Converting Old Traditions, With their spirits. Options

[FrankTrollman]

Full Rules for Spirits from previous editions and conversion guides. This will be expanded upon to write up Wu Jen and such. I do want constructive criticism on this.

The new Spirits:

Ancestor Spirits:
B F+3 A F-1 R Fx2 S F+1 C F I F L F W EDG F ESS F M Init Fx3 IP 2
Astral Init/IP: F x 2, 3
Movement: 10/25
Skills: Assensing, Astral Combat, Counterspelling, Dodge, Perception, Ritual Spellcasting, Unarmed Combat.
Powers: Accident, Astral Form, Confusion, Divination, Guard, Magical Guard, Materialization, Sapience, Search
Optional Powers: Animal Control, Concealment, Enhanced Senses (pick two: Hearing, Low-Light vision, Thermographic vision, or Smell), Fear, Influence, Mind Link.

Plant Spirits:
B F+3 A F-2 R Fx2 S F+4 C F I F L F W EDG F ESS F M Init Fx3 IP 2
Astral Init/IP: F x 2, 3
Movement: 5/15
Skills: Assensing, Astral Combat, Counterspelling, Dodge, Exotic Ranged Weapon, Perception, Unarmed Combat.
Powers: Accident, Astral Form, Concealment, Engulf, Fear, Guard, Magical Guard, Materialization, Sapience
Optional Powers: Confusion, Movement, Noxious Breath, Search, Venom

Warrior Spirits:
B F+1 A F+2 R Fx3 S F+2 C F I F L F W EDG F ESS F M Init Fx4 IP 2
Astral Init/IP: F x 2, 3
Movement: 15/40
Skills: Assensing, Astral Combat, Blades, Clubs, Dodge, Exotic Ranged Weapon, Perception, Unarmed Combat.
Powers: Accident, Astral Form, Fear, Guard, Materialization, Pain Resistance, Sapience
Optional Powers: Confusion, Elemental Attack, Flight, Movement, Natural Weaponry (DV = Force), Skill – a Warrior Spirit may be given an additional Combat Skill instead of an optional power, Venom

Worker Spirits:
B F A F R Fx2 S F+2 C F I F L F W EDG F ESS F M Init Fx3 IP 2
Astral Init/IP: F x 2, 3
Movement: 10/25
Skills: Artisan, Assensing, Astral Combat, Dodge, Perception, Unarmed Combat.
Powers: Accident, Astral Form, Binding, Materialization, Movement, Sapience, Search.
Optional Powers: Concealment, Flight, Influence, Enhanced Senses (pick two: Hearing, Low-Light Vision, Thermographic Vision, or Smell), Psychokinesis, Skill – a Worker Spirit may be given an additional Technical or Physical Skill instead of an optional power.

New Powers:

Divination: Type: M * Action: 12 hours – Magic * Range: Self * Duration: Instant * A critter with the Divination power has a limited ability to gain insight into current and future events concerning a single individual. The procedure is the same as for Ritual Sorcery (SR4, page 174), except that only the critter can participate in the ritual (meaning that if the target is assensable by the critter the ritual fails – no spotter can be used). At the end of the Ritual, the critter is able to give answers to questions according to the number of hits the critter gets on a Magic + Ritual Spellcasting test:
Hits – Results (For the question “What does the next month hold for me?”):
Zero (or a Glitch) Incorrect Answers or gibberish.
1+ Very Vague (Difficulty at the beginning and sorrow.)
4+ Vague (Your old enemies are rapidly approaching you once again.)
6+ General (The run will hurt you tremendously.)
8+ Specific (Your Mr. Johnson is taking bribes from Yakashima)
10+ Very Specific (Mr. Johnson is picking up his bribe this evening, a hit squad is already on its way.)

Engulf Plant Engulf enwraps the victim in brambles, vines, and thorns. The victim suffers stun damage.

Magical Guard: Type: M * Action: Free * Range: LOS * Duration: Instant * A critter with the Magical Guard power can counterspell spells as a magician can. This power does nothing if a creature does not have the Counterspelling skill. A critter with the Magical Guard power can also attempt to dispel spells.

Mind Link: Type: M * Action: Simple * Range: LOS * Duration: Sustained * A critter with the Mind Link power can open and maintain mental communication with another sapient creature. The critter can maintain a number of Mind Links equal to its Magic attribute. If multiple sapients are engaged in the Mind Link of the same critter, they may communicate freely with each other as well as the original critter.

