, the math involved in this makes it unlikely to be a very popular house rule. It bogs down play too much.
Edges & Flaws
•	Disallowed or Modified Edges & Flaws
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: Shadowrun Companion pp. 24-35
In my game, I’ve disallowed or modified the following Edges and Flaws, for the reasons indicated.
Addiction
Disallowed. If a character wants to be addicted to something, that’s fine by me, but I simply don’t want them to get points for it.
Adrenaline Surge
Disallowed, because I apply the Rule of Six to one initiative die anyway (see Initiative Rolls on page 78).
Allergy
See Allergies In The Points-Based Character Generation System on page 16.
Blind
I’ve increased the target number modifier to +8, since this is the modifier that SRII lists for “blind fire” (page 89).
Bonus Attribute Point
The cost has been increased to 2 points, because with the original cost, buying 5 Bonus Attribute Points is a very easy way to essentially get 5 Building Points for free.
Day Job
Disallowed, as it’s just too fuzzy for my taste. I still haven’t figured out whether it’s an Edge or a Flaw… (Yes, I know the text calls it a Flaw.)
Extra Contact
Disallowed. Contacts are bought at 5,000¥ each, which is usually a lot more expensive than a single Building Point.
High Pain Tolerance
The cost is equal to three times the number of boxes to which this power applies.
High School Education
Disallowed, since I assume characters have such a level of education automatically.
Night Vision
As this Edge doesn’t indicate the exact bonus, I’ve ruled it is equivalent to cybernetic low-light vision.
Technical School Education
The cost is increased to 2 points due to the relatively large bonuses this Edge provides.
•		Alternative
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Bio-Rejection
The Bio-Rejection Flaw precludes the effective implantation of ANY cyberware or bioware. This includes cultured bioware and personalized bioware.
Focused Concentration
The Focused Concentration Edge is not allowed in this campaign. A high level of concentration and strength of will is already reflected in the Willpower Attribute.
Illiterate
The Illiterate Flaw has a rating of –2, not –1. Reading is far too fundamental for illiteracy to be worth only 1 point.
Magic Resistance
The Magic Resistance Edge is not allowed. The only beings that have the ability to resist magic are magically active (meta)humans with spell defense and/or shielding and some critters. There are rumors of nega-mages existing in Shadowrun, but those are just rumors, right?
Police Record
The Police Record Flaw has a variable rating of –1 to –6. The higher the rating, the longer and more severe your record. A –6 Flaw of this nature is pretty severe, and it would make life extremely hard on the character. It is not recommended that a character take this Flaw at a high value.
Registered Equipment
The Registered Equipment Edge does not exist. If you wish to have legally registered equipment, you will need to have a valid SIN and pay an amount of money based upon the equipment being registered. In addition, you will need to have a valid reason for possessing said equipment…or at least a contact who could get you the necessary permits with false data.
Sensitive System
The value of the Sensitive System Flaw is –1 for magically active characters, not –2. The value for mundane characters is still –3. Cultured bioware and personalized bioware are not affected by this Flaw.
•	Edge & Flaw Development
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
Reference: Shadowrun Companion pp. 24-35
I personally think Edges and Flaws are the best ideas FASA’s come up with since they blew up Dunkelzahn (I was getting sick of him.). It’d be a shame to leave them behind once character creation is over. Generally, you pick up Edges and Flaws through role-playing and, once the game has begin, you shouldn’t need any rules to govern what Edges and Flaws your character acquires. But it seems like a lot of players tend to ignore all aspects of the game that don’t have a numeric system developed for their use. So I decided to whip up a system for “purchasing” Edges and Flaws later on in the game. I haven’t actually tried this system out yet, so it may not work. Anyway, here goes:
Buying Flaws
Ok, so you’re not really “buying” them. It’s actually more of a refund. In any case, I’m sure gamemasters have noticed that, during the game, certain situations arise which have the potential for generating Flaws in characters; such as the person is trapped, assaulted in some emotionally traumatic way, and so on. Normally the character quickly forgets about these experiences and in a very unrealistic manner continues to go about their daily business as if nothing had happened. By allowing the character to actually declare, on paper, that their character has developed a Flaw they can lock themselves into its guidelines and are thus forced to role-play it. Some people really need this type of an iron-clad “contract” with their disabilities in order to role-play effectively. It’s sad, but that’s the way things are.
When a character has been involved in a situation that could cause a semi-permanent Flaw they have the option of “buying” it. When they make this purchase they RECEIVE a number of karma points equal to DOUBLE the value of the Flaw. The player must then role-play this Flaw or face whatever retribution the gamemaster utilizes to punish offenders. Flaws acquired in this manner can be role-played away, though with much difficulty.

Here are some more examples of situations which may generate Flaws:
1.	A PC is tossed into a vat of chemicals. As a result they may develop some kind of weird allergy.
2.	A PC is smashed over the head with a baseball bat and takes Deadly stun damage. When they awake they may realize that they can no longer see colors, thus picking up the Color Blind Flaw.
3.	In the situation above the hit may have instead knocked a few marbles lose, thus giving the PC the Oblivious Flaw. “Man, ever since that troll whacked Benjy he hasn’t been able to tell his ass from his elbow.”

It is also possible for a character to pick up a flaw simply by roleplaying it. I used to do it all the time. For instance, a character who just lost a good friend in a fire fight may become depressed, spend a lot of time shut away in their apartment, and thus develop a minor Infirm flaw. Or the character, slowly losing it because of the endless violence he or she faces, may decide that their character is going to “flip out”, talk to their gun all the time, and have visions of killing people at random, thus providing grounds for the Combat Monster Flaw. The possibilities are endless.
Buying Edges
This is where the gamemaster has to be really careful lest he or she wish to be faced with characters who have every Edge in the book. In order to buy an Edge the character should have a really, really, really good reason; even better than they would have to have for getting a new skill. The acquisition of the new Edge should involve meeting a really good teacher, suddenly coming across special information, being magically zapped my mysterious forces, and so on. The gamemaster may also decide that a player has been roleplaying a particular aspect of their character so well that they deserve to be offered the opportunity to pick up a new Edge. But, no matter what the reason, the character still has to buy it.
The karma cost for acquiring a new Edge during the game is TWICE its value. And, again, the character should have a good reason, a few of which may be:

1.	The character is constantly the point man for his group; listening, looking, and watching out for everything while the rest of the group is usually looking at their ammo counters. The gamemaster may wish to offer the character the Perceptive Edge. If the character is smart, he’ll take it.
2.	A character has been developing his Firearms skill with the same instructor for many, many game months. The player declares that he’d like to acquire an Aptitude in firearms. The gamemaster decides that the character’s teacher, after a month of further training, is willing to give up his secrets of targeting, thus enlightening the character to a new way of perceiving trajectories.
Being True To Edges And Flaws
On a final note I’d just like to emphasize how important it is for gamemasters to insist that their players’ characters stick to their Edges and Flaws. I personally plan on having each of my players’ information written on a piece of paper and taped to the gamemaster screen. This system was created for the purpose of creating fleshed out, complicated characters. It also eliminates a player’s right to bitch when a gamemaster states that they’re not roleplaying properly, which should stop a bit of the whining. Again, make sure players don’t abuse this roleplaying tool.
•	Taking Edges & Flaws With The Priority System
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: Shadowrun Companion pp. 21-22
The Companion says that the total points value of Edges and Flaws should be equal when using the priority system for generating characters. A slightly more complex, but also more satisfying, way is to allow players to exchange Attribute, Skill, or Force Points, or Resources money, for Building Points and use those to purchase Edges. Likewise, Flaws can be traded in for Building Points that allow the player to increase other areas of the character.
The cost equivalents can be found on the Building Points Table on page 20 of the Companion. For Resources money, it’s recommended to stick to the values given there and don’t allow players to take in-between values.

Teddy the sorcery adept needs an extra Attribute Point, so he takes a 2-point Flaw (say, Uncouth) and spends those to buy the Attribute Point.
Teddy now has a 2-point Flaw without needing to take an Edge to compensate for it.
Teddy’s player decides he also needs more skill points and can do with less money, so his player exchanges Teddy’s million nuyen (Resources priority A) for Building Points. That gives him 30 points, for which he takes 650,000¥ (25 Building Points) and 5 Skill Points (5 Building Points). 

Gamemasters should of course be careful that players don’t abuse this system; for example a player could trade in 2 Attribute Points to get 4 Building Points, and then use those to buy 4 Bonus Attribute Points. This sort of thing shouldn’t be allowed.

Enhanced Attributes, Skills, Etc..
•	Enhanced Reaction and Reflexes
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
For the sake of realism and simplicity, all reaction and reflex enhancements may be turned on/off with the use of a Simple Action.
It is completely silly to assume that any doctor would install wired reflexes (for example) without also including a cybernetic switch to turn them on and off! I mean, I guess someone could convince a street doc to install a set of reflex enhancements without an on/off switch, but they probably would not live too long. After all, how many friends can you kill by mistake when they tap you on the shoulder before someone decides enough is enough?
This rule only applies to cyberware and bioware that are exclusive of other abilities. (A suprathyroid gland, for example, would not have this on/off switch because it is not ONLY a reaction/reflex enhancer.)

Physical Adepts may also turn their Enhanced Reflexes and Enhanced Reaction powers on/off with the expenditure of a Simple Action.
•	Vision Enhancements
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 45, 89, 125, 247, Fields of Fire pp. 79-81
Any racial vision enhancements are always active. Therefore, a metahuman with natural thermographic vision sees the standard light spectrum AND sees heat signatures at the same time.
Physical adept vision enhancements are treated as equivalent to their racial cousins in all ways, except the physical adept version is considered to be more blatantly magical than the racial version.
Cyberware versions of vision enhancements can be turned on and off with the use of a Simple Action. This action also includes the time it takes for the eyes to adjust to the new type of sensory input (or lack thereof).

While the cyberware versions of vision enhancements superimpose thermographic vision over standard or low light vision (as appropriate), it doesn’t integrate the two images as well. While it allows for a person to navigate through the dark while having thermographic vision enabled (because he can also see the standard light spectrum at the same time), the thermographic vision superimposes OVER the standard or low light vision. This blocks out most of the physical details of an object or person.
Trying to make out details about what a person is wearing, for example, while using thermographic vision alone is impossible. Attempting to do so with both normal (or low light) vision and thermographic vision active incurs a +2 target number modifier to the perception test. Metahumans do not suffer this penalty, because their thermographic vision only projects the heat radiation as outlines of the objects/people being viewed. The heat image doesn’t bleed through and block the visibility of the normal light spectrum in front of the people/objects being viewed.
Master Character Creation Table
•	Adjusted Priorities
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
Reference: SRII p. 46
The following are two alternatives to the current priority chart. 
Normal Priority Chart 
I’ve encountered two major problems with the current priority chart: 
1.	The money descends too quickly. 
2.	The grouping of money and spell points doesn’t seem to make much sense. On the rare occasion that I sit down and try to create a magical character which will never have a chance to run I don’t like having 400,000¥ on my hands if the character is, say, a humble shaman living in the sticks. Also letting a mage sorcery adept have a million bucks tends to result in a character which not only has a whole lot of really neato spells, but also a large number of powerful foci right off the bat.
I’ve used the Alternate Priority Table with some success. It adds another priority level (ignored by non-magicians) but corrects the problems listed above.

Alternate Priority Table	
Priority	Race	Magic	Attributes	Skills	Money	Force Points	
A	Metahuman	Human Magician	30	40	1,000,000¥	50	
B	Human	Human Adept/Metahuman	24	30	500,000¥	40	
C	Human	Metahuman Adept	20	24	250,000¥	30	
D	Human	—	17	20	125,000¥	20	
E	Human	—	15	17	75,000¥	10	
F	Human	—	15	17	75,000¥	5	
							
Humbling Priority Table	
Priority	Race	Magic	Attributes	Skills	Money	Force Points	
A	Metahuman	Human Magician	20	24	100,000¥	15	
B	Human	Human Adept/Metahuman	18	20	50,000¥	12	
C	Human	Metahuman Adept	16	16	25,000¥	9	
D	Human	—	14	12	12,000¥	6	
E	Human	—	12	8	6,000¥	3	
F	Human	—	12	8	6,000¥	3	
Humbling Priority Table 
I personally think it’s fun to start off with a character that, for lack of a better description, sucks. A character who’s life is crap for a month or two before they ever have a chance at a half way decent run. The kind of character that gets beat up at bars a lot. Although it adds a certain amount of frustration it also adds challenge and does not allow for the creation of kick ass characters right from the start.
•		Alternative
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
In my game I do not use the More Metahumans option and have removed the Race category from character creation. Characters start with 5 priorities (A, B, C, D, and E) to assign to five categories: Magic, Attributes, Skills, Resources and Force Points.
Regardless of Race a priority of A in Magic is required to be a mage, and a priority of B in Magic is required to be an adept.
•	Starting Resources
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: SRII p. 44-47, Shadowtech, Cybertechnology, Virtual Realities 2.0 pp. 81-109
Money
At creation time, you can choose to take 3D6×1000¥ in cash, or just the average, 10,500¥. You have to decide which to take before you roll, of course. Anything you buy with starting cash to outfit your character will be subject to the usual Availability and Street Index problems.
Bioware and Cyberware
Characters can start with any hardware up to Shadowtech, but no bioware. (It gives them something to save up for.) If a piece of hardware from Cybertechnology looks like it ought to be available in 2053 (such as protective covers for cybereyes or cyberarm cyberdecks), it can be approved by the group; Move-By-Wire is right out. We have some additional rules for headware that are worth browsing. 

Any cyberware from the Cyberpunk 2020 game and Chromebooks is available, subject to approval of the Troupe, using the conversion stats from the Plastic Warriors supplements. 
Cyberdecks
You can create a decker with a custom cyberdeck they built themselves, if you wish, using the Virtual Realities 2.0 rules. You must pay for at least Medium lifestyle for the entire time they spent working on the deck, and must also pay for all equipment used in developing it. Our mainframe rules (which replace those in VR 2.0) make buying a mainframe for development purposes prohibitive; you may, however, pay for development time on one using the VR 2.0 rules.
•		Alternative
David Buehrer <dbuerher@carl.org>
Divide Resources into two categories, Resources and Force Points. On the Master Character Creation Table do the same. Characters now start with 6 priorities (A, B, C, D, E, and F) to assign to six categories: Race, Magic, Attributes, Skills, Resources and Force Points.

Cyberware
I got myself a new arm the other day. Turned out the doc didn’t tell me everything about it …
	— Jork, street samurai
•	Cyberears
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: SRII p. 247
By our rules, cyber replacement always includes a damper, costs 0.3 Essence, and provides option spaces for 0.2 Essence worth of enhancements. If you want to get high and low frequency hearing as a package, it costs 0.2 Essence and 7,500¥. 
•	Cyberlimbs
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: Cybertechnology pp. 49-52
I use the Cybertechnology rules for cyberlimbs with one exception. The starting Strength of a cyberlimb is not equal to 3 (8 for Trolls) it is instead equal to the Strength of the character at the time of implantation. I use this modification so that PCs may have cyberlimbs, but do not need to pay 5 Essence or so for the privilege.
•		Alternative
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: SRII p.45
A cyberarm has the average Strength rating for the character’s race—which can be found by adding the racial Strength modifier from SRII p. 45 to 3.
•	High-Grade Cyberware
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: Street Samurai Catalog pp. 98-99, Cybertechnology pp. 42-44
The suggested multipliers for the cost of cybersurgery at alpha, beta, and delta clinics in Cybertechnology are truly unreasonable. Simply using the multiplier for the cost of the cyberware should burn enough of a hole in a runner’s pocket.
•	Vision Magnification and Tactical Computers
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 88, Street Samurai Catalog p. 85, 88, Shadowtech p.53
Vision magnification reduces the range categories for ranged combat as per magnification scopes. Tactical computers use shotgun ranges for tagging targets. I do not, however, allow the tactical computer’s Range category to be reduced by the vision magnification. My reasoning for this is that it is the tactical computer itself that is performing calculations and other target acquisition functions, and that the accuracy of these calculations is represented by the shotgun ranges. Mere vision magnification will not allow the calculations to be performed any better.

Karma
Sometimes, it feels like the gods are smiling down on me. Sometimes, it doesn’t. That’s usually when things start going wrong.
	— unknown
Karma Pool
•	Blocking
Loki <gamemstr@primenet.com>
When a character uses Karma Pool, another character may stop the effects by spending an equal amount of karma. This second character must also possess the same skill that the first is spending the karma on.

Sammy gets two successes when he rolls his Unarmed Combat to smack Kat. He decides he’d like to spend a karma pool point and re-roll for more successes. Kat, who also possesses Unarmed Combat, chooses to spend a point of her own pool to block the re-roll.)
•	Buying Successes
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Reference: SRII p. 191
The Karma Pool no longer exists. Automatic successes may be purchased with Good Karma at a cost equal to the target number of the test divided by 6 (round up).
Successes may only be purchased for tests for which the character has the required skill, or generates at least one success when defaulting from the skill web.

Sam is trying to defuse a bomb. He rolls his Demolitions skill but fails. He elects to buy successes with his Good Karma.
Fred is trying to defuse a bomb. He does not have Demolitions. He defaults from the skill web. If he rolls at least one success he may purchase additional successes with Good Karma. If he doesn’t roll any successes he can’t purchase successes with Good Karma.
•	 Dividing
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 190-191
Since Shadowrun is extremely vague and ambiguous (and contradictory) about how to allocate Karma earned to Good Karma and the Karma Pool, I’ve made my own decisions. I play that every tenth point of Karma earned goes into the characters Karma Pool. This can easily be kept track of by looking at the characters Private Reputation which is a total of all the Karma the character has earned.
•		By The Book
The Shadowrun Companion has the current official rule, which says every eleventh point goes into the Karma Pool.

A character who has earned a total of 30 points of Karma has a Karma Pool of 2; as soon as his total is 33 or higher, she has a Karma Pool of 3, and 30 points of Good Karma.
•	Good Karma to Karma Pool
Loki <gamemstr@primenet.com>
Reference: SRII pp. 190-191
Three Good Karma points may be expended to purchase one Karma Pool point.
•		Alternative
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Karma pool may be purchased on a 1 for 1 basis with Good Karma (experience).
•	Maximum Karma for a Test
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
The maximum amount of Karma, under normal circumstances, that can be spent on any single test in any way is 10 points. This includes both Karma spent on re-rolls and Karma spent on additional dice added to the test.
•	Refresh Rate
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 190-191, Shadowrun Companion pp. 76-80
Karma Pools refresh at the beginning of each scene. A scene is defined as a series of activities that take place in one location. However, there are some exceptions to this. One that comes to mind is a car chase scene. In this case, the scene would end after the car chase.
Also, a single combat is considered one scene, regardless of how many state lines you cross while chasing and shooting at the opposition. If you have a shoot out, followed by a car chase, followed by another shoot out, it’s still one scene because the action never stopped.

After a character’s Karma Pool has been depleted during a scene, he can permanently burn a Good Karma point to have the same effect as using a Karma Pool point, with one extra option. Unlike Karma Pool points, Good Karma points can be burned to buy successes at the rate of 1:1. Under no circumstances will a Karma Pool point be allowed to be used in this way.
•		Alternative
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
The Karma Pool does not refresh.
•	Re-Rolls
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: SRII p. 191
Under normal circumstances, only two re-rolls shall be permitted for any single test. However, at the gamemasters direction, fewer or more re-rolls may be directed. For example, if a test has minimal consequences in the game or the test is for a situation where the character has absolutely no experience to call upon-then the gamemaster may determine no re-rolls are to be made. On the other hand, if a character’s life or death is to be decided on the roll, then the gamemaster may permit as many re-rolls as the character’s karma permits.
•	Starting Karma Pool Size
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp.190-191, Shadowrun Companion pp. 76-80
Every character starts off with 1 point in his Karma Pool. Additional Karma Pool points can ONLY be earned at the gamemaster’s discretion. Karma Pool points will be awarded very rarely, if ever.
•	Team Karma Pool
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII p. 191
Team Karma Pools don’t exist. Whoever came up with the idea should be shot.
•	Usage
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 190
The book is also somewhat ambiguous about just when a character can use Karma Pool re-rolls and whatnot. I lay no restrictions on when or what for the Karma Pool dice may be used, even allowing the re-roll etc. of NPC dice rolls that have favorable outcomes directly relating to the character (such as DocWagon(tm) paramedic’s rolls to save the characters worthless hide).
•	Raising Skills
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 190-191
The Shadowrun skill system has a couple of major flaws that can be addressed if you’re willing to cope with a little math.
One of the problems with the Shadowrun skill system is that it makes no provision for the possibility that someone might want to broaden a skill. By the standard rules, if you buy a Specialization, if you want to go back and buy the Concentration, you have to pay to bring up the Concentration as a completely separate skill.

Another problem that appears at character creation is that skills are assigned at creation time in a radically different method from actual play. Six points used at creation time for buying skills can be worth anywhere from 6 karma (if used to buy six skills at 1) to 51 karma (if used to buy one General Skill at 4 with a Concentration at 6 and a Specialization at 8).

The skill system also has limits that ordinary experience does not. It is possible (through play) for a character to have a Specialization at 5, but an accompanying Concentration and General Skill still at 1. This cannot be done at character creation time.
None of these seems terribly realistic.
One can avoid a number of these problems with some extended rules:

When creating a character, instead of buying skills with points as per the standard FASA rules, sum their points. Starting characters, as usual, should not have General Skills higher than 6, Concentrations higher than 7, or Specializations higher than 8. Gamemasters may wish to insist that if a Concentration is used, the General Skill must be at least two points lower, and if a Specialization is used, its appropriate Concentration must be at least two points lower and General Skill at least four points lower. The number of Karma points corresponding to a given character creation priority can vary with how you calculate it. The maximum number of Karma points is based the character taking as many Specializations at the highest possible levels, i.e., taking all possible 8/6/4 Specializations and then another Specialization. This method can create any starting Shadowrun character. One may also calculate on the maximum number of General Skills, i.e., all General Skills at 6 and then another General Skill at the highest possible level.

Skill Points Table	
Priority	Skill Points	Maximum general	Maximum special	
A	40	265	333	
B	30	210	255	
C	24	164	204	
D	20	128	164	
E	17	111	140	

This helps players break out of the molds of archetypes, since it is now effective to have a character start as a generalist. Gamemasters may wish to disallow obvious attempts at taking every single skill on the Skill Web unless the character has a well-thought-out background as a generalist. 

If you have a Specialization, the cost to bring a Concentration that encompasses that Specialization up to the level of the Specialization is the difference between the karma cost of the Specialization and the Karma cost of the Concentration.

Theora recently used 7 Karma from a run to bring her Computer 6 skill up to Computer 6, Matrix Software 7, so she can start working on utilities at rating 7. After another run, a subsequent 4 Karma can bring her skill up to Computer 6, Software 7.

The same principle applies for a General Skill.

After that last run, Theora realizes that Concentrating on pistols just wasn’t a great idea. She decides to spend 1 Karma to take her Firearms 1, Pistols 3 to Firearms 2, Pistols 3. On a later run, going from Firearms 2, Pistols 3 to Firearms 3 only takes her another Karma point.

Normal Skills, by Skill	Normal Skills, by Cost
	Gen	Conc	Spec	Pts	Gen	Conc	Spec	Pts
	1	—	—	1	1	—	—	1
	1	—	2	3	1	—	2	3
	1	—	3	6	1	2	—	4
	1	—	4	1	2	—	—	50
	1	—	5	1	1	—	3	65
	1	—	6	2	1	2	3	71
	1	—	7	2	2	—	3	88
	1	—	8	3	1	3	—	96
	1	2	—	4	2	3	—	10
	1	2	3	7	1	—	4	10
	1	2	4	1	1	2	4	111
	1	2	5	1	3	—	—	116
	1	2	6	2	2	—	4	122
	1	2	7	2	1	3	4	139
	1	2	8	3	2	3	4	147
	1	3	—	9	1	4	—	15
	1	3	4	1	1	—	5	153
	1	3	5	1	3	—	4	158
	1	3	6	2	2	4	—	164
	1	3	7	3	1	2	5	161
	1	3	8	3	2	—	5	179
	1	4	—	1	3	4	—	175
	1	4	5	2	1	3	5	180
	1	4	6	2	2	3	5	196
	1	4	7	3	4	—	—	193
	1	4	8	4	1	4	5	201
	1	5	—	2	3	—	5	202
	1	5	6	2	2	4	5	218
	1	5	7	3	1	—	6	215
	1	5	8	4	1	2	6	223
	1	6	—	3	1	5	—	221
	1	6	7	3	3	4	5	228
	1	6	8	4	2	—	6	236
	1	7	—	4	2	5	—	232
	1	7	8	5	1	3	6	240
	2	—	—	5	4	—	5	24
	2	—	3	8	2	3	6	25
	2	—	4	1	3	5	—	252
	2	—	5	1	1	4	6	267
	2	—	6	2	3	—	6	263
	2	—	7	3	2	4	6	270
	2	—	8	3	4	5	—	278
	2	3	—	1	1	—	7	280
	2	3	4	1	1	5	6	284
	2	3	5	1	3	4	6	289
	2	3	6	2	1	2	7	295
	2	3	7	3	2	5	6	292
	2	3	8	4	5	—	—	290
	2	4	—	1	2	—	7	306
	2	4	5	2	4	—	6	301
	2	4	6	2	1	3	7	317
	2	4	7	3	3	5	6	314
	2	4	8	4	1	6	—	312
	2	5	—	2	2	3	7	323
	2	5	6	2	2	6	—	329
	2	5	7	3	1	4	7	336
	2	5	8	4	4	5	6	334
	2	6	—	3	3	—	7	332

Normal Skills, by Skill	Normal Skills, by Cost
	Gen	Conc	Spec	Pts	Gen	Conc	Spec	Pts
	2	6	7	3	2	4	7	349
	2	6	8	4	3	6	—	347
	2	7	—	4	1	5	7	353
	2	7	8	5	3	4	7	351
	3	—	—	1	5	—	6	351
	3	—	4	1	4	6	—	365
	3	—	5	2	1	—	8	360
	3	—	6	2	2	5	7	366
	3	—	7	3	1	2	8	373
	3	—	8	4	4	—	7	371
	3	4	—	1	3	5	7	387
	3	4	5	2	1	6	7	382
	3	4	6	2	2	—	8	388
	3	4	7	3	5	6	—	385
	3	4	8	4	1	3	8	393
	3	5	—	2	2	6	7	395
	3	5	6	3	2	3	8	401
	3	5	7	3	4	5	7	408
	3	5	8	4	1	4	8	416
	3	6	—	3	3	6	7	414
	3	6	7	4	3	—	8	411
	3	6	8	4	6	—	—	419
	3	7	—	4	1	7	—	424
	3	7	8	5	2	4	8	422
	4	—	—	1	5	—	7	429
	4	—	5	2	2	7	—	434
	4	—	6	3	4	6	7	430
	4	—	7	3	1	5	8	437
	4	—	8	4	3	4	8	435
	4	5	—	2	2	5	8	447
	4	5	6	3	3	7	—	443
	4	5	7	4	4	—	8	450
	4	5	8	4	5	6	7	458
	4	6	—	3	3	5	8	466
	4	6	7	4	1	6	8	463
	4	6	8	5	4	7	—	461
	4	7	—	4	2	6	8	476
	4	7	8	5	4	5	8	484
	5	—	—	2	6	—	7	489
	5	—	6	3	3	6	8	495
	5	—	7	4	5	7	—	492
	5	—	8	5	1	7	8	500
	5	6	—	3	5	—	8	508
	5	6	7	4	2	7	8	515
	5	6	8	5	4	6	8	513
	5	7	—	4	6	7	—	529
	5	7	8	5	3	7	8	527
	6	—	—	4	3	7	8	521
	6	—	7	48
	6	—	8	56
	6	7	—	52
	6	7	8	60
•		Alternative
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
If one is raising a General skill and one has an appropriate Concentration or Specialization for that skill, one only need pay the difference in Karma to raise the skill. Similarly if one is raising a Concentration and one has an appropriate Specialization, one receives a discount equal to the Karma already invested in the skill.

Rigger Mortice has Gunnery 4, Assault Cannon 6, Panther Assault Cannon 8. To raise his Gunnery to 5 normally would cost 10 Karma. However, since Rigger has already invested 7 Karma in an Assault Cannon Concentration of 5, then he need only pay 3 to increase the skill. If Rigger were wanting to increase his Assault Cannon Concentration to 7, then he would normally be paying 10 Karma. However, since he has already spent 7 Karma on his Panther Assault Cannon skill, then he need only pay the difference, 3.
•	Time Spent Raising Skills
David Buehrer <dbuerher@carl.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 190-191, Shadowrun Companion pp. 50-53
To increase a skill a character must be instructed for a number of hours equal to the desired skill level times 10. Characters may substitute real life experience for instruction (gamemaster’s judgment). Also, the character must make an Attribute test vs. the desired skill rating to increase his skill level (using the attribute that is closes to the skill on the skill web). If this test is failed it may be attempted again after another 30 hours of study/experience. Karma must still be spent to increase skills as per the rules.
Note, real life experience can be accumulated in a very short time. If a character spends a day in the wilderness with nothing but his wits, he just gained 24 hours of experience applicable towards wilderness survival.
•	Sourcebooks For Karma
Loki <gamemstr@primenet.com>
Players who purchase sourcebooks to donate to my library receive a Karma award equal to the dollar value of the book. In my mind this reflects their contribution towards enriching the gaming universe.

Magic
Anyone who claims to know everything about magic is holding something back.
	— Ching Hersh, mercenary
Astral Space
•	Astral Patrolling
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: Grimoire II pp. 79, 92
The Spirit Patrol Table on page 92 of the Grimything lists as one of the modifiers: “Intruder(s) present astrally –1 per 2 Magic Attribute Points*” with the * being “*Unless masked (see Aura Masking, p. 79).” To me this seems a little odd, as if the intruder is present astrally, he or she is present astrally, whether they appear as an initiate, magician or mundane. I rule that Masking will hide any additional Magic points that have been gained through Initiation, but the intruders original magic points cannot be hidden. After all, a mundane present on the astral plane is probably more suspicious than a magician.
•	Astral Perception & Projection
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 145-146
Astral perception is based upon a sense not accessible in the physical plane. It’s not any of the senses experienced in the mundane world. Instead, astral perception is some weird conglomeration of the physical senses, plus additional input that is very hard to describe to anyone who hasn’t experienced astral perception for themselves. The act of astral perception is awe inspiring. The astral plane is generally a place of great beauty in the opinion of most beings able to perceive it. While astrally perceiving, there is no physical evidence that you are doing so. Your eyes do NOT roll back into your head, etc. In order to view a different part of the astral plane, you do not turn your physical head. Instead, you merely shift your perception to view a different part of the astral. Thus, when looking around on the astral plane, it doesn’t appear to the mundane world that you are looking around at things that aren’t there.

When astrally projecting, your body is only supported by external influences. Thus, unless someone or something is physically supporting your body, it will fall to the ground when you leave it. Therefore, the socially conscious magician will want to take precautions if he doesn’t want anyone in the mundane world to know he is out of his body.

The process of leaving or entering one’s body via astral projection is an exclusive activity, which explains why spells cannot continue to be sustained when you leave your body. Astral projection is also considered a magical activity, so no exclusive activities may be performed while astrally projecting. (This explains some of the rulings made in the standard rules.)
•	Astral Quest To Bypass Wards
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: Grimoire II pp. 93-97
A way for an Initiate to bypass wards and other types of astral barriers is to perform an astral quest at a rating equivalent to the force of the obstructing astral barrier. If successful, the magician returns from the metaplanes to a position on the other side of the barrier. This procedure provides the benefit of a very good chance of gaining surprise against any entities on the other side of the barrier. The corresponding penalty is the injuries the magician may gain from his quest in the metaplanes (against powerful wards this is almost guaranteed).

Auras
•	Objects and Auras
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 145-146, Grimoire II pp. 90-91
Only living beings possess auras. If it isn’t currently alive, it doesn’t have an aura-regardless of its history (some entities may be an exception to this rule).
Mana spells target auras. Physical spells go straight for the physical makeup of their targets.
All of this means that, yes, you can target that corporate executive riding in the back of the stretched limo with a Powerball/Manaball/Hellblast, or whatever tickles your fancy at the moment. Keep in mind that visibility and cover modifiers will apply, however. (Don’t you just hate those tinted bulletproof windows?)

Also, this means that Mana Barriers will attempt to stop living beings within an enclosed object from passing through the barrier. So, basically, anyone in a car that drives through a Mana Barrier is in for a world of hurt! Don’t panic. All Barrier spells that have any effect on the physical plane are also visible on the physical plane. So, if you go driving into a wall of shimmering energy, you deserve whatever you get.

