| From: | "Jason Carter, Nightstalker" <CARTER@***.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: adepts and metamagic |
| Date: | Wed, 30 Jun 1993 13:27:45 -0700 |
>> My previous post had some errors in it. Sorry, but I did not have
>>my Grim with me. Shamantic adepts as well as elementalists can perceive
>>astrally and can therefore use most of the metamagic. Only centering for
>>spellcasting requires astral perception. Dispelling does not require
>>astral perception. Anchoring doesn't either, but the item must be enchanted
>>and I wouldn't trust a talismonger to do it.
Shamantic and Elementalist can use all metamagic powers. Dispelling does
require astral perception (Grimoire II page 45 says, "The magician must assense
the spell to try and dispel it."). I think your right about Centering, which is
acutally news to me.
>> As for conjuring adepts with low magic attribute. Dispelling is
>>almost certain to cause physical drain. They cant use shielding because it is
>>based on magic pool which they don't have. This leaves the adept with the
>>centering to drain and masking. Not too unbalancing in my opinion. The other
Conjuring Adepts cannot dispel since a) they can't astrally percieve, and b)
they cannot use the Sorcery skill. Note that they can also center against
penalties.
>>adepts have similar drawbacks: Sorcery because they don't have perception
>>they can't quicken, or center to spellcasting, or anchor without enchanting
>>which they can't get. They can shield and dispel assuming they know some
>>spell is active because they can't see it. While this makes them fairly
>>strong it is still not nearly as strong as a full mage.
Sorcerer Adepts cannot use dispelling since they cannot astrally percieve.
>> Shamantic adepts and elementalists have their fair share of problems
>>Elementalists can't even get health spells. The earth elementalist is the
>>only one with any variety of spells to choose from. Shamantics are better,
>>but they loose their totum bonuses and are basically stuck to one type of
>>spirit. These types of adepts also loose in the areas of meta magic in that
>>they are not as deversified in what they can do.
Shamanic and Elemental Adepts are not as powerful as full magicians, but the
are far from as weak as you make them seem. First of all Elemental Adepts have
a fairly wide choice of spells. Remember that they can use all spells (combat
or manipulation) that use their elemental side effect. They also gain access
to spells of a specific catagory. In fact the Air Elemental Adepts has access
to more spells (Detection plus all spells with Blast Elemental Effect) than
the Dog Shamanic Adept that a friend of mine plays. This goes the same for the
other Elemental Adepts.
The spell selection available to Shamanic Adepts varies from Totem to Totem but
the Moon Adepts has access to Manipulation, Illusion, and Detection spells,
Snake Adepts have access to Healing, Illusion and Detection, while Gator, Rat,
Sea, Shark, Wolf, and Wyrm all have access to two spell types.
>> In short while adepts look appealing the price they pay for half-magics
>>barely makes up for the loss of money or skills given to street samurai, or
>>the versatility of a full fledged mage. These are only my opinions, yours may
>>differ, but those are the facts as I see them.
IMHO Adepts are not "half-mages" as you imply, merely a different type of
magician than full magicians. It takes a good amount of thought and effort to
play an adept instead of a full magician, but they make very intersting
characters and should not be dismissed as being less powerful or useful and
full magicians and street samurai.
See Ya in Shadows,
Jason J Carter
Raven the Mage
