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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Rand Ratinac docwagon101@*****.com
Subject: Astral Adepts (Steve K, please pay attention) (was Re: Killing Hands in Astral Space)
Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 20:52:47 -0700 (PDT)
--- Simon and Fiona <sfuller@******.com.au> wrote:
> Speaking of Adepts and Astral, why isn't there an
Astral Adept, that can not cast spells, but can
manipulate spirits and go Astral? I can't see it being
unbalancing personally, so I'm wondering why Astral
Projection is the first to go...

There was, Simon.

Okay, to start off with, I don't see astral projection
as unbalancing - however it can be a POWERFUL tool
when used correctly, so denying its use is a big
disadvantage.

Next...Astral Adepts appeared in Awakenings (I think).
Remember, back then an adept was anyone with a B
priority in magic, or someone who spent 15 building
points on magic. So there were sorcery, conjuring,
shamanic, physical and astral adepts (and probably
others I don't remember). The astral adept was related
more closely to magickers than physads. So in SR3
they'd be classed as aspected mages.

As to why they've apparently been dropped (I don't
REMEMBER seeing rules for them in MitS), you'd have to
ask Steve Kenson, or someone like that. Maybe it was
for as simple a reason as the name Astral Adept was no
longer allowable and that they couldn't think of a
cool name. :) Astrally aspected mage? No. Astraller?
No. Etherealist? Maybe. Tripper? Definitely not. ;)

*Doc' starts getting high and wearing psychedelic
clothes in an effort to become an astral adept...*

====Doc'
(aka Mr. Freaky Big, Super-Dynamic Troll of Tomorrow, aka Doc'booner, aka Doc' Vader)

S.S. f. P.S.C. & D.J.

.sig Sauer

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Message no. 2
From: Simon and Fiona sfuller@******.com.au
Subject: Astral Adepts (Steve K, please pay attention) (was Re: Killing Hands in Astral Space)
Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 14:21:44 +1000
-----Original Message-----
From: Rand Ratinac <docwagon101@*****.com>
To: shadowrn@*********.com <shadowrn@*********.com>
Date: Monday, May 29, 2000 1:53 PM
Subject: Astral Adepts (Steve K, please pay attention) (was Re: Killing
Hands in Astral Space)


>Okay, to start off with, I don't see astral projection
>as unbalancing - however it can be a POWERFUL tool
>when used correctly, so denying its use is a big
>disadvantage.

Definitely a powerful tool, but not in comparison to being able to throw
hellblasts around.

>
>Next...Astral Adepts appeared in Awakenings (I think).
>Remember, back then an adept was anyone with a B
>priority in magic, or someone who spent 15 building
>points on magic. So there were sorcery, conjuring,
>shamanic, physical and astral adepts (and probably
>others I don't remember). The astral adept was related
>more closely to magickers than physads. So in SR3
>they'd be classed as aspected mages.
>
As far as I remember, the Astral Adept in Awakenings still could not
project. I'm thinking of more like the traditional shaman, who talks to the
trees and goes on ling trips while sitting in one place, but doesn't do a
lot of magic. Traditionally shamans do this by eating various fungi, but in
the awakened world...
Message no. 3
From: Rand Ratinac docwagon101@*****.com
Subject: Astral Adepts (Steve K, please pay attention) (was Re: Killing Hands in Astral Space)
Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 22:57:29 -0700 (PDT)
> >Okay, to start off with, I don't see astral
projection as unbalancing - however it can be a
POWERFUL tool when used correctly, so denying its use
is a big disadvantage.
>
> Definitely a powerful tool, but not in comparison to
being able to throw hellblasts around.

*Doc' beats Simon severely about the head and
shoulders...*

Get your mind out of the combat gutter, boy! If the
name of the game is to keep things quiet and find
things out - which it almost always is, in SR (unless
you're playing a slugfest game) - then astral
projection beats hellblasts hands down any day.

> >Next...Astral Adepts appeared in Awakenings (I
think). Remember, back then an adept was anyone with a
B priority in magic, or someone who spent 15 building
points on magic. So there were sorcery, conjuring,
shamanic, physical and astral adepts (and probably
others I don't remember). The astral adept was related
more closely to magickers than physads. So in SR3
they'd be classed as aspected mages.
> >
> As far as I remember, the Astral Adept in Awakenings
still could not project. I'm thinking of more like the
traditional shaman, who talks to the trees and goes on
ling trips while sitting in one place, but doesn't do
a lot of magic. Traditionally shamans do this by
eating various fungi, but in the awakened world...

Wrong. The astral adept could ONLY perceive AND
PROJECT. Nothing else. I'm pretty sure it was first
found in Awakenings. If you're thinking of the example
characters, the guy you're most likely thinking of
(the ghost hunter-type) was a physad with astral
perception. The astral adept was an entirely different
critter.

As for the "traditional shaman" role, as someone has
already pointed out, who's to say the "traditional
shaman" wouldn't have been a spellcaster if magic had
been around then? If you want to do such a thing in
SR3, either you can wait (probably forever) for FASA
to introduce it (SteveK, any idea on whether the
astral adepts will ever reappear), or you can use the
rules for astral adepts from SRII and just play yours
as a spirit-walking shaman-type.

====Doc'
(aka Mr. Freaky Big, Super-Dynamic Troll of Tomorrow, aka Doc'booner, aka Doc' Vader)

S.S. f. P.S.C. & D.J.

.sig Sauer

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Further Reading

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