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Message no. 1
From: Arndt Kraft <kraftat@******.INFORMATIK.UNI-STUTTGART.DE>
Subject: Questions about Magic
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 12:06:50 +0100
Hi, Chummers

Especially in the magic section, there are a few points that need
clarification (at least for me).

1.) Reach in Astral Space
Does the use of a weapon focus in astral space affect your Target Number?
(in the physical plane, a sword has a reach of +1; in astral, too?)

2.) Quote in SRII: "Hermetic circles and medicine lodges act as barriers in
astral space."
Does this mean, they block their creator, too???

3.) Is a non-active focus a valid target for astral attacks (spells, barriers,
or astral combat)? Or only, if it's activated.

4.) SRII Quote: "Astral Reaction equals twice Intelligence"
Is this a typo? (In SRII, it was Astral Reaction equals Intelligence)

5.) About manifest spirits:
By the rules, you are a fool, if you attack a spirit bare handed (even
as mundane). Use instead your monofilament whip (which is highly
technical). Now you'll get 10 S damage and +2 reach. Or use your 14S
Sniper rifle.
What's wrong?
Somewhere in the book is stated, that stong will is more important than
weapon power. But the monofilament example says otherwise.

How about giving manifest spirits a new power: Invulnerability against
highly processed items (like monofilament whips, dikoted swords, compound
bows (not normal ones))? Or makes this spirits too strong?


That's all, so far.

Merry Christmas


--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arndt Kraft
kraftat@******.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ach cum creideamh nad bheatha, sonas nad chridhe
(Keep belief in your life, joy in your heart) - Runrig, "Ard"
Message no. 2
From: Dave Sherohman <esper@*****.IMA.UMN.EDU>
Subject: Re: Questions about Magic
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 18:06:16 -0600
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 12:06:50 +0100
From: Arndt Kraft <kraftat@******.INFORMATIK.UNI-STUTTGART.DE>

>1.) Reach in Astral Space
> Does the use of a weapon focus in astral space affect your Target Number?
> (in the physical plane, a sword has a reach of +1; in astral, too?)

Yes. (Yes.)

>2.) Quote in SRII: "Hermetic circles and medicine lodges act as barriers in
> astral space."
> Does this mean, they block their creator, too???

Good question. Personally, I rule that the creator of an astral barrier
(circles, lodges, wards - not the Barrier spells, though) can allow anyone/
anything to pass through freely provided that he's within line of sight.

>3.) Is a non-active focus a valid target for astral attacks (spells, barriers,
> or astral combat)? Or only, if it's activated.

Only if it's activated. That's the entire point of deactivating foci...

>4.) SRII Quote: "Astral Reaction equals twice Intelligence"
> Is this a typo? (In SRII, it was Astral Reaction equals Intelligence)

I believe Reaction should equal I, not 2I.

>5.) About manifest spirits:
> By the rules, you are a fool, if you attack a spirit bare handed (even
> as mundane). Use instead your monofilament whip (which is highly
> technical). Now you'll get 10 S damage and +2 reach. Or use your 14S
> Sniper rifle.
> What's wrong?
> Somewhere in the book is stated, that stong will is more important than
> weapon power. But the monofilament example says otherwise.
> How about giving manifest spirits a new power: Invulnerability against
> highly processed items (like monofilament whips, dikoted swords, compound
> bows (not normal ones))? Or makes this spirits too strong?

You're forgetting two things:
1) When attacking a spirit, you use Willpower (or Conjuring, I believe)
_instead_ of weapon skills. Unless you've got a strong Willpower, your
monowhip won't be hitting anyhow.
2) Manifesting spirits get (Force) armor against muscle-powered ranged
attacks and (Force*2) armor against other ranged attacks (like the sniper
rifle).

esper@***.umn.edu
Message no. 3
From: The Deb Decker <RJR96326@****.UTULSA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Questions about Magic
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 19:41:32 -0600
> Does the use of a weapon focus in astral space affect your Target Number?
> (in the physical plane, a sword has a reach of +1; in astral, too?)

Yes.

>2.) Quote in SRII: "Hermetic circles and medicine lodges act as barriers in
> astral space."
> Does this mean, they block their creator, too???

I do not believe so.

>3.) Is a non-active focus a valid target for astral attacks (spells, barriers,
> or astral combat)? Or only, if it's activated.

No. A focus must be active to be grounded through.

>4.) SRII Quote: "Astral Reaction equals twice Intelligence"
> Is this a typo? (In SRII, it was Astral Reaction equals Intelligence)

Intelligence = Astral Quickness
Charisma = Astral Strength
Willpower = Astral Body
(these last two may be reversed; I'm not sure).

I would assume typo, though I don't recall that being in errata. I'll
check.

> technical). Now you'll get 10 S damage and +2 reach. Or use your 14S
> Sniper rifle.
> What's wrong?

What's wrong is that the damage code of the rifle is irrelevant since
spirits have Immunity to Firearms.

> Somewhere in the book is stated, that stong will is more important than
> weapon power. But the monofilament example says otherwise.

Because it is a melee weapon, which acts as a better focus for that
willower stuff. It's not the processing that makes a difference, it's
the fact that your spirit/force/power/ki is making a direct contact with
the beastie. So use your whip, but not the gun.


> How about giving manifest spirits a new power: Invulnerability against
> highly processed items (like monofilament whips, dikoted swords, compound
> bows (not normal ones))? Or makes this spirits too strong?

Sounds cool.


J Roberson
Message no. 4
From: Arndt Kraft <kraftat@******.INFORMATIK.UNI-STUTTGART.DE>
Subject: Re: Questions about Magic
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 11:38:07 +0100
>From The Deb Decker:
> What's wrong is that the damage code of the rifle is irrelevant since
> spirits have Immunity to Firearms.

