| From: | Ashelock <woneal@*******.NET> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Horror Marks (+ new spell) |
| Date: | Tue, 7 Jan 1997 03:08:36 -0005 |
thoughts and ideas here folks, humbly submitted. Comments and constructive
criticisms are welcome.
Horror Marks
I have been recently working on converting some of the Earth Dawn (ED)
material over to Shadowrun. Specifically working on converting the powers of
Horrors in preparation for introducing a Horror as a character's enemy. One of
the critical powers is that of Horror Marking. I did my research and learned
what I could about Horror Marks from the limited ED material I have. In the
course of doing so I discovered some interesting facts and began to puzzle over
the exact nature of Horror Marks.
In my research I learned that a Horror Mark serves primarily as a link between
a specific Horror and an individual, and that this link allows the Horror to
use their other powers at a distance. I also learned that while magicians of
the 4th Age were able to use Astral Sight/Perception, that Horror Marks were
not visible to Astral examination. This struck me as being very odd and I soon
found myself engrossed in unraveling this "puzzle." What follows are my own
conclusions based on the information I have, as well as some information useful
to magicians in Shadowrun. including a new spell: Mage Mark.
The lack of any "astral signature" in the case of the Horror Mark
perplexed
me. If the Horror had indeed marked the victim in some way, there should have
been some trace of it. I was not prepared to accept the caveat "It's Horror
magic, it's beyond our comprehension, it just is." Those sorts of explanations
irritate me to no end because they sound like a poor excuse rather than an
explanation. As I pondered the problem it occurred to me that we don't know
exactly what a Horror Mark is. I wondered if perhaps the name was a misnomer.
What if the 4th Age magicians had assumed the victim was marked when in fact no
actual "mark" existed. What if the Horror tracked the victim using some other
means. If there was in fact no mark on the victim, that would certainly
explain why none could be found with astral examination. Working on this basis
I started to wonder how else a Horror might establish such a link. That of
course made me wonder at the very nature of the link and the type of magic the
Horror might be using. It was here I made my next leap of logic and used
something from Shadowrun to explain it. What if the Horror used some sort of
ritual magic when using their powers on a distant victim, and the Horror Mark
simply provided the ritual link. It certainly seemed to fit within the concept
of Ritual Magic as presented in SR. I was so convinced of it I proceeded on
that basis. What I came to conclude is as follows:
A Horror Mark is no mark at all. Horrors are uniquely attuned to the astral,
as comfortable there as we are on land. Their astral senses are likely much
finer than ours and it is not too much a stretch to propose that a Horror might
memorize a person's Aura or True Pattern just as we might memorize a persons
physical appearance so that we can recognize them later.
If this is the case, then when a Horror "marks" an individual, what
actually
occurs is that the Horror memorizes what that person looks like astrally.
This allows the Horror to "sniff them out" later and, even from great
distances, form a sort of ritual link that allows them to use magic against the
individual. This both explains why no "mark" is visible to astral examination
and how the Horror is able to make it's attacks, placing much of what the
Horror does within known principles of magic. It also serves to explain why
the Horror Mark must be renewed periodically. As a person develops and
changes, so does their aura or "astral signature" if you will. Think of it
this way. Lets say you and a friend part company and do not see each other for
a year. A year later you pass that same friend on the street. However, that
friend has grown a beard, changed their style of dress and gained 50 lb. since
you last saw them. Would you recognize that person? The same logic might be
applied to Horrors and used to explain why they must "re-familiarize
themselves" with the victim after a year and a day.
If I am correct in my theory, then something important has been learned about
Horrors useful in both SR and ED. It is significant because it indicates that
barriers proof against ritual magic might also prove equally effective against
attacks from Horrors using Horror Marks. It explains how Horrors track their
victims as well as giving an indication of just how acute a Horror's senses
are on the Astral. All such information is useful in fighting these creatures,
assuming your characters discover it for themselves that is.
In any case I found this concept fits well within SR rules for ritual sorcery
and ritual links and that it could be of use for mortal magicians. One of the
necessary steps in SR for ritual sorcery is forming the ritual link. To do
this you must either have direct LOS to the target (unlikely), a astral member
of the team acting as forward spotter (fairly common in my own experience), or
some object that provides the link. What makes a link item work is that it
contains some echo of the target's aura, thus allowing the ritual team to
synchronize their spell energy with the targets aura. The better the link,
the stronger the impression of the target's aura and the easier it is to
synchronize the energy. This said, consider how easy it would be if you had a
sort of "picture" of the person's aura to work from. The following spell
provides exactly that.
Mage Mark (Detection Spell)
Type: Mana
Range: Extended
Target: 4
Duration: Sustained
Drain: [(F/2)S
Description: This spell creates an impression of the target's aura which may
then be used as a Material link for establishing a link in Ritual Sorcery. The
caster must be able to see the target when the spell is cast. The spell creates
a glowing orb on the astral which orbits the casting magician. This orb stores
an impression of the target's aura at the time of the casting. A success test
must be made using the base target number of 4. Record the total number of
successes as these indicate the base number of days before the impression's
usefulness degrades.
Note that if the target is an initiate and masking their aura, and the caster
is not an initiate this spell will generate a false impression that is useless.
If both the caster and the target are initiates the caster must first
successfully penetrate the target's masking as per the rules in the Grimoire.
If the caster succeeds, subtract the caster's grade from the target's and apply
that as a modifier to the spell success test. Example 1: The caster is a grade
2 initiate, the target a grade 5 initiate. Subtracting 2 from 5 equals 3. The
spell success test will be versus a TN of 7 (4 + 3 = 7). Example 2: The caster
is a grade 4 initiate, the target is a grade 3 initiate. Subtracting 4 from 3
equals -1. In this case treat all negative results as 0 and use the base TN of
4 for determining spell success.
As mentioned before, this spell degrades in usefulness over time. The number
of successes achieved represent the number of days the spell remains fully
accurate in the impression. After this time period expires, and for every
additional number of days afterwards, add a +2 to the Material Link TN. Thus a
magician achieving 5 success has five days to use the spell from the time it is
cast, during which there is no penalty. On days 6-10 there will be a +2
penalty, on days 11-15 a +4 penalty, on days 16 a +6 penalty and so on until
the penalties become so high the spell is useless.
This spell is usually sustained with a spell lock or the service of an
elemental or rarely by quickening. It is believed to have been originally
developed by various government and corporate labs but has now filtered down to
the streets. If introduced to a campaign players and GMs should be aware that
if the character's have it, the government, corps and LoneStar also have it.
Also note that this spell can be dispelled or attacked on the astral and
destroyed, either of which would destroy the impression. There is no known way
for a person to determine if they have been Mage Marked.
--
Ashelock
(woneal@*******.net)
"When the Man with the Hoe rises up to judge this world,
after the Silence of the centuries,
let him not find me lacking in merit."
