How long does it take to get hooked up on Foci? Options

[i101]

Hoi,
well I would like to know how to rule the abuse of long time activated Foci? In other words, lets asume a PC has one, or more of his Foci turned on 24/7. How long could he go on with that before he gets addicted?

[Jaid]

until the GM gets fed up with it, pretty much.

[Zaranthan]

Jaid's answer is the official one. For a guideline, I'd ask the player for an addiction test every morning if they just left Increased Body in a sustaining focus 24/7. OTOH, if you use a Power Focus every time you cast a spell, a check after each scene might be more appropriate. The key is to weigh the high the character would feel. A rush of arcane power tickles your monkey brain a lot harder than a daily convenience.

[Maelstrome]

i run it as every time they exceed twice the owners magic in collective force.

[MondoTrasho]

Jaid's answer is the official one. For a guideline, I'd ask the player for an addiction test every morning if they just left Increased Body in a sustaining focus 24/7. OTOH, if you use a Power Focus every time you cast a spell, a check after each scene might be more appropriate. The key is to weigh the high the character would feel. A rush of arcane power tickles your monkey brain a lot harder than a daily convenience.

IIRC fluffwise focus addiction is compared to a crutch, which would be closer to the very daily convenience you mentioned, comparable to a Ritalin-gobbling housewife. My take on it would be to consider the background and magical tradition of the character. E. g. a black magician would be much more likely to get high on the power a focus grants. Another thing to factor in would be the rating of the Focus. Also power foci should be much more likely to cause addictions.

[knasser]

Just to add the other extreme, I have never considered putting focus addiction in my game. It's vaguely defined (as you yourself have noticed) and that just adds to the general feeling of it being a means for the GM to punish magician characters. Just my take on it, anyway.

K.

[Eleint]

Just to add the other extreme, I have never considered putting focus addiction in my game. It's vaguely defined (as you yourself have noticed) and that just adds to the general feeling of it being a means for the GM to punish magician characters. Just my take on it, anyway.

This. Plus it removes one of the major benefits of Logic over Charisma.

[The Jake]

I didn't think it was meant to be an issue, until the player takes a number of bonuses in the form of focii that exceed his Magic attribute.

I think that's a good place to start at least. That's when I'd start considering it.

I am generally not a fan of this Negative Quality, but if a player has a Magic attribute of 5 but has a Power focus 3, Weapon Focus 3, Binding Focus 3, I'd definitely have him roll for it.

- J.

[Muspellsheimr]

Jaid's answer is the official one.

Kind of...

Focus Addiction (p. 26, Street Magic) uses the Addiction
rules (See Addiction quality, p. 80 and Substance Abuse p. 247,
Shadowrun, Fourth Edition). The gamemaster can call for a Focus
Addiction Test at any time she feels the player is abusing foci; a
good guideline is whenever a character has a total Force of active
foci in excess of twice their Magic attribute. When a character fails
the Focus Addiction Test, she gains the Focus Addiction Negative
Quality (See Focus Addiction, p. 26–27, Street Magic). Treat focus
addiction as a Mental addiction with a Threshold of 2.

Just to add the other extreme, I have never considered putting focus addiction in my game. It's vaguely defined (as you yourself have noticed) and that just adds to the general feeling of it being a means for the GM to punish magician characters. Just my take on it, anyway.

Probably the best way to go.

I am generally not a fan of this Negative Quality, but if a player has a Magic attribute of 5 but has a Power focus 3, Weapon Focus 3, Binding Focus 3, I'd definitely have him roll for it.

See my RAW quote above.

[The Jake]

Kind of...



Probably the best way to go.


See my RAW quote above.

Cheers. Thanks mate. I vaguely remembered there was a rule. I just wasn't sure what value they gave.

- J.

[i101]

I totaly forgot about the Digital Grimoire. Thanks for the Hint Muspellsheimr. Anyways, I think Focus Addication has nothing to do with punishing magicans. Btw. I am tryin to find an equal method for my mudane players that are hooked 24/7 on their wired reflexes.

[Shinobi Killfist]

I totaly forgot about the Digital Grimoire. Thanks for the Hint Muspellsheimr. Anyways, I think Focus Addication has nothing to do with punishing magicans. Btw. I am tryin to find an equal method for my mudane players that are hooked 24/7 on their wired reflexes.

To me that just becomes a pain in the butt. I just assume the stuff if off and on when appropriate. I am not going to hassle people for wearing there armor jacket all the time or carrying a pistol, so why should I hassle people for having wired up or a focus.

