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Mystic Mongol
Jan 5, 2007

Your life's been thrown in disarray already--I wouldn't want you to feel pressured.


College Slice
Well, if he picks up an attention coprocesser--oh, wait, physical adept. He can't develop moderately quickly to fill needs.

Still, he CAN pick up a pair of +3 vision goggles, some +3 hearing earbuds, and all the surveillance equipment he can be bothered to learn the rules of (the laser microphone is great) and go full on surveillance. He can layer this up with one of those camouflage body suits and (if the mage can be convinced to help keep himself alive) a stealth effect from a friendly summoned spirit or an illusion spell. Then the PhysAd can be the scout staying a room or two ahead and finding hostiles ahead of time. He can use his PhysAd powers to stay mobile and move between elevated locations like roofs to--wait, what powers is he stuck with?

Anyway, you've got a distracting mage so turn that weakness into a strength and use him to distract the OppForce from the assassin lurking in the shadows. This works better the more oblivious and moronic the mage acts--if the enemy thinks they're undetected, they'll quietly move into position instead of opening fire. Which gives your PhysAd a chance to do something about them.

Comedy option: Have everyone in the party dress like David Bowie, so the enemy doesn't know who the mage is. (Hint, if they have a mage or adept of their own, they know already even if he doesn't dress like a sparkle vampire, so honestly he's not hurting himself that much)


Edit: Investigate the following drugs from Arsenal: Betel, eX, Red Mescaline, Pixie Dust, Trance, Betameth

Mystic Mongol fucked around with this message at 14:25 on May 4, 2012

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Tias
May 25, 2008

Pictured: the patron saint of internet political arguments (probably)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund

TheJukku posted:

A bit of a strange question, but I've found in my usual gaming group a player using a mage who refuses to let their character not always act like they're obviously a magician, going so far as to have their character wear sequined attire and generally looking like Siegfried and Roy's wardrobe exploded. Having talked with the player they don't seem to have a death wish for the character, that's just how they want to play them. So anyways, the GM has gone the obvious route and had every baddie immediately open fire on the mage.

Question is, is there anything my physical adept can do to keep our really loving important but really loving easily noticed mage from getting blown to shreds aside from just trying to kill every bad guy before they get a chance?

Well, for one thing, mages come from all walks of life, and could as easily be the hoodie-clad street rat throwing a gang sign, to the mildly neurotic suburban mother of two corp-citizen. In my interpretation of the setting, someone wanting to look like a stage magician would likely be dismissed by most as a poser and wannabe.

If the surroundings seem to react to the mage by assuming he is a mage from the way he dresses and acts, then I too would suggest turning your team into the Flamboyant Fencers from Fabulousia!

Ignite Memories
Feb 27, 2005

Oh god, he's right. It's the only way!

TheJukku
May 4, 2012

by T. Finninho
Oh my god... get the entire group to dress like David Bowie... that's basically the most brilliant idea ever. It'll have the DM laughing his rear end off far too much to effectively throw bad guys at us.

Solid Poopsnake
Mar 27, 2010

by Nyc_Tattoo
Nap Ghost
Ziggy Stardust, corporate assassin.

SerCypher
May 10, 2006

Gay baby jail...? What the hell?

I really don't like the sound of that...
Fun Shoe
This is going back a bit about the rules. What don't you guys like about the rules?

I personally just think that certain parts are just super unwieldy, and that there are basically 3 sets of rules (magic, normal, matrix) which can just turn into a big jumbled mess. Overall though I think that even though they are stupid confusing and convoluted sometimes, I feel that shadow run's rules are fairly balanced. Although, obviously the GM has to take a pretty active role.

Mystic Mongol
Jan 5, 2007

Your life's been thrown in disarray already--I wouldn't want you to feel pressured.


College Slice

SerCypher posted:

This is going back a bit about the rules. What don't you guys like about the rules?

I personally just think that certain parts are just super unwieldy, and that there are basically 3 sets of rules (magic, normal, matrix) which can just turn into a big jumbled mess. Overall though I think that even though they are stupid confusing and convoluted sometimes, I feel that shadow run's rules are fairly balanced. Although, obviously the GM has to take a pretty active role.

