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Message no. 1
From: Merlin Montgomery <merlin.montgomery@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Bolts and Blood (Was:Re: Bugs and Blood)
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 19:04:24 +1200
>Gurth wrote:
>>
>> Plus it only works against
>> mind-controlling etc. spells -- which suddenly made Mana Bolt a mind-reading
>> spell in my game :)
>
Robert wrote>
>Mana Bolt IS a mind-reading spell. It's in the same class as tea-readers,
>or palm readers, but instead of using conventional techniques, you see the
>future in the patterns of the blood seeping out of the victim's ears. For
>example, you may see that you forgot to put up the Bullet Barrier, and that
>a collection of 9mm objects is about to head your way VERY fast...
>

Just as an aside to this discussion, how does one describe the effects of a
mana bolt/ball? When you're in the heat of battle it's easy to describe
the death of a bad guy due to bullets - "He flies backwards, blood spurting
from..." etc. Physical spells similarly. But mana bolt - what happens? Guy
falls over? Guy's head explodes? Is there any noticeable effect at all?
Also, I have noticed mention being made on this list of a Shadowrun
errata sheet. Is this an "official" release or not, and how do I get hold
of it? We're a little slow to get *anything* RPG related down here in the
South Island of New Zealand - my local shop has only 4 or 5 Shadowrun
products, which vary wildly in recentness (if there is such a word): First
edition Grimiore, a Hawaii adventure, Corporate Shadowfiles, and about 12
copies(!) of Harlequin's Back, which I may have to get after reading about
it here.
Later...

Merlin.



merlin.montgomery@********.otago.ac.nz



**** STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE ****
**** ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING ****
**** TAKE IT TO THE EDGE ****
**** AIN'T NEVER GONNA DIE FOR WANT OF SHOOTING BACK ****
Message no. 2
From: Nilo Nolasco <nilo@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Bolts and Blood (Was:Re: Bugs and Blood)
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 01:20:21 -0600
On Fri, 21 Jul 1995, Merlin Montgomery wrote:
> Just as an aside to this discussion, how does one describe the effects of a
> mana bolt/ball? When you're in the heat of battle it's easy to describe
> the death of a bad guy due to bullets - "He flies backwards, blood spurting
> from..." etc. Physical spells similarly. But mana bolt - what happens? Guy
> falls over? Guy's head explodes? Is there any noticeable effect at all?

Visual affects, I would assume (well, in my campaign anyway) are the
same as one would get when they take tremendous amounts of mental
damage. It would be some form of severe mental trauma (if the caster
manages to stage it up to Deadly or past it) like someone going through
a stroke or a very nasty seizure because you DO hinder or damage neural
pathways (and brain cells if you take the damage all the way to Physical)
in some way. If they manage to roll the damage down to Serious or
Moderate from a Manabolt, it would probably fell like a really nasty
hangover or a monster migraine (hence, the +'s to TNs). Aren't they
great?!

Nilo
>
Message no. 3
From: Gurth <gurth@******.NL>
Subject: Re: Bolts and Blood (Was:Re: Bugs and Blood)
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 12:13:19 +0200
>Just as an aside to this discussion, how does one describe the effects of a
>mana bolt/ball? When you're in the heat of battle it's easy to describe
>the death of a bad guy due to bullets - "He flies backwards, blood spurting
>from..." etc. Physical spells similarly. But mana bolt - what happens? Guy
>falls over? Guy's head explodes? Is there any noticeable effect at all?

You got me there... I've been wondering about this for ages, and I usually
assume that mana-based combat spells do things like give you a heart attack,
without actually causing wounds to spring open. But then why I allow people
to use Biotech to treat those wounds...

> Also, I have noticed mention being made on this list of a Shadowrun
>errata sheet. Is this an "official" release or not, and how do I get hold
>of it?

If you've got WWW access, go to Paolo Marcucci's page. There's a number of
errata sheets there for Shadowrun books -- all hmtl-ized versions of
official FASA sheets, I believe.


