Back to the main page

Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: "Steven Heleski [Donley Computer Center]" <STEVEN@******>
Subject: Problem...
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 10:36:00 EDT
I have an interesting problem. In my game a player started with a MERC
archtype and after a few adventures he now wants to know if his character
can use mage. My first response was NO, but after thinking about it my
decision may been unfair. I know in D&D if a PC wishes to change from
a FIGHTER to a MAGIC-USER. He can but must started at first level. I
can I work the idea of a non-magical character become magical.

Please post ideas to the board itself...

Thanks
Steven Helesi (a.k.a MAGNUM)
Message no. 2
From: John DeLaHunt <JDELAHUNT@******.COLORADO.EDU>
Subject: Re: Problem...
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 19:31:40 CET
> I have an interesting problem. In my game a player started with a MERC
> archtype and after a few adventures he now wants to know if his character
> can use mage. My first response was NO, but after thinking about it my
> decision may been unfair. I know in D&D if a PC wishes to change from
> a FIGHTER to a MAGIC-USER. He can but must started at first level. I
> can I work the idea of a non-magical character become magical.

This is awkward, since I think the assignment of priorities in
character creation (which the nice folks at FA$A have done for you in
the archetypes) is intended to reveal something about the nature of the
character. If the player was spectacularly eager to do this, I think I
would have him/her redo his/her priority assignments (magic is 4 or 3, of
course) and then do a scalar multiplication/division on the attributes
and skills totals (which are sure to suffer). That is, all the attributes
of the merc are multiplied by the product (ATT[new]/ATT[old]) - like 17/30
for instance, and the same for skills. I would round to the nearest
whole number, or down if you want to make this as limiting a change as it
should be. I'd also charge something horrendous for the change, like 25 or
thirty Karma.

> Please post ideas to the board itself...

ok.

> Thanks

Thank you. Good question.

> Steven Helesi (a.k.a MAGNUM)

Rat Rasta ^. .^
John DeLaHunt =>.<=
JDELAHUNT@******.COLORADO.EDU "
Message no. 3
From: steven mancini <mancinis@******.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
Subject: Re: Problem...
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 18:27:45 EST
]
]
] I have an interesting problem. In my game a player started with a MERC
] archtype and after a few adventures he now wants to know if his character
] can use mage. My first response was NO, but after thinking about it my
] decision may been unfair. I know in D&D if a PC wishes to change from
] a FIGHTER to a MAGIC-USER. He can but must started at first level. I
] can I work the idea of a non-magical character become magical.
]
] Please post ideas to the board itself...
]
Okay, here goes..........................


*Breathe Deeply* Okay, the character in question *should* have
selected Magic at priority 3 or 4. *If* this is the merc from the
basic book, then he has Magic at 0. Which, by Vanilla rules, means
he cannot acquire magical activity.

However, here is my suggestion:

Your Merc was always magical; however, he has not found the needed
event to 'spark' his activity. This event, IMHO, should be a
monumental journey/quest. Perhaps the best way is to have him
encounter a Greater Metaplanar Power- An Initiate, a Free Spirit
or something. For someone of the shamanic tradition, it could be
even easier, the Calling for him arrives a little late (see
Samuel "Twist" Verner in the novels).
In the end; Bang- his talent kicks in.

Now for pure opinion:
- At most, allow him Adept Status of some sort. (See
Grimoire, if you don't have one, lemme know and I'll
send you a shorthand version of the rules.)
- This event should be a grueling event. Since the Merc
has a barrage of skills, and better attributes than the
magician I would make the player re-write the character
slightly. For instance:
Weaken him physically through an ordeal.
Mess with his mind, basically causing a severe
trauma that will erase parts of the character's
memory. ie Lose skill points.

This will require you to do some major figuring, aw heck
I'll do it:
Human Mercenary:
Attributes (3)
Skills(4)
Tech (2)
Race (1)
Magic (0)
Okay, so then to 'transform' this guy, you should probably
mess with the Attributes,etc.. so whatcha got is:

For a full blown magician=
Magic (4) (now drop all others)
Skills (3)
Attributes (2)
This means that your character should suffer
-10 points Skills *and*
-4 points attributes

For a Magical Adept=
Magic (3)
Skills (4)
Attributes (2)
This means that your character would suffer:
-4 points attributes.