Part of an object may be targeted by a physical spell, within reason. For example, a tire may be targeted when casting a spell at a car, but the binding of a book cannot. Treat these targeted shots as if they were called shots. However, the body and armor of the vehicle apply to the entire vehicle, including tires and windows. This may not be entirely realistic, but it prevents disabling vehicles with ease, while allowing for specific attacks.
•	Psychometry (Aura Reading)
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 145-146, Grimoire II pp. 90-91
The Psychometry skill (a.k.a. Aura Reading) is not immediately derived from Intelligence or mundane Perception. Thus, if a character viewing the astral plane does not have the Psychometry skill, they must default from one of the following skills/attributes: Intelligence, Magical Theory, or Perception. Treat Intelligence as if it were located in the same position as Willpower on the Skill Web for calculating the default modifier. Also, treat Perception as if it were one dot closer than Willpower on the skill web for the same purpose. Think of the Psychometry skill as an astral perception skill. This is not to be confused with the astral perception ability which simply allows you to perceive the astral plane. The skill allows you interpret what you perceive on the astral plane more clearly. I always refer to this skill as Astral Perception, as the terms Psychometry and Aura Reading are misnomers.
•	
	Alternative
Ray Macey <nightrain@elf.brisnet.org.au>
Any character that has or gets access to the Astral Plane, gets the Aura Reading skill free of charge at a rating equal to their intelligence. From this point on it is a skill in all regards that can be improved as any normal skill. It will never be lower than the character’s Intelligence Attribute Rating though, so it will get a free upgrade if the character increases his Intelligence, and the new Attribute Rating is higher than the existing skill rating.
•	Conjuring
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 139-142
I feel it is necessary to involve a character’s Magic Rating when it comes to using the Conjuring skill. When summoning a spirit, the normal Drain rules apply if the Spirit’s Force is equal to or less than your Magic Rating. If, however, you choose to summon a Spirit who’s Force exceeds your Magic Rating, the Drain Level is shifted up one step (i.e. made worse by one step on the chart on p. 140 of SRII).
Since it is possible to stage the Drain Level beyond the limits of the table with this house rule, there is an additional Drain Level of Light over Deadly Physical, meaning that you suffer 11 boxes of Physical Damage.
This house rule does not apply to the summoning of watchers.
•		Alternative
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Replace the word “Charisma” on the Conjuring Drain Table by the word “Magic”. Note that Drain from conjuring is still resisted with a Charisma test.
•	Essence Loss and Magic Loss
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 45, 115
If a magician loses a Magic Point due to Deadly wound or for any other reason (e.g. summoning an Ally), I do not allow 1 Essence worth of cyberware to be place into the “gap” remaining. I interpret the rule on page 45 of SRII regarding the value of a characters Magic Attribute relative to his Essence as meaning that a characters Magic Attribute is equal to 6 – (6 – Essence) – Losses from other sources + Initiate Grade. Remember that bioware subtracts from the Magic Attribute as if it costs Essence, but without actually costing Essence.
Foci
•	Focus Addiction
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: Awakenings p. 103
You will be happy to know that Focus Addiction does not exist in my campaign. (Although, there may be a cursed item that just won’t let you put it down, however…but that’s not quite the same thing…)
Also, keep in mind that constantly relying on foci will earn you the reputation of being a poor mage not worth his weight in compost. Additionally, lots of foci means lots of temptation for the opposition to start grounding spells through them and destroying the foci. Not to mention that all mages have heard rumors about astral entities that are drawn to powerful foci and quickenings, feeding off of them, and leaving their victims in not-so-healthy conditions afterwards. You have been warned.
•	Magical Items For Mundanes
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
It seems like every gaming system which involves magic also includes various items which posses magical energy but may be used by anybody. Except Shadowrun. (Unless they’ve come up with something new since I’ve purchased my last book which was back in the ice age.) I speak of magical potions, weapons, jewelry, etc. which, although once created by magical means, now operate independent of their makers. For the most part I believe the lack of items of this kind is a good thing. Nobody wants to see every samurai trotting around the barrens with a Sword of Satan’s Grandson, slicing through panzer engines like they were margarine. But the occasional healing potion would be nice. The following rules regarding these types of magical items were created with the understanding that the items would be very, very rare. I have not, as of yet, created rules dealing with the actual construction of magical items. For now assume they are beyond the ability of almost all magic users to create.
Power
The Power of an item is its most important rating. It determines two things. A: How well the item will work, and B: whether it will work at all (or “activate”). Both relate strongly to the essence of the individual attempting to use the item. Staying consistent with most rules regarding magic, a magical item works best with someone who possesses a high essence. An individual with a lower rating is less in touch with the latent energy of nature and may also be less likely to have faith in its power. An individual with a higher essence retains more of his or her connection with the “non manufactured” world and, whether he knows it or not, is better able to connect spiritually to the item in use. It also comes down to a magician being as likely to sip a healing potion as a samurai is to guzzle it.
An item’s effectiveness when used by an individual is calculated using the following simple method. Make an unresisted roll pitting the Essence of the user against a target number of 10 – the Power of the item. Even somebody will no Essence still gets one die. In addition to its power an item also has a base effect. One success means it worked, each additional success multiplies the effect by one. An example:

Joe Samurai has an essence rating of 5 and is shot up pretty bad. He possesses a magical elixir with a power rating of 6 and with little else to do but die, decides to drink it down. He rolls his essence (5 dice) against a target of 4 (10-6) and scores two successes. The base effect of the elixir is the healing of two boxes. Since Joe rolled two successes a total of four boxes are healed.

I realize these rules make an item of this type pretty tame but it is probably best that way and keeps magical crossbows out of the hands of every hard wired merc, sam, etc. Another important thing to remember is that the rule of ones still applies for these rolls. A healing potion in the hands of an extreme cyber burn out may have an interesting, and very unhealing, outcome.
In addition to the item’s power, various other ratings may be needed, depending on the individual type of object. For example, weapons may need a duration to see how long they stay “hot.” The following item list shows a few of the options. All powers may vary. 
Healing Elixir 
Duration: Instant
Each success heals two boxes of physical damage. (A mental version is also available, it’s called a stim-patch.)
Magical Sword
Duration: One fight
Each success raises the damage’s Power Level by 1.
Talisman For Safety In Travel
Duration: One day
Each success adjusts the target number any action which may directly harm the wearer 1 in the wearer’s favor. (I.E. the target number for shooting at the wearer is raised by one while the target of a crash test would be lowered by one.) It would not lower the target number of an individual who was simply driving in the snow because he or she is not in immediate danger.
Rejection
When an individual fails the essence roll required to activate a magical item it is said to be “rejecting” him. For whatever reason the item does not want to work. With one shot items like potions, tough luck, it’s gone and it ain’t coming back. (And even if it did I wouldn’t want to drink it.) Other items, on the other hand, are still around but will eventually get to the point that they will never work for the person trying to use them. A player may only fail his activation roll a number of times equal to his essence rating. Even people with no essence still get to try once. If the player fails in this way the item will NEVER work for him or her. It retains its original rating, however, and may be used by somebody else. All the player has to do is activate the item once in order for it to begin accepting him. It will, however, receive a minus one to its rating for every attempt that was made. This lowering of rating only applies to the individual trying to use the item. The rating returns to normal if the item ends up in somebody else’s hands.
Acceptance
When an individual succeeds in the essence roll required to activate an item he grows closer to it and, in turn, the item grows closer to its user and begins to resist use by anyone else. When an individual succeeds in using an item a number of times equal to 10 — his Essence Rating the “personal” rating of the item raises by one and the rating for everyone else is lowered by one. If the rating had been damaged by repetitive failures during the initial attempt at activation this will cancel one of these out. The rating of an item may only be increased by the essence rating of its user. If this raises the Power above 10 the user gets one additional success (not automatic success) per point of over spill. The rating for someone else’s use continues to fall regardless of its user’s essence. Even if the item’s rating had been lowered by failed usage attempts the rating still is reduced starting from its original number. Once this rating reaches zero it can NEVER be used by anyone but its owner. If, however, the item is successfully activated by somebody else before this rating reaches zero all the rating adjustments are removed and the item returns to its original state. It is a good idea to keep these things in a safe place.
Assensing
To the naked eye a magical item does not normally appear as anything incredibly special. Although they will occasionally activate themselves (see Personality, below) it usually requires an assensing to figure out exactly what it is. Fortunately, this is pretty easy. The more powerful an item is, the easier it is to assense. Since the magical energies within the item is self contained and possesses no links to astral space it is no easier to examine it from within astral space than it is from the outside world. From astral space it simply appears “more real” then the rest of the mundane objects lying around it. In the real world the magician will “feel” its power, and purpose, and nature. A talisman for safety will feel “comforting.” A magical weapon will be feel “powerful.” From this the magic user is able to deduce the ratings for its Power, duration, effect, etc. Now, with the knowledge of what he has, a player may go about attempting to activate the item. Although mechanically this follows the rules stated above, roleplaying wise it depends much on the item’s personality.
Personality
The personality of a magical item is probably its niftiest aspect. Although potions tend to be pretty consistent in their attitudes (“drink me!”) other items posses a wide variety of quirks and idiosyncrasies, probably reflecting the personality of the person who created it. Some magical weapons, for example, will not activate unless the situation is desperate or if it is being used for some kind of noble purpose. It would probably never activate simply to cut up a pizza or some other idiot action. Most players would eventually figure this out when it refuses to activate during a bar brawl but shutters with power while hacking up an abusing boyfriend. When a weapon refuses to activate in this way, do not count it as an actual rejection. You can give the player a subtle hint that his six successes don’t mean shit to a weapon which has been guided into the head of a nun. He’ll eventually catch on.
Personalities tend to come in two basic brands, Good and Evil, although many straddle the line. Good items will normally activate when they are being used to right a wrong or protect its user. Evil items seem to help the user a bit of them time, and be out to get him the rest. An evil sword, for example, may slice through its target and then continue to swing into one of its user’s friends. Although good items don’t get too extreme with their actions, evil ones can get down right nasty. The ultimate evil item is a cursed item.
Cursed Items
Cursed items are very similar to insect totems in the way they conduct themselves. Although at first they appear to assist the user, it is only part of their grand scheme to eventually control him and bring about his destruction. The gentlest of the cursed items simply don’t want you to be without them. A cursed Talisman for Safety In Travel, for example, will keep the user safe while he or she is wearing it but the instant it is removed all kinds of unsafe things begin to occur.
Other cursed items, however, don’t let you off that easily. Their actions involve reaching to goal of eventually driving the user insane or into the grave. Magical weapons will convince their user to kill for no reason, the old safety talisman will turn it’s wearer into a paranoid, suicidal wreck.
Unlike good items, with most evil and all cursed items as the power for the user increases, so does the item’s hold on that user. Good items, although it would probably make them “sad”, do not stop its user from simply throwing it away. Once an individual uses a cursed item for the first time it immediately begins to control him or her. In order to break the item’s hold the user must succeed in an opposed test pitting the user’s willpower against the item’s rating for that user. They can only make this test once every time the personal rating of the item increases (see Acceptance, above). Another way to break the item’s hold is to take it away for the user, which can prove to be quite hazardous depending on the mood of the item and the user you took it away from. The other way out is for the user is to die. If any of the above occur successfully all ratings of the item return to normal and it awaits its next victim.
Destruction
The physical destruction of a magical item is extremely difficult. Although a good item which has lost a faithful user will usually crumble into dust all by itself, most other types are hard to get rid of. Steel items won’t melt, leather items won’t burn, elixirs won’t want to come out of their flasks, etc. Also if an attempt at their destruction seems imminent many have a strange way of getting “lost” on the way to execution. The traditional methods of disposal seem to revolve around some kind of burial, either in the ground or at sea. Following such an action, however, the individual who did the disposing is usually plagued by a long series of life threatening occurrences. So far the most reliable way of getting a magical item out of your hair is to return it to its place of origin. This, in itself, can be a treacherous experience.
•	Spell Locks
Leszek Karlik <trrkt@friko.onet.pl>
Reference: SRII pp. 138, Grimoire II pp. 20-27, 44-45
Spell locks are not intangible to mundanes. They cost 15,000¥ and 1 Karma to bond, thus, they always have Rating of 1. They can still be turned on or off. Note that the spell lock provides a ritual link to the person that cast the spell on it, and to the person that spend Karma on quickening the spell (Grimoire, pp. 44-45).
Note: with a small, half an hour ritual the lock may be bonded to anyone, even mundane. He has to spend the Karma, though, and if the person has no Magic attribute than activating/deactivating the spell lock takes a Simple Action and a Willpower (6) test.
Also, please note that spell-locks are not “real” foci, have no First Bonding cost and can not serve as a ritual link to their creator.
•		Alternative
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Spell locks are treated like all other foci when it comes to their ability to be removed without needing to re-bond them, being visible to mundanes, etc.
Also, since physical objects do not have auras, spell locks cannot be bound to them. They only affect living beings with auras. Also, a magician may enchant and “fill” a spell lock, while allowing another magician to bond the lock and use it.
However, the second magician must be present at the time the spell is cast into the lock in order to bond it. If this is done, then the lock is bonded to the second magician, and all grounding attacks, ritual sorcery link usage, etc. effects him, NOT the magician who cast the spell into it. Also, this lock does NOT count against the number of spell locks the casting magician may have bound at any one time.

Once a spell is cast into a spell lock, it can no longer be influenced by the caster or wearer of the lock. That spell will always have the exact same effect when the spell lock is activated (The area of effect will be the same as when the spell was cast into the lock, and cannot be altered, etc.). All the wearer can do is activate and deactivate the lock, or unbond the lock, thus releasing the spell contained within it into the astral plane (all of this assumes the wearer of the lock is magically active and possesses a Sorcery skill. If the wearer is a mundane or doesn’t have a Sorcery skill, they cannot do any of this. Once a spell lock is removed from its wearer, it is automatically deactivated. Thus, if a mundane removes a spell lock, it will deactivate and they will have to have the lock reactivated by a magician).
Since a spell cannot be influenced by the wearer of the lock, if a character has bonded a spell lock containing a Barrier spell, the spell does NOT rebuild itself on the character’s action. This is because the Barrier spell must be actively concentrated upon to be rebuilt. Since the spell cannot be influenced by the person it is bonded to (the lock maintains the spell, not the wearer of the lock), the lock must be deactivated and reactivated in order for the Barrier spell to refresh (this takes two Simple Actions, per the standard rules).
The spell lock doesn’t have the consciousness necessary to refresh the Barrier spell on its own. In effect, what is happening is that the spell is being recast by the lock when it is reactivated. Of course, there is a split second in between when the lock is deactivated and reactivated in the same combat phase. Thus, another character with a held action may take his action before the lock is reactivated.

Some spells cannot be cast into spell locks. These would be spells that require targeting or other input from the caster in order to be cast. Some examples of spells that cannot be locked are: Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Analyze Device, Detect Individual, Analyze Truth, and Mind Probe. This is by no means a complete list. Exactly which spells cannot be locked is up to gamemaster discretion.
Spells that normally require targeting can be locked if they are able to function if cast upon the wearer of the spell lock and if they don’t require any other input from the caster. Some spells that fall into this category are: Treat, Heal, Increase Attribute, Cure Disease, Antidote Toxin, Armor, Invisibility, Silence, and Detect Life. This is not a complete list, either. Again, gamemaster discretion will be used to determine which spells fall into this category. Keep in mind that these spells can be locked, but they only target the wearer of the lock (or are centered upon the wearer of the lock, as appropriate). Thus, a Treat spell would begin to work its magic when the spell lock is turned on, but it automatically Treats the wearer of the lock and cannot Treat anyone else.
Also, keep in mind that if the wearer of a spell lock (or any other focus) dies, it unbonds from them (they have no aura to remain bonded to, after all). So, you better hope that Treat spell finishes its handiwork before you bleed to death, or it won’t be worth much to you.
•	Spell Locks and Exclusive Spells
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 133, 138
If an exclusive spell is placed into a Spell Lock, then because the focus takes over the task of sustaining the spell, the caster is no longer burdened with the Exclusive modifier.
Initiation & Metamagic
•	Centering
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: SRII p. 81-83, Grimoire II pp. 42-44
If you have a good justification for an otherwise useful skill being helpful for Centering-such as using your Martial Arts skill to perform kata before attacking or your Magic Theory skill to review the principles of the spell before casting it- you must perform a Complex Action Centering before you perform the action you’re Centering for, instead of taking a Free Action at the same time. (As it is, many Centering skills can’t practically be performed in a Free Action-you chant one word in your arcane language, and that’s a point of initiative!) 
•	Centering vs. Penalties Against Shielding
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: Grimoire II pp. 44-45
I allow Centering vs. Penalties to be used against an opponent’s Shielding.
•	Gradual Initiation
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: Grimoire II pp. 38-41, Shadowrun Companion pp. 80-81
Initiation occurs gradually. You’re not going to understand the vast majority of the superior magical forces that exist in the mortal realm of Earth by simply dumping a chunk of karma into the astral plane.
There is no such thing as a Grade 0 Initiate. Your first initiation brings you to Grade 1. The karma costs to initiate are the same as they would be for the equivalent grade in the normal rules. Don’t go jumping for joy because of the karma discount of not having to initiate to Grade 0 just yet.
You only get 2 Metamagical abilities for every grade of initiation you attain. Furthermore, in order to obtain a metamagical ability, you must first understand any simpler versions of the ability. For example, before you can learn Reflective Shielding, you must first know Shielding.
Also, you cannot obtain both of these in the same initiation. You must have the simpler metamagical ability at least one grade prior to obtaining it’s more complex counterpart.
Also, when obtaining a new metamagical ability, it is treated as a Grade 1 ability, regardless of your current Initiate Grade. Thus, if you choose to pick up Shielding upon initiating to Grade 3, you are a Grade 3 Initiate now, but your new Shielding ability is used as if you were a Grade 1 Initiate.
All metamagical abilities increase 1 Grade level for every level you Initiate after obtaining them. Thus, upon Initiating to Grade 4, you would gain a new metamagical ability as if it were at Grade 1 in level, and your Shielding would now function as if you were a Grade 2 Initiate. All of your previously learned metamagical abilities would also increase by 1 Grade level in power. This will allow for a lot of flexibility within the ranks of the Initiated.

In order to even begin to understand the realm of metamagic and initiation, you must have an instructor who is qualified to introduce you to it. These are not easy to come by, and those who covet their power will not pass their wisdom on often or for free. Also, many of the qualified teachers will refuse to teach a student whom they feel just isn’t ready to experience the great arts of metamagic.
Once a student is ready to learn the basics of the realm of Metamagic and Initiation, they must make an Intelligence test versus a target number of 6 to determine how long they must spend with an instructor before the realm is revealed to them. The base time for this test is 10 days. At the end of this time, the student is a Grade 1 Initiate and may choose a single metamagical ability. However, the student does NOT know how to utilize the ability yet.
For every new metamagical ability obtained, you must find an instructor who will teach you how to use the ability, before utilizing it at all. The amount of time you must spend with an instructor is a base of 10 days (standard game days = 4 hours). This time can be reduced by making a successful Intelligence test with a target number of 6.

Yes, this does mean that the high end of the amount of time you must spend with an instructor in order to initiate the first time around and understand your newfound metamagical ability will be 20 days. I hope you have some nuyen saved up.
	Alternatives
•	By The Book
Reference: Shadowrun Companion pp. 80-81
The Shadowrun Companion features a revised initiation rule similar to the above, but not as extensive in its modifications of the standard rules from the Grimoire II. It basically gives one metamagical ability per initiation grade.
•	Alternative One
An article in NERPS: ShadowLore modifies initiations in a similar way to the two mentioned above.
•	Masking
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: Grimoire II p. 46
An initiate’s masking ability also applies to spell Force points as well as foci points i.e. a magician may mask spells whose total Force points are equal to or less than the magician’s initiate grade. These spell Force points are cumulative with any foci points when calculating the total foci/spells the magician can mask.
•	Physical Adepts
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: Grimoire II pp. 38-41
Physical adepts have full access to the following metamagical skills: Centering and Masking (piercing Masking requires the Astral Perception ability). They also have limited access to Shielding. Physical Adepts do not have a Magic Pool, thus they only receive a number of dice toward Shielding equal to their Initiate Grade. Physical Adepts have no control of their Shielding abilities, thus once turned on via Initiation, their Shielding is always active. The time for learning how to use Shielding still applies, but it is treated as an attuning process, rather than a learning experience. In order for Shielding to function at all, it must first be attuned.
•	Magical Misfires
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: Shadowrun Companion p. 101
The basics of this rule are taken from the Shadowrun Companion. Basically, a magical misfire has a chance of occurring when the number of 1s rolled on a magical success test EXCEED the rating of the skill being used or the base force of the spell being cast (whichever is appropriate).
Keep in mind that this includes ALL dice from Magic Pool, Fetishes, Foci, Exclusivity, and Totem Modifiers. If this happens, a skill test needs to be made versus a base target number of 6. Make this test with the appropriate magical skill (Sorcery if casting a spell, Conjuring if summoning a spirit, etc.).
A character may use a Concentration or Specialization if appropriate to the task being performed. Any successes generated from this test offset one 1 rolled in the spell success test roll, but they do NOT allow that die to be re-rolled or scored as a success … that die is still a failure, just not a 1.
An Initiate may add a number of dice equal to his Initiate Grade to augment this test. If, after the Sorcery test is made, you still have a number of 1s from the spell success test that exceed the base force of the spell, a misfire occurs. Use the rules regarding failing the Willpower test when distracted while extended casting earlier in this document to determine the outcome. You cannot attempt to use a Sorcery test to offset any 1s rolled in the case of a botch. As always, botches can only be avoided through the proper use of karma.

If the number of 1s rolled is EQUAL to the skill being used or the base force of the spell being cast, then some odd effect will occur, but the basic intention will be kept. For example, if casting a spell, the spell will still go off and will still strike the desired target, but it may not be quite as effective as it would have been normally. Or perhaps the spirit being conjured will be more resistant to your influence, thereby reducing the amount of services you can earn from it. The effect of this is entirely up to the gamemaster’s discretion.

The magical misfire rules are not being implemented in order to treat magic as a completely random and chaotic force. However, when trying to shove too much energy into the framework of a spell not designed to handle more than a small amount of excess energy, you are asking for trouble.
Magical Traditions
•	Magical Ability Breakdown
Steve Kenson <talonmail@aol.com>
Reference: SRII pp. 116-125, Grimoire II pp.8-17, 28-34, Awakenings pp. 104-131, Shadowrun Companion pp. 20-21, 32-33
These are the options for magical ability that I use with the Build-Point System presented in the Shadowrun Companion. People will recognize some of these levels of ability as Magical Edges from the Edges & Flaws section and it might help to clarify how those Edges & Flaws were intended (by me, at least) to work.
General Rules
All characters with any kind of magical ability (i.e., anyone who has spent more than 0 Build Points on magical ability) have a Magic Attribute, which begins at 6. These characters are collectively known as “Talented” or “Gifted.” (“Magician” is used in my campaigns as a generic term for Talented characters with the highest level of magical ability.) All Talented characters are subject to the rules governing the Magic Attribute, including loss due to Essence Loss and Deadly Wounds. Such characters are also all subject to the geasa rules due to Magic loss.
All Talented characters must follow a tradition (although they may not always KNOWINGLY do so). The tradition is chosen at character creation and may not be changed.
Magician (20 Points)
This level gives the character access to full use all of the magical skills and abilities of his chosen tradition. Generally this will be either Hermetic (mage) or Shamanic (shaman), but there are other traditions available to offer slightly different abilities, such as Nature Magic, Voudoun and so forth.
Adept (15 Points)
At this level, the character has access to ONE significant area of magical ability from his chosen tradition. This could be full use of a single magical skill or partial use of all skills and abilities. Adepts can bond or use foci that are applicable to their magical skills and abilities. The character can choose ONE of the following options:

Conjuring Adept: The character can make full use of the Conjuring skill, but is considered mundane for other magical skills or abilities, this includes applications of Conjuring that require Astral Perception or Projection (including metamagic). The character can bond or use foci that are applicable to the Conjuring skill.
Elemental Adept:  This option is only open to mages. The character is “aligned” with one of the four hermetic elements: Earth, Air, Fire or Water. The character can use the Sorcery skill to cast spells aligned to that element and Conjuring to summon spirits aligned with that element as well as watchers. The adept can astrally perceive and project. For all other uses of magical skill, the adept is considered a mundane.
Physical Adept: The adept “grounds” all of his magical ability into his body. He may “buy” physical adept powers using his Magic Rating, but is considered a mundane for the use of all magical skills. Physical adepts cannot astral perceive unless they purchase the power that allows them to do so.
Shamanic Adept: This option is only open to shamans. The adept can use Sorcery to cast spells for which their totem grants a bonus and Conjuring to summon spirits for which the totem grants a bonus. The adept can also astrally perceive and project. For all other uses of magical skill, the adept is considered a mundane. Shamanic adepts are only available for those totems which provide bonuses based on Spell Category of Spirit Type, not totems that have bonuses based on things such as time of day (such as Owl) or no bonuses (such as Coyote).
Sorcery Adept: The character can make full use of the Sorcery skill, but is considered mundane for other magical skills or abilities, this includes applications of Sorcery that require Astral Perception (including metamagic).
Minor Adept (Cost Varies) 
At this level, the character has PARTIAL access to the use of a magical skill or ability or full use of a fairly limited skill or ability. Minor adepts can bond and use foci that affect their areas of skill and ability.

Astral Adept (5 points): The character can make use of astral perception and projection, but is considered a mundane for the use of all magical skills.
Astral Sight Adept (3 points): The adept can use astral perception, but not astral projection. For the use of magical skills, the adept is considered a mundane. Note this still means that the adept can learn the specialization of Sorcery for astral combat, since even mundanes can do so (see Awakenings).
Banishing Adept (5 points): The adept can use the Conjuring skill to attempt to banish any type of spirit. For all other uses of magical skill and ability, the adept is considered a mundane. He cannot control spirits, only banish them. The adept does gain a totem bonus, if shamanic, for banishing the appropriate kind of spirit.
Enchanting Adept (5 points): The adept can make full use of the Enchanting skill. For all other magical skills and abilities, the adept is considered a mundane.
Negamagic Adept (5 points): The adept can use the Sorcery skill to provide Spell Defense. The number of dice that the adept may allocate to spell defense is limited to no more than the adept’s Magic Attribute. The adept does not gain the use of Shielding or any other metamagical abilities on Initiation, only increased Magic and the ability to allocate more dice to spell defense per turn that comes with it. For all other magical skills and abilities, including other uses of the Sorcery skill, the adept is considered a mundane.
Spell Adept (varies): The adept can use the Sorcery skill to cast a single spell. If the spell is eligible to be cast using Ritual Sorcery, the adept can do this as well. The adept can also provide Spell Defense against the spell he can cast, but not from any others. For all other magical skills and abilities, including other uses of the Sorcery skill, the adept is considered a mundane. He cannot learn or use any other spells. The cost is based on the type of spell known: Combat (4 points), Detection (2 points), Health (3 points), Illusion (3 points) or Manipulation (4 points). The gamemaster may adjust the cost if the spell is considered especially flexible or weak. The spell is automatically known at a Force equal to the adept’s starting Magic Rating and can be increased normally by spending Karma.
Spirit Adept (varies): The adept can use the Conjuring skill to summon a single type of spirit: a specific elemental or nature spirit or a watcher spirit. The adept follows the normal rules for conjuring the spirit, but cannot have more than one spirit summoned or bound at a time. The adept may also attempt to banish or control spirits of the type he can summon. For all other magical skills and abilities, including other uses of the Conjuring skill, the adept is considered a mundane. The cost is based on the type of spirit the adept can summon: elemental or nature spirit (5 points), or watcher (3 points).

Gamemasters may have to keep an eye on minor adepts to keep them from becoming a problem, given their low point cost. Generally speaking, the Magic Attribute limitation keeps most character concepts from abusing the option; it’s not worth it for a heavily cybered character to spend 5 points for Negamagic or Banishing ability if his Magic Attribute is going to be too low to make much use of it.
Minor adepts (like all of the Talented) have to carefully balance the benefits of cyberware and implants with maintaining their minor magical ability. Many of them decide it’s not worth it to maintain a magical lifestyle and go the full cyber-route, burning out and becoming mundanes. In fact, some cyber characters might have had a minor adept ability once and just never knew about it before they had stuffed themselves so full of metal and cultured tissue that their Power went “poof.”
Physical Adepts
•	Extra Abilities
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII p. 124
For every 1 point of Magic Rating a physical adept “spends” on powers, he gains an additional 0.25 points in bonus powers. However, a physical adept may only have a number of points in powers equal to his Magic Rating active (or immediately available to activate) at any given time. The physical adept has the option of exchanging active powers for other powers he has access to through meditation. In order to exchange any powers, the physical adept must meditate for a number of consecutive hours equal to his Magic Rating divided by 2. At the end of this time, all powers will have been exchanged as desired and are available to the physical adept as per the normal rules. If the physical adept is disturbed during meditation, the process is aborted and the powers will remain as they were before the meditation began. The physical adept has the option of making only a portion of a power active if the power is available to be reduced (i.e. could have been “purchased” at a lower level). If he chooses to do so, he must do this in increments equal to one whole level of the power (i.e. powers “bought” in increments of .5 points by must be utilized in increments of .5 points). Also, a physical adept cannot utilize a power at any higher level of ability than he has “purchased” with his Magic Rating. Thus, a physical adept who has “purchased” Increased Reflexes at level 2 can utilize this power at level 2 or level 1, but not at level 3. The physical adept may choose to adjust his powers through meditation as often as he likes. The powers remain in their current state until the physical adept successfully meditates and changes them. The meditation that physical adepts utilize to adjust their powers is an ability available only to physical adepts, and is not a learned skill. It is treated as an ability that all physical adepts inherently know how to do. The reallocation of powers does not require a success test of any kind. This special meditation ability cannot be used as a Centering skill. However, if the physical adept learns another form of meditation, he may utilize it in conjunction with his special meditation ability to obtain both goals at once.
•		Alternative
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
I allow Priority A physical adepts, which have 1.5 points to spend on abilities per point of Magic.
•	More Powerful Physical Adepts
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: SRII p. 124, Awakenings pp. 110-119
Physical adepts got creamed in Second Edition. Thus far, we have a few adjustments: 
The power of Increased Reflexes became considerably less useful and considerably more expensive. It doesn’t make sense that someone with increased reflexes would have no extra dice to roll in situations that demand a pure Reaction roll, so we added some Reaction bonuses. We also made the cost triangular with level, rather than going 1, 4, 6. (In first edition, the costs went 1, 2, 4, 8.)

	Level	Cost	Bonus
	1	1	+1 Reaction, +1D6 Initiative
	2	3	+2 Reaction, +2D6 Initiative
	3	6	+3 Reaction, +3D6 Initiative
	4	10	+4 Reaction, +4D6 Initiative

Whenever you have a power that increases your stats and something else you do (buying a different power, increasing the stat through spending karma on it) moves the power into a different category, you need to pay the extra magic points. Getting to the same point by different routes should cost the same amount.

Thrash, a human physical adept, starts out with Quickness 4, Intelligence 4, Increased Reflexes 1, and Increased Reaction 1. This moves his calculated Reaction to 6. 10 points of Good Karma later, he has upped his Quickness and Intelligence to 5 each. He hasn’t paid enough for his Increased Reaction to bring it above human maximum, so his calculated Reaction remains 6 until he has a chance to Initiate and spend half a magic point to bring his Increased Reaction to a superhuman boost.

The powers in Awakenings occasionally have two different values. These are the ones we’ve settled on. 

Power	Cost	Notes
Magic Sense	1	Can be expanded to Astral Perception with Initiation.
Delay Damage	2.5
Quick Draw	.5	For drawing anything of Concealability 3+ from a proper holster/sheath
Quick Draw	1	Allows quickdrawing of anything
Sixth Sense	3

The Magic Resistance power gives access to initiate-style Shielding if the physical adept is an Initiate. (Thus, you get Shielding dice equal to the number of levels of Magic Resistance plus your Initiate grade.) 
Shattering Blow makes the Unarmed Combat test against a default target number of 4, rather than the Barrier Rating. (Follow the example in Awakenings, not the rule wording.) Having superior Reach on the wall does not lower the target number.
•	Newly-Created Physical Adept Characters
Lucifer <lucifer@mci2000.com>
Reference: SRII p. 124, Grimoire II pp. 38-41
Since physical adepts get such a sucky deal as beginning characters, we start them out as initiate level 0 to help give them a little boost.
Physical Adept Powers
•	Improved Ability
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 125
I allow the purchase of Improved Ability dice up to the Rating of any applicable Concentration or Specialization. However, the number of dice that may be added to any roll will be equal to the currently used skill rating.

Nick the Knifeman, who is a Physical Adept, has a Thrown Weapons skill breakdown like so:
Thrown Weapons	4
Non-Aerodynamic	6
Thrown Knife	8

Nick wants to get even better at throwing his knives, so he decides to purchase some additional dice using his Physical Adept power. He maxes out and buys 8. The number of dice he could add to any Thrown Weapons Test would be equal to the skill/concentration/specialization that was applicable at the time. For example, he would be able to use all 8 when throwing knives, 6 when throwing grenades (non-aerodynamic) and only 4 of the 8 when throwing shafted thrown weapons.
•	Increased Reflexes
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 126
The Increased Reflexes power has the following costs:

	Level	Cost
	1	1.0
	2	3.5
	3	5.5
Spellcasting
•	Aiming Spells
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 87-92, 128-132
Damaging Manipulation spells may be aimed per the standard rules for ranged attacks. In order to aim any other type of spell, you must first have the spell held via the Holding Spells rules on page 37. You may NOT call a shot with a spell, regardless of its category.
•	Drain
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
Reference: SRII p. 129, 132, Grimoire II pp. 119-123
Use the base Force rating when calculating drain, not F÷2. This keeps the spelltossers under control.
•	Drain for Sustained Spells
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 128, 132, Grimoire II p. 44
Shadowrun is a little unclear about when drain for sustained spells is to be resisted. I run it that the drain for sustained spells is taken immediately upon casting, which means that for some really hefty sustained spells, the caster may pass out before any noticeable effect takes place. This view is implied on p. 44 of the Grimything II (thanks for the research Mark Steedman!).
•	Elemental Effects
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 127, Grimoire II pp. 112-114
Only Damaging Manipulations may possess elemental effects. Therefore, any combat spells that possess elemental effects are now Damaging Manipulations (and therefore, no longer combat spells). The Drain Code for these spells remain the same, but they are now cast following the rules for Damaging Manipulation spells.
•	Extended Spellcasting
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 129-132
Any spell can be cast over a longer period of time in an attempt to reduce the effects of Drain on the caster. For every extra Complex Action spent on casting a spell, the Drain target number is reduced by 1. The Drain target number can never fall below one-half the original Drain target number (as always, round bad).
The success and Drain Resistance tests are both made during the same action that the spell is released. In the case of Ritual Magic, the ritual must be extended for one hour in order to reduce the Drain target number by 1. The reduction to the Drain target number applies to all magicians involved in the ritual.
If the caster is distracted while casting the spell, he must make a Willpower (2) test to see if he can continue with the casting, or if the spell is going to do something nasty. Wound modifiers apply to this test. If he succeeds, then he can continue casting as he was before the incident. If he fails, however, something might just go boom! Roll 1D6. On a 4-6, the spell energies dissipate into astral space creating a Background Count of 1 for a number of hours equal to the effective force of the spell. The area effected is a circle whose radius is equal to the Magic Rating of the caster. On a 1-3, something’s gonna blow. Roll another 1D6. On a 1-3, it’s the caster. Resist the spell as if he was its intended target. On a 4-6, he gets lucky and the spell targets a nearby object (if it’s a physical spell); or a random person within LOS of the caster (if it’s a mana spell).
•	Grounding
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 149-150, Grimoire II pp. 44-45, 47-50
Quickenings cannot be ground through, nor can sustained or held spells. Anchorings, however CAN be grounded through at all times, even when not active. Note that it is actually somewhat easier to ground through an anchoring while it is inactive.
•	Holding Spells
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 128-132
Have you ever wondered how Sally Tsung managed to make her hand glow with magical energy on the cover of the Shadowrun rulebook? Well, here’s how. The caster declares the force at which he is casting the spell. He then calls forth the energy from the astral plane as normal, but instead of sending the spell at a target, he holds the spell energy in a state in which it is aligned with his own aura.
This requires a Complex Action. While the energy is in this state, it has a physical echo resembling its basic nature. For example, this may be some small flames in the case of a fire spell, or some crackling bits of electricity in the case of a lightning spell. This echo appears in the area of the aura surrounding the caster’s hand, or it can alternatively appear on the tip of a staff, the blade of a sword, etc.
While in this state, the energy will not harm anyone or anything if touched. After all, it is just an echo of the real spell, which is on the astral plane. After the spell has been called forth to this point, the caster makes a Drain Resistance test as per the normal rules. (This test is made during the same complex action that the spell is called into being.) Then, make a Willpower test as per the rules for sustaining a spell to determine the universal target number modifier acquired while holding the spell.
Whenever the caster is able, he may target the spell as per the normal rules and let it fly with a simple action. During this Simple Action, make the Spell Success Test. Yes, this does mean that he can apply more dice toward the power of the spell than he would have been able to if casting the spell entirely within one Complex Action. However, keep in mind that any target number modifiers resulting from Drain taken during the casting of the spell apply to this test and that a magical misfire is more likely to occur (more on magical misfires on page xx). The universal target number for holding the spell does not apply to this test.

