[X] My Assistant

[Aku]

So, for one of my games, i'm working on a mage. I'm aiming for a chaos tradition, and i was thinking of a Geas of "must be running a commlink in active mode". It seems to me to be a fairly strong Geas, It puts my team and myself at risk (cuz ya know, having a commlink go "beep beep" in the middle of a run is BAD even if the commlink i'm using as "active" isnt my "real" one)

[CanRay]

"Bad News, Good News: Bad news, we're busted." "Damnit, you and that commlink!" "Good news, that security guard over there thinks I'm cute and I got a date on Saturday night." "Oh joy for you."

[Tanegar]

Just out of curiosity, how does having a commlink running in active mode give your magician the confidence to use his magic effectively?

[Aku]

well, as a chaos mage, i sort of focused on:

Chaos mages are the unabashed technophiles of the
Awakened community, and commonly use technology in their
magic to complement traditional ritual materials and resourc-
es: AROs to represent formulae, mediaplayers for music, holo-
graphic symbols for warding, digital storage for their mystical
libraries, and so on.

[Yerameyahu]

I dunno. If you want that flavor, it should be less specific. 'Must make himself obvious', or 'must compromise op-sec', something like that. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Honestly, active commlink is pretty lame (besides, Signal 0, heh).

[Blitz66]

Just out of curiosity, how does having a commlink running in active mode give your magician the confidence to use his magic effectively?

Maybe the mage is a Facebook junkie and can't stand feeling disconnected. Failing to be available distract and worries the character.

Justification aside, this is a great way to get your whole team caught and shot. The fact that there is an active unauthorized PAN present will set off any alarms in a hurry.

[BishopMcQ]

I'd lean more to "must run a commlink with active AR environment," probably using Glyphs and Virtual Person. The persona is based on an electronic scan of the character, with a dry humor, and the glyphs are an actual floating casting circle or treatise of magic surrounding his feet.

There can be issues if your commlink gets crashed, you get surprised and can't grab it, or even if it just shorts out from electrical damage.

[Aku]

I was thinking of that as option B Bishop, but aside from having the commlink stolen, i dont really see a sufficiently negative downside to it...

[Yerameyahu]

Plus, you could carry a half dozen disposables just in case.

Fixing it depends on your exact angle. Is it "he's addicted to tech" or "he's recklessly visible"?

[Makki]

can't do Magic without the help and explanation of AR formulae and icons.
seems fine

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

I was always partial to the "Can't use your magic to kill" Geas for a Black Magic Tradition Mage. But that is just me I guess... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Yerameyahu]

Yeah, that's the first option ('crutch'). It doesn't do anything obvious though. *shrug* I'm kind of amused by the idea (dumb as it is for shadowrunners) of the mage who has to Leeroy Jenkins.

[Tanegar]

I was thinking of that as option B Bishop, but aside from having the commlink stolen, i dont really see a sufficiently negative downside to it...

Really? You honestly can't think of a downside? What about the one already mentioned multiple times? You know, the downside where your PC and all his teammates get captured, tortured, and shot because the mage went around advertising their presence with an active PAN? You don't consider that "sufficiently negative?"

[Yerameyahu]

I sure don't, unless there's a Signal minimum (say, 4) in the geas, or if the commlink can't be placed in a wifi-block bag, etc. It's simply too specific and easy to game. Besides, the mage can go astral on some runs. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Aku]

Really? You honestly can't think of a downside? What about the one already mentioned multiple times? You know, the downside where your PC and all his teammates get captured, tortured, and shot because the mage went around advertising their presence with an active PAN? You don't consider that "sufficiently negative?"

I was referring to being in AR as not seeing the downside.

I get the being active part as being bad, but i do believe that there should be a drawback..

[Fringe]

How about "must broadcast in AR with program mimicking the spell formula"? It wouldn't give any functional benefit, but something like viewing your magic as abilities of your "alt" in an AR game, almost like using your commlink as a fetish.

[Yerameyahu]

Everyone is always 'in AR' anyway. It's the normal state of reality for people in 2070.

Hm. That might work, Fringe: 'must keep playing Matrix AR game'. It precludes Signal/blocking trickery, even if it doesn't actually require Active mode (per se). Maybe the game itself requires Active mode, because it *is* a full AR game. That'd definitely be 'bad' enough, because then you also need a Matrix connection as well. …Possibly too bad… if there is such a thing for mages. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[BishopMcQ]

I sure don't, unless there's a Signal minimum (say, 4) in the geas, or if the commlink can't be placed in a wifi-block bag, etc. It's simply too specific and easy to game. Besides, the mage can go astral on some runs. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

You actually mentioned the first downside. Because AR doesn't travel in the astral with the mage, he'd be breaking his geas if he used magic from the Astral. Beyond that, users of AREs are noted for acting oddly because they are interacting with things that no one else can see. A hacker who cracks the mage's commlink could edit the environment or crash the program.

Just thoughts...

If the character took the Spellcasting restriction and didn't do any work in the astral, the limitation would be diminished.

[Yerameyahu]

No, BishopMQ, there are two different suggestions in play here (except in the last two posts, where we suggested merging them). The part you quoted is me discussing the 'must have Active commlink' geas, not the 'must have AR' geas. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Marwynn]

So if it's just being on Active mode what's to stop one of your teammates from bringing a directional jammer and pointing it at you at all times?

You'd never suffer your geas since it's just being active and not necessarily connected somewhere.

What about something like a Chaos Magician's P2.0, where everyone in the social network (perhaps a MoSoSo) is broadcasting all the time.

[Yerameyahu]

Yeah, something like that. It's equivalent to the Matrix AR game, but maybe with a better flavor. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Fringe]

Or you have to post to your MeFeed (or whatever the Facebook equivalent is called): ChaosMage is casting the Orgy spell at group of Horizon guards. (with the resulting GPS tagging) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

But in response to the OP: Simply requiring an "active" commlink might be okay, though the GM is encouraged to hit you with AR spam in busy areas or the occasional commlink hack. I don't recall if there's a typical penalty for AR spam, but I'd say something like either partial cover or the occasional Composure test to stay focused on the target.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Or you have to post to your MeFeed (or whatever the Facebook equivalent is called): ChaosMage is casting the Orgy spell at group of Horizon guards. (with the resulting GPS tagging) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

But in response to the OP: Simply requiring an "active" commlink might be okay, though the GM is encouraged to hit you with AR spam in busy areas or the occasional commlink hack. I don't recall if there's a typical penalty for AR spam, but I'd say something like either partial cover or the occasional Composure test to stay focused on the target.

We use a -2 for Distracted, in an AR Spam Zone, with an Active Comlink.

[HunterHerne]

We use a -2 for Distracted, in an AR Spam Zone, with an Active Comlink.

I use that as well, under normal circumstances in a spam zone.

[Yerameyahu]

Until the geas actually says 'the active comm has to be connected to the user' (and can't be wrapped in mylar), none of that matters. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)