Custom Arrows, Design with cost dam and specials Options

[Tanka]

Sounds like a plan! Oh, wait, you can't prove that you killed it. Only that a nuke went off and kill a few hundred/thousand people.

But, hey, you killed it!

[ialdabaoth]

That's why I always like 'Detect Dragon' / 'Slay Dragon' anchored spells at sufficiently high Force, linked to an orichalcum-and-telesmatic-rowanwood arrow.

[CoalHeart]

You can link spells to arrows? Interesting....

Can you ward an arrow to make spirit slaying arrows?

tell me more of this magic arrows. I need something to bust up spirits since our mage is fairly useless... dam pacifist. Good Face, useless for anything else.

[ialdabaoth]

It's called Anchoring, and only an Initiate can do it - and you've got to learn how.

Anchoring has two mechanics - the SR3 system, and the (in my opinion) infinitely superior SR2 system. In SR3, you create a special type of focus, and anchor a detection spell or 'trigger' (which could also be a simple 'touch activation' or 'command word spoken, not just a detection spell), followed by a payload spell. When the detection spell/trigger activates, the payload spell goes off, targeting whatever 'triggered' it (i.e., whatever was detected by the detection spell, or whatever issued the command word). Then the magician, wherever he is in the world, takes Drain and knows that his Anchor went off.

In SR2, you took the drain when you made the anchor, so you could make true 'magic items' that had sustained spells linked into them, that could be turned on/off by specific conditions. You could also daisy-chain anchors in SR2, so you pretty much had a Turing-complete 'magical programming language' to build magic items with. It rocked. Now you can just do 'magic potions' and other such one-shot effects, which isn't nearly as cool.

But yeah, you can anchor a pretty hefty combat spell into an arrow, and then a detection spell so that the arrow only targets what you want it to (but if it's an area-effect spell, be careful walking too close to what you're targeting!). I've created a specific spell called 'detect impact' for just these occasions, that lets you make anchors that deliver their payload only when they hit something with sufficient force. If you're going after meat targets, and are sure you're going to be able to penetrate, 'detect blood' might be useful too.

[CoalHeart]

ialdabaoth, you are a mad genius before your times.

*jots notes*

is it possible to Anchor a seeking spell? so your Arrow can alter direction if lets say your target is running for his dear life.
Detect Target Force 1
Change direction Force 1?

[ialdabaoth]

That's a very interesting idea. Canonically, it doesn't appear so... let me think about it for a minute, though.

Postulate: A modified version of 'Magic Fingers', in the same vein as 'Fling' - but it's sustained, and it just causes objects of a certain type (say, arrows) to be attracted to the target, and the target to be similarly attracted to those targets, by a given force. We'll call it 'Attraction'. Now, you can make a specifically targeted version of this spell: For example, you could make each arrow a stacked focus (with a Force 1 sustaining focus, with 'Attract Dragon' linked to it.) Then you put in a dual anchored spell, linked to 'Attract Arrow' and 'Slay Dragon'.

So, what happens is, you get an extra number of dice to hit the dragon, equal to the number of successes in the 'Attract Dragon' spell. Then, when the Dragon gets hit, the 'Detect Dragon' spell goes off, and the Dragon gets hit with two spells: Attract Arrow, and Slay Dragon. Slay Dragon hurts the dragon, badly, and Attract Arrow means that all FURTHER arrows shot at the dragon will get the successes on this spell added to their attack roll, too - after the fourth or fifth arrow hits, you're pretty much guaranteed a hit on any further arrows.

[ialdabaoth]

Of course, keep in mind that EACH arrow is going to cost your caster around 5-10 Karma, and will be pretty much gone once it's used.

[CoalHeart]

Hrm 5-10 karma per would be a problem. Dam... is it just my opinion of is that just rediculuos that expendable anchorings cost karma?

I mean you spent karma learning the skill to make it, spent karma learning the metamagic, Spent karma learning the spells. Spent hours creathing the foci, spent more hours binding the spells. Spent who knows how much money on materials. Just to then cost Karma?

I mean if it were reusable I could understand the karma need since its permenant.



P.S. I can't spell or type well today. I have no idea why.

[ialdabaoth]

Expendable anchorings cost karma because you've got to imbue a bit of your life-force into the spell to make it work.

I would agree that it's excessive, but only because the magician must resist drain when the spell goes off. I would argue that the drain happens when you cast the spell into the item (as in SR2); this would rebalance the game significantly. It would also mean that anchors would still work after the caster dies.

[Siege]

Well, if you had enough material you could make a mother-length of chain and put a harpoon/spike/spear.

That'll get you a certain amount of range.

Granted, with that much magical material, you could retire quite happily...

-Siege

[ialdabaoth]

Heh. That IS an idea, isn't it?

[Austere Emancipa...]

[CoalHeart]

I suppose... But you can get expendable spell foci that add to your magic, and help you do some really spectacular spells. I mean if you had the money for it you could burn off 10 of the expendable force 10 foci and cast a spell strong enough to nuke a city.


Just because something casts a spell by itself or actually in essence just delayed for as long as it takes for the trigger to go off, why would that cost Karma?

*mutters* I'll probalby regret getting into this but...
Casting a spell doesn't cost karma.
Sustaining a spell doesn't cost karma
waiting and then casting doesn't cost karma
Casting and then having the spell wait for you to trigger it costs karma?


Feh.... nevermind me I just don't get it, nor am I going to try to change the game or make a house rule.

I wonder if it costs a demolisionist karma if he sets a bomb on a triggered delay when the image recoginition software identifies it's target... Oh wait right he paid cash for it. BLAH.

I'm going to go smoke up and come back, thanks for the help though.

[ialdabaoth]

Locking a spell to an item so it can be cast or sustained outside of your presence costs Karma.

Sustaining foci, Quickening, and Anchoring all have this principle in common.

[CoalHeart]

Yes I suppose so.
Sustaining = Permenant untill foci is removed from you, dispelled, passes thruogh ward, or actively turned off

Quickening= permenant, untill dispelled or passed through strong enough ward.

expendable Anchoring = Temporarily permenant untill triggered, untill dispelled, passes through ward, or physicall destroyed. one time use.

permenant anchor = temporarily permenant untill triggered, untill dispelled, passed through ward physically destroyed, and reusable.


eh hell I wish there were expendable sustaining Foci. It would hold Force X 10 minutes worth of spells

Force 1 foci would hold a force 1 spell for 10 mins.
force 6 foci would hold a force 1 spell for 60 mins.
force 4 foci would hold a force 2 spell for 20 mins


I really should stop smoking, I'm coming up with crap huh?