Roleplaying question re: pixies, really now? Options

[Johnny Hammersti...]

Alright, I'll admit that I dislike the idea of pixies in the game as much as some of you dislike technomancers.

That said, for those of you who have seriously played a pixie, was it for the beardiness or because you actually thought it would cool to play a pixie in a dark future cyberpunk Gibson meets Tolkien mashup? Please tell us about it.

As the GM, I would let players be pixies, if they really wanted to, but I can't imagine they'd ever get work. Imagine the face to face with the Johnson.

Of course you could be the hidden member of the party, maybe the hacker who stays back in the van, but I can't imagine it would be easy to get a pixie-sized commlink. Watch out for cats and groups of young boys too.

[Yerameyahu]

Can't imagine anything *easier* than a pixie-szied commlink. Commlinks can be essentially any size or shaped, and it's not like you hold them to your ear. You interface wirelessly with trodes, contacts, earbuds, etc.

[Draco18s]

Our pixie stayed invisible most (all) of the time, hitched rides on other players (frequently) and had one health spell: Intoxicate (that spell that makes people drunk). Which he* used all the time. Oh, and he* constantly drank.

*Player was male, character was female.

[Daylen]

I might have once, but I was drunk and feeling experimental! don't judge me! having done so does not effect my manliness one bit!

[MortVent]

yeah much better to play a troll mage... rather than something from a fairy tale ya know... ;p

It's all in how the character is protrayed.

I've seen pixies played with chips on thier shoulder that would make most gillettes look like sweet lil ol girl scouts, and others that were easy going sorts running the shadows for kicks

[tagz]

I currently have a pixie adept hacker as the group's NPC hacker. One delta grade datajack, cause he's "my" character and it's about time I use my GM powers for a little selfishness (IMG:style_emoticons/default/twirl.gif) . Character-wise he's a black sheep in the family, embracing tech and abandoning a great deal of traditional pixie stuff, media junkie, etc. This caused some problems with his interactions with his own kind so he left for the cities.

[Minchandre]

I would say a pixie is probably mostly a regular shadowrunner, but there are a few things that would be different. Remember the character probably comes from some woods somewhere, so likely has a rural background. Also, recall the out-of-placeness that trolls and dwarves experience due to size, and square it. Even ignoring things like chairs being too tall and too deep to sit in comfortably, and toilets being too large to use easily, just consider a pixie trying to eat a goddamn candy bar: it would be the equivalent size of a sub sandwich.

Also, because I've been heavily considering trying to play a pixie recently, I've been trying to think of how to do it. Clothes and armor make sense, though clearly would have to be made custom, but what about weapons? Knives wielded with two hands I could do, but how would a pixie carry a gun? Allow them to use pistols that have been modified to hold like longarms? Allow heavy and machine pistols, or just limit them to light? How much stronger is the recoil on an entity that weights like <10kg? Who's flying? Also, if I were a GM, I'd make encumbrance much more of an issue than for metahumans.

[MortVent]

pixies tend to be the rigger/decker infiltration types as mundanes and magic dynamos as awakened

And not all have to grow up in the wild, some have moved into the cities

[dirkformica]

Pixie possession-mage, with the Shapechange spell is a real powerhouse. Such tasty drain stats and human-esque edge. Then you've got -Magic attribute to detect them when they want to Infiltrate (with their high Agility and small size.) I've wanted to play one since I first saw Runner's Companion, but alas, it has not yet happened.

[The Jopp]

I made a Pixie mage a while ago.

Due to size and the fact that the pixie in question have a problem with most weapons she went with a pistol size crossbow (which would be like a medium crossbow for her).

Mostly using Stick N Shock crossbow bolts and Incendiary or Injection bolts with Neurostun.

The ability to give everyone searchign for her a -6D6 perception check on the physical plane apart from the ruthenium modified second skin line armor suit was useful too.

She also had a 'slight' problem with Tir Elf nobles due to the little (now dead) noble who enjoyed pulling/cutting off wings of pixies for fun. Yes, she lacks wings since the only need for flight is the magical ability, not the actual wings.

Primary job was spelldefense and combating spirits and had soem useful spells for everyday life.

Analyze Device (restricted target self)
Fix
Fashion
Shapeshange (restricted target self - metahuman)
Powerball (restricted target - nonliving, blowing peoples guns and clothes off but leaving them alive)

[The Jopp]

and human-esque edge.

Where IS it written that they have a base Edge attribute of 2 and maximum of 7?

I've looked everywhere and found nothing?

[IKerensky]

Windlings are a major part of Earthdawn...

Pixies SHOULD be here in Shadowrun (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[The Jopp]

A pixie adept with a HtH weapon is a scary thing.

Lets assume a primitive city tribal pixie in redmond armed with a regular hunting spear with a personal grip and specialization in spears.

Let us also say we maximize his agility and he have an average pixie strength of 2.

Base damage 3P

Dicepool
Agility: 8
Skill: 8
Reach: +2
Personal Grip: +1
Dicepool: 19D6

Now we give him a magic of 6 and ruthenium suit.
We can also coat the weapon in some local poison
We also add improved ability for Melee at +3D6 as an adept.
We also add improved ability for Infiltration at (?) amount.

