A Mechanic’s Guide to Magic, Or, Where Have All My Spell Locks Gone? Options

[NightmareX]

Anyone with the misfortune to read and remember my posts will have by now noted that I like my continuity. This article is basically an attempt to reintroduce and adapt some of the bygone magical do-dads of yesteryear to SR4, done in a semi-fictional format. It includes an original metamagic toward the end. Feel free to rip it to pieces ;)

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A Mechanic’s Guide to Magic
Or, Where Have All My Spell Locks Gone?
By Vance

Mechanics. That’s what they call those of us magicians that use what the magical community deems to be “too many” fetishes and foci. Since right around 2057, a “less is more” attitude toward physical aids to the use of magic has been very popular in the magical community. This is partly due to the very real dangers of focus addition, but also due to a kind of “magical macho” mindset that seems one’s own essence and magical skills as the only tools of any real worth. It’s the type of magician that holds the latter mindset that looks down on the physical aspect of magic and disdainfully labels some of us as “mechanics”. And he does this all the while blithely ignoring the long and rich tradition of using the physical – be it words, gestures, or items – to enhance the magical. If one merely looks at magical traditions world wide, one quickly sees that this dichotomy between the physical and the magical that the “macho mage” values so much is false – every tradition has it’s own trappings, symbols or words of power, and other physical aspects that serve to gather and enhance, to focus, the power of the practitioner. But yet the “macho mage” mindset holds sway. Take the once dependable spell lock as an example. Given the common access to dispelling techniques and wards since 2060, spell locks has taken a serious hit in popularity to the point that few are even made anymore. But the theory behind them remains just as sound as it was. The “macho mage”, because they are more fragile than a sustaining focus, considers spell locks to be worthless. They can, however, still have their uses in some cases if one simply puts their mind to it. This article delves into some of the formerly common enchantments and magical issues regarding fetishes, foci, and the like. Hopefully, it will open the eyes of some readers and let them see that a mage and his skills are not the end all and be all of magic.

Expendable Fetishes – Expendable fetishes are available in addition to the reusable fetishes described in SR4, and magicians may take either a Fetish Limitation or an Expendable Fetish Limitation on their spells. Expendable fetishes cost 1/10th the price of a reusable fetish. When casting a spell attuned to an expendable fetish, the magician receives +3 dice to resist Drain. As implied by the name, expendable fetishes are consumed after one casting, whether the spell is successful or not. Crafting an expendable fetish requires the same test as crafting a reusable fetish, and produces five expendable fetishes per refined or radical reagent used.

Foci – Foci are the heart and soul of any good mechanic’s magic. Fortunately for us, the new generation of foci, while more specialized then previous works, are cheaper than ever before. While a lot of the old school generalized foci have fallen out of favor these days, some are still floating around if you know where to look.
- Fetish Foci – A fetish focus is an expendable fetish that has been enchanted to above normal potency. Once bound, a fetish focus can be used to assist in the casting of a spell of any category, adding it’s Force to either the magician’s Spellcasting, Ritual Spellcasting, or Drain resistance test. Once used, regardless of whether the spell succeeds or fails, a fetish focus’s enchantment is burned out and the focus’s physical aspect crumbles to dust. Use of a fetish focus in spellcasting fulfills any fetish limitation (reusable or expendable) that a magician may have. Fetish foci have an Availability of (Force x 4)R and market price of (Force x 3,000) ¥. Binding a fetish focus costs a number of Karma points equal to half the focus’s Force (round up). Enchanting a fetish focus requires the expenditure of one radical reagent above and beyond any other requirements.
- Specific Spell Foci – Specific spell foci are highly specialized spellcasting foci. Unlike their more general cousins, a specific spells focus adds it’s Force to a magician’s Spellcasting, Ritual Spellcasting, or Drain resistance test when casting a single spell (chosen when the focus is enchanted). Specific spell foci have an Availability of (Force x 4)R and market price of (Force x 7,500) ¥. Binding a specific spell focus (3 x Force) Karma.
- Spell Locks – A spell lock is a limited, single use version of a sustaining focus. Like a sustaining focus, a spell lock cannot sustain a spell with a Force higher than it’s own Force, but it can sustain a spell of any category without previous preparation. Also, unlike a sustaining focus a spell lock must be affixed to the target of the spell it is sustaining. Removing the lock from the target disrupts the spell, but an opposed Willpower (+ Counterspelling if any) against the lock’s Force x2 is required for anyone but the owner to do so. When a spell lock is deactivated, or the spell it is sustaining is disrupted, the lock becomes unless – the physical portion of the lock remains intact but it must be re-enchanted to be of any magical use again and the owner’s Karma used to bond the lock is lost. Spell locks have an Availability of (Force x 4)R and market price of (Force x 5,000) ¥. Binding a spell lock costs a number of Karma points equal to half the lock’s Force (round up). Enchanting a spell lock requires the expenditure of one radical reagent above and beyond any other requirements.