A magician may hold up to 2 spells at any one time (one in each hand). However, when casting the second spell (i.e. calling the energies from the astral plane and forming them into the spell), the universal target number modifier acquired from the casting of the first spell applies to the Drain Resistance test.
The caster is now holding 2 spells. Now, here’s where things get fun. He now has 2 options. He may target them one at a time, each taking a simple action. When doing so, don’t forget to add in the universal Drain target number modifier acquired from holding the OTHER spell.
Then, he would release the remaining spell as normal (taking a Simple Action; universal target number modifier not applied). However, if he targets 2 different individuals/objects with these spell, incorporate the modifier for multiple targets (+2).
Alternatively, he could let fly with both spells at once! This takes only a single simple action, but apply the using a second firearm modifier (+2) to both success tests. If the caster lets fly with both spells at once AND targets 2 different individuals/objects, also apply the multiple targets modifier (+2) to both tests. It may be hard to do, but boy does it make an impression!

But wait, it gets better. If the caster is wounded or otherwise distracted while holding a spell, he must make a Willpower (2) test to retain control over the spell. Wound modifiers DO apply to this test.
Also, if holding 2 spells, apply the universal Drain target number increase for the FIRST spell to the test to retain hold of the SECOND spell, and vice versa. If the caster loses control of a held spell, he must resist the spell as if it were cast at him without any Magic Pool dice allocated to its success test. (This is because the spell, after all, is currently aligned to his aura.) If he takes any damage from this test, he is distracted again and must then make a Willpower (2) test to retain control of the second held spell (if he was holding a second spell).
If the Magician is unfortunate enough to be holding 2 spells when distracted and fail both Willpower tests to retain control over them, he’s in a world of hurt. He must then resist both spells. (Ouch!) Resist each spell individually. I hope you have a current DocWagon™ contract.
•	Last-Ditch Spellcasting
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 128-132, Shadowrun Companion p. 80
Otherwise known as “Oh shit!” spell casting, last ditch spell casting is when a mage who is in dire straits decides he must do something spectacular, or he will meet certain death. (Being surrounded by half a dozen true form insect spirits after your teammates have been slaughtered wholesale, for example…not that I would ever put my characters in such a predicament…) ;)
In such an instance, the player may declare that he is making a last ditch effort to save himself or accomplish the goal of killing whatever is going to kill him, or whatever. There are house rules for how this works, but if I told you what they were, I would be forced to kill you. ;)
Basically, suffice it to say that if you ever decide to do this, do NOT make this decision lightly. What you will in effect be doing is grabbing whatever mana you can get your hands on (figuratively speaking, of course) in the area and rapidly shoving it into a spell you are casting. This is likely to produce some profound effects, and if any of your teammates are alive and anywhere near you, they will not be very happy with you.
Also, you stand a good chance of buying the farm in the process. The chances of surviving the experience are determined randomly. That way, you are in the hands of the universe, so don’t blame the gamemaster if, by declaring you are going to do this, you grab a ton of mana and force it through that sorry excuse of a mortal body and die.

Last ditch spell casting has been implemented to add a more cinematic feel to high threat situations for mages, as well as to give the mage involved a chance to go out with a bang. If you are really lucky, you may even survive the experience-but don’t count on it. For those of you who have read the Secrets of Power trilogy, this is what Hart did when she was overrun with insect spirits, and it came very close to killing her. The Hand of God rule (Shadowrun Companion, p. 80) CANNOT be used in conjunction with last ditch spell casting. (Betcha didn’t think I was gonna catch that one, huh?)
•	Learning New Spells
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 124, 132-133
On page 124 of SRII, under the heading Hermetic Libraries, it says: “A magical theory library is required to learn new spells (see Learning A New Spell, p. 132).”
Then on page 132, the rules say, under the heading Learning A New Spell: “The mage needs peace and quiet and a sorcery library with a rating at least equal to the Spell Force.”

I have decided that since learning a new spell is a sorcerous activity, then the rule on page 132 is correct.

In addition, I allow spells to be “upgraded” in Force. According to the Shadowrun rules, to learn a spell that a magician already knows at a low level at a higher level, the magician must pay Karma equal to the new Force at which the spell is to be learned. To me this seems a little silly, for if the character already knows the spell at a lower Force, then less effort (Karma) will be required to learn the spell at a higher Force. Thus I allow characters to pay the difference between the old Force and the new Force in Karma if they are re-learning a spell that they already know. This makes upgrading spells a viable and attractive option. The target number for re-learning the spell is the same as by the rules, however (twice the desired Force), as are the costs to be paid to the teacher.
•	Noticing Spellcasting
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII p. 131
In my opinion, it is entirely too easy to notice spellcasting with the rules as they are.
In order to notice spellcasting, the subject makes a Perception test versus a target number equal to the difference between the force of the spell being cast, and the Magic Rating of the caster, multiplied by 3 (not 2). If the force of the spell is equal to the caster’s Magic Rating, the target number for the Perception test is 3.
If the force of the spell is greater than the caster’s Magic Rating, subtract 1 from the target number of the Perception test for every point of force above the Magic Rating of the caster.

A Force 8 Mana Bolt (ouch) cast by a magician with a Magic Rating of 6 (he must be in a bad situation), would require a successful Perception test versus a target number of 1.

Keep in mind that situational modifiers apply to this test, and that the end result can be no lower than a target number of 2. One or two successes indicate that you notice the shimmer of the spell as it travels across the astral plane. Three or more successes allows the subject to notice who actually cast the spell.
Obviously, Damaging Manipulation spells are automatically noticed by all but the most distracted of individuals. Regardless of the force of the spell or the Magic Rating of the caster, the viewer need only to make a Perception (2) test to notice who cast the spell. Only one success is necessary in this case. If astrally perceiving while someone else is casting a spell, you automatically notice who cast the spell (it’s obvious), unless, of course, if you are distracted and not paying attention to that portion of astral space… which could happen if you have your own problems to deal with at the moment…
•	Reducing Area of Effect
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 130, 138
A magician may reduce the base radius of the area of effect of a spell by 1 meter for every die (not every 2 dice) withheld from the Spell Success Test. Thus, increasing and decreasing the area of effect of a spell is equally difficult.
Initiates have greater flexibility than non-initiates when it comes to the area of effect of their spells. Upon casting a spell, the initiate must declare what his effective Magic Rating is for determining the area the spell will effect. He may choose his effective Magic Rating to be any number within the range of his base Magic Rating and his Initiated Magic Rating. This in no way alters the Initiate’s actual Magic Rating.
This is only used to determine the area of effect of the spell being cast at the time. 

Jane is a Grade 3 Initiate. Her base Magic Rating is 6, because she has no cyber or bioware. Her total Magic Rating is 9 (her base Magic Rating plus her Initiate Grade).
When casting an area of effect spell, Jane can choose what her effective Magic Rating is. It can be either 6, 7, 8, or 9. The area of effect of the spell being cast is then based off her effective Magic Rating for casting that spell.
If Jane wishes to reduce the spell’s area of effect below that of what a Magic Rating 6 would allow, she must withhold dice as per the normal rules. The same applies if she wished to increase the area of effect beyond that of which a Magic Rating of 9 would allow.

Power Foci add to the Magician’s Magic Rating AFTER he declares what his effective Magic Rating is for this spell at this time.

Thus, if Jane determined that her effective Magic Rating was 9, but she also had a Rating 2 Power Focus, her effective Magic Rating is figured as if it were an 11. Jane has no control over the area of effect increase incurred from a additional Magic Rating provided by a Power Focus. As long as the focus is turned on, her effective Magic Rating will be increased by the Rating of the Focus.
•	Ritual Sorcery and Damaging Manipulation Spells
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 133
Shadowrun makes special note that the only spells that cannot be cast by Ritual Sorcery are combat spells. However, it seems to have been neglected that Damaging Manipulation spells require that a physical component travel from the caster to the target, which is something extraordinarily difficult to do when one is casting ritual sorcery halfway around the globe. Thus I do not allow the casting of Damaging Manipulation spells by Ritual Sorcery either.
•	Spell Defense Across Planes
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 132
I allow an astrally projecting magician to provide Spell Defense to someone on the physical plane so long as they are within the projecting magicians Line of Sight (LOS). Likewise, an astrally perceiving magician can provide Spell Defense to anyone in either the astral or physical planes that he has LOS to.
•	Spell Resistance Tests
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 127-132
ALL spells normally allowed a spell resistance test are resisted as if they were ranged attacks. By the standard rules, only Damaging Manipulation spells are resisted in this fashion.
•	Spell Signatures 
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: Awakenings pp. 97-99
Spell signatures are not treated as physical manifestations that can identify the mage casting a spell. A spell signature is treated like an astral fingerprint. Upon studying the energies of a spell, or the residual energies of a spell that was cast recently, anyone with a Magical Theory skill and astral perception can identify the signature of the spell.
The base target number for the Magical Theory test is 4. One or two successes will determine the type of magic being wielded (Hermetic, Shamanic, Voudoun, etc.). Three or more successes will reveal the spell signature. An Intelligence test may be required to recall the exact signature pattern at a later time, however.
Spells leave a residual presence on the astral plane for an amount of time figured as follows: Tally the total number of dice used to cast the spell, regardless of the source (including Totem modifiers, foci, magic pool, etc.). Each die is worth 15 minutes of time.
Extremely powerful spells and special circumstances will alter this duration. Spells cast through Ritual Sorcery leave a signature at the point of spell manifestation. However, the signatures of ALL spell casters involved in the ritual are left in the same location.
A Magical Theory test with a base target number of 4 will determine the number of signatures present. This test requires only one success. After determining the number of signatures present, a Magical Theory test with a base target number of 4 must be made for each signature (requiring 3 successes to grasp the specific signature). This is the same test as mentioned earlier in this section. Because the duration of the residual energies on the astral plane is longer when more dice are involved in casting the spell, spells cast via Ritual Sorcery tend to leave their presence longer than LOS spell casting.
•	Starting Spells With Force Modifiers
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 133
I allow starting characters to choose spells with Forces over 6 if and only if they do so by the use of Force Modifying restrictions (i.e. Fetish required spells and Exclusive spells). Yes, you can have that Force 10 Fireball, but only if it’s Exclusive and expendable Fetish required.
•	Sustained Damaging Manipulation Spells
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: Grimoire II pp. 49, 118, 121, 122
The Grimything is very unclear (and contradicts itself on 5 occasions) on whether Sustained Damaging Manipulation spells are possible or not. I have decided that they are not, unless the Damaging Manipulation is some sort of sustained barrier or has trap-like effects. Sorry, no sustained Fire Bomb spells.
•	Sustaining Spells
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 129-132
The universal target number modifier while sustaining spells varies. The base universal target number is 3, not 2. However, this can be reduced by a strong-willed magician. To determine the actual target number increase, make a Willpower test versus a target number equal to the total number of dice used to power the spell divided by 2. (This includes ALL dice from Magic Pool, fetishes, foci, exclusivity, and totem modifiers.) Reduce the target number of this test by 1 for every level of Initiate Grade the caster possesses. For each success generated, reduce the universal target number modifier by 1. The universal target number modifier can never be reduced below 1.
The number of spells that can be sustained at one time is limited only by the caster’s skill and strength of will. If wounded or otherwise distracted while sustaining a spell, the caster must make a Willpower (2) test to retain control and continue to sustain the spell. If he succeeds, he retains control of the spell and nothing changes. If he fails, however, the spell energy dissipates into astral space creating a Background Count of 1 for a number of hours equal to the effective force of the spell. The area effected is a circle who’s radius is equal to the Magic Rating of the caster.

Also, it doesn’t always make sense to apply a Sustaining Spell (or Concentration) modifier to ALL success tests made by the sustaining magician. Such an instance would be when making success tests directly related to the spell being sustained. For example, while sustaining Increased Intelligence +4, you shouldn’t apply the universal target number modifier for sustaining the spell when making Intelligence or Perception Tests. Another example would be while sustaining Combat Sense. While sustaining this spell, the magician shouldn’t be penalized while making combat-related success tests. These will be taken on a case-by-case basis. My primary concern is to not allow the Concentration modifier to become a double whammy. It is ridiculous to believe that anyone would sustain a Combat Sense spell if they felt it would make their combat-related success tests more difficult to make!
Spells
•	Barrier Spells
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII p. 158, Grimoire II pp. 112, 121, 122, 125, 131, 132
Barrier spells are a great addition to the Shadowrun universe, but they lack the proper explanations and rules to cover precisely how they are utilized, thus several house rules are necessary. I will cover the rules for the specific barrier spells individually, followed by some general rules that apply to all Barrier spells.
Barrier
Spell requires one success (target number 6) to erect a Barrier with a Barrier Rating equal to its Force. Every additional success generated adds 1 point to its Barrier Rating. The barrier produced protects against physical attacks, but not against magical ones. The exception to this is when it comes to Damaging Manipulation spells. Since Damaging Manipulation spells travel primarily on the physical plane and are blocked by physical objects, they are also blocked by a Barrier spell. Also, anything that is the size of a molecule or smaller may pass through the Barrier unhindered (such as air and gasses). Monofilament whips do NOT pass through a Barrier spell unresisted. As long as the Barrier created is not completely destroyed before the caster’s next action, it can be refreshed up to its full Force at that time by the casting magician with the expenditure of a Simple Action. This only applies to sustained Barrier spells, not ones that are Anchored, Quickened, or in spell locks.
Trying to fire through a Barrier (targeting someone on the other side of the Barrier), you treat its Barrier Rating as the appropriate type of armor to resist the attack (ballistic for bullets, impact for arrows, etc.). When figuring whether or not a projectile successfully passes through a Barrier spell, do NOT apply any modifiers for special ammunition (gel, stun, armor piercing, explosive, etc.), Dikote, Monofilament wire, Elemental Effects, or for the fire mode being used. The Barrier spell resists each projectile individually, thus one bullet may get through, while the rest of a burst may not, etc. In effect, the Barrier is attempting to slow down the projectile to the point at which it stops and falls to the ground due to lack of inertia. Thus, it doesn’t matter how many bullets or arrows are passing through the Barrier spell at once, nor does it matter what the special qualities of the projectiles are.
If the armor provided by the Barrier spell is enough to stop the projectile, then it is stopped somewhere within the Barrier and falls harmlessly to the ground, (or just stops and fizzles out in the case of Damaging Manipulations) leaving both the projectile and the Barrier spell in perfect condition (except for those fizzled out Damaging Manipulations).
Otherwise, take what remains of the Power Level of the attack and add any modifiers for special ammunition, Dikote, and/or monowire. If enough bullets pass through the barrier and are directed at the same target to warrant a burst, then add burst fire modifications as well. At this point, the target resists the damage as normal (i.e. subtract your appropriate armor rating from the remaining Power Level of the attack and resist with your Body attribute). Of course, you can still use Combat Pool to dodge the attack, if so desired (if you don’t think the Barrier will hold, etc.). Elemental Effects take full effect upon any appropriate targets after passing through a Barrier spell, but do NOT affect the Barrier in any way. If a projectile successfully passes through a Barrier spell, it does NOT degrade the Barrier Rating of the Barrier spell.
This may lead you to ask how to take down a Barrier spell if all your attacks simply pass right though it (albeit with some resistance). This is all a matter of what you are targeting. If you are firing through a Barrier spell, you are targeting someone/something on the other side of the Barrier, and your attack will be resisted as above. If, however, you wish to attempt to attack the Barrier spell itself, you may treat the Barrier as your target. This is difficult to do, but it can be done with a powerful enough attack. In this case, the Barrier spell is treated as if it had a Barrier Rating equal to twice normal (herein referred to as Barrier Rating (×2)). Subtract the power rating of the attack from the Barrier Rating (×2) of the spell (when targeting a Barrier spell, all modifiers for ammunition type, Dikote, monofilament wire, and fire mode DO apply). If there is anything left over for the Power Level of the attack, subtract that amount from the Barrier Rating (×2) of the spell. One-half of the subtracted amount (round in the favor of the Barrier spell) is also subtracted from the singular Barrier Rating of the spell.
Manipulations can be used to target a Barrier spell in this manner as well, but the Barrier spell is treated as only having a Barrier Rating equal to its singular Barrier Rating, not Barrier Rating (×2). While you cannot attack a Barrier spell with any other types of spells, you can attempt to Dispel a Barrier according to the standard rules.
Attacks follow the same rules as ranged attacks when it comes to determining whether they are able to pass through the Barrier spell.
Melee attacks can also target a Barrier spell in an attempt to take the spell down (adjustments for Dikote and monofilament wire DO apply). Follow the same rules for taking down a Barrier spell with a ranged attack, but use its singular Barrier Rating, not Barrier Rating (×2). A Barrier spell cannot be targeted by any form of attack other than what it protects against (except for Dispelling or when being attacked by a spirit or astrally projecting magician). Barrier spells do not provide any protection on the astral plane.
Blade Barrier
Blade Barrier spell works the same as a standard Barrier spell, but only protects against edged weapon attacks (knives, throwing knives, swords, axes, etc.). Bullets, arrows, spells, and non-edged weapons are not affected in any way by this spell. A Blade Barrier spell cannot be targeted by any form of attack other than what it protects against (except for Dispelling or when being attacked by a spirit or astrally projecting magician). Blade Barrier spells do not provide any protection on the astral plane.
Blast Barrier
Blast Barrier spell only helps protect against grenade blasts and other non-magical explosions. The Barrier Rating of the spell is determined as follows: one success (target number 6) is enough to erect a Blast Barrier with a singular Barrier Rating equal to the spell’s Force. Each extra success adds 1 to the this rating. Multiply the final result by 2 to determine the final Barrier Rating of the spell.
When an explosion comes into contact with a Blast Barrier, compare the current Power Level of the blast to the Barrier Rating of the spell. If the Barrier Rating of the Blast Barrier is greater than the power of the explosion, then the blast stops at the edge of the Barrier, and the Barrier Rating of the spell is reduced by an amount equal to the power of the explosion that came into contact with it. If the Power Level of the explosion is greater than the Barrier Rating of the spell, the Blast Barrier is destroyed.
Subtract the Barrier Rating of the Blast Barrier from the Power Level of the explosion before the spell falls. The explosion continues on with whatever Power Level remains. If the Power Level of the blast is equal to the Barrier Rating of the Blast Barrier, the spell falls and the explosion is stopped at the edge of where the Blast Barrier once stood. A Blast Barrier cannot be targeted by any form of attack (except for Dispelling or when being attacked by a spirit or astrally projecting magician). Blast Barrier spells do not provide any protection on the astral plane.
Bullet Barrier
Bullet Barrier spell works the same as a standard Barrier spell, but only protects against bullets and other ballistic attacks. Thus, arrows, thrown weapons, melee attacks, and spells aren’t affected in any way by this spell. A Bullet Barrier spell cannot be targeted by any form of attack other than what it protects against (except for Dispelling or when being attacked by a spirit or astrally projecting magician). Bullet Barrier spells do not provide any protection on the astral plane.
Mana Barrier
Mana Barrier protects against the passing of living beings (humans, metahumans, spirits, dual-natured beings, and astrally protecting Magicians) and spells (including Damaging Manipulations and active Foci).
However, it protects against living beings one way and spells another. For protecting against the passing of living beings, the Barrier Rating of a Mana Barrier spell is determined like that of a Physical Barrier. No living being is allowed to pass through the Mana Barrier unless they are traveling at such a speed that the force of the attack caused by their slamming against the barrier is enough to smash it.
Of course, this will also cause damage to the being slamming into the barrier as well. If the Mana Barrier falls because of this, the being continues traveling on, but is slowed down. Alternately, a character can make an Unarmed Combat attack against the Mana Barrier in an attempt to smash it. Compare the power of the attack to the Barrier Rating of the spell. If the power of the attack is less than or equal to the Barrier Rating of the spell, the Mana Barrier is unaffected. If the power of the attack is greater than the Barrier Rating of the spell, reduce the Barrier Rating by the difference. Other possible methods of attack are Dispelling or having a Spirit or an Astrally Perceiving or Projecting Magician engage the spell in Astral Combat, per the normal rules.
When casting spells across the barrier (firing through), add ½ of the Barrier Rating of the Mana Barrier (round in the favor of the Barrier spell) to the target number of the success test to cast the spell. This represents the attempt of the Mana Barrier to disrupt any spells that cross it. You may also attempt to destroy the Mana Barrier by casting spells at it. Treat this the same as attacking the Mana Barrier with Unarmed Combat.
When an active focus comes into contact with a Mana Barrier, the Mana Barrier attacks the focus as if the Mana Barrier were a ward. Resolve the attack as per the normal rules for wards and foci.
A Mana Barrier spell cannot be targeted by any form of attack other than what it protects against (except for Dispelling or when being attacked by a spirit or astrally projecting magician). A Mana Barrier offers its protection on both the physical and astral planes (On the astral plane, treat a Mana Barrier spell as a ward with a Force equal to its Barrier Rating.)
Spell Barrier
Spell Barrier provides protection against spells cast across it the same way a Mana Barrier does, but does not affect living beings in any way. Determine the Barrier Rating of a Spell Barrier the same way as you would for a Mana Barrier. A Spell Barrier spell cannot be targeted by any form of attack (except for Dispelling or when being attacked by a spirit or astrally projecting magician). A Spell Barrier offers its protection on both the physical and astral planes (On the astral plane, treat a Spell Barrier spell as a ward with a Force equal to its Barrier Rating.).
Spirit Barrier
Spirit Barrier behaves the same as a Mana Barrier, except it only protects against spirits and astrally projecting beings. Dual-natured beings are unaffected by Spirit Barriers. Determine the Barrier Rating of a Spirit Barrier the same way as you would for a Mana Barrier. A Spirit Barrier spell cannot be targeted by any form of attack (except for Dispelling or when being attacked by a Spirit or Astrally Projecting Magician). A Mana Barrier offers its protection on both the physical and astral planes (On the astral plane, treat a Spirit Barrier spell as a ward with a Force equal to its Barrier Rating.).
Barrier Spells and Area of Effect
Upon being cast, any type of Barrier spell may take the shape of a dome, wall, two-sided wedge, half circle, or any similarly simple construct. Any shape not listed here is up to gamemaster’s discretion. Once formed, the spell may not change shape in any way. Keep in mind that Barrier spells that protect against spells, may not be effective if they do not completely surround the target(s) of an incoming spell. However, if done right, even a partial barrier can protect you significantly, as all spells travel in a straight line (taking the most direct route) to their target(s). Manipulation spells travel in a straight line from the casting Magician as well, so a wall would be pretty effective in this case too. Of course, that doesn’t stop the Magician from walking around the wall and casting from there.
Personal Barrier Spells
When cast, the Barrier forms on the exterior of the target’s aura. Personal versions of Barrier spells have a Range of Touch, and their Drain Codes are reduced to reflect the smaller area that is covered by the spell. If a held or worn item extends beyond the aura of the recipient of a Personal Barrier spell (about half a meter out), it is not affected by the barrier, nor is it protected by the barrier. Outside of these modifications, Personal Barrier spells behave exactly as their area of effect counterparts. Personal Barrier spells may be cast upon an individual other than the caster. More details about Personal Barrier spells can be found in the standard rules.

All types of Barrier spells appear as a shimmering field of energy on both the physical and Astral Planes. Therefore, all ranged attacks fired though any type of Barrier spell suffer a +1 target number visibility modifier. This includes bullets, arrows, spells, and projectile weapons.
•		Alternative
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
There is no clear ruling in either SRII or the Grimything regarding whether Barrier spell’s Barrier Ratings degrade. I play that when Barrier spells are impacted or penetrated by appropriate attacks, their Ratings as barriers are reduced in the normal manner. When the Rating reaches zero, the Barrier spell is destroyed.
•	
Death Touch and Stun Touch
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII p. 128, Grimoire II pp. 126, 127
The spells Death Touch and Stun Touch are similar to held spells (see Holding Spells on page 37), but not quite the same. They are what bridged the gap between standard spell casting and the ability to hold spells. Basically, cast them as if they are not held spells. All dice must be allocated to power the spell and to drain resistance within the same action.
The spell is then held in the aura of the caster, in the area surrounding his dominant hand. The spell can be “held” in this fashion for a number of combat turns equal to the force of the spell, or until a target is struck by the spell - whichever comes first. If this energy comes into contact with anyone during this time, they must resist the spell as normal.
Don’t forget that touch spells receive a –1 target number modifier due to not actually having to touch the target of the spell, but needing only to touch his aura.
•	Healing
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 110-115, 155, 250
Magical healing via the Treat and Heal spells precludes the use of first aid. If, however, the spell is unsuccessful then first aid may still be utilized, but with a +2 target number modifier. This signifies the residual magical energies in the target’s body that interfere with the chemicals, etc. that are used during the first aid process. (The energies are still attempting to heal the target, and perceive the invasion of the body as a threat to the target’s health.) However, if a situation occurs in which the person applying first aid doesn’t use a medkit, the +2 target number modifier does not apply. It is a rare event that someone can successfully perform first aid on an individual without a medkit, but it can happen.

The Stabilize spell stops the target from bleeding to death. However, it does not reduce any damage. First aid and magical healing can still be applied to a target who has been stabilized in this fashion. (While the Stabilize spell falls into the category of healing spells, it doesn’t actually heal any boxes of damage. It simply heals the minimal amount of tissue, etc. necessary to prevent further degradation of the body.)

If magical healing via the Treat, Heal, or Stabilize spell is applied to a target who has already been treated with first aid (successfully or not), apply a +2 target number modifier to the success test. This represents the difficulty the spell has compensating for all of the chemicals pumped into the target during the first aid process. If the person applying first aid doesn’t use a medkit, the +2 target number modifier does not apply.

Medkits that default to using supplies and techniques specifically tailored to magicians are available. When used on a magician, the +2 target number modifier for treating a magician is not applied. A +2 target number modifier is applied, however, when using this type of medkit on mundanes. These medkits cost twice as much as a standard medkit and have an Availability of 6/24 hours. These special medkits are generally found via talismongers, and are not available off the shelf at your local drug store.
•		Alternative
Ray Macey <nightrain@elf.brisnet.org.au>
I allow magicians to make multiple healing attempts. I simply rule that the second (or later) healing attempt, only achieves anything if it is better than all attempts made before it, and then it heals the difference between the two.

Example 1) Target is lying on the ground with a serious wound (6 squares). Mage A cast treat (or heal, it makes no difference) and heals 3 squares of damage. This works as normal. Mage B then comes along and casts treat (or heal) and would normally heal 5 squares. In this circumstance though, it would only heal an extra two squares of damage. (The difference between his result of 5, and the previous best of 3).
Example 2) Target is again lying on the ground with 6 squares of damage. Mage A casts treat and gets 3 successes. Again, this works as normal. Mage B then comes along and cast heal and only gets enough to heal 2 squares. In this case, he would not heal anything, as he did not beat the previous best. If Mage C came along, and then got 4 successes, he would heal a grand total of 1 square (his result of 4 minus the previous best of 3).
•	Levitate Person
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 107, 157, Fields of Fire p. 76
I have found that the spell Levitate Person is, by the book, by far and away the most powerful damaging spell available. One merely casts it upon an opponent and then proceeds to smash the poor sod against all manner of blunt objects before whizzing the beaten body up 20 stories and dropping the spell. Using the rules as given on page 107 of SRII for crashing, and the rules on page 157 of SRII for telekinetic manipulation spells and movement, damages can easily be as high as 10S. Using the falling rules on page 76 of Fields of Fire, damages can be as high as 50D. Either way, for the minuscule drain suffered by the caster, the spell is a bargain. I have simply made the spell a voluntary one (cool idea Robert Watkins!).
•		Alternative
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
The maximum distance traveled per action using the Levitate Person or Levitate Item spells, or any other invented movement spell, is the spellcaster’s Magic Rating in meters. Specially designed fast movement spells may exceed this restriction.
•	Personal Barrier Spells
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 158, Grimoire II p.123
The Shadowrun descriptions of the effects of Personal Barrier Spells leave a lot to be desired. I run the spells such that they can only be cast as a dome that is centered on the caster, but that they will intercept anything that they are designed to, whether it is heading towards the caster or not.
•	Sterilize
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: Grimoire II p. 127
The Sterilize spell is a Health spell, not a Combat spell. The effects and the Drain of the spell remain the same.
Spirits
•	Allies
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: Grimoire II pp. 67-72
Allies and Drain
If a magician must resist drain then his ally may resist the drain for him freeing the magician completely from any Drain Resistance Test. The ally suffers the consequences of an incomplete resistance. The reverse is also true: a magician may resist any Drain required by his ally’s actions instead of the ally.
Allies and Karma Pool
An ally shares its magician’s karma pool and may use this pool as per normal karma pool rules.
•	Elementals
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 140-142, 144
Earth elementals can dig by manifesting using available earth, walking off with it, and then demanifesting, leaving a pile of earth behind. A Force 4 elemental can take a cubic meter at a time in this way. Water elementals can pump liquids, similarly.
•	
Permanent Elemental Spirits
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 140-142, 144, Grimoire II p. 91
If a mage uses special conjuring materials, costing five times the norm, and also pays a number of karma points equal to the force of the summoned elemental-the elemental is “permanent,” i.e. it has a limitless number of services and remains until banished, destroyed or goes unbound. (This is similar to the bound patrolling elemental on p. 91 of the Grimoire except that a permanent elemental still counts towards the mage’s total elementals controlled.)
•	Initiates & Conjuring
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 139-142, Grimoire II pp. 38-41
Initiates add their grade to their Charisma when summoning spirits.
•	Nature Spirits
Nature Spirit Area of Affect
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 139-140, 144
Nature spirits may affect (i.e. Confusion, Concealment, and other powers) a single target or a group of targets as a single service. All targets must be in line of sight and within an area defined by a radius equal to the spirit’s Force in meters.
Bound Nature Spirits
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 139-140, Awakenings p. 102
A shaman may have, bound (helping?), a number of nature spirits up to his Charisma Attribute. Note that he may still only have one bound spirit in a given domain but he may have several spirits of the same type if they are in different domains-for example, two hearth spirits in two different buildings.
Miscellaneous Magic Issues
•	Mana Fluctuation
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: Shadowrun Companion pp. 81-83, Target: UCAS pp. 96-97
Some areas of the world have higher concentrations of mana, while others have little mana available for a magician to shape and wield. Still yet, some areas have none whatsoever, making it impossible for magic to function at all. Mana surges have also been known to exist, making magic unpredictable and hard to control. There are also dead zones which prevent technology from functioning. Magic is the ultimate wild card in the world of Shadowrun. Don’t underestimate its power or take what you know of it for granted.
•	The Mystery of Magic
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Even in the year 2057, magic is nowhere near fully understood. There are so many things that haven’t even been discovered yet, much less studied, understood, and mastered.
In order to keep with the feel of the game in this respect, if a character desires to understand a given magical occurrence, being, or whatever, he must make a successful Magical Theory test. If the test is unsuccessful, the character knows NOTHING about it. If you feel it is justifiable for your character to understand more than absolutely zilch about magic, you MUST reflect this in your character’s background and in his skills. Otherwise, just keep your eyes and ears open and see what you learn.

I cannot stress enough how absolutely annoying it is to have a player run a character as if they know just about all there is to know about magic, even when their character is a street samurai with no Magical Theory skill! Just because you as a player understand the magic of Shadowrun, doesn’t necessarily mean your character has even the slightest clue as to how it works.
Please try to keep this in mind when roleplaying your character. As in any other area, if player knowledge and character knowledge are muddied too often, you will lose karma. However, I will be more strict in respect to magic than any other area. It’s just no fun when magic loses its mystery.

Matrix
We need to create software-friendly users.
	— Steven Bridges, researcher at Microdeck
•	Escher Loop
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: Lone Star pp. 63, 125
The Escher loop supposedly invades a person’s datajack and takes up residence in the firmware. It doesn’t make sense that a person would have hardware installed in them that can’t be rebooted without surgery; no other reference is ever made in any sourcebook that a datajack even has anything resembling RAM to run such things in, let alone being able to give convincing hallucinations by feeding in simsense signals. We ignore it.
•	Mainframe Computers
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: Virtual Realities 2.0 pp. 101-102
The only mention of pricing or functionality for mainframe computers in Shadowrun is in the VR 2.0 rules, and that is frankly silly. They suggest that a mainframe should cost 5 million nuyen per Security Value point. This doesn’t account for the obvious fact that a Red-8 system should be vastly more expensive than a Blue-8 system. It also means that mainframes would be amazingly lucrative targets for runners (or perhaps that for some magical reason the kind of power described as a mainframe is actually astronomically larger than any of us in our gaming group (most of whom are engineers) can believe, such that a mainframe would be so large as to be non-portable even to a troll).
So here is the system we worked out. Here are a couple of the other goals and criteria we had:
•	Mainframes should have a rating that works similarly to other ratings for gear. That is, the nominal range of a rating should be about 1 to 10, and the cost per rating point should increase in a chunky fashion.
•	A given mainframe should be capable of running at any Security Code from Blue to Red, with a dramatic decrease in number of users and applications supportable as the Security Value rises. This would explain why public-access databases are all Blue and Green despite the graffiti problems.

A system’s Security Code-its color-represents the level of robustness the operating system itself is maintaining. A Blue system is fine for a library computer or Matrix information site, but is insufficiently robust to handle serious programming tasks—it’s too easy to accidentally crash the system, lose data, and so one during the process of working the bugs out of a program. Green is the bare minimum for a serious programmer, and Orange is generally required to handle large numbers of programmers working simultaneously. A program under development can exhibit runaway bugs that can crash a Blue system, slow a Green system to a crawl, die of resource allocation problems on an Orange, or be frozen for the inspection of the system operator on a Red.
A system’s Security Value—its numerical rating—represents the level of paranoia the system is operating under with regard to cross-checking user input against privileges. This is often brought up to a high value in order to detect incoming deckers, but is also necessary on systems full of programmers in order to keep programs under development from interfering in the dataspaces of other users and the system itself. (In general, a system can only support development of programs that have a Rating less than or equal to the Security Value.)
All the other things like subsystem ratings should have reasonable impact on the needed system capacity.
The system need not cover Ultraviolet systems. Those are defined as magical and huge, beyond rating in nuyen or direct comparison to a normal mainframe.

