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Message no. 1
From: Fixer <fixer@*******.TLH.FL.US>
Subject: Pawns for SR
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 12:36:39 -0400
Notes retrieved from Dr. Insan Omago, former Aztechnology researcher:

Text Entry: April 4, 2058: "Despite the fact they said I could
never do it, I shall attempt to do so anyway. I shall create life from
lifelessness. I have already begun to collect individuals to perform my
experiment with and have been collecting their essence and blood for the
rite to follow. Gods be willing, I shall have my way before the year is
done."
Text Entry: July 2, 2058: "I have been experimenting with
animating objects, a simple matter for mages with the knowledge, but
haven't been able to impart upon them a will of any decent reckoning. I
have, to date, created a stone cat and an iron dog. Both are fully mobile
but not of the use I require. I need a more 'intelligent' creation so as
to be able to use it as a hunter."
Text Entry: August 9, 2058: "Progress has been made. I had my
minion create a small statue of incredible detail, and it took well to my
enchantments and conjurings, far better than the crude dog and cats
earlier made. It seems far more intelligent than the former but still
lacks that spark of intelligence that can be defined as 'life'."
Voice Entry: August 30, 2058: "A group of runners attempted to
infiltrate my lab but were stopped by my minions and pawns. An
appropriate name, pawns. They are like the mindless pawns that serve no
other use other than to sacrificed to protect me. The host body for my
greatest creation is still in the process of being sewn together. With
the proper rituals, I expect nothing less than success."
Voice Entry: October 31, 2058: "Success! I have finally done it.
With the essence and blood of the bodies that made it whole my finest pawn
has been completed! I can finally tell those <crashing sound> what?
What's going on in there? Garzendo, if you've <gurgling sound> .....
<silence time exceeding 5 minutes, discontinue recording>"

Pawns, or golems, as they have been historically called, are nearly
mindless automatons who follow simple orders to the best of their ability.
Animated by magic, these pawns follow orders given to them by their
creator, or by anyone their creator specifies.

Details:

Due to the extremely different style of enchantment that creating a
pawn requires, only full initiated magicians and initiated physical
magicians are able to create a pawns. All steps except creation of the hos=
t
body must be performed by the magician who will be the magicians 'master'
(although see last step).
The first step in creating a pawn is to create the host body for the
pawn. The time required to create this body is equal to the desired Body,
Quickness, Strength and Armor of the pawn. Add together the Body,
Quickness, Strength and twice the Armor of the pawn and multiply the result
by the number in the appropriate 'time' section of the pawn table. The
result is the base number of days to fashion the physical form of the pawn.
This base time can be reduced by successes from the appropriate skill test.
(eg. Woodworking for a wood pawn, stoneworking for a stone pawn, etc.) The
cost of the host body is the sum of Body, Quickness, Strength and three
times the Armor ratings multiplied by the appropriate 'cost' section of the
pawn table.
The next step in the process is for the mage to Quicken an animating
spell to the host body. The number of successes rolled in this test
indicate the maximum combat skill of the host body when activated. Karma
equal to the desired combat skill of the pawn must be paid in the
Quickening.
After the host body is prepared and animated, it must be enchanted
to receive the spirit which is to inhabit it. An Open Test using Enchantin=
g
is used to determine the maximum Force which can inhabit the host. This
process takes 28 days, regardless of the number of successes rolled.
Within 24 hours, after the host body has completed being prepared
for the spirit, the magician must conjure a spirit to inhabit the body, or
the benefits of the enchantment are lost and must be restarted. The mage
chooses a Force less than the maximum Force determined by the Enchanting
test, attempts to conjure the spirit (treat as a normal Conjuring for
purposes of successes and Drain), and, if successful, binds the spirit to
the host body.
The spirit will, of course, not be pleased with being bound to a
host body. The spirit makes a Force test against the Charisma of the mage.
The number of successes of this test is reduced by the number of successes
produced from the Conjuring test. If the spirit generates more net
successes than the mage, it breaks free of its host body and is uncontrolle=
d
and will probably attack the mage. If the mage has more net successes than
the spirit, the pawn remains controlled. If there is a tie as to the numbe=
r
of successes, the spirit is trapped within the host body but is uncontrolle=
d
and will probably attack the mage. In all cases where the pawn becomes
uncontrolled, roll to determine if it becomes free. If the pawn does not g=
o
free, it will attack everything in the area, moving as necessary to create
more destruction, until it is finally destroyed (which releases the spirit
to go back to it's original metaplane). A pawn which goes free is
classified as a free Ally spirit (without sorcery) with regards to powers.
Should the 'master' receive a Deadly physical wound, each pawn makes
an Opposed Force test against the mage's Charisma (no wound penalties). Th=
e
results of this test are the same as if he spirit had just been summoned.

