Armor Foci, Why Not? |
Armor Foci, Why Not? |
Feb 24 2008, 09:42 PM
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#1
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Target Group: Members Posts: 51 Joined: 23-July 07 Member No.: 12,339 |
Recently at my weekly game day it was asked...why are there no armor foci in Shadowrun?
My answer was "There never have been, it is a world where it is easier to destroy then it is to defend and Armor Foci like Lined Coat Force 3 would just change the feel of Shadowrun so there are no Armor Foci." All the same though I am tossing the question out there to you Dumpshockers to see what the rest of the community has to say. |
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Feb 24 2008, 09:45 PM
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#2
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 341 Joined: 3-October 05 Member No.: 7,802 |
Wouldn't this just be like a sustaining focus for armour spell?
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Feb 24 2008, 09:48 PM
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#3
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Target Group: Members Posts: 51 Joined: 23-July 07 Member No.: 12,339 |
I realize that there are sustaining and quickening and anchoring foci that you could attach an armor spell to that would provide a foci that gives you extra armor dice through magical means, but what I was asking about is why are there no specific Armor Foci existing in Shadowrun.
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Feb 24 2008, 09:57 PM
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#4
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,180 Joined: 22-January 07 From: Rochester, NY Member No.: 10,737 |
Sustaining Focus (Manipulation) + Armor Spell = Armor Focus
EDIT: Dammit, cx2 beat me to it! This is what I get for opening all active threads in tabs... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) |
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Feb 24 2008, 10:03 PM
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#5
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,711 Joined: 15-June 06 Member No.: 8,716 |
I dont get it. Are you talking about making a foci out of a piece of armor ?? A jacket or coat or whatever would be pretty easy to trash or lose and it would be easily visable to enemy mages for attack spells and stuff?? Would be kinda pointless. Like a giant picket sign that you have to hold in both hands to sustain improved reflexes .........
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Feb 24 2008, 10:08 PM
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#6
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Prime Runner Group: Banned Posts: 3,732 Joined: 1-September 05 From: Prague, Czech Republic Member No.: 7,665 |
The Tir folks actually do have magic armor. They've never been given stats.
For most purposes an Armor or Combat Senses spell sustained on a target is better protection. However it is indisputably true that an Armor Focus that came with you on astral projections like a Weapon Focus does would be bad ass. -Frank |
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Feb 24 2008, 10:14 PM
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#7
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Old Man of the North Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 9,669 Joined: 14-August 03 From: Just north of the Centre of the Universe Member No.: 5,463 |
I think the OP is wondering about a device whose sole purpose is to add armor to the wearer. This would not have to be a piece of clothing, and it also would likely be less difficult/expensive to make because its function is much more limited (one spell) than a sustaining focus.
I don't see a problem making such a thing, but the actual costs are debatable. |
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Feb 24 2008, 10:20 PM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 346 Joined: 17-January 08 Member No.: 15,341 |
i don't know why there isn't, but it makes sense that there would be armor foci. i had been wondering about an adept taking attunement for armor, which wouldn't be as cool.
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Feb 24 2008, 10:31 PM
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#9
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 271 Joined: 18-April 06 Member No.: 8,481 |
One problem would be that it would make mystic armor a worthless power. Mages already have a spell that duplicates the function of mystic armor, so they don't exactly need a focus that does that.
Also, foci do not, and never have, mimicked spells. The only reason an armor focus even sort of makes sense is that there are weapon foci, and "armor" goes with "weapons." But that's it. Other than that, it's just a focus that does the same thing as a spell, which is not what foci are for. It's what spells are for (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) |
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Feb 24 2008, 10:31 PM
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#10
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,748 Joined: 5-July 02 Member No.: 2,935 |
There are considerations of game balance and setting flavor that come into play with "armor foci." For one, you have to decide what you actually want the focus to do. Armor is naturally very passive and very physical, whereas foci are very active and very astral. An armor focus would have to add some sort of dice to a test, it couldn't simply be "Okay, now you have a dual-natured armor vest, go have fun in astral combat." Astral combat itself is a very abstract thing: do you really think your astral form has any particular vital areas? ("Oh noes! I punch him in the third eye!") On the other hand, if the focus doesn't provide an astral armor rating, then why does its particular form matter? Weapon foci, at the least, need to be weapons because they still deal damage; if an armor foci does not provide an equivalent armor rating, then why enchant a piece of armor? On a larger scale, people concerned with magical protections have a number of options already available to them: quickened and anchored spells, spirit powers, mana lodges, Awakened ivy, etc.
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Feb 24 2008, 10:41 PM
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#11
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...now if your looking at an anchored item the Armour spell has one drawback, it kills any stealth as you would still have that glow around you whenever you wore the item of clothing. The other strike is that you need to find a mage willing to burn karma to anchor the spell and deal with one of his spell signatures wandering about town (I forgot, is there still also that "astral thread" link back to the mage?).
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Feb 25 2008, 12:52 AM
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#12
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 811 Joined: 30-January 07 From: Portland, OR Member No.: 10,845 |
The Tir folks actually do have magic armor. They've never been given stats. For most purposes an Armor or Combat Senses spell sustained on a target is better protection. However it is indisputably true that an Armor Focus that came with you on astral projections like a Weapon Focus does would be bad ass. -Frank There is Astral Armor spell right? Since Foci travel with you astrally, and the spell is on your Astral Form, isn't it the same thing? I know it may be cooler from a fluff point of view, but I don't see the point. If anything, it is more limited. The only upside to it is that the only drawback is an active focus. The bound magician has no drain to resist. Personally I don't like it. It just seems too easy. |
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Feb 25 2008, 08:39 AM
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#13
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Cybernetic Blood Mage Group: Members Posts: 3,472 Joined: 11-March 06 From: Northeastern Wyoming Member No.: 8,361 |
I have to agree, the very notion of Armor Foci makes my teeth ache.
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