Post-character creation Awakening, How would you handle it? Options

[JongWK]

Suppose a character discovers later in his life that he's Awakened (like Sam Verner), how would you handle it?

Making him pay for it at character generation? (this doesn't allow for surprises)

Or what about the player making his character and then, for some reason, he discovers his new status during the campaign?

Would you make him pay in the second option?
How would you handle initial spell points?

Anything else I'm forgetting?

[Siege]

The problem arises from game balance.

Munchkins of all sorts would be coming out of the woodwork, manifesting like a hooker at shore leave.

Someone else posted a thread about the topic and I don't think anybody had a satisfactory resolution.

If you want to house-rule it, then snap your fingers and say "Poof!". Arguably Totems and related personifications could bestow magical ability without innate talent.

As for a game mechanic cost -- I'd wouldn't apply one because that opens the door for anyone else who wants to buy magical ability to do so.

-Siege

[Maxwell Silverha...]

well if the carcter was not created as a mage, then its a pretty good guarentee that he/she has cyberwear and bioware. That is a hit to an awakened caracter, mostly this would be up to the player to roleplay it out. Also the caracter would know no spells, nor have any contacts in the magical community. Also I would allow the caracter no magic points to purchase spells with when he/she learned the caracter was awakened, everythign would have to be bought with karma.

[Tanka]

One thing my GM is thinking about letting mundanes do is Initiate. Gets them minor magical abilities, so on, and so forth. He won't let burn outs Initiate to increase their Magic, though. We don't have everything worked out, but thus far he's thinking about it.

[TinkerGnome]

Take the type of power he's manifesting and charge him for it like it were an edge he were buying (using the same mechanic as buying off a flaw... points x 10 good karma). The character would start with no spell points, but with full adept power points. Costs would be:

Magical Adept, 30 point edge, 300 good karma
Full mage, 25 point edge, 250 good karma
Physical Adept, 25 point edge, 250 good karma
Aspected mage, 18 point edge, 180 good karma

You might reduce these costs by about half to represent the fact that they're worth less because of a lack of training (which they definitely are). Or you could just forget making them pay and give everyone else something good, too.

[Sphynx]

While I agree with the Gnome's premise, I think if you choose to treat the edge as a flaw to buyoff, you should use the Advanced BP System which represents a breakdown of the points a person spends to be a magic-type.

Using it, the Karma Cost would be 50 + ( 10 per Essence point lost ). So, someone with 3.75 Essence of Cyber would pay 90 karma. After that they can start purchasing subcategories like 20 karma to have Mana Manipulation, 10 karma to cast spells of a category, 20 to Astrally perceive, etc, etc.

Sphynx

[JongWK]

The thing is that I'm adapting to SR a very good Spanish adventure for Ragnarok. Really funny to run on Halloween or in the Dia de los Muertos. :evil:

It's set in Aztlan's Pacific coast, when the guys are relaxing in a pretty isolated villa near Oaxaca (not many runners get to do that, so they'll probably be there protecting some smuggled cargo in the basement). There is a slow, intriguing build-up, until all hell breaks loose in a seemingly endless night, while the mother of all tropical storms hits the area.

It has to do with the Aztec gods eternal struggle. In the end, somebody has to sacrifice himself (literally) to save his team mates' lives. Whoever has the cojones to kill his own character gets a special reward, although the adventure leaves that to the GM (no, the PC doesn't die, although it surely looks like that until the very end, burnt flesh and bones included, clues or batteries not included). :vegm: :vegm: :vegm:

I was just thinking that Awakening could be an appropiate reward. Perhaps as a shaman of Quetzacouatl.

[TinkerGnome]

If it's a very special situation like that, it makes a lot of sense to not charge them anything for it. After all, they already "paid" the price.