While I did post a character who is capable of telling a trained security guard that his mother will die of cancer if he doesn't betray his employer (and an optional rider which gives him sixteen dice to hit with a gun of your choice for a mere seven BP) that wasn't a particularly optimized character, and certainly wasn't a mage with low cost high reliability mind control, which is like a con check except it works in combat and you don't have to be seen with the target.

Meanwhile, most people make a 400 point character who's sorta OK at several things. Look at the sample characters. Then cry a little.

These are not balanced rules.

SerCypher
May 10, 2006

Gay baby jail...? What the hell?

I really don't like the sound of that...
Fun Shoe

Mystic Mongol posted:

While I did post a character who is capable of telling a trained security guard that his mother will die of cancer if he doesn't betray his employer (and an optional rider which gives him sixteen dice to hit with a gun of your choice for a mere seven BP) that wasn't a particularly optimized character, and certainly wasn't a mage with low cost high reliability mind control, which is like a con check except it works in combat and you don't have to be seen with the target.

Meanwhile, most people make a 400 point character who's sorta OK at several things. Look at the sample characters. Then cry a little.

These are not balanced rules.

Balanced doesn't mean every option is equal. What I meant is, that you can have faces, and mages, and street sammys and hackers and everyone can feel useful and needed. Whereas in a lot of systems, if you make anything other than a combat machine, you are basically going to be left out of the action. When I say balanced I mean that the rules, plus the setting, encourage lots of different types of characters. I really only have experience with D&D 3.5 and Shadowrun, and shadowrun always seemed to allow much more options for your character. Maybe though I have just been playing the lovely rpgs.

Solid Poopsnake
Mar 27, 2010

by Nyc_Tattoo
Nap Ghost
There's the same foul air of mage supremacy as D&D 3.5 in a lot of ways. However, there are plenty of useful, fun roles (I'm partial to riggers and hackers) without magic that I don't think it really crushes the fun late-game like 3.5.

Bear Enthusiast
Mar 20, 2010

Maybe
You'll think of me
When you are all alone
Plus having combat that's a lot more brutal evens out the imbalance a little, or just makes it not matter so much when everyone is dying to superior numbers, firepower, and/or positioning.

Tias
May 25, 2008

Pictured: the patron saint of internet political arguments (probably)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund
Mages, oh god, the mages. Still trying to work out how to avoid the mage with decent summoning, improved invisibilty and stunbolt instant-killing my encounters.

Solid Poopsnake
Mar 27, 2010

by Nyc_Tattoo
Nap Ghost

Tias posted:

Mages, oh god, the mages. Still trying to work out how to avoid the mage with decent summoning, improved invisibilty and stunbolt instant-killing my encounters.

Spirits, spirits, and more spirits. Spirits all day until the mage stops summoning. Because every goddamned lowlife must summon as much as he, yeah?

Mystic Mongol
Jan 5, 2007

Your life's been thrown in disarray already--I wouldn't want you to feel pressured.


College Slice
What kind of solution to mage dominance is to flood the game world with opponents only he can deal with?

TheJukku
May 4, 2012

by T. Finninho

Tias posted:

Mages, oh god, the mages. Still trying to work out how to avoid the mage with decent summoning, improved invisibilty and stunbolt instant-killing my encounters.

There are definitely non-magical ways to threaten or KILL mages without too much difficulty. Give your bad dudes alternative methods of spotting the mage. He may be invisible to most normal means but he still displaces air when he moves. Motion sensor anyone? or personal radar. That mage is looking a lot more targetable. any team that might have to encounter mages who don't have mages of their own would probably also have some heavy weapons to break out in the event of spirits showing up, too.

It's not a perfect solution and some players might call bullshit, but it usually works for me when GMing.

SerCypher
May 10, 2006

Gay baby jail...? What the hell?

I really don't like the sound of that...
Fun Shoe
Arsenal and street magic have a lot of good options for dealing with mages. There are plenty of items, especially involving glomoss and bacteria that can make mundane characters aware of magic. The best part about it is, that your mage probably won't be watching out for technology. Your mage might think, "haha I'm invisible", and not realize that the guard's glow wand just lit up.

