Shielding Focus - the price is right, right?, Also - Absorption & Reflection Q Options

[HappyDaze]

The Shielding Focus seems a really good deal at only Force x 5,000 :nuyen: . It doesn't appear to be limited to a single category of spells like a Counterspelling Focus, but it is also not useful for any use of Counterspelling other than Spell Defense. Yeah, that's typically what you see runners using Counterspelling for, but there are a whole lot of other uses for the skill. Sadly, some (like Cleansing and Filtering) don't really get anything from a Counterspelling Focus either.

I guess that the bargain price of the Shielding Focus is made up for by the high availability, the high bonding cost, and the fact that the user needs to be an initiate with Shielding to get any benefit from it. Still, I figured I'd check here to see if the listed price is correct.

Also, will a Shielding Focus assist in Absorption and Reflecting tests? I ask becasue these both are based upon Shielding, but each seems to use their own system.

[Ancient History]

The cost listed in Street Magic is correct.

Re: Absorption and Reflecting -> Technically, the focus specifies the Shielding metamagic, and if you're using Absorption or Reflecting you're not actually using Shielding per se (it proved overly powerful in certain playtest situations). Ultimately, however, the ruling is up to the GM.

[Athanatos]

Hmm, I could definately see a reflecting foci. I'm thinking like in Incarnations of Immortality: For love of Evil, when Perry reflects a curse back at an evil sorceror.

Absorbtion too, of course!