We all know that the original Earthdawn-background of SR was dropped due to licence-changings. But the basic aspect of mana, that comes in waves and that it will reach a natural peak at some time, is still valid.

So i would like to know (basically a question to the developers) if there is at least the intention, to add additional aspects to magic in further publications? The things we know from SR4 have already been existent in further editions, and if you see the...let us use the word "nerfing", even if it don´t fit perfect....of magic in SR4, it seems that magic is already on a ebb-direction instead of a high tide/flow. Am i the only one who is feeling like this?

I'm not sure if you're the only one, but I don't hold that view.

My personal take on the mana cycle is that while the mana tide is on the rise, there are still waves - or spikes - that cause unpredictable mana-related events.

Year of the Comet, for instance, was one such mana wave. Something happened that caused an unpredicted spike. It caused SURGE. It nearly allowed Horrors to bridge the void into our world. It caused naturally occurring veins of orichalcum to appear overnight. It caused unexpected volcanic activity, creating at least one new island. And all because of one comet... or maybe it was a coincidence? Hard to say. Either way, it was a spike in the mana level.

New spirits have appeared. New metaplanes can be accessed. Magical traditions are growing more consistent in terms of power and ability. New adept powers are being discovered. Hermetics have figured out how to bond with mentor spirits. New paracritters. And so on.

Eventually, the SRverse will get to the point where everything is highly saturated with mana (high tide). It might take decades or centuries (no way to know). At that point, while mana spikes will probably still occur, we won't really notice them because, for all intents and purposes, we'll be underwater... so to speak.

-paws

This is quite a standpoint.^^ Thanks for the comment, nearly forgot about some of your arguments.

If the writers stick to the already-established canon, it's going to be a long time before magic starts to ebb again. One "world" is some 5,000 years long, and we're not even 100 years into this one. I would be wary of extrapolating game balance and game mechanics changes into overall views about the setting metaplot.

And if they are ditching the Earthdawn background, then what happens to all the established characters like Ehran and Harlequin and whatnot? I guess I just don't see how all of that setting background stuff can just get dropped, without leaving huge chunks missing from the metaplot.

Earthdawn was not dropped as the Fourth World, it just is not emphasized any more.

As for the mana cycle—see Humans and the Cycle of Magic for details—a world lasts for around 1,872,000 days (5,125 Gregorian years; 5,128 Julian years). We are only decades into the Sixth World, so in the grand scheme of things magic's return is still in its infancy. But we also know that the mana cycle is not a smooth wave function, rather it is relatively chaotic noise superimposed on the long term wave function.

Well documented spikes in the wave include the Year of the Comet, 20th century Spike Babies, and Nosferatu. It is possible that the early 2070s are a dip in the wave, just as it's possible that magic power in general was elevated in the years around the comet, without the current practitioners yet realizing that fact.

I don't believe in coincidences, and that Halley's Comet was the cause of the mana spike (maybe Halley's Mana Field merged with the Earth's and caused the spike (just a theory)). I wonder what events can cause a mana ebb. It would have to be something that weakens the mana field around the earth (maybe a nuclear war, or VITAS III?). Maybe dropping a few nukes would be a good thing to keep the horrors away.

The mana field interaction theory is interesting.

Nukes - not that they work much these days - would probably just open a bigger can of worms (Toxic domain, anyone?).

-paws

I hadn't thought of that as a possibility. I had tied the spike to the fact that the arrival of Haley's Comet is greeted with something of a global fanfare. I pictured it as the gestalt subconsciousness of all of metahumanity having an impact on the Gaiasphere.

This is always what I figured it was. Or maybe some combination of the two. But that's the awesome part about the Shadowrun metaplot, that so many things are unexplained and still open to interpretation.

Well, SR has always been more The Magic Goes Away than Borderlands...although not much more. Healthy mix, really.

Of course magic feels LOW right now.
Magic came back WHEN in SR? Not even 100 Years ago?
And one such Cycle lasts for about 4000 or 7000 Years?
So it's about 2000 to 3500 Years of steady incline in Magic.
Then you are at the top. and then it takes another 2000 to 3500 years for the magic to vanish again.
So SR is about 1 twentieth or less on the way from 0 to hero, concerning magics.