Gurth@******.nl - Gurth@***.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
It's tv-speak, Andycam!
GC3.0: GS/AT/! dpu s:- !a>? C+(++) U P L E? W(++) N K- w+ O V? PS+ PE Y
PGP- t(+) 5 X R+++>? tv+(++) b+@ DI? D+ G++ e h! !r(--) y? Unofficial
Shadowrun Guru :)
Message no. 4
From: Sascha Pabst <Sascha.Pabst@****.INFORMATIK.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE>
Subject: Re: Bolts and Blood (Was:Re: Bugs and Blood)
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 17:18:59 +0200
Hi...

Gurth wrote:
> >Just as an aside to this discussion, how does one describe the effects of a
> >mana bolt/ball? When you're in the heat of battle it's easy to describe
> >the death of a bad guy due to bullets - "He flies backwards, blood spurting
> >from..." etc. Physical spells similarly. But mana bolt - what happens? Guy
> >falls over? Guy's head explodes? Is there any noticeable effect at all?
>
> You got me there... I've been wondering about this for ages, and I usually
> assume that mana-based combat spells do things like give you a heart attack,
> without actually causing wounds to spring open. But then why I allow people
> to use Biotech to treat those wounds...
Hm... as in SR2, p. 132 is said "[about noticing spellcasting] The raw power
and complexity of the spell also matter." I think there should be a visible
Side-effect on spellcasting, as some kind of "shimmering line" or the like.
Maybe not quite so obvious as tracer mun, but (for players) it helps if people
die due to a visible effect and not just drop dead.

As to the effects of a mana bolt/ball, I think of damage to nerves and cells,
so - due to the damage taken - I talk of bleeding from nose, ears up to
"explosion of skin's cells".

Sascha
--
+---___---------+-----------------------------------------+------------------+
| / / _______ | Jhary-a-Conel aka Sascha Pabst | The one does not |
| / /_/ ____/ |Sascha.Pabst@**********.Uni-Oldenburg.de |learn from history|
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|==== \_/ ======| Westerstr. 20 / 26121 Oldenburg | through it again.|
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Message no. 5
From: "Brian A. Stewart" <bstewart@***.UUG.ARIZONA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Bolts and Blood (Was:Re: Bugs and Blood)
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 10:41:33 -0700
>>Just as an aside to this discussion, how does one describe the effects of a
>>mana bolt/ball? When you're in the heat of battle it's easy to describe
>>the death of a bad guy due to bullets - "He flies backwards, blood spurting
>>from..." etc. Physical spells similarly. But mana bolt - what happens? Guy
>>falls over? Guy's head explodes? Is there any noticeable effect at all?
>

In the SR2 it mentions that there are sensory effects that occur with magic
based on the force of the spell. In my group we decided part of tayloring a
spell is the sensory effects, each mage can determine what types of sensory
effects occur. The degree of effect depends on the force (a force 1
manaball will have a leeser effect then the force 8), a mage can modify the
degree of sensory effect possibly even muffling or making it very showy, by
rolling their magic thoery vs. t# = degree of change (color, shape TN2, type
of sense TN4, size TN6, muffle/showy TN8). Usually, unless the mage wants
to make a showy or muffled effect I do not worry about it, I let them do
what they want.

As for how mana spells effect their target, I think by causing
"neurologic/spiritual" effects. I like convulsions, somethimes just some
blood out of the mouth or ears is very errie, paralysis, loss of body
functions, gibbering, erract movement, levitation and being thrown without
any visual reason, random bruising, mood shifts, crying, screaming, it
varies. I also use these descriptions for drain. Nothing feaks players out
more then their mage, bleeding from the eyes or flying backwords while
gibbering, or loosing control of body functions, after casting a spell. The
mage is fine, generally speaking, but the other players do not know this.

Enjoy.
Brian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blessed are the young,
For they shall inherit the National Debt.

-Herbert Humphrey

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