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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ Barghests...

Posted by: will_rj Jul 22 2006, 12:11 PM

In a couple hours i´ll be GMing and i´ve included a Barghest in the defenses of a corp lab. Being the lazy guy that i am, pre-session notekeeping was left to the last minute. As i read the critters powers description, i´ve noticed that if a barghest howls in downtown, hundreds will die from heart attack.

Isn´t that way too deadly ?

(the average willpower being 3, the average roll of 2d6 being 7, it´s quite possible that one fails to achive a six at least in one of the 7 rolls...)

Will

Posted by: Herald of Verjigorm Jul 22 2006, 01:02 PM

QUOTE (will_rj)

Isn´t that way too deadly ?

No, but it is way to indiscriminate for defensive uses.

Posted by: knasser Jul 22 2006, 01:44 PM

QUOTE (will_rj)

Well in SR4, the barghest's paralysing howl is Magic + Charisma vs. Willpower. So 7 dice, vs. 3 on average. It will only be one or two hits normally, which takes a point off Reaction for each. Even if Reaction should reach 0, it doesn't mean you stop breathing or your heart gives out. It passes eventually.

You can also apply dice pool modifiers for sound dampening and background noise. So if it howls in downtown Seatle, it will have a short range due to traffic, people being indoors, obstructing buildings, etc. Give the security guards ear muffles, and it's probably fine for use as a guard dog. Swap in Hell Hounds if you want to, though. Similar power, with the same dual nature advantage. No indiscriminate attacks.

Mind you, there's nothing in the description that I recall which says the attack has to be indiscriminate. It's magical and perhaps the barghest merely howls at its intended targets. Other people might just get shivers down their spine.

Posted by: hyzmarca Jul 22 2006, 08:47 PM

That's kind of like asking "If a car bomb goes off downtown hundreds will die from the blast and shrapnel. Isn't that too deadly?"

Of course it isn't. And its great for defensive uses so long as you don't have any pitiful metahuman guards around.

Posted by: will_rj Jul 23 2006, 07:16 AM

Well, the session is over by now and i told the players about the risk of dying to the howl and they made their best to avoid the barghest at all costs. The rest of the session went fairly well.

Regarding the bomb metaphor, i still think it´s silly for a stupid creature to be able to kill dozens in row just by howling. But still, it´s even sillier to make SR4 remarks when i am addressing SR3 rules, but i will assume it was just a way to show me that there are other interpretations of the paralyzing howl power.

Posted by: eidolon Jul 23 2006, 09:27 AM

QUOTE (will rj)

But still, it´s even sillier to make SR4 remarks when i am addressing SR3 rules,

For defensive purposes when there are pitiful metahuman guards around, I like hellhounds. Nice, targeted fiery goodness.

Posted by: knasser Jul 23 2006, 02:33 PM

QUOTE (will_rj)

But still, it´s even sillier to make SR4 remarks when i am addressing SR3 rules

Well I'd worked out that you were using pre-SR4 rules, but the topic here is Shadowrun, not a specific sub-category like the SR4 section so someone might find it useful. But mainly, I was showing youhow you could keep some of the significance during the scope of the run, but not give it the precinct-devastating significance it has in ordinary life.

You'll also notice two further suggestions that are compatible with pre-SR4, which is that you can apply modifiers for background noise, and that the attack could still be willfully targeted at particular victims even if it has an sonic vector.

Posted by: will_rj Jul 23 2006, 07:36 PM

( I was a bit too sour in my reply, sorry. )

Well, i can´t quite figure out the effective range of the barghest´s howl, anyway, but i´ve used the background noise argument to restrict it in yesterday´s session.