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> Imbuing, New metamagic
Tanegar
post Oct 25 2012, 03:44 AM
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Prerequisites: Quickening, Anchoring
Imbuing allows a magician to weave a spell into the very being of a willing subject. The spell must be anchored to the recipient's body by some object or alteration to the skin; tattoos are the most common medium, but other forms of scarification and even subdermal implants can be used. Ordinary piercings will not work for this purpose; the anchor must be something that cannot be easily removed. An imbued spell must satisfy all of the following conditions:
  • The spell's Force cannot be higher than the recipient's Essence.
  • The spell must have a Duration of "S," or sustained.
  • While active, the anchor cannot be covered.

Like quickening, a magician imbuing a spell must pay Karma equal to the Force of the spell. The recipient may turn the spell on and off at will; however, if he attempts to pass through a ward with the spell active, the spell automatically deactivates and cannot be reactivated for a number of minutes equal to its Force. If the anchor becomes covered, whether by clothing, mud, body paint, etc., the spell deactivates and cannot be reactivated until the anchor is uncovered. If the anchor is removed (usually by excision), the spell and the Karma used to imbue it are permanently lost.
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Manunancy
post Oct 25 2012, 05:39 AM
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A few remarks :
- Can the imbued spell be dispelled or otherwise magically messed with while inactive ? I assume from the interaction with barriers that it isn't. In that case I'd pay more karma for it than fora mere quickening with all it's associated inconvenients - 1,5 to 2 times the force

- When disrupted by a barrier I'd align the recovery time with the barrier's force (maybe that's what you had in mind but it's not clear). I would extend that effect to dispelling - hit the spell with somehting big and it will take more time to get back online.
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Halinn
post Oct 25 2012, 01:48 PM
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Perhaps allow the recipient to pay the karma cost instead of the magician? Could be justified that it uses his energy to power itself.

Also, I'd put a cap on how many imbued spells any one person can have on them (2x Essence total Force, perhaps?).

Lastly, I'd allow it to be bought as gear (with a high cost and availability (15k (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) x Force, 5x Force availability?), because it's deep down an initiation tree. Pay with your own karma), to mesh it into the world. This also allows for another variant on the street samurai role, using imbued spells to augment some basic bioware.
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Tanegar
post Oct 25 2012, 09:16 PM
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QUOTE (Halinn @ Oct 25 2012, 08:48 AM) *
Also, I'd put a cap on how many imbued spells any one person can have on them (2x Essence total Force, perhaps?).

Definitely a cap. I was thinking of just making it a hard "one spell per person," though your idea also has merit. Not sure how I feel about allowing it to be purchased like gear.
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Udoshi
post Oct 25 2012, 09:24 PM
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QUOTE (Halinn @ Oct 25 2012, 07:48 AM) *
Perhaps allow the recipient to pay the karma cost instead of the magician? Could be justified that it uses his energy to power itself.

Also, I'd put a cap on how many imbued spells any one person can have on them (2x Essence total Force, perhaps?).


Similiar to Foci, I'd put a word in about Magical Addiction - some other spells, like the 'i don't have to eat' spell, also can cause magical addiction/dependency.

QUOTE (Tanegar @ Oct 25 2012, 03:16 PM) *
Definitely a cap. I was thinking of just making it a hard "one spell per person," though your idea also has merit. Not sure how I feel about allowing it to be purchased like gear.


Its a headache to deal with the Reagent system, but you might want to come up with a small guide/system that uses it. This would let you put a price in time/effort/money on it, and also open up the opportunity to pay less karma for the spell by using better Reagents to make it ........ without flat out saying you can buy it with money.
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Lionhearted
post Oct 25 2012, 09:32 PM
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From a RP perspective the only reason why spells like these wouldn't get sold is if access to the metamagic was severely restricted or regulated... Like being exclusively available to a single organisation that don't want to share.

