oh, uh, for those unfamiliar: Shadowrun's a tabletop RPG as well as a computer RPG with a cyberpunk setting but with fantasy creatures and magic mixed together
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Yeah, that doesn't help. I've played the tabletop RPG, and this still doesn't make any sense to me.
Granted, it was many years ago, and I only played a couple times - not my cup of tea - but, even so.
bummer, an ent using comms tech despite the classic trait of'em being against exploitative civilization didn't click as much as I thought it might
more fun imagery for me! In my head it's a clear visual of a cross between solar and cyberpunk. Then again, I don't remember ents in Shadowrun, but people play the TTRPG a little fast and loose like D&D, so I stand by my OP thought
Oh Ents, as in Tolkien. OK, that helps a bit.
I'm a huge believer in fast-and-loose. I went through a process over the years of seeking increasingly more technical realism in RPGs - from floating clouds of hit points; to damage affecting abilities; to hit locations and affects... eventually, I ended up running games in Phoenix Command. Have you ever played Phoenix Command? We once had a larger group in teams heading across a small town toward each other to fight; it took the better part of a day, and then when they did make contact, nearly everyone involved in combat was taken out in the next 20 minutes. It is a fantastically realistic, and utterly horrible game.
I still prefer a little more than "Balls of HP", and I know modern D&D addresses this; frankly, I think Traveler nailed it. At one point I made some rules (haven't we all?) based on the premise of The Last Action Hero: characters are Main Characters, and get a bunch of bonuses; NPCs are extras and don't. Combat is otherwise more or less as lethal as in real life; it's just that major characters get saves that turn most damage into superficial wounds. But by that time I had realized the rules matter less than the setting and story.
And that brings us back to Ents with comms tech! Whatever makes things interesting and fun, because it's a game and not a chore.
Are ents even a race in Shadowrun? I only have 1 book and I'm sure there's probably expansion races but they're not a base one afaik.