Pawn Table
Substance Time Cost Max. Max. Max.
Bod/Str Quick. Armor
Clay 1 5000¥ 8 5 4
Copper 2 6,000¥ 9 5 6
Crystal 5 4,000¥ 8 4 4
Glass 3 4,000¥ 6 5 6
Gold 1 400,000¥ 15 6 5
Iron 3 2,000¥ 12 4 10
Lead 1 2,000¥ 9 4 9
Plastic 1 1,000¥ 8 6 4
Silver 2 12,000¥ 10 5 10
Steel 4 3,000¥ 15 4 15
Stone 2 1,000¥ 12 4 12
Tin 1 1,500¥ 6 6 6
Wood 2 350¥ 6 5 6

For combat purposes, pawns are immune to mana-only spells. Clay
paws have a Vulnerability to Water. Gold, Lead and Wood pawns have a
Vulnerability to Fire. Stone pawns have a Vulnerability to Air. Glass and
Crystal pawns have a Vulnerability to Earth. All pawns have Charisma and
Willpower statistics of 0, a Intelligence/Perception scores equal to their
Force, their armor is considered Hardened and all are Dual Natured. Pawns
cannot astrally project and lose any other special abilities of their
original spirit form. The Intelligence of the pawn is parallel to the
Autopilot rating described in Rigger2 and Shadowrun, Third Edition, and
directions given to the pawn should be treated as such regarding
comprehension.
Note, shamans cannot make pawns unless their totem allows it, which
is only for reasons that serve the totem.
Message no. 2
From: Christopher King <cking@********.COM>
Subject: Re: Pawns for SR
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 01:11:53 GMT
On Fri, 18 Sep 1998 12:36:39 -0400, a voice came from the shadows:
> For combat purposes, pawns are immune to mana-only spells. Clay
>paws have a Vulnerability to Water. Gold, Lead and Wood pawns have a
>Vulnerability to Fire. Stone pawns have a Vulnerability to Air. Glass =
and
>Crystal pawns have a Vulnerability to Earth. All pawns have Charisma =
and
>Willpower statistics of 0, a Intelligence/Perception scores equal to =
their
>Force, their armor is considered Hardened and all are Dual Natured. =
Pawns
>cannot astrally project and lose any other special abilities of their
>original spirit form. The Intelligence of the pawn is parallel to the
>Autopilot rating described in Rigger2 and Shadowrun, Third Edition, and
>directions given to the pawn should be treated as such regarding
>comprehension.
> Note, shamans cannot make pawns unless their totem allows it, which
>is only for reasons that serve the totem.

What would Pawns be perceived as on the Astral Plane?

Chris King
--
cking@********.com | http://www.searchiv.com/cking/shadows
_____________________________________________
If a 100km asteroid hit the Earth and no one was left alive to hear
it, would it make any noise?
Message no. 3
From: Patrick Goodman <remo@***.NET>
Subject: Re: Pawns for SR
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 23:36:48 -0500
>Notes retrieved from Dr. Insan Omago, former Aztechnology researcher:
>
> Text Entry: April 4, 2058: "Despite the fact they said I could
>never do it, I shall attempt to do so anyway. I shall create life from
>lifelessness. I have already begun to collect individuals to perform my
>experiment with and have been collecting their essence and blood for the
>rite to follow. Gods be willing, I shall have my way before the year is
>done."

(>) Or as some of us in the magic medicine business call him, Dr. Insane
Omago. Nutty as that fruitcake Dunkelzahn and Alamais tossed back and forth
every year. This whole thing makes me wonder if he'd ever even heard of
Mary Shelley, let alone read her work.
(>) Thomas Magick

> Text Entry: July 2, 2058: "I have been experimenting with
>animating objects, a simple matter for mages with the knowledge, but
>haven't been able to impart upon them a will of any decent reckoning. I
>have, to date, created a stone cat and an iron dog. Both are fully mobile
>but not of the use I require. I need a more 'intelligent' creation so as
>to be able to use it as a hunter."

(>) I don't think I like the sound of this.
(>) Java Nut
"wHADAYA mean I'M DrinKING TOo mUcH CaFFEinE?!"