There is one/two other ways, I have seen used, which I DISCOURAGE
IMMENSELY, but have seen used and feel obliged to mention:

Infect them- HMHVV's magical capabilities are higher than
their non-infected counterparts. This event could be
the 'spark'. But then the character gets all the neat
powers of a Vampire. For some people, this is a good
enough curse to justify not messing with their
attributes.


But then again, I have another idea- Kill his character in some pre-
arranged, heroic way. Then have him start with another character.

One last note (I promise): this is a Bad Precedent to start. I was
part of a shadowrun team which, one by one, either through vampiric
infection, transformation to shapeshifter status, totemic calling,
etc. were shifted to magical active status. In the end, the game
turned very munchkinish (because of all these Great Transformations)
and eventually became rather unappealing. The tech side of shadowrun
was dwarfed until the GM started creating House Rules, which were
not really consistent, and also somewhat of a slap in the face.

Good Luck,

-Minotaur
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
| Steve Mancini (a.k.a. The Minotaur) | mancinis@******.cc.purdue.edu |
| Grad Student {Dazed & Confused} | mancinis@**.cc.purdue.edu |
| Political Science Department | phi@****.cc.purdue.edu |
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| "Of all that is written, I love only what a person hath written with |
| his blood. Write with blood and thou wilt find that blood is spirit" |
| -Nietzche, Thus Spoke Zarathrustra |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Message no. 4
From: Tim Huie <SPEEDBMP@*******.BITNET>
Subject: PROBLEM
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1993 19:25:39 +0200
Merc,
for a while, but themedicaion is helping quite nicely
SPEEDBUMP
Message no. 5
From: Czar Eggbert <czregbrt@*********.EDU>
Subject: Problem?
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 20:24:38 -0600
Am I the only one getting doubles or even triples of some messages? I've
been getting them but at diffrent times, sometimes spaced withen Hours of
eachother.....

Thanx
Czar Eggbert
Message no. 6
From: David Buehrer <dbuehrer@****.ORG>
Subject: Re: Problem?
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 19:28:47 -0700
Czar Eggbert wrote:
|
| Am I the only one getting doubles or even triples of some messages? I've
| been getting them but at diffrent times, sometimes spaced withen Hours of
| eachother.....

I've gotten a couple of those too. Not enough for a pattern to develop
though.

-David
--
/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\ dbuehrer@****.org /^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\
"His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking
alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free."
~~~http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm~~~~
Message no. 7
From: Brett Borger <bxb121@***.EDU>
Subject: Re: Problem?
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 1997 02:58:47 -0500
>| Am I the only one getting doubles or even triples of some messages? I've
>| been getting them but at diffrent times, sometimes spaced withen Hours of
>| eachother.....
>I've gotten a couple of those too. Not enough for a pattern to develop
>though.

Ditto....and an "Autorotation" question that came through last week....

-=SwiftOne=-
Message no. 8
From: Spike <u5a77@*****.CS.KEELE.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Problem?
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 1997 11:59:03 +0000
|
|Am I the only one getting doubles or even triples of some messages? I've
|been getting them but at diffrent times, sometimes spaced withen Hours of
|eachother.....

I've got a couple of doubles, but I'm thinking maybe someone sent them twice
by mistake....
--
______________________________________________________________________________
|u5a77@*****.cs.keele.ac.uk| "Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky?" |
|Andrew Halliwell | |
|Principal subjects in:- | "I think so brain, but this time, you control |
|Comp Sci & Electronics | the Encounter suit, and I'll do the voice..." |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|GCv3.1 GCS/EL>$ d---(dpu) s+/- a- C++ U N++ o+ K- w-- M+/++ PS+++ PE- Y t+ |
|5++ X+/++ R+ tv+ b+ D G e>PhD h/h+ !r! !y-|I can't say F**K either now! :( |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Problem?, 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.

Thwap!