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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Ben Acosta <BACOSTA1@*****.BITNET>
Subject: Physical adept/Sorcerer adept
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1993 13:10:02 CDT
Seth Buntain wrote:

>I was wondering what, if anything people thought of the following.
>If you put an A priority to magic, but didnt want to be a 'full mage'. So
>instead you chose to play a physical adept/sorcerer adept.

>The reason behind this question is that I actually have the opurtunity
>to play this kind of character, and my experience in creating him has shown
>that (in the beginning at least) you dont have enough to go around. Thus,
>just by virtue of his needing so much (sorcery, hth skills, firearms, magic
>theory, stealth, and everything else to make a 'classic' physical adept who
>can cast spells) he is limited quite nicely.

>Note also, that the Karma cost for him to become any good at all is truly
>outrageous (worse even than for a normal mage).

I agree, I think this is a reasonable character concept. Finally there's a
way to build a Jedi type character for Shadowrun. He'd be pretty good at
melee combat and able to cast a few spells such as Magic Fingers and Influence
(These are not the runners you seek.) but he wouldn't be too powerful. Now, if
would come out with an Ares Light Saber, then he would be disgusting.

+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
:Benjamin J. Acosta : "When dog bites man, it's not a story. :
:BACOSTA1@*****.UA.EDU : When man bites dog, it's a story. :
:Science Fiction Fan : And when man and dog slug it out for :
:Comic Book Reader : twelve issues and the dog turns out :
:Role Playing Gamer : to be a mutant and Wolverine has a :
:Renaissance Man : guest appearance, It's a Marvel story!" :
:THIS SPACE FOR RENT : --A saying in the Marvel Comics Bullpen :
+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
Message no. 2
From: "Jason Carter, Nightstalker" <CARTER@***.EDU>
Subject: Re: Physical adept/Sorcerer adept
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1993 17:04:43 -0700
Seth Buntain wrote:

>>I was wondering what, if anything people thought of the following.
>>If you put an A priority to magic, but didnt want to be a 'full mage'. So
>>instead you chose to play a physical adept/sorcerer adept.

To put it as calmly as I can, THIS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED! It's to start, just
plain illegal. Priorty A magic does not mean you get to choose either a full
magician type or two adept types. If that was true you would have to deal with
stupid things like Shamanic Wolf Adept/Hermetic Conjuring Adept, or Shamanic
Summoning Adept/Fire Adept, or even Shamanic Summoning/Hermetic Summoning
adepts! Do you see the problem?

>>The reason behind this question is that I actually have the opurtunity
>>to play this kind of character, and my experience in creating him has shown
>>that (in the beginning at least) you dont have enough to go around. Thus,
>>just by virtue of his needing so much (sorcery, hth skills, firearms, magic
>>theory, stealth, and everything else to make a 'classic' physical adept who
>>can cast spells) he is limited quite nicely.

Oh really? I seriously doubt that. My hermetic mage is quite good at combat.
You can do a lot with 30 skill points. To take the skills you listed as an
example:
Armed Combat (spec) 2/4/6 4 skill points
Firearms 5 5 skill points personally I wouldn't bother
Magic Theory 4 4 skill points you can cast spells!
Sorcery 6 6 skill points
Stealth 4 4 skill points
Unarmed Combat (MA) 4/6 5 skill points

That's 28 skill points, leaving 2 for a really weak etiquette.

On top of this you get 6 magic points of physical adept powers and spells!

Now tell me this would be a balanced character.

>>Note also, that the Karma cost for him to become any good at all is truly
>>outrageous (worse even than for a normal mage).

I don't see that. If properly constrcted, your already good. All you need are
some more spells.

And Benjamin J. Acosta replied:

>>I agree, I think this is a reasonable character concept. Finally there's a
>>way to build a Jedi type character for Shadowrun. He'd be pretty good at
>>melee combat and able to cast a few spells such as Magic Fingers and Influence
>>(These are not the runners you seek.) but he wouldn't be too powerful. Now,
>>if would come out with an Ares Light Saber, then he would be disgusting.

You want a jedi. Make a sorcerer adept with priority A skills (40 points).
You'll have all the skills and will be able to cast spells.

See Ya in Shadows, "I can count the number of days I've worked
Jason J Carter since graduation on one hand." - ME!
The Nightstalker Carter@***.EDU
Message no. 3
From: The Deb Decker <RJR96326@****.UTULSA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Physical adept/Sorcerer adept
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1993 19:51:39 -0500
>If that was true you would have to deal with
>stupid things like Shamanic Wolf Adept/Hermetic Conjuring Adept, or Shamanic
>Summoning Adept/Fire Adept, or even Shamanic Summoning/Hermetic Summoning
>adepts! Do you see the problem?

Stipulate that they must stay 'within tradition'. And only ONE totem per
customer. Obviously the only advantage would be to combine a physical adept
with a magical adept.

>Now tell me this would be a balanced character.

*I* won't.

>You want a jedi. Make a sorcerer adept with priority A skills (40 points).
>You'll have all the skills and will be able to cast spells.

I also agree that this is character variation is not needed. A Jedi is
a sorcery adept with an obscene weapon focus (but note that, except for the
fact that they are assembled by hand, lightsabres are tech and therefore
can't serve as foci).

J Roberson
"Come on down to Slick Willie's Waffle House! Have Dough, Need Mo'!"
(for you, Rev. Got it from a Bumper Sticker)

Further Reading

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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.

Thwap!