(>) You shouldn't.
(>) Texas 2-Step
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forget. Never forgive.

> Voice Entry: October 31, 2058: "Success! I have finally done it.
>With the essence and blood of the bodies that made it whole my finest pawn
>has been completed! I can finally tell those <crashing sound> what?
>What's going on in there? Garzendo, if you've <gurgling sound> .....
><silence time exceeding 5 minutes, discontinue recording>"

(>) He did it. The crazy bastard actually did it! I guess that answers my
question about Shelley.... Seems fitting, somehow, that he died on Samhain.
Anyone know if his notes and logs on enchantments and such were any more
complete than this journal? Last thing I want to do is deal with bunches of
these things.
(>) Thomas Magick

> Due to the extremely different style of enchantment that creating a
>pawn requires, only full initiated magicians and initiated physical
>magicians are able to create a pawns.

A pawn, singular. And I kind of question letting a physical mage do this;
just doesn't seem right to me, though I honestly couldn't tell you why.

>All steps except creation of the host body must be performed by the
>magician who will be the magicians 'master' (although see last step).

Who will be the pawn's master, not the magician's master.

> After the host body is prepared and animated, it must be enchanted
>to receive the spirit which is to inhabit it. An Open Test using
Enchanting
>is used to determine the maximum Force which can inhabit the host. This
>process takes 28 days, regardless of the number of successes rolled.

Why the set time period?

> Within 24 hours, after the host body has completed being prepared
>for the spirit, the magician must conjure a spirit to inhabit the body, or
>the benefits of the enchantment are lost and must be restarted. The mage
>chooses a Force less than the maximum Force determined by the Enchanting
>test, attempts to conjure the spirit (treat as a normal Conjuring for
>purposes of successes and Drain), and, if successful, binds the spirit to
>the host body.

David, I'm going to admit up front that I'm not much into magic, so I might
be missing something, but how is that any different from building a host
homonculus from GRIMOIRE? (I might find the answer later on; bear with me.)

If the host body is inhabited by a spirit, why has he had so much trouble
with intelligence? Just summoning stupid spirits, or what? I don't get it.

You might consider reformatting the table; it came out looking something
like this:

>Pawn Table
>Substance Time Cost Max. Max. Max.
> Bod/Str Quick. Armor
>Clay 1 5000¥ 8 5 4
>Copper 2 6,000¥ 9 5 6
>Crystal 5 4,000¥ 8 4 4

It's not too hard to figure out with one or two entries, but there's a lot
more than that. <g>

Interesting notion, though, all things considered.

--
(>) Texas 2-Step
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forget. Never forgive.
Message no. 4
From: Fixer <fixer@*******.TLH.FL.US>
Subject: Re: Pawns for SR
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1998 10:54:57 -0400
On Sat, 19 Sep 1998, Christopher King wrote:

->On Fri, 18 Sep 1998 12:36:39 -0400, a voice came from the shadows:
->> For combat purposes, pawns are immune to mana-only spells. Clay
->>paws have a Vulnerability to Water. Gold, Lead and Wood pawns have a
->>Vulnerability to Fire. Stone pawns have a Vulnerability to Air. Glass and
->>Crystal pawns have a Vulnerability to Earth. All pawns have Charisma and
->>Willpower statistics of 0, a Intelligence/Perception scores equal to their
->>Force, their armor is considered Hardened and all are Dual Natured. Pawns
->>cannot astrally project and lose any other special abilities of their
->>original spirit form. The Intelligence of the pawn is parallel to the
->>Autopilot rating described in Rigger2 and Shadowrun, Third Edition, and
->>directions given to the pawn should be treated as such regarding
->>comprehension.
->> Note, shamans cannot make pawns unless their totem allows it, which
->>is only for reasons that serve the totem.
->
->What would Pawns be perceived as on the Astral Plane?

Since they are (more or less) permanently bound to their body,
they are perceived as magic statues, enough successes would determine that
the statue has a 'spirit' of an unknown sort.

Fixer --------------} The easy I do before breakfast,
the difficult I do all day long,
the impossible only during the week,
and miracles performed on an as-needed basis....