Alternatively, don't worry about stopping the mage. Remember that any spells and such can be tracked back to him/her. Instead of trying to predict what your mage is going to do, just have people start to track him down magically if he causes too much of a ruckus.

Mystic Mongol
Jan 5, 2007

Your life's been thrown in disarray already--I wouldn't want you to feel pressured.


College Slice
Glow Wands and Lucifer Lamps are both from Arsenal, both help spot mages without being part of some large cumbersome security system.

Moto42
Jul 14, 2006

:dukedog:
Clouds of manifested watcher spirits swarming the 'invisible' mage and yelling "Shoot here!".

Stealthed Zombie
Dec 21, 2007

And Introducing:
Dean "Titty Master" Ambrose
So I've started picking up some Shadowrun books, because I'm looking to maybe run a campaign using it sometime in the future. I was following the book guide someone posted, but Runner's Companion seems to be unavailable pretty much everywhere. There's a version up at Battleshop, but I'm weary because it was listed under Pre-Order books. Is there word of a reprint or another place to purchase it that I just don't know about? (Don't really want to deal with E-bay, the nearby store didn't have it) Or does Battleshop actually have it ready to ship soon?

EDIT: I've been using Amazon when I can because everything is like 20% off and I have Prime, so it bums me out when I don't find things there.

Gobbeldygook
May 13, 2009
Hates Native American people and tries to justify their genocides.

Put this racist on ignore immediately!
I completely disagree that Runner's Companion is a good book. It's the single worst book ever printed for Shadowrun.

-The new advantages/disadvantages are random, unbalanced, and sometimes meaninglessly copy/pasted from earlier editions. But now you can act out your FURRY FANTASIES! WOO!

-Drakes, AIs, and free spirits are underpowered and/or completely unplayable. Drakes give you the option for a massive amount of free power at the expense of never advancing again in the campaign

-Shapeshifters are virtually unplayable as intended and may be gimp depending on how your GM views called shots

-The new metatypes are (mostly) overpriced relative to just buying up the advantages/disadvantages piecemeal (Sometimes "looks distinctive" costs points and sometimes "looks distinctive" gives your points, depending on where you are in the book).

-The new infected rules are useless for anything besides blue-sky min/maxing and make little sense. Also see drakes; you can potentially get a lot of free power in exchange for never advancing again. Also the art is among the worst I have ever seen in any RPG and I'm including FATAL.

The only part worth reading are the lifestyle rules. All anyone uses them for is to sell their furniture so they have lower monthly charges and to add disadvantages that the GM generally won't have time to bring up.

Making it available to your group will generally reduce the quality of your games.

Bigass Moth
Mar 6, 2004

I joined the #RXT REVOLUTION.
:boom:
he knows...

Gobbeldygook posted:

I completely disagree that Runner's Companion is a good book. It's the single worst book ever printed for Shadowrun.

-The new advantages/disadvantages are random, unbalanced, and sometimes meaninglessly copy/pasted from earlier editions. But now you can act out your FURRY FANTASIES! WOO!

-Drakes, AIs, and free spirits are underpowered and/or completely unplayable. Drakes give you the option for a massive amount of free power at the expense of never advancing again in the campaign

-Shapeshifters are virtually unplayable as intended and may be gimp depending on how your GM views called shots

-The new metatypes are (mostly) overpriced relative to just buying up the advantages/disadvantages piecemeal (Sometimes "looks distinctive" costs points and sometimes "looks distinctive" gives your points, depending on where you are in the book).

-The new infected rules are useless for anything besides blue-sky min/maxing and make little sense. Also see drakes; you can potentially get a lot of free power in exchange for never advancing again. Also the art is among the worst I have ever seen in any RPG and I'm including FATAL.

The only part worth reading are the lifestyle rules. All anyone uses them for is to sell their furniture so they have lower monthly charges and to add disadvantages that the GM generally won't have time to bring up.

Making it available to your group will generally reduce the quality of your games.

Karma Gen system is in RC and is far better than BP build, but of course RC was misprinted so you need to download the errata for the official Karma Gen rules anyway.

