Piranha totem, bite bite chomp chomp Options

[Churl Beck]

Long ago, a friend created a Piranha totem to use in a Shadowrun campaign. I never allowed it into the game, and we never reached a compromise on it. I post it here as an exercise to the reader.

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Piranha Totem

Characteristics: Piranha are highly sensitive, territorial and vicious. Thrown into murderous rampages at the drop of a hat, piranha's have a tendency to shun large groups as too avoid the social implications of some claustrophobic slaughter in a crowded mall. Always aware of infringements of their large personal space bubbles both on the physical as well as the astral planes, piranha's tend to kill whatever has invaded their space, whenever they feel crowded. Piranha also are very sensitive to wounded, and instinctively attack all that are sick or wounded in their presence. Piranha shamans only originate from a small group of tribes found along the Amazon river in the southern part of aztlan, therefore Aztechnology has a tendency to look for and abduct all the magically sensitive children from that region at very young ages.

Favored Environment: Near water, Wilderness and low populated areas.

Advantages: +4 dice for all spells when used as an attack, +2 dice for healing self spells. Piranha shaman have +4 dice to combat pool as a naturally occurring Combat Sense Spell.

Astral Awareness: Any time something enters the piranha shamans personal space bubble of 20 meters in astral space, the shaman is automatically pulled into astral perception, and may make a willpower (4) test to resist, if failed however, the piranha shaman is pulled all the way into astral projection, immediately attacking the intruder with his most damaging spell (usually to the surprise of the intruder).

Disadvantages: Piranha shaman cannot learn detection, illusion or spells to heal others. Piranha shamans must make a willpower test against the number of people and spirits that have invaded their 20 meter personal space bubble, or begin attacking the invaders with his most damaging spell until he can successfully make the test . If there is any wounded on the physical or astral plane that can be perceived by the piranha he must make a willpower(4) test ,or attack the wounded that he has perceived, with his most damaging spell. A wounded piranha will lash out at anything that moves unless he makes a willpower (6) test ( each time he is wounded) until nothing living around him is moving, or he's incapacitated.


Piranha Spirits:
B: F+4
Q: F*2
S: F+2
C: 1
I: F-2
W: F
E: F
R: F+4
Powers: Mana Bolt, Mana Missile, Mana Ball, Power Bolt, Power Missile, Power Ball, Bite(Strength (S))

Domain: Piranha spirits school anywhere there is a piranha shaman.

Special notes: Piranha spirits have the same characteristics as the shaman and must make willpower tests for claustrophobia, or wounded. Piranha spirits also travel in schools, when summoned 1D6 +3 spirits show up, they attack the same target , as a unit ( attacks are resolved individually per spirit.) . Once called, Piranha spirits will never wander farther then 1000 meters away from the shaman that called them, and new spirits will come each time the shaman calls for some *. Many stories have been told of piranha shamans being devoured by all the spirits that he had called on in his life time. To reflect this, each spirit requires it's own 20 meter space bubble, so once the shaman has called on more then 50 spirits, they all infringe on each other's as well as the shamans personal space and eventually large battles between spirits and shamans come to a head **. Piranha spirits ban together and attack anyone that tries to banish them, the shaman who called them can not banish them due to his positive feelings of being in a school...

* Sometimes the spirits of the past may wander through and attack wounded (this includes the shaman as well) the more spirits the shaman has called in the past, the higher the frequency of this occurring.

** If a piranha shaman is killed by his spirits then the school will continue to wander the astral plane untethered to any one area.


Optional rules:
1) for every piranha shaman that is not under the control of Aztechnology, there is one that is.
2) All piranha shamans that are not under the control of Aztechnology, are being hunted by the corporation and start with a hunted -3 flaw.