[i]How[/i] heavy? Options

[Browncoatone]

So I was looking for a target for a run that would be capable of surviving a car wreck and being too heavy, cumbersome or difficult to transport on foot under fire. I naturally thought top secret experimental drone prototype. Then I went looking for a basic chassis to pervert to my purposes but haven't be able to determine one important aspect from their stats: How much does that drone weigh?

Is there a formal (or even informal) drone body to weight ratio?

[Ryu]

There is a freestyle size class, medium drones go up to motorbike size. Already annoying large if they are not moving on their own. Large drones start at motorcycle size. No guidance on weight, but two street sams with augmented strength or a mage with levitate will have no issues. (Tominos are large drones and weight 250kg+.)

You could of course judge the drone to be entangled into the car wreck. The easiest way to achieve that is putting a smallish medium drone into a drone rack, which is then deformed during the crash.

[Naysayer]

I'm sorry I can't help you on the drone-weight thing, but you could go for an anthroform drone, or even a (*deactivated*) full-cyborg shell. You'd still have to wing it, but you would have standard metahuman weight as a baseline and only need to add what you think the 'ware would weigh. (Isn't there a even short blurb about how much a cybertorso adds to your weight? Need to check...).
This way, you'd have the added bonus of having the "empty shell" suddenly crawl out of the car-wreck, punch a semi-truck to death and then turn out to be an emotionally confused and unstable eight year old...

Other fun heavy things to steal:
An old (like 20th century safe)
A cryogenic tank containing the body of an old billionaire
A man-sized statue of a man (who my or may not be the victim of a petrify-spell=
Stephen Hawkings wheelchair
James T Kirks captain's chair
The Lunar Rover
The collar-bone of a dragon
This is getting silly

[hobgoblin]

heh, how about a refrigerator sized computer?

[Ryu]

Industrial Machinery Prototypes - see "Nanoforge (large)" - can fill a whole truck.

[Dakka Dakka]

a mage with levitate will have no issues. (Tominos are large drones and weight 250kg+.)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) A threshold of 7+ with no problems, so the mage would have to have a dicepool of 21+ (IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif)

[Ryu]

We´ve run it without adding OR so far, you are correct. Levitate is no RAW solution for most mages, at least not without spending edge.

[Dakka Dakka]

Yup OR according to RAW is pretty crippling for mages. I prefer to only use OR on damaging spells and those that explicitly mention it in their description.

[AllTheNothing]

We´ve run it without adding OR so far, you are correct. Levitate is no RAW solution for most mages, at least not without spending edge.

Couldn't the mage use magic fingers combined to his/hers own strenght?

[pbangarth]

The Spell Table at the back of Street Magic, page 187 ff., explicitly states which spells require beating the Object Resistance threshold. Levitate is not one of them.

[Ryu]

At least the spell description from the German main book does, though. I fully agree with not considering OR on that spell, so all is good. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[pbangarth]

Perhaps levity is a scarcer commodity in Germany, Ryu, and therefore the German edition incorporates an extra-heavy resistance. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[ornot]

I think it depends on how lucky your mage is too. The mage in my group is fiendishly lucky, often rolling critical successes on 4 dice. The hacker is pretty much as bad... last session she rolled 15 hits on 20 dice (vehicle damage resistance test. I thought my AV rocket would cause some pain, but nooooo). By contrast, I can critically glitch on 10 dice with sufficient regularity that my players actually take my appaling luck into account when coming up with plans.

[Dakka Dakka]

Wieder eine Verschlimmbesserung der deutschen Redaktion.

Sorry for writing german.

@Ornot: Maybe you could use a dice roller for a change, or even better use it even for the players' rolls.

[Ryu]

Perhaps levity is a scarcer commodity in Germany, Ryu, and therefore the German edition incorporates an extra-heavy resistance. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

We await the coming of a new main book (and tons of other translations). The days of odd deviations will soon be gone.

[AllTheNothing]

Would multiple levitate spells stack?
I don't think it would be unbalancing, the caster should make multiple drain resistance tests and (unless he/she uses sostaining foci) the sustaining penality is going to stack producing dimiscing returnes.

[AllTheNothing]

We await the coming of a new main book (and tons of other translations). The days of odd deviations will soon be gone.

Define "odd deviations" pleas.

[Ryu]

Define "odd deviations" pleas.

Liberties taken in "translation"&editing resulted in a certain number of rule changes. Things like the exclusion of vehicles and weapons from the Diagnostics sprite power, the removal of the option of increasing an AoE on spellcasting, a restriction of (skill rating) to DIY gear and program ratings, the addition of questionable spells (Aspected Mana static)...

[AllTheNothing]

Liberties taken in "translation"&editing resulted in a certain number of rule changes. Things like the exclusion of vehicles and weapons from the Diagnostics sprite power, the removal of the option of increasing an AoE on spellcasting, a restriction of (skill rating) to DIY gear and program ratings, the addition of questionable spells (Aspected Mana static)...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/eek.gif) Aspected Mana Static?? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohplease.gif) If it does what I think it's an orribly overpowered spell.

[Dumori]

It does do what you think it dose plus for toxic mages its works most of the time as a very good mana static as well. The best spell not in the core book (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Whipstitch]

How about a (temporarily?) catatonic cyberzombie, genetically modified paracritter or biodrone prototype with Astral Hazing and a severe illness/malfunction that required sedation? Or maybe just make it a large shipment of modified Haven Lily? None of these things would necessarily have to ever actually threaten your players; just let them be really unwieldy to handle and have natural magic damping in order to help eliminate the Levitate/Spirit options. You also get the bonus of the players soiling themselves everytime one of their charges so much as yawns. Taking too long on the run could result in a pair of pissed off, heavily cybered barghests tearing their way out of the van. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)


I know none of that really helps, it's just how my mind works. Also, one of my players actually had the gall to say the last run was "almost too easy," so I've been plotting how to use just about every GM trick short of "Rocks fall, everyone dies" on them over the next month.

[Ryu]

I know none of that really helps, it's just how my mind works. Also, one of my players actually had the gall to say the last run was "almost too easy," so I've been plotting how to use just about every GM trick short of "Rocks fall, everyone dies" on them over the next month.

Can we help? Please? For free and all that? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/vegm.gif)

[Whipstitch]

Actually, I settled on barghests already once it occurred to me that the rigger likes to physically drive his rig meatside whenever possible. After all, it's hard to drive when a barghest is howling in the back.

[Knight Saber]

At least the spell description from the German main book does, though. I fully agree with not considering OR on that spell, so all is good. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

In that case, bring along a wooden forklift pallet, have the party wrestle the item onto it and levitate the pallet!

[Ryu]

Actually, I settled on barghests already once it occurred to me that the rigger likes to physically drive his rig meatside whenever possible. After all, it's hard to drive when a barghest is howling in the back.

I would predict two sleeping barghests instead of two howling barghests. Or have you found a way to justify a "delivered awake" requirement?