The infected rules are fine if your GM allows it (and they never, ever, ever, should except MAYBE for Ghouls) but the rest of the rules are so contradictory/nonsensical that the book can easily be entirely passed over.

Karma Gen shouldn't be an optional build system, it should be in the main book. Hopefully the inevitable SR5th Ed takes care of that.

homerlaw
Sep 21, 2008

Plants are the best ergo Sylvari=Best
Is there any viability to creating an adept/'wared-out shotgun user, I thought I heard something here saying that it was a futile effort.

Tias
May 25, 2008

Pictured: the patron saint of internet political arguments (probably)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund
Nothing is futile, you should always make a fun concept or the one that appeals to you, rather than minmax. Unless your GM is a colossal chode he won't stick you with mechanically superiour opponents, that's how I roll when I GM anyway. We play to have fun, after all.

Adept shotgunnies definitely rack up the stopping power (Improved Ability:Longarms spring to mind, other adept powers such as mystic armor could also work well for he "brute assault" concept), but 'ware also works I suppose. Look some pages back for the 'wared knife user someone posted, the same cyberlimbs/reflex cluster combo might be workable.

Thanks for the mage tips, y'all. I'll try to put the hurt on him tomorrow, see how it goes.

Gobbeldygook
May 13, 2009
Hates Native American people and tries to justify their genocides.

Put this racist on ignore immediately!

homerlaw posted:

Is there any viability to creating an adept/'wared-out shotgun user, I thought I heard something here saying that it was a futile effort.

An automatics gunbunny is a viable archetype so the question is really, "How much worse are shotguns than automatics?"

-Shotguns use the Longarms skill. The long arms skill covers only shotguns, sporting rifles, and sniper rifles. While that is some great short and long-range diversity, it doesn't compare to the diversity of automatics which allows you to use machine pistols (small and concealable), SMGs (portable and somewhat concealable), and assault rifles (murder time).
-Shotguns are generally not very concealable.
-Shotguns have small enough magazines for it to actually come up.
-Many shotguns use internal magazines, so it takes a complex action to reload rather than a free action to eject+simple action to reload. Some don't, however.
-Shotguns do about 1 DV more damage base than assault rifles. Hooray, a definite advantage!
-Shotguns have double uncompensated recoil.
-Shotguns can hit multiple targets with a single simple action - but only using flechette arounds. The rules say a shotgun will now do 9P/+5 but they are wrong, it's +4 AP. Since flechettes are resisted by impact which is usually two less than ballistic in practice it will be 9P/+2 AP. So the break down is this:
Narrow Spread: Standard flechette rules, or 9P/+4 AP
Medium Spread: -2 DV, +2 AP, -2 on dodge test. 7P/+6 AP.
Wide Spread: -4 DV, +4 AP, -4 on dodge test, 5P/+8 AP.

So is this an advantage? Probably. It's very difficult to drop someone with one attack but it's equally hard to NOT drop someone with two attacks even if those attacks are from a shotgun loaded with flechettes.

One hitch here is how the "multiple targets" modifier" is applied. Clearly, burst-firing on one target and then a second gets a -2 modifier. So, does the automatics gun bunny get 0, -2, and -4 for his first/second/third targets with a full-burst? If a shotgunner is shooting three targets with EACH action, does it apply to him at all since he is not 'switching' targets? This is something GMs will differ on. Also, note that since the shotgunner only makes one roll for all three targets he can spend one karma to reroll his attack against all three while the autobunny rolls three attacks.

While shotguns are probably somewhat worse to be specialized in, it's absolutely not anywhere near bad enough to make the other players feel they are dragging along dead weight.

---

So some quick advice:

Race: Orks are the master race. You pay 20 BP and get +3 body, +2 strength, and low-light vision that you don't care about while remaining human-sized. The only "downside" is if you wanted your logic or charisma to be 5 or more. Elves are a wash; +1 agility and +2 cha is a wash for 30 points.

Attributes: Your edge should be 3 or 7. Make sure you understand your GMs rules for refreshing Edge, every GM is different. The most important attribute for a gunbunny isn't agility, it's intuition. Intuition is a part of your Initiative and is challenging to augment. Intuition is linked to Perception which is what helps you spot ambushes and avoid being surprised.