Now tell me, what was your problem?
Message no. 5
From: Fixer <fixer@*******.TLH.FL.US>
Subject: Re: Pawns for SR
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1998 11:09:41 -0400
On Fri, 18 Sep 1998, Patrick Goodman wrote:

<snip welcomed comments in diary>
->> Due to the extremely different style of enchantment that creating a
->>pawn requires, only full initiated magicians and initiated physical
->>magicians are able to create a pawns.
->
->A pawn, singular. And I kind of question letting a physical mage do this;
->just doesn't seem right to me, though I honestly couldn't tell you why.

Physical mages focus their magic in the material world. I figured
that would be very appropriate for someone to make a spirit being bound to
the physical plane.

->>All steps except creation of the host body must be performed by the
->>magician who will be the magicians 'master' (although see last step).
->
->Who will be the pawn's master, not the magician's master.

Oops. ]:-)

->> After the host body is prepared and animated, it must be enchanted
->>to receive the spirit which is to inhabit it. An Open Test using
->Enchanting
->>is used to determine the maximum Force which can inhabit the host. This
->>process takes 28 days, regardless of the number of successes rolled.
->
->Why the set time period?

How would you reduce it using an open test? Besides, it's
supposed to be a long-drawn-ou process. Something not normally available
to PCs.

->> Within 24 hours, after the host body has completed being prepared
->>for the spirit, the magician must conjure a spirit to inhabit the body, or
->>the benefits of the enchantment are lost and must be restarted. The mage
->>chooses a Force less than the maximum Force determined by the Enchanting
->>test, attempts to conjure the spirit (treat as a normal Conjuring for
->>purposes of successes and Drain), and, if successful, binds the spirit to
->>the host body.
->
->David, I'm going to admit up front that I'm not much into magic, so I might
->be missing something, but how is that any different from building a host
->homonculus from GRIMOIRE? (I might find the answer later on; bear with me.)

This creature is not an ally, and not NEARLY as friendly toward
the mage. It's a spirit who's been trapped in a shell not it's own and is
very unhappy about it.

->If the host body is inhabited by a spirit, why has he had so much trouble
->with intelligence? Just summoning stupid spirits, or what? I don't get it.

Because it's not it's natural form, and it's not acting
voluntarily. By being 'stupid' it has a better chance of being released
by being destroyed.

->You might consider reformatting the table; it came out looking something
->like this:
->

Best I could do with what I had. It looked fine to me in fixed
font. I'll be tossing it up on my page after I get the kinks out, so
it'll look prettier.

->It's not too hard to figure out with one or two entries, but there's a lot
->more than that. <g>
->
->Interesting notion, though, all things considered.

Danke.

Fixer --------------} The easy I do before breakfast,
the difficult I do all day long,
the impossible only during the week,
and miracles performed on an as-needed basis....

Now tell me, what was your problem?
Message no. 6
From: Patrick Goodman <remo@***.NET>
Subject: Re: Pawns for SR
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 00:23:31 -0500
From: Fixer <fixer@*******.TLH.FL.US>
Date: Sunday, September 20, 1998 10:01 AM

>->And I kind of question letting a physical mage do this; just
>->doesn't seem right to me, though I honestly couldn't tell you why.
>
>Physical mages focus their magic in the material world. I figured
>that would be very appropriate for someone to make a spirit being
>bound to the physical plane.

Yeah, but they also split their magical abilities between being mages and
kicking ass as adepts (if I remember everything correctly; I could be
objecting inappropriately here on this). I would think that split, and
their reduced magic abilities as a result would make them less than ideal
for this kind of thing, especially when it came to soaking the drain (some
of the spells might have to be of a sufficient Force that he risks some
major physical drain, versus stunning drain).

It's not inconceivable that I've misunderstood things, since magic is not my
forte.

>->>This process
>->>takes 28 days, regardless of the number of successes rolled.
>->
>->Why the set time period?
>
>How would you reduce it using an open test?

Good point; it just doesn't seem in keeping with a lot of the other similar
procedures in Grimmy that get reduced in time depending on how you roll.
Perhaps something like "36 days minus the result of the open test"? Which
still seems clunky, but it allows a little variation while still making this
a long, drawn-out process.

>->David, I'm going to admit up front that I'm not much into magic, so
>->I might be missing something, but how is that any different from
>->building a host homonculus from GRIMOIRE? (I might find the answer
>->later on; bear with me.)
>
>This creature is not an ally, and not NEARLY as friendly toward
>the mage. It's a spirit who's been trapped in a shell not it's own
>and is very unhappy about it.

