Using Lodges as permant wards., When is this appropriate Options

[WeaverMount]

People have been talking about how logistically difficult it is to ward significant volumes for a significant time. Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't magical lodges are permanent mana barriers? More over I could find no limit on the number of lodges a magician could maintain at once. Nor could I find karma costs or even an upper force limit. Of course the space of a lodge must be physically arranged and "Feng Shui"ed to the tradition of the activating caster. I think having a Chem plant in a Shinto logde would throw things out of whack. But many type of corporate operation could happen in a lodge without disrupting the energy of the place. I see could Hermetics and Chaos types being compatible with many such operations, especially research and VR activity.

Do you think this is a rules implication or rules abuse? Does this take a huge wait off of warding crew because you can likely keep mission critical personal in some kind of lodge? Is this just a rules over site and we should consider magicians to only be able to maintain one lodge? should lodges rating be capped at the magicians magic? magic x2? or just cash and time?

[Pyritefoolsgold]

I was just looking into this, and found it troubling. it seems like under the normal rules there would be no problem in assembling a massive force 100 ward over a corporate facility, which would only take 100 days, be permanent, and cost a grand total of 50000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) . That just seems wrong to me.

A proposed house rule would be that after setting up a mana lodge, the mage doing so takes the same drain as if they set up an equivalent ward.

[Tarantula]

I was just looking into this, and found it troubling. it seems like under the normal rules there would be no problem in assembling a massive force 100 ward over a corporate facility, which would only take 100 days, be permanent, and cost a grand total of 50000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) . That just seems wrong to me.

A proposed house rule would be that after setting up a mana lodge, the mage doing so takes the same drain as if they set up an equivalent ward.

I don't know about you, but when was the last time you stayed up for 100 days straight?

[b1ffov3rfl0w]

I haven't slept for a hundred and fifty days.



Because that would be way too long, man.

[Pendaric]

Serously, I mean this in the best humour, do these concepts even begin?
Ja ok the rules may surggest thats its techniquely possible but who in their right minds would put their private place of power, their inner sanctum, where every corp employee walks through it everyday? More importantly who would put up a lodge that would pay once when they could put up a ward that would keep paying them regularly?
Think WITHIN the box on this one. Wards are placed on sensative areas and strategic positions only. Period.

Well you guys have put a smile on my face today. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[WeaverMount]

I'll tell you where this though came from. I am playing a mage right now that is about to go global. Getting back to his lodge in the California red-wood will be problematic to say the least. I started looking reading to see mages could have multiple lodges. Nothing says they can't. Nothing, in SR4 at least, describes lodges as necessarily personal sanctuaries. That realization plus the DS chatter about how hard warding is made me start looking for limits on Lodges. None found. So I posted.

On a broader note, SR is about abusing and exploiting the system. I mean that in game. That is what runners do. The system says that Ares can't cancel MCT projects. Runners say they can. Firewalls say you can't get into the Johnson's comlink. The hacker says you can. Players should do sneaky conniving things. They should just do it in the right spirit.

Just so you know to let you know I don't think that OBVIOUSLY all corps HQ are sterilized lodges. The most play you would see this getting in my game is have some corp spider have had a latent awakening. You set the players up to think that the security somewhere is really drone heavy. Then you have the spide throw a couple sneaky detection spells to really round out the drone surveillance. And if they hit the command post it's a beefy lodge.

[Sma]

There is mention in the Aztlan Sourcebook of the priesthood using Lodges and Hermetic Circles to ward their Teocalli, for what it's worth.