Skills: You should take gymnastics, not dodge. Don't take specializations at char gen, they're more efficient to buy with karma. You NEED take infiltration, etiquette, and perception, no exceptions. Perception should probably be your 6 skill, not shotguns.

Equipment:
Weapons:
-A short-barreled defiance t-250 (Arsenal) gives you a shotgun with heavy pistol pistol concealability. Buy it.
-The Enfield AS-7 is the best Murder shotgun for a starting-PC, not the Mossberg AM-CDMT; the latter has a 10-round clip so reloading will actually be a Thing you need to deal with and it's flechette-only.
-A sniper rifle. Since you use Longarms, you will be good at sniper rifles. Which sniper rifle to start with is a matter of debate. I say the ares desert strike from Arsenal. It's the cheapest of the bunch, 8P/-3 AP, uses detachable clips, and the flavor text might let you convince a GM not to apply the usual sniper rifle breaking rules. Buy some APDS for it ASAP, it's the best tool for picking off spirits.
-Nothing says you have to use flechettes at all times. Buy some ex-explosive rounds and such too! Also, as always, you should buy some APDS rounds ASAP after the game starts.
-Some source of shock damage. It comes up okay.

-Contrary to popular belief, enhanced articulation does not add to attacks. Reflex recorders do and do not stack with Improved Ability.

-Smartlinks do not stack with laser sights. Laser sights do stack with tracers.

I will stop here before I utterly walloftext.

Piell
Sep 3, 2006

Grey Worm's Ken doll-like groin throbbed with the anticipatory pleasure that only a slightly warm and moist piece of lemoncake could offer


Young Orc

homerlaw posted:

Is there any viability to creating an adept/'wared-out shotgun user, I thought I heard something here saying that it was a futile effort.

FYI even for an adept 1 point of ware is almost always worth it. Stuff like Muscle Toner or Synthacardium or Tailored Pheremones gives you huge bonuses for cheaper than you can get as easily anywhere else.

Bigass Moth
Mar 6, 2004

I joined the #RXT REVOLUTION.
:boom:
he knows...

Piell posted:

FYI even for an adept 1 point of ware is almost always worth it. Stuff like Muscle Toner or Synthacardium or Tailored Pheremones gives you huge bonuses for cheaper than you can get as easily anywhere else.

Cybereyes and ears are the biggest no brainer every-person-in-UCAS should have items. Perfect vision and hearing for very low cost, plus useful accessories at also low costs (and no futher essence hit)? Why the hell not?

Mystic Mongol
Jan 5, 2007

Your life's been thrown in disarray already--I wouldn't want you to feel pressured.


College Slice
Oh boy, I don't have to wear glasses? That's super worth friggin' essence! (Just buy some low-light goggles, you'll save essence and money, and look cyberpunk as hell)


Gobbeldygook posted:

-The new advantages/disadvantages are random, unbalanced, and sometimes meaninglessly copy/pasted from earlier editions. But now you can act out your FURRY FANTASIES! WOO!

Goon hate of furries is so 2007. If you think unexplained magical expression leaving you a twisted freak with no peers, no role models, and no understanding of your physical and mental changes isn't a great excuse for a shadowrunner, fine. Not all character concepts speak to all people. But there have always been rules for biosculpting, cosmetic cyberware, and unique magical transformations, so let's not pretend you couldn't be a catgirl before this.

Anyway, Runner's Companion was written to be a big ole' collection of oddball options to enable unusual runners, and that's absolutely what it is. You can complain that it's not balanced (and I certainly wish they'd decide if being unique was an advantage or a disadvantage) but it's not like the rest of the game is, so chill and enjoy playing a ghoul detective.


quote:

Elves are a wash; +1 agility and +2 cha is a wash for 30 points.

I raising the racial maximums for agility and charisma would only be useful to a character who wants one or both really high. (Hint, this is all characters, except maybe magic traditions that don't use charisma in any way) Also, it's a backdoor way to spend 230 points on attributes instead of 200.