[Kurukami]

[Moon-Hawk]

My vote is: No mechanic for it. Game master's whim only. If the GM decides a character is going to spontaneously awaken, fine. It's the GM's game, and the GM is responsible for any game balance issues that go along with it.
Perhaps the GM wants to play a high-powered game, and so after a few sessions, somebody awakens, somebody gets 6,000,000 in free beta cyber, the rigger gets a militarly vehicle, etc. It could work in that context.
Perhaps somebody died in an experienced campaign, and they make a new beginning character. They're the newbie in the group, everyone else has more skills & better ware, and they play a few times through the hardships of learning to fit into a group and such, and then the GM gets bored w/ this person being underpowered and has them spontaneously awaken. It could work there, too.
There are plenty of special circumstances where a spontaneous awakening could be very cool, and tell an excellent story.

[JongWK]

[ialdabaoth]

[Dr Vital]

Or, alternatively, just give him a magic rating of 1, and leave it at that.

It's interesting, at the very least, and won't unbalance your game.

[Phasma Felis]

Here's a skeleton of a mechanic for dealing with an "Awakening" full mage character who's just learning how to control his power:

Let the character buy a "Apprentice Magic" skill at normal Karma costs. (Or higher, if you think it's appropriate.) The player has to roll this skill to perform magical actions that normally require no roll (like astral perception), and can only use Sorcery or Conjuring by defaulting to the Apprentice skill. Once the skill is high enough, it goes away and is replaced by one or two levels each of Sorcery and Conjuring, which can then be raised normally. Treat the character as a "normal" mage from here on out.

Obviously, a lot more work needs to be done with TNs, penalties, and so forth to make this system viable.

[JongWK]

@ Dr.Vital:

Giving him Magic Rating 1 sounds good. What about Astral abilities (projection, perception, drekcetera)?

---------
-"How do we blend in with those elven posers?"
(later in the game, the runners go to a Public Library)
-"Excuse, do you have a Silmarillion datachip?"

[BitBasher]

I also vote for paying 300 good karma, unless plan on giving the other players the equivalent of 30 BP's worth of crap now you will look like you are either heavily favoring one character or just screwing the rest. :D

[BigKnockers]

Depends what you're going to give him. Sorcery, Conjuring, Enchanting all of the above?

If your giving him full magic use then projection would be the way to go, but that just sounds like giving away a little too much for my liking.

Personally I would make the character a sorceror or a conjurer, and give them perception but not projection.

Thats just my opinion though.

As for the other characters getting the raw deal out of it. Well, they didn't sacrifice their character. Only problem is, this might turn the rest of your players into lemmings in the desperate hope that they will get magic usage aswell.

[JongWK]

What about giving the character just Magic Rating 1 and Astral Perception. Or maybe making him dual natured (both an Edge AND a Flaw).

[TinkerGnome]

Considering what he has to do to get it... I'd probably give the character a magic of 6 - whatever he's spent in essence, etc., no spell points, and astral perception. Then make him a shamanist of whatever spirit you want to (thus making the power seem more divine in origin, maybe?). From there, he can learn sorcery, conjuring, and spells that fit his totem. It's a bit of an advantage, but he has to spend so much to get full effect out of it, it doesn't seem like it would break the game balance.

[JongWK]

And what if he had cyber or bioware? Gone or still there?

[JongWK]

Going further into my last post: What I mean is that the myth is about the demideity sacrificing itself so that he is reborn as the Sun. Now, that touches issues like reincarnation, which have been discussed to a certain point in SR and I won't go into that now.
If if the character sacrifices himself in a pyre to be reborn as the "Sun", would you clean him of his 'ware? Would that be excessive manipulation by the GM? (I think so)

[BigKnockers]

I think your best giving your character the choice. The player may feel his character is defined by his ware/bio and may feel violated if he is suddenly stripped of it. Let him know that he will be a more effective spellslinger without it, but ultimately give him the choice.
You could always geasa some of the cyber off. if he only had 2 points of cyber, and he took gesture and chanting (or whatever it's called), then he is still the same character he used to be, it's just that if he does a jig and say some words he can sling some mojo and summon some spirits.

p.s. I agree with TG, if he's willing to bite the bullet for his friends, then 6 Major points isn't unreasonable.

[Talia Invierno]

[Sphynx]

[Talia Invierno]

Mmm. I think we're saying the same thing in different ways. (What I'd read in your system wasn't what I'd picked up from your previous post. Put it down to a Talia misunderstanding.)