It turned out that after we sat down and wrote some more detailed statements about what should come out of the desired system, it was obvious to the mathematicians in the group that not only could we meet them all but that doing so gave an obvious simplest result.
Basic Rating/Capacity System
Mainframe Ratings Table	
Quality	Rating	Cost	Capacity Range	Cost per Capacity Point	Density (per card)	
Standard	1-3	100,000¥ × Rating2	1-180	5,000¥	5	
Alpha	4-6	250,000¥ × Rating2	181-720	12,500¥	10	
Beta	7-9	500,000¥ × Rating2	721-1,620	25,000¥	20	
Delta	10+	1 M¥ × Rating2	1,621+	50,000¥	40	
The capacity of a mainframe is measured in system capacity (SC), the basic unit for the remainder of this system. For any mainframe, it is 20 times the rating squared, though a mainframe can be configured to any arbitrary number of system capacity points.
System components have different quality levels; we’ve used ratings similar to cyberware to give an appropriate feel for the levels of quality. The given tiers of mainframe are the ones that require a given quality level of components in order to keep the system from bogging down. In theory, you could use standard components to put enough capacity in one place to make a rating 10 mainframe, but the components would be unable to correlate with each other fast enough, and the system would crash frequently from routine operations. Since higher-quality components are smaller and faster, you could always build a low-rating mainframe out of higher quality components, which would generally result in a smaller machine.
Mainframes generally take the form of a chassis with a power supply and a rack inside that can hold cards (about the size of a modern PC motherboard) that contain a given amount of processing hardware or interfaces to other systems. A Rating 1 mainframe is no larger than a desktop computer of the late 1990s; larger ones are the size of a refrigerator. Higher-quality components are smaller, faster, and fit more on a card, so it’s possible to make a mainframe smaller by building it out of components that are of a higher quality than necessary for a system. You can get 5 Standard points on a single card; 10 Alpha grade components will fit in the same space, or 20 Beta grade, or 40 Delta grade. (Yes, for 2,500,000¥ you can fit a 900,000¥ rating 3 mainframe into a rating 2 chassis by making it out of Beta and Delta grade components; it also means that a Rating 7 mainframe occupies about as much space as a rating 5 or a rating 10.) Machines containing the more expensive cards often have elaborate security systems to prevent someone from making off with 2,000,000¥ worth of components in a briefcase.
Spending System Capacity
Color Multiplier
Almost everything you spend system capacity on has its cost multiplied by a number based on the Security Code. This multiplier represents the amount of overhead the host is using to ensure that programs are running safely.

Color Multiplier (CM)	
Color	Multiplier	
Blue	1	
Green	2	
Orange	4	
Red	8	
System Infrastructure
The capacity cost for the actual operating system and other infrastructure is computed as follows:
Normal Things
Operating System and Security Infrastructure:
On a Blue or Green system, (Security Value) × CM
On an Orange or Red system, (Security Value)2 × CM
Cost Per Simultaneous User: 1 × CM
Apps that could run on a PC: built into the cost per user
Mainframe Applications: 1 × CM per Gigapulse (1,000 Megapulses) of data manipulated
“Offline” Storage: 1 × CM per Terapulse (1,000 Gigapulses)
“Indexed” Storage: 1 × CM per 10 Gigapulses
“Active” Storage: 1 × CM per 1 Gigapulse
Connections (LTG, etc.): 1 × CM per connection
Slave functions: 1 × CM per reasonably-sized group of identical slaves (e.g. one building’s elevators, all the capacitance detectors on the perimeter fence, etc.)
Notes:
•	Yes, when you increase the Security Code, not only do things all cost more, but the Security Code itself costs more.
•	One running IC program or construct counts as one user. If a system ends up with more users than it can handle, start applying penalties such as target number increases and I/O speed decreases. At some upper limit, like twice the allowed number, it should just flat deny further users and/or begin an orderly shutdown, or even flat out crash.
•	These costs assume that you are putting the function in its normal subsystem. If a connection is not in the Access subsystem, a slave is not in the Slave subsystem, etc., the cost is 3 times normal.
•	“Offline” storage, as described in VR 2.0, is not quite “offline” in the modern jargon. This is auxiliary storage which is very slow to search, retrieve or modify, and corresponds to modern hard disk storage. The system cost here is that for a very small, hence very slow to search index. Actions such as Locate File, Read File, etc. take ten times as long as normal on this data. This is the sort of storage that, say, the IRS would use for tax returns over 5 years old. Offline storage costs 5,000¥ per Terapulse; a one-Terapulse unit is roughly the size of a hefty toolbox (about 45 cm × 30 cm × 15 cm). Modules like this can be added and removed to the system trivially, and often come with handles for easy carrying.
•	“Indexed” storage is similar to offline storage except that “online” storage is used to hold an index to the offline data. This allows searching actions (Locate File) to proceed at normal speed, but reading actions take the same ten times as long, and edit/writing actions take even longer, twelve times as long because the index must be updated.
•	“Active” storage is fully available at full speed.
Unusual Things
As mentioned above, putting something in the wrong subsystem costs three times as much as normal. There are some other special cases mentioned in VR 2.0 that this doesn’t cover:
•	A timed vanishing SAN costs twice normal. A teleporting SAN with a fixed repertoire costs triple, plus you must be paying the telecom companies for all those SAN addresses. A true teleporting SAN costs four times the capacity.
•	The “black box” software to locate a teleporting SAN takes up one Gigapulse, which is either 1 × CM capacity on a mainframe or (rarely) a Gp of active storage on a PC or deck. Usually if you want to connect to a teleporting SAN from a small machine you have to go through a mainframe that is running the black box.
•	A virtual machine takes capacity on its host as if it were really of the Security Code as the host. Nested VMs work the same way. For example: a Green VM that would take 30 capacity points if it were real is running inside an Orange VM which is running inside a Red operating system. It costs 30 × (4 ÷ 2 = 2) = 60 capacity points on the Orange VM. The part of the Orange VM that is running the Green VM is taking 60 × (8 ÷ 4 = 2) = 120 capacity points on the real Red machine.
•	A “bouncer” system, along with similar ideas where the configuration of the system changes on the fly, and including systems that have more than two configurations, must obviously have the capacity to run all configurations. It must also dedicate at least one capacity point times CM per available configuration, under all configurations, to hold the configuration information, and an additional capacity point times the highest involved CM under all configurations to hold the switchover controlling software. Example: a Green-8/Orange-10 bouncer system must allocate 8 capacity points (2 (configs) × 2 (Green CM) + 1 (constant) × 4 (Orange CM) = 8) under the Green mode and 9 (2 × 4 + 1 × 4 = 9) under the Orange configuration to the fact that it is a “bouncer” system.
Subsystem Ratings
At first these seemed problematic, but then we realized that these are inflated to give the right ranges of target numbers.
•	Systems of extremely low Security Values-4 and under-have base subsystem ratings of the Security Value plus 4. A system may not have a Security Value less than 1.
•	The base subsystem ratings for systems of Security Value 4 and higher are 8/8/8/8/8. 
•	If you buy a Security Value greater than four, you get (level minus 4) extra points to distribute among the basic subsystem ratings. Thus, a rating 9 system can have subsystems 9/9/9/9/9, 13/8/8/8/8, 10/10/9/8/8, etc. These extra rating points do not have any extra associated costs. 
•	Additional points in subsystem ratings (added after any extra provided by Security Values above 4) cost separately per subsystem, and do not take normal Color Modifiers. The first extra point in a subsystem costs 1 capacity; the next costs 2; the next 3; etc. These costs are doubled on Orange and Red systems. Note that this makes the “bonus” points from the Security Value more valuable the higher you want to make your subsystem ratings. 
•	Using a Mainframe to Write Cyberdeck Programs
(This is the other replacement for text in VR 2.0. It retains the flavor and nature of the VR 2.0 rule but has numbers for this system.)
To use a system in developing cyberdeck programs, the system must be running a Security Code of at least Green. The maximum rating of program that can be developed is equal to the Security Value. Program development requires 1 Gp per 10 Mp of the program’s design size. The 300,000¥ mainframe programming suite, if present, takes 8 Gp. (As usual for a mainframe app, the size in Gp times the CM gives the capacity cost for running the app.) See the example systems for an example of this.
What About All Those Little Shops With Orange Security?
Most of the shops in Sprawl Sites that have impressive security are just leasing space on someone’s mainframe-possibly even a small virtual machine-but certainly don’t actually have Orange systems in the shop waiting to be stolen.
•	
Matrix 1.0 to 2.0 Conversion Rules
S.F. Eley <sf@techwood.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 165-171, Virtual Realities 2.0 pp. 12-19, 33, 47, 63
Okay folks, here’s how to turn your old Shadowrun adventure Matrix maps into newfangled Matrix 2.0 host maps. This system is a bit oversimplified, and hasn’t been playtested yet, but it should work as a starting point. Please mail me feedback if you try this system and like it (or don’t.)
Host Layout
Every SPU and CPU is a host. It’s that simple. The datastores connected to an SPU are data on that host. The slave nodes are part of that host’s Slave subsystem.  The I/O ports and SAN’s are in the host’s Access subsystem.
All the IC is consolidated on the host’s security sheaf.  Any questions?

Here’s how to map it:

1. Draw every SPU and CPU using the line connections between them, just as they’re shown on the Matrix map. An SPU with a SAN connects to an LTG or PLTG; use the text in the adventure to determine which.
Optional: In Matrix 1.0, the CPU can connect you to any node with the “teleport” operation. If you want to replicate this, the host that was the CPU can connect to all other hosts as a chokepoint. Some of the hosts may be hidden, however, via trapdoors (p. 33, VR 2.0).
Note that this isn’t necessary with the simpler VR 2.0 layout, and may ruin the challenge of some decking runs.

2. A host keeps the security code (Orange, Red, etc.) of the SPU or CPU. The Security Value is equal to the old node’s Rating.  If the system is a Red system of Rating 3 or less, double the rating.
Subsystem ratings are as follows (round down or up depending on nastiness):
Access: The Security Value, plus the rating of any Access or Barrier IC on the node connection. Add +2 if any I/O ports are connected to the host, +4 if the host is connected to a SAN.
Control: 1.5 times the Security Value, +2 if the host was an SPU, +4 if the host was the CPU.
Index: 1.5 times the Security Value, plus half the number of datastores connected to the node. Add +2 if one or more datastores contains critical information.
Files:  Roll 2D6 and consult the following table:

	Roll	Rating
	2-3	Index Rating - 2
	4-5	Index Rating - 1
	6-8	Index Rating
	9-10	Index Rating + 1
	11-12	Index Rating + 2

Slave: 1.5 times the Security Value, plus half the number of slave nodes connected to the node. Add +2 if any of the slave nodes are security systems.

3. Build the security sheaf according to the Trigger Step Table on p. 63, VR 2.0. The following rules apply for specific forms of IC and alerts:
Access & Barrier: They don’t exist in Matrix 2.0. Instead, they add to the Access subsystem rating for the host (see Access, above.)
Probe: This will be activated on either the first or second Trigger Step. (Use your discretion.) The Probe IC rating is the average of the Probe IC ratings in all nodes on the host. If there is no Probe IC in the Matrix 1.0 map, add Probe IC with a rating equal to the host’s Security Value.
Trace: This will be activated on either the first or second Trigger Step. (Use your discretion.) The Trace IC rating is the highest rated Trace IC of any node on the host.
Optional: Trace & Burn or Trace & Dump IC can be trapped to perform these actions if the gamemaster wishes (see p. 47, VR 2.0).
Tar Baby: Tar baby IC, if it exists, will be activated on the third Trigger Step (just before Passive Alert.) The rating is the highest rated Tar Baby IC of any node on the host.
Damaging White IC: Killer and Crippler IC may be activated before or after a Passive Alert (which will be either the third or fourth Trigger Step.) The rating of damaging white IC is the highest rated IC of that type for any node on the host, +1 for each time that type of IC is duplicated. (E.g., if a Killer-5 is on the SPU, and Killer-3 and Killer-2 are in connected slave nodes, the total rating is Killer-5 + 2 = Killer-7.)

Gray IC:  Gray IC is usually activated after an Active Alert, but one gray IC program may be activated before Active Alert (this will be Tar Pit if it exists on the host). The rating of gray IC is the highest rated IC of that type for any node on the host, +1 for each time that type of IC is duplicated.

Black IC: Black IC will be activated after all other IC. The rating of Black IC is TWICE the highest rated Black IC on the host. (No bonuses for multiple instances; this is deadly enough!) The form of the Black IC should fit the context given in the adventure.

Scramble IC: Scramble IC is at its original rating for the files of any datastore containing it. If every datastore on the SPU has Scramble IC, Scramble at the highest rating on the host protects the entire Files subsystem.

Other IC (ripper, worms, data bombs, etc.) are entirely at the gamemaster’s discretion, as are constructs, party IC, and IC options. Try to make it appropriate to the Matrix system in question, and what the decker needs to accomplish. If you don’t use ANY of them, the hosts will all tend to look the same, so be creative.

System shutdown will always be the last Trigger Step on the sheaf.
Optional: If the host acts as a chokepoint or is otherwise critical to the run, don’t include system shutdown.

4. Central Metaphor: This should be easy. Most published Matrix systems are already sculpted realities to some extent anyway. Those that aren’t, pick something appropriate to the corporation. It might vary from host to host, but it usually won’t.

And there’s your system. Be sure to look at it and tweak the various Ratings and IC to create the same level of challenge that was originally intended. This will get easier as you run more Matrix 2.0 sessions. If you just can’t make it work, don’t hesitate to scrap the whole published Matrix and build your own, putting the important data wherever you feel it belongs. The key to Matrix 2.0 is paranoia and style. If the Matrix looks cool, and the decker is paranoid, you’ve basically got it right.
•	Satlink Uplinks
Martin Gotthard <s457033@student.gu.edu.au>
Reference: Virtual Realities 2.0 pp. 29-30, 88
As the current Shadowrun rules stand, runs conducted though a satellite uplink station are essentially untraceable. This gives the decker relative impunity to physical actions against him by the target of his run. This can be unbalancing or at the least annoying for the gamemaster, as it limits the options he or she can use in a run. The suggestion below details a possible way around the problem:
Any satellite capable of a decent bandwidth will be reasonably secure, as these satellites carry much of the international civilian and commercial traffic. Because of the problems of data volume, these satellites broadcast the information that they receive to their entire footprint in a non-directional transmission. On the other hand, some satellites, especially military and secure corporate satellites, would do their transmitting using a directional antennae, because the information that they carry is too sensitive to entrust to a non-specific broadcast system.
Data flow between a deck and the host which is running the decker’s persona is a two-way event, as the host sends information to the deck about what the decker senses as well as any downloaded files. This return data trail is the “scent” that the trace IC program locks onto and uses to identify the matrix port of the decker. If the trace IC comes to a satellite station while tracking the trail, it can presumably interrogate the satellite host to determine where the return broadcast is being sent. If the satellite is using non-directional transmission, this is where the trace ends as there is no specified address for the return transmission. However, this type of satellite has its own difficulties, as explained later.

If however the satellite uses directional transmission equipment to send the return data, then the satellite must know where to train the antennae. This can usually be expressed as a GPS location. Any Trace IC of reasonable rating and modernity would be equipped to interrogate the satellite host to determine the GPS location of the decker. After the trace has stored this data, it can piggyback the signal down the uplink, and confirm whether the data trail ends at that address, or if it continues elsewhere.

The Trace IC cannot specify a matrix address for the trace result (if it ends at the uplink station) as the address does not technically exist. It can however specify a GPS location which will be accurate within the diameter of the return transmission and the tolerances of error. However wide this return beam actually is lies at the discretion of the gamemaster. Suitable diameters range from a couple of blocks, down to about 10 cm for a laser link. This location leaves the decker open to all of the usual physical responses to an intrusion, such as drones, astral mages and elementals, to a corporate strike team or even a guided missile.

Satellites using non-directional transmission would therefore seem the ideal way to go, as they are unable to produce a physical location for the Trace IC. Several complications exist though, foremost among them the security of data encryption. Data encryption techniques in the Shadowrun universe are not completely secure, and can be cracked given the right program and enough time. It can be assumed that any decker worth his salt would use some form of encryption method on his persona programs, to stop interested parties from sending unwanted spurious commands to his deck or virtual persona. By virtue of available processing power, this encryption system cannot however be any more secure than that used on the data files that the decker routinely purloins.
This encryption would be sufficient to stop people from interfering with the real-time run, but the data flow for the entire run could conceivably be recorded and later cracked to yield a complete copy of the data that the decker has possibly trashed his precious cyberdeck to steal. If the data is hot, then these people that recorded the data could well beat the decker to selling it and negate his profit margin. Even if the decker gets the data to “market” first, there are cases when he can not afford to disseminate the data randomly because it would be too damaging or unprofessional.
Often the decker will not be concerned who else gets a look at the data he has acquired, but the value of information generally decreases in proportion to the number of people that know the information. On some runs it would therefore be necessary to use a directional transmission capable satellite. It adds an extra level of paranoia and danger to the life of a decker, but the risk is why they are the most highly paid (and shortest) profession in the world.

One thing to consider is that to stop a run being conducted through a satellite, the target Corp can send a Corp decker to perform a Crash Host operation on the satellite and dump the intruder. Another point to consider is that many satellites do not operate in geosynchronous orbit, and have faster orbits. This means that a decker may only have a narrow window of opportunity to access the satellite before it passes over the horizon.

Melee Combat
“Can’t we just shake hands on it?” he asked me.
“No, but we can butt heads over it,” I replied.
	— Hanna, barroom-brawler
•	Defending
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 100-103
Defending requires a Free Action. Defenders may not counter-attack (if the target rolls more successes than the attacker the attack fails).
Do not use the friends/enemies in melee modifiers.
•	Full Defense
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 84, 100-103
The Shadowrun Full Defense rules are ambiguous and can be interpreted in two ways. I interpret them as such: one can normally add Combat Pool dice to the Attack Success Test, but not the Damage Resistance Test. By choosing the Full Defense option, one is allowed to add dice to one’s Damage Resistance Test, but not to one’s Attack Success Test.

» Damion fails to explain that by doing so, you get the chance of causing a complete miss to your opponent—if on the Damage Resistance Test, the successes from your Combat Pool dice alone exceed the attacker’s successes, the attack doesn’t hit you at all (SRII p. 103).
	However, if you choose to follow the normal melee combat rules, and thus split your Combat Pool dice between an Attack Test and a possible Damage Resistance Test, you can’t get a clean miss at all.
» Gurth
•	
Martial Arts Styles
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 70, 100-103
Since there are VERY few circumstances I can think of that would ever keep someone from using their specific style of Unarmed Combat, I have decided to make a couple of changes to the rules for choosing a fighting style within the Unarmed Combat skill. First, ALL characters have a fighting style that they use. Streetfighting is certainly a valid fighting style. Brawling, specific Martial Arts styles, and Police trained fighting styles are examples of other viable fighting styles. The chosen style applies to the General skill of Unarmed Combat (thus, it also applies to any Concentrations or Specializations within that skill) and is the only fighting style the character knows. The only available Concentrations for Unarmed Combat are Cyber Implant Weaponry, Offensive Combat, Defensive Combat, and Subdual Combat. If someone chooses the Offensive Concentration, for example, he would get the bonus for the Concentration when attacking, but not when counterattacking. Specializations within Unarmed Combat would be specific maneuvers like, flying spin kicks, upper cuts, etc. So what happens if a PC wants to learn an additional fighting style? It is treated as an entirely separate Unarmed Combat skill in all respects. Thus, a PC could, for example, have an Unarmed Combat (Karate) skill of 5, and an Unarmed Combat (Street Fighting) skill of 2. The vast majority of Martial Arts fighting styles do NOT incorporate the use of Cyber Implant Weaponry. Thus, if you have a Karate fighting style and want to use your cyber spurs, you will have to default to quickness, because spurs aren’t included in your training. You could, alternately, learn another fighting style that does incorporate Cyber Implant Weaponry.
•	Reach
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 100
In Shadowrun ranged combat speed is king, but in melee combat Reach rules supreme. In fact Reach rules so supremely that a mere +1 Reach gives a statistical advantage of 100% (i.e. that you could get by with half the skill or take on an opponent of twice your skill). This is because Reach has a “double jeopardy” effect. It modifies both your target number to make it easier to hit, and your opponents to make it harder to hit. Upon a little thought by one of my players (thanks O’ Great One!), the following rule was devised and the logic behind this rule is thus. If one has a weapon with longer Reach than one’s opponent, one can do two things with this Reach advantage. One can attempt to use it to wallop one’s opponent, or one can try to use it to keep one’s opponent at bay. The first would be represented by a decrease in your target number to hit, and the second by an increase in one’s opponents target number to hit. Thus the idea of taking the Reach modifier, and applying it to either (or both if it is greater than 1) decrease your target number, or to increase your opponents target number.

Koolant the troll has a Combat Axe. He thus has +3 Reach. When entering melee combat, he can use this reach to do one of 4 things: 1) Subtract 3 from his target number; 2) Subtract 2 from his target number and add 1 to his opponents; 3) Subtract 1 from his target number and add 2 to his opponents; 4) Add 3 to his opponents target number. What Koolant does is entirely up to him.

I find this rule easy to use, satisfying, realistic, and it lessens the overwhelming power of Reach in Shadowrun melee combat.
	Alternatives
•	By The Book
Reference: Shadowrun Companion p. 92
An optional rule in the Shadowrun Companion states the Reach modifier is only applied to the target number of the character wielding the weapon, and not to the opponent’s target number.
•	Alternative One
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
In order to determine the value of Reach, subtract the smaller Reach value from the larger one. Whatever is left over (if anything) is applied to the attack/counterattack rolls of the person with the superior Reach. Reach does NOT modify the person without Reach’s target numbers in any way. Reach only modifies the target numbers of the person with superior Reach, regardless of whether he is attacking or counterattacking. This allows Reach to have an impact on a fight, without making a Troll with a combat axe pretty much unstoppable via Armed or Unarmed Combat.

Jack and Jill have grown up and don’t really like each other much anymore (Jack’s never been the same since that tumble down the hill). Jack is fighting with a knife. Jill, on the other hand, is skilled in the ways of the Katana (You go girl!). Jack has a Reach of 0, while Jill has a Reach of 1. Subtracting the smaller from the larger, the end result is 1. Jill has the superior Reach, so this modifier applies to her target numbers when attacking/counterattacking. Jack’s target numbers are not affected by this number. Thus, when Jill goes to turn her ex-best friend into thinly sliced cold cuts, her target number is a 4 minus Reach (which is 1), leaving her with a final target number of 3. Jack’s target number to counterattack would still be a 4. It’s been nice knowing ya, Jack.
•	Alternative Two
Ray Macey <nightrain@elf.brisnet.org.au>
When engaged in melee combat, I use the following rules with regards to reach. Determine reach bonuses as normal. Whoever has the reach bonus has the following options.
1.	They may choose to use their reach to aid their attack, or impede their opponent. The reach bonus may be used to decrease their target number when the character attacks (in which case, all that happens is the reduction to the attack target number, it does not effect the defender’s target number in any way).
2.	They may use their reach to impede their opponent. In this case, the opponent has to add the reach bonus to their target number to attack (in which case, all that happens is the increase to the opponent’s attack target number. It does not affect the character’s target number to attack or defend.
•	Second Weapon
Ray Macey <nightrain@elf.brisnet.org.au>
Reference: Fields of Fire p. 81
This is not so much a house rule, but actually just the way I interpret the “Two Weapon Combo” rules from Fields of Fire. When using two weapons a skill is needed for each weapon to be used. This can be the same skill for both weapons (i.e. Armed (Edged/Swords) works for both a sword and a knife if they are used together). The attacker also needs an Ambidexterity skill (this skill limits the maximum rating of the Armed Combat skill). They also need a two weapon combo skill (this is unique for each different combination) which limits the amount of Combat Pool the attacker can use.
I also use a house rule that states that a character with two weapons can only use the two weapon combo rules for either attacking or defending, not both. The character decides this when her turn comes up in the combat round. This stops two weapon combos from be exceedingly deadly, as it is limited by my counterattacking rule.

Joe Samurai has a sword and a knife in his hands. He has an Armed(Edged Weapons/Swords) skill of 3/5/7. He has an Ambidexterity skill of 6, and a Sword/Knife Combo skill of 4. So when he is using his combo he rolls 5 dice for his skill of 5 with his knife (it comes under Edged Weapons), 6 dice for his skill with his sword (he has a skill of 7, but it is limited to 6 because that is the rating of his Ambidexterity skill). He can then throw in up to 4 points of Combat Pool each time he rolls the dice (this is limited by his two weapon combo skill of 4). It’s Joe’s turn in combat. He can choose to either use the two weapons rules to either attack or defend (this part is my house rule).
Say he chooses to use the two weapons to defend. This means that he uses the two weapons rules for any attacks made against him between now and his next action. He must still spend Combat Pool for each attack he defends against though. For his attack though, he rolls the dice using the normal one weapon rules for the weapon of his choice.
Say he instead chooses to attack with his two weapons. This means that he uses the rules above for his attack, but for any defensive maneuvers between now and his next action, he uses the normal rules (as if he only had one weapon in his hand).
•		Alternative
Leszek Karlik <trrkt@friko.onet.pl>
To use two melee weapons, you have to have a special skill of “Paired Weapons”. It is treated as a General skill, with the possible concentration of “Specific weapon combo”. (The Ambidexterity Edge means it’s treated as a concentration/specialization instead.) The abilities you get depend on the level of the skill:

Bonuses	Reach 1 used	Two Reach 1
(cumulative)	with Reach 0	weapons
+1 die to defense roll	2	3 
+1 or +2 Power bonus (+2
in case of equal damage
weapons)	3	4 
+1 die to attack roll	4	5 
+1 Power (above normal bonus)	5 	6 
+1 die to defense roll	6	7 
+1 effective Reach	7	8
•	Ties In Melee Combat Tests
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII p. 102
When an opposed Unarmed Combat/Counterattack test is made, a tie does not go in favor of the attacker. A tie indicates successful blocks on the part of both parties involved. No damage is dealt to or by either party. Unarmed Combat attacks that are not Counterattacked follow the standard rules, with ties going in favor of the attacker.

Ranged Combat
I don’t buy all this physical adept-martial arts-magic-zen drek. I just shoot them with my gun before they can get close enough to use it on me.
	— The Taxman, street samurai
Actions
•	Announcing Actions
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
Players have 5 seconds to announce what their characters are doing when their action rolls around. If they do not announce their intentions, they forfeit their action. (Keeps the game moving.)
•		Alternative
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Although I don’t do this myself, a gamemaster I once played with counted down initiative when players couldn’t make up their minds. This could be combined with the above “rule” by making characters lose 1 off their initiative for every 5 seconds they can’t decide what to do.
•	Delaying Simple Actions
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 80
Even though the Shadowrun rules for delaying actions (p. 80 SRII) are optional, I like them. However, they only allow the delaying of entire actions. I feel that it is useful to be able to delay a simple action (good pointer Marc Renouf!), and so I allow it.
•	
Standing & Kneeling
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 81-83
It is a Simple Action to go from prone to kneeling, and another Simple Action to go from kneeling to standing. (If the standard Simple Action to go from prone to standing were true, it would be impossible to engage in unarmed combat with someone fleeing. You knock them down, they get up and run away. If you follow, you don’t have a Complex Action left to attack them with.)
Ammunition
•	Gel and Stun Ammunition
Wordman <wordman@flashpt.com>
Reference: Shadowrun, Second Edition pp. 95, 241
As far as FASA is concerned, stun and gel rounds are not the same, in spite of the listing on page 95 of SRII. Check out page 241 instead. Gel rounds (30¥ for 10) are riot-control bullets of rubber or hard gelatin (–2 to Power, Stun damage). Stun rounds (100¥ for 10) are large plugs of rubber fired by large-bore weapons like shotguns.

The rules flake out at this point. The text on page 95 groups stun and gel into the same category, claiming that they are resisted with impact armor, not ballistic. Page 241, however, splits the two types, saying that “impact armor is very effective against gel rounds and ballistic armor is affected normally” and that “impact armor is effective against [stun rounds], but ballistic armor is useless”. This sort of implies that impact is better than usual against gel rounds and normal against stun and that ballistic is normal against gel and useless against stun.
Of all this, I think only the descriptions and cost really make sense. I have made the following house rules in my campaign, based on this, and some info from SR1:

•	Any gun capable of firing bullets can fire gel rounds.
•	Gel rounds have –2 to power, do stun damage and are resisted with 1.5 times impact armor (round up) or normal ballistic armor ratings.
•	Stun rounds may only be fired from shotguns, but a shotgun can be loaded with a slug round where the slugs are gel instead of lead.
•	Stun rounds do stun damage at standard weapon power and are resisted with impact armor only. Ballistic provides no defense.
•	Stun rounds, being a single large piece of rubber, do not spread like normal shotgun rounds. Regardless of choke setting, stun rounds decrease in power by one every 5 meters. Shotguns are not rifled, so stun rounds are not very accurate. For each 5 meters increase the target number by 1.
•	Attacks And Targets
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 98, 104-109
Try using these rules in place of the vehicle/barrier rules.

I divide attacks and targets into three categories.
Type I: People and most critters, standard attacks.
Type II: Vehicles, structures and really tough critters, anti-vehicle and heavy weapon attacks.
Type III: Ultra tough military targets (main battle tanks), ultra heavy weapon attacks.

If an attack is directed against a target in the same category everything balances out and the rules aren’t changed: roll to hit, apply armor (if any) to the Power Level of the attack, resist damage.

If an attack is directed at a target in a higher or lower category do the following.
If the attack is in a higher category then the target, divide the Body and the armor of target by 2 for each difference in level, rounding down (if a Type I target is attacked by a Type III weapon, the Body and armor of the target would be divided by 2 twice). When resisting damage the target also divides its successes by 2 for each difference in level before staging damage.
If the attack is in a lower category then the target, divide the Power Level, Damage Code and attacker’s successes by 2 for each difference in level, rounding down.

Sam fires an anti-vehicle rocket (Type II Weapon) at Fred (Type I Target) and hits. Fred has a Body of 5 and is wearing armor with an Impact rating of 3. When resisting damage Fred only gets to apply half his Body (2) and half his armor (1). Fred rolls one success, which is divided by 2, resulting in 0 successes for Fred.
Magus climbs into a main battle tank (Type III target). Sam shoots the tank with a 9D pistol (Type I Weapon) and gets 4 successes. Sam’s successes are cut in half twice (from 4 to 2 to 1), and the Power Level and Damage Code of the pistol are also cut in half twice (from 9D to 4M to 2L) before the tank makes its Resistance Test.

These rules work very quickly and only require common sense and consistency on the part of the gamemaster.
•	Autofire
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 92-93, Fields of Fire p. 75
My second greatest gripe about the Shadowrun system has always been that autofire actually decreased your chances of doing any damage. The idea of autofire is that one sprays the area, or releases a stream of bullets at a single target, in an effort to significantly increase the chances of doing damage, and hopefully hit with more than one would normally hit with, thus also slightly increasing the damage done. However, in Shadowrun, when one uses autofire, one drastically increases the damage done, and drastically decreases the odds of doing so. I have fiddled with many autofire systems over the ages, but the most satisfying ones were always far too complicated, convoluted and involved too much brain strain to be practicable (thanks Rick Bukowski anyhow). Those simpler systems I found unsatisfying (thanks anyway TopCat). I am open to suggestions. At this present time, I use a system based upon Igor’s “Homebrew” Autofire Rules” and Brett Barksdale’s autofire rules (thanks guys, yours are fairly easy to use and do a good job!).

The system basically works by comparing the best roll made on the firer’s skill test to the target number required for a single shot (SS target number) to hit, and the target number required for the automatic burst to hit (FA target number). If the best roll is lower than the SS target number, then no rounds will hit. If the best roll is higher than the SS target number but lower than the FA target number, then some rounds will hit. If the best roll is higher than the FA target number, then all rounds will hit. This system will also work for bursts (which are essentially smaller allocations of autofire), as well as for multiple targets.

A] Determine SS target number (the target number for a single shot to hit, i.e. including all modifiers except the recoil).
B] Determine FA target number. Unlike the Shadowrun rules (see Shadowrun II Errata) I do not apply a recoil modifier for the first round fired in a Combat Phase. Thus 10 rounds of uncompensated recoil from an assault rifle would give a +9 recoil modifier.
C] Note the successes rolled for the SS target number. This is the number of successes generated for the automatic burst. If no successes are scored at the SS target number, then the entire automatic burst is a miss. (Yes, this does mean that often many successes will be generated-nobody said autofire would be friendly to the target.)
D] Note the highest number rolled for the success test. This number determines just how many rounds in the automatic burst actually hit the target. If the highest number rolled is higher than the FA target number, then all rounds hit. If the highest number rolled is less than the FA target number, then only a portion of the rounds fired actually hit. The number of rounds that hit depends on the recoil modifier per round of the weapon that was being fired (e.g. +1 for normal small arms and firearms; +2 for heavy weapons, miniguns and Victory Rotary Assault Cannons; +3 for Vigilant Rotary Autocannons).
i)	For normal small arms and firearms: Subtract the highest number rolled from the FA target number. This is the number of rounds that do not hit.
ii)	For heavy weapons, miniguns, Victory Rotary Assault Cannons and other weapons with a +2 recoil modifier: Subtract the highest number rolled from the FA target number. Divide this number by 2 and round up. This is the number of rounds that do not hit.
iii)	For Vigilant Rotary Autocannons and any other weapon with a +3 recoil modifier: Subtract the highest number rolled from the FA target number. Divide this number by 3 and round up. This is the number of rounds that do not hit.
E] Calculate the damage code in the normal Shadowrun manner (i.e. add one to the Damage Category for every full multiple of three rounds, and add one to the Power Level for each round in the automatic burst).
F] Whack target.

Time for a few examples:

Andrè is wielding an AK-97 SMG Carbine. He has a Firearms skill of 6, but is wussing out and saving his Combat Pool for later. He has the weapon loaded up with a Gas Vent III and a Laser Sight. Andrè is a strong fragger (Strength 9), and so from Fields of Fire (p. 83) he gets 3 extra recoil compensation points. The lucky target of Andrè’s 10 round FA burst is a quickly running (+1 target number) and very frightened ganger. It is fairly dim so a lighting modifier of +2 applies, and the range is Short. Thus Andrè’s SS target number is 4 + 1 + 2 – 1 = 6. His FA target number is 6 + 9 – 3 – 3 = 9. Rolling his dice, Andrè gets 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 8. This is 1 success at the SS target number. Andrè missed the FA target number by 1, so 1 round does not hit. The final damage code that the poor ganger suffers is 15D.

