Adepts and Mentor Spirits, Any House Rules for Mentor bonuses besides 'Spell' and 'Sp Options

[HentaiZonga]

It occurs to me that there's plenty of Mentor spirits that would make a very good translation over to the Adept side of things. All we need is to decide which Adept Powers each Totem adds a +2 dice bonus to, and which ones they might give a -1 penalty to.

[Stalker-x]

+2 to all Adept Powers of a certain category? Like "+2 to all combat-related powers"? If you've only got adept players in your group after the introduction of that house rule, you know what you've done wrong (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
We've house ruled it like this: If the adept does not gain any bonuses from his mentor spirit (for example +2 on spellcasting and on summoning for a specific category - skills he cannot use at all), the quality does not cost him anything and he does not suffer the disadvantages of the totem (unless the wants it for RP reasons; come to think of it, we've even got an amerindian street samurai [!] following Bear, who shows signs of the usual berserk attacks).
However, if the mentor spirit has bonuses the adept can make use of (e.g. the infiltration bonus of the cat totem), the quality costs the usual 5BP and the drawbacks of the totem do fully affect him.

[HentaiZonga]

+2 to all Adept Powers of a certain category? Like "+2 to all combat-related powers"? If you've only got adept players in your group after the introduction of that house rule, you know what you've done wrong (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
We've house ruled it like this: If the adept does not gain any bonuses from his mentor spirit (for example +2 on spellcasting and on summoning for a specific category - skills he cannot use at all), the quality does not cost him anything and he does not suffer the disadvantages of the totem (unless the wants it for RP reasons; come to think of it, we've even got an amerindian street samurai [!] following Bear, who shows signs of the usual berserk attacks).
However, if the mentor spirit has bonuses the adept can make use of (e.g. the infiltration bonus of the cat totem), the quality costs the usual 5BP and the drawbacks of the totem do fully affect him.

Well, clearly, "combat-related powers" seems a bit too strong. But it might be worthwhile to seperate out all the powers into 'Combat', 'Illusion', 'Manipulation', 'Health' and 'Detection' in any case.

[paws2sky]

Now, technically, regular Adepts can't get mentors spirits. That seems particularly odd, especially when considering a Shaman's Way Adept. But, whatever, there it is. I don't agree with it, but according to RAW, they can't. I suppose one could always make a Mystic Adept, but the addition 5 BP hardly seem worth it, especially if you're not planning n focusing on magical skills.

Still, they set an interesting precedent in SR4 by having mentor spirits provide provide bonuses to particular skills or tests, you really open it up for some interesting "modern" mentor spirits. GM's can even cook up their own mentor spirits, if they want. The trick is to pick single skills (see: Cat) or a narrowly defined non-skill bonus (see: Rat).

For instance, here's a modern urban mentor spirit, off the top of my head:

Speed Demon
Followers of the Speed Demon feel the need for speed, in a very real way. They're adrenaline junkies and show offs, proud of their of their skill, and more that happy to put the competition in their place when challenged or disrespected. Every Speed Demon follower is a little different; some gravitate toward bikes, some to fast cars, some to aircraft. There are even Speed Demon magicians who've taken to mastering anthroforms.
Advantages: +2 dice for one Piloting skill (choose one), +2 dice for defensive tests while piloting a vehicle.
Disadvantages: A Speed Demon magician must succeed in a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to avoid responding to a challenge from another driver, acting recklessly, or showing off while piloting a vehicle.

-paws