Piell
Sep 3, 2006

Grey Worm's Ken doll-like groin throbbed with the anticipatory pleasure that only a slightly warm and moist piece of lemoncake could offer


Young Orc

Bigass Moth posted:

Cybereyes and ears are the biggest no brainer every-person-in-UCAS should have items. Perfect vision and hearing for very low cost, plus useful accessories at also low costs (and no futher essence hit)? Why the hell not?

Cybereyes and ears are the stupidest possible things to get. You can get contacts/glasses/goggles and earbuds that do the exact same thing for cheaper and without using essence.

SerCypher
May 10, 2006

Gay baby jail...? What the hell?

I really don't like the sound of that...
Fun Shoe

Piell posted:

Cybereyes and ears are the stupidest possible things to get. You can get contacts/glasses/goggles and earbuds that do the exact same thing for cheaper and without using essence.

And if your glasses or earbuds get hacked into you can just take them off.

Gobbeldygook
May 13, 2009
Hates Native American people and tries to justify their genocides.

Put this racist on ignore immediately!

Mystic Mongol posted:

I raising the racial maximums for agility and charisma would only be useful to a character who wants one or both really high. (Hint, this is all characters, except maybe magic traditions that don't use charisma in any way) Also, it's a backdoor way to spend 230 points on attributes instead of 200.
Well, yes, every character 'would like' their charisma and/or agility to be high. They would also all like ponies. The question is whether they are actually going to spend points on it. Unless you're the Face, charisma is basically a dump stat where you put in just enough points to not be an utter embarrassment when it comes time to roll Etiquette or Con. No-one else is going to put in enough points for the racial attribute maximum is a factor and there are few ways to directly boost Charisma (Not 'add to charisma tests', but actually boost the Charisma Stat), so augmented attribute maximums are not a factor.

Agility is a great attribute and all, but so are Intuition and Reaction. Spending points on raising your hypothetical potential agility maximum when you could spend points on more reaction or intuition? Not likely. Yes, elf is a backdoor way to spend 230 points - but you could also be an ork with a base strength and body of 1 each and be able to spend 250 points on attributes for 20 BP while having strength 3 and body 4, which would make it more likely you could actually afford a respectable charisma and agility.

---

Related to Runner's Companion sucking balls: I never noticed the Astral Hazing "negative metagenetic quality" before. Holy poo poo, you get PAID 10 BP get to have a constant rating 4 background count follow you around? It's definitely the most awesome anti-magic quality merit ever printed since it allows you to completely shut down any magic 6 or less magician who gets close to you, turn off his foci and sustained/quickened spells, and weaken or even automatically discorporate some spirits! In some cases it's even an out-right advantage to the party, e.g. when travelling into space, Auschwitz, or nuclear fallout sites. For bonus points, take Arcane Arrester too.

Bigass Moth
Mar 6, 2004

I joined the #RXT REVOLUTION.
:boom:
he knows...

Piell posted:

Cybereyes and ears are the stupidest possible things to get. You can get contacts/glasses/goggles and earbuds that do the exact same thing for cheaper and without using essence.

Yes and those things can also get lost/stolen/removed etc. If you have your cybereyes/ears removed then they probably would have taken out your real eyes/ears anyway so you're hosed. The chances of SHTF when you don't have your gear with you are high.

SerCypher
May 10, 2006

Gay baby jail...? What the hell?

I really don't like the sound of that...
Fun Shoe

Bigass Moth posted:

Yes and those things can also get lost/stolen/removed etc. If you have your cybereyes/ears removed then they probably would have taken out your real eyes/ears anyway so you're hosed. The chances of SHTF when you don't have your gear with you are high.

Well yeah, but, I would rather keep that possibility, save my essence, and avoid the possibility of literally going deaf and blind because someone shut my stuff off remotely. I think cybereyes are super dangerous to have, because unlike most other ware, they are almost always linked to your commlink.

Edit: And it's unlikely anyone will go to the trouble of removing your contacts. Or even notice they are in.

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:

Gobbeldygook posted:

I never noticed the Astral Hazing "negative metagenetic quality" before. Holy poo poo,
Looking it the other way, it also mean your party cannot have another mage and all the adept lost their power because of you. Your party cannot have cool magic/adapt effect for the rest of the game unless you sits out of the mission or the whole campaign will just be a normal gun blazing grenade explosion game.

