Back to the main page

Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: "Like, dude, where's the firefight?" <MURRAYMD@******.BITNET>
Subject: Nega Mage rules! These might actually work!
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 93 20:26:12 CET
THE GRAND UNIFIED RULES FOR NEGA MAGES
according to that swell guy Matt Murray
(Or: Here's what I thought up.)

After reading that posting concerning Nega-Mages I thought: "Cool
idea, too bad they presented it so badly." Then I read some other ideas
that others presented and it occured to me that if rules could be made
within the game mechanics then everyone would be HAPPY HAPPY, JOY JOY!

One thing you will notice that is different from the regular rules
is that these rules have the Nega-Mages derive their magic pool (to be
described later, don't worry) from their magic attribute and not from their
Sorcery Skill. There is a reason for this which should be evident from the
mechanics I present.
Another thing about my idea here is that it is different from the
idea given in the article. Essence loss due to cyber/bioware does not mean
a possible total loss of capability for the Nega-Mage. It just reduces the
NM's capability to withstand magic. (Why should a Nega-Mage be any
different than a regular mage?)

On with the show...

GENERAL RULES: The capability of NM's to withstand magic so well is due to
that they are magic users (kinda, don't take this statement too seriously)
that use their magic pool for spell defense ONLY and nothing else. This is
done automatically without any concentration or control from the nega mage.
Since they are not *true* magic users they cannot Astrally Perceive/Project,
conjure spirits/elementals, or cast Sorcery. For these deficiencies the NM
gets an interesting capability: Any magic cast on a NM directly is
resisted as if the NM were an Initiate using the Initiate form of spell
defense (+MP to target# for spell success and +MP dice to resist with where
MP is the size of the magic pool of the NM). This capability cannot be
dropped or reduced by the NM, making even beneficial magic hard to cast
upon a NM. A NM is never considered a willing target for spells requiring
such a target.
The magic pool of a NM is determined from the magic attribute of
the person and not the Sorcery Skill. This means that any decrease in
essence will decrease the magic attribute and hence, the magic pool.
For purposes of keeping things short and sweet, the letter X will
represent the magic attribute of the Nega Adept/Mage in question.

NEGA ADEPTS Nega Adepts are Nega Mages with less resistance to magic.
They pay second priority during character generation like regular magic
adepts. The Magic pool of a Nega adept is equal to the adept's magic
rating. Any magic cast directly at a Nega Adept is treated as if the Nega
Adept were resisting with the Initiate form of spell defense using all of
the dice from the magic pool. Any magic cast at a person within X meters
of a Nega Adept automatically receive X/2 extra dice to resist the spell
with, even if it is a beneficial spell. This protection is treated like
normal spell defense dice except that the Nega Adept does not need line of
sight.

NEGA MAGES Nega Mages are very resistant to magic. They pay first
priority during character generation like regular full mages/shamans. The
magic pool of a Nega Mage is equal to twice the magic rating. For every
point of reduction in the magic attribute there is a two point reduction in
Magic Pool. Any magic cast at the Nega Mage is treated as if the Nega Mage
were were resisting with the Initiate form of spell defense using all of
the dice from the magic pool. Any magic cast at a person within 2X meters
of a Nega Mage automatically recieve X extra dice to resist the spell with,
even if it is a beneficial spell. This protection is treated like normal
spell defense dice except that the Nega Mage does not need a line of sight.

You'll notice from the rules that these guys are tough SOB. Their
abilities are both an advantage and a disadvantage. It would be rare for a
NM to know that they are one until they are asensed by a magic user (where
the lack of aura would trip them off as to what they were). Since a NM
would probably not know that they were a NM they would not really hesitate
to get cyber/bioware until they realized that they were "different."
Therefore, unless your character would be a poor country bumpkin that had
no real acces to cyberware, your "average" NM will have at least lost one
magic point to cyberware loss. All of the little sociological rules still
apply, these are simply the mechanics.

Any questions, comments, quips, laughs, guffaws, bribes, death
threats, or pertinent messages can be directed to the address below.

**************************************************************************
* Matt: You shot him!!!! | Matt Murray at the University of Dayton *
* Chris: No I didn't. It | MURRAYMD@******.BITNET *
* was a gunfight. | MURRAYMD@******.OCA.UDAYTON.EDU *
* He forgot his gun.| "Like, dude, where's the firefight?" *
*------------------------------------------------------------------------*
* Star Fleet Battles Battletech Shadowrun Space Marine AD&D *
**************************************************************************

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Nega Mage rules! These might actually work!, you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.