teleport spell in shadowrun, is it doable? Options

[Red Fox]

as the topic describes, I have a player who, inspired by the new Shadowrun videogame, wants to write a teleport spell. another player mentioned that in the book it says no one has managed to teleport or bring someone back to life with magic yet - the question is: should I allow a minor version of the spell into the game? what do you all have to say on the matter? I told my player that whatever this forums consensus was would be my answer. have at it :D

[Magus]

No. The Mana Level has not risen enough as it was in ED where a mage could physically step into the NetherPlanes and step out in a new location. Do not allow the cheesiness and non SR of said video game to pollute your RPG. This is Shadowrun not a FPS wannabe.

[Thanee]

I would also advise against it, since it is simply a too powerful effect.

Bye
Thanee

[ThreeGee]

I voted no as this effect is specifically excluded from player characters, however

[Jack Kain]

[ThreeGee]

[Red Fox]

[Magus]

Also this is not <unnamed fantasy game>

[Aaron]

Street Magic, page 159.

[hyzmarca]

If the character has a high double-digit magic rating (sixty or more) then he should be able to pull it off. It would be best if he were trained by an IE.

[Kyoto Kid]

...no, no, no, no, and no. At least not until tech has first found a means to successfully pull off matter transmission.

(...just hope there's no "fly in the ointment..." :grinbig:)

[nezumi]

Tell your player he is fail, then burn him for being a heretic to boot.

The absolute MOST I would allow them to do would be create a 'walk through walls' power, but the drain could would be in the +2D area and it would be instantaneous, allowing you to travel through a single wall, limiting you to a distance based on your travel speed. But that's only after he bought me a LOT of beer and pizza.

[HappyDaze]

I'd rather just have the wall temporarily (Sustained duration) be rendered insubstantial rather than opening the doorway to teleportation effect. No pun intended.

Big problem I see is that - for the type of work performed in Shadowrun - Teleport-type effects will become 'must-haves' if allowed. I don't like must-haves that can't be accomplished in any other way.

As for IEs... in my games they are just Free Spirits with Realistic Form that choose to appear as elves. Sure, they can 'teleport' by going through their 'metaplanar shortcut' - see Street Magic - but it's not really a teleportation effect.

[sunnyside]

To many editions....

I'm pretty sure in one of them at least some things had the power to take physical bodies into the astral, and then out again at a different point. That would be a nerfed teleport in effect.

In ED players could get that ability. But it was not easy, and your campaign would have to go a loooooong time.

A player getting the ability in SR would be pretty epic and probably involve an immortal elf or dragon.

[ElFenrir]

I voted for the nerfed version actually, 1 of the 2 people.


First off, there are some pretty spectacular spells. Stacking an Improved Invisibility spell with some sort of speed increase and levitate and you have a sort of Macgyvered teleport spell. :grinbig:

I don't see it being too unbalancing if it were:

A. Absolutely D level drain.

B. Meters limited by force. Here's a tricky one. Some well cybered individuals, or adepts, or simply people with a great stat and Athletics skill can probably JUMP several meters. Athletes today, non cybered, can jump pretty amazing distances with a running start. But, you're teleporting THROUGH things, so perhaps it should be a reasonable limit, Meters=to Force or Magic Attribute, whichever is lesser(casting it at force 8 but only a 4 magic would result in physical drain for a 4 meter teleport. But hey, you got through that wall.)

C. Teleporting into things and getting stuck would be very, very, very bad.

D. Teleporting through things meant to block mana-like barriers, could likewise do some serious disrupting of your body. If not simply vaporizing you, to prevent this from happening. A more kind approach might be to simply say ''this spell cannot penetrate astral barriers'' and make a reason why.

E. It sort of balances itself if the people don't check to see what's on the other side of that wall. ;)

With all of these in mind, i don't see it breaking the game. Perhaps what might be in order, if i for some reason were to introduce it(i had or have no plans to do so, im just not against a weak version...but i admit it would take some thought into the whole ''why'' thing), is a playtest to see just what it could do. Perhaps im not missing something.

[hyzmarca]

The issue isn't balance. Teleport can be very balanced. The issue is flavor and precedent.

It has always been impossible for normal characters to teleport. only IEs could possibly do so. Allowing a teleport spell drastically changes the flavor of the game.
More importantly, if you allow one spell from the video game it weakens your ability to reasonably deny other spells, such as Resurrection.

[Ophis]

It warms me cockles to see DS so united on an issue.

Just say NO to teleporting.

(though I would allow a phase thru walls spell).

[Konsaki]

[Eryk the Red]

I wouldn't do the "poof!-hole-in-space" type teleport, if at all. I might be okay with an approximation of teleportation that transforms the target into an immaterial energy, moves them, then reforms. This would explain disallowing teleports going through mana barriers (or at least forces them to fight the barrier with the spell's Force).

Of course, there's another limits you can place on it: target location must be in line of sight. Maybe ritual magic would allow you to go somewhere in the spotter's line of sight. Maybe.

It's moot, really, because I don't really want that in my game. Not our style.

[Kyoto Kid]

[Prime Mover]

Long ago in first edition I introduced few things that came to pass anthroform drones the infamous R.O.C 13 project hehe and long involved south american run that ended up a gun battle deep in jungle over some confusion over who was gonna hold the important "chip". I digress hehe during this run groups mage a equally famous charecter due to his ability to roll handfulls of dice and get no six's. Came across a spell formula in a ratafarian dragons bunker, this spell was limited version of teleport.

The could move you from point a to point b with such speed to as appear to teleport. Could not move thourgh solid matter and could not lose momentum from casting. ie Wormwood struggling with south am rebel on small prop plane, rebel turns out to be werewolf, Wormwood "Teleports" out of the falling plane, Wormwood impacts the jungle floor at incredible speeds. ;;) Spell limited 10 meters per force pnt. Havent used it since but was tons of fun at the time.

[GWCarver]

I've been toying with adding a spell that looks like teleport. It is LOS only and the character doesn't teleport, he is just moved so fast that it appears to be instant. They also have to be super careful of objects in between points A and B. Going through walls is out of the question in my game.

[mfb]

no, a) because it's too powerful, b) because god in heaven i don't want to see the rules debates that would spring up over it. and c) because no! just no, dammit.

[Konsaki]

[mfb]

see, the funny thing is? i really am showing restraint.