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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

From: Chris Siebenmann <cks@********.UTCS.TORONTO.EDU>
Subject: A proposed variant Shadowrun magic system
Date: Sun, 2 May 1993 17:40:14 -0400
Let's talk about radical changes to the stock Shadowrun magic system
(I can't call it a reform by this point). I recently realized what
bothered me most about SR magic, and why it felt so wrong: all those
instant spells, aka the 'just like AD&D' phenomenon.

My cure is simple: delete normal magic. Entirely.
Ritual magic remains, as do spirits and elementals, although all
should be changed somewhat (note that all these are currently ideas,
and haven't been playtested).

Spirits are probably the least changed; I don't think they need any
big changes. You may want to make normal spirits a bit more powerful,
but probably not.

Elementals need to be fiddled a bit; you should probably cheapen
elemental summoning, at least for low-force elementals, and make it
faster. I can also see improvised elemental summonings, depending on
circumstances. A lot of this depends on how much you want hermetic
mages throwing their weight around; if you keep all the costs stock,
hermetics are going to be very cautious about when and where they
summon and use up elementals.

I'd delete watchers entirely, if you even play with them (I don't; I
consider them a loathsome invention designed expressly for munchkin
uses). If you want more active mages, feel free to keep them; I'd
consider some penalty for summoning them (besides having to put up
with the stupid things nattering at you). Maybe they should be
something only initiates can summon.

It's probably necessary to invent a 'fast' version of rituals; this
should definitely require materials and obvious happenings. My
personal inclination is to restrict it fairly heavily. For shamans I
would say that you can only do fast rituals with spells you would
normally get totem bonuses for (and you loose the bonus dice); for
hermetics, you should have to completely burn at least one elemental,
plus materials. You should probably take a +2 or more target modifier.

People should (under restricted situations) be able to buy spells as
'innate abilities', gifts from their magic; restrict this carefully
(perhaps enough of a restriction is that if you are gifted with a
spell, you can never cast it ritually, but I suspect more is needed).
Shamans should only be gifted from spells that they get bonuses on and
that are appropriate to the totem and character. Hermetics are more
difficult to handle; a hermetic who wants to be gifted should be
required to specialize somehow, either in field or elemental type or
both, and then be giftable only from spells covered by that. Perhaps
a reasonable further restriction is that you can only have your Magic
Rating in total force of gifts, but I'd have to play with this to test
it out.

Thoughts? Comments?

- cks

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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.