You might consider adding an entry or two to the diary indicating that his
creations don't seem to be very charitable...something to indicate this,
because I didn't get this impression from what was presented. I got the
impression that it was just a stupid chunk of animated rock, since I don't
recall you mentioning anything in the good doctor's diary about summoning
spirits to animate them. He seemed just another Frankenstein
wannabe...which might have been the impression you wanted to leave, but it
seemed unclear.

>By being 'stupid' it has a better chance of being released
>by being destroyed.

Gotcha.

>->You might consider reformatting the table; it came out looking
>->something like this:
>
>Best I could do with what I had. It looked fine to me in fixed
>font.

I read all this in a fixed font, too, and it looked a bit on the mangled
side.

>->Interesting notion, though, all things considered.
>
> Danke.

Bitte.

--
(>) Texas 2-Step
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forget. Never forgive.
Message no. 7
From: Fixer <fixer@*******.TLH.FL.US>
Subject: Re: Pawns for SR
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 10:57:56 -0400
On Mon, 21 Sep 1998, Patrick Goodman wrote:

->>->And I kind of question letting a physical mage do this; just
->>->doesn't seem right to me, though I honestly couldn't tell you why.
->>
->>Physical mages focus their magic in the material world. I figured
->>that would be very appropriate for someone to make a spirit being
->>bound to the physical plane.
->
->Yeah, but they also split their magical abilities between being mages and
->kicking ass as adepts (if I remember everything correctly; I could be
->objecting inappropriately here on this). I would think that split, and
->their reduced magic abilities as a result would make them less than ideal
->for this kind of thing, especially when it came to soaking the drain (some
->of the spells might have to be of a sufficient Force that he risks some
->major physical drain, versus stunning drain).

I didn't say it would be EASY, I just said it would be possible if
they 1) Had Sorcery, 2) Had Enchanting and 3) Had Conjuring. They would
need all three because they are all required in making the pawn.

->It's not inconceivable that I've misunderstood things, since magic is not my
->forte.

Magic in any game is my fave.

->>->>This process
->>->>takes 28 days, regardless of the number of successes rolled.
->>->
->>->Why the set time period?
->>
->>How would you reduce it using an open test?
->
->Good point; it just doesn't seem in keeping with a lot of the other similar
->procedures in Grimmy that get reduced in time depending on how you roll.
->Perhaps something like "36 days minus the result of the open test"? Which
->still seems clunky, but it allows a little variation while still making this
->a long, drawn-out process.

Actually, if you look at hw to make Orichalcum, the base time
cannot be reduced and is fixed at 28 days. I saw the precendent and used
it.

->>->David, I'm going to admit up front that I'm not much into magic, so
->>->I might be missing something, but how is that any different from
->>->building a host homonculus from GRIMOIRE? (I might find the answer
->>->later on; bear with me.)
->>
->>This creature is not an ally, and not NEARLY as friendly toward
->>the mage. It's a spirit who's been trapped in a shell not it's own
->>and is very unhappy about it.
->
->You might consider adding an entry or two to the diary indicating that his
->creations don't seem to be very charitable...something to indicate this,
->because I didn't get this impression from what was presented. I got the
->impression that it was just a stupid chunk of animated rock, since I don't
->recall you mentioning anything in the good doctor's diary about summoning
->spirits to animate them. He seemed just another Frankenstein
->wannabe...which might have been the impression you wanted to leave, but it
->seemed unclear.

I didn't want it to be clear. You fear the unknown, not what you
know. Making pawns is one of those "bordering on black" magicks. In the
last step of making an pawn it details what happens of the pawn goes free.
I left the diary open for interpretation. Dr. Insane Mage (his name in
Spanish) created a flesh golem, using blood magic, in the manner akin to
Dr. Frankenstein. His creation is still at large in Aztlan's mountains,
FYI, as a powerful Free Pawn (Force rating whatever the GM deems
appropriate, skill should be equivalent).
I don't plan on PCs using this too often due to price and time
restraints.

->>By being 'stupid' it has a better chance of being released
->>by being destroyed.
->
->Gotcha.
->
->>->You might consider reformatting the table; it came out looking
->>->something like this:
->>
->>Best I could do with what I had. It looked fine to me in fixed
->>font.
->
->I read all this in a fixed font, too, and it looked a bit on the mangled
->side.

When I put it on my page, I'll be making it in a table with fixed
width, to make printing easier.

Fixer --------------} The easy I do before breakfast,
the difficult I do all day long,
the impossible only during the week,
and miracles performed on an as-needed basis....

Now tell me, what was your problem?

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.