Mystic Adepts/Adepts, More questions Options

[lorechaser]

I feel like I'm being unreasonably dense (And I have a newborn, so maybe I'm just sleep-deprived).

So I'm going to ask a series of questions that may well be obvious, but hopefully someone will take pity and answer them. ;)

1. Can an Adept counterspell if he has the skill? If so, is it magic + Counterspell? Or just Counterspell? And can he use a counterspelling fetish? Can he summon?

2. Assuming at least one no for #2, can a Mystic Adept do those things? If so, would it be based off the points they added to their magic pool? What if they didn't add any points? IE you spent 5 extra bp simply to gain access to the counterspelling and summoning skills?

3. Do Mystic Adepts have the ability to enter the astral plane?

Sorry if these are obvious questions, but I needs me some guidance, and I'd like to have my char ready to go at the first game, rather than hassling my poor GM for hours....

[Critias]

While I'm fairly knowledgeable on SR3, some of these answers may have changed for SR4 (and just haven't come up in my game yet). So take 'em with a grain of salt, and if someone more knowledgeable on the basic SR4 book comes along and disagrees with me, they're probably right and I probably just haven't found it yet.

1. No. Adepts normally can't do anything against mojo that a mundane can't do (IE, they still get whatever normal damage resistance, etc, test a normal guy would get, but that's it). There's some special anti-Magic Adept powers Adepts can take, but they don't generally have access to the normal "block an incoming spell since I'm a spellcaster, biotch" stuff another Mage could do.

2. Yes, Mystic Adepts can, using the "Mystic" side of their power points (IE, only the number of Magic points they dedicated towards not-Adept stuff) as their Magic rating.

3. Nope. They can purchase (they do NOT get it for free) Astral Vision like an Adept Power, but that's it. I know in SR3 there was a pretty advanced Metamagic that let Mystic Adepts actually project, astrally, for a limited amount of time -- but I'm not sure if that's available in SR4 yet or not (haven't read very far in Street Magic).

[lorechaser]

1. Okay. I *thought* that was the case, based on my readings, but I couldn't find anything to be sure.

2. For the SR4 gurus: What does that actually mean for a 1 (or even 0) magic adept? Counterspelling is Magic + Counterspell, so you lose dice there, but that's it, yes? From what I can tell, it's the same for spirits - you roll Magic + Summoning, and you have to get more hits than the spirit's force. You can't bind more than your magic in force, but you can summon whatever you can roll? Is that right?

3. Then why do I keep hearing about using Mystic Adepts to be Astral combatants? Am I misunderstanding, or are they?

[Slithery D]

In SR4 Counterspelling is just a skill, never an action. Counterspelling skill in the core book is used for only two actions: spell defense and dispelling sustained/quickened spells.

Magic attribute has no impact on spell defense. Mystic adepts need a point of spellcasting Magic to be able to do it at all, but a skill 6 Counterspelling Mystic Adept with Magic 1 is just as good at spell defense as a Magic 12 full magician initiate.

Magic attribute impacts dispelling in two ways. It adds dice, and it effects whether the drain of dispelling is physical or not. So a low (spellcasting) Magic mystic adept will have fewer dice to make his test and will suffer more often suffer physical drain from using the skill this way.

[RunnerPaul]

[PlainWhiteSocks]

[Critias]

[PlainWhiteSocks]

[Critias]

[Samaels Ghost]

[lorechaser]

Ah ha! Excellent.

[Jaid]

of course, unless your magic is very low, binding something double your force is roughly equivalent to shoving a monofilament chainsaw into your own stomach. twice if they spend edge, and three times if the spirit rolls well.

[venenum]

If you really want to make an anti mage make your self islamic and join that islamic anti mage group from street magic.