| From: | Andy Gardner <A.Gardner@******.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Future Development Was Re: Masking Adept |
| Date: | Thu, 1 Jan 1998 13:05:17 +0000 |
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Date: Thu, 1 Jan 1998 13:05:17 +0000
Reply-To: Shadowrun Discussion <SHADOWRN@********.ITRIBE.NET>
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From: Andy Gardner <A.Gardner@******.COM>
Subject: Future Development Was Re: Masking Adept
In-Reply-To: <13ca565c.34ab4be4@***.com>
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First of, best wishes for this Year to all, both 1998 and 205?,
depending on what year you're playing in..
For those who think this post is overly long there is a summary at
the end.
On Thu, 1 Jan 1998 02:55:14 EST Ereskanti responded
> In a message dated 97-12-31 13:30:42 EST, A.Gardner@******.COM writes:
>
> > > Last time I heard - and don't quote me on this - the Dragon Heart Saga
> > > is being considered canon. In it, Ryan Mercury manages to meld into the
> > > background of the astral by leaning against a tree and modifying his
> > > aura. Now, if Mercury turns into an IE in the next book, I'll stand
> > > corrected. Until then, though....
>
> Even if he is, that doesn't really matter. And besides, if I understand what
> is upcoming, he's not immortal...just recycled (chuckle).
Don't suppose you could give some hints ? (Please ? Pwetty pwease ?)
> > Two things :
> > 1.) If asking FASA for clarifications they do admit that the fiction
> > books don't necessarily adhere to the rules. Otherwise It's time for
> > shamans to have multiple spirits (1+ Initiate Grade maybe ?) since
> > there is a shaman in there who blatantly has multiple spirits.
> > Unless of course they are multiple ally spirits.
>
> I think the "Saga Canon" thing is due because of how Jak is working
directly
> with Mike and others to make sure the "Saga" follows through with what is
> planned for SR.
I read your reply as meaning that while other books may have broken
the rules on occaisions, the Dragon Heart Saga follows them.
Back to my question then : Does that mean shamans will have multiple
spirits ?
I don't mean to start what I believe is an old topic, but IMO
shamans are weaker than hermetics. (My opinion, others are entitled
to theirs.) If anybody has a summary of the previous debate showing
me wrong please feel free to mail it to me directly.
I agree that spirits have niftier powers but the domain restriction
does make some of the more obvious uses fall over. Concealment into
the office your 'visiting' falls down as you leave the street and
enter the building. Other GM's I know classify offices as hearth and
the street is of course city domain.
The offensive ones can be subtle but require the spirit to manifest
to use them on others. Because of the drain the shaman will be
taking during the run it will likely (in standard use) be a force 4
spirit. Force 4's do not last long when attacked. Force 5 will have
an effect but then you're either taking drain or else using Karma
Pool dice on something that wont last for long.
I am admittedly ignoring Foci, but IMO they are quite rare.
Published NPC's tend to have one at force 3 or so.
Part of my perception may be caused by how I've seen elementals
ruled. So before I start a huge debate, here're the problem bits :
Elemental services : It states that a service is used every 24hours
an elemental is on call.
Is this while ready to perform a service on a simple action or does
this start once the summoning is finished, giving elementals a
definte shelf-life rather than a prepare loads in advance over time.
Elementals can (BTB) effect only things that are in the owners line
of sight, though astral to physical LOS does count. Strictly
speaking this means that if I dive behind a wall out of the hermetics
line of sight I'm safe till he comes out of cover (or a Fibre Optic
line snakes over it <EGMG>). Once out of cover he should be able to
be nailed at which point the elemental goes away.
On a side note, how do you figure LOS for an elemental that has been
bound to a location ?
> > 2.) As stated in that book, Ryan Mercury was trained by Dunkelzahn
> > himself, and has phenomenal powers to boot. If other people can
> > boast the same (and I can't see other dragons allowing mortals as
> > close to themselves as Dunk) they might be comparable.
>
> OH come on, I know dracoforms are big bad and nigh omnipotent, but they aren't
> the only things out there. Hell, we don't even have an entire list of what is
> out there so I'm certain that dragons are actually just a tip of a VERY large
> manaberg...
I accept that we don't know everything that lives in the SR Universe.
However, a deep fundamental understanding of magic requires a lot of
time. If we're talking about people who actually wield power a lot
of practice at manipulating mana (or whatever you want to call it) is
a big plus, though some people will say that the theoretical
knowledge is the important thing. Having all this time to study
implies a long life. Having spent a lot of time practicing (and
admittedly seeing results so that you can learn what went right and
what didn't) requires access to a useable mana level. This means
being around in the previous age of magic.
For creatures who live that long intrigue will have become a way of
life. If nothing else boredom will cause you to meddle or else you
will have to be careful in how you deal with other similar people.
In general intrigue comes together with distrust, since you will
eventually be caught out by traitors or by people who have used you
under some other guise. These are normal intrigue tactics and will
lead to distrust of others.
For any long term training relationship there needs to be a large
degree of trust on the pupils side, especially if the training
involves a certain degree of danger.
If the mentor is spending much time with the student then he will
have to trust the student as well since the student will slowly learn
how the mentor thinks and acts, which is a powerful bit of knowledge
if you're involved in intrigue.
I may have belaboured the point a bit but I don't think that there
will be many creatures in the SR Universe who have the degree of
knowledge required to teach some of the currently unavailable
abilites which people are hoping for, even if you're including
creatures which are currently unknown. After all, at the least they
must have survived the low mana cycle which will have weeded out the
weaker ones.
Of those which are still around very few will be inclined or able to
teach others. Either they will consider the meta-human as being
beneath them or if there is a lack of trust then teaching will
only go so far before it grinds to a halt.
Of those creatures which have not become involved in intrigue I think
that they either would not understand meta-humanity or else they
might have other problems like their perception of time (e.g.
Tolkiens Ents). If they don't understand people they can't teach
them and if they don't experience life at the same speed then they
will find it very difficult to communicate.
Summary point 1.)
Will there be any ch
