| From: | Malcolm Shaw malhms@*********.com.au |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re Mits and Anchoring Foci |
| Date: | Wed, 19 May 1999 22:53:35 +1000 |
still find the Anchoring Foci, or at least the writers of MitS'
reasoning on making them Foci, and very expensive, hard to understand.
For instance if one compares the costs of various foci against the
anchoring foci there seems, to me at least, a discrepancy that is not
easily explained by " they, anchoring foci, are very powerful and are
value for money." But on the other hand the new rules really will make
them very rare in any shadowrun game.
To explain by example using a force 2 as a basic level for foci and
using the bonded anchoring foci in order to use a comparison to how most
magicians would purchase a foci, that is they would have only one
bonding cost.
Anchoring focus expendable cost = F x 3,000 x5 x SI of 4 = 120,000
Anchoring focus reusable cost = F x 30,000 x 5 x SI of 4 = 1,200,000
Power focus cost = F x 105,000 x SI of 2 = 210,000
Weapon focus cost say a knife = Reach+1 x 100,000 + F x 90,00 x SI of
2
= 560,000
(I am deliberately not comparing bonding Karma costs for purchased
items)
(Why would any mage pay 120,000 for a one use only focus)
I could go through the other foci but this seems pointless as I am
trying to compare foci that are in themselves referred to, both on
shadowRN and in Shadowrun books, as being powerful foci and hard to
obtain. To me the high cost cannot be simply explained by they are hard
to make, so should a power foci or a weapon foci be hard to make. Both
require the enchanter to spend karma during manufacture. Is it that
Steve Kenson and the play testers etc. have the idea that anchoring foci
are too destabilizing to the game and sought, by making them so
expensive, to limit them. If so why not limit the weapon and power foci
as well? Or better still remove them, anchoring foci, altogether?
And if one compares the cost of a fetish 50 to 500 nuyen that gives a
benefit to all spells (benefit can be reduction in drain or karma to TN
for learning etc.) of the category of the fetish, to expendable foci
costs of F x 1,500 that gives one die to rolls seems to show a lack of
cost per benefit balance.
While writing this I also thought of the anchoring focus and the
anchoring of a spell to a weapon. The Grimoire gave a step by step
detailed account of this procedure and give a clear description of the
benefits of doing so. In MitS there is no explanation of what happens
when a spell is anchored to a weapon even though on page71 there is
mention of a sword with Flame Aura anchored to it.
Just some thoughts and asking for ideas.
Malcolm
