| From: | "David M. Girardot" <GIRARDOT@*********.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Dealing with the SR2 Spell "Shapechange"/"Critter Form" |
| Date: | Wed, 10 Feb 93 19:49:54 CET |
shaman to assume the shape (and physical stats) of a critter. Plus,
every two successes adds +1 to said critters base stats -- so if the
mage or shaman is particularly good at his job, he can transform into
super-critter.
Now then, I ruled right-off-the-bat that awakened creatures are no-go
for this spell. Unbalances the game, don't ya know. I also ruled,
rather nebulously, that a mage/shaman can only become a creature he or
she "knows."
I said that the definition of "know" depends on the magic tradition to
which the spellcaster subscribes. In the case of the Shaman it involves
neo-mystical connections with and day-to-day-association with said animal.
In the case of the Mage it involves very specific knowledge about the
animal: biology, habitat, behavioral pattern. Hermetic mages can pick
this stuff out of books partitally, but it also involves some sort of
vivisection and observation in-the-wild.
In some senses, Shaman's have it easy. They can go live with said animal
for a little while, commune with nature so-to-speak and they'll "know" the
animal. In the case of the mage, though, there is months or years of study
involved.
Now then, I'm not a total prick, so I let them start with at least one
"typical" animal -- like a dog or an alley cat. The rest the player
needs to get-to-know on his own.
I had on player, whose char. was a hermetic mage, try to convince me that
he majored in vertebrate biology in college. Kids, don't try this at home.
Word out on the local MagicNets is that some technojock has been experiementing
with Stimsim recordings of animals in their "natural" environments. The
application of this technology is obvious -- whether a hermetic or shaman
-- the user can "know" a given animal within days or weeks instead of
months or years. Needless to say, this stuff is very experiemental and
equally expensive.
--David
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