Edit: Unless your team pump really hard on the magic and get initiation of course.

Ignite Memories
Feb 27, 2005

SerCypher posted:

Edit: And it's unlikely anyone will go to the trouble of removing your contacts. Or even notice they are in.

But neither will you if somebody hacks yours during a firefight!

Basically there are arguments for each, and I think it's a good way to help develop your character's relationship with his humanity without making either decision significantly detrimental to your gameplay.

SerCypher
May 10, 2006

Gay baby jail...? What the hell?

I really don't like the sound of that...
Fun Shoe

pw pw pw posted:

But neither will you if somebody hacks yours during a firefight!

Basically there are arguments for each, and I think it's a good way to help develop your character's relationship with his humanity without making either decision significantly detrimental to your gameplay.

Yeah It's kind of weird but I've made probably a dozen characters, and never once have they had less than 6 essence. I'll have to make my next one some chromed out street sammy.

Gobbeldygook
May 13, 2009
Hates Native American people and tries to justify their genocides.

Put this racist on ignore immediately!

Nyaa posted:

Looking it the other way, it also mean your party cannot have another mage and all the adept lost their power because of you. Your party cannot have cool magic/adapt effect for the rest of the game unless you sits out of the mission or the whole campaign will just be a normal gun blazing grenade explosion game.

Edit: Unless your team pump really hard on the magic and get initiation of course.

That's best part: The radius depends on your essence! So if you take the 10 point version because you're a cybergunbunny or something and crater your essence down to 2, 1, or less than 1 (There's no rule about fractions, so presumably an essence of 0.5 would mean "0.5 meters"). Regardless, even one meter is short enough that you could seriously sit in the back of the van and not affect the mage while still having the option of shutting down and screwing over any other mages or spirits you can get close enough to to affect, plus the defensive benefits for yourself, the ability to weaken wards, etc.

So sometimes the party's mage says, "Bob, you're standing too close to me again." "Oh sorry." and that's about it. It's 2070, they could totally rig a proximity thing so alarms start going off in Bob's head any time he stands too close to them.

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:

Gobbeldygook posted:

screwing over any other mages or spirits you can get close enough to to affect, plus the defensive benefits for yourself, the ability to weaken wards, etc.
Welp, that's like having a free personal anti-magic shield that you can charge into fireball and watch it melt away or weaken it enough that it barely hurt you. Why bother buying magic resistance anymore. :smithicide:

Ignite Memories
Feb 27, 2005

SerCypher posted:

Yeah It's kind of weird but I've made probably a dozen characters, and never once have they had less than 6 essence. I'll have to make my next one some chromed out street sammy.

You really owe it to yourself. It's a lot of fun picking out ridiculous inspector gadjet-style tools. I always enjoyed the cybersheaths, and cyberarm weapons. And the monowhip hidden in the pinky! In fact, one of my runners shticks was that he had something like 20 weapons concealed inside or around his body. He went by "Arsenal", iirc.

Ignite Memories fucked around with this message at 05:16 on May 7, 2012

Mystic Mongol
Jan 5, 2007

Your life's been thrown in disarray already--I wouldn't want you to feel pressured.


College Slice

Nyaa posted:

Welp, that's like having a free personal anti-magic shield that you can charge into fireball and watch it melt away or weaken it enough that it barely hurt you. Why bother buying magic resistance anymore. :smithicide:

Background Counts affect mages, spirits, foci, mana barriers, wards, quickened spells, anchored spells, and astral visibility. A fireball is none of these, so the magically nulled character can still be blown to flaming chunks. It does create a nice buffer against mind-control spells, but it's not a blanket immunity to magic.

Tias
May 25, 2008

Pictured: the patron saint of internet political arguments (probably)

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Fake e: /\ /\ /\ /\ This too /\ /\ /\ /\

Gobbeldygook posted:

Related to Runner's Companion sucking balls: I never noticed the Astral Hazing "negative metagenetic quality" before. Holy poo poo, you get PAID 10 BP get to have a constant rating 4 background count follow you around? It's definitely the most awesome anti-magic quality merit ever printed since it allows you to completely shut down any magic 6 or less magician who gets close to you, turn off his foci and sustained/quickened spells, and weaken or even automatically discorporate some spirits! In some cases it's even an out-right advantage to the party, e.g. when travelling into space, Auschwitz, or nuclear fallout sites. For bonus points, take Arcane Arrester too.

