Converting other RPGs into World of Darkness... sort of...

Not quite sure if this belongs on the WoD general forum, but it seemed like it fit.

Anyway, here's the thing: My group loves the setting for Shadowrun, but we hate the rule system used. Everything just seems so complicated, so we'd like to try and convert it to World of Darkness rules.

We don't want to turn it into an actual World of Darkness setting, just translate the rules and systems.

I'm thinking we could easily just look at it as a Mortal setting, changing the majority of abilities into Merits.

Any ideas to help my group pull this off? And maybe conversion ideas for other games?

Shadowrun is based on D20 rules (like 3.5e D&D) so yea completely convoluted and overcomplicated :p

If someone could convert shadowrun to WoD rules it would be fantastic.

Fion:

Shadowrun is based on D20 rules (like 3.5e D&D) so yea completely convoluted and overcomplicated :p

Kordeth's right.... no d20 in sight- it uses d6 (typical, everyday dice).

I'd suggest that the mechanics of WoD aren't difficult to transpose onto Shadowrun.

Think of the races as splats (make up some bonuses and penalties for each one).

Magic is the biggest problem, I think, with the whole "cybernetics destroys a person's ability to cast magic" schtick. I'd sugges that "cybernetics" should be treated as a separate "mage" path than the rest. Have cybernetics be rated from 1-5 as a measure of how invasive they are. Then, for each dot in, eg, a Cybernetics merit, you can purchase the equivalent level of cybernetics equipment. (So a three-dot cybernetics merit lets you purchase all cybernetics up to level three.) If a character ever purchases equipment that exceeds their Cybernetics rating in dots, he loses his magical abilities.
Furthermore, for each dot of the cybernetics merit that the character purchases, his possible (or actual) power stat for Mages (what is it again- Gnosis?) is reduced by 2.

Everything else is pretty easily converted, I think. The Matrix can be treated as an electronic version of the Shadow Plane- and the actual Astral plane just acts as a WoD astral plane.

Any other questions?

What smile said, Also, Get book of the spirits and armoury reloaded use the spirits as presented and use the combat hacks that make it a bit more cinematic.

SMILE:

Magic is the biggest problem, I think, with the whole "cybernetics destroys a person's ability to cast magic" schtick. I'd sugges that "cybernetics" should be treated as a separate "mage" path than the rest. Have cybernetics be rated from 1-5 as a measure of how invasive they are. Then, for each dot in, eg, a Cybernetics merit, you can purchase the equivalent level of cybernetics equipment. (So a three-dot cybernetics merit lets you purchase all cybernetics up to level three.) If a character ever purchases equipment that exceeds their Cybernetics rating in dots, he loses his magical abilities.
Furthermore, for each dot of the cybernetics merit that the character purchases, his possible (or actual) power stat for Mages (what is it again- Gnosis?) is reduced by 2.

That said, you could use the templating system (one template per character) and use the rules for "upgrades" from the hunter conspiracy that has all of those wazzy things.

Have you played R. Talsorian's Cyberpunk yet?

I've been toying with the idea of converting Classic Deadlands to the WoD system. I was thumbing through my collection the other night, and thought that it would be fairly simple to do. I like the classic system over the the savage world, and d20 version of the games. But I like the Storyteller system above all of those.

There are a set of conversion rules in the dime novel trilogy "strange Bedfellows" thats for old werewolf. but its not too difficult to work out into newish wod stats.

Quick and dirty method?
Buy shadowrun 4e cyberware books + magic books. Add a sorcery skill. Tweek as needed.

Shadowrun 4e and nWOD are very similar mechanically. They use 1-6, instead of 1-5. Have 8 attributes rather than 9. Use d6s rather than d10s.

Use d20 to convert anything to nwod.

Monte Cook's WOD as d20 conversion rules.


MOST systems have a d20 conversion.  Ask me, and I will help you.

I just realised there's a problem with the cybernetics system I proposed - if you buy enough of any level of cybernetics, your essence still goes down below what it should be.

Amended cybernetics system:
For each dot of the Cybernetics merit that a character purchases, they remove 2 from their Gnosis. This 2 "dead" Gnosis can be used to purchase Cybernetics equipment (as an additional, non-money cost for the equipment). Instead of having to think up new costs for the equipment, just use this formula

(Shadowrun Essence Cost) / 6 * 10

This converts the Essence from a 6-integer scale (the Shadowrun system) to a 10-integer scale (the WoD scale).

ALSO:
Since Shadowrun 4E requires that a character purchase their magical ability, there should also be a Magic merit. This merit should work so: for each dot of the Magic merit that a character purchases, they unlock the same level of magic that they can cast (so a three-dot Magic merit allows a [non-cybernetic] Mage to cast up to level three spells.

FINALLY:
For each dot of the Cybernetics merit that a character purchases, their maximum possible dots in the Magic merit decreases by one. So if a character purchases Cybernetics 2, they can only in future ever purchase up to the 3-dot level in the Magic merit.

Solved! ;)

if you want full magey style rules, run it like cruac but instead of limiting your humanity, it limits your powerstat (it takes the ability from you, not the knowledge)
and again, go back to the hunter book for the points costs of the upgrades.
i would also suggest using a variation on the careers system from H:TV too.
to flesh it out and give it a bit of bite.

Id like to wee what you have written for shadowrun to nwod.

See.. see.. not wee... wee he he he