| From: | Fixer <fixer@*******.TLH.FL.US> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Pawns for SR (previously sent to NERPS) |
| Date: | Thu, 8 Oct 1998 15:35:35 -0400 |
A new toy (and way to spend Karma) for our friendly neighborhood mage. I
kept the shadowcomments that users put in.
Notes retrieved from Dr. Insan Omago, former Aztechnology researcher:
Text Entry: April 4, 2058: "Despite the fact they said I could
never do it, I shall attempt to do so anyway. I shall create life from
lifelessness. I have already begun to collect individuals to perform my
experiment with and have been collecting their essence and blood for the
rite to follow. Gods be willing, I shall have my way before the year is
done."
Text Entry: July 2, 2058: "I have been experimenting with
animating objects, a simple matter for mages with the knowledge, but haven'=
t
been able to impart upon them a will of any decent reckoning. I have, to
date, created a stone cat and an iron dog. Both are fully mobile but not o=
f
the use I require. I need a more 'intelligent' creation so as to be able t=
o
use it as a hunter."
Text Entry: August 9, 2058: "Progress has been made. I had my
minion create a small
statue of incredible detail, and it took well to my enchantments and
conjurings, far better than the crude dog and cats earlier made. It seems
far more intelligent than the former but still lacks that spark of
intelligence that can be defined as 'life'."
Voice Entry: August 30, 2058: "A group of runners attempted to
infiltrate my lab but were stopped by my minions and pawns. An appropriate
name, pawns. They are like the mindless pawns that serve no other use othe=
r
than to sacrificed to protect me. The host body for my greatest creation i=
s
still in the process of being sewn together. With the proper rituals, I
expect nothing less than success."
Voice Entry: October 31, 2058: "Success! I have finally done it.
With the essence and blood of the bodies that made it whole my finest pawn
has been completed! I can finally tell those <crashing sound> what? What'=
s
going on in there? Garzendo, if you've <gurgling sound> ..... <silence tim=
e
exceeding 5 minutes, discontinue recording>"
(>) Or as some of us in the magic medicine business call him, Dr. Insane.
Nutty as that fruitcake Dunkelzahn and Alamais tossed back and forth every
year. This whole thing makes me wonder if he'd ever even heard of Mary
Shelley, let alone read her work.
(>) Thomas Magick
(>) I don't think I like the sound of this.
(>) Java Nut
"wHADAYA mean I'M DrinKING TOo mUcH CaFFEinE?!"
(>) You shouldn't.
(>) Texas 2-Step
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forget. Never forgive.
(>) He did it. The crazy bastard actually did it! I guess that answers my
question about Shelley.... Seems fitting, somehow, that he died on Samhain=
.
Anyone know if his notes and logs on enchantments and such were any more
complete than this journal? Last thing I want to do is deal with bunches o=
f
these things.
(>) Thomas Magick
Pawns, or golems, as they have been historically called, are nearly
mindless automatons who follow simple orders to the best of their ability.
Animated by magic, these pawns follow orders given to them by their
creator, or by anyone their creator specifies.
Details:
Due to the extremely different style of enchantment that creating a
pawn requires, only full initiated magicians and initiated physical
magicians are able to create a pawn. All steps except creation of the host
body must be performed by the magician who will be the pawn's 'master'
(although see last step).
The first step in creating a pawn is to create the host body for the
pawn. The time required to create this body is equal to the desired Body,
Quickness, Strength and Armor of the pawn. Add together the Body,
Quickness, Strength and twice the Armor of the pawn and multiply the result
by the number in the appropriate 'time' section of the pawn table. The
result is the base number of days to fashion the physical form of the pawn.
This base time can be reduced by dividing the base time by the number of
successes from the appropriate skill test. (eg. Woodworking for a wood
pawn, stoneworking for a stone pawn, etc.) The cost of the host body is th=
e
sum of Body, Quickness, Strength and three times the Armor ratings
multiplied by the appropriate 'cost' section of the pawn table.