Focus Addiction – Despite the advantage foci can offer, abuse of them offers a hidden danger. The sheer power that foci offer can be addictive, and while a weak focus is unlikely to cause much harm in this respect, powerful foci or too many weaker foci can become a crutch that can ultimately lead to the impairment of a magician’s abilities.

Any time a magician uses foci in a single combat turn with a greater total Force than double his Magic attribute, he risks becoming addicted to the rush of power. To determine when this becomes a problem, a magician is considered to be using a focus (for purposes of this rule) whenever it adds dice to a test the magician is making. This means that sustaining foci and anchoring foci, for instance, are not counted because they do not add dice to skill tests. Whenever this condition is met, the magician must make a Focus Addiction test. Focus addiction is neither physical nor entirely mental, therefore it Willpower + Magic test instead of those noted in SR4 (page 247). The threshold for Focus Addiction tests is (3 + the number of foci the magician has bonded). If the magician fails to achieve enough hits, he immediately gains the Focus Addiction (mild) negative quality (see Street Magic). Should a magician go into withdrawal and fail to kick the habit or again use foci excessively (total Force greater than double his Magic attribute), he must immediately make a Focus Addiction test. Failure increases the severity of his addiction by one step. If the magician is already at burnout level of addiction by this point, his maximum Magic attribute is further reduced by another point.

Metamagic – Foci aren’t the only thing that physical magic is concerned with, contrary to popular opinion. There are plenty of metamagical techniques out there that have a direct effect on such matters. Here are some of them.
- Focus Blocking – The technique of focus blocking allows a magician to temporarily deactivate an active focus by disrupting the bond between it and the magician the focus is bound to. In order to use this technique, the focus must be within the initiate’s line of sight, and he must expend a Complex Action to make an opposed Magic + Counterspelling test against the focus’s Force + it’s owner’s Magic. If the initiate achieves even a single net hit, the focus is deactivated but otherwise unharmed. If the initiate fails, he must still resist a Drain value equal to half the number of hits the focus generated on the opposed test. The focus’s owner can simply reactivate it at his leisure unless the initiate chooses to sustain the block (incurring a –2 dice penalty to all other tests while doing so). If the blocking is sustained, the owner must win an opposed as above and resist the noted Drain in order to break the block and reactivate his focus. An initiate can only block one focus at a time.
- Grounding – This technique allows an astrally projecting magician to channel spells through active foci, dual natured beings, or even the body of an astrally projecting magician to effect the physical plane. When doing so, the magician must have the focus or physical body of the dual being/magician in his astral line of sight. He then must first take a Complex action before casting to make an opposed Magic + Spellcasting test against that target focus’s rating x2 (or character’s Willpower + Magic). One net hit is sufficient to create the necessary link. The magician then casts the spell as normal, although the spell’s Drain value is increased by the number of hits the focus or dual being generated on the opposed test due to the manner of the casting. If the magician fails the opposed test, no link is created and no grounding is possible, but the magician must still resist a Drain value equal to the number of hits the focus or dual being generated on the opposed test.
- Suspension (Prerequisite: Quickening) – Suspension is an advanced metamagic technique that allows an initiate to activate or deactivate the effects of a spell maintained by a sustaining focus/spell lock or a quickened spell without actually disrupting the spell and causing it to end. In order to modify such a sustained or quickened spell with this technique, the initiate must expend an additional Complex Action on the casting and spend Karma equal to the Force of the spell. This additional Karma expenditure does not add to the effective Force of a quickened spell for purposes of tests the spell must make. Once the spell is in place, it acts as a normal sustained or quickened spell until the initiate decides to suspend it’s function as a Simple Action. When suspended, a spell simply ceases to exist for all magical intents and purposes except assensing (a focus sustaining a suspended spell automatically deactivates) and no longer has any effect on its target until reactivated. A suspended the spell can slip without hindrance through wards and other mana barriers, and the spell cannot be dispelled unless the magician attempting to do so first successfully assesses it. A suspended spell still leaves tell tale signs in the aura of it’s target (or the focus sustaining it), but an Intuition + Assensing (2) test in order to perceive the spell as separate from the target’s or focus’s aura. If the target possesses the Masking metamagic the masking must be pierced before this can occur. Once it is assensed, the suspended spell can be dispelled as normal. The caster of a suspended spell can reactivate it (and the focus sustaining it if applicable) as a Simple Action as long as the spell’s target or the focus are within his line of sight. A spell modified in this fashion can be suspended and reactivated any amount of times for any length of time without ill effect, but it the spell is sustained by a focus that focus cannot be used to sustain any other spell without permanently disrupting the spell. If a spell modified in this fashion is dispelled or otherwise permanently disrupted, the Karma expended to modify the spell is lost. Suspension can be used in conjunction with the Anchoring metamagic, but the Karma cost for doing so is equal to the Force of the anchored spell plus the Force of any Detection spell used as a trigger. Suspending a Detection spell used in such a fashion will prevent it from triggering its attached anchored spell.