Possession: A Possessing Spirit is merged with a physical body and is constantly Dual Natured. A spirit merged with a metahuman has Physical Attributes equal to the sum of the spirit's Force and the character's attributes (yes, really, and ignoring the augmented caps of the metatype of the possessed character). Furthermore, the combined entity has the ability of Immunity to Normal Weapons. The mental attributes of the combined entity are not added together – simply use the mental attributes of the dominant entity. The combined entity uses the Edge of the host, and the Magic Attibute of whichever is larger (host or Spirit). The combined entity can use all of the spirit's powers and skills, and all of the skills and abilities of the host. If the Spirit is disrupted, the physical body suffers incapacitating damage, or the spirit is no longer able to stay in the body for any other reason, it vanishes to the metaplanes. A possessed creature has 2 initiative passes unless it is under an effect that would give it more than two (in which case, use that number of initiative passes instead)

Possession Magic:
Some traditions conjure their spirits directly into the shells of metahumans instead of conjuring them into the Astral plane. These traditions replace the Astral Form and Materialization powers of their spirits with Dual Natured and Possession.

Services of Possession Spirits: A spirit possessed into a body does not owe individual services, but instead has a term of service. The spirit is obligated to do whatever the magician asks/demands of it for the duration of the term of service.

Summoning Possessed Spirits: A magician from a possession tradition can summon a spirit directly into a willing host (usually herself). The spirit co-occupies the body with the original inhabitant (which means that the mental attributes of the host are used). A successful summoning puts the spirit into the willing character for 1 hour per net success. The spirit's term of service lasts the entire time it is in the body. If the summoner summons the spirit directly into herself, Drain is not suffered until the spirit's term of service ends. If the spirit is placed into another willing creature, the magician resists Drain immediately, and the host also must resist Drain when the spirit's term of service ends (using the host's own mental attributes, but the magician's magic attribute to determine whether the Drain is Physical or not).

Binding Possessed Spirits: With a binding ritual, a spirit can be bound into a host body (living or dead). The body must be helpless (or dead) during the entire binding ritual, and at the end of a successful ritual the bound spirit becomes the only occupier of the body (the soul of the original occupant is destroyed at this time), making it the dominant . The number of net successes the magician scores in the binding test determines the term of service and how long the spirit can last in the body if the body was dead – 1 week per net success in both cases. A spirit bound into a previously living body can stay in the physical world indefinitely – but its term of service to the magician is still only 1 week per net success. Note that the physical attributes of a body which is already dead are half that of what it had in life (round up). Dead bodies have no skills and no Edge. Most reaction affecting implants do not function on a dead body. In most municipalities, binding a spirit into a living body is considered to be a particularly horrifying form of murder, and is not tolerated (although exceptions exist, for example in Ares Corporate Law it is not explicitly illegal, though interfering in the work schedule of Ares Citizens still is).

Magical Threats:
Some traditions are dangerously powerful and fueled by madness and despair. These traditions have a Threat Rating, which grows when they accomplish their bizarre goals and shrinks when they are thwarted. The Threat Rating is added to any of the character's Dice Pools to which a Magical Skill is being added, and to Drain Resistance rolls. So a character with a Threat Rating of 2 adds 2 dice when casting a spell against an opponent or when defending themselves from a spell being cast upon them.

Furthermore, a character with a Threat Rating adds their Threat Rating to the number of optional powers that the Spirits they summon can have. Each Threat Tradition also has a number of powers that can be placed on any spirits. The spirits that a threat tradition conjures all have a single extra disadvantage unique to their tradition. No player character can ever be a member of a Threat Tradition, please do not pester your GM about it. It really isn't going to happen. Seriously.

Example: Toxic Shamans (Poisoner)
Toxic shamans have been twisted by the horror of pollution and habitat destruction to follow a path of destruction and horror. They gain Threat Rating by committing acts of senseless environmental poisoning like the villains from Captain Planet. A Toxic Poisoner Shaman resists drain with Charisma, and can summon Air, Earth, Water, Man, and Beast Spirits. All Spirits summoned by a Toxic shaman have access to the powers of Noxious Breath, Venom, Fear, and Engulf (spirits that do not normally have engulf inflict stun damage). Spirits conjured by a Toxic Poisoner all have a Moderate Allergy to purified air or water.