Other then that, I don't think any mage with atleast a miniscule business sense could resist carving gold with such a service, no matter his standards
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Tanegar
post Oct 26 2012, 02:14 AM
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How about this: the magician and recipient must each pay karma equal to the spell's Force.
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Irion
post Oct 26 2012, 09:20 AM
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Take care of the "using edge to get more hits than force"-loophole...
Having Combat reflexes with 12 hits on every party member is quite powerfull...
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Tanegar
post Oct 26 2012, 11:47 AM
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Ooh, good point.
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Lionhearted
post Oct 26 2012, 02:18 PM
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Given that this feel alot like magical 'ware, Wouldn't an essence loss as long as the imbue is active make an awful lot of sense, it's using a part of your life force to sustain itself or something along those lines.
Not sure how it would work out mechanics wise although.
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Tanegar
post Oct 26 2012, 05:46 PM
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I don't think an actual Essence loss would make sense. Rather, I think it would be better to change the existing "Force cannot exceed recipient's Essence" restriction to "total Force of all imbued spells cannot exceed recipient's Essence."
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Lionhearted
post Oct 26 2012, 06:07 PM
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My concern is with it turning into mage-friendly ware, you get all the bells and whistles from being awakened and magical tattoos that don't mess with your mojo.
My thought wasn't so much a essence loss, but an essence throttle that weakens your mojo as a cost for having constant effects running on you... maybe if it interacts with your magic instead for awakened chars?
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Halinn
post Oct 26 2012, 06:50 PM
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QUOTE (Lionhearted @ Oct 26 2012, 08:07 PM) *
My concern is with it turning into mage-friendly ware, you get all the bells and whistles from being awakened and magical tattoos that don't mess with your mojo.
My thought wasn't so much a essence loss, but an essence throttle that weakens your mojo as a cost for having constant effects running on you... maybe if it interacts with your magic instead for awakened chars?

It's no more mage friendly 'ware than sustaining foci are.
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Tymeaus Jalynsfe...
post Oct 26 2012, 07:30 PM
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QUOTE (Halinn @ Oct 26 2012, 11:50 AM) *
It's no more mage friendly 'ware than sustaining foci are.


If they possess less of a drawback than sustaining foci do, then they are. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
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Tanegar
post Oct 26 2012, 10:18 PM
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QUOTE (Tymeaus Jalynsfein @ Oct 26 2012, 02:30 PM) *
If they possess less of a drawback than sustaining foci do, then they are. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I would tend to argue that it's actually more of a drawback. If a sustaining focus gets shut off by a ward, you can recast the spell immediately; with an imbued spell you have to wait a number of minutes equal to its Force (potentially sixty combat turns for a Force 6 spell). Granted, not having to resist Drain balances it somewhat, but if you're attacked before the spell "recharges," you're SOL.
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Lantzer
post Oct 31 2012, 03:46 AM
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QUOTE (Tanegar @ Oct 26 2012, 10:18 PM) *
I would tend to argue that it's actually more of a drawback. If a sustaining focus gets shut off by a ward, you can recast the spell immediately; with an imbued spell you have to wait a number of minutes equal to its Force (potentially sixty combat turns for a Force 6 spell). Granted, not having to resist Drain balances it somewhat, but if you're attacked before the spell "recharges," you're SOL.


This assumes that the person wearing the spell is the caster. The primary users I saw for this was a non-spellcaster. A spellcaster could just cast the spell as normal if he needs it during its "downtime".

If you just bought the spell, it's a quickened spell that you can mute whenever it's inconvenient, and isn't' permanently lost by getting shoved through a strong ward. It's a power boost without drawbacks.
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Tanegar
post Oct 31 2012, 03:56 AM
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That only says to me that it shouldn't be purchasable as gear. Regular quickened spells aren't; why would imbued spells be?
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DoomFrog
post Oct 31 2012, 05:02 AM
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I would agree that there should be an essence loss, but maybe not equal to the limit. But I can understand why it isn't there.

I do think that anyone that has an active imbued spell should be duel natured. If the spell is anchored to their essence then when the spell is active and thus visible on the astral plane, then their spirit should be as well.
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DMiller
post Oct 31 2012, 05:14 AM
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I’m not sure I would allow this in my game, however if I would I would make the following changes:

Prerequisites: Quickening, Anchoring
Imbuing allows a magician to weave a spell into the very being of a willing subject. The spell must be anchored to the recipient's body by some object or alteration to the skin; tattoos are the most common medium, but other forms of scarification and even sub-dermal implants can be used. Ordinary piercings will not work for this purpose; the anchor must be something that cannot be easily removed. An imbued spell must satisfy all of the following conditions:

•The total Force of all imbued spells cannot be greater than the recipient's Essence.
•The spell must have a Duration of "S," or sustained.
While active, the anchor cannot be covered. (removed because sub-dermal items are automatically “covered” all the time by the dermas.)

