| From: | Fixer <fixer@*******.TLH.FL.US> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Pawns for SR |
| Date: | Fri, 18 Sep 1998 12:36:39 -0400 |
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.
