Some Quality to Edge/Flaw Conversions

One of the bits in the later editions I liked was that there was a few really cool Qualities that didn't show up in 2e or 3e. While I don't like how they feel a bit too 'necessary' nowadays, I do like some of the flavor they offer.

I actually think converting a few of them to SR3 would be possible, while still keeping the older days to the 'Edges and Flaws feel more like bonus bits than requirements' methods. I feel this will work out fine, given the overall limitations of numbers(I find that it's much easier to 'cap off' in the old days than the new days, where people can take stacks of 3-5 point Edges and such; most of the time it's difficult to take 'stacks' of Edges. I mean even finding like five 1 point Edges that fit your character can sometimes be difficult(I mean it could work, but it would be a pretty limited pile).

Some qualities would need heavier reworking than others-like Tough as Nails. Will to Live handles overflow, and Toughness Body dice; in the old days, the condition monitors never changed; not even for Great Dragons. It could, perhaps, be changed, but it might be changed to one level, become a 4 point Edge, and state that you get a -1 TN to all Damage Codes. Yes, that's expensive but that's also pretty damned huge. A Troll with 9 Body(+ the 1 Dermal Armor bonus die) would be able to probably shrug off a lot. I'm not sure if I'd even want to put it in like this(I'm just using this as an example), but I would want to playtest this one fairly well before putting it in. I think I'd personally be content to leave SR3 alone with just Will to Live and Toughness.

Some I feel pop over easy. 'School of Hard Knocks' etc, would just act like Collect/Tech School, in SR3(which instead of spending points 1 for 2 you defaulted at less, and since you could stack them, they could be quite useful to be able to default to either Academic or Background knowledge skills at only +1 TN. Bringing in this would allow defaulting to Street at +1.)

Some conversions wouldn't work too well due to 'the times'-Sensory Overload Syndrome is something caused heavily by wireless stuff, so in a wired world it wouldn't really have a home.

Others need some work; usually the old Composure tests were just Willpower tests, but they only ever needed a success or two(not too many 3 or 4 threshold tests.) That being said, the TN was typically 4-6(6 being on the high end.)

SINner in those days wouldn't fit so much; particularly the way we play(where you just up and say at the start if you want one.) Back in the days when you didn't need to constantly broadcast it, having one was less of a disadvantage. Others like Hawk Eye would have to be drastically increased; shifting from Medium to Short would be HUGE for like a 1 point Edge. Plus Perceptive already lowers TNs by -1 and it's a 3 point Edge. (TN shifting is sort of a big deal in the old days; it's worth much more than adding or subtracting a die.)

Signature I'm surprised never made it in in the first place, that seems to be a solid -2 point Flaw that grants - to target numbers for tracking in regards to a certain act; given SR3 has a different way of tracking things like street cred, it will need some adjustment. Probably some sort of easier TNs for things like Memory Tests, Intelligence and/or Knowledge Checks IRT the person. A -2 feels about right for 2 points.

Restricted Gear in SR3 would probably be no more than a 1 point Edge in those days. The reason being is that there just isn't a lot that you'd want or need to buy with it. We never play with Availability at chargen as folks know, adoping the 'Take stuff that works for your concept' POV, but even then there is, when it comes down to it, very little that really shoots past it. Some of the stuff you can barely afford(high level Skillwires and Damage Compensators), some stuff is of limited use in a game where it would matter(some of the heavy weapons-some are perfectly legal at chargen anyway), and some is just extremely niche(Thermosense Organs?) 

I could see the most popular items with this being the Monowhip, APDS ammo, Tailored Pheremones, or one of the higher-level cyberdecks. Those are probably the big four. 

As an interesting note-between 3e and 5e, Vindictive and Combat Monster 'swapped costs'. In 3e, Combat Monster is a 1 point Flaw, while Vindictive is 2. In 5, Vindictive is a 5 point NQ, CM is a 10. 

Vendetta would probably fit as a 1 or 2 point Flaw, requiring a Willpower(4) test with 2 hits or maybe a (6) test with 1. If it's the latter, maybe 1 point. It's a 7 point NQ in SR5. Paranoia(7 point NQ) could be converted to a 1 or 2 point Flaw that gives a +1 to all Social tests for Contacts of less than level 2. (TNs are sort of a big deal, again, so this could be a 2 point Flaw.) 

Emotional Attachment could actually be worse in SR3 if it had the -1 TN adjustment for six months. For it to stay a 1 point Flaw, I'd argue that a +1 TN for a month or two at best; it would need at least a 2 point Flaw to be for six months, unless the disadvantage was changed. (Despite TNs being powerful, I'm hesitant to add or subtract dice, since in SR3 that's generally limited to ways of doing things.) This one would need some heavier playstesting too, IMO. (Most would need some measure of playtesting I feel, but some more than others, and I think some-like the Knowledge skill based ones-could be dropped in relatively as is.) Driven could make a nice 1 point flaw(I would test it making a Willpower(6) test, or a Willpower(4) with 2 successes needed.)  

(I'm also a big fan of some of the Edges and Flaws the Twilightrun website has. I'd have taken Large for both Downfall and Adramelek in a heartbeat. And I fragging love Weirdness Magnet.) 

Anyway just throwing a few basic ideas out. I might sit down and try to hack these out a little more 'official' for the houserule section soon. (I don't think I WANT to convert all of them, though. Again, I like SR2/3's slightly more compact list. I just think a few of them are really cool.)