| From: | Ereskanti <Ereskanti@***.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | MY Take (Binder's Look on Enchanting) |
| Date: | Wed, 13 May 1998 01:25:19 EDT |
wordman@*******.COM writes:
> Enchanter Adepts have never really been fleshed out in SR. The BBB says
> that a magical adept can use _one_ magical skill, but enchanting is not
> mentioned as a magical skill in the BBB. Enchanting is introduced in the
> Grimore II, and Enchanter Adepts are not mentioned.
True, but they are mentioned somewhere, I just can't remember where. It was
just part of a paragraph as I recall...
> I personally would give an Enchanter Adept full astral abilities, as
> otherwise they are significantly less powerful compared to other adepts.
> The other adepts are pretty much balanced against each other, but without
> astral abilities, Enchanter Adepts are not in the same league.
WOW!!! You were actually nicer than I was originally. I originally only had
them with Astral Perception, and that was it. Through special Quests/Ordeal
in Initiation, they could develop Astral Projection, but -that- is just me.
> Note also that astral abilities give Enchanter Adepts more reason to avoid
> cyberware. (With higher Essence, they can stay in astral space longer).
> Without astral abilities Enchanter Adepts (like Conjuring Adepts) have
> little reason to keep their Magic Rating high. Magic Rating is useful to an
> enchanter only in setting the target number for making Orichalcum. For this
> reason, GMs may want to create some sort of house rule, like "Enchanters
> can only create foci with rating less than or equal to their Magic Rating".
> (BTW, Conjuring Adepts only use Magic Rating for Banishing.)
Personally, the "Orichalcum" reason should be more than enough IMO.
> Having said that, though, none of the enchanting rules _require_ astral
> perception. Alchemy and artificing require the performer be magically
> active, but they never have to look into astral space to get the job done.
I have always had a problem with this part of things as they were originally
stated in the "who has perception" conversations/rulings. To craft the
energies of any foci or related objects (like Govi, Anchorings, etc...), it
would just seem so much smarter to have the perception abilities than not. So
much more required if you will.
> Another question to consider is what kind of foci Enchantier Adepts may
> use. This is pretty much by elimination. Can't use Fetish, Spell or Spirit
> foci. Can't place spell locks. This leaves weapon and power foci.
Veyr true, and you don't want the jokes I -ONE TIME- had about an Enchanting
Foci to help with such....
> Last adept question is can they initiate and what kind of metamagic can
> they use. Again, by elimination. No sorcery skill, so can't use Quickening
> or Dispelling. I can't think of any reason to disallow Shielding, except
> that both it and spell defense seem somewhat alien to concept of the
> character, so I wouldn't allow an enchanter to use either of them.
> Enchanters probably could use centering to offset penalties, but they can't
> spell cast and don't take drain, so other uses of centering are pointless
> for them. I'd say they could definately mask, provided you buy the idea
> that they have full astral access. Achoring is sort of a weird area, as on
> the one hand they cannot cast spells, but on the other it seems like
> Anchoring is what an enchanter should be good at. I would allow an
> enchanter to perform all of the non-spellcasting duties for an anchoring.
Okay, time for the nitty gritty ideas here....
Enchanters can perform any/all of the Anchorings/Quickenings of a
Physical/Object oriented nature IMO. In fact, that is the -ONLY- way they can
use spells at all, is through the development of Anchorings/Quickenings. I
liked to think of it as the next stage in enchantment development above
"Foci".
Masking, Shielding, Centering (Enhanced preferred if GM allows), and
Dispelling are all really nice. Anchoring/Quickening have special rules for
such as I mentioned previously.
Dispelling you may ask??? Here's a thought, an Enchanter who learned
Dispelling could temporarily "turn off" a Foci or "Enchanted Object"
with a
special test, making it resisted of course for game mechanics balance. They
could opt for the ruling idea of using Enchanting for this or perhaps this is
where "Sorcery" development really begins for enchanters in general. This
would of course be a temporary thing, either lasting only for a few hours or
for a few turns, depending on the GM at the time or a House ruling
development.
"Quests of Enchantment" could also be possible, with successes gaining
additional dice towards the successful completion of a given work,
etcetera...more if the GM allows for such.
Depending on the POV of the enchanter in question (Shamanic or Hermetic), s/he
could possibly gain help for either Totemic bonuses or Elemental "Aid Study"
(if an elemental could be aquired in some fashion).
Enchanters could also be useful in making Warding Materials, or perhaps settng
up Wards if so allowed (another use for Sorcery or a variation on the
enchanting skill yet again).
And that is just the beginning, I am not even sure what else I could put up.
Some of the stuff we've done is on Hacker House of course...
-K
