| From: | Matb <mbreton@**.NETCOM.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Vampire Cards and Evil things |
| Date: | Sat, 26 Dec 1998 02:28:30 -0800 |
An interesting set of cards. I'm not certain I'd go with Vampire cards,
just as I'm not certain I'd go for having Vampire PCs in my Shadowrun
RPG game; one or two, maybe, but a deck full of them...
Corruption tokens are an interesting idea; at first glance it seemed
they were limited to Mages and Shamans only, and that works pretty well;
there are a few effects that put them on any Runner. Shadowrun, despite
a strong injection of fantasy, is still a cyberpunk/dark future game;
corruption really shouldn't mean much to hardened shadowrunners. On the
other hand, having a Corrupt Lone Star Cop sounds like an interesting
idea for a Runner!
Since I've already commented on some of these cards, I'm going to stick
with just the new ones.
> Name – Bentean
> Type – Ork Insect Shaman
> Cost – 7¥
> Threat – 4/6
> Skills – Conjure 2
> Traits – Stamina
> Text – All Spirits deployment cost are reduced by 2¥ when deployed =
on
> Bentean. During upkeep phase pay 2¥ for each spirit deployed onto
> Bentean, or trash spirit.
> Flavor – “Power is cheap in the beginning… Its true cost is only
> realized later”
Stat-wise (7Y for a 4/6 with two skills and a trait) this guy is a
little over-priced; the reduced-cost Spirits evens that out, but it's
open to abuse: I can drop four (!) City Spirits and four (!) Nature
Spirits onto Bentean for free (!) -- and then turn him to trade them all
to another Shaman. So long, Upkeep. At the least, this guy should be
'greedy' the way Lurker and Humbug are: no turnie, no tradie.
See also comments on the Toxic Spirits.
> Name – Hammendrell
I'll just repeat that 2D6+8 (!!) is simply too much. 2D6 makes using
his 'breath weapon' chancy; not that a guy this tough needs to even use
it.
> Name – Killeen
> Type – Bear Shape Shifter Runner
> Cost - 7¥
> Threat – 4/4
> Skills - Conjure 1
> Traits – None
> Text – Once per turn Killeen gains +3/+0 and biotech for duration of =
1
> combat.
The only problem with this is that Biotech is used between Challenges -
so combat is over and done with, and his Biotech gone, before he gets a
chance to use it. I'm not sure what a good fix would be.
> Name – Komanii
> Type – Elven Insect Shaman
> Cost – 5¥
> Threat – 3/3
> Skills – Conjure 1
> Traits - None
> Text – 2¥ and turn Komanii. Target runner deals no damage during a=
> single combat phase.
> Flavor – “Who could possibly fight within my swarm.”
I think this would be cool if the Runner's Attack rating would be
reduced by Komanii's Conjure rating, or the number of Spirits (s)he was
holding, or both. That makes the effects a little less abusive -- I'm
not entirely certain how she'd sneak onto a shadowrun and stop Torgo
from wailing a Lone Star Patrol if she's lunching at another safehouse.
> Name – Marshall
> Type- Elven Toxic Shaman
> Cost – 4¥
> Threat – 2/3
> Skills – Conjure 1
> Traits – Hermit, Anti-social
> Text – 1¥ Marshal does not receive the corruption token intended fo=
r
> him.
Keep this guy in mind when I get to the Toxic Spirits.
> Name – Dart Gun
> Type – Gear/weapon
> Cost – X+2¥
> Text – Deploy only onto Yakuza runner. Dart gun is deployed with X
> –1/-1 virus counters on it. Turn Yakuza runner and remove 1 virus
> counter and place it on target runner.
This is (perhaps) a bit much: Yaks already benefit greatly from Shuriken
and (to a lesser degreee) Poison; now there's *another* Gear they can
use to waste Runners?
Puzzler: I've got a Dart Gun with 4 Virus tokens on it, when Jade, who
just used to to waste a wounded Torgo, bites it. The Shopping Cart Lady
immediately grabs it and stuffs it underneath some old clothing. Does
it keep the tokens? Why or why not?
> Name – Mantis Spirit
> Type – Gear/Insect Spirit
> Cost – 2¥
> Threat – 8/3
> Text – Use on outdoor challenges only. Deploy only onto insect shama=
n.
Balance this 'un against the Rotodrone: 2Y less, and an additional +1/+0
to boot. (The limitation that it only affects Outdoor Challenges *is*
more constraining, though, and may make up for it more than I realize.)
> Name – Reset
> Type - Gear/program
> Cost – 4¥
> Text – Turn Reset to unturn target turned program.
This gets _really_ abusive with Sticky Fingers (and do deckers really
need another 4Y per turn?)