Converting Voodoo:
Previous editions of Shadowrun had no less than 10 types of spirits available to Houngans. In SR4, this is still true. However, many of these spirits use the same types (choose different optional powers to represent their different aspects). A Houngan uses Charisma to resist Drain. A Houngan has access to the following spirits:

Ancestor Spirits – Detection – Damballah, Ghede, Legba
Warrior Spirits – Combat – Ogoun, Shango
Worker Spirits – Health – Work Loa
Spirits of Man – Illusion – Erzulie, Azaca, Obatala
Spirits of Water – Manipulation - Agwe

Converting Wu Jen:
A Wu Jen uses Logic to resist Drain.

Fire Spirits - Combat (Salamanders)
Air Spirits - Detection (Sylphs)
Earth Spirits - Manipulation (Gnomes)
Water Spirits - Illusion (Undines)
Plant Spirits - Health (Manitous)

Converting The Extreme Back-to-Land Tribal Shamans from the Manitou:
The hermit shamans of the far north (and deep jungle of Amazonia) use Intuition to resist Drain:

Beast Spirits - Combat
Earth Spirits - Health
Water Spirits - Detection
Air Spirits - Illusion
Plant Spirits - Manipulation

Bug Shamans:
Insect Shamans come in two main types: Hive Shamans and Solitary Shamans. Solitary Insect Shaman use Intuition to resist drain, and Hive Insect Shaman use Logic to resist drain. In either case, Insect Shaman are typically a possession tradition, and are frequently magical threats who bind spirits into living humans. Insect Shamans of either type have a very bad reputation in most of the world.

Warrior Spirits - Combat
Ancestor Spirits - Detection*
Worker Spirits - Health
Air Spirits - Illusion
Beast Spirits - Manipulation

*In previous editions, many Insect Shamans were only able to support a single "mother" spirit. There were exceptions, however (usually among the "solitary" insect spirits), and it is intended that SR4 characters use this as a roleplaying guideline. A Wasp or Ant Shaman should probably bind only a single Ancestor Spirit, and try to bind a much higher force Spirit than normal, drain or no drain. A Mantis Shaman, on the other hand, could plausibly make as many mother spirits as she feels like.

Ally Spirits:
An initiate can conjure and bind an ally spirit of any type - even one which is not normally available to her tradition. An ally spirit may be of a materializing or possession type, but a suitable body must be present for the binding ritual if a possession type is chosen. An ally spirit is a normal spirit of its type with the following exceptions:

*: Appearance: An ally spirit appears as the character initially envisions it, which may or may not be appropriate for the character's tradition. Unlike normal spirits, an ally can be mistaken for a metahuman or ordinary animal if the character so chooses. An ally may even have multiple options for how it appears (see Creating an Ally below).

*: Open Ended Service: An ally spirit's services (or term of service) are never exhausted. An ally spirit serves the character until they are freed by their master's death (or potentially near-death).

*: Aid Power: An ally spirit adds its force to any test that uses the character's Magic attribute as long as the character is within line of sight of the spirit. The spirit and the character need not be on the same plane for this ability to function.

*: Skills: An ally spirit has Spellcasting, Ritual Spellcasting, and Counterspelling skills equal to the character's values in those skills. An ally spirit can have additional skills if the character spends Karma on it (see Creating an Ally below).

*: Spellcasting: An ally can cast spells as a magician can. While it does not initially have any spells, it may have spells purchased for it (see Creating an Ally below).

*: Mental Attributes: An ally spirit's mental attributes are equal to the character's, rather than the ally's force.

*: Telepathic Link: An ally spirit may communicate telepathically with the character an unlimited distance.

*: Loyalty: An ally spirit is in some sense part of the character, and is substantially more loyal than an ordinary spirit. While an ally spirit will normally go out of its way to help the character and volunteer information it believes may be of assistance, if the character is particularly cruel the ally may eventually turn on him to the best of its ability. Consider ally spirits to have a Loyalty Rating of 6.

*: Sense Link: An ally spirit has the potential to gain the power of Sense Link, which allows it to share its sense data with the character to an unlimited range. This must be purchased as an additional power (see Creating an Ally below).

Services of Ally Spirits:

An ally spirit can be called upon to perform any service that an unbound spirit may be asked to perform an unlimited number of times. In addition, an ally spirit may perform the following additional tasks:

Resist Drain: An ally spirit may be asked to take the Drain of a spell that the character is casting in her place. The ally's magic attribute is used to determine if the drain is physical or not. Alternately, the character can buy an extra success on any drain resistance roll at the cost of the ally suffering one box of physical drain (no drain resistance allowed). In either case, this is an agonizing process for the spirit, and if used frequently will encourage animosity in the ally.