The next step in the process is for the mage to Quicken an animating
spell to the host body. The number of successes rolled in this test
indicate the maximum combat skill of the host body when activated. Karma
equal to the desired combat skill of the pawn must be paid in the
Quickening. This is considered part of the Karma necessary for the
Quickening.
After the host body is prepared and animated, it must be enchanted
to receive the spirit which is to inhabit it. An Open Test using Enchantin=
g
is used to determine the maximum Force which can inhabit the host. This
process takes 28 days, regardless of the number of successes rolled.
Within 24 hours, after the host body has completed being prepared
for the spirit, the magician must conjure a spirit to inhabit the body, or
the benefits of the enchantment are lost and must be restarted. The mage
chooses a Force equal to or less than the maximum Force determined by the
Enchanting test, attempts to conjure the spirit (treat as a normal
Conjuring for purposes of successes and Drain), and, if successful, binds
the spirit to the host body. Permanent note of how many successes were
generated will need to be recorded on the pawn's character sheet.
The spirit will, of course, not be pleased with being bound to a
host body. The spirit makes a Force test against the Magic attribute of th=
e
mage. The number of successes of this test is reduced by the number of
successes produced from the Conjuring test. If the spirit generates more
net successes than the mage, it breaks free of its host body and is
uncontrolled and will attack the mage. If the mage has more net successes
than the spirit, the pawn remains controlled. If there is a tie as to the
number of successes, the spirit is trapped within the host body but is
uncontrolled and will probably attack the mage. In all cases where the paw=
n
becomes uncontrolled, roll to determine if it becomes free. If the pawn
does not go free, it will attack everything in the area, moving as necessar=
y
to create more destruction, until it is finally destroyed (which releases
the spirit to go back to it's original metaplane). A pawn which goes free
is classified as a free Ally spirit (without sorcery) with regards to
powers.
Should the 'master' receive a Deadly physical wound, each pawn makes
an Opposed Force test against the mage's Magic attribute (taking into
account any possible loss due to the wound). There are no damage modifiers
to the mage's Target Number. The results of this test are the same as if h=
e
spirit had just been summoned.
Pawn Table
Substance Time Cost Max. Max. Max.
Body/Str Quick. Armor
Clay 1 5000¥ 8 5 4
Copper 2 6,000¥ 9 5 6
Crystal 5 4,000¥ 8 4 4
Glass 3 4,000¥ 6 5 6
Gold 1 400,000¥ 15 6 5
Iron 3 2,000¥ 12 4 10
Lead 1 2,000¥ 9 4 9
Plastic 1 1,000¥ 8 6 4
Silver 2 12,000¥ 10 5 10
Steel 4 3,000¥ 15 4 15
Stone 2 1,000¥ 12 4 12
Tin 1 1,500¥ 6 6 6
Wood 2 350¥ 6 5 6
For combat purposes, pawns are immune to mana-only spells. All
pawns have Charisma and Willpower statistics of 0, Intelligence/Perception
scores equal to their Force, their armor is considered Hardened and all are
Dual Natured. Pawns cannot astrally project and lose any other special
abilities of their original spirit form, including Immunity to Normal
Weapons. The Intelligence of the pawn is parallel to the Autopilot rating
described in Rigger2 and Shadowrun, Third Edition, and directions given to
the pawn should be treated as such regarding comprehension. Clay pawns hav=
e
a Vulnerability to Water. Gold, Lead and Wood pawns have a Vulnerability t=
o
Fire. Stone pawns have a Vulnerability to Air. Glass and Crystal pawns
have a Vulnerability to Earth.
Note, shamans cannot make pawns unless their totem allows it, which
is only for reasons that serve the totem.
With regards to the difference between Allies and pawns, the
differences are as follows:
1) Pawns cost much less karma to create.
2) Allies are considerably more intelligent than pawns are, and can possess
a higher level of free-will and initiative.
3) Pawns have no sensory link to the summoner. Most allies do.
4) Pawns cannot provide any of the services allies can (e.g. aid power,
resist drain, etc.).
5) Pawns cannot participate in a ritual of change.
6) Pawns will automatically be hostile towards their 'master' is things go
wrong, Allies may not.
