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Posted by: KarmaInferno Jul 20 2010, 12:28 AM

If an Awakened Sapient Critter like a Pixie takes the Technomancer quality, does he actually lose his Magic rating?

I had thought this was the case, but re-reading the SR4A book the quality only forbids also taking the Adept, Mystic Adept, or Magician qualities.

Is it possible I'm remembering this from previous editions?

I'm building a techno-rigger pixie that rides around in an anthroform drone. The rules don't especially seem to support this kinda build.





-karma

Posted by: Tanegar Jul 20 2010, 12:38 AM

IMO allowing critter technomancers is iffy to begin with, but I would tend to rule that a pixie technomancer cannot increase his or her Magic attribute beyond the 1 common to the species, nor can he or she Initiate. Basically, if your Essence falls below 6, you lose your Magic permanently.

Posted by: KarmaInferno Jul 20 2010, 12:42 AM

What could one do with a magic rating anyhow, if you don't have any of the caster/adept Qualities?

I mean, besides astrally perceive, in the case of a Pixie.



-karma

Posted by: Karoline Jul 20 2010, 12:43 AM

I don't recall the exact page, but I do remember there being something in the book specifically saying that you cannot have both a magic and a resonance attribute.

I would interpret that as meaning that something with a maigc attribute cannot gain a resonance attribute (even if they became a burn out), but some people might consider it as being that one would replace the other (sprite would lose powers in that case)

Personally, given the massive mental bonuses a sprite has, I think they are a bit broken as TMs, so I wouldn't support it, but it is something you'd have to ask your GM.

Posted by: Wasabi Jul 20 2010, 12:52 AM

You could suffer a -1 to all tests per point of Background Count.

"Teamleader this is Midge! I cannae hack it, there's a ringin' in mah wee ears!"

Posted by: KarmaInferno Jul 20 2010, 12:57 AM

Ahah, I answer my own question:

Which means a TM pixie can't even fly.

Well, I guess it explains the permanent bad mood I envisioned him having.



-karma

Posted by: Tanegar Jul 20 2010, 01:05 AM

If you stick him in something like a Dalmatian drone, he can fly that. Hell, it might even be large enough to hold a pixie-sized cockpit.

Posted by: Yerameyahu Jul 20 2010, 01:21 AM

AFAIK, a Pixie could never become a Technomancer in the first place. A nice GM might let someone 'lose' their Magic to get Resonance.

Posted by: tagz Jul 20 2010, 01:24 AM

If you want a pixie hacker go Adept. It works real well. Also, gotta love it in the cases where you need to hard wire into a node and the pixie can fly through the ventilation ducks with ease.

Posted by: KarmaInferno Jul 20 2010, 01:53 AM

This being a Missions character, and the rules allowing/not allowing TM pixies being not 100% clear, I shall go bother Bull.

Thanks for the suggestions!



-karma

Posted by: Yerameyahu Jul 20 2010, 01:59 AM

Oh. RAW-wise, I don't think anything with a Magic can get Resonance, period. :/

Nowai, those vent ducts have cutting lasers.

Posted by: Wasabi Jul 20 2010, 02:05 AM

Yep, p82 of the SR4A hardcopy says you can never have both.

Posted by: Yerameyahu Jul 20 2010, 02:14 AM

Well, some people are asking if that means you can *lose* your Magic rating and *then* get a Resonance. I don't think you can, but it's not 100% clear.

For the record, I don't think a normal human mage could burn out and then become a Technomancer, either. (By RAW. A GM might conceivably have cause to allow this.)

Posted by: Trevalier Jul 20 2010, 04:23 AM

I was under the impression that burning out reduced your Magic rating to 0, not that it made it go away.
[SR4A, pg 68, emphasis mine]

My reading of this is that it's the quality that gives you a Magic attribute. As long as you have the quality (which in this case is "being a pixie"), you have the attribute, no matter what its rating is.

I could see, for the sake of argument, allowing someone with the Magician or Adept quality who has burned out to buy off the quality with karma as if it were a negative quality, then gain a Resonance attribute. It would require their burnout to have happened in a spectacular tech-related roleplaying extravaganza, and it would be wildly wasteful of karma, of course.

Posted by: Yerameyahu Jul 20 2010, 04:26 AM

The thing is, at the fluff level, Magic and Resonance are supposed to be wildly incompatible, right? Ignoring the rules and careful reading thereof, do I have that impression correct? So, anything with Magic (past or present) can't have Resonance. According to the setting, I mean. It's like teleportation.

Posted by: Wasabi Jul 20 2010, 04:29 AM

Thats my take, Yerameyahu.

Posted by: Hand-E-Food Jul 20 2010, 04:53 AM

I've only seen one exception to this rule: the Infected.

When a technomancer is infected with HMHVV, he loses all of his Resonance and his Technomancer quality. Depending on the circumstances (ie. the GM's decision), the character may gain a Magic attribute and one of the magical qualities (Adept, Magician, or Mystical Adept.)

Posted by: Adrian Korvedzk Jul 20 2010, 04:54 AM

From what I recall, RC speciffically forbids pixies from getting the TM quality.

Posted by: Yerameyahu Jul 20 2010, 05:03 AM

Good point, Hand-E-Food. That is Resonance-to-Magic, of course, but it's an example of a single character having both over their lifetime.

Adrian, that's what I thought, but I dunno an exact page. In RC, shapeshifters *are* specifically excluded from gaining Resonance.

Posted by: Ancient History Jul 20 2010, 05:16 AM

http://www.shadowrun4.com/resources/faq.shtml. Very last question.

That said, in my game? I might allow it. I was playing with some Ascended Master rules at one point, where your Resonance and Magic attributes had to balance - so, let us say you're a pixie with starting Magic 6 and Latent Technomancer, and one day during play you Emerge. You gain a Resonance of 1. From that point on, every time you increase your Magic by 1, your Resonance is reduced by 1, and vice versa.

Posted by: Yerameyahu Jul 20 2010, 05:19 AM

Thanks Ancient History, that's perfect. Apparently it's Running Wild, p205. The last place I'd ever check.

Posted by: Karoline Jul 20 2010, 01:18 PM

It's an errata without having to release an errata for the entire RC book.

Posted by: Yerameyahu Jul 20 2010, 01:27 PM

Hehe, yes, god forbid.

Posted by: CeeJay Jul 20 2010, 01:42 PM

It can't get any clearer than that...

-CJ