From:	Robert Davidson <kenlon@*******.COM>
Subject:	How to make physads nonsucky :)
Date:	Thu, 4 Dec 1997 14:32:13 PST

Notice: The following is my opinion/house rules for physads.
Flames will be sent to /dev/null.

One of the perennial debates in SR roleplaying circles
is the percived weakness of physads versus Samurai. However,
I have always seen physads as equivalent or better than
the average sammie at everything but firearms and setting
off metal detectors :).

1. Physad sensory enhancements are equivalent to natural,
not cybernetic, abilities.
Addendum: Physad senses are always on, while Sammies must
consiously switch between modes. Example:
Sam Samurai has cybereyes with lowlight
and thermo. He must use a free action to
switch between modes.
Phil the Physad _(with equivalent enhancements)
_always_ sees thermo traces and _always_ sees
well in the dark.

2. Reflex enhancements.
Sammies get twitchy. Physads don't. (No matter how
enhanced the physad is, he never attack-reacts, like
the Sam does.)

3. If the physad has an enhanced attribute, it does not
show obviously. I.e.: Physad with natural strength:2 and
Enhanced Attribute(Strength):4 appears as a weakling
not a big-muscled guy, unlike Sammies, whose Muscle
Replacement/Augmentation can be noticed.

4. Mages need a teacher to initiate. Physads do it
naturally (Ooh! Bumper sticker!) as soon as they
have (in the opinion of the GM) progressed along
in their use of their powers.
Xarph: If this affects how you roleplay Morte, I will
kill something (probably Mark. :) ).

5. Use Kenson's original costs for the powers in Awakenings.

6. When Physads initiate, they gain personal spell defence
die equivalent to their magic attribute (or magic
attribute/2 if you want to make them less resistant.)

7. When Physads initiate, they can gain Masking, Centering
(All physads get Enhanced Centering automatically) and
(if they have the ability to see into the astral)
Dispelling.

That's all I have to say.

(Wow! my first post! and it's on topic! I'm starting to
run out of !'s! :) )


Kenlon
Meddle not in the affairs of mages, it makes them soggy,
and hard to light.

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