What I'm curious about is, as the metaplot progresses, are we going to see more high-powered magics coming out, as the level of magic in the world goes up and makes such things possible? Even if these magics are presented like the high-end military gear is presented now (i.e., stuff that's out there, but the runners can't have). That'd preserve the balance of the game, but still fit in with what's going on in the world.

we know that a mana cycle lasts a certain amount of time. we don't know if the mana cycle increases at a constant rate during the upswing, or if it decreases at a constant rate during the downswing. for all we know, mana increases for 100 years, plateaus for 50 years, decreases slightly the next day, then increases to double over the course of the year after that, then wobbles up and down based on the alignment of the planets for the next 3 months, and so on and so forth.

in other words, the mana cycle is not at it's peak, but that doesn't mean it's going to increase linearly all the way up until it actually reaches the peak, or even that it's always going to be increasing until it hits the peak.

Pixies have already been intuduced to the SR-world and are now even playable, but what about Obsidimen? Is there at least the intention to plan something regarding a new race?

Well, there IS the Stone-Skin option in RC . . not that anybody would take that . .
Also,dawn of the Artifacts is about to cut lose.

My thoughts on the matter.

The attitudes of people can affect the geasphere, then what would happen if say a loser team pulls something out of their butts and wins the top prized (sort of a Hell Freezes Over situation)? Would you see a localized mana surge, or a more wide spread increase in the geasphere?

Localized background count. It will eventually fade, but for a while the astral space in the area will be muddled, making it harder to channel mana.

To affect the entire gaiasphere, you'd need a global event that pretty much everyone was aware of.

-paws

Kinda like the Big D winning elections and subsequently getting killed?

See, I don't know if that really qualifies. It was definitely a big deal... but global? He wasn't really president long enough for it to register globally, I suspect.

As for the astral rift, well... I think that's probably a special case.

-paws

He was bigger than Obama, and now see what kind of effect that one had . .

Literally and figuratively bigger. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Hmm. That's a reasonable point.

Still, how worked up did people on the other side of the world get about Big D? Most of what I've read about it (which isn't a whole lot, honestly) focused on the impact of his candidacy in North America.

I'm sure the Awakened were jazzed, but... mundanes in Asia? Europe?

-paws

It is hazard to guess that a lot of people either really like the idea of Big D in power, or they really hated the idea. The Megas would be generally against the idea as it would put a government back into the power game and the UCAS could challenge the Corps power. The meta unfriendly locations in the world (Japan, Middle East) would be furious (and then very ex-tactic when Big D got blown up). Just like Obama it would be either you love him or hate him. Very few people on the fence.

Concerning Obamama, i am very much on the fence.
I simply don't care about it. I just hate the frigging ruckus about it.
So he was elected . . so what? Big frigging deal in a country where BUSH got elected TWICE.

The Big D?
He was the Mass-Media-Dragon.
The People's Champion . . or something like that.
He was, for all intents and purposes, an idol to most.
He made the 20m long and tons heavy magical lizard that could - if he wanted to - destroy complete Megaplexes look like a huggable Person . .
If anything, he was the first incarnation of the pornomancer. Everybody and their mom loved him . . literally!
He was a new Ghandi. A new Martin Luther King. Or whatever you want. He was the benevolent Teacher.
The wise old coot with a funny sense of Humor. An entire generations Mr.Miyagi.
I'm surprised the day of his election did not get declared a national holiday immediately. Why were there no day long victory parties going on?
I am very much dissappointed by you UCAS! ò,Ó

Something to think about is the face that the Mana Levels in the Sixth World are fragged up to the point where even the Great Dragons and IEs are unable to guess what is coming next, so it is entirely possible that the rising Mana Levels won't increase the power of Mages but instead simply cause more people to Awaken.


Also never forget that the coming of the Bug Spirits is one of the last warnings humanity gets before the Scourge Starts and that the Great Ghost Dance was nothing more then a massive blood magic ritual designed by a half-Horror. And that is before we take into count what long term effects Big A's raping of Astral Space may have had.