So we look at 22D6 attack with a surprise test since we A: Fly B: Are invisible.

If we are so inclined we could also go with a Stun staff and have a base of 6S(e) reducing teh targets armor in half and have 22D6 attack dice.

We can also go with a vibro sword for a base damage of 5P -2 armor and 21D6

And how could I forget - the monowhip pixie...20D6 8P -4 armor

[IKerensky]

Windlings Wings produce a Humming sound very audible when flying. Also even if not required for the actual flight if they lose the wings they tend to be psychologically unable to fly anymore.

[The Jopp]

Windlings Wings produce a Humming sound very audible when flying. Also even if not required for the actual flight if they lose the wings they tend to be psychologically unable to fly anymore.

And where in the RAW is that? Running wild? I find nothing about it in runners companion. Besides, it's "tend to be" which mean some can overcome it. I would say it would require a higher magic rating than 1 in that case.

[Wasabi]

I find them appealing because they fly and are small. I'm sketching out a Pixie Physad with Type O system and thus far he amuses me greatly although he is still forming in the vat that is chargen. I imagine him with a Custom look Extended Clip Holdout pistol (Cavalier Scout) modelled into a lever action Winchester using Custom look and a Microkatana (Cougar Fineblade knife with Custom look: Katana). The bonus to intimidate combined with falsetto makes me chuckle.

To an earlier poster, it says their max edge is 7 but does not say they get a +1 Edge.

As for staves and whips the FAQ says they can use up to a holdout pistol or knife although your GM may disagree on how 'hard and fast' their example is.

Honest question... since they are Sapient Critters can someone with a Body thats low enough shapechange into a Pixie strictly by RAW?

[Mäx]

Where IS it written that they have a base Edge attribute of 2 and maximum of 7?

Maximum 7 is in the end of not metahuman paragraph in page 84 of runners companion.

[Yerameyahu]

Yes, it doesn't say you start with 2, it says the max is 7. Given how many free stats they already get… (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

No, you can't shapechange into a Pixie. No special critters at all, IIRC; either nothing with a Magic, or something like that.

[The Jopp]

As for staves and whips the FAQ says they can use up to a holdout pistol or knife although your GM may disagree on how 'hard and fast' their example is.

Well, Technically speaking they can use any weapon as long as one use the Metahuman Customization modification.

Now, dont get me wrong, I'll slap someone silly if they give the pixie a huge gun but ANY kind of melee weapon would be just fine as it would be built after their own size, guns are an iffier question.

Guns are especially problematic since they usually have the ammunition in the grip, and pixies are basically small children in size, and they usually dont make guns for children, unless you count those micro guns I've seen pictures of somewhere on the web, you know, the tiny, tiny goldplated uzi on a keychain...

Is there a good way of combining melee weapons in SR4?

Take a basic Spear, combine it with a Stun Staff and then combine those with a Telescopic staff.

Best way to do it would be:

1: Add the cost together
2: Add the availability together

Collapsible Stun Spear with an availability of 10R and require two skills. Clubs for the back end of the spear that contains an electroshock attachement and blades skill for the Spear end.

[Gamer6432]

Actually, Pixies are shorter than young children (assuming you mean not infants). Average Pixie height is 45 cm, which is roughly 1ft 5in. I'd say anything larger than a hold out or modified light pistol is going to be too big to handle effectively, regardless of recoil factors.

[Yerameyahu]

The problem with the, The Jopp, is that size is often part of the inherent identity of melee weapons. It's certainly part of their damage and reach stats.

[The Grue Master]

I have had numerous pixies in my campaigns (which tend to be less urban-centric) as they make incredible social adepts and magicians and more than make up for the lack of soak ability with difficulty in being hit. I found the best way to deal with the fantasy-esque nature of pixies was to address it head on, i.e. I didn't make jokes or play to the stereotypes (just like elves) and the group stopped caring pretty quickly. I also found it helpful to claim that by merit of being magical creatures, the pixies Strength and Body were not proportional to a similarly sized human; this helped explain why weapons that were proportionally too large could be used. Also, as a house rule, we declared the pixies' wings to be not directly related to their ability to fly and that damage to wings would regrow with a good night of sleep (more if they were terribly mangled).

[Yerameyahu]

I don't think anyone's saying Pixies aren't powerful (QUITE the opposite, that's the problem). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) The problem is, half of the balance *is* saying that they can't use too-big things. If you give them effectively normal guns, there's nothing left to stop them.

[MortVent]

I don't think anyone's saying Pixies aren't powerful (QUITE the opposite, that's the problem). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) The problem is, half of the balance *is* saying that they can't use too-big things. If you give them effectively normal guns, there's nothing left to stop them.

Trode net at 2x cost
Commlink unit (probabbly a vest unit vs a std one) with sim module

Drones.. lots of shiny drones with guns.. big guns, little guns..

>:3

And spirits... nasty nasty spirits


My DM said I was not to have a character that has that much firepower in that game... something about a cheerful little pixie singing the doom song while unleasing digital and magical armageddon scared him

[Yerameyahu]

Exactly. Totally overpowered.