Venus is wielding her trusty M22-A2, all fitted out with Gas Vent 2 and a Smartlink. She’s feeling happy and decides to lay into the Jolly Roger security guard with a 10 round burst. Unfortunately for the guard, he’s not running, and lighting conditions are good. Venus has average Strength, so she gains no extra recoil compensation from this source. Her SS target number is thus 4 – 2 = 2, and her FA target number is thus 2 + 9 – 2 = 9. She rolls her Firearms of 5 plus 2 from her Combat Pool and gets: 1, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 8. This is 7 successes at the SS target number (remembering that the 8 counts as 2 successes due to my modified “Rule of 6”). She hits with 10 – (9 – 8) = 9 of the 10 rounds. The final damage suffered by the now Swiss cheese impersonating guard is 17D with 7 successes.

Pyro the Fire Elemental Adept is in a bad way. He’s copped a Serious Stun from his last spell, the bad dudes are closing in and all he’s got left is his (ex)friends FN-HAR assault rifle that has no useful additions (except the Smartlink that Pyro can’t use). Pyro decides to lay in, and fires a 10 round spray in the general direction of the nearest wannabe Pyro executioner. Fortunately for Pyro (or perhaps not) the lighting conditions are good and the range is Short. Pyro’s SS target number is thus 4 + 3 = 7. His FA target number is 7 + 9 = 16. Rolling his dice, all 4 of them, Pyro rolls 4, 4, 7, 11 - not bad. This gives him 2 successes at the SS target number, and allows him to hit with 10 – (16 - 11) = 5 rounds. This generates a 13S damage code with 2 successes for the bad guy to resist.

Bubba the troll has a gyromounted Vindicator minigun and a bad attitude. He decides to let loose at that pesky Lone Star Yellowjacket that’s annoyingly launching rockets in his direction. 15 rounds leave the weapon in the general direction of the chopper. Bubba has 5 points of recoil compensation from the Gyromount, and 4 from his high Strength. The chopper is at Medium range, but Bubba has a Smartlink attached to the gun. His SS target number is thus 5 – 2 = 3. His FA target number is 3 + (15 – 5 – 4 - 1) ×2 = 13 (remembering that miniguns have a +2 recoil modifier and that the first round does not require recoil compensation). Bubba has a Firearms skill of 5, and decides the chopper worthy of 5 more dice from his Combat Pool (he ain’t ‘fraid o’ no rockets!). Bubba rolls 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. A Straight-pity he’s not playing Poker. Bubba thus has 10 successes for his burst (the 9 and 10 count as 2 each). The number of rounds that miss is (13 – 10) ÷ 2 = 2 (rounding up). Thus Bubba hits with 13 rounds, for a damage code of 20D backed up by 10 successes. Even with the reductions for the vehicular nature of the target and its armor, that helo is in a bad way.

If multiple targets are being engaged with the one burst, then the procedure is pretty much the same, but with a recalculation of the SS target number and FA target number for each target, based upon what has occurred before the attack on that target.

Trev Caligula is out of his element with an automatic weapon, but no matter, he’s going to hose as many of those Humanis gumbies as he can. Trev has an AK-97 with a Gas Vent II and a Laser Sight on it, and is strong enough to obtain 2 points of recoil reduction. He decides to open up on the Humanis scum when they’re a fair distance away (after all, discretion is the better part of valor and all that), at Long range. No other modifiers apply. Trev decides that Humanis scuzzbucket 1 deserves a 3 round burst, as does his buddy 2. Since Trev’s going for the maximum damage he can, Humanis scuzzbuckets 3 and 4 will each get 2 rounds sent their way.
Trev’s SS target number is thus 6 – 1 = 5 for the first Humanis dropkick. His FA target number for the first target is also 5 (the Gas Vent compensates for rounds 2 and 3 and round 1 doesn’t need recoil compensation). For the second target, the SS target number is 5 + 2 = 7 (additional target), and the FA target number is 8 (Trev’s Strength can handle rounds 4 and 5 but not 6). For target numero 3, the SS target number is 8 + 2 + 1 = 11 (this would be round 7, which is not the first round of the Combat Phase, and thus requires compensation-something that Trev does not have left). Lucky number 3’s FA target number is 12 (there’s only 1 round after the first). The final Humanis slitch will have a SS target number of 12 + 2 + 1 = 15, and a FA target number of 16.
Trev opens up, he has a Firearms of 4, and 6 Combat Pool dice to throw around. He allocates none to the first 2 rolls, and 3 each to the second 2. For his first target, he has a SS target number of 5, and a FA target number of 5. He rolls his 4 dice and comes up with 3, 3, 5, 5, which is 2 successes. Target 1 has an 11S burst with 2 successes to weather. For the second target, Trev needs 7’s for the SS target number, and 8’s for the FA target number. He generates 1, 2, 5, 7, which is one success, and which misses out on the FA target number by 1. Thus target 2 cops a 2 round burst with 1 success, which comes to 10M. Target 3 is lucky, as Trev needs 11 for the SS target number and 12 for the FA target number. Trev only comes up with 2, 3, 4, 4, 7, 8, 10. Damn, oh well, perhaps the stray shots will hit another Humanis target. For the last target, Trev needs 15 for the SS target number and 16 for the FA target number. He rolls 1, 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 15, which gets him 1 success for the SS target number and misses the FA target number by 1. Thus target 4 only takes a single round with 1 success, i.e. 8M.

Caligula is going to fire two bursts from his HK-227S at the corp types’ bodyguards. The lighting is good, Caligula has the weapon smartlinked, and the men in shades and long coats aren’t moving very fast. Since the range is Short, Caligula has a SS target number for the first bodyguard of 4 – 2 = 2. Caligula, not being terribly strong, has no recoil bonuses. Thus his FA target number for the 1st bodyguard is 2 + 2 = 4. For the second burst, at the second bodyguard, Caligula’s SS target number is 4 + 2 + 1 = 7 (due to the recoil and the additional target). The FA target number for this second bodyguard is 7 + 2 = 9. Rolling his Firearms of 3, and adding no Combat Pool dice, Caligula rolls 1, 3, 4, which is 2 successes, and all rounds hitting the first bodyguard, for a Damage Code of 10S. For the second bodyguard, Caligula adds 3 dice from his Combat Pool, and generates 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 8. This is 1 success, and Caligula missed the FA target number by 1, so 1 round misses. The 2nd bodyguard thus suffers a 9M attack with 1 success.

The only comments I have to make on these autofire rules is that they require a bit more mental gymnastics than the Shadowrun vanilla rules, and they make autofire quite a dangerous thing to contend with. As it should be.
•	Barriers
Damion Milliken <milko@uow.edu.au> and Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>, with some input from Vince Pellerin
Reference: SRII p. 98
These rules replace the Barrier Rating rules found on page 98 of SRII. They are actually extrapolated house rules that are based upon many hours of research through, and deliberation on, the SRII rules.

Note: Throughout these rules, unless otherwise stated, roundings are to be made down, and performed after all calculations have been completed.  Thus, 9 – 5.5 + 2 would equal 5.5, rounding down to 5, NOT 9 – 5 + 2 = 6, rounding down the 5.5.

There are two Effective Barrier Ratings. The first, the Damage Barrier Rating is for damaging the barrier (AKA “Break Through”). The Penetration Barrier Rating is used for penetrating the barrier (AKA “Firing Through”). Both of these Effective Barrier Ratings can be calculated from the base Barrier Rating, and the type of attack, as per the Ammunition vs. Barriers Table on the next page.

Ammunition vs. Barriers Table	
Ammunition/Attack	Damage Barrier Rating	Penetration Barrier Rating	Source	
APDS ammo	Barrier Rating × 31	Barrier Rating ÷ 2	SRII + house rule	
Armor-Piercing Anti-Vehicle Weapons	Barrier Rating × 31	Barrier Rating ÷ 2	SRII + house rule	
Blasts	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	SRII	
Blunt melee weapons	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	SRII	
Cannon rounds	Barrier Rating ÷ 2	Barrier Rating × 2	SRII2	
Combat spells	Barrier Rating × 2	—3	SRII	
Damaging Manipulation spells	Barrier Rating	Barrier Rating	SRII	
Explosive ammo	Barrier Rating ÷ 2	Barrier Rating × 2	SRII	
Flechette ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating × 2	SRII	
Gel (Stun) Ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	SRII	
Needle ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating4	Neo-Anarchist’s Guide to Real Life	
Regular ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	SRII	
Sharp melee weapons	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating × 2	SRII	
Shot shotgun rounds	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating × 2	SRII	

Net.Sourcebooks	
#000 Triplex ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating × 2	Chromebook 2	
Acid ammo	Barrier Rating5	Barrier Rating × 2	Chromebook 1	
AP Flechette ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	NERPS: ShadowLore	
APFSDS shotgun ammo	Barrier Rating × 3	Barrier Rating ÷ 2	Blackhand’s Street Weapons 2058	
AP Incendiary ammo	Barrier Rating × 3	Barrier Rating ÷ 2	Chromebook 1 & 2	
Armor Piercing ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating – 2	NERPS: ShadowLore	
Depleted Uranium ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	NERPS: ShadowLore	
Dual Purpose ammo	Barrier Rating	Barrier Rating	Chromebook 2	
Duplex ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	Running Gear	
Extra High Impact cannon ammo	Barrier Rating	Barrier Rating	Chromebook 2	
Firepower™ ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	Street Samurai Catalog/Running Gear	
Fragmentation Flechette ammo	Barrier Rating	Barrier Rating × 2	Chromebook 2	
Flare shotgun ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	—	Chromebook 2	
Flash shotgun ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	—	Chromebook 2	
Gas shotgun ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	Chromebook 2	
Glaser ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating × 4	Running Gear	
HE shotgun ammo	Barrier Rating ÷ 2	Barrier Rating × 2	Blackhand’s Street Weapons 2058	
HEAP ammo	Barrier Rating ÷ 2	Barrier Rating	NERPS: ShadowLore	
HEAT shotgun ammo	Barrier Rating ÷ 2	Barrier Rating	Blackhand’s Street Weapons 2058	
HEP ammo	Barrier Rating ÷ 2	Barrier Rating × 2	Chromebook 1	
HESH ammo	Barrier Rating	Barrier Rating × 2	SWO Guns	
Hollow Point ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating + 2	NERPS: ShadowLore	
Incendiary ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating + 2	NERPS: ShadowLore	
LAPHE ammo	Barrier Rating × 1.5	Barrier Rating	Chromebook 2	
Multi-flechette ammo	Barrier Rating × 3	Barrier Rating ÷ 26	Chromebook 1	
Ramjet ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	Chromebook 2	
Rubber Bullets	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	Chromebook 2	
Safety Rounds	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating6	Blackhand’s Street Weapons 2058	
Silver ammo	Barrier Rating × 3	Barrier Rating × 2	NERPS: ShadowLore	
Smoke shotgun ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	Chromebook 2	
Stinger shotgun ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	Chromebook 2	
Stundart ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	Chromebook 1	
Teflon coating	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	NERPS: ShadowLore	
Tungsten ammo	Barrier Rating × 2	Barrier Rating	NERPS: ShadowLore	

Table Notes
1)	This is a house rule to make APDS and armor-piercing weapons (such as many anti-vehicle weapons) less damaging to barriers, due to their higher armor piercing ability than regular rounds and weapons. The SRII rule is to use the Barrier Rating × 2
2)	SRII does not specifically say so, but these are treated here as explosive rounds.
3)	Combat spells cannot hit someone on the other side of a barrier they are attacking, unless they are an area of affect physical combat spell.
4)	Will not penetrate an unmodified Barrier Rating of 3 or higher.
5)	If the Power Level exceeds twice the Damage Barrier Rating, the Barrier Rating goes down by 1 in addition to any normal reductions.
6)	Will not penetrate an unmodified Barrier Rating of 4 or higher.

The Damage Barrier Rating is calculated and then compared to the Power Level of the attack. There are three possibilities, per the Barrier Effects Table on page 98, SRII:

a) the Power Level is smaller than one-half the Damage Barrier Rating. In this case, nothing happens except for some chips and scratches to the barrier.
b) the Power Level is less than, or equal to, the Damage Barrier Rating. The Barrier Rating (not the Damage Barrier Rating) is reduced by 1.
c) the Power Level is larger than the Damage Barrier Rating. Subtract the Damage Barrier Rating from the Power Level, multiply by 2, divide by the Barrier Rating, and round up. Reduce the Barrier Rating by this number, and a hole is made, with a width in meters equal to one-half this number (do not round).

Any spells that have particular effects are to be used as per their individual descriptions, with the Barrier Rating referred to in the description being equal to the actual Barrier Rating of the barrier, not the Damage Barrier Rating as calculated above.

Example A1: Carmen aims her Ares Predator at BlackFire, who’s behind an armored glass wall (Barrier Rating 4). The Predator does 9M damage, and Carmen has loaded it with regular rounds. From the table, the Damage Barrier Rating against regular ammo is equal to the Barrier Rating × 2, which makes it 8 in this case. The Power Level of 9 exceeds this, so the Barrier Rating is reduced by 1 (to 3) and a 50 cm diameter hole is made in the glass.

Example B1: Edward comes under fire from a security guard and ducks behind a concrete wall. The wall has a Barrier Rating of 20, and the guard is firing explosive ammo from his AK-97 assault rifle. The Damage Barrier Rating is halved against explosive rounds, making it 10. The weapon’s Power Level is 9, which is less than the Damage Barrier Rating, but more than one-half the Damage Barrier Rating, so the Barrier Rating is reduced by 1.

Example C1: Cindy casts a Force 6 Power Bolt spell at a locked door, which has a Barrier Rating of 3. This is doubled to 6 for combat spells like Power Bolt, making that the Power Level of the spell (i.e. its Force) is equal to the Damage Barrier Rating: the spell reduces the Barrier Rating of the door by 1, to 2.

Example D1: Foobar takes his Panther Assault Cannon and fires it at an interior wall in an office. Notoriously flimsy, this has a Barrier Rating of 2. Against assault cannon rounds, the Damage Barrier Rating is equal to the Barrier Rating ÷ 2, in this case making it 1. The Power Level of 18 is surely more than the Damage Barrier Rating, which means it opens a hole in the wall. The hole’s size is .5 meters for every increment equal to half the base Barrier Rating that the Damage Barrier Rating is exceeded; the difference between the Power Level and one-half the Barrier Rating is 18 – (2÷2) = 18 – 1 = 17.  17 × .5 meters = 8.5 meters, so a hole with a diameter of 8.5 meters is blown in the wall, and the Barrier Rating is also reduced by 17. Since that would make it –15, the Barrier Rating drops to 0.

For burst attacks containing more than a single round, there are three alternative methods of calculating the damage to the barrier, with method A being recommended:

a) Simple, Shadowrun method: the Power Level of the attack, modified for the burst, is compared to the Damage Barrier Rating to determine the loss of Barrier Rating. The comparison is only made once.
b) Simple, SRII Errata method: compare the Power Level of the attack, without modifying it for the burst, to the Damage Barrier Rating to determine the loss of Barrier Rating. The comparison is only made once.
c) More realistic, but time consuming method: the calculation is performed for each round in a burst, with reductions in the Barrier Rating of the barrier being taken into account between each bullet.
Penetrating The Barrier
If the attack was actually aimed at a target on the other side of the barrier, then the Penetration Barrier Rating comes into play (in such a case, this calculation is probably better off being carried out first). It should be noted that both these effects are occurring simultaneously, and that reductions to the Barrier Rating caused by the passage of a round do not affect the Barrier Rating used to calculate the Penetration Barrier Rating.
The Penetration Barrier Rating is subtracted from the Power Level of the attack to determine the Effective Power Level of the attack. If the Effective Power Level is zero or negative, then the round is stopped cold, else targets on the other side of the barrier must resist an attack with a Power Level equal to the Effective Power Level.

Example A2: Carmen’s shot may now penetrate the armored glass. The Penetration Barrier Rating against regular ammo is 4 (equal to the base Barrier Rating), which is subtracted from the Power Level of the round. The 9M round is thereby reduced to 5M when it hits BlackFire. Keep in mind that the reduction in Barrier Rating, that also resulted from the same shot, doesn’t apply just yet. If Carmen fires through the glass again, that shot will face the reduced Barrier Rating of 3, however.

Example B2: With the explosive round from the guard’s AK-97, the Penetration Barrier Rating is equal to the Barrier Rating × 2, which makes it 40 in this case. The Power Level is only 9, stopping the round dead in the wall. Conclusion: explosive ammo is great for breaking down barriers, but not for firing at targets on the other side.

Example C2: Cindy was casting a non-area of affect Combat spell, which cannot hit anyone out of sight of the magician.  Even if there is someone on the other side of the door, he or she won’t be hit.

Example D2: Like Cindy, Foobar aimed his cannon at the barrier, not at someone behind it. However, for the sake of argument let’s assume some office worker happened to stand in direct line with Foobar’s shot. The Barrier Rating is doubled to find the Penetration Barrier Rating against assault cannon rounds, so it becomes 4. The poor wageslave still faces 14D damage from the cannon…

Resolving the affects of burst attacks on targets on the other side of barriers will depend upon the method used above to determine the damage to the barrier:

a) Simple, Shadowrun method: the Effective Power Level is merely equal to the Power Level, modified for the burst, minus the Penetration Barrier Rating.
b) Simple, SRII Errata method: the Effective Power Level is merely equal to the Power Level, without modifying it for the burst, minus the Penetration Barrier Rating. Burst modifiers are applied after calculation of the Effective Power Level and determination of actual penetration
c) More realistic, but time consuming method: when firing a burst at a target on the other side of a barrier, it is possible that each round in the burst will have a different Power Level after penetrating the barrier:

For example, an SMG (7M) firing at a target on the other side of a Barrier Rating 7 barrier, using regular ammo:
Round 1: Stopped cold
Round 2: 1M
Round 3: 2M
Round 4: 3M
Round 5: 4M
Round 6: 5M
Round 7: 7M
Round 8: 7M
Round 9: 7M

For the purposes of calculating the final damage code, there are three different options, the first being the recommended one:

1) Average the Power Levels of the penetrating rounds (rounding down) and then apply the burst modifier to this. In the above example, the average Power Level is (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 7 + 7 + 7) ÷ 8 = 4, and 8 rounds hit the target. Thus the final damage code is 12D.
2) Take the highest Power Level and then apply the burst modifier to this. In the above example, the highest Power Level is 7, and 8 rounds hit the target. Thus the final damage code is 15D.
3) Take the lowest penetrating Power Level and then apply the burst modifier to this. In the above example, the lowest Power Level is 1, and 8 rounds hit the target. Thus the final damage code is 9D.
•	Vehicle Armor 
Determine the damage to the vehicle, by first using the penetrating rules (Penetration Barrier Rating) to see if the attack penetrates the vehicle’s armor. For this, we use the Ammunition Vs. Vehicle Armor Table.

Example D3: Foobar is outside the office, and turns his Panther against a Chrysler-Nissan Patrol-One that is bringing in some reinforcements to stop him. The Patrol-One has an Armor rating of 6, which is doubled against the assault cannon, to make it 12. The Power Level of the cannon is 18, so it can penetrate the armor.

The vehicle must resist an attack with an Effective Power Level = Power Level – Effective Vehicle Armor Rating. If the Effective Power Level is zero or less then the attack fails to penetrate the vehicle armor. If the Effective Power Level is positive, then the vehicle must resist the damage. However, the vehicle gets its Body Attribute as composite armor, and so may subtract its Body Attribute from the Effective Power Level of the attack (minimum of 2, as per normal Shadowrun armor rules). However, if the attack is from an armor-piercing weapon or APDS ammunition, then the vehicle may only subtract it’s Body ÷ 2 at this stage.

The Damage Level of the attack is one less than the originating Damage Level, except in the case of anti-vehicle weapons. For these weapons, the Damage Level is not reduced.

Ammunition vs. Vehicle Armor Table	
Ammunition/Attack	Effective Vehicle Armor Rating	Source	
APDS ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating ÷ 2	SRII + house rule	
Armor-Piercing Anti-Vehicle Weapons	Vehicle Armor Rating ÷ 2	SRII + house rule	
Blasts	Vehicle Armor Rating	SRII	
Blunt melee weapons	Vehicle Armor Rating	SRII	
Cannon rounds	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	SRII1	
Combat spells	—2	SRII	
Damaging Manipulation spells	Vehicle Armor Rating	SRII	
Explosive ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	SRII	
Flechette ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	SRII	
Gel (Stun) Ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	SRII	
Needle ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating3	Neo-Anarchist’s Guide to Real Life	
Regular ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	SRII	
Sharp melee weapons	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	SRII	
Shot shotgun rounds	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	SRII	

Net.Sourcebooks	
#000 Triplex ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	Chromebook 2	
Acid ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	Chromebook 1	
AP Flechette ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	NERPS: ShadowLore	
APFSDS shotgun ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating ÷ 2	Blackhand’s Street Weapons 2058	
AP Incendiary ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating ÷ 2	Chromebook 1 & 2	
Armor Piercing ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating – 2	NERPS: ShadowLore	
Depleted Uranium ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	NERPS: ShadowLore	
Dual Purpose ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	Chromebook 2	
Du-plex ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	Running Gear	
Extra High Impact cannon ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	Chromebook 2	
Firepower™ ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	Street Samurai Catalog/Running Gear	
Fragmentation Flechette ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	Chromebook 2	
Flare shotgun ammo	—	Chromebook 2	
Flash shotgun ammo	—	Chromebook 2	
Gas shotgun ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	Chromebook 2	
Glaser ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating × 4	Running Gear	
HE shotgun ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	Blackhand’s Street Weapons 2058	
HEAP ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	NERPS: ShadowLore	
HEAT shotgun ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	Blackhand’s Street Weapons 2058	
HEP ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	Chromebook 1	
HESH ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	SWO Guns	
Hollow Point ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating + 2	NERPS: ShadowLore	
Incendiary ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating + 2	NERPS: ShadowLore	
LAPHE ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	Chromebook 2	
Multi-flechette ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating ÷ 24	Chromebook 1	
Ramjet ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	Chromebook 2	
Rubber Bullets	Vehicle Armor Rating	Chromebook 2	
Safety Rounds	Vehicle Armor Rating4	Blackhand’s Street Weapons 2058	
Silver ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating × 2	NERPS: ShadowLore	
Smoke shotgun ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	Chromebook 2	
Stinger shotgun ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	Chromebook 2	
Stundart ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	Chromebook 1	
Teflon coating	Vehicle Armor Rating	NERPS: ShadowLore	
Tungsten ammo	Vehicle Armor Rating	NERPS: ShadowLore	

Table Notes
1) SRII does not specifically say so, but these are treated here as explosive rounds.
2) Combat spells resolve their affects on vehicles per the rules on page 109 of SRII.
3) Will not penetrate an unmodified Vehicle Armor Rating of 3 or higher.
4) Will not penetrate an unmodified Vehicle Armor Rating of 4 or higher.

The vehicle rolls (as always) Body + (Armor ÷ 2) to resist the damage.

Example D4: Foobar hits the Patrol-One. The vehicle has to resist 3S damage from the shot: the Power Level is reduced by the Effective Vehicle Armor Rating, from 18 to 6, and then another 3 points are subtracted because the car’s Body is 3; because the Panther cannon isn’t a specific anti-vehicle weapon its Damage Level is reduced by one category, from D to S.  The vehicle now gets its 3 Body dice and one-half its Armor dice to resist the attack: a total of 6 dice against a target number 3.

Vehicle armor does not degrade or get reduced as per the Damage Barrier Rating rules, however. It will suffer degradation by the armor degradation rules outlined below.

There are also alternative, by the book, interpretations of the vehicle armor rules:

By The Book interpretation of the Vehicle Armor rules 1: use the rules as above but instead of using the armor degradation rules outlined below, apply the barrier degradation rules to vehicle armor as well. This is accomplished by using the Damage Barrier Rating rules exactly as they are above, with the Vehicle Armor Rating in place of the Barrier Rating. A question that must to be answered by each individual gamemaster is whether or not holes will be opened up in the vehicle’s armor, as per the Damage Barrier Rating rules, or whether the armor will just be degraded, but no holes produced. Either way this results in vehicle armor rapidly degrading in the face of attacks.

Example D4a: the Damage Barrier Rating is equal to the Vehicle Armor Rating ÷ 2 against cannon rounds, so that becomes 3 (6 ÷ 2). The Power Level of the Panther cannon exceeds the Damage Barrier Rating, so the Vehicle Armor Rating gets reduced. The reduction is 4: one-half the Vehicle Armor Rating is 3, which fits four times into the difference between Power Level and Barrier Rating. The Vehicle Armor Rating after the shot is 6 – 4 = 2.
Depending on whether the gamemaster rules that holes are opened in the armor or not, a 2-meter hole could now be in the Patrol-One’s side.

By The Book interpretation of the Vehicle Armor rules 2: for vehicle armor, do not use either Damage Barrier Rating or Penetration Barrier Rating, but simply subtract the Vehicle Armor Rating from the Power Level of the attack. If the attack is from an Armor-Piercing weapon or ammunition, then subtract half the Vehicle Armor Rating (round down) from the Power Level of the attack. If the Effective Power Level is then zero or negative, the round bounces off the armor.
If the Effective Power Level is greater than zero, then the vehicle resists the damage (at the appropriately reduced Damage Level), using its Body attribute as composite Ballistic and Impact armor. APDS and armor-piercing weapons halve (round down) the Body attribute of the vehicle for the purposes of this calculation. (The minimum target number is 2.) The Damage Level of the attack is one less than the original Damage Level, except in the case of anti-vehicle weapons. For these weapons, the Damage Level is not reduced. This is simple and easy, but not entirely satisfying.

Example D4b: The Panther cannon’s Power Level is 18, minus the Vehicle Armor Rating and Body, which results in an Effective Power Level of 18 – 6 – 3 = 9. The vehicle has to resist 9S damage.
•	Critter Hardened Armor
Treat it exactly the same as vehicle armor, i.e. using the Penetration Barrier Rating rules. The critters Body is to be treated the same as a vehicle’s Body, and hardened armor the same as vehicle armor, except that critter hardened armor does not degrade at all. However, at the gamemaster’s option, critter hardened armor may degrade as per the armor degradation rules explained below.

Example E1: Bob finds himself on a boat in the North Atlantic, hunting leviathan for sport with some way too rich guy (he wonders why he’s doing this, too). The employer, as eccentric as is to be expected, has decided to use normal hunting rifles, which do 9S damage; the leviathan has 2 points of hardened armor and a Body of 11. APDS ammo is used, which can easily penetrate the armor rating of 2, so the leviathan now has to resist a damage of 2M: base Power Level 9 – (Armor Rating 2)÷2 – one-half Body 5.5 = Power Level of 2.5, rounding to 2; the Damage Level is reduced by one to M. For this Damage Resistance Test, the critter gets 12 dice: its Body plus one-half its Armor.
•	Personal Hardened Armor
Treat it exactly the same as critter hardened armor, except that the Body attribute of the person inside does not count as composite armor and reduce the Effective Power Level, and the Damage Level of the attack is never reduced by one category. The personal hardened armor will be penetrated as per the Penetration Barrier Rating rules, and will degrade as per the rules below. This rule only applies to personal hardened armor, and not to normal personal armor.

Example A3: BlackFire shoots back at Carmen, who wears a light military armor (ratings 10/7). BlackFire is packing serious firepower, namely a 14S sniper rifle firing regular rounds. The Effective Power Level is 14 – 10 = 4, and so the damage Carmen has to resist is 4S. In addition, some armor degradation will occur (see below).
At some later stage, Carmen has acquired a new set of light military armor, and one of BlackFire’s buddies shoots 10 regular rounds from his HK227 (7M damage each) at Carmen. Using method A for resolving burst attacks, the Power Level of a single round is less than the Ballistic rating of Carmen’s armor, so all rounds simply bounce off without causing any damage to her at all. However, the attack may damage the armor itself (see below).
Gel Packs
In addition to the rules as above, each time the armor is penetrated (i.e. each attack that the person inside must resist with their Body), both the Ballistic and Impact armor ratings are reduced by 1. This reduction is not applied on a bullet by bullet basis, rather it is applied per attack (i.e. a single burst, no matter how large, will only reduce the ratings by 1, not by 1 per bullet, assuming that it penetrates at all, of course). The gel pack armor will also degrade by the degradation rules outlined below.

Example A4: Carmen shoots back at BlackFire’s chummer, this time using her M22-A2 firing regular rounds on full auto. She fires 6 rounds and hits, causing 14D damage. The target is wearing an armor jacket with gel packs (5/3 armor), but, again using method A, Carmen’s rifle has a base Power Level of 8, so it penetrates and the guy has to resist the damage. The gel packs’ efficiency is automatically reduced by 1 point, regardless of any other reductions that may result from the burst.
•	Armor Degradation
This rule replaces the armor degradation rules on page 75 of Fields of Fire, and it applies equally to personal non-hardened armor, gel pack armor, personal hardened armor, and vehicle armor. It may also, at the gamemaster’s discretion, apply to critter hardened armor, and maybe even to regular critter armor.

Armor degradation uses the Damage Barrier Rating rules, but with the following modifications:

•	Light Damage Code Weapons, Effective Armor Rating = (Ballistic + Impact) × 8
•	Moderate Damage Code Weapons, Effective Armor Rating = (Ballistic + Impact) × 4
•	Serious Damage Code Weapons, Effective Armor Rating = (Ballistic + Impact) × 2
•	Deadly Damage Code Weapons, Effective Armor Rating = (Ballistic + Impact)

The Effective Armor Rating is then used in the place of the Barrier Rating in the Damage Barrier Rating rules. I.e. a  ÷2 modifier for explosive rounds, a ×3 modifier for APDS, and the other modifiers would also apply. Also, no holes are created in the armor as a result of armor degradation. Additionally, only articles listed as armor in the sourcebooks abide by these rules—other impediments to attacks, like a steel plate worn in front of a character’s chest, use the standard barrier rules.

For vehicle armor and critter hardened armor, use the armor rating in place of the (Ballistic + Impact) sum above. Alternatively, twice the armor rating may be used to represent the greater robustness of hardened armors, and takes into account that they really have Ballistic and Impact ratings equal to their single rating.

Example A5: BlackFire’s chummer (we won’t bother giving him a name because he’s not going to survive this example anyway) had to resist 14D damage, minus his Ballistic armor of 5. The base Damage Code of the weapon is 8M, though, so for purposes of armor degradation his Effective Armor Rating is (Ballistic + Impact) × 4, which is (5 + 3) × 4 = 8 × 4 = 32. This is then doubled because Carmen fires regular ammo, to 64. No matter which way you look at it, Carmen’s attack is not powerful enough to cause armor degradation.

Example D5: Foobar and his assault cannon aim at one of the sec guards crawling out of the Patrol-One after Foobar pumped a few more rounds into it. He fires, and hits. The guard is wearing a vest with plates (4/3 armor) and because of Foobar’s cannon rounds doing a base of Deadly damage, his Effective Armor Rating is 4 + 3 = 7. This is then halved to 3.5 because it’s an assault cannon round… The Armor rating is reduced by (18 – 7) ÷ 3.5 = 11 ÷ 3.5 = 4 points.

There are three alternatives to assigning the degraded armor points, with the first being the recommended method.

1) Split it equally between both ratings, with any odd point going to the armor rating used to resist the attack.
Example D6a: Of the 4 points, 2 are taken from the Ballistic rating and 2 from the Impact rating: the reduction is distributed evenly, though if there was a point left over it would come from the Ballistic rating because that is used to resist damage from assault cannons. The new Armor ratings are Ballistic 2, Impact 1.

2) Apply the full reduction to both armor ratings.
Example D6b: Both Ballistic and Impact ratings are reduced by 4, giving the armor a 0/0 rating.

3) Apply the full reduction to the rating used to resist the attack.
Example D6c: Ballistic is used to resist damage from the cannon, so it is reduced by 4 points. The new armor ratings are 0/3.

In the case of vehicle armor, the Damage Level used is the same one which the vehicle resists, not the original Damage Level of the weapon. I.e. all weapons except anti-vehicle weapons have their Damage Level reduced by one.
Barrier Ratings
For those gamemasters who wish for an additional level of selection and fine tuning for Barrier Ratings, the original SRI Barrier Ratings are transportable directly into SRII. The Barrier Ratings are outlined in the tables.