> Name – Roach Spirit
> Type – Gear/Insect Spirit
> Cost – 4¥
> Threat – 5/5
> Text – Deploy only onto insect shaman. If challenge was indoors remo=
ve
> all damage tokens from roach spirit at end of combat.
> Flavor – “You try to kill them all… and they just keep coming.”=
This one had me rolling on the floor! I'd probably go a step farther
and say roll a die when it's killed, and on such-or-such a roll, it
comes back. Might need to lower the Threat Rating then (...Tom Dowd got
the bugs *all wrong*, anyway.)
> Name – Toxic Spirit Class 2
> Type – Gear/Spirit
> Cost – 5¥
> Threat – None
> Text – Trash toxic spirit to trash any just reviled challenge. All
> runners present receive a –2/-2 corruption token. Corruption tokens
> cannot be removed.
=
OK, this is the one I had the most problems with. 5Y is *nothing*;
you've already got Shade who gets a Spirit for free, and then a few
Black Markets, and now Bentean, who gets them at reduced cost. Even
taking an example like Shade, pop out two Shades, each with a TSC2 (and
this isn't all that difficult, using the Hermetic Library). Drag out a
Marshall - the guy I pointed out earlier.
Go on a run. If you're opponent has been stymied for Challenges, you
might get an Objective with only one or two Challenges defending it; if
you've got another Runner who's reasonably skilled or reasonably buff,
you should be able to clear out at least one Challenge.
But! Trash a TSC2; Shade will survive (and if he's only a 1/1, who
cares? You're not going to fight anything!); so will Marshall, although
for just 1Y, he's not going to be affected anyway. Next Challenge,
trash another TSC2; or, if you want, use a Just a Rumor or (for that
matter) a Suicide Run, targetting the Shade that no longer has a Spirit;
that saves the Spirit for the last Challenge.
What I'm getting at is that there are already a number of ways of
clearing out Challenges without facing them; a Spirit that does the
trick just as nicely just makes Shamans far too powerful.
> Name – Urban Renewal
> Type – Gear/Spell
> Cost – 3¥
> Text – Turn mage and trash spell to trash any location in play.
> Flavor – “This is one spell that really brings down the house.”
Cheap. I'd at least give a die roll to see if the mage is 'caught in
the rubble' and gets cacked too.
> Name – Unknown Benefactor
> Type – Gear/Program
> Cost – 3¥
> Text – Turn program and roll D6, 1 trash program. 2–4 no effect, =
5+
> gain 1¥
> Flavor – “The money just keeps coming in… weird though.
This I like, though the Deckers have enough cash already. Maybe just as
a Contact: Roll D6 at the beginning of your turn, results the same.
> Name – Contraction
> Type – Stinger
> Cost – 1¥
> Text – Target wounded runner recieves –1/-1 virus token.
> Flavor – “Anyone got some alcohol… this might get infected.”
This is good. Needs a new name, but very much keyed in with the other
virus cards.
> Name - Overhaul
> Type - Special
> Cost - 3¥
> Text - Play on non shaman or mage runner you control. Runner gains
> +1/+1 (A+1) and is now a Cyborg.
> Flavor – “More than flesh… Less than human.”
This is good. Well-balanced.
> Name – Unholy Ritual
> Type – Special
> Cost – 1¥
> Text – Target mage or shaman gains +2 to either sorcery or conjure sk=
ill
> and a –2/-2 corruption token. Corruption tokens cannot be removed
This really needs to be limited to targeting only your own Runners --
who cares if Tempest has Sorcery-6 when he's dead? Touched By Evil
(which I snipped) had the same problem: Combine this with Shuriken, or
the Gear you have above, and you can _too easily_ kill off any other
Runner in play, with nil risk to yourself. Yes, I think there should be
(some) ways to take out other Runners, but these are a) too many and b)
without any drawback to the user.
Insect Spirits (and 'corrupting' other Runners) should bring a really
negative Reputation to anyone who uses them; -5 Rep for each Corruption
you bring into play is about right (especially since there are fairly
easy ways to craft the Toxic Spirits into attack puppies: use a Rapier
to go on someone else's shadowrun, and then zap away with the Toxic
Spirit that infects everyone with -2/-2 tokens; you're liable to kill
off the entire team, once damage from the Challenge is taken into
consideration. That's an awful lot of power for a three card combo,
especially when it's repeatable very easily.)
But - there are some solid ideas in here. I'd work a bit more carefully
with the Corruption tokens; keem them limited to the Insect or Toxic
Shamans that deserve them, and penalize the player daring enough to
dabble in such diablery; that's the route to go.
- Matt