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Edited to clarify and correct errors in spell locks

[Serbitar]

Nice work.

[NightmareX]

Danka ;) Could someone remind me - did spell locks disintegrate when the spell was disrupted in 1st and 2nd, or is that idea just my senility setting in?

[FrankTrollman]

Aaaah! Fucking Spell Locks!

OK, if you really insist on dredging up how Spell Locks worked, let's bust out p. 138 of SR2 and check it out:

A Spell Lock is kind of like a Sustaining Focus and kind of like an Anchored spell. When you bond the focus (costing only a single Karma point), you also cast a spell at he same time, which is then "in the lock" (you resist drain at this time). The lock is currently an inactive focus, which means that it's just a physical object (it's not even dual).

Now here's the fun part: any magician of your tradition can subsequently activate the spell lock with a simple action so long as it is simultaneously touching the activating magician and the intended target. Once activated, the spell lock then astrally projects and the physical object that the spell lock was originally can be taken anywhere and is essentially no longer important. In Astral Space, there is an inert Force 1 object that maintains that spell indefinitely, and any astrally active character can destroy it or remove it.

If the spell lock is destroyed, well you're out 45,000 :nuyen: and a Karma point. If it is removed, then you're just out a Karma point because the original physical object becomes unbound and anyone can pick it up, cast a spell into it, pay a point of
Karma and start the whole process over again.

For added strangeness, the Magician who bonded the spell lock (not necessarily the guy who activated it) can deactivate the spell with a simple action. He can also activate it with a simple action, and he can do either regardless of whether he's touching it or not (but the spell lock still has to be touching an appropriate target to be activated). And of course, activating the spell in the lock causes no drain, because you already paid the drain last week when you bonded the lock.

So... I'm a Hermetic Mage and I cast Increase Reflexes +3 Dice. This causes (F/2+2) D drain so it probably nearly knocks me out. But that's fine because I don't need to sustain it I'm just putting it into a Lock and spending my Karma. I record how many successes I get at this point even though I don't know what the Target Number is, but let's move on. Now there's a little statue of a turtle that any hermetic mage can use to transfer the +3 dice of Initiative to any target by touching the turtle while the turtle is touching the target. Also I can spend a simple action to grant those 3 extra dice to anyone touching the turtle no matter where I am. Once transferred, the turtle becomes inert and stays that way until one of three things happens:

1. I spend a simple action to put the spell back in the turtle, which I can do regardless of the location of the spell effect, the turtle, or myself.
2. An astrally activ character "removes" the lock from the target. At this point the spell is destroyed and the turtle statue (regardless of location) reverts to its original state before a spell was cast into it and the process can be restarted by any magician touching the turtle by casting a spell and spending a Karma.
3. An astrally active character attacks and destroys the F1 astral form holding the spell together. This destroys the turtle statue and terminates the spell.
4. A physical character finds and destroys the turtle statue, which doesn't end the spell, but will prevent it from being reused if the spell is ever deactivated.

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Aaahh! Make it stop! Please make it stop! The Spell Lock was confusing and horrible, from every vantage point. The Sustaining Focus of SR4 does pretty much the same thing but is so much clearer and amazingly more balanced.

-Frank

[Serbitar]

Well, just make spell locks like unspecified (sustaining foci are categorized in SR4 if I remember correctly) 1 use sustaining foci and everything is all right.
Essentially Quickening without the meta technique.

[NightmareX]