They get only Force*2 armor. And a Force 4 Spirit against a Sniper has to
resist a Power Lewel of 14-8=6 and will get big problems. Ok, the attacker
throws only willpower dice, but against a very low target number (a 2, if
he is using a smartgun link). And with an average willpower of 3, he gets 2
successes. So, the poor spirit needs 4 sixes, so it gets only a M wound.
Force 5 spirits, on the other side, are much stronger.

>
> > Somewhere in the book is stated, that stong will is more important than
> > weapon power. But the monofilament example says otherwise.
>
> Because it is a melee weapon, which acts as a better focus for that
> willower stuff. It's not the processing that makes a difference, it's
> the fact that your spirit/force/power/ki is making a direct contact with
> the beastie. So use your whip, but not the gun.

I know, I know. But my problem is that the processing makes a difference.
If a Sammie attacks a Spirit with his bare hands, he has a Target Number of
4 and a Damage Code of (Str)M. If he uses a monofilament instead, he gets
a Target Number of 2 and 10S damage. And personally, I don't like the idea
of a monafilament whip improving your spirit/force/power/ki.


And now another question about spirits:
What threat rating do they have? (Their Combat pool would be 1.5 * Force.)



--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arndt Kraft
kraftat@******.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ach cum creideamh nad bheatha, sonas nad chridhe
(Keep belief in your life, joy in your heart) - Runrig, "Ard"
Message no. 5
From: "C. Paul Douglas" <granite@********.CLARK.NET>
Subject: Re: Questions about Magic
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 17:26:21 -0500
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On Mon, 20 Dec 1993, The Deb Decker wrote:

> > Does the use of a weapon focus in astral space affect your Target Nu=
mber?
> > (in the physical plane, a sword has a reach of +1; in astral, too?)
>
> Yes.
>
> >2.) Quote in SRII: "Hermetic circles and medicine lodges act as barriers=
in
> > astral space."
> > Does this mean, they block their creator, too???
>
> I do not believe so.
>
> >3.) Is a non-active focus a valid target for astral attacks (spells, bar=
riers,
> > or astral combat)? Or only, if it's activated.
>
> No. A focus must be active to be grounded through.
>
> >4.) SRII Quote: "Astral Reaction equals twice Intelligence"
> > Is this a typo? (In SRII, it was Astral Reaction equals Intelligence=
)
>
> Intelligence = Astral Quickness
> Charisma = Astral Strength
> Willpower = Astral Body
> (these last two may be reversed; I'm not sure).
>
> I would assume typo, though I don't recall that being in errata. I'll
> check.
>
> > technical). Now you'll get 10 S damage and +2 reach. Or use your 14S
> > Sniper rifle.
> > What's wrong?
>
> What's wrong is that the damage code of the rifle is irrelevant since
> spirits have Immunity to Firearms.
>
> > Somewhere in the book is stated, that stong will is more important th=
an
> > weapon power. But the monofilament example says otherwise.
>
> Because it is a melee weapon, which acts as a better focus for that
> willower stuff. It's not the processing that makes a difference, it's
> the fact that your spirit/force/power/ki is making a direct contact with
> the beastie. So use your whip, but not the gun.
>
>
> > How about giving manifest spirits a new power: Invulnerability again=
st
> > highly processed items (like monofilament whips, dikoted swords, com=
pound
> > bows (not normal ones))? Or makes this spirits too strong?
>
> Sounds cool.
>
>
> J Roberson
>
Message no. 6
From: Dave Sherohman <esper@*****.IMA.UMN.EDU>
Subject: Re: Questions about Magic
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1993 07:40:57 -0600
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 11:38:07 +0100
From: Arndt Kraft <kraftat@******.INFORMATIK.UNI-STUTTGART.DE>

>>From The Deb Decker:
>> What's wrong is that the damage code of the rifle is irrelevant since
>> spirits have Immunity to Firearms.

>They get only Force*2 armor. And a Force 4 Spirit against a Sniper has to
>resist a Power Lewel of 14-8=6 and will get big problems. Ok, the attacker
>throws only willpower dice, but against a very low target number (a 2, if
>he is using a smartgun link). And with an average willpower of 3, he gets 2
>successes. So, the poor spirit needs 4 sixes, so it gets only a M wound.
>Force 5 spirits, on the other side, are much stronger.

Personally, I would disallow a bonus for smartlinks against spirits on the
same basis as not using skill against them: the presence or absense of a
smartlink is not a factor in your willpower. (Yes, this does mean that, in
an attack against a spirit, I tend to ignore all modifiers except for range
and cover.)

>I know, I know. But my problem is that the processing makes a difference.
>If a Sammie attacks a Spirit with his bare hands, he has a Target Number of
>4 and a Damage Code of (Str)M. If he uses a monofilament instead, he gets
>a Target Number of 2 and 10S damage. And personally, I don't like the idea
>of a monafilament whip improving your spirit/force/power/ki.

See the above. Note that also, I prefer the SR1 Reach rules: The combatant
with superior Reach gets a bonus, but the party with inferior Reach takes no
penalty. The SR2 rule is too much of a double-whammy. (Troll w/ monowhip
vs. human with knife: troll has TN 1 (becomes 2), human has TN 7... I
don't buy it.)

>And now another question about spirits:
>What threat rating do they have? (Their Combat pool would be 1.5 * Force.)

First off, I don't believe that Threat Pools were intended to be used with
normal Pools, but rather as a means to keep down the bookkeeping for the GM
(Let's see... You're shooting ganger #17... Has he alread used his Combat
Pool, or was that #6?).

That said, I could see assigning spirits a Threat equal to either their Force
or their controller's Threat - I think I'd tend towards the latter.

esper@***.umn.edu

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