First Edition Barrier Ratings	
Material	Barrier Rating	
	Thin	Normal	Thick	Reinforced	
Wood	0	1	2	4	
Armor Glass	1	2	4	8	
Plywood	1	3	6	12	
Construction Plastic	2	4	8	16	
Impact Plastic	2	5	10	20	
Steel Sheet	3	6	12	24	
Ballistic Composite	3	7	14	28	
Concrete	4	8	16	32	

Second Edition Barrier Ratings	
Material	Rating	
Standard Glass	2	
Cheap Material/Regular Tires	3	
Average Material/Ballistic Glass	4	
Heavy Material	6	
Reinforced/Armored Glass	8	
Structural Material	12	
Heavy Structural Material	16	
Armored/Reinforced Material	24	
Hardened Material	32	

If the two sets of Barrier Ratings are compared, it can be seen that they are actually very similar. The SRI Barrier Ratings are more specific and explicit in what they assign, but they only assign values for a limited selection of materials. The SRII Barrier Ratings appear to have tried to correct this with general ratings, at the expense of including thicknesses for the materials. It is possible to use the SRI Barrier Ratings as a guide for specific materials.
•		Alternative
See Armor Degradation on page 65.
Body Armor
•	Body Armor and Called Shots
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII p. 92, Fields of Fire p. 75
If armor degradation occurs when layering armor, all worn armor in the hit location is degraded the full amount. All non-magical ranged attacks will be treated in an abstract fashion, unless a Called Shot is attempted. Thus, all worn armor (except forearm guards, of course) will apply to the shot, including helmets. When calling a shot, a character has two options: he can target a specific location of the body, or he can choose to cause a special effect to happen with the shot. In the case of the former instance, only the armor covering the targeted location will apply to the Damage Resistance test. In the latter case, any desired special effect must be approved by the gamemaster. Some examples of generally acceptable special effects are: shooting the gun out of a target’s hand and temporarily disabling the use of a leg by shooting out a knee.
All long coats are considered to cover the full length of the legs, torso, and arms. Form-fitting armor level 1 covers the torso only; form-fitting armor level 2 covers the torso and legs; form-fitting armor level 3 covers the torso, legs, and arms. For the sake of simplicity, all coats, jackets, and vests are considered to cover their standard areas at all times-even if they would realistically not do so because they were currently open in the front. Also, helmets are considered to cover the entire head, even if they are open-faced.
Calling a shot to a specific area of the body does not, in itself, increase the damage caused. For example, targeting the head of an opponent does not change the base Power Level or damage code of the attack. Specific cinematic effects of ranged attacks will be determined by the gamemaster, including the location hit in the case of abstract shots. These effects will not affect the amount of damage caused in any way. In fact, it will often be the other way around-the amount of damage caused may determine where the target was hit.
•		Alternative
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
The concept of the Called Shot is something that should not be taken lightly. By utilizing this rule you makes things a bit more realistic but also a hell of a lot more deadly. The big problem I run into while gamemastering is the fact that if I used as many called shots on the PCs as they use on my NPCs they all would die during the first fire fight. All it takes is a good called shot to the head and your armor rating of 10 is suddenly reduced to a 0, or a whopping 1 if you’re wearing a helmet.
The following are two variations to the Called Shot rules, the first of which resembles FASA’s normal rules, while the second is a home brew version which I’ve had some pretty good success with. Note: The two variations are NOT compatible with each other.
•	Variation 1
Rule #1: Called Shots against partially covered objects/body parts still receive the +4 partial cover modifier.
This isn’t anything new, I simply present it as a reminder of the importance of keeping your head down, taking cover, shooting around corners, etc.
Rule #2: Use the armor rating of the targeted area when calculating damage.
The rules state, somewhere, that called shots simply raise the Damage Code by one level. This is stupid. The damage is going to get to D eventually any way and such a bonus isn’t spectacularly helpful. The realistic thing to do would be to calculate the armor rating at the point of impact and go from there. In fact, it’s a good idea to keep the armor ratings of the arms, legs, head, and torso written down somewhere so they can be easily referenced. This also allows people with single cyberarms, off balanced armor, and so on to take advantage of their armor’s uniqueness.
Rule #3: There is an additional +2 modifier for shooting at the head.
This is because I hate it when people shoot at the head.
•	Variation 2
I actually prefer this system over the above because it is easier to use and results is less outright slayings. The way it works is simple: Add +1 to the target number for every –1 you wish to give to the target’s armor rating for the purpose of calculating damage. In other words, the attacker could take a +5 modifier to fire if they want to give somebody wearing an Armor Jacket no armor advantage, a +3 if they wished to reduce the advantage to 2, and so on. If the target had an overall armor rating of 10, the attacker could take a +7 to give the target an armor rating of 3. You don’t actually declare what body part you’re shooting at, this system just assumes you were aiming at a seam in the armor, the target’s hand or head, and so on. For role-playing purposes the location damaged would probably relate to how much damage is done. If the resulting damage is deadly then the gamemaster may very well determine that the head received the bullet(s). Gamemasters may wish to toss in an additional +2 modifier if this rule seems a bit too deadly.
•	Armor Degradation
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
Body armor shouldn’t stick around forever, especially when it gets wracked up as much as it does in Shadowrun. Armor can only take so many hits before it simply falls apart or, at the very least, loses the rigidity or coverage required for it to give an actual armor benefit. Eventually the armor becomes a holed up rag giving no more protection than would a handi-wipe. Hence my armor degradation rules.
Basically, the gamemaster determines when the armor rating of a character should drop by taking into account how much they’ve been wracked up. If somebody takes a couple 6-round bursts from a HVAR, you can bet a bit of armor’s been shredded. But, at the same time, it may only take a few rounds from a shotgun to do the same armor damage because, with shot, it ravages a larger area and, with slug, the bullets are really, really big. Assault rifle rounds may not even phase heavy armor, but a stream of slugs from an HMG should be chipping armor left and right. There are so many different kinds of bullets, firing rates, and so on and so forth that to specialize rules for each kind of weapon would be an enormous headache.
•	
	Alternative
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
If the total number of rounds which has impacted the character’s armor exceeds double the total armor rating then the level drops by one. In other words, if the total armor rating is 8 then, after the armor receives 16 bullets, the rating drops by 1 starting at the top layer of armor. I think this rule is a bit, but not a whole lot, better than FASA’s because it would normally be more realistic to determine armor loss by the number of bullets, not damage. A sniping round may end up virtually killing somebody wearing an armor jacket but would have little effect on the armor, creating a fairly small hole on the grand scale of things. For the purpose of armor degradation the gamemaster may wish to double the bullet “value” of weapons firing exceptionally large rounds, such as HMGs, Shotguns, MMGs, etc. For hardened armor the gamemaster may wish to halve the value of light weapon bullets, while keeping the bullet count for heavy weapons at 1 per bullet. The big down side of this variation is it requires book-keeping, which is why I prefer the other variation (above).
•	Armored Boots and Helmets
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 242, 257
These items do not add to the character’s total armor rating. Instead they provide an armor rating equal to their associated armor type to the part of the body they cover. The benefit this provides against called-shots to otherwise exposed body parts is obvious.
•	Excessive Armor Penalties
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: SRII p. 84, Neo-Anarchists’ Guide to Real Life p. 94
Wearing large amounts of armor restricts movement and slows a person down. If the total ratings of all armor worn (layering) has an Impact rating which exceeds the character’s Quickness Attribute, then for each point of Impact armor beyond his Quickness Attribute, one die is lost from the character’s Combat Pool. This calculation only applies to worn external armor—not to natural armor nor to cyberware/bioware enhancements.
•	Higher Armor Rating Than Power Level
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Logically, when an attack’s Power Level is less than the target’s armor rating, it should do less damage than an attack whose Power Level exceeds the armor rating. However, since the armor rating is subtracted from the Power Level to find the target number for the Damage Resistance Test, this means that at a certain point, the actual armor rating is irrelevant—the target number cannot go below 2, even if you’re wearing 14 points of armor against a hold-out pistol.
As a remedy, I give the target extra dice to roll for the Damage Resistance Test. The number of dice is equal to the difference between the Power Level and armor rating, divided by two and rounded down.

Lance takes a shot at a security guard wearing a full suit of heavy armor (Ballistic 8). Lance’s Power Level is 6, so the guard gets an extra die for his Body test to resist the damage.
•		Alternative
Jonathan Hurley <jhurley1@stevens-tech.edu>
If armor reduces the Power Level of an attack to less than 2, the Damage Level is reduced by one level, and the Power is increased by 2. If the Power Level is still under 2, do it again, until the power is 2 or 3.
•	Called Shots
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 92, Fields of Fire p. 78
With the advent of the graded partial cover rules from Fields of Fire (p. 78), the original Shadowrun Called Shot modifier of +4 (p. 92 SRII) has become obsolete. If an opponent were taking near full cover (+6), then it would be more advantageous to take a Called Shot than to shoot the actual target. I have simply moved the called shot target number modifier up to +6 to be in line with the cover target number modifiers. This means that the Called Shot modifier for Smartlink II is +4.
In addition, I dislike the way in which Shadowrun generalizes the effects of Called Shots (p. 92 SRII) into merely increasing the Damage Code. I prefer to gauge the character’s intent, and use judgment as to the results. The most common reason for Calling Shots is thus to avoid a target’s armor (the infamous “kneecapping” or “head shot” attacks). Other effects can also be generated, for example shooting someone’s weapon from their grip.
•		Alternative
Loki <gamemstr@primenet.com>
It didn’t make sense to us that shooting a target that is taking +6 cover (meaning 25% visible) had a higher target number than shooting the same person in the head without the cover (+4 to target number). The head itself is obviously smaller than the 25% of the body represented as visible with +6 cover. We also feel the modifiers given from the various levels of cover come from the fact that the shooter is having to make a called shot to bypass the barrier. Further based off this, we have designated that a called shot to an object or area 75-50% the size of a (meta)human receives a +2 modifier, between 50-25% this size is at +4, and 25% or smaller takes a +6.

1.	Johnny wants to shoot the Data Courier anywhere but the head (Headware Memory). He takes a +2.
2.	Johnny now wants to bypass an armor jacket, he shoots anywhere from waist down. This is a +4.
3.	Johnny decides to go for the head or some other specific limb. This means a +6.
•	Combat Turn Sequence
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 78-80, 83, 86
Exactly when movement takes place during combat is kind of fuzzy. And having dice pools refresh at the beginning of a characters combat phase actually punishes the fastest character. This re-write of the turn sequence addresses these issues.
All Dice Pools Refresh (First Combat Turn Only)
If this is the first Combat Turn of a new fight, all Dice Pools of all involved characters refresh, unless this is a Surprise situation (p. 86, SRII).
1. Determine Initiative 
Determine Initiative (p. 79, SRII) (Reaction plus Initiative dice) for all characters, critters, spirits, or computer programs involved in the fight. Then determine which character has the highest Initiative total.
2. Characters Take Actions 
Characters involved in the combat now take their actions sequentially, starting with the character with the highest Initiative total. This character is the acting character. If more than one character has the same Initiative total, see Initiative Tie, p. 79, SRII.
A. Declare Movement
The acting character declares if he is moving this combat phase. Target modifiers for movement (p. 83, SRII) are applied until the beginning of the acting character’s next Combat Phase. If multiple characters are moving within one Combat Phase (see Initiative Tie, p. 79, SRII), characters declare their movement in reverse order, moving from the one with the lowest Initiative total (or whatever is the determining value) up to the character with the highest Initiative.
B. Declare Actions
The acting character declares his actions for the Combat Phase. He may make Free, Simple, and Complex Actions in any order. If multiple characters are acting within one Combat Phase (see Initiative Tie, p. 79, SRII), characters declare their actions in reverse order, moving from the one with the lowest Initiative total (or whatever is the determining value) up to the character with the highest Initiative.
C. Resolve Actions and Movement
Resolve the actions and movement (see p. 79, SRII) of the acting character. Once the actions and movement have been resolved, the character’s Initiative total is reduced by 10. If the resulting Initiative total is higher than 0, the character may take additional actions later in the Combat Turn. See Multiple Actions, p. 79, SRII. If it is equal to 0 or less, the character is done for that Combat Turn. If multiple characters are resolving actions during the same phase, resolve those of the character with the highest initiative total (or whatever is the determining value) first, then the next highest, and so on. (See Initiative Tie, p. 79, SRII).
D. Acting Character’s Dice Pools Refresh 
The Dice Pools of the acting character refresh. If he or she has used no dice from the pools, they remain at their current value.
E. Declare and Resolve Movement and Actions of Remaining Characters 
Move on to the character with the next highest Initiative total and resolve his actions, starting with step A above. Continue cycling through steps A through E until no character is eligible for actions.
3. Begin a New Combat Turn 
Begin a new Combat Turn, starting again at step 1. Continue cycling through steps 1 through 3 until the combat is resolved. Any unused dice in a character’s Dice Pools carry over to the next Combat Turn and are available for use until the character’s first action of that turn.
Damage
•	Complete Miss
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
Reference: SRII p. 84
The “complete miss” rule on page 84 of SRII is gone; it’s too much of a pain in the ass to keep track of.
•	Falling Unconscious
Ray Macey <nightrain@elf.brisnet.org.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 110-111
Whenever a character takes damage, either Stun or Physical there is a chance that the will fall unconscious, at least temporarily. I rule that the character must make a Willpower test against a target number equal to the number of squares damage being done in the attack. This is modified by existing wound penalties, Stun and Physical. If the test fails, the character is out for 5 minutes per square of damage done. This may be staged down by making a Willpower test against a target number equal to the total number of squares of damage done to the character (both Stun and Physical).
These tests are only used of Deadly damage has not been reached on either Condition Monitor. If either Condition Monitor reaches Deadly damage, then use the existing rules.
•	Overdamage
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: SRII p. 110-112, Fields of Fire p. 79, Shadowrun Companion p. 91
For those like me who think that the overdamage rules from Fields of Fire and the Companion aren’t deadly enough, the following may be useful.
Make the attacker’s Success Test and the target’s Damage Resistance Test, and subtract the target’s successes from the attacker’s as normal. Should the attacker have more successes than are needed to stage damage up to Deadly, start at Light damage again and stage up accordingly. Should there be enough successes to go over Deadly again, repeat this until all successes are “used.” 
If the damage inflicted was Stun, this overdamage is applied to the Physical Condition Monitor as usual, else it becomes Overflow damage.

Steve shoots a round from his Mossberg CMDT at some goon, getting a total of 7 successes after the goon’s Resistance Test. The CMDT does Serious damage. Steve’s successes are enough to stage that up to Deadly, and then he has 5 left. That’s enough to stage damage up by two steps, so the goon takes another Moderate wound and gets a total of 13 boxes of damage from the attack.

This rule applies always, regardless of the Power Level of the weapon when compared to the target’s Body Attribute, and regardless of how the damage was inflicted: through firearms, melee combat, grenades, and so on.
Time Between Taking Extra Damage
The time between taking extra boxes of damage after getting up to a Deadly Wound is normally 10 minutes; to add an element of chance, this can be adjusted to 1D6 minutes. Use the Rule of Six when rolling this die, and roll it every time the character takes an extra box of damage.

Crow is shot by a machinegun and takes a Deadly wound. The gamemaster tells him he goes down, and rolls a D6: 6+1. After 7 minutes, Crow takes another box of damage, bringing him to 11 boxes. At that moment, the gamemaster rolls 1D6 again, and gets a 5, so after 5 more minutes (12 minutes total) Crow has 2 boxes of Overflow damage, and the gamemaster rolls once again.
•		Alternative
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Apply one box of overflow damage for every two successes that would stage the damage over Deadly. In this way, Steve’s shot would have only caused 13 boxes of damage (a Deadly wound plus 3 boxes Overflow).
•	Sleeping In Armor
Loki <gamemstr@primenet.com>
Reference: SRII p. 112
Sleeping in armor is an unforgiving and restless process. To reflect this, a Body test is required at the total ballistic rating of the armor being worn. The character must roll more successes than 8 minus their Willpower. If the test does not succeed, an additional box of Stun damage is taken. In addition, all target numbers for resting to remove Stun damage are increased by one-half the Ballistic rating of armor being worn.
•	Staging Damage
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 90-91
Instead of staging damage by levels (Light to Moderate) I stage damage on a box by box basis. Each success rolled on an attack increases the base damage done by 1 box. If a character attacks with a weapon that does Moderate damage, and rolls 2 successes, he increases the damage to 5 boxes. Each success rolled by the defender when resisting damage decreases the amount of damage by 1 box. Continuing with the example, if the defender rolls one success for his resistance test he would take 4 boxes of damage.
This deals with two issues: how to stage damage past Deadly, and speeding up the game.
•	Stun Damage And Knockback
Fade <runefo@ifi.uio.no>
Reference: SRII pp. 91, 112
This rule is intended to make unconsciousness less of a sure thing. This applies only to unconsciousness from weapons which give Stun damage. If you go unconscious from stun drugs, this rule does not apply.
Any hit from a Stun weapon has a chance to knock you out instantly, even without giving Deadly Stun, but then also has a chance to give less lasting Stun damage. It is tied to the knockdown test. If you are knocked down by the weapon, you go unconscious for a few turns (an open-ended D6 roll) but get an extra Body Resistance Test to get more resistance successes. These are rolled when you wake, determined by the D6 roll, or should wake, if it was Deadly Stun. You also roll the dice if it was a Deadly Stun, if you were knocked down by the weapon instead of fell down unconscious.
While tying it to the knockdown test isn’t perfectly reasonable, it makes it a very simple rule to use. In other words: If you are knocked down by a Stun weapon you are knocked out for a very short time. If you are knocked down and knocked out by a Stun weapon, you might regain consciousness fairly soon. If you are knocked out by a Stun weapon, but not down, you're down for the duration. Drug weapons do not give knockdown and thus do not give short-duration stun damage.

You can, of course, make sure by plugging a few extra stun rounds into the poor sap, but that might be very deadly. But it is also a certain way to make sure they're down.
Unconsciousness From Deadly Wounds
If you accumulate a Deadly wound, and have no overdamage, make a Resistance Test against (total number of damage boxes)D Stun. This Stun damage does not give physical overflow. If you do not get Deadly Stun (accumulated or otherwise), you are still conscious. Once you get overdamage you go unconscious. Deadly physical gives +5 to target numbers. Each and any action taken gives 10L Stun.
•		Alternative
Leszek Karlik <trrkt@friko.onet.pl>
When you get hit by a bullet while wearing body armor, you automatically take a Light Stun wound in case of Light pistols, and Moderate in case of heavier weapons; spare successes from Damage Resistance Test will reduce this damage, though.
•	Wounds Affecting Movement
Loki <gamemstr@primenet.com>
Reference: SRII pp. 83, 110-112
Not only should damage taken affect target numbers and initiative, but I feel the wounds a character has sustained should have a direct affect on how far/well said character is able to move. Thus, when walking a character subtracts one-half his combined wound modifiers for both Physical and Stun damage from his Quickness (rounded down). Running causes more wear and tear on the body, thus the full amount of wound modifiers is subtracted from Quickness before factoring in the Running Multiplier. In either case, Quickness can not be taken below 1.

Brand, a human with a Quickness of 5, takes a Moderate wound. Should he try to move while under these circumstances he can walk up to 4 meters, or can run 3 ×3 = 9 meters. On the next action he takes Light Stun damage from spellcasting. Now he can still walk up to 4, but can only run up to 2 ×3 = 6 meters.
•		Alternative
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Subtract the character’s total wound modifiers from his or her Quickness to find the number of meters that may be walked in an action. The running distance is this same value, multiplied by the character’s Running Multiplier.

Camilla has a Quickness of 5, but has also taken a Serious wound. She can walk 5 – 3 = 2 meters per action, or run (5 – 3) × 3 = 6 meters per action.
•	Dodging
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 84-91
In order to have the opportunity to dodge, you must be aware that an attack is imminent. When involved in combat, it is assumed that you are aware of all immediately obvious threats. The exception to this is when an opponent uses the Stealth skill to attempt to attack you without your knowledge. In this instance, a successful Perception test will allow a dodge attempt. A Perception test under these circumstances costs no actions—it’s a freebie. Merry Christmas. In the case of sniping and most other non-obvious forms of attack, a Perception test will always be allowed. The chance of success may be infinitesimal, but there will be a chance of success nonetheless. Note that some magic-oriented attacks may not allow for a Perception test. An example of this would be a mage in astral space grounding a spell through a focus while no one is astrally perceiving.

When a character is aware of a forthcoming attack, he has two options. The first would be to attempt to dodge the attack. This is done by rolling any number of available Combat Pool dice versus a base target number of 4. Wound modifiers apply to this target number, as well as some other situational modifiers. Some of these are: being bound, sitting or laying down, being prone, and dodging within a small enclosure. In the case of these other situational modifiers, I may reduce the amount of Combat Pool dice that may be used, rather than increasing the target number. This is entirely gamemaster discretion. Vision modifiers do not apply to dodge success tests. However, Dodging may result in a potentially damaging situation if the Dodge attempt is botched. If this option is taken, no Combat Pool dice may be used to augment the Damage Resistance test.

The second option would be for the character to make a Damage Resistance test in the following fashion: he would roll his Body plus any number of available Combat Pool dice versus a target number equal to the Power of the attack minus any appropriate armor. If the number of successes generated by the Combat Pool dice alone are enough to reduce the attacker’s number of successes to –1 (0 in the case of Unarmed Combat Counterattacks) then the attack was successfully Dodged and no damage is taken, nor is any armor degraded. Otherwise, the PC must stage the damage down as per the normal rules. If he manages to stage the damage down to nothing, no damage is taken but there may be some superficial cuts, bruises, tears in clothing, etc. To add to the cinematic feel of the game, any attack that is successfully Dodged using only Combat Pool dice causes no change to the target’s clothing or body (i.e. they don’t wrinkle their suit or acquire any superficial cuts, etc.).

	Alternatives
•	Alternative One
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
I’ve always loathed the Shadowrun method of using the Combat Pool for augmenting Damage Resistance Tests. That the Combat Pool dice are rolled against the same target number as the Body dice really snots me off. I know that it was done for convenience, and to save on extra calculations and dice rolls, but it just bugs the hell out of me. To give an example of what I mean, consider the following example:

Paul is hit by a light pistol round (6L), and is wearing an armor jacket (5/3). He thus needs a target number of 2 on his Damage Resistance Test. Say he has a Body of 2 and the attacker scored 3 successes. Paul decides to throw in 5 dice from his Combat Pool. He generates 5 successes, 4 of which are from his Combat Pool. A complete miss by the rules. Now say Paul is whacked by a solid slug from a shotgun (10S). This time he needs a target number of 5 for his Damage Resistance Test. Using the same allocation of dice, Paul would probably score 3 successes, 2 of which would probably be from his Combat Pool. This time, the shot was not a complete miss, even though the attacker scored the same number of successes and Paul used the same number of dice.

To remedy this problem, I use a single standard, unmodifiable target number for “dodging” of 4, regardless of the attacks source. After all, why should it be so much more difficult to get one’s hoop out of the road of a shotgun solid slug as compared to a light pistol round? I use 4 because it is the Shadowrun standard, and I treat the use of Combat Pool in this fashion as a Damage Resistance Test, so that no target number modifiers at all apply. The latter stipulation is for two reasons. Firstly for ease of play, and secondly to stop the “damage snowball” effect whereby one either has live runners with Karma or dead runners with no Karma. By using a single target number of 4, which is fairly low, the Combat Pool becomes quite important and useful for avoiding damage. It should also be noted that the target number is 4 for “dodging” melee attacks, as well as bursts and fully automatic weapons fire. In the latter case, sufficient successes allow the target to dodge the entire volley.
•	Alternative Two
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: SRII p. 89, Shadowbeat p. 11
After the attacker declares a shot, but before he or she actually rolls the dice, the target may opt to use Combat Pool dice in a dodge attempt.
The Combat Pool dice are rolled in an open test (see Shadowbeat). Subtract the target’s Wound Modifiers from the result (–1 for a Light wound, –2 for Moderate, etc.), and halve the result, rounding down. The result is the base target number for the attacker’s shot, regardless of the range to the target (which normally sets the base target number). Add all appropriate situational modifiers from SRII page 89 to this, after which the attacker makes the normal Success Test to see if the shot hits.
Dodging costs a Free Action, which means that a character can only dodge one attack per Combat Phase. Furthermore, the character counts as a running attacker (but not as a moving target) if he or she attempts to make an attack in the same Combat Phase as a dodge was performed.

A rival runner takes a shot at Steve, from Long range (normal target number 6). Steve decides to dodge the attack and uses 3 Combat Pool dice for this. He scores 1, 2, and 4. He’s unwounded, so the result of the open test is 4—his highest roll. This is halved, to 2, so the attacker’s base target number is 2. That’s a lot worse for Steve than the 6 would have been…

The Combat Pool dice allocated to dodging are naturally not available to resist the attack’s damage, should it hit after all. Combat Pool dice used to resist the attack should be rolled against the Power Level of the weapon, not against a 4 as per some of the other dodging rules suggestions above—using a target number of 4 would effectively allow a character to dodge an attack twice.

NPCs roll Threat Rating dice to dodge an attack, but the Threat Rating dice used in a dodge attempt cannot be used to resist damage from that same attack. Gamemasters may want to split the Threat Rating dice between dodging and resisting the damage.
•	Alternative Three
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Dodging Table	
Type of Attack	Base Target Number	
Melee Combat (this is for evasion, not blocking)	5	
Thrown weapons; Squirt and paintball guns	4	
Projectile weapons; Narcoject darts	5	
Single bullet; Normal nets	6	
Burst fire; Large nets	7	
Full Auto fire and HV bursts	8	
Full auto with miniguns and supermachine guns; Lasers	9	
Grenades (first 3 successes, after that target number is 8)	4	
Explosives (first 3 successes, after that target number is 6)	3*	
		
Modifiers to the Base Target Number		
Shotgun, per spread level	+1	
Reaction of 1-3	+1	
Reaction of 9-14	–1	
Reaction of 15-20	–2	
Reaction of 21+	–3**	
Martial Art skill of 9+	–1	
Tactical Computer tracking firer	–1	
Dropping prone	–1	
Being already prone	+4	
		
* I use the rule on explosives and grenades from the Companion. Thus, in my campaign explosives are more deadly…)
** Yeah, that’s FAST	
Dodging is a Simple Action. A character may declare that he is dodging at any time as long as he is capable of movement. If a character dodges before his initiative he forfeits a Simple action on his next combat phase. Characters who are dodging take a +3 target modifier to any tests attempted while dodging. Target number modifiers for dodging are applied until the beginning of the acting character’s next Combat Phase. A character who is dodging may walk, but cannot run.
If a target is dodging at the time of an attack or during his previous action, the attack suffers a +1 modifier.

Sam and Fred enter combat. Sam rolls a higher initiative than Fred and attacks Fred with a Panther Assault Cannon. Fred declares that he is Dodging (forfeiting a Simple Action). Sam modifies the target number of his attack by +1, fires, and misses. Fred draws his Predator, but is unable to fire because he spent his other Simple Action dodging.
•	Alternative Four
Ray Macey <nightrain@elf.brisnet.org.au>
When a target is shot at, they must normally make a test with their Combat Pool and Body stat with a target number equal to the Power of the weapon minus the rating of the appropriate armor. If the Combat Pool alone exceeded the attacker’s successes, then the attack is considered to have missed.
With my rule, the target makes two separate tests when resisting ranged combat. They make a test with their Combat Pool, against a base target number of 4. The Dodge test target number is modified in the following ways:
•	For every 3 bullets being fired in a burst or auto-fire at the target: +1
•	If the attacker is out of LOS of the target: +2
•	Vision Modifiers: Half of the normal vision penalty is applied, although this may not exceed +2.
•	When being shot at by a shotgun, the target’s target number is raised by 1 point for each point the attacker’s target number is reduced for spread. The attacker keeps his reduced target number as normal.

The gamemaster may raise the target number by a number at his discretion, depending on terrain the target is in, and how it restricts dodging.
If the target gets more successes than the attacker, then the attack missed. If not, then the attack hits. The Damage Level is determined here as per normal (i.e. two successes to stage down etc) and then the target must make a Body resistance test, with a target number of the Power Level of the weapon minus the appropriate armor rating.
•	Alternative Five
Leszek Karlik <trrkt@friko.onet.pl>
Your base target number for dodging bullets and all the other crap (that is, for Combat Pool dodges) is calculated using the Dodging Table.

Also, when dodging, you can move up to 0.5 meter per success; that allows you to get behind cover.
Firearms
•	Gas Venting Miniguns
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 89, 92, 240
Due to the requirement that a gas vent be located on the barrel of a weapon, and the fact that miniguns have multiple, closely spaced barrels, I do not generally allow gas venting on miniguns. However, should the venting be specifically designed to fit onto the weapon, then if each barrel is vented a cumulative recoil compensation bonus equal to the sum of the gas vent ratings may be obtained. This, if you think about it, is fairly logical, seeing as each barrel of a 6 barreled minigun fires 2.5 times in a 15 round burst, then if each barrel has 2 points of recoil compensation then 12 of the 15 rounds will be compensated for (thanks for the explanation Ivy!).
•	Point-Blank Range
WoLfMÅÑ <lmc4@keene.edu>
Reference: SRII p. 87-89
Take your Firearms rating and divide it by three (round down), up to a maximum of 2. If this equals 0 then too bad, you don’t have a point blank range. If you have a 1 or a 2 then that is the number of meters your point blank range is. This is also the bonus you receive when firing within your point blank range.

Shadow has a firearms rating of 6. His point blank range would be (6 ÷ 3) = 2. Therefore he gains a point blank range of 2 meters and a –2 to his target number to hit when firing within that range.

If the firearms rating is above a six then it still goes down to a MAXIMUM of 2. Also for specializations and concentrations figure out the ranges and modifiers for those weapons separately.
•	Recoil
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: SRII pp. 89, 92-93, Fields of Fire p. 83
Depending on how a shooter holds his or her weapon, modify the recoil value of the firearm to better represent that weapons are hard to keep under control when not properly held. The Recoil Table lists the multipliers, which are applied to any recoil that remains after reducing it for gas vents, the firer’s Strength, gyro mounts, and so on.

In addition, apply a +2 target number modifier when a character isn’t using the weapon’s sights, for example when firing from the hip.

Recoil Table	
Weapon & Bracing	Recoil
Multiplier	
Pistols		
Held in one hand	×2	
Held in two hands	×1	
BF- or FA-capable	×2*	
Submachine Guns		
Held in one hand	×2	
Held in two hands, not braced against the shoulder	×1.5**	
Held in two hands, braced against the shoulder	×1	
Rifles, Shotguns, Machine Guns		
Held in one hand	×3 or ×4†	
Held in two hands, not braced against the shoulder	×1.5**	
Held in two hands, braced against the shoulder	×1	
Heavy Weapons, Shotguns	×2*	
		
* In addition to any other multipliers that apply	
** Round up	
† Gamemaster’s discretion	

Soron “What A” Waist is firing a burst from his AK-97. He’s holding it in both hands, but he’s firing it from the hip. His base target number is 4 with a +2 because he’s not using the sights. The recoil modifier is +2 (+3 for a burst, minus 1 point of compensation from Soron’s Strength of 5). This is multiplied by 1.5, to +3, as Soron is not bracing the rifle against his shoulder. His total target number is 9.
Later, Soron needs to open a door with his left hand, but he still wants to shoot at someone at the same time. Again, a base target number of 4 and +2 for not using the sights. The +2 for the burst is multiplied by 4, as he only has one hand on the rifle. His target number is 14.

If you like a more cinematic style of roleplaying, this rule is not for you—it will drastically reduce the chances of a hit when firing an SMG at full-auto in each hand…
•	Rates OF Fire
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
Reference: SRII pp. 92-93, Fields of Fire p. 81
I’ve never been satisfied with any Shadowrun firearms rules ever created, primarily because they’re wimpy. Anybody who's fired a pistol knows why I feel this way. I have no wired reflexes but can fire off way more than two rounds every three seconds. In reality fully automatic weapons (not that I’ve ever fired one of them) can often empty their entire clips in less than a second. Yet, in Shadowrun, it would take a single action prone character seven seconds to empty the 16 shot clip of an Uzi.
Perhaps my annoyance is rooted in a John Woo, Hong Kongish film oriented perception of gun fights, a pistol in each hand cranking away at the bad guys, the recoil often propelling the individual across various no wax surfaces. Gunfights like this are fun, and these revisions have been created to promote them.
Two other things to consider when reviewing these alternative rules: in my game we use a lot of modifiers and like to see a lot of ammunition expended. What this means is that a lot of lead doesn’t hit anything important. A player or NPC may fire off an entire clip of pistol ammo in one round knowing that the last six probably won’t hit anything but enjoying the charge it adds to the playing environment. Modifiers for movement and the ever present intervening objects rarely result in a base target number of less than six, so even if a character cranks off ten shots it is rare that anybody gets completely wasted by them. Unless they’re standing still in a wide open area with no cover, in which case they deserve to get shot.
Single Shot
For pistols and rifles a player may fire a number of shots equal to their Firearms rating, resolving each shot individually. Recoil is doubled, but accumulates normally. Assault cannons, launchers, or anything large still gets one shot per action.

Joe Runner has a Firearms skill of 6 and decides to fire his maximum of 6 shots from his Warhawk. His base target number is 4 so the adjusted target numbers are as follows: 6,8,10,12,14,16.
Semi Automatic
A player may fire any number of shots, resolving each shot individually. Recoil accumulates normally.

Joe Runner fires off ten shots from his Colt Manhunter equipped with level 1 recoil compensation. His base target number is 4 so the adjusted target numbers are as follows: 4,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12.
Burst Fire
A player may fire any number of 3 shot bursts, resolving each burst individually. Recoil accumulates normally.

Joe Runner cranks off 4 bursts from his SMG equipped with level 2 recoil compensation. His base target number is 4 so the adjusted target numbers are as follows: 4,7,10,13.
Full Auto
A player may fire any number of bursts containing at least 4 rounds (unless a lack of ammo prohibits a full final burst). If any CONSECUTIVE bursts successfully hit then calculate the damage rating as if the bursts were fired as one, adding together the total number of rounds and successes.

Joe Runner fires a 6 round burst, a 9 round burst, and then another 6 round burst from his assault rifle equipped with level 3 recoil compensation. His base target is 4 so the adjusted target numbers are as follows: 7,16,22. If both the first and second bursts hit the damage would be calculated as if 15 rounds were fired as one burst. If the first and the last bursts hit they are still treated separately.
Comments
Although this system seems complicated it actually runs rather smoothly. For everything but fully automatic weapons the player can be rolling for shot eight while the gamemaster is simultaneously resisting damage from shot three. It is the attacker’s responsibility to accurately keep track what has hit and what hasn’t. This allows the gamemaster to work with another player while the first is rolling.
•	Shotguns
Marc A Renouf <jormung@engin.umich.edu>
Reference: SRII p. 95
The base damage for a shotgun is for both slug and scatter shot. Thus, a shotgun firing at 9S will do 9S damage with a slug, as well as 9S damage with shot. The difference is that the Power Level of shot decreases as the shot-pattern spreads. Thus, a garden variety shotgun firing a slug would do 9S at all ranges, where the damage for shot rounds would start out at 9S and decrease as the range to target increased.
Also: slugs use Ballistic armor, but shot uses double Impact armor, as per the flechette rules. Finally, when calculating knockdown, the Power Level of shotgun rounds are not halved as normal.

The reasons for this are mainly that whether firing a slug or shot, roughly the same mass of lead is coming at you. The fact that shot has the potential to hit more (possibly unarmored) areas is taken into account in the lower target number that comes with scatter (thus leading to a higher number of successes, which in turn leads to more staging up of the damage). Also, a slug is more like a typical round, and thus uses Ballistic armor, while shot is spread over a wider area, and thus should use the double Impact value. Finally, shotguns are notoriously good at knocking people down, which is reflected in the increased knockdown target number.

It should be noted as well that in my campaign, I include a shotgun ammunition type called “Scattering flechette,” which fires a cluster of flechettes at the target rather than a single one (as normal). This follows the same general rules as normal shot as far as spreading and Power Level reduction at range, but is one Damage Category higher (fired from the above shotgun, scatter-flechette would start out at 9D and be reduced as per normal scatter rules).
•	Telescopic Sights
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: SRII p. 88
Under SRII rules, telescope sights reduce the range category of a shot; in essence, someone with a rating 3 telescope will always be shooting at Short range.
With this house rule, do not reduce the range category, but multiply the range groups by the rating of the telescope plus one.
This modifier only applies if the character spends a Simple Action to steady the weapon (in effect a Take Aim action, but it does not grant a –1 target number modifier), and only when firing single shots or semi-automatic. Firing any kind of burst or full-auto negates the range multiplier. The multiplier is also negated as soon as the shooter moves any significant distance (walking, running, standing up, getting knocked down by an attack, and so on) or looks away from the target.
 