[i101]

I think wearning an armor jacket or carrying a pistole all the time is something diffrent then having two sustaining foci with increased reflexes and reaction activated 24/7. Imagine a nearly burned out streetmage and a streetsam with <0,25 essence, beeing under juice for days.. Of course this part could be played thru roleplaying, but what to do if not every of your players is that kind of a roleplayer? If a player in my group says his char has a addiction and he can play/act his role that good, i wont ask him always for dice roles regarding his addiction. But unfortunately not all of my players are the kind of roleplayer type. Thats why I am looking for rules which allow me to tighten strings. And there got to be something that allows me to throw a brick from time to time, on a willpower 2 / logic 2 / essence <0,25 flippy streetsam, which thinks having his move-by-wire system activated all day long is normal, until he gets shot. The same goes for the burned out streetmage (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Kerenshara]

See, as the player of a Mystic Adept who also uses cyberware (there's a story there), foci (when I can afford them) are going to be an important thing for me. I plan to keep a very close eye on the issue IN CHARACTER and if it's getting to the point she's really leaning on them, I will bring it to the GM's attention myself. If I feel my character's behavior is indicative of something like that, I'm not going to just wait for it to burn through the ground clutter on the GM's radar. But then, I'm that kind of player.

[knasser]

See, as the player of a Mystic Adept who also uses cyberware (there's a story there), foci (when I can afford them) are going to be an important thing for me. I plan to keep a very close eye on the issue IN CHARACTER and if it's getting to the point she's really leaning on them, I will bring it to the GM's attention myself. If I feel my character's behavior is indicative of something like that, I'm not going to just wait for it to burn through the ground clutter on the GM's radar. But then, I'm that kind of player.

Wow. Kerenshara, would you, like to, join my game? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

*reflects on last game session where player tried to gain extra equipment for the group by giving all his gear to the team and then retiring the PC to bring in a new one*

A player coming to me and raising balance concerns herself. It would be like my birthday. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

K.

[Kerenshara]

Wow. Kerenshara, would you, like to, join my game? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

*reflects on last game session where player tried to gain extra equipment for the group by giving all his gear to the team and then retiring the PC to bring in a new one*

A player coming to me and raising balance concerns herself. It would be like my birthday. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

K.

Um, you might want to talk to my GM first. He'll tell you I'm the biggest drekking pain in the tookus you ever will meet as a player. Then he'll tell you I have the most detailed, in depth and complex characters he's ever seen, and he loves what I add to his game.

I have a reputation as a Munchkin from years back that was never properly deserved. I just make the best character possible with the resources I am given to fit the concept I come up with. I actually pay acute attention to game balance and work with my GM almost as an assistant to help keep it there.

But I'm not all roses and sunshine.

[knasser]

But I'm not all roses and sunshine.

I met someone who was, once.

They were extremely annoying. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Peace,

K.

[Shinobi Killfist]

I think wearning an armor jacket or carrying a pistole all the time is something diffrent then having two sustaining foci with increased reflexes and reaction activated 24/7. Imagine a nearly burned out streetmage and a streetsam with <0,25 essence, beeing under juice for days.. Of course this part could be played thru roleplaying, but what to do if not every of your players is that kind of a roleplayer? If a player in my group says his char has a addiction and he can play/act his role that good, i wont ask him always for dice roles regarding his addiction. But unfortunately not all of my players are the kind of roleplayer type. Thats why I am looking for rules which allow me to tighten strings. And there got to be something that allows me to throw a brick from time to time, on a willpower 2 / logic 2 / essence <0,25 flippy streetsam, which thinks having his move-by-wire system activated all day long is normal, until he gets shot. The same goes for the burned out streetmage (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I don't see them as different. They are both basic tools of a character types trade. This would add nothing to my games

Lets see,

Hassle to track.
Either be unfair and target one group or come up with lame reasons why all character types get addicted. The Face is schmoozing too much, make a addition check or he can't stand being alone.
Oh and then I gain pain in the ass mechanics wrapped in a suck story sandwich.


On top of that I think its a bad idea decide how a player should role play his/her character due to some trite game mechanic. Millions of people drink a shit ton daily and never become alcoholics, some people rarely drink and do become addicted. I'll let the player decide if his character is type 1 or type 2, not a lame mechanic.

[Ancient History]

In the first drafts of the Magical Goods chapter of Street Magic we had some shadowtalk suggesting that the reason foci are addictive - and potentially harmful - is that they are artificial mana sources, and that excessive exposure can damage the metahuman aura.

Which is totally uncanonical because it never saw print, but just in case y'all're interested, I thought it was a different take on the subject.

[Kerenshara]

In the first drafts of the Magical Goods chapter of Street Magic we had some shadowtalk suggesting that the reason foci are addictive - and potentially harmful - is that they are artificial mana sources, and that excessive exposure can damage the metahuman aura.

Which is totally uncanonical because it never saw print, but just in case y'all're interested, I thought it was a different take on the subject.

Hmmmm... that's interesting, and suggests other things, like maybe it's the artificial concentration of mana (via the enchanting process) not unlikc HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup)? I want to think about that one.

[Shinobi Killfist]

In the first drafts of the Magical Goods chapter of Street Magic we had some shadowtalk suggesting that the reason foci are addictive - and potentially harmful - is that they are artificial mana sources, and that excessive exposure can damage the metahuman aura.

Which is totally uncanonical because it never saw print, but just in case y'all're interested, I thought it was a different take on the subject.

I'm glad it did not make print. Doesn't feel right to me for SR magic. It seems more in line with the game world to say there mana source is from the karma expended which isn't unnatural at all.