From: | Stephen Delear <c715591@******.MISSOURI.EDU> |
---|---|
Subject: | Cyber and Mage |
Date: | Sat, 25 Apr 1998 16:48:05 -0500 |
Here's a list of ware that mages would find usefull (though one certainly
wouldn't have all of it). The rest of the post is about quickening and
spelllocks.
Cerebral Booster (maybe)
Pain Editor (only if they're crazy)
Trauma Damper (If you allow it to help with drain then not something any
mage should ever be without)
Synaptic Accelerator (much more mage friendly then boosted one)
Datajack 1
Encephalon (If you allow this to mitigate some of the penalties for
sustaning spells say one spell per level then no mage should be without at
least a level 1 version of this)
Cybereyes (optical image mags and flare comp with either low light or
thermo or maybe both if the mage wan't to spend the extra .2 essence)
Smartlink (a very usefull peice of tech but at .5 essence it takes a fair
amount of the one essence point most mages generally dedicate to such
perposes. If anything was ever to get alpha or beta'd it be this as well
as cybereyes above)
Comlinks and Crypto plus subdermals. Takes way to much essence for most
mages to bother however if the entire groups going to be using this junk
the mage probably needs some as well.
Dermal Sheath 1 (+2 to body for .7 or .8 with coloration adaptation, maybe
you'd have to beta it though if you wanted to stack it with a Trama dampener).
A combat mage would probably look something like this...
Ok the Trauma dampener is pretty much a must. Cybereyes would also be good
for most mages. (.6 essence). For a combat mage I'd say splurge and buy a
alpha smartlink 2 (.4 for a total of 1 essence point). Of course if you're
planing to quicken a personal bullet barrier you'd probably be better off
droping the smartlink for say an Encephalon or synaptic accelerator if you
don't want to use magic to boost reflexes.
When it comes to reflexes things get complex. Quickening or Spell Locking
an increase reflexes shouldn't be to hard. I think most GM's have house
rules to keep increased reflexes from being quickened (such as health
effects caused by putting the mages matabolic system in overdrive). Locked
increased reflexes 2 would however be common with wage mages who fear for
there safety (the magical equivelent of packing a gun). In all likelyhood
most runners are only going to be carrying one or two locks (the average
initiatory level or most runners hovering somewhere around 2) the first
would be increased reaction and the second lock would most likely be an
increased reflexes +3 lock.
Other things I can think of are quickening a force 1 +4 body a force 6
armor spell (with centering, magic pool,and karma pool all dumped into
getting more successes). Another combat mage idea would be to anchore a
treat spell onto a ring set to go off if the mage suffers a deadly wound.
So how much do magical augmentations show up in your games. They would
seem to be a viable competitor to cyber in some instances (force 1 increase
reflexes 3). I can't see a mage making heavy use of quickenings to try to
out sam a sam (at least with the GM letting him get away with it) but I can
see a mage with maybe increase reflexes 2 and a bullet barrier on locks and
maybe a force 1 +3 body quickened.
SteveD
Stephen Delear
University of Missouri-Columbia
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