Aid Study: An ally spirit may aid study exactly as if it was a normal bound spirit. An ally spirit is considered to be appropriate for every spell category for this purpose, and does not count against the limit of one bound spirit aiding in the learning of a spell.

Creating an Ally:

An Ally can be conjured by an initiate who chose "Ally Spirit" as a metamagic technique.

1. Choose form(s). The character must either provide a body (for a possession ally), or choose an appearance (for a materializing ally). A materializing ally can have additional forms that it can switch between at will at the cost of 2 Karma each.

2. Choose Force. An ally spirit's force begins at 1, and costs 5 Karma times the next rating to buy up. So having a Force 4 ally spirit would cost 45 Karma (10 Karma for Force 2, 15 Karma for Force 3, and 20 more Karma for Force 4).

3. Purchase Additional Powers. Unlike a normal spirit of its type, an ally spirit does not gain any additional powers for having a force of 3 or six. However, the character may purchase any of those powers for it (including Sense Link) at a cost of 5 Karma each.

4. Purchase Spells. An ally spirit can be given any spell that the character knows at a cost of 5 Karma each.

5. Purchase Skills. An ally spirit begins with all of the skills normal for its type at a rating equal to its force. It also begins with Spellcasting, Ritual Spellcasting, and Counterspelling equal to the character's ratings in those skills. The character may purchase the ally additional skills at a rating equal to the ally's force at a cost of 5 Karma each. The character may only choose skills skills that she herself has at a rating at least equal to the ally's force, and an ally spirit may not ever have summoning or binding.

Conjuring an Ally:

Conjuring an Ally requires binding materials equal to the force of the ally. This must be done in a lodge with a rating equal or greater than the force of the ally, and takes a number of days equal to the force of the ally (bring food!)

Enhancing an Ally:

At a later time, the character may purchase additional forms, skills, powers, or spells for the ally by spending the appropriate Karma cost and spending a day in a lodge with a force equal to or greater than the force of the ally. The character may also raise the ally's force, but this requires a number of days equal to the new force and ritual materials equal to the new force (and a lodge with a rating at least the new force in its rating).

Great Form Spirits:

Inititiates with the Invoking metamagic can enhance their bound and unbound spirits to make them Great Form, which gives them a number of advantages. Watcher and Ally spirits cannot be made Great Form.

The Invoking Test: The Invoking Test is made immediately after the initial conjuration (this is a free action, and Mentor Spirit bonuses and the like do not refresh between Conjuration and Invocation). To make a spirit Great Form, make a Magic + Binding + Initiate Grade + the Spirit's Force (6) test. If the test succeeds, the spirit becomes Great Form. If hits are made in excess of the threshold, the Great Form spirit's physical attributes are all increased by the extra hits. So if the invoking test nets 8 hits, the Spirit's Strength, Agility, Body, and Reaction are all increased by 2. Regardless of whether the Invocation was successful or not, the conjurer suffers a Drain Value of 6. Any unresisted drain is applied as Physical Damage, regardless of the Invoker's Magic Attribute.

Advantages of Great Form Spirits:

* Greater Mobility: A Great Form spirit is under no compulsion to remain within 100 meters per point of their summoner's magic attribute of the summoner. Furthermore, a Great Form spirit need not vanish at dawn or dusk.

* Enhanced Attributes: As noted above, if the Invoking Test exceeds the threshold of 6 hits, the Great Form's physical attributes are increased. This bonus applies whether the spirit is materialized or not.

* Additional Powers: For every 3 hits made on the Invoking Test, the Great Form spirit gains 1 additional power, exactly as if its force was 3 higher. This means that a Great Form Spirit will always gain at least 2 additional powers. A Great Form Spirit can also choose to remove a weakness instead of gaining an additional power.

* Enhanced Powers: Any of the spirit's powers that have a range of LOS may be used with a range of LOS (A) by the spirit as desired. In addition, the spirit's Engulf power (if any) can be used with a range of LOS (A) if desired. Unlike normal area effects, the spirit may voluntarily choose to not affect any number of targets within the area if desired.

* Intransigent: Great Form Spirits are more difficult to banish than normal spirits, and roll an extra 6 dice when resisting being banished.

-Frank