The magician imbuing a spell and the recipient of the spell must pay Karma equal to the Force of the spell. The recipient may turn the spell on and off at will; however, if he attempts to pass through a ward with the spell active, the spell automatically deactivates. Any time the spell is deactivated (for any reason) it cannot be reactivated for a number of minutes equal to its Force. If the anchor becomes covered, whether by clothing, mud, body paint, etc., the spell deactivates and cannot be reactivated until the anchor is uncovered. If the anchor is removed (usually by excision), the spell and the Karma used to imbue it are permanently lost.

The imbued spell will always carry the signature of the casting magician and can thus be used to recognize that signature in the future. An imbued spell can be noticed by succeeding in any of the following tests:

Spell Inactive:
Int + Perception (visual) threshold: 7-Force
Int + Assensing threshold: 2

Spell Active:
Int + Perception (visual) threshold: 7-Force or Automatic if the spell is obvious
Int + Assensing threshold: Automatic (use Assensing table for details)

The visual test thresholds should be modified based on how obvious and visible the anchor is. An implanted titanium ring located between the shoulder blades would be very difficult to spot while the subject is clothed, where a tattoo covering the subject’s face would be easy to spot.

The anchor should always have a faint astral signature that can be picked up through Assensing. Physically the anchor should glow or shimmer or cause some other effect that can be noticed when in use.


Just my thoughts.
-D
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Tanegar
post Oct 31 2012, 05:37 AM
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I vigorously object to removing the "anchor must be uncovered" clause. If I had thought of it, I'd have decreed that an active imbued spell is immediately obvious to all observers, no Perception roll needed, with common-sense exceptions like Invisibility. Implants glow through the skin, tattoos become animated, etc. Actually, that gives me an idea for a house rule... Anyway, making the anchor obvious is one of the balancing elements.
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DMiller
post Oct 31 2012, 05:50 AM
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QUOTE (Tanegar @ Oct 31 2012, 02:37 PM) *
I vigorously object to removing the "anchor must be uncovered" clause. If I had thought of it, I'd have decreed that an active imbued spell is immediately obvious to all observers, no Perception roll needed, with common-sense exceptions like Invisibility. Implants glow through the skin, tattoos become animated, etc. Actually, that gives me an idea for a house rule... Anyway, making the anchor obvious is one of the balancing elements.

I also like the anchor must be uncovered, however that would remove the implanted acnhor as it is by its very nature covered. I'd have no objections to not allowing sub-dermal implants (unless they cost essence).

-D
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Manunancy
post Oct 31 2012, 06:47 AM
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QUOTE (DMiller @ Oct 31 2012, 06:14 AM) *
The magician imbuing a spell and the recipient of the spell must pay Karma equal to the Force of the spell.


If the caster and recipient are the same person, I suppose he will then pay the whole cost of 2xforce karma. A variation coud be to allow the kamara cost to be split anyway both parties agree to, with a minimum of 1 point each - though it could end up with a karma-rich mundane party loading up by forking most of the cost to let the mage do more imbuing.
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DMiller
post Oct 31 2012, 07:31 AM
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QUOTE (Manunancy @ Oct 31 2012, 03:47 PM) *
If the caster and recipient are the same person, I suppose he will then pay the whole cost of 2xforce karma. A variation coud be to allow the kamara cost to be split anyway both parties agree to, with a minimum of 1 point each - though it could end up with a karma-rich mundane party loading up by forking most of the cost to let the mage do more imbuing.

Yes, if the caster and the recipient are the same person then (s)he would have to pay the full 2x Force. Allowing the splitting as you suggest could go the way you describe.

-D
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ChromeZephyr
post Oct 31 2012, 03:00 PM
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QUOTE (Tanegar @ Oct 30 2012, 11:37 PM) *
Implants glow through the skin, tattoos become animated, etc.


The funniest part of this is that no one would even think twice about it, what with nano-tattoos and the like. "Meh, so the dude's got a dragon that moves around his arm, I've seen better at Penumbra on a Tuesday."

...right up until the Improved Reflexes kicks in and Mr.Dragonskin goes postal on everyone.

I do like the concept, though. Feels very Sixth World, and something the Triads and Yakuza would abuse the hell out of.
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Tymeaus Jalynsfe...
post Oct 31 2012, 03:12 PM
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QUOTE (ChromeZephyr @ Oct 31 2012, 09:00 AM) *
I do like the concept, though. Feels very Sixth World, and something the Triads and Yakuza would abuse the hell out of.


You mean like the Tattoo magic that they ALREADY abuse the hell out of? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
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