A sniper rifle with a rating 2 telescope multiplies all its ranges by 3. It now has the following ranges: Short 0-120 m, Medium 121-240 m, Long 241-600 m, Extreme 601-1,200m
•		Alternative
Jonathan Hurley <jhurley1@stevens-tech.edu>
As above, with the addition that for those weapons where this is inappropriate, the maximum range remains the same, but the range bands are increased. For example, a shotgun has a maximum range of 100 m. With a rating 3 scope, its ranges become Short 0-40, Medium 41-80, and long 81-100.
•	Telescopic Sights and Movement
Lady Jestyr <jestyr@faraday.dialix.com.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 88-89, Street Samurai Catalog p. 85
Vision magnification cyberware, whether optical or electrical, is the joy of Happy Gunners everywhere. Presto! No range modifiers! While this is a Good Thing as far as the happy gunners are concerned, it can give the gamemaster serious problems-combined with a smartlink II, the average Happy Gunner has a base target number of 2 at any range.
Problems like this can be solved by dint of giving the happy gunners situations in the middle of the night, with smoke, rain and fog, with the opponents with 75 percent cover. This is, however, a reactive solution. A better solution (or at least game-balancer) is presented here:

The use of high magnification means that objects which are moving (particularly at long ranges) are much harder to track; because the field of view covers proportionally less of the landscape (a given when dealing with magnified images) moving objects will move across the field of view much faster. This should make them harder to follow, and thus harder to accurately target.
This may be accounted for by increasing the movement modifiers for longer ranges when magnification is used. I suggest the following:

Movement & Magnification Table	
Range	Movement Modifier	
Short	No change	
Medium	2× normal	
Long	3× normal	
Extreme	4× normal	

The above solution also increases the utility of the rangefinder/Smartlink II combination, by making permanent use of vision magnification less desirable.
•	Telescopic Sights and Smartlinks
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 88-89
I allow smartlinks to work with image magnification.  However, it doesn’t work the way the player usually thinks it will.
With normal vision you can see the smartlink cross-hair in your peripheral vision. You know when your gun is as much as 70-80 degrees off target.
With cybered magnification your field of vision is cut down considerably (10-30 degrees). Now try to bring those crosshairs on target. With magnification 1 it isn’t so bad. With magnification 3 it’s damn near impossible (without taking some time).
For each level of cyber-magnification a character must spend one action “aiming” to bring his crosshairs into his field of vision.

Also, if a character has his eyes at a high magnification level he will quickly lose track of what’s going on near by.  For each level of magnification add a positive modifier to “close range” Perception tests.

Also, cyber-image magnification is useless with non-smartlinked weapons. Take a pair of binoculars to a shooting range and look at your target with them. Now, while still looking through the binoculars, try to shoot the target.
Cyber magnification is for scouting, not for combat.
•	Tracer Ammunition
Leszek Karlik <trrkt@friko.onet.pl>
Reference: Fields of Fire p. 51
Ignore that drek about tracers do not adding to Power. It’s just an attempt at Game Balance™. For me, all the colorful smudges showing where you’re firing from, plus the price, is balancing enough.
•	
Weapon Damages and Ranges
Jonathan Hurley <jhurley1@stevens-tech.edu>
Reference: SRII p. 88, Fields of Fire p. 87
FASA’s definition for firearm classes is just plain messed up, as is their assignment of Damage Codes.
To fix this, (and, incidentally, to make a choice between light and heavy pistols) and to fix some other problems, I changed many Damage Codes.
First, I assume that the Damage Code is based on the round fired (more or less. This gets fudged for supermachine gun class weapons).
Second, I assume that the Power Level strictly measures armor-piercing capability, and Damage Level is a measurement of how efficient the round is a transferring its energy to the target.

Weapon Table 1 shows what I came up with.
Weapon Table 1	
Weapon Class	Caliber	Damage Code	
Hold-Out Pistols			
(clip-fed)	.22 Short and equivalent rounds	4L, 5L	
(break)	.45 / 10 mm	4S	
Machine Pistol	.22 Short and equivalent (more power due to longer barrel)	6L	
Light Pistol	7.62 mm to 9 mm, .38, .45, and such (SMG ammo)	6M, 7M	
Submachine Gun	(Same ammo as light pistols)	6M, 7M	
Heavy Pistol	.44 Magnum and up / 10 mm and up	5S, 6S	
Assault Rifle	5.56 mm rifle (.22 LR)	9L, 10L	
Sporting Rifle	7.62 mm rifle (.30-06 and other “hunting” rounds)	9M, 10M	
Sniping Rifle	.50 cal / 12.7 mm and up	10S, 11S	
Shotgun	Unchanged	8S to 10S	
Light Machine Gun	(Same ammo as assault rifles)	10L	
Medium Machine Gun	(Same ammo as sporting rifles)	10M	
Heavy Machine Gun	(Same ammo as sniping rifles, with more power behind it)	14S	
Supermachine Guns	(Same ammo as hold-out pistols)		
HVSMG		6L	
HVAR		7L, 8L	
HVLMG		8L to 10L	
	
Other weapons remain more or less the same.	
Exceptions To The Table
•	AK-97 carbine fires assault rifle ammo, on the SMG range table, and has a damage code of 10L.
•	AUG-CSL fires assault rifle ammo, using the appropriate range table.
•	Barret 121 retains its power, as it fires “true” HMG rounds, leaving it at 14S (on the HMG range table, to boot)
•	Lasers have their standard damage.
Ammo effects
•	APDS reduces the Damage Code by one level (If damage was L, it is reduced to N (none, the attacker must have two net successes to do any damage).
•	Explosive ammo reduces the Power Level by one and increases the Damage Level by one
•	EX-explosive does not reduce the Power Level.
•		Alternative
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
As many will know, ranges of firearms in Shadowrun can be outright ridiculous at times, usually in being much too short when compared to real weapons. Damage ratings make strange leaps in a similar manner, though often in the other direction.
Weapon Table 2 has suggested ranges and damages for those weapons which I feel need to be adjusted. Any weapon type not on the table remain in use without modifications.

Weapon Table 2	
Type	Damage	Short	Medium	Long	Extreme	
Light Pistol	6L	0-10	11-30	31-60	61-100	
Heavy Pistol	6M or 7M	0-10	11-40	41-80	81-120	
Submachine Gun	6M or 7M	0-20	21-80	81-160	161-300	
Assault Rifle	8M	0-45	46-120	121-300	301-750	
Sniper Rifle	10S	0-120	121-240	241-600	601-1,200	
Sporting Rifle	7S to 9S	0-90	91-180	181-450	301-900	
Light Machine Gun	8M	0-100	101-200	201-400	401-750	
Heavy Machine Gun	14S	—Unmodified—	
The ranges are all calculated by multiplying the existing ranges as follows:

Type	Multiplier
Light Pistol	×2
Heavy Pistol	×2
Submachine Gun	×2
Assault Rifle	×3
Sniper Rifle	×3
Sporting Rifle	×3
Light Machine Gun	×5

Weapons with Damage Codes that differ from the “norm” for their type should have their Damage Codes adjusted accordingly; for example, a heavy pistol that does only 8M damage under standard rules should do 5M when playing with these optional rules.
Grenades
•	Air Timed Mini Grenades and Scatter
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: Street Samurai Catalog pp. 37, 68
The rules are unclear on the game mechanics of air timed mini grenades. However, with a bit of logic, and help from Robert Watkins, I came up with the following rules. The grenades are fired as normal, and scatter is rolled for and reduced by the successes of the Firearms test as normal. Once the “location” of the grenade detonation has been determined, one merely lays a straight edge from the position of the firer to this detonation point. At the preset detonation distance along this straight edge the grenade will explode.
•	Damage
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 97
I am unsatisfied with (gee I’m a whiner aren’t I? :-)) the Shadowrun grenade damage system. Per the rules on page 97, grenade damage can be staged up just like regular weapon damage. Most grenades begin at Serious damage. To me, the ability to stage up grenade’s damage is ludicrous. How? By aiming that explosive blast particularly well? What about if I use a grenade as a booby trap? Or drop it off a high building? To solve this problem I have decided that grenades cannot be staged up by the attacker. This however, makes it impossible to kill someone with a grenade, as they only do a base of Serious damage. So, I’ve simply upped the damage category of each grenade type by one. Now most grenades can do Deadly damage, even when set up as booby traps or “thrown” by 2 year olds.
	Alternatives
•	By The Book
The Shadowrun Companion makes the gamemaster roll dice based on the grenade’s Power Level and stage up the damage accordingly.
•	Alternative One
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Use the Shadowrun Companion rule for explosives (Explosives attack all targets within their blast radius with a number of dice equal to their Power Level divided by 2 vs. a target number of 4).
Armor piercing (anti-vehicle) and shaped explosives attack their target with a number of dice equal to their Power Level vs. a target number of 4.
The attacker’s skill may be applied to a specific target (throwing a grenade at Fred, firing a rocket at Fred’s car, placing a demolitions charge on Fred’s house, etc).
•	Grenade Launchers Against Point Targets
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: SRII pp. 87-91, 96-97, Shadowrun Companion p. 91
Launched grenades can be fired against small targets without scattering all over the place. Only if they’re aimed at a general area (“Into the alley,” “Through the window,” etc.) do the scatter rules from pages 96 and 97 of SRII apply. When a character wants to fire a grenade at a (meta)human or vehicle target, make a Firearms Success Test to see if it hits, just as for other weapons. If the test succeeds, the grenade hit the target and the successes from the Firearms test are used to stage up its damage. Successes from the grenade’s Power Level test (see the optional rule in the Companion) also stage up the damage.
If the test fails, the grenade scatters as normal; since there are no successes, the scatter distance isn’t reduced from what was rolled for the grenade.
•		Alternative
Andrew Mellinger <geburah@teleport.com> & Susan Mellinger <ssalmon@portland.cushwake.edu>
Grenade launchers can fire as direct fire weapons up to 50 m. When doing so, use shotgun ranges for target number determination. Beyond 50 m they use the normal scatter rules as indirect fire.
•	Scatter
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 96-97, DMZ p.24
One thing that has often annoyed me about the Shadowrun grenade scatter system is the relative ease with which a grenade can land behind the throwing or launching character if they are only aiming a short distance in front of them. This is particularly evident when characters begin using rifle launched grenades indoors. With a scatter of 3D6 meters, and characters launching them rarely more than 20 m in front of themselves, it is quite possible for the grenade to land literally at the firer’s feet, or even behind his back. This situation, while humorous, is a little unrealistic. After all, if a grenade is thrown or launched only a short distance, decent accuracy can be expected, and it is just about impossible for the thing to go in the opposite direction to that which was intended.

To remedy this problem I do two things. The first is that I use the grenade scatter diagram from DMZ (similar to the one provided here), which is in my view a much better scatter diagram (ta Gurth!).

Secondly, I base the distance scattered on the distance the grenade was supposed to travel. A grenade intended to go 300 m will scatter significantly more than a grenade intended to go 30 m. To this end, I roll scatter normally, and reduce the scatter by the successes generated by the thrower/firer as normal. I then multiply the resulting scatter by (Intended Distance)÷100 m. This is the distance actually scattered. It might seem like a fair bit of extra calculation, but with a handy calculator (or an even handier computer program), and a little practice it becomes very easy. And the satisfaction in the results is much greater.
•	Hit Locations
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Roll 1D6 and add the number of attacker’s successes, then subtract the number of the defender’s successes. Then refer to the Hit Location Table to find the part of the body that was hit.

Hit Location Table	
Result	Hit Location	
2	Arm	
3	Leg	
4	Arm	
5	Leg	
6-9	Torso	
10-12	Head	
13+	Roll 1D6: 1-3=Torso, 4-6=Head	
•		Alternative
Ferri G. Pagano <ferri@digiface.nl>
Every time someone is hit, a D20 is rolled for location, the results are: 1-2 right leg, 3-4 left leg, 5-6 right arm, 7-8 left arm, 9-19 torso, 20 head. For roleplaying purposes only, you can be more specific on the hit location, so 1=lower area than 2 (1 would be right foot), or 9 being lower torso (around groin area… ouch!).

This system does require certain complications:
Armor
If it covers an area it provides full protection, else it provides NO protection, if wearing a helmet, you get the full armor value you'd get with the normal rules on your head area.
A helmet also enhances your armor as normal, if layered armor is worn, then the helmet modifiers are applied to the best armor BEFORE the layering modifiers are added.

Complex Example: say you wear a security helmet (+1/+2), and an armored jacket (5/3, torso only), layered on top of level 3 form-fitting body armor (4/1, full body except head). Armor would be: torso=(5/3 +1/+2) divided by 2 + 4/1 =7/3, head=7/4 (as per normal SRII rules), legs: 4/1, and arms as well 4/1.

Note: This is to be calculated BEFORE play by players or by the gamemaster.
Called Shots
The penalty for a called shot is: General extremity (arm or leg) +5, Torso +1, Head or very specific body part: +10. (the formula, if you are interested is 20 ÷ (2 × #), where # is the amount of possible positive results out of 20, ignore this formula, it’s here just for completeness’ sake).
The idea of this is making called shots possible, but they should be a bit difficult.
Called Shots For Melee Combat
ALL modifiers are HALVED but a minimum of 1, so arm/leg +2, head or specific +5, torso still +1. This is done for both fairness and playability.
Resisting damage
Only use local armor with 2 changes: you get a free success on torso resistance and if you get a serious wound to your head you are knocked out. 
Wounds
Say you shoot a man’s arm, you do a serious wound, what happens? Does he drop his weapon/primed grenade? Clearly it is necessary to address this.
Stun Wounds: as normal, no wounds per body part for stun wounds. (Too complicated!!)
Physical Wounds: are separately kept track of, PER body part so it is possible to have a serious wound in one's arm, and another in one's leg and still be shooting back.<maybe>

You must keep track of all body parts for their wound levels, and there are some special rules for this:
Wound modifiers: your torso and head wound modifiers add to each other FULLY (so 2× Serious is +6), for your other body parts, you only get a wound modifier of one level less than the wound of the part, so if your arm is seriously wounded, you’d do 2 things: cross the 6 boxes in your arm wound location and add a +2 wound modifier (for one level less than Serious = Moderate=+2) to your target numbers as usual.

Effects Of Wounds: a body part with a Deadly wound level is temporarily useless and if special kinds of ammo were used such as explosive ammo the body part will (gamemaster’s option) need replacement.
A Deadly head wound means DEATH, no I don't mean bleeding for 3 hours waiting for DocWagon™, I mean Instant Kill. If your torso sustains a Deadly wound you are dead/dying as per normal SRII rules.

Going down due to accumulated hits: if you sustain a Serious wound to every part of your body, you can still keep standing, as none are useless? NOPE, or better said, not for long. You see, when your accumulated penalties from physical wounds reach +6 or higher, you pass a certain threshold, from then on, every action you have, you have to pass a body test, without any pools whatsoever vs. a target number, if you fail one of those rolls you fall unconscious/incapacitated from shock & bleeding.
The target number for this test is your FULL physical wound modifier. What do I mean with FULL? well, you'll recall (I hope) that wounds to your arms & legs counted as one level less for determining wound modifiers. Well NOT for this test, all modifiers are added fully, counting Deadly extremity wounds as +4 each.

This looks more complex than it is, so here follows an example:

Joe Sam, a street sam with a body of 10 (incl. cyber), combat pool of  6 and armored as in the last example: head 7/4, torso 7/3, all others 4/1 picks a fight with Don Rigger and Merlyn the Sorcerer adept. No one declares a called shot.
Don shoots a burst with his Franchi Spas at Joe, as no called shot was declared, the hit location is determined randomly, so the attacker’s player rolls a D20, he obtains a 13, so a torso result and gets 4 hits.
Joe gets a free success (torso area) and after resisting gets a Moderate wound to his torso (so a +2 wound modifier)
Merlyn uses a flamethrower 6 spell on Joe, the D20 roll comes a 2 so the right leg is the target, reduced by ½ × 1 (½ impact) so poor Joe has to resist a full 6. He gets a serious leg injury from that, but his gamemaster knows that is where he keeps his spare clip of EX-Explosive ammo, which cooks off, the resulting explosion  renders his right leg useless (his gamemaster was friendly, I’d have ruled it was blown clean off) so he has a Deadly wound in his leg. one level less is Serious so he gets a +3 added to his general wound modifier so he is at +5. Also, the gamemaster may require him to roll Quickness tests in order to keep standing on one leg.
Joe now shoots back with his APDS-loaded Ares Alpha, making a called shot for Don’s head, getting a whopping 17 as his target number (base 4 –2 from smartlink, +10 called shot, +5 wound) and miraculously hits, doing a Serious wound so Don’s out of it.
Merlyn gets upset at this and throws a second flamethrower 6 spell, this time doing a Serious wound to Joe’s left leg, –1 wound level is Moderate which grants Joe an additional +2 wound modifier, making it +7
Now it’s Joe’s turn, but his wound modifier is +6 or higher, so in order to act at all he has to make a Body test, he uses his 10 body dice, vs. target number: 2 (torso wound) + 4 (FULL right leg injury) + 3 (FULL left leg injury) = 9. If he gets even one success he can act this time (at a +7 wound modifier) and will have to roll again on his next action until he fails the test. Whenever he fails, he falls down and is incapacitated until healed.
Healing
All body parts must be healed separately!! This is specially important if healing spells are used!!
Optional Rule 1
Grenades and PHYSICAL Area Effect Spells: these do damage to ALL body parts, but the successes are only counted once, and the DEFENDER gets to choose how to distribute them, he has two options: one success to each body part and the leftovers to torso or ALL to torso.
Optional Rule 2
(This rule is untested, munchkin alert!) You may want to consider helmets as giving head armor equal to that of the armor they were made for, so a helmet made for medium security armor would give 7/7 head armor (but look really bulky, remember Dark Helmet in the Spaceballs movie? :)
Campaign Effects Of These Rules
These rules do add a bit of complicity, but after a few hours everyone will get used to it. 
There are few major effects these rules will have in the campaign: 
1)	Player survivability will be increased, let's face it, most SRII mid to heavy weapons will otherwise mean instant death to shadowrunners, gamemaster’s response in usually to have NPCs NOT use them, this is not realistic.
2)	Grenades are more deadly, you may want to use the Fields of Fire rules for (with a lot of risk :) throwing back a grenade, but I suggest disallowing re-rolls for this (makes the quickness test exciting).
3)	Most importantly, this allows you to describe combats better, as it gives you something firm to stand on (beyond gamemaster’s whim) when you tell the PC his/her left arm was hit.
4)	It makes grunts survive longer, so PCs who go with all guns blazing into a corp building may have time problems getting out again before reinforcement arrives.
Initiative
•	Actions In A Combat Turn
David R. Lowe <dlowe@dnai.com>
Reference: SRII p. 78-80
The system we use in house is that everyone gets their Initiative plus 1D6. Boosted reflexes, etc., reduce the time between actions by two phases per extra D6.
For example, a character who would normally have an initiative of 8+2D6, now has 8+1D6 but acts every 8 phases instead of every 10.
It’s not perfect, and greatly reduces the effectiveness of some cyberware, but overall we like it. It compresses the round into a shorter time period, but still gives the quick players 3-4 actions per round. The thing I like is that the “slow” characters get to act at the middle to last third of the round, rather than dead last.
•	Initiative Rolls
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: SRII pp. 32, 79
The Rule of Six applies to one initiative die, to allow characters with low Initiative scores to act fast at times, so they don’t always lag behind the street sams.
If a character has only 1D6 for initiative, the Rule of Six applies to that die; characters with more than one die should roll one of a different color and apply the Rule of Six to that one only.
This rule naturally applies both player characters and non-player characters.

	Alternatives
•	Alternative One
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
As above, except spirits and critters apply the Rule of Six to ALL of their Initiative dice, to reflect an additional boost given to them by their magical nature. What, you don’t want to try this house rule out anymore?
•	Alternative Two
Nurse Wratchett <wratchet-rn@ns.arizona.edu>
My group created some house rules for this as well.  We got tired of the “wake my next year” syndrome, and “I must have at least a +3D6 so I can do something before the fight is over phobia.”
We rolled initiative as per norm and the highest number went first, then we compressed everything into a one phase sequence. The number actions are now used to determine the types of maneuvers someone can take (i.e. complex maneuvers = 3 actions, simple maneuvers = 2 actions, and free maneuvers = 1 action).  Thus, somebody with 4 actions could perform 1 complex and 1 free or 2 simple or 2 simple and 2 free, you get the picture :).

This gave people a bonus for high initiative, while not making the combat sequences drag on into infinity. Players could still delay actions, and use different weapons in each hand (with appropriate penalties of course).
•	Initiative Ties
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 79
I do not use the Shadowrun Initiative Tie resolution method on page 79 of SRII. If multiple characters have actions on the same Combat Phase, then the character with the highest Reaction Attribute gets to go first. If multiple characters also have the same Reaction Attribute, then the character with the highest Initiative total for that Combat Turn goes first. If even this cannot separate characters, then each character may roll 1D6. The highest number rolled goes first. If more than one character rolls the same number here, then they are assumed to act simultaneously. Characters act in sequential order, highest to lowest.
•	Projectile Weapons
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Reference: pp. 96, 184-185
Bows add a modifier of +1 to their Availability per point of Strength Minimum above 6.

Skills
Frag! I thought I knew how to do this…!
	— Eileen Simmons, decker
•	Build/Repair and Theoretical Skills
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: SRII p. 66-75, Shadowbeat pp. 84-85, Awakenings pp. 96-97
The skill web in SRII is rather confusing regarding some of the skills that have corresponding theories and B/R skills:
Computer skill is used for programming computers; its Hardware concentration is used for configuring hardware. The Computer B/R skill is used for working with information-processing hardware, and tends to concern the futuristic equivalents of fiddling with cables, straps, and chips. Computer Theory is computer science: algorithms, complexity, information theory, mathematics, and so on, and is useful when designing new forms of IC.
Electronics skill is used for operating complex electronic devices that don’t have friendly GUIs on top of them. Electronics (B/R) is the futuristic equivalent of going in with the soldering iron. A new skill, Electronics Theory, is what you use when designing hardware that does not do information processing.
Biotech skill does not have a corresponding (B/R). The corresponding theory skill is Biology. An MD tends to have Biotech 5 and Biology (Medicine) 1 (5).
Cybertechnology B/R is used for repairing cyberware; average Cybertechnology and Biology when doing cybersurgery.
Similar skill sets exist for other disciplines of engineering, including Hydraulics and Plumbing, Architecture and Building (with concentrations of Carpentry and so on)…
Combat Skills
•	Armed & Unarmed Combat
David Buehrer <dbuerher@denver.carl.org>
Reference: SRII pp. 100-103
These skills have two properties, Offense and Defense. If a character learns a General Unarmed Combat skill then the Offense and Defense would be equal. If a Concentration is chosen then increase either property by 1, and decrease the other by 1. If a character Specializes then increase either property by 2, and decrease the other property by 2. For example a character could start the game with Unarmed Combat: Karate (General): 4/4 (Offense and Defense respectively). Or he could start the game with Unarmed Combat: Tai Kwon Do (Concentration): 5/3. After character creation increase of either Offense or Defense has a ×1 multiplier.
•	Unarmed Combat
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 100-103
The martial arts rules for Shadowrun are significantly vague that they can be widely abused. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, that there essentially are no such rules. Secondly because the only such mention of them is as Concentration of Unarmed Combat. Further, the capability of Specialization in a particular strike technique (e.g. hand strikes) is widely open to munchkinous abuse. A character may select, for example, Unarmed Combat, Concentrate in tae kwon do, and Specialize in hand strikes. Now, in nearly all unarmed combat situations, the character will be able to use the hand strike Specialization. By Specializing, the character has effectively gained two free skill points. Similarly with the martial art Concentrations, there is little opportunity for the disadvantages of Concentration to come into play. By and large, if the character ends up in an unarmed combat melee situation, they will be able to use their martial art or Specialization. This is radically different to the situation for Firearms and other skills, where Concentration and Specialization have significant drawbacks and players will not always choose them when creating characters.
To solve this problem, I require that upon selecting the skill Unarmed Combat, that the player specify what style of Unarmed Combat has been chosen (thanks for the idea TopCat!). For example, a character might choose Unarmed Combat (Brawling), or Unarmed Combat (Thai Kickboxing), or Unarmed Combat (Tae Kwon Do), and so forth. Concentrations of Subduing Combat and Cyber Implant Weaponry are still available. The Concentration of Martial Arts Style becomes the Concentration of Specific Technique, with its Specializations becoming individual moves (much like individual weapons for Firearms).
•	Defaulting
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: SRII p. 68-69
Each skill’s Concentrations and Specializations can be diagrammed as a tree. If you place a spot at each branch point, you can default around that tree, with the proviso that you must default the same category of skill (Concentration, Specialization) as you possess.

Theora has Firearms 1, concentrated in Pistols at 3, and Specialized in a Narcoject Pistol at 5. If she uses a Browning Max-Power pistol, she rolls three dice against the usual target number and then two more at +2, since specializations under the same concentration are one spot away from each other. 
If she switches to an SMG, she rolls 1 die at the normal target number, two more dice at +2 (defaulting a Concentration off another Concentration passes one spot), and then two more at +6 (defaulting a Specialization off another Specialization ends up crossing three spots).

Ground Vehicles (B/R), Boats (B/R), and Aircraft (B/R) are all two dots away from each other. (Just draw a vertical line to the right of all three of them, and put a dot on each line connecting them to that vertical line.)
Throwing (B/R) does not exist. Use Armed Combat (B/R) for knives and shuriken, Projectile (B/R) for spears, and Demolitions for grenades.
Firearms (B/R) is one dot away from Gunnery (B/R).
Partial Defaulting
If you have an appropriate skill for a particular activity and a better skill nearby on the skill web, you can roll the dice of your appropriate skill at the usual target number and the dice by which your nearby skill exceeds your appropriate skill at the same target number you would use if defaulting off the nearby skill.

Barry the troll physical adept has Firearms 4, and has just been handed the team’s Panther Assault Cannon because he’s big enough to handle such a massive gun. He has to attack defaulting his Gunnery off his Firearms, at +4 to his target numbers. After the adventure, he spends a Karma point on his Gunnery. He can now attack rolling 1 die at the Gunnery target number and 3 dice at the Firearms target number.
•		By The Book
Reference: Shadowrun Companion p. 46
The Partial Defaulting rules from page 46 of the Companion allow something similar to the above rules, but by averaging the skills used.

•	Knowledge Skills
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 20-32, 66-68, 183-184
I feel that a character with a Knowledge skill that is logically related to the skill being used should receive a bonus to his success tests when using said skill.
One example of this would be if a character had both the Negotiation and Psychology skills and was trying to barter the price of the new power focus he wanted down a bit. This person should have some advantage over an equally skilled individual without a Psychology skill when it comes to Negotiation success tests. After all, if you know what makes a person tick on a psychological level, you should be a more effective negotiator.
Thus, here is the system for using related skills for a single Success Test. A Free Action is used to make a Success Test using the secondary skill (in the above scenario, Psychology would be the secondary skill, while Negotiation would be the primary skill being used) versus the target number for the primary skill’s Success Test (in this case, the opponent’s Willpower).
For every 2 successes generated by this test, an extra skill die is rolled for the primary skill’s Success Test.

Let’s say the character’s Negotiation skill is a 5, while his Psychology skill is a 4. His “opponent’s” Willpower is a 4. The character would use a Free Action to make a Psychology skill success test versus a target number of 4. Let’s say he gets 2 successes. This would give the character one extra die to augment his Negotiation Skill test with. He then uses a Complex Action to make a Negotiation skill success test versus a target number of 4. He would roll a number of dice equal to his Negotiation skill, plus one additional die that he earned with his Psychology test. This gives him a total of 6 dice to roll for the Negotiation success test.

There may be the rare instance that more than two Knowledge skills can be used together. If this occurs, use the above rules, but there will be two or more secondary skills, and only one primary skill. Roll each secondary skill separately. (Thus, successes are kept separate for each Success Test.) Then, total the extra dice from all secondary skill tests. Add these dice to the primary skill success test.
 You may have noticed that these rules are similar to the Centering rules. They are. All augmented Knowledge skill tests must be approved by the gamemaster before being made. It is entirely up to the gamemaster’s discretion as to whether or not any two or more knowledge skills are related enough to augment each other in a given situation.
Build and Repair skills (B/R) cannot be augmented by or be used to augment other skills.
•	Language Skills
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 44-47, 74
The character’s native language skill level begins at the character’s starting Intelligence rating plus 2. The character has an additional number of skill points, to be spent on languages skills only, equal to his starting Intelligence rating.
Note: Sperethiel is never a native language.
•	Education and Extra Languages
Loki <gamemstr@primenet.com>
Reference: SRII p. 74, Shadowrun Companion p. 28
Taking the High-School Education Edge grants the starting character half his Intelligence (rounded down) in skill points to spend on extra languages. The College Education grants full Intelligence in extra language skill points.
New Skills
•	Body Language
Nurse Wratchett <wratchet-rn@ns.arizona.edu>
We created a new skill Body Language (Combat [Hand To Hand, Spec. Martial Art, ranged, magic, matrix, vehicle], Social [Mafia, Yakuza, Media, Mystic Group, et al], Sports). This skill gives the practitioner insight into typical behaviors that may give away information about a person. The target number is based on how common the behavior is, regional variation, and personality of the individual, a typical target number is 6-8. Each success generated gives the practitioner more information, per gamemaster’s discretion. For each round the practitioner successfully uses the skill against the same opponent reduce the target number by 1 (2 minimum).

Tye Mi-Tight is a Master of Wang Chung Kung Fu, she is engaged in hand to hand combat with Princess Bride a macho cybergoon who likes to wear the most  extravagant gowns he can find and also practices Wang Chung. Tye has Body Language at 5 and has one initiative for this round. Since they practice the same art (even with different instructors) the base target number decided by the gamemaster is 3, but because Princess has on gowns which help to conceal his moves the target number is increased to 6. Tye rolls 2 successes (great job Tye), and the gamemaster determines that Tye know that Princess is going to counterstrike her attack, but does not know if any special maneuver will be used. If the fight continues for 4 rounds during which Tye successfully uses Body Language against Princess, at the 5th round her target number would only be a 2. At this point Tye rolls 5 successes (WOW) and knows almost exactly what Princess is going to be doing.

The value of this skill depends on how much information the gamemaster provides and how creative the player is in using it. This skill is only effective in combat when the user has initiative.
•	Other Skills
The Twilight Brigade <twilight-brigade@amurgsval.org>
Reference: SRII p. 66-75, Shadowbeat pp. 84-85, Awakenings pp. 96-97
Acting (Social). Concentrations of Film/Trid, Stage, Simsense.
Homemaking (Physical). Concentrations of Cooking and Cleaning.
Disguise (Physical). Concentrations of Clothing and Makeup.
Negotiation has additional Concentrations of Intimidation, Diplomacy, and Seduction. (If Athletics is good for skydiving, surfing, skiing, and football, Negotiation can be equally broad.)
Musical Production (Special Skill) from Shadowbeat can be taken as a Concentration of either Leadership or Negotiation.
Aura Reading, as given in Awakenings, is useless until you bring it higher than your intelligence. Since spending experience on a skill should show an improvement before the astounding amount of karma it takes to up a skill past the Intelligence of a magically active character, there are some other possible interpretations:
1.	one can begin buying Aura Reading up from one’s Intelligence;
2.	Aura Reading should have easier target numbers than raw Intelligence,
3.	one success on Aura Reading should count as two on raw Intelligence, or
4.	Aura Reading functions as a Centering-like skill, with every two successes adding to your successes from Intelligence.
We’ve tentatively settled on (1) for now.
Metamemory
A new Initiatory skill, Metamemory, represents the Art of Memory—in addition to helping remember things, it can also serve as a source of inspiration. Concentrations are Memory (specialized by topics, which can be as broad as “fixing”), Intuition (opportunities, dangers, wonders, astral quests), and (race memory, past life recall, collective unconscious). It can go no higher than twice your initiate grade (or 1 for grade 0 initiates), and can only be bought with karma; mere practice will not do. When used for memory recall, it adds its dice to your Intelligence rolls; when used for intuition or race memory, you roll the skill’s rating against a target number determined by the gamemaster. For the latter uses, it is possible to go on Astral Quests of a rating up to that of the skill to add dice to the roll. (This is shamelessly stolen from John Crowley and Katharine Kerr.)
A number of concentration-only skills have turned up when people have bought background information: Literature (by language) is specialized by genre, Dance (by style) is specialized by particular moves.
•	Read and Write
Loki <gamemstr@primenet.com>
Reference: SRII p. 74, Shadowrun Companion p. 28
Starting PCs receive a free skill in Read/Write equal to one-half intelligence (rounded down). The High-School Education Edge starts Read/Write equal to Intelligence. College Education starts Read/Write at Intelligence + 2.
The Illiterate Flaw means the PC starts without a Read/Write skill.
During game play, reading or writing tests are made by averaging the Read/Write skill and the appropriate language.

A character wants to read a ransom note written in Spanish. He has Spanish at 5 and Read/Write at 3, so he’ll roll 4 dice in a test to read the note. Yes, this means that if the previous character were illiterate, he’d be rolling half his Spanish skill (rounded down) at 2.
•	Perception Skill 
Justin Pinnow <vanyel@provide.net>
Reference: SRII pp. 185-186, 190-191
Normally, a character’s Perception is equal to his Intelligence Attribute Rating. If desired, a Perception skill may be purchased, in order to allow for a character with a high level of perceptivity, without increasing his Intelligence as a whole.
The first level of this skill is bought by spending enough Karma to raise the Intelligence attribute rating by one point, as if it were a general skill. This gives you a Perception skill equal to your Intelligence attribute plus one.

A character with an Intelligence of 3 would need to spend 8 Good Karma points to acquire a Perception skill of 4.

Further increases to this skill are bought as per the standard rules for increasing general skills.
Physical Skills
•	Ambidexterity
WoLfMÅÑ <lmc4@keene.edu>
Reference: Fields of Fire p. 81
(This is to replace the rule in the Fields Of Fire supplement, which I find confusing.) Firing with off hand gives an automatic +6 modifier to all target numbers. You can buy the Ambidexterity skill normally up to a maximum of 6. For each level of Ambidexterity skill subtract 1 from the penalty to hit.

Shadow has a level 3 ambidexterity. His left hand has been hurt badly and cannot fire his gun. When he tries to shoot with his right hand it gives him a +6 modifier. With his 3 levels of Ambidexterity it drops that target modifier by three to a +3 modifier.

Enhanced articulation and or reflex recorders will not affect the skill level in any way.
•	Stealth
Gurth <gurth@xs4all.nl>
Reference: SRII p. 185, Shadowbeat pp. 10-11, Shadowrun Companion p. 91
To sneak around, a character rolls Stealth skill in an open test (see Shadowbeat). The highest-rolling die sets the base target number for Perception tests made to notice the character, not the number of successes rolled (because this is an open test, there are no successes).

