| From: | Mark Steedman <M.J.Steedman@***.RGU.AC.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Chargen : and the points system |
| Date: | Wed, 23 Jul 1997 13:36:52 GMT |
> >
> >P. 33 of the Companion, uner Magical Talent (of which Astral Sight is
> >one of several): "Only magically active characters with active Magic
> >Ratings of 1 or higher can purchase any of the Magical Talent Edges
> >listed ... above. A character whose Magic Rating drops below 1
> >automatically loses all Magical Talent Edges."
> >
>
> Now this IS wierd because I'm looking at pg 33 now and dont see any of this.
> There is a chart at top with "spellcasting talent, summoning talent, astral
> sight, and poor link". There are 4 sections under "magical edges and
flaws"
> that start on pg 32. I see a "bad karma" a "bonus force points"
(continued
> to pg 33) a "focused concentration", a "magic resistance", then
The stuff on the table basically are the magical edges and flaws.
This section however got rather badly mangled by FASA's editorial
department who tiedied up the text and in the process changed the
terminology for a few things. An explanation of how was all intended
to work was posted at one stage by Steve Kenson who wrote the
original rules.
Basically it was intended that only characers who weren't already
buying magic in some form be allowed to select magical edges (listed
but not named as such of the offending table, p33 the companion)
Taking such an edge would give the character a magic rating (computed
in the normal fashion). So these were intended for samuria types only
(ie not spell casters, hysical adepts etc etc) but having an essence
below 1 would still result in no magic attribute in which case you
lose the magic and basically th edge becomes worthless (no magic no
edge)
I allow magicians to take them as well because generally it's
balanced. The one everybody goes on about is astral perception, well
for a physical adept (B magic is 15 points) you get 6 magic points,
the ability to bond foci and the opportunity to initiate (offering
more magic points and MASKING!!! seen a physad with quickened and
masked +3D6 iniviative dice :) ), so 3 points for a mere 2 magic
points worth of power really isn't that steep! You might feel
inclined to raise the cost to 4 but.
> "Misellaneous edges and flaws" headind with stuff like cortex bombs and
> hunted. Have there been more than 1 version of the companion?
no AFAIK. (unless a corrected printing has come out, but thats
unlikely to change this stuff so)
> I didnt think
> there was a SR1 companion or was there?
No.
> I bought mine in a hobby shop last
> month. It says its copyright 1996... I dont know, If it does say the quoted
> material above in the official book then I am incorrect in saying that a
> sammie can take magic edges.
Yes, but gains a magic rating and if that reaches zero he loses them
so no essence zero astrally percieving characters this way :) [it is
possible to achieve both assuming you initiate before getting all the
cyber installed as due to the bonus magic for initiation magic never
reaches zero but the cost is extreame]
> As for the the other edges/flaws they are still
> easily abusible but if the eratta above is true then the edges/flaw table is
> much less nasty than I thought.
Some of the other edges are intended only for use with the standard
characters generation system, bonus attribute points spring to mind.
The points based system is well balanced for mundanes, (metahumans
assuming you are playing more metahumans) and magicians that want at
least 400,000 yen at startup.
If you think points based characters always loose out though try
building a elven Shaman with 5K resources with both standard SR and
the points system, by the time you trade in the excess force points
building the character standard (elf=A) rules create will cost you
about 85-90 building points! This is not too bad in high powered
games or for balancing the game for physical adepts (the bonus being
about what you need, not much if you know what you are doing
physical adepts have the potential to be one of the nastiest things
going just building a good one takes a bit of thought compared to
sorcery 6 and a manabolt or firearms 6, wired 2 and smartgun
syndrome). The other way to balance the points system is offer it
inconjunction with 'sum to 10' where the human mundanes get a 'free
point' to balance the cheapness of points based low money magicians.
Mark
