| From: | "CREOSO, F'AANWYL" <MHILLIARD@******.BITNET> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Bioware and Mages: Karma instead of Essence? (Also: new Magick |
| Date: | Thu, 4 Feb 93 17:38:00 EDT |
and magick, so I don't know if this has been thought of before. I've divided
my proposal into two sections: Rationalization a la Game Balance, and
Rationalization in terms of the game's storyline.
Game Balance: While I agree that Magicians for the most part don't need
any kind of artificial augmentation, there is one exception to that which comes
into play during the initiative roll. The average Samurai or Physical Adept is
going to be rolling at least 2, and as many as 6 dice, whereas a Magician will
have only one, unless she is willing to risk a spell-lock, or can quicken the
Increase Reaction spell. The Sams and PhysAds also add on a Reaction Attribute
that is as much or more as twice the natural, unmodified human maximum (6).
In short, while we have all this Power, we almost never get to use it, at
least in combat. Or so has been my experience.
Putting it in the story's terms: It is possible to invest magickal
energy in inanimate objects; it's called Enchanting. But to use an enchanted
object, it must be bound to the user, which costs Karma. That is what I'm
proposing: that a Magician pay in KARMA instead of ESSENCE. I guess it's
essentially a "bionetic focus". How much Karma depends on how
"unnatural"
the mod is. Some should be plain impossible, like Orthoskin, as well as all
cybernetic augmentation. Most Magicians don't need that stuff anyway. It
should cost drekloads of Karma (and the enchanting skill) for even the
simplest mod. It would also be rare, or perhaps the GM might require that
all enchanted bionetics be cultured (4x cost, I think; don't have S-Tech
with me).
Looking at how long this post is already, I think I'll leave the
Priority house rule to another.
RSVP; tell me what you think
Cat Dancing