Big Al suspects someone has broken into his apartment, so he’s coming in real stealth-like to surprise the robber. Al has Stealth skill 3, and rolling those dice he gets 1, 5, and 10. The base target number for the robber to hear Big Al approach is 10, modified as per Perception on page 185 of SRII.
•	Social Skills
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 44-47, 72
In addition to the normal skill points for purchasing skills at character creation, the character has a number of points equal to his starting Charisma attribute to be spent on, and only on, social skills.
•	
•	Etiquette
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII p. 72
The Shadowrun rules on Etiquette skills state that the skill requires Concentration. They do not, however, explain just how one goes about handling the game mechanics of this, nor do the archetypes presented in the books clarify the matter an awful lot. The rule itself implies that upon choosing the general skill Etiquette, one must then Concentrate in a particular type. This sounds OK, but then we look at the archetypes and see that they have all their Etiquette skills as separate skills, rather than Concentrations of a general Etiquette skill. I run the skill as follows. When you choose Etiquette, you must choose what kind of Etiquette it is (Street, Corporate, Magical, etc.). Each Etiquette is a completely separate skill. However, when chosen, because of the fact that Concentration is mandatory, you receive the +1 skill point for Concentration to each separate Etiquette skill. An example will help:

Erif Gnab spends 3 skill points on obtaining Etiquette (Street). He now has the skill Etiquette (Street) at Rating 4. He then spends 6 skill points learning Etiquette (Pyromaniac), and thus has an Etiquette (Pyromaniac) skill of 7.

It is not possible to spend 0 skill points on an Etiquette skill, ’natch.
•	Leadership
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 72-73
Leadership & Planning
The skills Leadership, Small Unit Tactics or Military Theory may be used for planing a ’run. The skill is rolled against a target number of 4 or the number of people participating in the ’run—whichever is the highest number. For every two successes rolled, one temporary Team Karma Pool point is available, for the duration of the run, to all the planned participants. If the ’run diverges strongly from the planned scenario these temporary Team Karma Points go.
Leadership in a ’Run
A character in communication with the other runners may coordinate the activities of a run by the use of Leadership or Small Unit Tactics skills. To do so the character must spend the last action of every turn on this coordination-rolling their skill against a target number of four or the number of participating runners (whichever is higher). For every two successes rolled the Reaction of all runners is increases by one for the next turn. The quality of communication modifies the target number for this skill, e.g. basic radio communications adds a +2 penalty to the success test. Military Theory may be used for this activity with a +2 penalty to the success test.
Technical Skills
•	Biotech
Chris Maxfield <cmaxfiel@pcug.org.au>
Reference: SRII p. 71
If a character has both Biotech and Medical Theory skills then she may add Medical Theory dice to most Biotech tests at the gamemaster’s determination. Situations where this may not apply are purely mechanical operations (i.e. sewing the arm back on) where intellectual theory is not relevant. Vice versa, Medical Theory may only apply to some purely intellectual situations where Biotech is not relevant (i.e. diagnostics), so only theory dice will be rolled.

Vehicles
Now if only it would start right away, just for this once…
	— Tom Blake, freelance rigger
Note: Most of the rules in this chapter apply only to SRII and the Rigger Black Book; most will not be fully compatible with the new Rigger 2, or they cover situations that are also handled by Rigger 2.
Drones
•	Batch Drone Control
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 104, 107
Shadowrun states that a character controlling a vehicle must spend at least one Complex Action per turn controlling the vehicle. I allow “squads” or “batches” of drones to be controlled with a single Complex action, providing that they are all performing the same task. This rule complements the Vehicle Actions and Commands rules, in which a single controlling action may be used to order multiple drones or remote pilot vehicles (RPV’s) to perform the same task.
•	Drone Autopilot Initiative
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 104-109, Rigger Black Book pp. 98-107
Nowhere in either SRII or the Rigger Black Book do the rules state what Initiative to use for a drone or other vehicle that has been left to run commands on autopilot. I use Autopilot Rating + 1D6.
•	
Subsystem Damage
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Reference: Rigger 2 pp. 22-23, 49-55, 85-87
Instead of using a single damage track to determine damage to a vehicle, this system applies damage to the vehicle’s subsystems (tables and rules liberated and modified from FASA’s Rigger 2 by Jonathan Szeto).

Roll to hit and resist damage as per the rules with one exception: Vehicles do not reduce the damage level of weapons attacks by one level.
The outcome of the attack determines how many subsystems have been hit. If the vehicle suffers Light damage 1 subsystem is hit, Moderate damage 2 subsystems,  Serious damage 3 subsystems,  Deadly damage 4 subsystems.
For each subsystem hit roll on the following table. If the roll results in a subsystem which is not present roll again. If the roll results in a subsystem which is already destroyed then that hit has no effect.

Table 1: Major System Categories	
2D6	Category	Corresponding Table	
2	Accessories	Accessories Damage	
3	Weapon Systems	Weapon Systems Damage	
4	Vehicle Electronics	Electronics Damage	
5	Vehicle Controls	Controls Damage	
6	Chassis	Chassis Damage	
7	Engine	Engine Damage	
8	Chassis	Chassis Damage	
9	Vehicle Controls	Controls Damage	
10	Vehicle Electronics	Electronics Damage	
11	Weapon Systems	Weapon System Damage	
12	Accessories	Accessories Damage	

Engine Damage Table	
1D6	System	
1	Gridlink™	
2	Turbocharger/Superconductive Drive	
3	Engine Hit	
4	Engine Customization	
5	Nitrous Injector	
6	SunCell™	

Chassis Damage Table	
1D6	System	
1	Fuel System	
2	Passenger Compartment	
3	Aggravated Body Damage (Anti-Vehicle and Explosive Weapons Only)	
4	Armor Defeating Hit (Anti-Vehicle and Explosive Weapons Only)	
5	Roll on Engine Damage Table	
6	Roll on Controls Damage Table	

Controls Damage Table	
1D6	System	
1	Rigger Control Box	
2	Autonav	
3-4	Handling	
5	Remote Control Linkup	
6	Drive-by-Wire System	

Electronics Damage Table	
1D6	System	
1	ECM	
2	ECCM	
3-4	Sensor Systems	
5	ED	
6	ECD	

Weapon Systems Damage Table	
1D6	System	
1-2	Turret	
3-4	Vehicle Weapon	
5-6	Target Acquisition System	

Accessories Damage Table	
2D6	System	
2	Roll on Engine Damage Table	
3	APPS System	
4	Amphibious System	
5	Anti-Theft System	
6	Communications Gear	
7	Drone Rack	
8	EnviroSeal™	
9	External Cargo Mount	
10	Life Support	
11	Spotlight	
12	Roll on Controls Damage Table	

Damage Severity	
Light Damage	The subsystem operates at reduced efficiency. Reduce by 1 any bonuses or extra dice provided by modifications or accessories. (If the subsystem has no such bonuses or extra dice, apply a +1 target modifier to Success Tests made with the damaged device/system.)	
Moderate Damage	The subsystem is suffering a serious malfunction. Reduce by half the original value of any bonuses or extra dice provided by modifications or accessories. (If the subsystem has no such bonuses or extra dice, apply a +3 target modifier to Success Tests made with the damaged device/system.)	
Serious Damage	The subsystem is inoperative but repairable.	
Deadly Damage	The subsystem is destroyed beyond repair, and must be replaced completely.	

If a previously damaged subsystem is hit again the new damage is added to the previous damage: Light increases the damage by 1 level, Moderate by 2 levels, and Serious by 3 levels. A Deadly hit results in Deadly damage to a subsystem.
Subsystem Damage Notes
Aggravated Body Damage (if the attack is not from an anti-vehicle weapon or explosive device ignore this result and roll again): If the vehicle has a Body of 1 or less, it and all of its subsystems are destroyed and it automatically crashes. If the vehicle has a Body of 2 or more the attack seriously weakens the infrastructure of the vehicle. For a Light damage, reduce the vehicle’s Body by 1. For Moderate damage, reduce the vehicle’s Body to one-half its value, rounded up. For Serious damage, reduce the vehicle’s Body to one-third of it’s original value, rounded up. Deadly damage to the vehicle’s Body destroys the vehicle and all of its subsystems, and it automatically crashes.
Armor-Defeating Hit (if the attack is not from an anti-vehicle weapon or explosive device ignore this result and roll again): The attack reduces the effectiveness of the vehicle’s armor. Light damage reduces the Armor Rating by 1, Moderate damage reduces the Armor by 3, Serious damage reduces the Armor by 6, and Deadly damage reduces the Armor Rating by 10. Armor points lost in this manner are gone for good and can only be recovered by replacing the armor. Note that this rule is separate from the Armor Degradation rules (p. 75, Fields of Fire).
Engine Hit: The attack damages the engine, which in turn reduces the vehicle’s Acceleration, Speed and Load Ratings. For Light damage, multiply all Ratings by .9, rounding down. For Moderate damage, multiply all Ratings by .7, rounding down. For Serious damage multiply all Ratings by .4, rounding down. If the engine suffers Deadly damage, the vehicle loses power and decelerates at a rate equal to twice the Acceleration, and the driver must make a Crash Test.
Fuel System: The attack causes a leak in the vehicle’s fuel system. For Light damage, calculate the loss rate by multiplying the fuel remaining by .01. The result is the amount of fuel that leaks each turn. For Moderate damage, multiply the remaining fuel by .05. For Serious damage, multiply the remaining fuel by .1. If the fuel system sustains Deadly damage, it ruptures and the driver must make a Crash Test. (Pyromaniac gamemasters may also check to see if the destruction of the fuel system results in an electrical fire or fuel explosion).
Handling: The attack damages the primary vehicle control mechanisms. Increase the Handling of the vehicle by 1 for a Light hit, 2 for a Moderate hit and 3 for a Serious hit. If the Handling sustains Deadly damage, the vehicle automatically crashes.
Passenger Compartment: The hit generates shrapnel in the passenger compartment. Passengers must make a Damage Resistance Test against physical damage. The damage Power is equal to half the Power of the attack against the vehicle (after armor reductions), and the Damage Code is equal to the Damage Code of the hit.
Rigger Control Box: The attack disrupts the rigger control hardware installed in the vehicle and triggers and ASIST backlash. The rigger must make a Damage Resistance Test against physical damage. The damage Power Level is equal to the Power of the vehicle’s attack (after armor reductions), and the Damage Level is equal to the Damage Level of the hit.
Target Acquisition System: The attack damages key sensor or electronic components relating to target-acquisition functions. Missiles, sensor-enhanced weapons and other smart weapons suffer a Damage Modifier (see Table 8: Damage Severity). If the target-acquisition system suffers a Deadly hit, the vehicle cannot lock onto a target and is unable to fire smart weapons. “Dumb” weapons, such as rockets, cannons and firearms, are not affected.
Turret: The attack damages the servo-mechanism controlling the vehicle turret (if the vehicle has more than one turret, the gamemaster may determine which one is damaged). Weapons fired from that turret suffer a Damage Modifier based on the damage of the hit (see Table 8: Damage Severity). If the turret suffers a Deadly hit, it is rendered inoperative and frozen in place (the direction it is pointing is determined by the gamemaster).
•	Vehicle Armor
Damion Milliken <dam01@uow.edu.au>
Reference: SRII pp. 99, 108
Vehicle armor has to take the prize (over even Karma and Karma Pools) for the most difficult to understand and poorly written part of the Shadowrun rules. I realize that Shadowrun is not about vehicles blowing each other away, but at least an understandable set of rules might have been generated. Anyway, I run vehicle armor like so:
Case 1: Base Power Less Than Or Equal To Vehicle Armor Rating
Nothing at all happens. You do not get to damage the armor, you do not get to reduce it like a Barrier Rating. You do nothing.
Case 2: Base Power Greater Than Vehicle Armor Rating
A] If the weapon is a normal weapon (not armor-piercing)
i)	Reduce Damage Category by one. If the weapon is rated at Light, it does no damage.
ii)	Subtract Vehicle Armor Rating plus Body Rating from the weapon’s Power. (Minimum of 2. It is likely here that nearly all weapons will have a resultant of 2.) Power – (Vehicle Armor + Body)
iii)	Roll Body + (Armor ÷ 2) (rounding down) against the target number determined above. Body + (Armor ÷ 2) vs. target determined above.

B] If the weapon is an armor piercing variety (e.g., AVM/R, or half the weapons out of Fields of Fire)
i)	Do not reduce damage category by one.
ii)	Subtract 1/2 the Vehicle Armor Rating (rounding down) from the Power of the weapon. Power – (Armor) ÷ 2
iii)	Roll Body + (Armor ÷ 2) (rounding down) against the target number determined above. Body + (Armor ÷ 2) vs. target determined above.

This set of rules makes vehicles fairly resilient to small arms, but almost instantly dead if some sort of armor piercing weapon hits them.
	Alternatives
•	Alternative One
The Barrier Rating rules starting on page 57, and mainly the Vehicle Armor subsection on page 60, can be used instead of those above.
•	Alternative Two
David Buehrer <dbuehrer@denver.carl.org>
Try using these rules in place of the vehicle/barrier rules.
I divide attacks and targets into three categories. Type I: People and most critters, standard attacks. Type II: Vehicles, structures and really tough critters, anti-vehicle and heavy weapon attacks. Type III: Ultra tough targets (main battle tanks), ultra heavy weapon attacks (rail guns, nukes).
If an attack is directed against a target in the same category everything balances out and the rules aren’t changed (roll to hit, apply armor (if any) to the power of the attack, resist damage).

If an attack is directed at a target in a higher or lower category do the following.
If the attack is in a higher category then the target, divide the Body and the armor of target by 2 for each difference in level, rounding down (if a Type I target is attacked by a Type III weapon, the Body and armor of the target would be divided by 2 twice). When resisting damage the target also divides its successes by 2 for each difference in level before staging damage.
If the attack is in a lower category than the target, divide the Power Level, Damage Code and attacker’s successes by 2 for each difference in level, rounding down.
Effects such as armor-piercing ammo are applied after adjusting numbers for the attack/target.

Sam fires an anti-vehicle rocket (Type II Armor-Piercing Weapon) at Fred (Type I Target) and hits. Fred has a Body of 5 and is wearing armor with an impact rating of 3. When resisting damage Fred only gets to apply half his Body (2) and half his armor (1). The effectiveness of Fred’s armor is cut in half again because the attack is armor piercing, reducing his armor to 0. Fred rolls one success, which is divided by 2, resulting in 0 successes for Fred.
Mortis drives by in a main battle tank (Type III target). Sam shoots the tank with a 9D pistol (Type I Weapon) and gets 4 successes. Sam’s successes are cut in half twice (from 4 to 2 to 1), and the Power and Damage Code of the pistol are also cut in half twice (from 9D to 4M to 2L). The tank is armored (18) but Sam loaded his pistol with armor piercing ammo, which reduces the effectiveness of the tank’s armor to 9.

These rules work very quickly and only require common sense and consistency on the part of the gamemaster.
•	Undercarriage
Blackjack <bhagerty@thunder.temple.edu>
The undercarriages of vehicles have the same Armor ratings as the rest of the vehicle. (I got tired of PCs lobbing grenades under police cars.)

Index

A
Acting Skill	81
Actions	54
Announcing	54
Delaying Simple Actions	54
Standing & Kneeling	54
Actions In A Combat Turn	77
Adepts	34
Astral	35
Astral Sight	35
Banishing	35
Conjuring	34
Elemenal	34
Enchanting	35
Minor	35
Negamagic	35
Physical	34; 35
Shamanic	34
Sorcery	35
Spell	35
Spirit	35
Aiming Spells	37
Air Timed Mini Grenades and Scatter	74
Allergies	16
In the points-based character generation system	16
Number of	16
Ambidexterity	82
Ammunition	54
Gel and Stun	54
Tracer	73
Ammunition vs. Barriers Table	57
Ammunition vs. Vehicle Armor Table	60
Announcing Actions	54
Armed & Unarmed Combat Skills	79
Armed Combat Skill	79
Armor Degradation	62
Armored Boots and Helmets	65
Astral Adepts	35
Astral Perception & Projection	28
Astral Quests
To bypass wards	28
Astral Sight Adepts	35
Astral Space	28; 32
Astral quest to bypass wards	28
Aura reading	29
Auras	28; 32
Grounding	37
Objects and auras	28
Patrolling	28
Psychometry	29
Spell Defense across planes	39
Attacks And Targets	55
Attributes	16
Enhanced	20
Enhanced Reaction and Reflexes	20
Increasing	16
Muscle Augmentation	15
Racial maximum	16
Reaction	20
Strength 1 Trolls	16
Aura Reading Skill	81
Auras	28; 32
Objects	28
Reading	29
Autofire	55
Recoil	55
Availability	9
B
Banishing Adepts	35
Barrier Spell	41
Barrier Spells	41
Barrier Spells and Area of Effect	42
Barriers	55; 57
Ammunition vs. Barriers Table	57
Armor degradation	62
Barrier spells	29; 32
Critter hardened armor	62
Penetrating	59
Personal hardened armor	62
Ratings	63
Vehicle armor	60
Batch Drone Control	84
Biotech skill	83
Bioware	14
Cultured	14
Enhanced Articulation	14
For magicians	14
Muscle Augmentation	15
Black market	10
Blade Barrier Spell	41
Blast Barrier Spell	42
Body Armor	64
Armored boots and helmets	65
Called Shots	64
Degradation	64
Excessive armor penalties	65
Higher Armor Rating Than Power Level	65
Sleeping in armor	67
Body Language Skill	81
Build/Repair and Theoretical Skills	79
Building Points System	17
Bullet Barrier Spell	42
C
Calculating Dice Pools	18
Called Shots	65
Centering	32
vs. penalties against shielding	33
Character Creation
Adjusted Priorities	21
Starting spells with Force modifiers	40
Character Generation	16; 25
Building Points system	17
Master Character Creation Table	21
Starting Resources	21
Characters	16
Hardened armor	62
Combat
Actions	54
Actions in a combat turn	77
Air timed mini grenades and scatter	74
Ammunition vs. Barriers Table	57
Ammunition vs. Vehicle Armor Table	60
Announcing Actions	54
Armor degradation	62
Armor Degradation	64
Armored boots and helmets	65
Attacks and targets	55
Autofire	55
Barrier Ratings	63
Barriers	55; 57
Body armor	64
Body armor and Called Shots	64
Called Shots	65
Complete miss	66
Critter hardened armor	62
Damage	66; 75
Delaying Simple Actions	54
Dodging	68
Dodging table	70
Excessive armor penalties	65
Falling unconscious	66
Firearms	70
Grenades	74
Higher Armor Rating Than Power Level	65
Hit Location Table	76
Hit Locations	75
Initiative	77
Initiative rolls	77
Initiative ties	78
Melee	51
Overdamage	67; 68
Penetrating barriers	59
Personal  hardened armor	62
Ranged	54
Sleeping in armor	67
Staging Damage	67
Standing & Kneeling	54
Stun damage and knockback	67
Targets	55
Turn sequence	66
Vehicle armor	60; 86
Vehicle subsystem damage	84
Wounds affecting movement	68
Combat Skills	79
Complete Miss	66
Computers
Basic rating/capacity system	47
Mainframes	46
Spending system capacity	47
Subsystem ratings	48
Unusual things	48
Using a mainframe to write cyberdeck programs	48
What About All Those Little Shops With Orange Security?	48
Conjuring	29
Conjuring Adept	34
Contacts & Enemies	17
Critter Hardened Armor	62
Critter Powers	17
Regeneration	17
Critters
Hardened Armor power	62
Currencies	10
Cyberears	23
Cyberlimbs	23
Cyberware	23
High-grade	23
D
Damage	66; 75
Complete miss	66
Falling unconscious	66
Overdamage	67; 68
Overflow	17
Sleeping in armor	67
Staging	67
Stun damage and knockback	67
Vehicle subsystems	84
Vehicle undercarriage	87
Wounds affecting movement	68
Damage Resistance tests	11
Death Touch spell	43
Defending In Melee Combat	51
Delay Damage Physical Adept Power	36
Delaying Simple Actions	54
Dice Pools	9; 18
Calculating	18
Using	18
Dikote™	9
Disallowed or Modified Edges & Flaws	18
Disguise Skill	81
DMSO	9
Breakdown	10
Flesh Contact	9
Dodging	68
Dodging Table	70
Drain For Sustaining Spells	37
Drones	84
Autopilot initiative	84
Batch drone control	84
Drugs & DMSO	9
Breakdown	10
Flesh Contact	9
E
Edges & Flaws	16; 18
Addiction	18
Adrenaline Surge	18
Allergy	18
Bio-Rejection	18
Blind	18
Bonus Attribute Point	18
Day Job	18
Development	19
Disallowed or modified	18
Exceptional Attribute	16
Extra Contact	18
Focused Concentration	18
High Pain Tolerance	18
High School Education	18
Illiterate	18
Magic Resistance	18
Night Vision	18
Police Record	19
Registered Equipment	19
Sensitive System	19
Technical School Education	18
With the Priority system	20
Education and Extra Languages	81
Elemental Adept	34
Elemental Effects	37
Enchanting	32
Enchanting Adepts	35
Enemies	17
Location times	17
Enhanced Articulation	14
Enhanced Attributes, Skills, Etc.	20
Enhanced Reaction and Reflexes	20
Equipment
Availability	9
Dikote™	9
Escher Loop	46
Essence Loss and Magic Loss	29
Etiquette skill	82
Excessive Armor Penalties	65
Exclusive Spells	32
Experience	24
Extended Spellcasting	37
F
Falling Unconscious	66
Firearms	70
Damages and ranges	73
Gas venting miniguns	70
Point-blank range	70
Rates oF fire	71
Recoil	70
Recoil table	71
Shotguns	72
Telescopic sights	72
Telescopic sights and movement	72
Telescopic sights and smartlinks	73
Tracer ammunition	73
First Aid	43
Foci	29
Addiction	29
For mundanes	30
Spell locks	31
Spell locks and exclusive spells	32
Fractions & Rounding	10
Full Autofire	55
G
Gas Venting Miniguns	70
Gel and Stun Ammunition	54
General Rules	9
Good Karma to Karma Pool	24
Gradual Initiation	33
Grenade Launchers Against Point Targets	75
Grenades	74
Air timed mini grenades and scatter	74
Damage	75
Launchers against point targets	75
Scatter	74; 75
Grounding
Through anchorings or quickenings	37
H
Hardened Armor	62
Heal Spell	43
Healing
Magical	43
Higher Armor Rating Than Power Level	65
High-Grade Cyberware	23
Hit Location Table	76
Hit Locations	75
Hit Location Table	76
Holding Spells	37
Homemaking Skill	81
I
Improved Ability Physical Adept Power	36
Increased Reflexes  Physical Adept Power	36
Increased Reflexes Physical Adept Power	36
Increasing Attributes	16
Increasing Skills	25
Initiates	39
Initiates & Metamagic
Metamemory	81
Initiation & Metamagic	32
Centering	32
Centering vs. penalties against shielding	33
Gradual initiation	33
Initiates	39
Masking	33
Physical adepts	33
Initiative	77
Actions	54
Actions in a combat turn	77
Announcing Actions	54
Delaying Simple Actions	54
Rolls	77
Ties	78
K
Karma	16; 24
Good Karma to Karma Pool	24
Increasing Attributes	16
Pool	24
Raising Skills	25
Sourcebooks for	27
Team Karma Pool	25
Karma Pool	24
Blocking	24
Buying Successes	24
Dividing	24
Good Karma to	24
Maximum for a test	25
Refresh Rate	25
Re-Rolls	25
Starting size	25
Team Karma Pool	25
Usage	25
Kneeling	54
Knockback	67
Knowledge Skills	80
L
Language Skills	81
Education and extra languages	81
Last-Ditch Spellcasting	38
Leadership skill	83
Learning New Spells	38
Legwork	12
Levitate Item Spell	44
Levitate Person Spell	44
Location Times for Enemies	17
M
Magic	28
Aiming spells	37
Astral Patrolling	28
Astral perception & projection	28
Astral quest to bypass wards	28
Astral space	28
Aura Reading	29
Auras	28
Barrier spell	41
Barrier spells	41
Barrier Spells and Area of Effect	42
Blade Barrier spell	41
Blast Barrier spell	42
Bullet Barrier spell	42
Centering	32
Centering vs. penalties against shielding	33
Conjuring	29
Death Touch spell	43
Drain for sustaining spells	37
Elemental effects	37
Enchanting	32
Essence loss and Magic loss	29
Exclusive Spells	32
Extended spellcastinh	37
Extra physical adept abilities	35
Foci	29
Focus Addiction	29
Gradual initiation	33
Grounding	37
Healing	43
Holding spells	37
Improved Ability physical adept power	36
Increased Reflexes physical adept power	36
Initiates	39
Initiation & metamagic	32
Last-ditch spellcasting	38
Learnign new spells	38
Levitate Item spell	44
Levitate Person spell	44
Magical items for mundanes	30
Mana Barrier spell	42
Mana fluctuation	45
Masking	33
Metamemory skill	81
Miscellaneous issues	45
Misfires	33
More powerful physical adepts	36
Mystery of	45
Newly-created physical adept characters	36
Noticing spellcasting	39
Objects and auras	28
Personal Barrier Spells	43; 44
Physical Adept Powers	36
Physical adepts	33
Physical Adepts	35
Psychometry	29
Reducing spell area of effect	39
Ritual sorcery and damaging manipulation spells	39
Spell Barrier spell	42
Spell Defense across planes	39
Spell locks	31
Spell locks and exclusive spells	32
Spell Locks and Exclusive Spells	32
Spell Resistance Tests	40
Spell signatures	40
Spellcasting	37
Spells	41
Spirit Barrier spell	42
Stabilize spell	43
Starting spells with Force modifiers	40
Sterilize spell	44
Stun Touch spell	43
Sustained Damaging Manipulation spells	40
Sustaining spells	40
Traditions	34
Traditions ability breakdown	34
Magic Sense Physical Adept Power	36
Magical Items For Mundanes	30
Magicians	34
Mainframe Computers	46
Basic rating/capacity system	47
Spending system capacity	47
Subsystem ratings	48
Unusual things	48
What About All Those Little Shops With Orange Security?	48
Writing cyberdeck programs	48
Mana Barrier Spell	42
Mana Fluctuation	45
Martial Arts Styles	51
Masking	33
Master Character Creation Table	21
Adjusted Priorities	21
Starting Resources	21
Matrix	10; 12; 46
1.0 to 2.0 Conversion Rules	48
1.0 to 2.0 Conversion Rules—Host Layout	49
Basic mainframe rating/capacity system	47
Escher loop	46
Mainframe computers	46
Mainframe subsystem ratings	48
Satlink uplinks	50
Spending mainframe system capacity	47
Unusual mainframe things	48
Using a mainframe to write cyberdeck programs	48
What About All Those Little Shops With Orange Security?	48
Melee Combat	51
Defending	51
Full defense	51
Martial arts styles	51
Reach	51
Second Weapon	52
Ties	53
Metamagic	32
Centering	32
Centering vs. penalties against shielding	33
Initiates	39
Masking	33
Physical adepts	33
Metamemory Skill	81
Minor Adepts	35
Miscellaneous Magic Issues	45
Money	10
More Powerful Physical Adepts	36
Muscle Augmentation	15
Musical Production Skill	81
Mystery of Magic	45
N
Negamagic Adepts	35
Negotiation Skill	81
New Skills	81
Acting	81
Body Language	81
Disguise	81
Homemaking	81
Metamemory	81
Other	81
Perception	82
Read and Write	82
Noticing Spellcasting	39
Number Of Allergies	16
O
Opposed Tests	11; 12
Other Skills	81
Overdamage	67; 68
Overflow Damage	17
P
Penetrating Barriers	59
Perception	82
Perception Skill	82
Personal Barrier Spells	43; 44
Physical Adept Power
Improved Ability	36
Increased Reflexes	36
Magic Delay Damage	36
Magic Sense	36
Quick Draw	36
Shattering Blow	36
Sixth Sense	36
Physical Adept Powers	20; 36
Increased Reflexes	36
Vision enhancement	20
Physical Adepts	33; 34; 35
Extra abilities	35
More powerful	36
Newly-created characters	36
Powers	36
Physical Skills	82
Ambidexterity	82
Stealth	82
Point-Blank Range	70
Police Record	13
Powers	17
Physical Adept	20
Regeneration	17
Projectile Weapons	78
Psychometry	29
Q
Quick Draw Physical Adept Power	36
R
Racial Maximum	16
Raising Skills	25
Time spent	27
Ranged Combat	54
Actions	54
Air timed mini grenades and scatter	74
Ammunition	54
Ammunition vs. Barriers Table	57
Ammunition vs. Vehicle Armor Table	60
Announcing Actions	54
Armor degradation	62
Attacks and targets	55
Barrier Ratings	63
Barriers	55; 57
Body armor	64
Called Shots	65
Critter hardened armor	62
Damage	75
Delaying Simple Actions	54
Dodging	68
Dodging table	70
Firearms	70
Gas venting miniguns	70
Gel and Stun Ammunition	54
Grenade launchers against point targets	75
Grenades	74
Hit Location Table	76
Hit Locations	75
Penetrating barriers	59
Personal hardened armor	62
Point-blank range	70
Projectile weapons	78
Rates oF fire	71
Recoil	55; 70
Recoil table	71
Scatter	75
Shotguns	72
Standing & Kneeling	54
Targets	55
Telescopic sights	72
Telescopic sights and movement	72
Telescopic sights and smartlinks	73
Tracer ammunition	73
Vehicle armor	60
Weapon damages and ranges	73
Rates OF Fire	71
Reach	51
Read and Write Skill	82
Recoil	55; 70
Recoil Table	71
Reducing Area of Effect	39
Regeneration	17
Reputation	24
Ritual Sorcery
Damaging manipulation spells	39
Ritual Sorcery and Damaging Manipulation Spells	39
Rounding Off Numbers	10
Rule of One	12
Magical misfires	33
Rule of Six	12
S
Satlink Uplinks	50
Scatter	74; 75
Scenes	25
Second Weapon In Melee Combat	52
Shamanic Adepts	34
Shattering Blow Physical Adept Power	36
Shotguns	72
SINs	10; 13
Sixth Sense Physical Adept Power	36
Skill Web	26; 29
Skills	14; 79
Acting	81
Ambidexterity	82
Armed & Unarmed Combat	79
Aura Reading	81
Biotech	83
Body Language	81
Build/Repair and Theoretical skills	79
Combat skills	79
Defaulting	80
Disguise	81
Education and extra languages	81
Enhanced	20
Enhanced Articulation	14
Etiquette	82
Homemaking	81
Knowledge skills	80
Language skills	81
Leadership	83
Metamemory	81
Musical Production	81
Negotiation	81
New skills	81
Other	81
Perception	82
Physical skills	82
Read and Write	82
Social skills	82
Stealth	82
Technical	83
Unarmed Combat	79
Sleeping In Armor	67
Smartlinks
And telescopic sights	73
Social Skills	82
Etiquette	82
Leadership	83
Sorcery Adepts	35
SOTA	12
Matrix	12
Spell Adepts	35
Spell Barrier Spell	42
Spell Defense Across Planes	39
Spell Locks	31
And exclusive spells	32
Spell Resistance Tests	40
Spell Signatures	40
Spellcasting	37
Aiming spells	37
Drain for sustaining spells	37
Elemental effects	37
Extended	37
Holding spells	37
Last-ditch	38
Noticing	39
Ritual sorcery and damaging manipulation spells	39
Spell Resistance Tests	40
Spell signatures	40
Sustained Damaging Manipulation spells	40
Sustaining spells	40
Spells	41
Aiming	37
Barrier	41
Barrier spells	41
Barrier Spells and Area of Effect	42
Blade Barrier	41
Blast Barrier	42
Bullet Barrier	42
Damaging manipulations	39
Damaging Manipulations	39
Death Touch	43
Drain for sustaining	37
Elemental effects	37
Extended casting	37
Grounding	37
Heal	43
Healing	43
Holding	37
Last-ditch casting	38
Learning new	38
Levitate Item	44
Levitate Person	44
Mana Barrier	42
Noticing	39
Personal Barrier Spells	43; 44
Reducing area of effect	39
Resisting	40
Signatures	40
Spell Barrier	42
Spell Defense	39
Spell locks	31
Spell locks and exclusive spells	32
Spirit Barrier	42
Stabilize	43
Sterilize	44
Stun Touch	43
Sustained Damaging Manipulation spells	40
Sustaining	40
Treat	43
Spirit Adepts	35
Spirit Barrier Spell	42
Stabilize Spell	43
Staging Damage	67
Standing & Kneeling	54
Starting Resources	21
Starting Spells With Force Modifiers	40
State Of The Art	12
Matrix	12
Stealth	82
Sterilize Spell	44
Strength 1 Trolls	16
Stun Ammunition	54
Stun Damage And Knockback	67
Stun Touch spell	43
Success Tests	11
Successes
Buying	24
Sustained Damaging Manipulation Spells	40
Sustaining Spells	40
System Identification Numbers	10; 13
T
Tactical Computers
Vision Magnification	23
Taking Edges & Flaws With The Priority System	20
Technical Skills	83
Biotech	83
Telescopic Sights	72
And movement	72
Telescopic Sights and Smartlinks	73
Tests	11
Damage Resistance	11
Maximum Karma	25
Opposed	11; 12
Rule of One	12
Rule of Six	12
Ties In Melee Combat Tests	53
Tracer Ammunition	73
Traditions	34
Ability breakdown	34
Treat Spell	43
Turn Sequence	66
U
Unarmed Combat Skill	79
Using Dice Pool Dice	18
V
Vehicle Armor
Ammunition vs. Vehicle Armor Table	60
Vehicle Armor	60
Vehicles	84
Armor	60; 86
Batch drone control	84
Drone autopilot initiative	84
Drones	84
Subsystem damage	84
Undercarriage damage	87
Vision Enhancements	20
Vision Magnification
And Tactical Computers	23
Vision Magnification and Tactical Computers	23
W
Weapon Damages and Ranges	73
Wounds Affecting Movement	68

The Player’s Guide To
Shadowrun House Rules

There are times when the basic rules of a game just don’t seem to cover a situation that comes up during a game. There are also times when you’re not satisfied with the way the existing rules handle particular circumstances. Or when you just want to experiment with something different.
This book provides a large number of optional rules for Shadowrun Second Edition, devised by gamemasters and players for their own campaigns, but equally usable in others.

		GENERAL RULES	BIOWARE	CHARACTERS	CYBERWARE
			KARMA	MAGIC
		MATRIX	MELEE COMBAT	RANGED COMBAT	VEHICLES

This compilation copyright © 1998 by Gurth; individual house rules copyright © by their authors. All rights reserved
Shadowrun® is a registered trademark of FASA Corporation — http://www.fasa.com

Plastic Warriors 0007 — http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/plastic.html