 Magical Threats, Mundane ways to take em out? |
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 Jan 19 2006, 06:35 PM
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#26
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Genuine Artificial Intelligence  Group: Members Posts: 4,019 Joined: 12-June 03 Member No.: 4,715  |
Fluorescing Astral Bacteria. See Magic in the Shadows.
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Jan 19 2006, 06:35 PM
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#27
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,086 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 364 |
"Fat" Astral Bacteria. It's a dual-natured single celled organism that as a byproduct of it's metabolic processes, produces long chains of protein that extend out past the bacteria's cell membrane.
The stuff's harmless on the mundane plane, you could suspend an aresol of the stuff in the air and not even notice. However, because it's dual natured, and the long chains of protien allow the bacteria to interact with each other, a cloud of FAB is a tangible living organism on the Astral Plane. The original FAB was coded with a gene that produced proteins that glowed when exposed to UV. This allowed an observer on the mundane plane track an astrally projecting being as they displaced the dual natured bacteria cloud. However, nastier variations of the bacteria were developed shortly after. One version literally "eats" magic. |
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Jan 19 2006, 06:43 PM
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#28
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Genuine Artificial Intelligence Group: Members Posts: 4,019 Joined: 12-June 03 Member No.: 4,715 |
Am I on crack, or are you? FAB strain I dies when an astral form passes through it, releasing flourescing material that allows a mundane to detect the ghostly outline of an astral form. Strain II acts as an astral barrier, but it can be displaced by an astral form (potentially also causing an outline, where there is no FAB) but is more effective when contained in pipes or walls. If they can't be displaced, then they're an effective barrier. Plus, they'll still glow so sensors can detect intrusion attempts. Strain III moves around, eats magic, very nasty. |
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Jan 19 2006, 06:51 PM
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#29
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Prime Runner Group: Banned Posts: 3,732 Joined: 1-September 05 From: Prague, Czech Republic Member No.: 7,665 |
Well, the original version happened in previous editions when auras were impermeable. So a FAB cloud was an astral wall. It was ust sufficiently awakened to count as a solid living thing on the astral plane. So companies had pipes of the stuff around secure installations acting like an adamantine cage in the astral plane (and a mildly stinky plumbing system on the physical plane).
Then 3rd edition happened, and one of the big stealth changes to the magic system was that now auras had become semi-permeable, and astrally projecting characters could then pass through living things. Then the FAB became a dual natured object and merely acted as an astral intrusion alert system rather than as a wall. Suddenly, FAB was being pumped into rooms instead of piped through exterior walls. Of course, most of the time when people talk about FAB they actually mean Strain III FAB - which is the really dangerous stuff. It's a bacteria that grows by eating whatever happens to be next to it - on the astral plane. So for any nearby astral forms, it's like a flesh eating bacteria or a cloud of cutter nanites, but on the physical plane it's completely inert. That's stuff that once released basically kills every astral and dual natured thing in the area, and has no visible effect on the physical plane. It's too small and too numerous for even the most powerful spirit to seriously challenge it. Strain III FAB has been largely unchanged in its effects by the changes to the way magic works in various editions. -Frank |
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Jan 19 2006, 06:52 PM
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#30
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,598 Joined: 15-March 03 From: Hong Kong Member No.: 4,253 |
Fuel-Air Bomb. Once you get tired of the GM hitting your poor hacker with one unstoppable magical threat after the other, you can turn a local LPG farm into a large fuel-air bomb, thus completely destroying the campaing setting (and hopefully any nearby uppity spirits as well). Then you can start a new game where unstoppable magical threats don't come out of the woodwork to bother poor Mr. Hacker. :grinbig: |
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Jan 19 2006, 07:18 PM
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#31
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,174 Joined: 13-May 04 From: UCAS Member No.: 6,327 |
Heh, hey crusher, that's the same thing I was thinking at first. The fuel air bomb. Forget the bacteria, the bomb will solve all problem with mages... :-D
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Jan 19 2006, 10:01 PM
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#32
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,086 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 364 |
And unlike the astral bacteria, fuel air bombs would be commonly available to any mundane. The only hard part is getting the fuel suspended as a fine mist in the air, and even that isn't that hard.
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Jan 19 2006, 10:04 PM
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#33
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
There were four advantages to anchoring in SR3. First, you could repeatedly recast the spell in safety while throwing your entire spellpool at it untill you got an absurd number of successes. This would still be the case in SR4 except without the spellpool. Edge makes a half-decent substitute. Second, you could throw your entire spellpool into the drain without worry since all spellcasting successes have been pregenerated. This is impossible in SR4. Third, casting the spell from the focus could be a free action rather than a complex one, if it requires an action at all. This is still the case in SR4 Fourth, you need not worry about limitations. You can cast your exclusive for drain fetished for karma spell into an anchoring focus and then leave your fetish at home wihtout worry. You could cast as a free action instead of an exclusive complex action yet still have the drain benefit of exclusivity. This is still the case for fetishes but exclusive limits don't exist in SR4. |
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Jan 19 2006, 11:37 PM
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#34
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 775 Joined: 31-March 05 From: florida Member No.: 7,273 |
its not a "fuel air bomb" its a Fuel Air Explosive, (FAE) and try putting LPG into two splash mini-grenades followed by white phosphorus....talk about turning up the heat :evil |
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Jan 20 2006, 06:08 AM
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#35
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 458 Joined: 12-April 04 From: Lacey, Washington Member No.: 6,237 |
Tasers, stick-n-shock ammo, stun batons and other elctrical weapons all HALVE the armor ratings of whatever they hit. A spirit has to be pretty high force before its immune to that kind of damage. Tasers are cheap now, too. Any "elemental damage" really - lasers will probably count as well. This is an old trick from prior editions.
If your mundane has some magically oriented friends (really good friends) you can have them bind a spirit and order it to obey your commands or serve as an astral bodyguard. Obviously doesn't work all the time, but if you have to leave your magical support behind for some reason . . . . |
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Jan 20 2006, 07:08 AM
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#36
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Target Group: Members Posts: 28 Joined: 18-January 06 Member No.: 8,178 |
I know a weapon focus will bypass the Immunity that spirits have, but what about a weapon made from orichalcum? It is a magical substance... what if one had a weapon made of that magical substance? Wouldn't that bypass the Immunity? Granted it would be awful expensive, but a mundane could wield a weapon made of orichalcum.
Best, Charles Millar |
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Jan 20 2006, 07:08 AM
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#37
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 530 Joined: 11-June 05 Member No.: 7,441 |
They're also sexy when you're using an anchoring focus made by someone else, as they take the drain instead of you. Obviously, you have to be careful about frying them, but was pretty neato keen to carry around an increased reflexes anchoring focus and be able to activate it on demand without having to worry about the nasty deadly drain. More expensive (by far) than a sustaining focus, but you can deactivate it to slip through wards and don't have to worry about resisting deadly drain during the run. Also nice when someone's dropped 2-3 neurostun grenades on your low-body mage and he can't risk casting high power spells because he only has one box left on the stun track (ie, think anchored mana bolt or stunball or something). IMO, they're a little expensive for what you get, but they're still very useful. |
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Jan 20 2006, 09:13 AM
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#38
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Target Group: Members Posts: 26 Joined: 25-December 05 Member No.: 8,103 |
Looks like Assault rifle with EX-explosives, short bursts and called shot works just fine :grinbig: .
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