Unless your GM is utter poo poo, you'll very quickly realize the error of your ways: Astral Hazing is effectively Astral Bane: Everyone - Spirits will resent and hate you for soaking their natural habitat in toxic diarrhea, and mages and adepts everywhere will feel you spreading the cold touch of astral death everywhere you go.

Yes, weaker users will be left helpless in your presence, but expect a Great Form spirit, archmage or other powerful astral denizen (or two!) every week trying to stop the terrible blight oozing out of your character.

E: Also, if you're magically active, the background counts against your own magical work, and if not, you let yourself and other munddane team members at risk from the entire awakened worlds hatred.

Tias fucked around with this message at 11:00 on May 7, 2012

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Gobbeldygook
May 13, 2009
Hates Native American people and tries to justify their genocides.

Put this racist on ignore immediately!

Mystic Mongol posted:

Background Counts affect mages, spirits, foci, mana barriers, wards, quickened spells, anchored spells, and astral visibility. A fireball is none of these, so the magically nulled character can still be blown to flaming chunks. It does create a nice buffer against mind-control spells, but it's not a blanket immunity to magic.

That is a somewhat defensible interpretation of what is written, but this is how the lead developer of the book said it is supposed to work:

quote:

If both the caster and the target are inside the BC/domain, then both the caster's Magic and the Spell Force are reduced (or enhanced).

If the caster is inside and the target is outside the BC/domain, then only the caster's Magic is depleted (or enhanced)

If the caster is outside and the target is inside the BC/domain, then only the Spell's Force is depleted (or enhanced)

When both targets are inside different BC/domains, then the caster's Magic is reduced (or enhanced) by his current domain and the Spell's Force is depleted (or enhanced) by the BC/domain the target is in.

Your interpretation has the bizarreness of some but not all spells having their force reduced and I would be very interested to hear how this was justified in-world. His does not and it applies to all spells equally; a spell that enters a background count is reduced by its value. Fin. The alternative is that background count does not bother spells at all so you are free to powerball craters in the moon and shoot down passing satellites with powerbolts, ignoring the rating 12 mana void between you and the target.

On the other hand, his contradicts the written example of casting in a mana void; the mage's effective magic is reduced by (background count) and he adds the (background count) to the force for the purpose of soaking. It would not be unprecedented for a Shadowrun example to just flat-out contradict the rules.

quote:

Unless your GM is utter poo poo, you'll very quickly realize the error of your ways: Astral Hazing is effectively Astral Bane: Everyone - Spirits will resent and hate you for soaking their natural habitat in toxic diarrhea, and mages and adepts everywhere will feel you spreading the cold touch of astral death everywhere you go.
Let's remind ourselves of some of the things that create background counts:

1: A passionate love affair
2: An enchanter's workshop, a sold-out Pink Floyd concert
3: The site of a battlefield, a church where something happened
4: The park where Occupy Wallstreet first setup shop as long as people continue to remember it.
5: Stonehenge, Arlington National Cemetary.

So if a character with an, at most, 6 meter radius rating 4 background count that follows him around who wanders around from place to place is worth of RAAAWWWGH DRAGON COCK SMASH, Great Form Fire spirits just randomly unleash firestorms on all great musicians who sell out concerts and create massive areas of rating 2 background count, right? Clearly no one ever dares throw another Woodstock for fear that ARCHMAGE OUT OF NOWHERE will obliterate the festival for daring to create a rating 3 background count with all that emotion and passion, right? Is the Sistine Chapel under 24/7 astral guard to avoid being set ablaze by angry Astral Environmentalists intent on righting what has been wronged?

If your argument to a badly-worded merit is, "I am going to make up that some secret organizations stalks the world searching for those with a small area of background count and murder them with such extreme force no-one ever thinks of taking it", you and your argument are both poo poo.

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